Training up a n ew generation of pump operators/military dwarves, and they're awesome. Also think I stumbled upon the source of military obesity - alcohol. I switched their drink supply to carrying water only, and after only a few months their descriptions are no longer referencing huge amounts of fat. They sound... just... in shape.
The buffer zone for gathering goblinite seems mostly irrelevant now too, as I have one squad patrolling at all times. The most green of the legendary squads, IE the one where the dwarves still aren't completely immune to tragedy, have a larger portion of the patrols. I find that tragedy translates just as well from being attacked and slaughtering a bunch of goblins. it seems to be working, as they're all more or less hardened now. Awesome.
My leather is starting to build up, and I'm debating starting a leather industry, where I actually breed a single type of animal and use their leather in my items. having all my military having a single type of leather backpack sounds awesome. I need to import something. Cow? Buffalo? Buffalo wins, I'll see if I can import some. IF not those, well, recommendations are welcome.
And then Im' thinking of finally emptying out all these goblin cages from years ago. Good for goblins, that they're able to survive without food, water, or care, for years. It's actually quite impressive. Anyways, I made a drowning chamber that should work pretty well, and I stationed one of the more amateur squads near the stockpile. This should also teach us whether water gets through cages. Science!
and then, I also have a very large amount of steel I'm not sure what to do with. 130 bars free actually, but it's too useful to put into crafts of studding. All my military have pretty full (within reason) armor sets, and I'd rather not put on multiple breastplates or greaves on each. Oh well, good for military expansion I suppose.
Lets see.. the rotting corpse tower didn't work as hoped. Can I even butcher goblin skeletons? I know I've done it before, but I'm not sure of certain conditions need to be met first. Any advice on this? Dumping all that crafting/decorating material seems like a waste of renewable resources.