CONTEST CANCELLED - Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament # 1 - CONTEST CANCELLED

CONTEST CANCELLED: SEE COMMENTS FOR THE REASON

Okay folks here it is, the not so long awaited, brand spanking new, Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament in which maybe you can win the prize. To enter the contest you must comply with all particular rules as found in this particular blog post, and all general contest rules at: http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/10/ballseyes-firearms-accessories.html.

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Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament #1 (aka: the contest) is as follows:



To enter send me an email (click on view my complete profile over to the right side of my blog to get an email link) with your complete name, and that also gives your best guess as to what is the item appearing in the picture within this post (yes that pic to the left, not the pic of the prize). Hint - the item is definitely firearms related. The more specific you are, then maybe the better your chance of winning, that is so long as your specifics are correct. So if you think it is a firing pin, well then a better answer might be that it is a firing pin for a model 1697 Schnauzer Shooting repeating rifle. Of course, if it actually is a firing pin, and if no one else guesses it is a firing pin, well then saying "it is a firing pin" could have you as the winner (hint: it is not a firing pin). See general rules regarding ties.



Note: You are only getting a view of part of the item, and it may or may not be true to color due to camera quirks and or flash quirks. The answer must tell me what is the entire item disregarding any extraneous inclusion in the pic that is not gun related, and regardless of any distortion in the photo. There are no intentional distortions. Any distortions, such as the color thing I just mentioned are inadvertent. By the way, maybe that is a hint that the color, or at least some of it, did not come out right.



Entry must be in understandable English, that I understand (no foul language permitted, keep it clean and courteous please).



This contest opens upon my publication of this post to my blog, and it closes on Saturday October 25, 2008 at 11:59 PM my time. I am in NY near NY City, you figure it out as compared to your time. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM on October 25, 2008. I will announce the winner, if any, on or about Sunday October 26, 2008 or as soon after as is practical for me to do so.



There is no entry fee, and there is no postage or shipping fee for the prize in this particular contest if a prize is awarded.



There is a pic of the prize to the right; however I reserve the right to substitute for any prize at my discretion (like if it gets lost between now and whenever I announce a winner if anyone wins). As far as I can tell, the cleaning kit offered as a prize is new as in never been used, but I am not sure. At least I have never used it, and the brushes look new. It maybe some sort of military surplus. Condition as is, but it looks to be one nifty, excellent condition as far as I can see, little cleaning kit for use in the field. Click on pic for larger view (sorry that does not work on the above pic of the item you need to guess about).

All general contest rules apply as are posted in the link at the top right side of my blog and at http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2008/10/ballseyes-firearms-accessories.html. Remember as per the general rules only one entry per person, so give it some thought before answering.



Good luck.



All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament Rules Revised 11/06/08

Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament Rules: (Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament will be henceforth referred to by that name, or as the contest, or as the contests, or as Ballseye's FAT, or whatever else I decide to call it):

1. Glenn Bartley, aka Ballseye, is the one and only person who makes up the rules, who can change the rules, and who makes the determinations as to applicability of the rules in any given situation relative to this tournament. I am always right with regard to the contest.

2. Glenn Bartley (that would be me) has the absolute and only say regarding any disputes about the contest; and my decision is final.

3. You must be at least 18 years old to participate in the contest. By participating in the contest you are affirming that you are at least 18 years old.

4. The contest is open to U.S. Citizens, and legal resident aliens of the U.S.A., residing within the 50 U.S. States only; and by your participation in the tournament/contest you are affirming you fit into one of these categories.

5. Shipment of a prize, if any, will only be within the 50 states of the U.S.A..

6. Any prize will only be awarded to those who assure me that receiving and possession of the prize is legal for them at the address they send to me.

7. You are limited to one entry per contest and this will be on the honor system. I am not responsible for anyone who cheats, or someone wo enters more than once, and if I award such a person the prize because of their cheating or multiple entries I am in no way responsible to award a prize to someone else who followed the rules.

8. There will be one and only one prize winner per contest. In the event of a tie, I will choose the tie breaker by random drawing from among the tied contestants.

9. There is no entry fee for the contest. The winner may be required to pay shipping for prizes being sent to either Hawaii or Alaska.

10. In order to enter the contest, you must send me an email showing your full name, and meeting the criteria for actual contest into which you are entering. I am not responsible for emails I do not receive or that get routed to my junk mail box. You must also follow the rules for that particular contest as they will appear on my blog: http:ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com. Winners will be announced on my blog.

11. In order for a winner to claim a prize, winner must send me your full name, and mailing address. I may require proof of age, residence and name before I ship a prize to you. If you do not supply the required info to me within 3 days of my request you forfeit any claim to the prize. You must reply to me by the same email address by which you entered the contest.

12. I am not responsible for any prize lost, destroyed, damaged, stolen or delayed in shipment or at any other time.

13. By your entry into the contest, you agree to hold me harmless and indemnify me for any claim against you as the winner or user of a prize, or against me as the contest organizer, promoter or giver or shipper of the prize, that is directly or indirectly related to the contest or subsequent use, by anyone, of the prize won. Sorry but such is today's world in which we live - a legal nightmare.

14. The terms contest, contests, Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament and other similar terms used by me to describe the firearms accessories contest I am running, or may run, refers to each individual contest, and to the overall tournament I run using the terminology Ballseye's Firearms' Accessories Tournament (or the other terms listed above) to describe it or them singularly or as a group.

15. You are not afforded or guaranteed any rights by my offering to run a contest, by my holding a contest, or by your participation in any contest should I run one or more contests. I may cancel, stop, cease the contest(s) at any time, for any reason, change the rules at any time without prior notification, not award a prize for any reason I deem appropriate, and my decision is final.

16. If you do not agree to the above rules, and to the particular rules which will appear in my blog for any for any contest I run, you are not permitted to participate in the contest/tournament.

All the best,
GB

Firearms' Accessories Giveaway...

...now wait just a cotton pickin minute, I am not going to give any contest I run a name from which the acronym F.A.G. can be gotten. Sorry, no pun intended, no animosity intended either, that was the first name I thought up, and soon after I typed it above, like about a split second later, I realized the acronym in that name.

Okay, let's try another:

Gun Accessories Giveaway - Nope not that one either since that would amount to G.A.G. and this is no joke, and I hope nothing on which to choke.

Firearms' Accessories Contest - Mmm, maybe, or maybe not.

Accessories Rencounter Madness - Nah, too corny, and who in Hades would get the meaning of rencounter!

Ballseye's Firearms Accessories Tournament - okay, I like that one. BFAT, or in other words Ballseye's FAT. My wife and kids would get it, and I have it around the waist and on my neck! Well as it applies to my gun stuff, let's just say I have it there too, a bit too much extra gun stuff laying around in the basement; and soon that stuff could possibly be yours, well some of it anyhow if you are a contest winner of my new contest.

All the best,
Glenn B

I'll Be Trying Something New...

...here at Ballseye's Boomers. It will either be a monthly or weekly thing, not quite sure yet but probably monthly as I am no millionaire. The reason that my not being a millionaire matters is that it will be a gun related giveaway, and I'll probably be supplying the items to give away and the postage for them. No I will not be giving away gun, probably not ammunition either; but I will be giving away some accessories that go well with guns, things possibly like a bottle of Hoppes, some Breakfree CLP, a cleaning kit, a holster, a gun rag (soft gun case), a silicone impregnated cloth, a bore light, and so forth.

