Sunday, December 31, 2023

My New Year Resolution - No More Guns!

   Well, I may be done buying guns after midnight. You see, my New Year resolution this year is to never buy one more gun, not one more box of ammo and not one more gun accessory during this whole year. I'll let you know how that works out but I should mention that as best I can recall, I have never stuck to even a single New Year resolution. I figure they are all wishful BS so I usually don't make em but this year I need some way to save up cash to bring my somewhat depleted life savings back up to where it was prior to this year's spending of $15,843.18 at online auction houses, online ammo dealers and gun shows. Then there was spending at places like Academy Sports, firearms insurance, cleaning supplies, all which I am guessing totaled up to a a couple or a few grand more. Now that amount may be prohibitive for some and easy on the pocketbook of others but when it comes to my funds though - I've gotta slow down or sell a lot more stuff at higher prices than the prices I normally accept for guns & ammo. Since I am not likely to sell at higher prices (I sell to recoup money spent, so I often sell at cost or a bit above to pay for the tables, also sell at a loss all too often) , I guess my New Year resolution is the key. Time & my bank account will tell how that works out.
 
Damn, I just found another $709.79 so the total for which I have accounted is up to  $16552.97! Woe is my bank account. 
 
Maybe I'll hit that 812 million dollar Powerball tonight. Being the sole winner of that would be just grand but I'd be happy to split it ten ways, even 20 ways, heck even a 40 way split would still be nice and would still be nice after taxes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - drink and or get high responsibly but remember getting high - on things like weed - is still illegal federally and could wind you up in jail (that is maybe unless you are Hunter Biden), so  just have a drink or two and use a designated driver if available. Party but be careful out there, you don't want to hurt yourself or someone else.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Maybe The Best Advice For The New Year

Tonight, if you are healthy & hale and none too snockered, just a moment before midnight, stand up and lift your left foot just a bit off the floor/ground. Do not put it back down until it is after midnight. That way you are certain to start the year on the right foot. 

All the best 
and happy New Year,
Glenn B

Saturday, December 23, 2023

The Case of The Missing Wallet

 Well, I was in West Palm Beach yesterday morning but last yesterday afternoon, I wound up in North Port, FL at a friend's rental house to help her prepare it for upcoming guests who will be renting it for 2 months.  Shortly after we got here I realized I did not have my wallet. So, I called my uncle to look for it in his apartment and to look in y rental car still parked at his place. He said it as not in either place. So, I called Texas Roadhouse in West Palm Beach, last place I remembered having it out - not there either. I was somewhat concerned or should I say almost in a panic because I was wondering how in hell I'd get through check-in for my homeward flight next week without ID and with two pistols in my luggage!
 
Well, today, my cousin went to her Dad's house and she looked again for me. She called me to let me know, there it sits right smack in plain view on the front seat of my rental car outside of my uncle's apartment. My cousin could not understand though how her dad did not see it. Oh well, he is 90, so I suppose his vision is on its way toward being like his hearing (which is stone cold deaf without his hearing aids). Regardless, I am a happy camper again.

All the best,
Glenn B

Friday, December 22, 2023

on Vacation

I am on Christmas vacation in West Palm Beach, FL, been here a few days already. Blogging will be minimal while I am here. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanuka or Happy Festivus (which as I recall is tomorrow).

All the best,
Glenn B

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Unread Emails

 Wow,I clicked I have not opened my AOL email account since January 13, 2023. In that time just over eleven months, I accrued 6,000 emails- all unread. I received an email from AOL at my outlook account last night; it said my AOL email account would have everything in it deleted if I did not open it by sometime this coming March. So I took a look and was a bit surprised to see how many I had received in that time. I checked off the box to select all, then hit delete. It only deleted 100 of them. What I had to do was to check select all, then keep scrolling down to assure more than 100 would be deleted. I deleted about 1K at a pop;so, did that about 6 times. I did not look to see if any were important or not, if it's important I should receive it in my outlook account. What I did notice at a glance was that most appeared to be spam.I sincerely hope no one of any importance to me had been trying to reach me at that ancient email account. If so, oh well, I guess they'll have to find another way.
 
