# Newbie from Oregon



## rodbuilder (Oct 30, 2007)

My name is Gary, I'm 65 and been retired for 8 years now. The wife and I travel about 6 months out of the year in our RV. We go south for the winter for a couple of months and to the Oregon coast on a lake for 3 months. While at the Oregon coast this summer I finally got a GOSM propane smoker. I have smoked a couple of butts and ribs once and they turned out great thanks to all the folks here at the forum. A couple of my hobbies are woodworking and building custom fishing rods hence, rodbuilder.

I'm sure I will have plenty of questions for the pro's and hope to contribute some myself...


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## monstah (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to SMF!


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## bbq bubba (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF!


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## homebrew & bbq (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome, rodbuilder! It sounds like you've already discovered who much you can learn from the people here at SMF. Ask whatever questions you have and most likely someone will have some kind of answer for you. Glad you have you with us!


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## blackhawk19 (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF, questions are always welcome here and we love Q-View.


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## phil s (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome!!!


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## richoso1 (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF, the best smokin' site on the net. Good to know you still enjoy fishing, have you smoked any trout?


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## rodbuilder (Oct 30, 2007)

richoso1, I have smoked trout, salmon, steelhead and all sorts of pan fish for the last 40 years in a Little Chief and Big Chief electric smoker.  

Also have made jerkey from elk, deer, goose, duck, and beef...


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## cowgirl (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF Gary, I'm looking forward to your input and your Qviews!


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## pescadero (Oct 30, 2007)

From one Oregonian to another, nice to have you on board. This is a great site and you will make some good friends in short order.

I too, started out with Little Chiefs and Big Chiefs and in fact still have them. The little one is hard to beat for Salmon, because of it's built in lower temps. I have recently added the GOSM vertical and really like it.

Take some pictures of your next smoke and share the Q-View with us.

Skip


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## roger (Oct 30, 2007)

Rodbuilder,

Welcome aboard, lot's of good people and lots of good information.

By the way, do you build rods on the side?


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## Deer Meat (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF


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## desert smokin (Oct 30, 2007)

Welcome aboard. Got a GOSM myself and it has treated me well. Lookin forward to hearing about your smokin adventures.
If all goes well, I should be moving up your way to Shady Cove around May of 08. Lookin forward to that pre-retirement move.


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## Dutch (Oct 31, 2007)

Nice to have you along, rodbuilder.  I had a neighbor that was a rod builder; his specialty was bamboo fly rods. He was going to build me one but he got invited to flyfish on the great trout stream up yonder.  He did tune a couple of graphite fly rods for me though. I think of that kindly old gentleman every time I see them and use them.

See you in the Forums-

Enjoy


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## rodbuilder (Oct 31, 2007)

I sure do Roger... I have lots of pics of my rodbuilding process. They are truely custom.


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## rodbuilder (Oct 31, 2007)

Thanks to all for the warm welcome.


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## navionjim (Oct 31, 2007)

Welcome, I was born and raised in Corvallis, moved to Newport and worked in PDX 17 years. In Houston now and missing Oregon every day. Good to have ya here.
Jimbo


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## deejaydebi (Oct 31, 2007)

Welcome Gary -

Glad to see you here. If you have any questions I'm sure someone will have an answer = we have alot a experinace here at SMF. ENjoy!


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## jm21 (Oct 31, 2007)

Hi from PDX. I can't offer too much advice as I'm probably greener than you, but it's a pleasant surprise to see how many Oregonians there are here. When I talk about smoking meat all my friends think I'm talking about smoked salmon or jerky, heh. 

Hate to detract from this thread, but seeing 2 Oregonians who've been to the south for extended periods...I've been looking at the piney woods area of east texas as a possible place to move to, but haven't visited the area. The people I know from Texas seem awfully nice and the pictures I've seen look a bit like OR...have either of you been there, and am I nuts? The housing prices here in OR are daunting for a young person starting out, and after living in Southern California for a bit, the rainy winters here seem a lot more dismal...


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## johnd49455 (Oct 31, 2007)

Welcome to the SMF Family


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## navionjim (Nov 2, 2007)

Hate to detract from this thread, but seeing 2 Oregonians who've been to the south for extended periods...I've been looking at the piney woods area of east texas as a possible place to move to, but haven't visited the area. The people I know from Texas seem awfully nice and the pictures I've seen look a bit like OR...have either of you been there, and am I nuts? The housing prices here in OR are daunting for a young person starting out, and after living in Southern California for a bit, the rainy winters here seem a lot more dismal...[/quote]


THIS IS JIMBO LIVING IN THE PINEY WOODS, KINGWOOD TEXAS NORTH OF HOUSTON. IF YOUR IN PDX AND THINKING OF MOVING HERE, STOP! 

You would leave Oregon to move here? I have to tell you there isn't much of anything pretty to look at here. No mountains, a dirty brown water bay with no waves to speak of. It's industrial as hell too, Pietra chemical everywhere the ship channel looks like Dante's Inferno and smells awful. KB&R, Hydrill, Exxon, and Haliburton are just down the street from me. There are more bugs and things that crawl and bite then you can even imagine. Copperheads are the most common snake here outside of the city government. If your tired of rain, try putting up with 100+ degrees and 98% humidity for months at a time. 

Sure you can buy a nice big house for 1/4 as much as you would pay in Oregon, but be prepared for $500+ a month power bills, and $300+ for water on top of that in the summer months. The locals are nice people but they are also nosy as hell, they have nothing else to do but go to church, (90% Baptist here abouts) watch their neighbors, and praise George Bush. You will soon learn that "Bless your heart" can mean anything from "bless your heart", to "burn in hell", all depending on how it is said. Plus they all think they are driving NASCAR, traveling the highway is a life shortening experience, going 100 mph is common. Streetlights and signs are considered "suggestions". Scary as hell going anywhere, and you have to drive forever to get anywhere too. Things are so spread out you end up driving for a couple hours a day even if you live close to work. 

Crime is really bad in Houston too, especially since the Katrina influx. The politicians (except for mayor White) and both the state and local government are totally corrupt as are the utility companies, (can you say Enron?) and they are all in cahoots so you have no recourse when you get overcharged, which happens all the time. Graft and corruption is just an accepted way of life here and your expected to just accept it if you want to live here. This is also home to the biggest Klavern of the KKK in the USA, that should tell you something right there. 

If you want to leave God's country and move to this godforsaken cultural backwater just to save a few bucks, I've got to warn you against it. Besides in the long run you won't save anything anyway. They find ways of taxing you so that you will pay as much no matter where you are. Oregon has no sales tax, everything here is at 8%, believe me that adds up fast. There are trees all around here but don't mistake it for the Pacific Northwest. You can't walk into the woods because it is mostly swamp to start with, and its all super dense creeping vine and pucker brush too. If you do manage to penetrate the woods be prepared for ticks, snakes and biting insects of all kinds. You need to wear snake boots and cover yourself from head to toe, which aint fun in a 100 degree swamp.

Think it over really hard before you consider a move. Your in one of the most pleasant places to live right now, with an intelligent and informed populous. At least come visit the area, preferably in the heat of summer before you make a radical misstak- er decision.
Jimbo


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