Sic 'Em

Edit: Larry has contacted the smarmy little... er... the owner of the company and has apparently worked out something he considers equitable. I still think the dude should die the death of a thousand papercuts but it's not my place to say.

Turns out that we dedicated fans aren't the only ones who think that Larry Correia had a great idea when he wrote Monster Hunter International.

I know most of you are fans of the book and eagerly awaiting the sequel, which Larry reports has been purchased and is on the way. Those who don't know the book ought to be equally offended by what I'm about to report.

Seems that some dim bulb over at Two Hour Wargames (his name happens to be Ed Teixeira and I'll give the rest of Jane free to the first person who digs up his personal email address for me kthx) had the exact same idea as Larry. This year. With a few ever-so-minor changes of course.

File off the serial numbers and make it your own, apparently.

For the record, if you're not intrinsically offended by the fact that some dipwad took a published, bestselling idea that the author put his blood sweat and tears (figurative or literal, writing can be a tough game) into, worked his butt off to get published, and is still working his butt off to promote and continue, and tried to sell it as his own for a profit without permission or even consultation, you can get the hell off my blog.

Shit like this is illegal, immoral, and just plain-ass lazy. So go my minions (Yes I'm talking to you JimJim) and write nasty emails, blogs, throw eggs, dig up dirt, make em look like crap. Because that's what they are.

Larry's post on it is here

The company's website is here and no I haven't really taken the time to dig through it yet, but I will. Oh believe me I will.

Larry links to the yahoo discussion group so I'll let ya'll read his post to pick that one up.

Shall we show them what a bunch of pissed off, highly literate and highly loyal people can do when they get riled?

Give Thanks

Dear friends, today is a day for family, food, and thanks.

I can't possibly enumerate everything that I'm thankful for. There is entirely too much, great and small, so I'll just hit the high points.

I am thankful for my health, and for the health of those I care about, two and four-legged. Farmmom "graduated" physical therapy yesterday, which puts an end to twice weekly trips to the Big Town.

I am thankful for new friends, both here and elsewhere. This year I had the amazing opportunity to meet folks from all over the country, and I adored it!

I am thankful for old friends. The people who stick by you no matter what and always bring a smile to your face when you see them coming are beyond price in this life. If you have them, don't let them go, and let them know today that you are glad they're around.

I'm thankful for family, who can make life grand. Good family makes life easier, better, happier. I think I have the best, and I'm not afraid to say so.

I'm thankful to live where I get to see awe-inspiring sights such as eagles soaring, deer and antelope bounding across the plains, fiery sunsets and golden dawns. I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to be reminded to enjoy these things earlier this month by seeing their like through fresh eyes.

And, dear readers, I'm thankful for each and every one of you. It's been two years since I started this blog, and although I've lost the time to reply to each and every comment left here, I guarantee you that I still read all of them. When I started this, I thought I might get a few occasional readers, and I was content with that. To see over a hundred hits every day is far beyond my wildest expectations, and yet, here we are.

So I'm thankful. I'm thankful for the people who never fail to read, I'm thankful for the compliments that I get on my writing, and most of all I'm thankful for the ability to bring a little entertainment and information into the lives of others, and the small bit of talent that makes it possible.

Enjoy your day today, folks, and be safe.

Job Unfinished

I need to send two horses off to new homes. I know I do. I've known it for a while.

But- I'm not finished with them yet. Excuses abound but the plain fact is I've not worked with them as much as I have the others, for various reasons.

Legs, while not an affectionate horse, is a fine mare, and would be a good horse for an early intermediate rider, if they exercised her regularly. She's a big old woman but generally listens to what she's told and aside from her flat-out refusal to back out of a trailer, has good ground manners for as little as I've worked with her on it.

But she's not the horse she could be, with a little more work.

Red... oh good lord Red. I cringe at the thought of selling him. I'm going to take a loss on him, I know (on the price I bought him at, not counting my work or the dedicated, determined, and somehow ever-patient work of Sparky) but that's not really why I cringe. I cringe because he's such a little peckerwood. Someone is going to associate my name with that horse when I really had nothing to do with turning him into a cranky little bastard.

Maybe I should just run him through the ring and beg them not to mention my name.

I'm still hoping to find Legs a home without going through the sale barn. Both for pricing, and because she deserves a good home.

It's not her fault that our personalities just don't mesh.

Regardless, I need to find some decent weather (this week is supposed to be nice but I'm not sure what "free" time I'll have) and ride them both. Regularly. And until they sell. One way or another.

