Back to Basics

I started reloading back in 1976, and quickly became hooked.  With three boys and one daughter that likes to shoot, we lived in the country, and my ammo bill was .. interesting.  So, I started reloading for shotgun, then pistol, and finally for rifle.  For a time, back at the turn of the century, I was the managing editor of a webzine called The Frugal Outdoorsman.  In 2003, I penned an article about reloading on the kitchen table.

Today, I recalled a conversation with my daughter.  It seems that the hunting season is approaching and she was inquiring if I happened to have any spare .308 Win cartridges laying around.  the kids have been scamming ammo from me for years, and I make batter ammo than most of what is on the shelves at the stores, for a whole lot less money.

So, I was digging through my scrounging stocks, and found a bag of once-fired brass, .308 Federal Gold Medal Match, that I found at the local Sheriff's office range.  So, I found my hand press, brought tem inside and decapped them.  Then took them out to the tumbler and gave it a two-hour spin in walnut media.  Shook it all out, inspected it, then dug out the priming tool and went back in the house.

The  garage is currently 96F with 80% humidity.  The house is 70F.  It's much more pleasant inside than it is in the garage.  The priming tool doesn't know the difference, but I do.  It's a lo cooler indoors.

Tomorrow morning, I'll get the scales, powder, funnel, trickler, etc and set up on the kitchen tale.  I'll charge the cases then set up the hand press to set bullets.

For the record, our preferred hunting load for the .308 Win is good brass, seated with WLR primers.  43.0 grains o Alliant Reloder 15 and a decent 168 grain bullet.  Tomorrow, it will be Sierra's good Game King bullets, some I bought several years ago and still have in stock.  But, it could just have easily been Hornady or Nosler.  I've used all three at varying times, and the smallish whitetail deer we have in these parts can't really tell the difference.

I haven't really reloaded any ammo in the past three years.  I've been playing the CFDA game and that reloading is very easy.  It elt good to use my tools on the bench again. 

Burgers

Zach and I have been experimenting with burgers on the new griddle    We've eaten (different) burgers for both lunch and dinner.  Excellent both times.

Tomorrow, Quesadillas.  We'll have another grandkid over here, and I don't know anyone who doesn't like quesadillas.

Next week, we'll have yet another grandkid who likes veggies and seafood.  I can't want to try something like Brussels sprouts (for example), and maybe cook a nice piece of salmon.

I can see that this griddle and I are going to become very good friends

Truer Words

Truer Words Were Never Spoken

That's been my experience.  When Belle says, "Oh, Hell No", I've already gone too far.

I try to avoid that.

Blackstone Grilll

On Friday, I cooked a few steaks on the new flat-top gill,  as kind of a road-test.  Yesterday, we were busy entertaining, and the grill didn't even get hot, but today, I went to the grocer and bought hamburger stuff.

I cooked a dozen good burgers on the grill, then rolled them into a crock-pot with beef broth.  This is a trick I learned at the church, running the concession stand at the rodeo.  (Yeah, our church has rodeos/).  If you're not sure when the customers will show up at the window, you don't want your burgers getting dried out, so one trick to keep them moist is to put them in a crock pot with beef broth.

Then, I put some sliced mushrooms and sliced onions on the grill to saute.

About the time they finished getting a good caramel color, the kids showed up.

Mushroom, Swiss, suteed onions, on a burger grilled, then soaked in beef broth.    With leftover baked beans and 'tater salad.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

UPDATE**.  Thanks, MIelissa for catching the error.  The "bee" both is beef broth and it's been corrected.  This keyboard is getting twitchy and I didn't catch the omission.

Oh, The Horror!

It seems that while I was entertaining family this weekend, our President was on a state visit designed particularly to insult the reigning monarch of Great Britain.   He inadvertently stepped in front of her while they were inspecting the Guard (an ancient and elite unit).  And, apparently, he failed to bow to her upon meeting her.

It was over in less than 20 seconds, but even some casual followers of the monarchy were aghast at the uncomfortable interaction. Yes, it is a royal no-no to walk ahead of the queen.

Did Donald Trump forget to bow to the Queen?

As to the walking-ahead incident, from everything I've read about the Queen, she is a gracious and gentle hostess.  I'm sure that the lapse was momentary (from all reports, under 20 seconds), and I'm quite sure that Her Majesty didn't give it a second thought.  Tradition and courtesy go both ways, and I'm sure that they include giving visitors the benefit of the doubt.

As to the failure to bow before the Queen, our President was quite right.  Americans don't bow to anyone.  We put an end to that nonsense in 1776, and again in 1814.  Unlike the Lightworker's embarrassing compunction to bow to everyone with a title,   Americans bow to no one but God.  The Queen should know that.  Everyone knows that.

The entire outrage from the media is quite amusing. 

Memaw's Party

Today, we celebrated the birthday of Belle's mother, Memaw, on the occasion of her 97th birthday.  She still keeps her own house, and is sharp as a tack.  We hosted them in our shop.

Memaw herself with her cake.

We had about 30 people in attendance, all family, from all over the state.   The menu was eclectic, with everyone bringing something.  From pizza to pulled pork, to shrimp salads, we had more food than anyone could possibly eat.

The tables are laden with food

Everyone thought that the shop was a resounding success.  It did get a little warm inside during the heat of the afternoon, but the A/C units were pumping as hard as they could. 

Of course, for those unable to walk on broken ground, we were opening the bay doors so that they could enter the festivities on solid concrete.  It's hard to fault the A/C when the bay door is open.

We had a great time, visiting with family, hugging necks and talking with each other.

Oh, we had a heck of a time, and even the dawg got in on the fun.  I think that he ate as much pulled pork as I did.

