Quick update

Hello all! I am back in Virginia Beach! Got my computer unpacked and set up, but still getting my life back to being somewhat recognizable as Big Dave's Life.

It was only appropriate that I would chose to come back when the US decided to raise it's gas prices after seeing a summer low just weeks before I left Arkansas. Nice thing about have a 35 gallon tank though in a F250 is that you go longer in between fill ups and you only have to fill up four times to get back home. The stats... 1,078 miles from here to there, plus about another 100 miles or so of here and there driving. Four fill ups of gas totaling 105.9 gallons of gas, at a humble $399.51 (20 some odd dollars cheaper than when I went out to Arkansas!) Still though, pulling a trailer, brings the already horrible gas mileage down to around 11 miles a gallon or so... CRAPPY! Now that I am pinching pennies, I will see how much the thing gets without pulling a trailer, but not sure if Ill be able to afford keeping such a beast of a truck... might have to down grade in size a bit for better gas mileage.

Since I have been gone, Han has gotten out of the fenced in yard 6 times... he misses me so much, that is why he is being so rebellious! (obviously :P) Other than that, everything seems normal from the homestead, so that is fair news!

Ill write more later, but for now just wanted to tell you guys I got back safe and sound. BTW- Did you know I had no, and I mean NO traffic all the way from Arkansas to Virginia... until I hit Suffolk... then it was slammed... just saying Virginia... we need to work on our infrastructure here!!!

Till next time!!

Last minute farm jobs, and an End of a Chapter

Today, I did a lot of things around the farm. Cleaned out the Chicken coop one last time, cleaned out the Goat Pen one last time, grabbed both Goats and gave them a final hoove trimming and then did what I have been putting off over a month to do, but had to do it.... and that was to dehorn Leia.

While I had her on the milking stand, which by the way, needs to be modified just a little bit... my Goats are too small even for that!! The feeder trough and head holder just needs to be brought down about four inches... my Goats are so tiny! Anyway, so I have Leia on the stand, Im holding her down and trimming her hooves, after that I started examining the Horn that needs to be trimmed. If you trim too far down the horn you will hit nerve endings and also blood vessels. So, the first idea was to trim about a half inch at a time and see if she grew more and more distressed as we got closer or not. However; upon examining the horn, it became obvious (because the horn wiggled) sometime in the past month she broke the outer shell of her horn off at the area where the band was applied when she was a baby. When I touched that area, she screamed like I've never heard a goat scream before!  So I knew it was a painful area, but with the shell of the horn broken already in that area, I decided to go ahead and snip it off there and hope for the best. Took the sheers and took one little snip and off flies the horn tip! (literally I spent almost five minutes looking for it in the grass later) Also... her nub shot out a squirt of blood that must have traveled out about foot, squirting me and the table pretty good. I was hoping no blood would come out at all, but I never have that kinda luck. However; it bled for only a second (like a blood blister popping) and it didn't bleed anymore. the second I snipped it, she stopped crying and I think it probably relieved a huge Headache in her head or something, she almost relaxed. I poured on the anti-septic and gobbed a big chunk of it on the tip of her horn stub and she was off on her way like nothing ever happened. I can only imagine the irritation she must have had with a half broken horn. I am glad that chore is done! And well, at the end of the day, Leia gave me a little piece of her for me to keep as a keepsake! Ill probably make a knife handle out of the horn tip or something awesome. I think she has forgiven me for helping her out and seems to be doing fine. Honestly, I think it was more traumatic on me than her. :P

Today I am packing up my guitars and my computer, so this definitely should be the last post till I am on the flip side of things. Ill be talking to you all soon! I hope you enjoyed this part of my journey, stay tuned to see where I go from here!

**~~Aftermath of Goat Horn pics- View at your discretion~~**

After the blood was washed off the table, horn beside the shears.

Poor little Leia, lost her horn!

You can kinda see in the middle where it was barely hanging on (the red area)

Look how small her little horn was... my tiny Nigerian Goats!

Tarantula!!!

12 total eggs, before one got broken.

I went over to my neighbors house tonight for some going away home made Chili. Nice little last minute gesture of kindness from my neighbors. Its not every day people still do stuff like that for neighbors, and its just nice seeing that old school Americana still alive in our wonderful country today.

After eating Chili, My neighbor Chad and his wife, the little girls and myself wondered down to the chicken coop to gather the eggs for the day. The total count was 12 eggs. However, my 3 year old roomy, well it was her first time gathering eggs and she got a little excited that when she put her first egg (that she has ever collected in her life) more like slammed it in the basket, it got busted in a few places. After that I reminded her that eggs are like babies and you need to be gentle with them, the other four she gathered made it through the ordeal OK. Tonight I do have pictures! I stole a camera and took a few and got them emailed to me.

The eggs are still small because the hens are young

Watch where you step!

