... one of my favorite outlaws committed his first know robbery when he held up a stagecoach carrying a Wells Fargo strong box. He robbed many more over the years, never fired a shot or hurt anyone, was a poet of sorts and apparently was a well spoken gentleman. He was Black Bart more about him at the linked page.
I am sick and tired of all the crap in the news. Trump almost being assassinated and the abject failure of the Secret Service (or was it a conspiracy to eliminate him) was & remains truly frightening; Biden dropping out of the race but somehow being seen as fit enough to remain president for six more months is dismaying & quite frankly very scary considering the world situation to say the least; the prospect of the cackling idiot possibly getting the Democrat nomination and maybe even winning the election for the presidency has my head spinning. I needed something to remind me of better days, and these did just that:
The family that shoots together - hoots together! Gotta go shooting again with my son sooner than later. I know you are reading this BBB, so let's get going to a range soon, hopefully on a cooler day but summertime will be fine by me. I'll supply the ammo!
...is what my son is calling Trump! Let's face it, he is one lucky man. An inch or so to the left and his skull would have at the least been creased, more likely would have wound up missing quite a bit of bone. Two or three inches to the left at most and his brain would have been mush!
He is lucky in one other way. Today, just short of four months to election day, Trump has won the 2024 race for the presidency. At least I believe this makes him unbeatable. So, if he lives until November, he is going to win the election. Let's hope there were no poisons on the round that hit him, something like Ricin in a hollow point, could be catastrophic. Let's also hope there are no more assassination attempts or other calamities that befall him.
As my son said too bad they killed the wannabe assassin. Lots might have been learned had he or she (or maybe even he-she) been taken alive.
No matter what, make sure to vote for Trump in November.
...for the presidency, will they keep the cackling buffoon as his running mate. I ask because I have to wonder are they truly idiotic enough to want her to become president. Let's face it, Biden likely will not be able to complete another four years in office because he almost certainly will either drop dead of natural causes, be thrown out due to mental deficiencies or be assassinated by a leftist psycho (not advocating nor suggesting anyone do so, merely predicting). Any of those would make a woman, who seemingly cannot express a whole thought without bursting out in apparent uncontrollable laughter, our next president.
So, what could the Democrat party do. My guess is if Biden actually gets the nomination, at the Democrat convention, Harris will not be his running mate. Instead, I imagine someone, maybe with at least half a brain, will be chosen to replace her. That way when Biden dies or is booted out of office due to mental health issues, someone more competent, at least in the eyes of liberals, will step into his shoes. Of course, I could be wrong, after all, the libs picked the Biden-Harris team last time around as the best they had to offer.
I hope the Republicans have anticipated such and have a plan to overcome such a maneuver.
1776 not just a date, a way of life. So it says on the t-shirt I'm wearing and I believe that 100 percent. Several of the signers of the Declaration of Independence lost their lives in during the revolution, at least one whom the British told that all he had to do was recant to save the lives of his sons said "no" and he then lost his sons, others lost their fortunes and died impoverished. They gave their all for their cause. Let us not forget them, they gave us what we have today.
A brief video showing the unboxing of the latest addition to my pistol collection - a Beretta Model 3032 Tomcat with an Inox finish. I hope to get a bit of shooting enjoyment out of this one. If I decide to carry it, it will serve as a back up to my current every day carry pistol a Glock 26. The thing is though I have the perfect backup pistol to match to my Glock 26, that backup is a second Glock 26. It obviously uses the same mags, has all the same exact controls on it, fits well in concealment and thus makes the perfect backup pistol to my EDC. Anyway, if I ever have a need for a second backup it may well be this Beretta.
Edited To Add: The video was deleted because as my ever watchful son pointed out, I showed the invoice and the invoice showed my home address. I'll post a new video when I get the chance. Now, anyone who saw the address can always come to visit me but I recommend letting me know ahead of time and coming during daylight hours after me telling you it's okay to stop by. Coming in the dark hours unannounced - well you do so at your own risk ;>)
Wow two videos added to YouTube in a single day, I must be on a roll.
Hat tip to Mike G about the info on this model having problems with cracked slides, current info is that the problem was resolved but as you learn in the video Beretta is still recommending against higher velocity/higher muzzle energy ammo.
This is a video I made, according to my info on the file on my laptop back in December 1979. I only got a Glock 17, the pistol shown in the video in December 2017; so either the date is wrong or I traveled back in time without knowing it to make the embedded video. Regardless this shows three different ways to activate a Glock slide (and many other pistol slides) to load or unload it as necessary in a combat situation or even merely at the range or at home. There are many other ways to activate a slide, the ones are show are common methods used when both of your hands/arms are fully functional. Someday I may do a video on various ways to operate the slide when only one of your hands is functional (for instance the other hand is badly injured) but I'll need to recruit someone, like my son, to film when I handle the pistol for that type of racking the slide. Anyway, enjoy the video at hand (no pun intended or was it);>)
Last weekend, I bid in a Hessney.com online Sportsman Auction. I know this may come as a shock to some but I almost did not bid on any guns. Yes the word almost was in there so of course I bid on some guns and I had the high bid on one of them. That one was listed as a High Standard - 12 Ga. 2.75" Pump, 28" Mod. Barrel. It is probably a Flight King Field grade model. No clue do my little gray cells have as to why I bid on it except maybe that the auction bug bit and bid on it.
It is a nice looking slide action shotgun. Not exactly anything for which I had a need but it is something I can use for trades or whatever if I decide not to keep it. Chances are though, I will keep it at least until I, THE Great Procrastinator, take it to the range to see how well or not well it functions. I probably would have made a wiser move had I bid on a couple of 22 LR rifles that were up for bids at around the same time. They were less expensive, would have been much easier for me to shoot considering Arthur I. Tis is my constant companion and me not needing anything to rile him up as a 12 gauge will do.
Then yesterday, I decided to treat myself to what I guess I should consider a Father's Day gift from me to me even though Father's Day was not taken into consideration when I bought it. I had been thinking about, somewhat frequently, getting myself an Inox Beretta Tomcat 3032 in 32 ACP. Don't recall exactly how or why it came to mind yesterday but when it did I just happened to stumble across one going for a few cents under $400.00.
