Yet Another Fine Firearms Related GIF

 

How she hit any of the targets is amazing but maybe she actually got that stuffed whatever once she lifted the muzzle a bit. I will readily admit, I'd love to be her firearms instructor.

All the best,

Glenn  B

New Blog Added To Link List

 Tonight I added the Common Cents Blog to the link list under Other Notable Bloggers. The address is: https://commoncts.blogspot.com/.

All  the best,

GB

New MPG Record

 When I drove home yesterday from my son's house in Sherwood, AR, I reset my average miles per gallon to zero as I drove up the entrance ramp to the highway. I reset it again as I got to the top of the exit ramp in Texarkana, AR. I had driven about 145 miles at that point, I maintained a speed of 65 mph in the right lane for almost all of the trip, although when I passed a truck or two, I got it up to 75. I was in no hurry and wanted to see if I could beat my old best of 40.5 mpg. 

 

 

Turned out I got 43.9 mpg this time around. My car is a Toyota Corolla, 2016 base model, that has never had a tune up (one is due in about 8K miles or less). I thought that was good enough mileage to mention here. At 75 mph, I get about 37 to 38 mpg. Quite the difference but man you gotta be patient to drive 65 mph on a 75 mph highway. Of course, I am retired so why hurry! Also, there was almost no traffic; so, it did not inconvenience anyone; had there been traffic, I would have been driving the speed limit or very close to it.

 

If I had been driving a bit faster, I am certain I would have annihilated the coyote that sprinted out of the darkness just several feet in front of my car and maybe also would have hit the very young fawn that was on the shoulder and had apparently been headed into the roadway until its mom called it back. It was just turning around to head back to mama doe when I saw them both and could see the concern on the mom's face and in her posture even while I was moving along that fast. Lucky for them, great mileage for me and no damage to the front of my car either.

All the best,

Glenn B

The NY Trip

I flew into Laguardia Airport in NYC last Wednesday and was expecting a nice vacation of 10 days. I stayed at a hotel for two night;  I was planning to stay at my daughter's house for the remainder of my trip and only stayed at a motel those two nights to surprise her at her graduation.On Friday she graduated from Nassau County Probation Officer training. That was nice but she saw me walk in the front door. I would have been more stealthy had I known she was in the 2d floors hall overlooking the entrance. Of course I had expected my wife, who was inside already, to let me know if the coast was clear and all she said was they were inside. So no surprise. My wide daughter & grandson seemed happy to see me that day.

 

After the graduation we went to a restaurant my daughter had planned on celebrating at before she knew I would be there. That was fine by me until I saw the bill which I had offered to pay, almost $400. That seemed a bit much but oh. well. Things seemed to be going okay although there was some friction coming from my daughter since that Friday in the form of snide and or sarcastic remarks that she made to me. I considered just leaving on Saturday because I anticipated worse was to come. Sometimes I have to listen to myself.

 

On Sunday, she asked me to help look up pricing & availability online for a washer & dryer because her dryer went out of commission and the washer as old. So I got on the net and Consumer Reports and looked them up. The number one listed with the best score of all washing machines cost about $650 as per CR. I told my daughter that the next best was between about $900 & &1,000. I recommended the less expensive one because it had a better rating across all things tested. Shortly after that she went bat shit crazy saying things like who was I to be telling her how to spend her money, she would buy the most expensive because it had to be best because only the best costs the most in her mind - and so on. Then she started ranting about topics that had nothing to do with washers & dryers. After ten minutes or so of that I finally said 'why the fuck did you ask me to help you if you obviously do not want my help' or something extremely close to those words. That was it, she went to the washer & dryer getting place. Even my wife was utterly gobsmacked as to that exchange. Regardless, I also looked around at different retailers and the best price by far was at Costco for the one but it could not be delivered and installed until June 5th at which time she'd be away on vacation. So she went to PC Richard where she asked for a specific set they supposedly had in stock and they talked her into something else and then asked for $500 apiece for an extended warranty on each! She declined but my bet is they did the bait & switch and talked her into getting a much less expensive washer of lessor quality that they overpriced.

