Some In GOP Seek To Remove Trump From Republican Party

According to this article, in The Wall Street Journal, Joe Lhota, the 2013 GOP mayoral candidate, wants Donald Trump thrown out of the Republican party. Others want likewise. Aren't the ones who want to throw Trump out of the Republican party the same as the Republican arsehats responsible for allowing Michael Bloomberg to run as their candidate, for mayor of NY, but only after he flatly stated he had almost zero Republican values? I am almost certain they allowed him to run as a Republican twice and that they said what mattered were not his principles but that the party could win. Third time, he 'ran' as an independent; not because the GOP threw him out but because he decided to run as an independent.

True, Trump historically has not been a conservative on many issues. Yet, he seems to address issues head on and with a vigor long absent from others in either party while disregarding political correctness and while seeking to do what he believes is best for America. Maybe the GOP does not get it, or maybe they do, the more the RINOs yammer and gnash their teeth about him, the more votes of disgruntled voters they push his way. For example: Jeb Bush's recent claims that Trump is not conservative are laughable considering the source and his own lamentable record and candidacy. Jeb Bush is, at best,  just another weak kneed RINO. The more he jabs, the higher Trump's ratings go. So, it makes me wonder, is the GOP really wanting to get rid of Trump or are they trying to boost his ratings by turning Jeb Bush on him. Regardless of what the people who run the GOP think, the old Republican base (conservative Republican voters) seems ready to look for a new type of candidate to support, if not for a whole new party.

 

I do not like Trump's historical set of politics for the most part but I care for, even less, the politics of RINO's like John McCain, Jeb Bush, George W. Bush, Chris Christie, and  Marco Rubio just to name some recent and historical RINOs who all claim to be representing the conservative base that once was the Republican Party. I dislike them so much that a couple or few years back, I dropped out of the Republican party. On the other hand, I absolutely detest the politics and principles of leftists like Clinton and Sanders. I can actually see myself voting for Trump.

 

Ironically enough though, should I cast a vote for Trump, I might indeed be casting my vote for someone who is a RINO. However, there is a difference between him and other RINOs. The difference being that he seems to have the courage enough to stand by his political convictions and that those convictions have, at least as of late, been molded to fit a new form. That form might actually fit in nicely with many of my political views and likewise with those of many who were once considered the base of the Republican Party. Regardless, many of his ideas address the problems we face, do so directly and forcefully, and in all likelihood are better than almost anything offered by other candidates who tiptoe around political correctness, indecision and ineptness. If nothing else, many of the things he promises to accomplish are those that the left and right have been promising for years then give one excuse after the other (the left blaming the right and the right blaming the left) for not getting done. Whether his plans succeed or fail, Trump is a man with a history of taking command and doing what he has planned to accomplish. In other words, he is not merely a political bag of hot air. 

 

I seem to remember that, within my lifetime, there was another man who was not a Republican for much of his political career, who had been on the left but who grew up and came over to the right because he loved his country. That man became the best president within my lifetime to date. If Trump gets the Republican nomination, then one can dream that - The Donald might be half as good as that other man. If you need to ask whom I mean, you had best not vote at all.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Ten Minutes Of 50/50 Bliss

And to think, not only is the gun 50 (as in caliber) but Farm Girl is supposedly 50 or almost so (as in age).

All the best,
Glenn B

There I Was All Set To Blog More Regularly...

...and boom I was laid out on my back. I had been under the weather all last week into this week with aches and pains, a sore throat and chest congestion due to a cold or so I had thought. On Monday I seemed somewhat better but then very late Monday night throughout much of Tuesday, I cleaned myself out running for the throne. I was pretty much in sheer misery on Wednesday and went to see my gastro doc who sent me to the ER. Wound up I had a strep infection. They shot me up with some antibiotics and I am feeling much better though far from 100%. Of course, my wife thinks me a hypochondriac but I guess she can't argue the test results. Anyway, maybe I will get some blogging done over the weekend. I have a lot of catching up on the news to do before any serious stuff though.

