Had The Day Off Today And Killed The Last Few Hours Cooking A Nice Seafood Dish...

...my own version of seafood whatchyamacallit. I was going to do this Saturday night or early yesterday and then bring it to the BBQ at Uncle Hans' house but it didn't work out. That was probably a good thing. Today was just the better day especially since I was alone (except for the 4 dogs) because I can get temperamental when I cook and no one else needs to be here when I do - it is just easier on the nerves. Didn't get that way today though for more than about 4 or 5 seconds so I must be getting better. So, as it turned out, I got one of my favorite seafood dishes done in about 3 hours and the kitchen came out looking pretty much just as clean (maybe cleaner) as before I started (which keeps the wife happy).

The dish itself is a conglomeration of several types of seafood and other ingredients. It changes a bit each time but is basically the same in its base. It contains no finned fishes or has not up through and including this time. Today's had baby octopus, squid, clams, and shrimp. I have also used cuttlefish in the past (none available this weekend). It would have also had lobster this time but the lobsters that were available on Friday both in Chinatown in NYC and at a local Korean market near my home looked poorly. It also had pork belly (cut up to about 3/4" cubes) and would also have had beef except the prices at the market where I got the seafood were out of this world for the beef. Thought I would get to the supermarket for the beef but never did. In addition to the seafood and pork, small white potatoes (and I do mean the really small ones about 1 1/2 to 3" long at most), scallions, tomato paste, a beer and a half (I used Pilsner Urquell this time), olive oil, butter, fresh parsley and fresh basil from our garden, some really-really hot pepper & garlic sauce, some Tabasco sauce, garlic powder, dried onion flakes, a lot of black pepper (freshly ground and pre-ground), salt, and Cinnamon all went into the mix at one time or another.

As for getting it from the raw to the cooked: I steam the clams open after first allowing them to sit a night or two in cool salt water, after steamed I remove them from the shells and cut into halves, I brown the meat in the butter after sprinkling well with salt, saute the octopus and squid in olive oil after liberally dousing them with some of the spices and salt, put all that into a good sized pot with almost all the other ingredients except the potatoes and shrimp, bring it to a simmer and allow it to go like that for more or less about 1 1/2 hours, then add the potatoes and keep simmering another 1 to 1 1/2 hours, then add the shrimp and allow to simmer another few to several minutes. As for the beer, a bottle of it or at least half of one goes in right away and I add more over the course of cooking as I think I need to do. I also add more spices along the way to add some more zing. I add to taste. Today I added enough of the spicy stuff, the hot pepper sauce, black pepper and Cinnamon to give it a very nice amount of heat and lasting zing without having anyone rolling there eyes, sucking it air, and grabbing for water as soon as it goes down. Zingy and hot indeed but not too hot, most of that achieved not with the hot pepper but with the black pepper (and I sometimes also add white pepper which I forgot today). Good stuff - absolutely delicious if you like seafood and well worth the effort with cleaning the clams, the squid and the octopus.

I heard recently that Octopi are smart and that within about 100,000 years they may evolve to the point where their intelligences matches that of humans today. Not if I can help prevent it, they won't. I say eat em now and stay at the top of the food chain. This is one deliciously one good way to do it. Don't take my word for it just ask my son and my wife. They both gobbled it down. Of course that could be due to the thing about the intelligence of the octopus and evolution but I tend to think it was due much more so to the flavor of it all based on the gusto with which they finished it up. My daughter was out to dinner with her beau but I am certain she will like it too - you see - while it was cooking, she was my taste tester to see if there was enough of a spicy bite to it. She tried it and I am pretty confident she liked it.

If you like your seafood in a nice spicy sauce and if you don't want to see the octopi rule the world then this is the dish for you (note it takes care of their cousins the squid too - just in case). Oh, if you have been wondering what happened to any of the left over beer, let me just say silly you for wondering.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy Independence Day - Do You Know From Whom We Sought Independence?

Happy Independence Day - may it truly be a safe day of patriotic activities for you and yours. I hope you all enjoy yourselves immensely and keep the patriotic spirit alive. Me and mine are going to Uncle Hans' place for a BBQ. He is my brother-in-law (wife's brother) and he is also a gourmet kook cook of sorts. He will be making things like: ribs (truly fall off the bone), pulled pork (his own marinade), chicken, bratwursts, and whatever else he can think of to absolutely bombard our taste buds with fireworks of a different sort. Did I say he will be making, heck he is already making them, he planned to start cooking at 6AM.

Of course, if you are in New York City, do not have access to a BBQ grill, have nothing to do today but want something to do and can get to Brooklyn - then get yourself to Coney Island and enjoy a nice day at the beach and maybe lunch at Nathan's. Get yourself a hot dog or two, a cool beverage and then sit back and enjoy the show. What show? The annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest - that is what show.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/sports/nathans-hot-dog-contest-dpgo-20100704-fc_8476358

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/news/hot-dog-chomp-ion-seeks-to-defend-title-at-nyc-contest-dpgonc-km-20100704_8477090

If you stay there into the night then you will also get to see a pretty spectacular fireworks show. As for fireworks, please be careful if you are setting any off. There has already been one tragic accident up this way, see here:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/03/police-new-york-man-blows-arm-party-fireworks/?test=latestnews.

Now, for your amusement and mine, let me ask you a question that some pollster asked a large number of folks as per Fox News reporting just a couple of moments ago:

From whom did the 13 Colonies declare independence on this day - July 4 in 1776? (Actually 12 of 13 original colonies declared independence. The NY delegate was forced to await instructions from the NY Provincial Government before voting for or signing the the Declaration of Independence. This was due to the invasion of NYC and NY's provincial government having to flee the city thus not being able to review revisions to the Declaration that had just been made. The NY government did not reconvene until July 10, 1776. Therefore NY's delegate to the Continental Congress, not having authority to vote on the Declaration or to sign it, abstained from doing so until July 11, 1776 and then voted yes and signed the Declaration Of Independence once approval was received from the reconvened NY Provincial Government.)

Now back to the question - no, I am not kidding, that is my question, or that was the question that Fox reported on.

I suppose at least 99% of my American readers would get it right if not 100%. The thing is though, as reported by Fox News, only 74% of Americans who were asked it got the right answer. Another 20% were unsure as to from which country we declared our independence.
Finally, 6% actually got it wrong with at least one person saying China and one or more saying Mexico.

Heaven help us! Happy Independence Day and by the way - if you do not know from whom we declared our independence on this day - just ask someone wearing an American flag shirt, pin or cap. I am sure they will let you know.

All the best,
Glenn B

Thanks for the flag: http://foxtrotters.tripod.com/animate.htm

Ballseye's Gun Shots 75 - A Little Gun Cleaning Was Overdue...

...so I pulled the mil-surp rifles out of the gun cases. Whoops - did I actually forget them inside the cloth gun cases for the last 2 weeks since I shot them last. I usually clean em pretty quickly after shooting em, this time I let them sit around for weeks! Not that it usually matters much with non-corrosive ammo that I have been shooting through them lately but this time I just forgot all about them and left them in soft gun cases. That was a mistake. Pay attention now, because if you do then you can learn a lesson at my expense due to my mistake.

