Maintenance

 I spent an hour today with the gun cabinet open, taking out old friends and new acquaintances.

My old Winchester 94 was dry as a bone.  It needed a little oil and a little exercise of the action.  This one, of course, is in .30 WCF and used to go on stalking hunts with Junior Doughty.  It hasn't been out of the cabinet since Junior died, and that is a damned shame.  I really need to take it to the range and let it bark.

I took out the push-feed Model 70, the latest addition to the cabinet, and gave it another once-over.  It's a lite-model synthetic stock, but I swear, that rifle has the best trigger I've ever felt on a factory rifle.  It could use a better scope, and we'll see about that soon, but this one also deserves a trip to the range.

It's August, and it's timeto get out the rifles and make sure that we're ready for the fall.

What's Fer Lunch

 A new recipe for me, basically a Chicken Parmesan

The Parmesan sauce is simple, ;a half stick of butter melted in a saucepan, with a cup of heavy cream.  Heat the cream, the melt shredded parmesan in it until the sauce has the flavor you like.

The chicken is simply a piece of breast meat, tenderized, then dredged in seasoned flour, than an egg wash, then panko crumbs.  Fried at 350F until golden brown.

I whipped up some box mashed potatoes to go with it.  Now, by belly is full and I'm wondering how to spend the afternoon.

Procedures

 Took Belle to the hospital this morning for a routine procedure.  Everything is fine, one of those routine things that the doc can use to justify his existence. The procedure took about 20 minutes, but the rest of the time was taken up by intake paperwork and discharge paperwork, so a 20-minute procedure took five hours.

Can't really blame the doc or the hospital.  They do what they need to do to keep the government and the lawyers at bay.  Still, it pisses me off.  But, Belle is fine and that eases her mind. So, today wasn't a total waste.

AC Installed

Today after church, the boys came over and we installed the  new AC unit in the shop.

My shop is 40X50 with 10' eaves, the roof peak rises 5' in the center.  Simple math tells me that I have 25,000 cubic feet to cool or heat.  When the shop was built, I had 1 inch of closed-cell foam sprayed everywhere. To cool it, I have three (3,) window AC units, each pumping 18,000 BTU. Which means that I actually have more tonnage of air conditioning in the shop than I have in the house.

The challenge was the framing in the shop.  When we built it, we had the AC units on the floor ready to install and the contractor used that measurement when he framed the building. The holes in the side of the building are welded purlin.  They aren't moving  I had to make sure that whatever unit I bough would fit in that hole.  As it turned out, my measurement was good and we were able to take out the chassis of the old AC unit and simply slip the new AC unit into the old cabinet.  It worked like a charm.  Of course, we had to go to Lowe's and buy anew female outlet, because the electrical connection on the new unit was different fromwhat I had in the box.  And, I needed a new bod.  Oh, and let's not forget the new breaker, because this unit is rated at a higher amperage than the old one.

But, the new unit is installed and working, and that is off my list.  For that I am grateful.  Next week will bring another set of challenges, and I'm ready for that.

French Girl Reacts to Louisiana Cajun French

Okay, this is coo.  Surfing around on Saturday morning, I stumbled across this video where a French woman talks about Louisiana French and how it differs from standard French.  It all goes back to the history of Louisiana

In the mid 1700s, the British expelled the French from Nova Scotia. This took several forms, but a bunch of those unfortunate souls washed ashore in Louisiana. They formed the basis of our French-speaking culture.  My maternal grandmother, Gretna Segura, was directly descended from those Canadians and spoke French in her childhood household.  When she went to school, she was punished for speaking French and refused to teach it to her descendants.  What little I've picked up was from other sources.

So, we have this Parisian gal listening to our Louisiana patois and commenting on how close it is to her standard French. It's a cool 13 minutes to spend on a Saturday.

Refrigeration

 July was the month for refrigeration problems at PawPaw's House.  On July 12th, the home AC system went out after 24 years and we replaced it on July 16th.  About that same time, I noticed that one of the AC units in the shop was struggling, so I cleaned the coils and filters and prayed that it would limp along until the end of the cooling season.  No such luck. I went down on Wednesday and bought a new one.  We will install it this weekend.

Yesterday morning, I noticed that the beef/soda fridge in the shop was acting wonky.  I moved some stuff around in the freezer, thinking that the door had not sealed properly.  Termite came ovver yesterday afternoon, and the beer was cool.  Not cold.

I checked it this morning, and it had gone tits-up.  Deader'n Het.  Belle did a quick online search, and we fired up the truck and headed to Lowes.  We lost some stuff out of the freezer.  We were able to save a couple of pounds of deer meat and a small package of catfish filets.  Termite came over and helped me unload the new fridge.

Thanks, Termite.  Nothing else can go out in July, simply because July is over.  I can't wait to see what August holds.

JJs Burns

 In the village of Natchez, LA in south Natchitoches Parish, stood the twin business of the Rite Way grocery and JJs Lounge.  John and Judy Gibson built the place in the mid 1970s.  Rite Way sold bred, milk, gas, and beer.  JJs Lounge was the redneck hangout for farmers, cattle growers and blue collar folks who lived in the area. It was the place to stop in a get a beer on the way home, and they had live music on the weekend.  It was a hopping joint and I had a lot of good memories from that place.

KALB.com, our local TV station is reporting that it burned this morning.  Judy left the area about 20 years ago when she and John divorced, and I heard last year that John had sold the place and retired. Today, I hear that it has burned.

Rite Way and JJs were a fixture in south Natchitoches for about 50 years. KALB says that the cause of the fire is under investigation.  

Balance

 As in all things in life, moderation is key. It's a matter of claim whether any man in this age is truly free and most of the freedom we have lost over the past several decades is self-imposed. Many of the chains we carry in our daily lives were forged in technology.

My father was a visionary, predicting in the 60s that one day our television would come to our houses through wires and our telephones would be carried in our pockets. He worked for Ma Bell and spent time at the laboratory in upstate New York.  He knew what they were working on.  I'm old enough to remember when a telephone was something that hung on wall in the kitchen beside the refrigerator.

Nowadays, the cell phone is as ubiquitous as pants.  It has replaced the camera, the rolodex and the wrist watch.  In many cases it has replaced the television and the road map. There was a time when we could leave the house and be un-reachable until we returned, whether for an hour or a month. If you ran a business, you needed someone in the office to answer a phone.

The contractor who installed my new AC unit last week (and he did a great job) was on the phone several times during the installation.  It's a vital part of his business and I understand that. Times change, and people with it.

Cell technology has revolutionized modern culture, yet  I wonder sometimes if it is more a necessity or a leash. Call me a curmudgeon, but I refuse to be leashed.  It exists for my convenience and no one else's. There are times when I put it on the desk and walk away from it.  Maybe for an hour, maybe for all day.  If somone dies, I'll hear about it.  If it's important, I'll see the missed call or check the text.

Balance is important.

Monday Reflection

 I may have been wrong about that whole po' folks with cell phone post.  I've been wrong before. I'll be wrong again.

Lets move on to the whole "Russian collusion" scandal.  The hyperbole is as over the top now as it was when they were accusing Trump of being a Russian asset. "The Biggest Scandal In Our Nation's History".  I don't know about all that.  Credit Mobilier was a pretty big scandal. Watergate took down a sitting president. When people start getting indicted, I'll believe that this scandal has legs.  Until then, it's just noise.

Turning to our Justice Dept, and the number of things we've been promised that doesn't seem to have been released.  For example, the Epstein files, the JFK files, the RFK files, I'm beginning to believe that Pam Bondi has a Bermuda Triangle desk.  Files that land on her desk seem to vanish without a trace.

Locally, the heat wave continues unabated.  This is late July and we're screaming toward August. Todays lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich, along with a nice cool salad. I have no plans to cook over the next several days, but I am placated by the idea that by mid-October, we'll be back to gumbos and stews.

Po' Folks

 We had a visiting preacher at church this morning.  A Godly man who preached out of Luke.  He was relating a story about a recent mission trip to Guatemala, where he helped serve the downtrodden, poverty-stricken people of that country.  Spreading the Gospel of Christ along with meals and a cot for those who needed it.  Godly work.