All the best,
GB

Today In History - A Grimm Day Indeed

On this day, January 4th, in the year 1785, Jacob, the older of two brothers both later to become famous, was born in Hanau, Germany. He was followed in the next year by his brother Wilhelm. The two would go on to both delight and frighten children (and adults) around the world not only in their own lifetimes but for decades and even centuries to come. They did so with a collection of tales they wrote and published, in three volumes, called Children's And Household Tales; in all there were 170 tales in the first edition of the work and 211 in the seventh edition. The name of their collected works was later changed to the much more familiar Grimm's Fairy Tales.

While you may think Walt Disney was the creator of such tales as: Hansel And Gretel (Disney had a musical version of the tale and a once aired TV movie), Sleeping Beauty and Snow White - it was the brothers Grimm who first recorded the stories in written form but even they were not the creators of these tales. They had helped establish a collection of oral folklore and later were encouraged to incorporate the oral tales they had collected into written volumes. It is important to note that they tried to replicate the oral stories as best they could in writing.

I had some of their tales read to me when I was a child and I later read many to my own children and not just the more popular of their stories either. I also read others of them for my own amusement. While I have read many of the tales, I certainly have not read all of them, not by a longshot; that might be something I should add to my list of things to accomplish in my lifetime - reading the complete collection.

All the best,
Glenn B

Black Guns (AKA: Assault Weapons) Are Not Evil...

...since they use them to protect Heaven too.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is It My Turn Yet...

...I mean when in hell is she gunna had over that gun, she's gone through ten mags already!

All the best,
GB

Here Is An Excellent Price On 22LR Ammo...

...that is if you are the dealer who actually is selling any at the price. When a case of 5K Armscor 22LR ammo is selling for $1.00 per round, or in other words for $5,000.00 for a 5,000 round case, yes it is a price only a seller could love. Then again they may not love it since it is likely none of it is selling at that price.

That is the price as I found it at Ammo Supply Warehouse today, just minutes ago as I type. I imagine you will be able to see it yourself at this link, at least until they correct it. Yes, I am guessing it has to be a mistake. If it is not a mistake and they know something we do not about Obummer's upcoming gun control measures or about potential 22LR unavailability; well then, I stand to make some money on what 22LR I have in stock and still have a good amount left over.

All the best,
GB

It Is January 3rd...

...did you remember to change the batteries in your smoke and CO2 alarms on the 1st? I just thought of it a few minutes ago and will do it after dinner today. I'll be damned if I can recall if I already changed them in March or November when we reset the time on the clocks. Luckily, I had the foresight of buying the 9 volt batteries awhile back, so I have enough of them to go around for the smoke and CO2 detectors that still use them (and for my metal detector). Our newer ones, at least the newer smoke alarms, have 10 year batteries installed and require complete unit replacements after 10 years. Still have a couple or few of the old ones though and they will get fresh batteries today.

All the best,
GB

Her First Time

All the best,
GB

Maybe Obama Should Start With Guys Like This...

...when it comes to gun control.

Now, for all I know, this guy could be the legal owner of that gun but let's go with the stereotypical hoodlum from the hood view of this photo for purposes of this post; and let's do it without actually judging this guy. In other words the photo is just a prop. Now tell me please, what has Obama done and what does he plan to do to rid our society of heinous criminals that commit violent crimes. As far as I know he has done nothing but repeatedly lend his support to them, coddle them or ignore them. 

Think about it, what is Obummer trying to do with his type of gun control but to punish law abiding citizens, to restrict their rights and their liberties all while destroying the Constitution of The United States of America and thus destroying our Nation? Oh yeah, that's right, the other thing he is trying to do is to slowly but surely create a socialist/communist like tyranny with our country. You know what I mean right - that fundamental change thing he spoke about.

