...but with the state of our electric grid being dependent upon Red China for replacement parts and with the amount of ordnance we have wasted in the Ukraine and what with our president praising how great and wonderful it is that China's economy is thriving while at the same time they are undergoing an unprecedented military buildup and have been showing signs of aggression against our allies along with Russia, North Korea and Iran to name only a few - I have to wonder are these practice runs at sabotage. Talking about two recent attacks on a power substations, more at thesource: https://www.foxnews.com/us/washington-burglars-take-out-three-power-substations-christmas
If these are merely vandals - who have knocked out power for thousands now twice within a week or two - how much easier would it be for trained saboteurs! Don't think there are enemy agents with the USA? Just look at the hundreds of thousands if not millions of illegal entries into the US, during the past two years under Biden while he also has kissed China's butt, and tell me you honestly believe that no potential red-saboteurs have crossed that border and I will tell you that you are full of shaite.
Staying at my son's place for Christmas. He made a couple of Cornish
Game Hens and stuffed shrooms last night. Today he made a nice breakfast
of: coffee, fresh baked crescent rolls, sausage patties, bacon and
loose scrambled eggs with scallions. We will be enjoying a late dinner
tonight of prime rib. We have been enjoying a bit of the excellent crab
dip I made for this weekend. For desert tonight, I made a pan of
chocolate brownies from scratch; they have a very heavy kind of, sort of almost cake-like outer layer
with a heavy chocolate fudge-like inside. Hope to also enjoy a wee dram of
the Balvenie 14 year old Week Of Peat; I gave my son a bottle of that
along with a few other things. Been drinking a variety pack of Paulaner
bier in the mean time.All with a nice tree to enjoy looking at.
I got a bunch of very nice Christmas presents: an AR-15 carry case (from my Secret Santa), and
this stuff from my family & my son's girlfriend: a winter hat, 3 lbs of
excellent coffees, 1 pound of dark chocolate covered whole cherries, one 12 pack
of Mounds bars, a $50 gift cert. at Target Sports USA (bought three
boxes of 380), a calendar, a Roku Premiere (streaming controller) and a
couple of things I got for myself: a Beretta APX A1 Carry and a winter
coat (that has to go back for an exchange, way too tight in the
shoulders wide at the bottom as if for Baby Huey).
I also 'got'
to help him clean up the leaves in the front yard by moving several loads of them, on a
9x12 foot tarp, into a long pile about 4 feet tall by 6 feet deep by at
least 35 feet long - in his backyard up along a fence. I hope it is not
windy anytime soon.
I gave him and his gal-pal each a NERF gun, him a 6 shot revolver and her a many shot (I think 16 shots) NERF rifle with a couple of extra bags of NERF darts. They already had a blast with them.
Of course they got some other goodies from me too. I sent my wife & daughter some coffee and a couple of gift certificates at one of their favorite restaurants and my grandson got a nice scooter and a flying ball from me. Oh yeah, also sent him a gift card for a Carvel ice cream shop.
Not forgetting the religious side of the day - which I believe is all about giving (as in Jesus being God's gift to mankind). I hope your Christmas has been a merry one and as spiritual as per your beliefs. Mine has been excellent in all regards and it truly has been better to give than to receive this year as in most if not all. Besides gifts to family & friends, I made sure to give a decent donation to one of my favorite charities a day or three ago.
A special shout out to Jen & her family - Merry Christmas my friends!
Idiot is she even if that is faked but my guess is it is real! Imagine if Trump had said that, I wonder what civil rights charges they would look to throw at him.
The title of this post just about says it all for today but there is a bit more: I hope you have a Merrily Excellent Christmas or had a Happy & Joyous Chanukah or a Happy Festivus (for the rest of us) without too many grievances to air.
Happy Festivus for the rest of us. If you are unfamiliar with the holiday of Festivus, I strongly recommend you watch the 1997 episode of Seinfeld called The Stike (one of the best of all episodes and you can purchase it on YouTube here - I do not get kickbacks I am mentioning it as a place where you can find it). It is a blast.
