Dad's Garage

Dogs

2010-04-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

If you do your job right, as a dog owner, you'll keep your dogs healthy... keep fences good, and keep them out of traffic...

And if you do it right, sooner or later, you'll have to decide it's time to put your dog down due to old age.

Buddy was Daddy's dog, whom I've cared for since Daddy died. Today was his day. More thoughts/observations will follow, but he was (vet estimate) 20 years old. VERY old for a medium-large dog.

As I thought about his age a night or two ago... "When Buddy was a pup, nobody outside of Arkansas had heard of Bill Clinton". And I wasn't long out of High School, and couldn't legally buy a beer.

Miss ya, Buddy, Elder Statesman of the Pack.

Something I forgot to mention

2009-10-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Kim and Connie duToit will be starting a new internet radio show this weekend on BlogTalkRadio.com .

The show will run on Saturday and Sunday evenings, at 7pm Eastern/6pm Central. You can find a BlogTalkRadio widget to listen to our "preview" show at our new site: www.kimandconnie.com.

Notes on the Saturday show include "What can a conscientious citizen do in this political climate?" and "Holding their feet to the fire".

Looks like it should be interesting; give them a listen if you have some free time.

UPDATE: Yeah, I'm slow on the uptake... I don't generally listen to stuff on the 'puter, sorry. But I may start now. This is now (best I can tell) a nightly broadcast, 6pm Central weekends, 10pm Central weeknights. 10pm weeknights I'm a lot less busy than I am 6pm weekends, so I plan to start listening in. Sorry, Kim, that I didn't notice this sooner.

I have an advertiser!

2009-09-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

Blatant capitalism at work... yay!

Preparedness Pantry is actually a really great company. I've done business with them several times; I've always been (at a minimum) satisfied with their goods AND their service.

Actually... their service is downright impressive.

I was really surprised, the first time I ordered some Gamma Lids from them, that the invoice that came in the box was initialed and/or signed by two people - the order picker, and the supervisor who checked the order. That's some pre-emptive customer service right there.

Add to that, I've never gotten anything from PP that my family and I didn't like... their freeze-dried stuff is really good!

They've been working hard on getting their blog out in the social networking circles, with multiple giveaways, etc, but this one is a straight-up $10 gift card for any blogger that puts their button on the blog.

I'll tell all of my readers, this is a fine deal. I've ordered several pieces of hardware, and quite a bit of freeze-dried food, and all of it has been at least as good as I expected. Some better than I expected, and always with top-of-the-line service.

I can recommend Preparedness Pantry wholeheartedly, and say honestly that I'm one of their satisfied customers. Please go check them out, and get your pantry or Bug-Out-Bag just a little bit more squared away.

Doc Russia is home

2009-09-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

This guy ranks in the Top 5 Bloggers I'd Like to Meet and Haven't Yet.

I've met Kim du Toit, Rivrdog, DavidWhiteHorse, ThePackingRat, Ry, Josh, and Joe Huffman... great guys all. But I still want to shake hands and do some shooting, and maybe have a beer with Doc Russia.

In other news...

2009-08-27T05:57:00.001-07:00

Elvis is NOT dead.

He just went home.

Since it hasn't been in the news for over 24 hours, remember...

2009-08-27T05:52:00.001-07:00

Micheal Jackson is still dead.

Today's Life Lesson

2009-08-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Pay attention, folks.

When welding up a repair on a broken piece of farm equipment (or anything else, for that matter), DO NOT:

1) Decide to take a break, and just raise the welding face shield up,
2) Light a cigar, and hold it in your teeth, and
3) Turn up some music that makes you want to nod your head with the beat.

This Life Lesson goes double for anyone with facial hair.

Thatisall.

Lisa Laughs Again

2009-07-27T23:05:00.000-07:00

She didn't read the earlier blog post, but when I reminded her of the conversation, she started laughing all over again.

She says I'm paranoid, and dark-minded... but then she laughs almost uncontrollably at the darkest of concepts....

Eh... she married me, that obviously means she has a seriously warped sense of humor.

But I still love it when I can make her bust out laughing.

Good Stuff, Bad Stuff

2009-07-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

July 22 isn't a great day for me.

It's the birthday of mine and Lisa's first son, Aaron Taylor. Today is his birthday, but his birthday should have been in November; he was born about 4 months early. 22 July 2004 Aaron Taylor was born and he died about two hours later. His lungs weren't developed enough. Remembering that day hurts like hell; on the other hand, having lived through that, I know I can live through anything. Nothing can hurt me as much as having my first son die in my arms. He would have been five years old today.

But now there's Alex. He's our second son, and he just turned two last month. The Terrible Twos... except not. I don't know who coined the term "Terrible Twos", but I figure they must have been somebody who did NOT believe in discipline.

Alex has only a few rules, but they are firm... and when he tests them, he finds that they ARE firm, so he knows EXACTLY where his boundaries are, and he's a wonderfully-behaved little guy. We've already gotten multiple compliments, from multiple people, on how well-behaved he is, and how fun and playful he is. He's also currently learning about Manners, such as "Please", "Thank You", and "You're Welcome". Pure joy, and I think Dad would be proud.

We also do some unauthorized stuff, when Mama's not around... especially at the shop AKA Dad's Garage (grin) This afternoon, Alex learned about driving the mower. He also learned about stick-fighting, when he picked up a broomstick at the shop and came after Daddy with it... I had to teach him a little bit about using both ends of a good long stick :) That's the kind of thing Mama would totally disapprove of; but she left early to come home and make dinner :) And Alex wound up decently using both ends of his stick, as well as holding one end and using it as a spear :)

I really miss my first little boy, Aaron Taylor Neal, and wish he could be a big brother to Alex. But God giveth, and God taketh away... I quit cursing God a few years ago for taking Aaron Taylor and Daddy from me, now I'm just really happy I have Lisa and Alex, and hopefully, some more little brothers or sisters for Alex in the future.

And yeah, any future little ones will get "unauthorized" training as well, whenever Mama's not looking... I don't intend for ANY of my kids to be "easy pickings" for bullies or criminals.

I miss you, Aaron Taylor, and Mama and I love you very much.

I love making Lisa laugh

2009-07-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

This evening, I was telling Lisa about an electrical company employee driving the dogs berserk while trying to read our meter.

This evolved into a discussion about how power co. employees are generally decent folks, but the companies themselves are a bunch of asses. I reminded Lisa about the tax credits coming online, and dropping prices, for photovoltaic electric cells, and how that's looking like a better and better option.

I said, "And besides... we can't count on the power grid to always be available, but if the Sun goes out, that's pretty much God saying 'Party's over, everybody out of the pool'."

For some reason, that got a tremendous giggle out of Lisa. Not sure why she found that so funny...

But I'll take 'em when I can get 'em :)

Thought Excercise

2009-06-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

I note with interest that Ayn Rand wanted Farrah Fawcett to play the part of Dagny Taggart in the TV version of Atlas Shrugged. (h/t: Ry)

Now, I suspect that a TV version of Atlas Shrugged would stink on ice. A movie version probably wouldn't be better; likely it would turn out like the difference between the book and movie of Starship Troopers.

That said (and here's the thought excercise)... who would YOU cast in the major roles, should Atlas Shrugged be put to film?

My first thoughts are:
Nathan Fillion or Will Smith as Hank Rearden
Gary Oldman as James Taggart (probably iffy)
Jon Voight or Fred Thompson as John Galt (iffy)
John Goodman as Ragnar Danneskjöld
Johnny Depp as Francisco d'Anconia
Lena Heady as Dagny Taggart (this is definately a firm maybe)

Looking back, after editing that list, I may have even gotten the actor-vs-character ages somewhere in the ballpark.

As for the rest of the cast, I have no idea. I'm not a casting guy, after all.

Who would YOU cast for various parts, if it were up to you?

Bow down to your new Deity

2009-06-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Editor of Newsweek Magazine claims Obama is God.

Yes, he really said that; I heard that clip several times today on the radio.

Obama also, apparently, has talked more about Jesus than President Bush ever did. (Sorry, I didn't catch the source for that).

So, I called the radio station, and said, "Well of course. Don't all parents love to talk about their kids?"

Jon-David Wells gave me a rimshot for that one.

Away for a while

2009-06-01T15:41:00.001-07:00

Not that this will seriously disrupt my normal posting rate, but I'll be on hiatus from blogging for about a week. Any communications will be read and responded to after that.

Sotomayor - BIG NO.

2009-05-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

"A wise, hispanic woman should make better decisions than a white man, because he hasn't lived that life"

"The Court of Appeals is where policy is made"

Those are from memory, so don't consider them actual quotes, but that's what Sotomayor has said in the past.

She's a racist, sexist bigot, and thinks Justices should be activists and set policy rather than apply the rule of law. That makes her a no-go in my book, and I'll be telling John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison exactly that, and for those reasons.

Cross-posted as a comment at Rivrdog's place.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

I spent too much time, and too many beers, collecting what I want to write for Memorial Day.

The best I have to say is this - when I raised the flag at the shop (aka Dad's Garage), Alex put his feet together, and put his hand on his chest while I hoisted the flag. He's not quite two years old, but he stood to attention for the flag.

Some shit just makes me angry.

2009-05-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Joe's quote of the day, while I agree with it, points out a problem in the current gun debate.

Badasses DO NOT NEED GUNS. Hand-to-hand, fist-to-jaw, if I'm trying to protect my wife and son, I'd probably do around 50%.

Hand-to-hand, fist-to-jaw, Lisa might do 10%. Alex would do 0% - casualty or hostage.

Muzzle-to-home intruder, I'd probably do better than 95%; Lisa would probably do better than 90%. Alex would probably be safe under those circumstances.

We're winning the debate, but we need to keep the pressure on. Keep asking the question (thanks to Joe), "Can you demonstrate one time or place, throughout all history, where the average person was made safer by restricting access to handheld weapons?"

That's a correct quote, copied from his site. But it's the Question To Ask, or as Joe calls it, "Just One Question".

Keep asking it, keep pushing. We're winning, for now, don't let up.

Well, I'll try to help.

2009-05-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Joe says gunbloggers are having an impact.

I certainly met several, in the past few weeks, who have a lot to say.

I'm not a big dog on this porch - but I'll throw my few ounces in anyway. Every little bit helps, I guess?

Fair warning - don't try to take any of my rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. If you want to try, bring a lunch - you're gonna be here all day, and then some.

And that's about as polite as I'm going to be on this topic.

Boomershoot - More Good Folks

2009-05-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

For me, one of the best parts of Boomershoot was the people I met, and the people I'd previously met, and got to see again.

This is a repost, but one of my favorites: That's Rivrdog, who I've blogged and written back and forth with for several years. He came to visit my family and I last spring, and we had a GRAND time. We camped together in the trailer in the picture... a little bit better than tent camping, and we had a great time. I'll spare you pictures of either of us in our longjohns (it was below freezing EVERY night); I'd like to keep at least one or two of my new readers.

Gene Econ and his crew did an AMAZING job teaching us dummies how to adjust for range and windage. This knowledge was the main reason I drove nearly 2000 miles each way. Bill's son, who works for a cell phone company, calls this pic the "more bars in more places Econ group" - I'd say that's not altogether inappropriate :) ALL OF THESE GUYS ARE GREAT. Left to Right, Monte Milanuk, Instructor, Member US National Team FT/R, Member Team Savage. Bill Waites, Grunt, (and graciously patient spotter/trainer). Rob Waites, Young Grunt. Major Gene Econ, Owner/Head Instructor Econ Training, Retired Special Forces (and REALLY nice guy, and also very patient and gracious spotter/trainer). John, who is still actively defending our country and may have another trip to the sandbox, so that's all the identification he needs publicized. But he also gets a big HOOYAA and a heartfelt thanks for his service.

And then there were the guys from Random Nuclear Strikes - I didn't take notes as well as I meant to, so forgive (or, preferably, correct) me if I'm wrong here - that's me, JD, Derek, and Troy (I think). That's part of the RNS Crew.

