On Voting Republican Or For A Third Party Candidate

I think that the Republican Party has doomed itself. As I see it, they are not a legitimate political party any longer. Their house leader, Speaker of The House Boehner, is a complete spineless boob and his comrades in the House are mostly likewise. The Republicans in the Senate are not much better. Their latest blunder was this:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/12/debt-ceiling-bill-clears-senate-hurdle/?intcmp=latestnews

From now on, I will vote along third party lines because I think it is destroying America to vote for Democrats or for their supporters - the Republican Party. I am almost certain to vote for Libertarians or Conservatives not associated with the Republican party on the ballot. That will go for all upcoming major elections.

As I told a friend of mine, who told me voting for a third party only helps the Democrats:

It does not matter if it (voting for third party candidates) helps the Democrats since more than half of the Republicans now in office are helping the Democrats carry out the Democrat Party Line. In fact, if I did not know with which party they were affiliated, I would swear many Republicans to be either Democrats or Liberals. So, if you vote for any of them, you are helping the Democrats already.

Who are you going to vote for as president - Christie? He is an Obama ass kissing Liberal no matter how much he would like to claim to be a Conservative. Not me, I will no longer be voting Republican. I will either be voting for the Libertarian candidate or for a truly Conservative one but not for one in the Republican party. You can keep voting the Republican Party line saying that voting for a third party helps the Democrats, I believe that voting Rebooblican helps the Demoncrats even more than voting third party. It makes the Republicans believe they still have a fairly large and strong voting block who support their liberal stand and they just keep getting more and more in line with Democrats.

In addition, voting Republican keeps votes away from the guy in the third party who might truly make a difference that will crush the Liberal (Democrat) party line, if not in the next election, then almost certainly in our lifetime BUT we have to start voting for them now. That way they may pick up enough momentum after two or three more elections to actually have a chance at winning.

Even if a Libertarian or other third party candidate does not win, but merely gets a lot of what was once Republican voter support, it may also scare the pants off of Rebooblicans. Losing enough voters may make the RHINOS realize they need to get back to being conservatives instead of caving in every time a Demoncrat blames them for something that (they say) is about to happen (instead of looking at the long term picture). Right now it seems that way too many so called Republicans are voting along Democrat party lines - we need them out and new blood in and I think the third party is the way to go for that. 

All the best,
Glenn B

 

My Laptop's Imminent Doom

I was using my laptop, this afternoon, with no hint of a problem. Shut it down as usual, then signed on again earlier this evening and got a message saying:

"SMART Hard Disk Error

The SMART hard disk check has detected an imminent failure. Ton ensure not data loss, please backup the content immediately and run Hard Disk test in System Diagnostics.

Hard Disk 1 (301)

F2 - System Diagnostics

ENTER - Continue Startup. ..."

So, what to do. Since I had just backed up my files, I hit F2 to get to System Diagnostics. I got to a screen saying System Diagnostics Initializing and it froze there. tried a few times to shut it down and start over kept getting the same message, then it froze at the System Diagnostics Initializing screen. After a few tries to get into System Diagnostics, I hit ENTER instead of F2 after turning the laptop off and on again and it turned on just fine. I made sure to be safe and copied the My Documents and My Pictures folders to an external hard drive; then I called HP.

Of course, regardless of having the more expensive warranty option, the HP Premium Care Pack, my call went through to a guy sounding as if he was in Bombay or Karachi - I should have asked but it was not necessary because that was confirmed on a later call hat actually went to the HP center in North America as the first call should have done. Anyway, the guy on the Indian subcontinent was very nice and efficient (even though he apologized for any waits and said thank-you a million times) and told me to run a few checks. The checks did not work, same as I described above He then said he would arrange for a new hard drive to be sent to me and that a techie would be here this coming Saturday. I can live with that - especially since the laptop is still working, I am using it right now. Note it did not say that the hard disk failed but that failure was imminent. I can only hope it is not as imminent as to happen before Saturday!

I wanted to print out the screen giving the imminent failure message but could not get it to do so. Then I remembered I could run a diagnostic test with Norton and I did that. The Norton diagnostics said that the laptop was indicating pending and eventual hard drive failure and to run a back-up and then install a new hard drive. I was able to print that report. I wanted to be sure to have something indicating the imminent hard drive failure warning because with my luck the tech service guy will arrive, turn on my laptop and not have the warning show up and then try o tell me there is nothing wrong with it. At least I have a copy of the Norton report - just in case.