Here is a clip, of most of the episode dealing with Festivus, for those too lazy or poor to watch the whole episode:
Then after watching that episode - and I suggest only after watching it - read up on Festivus here. Amazingly, it was a holiday tradition, in rebellion against the commercialism of Christmas, for at least one family for over 30 years - long before being made famous on Seinfeld.
Enjoy your aluminum pole (or clock in a bag if a stickler for the original), Festivus meal, the airing of grievances, feats of strength and Festivus miracles.
Happy Festivus for the rest of us!
ETA: Today is also the day, December 23rd, when in 1888, Vincent van Gogh mutilated imself. As some would have you believe, cutting off his own ear was as an act of love. I have always thought though that he was a bit of a psycho (as evidenced by his paintings and due to his self mutilation). We would have gotten along just fine!
...commenced yesterday (or any day you choose for that matter) but to give some significance as to why I chose yesterday; well, yesterday was the Winter Solstice and days are getting longer after all. Anthropologists used to think that Stonehenge in England was built by the Druids to celebrate the Summer Solstice what with the warmer weather, growing of crops and then the harvest to come. A couple or few years back, I heard an interesting theory on some quasi-scientific TV show. It said that some had come to the belief that it was actually the Winter Solstice that the Druids were celebrating because the days started to get longer and signified the renewal of life after the Winter Solstice. They supposedly had evidence to support the theory if you can call guesswork about thousands of years old stuff evidence.
Anyway - Happy Winter and happy longer daylight hours.
Each year, some guys on a gun forum, of which I am a member, run a Secret Santa. I got my recipient several gifts this year and whoever was my Secret Santa got me a single gift.
These are what I sent out to the guy who was my assigned recipient:
Starting from the upper left and going more or less clockwise are:
NERF pistol, field cleaning kit, Browning Patriot knife, a Santa Claus Pez dispenser with two packs of Pez candies, Silly Putty, The Total Gun Manual (I considered reading it first but that just would not have been right) and a "Big Ass Brick Of Soap Gun Smoke" (it's all on the label). The idea is you are assigned someone to whom to send a gift of at least $20.00 in value (not including postage).
Like I said above, I got one gift:
That's a RangeMaxx AR-15 case. It is going to get a good deal of use. Came as it appears and has a shoulder carry strap inside. I like it.
...but mine are unlike those of the 11 guys recently charged federally with possession of machine guns for having them. They were arrested and charged for possessing switches that turn Glocks into full auto pistols (more at the source). I will not be getting arrested for mine; my Glock switches are 100% legal. You see my Glock switches are when I switch from carrying or shooting one of my three Glock 19s to another and or to my Glock 26. Sorry, I just felt oddly compelled to post this one.
...because our nation was attacked by an enemy or because we declared war on an aggressor nation to defend an ally - how likely would we be to come out the winner? Here are some things to consider before answering that for yourself or in a comment here:
1. Joe Biden is our president and seemingly is mentally unsound.
2. Joe Biden has used up millions of gallons of oil from our strategic oil reserves (strategic as to be used during a major nationwide catastrophe as in if we go to war). The reserves while not completely depleted are most certainly short because Biden dipped into them, as I recall, with false promises of that ending the very high gasoline prices at the pumps. That did not end high gas prices but most assuredly used up a good amount of our reserves.
3. Biden keeps on giving arms & ammunition, among other military aid. to the Ukraine to help it defend itself in its war with Russia.
4. China keeps flexing its military muscle especially with regard to Taiwan and what does Joe Biden do (just last week or the week before) but praise China and how wonderful it is that their economy is doing well because as he put it that can only be good for America. No Joe, that is good for China.
5. North Korea keeps shooting off missiles that are supposedly capable not only of striking Japan and our other allies like Australia but of reaching the USA. At the same time North Korea keeps on doing tests of nuclear weapons.
