No Pity For Assholes Idiots

Yep, I said it and I truly mean it. You see, after hurricanes Andrew (remember that one), Katrina and any others to hit the USA within let's say the last 25 years, it should have become apparent - even to the mildly to moderately maybe even to severely brain dead - that hurricanes and there aftermaths are things that one should take seriously, and are things that one should respect and fear. So when ample warning is given that a big one is on it way, and when government officials decide that it is time to issue mandatory evacuation notices days before the hurricane, yet thousands of assholes decide to weather out the storm in defiance of both the evacuation order and the wrath of Mother Nature - then I say to hell with them. I mean it too, and if not literally then at least with regard to paying any attention to them at all once the storm has gotten close enough to make it dangerous for rescuers to try to remove them out of harm's way.

According to the mud slinging news broadcasting company MSNBC at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26637482?GT1=43001, there were 250,000 morons people who did not flee the path of Hurricane Ike over the past couple of days. Well, as those people were probably betting, Hurricane Ike did not hit land as a category 3 hurricane as was predicted by goobermint government officials. No sireee, thems was schmart peepels, da goobermint were wrong and dey waZ rite. Well only to an extent. You see although Ike was weaker than expected when it reached landfall, it was powerful enough to dump tons of rain, and to push lots and lots and lots of water. There has been a lot of flooding already, reportedly thousands of homes are flooded, just check the news. There are other problems too such as fires breaking out, and roads washing away. Imagine that you good citizens jerks who stayed behind - floods and fires at the same time - houses submerged, roads washed away - what were you all thinking when you stayed. I bet I can guess. You were probably thinking the government is full of assholes idiots and that once they said it would be "certain death" to remain behind, well you just had to prove them wrong. Okay, I'll agree they were wrong. It was not certain death if you stayed behind, and it never turned into a category 3 hurricane as it hit landfall as they had predicted. Now what? Who knows, maybe some buildings will be blown down, just collapse, or wash away too; maybe some of you will get yourselves killed. You see they were at least also partly correct - there has been a lot of flooding.

One thing is for sure about the 'now what' question I just asked. Many of you who remained behind have added to the flood problem by wetting your pants and by crying. You, the big bunch of macho meatheads, who made a conscious decision to defy the evacuation order, are now frantically calling for help. Yep, maybe it was not as bad as those idiotic goobermint officials told you it would be, but it sure was a heck of a lot worse than many of you self proclaimed meteorologists thought it was going to be - wasn't it! If not, then why are so many of you flooding the telephone lines and airwaves (in the case of cell phones) with your frantic calls for help. Why are you looking to be rescued. Why are you, who were so absolutely foolish in the first place as to have remained within the path of the storm, now 100 percent prepared place the lives of rescue workers in danger to save your own sorry behinds? There is no sound reason within the realm of logic that these rescue workers should come to your aid before the storm has subsided completely. While there is no such reason at all, you can bet they will come. Most of them will be from that very same government who's call to evacuate you did not heed, that very same government that you believe to be full of idiots, that very same government you loathe and detest and mistrust. Yet my bet is: that until they come you will cry for help again and again; once they arrive you will scream "here I am, here I am, save me, save me" while you ignore others who need help too; and after they save you and bring you to safety and give you food, water and shelter - you will curse them as if there is no tomorrow for what you will claim to be their incompetence, their sloth in rescuing you, their racism in deciding whom to rescue, their floundering in overall organization, and whatever else of which you can think with which to slam them; and you and the mud slinging media will do so in a harmony that could rival the majesty of any choir with voices loud enough to be heard in heaven.

If I were in charge though things would be different. There would be no rescues; and I mean that. At least no rescues while there was any remaining threat from the storm to the rescuers. Once that threat had subsided, then a roundup could begin. Yes I said a roundup, and I do not mean it as a rescue as much as a mass arrest. Sure, those injured or in need of medical treatment would be rescued. All others would also be taken out of the area. Then all of them would be arrested to face any applicable criminal or administrative charges. Time and time again, it has been assholes people like those who defy such evacuation orders who cause other lives to be put at jeopardy. There is no reason that any first responder should have his or her life jeopardized because of another person's consensual, preplanned, defiance of proper government authority. Now don't get me wrong. Yes I work for the government, but I am no advocate of big government, nor of government sticking its nose where it does not belong. I do however believe that one of the main purposes of government is to protect the people. In that regard government builds up and maintains the military, and they also build up and maintain rescue forces such as the Coast Guard, police departments, fire departments, ambulance corps, search and rescue teams and so on. In that way, the government is 100% justified and right in issuing evacuation orders when the evidence suggests a major natural catastrophe is about to befall its citizenry. If you do not heed the government at times like that, well then you should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The truly sad thing though is that the government is not likely to prosecute you unless you rape, rob, pillage or plunder during or after the storm. Even then, prosecution seems unlikely because those in government apparently have 250,000 defiant assholes citizens with which to deal. Officials will send out rescuers, yes even into still stormed upon areas, to seek out those in need; those who placed themselves into a situation, and now pull others into a situation, that presents a major threat of death or serious bodily injury. What a friggin shame. And do you know why politicians and other government officials will send in rescuers? They will do so because they are afraid of the yammering that will take place if they don't. You knew that, and that is one of the things that consciously or unconsciously swayed many of you to stay behind - that is you bastards uncaring as to consequence of your actions types.

You also knew that if told to do so, the rescuers would come for you. With the rescuers though, for the great part at least, they do not come because they are afraid of the yammering. You see, they realize that you will yammer, bitch, moan, and complain no matter what, so if they do a good job or a poor job they will still face your wrath after the rescue. They know that most of you will in some way hold them, at least in part, responsible for your self induced ills. They know that the politicians and other officials who ordered them into harm's way are just a bunch of old windbags themselves, and that the windbags will wag tongues at them too. Yes, they know all of this, but yet they come for you. They come for you the defiant, you the moronic, you the foolish, you the complainers, you who put their lives at risk in the first place. They will come because they are brave, because they are ethical, because they are moral, because they are good, because they for some reason, beyond the grasp of most ordinary men and women, see you as being worth the effort, worth the sweat, worth the risk even though it was you who put them at risk in the first place by your own choice. Can even you imagine why they come for you since it was by your decision to remain in the path of the storm and to defy the evacuation order that they will be put at risk.