Just a fun fact: that was about 545 emails a month over 11 months or about 17.75 per day. To break it down to hours and then to minutes that I had not looked at my AOL email, I used this website to do some calculating.  I am not saying they are correct or not because other sites has differing results, each being different from one another. This was their result:
 
337 days 23 hours 15 minutes (about 17.75 emails per day)
8,111.25 hours (roughly about .73 emails per hour)
486,675 minutes
 
Damn, I am sure other folks get more than me but it is still mind boggling to think people, companies and whatever or whoever kept sending me that many unread and thus unanswered emails.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Out Of All My Christmas Presents Ever...

 ...this one is the most unique, at least for me. You may have seen in one or more of my posts that I sometimes do not know what day it is. That's because unless I have an appointment, I do not usually need to know. I am retired so I do not need to know if it is a day I need to go to work (ha ha hardy ha ha), I do not need to know when it's laundry day, I do not need to know its the weekend (every day can be whatever day I want so every day can be Saturday or Sunday), being retired and not having many 'which day is it dependent obligations' means I do not care what day it is for the great majority of the time. I do try to remember when the liquor store is open (closed Sundays) and when it's Tuesday now & then so I can get Sonic's two for the price of one cheeseburgers but there is not much more when it comes to me needing to know what day of the week I am in and I often just do not know.
 
Now if a question arises as to which day it is, for whatever reason I need to know, I look at my cell phone to find out. Now though, I have a new way to figure out what day is taking place. 
 

 
 
One of my brothers-in-law sent me a wall clock. This one has a twist, it is not marked off in hours & minutes. Instead of hours and minutes it is marked off in days of the week. I don't know if this clock will be a curse or a blessing but I almost certainly will now readily know which day I am in. It was nice not knowing because I don't need to know but really except for knowing what day it is, this clock changes nothing. I love it.
 
All the best,
Glenn B
Did not buy any guns today but picked up my Chinese Military Type 56 SKS from my local FFL today. I had the high bid on this in the BrandUsedWorks.com auction on November 26th. It looks new. The only two minor faults I found with it, on first glance, are that the bayonet looks rusted but then again on closer inspection it seems it may be a dried protective coating and not any rust at all. I will find out when I clean it. The other thing is a small amount of finish wear at a spot on the right side of the barrel where a rivet in the front leather sling strap rubbed against the metal. Otherwise, like I said it looks new, like it just came out of the factory (and who knows, with all the sneaky stuff the Chinese have reportedly been doing in our country as of late and with the borders wide open - maybe a Chinaman brought in a few thousand of them recently).
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Sadly - gone are the days when one of these went for $155.95 shipped, that was the price I paid for each of the first three SKS rifles I bought, they were Yugoslavian SKS rifles with a grenade launcher. I purchased them back in November 2002. I paid considerably more for this one than I paid for all three of those Yugos combined but yet, I guess it was a decent price relative to how much they sell for now.
 
I've not really given it more that a cursory look. I still need to take a good look down the bore, field strip it, clean it and remove any cosomoline if I find any, put it back together and shoot it. That may not be until January as I am going t be very busy over the next few days getting ready for a trip to FL to visit my uncle in West Palm Beach. So, I may not have the time to make a range trip. That's okay though, it gets me back into my comfort zone as THE Great Procrastinator.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

 

Friday, December 8, 2023

Buy Ammo Now - Ammo Prices Set To Soar (This is apparently not BS)

 According to an article at MSN, Vista Outdoors - the parent company of Federal Ammunition, also the parent company of other ammo manufacturers -  has announced that on January 1, 2024 (happy friggin New Year), they are going to raise ammunition prices substantially. Vista Outdoor has reportedly sent a letter of intent to raise prices to their customer base. In the letter, they reportedly said: 
 
"Due to world events our suppliers have notified us of unprecedented demand for and an anticipated global shortage of gunpowder, and thus has increased our prices substantially," Vice President of Sales, Sporting Products Brett Nelson said in the letter. We must therefore raise our pricing to help offset those increases." 
 
More at the first source and at the second source and at this third source.

Damn, with all the shooting going on in the Ukraine and with lots of U.S. ammo going there, I guess this was the inevitable outcome. It probably happened sooner than later with the addition of the conflict in Gaza. 

