Homeless Americans

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My friend John spotted this tiny home near the Walmart parking lot in Kennett, MO. Not sure if the owner qualifies as “homeless” but John is seeing more tents these days and tells of a homeless encampment nearby.


No shortage of stories on this problem but the most depressing thing about the following is it’s from 9 years ago.


Kennett is a small community in southern Missouri. A reminder that homeless is not just a problem in big cities like San Francisco and New York. The homeless are everywhere and they can’t be ignored (forever) and they are not going away.

Sticker burrs

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We have some wicked sticker burrs on the property and I got into a patch yesterday. Easier to toss the socks than try to pick these off. I’ve been wearing knee-hight rubber boots but found they didn’t always protect me from chiggers. Knew there had to be a better way and ordered these.

I’ll hose these down with permethrin and see if they’ll protect from chiggers, ticks and burrs. Stay tuned.

Winch comes in handy again

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The wood chipper got a much needed cleaning and service and two young guys put it in the pickup but did not come home with me to unload. It’s a heavy mother so rolling down my ramps would be iffy. Instead I used the electric winch to lower it to the ground. If you look close you can see the Gator-Jaw soft shackle holding a lot of weight.

Tractor with two seats

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I’ve never been one for off-roading. Feels like dressing up as a cowboy. So the Land Rover and the Jeep don’t get much four-wheel drive time. Today I loaded up the new rock sled with some big ones and used the Jeep (4WD/Low Range) to drag them up a hill and over to the trail head. Paul calls the Jeep a tractor with two seats.
And a little 4WD/low-range exercise for the pickup.

Rock sled

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Much of our ten acres is covered with rocks. Lots of rocks. A few really big ones…and a whole bunch of smaller ones. I’ve spent countless hours moving rocks for various reasons.

I’ve found there’s no easy way to move rocks. In the end, you have to pick one up…carry it to where you want it…and put it down. I’ve used a wheelbarrow from time to time but now trying something different. I built a rock sled.


With a pry bar you can lever a pretty big rock onto a 6 inch high sled. Then it’s just a matter of putting the pickup or Jeep in 4WD and dragging the sled where you want the rocks (see below). A while back I purchased a Jet Sled. A good tool for getting rocks down the hill but not that great for dragging with the truck. The rock sled won’t be much help down in the woods but should do nicely for collecting larger (too heavy to lift/carry) rocks around the property.

New hood hinges for pickup

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The first thing most admirers say when they seed Minty Fresh is, “That’s a good looking truck. Want to sell it?” The second thing they says is, “What’s wrong with the hood?”
I finally got around to ordering new hinges and –with help from my friend George– installed and adjusted them.
I was able to get the old things off by myself using a couple of ratchet tie-down straps to lift the hood.
The old hinges probably just needed adjusting but I didn’t figure that out until I started installing the new ones (which weren’t very expensive). Like most such repairs, I suspect this would be damn near impossible on a new vehicle.