The Things We Talk About

Belle's a nurse, and while shes strict on patient privilege, she's also apt to talk  shop with me on the back porch.
"The patient is on dilaudid, sublingually, in a hospice environment.  Which means we have to be really strict on medication documentation."

What do I hear?  'Yada, yada, strong medicine, someone has to be on their game."

Cops and nurses make good partners, because out jobs are remarkably similar.  We both deal with serious issues on a daily basis, working with people who may or may not understand what is happening to them.   Nurses and cops also tend to have the same perverse sense of humor..

Belle is leaving in the morning, going to Missouri to be with a family member who is having surgery net week.  This will probably be one of the longest separations we've had sine we were married.  It's okay, and I'm perfectly capable of cooking for myself.  But, I am going to miss her.

Big Tree

I spent the day at my buddy's ouse, thrying to help him get a big tree off the structure, after it feel in a wind storm.

The root ball.  Mark is at least 6'4" tall.

We cut branches, trying to assess the damage.  Mark lives in a trailer and the main trunk didn't get to the trailer, but we were cutting branches that were 6" thick.  It knocked the hell out o his place, and I suspect the little trailer will be totaled.

There were four of us working, and we're all old, retired LEOs.  I bet that none of us will be able to move tomorrow.  We'll all be spavined.

Town Folk Alley

A Town Folk Alley (now called Try Cowboy Fast Draw) is an event where a club sets up a range and lets anyone try the game, under supervision of an experienced shooter.  This is a great way to introduce new shooters to the game, and is very productive at giving folks a taste of what Cowboy Fast Draw is all about.

But, occasionally, someone will show up and pull you r leg.  In the video below, our good friend Delta Whiskey, a seasoned Cowboy Fast Draw shooter (and a champion in his own right.  He is currently the reigning Louisiana State champion,) showed up a a Town Folk Alley in Colorado and got in line, pretending that he was a neophyte.  At the time, he was the reigning Texas State Champion.

Then he started snatching 3s, which is champion level shooting.  Just watch the whole thing from the beginning.



This has become a classic cideo, and

Illinois is Anti-Business

TTAG and others are reporting that over half of Illinois gun dealers went out of business this week.  It seems that a new law went into effect that adds burdensome regulations to gun dealers inn Illinois.  Evidently, the new law requires a state license in addition to the normal BATfE dealers's license.

Previous Governor Bruce Rauner saw the writing on the wall and refused to sign the bill. However, our new Gov. Pritzker, along with the bill’s sponsors, see driving off dealers as a feature, not a bug.

I'm sure that this new law will result in an immediate, measurable decline in gun crime in Illinois, especially in that mecca of peace and prosperity, Chicago.   I bet that the immediate decrease in gun crime will save so much public money that it will offset the economic impact of driving business out of the state.

If you believe any of the above paragraph, I have a bridge I'd like to talk with you about.  Until then, we have our monthly gun match today, and I really need to start prepping for the gunfights that are sure to occur.  Peacefully and safely.

The Squad?

It appears that some freshman congress-critter proposed a boycott of Israel.  It amazes me that anyone listens to her.  hat is more amazing to me is the characterization of four young, female, leftists as a squad. 

This is no squad.  It's not even a parody of a fire team.  I understand that the President dubbed them The Squad to mock them, but he's giving them way too much credit.  Here is what a rifle squad looks like in today's Army.

I'm glad I could clear that up for you.

Political Ads

I'm making political ads ad running them on social media.  It's a whole lot cheaper than road signs or billboards, and the ads seem to reach a lot of people.  Whether or not they'll be effective in getting elected is yet to be seen.

But, there has been a learning curve.  An adviser told me that it would be best if I could do the ad in one take, without editing transitions.  And, I'm okay with that, I just have to keep shooting until I get it right.  With setup considered, it takes me about ab hour for each minute of video.  And, I have a lot of interesting out-takes.  I'm thinking about clipping them all together and making an out-take video after the election.  That might be a lot of fun.

Here's my latest.  It took about an hour and a half to get this done.



Vote Dezendorf!