The best, most certain way, to do so would be to disarm the populace, if not completely, then of any arms that could successfully be used to stage a revolution against his bran of tyranny. If he cannot achieve an outright ban, then possibly a registration program so that the government could later effect unconstitutional seizures of them. if that fails then major restrictions on when and how someone can obtain more. He has already tried with ammunition, will probably try harder with that since ammo is coming back into supply and will likely try with what the government considers to be assault weapons and maybe more. The time seemingly is upon us to either defend our Constitution and thus our liberties and our rights and our whole lifestyle because he surely is trying to destroy them all.

He apparently has not done anything, nor planned to do anything, 
effectively to eliminate violent crime.

I will say one thing about the actual guy in the photo, he evidently knows enough to keep his finger off of the trigger until ready to shoot but not to keep his hand from in front of the muzzle. Whether he is a real hoodlum, a firearms owner showing off his gun, or a model - he needs to brush up on firearms safety. Then again, if he really is a heinous criminal thug, why should I care about him knowing gun safety! If he remains ignorant of it, maybe he will blow his hand off, bleed to death, and do us all a favor.

All the best,
Glenn B

Emails Asking For Political Contributions...

...from the likes of Ted Cruz (especially from his campaign) and from a few others among the republican candidates just keep rolling into my spam email box, virtually on a daily basis. Besides emails from the Cruz campaign, I have received quite a few from Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and some of the others. Oddly enough, I cannot understand why the Donald has not sent me any similar emails requesting contributions. Oh yeah, that's right, so far he has paid for all of his expenses himself. Something like that possibly could make me like the guy.

All the best,
Glenn B

Buying Ammo - Starting The New Year Off Right...

...as in making sure I take the liberty to exercise my rights. I just ordered 200 rounds of .35 Remington. It is a disappearing caliber of ammunition, one that ammo makers apparently have relegated to the "fuck the folks who own guns in that caliber" category as the so called ammo shortage continues. (See more on disappearing 35 Rem here.) So, while I can still find some of it, I am planning on buying as much as I can acquire within my means. I only have about 500 rounds on hand and those certainly would not last long if I decided to keep shooting my Marlin 336 as much as I used to shoot it. Right now, I shoot restrict myself to a very limited amount of shooting with it, just enough to stay proficient, which basically means sighting it in for zero maybe two to four times a year.

What I ordered today was pretty overpriced (although a fair price in today's market, I suppose) and also is a specific type of 35 Remington ammo I had hoped I would be able to avoid buying. I ordered 200 rounds of Hornady LeverEvolution FTX 200 grain 35 Remington rounds. When, I said I had hoped never to buy this specific ammo and had wished the others would have been vailable, I am not saying the Hornady is bad ammo or anything like that. It is simply that it is of a design for which I do not see the need. However, if what Hornady says about this ammo is all true, then I should be quite pleased with it.

Yet, I would much preferred to have been able to buy 200 rounds of either Winchester Super-X 200 grain PP, or Remington Express Core-Lokt 200 grain SP ammo but they are almost impossible to find. When I do find one or the other they're even more overpriced than the Hornady LeverEvolution ammunition and usually much more so. Me paying the $1.48 per round for this order (the shipping price is included in that figure) is being done only out of desperation on my part. My preferred brands had been going for less than a buck a round before Obama, but what is a shooter to do other than assure that he has enough ammo on hand to last a lifetime, what with arsehats like him stripping away our liberties and rights. My thanks to my brother-in-law Alex, my Secret-Santa, who gave me $200 bucks for Christmas, it is all going toward this purchase.

So, I will be stocking up on needed ammo as often as I can this year and I will remain hopeful that ammo prices will fall soon; although, I am none to optimistic about that. I advise any of you who are shooters to do likewise, especially if you have any firearms chambered for hard to get calibers.

All the best,
Glenn B

If Nothing Else The Holidays Are A Good Excuse To Pig Out

...and I intend to do so today, at least by being a little anti-ISIS piggy. Nope, pork is not on the menu, at least not as the main course. It may still make its way into the appetizers though, I have to hit the supermarket to decide on what those delicacies will be (yes, H-Mart is open up my way). Regardless of pork, I will be a pig anyway.