After gathering the eggs, my neighbors both start squealing at me to come over quick, I was like what, they pointed to the grass and there it was! Finally! I thought it was just a urban myth!!!! My first Tarantula encounter in the wild! I knew supposedly this state had them, but I haven't seen any since I got here. I almost thought this chance encounter was staged, but both my neighbors hate them, so I have my doubts. I'm up to seeing around 10 or so now on Scorpions, they don't even startle me to much anymore, its just like seeing a cricket, except this one doesn't hop, and it can sting you, but really they are always more concerned with trying to get away from you. Anyway, back to the tarantula... this is where I remember that my neighbor Chad, who looks and talks strikingly similar to "Larry the Cable Guy"... even wears cut off blue collar shirts.... well he freaks out over any and all spiders. Me, I freak out over the small harmless ones that I cant see where they went after they crawl up your arm with lightning fast speed, but over a Tarantula... nah, these creatures are awesome. Its been well over ten years since I have held one and I didn't want to be "That Guy" at the get together that got bit, so I let it crawl on a stick instead of my arm. After it settled down on the end of the stick I decided to brave it a bit, much to the shock and horror (as can be seen in faces in the background of the pics) of my friends and neighbors, and bring it close to my lips for a mock up little kiss. Well, in the next picture you can see where it reared up really fast  right when my lips are next to its fangs, and the moment was caught on film! Priceless! After watching my neighbor turn a whiter shade of pale and see every hair on his arms stand on end, I decided to let it go near the chicken house for the chickens to find and eat later.

Only in the country!

I used to sell these, at Animal Jungle, I have the store record of having 15 scorpions and tarantulas on me at one time! Come on, its my claim to fame! Now and days though, I would rather handle them with a stick.

Famous last redneck words... "hey ya'll, watch this!"

Notice the terrified look of Andy in the background.

Went in for a kiss and it got mad and reared up at me!! Honestly, it was a little bit jumpy, but overall a very nice Tarantula!

All packed up.

Clint Eastwood inspired me to ramble on and on for a bit. So with out further hesitation... It is Time for Big Dave to Ramble.... Enjoy

Lick the tip of your finger, hold it high up in the air, figure out what way the wind is blowing, point yourself towards the East and start walking on to a new chapter in the continuation of my awesome Journey.  I am pretty much all packed up, all I have left is a few clothes, my guitars, and my computer to put into the trailer. Its weird, I came here with a trailer that was bulging and stuffed from floor to ceiling with crap. This time, there is a big hole, mostly because I am leaving my awesome bed here and some other furniture. I might have lost volume, but I know I have gained trailer weight, from some of the auctions I bought some building supplies and also ammo... what obviously equals out to a lot of added weight to this thing. So, once again, I am a little scared on the heaviness of the trailer. At the end of the day though, I can fit my entire life into a trailer and a truck bed.. one day maybe Ill be able to widdle it down to just a truck bed, but oh man it is hard to let go of some cool stuff. (I'm working on it)

Nerves. I know I don't have a lack of them. Most of you don't know this, but when I moved out here, I got sick, and couldn't keep anything down for almost, if not more than a week, I could barely keep down any water either for days. It was sweet in a way watching the (unhealthy) pounds come off, but it made me weak and extremely tired. This time around, the butterflies are flying around as usual, but so far, I haven't gotten sick from it, and I don't plan to either... of course, I guess you never really plan to. But as my move date draws closer and closer I am definitely feeling it, the stress of moving is never fun, even if I do have more experience in doing it now than the average bear.

Looking back over the past few months here, I have answered many questions in my life, as well as drafted up new ones to ponder for years to come. I like the fact that life really is a road that you travel, and there is always a straight and "under the radar" normal path to your left, but at every mile there is a "Y" in the road and you have the opportunity to take the "road less traveled" and see where it could lead. Before and up to when I went to college, I always stuck to the path on the left, being real active in School Sports and Government, shooting for the stars in the Corporate Advertising world believing the Myth that to get far and be happy in life you need to do your part in this perfect without flaw society, and work at a gig until your real old and can't live life full, then you can try to go live life. Stick with me here... I see it all the time, usually it is a widowed woman in her 70's finally going on that African Safari that her and her late husband always dreamed of taking, but never "found the time"... that is, until he is dead and she is lonely. That sounds like crap to me,  I can't have a life full of "what if's" and "only wish we had the time or money" clogging up my space. :P Finally, I started waking up to these false views (to me) on what "Happiness" is for many, and if it works for you, that is awesome man!