Then he lost me.  He was telling about a big tent that the community used as a gathering place and he was in there one night and found an old guitar.  He picked it up and started strumming, singing a song that he knew, then noticed that the downtrodden had taken out their cell phones and were recording him.

What?  Cell phones?  That's where I draw the line.  IF you have a cell phone, you ain't poor.

The cell phone is the technological marvel of the late 20th and early 21st century. Cell phones cost money, and cell service costs money, and if a person has a cell phone, they hold in their hands the complete knowledge of the human species from the pharos until today.

Fifty years ago, no one could afford a smart phone.  At any price.  I remember resisting the impulse to buy a cell phone plan because it was too expensive.  And, I remember my first cell phone.

The people of Guatemala that the good pastor was helping may be a lot of things.  Like everyone else, they need the Gospel, and I'm sure that they need food and a helping hand.  But, if they have cell phones, they ain't po' folks.

Late July - Dog Days

 It's hot here in central Louisiana in late July. Nothing moves during the afternoon that doesn't have to move. Find a shady spot and get comfortable.  Right now, it's a balmy 92F with 70% humidity and a real-feel of 102.  We're in that rhythm of a late afternoon thunderstorm. Indeed, the weather app is telling me to expect a thunderstorm in the next 30 minutes.

So far, we have had a fairly quiet hurricane season, but the peak of the season starts in August and runs into September. Our worst hurricanes seem to come in September.  So, we'll see.

Why We Built a Portable Fast-draw Range!

This is how we build our portable range for Cowboy Fast Draw.

Lunch

 Belle wanted a little Cajun-Oriental fusion for lunch, so I started by chopping a pound of good Conecuh sausage and browning it in a skillet. Then I added a bag of Picsweet 3-pepper and onion and let that sautee with the sausage.  Next, a pound of good Louisiana Gulf shrimp, along with a half can of pineapple tidbits and a can of water chestnuts.  Then I added some teriyaki sauce and some Sweet and Sour sauce.

I let that simmer for a bit while I nuked some leftover rice.  Go easy when you add the sauces. It's easy to overdo it. You can always add a bit more.

Outrage

 I'm hearing all this outrage on the left and commentary on the right because CBS has decided to cancel Stephen Colbert.  Next year.

Big yawn here.  He makes upwards of $12 million a year, and they are going to pay him this year and next year. Simple math says that he is walking away with more money than I'll ever see.

I've never been fired, but I've seen people fired.  Generally, they get escorted off the premises, not given another year to make plans.

I really don't feel sorry for the boy.  He'll be fine.

Go Get 'Em, Judge

 I understand that Judge Jeanine Pirro is now the US Attorney for the DC district courts.

Judge Jeanine was a Fox News contributor for many years.  I'm a fan. I like her no nonsense style of calling it like she sees it.  She and I may not agree on everything, but you don't have to worry about where she stands on an issue.

Good on her.  I don't know why she wanted the job, but I'm convinced she will do it right.

Ruminations

Belle's daughter from Missouri came down this weekend for a visit, bringing her husband and two granddaughters.  They got here Friday morning and left this morning after breakfast.  It was good to see them.  The husband is an old soldier, having served both in the 25th Infantry division and the 5th Infantry division..   We have things to talk about.  He also likes Scoth whisky.

The great-granddaughters, both 10 years old, had never seen an in-ground pool. They were amazed, and spent several hours in the pool Friday and Saturday.  I am amazed that they are not sunburned, but they are not.

Of course, grandma cooked all weekend.  On Friday, it was chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and white gravy.  On Saturday, it was crawfish etouffee with rice, a salad, and fried fruit pies for dessert. PawPaw was showing off, too.  I showed off my selections of single-malt whisky, which is fairly depleted as of today.

The kids left this morning about 9:00.  Missouri calls.  Belle and I ate Popeye's for lunch.  Right now, I'm into some bonded bourbon, thinking about the benefits of family, and the pleasures of a working AC system.

Tropic Lightning

 No, not the 25th Infantry Division. I'm talking about the unnamed weather event that hit us last night and will probably roll across us again today.

This thing is basically a nothing-burger, just lots of thunder and lightning.  It has no wind field to speak of and never really got organized before it came ashore.  This thing originated in the Gulf, so technically it is a tropical something-or-other.

The weather-weenies tell us that we are under a 99% chance of rain today, which means that there is a change we won't get rained on.  Yeah, right.

Hogwash

 I'm seeing a lot of hogwash online about the .30-06 cartridge being obsolete.  Hogwash. The old Thirty Aught Six is an old cartridge, no doubt about that, but obsolete?  Not likely.

It can still take all the game on the North American continent.  There may be other cartridges that are better for a specific task, or more suited to specific game, but that doesn't make the old warhorse obsolete. It's proven itself over and over, and it is the cartridge that everyone compares against.  It is a benchmark cartridge.

If I knew that I was going on a medium-to-large game hunt somewhere in North America, with no other inclination of where I would be, the old Savage 110 in .30-06 would go along, and I'd be neither under gunned nor second-guessing my choice. From deer in the thickets to moose in Alberta, the .30-06 would be just fine.

Obsolete, indeed.

The Crew Is Here

 The AC crew is here to install the new unit. I'm very happy with that.

I told Belle this morning that it is now illegal for me to wash dishes. When she asked "Why", I explained to her that Donald Trump had signed an executive order forbidding men from competing in women's sports.

Just so you know.

Tuesday Yard Work

 It's supposed to rain on Thursday, but it has been over ten days since I mowed. My yard holds water, and the afternoon showers have the ground saturated in sports. I decided that today would be a good chance to roll the dice and see if I stick the mower.  I didn't.  Got the front mowed except for the front ditch.

Tomorrow we have a contractor coming in to replace the home AC unit. It's been limping along for a while, and it is 24 years old.  It's time for an upgrade.  We're getting a new inside furnace and outside AC unit.  The contractor told me that out present unit pulls 40 amps, and the new one should pull no more than 13 amps.  That should help the electric bill quite a bit.

We have a 3-ton unit now and I asked the guy if we needed to increase the tonnage.  He took a quick measure of the house and told me that 3-tons would cool and heat it just fine.

It's allpart of being a homeowner.  

Why "MAYDAY"?

 Waiting for the AC guy, I was surfing around and came upon some videos talking about the Air India crash. And I started wondering why MAYDAY became the universal call for distress.  So, I started looking again.  From Wikipedia:

The "mayday" procedure word was conceived as a distress call in the early 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, officer-in-charge of radio at Croydon Airport, England. He had been asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency.[1][2] Since much of the air traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the term "mayday", the phonetic equivalent of the French m'aider.

 And there you have it.  It was phonetically distinctive and easily understood over the radios of the day. And now you know.

Spoke Too Soon

 I was feeling good about the home AC unit until about 5:00 yesterday, when it went out again.  Just dammit. I borrowed a portable AC unit and installed it in the bedroom so that Belle could sleep comfortably. Then started texting around, getting recommendations from friends.

This morning, I found a guy, recommended highly by a friend.  I called him and he said that he could be here sometime early afternoon, as soon as he finishes a job, he's on just across town. That works for me.  Belle and I are in she the shop, where there is plenty of air conditioning. In battling the weather it helps to have a fallback position.

Cool Breze

 Belle and I spent most of yesterday in the shop, as we usually doo.  About cocktail hour, we went intot he house to find that the AC unit had quit working.  I put a call in to my AC guy, not really expecting a response late on a Saturday afternoon. Well, hell.  It soon got too hot, so we fell back to the shop where the AC units work. and spent the night in the shop.  Noot terribly comfortable, but it beat the hell out oof sweating our butts off.

I started watching YouTube DIY videos and trying to learn what I could about modern AC units.  Before lunch, second son came over and we tore the outside unit apart to do some troubleshooting.  We learned that the controller and the capacitor are okay, and that the problem seemed to be in the control circuits.  And, we were having a problem with a switch called the high pressure reset switch.  After we got the unit torn apart, I got out the water hose and gave the condenser coil a good washing from the inside.

