The Little Red Haired Girl - Gone Forevermore

The Little Red-Haired Girl, the unseen beauty who made Charlie Brown's heart throb and for whom he longed throughout the life of the comic strip Peanuts has passed on. Well, at the least woman on whom the Little Red-Haired Girl was based has left this world. http://www.startribune.com/obituary-donna-wold-inspired-charles-schulz-s-little-red-haired-girl-for-peanuts/390807911/

More about the Little Red-Haired Girl character can be seen http://peanuts.wikia.com/wiki/Little_Red-Haired_Girl.

We, those not as outward as others, probably all have had someone like that in our lives, unattainable and yet worshipped from afar. I remember the older blonde haired girl who lived on my block when I was about 12 or so. She was one of those rare beauties and I adored her without once letting her know it; although she teased me so often I am sure she had guessed it. Then one day I asked a friend of her's where she had been because I had not seen her around. The other girl told me she and her family had moved away. That was it, she was gone without even a goodbye. Should have learned my lesson about women then and there. Charlie Brown - you were never the only one with a lifelong cherishing for lost loved one!

All the best,
Glenn B

Don't Steal Trail Cameras...

...or if it looks to good to be true, as in finding a trail camera out in the middle of nowhere, especially in KY, don't pick it up. If you do, you may not like what happens next. At least one man lost fingers after a trail camera blew up. According to a report "The man had obtained the camera from someone who found it on a mountain trail". More here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/21/dead-man-left-explosives-behind-in-kentucky-woods-police-say.html

Yeah right - he obtained the camera from someone else who just happened to find it. Okay, even if that was true, at least make sure where your buddy got that camera before fiddling with it because a fiend was leaving some cameras out there with explosives in them.

All the best,
Glenn B

Another Reason Trump is Assured To Get My Vote

“If Donald Trump wins, it will be a pretty dramatic setback,” says Murphy, who has emerged as the Democratic Party’s most vocal champion of new gun regulation. “Not just because how terrible he’ll be on the issue, but the fact that a presidential candidate who ran asking for a mandate on guns lost.”

More here: http://time.com/4457009/chris-murphy-guns-clinton/

I need no other reason to vote for Trump than that Hillary Clinton will try ot abolish the right of the people to be armed and therefor the right of the people to defend themselves and to overthrow tyranny. Remember that the 2nd Amendment was added to the Constitution by those who had just overthrown a tyrannical government. To me, their intent was clear - that the people should always be capable of doing so. 

All the best,
Glenn B

Kalashnikovs For Sale At The Airport - TSA and BATFE Would Shit Boulders...

...if such was the case here in the USA even though the AKs being sold at Sheremetyevo Airport, near Moscow, are only replicas. They reportedly are true sized realistic replicas at that. More here: https://www.rt.com/business/356507-kalashnikov-store-moscows-sheremetyevo/

The person or people who made the decision to allow sales of replica rifles at an airport might be true believers in the free market system but have little in the way of common sense capabilities. What will they sell at airports next, replica suicide bomber vests!

Of course, if it was up to me though, they would sell and rent real guns at airports so all passengers could be armed to defend themselves. Then though, I suppose they'd have to close down all the airport bars and stop serving alcohol on the flights. Decisions, decisions...

All the best,
Glenn B

A Reminder For The Older Voters...

...among us. Then again, it is also for younger voters even if they don't know the bear pictured.

Hat tip to Colette D.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Common Denominator

While it doesn't list enough of their heinous vile deeds, it says it all as far as I am concerned about Islam.

All the best,

Glenn B

Black Sabath Was...

...smashing but their performance way too short. It lasted all of 1 hours 20 minutes with a 10-15 minute solo by the drummer included in there while the rest of the band took a break. Great show by Ozzy and the rest of them just a pitifully brief performance considering the tickets were about $200 each!

What the hell, I have to say the music was excellent regardless of the brevity of the show. The best thing about it was that Brendan loved it and thought they were awesome. Nothing better than sharing things like that with your children, especially your now adult kids. I must have done something right.