Oh well, if you do not see anything further on my blog over the next few days, or if you email me and I do not reply, you will understand why it may seem as if I have fallen off of the face of the planet. Hopefully they will send the correct replacement hard drive and the tech guy will arrive and fix it as planned. I am also hopeful that the problem was diagnosed correctly. last year I had to send in the laptop to HP for them to do a repair that amounted to them changing the hard drive cable and reinstalling the bios. For some reason they said a tech service guy was not capable of doing so but I think they believed I had dropped the unit and broken it (or something like that because one of them basically accused me of such) and they wanted to screw me out of a repair. It really did not matter because I still had complete damage protection last year (in addition to the HP Premium Care Pack with in home service) - so a drop would have been covered. Anyway, they apparently got it diagnosed and corrected properly, change the cable and bios and it worked for just over a year since that repair. Now this!

All in all I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes on the phone with HP Tech Service. Then I called HP again to make sure I had the correct warranty serial number since I had noticed I had two different ones in my warranty info. I also asked that they check to see if they had my last name spelled correctly since last time they mailed me something it had my last name screwed up. On that second call, I got a customer service guy in Canada. Much easier to understand and he said while my name was correct, the guy in India had just changed my email address to an incorrect version of it. He then corrected it. The guy in Canada also got me through to someone to correct the warranty number and who promised to send me a luggage tag with the correct info on it. I'll attach the tag to my laptop bag, it is handy to have along should I travel with the laptop and need tech assistance. I have since received an email, from the third and last guy to whom I spoke, telling me what he to correct my email and to send me a copy of my warranty info, but have not received the promised confirmation email from the first tech service guy for my hard drive replacement and repair (I guess it got lost in cyberspace since he was the one to screw my email address in HP's records). So, finally, almost all seems to have been straightened out. Time will tell if it all gets done once the hard drive arrives and once the in home tech service guy installs it.

Gonna go now, just got a Windows pop up telling me it has detected that hard disk failure is about to take place. There is one other thing I want to back-up, just in case my auto back-up on Norton did not catch it.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ah, The Benefits of Indoor Plumbing and Gas, Oil or Electric Heat

Living here in the United States, almost everyone has the luxuries of indoor plumbing and of gas, electric or oil heat. Yeah some of us use wood or pellet stoves to heat but mostly they don't have to go out into the wilds to fetch their fuel. In India, it is another story. Many do not have even a single electric bulb to light their homes let alone indoor plumbing or a delivered fuel source for their home heating and cooking. They go out into the tall grass of the fields and into the woods for a little privacy when answering natures call and into the forests to collect wood for cooking or heating and those activities can be quite treacherous for them. In the last 6 weeks alone, ten people living in rural India have been slain by a tigress near the Jim Corbett National Park. The park is named after a British Army officer who relentlessly hunted down tigers and leopards that preyed on people, thus saving an untold number of human lives.

In the current situation, hunters have not had the success that Corbett had while hunting these alpha predators. Despite efforts to bait the tigress with a young calf on Saturday night, the big cat eluded them and attacked its latest victim, a 50 year old man collecting wood, on Sunday night. The tiger killed him and partially devoured him but was then driven off by other villagers.

I still have to hand it to the hunters, even though they have not hit their mark yet, because I imagine it takes nerves of steel to sit on a stand over bait or to trudge through the woods trying to hunt down a man-eater. As the source article notes, only three of six hunters, hired to hunt the beast, even showed up. Those three who showed up have moxie but I hope they have the know-how too, otherwise they may find themselves the prey instead of the predators.

If you would like to learn more about  why big cats become man-eaters, about hunting them down or just read a great adventure book, I suggest reading MAN-EATERS of KUMAON authored by Jim Corbett. It is an excellent and thrilling account about several of his hunts for man-eaters.

All the best,
Glenn B

Philip Seymour Hoffman Poll - MSN Left Out An Important Poll Choice or Two

I hate it when polls are obviously geared toward making you answer one way or the other and do not consider what should have been obvious important other choices as possible answers. Take for instance the poll, currently on the MSN homepage, about what I see as some chicken shit actor who recently died, reportedly after having overdosed himself on heroin.

"Report: Hoffman to be digitally recreated for 'Hunger Games'
The actor had only a week left of filming for the franchise's final film when he died.

Should Philip Seymour Hoffman be digitally recreated in 'Mockingjay - Part 2'?