Insurance

What a nut-roll.  I've been thinking about switching auto insurers, and we've got two grandsons living with us.  One has a DL and one will soon have a DL.  They can't drive my vehicle, an old Ford F150 until they are insured, so it behooves me to get some quotes.

Forty years ago, I was insured with USAA and thought I'd give them a chance.  I've been both on the phone ad online with them for over four hours, answering their questions, and being switched from one rep to another. 

It seems that there is a system glitch, because they can't figure out that two guys with the same name, but with different ages and SSNs want to insure with the same company.  It's frustrating, and when you add the fact that grandson was covered on Dad's policy and now I want to cover him on Granddad's policy, the whole system goes into vapor-lock.

About four hours into this nut-roll, after having been through at least nine reps, the lady asks me for Belle's DL number.  Not a clue.  I have her name, R/S, DOB ad SSN, but I have no clue of her DL number.    I almost lost it, and told her we'd try again tomorrow morning.

They wonder why I drin.

Suppressors, Etc.

In lieu of actual content, a good review of the history of the law concerning suppressors.  I didn't know, for example, that Hiram Maxim patented the first one.



And now, ya know.

Celebration

The family is gathering today, here at PawPaw's house.  Miss Reba, the matriarch of Belle's clan is celebrating her 98th birthday.  Family and friends from all over the state will assemble in the shop to celebrate.

This is one of the reasons we built this venue.  It's a place to gather and celebrate, and we can accommodate plenty of guests.

As soon as I finish coffee, I'll go out to the shop and make final preparations.   Move the lawnmower out, do a final sweep, and ice down the beverages.  We're expencting 30-40 people today, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

What Is a Ton?

Not the unit of weight, but the measurement of BTU energy?  We have been talking a lot about air conditioning in the heat of the summer, and I (just this week), added another AC unit to the shop.

But, the conversation wove around to the unit of measurement that measures the cooling capacity of an air conditioning unit, and why do they call it a tom?  Just a little research and we find that it's an archaic term that is based on the amount of energy needed to melt a ton of ice.

A ton is the cooling capacity of an air conditioning system. One ton is equal to the amount of heat required (288,000 Btu) to melt one ton of ice in a 24-hour period. A one-ton air conditioner is rated at 12,000 Btu per hour (288,000/24). A two-ton unit would be rated at 24,000 Btu per hour. Typical residential central heating systems provide up to 5-tons of cooling. Commercial systems can range anywhere from small, three-ton rooftop units, to 1,500-ton chiller systems. Why a ton of ice? The term is leftover from the days before mechanical cooling when ice was an essential part of refrigeration.

So, if a ton is equal to 12,000 BTU/hr, then I have 4.5 tons of cooling hanging in the wall of my shop. (Three 18K units) 

So, now I know what a ton of AC capacity is:  Basically, 12,000 BTU.

Aftermath

Barry is over, which is a good thing.  Now, the aftermath.  There is not a lot of clean-up because as tropical storms go, Barry was a wuss.  He did drop a lot of rain, and we'll have to deal with that for several days as everything dries out.  With temps in the 90s and humidity in the 90s, Louisiana will be a sauna for the next several days.  T here is a lot of water on the ground that needs to evaporate.

Flooding will continue for several days.  As the water that hit the ground during the storm finds its water-course, the streams ad bayous will fill up and backwater will become an issue.  All that water has to go somewhere.

We're planning a party for Belle's mother this weekend.  We're celebrating her 98th birthday.  There is a certain amount of prep work to be done to get ready for the festivities, and I have a crew coming in this morning to help with the installation of another air conditioner to help make the shop more comfortable on a hot summer afternoon.

John Chapman, USAF

John Chapman was a US Air Force combat controller.  These guys work closely with units on the ground to help deliver assets to the battle. (That's a gross over-simplification).

Early in the Afghan unpleasantness, Chapman was assigned to the theater, and was present at the battle for Takur Ghar, and was involved in an action in which he was killed, and for which he first received the Air Force Cross, and was ultimately up-graded to the Medal o Honor.