I won't bore you with details of the show except to say that the first song was the fist song from their first and namesake album which in my opinion is the best album ever.

 

Brendan and I saw the show at Nikon Jones beach Theater on Wednesday night. Regardless of its brevity, it was the best concert we have seen in years.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Groove Music Is Out

I just clicked on the saved version of God Bless America, sung by Kate Smith, that I have on my laptop. It opened with something called Groove Music which I am guessing is a media player that came with Windows 10 when I upgraded to that operating system. First thing I saw was a picture of the total arsehats extraordinaire  Kahn Yay East Kayne West on my laptop screen. Lest I should dishonor the memory of Kate Smith and God Bless America or maybe worse yet puke on my computer, I turned it off and reopened the song with Windows Media Player. I for one don't need to see images of a piece of shit like him anywhere within my field of view.

All the best,
Glenn B

GunBroker.com Raising Prices

GunBroker has announced that it is raising its fees for sellers using its site. The new fees will be: "...5% of the first $50 and 2.5% above that with no subscriptions, no minimums, and no insertion fees". Still not a bad deal but just like all else their services are getting more expensive. The new fees go into effect on 09/01/2016 for any item ending on or after that day. They did not mention if their fees for auction listing extras, like boldface titles, color headers or thumbnail pics are going up too.

All the best,
Glenn B

Sitting Here With My Son...

...listening to Rival Sons, the opening band for Black Sabbath at Nikon Jones Beach Theater.

The only way it can get better is when Ozzy walks out onto stage and starts crooning. Bet you never heard anyone else refer to his singing as crooning or to him as a crooner.

Anyway, the lead singer of Rival Sons just said that opening for Black Sabbath is somewhere between your first Christmas and the first time you opened a Playboy. Excellent sentiment for those of us whoever celebrated Christmas or looked at Playboy in our tender days long before the Internet and even before Hustler.

Pictures not loading, later for them. Phone almost dead, got to save some juice for Black Sabbath pics.

ALL the best,
 GB

Scheming Fuckers

This evening, I got a call from a guy claiming to be with Microsoft. He told me, in what sounded like a Pakistani accent, that my computer had a virus that was destroying my files and other computers. When I asked him to repeat himself, he said 'you are Mr. Battery aren't you' or something like that. He also again said something about my computer having malware. I told him that would mean I would have to have a computer and he went dumb, apparently never had anyone tell him that before. I could hear many voices, all probably scum like him and probably making similar scam phone calls, in the background. I hung up and suggest you do too if you receive a similar call from a fucker like him.

All the best,
Glenn B

Car Woes & Work For The Next 2 1/2 Weeks

I don't know if I will actually work for the next 13 business days but am scheduled to do so right now. I need the cash too, my car is in the shop and the estimated charges will be about $1,500.00 or virtually every penny I will get in my take home pay if I work all those days. My exhaust system was completely shot, including exhaust pipe, two catalytic converters and the muffler. Then there is an oil change, complete coolant system flush and a bit of electrical work. What a friggin bummer; I guess it is time for a new car but I will have to work an awful lot more before I have a down payment for that.

Luckily, I can take public transport for the first three days of work while the car is in the shop. My car should be done by Thursday allowing me to drive to another location for the two following weeks.

I need a drink.

All the best,
Glenn B

Olympic Gold Spread The Word

 

All the best,

GB

America Then And Now

Hat tip to Peter Q.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Stunning Development In Georgia

The governor of Georgia, who vetoed a bill allowing firearms carry on college campuses, has signed legislation allowing stun guns on college campuses.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/15/new-stun-gun-law-in-georgia-electrifies-concealed-carry-debate.html

All the best,
Glenn B

This May Well Be Ever So Correct

All the best,
Glenn B

Truthful 2016 Political Sign

I cannot add to that.

All the best,
GB

A Man Can Dream...

...can't he.

This certainly is one of mine and one of my son's I think!