Yes; he plays a crucial role.

No; recast him.

No; write his character out.

I'm not sure. "

Did you see what I meant about leaving out an important choice or two. I mean how on earth can MSN consider the poll to have any credibility at all when they do not offer the option of a poll answer or two such as:

I do not care because I never watched that crap in the first place.

Or how about this one:

I don't give a shit about overblown, ultra-liberal, junky actors or any of the roles they held!

Had they offered a choice or two along those lines, I would have voted in the poll, probably for the second one of those choices that I just wrote up.

All the best,
Glenn B

Our Canadian Neighbors Have Warned Us

What can I say other than I agree with him and I am sure that the process leading up to firearms confiscation is well under way in New York State (as it is in CA and soon may follow in many others and nationally). I believe that the time is coming soon when we will either have to give them all up (our guns and then our rights and liberties) or use our guns in conflict while trying to defend our rights and liberties from the tyrants who are usurping them almost with every new breath they take.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Veritable Heat Wave Predicted

Man, it has been a cold winter, relatively speaking, for the NY metro area. It is going to remain that way, temps in the high 20s to low 30s for the rest of the week into mid next week and then the temps are supposed to go up into the high 30s and low 40s giving us a veritable heat wave for a few days.

All the best,
GB

Joe - Why Not Think Before Speaking or Just Shut Up

I'll answer Joe's question in one sentence: We led the world economically and had the most modern infrastructure when we manufactured things in the USA and the reason we were able to manufacture things was because the government did not overtax and overregulate businesses as it does now.

Now a brief commentary on Joe's speech. While LaGuardia Airport may be old and in need of updating, it does not appear to be an airport in a third world country, it is not close. Most of the things that have not been updated over the years, such as runway length, have been stymied by government regulations. Biden, as usual, merely has had another case of oral diarrhea due to not engaging his brain to digest the facts before opening his mouth to spew his babble.

All the best,
Glenn B

Amira Again

I watched the video, embedded in my post immediately prior to this one, several times tonight. I just could not get over that voice because as I said, to me, it was angelic. It, of course, being the voice of Amira Willighagen, the winner of the 2013 Holland's Got Talent television show.

I also did a bit more searching and wound up listening to a couple of other songs she sang in her run on Holland's Got Talent. Among those songs were the ones she sang for the semi-final and the one with which she won first place. As I said, I am no fan of opera and as I have said many times before, I am not religious (at least any more) and thus I can tell you I am not a big fan of religious music either. Yet, I used to be a practicing catholic and can say without doubt that there remains within me an ember that is rekindled to a spiritual blaze when I hear certain pieces that I used to hear in church, especially those heard during the Christmas season. One of those songs was Ave Maria. Listen to it here, it may be the most impressive version I have ever heard, and somehow it comes from the mouth of a 9 year old child. Maybe I was right in my prior post about her in as much as me saying she has an angelic voice but if I was right it is only because maybe she is indeed an angel among us.

Here is Amira Willighagen, singing the song that got her through the semi-final of Holland's Got Talent on December 21, 2013.



I have to tell you, I am absolutely floored. If her voice is not divinely inspired, heavenly and angelic then I do not what ever has been so. It is strange for me that I find myself saying that but she does seem to be heaven sent. Maybe the word that best describes her voice, and her singing ability, is miraculous!

All the best,
Glenn B

I Am Not A Big Fan Of Opera But This Is Amazing...

The performer is singing Puccini's operatic piece: 'O mio babbino caro' (Oh My Beloved Father). I must say that a more stunningly angelic voice I quite possibly never before have heard and may never hear again in another person. The fact that it is a nine year old girl, who apparently was self taught and never even had a single singing lesson, makes this performance all the more awe inspiring.

Listen to it here, which is the long version of the video, and well worth the listen (and the read of the translation even if a poor one). If you want to skip to the singing, go to 2 minutes and 39 seconds of the video. but as I said, I highly recommend watching and listening to the whole thing as it puts it all in context. When she starts singing, right at the very beginning, ask yourself: "Did I expect that???"; I surely did not and neither did the judges who obviously had never heard anything like it before (at least not from one of their contestants and a 9 year old child at that). Pay attention to what both she and the judges say throughout, both before and after her performance, it will give you a picture of a girl who will become a woman who goes far in life. What a gift her talent will be to they who take the time to listen to her sing and maybe later who watch her run in the Olympics. (If you want to know what that last references, then read the script that appears in the video after her singing is done.)

