What is it with Snarky, Snarkiness, Snarkier, Snark, etc.?

Perhaps it will be just a short lived fad but I have to say for some reason, unbeknownst to me, the incessant use of the word snarky and its derivatives, by some bloggers, simply repels me. For some reason it seems like akin to like the whole like Valley Girl talk type thing of the 70s (or was it the 80s) or maybe of the all to oft repeated use of the phrase 'you know' after everything someone says, you know.

The word was a new one to me when I first saw it, so I looked it up in an online dictionary. When I first saw it, it seemed appropriate in how it was used. Then I saw it again and again and again and again on certain cliquish gun blogs as if was the new buzz word for those among firearms bloggers who wanted to kiss each others' behinds to make each other seem cool through its overuse. Oh pahleeeeze, like don'cha know like what I mean, like can't ya just fergedaboudet, like cuz it's grodee to the max, like wow, like ya know baby gag me with a snarky spoon.

All the best,
GB

My Blog Has Been Blacklisted...

...but not to worry as this blacklist seemingly is a good one called The Gun Blog Black List. Basically, it is a list, or blog roll, of gun bloggers. Not a bad thing from what I can see, since my blog appears linked on that site's blog roll, I guess it will give me a larger audience. That does not do anything for me personally but does get my blog out there for more to see and thus potentially passes on any firearms related info I have posted to more folks.

So, I am adding that one to the blog roll and I am also adding another blog, North, both blogs are run by the same person and both deal with firearms related topics among other things.

All the best,
Glenn B

Where Have All These Bloggers Gone?

Nope, that was not a rhetorical question. I am really wondering why all of the folks, whom I am about to mention, have not blogged in such a long while. Let's see, from the blogrolls on the right side of my blog page, there are several bloggers who have not blogged in a week, others who have not blogged in weeks, and others who have not blogged in a month or months, some coming close to a year.

The Breda Fallacy - 6 days ago (close enough to a week to be included here)

Double Tapper - 2 weeks

Gun Pundit - 2 weeks ago

Federal Review - 2 weeks ago

Do Over - three weeks

Lead Chuckers Blog - 1 month

Dakota Ranger - 1 month ago (and when I bring up his blog, the page stays there only a moment and then switches to an add for some sort of blog rolling.

The Law Dog Files - 1 month ago

Parallax Adjustment - 2 months ago

NY Firearms - 3 months ago

Heartless Libertarian - 3 months ago

Dog Snot Diaries - 8 months ago

Upland Feathers - 10  months ago

Rucking Fidiculous - 10 months ago

Now granted, it is the end of the summer. maybe some folks took a late vacation, maybe some are going back to school, maybe some just have the end of summer blues but yet, maybe some have writer's block, or maybe some of the above are just sick of blogging. Most of those reasons to stop blogging probably would be temporary from what I can tell about those bloggers, or so one would hope. Yet, I am also fearful that maybe some have stopped blogging altogether and forever since it has been way too long since we have been graced by their writings by way of their blogs. I am hopeful, in the case of those, of you mentioned above, who have been absent from blogging for many months or more, that you are all in good health and that someday you will return once again to your keyboards and grace us with your written words concerning your: interesting personal stories, wit and humor, knowledge on this subject or that, your political views, your interpretations of world events, your local stories, and on and on. I miss you all and am sure that others do too.

All the best,
Glenn B

Just So Friggin Tired...

...and I just had the thought that perhaps I will have to blog later this evening - after a nice nap for an hour or two. Then I thought: "If I wait, I will put it off again and I have been putting it off, that is putting off blogging about it, for too long". I found out on August 2nd, which so far has to have been one of, if not the, worst day(s) of my life.

I have been really out of it lately, seems everything makes me tired. Had a doctor, over the course of about the last year, telling me virtually all my problems with feeling tired, having sore throats and such were due to sleep apnea. Well, now I have a CPAP machine and I use it every night and I am still rundown every day. That doc told me she had ruled out everything that could be making me feel fatigued so it had to be due to sleep apnea. She was adamant! She even told me that same thing, one day when I went there to complain about insomnia keeping me awake and thus me feeling run down. She would not hear it, or at least she did not want to hear it, that is just about anything I said that might indicate I had something else causing my problems other than apnea. Same thing when I complained repeatedly about a sore throat and swollen glands. On one office visit, her nurse saw a lesion at least half the size of a dime on my tonsil. The doc told me my tonsils were red from snoring, then took a rapid strep test and a flu test that were negative, then gave me some antibiotics to cure what I do not know because I know that antibiotics do not cure apnea. Of course though, the doc again said that apnea was the cause of my ills, even the sore throat (she said my glands were not swollen although both I and her nurse/assistant thought they were so). She said she had ruled out everything else possible - her diagnosis was fatigue due to apnea and a sore throat due to snoring, or so she told me.

Oh well, I saw her a few to several times, over the course of a year or more, and she basically told me the same thing each time, even when she might also have admitted I may have been ill from something else too, that sleep apnea was making me tired and run down and it was the root cause of my ills. Turns out it was something else, something else really different. She was a real asshole in my opinion. You see, I saw another doctor in her office who found what was likely the problem because she: looked at my chart/file, listened to me about sore throats, swollen glands, feeling run down, and listened to me asking if maybe a cyst I had removed in May 2010 was recurring. She sent me for an MRI of my neck. She paid attention to me and to my symptoms, apparently in opposition to the other doctor.  The second doc agreed with me, maybe the cyst came back or a new one had formed. Then the MRI. Then the diagnosis - cyst like formations in the right side of my neck, at least 4 of them. As for the apnea, there is probably no way possible that it caused my medical problem, the one that the second doctor was responsible for discovering. On the other hand, it is possible that my medical condition worsened my apnea. 

Then more tests, then a definitive diagnosis. Now I am about to receive treatment for what has ailed me. Hopefully, now that they found out what is wrong with me, they will cure it. It is very likely though that it will be a long while before I am feeling better, or so they tell me. The docs said they are going to make me feel worse first. Yep, they said they will make me feel a lot worse before I feel better again, oh joy! Sometimes the cure seems worse than the disease and they are promising me this cure is going to be terrible but are not promising it will work - just giving me a very good chance.

The plan is that they are 'going to cook my neck', is what one doctor told me and my wife. He said it will be 'like a Thanksgiving Turkey' and 'it is going to be so bad I will want to give up'! Another doc told me "I am going to knock the hell out of you" and said it would be "extremely intensive". At the same time, they are going to fill me up with some cocktails to make me feel even worse, but what is a turkey unless you baste it while you cook it? It's going to be seven weeks of radiation at 5 days per week and three 2 day chemo sessions in that seven week period. Then, as they were kind enough to inform me, I will continue to cook from the radiation for a couple to a few weeks!

