Senate Kabuki

The US Senate is looking more and more like Kabuki theater, what with my senator, Mary (hack, spit) Landrieu trying to drum up support today for the Keystone pipeline.  Hot Air reports that Landrieu has lots of Republican support, indeed, every Republican senator is expected to vote for the measure, but Mary is having trouble garnering support from her own party.

Desperate for something positive to put before Louisiana voters prior to her Senate run-off, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is looking for an apparently illusive 60th Senate vote – from her Democratic colleagues.

You'd think that with Landrieu in trouble, in the fight of her life politically, that her colleagues in the Senate would come to her rescue and give her the few votes she needs to score a political victory.  You'd be wrong.  As I type this it appears that she's got almost enough votes, but not enough to push her over the margin.

Mary based her campaign on her seniority and her clout in the Senate.  If she can't get at least half of her caucus to join her, voters in Louisiana will be forced to ask themselves just how much clout she has in the Senate.  And, in the end, it's all Kabuki theater, because Obama will veto it, if it ever makes it to his desk.

This is Obama thinking he’s playing “hard ball”.  In fact, it is Obama playing his favorite game, throwing someone under the bus.  So it’s likely “good bye Senator Landrieu”

Landrieu can't get the support of her caucus, and it appears that she's got no clout with Obama either.  In January, she'll be in the minority, with even less clout and support. So the question becomes, why do we need her in the Senate.

It appears at almost Senate quitting time that Mary is till looking for that 14th vote.  My math is simple, 45 Republicans are on board, then there's her, so there must be 14 more Democrats that back her.  As I post this, she's having trouble getting that 15th vote.  The Democrats really want to help her, don't they?  That, all by itself, speaks volumes.

Pore Ol' Unions

I see in the news that the unions are still hammering Wal-Mart.  You'd think by now they'd learn.  They're plannning a strike on Black Friday to draw attention to .. I dunno... something.  Higher wages, better benefits, the usual litany of complaints.

Wal-Mart is in a bind, believe it or not, because of competition.  They're a gigantic player in the retail box store business, and they've got to control costs just like everybody else.  In this economy, it makes business sense to hire part-time help, and that's what Wal-Mart does, just like everyone else.

However, when people talk about striking, I don't have much sympathy for them.  Nurses, doctors, police, firefighters, EMT's, CNAs and all manner of people work around the clock, 24/7/365.  Let's not forget the utility folks, who come out on Sunday when a squirrel trips your electricity, or the poor folks who repair utilities after a storm, or the guys who go in every single day to make sure that you have good drinking water and that your sewerage flows downhill.

Yeah, it's hard for me to have much sympathy for striking Wal-Mart employees.  And you know where sympathy falls in the dictionary.

Shot Cartridge

The guys over at this forum were talking about cannon projectiles, artillery, if you will, and trying to identify a common antique projectile.  First, the caveat; these things might be dangerous.  They were originally designed to hurt people or destroy materiel and they might explode.  GIs of all stripes bring stuff home from their service, and we hope that when Grandad brought home that war relic, he didn't bring home something that might detonate and destroy the house.  That having been said, lots of that stuff is totally inert and if you trust Grandpa, then whatever he left behind is probably safe.

There is a thing in artillery called a shot cartridge.  No, it's not a shotgun shell like we commonly hunt birds with, it's a solid metal projectile that is totally inert, but is supposed to punch a big hole through something.  That big metal projectile is called shot, and are commonly used in track and field events across the world.  A 12 pound shot is what "shot put" is all about, and early artillery was designated by the weight of the iron ball that would fit down the bore.  A 12 pounder cannon fired a 12 pound ball.

Like most GIs, PawPaw dragged home a relic, and it sits in my shop.  Can you spot it?  Many people don't.  Most folks don't realize it is there, and when they do spot it, their eyes grow wide.  What is that?

It sits beside my bench, near the tool box, and many visitors never see it there.  I found the projectile during exercises, then had to scrounge around for the cartridge case, hen re-assembled it.  I brought it to my Dad, who kept it near the kitchen table, next to the refrigerator.  At some point I took possession, and no it resides in my shop.    Here's a close-up.

That, gentle reader, is a 90 mm shot cartridge, from the M48 Patton Tank.  While that tank fired a number of explosive rounds, that particular reliv is a shot cartridge, used during training.  It's inert, or I wouldn't have it in my shop where grand kids play.  Yet, it amazed me how many visitors have never noticed it.