Without further ado, I give you the simply fantastic, marvelous and without compare stunningly beautiful voice of Amira Willighagen, an angel among us:



A hat tip to Herr Richie M for this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

California: Decrease Water Use By 20%

Yes, California is in the midst of one of its worst droughts in history. Governor Brown has called on the populace to voluntarily decrease water usage by 20% and the state has already announced a cut off, for this spring, on the water being routed to many agencies that supply Californians with that ever so precious and life giving substance. (source)

The funny thing is that if California was not as screaming arsed liberal and had pressed for tougher immigration laws, including removal of illegal aliens, this problem would be sizably less than it is now. Yes, I know mother-nature is the cause of he drought but people use water and the fact is there is only so much to go around. Add to that the fact that the population of illegal aliens (wetbacks) in California is estimated to be around 2,830,000 (and bear in mind that is a DHS estimate from 2011 and probably way below the actual number both because it is two years old and because the government came up with it). Even going with that number, and discounting the illegal aliens who do not reside in CA but pass through it on their way to other places (and use water while doing so) the amount of water consumed by illegals is significant.

The population of California for 2013 was estimated at 38,332,521. Thus illegal immigrunts amount to about 7.4% of that state's population! Wow, if they were not using any water at all (as in them not being in the state to use it in the first place) just think of how much more water there would be to go around for citizens and legal resident aliens. Imagine that we, the citizens and legal residents of the United States in whole, were asked to give up 7.4% of our water supply to law breakers who entered our country illegally and then took what they wanted and even demanded such things as a right. That is exactly what California is doing to its citizens and legal residents - asking them to give up what the illegals will just keep taking. I mean, do they really think that people who broke the law to get here, so they could take all they could take, will abide by that request? Only in America folks, we are the suckers of the world.

All the best,
GB
 

Me, I Am Celebrating - Not The Super Bowl, But The Groundhog

After all folks, this is it, today is the absolute best holiday of the year throughout the universe - it is Groundhog Day. It is perfect holiday of the year as far as I am concerned. You don't need to do a gosh darned thing today to celebrate today and that is one of the things that makes this holiday so special to me - you can enjoy it just for the sake of enjoying it - or you can say screw it and act as if it never happened.

Unlike Christmas and birthdays you don't need to bust your hump shopping for the perfect gift or worrying if Fred and Wilma or Ralph and Alice are going to like what you got them. You needn't worry about getting a gift, from someone dear, that doesn't fit or that you hate and then having to lie through your face to tell the gift giver how wonderful it is. Then what do you do but sneak off the day after to return it to the store.  No gifts on Ground Hog Day - no obligations of any sort - stress free as it should be.

As opposed to Thanksgiving you needn't fret about all the guests coming over and who likes to eat what. You don't have to get up at 0600 to start cleaning out the gizzards, making the stuffing, stuffing it into the bird, sewing it up, throwing it in the oven only to have to start really preparing the rest of the meal after that. Nor do you need to watch all the slobs gobble it down and then hear and smell their farts during coffee and dessert. Then when the day is done for everyone else, and all those bums have headed toward their hovels, it is not yet done for you who still has to do the dishes. Ground Hog Day though is another story, it is done when the sun sets because there was no special meal, no guests, no farts (well maybe a few but they were your own) and no big lot of dishes either; nope it ain't Thanksgiving (which is better than Christmas) and thus it is grand.

It's even better than Halloween and Halloween is easy. All you gotta do is buy some candy and answer the doorbell about 300 times hoping that none of the neighborhood kids are waiting to egg your head as you open to door expecting to hear trick-or-treat. There aren't even any kids who come begging for treats and no suspicious mom's giving you the evil eye (as they weigh your potential as a serial killer) if you throw an evil apple in to their little darling's trick-or-treater's bag. You don't even have to worry about what to do with he leftover candies, not that I worry - I just eat them - that is if my wife doesn't throw it all out. 

Then there is valentines day, one of the biggest BS holidays ever. It apparently is Hallmark's excuse, when nothing else is happening in the dead of winter, for making you feel lame and guilty if you have a sweetheart and don't at least buy her a card and a heart shaped box of sweets. Nope, there is not even any card buying on Ground Hog Day let alone buying the overpriced but crappy tasting candy. Then again, on Ground Hog Day, neither do you have to think about what to do should you decide to invite a neighborhood gang of hoodlums into your garage for the blast of their lives. You know, no concerns about cleaning up all the blood that is rapidly soaking into your garage floor and smeared and dripping down the walls should you decide to machinegun the local mobsters. Stuff like that just doesn't happen when that little rodent rules the day.

