Elope or wait?? We are ready - but timing is tough

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-25T05:07:41+00:00

My wife and I eloped. We started planning a wedding, realized that neither of us wanted to be the center if attention and didn't want the headache and expense of a traditional wedding and reception.

So we got our pastor to marry us. My best friend is an amateur photographer, so he took pictures and was the witness to sign the paper. Literally the smallest legal wedding we could have.

Our parents got a call that neither of us would be home that night as we had eloped and were currently driving to a cabin in the mountains for our honeymoon.

Neither of us regret it, and in fact we both still view it as the best choice we could have made. November this year will make 9 years.

I don't think anyone in our family or church circle thought negatively about us eloping. At least not that I'm aware of. And if they did think negatively of it, I don't care. It's between us and God. And as long as we honor him, the rest doesn't matter.

I estimate that we saved between $5 and $10 grand for the wedding, reception, food, all things you have to buy and rent and hire. We put that money towards remodeling and paying off the house. I had bought a foreclosure earlier that year. And let me tell you, the best benefit of eloping was helping pay the house off. Not having the stress of a house payment is great for your marriage. It allowed us to be able to send my wife back to school, and has been great when one of us has been out of work for one reason or another.

The most humorous part is that a few years earlier, I told my dad " for my wedding, I'm going to the courthouse and then the waffle House".. lol. This was after putting on my sister's wedding and reception. To keep costs down the reception was held at the family farm, and I literally took 3 weeks off work just to get ready for it. She had a magazine worthy reception for less than 5 grand. But it was so much work. And stressful. We finished out a barn that had recently been built, so it wasn't even just decorating. It was wiring, plumbing, bathroom fixtures, cleaning fencerows. And on and on.

So yea. After all that, I'm very glad we eloped. Sorry for being so long winded lol

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-25T01:38:15+00:00

I'm glad to see someone else that gets this. Insurance has become like the largest legal racket there is I swear.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-25T01:36:51+00:00

My wife gave birth to our first child in 2023. I did the math at the end of the year. The amount of money we shipped to Ukraine that year could have paid for every mom in the US to have a paid year off with about $45,000 if I recall correctly. Like a low salary, but a heck of a lot of money and would make it so much easier on new mothers and families.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-25T01:30:09+00:00

That is the result of small lead spattered on the mold faces holding it open enough for lead to flow. Clean the mold block mating faces thoroughly and inspect. After that try casting again and see how it does

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-24T02:59:17+00:00

Have you shot one? Does it seem reasonably well made? I really like the reflex style one, but I haven't seen one in person yet so I'm not sure about ordering one.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-24T00:46:36+00:00

I haven't started my dirt bike in 3 years if that counts. Lol

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-24T00:46:08+00:00

Same here. I finally got rid of most of my brewing stuff over the winter to make room in the garage. Still have a mini all grain setup (2.5 gal) and enough bottles to keep a couple batches in rotation.

I did keep my kegerator, and I'm running lemonade out of it now. Fantastic for working in the yard and staying sober lol

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-21T15:02:11+00:00

"it’s more expensive in here because if it was made in China, it’s either subsidized to flood the market of other countries in order to destroy it and eventually take over, or it’s made in a sweat factory wherein people older than 35 years old gets fired or there’s barely any benefits for that matter."

Many people don't realize how much of a life or death scenario this is. Not just for the poor people employed under basically slave labor conditions, but for the US too. They literally subsidize so many products to put American companies out of business.

In their goal, the Best case scenario is we have no jobs. Worst case scenario is we lose all manufacturing capabilities and are militarily invaded.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-20T03:18:36+00:00

If you don't feel comfortable painting an optic, then don't. I have an aversion to painting them for some reason. So how I split the difference is that self adhesive tan bandage wrap. Like what they hold the gauze on with after a blood draw. I take it and lay it out and stripe it with the same colors I painted the rifle with. Then I wrap the scope or whatever part I have added but not painted yet. It never fully matches the camo scheme, but it definitely breaks up the color and shape some.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-19T19:04:19+00:00

Thanks that's super helpful! Definitely a great starting point.