When I pulled em out of he cloth gun cases to give them a quick once over I found that the Russian Model 91/30 Mosin Nagant had some surface rust, just a smidgen and not much to worry about but almost all my fault. Why? Well, because those cloth gun cases are absolute moisture magnets and this is summer and they were in my basement and the humidity up this way is pretty high and it does not take all that much difficulty to connect the dots to figure out why it was my fault. Then, I did say almost all my fault. Part of it is due to the age of the rifle and the condition it was in when I bought it. It had surface rust then that I cleaned off and so it is prone to rust easier than if had not ever been in that condition. Of course, if I had removed it from the case, cleaned and oiled it, right away, it would not have rusted again - so I suppose know it is all my fault after all. Whatever, it is okay now. Nothing a little rubbing with a cloth with some Breakfree CLP on it would not cure and nothing that some of the same, along with removing it from the cloth gun case after shooting it next time, will not prevent.

The other two rifles pictured, the Hungarian M44 Mosin Nagant and the Yugoslavian M24/47 Mauser were okay. I am fondling holding the Mauser.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - The U.S. Constitution Is Born

I don't mean that the U.S. Constitution was thought of today for the first time, nor that it was framed today, but that today, July 2, in 1788, was the day the Congress of the Confederation (our initial government acted under the Articles of Confederation of independent states) learned that the New Hampshire ratifying committee had reconvened and had ratified the Constitution. Thus, nine states had then ratified the Constitution and that was all that was needed to make it the law of the land. It was adopted as such on this day in 1788. Of course, other states ratified it later, but it had become the law of the land as of this date, July 2, 1788. The Congress of the Confederation then started a committee to implement the new Constitutional Government. Our Constitution is the oldest working actual constitution in the histroy of the world.

References:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_history.html

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

http://www.barefootsworld.net/constit9.html

All the best,
Glenn B

Want To Help The Economy - Then Quit Your Job & Collect Unemployment Insurance

Now, while the title of this piece may seem far fetched to each and everyone of you who reads it it makes absolute sense as per things said in a recent speech made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosis within recent days. Well that is dependent, of course, upon whether or not what Speaker Peolsi made any sense at all that, regarding unemployment insurance, it "...creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name". The quote is in context of the rest of her speech. So, why don't we all just quit our jobs and go on unemployment if she is right and why isn't the economy getting better and the number of jobs being filled actually going up as more and more people find themselves on unemployment lines. Could you imagine what would have been the outcry across the MudSlingingMedia and the leftist community had GWB said this!

Listen to the rest of what she had to say then decide for yourself about her statements and her intelligence. As for me, I think unemployment benefits are a good thing to help folks out, but also believe they should be limited in duration and that people should truly need to prove they have been actively seeking employment, of any legal type, in order to keep receiving them during their duration. As for Speaker Pelosi, she once again has shown herself to be, in my opinion, a blithering idiot. She is probably the most idiotic politician I have ever seen in my lifetime even though she has been getting some stiff competition from other politicians lately.



I have got to wonder, how on earth does she keep getting reelected!

All the best,
Glenn B

She Will Only ENFORCE The Constitution and The Laws...

...and all I can say is that means we are in big trouble. Please watch the video and pay careful attention to how she answers the questions or how she sidesteps them. Listen to her every word, then read what I have to say below and ask yourself, is she fit to be sitting on the highest court of our land?



We are in trouble not only because Elena Kagan sidesteps questions asked of her during her confirmation hearing, and not only because thinks she only need concern herself with laws and or rights enumerated within the constitution and thereby the implication that she can ignore the Declaration of Independence, not only that she thinks her job "as a justice is to enforce the Constitution and the laws", not only that by that quoted statement she shows she is blatantly unaware or simply ignoring separation of powers clause of the Constitution, not only that the senator questioning her based his argument solely on the Declaration of Independence apparently himself ignorant of the Bill of Rights (the import of which I will mention below), but that she - a nominee for Supreme Court Justice - apparently does not think that part of her job is to help protect our rights as outlined by our Founding Fathers in the documents that are the basis of all of our laws.

Don't either of these political dimwits realize that there is a very important, even critical document, within the collection of laws of the United States of America called the Bill of Rights? Do they not realize that within the Bill of Rights are amendments that were passed into law by the founding fathers, the same founding fathers for the most part who were responsible for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Do neither of them know that the reason they included the Bill of Rights is explained in the preamble to the bill? They should know it and so should you:

"THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent starts of its institution."

Did the Senator doing the questioning exhibit his own ignorance by not confronting Supreme Court Justice Nominee Elena Kagan with the Constitution and with the Bill of Rights (part of the Constitution by way of amendment)? I would think he was on the right track by reminding her that we, as stated within the Declaration of Independence, have certain unalienable rights but I would also say that as she made every attempt to sidestep actually answering his question. He should have then confronted her with the Bill of Rights and asked her if that was also something she would protect (or as she said "enforce") - she could not have sidestepped that. It was a very, very important point that the senator failed to make and one by which he most assuredly would have shown that Kagan has little grasp of Constitutional Law and is therefore unfit to sit as a Justice of the highest court in the land.

Why do I make such a strong statement, in my opinion, as to her lack of suitability. Because she tried to skirt around the issue and as she made every attempt not to say whether or not she believed it would be her job as Supreme Court Justice to defend other rights than those enumerated within the Constitution, or if we even had such rights, those rights she would need to concern herself with as Supreme Court Justice but rights not enumerated within the law such as the example given by the Senator from the Declaration of Independence. Most importantly she failed to acknowledge that she understands that such rights are most definitely and specifically mentioned and protected within the law, within one of the most basic documents of our law - the Bill of Rights. I, of course, an making reference to the 9th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America as found within the Bill of Rights:

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Her answer to the Senator should have been an immediate 'Yes Senator, I most assuredly do believe that the people retain certain inalienable rights that have not been enumerated within the Constitution or other laws and it will be my job to protect those rights of the people...'. But alas, she is obviously either unaware of the 9th Amendment or, and this is the scary part, she is aware of it and unwilling to make judicial decisions based upon it and therefore is willing to ignore it and to ignore our rights! The 9th Amendment is one of the most important amendments contained within the Bill of Rights because it acknowledges that we the people have rights that are so basic they were not mentioned within the Constitution yet that lack of enumeration of them is no reason for us to lose them and that government is restricted from stripping those rights from us. Imagine that - a government actually realized it was fallible and could not possibly enumerate every right we have and actually wanted to protect those rights and actually did something to protect them! While imagining that, realize this - there was only one government in the world that thought so much of 'we the people' to acknowledge that very important point, and only one government in the world that put it into law to protect its people and now we are considering a nominee for the highest court of our land, a nominee who apparently has no clue that we have such rights or that the 9th Amendment says we have them.

I, in my personal capacity as a free citizen, urge you to contact your elected officials with Congress and oppose her confirmation as Supreme Court Justice.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Russians Are Coming...

...or have already arrived as can be witnessed by the arrests of several alleged Russian Spies Agents earlier this week right here in the good old U.S.A.. It is almost like the cold war never ended, well were any of really that naive to believe that it had ended just because the USSR fell and broke into smaller commie-like countries. Russia remains a major player as far as world powers go so shame on us if we were not on our toes for several years now. We probably have to worry about them more now, what with the deplorable conditions in the world's economy than we have had to for many a year now because not only does their economy such but so to does every one's - and that often has led to war.