I would suggest that if you are in need of ammo or gunpowder and other reloading components - you may want to start buying as soon as you read the articles and verify to your satisfaction the linked reports. I am going to hate to spend money on ammo when I, like millions of others, are buying presents for Christmas but such is life - life stinks at least under Bidenomics!

All the best,
Glenn B

 

 


Thursday, December 7, 2023

Happy Chanukah

 I wish all of you who celebrate it a very happy Chanukah. For those not of the Jewish faith, and who'd like to kno about the celebration, go here for more info: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-Is-Hanukkah.htm.
 
I wish there was a larger community Jewish here in SW Arkansas. I'd love to be able to shop for some Jewish delicacies such as baked breads, knishes and a really good bagel! Most of all, I'd love to find a place that makes potato latke (potato pancakes - how I miss the ones my mother made smothered in applesauce, I miss them dearly and am not Jewish - NY had/has foods of the world over that are to die for). In February, I will miss hamantaschen - heck I miss em now. Great three cornered filled cookies that I used to buy in Willimasburg, NY in February during the celebration of Purim & Queen Ester.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
 

Most News Is Sickening And Or Disheartening...

 ...thus I have little I want to write about because it all sucks. On the nicer side of things it is Channukah and the Christmas Season. 
 
Being The Great Procrastinator, over the years I have often sent out Christmas cards a few days before to a few days after Christmas. In the last couple of years I've actually gotten them out on time. This year, I started writing them tonight -that may be an early record for me. Damn, I may lose status as THE Great Procrastinator!
 
Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying the season. I have been enjoying late Fall SW Arkansas weather in the 50s & 60's almost every day. If it snows this month, I hope for it on only two days in this neck of the woods - Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. A few inches of the white stuff would be nice.
 
All the best,
Glenn B

Friday, December 1, 2023

My Son's Birthday Is Coming Up Fairly Soon...

 ...and his birthday present should arrive at my place tomorrow. It's a __________ . Oh no, I ain't telling because the male heir sometimes reads my blog - so tough noogies, he has to wait to find out. So if he thought I was about to blab it, I am laughing because no I am not. As Ralph Kramden would have said about him thinking I might blab it now:
 

.  


All the best, 
Glenn B

That's A Fact Jack

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I also stand with the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, and a bunch of others, even France.
 
All the best,
Glenn B 

Monday, November 27, 2023

Imagine If You Will: An Ordinary Man With A Bucket...

 ...approaches a group of whackadoo protestors who have glued themselves to the roadway - as did allegedly a group of evident pro-Palestinian protestors & apparent dingbats - causing the stoppage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC (more at the source).
 
As the man with the bucket walks he nonchalantly swings his almost full bucket back & forth just a wee bit with each of his steps. He seems purposeful, maybe on his way to a meeting of some importance but one would wonder - why the bucket! A he gets next to the first self immobilized protester, he grasps the bucket handle in his left hand, places the fingers of his right hand along the rim at the bottom of the bucket and while lifting with his left & tilting with his right he begins to empty the contents onto the protesters each glued in a row one after the other. He covers two of them with the liquid that had been in the bucket. Suddenly as if on cue - another solemn faced man with a bucket walks out of the crowd and goes toward the protestors. He starts to pour on the next protestor after the one onto which the first man had emptied his bucket. A couple of moments later the protestors are all screaming and begging for help saying they cannot move at all. It seems to the bystander that now instead of each protester having merely one hand adhered to the road by self applied glue, each of the protestors is now totally glued to the ground by what had been inside the buckets.
 
Just imagine that those two men with the buckets had them full of super glue or something like it that dried in seconds. I am not condoning anyone doing that but certainly am imagining how much I'd be laughing if I were to see it happen. Please bear in mind this is just an imaginary fantasy of mine. I do not suggest or even hint that anyone should do this; first of all it would be illegal and I in no way condone illegal activity but man of man I think it would be hilarious to see those idiots get a dose of their own medicine, so to speak. 
 
All the best,
Glenn B

We Should Be Terrified

 Listen to the audio that accompanies the video. According to Joe Biden's Apple Polisher, if he is quoting President Reagan in context, then indeed we should realize what he is actually admitting to being when he 'quotes' President Reagan AND leaves off the sentence that puts it in context. We indeed should be terrified too - if only because, they, who seek total control of a mindless masses, are deeply entrenched. Sadly we allowed it to get that way by doing not enough nothing to prevent it.
 