Heck, Ground Hog Day is even better than Festivus for the rest of us. On GH Day there is no need to go searching far and wide for presents, no ornaments for a Christmas tree or lights for a menorah, just plain unadorned aluminum poles - always the right height and shape. Neither is there any need to try to think up a list of Festivus miracles. It isn't necessary to air a list of grievances and piss people off, nor to then engage in feats of strength (which if after the airing of grievances could wind up being a family fight). Nope, today is a stress free holiday, just grab one of your favorite liquid refreshments and enjoy it - anything from a tall glass of water to hot cocoa to a swig or three of white lightening.

There is absolutely none of the worry, stress or BS today associated with the other holidays - at least not for me. That makes it about the most convenient and easy going day to celebrate and thus most enjoyable holiday of them all. Just about the only one(s) truly inconvenienced today are those plump, furry little rodents - the groundhogs. Either they are sleeping off the winter, shivering off their rodent arses in a damp and dingy hole in the ground somewhere or they are being pulled from their cozy, warmer than outside, burrows by crazy men in top hats and tails to be put on display in a whimsical farce to see how much longer winter will last and to stir up the doldrums of the winter economy in small towns in the NE, or they are getting shot at by varmint hunters (in warmer weather)and maybe are thrown into the pot with some taters and greens by a hillbilly somewhere. 

Nope, none of the worries of the other holidays, none of the stress, none of the hoopla (except in Punxsutawney and like bergs) and that makes it fine by me. And that's why I like it so much. As for the little fat furballs, don't let them fool you - they like it too, at least the ones lucky enough to be on display. They get some nice juicy carrots and corn on the cob for their efforts all the while basically make fools out of tens of thousands of people who believe their so called predictions for the arrival of spring each year. As for me, I know when spring will arrive. It will get here in 46 days and a wake up. So whether or not those little bucktoothed vermin stay out and enjoy the weather or run and hide from their own shadows - winter will last until spring has sprung which will be in 6.57142857 weeks after today. Thank the heavens for those furry little bastards; fricasseed, roasted, stewed or fried -  or even alive - you gotta love em cause they sure gave us the best holiday ever.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

Handling Guns & The Little Details That Can Get In The Way

What's wrong in this picture?
Photo source.

You are probably already aware that I am kind of a stickler for firearms safety. So take a look at this pic and tell me - what's wrong in it. Is the young lady to the right giving a hint by pointing her index finger? If you said that the gal holding the gun has her finger on the trigger, yeah, that is wrong AND it should be obvious. Yet there is also something else wrong that may be a little less obvious.

When you handle firearms you have to be aware of what is going on, of potential problems in the making. Imagine if the gal holding the AK was at the range and about to shoulder the rifle to start firing. See a potential problem? I had a jacket once that had an adjustable waist by way of a drawstring like the one in this photo. See it now! 

Mine interfered with both drawing and holstering my handgun whenever it was tightened a bit allowing the drawstring ends to hang down a bit. One time the end of the string got stuck in the holster somehow and when I tried to rip away the jacket to draw, the jacket only moved a couple of inches because the lace held fast to the holster (luckily it was at the range). It took a second to clear but that could be too long. Another time, I tried to holster my pistol and the lace went with it into the holster preventing the pistol from seating properly (maybe the same day at the range). That was it, I cut it and pulled the rest of it out of the jacket from the other side.

In this particular case, should the young lass try to bring the gun to her shoulder to fire, that drawstring may be long enough, or not long enough, to allow her to do so when and if it gets caught under the sight rail (really it is a matter of when). In addition, with her finger already on the trigger, the string getting caught as she raises the rifle to her shoulder could be all it would take to have a negligent discharge. You need to be careful of things like that when choosing your shooting attire and accessories. No it does not take long to clear but the moment that it takes to correct for it, in a self defense situation, could be the moment that the bad guy needs to put you down.

