change of scenery

[usagi_tetsu]

Well, it's about damn time. I get a call last week from a bud of mine (he was my battle buddy in Iraq), feeling me out to see if I'd be interested in a job in his section. He's now NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) of the Education Services section for the Missouri Army Guard and I've been working as an admin clerk (glorified secretary) for a line unit out here in St Joe, MO. Anyway, he's got a position open, I'm top of the Enlisted promotion list, and he'd love to get me in there, as he knows what a hard worker I am. The phone call is just a feeler, though, no hard offer yet, just to see if I'm interested. I answer that yeah, I probably would take the promotion and change of scenery, especially as I've been in the same place since I got back from Iraq 2 and a half years ago. It's time for a move.

So I'm thinking that the official offer is a ways off, and boy was I surprised when it came the very next day. And I accepted the offer, as I pretty much said I would. They're telling me I'll start down at Jefferson City on the 15th of May, and the wife and I are looking at moving the house and famn damily no later than 1st of July.

Why am I telling you folks this? Figured I'd share, and get some conversations going on here. I'd been kind of thinking about hitting FireFall Objective at Smak Zone in September, but since I'll be 4 hours closer than I would have been, I'm thinking it's almost a definite of me attending that. Hell, I might even be able to drag the wife down to it. Anyone else looking at going?

Anyone know of any good fields in the Jeff City/Columbia area? I've asked the question over on M Carter Brown and gotten nothing but crickets on the net so far.

[~kaos~]

Bill.... congrats on the promo, good things happen for good people. Then there's guys like you and me..... j/k.
When you said change of scenery I was wondering just how big the change would be. Guess there wasn't anything out this way but Jeff City will be nice for you.
As you noted, you'll be in decent range to SmakZone (and Baileys). I think Crowley
is a little closer to you but I'm not sure exactly where.... i'll look.

[usagi_tetsu]

Yeah, not that big a change of scenery. And while I'd love to move back to the Southwest tomorrow (I grew up in Carlsbad, NM, making St Joe the Frozen Hell of the North come winter time) (and downright unbearable in the summer time due to 85%+ humidity... how do you people survive it without SCUBA gear?!), it's not quite in the works at this point. Give it time, and I'll be back to the Land of Enchantment (or Texas or Arizona) eventually.

I'd forgotten about Bill Bailey's down in Niangua. He'd left for a while, which in my mind meant he'd closed down for good even though he handed the business off to someone else. Apparently, he came back in time to do Panzer Attack earlier this year and friends of mine in the St Joe area attended and are still talking about how good it was. I'll definitely be looking to go to something down there.

Crowley? Is that a city or a field? I am not familiar with this place, and seek further information! =D

Are you talking about Crowley Ridge PB (http://www.geocities.com/crowleyridgepb/), by chance? The move will put me closer to there, just not any really good routes between JC and Bloomfield. Admittedly, there's not any good routes from JC to Patterson, where SmakZone is at. They have good games down there? Should I add them to my list of places to play at?

Finally had some luck with finding a field in the JC/Columbia area, as a resident of Jeff City finally replied on MCB. Short answer - no fields within an hour's drive, though there is an outlaw group in the area that has a field. So I won't be completely without paintball, just won't enjoy the variety and selection I enjoy living close to the KC metro area. I'll survive, somehow. =P

[~kaos~]

Yeah.... that was it, Crowley Ridge PB. And if you're asking if SmakZone is worth the trip.... oh, hell yeah. They have a good sized field with a wide variety of terrain and Mark runs a damn good game. If I could only go to 2 fields in Missouri it would be Baileys and SmakZone.... definitely put OES (operation eminent storm) and FFO (fire fall objective) on your calender.
And if you ever do make it out this way we'll have to go out in the desert and shoot some of my new toys.
Here's a nice lil' SKS I picked up for $180...
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3733/00001s.jpg

[usagi_tetsu]

I'm waiting on my wife's aunt's current husband (lost yet?) to finally shuffle off (or be pushed by someone in her family... he's a real douche) the mortal coil and then I'll probably be picking something very similar for very cheap, as well as a bunch of handguns and probably another pump shotgun. Dude is a serious gun nut and won't let his wife get rid of any of it, even though it mostly just sits gathering dust and they could use the extra money. My latest acquisition, outside of some relics I got when Grandpa passed (including some Nazi marked war trophies from WW2), was a Mossberg 9200A semi 12ga for cheap. $150, almost brand spanky new, so new that I haven't broke in the bolt carriage return springs yet and it doesn't cycle real well, meaning it hasn't had a full 100 cartridges run through it yet. And it's a nice piece, full 28" barrel and 5-round tube mag, though it has the plastic buttstock and foregrip which are getting replaced (http://www.havlinsales.com/model500.htm) as soon as I get the money for them and the 9-round tube extension.