 
All the best, 
Glenn B

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Christmas Blather

 I am kind of, sort of, almost definitely a traditionalist when it comes to when to start seriously thinking about Christmas plans each year. I hate Christmas decorations being put up and on display before Thanksgiving. I do not like sales geared toward Christmas before then either' although I will admit I sometimes start Christmas shopping in July or August. That was due, in great part, to a store local to NYC called Crazy Eddie's that used to advertise "It's Christmas In July" or was it August - whichever that was long ago but the influence stuck with me. Anyway, I like to celebrate the Christmas season during the actual season and when I was a kid the local neighborhood Christmas lights put up by the powers that were did not get turned on until the day after Thanksgiving.
 
Well, it's that time now. So I decided to plan my Christmas staring today. Along those lines I have planned to spend Christmas with my favorite uncle, my mom's brother, in West Palm Beach, FL. I purchased my airline tickets today and was able to use a $150 credit toward them from the airline I used when I visited him last sometime in the last two years or so after which I filed a complaint for delayed and pretty crappy flights in general. I did not expect to get anything but they gave me that and it was going to expire this December so I used it for this trip. I don't travel by air much or it would have been used already. I am happy I still had it as it wound up that an 8 day car rental (for a compact or larger - manager's choice) will cost approximately $200 more than the airfare (after the credit). Damn, a regular rental of a compact car for the few days before & including Christmas and then a couple after Christmas is over $600.00! Mine is a bit less due to the manager's pick deal. What ever happened to the $79.00 a week car rentals in FL or even the $129.99 per week deals! I guess they are gone like the days of my youth - never to be seen again on the face of this earth.
 
Regardless, I will enjoy the trip or at least plan to do so. If some nut gets up and runs around the plane  and then another passenger shouts out she is possessed by the devil  and starts screaming out the praises of the Lord and the evils of demons - or if they stick a sweaty huge fatty in the seat next to mine who is bulging over the armrest resting his or her flab on my person or intruding into my seat and heaven's forbid I complain about it, or the flight attendant who is a guy starts rubbing my thigh with sexual delight to sexually assault me (I had one almost try when I flew as an Air Marshal after 9/11 but a few choice words to him and his captain kept him under control) - well,  those things or a terrorist or three might make the trip somewhat less than enjoyable. Of course an off duty pilot trying to crash the plane could also make it a real bummer. Don't think that things like that could not happen; all or most of them (or very similar events) allegedly have taken place on flights over the USA recently or at least fairly recently (click on the links if you doubt it).
 
I don't expect anything bad to happen but you can bet - short of a terrorist attack, I will make a video of any such behavior. As for a terrorist attack, well I may be too busy to make a video. If called upon, and maybe if not, I will be willing to give my all to back up the Air Marshal if there is one or the flight crew as need be if I am still alive and breathing. Scared shitless as I was back in October 2001 on my first flight after 9/11, I made up my mind to do whatever it took when I  volunteered to fly as an Air Marshal. The big differences now are my age and the fact I'd pretty much be unarmed - at least as regular weapons go (you can almost always find something to fight with even on a commercial flight). I do not think my determination to help protect the flight and passengers will have changed much since way back then though; anyway I'd hope not. I am not looking for trouble nor hoping for it; mind you, I do not have a death-wish but I do have my head on a swivel (even though the damn swivel is a bit rusty with arthritis now) and would rather be a survivor than die crashing into a skyscraper if the SHTF. 
 
Once in FL, I intend to have fun visiting my uncle and a few friends down that way. My uncle is almost 90, not in good health so this may be the last chance I get to see him and enjoy some time with him. If I did not have my dog to get back to ("my son will be watching her) I would have planned a two week trip. This one should be nice  no matter what since it will be over the Christmas holiday. Unlike when in the cabin of the plane, I will be armed in FL. My carry license is honored therein and I will bring along a pistol or two (I like redundancy when it comes to being prepared) in my checked luggage.
 