This is not the actual one I am going to get but was a stock photo of it I found online.
Since they usually go for around $540.00 plus shipping I jumped right on that one and ordered it. I almost ordered two of them but being I had almost 8K of credit card debt last month, I figured I had best take it easy and purchase only one of them. Tonight I ordered a couple of spare magazines and a couple of boxes of ammo for it (already have about 1K of 32 ACP for it). The mags I ordered are not the seven round mags that normally are in the box with the Tomcat 3023 model; instead they are 8 round mags with a grip extension for the new Tomcat 30X model but are backwards compatible with the older model 3023. The new 30X model comes with a threaded barrel, the higher capacity mags with grip extension and the mag release on the new model is on the frame behind the trigger as opposed to being in the lower rear portion of the left grip panel as on the 3023. I'd prefer the new mag release but the ne 30X model is going for about $650.00 and I was much more comfortable with mine costing just under $400.00 shipped to my local FFL. As for the extra mags I ordered for it, I ordered them directly from Beretta because Beretta was nice enough to be giving a 25% Father's Day discount on them.
I like my Berettas, this new one will be the 20th Beretta pistol I have owned and will bring my current number of them to 11 more than any other brand that I own right now. The ones I currently own, including the new one not yet delivered, are: a Beretta 92SB pistol, two Beretta 92FS full size pistols, two Beretta 92FS Compact L Type M pistols, a Beretta Model 70S in 22 LR, a Beretta 70S in .380, a Beretta 84 in .380, a Beretta 87 Target in 22 LR, a Beretta 950BS in .22 short and the new Beretta Tomcat 3023 in .32 ACP. The ones I already have are all very good to excellent in the accuracy department, are very reliable (the 92 series pistols feed any ammo I have ever put through them and I love them all with the possible exception of the of the model 84 which is not quite as accurate as the others but is still more than good enough in that department. I am pretty sure that the Tomcat will make an excellent backup pistol - one that I can pocket carry in the Texarkana heat without worrying that it will wind up being corroded by sweat since it has an Inox finish (Beretta's trade name for stainless steel). If I like it as much as I like my others, I may also have to pick up the 30X model. Time, my bank account balance and uncontrollable buying impulses will tell. So much for my New Year's resolution to stop buying any guns this year; I have bought at least seven of them so far.
... is how they list information about ammunition that they have for sale. They list not only the brand name, the caliber, the amount of rounds, the cost and normal stuff like that which you would expect to see but they also include information about the ammo that most other retailers do not include. Specifically they include a chart showing the following information, if not for every type of ammo they sell then at least for most of them.
What I particularly like about that is the information about the muzzle velocity and the muzzle energy. Normally, I'd expect both of those to be higher for JHP ammo (self defense ammo) as opposed to FMJ (target ammo). The thing is when it comes to certain brand of ammo, like Sellier & Bellot, their numbers seemingly are always higher as compared to other brands. So their ammo is hotter or performing at a higher velocity with more muzzle energy for each round. As it turns out Sellier & Bellot FMJ (target ammo) ammo winds up being faster and more powerful than most other manufacturers JHP and FMJ ammo in 32 auto. For instance, the above listed Sellier & Bellot FMJ ammo compares to Prvi Partisan JHP (self defense ammo) like this:
The Prvi Partisan ammo is within SAAMI standards (Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute) for muzzle velocity and muzzle energy; however,
the Sellier & Bellot ammo seemingly exceeds those standards as I understand
it after reading this article by Chuck Hawks. Thus, it seems to me, the Sellier & Bellot 32 Auto ammo may be unsafe to fire in most if not all of my pistols. Who woulda thunk it! I don't know about what you would expect but I would not expect a major ammo manufacturer to make ammo that might blow up my pistol. I am none to certain that what I just wrote is correct but it seems to be a genuine concern to me; so, I intend to check into this further. Sellier & Bellot has been one of my go to brands when I can get it and that is all because it is usually more powerful than any other brands I can find but I'll be damned if I continue using it if I find out it is unsafe. Here is what Mr. Hawks had to say about it:
"Almost all .32 ACP and .380 ACP semi-automatic
pistols are blow-back operated, not locked breech designs. In these pistols
only the mass/inertia of the breech bolt and the pressure of the recoil spring
keep the action closed during firing. These are carefully calibrated to the
anticipated pressure of the cartridge for which the pistol is chambered. Any
increase (or decrease) in the cartridge's MAP can create an unsafe and/or
unreliable condition.
In other words, these cartridges are intended to be
loaded within a narrow range of pressures that cannot be exceeded if the guns designed
to shoot them are to operate correctly. Since any handgun used for personal
protection must, above all, be reliable, I recommend against the use of
ersatz "+P" ammunition. Stick with ammunition loaded to SAAMI specifications."; (source). I am hopeful I can contact Mr. Hawks to determine if the S&B ammo is safe to use in my pistols or if I should avoid it. For now, I am going to order some of the Prvi Partisan ammo.
Dazed & confused about this am I but I am willing to learn more about the subject especially with the goal of preventing a catastrophic failure in any of my pistols and preventing possible injury should such a failure take place. So, if you are truly in the know about this subject - please be so kind as to clue me in with references if possible. In addition, if you are aware of contact information for Chuck Hawks, I would appreciate you letting me know how to contact him. Thanks.
You know she was having fun; just look at her smile:
I have to add that I love the way she reacted by turning to whomever she was with to give that awesome grin while at the same time keeping the pistol pointed in the right direction - downrange. Someone apparently taught her well because many folks wold turn not only their head but the gun as well and it would wind up pointing in a very unsafe direction. No problem with that here though, good discipline on her part. Plus she is one heck of a good looking lady and how can I not appreciate that!
Subsequent to the Trump administration's ban on bump stock with the ATF falsely claiming they turned a rifle into an automatic weapon, and that bump stocks themselves were machine guns (source), Michael Cargill, the owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin, TX filed a lawsuit against the federal government to fight the ban. Well, on Friday June 14, 2024 - the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) found the ban to be unconstitutional by a 6-3 vote ( more at the source). This is not only excellent news relative to bump stocks but will likely become extremely important case law in future cases of all sorts in which a government agenc (like the ATF) attempts to write the laws themselves which is in sum & substance what ATF (a member of the executive branch of government actually did relative to bump stocks. Only the Congress can legislate new federal laws and much of the findings in this case if not all of them were based upon that Constitutional restriction on the government. So, ATF and other federal agencies will not be able to change or create federal law relative to anything.