They also said to expect physical damage from the treatment - maybe permanent, otherwise to at least expect damage lasting years, possibly to my hearing, my salivary glands, my swallowing ability, my taste buds and so on. One doc told me and Linda that I am 'in for the fight of my life' and 'it will be the most difficult thing I have ever done' but that 'I have to not give up and have to show up every day for treatment no matter how harsh'. I told them to bring it on; right now it seems better than the alternative. Time will tell as to how I feel after a few weeks of it, if I am still that fighter.

My black cloud sucks, it is a nasty thing, but I must say it has impeccable timing when it comes to fucking things up for me. There I was, all ready to retire in December, and now this mountain is in front of me, blocking my path, with a big C emblazoned on its face. Cancer sucks but I plan to give it a sucker punch. They found it in the lymph nodes. The docs think it started in my right tonsil and that I have had it for at least several months maybe more than a year, one even seemd to imply maybe the cyst that was removed from my neck was cancerous but the tests then showed it was benign yet nasty - so maybe I just imagined his implication but I think it was plain. They think it has been there a good long while because it has spread extensively in the lymph nodes in the right side of my neck. I have to wonder - is there is a friggin conspiracy against me ever having it really easy in life? Then again, I guess life would not have been as satisfying and enjoyable had I lived it on easy street, nor the rewards as sweet had they been easily won!

As the man in black (was he dressed in black or inside of a black cloud) sang:

Well, I've had all that I've wanted of a lot of things I've had

and a lot more than I needed of some things that turned out bad.

Man - if that ain't the truth!

All the best,
Glenn B

It Is A Fine Late Summer's Morning...

...the skies are a hazy blue, the sun is doing its best to shine through and doing well enough at it warm the air sufficiently so as to stir the breeze adequately, now and again, so that my ears are amply filled with the amazingly soothing music of our garden's wondrous wind chime. I just finished a late but simple breakfast on the backyard patio consisting of corn rye toast with butter and red raspberry preserves, OJ and a black coffee. Then I collected some greens, tomatoes and flowers from the yard and fed my baby tortoises with it. After that I fed the fish and then remembered I have to gather some worms to feed the turtle, salamanders, newts and frogs. Before hunting down and gathering up the worms, I grabbed the laptop PC, took it outside and sat down to write this for a momentary distraction. It was a pretty blissful Saturday morning.

Yes, I said it was a pretty blissful Saturday morning. That was until, suddenly, I heard a the roar of a power saw somewhere probably about block away. That was interrupted by the incessant calling of my neighbor to his dog in his usually friendly but then irritatingly almost soprano Italian accented voice. I thought to myself: "What could be any more annoying" and at the moment that thought perished under the ongoing assault of the saw and my neighbor still talking to his dog, my ears were assaulted by a jet's engines as a passenger plane roared overhead on its way to JFK Airport.

My moment of blissful repose with the world, on this otherwise fine Saturday morning, was going to hell rapidly as a well aimed bullet down a rifle barrel toward a condemned felon in his last moment of life. Damn even my thoughts had become nasty, it almost seemed as if i had thought it out loud yet, I muttered not a word. If that was not as ample a disturbance as need be, at just about the moment of that thought,  my eardrums were pierced by the high pitched buzzing a two wheeled rice burner in the distance - somehow sounding as if it were right next to me.

I lamented to myself and to my gods "What other din could be aroused to disrupt the passage of this most calming and fine exalted morn, what could negate the soothing sounds of the breeze through the leaves or the gentle clanging yet musical notes of the wind chime?" and they answered me. It was a tumultuous sound that burst forward, akin to rolling thunder coming down a steep mountainside to a valley below. Yet, it was from a source so unlikely to produce such a raucous din that I was awestruck by it as it was produced by the repeated flapping of a butterfly's wings. The insignificant bug flitted here there and just about everywhere in my yard in search of some sweet heaven's sent nectar and god damn me if, just as I grew accustomed to the winged imp's cacophonous commotion, I did not start to hear the grass grow too! I just about wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that everyone and everything should shut the fuck up and had an urge to grab my shotgun and go on a rampage of wanton destruction of the earth and all its noisy inhabitants when I had an unexpected surge of placidity burst upon me as I realized:

It's just another day in Paradise.

I know, and I guess you know it too, that the kind day I have described so far, really is just another day in Paradise. So, instead of running off armed and dangerous in a rage of devastation, I decided to sit back and finish my coffee while I wrote this short piece. As I relaxed again, some of the noises subsided to levels that were adequately tolerable if not easy to ignore and others, like the breeze through the leaves and the randomly chaotic notes of the chimes actually became pleasant. Now if only the fool who is relentlessly pounding away on a keyboard, unseen by me but apparently somewhere very close at hand, would take a 5 minute break, we might all be better able to fully enjoy the wonders of this fine Saturday morning in sublime tranquility. Maybe I had  best go collect those earthworms to feed to my critters. I think that is what I will do, it should put you all at ease and will suffice to stifle any lingering thoughts I had of destroying, what just moments ago, seemed to be a clamorously annoying world. Of course, it may best serve me and my hope for continued contentment should I also endeavor to do some small amount of yard work and a bit of work around the castle; house before my dear wife returns from her trials and tribulations at the office. Yes, it is Saturday and has been blissful for me but she has been at work since early this morning. Hark, is that whom I hear approaching... Later 4 U, I have to get busy fast.

All the best,
GB
PS: For those of you who are about to call 911 to report a madman in his garden, talking about going on a shotgun rampage, no that was not serious and yes that was meant to be humorous!

The Kribensis Have Gone Wild...

...coming out of there hiding cave in the driftwood and attacking my other fish over and over again this afternoon. I think that pretty much could mean only one of two things - eggs or fry. So, I shined my light into the hole in the driftwood arrangement in which they spend most of their time and saw nothing. I moved the light here and there and then uddenly saw movement. A small school of fry (as in baby fish) came swimming up to the mouth of the cave as if attracted by the light. I don't know how many, but it looks to be a good sized batch of babies. My concern is that other fish in the tank will see the fry as an easy meal and lay them to waste quickly but I also know that Kribensis (actually now called Pelvicachromis pulcher but still commonly called Kribensis as, once upon a time, their scientific name was Pelvicachromis kribensis) are pretty good and protective parents. Thus the reason for them going out to attack my other fish.

My biggest concern though are my Pimelodus pictus catfish devouring the fry. They are big enough, tough enough, agile enough, always hungry enough to get those babies, especially since they come out mostly after dark when mom and pop Kribensis would be off guard or just unable to see. Hopefully they will not devour them all and some of the fry will make it to adulthood.

Maybe you are thinking I could help them some by moving them to another tank but trying to catch them would really disrupt the tank in which they now reside (same for catching either the catfish or the Kribensis' fry) and chances are I would not be able to catch even most of the fry without really screwing up the tank very badly. Hopefully the two adult Kribensis will get the job done day or night. If I can catch the catfish - I will do that; if not - then oh well, tough noogies! Either way, life goes on.

All the best,
Glenn

Cancer Sucks

I recently lost my favorite aunt to cancer. She lived through 11 years of it, and I guess really suffered the past couple to few years but she was a bright burning flame throughout. She did not go quietly into that dark night - not at all. She was a fighter.