Just before we were about to quit in disgust, second son had the idea of turning the complete system off at the breakers, waiting five minutes, and letting the endite system reset.  We tried that and it worked.   When we turned the breakers back on, the system came to life. The house is cooling off slowly, and it appears that Belle will be able to sleep in her bed tonight.

I am pleased to know that the compressor is okay, the fan is working, and the controls seem to be operating for the time being.  When my AC guy calls me tomorrow, I'll schedule a service, tell him everything I've done, and let him give the unit a thorough inspection.  The unit has been running now for about two hours and the house is cooling down.  We are spoiled to air conditioning in these latitudes and I do not apologize for that.

257 Roberts: The Second Chance Cartridge

I'm putting this right here, for a variety of reasons.

Ask The Question

 I was watching an interview on Fox with Kristi Noem, the DHS Secretary.  She was telling Fox that DHS is making some changes in airport security, and one of those changes is that passengers will no longer be required to remove their shoes as part of the screening.

Fox asked her (and I'm paraphrasing here), but she said that she asked why removing the shoes is necessary, and evidently no one in authority had had asked that question.  The answer is that the tech has gotten better and that there is no real reason to have a passenger remove their shoes.

Luckily, I don't fly much.  I don't have to fly much.  I used to really enjoy flying pre-9/11, but the security theater after 9/11 made me more likely to schedule a colonoscopy than an airline flight.

The bigger point of the Noem interview is that no one had asked that question.  In my experience, the biggest function of leadership is to ask those questions.  "Why are we doing this thing?" If the answer you get is "We've always done it like that.", then you have a problem.

There may be very good reasons why an organization does certain things. Those reasons may be regulatory, or legal, or based in logic and reason.  But, if the worker bees cannot articulate good reasons, then it's time to look for alternatives.

At the very least, Kristi Noem is asking the right questions.

Random Thoughts

 So, I'm seeing where Trump, Bondi, Patel, et al, is saying that there is no Epstein list.  The guy was implicated in sex-trafficking, and his gal Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking, and there is no list?  No file of clients? If we don't know who the clients were, how can we be assured that sex-trafficking was happening?  I understand that the victims were young girls, but who were the Johns?  The administrations answers beg for clarification.

Now, I'm hearing a lot about that nutjob that the Democrat party nominated for mayor of New York.  Good for them.  Who cares?  I love nowhere near New York.  The one town I live near, I can't tell you who is mayor.  I just don't care.  Likewise for the mayor of any other burg in the nation. Mayoral politics are local politics, and I ain't local.  Or for that matter, the mayor of Buttcrack, NV or Armpit, MS.  Just don't care.

The calendar tells me it is Wednesday.  For some reason this week, my internal calendar is shifted.  It's out of sync.  Weird.  Thankfully, the tropics re quiet.  I've been checking the National Hurricane Center every day. Historically, August and September are the busy months.  I hope it is a quiet season.

Pancakes

 I love pancakes, both the kind you cook on a griddle and the kind you wear on your belt.

Remember that J-frame I got back on June.  Yeah, that one.  I needed a holster to carry it and I've always loved a good pancake holster.  I've worn kydex and the other synthetics, but what I wanted was a nice leather holster that was simple and comfortable.

So, I went over to Simply Rugged and bought a Sourdough pancake holster.  I had it border-stamped to give it a little class. They told me that it would be four weeks and it came in yesterday.

I put it on this morning, and honestly, it fits just like it is supposed to.  As a cop for 37 years I've worn a lot of holsters, either in uniform or plainclothes.  The very best just seem to blend with your attire.  You soon forget that you're wearing it.  It's just there, with no pinching or rubbing. It holds the gun tight to your body with little tension.  Wear a jacket or a large shirt and it just vanishes.

It's simply comfortable.

Pray for Texas

 I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen anything like that.

I've lived through floods, but I've never seen one like that.

I admit that I am unfamiliar with that part of Texas, and totally ignorant of the hydrology in that area,, but from what I've seen, even long-term residents were surprised.  This thing was way outside the norms.

Pray for Texas.

Colion Chimes IN

Referencing the post below, and the idea that the NFA tax on suppressors and SBRs had been repealed, Colion Noir gives some thoughts on the development.

NFA Items

 With the passage of Frump's Big Beautiful Bill, some provisions are starting to come to light. It appears that the bill eliminated the excise tax on short-barreled rifles and on suppressors.  I'm sure that the provisions will flesh themselves out in the coming weeks, but I admit that I am intrigued.  The items will still have to be regulated, but that $200 tax is gone.

I am intrigued. I have long thought that a rimfire with a 12 inch barrel and a suppressor would be the cats meow for small game and varmints.  And, if what I'm hearing about the tax is true, then the price of such a firearm just dropped by $400.

I happen to own a Ruger 10/22 that would be a perfect candidate for such a project.  I admit freely that I am totally ignorant about the various vendors of suppressors.  I don't think that I am looking for total silence (I know that is a pipe-dream), but a marked decrease in decibels would be a treat.

What do you think?

A Little Math

 President Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill on Friday.  One of the things that bill dies is to reform Medicaid. Medicaid was originally designed for the po'folks, those who live below the poverty level.  So, lets do a little math.

Louisiana has approximately 4.6 million residents.  Approximately 18.9% are under the poverty line. By that metric alone, we should have about 869,000 on Medica.  With the Medicaid expansion under out last governor, we have about 1.5 million currently enrolled.   These are government figures, I didn't make them up, but it shows that Louisiana needs to do a better job getting people out of poverty.  And, it shows that there are a whole lot of people on Medicaid who aren't poverty stricken.

Other states have the same problem.  New Mexico, for example, has about 2.13 million residents, with about 375, 000 at the poverty line.   Their Medicaid enrollment is just over 985,000.  These figures are a quick Google, but probably pretty accurate.  New Mexico is a deep blue state, which might explain some things, but the Medicare enrollment is over twice the poverty rate.

July 4th

 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

Big,, Beautiful

 I am sick and tired of hearing about this Big Beautiful bill.  Either pass the sonofabitch or don't.  It's getting to the point where there is too much bullshit in it.

There should be a rule in Congress that any bill considered should be written in 12 font and be no more than two pages in length, written at a fifth-grade reading level.  If it makes sense, (like no tax on tips), everyone could get behind it. This rule would keep legislation focused and easily debated.

The budget may have to be a bit longer, but the vast majority of legislation could be short and sweet.  There is no reason for huge bills.

Grandpa's Fix

 I dropped by to see my Mother today.  I am lucky enough to be able to do that. Mom lives in apartment in my sister's back yard.

When I pulled up a char to visit with her, I noticed an old fix that my Grandpa used  to put on chairs when they started to get loose.  Mom and Dad bought these chairs ... oh... 65 years ago.  I was a kid, and they sat in the dining room and helped raise a huge family.  I have six siblings.

When a chair started to get loose from decades of us, we'd take it to Granpa's and he would tighten it up.  He'd install small metal rods under the rungs of the chair, then cut threads on the rods and install a small nut.

That is the way the old man would tighten a chair that had gotten loose.  Decades later that chair is still as tight as the day it left his shop.

I thought you folks needed to see that.

Alligator Alcatraz

 I'm loving it, and the Dems are losing their minds, which I also love.

One thing about alligators.  They are ubiquitous in some areas.  As one old black woman said, "If you put your hand in the water, and it's wet, there is probably an alligator living there."

On the old England Air Force Base, just west of Alexandria, LA, there was a bayou that ran along the golf course.  It had an alligator hazard, with rules that took care of the times when the gator was on the fairway.

When Belle and I moved into our current abode beside a small lake, there were gators.  We got them out, because grandkids.

Back to Alligator Alcatraz, I understand there are pythons there too.  I've never had to deal with pythons, so you're on your own.

Doldrums

July  2nd, and it is hot out there. Right now, it is 95 with a wind chill of 106.  Too damned hot to be out in the sun. I know that I grew up without air conditioning, but we didn't do much in the afternoon.  Find a shady spot and hope for a breeze.  We worked the garden in the morning and mowed grass in the late afternoon.  We tried to stay out of the midday sun.

These days I still try to stay out of the midday sun. I am convinced that Willis Carrier is one of the most important inventors of the 20th century, and I intend to enjoy his invention every day that I can.