Right now I am working on the idea, and am figuring that it will be some sort of a monthly contest (or weekly if I can afford it). If I deccide to do it for sure, I'll type up some rules in the near future and post about it most likely by this weekend. I'll likely also have the first contest up by this coming weekend.

If it looks as if the contest is going to take off, I may make arrangements to collect donations to keep it going. Anything I collect will go 100% toward the giveaway and or shipping of the prizes. I will not keep even one cent of the money. Then again, I may just keep it inexpensive and pay for it all myself. Of course it might also be nice if people would send me the cost of postage once they receive their prize. That way all I would get hit up for would be the cost of the prizes, and you would know that you are sending me exactly what it cost me to ship the item to you, well for postage anyhow. Time will tell how this works out.

For now I already have a few small items I can use as prizes. One of the first may be this nifty little cleaning kit (click on pic to view larger size) consisting of a chain bore snake, a bore brush with both brass and nylon bristles on the same brush, another nylon chamber or bore brush, a bottle for oil, and a hand held brush to clean off whatever. All of those things come in a clam shell style green case. It apparently has never been used, though I cannot claim it is new. I imagine it is military surplus and that it has laid around on a shelf somewhere for years. I got it as an unexpected bonus that came with a gun related order I placed some months back. I imagine that something like this would go well inside of a grab and go pack, or in a range bag. It would probably also be a god thing to have along on a hunting trip. The forest knows I have fallen my fair share of times while out hunting and sometimes wound up having to clean out the muzzle end of my shotgun or rifle.

More on this over the next few days.

All the best,

Glenn B

Three Words Kind Of Say It All:

After hearing Joe Wurzelbacher, aka: Joe The Plumber, on The Sean Hannity radio show earlier this evening, all I can say is I was impressed by him, and aghast at the treatment he has received not only from the mud slinging media, but also from Obama and Biden. They should all be ashamed of themselves for treating this man like they have just because he asked a good, honest, yet tough question of Obama. Mind you it was not a staged question, Obama went down this man's block unannounced, and went up to him. The whole fallacy of the Obama campaign was revealed in how Obama answered this man when he asked his question. If you are still undecided, then find out what he asked and how it was answered. Don't let me sway you by telling you, then you will only have the Obama side call me a liar. It was all recorded for posterity, and now the media is doing a scalp job on this guy as if he were a candidate. Amazing the lengths to which they and Obama have gone to make this guy look less than credible when all he did was ask a question for which the so called messiah could not give a good answer.

All the best,
Glenn B

Bearded Whats?

Bearded Dragons, that's what. I have a few of them, 4 to be exact. Two of them are only about 3 to 4 months old, the other two are adults at just about 1.5 years old. Yep they mature quickly but then again they only live about 12 years. The two smaller ones that I have, I bought hoping to sell. No dice so I am stuck with them for now. That is okay, when they mature they will be worth a lot more, and I'll probably trade them anyhow. Trade em for what? Well other reptiles or amphibians - what else!

As for the two adults, well I got one of em for free. Got him from a gent at my local herpetological society. He asked me if I would take it, and i really did not want it but he could not care for it any longer and told me it was okay to give it away to someone who knows how to take care of it. I asked if he would mind me selling it and giving the money to the Long Island Herpetological Society as a donation and he was fine with that. Well it has been months now, maybe even a half of a year or more and I have him still. I just have not found any takers, so he was sharing an outside pen in the warmer weather, and now an inside tank with my other Bearded Dragon adult. Yes he is definitely a he.

As for the other one, if you know anything about BD's then yo know you usually cannot keep two males together unless you have a really large enclosure for them because they are just too territorial with one another. I don't have one that big, so you guessed it, the other one is a female. Males and females usually get along just fine together, and you could keep one male with a harem of several females if you wanted with no problems. That is so long as you kept them in a large enough enclosure, but that would still be one smaller than two males together would require. I cannot recall where I got the female. I remember I bought it from someone. It was not expensive, as I recall only $25.00; that was a steal. Yet the person who sold it to me knew its value and just wanted to make something off of it, and was otherwise basically adopting it out. I also figured I would sell her for a nice profit. I have had her for at least 4 to 5 months now. Wow that means I have had the male longer than 6 months, at least the way I figure it. It doesn't mater, I am stuck with em both.

Just three days or so ago, I noticed the female was starting to get very active, and was digging in the sand in the bottom of her enclosure. That along with the fact that she looked as if she had swallowed a bag of marbles was a sure sign that she was ready to lay eggs. Chances are she laid eggs once before, in the pen in my backyard over the summer. I never saw any hatchling, but if they hatched and I did not notice, I suppose they were dinner for mama and papa. What can I say. This time though she was inside, and I noticed she was gravid, and I placed a box full of slightly moistened sand and coconut fiber into her tank. After a day or two she was digging in that. I think it was this past Thursday night or Friday morning she laid her eggs. I was not too sure if she had more to lay, so on the second evening I placed a heat lamp over the area where the eggs had been laid and left it on throughout the clock. They wound up going through one night and part of the next day without added heat except for the tank lights during the day, but should be okay. I got them into an incubator today. I was really surprised to find 26 eggs in all. That is a good sized amount of eggs for a first or second clutch. They were all laid in the same area so I suppose she laid them all at once, instead of digging holes at different times to lay some each time.

If they all hatch out, and I should know in about 55 - 60 days I will be a happy made. I can possibly sell them for $20 apiece, maybe even a little more. I have not sold squat this year, so that would be good. If they start to develop nice color they will go for even more than a little more. That would be nice, but I ain't counting my chickens dragons until they have hatched. Even they the mortality rate is higher until they reach about 5 to 6 weeks at which time I can be pretty sure those that have survived will make it to adulthood. With any luck the eggs should start hatching by about December 16 - just in time for the Christmas rush. I will not even try to sell them then, they wont be sellable, as far as I am concerned, until they hit 5 or 6 weeks at the youngest. It is even better to wait until they reach 8 weeks old before buying one, especially if you are a first time Bearded Dragon person.

As far as them being pets, Bearded Dragons are probably the best common pet lizard that there is in the trade today. They are not difficult to care for so long as you follow so pretty basic guidelines such as lighting, heat, caging and feeding. They are also pretty mellow as far as lizards go. Sometimes you would think they are fake such as when you see someone walking around at a reptile expo with one on his or her shoulder, and the lizard is simply not fazed by almost anything. Of course you can always get the rare psychopathic Bearded Dragon, but they are few and far between.