If it was up to me you would cry for help until the flood waters subsided, until the winds died away, and until the sun had been shining for at least a couple of days. You see, in my opinion, you, and I mean all 250,000 of you combined, are not worth one life of one rescuer or first responder. You are not even worth a single drop of blood that one of them may shed due to a scratch received in the effort to save you. Yet I, and thousands of others no doubt, have already volunteered to come if needed. Why? Well because it is not up to me, at least not up to the purely logical side of me. No, there will be no one forcing me to come if I am needed, as I said I volunteered. Yet as I said, it is not up to me. You see, I live by something called a moral code, and ethical lifestyle, a belief that it is worthwhile to save my fellow Americans of all creeds, etnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, political parties and leanings and so forth. Heck I'll even save, without hesitation, those who are not Americans. Yet those same beliefs make it a gut wrenching experience anytime that I see even one rescuer lose his or her life or get injured while trying to save someone who made a determined and conscious effort to keep themselves within harm's way and just be an out and out asshole trouble maker.

Yes, if it was up to the more logical side of me, the first responders would not be coming for you today, and probably not tomorrow either. It would probably not be until the next day that you would have a chance of being rescued. You see, we would all be better off if the rescue was withheld until there was minimal danger presented to the rescuers. We would be better off if you had to wait days for saving, possibly even a day or two without food and clean water. We would be better off if you suffered for your sins transgressions against logic, law and authority. We would be better off because if the politicians had the balls temerity to do so, well you might just learn a lesson this time around. Then maybe the next time you, and others like you, would not be so ready to put others at risk to save your sorry asses people like you who don't think about the consequences of your actions or who just don't care about those consequences. If so much as one rescuer loses his or her life during the sure to come rescue operations, well then all of you should be held accountable. It is a shame there are people like you out there, and more shameful yet that there are those who bend over backward to kiss your asses bottom ends, and most shameful of all is that someone will be put at risk may lose a life or be seriously injured trying to save YOU. Yet they will come, you know it and I know it; and they will save lives, lives that foolishly put themselves and others at risk. It is one of the great ironies of our times. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves so much so that you never purposely do anything as foolish again, but again we both know it, that is we both you will not be shamed into a change of your ways. Isn't it ironic! You can bet it is.

With hope for the best,
Glenn B

My Glock 26...

...arrived today. There I was sitting at the duty desk in my office when in walked the FedEx lady. I had to sign for two packages for folks in my office. Once I signed, she asked me how to spell my last name for input on her keypad. As I was telling her, I looked at the packages and surprise, one was for me. What a coincidence! I showed her how to spell it; then I checked out the return address. It was - Smyrna, GA, home of Glock USA.

Well yippee, the Glock 26 had arrived, only about a month and a half, at most, after I had sent in the order, though it seems like less time. Not bad at all considering it has taken months for others in my office to receive their pistols ordered likewise.

Now the one n the picture, is not the exact same one I received, but it will have to do for now. Virtually the same pistol, so not much else to show by me posting a pic of the actual one I just got, but I'll take a pic tonight when I get home and post it anyhow just because that way I will have shown you my actual Glock 26. For now though it remains in the box, unopened. Well I opened the shipping box, but not the actual plastic gun case that Glocks markets with these pistols. I'll wait til tonight to do that, when I am home and relaxed. if I get the chance, I'll take it out over the weekend and shoot it at a range, you know just to make sure there are no glitches, bugs or kinks that need to be worked out of it. I imagine that about 400-500 rounds of 9MM should do the trick, you know- to break it in - so to speak.

All the best,

Glenn B

Remember, Remain Vigilant, Stay The Fight

Remember the events of 9/11/2001. The next time you curse out a TSA employee for delaying you catching your flight at an airport - think of the burning towers, think of the Pentagon, think of the words "Let's do it" spoken by a hero leading other heroes in the air above a Pennsylvania field. The next time you think that armed police officers in a subway station, or around Wall Street, or anywhere are overkill, think about what these bastards want to do to us next, and remember that 9/11 was the second al Qaeda attack on the World Trade center, not the first. The next time you are irritable because a Customs or immigration Officer takes longer than expected examining you at the border, and the next time you are upset hearing that we want to stop the flow of illegal aliens across our borders, remember these scum came across our borders disguised as 'legitimate' immigrant and non-immigrant aliens. The next time you think that our taxpayer dollars are being wasted on overkill when it comes to the global war on terrorism, slap yourself silly and remember that on this day September 11 in the year 2001, the largest, I repeat "the largest" loss of life in a single attack against the United States of America (that would be us folks) took place, and it took place here on American soil, by an enemy who was inside the gates, and enemy who lived here within our borders, who were educated on how to complete their attacks on us here by our own educational system, and who has vowed to stop at nothing until they have either destroyed us, or until they have converted us to their brand of Islam.

As time goes on old wounds heal. Our enemies are counting on this. They counted on it the first time around when they attacked the World Trade Center in a bombing attempt in 1993, and then waited 8 years before attacking it again in 2001. They are banking on the fact that as time passes we will become complacent because our government has made us safer. If we are safer, our enemies know we will want to relax instead of keeping up our guard if only because always being on alert is a tough way to live. They are counting on the fact that as we feel less and less threatened our memories of the terror fade away, our anger will subside, our will to unify as one nation and protect ourselves by fighting tooth and nail to defeat our enemies will weaken. They are right, it is happening, it has happened to a great degree. Many complain day in and day out that our vigilance against terrorism is nothing but political, many say we should withdraw from Iraq before the war is won, others have said there is no such thing as a global war on terrorism because there is no global threat of terrorism, others - just plain folk - bitch and moan on a daily basis about losing rights, about airport delays, about how they empathize will illegal aliens, and about how we should pander to Islamic Extremists. Others, probably the vast majority, stand idly by and do nothing one way or the other. It is a disgrace. Still though, most of us will never completely forget, most of us will have become toughened and determined, and many of us will remain on the alert and ready to give our lives to protect what we have and to defeat this common enemy of our nation. Remember the events of this day in 2001, and remember that the price of Freedom is perpetual vigilance and the determination to do what it takes at risk of losing all to stay Free. I assure you that virtually every first responder who lost their lives on 9/11/2001, that those in the plane over the fields of PA who followed a man who said "Let's do it", and virtually every serviceman and woman, who has lost life or limb since then protecting our country believed just that; and there are millions more of us who think the same way.