6. Iran remains our stalwart enemy and Biden wants to make nuclear power deals with them.
7. Biden closed down an awful lot of oil production in the USA that Trump opened up.
8. Biden is insistent on a shift away from fossil fuels to such things as electric cars but will not admit that most electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. His administration has already changed some government vehicles to electric ones. He urges that all vehicles in the future are to use electricity for power.
9. He has not explained where we will get the resources to produce batteries for these vehicles nor where and when the charging stations will be built nor how those charging stations will get the power with which to charge the cars including those that government employees and our military will be driving.
10. He has opened up the southern border and probably the northern border as well and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of illegal aliens and smugglers have been entering the USA - at least across the southern border - Canadians seem content to to remain in Canada for the most part.
11. Drug smuggling & human trafficking are rampant across the southern border into the USA. Very few are speaking about what else is coming in illegally and I am of the opinion that you can rest assured that terrorists, foreign agents, and weapons of all sorts have been smuggled across our border during Biden's reign as tyrant in chief.
12. Biden essentially has depleted our military ranks by discharging many of our military service members who did not comply with vaccination mandates. Biden and or his admin have also mandated that the military in sum & substance become woke and operate under rules that are damaging our military.
So, where do those things and others leave us in the event that Russia decides to just go nuclear in the Ukraine while at the same time their allies - Red China, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and others launch an attack on U.S. soil. I think Biden has seemingly single-handedly assured we would be rapidly and badly defeated in such a war.
...and I have almost all my shopping completed. I still need a few gift cards and will buy them online on Christmas Eve and to carry on with my annual tradition (since I was a preteen kid) I will also be going out on Christmas Eve to buy someone a last minute gift or two.
Christmas is all about gift giving, too bad so many folks seem to have forgotten or never understood that that Jesus was God's gift to mankind on that very first Christmas and that Jesus received the gifts from the Magi of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Frankincense is my favorite incense of all and burning it with myrrh creates a fabulous aroma). I addition, Joseph & Mary received the gift of shelter in the shed & the gift of the manger - meager as that may have been it was the birthplace of Christ.
Now, I am not religious but I was raised a Catholic and thus have been affected by that faith for both good & bad but I think mostly for good. While I do not practice it any longer there are some aspects of the faith which I think are wonderful and of all of them, I think the Spirit of giving at Christmas is the best by far but that such spirit could & should also be exercised throughout the year.
With giving in mind, don't forget to give to a charity or charities. That said, let me leave and head to the website of the Salvation Army to make my annual donation.
I received my latest Ka-Bar via UPS today. I had the
high bid on it in the last Hessney Sportsman Auction ten days ago. I had
been looking for a boot knife to carry for some time now and now that I
have this one, I may just keep looking. There is nothing wrong with
this one and that is exactly why I am debating (with myself) as to
whether or not I will carry it, it is that nice I think.
When
I saw that the box said Ka-Bar Knives by Cole it piqued my curiosity.
So I googled that phrase. One thing that came up was a link to the
history of Ka-Bar. Thus I learned not only about why & when Cole
produced Ka-Bar Knives but also about the history of the Ka-Bar brand
from its beginnings long before the name Ka-Bar was thought up. One of
the more interesting things is how & why the company name was
eventually changed to Ka-Bar from its preceding name of Union Cutlery
Company (and there were other names before that), that company was
located in Olean, NY (still is there or at least has returned). For an
interesting read about Ka-Bar, go to the page at this link:
I
had not bought a Ka-Bar in awhile because my other four of them have
held up well. Those four are all versions of the USMC WWII fighting
knife, two regular size & two compact. This new knife, having been
manufactured in Japan under the Ka-Bar name under the direction of Cole
of Ohio, was made sometime between 1966 (when Cole took over) and 1996
(when CUTCO bought KA-Bar and returned manufacturing to Olean, NY)..