They grow to about 18-20 inches on average, a lot of that being tail, and one or two adults can be kept in a 30 gallon long tank at a bare minimum. Bigger is better. I have two in a similarly sized tank now, but they share a much larger pen in my backyard during the warmer months from May or June through September. They require special lighting that gives off UVA and UVB radiation like the sun, and also require a hot spot in their enclosure up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit for basking. You can accomplish that with a combination of a heat lamp and UV bulbs, but I get by with a single bulb - a self ballasted mercury vapor bulb (made especially for lizard keeping). The lighting and tank are the most expensive items, and even tho0ugh each of the bulb cost me about $25, I saved money because I do not need two types of bulbs and therefore two separate fixtures. Actually I sue three types of bulbs on their tank but I could get away with just the one. I use the mercury vapor lamp over their basking sight, an incandescent bulb of much less wattage than the MV lamp over the center of the tank for some heat there, and a florescent lamp with a reptile bulb running from the center of the tank toward the other end. That way I am sure wherever they are in the tank they are getting the UVA and UVB they need. Now if you think about the set up of the lights I just mentioned you will realize one end of the tank is hot, the center is warm, and the other end is just about room temp. That temperature gradient is extremely important for bearded dragons as they are cold blooded and they thermoregulate (adjust their body temperature) by moving from warm to cool areas and vice versa. At night they do not require heat or light so long as temps do not go below the mid sixties Fahrenheit.

I give them some bricks on one end as a basking spot, a branch spans center tank and there is a brick and a piece of bark on the other cooler end for them to rest on. As to substrate I use fine 'play sand'. A good and secure screen cover goes over the top of the tank both to keep them in and to keep other pets like cats out. I place there food bowl for greens and other vegetables in the center of the tank. Feeding them is easy, they are usually hungry. As adults I feed them crickets about 3 to 4 times per week. I'll throw about 20 to 30 crickets in there that often. I also feed them greens daily. When I got the male I was told he rarely ate greens. he eats them now. I just stopped feeding him crickets for a week to 1o days, and he got hungry and ate the greens. Now he likes em, and that is the way it should be. Babies eat crickets at least 2x per day, and fresh greens should also be available at all times. As I have been told, 25 babies can easily go through a thousand 1/4" crickets in a week. As they grow older you feed them crickets less often, until as adults they get em as mine do now - 3 to 4x per week. As adults they eat adult crickets. I supplement the diet of crickets, and greens with: Superworms, Mealworms, Waxworms, vegetable (for convenience I use frozen mixed vegetable, thawed out first of course). The greens I feed them consist of leaf lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion greens, collard greens, turnip greens, broccoli rabe, and so forth. Not too much spinach should ever be given as it has a chemical which apparently prevents absorption of calcium in lizards. I spray my adults with water about 1 or 2x per week, that is it. Babies need to be sprayed a bit 2 to 3x per day, otherwise they can dehydrate.

Remember if you keep reptiles as pets, they can spread certain diseases to people such as Salmonella. Don't be too alarmed though; I have kept reptiles and amphibians for well over 45 years and have not contracted anything from they yet. Nor do I know firsthand of anyone else ever getting sick from them. From what I can tell by reading the Food and Drug Administration's website concerning salmonella (they are the ones responsible for the 4" turtle law), salmonella is much more likely to be caught from dairy products, undercooked eggs or chicken. You may also recall the salmonella scare this past summer where pepper were found to be the agent that was spreading this disease. The key to not catching salmonella seems to be good hygiene, so wash your hands and use alcohol gel after handling pets of any type, even your cats, dogs and birds. Keeping very young children away from such pets may also be advisable. If you have a concern go to FDA.gov and read up on it there, or go to there page about kids, reptiles and salmonella here. (Let me just point out that page has what I am pretty sure is some incorrect info, as in iguanas being the number one reptile pet. That seems far fetched to me as the popularity of iguanas as pets has declined markedly since they make poor pets, and dealers at reptile expos usually let people know this, most dealers not even selling them at all.)

If you want more detailed info on their care, you can find it here (I will only recommend the first one based on my opinion of and personal experience with it and the author, but you may also want to read the others.):

http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/P_vitticeps.htm (This is a good one written by a man who knows his bearded dragons. He was a breeder of them for many years and produced some prize winning animals. I ask him for advice all of the time, and he gladly gives it to me.)

http://www.beardeddragoncare.net/ (Apparently a whole website dedicated to bearded dragon care. I don't know if it is good info or not, but it is one that is out there.)

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

http://www.sundialreptile.com/care%20sheet--bearded%20dragon.htm (I goofed, I'll also recommend this one as it comes from a trusted source in my opinion.)

http://www.kingsnake.com/gladescs/bearded/

All the best,

GB

Today In History - Freedom's Bell Rung

Well maybe it wasn't the Liberty Bell (Freedom's Bell after all), and maybe there weren't even any bells ringing even though that would have been almost a sure thing to have happened, but the fact remains that today was the effective day that the United States of America won the war of revolution against Great Britain. It was October 19, 1781 when General Lord Charles Cornwallis signed surrender papers at Yorktown, VA. This was the second major surrender by the British in the Revolution. In all, at Yorktown, about 8,000 troops were taken captive by the Americans led by General George Washington, and all of Great Britain's hopes of winning the war were lost. For this victory we owe a lot to the French, for it was only with an assist from Commander Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur comte de Rochambeau and Admiral Francois de Grasse that this victory was achieved. Of course the treaty that truly ended the war was not signed until 1783, but the siege of Yorktown culminating with the surrender of Cornwallis' army marked freedom for the U.S.A..

For more info see:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_yorktown

All the best,
Glenn B

So You Are About To Board A Plane...

...here in a commercial airport within the United States of America. It is in the post 9/11 era. In fact, the events on 9/11 were not all that long ago, so it is likely that virtually everyone with a fairly functioning brain knows about what happened that day. Those same people should also know about certain regulations and restrictions that went into effect after 9/11 to prevent hijacking of commercial aircraft. I mean this is the 21st century, we do have television, radio, email, cell phones with text messaging, the Internet, lots of news media broadcasts and so on.

Yet somehow, maybe just by some quirk of a possibly forgetful memory, or maybe by way of heinous intent, a young man reportedly attempts to pass through airport security with a pipe bomb in his carry on luggage. A man identified as Steven Nobles - as reported by Newsday.com - just yesterday reportedly forgot that he had a pipe bomb inside of his carry on luggage at MacArthur Airport in Islip, NY. A bomb he reportedly admitted having full knowledge of and which he reportedly said he made himself. One which he reportedly said he expected would: "cause a giant smoke cloud, a flash of light and hopefully a loud noise,". Wow, can you imagine a bomb doing that! He reportedly also carried, within his carry on-luggage: "... "explosive fireworks, electrical circuit boards, a battery with electrical tape and 14 ... .22-caliber rounds used in a nail gun to drive nails into concrete," ..."

So what does his lawyer say about all of this. Well what would you expect the scum of the earth to say about something like this, because I think what his lawyer said is about the same thing. As reported the lawyer said something to the effect: "Nobles, 20, had not intended to harm anyone and inadvertently placed the device in his luggage as he was returning to visit his mother after a year of working on Long Island." (that is a quote from the paper about what the lawyer said, not a quote from the lawyer.)

According to the FBI, as reported by Newsday.com, Nobles "denied" meaning to set this off on the aircraft, and said he had "inadvertently carried it to the airport".

