Neanderpundit

Kim Du Toit and His Mrs have a couple of posts relating to “snobbery”.

I’m not sure I’d agree with what they call snobbery, I call it practicality. Now, I don’t have the cash to shop at William Powell, nor do we have any prewar havilland porcelean in the house. Around here, the food on the plates was always more important than the plates, but that’s just because we’re wired that way. Our plain Corelle will last just as long as anything else, and the wife likes it, so it’s just fine.

We do buy stuff that lasts, though, when we can.

I wear, for instance, a Swiss Army Chronograph. It’s a bit big and bulky, but it keeps good time, and if it ever stops, I’ll check my pulse; a blow hard enough to stop this watch would probably kill me. Retail on this is about $400. You don’t have to buy a Rolex to have a fine watch.

I read paperbacks for recreation. When I find a book worthwhile, I replace the paperback with a first edition hardcover. I have several hundred. When I can, I get them autographed. I wash my hands before touching them, and I keep them away from light and excess air circulation.

I usually wear Levi’s jeans because they’re tough, and take a lot of abuse. If I’m going to do any horseback riding, I wear Wranglers because the seams don’t fuckup the inside of your legs. I wear Carharrt outerwear in winter when I’m working outside because it wears like iron.

I have a Weber grill because it’s an extremely well made grill, made right here in the USA. I have a lot of machinery in the plant, I have seen the grills made. I know the quality is second to none.

I don’t have the kind of gig that requires me to dress;I rarely ever wear a suit. When I need to, which is usually to carry a relative to a hole in the ground, I wear the same Harris tweed I have worn for years.

I Do have the kind of gig that requires me to have and use tools, and I buy tools that will do the job. This doesn’t mean Snap-On, frankly; Snap On tools are overpriced and often underworked. Armstrong makes better box wrenches, IMO. Sears sockets rock. I have very specific brands and preferences for every tool I own, and there is a good reason: I have worked with them all, and I know what is best. If a tool fails me, I destroy it and replace it with something better.

I have a lawn tractor that is two years younger than me- before it was mine, it was my father’s. I also have his Gravely, and my uncle’s Troy Bilt. These tools have, with very little maintenance, served me in good stead for years, and I believe they have years to go.

I buy properly constructed vehicles and take care of them. My truck is a Ford. I’d love a Unimog, but it’s impractical. My Ford Explorer, 1998, has 191,000 miles on the clock, and it runs like a top. I intend to get another 200,000 miles out of it.

You don’t have to be a snob to buy good quality. Different people have different tastes, different desires. With Mrs Gun Guy, it’s housewares &etc. With Kim, it’s fine firearms (well, OK, I do “some” of that as well) with me, it’s mostly tools & power equipment.

There are a few exceptions. I have purchased extremely well made shoes, and I have found that I destroy a $200 pair of shoes just as quickly as I destroy a $20 pair of shoes. Not worth it, for me, never will be. I can shoot Remington “goldem bullets” ($9/550) as accurately as I can shoot Federal Match Ammo ($3/50). Not worth it.

I have bought a Halliburton case used to carry my work toolkit in, because a nearly worn out Halliburton Zero case is still better than a brand new cheap plastic toolcase. I have a lot of power tools and equipment that I’ve purchased used, my $50 Delta 10″ table saw, I’ll put up against any new saw on the market.

Bottom line: You don’t have to win the lottery, or make $270,000 a year, to have good stuff. You just have to know the difference.

So yesterday and today, I spend several hours afield, looking to put some meat in the freezer.

No, I’m not looking for a trophy buck, I’m not interested in rack size, I want meat. Seen the price of beef lately?

So I find a likely spot. I set up. I’ve spent hours scrubbing clothes with non-scented soaps. I wear scent-blocking outergarments. I have perfume-free deodorant. I used Beano at turkey dinner so I wouldn’t have smelly farts. I find a place downwind of where any deer can possibly be. I sit in an area invisible to anyone. Three times yesterday, a hunter stood less than two feet from me and didn’t see me. Today, a turkey called and walked in front of me. A field mouse crawled up my leg and sat on my knee, eating a piece of corn. I was immoble through it all.

Didn’t see a deer. Oh, they’re out there, buckets of tracks all around where I’m hunting.

So I left at around noon, startling a few squirrels in the process, and go see a friend of mine in Cicero. On my way back, I see three bucks walking across the Bishop Ford Freeway, and further down, a guy in an Escalade has hit one.

The cops have stopped by and given him a permit to posess the deer. He’s hit it badly enough that the meat is pretty much toast, but he wants the rack. he has no way to remove the rack.

So he has the tire iron out of the back of the escalade, and is using it to

Beat.The.Head.Off.The.Deer.

He’s not even using the pointy end. He has gotten about halfway through the neck, and is shattering the neck bones with the big end of his tire iron. He’s apparently just gotten off work at some office, because his white shirt and paisley tie now have been covered with a fine spray of deer blood. the escalade is gonna need a bath.

I stop and use my knife to help him separate the rest of the head from the carcase, unwilling to see any more nastiness. He’s gonna have the head mounted. I wonder if he’ll hang a picture of his weapon below the head. “Killed with a 7.2 liter Escalade’

Sheesh.

I’m gonna try a new preserve tomorrow and see if a change of venue changes my luck.