All-in-all, the day was a great and resounding success.  The shop project performed as palnned, and everyone left here safely. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap.

The Flat Top

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had purchased a flat top grill today.  I was walking through my favorite lumber yard today and saw one that I liked, the Blackstone 36" grill  I had looked at them on Amazon, and other places, and the local store had it for about what I expected.  And, it was ready to load into the truck.

We loaded it, then when I got home, Zach helped me assemble it.  No problem at all, about 30 minutes.  I was showing it to Belle and she mentioned that she had some little filets in the freezer.  In just a few minutes, we had them thawed and seasoned.

That's one way to season a grill, by using it.  Everyone knows that I love to cook and this thing is ust too handy.  I have to go to the store tomorrow morning, early, to get some last minute supplies for the party.  I suspect that a pound of good bacon and a dozen eggs will find their way on to the buggy.  Maybe some link sausage.

Prepping

The project is almost complete.  We still have some decorating that Belle wants to do, but we can function with what we have now.  My drop-dead, must-be-finished suspense date is today, and we started prepping for Miss Reba's birthday party.

Miss Reba is Belle's momma, born on July 16, 1921.  Tomorrow, we're gathering to celebrate her 97th birthday.  Miss Reba still keeps her own house, she loves to dance, and is known to take a shot of whiskey on an afternoon.  We love her, we do.

Belle has been decorating, out in the shop, and I bought a flat-top grill today, only because I wanted one, and the lumber yard had it on sale.



I have a small list to accomplish tomorrow morning, and we have some pork butts to put into crock pots tonight before bedtime, but I think we're ready for the family to descend on us tomorrow.

Yellow Jackets

Yellow Jackets are little buzzing, stinging insects.  We had a couple of nests several years ago in the back yard, and I set traps or them.  WHY traps, just like these at Amazon.  This stuff murders t hem.  In a short while, my yellow jacket problem was solved.  It's a pheromone trap that lures them in, then drowns them.  Works great.

This morning, mowing the front yard, I got wrapped up in yellow jackets.  They hit me twice, once on the shoulder, once in the middle of my back.    the one in my back feels like he hit me with an ice-pick.  I was considerable pissed.

After mowing, I had to run to Lowe's, so I picked up another of those WHY traps.  I'm getting ready to show them a little trick, and they ain't gonna like it.

The Coca-Cola Clock

In every shop, barn, or garage I've ever owned there has been a Coca-cola clock.  My grandfather worked for the Coca- Cola bottling company for as may years as I knew him, and he always had a Coca-Cola clock in his shop..  Because of all the things I learned from him, watching and helping at his elbow, I've always thought that a shop needed a Coca-Cola clock.

This one is a repo, not the original advertising that Coke gave away log years ago.  Still, I feel like it needs to be there, to pay homage to the old man, and to remind myself of his shop, where I spent so many pleasant and educational hours.

My mom bought the clock at a local auction and brought it to me today on her way to an appointment.  Thanks, Mom!

Universal??

Universal Basic Income is one of the pipe-dreams of the socialists.  Everybody gets enough money to live on, to drag them kicking and screaming out of poverty.  Where this income is supposed to originate has always been a mystery to me, because it must come from the government, and government has no money except what it extorts through taxation, yet this pipe dream continues to rear its ugly head.

The latest example is Stocton, CA, who wants to give its residents a whopping $500 per month so that they won't be poverty stricken.

Now, Stockton, California, a city nestled in the shadow of Silicon Valley, is experimenting with a UBI project. The city will give 100 residents a stipend of $500 a month for 18 months with no strings attached. The goal behind this $900,000 gamble is to see if free money will lift people out of poverty.

Wait...what??  100 residents?  Stockton has something over 300,000 residents.  Picking 100 at random isn't universal.  100 residents is a minuscule  portion of the population.  And who is going to pick the 100 residents?

This scheme seems like a perfect opportunity for graft, which is what Democrats excel at.  But, lets not kid ourselves.  This is not a noble experiment, this is not universal  It makes a mockery our of basic welfare.

My Day

Yeah, this is the way my day has gone so far.  A fifteen minute job turned into three hours, with two trips to the small engine guy.



I lose it when he rips the mailbox out of the curb.

I'm gonna drink a Diet Coke, take a shower and start over.   Hopefully, the afternoon will go more smoothly.

Unexpectedly

From Bearing Arms:

I opened my glove compartment, took out my Glock 17, and flipped off the safety

What?  The one between your ears?  Because that's the only safety on a Glock. (Yeah, I know about the trigger dingus...  that doesn't count).

I'm us' sayin'.  If you're going to write about guns, please try to let it not be total bullshit.

Old West Saloon

Over at Wirecuter's we find an intriguing photo from the Old West, which turns out to be a saloon in Randsburg, CA, circa 1900.

You can click on it to make it bigger, but it's fairly intriguing.  We notice the mill marks on the overhead joists, and the place actually has a wood floor.  Yeah, the place is a tent, but they brought the bar in from God-knows-where, and the rest of the furniture is cobbled together locally.  The fellow in front-center is sitting on a box.

It always amazes me when I see a movie and the set looks old.  These places weren't old, they were brand new.  Erected in a hurry, to take advantage of an opportunity.  Sometimes they lasted, but more often they didn't.  They were abandoned just as quickly as the opportunity faded.

It's a great photo.

Functionally Complete

The interior of the shop project is now functionally complete.    The door is on the bathroom, all drains and sewers are installed, the electrical installation is complete, and Belle has painted the place.

Zach and I installed the door this morning, finishing at about noon.  I spent some time straightening ad putting away tools, and feel good about this phase of the proect

I also found time to build a small counter-height table with lumber that was left over from the carpentry.  Belle says she can work with it, but she will probably cover it with a table cloth  I wanted to give my amused readers another chance to see those pink pre-cut studs which seem so odd to y'all, but are perfectly normal to those of us who grew up with such things.