I
figure I did okay on this one because I picked it up with a bid of
$75.00 plus 13% buyer's premium and approximately $13.00 shipping (it
was in with two other items so I divided shipping by 3). I think that
just under $98.00 was a deal since I saw the same type of knife sold for
$165.00 online, see this.
For
now at least, the mental debate between the opposing views within my
psyche continues - use it or keep it as new in the box!\
I don't know about you but I had never before heard of what I think amounts to the self mutilation that the article at the link below discusses. Why anyone would be stupid enough to even consider doing that to him or her self, essentially turning their eyeballs more or less into Easter eggs in appearance, is beyond my power comprehension, really my imagination totally fails me as to why someone would do that to their eyeballs and their health. I think that future society, as it was depicted in the movie Idiocracy, would have absolutely nothing on the moronic \folks who would do this to themselves. Find out about it at the source:
To think - that total idiot (my opinion of her if she did as alleged) is a mother! If true, I can only think: Heaven help her children so they do not turn out like her! I wish her the best possible outcome with regard to regaining her sight because that is the right thing to do but I find that I cannot refrain from saying it again - I think she is an absolute idiot. Unbelievable!
I recently had the high bid on 60 boxes (1,200 rounds) of NORINCO 223 Remington ammunition. This ammo used to be frequently imported into the USA;
however, it was banned in the early 1990s (93 or 94 depending upon two different sources) by President William J.
Clinton. Despite the fact that he banned all importation of Chinese
ammunition and I think firearms too, Clinton extended most favored
nation trading status to that country.
Back to the
ammo: One of the most frequent questions raised about this ammo is
whether or not the projectiles (bullets) are steel core. I tried to find out by doing an online search and found several firearms forums in which there were threads that posed the same question. The thing was, the answers were not definitive and there thus was a lot of controversy as to whether or not the bullets are steel core. So, I decided to find out myself and did a video while doing the finding out. The video will
answer that question - at least with regard to the NORINCO 223 REM ammo that I
just received.
The answer - watch the video for it - was kind of, sort of almost definitely what I had expected. Some things I read while researching the question online (before I did my test) were that: This the bullets are 55 grain, it uses full metal jacket bullets, it has high quality reloadable brass cases, it is boxer primed, it is pretty accurate, it is not prone to misfires and it is essentially manufactured to the same specs as M193 ammunition. I took in all that with a grain of salt; some of that may be correct and other things mentioned may be incorrect.
Here is what I learned when I did the video and looked over the ammo boxes:Whether or not it is steel core (watch the video to see if steel core). What NORINCO claims it to be: it is 223 REM, it is brass cased & boxer primed, it is reloadable brass, it is "non corrosive". It was made in the the P.R. China (People's Republic of Chine). All that was stated on the boxes. What is not stated on the boxes is the grain weight of the projectiles and that they are FMJ.
Note that I put quotation marks around "non corrosive". That is because that is what was printed on the box - non, then a space, followed by corrosive. In English it would be noncorrosive to be correct. So I leave it to you to decide if NORINCO was saying is noncorrosive or if they were they pulling a fast one and saying it actually is corrosive but misleading us with the word non preceding corrosive but apart from it. Of course, it could merely be a foul up in the translation when they wrote up the words to be placed onto the boxes nor that the bullets are FMJ.
...but when I do I buy myself something nice. Really, I was not intent on making any purchases yesterday and definitely was not about to go out to stores to do any Christmas shopping nor any other shopping. Black Friday is just too crazy for me; the lines I have seen outside of some stores over the years have been long and sometimes there for days with people camped out in tents while waiting before the sale event. The last time I waited on really long lines for many long hours was for tickets to see Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden and for one of their shows at the Nassau Coliseum in Nassau County NY (I was on the line for well over 24 hours in freezing cold for the one at the Coliseum). That was back in the 1970s. I got great tickets for both shows but had to settle for listening to one of those shows broadcast live on the radio because I wound up in the hospital after an emergency appendectomy; I did not eat Quarter Pounders with cheese for years after that because it was after eating one that I had the appendicitis attack but I digress so...