In about an hour (as I type this), I will throw a 20.68 pound choice beef rib roast onto the grill. Might do it sooner than that, maybe in as soon as 15 minutes. I just cannot imagine that thing cooking in-between  1130 and 2:45 PM, that being 15 minutes before the time we have planed to commence chow down at 3. It has been out of the ridge for about 1.5 hours now, bringing it to room temp seemingly allows it to cook somewhat faster and somehow makes it juicier and thus taste better too.

I had hoped to pick up a similarly sized prime rib roast but Costco, where I got this one, did not have any prime rib. That was strange since they have prime meats regularly. Whatever, I am sure it will be excellent as it looks to be nicely marbled with fat as are most ribs I have ever seen and eaten before. In a way, I am kind of happy that I did not find prime rib, this one was expensive enough and I imagine that prime would have run at least $3.00 more per pound. The money I saved went toward beer and booze.

While I will be cooking the beef and probably whipping up some appetizers (stuffed mushrooms might be in order - stuffed with shrimp, scallops, seasoned breadcrumbs and butter) the wife will be making all of the sides. I know she is including butternut squash, pan roasted (or broiled) Brussels sprouts, homemade mac & cheese and a salad. What else she is conjuring, I have no clue.

As for me, I still have some stuff to get done besides the roast. I did manage to throw my wash into the machine, feed the tortoises, likewise the salamander and fish, clean the grill, make sure I have enough gas for the grill and throw the beer into the fridge - just not quite in that order. I am quite happy I remembered, first of all, to toss several beers into the fridge. All that out of the way, I still have to hit the supermarket to pick up some fixings for whatever appetizer(s) I choose to make.

As for the beer for the day, I think there will be 5 potential beer drinkers - with 4 of them being somewhat likely and at least one (me) be certain - at the festivities today. I bought a case of Variety of Victories by the Victory Brewing Company for the occasion. Victory Brewing Co. has quite a selection of ales and beers. They make one of my favorites - Golden Monkey Tripel, which just happens to be included in the case I bought. The variety case also includes: HopDevil IPA, Headwaters Ale and Prima Pils. I, for one, am looking forward to each of them but that has to wait until later. There will be no drinking done by me today until about half a second past noon (or maybe even an hour or two later). Anyway, I most certainly will have at least two and maybe three. I also have a decent bottle of champagne around here and my brother-in-law the younger is also bringing some more.

Moving on, I have to get some more things done before I fire up the grill. Then, once I have the roast on the grill, I will head to the supermarket for the appetizer fixings. I am salivating thinking about the possibility of stuffed mushrooms. if they are half a good as the ones I made for Christmas they will be excellent.

Hope you are enjoying your day and have a happy start to your new year. if not though, then I hope you can catch up as soon as possible. If you are in the military, in some God-forsaken shithole like Iraq or Afghanistan, drop me an email and maybe I can arrange to send you a pretty decent care package. Mind you, I am not rich so, if I actually get some requests, I can probably handle this for two or three of our military folks at most right now, first come - first served; anyway, Happy New Year to you.

All the best,
Glenn B

Is There Any Truth To It?

I would bet that there is some truth to it, in fact I would think it more truthful than not but that is just my guess.

All the best,
Glenn B

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all except the heinous pieces of shit, and all like them, in ISIS, al Qaeda and other such groups (like those of the extreme left and extreme right). Also, allow me to exclude, from my new year wish anyone who:

Believes black lives matter (more than the lives of anyone else),

Anyone who lives life believing he is entitled to the fruits of someone else's labors;

Anyone who illegally enters a country (or overstays a legal entry)and then believes he is included in the phrase "We The People" and anyone else who believes that;

Anyone who believes that law enforcement officers (or any other type of servant of the people) is superior in any way shape or form that the remainder of the citizenry and thus who supports laws making them, in essence, a special class;

Any government official who violates his oath of office by not supporting and or defending the Constitution of the United States of America;

Any politician, who once elected to office reneges on his campaign promises (they should be charged with fraud and prosecuted and if found guilty removed from office, as far as I am concerned);

Anyone who believes that truly Constitutional laws apply to others but not to themselves;

Anyone who truly believes that gun control is the answer to violent crime instead of executing, or at the very last lobotomizing, violent criminals (at least the repeat offenders)

Any citizen, legal resident alien, or politician who supports any of folks who believe in any of the ideals I mentioned above that exclude them from my wish for a happy new year.