Thus I imagine the pistol brace ban will also be found unconstitutional. Other devices banned by ATF such as a trigger crank - once popular for rifles like the Ruger 10/22 may also be found to fall under this SCOTUS ruling and thus become legal again.
I think all gun owners owe Michael Cargill a lot of thanks. In fact I went to his business web site intending to send him a thank you message but the Contact Us capability on that site is temporarily out of service. I am guessing because many folks must have overwhelmed it with thank you messages. Anyway, if you want to try to send him a message, this is his business website address: https://centraltexasgunworks.com/. Listen to what Mr. Cargill says about it here.
Now for the sharks to smell the blood in the water and file a class action lawsuit against the government for all those who followed the law and destroyed their personally owned bump stocks by order of the Constitution violating ATF.
...at my son's house about 150 miles from my apartment. Skye, my beloved mongrel is with me. So too are Winnie & Hilda my son Brendan's puppies. At what I am guessing is around 50 pounds each so far, they are more than a handful. Chubbs, who is Nikki's dog (my son's girlfriend) is absent being cared for by a relative of Nikki. Brendan & Nikki are in Germany as are my wife, daughter & grandson. Brendan & Nikki have left me here to care for their home, protecting it from all sorts of ruffians like thieves, burglars, squatters and other scoundrels. I'll be here for around ten days until they return; the rest of the clan will stay there for something like another few days to a week longer.
The only things I have to look forward to - besides the puppies being a pain in my arse (actually more in my lower back and hips) and a pain in Skye's back, as they constantly jump up on us - is not having to do much of anything. I like that last part, as it says on one of my favorite shirts 'I'm not lazy, I really like doing nothing' or very close to that. So, I will feed & water the dogs, let them out to do their necessary stuff, let them back in walk without taking any of them, except maybe Skye every couple of days, for a walk. I'll clean my messes and do the dishes and stuff but that is about it; oh yeah, I'll take out the trash and put it curbside as needed. I'll also take care of my two Hermann's Tortoises which accompanied Skye and me on our trip. Other than that, I will be a couch potato for the duration. I am surprised I am even writing this.
Right now all three hounds are doing what I like them to do most - sleeping. That is a very good thing and Skye likes it as well. I prefer the peace & quiet. Me, I have been eating a couple of oatmeal-raisin cookies and watching television on Amazon Prime. The specific show I've been watching is Monsieur Spade - Season 1. It's a show about the infamous fictional detective Sam Spade who gained a huge following due to the one and only story in which he was featured by his creator Dashiell Hammet. That story was a novel called The Maltese Falcon which of course was later brought to the silver screen starring Humphrey Bogart in a masterpiece of film noir and character acting. It is possibly the most enjoyable and best film noir ever. Certainly one of my favorite Bogart films and probably my favorite of all I have ever seen of his movies, with each The African Queen or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre a tied as a close second.
The current series depicts Sam Spade years after retirement, or at least years after he has fled San Francisco and relocated to a small town in, of all places, the French countryside. The lead actor Clive Owen is not the character actor that was Bogart - Bogart properly and marvelously portrayed the character of Sam Spade of the novel (even though in the original story he had blonde hair as I recall - yes I read it - and it & the film are true to one another in most other regards). In fact, my guess is that Clive Owen never once read the story or watched the movie because his portrayal of Sam Spade misses the mark by a million miles in my estimation.There are no other references from which to copy the character of the Sam Spade that was created by Hammet; sadly he only wrote 5 novels and Sam Spade was only in that one and sadly it seems to me that Owen does not have a clue how to mimic Bogart as Spade. Yet, the show Monsieur Spade is pretty good nonetheless if, but only if as I see it, you can get over the fact that this character no matter what he is called is not much at all the Sam Spade of infamy that was portrayed in The Maltese Falcon.
Maybe, if the mood strikes me strongly enough, it will get mine arse in gear to head to a local range to shoot the Remington Model 81 on which I had the high bid in an auction at the end of April. I brought it and about 40 rounds of 35REM ammo for it along with me. I also have an AK,a Remington 870 12 gauge with rifle sights and two Glock 26 pistols. One never knows when the zombies might become restless or when civil war might break out. About the only other things that might get me out and about away from my house sitting duties are food shopping; although, there is plenty here for at least a week I think, going to Costco to stock up on supplies to bring back to my apartment when I leave here and maybe a trip to the G&S gun show in Conway, AR this coming weekend. Wish I had known about that before leaving my digs; I maybe would have packed a few more rifles & pistols and then would have tried to sell them at the show. As it stands now, all I can do is buy something because I am not selling any of the guns I have with me and the chances of me buying any guns is almost zero because I am strapped for spending cash.
I titled this post "Here I Sit..." but that is about to change because I am about to lay me down and take a nap.
How she hit any of the targets is amazing but maybe she actually got that stuffed whatever once she lifted the muzzle a bit. I will readily admit, I'd love to be her firearms instructor.
When I drove home yesterday from my son's house in Sherwood, AR, I reset my average miles per gallon to zero as I drove up the entrance ramp to the highway. I reset it again as I got to the top of the exit ramp in Texarkana, AR. I had driven about 145 miles at that point, I maintained a speed of 65 mph in the right lane for almost all of the trip, although when I passed a truck or two, I got it up to 75. I was in no hurry and wanted to see if I could beat my old best of 40.5 mpg.
Turned out I got 43.9 mpg this time around. My car is a Toyota Corolla, 2016 base model, that has never had a tune up (one is due in about 8K miles or less). I thought that was good enough mileage to mention here. At 75 mph, I get about 37 to 38 mpg. Quite the difference but man you gotta be patient to drive 65 mph on a 75 mph highway. Of course, I am retired so why hurry! Also, there was almost no traffic; so, it did not inconvenience anyone; had there been traffic, I would have been driving the speed limit or very close to it.