As I said, I usually do not shop on Black Friday but I unintentionally wound up doing just that yesterday and I got myself a nice Christmas present. For a good many years of my adult life, I have figured if I am going to essentially be Santa Claus for others then I may as well be Santa for myself too. Now mind you, I did not get off the couch to shop at any stores; instead I was scouring the Internet at first looking at some things on the Beretta site (not guns) and then merely looking at Black Friday deals related to firearms. I was not seeking to get myself something but was just killing time and wondering if I should get my son anything else firearms related for his birthday when I came across an advertisement for this at $359.99:
That is a Beretta APX A1 Carry (click on the link for specs and such) 9mm pistol. I was not looking to buy it but it did seem like a great deal. After seeing ad, I checked out the pistol on Gun-Tests Magazine's website. The APX Carry got a best buy review from them and an A rating so I figured its A1 version would be just as good. I was beginning to get intrigued and then went to check on prices for it at AmmoSeek.com. That is where I saw that the Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore was offering it for $60 less. That hooked me.
Since the price of this one was only $299.99 and that there is a currently running $100 rebate offer from Beretta on them, I ordered one almost without hesitation. Yeah, I admit, I hesitated a bit because finances are not all that great right now but what pushed me over the edge was that I'd be getting a Beretta at a Hi-Point price. Imagine that a Beretta for $199.99 plus tax after the rebate and I got free shipping too. How could anyone who is a Beretta fan turn down that Black Friday deal! I can only hope (and I guess expect) that the quality of this little gun will be as good as what went into the making of all of my other Berettas. It will be my first striker fired, polymer frame, Beretta
pistol but definitely not my first Beretta. I kind of, sort of almost
definitely a fan of Beretta pistols - being I already own ten of them, I suppose that
probably qualifies me at least as a bit of of a fan.
Merry Christmas, ahead of time, to me from me. My thanks to Bartolomeo who started it all in 1526, to Pietro who modernized the company and to all the others in the Beretta family who have made & continue to make some of the highest quality firearms the world has ever seen. Thanks also need be given to the big guy upstairs who gave us his only begotten son as the gift that started it all.
For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that
whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life
everlasting.(John 3:16 )
Christmas, as I see it, has always been about giving; albeit, maybe not to ones-self but can you blame me? After all it was 'such a deal' (Murry the vendor, personal communication); so, how could I resist. I hope your Christmas shopping works out as well as mine has so far.
But as I am, I have to settle for giving thanks that I am still breathing and ambulatory. Oh well, truth be told, I am thankful for a lot of other things too but a man can dream!!!
By the way, I have no clue as to who is she, so if anyone knows - give me a clue (and if you know her number). As I said, a man can dream.
I wish for all of my readers & for everyone in general, in our great nation, to have a very happy day of Thanksgiving. Here is hoping you have had a lot to be thankful for over the past year. It's been tougher than some other years for most in the world but at least we can be thankful for some things like living in the USA, having family & loved ones - loving spouses, dear children, sweet grand-kids - all who hold us dear, food on the table with regularity, good health, prosperity, a decent job, a good retirement, opportunity to do better, a respectful lifestyle, good health, access to medical care when needed, educational opportunities and on and on. We may not have the best of each one, we may not even have each & every one but I would hope we all have at least something to be thankful about and that we realize what we have and are happy about it and give thanks for it. I also hope the next year is better for each of us.
Many years ago, probably around 20 to 25 or so - a
waitress asked me if I wanted change after I paid for a meal with a
higher amount of cash than the cost of the meal. I do not recall the
exact amount but as an example let's say I paid for a $41.00 meal with
three twenty dollar bills. I was amazed at her brazenness and told her
so, that was the first time a waitress had ever asked me if I wanted my
change. Normally, the proper server etiquette was to take the cash bring
the change and collect any tip left after the customer got up to leave.