I could go on with the list but I think you get the general idea of whom I exclude from my wish that you have a happy new year. The rest of you, have a blast and may your new year bring you health, wealth, love and happiness.

All the best,
Glenn B

Asian Delight - Deadly Delight

Yep, eating puffer fish, while often a delightful tasty morsel, all too often winds up being a deadly Asian delight. I am willing to bet that trying to take a bite out of this other Asian delight could also prove to be a deadly delight depending on her mood.

Imagine comparing her to a puffer fish, I must be out of my mind.

All the best,
Glenn B.

FUCK THE HOLIDAYS...

...and all the assholes that come with them. I am happy the so called holiday season is halfway over and am truly looking forward to it being over. Thank god New Year day is the last one for quite the while (no I do not celebrate the year of the many or scaly critter, aka: lunar new year). One more holiday weekend and then there is nothing for me to celebrate until Ground Hog Day. I celebrate that one because almost no one else does, at least around where I live. Ground Hog Day is the definitely the best one - no pressure at all, no gift buying or giving, no big dinner, no asshole relations over for whom you have to act nice even though you despise them, no trips to see anyone, you don't even have to wish anyone a happy this or merry that - there is no anything, unless you want to do it for yourself and yourself alone (well, and maybe for the rodent known as the Ground Hog). Thus the reason I will celebrate it better than all the rest. Even Festivus cannot compare to Ground Hog Day - not in any way, shape or form. Ground Hog day is most certainly the best of all holidays! As for the rest of em, fuck them.

Yeah, that's right something put me in a foul mood this holiday season, the same thing that can put me in a foul mood any day of the year - and she does not even have to try. The holiday season sucks regardless of how bad she makes it though, I am finally convinced of that (the holidays need no help from her at all, but oh how she can make it worse).

All the best,
Glenn B

A Little Bit Of Luck For Christmas

Usually, if not for really bad luck, to mediocre luck at best, I would have no luck at all. That was a little different this Christmas. We did the Secret Santa thing for our second year at it and my brother-in-law, Alex, picked my name out if the hat and so had to get me a present as my Secret Santa. I wrote a few things down in my wish list and one of them was a gift card for TargetSportsUSA.com.

As it wound up, he somehow was told I wanted a gift card from Target's sporting goods department. So, off he went to the local Target store to get one for me. A clerk told him to go to front of store where they had all the gift cards and that was what he did.

That I was when my good luck came into play; there were extremely long lines for the checkout counters and Alex in essence said "to heck with this" and left the store without a gift card for me. He wound up giving me cash and told me the story. He was as surprised to find out I had written down TargetSportsUSA.com as I was to hear that he almost got me a gift card at a Target store. I cannot even imagine them having a sporting goods section, let alone selling anything firearms related as I planned to get from TargetSportsUSA. I don't know which was the better present, the cash or the good luck but I am very happy I got both. I hope you had as merry a Christmas as did my family and I.

All the best,
Glenn B

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

There is, for me, no other way to say it better than just those two words said with the meaning that I intend they convey from me to you.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Paucity Of Blogging...

...has mostly been due to me working virtually full time, so my blogging has mostly been on the weekends. If I missed it on a weekend it was because I was hunting. Add to that I have been doing what Christmas shopping I can get done and that just about explains it all as to why I have not been blogging much. I'll probably get back to daily blogging by mid January when I expect my work hours to be cut drastically. Anyway, I'll do some blogging, and a fair amount of it, this long weekend or at least I'll try.

Later4U, I have to wrap gifts. I asked Santa Claus to send me some help to that end and all he sent was a couple of distractions but oh what distractions.

All the best,
GB

A Brace Of Blue Steel Revolvers...

...would have made this photograph all that much better, don't ya think?