What is amazing, other than the valor and intrepidity of Sergeant Chapman was that the entire engagement was caught on film.

Trigger warning.  This is combat footage where men fight and die.



Amazingly, there was another Medal awarded for this action.  Navy Chief Britt Shabinski was also awarded the Medal for this action.

I am in awe of men like this.

Tropical Storm Humor

We're still in the midst of this thing, but if Louisiana knows how to do anything, it is how to weather a storm.  This slow-moving disaster ain't over by a long shot, the center of circulation is somewhere south of me as I type this, but it seems that we may have dodged a bullet.  So ar, it's not nearly as bad as was predicted.

Still, the weather is crappy, and many of us are indoors, having a Saturday afternoon drink which leads me to this weather graphic.

I'm sure the blood alcohol levels are elevated everywhere.

Here's another good one that came out a couple of days ago in the run-up to this train wreck.

They say we're going to get the worst of it tonight.  We'll see.

Decision Making in Uncertainty

That verdamnt storm, Barry, is still wobbling in the Gulf.  We're starting to see squalls in central Louisiaa, but the wind is moderate.  The weather-weenies admit that they're still trying to nail it down, and it's like trying to nail jello.  The current track seems to put it right on top of us, and I'm going to continue to watch, as long as the power company lets me do so.  I'm not expecting a problem, but it would be follish to totally discount the probability that we won't have challenges.  This is a big-frikiing storm, and the entire state of Louisiana will be affected, from the coast, eventually to the Arkansas border.

In other news, second grandson Quinton has his very first drill today wit the Louisiana National Guard.  He doesn't have a vehicle yet, so PawPaw dropped him off at Beauregard this morning in time to make 0645 formation.  The young private is making his very first drill in a tropical storm.  I hope that this is simply an event, and not an ominous omen concerning his military career.

The Louisiana Guard pays tuition at state universities, making it a very attractive option for young people who want to go to college.  He plans to graduate from high school in December, then attend basic training in January, thence to tech school in the spring.  His chosen field is MOS 91F, Small Arms Repairman.

Belle got a little teary-eyed this morning.  Her grandkids are growing up.

Roberts Strikes Again

I've said for years that Chief Justice John Roberts is no conservative.  He's a swing-vote, and sometimes he allies with conservatives, except when it really matters.  It seems that recently, he gave President Trump another solid screwing over a question on the census.

Progressive left interest groups sued the administration and for some inexplicable reason, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the nutters. Do you ever wonder if "certain people" have some dirt on Roberts? He sure delivers for the left on really important issues. I digress. 

No, I don't believe anyone has dirt of Roberts.  He gave us Obama-care not once, but twice.  Under his leadership, he gave us gay marriage.  Not that I care, from a libertarian standpoint, and I know that he dissented, but it happened under his watch.  The man is a liberal, plain and simple.  I do believe that he took the job under false pretenses.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  If I ever have the opportunity, I will spit on his shoes.

Barry

The big news this morning is Tropical Storm Barry.  Louisiana is firmly in the bullseye, and we are sure we are going to be affected, but we're not sure just exactly how it is going to play out. 

Is it going to go more east, or more west?  Generally, if you are on the west side of the storm, you're in better shape than if you're on the east side of the storm.  It's a matter of degree, but sometimes those degrees matter. 

We'll be okay, here in central Louisiana.  Yeah some tress will blow over, and some folks my lose shingles, and there will be some property damage, but that's part of the joy of living here.  Other folks have to worry about other natural disasters, we worry about hurricanes.

It's going to be okay, just a huge pain the butt.

Potential Tropical Cyclone 2

This thing still hasn't formed up, but the National Weather Service is warning that we might well have a bona fide storm on out hands by Saturday.

Oh, joy!  This is just what I need.   The church had a rodeo planned for Friday night, but that's been cancelled.  The normal Thursday night events have been cancelled as well.  I have a club shoot Saturday morning.  It's just practice, and I haven't cancelled it yet.

It's probably too far along to hope that this thing just goes away, but we can still hope that the weather folks are over-estimating the effect of this thing.  It's not even a named storm yet. 