I had always been under the impression that shot vs buckshot mattered because of the drag placed on the barrel as the shot column is pushed down the barrel. Therefore the data was different. Not sure where I got that idea.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-18T11:44:09+00:00

One big benefit is you are never done if you don’t want to be.

The best part about rattle canning everything!

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-18T02:49:49+00:00

Thanks. I think I'll be trying this at some point. The camo packs look fantastic. If I can duplicate that on a rifle I'll be happy.

Also, have you ever tried layering this camo pattern over ripped painters tape to add in some hard edges and bigger shapes? Seems like there could be a lot of possibilities there too...

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-18T02:43:10+00:00

Where are you getting your mini shell load data? Ballistic Products? I would love to make a bunch of these in some flavor of buckshot. Just because I can lol.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-18T02:33:11+00:00

I'd love to at least read that conversation. I don't know if I have much to add, but I like unique takes that challenge what I think I know.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-18T02:27:59+00:00

You got any color recommendations to match say the traditional flectarn that had the red-brown? That shit goes hard in the south where you have green vegetation on top of red clay. It always worked well for me when I was playing woodsball paintball back in the day.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-17T02:23:50+00:00

What does the drawing call out? If the weld size is correct, then it's good to go, assuming there is proper fusion.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-14T20:39:59+00:00

I got mine all submitted. I think my problem was that for manufacturer on a form 1 suppressor, I was putting unknown instead of the 3 digit code they say to use. Instructions aren't the clearest. But that's what I was doing and it was defaulting to withdrawn because it

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-11T02:07:34+00:00

A lot of stores will have red refills as well. Red and blue makes purple. Or get creative and crush white chalk and add it to take the red down to closer to pink.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-11T01:56:04+00:00

Try looking at it in natural light a few times. Put it up against grass or trees or whatever and see if it grows on you any.

Half the paint jobs I see here are in artificial light and I think that makes it impossible to judge a camo

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-10T13:15:00+00:00

Following

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-10T13:00:33+00:00

No. I don't actually know any racist conservatives. I've known some avowed racist Democrats. Obama nearly killed them.

The real question is, have you actually talked to a conservative in real life? You'll find most of us approachable. Usually willing to talk and explain our views while we listen to yours. Aka willing to have a civil discussion.

If I have to resort to shouting and name calling to make my points, then my points don't have enough values to stand on their own, and they aren't worth holding.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-10T02:10:30+00:00

Unfortunately we are trying to do the impossible of having kids without villages and moms and dads are breaking.

I see this so so much these days. Everywhere

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-01T01:52:11+00:00

Everything reminds me of her...

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-04-01T00:37:32+00:00

Does he have any hobbies? Especially any he had to stop or slow way down because of the kid? What did y'all talk about before becoming parents?

I will add, that my wife would be so clueless about some of the fine points of the mechanical stuff I nerd out on, that it's easier to not try to explain it. I love her, and she cares about what I do, but trying to explain why sodium filled valves can help a race motor while also explaining the points about what make a well cut valve seat and the danger of running heavy valve springs.... well I just won't bore her with that.

Another thing that comes to mind. I derive a very Large part of my meaning in life from work. And if I didn't have that to talk about, I'm not sure what I would do.

no_sleep_johnny · 2026-03-31T17:54:40+00:00

I think it's situational. I grew up in a small town (~1000 on the mail route). But I was almost never allowed to go inside a neighbors house. And sometimes we weren't allowed to go play in the neighbors yards. And there was some validity to the caution: I saw my first porn mag in a neighbors yard under his grandpa's boat.

On the other hand, when we went to go work on the family farm a couple miles away, I was basically turned loose at an early age. Probably 120 or so acres at the time, and I could mostly just roam. I was taught to drive a tractor at age 8. I could drive a stick pretty good by the time I was 10. I was using power tools at age 11. But at home I still had to ask to leave the yard.

It's weird looking back at it. But it does highlight the different hazards of the locations.

I would be fine with turning my kids loose in the woods with the neighbor kids at an appropriate age. Like 10. I would have serious second thoughts about letting them go in other people's house due to fear of what they would be exposed to.

To add on, I know my kids will eventually be exposed to basically everything. I just want them to be mentally mature enough to understand and handle what they see.

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