They're backkkkkkkk...GOLD RUSH...2011

[dross]

I've run a TD-18. no hyfraulics. winch lift. You guys and your new fangled fancy things.

 

[jchamberlin]

Marlin, I'm struck by the common thread in both your stories --money. More money is considered better. Everything is OK if someone makes more money. In other words, THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS. It was no accident that in the New Testament, James identified the love of money as the root of all evil.

Honor and commitment --one's word is one's bond-- only mean something if both parties agree on a core set of values that place honor/trust/commitment above financial reward. Honor, truth, and commitment are intangibles, you can't eat them; money buys milk and bread, with money you eat, with more money, you can eat better --at least that's the thought.

I think there is a proverb in the Old Testament that goes something like, "A small meal with honor is better than a big spread founded on deceit" or something like that.

I wonder if the show isn't more than a soap opera, I wonder if it isn't a morality tale. The men intent on finding gold have placed themselves in a situation where their integrity is at risk.

Think about it, the possible outcomes of their adventure include:

1. They find gold and return happily to their families who embrace them

2. They find gold but they return to find their families in disarray (2-3 year follow-up show recommended)

3. They don't find gold, but their family loves them anyway and they are stronger for the experience

4. They don't find gold, and their families fall apart "as a result" (actually, the fault lines were there from the beginning, the 'Alaskan adventure' just reveals them)

They are dead set on achieving #1, pushed on by the fear of finding #4 at the end of the trail.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Once again, I'm hooked.

 

[mhomrighausen]

Jeremiah C. You've expressed so very well what I've been thinking all along. The BTO father/son that rented that farm from my ex and myself told me that, "You don't ask a landlord anything. You go ahead and just do what you want to and to HE## with the landlord." I guess their going broke five years to the middle of the month later was sealed the minute that the father told me that.

 

[jchamberlin]

Thank you for the favor of your response, Marlin.

Allen, there wasn't as much drama on this week's show. But then, it would be hard to top last week's events. This week was more of a "filler," we knew there would be more episodes, but the guys working on the shaker didn't know it: definitely more drama for them than for us.

Speaking of drama, you have to give the producers credit for creating drama in ordinary events like positioning a pump or loading some equipment on a low-boy. It is amazing how "dramatic" the event becomes when you show eleven previews of the shaker tipping backward with someone shouting in the background, then in real-life, cut away for a commercial, and then come back and its normal "loadem' up" footage. The producers/directors must have earned their stripes doing local news. You know how they "tease" you all evening only to report ho-hum events at 11:00 PM (10:00 Central).

It will be interesting to see how their new claim "proves out." I also find it interesting that Dakota Fred is going to cut a wide swath when the only thing the Hoffman's proved in their year plus effort is that the gold is near the bed rock; or maybe Fred just has a different way of getting down there. We'll see . . .

 

[mfrade]

"The producers/directors must have earned their stripes doing local news. You know how they "tease" you all evening only to report ho-hum events at 11:00 PM (10:00 Central). " LOL,, SO TRUE! But this is far more fun than the WWE!

Mike

 

[aschumacher]

Ya, looks like there maybe some gold by the old dredge. Did anyone see the old mans excavator anywhere around?? Is it still 45 miles away?? Flatbed not available for at least 2 weeks. Is he going to drive it on the road...a Cub goes faster. Young Parker starting to take over his granddads diggings. Not a bad idea to go thru the the old tailings pile, found some gold there. I'm gonna ignore Dakota Fred this week.

 

[aschumacher]

Well, that was a real thriller last nite wasn't it !

Hoffmans found their new plots...dad took a hike, got talked into coming back. Dad drags washplant thru woods but snags on soft ground, son says just lift it up higher! DUH! How did that man hold a job being so non visionary ?? Lets not forget cutting the shaker frame to fit the side chute, but not seeing it was fitted wrong in the first place. Looks like trouble next week...can you say perma-frost !! OOOPS
Young Parker worked a deal with his guys and is still doing ok on the old tailings. If he finds good stuff he will be in the money.
Arrogent Dakota Fred ripped out everything and now waiting on new equip. Maybe he attracts money..the mini washplant made money while not doing any real work.

 

[rchristensen]

Take the torch away from the old man before he gets somebody killed.

