Trophy Vehicle

Sometimes you just can't think of anything to say.

photos compliments of Garret Shirey

Where there's a will, "or an enterprising third world mind", There's a Way!

Admiration for a Semi-Hermit in Tasmania

John Hounslow, another one from the "Son of Savages" lineage. Tracing my family back I learned that we came from Scotland. Sailed to the States in a wooden ship and landed somewhere in what is now the Carolinas. The "McGee," decendent that wed a Cherokee Indian Lady that gave the world my grandfathers that gave the world me, owned a trading post in North Georgia, minted his own coins and fathered two sons, one of which was my great great great Grandfather, another man I hate I couldn't meet. Always, somewhere in me I feel an affinity towards self sufficient beings inhabiting a more pure life lived in the Outdoors. My hat is off to those that find that happy medium these days. Especially in a world that actually forces us to leave the Outdoor Life behind. My Hat is especially off to John Hounslow carry on Sir. AP

Need I say More!

Thanks JKT for the Pic. AP

Mozambique Bush, The Last Bastion of Remote Africa

Upper headwater of Lugenda River at Metarica Camp Luwire Safaris

Mareth, my daughter with me at Metarica

Views of the Bush flying in to Luwire Safaris

My Old Casa on the Indian Ocean

My habitat for about a year while overseeing design and construction of a small guest lodge in Northern Mozambique. Note, the custom outdoor restroom/shower complete with view of the Indian Ocean. This was a very satisfying set up. I had a wind generator that kept a couple car batteries charged for lights and a small frig. I had a well drilled and we pumped water with a generator once a day for mixing cement and my shower. The shower water was heated by the sun as it lay in the black plastic pipe that brought it from the big black plastic tank we had erected on stilts. I hung the end of the pipe in a tree limb over the shower portion of my bathroom and installed an on off valve. It was a shower any man would lust after, big pressure, hot water, watching the tide come in in the morning or the stars in the evening. AP

Damn I Hate Politicians and Colonoscopys

I'm not embarrassed, I just a few months ago had a Colonoscopy. No big deal, it's recommended for men past the age of 50. So laying there, a bit groggy after the procedure, I had a little time and during the progression of the contemplation of many things, one interesting thought breached the power of the anesthesia and burst out of the deep wrinkles of my numbness. The thought was as follows. How remarkably similar Mr. Obama, his deftness at reading a teleprompter, all his policies and rhetoric and how he treats his dog, etc. etc. are to a Colonoscopy. Please permit me to explain, if I may.
First, they tell you it is necessary, good for you and all that. Then they tell you what's going to happen and what possible problems might arise, but all and all it's what really needs to be done and it needs to be done soon! They try to make you as comfortable as possible before they start. They wrap warm blankets around your body and feet while asking you the final few pertinent personal questions and last but not least they put you to sleep. What's the similarities you say? Well first off this is no cut directed at my doctors and wonderful nurses that took care of me. But in keeping with Obama's plan for mankind you wake up and your not really sure where in Hades you are. You didn't really feel a thing but your pretty sure you just had an ass reaming. Um, After which, and Just like our new government policies your going to be wheeled down the hall to recovery. It's all about the recovery, and rehabilitation. Like our country is recovering right now and will be fore ever, this recovery is from an ass reaming, which in this case has been facilitated by the last and absolutely the greatest care giving politician in our country's history. Notice I said the last, as I believe America has no more to give! No not one righteous man or woman left to become our leader. No not one coming up in the wings, no one yearning to serve his fellow man, citizen, illegal alien etc. except to personally gain as much as possible for his or herself and all fellow "conformists" who assist and continually conform to the whims of popular secular thought to further their own individual personal agendas. Back to the procedure, they tell you you should have this done every year on an on going basis. Oh Boy! an ASS reaming every year now and forever. I thought to myself at least I can make that call "myself" when next year rolls around. Then I heard Obama talking on the tube over the last few days about health care. He told me that when his Health Care Bill passed that he would still allow me to pick or choose my own physician. Did you hear what I said? He will allow me to pick my own physician. Thanks B.O. but the day you get to where you can allow me to pick my own physician will be the day I move out of YOUR COUNTRY cause it will no longer be my country. Not that I believe this will happen no! I don't think you are a very wise man, and I am going to hide and watch you prove that to the world. I also don't think that you are going to take our country from US. Remember, there are more of US than there are politicians, I mean all politicians! Maybe there are more liberals now than US, notice I didn't say Republicans, or Conservatives, I'm no longer neither, no, I said US! We are none of the above, we are those who know what's coming if you continue. You lately have sided with the Honduran president who, as I understand was underway to change the Honduran Constitution so as to allow himself to remain president of Honduras without a democratic vote. This speaks volumes about you Mr. B.O. Are you thinking the same thing for yourself? Why would you say something like that? Why wouldn't you flex your backbone and stand up for something? Your smooth ole boy! You are for change, I believe it, you don't have to say no more, you say volumes when you keep your mouth shut. Only the volumes are nothing but slander against our CONSTITUTION! Cease and Desist!!!! AP

Headed down That Third World Road!

I love the Third World, or "The Third" I call it. I'm very comfortable there, stepping into that simple estranged ebb and flow, thankfully I was put together that way.

"The Third" is a naive, quirky, eccentric, very simple minded, master of survival, forever evolving, not always forward, the Third is perpetual. I'm undeniably proud of my sporadic relationship and connection to it and through many observations and experiences there I offer these few thoughts for you to ponder
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First, simple is good if you want to survive in the third world. Actually if you can't get down to, and live with, the crude basics, "the purest simpleness" go somewhere else! You don't get a lot of advantages there like here, here in the First that is. No, there in the Third, its all sifted out and down. Down to the "Nit Grit", I call it, or to what you get when you have habitually shrugged off, left behind and run from, any semblance of mainstay progress. Some of us call this a vacation, I assume you know what I mean, but probably not.

