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mugwump · 11-07-2013, 14:15

I was the one who had to withstand the vetting in "my" group. I was simultaneously evaluating them with equal due diligence, but from their perspective it was me joining them. I am gradually working myself up from "Skippy the FNG" status. They no longer think I'm stupid, just ignorant.

Long story short, I bought the farm next-door to my old college roommate. Having the ownership go "outside the hollow" wasn't their ideal outcome, but it was 2009, they were tapped out and the banks weren't lending, and it was me or a REIT. They're now quite happy with the way it turned out but I've had to work really, really hard to make it so.

Before the purchase my family and I met all of the other 4 families in the hollow. While they were friendly and sociable, I was grilled about my background, politics, skills, my kids and their accomplishments, etc. We encounter the same indirect grilling in town. My buddy says people like us, so we'll be accepted in just two generations instead of three.

Plinking with them at the quarry was a turning point. We hustled them after pressing the bets.

We're absentee but make a point to volunteer labor (prep little league fields, work summer festival booths) when we visit. I lease the cropland/pasturage to my friend at market prices and his son rents the house from me for $1/year. I've gradually shifted most of my preps there and we hope to (mostly) live there in two years after the new house is built. I hope to continue to rent the old farmhouse to the son. He's a great kid with a great wife (even though her goats ate all my apple tree saplings).

Like me, the guys in the hollow can imagine a high-impact event. While I don't think there's more than a 5-10% chance, they are more in the 1-in-4 camp. We were originally planning on a "hold the hollow" defensive strategy but I did a METT-TC analysis and came to the conclusion that even if we were successful, we'd be buggered if the local town was lost. We've since moved to a "hold the township" strategy which I think is better defensively and would give us more clout if/when the State government wakes us and tries to muscle us for our crops. We're willing to share food for political considerations but won't stand for confiscation.

I'll dig up my METT-TC for defense of the hollow and edit it down to something readable--it's scope is more in line with The Reaper's original challenge.

11-07-2013, 14:15	#19
mugwump Area Commander Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,403	I was the one who had to withstand the vetting in "my" group. I was simultaneously evaluating them with equal due diligence, but from their perspective it was me joining them. I am gradually working myself up from "Skippy the FNG" status. They no longer think I'm stupid, just ignorant. Long story short, I bought the farm next-door to my old college roommate. Having the ownership go "outside the hollow" wasn't their ideal outcome, but it was 2009, they were tapped out and the banks weren't lending, and it was me or a REIT. They're now quite happy with the way it turned out but I've had to work really, really hard to make it so. Before the purchase my family and I met all of the other 4 families in the hollow. While they were friendly and sociable, I was grilled about my background, politics, skills, my kids and their accomplishments, etc. We encounter the same indirect grilling in town. My buddy says people like us, so we'll be accepted in just two generations instead of three. Plinking with them at the quarry was a turning point. We hustled them after pressing the bets. We're absentee but make a point to volunteer labor (prep little league fields, work summer festival booths) when we visit. I lease the cropland/pasturage to my friend at market prices and his son rents the house from me for $1/year. I've gradually shifted most of my preps there and we hope to (mostly) live there in two years after the new house is built. I hope to continue to rent the old farmhouse to the son. He's a great kid with a great wife (even though her goats ate all my apple tree saplings). Like me, the guys in the hollow can imagine a high-impact event. While I don't think there's more than a 5-10% chance, they are more in the 1-in-4 camp. We were originally planning on a "hold the hollow" defensive strategy but I did a METT-TC analysis and came to the conclusion that even if we were successful, we'd be buggered if the local town was lost. We've since moved to a "hold the township" strategy which I think is better defensively and would give us more clout if/when the State government wakes us and tries to muscle us for our crops. We're willing to share food for political considerations but won't stand for confiscation. I'll dig up my METT-TC for defense of the hollow and edit it down to something readable--it's scope is more in line with The Reaper's original challenge. __________________ mugwump “Klaatu barada nikto”
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