Back to the alleged Russian spies agents; I think they are everywhere and that they have covers for themselves that you may find hard to believe. Then again I am a federal agent and I assure you they are sneaky bastards. Just yesterday, one of them, in a darned good disguise, tried to sneak into my very own home thinking that she would not be recognized for the Russian Spy that she is. No, I am not kidding. She was brought to my home by a friend who introduced her to me as Mr. something or other. Bear in mind now, I just said she was introduced as Mister something or other, I cannot remember the name probably because I knew it had to be bogus just as I knew he was a she. Those Russian and their steroids, still must be using them on their woman and while maybe not on their Olympic athletes then still on their spies. This babe was beefy for her kind and therefore probably easily mistaken for a male as opposed to a female. But I caught her, I am not a trained investigator for nothing. Of course, I did not tip my hand to her, I am not letting on to her that I know the real deal. A little bit of counter espionage is at work here, the least I can do for my country - don't ya think.

For now, this alleged Russian Spy Agent has been getting comfortable in my home, which is in fact her new home. She seems to have settled down pretty well in her first day here, is already enjoying the sunlamp, is eating our food, and has been lazing about and taking it easy on the futon in our finished basement. My wife and kids have not met her yet, she is playing herself up to be on the shy side but I am sure they will soon come to realize that this foreigner from the eastern-bloc has taken up residence in our home. As for me, I am making believe I like her to see what I can get out of her. She has been keeping pretty quiet though, probably trying to lull me into a feeling of complacency before she starts gathering information and sending it back to the Motherland. I'll keep an eye on her. Even though she does not look like she could make a fast get-away you can never trust these Russians they use great disguises, like trying to look just like a Russian Tortoise. So for now she is being kept under house arrest. If she behaves as she should and seems healthy enough, well then she will at least get some outside privileges in our back yard under natural sunlight with our other foreign spies tortoises.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ignorance Personified...

...or maybe I should just say that what you will see, if you watch the embedded video, is a very stupid County Supervisor trying to give her side of why she does not support Arizona's Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB1070).

Yet despite her ignorance, as seen in this video, she reportedly is: "Chairwoman of the Health and Human Needs Committee, a member of the Economic & Community Development and Finance & Audit Committees". (1) In addition she reportedly serves on: "...the Latina Resource Center Advisory Board, Sports Authority Planning Council, Health Care Policy Task Force, Milwaukee Center for Independence Board of Visitors, Kosciuszko Community Center Advisory Board and Esperanza Unida Board of Directors; she is Co-Chair of the Side Side National Night Out Planning Committee as well as the Cesar E. Chavez Drive Advancement Committee". (2) Finally, she is also reported to serve on the Executive Committee of the Milwaukee Democratic Party (3); maybe this last one explains why - despite her reported interest in Mexican history she was unaware of a very important geographical fact about Arizona and Mexico. Watch the video and be amazed. My guess is she learned about geography and international affairs at the same school where someone else learned that the U.S. of America has 57 states.

Of course, it is not merely her apparent ignorance that is of concern, just listen to her speak and tell me what point exactly is it that she is trying to make. I'd bet you can guess at it but nowhere do you really hear her make a point except that maybe if it was one way as opposed to the way she incorrectly thinks it is then she might think about it twice. It is a befuddling speaking session to say the least. How she ever got put into her positions of authority and responsibility are beyond my comprehension.

Yep folks, just keep voting people like her into office, it will solve all of our problems with Immigration if only because we will be taken over by Mexico muy rapido.

All the best,
Glenn B

References: 1-3: http://tucsoncitizen.com/the-cholla-jumps/2010/06/24/county-supervisor-peggy-west-dumbest-poltician-east-of-the-mississippi/

Today In History - U.S. Air & Naval Forces Ordered To Korea - Are We Repeating One Of The Great Mistakes Of That War Today

On June 25, 1950, 90,000 North Korean troops, using Russian tanks and weaponry, attacked South Korea. The Korean Conflict had begun. On June 25 the UN, in an emergency session called for a cease to the hostilities and demanded that the North Koreans pull back to the 38th Parallel - a division of Korea that had been in effect since the Yalta Conference near the end of WWII.

On June 27, 1950, U.S. President Harry Truman announces to the world that he has ordered U.S. Naval and Air Forces to Korea to help defend a nation from communist takeover. This meets with resounding approval from Congress and the American People but war is not declared and Truman does not ask for a declaration of war.

On June 28th the UN approves a resolution to use force against North Korea.

On June 30, within 5 days of the commencement of the invasion, Truman commits U.S. ground troops to the conflict.

On July 8, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur is named is named as the commander of all UN forces in Korea. Of course the U.S. troops are the major part of those UN forces.

In October 1950, the early advances and victories by US led UN forces were threatened by the entry of Chinese Communist troops into the conflict on the side of North Korea. UN forces retreat.

General MacArthur, in early 1951, openly defies President Truman's war policy by threatening to bomb China. Truman was fearful that an attack on China would bring the Soviets into the war. He fires MacArthur.

By May 1951 the North Koreans and Chinese forces have been pushed back to the 38th Parallel and this point is basically held for about the next two years while negotiations are ongoing to put an end to the fighting.

The armed hostilities cease, on or about July 27, 1953 when an armistice is achieved on that day.

Obviously though, the hostilities (both cold and hot - such as the recent torpedoing of a S. Korean ship by the North) continue today with the North Korean government remaining a self avowed enemy of South Korea, the U.S.A. and of freedom. It is one of the most oppressive and totalitarian regimes of all times.

Lest you think none of this important today, think of current totalitarian regimes and how they could possibly throw us into another similar conflict. Countries such as North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Venezuela (and groups like the Taliban) all come to mind. The result of an alliance formed between these little countries & groups might be that a larger country or two - such as Communist China and Russia - might again lend aid to be used against the United States and her allies. The next time we have a MacArthur telling our president to bomb an enemy into destruction - maybe we should listen. It might save lives today, in the long run, much as it may have done back then. As it stood, here is a list of the casualties of the Korean Conflict - a war that was not left to the generals and from which one of the best generals ever was fired:

UN FORCES BY COUNTRY

United States:
36,516 dead (including 2,830 non-combat deaths)
92,134 wounded
8,176 MIA
7,245 POW

United Kingdom:
1,109 dead
2,674 wounded
1,060 MIA or POW

Turkey:
721 dead
2,111 wounded
168 MIA
216 POW

Canada:
516 dead
1,042 wounded

Australia:
339 dead
1,200 wounded

France:
300 KIA or MIA

Greece:
194 KIA
459 wounded

Netherlands:
123 KIA

Philippines:
112 KIA

Belgium:
106 KIA

New Zealand:
33 KIA

South Africa:
28 KIA and 8 MIA

Luxembourg:
2 KIA

Total: 778,053
***************

COMMUNIST FORCES

North Korea:
215,000 dead
303,000 wounded
120,000 MIA or POW

China (Official data):
114,000 killed in combat
34,000 non-combat deaths
380,000 wounded
21,400 POW

China (U.S. estimate):
400,000+ dead
486,000 wounded
21,000 POW

Soviet Union:
282 dead
Total: 1,187,682-1,545,822

CIVILIAN LOSSES

South Korea:
990,968 total
373,599 killed
229,625 wounded
387,744 abducted/missing

North Korea:
1,550,000 (est.)

Total civilians killed/wounded:
2.5 million (est.)