I recko it's time to hunker down.

Plain, Filling Fare

With two teenage boys in the house, my food bill is going up, sure as God made little green apples.  That isn't a problem, because my grandparents and parents taught me how to cook.  And I love to cook when I have a reason to cook.  My problem is that I've never learned to cook for two, but now, it's changed.

The cooking rules in our house are simple.  I cook once a day.  Normally, a lunch, and the leftovers go in the fridge.  If the boys get peckish at dark, they're free to nuke whatever they can find.  Belle keeps a certain amount of what I call freezer-food on hand (hot pockets, etc), so they have options, but there are leftovers there too.

Yesterday, I cooked a big jambalaya for lunch.  Jambalaya is a Cajun food, with as many variants as there are cooks who have a big pot.  The variations are endless, and don't let anyone tell you that they have a hook on a definitive recipe.  A simple YouTube search will get you a dozen good recipes, white jambalaya, dark jambalaya, red jambalaya, they're all good.  Take your pick.

For myself, I like a white jambalaya.  That's what I cooked yesterday.  Plain, filling fare.

Chicken and sausage jambalaya

We each ate a bowl at lunch, and I put the rest away.  I looked in the fridge this morning, and it took a hit during the evening hours while I was in bed.

This morning I'm going to hook up the trailer, load the lawnmower and go to the church, where I'll knock back the Bahia grass.  At noon, I'm going to put on a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs.  Take some leftover hamburger buns and make garlic toast.

Plain filling fare.  It's what I'm good at.

Invest 92L

It loos lie we'll have a storm brewing soon in the Gulf o Mexico.  NOAAA is now giving it an 80% chance of turning into something bad.

The spaghetti models are all over the place, but they admit that it's early yet.  They're not sure where it is going.  Or what it might become, but all the weather-weenies on the Gulf coast are keeping an eye on this thing.

The next couple of days will tell the tale, but right ow it looks like it might go up the Sabine river, which never bodes well for central Louisiana.  On the other hand, it may turn in to a big nothing-burger, which is okay with me.  Still we need to keep a weather eye on this thing.

All of the weather folks will be watching this thing, and we'll learn more as the situation firms up.  KHOU, (Houston) is keeping an eye on it, as are all the weather media along the Gulf.

Air Conditioning

Air conditioning, in my opinion, is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, and I lump all manner of refrigeration in that category.  From the fridge in the kitchen, to the big walk-in units at the warehouses, to the central air unit in my attic, to the window units in small homes everywhere.  Air conditioning and refrigeration makes life comfortable, safe, and healthy.

I grew up i a house with out AC.  It wasn't real common in the middle of the 20th century, but I've since become accustomed to it.

Memaw is Belle's mother.  She's seen a lot in her lifetime.  This month she will be 98 years old.  She still keeps her own house and her independence.  We are celebrating her birthday on July 20th, and the party is in my shop, which is also air conditioned.  However, I've noticed that we are having a hot June and July, even for these latitudes.  We had a heat advisory today, which would send many of my more northern readers into apoplexy.  We're flirting with triple digits and 80% humidity.  I've noticed that in my shop, the to AC units are struggling in the midday swelter.  They chug gamely along, but they are not quite able to keep up.  This will not do for Memaw's party.

Today I bought a third 18,000 BTU AC unit and contacted the fellow who built the shop.  He'll be along one day this week to frame up another hole in the wall for that unit.  We will be comfortable out there, and after the party, if I don't need that particular AC unit, I don't have to turn it on.

Full House

For the first time in many years, we're back to a full house.  Belle and I are quite happy.  Zach, of course lives with us, and has for over a year.  Today, Quinton moved inn.  Quinton and Zachary are cousins, born about six months apart.  Quin is the elder, and they're both going to be seniors in high school this year.

Quinton's dad is a level-4 water systems operator and was headhunted recently by a major food manufacturer in Roswell, NM.  They're basically throwing money at Dad to come to New Mexico and run their waste-water plant.  Quinton wants to finish school in Louisiana, and has signed a contract with the Louisiana Army National Guard.  He'll be graduating in December and going to Basic/AIT in January.  Then he plans to go to college locally.