This portion of the project had a hard-stop, drop-dead completion date of 0001, 14 July.  As this is noon, on July 9, I have beat the deadline by four days.

I suspect that some decorating will commence shortly, but that is beyond my scope o expertise.  I will leave such things to the distaff side.

Door Swing

When you're planning a room, or doing a remodel, it is important to consider door size and swing.  Doors come in a variety of sizes.  Most of the standard residential doors in the US these days are 80 inches tall, but widths vary from 24 to 36 inches. in standard sizes. 

One thing the handyman should consider is door swing.  When you get to the store, you'll encounter the choice between left-hand and right-hand doors, so it is important to consider.  The easiest way to explain door swing is to look at thus:  Put your spine against the hinge side of the door.  Whatever hand is convenient to the doorknob will decide whether the door is left-hand or right-hand.

Consider the photo of the lady.

Her spine is toward the hinges and the door knob is in her left hand.  Thus, we have a left-hand door.

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

Sunday Music

I hope everyone is having a blessed Sunday.

Trip Pics

Belle and I met in 2001, both of us having lived lives before we decided to form a partnership.  One of the things we agreed on early, is that there would be no step or half children.  Whatever the circumstances that a child finds themselves in, it is't their fault.  A kid is a kid and deserves to be loved, so her grandchildren are mine and my grandchildren are hers.  It doesn't matter.  A kid is a kid and we'll love whoever they bring us.

Belle's first husband was in the service (I don't know the branch), but when he was in  Vietnam, Belle lived with his parents in Knobknoster, MO.  Her father-in-law was stationed at Whiteman AFB near there, and Belle (as a military dependent) spent time on the base  She wanted to go there  to use the Exchange and to see how it's changed in the past 45 years.  So, we drove out to Whiteman.  It's changed a bunch, according to her.

Belle and Zach, in front of the BX at whiteman AFB, MO.

After checking out the commissary and BX, we went to pick up a great-granddaughter who wanted to spend time with Belle.  We had visited the night before, ad she wanted more time with great-grandma, so we picked her up for lunch.

Belle and Brooklyn chatting while we wait for our order.

The barbecue was excellent, even if it was Kansas City style.  I believe that the pit-master may have studied in Texas for a while.  The brisket was excellent.  Zach found two bottles of BBQ sauce o the table, one labeled MILD, the other labeled HOT.  We tried the HOT one and found the label amusing.  When we go to Missouri, Belle always cooks an etoufee for the gathering.  She tones it down quite a bit, using almost no spice at all, but the more fragile palates find it challenging.  Missouri palates seem to be fairly delicate.

Belle and Lori, in Lori's kitchen

Lori is Belle's daughter (legally, step-daughter, but we don't care).  She was our hostess for this trip, providing everything we needed while we were in town.  I miss her already, and look forward to seeing her, and the rest of the family soon.

Home

We're home, safely, after five days of travel.  PawPaw will be getting back into his routine.

It was great, seeing the Missouri family.

Emma, Missoui

About an hour east of Kansas City, likes the sleepy little tow of Emma, MO.  We're visiting some of Belle's family (and by extension, my family) who we haven't seen in a year or so.

Situated in the rolling farmland of the Missouri plains,  this quaint little town reminds me of towns and villages all over the US that are being passed by the bigger,  more bustling cities that seem to dominate the country.  Emma is small, just off of Interstate 70, and is very quiet.  On a Tuesday morning at 10:00 we wee the only vehicle on Main street.. 

Belle had come up last year for a funeral, and knew of one little treasure in town, so she wanted to visit it again.   Emma's Guns and Antiques.  I forgot to bring a camera this morning, not even my cell phone.  This place is exactly what you might expect to find in a little town where the economy is struggling.  Inside the proprietor has antiques and collectibles,   Plus a pretty good selection of modern firearms of every variety.  And ammo. 

As Belle browsed through the antiques, I gravitated toward the gun counter, where the owner and I talked guns and politics.  The folks in small-town Missouri share many of the same views as the folks in small-town Louisiana.  He and I talked about everything under the sun, and I even noticed that he had a small portion of his enterprise set aside for package liquor.  Antiques, collectibles, guns, ammo, liquor and beer, all under the same roof.

Right across the street is the town pool hall, bar, and lunch cafe.  I may have to make it into that establishment before this trip is over.

Plumbing Compete

After church yesterday, we ate lunch and the boys and I went out to the destruction zone to try tom make the final push on the plumbing.  It was just a matter or working the plan.  We went out into the sun first, to finish the drains and sewer, then went inside the shop to tie it all together.  I was very pleased with the results.

The toilet and vanity are installed in the bathroom.  We had to mount the toilet on a small pedestal so that the discharge, which goes out through the wall, would clear a structural purlin.  That extra two inches raises the standard basin to handicapped height.  The basin is lagged to both the wall and anchored to the floor with lag bolts.  It's rock-solid and Belle is pleased with the finished result.  I still need to add a door to the bathroom, but didn't want to do that until the fixtures were installed.  The opening is cut for a standard ADA complaint 36X80 door.

The kitchen is complete.  We tested everything, found some drips and make the tweaks necessary for leak-free operation.  While the boys and I played with plumbing, Belle was doing some touch-up painting.  After we were satisfied with the plumbing, we turned on the little mini water heater and got it going.  In just a few minutes we had bot water in both the sink and the bathroom vanity..

This project is 95% complete.  We still need outlet covers and that door for the bathroom, but we're putting a pause on the construction.  I have to take the trencher back  to the rental company this morning, and as soon as I return, we're hitting the road to visit with family in Missouri.  Belle's been itching to go up there, and I need a change of scenery.  So, we'll go hang out with people we love in Missouri.