All the best,
Glenn B

Lyme Disease...

...positive. Oh Joy.

Dear Mr. Obama - a video

The below is a pretty startling political advertisement, but even if it was not at all political it would be startling. It just is not startling because of being political but rather because of its meaningful content. It is also a pretty forceful statement on whether or not we are doing the right thing in Iraq. Yeah, I know all the arguments about how we got the intel wrong for the invasion; and I agree somewhat with those who say we were wrong in going in for those faulty reasons. I also know that once we were there we waged a war that was not only necessary, but that served good purpose. This one video did not make me think that way. Lots of other things made me think that way, and I am a bit too smart, if not wise, to be swayed merely by such a gut wrencher. Yet, this video does state it plain and simple long before it reaches the part that makes it a gut wrenching clincher; and it comes from someone who apparently has had first hand experience with the worthwhile sacrifice of which he speaks.

All the best,
Glenn B

Time For Some Laughin...

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Today In History - Uncle Sam

Today in 1813, "the earliest known printed reference to the United States by the nickname "Uncle Sam" occurs in the Troy Post" (1). That would be the Troy Post of Troy, NY folks.

All the best,

Glenn B

references:

1. http://www.historynet.com/today_in_history

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Sam

Gun Show Report

Okay, so we left the hosue this morning about five minutes after 0800. No breakfast, no coffee, and off we went. We got to my friends house right about on time at 0830. No traffic Saturday mornings are a good thing. We picked up both friends at the one's house, and we were off to Middletown and the Orange Coutny Fairgrounds for the Gun Show. About 87.9 miles later we were there. We mad good time, again no traffic to speak of. Found a parking spot about 1/4 mile from the entrance, and hoofed it to the show. Got to the entrance, paid an entry fee of $9.00 apiece (getting steeper all the time), then got disarmed at the entrance. Well not disarmed really, they had me unload and then they banded my pistol which they then gave back to me, and they had me leave the one mag from the gun at the door in a baggie with my name in with it. Funny how they never took the spare mags, and how I could have easily clipped the band myself and reloaded, or bought a new mag and some ammo and loaded. What was the point? I wondered about that, but I am not wondering now. I just firgure it is NY with sily, foolish, pointless assinine gun show regulations. Hopefully people will someday see the light and swing back toward freedom and sensible laws.

Went in started to look around sticking with the other 3, then remembered I wanted some ammo cans, and I headed to a back corner table where I got some at the last show. Sure enough the vendor with the ammo cans was in the same place, I picked up four excellent condition 50 cal ammo cans for $20. Then I realized I wa son my own. Spent the next hour or so browsing the tables and keeping my eyes open for a good bargain, and for another friend who was supposed to show up. Finally ran into Brendan again. He told me about some neat guns he had seen, and we went to check them out together. After another half hour or so, we ran into Richie, one of the friends who took the ride with us. He was busying himself buying an air rifle. He said Hubie was off somewhere else still searching the tables. After a short while we ran into Hubert, he was talking to Charlie K, one of 2 guys who was to meetus at the show. The other Pete K never showed, or we missed him. We BS'd with Charlie for a while, then he made the rounds again while we loaded some stuff into my car. Charlie met us outside not too long after that. As was I, he was soaked with perspiration. It was hot as hades in the show. Warm and muggy outside the show did little to relieve us.

After that we were off to Gander Mountain, where I picked up a few small items I needed. Then off to a McDonald's (off all places) for a quick lunch and BS session. It was a nice time despite being big Mac combos for lunch. Then Cgharlie K went on his way usptate to his daughter's college, andf the 4 of us got inmy car and headed home. It had started raining just before we left Middletown, and about halfway home we were in a downpour. Luckily we missed any flooding, but we could see the river getting high in some places we passed.

I did not pick up any new guns at the show, just the ammo cans. Prices on most firearms in which I had any interest were too high for me. I think Gander Mountain had some guns that were less expensive than the exact smae ones we saw at the show. There are not too many good deals left at gun shows anymore, that is unless you find someone bringing in something to sell. Buy it from them only once they have entered the actual gun show hall. If an individual sells to another individual at the show, a NICS check has to be done through a dealer at the show. In NY, don't stop anyone in the parking lot to try and buy from them, this is a big and illegal no-no here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Holy Gushing Gale Force Winds Batman...

...a miserable weather day is on its way. We may be about to be slammed by a storm pushed on us by a hurricane but I have to say: Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor dark windy and miserable rainy day will keep this gun nut enthusiast from his appointed rounds - there is a gun show to go to tomorrow, and I plan on being there. The thing is though, I just realized that the hours have just flown right by and it's already 10:15 PM. No blogging for me tonight, I've got to get right down to the Bat Cave to clean up a rifle or two that I plan on bringing with me to the gun show tomorrow.

Later for you, a report on the Gun Show tomorrow night or Sunday.

All the best,
GB

For Your Reading Pleasure...

...see the article at this link:

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/best_of_the_web_today.html?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb

I especially liked the thing about the Chihuahua.

Thanks to Cap'n Bob's blog, http://capnbob.us/blog/2008/09/04/better-red-than-fred/, for pointing me in that direction.

All the best,
Glenn B

Wanna Bet They Buy Their Own Gun Soon...

...I am willing to bet that they do, that is if they don't already own one. If they already own one, you can figure it a sure thing they will start keeping it more handy. The they I am talking about are: Kellie and Keith Hoehn of Fort Worth.

Two men allegedly broke into their home recently, at least one armed with a shotgun, the other with a pistol. When the shotgun was pointed at her children's room, well Mrs. Hoehn did what a brave mom would do - she went ballistic and she fought back. One of the first things she apparently did was to grab the shotgun and push it away from pointing at the kids' room. Then her husband tackled the guy and she cold cocked him in the head with a heavy object. Mr. Hoehn wound up with the shotgun, and the whole mess somehow wound up outside the house where he shot and wounded the alleged bad guy who was reportedly armed with a handgun. It was, reportedly, about then that the guy who used to be holding the shotgun came at Mr. Hoehn, and his wife yelled 'shoot him'. Mr. Hoehn obliged and hit the alleged bad guy, but the bad guy still tried to come at Mr. Hoehn who then shot again and killed him.