My brother-in-law also recently lost his wife/sweetheart to cancer. She suffered too long even though she did not have it anywhere nearly as long as did my aunt. Different types of cancer do you differently but all types suck.

I lost my father to cancer about a year and a half ago; well actually I lost him when I was 8 or 9 - he was a useless sack of shit and a father of little if any worth and left us back then. Still, he suffered from it badly - he had prostate cancer that spread and did him in. Looked more like a sorry assed zombie than a man when I saw him at the hospice, it sucked the life right out of him. At least he told me he was sorry.

I also lost a friend last year - a guy at work. More of a friend to me than either of us had imagined. I miss him dearly even though we knew each other from work and that was it but we were buddies nonetheless. Well really, he died of heart failure in his sleep. It seemed he had the cancer beat but sometimes the cure is worse than the disease and my guess is he died of heart failure not only due to his heart condition and diabetes but because the cancer surgery, radiation and chemo wore him down. He was pretty snarky when it came to bullshit from bosses, and he was that way right up till the last time I saw him. Bosses feared him - the rest of us liked him a lot. My guess is that even some of the bosses really liked him a lot they just couldn't figure him - he kept them guessing and he shoved their own shit in their faces when and if they were assholes, of course, some bosses loathed him just as they hated the truth that they were incompetent. Yep, the incompetent bosses could not stand him. Mark my word on that! He was a good man and a good friend.

Me, I miss them all. Cancer sucks. It not only fucks up those who have it but also they who know those who have it. Thank goodness for doctors, nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, scientists, researchers, fund raisers, those who donate and all the like who sometimes help to cure it.

Yep, cancer sucks. Then again, life goes on, at least until you die - its just a matter of how and when - mostly when. Of course, life goes on for others folks even after you die, even when cancer has sucked much of the life out of them either because they had it and beat it or because someone they loved had it and lost to it. Cancer does have an antithesis though, it is called life! Life goes on, living life is cancer's cancer! And you know what, if you have lived a good life it probably does not mater if the cancer wins. After all - as I said above - we all die; it is just a mater of how and when but mosly a matter of when.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Single Update To The Blog Roll - The Feral Irishman

It has been awhile since I have found a blog I have liked enough to add it to my blog role. Hell, it must have been a fw months now but I found one thanks to Wirecutter at Knuckledraggin my life away who had a link to The Feral Irishman. The new link is over on the right under: Other Bloggers Of Note GRUMPS, GEEKS, GUN GUYS/GALS & GENIUSES - All Worth A Read and Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link - Thanks.

All the best,
Glenn B

FORBIDDEN PLANET - Sci-Fi Classic On TMC

Whoopee a good movie to watch just about to start - Forbidden Planet. I thought I was going to be bored to tears tonight with the usual crap on the tube but I do like this movie. Yep, it is dated. By today's standards it would be rated weak to terrible for special effects and props, but it had darned good acting for a corny sci-fi flick. Starring Walter Pigeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen (as you may not be able to imagine him if you are used to seeing him in comedies such as Dracula - Dead and Loving It, The Naked Gun or Airplane) it is well worth the watch if you like older sci-fi flicks.

Just started - so - later 4 U.

All the best,
GB

Goodnight Irene

Sunday night turned out to be a goodnight, in fact a beautiful night with only brilliant stars and not a single cloud filling our local skies. So, I guess that Hurricane Irene lived up to the saying. There was not too much damage at my house. We had a leak, apparently through a wall or maybe down the wall from the eaves of the roof. I think it came it through two holes drilled in our wall for external electrical outlets, a box for our AC unit and a box for power outlets for outside. Something tells me the installer never put any silicone sealant around the wiring in the holes he drilled through the wall. I know he did not seal around the edge of the boxes. I will have to do that and see if we still get water in the next big storm. If so, it will be time to look up at the roof eaves. We got maybe half and inch of water at one end of the back room in the basement, concrete floor so no real problem. Most of the water had either soaked into the concrete or evaporated by the wee hours of this morning.

Outside, we had a few branches from each of our trees down. Nothing big. A tree around the block had a huge limb break off and crash onto a house, looked to be mostly damage to siding and to the gutters and such. Another tree about two blocks away came down. It took the electrical power lines with it. Amazingly they got rid of the tree earlier today and we already have power restored tonight. It was nice to see lights on the houses when I parked my car tonight. Nicer yet was that I knew the fish tank filters and air pumps were back on and I no longer had to rely on battery operated pumps to aerate the water. I think all the fish and salamanders made it but have to check closer as I jut gave a quick glance when I was setting up the dehumidifier in the back room. Since the first floor sub-floor and our beams got wet from the leak in the wall (the water was coming in at least 8 feet above the basement floor) I want them to dry out as soon as possible to avoid rot - thus the humidifier was set on high.

I am convinced I will be getting a portable generator. My neighbor has a 4,000 watt gasoline powered unit. He easily had his refrigerator, computer, televisions and some other things up and running. I am not that concerned about another storm like this but more about ice bringing down the lines in winter. We would be without heat because my oil furnace fires up electrically. Even if not hooked up to the circuit breaker box, I could at least set up some portable electric heaters in the house if I had a generator and keep pipes from freezing. Other appliances worked fine. Our water heater worked fine and I thought the thermostat was electrical - I guess not. Hot water for a shower was very nice. Of course, the gas range worked too. Well, not the electronic ignition but that is why someone invented matches. The BBQ grill worked fine too, and I grilled up some steaks last night. At least they were not ruined by lack of refrigeration. It would also be nice to have a fridge for warm weather power failures like this one. I am guessing we lost some food. Most seems okay but some salami I had in the fridge smelled rancid. I don't know about stuff in the freezer. I have to check to see if the electric company reimburses folks for such losses. I think they do but only if the power is out longer than 48 hours.

The neighborhood was mostly in pretty decent condition from what I saw of it last night and earlier today. I heard other trees came down and power was out here and there. Nassau County, NY had about 450,000 customers without power after the storm. It could have been worse though had Irene turned back into a Category 2 hurricane instead of fizzling into a tropical storm. No complaints from anyone I know about that though. No injuries in the neighborhood of which I am aware, no major damage to homes or property - so we were lucky.

All the best,
Glenn B

Dr. Strangelove, A Plan And A Little Bit Of Storm Preparation...

...I hope it all goes a long way to keep damage to a minimum. I just spent the last couple of hours moving things out of our yard and off of our patios into the shed and garage. Anything that I figured was light enough to fly away and then some was stowed away securely. I was thinking of boarding up the windows but plywood was short at Home Depot yesterday. So while the windows are not covered over, at least I have gotten rid of any potential missiles that were on my property. I cannot say the same for my neighbors. One has a patio table and chair set out (all wood but probably light enough to take off if the winds hit 100mph) and other have left small flower pots and yard ornaments outside. I have a few things still out but I will take them in before too long, raining ow heavily and I am hoping for a break in the rain before doing that.

