Tuesday, May 22, 2007

My Wife Likes These...

...she thinks the Doves that visit our backyard feeders are nice, but she hates those pests called Pigeons. I guess the moniker of Rats With Wings Dirty Pigeons has sought of stuck in her mind from the time we lived in Glendale, Queens (part of NYC) where there are lots of the Rock Doves, aka: Rock Pigeons, aka Rats With Wings, aka: Pigeons. Despite my wife's repugnance for Pigeons, I like them, they taste great, but I must admit that for their relative size, they seem to make the most, shall I say, mess when nature calls. Sometimes the wife likes to hang out the wash instead of using the drier, and all it would take is one Pigeon poop on the clothes she just washed for me to have to take down the bird feeders. So now I have to think of a way to attract only the various types of Sparrows, the House Finches, the Cardinals, the Starlings, the Chickadees, the Woodpeckers of at least a few species, and the nicer more acceptable (to my wife) Doves like the one in the picture (I am no bird guy but I know it is some kind of a Dove), without attracting the Rats With Wings Pigeons.

I was thinking of using a BB gun or CB, caps as a deterrent, and only aim them at the Pigeons. The CB cap would probably be illegal since it is a bullet shot out of a firearm, but the BB gun may do the trick. Now if only I could find where I stashed mine some years back! Bye the way, I am not looking to kill them, just to pump it once and give them a ping in the butt, so to speak. That should scare them away if done each time they show up while I am on guard duty. Of course, I may just let them stay around until they either poop on the laundry or start living on my house, which would not be a good thing. Just imagine leaving for work and having a Pigeon take off from your roof and drop one on your head. Yech...

Oh well, there must be a humane solution to get rid of these nuisance animals, but if not I''ll find something that works that is at least legal.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Guess They Were Not Kidding About Yugo SKS Rifles...

...becoming scarcer because the prices surely have jumped and that price jump would seem to indicate less availability. I just did some price shopping for them, and I saw them apparently in stock at: Classic Arms , J&G Sales, and Samco Global Arms. I tried but could not pull up the website for Inter Ordnance, and I also looked at Aim Surplus but they apparently don't have any in stock.

As for the prices, they have gone up considerably. Where they had been selling from about $129.00 in good condition, $149.00 in very good condition, and to as little as $169.00 in new condition; they are now going for about $169.00 for good to very good condition condition up to about $229.00 in new condition.

Samco has them for the best price that I found, and they are selling new ones at about $210.00, plus shipping. The pic shown in this post is from the Samco site. I do not know if they come with accessories as pictured or if they look as good as the one in the picture. Yet, I have already sent in an inquiry as to whether or not they have news ones left in stock, and if they will accept a copy of my C&R, required for purchase, by way of an attachment to an email. If yes to both of these, I think I will have to pick one up before they disappear at these prices. Sure there are probably more of them in arsenals around the world, and plenty of them at that, but will the price ever go down on them again? I think not and it is a gamble I am willing to take by buying one now. I only wish I has bought another when the prices were lower. Of course, if anyone knows of a legal source of these, with lower prices in like new condition, then I would be more than happy to consider buying one from your source. Let me know.

All the best,
Glenn B

Caveat Emptor...

...is something we seemingly do not think about before we make a purchase in today's world of lawyers and law suits gone berserk. I guess too many of us are confident that everyone else owes us full disclosure about anything and everything when they are selling us something, but the truth be told, that just ain't so, at least in Florida folks. A prime example of this is to be found in the article at FoxNews.com: Florida Family Shocked They Weren't Told New Home Was Scene of Triple Murder-Suicide @:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274393,00.html

Yep, the story reads just like the headline says it. No mention of lawsuits yet, I guess mainly because Florida law does not require a home seller to disclose such to the buyer, and I could live with that. Imagine the seller having to disclose such to the buyer, and then trying to get what the house was actually worth in the sale. Unlike having to let people know that the house is built with asbestos tiles, or has rotted beams, or whatever a home inspection may uncover; they do not have to let anyone know a murder was committed in the house. Now the people who bought the home are stunned to find out about the murders there, and I can understand that. Yet I also fully understand someone not disclosing such to a real estate agent or to potential buyers because the price of the home would probably plummet to much less than its value unless they were lucky enough to find a buyer who was into the macabre. I would think anyone who knew such took place in the home and did not try to get the price down at least in part based upon that knowledge would be a kook.

As far as an actual buyer's recourse would go in such a sale, I would say if you were foolish enough not to research the home before buying it regarding something like this which would make it impossible for you to live in the home, then you should be stuck with it, no law suits allowed. Could you just imagine the outcome if a seller had to tell you everything about people having died in a house, or about anyone who ever committed a crime in the home, or about anyone who lived in the house who was absolutely off their rocker crazy, or about any stories of the house being haunted, and on and on. Some houses would just never sell at a reasonable price. Sometimes it really the buyers who have to beware; otherwise they have to live with the consequences of buying something as high priced as a home without first having done their homework.

All the best,
Glenn B