Chicken Fried

 Let's talk about this.  Fried chicken is a Southern staple, especially on Sundays.  Fried chicken has the bone in it. Go to KFC or Popeyes and get some fried chicken.  There will be a bone.

Chicken Fried is a process.  You can have chicken fried steak, or chicken fried pork tenderloin,  or even chicken fried chicken.  But that is different from fried chicken.  Today, I took some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut them into strips, then pounded them uniformly flat.  Seasoned them in Toony's seasoning, rolled them in flour, then an egg was, then into panko crumbs. I make my own panko crumbs by the simple expedient of crushing saltine crackers into crumbs.  Then, I heated the oil to 350F and dropped them in to a golden brown.

We served those with baby lima beans, mashed potatoes and cream gravy.  I served eights people with seven chicken breasts, and we have leftovers.

Rebrand, Refresh

 I see that Cracker Barrel is going through a rebrand.  The internet is going crazy, which is to say that it is just another day on the internet.

I've always liked Cracker Barrel.  It was a roadside standard, like McDonalds or Popeye's.  You knew what you were getting. Lunch served on a plate rather than a cardboard box.  Belle liked walking through the gift shop.  Looking at the shirts.  All I cared about was the meatloaf and the mashed potatoes.

But, it is fun watching the internet go crazy.  On both sides.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have Saturday to get to.  About 20 shooters will show up in an hour, and I have to get the range ready.

Drop Safe

 Dropping a handgun is bad juju. We all remember the old Colt SAA, where if you loaded all six chambers, the gun was demonstrably unsafe because the firing pin was resting on a live primer.  There were ways to get around that, the most common being to load only five chambers and letting the hammer rest on an empty chamber. Very safe.

The original 1911 had an inertial firing pin but if dropped directly on the muzzle on a live cargridge, the gun could fire when dropped.  Having an empty chamber kinda-sorta negated the idea of a semiauto, so in the 70s, Colt introduced the Series 70 which had a firing pin block to lock th firing pin until the trigger was pulled. The engineering on how to do that is well known and the patents have expired.

Other manufacturers have other ways to skin that cat.  The Glock dingus on the trigger, the Savage Accutrigger,  are other ways to deep us safe.  This is not rocket science.

I spend a lot of time shooting Cowboy Fast Draw, using Ruger single actions and Colt reproductions to play a shooting game. Occasionally a shooter will drop his or her revolver and we have a procedure for that eventuality. The shooter cannot retrieve his own dropped handgun. The gun must be retrieved and made safe by a match official.  It's a process, but invariably, when the gun comes to rest, it is cocked and pointed toward the fringe line. Again, there is a process for making the gun safe, but the one thing that you never see is that the gun fired during the drop or impact with the ground. I've never seen one fire when it hits the ground.

Odd, isn't it?  It must have something to do with the trigger geometry.

Even though we use safety ammunition, we still consider a dropped gun to be a safety violation. If you drop the gun once, you lose that round.  If you drop it twice, you are disqualified.  But I've never seen one fire when it hits the ground.

Can SIG Recover?

 Back in the early 90s, the Louisiana State Police bought a bunch of SIG handguns, and used them for a year before finish problems became an issue. The finish on the Sigs to that date siply couuld not stand up to the humidity of the Louisiana roads. LSP went to Glock and never looked back.

Couple of years ago, my grandson was in the Army and attended 93F (Small Arms Repairer) training at Fort Lee, VA.  He worked with the then new M17 and M18 pistols.  He liked then well enough but was not at all a fan of the modular fire control group in those pistols.

More recently, the P320 has gained a reputation for un-commanded firing of the pistol.  They just go off, occasionally.  I dropped down that rabbit hole today and it seems to be quite the problem, including one death of an Air Force member. I went to the Sig website and can't seem to find where Sig is addressing what is becoming a huge problem.  Whether the problem is poor design, out-of-spec parts, poor quality control, a statistical anomaly, or simply an internet perception, the idea that Sig is not addressing it is the main problem.

A problem with perception is still a problem.  As Ian McCollum pointed out, there are people who still refuse to shoot Springfield 1903s because of a perceived heat-treat problem from 100 years ago.

Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.  I, for one, have my pistols.  I won't be buying any Sigs, simply because I don't need one.

Here is Brian Herrera's take on it.

Fried Bologna

 Fried bologna is probably one of the most Southern recipes I know.  Simply put a slice of bologna in a lightly oiled skillet and fry it until it is brown.  Many of us cut slices in the edges of the bologna so that it won't curl up as it fries.

I had mine today on toast with mayo and provolone cheese.  It's what's for lunch.

Watching the Tropics

 A quick check of the National Hurricane Center map this morning shows that the tropics are becoming more dynamic.

Nothing to get too excited about, at least in the short term.  Nothing there that might hit my acre in the next several days.  We awoke this morning to overcast and drizzly.  Moderate temps, but the humidity is like walking into a wet blanket.  It's going to be a quiet day, I don't even expect to cook today.  I have salad fixings in the fridge and sandwich makings as well.  Lunch is likely to be a tossed salad and a fried bologna sandwich.

Pure Evil

 I see that Hillary has come out of her cave, consulted with Beelzebub and offered her wisdom on the current political climate.  Seriously.

I've never been on a subway, and I doubt that Hill has been on one in the past twenty years.  I also doubt that she has walked down any city street without layers of personal and government security.  Therefore, her observed opinion is absolutely worthless.

But evidently, she is now in favor of crime and homelessness.  That is just evil.

Hillary, in the broader sense, displays the disarray of the Democrat party.  By complaining that President Trump is cleaning up the streets, they fall on the low side of an 80-20 issue.

Late Afternoon Thunderstorms

 We've been getting them this week.  Every day this week. Sometimes between 3:00 and dark, the bottom falls out.  Lots of thunder and wind.  By dark, it's done.

I don't recall ever seeing this in August.  August is normally the time for drought.  Right now, outside, the thunder is rolling.   The cats are upset, but they know where to stay dray.  Belle estimates that, based on the level of the water in the pool, we have gotten about 3 inches in the past hour.

It's Friday afternoon, and I have a good roof.  We're indoors and dry and cocktail hour approaches.

Root Causes

 We look at teen violence and try to ascribe root causes to try to rationalize behavior.  Most of that rationalization is bullshit. I watched lots of families raise kids while I was raising my kids.  Both in the social circles I cruised and as a law enforcement officer. I watched families struggle to raise kids with mixed results and it is almost impossible to predict criminality.

I watched single parents (both men and women) struggle to raise kids, and raised them successfully.  I know one family who had stable parents and good parenting skills who raised six well-adjusted successful tax paying citizens. But that same family had one child (not the oldest, not the youngest) who had been to prison three times by the time he was 40 years old. 

The sociologists try to put people in groups to explain societal problems and that is not always predictive.  There are always outliers.  Some single parents do a great job and some two-parent households experience disaster.

The best thing that a society can do to establish tranquility it to set rules and enforce them. A rule that is not enforced is useless.  We could start with the 10 Commandments, or use Hammurabi's Code but to be effective it must be enforced.

As a cop, I learned that the rules change from time to time. It was not my job to try to understand why someone would choose to break the law.  It was simply my job to enforce it.  If the legislature wanted to change the rules, they were free to do so, and I would adjust my performance to comply with those changes. If the Courts wanted to re-interpret the rules, that was okay too.

I never worried about root causes.  I left that to the academics.

Most Dangerous

 Each year, US News and World Report lists the 25 most dangerous cities in the United States.

President Trump made news this week when he announced that he was federalizing the Metro DC police department.  Judge Jeanine made news saying that she was not interested in "root causes", that her while job was prosecuting criminals and making victims whole. Evidently, roving gangs of unsupervised youth have become a problem, committing crimes that the "juvenile Justice" system is either unable or unwilling to prosecute.

The issue for juvenile crime is not what the system treats.  The issue is parenting.  Parenting is hard.  I know that I did crazy stuff when I was a kid, and I know that my kids did crazy stuff when they were kids.  Yet, I had good parents and my kids had good parents. My parents were responsible for me, and I was responsible for my kids. It works out well like that.