If I had been driving a bit faster, I am certain I would have annihilated the coyote that sprinted out of the darkness just several feet in front of my car and maybe also would have hit the very young fawn that was on the shoulder and had apparently been headed into the roadway until its mom called it back. It was just turning around to head back to mama doe when I saw them both and could see the concern on the mom's face and in her posture even while I was moving along that fast. Lucky for them, great mileage for me and no damage to the front of my car either.
I flew into Laguardia Airport in NYC last Wednesday and was expecting a nice vacation of 10 days. I stayed at a hotel for two night; I was planning to stay at my daughter's house for the remainder of my trip and only stayed at a motel those two nights to surprise her at her graduation.On Friday she graduated from Nassau County Probation Officer training. That was nice but she saw me walk in the front door. I would have been more stealthy had I known she was in the 2d floors hall overlooking the entrance. Of course I had expected my wife, who was inside already, to let me know if the coast was clear and all she said was they were inside. So no surprise. My wide daughter & grandson seemed happy to see me that day.
After the graduation we went to a restaurant my daughter had planned on celebrating at before she knew I would be there. That was fine by me until I saw the bill which I had offered to pay, almost $400. That seemed a bit much but oh. well. Things seemed to be going okay although there was some friction coming from my daughter since that Friday in the form of snide and or sarcastic remarks that she made to me. I considered just leaving on Saturday because I anticipated worse was to come. Sometimes I have to listen to myself.
On Sunday, she asked me to help look up pricing & availability online for a washer & dryer because her dryer went out of commission and the washer as old. So I got on the net and Consumer Reports and looked them up. The number one listed with the best score of all washing machines cost about $650 as per CR. I told my daughter that the next best was between about $900 & &1,000. I recommended the less expensive one because it had a better rating across all things tested. Shortly after that she went bat shit crazy saying things like who was I to be telling her how to spend her money, she would buy the most expensive because it had to be best because only the best costs the most in her mind - and so on. Then she started ranting about topics that had nothing to do with washers & dryers. After ten minutes or so of that I finally said 'why the fuck did you ask me to help you if you obviously do not want my help' or something extremely close to those words. That was it, she went to the washer & dryer getting place. Even my wife was utterly gobsmacked as to that exchange. Regardless, I also looked around at different retailers and the best price by far was at Costco for the one but it could not be delivered and installed until June 5th at which time she'd be away on vacation. So she went to PC Richard where she asked for a specific set they supposedly had in stock and they talked her into something else and then asked for $500 apiece for an extended warranty on each! She declined but my bet is they did the bait & switch and talked her into getting a much less expensive washer of lessor quality that they overpriced.
While she was out I sent her a text message asking if she wanted or needed anything from a local supermarket I was about to go to because my wife told me she needed some things for that evening's barbecue. My daughter texted back saying: "don't go to HMart just leave my NY". So that evening I checked into a motel near LGA after changing my airline reservation and I Monday, I returned home. I had hopes of having some time to spend with my grandson - maybe a saltwater fishing trip, coming back to Arkansas with a lot of German cold cuts & smoked meats from a German butcher, of eating in Chinatown once of even three times, of going out with friends I have not seen in 5 years and of seeing my brothers-in-law in upstate NY. None of that happened. While I could have stayed and paid a fortune for motels in NY, or gone to by BIL's place upstate - I was in a sour mood. So, I just left. Having to explain to others why I was no longer staying at my daughter's and wife's house (co-owners they are) each time I saw someone new on my trip would have just ruined it much more for me so I went back to Arkansas because to be frank it was already ruined more than enough.
I wasted about $1750.00 on that trip and am sure I will never do so again, at least not to visit my daughter. Oh well, life goes on but it is somewhat worse than anticipated without at least a couple of weeks worth of wursts, schinkenspeck, landjager and some Lithunian rye bread or corn rye bread.
So, I have to wonder, did the Trump campaign read my blog post about Trump challenging Biden to submit to a drug test at their first debate. They are demanding Biden submit to one before each debate (more at the source). If they did read what I said, in my blog post at https://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2024/04/trump-versus-biden-debate.html?m=1, then it is too bad they are not springing it on Biden as a surprise requirement either as the debate commences or better yet a half hour or more into the debate to assure whatever the Dems hype him up on will be morelikely to test true in his urine sample. My guess is have a great idea but have made it public early through way of piss poor planning. If they had sprung it as a surpise test, Biden probably would have stuttered & stammered, would have refused and probably would have walked off the stage in his usual lost and demented state. Now, if Biden's handlers agree, they can give him something undetectable in a normal drug test since they have time to prepare and know Trump's plan well in advance. It may be outside the rules to spring it as a surprise but it would have hadvthevdesired effect, Biden being dumbfounded by it andvangriky refusing. That would have convinced folks he was high as a kite fir the debates.
It may wind up that it has never been truer: Proper planning prevents piss poor performance or piss poor plannjng propagates piss poor performance. In this case someone in the Trump campaign is almost definitely guilty of piss poor performance.
As you may have read in a previous post, I found a stray dog while out walking my dog Skye on April 3, 2024 in Spring Lake Park Texarkana, TX. He was by my judgement about 4 to 6 months old, too skinny & obviously hungry, probably dehydrated and in need of some love. When Skye and I walked passed him on the first leg of our walk he was laying in the grass taking it easy but barked some at us. About 20 minutes later he again was barking and growling at us when we came back the same way but we got a bit closer and he sat up favoring a front paw as if it was hurting. I spoke to him and he calmed down and we got close enough for Skye and him to sniff one another. Then we headed toward my car near the dog park and he followed us a half to three quarters of a mile limping all the way on that front paw. Well not quite all the way, once close to my car the limp disappeared. I figured either he worked out a sprain or cramp or was a really good sympathy seeking actor. I thought I had a can of dog food in the car to give to him but it was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, I brought him home and the saga of Knucklehead (the name I gave him after deciding Bozo did not fit him) commenced.
He was a beautiful dog strongly resembling a giant sized Manchester Terrier.