Sunday Morning Dawg

Wintry weather, and the dog likes staying inside.  Today is cloudy and clammy, and it's a good day to be indoors.

It's gumbo weather, and PawPaw is probably going to make a big chichen-and-sausage for lunch.

New Rifle

I bought a new rifle this week.  The fact that I buy a rifle occasionally is not news to my family, but this is something different for me, for two reasons.  The first is that I bought it online.

Buying a rifle online is new to me.  I've never done that before, but it's not as easy as buying a pair of socks from Amazon.  No, it takes the cooperation of a local dealer who has to agree to accept the shipment on your behalf, then when it comes in, the dealer calls you and you have to go to the store, fill our an ATF Form 4473, just like you bought it at the store.  After the instant check passes, you get your rifle.

Second, many folks don't consider this a rifle.  But, the BATFE says it is a rifle.  Even though it has nneither bolt, barrel, trigger, stock, nor even yet sights or operating controls.  Just a simple casting that's been machined to take the parts, and By God, that's the rifle.

Yeah, buddy, that's it.  That is a rifle, according to the government.  This spring I'll buy some parts and start putting it together.  I'll make it like I want it, and it will be uniquely mine.

A Comet?

This news broke yesterday afternoon, but it appears that the European Space Agency has landed a probe on a comet.

Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System.
It has already sent back the first images ever taken on the surface of a comet.

It's been traveling for 10 years, and they managed to land on a comet, and send back pictures.

That's what the comet looks like, up close and personal.

I was a child of the '60s and remember watching breathlessly as our astronauts pushed the boundaries of space out beyond the moon.  Space travel is so freaking cool, and now mankind has landed a probe ON A COMET.  Do you realize how cool that is?

I am amazed, and in awe.

Pandering

It looks like the US Senate is ready to take up the Keystone XL pipeline that President OBama has refused to approve, just in time to save Mary Landrieu's senate seat.

Senate Democrats are working on plans to hold a vote authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline -- approval that Democrats believe might bolster the chances of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who faces a tough runoff election next month.

Good luck with that ploy.  Evidently the rest of the nation thinks that Louisiana voters can't see through a blatantly political ploy.  It doesn't matter at this point.  We're going to get the pipeline, and Louisiana will have a seat on the Energy committee, and at this point the only question is whether we'll have a majority seat, or a minority seat.  So, it doesn't matter.

Keystone has almost nothing to do with the upcoming election.  Really, in the minds of lots of voters, Keystone isn't an issue, because we know it's coming, it's simply a matter of when it's coming.  Keystone, while an important project, is not the deciding factor in this race.  Mary Landrieu herself is the deciding factor in this race.

Back in 2008, Mary's last race, when Barack Obama was running his first race and the Democratic party was its strongest, Mary Landrieu won re-election with a stunning 52% of the electorate.  This was for her third term, and she's never gotten over 52% of the electorate behind her.

No, Mary Landrieu is in a bind because she's Mary Landrieu.  She's forgotten who she works for.  She doesn't live in Louisiana.  She might hail from the Gret Stet, but she doesn't live here. We certainly know her name, and her family has a long history of elective office in this state, but Mary has moved on.

At the polls last week, I voted my conscience.  My candidate didn't win, although I believe that he did very well for a political newcomer, and I believe that he has a great future in Louisiana.  On December 6th, I'm voting against Mary Landrieu.  I'm betting that a sizable majority of Louisiana will vote against her as well.

Deer Stand

Today we moved my box stand to the family property.

One son, two grandsons, and a family friend.  Now, I'm set for deer season.

Hot Damn!

Back in my younger days, I used to enjoy a shot of DeKuyper's Hot Damn! schnapps occasionally.  Around a fire in the woods, that liqueur put a little fire in your belly and the taste of cinnamon in your mouth.  Not bad at all.

With the fire pit installed, I mentioned to Milady that I used to enjoy a shot of Hot Damn! while sitting around a fire, and she told me "I like Hot Damn! too, during the winter."  So, today on the way home I stopped by the grocers ad picked up a bottle.

I've been hanging out with that woman since 2001 and I never knew she liked Hot Damn!  She never ceases to surprise me.  We may have to share a shot around the fire before long.  Not tonight though, I have to go back to work in about an hour.