Water

 The water system went down for about an hour this afternoon.  Belle and I moved here in 2004 and this is the first time I can recall the water system being down. Once in 21 years is a pretty good track record.

That is good work.  We are on what is called the Buckeye Water System.  They provide water to the northeast corner of Rapides parish and they generally do a good job.  To find a problem on a Sunday afternoon and fix it in an hour is excellent service.  Good job Buckeye Water.

I bet we'll be under a boil advisory.

Dated, but Funny.

Lighting

 I built my shop in 2017. It's a 40 X  50 with 10' eaves.  Full metal construction.  You've driven past a million of them. When designing the electrical wiring, my boys and I consulted and decided to mount  8, 110 volt outlets in the ceiling.  We felt that this would give me lots of options for lighting.

I went down to the Feed N Seed and got some brooder lights.  Low cost, low tech, and screwed some twisty fluorescent tubes into them. That worked great for a while, but after a time, they started to burn out, and while I was at the local electrical supply store, I asked them what was new.

UFO lights, they said. The latest and greatest.  High bay application, plug and play.  So, I bought one for $150.00.  Lots of light, lots of bright.  Warranted for five years.  Those florescent tubes continued to burn out, and I went to Amazon to see if I could do better than the $150 UFO lights.

Sure enough, I found these.  A two pack for ~$50.  So, I ordered two packs  Four lights in the door for about $100.  This morning, I got out the ladder and tempted fate, climbing up to the ceiling. Took down the old lights, bung up the new lights and plugged them in.

These things are made in China, and I'd rather buy American, but for ~$25 apiece, it's hard to justify going down to the electrical supply and paying $150.  If I need them, I still have the brooder lights.

June 26, 1876

 I am reminded that on this day in 1876, General Terry entered the Little Bighorn valley and found the spot where Custer was defeated.  Several miles awa he found the remnants of the 7th Cavalry, where Reno and Benteen had mounted a defense and successfully repelled subsequent attacks.

Every cavalry officer since then has come to look at the decisions made and have come to their own conclusions.  My conclusion is that several officers were wrongly judged and that one of the true heroes of that battle was an Army contract surgeon, Dr. Porter , who established an aid station on Reno hill and saved many lives.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a project to complete.

Geese

 The flock of Canada geese that summered over is getting bigger.  The hatchlings are starting to take on the primary coloration of the breed,

This photo was taken yesterday and I mowed today.   I didn't see the geese today, but they generally don't hang around when the machines are making noise.

Opposition

 The opposition in Iran is led by the son of the deceased Shah, Reza Pahlavi. He claims to want to see Iran be free and democratic.  Toward that goal, he seems to be cajoling the Iranian people to reject the mullahs and turn away from extremism.

I wish him all the luck.  The Iranian people deserve better than the mullahs.

Source here.

That Sentry

 We've all been there, sentry at a remote post in the middle of the night. You can hear minimal traffic out on the main highway.  If you are lucky, you have some help.  Maybe another private, or a low ranking sergeant.  But he's asleep in the guard shack.

If you are in the Iranian Army, you are wondering why someone posted you at a place called Fordow. Something about the nuke program, all you know is that it's top secret and your relief should be here at daylight. It's still dark and relief is still several hours away.  Then you hear a sizzling sound, a thud, then a dull explosion. Then another, and another, and another.  Then you think maybe it is time to wake up the sergeant.

You hope they don't blame it on you.  Nobody came through the gate. The gate is still secure.

Transition

 As the Islamic Republic continues to be hammered by Israeli jets, it seems that the Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, has announced a transition to a democratic government. He is in Paris, so it's hard to know when he will get to Tehran.  There is still a lot of work to be done, but he is premising a democratic government, a separation of church and state, and fair trials to the Islamists.  We'll see how that works out for him.

I would love to see a democratic, parliamentarian style government in Iran. But I'm realistic enough to know that won't happen this week.  I also feely admit that I was surprised to see the Berlin Wall come down in such a hurry.

Knob Noster

 About an hour from where Belle's daughter lives in Missouri is a little town called Knob Noster.  The home of Whiteman AFB, it must be a great place to live.  And a poor place to get TDY.  I don't know how Air Force bomber crews handle it.  For example.

Yesterday, these fools loaded up, flew to Iran, bombed the crap out of it.  Then turned around a flew home. If it was me, an old cavalry trooper, I would have been tempted to have engine trouble somewhere over... I dunno... Italy.  Maybe found a place to eat pasta.

Not these crews.  No, hell no. They flew back to Knob Noster. I've been to Knob Noster, and there isn't much to recommend it. Nice Base Exchange, small commissary. I believe I would have stopped in Italy, or Spain maybe. Or, the Azores?  I hear it's nice in the Azores. Not these crews, we're going to Knob Noster.

Well done, Air Force.

Kudos also to the submariners who showed then how to launch a  targeted missile strike.  Well done!

Crimson Trace

 That new revolver, my new EDC, came to my hand with a Crimson Trace laser grip.

The revolver itself is one I've been looking at for quite a while.  A Smith and Wesson Model 60 in .357 Magnum with the 3" barrel.  Adjustable rear sight, Crimson Trace grips. I'm no stranger to the Model 60 in particular and J-frames in general, having carried them on-and-off for 40 years.

I'm one of those old curmudgeons who think that revolvers are still relevant in the self-defense world. I'm also of the opinion that the most beautiful revolver ever produced is the old Colt Navy.  Sleek lines, beautiful in concept, it is a stunningly beautiful revolver.  I think that the Smith and Wesson classic revolvers come in at a close 2nd place.  This is NOT to say that I hold semiautos in disdain. Quite the contrary, I am an acolyte of John Moses Browning, and I think that Gaston Glock makes some fine pistols.  But, they ain't as pretty as a classic revolver.

I am old enough to t remember when Marshall and Sanow did their research and came to the conclusion that the best caliber to stop a gunfight was the .357 magnum. Specifically, Federal's 125 grain load. I have no wish to get into a gunfight, but if I have to, I choose to go old-school with a caliber known for winning gunfights.

Back to that laser grip.  The biggest problem that most shooters face is trigger control. The sights must stay aligned with the target during the firing sequence. A bit of dry fire with a laser will show a shooter where the problem lie. If you can't keep that laser on the target through the trigger squeeze, then the sights won't be on the target when the bullet leaves the muzzle.

I've been doing quite a bit of dry fire lately, and the trigger squeeze is getting a lot better.

Chaos in Tehran

 The war is going very badly for the Iranian government, which is to say it is going very well for everyone else. The ability of the Israeli Air Force to operate freely over Tehran is increasing and the ability of the IRGC to launch missiles at Israel has been severely degraded.

I've been watching this guy, who seems to be an Iranian living overseas.  His reporting seems to be six or eigh hours ahead of the corporate media.  He reports that the Iranian army is defecting to the opposition, who is aligned with the Crown Prince, the son of the deceased Shah.  It appears that the IRGC has been severely depleted, and the Islamic government is defeated.

Regime change is the dream, but that is and should be the province of the Iranian people.  I would love to see a secular, parliamentarian government in Iran, but that might be a pipe dream.  The simple fact is that the IRGC is going through its death spasm and there will be chaos for a while.

In the US, the news media are idiots, asking the President to reveal whether or not he will bomb Fordom.  Of couse, he tell sthe media that it's a stupid question.  As well it should be.  Let us recall that the Glo bal War on Terror is still a thing, and Iran is the chief exporter of terror in the Middle East.

Memories

 This imag4 popped up on my computer today, and it is one of my favorites.  That is my Belle, dressed in what I call Country Elegant. A well-dressed lady with a friendly smile.  Confident, poised, graceful, she could be at a backyard barbeque, a church social or a town festival.  From the top of her head to the tips of her boots, she exudes charm and friendliness.  Oh, wait... she's wearing a single-action revolver.

Yep, that's my Belle.  She knows how to use that revolver, too.  This picture was taken in 2021 and the Kansas State Championship.

Renaming Army Posts

 Renaming Army posts was silly when they did it in 2023, and it's probably silly now.  Fort Johnson will be returned to Fort Polk, Along with Lee, Rucker, Gordon, and several others.