Full Crew:
Troy, JD, Dave, David, and Derek - I think. Again, please correct me if I got guys out of order; 2+ weeks after the fact, my notes make less sense than they did the day I wrote them down.

I really hope I got the right links to the right guys, but I don't have a lot of confidence that I did. If I messed any of them up, please comment and/or email me and I'll correct them.

I also got interviewed for a TV show - "The Gunmen", I think it's to be called - targeted to the Outdoor Channel. I got to talk a bit about why I drove so far to Boomershoot, and how shooting and gun safety are universal, not regional.
If my notes are correct (questionable), that would be Justin, Nate (the host), Adam, and Nick (kneeling). The website Nate gave me to look for the upcoming show is mediajungle.tv.

My shooting neighbors, on position 49, were Bob and Greg: Really friendly guys, and they extended their shelter over my shooting position, which helped keep some of the cold, biting wind off me. Much appreciated :)

I really look forward to seeing all of these folks again in the future - they're ALL worth spending more time with, and that's about the highest compliment I pay anybody.

Thanks, JD

2009-05-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

JD at Ballistic Deanimation linked to this.

Some of the more amusing examples:

(301): Woke up this morning at my parent's house. No idea how I got here... what happened last night? Was it bad?
(443): We using my standards or yours?

(434): why are there goldfish crackers all over my bed?
(540): you decided you wanted to name them & keep them as pets.

(207): I woke up at 7am naked in my bathtub with the shower running. My apartment was so full of steam that my ceiling was dripping. Who thought it would be okay for me to get my own place, anyway?

(406): When you only buy popcorn and condoms at the grocery store they know whats up.

(214): I'm saving my limes so I'll know how many drinks I've had.
(972): I do the same thing, but I use ice cubes.

(917): I feel miserable, can't drink that much when I go out
(1-917): We've been saying that since '98

(214): dude. I'm so drunk.
(972): pete, this is bryce's mom
(214): I can't wait to have my cock in your ass
(972): pete, this is still bryce's mom

...and that's enough wasted time for tonight.

Boomershoot - Ponderings and People

2009-05-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Ponderings One:

I'm really starting to think I want a new scope. I can't even remember what my current scope is, off the top of my head, and I'm not about to go wake Lisa to get it out and look. It's part of a combo that came with my Tikka T3 Lite back when Lisa got the rifle for my birthday.

It's a basic, lightweight hunting rifle, with a basic, simple 3-9x scope.

The rifle rocks (especially against the shoulder) - Tikka guarantees sub-MOA out of the box, and mine is easily 1/4 to 1/3 that.

But I'm thinking I want a scope with finger-adjustable turrets, markings to determine at least mechanical zero, if not what current windage & elevation are, and reticle markings showing additional holdover and windage holds on the crosshairs.

Is there a scope like that? Preferably with max magnification around 12x or so? Or am I now talking about a mil-dot scope? Scopes aren't something I've studied much; I'd appreciate some input.

Rivrdog had a scope with a range-compensating reticle - that's kind of the beginning of what I'd like.

Ponderings Two:

I did ok, IMO, hitting Boomers - this was my first Boomershoot, and my first time shooting at targets more than 200 yards away. I repeat - Gene Econ and his staff are incredible; I learned LOTS from them, and was, in short order, able to hit small targets at 380-625 yards with a crosswind. Additionally, Gene, Bill, and George are all good spotters - I couldn't hit those targets without spotters calling me in.

I got several hits from 380 to (estimated)625 yards - but only set off one large boomer at 380 at the end of the rifle clinic.

Now, here's my pondering - any readers (especially Joe Huffman) please feel free to weigh in on this.

Back when I was testing my rifle at relatively short ranges (200 yards max), I found several 150gr to 180gr ballistic-tipped bullets to be the most consistently accurate (ie, smallest groups off a solid benchrest). So that's what I was shooting at Boomershoot (actually, they were all 180gr ballistic-tipped, the 150gr pills no longer being available as loaded cartridges). What I'm wondering, is if the plastic ballistic tips (basically, pointy plastic tips on hollowpoint bullets) might have been allowing my shots to "drill through" the boomers, without really doing much energy transfer? As I understand it, kinetic energy is what sets off boomers - if a round "drills through" and carries most of its kinetic energy out with it, due to an extremely aerodynamic shape, could that be what caused the failures to get "booms"?

Just some random pondering - I know I got good, solid hits on many boomers that didn't "boom", and .308 180gr should have had enough energy to do the job - definately at the tree line, and I'd expect probably at the base of the hill, but I had almost completely uniform failures, which makes me wonder about my ammo, and those ballistic tips.

People:

Well, this lighting's not ideal, but this is my shot of Joe Huffman doing the initial briefing - long story short, stay safe. Unfortunately, for some people, that short story needs to be made long, thus Joe standing on the berm with a loudspeaker.

This is my camping-, shooting-, and allaroundgood- buddy Rivrdog, with his .243 set to start blowing boomers regularly.

I don't know if Rivrdog and the eponymous Dad would have disliked each other or been best friends - very different life experiences, but very similar life outlooks. If I were a betting man, I'd bet they'd spend night after night drinking and talking until all hours.

Mike was Rivrdog's neighbor down on the far right end of the line. Mike's apparently an accomplished benchrester; his equipment and skill impressed me. Somewhat of an understated fellow...

Last one for tonight is the one that made me laugh out loud the best at Boomershoot - Josh, of Ballistic Deanimation, had gotten NEARLY dialed in on one of the "dingleberries" 'way out past Fort Mudge - in other words, the mobile targets at 700 yards. This was VERY late in the day Sunday, nearing time for the end of shooting, and a cease-fire was called. Josh BOUNCED up off his shooting stool, with round in hand, and started yelling, "NO! NO! ONE MORE, PLEASE, JUST THIS ONE!" holding up the round he had ALMOST gotten into his rifle's chamber. Turned out that cease-fire was just a vehicle going by, and that "Just One More" turned out to be about a box before he got what Ry called an "Asshole Target".

I've got a few more things to post about Boomershoot, but again, I'm pretty much out of gas for tonight... and I suspect I'm going to have to edit this post to get things to line up right.

More later :)

[EDIT] Yep, I had a few edits to do to fix fonts and pictures. Blogspot is SOOOOO easy to use... unless you mean to actually use it.

Grrr... sometimes I think hand-coding HTML would be easier... come to think of it, I DO THAT, AND IT IS EASIER. Feel free to take a few hours enjoying the stories there - that's one of my best friends, and somebody I hope to get to Boomershoot the next time I get to go :)

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, first, up, I'm not a REALLY bad son - I managed to leave a message on Mom's phone, but didn't reach her to tell her in person.

I probably suck more as a grandson/nephew, because by the time I had Alex put to bed and Lisa's dinner ready, it was too late to call decent people (ie, my grandmothers and aunts).

Spent more of my day on Lisa - took Alex out shopping, where we picked up some art supplies to make nested casts of our hands (still waiting for those to harden) to decorate for Lisa, and Alex picked out all the flowers for a bouquet, and a talking balloon, for "Hay Mama Dee!" I must say, it's a pretty eclectic mix of flowers.

For those of you who don't speak Toddler, that would be his pronunciation of "Happy Mama's Day".

And then made Steak au Poivre. I have to say, that turned out very well, even though I had to substitute white wine for the cognac (I doubled the amount, as congac's basically a very specific, distilled, white wine) and then had to cook it down to get the consistency right.

It's basically a very, very tender, nice cut of meat, with cracked peppercorns as the primary spice, plus a pan sauce made from what's left from cooking the steaks, also quite peppery. Boy, they turned out melt-in-your mouth tender, and SUPER tasty with the peppery kick, creamy sauce, and naturally delicious cuts of meat. I'm pretty proud I pulled that off so well, and Lisa seemed to like it as well as I did.

Of course, by the time I was through with that, it was too late to call folks, as I said, so I'll be playing catch-up and apologizing tomorrow.

But still - Hay Mama Dee to all you Mothers out there; hope you had a good day.

Boomershoot - More Good Stuff

2009-05-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I've written about the Journey - long and tiring, but beautiful. I've written about learning to get hits on very small targets at long range - very satisfying, and knowledge worth the trip.

This is about the whole Boomershoot trip, 'cause it's best taken as a whole:

Worst part of the trip: Leaving home. I carried this pic with me; it's Alex getting so excited he started tickling HIMSELF:

I found out that there are, in fact, Hardee's fast food joints west of the Mississippi - great news, since they make the best grilled sourdough burgers on the planet, and I DID avail myself.

I also got my truck and trailer frozen while driving through Montana - who knew it would come a snowstorm 'way up north in late April? Bleh - I do NOT like snow, but it didn't keep me from getting to Boomershoot. Just made a mess out of my truck and trailer.

That's about all I've got gas for to do tonight; more will follow.

Boomershoot - the good stuff

2009-05-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said before, I arrived onsite at Boomershoot Friday late afternoon - early enough to set up the trailer, watch the Friday afternoon cleanup, and get some brisket and beans ready for dinner for Rivrdog and I. Good stuff.

Saturday morning started the REALLY good stuff though - especially as we'd made it through a VERY cold night comfortably; the camper keeps heat in well, and the Mr. Heater Big Buddy did a great job keeping us comfortable.

Gene Econ rocks - as do his assistants. My rifle is easily sub-MOA; I'd determined that back right after Lisa got it for me as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. But that was off a rock-solid bench, with no wind. My goal for Boomershoot was to learn to use that rifle properly, at long range, with wind being a problem to solve.

Gene Econ, and his assistants, taught me to do just that.

I also learned how to be a decent spotter - which is just as challenging a task as being a good shooter. VERY good information and instruction.

I was, after a bit of practice (and renewed self-discipline - get over the "buck" or "boomer" fever and settle down) able to nail dead-center 3 inch targets at 380 yards, out to 5 inch targets at 625 yards. That's something I'm damn proud of.

And that's with a very lightweight rifle, that's capable of taking pretty much any game in North America - a Tikka T3 Lite; without scope, it weighs only about six pounds, and fires a .308 Winchester cartridge.

Overall, I'm REALLY happy with my trip to Boomershoot. I have a lot more skill and confidence than I had before; as far as I'm concerned, that was worth the trip from Texas to Idaho.

Next up, I'll post some more pictures, and some stuff about the great people I met at Boomershoot.

Boomershoot - the Journey

2009-05-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

A few people drove farther than I did to get to Boomershoot '09 - but not many.

I was chased up the mountain to the site by somebody from out of state (Idaho requires front plates, the Chevy duallie following me had none). They had two people in the truck, and I figured they could drive and navigate better than I could solo, so I waved them around, and saw Louisiana plates on the back bumper. Ok, they covered more miles than I did. Someone else drove from Virginia - now THAT's a road trip! And he's apparently done it more than once. (Incidentally, I was right behind him for a little bit on US 12 Monday morning heading out of Idaho, until I pulled off to get a couple of Cokes out of my cooler.)

Anyway, I started Boomershoot '09, after sorting out electrical problems with my trailer lights the day before (when I was supposed to leave), at 7am Central, Wednesday 22 April. I was setting out on the longest road trip (especially longest solo) of my life, and it was quite eventful :)

(All times are Central Time Zone, unless otherwise noted)

Driving from 7am until 3:45pm got me out of Texas. Yes, Texas is THAT big. I'm just glad I didn't start from Houston or somewhere in East Texas.

5:30 saw me into Colorado - I just cut the Northeast corner of New Mexico on US 87, heading to Interstate 25 and a long drive North. This is where I started learning about driving in mountains - it can take a LOT of throttle to maintain speed; altitude hurts horsepower, and once you're out of Texas, the gas sucks. Here at home, regular unleaded is 87 octane. Away from home, I was finding 85.5, and sometimes even 85 octane.

