Sunday Morning Dawg

Normally, the dog doesn't like squeek toys, but Milady found one that he'll play with. It's a little monkey, and he'll have either it or his ball nearby. He seems to tolerate it all right, but I'm not sure what his motivation might be. Not that it's ever wise to assign motivation to a dog. Dogs, like monkeys, are fairly simple creatures.

Here, Milady was playing with the dog, exciting him by holding the monkey out of his reach. She dropped it and he headed for it, to reclaim it. The dog doesn't possess much, but he's possessive of his stuff. His food dish, his ball, and his monkey. He knows where all three are, all the time. There's probably a lesson there for all of us.

Saturday Sloth

I didn't do much today. After Uncle Dennis' funeral we went to the auction. In a weird convergence of coincidence, neither Milady nor I saw anything at the auction that needed to come home with us, so we bought nothing today.

Generally, after the auction a bunch of us go out to eat, so we did that. Then home, where we've become lethargic and slothful. Even the dog is resting, on the living room floor with his ball.

He'll probably soon kick the ball under the couch, then freak out until I get on my knees and retrieve it for him. When the ball is where he can't get it, he gets all unwrapped.

I intend to load some .308 ammo tomorrow. Hunting season is over as far as I'm concerned and it's time to start getting ready for next year. There's lots to do before the last weekend in October and times a-wasting. I want to do a lot more position work this year than I did last year. I need to get away from the bench and start working on basic marksmanship. The first part of that is to load some ammo. I happen to have nearly 400 blem bullets in .30 caliber, weighed, sorted and ready to load. I need ammo for the summer months.

Bats

Walking through the school today and noticed something fly down the hall on the second floor. Hmmm.

So, I walk down that hall and see a common brown bat flying a racetrack course in the hall. He finds the cross-hall, flies down the breezway to the back hall and into a classroom. Hilarity ensues.

So, I call for a janitor and in a few minutes we've got the little bugger in a cardboard box. We take him outside and release him.

In another hour, I'm back on the second floor and hear screaming. I move toward the screaming and another bat is on the loose. We get him hemmed up in an empty classroom and the janitor finds a net. Thirty minutes later, he's been captured also. It seems that we have bats in the auditorium and the school is going to contract with an exterminator to relocate them.

The Old-Timers

Back when I was starting to play with rifles and I'd want to sight in a rifle, the old-timers would tell me that I didn't need to go to 100 yards. Just get a really good sight-in at 25 yards and that would suffice for any reasonable range out to the limits of normal hunting.

I was reading a forum today and someone asked that same question; if I sight in at 25 yards, how close will I be at 100?

That's kind of generic, because we don't know how well the guy can shoot, but I started thinking about those old-timers, so I ran some of my hunting loads through my ballistic computer and found something interesting.

My standard .30-06 load, the one that I used for hunting this year, features a Nosler Ballistic tip bullet at about 2900 fps. With a 25 yard zero, I'd be up nearly three inches at 200 yards and down nearly four inches at 300 yards. That's certainly good enough to put a bullet in a game animal's rib cage.

With a standard .30-30 load (150 grain bullet) and a good 25 yard zero, you'd be up a little over an inch at 100 yards, down a little over 2 inches at 150 yards, and that's just about what you'd expect from that caliber.

Those old-timers knew what they were talking about.

Circle of Life

This afternoon we lost my father's brother. Dennis Hymes Dezendorf was my dad's older brother and he passed away this afternoon. I was named for him. He loved motorcycles more than anyone I knew and he and my Aunt spent many a vacation riding across this great land on his Honda Goldwing. He'll be missed by his children, grandchildren and all the nieces and nephews he left behind.

A couple of hours later and in another wing of the very same hospital that watched over Uncle Dennis, my newest grandson was welcomed into the world. Lucas Matthew Dezendorf came into the world today at 5:45 p.m. He weighed 5 lbs, 14 oz and is a healthy, crying baby with a head full of hair.

So, we mourn on the one hand and celebrate on the other. That's what life is all about.

**UYPDATE Thursday** I got a call from my sister this morning that Uncle Dennis had not passed away yesterday. He's still in ICU, and there's not much hope, but as they said about Mark Twain; reports of his demise are premature. Evidently, in this piddling blog journalism, as in all jounalism, it pays to check your sources. I'm awfully embarrassed about this.

Playing with my boy!

Just about the time I got comfortable, in walked my youngest grandson. We've made the dog chase a ball, we've explored the coins in my pocket and looked at the plastic fruit on the kitchen table.

He thinks plastic fruit is an awful idea and right now he's got Grandma peeling a real orange for a snack.

I'll be leaving for the game in about 15 minutes.

Monday Afternoon

I got to school this morning and learned that we've got a soccer game scheduled for this evening. The coaching staff went into fits, because it seems that our soccer guy scheduled this game on the same night as the BCS Championship game. Evidently, they want to watch Auburn beat up on Oregon, although I'm not sure I'll bother. Oregon is a northwest team and Auburn is an SEC team, and if it ain't SEC, then it really isn't college football.