We are thrilled to have hi in the house.  The guest bedroom is now Quinton's Lair, and life goes on.  This is going to be a lot of fun.

Pollock Fireworks

Just north of here is the little town of Pollock, LA.  The mayor, Jerome Scott is a close personal friend and has been for many years.  He's also a great American who is trying to bring sleepy little Pollock into a place where the residents can thrive.  He's doing a great job.

One of the things he's done (other than attracting business and industry), is to initiate a great fireworks display on the 4th of July.  He's been doing this for over ten years and every year it gets a little bigger and better.  This year was no exception.

Folks come from all over this part of Louisiana to watch the show.  Belle and I have been attending for years, and this year I took the time to do a little retail politics.  Pollock is not in the jurisdiction that I serve, but the voters come here to sclebrate America, so I took the opportunity to make friends.

As the sun went down, we all sat under the pine trees to watch a fantastic fireworks display.  This thing lasted 30 minutes, but I managed to capture one minute of the display.

Trigger warning.  If you have PTSD, you might want to leave this one alone.



This is small-town America at its best.

Corruption

In the middle of this Sheriff's race, there is an ongoing corruption investigation within the Sheriff's office.  While on the surface it seems to be a corruption investigation, it goes deeper than that.  The investigation highlights failures in leadership, from the basic low-level supervisors, to upper management.  So far, three low-level deputies have been arrested, and two others fired.

Over my career, I've been involved in a couple of corruption investigations.  One, in the early 80s, led to the arrest and conviction of a sitting Sheriff.  He did a stretch of hard-time for that debacle.

This investigation is getting interesting.  It may be that one of the major players is also a candidate in this race, and is the guy that the sitting Sheriff has endorsed to take his place.


Yeah, it is starting to get interesting.

The Morning Paper

In a blow to Kentucky Bourbon, I see where a Jim Beam warehouse is on fire, with 40,000 barrels of whiskey at stake.

A Jim Beam warehouse filled with about 40,000 bourbon barrels in Kentucky remains on fire Wednesday, according to officials.

That's bad, that's very bad.

Closer to home,  the Sheriff's race is heating up.  With seven (7) announced candidates, the historical kick-off for the local campaigns is the 4th of July.  We've been campaigning since April, but the public is starting to pay attention, and my personal calendar is filling up with events that  will further the campaign.

What is not helpful is that a local corruption probe is starting to make news, resulting in arrests and firings at the Sheriff's office.  Our local media is covering it, and it's causing a lot of consternation.  I was interviewed b the local station, and when that follow-up story breaks, I'll link it here.

Additionally, in the past several days, an anonymous smear letter has been circulating around social media, and the recriminations are beginning to fly.  Yes,I've seen the letter, and no I won't comment on it, except to say that I deplore this type of political assassination.  Some folks thrive on it, but I think it is the wrong way to get the story out.

Later today, and tomorrow, I'll be campaigning at local events.  Were focused on retail politics, shaking hands and talking to voters.  I'm looking forward to it.

Busy, Busy

It was a busy weekend and we're picking up speed for the week.

Saturday, hosted the club monthly match.  We had two new shooters this weekend, and we hope they come back and shoot with us.  As hard as we've worked over the past two years, the word still isn't out.   Both of these guys were amazed to find a fast-draw club in central Louisiana.

Sunday, went dancing with my gal.  Belle and I are members of a private dance club that meets the last Sunday of every month.  It's mainly an old-folks club.  We hire a band, start dancing at 4:00 and serve supper at 6:00.  The dance is over at 8:00, because we're old folks.

Belle and I, having fun.

I put Belle on the road at 6:00 this morning.  She still works (and loves her job), working as a registered nurse for a private company, dealing with home-bound patients.    She trains direct-care staff for people with problems, and today she is teaching a medication administration class in West Monroe, LA.  While shes out doing that, I'll be doing retail politics on the west side of the parish.  I do't have much of a foot-hold over there, so I need to get on that side, show my face, shake hands, and talk to people.