Colorado has gone “hog wild” with their gun laws, regulations and mismanagement of public lands and wildlife. The more I wanna gunsmith the more the state wants to regulate the little guy right out of the market. So Here I am, no longer in the market. I have the firearms I need and most of the ones I want so that will suffice.

Firearms and outdoors have always been my passion, but with the outdoors jammed packed with people and the firearms and hunting industry becoming monopolized and incorporated none of it is as fun as it once was. One other thing I’ve always had a passion for is cooking (the one thing they haven’t figured out how to regulate the shit out of…at least not yet).

I remember going to the head of the pier and purchasing food from what we called “The Roach Coach.” I got out of the Navy with a simple idea and concept. Put a “Roach Coach” centrally located at a major crossroads in Southern Wyoming or Northern Colorado. And watch the pumpers, rig hands, roustabouts, equipment operators, and anyone else looking for fresh homemade food line up.

The oil field boomed with the methane for a spell, the money was good, life happened, and this concept never panned out. A few years down the road and my idea exploded. There were TV shows, competitions, and whole TV channels dedicated to “Food Trucks,” and you could see them everywhere. There was even one parked at a pull off along Wyoming Highway 789 where I’d dreamed of setting up…GDMFSOBs stole my idea!!!

I always wanted to open up a Cafe, a little Hole-in-the-Wall, greasy spoon diner. Monday through Friday serve breakfast and lunch. Friday and Saturday serve dinners and Sundays would be a morning brunch, closed by 2 PM. Simple menu, easy prices.

One thing truly annoying when eating out is a menu with pages of lists of food dishes. It is very aggravating attempting to decipher a menu at a new joint that consists of lists and lists of food accompanied by little thumbnail pictures scattered all over the pages, Chinese and Mexican joints, I’m talking about you. Is it absolutely necessary to have 60-80 different ways to serve up rice, noodles, cabbage, meat, beans, tortillas, and salsa? Good God man, give us a break.

I’m not sure what it’s like where you live but around here, whenever you eat at a Mexican restaurant you need to bring your own lantern or desk lamp. Something about the ambiance and mood they’re trying to set. I imagine it’s so that one can’t tell they ordered the same shit as their partner, just the order of assembly was a little different is all.

Anybody else notice food quality going to hell since COVID? You can’t find the consistency that once existed at your favorite eateries. McDonalds changed their Picante Sauces, they attempted to bring back the Steak, Egg and Cheese Bagel which was a huge failure, since when do we start needing sauce on everything? Taco Bell brought back some 90’s items, which were not the 90’s items, at all. Even sit down restaurants, Olive Garden must have had a big falling out in the family. To their credit it seems the family has made up so it’s starting to get a little better. BWs, always been shitty to me, but they cook their wings in tallow so that’s one thing going for them.

So what’s a person to do? You can invite yourself to every function you know of or figure out how to make it yourself, to your taste, to your liking. “Roll ur Own” as I say with handloading and guns. You’ll be money ahead in the long run.

So how do I start? I’m glad you asked.

Facebook Marketplace, which I recently learned you don’t need an account to access, you just need to know someone that does so they can message the seller for you. Craigslist, I didn’t even realize that was still around. Thrift stores, Antique stores, and Garage sales also (a new passion for Shannon and myself) are great places to find things. By “things” I mean cooking implements i.e., grills, cast iron skillets, cook stoves, etc.

Father’s day and my B-day were approaching, my lovely wife was considering upgrading one of my outdoor cooking devices. Essentially I was on the hunt for an offset barrel type smoker. Knowing that in order to get a good one we would have to pay good money for it, “buy once, cry once.” An guy at work turned me on to marketplace and that was that.

It started with an 18″ Weber Kettle, a 22″ Weber Performer Deluxe, and a 22″ Weber Mastertouch…it hasn’t ended. Seriously, there is no end in sight. It’s worse than guns and ammo. There’s no waiting period, no excise tax, no added state tax, or added tax for ammunition. No age restrictions, background checks, certifications, magazine limitations, no ammunition or loading component shortages, etc. No qualifications necessary, no draw limits, or applications, deadlines and it’s a lot easier and more fun than hunting down old guns. Did I mention cheaper, well it’s a lot cheaper too…per item anyway. LOL!