As far as supplies go, we have at least enough food to last a couple of weeks - all not requiring refrigeration if the power goes out.  I think we have enough dog food too, but if not then they can eat spam! I have flashlights with what I hope are fresh batteries. I say I hope because I am short of D cell batteries and there were none on the shelves yesterday. I also have smaller lights that require triple A and double A and have plenty of batteries for them. Truth be told, if the electrical power fails, I made need all my D cells to run my two battery operated air pumps to aerate my fish tanks. I also have a fair supply of candles if we need them. One thing we do not have right now is a lot of spare water. I kind of doubt that water service will be cut but I am going out anyway, later this afternoon, to see if I can get a couple cases of water. I had a couple of cases set aside, but as to who drank them, only the Shadow knows. It is always a good idea to go over a checklist of survival items before a storm or other SHTF situation just to make sure you are prepared for just about anything.



We have most of what we need to have a pretty good weekend in Las Vegas or just sheltered in our home though the weekend in  Vegas with the supplies mentioned in the video sounds like more fun!

I guess my biggest storm damage concern, besides maybe the roof blowing of of our house or glass flying in from windows after being slammed into by a neighbors patio table or flower pot, has to be that I am worried the basement will flood. We do not have flood insurance, nor a pump to get out the water. Lots of stuff in the basement. They have said we can expect anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain. Six inches we may be able to weather okay but more than that and I am pretty sure we will get flooded what with the ground already being somewhat saturated from recent rains. If it starts to get wet downstairs, I will be very busy moving things to higher and drier parts of the house.

Luckily someone, probably my wife, found the only one of our four of our larger tortoises that was still outside in the yard yesterday (the two babies are always in a tank). I had found the other three and got them inside on Thursday night. I figure they probably would have survived the winds, had they been left outside, by burrowing into the ground. The thing is I was none to sure they would survive the storm if my yard flooded. So for now, they are all safe and sound in their tank in the basement.

Thankfully I have heard the hurricane has weakened from a category 2 to a category 1. Still though, sustained winds of 85mph, that it has been packing are just about enough to assure I will be hunkered down with my family, the dogs, the tortoises and all the other critters inside our house tomorrow. Hunkering down is one way to get through the worst of situations so as to see the sun come up another day, that is so long as you have a plan. We, or at least I, do have a plan so, I am pretty sure we will come out of it okay for the most part and that we'll meet again some sunny day!



All the best,
Glenn B

On Shaky Ground Or Not

I was sitting at my desk when suddenly I felt and saw it move, then it moved again along with the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the overhead lights and the rest of my office. Everything was swaying back and forth. I heard a female coworker almost shriek out - "What is happening?". I could not see her because the office is divided by cubicles but I heard the hint of panic in her voice. I calmly said "EARTHQUAKE". I did not yell but said it loudly and firmly hoping all would know to take some self protective action. I sat for a moment more then had thought, 'I hope it was not a bomb because if it was a bomb it had been a big one', I thought that because another big wave of swaying movement just rippled on through the steel and concrete of our fairly old and huge building (it takes up an entire city block). It used to be a repair station for trains and was built to literally drive the trains right into the building so it had been built strong and here it was swaying like a leaf in a breeze. I started to get under my desk, as someone else called out not to worry because it was a planned explosion created by a film crew making a movie in the area. No way! I spoke up again and said "earthquake get under your desks"  but I don't know if anyone paid attention. Four years in southern California, living pretty much right over the San Andreas fault, had me knowing this was no movie explosion. Anyway, as someone else pointed out, there had been no sound, just the swaying wave like motion. It lased all of 15 to 20 seconds - maybe 30 but I think that last number a stretch. My guess was about a 5.0 to 5.5. It was over as suddenly as it had started. Everyone and everything was okay.

I spoke to a few folks about it for a few minutes then headed out of the office to get some field work done. I met some interpreters, from my office, in the hall. They were evacuating though no one had made an announcement to evacuate. When I got downstairs, I saw that virtually everyone in our building, thousands of people, had evacuated and crammed the streets. That was virtually everyone except for those on my office's floor. On every other floor there were loud speaker announcements that it had been an earthquake and those folks apparently had been ordered to evacuate. When I got outside, a Con Edison repair truck, parked at a manhole in which the guys had been repairing something or other, had its radio on blaring out the news of a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia. Wow, and it felt that strong here. Later I learned, that on the east coast, quakes feel stronger over larger areas than they do out west because the bedrock is not fractured by faults as it is in the west thus allowing the energy to travel further with continued high force. It was a ride for a few moments. I hopped in my work car and then took another ride to go do my fieldwork. On the way across Manhattan, I saw the streets were lined with folks who had evacuated their buildings. Some were obviously very scared. Stopped at a light, I saw one woman who had fear written all over her face. I caught her eye and smiled. She smiled back a nervous smile. About then, someone near her told those all around that it had been an earthquake - it had taken long for them to get the word. Until then, I think they must have thought it had been some type of attack because at the word it had been an earthquake - people started to cheer. You could easily have seen - they were all greatly relieved.

I continued on my drive with the radio tuned to an all news station. Seems even the mayor had vacated City Hall, two of the three local big airports had shut down, the FBI offices and federal building evacuated, the Holland Tunnel had been closed, yada yada yada. I headed for the Queens Midtown tunnel and got out of "the city". Traffic was a bit heavier than usual, I guess some others had decided that it was a good day for fieldwork or maybe just to play hooky for the remainder of the work day. I knew one thing, if there were going to be aftershocks, I would rather be outside of Manhattan but of course that was not why I was leaving, that was just a side thought, after all - I had fieldwork to get done.

On a side note, my son got to me, with a text message, before I even had gotten in my car. I had tried calling my family members but Sprint service for the phone seemed to be out, go figure how text messages still went through but they did go through. He asked me a one word question: "Earthquake?" and I replied in the affirmative. He then replied back that he guessed he could put away his AK47, he had thought we had been bombed; I replied: "That's my boy" and had a good laugh over his text message. Later on, when I got home, I learned he had been snoozing and was awakened by his bed shaking badly. He said the whole house was moving and that our dogs had gone berserk apparently along with all the dogs in the neighborhood. We live in a brick house, I have to check the walls tomorrow. Probably fine but I think I should give them the once over for cracks in the mortar. I also contacted my daughter. She was okay. Somewhere along the way to my fieldwork, I was able to get my wife on the phone, I figure after at least 45 minutes to an hour, and 15 phone call attempts, to get her. She was okay, she had not even felt it. That was the story up here, many people were shaken, rattled and rolled - others did not even have a clue that the rest of us had been on shaky ground.

All the best,
Glenn B

Robyn Gardner - I Am Almost Willing To Bet She is Alive...

