Friday, December 31, 2021

Happy New Year In Advance

I tried going to bed about an hour ago but could not get to sleep. I was just tossing and turning and the dog jumping up to join me and then doing much the same did not help. So, maybe, just maybe, I will be up until just after midnight when I will say Happy New Year as I am wishing you in advance now in case I do not make it.. Thus, if I cannot keep my eyes open until then, that Happy New Year I just gave will have to do!

All the best for 
a truly better year this new year,
GB
 
Edited To Add: I am still up to say Happy New Year On Time at 2400/0000!

Betty White Is Lighting Up Heaven Tonight

 Betty White, one of America's favorite actresses, passed away today at 99, less than 3 weeks short of her 100th birthday. Stars, directors, producers and of course her fans have been leaving words of tribute to her.

One star, who worked with Betty was Valerie Bertinelli. She said one of the simplest yet nicest things about Betty, maybe the nicest words I have ever read about someone who has passed on: 

"Rest in peace, sweet Betty. My God, how bright heaven must be right now."

Kind of says it all I think.
RIP Betty White and thanks for the laughs.

All the best,
Glenn B


FUCK NY STATE'S GOVERNMENT

 Reason enough, plus more, for saying so can be found here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-prioritize-non-white-people-low-supply-of-covid-19-treatments 

All the best, 
GB


Wednesday, December 29, 2021

I Keep Forgetting To Ask (and to tell)...

 ...what did you get for Christmas? I got some thermal shirts, some flannel shirts, a 4 slice toaster (to replace the 2 slice one I had), a Mr. Coffee (to replace the old worn out one I had), a gift card to Bass Pro Shops, a pair of Hatch Resister Gloves (because I asked Santa for them) and that's it for my presents (more than enough and probably more than I deserved). The gloves are made from goat skin with a Kevlar liner. I've been wearing them since around 9/11 when my agency issued them to us. They last a long time. I still have my second pair that I wear currently and have had for several years now that show very little appreciable wear. These new ones are going to be for future use; I figured the way prices are going, by the time I would need a new pair to replace the current ones, I would not be able to afford them. So I asked Santa nicely and he obliged, Santa being my son.
 
What did you all get?
 
Lest I forget, I bought myself a couple of guns at a Hessney.com auction a couple of weeks ago but they have not yet arrived and a I got myself a Vortex Solar SPARC red dot scope as well. Of course, they really do not count as Christmas gifts per se as they are more indulgences than anything but it is a nice time of year to indulge one's self. Hope your Christmas was a nice one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas
 
 https://getwallpapers.com/wallpaper/full/6/8/2/536893.jpg
 
If you believe in Jesus then do you realize - it really is all about giving gifts - after all wasn't Jesus God's gift to mankind. Imagine if we made an effort to make every day like Christmas by joyfully giving to one another.

That is all,
Glenn B

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Happy Festivus


 
May your aluminum pole stand bare but always erect, may the grievances aired against you be few but yours against others be loudly proclaimed & many and may you prove yourself strong by your feats of strength.

All the best,
Glenn B

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

A Philosophical Rant: The Cute Little Dog Next Door

That mutt has been barking & howling incessantly for at least the past 4 hours or so. It often is in that noisy state at this transition time between late night/early morning. In fact, it has been very annoying - now for at least a month or two - especially when I am trying to go to sleep any time after 9PM until 1AM on a weeknight. Right now, it is just wailing away as usual and being a friggin' extremely noisy pest as I have been trying to snooze but it has been keeping me awake. Thank goodness or my efforts to prevent her from doing so that my mongrel does not present herself as a noisy annoying pest as does, I think, my neighbor's dog.
 
I guess the owner is at work and it suffers from separation anxiety? So, here is what I did in hopes of copping with it: I changed my go to sleep hours and have tried to go to bed three hours or so later than I had been going to bed. That does not fucking help because when the owner(s) get(s) home she or he or they make a bunch of noise for an hour or two, then at least one takes a shower. The pipes running waer for the shower, being in a wall near to my bedroom, are friggin' very noisy at 1 or 2AM.