It's going to be fun, and we have a house-sitter arranged.

Project Saturday

Elder son came over today, along with son-in-;aw/  They gave me yeoman's service today for a solid eight hours.  If you asked them, they'd tell you that we were "bowed up like cut-worms: all day.  But, the fresh water is in the shop, the drains are installed and the sewer is almost hooked up.  I say "mostly, because something happened today that we've never seen. The saws-all broke in half.  Yeah, in half.

Elder son was cutting sewer pipe, and it just went "clunk" and the front half of the machine fell in the hole.  He was left holding the handle and the cord.  It's a cheap Harbor Freight device that I've had for fifteen years, and I"m sure I've gotten my moneys worth.  But we've never seen that happen.

But, we have water in the building.

The sink is installed, along with one of the stainless steel prep tables, and the water heater.

The vanity is installed in the bathroom.  Tomorrow after church, we'll finish installing the sewer, the set the toilet. 

We need the saws-all to cut out the old L fitting so that we can install the new sweeping Tee.  Then I can start putting dirt back in the holes.

Who ever heard of a saws-all braking completely in half?

Hsppy Hour

It's Happy Hour on Friday afternoon, and I"v been in the vodka lately.  Belle went to the grocers earlier today and showed up at the house with something called Burnet's Whipped Cream vodka.

If you like flavored vodka, this is one you need to try.  It has a light sweetness, tasting remarkably like whipped cream.  Belle likes it with tonic, and I could drink it straight with a few cubes, in a highball glass.

If you're looking for something for a summer afternoon, see if this is in your local Class 6 store.

Going Underground

It's time for the project to get back in the dirt.  I started in the dirt back last October, with the dirt work for the foundation.  Now, I"m going back in the dirt for water, sewer, and drainage.  Later today, I'll go to a rental company for a trencher capable of laying  sewer pipe.  I have the existing plumbing exposed and tomorrow morning my family crew will be here for installation.

That is 3/4 inch water pipe between the meter and the house.    We'll tie in here with the line going to the shop.  We'll have to plan this job very carefully, because we're going to have to shut off the water to the house for some period of time.  The shorter, the better.

That is the existing sewer line.  We'll cut out that bend, Tie in with a sweeping Tee, then add a clean-out before we head over to the shop to install the commode flange.

I just got back from the plumbing supply house.  Spent a lot of money for various pipes and fittings that I'm going to bury and (hopefully) never see again.

This project is going to nickel-and-dime me to death.  But, we're going to have a very nice place to entertain when it's over.

Black Bear

Black bears are native to Louisiana, but they've been on the endangered list for quite some time.  I've known that there are bears, at least one mating pair in the area, because a mother bear with cubs has been seen not too far from the house.

Evidently, one has recently changed ranges, possibly a yearling that his mother has kicked out of the nest.  It's causing quite a stir on the local Facebook pages, even though the folks who live out here should be at least passingly familiar with the idea of a bear in the woods.

He ain't hurting o one, just wandering about.  This pic was taken this morning in the area of Philadelphia Baptist Church, which isn't far (as the crow flies) from where bears have been spotted in the past.

I just hope this bear doesn't do something stupid and gt himself hurt.  I kinda like the idea of bears in the woods.

No Thumbs!

One of the things I don't do well, is paint.  I'm a three-coat painter.  One on the wall, one on me, one on the floor.  Belle has learned this, and doesn't ask me to paint.  I'll stand-by as a helper, but I don't weild a brush or roller.  It's better that way.

The dog likes to help, too, but he's got no thumbs.  He can't hold a roller, either, and his fur carries paint like a nappy roller.  Yet, the dog wants to be where Belle is, so what do you do with a dog who is  determined to be under-foot?

Put him in the sink.  He can superintend just fine from this vantage point.

He looks like he's in a lot of distress, doesn't he?

My Aching Butt

The project continues, with a hard deadline of July 14th.  It's coming along, according to plan.  Today, I spent the day doing inside plumbing.  Putting together the vanity that will go in the bathroom, adding the countertop and sink, and putting the interior drain lines together to plumb the kitchen sink.

Mu plan is to go right through the walls with the two drains, get them outside the building, the L down and take the drain into the dirt.  Everything outside the building will be 1 1/2 inch schedule 40 PVC, which I am told is code in these parts.  The guys at Coburn's Supply (our local plumbing supply house) are really helpful.  They've steered me right on more than one occasion for this project, and as a result, I buy my plumbing supplies there, if I can.

Most of the inside work is done, ad tomorrow, I start trenching for my underground work.  I have about 20 feet of trench to dig for the 1 1/2 drains, plus location holes on each end of the sewere and location holes on each end of the fresh water.

Friday, I finish holes and make a supply list.  Late Friday afternoon, I 'll rent a Ditch-Witch to sue Saturday.  Two of my sons will be here Saturday morning for a fun-filled day of  installing water and sewer.  That's the plan, anyway.  Elder son is a professional Sewer Systems operator, so he'll keep the old man out of trouble.  He normally doesn't work on pipe this small, but he knows how to make it flow downhill.

Did I mention how much I like working with PEX (as opposed to galvanized, copper, or PVC?

Dusty in Here

I've been working in the shop all day, and decided to come i and watch mindless YouTuve videos.



Damn!  It's dusty in here.  I may have to change the A/C filters.

Project Update

Belle wanted the walls to me made of OSB.  We're going for a rustic look, and she decided that the most economical way to get that look was painted OSB.  That's fine wit h me, it's economical.  Zach and I finished installing the OSB this morning.  Those horrid pink studs are forger encased in the walls.