If Auburn loses tonight, they should just go ahead and drop out of SEC football.

I'll be leaving her in an hour to go watch a soccer game that I don't want to watch. It'll be a joy, I'm sure.

On a more traditional note, I was cleaning off my bench yesterday and found a box of .308 caliber, 165 grain Sierra Gamekings. I had forgotten I had those. For those who might not be familiar with Gameking bullets, they're standard cup-and-core bullets, but they're made by the same folks who make Matchking bullets. In my experience, Gameking bullets are very accurate. They certainly let me shoot better than I might otherwise. They're not terribly expensive and they come in 100 bullet boxes, unlike Nosler, who'll only sell you 50 at a time.

Sometime later this week, I'll load some in .308 Winchester.

Wintry mix

The weather weenies are calling for a wintry mix of sleet and ice tonight across Central Louisiana.

Lovely, just lovely. We're not equipped for ice and if it comes, tomorrow will quickly become a disaster.

Unlike most of my readers, this part of the country is ill-equipped for winter weather that includes frozen water. We've got no salt trucks and darned little capacity to spread sand on bridges and overpasses. Although the highway guys try, we're just not equipped for this sort of thing. Luckily, when it does occur, it melts quickly. Everything comes to a grinding halt for four or five hours, then it melts and we go about our business, telling horror stories about a little ice on the bridges.

Would anyone like to take bets that schools will be closed tomorrow? You can bet that I'll be listening to the radio before I pull my boots on in the morning.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Today I'm on the hook for pulled pork at church. This is our usual Second Sunday lunch at the church, and the ladies decided that we want pulled pork. So, last night I put two boston butts in the oven, rubbed it with seasonings, and marinated in beer.

The original recipe is here, but I didn't use the slow-cooker. No, I put both butts in a 225 oven while we slept. They went in the oven at 9:00 p.m. last night and I pulled them out just a few minutes ago. I'll let them cool while I drink my coffee and pull them apart before we leave for church.

Of course, the dog has been smelling roasting pork all night. It's enough to make your mouth water.

When I start pulling the meat, he'll be near my feet demanding his share. There's plenty for a dog to have a portion before we leave for church.

Daily Dawg

My sister has been agitating for a daily posting of the dog's activities.

So, I asked the dog what he thought of the idea.

Plainly, he's as horrified at the idea as I am.

Still Updating

I added some links, and increased the font size on the post body. That's a little better, and I managed to increase the size without screwing up anything.

I'll continue to add links as I think about them. I realize I've neglected to link Castbullet.com, but I'll take care of that before long.

Poles Shifting

It seems that the pole that we consider magnetic north is shifting. As it turns out and the linked article explains, this is natural and normal, it's just moving faster than usual. If it keeps up this rate of change, the magnetic north pole will be under Siberia in fifty years.

However, that means that your compass doesn't point north, not that it ever did. If you look at a decent map, on the bottom will be something called a declination diagram that tells you how far off of true north your compass will point.

Declination diagrams were something I spent a lot of time studying as a youth, leading platoons through thick undergrowth. We had to know where we were, and if we didn't pay attention to the little variances between grid north and magnetic north, we'd soon be lost. There is a reason that they normally give young lieutenants a senior Sergeant to go along with that map and compass, and being lost is the reason.

Nowadays, with GPS technology it's increasingly harder to get lost, but we manage. Still, it's interesting that the poles are moving, and if you're doing old-style land navigation, it would help to have a current declination. In the United States, it's shifting west.

Updated - For Dianne.

As you can all see, I've updated the look at PawPaw's House. Changed the wallpaper, so to speak. I'm still trying to figure out how to make it do what I want it to do, but we're making progress.

One feature that my sisters wanted was an easy way to access my recipes and cooking. I've got that now. If you look down on the right sidebar, you'll see a rolling sphere that has my post labels. Hold your cursor over it, and it will roll. As a particular label comes up, click on it, and you'll see only those posts with that label. For example, clicking on Cooking or Food will get you those posts.

As always, PawPaw tries to make everything easier for the folks he loves.

Compromise

I was reading today that Steny Hoyer, a Democrat congressman from Maryland, thinks that Tea Partiers come from unhappy families. Yeah, really.

There are a whole lot of people in the Tea Party that I see in these polls who don’t want any compromise. My presumption is they have unhappy families. All of you have been in families: single-parent, two-parents, whatever. Multiple parent and a stepfather. The fact is life is about trying to reach accommodation with one another so we can move forward. That is certainly what democracy is about. So if we are going to move forward compromise is necessary

Well, Steny, it's hard to compromise with someone who is dead wrong.

