New Frontier

 Talking with a friend last week, he told me that our local gun shop, Bulletproof Outfitters, had some old Colt revolvers on consignment.  I was intrigued.

I dropped in this morning and asked about Colt revolvers.  I found nothing that was suitable fr Cowboy Fast Draw, but they did have some interesting Colt New Frontier revolvers.  The New Frontier was introduced in 1961 to compete with the Ruger Blackhawk.  Basically, the New Frontier is the old SAA with adjustable sights.

The tag says .44 Mag, but the barrel is plainly marked 44 Spc.  It's a nice revolver, but I have mine.  Mine is a Lipsey's Blackhawk in .44 Special.  We call it the Poor Man's #5, in tribute to Elmer Keiths revolver.

They also had an over priced Ruger #1 in the rack, but I wasn't interested in .308 and didn't feel like dickering.

Trail Cam

 Brother in Law came over yesterday to eat lunch.  He shard a photo from his trail camera.  He has a small deer lease near Trout, LA and like many of us, has trail cameras set out to watch wildlife.  Trail cam resolution is what it is and he had a photo on it that needs opinions.

Some sort of cat.  Larger than your garden variety tabby, but bigger than the bobcats we normally see in the area.  Maybe a small panther.  I took the photo and ran it through the computer.  Came up with this image.

I'm voting bobcat, based on the stripes we see on the cats leg. I don't think it is a panther.  But I could be wrong.  However, based on what I know about local bobcat, that is a big-ass bobcat.

Wha say ye?

Trigger-monetry

 Someone asked recently about Cowboy Fast Draw shooting, what is the degree of angle that the muzzle has to fall in to hit the target.   We know several things and the rest of it is just basic trigonometry.

Width of the base (target) is 17.1875 inches

Distance to target is 180 inches (15 feet).

So, it's a matter of doing the trig, or using a suitable calculator.  By plugging in values, we learn that the apex angle of such a triangle is 5.47 degrees.

And now we know, mathematically.  The muzzle of the revolver has to be within an arc of 5.47 degrees to hit the target.

Contrails

 It was a mental game I'd play at the turn of the century.  My porch in Natchitoches Parish had a good view of the sky and I'd look at the contrails crossing the sky.  Southwest to est northeast?  Probably the Houston - Atlanta route.  Southeast to Northwest, probably New Orleans to Dallas.   It was just a mental game, wondering where all those people were going.

On the afternoon of 9/11 I went back to work, doing a night shift before a couple of days off.   Getting off work on Wednesday morning, I stopped by Wal Mart to buy an American flag, but they were sold out.   I headed home, ready for a nap, and when I got out of the truck, I looked up at the sky.  Nothing.  No contrails at all. The FAA had closed all the airspace on the United States.

Growing up in central Louisiana, there was always something in the sky.  Commercial air, military traffic, general aviation.  Even little crop dusters buzzing around. For the first time in my life I was looking at a sky without aviation.  It was decidedly odd, and quiet. 

Anniversary

 Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11,  The most successful terrorist attack on the US mainland.  Many living Americans don't remember it, simply because they had not been born yet.

Today is a good day to reflect and to remember the chaos.

Lest we forget.

Lovebug

 The lovebug is a pest that came up from Central  America.  From the wiki:

The lovebug (Plecia nearctica) is a species of march fly found in parts of Central America and the southeastern United States, especially along the Gulf Coast.[2] It is also known as the honeymoon fly or double-headed bug. During and after mating, mature pairs remain together, even in flight, for up to several days.[3]

They neither sting nor bite, they simply aggravate other creatures. We are in an infestation right now, with probably a thousand mated pairs between the house and the shop.  When killed, their innards are acidic to the point that the acid from their innards will eat the paint off your car.  If you are driving down the highway and encounter a swarm, your windshield turns green and the wipers smear the slime.  Oh, they are nasty

I know that all of God's creatures have a purpose, but I can't figure out the lovebug.  We hates them, we does.

Distracted

 I've been distracted the last several days with piddling chores that kept me away from the blog. Noting major, just piddling distractions that crop up from time to time.

I'm sure by now you have heard of the 21 Air crash in Miami, when this freight company ran a Boeing 767 off the end or the runway after a botched landing.  Quite a mess, it looks like they put it in a parking lot, killed a bunch of folks and injured others.  Very tacky.

From what I'm seeing online, 21 Air needs to rethink their whole flying program. Matt Walsh, a guy not known for aviation safety content, giving the ism the what-for.  It's interesting to see him take them apart.