I did not intend to keep him and emailed & called around to find a no kill shelter. Not one returned my messages! I decided not to give him to the local government run pounds because they would put him down after only a few days. So off to my apartment we went wherein he ate like a horse and drank was if he could have swallowed an ocean. He also peed and pooped - yes on my floor. Thank good no carpeting in my apartment so it was easy to clean up.
I tried to find his owner(s) posting a notice of a found dog on lost & found pet site. A gal at one of the local dog parks posted on a similar local site and I posted his mugshot at my vet's office. No one claimed him. I also tried to find someone to adopt him but the only person who showed an interest wound up declining. On day two of him living with Skye. my two Hermann's tortoises and myself, I took him to the vet for an exam. He was given his shots including rabies and whatever else they gave him. The vet told me that my concern about him passing yellowish brown loose, et ad some formed but soft poops was due to me feeding him grain free food.urns out the food I fed him and have been feeding Skye is not grain free after all. I was told that despite him eating double the amount that Skye ate, he was not parasitized like I had thought.
After three more visits in the course of a few weeks, during the fourth one (as I recall), I was assured by the vet that he was "completely parasite free" but regardless of that the vet prescribed 5 days of Panacur (an anti-worm medication). On the fifth visit, I think a five days later, I brought in a video of Knuckleheads poops showing two white worms (as it turned out probably tape worms) on it. The vet tried to infer that the worms may have crawled up out of the dirt onto the poop at the dog park but I had been only 10 feet or so away from him and went to clean it up with a few seconds. So that vet, now the third to see him in the same office, gave me Praziquantel and more Panacur for him to take. He got very sick after the third dose of those two meds. He stopped eating or ate just a tiny bit. I brought hi in for a sixth visit before a week was out. The vet that day finally did a blood test and told me the result showed extremely low white blood cells and he thought Knucklehead had one of either three things: cancer, distemper or parvo. He referred me to a vet clinic in Shreveport, LA, 73 miles or so from my apartment. We went there the next day.
Now before, I move on and get to the new vet in Shreveport allow me to say that even though Knucklehead had worms he was a happy puppy. For about three and a half to four weeks he was the most happy, playful and lovable dog I have ever taken care of. Somewhere in there, maybe week two or three, I was pretty sure I'd be keeping him. My other dog Skye usually just slept at home and only was at all active on walks or during trips to the dog park on an almost twice daily basis but she grew to love him too. He kept pestering her until she finally started to play with him a few times a day in the apartment and at the dog park; it was like Skye was a different dog when with Knucklehead.
He was good too, often barking to let me know he had to go out to pee or poop. In the last week or two he was apparently fully housebroken. He played fetch, something Skye does not do; if she fetches she plays keep away and does not bring a ball or stick back but has other dogs chase her, then drops whatever and when another dog tries to grab it she does so first and runs off with it to again tease the other dog. She does the same with people. Knucklehead loved a thick knotted rope to play with in the apartment for fetch and tug of war. When he retrieved it, I'd say put it in my hand and with a week or two it is what he did; of course only to play tug of war. He would also bring back a ball and give it to me after a bit of chewing on it and my finger when I grabbed it. He also loved to chew paper towels and chewed up a beloved book I had since the early 1980s, a gift from a past girlfriend that I treasured. He had good taste in literature!
He also loved to teethe and liked to do so on my hands and arms but when commanded "no biting" he'd stop almost immediately. He knew how to give me his paws, how to sit, ho to lay down, to come and to ease up when I told him easy to put on his leash. He pulled a lot when walking (but was getting better) and barked and growled at anyone we passed including cars when out for a stroll but he never attacked anyone. In fact if he got right up to someone at whom he was barking and they stood their ground, he would just lick their hands. I figured he was being protective of me until he found out that the person was a friend not a foe and then he just wanted to be petted. He was great with kids and adults and was playful with other dogs at the dog park. He liked drinking water from the spigot too. He gave Skye and me a whole new outlook on life. He truly was a joy to have in the family.
His last visit to my local vet was on last Wednesday. Then on Friday it was off to the vet in Shreveport. Then opened the front door for us and immediately escorted us to an exam room. With just a couple minutes or a few at most a vet tech came in to interview me about what was going on. Within another 5 minutes at most the vet came in. Once the vet was in the room I asked her to confirm something she had told me on the phone the day before which was that one of my local vets, the one who sent the referral, had told her he was concerned that Knucklehead might have something other than distemper, parvo or cancer. I wanted to confirm it because when she told me on the phone I almost fell over because he never told me on this particular suspicion. I the referral he said he also suspected that Knucklehead may have had rabies. Can you imagine your vet, heck any vet, not telling the dog's owner tat he thought the dog might have rabies. She confirmed that yes he included that in the referral. I was furious. She could not understand why he did not inform me. She was also quite amazed, not in a good way, that in the 6 visits knucklehead made to my local vets' office, they only did one test and repeated the same exact test at least three times - a fecal float, maybe four times. Even after they saw the worms and believed them to be tapeworms, they never did any other test to my knowledge to confirm tapeworms - just the third fecal float (or maybe the fourth). What should have been done, as is my understanding, was a fecal sedimentation test because many types of worm eggs do not float but sink in water as do at least some species of tapeworm eggs. There were also other blood tests and parasite tests that she said should have been done.
The vet in Shreveport ran as many applicable blood tests as she could in office, ones for which they got the results in her office without having to send them out. She was concerned about his WBC count and about other tests that would show how his immune system was working. Knucklehead at lost about 3.5 pound over the course of less than week, the time span of his last two local vet visits. By Friday two days after the last local vet visit he was obviously emaciated; while his ribs showed a bit on Wednesday, they were obviously showing on Friday. She told me he was "a very, very, very sick dog". The test results were all low for any indicators of how well his immune system was functioning and his WBC count seriously lower than on Wednesday when my local vet said it was extremely low. She was of the opinion that Knucklehead had leukemia and probably also had a bacterial infection in his Gastro-intestinal tract. Thus why he was not eating and drinking almost anything. She also thought he may still have had worms or other parasites. She then told me that a bone marrow test could be done but it had to be sent out to a lab and that it would take a week or two to get the results. Then she gave me the bad news again repeating tat he was " a very, very, very sick puppy" and the bad news was that he most likely would not survive until the test results came back and even if he did he would be extremely unlikely to survive treatment for leukemia which would probably be over 10 grand with him in the hospital for weeks to months. She also added that he would suffer miserably and unnecessarily just waiting for the test results.