Lower octane means gasoline will detonate, rather than burn - this is what causes a "knocking" engine. Modern, computer-controlled engines have knock sensors, as detonation will destroy an engine very quickly. When the sensors detect a knock, the computer retards the spark timing, thus eliminating the detonation - AND POWER. Combine that with thin air (compared to home), and suddenly my truck was having a hard time getting out of its own way on uphill grades. Not fun, until I finally noticed what octane gas was being sold, and started buying mid-grade to get back to the quality of gas my truck and I are used to. What really got my goat was that the crappy gas on my trip was as expensive as mid-grade here at home; mid-grade on the trip was like buying premium here. Anyway...

I felt pretty good going up through Colorado, but started getting tired of the seat somewhere around Colorado Springs (I think), when I spotted a Gander Mountain just off I-25. Gander Mountain is an outdoorsman's place I've never been, so I stopped to stretch my legs a bit and do some browsing/shopping. I bought a few things I'd meant to get at Cabella's in Fort Worth that morning, except I got to Cabella's on my way out of town 1.5 hours before they opened, and I wasn't about to waste that much road time waiting around.

I left Gander Mountain about 9pm, gassed up in Fort Collins about 10pm, made Wyoming about 10:45, and pulled over at a rest stop in Chugwater about 11:45. 7:00am to 11:45pm driving, I was kinda beat and wanted to catch a couple hours' rest - but the rest stop said "No Overnight Camping", so I reclined the driver's seat and tried to just nap a bit.

No dice - I'd been in the truck so long, I had "ghost vibrations" all through my body - basically, I was feeling the road vibrations in my feet, hands, and my butt even when sitting still. Combine that with plenty of caffeine, and the (very regular) noisy truck idling past me, and a nap was just a dream. So after an hour of (non)rest, I continued north, to a little town whose name I can't remember and didn't write down - where there was a power plant undergoing annual maintenance, and therefore was full of temp workers. No motel rooms available for 60 miles. Fortunately for me, this nice little town had free camping in their town park.

So I set up the trailer (partially) in mid-50 degree temps, and 30-40mph winds, kicked off my boots, and rolled a sleeping bag around me after a few beers to decaffinate myself and get rid of the ghost vibes. Slept WELL, except for when my socked feet stuck out of the rolled, not zipped sleeping bag and got cold. But the trailer kept the brutal winds off me, and I was mostly ok.

I got everything closed back up and put away, and was back on the road at 10am - made Caspar, WY at noon for gas, and hit Montana at 3pm. Billings at about 4:45 for more gas, and shortly after that...

SNOW.

Now, I'm a born & raised Texan. I think I was six years old before I ever saw snow. I'm NOT practiced at driving in it; in Texas, snow is rare, but ice is fairly common. Non-liquid precipitation usually means "Stay the hell home".

But in Montana, everybody just keeps going about their business. If they stopped for snow, they'd have about a 3- or 4-month year, I guess. So I took the right lane and slowed down - and got slushy snow sprayed ALL OVER my truck and trailer by the natives (especially 18 wheelers) who kept doing 75 IN THE SNOW as they passed me. I stopped in Bozeman to crack the ice off my windshield wipers, then crossed the Continental Divide (my first time) at 6393 feet elevation, and got a motel room in Butte at 10pm, just about dark - I couldn't have opened the camper even if I'd wanted to camp in 24 degree temps; it was encrusted by a good foot of ice all over.

Lack of sleep caught up with me in the warm room with a nice bed; it was 11:15am before I was back on the road. Missoula at 1:25pm (with a full-service gas station that I wouldn't let be full-service; I'll check my own stuff, thanks); Idaho at 2:15pm, Orofino at 5:15 after an exhausting drive down US 12 with a mountain on one shoulder, and a river on the other - very twisty road, but I did think "Daddy would would be wishing to take his old bike down this road".

In fact, I stopped at a small town for another Coke not far from Orofino, and the lady at the counter said they often get bikers from Sturgis - and they arrive physically exhausted. I don't doubt it; I was tired from all the narrow switchbacks, and I was in a truck, not on a bike.

6pm Central, 4pm Pacific, Friday, I finally arrived at the Boomershoot site. Rivrdog had picked out the most flat and level spot to set up the trailer; we spent the rest of our daylight setting up, watching the high-intensity end of Friday's Clinic day, and getting together dinner of Texas' Best BBQ Brisket and baked beans with extra bacon. Friday evening was also when I first met Ry and his Dad - great folks.

Saturday morning saw the beginning of my participation of the Precision Rifle Clinic, and my shooting part of Boomershoot. That'll be the next post :)

Some Boomershoot stuff

2009-05-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

First up - Ry Jones, his Dad, and his Daughters are some great people. Ry Senior's dog is a pretty pleasant pup, as well. I wanted to get a pic of the whole family, but logistics broke down, and I didn't get a chance before they headed home.

Another missing pic - Gene Econ, and one of his assistants, I think his name was Bill - who spotted for me during the rifle clinic, as I didn't have a partner for that part of Boomershoot. I wanted a pic of them, but they bugged out before I got off my butt and I missed the chance. Those guys ROCK; they're the reason I now understand how to handle wind, work with a spotter (or be a spotter working with a shooter) and hit sub-MOA targets at long ranges.

More to follow - I've been busy unpacking from the trip, the garden needs a lot of work, and 1 May was my 5th anniversary of my marriage to Lisa - been a bit busy. Stay tuned, though - many more thoughts and pics to come.

Home from Boomershoot '09

2009-04-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a trip that was. Just over 3900 miles round-trip; 3 days up, 3 days back.

Montana spring snow on the way there; Texas spring severe thunderstorms on the way home.

And more than worth every mile!

I'm just going to post a little bit tonight; still pretty tired from the road. More will follow over the next few days.

"Home Sweet Home" from Friday night until Monday morning - with Rivrdog, my camping and shooting buddy, who drove over from Oregon.

I saw a lot of these weird fence-type things in Wyoming - does anybody know what these are for?

And this pic was from last night - one of my favorite sights in the world when I've been traveling:

That sign usually means I've got less than 8 hours of driving before I'm home - yeah, Texas IS that big.

More stuff about Boomershoot itself, and the lots of great people I met there, to follow over the next few days. Lots more pictures, too.

April Freeze?!?!

2009-04-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is Texas - we're not supposed to have hard freezes this late in the Sping.

Fortunately, I got all my tomato plants covered up, and they made it overnight.

Where the hell is Al Gore? I thought we were supposed to be getting warmer by now?

I'm just glad I'm running late on planting the garden, and tomatoes were the only things I'd planted - everything else I could move into the shop overnight.

Hey, Didya Hear?

2009-03-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

The White House Public Relations Team is looking into some further pop-culture bookings for the Obamassiah:

Survivor
American Idol (who knew he could sing?)
Dancing With The Stars
America's Next Top Model

They're having some negotiation troubles with a couple though:
Flip This House - there is some legal discussion whether the Obamassiah can sell the White House and move into Barney Franks' basement.

Wifeswap - The Obamassiah wants to give up Michelle, but the Wifeswap producers want the Teleprompter.

A Proverb

2009-03-03T20:16:00.001-08:00

Proverbs 31:10, in fact. Great verse, and no, it's not just because it's almost Lisa's birthday.

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.

Verses 11-31 expound on that statement, but I find Verse 10 to be accurate and stand on its own merits.

I did find an excellent wife, and I thank God for Lisa every day.

I did not realize

2009-02-26T00:27:00.000-08:00

Until tonight, that Eric Holder was a black man. Saw him on TV for the first time earlier this evening.

I knew he was an idiot and an asshole - that was based on what he's said and written in the past.

But I guess now I'm going to be called racist by somebody for calling Eric Holder an idiot and asshole, not to mention an anti-2nd amendment piece of shit. Also based on what he has said and written.

Now I know.

Good Stuff

2009-02-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

I met with Kim on Saturday; it was a good visit. He was absolutely enchanted by Alex; he told me, "Don't let Connie see him, she'll steal him away!"

For those of you who don't know, Kim actually went to jail in his younger years, for fighting against racism in South Africa, where he grew up... before he came to the United States.

Considering Alex's racial makeup, I'm kinda proud of this pic:

Granted, Alex is a bit cautious about strangers... so he's leaning away as I took the picture. But, obviously, Kim is happy to be seen with our little boy.

Thanks, Kim... don't be a stranger. Alex will warm up to you if you're around much :)

Alex's First Trike

2009-02-17T21:08:00.001-08:00

I finished assembling Alex's first tricycle this afternoon. Then I sat back and looked at it, imagined him riding on it, and took a picture (crappy cellphone pic, not postable) that I sent to Lisa and Mom.

Mom replied, "Cool reminds me of your first trike love you".

That made me think of Daddy assembling my first trike, a LONG time ago. If that was when I was 1.5-2 years old, that would have made Daddy 26 or 27. That reminded me that Lisa and I got a late start on kids, and I'm FUCKING OLD!!!!

I'm 38 - when Daddy was my age, we were starting to think about my first CAR!!!!

Ahh well... play the hand that's dealt, right? At 38, I'm definately older than Daddy was when I was Alex's age... and hopefully, a bit wiser. Maybe as wise at Alex's Toddler-stage as Daddy was at my Teenager-stage. I'll hope so, anyway.

Daddy was always pretty fucking smart - but by the time I was a teenager, he was REALLY smart; or so he seemed to me. Seemed like there wasn't anything he couldn't figure out, even if some things took a bit of figuring and a bit of time. That was in his late 30s to early 40s; just about the age I'm at now. I pray I can do as well.

Wells Report Watch, Issue 1

2009-02-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

This is a new thing for my blog; hopefully it won't be terribly common. But like Rivrdog keeping a watch on his local news, I'm going to do the same here. Particularly in regards to the Wells Report, heard 4-7pm Central on 570 KLIF.

Jon-David Wells is generally a good guy, but he goofs badly from time to time. Since when I manage to get through on the phone, and call his goofs, he tends to hang up on me, I'm going to correct him here.

Today, JDW goofed badly. I was busy working, so didn't try to call in, but he basically said President Obama was going back on his promise to allow 5 days of scrutiny before he signed any bill into law.

Sorry, JD, but the Annointed One has, in fact, allowed 5 days for scrutiny of the Porkulous Package.

It was posted Friday, just before the House passed it without a single Republican vote. It passed the Senate later Friday night.

Now, JD, I know you're not good at math, but Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday equals five days.

They talked last week about having the Annointed One sign this porkulous package on President's Day.... but that would have only been four days.

So, the Annointed One is keeping his word. This bill has been available to review as of tomorrow, for five days.

Weekends? Big deal - if you're interested, you'll work weekends.

Now what could have mattered, is five days between the Senate-House compromise, and a House vote - but that's not what the Chosen One promised us.

So, he's fullfilling his promise - it was a done deal Friday night, but he'll wait until Tuesday to sign it, thereby giving 5 days for everyone to look at it and say, "We're screwed!!!!"

But it will, indeed, be 5 days. Quit telling your audience otherwise; to continue would be to show that you're SO bad at math that you can't count to five, or that you're ignorant of the facts, or that you flat-out lying. So quit that line of argument, or admit you're ignorant, or lying...

Which is it, JD?

Guys Smarter Than Me

2009-02-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, so that's a pretty long list, but I've got two in mind:

Dave Ramsey, and Robert Zubrin.

Zubrin, I'll just link to. Go read it, it's good.

Ramsey, I'll paraphrase, 'cause it was on the radio today, and I don't know if there's anything I can link to:

1: Pass a $20,000 tax credit for businesses, per net employee they add during 2009. (My addition - make it pro-rated, so jobs will be added NOW, not right at the end of the year). End result? Lots of businesses hiring lots of people. Unemployment drops dramatically.

2: Pass a $20,000 tax credit for anybody (not just first-time homebuyers) who buys a home in 2009 or 2010. This will get people buying homes, and stop the housing crash (which has been a main source of this entire economic downturn). This goes hand-in-hand with Zubrin's idea to make downpayments on a house tax-deductible, as it will discourage people from borrowing too much (overborrowing being the other part of our economic trouble).

Those two things, along with Zubrin's ideas on mandatory flex-fuel vehicles (break OPEC) and get our space program serious again (get science going again), WILL get dollars flowing in useful ways. Unlike the Porkulous bill in Congress right now, this will get our economy moving WELL in sustainable directions.