I admittedly have banged on the walls once or maybe twice in disgusted protest, that did not help. I have complained to the complex management - also no help so far. I am thinking of actually setting up surveillance and watching to see when they come and go. Then figure out when they sleep. Then when I think they are sleeping to jump up and down, bark & howl, and run the water in my shower and to do all that every night for a month but figure I should not because I am not leftist scum and because it just would not be right. Anyway, actually doing it would serve them well, I think; they have been doing it to me for well over a month but as I indicated it would not be ethical nor would it be me. 
 
Really folks, neighbors suck when - if it were not for bad manners,  they would have no manners at all. In fact that is the problem with America because if anyone truly gave a shit about everyone else, we would not be in the current predicament in which we find ourselves being at one another's throats. Why? Because we would instead exhibit good manners toward one another no matter our political affiliations; in other words we would respect one another because we would deserve that respect based upon the respect we gave first without anything other reason than us having good manners in the first place.  
 
Sadly, exhibiting good manners toward one another seems absolutely impossible with leftists being part of the picture and I am saying that as a true middle of the road libertarian.  I rally don't get it, they view anyone else as bad people with terrible ideas instead of viewing them as somebody else with an opinion whether thought wrong or right by them. It's how I viewed leftists for many years but they kept being so radically different than the rest of us, I have arrived at the conclusion that it must be something in the water or that they are just frigging out of their minds.

All the best,
Glenn B

Monday, December 20, 2021

Excellent Music - 2nd Album By Black Sabbath - Paranoid!

 I think it is nowhere nearly as good as their first album but it definitely was not bad at all. In fact, it was good enough as a follow-up that - as long as they kept on going - they would have lots and lots ardent of followers. It was that inspiring - a truly new form of music - Heavy Metal!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWvKvOViM3g

After all these years, still music to my ears for sure!

All the best,
GB

The People Of The USA Owe...

 ...Senator Joe Manchin a huge kiss on his arse or whereever he wants it. Thank goodness there is at least one democrat who truly is concetned about the welfare of our great nation and who is willing to oppose the party line to protect it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Saturday, December 18, 2021

My NY Gun Forum Secret Santa Was Very Good To Me...

 ...this year just as he was last year even though he was a different one than the last one. In fact he was very generous.
 
Yesterday when I got home from a day away, I found this box on my door step. It is pretty big, that is a Marlin 336 in the gun sock for scale. No, the Marlin was not my gift. 
 

 When I saw the box, I kind of hoped that it did not contain one of the forum members who is quite the trickster and who, each year, sends a sexually orientated gift along with a regular Christmas gift to his giftee. He once sent me what Bruce Willis & Ving Rhames are wearing orally in the below video. Really, I never used it. By the way, it would not be too much of a surprise to me if he (the trickster) sent himself to his giftee if he thought he could survive the trip.
 
 
The box was certainly big enough to pack someone into it. Seems to be a fault of Amazon that they use boxes 3 to 4X too big for the item inside. They had one small piece of packing paper in with the gift providing zero protection, thank goodness it arrived in good shape. Just in case you do not think the box was big enough to hold someone inside of it: 

 
 Luckily for me, it did not contain the trickster, in the Gimp's outfit, nor did it contain a blow-up doll or a dead body. Instead, it was sent to me by a totally different Secret Santa and it held something very useful - a Tipton Ultra Gun Vise.
 
The new one!

While that was extremely generous and well thought out as to what I probably could use, the thing is, I already have one! I bought one last year. 
 
The one I already had!
 
So, what to do with the new one. I will not re-gift it but rather will take it to my son's place and leave it there. That way he can get some use out of it and so can I when I visit him. Sounds like a reasonable solution to me since I'd have no use for two at my place. That way, if we have to flee to either one of our places and head to the other's - once the Zombie Apocalypse or the Demogorgons turn everything into a wasteland or into the absolute Upside Down - we will be ready to repair whatever might need repairing at either place. With the zombies acting as they have been acting, that may be sooner than expected.



That truly was/is a very generous and excellent gift to give to a gun guy. My thanks to Galen (my no longer Secret Santa) over at NY Gun Forum.