If this happened as it was reported, all I can say is bravo times ten for Mr. and Mrs. Hoehn. My bet is they will soon own their own shotgun or other self protection firearm. See the story here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417122,00.html.

All the best,
GB

Weekend Shows - Guns & Reptiles...

...will be the prominent features of my upcoming weekend. First of all I will be attending a gun show sponsored by NorthEastGunShows.com. This show will be held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, NY on Saturday September 6th from 9-5, and on Sunday September 7th from 9-3. On Saturday the plan is for Brendan and I to be out the door by 8, at my friend Richie's house by 0830, and at the show by 10 to meet up with friends Charlie and Pete. These three good friends have all retired from government service, and all three were firearms instructors on my job. In fact Richie retired from the NYPD, then became the primary firearms instructor for my office, worked there for many years, and has since retired from that job too. It will be a nice reunion. Hopefully we can drag Hubert along too (another co-worker who also had duties as a firearms instructor).

Brendan and I will only be at the gun show on Saturday. I am not planning on buying any guns because I don't have the cash, that is unless I see the bargain of the century and for that they make plastique. We may pick up some accessories, or some ammo since there are sometimes good deals, but I will readily point out that at the last one I attended there was little ammo on sale and prices for it were sky high. Still though we may find something, and just going to the show is a decent way to spend part of the day. Combine that with our little reunion, and it will be all the better. After the show we will probably all have lunch together, and we may also hit Cabelas. If Cabelas had any sense they would run a sale on days that there is a gun show in Middletown, they get lots of spillover customers from the show. I only plan to pick up some shiners and crayfish there - turtle food for my Musk Turtle.

Speaking of turtles, and other reptiles, the New York Metro Reptile Expo will be held this weekend on Sunday the 7th from 10 - 4 at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY. I plan to spend my day there, helping to man the Long Island Herpetological Society table. I may try to sell some animals there. I have not had any luck trying to sell anything lately to supplement the hobby, but maybe my luck will change this time around.

With two shows to attend this weekend, I guess that means any chores I had planned for this weekend had best get done on Friday evening, because it looks as if time will be short to do them otherwise. Gotta keep the wife happy somehow.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Training & Tactics - Now Let Me Show You Instead Of Tell You

Not all that long ago I wrote a piece: From Purdy Good to What The $?@& Happened, see: http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/08/ballseyes-firearms-training-and-tactics.html

In it I basically explained some of the things that can make your shots go astray; and i further explained that sometimes your accuracy may go off target somewhat through no fault of your own, but rather due to certain aspects of the ammunition you are firing. It kind of boiled down to a discussion of "what in hades am I suddenly shooting so poorly at 50 feet, when I had been shooting great at 21 feet sort of a thing. My conclusion was that if all things considered were equal at both distances, then the likely culprit was that you were shooting .22LR ammo, and that trajectory and or quality control of the ammo were likely at fault. No, I won't bother to explain more here, go to the link and read what I wrote previously if you want more explanation.

What I will do here though is I will give you some pictures of targets to illustrate exactly what I meant in that other piece. Look at the pics, and go to the article, and you will understand exactly what I meant:

1. CCI MiniMag at 21 feet

2. CCI MiniMag 50 Feet

3. CCI Blazer 21 feet

4. Blazer 50 feet

5. Federal Champion 21 feet (old ammo, at least 15 years old)

6. Federal Champion 50 feet (same ammo)

7. Remington Thunderbolt 21 feet

8. Remington Thunderbolt 50 feet

Remember that all of these targets were shot with the same gun, a Ruger MKII Pistol, by the same shooter, using the same technique and hold. Federal Champion and CCI Mini Mag both showed the most reliable grouping between the 21 foot and 50 foot distances; and it is a pretty sure thing that quality control had a lot to do with it. As to the higher shots at 50 feet, that was due to the trajectory aspects of .22 LR ammunition.

All the best,
Glenn B

Hurricane Sarah Hits Landfall In Minnesota...

...and far left extremists and whacko liberals flee in panic, and so I guess too do some corrupt politicians and terrorists, as she picks up steam rolling on toward Washington.

Folks let me say it this way, tonight I thought I heard mayor Rudolph Giuliani give the absolute best political speech I have heard since some of those made by Ronald Reagan. Yet, his speech stood up as the best I had heard in years only for all of several minutes. You see, it quickly became obvious that once Hurricane Sarah hit that stage, that great speech by Mayor Giuliani that I had heard only moments before was now being bested by the words of the Governor of Alaska, the next Vice President of the United States of America, Sarah Palin.

I have regained faith in the Republican Party, I have even gained a great deal of of faith in John McCain. The woman he picked as his vice presidential running mate is as presidential as anyone could expect of any vice presidential candidate. The big question has been could she step into the shoes of the president at a moment's notice in the event of catastrophe; I think she answered us all tonight. There is no doubt in my mind as to for whom I will cast my vote in November - McCain/Palin all the way to Washington.

All the best,
Glenn B

Labor Day Weekend - What Did You Do?

Labor Day – What Did You Do? Here is what I did this weekend:

Well even though Labor Day was initiated as a day off for the working man (in NY City of all places), I did not get off today. Sure I had off from work, but I also had chores around the house and the garden. I’ll admit though, these chores sure beat working for someone else.

I primed and painted a closet this weekend. The first coat was applied Saturday, the rest today. I also did some light gardening, nothing back breaking for sure. I am also supposed to stain the front door, but am not too sure I can get back into the work mode. I’ll know soon after the Paulaner Hefe Weissbier I am about to imbibe. If it is quickly followed by a second, well work around the house is on hold indefinitely, or at least until next week. Of course I may get the front door done regardless, it may just be a good bier I need to get going with it. Staining fiberglass with gel stain is a royal pain in the arse. A wood or steel door will replace the one I have if I live that long. No more fiberglass, unless it gets painted, and even then I would prefer the others.