Some of the joints are quite tight.  Some of them are amateurish.  I don't pretend to be a carpenter, and paint hides lots of flaws.

RIght now I'm on schedule.  I'm hoping my electrician buddy can make it over this afternoon, and then I"ll start roughing in drains tomorrow morning.

UPDATE**  The electrical installation is complete.  Thanks Brother Fred.

The Numbers

These days, we seem to live by our numbers.  In my case, the health numbers.  Blood numbers, A1C, triglycerides, those sort of numbers.

This past March, we had a mandatory health fair at work.  They drew blood, and I"m not convinced that their equipment was calibrated properly.  My numbers were all out of whack.    They, of course, shared them with my primary care critter, who went berserk. 

Belle got wind of it, and I had to change the way I eat.  No more white stuff, basically.  I haven't eaten a biscuit in four months, and the last baked potato I ate was in Amarillo, three weeks ago.  No fast food, although I am eating a  lot of Special K, and Raisin Bran.

Went to the doc today.  Early this morning, I peed in his cup, and his vampire took some blood.  I went back late this afternoon.  The numbers are in, and they're good.  My AiC is down three points, my triglycerides are fantastic, and my bad cholesterol almost doesn't exist.  I've lost about 20 lbs, and my blood pressure is excellent.  Everything, medically, is hunky-dory.

Doc, and I, not having anything else to discuss, spent the remainder of the appointment talking about bass fishing, school  shootings, and Achmed the terrorist.  Blood numbers I know nothing about, but those other things I have some expertise. 

Belle is pleased, and in the final analysis, that's all that matters.

Gerald's Sentimental Journey

Great video of a 95 year old veteran flying a restored C-47, just like the one he flew into Normandy on June 6, 1944.



He still flies smoothly and confidently.

How Tabasco Sauce is Made

Tabasco Sauce is a staple on our table.  It's one of several we enjoy with different dishes.  Today, for example, Belle is cooking pork chips with rice, corn bread and purple hull peas.  You can bet that I'll either use Tabasco or Cholula sauce on my peas.

I didn't know that it takes five years to make Tabasco.



Bon apetit!

Practice

The Cross Branded Pacemakers held their regular meeting today.  There were not enough people to hold a match.   Two of our shooters were in Texas, shooting with the big boys.  Other folds were on vacation, but after the club practice, Blue Eyed Belle decided to shoot some more, and I videotaped her. 

Regular shooters know that the stance and draw are very important.  Looking at yourself shoot is very  helpful in knowing what your're doing.  The camera doesn't lie.



For those of y'all that are curious, she's using a clone of the Colt Peacemaker, a single action revolver in .45 Colt, using wax bullet ammunition powered by shotgun primers.  The target is a 17 inch disk, 15 feet from the firing line.  On  the light, you have to cock, draw and fire the revolver and hit the target to get a time.  Today, she was shooting and hitting the target in about 8/10ths of a second.  Today, hr fastest time was 0.785, just a hair over 3/4ths of a second.

My gal is an expert with the single action revolver.

Comey Is Ashamed

As well he should be.  Comey is ashamed, disgusted, horrified.  We feel the same way, Jim.  Your performance as FBI chief made the whole nation ashamed, disgusted, and horrified that the greatest law enforcement organization in the world couldn't find reason to arrest and prosecute a career felon, after laying out the elements of the offense on television.  Trust me, Jim, we were all horrified and disgusted.

Oh.. wait...  he's talking about something else.

“I am ashamed of the way my country has acted with respect of those children. I am disgusted, I am horrified, I am embarrassed, I’m ashamed,” Mr Comey said in a public interview in Dublin on Friday.

It;s the law, Jimbo.  We can fix the law.  What we can't fix are guys like you, who turn their eyes away from highly placed politicians who think that they can get away with anything.

Comey is another one of those people who should just go away and  shut up.

Pink Studs and Shop Update

Today, while I was at Homey Depot, looking for stuff, I stopped i the lubber aisle.

They're awash in these darned tings.  But, someone asked to see the specs, so I took a picture of the scanning tab on the end of the boards.

Now, you know as much about them as I do.  They were made by Georgia-Pacific in Pineland,  TX.

Back at the shop, the work continued.  Grandson Zachary learned to crimp PEX, and pull Rome.  We have the wring roughed-in and the fresh water roughed in, and I'm almost ready to start installing drywall.

This thing is on schedule.  I have a drop-dead date of July 14, when we celebrate the birthday of Belle's mother, who will b 97 years old.

I"m starting to feel good about the completion of this project. 

Patriot

She's a good-looking gal, no doubt about that.

Those Pink Stids

Several of you have commented on the pink studs that we use here in Louisiana as framing lumber.    I've seen these things as long as I can remember and took them as a natural part of carpentry.  But, y'all expressed surprise, so I thought I'd do a little research.

These studs are not pink at all. Don't trust your eyes, they're purple, or magenta, as the specs from Lowe's tell us.  However, thy're so common in the South, and surprise people from other locations, so I tried to dig into it a little bit and see what I could find.

As it turns out, it's a marketing ploy, from a lumber mill in the post WWII housing boom, to differentiate their product of good, southern pine, from the erstwhile Douglas Fir studs that were competing in the market.  If you want good, Southern Pine, buy the purple studs.  From this source.

During the post-World War II housing boom, a company called Temple-Inland introduced the now infamous purple 2×4 studs as a marketing tactic to compete against Douglas fir studs from the Pacific Northwest. It seems a sawmill owner in Southeast Texas had been painting his product orange and had no trouble selling all he could produce. Temple-Inland’s Sales Manager at the time, Bob Westin, presented stud samples in five different colors of water-repellant paint to the other members of the sales team. They unanimously selected the magenta (or purple as it is now referred to) and the rest is history.