Right after telling me all that she said: "I have to ask you a very tough question". I immediately replied "Don't ask, I know what it is". Then I said please just put him down. She excused herself and left the room. A short while later she came back into the room with a hypodermic, as she was about to give him a sedative, Skye, who had been laying down unconcerned, suddenly jumped up putting her paws on the exam table and began to lick Knuckleheads face as the doc administered the sedative. It was eerie, as if Skye knew what was happening and was showing him love and saying goodbye. All my imagination, I don't know - maybe but maybe not. As soon as the injection as completed, Knucklehead who had been calmly laying down on the exam table sat up, he looked right at me and moved his snout right up against my face. I could see in his eyes that look a puppy gives you when they think they did something wrong - the same look they get when they get a sedative - a questioning look like: "what did I do wrong (yes I am sure that was just in my head but it certainly looked that way even though I know it must have been the effect of the sedative). Then he laid down again with me petting him and me sobbing. A few seconds at most later, the vet administered the fatal shot and he was gone with me still petting him and I kissed his head too. I was left feeling the agony of the moment and now am left with good memories but also with the eternal sorrow that I am sure I will feel for the rest of my life every time I think about my lovable little buddy and how I knew him for just a wee bit of time before losing him forever.
Then the vet told me she had another very tough question, I knew what it was because she had explained earlier what had to be done to test him for rabies. I told her go on with it which meant decapitating him and sending his head to the state infectious disease lab.
Damn, I am crying again - he was the first puppy I ever had. Sure we had puppies when I lived with my wife in NY but all of them were hers and picked by her. He was also only the fourth dog I ever picked out to bring home. Holley from a shelter on Long Island (our first family dog - also put down early because she became extremely aggressive toward our children, Mimi from the ASPCA in NYC a true sweetheart & psycho as the second, Skye here in the Texarkana area was the third (all adults) and Knucklehead the last one and only male that I picked out and as I said the first puppy; although, I guess he actually chose me and Skye by following us back to my car the first day we found him.
So far, I have sat through 4 or five other of our dogs being put down, all in NY before my wife and I separated, None were easy, and they do not get any less hard to sit through after the previous ones. They all brought tears to my eyes but this was the toughest. I think that was because not only was he truly the most lovable of all the dogs that ever owned but was the most lovable of all dogs that I have ever known. Everyone who met him, at both vet offices, my neighbor and her kids, all the folks I know at the dog park have told me they knew not only that I loved and cared for him but that he loved and only wanted to please me and Skye. I will probably never even think of taking in another stray not even temporarily; losing him so soon was an emotionally traumatic experience that I would not have thought possible for me but I have to add - knowing Knucklehead (and him living up to his name), caring for him, playing with him, watching him and Skye play together while short lived; yet, was one of the most joyful experiences of my life.
All the best,
Glenn B
PS: I guess I should add that the vet from Shreveport called me yesterday, the rabies test was negative.
...or is it just those of us who live in so called Blue states, especially ones on the west coast that have been driven to what appears to be insanity?
I am not talking about the recent anti Israel protests and riots (many amounted to nothing else but riotting) but just people acting totally bonkers in everyday situations wherein their actions are totally off the wall. My prime example today is that of a woman in Los Angeles who allegedly boarded a bus that is free of charge (according to some reports - source) and then attacked the bus driver because the driver would not accept a dollar as payment from the woman; however, in the accompanying video here the reporter says the woman refused to pay the bus fare. Either way this is crazy behavior. There is video of the woman ripping open a safety door that separates the driver from passengers and then evidently assaulting her.
I wonder, just how frigging crazy does one have to be to do something like that for the reason given in the news reports, that the driver would not accept the money because either the bus ride was free or the fare was 50 cents. We need some kind of miracle to rid society of lunatics is what I think because it is almost assured the woman will probably be arrested and then released the same day to do it all over again or worse if she so desires. I have said it before and will keep on saying it, it is like we live in Bizarro World.
I contributed another $100.00 to the Trump campaign today. First time since September, I forgot all about it after that first one back then but for some reason the little gray cells pulled that memory out of mothballs today. As I see it, I will make a couple or few more donations before the election. I look at it this way, spend a modest amount now to save maybe tens of thousands more that I'd lose under another four years of Bidenomics.
....from SD Bullion, delivered yesterday, and today they sent me an email about how the price of silver just dropped. So I guess in my case that would mean a few days early and a bunch of dollars short!
Now wait a cotton pickin' minute, I just checked the prices on Canadian Maple Leaf BU coins, my recent purchase was 100 of them at $30.18 per coin shipped and the price today is $30.24 so I have to wonder what they mean by the price of silver just dropped. I wonder because it most certainly is higher than it was on April 24th when I placed my order. Either they are spouting bunkum (read the "Did you know?" section on that page) or their price went up in after April 24th and before now; then again dropped down from whatever it went up to in between those dates.
Regardless, they had the best price, that I found on silver BU Maple Leaf coins when I placed my order. Right now, I am thinking SD Bullion & APMEX will be my go to companies whenever I purchase bullion coins. I think right now, at spot prices, I have about $8,700.00 in silver and about $8,100.00 in gold. I am slowly building up hat I have and hope to get it up to at least $30,000.00 to $50,000.00 before the U.S. economy collapses as there is no doubt in my mind that will be happening within the next ten years at most and then my cash will become useless and my government pension will disappear. That is unless someone knows how to perform actual economic miracles far above the powers & abilities of mortal men. I am sorely tempted to give a big immediate boost to my bullion stock by buying another 20 or 30Ks worth right now but I am afraid that the bullion prices will drop markedly if Trump is elected. If they keep at the same price or go a bit higher after the election I may just roll the dice and get it all at once. Of course if the prices do fall substantially I will buy - buy - buy and the temptation to buy it all at once to hit my goal will be strong. Until then, I am going to buy some every month, less than I amount I just bought but at least some to keep my stock growing. I should have done this decades ago.