As for the gardening, I got a bunch of jalapenos and tomatoes today. It looks as if just about the last batch of tomatoes that will ripen on the vine are starting to do so. I have a lot of very green tomatoes left over, and if they do not appear to be getting either red or yellow (dependent on the type) by next week, off the vine with them, and into little paper bags in which they will ripen they will go. All of the hot peppers have been picked, the butternut squash looks about ready for picking – sadly only three fruits this year as all the others rotted for some reason. There is a good batch of spearmint to be picked. The basil also needs picking before it dies off. I don’t think anything else, except for a small Broccoli plant, has anything left worth picking. That has about three mouthfuls of broccoli on it. Oh well, all good things come to an end sort of. The garden has not ended – just this season for it has ended. Soon the plants will be uprooted and put into the compost pile to make fertilizer and earthworms for next season.

Did I forget to mention, yesterday I visited my mom out east on Long Island. Quite the drive going there, it took over 2 hours for about 85 miles. The drive back only took about 90 minutes. We had a nice day together. We went into Sag harbor for a walk – all of about 75 yards round trip from car to dock to car. Halfway through the walk we sat on a dockside bench and my mom got to watch the antics of the boaters, the gulls, and the killie fish. It was a nice breezy warm day with blue skies, so this was picture perfect. Then back to the car, a we took short drive of about a block and a half to a local restaurant/bar, where we had a good meal, and I had a couple of pints of Stella Artois. Then back to my sister’s house (where my mom lives). You maybe wondering why such a short walk for me and my mom – she has had hip replacement twice on one side, knee replacement on the other side, and a wired hip on the same side as the knee only because with the fake knee they could not also put in a fake hip. Add to that the fact she will be 84 in December, and you get the picture I am sure. All in all it was the nicest day I have spent with my mother in decades.

On Saturday we had a barbecue, that is after I primed the closet. My mother-in-law and brothers-in-law came by, as did Celina and Kevin her beau. Brendan and Julia were upstate fishing and having fun. The BBQ was pretty good, just burgers, franks, and Bratwursts (none of those prepackaged television commercial 'brats' for us, we had real Bratwurst made at a really ethnic German butcher, and fresh at that). Washed it all down with Paulaner Weissbier. Hmm, that reminds me, wasn’t I about to have a cold one?

Now, for me anyhow, I am going to go to get that bier – a nice cold one at that. Let me know what you did for your Labor Day weekend.

All the best,
Glenn B

Standing-By...

...for possible deployment to New Orleans or the Gulf Coast area if it gets hit hard enough by whatever hurricane that is headed that way right now. I suppose the President learned something from the last hurricane to devastate that area, otherwise why would my agency have just called me to ask if I was available to go on standby? When my group supervisor asked if I was interested in being put on stand-by to travel to New Orleans, I at first said I was not interested. He then asked if I had traveled to Atlanta before on standby to go to New Orleans (that was after Katrina), and explained this current detail was just in case the expected hurricane hits them hard again. I had thought it was for something to do with rounding up illegal aliens; but once I heard what it was really for, to help out if there is hurricane devastation, I volunteered without further question. Now I have to go round up some gear I may need to have ready just in case I actually have to go.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sarah Palin - Experience Or lack Of It

Here is the scoop. No matter how much Barack Obama will cry foul, no matter how much he will now whine that John McCain has hammered him for lack of experience, no matter how much Obama will try to make it look as if Sarah Palin has less acceptable experience toward running for executive office than himself - the absolute truth of the matter is that Sarah Palin has years more experience as a chief executive officer in government than has Barack Obama. She is the current governor of Alaska, she is the curretn Commander of The Alaska National Guard, she was elected as mayor twice. (I seem to recall lkiberals, independents, and some moderate or left leaning republicans hoping Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York would run for office.)

Granted her stint as mayor was in a village; however, the fact is she was the chief executive of thousands of folks in that town, and not once but twice; and she has worked her way through the ploiitical maze, and up the political ladder step by step. Before that she was a city council member, also for two terms. Now while that may not be big time insider, as in Washington D.C. insider time like that of Barack Hussein Obama, wasn't it Obama who when he first started to run for the presidency that claimed he was for change and that he was not and insider (and that was supposedly a good trait when applied to himself by himself). She later ran for the position of Lt. Governor and lost, but was in the spotlight so to speak, and the ten Governor Frank Murkowski seemed impressed with her political prowess.

She also was appointed to be the Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, appointed by Governor Murkowski (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_palin). She served in that capacity for only about one year, but bear in mind what she did there and just after that is more noteworthy than anything Barack Obama has done while a senator: She quit that job in protest of the corruption she discovered, and because her attempts at uncovering the corruption, and blowing the whistle on it, were ignored by the then governor of Alaska - the same guy who had appointed her to the position in question. After quitting she did something quite courageous - she exposed the corruption of state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, and yes she too is a Republican. Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine. She is not full of hot air about the supposed great things she has done, as you may remember Obama tries to tout about a bill or three he voted on during his brief time actually working in the Senate (time actually working as opposed to over a year running for the presidency in which time he has done virtually nothing in the Senate).

In 2006 she ran for the executive position of Governor of Alaska. She won, having run on a "clean government" (as in not corrupt) platform. She has continued with her campaign against government corruption since she has been elected. In July 2008 her approval rating as governor was at or above 80%. Some of the issues (note I said some of the issues - not some of the hoopla) for which she stands are:

1) Oil: She is all for the research and development of oil as a continued fuel source.

2) Oil Independence: She is for drilling in ANWR

3) Alternate Energy Sources: She is all for research and development of alternate forms of energy such as wind power, natural gas, and nuclear power. She has also implemented conservation programs for home energy use.

4) Global Warming: She has definitive plans to research and combat global warming, but does not as does Al Gore, readily attribute it to being a problem caused by mankind without any real evidence of such having been the case.

5) Environment: She sees the need for environmental issues and things like energy development to coexist. Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment (from her State of Alaska website: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/bio.html). She also sees a need to be careful not to make knee jerk reactions and opposed placing Polar Bears on the endangered species just based upon a global warming scare, and without at least some scientific research being done as to the Polar Bears' status (does this mean she does things reasonably, can you imagine that in a politician).

6) Taxes: She is for a windfall tax on the oil companies (ala Hillary Clinton), and has instituted one in Alaska. This has resulted in the state having a huge excess of funding, and she plans to give this money back to the people in the form of about $1,200.00 each. A sort of tax rebate paid for by not the everyday tax payer, but by the oil companies because of the wealth generated by drilling for oil in Alaska.