I don't know which mill made the studs I use.  I went out to look and couldn't find any marking at all on them, but it seems that the pink studs (sorry, purple studs) are a post WWII marketing ploy that endures to this day.  Down here in the South, we us pink (sorry, purple) studs and don't give it a second thought.  They're made of good, strong Southern yellow pine, and that's the way it's been for as long as I can remember.

UPDATE:  Anonymous asked in comments;

Am curious why the sink is that far from restroom plumbing - is it an issue with sewer line routing ? Not complaining mind you (its your place !), just curious.

The simplest answer is that is where she wants the sink.  My plumber says that it is not a problem and we've got a simple solution  for the drain.  If my gal wants the sink centered o the back wall, that's exactly what I'm going to give her.

Rough-In

Sometimes projects take a lot of time in planning and you really don't see it come together for a while.  Such is this bathroom/outdoor kitchen project I'm working on.  For the past two days, I've been doing a lot of prep and planning, going through the plans step-by-step to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Today, we made progress, although it's hard to see .  We did a lot of carpentry and started roughing in both water and sewerage.  It's all kinds of work that has to be done before you can do the things that really show.

We added the final stud wall, got the toilet set up and did the carpentry that is necessary for the toilet installation.  Tomorrow, I'm going to rough-in the fresh water plumbing, and make lists of what I need for the electrical installation.

Friday, I"ll rough-in electrical circuits and start getting read y for wallboard.

Kim

Greatest bartender in the world, she worked at the Fiddler's Green, the junior officer bar at Knox.  Kim was a slight, Korean woman.  She always wore tasteful clothing, and her bartender skills were legendary.  She know what everyone in the room was drinking.  And, trust me, Cavalry and Armor officers are exuberant drinkers.  Three hundred fools in her bar, and she knew what ever one of them was drinking.

One night in 81 I came in after three days in the field, teaching Guard soldiers tank gunnery..  I was parched, I was tired, and Kim was ready to serve.  Normally, I drank bourbon, but i told her I was ready to switch horses.  I wanted something different.  And I was hungry.

Kim looked at me with her inscrutable Asian eyes.  "You wanna vodka tonic, and a Ruben sandwich".  It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact.

I trusted Kim.  She had been taking care of junior officers for many years.  "Okay", I told her.  "Vodka tonic and a Ruben sandwich."

I came back to Knox in '86 for the career course.  When I walked  into the bar, Kim looked at me, her eyes narrowed, and she asked "You drinking bourbon, or you want vodka tonic?"  Five years I had not been in her bar, yet she knew  what to ask.

I hope she's retired now, living happily with grandkids all around her.  She was a great bartender.

Mallard Hen

A mallard hen, playing in a mud puddle in the yard.  She had a whole lake to roam in, but she's rather be in this little puddle between the shop and the house.

Go figure.  There's no telling what goes on in that mallard's mind.

Safety Third

I hope he gets that light installed.

About Parole Conditions

Speaking about the goblin in Trenton, Daave says:

And the room temperature bad guy had been paroled even though he had committed, and been convicted of, a separate felony while in prison.

Speaking as a 20-year parole officer, it's hard to know the thinking of a parole board.  They are often motivated by things that we on the street don't consider.  But, on every parole certificate I've ever seen, there is a prohibition on firearms.

In Louisiana, for example, the parole conditions say in part:

5. I shall not have in my possession or control any firearms or dangerous weapons.

Over the course of my career, I arrested a lot of goblins for firearms possession.  I'd arrest immediately on a violation of parole, then refer the offense to the District Attorney to see if he wanted to press new charges for Poss Firearm by Convicted Felon.

The parolee would always be sent back on my violation, but I never once had a DA file new charges based on my report.  It seemed like it would be a pretty easy slam-dunk, but no DA ever took the bait.  Go figure.

Space Force?

Numerous sources are reporting that President Trump has directed the Pentagon to begin organizing a Space Force.  Yeah, really.

If the Army does land warfare, and the Navy does sea warfare, and the Air Force does aerial warfare, Space Force will do vacuum warfare.  Wow!  Talk about embracing the suck.

Shooting in Trenton

It seems that over the weekend, there was a mass shooting in Trenton, NJ.  You probably won't hear about it from the mainstream media.  It doesn't fit the narrative.

It seems that there was an art and music festival, and some gang-bangers had a beef with each other.  The main shooter (who is now room temperature) was a parolee, who had spent time in prison for murder.  The police knew that trouble was brewing, and was trying to close the event when the shooting started.

One dead, 22 injured.

This wasn't some deranged white guy with a rifle, this was gang violence with handguns.  It is probably the most common violence (except maybe domestic violence) that large cities have to deal with.  Bad guys with guns show up at a place where people gather to celebrate.

One dead, 22 injured, but don't expect to see politicians lining up to do interviews.  Don't expect to see high-school kids calling for new laws.  Don't expect to see senators holding committee meetings.
It doesn't outrage them, and it certainly isn't news-worthy.

The hypocrisy is galling.

Sunday Aftrnoon

It's Father's Day, the kids have come and gone and I'm nursing a vodka-tonic.  Listening to music onn YouTube.  Damned if I didn't come across and EmmyLou Harris song that is a Cajun waltz.  Anytime you combine a waltz beat, with accordion, mandolin, and fiddle, it's Cajun music.



Happy Father's Day, y'all.

Saturday Afternoon Music

The Dardick

The Dardick was an interesting little gun that used something called trounds, which were triangular ammunition.  It was a space-age invention of the '60s.  Here's an NRA video about it.



For a deeper analysis, there are several YouTube videos online.  For example.