Fort Cavasas will go back to being Fort Hood, this time renamed after some WW1 colonel.  Okay.  I still think that the Army missed a sure bet by not naming it Fort Seguin in the first place.

For those who don't know who Juan Seguin was, he was a true Texas patriot, a military and political leader, and probably the only man to serve both at the Alamo under Travis and at San Jacinto under Houston. They should have named that post Seguin from the beginning.

As for Polk, they could name it Fort Armpit, or Camp Swampy for all I care.  I served there a lot in the 80s and 90s and never did like the place.

Network Down

 This morning, I made a call at 0913 that went through.  About 1300 I went to town to run errands.  At the grocers, I was told that their networks were down, and they were accepting cash only.  At another vendor, I was told the network was down, and an employee told me that her husband worked at a nearby federal prison, and all their networks were down.  Interesting.

I tried to text Belle and call her phone.  Nothing works.  That's weird, even in a hurricane, if voice doesn't work, we can generally get a text message through.  Evidently, something has seriously gone sideways at AT&T.  We're still connected through the cable modem, and the TV works, so that's something.  But,I wonder what happened to AT&T?

Over the Weekend

 I got distracted this weekend with the Isreal/Iran thing, and a club meeting, and family on Father's Day.

Completely forgot about that asshole in Minnesota who posed as a cop and started shooting local lawmakers. It looks like they caught him after a pretty intense manhunt and he's due in court today to start answering for his crimes. Initially, we were concerned that he was a MAGA because he was shooting Democrats, but that seems not to be the case.

The cops found a manifesto in his car, and they haven't released that.  Believe me, if the guy was a right-winger, that manifesto would be all over the news.  Listening to the news this morning, it seems that the guy was a registered Republican, but he had been appointed to some bullshit board by Governor Walz. If I understood that correctly.  At any rate, this guy seems to be simply a garden-variety nutjob. Not MAGA, not conservative.

In other news, I did get a new-to-me revolver this weekend.  A sweet little J-frame and we'll be talking more about that later. I've owned... I dunno, a half-dozen J-frames in my lifetime, and I've given them all away. Younger son took pity on me and gifted me one that he no longer uses. In the initial inspection I noted that it does not have a hammer-mounted firing pin. I thought that was odd, as all my Smiths have the firing pin mounted on the hammer.  A little research tells me that Smith made the switch circa 2015 to frame-mounted firing pins. That helps date the little gun to a fairly new revolver.

I have a holster on order from Simply Rugged.  Let me get the holster and become more familiar with the little gun and we'll talk about it more later.

Watching the Middle East

 Like many of you, I'm watching the turmoil in the Middle East, as Israel exacts retribution on Iran..  From what I've seen, Isreal has launched a series of precise surgical strikes on Iran, targeting military and IRGC leadership and command structure, along with the nuclear enrichment facilities.

As I understand it this morning, the leadership of the Iran Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) has been decapitated from at least two layers. Many of the top nuclear scientists are assassinated, and the head mullah, the Supreme Leader has fled the country and is in Mecca.  

Whereas the Israeli strikes have been precise and surgical, the Iranian response has been to launch area weapons toward Israel, targeting metropolitan areas.  The Houthis have chimed in, but their targeting is even worse than the Iranians.  I understand that some Houthi missiles have hit Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and most recently, have fallen into the West Bank, killing Palestinians. The Houthis are a side-show, if a lethal one.

At some point, Iran is going to run out of missiles. The end-game is not yet upon us yet, but we can hope that is is closer than it was two days ago.  The Iranian military is being systematically decapitated, the mullahs are in hiding, and the Mossad sleeper cells in Iran have been awakened.

The timing is most interesting.  The American team who was conducting talks with Iran had given them 60 days to come up with a plan to end their nuclear ambitions.  The Israelis struck on day 61. That sends a powerful message to not ignore deadlines. When America gives you a drop-dead date, ignore it at your peril.

Stryker

     A new bottle of whisky, courtesy of my daughter and son-in-law. Stryker, a Texas single malt from the Andalusia Whisky Company.  Three years old and bottled at 100 proof.  The heat in Texas does good things to whisky.

It's billed as a smoky whiskey, and I admit that I took a taste right out of the neck of the bottle. I'm intrigue.  Not sure what they smoked the grain with.  Maybe mesquite?  I'm not sure, but the flavors that bounced off my tongue were interesting. I'll have to try this in a Glencairn or maybe in a rocks glass over a little ice. This one ain't a mixer, it's a sipper.

250 Years

 Happy Birthday, US Army.

Bats

 It's common for me to go outside on the back porch and enjoy a cocktail in the evening.  Recently, about the time the afternoon sky loses its luminosity and the neighbors' dusk-to-dawn light comes on, I'm seeing little creatures up across the sky.  Darting, turning, aerobatic creatures, doing impossible flights over the yard.

Bats.  We have bats.  Cool.   Occasionally, when they zoom close to the neighbors' light, I'll catch a flash of brown. Small critters, the common brown bat.  I've lived here for over 20 years and I've never seen bats. Yet, there they are.  I don't know if someone nearby has put up a bat house, or if they have just decided to take up residence.  It doesn't matter.  They are welcome hang out around here.

Senator Padilla is an Asshole

 So, did you see today that DHS Secretary Kristi Noeem was giving a press conference and some asshole comes charging in,, creating a disturbance.  The security detail pushes him out of the room, face-lants him in the hall, and applies the cuffs.  Just like they should have.  You can see the clip here.

Turns out, this asshole is a US Senator, Alex Padilla from California, and he's all butt-hurt about the troops restoring order in Los Angeles.  Now, this asshole is all like, "If this is the way they treat US Senators"

No, dickhead, this is the way they treat assholes who don't identify themselves and disrupt press conferences where the DHS Secretary is speaking.

Alex Padilla, the senator from California, is a dickhead, a complete asshole, and deserves to be treated just like he was treated.  He's a California Democrat and deserves that kind of treatment every day.  Just for being a dickhead and an asshole.

Thunberg Theatrics

 Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, staged another misbegotten stunt, this time to take a relief mission into Gaza.  She and a bunch of likewise underwhelming activists got on a sailing vessel and tried to sail to Gaza to mount a "relief mission". This ill-advised journey was predicably met by Israeli naval forces who boarded the boat and shut down the thing.

Thunberg and crew were taken into custody, processed and deported.  She, on a flight to France.  She is perpetually outraged, but this is the best possible outcome for her little misguided cruise.

What might have happened had she actually beached the boat on the Gaza shore?  One distinct possibility would be that she would be taken captive by the terrorist, forced to wear a burka, and put to work giving "comfort" to the brave Palestinian fighters.  A 22-year-old blonde?  Or, she may have simply been sold to the highest bidder.

At any rate, the Israelis did her a huge favor.  She should be eternally grateful.

New Knife

 I'm one of those guys who carries a pocket knife every day.  Since high school, I've had a knife in my pocket.  Back when we were living on the farm, it was necessary for cutting baling twine and opening feed bags.  I still open the occasional feed bag, for the cats or the dog, but today my knife is more often used to open Amazon boxes.

The knife I have carried for the past 15 years was getting worn. The spring had broken out of the bolster and opening it was sometimes an iffy proposition. It was time for a new knife, so I went to Amazon because I knew what I wanted.

A Case Sod Buster. It's a good knife with nice steel, easy to sharpen.  The handle is as smooth as a lightly used car of soap, no sharp edges to damage the pocket.  At this stage of my life, it is the perfect gentleman's pocket knife.  Nothing fancy, nothing outrageous, just a simple bit of steel to open bags and boxes.  The price is right, too, at about $35.00.

It's a great design, it's been in production for over 50 years, and there is a reason for that.

Ordering Primers

 The big match has been over for two weeks, and I'm just about done putting stuff away. It doesn't matter how closely you plan or organize, when the math is over and the trailer is being loaded, at some point, you're just throwing stuff in boxes.

The first few days after the shoot was spent sorting boxes. Extension cords in one box, Cat5 cable into another. S-hooks back into another box. Untangling the Caat5 cable and coiling them neatly.  You get the idea. Putting stuff away, storing things, then begin the process of putting together the home range.