Before I take off on my journey, I have a bunch of Christmas shopping to do. I need to order something nice for my nephew up in NY; I already got something for my wife & daughter but will get them a bit more that they will undoubtedly enjoy. Then there is my son & his girlfriend and my uncle too. I also have to get something for my daughter's and son's birthdays - both December babies. I guess maybe I should get shopping soon - right about now is not a bad time to start. So later for all of you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Thanksgiving

Hi All,

One of the truly nice things about Thanksgiving is that it is not a holiday solely to be celebrated by any specific faith or even to anyone of faith. Yes, it started with the Pilgrims and Natives of what later became the Americas but that was the beauty of it as those two groups held vastly different beliefs; yet, they joined one another and gave thanks together. As I said, you don't even need to be religious to celebrate Thanksgiving. All you need to do is to give thanks for whatever bounty you have to whomever or whatever you think you should give thanks for that which you have. Here in the USA we almost all have plenty - and those that do not have plenty at least have somethings for which we all can & should be thankful. As for those who think they do not have anything for which to give thanks, I'd say think again because others in the world simply do not have what we have in the US of A.

As for me, I'll be celebrating at my son's place with him, his girlfriend, their three dogs (a 15 year old basset hound named Chubbs & two new puppies, Hilda & Winnie, as of Friday), my pooch Skye and a 22 pound turkey - which will not be celebrating but which will be cooked along with a bunch of other delightful vittles. Nope, sorry, no possum stew even though we are in Arkansas! 

I hope all of you will be doing something similar on what has become a truly wonderful & joyous American holiday for all of us. By the way, one of the things for which I give thanks is all of you as a whole.

Happy Thanksgiving.

All the best, 
Glenn B

 

Let's Broadcast To All Terrorists That...

 ...federal Air Marshals in the USA ate not protecting our traveling public but instead have been reassigned to our southern border to essentially act as a welcoming committee for illegal aliens (more at the source)!  Heck, it seems they are down on the border and maybe are unknowingly facilitating the passage of terrorists, who crossed the border illegally, into our cities and rural heartlands and thus helping them in their potential jihad against the USA.
 
Pardon the words I am about to write but what the fuck is going on in the minds of the assholes who make up the Biden administration! Really folks, me describing them as assholes is me both truthful and me being nice because they should be called a lot worse. I spent the entire 32 years of my career in federal law enforcement protecting our borders in one way or another and that in each agency by which I was employed but this current crop of totally mindless woke zombies that make up the Biden administration have not only opened our borders to an invasion of illegal aliens but now have, in sum & substance, told the world they have also left our commercial flights open to be attacked with no chance of such an attack being thwarted by our Air Marshals. The blithering idiot in charge, yes that would be Biden, and his incompetent minion are dead set to destroy this nation in any way possible or so it seems. They have done it again with this totally unbelievable deployment of our Air Marshals and then again with announcing that move to the world at large and thus to our enemies. Amazingly, despite fuck up after fuck up by Biden and the clowns in his administration - the idiots who voted Biden into office are ready and willing to do it again. 
 
FJB!!! More importantly keep your head on a swivel, go armed when you legally can do so, and stay safe.
 
All te best,
Glenn B

Monday, November 20, 2023

Surgery Tomorrow

 Well, I hope if you read this ou wish me well. I am having my third surgery tomorrow, on my urinary tract, since June. The first was prostate & urethra, the second was for a stricture that supposedly developed after the first surgery and this one, a meatoplasty, is for yet another or the same stricture that developed or redeveloped after the second operation. This surgery is usually done on young children; almost always only to those who have been circumcised. Of course, I'd have to be an exception at least to age. Where it is usually relatively painless in children, my doc told me I'd be in pain for 10 days. The thing is he keeps underestimating how long the effects of these surgeries will be hurting! I've been in pain each time I've had to go ever since June 6th!!! It has not been fun, normal, or expected as each time the doc has told me that everything will be fine after each surgery.
 
This procedure requires they put me under anesthesia completely and while they were going to do it in their urology clinic, the anesthesiologist interviewed me over the phone and determined my health, or somewhat of a lack thereof, requires me to go into the hospital so they can better monitor me while I am knocked out (that alone is a bit scary but at least I guess they are being careful). Being I need to be knocked out, as opposed to getting a local anesthesia as would a child and since the doc told me it would hurt for so long, something tells me that this is gonna hurt like hell each time I've gotta pee for at least those 10 days (my guess is more like two weeks or longer). He also said there is nothing they can do to kill the pain. They gave me a medication after the prostate surgery for pain when weeing but it did nothing as far as I could tell.
 