Now come on folks, tell me and be truthful: Is it just that I am one cynical son of a gun, or does this sound like this guy boarded the plane with the quite possible intent of trying to hijack the plane, and maybe even to blow it up. I mean let's not forget that this reportedly was a pipe BOMB that was found IN HIS CARRY ON LUGGAGE. Also, let's not forget that before the bomb was found, the screeners reportedly also found a 7 inch long knife in his luggage. Okay, maybe I could forget I had a 7 inch long knife in my luggage. Heck I hunt, I fish, I carry knives on a fairly regular basis for work too. I keep knives in grab and go bags and sometimes even grab that bag for use as a carry on, but I check them before I pack em. Of course, maybe I could forget to check to see what was in there before I added more stuff. Thereby I could miss a knife that otherwise would be quite legal to own, and to use when hunting or fishing, or carving the Thanksgiving bird; you know it would be forgetting something that was otherwise legal. Yet to forget the whereabouts a homemade pipe bomb is far fetched. To forget something that is as far as I know absolutely illegal, and is potentially an extremely dangerous device, that could maybe blow up a plane and cause death and destruction of many people, and then inadvertently attempt to carry it in my carry-on luggage while getting ready to board a commercial aircraft full of other people in this post 9/11 world - well I have got to say that even with my muddled middle aged memory it would be pretty darned near impossible for me to forget something like that was in my bag. So how was it forgotten by a young man of 20?

A bomb is made to do one thing - to blow up. He reportedly brought it to a place where it had the potential to do an awful lot of damage, and he brought a knife too - both illegal items to bring onto a commercial aircraft in carry on luggage. Understandably I suppose, his family probably wants to believe him very much. His sister has already reportedly come out with a statement that her brother is a nice guy, who would not harm anyone, and that all of the stuff must have been from his job doing electrical work and she does not think it had anything to do with a bomb. Of course she apparently said that even after her brother admitted it was in fact a bomb, so she would have a very difficult time indeed of convincing me that this guy's intent was not to commit foul play aboard the plane he was about to have boarded before being stopped by authorities.

The truly sad thing is though, without further evidence being uncovered, evidence such as a written plot, a suicide note, nefarious emails, someone coming forward to say yes this man told them he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, proof of bad blood between him and the airlines, a prior criminal record for violence or other stuff like that, well then my bet is he will get off the hook with only a conviction for carrying these illegal items if in fact he is convicted at all. Yet the fact of the mater as reported so far is that it appears he attempted to board a commercial passenger aircraft carrying a knife and a pipe bomb, and other items that could possibly have been used to dangerous and possibly deadly effect. I think they should put him away for as long as possible if he is convicted.

In closing let me just say this: Thank goodness.

Oh are you wondering why I said thank goodness. Well thank goodness he did not make it to the plane. Thank goodness the headlines on my local newspaper this morning, the ones that caught my eye were what they were instead of reading: Passenger Aircraft en route to Las Vegas Blows Up in Mid Flight. Thank goodness that he did not make it through to the plane and then hijack it and fly it into a building full of office workers. Thank goodness no one was injured. Thank goodness your busy day at the airport, or your already late flight, was not interrupted by all the airports in the USA being closed down because of a terrorist attack.

Most of all folks, thank goodness (and even thank George W. Bush) for the TSA, and for the TSA screeners who discovered this stuff in this guys carry-on luggage. Thank goodness they were being pains in the ass, morons, jerk offs, scumbags, dickheads, jerks, assholes, fuck offs, nosy bastards, storm troopers, useless government employees and whatever other name by which they have been called by hundreds of thousands of irate passengers waiting to board planes. Thank goodness because if they had not been all of those things, all those things that made them vigilant hard working employees who work a truly thankless job, who delay you, who examine your luggage, who randomly search your person, who try to prevent catastrophes, well then you and I would quite possibly have awakened to have 10/16 forever branded into our little gray cells and into our hearts and souls just as we did with 9/11. Maybe the next time you fly, and one of the TSA guys or gals stop you and searches you more than another person, maybe, yep just maybe you ought to look that TSA screener right in the eyes, give him or her a big smile and say: 'Officer, thanks for doing your job and keeping us safe, I appreciate it'. And while you are at it, why not mean it when you say it.

All the best,
Glenn B

reference: http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/news/ny-limac175886742oct17,0,2381010.story

Obama Supporters - Is Their Support Based On Race Or On The Issues?

Boomp3.com

Now you gotta admit, that is just outright funny in a way. Yet it is sad too, even something to make you angry, when you think about such morons everyday people casting their votes based upon absolutely nothing that has to do with the issues as the candidates see them, and probably everything to do with the race of the guy who claims to be black when he is in fact mulatto.

There seems to be some problem with the icon above, if you want you can go to this link to hear the audio: http://boomp3.com/listen/c1hbq1ljl_8/stern-2008-10-01cf.

All the best,
GB

Does The HighRoad.ORG Have Something To Hide?

The post I mentioned in my last blog, about the problems between Oleg Volk and Derek Zeanah has been removed from TheHighRoad.org.

I also posted the following thread, and it too was either moved or removed:

The High Road - A Schizoprhenic Mess (later changed to Our Community In Trouble)

Since I am about to talk about a gun forum, would hope that the moderators do not shut this down. An earlier thread started by someone else was shut down because it was in the wrong forum when it could just have easily been switched to an appropriate forum by the moderator. This one, placed here, could not be more appropriate since it deals with The High Road forums which are definitely gun related. That other thread was at:

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=400102 (The thread has since been removed, I guess someone wants to hide the truth of the goings on here at this site, and the new mirror site.)

The High Road is currently involved in a legal battle, or should I say are the site administrators Derek Zeanah and Oleg Volk. Oleg has gone as far as filing a complaint in Federal District Court if I understand correctly, and he has started a new High Road at TheHighRoad.US.The new site can be seen here:http://www.thehighroad.us According to the complaint the name TheHighRoad.org belongs to Oleg, as does this site. You can see the complaint here:http://www.geovario.com/legal/Complaint1.pdf

I have heard at least part of Oleg's side of the story. To be fair, before making a decision as to which site if either I would like to frequent, I would hope that Derek would give us his side of the story. What say you Derek?

We the users of TheHighRoad.org are a community of firearms enthusiasts who came together because of this site run by both of you. Why not clue us in to your side of the story in the hopes that we can help you guys find a solution to the problem, and so that we can remain a single community instead of separate smaller memberships at different sites.

All the best,
Glenn B

Here is the message I received from one of the site administrators at TheHighRoad.org regarding them moving (or was it removing since I cannot find it and they did not say to where it was moved):

Mr. Bartley,

Derek has deliberately not posted about this because he does not want to wage any sort of public fight, because he thinks such fights are not "The High Road" and because he thinks they are bad for the board. Which they are.

Your post has been moved.

John

Public fights bad for the board - what is bad for the board? My thread was not a fight public or otherwise. My post was an inquiry to find out Derek's side of the story, and a try at helping them find an amenable solution to their problems. It seems though that Derek Zeanah and his minions would rather shroud this whole mess in secrecy, and keep the site membership ignorant of the fact that there has been a parting of ways between him and Oleg Volk.