I don't blame Amazon.  They contract freight companies, and I'm sure that the contracts specify standard safety concerns. And, to be totally honest, I had never considered how my Amazon package gets to me.  Nor my UPS or FedEx package.  I don't know much about air safety, but I will hazard a guess that running a big Boeing into a car park and killing people is considered a disqualifier.

Juries

 Have y'all been paying attention to the trial going on?  The one where the woman murdered her three children and the jury is hung up?

I'm reminded of Mark Twain's observation in his work, Roughing It.

The jury system puts a ban upon intelligence and honesty, and a premium upon ignorance, stupidity and perjury. It is a shame that we must continue to use a worthless system because it was good a thousand years ago. In this age, when a gentleman of high social standing, intelligence and probity, swears that testimony given under solemn oath will outweigh, with him, street talk and newspaper reports based upon mere hearsay, he is worth a hundred jurymen who will swear to their own ignorance and stupidity, and justice would be far safer in his hands than in theirs. Why could not the jury law be so altered as to give men of brains and honesty and equal chance with fools and miscreants? Is it right to show the present favoritism to one class of men and inflict a disability on another, in a land whose boast is that all its citizens are free and equal? I am a candidate for the legislature. I desire to tamper with the jury law. I wish to so alter it as to put a premium on intelligence and character, and close the jury box against idiots, blacklegs, and people who do not read newspapers. But no doubt I shall be defeated-- every effort I make to save the country "misses fire." 

Not much has changed.

Stranded

 Reminiscing about 9/11.

My Dad was 67 years old, recently retired, and wanted to see the great American Southwest.  The Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon.   He and Mom planned a trip and decided that Los Vegas would serve nicely as a hub for this adventure.  They booked the trip and in early September 2001 got on a plane.

Early afternoon of 9/11 the phone rang.  It was my sister.  "Dad and Mom are stranded in Los Vegas."

I considered that information briefly, weighed options, said "Okey", and hung up the phone.

She called back immediately.  "Did you hear me? Dad and Mom are stranded in Los Vegas!  They got on the plane this mourning, but it didn't take off.  They are back at the hotel. Stranded in Vegas."

I softened my tone. "Sweetheart, do you hearer what you are saying? If I had to make a list of places to be stranded in, Vegas would be at the top. I'm sure that the Old Man has a clean, comfortable room with a TV and a cafe on the first floor."  I continued. "If they were stranded in Jasper, Texas I would get in the car and head west.   They are not, they are stranded in Los Vegas. They'll be fine."

Mom and Dad got home four or five days later. The only thing Dad was upset about was that they would not let him board the flight with his pocket knife. They took his little 3-blade stockman knife that he carried everywhere and he was mightily offended.

Thursday, Again

 Its Thursday morning and not much happening on PawPaw's acre.  What's left of Edouard is dumping rain on east Texas.  We're getting a bit here in central Louisiana and we needed it.

Belle is running errands.  The dawg and I are out in the shop.  Belle has been hungry for chicken pot pie and that is her recipe.  She told me to take out some chicken thighs and she would make a pot pie when she finished her errands.

I'm thinking about the anniversary of 9/11.  It's been 25 years.

Belle and I had been dating for eight months.  I had worked a night shift at the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center, got off work at 5;00 am, went home and fell into bed. Shortly after 8:00 CDT the phone rang.  it was a friend telling me to get up and turn on the TV.

I saw the North tower burning and thought "what the helll?", then watched the second plane hit the other tower.  "That was no accident."  I stumbled into the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee and  spent the  rest of the day curled up on the couch watching television. I had calls from friends and family and got no sleep that day.  At 5:00 pm I reported back to work for another night shift, tired, grumpy and in no mood for standard inmate bullshit. The others on shift felt the same way. It was a quiet night.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

TS Edouard

 It looks like Tropical Storm Edouard (ain't that cute) has finally been named.

As storms go, Ed is pretty piddling, but he will bring wind and rain to Texas.  It looks like he is heading toward Dallas, which is in the throes of a drought, having had no rain in August. The Houston/Galveston/Beaumont area is no stranger to tropical weather and I wish them no ill will, but if you are going to be hit by a storm, this one is the one you want.  If this thing goes as forecast, DFW will get a little rain, which they need.