While she was out I sent her a text message asking if she wanted or needed anything from a local supermarket I was about to go to because my wife told me she needed some things for that evening's barbecue. My daughter texted back saying: "don't go to HMart just leave my NY". So that evening I checked into a motel near LGA after changing my airline reservation and I Monday, I returned home. I had hopes of having some time to spend with my grandson - maybe a saltwater fishing trip, coming back to Arkansas with a lot of German cold cuts & smoked meats from a German butcher, of eating in Chinatown once of even three times, of going out with friends I have not seen in 5 years and of seeing my brothers-in-law in upstate NY. None of that happened. While I could have stayed and paid a fortune for motels in NY, or gone to by BIL's place upstate - I was in a sour mood. So, I just left. Having to explain to others why I was no longer staying at my daughter's and wife's house (co-owners they are) each time I saw someone new on my trip would have just ruined it much more for me so I went back to Arkansas because to be frank it was already ruined more than enough.

 

I wasted about $1750.00 on that trip and am sure I will never do so again, at least not to visit my daughter. Oh well, life goes on but it is somewhat worse than anticipated without at least a couple of weeks worth of wursts, schinkenspeck, landjager and some Lithunian rye bread or corn rye bread.

All the best,

Glenn B

The Pee Test

 So, I have to wonder, did the Trump campaign read my blog post about Trump challenging Biden to submit to a drug test at their first debate. They are demanding Biden submit to one before each debate (more at the source). If they did read what I said, in my blog post at https://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2024/04/trump-versus-biden-debate.html?m=1, then it is too bad they are not springing it on Biden as a surprise requirement either as the debate commences or better yet a half hour or more into the debate to assure whatever the Dems hype him up on will be morelikely to test true in his urine sample. My guess is have a great idea but have made it public early through way of piss poor planning. If they had sprung it as a surpise test, Biden probably would have stuttered & stammered, would have refused and probably would have walked off the stage in his usual lost and demented state. Now, if Biden's handlers agree, they can give him something undetectable in a normal drug test since they have time to prepare and know Trump's plan well in advance. It may be outside the rules to spring it as a surprise but it would have hadvthevdesired effect, Biden being dumbfounded by it andvangriky refusing. That would have convinced folks he was high as a kite fir the debates. 

 

It may wind up that it has never been truer: Proper planning prevents piss poor performance or piss poor plannjng propagates piss poor performance. In this case someone in the Trump campaign is almost definitely guilty of piss poor performance.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

The Joy Of Knucklehead & The Agony Of His Loss

 As you may have read in a previous post, I found a stray dog while out walking my dog Skye on April 3, 2024 in Spring Lake Park Texarkana, TX. He was by my judgement about 4 to 6 months old, too skinny & obviously hungry, probably dehydrated and in need of some love. When Skye and I walked passed him on the first leg of our walk he was laying in the grass taking it easy but barked some at us. About 20 minutes later he again was barking and growling at us when we came back the same way but we got a bit closer and he sat up favoring a front paw as if it was hurting. I spoke to him and he calmed down and we got close enough for Skye and him to sniff one another. Then we headed toward my car near the dog park and he followed us a half to three quarters of a mile limping all the way on that front paw. Well not quite all the way, once close to my car the limp disappeared. I figured either he worked out a sprain or cramp or was a really good sympathy seeking actor. I thought I had a can of dog food in the car to give to him but it was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, I brought him home and the saga of Knucklehead (the name I gave him after deciding Bozo did not fit him) commenced.

 

He was a beautiful dog strongly resembling a giant sized Manchester Terrier.

 

I did not intend to keep him and emailed & called around to find a no kill shelter. Not one returned my messages! I decided not to give him to the local government run pounds because they would put him down after only a few days. So off to my apartment we went wherein he ate like a horse and drank was if he could have swallowed an ocean. He also peed and pooped - yes on my floor. Thank good no carpeting in my apartment so it was easy to clean up.