I must say, now that I have seen how Mr. Zeanah apparently wants to treat the membership of The High Road, all I can say is that it appears some credence has been given to Oleg Volk's side of the story if only because Oleg brought it out into the light of day, and it seems Derek would keep it locked in a dark basement. If not then why is it that Derek Zeanah and his administrators and moderators are moving or deleting threads in which THR members are telling the rest of the membership about this affair. That they don't think a public fight is High Road sounds like pure balderdash to me when it seems by their actions that their plan is obvious - they evidently want to cover all of this up in an attempt to keep the membership ignorant of the fact that there is a problem.

I look forward to using Mr. Volk's forum as opposed to that of Mr. Zeanah since it appears my posts on the subject will be deleted from the site of Mr. Zeanah, and it appears as if Mr. Zeanah prefers secrecy to being open. I would have preferred, as I noted in my earlier blog, to use both sites until this mess was decided by the courts, or by mutual agreement between Derek and Oleg, but it appears as if Derek or his administrator(s) would like to keep me and others like me in the dark. I am not a mushroom, I do not like being kept in the dark and being fed bullshit.

All the best,
Glenn B

TheHighRoad.ORG Versus TheHighRoad.US

One of my favorite websites, a firearms forum known as The High Road may soon go the way of the Buffalo. It appears that the two site administrators are claiming ownership of the site, and this has caused some difference of opinion about how the site should be run between them. One of them, Oleg Volk has come out guns blazing, so to speak, and has apparently filed an affidavit in Federal District Court claiming ownership of the rights to the site TheHighRoad.org, and at the same time has created a new site TheHighRoad.US.

It is usually a sad event for many people when something like this takes place because it is usually to the detriment of the site user. Chances are this affair will linger in the courts for a while, and while doing so wounds will be opened up among those who support either Oleg Volk, or those who support Derek Zeahnah the other site administrator. If the complaint indeed spells out the facts as they are, then my support goes to Oleg; however there are usually at least two sides to any dispute and I for one would like to hear from Derek on the other side.

I am hopeful that the community of members of The High Road will not be torn asunder leaving each site with some users loyal to Oleg and Derek because that will mean that one of the best firearms forums/communities on the Internet will have effectually been destroyed. Hopefully both Oleg and Derek will be able to work out their differences in a mutually agreeable manner, and The High Road will continue on as we have known it.

Edited to add:

As for me, regardless of who winds up being the actual owner of The High Road site registration, and of the actual website itself I figure I will continue viewing and writing at The High Road if it keeps itself up to that name. That means that there would have had to have been no underhandedness by the owner of the site. If it winds up that either of the web administrators was being dishonest, I am pretty sure I will not visit the site owned by that person, or both if they both were dishonest. By the way, I am not saying, or implying, either is being dishonest, this all could be a misunderstanding on one or both of their parts. Let the courts decide that now that it is within the realm of the courts. I guess though what I am trying to express is that I like the site the way it was - on the high road so to speak. I also liked the job that both of these guys were doing to keep it running. So if it is just a misunderstanding with no foul play, well then I suppose if it comes to them each going their own way with different websites I'll have to stick with both of them. If one gets the HighRoad.org and the other the HighRoad.us, I'll have them both bookmarked and links to both will appear on the right side of my blog. If however one is being underhanded and it comes out, and I cannot know that until the gun smoke has cleared, then I'll stick with the good guy, the guy who chose to take the high road. That is sort of why I joined The High Road firearms' forums in the first place, because it promised to be just that - the high road.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Nicer day At The Range...

...would have been hard to find. Brendan and I left the house at about 0815 this morning, and we arrived at the Long Island Shooting Range of Brookhaven at about 0910. A drive of almost an hour's duration and about 46 miles just to get to a decent outdoor range. Oh well not much traffic at that hour of a Sunday morning once we were on the highway.

When we entered the range area we saw the parking lot at the rifle range about 1/2 full, and that would mean a lot of shooters. We went to the office and paid our $36 for two shooters. Yes folks, you read it right, $18 each for nonresidents of the town of Brookhaven, for which you can shoot from opening at 9 until they close at 4. We also bought 4 targets for .50 each. We had other targets too, and I only wanted these 4 because they approximated the size of a deer if placed sideways on the backer. Then down to the range which apparently had not started up yet so we were lucky enough to get in on the first round of shooting. It wound up being a good thing we got there when we did. With the shortage of ranges on Long Island or near NYC, shooting space is in high demand just about one month before the firearms big game season opens in NYS. As it turned out we had taken the advice of the guy at the range counter yesterday when we had stopped there to shoot, then decided it was too expensive to kill just the short hour we had; he told us if we come back tomorrow to come early. When we wound up leaving there were at least 15, maybe 20 shooters waiting to get in to shoot.

We shot the Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, and the Remington 870 in 12 gauge over the next few hours, that is up until noon when we called it quits. The Marlin required some tweaking of the scope, yes we have sinned and put a scope on a lever action rifle - but with my eyes that is good. As for the shotgun, nothing but factory original iron sights on it. We only fired out to 50 yards, where we hunt it is very unlikely to get a shot even at that distance. After a few rounds each, I made adjustments to the scope on the Marlin, and it was shooting dead on center for the most part; that is if Brendan did it right, then so too did the Marlin. The shotgun also needed some adjusting of the sights. That seemed strange, but it was shooting quite high at 50 yards. I'll have to give it a check at the indoor range at 25 yards. We did okay with it, but I expect we would do better a little closer in than at 50 yards which would be, as I said before, a long shot where we hunt.

No pics from today. I had the camera, just forgot to make use of it; I guess because I was having fun shooting. of course I would have loved to have had it on video when Brendan beaned himself in his nose with his thumb when shooting the 870. I felt his pain - his nose was that red. He wound up hurting his shoulder too. I guess I'll need to work on how he mounts the shotgun a little bit more. I may also pick up a new recoil pad this year. Remington is making one, called the SuperCell, and they claim: "...our Model 870 pump shotgun now produces 54% less recoil than competing auto loaders with their factory pads." Sound almost too good to be true since auto loaders are known to kick much less than pumps; yet at about $20 each, I'll have to at least try one when I can find it. The kid young man will learn sooner or later, but I figure I'll make it easier on both of us, especially with not wanting his young joints to be achy like my older ones, with that new recoil pad.

Overall it was a nice day, albeit an expensive one, out with Brendan. Ammo expended in .35 Remington and 12 Gauge: $150 (at today's prices), Gas For The Car: $20.00, Admission To The Range: $36.00, Targets: $2.08, Seeing Brendan Keep Shooting Well After Whacking His Nose and Shoulder: Priceless (as were the chauffeured rides to the range and back to home since he drove).

All the best,
Glenn B

Off To The Range...

...with Brendan in just a little bit; so I guess there will be range report coming out later today. We are only taking two or three guns: the Marlin 336 (for sure), the Remington 870 (for sure) and a Ruger 10/22 (maybe). Brendan and I need to get in some practice before the big game hunting season.

All the best,
GB

Is He Kidding Or Just Out Of his Mind

Now here I go, getting political, and giving my opinion again, after I just said there would be a lack of it from me. What can I say: it's 5:57 Am, I am sitting here, was just reading the news, and read this:

"The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama's character, he described the Democrat as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.""