Hat tip to John D.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Gun Collection Sure Has Grown Since 2009 (2009 = Obama's First Year As President)

Back in November 2009, I took a few pics of my guns for insurance purposes. They were not worth all that much relative to a collector type firearms or to larger collection of working/shooting guns but they were worth taking the pics to me. I just took a look at those pics and was reminded not only of how many fewer rifles, pistols and shotguns I had back then but something else also came to mind. While I don't normally think in pictures, this memory popped up in my head as a perfect picture of Obama looking like his arrogant smug self with words underneath saying something to the effect: President Obama Best Gun Salesman Ever. That may well be true because my gun collection certainly has grown since that year, which by the way was the first year of his presidency.

My pistols and revolver in November 2009. Because of new laws in NYS since
then I have had to remove several of those 15 round magazines from NY state.



The AK in the photo was not mine but a relatives. As with
my pistol mags, the 30 round rifle mags are now gone from
my stock after illegally being made illegal here in NY state.

 

My rimfire rifles back in Obama's first year as
president of these now tyrannized United States.

Take a look at the pics and count them yourself or take my word for it, I had 7 semi-automatic pistols, 1 revolver, 1 shotgun, and 12 rifles (the AK pictured was not mine) in 2009 and is no longer in my possession. Since then I have sold a few but also added several more to bring the count well above the one from back then. Sure, I may have bought a gun now and then but to get where I am at now you have to consider that I was driven to do so by the anti-gun hysteria in his country and especially in my home state of New York.

Where I am now is at a number considerably higher that a total of 21 guns. I now own 2 revolvers, 11 pistols, 5 shotguns and at least 20 rifles for a total of 38 firearms. (I may not be remembering one or two rifles but have 20 for sure, will have to count them again soon.) In addition (and then subtraction) I also bought another 3 shotguns in that period but sold them recently. Finally I also sold one rifle I owned in 2009 and another that I had purchased since 2009. Anyway, as I said, the total I own right now is 38 (+?). That is about an 81% increase in the number of firearms I own. I owe my incentive to buy many of them to President Obama's and Governor Cuomo's tyrannical rule in this country and state respectively.

I'll be selling a few of them soon, probably at least three pistols, one or two rifles and two shotguns. In fact, I have one shotgun for sale on GunBroker.com right now. It's not like I am depleting my arms holdings, it's just that I will need money to buy some others more to my needs and liking. Since I am not rich (need to check my last Powerball and Lotto tickets to even be sure of that - just checked still not rich), I need to sell some guns now and again to be able to buy new ones. 

All the best,
Glenn B

A Day At A Gun Auction or A Very Expensive Pheasant (Not Under Glass)

Spent a few hours Friday night at the Hessney auction house in Geneva, NY while looking over guns, ammo and other items they would have up for bids on Saturday. Having three pretty much unrushed hours to look things over in advance of the auction and then getting to look them over again a bit on the morning of the auction before bidding starts is much better than just looking them over hurriedly that morning. So, there I was on Friday evening strolling around at my leisure, looking at this and that, to see what I wanted to research online pricewise so I would not overly screw myself if I placed any high bids. I had already placed a few online bids, on items sight unseen, just to judge interest and was outbid on every one of them except a Beretta 950BS Jetfire pistol as new and unfired and in the box with papers. My bid on that held all the way through online bidding which closed shortly before the live auction began. Getting back to Friday evening, I also preregistered for the live bidding and they made sure to give me the same number as that for m online registration.
 
I wound up selecting several guns to bid on for Saturday after looking them over and then went back to my hotel where I checked prices online via Blue Book of Gun Values, GunBroker.com's current auctions and some other sources. After doing that for about 2 hours or so, I was fairly comfortable in the thought I would not go overboard on any firearms on which I planned to bid. I had also made up my mind not to bid on anything sight unseen or in other words on guns I had not bothered to look at during the preview but then had an impulse to bid on later.
 
Come Saturday morning, I got up later than I would have if I had not gone to the preview. I had a decent free breakfast, cooked to order, at the motel and after that I headed to the auction house. I was in no hurry both because I had already looked over those guns and ammo lots on which I planned to bid and I was already registered. I had also reserved myself a seat on Friday night, right up in the first row, just about the same exact seat I have been lucky enough to get in the past couple of auctions. With nothing to hurry me up, I took a leisurely drive there and arrived at about 815 instead of my usual 700 or 730. That was nice.
 