About my Senior year in College and since then (talk about finding yourself in college ehh?), I have generally taken the "road less traveled" path because I love the adventure of it, it's not canned soup. Every time you change direction its a different flavor added to the dish! Most people stuck in the muck of today's society would say I "lack direction" or "don't have true foreseeable goals" or what have you. I obviously disagree, I see the human experience not to be wasted slaving away at some "comfy" corporate gig where I give up five to six days of my week just to get one to two days off as a reward. During those one or two days a week you have off your supposed to cram in all  human life experiences... (lawn care, family time, gardening, rest and relax, go to concerts, ball games, cook outs, house repair, cleaning, wash the truck...) that pretty much takes up the entire weekend. I would rather work 7 days a week, but spend it having fun, working hard for what you get, but doing what you love, saving lots of time with friends and family and living a humble but happy and full life from it. There is the eighties song that has the lyrics "everybody is working for the weekend" it took me years to understand the meaning to that song.

I feel family is the most major part of the human experience. We are social creatures, no matter how much of a shut in you are, without someone to talk to, love, or just be near, life gets really lonely and frankly boring. I think one of the saddest things would be to die alone. No one there to talk to through the end, no one to hear the last worldly words that come out of your mouth, no one to share in the death experience from this plane to the next. Which brings up a minor side point.... (told ya I was rambling today)

A lot of people know that I'm a little bit leery about the future of this planet and the future of man kind, and how it will play out in the coming months to the next few years. Yes, one of the reasons why I moved out here was to make a base camp and have a area to go if the world goes down hill, or in prepper talk, "when the $h!t hits the fan" in society and the world crumbles around us and yadda yadda yadda. Super volcano this, EMP that, Tsunami this and Earth Quake that, Solar flares shining, Government failing, Aliens invading, Asteroids falling, Planet "X" or Niburu swinging by for a close visit whatever the case may be one day in the near or far off future something will inevitably happen. Rome wasn't built in a day, but fell almost over night, all great empires and societies do, and its usually without much warning. This is a pattern in history and America is not omitted from that pattern. BUT at the end of the day, here in Arkansas I have very few friends, and no close family. My roomies and my neighbors are all I care about out here, my loved ones and a ton of friends and connections live in Hampton roads. So if the world ended tomorrow, even though I feel my chances for survival through catastrophic times are greater here in Arkansas, I know in my heart that I would rather be around my loved ones and "go as a group" or "fight it out as a group" instead of not knowing if they ever made it, or worse, knowing that they are gone and I'm alone in the world. Pretty gloomy, but hey, its just how I feel. No doubt some people might distance themselves from me after reading this last paragraph, but whatever, this is my blog after all, although this post is reading more like a journal entry to me as this goes on. "LOL"

The cool part of that last paragraph, is that Ill get a few random hits to my blog from the internet while people are doing a search about different end of the world scenarios. I love it... seriously, blogging is kinda addicting... According to "expert blogger websites, 'help areas' on how to write better blogs"... I just gotta work on the content,  shorten the length of my posts, keep my personal views of things out of the mix, and blog more frequently... wow, I got a lot to work on. See, I can't even follow blogging basic's and guidelines in life.

So, assuming the world isn't going to end, which would be great,  man does need to do what he has to do to get through in life. I leave Arkansas in a few days and I will take the road again to see where it leads. Adventure awaits me, the World will tempt me, Fate will lead me and I can't wait to see whats next.

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This may be the last post before I am back in Virginia, if so, it might be a week till ya hear from me again. If not, well, obviously you'll get the awesome honor and pleasure of another post or two before I go... but THEN there will be a minor break while I travel, unpack and decompress... afterwards, it will be back up and running again with lots of stuff coming! Including the past year in review! And whats next in the crazy awesome cool adventure of "Big" Dave's Life!!! STAY TUNED! (you know you want to)
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 "Im the king of my own Land. Facing Tempests of Dust, I'll Fight till the End. Creatures of my dreams raise up, and Dance with me." ~ Outro by M82 (this is finally going to get noticed in the music charts and will explode soon because you can hear this very beautiful song at the end of the "Cloud Atlas" trailer... which is the 'coming out of retirement' new movie by the Wachowski's... ya know... the people who made the "Matrix" trilogy) <--- More Shameful Blog fodder that will draw more readers from the internet. :P But seriously, its a cool song and totally speaks my language.

Bird Poop!

So, there I was, laying down on the picnic table outside, listening to the wind blow, and watching the clouds pass by. Then, I look up... I see this little tiny tiny spec of black in the cloud... its coming down.. it's falling out of the sky and about to hit me... I try to move out of the way and SMACK!..... Right on my upper lip I get hit. I instinctively evacuate all air out of my lungs in a trumpet like blow to make sure whatever just hit me doesn't get in my mouth. I reach over and feel the distinct feel of Bird Poop. Weird part about this, there was NO BIRD! This poop must have been floating around in the cloud or something of the sort and waited till it was perfectly lined up to drop it on me.

Supposedly in some European Countries it is a great sign of Good Luck to be hit in the head by bird poop. In America, not so much, more like it makes you the butt end of a bad joke. But today, I will pretend to be European (aren't we all anyway.. at least by .0001%?)... So good luck for me!!

Too much info I'm sure, but I had to tell somebody... and it seems your the lucky one to be told! 

This is going to be one LUCKY month!