See this for more:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/11/mccain-booed-calling-obama-decent-person/

You probably can see how it got my blood to boiling, and my fingers to typing.

What in Hades is wrong with McCain. Does he really think that Obama is a good person, or is he out of his mind? Either way: Is McCain going to vote for Obama? It sure sounds like he will vote for him; and he has done all but tell us we should vote for him. I think otherwise though. Obama is less than a stellar American as I see him, heck as most Republicans and many Independents and some Democrats see him. Yet McCain basically abdicates any claim to even being a viable candidate with idiocy like that statement. I would say God damn it if I was a religious man, but for now I'll just say Holy Horse Poop Batman, what kind of shit is this?

I am beginning to think that McCain may be suffering from some form of early and mild dementia. He makes absolutely no sense when he says stuff like that at one moment and attacks Obama at another, unless of course his views are much more in line with Obama's than would his campaign have us believe. Remember he is not the candidate of choice for many Republicans, especially those of a conservative lean. He is the candidate with whom we got stuck after one hell of a convoluted primary. He is the so called Maverick. He allied himself with Kennedy and Feingold - so maybe it is just natural, for him, to do so with Obama. What will McCain do if elected, will he make Obama is co-president, or his closest advisor?

Hell - maybe I am not so sure for whom I will vote on November 4th. I know it will not be Obama, but if McCain keeps spitting out crap like that, well I may have to vote for Bob Barr. McCain is really becoming scary in how much he wants to bend over and be the ass kisser of all Americans. It just ain't gonna happen that he can appease everyone, and it is about time he either realizes that or starts taking psychotropic meds.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Election Nears...

...and as you have seen the amount of my blogging the body politic has withered. Why as such a critical time approaches?

Well, first of all, I am sick of it all. It has been going on for well over a year already. If you are not sick of it all by now, then you are demented. Just the choice of candidates should be more than enough to make one sick. The only candidate whom I believe has anything on the ball, and who possibly offers some hope of a better way is Sarah Palin. I almost cannot wait until 2012.

Secondly, I already know for whom I will cast my vote. It is a no brainer. I will vote for Sarah Palin. In doing so I will also vote for her running mate, good old John Whatshisname. Can you imagine that this lackluster, lame (I mean mentally as I don't care about his physical aspects all that much), apologetic (why does he continually apologize for those who show his opponent's weakness and inability to be a good president), condescending, flip-flopping, liberal Republican is actually one of only two choices for the top position in our government! It is a disgrace. No wonder all the hoopla is following the other guy right now.

As for the other guy, that one, Barack Hussein Obama, my opinion of him his less than my opinion of McCain by a long shot. He is arrogant to extreme excess, he is a charlatan as far as I can tell, he claims to be black and is less black than an Oreo actually being mulatto, he is a friend of a radically hateful racially preacher, he is friends of another radically hateful preacher, he is friends with a known (from what I have heard) domestic terrorist (the worst kind of terrorist - one who attacks his own nation), he is married to a woman who was never proud of her country until her country or part of it was willing to adore her husband, and he thinks these associations are okay and makes excuses for these people. In addition he has alleged ties to Muslim extremism, has ties to Kenyan leaders who are certainly less than upstanding citizens, has ties to leftists kooks of all sorts who apparently support him in rabid disregard for anything fundamentally American, and he thinks that to be something good. In addition this guy reeks of communist and socialist underpinnings.

Yes I know for whom I will cast my vote. It is not by choice as much as it is by necessity born of the situation in which we find ourselves. If I had a real choice, if there was another candidate for whom I could vote, one who at least truly stood for even half of the things I believe to be important, well I would vote for him or her in a heart beat. As it is, I see my only choice as an asshole who does not even know how to use a computer. Don't tell me that is because of his war wounds either, because I can find you hundreds if not thousands of example of people much more handicapped than him who use computers; some of them without arms let alone arms that just don't work all that well. We are simply stuck with two choices that suck. Yes I know there are other choices, such as the Libertarian Bob Barr, but the guy does not have a chance. In fact all voting for him will do is to steal votes from McCain. Yes dear readers, it sucks to be stuck with an asshole maverick and a bigger asshole change for the sake of change candidate for whom to vote in our presidential elections. Sort of makes me wonder - Whatever Happened To Randolph Scott, when we need a hero to get us out of this jam. Then again folks even the heroes of silver screen couldn't save us from the mess we are in for this election! Well one of them maybe could have, and he was both an actor and a president, but he is gone now. Too bad his memory is not evoked by the candidate of my choice.

But I have digressed, so allow me to get back to my original point. There will be little, if any, political blogging by me from now to the election. Instead, I'll devote my time to watching old westerns on the tube, hoping beyond hope that a hero arises who will mount his steed in time for 2010. Why 2010, well that's when the next round of this political bullshit will begin anew if it follows suit with this campaign; I can only hope that someone will ride tall in the saddle above it all.

All the best,
Glenn B

Big Game Hunting Season - Just Around The Corner

So it is high time to get out the hunting shotgun, rifles and maybe even hunting pistols and get them cleaned up. Then a trip to the local range will be in order to make sure they are all functioning properly and that Brendan and I still know not only how to shoot em, but how to hit the target. This will be especially important with out Marlin 336 because it is scoped, and we need to assure that the scope has not been whacked out of alignment. Of course, since we will also likely hunt in a shotgun/pistol only area it will be just as important to get in lots of practice with the 870. I anticipate a couple of sore shoulders already. The pics are of Brendan with the Remington 870 in mid-recoil (note the left elbow in mid-air, and with the Marlin 336 (a posed picture).

Hopefully we will be able to get out this weekend. I am none to sure we can, my mom is not in great shape and we are trying to make long term care arrangements for her; but I am hopeful we can at least get to a local range on our way out to visit her.

I sure have enough ammo to have a decent day at the range. Well at least for the Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. I'll have to check my 12 gauge shotgun slug supply to see if I have enough; but if not well then I have over $100 in gift cards from Dick's Sporting Goods to spend on ammo.

We each have a license, and Brendan has 2 deer management permits (allowing for does to be taken), so I am hopeful we will put some venison on the table this year.

All the best,

Glenn B

Today In History - Quoth The Raven, "Nevermore"

October has always been a happy month for me. I love the fact that it is the month of my birth, the month with the best weather - yes I love the October weather here in the northeast especially in New York, and I love the fact that it is the month in which Halloween and most of the leaves of the hardwoods fall. Today though, October 7th, is for me a sad day in history. On this day in 1849 Edgar Allan Poe was, in the words of the Raven, "Nevermore".

Edgar Allan Poe is undeniably one of the all time best writers of American Literature, and also one of the best writers of all time. In addition his writings are some of the most popular throughout the world despite the somewhat lack of their popularity during his own lifetime. Had he lived a longer and fuller life, had he written more of his maudlin yet haunting poetry, more of his macabre frightening yet intriguing short stories, another novella or two filled with the fantastic, and had he continued with his then unique literary creation and written more modern detective stories, he would likely have gone down in history as a writer unparalleled in his magnificence, or at least as the greatest American writer of all time. Regardless of his short pained life - he died when only 39 - and regardless of his shorter literary life, Poe indeed achieved a greatness with pen that few have ever matched. Be I so bold to say what I am about to, I believe he would have achieved the same greatness as Shakespeare, who died probably a few days short of 52, had he lived and written as long. (Heck I just surpassed old Will in age.)