All the best,
Glenn B

I Hardly Ever Make New Year's Resolutions...

...mostly because I know I will not keep them. I am somewhat tempted though to do so this year just to see if it does any good in getting me out of my personal rut, so to speak. As it is now, and has been for way too many years, I often get a great idea to do something and while I may take some steps toward whatever end I have in mind, I often, and all too often at that, put it off until it just does not get done. In other words, I'd like to do more of what I currently just keep thinking and dreaming about. I will be making some New Year's resolutions with that goal in mind. Yeah, I know, I can make all the resolutions I want and nothing will change but I am hopeful that I will stick to my number one resolution.

Start Doing and Stop Procrastinating:  This will be my number one resolution. In essence it will be to take action on my plans and to cut out my procrastination simply by getting those things put into motion as soon as I think of them and completed as quickly as possible within a reasonable amount of time.

So, what else is there that I would like to include within my New Year's resolutions, what are the things I would actually like to get done?

Shooting: I would like to start shooting more often again. Right now I probably average about a half dozen or so local range trips a year and a few to far away ranges. I would like to start hitting the local indoor range at least once per month. I am none to sure I will wait until after New Year's day to start this one, I may go this week or next if I can get the time. Truth is I had resolved to do so a few months back and actually started shooting more often but then work screwed that up. I was working part time, on call now and again as needed, but was asked to step in and cover  full time position until they hire someone new for that spot. That ate up a lot of my time and energy and I cut back on range time.

Exercise: My working also cut back on another thing I had resolved to do about 6 to 9 months ago or so and I have since stopped going to the gym. Granted, I walk about 3 miles per day back and forth to transportation to get to and from work and that helps but it is not the same as me hitting the treadmill at the gym and doing 4 to 5 miles on a moderate incline while working up a heavy sweat. This one, I think I will slide back into easily once I am no longer working what amounts to virtually full time. I also want to go hiking at least once per month, somewhere in upstate NY.

Lose Weight: This will be the most difficult of the three I have mentioned so far. I am at least 50 to 60 pounds above what I think would be my optimal weight. I have taken off up to 35 pounds before now, only to have it sneak back onto my waste line, so I know I can do it. The thing is, when I lost weight, I was away from home for a few months on work details when I was in LE. Losing weight is pretty easy for me when I am away from all of my normal stressors. As opposed to many who stop eating when stressed, I eat more and it is usually junk food. I am hoping I can find the strength to do it, the incentive to get me motivated - maybe I should just stand naked in front of a mirror and disgust myself with what I see. That should do it but maybe I should get away from home more to help with that even if only on the weekends.

Hunt & Fish: I love hunting and fishing but yet I cannot even remember the last time I went fishing. It has to have been at least a year ago, maybe more. Hunting, yeah I just went deer hunting but I missed out on earlier opportunities to do early season bear hunting, squirrel hunting and turkey hunting. I wanted to go hunting today but did not feel up to the 3 /2 ride to my hunting grounds. I am going to resolve to go hunting or fishing at least once per month and will combine those with hiking.

Treasure Hunting: This may sound like a nothing more than a fancy and maybe it is just that but I plan to get my arse in gear and use my metal detector on some of my hiking trips in areas where I know there are archaeological sites (well, at least sites with the remains of buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s). I also want to start going to tag and estate sales again. It is something I enjoy but something I just stopped doing after my bout with cancer.

Be A Better Husband and Father: Don't all of us who have spouses and children want to be better for them! I can improve markedly in that department especially if I talk less, listen more and have more patience in all things. This will be the hardest to accomplish because it means changing my nature, one that has developed over the past 6 decades. I can do it tough, I have been improving slowly already but I want to accelerate it before I run out of time.

I guess that is it, besides one or two resolutions for self improvement that I will not divulge pubically or even to my family. I know what they are and what has to be done to rid some skeletons from my closet, so to speak, but it will not be easy for me.