Once inside, I looked over the guns on which I planned to bid again. I wanted to assure no one damaged them and believe me I have seen folks drop them when looking them over. I also wanted to make sure none of the magazines disappeared. One of the rifles I saw during the preview was missing its magazine and that was not listed on the auction tag. That most likely meant that someone has swiped it because the are usually very careful to list a "no mag" on the tag if such if the case. All seemed in order and I looked around some more at the ammo and accessories they had up for bids. One thing I had not paid much attention to the night before were the lots in flat beer case like boxes. Most of those consisted on an assortment of things and one in particular caught my eye. Since they start calling or bids on accessories, archery equipment and fishing rods, reels and tackle, in a side room, before the main auction begins and then keep that bidding going once the firearms auction begins in the main hall - I hoped that they would come to one particular lot like that before they reached the first gun on which I wanted to bid (which was item 29).

Well, they went through a lot of lots fast, sold all the archery equipment, reloading equipment, and some other odds and ends and then started on the tale with the one thing in which I was interested. The thing was that by the time they got to that table, the main auction was well under way and only a few items away from number 29 - a new, unfired and in the box, Marlin 1895G Guide Gun. What they do with those miscellaneous lots and almost all the stuff on auction in that back room is to take bids on any item on a set of tables or in a certain area. In other words, you bid, and if you have the high bid, you can select whatever you want from that table or area, in addition you can select as many as you want of those lots and then pay your high bid times however many lots you want. One person beat me on the first set of bids. She is a dealer and I was shocked she did not take what I had wanted but took something of much less value and only took one lot. I am guessing she had missed what I was after.
 
The lot that caught my eye was box holding 5 B-Square scope mounts each for a different type of gun. They were all new, sealed in the plastic pack, and were not cheap. All are made of aircraft aluminum (as far as I am aware) and all come with scope rings and mounting hardware. I ran a quick Internet search for them and saw they retail for around $35 to $45 each or more for the shotgun mounts and about $25 for the Russian M44 mount. The Russian the Russian mount has been discontinued and might demand a higher price now.

After checking on them, I saw on one of the many monitors showing the current firearm up for bids in the main auction room that they were on the gun two before that Marlin I wanted to bid on. Time was tight but the second round of bidding for those table lots went off and I quickly had the high bid at $50. Could it be no one else had seen those scope mounts. I selected that lot and another guy standing there, who saw what I had bid on, said no one else had probably seen it or paid attention to it and added I had gotten a steal. I was quite happy. The mounts are: one for a Remington 870 12 gauge, another for a Mossberg 500 12 gauge, another for Winchester 1200 / 1300 / 1400 /1500 12 gauge shotguns, another for Ithaca 3 & 87 12 gauge shotguns and the last one for a Chinese 53 or Russian 44 rifle. The mounts for the shotguns look like they fit over and around the receivers, the one for the rifles looks as if may fit into the slot for the rear sight (that will take some checking to be sure). As it turned out, I walked out of the room just as the firearms auction finished up on lot 28 and moved onto 29, the one on which I wanted to bid. There was no need to worry though, a reluctant bidder outbid me at the last possible second and that rifle was not meant to be mine. His high bid was $525, I stopped at $500.
 
With the 10% buyer's premium added on plus sales tax, had my $500 bid been the high ne, I would have paid $591.25 in total for it, or $100.61 less than the least expensive local dealer in my area. Not a bad deal. Oh well...there were many more bids to be made. Of course, it costs me to go to the auction but I often buy more than one gun and some other items too. The savings on that one alone would have paid my gas both ways and left me about $50 for food or to put toward a motel. Since I enjoy going to the auctions, I kind of overlook those other expenses. Anyway, at least this time around, I used hotel points for a free night and that gun would have been well worth the $500; anything more though would have put it in the loss column if that would have been the only thing for which I had the high bid. As you can figure though, if I can sell some of those B-Square scope mounts I will have more than made up for the cost of the trip.
 