Oh the joys of getting older - those joys certainly suck the big one (or in my case the one with the Irish curse). I truly hope they get it right this time,good plumbing is a very good thing especially when it is your anatomical plumbing. Whatever the outcome - I am not about to go through this torture more than three times.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sunday, November 12, 2023

North Korea Recalling Embassy Personnel Around The World...

...and closing down their embassies. Some seem to think it's due to an economic crisis in North Korea (more at the source). I can think of another reason they'd want to recall embassy personnel a much more gloomy reason at that. They may be preparing for the imminent outbreak of WW III. You may think me saying so qualifies me as an arsehat or a a doomsayer but let's face reality folks - we in the United States of America are sitting on a virtual and very unstable powder keg that has fires raging all around it. If you don't see that being a very real and somewhat probable outcome of the current world situation, I think you are blind. Let me tell you why I think so:
 
President Biden - the weakest most bumbling, inept president of my lifetime and I have been around since the nineteen fifties. 
 
Kamala Harris - a joke as a vice president.
 
The changes/ threat to the security of the United States created by President Biden, his handlers (be assured that mentally decrepit man has handlers and he has essentially admitted to such many times). The security threats created by him & his administration during his time in the White House include:
 
-the depletion almost half of the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserves (source, that source is Politico which is considered left-center but I consider them to be democrat apologists - you can see why if you read the entire article in which they admit Biden has lowered the reserve to the lowest since 1983 and then they try to tell you, in essence, that's alright. The thing is, if WW III breaks out the amount that has been depleted may become totally disabling for us.)
 
-the wanton disregard for the sovereignty of this nation as seen in Biden opening up the U.S. borders to illegal aliens entering our country in all time record numbers and then him letting them remain in country. I just heard a radio report a few days ago about 200 aliens on the terrorist watch list who were captured trying to enter the U.S. illegally (not as a single group). How many do you think entered undetected or even detected but who got away. In addition fentanyl seizures around the country are at record highs with enough of it being seized  in total to wipe out the populations of at least a few states. Imagine 20 kilos dumped in a reservoir for a city like NY or Dallas! Who knows what military weapons may also have been brought in during the tsunami of illegal entries. And who did Biden appoint as Border Czar but the laughing hyena Kamala Harris - I think she is the worst incoherent babbling twit I have even seen or heard anywhere.
 
-the depletion of U.S. military weaponry and other military equipment. That started pretty much during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. it was estimated by the U.S. Department of Defense (part of Biden's own administration) that over seven (7) billion dollars worth of U.S. military equipment including weapons & aircraft were left behind when the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan (according to CNN a very liberal source but seemingly on the money with this article).  Read that whole report, what was left behind is mind boggling and most certainly is a strategic loss for our military readiness. Add to that all of the military weaponry and equipment the Biden administration has sent to Ukraine and that Biden publicly announced shortages pertaining to our military weaponry thus informing our enemies Russia, China. Iran, North Korea and other countries of where we are lacking. On top of all that the Biden administration keeps pumping BILLIONS of our dollars into Ukraine while inflation here is killing our economy; in fact it's been more than 75 billion dollars worth of aide to Ukraine. Almost one third of what Biden sent to Ukraine has been in the form of 23.5 billion dollars worth of military weapons and equipment taken from U.S. Department of Defense stock - in other words taken away from our own armed forces (more at this source)! Read the article at that last source because it give a breakdown of each type of weapon and how many we have given to Ukraine to fight Russian aggression. These would be weapons we'd sorely miss should WW III erupt or even if we merely get involved in a regional conflict much as we are currently doing in the Middle East right now. Yes the timer is ticking on the fuse to that powder keg, ticktock-ticktock-tick-BOOM.
 
