Not Hating

 Not hating on y'all, I'm really not, I've been distracted.  Moving two ranges into a trailer, then setting them up for a sanctioned match, then tearing down when it is over and loading the trailer for the road home.  At some point you are just throwing stuff in boxes.  Those boxes have to be sorted. That is what I have been doing this week.

Couple of weeks ago, I wat talking with grandson Lucas and told him how his great-grandmother would freeze Snickers bars to have around when necessary.  If we asked for a treat, she would gie us a frozen Snickers bar.  Lucas reported today that a frozen Snickers bar is worth the wait.

Hurricane season starts tomorrow.  The National Hurricane Center reports no tropical activity at this time.

Flush Valve

 I don't even like to say the word "plumbing" more than once a year.  It's bad juju to call the leak demons.  But, the toilet in the guest bathroom was running and we didn't notice it for several days.  I guess. I'm sure my water bill is going to be awesome this month.  As those types of jobs go, changing the flush valve isn't bad and the YouTube University is a helpful asset to keep you current.  I don't do enough of those jobs to remember all the fine points and I'm not too proud to watch a video that saves me frustration.

The shooting match this weekend was an unqualified success, due mainly to the efforts of my club members  who worked tirelessly to erect ranges on the day before the match, and to disassemble them when the shooting was finished on Sunday.

Now all that is left to do is to unload the trailer and they will be here tomorrow to finish that.

The Trailer is Packed

I haven't been ignoring you guys.  I really haven't.  For the past few days I have been packing boxes and checking lists.  Today, the club showed up to load the trailer.  It's loaded with all the paraphernalia that I need to host a titled championship.  Tomorrow we move to the event center and erect two ranges.

Louisiana State kicks off on Friday morning.

Cassidy Is Done

 Bill Cassidy is the senior US Senator from Louisiana.   First elected in 2014, he claimed to be a staunch conservative.  In 2020, he rode Trump's coattails into a second ern, them promptly sided with the liberals to try and impeach President Trump.

Louisiana has "Jungle primaries", which tend to elect liberal RINOs.  We changed that law for some offices and yesterday had party primaries for Cassidy's Us senate seat.  He lost, big time.

When conservatives vote, RINOs get their marching papers.  All that is left for Cassidy to do is clean out his desk.  He's done in Louisiana politics, and this is the best possible answer to those who say that jungle primaries are better than party primaries.

Homeless?

 This morning, Insty highlights a problem that we have talked about before.  Homelessness.  

Homelessness is a problem that is as old as the United States.  Those of us who grew up in the last century are familiar with a demographic that we described as "hobos".  Those traveling folks without an address who went from place to place, looking fr handouts or work. The problem was the same.  Folks on the low end of the income scale, who from one reason or another had no place to call home.  Some were adventurers, some were down on their luck, others had addiction or mental health problems.  During those simpler times, the agencies responsible for dealing with hobos were the police.  Keep them moving, arrest those who could not take a subtle hint.

Come this century, and our nobler and more empathetic society wants to "solve" the problem.  throw money at it.  Hire social workers to manage it.  Then the homeless people case to be the problem, per se,  as much as the money spent and the careers launched to manage a problem.  Social workers wan continued employment and if the problem is solved, there is no reason to keep paying the social workers to manage a problem that has been solved.

Therein lies the problem.  

Another Thursday

 I'm preoccupied.  For the next 10 days i will be deep into final stages for the big match I host every year.  Ranges are being torn down in preparation for loading into a trailer.  Everything I need to make this event a success has to be catalogued, inspected, packed and loaded so that when we ge there we have everything we need.

I'm not ignoring y'all, I'm busier than a cat in a sandbox.

It will be okay.  Y'all play nice.

Louisiana Crabbing

 An interesting video from way South Louisiana,  These folks live in the marsh, they are catching crab.  While waiting on their folks to come for the crab boil, I saw then do something that I have personally never seen.  Preparing wild thistle for a salad.  Interesting.

Go watch.  I love the accent.  They sound like some of my kinfolks.