7) Abortion: She is unabashedly pro-life. She has 5 children, the youngest only about 4 months old and has Down Syndrome. She was aware of the Down Syndrome before the child was born. She is a member of Feminists For Life.

8) Gay Rights: She opposes gay marriage. She did obey an Alaskan Supreme Court order to implement same sex benefits, and signed a bill into law to that effect.

9) Separation of Church and State: On education and religion, she believes that both evolution and creationism should be discussed in schools (can you imagine that she is willing to have both sides of an issue be taught about in public schools).

10) Law & Order: She is truly anti-corruption and when she became governor, despite her husband having been a former employee of oil giant BP, she negated a deal that the former Alaskan governor had made with BP by way of a new law she had passed into the legislation (hmm she even has some legislative experience, all that Obama can tout). This law now allows a huge amount of natural gas to be piped into the lower 48 states of the USA.

11) U.S. Military & The War In Iraq: She is very supportive of the United States Military. As the commander of the Alaskan National Guard (hmm, more executive experience here, something to which Barack Obama does not even come close) she visited the U.S. troops in Iraq, and in hospital(s) in Germany. (Her oldest son was recently deployed to Iraq in the U.S. Army in the infantry.) All this, yet she has been critical of the Bush administration’s lack of long term policy on the war in Iraq (she is no one's puppet or mouthpiece).

13) Use of Natural Resources: She is pro-sportsman. She is a hunter, fisherwoman, snowmobile enthusiast, has run a marathon and has played team basketball. She is a self described 'hockey-mom'. She, as pointed out above is willing to drill for oil, yet also willing to develop and use alternative fuel sources.

12) Right to Keep and Bear Arms: She is pro Right To Keep and Bear Arms. She is a Life Member of the National Rifle Association.

13) Morality: She is moral. She is religious and attends church. She has been married to the same man for 20 or so years. They have 5 children together.

Now for the other side.

1) She is truly somewhat inexperienced when it comes down to it. She has little to no foreign policy experience. Neither does Barack Obama, but granted Biden his running mate does. She has made more tripe to overseas though, I believe than had Barack Obama, at least more trips to visit the troops, and no one had to twist her arm, and yes she visited wounded soldiers in the hospital.

2) Her experience, what she has of it is limited. She has a short time in government, but she has more time in government that does Barack Obama, yes she does count the years in the City Council, as mayor and as Governor. Her experience as a chief executive is monumentally more than that of Obama because he has zero experience as a chief executive officer, remember he is a legislator not an executive - there is a huge difference. He also has zero experience as the commander of a state's National Guard.

3) She is under investigation for allegedly firing someone because he would not fire someone else who was a State trooper; she has been open about this and it sounds to me like a case of the guy getting fired just trying to muddy the water for her as in revenge for his being fired.

4) She only holds a Bachelor's degree. What can I say - she has actually worked on her husband's fishing boat where she broke her fingers while doing so, and she knows hard labor both physical and academic. In addition, she was intelligent enough to have been twice on the city council, elected a two term mayor, and now to be governor of the State of Alaska. She has worked her way up from the bottom with no silver spoon in her mouth.

5) She is not a lawyer. Can you imagine that, a politician in an executive position (governor) who is not, and has not been, a lawyer. Move over Barack Obama and over 95% of the U.S. Senate.

6) She is not a Washington, DC insider - so my guess is with her stance against corruption many Washington D.C. insiders are dirtying their pants just thinking she may be elected.

7) She is a virtual unknown outside of Alaska. This is probably her weakest point, but my bet is she will be well known before the end of next month, and certainly before the end of October and the election in November.

The Bottom Line: The bottom line for me is this, she makes a better candidate for vice president than Barack Obama makes for president as I see her; but I am somewhat concerned at her lack of experience just as I would be with Barack Obam's if I were actually thinking of voting for him. Her lack of experience though does not seem to be as lacking as that of Obama in the executive branch of government, and even outshines Biden there. (Yes Biden has much more overall experience, but limited to legislative experience; and he is not my choice of candidates anyhow.) Unless something earth shattering comes up in the next two months to show otherwise, she has my full support as does Senator John McCain. Yes that means I will be voting after all (remember I said if he picked Lieberman or Ridge I would not find myself able to vote for him). Thank you Senator McCain for choosing a running mate for whom I can vote with a clear conscience based on the issues.

All the best,
Glenn B

McCain Keeping Me In Suspense - How About You

Fox News is reporting that Governors Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty are out as considerations for Senator McCain's vice presidential running mate. Pawlenty has reportedly acknowledged this himself. Mike Huckabee is also reportedly out, just heard that as I type. In addition, Fox news has reported that according to someone in the McCain campaign, it may be a woman who is about to be picked. The speculation is now almost all around Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. She would be a fine pick as far as I am concerned. There is also talk about some lady who is the CEO of e-Bay, which I think would be an extremely poor choice, what with zero political experience. Of course there is still no talk on the news about the possibility of him choosing Condoleeza Rice. I am still hopeful it could be her. I envision a republican in the White House for many years to come if she is chosen as the McCain running mate. The same could be true to if he picks Palin.

The news is supposed to be announced by McCain at noon today in Dayton, OH. This makes me think it may not be Palin, as Fox has reported that she is going to be in a state fair in Alaska today. Of course they have to throw in more confusion by saying that a plane believed to be carry a senior McCain campaign staffer left Alaska early today or late last night and arrived at an airport near Dayton, OH today. That could simply mean the staffer was in Alaska to discuss vetting with Palin, but who knows. All I know is that noon seems a long way off.

If you think I am excited and in suspense over all of this - you bet I am. One of the most important political decisions of my lifetime is to be made at noon today, one that could well result in either a defeat of win for Senator John McCain, and likewise for Senator Obama, in their bids for the presidency. Since it is darned important, as I see it, that Senator Obama does not become our president the whole ball of wax depends upon McCain choosing correctly today.

All the best,
Glenn B

Well The Hoopla Is Over...

...at least for now, along with all its pomp and circumstance (and there was plenty of pomp), the Democratic Convention is a thing of the past. Senator Barack Obama has accepted his party's nomination with what was probably one of the better speeches I have ever heard him give (nope i did not listen to all of it, but did listen to quite a bit of it. A know thy enemy political opposition sort of a thing there; he did and said nothing to convince me he is the right man for the presidency. As a matter of fact he convinced me more than ever that he is not the man for the job.