Hopefully we can avoid another such conflict but if we become engaged again, as we already are now in Afghanistan, we should leave the military matters mostly to the generals. We civilians should need to carefully select the generals, then let the generals fight the wars to their ends as quickly as possible. We need to be opposed to tolerating war that is not allowed to be fought because of ludicrous political policy and thereby resulting in escalating casualties of our troops. We also need to be intolerant of elected officials who fumble their way through not only the prosecution of war but through the entirety of their elected terms as they try to find someone on whom to pin the blame for anything and everything. We do not need to determine whose asses need to be kicked, we need to get the job done first whether it be sealing off a leaking oil well or fighting a war. The asses that need to be kicked goals that need to be achieved are obvious, or should be, to anyone. In the case of an oil well leak, the top priority should be stopping the leak - or proverbially kicking the oil leak's ass. We can worry about name calling, looking tough with sleeves rolled up and finding fault later. The whole world is willing to help us but we keep turning them down because we are busy looking for someone on whom to pin the blame, an ass to kick, instead of solving the problem.

In war, the whole objective is kicking your enemy's ass, while not getting your own kicked; Washington knew it (American Revolution), Jackson knew it (War of 1812), Grant Knew it (Civil War), Patton knew it (WWII), MacArthur knew it (WWII & Korean War). We don't have to find out whose ass to kick, we already know the enemy or should know them and the enemy is not the U.S. Military.

In Afghanistan what we need to do is put on a political show by rolling up our sleeves get tough, really tough and kick some ass now! Otherwise we ought to get our boys and girls out of harm's way pronto with an immediate pull-out, just as most of the world eventually pulled out of Iraq when that one was being dragged on and on and on with mounting casualties every day - that is until we decided to actually fight that war. If we choose keep the Afghanistan war going, for even one day longer or one casualty more, then we ought to allow the generals to kick our enemies' asses, kick em hard and kick em now.

All the best,
Glenn B

References:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

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

Ballseye's Gun Shots 74 - More Glock Training

I did it again, I just signed up for another Glock Training course. This time it is their 3 day Instructor Workshop. Yes, I am already registered for the NRA Pistol/Shotgun Law Enforcement Instructor Development School in Las Vegas this coming October, so maybe you find yourself wondering why I just signed up for the Glock Instructor Training as well. I look at it this way, the Glock training is additional instructor training from a different point of view than that of the NRA which in my mind just makes my training more diverse and well rounded and therefore so much the better. It is also a great substitute if for some reason I cannot make the NRA course. Finally it is a training opportunity that offers something the NRA course does not - a lifetime certification. With the NRA course a student gets certified for only 3 years (used to be 5 years). Whatever, I figure the additional training and certification cannot hurt. I plan to use it to help myself earn some income once I retire (which most probably will be next year).

As for the NRA course, the one for which I registered will be in Las Vegas. Attending that course has been a dream of mine for years. That is going to be a nice trip that I thought I would be making with my wife and I reserved a nice suite at Mandalay By Hotel for us. She has since backed out, so maybe I'll stay at the Hooters resort in Vegas when I get there (only kidding dear - yeah right)! As for the Glock Instructor Workshop, it is going to be held in Hempstead, NY - less than 4 miles from my home and all of a 10 to 12 minute drive away. My only cost will be the $350 course fee and 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammo. (I will ask work for the ammo but am none too hopeful about getting it.) All in all, the Glock Training is going to cost more than I feel good about spending right now after having almost totally depleted my bank accounts last month to buy a new car for cash but this training may well be worth it if it will help me earn a few bucks now and again once I retire. I have to look at it that way, as an investment in my future, and spend the money with the hope of earning a good return on my expenditures over the long haul. That is the same way I am looking at the Las Vegas trip for the NRA training even though that trip is really an extravagance - but it is also a long overdue vacation even if it will be sort of a working vacation.

There were only 2 slots available for the Glock Training and I am hopeful I got my registration in before anyone else getting who may have tried at the last moment like me. I am pretty confident because as soon as I registered the available slots went from 2 to 1. To tell the truth, I came across this opportunity while looking for something else on the Glock training site. Sort of a fluke I suppose but okay by me. I jumped at the opportunity. For the life of me, I do not know how I missed seeing this Instructor Workshop when I registered for the Armorer's course that I took at the end of May. Oh well, I saw it tonight, got my sights lined up, and pulled the trigger. Hopefully I can get the time off from work - usually that is no problem. The course will run from July 14 through the 16, 2 1/2 days of Paradise as far as I am concerned.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sheepherding It Ain't

The tortoises are two Hermann's Tortoises and three Red Foot Tortoises. The dog is Roxie. By the way Roxie was looking at the camera, I think she had it figured that she isn't a sheep dog and those other critters are not a flock of sheep. Of course that does not mean she does not have the herding instinct just as the tortoises have the instinct to get a move on; it was kind of funny how they all decided to go in the same direction for the most part. Where they were going was no mystery to me or maybe I should say where the big female Hermann's Tortoise was going was no mystery. She was headed over toward the shade under some bushes in the corner of our backyard. After all it was about 85 degrees outside, hotter in the sunlight, and they appreciate a nice cool spot to lay over until it cools down a bit.

The Hermann's Tortoises headed for the same spot. The smaller and younger Red Foot Tortoises spread out a bit but headed, more or less, in the same direction but pausing to nibble on grass and weeds along the way and so lagged behind. Roxie kept with the Hermann's Torts almost as if she was pushing the flock in that direction. I know it was probably more curiosity than anything but I also have to wonder if there was any of the Shepard's instinct in her.

I mean just take a look at her when she realizes on of the smaller Red Foots has not kept up with the rest of them. She breaks away from the rest of them and heads over to the loner to check it out to see what is up with it. Then she gingerly puts out her paw (again, I know more out of curiosity than anything else but it is nice to imagine otherwise) to see if it is okay since it somehow has upended itself and is turned over on its shell.

When she cannot quite figure out what is going on she lays down right next to it and seems to give it a concerned sniff and a nudge. I was thinking she was about to pick it up and start chewing but she didn't. She just laid there checking it out and sniffing it and nudging it a bit almost enough to make one think she was truly concerned about the little tortoise's well being. Who know, maybe that is exactly what she was doing. Maybe she really does have some of that shepherding instinct inside of her. When I think of it, that is not all too hard to believe. I would never have thought she had a pointing instinct either, until just recently when she has gone to point on toys, birds in the backyard, the other dogs, and even on a squirrel (usually she tries to catch them having caught that bad habit from our other mutt - Mimi).

At least she did not try to pick and of them up and use them as chew toys. A couple or a few years back that is just what happened when the dogs were forgotten outside while the big Hermann's Tortoise was roaming around the yard. Mimi chewed her up pretty badly, he shell still shows the scars of the grooves and holes that Mimi had gnawed into it. A lesson learned though and now I try to make sure that both the torts and dogs are out at the same time only when under a watchful eye.

Click on any of the photos to enlarge em if you want a better look at the torts or Roxie.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 73 - The Press Check - My Opinion of It

Today, on another blog, I read that the SIG Academy is apparently teaching shooters to use a press check to determine if a pistol is loaded. The following was my reply to that blog. I am posting my reply again, here, because I believe it important for shooters to avoid using the press check method as I have found that certain problems seem to be much more prevalent when shooters use this method.