Young Warrior

 I had the opportunity t yesterday to talk with a young man who is jus beginning his military education. He had questions and I did what I could to answer them.  We talked about national strategy, failures in leadership, political will, logistics, all the big picture things that determine success or failure on a large scale. Not winning battles, but winning wars.

This was not a discussion that any soldier might have at the company, brigade or division level.  This was deeper, something that we might study ant the Command and General Staff College, or the War College. Deep questions about national resolve and logistics on a grand scale.

It was a very interesting conversation, both in the depths of his inquiries and his grasp of broad principles.  I hope that my meager efforts helped to broaden his understanding, or at least to motivate him to seek deeper understanding.

Lasers? Okay.

 So, YouTube claims that the US Navy is using lasers as weapons in the strait of Hormuz.

Go watch.

I was personally using lasers in the M60A3 in the mid-80s.  We used them for ranging and we thought that the ability to do so was high-tech, whizbang science.   Now, the Navy is shooting down drones with them.

Well, this is the 21st century.  

Zach Update

 Last night when we closed the shop, Zach's car was charging with 13.8 volts DC, but the concern was if he had killed the battery when he drove it home with a dead alternator.  We had made plans for him to get to work if the battery had become an issue, but when we locked the shop last night, his keys were on the roof of the car, along with his shop key.

Zach has to be at work a 5:00 am, and PawPaw ain't normally awake when he leaves the house.  I awoke this morning to see the backup plan was still in the driveway, and when I walked out to the shop, his car was gone.  I guess he figured it out.

Currently, the dawg and I are out in the shop.  It's thundering and lightning and rain is pattering on the steel roof. Ain't nothing happening outdoors this morning and judging from what the weather weenies are telling me, this afternoon may literally be a wash.  I have biscuits in the oven, and I can find something to occupy me here in the shop.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Whadda Day

 Got up this morning and promptly got involved in a little fender bender near the house.  No one injured, just sheet metal and plastic.  Got the police out to work it and then called the insurance folks.  Took the car to a body shop.  Ate lunch.  Belle cooked chicken and dumplings.  On the way home from the body shop, I stopped at Harbor Freight and bought a jump pack.  Call it intuition.   I needed one anyway.  I have an old-style wheeled battery charger that will jump a car, but the new ones are so much nicer.

After lunch, Grandson Zach shows up with car problems.  Dead battery, car won't start.  Jumped off the car, with the new jump pack, got it in the shop, then started the diagnosis.  Called an expert, got the bad news.  Alternator.  Zach's car in an '04 Toyota, so there is that.

Pulled the old alternator, went to the parts house for a fresh one. Taught him how to put in an alternator.  He did it, not me.  The car is running and we have 13.8 volts DC.  Life is good.

I'm hoping the battery in his car holds a charge, but it is still under warranty.  We'll worry about that tomorrow.

I believe that it is the cocktail hour.

Stupid Prizes

 There is this town called Mandeville on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana  Mandeville sits at the north end of the Pontchartrain causeway on the lake leading to New Orleans.

So, this dumb SOB in a stolen truck decides to hijack another car from a gas station near the north end of the causeway.  For some reason, the hijacking goes wrong and our dumb SOB gets back in the stolen truck and heads south on the causeway. But, his stolen truck runs out of gas at mile 10.

Hilarity ensues.  Our dumb SOB decides that the only rational action is to leave he causeway and jump into the lake. After being told that he can either get in the boat or drown, he decides to get in the boat.

Loading Ammo

The club got together tonight to load ammo for Louisiana State. 6000 rounds of CFDA wax bullet ammo in 4 hours.  Of course, we ate.  Belle cooked beef tips with rice, lima beans with tasso, yeast rolls,  and two small cakes for dessert.

The ammunition is now ready.  All that needs to be done is all that other stuff.  This will be my 10th Louisiana State.

This

 This is why I married a Med/Surg nurse.

Go watch

At any given time, piddling around in the shop, I might realize, or someone will point out, that I am bleeding.  A paper towel and a piece of painter's tape and I have a handy-dandy band aid.

My gal doesn't fait at the sight of blood. For her, it is rather humdrum because she's seen it millions of times.  It's her life calling to stop the bleeding, clear the airway and check pulse.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Gerrymander

 Gerrymandering has been in the news lately, with good reason.  I happen to live in a Gerrymandered district where my congress-critter lives across the state from me and does not reflect my political persuasion.