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can at least recognize good ideas when I see and/or hear them. Right now, I'm feeling a whole lot sharper than most of the tools who work in the tit-shaped building in Washington who can't accomplish anything other than putting my grandchildren deeply in debt.

And I'm feeling sharper, not because I'm particularly smart, but because I pay attention to people who are. Something politicians seem almost universally unable to do.

Gah... writing this is making me want to go find a source of barrels full of tar, and and a few thousand chickens' worth of feathers. Glenn Beck should be able to provide the pitchforks and torches. Now we just need a few miles of rope to tie into nooses.

I don't know if this counts as gunblogging...

2009-01-22T23:26:00.000-08:00

But Ruger. Yeah, the Ruger guys who design their automatics? GREAT job, guys, on shootability. Those (in my experience) are some seriously nice guns.

I've used them to teach several newbies; they're really great.

But you really ought to break one down and clean it once in a while... in case you haven't, it's a PAIN IN THE ASS.

No, I'm not saying Ruger design engineers should be up against the wall... they might be better shots than I am.

But guys, please... try breaking them down and cleaning them once in a while, and then study the designs by Saint John Moses Browning. And learn something. Please.

Bad Day

2009-01-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

Congress sucks. Our new President isn't any better.

I have no Hope that our nation is going to get any better anytime soon; odds are it will be worse.

The only Change I expect is that I'll have no change left in my pocket by the time Washington is done with me.

Oh... and the fucktards that were responsible for the design of the cab of the '98 Ford F150? The ones who figured there should be nearly 200 discrete steps to take to replace a heater core? Several of which involve dealing with live airbags, and disassembling the ENTIRE FUCKING CAB?

Yeah, they're the newest additions to my list of the People Up Against The Wall When The Revolution Starts.

Let the Big Three go broke - best I can tell, they haven't gotten a damn thing right since the late 1960s.

From the Mouths of Babes, pt. 2

2009-01-21T21:53:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Lisa, Alex and I were at the shop - Alex playing in his car, and Lisa and I doing various things. Over the radio, we heard - NEWS - Hillary Clinton was approved by the Senate, as Secretary of State, on a 94-2 (iirc) vote. Upon hearing this, Alex looked up at me, and yelled, "UH-OH!".

I really don't know what's prompting the timing of these "UH-OH"s; but they're still pretty funny... hopefully not prescient.

From the Mouths of Babes

2009-01-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

So, I picked (19-month-old Alex) up from preschool this evening. I'd had the radio on 570 KLIF talk radio when I got there, and once I strapped Alex into his carseat, then started the truck, the radio came back on.

They were playing President Obama's inauguration address, as they had been planning to do all afternoon, for the folks at work during the day.

Nineteen-month-old Alex heard President Obama's voice, giving his inauguration address, and he yelled at the top of his lungs "UH-OH!"

I have no idea what made him say "Uh-Oh" at that time... but I had to tell him, "Little boy, I hope you're wrong... but I'm afraid you're right."

America the Beautiful

2009-01-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

In just a bit more than a few hours, we're going to do something.

Something new to us - a Black President. But that's not the important part. We could have had a Black President years ago, had anyone run a campaign based on character and/or issues, rather than color, as Obama did.

Don't get me wrong - I think Obama's wrong on every count. He has no character (see his associates, Wright and Ayers), and his stance on issues is WRONG - he's heading us into Socialist-land. I voted against him, and I don't agree with him on anything.

But unlike previous black candidates, he didn't campaign on the color of his skin, but on "Hope and Change" - I don't know what Hope and Change have to do with someone who's entire resume consists of running for office, but he did better than the race-baiters who ran for Pres before him.

But the bottom line is, he was ELECTED, freely. And we'll continue a tradition that America started.

Something that was new to the world when we started it - a Chief Executive Officer handing over power, to a new Chief of another party, without bloodshed, serious disruption, or any kind of real discombobulation.

This is worth remembering - The United States of America was the first country to be able to hand the primary levers of power from one executive to another, even of another party, without disruption - we started as not a dictatorship, nor monarchy, but as a government constrained by the rule of law.

And so, for the 44th time, we'll hand the ultimate reins of government from one man to another, uneventfully. Without bloodshed, without riots, without any significant disruption. This is no longer a uniquely American event...

But we started it.

UPDATE 20 Jan 09 14:41 - Dave Ramsey riffed on this same subject on his radio show just now.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:31:00.001-08:00

I hope you and yours had a great New Year, and successfully avoided the Amateur Night. Best wishes from Lisa and I!

The Boys at Christmas

2008-12-29T00:53:00.001-08:00

This came from Mom:

That is, l-r, Antonio, Alexander, and Jackson (aka Tonio, Alex, and Jack).

Tonio and Jack are my baby sister's boys, and of course, Alex is the little hellraiser Lisa and I take the credit (or blame) for.

Baby sis Jenni, and her husband Joe stayed at Mom's while visiting for Christmas, and Alex spent a night there as well. Mom got all the boys matching footy pajamas to stage this pic - and oh my God did she have fun, having all her grandbabies stay with her that night!

Mom reports she had to make a certified fool of herself to get Alex to smile - he's not as familiar with posing for pictures as his older cousins are, but I think that makes it that much better. As I wrote to Mom, "Tonio and Jack are obviously "cheesing" for the camera, but Alex looks like "I see something I'm gonna get into here in just a second". I have no doubts who's going to be the instigator of mischief when those three get older".

Fun stuff, and the picture was also much appreciated by the boys' great-grandmother, great-grandfather, great-uncle (who Alex is named after), and great-aunts.

Charity

2008-12-01T23:42:00.000-08:00

My wife, Lisa, is the most beautiful woman in the world.

Now, granted, I may have a slight bias here... but I can tell you that it was true on our wedding day. No other woman in history has brought tears to my eyes through her sheer beauty, but she did.

She did again tonight. Not physical beauty, but spiritual. It's not often Lisa can truly surprise me (one of the reasons I married her is because we tend to think alike). But she did tonight, with a suggestion for our holiday charity.

Background - we give some to United Way, Salvation Army, etc; but not a lot. Dad believed, and we both agree, real charity is best done face-to-face, one-on-one, so no bureaucratic pissants get to siphon off the good you do before it gets to whoever needs it.

We always do an "Angel Tree" Angel - providing a good Christmas to a needy kid (or two, or three, depending on our finances for that particular year).

Tonight, Lisa suggested we do, in addition to that, something more personal - cruise the local grocery store, look for (as best we can tell) a single parent with a couple of kids, and pay the Christmas grocery bill.

She caught me completely by surprise - and Lisa can't often do that. But I love the idea, and we're going to do it.

Instructions: "Your groceries are paid for. If this helps you, say a little prayer of thanks when you get them put away and the kids to bed tonight. If this isn't a big deal for you, we challenge you to come do the same thing for somebody else between now and Christmas - pay it forward. Merry Christmas and God Bless."

Lisa caught me completely off-guard with this suggestion, but I love it, and we're going to do it. One-on-one charity. Government uninvolved; no administrative overhead. Just people looking out for people.

Caveat - Lisa's a better people-person than I am; she'll probably be the one to identify the "target", and probably pick up a few "extras" for them - I'll be the one who steps in at the checkout line, and point out Lisa as their shadow, and say "God Bless you and yours - now You bless somebody else, when you can. Pay it forward".

I'm looking forward to this.

Screw the government, I'll do charity MYSELF without their "help". Thanks, Daddy, for the right attitude on this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:51:00.001-08:00

Lots of folks are running lists of the good things they're thankful for today.

I'm going to go a little bit different.

I'm thankful for the assholes, idiots, problems, setbacks, and outright failures I've suffered in the past year.

The good things I'm thankful for are too numerous to write them all down; I'd inevitably leave some out.

But like stars, they don't really stand out unless they're against a dark backdrop - and the dark backdrop of all the negatives in life make even the smallest positive stand out - like a distant, dim star that still sparkles on a really dark night.

The negatives make even the smallest positive something notable - something to enjoy; something to make note of; something that can make you smile, no matter how small.

Wade through the crap, and remember - it's manure that makes flowers bloom brightest.

New Shooters

2008-11-14T00:08:00.000-08:00

I sent this to Kim, but he didn't publish it so I will:

I've spent the past few weeks teaching two of my younger cousins to shoot:

Here's Crystal:

And this is Austin:

Both of these 20-somethings have mastered the Four Rules, and this week, I ran them both through a practice CHL test - Crystal scored a 229/250, and Austin scored a 246/250. Passing score is, iirc, 175. Both of these youngsters are good pistol shots, and about to go get their CHLs before Obama makes them illegal. Hooray!

New Shooter Report

2008-11-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Two of my younger cousins, Crystal and Austin, recently expressed an interest in learning to shoot pistols. I was, of course, all too happy to oblige.

Both have been practicing at least weekly at my range, and having fun. I took Crystal to buy her first pistol a couple of weeks ago; Austin shouldn't be far behind. Both of the youngsters are good shots.

Shooting Advice

2008-11-11T23:40:00.000-08:00

Namely,
If you're scheduled to do any kind of shooting qualification, try to reschedule if you're sick.

Alex brought home a nasty little stomach bug last week, so of course Lisa and I caught it too.

It fully hit me sometime mid-afternoon Saturday. Of course Saturday was the day for my re-qual for my CHL.

Now, for four years, I've been mightily pissed at myself for losing focus and shooting a 249 out of a possible 250 on my initial test. I've been practicing fairly seriously since about February of this year, fully intending to get the perfect score that I missed by one due to "Oh wow, I might shoot a perfect score!" whoops - threw one low and left. 4-zone instead of 5-zone. I was DETERMINED that I wouldn't make that mistake again.

Instead, when it came to the shooting part (100% on the written, thankyouverymuch), I had quickly alternating fever/chills, and my hands were kind of shaky.

So I shot a 240/250 - nine points worse than four years ago, despite heavy practice and all the concentration I could muster.

At least the hershey squirts didn't hit until Sunday. That MIGHT have been more embarrassing than the scatter-shotted target.

Interesting Question

2008-10-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

Dave Duffy (the publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine, which is a very good mag) has an interesting question on his blog.

My answer is in the comments to Dave's post, although it's a bit circumspect, by choice.

It's an interesting question, though... feel free to comment here or at Dave's blog.

Did Iran just launch a nuclear strike at Israel?

2008-10-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure this post is for real or not.

There are several reasons to doubt it:

1) If it were meant to be a "dirty bomb" to cover Israel's coast, why wouldn't it have had some security (just in case of this type of piracy)?

2) Why wouldn't Iran have waited until January, when there's a fair chance the new President Obama would be sympathetic to them?

3) Why would China sell Iran radioactive sand, when it's pretty plain this is what it would be used for, and the radioactive isotopes would be traced back to their reactors?

The original post is really short on supporting evidence. Although hijacked ships aren't known for "on the ground" reporting, I'll need some supporting evidence before I believe this.

I won't expect ANY supporting evidence, however, from America's mainstream media. This story, if true, would only bring national security back to the forefront of the presidential campaigns, and that's Golden Boy Obama's weakest area.

The real problem for America is: If this story IS true (and it's plausible, if not probable), there's really nothing stopping Iran (or a friendly subsidiary) from trying to do the same thing in one of OUR ports.

I'll be watching for more information on this story.

Boxes

2008-10-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder... since our Founding Fathers, American Democratic Republic (I may have said that wrong, forgive me) has rested on a three-legged stool.

Soap Box... Have your say.

Ballot Box... Vote your say.

Cartridge Box... for when the first two are overrun by a government out of control.

70-90% of the populace told the House of Representatives NOT to vote for the MOAB (Mother Of All Bailouts). They voted for it anyway, once it was sufficiently pork-laden.

The Soap Box failed.

The Ballot Box is in a couple of weeks. GO VOTE!!! Vote AGAINST anybody, regardless of party, who voted against what their constituents said on this MOAB that isn't working. (Kay Granger, call your office; I'm talking about you).

