The King Of Beasts

If you have ever wondered why the male lion is called the King Of Beasts, wonder no more because this explains it all!

My thanks and a hat tip to Bob C for forwarding me this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Have Seller's Remorse Already...

...and I only just posted my for sale listing for my New England Firearms Pardner 12 gauge shotgun (model SB1) on GunBroker.com within the last half hour. Why is it that almost every time I sell a gun, I get a case of before the sale seller's remorse - even in instances of when I am trying to make up for buyer's remorse. If you don't know what I mean by buyer's remorse, you must have more money than me and aren't taking food out of the mouths of your family members by buying guns with the grocery money. So, yes, it is usually caused by me buying a gun or guns that I definitely, positively, absolutely could not afford at the time of purchase (like the two I bought at auction yesterday) because I needed the money elsewhere. Trying to overcome buyer's remorse is why I am selling this particular gun, I want to be able to get rid of the guilty feeling of not having had enough money to have bought them by actually selling something so that it winds up I almost will have had enough, after the fact, to have made the purchase - do you get it! So why the heck do I have seller's remorse, I should be happy to have offered it up for sale so I don't have to feel guilty any longer about buying the two new guns.

There is truly no logical reason for me to be suffering from seller's remorse, especially since I have not sold it yet, whether or not I am trying to wipe out buyer's remorse. I mean, it is a NEF Pardner that I'm selling, it's not like it is one of the premiere guns in my collection. It is a bargain basement, inexpensive, single shot shotgun that I think I have shot a total of two times and that my son has used maybe three or four times. It has been taking up room in the gun locker. So why this glum feeling in the pit of my bowels and why the weight of the world on my shoulders? Well, I suppose there is the fact that it does have nice color on the case hardened receiver and it was made in the USA and it is the only shotgun I own that chambers 3" shells but those couldn't possibly be enough to have me suffering seller's remorse - could they! Damn, I have gone tough this every time I have sold a gun in the past 15 years or so, this seller's remorse before the actual sale, let alone after a sale. In reality all this seller's remorse has been pestering me much longer than that if you consider real seller's remorse I have suffered for years on end after an actual sale has been completed.

Oh well, I suppose I can live with it since I will have two new guns coming in. At least if I sell it, and also sell the Remington 513T Matchmaster bolt that I put up for sale last night, I'll have enough to cover about 40% of what I owe for the two guns that I bought yesterday and my debt and thus my buyer's remorse should be almost halved. One more gun for sale and maybe I can wipe all of it out - the it being both the debt and the buyer's remorse that came with the debt. While you might think that a sure cure for seller's remorse, I can say that without any doubt at all, I will regret selling this gun and suffer at least some seller's remorse over the next couple to few years because of it. Damn, its a gun seller's equivalent of PTSD.

All the best,
Glenn B

Escaped Killers Spotted Near PA Border?

If it truly was the pair of convicted murderers, who escaped from a NYS maximum security prison, that was spotted along railroad tracks in western NY along the PA border, my bet is that they are now out of NY and westward bound after having hitched a freight train. Of course, as I prefaced it, that is all depending on the "if" of the sighting. More here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Summertime...

...has arrived today with it being the summer solstice (and thus the longest day of the year as far as the amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere goes). Tomorrow the days start to get shorter although those hot, hazy and humid days of July and August can seem like they are taking forever if you are enjoying them while lazing under a willow with a fishing pole in one  hand and a cold drink in the other. Wish I was there right now instead of at home in my basement keying this into my laptop.

Then again, why bother going fishing when my son supposedly is going to grill up some bacon wrapped bratwursts for me later today. I don't mean that packaged crap either, these ere made at a German butcher shop locally. German style sausage wrapped with bacon - mmmmmmm good - the thought of them has me salivating.

It's time to listen to my favorite summertime song:



Now that I have enjoyed that, I'm going to do some garden work, then clean up and then chomp down on some of those bratwursts while washing em down with a cold one. Sounds like a plan and like both an excellent start to the summer and a great Fathers' Day to me!

All the best,
Glenn B

Ever Buy A Firearm Online And Wonder How It Was Graded

If you have ever seen a for sale add online for a firearm, you may have wondered how did the seller grade its condition. You may have noticed that the gun's condition is shown as: New, As New, Excellent (EXC), Very Good (VG), Good (G) Fair (F) or Poor (P) or maybe even just as new or used. Your idea of what each of those means may be different than what the next guy thinks but luckily for us someone has, in fact more than one person or group, figured it all out for us.

The thing is though, just as those descriptors could be taken differently as subject to each persons ideas of what they mean, so too do they differ between those folks who have tried to view them objectively. For example, the NRA has a set of standards for grading guns here. It is used by a lot of gun sellers and buyer. Yet, if the person selling a gun is using those NRA guidelines and the person buying that same gun is thinking along other lines, say the grading system used in the Catalog of Firearms Values, there is likely going to be a problem because they differ markedly. While the NRA defines an excellent rating of a firearm as "New condition, used but little, no noticeable marring of wood or metal, bluing perfect, (except at muzzle or sharp edges).", The Standard Catalog of Firearms categorizes and excellent condition firearm as being "...in at least 98% condition with respect to blue wear, stock or grip finish and bore..." and also states that everything including sights must be "...100% original factory condition without refinishing, repair, alterations, or additions of any kind." Their standards (1) cover both modern firearms and antique firearms (manufactured prior to 1898); however, the standards mentioned above that were set by the NRA cover only modern firearms. The NRA has a separate set of standards for antique firearms.

