Little Tennesee, Little Alpha Regulator

COPIUOS

COPIUOS

Joined
Dec 24, 2015
Messages
1,609
Went to the Smokies near Walland, TN (unincorporated), near Maryville and Alcoa with my sponsor for annual Christmas/New Years trip to work on his retirement property. We worked and we cooked and worked and hiked and worked and then we really cooked. We throw a big South Louisiana bash for the friends and neighbors who help out and watch the place in between maintenance trips throughout the year.

No food pics, it was too much work to stop and take pics. It took us 2.5 days to cook (from scratch) a gumbo with chicken thighs and homemade pork sausage we make from scratch, jambalaya, etouffee', fried boudin balls stuffed with pepper jack, smoked and injected turkey, sweet potato casserole with pecan topping/praline-like topping, coconut shrimp, fried catfish, regular fried shrimp, and maybe some other stuff, too...it could have fed 100 people and we had about 25 show up due to a rash of the crud going around. We gave away whole full size aluminum tins as take home plates!

Anyways, the Alpha Regulator got a mini workout on some trees holding up some dead wood being pushed down a hill with big (and really big) rocks and stumps and trees to fortify a slope that will build up over the next several years as it all settles in and compacts.

The trees i cut did not stand a chance. One had a decent knot and it was no thing...

The Alpha Regulator was comfortable and bit deep...and I sliced some 2.25" ribeyes off a whole ribeye we bought, and I could have filed a fish directly after. It cut S-Curves as much as a big knife can on regular typing paper, from choil to tip...

Some pics:
PCTgukxl.jpg

5X9JFhal.jpg

FKUu5Jul.jpg

YQR4kXxl.jpg

kH9KjwBl.jpg

X4Y7dedl.jpg


It was fun as usual. Hit up 3 mountain meetings wit friends we have made over the years. no cell reception for 8 days. Although thankfully I had internet connection as I had to work on a research proposal for my PhD program!

Happy New Year all!

May you find peace in joy and suffering as it comes to you this year, as they will both undoubtedly come in some form or fashion. Hopefully skewed more to the joy side, although you never know what is around the corner.

I enjoy being a part of this crazy Krewe!

C
 
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Thanks for the post and photos. After I got mine, my friend mistakenly referred to it as the Annihilator. The name fits, so that’s what we use.
 
Awesome post! except you made me hungry for something hot and spicy that's NOT Mexican LOL! ~ Sounds like the Alpha Regulator was a good choice and it doesn't surprise me in the least. Immediately after opening the wrapper and holding it I knew it would be a fantastic little chopper as I started whacking on my work bench. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the kind sentiments, all!

It is really a fun trip every year! As in most meaningful experiences, it is the people and the relationships that you spend time with that make it so. Also, loosing yourself in the woods (not getting lost!) is quite a thing as well!

Cam
 
Health Policy and Management at Tulane. I am focusing in two interrelated, yet distinct areas. Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facility evaluation, and Access to Rural Health and Mental Health Services (including SUD services). I am particularly interested in populations that are more "disenfranchised" than others; AKA, minimal support structures, lower socioeconomic status, history of incarceration and rural populations, as well as those seeking treatment via publicly funded facilities (AKA Medicaid is primary form of reimbursement). I just learned today that our department got the contract to evaluate facilities that received carve out funding from Medicaid and some other federal funding sources. I am also interested in dual diagnosis models where rather severe psychiatric and psychological issues are the primary diagnosis and SUD is the secondary diagnosis. Basically dealing with stabilizing psychiatric issues first and then moving into recovery mode. The concept has been around for awhile, although there are not a ton of facilities equipped to deal with the issues in this order, or even at all. Especially where Medicaid funding is concerned. Big topics, although it is my passion having had the pleasure to serve as an administrator over a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers in Rural North Carolina and making some of the most amazing relationships in those communities. I am also a low bottom alcoholic in full recovery after 21 years of all kinds of SUD and ending up just a plain old self-loathing and resentful drunk that was facing 15-30 years in prison while my wife was battling terminal cancer. By the Grace of God, I was able to be fully present and walk wit my wife and the Lord through the last 6.5 months of her life on earth. I am also active in my "downtime" working with other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. I am pursuing my PhD so I can speak with some authority once done with the program on how to bring treatment to the next level by establishing some uniform and innovative ways to evaluate quality of service and the "continuum of care" in order for all who seek treatment to have the best shot regardless of funding source. Of course, you have to want it for yourself, which is the grand kicker to SUD. The research around these topics is still rather sparse and one study contradicts another and so on. With my experience in my own recovery starting from a really bad place and hitting bottom rather hard, I believe I can bring a semi-unique perspective.
 