We were promised a lot of neat things in the '60s that never seemed to make it to market.  The Dardick and the Gyrojet were two that did make it to market.

I'm still waiting for my flying car.  The 21st century is pretty much a disappointment.

The Cimarron SA Frontier

Last June, casting about for a nice little club revolver, I happened upon the Cimarron El Malo.  It's a very nice little revolver, and I talked about it here.  What impressed me about the El Malo was that it was very smooth, right out of the box.   Very smooth.  It balanced well, and I showed it to some of my club members who were looking for revolvers.  They liked it, especially the price point, which was less than other suitable revolvers.

But, in March, the CFDA made the revolver illegal to use in sanctioned competitions, simply because the El Malo has an octagonal barrel.  The rules are the rules, and the octagonal barrel was banned on Colt clones, because we are unable to find any Colt revolver of the period that was manufactured with an octagonal barrel.  Hence, they are not  "faithful reproductions" for purposes of CFDA sanctioned competition.

I put a call to Cimarron, and asked if they made a revolver revolver identical to the El Malo, but with a round barrel.  The rep at Cimarron told me that they did have such a revolver, the PP410, that they market as the SA Frontier.    But, he told me, they were out-of-stock, and until they had sufficient orders, they wouldn't b making any.  I admit that I was perplexed, because the El Malo is mad by Pitta, and in fact, I wasn't aware that Cimarron made any firearms.

Still, I've been checking my go-to firearms dealer for the Cimarron PP410.  It's legal for comptetion, and while I fight the rules about octagon barrels on 1873 clones, it would be nice to have a leal revolver for my club members to evaluate.  My go-to dealer is grabagun.com and I"ve been checking them for the Cimarron PP410, which they tell me is the El Malo with a round barrel.  Lo and behold, they finally have them in stock, so I ordered two of them as club guns.

Hopefully, they'll be in next week, and I can show them to the club members who like the El Malo.

Four Hours

Zach and I mowed the lawn this morning then headed to the lumber yard.  After buying materials, we spent four hours installing a roof on the project bathroom.  I feel like we made good progress and we're taking the rest of the day off.  Tomorrow, we have to find the water line (I've got a pretty good idea where it is), and that's going to require shovel work.  While we're digging, we might as well expose the sewer line so we'll know what we are dealing with. 

Projects like this are daunting, because in a bathroom, you have to have incoming water, sewerage, electrical all installed before you can start putting up interior walls.  To the un-educated observer, it looks like you're spending a lot of time spinning your wheels.

The Gyrojet

A short lived artifact from the early 1960s.  The Gyrojet was an attempt to make a small, handheld rocket launcher.



I remember seeing these things for sale in magazines.

Pride Month

It's Pride Month. - Who knew?  I certainly didn't before I read an article about the CEO of Twitter being harangued about eating at Chick-Fil-A.

"You must love the taste of bigotry!" one person wrote in response.

 "Why is Twitter boosting a notoriously anti-gay company during #PrideMonth?" another person wrote.

It's no secret that Chick-Fil-A is a Christian company that espouses traditional Christian values.  They also make excellent chicken.  I've eaten at Chick-Fil-A, when it was convenient.  Not for the politics, but because of the chicken.  Not every purchase has to be a political decision.

Buffalo Wild Wings, for example, has a no-gun policy.  I've never eaten in one, not so much for the politics, but because I make very good chicken wings at home.  And, the one BWW store in this area is all the way across town.  It's simply easier to cook them myself.  It ain't hard.

I've been a customer of Pregressive Insurance for years.  Not because of their politics, but because they've always treated me right.

But, hey!  If you want to boycott a company because you don't like their politics, it's a (mostly) free country

Golden Buzzer

I don't know if you watch America's Got Talent, but it's a fun show, and I normally catch it on YouTube.

I'm also, like most of my generation, a Janis Joplin fan, and recently a little gal came on that reminds me of Joplin.



That was quite a performance.

More Tomatos

We still have fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes, and I"ll be darned if I'm going to let them spoil.

Good, thick cut Wright's bacon with fresh tomatoes on fresh light bread.  It doesn't get any better than that.  Put lettuce on it if you must, but I'll take mine as bacon and tomato.

Wait... Wut? End Chivalry?

One male feminist in the news is... wait,... what?  A male feminist?

…the idea that women should be cherished and put on pedestals fosters what’s known as benevolent sexism, which subtly demeans women as fragile and less competent. It reinforces a sexual script in which a man takes charge while a woman remains passive.

He doesn't know any real women, evidently.  Strong, independent, capable women who deserve to be cherished.  Women who understand the difference between men (real men) and the women they love. I try every day to show my lady that she is cherished; the center of my world.

As a corollary to that idea, I try to extend that courtesy to all women.  I'll hold the door, I'll stand aside to let them pass, and I'll be as courteous as I can be.  That's what men do, or should do.  Strong, capable, independent women (such as the ones who fill my world), don't need the door held for them, but they've earned the right to be cherished.  Simple courtesy is never demeaning.

I would remind the reader that chivalry is a cultural system that requires standards of conduct for both men and women. 

Great Photo

Great photo of a soldier firing an AT4.

The AT4 is a light, anti-armor weapon designed and manufactured by BOFORS of Sweden.

It's a single-use weapon packaged and distributed as one issue of ammunition.  Once it is fired, the launcher is discarded.  It is intended to give light infantry an anti-armor punch, and I'm sure that it is useful against other hardened structures, like bunkers and buildings. 

Great photo!

Tomatoes

The vine-ripened tomatoes are coming in, and it's that season.

These ain't no Mexican, hot-house tomatoes.  These are south Louisiana, ripened on the vine tomatoes.  Chilled in the 'fridge, sliced, with just a little salt and pepper and some mayonnaise.