It appears that the Supremes did something recently.  Honestly, I'm not sure what they decided, but it evidently affects my district.  Pair that decision against the very soon upcoming primary election, the first party primary to he held in this state in decades, and we have an opportunity for absolute chaos.  We start early voting on Saturday, and governor Landry is considering postponing the election to redraw the congressional map.

Linky Here.

From what I understand, Governor Landry is proposing that we suspend the congressional primary to give the state legislature a chance to redraw the map.  The huge irony in this fever-dream is that the legislature could have redrawn themap at any time.  Our past governor, John Bel (hack, spit) Edwads redrew the map during his term, specifically to give his long-time crony, Cleoo Fields, a safe congressional district. Cleo is the virtual poster-child for affirmative action, DEI, NAACP, and SPLC.

The one saving grace is that the US Senate primary will go forward.  This is the first closed primary in the state in decades and it is our opportunity to send RINO Bill Cassidy into retirement.  I look forward to doing that.  Louisiana's early voting begins on Saturday.

Heartwarming

 Taking a break between chores, I flipped over to the YouTube and found this heartwarming nugget.

Linky Here.

It seems that if you conspire with your boss to hide criminal activity and your boss gets a preemptive pardon from the president, you can still be charged with a crime.  There is the cautionary tale: if the boss asks you to commit a crime, you are under no obligation to do so.  Quite the contrary, it is your obligation to report it.  It may set back your career, but you won't have to spend time in Club Fed.

Tuesday?

 Is it Tuesday?  I swear, I've lost track. The calendar tells me it is Tuesday, so it must be.

Today started off weird enough that it threw my schedule behind.  I started off wanting to do one task and had to do something else first.  Little piddling tasks that threw me minutes behind.  A five-minute task wound up taking 30 minutes.

Over the weekend, President Trump survived the latest assassination attempt.  Some say that this is the 3rd attempt, others say that it is the 7th.  It depends on what we call an actual attempt.  Either way, political violence is not the answer.  Yet the Democrats double-down, claiming that their thinly veiled references are not an actual call to arms.

This last guy seems to have been motivated by a total immersion in a lefty echo chamber. 

Yesterday, the meeting with King George III seems to have gone well. Somehow, the lefties refrained from holding a No Kings rally when confronted by actual royalty.  Odd, isn't it?   It seems that they tolerate an actual generational monarch better than they tolerate a duly elected President.

I have other chores, so if you will excuse me.

Sunday Afternoon

Belle and I went today to see a play, a matinee, that supports our local theater group, the City Park Players.  It was a lot of fun, and something to do on a Sunday afternoon.

If you have a local theater group, support them by buying a ticket from time to time.

I see that President Trump wants to bring back the firing squad in federal death sentence cases.  I support that, but don't think it goes far enough.  Bring back hanging, too. Some people aren't worth the powder it would take to shoot them.  At least the rope cam be put to good use afterwards.

But that is just my opinion.

Ma Deuce Rules

 One of the most beloved machine guns of all time is finding new life in the fields of Ukraine.  As it turns out, it is a useful, low-cost alternative when shooting down drones.

Linky Here

Imagine that, a partial belt of .50 cal is cheaper than using a missile.  Who'd a thunk it?

Another Wednesday

 I started today with a routine eye exam.  Nothing much changed, but they dilated my eyes.  Crap.  I walked around blurry for most of the day.

I see that the Southern Poverty Law Center got indicted.  It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.  The SPLC was founded in the early '70s to combat racism.  Over the past 20 years they have become a far-left organization that tries to stretch the definition so that they can still be relevant.  Over the past decade they would put out lists of "hate groups" that included the Catholic church and Turning Point USA.

Over in Iran, it appears that the IRGC has taken over what little remains of the government.  The Gay Ayatollah is only a figure-head and the IRGC is running the place.  Vance and crew didn't leave for Pakistan because no one really knows who is in charge and the negotiators from Iran are a little squirrely.

Today is just Wednesday.  Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.