That sounds like a worthwhile educational and career goal. Best of luck to you.
 
COPIUOS said:
If I was told I could only eat one cajun dish for the rest of my life it would be crawfish etouffee with LOUISIANA CRAWFISH!!!
Click to expand...
Are there any other kind? My parents used to have a crawfish boil every year and they would have 200 lbs of crawfish trucked down to south Florida from LA. It was amazing!
 
tuica said:
That sounds like a worthwhile educational and career goal. Best of luck to you.
Click to expand...

I agree, Tuica and I appreciate the encouragement. As soon as I said Uncle to Alcohol and I asked God for help, it has been quite a ride.

My medium term goal post PhD is to develop course curriculum in the areas I research and teach classes on the subjects at a broader level than my research. Our department produces healthcare administrators, of which I was one of for a decade, and I want them to understand what alcoholism is and isn't. I also want to research the best ways corporations can help support SUD in both employees and their dependents with SUDs. It is well documented that some big companies in the 1950's started this and had great success retaining talented resources that were willing to "get wit the program". It starts with understanding. I am speaking to first years already in one session of their professional development class they are required to take.

Of course, I have no idea what will happen, although I prayed over this decision after my wife went to heaven and I felt comfortable that this type of preparation for service to others was the way to go.

C
 
COPIUOS said:
Went to the Smokies near Walland, TN (unincorporated), near Maryville and Alcoa with my sponsor for annual Christmas/New Years trip to work on his retirement property. We worked and we cooked and worked and hiked and worked and then we really cooked. We throw a big South Louisiana bash for the friends and neighbors who help out and watch the place in between maintenance trips throughout the year.

No food pics, it was too much work to stop and take pics. It took us 2.5 days to cook (from scratch) a gumbo with chicken thighs and homemade pork sausage we make from scratch, jambalaya, etouffee', fried boudin balls stuffed with pepper jack, smoked and injected turkey, sweet potato casserole with pecan topping/praline-like topping, coconut shrimp, fried catfish, regular fried shrimp, and maybe some other stuff, too...it could have fed 100 people and we had about 25 show up due to a rash of the crud going around. We gave away whole full size aluminum tins as take home plates!

Anyways, the Alpha Regulator got a mini workout on some trees holding up some dead wood being pushed down a hill with big (and really big) rocks and stumps and trees to fortify a slope that will build up over the next several years as it all settles in and compacts.

The trees i cut did not stand a chance. One had a decent knot and it was no thing...

The Alpha Regulator was comfortable and bit deep...and I sliced some 2.25" ribeyes off a whole ribeye we bought, and I could have filed a fish directly after. It cut S-Curves as much as a big knife can on regular typing paper, from choil to tip...

Some pics:
PCTgukxl.jpg

5X9JFhal.jpg

FKUu5Jul.jpg

YQR4kXxl.jpg

kH9KjwBl.jpg

X4Y7dedl.jpg


It was fun as usual. Hit up 3 mountain meetings wit friends we have made over the years. no cell reception for 8 days. Although thankfully I had internet connection as I had to work on a research proposal for my PhD program!

Happy New Year all!

May you find peace in joy and suffering as it comes to you this year, as they will both undoubtedly come in some form or fashion. Hopefully skewed more to the joy side, although you never know what is around the corner.

I enjoy being a part of this crazy Krewe!

C
Click to expand...
I love seeing Blades in there natural habitat!
 
RATequila said:
I love seeing Blades in there natural habitat!
Click to expand...

Me too! I did not have a chance to test out the new convex edge I put on my DS8, although I did punch and open plenty of cans of CoCo Lopez with an old school hand ground SH variant...it has a rounder tip at this point, so perfect for can usage...stroped and sand papered out some rolls on the asym grind, and hair shaving sharp in the areas I used! Amazing stuff, INFI!

Did process chicken thighs with my FFG INFIDU and it was a great knife for the purpose as well! Obviously capable of much heavier tasks although it was really sharp and I was able to make clean cuts through stacked chicken layers and trim some excess fat/connective tissue like a butcher!

We never cut off all the fat the way we cook...it would be a tapestry!

C
 
WatermanChris said:
Are there any other kind? My parents used to have a crawfish boil every year and they would have 200 lbs of crawfish trucked down to south Florida from LA. It was amazing!
Click to expand...

Nope, not in my book! I love it when people get live crawfish shipped to their destinations outside the state. It often amazes people when they show up!!! We used to do it at our place in Garland, TX (where i spent much of my youth)...neighbors were always scared of the live mud bugs!

Great Stuff WC!

C
 
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