 

 

I tried to find his owner(s) posting a notice of a found dog on lost & found pet site. A gal at one of the local dog parks posted on a similar local site and I posted his mugshot at my vet's office. No one claimed him. I also tried to find someone to adopt him but the only person who showed an interest wound up declining. On day two of him living with Skye. my two Hermann's tortoises and myself, I took him to the vet for an exam. He was given his shots including rabies and whatever else they gave him. The vet told me that my concern about him passing yellowish brown loose, et ad some formed but soft poops was due to me feeding him grain free food.urns out the food I fed him and have been feeding Skye is not grain free after all. I was told that despite him eating double the amount that Skye ate, he was not parasitized like I had thought.

 

 

After three more visits in the course of a few weeks, during the fourth one (as I recall), I was assured by the vet that he was "completely parasite free" but regardless of that the vet prescribed 5 days of Panacur (an anti-worm medication). On the fifth visit, I think a five days later, I brought in a video of Knuckleheads poops showing two white worms (as it turned out probably tape worms) on it. The vet tried to infer that the worms may have crawled up out of the dirt onto the poop  at the dog park but I had been only 10 feet or so away from him and went to clean it up with a few seconds. So that vet, now the third to see him in the same office, gave me Praziquantel and more Panacur for him to take. He got very sick after the third dose of those two meds. He stopped eating or ate just a tiny bit. I brought hi in for a sixth visit before a week was out. The vet that day finally did a blood test and told me the result showed extremely low white blood cells and he thought Knucklehead had one of either three things: cancer, distemper or parvo. He referred me to a vet clinic in Shreveport, LA, 73 miles or so from my apartment. We went there the next day.

 

 

Now before, I move on and get to the new vet in Shreveport allow me to say that even though Knucklehead had worms he was a happy puppy. For about three and a half to four weeks he was the most happy, playful and lovable dog I have ever taken care of. Somewhere in there, maybe week two or three, I was pretty sure I'd be keeping him. My other dog Skye usually just slept at home and only was at all active on walks or during trips to the dog park on an almost twice daily basis but she grew to love him too. He kept pestering her until she finally started to play with him a few times a day in the apartment and at the dog park; it was like Skye was a different dog when with Knucklehead.

 

He was good too, often barking to let me know he had to go out to pee or poop. In the last week or two he was apparently fully housebroken. He played fetch, something Skye does not do; if she fetches she plays keep away and does not bring a ball or stick back but has other dogs chase her, then drops whatever and when another dog tries to grab it she does so first and runs off with it to again tease the other dog. She does the same with people. Knucklehead loved a thick knotted rope to play with in the apartment for fetch and tug of war. When he retrieved it, I'd say put it in my hand and with a week or two it is what he did; of course only to play tug of war. He would also bring back a ball and give it to me after a bit of chewing on it and my finger when I grabbed it. He also loved to chew paper towels and chewed up a beloved book I had since the early 1980s, a gift from a past girlfriend that I treasured. He had good taste in literature!

He also loved to teethe and liked to do so on my hands and arms but when commanded "no biting" he'd stop almost immediately. He knew how to give me his paws, how to sit, ho to lay down, to come and to ease up when I told him easy to put on his leash. He pulled a lot when walking (but was getting better) and barked and growled at anyone we passed including cars when out for a stroll but he never attacked anyone. In fact if he got right up to someone at whom he was barking and they stood their ground, he would just lick their hands. I figured he was being protective of me until he found out that the person was a friend not a foe and then he just wanted to be petted. He was great with kids and adults and was playful with other dogs at the dog park. He liked drinking water from the spigot too. He gave Skye and me a whole new outlook on life. He truly was a joy to have in the family.