All the best,
Glenn B

Monday, December 13, 2021

Time Does Not Heal...

 ...all wounds. The only way time could heal all wounds would be if death itself is the cure and that is not healing - it's just an ending. 
 
While living life though, you sometimes need more than mere time. You need the talent(s) of a healer be your wounds of the body, mind, soul or of two of them or even if of all three. 
 
All the best,
Glenn B

I Gotta Stop The Craving...

 ...to keep buying guns. Then again - no I don't - not really. It is part of being a free man and I will enjoy doing it so long as I can do it. Fuck the To heck with the libturds who think otherwise.
 
My latest two acquisitions (well I have not yet received them but they should be on their way by later this week or next week) are a 12 gauge Remington Express Magnum, wit h3" chamber & rifled barrel and a Charter Arms Pathfinder in 22 WMR circa 1971. 

Here are some pics from the auction:.
 
 1639262002198.png
1639262033632.png 
 While it was not listed as "unfired" or "as new",  the Remington seems to have been little used. Note the mag tube and the lack of apparent wear on it. It is one of the first places you see noticeable wear once this model gun has been fired a bit. This one has the slightest bit of a shine where the wear usually shows but no evident lack of color. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is like new.
 1639262078927.png,
 
 1639262108966.png 
 
The pathfinder was rated as 95% metal finish and in apparent good working order. While I probably paid too much for the revolver the thing is I want it as a keeper and they are not that easy to find any longer, at least not the old versions of the pathfinder in 22 MAG so I am happy with paying a little extra for it.

Should have some fun with them both.

All the best,
Glenn B

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Another Month Or So - Another Hessney Firearms Auction

There I was, only about 2.5K away from getting my bank account balance back to where I think it should be or at least where I'd be comfortable with the amount I have saved up. Then what did I do but start bidding on another Hessney online Sportsman Auction (Hessney.com - basically a firearms auction but this one has a variety of accessories, knives, artwork, decoys & fishing gear too). 
 
Of course, if I do not wind up with the high bid on any of the auction lots my bank account will be the better for it because if nothing else, I'll have the same amount in it and that will get me a bit more interest next month. Having even one hi bid (on a gun) likely means me having to withdraw funds to pay for it and the balance will suffer. The thing is, I have already bid on several guns and some other things like accessories and have at least a few more guns on my list of possibles. Of course, I do not imagine I'll have the high bid on each and every lot on which I'll bid but I pretty much plan to have it on at least two of them that I desire pretty badly. Not about to say which two - that really would be giving away too much information.
 
If I do have the high bids; hopefully, I will have it on the two I want the most. Having the high bids will not only mean paying for them but also will require me to figure out how to recoup that cash. Chances are I will have to sell another gun or two already in my collection but truth be told folks - that is getting harder and harder to do because I do not have many I'm willing to sell right now. There is also some ammo I can sell or so I suppose; although I doubt that would pay for the guns, it would at least give me some cash to put back into the bank.
 
It's an addiction, I swear.
 
All the best,
Glenn B

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Take A Few Moments Today To Remember & Honor Those...

 ...who lost their live or limbs and innocence on December 7, 1941 during the Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Up until 9/11/2001, it was the largest loss of life in a single attack on the United States of America proper. A total of 2,403 U.S. military & civilians were killed that day during the attack or died as a direct result of it. Only the attacks of 9/11, specifically the attack on the World Trade Center had a higher casualty count at 2,763 (source). Of the casualties at Pearl Harbor, not counting those wounded who survived, the fatalities break down like this by branch of service and civilians:
  
2,008 Navy
218 Army
109 Marines 

68 civilians  

Most of the deaths occurred on one ship. On the USS Arizona, a b battleship, there were 1,177 fatalities (source).

It was a horrific and surprise attack by a vicious  enemy, an enemy that later paid the price, for attacking freedom, in a manner as never seen or even imagined before when, on August 6,1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Then on August 9, 1945, another was set off in the air over Nagasaki, Japan. Those two devastating bombs, it is estimated they killed anywhere from about 130,000 to 240,000 people (mostly civilians) finally brought the Japanese to surrender unconditionally (source).