One thing about my buying habits is that when it comes to gold I have usually purchased 1/4 ounce coins. Buying that size coin adds a considerable amount to the cost but there is a reason I go that extra expense sometimes. I figure it this way, if there is ever a total collapse of our economy, which is most definitely on the horizon considering the trillions of dollars we are in debt as a nation and the unrestrained spending habits of politicians spending money they do not have. Think of hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920 & 30s - no one could have guessed what was coming and coming on super fast within only a couple of years. In Germany a loaf of bread costing an outrageous 163.00 Deutschmarks in 1922, going up to 1,500,000.00 (one million five hundred thousand) Deutschmarks in 1923 and capping out at about 200,000,000,000.00 marks (two hundred billion marks) at the height of their hyperinflation. Joe Biden and the dems & RINOs keep spending and think printing more dollars will alleviate the inflation problem but sooner or later we will be called upon by our creditors to pay up and then our economy will fail totally, that is if not sooner just on its own without even one creditor asking to be paid. It will make the Great Depression look like a bull market. (Note how Biden no longer says how great is Bidenomics!)
So, it is just as possible here as it as in Germany and look at the result there - the rise to power of the Nazis (to whom our current crop of radicals on the left appear to be very similar in ideologies). In such a case of an economic collapse here, it might be very wise to have smaller sized bullion coins to buy things. Start pulling out a few one ounce coins and maybe get ripped off at gunpoint or just by way of the deal. Pull out just enough in smaller gold coins, sure you can get ripped off at gunpoint but I think it less likely to get ripped of in the deal end of it. Knowing the price ahead of the deal being finalized and using smaller coins allows you to go retrieve just what you need then come back and pay the guy. Think about it, if you use only one ounce coins and want to buy what cost only 1/4 ounce of gold, who will do the cutting of the larger coin and the weighing of the pieces to assure it is spot on. Then again, if they rob you and take a one ounce coin you are losing a lot more than a quarter ounce.
If I never need to rely on bullion for living expenses, then my son and daughter will get an extra bonus in my inheritance.
...but back on April 9, 1981, my then girlfriend, in El Centro & Calexico, CA, gave me a copy of the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (one of my favorite authors and the creator of the modern detective story, long before and better than Sherlock Holmes stories). I remember the date inside the cover because she inscribed the front cover with it and a brief message. Well, it was not in the greatest shape, the binding was cracked and torn, the dust cover missing but it was a book that I loved. You probably have noticed I am writing about it in the past tense. That is because today while I was out, my 6+- month old puppy Knucklehead decided to destroy it.
I came back from shopping to find it in several pieces on the floor. He evidently did not touch one other book, except maybe to sniff some, in the bookcase. Of course, the one he had his fun with just had to be one of my all time favorites that I treasured. To think, I took this pooch in because he was a lonely and unhappy looking stray in need of a meal and a friend or two - my other pooch Skye and I have been giving him all of that and more for a month as of tomorrow; all that plus lots of expensive vet care - all while never intending to keep him. Now that I have probably unwisely decided to keep him - I sometimes think of changing his name to Bullethead, that would be right before I place the headstone on his grave far out in the woods somewhere.😏
Oh well, the book is replaceable as a reader; the gift is lost forever but not the spirit of it. Its spirit will live among fond memories of good times when I was a young Border Patrol Agent, who had great vision, did lots of reading and who had a girlfriend who sometimes gave me nice things that I treasured. Sadly that was the last remaining one of them. Damn, 43 years gone just like that at the whim of a mongrel.
So, as I understand Biden agreed to debate Trump on, of all venues, the Howard Stern Show. If that is true then I hope Trump agrees and arranges it. Then, the first thing Trump should do is pull out two wide spectrum drug test urine cups, hand one to Biden, then have a rep from each opposing party witness each candidate pee in the pre-labelled cups - secure them - and transfer them under chain of custody to a company to do the tests. Biden would lose the debate after the fact if not before if that was done, as I see it, because I have no doubt he will be hyped up on drugs for a debate.
Let's face it - he appeared Dondi eyed (pupils dilated), at least to me, at the SOTU address and he was pretty sharp which is something that had not been seen in his previous performances almost every one of them during his presidency to date. So, my guess is, and that of many others seems to be, is that he was hyped up on some type of drug like amphetamine during the SOTU address. My guess is also that he will be for a debate against Trump.
I am willing to bet that if Trump were to spring this as a surprise on Biden, his handlers would pull him off of the stage pronto and there would be no debate thus leaving Trump alone on stage but also as the winner without having to debate a single issue.
When I tsrated writing this yesterday, I had brought my new dog, a stray I found & rescued, to the veterinarian's office three times already since I found him on April 3rd. This Wednesday will mark four weeks that I have had him. My main concerns when I brought him to the vet were that he get any required shots and my suspicion that he had some form of parasites. He was very thin when I found him and he drank water and ate food like a vacuum cleaner sucks up dust bunnies. Over the time I've had him, he has eaten twice the amount of my other dog Skye and that is measured feedings. Skye weights about 56 pounds. Knucklehead weighed 43.5 pounds when weighed at his last visit. During his first vet visit he weighed 40 pounds. During our first visit to the vet, Knucklehead was examined by the vet who owns the business (although the receipt says by another doc, but the receipt is wrong). There are three other vets working there as far as I am aware and he was examined by a different vet on the other two visits (same doc those two times). He also was seen by two different vet techs over the course of the three visits.
During the first visit, on April 5 (two days after I rescued Knucklehead) I was assured they did a fecal float exam which indicated he was parasite free. I had to wonder since he was so skinny, ate like a horse (or maybe more like an elephant), drank the water in two full water bowls a day and that he was passing yellowish to yellow soft plops of poop. The doctor/vet told me it was all due to diet because I was feeding him grain free food and that all the additives used to replace the grain were causing this. He then recommended I feed him one of three foods with the emphasis being that Hills Science was the best choice. He in sum & substance said he had absolutely no financial interest in recommending any of the three foods. The vet visit included three vaccinations, a fecal float exam, a nail trim (which it was obvious they did not do) and a Simparica Trio tablet. When I went to the front desk to square the $81.00 bill, I noticed most of, or at least a lot of, one wall covered by a rack or racks containing - wait for it - Hills Science Diet dog food! No financial interest - yeah right!!!