 

 

His last visit to my local vet was on last Wednesday. Then on Friday it was off to the vet in Shreveport. Then opened the front door for us and immediately escorted us to an exam room. With just a couple minutes or a few at most a vet tech came in to interview me about what was going on. Within another 5 minutes at most the vet came in. Once the vet was in the room I asked her to confirm something she had told me on the phone the day before which was that one of my local vets, the one who sent the referral, had told her he was concerned that Knucklehead might have something other than distemper, parvo or cancer. I wanted to confirm it because when she told me on the phone I almost fell over because he never told me on this particular suspicion. I the referral he said he also suspected that Knucklehead may have had rabies. Can you imagine your vet, heck any vet, not telling the dog's owner tat he thought the dog might have rabies. She confirmed that yes he included that in the referral. I was furious. She could not understand why he did not inform me. She was also quite amazed, not in a good way, that in the 6 visits knucklehead made to my local vets' office, they only did one test and repeated the same exact test at least three times - a fecal float, maybe four times. Even after they saw the worms and believed them to be tapeworms, they never did any other test to my knowledge to confirm tapeworms - just the third fecal float (or maybe the fourth). What should have been done, as is my understanding, was a fecal sedimentation test because many types of worm eggs do not float but sink in water as do at least some species of tapeworm eggs. There were also other blood tests and parasite tests that she said should have been done.

 

The vet in Shreveport ran as many applicable blood tests as she could in office, ones for which they got the results in her office without having to send them out. She was concerned about his WBC count and about other tests that would show how his immune system was working. Knucklehead at lost about 3.5 pound over the course of less than week, the time span of his last two local vet visits. By Friday two days after the last local vet visit he was obviously emaciated; while his ribs showed a bit on Wednesday, they were obviously showing on Friday. She told me he was "a very, very, very sick dog". The test results were all low for any indicators of how well his immune system was functioning and his WBC count seriously lower than on Wednesday when my local vet said it was extremely low. She was of the opinion that Knucklehead had leukemia and probably also had a bacterial infection in his Gastro-intestinal tract. Thus why he was not eating and drinking almost anything. She also thought he may still have had worms or other parasites. She then told me that a bone marrow test could be done but it had to be sent out to a lab and that it would take a week or two to get the results. Then she gave me the bad news again repeating tat he was " a very, very, very sick puppy" and the bad news was that he most likely would not survive until the test results came back and even if he did he would be extremely unlikely to survive treatment for leukemia which would probably be over 10 grand with him in the hospital for weeks to months. She also added that he would suffer miserably and unnecessarily just waiting for the test results.

 

Right after telling me all that she said: "I have to ask you a very tough question". I immediately replied "Don't ask, I know what it is". Then I said please just put him down. She excused herself and left the room. A short while later she came back into the room with a hypodermic, as she was about to give him a sedative, Skye, who had been laying down unconcerned, suddenly jumped up putting her paws on the exam table and began to lick Knuckleheads face as the doc administered the sedative. It was eerie, as if Skye knew what was happening and was showing him love and saying goodbye. All my imagination, I don't know - maybe but maybe not. As soon as the injection as completed, Knucklehead who had been calmly laying down on the exam table sat up, he looked right at me and moved his snout right up against my face. I could see in his eyes that look a puppy gives you when they think they did something wrong - the same look they get when they get a sedative - a questioning look like: "what did I do wrong (yes I am sure that was just in my head but it certainly looked that way even though I know it must have been the effect of the sedative). Then he laid down again with me petting him and me sobbing. A few seconds at most later, the vet administered the fatal shot and he was gone with me still petting him and I kissed his head too. I was left feeling the agony of the moment and now am left with good memories but also with the eternal sorrow that I am sure I will feel for the rest of my life every time I think about my lovable little buddy and how I knew him for just a wee bit of time before losing him forever. 

 

 

Then the vet told me she had another very tough question, I knew what it was because she had explained earlier what had to be done to test him for rabies. I told her go on with it which meant decapitating him and sending his head to the state infectious disease lab.  

 

Damn, I am crying again - he was the first puppy I ever had. Sure we had puppies when I lived with my wife in NY but all of them were hers and picked by her. He was also only the fourth dog I ever picked out to bring home. Holley from a shelter on Long Island (our first family dog - also put down early because she became extremely aggressive toward our children, Mimi from the ASPCA in NYC a true sweetheart & psycho as the second, Skye here in the Texarkana area was the third (all adults) and Knucklehead the last one and only male that I picked out and as I said the first puppy; although, I guess he actually chose me and Skye by following us back to my car the first day we found him.