Inventory.  I'm about out of primers.  We go through a lot of shotshell primers in this silly game we play and I'm down to about 4000 in stock.  So, it's time to call the vendor and order 20K, which is my standard order.  I buy for the club and re-sell to the members at cost.

I can remember a time, not so long ago, that I could get primers shipped to my door for $20/1000. It's not like that anymore, although it has come down considerably from the $80/1000 that it was during the Covid debacle.

Los Angeles Burning

 I see that the migrants are rioting, for whatever reason.  I doubt that they are rioting for the reason advertised. Some riot out of misplaced anger, others just show up to watch the spectacle. Either ay, it's dumb. Like a child throwing a tantrum.  

If the mayor of Los Angeles had used half the energy she uses to protect migrants and used it instead on fire prevention, Los Angles might not have burned to the ground last year. The governor o that great state is useless.

Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about migrants. I'm a grandson of migrants, like most of the nation.  I know current, first-generation migrants who did it right. I have lots of admiration for those who did it right and absolutely no sympathy for those who snuck in illegally, or who rushed the border under Biden.

I'm really tired of hearing about the plight of the poor migrant. I didn't ask them to come here.  If they don't like it, they can go home.  If they are here illegally, they should be sent home. Either as a family, or alone.  I care not. Sympathy falls in the dictionary between shit and syphilis..

M3 and M3A1 Grease Gun SMGs

One of my favorite military weapons, I was issued an M3A1 in 1976 when I took over my tank platoon at Fort Knox.  I qualified with it as a personal weapon.  Crude, unbelievably simple, it matched my personality completely.  It was also a blast to shoot.. 

Produced by GMs Guide Lamp division, for ~$20, it gave a lot of bang for the buck.  I wish I had one in my personal collection.

Yardsticks

 Growing up in Alexandria, LA in the latter half of the 20th century, I remember the old-time lumber yards before Lowes and Home Depot.  In Alexandria, we had Martins and Handyman.  In Natchitoches, it was Natchitoches Lumber. Every small town had a lumber yard.

In each of those places, there were a couple of constants. Somewhere, normally near a cash register, was a barrel full of yardsticks. Complementary yard sticks. If you needed one, take one.  If you needed two, take two. If you grabbed three, they looked at you like you were a thief, and they would talk about you. These yardsticks were advertising with the company mane emblazoned on them, normally with a catchy slogan.

Grandpa had a work bench.  Along one edge, he had routed out a slot and screwed a yardstick into the surface. He also had a supply of yardsticks near the shop door, and the grandkids were forbidden to mess with his yardsticks. They were used for more than measuring. Often for discipline, with the bunch of rowdy boys I called cousins. Many times, if he needed a lath for a project, he would snip a yardstick rather than rip a piece of dimensioned lumber.

Several years ago, when I was working at the school, they were throwing away some old supplies, and part of the discards was a bundle of meter sticks that someone had bought for the curriculum.  I salvaged them from the trash and took then home.  I have used them up, and I miss yardsticks.

There is one old joke about how they are not making yardsticks any longer.  No, they are still 36 inches.

Overlord

 On this day in 1944, Allied forces entered the continent of Europe through the beaches at Normandy. As in all military operations, by the time the ramps dropped in the English channel, the generals had done their planning, the logisticians had obtained supplies and now it was up to the privates, corporals, sergeants and the junior officers.

We all know now that the landings were a success, but only because of the sacrifice of blood from the boys on the beach. Some historical revisionists find it fashionable to say that Overlord was only a sideshow, that Germany was doomed to defeat from the Russians.  There may be some truth to that but Stalin had long begged for a western front, if only to relieve the pressure on his forces in the east.

Overlord was absolutely necessary to extend Allied influence in the postwar period.

Mowing Grass

 Here in central Louisiana, the mowing season starts in March. I refuse to start a lawnmower in February, even if my neighbors choose to engage in such madness. With the wet spring in March, April and May, I have been unable to get into the ditches until today.

I have two close neighbors.  One across the street, one next door. They tend their lawns.  The next-door neighbors lawn looks like a putting green.  Across the street, the lawn looks like a well-tended fairway. My lawn is the rough.  I'm okay with hat.  If Belle doesn't complain, I'm good.

I am reminded that 83 years ago today an outnumbered American fleet surprised Kido Butai north of Midway in the Pacific. At 10:00 that morning, the Japanese fleet was the preeminent naval force in the Pacific.  By dark, it lay shattered on the ocean floor. This afternoon with my evening cocktail, I will raise a toast to McCluskey and Best, along with the sailors of the Yorktown.

We've all seen the movie, and there were a lot of sailors and airmen who did not come back from Midway. When your plane explodes, or your ship sinks beneath you, it doesn't matter if you are an admiral of a non-rated sailor. We need to remember to honor the loss, along with the victory.

Operation Spider’s Web: The Ukrainian Drone Attack, Explained | WSJ News

Did y'all see this?  It looks like Ukraine loaded some drones in commercial shipping containers and had then strategically delivered to Russia.  Then, the remotely launched them and used then to target Russian Air Force assets.

Just dam.  That is inventive.  Why invest in a long-range bomber, when a $5K drone will do the same job, cleaner, cheaper, and with less collateral damage?

Valid Target

 I'm sure by now, you have all heard about the incident in Boulder, CO on Sunday. A group of people meet regularly in Boulder to take a walk on Sunday afternoon in support of the hostages in Gaza.   Not that anyone needs a reason to take a walk on Sunday, but that is as good as any.

Then comes this illegal alien from Egypt, throwing Molotov cocktails. Shouting "Free Palestine". Bare-chested in jeans.  Odd behavior. Twelve people inured.  Youve seen the video. I have some questions.

Why did no one put a bullet into this motherfucker? Bare-chested guy holding a Molotov? Shouting "Free Palestine'? That is the trifecta of self-defense.

From the video I saw, there were several able-bodied males holding phone cameras, taking it all in.  What is up with these pussies? Citizen journalists?  I doubt it. I don't understand a person whose first instinct is to capture and incident on video rather than influence the outcome through personal action. Sure, have one person video it.  Even the Marines do that.  Everyone else should be acting to preserve life.

The police should never have had the opportunity to take this asshole into custody. He should have been dropped by someone with a handgun.

Barbequed Chicken

 Belle told me last night that she has been hankering for some barbequed chicken, and that sounds like a good idea.  I haven't cranked up the charcoal pit in about a year, and it's time.

First order of business this morning was to evict the red wasps that tend to homestead a pit when it is left unattended for months. I gingerly removed some grates, dumped in some charcoal, and lit a fire. That generally accelerates the eviction process. While the wasps were packing, I went to the grocers and picked up two medium fryers. I like a bird running between 3-4 pounds for the process.

Returning home, I got out the poultry shears, spatchcocked the birds and seasoned them well with Tony's seasoning.  They will go on the pit, indirect cooking, in a few minutes.

I'm not a big fan of putting barbeque sauce on chicken, but Belle likes it.  One bird will be sauced, one won't.  We will put together some potato salad and lunch will be served at noon.

Do The Unexpected

 I didn't realize that Jim Wilson was still writing.

Do The Unexpected  Make the bad guy play by your rules.

Good advice.  Don't let the bad guy make the rules.

Totes and Cat5

 We borrowed a members horse trailer to move the ranges to the shooting venue. M portable ranges are built out of 3/4 steel tubing that assembles very quickly.  From a bare floor, I can have a 6-target competition range assembled in about an hour.  The targets are wired for scoring, and the footprint of my range is 40' X 24.  I normally carry a dozen CAT5 cables, 75' long for each range. It is amazing how much stuff is needed to move a range from one spot to another.  Steel tubing, backdrop material, tables chairs, timers, targets, extension cords, ladders, tape, paper, computers, printers.  I can fill a 16' horse trailer and we did.

Three days of shooting, then break it all down and stuff it back in the trailer. No matter how carefully I plan, when it is time to leave, at some point we are simply throwing stuff into boxes and loading on the trailer.  That's where we were Sunday afternoon.  Monday and Tuesday turned into a weather disaster, and the past two days were spent unloading the trailer, sorting boxes and putting stuff away.

