Spring Shower

 Iran the air conditioner in the shop today. Came in the house and turned the thermostat from heat to cool.  Looked outside and noticed that a little shower had popped up. I wasn't expecting that.

Looking at the news, I see that the Navy's Mark 48 torpedoes seem to be working.  First time since WWII that a submarine has taken down a ship with torpedoes.  I bet that crew was pumped!  Years of maintenance and training comes down to one good war shot. The Iranian frigate Sulemani is now on the bottom of the Indian ocean.

Elections

 Texas held their congressional primaries yesterday, and I see that Jasmine Crockett lost her bid to become a US Senator.  Republicans John Cornyn and and Ken Paxton are headed for a runoff in May.

We're going to miss Jasmine.  She gave us some incredible sound bites.

The Hercules

 Surfing tonight, I came across a video about an airframe that is beloved by the Army.  As a young trooper in 1973 we sang songs about it during our morning run.

"C-130 rolling down the strip,  Airborne Daddy gonna take a little trip."

That was back in 1973, and while I never went to parachute school, the C-130, while owned by the Air Force, is beloved of the Army.  It is out Uber, carrying us where we need to go, and it is our Door Dash, bringing is the 3-Bs (beans, bullets, band-aids).

The more I thought about it, the more I was impressed with the longevity.  I was a rookie in 1973 and the Army was already singing songs about it.

So there ya go.  It's a grand old airframe that has been around for a long time.  Long live the C-130.

TellingOnMyself

 I had a productive day.  Belle and I came in the house at about 4:00 and Belle declared Happy Hour. She poured herself a glass of wine, and I stayed in the kitchen to finish up a phone call. The kitchen was dark, no lights on.  I finished he phone call and found my cocktail glass to pour myself a drink.

The kitchen was late afternoon dark.  No lights on, just the diffused light from the window. I filled the glass with ice, poured a healthy shot of bourbon, the grabbed the Coke bottle.  Filled it, took a big sip, and spit that nasty taste across the kitchen. Gagged.  What the hell?

I turned on the light, looked again and found that I had poured myself a bourbon and Worcestershire sauce.  Who put that bottle over there?

I got out the mop and told Belle what had happened.  She collapsed in a gale of laughter.  I can't blame her, that is funny, right there.

I like Wash-your-sister sauce, I do.  But it is no good in Bourbon.

Meme

 A meme I've seen recently.

America:  I'm your huckleberry

Iran: Fights not with you, America.

America: I beg to differ, sir.  We started a game we didn't get to finish. "Death to America", remember?

Iran: I was just fooling about.

America:  I wasn't.

Epic Fury

 Watching news this afternoon, we learn that at least five US service members have been killed as a part of the ongoing operations against Iran.  We mourn their loss.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that the freedom-loving Iranian patriots have nothing to fight with. How difficult would it be to gather a bunch of AKs, load them into gun cases with a couple of magazines, and "leaflet drop" them in areas where freedom-loving Iranians might find them. Sort of like what we did with the Liberator pistol in World War II?

I do mourn the loss of American service members and pray for their souls and that their sacrifice bears fruit.

Khamenei Dead

 The Iranian bully Khamenei is deceased.  It's about time.  I understand that Israel is claiming that  one of their planes dropped this particular warhead on him.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.  I wonder how many of the other top leaders got taken out?  I'm sure that we will learn more as time goes on.

That whole "Death to America" crap should have conse1quences.

Daylight Raod

 It looks like US forces struck Iran in a daylight raid while we slept last night.  I awoke this morning to news of the raid. Iran stuck back, sending missiles to Israel and Bahrain.

It will take time to asses the damage, but it appears we struck more than military targets. One reporter was saying that the Iranian parliament and the Judiciary was hit as part of the raid. Other reporters were talking about the number of air assets we have staged in the region.  It's a fairly hefty force.

On the home front, I've been busier than a cat in a sandbox lately.  Lots of stuff going on. None of it worth reporting here.

Boosting the Signal

 Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned historian and he gives us some good perspective on the buildup in the seas around Iran.

There is a lot to consider.

Primers

 In our CFDA club, we go through a lot of primers specifically 209 shotshell primers.  Sourcing them can be problematic, so I let the internet handle the problem. A couple of years ago, I bought some primers at a shoot that were packaged, not in those nice little 100 packs, but in a much larger  box where each tray held 1000 primers.

Handling them in bulk became an issue, until I stumbled on to these little plastic containers that easily hold 1000 loose primers.  They are stackable and the club members are comfortable with them now, rather than the little 100 primer trays.  As in all things, buying bulk saves a few cents and I get these primers in the door at lees than 5 cents per shot.

My vendor is CAC Associates, out of Ebensburg, PA.  If you need primers, put them on your list.

Loader

 The loader is an indispensable part of a tank crew.  He is responsible for keeping the main gun fed and keeping the coaxial machine gun cranking. When not engaged, he is responsible for providing security on his side of the tank. Sometimes his hatch will have a machine gun mounted, sometimes not.

The loader is generally very junior enlisted.  Sometimes an E-3 or maybe an E-4.

 The video is here.  I wish YouTube would let me embed shorts, but they don't.

It appears that the ammo he is loading is service HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank). It's a shaped charge round that works good on lots of stuff. It's a general purpose "Fuck You" when the Tank Commander doesn't want to use up his sabot rounds.

Chaos in Mexico

 We awake this morning to find that Mexican officials undertook an operation that killed a high-ranking cartel leader. Violence erupted.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  CNN reports that the Mexican government had assistance from the US, but no details on the type of assistance.

Shop Heaters

 Ever since we built the shop, we've heated it with propane.  For several years w4 used those little round heaters that sit atop the propane bottle, and they did okay, but had some flaws.

Those did okay, threw a lot of heat, and sucked hard on a propane bottle. Normally, after three 8-hour days, they would suck a propane bottle dry.

I wanted an upgrade, so I went searching on Amazon and found this one.

It has three panels that can be turned on or off, it lights easily, and it is on casters.  Additionally, the propane bottle sits on a shelf in back.  We've been using it for a week now, and Belle really likes it.  It throws good heat, she can adjust it for more or less heat, and it seems to be pretty frugal on propane.   We've been using it for a week, and it is still on the same bottle we set it up with.

If you are in the market, click on the link above.