I have witnessed this type of chamber check, to see if a gun is loaded, over the past several years now. It is truly a worrisome development in that checking the chamber by partly opening the slide can cause problems for the shooter later on in the form of possible malfunctions. This can happen because when you check the chamber in a manner that partially pulls the slide back, you are also partially extracting the cartridge. If the chamber is at all dirty, in some guns, then when the slide is again allowed to move forward (remember this is not with full force as when you load normally) it may not go fully into battery and may fail to fire. SIGS are notorious, in my opinion, as to how sensitive they are to fouling in the chamber that causes them to fail to go fully into battery even when the slide is allowed to slam home with full force. Why increase the risk of a round not being properly chambered by using this method that partially removes the cartridge and then that reseats it but without the full force of the slide from a fully open position. Not a good thing, I am amazed SIG trainers are recommending such a method. I also believe this method leads to failure to extract properly in some guns.

Regardless of the potential for problems, it has always amazed me that someone would want to get into the habit of checking to see the gun is loaded in this manner. I have seen shooters do it on the range during tactical courses of fire. Yep, they got so used to doing it when they loaded their guns at home, or during a qualification course, or at the office, or before going out on an operation that they actually paused – during a course of combat type fire – to check to see if a bullet chambered after combat reloading.

If you are that unsure of yourself to need to check to see if a pistol is loaded, well, there are better ways to do it. If you have a pistol lying around and are uncertain if it is loaded and you are about to holster it for carry for the day – then visually inspect it. On many, many, many types of pistols you can actually see a round in the chamber if you look closely at the ejection port. That brass color you see is not a mirage. In addition, many pistols have a loaded chamber indicator that you can both see and feel. If those choices for inspecting it are not possible then remove the magazine and with the pistol pointed in a safe direction operate the slide. If a cartridge comes out it was loaded. Now reload it – best to use a fresh round and save the ejected one for a range day. Make sure to top off the magazine after reloading it. Want to know if it is loaded now – then watch it as you let the slide go during the loading process – you can see the round being fed.

There is another way to check, if you need to determine if a pistol just actually fed a round, such as when loading at the range (not during practice combat shooting), or loading an empty pistol at home – and it is pretty much a fool proof method for those who can tell when the magazine they are using is fully loaded. You load the magazine to capacity, place it into the pistol and seat it fully, operate the slide properly, and then remove the magazine to inspect it and top it off. If you can fit another round into it, where moments ago it had been fully loaded and would not accept another round, well then it means the topmost bullet is no longer there. The reason would be because it is in the chamber of the gun you just loaded.

Let me reiterate one thing – I don’t recommend checking by any of the methods I just mentioned if you are in a combat situation. If you stop to check then you may well wind up dead. While a life or death defense situation is taking place and someone is shooting at you or otherwise attacking you, it is not the time for you to be checking to see if the pistol is loaded or not. You had better hope you got it right when you thought you loaded it before needing it in such a situation. If it winds up failing to fire then you had best be aware of the actions to take when a failure to fire occurs.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reply

Glenn B said
June 26, 2010 at 11:10 am
I forgot to add this: If you are checking to see if your pistol is unloaded never use the press check method. Instead, remove the source of ammunition (the magazine) then fully pull back the slide. If the pistol has a hold open device, use it otherwise hold it open by hand. Then use your free hand to both visually and tactilely inspect to make sure it the chamber is empty and there is no source of ammunition (a magazine).

All the best,
GB

Of course, I am certain there are a large number of firearms instructors who would disagree with me that the press check could lead to potential problems but I have also met a large number who, like me, have witnessed the number of failures to fire and failures to extract go up markedly once shooters under their watchful eyes began using the press check to determine if their guns are loaded. My opinion is this, why take the chance when there are better tried and true methods available.

All the best,
Glenn B

Something Worth Missing...

...from my time spent in Tucson, last spring and summer, is this cactus in bloom. I ran across this one on a rock outcrop on the Super Trail at Madera Canyon. Click on it to enlarge, the flower is pretty awesome as far as flowers go. It has always amazed me how plants can grow right out of cracks in bare rock but that is just what this one did; I suppose getting nourishment from whatever debris gets caught in the same crack and eventually decomposes to form a bit of soil for the cactus. If anyone knows what it is, please leave the name in a comment. Thanks.

All the best,

GB

American Express To The Rescue...

...and maybe saved me from some big headaches. Tonight, I received an automated phone call from American Express saying I should call an 800 number because of suspect activity on my account. I checked online first, saw there was a suspect activity alert on my account, then decided to call the number on the back of my card which was not the same number as that left during the automated call. I spoke to some guy, I think in Pakistan, who told me that there were 5 recent charges, like today, two for $1 each (he said probably to see if my card was active) and three to Dell Computers. One of those to Dell was for almost a thousand dollars and the other two were close to two hundred each. One of the smaller ones to Dell went through, American Express caught the other two as being suspect and did not allow them to be processed. As for the one that went through they are contesting the charge. The guy then put me through to a woman who arranged to cancel my card and send me a new one. She sounded as American as apple pie.

I went online to my Dell account and saw some software had been ordered and strangely enough sent to my actual mailing address. This made me wonder if there was some glitch on Dell's end instead of fraud. I called Dell and inquired with them and spoke to another guy in Asia who sounded Pakistani. He told me that yes someone had placed an order today or it could have been a glitch but he suspected it was an actual order. He could not find the other two order attempts, I guess because American Express would not authorize the charges. He said that once I receive the software to call them for a return label.

After that, I spent the next hour and a half changing about 75% of my passwords, including all of them that deal with any accounts through which money flows.

The really screwed up thing about this is not so much that someone, somehow, apparently got my credit card number and then used it, nor that they attempted to send something to my own home (maybe after those orders they were going to change my address with Dell), nor that somehow they maybe got my Dell account info, but that I recently got a free year of a credit security service to prevent such stuff from happening (free from work because they exposed my credit info to the world on a government PC they gave away but forgot to wipe clean) and that service did not do one thing, as far as I am aware, to protect me or my credit in this instance I imagine they will contact me sooner or later but in this case it will have been too late if and when they do get in touch. You can bet I am going to call them tomorrow too and find out why they did not catch this.

As for American Express, now I see why I pay them a fee for their card each year; well actually I already knew why just based on some contested charges in the past that they resolved for me. This added benefit was unexpected just as were those charges. They caught it and I give them the hat tip for their vigilance.

Later for you,
Glenn B

The Survivalist Blog

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog others prepare dedicated to helping for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

All the best
Glenn B

Mosque Near Site of WTC

I have watched videos by this gentleman before and liked them and so far I like this one best of all. In this video he once again makes sense about why we should oppose such things put forth by Islam. Pay particular attention to the planned name of the mosque and the history of that name. Also pay attention to when they plan to open the mosque. It is a crying shame that our politicians have bent over backwards to appease Islamists on this one. If it is built, we will have lost America and everything American that we held dear.



If you don't understand his final words in this video, "God bless the Kufar" look up the Muslim term Kafir (also Kufar or Kuffar) online. There was actually once a country called Kafiristan. It is no longer called Kafiristan because it was conquered by Muslims (which is the history of what Muslims do time and time again to a country when they enter a non-Muslim nation) and they changed the name to Nuristan after slaughtering those who would not convert (or whom they saw as the opposition) and converting most of the remainder of the population once they feared the Muslims enough to bow down to their god. Think it could not happen today or not happen here. I think it is already happening and that the conquest is well underway though only in its late early stages. I think it began here years ago, it will continue but will not happen overnight. It will take years to be achieved, but it appears as if they are trying their best to conquer us and the conquest is well under way.