My thanks to Zack over at The Next Chapter and this blog post that he wrote for giving me the inspiration to do some resolving of my own.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

So My Son Asked Me: "Did You Get Me In Secret Santa"

And it wasn't like he was really asking me, ore like he knew. So, I asked him: You seem to know the answer already, who blabbed". He told me that everyone else who is participating in our SECRET Santa deal this year told who had wound up whom to give gifs. Too say the least, I don't see why we even bother doing it, I thought it was supposed to be a secret. All the fun has drained out of it for me now that he knows I am was to be his Secret Santa. Mind you, he was not fishing either - he knew - and I know he knew because my wife and daughter were blabbing a week or so ago about it and asked me whom I had picked out of the hat. At least I have no clue who will be my Secret Santa, I did not bother staying around to listen to the blabber mouths.

Another thing, that disappoints me, as well as at least my son too, is that everybody (except me) wrote down only one ting they wanted as a Christmas present. The way it is supposed to go is that you write down at least 3 or 4 things you would like to get and based on that list, your Secret Santa gets you one of those gifts or something else along those lines. Of course, if your Secret Santa knows you well, he or she may get something entirely different that they know you would also like but it is best to stick to the list to keep in line with the gist of it. My son thought it pointless that almost everyone, including himself, wrote down one thing (he wants cash for his savings account).

Knowing who is your Secret Santa and virtually all of the participants writing down just one gift idea kind of takes all the fun out of it. Of course, I may put some fun back in to it by not giving exactly what my son wants but something else I know he will like. No way I am not having fun by giving some neat gifts for Christmas especially since gift giving is truly what Christmas is all about. Any Christian who thinks gift giving at Christmas is something that strays from the true meaning o Christmas should think again. Let me tell it to you my way, or better yet, let tell it the way God expressed it:

It was on that first Christmas that Joseph and Mary received the gift of an opportunity to board in the manger and on that day that God The Father gave the gift of His only Son to us as the Savior of mankind. Thus it was that night when the angels heralded the giving of the Gift to the shepherds "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" - it was and remains our best gift ever. That gift giving should continue, not just on Christmas, but on any day, is supported by the fact that the wise men (number unknown but often said to be three) bore gifts to the Christ Child after his birth after they themselves had received the gift of a star, a sign in the heavens, to guide them. Right up until the moments before the death of Jesus, God gave gifts as can be witnessed by Christ giving his body and blood to us in the form of communion, and told us to continue to do so. It is a gift giving practice still practiced over two thousand years later by the Christian churches of the world. Yes, if you miss the fact that gift giving is what Christmas is all about, that it is indeed the essence of Christianity, I truly believe that you miss the whole point of it.

Merry Christmas to all, that is my little gift to you.

All the best,
Glenn B

It Finally Feels Like Winter Around Here...

...as it is about 37 degrees right now but the winds are making it feel like 28. I am not opposed to winter although I must admit, I do not like feeling cold although I like going outside when it is cold (such as when I hunt, this year being the warm exception).

Anyway, up in this area is - since you usually go out and hop in the car to go to most places, then get out and go right inside, then back in the car to get out and go right inside your home - you don't usually dress appropriately for the temperature because you don't get a chance to feel it. If you get stuck outside at all, you get colder than you should be getting. I usually have an extra sweater in the car and a hat and gloves in my coat pocket in case I need them. When I go out walking any distance, like in the mornings on my way to the train station to get to work, I get dressed appropriately though try not to overdo it so I don't roast during the walk or once on the train. of course, if I ever get stranded anywhere in the general area, there are bars about every two or three blocks and I can always warm myself up with some fine spirits before continuing my journey.

I won't have to worry about feeling cold all that much after tomorrow though, at least for this week. It looks like spring will be sprung again and we will have an Indian Summer for the rest of the week. On Monday the weatherman promises temps in the 50s again with temperatures rising throughout the week to a high of about 66 on Christmas Eve. Doesn't look like snow for Christmas either, it's supposed to hit 56 that day.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Like The Contrast That The Juxtaposition...

...of an AK with the other subject matter in this photograph creates. Of course, that is not all I like about the picture.

All the best,
GB