Happy Birthday, Jarheads!

Today is the birthday of the US Marine Corps, formed in a tavern in Philadelphia.  Happy Birthday, Marines.

Today is also the anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes freighter lost in a storm in 1975 with all hands.  It was a very sad day for mariners.  Gordon Lightfoot compounded the sadness when he sang a song about the tragedy.

PawPaw is busier than a cat in a sandbox today.  Tomorrow is my day, and I'll hoist a glass tomorrow.

Lovely Glow

After installing the kerosene lantern on the porch yesterday, I found that I had no fuel for it, so today when I was at Lowes, I went looking for kerosene, and found a small container.

So tonight about dark, I lit it to see how it illuminates that end of the porch.

I think it casts a lovely glow.  Nineteenth century technology has a lot going for it.  Now, I need another lantern for the far end of the porch.

Sunday Morning Dawg

The dog didn't get a trim this week, life intruded on our spare time.  We'll try to get that done next week.

The dog is pleased that the grass seems to have quit growing.  It's finally autumn in these climes and we're enjoying being outside.

It's good to be a fuzzy dog when the temps are cool.  Y'all go enjoy the outdoors today.

Saturday Projects

Busy Saturday morning around here.  We found a leak on the pool pump so I took that apart this morning, found a worn 0-ring, and went to look for a replacement.  No joy on the 0-ring, so we'll wait until Monday when the pool shop is open.

Then,I started carpentering a roof for my deer stand.  It should have been up on the family land in September, but life intruded on the project and the deer stand is still disassembled in my side lot.  We plan to install it on Tuesday, Veterans Day, and I'm ready to do that now.  It's got a new roof and it's ready to assemble.

Finally, some brackets to hang kerosene lanterns on the patio, for ambiance.  They should cast a gentle glow and give that end of the patio some much needed light.  I put up tools, looked at my watch, and it was just 12:30.  Not a bad morning's work.

So, this morning I've done plumbing, carpentry, and metal work.  Not bad for a Saturday's projects and I think I'll take the rest of the day off.  Maybe harass Milady.

First Fire

First fire in the fire pit I recently installed.

'nuff said.

Friday Funny

The Wasserman Files

From Hope n' Change Cartoons..

Election Thoughts

The primary is over, here in Louisiana, and the Republicans nationwide have done well.  The map is a lot redder than it was on Monday, and the Democrats (and frankly, everyone else) is trying to figure out what it all means.    PawPaw has been surfing around, reading the internets, and today comes to the New York Times, who has a good editorial on the issue, and one line resonated for me.

Our election night survey showed that 42 percent chose their Senate candidate because they hated the opponent more. One pre-election poll had over 70 percent willing to throw everyone out and start fresh.

That about sums it up for me.  My candidate lost Tuesday night, and now I'm faced with a choice, seemingly between Beelzebub and The Devil herself.  So, I"ll hold my nose and vote for Cassidy, simply because I detest Landrieu.  Dr. Cassidy shouldn't take my vote as assurance that I have any confidence that he'll represent me, nor as an indication that I believe he's a good pick.  He's simply the less onerous of two bad picks.

We did pitch our lip-locking congressman, Vance McAllister, the rookie who ran on a family-values ticket and thoroughly embarrassed us all when he got caught swapping slobber with a staffer.  Eight folks, including our congressman were in the field, and we rejected McAllister thoroughly.  The lesson here is simple: we'll reject a popularly elected politician who embarrasses us, regardless of political party.  Now, we've got a runoff between two yahoos I've never heard of.  It's time to do my research.

Winchester 1200

Winchester used to make shotguns, very fine shotguns, like this Model 21 on sale at Collector's Firearms.  Their "everyman's shotgun" was the Model 12, a pump action repeater that became the iconic pump shotgun of the early part of the 20th century.  My dad and grand-dad both had Model 12's and my younger son has my Dad's shotgun now.

In 1963, Winchester stopped production fo the Model 12, and in 1964 came out with the Model 1200, the successor.  That shotgun had an aluminum receiver and a rotating bolt that unlocked during recoil, making it very fast for follow-up shots.  It competed with the Remington Model 870, and many gunners liked the steel receiver of the Model 870, so the Model 1200 languished and was replaced by the Model 1300 in 1983 when US Repeating Arms Company took over manufacture of guns under the Winchester name.  The 1300 was produced until 2006, when USRAC went bankrupt.