Make sure your Cartridge Box is full.

Question

2008-10-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Is there anybody who doesn't love the last four minutes of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird"?

It's the part after the lyrics are all done. Wonderfully fun music. Or maybe I've had one too many beers tonight. Or maybe I'm just a Southern Redneck, and it's in my genes.

Just askin'.

Currency Issues

2008-10-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

This may be a case of "I don't understand everything I know".

All evidence I've seen indicates that the US Dollar will be worth less soon than it is now.

But all this economic disruption, globally, may mean that the US Dollar loses less than other currencies.

This could be an opportunity to buy imports at an advantageous price.

I intended to link to www.ammoman.com for this post, specifically Wolf brand ammo (made in Russia), but I'm getting "Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)" when I try to bring the site up. Disturbing.

If other currencies are falling in relation to the US Dollar, this could be a good time to look at buying any goods imported to the US. Their prices should drop, at least for now. Anything on your shopping list, watch prices. But keep in mind, currency markets can and do turn on a dime, so don't wait TOO long.

Lots of work to do

2008-10-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

I just noticed the "Labels" section on writing Blogger entries - maybe I'm unobservant, or maybe I haven't cared before, but I guess I should go put labels on previous entries... just in case some person with too much time on their hands wants to see what I've written on various topics.

Highly unlikely, but I'll probably do it anyway. After all, that's what all the cool kids do, right?

Update: after 20 minutes, I've finished back through June '08. And I didn't post much this summer. This may take a while.

Long Overdue

2008-10-06T00:16:00.000-07:00

... a gun post.

Normally, rats in the attic and/or garage would be seen as a bad thing. I've got some, and I do, in fact, want them gone.

I've got an electronic noisemaker that's supposed to run them out... ineffective.

Glue traps? They've struggled out of them.

I've got the old-fashioned spring-loaded snap traps down; waiting to see if any of them fall for that.

Poison Baits? They carry them outside for the squirrels to kill themselves with, and for my dogs to get seriously ill. (Really happened.)

The thing that's killed the most rats so far? My Ruger .22/45 loaded with ratshot. 3 of the not-so-little vermin so far.

Good moving target practice, and I love the smell of burned gunpowder in the garage.

Scared the crap out of Lisa the first time I actually shot at one, and I had to tell her the story about my great-grandfather, who dealt with a rat infestation by nailing tin can lids over all ratholes but two. Then he ran a hose from the exhaust pipe of his car to one hole and sealed around it, and sat in front of the other rathole with his revolver and shot the vermin as they ran from the carbon monoxide. As the story goes, he was quite successful.

I need a .22 revolver - the ratshot won't cycle my .22/45, making followup shots (in case of a miss) slow enough that the rat usually gets away.

Smarter People than Me

2008-10-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

...are saying that this $700 Billion Bailout was not necessarily a good idea.

I agree that SOMEthing needed to be done, but I don't think piling on dollars we don't have was the right answer.

Expect the cost to go much higher. I expect 2-3 Trillion dollars, and even that probably won't do much good.

Expect high inflation, and worse performance by the economy and the stock market. The Carter Era may look mild by comparison. Figure out what you'll do about it now, or your family will probably be suffering.

Does the "P" in P. Diddy stand for "Pansy"?

2008-10-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

Famous (for serial name changes) rapper P. Diddy is apparently reduced to a terrified, incoherently whining child by a hockey mom. I mean, come on. Unless you're a game animal in Alaska, she's about as scary as my sock drawer.

I'm not sure whether to find that funny, or pathetic, but I'm leaning toward pathetic.

Okay.

2008-10-02T01:23:00.000-07:00

Rivrdog makes a valid point.

My answer? I don't have one. I don't know what's going to happen if Congress doesn't fix this financial mess. But I'm pretty sure Congress CAN'T fix it.

The rhetoric from Capitol Hill (aka the Big Top) and the White House has mostly been "panic, do something NOW!". Good decisions are rarely made in a spirit of fear and haste. Plenty of political hay can be made in that environment, however, and I think that's mostly what's going on.

In addition, the numbers simply don't add up. From what I've been able to find, liabilities from sub-prime loans and the "toxic waste" paper that's been based on them comes up to somewhere between 50 and 100 TRILLION dollars. Congress can't spend our way out of a mess that big; I'd really prefer if they didn't try. They'd just waste a lot of money, put us further into debt, and the piper will still need to be paid. $700Billion is like putting a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

I've sent my congresscritters alternate ideas - mainly based on Dave Ramsey's proposals. Since I've been learning more about the depth and breadth of this problem, I'm not sure Ramsey's proposed fixes would be any more of a long-term solution than piling on borrowed money, as the White House and Congress want to do. But they'd cost us a lot less.

Honestly? I think we're headed for a crash one way or another. I think the bus has gone off the road, and now all we're trying to figure out is whether it ends up in a hay field, runs into a brick wall, or off a cliff. I don't know which one is most likely; I do know that piling borrowed money into the bus's tracks won't get it back on the road, it'll just waste a lot of money.

Anybody who claims (as the Administration and Congressional leaders have) to KNOW what's going to happen if this bailout doesn't happen is either fearmongering or guessing. He who lives by the crystal ball eventually eats glass. Or maybe gets re-elected for doing "something".

Pray for the best, prepare for the worst, and I do mean worst. Reality will probably fall somewhere in between.

This is probably going to be a rough ride, though.

Open Letter to Kay Granger

2008-09-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Kay Granger is my Representative, from Texas 12, in the US House of Representatives.

Following is a letter I sent to her tonight:

Dear Congresswoman Granger,

First, shame on you for having your "email Kay Granger" link on your official http://kaygranger.house.gov/ website go to a phone number rather than an actual email link.

Second, and far more importantly, shame on you for voting to put the American people and your constituents seven hundred billion dollars further into debt.

I listened to Rep. Pete Sessions on KLIF this afternoon, and he dodged that issue shamefully. Shame on him too. Because there was some nebulous language about the "mark-to-market" rules added, and some of the more obnoxious additions by Frank and Dodd had been removed, he thought an initial price tag of $350bn, and upward limit of $700bn, was acceptable. Apparently you did as well.

I'm telling you, as I told you last week, that price tag is NOT acceptable, whatever else surrounds it.

In your email response to me last week, you mentioned that "too much private capital is sitting on the sidelines", and you were correct.

Get that private capital involved. Get FHA-style insurance on the table. Get capital gains cuts on the table. Continue pursuing revision of the "mark-to-market" rules (which, as you know, were an unintended consequence of regulations passed by an earlier Congress). Don't put us, the taxpayers and our children, on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars.

I'll repeat, just for clarity: Don't put us, the taxpayers, our children, and grandchildren, on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars.

And one more time, in case you weren't paying attention: Don't put us, the taxpayers, our children, and grandchildren, on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars.

I'm this close: "" to putting up a 4x8 sheet of plywood in my yard on the corner of Waltham and Welch, with the message "Kay Granger voted to put us and our grandchildren $700,000,000,000 into debt". I'll wait until your next vote on this issue before I do that. I think that sign might have more impact than the one "Re-elect Kay Granger" sign I've seen in my neighborhood.

If you want to spend $700bn, fine. But it better be balanced by $700bn in spending cuts, in the same bill. (Hint: the IRS and BATFE budgets would be a good place to start cutting.)

Strong message to follow.

Yours truly,
Aaron Neal
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Fort Worth, Tx 76133

Politics - Yuck.

2008-08-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, long time, no post. I'll get some more garden info up soon, it's been... interesting.

Big thing for today is McCain's choice for Veep. I think Palin is awesome.

McCain sucks, Obama sucks worse - Liberal vs Marxist - Palin seems ok though?

Honestly, I think that would be good for the country.

When watching the news coverage this morning, I was reminded of an essay Robert Heinlein wrote circa 1980 - I read it in his book "Expanded Universe", and it's called "Over the Rainbow", in which a VP is suddenly elevated to POTUS, and proceeds to solve most of the country's problems via common sense.

I could see Palin doing that. We can only hope.

I don't like McCain; I don't like how he's treated the Bill of Rights as his own personal toilet paper. I've been planning on voting for him -correction: against the Marxist Obama- because as Kim du Toit says, "I love my country more than I hate John McCain".

Palin gives me a reason for voting FOR McCain, even if it goes along with a hope that he'll (for one reason or another) retire gracefully and EARLY.

Garden Yummies

2008-06-23T00:19:00.000-07:00

Please ignore the mess - the important part is the veggies on the paper plate/towels and the pickles behind them.

ALL from our garden.

Pickles, of course, are because cucumbers almost always overproduce. Using my Great-grandmother's recipe, I canned up TEN QUARTS of dill pickles (traded one quart for some fresh tomatoes and peppers from my friend Bud; he spent more money and planted more-mature seedlings than I did, and I WANT tomatoes! Mine are still green). The fried plate is okra, potatoes, and squash, diced and dredged in a mix of cornmeal and flour, fried in oil with a super-diced onion and garlic.

Okra, potatoes, squash, and onion all came from the garden Lisa and I have been working on.

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

Now, I am by NO means a vegetarian - If God didn't want us to eat animals, He shouldn't have made them taste so good.

But that was an AWESOME dinner, even with no meat at all. And all the better, that almost all of it was home-grown.

Still have a week or so before the pickles should be good to try; I'm looking forward to seeing how they taste :)

This is from a few nights ago. Tonight we had some fried green tomatoes, and they were good too. (I prefer ice-cold ripe tomatoes, sliced with a little salt). I accidentally knocked a green tomato off the vine yesterday, and told Lisa to pick some green ones today to make FGTs. She'd been craving them... yummy, just not my preferred prep for tomatoes :)

Green beans, sweet corn, and cantaloupe soon; okra, squash, and cucumbers still coming in like gangbusters. I'm about to call done on lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, and get things ready to put purple-hulled peas in their place for this fall.

Also going to greatly increase the size of the garden. Stay tuned!

More good stuff later.... Tomatoes are plentiful and ripening,

This Week, One Year

2008-06-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Been a pretty busy year. Good time to reflect.

A year ago this week, Lisa was going into the hospital for a C-section. Alex was born 11 June 2007.

As Lisa was in recovery from surgery, my oldest and bestest friend Dave was bringing his wife, H, into the same hospital. She was going into labor with THEIR first child.

I was best man at Dave and H's wedding.... it was a ton of work, and some of the most satisfying work I've ever done. The host gave me a challenge coin that I carry to this day; I'm not fully dressed without it. The host was impressed enough with the job I did making sure the wedding and reception came off ok, and his home wasn't trashed, that I now have a challenge coin that says "Skip Quant - Pete Pace's Platoon Sergeant 1968-1970". Anybody paying attention will notice that Peter Pace was the first Marine Corp General to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Skip Quant was his platoon sergeant when Lieutenant Pace was a fresh-faced young officer in Vietnam. I'm damn proud of that challenge coin.

I'm also damn proud that I was Dave's best man, and damn proud that Dave agreed to be my best man, not once, but twice. Yeah, he's smarter than me; he got it right the first go-round, it took me two times to find the right woman.

But this is about what happened a year ago this week, not about our respective weddings.

A year ago this week, doc cut Lisa open and pulled out a wonderfully healthy baby boy - Alex.

A day later, H delivered her first child to her and Dave, a wonderfully healthy baby girl, A - except she was jaundiced.

Lisa had to stay in the hospital to recover from the gut-cut. Baby A had to stay in the hospital to get light treatments for jaundice - but Mommy was fine, so the hospital kicked Dave and H. out.

I don't think I've ever seen my oldest and best friend so upset as when he and H. were being discharged and told to go home, but they couldn't take their baby girl with them.

Now I'm gonna get a little bit preachy, but this is important. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE GOOD FRIENDS, YOU MUST BE A GOOD FRIEND. Often that means you have to sacrifice for your friends.

I am absolutely blessed with the best friends any man could ask for... and while I'm not perfect, I think that is because I choose good people to be friends with, and I do my damndest to be good friends to them.