 While those bombs ended WWII, they also ushered a new age - the atomic age and later to nuclear age in which we still live with the threat of nuclear destruction hanging over our heads each and every day. If there truly is a God in Heaven, I pray God help us that we, or any nation, never again set(s) off another such bomb and pray that no further attacks like the one on 9/11 or the one on Pearl Harbor ever happen again.

Yet, we can be thankful to the brave men and women who died or were injured and of course to those who did not die nor were injured but who fought bravely during the attack at Pearl Harbor. We also should never forget those who  answered the call, that went out after Pearl Harbor, to stand for the USA and battle our enemies until they were defeated.

All the best,
Glenn B



Sunday, December 5, 2021

I Miss Views Like This

https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/09/1862/1048/iStock-Fall-foliage-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 

 Probably color enhanced a bit but not by much from real life if any given fall is in full blaze before the leaves fall! 

All the best,
GB

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Is It Coincidental That Russia & China Have Flexed Their Military Muscle...

 ...at the same time more or less relative to their neighboring countries and making it look like invasions are imminent. I think it is no coincidence and also believe that what we have seen so far may be all the warnings we are going to get before one or both of those world powers commence(s) military action against the nation(s) they have in effect been targeting. Should Russia and China actually both invade their neighbors, the Ukraine in the case of Russia and Taiwan in the case of China (both allies of the United States of America) what will we do. 
 
My guess is little more than spout rhetoric from the mouth of the current presidential administration. Of course, we may also take action and my further guess is that if we do take action it will be essentially ineffective and that any countermove by Russia and China may bring us to our knees like the weakling they believe us to be under Biden or may land us smack dab into the middle of a nuclear attack and WWIII. Of course - none of our experts seem to believe that to be possible but I seem to remember that is what out experts thought in 1941 too when the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor took place and landed us in WWII. Those two other nations currently see us as being extremely weak right now because of us having extremely weak and ineffective leadership (if you can call Biden & Harris leaders), because of our terrible economy, because of supply chain issues and because one of our military leaders had pledged to notify China if we planned to attack them under president Trump (I cannot believe this guy is still in the military). I would not be surprised if they staged concurrent attacks on the 7th.
 
Besides all that, Joe Biden seems to be in the pocket of China and seems to be a mumbling fool when it comes to Russia (he is talking about economic sanctions should Russia invade the Ukraine, one of our allies). I would like to doubt that I am even possibly correct but I am an absolute pessimist when I see all the things going on with our enemies beating the war drums and virtually nothing going on with our president except him making up new mask mandates and lying through his face about his own past exploits. Honestly folks, I think his son would be a better president than him (although I am not suggesting that Brandon ever even consider politics and thus continue to ruin the USA). 
 
So, what is bumbling Biden's plan right now to deal with these situations? Well, he is going to have a meeting with Putin on December 7th (is it a coincidence that was the date of the last invasion of the United States by a foreign power). Let me tell you in his own words what he expects:
 
"We’ve been aware of Russia’s actions for a long time and my expectation is we’re gonna have a long discussion with Putin," (source). 
 
Meanwhile, Russia has 94,000 troops on the Ukrainian border poised to attack if that is what they decide to do. What will SlowJoe do then! He plans to place economic sanctions against them (source). He said we have no shortage of sanctions but we evidently have a shortage of oil. Wasn't he just recently begging the Saudis and the Russians to produce more oil hoping that wold lower oil prices that have skyrocketed (source) under his administration!
 
"...Biden in August 2021 begged Saudi Arabia and other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (OPEC+) to pump more crude oil." (source). 
 
Then when Russia and other nations did not produce more to help lower prices, what did Biden do but dip into our strategic oil reserve - not once but twice. Guess where it was expected he would send those reserves - China & India (source). Our oil reserves are now lacking for us but maybe are a big help to at least one of our enemies. Should we wind up in a war with them, their jets - the same invading Taiwan's air space as of late - may wind up dropping bombs on us while burning the fuel we gave to them. Our fossil fuel situation is a far cry from what it was under president Trump when we had oil independence for the first time in more than 6 decades (source). What the heck is wrong with how Biden and the leftists in this country think or is it they just do not think!
 