In the late '70s my family began rabbit hunting with beagles and I wanted something that lighter to lug through the woods than my old duck gun.  A 20 gauge seemed particularly attractive, and one day I was in a box store and saw a familiar pump shotgun on the shelf.  The price was particularly nice and I dropped my money, as I recall, under $100.00 for a brand new 20 gauge shotgun.  It was a Winchester 120, a budget version of the 1200, with birch stocks and a plain corncob forearm.  It came with a brand-new accessory, the WinChoke, which was a screw-in shcoke that let you shoot one gun for every game.  Full choke for ducks or scratching a squirrel out of a tall pine.  Modified for general tasks, and Improved Cylinder for the dove fields.

Nowadaus, screw-in chokes are standard on nearly every shotgun, but back in those days, it was quite an innovation and I was the buzz of the camp when I showed up with a shotgun that had screw-in chokes.  It's not particularly light, at 7.5 pounds, and it's not short, at 49 inches, but it swings well, and more importantly, it fits me.  When I shoulder the gun, I'm looking right down the vent rib at the front bead.  I shoot it effortlessly.

Since 1976, it's been my upland shotgun of choice.  It's accounted for bushels of squirrels, pickup loads of rabbits, the occasional wood duck and the odd woodcock that sprang up before me.  For a gun that's been used for almost 40 years, it seems to be holding up well, and if you ever see me in the upland game fields, the old Model 1200 is the shotgun I'll likely be carrying.

Weather Today

Look at this front, it runs from Chihuahua, Mexico to Ottawa, Canada.  Of course, it runs all the way across the United States.  That's one hell of a front line, and not something we see every day.

Milady will be home in a few minutes, and we're going to the polls, vote, and head to Brother Bill's for some Catfish Atchafalaya.

If you haven't voted yet, make plans to get to the polls.  It's important.  Do your duty.  Go vote.

On the Truck

The brown truck of happiness came today with an order I've been expecting.  I've been a big fan of corded drills, and have a couple of them that I really like, but recently I've been convinced that a cordless portable drill is handy for a great deal of tasks.  But, I wanted a good one, and I did some research, both online and talking to guys who use tools every day.  One name kept popping up, DeWalt.  Evidently, they make pretty good tools.

So, I looked at them in the box stores, then started looking online, and I found this little darling, the DeWalt DC970K-2 18-Volt Drill/Driver Kit.  It comes with the drill/driver, two batteries, a charger, and a nylon carry bag.  The bag is big enough that I can carry two bit sets in the bag with the drill.  Of course, it was on sale at Amazon.

When you can't get to an outlet, the idea of a cordless drill is very handy.  Heck, for most small tasks, it's not worth it do drag out an extension cord.  I've got a feeling that I'm going to like this drill a lot.

Squirrel Woods

I did something this morning that I haven't done in twelve or fifteen years.  I went squirrel hunting.  I had to put up my deer feeder o the family land, and I took along my shotgun in case I saw a squirrel.  After the feeder was installed, I loaded the shotgun and sat down in the woods to see if my old eyes could still see a squirrel..

That's my idea of squirrel woods, mixed deciduous forest with a few pines sprinkled in, this is along the back of my family land.  I spent about two hours there, listening to the woods, watching the wildlife, and feeling the stillness of a quite morning.

I did see squirrels, two of them, a long ways off on neighboring property, so I didn't shoot, but I was gratified to learn that I could still see a squirrel in the tops of the trees.

PawPaw in the squirrel woods.  I'm not a big fan of camouflage., although I do like my hat.  I guess that's too many years spend in camouflage when I was working for the Army.  A flannel shirt suits me just fine when I'm squirrel hunting.

The Weather Service tells me that w're getting another front tomorrow, and while I was in the woods, I heard a large flight of geese go overhead.  I didn't see them for the clouds, but they seemed to be white geese  (because of the ruckus they were making) and they were headed for the swamp to my north.About nine o'clock the wind picked up, waving the tops of the trees, so I decided to walk back to the truck and head home.  I didn't kill a squirrel, but I don't have to clean any, either.  I did get to spend a couple of hours in the woods, which suits me just fine.