I wonder did she really expect me to give her a 41% tip (and yes those
numbers while not exact are a good example because I recall whatever was
the tip amount, it would have been extraordinary then as it still would
be now, especially after her poor service). Shortly after that, it
seemed at least half of the wait servers in restaurants were doing it -
that is asking if the customer wanted change. I have always considered
it quite rude.
One
time, I left a waitress a $75 tip or so, as I recall, for serving just me at a
restaurant in DC. She was not only a good waitress but had gone up and
down the line outside the restaurant to try to seat folks as appropriate
sized tables for each party opened up. She pulled me out of the line,
which prevented a long wait for me and seated me at a seat along a wall ledge. She even got me a second seating
after first seating me next to three or four drunken gay idiots who were
being very obnoxious and were trying to hit up on me and other patrons
seated near them. Her table service was also great. She deserved that
tip as far as I was concerned and what more she showed how much she
deserved it when she chased me down the street, in the rainy coldness of a winter's night, after I left the
restaurant to ask if I had realized how much of a tip I had left for
her. I guess she had thought I had made a mistake. She was extremely grateful and shed at least a few tears
when I told her there was no mistake and she was the best waitress to
have ever served me. I don't often leave that high of a tip, it was probably
1.5 to 2x the cost of my meal but I am not a bad tipper either.
Well,
last night, I stopped at a Sonic to grab a quick bite. I usually give the Sonic servers a buck or two and whatever loose change I get back after paying. The total I owed last night
was $10.10. I handed the server, who brought the meal to my car, a twenty.
She quickly folded it in her hand and as she
was already turning and stepping away from my car without offering me my
change, she asked: "do you want change". I reamed her a new asshole, telling her of course I wanted my
change and how dare she act offended (which she did) when I said I
wanted it. I handed her back the bag of food and told her I wanted my
money back and while she acted more offended she did give it back to
me. She also seemed flabbergasted that anyone would say yes they wanted their change. I took my twenty back and left but only after telling her she should be ashamed of herself for expecting a 98% tip! Are the woke of today, who look at
jobs at fast food places as career choices, all getting as ridiculous as
her seemingly expecting a 98% tip for walking maybe 25 feet over to a
car to hand you your food!
...in my collection of music but if he had been, he'd have been taken off it today. I can understand that maybe he is an infirm old man at 71 and that maybe he has a valid medical reason for not standing during the national anthem as was reported he did not do. Yet, to allegedly be stuffing his face with popcorn - while others in the huge crowd stood, hand over hearts, to sing the song that symbolizes the struggle & strength of our nation in the war of 1812 - was, I think, a show of utter disrespect for the land that helped make him rich. So, I think he deserves a good hard fucking down his throat with popcorn balls until it hurts so good. (I say that last part figuratively; of course, I am not suggesting that anyone commit an act of violence against him although he probably, in my opinion, would deserve a good ass kicking if it was legal to do so.) I suppose boycotting him & his music will have to do. That is my opinion on it.
Don't know to whom I am referring, it's John Melloncramp Mellencamp, more at the source: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/john-mellencamp-sits-national-anthem-colts-eagles-game
...your hard earned dollars right out of your pocket and your bank account(s). I went to Costco with my son & his girlfriend yesterday and spent $360 on mostly groceries and a bit on toothpaste and a sleep aid. That did not include a turkey, we had to go to Walmart for the bird and some baking needs because the fresh turkeys at Costco were about $3.50 per pound and they were out of frozen (they had been going for only .99 cents per pound - such a deal in hard times). As it was, Wally World's frozen Butterball turkeys were $1.18 a pound. That was not bad at all but everything else was ridiculous at both stores and gas & diesel are not getting any less expensive. Watch the video (it has been taking a few to several seconds to load).