Poe was a masterful user of the English language, and some others for that matter such as Latin and French. If you have never read any of his work, I suggest you give a few of them a try. Some of my favorites have been:

Poems:

El Dorado

To --- (the one that begins with the words "I heed not...")

The Raven

Lenore

Anabel Lee

Stories:

The Cask of Amontillado

The Murders in The Rue Morgue

The Mystery of Marie Roget

The Purloined Letter

The Pit and the Pendulum

There are many, many others. Besides short stories and poetry he wrote journalistic essays, articles, and one novella or short novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (another great one, but not all that easy to read as it is heavily laden with mystic symbolism).

Poe was misunderstood during his lifetime, and was even more so after his death. Most believe him to have been a half depraved drug addict, but much of that belief was based upon a libelous biography written after his death by Rufus Griswold, a man who despised Poe and who let his hatred of him carry on even after Poe's passing.

If you would like to learn more about Edgar Allan Poe, things that even up until a few years ago had not yet come to light (such as the fact that he was not a drug addict) you can find more info on Poe at these links:

The House of Usher: http://www.houseofusher.net/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

Project Gutenburg: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p (page down to Poe)

No matter what you think of him or his life, no matter what you think about his works, he was and remains one of the most influential writers of all time. As in the Raven with thoughts of 'lost Lenore', Poe will never be with us again but so too shall his shadow, cast upon the literary floor, leave us Nevermore.

All the best,
Glenn B

Florida Fish Tales - All True - You Just Can't Make Up Stuff Like This

When I was down in West Palm Beach last week I got to go fishing 3 times. Not bad in 5 days considering how few times I go when I am at home. The first day out was a nice one, picture perfect as you can see from the pic of my Uncle Ken fishing off of Juno Pier. The sun was shining, well peeking out from behind those magnificent clouds anyhow, the temps were probably in the mid to high seventies, a light breeze was blowing, the surfers were acting as chum in the water. Did I mention it was picture perfect, well maybe it was just a wee bit less than that, and if you look closely at the picture you may notice why. Haven't guessed it yet - okay I'll tell - in the pic there was no fish on his line, in fact none on mine so I had time to snap away, and very few brought to the pier by anyone at all. My uncle did catch one small bluefish, barely a keeper, and I guess that was pretty good considering we had the wrong kind of bait. Yet even those with the right bait were only catching a few now and then. Still it was a nice day.

On Tuesday we went out again, this time for fresh water fish at my insistence. I even bought a 3 day non-resident license at the same cost of a yearly resident license - $17.00. They want another $17.00 for a non-resident saltwater license, imagine that. Luckily since our first trip had been off of the pier at Juno, I did not require a saltwater license. The freshwater fishing experience was also picture perfect even though the day was overcast and the weatherman promised heavy rains. My uncle, his grandson Kyler, and I figured if it rained we could always head to Juno Pier and fish from underneath the areas with pavilions. A nice touch for a fishing pier. As it turned out we headed to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Our first stop was a pond recommended by the ranger who collected our park entry fee. He told us that this pond in particular had some big ones. We fished there for about 2 hours or so, and we caught a decent number of fish - a few each - but all were small sunfish. We moved on at the insistence of Kyler who just did not want to wait for a big one to swim by. We drove down to the other end of the park looking for fishing holes. At the far en we came to the gift shop and canoe rental set on the Loxahatchee River (this is where Brendan and I had fished back in the summer of 2005, also where we saw a good number of alligators). With those clouds obviously so full of rain we decided against renting a canoe. We milled around a bit, then headed back a short distance to a pond we had passed while driving to the canoe rental area.

It was a small dark watered pond. Lots of peat or something else was staining the water a brownish color. probably not poet since the water was not too acidic for plant life. Whatever, we decided to fish in this forbidding looking water hole. Almost as soon as our baits hit the water (night crawlers from Walmart) we all had bites. Once again it was sunfish on all lines. These were bigger and more feisty than were the ones at the first spot, though still on the small side. I also caught a Peacock Bass which looked more like it belonged in an aquarium with other exotic species than it belonged in a pond in Florida. After about a half hour or so, young Kyler got into a discussion with uncle Ken about the best bait to be using. Uncle Ken insisted that the night crawlers were the best, Kyler insisted that some frozen shrimp we had would be best. To prove a point, Kyler baited his hook with a shrimp and cast out about a whole 5 feet from shore. Now if you had an eye that was quick enough, or maybe a camera with a high speed shutter you may have noticed the glass smooth surface of the pond was broken by ripples just before Kyler's bait hit the water. You see, just as his bait was about to hit the still surface of the pond, a largemouth bass affirmed Kyler's knowledge about which bait was best as it jumped out of the water to meet his bait in mid air just above the pond's surface. I don't know how he did it, but Kyler set the hook and then manhandled that big boy to shore despite the drag on his light spinning outfit brrrr'ing away.

That was the fish of the day for sure. As a mater of fact, soon after he caught that it started to rain and we decided to head off to call it a day and go get some lunch. Now you might be thinking that the bass would have made a fine lunch, and so had we. The thing was we threw it back hopefully so Kyler can catch it again on another day. We did not necessarily want to throw it back. Had I caught it I would have regardless of its size after some pics, but Kyler understandably wanted to keep this one. Thing was I did not have the fishing regs and seemed to recall it needed to be 18 inches long to be a keeper. This one was 15 inches, or a tad more, in length. So I called the office of the park. The jerk there actually reprimanded me for not having the fishing regulations, and told me how it was my duty to have them. Well since Walmart did not have any when I bought my license, I also went to K-Mart and guess what - they did not have any either. They told me the State sent them loads of saltwater fishing regs, but almost no freshwater regs and they were all out. So I asked the guy who's fault was that! I also asked him how it was that the admin office of a state park was so lax as to not have the regs available - he shut up. I then asked for the number to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - he did not have that either, can you imagine - government buffoonery at its best - or so you would think - but it gets better (or should I say worse). I went to the car, and I dug out the saltwater regs. I then called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission number on the regs. It was the saltwater division, and that was just how the lady answered the phone. I asked for the number for the freshwater division or if she could connect me to them. She just flatly said: "No". I asked if she knew the size limit on largemouth bass, and again I received the curt answer: "No". So finally I asked if anyone there could help me and she in a nasty tone said: "NO". In a last ditch effort, I explained our situation, and explained that the young lad who caught the fish was hoping his best to keep it. She then softened up a bit, and said give me a minute. I heard her say something to someone else, immediately heard paper rustling, then heard pages turning, then heard her say she was looking it up for me. What happened to NO and NO and NO? I remained silent. In a half a minute she told me that the size limit statewide for largemouth bass was 18 inches if caught by a minor (youth as she put it), and 24 inches if caught by an adult. I thanked her for looking even though I wanted to call her something that rhymes with witch. So on her say so as to size limits, we let the bass go, and each of us were a little sad to see it swim away (happy too that it could still swim away after being out of the pond for a few minutes).