All the best,
Glenn B

Mothers-In-Law, Dentures, Wives & Pliers

Today, the mother-in-law complains that her dentures are hurting her gums and need adjusting. My wife tells me that and asks if I have a pair of narrow pliers. I immediately had the presence of mind to tell her that there is absolutely no way that I am going to try to adjust her mother's dentures. She told me she was going to try to do it. I guess, because she is a dental assistant, she figured she could do it. I got her three pair of needle-nose pliers, a regular pair of pliers, a pair of vice grips and a large hammer. She and her mother got a laugh out of it

Then she tried to adjust them and gave them back to her mother who only complained that they were worse than before (what else could one expect). My wife is claiming she was not able to even budge the metal one little bit and that her mother was being dramatic (that's what she usually tells me when I complain about something). So, tomorrow it will be my luck to have to bring the mother-in-law to the dentist's office, in which my wife works, to have them adjusted. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse, I could have tried to adjust them myself, then when she said they fit even worse than before, I would not have heard the end of it.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

Because Wirecutter Has Been Slacking Today

Just figured I would post a pic of a babe with a gun cause Wirecutter has not shown any pics of ladies on his site yet, today. Besides that, I like her stance!

All the best,
GB

Today in History - The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III Rifle

On January 26, 1907, the SMLE (Short Magazine Lee-Enfield) Mk III rifle was introduced to service in the British military. It was and remains, a bolt action, box magazine fed, repeating rifle that was  chambered for the .303 British round. The SMLE Mk III was modified in 1915 to become the SMLE Mk III* and had a new designation as the Rifle No.1 Mk III* in 1926  (pictured).

It is, at 107 years since it was first issued, the longest serving (officially issued to military or police forces) bolt action rifle in the history of the world. It is currently issued for use by government forces in such countries as Bangladesh and India where it is issued to police forces.

I wish I had one and that it would not be too much to ask that it be in excellent condition! I remember when they could be had for about $75 and I passed at the opportunity. I could literally kick myself in my arse for missing out on that one because they aren't that inexpensive now.

Sources:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield#Pattern_1913_Enfield

All the best,
Glenn B

R.I.P. Ammo - Wow It Goes Through Plywood, Glass...

...multiple layers of denim and even sheetrock! Can you imagine a bullet being able to penetrate sheetrock! Awesome dude, I never knew any bullet would ever be able to do that man!

They claim this innovative new ammunition will revolutionize law enforcement. Are they kidding? I hope so since law enforcement officers in the USA are taught to shoot to stop and not to shoot to kill. If this round was designed to be more lethal than what is typically carried by LEOs, then it should never be made available to law enforcement because it is not their job to be lethal agents of the government except under extreme circumstances and even then, as I said above, they are supposed to shoot to stop - not to kill. Of course, if killing someone was indeed the only way to stop them being a threat to life or limb or a secondary result of being shot to stop them, then so be it. Imagine though if it is so much more lethal as they seemingly imply and it hits an innocent bystander! Yikes.

My guess though is that almost as soon as its becomes commercially available, it will be banned by an act of Congress (at least for we the non-LE citizens as opposed the LE community and the military). At least an attempt at banning is to be expected with the twits we now have in Congress and the White House whether or not it actually is more lethal than other types of ammo. Why - just because it looks so nasty and they build it up to be so nasty. Anyway, it seems all so much hype; although, I imagine it would cause a nasty wound and I would not want to be on the receiving end.



All the best,
Glenn B

Justin Bieber - My Sentiments Almost Exactly

This is an exceptionally excellent video. If you are easily offended by foul language, watch something else. However, if you think Justin Bieber is a useless piece of dog shit on the bottom of a shoe, watch on!


A hat tip to Lenny D for sending me that one. By the way, if that does not go viral, nothing will ever again.

All the best,
Glenn B

Oblivion

I know they can be quiet and know they can blend in when in the woods or in tall grass but this is absolutely ridiculous. Are people really that unaware of heir surroundings - no wonder so many folks fall victim to predatory criminals.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/3101071018001/elderly-couple-oblivious-to-close-encounter-with-bear/

All the best,
GB

Wirecutter - The Elementary School Years

Just figuring it must have been like this (or maybe he said your camel toe and your ass) back then!

All the best,
Glenn B

Las Vegas (or is it Lost Wages)

There I was, about two or three blog-posts ago, saying that I thought I should get my bills paid off so that I could start saving for a new pistol. That was before I heard my wife and daughter saying how great it would be to visit Las Vegas in the not too distant future. They want to get away from all this global warming here in the northeast USA. As I write, it is 13 degrees Fahrenheit, as per http://weather.com, yeah - lots of that global warming BS going around recently. 