The American people have been watching, and what you're doing is totally out of sync with Constitutional practices, wastes our tax money, is becoming almost confiscatory in nature, and doesn't reflect the wishes of most of America. Additionally, we're seeing the rise of a political elite, which in-and-of itself is contrary to American values. The House of Representatives belongs to the people, Mr. Hoyer, who write your paycheck.

I understand that compromise is necessary in a Republic, and we've been compromising. All it's brought us is inflation, an out of control government, an increase in the federal bureaucracy and horrifying regulation. Additionally we've seen the welfare class explode, our tax dollars squandered, and our core political beliefs mocked. That's not moving forward, Mr Hoyer, that's moving backwards.

Compromise, indeed, Mr. Hoyer. Maybe you should try it sometime? It certainly doesn't help when you insult us. That sounds like the dim-witted, sour-grapes, shortsighted example we've come to expect from Congress. And you wonder why we're in no mood to compromise? You're lucky we haven't started investing in tar and feathers.

Shooting with the boys

I almost forgot! My sons and I did a little shooting last week. Second son Matt is trying to decide on a handgun, so third son Joey set up a range at his country backyard and we took brought out our handguns so that Matt could try a variety and make in informed decision. Between my own collection, elder son Barrett's collection and youngest son Joey's collection we managed to amass a fairly good selection of handguns.

Left to right, top to bottom, we start with a SW Mod 28 4 inch, SW Mod 28 6 inch, Ruger Super Blackhawk, 7.5 inch, SW Mod 66 4 inch, Kimber .45 ACP, Ruger Security Six 2.75 inch, SW Mod 638 2 inch, Taurus Tracker 4 inch, Springfield GI .45 ACP, Ruger LCP, Ruger Mark II, 4 inch, and a SW M&P .45 ACP. So, a fairly good selection in .22 LR, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 ACP.

We began firing, talking, laughing and joking, when a neighbor came over to see about all the commotion. He's not a handgun kind of guy, but he wanted to try them, so we let him shoot as well. We started him on the .22, but he soon moved to the .38s then wanted to see what a .357 was about. Then he tried a .45. He manned up and shot everything we put in his hands. This is a good picture of the newby in full recoil with my Ruger .44 Magnum.

Afterwards, we all repaired to the kitchen. Joey had put some sausage on the pit and we ate sausage-dogs before we retired to our own homes.

Shooting with sons is great stuff. Bringing a new handgun shooter into the fold is just as satisfying.

Another School Shooting

As soon as I clicked the link to publish the prior post, I noticed a report on a school shooting today and of course I clicked the link.

This one in Omaha, a young man entered the school and shot the principal and assistant principal. One is in stable condition, the other in critical condition. The young man was found sometime later, about a mile from the school, dead from a self-inflicted wound.

When I say my prayers tonight, I'll say a prayer for all concerned. For the wounded principal and assistant principal, for the young man who thought that this was necessary, and for his family, who is in bereavement and asking questions that someone should never have to ask.

Sadly, this incident fits the profile.

Wednesday afternoon

It was another "one of them days" at the schoolhouse. However, I did get home at a reasonable hour and I've taken time to pay bills that haven't been paid this month.

In the meantime, I'm watching these bird deaths that are being reported. It seems that in Arkansas and in southern Louisiana, dead birds are falling from the sky. Sometimes in the hundreds. Red-wing blackbirds seem to be affected, and now I see that bird deaths are being reported in Sweden, and in Illinois.

Ain't that strange? I'm waiting for the conspiracy theorists to get cranked up. Either them, or the fundamental religious types. I'm sure that the wrath of God has descended on the avian populations.

We live in interesting times.

Back to Work Monday

First day back to work after the holidays and I managed to stay busy. As soon as I got home my younger son showed up for supper, so I was playing with the least grandkid until just a few minutes ago.

Tomorrow we've got a sporting event. A soccer match if my calendar is correct.

I'll get back to this blogging thing in another day or two . Y'all stay tuned.

In the meantime, I've found another gun forum that seems to interest me. It's probably two days older than dirt, but for me it's brand new. The Firing Line. If you don't have it bookmarked, go give it a look.

Sunday Morning Dawg

From time to time, the dog gets a bath and recently Milady decided that he should start the New Year clean and fresh smelling.

However, the dog objects and often has to be rooted out from under furniture when it's bath time. It's worse than bathing grandkids.

However, he tolerates it well enough when he's in the bath, although he looks as if he's in extreme distress.

Isn't that pathetic? He does much better once he's out of the tub and allowed to rip around the house. With that much fur, it takes him an hour or so to dry.

He's clean-smelling now and ready for a new year.

Bonus New Year's Dawg

We've got family coming over in a few hours for the traditional Black-eyed peas, cabbage, ham, and cornbread lunch. It's busy in the kitchen, and when it's busy in the kitchen, the dog likes to keep an eye on the activities while still remaining safe from trampling feet. The best spot to keep an eye on us is from under the buffet.

Just in case any food might become available. Happy New Years, everyone!