Billy Joe Von Bubba or Hotshot Bobby Bangaroo or John M. Aikendoe (the cheap sniveling rip-off artist with whom you may be doing business, of course not knowing of his shady side) may use another system altogether. So, whenever buying a firearm from afar, and not being able to see it and handle it to inspect it, you really ought to know what grading system is being used by the seller. If a seller is using one or the other of those professional systems above it would behoove you to know which one and it would also be a good thing if the seller listed the condition and which grading system was used to determine the condition in his ad for the firearm (that is also a hint for honest seller as much as it is for buyers). If you are buying a gun from someone who is not using one of those grading systems, and is using one maybe made up by a gun store guru or one of his hunting buddies, you had best be asking a lot of questions about the gun and for lots of pictures too before plunking down your hard earned cash to buy it. If you are planning on selling piece, why not just be open and honest about it regardless of condition, it pretty much guarantees good feedback and future business from your customer(s). In short, let the buyer beware and the honest seller be forthright.

All the best,
Glenn B

References:

1. Lee, Jerry (2014) 2014 Standard Catalog of Firearms (page 13). Iola, WI: Gun Digest Books, F+WMedia, Krause Publications
 

Words of Peace Threaten Guidance Counselor???

My guess is, that is the sentiment behind the words was genuine, this could only happen in a school in the USA. A valedictorian student has been denied the honor of giving a speech at his graduation and was suspended from school after telling a guidance counselor that he wanted to resolve an issue peacefully. He believes that his statement was somehow taken the wrong way, as an "..or else..." threat by the guidance counselor because her official response allegedly was that he had threatened her (source). Not only was he suspended and will miss giving the speech at graduation but he was ordered, apparently by the school, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Only in aMereeka folks, only here, with our libterd wanna-be educators acting the part of the nut jobs running the asylum.

All the best,
GB

Let's See How Much Black Lives Matter To Reverand Al Now...

...that it was a black police officer who allegedly was gunned down and killed by a back prisoner (source). Will the almighty Reverand Al be out there with his entire entourage giving speeches, hugging black politicians, marching and protesting? Will there be mobs running amok through the streets? Will there be looting, riots, arson and people being injured or killed because a black man was gunned down by another black? There may be a little bit of feedback from Sharpton, whom I believe is little more than a racist asshole, to make it look as if he is impartial but you can bet there will be nothing like the protests in NY, Baltimore or Fergusson. Why not? Because in truth, as I see it, it's not black lives that matter to they who acted like that after those other black men died; it's the almighty dollar and how much they can make of them by making all they can make of their race baiting agendas.

All the best,
GB

Yet Another Woman With The Right Ammo...

...or at least what looks to be the right ammo. The way she is holding the shotgun though suggests to my sharp eye that she may be used to caressing holding something else instead of a gun. However, I give her points both for having the right ammo and for not having her finger on the trigger. Maybe she knows something about firearms safety after all but that is doubtful with the muzzle that close to her dome. As is usual, the following image is posted here for firearms safety education purposes, why else would I post a pic like that here!

All the best,
GB
 

Been Saving For A New Television...

...ever since I moved mine while cleaning and it smashed to the floor. The tube (yes its an old one with a cathode ray tube) didn't break but now there is a blob, sort of like an ink blot that ran down. It is mostly in the upper left hand corner but that runs down about 3/4 the height of the tube in places. When I watch old B&W moves, it just looks a little like the contrast is changed there but for color shows the color is drastically changed - reds look like the green glow of old time dashboard displays greens look eerily red and some things probably can only be said to look like one of the most acid induced purple hazes you have ever seen.

Long story short, I don't have to save any longer. On Tuesday, when I was at Costco, my son sent me text msg. saying Fathers' Day had come early for me. I had no clue what he meant. He also asked me to look for some HDMI cables because the ones for his TV were messed up. Sure, you see where this is going now but at the time I had absolutely no clue. When I got home, there was a big box with a 46" TV sitting on the coffee table in the basement! Gotta love that kid. My daughter and wife also helped him with the cost but he paid the biggest share of it.

The bummer is, it is not set up yet. I didn't buy the cables at Costco because I thought I still had a set at home but of course could not find em when I got there. Must have sold em or given em away. Then I got busy at work a couple of days and had no time to get a set. Was busy yesterday too. I think tomorrow will be the day for me to pick up a set and also to go to Verizon to get another high definition box. I surely am not going today with all the Sunday driver types out there and it being Fathers' Day which means more nuts driving to restaurants and such. Besides, Verizon is probably closed today. Oh well, as is always the case for me, The Great Procrastinator, there is always tomorrow (at least until I drop dead).

All the best,
GB

Happy Fathers' Day

That goes for all of you good stay at home fathers and even those of you who have left the home but still stay in contact with and care for your children (no matter what their ages). As for the bums who have left with nary a look behind, like my father was to my brother, sister and me, all I can says is - go fuck yourselves until you bleed.

All the best,
GB