Let's go Brandon or better yet, let me say it outright - FUCK JOE BIDEN because my bet it that is what Vladimir Putin will tell him just that on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. It would not surprise me in the least if Russia and China attack their neighbors on that day and would only surprise me a little bit if they went straight for the big money and attacked us as well. Of course, all the muscle flexing is probably just a way to get Sleepy Joe to acquiesce to the whims of the Russians & the Chinese. As I said, they see us as weak and I am sure they want to capitalize on our weakness but then again, who knows what evil lurks in the minds of commies.

All the best,
Glenn B

Friday, December 3, 2021

Moronic Carjacker - A Potential Darwin Award Winner

No way to embed the video here, so if you want to ring a smile to your face, use the link to Twitter to watch an unsuccessful carjacking and a very successful attempt at foiling a carjacking. More at the source: https://twitter.com/i/status/1466439577799962629

All the best,
Glenn B

Thursday, December 2, 2021

I Officially Am An Old Fart

I applied for Social Security benefits and Medicare Part B today. I applied for part A last year but held off on Part B because I could not get anyone at the Social Security office or at Medicare to contact me to give me information about Part B. Taking it now though after having learned some more about it by other means. 

My Social Security will be reduced drastically because of the federal Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). In essence, because I am a federal retiree receiving a federal pension, my Social Security benefits get pillaged by the government regardless of the fact that I paid into Social Security when I had employment before and after my government civil service. 
 
While others, who do not receive federal pensions get the regular SS benefit based on what they contributed - federal retirees do not because their amount is greatly reduced by WEP. Somehow the government thinks we (government retirees) are receiving a windfall because we get a pension and social security. Well, if you receive a pension from private company and also get Social Security - your social Security is not reduced by WEP. You paid in and you get back the regular full amount due you from SS. I do not see why their should be a difference between us but there is a big difference.
 
Somehow the government twists this for federal retirees and they screw us over and reduce our SS payments even though we paid into it (while employed in other than government jobs either before federal employment, during it or after it) like anyone else who has enough private sector quarters. Screw the government. Anyway, I just hope that my SS benefit will cover the cost of the Medicare Part B.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
 

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

I Figured I Had Best Skedaddle...

 ...from the range today when I heard and then saw a pick-up truck pull into the range parking lot. I have been overdue for a trip to the outdoor range and had decided today was the day to bring along my Marlin 336 and my Remington 141 both in 35 Remington along with a few pistols. Before hitting the range though, I stopped at the Miller County Sheriff's Office to renew my annual nonresident range pass and was happy to see the price had not gone up, still only $20.00 for a one year use of the range. The range is rather primitive although it has decent benches, the firing line area has a concrete floor and is covered by a roof and there are a few picnic tables behind the line. There are no target stands, no range officers, and while the range is usually rather messy, it was pretty clean today. You get what you pay for though and a year of shooting is okay by me, almost as good as free. I just wish they had some better rules on their range rules sign(s), the rules were made up by someone with little good knowledge of being - or experience as - a range master or instructor in my opinion.
 
When I got there every bench was vacant, the only person nearby was a Sheriff's Officer who drove by in his patrol car. I was happy, I could shoot safely. As I have mentioned before about this range and some others (that actually are free) elsewhere in Arkansas, I do not like to shoot at them when others are present. That is because there seems to be a high ratio of knucklehead shooters to safe shooters and the knuckleheads most certainly are not safety conscious. So, as soon as I realized that pick-up tuck had pulled into the range lot, I started to pack to leave. Yeah, I could have given them a chance to see how they'd be but it was not necessary because the second one of the four of them walked behind me with his gun slung and bouncing on his belly with the muzzle pointed at me. It was odd he had it slung like a lefty would sling it, muzzle to the right; yet, I later saw he was a righty. A few moments later, he was handling his AR behind the line while others were at the benches on the line. At least he did not load it, I think, until he was at a bench.
 