 

 

So far, I have sat through 4 or five other of our dogs being put down, all in NY before my wife and I separated, None were easy, and they do not get any less hard to sit through after the previous ones. They all brought tears to my eyes but this was the toughest. I think that was because not only was he truly the most lovable of all the dogs that ever owned but was the most lovable of all dogs that I have ever known. Everyone who met him, at both vet offices, my neighbor and her kids, all the folks I know at the dog park have told me they knew not only that I loved and cared for him but that he loved and only wanted to please me and Skye. I will probably never even think of taking in another stray not even temporarily; losing him so soon was an emotionally traumatic experience that I would not have thought possible for me but I have to add - knowing Knucklehead (and him living up to his name), caring for him, playing with him, watching him and Skye play together while short lived; yet, was one of the most joyful experiences of my life.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

 

PS: I guess I should add that the vet from Shreveport called me yesterday, the rabies test was negative.

What Is Wrong With People - Are We All Going Crazy...

 ...or is it just those of us who live in so called Blue states, especially ones on the west coast that have been driven to what appears to be insanity?

 

I am not talking about the recent anti Israel protests and riots (many amounted to nothing else but riotting) but just people acting totally bonkers in everyday situations wherein their actions are totally off the wall. My prime example today is that of a woman in Los Angeles who allegedly boarded a bus that is free of charge (according to some reports - source) and then attacked the bus driver because the driver would not accept a dollar as payment from the woman; however, in the accompanying video here the reporter says the woman refused to pay the bus fare. Either way this is crazy behavior. There is video of the woman ripping open a safety door that separates the driver from passengers and then evidently assaulting her.

 

 

I wonder, just how frigging crazy does one have to be to do something like that for the reason given in the news reports, that the driver would not accept the money because either the bus ride was free or the fare was 50 cents. We need some kind of miracle to rid society of lunatics is what I think because it is almost assured the woman will probably be arrested and then released the same day to do it all over again or worse if she so desires. I have said it before and will keep on saying it, it is like we live in Bizarro World.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Made Another Donation To Trump's Campaign

I contributed another $100.00 to the Trump campaign today. First time since September, I forgot all about it after that first one back then but for some reason the little gray cells pulled that memory out of mothballs today. As I see it, I will make a couple or few more donations before the election. I look at it this way, spend a modest amount now to save maybe tens of thousands more that I'd lose under another four years of Bidenomics.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Of Course, I just Bought 3K Worth of Silver...

 ....from SD Bullion, delivered yesterday, and today they sent me an email about how the price of silver just dropped. So I guess in my case that would mean a few days early and a bunch of dollars short!

 

Now wait a cotton pickin' minute, I just checked the prices on Canadian Maple Leaf BU coins, my recent purchase was 100 of them at $30.18 per coin shipped and the price today is $30.24 so I have to wonder what they mean by the price of silver just dropped. I wonder because it most certainly is higher than it was on April 24th when I placed my order. Either they are spouting bunkum (read the "Did you know?" section on that page) or their price went up in after April 24th and before now; then again dropped down from whatever it went up to in between those dates.

 

Regardless, they had the best price, that I found on silver BU Maple Leaf coins when I placed my order. Right now, I am thinking SD Bullion & APMEX will be my go to companies whenever I purchase bullion coins. I think right now, at spot prices, I have about $8,700.00 in silver and about $8,100.00 in gold. I am slowly building up hat I have and hope to get it up to at least $30,000.00 to $50,000.00 before the U.S. economy collapses as there is no doubt in my mind that will be happening within the next ten years at most and then my cash will become useless and my government pension will disappear. That is unless someone knows how to perform actual economic miracles far above the powers & abilities of mortal men. I am sorely tempted to give a big immediate boost to my bullion stock by buying another 20 or 30Ks worth right now but I am afraid that the bullion prices will drop markedly if Trump is elected. If they keep at the same price or go a bit higher after the election I may just roll the dice and get it all at once. Of course if the prices do fall substantially I will buy - buy - buy and the temptation to buy it all at once to hit my goal will be strong.  Until then, I am going to buy some every month, less than I amount I just bought but at least some to keep my stock growing. I should have done this decades ago.