Changing gears to make a metaphor, if I had a vicious dog and let him roam freely, than I have no doubt that when that dog hurt someone, the police would soon be at my door to hold me accountable.  Likewise, parents should be held accountable for the actions of the child.

Imagine my surprise when I read the US News list of dangerous cities, and I found my hometown, Alexandria, LA, listed in #6.  A small metro in central Louisiana of about 45,000 folks.  Wow.  Who is responsible for a city making the list?  That is easy.

The Mayor.  The mayor is the chief executive, responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen.  The mayor sets the tone for the local police department.

The Sheriff.  The sheriff is the elected law enforcement officer in the parish. While the mayor controls the local police, the sheriff is still the elected cop running the parish.  He can augment or take over the law enforcement in the whole parish.

The District Attorney.  The District Attorney is the prosecutor.  That is his sole job.

Crime is a problem.  The reason I don't live in Alexandria any more is because crime got too bad 20 years ago. The lected leaders let too many people get away with too much.  It's time to crack down hard and make Rapides Parsh a safe place to live and work.

Here Comes Erin

 The Atlantic hurricane season is cranking up, and we're already up to the Es in named storms.  Here comes Erin.

It is too early to know if she is going to hit the continental US, but she certainly bears watching.

No DEF, No Regen

 I hear that President Trump is going to roll back some of the more onerous of the Obama-era fuel emission standards.  It's about time.

When I bought the Kubota in 203, one of the first things I wanted to know was if the engine needed DEF or had a regen cycle.  No on both counts, and I bought it.

I was alive in '75 when the standards took effect.  We've suffered under these standards for 50 years and they have only become more onerous.  These days, the only engines that truly breathe are built in garages by backyard tinkerers.  Rolling back some of these regulations should help the industry at large.   

The world really needs a good, simple pickup truck, about the size of the old F100 or the similarly sized Chevy.  Put a small V8 in it, with a good standard transmission.  Add air, a decent radio, and add plenty of cell chargers.  Set the price at $25K and they would sell a million of them.

The Kubota is doing fine, by the way.

Mexican Expeditions

 I'm hearing rumblings that President Trump is going to let DoD partner with CBP and the FBI and other agencies to target the Mexican cartels.

Tis is not unprecedented.  I the 1870s, US Troops were in northern Mexico looking for Germinoma.  In 1916-17, US troops were in northern Mexico looking for Pancho Villa.

Is it a good idea for the US to become embroiled on foreign soil looking for the cartels?  I'm not sure.  They are a pain in the ass, trafficking  both humans and drugs across the border, killing thousands of Americans.  As much as I like to wave the flag and turn our enemies into pink mist, I have to admit that this may not be a good idea.  The cartels are well armed, technologically competent, and they know the ground.  

I'm no expert on the cartels in Mexico and the challenges that we might face when we cross the river, but I hope that the decision-makers are listening to experts in that region.  With the 1st Armor at Bliss and the 1st Cav at Hood, we have plenty of forces on the ground to take and hold terrain, but I'm not really sure that this is a job for Big Army.

Watching the Tropics

It's August now, and history tells us that the tropics are going to tart getting frisky.   Some of the notable August hurricanes that I remember whacking Louisiana were Camille (1969), Andrew (1996), Katrina (2005), Gustav (2008), and Harvey (2017).  I'm sure I missed a few, but those are the ones that I recall re-arranging my property. Katrina missed us, but the inflow of refugees played havoc with our locale.

The weather-weenies are telling us that this August is shaping up to be more active, but historically, September is the big month. I've been keeping an eye on NOAA and I'll continue to check them until November.

Selling Clothes

 Like much of America, I was mildly amused over the past couple of weeks about the faux outrage over an attractive female selling jeans. Imagine that, a girl who might be described as "a good-looking thang" is used to sell a product.  From all reports, the jeans are flying off the shelves.

I'm old enough to remember when Jordache or Girbaud were considered must-have for the fashionistas.  More locally, down behind the rodeo pens, you are likely to see Wrangler or Levis. Until last week, I had never heard of American Eagle, but their ad campaign is a smashing success.

If the Budweiser execs were smart, they would do an ad with Miss Sweeney in jeans and a tank top holding a Bud Light.

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.