Moving on, I also bid on several other guns, the ones I did not have the high bids on were: CZ Model 512, a semi-auto rifle in 22 Magnum, new in the box; two different lots of one each Henry Golden Boy, 22WMR; Henry Lever in 22LR; Browning Citori Model 725 Feather 12 gauge; Franchi Renaissance Classic 12 gauge; Smith & Wesson Model 19-4 as new in the box, this one barely had a cylinder turn mark on it. It had a  high gloss finish and was and very beautiful revolver. I bid $450 (note I was bidding up to my max bid depending on where my bid fell relative to another bidder's bid I may have bid lower by $25 on any item an I only went over my limit once during the entire auction). I wish now that I had bid one more time on this one, it would have been worth it in the long run.
 
Others on which I bid but not enough, well only enough for me, were: Ruger 10/22 50th Anniversary edition with heavy hammer forged factory target barrel and a 4x16 scope; Henry Model 39A Golden in 22LR; both a Ruger Mini-14 and a Ruger Mni-30 Stainless; Keystone Arms Davy Cricket 22LR with black synthetic stock; a used but perfect looking Remington 1911R1; H&R Topper Model 88 12 gauge shotgun; Westernfield 12 gauge single shot shotgun; Mossberg Model 44 U.S.(a) {the one missing its magazine}; H&R Model 686 Convertible revolver with 22LR and 22WMR cylinders (all new in box). I came close on several but decided not to go over my limit.

Oh yeah, there was one other I did not wind, that Beretta 950BS Jetfire pistol in 25ACP that I mentioned above, I bid $275 on it online. Yes, that was a lot considering I would have to have it shipped to my dealer and pay a transfer fee plus the premium and tax or go back and pick it up in person on another day so I could get the necessary forms from my local PD (they used to give open forms so you did not need to do anything like that but stopped that practice a year or three ago). The Jetfire was wanted for personal sentimental reasons (I have owned 4 or 5 previous ones) and wanted another to fill that niche in my psyche demanding a real featherweight caliber. I was outbid just as the auctioneer was about to close bidding for it, he had the gavel in the air and was bringing I down when a woman behind me shouted out a bid at the last moment. She bid $275 on it ands she won it. Yes, I also had set my maximum bid at $275 online but as the live versus online bidding went, my online bid kicked so it wound up my most recent bid was at $250, thus to better me, she bid $275 which was my cut off (and I could have but was unwilling to go above that at the live auction). I would have had to bid another $25 to go higher for it but that would have been way too much for it with all other fees considered. It was just about in perfect condition too and I sure wish she would have kept her mouth shut but such goes the bidding at an auction!

I did bid a little bit above my preselected limit on one gun and wound up taking only that one rifle home with me  

My new toy is a Savage Model 93 (actually a Savage Model 93BVXP) in 22WMR with 3x12 illuminated reticle Harrier scope (a cheap scope but what the heck). It was auctioned in "as new" condition but without box or papers. It truly is pristine and apparently never fired other than maybe a test shot at the factory but if they did that then they cleaned it well. It has Savage's AccuTrigger, which on this model can b adjusted from 2.5 pounds to 4.5 pounds (if I remember right). The scope on it is also pristine. Today, I sent Savage a request for a hardcopy of the manual as opposed to just downloading a PDF file of it and as I understand they do honor such requests. I also ordered the AccuTrigger tension adjustment tool from then for $2.00 plus shipping. I was just thinking about it, this one will make ours a two Savage rifle household along with the Savage AXIS XP I got at a previous Hessney Auction. All in all, by my calculations, I spent about $100 to $120 less than I would have had I bought this model new at retail with that scope. Not a bad deal on a pristine rifle that's just missing the tension tool, box and papers. I should note, some firearms I buy with the idea of shooting them a bit then selling them for a small profit to help feed my addiction hobby. This one was not one of them, I bought this one with the idea of me and Brendan having a lot of shooty goodness fun with it and maybe using it for hunting. Time and a few range trips will tell.