Of course, that's all waiting for the big move to happen first, and to find a new place to go shooting. Hell, we're looking forward to getting a bigger place as we definitely need the space for a new gun safe. Went from two rifles to a whole slew of long guns and two pistols, along with some bayonets and other bits of memoribilia. Let's see, I've got a .22 short-only 1923 Winchester semi I inherited from Grandma Haworth (her rabbit hunting rifle from the Great Depression), a Swiss Schmidt-Rubin K31 Carbine (in 7.5x55mm Swiss, a nasty cartridge that kicks like a damn mule), a .22LR semi tube fed from Grandpa Bennett, a Freedom Arms 4-10 break open single-barrel (that looks older than dirt) also from Grandpa Bennett, most of a Mauser Kar98K, a Walther P38 w/holster and extra mag, and a Mauser 1934 pistol w/holster, plus two bayonets for the K98 (all from Grandpa Bennett's time in the Army), and the aforementioned Mossberg 9200. The sad part is that I've only paid for the Mossberg and the K31, and only the K31 was tracked on an actual FFL. I find the collection rather funny as my parents are avowed non-aggressive peaceful people (they did live in the 60's and wore a lot of tie-die, just no drug abuse so I really can't call them hippies, but they're awfully close), but here I've inherited all these firearms from their forebears. How the generations do change.

Anyway, packing is proceeding at pace, and the place is already starting to get real crowded from all the boxes. Not sure exactly when we'll be moving, but probably first of June or July to make it easy on our new and old landlords. Good news is gov't is paying for it (thanks for paying your taxes in the US, guys, my bank account appreciates it), it's just all the niggling details between now and then.

Oh, and if anyone is interested, I'll be playing paintball one last time before the move on the 16th of May at DropZone (http://www.dropzonepaintball.com/) in Lawrence, on their rec-play field (so no agitated or force-fed hoppers), and everyone is welcome to come join me and my St Joe friends for some flinging of the paint.

[~kaos~]

That's a nice little collection you have going. Hope you move someplace where you can take them out and blow the cobwebs off them.
And don't forget who you're talking to here.... not only was I alive during the 60's I freekin' lived in the San Francisco Bay Area back then. And yes, I actually walked the streets of Haight and Ashbury. Lots of hippies there as well as in Golden Gate Park and down by Fishermans Wharf. But it was just another typical California day.

[usagi_tetsu]

Quick update - started the new job on Monday and learning lots of stuff. Have a month worth of classes this year (1 2-week course, and 2 1-week courses) spread out in July, August, and November, but don't have to perform a 2-week AT, so there is a bit of good news in there. Still hadn't found a place by last Monday, so I spent Monday and Tuesday night checking out places, and did succeed in getting us a place in Columbia. 4bed/2bath duplex, close to the highways and not in a terribly student-y part of town. Columbia is home to MU (go Tigers... or something, I guess, I don't watch college sports) and we looked at a bunch of places that exist in parts of town called "studentvilles", and you could tell - cars parked everywhere, empty beer cans and bottles strewn about, trash and random bits of furniture on all the lawns, and tons of Ubiquitous Red Cups (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ubiquitous+red+cup). Yeah, I have a 6 month old daughter, and about the second time she gets woken up by the frat-phuques and sorostitutes on a Friday night, I'm not going to call the cops, I'm just going to open fire.

So we avoided those areas of town and found the aforementioned duplex, surrounded by professional adults with children. I'm taking next week off (gotta love PCS moves - not only does the gov't pay for everything, they also throw in an extra 10 days of paid vacation) to close up shop in St Joseph, and then on the 30th and 31st, we'll be moving everything down. I've already gotten in contact with the local outlaw group, as there's no paintball fields inside of Columbia or Jeff City, and looking to get some fling on whenever I can get some spare time. Which, unfortunately, won't be until about August.