Let me help a bit, think about the complicated engines so to speak of First World Civilizations. Those steady, stable, running rumbling things like, commerce, schedules, uninterrupted coms, utilities, mail and such. Those things what give you electricity, refrigeration, A/C, etc. etc. and the wherewith to pay for it all. And uh, the other little niceties, like a MacDonald's, Starbucks, whatever etc., down on the corner. Let me at this point say that in certain third world countries there are McDonald's etc and groceries etc. these are on the peripheral so to speak of the interior but be satisfied that in the true Third, there is nada. No Whole Foods or any "Chain Groceries" where you can get fresh anything, but what you can get you can rest assured is probably very organic and home grown. Wash it good!

You take good care of your vehicle, no service stations in the Bush down or over in the Third. You do your own maintenance, always! It's a law you live by. Let me explain, lets just say there is only one way to do it right. The average third world inhabitant has mastered thousands of ways to do it wrong. More than that, they can do it wrong so that it will hold just long enough, I say just long enough to assure that you will be in the middle of no where when it blows up, falls off, overheats, or shears off, or? Well, you get the picture.

Now depending on what the hell your doing there, there are proven techniques that allow for a better life style when living the way of the Third. One is to befriend the owner of the most popular local watering hole, especially one that serves food. You know all the local buzz from there. Also, if you are located near the ocean, a river or lake, find a successful local fisherman to befriend, "this is where the extra medication I refer to later", comes in handy. Medicine is a great bartering tool. I have traded Meds for just about everything from lifts, to food, to fuel, to getting out of a jam with the local Transcitos or Policia.

That's it in a nut shell, you survive by going back to living simple, bartering your way along in this place where survival is minute by minute almost, depending upon how savvy you are. I do not want to mislead at this point. Your not going to up and die at any moment but, If you want to go along without contracting one of the many debilitating parasites, malaria, cholera, etc. or simply dodge an angry Black Momba, or other diverse, kill you for moving wild animal, and less we forget, my favorite, the certain highly motivated, crazy, machete wielding man or woman who are just simply having a bad day, then you should learn to become a serious, very on your toes, aware, forward thinking, master of blending in and looking like an old hand at living this third world thing.

Living in the Third is as good as it gets if you are put together that way. For me, when in the Third I travel with essentials. I have a good knife, bomb proof Light and batteries to spare. Proper tools, 2 spares (tires on rims), spare tubes, high lift jacks, hand pump for flats, lots of tube patches, mosquito net, several means of communication, Sat-phone, Sat-up link for email, local cell phone, GPS, HF Radio, handheld with correct frequencies, water purifier, a few plastic five gallon jugs with lids, fire making apparatus, proper clothing and last but not least, my Med-Kit.

You should know what you could come down with in any particular Longitude or Latitude. Always, always, carry more than enough medicines. If you are in a place, where getting out because of emergency could take more than a few hours, I suggest carrying some potent pain killers, some that if necessary will almost put you out of your misery on their own, just in the event you encounter a problem that is sure to kill you, painfully, slowly, without hope of quick extraction. There are services that you can subscribe to that will fly you to a hospital of your choice anywhere in the world. I recommend Med Jet Services, but remember, you have got to get to an airport first before they can pick you up. I also carry lots of aspirin, when in the third world, aspirin can cure anything, it seems to be a mental thing sometimes but, If its a pill it's bound to be miraculous. If the pill comes from the U.S. it will absolutely cure anything. You save your hard to get Meds for yourself or the real need you might encounter. You can trade aspirin for anything, it's a cheap way to make friends or get out of possible hard places.

Now on the lighter side. Moving in the Third is like being a kid again, or feeling like it. You get to experience that freedom like when you were a kid and didn't have life's baggage hanging off your back. This is only possible however if you turn off your Sat Devices, Radios and Cells and only call out. I like only calling out! We need more of that here in the First, but it will never happen.

These days I long for the simple life of the Third and find myself rooting for the stock market to crash, for Americans to stand up to and force every politician to come clean or get out, I mean get out, as in "Get Out of The Country"! I have just been watching Mr. Obama and all his antics up on the stage. I didn't vote for the boy but I took him as my President to support. But, try as I might I can't support him. He's just too UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Let me just say at this point that as far as the two parties in our country go, and I do mean PARRRR-TEES, there's no real difference politically. The only true difference that lies in being conservative or liberal can only be defined as what you believe, your principals and morals! Our government has become a Phenomenal Farce, no principals and no moral obligation to anything. Its like so much Hollywood, nothing is real, nothing is for sure, nothing is trust-able in other words no principals and no morals.

No Third World Government could have pulled off a better scenario, I know what I'm talking about, I've lived and worked in the Best, or the Worst, depending on your viewpoint. So far as the preceding "thoughts to ponder" go, they were just words to enlighten you so to speak, maybe get you on the right keel as we cruise forward in our new body of water toward a shore that, if things hold true, we are just, "a slight screw up away" from birthing the Next Third World. I can here the BBC reporter now, The U.S. "Headed Down That Third World Road". Whatever, I got my garden broke up, do you? Can you work on your own vehicle? Can you evaluate, operate or medicate acute physical problems on yourself, friends or family?

Back to that garden, let's hope that Mr. Grand Leader doesn't get his way and continue his unabashed installments towards new changes/restrictions involving our Constitutional Amendments especially our Second Amendment! Let's hope we wise up, or better yet our Congress wises up and opposes our own President from taking our guns away. What do guns have to do with raising a garden you say? Well, what are you going to do when all those starving first world left-wingers come looking for your Turnip Greens? AP