...and that claims of her death, or at least of being lost in the ocean while diving, were fabricated as an insurance scam. Just a guess, on my part, but maybe not any more far fetched than claims she was murdered. I mean, if she was truly seen leaving the beach with the so called suspect then, maybe she is in hiding and alive and well, just hoping to collect on the insurance policy that reportedly was taken out on her life by Gary Giordano.

See:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44227326/ns/world_news-americas/?GT1=43001

Stranger things have happened.

All the best,
GB

Ballseye's SIG 229 DAK Rust Alert

I currently carry a SIG SAUER 229 (Double Action Kellerman) for my primary duty handgun. The following is my opinion about what I believe are some of its shortcomings. I think I have mentioned before I am not a big fan of it. The trigger pull and everything to do with the trigger operation is, in my opinion horrendous, and does much to keep this from being an otherwise pretty good firearm. Note, I did not just write "... an otherwise excellent handgun". There are reasons for this and I will go over a few of them below with particular attention paid to two of them.

Besides not liking the trigger pull - way too heavy, way too long, way too mushy, a pain in the ass to reset properly for combat (yes I know how to reset at the first click so it travels less on the next squeeze but try to do it reliably under a lot of stress) - I also do not like the fact that this pistol reportedly often fails to function properly if not wet (as in fairly heavily oiled or if talking pastrami then meaning fatty), that after a cleaning and lubrication the magazine release button can become frozen in place by rust in less than a week of in the holster wear in normal summer weather, and that the grip screws need repeated attention (I would recommend after every shooting session of a couple hundred rounds or after a few months of wear in a holster or sooner) to make sure they have not come loose. If not for those few shortcomings, I might like it a damned lot more than I do right now and I would have said "...otherwise excellent handgun".

I suppose that one of my main concerns with this pistol is that it seems built to very tight specifications and because of that they should have used a metal finish (or a metal) that would not allow rust to form as quickly as it seemingly  can on the magazine release button. I own a few pistols and I have carried several others. I have never owned or carried a pistol (or rifle or shogun) that had any parts that rusted as quickly, and then resulted in functioning problems, as has the magazine release button on my issued SIG 229 DAK. This darned magazine release button rusted enough now, on three very separate occasions, to have needed a much larger amount of force to operate it than is normal - and I keep it clean and lubricated. On the most recent occurrence of this, I picked up the pistol, applied pressure to the mag release button and nothing happened. I pushed harder and still nothing happened. I let it go and there was no spring-back so I knew the button did not depress and the mag was just stuck a bit. I examined it a bit and realized it was frozen in place by what appeared to be a tiny amount of rust around the perimeter of the button where it met the frame - and I do mean a tiny amount. I tried operating the button with more force, first with one thumb and then with both. I could not budge it. I then put a piece of flat metal between my thumbs and the button and pushed with the gun lying on its side on a table. It finally popped free. I guess this was the worst it has ever frozen up. What puzzled me then and concerns me greatly still is that I had just cleaned and oiled the pistol only about 4 days prior (maybe 5 days but not more than that) and had not been caught out in the rain nor had it been exceptionally humid. Yes it is summer and it has been a hot one but I have been indoors mostly, in air conditioned rooms, so I have not even perspired profusely while wearing the pistol. Finally - no I did not take it on my salt water fishing trip last weekend (imagine, for a change I was gunless) and anyway, it happened prior to that.

Whatever the cause, the amount of rust was truly minimal and should have been inconsequential or so I would have thought. I am guessing the reason for the button freezing up like that is not just due to the tiny ring of rust that was on it but is also due to the fact that diameter of the button in comparison to the diameter of the hole in the slide into which it fits probably causes a very tight fit. Sorry SIG SAUER but if that is the case, you screwed up on this one in my opinion. There is no way that the mag release button should seize up like that with as little rust as was on mine and remember there is no rust forming on the alloy frame, it was just on the mag button from what I could see. As a matter of fact, there is probably no way, short of exposure to salt water, or to salt cedars and sweat (at the same time), that the metal should rust as quickly after a cleaning and lubrication as did the mag button on my issued pistol. By the way, I used BreakFree CLP which works wonderfully as a rust preventative as far as I am concerned. At least it does so on my other pistols, and I allowed a small drop of it to seep down around the mag release on this one because I was already aware of the potential for a problem. Yet, it wound up that it rusted up and froze up. Just imagine that happening and you wind up in a gun fight and need to reload. Luckily for me it happened at home. And to think, when these were first issued, we were warned to be very careful of our grip because many people hit the mag release while shooting and the mags would drop out often still with many rounds in them. How ironic is the current problem when thinking of that other one.

Sig Sauer, if you own one, you can keep yours; if this one was mine, I would sell it post haste.

All the best,
GB

Stubbed My Toe...

...last night, and held in a howl of pain. I don't know why but whenever I stub a toe, I get an almost indescribable amount of terrible pain that lasts anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour or so. Last night was no exception and as usual I thought it was just my low threshold for toe pain that had me almost howling (although I held it in trying to be a balls up sort of a guy for a change). Oh man it hurt bad. About an hour or so later, it caught on a blanket on the sofa just a bit. I howled then and decided maybe it was not just a stubbed toe. Sure enough, there was a line of black and blue running from near the toe tip back onto the foot. At that point, I guessed maybe I had broken it when I stubbed it and being that I heard a snap/crack when I stubbed it I should have figured that right away. Funny thing is, I get the same amount of searing incredible pain if I only stub it or if I break it, just that the pain lasts much longer whenever I have actually broken a toe. Since it still hurts this evening, almost 20 hours after I first stubbed it and since it is bruised and swollen I am pretty sure it is busted. Not much to do though except have a beer and bear it. Certainly not the worst I have ever had happen to me.

All the best,
Glenn B

Disappearing Blog Alert

It seems that at least 3 maybe 4 of my recent blog posts have gone the way of the dinosaurs. No, the dinosaurs did not sprout feathers and fly away as birds - they disappeared because they went extinct. I do not think my blog has gone extinct but for sure some of the posts seem to have disappeared.

Good reason to download and save the blog now and then. I am overdue for that, will get it done tonight. Have to go visit my mom, so no time for it now.

All the best,
GB

Update On Our Toyota Corolla

As I posted on August 1st, our Toyota Corolla got pounded by hail, including one piece that left a baseball sized dent, and others that took out both windshields, popped the glass out of the mirror shell, and left dents all over the car. We got the glass fixed right away, I don't know what that cost but figure it was in the hundreds of dollars. Yesterday we got the estimate of damage for all the dents. It maybe works out to a mere bag of shells for some but to me it was a pretty big bag of shells at: $ 5760.56 (not including the glass). Now I am debating if I should just take the cash, not get it fixed, and put the cash toward a new car.  Heck, the Corolla was only about 12.5 K when I bought it new! Tough decision.

By the way, if I get it fixed, it has been estimated it will take 14 days to repair it all!

All the best,
GB

Well...

"...I've had all that I wanted of a lot of things I've had and a lot more than I needed of some things that turned out bad."