We can stop it. Vote the bums, who support a mosque near the site of the WTC, out of office. Before voting them out, contact your Congressmen and women and local NY officials to oppose this mosque. You do not have to live in NY to voice your opposition, if you live out of state you can let them know something like you will never visit NYC if this mosque is erected (they would sure miss your tourist dollars).

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - People Started Swimming Less...

...a lot less in the ocean, or so it seemed to me, beginning with this day in 1975. I know for certain that I and many of my friends, though many would not admit it back then, were more afraid of swimming in the ocean than they ever had been in their lives before this day, or shortly after this day, back in 75.

The day, June 20, 1975, dawned as did any other day before it and there was not even a hint in the air that on that day a new and strong fear of the deep and what lies beneath it would be forever instilled in the hearts of millions of people like never before. You see, it was on that day and in the following weeks and months of the long hot summer of 75, that hundreds of thousands of folks, maybe even millions, sat back to relax and enjoy themselves for what would amount to just over 2 hours of entertainment in the form of that summer's newest, and biggest blockbuster, movie. Little did they realize that by the time they would have left the theater they would have had a fear, a strong fear, a lasting fear, of ever swimming in the ocean again. The movie was Jaws.

Some of the scenes in that movie mad people laugh, some got then interested in sharks and marine biology, some in WWII history, but the scenes that made the most lasting impression were those that put fear deep into your heart a fear with as powerful a grip as that of the bite of a Great White Shark. They could not have timed the release of that movie any better to have assured people would wind up afraid of the ocean and its inhabitants. At least, had it come out in the fall or early winter, I and others would have had months to get over it before going to the beach. As it worked out the season just helped build the fear even more. I got an impression from that movie that has been with me ever since, probably sunk deeply into me, like a set of shark's teeth into the swimmer, in the opening scene of the movie.



That fear remains even though I was at the beach and in the water within a few days of first seeing it. Heck, I was 19 years old going on 20 when I saw it, I had girls and friends to impress. So I made it look as if I did not have a care in the world and I sauntered down to the water's edge, somewhere in the 120's in the Rockaways, and I walked out several feet and then dove right in. I was one of the first of all my friends to do so, like I had something to prove, and maybe I did but it sure wasn't that I was not afraid. When I first stepped foot in that water and then dove under the breaking wave that was coming at me I was pretty darned scared, I heard that deep, almost rumbling, thum-thum-thum-thum music from the movie playing in my head. When I came up for air, I was still able to stand and bring my head above water and I did so and gave a rallying call and a wave to all those wussies who were still up on the sand. A couple had already joined me but most were watching, making believe they were testing to see how warm or cold was the water but it never had mattered to us before, we always had just jumped right in sometimes even in April despite the cold or because of it. This time all of them seemed apprehensive. I continued calling, waving and calling them names trying to get them in there with me, Lord knows I did not want to be out there alone or with just two other guys and then it happened. Something hit me in the calf and it had hit me pretty hard. I winced, heck I jumped, and I was just about walking on water to get out of here. Then something slammed into me again, I just about screamed but could not, probably because I was using all my energy instead to walk on water and try to see what was down there. It wasn't any of my friends, no one was near to me not even a stranger. I was scared - real scared - and I was out of there in a flash - so were were my friends when they saw me leaving. Turns out it had probably been a bluefish or two that bumped me or a baitfish fleeing from them. A school of blues had been seen in the water, by lifeguards, just beyond the breakers where I had been standing.

I was never a regular beach goer but I used to go at least a few to several times a summer with my friends back then and with my family too - that was all before Jaws. When I did go pre-Jaws, I was in the water at least as much as I was on the beach, probably more - I loved swimming. Since the day I got bumped by those fish, heck that was just a couple or three weeks at most under 35 years ago, I have hardly gone back during the summer months and I had been bumped by fish before then so what was the diffefrence? The difference was that damned movie, it had put a fear deep inside of me. Yeah, I still went to the beach sometimes but it had somehow lost its allure. When I did go, I went in the water now and then too, but never again as much as I used to enjoy it before I saw Jaws that summer day long ago. Whenever I had been hit in the leg by a fish, a piece of debris, or whatever, before I saw the movie Jaws, it may have scared me for the moment but would never have left a lasting fear. After seeing that movie though, the fear had already been set deep in my psyche and it was triggered that day, when I was in the water, by nothing I should have been afraid of. Once was enough, I never again want to imagine that I am about to be eaten by a shark like I thought that day.

It may be a silly notion, a senseless fear, even kind of ridiculous since it was instilled in me mostly because of a movie but it is one I have not been able to shake. Its not like I think about it or avoid the beach only because of it. I mostly avoid the beach because I have a bigger fear of skin cancer and sunburn with my really fair skin. I burn like a lobster is not just a saying when it comes to me and sunburn, it is the truth unless I am very careful. Same thing happens to my son. My wife and daughter take the sun much better than either of us guys. I have not even gone to outdoor pools a whole lot because of that even though I really love being in the water.

Yet, I do go to the beach now and again but the thing is I saty out of the water most of those times.I don't even go to the beach in the summer most times but in the winter or spring or fall for a walk - and i think I go then so as not to be able to swim I I was tempted to do so. Why, because I still have that fear ever since I saw jaws the first time; I am sure of it. I know that as of maybe about 6 or 7 years ago, the fear was still inside me pretty strong. I took Brendan and a friend of his and the friend's younger brother to Jone's Beach on Long Island. I kept an eye mostly on the younger guy but on the older ones too. I kept watcvhing the water for fins all around the older guys who were well beyond the breakers. Then, I was out in water, with the younger brother, about a foot or so over my waist and I kept thinking man, this is perfect shark attack depth. As the waves came in, then the undertow washed things back out to sea, each shell or piece of debris that hit my legs was something to be feared at least until I realized a shark had not gotten hold of me. It was not a terrifying fear, nothing that made me get out of the water right away but one that I am sure got me out of the water much sooner than I would have had I not been afraid. I was apprehensive, no even truly scared, about being in the water, at least in the ocean that day and in some rivers near the ocean at other times. That day with the kids, I stayed out there as long as i could and tried to have fun despite the apprehension, the fear; heck I didn't want to scare the kids nor look like a wimp to them but I admit I was scared. There is not one iota of doubt in my mind that the movie Jaws put those fears and that apprehension into me where it had never been before and where it has been there ever since. It is almost 35 years since I saw it in the first week or two after it was released. That was one heck of a powerful movie and it has made one heck of a lasting impression and planted one very scary fear inside of me.

None of that stops me from watching the movie though. In fact, I think I'll watch it tonight - I am pretty sure it will have to be on one of the FIOS channels. It was on a few nights ago and fell asleep watching it then. The fear is not so much the movie itself but what the movie put inside my head about what is in the ocean itself. Maybe next weekend, I'll go to the beach for a swim - certainly sometime of another this summer, that is if I can overcome my apprehension about it. It is easy to talk about, easy to write about, easy to view in a movie, but when it comes to actually getting in the water - it is all real apprehension. Wish me luck both with my fears and with the sharks that are often just past the surf off of the Long Island beaches at this time of year.

All the best,
GB

Happy Father's Day To All of You Dads...