I supplied some links for you to be able to see my sources, but this is all pretty much common knowledge to anyone who has been paying attention. That would be as in paying attention to what is going that has weakened our country as caused by Biden & the Biden Administration and rather than wondering how many wine glasses fit on a Kardashian's behind. By now, if you are unaware how much Biden has weakened us militarily, economically and with regard to our strategic oil reserves - to the point we quite possibly could not withstand a military attack on our own soil; well, you must have your head buried far up your own arse. If you think a big war is not a very real & a somewhat probable possibility that is becoming more probable each day with what is going on in Ukraine, the Middle east and with China having been building its war machine for decades completely unfettered and with the Chinese actually running illegal police departments in the USA and because you consider yourself a maven of all things Geo-political - well then all I can say is think of Japan prior to WW II and then how they sucked us into it with the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that dragged us into that conflict. Our nation was the most industrial nation in the world at that time and we had a very hard time recuperating from that devastating attack on our Pacific fleet. Today what industry do we have that is not in the great part dependent upon imports from Red China! Relatively speaking - almost none is the answer. China pretty much runs the world economy right now (source) - they may not have the strongest economy but soon will if Biden continues to support current ties with them,
 
The truth is, if our enemies had planned it this way - they could not have weakened our defenses better with any other president at the helm than Joe Biden (or in the event of his demise than Kamala Harris).
 
Someone will have to tell me again how the North Koreans pulling their personnel out of embassies worldwide is only related to a crisis in their economy (their economy already has been in crisis for decades) and is not possibly a prelude to another world war.  I hope not but if it happens, I hope we are more ready that I believe we are ready after reading about how that bumbling buffoon in the White House has set us up for a terrible defeat.

I guess I forgot to mention one important thing - what Sleepy Joe has done for morale in out Military & Civil Services. Joe Biden calling the bravest people he ever met to be so called transgender types who in reality are male & female impersonators of the natural thing. Way to go Joe - nice boost to the morale of America's military personnel and other first responders. I swear, if Trump goes to prison - he'll still get my vote unless he endorses someone else and there are few if any who could fill his shoes. There is no way President Trump would get us into this black and bloody mire as Biden had done. Hell Biden has all but invited the Dire Wolf Into our country to murder us all.
 
So, while we may not actually get involved in WW III any time soon, Joe Biden has done almost nothing of any real value to keep our nation prepared and just about everything to weaken it. As for me, I am preparing for calamity as best I can – just in case. As I’ve said before, I liked one thing about the Boy Scouts of America – their motto – Be Prepared.
 
All the best,
Glenn B 
 

Well, It's Not The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch But...

 ...I bet it would do a good job on vicious white rabbits or at least on cottontail rabbits & squirrels. The it would be my latest firearm - a Ruger Mark I with a barrel compensator. The auction from which I purchased this one said it came with a muzzle break and five 10 round magazines but I think Ruger called it a barrel compensator, whatever it is, the one on this Mark I looks to have been secured/pinned to the barrel by a numbskull. Then again it could be secured properly as looks can be deceiving and I am not a Ruger expert nor am I a guNschmidt. Whatever it is, Sturm Ruger is stamped into the metal so it is OEM.
 
 
 
 
 
The pistol looks to be in remarkably excellent shape considering it is 69 years old as per the info I gathered, from this website, based on its serial number: https://ruger.com/service/productHistory/PI-MarkI.html. So if you collect Ruger Standard or Mark I pistols, you may want to make sure to bookmark that link. Getting back to the gun: While there are a couple of very small spots of finish wear, the most noticeable being a small blemish on the frame immediately behind the upper line formed by the right grip, there is little else to detract from its appearance. Someone took good care of it. I just got it on the Friday, immediately before writing this so, I have not fired it yet; of course, me being THE Great Procrastinator, I may not fire it for weeks, months or even years.  I am hopeful though that no one will want to burn me like a witch since I got better on that procrastination point within the last year or two. So maybe, just maybe, I will bring it to the range soon. If and when I shoot it, I will do a write-up about it.
 
As for the barrel compensator, I imagine Ruger made them for this model - which appears to be a Mark I target model based on the target sights - to give that tapered barrel some weight to help balance it for target shooting. If I think of it again, one of these days (there goes that procrastination thing again) I may actually write to Ruger to see if they will supply some info both on the pistol and the compensator. I'll ask about them in general and also about how the compensator was originally secured and if mine is original in that regard, about how to remove it. I'd like to secure, with some Locktite, the screw that holds the front sight in place but it is under the body of the compensator with no access to it. That screw has the tendency to come loose on Ruger Mark II pistols and I imagine it is no different on the Mark I.
 