Thank you Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash for that line, it says a lot about a life and the man who lived it and how he looked at life. I've kind of enjoyed a life like that myself; perhaps I have been blessed.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Great Fishing Trip - And Not Just Another Fish Tale...

Too fat, too dumb, but quite happy
to be out fishing with my son Brendan.

...because this one comes with pictures. Today, Brendan and I went fishing on the Super Hawk out of Point Lookout. I tried to wake him up at 5AM but as usual, on a Friday night, he was out late last night or should I say until early this AM. He was up and at em though by about 10AM so, I asked if he wanted to go out on a half day boat (actually a 4 to 5 hour trip). He said sure and I had him make the sandwiches while I did some other things - like have breakfast and some coffee. Sooner than later, we were off to Point Lookout and we had the poles, reels, tackle box, sun block, caps, bait (they give out bait on the boat but I usually take a long a box of frozen squid too) and everything we needed for a fun day.

Brendan looking cool and ready to fish.

In past years, we try to get out to fish a few times during the spring, summer and early fall but last year we never got out on a boat, and today's trip was the first fishing trip for us at all this year. I don't know if it was because it was our first fishing trip together in too long awhile, or if it was because it was a really nice day with calm seas, or if it was that each of us had a great fishing partner in the other, or that we met some nice folks on the boat, or that we actually caught a good number of fish but we had one heck of a great father and son day. I really am lucky to have a son who still likes to hang out with me at the age of 21. We shoot together, hunt together, fish together and get some other stuff dome together in there too. Now if only I could get my wife and daughter to come on one of our fishing trips with us, I would be in heaven.

When Brendan and I go to the range, I am always proud to see how well he shoots since I taught him to shoot. When we go fishing or hunting it is the same feeling for me because I taught him how to hunt and fish. With shooting, well - he cannot out shoot me yet even though he is a darned good shot. When it comes to fishing though, I guess I have to take second place. While I caught the first fish today, he caught a lot more of them than did I and bigger ones too. He guessed he caught about 20 to 25 of them, I think he caught closer to 25 or 30 though neither of us was keeping an accurate count. As for me, I caught about 12 or maybe 15 at most. We were fishing for sea bass and porgies (aka: Scup) and they were most of what we caught. They were mixed in with a skate, some bergalls, and a fluke. Others, on the boat, brought in an American eel and a couple of blackfish along with the same types of fish we caught. As for our fish, Brendan caught the fluke (only a couple of inches short of the 20.5" size requirement) and I caught the skate; both were throw backs. We both caught sea bass and porgies too, in fact they were most of what we pulled up over the rail. Most of the bass and scup (aka: porgies) we caught were not keepers. We were lucky enough though to have caught 5 or 6 keeper sea bass and 3 or 4 keeper porgies. While not a lot and not very big, they will add to tomorrows dinner nicely.

Besides fishing we had some fun looking at other boats, trying to figure out where we were, trying to guess what ships were hauling, and feeding the seagulls. Watching the gulls twist and turn in flight then dive into the water while trying to grab a tasty morsel (piece of clam or squid), that we threw to them, out of the water was neat. Neater than that was watching them catch some of those tidbits in midair. Yep, it was a good day.

Brendan showing off a nice sized porgy.

In all, when it came to fish we caught, we wound up with probably only 3 or 4 pounds of fish fillets. The cost of our trip was $40 each for the party boat fee, $6 for two pool entries, about $7 for the frozen squid, about $5 for gas, about $12 for our sandwich fixins and snacks, about $6 for the drinks in our cooler, and a $10 tip for the mates. All in all, a total of $126 and that divided by 4 pounds (at best) of fish. That works out to about $31.50 per pound. Wow - fish are sure getting expensive, but as they would say in those credit card commercials - so much for this, so much for that - SPENDING A DAY FISHING WITH YOUR SON - AND KNOWING HE HAD A GREAT TIME - ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!

All the best,
Glenn B

My Next To Last or Possibly My Last Firearms Qualification...

...as a federal agent took place today. I shot a 250/250 with the issued Sig 229 and then shot a 249/250 with the Glock 19. At the 25 yard line, I jerked the trigger on the very last shot and it flew a bit high and to the left, enough so to cause it to be inside the four ring. If this winds up being my last qualification it sure would have been nice to be going out with double distinguished expert scores. Hopefully I will get a chance to shoot next quarter but as things are turning out I may not have the opportunity - but I digress.

The shoot today was a lot of fun. Out of about one dozen shooters, I knew 3 of them. Man oh man there are a lot of newer and younger agents on the job these days; makes me feel like a dinosaur. It was nice for me that I also knew two of the three range officers there today. My cousin John being one of them. He is a good guy, an excellent firearms instructor/range officer and fun to BS with - and I am not saying that because he is family but because it is true.

After shooting today, I did something I do not usually do, I left before the guys firing long guns shot. The pistols quals and tactical shoots were completed but I usually stay until the end, I just felt like I needed to get home and get some things done but for the life of me I cannot remember of what  was thinking when I thought that. I did get to go to a Greek grocery store where I picked up some feta cheese, pita bread, a couple of varieties of olives and some almonds and also stopped at a pet shop where I picked up some black worms and 6 Cardinal Tetras (hard to find healthy looking ones over the past year or so and these looked almost excellent so I took the chance). Now before it gets really dark, I had best go out and collect my tortoises before it becomes a chore to find them. Again, I am digressing from writing about my last o next to last range day, but then again that is how it was, just another day with qualifications thrown in there.

I will miss range days a lot once I am retired.

All the best,
Glenn B

Double Indemnity, of a Sort, for Survival of the Species

As I posted before, my Hermann's Tortoise laid two clutches of eggs awhile back. They were laid about two weeks apart and consisted of 4 eggs each for a total of 8 eggs. I imagine that laying more than one clutch really is a sort of double indemnity for the species. Multiple clutches probably help the species survive not only because there are more eggs and thus more chances for new tortoises but because the clutches can be laid in different places and thus not all eggs would be detected at once by any predator.

As for the eggs my female laid, as it turned out, only 1 egg in each clutch wound up being fertile (this was the first time for her and the male, and while he is a bit young for a breeder, he is obviously endowed). One of the eggs, the one that was fertile from the first clutch, hatched on July 29th and I expected the one from the second clutch to hatch about 2 weeks after the other one. Over this past weekend, I was somewhat disappointed to see the egg had cracked and some of the inner membrane was sticking out somewhat precariously. I left it in the incubator anyway, hoping this was done by the tortoise moving around inside because it was ready to hatch even though I did not expect that for more than a week. On Tuesday, I took another look and the egg had hatched, half of the shell demolished and kicked away and the other half complete and still laying atop the tortoise hatchling. When I looked again last night, the baby tortoise had crawled away from the shell and buried itself in the substrate within the hatching chamber of the incubator. So there had been nothing to worry about after all.