Somehow today, I found myself looking for decent deals for just such a trip for them. I went upstairs to ask them a question, late this afternoon, and there was my daughter trying to plan the same trip. She let me do it! I got finished making reservations with Southwest Airlines not all that long ago. They will be going for 3 night stay in about a month or so. As could have been expected (and as I guess I well knew) - no husbands allowed. Nice to see them bonding but wishing I was going too.

Not a bad deal, just under $600 apiece for airfare and 3 nights at a 4 star hotel on the strip. Not like it was 10 or 15 years ago when you could get round trip airfare for about $80 but not bad by today's standards. I guess I will be stuck here walking the dogs and feeding the reptiles. Oh well, somebody has to do it.

Anyway, it now seems that the bills getting paid off and me saving for a new pistol will be delayed somewhat - unless of course the wife wins big and generously throws me a bone.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Loyal, Dedicated, Honorable and Fascinating Man Has Passed

I vaguely remember, but do recall, back in 1974 when the news broke about Hiroo Onoda finally surrendering to then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. What makes a man surrendering to the authorities something memorable?  In this case is was that Mr. Onoda was a soldier in the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII, an Intelligence officer to be more exact. In 1945, his superior officer ordered him to remain behind on Lubang Island in the Philippines to collect intelligence on the American forces there. Even though Japan had surrendered in that year, Onoda remained on the island and carried out his orders, he did so for 29 years after the end of the war. He was never deterred from doing so, he was loyal and dedicated to duty for all that time. He survived on Lubang, stealing food, and wearing his by then overly patched army uniform for all those years. Even though a few attempts had been made to tempt him out of the jungle, with his family members making pleas for him to surrender (Japan had flown his family to the island), he did not come out of hiding until subsequent to 'globe-trotter' set camp near his location and tempted him into his camp. That globe-trotter notified Japanese authorities who then flew Onoda's former commander to the island to give him an order to surrender on his 52nd birthday.

Imagine that, being so loyal to your country and dedicated to duty as to remain behind, virtually as the 'last man standing, against all odds and doing it for 29 years and then not thinking that you had made a mistake or wasted your time. If that is not fascinating, nothing is at all.

Now he is gone, dead at the age of 91. Read more about him here at Fox News and here at Wikipedia, the sources for the above. His story is pretty awe inspiring. I commend his actions, honor his memory and offer my condolences to his loved ones even though he was our enemy. There are not many men among all of us as honorable as he. Yet, he was not he last Japanese Army holdout. In December of 1974, only months after the surrender of Ondoa, Teruo Nakamura was captured on Morotai Island in Indonesia. Nakamura was the actual last man to serve the Japanese Imperial Army of WWII. He passed in 1979, only 5 years after his capture. Absolutely amazing.

All the best,
Glenn B

An Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) Pistol Is In My Sights

It's been a long time since I made my most recent firearm's purchase. Most of the money that I have spent on firearms related purchases, over the past year, has gone to pay for ammunition. Now that the NY SAFE Act prevents me from making direct purchases of ammo from online dealers, I figure it may be time to shift the focus of what types of items I am targeting. A gun buy seems to be in my future; it is probably not going to happen very soon but also not in the way too distant future. I need to get some debts paid off and then after that, I will start saving for a new gun. One of the guns I have in mind, and I can assure you it is not merely because of the retail price of it, is the Armscor, Rock Island Armory, Tactical .45ACP pistol.

I only own a single 1911 pistol and have been thinking of getting another full sized 45 Auto. That this one is selling in some places, like GrabAGun, for only $409 (see this linked ad) is a definite plus but as I said, I am not just under the allure of its low cost. Other things that attract me to this pistol are the facts that it is an all steel pistol and that has some nice features usually found on higher end pistols. Those little extras include: an adjustable rear combat sight, snag free front sight, a Parkerized finish, skeletonized trigger, combat hammer, extended beavertail, ambidextrous safety, etc..

At first, while trying to get more info on this pistol at the Armscor USA website, I was a little confused. The advertised model, at GrabAGun does not exactly match any model shown on the actual Armscor website (at least as I write this) and it was very difficult to find info on the Armscor site for the same exact model number. I kept putting in the model number and coming up with no info for it. Differences in the advertised one and the one shown on the Armscor site under the designation of Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) included the grips and the serrations on the slides but I finally did come up with a spec sheet of sorts, on the Armscor site, for the same exact model number.  The features as listed on the Armscor site can be seen here: Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP).