I only picked up this one gun this time around, been spending on a bunch of other things lately and inflation is not helping my gun buying budget. at a gun show last weekend where I had two tables. I sold some ammo, some magazines and one Ruger New Model Super Single Six (in evidently pristine condition) and made very little net profit if any. I do not like to cheat people as many vendors at gun shows seem to enjoy doing and often sell at cost or below if I need cash that I'd otherwise not take out of my savings account. For example that revolver cost me $396.85 from the auction house but I had to pay another $20.00 for the FFL to do the transfer so it cost me $416.85. I sold it for $400.00 out the door and lost $16.85 considering what I paid for it but I actually lost more as I now have to pay AR state & local sales tax of 10.25% on that sale, I probably could have gotten at least $500 for it, I have seen them sell for as much as $500 in that shape but wanted it sold fast and it did sell fast, very fast. The first guy to buy anything from my table, in fact he may have been the first guy to look at anything on my table, on the first day of the to day show is the one who bought it. He did not even bother to take the second cylinder (it came with 22 LR & 22 MAG cylinders) out of the box to look at it, I guess because the rest of it was as pristine as was what he looked over. Did I screw myself, maybe but I needed the cash fast to help pay for the Ruger Mark II and the other items I got at the auction last week.

As far as selling a truly excellent Ruger Super New Model Single Six, all I can say in my defense other than I needed the money is that I have another New Model Single Six, a stainless steel version with both cylinders and I preferred to keep that one. Of course, as is often the case, I already have seller's remorse. Those Ruger 22 revolvers are quite desirable in my estimation.

As for other things I got at last weeks auction, those included:

-9 boxes, 180 rounds, of Sig Sauer Elite Performance 30-06 ammo
 
-a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9X40 350 Legend Duplex scope new in the box
 
-a Tasco Sportsman 4-12X40 scope also new in the box

-two (2) Troy Folding rear battle sights for an AR, both new in packaging
 
-a 30 round SKS magazine.
 
-a new in the box Camillus folding knife, with "Some Like It Hot" on the side, in tribute to Firefighters (this one will be a gift for one of my dearest friends who is retired from the New York City Fire Department

-two handmade Damascus steel sheathed knives.


 
 
I also got the above pictured assorted oddities to include:
 
-a spittoon shaped duck call, supposedly made circa 1920, that is activated by hand crank. Seems to be made from brass and it works. Well, I don't think a duck in its right mind would answer that call but it does make noise when cranked. 
 
-two items said to be bookends in the auction but evidently are door stops, one with a metal mouse figure on it the other with a cat each standing on their rear legs and hold out front paws to make it seem they'd be hold the door open.
 
-a pin on Marble Arms & MFG. Co. brass cased compass, looks to be very old, art least I am guessing older than me and I feel ancient even though I am a year younger than the Ruger Mark I.

-a sort of a stand up mini bust, profile only, it stands a few inches high, of Franklin Roosevelt (liberal scum but he seemingly done good in WWII), it's dated 1933 and is embossed on its back indicating it came from the a Legion Convention. in Illinois in 1933 (American Legion held it convention there that year), a commemorative medallion from some industrial convention in 1933.

-a cross with the embossed word BULL and the letters  S, H, I and T on it. It took me three looks at it to realize what it said.
 
-what possibly appears to be some sort of surgical tool or a really weird nose picker (that would hurt). 
 
Finally there was this:
 



 That bird is supposed to be a
Surf Scooter, a carved wooden decorative mini-decoy. It has some nicely detailed carving and I think it will sit pretty somewhere in my apartment or maybe be a gift to someone or other.

I am happy because I think, I got very good deals on the ammo and scopes and at least good deals on the other things. For instance that Leupold scope retails for about $300 but then it is specifically made for only one caliber the .350 Legend. Regardless, I may try it out on another caliber otherwise will sell it. The decoy was only $6.78 with bid & buyer's premium. I am guessing a nice piece of work like that might go for several bucks more in a store.

Well, that's it for my newest gun and other auction acquisitions. More after their next auction or so I am guessing.
 
All the best,
Glenn B