...(and that includes moms, uncles and grandparents) who may have had to do double duty as Dads. Hopefully your day today is a nice one at least half as nice as mine because if that is so you are having an amazing day. This morning I was thinking about what it means to be a father, and what it means to have succeeded as one and my thoughts included some along the lines of whether or not I turned out to be a good one. I figured I must have to some extent at least turned out better at it than my own real father had been to his chilldren. While that was more than enough satisfaction for me, since my father was a total loser in the fatherhood department, I also realized there was a much better way to gauge myself than by comparison to my own father who at best was a stranger to fatherhood. The method by which I would choose to judge how good of a father I may have been is to judge how good (no I do not mean how well) my children have turned out to be, what type of young adults they have become. That is, I mean, with me having been around to: watch them grow, guide them, love them, have fun with them, worry about them, ease their fears, suffer with them, help them get better, make them feel happy, enjoy things with them, teach them, achieve goals with them, see them achieve goals on their own, be proud of them and so on all toward an end of hoping they will be better parents than I ever could have been a parent to them.

When I look at them, I know I have succeeded in the fatherhood business. Yeah, I agree, my wife takes a lot of credit there too in the parenting department, maybe more than half of it. So, I will pat the both of us the back for doing well, but Mothers' Day has past and today is Fathers' Day. Looking at it today, from that perspective, I know I have done okay, even more than okay because my children have grown up to become to fine young adults who are, for the much greater part, respectful, moral, ethical, law abiding, industrious with a good work ethic, fair minded, freedom loving Americans. Yes, they have their sometimes less than desirable traits but those, combined with the many more numerous desirable ones they exhibit, are what make them who they are. They are the best two children any parents could have as I see them and I am sure Linda would agree with me on that one. My children make the whole meaning of Fathers' Day for me. Without them I would not be a father and without them being as wonderful as they have been then all of my Fathers' Days would not have been as wonderful nor as nice as hey have been but instead all would have been just another day. Let me assure you - because of my children, Fathers' Day is not just another day for me - it is great, one of the best days of each year.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye’s Gun Shots 72 - New York State Rifle & Pistol Association

I am now a card carrying LIFE member of the NYSR&PA. Used to be that I paid dues every year, been doing that for maybe 4 or 5 or 6 years now. Last week I realized that once you hit 55 you can get a life membership at only $200. I will hit the double nickels later this year and asked them if they would allow me the reduced life member rate now. They did. Now I have to figure out how to scrounge up an extra $200 in light of my soon to be due hospital, doctor and anesthesia bills for my recent surgery that I somehow managed not to think about when spending on other things lately, other things like this membership. Those bills will amount to well over a grand with insurance taking care of the rest. I guess I won't be buying any new guns for awhile, so maybe I should be happy I just got a couple (well one keeper and one I am sending back). I suppose if I take a refund on that gun - the one going back - there will be the $200 I need for the life membership and a few bucks left over for some ammo for the gun I am keeping. It will work out somehow, otherwise I will just pay the medical bills in installments. At least I will pay as opposed to some illegal alien who might very well just get sewn up and run back across the border.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye’s Gun Shots 71 - Gun Show Report and Some Yummy Stuff Too

Night came and night passed and Insomnia and her close allies Aches and Pains, were steadfast in their loyalty to me, and kept me company throughout most all of the darkest hours. Despite not getting much sleep, or because of it, I was up at 4:30 to let the dogs outside, then once again tossing and turning while trying to grab at least an hour of silent and dreamy slumber on the couch in the basement. No luck was mine and not much sleep either and I was up and at em at by 5:30. I had a quick breakfast of a buttered roll and some OJ and just after I finished I heard someone else was up and about in the kitchen and I went to investigate. Before I could even get up off the couch, Brendan was calling down to see if I wanted bacon and eggs and some coffee. I guess he was in the domestic mood, or at least hungry, and since mom was not up he was cooking and brewing (or should I say electric dripping). I puttered around in the basement, checked my email, went up and said good morning and grabbed a cup of Joe. Mmm, not bad at all, kid likes it strong like his old man (and his mom); probably used the Sumatran French Roast.

He asked what time I wanted to leave and I said the sooner the better even though it was only about 7:00 and we had originally planned to leave at 8:00. I guess we were off by 7:10, stopped for a quick gas-up, stopped for some cash at our bank's ATM and were on the road by 7:25. We drove 38 miles, or thereabouts, and got to the Westchester County Center in White Plains at about 8:10, parked the car on the street (good thing about getting there early is free parking) and had walked around to the front of the building by 8:15. When we arrived, there were already about 10 to 12 people lounging around on the front steps of the center. We headed to the top of the stairs, stayed to the right side like the signs indicated for the gun show entry, waited behind some guy who we started talking to about guns shows and this and that and within a few to maybe 15 minutes at most others started gravitating toward us and forming a line of more or less about 20 to 25 people. As time progressed so did the length of the line. Early on it was still cool, but soon began warming up a bit and the folks on the greater part of the line were out in the sun. We had it made in the shade which was fine by me and was another advantage of being early. At about ten before nine they started to let some of us in to buy tickets but we had to wait inside another 10 minutes or so before they let us onto the selling floor. By that time the line outside was around the block, probably already had been for about 15 minutes or so.

Much as when a range master gives the command "commence fire", the line we were on inside shot forward into the convention center's main floor when we got the go ahead. It was a familiar place, I have been to many herp (reptile and amphibian) shows in the exact same room over the past several years, maybe even the past decade or more. This time though, the only snakes were Colt Pythons. As soon as we got inside both Brendan and I could see it was not a big show as gun shows go. He has been to at least one big show and me to quite a few. Still though 350 tables would be a good amount for this venue since there had not been a gun show held there for about 11 years, since Columbine and the ensuing anti-gun panic.

We were separated almost as soon as we entered, me with my measly $500 and Brendan with about $1300. He was set on buying an AR style rifle or something of a similar nature. Me, I would be happy with some ammo cans at $6 or $7 a pop and maybe some ammo. Of course, I was keeping and eye out for one or two rifles I had in mind and maybe even a Beretta Jetfire in .25 ACP. I found Brendan in short order, he was at a table buying some pre-ban AR magazines. They looked horrible, all scratched up as if someone had gone at em with a piece of concrete. They went for $15 apiece and he bought two of them.

We made our way around here and there and again were soon split up. Before we split though, I saw some pre-ban AK mags in great condition for $9.99 apiece, limit 2 mags per person. Between us we bought 4 of them. They look to be legitimate pre-bans and I find it hard to believe they were so inexpensive here in NY but that was the price. That made Brendan pretty happy. Then we split and I walked around slowly. I stopped at many tables with firearms even though I would guesstimate only about 60 to 65% had guns on them. Many had knives, some had gun or knife books, others sold war movies and documentary and shooting videos, others had ammo, but amazingly enough I did not see one table with even one piece of beef jerky for sale - what a relief. While I was strolling around looking at this and that, I came across what looked like a very nice Remington Model 8, in 35 Remington, but the guy wanted $575 for it - way too much. I was about to try to haggle when I saw that the wood just behind the tang was badly gouged, almost a deep hole with ragged edges. I just imagined that forming a crack with repeated firing and I walked away. I then looked at Nagants, Remington 870s, SKS's, a few Savage bolt action rifles, an Enfield (and I saw it had one screw where the one I got yesterday did not, so mine is definitely going to be returned), and several other guns that caught my eye. There were no ARs, no AKs and so forth to be seen. Someone told us earlier that the county would not allow sales of them at this show. Oh those evil black rifles! I figured Brendan would be disappointed. Somewhere before I found him again, I found another Remington model 8, this one for an asking price of only $450. It was in at least fine to maybe excellent blue, had really nice wood but was .30 caliber. So much for that, I only want one in .35 Remington so I was and am still looking.