I also picked up some other things including those B-Square mounts already mentioned, a new in plastic pack Remington Model 870 Express 20" slug barrel with rifle sights and 3" chamber, Remington Premiere Copper Sabot Slugs (8 boxes), a Kevin Johnson - DNZ Trading Company, C Series (tracker knives), 11" Damascus Steel tracker knife with 6" blade and 5" Pakka Wood (a composite) multicolored handle and it came with a nice with leather sheath. While the blade and sheath are marked DNZ, I see nothing to indicate that either was crafted by Kevin Johnson who is out of Idaho while DNZ is in California but I don't care either way. I got the knife probably as a gift for someone dear to me; early Christmas shopping.

I also had the high bid on a pheasant mount. I figured it would either look good in my son's room or in my brother-in-law Hans' new house (but I am not too sure how he feels about dead animals adorning his walls). Did I mention I had the high bid on it, apparently so high in fact that with the money I supposedly bid on it, you could fly first class to France, rent a limo and driver, go to a posh 5 star restaurant and have them wine and dine you with a main course of pheasant under glass and maybe still have a few bucks left over. I thought I had bid $22.50 on it and about a total of $750 on everything (including the buyer's premiums and tax on each item) but when I went o square my account, the lady at the counter told me I owed tem $3000 and change. No hesitation held back my tongue and I immediately told he there was no way my bill was for $3,000 and they must have added other bidder's charges to my account. She took it in stride, coolly looked at the computer screen studying y bill and then without missing a beat said to me "I bet you didn't bid $2,250.00 on a pheasant mount, did you"! No ma'am was about all I could say other than my bid had been $22.50. Someone forgot to put in the decimal point was all it was but it was enough to raise my blood pressure by several points or so I am guessing. The best thing about the pheasant though was right after I got it out of my car this afternoon, I brought it inside and told my wife "Here's your gift". She said "you're kidding" and I said "nope" and for a second or two I had her.

Now, I need to put some of those B-Square scope mounts up for sale on GunBroker to pay for the pheasant.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Week Of Doing Almost Nothing And Loving It

Not having had a vacation, a real one, in way too long, I hopped in the old Corolla this past Tuesday (had an appointment to keep on Monday and other stuff to do) and took a drive up to visit my brother-in-law Hans at an undisclosed not so superseKrit location amidst tall pines and mighty oaks (and maybe a few other kinds of trees too). I was supposed to have driven up to NH for the annual Northeast Bloggershoot but that got canned because Brendan begged off or should I say told me to bugger off. His pals set up Saturday (yesterday) as Fantasy Football selection day and that was it for the trip to NH. That drive has taken us anywhere from about 4.5 to 8 hours depending on traffic and I just did not feel up to driving there alone. It wasn't that I could not make it but did not want to make the trip by myself for a one day event then come home the next day even knowing there were excellent people going to attend and that it would have been a good time. Still, it would not be the same without Brendan (I know from having gone there solo once before) so I backed out. Hopefully we will go next year.

Being I had already told my boss I was taking off the entire week, I figured I had best get myself somewhere and the only other somewhere I could think of was Hans' new place in the countryside. So off I happily went in the Toyota with clothes for a week (no doing laundry for me while there but am doing it now) a shotgun, a pistol, lots of ammo for each and a mini-keg of New Castle Brown Ale. (Hans had plenty of other beer, and booze and while there I also picked up a case of Stella Artois.) Along the way I picked up some edibles.

On the way to Hans' place, I heard a loud ping or twang while driving. I knew it was from the Corolla but not what. When I stopped at a farm-stand to get some fresh corn and other goodies, I noticed steam coming from under my hood. That was at least two hours after hearing that noise. Popped the hood and saw there was a tiny hole in the radiator from which a narrow spray of steam was escaping and that widened into a wider cone before it wafted away in the breeze. Still had almost all my coolant so drove on to Hans' place, made it there without overheating. Looked at it later and pulled a branch and some small acorns from the front of the radiator but once it had cooled off nothing was leaking. Picked up some sealant the next day and that did the job. Need to get the damn thing flushed.