A year ago this week, the hospital discharged H as healthy, but kept baby A because of her jaundice. Lisa was still a patient, recovering from the gut-cut.

I told Dave, "They let someone sleep in here with Lisa - that's supposed to be me, but it doesn't have to be. Let's go home, let Mommy H stay in here with Lisa, and that way Mommy can stay with baby A, and us Daddies can come back tomorrow."

Dave hated being away from his wife and daughter; I hated being away from my wife and son. But we did it, and let both Mommies be with both kids, and everything turned out ok.

That was a year ago, this week.

This year, Alex had his birthday party last Saturday. HUGE party, lots of people, WONDERFUL time :)

Dave and H's daughter A has her first birthday party tomorrow (Saturday) - it should be a great time as well.

Slightly rough start, and slightly rough year - Dave and I have been so busy, we've barely spoken over the last 12 months. But we have the kind of friendship that can survive that, especially now that our time is focused on our next generation. Tomorrow is a pool party; lots of splashing and toys and 1-year-olds getting adults completely soaked.

Ought to be a lot of fun :)

BOOMERSHOOT!

2008-06-03T00:32:00.000-07:00

Been so excited about this, I guess I forgot to post...

I'll be able to go to Boomershoot '09!!!

Been reading about it, and wishing I could go, for several years now... but it's always fallen too close to my 1 May anniversary for me to do it. For '09, it ends on 26 April, which gives me plenty of time to drive back home!

WOOHOO!!!!

I'm really looking forward to this. I have a rifle (Tikka T3 Lite) and ammo (Black Hills Gold .308) that are good for 1/2 Minute of Angle in combination... so it'll be strictly up to me to do the job.

I'll be driving up and camping, and trying to line up friends who I'd like to have some long-range precision shooting experience... this is gonna be FUN!!!

Only one thing could keep me home... and that's if Lisa is pregnant and on bedrest again. I may have to monitor my zipper between now and then...

Tools, Argh!

2008-06-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

Found out today my harmonic balancer puller has some screwed-up threads. Not sure how that happened, but it stopped me short on turning the Blazer's engine into a bunch of small parts.

Almost simultaneously, Friend Tommy called, and asked to borrow a tool I have to finish doing brakes on his daughter's new (to her) car.

And offered to help me on the Blazer tomorrow until *I* got tired - which should be around 11pm - midnight.

Sounds like a good trade to me :) I'll get the tools and parts I need tomorrow afternoon, then Tommy and I should be able to finish up fixing the timing chain tomorrow night.

And when we finished the brakes on the Daughter's car, we enjoyed a few beers, cigars, and good long talk... something we haven't been able to do in WAY too long.

All in all, a good evening :)

Ups and Downs...

2008-06-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

We shelled quite a few peas tonight, Lisa and I... enough for several meals.

Not as many as I wanted, but still a decent amount.

Blazer's still broke... based on the available evidence, Uncle Alex agrees that the most likely scenario is that it jumped time. That's my next project - and it may delay further blogging for a while.

Alex is for-real walking. Not very well, but he's doing it. I think I'm about to have my hands more full than I ever have yet. Why don't babies learn to use the toilet before they learn to walk? That would really even out the workload.

Ahh well... life goes on. Some good, some bad... but that's what keeps it interesting, right?

Bigtime Oops

2008-05-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

After a little help, figured out the fuel pressure regulator on the Blazer was bad. Bud went and got a new one, and as I was removing the fuel-line keeper, lost a little 8mm nut.

Unfortunately, the little nut went down an intake passage I'd neglected to cover.

More unfortunately, that particular nut is one of TWO on the whole damn engine which is non-magnetic.

Long story short, I wound up having to pull the intake manifold, find the nut (resting on top of an intake valve, just WAITING for the thing to open so it could wreck the valve and/or piston), then reassemble the manifold and everything that is associated with it.

Good news - I've ridden this rodeo recently, so I was able to get it done pretty quick.

Still, a big, ugly OOPS.

Teasing Og...

2008-05-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to pick peas tomorrow... the pods are long and fat, and won't wait much longer.

I broke one open today, and it had (in only one medium-sized pod) 8 peas that looked almost good enough to eat raw.

I'll most likely fill two Wal-Mart bags with pods better than that tomorrow.

C'mon down here, Og... enjoy the guest room Rivrdog blogged about, and eat peas!

Running Blazer!

2008-05-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday, I bribed Uncle Alex to come help me figure out what I was missing in the Blazer's electrical system.

Uncle Alex is a professional mechanic, pretty much the best mechanic I know - even Daddy would ask for his help when he got stumped.

I was fully prepared to have Uncle Alex spend about 5 minutes looking at the Blazer, and say "Well here's what you did wrong, you doofus!"

After two hours of double-checking all my work and finding nothing wrong, HE had to call one of his buddies for some advice, utilizing a seriously expensive piece of troubleshooting software.

Come to find out, unlike many (most?) vehicles, a '97 Blazer doesn't run system power (basically everything that's controlled by the ignition switch) through the starter terminal - it goes through the alternator terminal. And since, inexplicably, those power leads are BLACK and not RED, I'd forgotten since disassembly that they were hot, and had bolted them to ground. IE, no power anywhere.

Once we figured that out (thanks Frank!) it was about 5 minutes to having the truck running. Now I only have to warm it up, change the oil, flush the coolant, and let Bud have it back.

Then a good shooting session - lots of fun, although I'm not a fan of the trigger on Uncle Alex's Ruger Security Six. The GP101 seems to have a much better trigger, but I'm open to trying both of them out more :) Uncle Alex also has much meatier hands than I do, with shorter fingers, so our tastes in grips are quite different. I found the grips on the Security Six to be TINY, but they fit his hands just fine. Yay for diversity!

And the bribe wasn't bad - some beer, firewood I don't currently have a use for but Aunt Gail loves in the winter, some of Texas' Best BBQ, and some collard greens from the garden. Aunt Gail doesn't like, and apparently won't cook greens, but Uncle Alex should be able to get his Mom (Granny) or sister (Aunt Liz) to cook them up for him.

All in all, a good day - Littlest Alex behaved pretty well (he napped more or less when needed, so didn't fuss much) and Uncle Alex and I had fun.

Ouchie

2008-05-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

One of the recent storms that came through North Texas took down half of an OLD tree in our backyard. We were very lucky that it only glancingly hit the house; it could have caved in part of the roof had it hit solidly.

So, I've been working on cleanup. Chainsawed the downed wood into two categories: Brush, and Firewood.

Today, I started loading Firewood into the pickup to go store. Unfortunately, some of the larger pieces are too big to split with just a maul... so I had to load some BIG TREE-TRUNK size pieces of wood.

Most were probably between 150-200 pounds. One I'm guessing was about 300 pounds.

Honestly, I'm kind of impressed I could lift it onto the tailgate. I did cheat a little though; I had the truck squatted some from the weight of the other big pieces lifted in. I've probably got about 1500 pounds in a half-ton truck right now.

Yes, I'll be driving slowly tomorrow, with lots of following distance. Yes, I'm on plenty of OTC painkillers. No, I'm not sure I'll be moving well tomorrow morning.

But all of the really big stuff is out of my backyard; I may actually be able to mow soon.

Ted Kennedy

2008-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Og said it quite well. I think I'll leave it at that.

Picture by Bud

2008-05-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

Good friend Bud took a couple of pics of Alex a little while back; he finally got around to sending them to me. Nice camera, good pics :)

Here's a sample:

"Yeah, yeah, it's a camera, so what?!?"

This is for Family and close Friends....

2008-05-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

COMMENT!!!!!!

I've lost track of the number of times family members have told me they read one of my posts, or looked at pictures here.... and yet those posts have ZERO comments.

If you read this blog to keep up with what's going on with Lisa, Alex, and I, you're going to be a bit short of info, as I'm pretty bad about posting regularly.

But if you see something about us you think is neat, PLEASE POST A COMMENT! Occasionally, I can get a little bit of a discussion going... and you might wind up making a new pen-pal friend :)

So... Mom, HonorableStepDad, Uncle Alex, Aunt Gail, Aunt Susan, Aunt Liz, Granny, Granddaddy, Cap'n Mo and MissMo, and anybody else who's reading this I don't know about... register, and start leaving comments, please!

'80s Retrocool

2008-05-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Car Craft Magazine has an article this month (not currently available online, or I'd link it) on a 1970 Dodge Challenger - beautiful musclecar.

It was rebuilt in the early '80s, and was a CC cover car in June of 83. It has the 80s-era gloss black basecoat, with near-neon angular stripes along the side, and mirror-image crossing stripes on the hood.

And that's what I wanted to do with my '74 Maverick when I was in high school. BADLY.

And you know what? If it's not overdone, that still looks good today, 25 years later. When I rebuild the Mav (my first car, and still in my possession), I think I'll go ahead and do it '80s retro, just for fun. Of course, the powertrain will be something more modern (probably a late-80s 5.0 V8 and 5-speed), but I'll go for the look that was so popular back when I was in high school, driving the car every day, and working on it most days.

Interesting quiz

2008-05-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

h/t: Rivrdog

I didn't count the produce coming from the garden. Not what I want, but I guess it's a decent start.

Something the quiz doesn't account for is stored water; I have nowhere near 239 days worth of water stored.

McCain addresses NRA

2008-05-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Theme: "I don't like you, you don't like me, but I'll screw you over less than Obama or Clinton"

h/t: Instapundit

Bleh. I'd really like to have someone to vote FOR, rather than using process of elimination deciding who I really need to vote AGAINST.

Busy, busy....

2008-05-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Got the Blazer back together this week, but I've missed something apparently - nothing electrical will power up. Still have to figure that out.

Alex has two new molars I hadn't noticed until today - he has to have his head tilted WAY back, and his mouth wide open to see them. Found them today while he was examining a tree.

Lisa got a pretty good amount of mowing in between work and dark - I had to replace the idler pulley on the deck after the bearing for the old one seized and melted the pulley; seems to work fine now.

Tomorrow is picking up some railroad ties for my rifle backstop, and moving a refrigerator for my youngest brother.

Busy, busy :)

Growin' Groceries

2008-05-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

Garden is coming along nicely - did a lot of weeding yesterday, and Lisa picked our second batch of collard greens!

The sweet peas are doing very well, considering they got smashed by horizontal hail a few weeks ago. This is basically all new growth:
If all those flowers become peas, I should have quite a lot of peas.

Potatoes are also coming along just fine:
I'll be thinning them out soon, and hopefully bringing some new potatoes home for dinner when I do.

Corn, sweet potatoes, okra, green beans, onions, cantaloupe, squash, and cucumbers are all doing nicely. Tomatoes are doing ok; hopefully they'll take off soon. Lettuce is still smallish - not sure it'll do much before it gets too hot. Cabbage did not do well, unfortunately, and I mis-counted rows and planted sweet peas over the top of the spinach and only got a few spinach plants to come in. The carrot seeds washed all over the place, so are scattered, but are coming up pretty well now.

Lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to greens for dinner one night this week :)

Alexander the Great Explorer

2008-05-13T01:28:00.000-07:00

Alex learned to crawl in grass today. Until now, he didn't like the feel of grass on his legs or hands... but since it was relatively cool today (low-mid 70s), I had him dressed in jeans... and he got used to grass on his hands.

And once that barrier was broken, there was no stopping him (short of picking him up and putting him back into baby-jail (ie, playpen).

Gotta watch out for ants, as he doesn't understand them yet. But he crawled to and from the garden, to the steprails on the truck, to Mommy's car, back to the truck, and all around... exploring the world around him :)

We'll see what happens when the weather turns hot again, and he's in shorts with bare knees. Somehow, I don't think he'll be slowed down for long, or very much.

Background to these shots are potatoes, sweet potatoes, collard greens, green beans, sweet peas, jalapenos, and (distantly) corn.

I promised Granny (my grandmother, Alex's great-grandmother) some pics of the garden... I have a few, but I think I'll post them in the morning. Kinda late here, and my (as-of-yesterday) eleven-month-old son wore me out just a bit today :)

Busy little boy... and tons of fun :)

Garden pics later Tuesday. I may just make Og jealous, maybe :)

Lisa Rocks!