It is nice to see these hatchlings made it from me caring for the adults properly, to fertilization, through egg laying, through my digging them up and putting them into the incubator, all the way to hatching. They can now live a long time, probably up to 40-50 years if not more. It is doubtful I will be around that long to care for them so, I am hopeful my son and daughter will learn how to care for them properly and that they will keep them. My daughter helps with their care now, as does my wife, feeding them often and y sons takes somewhat of an interest in them. They are very easy to care for if you take care to reliably supply them with a few specific requirements for their well being and if you make certain, while  mowing the backyard grass, to keep an eye open for them. (No the babies will not be allowed to roam the backyard as they would be able to escape though just about any crack or hole in the fences or get picked off by just about any bird; only our larger juvenile and adult torts get that outdoors roaming privilege during the nicer weather.)

All the best,
Glenn B

Double Indemnity...

...you know, when a life insurance policy pays double because someone died due to an accident. Double Indemnity also has a double meaning, well sort of, because it is also the name of one of the best thriller/suspense movies ever. The plot of the movie revolves around a murder committed and made to look like an accident so the wife (Barbara Stanwyck) of the deceased can collect double the insurance payout. This is all helped along by her insurance agent (Fred MacMurray). It looks like all is going well for the evil duo even though the insurance company manager thinks the husband committed suicide, for whatever reason, trying to make it look like an accident to leave double the money to his wife. The insurance company investigator (Edward G. Robinson) gives the manager the low down on why it could never have been suicide and it looks like the wife and the agent are going to be in the money. That is until the insurance company investigator feels like there is s chunk of concrete in his gut. It is probably acid reflux due to the cigars he smokes but he thinks it is a hunch that is eating away at him, a hunch that there was no way it was suicide, no way it was an accident, but more likely that it was murder. 

In my opinion, this is one of Edward G. Robinson's best roles and maybe the top for both Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck too.  A great movie, even if in B&W and and released in 1944, what a classic!

All the best,
Glenn B

What A Happy Day - Nothing Could Make It Less Than That

This afternoon, my wife, daughter, son, daughter's boyfriend, his parents, my wife's mother and brothers, and my brother's wife all came to our place for a BBQ. Little did my daughter know she had been set up. After we ate, she and her boyfriend took our 4 dogs for a walk. During the walk, he said something to the effect of "Hey wait a minute, what does Lucy have?" (Lucy is one of our Chihuahuas), he dropped to his knee, pulled out the ring and started to propose. He told us later, that Celina just said "I don't care what she has, let's get going". He mumbled this and  stuttered that and then just spit it out, that is the big question, and finally she was paying attention. All the while, 2 of his friends were nearby taking pictures of all of this. She said yes, and suddenly people from a nearby house were applauding. It seems the two young lady photographers had to ask some folks, nicely, to get off of their own lawn so as not to be in the pics and they obliged. They also stood watching through their window for the big moment and wund up being the cheer leading section. Very nice of them indeed!

Well, when the love birds got back to our house, we had the decorations and Champagne ready. Celina showed off her new rock. Everyone was happy. It was a good day all in all, what could make it stink - nothing at all no matter how bad. After all, it was her and his day. It was really nice for them and for the rest of us.

All the best,
GB

Our Appleseed Shoot Last Saturday

Brendan and I were pretty hyped up, last week, thinking about the then upcoming Appleseed Shoot on this past Saturday and Sunday. I was pretty amazed when he was up and at em at the prescribed time, one at which the sun itself was still looking pretty sleepy. Yes it was early for us, we planned on leaving by 6:30 at the latest and were up close to 5. Since we had gotten all our gear ready to go the night before, we were running right on time, even a little early. It gave us enough time to hit a local deli to get some breakfast and coffee and to pick up some sandwiches for lunch. I had been planning on making all that myself, but was really zonked the night before (I have been really run down lately and did not get a lot of sleep for the last 3 nights) so, I did not get to go to the supermarket to pick up cold cuts and such. That cost me dearly at the deli, live and learn I prepped well for day 2 on Saturday night but I am getting way ahead of myself.


Sooner than later, we were on the road headed to the range at Calverton, NY. That is about a 53 mile drive for us, one that during the normal course of our day would be a drag but that was not bad at all so early on a Saturday morning. There was no rush hour traffic as there would have been on a weekday, no beach goers (too early), hardly any speed traps set up, and not even just the normal amount of traffic of midday on any day. That made for a drive of just about an hour or a bit less.


When we got there, the gates were open (I won't talk about Brendan driving past the entrance, turning around, then missing it again before getting it right) and we drove right in. There were some cars parked to our left, all in a row, with a lady wearing a RWVA cap and we pulled in behind them. She greeted us with a big friendly smile. We had a nice chat while we waited for everyone else to show up. Soon after that, we were all headed toward the range. Once at the range, Brendan parked next to the guy who pulled into a space before us. As it turned out, the sand in that spot was loose and our front wheels dug in! Not a good sign but I got it out later on after a little effort. For now (for then?) we ignored it and got our gear, minus rifles, out and set up on the line. The rifles had to wait for safety reasons. The set up was a typical range, this one had an orange firing line and another orange line behind it which was a safety line we had to be behind whenever not on the firing line or forward of it such as when changing targets. I was surprised and somewhat , no not somewhat but very dismayed to see it was only a 25 yard line (though I believe the distance to have been debatable at a more likely 30 to 35 yards, so did Brendan and a few other seasoned shooters to who I spoke about it). I had believed we would be shooting out to at least 100 yards, maybe further, on an actual range of that distance. Instead, I discovered, again to my disappointment, that we would shoot at reduced sized targets at only 25 yards. Those tiny targets are all well and good for games and fun but they do not replicate what it is like to shoot at targets over real distance in my opinion. The real disappointment here was that we both had truly hoped to learn how to shot at distances greater than 50 yards (which is the farthest we usually shoot) while considering ballistics, wind and so forth. No big deal though, just a personal disappointment and  we would live with it and shoot at make believe distance using scaled targets.


The Calverton Range is what I would call fairly primitive along the lines of what is called a primitive campsite for comparison. Yes there are some developed aspects of it, it does have a backstop -basically the range was dug out of a hillside, target hangers consisting of poles with wire stretched between them and very flimsy cardboard backers strung along the target line, a firing line and a safety line but that was about it for our range. There were no benches, no tables, no overhang for protection from the sun, no restrooms (although there was a single port-a-potty about 50-75 yards from us). At another range we passed in the same complex there were benches for individual shooters (an addition since I was last at this range years ago). There is a reason this place is referred to as The Sand Pits, other than being on a gravel company's property from what I can tell, and it pretty much lives up to its name.  While we set up though, I got a lesson in what an Appleseed Junkie brings to a shoot. Many  seasoned shooters had pop up canopies. A great idea for a range like this one. They provided needed protection from what turned out to be a pretty hot and glaring sun. Brendan and I were invited to share the shade with a bunch of folks I would guess were of Chinese descent. A young lady named Ivy, among that group, and also one of the RWVA volunteers was nice enough to offer. Most folks also had those nylon fold-up chairs (sport's chairs?) and most had coolers full of icy cold goodness. We had lunch and water aplenty but no cooler. My forgetfulness on that one. Some folks also brought folding tables on which to set up their spotting scopes and other accessories and supplies. For the line, almost everyone had a shooting mat. We only had a single campers mat that sufficed and the RWVA guys lent us another. Just about everyone had other necessary items too, like sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and the like. I also brought along some bug spray for ticks. The east end of Long Island is notorious as a hot spot for Lyme Disease and having had it twice I did not want to get it again nor did I want Brendan to ever get it.