Watching the Tropics

 On the last day of August, we are watching the tropics.  There is a blob of unsettled weather just south of New Orleans that everyone is expecting to become tropical storm Edouard.    For whatever that is worth.  it is expected to organize, gain strength and come ashore somewhere near the Louisiana/Texas line.  Maybe closer to Beaumont.  who knows.

They are also watching the remnants of Dolly.   It has been a slow season for tropical storms, and I am okay with that.

Pecan Island

 Governor Jeff Landry and Elon Musk made the announcement this week, Elon and SpaceX are going to build a launch facility near Pecan Island, LA.    There are lots of good reasons to build a spaceport on the coast and Musk chose Pecan Island as the place he wanted to build.

Termite sent me this graphic, which deserves wide distribution.

We wish Musk and SpaceX good things and we hope that Louisiana serves his needs and the needs of the broader community for years to come.

Gravel

 We built this shop during the winter of 2017-18 and put down gravel during that winter.  That has been eight years.  Around here, crushed limestone is the preferred driveway material  The limestone dust packs well between the stones and makes a firm driveway that needs very little maintenance.

That is Belle's parking spot, immediately adjacent to the main entrance door. I wanted to get this done before the winter rains set in. My gal is a diehard country girl but at this stage of her life objects to walking through mud.

Filters

 Sometime about the middle of May, we had to buy a new fridge for the house. Belle went online to the Lowe's site and picked out a fridge.  A nice Frigidaire on sale.  Had it delivered.  The fellow who delivered it and set it up was a nice fellow, very professional, did a great job setting it up, connecting the ice maker and walking me through the process.

Couple of days ago, the fridge threw a code on the door panel, telling me that it needs an air filter.

What?  An air filter?  Seriously?  So, we went to Amazon and ordered some air filters. They will be in tomorrow.  Today, I came in and it is throwing another code.  It wants a water filter.  Hence, we have ordered some water filters.

My old fridge stood there for almost 20 years and when Lowes hauled it off it had the same filter in it that the manufacturer had installed.

It is a nice fridge, but it is needy.

Wednesday

 It's hot outside.  Belle is puttering in the kitchen.  Lunch will soon be upon us.  Just another Wednesday in the piney woods of central Louisiana.

I'm being worthless today.  As is my right as an old retired curmudgeon.  I will haul off some trash later, but that is about the extent of my ambition today.  As I scroll through my news feeds I note that it is all Dolly, all the time. That is to be expected, I guess.

The tropics are quiet, almost spooky quiet.  Looking at the list of names for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, I note that the name Dolly is on the list.  Strange coincidence.

Rest In Peace, Dolly

 After a busy morning, I turned on the computer and learned that Dolly parton has died at age 80.

Dolly/s music has been a constant in mu life.  She was truly a superstar in the music industry, and her music has reached across genres.  She will be sorely missed.

Hot

We are in the mid-August heat wave.  It hasn't rained in a couple of weeks and the sun is a constant tormentor. The grass is "crunchy", dry and coarse.  In short, it is hot. Humidity is only at 36%, but the heat feels like a blanket.

 There is a chance of a passing thunderstorm tonight, but it is well under 50%.  Any rain would help but I'm not holding out for a deluge.

Oath of Office

During this election cycle we have become aware of candidates who purport to be Democratic Socialists.

Go to their website, or even listen to them and they will tell you what they want.  Abolish the Senate, change the President into a Prime Minister,  expand or abolish the Supreme Court.  That is Article I, II, and III.

Yet, they are seeking election to the US House, which requires an Oath of Office.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

A Democratic Socialist cannot take that oath without a purpose of evasion. They cannot bear true faith and allegiance.

I'm just saying.

Cougars

 Cougars  (catamount, panthers, whatever) are in lots of places where the Wildlife Weenies don't seem to want to admit that they have cougars.  Like in Michigan for example. Good for Michigan for admitting what landowners and hunters have known for years.

When I lived in Natchitoches Parish in the early 80s, I had panthers on my property.  i would hear then occasionally and saw them twice.  Ours were dark brown, almost chocolate and would appear black in certain light conditions.  The neighbors would talk about sightings, but the wildlife weenies would not admit that we had then in the area.  okay, fine. In 2002 I wrote about it on Castbullet.

If you want to stir up some crap around a campfire, tell then that there is no such thing as a black panther.  In certain low-light conditions a brown panther will look black. That is what people see and that is what they report.  If you go back to the little video linked above, one of the photos looks black.

I'm just glad that they are out there.