The club member cane by yesterday afternoon and got his horse trailer.  It's out of the shop now, and I an start putting together my home range. I spent a goodly portion of yesterday in inventory, straightening out tangled CAT5 cable.  Interestingly, I only lost one and it was shot in half.  I could put a connector on each end, and have two short cables, but Amazon sells it cheap, and my time is worth something, so that is a decision I'll make soon.

Putting on a major match is a huge hassle, and generally I vow to never do it again.  But, a week later, I'm already thinking about next year. There is a small subset of people in the organization who put on these matches.  I talked with a few of then this week, from Texas, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. the main topic of conversation is how longer we will be able to continue to host major events.  The actuarial tables are not kid to any of us.

We'll see what happens next year.

Aftermath

 Pineville, LA took a hit yesterday.  A massive line of thunderstorms passed through yesterday about 11:00 m.  Power went out almost immediately.  No power, no internet.  About 3:00 pm, the cell towers started dropping off line.  

With the power off, the red lights don't work. Accidents occur, and no one can call 911.  With the routine darkness that occurs daily, that becomes a problem.  A dark state highway out of town, a single red light at an intersection, and disaster happens.  

The power crews, God bless them, worked diligently solving problems and the lights came on at my house about 10:30 last night. The internet was a bit slower, coming on about 10:30 this morning.  We are up and running, and now we start the cleanup. I hear that two tornados touched down and some folks lost their homes.

As for Belle and PawPaw, she is cooking lunch and I'm about to put the generator away.  This was good practice for hurricane season, which starts June 1. I need to buy some more gas cans, and I think I'm going with jerry cans.

Weather

 Bad thunderstorms this morning, and the power is out  I'm running on generator power in the shop.

A good friend reports that we had a tornado pass to the south of us, within a half-mile.  Power lines down, it's a damned mess.  Trees across the road, and another neighbor reports that he saw shingles in the air.  Someone lost a roof.

Belle went to town to get a bucket of chicken. This is good practice for when hurricane season cranks up in a couple of weeks. For the time being, we are safe.

Indy 500 parade lap Blackhawk helicopters! 2025

Did y'all see this?  Two Army Blackhawk helicopters did the parade lap at Indy this weekend.

That's cool, right there.  I don't care who you are, that's cool.

Memorial Day

 We loaded the trailer with two ranges o Wednesday, and short for four days, then yesterday, we loaded the trailer with two rages ad brought it back to the shop.  Lots of good shooting, lots of good camaraderie, and now it's time to sort out the detritus and put everything away.

The shoot was amazingly glitch-free.  Part of that stems from the fact that I am a firm believer in spares, spare lights, spare sensors, spare Cat 5 cable.  We used a few spares, but the glitches only shut us down for minutes. I give that credit to my crew, who is both knowledgeable and nimble. I have a truly magnificent crew and I couldn't do it without them.  They are truly an amazing bunch, each offering their labor ad expertise freely, from scorekeeping, to computer tech, to organization skills, to simple brute labor.  I give then all the credit.

This morning, I did some bookkeeping and counted the coin.  After lunch, I'm going to kick back, relax, and remember absent friends.  That is what today is all about, and I'm going to lift a glas to those who can't be with us today.  I am blessed because of their sacrifice.

It Begins

 Later today I am meeting my crew and beginning the prep work to turn a venue into a shooting range. We will proep the venue today, install the range tomorrow, and begin shooting on Friday.  As the old folks  used to say, I'll be "bowed up like a cutworm" until Sunday afternoon late.

Blogging will be sparse until this is over.

AI

 Listening to someone recently, may be Joe Rogan, saying that in five years we won't be able to tell the difference between reality and AI generated media.  He's probably correct.  Especially us old farts who may not be as tech-savvy as the youngsters, and whose eyes are getting dimmer.  I get it.

But then again, the past several years have been good practice.  Listening to the likes of Jake Tapper and Morning Joe, you would have never believed that there was anything wrong with Joe Biden.  Now, with the tell-all books coming out, we're supposed to believe that they were witless idiots rather than competent journalists.  We were supposed to believe then, rather than our lying eyes. And we are supposed to believe then now, too.  They can't have it both ways.

On the other hand, why limit them?  They can be both witless idiots and liars at the same time.  Both then and now. It cuts the Gordian knot of their narrative in a truly simple way.

Oh, and about Joe's cancer diagnosis.  I talked to a bunch of friends yesterday.  Friends my age.  A PSA test is simple, routine, and almost universal in men of a certain age.  I get one twice a year.  Anyone who believes that Joe just found out that he has cancer is much more gullible than I am. They have known this for a while.  The timing of this news tells you everything.

Biden Has Cancer?

 Many sources are reporting that Joe Biden just got a devastating cancer diagnosis.

As much as I detest the man and his politics, I can find no joy in this news. No one deserves this.

That is all.

Geese

About two weeks ago, there were eight goslings in this hatching.  Now, I only count five.

 Nature at work.

Slime ball

James Comey, the inveterate slime-ball who came to prominence and national attention after laying out a case against Hillary Clinton, and then saying she should not be prosecuted, is back in the news after posting on Instagram what some say was a call to assassinate President Trump.

Comey was the head of the FBI and was fined by Trump in 2017.  In this latest incident, he posted what appeared to be some seashells arranged in a manner to spell out 8647.  In gang-land parlance, 86 is code to "remove" someone, and 47 is President Trumps president number.

Comey denies everything, and has since deleted the Insty post. 

You can view a clip here.

That Target

 Second son came into the shop with the target Lucas used to test the rimfire ammo, and it brought hack a memory form my early career.

That target is marked: US Army Official 50 Foot Smallbore Rifle.

During the early 80s I was standing in a unit arms room and saw a box of targets.  I asked the armorer if I could have a few and he handed me a whole box. There were probably 1000 in that box.  Nice targets, on good card stock, and I was glad to get them. I thought that they had been lost during moves and divorces, but evidently they survived.  

Now a whole new generation i learning to shoot on them, and that is a good thing.

I did a search on the Google and can't find them.  Probably the Army is using a different target these days.  I did find them on eBay, where they are marked as Vintage and wildly over-priced.

Ammo Test

The weather finally moderated and we got to do some ammo testing.  Grandson Lucas shoots on a 4-H rifle team, .22LR, and it is a fine program.  Shooting .22LR ammo takes the handloading equation out of the marksmanship program.  The best scores come with the best anno, tailored through your rifle and your ability to shoot.  Therefore, we test rifle ammunition.

Luke's rifle started life as a Ruger 10/22.  It has been heavily modified, with a Boyd stock, a Kidd barrel, and various other parts to increase accuracy and reliability.  It's a ice setup and his Dad has become quite the Ruger mechanic

The ammo in today's test was some SK rifle match ammo and some Federal Automatch rifle ammo.  I got the Automatch from Wideners.  As in all things, the target tells the tale.  Weather was moderate at 80F with calm winds.  The shooting done from a patio bench at 50 yards. Lucas was wearing eye and ear pro, and all shots were captured on a Lab Radar chronograph.

And there we have it.  The SK Rifle Match shot marginally better on a 10-shot string. but the Automatch wasn't no slouch. The Automatch had an Extreme spread of 44 with a Standard Deviation of 15.5.  The SK RIfle Match had an Es of 27 with a Sd of 9.4.  Both groups hovered around an inch at 50 yards, which will put him inside the 10-ring of the target he uses at competition.

Lucas will have to make up his mind.  As for myself, I have some Federal Automatch ammo and I think I'll sight ny rifle in with it at 25 yards in case a varmint needs some persuasion 

9*1*1

 The 911 telecommunications system, developed in the 1980s is probably the best system for enabling people to contact the police  Dial 911 and you are connected immediately.  The dispatcher can natch you call to the service you need, whether it is police, EMT, or fire.  It's a great service, but it is easily abused.

I've been going ddown the rabbit hole on Frank Sloup's channel and it is a frequent meme.  The citizen doesn't like the cop they are dealing with, and calls 911 to try to get another cop.  Some states have enacted legislation to make it illegal to call 911 in that situation.

At the turn of the century, I retired from state-level policing and went to work for the local sheriff, who was putting School Resource Officers in every school.  I had already had 20+ years of high-level police work and thought that working in a school would be a nice change of pace.  And it was.

