Above 1200 Sq/FT My Retirement Shop, Pole Barns, Old Truck and Questionable Decisions Thread

[SouthernIllinois]

Also got to see Dealey Plaza, the Texas Book Depository, and the Grass Knoll

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Now that it has warmed up, the Sunday family dinner has moved to our place.

Straightened up as much as I’m gonna.

Couple pics.



I even cleaned the urinal



Chicken and shrimp fried rice on the flat-top this evening. Pics to follow.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Chicken and shrimp fried rice. With family and neighbors who are like family.

 

[Mr onetwo]

such a great setup

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Grass is cut, daily fish is caught. The Gator light kit didn’t come in as promised so I reckon I’m done for the day.

 

[Michael B.]

Such a lovely place Chief!

 

[SouthernIllinois]

A day of lights…..

Started off with a deputy stopping me to let me know I had a taillight out. No ticket, no warning, no fix-it ticket. Come to find out I grew up with one of his high school teachers and the mother of his best friend was my 8th grade girlfriend.

Got the tail light fixed on the truck and then put better LED driving lights on the Gator.

The Gator lights ended up being a little more involved. The wiring harness was about 30” too short. Soldered in more 18 gauge wire. All soldered and adhesive heat shrink joints. No crimps.

IMHO, don’t waste your money on a Milwaukee M12 soldering iron. Takes forever to get hot and it’s not all that hot once it is hot.

Wind made fishing a little tricky but I did manage the daily fish.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Instead of Sunday Mass, we have Sunday Bass here on my Hilltop.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Redneck afternoon on the Hilltop

 

[SouthernIllinois]

John Menard’s shelves are stocked, the grass is cut and the daily fish has been caught and released.

Rekon it’s time to go solve the world’s problems at my neighbors shed’s.

FWIW, The Hilltop Wildlife Sanctuary which was authorized under the Grass Cutting Reduction Act of 2025 was such a success based on the Groundhogs, Rabbits, Opossums and ***** surveyed, it has been expanded this year.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

All cleaned up and set up for Mother’s Day festivities.

Cracked open a bottle of social lubricant before they all arrive….

 

[Michael B.]

That’s not the bag I’m used to seeing that brand of lubricant in Chief

 

[rd65]

That’s not the bag I’m used to seeing that brand of lubricant in Chief

Those purple bags make excellent goggle bags

 

[zanyad]

Those purple bags make excellent goggle bags

I've got my ear muff hearing protection in one of them.

 

[bugnut]

Those purple bags make excellent goggle bags

Those purple bags make excellent goggle fishing reel bags

 

[rd65]

and back in the day the small Christmas bottle came with little bags that, I've heard, made nice little stash bags

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Sad day here….

About a third of my WWII collection just left for auction.

With the death of one of my best friends who also happened to be my MilSurp collecting buddy, it took all the fun out of it.

They will be auctioned off by Aumann Auctions, Inc. in the near future.

I will see how this auction goes and if I am happy with the results, I will let the rest of my US and German stuff go as well.

I had no interest in private sales, dealing with a bunch of questions, tire kickers and emails or shipping so I went the auction route.

 

[Michael B.]

I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

 

[SRU1436]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Nice looking firearms and accessories. I have a soft spot for world war 2 firearms and military equipment.

 

[HogDude]

Sad day here….

About a third of my WWII collection just left for auction.

With the death of one of my best friends who also happened to be my MilSurp collecting buddy, it took all the fun out of it.

They will be auctioned off by Aumann Auctions, Inc. in the near future.

I will see how this auction goes and if I am happy with the results, I will let the rest of my US and German stuff go as well.

I had no interest in private sales, dealing with a bunch of questions, tire kickers and emails or shipping so I went the auction route.

Master Chief, so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend and your shared passion for WWII gear.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

After the Corvair project went sideways, I have been looking for an older 4WD truck that just needs some TLC.

A friend offered up this 1985 F150, 4WD, 302 V8 and short bed at a fair price.

Runs and drives, 4WD works and actually pretty minimal rust for the Midwest.




I drug my feet on a 1973 GMC short bed, 4WD a couple days ago and lost out.

I finally messaged the seller but there was one guy ahead of me and he snatched it up.

 

[Michael B.]

Yea that square body was a steal. Good luck with the Ford.

 

[zmotorsports]

After the Corvair project went sideways, I have been looking for an older 4WD truck that just needs some TLC.

I'm sorry if I missed it, but why exactly did the Corvair project go sideways? What happened?

 

[SouthernIllinois]

I'm sorry if I missed it, but why exactly did the Corvair project go sideways? What happened?

The A-Pillars were completely rotted out.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Morning is off to a good start.

Caught some fish out of the pond and got a new project truck.

1985 F150, short bed, 4WD, 302 V8.

Even snuck in a quick trip on the Gator around the neighborhood.

Saw George Jone’s ghost on a mower on his way to buy beer.

 

[Mr onetwo]

Must feel good to just be able to enjoy things after all the construction is complete

 

[SouthernIllinois]

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Upgraded gutters.

6” black gutters and downspouts.

I also put in in-ground drain lines with pop-up emitters to help get water away from the house.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Finally got the exterior, dusk-till-dawn lights up on the annex. Really helps light up the north driveway which is closest to the pond.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Driveway expansion / reshaping is finally underway

 

[SRU1436]

The A-Pillars were completely rotted out.

That *****. Cool F-150.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Had a close call last night.

The eye of a tornado passed about a 1/2 mile east of me. Basically between my place and the neighbors farm.

We are very fortunate to only have trees uprooted; some of the other neighbors weren’t so fortunate.

The biggest damage we had was this uprooted white birch



Our neighbors weren’t so lucky.

 

[LSU]

Good work on the headlights. I have used this spray after restoring a set of Lexus headlights. Worked really well to keep them looking nice

My Lexus’s headlights have clouded up. What product did you use to clear yours before you treated them with this product?

 

[Mr onetwo]

I bought new OEM ones off of Ebay

 

[Michael B.]

Sorry to hear about your neighbors Chief

 

[zmotorsports]

WOW. Glad you were relatively unscathed, but I feel for your neighbors.

 

[Jgaz]

Wow! So powerful and so random.

One detail that’s easy to miss. In your forth picture down, there was a whole structure covering the horse trailer, hay bales, etc.. It’s just gone.

I grew up in souther Michigan and these pictures remind me a lot of a friends farm that I helped clean up the aftermath of a tornado.

We had to go out into the neighboring fields and recover all the tin and debris from the barns etc.
His insurance company sent out a portable crusher to bale the metal debris, but they would only take care of the pieces that were on his actual property!

Glad your place was spared (for the most part)

 

[manwithtools]

Wow, prayers for your neighbors and glad to see you escaped relatively unscathed.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Wow! So powerful and so random.

One detail that’s easy to miss. In your forth picture down, there was a whole structure covering the horse trailer, hay bales, etc.. It’s just gone.

I grew up in souther Michigan and these pictures remind me a lot of a friends farm that I helped clean up the aftermath of a tornado.

We had to go out into the neighboring fields and recover all the tin and debris from the barns etc.
His insurance company sent out a portable crusher to bale the metal debris, but they would only take care of the pieces that were on his actual property!

Glad your place was spared (for the most part)

The fields are full of debris and a couple cars.

I just learned from a friend that if part of your barn hits somebody’s house 1/4 mile away, YOU are liable for damages.

Last night was a local car show / burn out pit (in a church parking lot at that…lol). The red beat up Dodge truck with all the glass knocked out of it, full of teenagers got rolled by the tornado thus the “NADER SURVIVOR” on the side of it.