Oh yeah, remember the guy at the park office, the one who tried to chastise me for not having the fishing regulations with me. Well we stopped to show him the picture of the fish as we left the park. He was amazed when we told him where we had caught it. He said that pond has been bone dry a few months back and that there were definitely no fish in it. Once again - government buffoonery shining through. He just could not understand how we caught a bass like that there, nor did he look all that much like he believed me when I told him we caught several sunfish and something else that looked like a colorful mini-tilapia (that was the Peacock Bass). Of course when I described the oddball fish, he also had no idea what it could have been, I had to look it up online letter in the day. Lest you think I am telling a fish tale, you too can take a look at the pic.

Once we got home, my uncle, being the skeptic of skeptics, checked the regs online off of the site of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Co mission. He was pretty upset once he did. The minimum size limit was 14 inches - Kyler had caught a keeper and we had thrown it back. The limits I had seen the night before of 18 inches up to 25 inches were for Lake Okeechobee, where I had at first planned to fish. The limits told to me over the phone by the representative of lady at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Shame on her, there was nothing we could find that even closely resembled the so called regulations she quoted us abut a "youth" limit and "adult" limit - she won the government buffoon award of the day. Oh well, at least we have the picture, and Kyler can always dream of catching the same one again.

Enough of Tuesday's trip. On Wednesday uncle Ken and I headed about 60 miles north of West Palm Beach to Fort Pierce. Once there we boarded the Captain Lew, a party (or open) boat. I had done some online checking before I left NY and saw that every boat in WPB only went out for 4 hours at a cost of about $40 - $45 for each person. This boat on the other hand went out from 0830 to 1630, a full 8 hours, and only cost about $50 per fare. They also had a $2 off coupon online, and a senior fare that my uncle could use. I made a reservation. When we got there we saw a freshly paned boat, with a crew of 2, Captain Lew and his mate Mark. There was a small crowd of fishermen and fisherwomen, about 20 to 25 including us. Just before boarding, Mark took everyones' gear and stowed it aboard so we would not have to climb aboard while toting it. Then Capt. Lew read us the rules, a nice touch to avoid any problems aboard. As we boarded, the line of went through the cabin where Capt. Lew collected the fares. He remembered me by name, from my emails, when I paid. Another nice touch (by the way he promptly and courteously answered my several emails to him). One other nice thing, both the captain and mate had great manners. It was going to be a nice trip even if we did not catch any fish.

Well it took about an hour and a half to reach the fishing grounds. I could not see land in any direction. My guess was we were 10 to 20 miles out. The day was sunny, promising to hit the mid to high eighties, there was just a hint of a breeze, the water was as calm as the surface of a small lake on a calm day, and the water and skies were blue. On the way out I got a chance to talk to Mark, and to a few of the other fisherpeople. The captain was busy getting us there, but I got to speak to him once we arrived. Not much of a surprise, but at least a few folks aboard - including Captain Lew - were originally from NY. Captain Lew even went to college just a few miles from my home, and he was born in Brooklyn as was I. One of the fares, I think his name was Mike, was originally from Brooklyn, moved to Long Island, then moved to Florida 40 years or so ago. We had a good long talk, and he was a fine and interesting gentleman. We wished each other luck, and then went fishing.

As soon as uncle ken's rig hit bottom, he hooked a fish. Same for me a second or two later. Same for just about everyone aboard. We reeled them in, I got mine on the deck before uncle Ken who was using a lighter pole, and I had a nice double header of keeper Sea bass. Mmm delicious. After that we caught some Yellowtail and Lane Snapper, and a lot of Grunts. According to the captain the Grunts were only worthy of being cut up for bait. So we caught a bunch of them, as did everyone else, and we used em for bait once the squid ran out (that was my only negative complaint about the whole day aboard the Captain Lew - they did not supply enough bait, and actually ran out of the cut squid they had been giving out forcing everyone who did not bring bait to use cut up grunt). Well after about an hours or so of steady fish on action, it sought of petered out a bit. Still we were getting fish, but only Grunts ow and then. I turned to uncle Ken and wondered out loud if the captain would move around a lot, or if we would stay put. Apparently the captain was in the wheel house right over my head when I said that, and within a second he was on the loud speaker saying reel em up, we were about to move to another spot. I guess he had heard me; but if he had or had not, he was moving to another spot to look for more and better fish, and that is a sign of a good party boat captain.

In all we hit a few more spots, 4 or 5 I suppose. We never hit as good a spot as had been the first, but we did catch fish, at least anyone who kept on a bottom rig did so. Uncle Ken changed to a rig designed for bigger but scarcer fish, and he caught fewer than me, and alas no big ones. The Grunts were king wherever else we fished. In all I reeled in 68 fish, and raised a lot of skeptical eyebrows from those who asked me how I had done. Truth is I was pulling in Grunts even when most of the others were not, but most had changed to the rigs meant for the bigger fish. We also caught some small (under the size limit) Sea Bass, Yellow Tail and Vermilion. My uncle also caught an ugly little critter - a Toad Fish that Captain Lew called a Shell Crusher, and one look at its jaws would let you know why he gave it that name. I also had a colorful little sand perch - also a throw back. Out of 68 fish that I caught, and my guess would be 30 or more that my uncle caught, we had a total of only 12 keepers. Of those 2 were Trigger Fish, 4 were Sea Bass, 4 were Yellow Tail, and 2 were Lane Snapper. Other folks caught red snapper, Mutton Snapper, a single Cobia (a throwback at 31 inches), moray eels, grouper (also throwbacks at a pretty large size), scorpion fish, and some others.

All too soon it was 1500 (3PM) and time to head back to the dock. The fish were weighed and the pool fish selected, sadly not one of ours. By the way, the woman with the actual largest fish did not win the pool, she had elected not to enter. That is why I always put up the few bucks to get into the pool. The ride back was more for snoozing than it was for talking, and I got in more than a few minutes f keeping the other fares amused with my musical snoring. Once back at the dock, the mate and the captain got to filleting fish. It is amazing how 12 good looking fish can be reduced to a pile of disappointingly small fillets in a matter of minutes; but I will admit we had a few to 5 pounds of fillets. After that it was off to home to fry some fish, well that is of course after tipping the mate. Being I was on vacation I was somewhat generous and I threw a nice tip his way for my uncle and me. I have to say, he was the best mate, and Captain Lew the best captain, that I have met on a party boat in a long time. What a nice day it was, made even nicer by these two gentlemen.

After an hour or so, we reached uncle Ken's place. We cleaned up and uncle Ken got to fish frying. He did a pretty good job too with just some salt, pepper, garlic powder and oil. Those fish were ever so delicious and Uncle Ken, Aunt Glenese and I had a small feast on about 1/3 of the fillets; saving the rest for another day.

In closing let me say that if you ever are down near Fort Pierce, and if you want to go fishing, I highly recommend the Captain Lew. A nice boat, a nicer crew, and a good time is to be had. As for the fishing, I suppose it depends, but my bet is you will catch fish. As for me, I had only one regret in three days of fishing, and that was that my son and best fishing buddy Brendan was not there with me. You can bet, if we ever get to Fort Pierce together, both of us will be going fishing with Captain Lew.

All the best,
Glenn B