In the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina, our school district had to absorb a population of displaced students.  IT wasn't their fault, and they needed to be in school, yet there was a friction.  A dynamic.  SOme of these kids were traumatized by the experience, in unfamiliar surroundings, and there was a time of settling in, at least a the high school where I worked.  One morning during a class change, I was called about a disturbance in the math department.

When I arrived, I found two teenaged girls involved in a good, old-fashioned hair-snatching. With the help of a coach, we separated then and took them down to the office.  The principal called the parents.  This wasn't a real big deal, and I didn't intend to get involved in a law-enforcement capacity. I was just going to be the adult in the room.  Keeping the peace.

One Dad showed up, totally outraged. He took one look at me and announced that he wanted the "Real Police, not some School-house Cop".  I was marginally amused while he called 911 and requested police assistance. My call sign was RP920.  Then, I got a call on the radio.

Dispatcher: "920"

Me: "Go ahead"

Dispatcher: "Citizen called, requesting you in the main office of your high school"

Me: "10-4.  I'm on scene, Code 4, but may be going 10-15 shortly. (that is police-talk for "yeah, I know.  Everything is fine now, but I may have to arrest this sonofabitch soon.)

I looked at Dad, who was deflating quickly. "Now, sir, you called 911 and they called me.  How can I help you?"

He calmed down, and no, I didn't have to arrest him.  His daughter was suspended for instigating the fight. After a couple of months, they moved away, presumably back to New Orleans.

Don't abuse the 911 system.

Escalation

Sometimes you make a traffic stop and it just goes sideways. This Florida deputy didn't want to make an arrest, but the driver forced the issue.  What could have been a simple  ticket turned into ta full-blown booking.  Seriously, sometimes it 's just easier to cooperate.

Hummingbirds

Yesterday afternoon, Belle and I were enjoying the back patio when a hummingbird flew into sight and hovered within ten feet.  Looking our direction, probably to remind me that the feeder was empty.

So, I grabbed one of the feeders, went inside, cleaned it, made sugar water, and filled it.  Came back outside and hung it on the Shepherds hook.

I haven't seen that little zoomer since.  I don't know what his problem was, but the feeders are full and he has vacated the airspace.

There is a purple martin house on the other end of the yard, and they must have fledglings in the nest, because the birds are giving the cat hell. The cat is spending a lot of time under patio furniture.

Redemption Tour

 it's Friday and I've been doing things various and sundry.  So, it's Friday afternoon and I have lit the smoking lamp and poured myself a beverage. Watching the news, I see that Joe Biden (may he rest in peace) was on The View yesterday, launching a redemption tour. Trying to make his reputation less miserable than it is right now.  And doing himself no favors.

A buddy asked me about it earlier today and the answer is simple.  He's broke. The Biden family for years has depended on Joe (may he rest in peace) for money.  Huge cash grabs based on access to a US Senator, or a US Vice President, or a President. That is over now.  As soon as he signed the pardons, his cash flow dried up. They made millions of dollars, but Hunter either sucked it up his nose, or blew it oh hookers.  It's gone. Joe (may he rest in peace) draws a pension now.  A princely sum, I'm sure, but for a man used to the luxury of graft, it is a meager stipend.  

The rumor is that someone is going to give him a $3 million book deal, and that would be throwing money away.  No one is going to read that thing. Any publisher that would give Joe (may he rest in peace) any money is hurling cash into the abyss.

There are a couple of books coming out in the next few weeks that will shed some light on the Biden presidency.  Tell-all books about corruption and dementia. I won't buy those books, either.  the journalists telling these tales should have been telling them all along.  Now, they simply seem as vultures, feeding from a moldering corpse. If these journalists (I'm talking to you, Jake Tapper_ these stories would have been told shortly after the Easter Bunny saved Joe from the crowd.

Pope Leo XIV

 It is reported that the Cardinals elected a new pope on the second day of voting.  The new Pope is Robert Prevost, an American, who will assume the name Leo XIV. 

Ain't that something?  An American pope.  Who'd have thunk it?

Conclave

 Today begins the Conclave of Cardinals, a secretive assembly charged with selecting a new Pope.  I was listening to Megan Kelly's show this morning and she was reporting that the Vatican is using high-tech to try and insure secrecy, to include cell phone jamming and anti-drone technology.  They are also going old school, threatening excommunication to anyone who breaches the secrecy of the Conclave.  This is the way the church chooses a Pope, and we are reduced to watching a chimney.  Black smoke or white smoke That is about as old school as it gets and I think it is grand.

I also hear that Trump's Secretary of Education has sent Harvard a letter, telling them to not bother applying for federal grants.  None will be forthcoming. They are free to be a private school and use their endowment money to promote anti-Semitism.  Or something.

M10 Booker Cancelled

 This may be old news, but I learned this morning that the Army has cancelled the M10 Booker program for a variety of reasons. Evidently, the Army wanted a light tank that was air-droppable.  One video here, and a short reel here. The thing that both cite is the fact that the M10 was not air-droppable.

What the wags compare the M10 to is the old M551 Sheridan.  I have some experience with the M551 Sheridan, and it was not air-droppable either. Or, to be more precise, anything is air-droppable once.  We used to say that if you were going to drop a Sheridan out of an airplane, be sure to drop it where you wanted it, because it would never move from that spot.

There may be ten dozen good reasons to cancel a program.  But, if you want an armored vehicle to parachute from an airplane, you are dooming that program to fail.  Light forces are good for a lot of things, but they will never be heavy forces. 

The conflict in Ukraine has taught us a lot, and we have seen the fielding of new technologies. The problem is that the US Arm is always training for the wrong war.  We might suspect that we will know what the next battlefield looks like, but we won't know until we get there.  And, I'm betting that the future commander will want the option of some heavy forces in his tool bag.

Parachute infantry is useful, but it is not the end-all for a battlefield commander.  The parachute is simply a method to get light infantry on the ground. Once you get light infantry on the ground, the commander needs to sustain them, which means he needs either an airfield or a port. We can bring in supplies either by air or water. Air is faster, but water brings more tonnage.

LINDA RONSTADT - 'Don't Know Much' (feat. Aaron Neville) 1989

Belle and I were talking about this song earlier, and I'm going to leave it right here so I can find it later.

8.6 Blackout?

 I never really understood the hype behind the .300 Blackout cartridge.  Basically, a blown-out 5.56 that would cycle through an AR platform and throw heavy bullets in the subsonic realm.

Now, I see that they have come out with the 8.6 Blackout.  Based on the 6.5 Creedmoor case, it throws a .338 bullet in the subsonic realm. From the article:

Another advantage of the 8.6 BLK has nothing to do with the cartridge at all, but everything to do with the barrel. Unlike .300 BLK and 338 ARC ammunition, which are designed to work with a rifling-twist rate of 1:8-inch, the 8.6 BLK uses a rifling-twist rate of 1:3-inch. This is an incredibly fast twist rate, but what’s it for? Well, it helps better stabilize bullets that are about the size of your little finger, but it also significantly enhances terminal performance.

A 1:3 twist? I understand that this isn't a cast bullet cartridge, but I've done work with cast bullets that won't stand a fast twist. 

RPM = MV X 720/Twist Rate

So, let's plug inn some numbers. If that bullet is going 800 fps down that barrel, it will be twisting at 192,000 rpm. If that is what it takes to stabilize a long bullet, then that is what it takes, but I'm wondering what the fouling is going to look like.

I don't get it.  I just don't see the utility.  But then again, I'm an old Fudd.  I have my rifle.  But, I hope they sell those things by the carload.  The more people in the shooting sports, the better.

Cinco De Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, is an American holiday based on a Mexican military victory over the French. As such, it is not much of a holiday, but a reason nonetheless to drink beer and eat Tex-Mex food, which is also not Mexican.

As if anyone needed a reason to drink beer and eat Tex-Mex.  It was a busy weekend, and I'm doing as little as possible today. 

A buddy came by, asking about chicken coops.  His wife has some chickens, and she's not educated in the poultry production game. A quick search, and I came up with this, from Tractor Supply.  Not bad for less than $100.