2008-05-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

Lisa's been mowing over at Dad's - she kind of enjoys mowing on the riding mower there.

Friend Bud has been helping too - I did a little, when I didn't have Alex to take care of.

We got started early this year, and have been able to keep up. Yesterday, Lisa mowed about 3 acres in less than two hours, including some that was pretty tall.

Only a few areas are still tall; they'll get knocked down pretty quick and then we'll have the whole place neat and trim, and keep it that way, reducing fire hazards for the 4th of July (which we'll celebrate on the 5th, as it's a Saturday this year).

Upon Further Reflection...

2008-05-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

I think the "plant ethicists" are secretly awaiting the arrival of our New Vegetative Overlords, some kind of sentient plant from outer space.

Honestly, their arrival would do a couple of interesting things:

Monsanto would become the largest US Military supplier (thus guaranteeing that the US Military would save the world, AGAIN)
"Plant Ethicists" could finally have something somewhat useful to say

Following which, we could solve a couple of the world's problems:

Feed POWs from the intergalactic war through Salad Shooters, and alleviate world hunger
Feed Plant Ethicists through meat grinders, and reduce the food bill for lions for zoos around the world.

Hey, everybody wins! Well, except for the Intergalactic Green Beans, and the Plant Ethicists.... but who cares about them, anyway?

I don't even know how to title this.

2008-05-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

This is simply INSANE.

Not just the insanity of "plants' rights"... these Eurotards (Swiss division) have gone so far off their collective rockers, it's obvious judging by their confusion and equivocation that they KNOW they're completely off the reservation, they just don't know WHY.

This may be the best explanation I've seen so far:

Why is this happening? Our accelerating rejection of the Judeo-Christian world view, which upholds the unique dignity and moral worth of human beings, is driving us crazy. Once we knocked our species off its pedestal, it was only logical that we would come to see fauna and flora as entitled to rights.

Note that this is NOT mentioning a rejection of religion - that's another issue for another post. It specifically mentions the rejection of the "Judeo-Christian world view", the world view which largely developed Western Civilization. And yes, our rejection of it is driving us, as a civilization, crazy. As in:

Rising to the task, leading bioethicists argue that for a human, value comes from possessing sufficient cognitive abilities to be deemed a "person." This excludes the unborn, the newborn, and those with significant cognitive impairments, who, personhood theorists believe, do not possess the right to life or bodily integrity. This thinking has led to the advocacy in prestigious medical and bioethical journals of using profoundly brain impaired patients in medical experimentation or as sources of organs.

At least in some jurisdictions in the US, this defective thinking has been soundly rejected - as evidenced by people being charged with murder for deliberately causing a woman to miscarry, or double murder charges against criminals who kill a pregnant woman. And I'd feel sorry for the next-of-kin of anyone who tried to tell me that Alex, as a newborn, didn't have the rights of a "person".

I'd like to meet a few of these "personhood theorists" (What the hell do you major in at college to be a "personhood theorist", anyway?) in a dark alley sometime - they sound like excellent candidates to generate some profound brain impairments in, so they can "ethically" be used for "medical experimentation or as sources of organs".

Gah. Like I said, these idiots are so wrong, they KNOW they're wrong. Their values, however, have been so twisted around, inside out and upside down, they can't figure out WHY they're wrong.

Here's a clue, using logic rather than morals, for these retards to have. Free of charge, this one's on the house:

Plants eat way-tiny stuff in the soil. Animals eat plants, and other animals. Animals shit, shit breaks down into way-tiny stuff in the soil. IT'S CALLED THE CIRCLE OF LIFE, YOU FUCKTARDS!

Sorry, I was going to try to keep this post pretty high-level; can't do it.

Look, "respect for the dignity" of a bear or an eggplant will not protect you from either being eaten by the bear, or the eggplant sending its roots into the rotting corpse of what the bear leaves when it's full.

Respect is a two-way street, and nature ain't showing much respect for us. Screw 'em, if it's tasty, eat it.

May Day

2008-05-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Screw Communism, it's dead. To Hell with all the illegal aliens protesting today, and the organizers trying to register illegals to vote should all be arrested.

'Nuff said about that.

I've been married for four years, as of today. That's a lot more important to me than a bunch of commie sympathizers and vote fraudsters.

Lisa, bless her heart, took today off and took care of Alex. I took the dogs to the groomers (since without Alex to take care of, I could put them in the back seat of the truck) and Lisa and I got the garden virtually weed-free, built 18 tomato cages, got several of them set up, and gave the garden a good watering. I also got my first real sunburn of the year (wearing jeans and a t-shirt, so it will be an actual farmer's tan).

Found a lot of carrots I hadn't noticed - apparently one of the storms that happened shortly after planting washed a LOT of the carrot seeds off their raised rows and down into the valleys between the rows. Which meant no hoeing; weeds had to be trimmed from between the rows by pulling them out by the roots. Sore hands, and hopefully bountiful carrots, are the result.

Tired and unromantic dinner of pizza; Lisa and Alex had blueberry muffins for breakfast though. I had just enough time to bake them before having to hit the road to get the dogs going for their summer haircuts.

Busy May Day; lots of good stuff in spite of the commies and border-jumpers.

Now Here We Go

2008-04-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Oak Cliff is a neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas - known for high crime, poverty, and generally being an armpit of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

THIS is an example of how people need to be.

Take care of your home, then take care of your neighborhood. Don't be beggars to the various governments, just DO IT!!!

Congrats to Matt Christiansen, Patrick Hancock, and anyone else involved in this initiative.

Oh, and to the people involved... if you can't get the (understaffed and mostly useless) Dallas PD to show up when you report a crack house, try calling 911, and reporting that you've got a trespasser on property you own at gunpoint, and you'll kill him if he moves. I'm willing to bet the DPD will find a way to get an officer on the scene then.

Retards

2008-04-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

And I mean that in the MOST derogatory fashion.

Absolute Idiot

If you don't get it, FIRST, go buy a few history books on the 20th century and read them, THEN go read this.

Convoluted hat-tips: Og, Mark Alger, and Sondra K.

Operation Iraqi Freedom, proudly sponsored by the Neal household

2008-04-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not going to get all red-headed about taxes the way she did. (h/t: Insty)

I'm also not going to say exactly how much taxes we paid this year - that's none of your business, unless I decide to run for public office (HAH!).

But here are a couple of estimates of the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Using something in the middle of those two estimates, I'm claiming that Lisa and I paid for OIF from 23:43:50 until 23:44:00 on 14 April 2008.

Yeah, I know, some of my taxes are going to bullshit... but I'm still claiming sponsorship for ten seconds of OIF.

And yes, our damned taxes are too friggin' high.

RIP, Charlton Heston

2008-04-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm too young to have noticed him much, other than by what he did before I paid attention.

But this is GOOD:

Heston Speech

The whole speech is good, but what really hit me was in the first minute and a half - about the Depression, and how important hunting was for families to have ENOUGH TO EAT.

No, the 2nd Amendment does NOT mention hunting; it's not about hunting, it's about keeping and bearing arms for defense.

But when your family is hungry is NOT the time to breaking out the bow & arrows.

If it Bleeds, It Leads... Unless...

2008-04-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

Anybody notice that the run-of-the-mill robberies, muggings, and rapes go almost unreported on the 6-o'clock news, or in the newspapers?

Unless...

Unless the would-be victim fights back, and shoots the shit-head?

Then it gets all kinds of press.

Oleg Volk

2008-04-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am an unabashed fan of Oleg Volk's work.

Many reasons -
-He's a great photographer. Artist, really
-He's a great supporter of the 2nd amendment
-He makes all kinds of sense.

Here are a few of my favorites, after spending a few hours browsing around his site:

The "Drug War" has cops bashing in doors (all too often, the WRONG doors) at all hours of the night. I can promise you... I'm not growing, dealing, or using drugs, so if my door gets bashed in the middle of the night, I'll assume it's gangbangers and answer with gunfire. Good chance either me or whoever's coming in is going to get killed. And since I know my house better than most door-kickers... best to stay the hell away from here.

This one speaks to me a LOT - Racism's just FLAT WRONG. KKK members are cowardly shitballs in my book.

A man standing up to a racist is a friend in my book. A man standing between his family and danger is a friend in my book. This man, and the men like him back in the '60s, are MEN I'd be proud to call friend and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with.

Beautiful work, Mr. Volk... thank you. Keep it up, please!

Alex is a Stand-Up!

2008-04-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

I took pictures, unfortunately, Yahoo is borking my email. I may have to leave them soon and go to GMail. [Update: Mail issue fixed now.]

Anyway... today, Alex stood up with my help several times... went from crawling to kneeling, then grabbed my fingers, put one foot up, and stood up.

Lots of fun and laughs... and then he did it without my help in his playpen.

Alex can stand up by himself now! YAY!

Rivrdog's home safe

2008-03-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

I was kinda worried when he didn't post anything for a few days; turns out he just stopped on the way home to visit his Sis and left the laptop in its bag.

Apparently some BBQ that didn't measure up to what he's had recently welcomed him home (actually, I called him last night as he was getting back to his house from that restaurant, and he said the ribs were ok, but that's about it).

He did, however, take the time to email me some pics he took of me shooting my .45, and several follow-up emails critiquing my grip and stance, so... THANKS, Rivrdog! I'll be checking and adjusting as necessary during practice in the coming days/weeks/months before my CHL re-qual, and I do indeed intend to shoot a 250 out of 250 when I renew my license, and I'll do it with full-house loads out of the .45 I carry every day.

And while we're at it - everybody send good wishes/thoughts/prayers to the RivrDaughter, who's getting the last of the reconstructive steel out of her leg tomorrow, while Rivrdog stands watch.

Democongs = Saddam's Three Stooges?

2008-03-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Read, and I'll leave it to you whether to laugh, weep, or just shake your head and wish we could bring back the tar and feathers (I did the latter).

Actually, I think an enthusiastic (and frequent) application of tar and feathers would probably go a long way toward fixing a lot of problems. Both with elected officials and unelected bureaucraps.

Oh boy... eggs for breakfast, meat for the stewpot, and feathers for the politicians... Chickens may replace pigs (aka bacon, sausage, pork roast, etc) as my favorite eatin' animal.

Great Thoughts

2008-03-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Doc Russia has a great idea about the Heller case. Go read.

2008-03-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

No, nothing here once I thought about it.

Back to Basics

2008-03-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

Low Ready - GO
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Pause
Low Ready - GO
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press
Front Sight-Press

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Rebuilding my "muscle memory" to shoot accurately. It's a work in progress.

Hash Browns

2008-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't been doing any foodblogging lately, but when I took Rivrdog on his first trip to Cabela's Tuesday, we spotted something we both wanted to try out:

Nonpareil Dehydrated Hash Browns

Thought about it for a minute, and in all the freeze-dried meals I've had, potatoes usually reconstituted very well. At $10 for 8 boxes, each of which makes slightly more than 1 pound of hash browns, we each figured it was worth a try. I made some yesterday, while Rivrdog was out on the highway headed west, and here's my review:

Cost:
As I mentioned, at Cabela's they were $9.99 for 8 boxes (net wt 4.5 oz each). From Nonpareil directly, it's $11 for 12 boxes (plus shipping). They also have a package of 6 1-gallon boxes for $28.35, if you're planning on feeding a BUNCH of people (66 3-oz servings per gallon box).

Preparation:
Very simple; the directions are clear and straightforward. I added a very small amount of salt and pepper, could have used a little more, but that's individual taste. I also added about 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil to the cast-iron skillet I fried them in while it was pre-heating.

Taste:
I've not yet made hash browns from scratch, only from frozen, but I couldn't tell the difference between frozen and dehydrated. Quite good. Also good as leftovers - nuked some for Lisa when she got home from work last night, she agreed with the "more salt" I mentioned above, but also agreed they tasted fine. I also threw a few spoonfuls of leftovers into the skillet this morning, across from an egg and a slice of Canadian Bacon - separated from each other, but cooking/reheating simultaneously, and they were good reheated that way as well.