Christmas dinner is going to be a pauper's delight as compared to what we will have on Thanksgiving because I can not afford another expenditure like the one yesterday. The upper I planned to get myself for Christmas may have to wait. Seriously, two hits like that for a couple of feast-like meals just a month apart along with the bills for Christmas presents, the additional expenditures I laid out for some ammo & gun stuff I purchased earlier this month and in October is going to be just too much for me and I need to dig pretty deep into my savings to get it all paid off when the credit card payments are due. I may have to get a job to replenish the bank account - perish the thought but I kid you not - it may become a reality that I will need to go back to work in retirement and that may suck more than inflation.
Add to all that, all the fuckers in Washington, at least those with any sense at all, keep telling us it is going to get worse, much worse for our economy. Of course, that arsewipe in the oval office keeps telling us what a great job he's done to keep inflation at bay and how things like gasoline a less expensive under his watch (an outright lie kike most things he has said about the economy & the causes of the current inflation crisis).f course, bear in mind he really does seem to be a perpetual liar and more than merely somewhat demented. He is the one responsible for this quagmire in which we find ourselves paying much more for the necessities than we have paid, relative to our incomes, in over 40 years. How there was not a red wave in the elections is beyond me because 99.5% of the dems seem to support his claims that he is saving the economy while they actually seem to be fervently assisting him to destroy what was our thriving economy.
I kid you not, if I only spend on rent, utilities, dog food & treats, gasoline & normal car maintenance - it will take me at least 6 months to recoup what I have spent in the last few weeks and what little more I will spend on the few Christmas presents I have yet to purchase. Last year, spending on the same things at the same rate of making purchases as I am now, might have taken me two months of belt pocketbook cinching, at most, to make up.
I think that the Grinch & Scrooge (before him having been visited by the spirits of Christmas) had nothing on Joe Biden regards to destroying the spirit of giving at Christmas!
I was looking through my email today and opened one from Speer Ammo.com. It included a link to purchase what they call their "Speer Mushroom Effect T-shirt". I took a look at the webpage for the shirt; I liked what I saw, in fact I was rather impressed with the look of it. I was about to order one for myself and one for my son until I saw the price. They are asking $35.99 for the shirt plus shipping & tax. The cost before tax but with shipping for two shirts was shown as $76.98!
Are they out of their minds asking that much for two t-shirts - I think so! Fuck Joe Biden the inflation causing apparently dementia ridden anti-American, commie loving, rights hating, money grubbing corrupt moron (Yes that is my opinion of him. ). As I see it, his economic policies are likely in great part to blame for outlandish prices like that!
As for Speer, I love their pistol and rimfire ammo and pay somewhat higher prices for it than other brands but that does not mean I am about to shell out $35.99 plus tax & shipping for a t-shirt. Would you pay that much for one?
If you are interested in firearms history, you likely know that there probably is not a more eminent figure when it comes to firearms patents and models than John Moses Browning. If you'd like to know some of his history, watch this video. It is just under an hour long but I think definitely well worth your time:
...and a good bout of satisfaction. The fun was just being at the outdoor range and shooting. I did not even bother to set up targets especially after seeing the unsafe actions of two of the yahoos who were also present at the range but truth be told I did not intend to shoot at targets anyway. When I got there, all points were occupied by shooters and a cease fire was just commencing. It also started raining as soon as I set foot on the range proper. So, I took a seat at a picnic table under the roof of the bench area. Four or five shooters walked downrange to check and set targets. As they were downrange one of two shooters who remained at the benches was fiddling with the scope on his rifle - with the rifle pointed downrange. The bolt was open but I have no idea if there was ammo in the magazine or chamber. It was fairly concerning since no one should be handling firearms in any manner while others are downrange.
What was even more concerning, even a bit scary, was the guy at the next bench to the scope adjuster. This other guy was sitting at his bench loading his magazine. The magazine was internal and he was loading the rounds from the top. I have seen lots of stupid & dangerous things done at various ranges across the country in at least 13 different states but have to say that the most unsafe shooters & some of the worst range safety transgressions I have ever seen have taken place in Arkansas. It's really like some shooters here were taught by Billy Bob BoDinkus (familiarly called Uncle Bubba).