I can say this, it pays to be well prepared for such a shoot. Of course, Brendan and I had our guns & ammo, food, water (though I had to buy more water at lunchtime), sunscreen, hats, shooting glasses and muffs, and so on. We were ready and prepared to shoot but not prepared for the shoot as well as we could have been. So, on Saturday, I figured I had best correct that for Sunday and on Sunday I was better prepared.


Well, once everyone was set-up, the RWVA volunteer instructors, they are all volunteers, got the show underway with some range rules and safety training. They also brought up some history and would interject history into the firearms training at various points of the day. Most, if not all, of the history centered on April 19, 1775, the day the American Revolution commenced as a shooting war. (April 19 is also my wedding anniversary, the day a war of another type was commenced.) The safety training was fairly decent to pretty good, the history was just fun. I am always amazed at how few people have a clue as to our Nation's history; not that I am a historian but I do know some of the facts. Some people at this shoot did not know any of it from what I could tell. They know now though, and that is a good thing. Maybe, if it sank in a bit, or if they attend an Appleseed Shoot again when they will hear it all again, they will be ready to take up arms in defense of our Nation and the Constitution if ever needed here within our own borders or on foreign soil.


After the safety training and some history lessons came the shooting. We began with a volley of 13 rounds apiece at a redcoat target. Then we got serious and we fired at targets that were representative of a human torso at distances of 100 yards out to 400 yards. It was a single piece of paper with various sized target torsos on them, if I remember right they were scaled for 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards. I am guessing we shot at least 240 rounds at that target on Saturday. Almost all of the shooting was done from the prone position though some was also from the standing position. For the life of me I cannot recall if we got to the seated position on Saturday or if they was only on Sunday. All of the shooting was to be done with the shooters utilizing GI type adjustable slings and they showed us a few ways to use slings for support.  I was happy that Brendan got his first taste of using a sling for support and that I was reintroduced to it. They did not only teach use of the sling, they taught the basics such as sight alignment, sight picture, breathing, natural point of aim, trigger control, follow through and so on. They also included info on misfires, hangfires, sqibs, etc. and what to do if you encountered one. Safety was always the number one concern The instructors took turns in giving range commands or acting as range safety officers. It was all done very well.


If a shooter qualifies with a score of 210 or higher, then he or she gets a patch. neither Brendan or I achieved that score. Either one or both of us may actually have gotten that score but we did not realize that our early targets were being scored and tossed em out.Realistically though neither one of us probably qualified. I was shooting my SKS (which malfunctioned on Sunday and needs repairs for a problem I will not describe until it is fixed) and Brendan was shooting an AR. His batteries, in the red dot scope, failed and he had to switch to his other AR. He did well with both but better with the one with the red dot scope. I did okay, surprisingly good on some rounds and not as well on others, not keeping up any consistency. I was having some difficulty getting used to the scope and a lot more dealing with the sun and the temps in the low 90s (I am pretty sure it hut 93). All day in the sun just got to me and as the day wore on so did my eyesight wear down. By the time we were almost finished  I could barely see the front sight let alone focus on it. Getting older sucks. I think next time I go, I will bring a scoped 22 as quite a few folks had with them. Maybe my Marlin in 22 magnum. Yep, it is a bolt action. While it would be hard to shoot this course with a centerfire bolt action because it is timed, and the time is fairly brief, it could probably be done with a bolt action rimfire. Now there is something I forgot to mention earlier - while RWVA says you can bring any rifle, you probably are better off if you bring a semi-automatic and that uses removable box magazines that are at least of 10 round capacity (where legal). They give the shooter no consideration for loading time if you are loading individual rounds into something like an SKS or a Mosin-Nagant. I know already, that I can operate the Marlin bolt action fast but am not sure it would be fast enough for this course. I will practice with it between now and the next Appleseed I attend to get my speed up.  If I can get is fast enough, I figure I'll give it a try and save a lot on ammo costs - otherwise I may just throw a scope on my Ruger 10/22 and bring that along.
Lots of folks do pass the course with a qualifying score but I don't know if anyone got it on Saturday. They make a big deal about every accomplishment so I would have thought they would have made a big deal of it if they had awarded patches but I did not notice them doing it. So, I have to guess no one qualified. I will go again. Heck, I did go again on Sunday, because I liked it on Saturday.


On Sunday, as I said, my rifle failed and I switched to my SKS. I quit about 2/3 of the way through the day because trying to keep up while loading individual rounds into the SKS was futile. Besides that I was totally worn out. Day two would have been much more fun had Brendan come along. On the way home on day one, he had to pull over and had me drive the rest of the way home because he was passing out. The long day, the blazing sun, the heat had all gotten to him. When we got home I complained I was stiff and achy and he laughed at me. A couple of hours later he had the same complaint for himself. Oh the youth of today. I just smiled at him. He also had one heck of a sunburn regardless of the fact that he applied sunblock several times over the course of the day and I do mean several like about 8 to 10 times in about the 6 hours that this shoot lasted. The event day should have been longer but classes on both days were cut short, which I think was pure bullshit for the reasons given such as they had the range reserved for someone else on Sunday after 2:30, yet all of us had paid for full days - but I digress. As it turned out, probably mostly because of the sunburn, Brendan opted out for day two. I do not blame him, I have seen how badly he can burn and it is just as bad as I can burn or worse. Me, I also got some color, but I spent more time in the shade under canopies of other shooters than did he. I guess that made the difference because I was not badly burned.


As for Sunday overall, it was more of Saturday with a bit more advancement thrown in. As I said, I cut my day short for a few reasons but I still had fun. I am pretty sure I will go again but in cooler weather. Regardless of the minor annoyances I mentioned, it was truly a nice experience and the people running it made it that way. They were serious about safety and training but also made sure to throw in a few fun shoots each day, like shooting at an instructors old hat (he was just promoted from orange to red hat) and shooting at watermelons. As I mentioned above, all the folks from RWVA were volunteers. They had red hat instructors (veterans), orange hat instructors (new instructors), and blue hats (non-instructor volunteers). They were all great at getting their tasks done and doing it safely. They were also very personable. The shooters who attended also seemed to be mostly very nice folks. I am pretty sure if we keep going to these shoots we will be sure to make plenty of new friends among the instructors and the shooters.


If you are serious about improving your shooting skills, or about doing something patriotic regardless of your political stance) or if you just want to have a nice day shooting, I strongly recommend an Appleseed Shoot,


All the best,
Glenn B