Storage:
They come sealed in a Tetra-Pak, and do not need refrigeration prior to opening them. There is no "Best By" date on the carton. Nonpareil recommends a shelf life of 1-2 years for best taste, but says as long as they're kept dry, they won't go bad. BTW, I had to call Nonpareil to get that information - and the 800# got answered on the third ring by a HUMAN who could answer my question in unaccented English at 10:00pm Central Time - surprised the crap out of me!

Side Note:
I suspect one could closely duplicate this product by shredding peeled potatoes (either with a food processor, or using a cheese grater) and then dehydrating them on a cookie sheet in the oven on its lowest setting or by using a commercially-available dehydrator. Vacuum-sealing the dehydrated potato shreds should keep them from absorbing any moisture from the atmosphere. If my potato plants do as well as I hope this year, I'll try it once the harvest is in.

Overall Verdict:
Excellent. Cabela's was a little bit more expensive than buying them from Nonpareil's website, but still not expensive. No refrigeration needed, so excellent for storage against power outages. Does require a significant amount of heat to prepare, so keep that in mind - but could be done on a gas stove, or Coleman camp stove, even if your water heater and stove are electric. A single container weighs 5.35 ounces, and, as I said, makes just over a pound of hash browns (verified on my food prep scale), so great for backpacking. Great taste, even as leftovers.

I'll be buying more of these; they get a slot in my long-term food storage, and I KNOW I won't have a problem keeping these rotated - they're also going to go on my breakfast plate on a regular basis.

Maybe my write-in for President

2008-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ted Nugent.
(approx 16 minutes, but it doesn't seem that long)
(appears to require Quicktime)

Farewell and Safe Travels

2008-03-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

Rivrdog left early this morning; he's headed back home to Oregon.

I think he stayed longer than he had planned; we had a NASTY storm move through early this week (I think it's affecting places as far away as New York now).

I told him when he got here "Hospitality here is open-ended"; he wisely decided to hang around here, have a break from the road, and let this storm roll by rather than trying to drive through it.

I think we had some fun, and he's documented it pretty well. Some good food, visiting with friends, some shooting, a trip to Cabela's, and Rivrdog, Lisa and I doing some sitting/standing around and just shooting the shit with each other. Good times :)

Alex and I waved bye-bye as he left this morning in the LBT... I was sorry to see him go, but I know from personal experience, heading home is usually the best part of any trip.

Keep it between the ditches, and shiny side up, greasy side down.

Godspeed, Rivrdog, and we may be up to see you before too long :)

Long Way to Go

2008-03-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

I hate to admit it, but it's been a while since I did any shooting. Last time was using a shotgun loaded with light buckshot to "clean up" some feral dogs who had taken up residence at Dad's. Bad times, 'nuff said.

Before that, was early in Lisa's pregnancy with Alex... so over a year ago. Taking care of a wife on bed rest, then an infant, now a crawler and nearly- toddler... yeah.

So Rivrdog and I did a little shooting out at Dad's today. VERY impromptu range, but safe backstop, and it served ok.

I got to put a few rounds through Snuffy... nice, handy little rifle! Shooting from standing, with my left elbow resting on the side of my truck bed, I figured I did ok for minute-of-goblin. With an unfamiliar rifle, I'll take that. I do like that rifle though; it's accurate, low-recoil, and for a truck gun, capable of delivering a good punch.

Then I got my .45 out - my carry gun. And proceeded to suck.

I'm going to have to get serious about practice - my handgunning today was flat-out awful; Rivrdog took several pictures, and if I'm lucky, he'll only say "We went out shooting today". My accuracy was, honestly, horrible. I MIGHT have been able to stop an attacker at 15 yards, but it would have been iffy.

This was a wake-up call... nice that I could hit with an unfamiliar rifle; BAD that I couldn't hit for love nor money with my OWN carry pistol. I have a LOT of work to do to make up lost ground on my skill with my .45.

I am now thoroughly embarrassed, in front of Rivrdog. But... I'll be doing better shortly, and you can bet on that.

Company on the way

2008-03-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Rivrdog is on his way to North Texas... I'll get a chance to show off some good Texas Hospitality!

He's already visited a couple of people in Texas, but I intend to show what old-fashioned hospitality REALLY is :)

Got plans for food all laid out; guest bedroom is just about ready. And the BBQ Across Texas should get a pretty good post once he gets here; I've enlisted the help of a true expert.

Good steaks and great BBQ (thanks to Cap'n Mo) are on the menu, some good breakfasts, a private shooting range, visits with some good solid folks... I'm gonna try to make this area a vacation destination for Rivrdog in the future :)

Rivrdog posted stuff for me back before I had my own blog, just because he thought what I was doing was worth something. He's the one who convinced me that what I had to say was worth something; I guess he's my blogfather.

So we'll see what he has to say once he gets here :)

Got a bit more tidying up to do, but the guest room is ready, and we'll show what open-ended Texas Hospitality is all about :)

Tree Rat: 1, City of Fort Worth: 0

2008-02-29T10:02:00.000-08:00

Sometime this morning, there was a power loss in Southwest Fort Worth. This affected my home; when I woke up my alarm clock was blinking.

According to "authorities", it was due to a squirrel chewing through a power line. I hope the tree-rat fried, slowly.

In addition to my home, and 25,000-30,000 other households, this particular tree rat also caused a power failure at two water pumping stations in Southwest Fort Worth. As a result, over 400 businesses were closed, and 25-30 THOUSAND households are being told to boil water prior to consumption until at least Saturday afternoon. Friday morning to Saturday afternoon, our water supply is not considered "safe".

Folks, this isn't the result of a terrorist attack, or a huge storm, or an outbreak of some weird disease... this is a result of a SQUIRREL CHEWING ON A POWER LINE.

Whether or not a treerat should be able to take out this much infrastructure is a topic for another post. What I'm talking about here is that YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED!

Lisa and I won't be boiling our water; I've hauled one of our 7-gallon Aqua-tainers out of the bathroom closet and we have safe water on the kitchen cabinet ready to go.

I have a friend who makes fun of me; he gives me grief about being a "survivalist" for storing water, food, and ammo, and having a generator and storing gasoline for it.

But I have water I know is safe, and I don't have to boil it.

My biggest headache is that I have to re-wash some of Alex's bottles, because I washed them this morning before I checked the answering machine and got the reverse-911 call or turned on the radio.

Store enough water and food to last a week. Have a generator and enough fuel to run it for a week.

Be prepared for when something stupid (like a treerat) or something terrible (like a terrorist attack) interrupts the services you normally take for granted.

For the record: Terrorists have never interrupted our services here. But a squirrel has, for what looks like about a day and a half.

Microserialization

2008-02-19T18:58:00.000-08:00

Or, Micro-stamping.

Rivrdog's sounding the alarm on this one. To sum it up, several state legislatures (Cogito Ergo Geek is saying twelve) have pending legislation with awfully similar language to give ammunition serial numbers, and basically register ammunition at the point of sale.

I'm not sure what the outcome is going to be. The bill introduced in Mississippi has already been killed in committee, but this is the most organized attack on gun owners via state legislatures that I've ever seen.

One of the questions is, "Who's behind it?" Most of the bills are worded almost identically. To me, this indicates that an anti-gun group drafted the language and provided it to various legislators to introduce in their respective states.

Just in case you're wondering why this is bad, there are two reasons: One, most of the bills call for an additional tax PER ROUND on ammunition to pay for the required state database tracking ammo sales. Two, this is a backdoor gun-registration scheme. If there are database entries detailing ALL of your ammunition purchases, anybody with access to the db can make a pretty good guess at what guns you own. And as the saying goes, there can't be confiscation without registration.

I've done a little more research into the bills (that I've been able to find online) in the interest of helping to move this discussion forward. Here is a list of bills, and most of their sponsors:

Arizona HB2833
Introduced by Representatives Garcia M, Lopez: Alvarez, Bradley, Campbell CL

California SB 997
Introduced by Senator Ridley-Thomas

Hawaii House Bill 2392
Hawaii Senate Bill 2020
Hawaii Senate Bill 2076
Hawaii House Resolution 82-07 (Carried Over from 2007)
Hawaii Concurrent Resolution 104-06 (Carried Over from 2007)
All Introduced by

Illinois House Bill 4258
Illinois House Bill 4259
Introduced by William Davis
Illinois House Bill 4269
Introduced by Monique D. Davis
Illinois House Bill 4349
Introduced by Naomi D. Jakobsson - Harry Osterman
Illinois Senate Bill 1095 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. A. J. Wilhelmi - Emil Jones, Jr.

Indiana House Bill 1260
Introduced by

Maryland House Bill 517
Sponsored by Delegates Burns, Robinson, Anderson, Branch, Carter, Glenn, Harrison, Oaks, Stukes, Tarrant, and Walker

Mississippi Senate Bill 2286
Principal Author: Jordan
Additional Authors: Jackson (11th), Dawkins, Powell
*NOTE* Bill is currently (19 Feb 2008) dead in committee.

New York House Bill 6920 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by M. of A. R. DIAZ
New York House Bill 7300 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ, R. DIAZ, JEFFRIES, LAFAYETTE, KOON, BENEDETTO, BROOK-KRASNY, BENJAMIN, DINOWITZ, CAMARA, SCHROEDER, CLARK,
FIELDS, BOYLAND -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GOTTFRIED, MAISEL,
MARKEY, McENENY, MILLMAN, O'DONNELL, PHEFFER, TOWNS, WEISENBERG
New York Senate Bill 1177 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. KRUGER
New York Senate Bill 3731 (Carried Over from 2007)
Introduced by Sen. ADAMS

Pennsylvania House Bill
Unavailable

Tennessee House Bill 3245
By Miller L
Tennessee Senate Bill 3395
By Tate

Washington House Bill 3359
By Representatives O'Brien, Williams, Flannigan, and Pedersen

These are all listed at ammunitionaccountability.org (h/t: Cognito Ergo Geek) . They seem to be a driving force behind all this legislation, but it's not obvious to me yet who's behind THEM.

At this point, I think it becomes a "follow the money" game - see if there are any anti-gun groups funding the above list of legislators' campaigns; try to see where ammunitionaccountability.org gets its funding. I'm not sure where to look for those pieces of data.

Of course, if you live in any of the states where this garbage has been introduced, contact your state legislators and let them know you oppose it. If they're in favor of it, also let them know that information regarding the funding BEHIND it is being dug up, and will be provided to their opponents in the next primaries and elections.

And if you live in a state that favors restrictive gun control, stock up on ammo NOW (like that's ever a bad idea)... anywhere these bills pass, ammo's going to get even more expensive than it already is.

No. Just No.

2008-02-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

Folks, we have to remember - a president's policies can do good or harm, but only for a few years.

THIS IDEA IS JUST BAD.

Every Single Candidate still in the race for the White House stinks from stinksville, in my conservative point of view. I don't want any of these rats in the Oval Office for a day, much less for four years.

But one of them is going to make it.

Each and every one of them is very likely to hurt this country. So now, the question is, who's going to hurt it the least?

That question is not answered by who has the least-idiotic policies. As I said, a bad president's bad policies can usually only hurt the country for a few years.

The thing to look at is judicial appointments, specifically to the Supreme Court.

Looking at the ages of SC justices, the next administration (especially if it goes 8 years) may well replace half YES HALF of the United States Supreme Court... and if the Justices appointed are in their 40s, this could easily affect the Supreme Court for the next 40 years... well after this next President is dead and (rightfully) forgotten.

THAT is the deciding factor for me in this election - all of the candidates suck based on their records; we will NOT have a good President in the next term. What matters is what kind of Justices are going to be appointed by the next scum-sucker to occupy the Oval Office; this next President is going to suck, but my son won't remember him. My son will, however, be affected by Supreme Court rulings by Justices appointed this term until he's more than halfway to retiring.

Now, all that said... any conservative saying they hate McCain so much they'd vote for Billary, all I have to say is: No. Just No.