Now I suppose the new hoopla will begin today in that today Senator John McCain is to announce his pick for running mate, his choice of vice presidential candidate. I keep hoping beyond hope it is a certain extremely intelligent, hard working and well suited lady (you all know whom I mean) but I suppose I'll have to wait just like everyone else, until Senator McCain announces, to find out.

One note of interest, Senator McCain is a classy guy. Have you seen his latest campaign commercial. It is totally about him congratulating Barack Obama on his nomination as the opposing party's candidate. What a relief from negative campaigning that I am sure is not over yet, and certainly what seemed to be a genuine acknowledgement of accomplishment from McCain to Obama. Now though, I think, the gloves will come off and McCain will not only bloody some noses, he will whoop some ass and win an election by defeating Obama.

All the best,
Glenn B

I have Been Nuvi-ized...

Yep they got me at work today and they handed me a Garmin Nuvi 260, that is after I signed my life away for it on some government paperwork.

Right after I got it, I scanned the brief instruction manual (15 pages and a relief compared to the one for my government Nextel which loo like a novella), and I turned it on, went outside, walked over to a pier on the Hudson River, and there it was, that is my location, shown on the screen. It actually showed me out on the pier. I was pretty amazed at how accurate this thingamabob was at giving my location if only because that pier is very new. After my brief walk with it, I also used it to find my way home from the office. It did not go exactly the same way I would have gone, had me turning on different city streets, but had me going to the Midtown Tunnel, onto the Long Island Expressway, and off at the exit I probably would have chosen had I not usually taken another exit about midway home that put me on a road that parallels the LIE. The exit it did have me turn off on is the same one I would have exited on the parallel road to the LIE.

Simply an amazing little device, it not only shows a running map as you drive along, it gives written and verbal instructions. If you set the language to a specific type of American (sort of a computerized voice) it not only tells you something to the effect of: turn left in 1/4 mile, then repeats it in increments as you get closer to the turn, but also tells you turn left in 1/4 mile onto 3rd Avenue (thus actually mentioning the name of the street or road onto which you must turn). If you miss a turn it either tells you it is recalculating your route, or it tells you to turn around to get back to the route it first gave to you. It can be used in automobile, bicycle, and walking modes. It shows things like average speed, time moving, time stopped, mph, distance traveled and so on. You can save favorite places. You can locate points of interest, restaurants, and other such places. I think you can even use it as a GPS using longitude and latitude coordinates, but I'll have to do some checking on that one.

While I am impressed, I can say without a doubt, if I have a preplanned trip, I will look at a map first. This will be especially true when going out on an assignment from work, more so if a potentially dangerous assignment. I sort of like to know the lay of the land. I think this device can give that too, it had a 3-D, and 2-D map view mode, and you can zoom in and out on the maps, but it is so small a screen, that to view a good sized area it would be hard on the eyes. So I will not be discarding my maps any time soon; but I will admit I will readily use this thing.

Now that I have gotten my report on it, and my like for it, out of the way, let me address a concern some of you may have thought about while reading the above. As a tax paying citizen you maybe wondering if you should be concerned that an expenditure of money like this by the federal government is money well spent. A good road atlas of the entire USA costs about $6.00 at Walmart, and probably could be had less expensively in bulk direct from the publisher. A few local maps of the areas covered by my office most frequently cost about $15 apiece. That is 3 road atlases, one for New York City, one for Nassau County, NY, and one for Suffolk County, NY at a total cost of $45. Add $45 to $6 for a grand total of $51.00. You can use MapQuest, or a similar program, for the rest, and that comes bundled with the office computers. The Garmin Nuvi 260's cost my office a considerable sum above $51 apiece, and I think they bought one for most agents in the office if not for all agents in our office. I know the figures, but I will not mention them here as I do not want to unwittingly break any government regulation about ging up super seKrits.

You may also wonder if these GPS devices will or will not wind up costing more than their sale price. You may be wondering will the accident rate for our fleet rise due to agents looking at these things, or trying to recalibrate them, while they are driving. I can tell you the temptation is there, that is for a guy like me who has never before used one, although I am sure I have gotten it out of me using it on just one ride from my office to home. I plan to only punch in locations when I, and my vehicle, are stopped safely (unless of course I have a passenger who can do it for me). I am sure other agents will think likewise. You may also wonder if break-ins to our government vehicles will increase when thieves see one of these left in the car or when a crook sees the base of the GPS left inside the car (a sign that the car may have a GPS hidden in the console or glove compartment). I can tell you we have been forewarned; and I think an agent losing one like that will get hell for it. As for mine, I think I'll make a great effort to keep mine in a pocket when I leave the vehicle, and if I can find a pouch for it all the better as I do not want the screen getting all scratched up. When I use it in my car I'll find a place for it where it will be safe to use, and from where it will be easy to remove any trace of it when I leave my vehicle and take it with me. I think other agents will make similar efforts to use them safely and to safeguard the devices.

I also will make the best use of it that I can as a tool to help make my job easier; and I suppose it will be just that - a tool that will make my job, and the job of other agents assigned to my office, much easier. In that light they will help us save time in finding places. That will cut down on drive time. Since they give the most direct routes, they can help us save gas too - that has to be a good thing - right! In essence these GPSs will help make us more efficient in carrying out our duties that involve driving. I also suppose there is a chance that these could be a lifesaver. If use of one of these GPSs ever saves a single life by helping an agent find a hospital faster if they need one, or if it more quickly gets an agent on the scene to help out another agent in a tight spot, or if it helps an agent more quickly apprehend someone who is an imminent threat to the public and to Homeland Security, then the price of all of them combined will have been but a small one to pay. Of course, I beleive in smaller government; but yep when it comes right down to it under current circumstances, I suppose the expenditure on these was a good thing indeed. Sometimes you just have to look at government spending from all angles, and when you look at these GPS devices that way, and if you drink the Kool-Aid first really give it some intelligent thought, you come to the conclusion 'it was money well spent indeed'.

All the best,
Glenn B

What a Shame, Not Even a Word Mentioned...

... here about the possibility of Senator McCain choosing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as his running mate. It is his loss if he could not get her to agree to run, or if he did not consider her as his running mate.