It's what is for supper.

Racoon

So, there's this raccoon climbing a St . Paul skyscraper.

After climbing 22 stories, he decided to find a convenient ledge and take a nap.  I don't know what he is looking for, but I hope he finds it.

Interesting

Digging around in the public record, I find that my home parish (Rapides Parish, LA) has 84,174 registered voters.  The voters in this parish are primarily Democratic by a small margin, 34K to 27K, but a significant number of voters doesn't list a party, 21K are neither Dem or Rep.

However, in the last big gubernatorial election,  where we elect a bunch of state and parish offices (to include the Sheriff), only about 28,000 votes were cast in that election.  Only a third of those people who registered to vote bothered to actually go to the polls and make their vote count.

I'm just sayin'.

Texting and Walking.

I see stuff like this all the time at work.  People are funny.

Socialism - Lite

Reports of the demise of Social Security have been coming for many years.  This morning, in the Detroit News, we get another prediction of doom.

This week we learned Social Security will spend more than it collects this year for the first time since 1983. Unless trends change, the new go-bust date for the retirement program is 2034.

Social Security has never played any significant role in my retirement planning.  At age 65, I'll be drawing retirements from the military, the state, and local governments   Social Security is going to be an extremely minor player.  However, I am required by law to buy Medicare, another government ponzi scheme that will soon overspend its budget.

Even worse news is that Medicare, the retiree health care program, will be spent out by 2026 — I may not even be retired yet.

I have been forced, since I joined the workforce in the early '70s to participate in both these unsustainable schemes.  Anyone with a brain could see that that the systems were going broke.  These two programs are Socialism LIte, and everywhere that socialism has been tried, it has failed.

Yet, this still comes as a surprise to some people.

Shop Project Phase II

This afternoon, we began Phase II of the shop project.  Shortly after lunch, a club member who is also a professional carpenter came by and framed up a 6 ft by 8 ft bathroom. There is a lot left to do, both waters (potable and sewer), electricity, toilet installation, and trim, but the bones are up and I can start hanging the guts.

Two hours, forty minutes from a bare corner to this skeleton of a room.  Not bad at all.  It really helps to have a professional tradesman in the club.

Maximus

Maximus (Max for short) is a big ol' dog.  About 80 pounds, he's a German Shepherd who needed a home.  I don't know the full story, but my daughter-in-law, soon to be a DVM found him and just couldn't let him go.  Max needed a forever home, and second son Matt agreed to take him in.

DIL and Max.  Max is very attentive.

Max is seven (7) years old, and a very calm, very well behaved dog.  He's a guard dog by temperament.  I was hassling a grandkid on the patio and Max was very interested, making sure that I wasn't hurting the boy.

DIL was looking for a forever home for Max, and second-son decided to take him.  Second son lives way out in the country, with several acres.  It should be a prefect home for a big dog.  Plenty of room to roam, and lots of terrain to explore.  Once Max settles in, you can believe that no one is coming on that place without his permission.

Young'Uns Fishing

I've got a young fisherman down the road, and he walks over and fishes in the pond.  Earlier this week, he showed me the latest catch.

The big one is 5 lbs, 4 oz, the other two are in the mid 4 lb range.  Not a bad haul for an afternoon fishing.  They put them back in the pond so that they can catch them again.

The Maine Systm

It looks like Maine is going to try out a new system for statewide elections.  It works like this:

Maine will be the first place to use the system, called ranked-choice voting, in statewide races this June (it’s already used in some local elections). The system kicks in for contests that have three or more candidates. Here’s how it works:
Voters rank the candidates in their party’s primary in order of preference.
If no candidate gets an outright majority, the candidate who got the fewest first-place votes is eliminated.
The second-place votes of those who supported the eliminated candidate then get distributed to the remaining candidates.
The process continues until one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-place votes and is declared the winner.

Interesting.  Louisiana (and several other states) use what is called a "jungle" primary, where all candidates from whatever party compete in one primary.  The top two vote-getters move to the primary, regardless of party affiliation.  Our system lads to some weird results, but after several decades of using that system, we're used to it.

The ranked-choice system is innovative and certainly bears watching.

Utter Nonsense

I just saw this nonsense on the Book of Face.

I honestly don't give a damn.  I'm not boycotting them, I just don't care.  The last NFL game that I actually cared about was Super Bowl 2001, when I invited Belle to met me at the party.  She and I had never mt face-to-face (we were just messaging at the time) and I told her that I"d be at the party at JJs Lounge if she wanted to meet me face-to-face.

She showed up about halftime, and we had a couple of drinks, had a few laughs and she left before the game was over.  We went dancing the next weekend, and we've been together ever since.

Honestly, I don't give a shit what the NFL does.  It really doesn't matter to me.  They are a bunch of overpaid men, playing a junior-high game.

Just Wow!

Seen on the Brownell's Facebook page, I cannot imagine what caused this failure.

It appears to be a 1911 slide that went catastrophically wrong.

Lunchgate

Evidently, the US Navy runs a dining facility in the White House.  According to reports, it is reserved for "White House officials, Cabinet members and other dignitaries".

Somehow, the press seems to think that Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA, uses that facility a lot, and is using FOIA requests to find out how many times he uses it.  Somehow, the idea that a Cabinet member uses a dining facility reserved for Cabinet members is supposed to be some sort of scandal.  But, it's the First Amendment and if they want to waste their time chasing a scandal where a Cabinet member eats in a facility reserved for Cabinet members, good for them.

However, I don't blame Pruitt one bit.  The US Navy  puts on a pretty good feed bag, and when I get the chance, I would eat in a Navy mess.  The Standard Navy Breakfast is a thing of glory and will keep a fellow going all day.