Then again, speaking of differing features of the TAC 1911 FS between that seen on GrabAGun's site to the one shown on Armscor's site, I should point out that the specs differ, from page to page within the Armscor website itself depending on what page you are viewing. The product info page for that model shows it with smooth wood grips but the disassembly and assembly videos on the Armscor site show it with new black rubber grips for 2013. Whatever that and other possible small differences may exist - I kind of, sort of, think I want one, especially at that advertised price or close to it.

I have liked Armscor ever since buying an Armscor Model 14Y, bolt action rifle several years ago. It is an inexpensive but high quality, youth rifle in .22LR hat has remained absolutely excellent despite a good deal of use over the years. If Armscor manufactures their pistols with as much quality as that little rifle, then they are likely a great buy. I figure, that within a few months of saving some cash, I should be able to find out first hand about whether or not the TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) is high quality firearm or not.

Another note about Armscor, I find the disassembly and assembly videos that they provide on their website for these pistols to be a nice touch. It would have been even nicer had they used brighter lighting and gotten in closer on some shots and had Bubba (not his real name) gotten each step correct explained the first time around and used proper nomenclature other than his own made up parts names - such as his use of "the ambi" to describe the left side slide release lever in the disassembly video. That is nitpicking on my part though and nonetheless, I truly appreciate them posting those videos because they go a long way to help me better understand the workings of a 1911 pistol.

All the best,
Glenn B

One Of The Reasons I Used To Like Motel 6...

Click on pic to enlarge.

...was that besides being inexpensive and usually clean, they had a policy allowing you to have pets stay in your room. I never asked them what kind of pets they meant and just assumed they meant all kinds of pets. Back in the summer of 2002, my wife, daughter, son and I visited Arizona. My wife and daughter headed back home after ten days or so but my son and I remained there another week or two to do man things! When all of us were there, we visited a good deal of the state of AZ and also visited Las Vegas, NV. When it was just me and my son, we kind of zeroed in on the southern part of AZ, especially around Tucson, Tombstone, Madera Canyon and the like. While driving down a road near Madera Canyon, around dusk, we spotted a pretty large Gopher Snake on the road. I wanted to catch it but there was a car speeding along not all that far behind us. I waved him of and took off across the road and grabbed this critter on the run. I was never in danger but the snake sure would have been as it was soaking in the heat rising up from the blacktop. 

My son and I decided it was a keeper and we took it back to the motel with us once we were done herping (looking for reptiles and amphibians) for the night. Luckily we were saying at a Motel 6 with there 'pets allowed' policy. I wonder what the manager would have thought, had he seen us the next day, out in the parking lot taking this picture. Heck, that was a long time ago - I was in my late forties and my son was almost 13. How time flies (or should I say slithers).

All the best,
GB

It's Not Only NSA Spying on Americans

Apparently it could be any company with access to your personal information on the Internet. A perfect example of a company having too much information on one of its customers would be OfficeMax or at least the company from which it gets its mailing lits. OfficeMax reportedly sent out a $10 savings coupon addressed to a dad who lost his daughter, in April, in a car wreck. While that may not seem unusual in any way, consider to whom OfficeMax also addressed the offer: "Daughter Killed in Car Crash".

OfficeMax blames it on "a third party mailing list provider"; of course, why would they accept the blame in todays world of passing the buck and blaming the other guy just as our president seems to do every day.

As the dad is wondering, and as am I, why on earth would a marketing firm acquire and use that type of information. It is truly an outrage. Before any of you say it, yes I understand we all agreed to give up certain information when using the Internet but that is plainly extremely insensitive and the information could be of no practical use in marketing this long after the fact of the young lady's death. Someone should be proverbially horse whipped for this one.

Read more here.

All the best,
Glenn B

Want To See Why Health Insurance is So Screwed Up (Other Than Obummercare)

This is the bill section of my latest statement from a medical facility I use. Look at how much the facility charged and how much the insurance company paid them. If that is not waste and mismanagement, or maybe even fraud, then nothing is any of them.

SERVICE PERIOD  11/21/2013		Insurance  Activity	What You Owe Now
	Charges Billed	760.00
12/03/2013	OP Blue Cross Pmt	-3,418.90
	Insurance Benefit	2,658.90
Balance Pending		$0.00	$0.00

I can assure you that I did not see one penny of the $2,658.90 "Insurance benefit" since payment goes directly to the facility. Maybe I should discontinue direct payment and see if they send that to me next time.

All the best,
GB