Now, these four folks, two guys and two gals were courteous enough and said hi to me but the AR belly bouncer gave me some grave concern and I was happy that I was ready to go before they started shooting. The other guy seemed much more range safety savvy. He only handled his AR behind the line with the muzzle pointed up and then only pointed it downrange once at a bench. He then announced he wanted to go downrange, I let him know I was clear and it was safe. I also went downrange to get my target but kept looking back to make sure I was not swept.
 
Speaking of my target, let me go back to before those 4 folks a showed up. I got a total of 4 shots off with the Remington 141 using Winchester Super-X, 200 grain PSPs. Three of those were spread out in the 7 ring of an already used (by 22 LR shots it seemed) target I found in the trash. The target was a Shoot N See stick on; it was 8 inches across. The 4th shot was just below the target, into the box onto which the target was stuck. I had been aiming dead center of the Shoot-N-See target.
 
I wondered how differently the other ammo I had with me might do in the same rifle. That other ammo was Hornady Leverevolution, 200 grain, flex tip. I fired off 5 shots of that at the same target also aiming dead center. I was amazed at the difference. See for yourself:
 





The 4 shots with the Winchester ammo are circled in green, the 5 shots with the Hornady ammo in red. The target was set up at 50 yards. There are open iron sights on the rifle, no other optics. You can see why I'd depend on the Hornady ammo should I use this rifle for hunting or any purpose for that matter.
 
 
As I said above, those were all the shots I fired because as soon as I realized those other folks had arrived, I packed to leave. As I was about to put my car into reverse to leave the lot, I witnessed some truly unsafe range behavior on the part of the belly bouncer and the two women. I am going to show you three pictures appearing in the order I took them. Can you see the problems?




Did you see the safety violations? In two photos they are pretty blatant and in one not so obvious. In the event you could not enlarge the photos to see what the safety violations were, allow me to circle them in the same shots below.

 
 

In each of the marked shots, there are two people beyond the firing line, both of the women. In the first shot, the woman to the viewer's right is obscured as she passes behind two uprights that block her from view. The other woman (in the purple top) is standing just forward of the line next to an upright support. In the 2nd photo, the woman to the right is now fully visible walking downrange. The woman in the purple top is still just beyond the firing line and on the wrong side of it. In the third photo, the woman in purple begins to walk downrange toward the other woman.
 
In all three photos, the guy at the second bench from the other end of the range, is aiming his rifle in with what looked to me to be his finger on the trigger. The two women and that guy (the belly bouncer) are circled in red. In two of the shots, their other associate, circled in yellow, is seen seated at the bench but as far as I could tell he was not handling his weapon but is AR was on the bench pointed downrange. 
 
These folks, at least three of them, were total idiots in my estimation totally ignorant of range safety protocol or just ignoring it. There is no way anyone should have been handling a firearm on the line or behind it while anyone else was downrange, even if only inches beyond the firing line or at the other end of the range. Of course, no one should have walked downrange while anyone was handling guns either. (I should note I did not see who did what first.) 
 
Of course, the belly bouncer also should not have allowed his AR to point at me when he first walked onto the range nor should he have handled his weapon behind the line when both I and his male associate were sitting at benches on the line. 
 
That is the way folks get shot at the range; thus, I drove away. I did not want to see one of those women or either of the guys get shot nor did I want to be shot while sitting their in my car because of their terrible lack of range safety awareness and their terrible lack of range etiquette.  
 
Should I have said something to them - it's a spur of the moment decision based on how accepting I feel the folks might be of criticism of their range habits. Today, there was no way I was going to correct three of four of them and maybe have one of them (or more) take offense and get mad at me because they seemed like the know it all types to me. I have said things before, quite politely at that, to other folks violating range safety and they have flown off the handle in anger. So, I (and you) always take a chance, when saying something about bad range habits, that the person to whom you are saying it will become angry and maybe even confrontational. Bear in mind that person is armed!
 
Folks like them are why I leave the range as soon as someone else arrives and why I usually turn my car around if I arrive there and someone else is already shooting. I may actually watch a person - if I arrive and he or she already is shooting - to see if I think it is safe for me to shoot but in my experience, at this particular range, someone already shooting there usually is a sign to just turn around and leave. 
 
Be careful out there!
 
All the best,
Glenn B