When we ran into one another he was ready to split. We had been there only about an hour or so but he was very disappointed about this show because of the lack of ARs and the like. I told him I wanted to go round a second time and also wait for a couple of my friends to show up and he said "okay" but looked bored. I told him to go round again and take his time and just look at the older stuff or the tamer stuff. He did or started to. He wound up going over to a table where another dealer was selling AR mags and he bought another 8 of the pre-ban hi-cap AR mags at $100 for all 8. This guy said he had had them in storage for years disassembled and he recently put em together again. I imagine he had em apart to keep any tension off the springs though if you know mag springs that wa snot really necessary.

The next thing I knew, I ran into my friend Pete K from CT. He used to be on the job with me but retired several years ago. He told me he had been waiting on line outside since 9:30 and had been on line for about 50 minutes before getting in. Man they were really working at a snail's pace in the ticket booths, and am sure they planned it that way because the place was not crowded and Pete said there was still a big line outside. When they have other shows there, the place fills up like a damn had burst and the flood waters had come inside. We chatted it up awhile and Brendan came over to say hi then disappeared into the crowd. Then Pete glanced over and saw Richie M another friend from our job who retired a few years back. Richie had been our primary firearms' instructor. All three of us were talking up a storm when a bored looking Brendan came over to say hi to Richie. I told him I would be awhile and once we were done jaw-boning I still had a few aisles to review a second time.

When the three of us old friends split up, I made the rounds of the tables I wanted to look at again. Nothing really caught my eye. I had wanted ammo cans but at $10 to $15 apiece for .50 caliber cans all I can say is they can put sardines into em. I sure wasn't going to buy any at that price when I usually get them for $6 to $7 apiece for virtually new ones at another show. I did pick up a couple of boxes of .22 WMR for my Marlin 25MN. Brendan had joined me again just before I bought that ammo. Then we were out of there. I spent a whopping $25 on items I bought at the show. I also paid $10 a head for us to get in, I had promised him if he paid for gassing up the car, I would pay: the tolls ($5.50 each way but somewhat less because we use E-Z Pass), the admission fees (which was actually $11 a head today but I had two $1 off coupons, I think tomorrow is only $10 a head) and for lunch. Brendan, on the other hand, spent about $300 to $340 in total including about $30 for a fill up of gas for the car. He bought 2 AR mags at a total of $30 plus tax from the first dealer, 8 AR mags at a cost of $100 plus tax for all 8 from the other dealer, and at least 4 AK mags at a total of $40 plus tax. That does not work out to anywhere near $340 - does it? Hmm, he had been looking at red dot sights earlier but I thought I talked him out of buying a brand we had never heard of before. Whatever else he purchased, it was none too big. He only left the place with two or three fairly small plastic bags of booty. When I track him down later, I will try to pry it out of him.

We left, and once on the highway we were immediately in heavy traffic. That lasted about 10 minutes or so, not bad, and we were on the move. On the way home I thought of our old neighborhood and a butcher and a baker and a restaurant therein. We made a detour and stopped at Rudy's Pastry Shop in Ridgewood on Seneca Avenue first. I remember this place from way back when I was a teen and maybe even from when I was younger. They bake great German style pastries, cakes, strudels, cookies and so on. I picked up 8 Linzer Torte at a whopping $18 total. Linda loves em, Celina and Brendan love em, and I just devour them. I suppose since I have not had them in so long, it was easy to break my vow not to go to this particular bakery anymore after getting a snooty attitude from one of the counter-women there a couple of years ago. Time and a hankerin' for yummy things overcome all grievances and Rudy's is truly too good to stay away from forever. Click on the name/link above, read the story, look at the pics; in the second pic down, look at the counter in the center top shelf, to your left side of that counter as you face it. See those large sugar powder covered cookies with the raspberry centers - those are the wonderfully tasty Linzer Torte. They were on that same shelf today when I bought mine.

Then we made our way to the butcher, Morscher's Pork Store on Catalpa Avenue, another old time establishment that has been there for years. (Nice to see they have their own website.) It is just down the block and across the street from Miraculous Medal RC Church. I went in with a few things on my mind but one in particular that I wanted pretty badly - Swine Fleisch (aka pig flesh or in this case pork tenderloin - a fairly fatty cut so it roasts nicely in the oven and the only thing they even think of when you tell them you want Swine Fleisch despite them having lots of pork for sale). Another $26 bucks just for that and another $22 for a small liverwurst, some gelb-wurst (gold or yellow wurst - a bologna like treat not really gold or yellow but in a yellow or golden wrapper tasting like bologna but a along the lines of a mildly, that is very mildly, spiced wurst), 8 bratwursts (made by Morscher's because we will have none of that Johnsonville Brat crap stuff for us) and some Lithuanian bread. In all, another $48 bucks spent to help the economy. Then we were off to sate our appetites.

We made our way from the bakery in Ridgewood, to the butcher on the Ridgewood/Glendale border, into central Glendale to one of our favorite restaurants Zum Stammtisch on Myrtle Avenue. Excellent food, great service, and absolutely wonderful bier. Today I took a break from the bier because I was driving but we had some truly good food. Brendan had the Jagerschnitzel and I had 2 Krainerwursts. Not what I expected in a Krainerwurst, nothing like what I am used to at all, but darned tasty anyhow. I ordered them at the restaurant because I forgot to buy a few at the butcher. The ones the butcher sells are to die for, well almost and I only say 'almost' because I don't want to tempt fate. I guess they are made differently by different butchers so the big difference but as I said they were pretty tasty at the restaurant too. They went just fine with sauer kraut and kartuful salat. Brendan's was just fabulous judging by how he went at it and what he said. We left satisfied, well I still could have used a bier but sure did not need one, so a diet coke had to do. That hit me up for another $48 plus an $8 tip.

Not long after that we were home and I was happy not to have to spend another dime. Still - what I spent was well worth the day out I had with Brendan, and will have been well worth the fun we will have shooting using what we bought today, and the meals that the family will enjoy together with the things from the butcher and bakery. When I got home and Linda came downstairs, I surprised her with the bag of goodies from the butcher and surprised her even more when I gave her the bag from the bakery with the smiley face on it and I told her enjoy and have a nice day. She immediately knew what was inside telling me they were Linzer Torte (or as I often call them - Lindser Tarts) and smiling big time when I handed them to her. Maybe for dessert tonight, but more likely at breakfast tomorrow, they will be devoured with nary a crumb left behind. I am pretty sure I'll have at least 1 tonight - I can hardly ever wait til the next day for these delectables.

All the best,
Glenn B

PS: Those bratwurst were nice and tasty tonight when I grilled em. We then had the Linzer Tortes for dessert after the BQ tonight. They made the dinner!

PPS: I destroyed two of the AR mags tonight. After we got home, we realized that the scratched up ones may have had a date code indicating manufacture in 2008. Not 100% certain on that but did not want to risk any problems so I took out the springs, followers and base plates, then hammered away at the mag bodies until they were useless hunks of metal. Threw em in the trash and will keep the springs if needed as repalcements for the pre-ban mags that we did get. If the place was closer to home, and if it would not cost another $7 in gas, about $10 in tolls and the headache of trying to get back into the show without being charged again, I would have gone back for a refund and to ream the dealer out with a size 12 (figuratively speaking of course).