I keep hearing about Lieberman, Ridge, and those choices scare me. Then I hear about Pawlenty and Romney and I am a little more at ease. Tomorrow if I hear Rice, I will jump for joy.

Who knows his choice, surely not me, but he reportedly has made it, and if so then he most certainly knows. I wonder how many others know, they are keeping pretty mum about it. (That by the way is a good thing, a staff that knows how to keep their mouths shut!) Time and the media will tell whom he has chosen. I guess we will know sometime tomorrow on Senator McCain's birthday. I am hoping almost against hope for the best running mate he could have, and I figure it is only one of the above by a long shot.

All the best,
Glenn B

Quarterly Qualifications...

...went well for me today, and this old man is proud of himself. I shot a 244/250 on the first qualification round with the Glock 19. On the second round I shot 250/250 with the same pistol. I then shot a perfect score on the shotgun qualification 5/5 of 12 gauge slug. I also shot a perfect score 250/250 with the HK MP-5. Since this may have been my last chance to shoot the MP-5 in qualifications I am pretty happy with that score. I am also quite happy that m scores improved back to normal, up from what I have scored the last 2 or 3 qualifications at the range. Those scores were not terrible, just not up to my regular ability, and I thought my last couple or few qualification scores had been effected by my no longer so great eyesight. My vision seems to come and go from better to worse back to better, to worse. Today I was seeing things a little clearer than I have been lately, but I was also concentrating hard on doing things right as I shot, taking my own advice and mentally talking myself through each shot, even on rapid fire. Funny that I also started an exercise program lately and my vision seemed to improve right after that. Of course, I do not think exercise has anything to do with improving vision, so maybe it was just coincidence, but I do need to ask my doc about that. Whatever the reason, I shot better today than at least my last 2 qualifications and that was a good thing.

As usual we also shot a good number of rounds in tactical shooting exercises. We did man down, seated shooting (simulating shooting from a car), malfunction drills, and one handed loading of the semi-auto pistol. It was one heck of a nice day, the weather was great, blue skies, a light breeze, and great temps. Only 5 shooters showed up, I think about that many cancelled for one reason or another. Well actually we had 6, but one agent had to leave being called away on something for one of his cases.

One of the best things about the day was I got a good amount of practice ammo to use at my local range or at the range I belong to in NYC. The government is full of bureaucracy, but I can say without a doubt, time qualifying at the range is something I will truly miss once I retire.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Garden's Goodness

We only have a small lot on which our house sits, and we have what is just a tiny garden along the side that gets about the least sun during the day, but that is where our garden sits. In it we have planted tomatoes, butternut squash, peppers of a couple of varieties, cabbage, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, radishes, eggplant, broccoli, green beans and yellow wax beans. We also have some of the same in a few pots scattered around the rest of our backyard, and we have a potted strawberry bush/vine). This year has not been the best for our small crop, but it still has been fairly good in production. We treated the earth well, using lots of compost from our small compost pile, and the earth has rewarded us with a small bounty of delicious fruit and vegetables, and a good amount of earthworms for my Musk Turtle. Of course Linda also has a lot of nice potted flowers and a small flower garden too.

I think my favorite produce from the yard this year has been our yellow tomatoes. We have 2 varieties, a yellow plum tomato (not doing all that well, producing but the tomatoes do not ripen on the vine, so I ripen them inside a brown paper bag), and a Better-Boy yellow tomato that has produced medium to fairly large fruits for us. Those larger yellow tomatoes are just scrumptious as far as I am concerned, though they are not Linda's favorites. They are less acidic, an milder in taste than red tomatoes, but they have a fine flavor that is great straight, put on a sandwich mixed into a nice garden salad, or in a homemade salsa.

The butternut squash is just about ready for the harvest; and I almost cannot wait for it. Linda has a great recipe for baking this mashed and covered with butter and garlic. It is absolutely wonderful on the taste buds.

As for the flowers, I suppose some of my favorites are the Black Eyed Susan's (a variety of daisy). I think that is what they are called anyhow. Another favorite or I should say a favorite area is around the small patio out front where Linda has a nice variety of potted flowers. While the flowers still look great, it is getting obvious, by looking at the state of the plants in our vegetable garden that summer is winding down, and that autumn cannot be far behind. If only we had an apple tree, we'd be picking them soon too.

All the best,

Glenn B

Losing An Old Friend...

...can come in many forms. Today is my assigned range day for quarterly qualifications, and as usual I'll shoot the Glock 19, the HK MP-5, and the Remington 870. I like them all, but for sheer fun, and as my weapon of choice for my type of work out of the 3, I have to go with the MP-5. So it is with some sadness that I look forward to this day because it may well be the last day that I qualify with the MP-5. I was recently told that my employer plans on doing away with them in the near future. That is a true shame since the MP-5 is a versatile weapon. It is well suited for urban, suburban and rural environments. It is capable of firing semi-automatic, or in three round bursts (others can fire fully automatic too). It chambers the 9mm, but other models in other calibers are available. It can be used well close in, but can be shot out to some distance with accuracy and reliability, at least to 125 yards and probably out to 150. It also is an excellent weapon of choice for many of the types of operation which my agency conducts. It has sufficient firepower if ever called upon in a defensive situation. It is a well made and reliable firearm that is user friendly in its operation. It is also one of my favorite weapons, and when I have gone out on potentially dangerous operations it often has been my long arm of choice, even over my much touted (by me) Remington 870. I have to admit, while it has given me some comfort to have carried it on numerous operations, I am quite satisfied that I never had to shoot anyone with it. While I am prepared to do so if need be, I can tell you without a doubt, if you are a moral person to any degree, if you have respect for other people and respect for life to a good degree, you will suffer in conscious after shooting someone, even if to save another life. But I digress, so back to the MP-5.

If they do take them out of service, I will surely miss mine. So today, when I am at the range, I will try my best to shoot my best with it. If I have to give it up in the near future, I'd at least like to be able to remember that the last time I shot it, I was right on target with it. As usual, after shooting it, I'll give it a good cleaning, or two. I usually clean it once, wait a few days to a week, then clean it again. Even when you think you have cleaned one of these well the first time around, the second time around proves you wrong. Despite the pain in the neck cleaning them, and yes it is a chore, I will miss this one if they take them out of service.

All the best,
Glenn B