The lack of range safety at the particular range, where I shot yesterday, is astounding and that is probably an understatement. That's why I went there yesterday, it was a weekday and weekdays when I've been there have almost always resulted me in being there alone or maybe with one other shooter. Since last year or maybe the year before, if I got there and found anyone else shooting, I'd watch that shooter for awhile to see if he or she was being safe. If so, I'd stay, if not then I'd get my butt back into my car and head back home. Yesterday only those two seemed to me to be idiots. Since the mag loader left shortly after I saw him loading when others folks were downrange and since I was not going to go downrange (as I said above, I did not bother to set up any targets), I decided to stay. The scope adjuster had not done anything else I saw that was unsafe and everyone else seemed to have good range etiquette.
Well, after waiting about 20 minutes two guys left the range and I took a seat at one of the shooters' benches. First off, I shot a 12 gauge Remington 870 Express. I got that gun from my favorite gun getting place - a Hessney.com auction. When I got it goes to show why I sometimes refer to myself as THE Great Procrastinator. I had the high bid on it in the Hessney online auction of December 11, 2021 so it was exactly one month short of a year when fired it yesterday for the first time ever. Even though I only shot 5 rounds through it, it was fun. It was also quite satisfying because it functioned flawlessly.
Normally, back when I was not an arthritic & aged arms aficionado - when I was an agile, ardent & adroit arms aficionado - I would have shot at least 50 rounds through a new shotgun to check it out, maybe even 100. That did not stop even after I was diagnosed, in the 90's, with a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, I liked shooting an 870 12 gauge that much. Well, at least it did not stop for many years of ever increasingly intimacy with Arthur I. Tis. After that got really bad I dropped the round count, that I'd shoot through 12 gauge shotguns, down to 20 or less per range visit. Then as Arthur I. Tis became an even worse pain in the neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees and just about every other joint the round count went down to ten or less.
The funny thing is that when my right shoulder is bothering me, as it was yesterday, shooting an 870 almost always makes it feel better as if the recoil pushes something back into its proper place in my anatomy. Has not bothered me since then which is nice. Of course, the fix is only temporary. If I shoot a 12 gauge too much though, it makes it worse but taking only a few shots with one has the opposite effect. Maybe I should shoot them more often but then again I truly believe that shooting shotguns as much as I did when I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor/range officer and free ammo was the cause of the rotator cuff issue. Anyway, it was fun and satisfying shooting it.
After the 870, I shot my newly acquired and second Beretta 92FS Compact L, Type M, pistol. Shooting that one yesterday showed that even THE Great Procrastinator can sometimes do things without putting them off for what usually seems like way too long. I picked up the Beretta at my local FFL the day before yesterday. Shooting it was also fun & quite satisfying. It came with two OEM magazines and I have another three of them and one aftermarket mag that I already had for my first Beretta 92FS Compact L, Type M. It too functioned flawlessly. I guess I put about 100 rounds through it.
There was one more gun to shoot. That was my Charter Arms Pathfinder revolver in .22 WMR (.22 magnum). I had shot that one before and while it is fun to shoot, it is only fun when it actually fires. The thing was it did not always fire when the hammer dropped. So, I bought a new mainspring for it a couple months or so back, a heavy duty one, and I installed it a few days ago. It wound up that shooting that one yesterday was a bit of a bummer because the new main spring did not change anything. Back to examining it again I will be sooner or later as in whenever I find the time and the initiative to do it. I suppose I should really take a good look at the firing pin and at the transfer bar. Hopefully I will figure out the problem and then be able to find the part that will be the solution whenever I decide to get it done. I really like that particular model revolver and would hate to have to sell it as a parts gun.
Fun and mostly satisfying day at the range and no targets were needed because I was just shooting them to see if they functioned as they should. What was it Meatloaf said: "Two outta three ain't bad..."
Maybe two out of three isn't bad but I sure wish it had been three out of three!