I had to wonder, doesn't the doctor realize that grain is what is used by commercial dog food manufacturers as fill in order to make higher profit on what they sell. Let's face it, no dog (at least none I have ever heard of) is running around in the wild stalking & hunting wheat, rye, rice or barley with which to sate their ravenous & carnivorous appetites. I have heard from old timers and this was decades ago, that many dog maladies of the that time were not found in dogs in the 1920s and 1930s; they attributed the problems of later years to grain being added to commercial dog food. I read an article by a vet years ago in which the vet essentially claimed the same thing. Regardless I tried a diet change, Knucklehead started having abdominal spasms and puking so I went back to Purina True Instinct Turkey & Venison (grain free) but I am getting ahead of myself. Of course as the vets pointed out, there are other fillers in grain free dog food besides grain like peas, potatoes and other stuff. I do not feed my dogs regularly with anything containing peas, in fact it is rare they get some canned food with peas in the ingredients, due the claims they cause heart disease in dogs who eat food containing peas regularly.
During the second visit, on April 11, I think Knucklehead was about 2 pounds heavier at 42 lbs. He was wolfing down food not like a gray wolf (measured at least twice as much as Skye) but more like what I imagine a dire wolf or saber toothed tiger might do. The vet tech told me he could not have parasites because he had gained weight. They did another fecal float and told me Knucklehead was definitely parasite free. When I asked if they do fecal smears or other types of exams for parasites they told me only if they suspect giardia. They did not do a fecal smear when I asked them if they would do one. I brought him in on that visit because he had developed abdominal spasms in addition to continuing to pass yellowish very soft poops or unformed plops of poop. They gave him something called Cerenia Injectable and Endosorb Suspension. That vet visit cost an additional $117.17.
Then, I brought Knucklehead in again on April 25, he weighed in at 43.5 pounds. I am guessing most of those weight gains were due to water weight. He drank so much when I found him that my guess was he was quite dehydrated. During that last visit to the moment I am typing, I told the doc about how he drinks to excess, still was having the loose or very soft formed poops yellow or yellowish in color, had thrown up two or three times since the previous visit and was having abdominal spasms just about nightly. I asked the doc again about other types of exams for parasites. He said they would do something else and when he returned to the exam room, he told me that Knucklehead was "completely parasite free". Yet, for some unknown reason he gave me five plastic baggies containing Panacur - a dewormer. He also gave me Cerenia 60 mg tablets x 4 (as I recall an anti nausea medication) and Tylosin 350mg capsules (I believe a probiotic if I recall correctly). I used the last of the Cerenia two days ago and the last of the Panacur yesterday. I have several of the other one left.
Three days ago, Knucklehead passed a partial plop combined with a lot of very thick liquid. When I bent over to scoop it up in a plastic bag (I routinely clean up when they poop), I noticed that the liquid part seems to have little bubbles coming up to the surface after which appeared a hole that went down into the liquid a few fractions of an inch as if something was causing an eddy and there definitely was movement in the liquid. I wondered could it be gas, then though no because what I at first thought were bubbles seemed to be more like something in the liquid coming to just below the surface causing an outward protruding bump and then going back down, those small vortex like holes left behind. He passed only plops or formed but soft poops after that one and in one of those I noticed thin plastic like white strips of something that I figured were just part of something he chewed up in my apartment. He is apparently teething and loves to chew, luckily mostly only his toys and dog chews.
Then yesterday he passed a formed but still soft & yellowish poop. On it were two of those little whites strips, at most an inch long, probably less. Low & behold one of them was moving. I did not need to be a vet nor a biologist to realize they were some sort of flatworm. I checked the Internet and found out, that they appear to be: Heterobilharzia americana. These flat worms breed in fresh water, live in snails for a while then get sucked in when a dog drinks water containing the adults and maybe the eggs too (not sure about the eggs). They are endemic to Texas and some other southern states and are also now found in CA and I think Utah. They can be very difficult to eradicate and they are known to cause fatalities in dogs, up to just above 17% in treated dogs.
So, off we went to the vet again yesterday. I was seen by yet a third vet/doc. She was very pleasant and very easy on the eyes. She agreed with me he has parasites - it was about time that some vet, any vet at that animal hospital agreed with me on that. Now to find out what type they were and to administer the medication needed to wipe em out. The vet was not sure by looking at them what species they were but they certainly look like Heterobilharzia americana to me. The vet said I could try just continuing treatment with Panacur, which I noted then obviously was not killing the parasites and probably would not work on Heterobilharzia americana. So, she also said she could add Praziquantel - that is also used to eradicate them flatworms/liver flukes usually in combination with Panacur. Neither is a
guaranteed as a cure alone or combined and as I said this parasite has caused just above 17% fatalities in
dogs (in at least one study). Then she said a full treatment with Praziquantel would cost around $700 and asked if I anted to try it. I said I'd take both it and the mech less expensive additional Panacur. So she recommended only 3 days of the Praziquantel in the event the worms are not H. americna; then if the test is positive she'd add more to the regimen and if not then I would not have the added expense (good thinking on her part). The test for sample she sent to Texas A&M to check for H. Americana was about $85.00, the five days of Panacur she gave me was about $39.00, the remainder was for the Praziquantel and maybea small amount of that for one other test and it all added up to $444. At least the office visit was comped.
Now I am treating him and waiting for the test results. I never had a thought that taking in Knucklehead would cost me almost a thousand dollars in the course of less than 4 weeks (it will have been four weeks since I found him tomorrow). That grand includes dog food, dog treats, dog chews and chew toys plus the four vet bills to date with the medication being the biggest bite. Once I took him in and had him for the past few weeks, there is no way I could not be responsible for him he is just that lovable even if he is a pain in my arse (pain in my right hip & lower back and believe me that pain literally spreads to my arse), and is also a pain in the pocket book. He may cause me to live up to my New year resolution of not buying any more guns for the remainder of the year if he keeps costing me like that.