I will be trying hard (and I'm not working those weekends, as far as I know) to hit Smak Zone's (http://www.smakzone.com/) FireFall Objective (http://www.smakzone.com/FFO.html) and CHAOS (http://www.smakzone.com/chaos.html) games. Who wants to join me?

[can'tthink of1]

Wow, I just came across this, haven't been here for awhile.

Anyways, I live in columbia and go to MU these days (engineering degree of some sort, not sure which yet). Where are you moving into?

Even picked up a few paintball weapons, but like you realized, nowhere close to play. Basically I've been wanting to play whenever I get a weekend off and head back to stl to see freinds/family, but hasn't worked out yet since work and school keeps me busy.

[usagi_tetsu]

Can't! Sweet bud, we'll get together sometime and fling some paint. I found an outlaw group down in Jeff City via M. Carter Brown (see the post here (http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/central/74885-columbia-jeff-city-missouri-area.html)) and also I'll be traveling about to check out Wacky Warriors, Bushwacker's, Smak Zone, and a couple of others in the area. We're moving just northeast of the I-70/Hwy 63 interchange, just off of Clarke Ln. If you're not doing anything Sunday afternoon, come by to help us unload our moving truck and we'll feed you. I'll PM you the address.

[Dances with Tribals]

Hey kaos i have an sks in composite and wood. Accurate SOB's. And usagi your moving about 200 miles closer to me. You'll only be a hop and half a skip away. Congrats on the promo. Would you happen to know a Major Douglas Gifford?

[can'tthink of1]

Yeah, Bushwackers is a decent woodsball place, although I haven't been in years honestly, haven't played in years. But I'd be willing to make the drive to Xtreme over on the IL side which my favorite field of the area, good times there, but once again haven't stepped foot on a field in years. Although I'd probably do it when I could crash at my rents place the night before to save myself a 2.5 hour drive, but who knows, I'd almost be up for leaving at 6ish to get there by 9am.

I've got the itch to go play so bad, just haven't had it all pan out yet. We'll figure something out

[r a b]

I'm about 1 1/2 from Columbia! I'm in Jeff about once per month. I will be at FFO with all of our Maddman gear.

Congrats on the promotion and all of the new fire arms. We will need to compare collections some time.

[usagi_tetsu]

DwT - Sweet! My sis and bro-in-law live in StL and he's looking at getting more into paintball, so I'll let you know whenever I'm planning a trip out that way to Wacky Warriors or X-Treme. And no, don't know MAJ Gifford, sorry.

Can't - And again, will let you know when I'm heading out that way to fling some paint. Unfortunately, it won't be real soon as there's a ton of stuff to get unpacked and placed at the new residence, and we still look like we're living in a storage locker.

Rusty - Looking forward to finally meeting you in person, bud! Remind me closer to FFO and I'll stash some of the choicer pieces in my vehicle for showing off.

[~kaos~]

Fuck all you midwestern guys........ You think you're so cool cuz you got all kinds of places to play and games to attend. Big deal we got.... um.... well, we don't have snow , ice, tornados or humidity. So there!! BTW don't forget to invite Andy (warped).

[usagi_tetsu]

Fuck all you midwestern guys........ You think you're so cool cuz you got all kinds of places to play and games to attend. Big deal we got.... um.... well, we don't have snow , ice, tornados or humidity. So there!! BTW don't forget to invite Andy (warped).

Oh come on, you could go watch all the fun tourney speedball games that are happening in the SouthWest and along the West Coast... oh wait, no, you have some pride and wouldn't do that to yourself.

That's right, Andy's in the area, isn't he? Have to PM him and see what he's up to.

[Dances with Tribals]

Fuck all you midwestern guys........ You think you're so cool cuz you got all kinds of places to play and games to attend. Big deal we got.... um.... well, we don't have snow , ice, tornados or humidity. So there!! BTW don't forget to invite Andy (warped).

Where I grew up and went to HS at is a town of around 1500 (only 700 in city limits) and there are 2 nice fields here lmao. Not to mention the dozens of others only 30 miles away!