The Hobbit Hole XVII - A new road or a secret gate...

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[300winmag]

I feel a little guilty where you are concerned. I haven't done anything to get that idea thread started, been distracted on less important things.

No problem, I'm working on my first product review for Freeper Foxhole already. Just slow going with my work schedule.

I'm also bummed out that the deadline for mailing some packages for Christmas is now. I should have started this six months ago.

Of course, I hope that every package I mail out, whenever it goes out, will be seen as a bit of Christmas when it arrives.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I've written a draft and ecurbh is working the HTML for me so I'll post it here for your review shortly to see if you like it.

[ecurbh]

Here is a rough draft of the new thread. Please offer any comments, rewording suggestions, etc. here before we 'go live'.

---

[Ongoing **Live thread**] TROOP SUPPORT: Beyond Candy - Practical gear for the long haul

I am posting this thread as just one small part of the Hobbit Hole group, led by 300winmag, 2jedismom, and Wneighbor who have coordinated funds, sought out products and sent many packages overseas first to Afghanistan and now to Iraq.

As a bit of history, we have sent scads of packages of goodies and treats to the troops and hopefully will continue to do so as long as there are troops at war.

A diary of sorts, with contents of some of the packages sent is here:

The Hobbit Hole :: The Renegade Chaplain Project

The Hobbit Hole :: The Iraq Project

While sending those kind of packages is neat.... our chief gadget geek wanted to send something more ~practical~, and, he found what he was looking for:

The Hobbit Hole Pocketknife Project.

300winmag writes: While I enthusiastically support the other Hobbit Hole projects, I had a vague sense of dissatisfaction with "care packages" of food, snacks, sunscreen, reading material, etc. As welcome as these are to troops away from home, many times the cost of postage exceeded the value of the item. Of course, there was a million dollars of love and prayers in each shipment, but that didn't show up on the bottom line.

< snip >

A pocketknife would be perfect, if the right one could be found. If we had unlimited funds, this would be easy. If we had unlimited funds, we'd be buying body armor, radios, fighting tomahawks, and anything else a GI could want that we could legally ship. But the Hobbit Hole has to run on a budget, so we can get the most in gifts out to the troops. But how would I ever find the "perfect" knife?

More about FR Hobbit hole knives: The Hobbit Hole :: The Pocketknife Project

To make a long story short, winmag found a supply of these pocketknives for a very good price, and the project has been terrifically successful. We have now shipped 301 of these knives to date to soldiers overseas and at home.

The Hobbit Hole :: Testimonials from the Troops

I buried the lead!

The purpose of this thread is to:

• Broaden our base: come up with more product ideas beyond the Hobbit Hole Knife, and more people who would like to be involved. We understand that the Hobbit Hole seems like a cliquish little subgroup, and we would like to work with the Foxhole group, the Canteen, the Guild, and any other group that can have a larger impact than we can alone.
• Increase awareness what we do so that more troops who want them. (We've sent them to everyone we know already ;~D)
• And 300winmag, our product and gadget guy, loves to share the neat stuff he finds, and get feedback from others on which things will be useful.

We hope this will be an ongoing forum where many people will share ideas. If you have ideas or comments to share, please just jump in and post them here. If you want to get involved financially by donating to the cause, please contact 300winmag or myself, or my husband (ecurbh), who is webmaster at the freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net site. We'll put you in touch.

[HairOfTheDog]

BTW... that empty white space at the start of the knife section will have a pic of the knife.

[300winmag]

That's a good layout to use as an introduction to the series. I'm working on a meat-and-potatoes review, but folks need some background first.

[HairOfTheDog]

Any edits? Is it what you had in mind? I'll post it whatever you want.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

We understand that the Hobbit Hole seems like a cliquish little subgroup

That is because we ARE a ' cliquish little subgroup', and damned proud of it!!!

[HairOfTheDog]

I edited to call us cliquish.... at first I wrote that we were weird. ;~D

[HairOfTheDog]

EEK. Seen this?

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING TO THURSDAY EVENING FOR THE CASCADE FOOTHILLS AND THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR
UNTIL 10:00PM PST
Urgent - Weather Message National Weather Service Seattle WA 353 PM PST Wed Nov 17 2004

0600 - Central Cascade Foothills - Northern Cascade Foothills - Southwest Interior -

... The National Weather Service In Seattle Has Issued A High Wind Watch In Effect From Thursday Morning To Thursday Evening For The Cascade Foothills And The Southwest Interior...

South To Southwest Winds May Rise To As Much As 40 Mph With Gusts To 60 Mph Thursday Morning And Begin To Ease In The Afternoon.

&&

A High Wind Watch Means Conditions Are Favorable For Damaging Winds. High Winds Can Topple Trees... Down Power Lines... And Damage Some Structures.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

at first I wrote that we were weird

That too, of course!!

You are concerned about a little 40 mph breeze, with gusts to 70?? You folks in the northwest certainly get upset about a little wind. Try having 3 hurricanes projected to come through your backyard!! (The fourth was a clean miss).

On the other hand, your earthquakes and volcanos are worth looking out for!

[Fedora]

Welcome home, smaagee! :)

[Fedora]

Vey good! I've been getting a clearer picture of the villain lately which hopefully matches yours.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yes, 40 mph is a deadly enough wind here. We don't have hurricanes, but you don't have 100 foot tall douglas firs in every yard! I live in a cardboard house. under about 8 such trees ;~D

For this region, that is a major wind storm, we only get one or two of these a season.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

you don't have 100 foot tall douglas firs in every yard

That is true, what we have are old Live Oak trees up to 150 feet tall with branches spreading over 50 feet from the trunk, and plenty of rotting heartwood. This is in north central and northern Florida. (We also have palm trees and some scrub pines, but we don't worry about them).

[HairOfTheDog]

Ours isn't a region that can take a lot of wind.

We're better set for this one than we could be, it hasn't been wet.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

it hasn't been wet

We still have many homes and developments that remain flooded. For the long term effects of flooding in this part of the world, see the sequences in The Yearling in which the lead character's farm stays flooded for months after a heavy rain!

[HairOfTheDog]

Flooding isn't the concern, the concern is high wind when it has been super wet, saturated ground can't hold the trees and they pull over.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

high wind when it has been super wet, saturated ground can't hold the trees and they pull over

Still sounds like normal Florida fall weather to me. It took nearly two months to remove the piles of dead trees and branches which lined every road in 100 miles.

[HairOfTheDog]

OK - I know you have high wind all the time LCS! I wouldn't live were my home and horses were at risk every year, several times a year.

It ain't an every day occurance here, and I'm worried!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Well the weather is fine now, highs around 80, lows in the low 50s, light breezes, .0001 of an inch of rain so far this month, no rain for the last half of October.

Why don't you folks come down this way until the Pacific rainy season ends next spring!