Do you wonder how that old shaker ran for years if the side chute was built wrong??? Maybe somebody is putting it together wrong.

I always worry when people want to modify something that has been working!!

 

[gcoleman]

Fridays show was pretty good, I'll admit, its nice to see kinds as young as Parker making bold livings instead of being knee deep in video games, if I could be getting paid to be playing with big toys like that I'd love life, Being only twenty makes me wonder if theres a job like Parkers out there for all of us to stumble upon.

 

[aschumacher]

Glen,just keep youir eyes open for oppurtunities out in the world. My son is well into his 30's but at this job for years. He's a field forman for a large commercial landscape co. He gets to run all the neat equipment, drive stuff around with his<font size="-2">company</font> F350. But there are good days and other days...just like real life out there. Keep looking, people are needed in all trades that use their hands. (computer k/s's dont count!)

 

[thoffman]

I've spent 30+ plus years as a heavy equipment operator and watching this series just makes me want to pull my hair out (yes, both hairs). The best thing, and I mean the <u>VERY</u> best thing for those knuckleheads to do is keep that crazy, "pie in the sky", idot old man off the iron and away from the tools.

 

[lhinds]

Well said Tom. But i guess he kinda makes the show. What they need is Kentucky Ken there to guide him. That would make a show for about five minutes and he would have the old man down the road.

 

[mfrade]

And just think, the old dude & his son Own / Operate an Airport!

I watch it cause it drives me crazy! Just like the motorcycle guys and the producers edit the commercials to make you think something big is happening when after watching the show you're left with that let down feeling. It's still better than watching "celebrity dancing"...

 

[mfrade]

Did anyone else watch the latest? I thought it was good how Jack "stuck it" to Fred on the Genset! Accepting the kids 10K after refusing Fred's 10K... Good for him! And I was glad to see the D8 get through that ice. And it appears that they test drill and find gold! But we'll wait for it as we all know how the coming attractions are staged! Like last weeks version of Jack saying "I don't think they'll get any gold" after showing the D8 slippin' and slidin'.

 

[thoffman]

Listening to Todd Hoffman, maybe I should start digging a hole in my back yard 'cause "I have a feeling in my gut that there is gold down there". <u>WTF</u><u>!!!</u> Even better his "crew" believes him. Like Mike I watch this show just to see what kind of stupid s--t they can come up with next.

 

[aschumacher]

Ya, this weeks show was kind of drab. Too many people wasting time on unproductive work. Does following around 3 different groups make the show 'choppy' in its presentation? Seemed like an awful lot of commercial time and showing the map of Alaska...had me a little bit frustrated. But since all 3 groups had a slow week I guess there wasn't too much video to work with. At least someone finally did something positive, like drill a test hole that looked good. As Mike noted, we have to see how this pans out.

 

[mfrade]

"PANS OUT" OOOOOooooouucchh!

 

[mhomrighausen]

Lest we not forget Superstious Mountain and it's famous mysteries behind it... Walter Brennan's Dutchman's Gold. My Dad used to speak of if someone goes into the mountain alone to seek the gold their body is dicovered at one place and their head at least a mile away. Nothing ever happens to anyone that goes up in a party to look for the elusive gold.

<font size="-2">I did not purposely underline the link to the song. It just came up that way. Hmmmm....</font>

 

[aschumacher]

Oh well...see last weeks review.

 

[jchamberlin]

Allen, I know what you mean. We seem to be in a holding pattern regarding the gold. I'm surprised that Dakota Fred's nephew feels like a lot of things have gone wrong; but you're supposed to make sure your equipment is "right" before going into the field. It doesn't seem to me that Dakota Fred was anymore prepared than the Hoffman gang! I don't feel you can stake your entire enterprise on one machine: the Rock Sorter (or whatever they call it). That being said, the brakes have probably never been replaced. The equipment is just being used more strenuously than it has ever been used before.

I felt kind of bad for Dakota Fred, though, I'm sure they edited his "call home" extensively. He needs to be at home regardless of how much he has invested in the gold field right now. You have to give some credit to his wife for not saying as much, though. She seems to have more class than Fred.

Also felt bad for the Schnaubel (sp) kid too: he's trying so hard, but it seems that the mine may just be played out.

--But $9,000 in diesel fuel???? How many gallons is that? I thought that diesels were economical per Dennis Fisk . . .