 

One thing about my buying habits is that when it comes to gold I have usually purchased 1/4 ounce coins. Buying that size coin adds a considerable amount to the cost but there is a reason I go that extra expense sometimes. I figure it this way, if there is ever a total collapse of our economy, which is most definitely on the horizon considering the trillions of dollars we are in debt as a nation and the unrestrained spending habits of politicians spending money they do not have. Think of hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920 & 30s - no one could have guessed what was coming and coming on super fast within only a couple of years. In Germany a loaf of bread costing an outrageous 163.00 Deutschmarks in 1922, going up to 1,500,000.00 (one million five hundred thousand) Deutschmarks in 1923 and capping out at about 200,000,000,000.00 marks (two hundred billion marks) at the height of their hyperinflation. Joe Biden and the dems & RINOs keep spending and think printing more dollars will alleviate the inflation problem but sooner or later we will be called upon by our creditors to pay up and then our economy will fail totally, that is if not sooner just on its own without even one creditor asking to be paid. It will make the Great Depression look like a bull market. (Note how Biden no longer says how great is Bidenomics!)

 

 So, it is just as possible here as it as in Germany and look at the result there - the rise to power of the Nazis (to whom our current crop of radicals on the left appear to be very similar in ideologies). In such a case of an economic collapse here, it might be very wise to have smaller sized bullion coins to buy things. Start pulling out a few one ounce coins and maybe get ripped off at gunpoint or just by way of the deal. Pull out just enough in smaller gold coins, sure you can get ripped off at gunpoint but I think it less likely to get ripped of in the deal end of it. Knowing the price ahead of the deal being finalized and using smaller coins allows you to go retrieve just what you need then come back and pay the guy. Think about it, if you use only one ounce coins and want to buy what cost only 1/4 ounce of gold, who will do the cutting of the larger coin and the weighing of the pieces to assure it is spot on. Then again, if they rob you and take a one ounce coin you are losing a lot more than a quarter ounce.

If I never need to rely on bullion for living expenses, then my son and daughter will get an extra bonus in my inheritance.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

I Have Not Owned Many Items For 43 Years...

 ...but back on April 9, 1981, my then girlfriend, in El Centro & Calexico, CA, gave me a copy of the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (one of my favorite authors and the creator of the modern detective story, long before and better than Sherlock Holmes stories). I remember the date inside the cover because she inscribed the front cover with it and a brief message. Well, it was not in the greatest shape, the binding was cracked and torn, the dust cover missing but it was a book that I loved. You probably have noticed I am writing about it in the past tense. That is because today while I was out, my 6+-  month old puppy Knucklehead decided to destroy it. 

 

I came back from shopping to find it in several pieces on the floor. He evidently did not touch one other book, except maybe to sniff some, in the bookcase. Of course, the one he had his fun with just had to be one of my all time favorites that I treasured. To think, I took this pooch in because he was a lonely and unhappy looking stray in need of a meal and a friend or two - my other pooch Skye and I have been giving him all of that and more for a month as of tomorrow; all that plus lots of expensive vet care - all while never intending to keep him. Now that I have probably unwisely decided to keep him - I sometimes think of changing his name to Bullethead, that would be right before I place the headstone on his grave far out in the woods somewhere.😏

 

Oh well, the book is replaceable as a reader; the gift is lost forever but not the spirit of it. Its spirit will live among fond memories of good times when I was a young Border Patrol Agent, who had great vision, did lots of reading and who had a girlfriend who sometimes gave me nice things that I treasured. Sadly that was the last remaining one of them. Damn, 43 years gone just like that at the whim of a mongrel.

All the best,

Glenn B