I need the money, and in Legs' case she deserves a home that will give her the attention and affection that is proper. I'm sure she's quite happy with the pasture-lazy life she's had with us, but I feel like I'm leaving a job unfinished, still.

Red, well, he's another job unfinished, but I'm not sure I have the patience, time, or skill to finish that job myself. He was pretty messed up when I bought him, and although Sparky did a fantastic job with him, he's still a little pain in the ass.

Time to stop looking at the temperature and whimpering about it being cold, and I don't really need to ride today, do I? Time to man up, bundle up, and get my skinny butt out there wearing out some saddle leather.

Oh god, this is gonna suck if Red manages to land me on my keister... frozen ground hurts!

Farmmom's Chicken Fried Steak

This recipe is one of my Mom's. Back in the 70's she went to work in a local cafe just to steal the recipe for this.

First start out with a good Cube steak.


In a flat bowl mix up some flour, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, and cayenne pepper. You will have to play with the spicing on your flour mixture to get the spices the way you want. This is the same flour mixture I use for Spicy Fried Chicken.



In another flat bowl mix a couple eggs and a little milk.


Next crunch up a bunch of saltine crackers. You will want a mixture of chunks of cracker and fine crushed stuff. I use a ziplock bag and a rolling pin. Pour the crackers in a pan ( a cakepan works well ) to help keep the mess down.

Now just make an assembly line of your flour, egg mixture and crackers.

Coat the Cube Steak in the flour mixture.


Then Dredge it in the egg mixture.


Then place that in the crackers. Cover the steak in the crackers and press hard till the steak is completely coated in the crackers.


If you're wondering what to do with your leftover egg mixture once you've got your steaks ready to fry, I suggest showing your pets some love. They'll thank you for it.


Place the steak in a skillet with vegetable oil over medium high heat and cook till golden brown on one side. Flip steak and repeat on the other side.



Serve with Pan Gravy and mashed potatoes. Or Fried potatoes and green beans with bacon and onions, as shown here:




Photographer/taste tester's note: You can save your leftover flour and crackers. Put them in airtight containers and they'll be ready for the next time you want some of Farmmom's Chicken Fried Steak.

Chapter Six

Is now available. A couple of notes:

To assist me in getting you what you want, if you need chapters 1-5 please note that on the form with Paypal. Or, alternately, send me an email.

Chapter Six will not include all the previous chapters. I gave the chapters previous to Five as a courtesy, as they were already on the blog. If I give away all of the chapters for a dollar, it's not fair to the people who paid for the previous chapters. So, for Chapter Six, one dollar. For chapters 1-5, one dollar. For Chapter Seven, one dollar.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their donations and support. Ya'll just rock.

Also, not to sound like a money grubber, even though it does, if you like Jane, then tell your friends. More because I love the idea that my story is making people happy than anything.

No really. I enjoyed putting it on the blog, and I'll be putting up a sidebar... somewhere... with the chapters available on the blog for people to preview, if they like, before they buy. But this little drive has demonstrated that people like Jane more than even putting her story here. So thank you all, for thinking that my scribblings are worth it, for the compliment of being willing to pay for them, and for the generosity.

You all rock my socks and I'm reminded every time I see that email telling me someone else donated that there are still fantastic, sweet, caring people in the world. Thank you for that, too.

Fair Warning

Today is the last day to get Chapters 1-5 of Jane for minimal hassle.

Tomorrow Chapter 6 goes up and you'll have to put a note on your donation or email me to get the previous chapters.

Just a reminder.

Dear AT&T

My blog is not a forum for you to whore your services. If you were to approach me about putting an ad on my blog, I would consider it politely- for about five seconds, as your coverage in my area sucks, and I don't use your service.

So do me a big favor, and keep your sock puppets off my blog mmkay? Another comment and I'll be contacting... whoever I can find to contact, and pitching a fit until I'm shipped up the line to someone who can tell me exactly how much my split is for being forced to pimp your services.

To recap: All comments advertising a product or service will be deleted as soon as I see them. More than one from the same company, and I'll start dedicating some of my precious time to making someone with that company's life miserable.

(Regular readers, commenters, or if you're a real person who just popped in and you have a question, recommendation, or something to actually say about a product, and your comment is valid, you won't be deleted. Blatant whoring will not be tolerated. Sharing information and asking questions is just fine.)

Because, friends, this is my forum of expression. I decide who gets to say what on my blog, and I'll be damned if I'm going to allow some two-bit flunky getting paid by the hit to pimp a service that I won't use.

That is all.