As for the rest of the week, once I got to Hans' place, Hans and I did almost nothing except relax, eat and drink. I never even fired a single round or did I practice with my crossbow that I had left there the weekend before. (I would have been there continuously since then but had to be home last Sunday and had an appointment and stuff to do at home Monday.) I did try to change out the safety on the Remington 870 that I brought along. It has a J-lock safety button but lost the damn spring and now have to order another (damn those tiny springs once they get sprung they are hard to find). Other than that, we picked up some supplies and on Thursday we drove over to the racetrack at Saratoga Springs.

We stayed for just two races. The first was a steeplechase the other a normal race. I bet on the second race but only after asking a woman, selected at random, which horse she thought would win the 2nd race. She said either the 2 (Meagan's Muse) or 3 horse (Egyptian Rose). Hans bet on 2 and I bet on 3. I also bet on the 5 horse for reasons of my own. Sure as shit flows downhill, Egyptian Rose came it first. Meagan's Muse was second and the 4 horse third. I had bet $5 on Egyptian Rose and walked away from the window with $25.25. I wish I had remembered to bring my $50 scratch off lottery ticket from the car; I could have cashed it there and would have bet the $50.and that would have been nice.
Anyway, after the race, I searched for that woman for quite some time wanting to give her half but to no avail. Not finding her, Hans and I had some almost good pizza for lunch, at the track, with the winnings.

I took off from Hans' place on Friday and headed west for Geneva, NY - about a three hour ride. Took me a bit longer since I stopped here and there but considering the stops, I made it in good time. I stopped  by the Hessney Auction Company that evening and spent my time, for three hours, previewing rifles, pistols, shotguns, ammo and other assorted items to be auctioned the next day. Then had about a 40 minute drive back to Auburn, NY (only place I could get a room at Holiday Inn for points), stayed the night there and was back in Geneva the next morning for the auction. I picked up some excellent deals ta the auction but more on that in another post.

Drove home from Geneva, leaving there about 4PM and getting home about 1145. Took my time, pulled over a couple or few times because of really bad downpours making it almost impossible to see any distance on the road and making it smart to pull over. Got home safely and am happy to be here but man is it ever so hot (was hot upstate too but not as bad as here). Just as I got home, the weatherman on the radio said it was 85 degrees (just before midnight). Oh well, lest I bore you more, that is it for now so let me close by saying I had a great and lazy week of doing almost nothing and am probably a couple pounds heavier for it. Back to the diet today.

All the best,
Glenn B

Inexcusable and Maybe Even Criminal Negligence...

...are the only things I can think of right now as to the reasons a 73 year old woman, volunteering as a roleplayer in police training, reportedly was gunned down and killed by a police officer. Ironically, the woman had been assigned the role of the 'victim'. The officer, who had been playing the bad guy, reportedly fired shots at her from his revolver, at least one of which was apparently a live round, killing her. More:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/10/woman-killed-in-simulation-exercise-at-florida-police-academy.html

Someone scewed up big time and needs to be held accountable. In fact, as I see it, it is likely that more than one person was negligent in this case. First of all, I believe whoever allowed an actual working firearm to be used in shoot/don't shoot training, in which roleplayers participated, was very negligent. Based on many years of experience both receiving and giving similar training, I know such training calls for the use either non-firing training weapons or of firearms modified to only be capable of firing nonlethal training rounds like Simunition. In addition, whoever was running the event was negligent for not assuring that absolutely no live ammunituon was allowed into the training area. Of course, the officer who fired the deadly shot(s) was also negligent for not assuring that he did not have any live ammo and that none was in the weapon he used for the training. Finally, if the officer fired more than one live round, how was it he did not stop firing once he felt the recoil of the live ammo!

I wonder if this rises to level of criminal negligence or culpable neligence as called in FL. I think it may well rise to that level and warrant criminal prosecution. That though will depend on the findings of the prosecutor and courts in FL. Even if it does, I would be surprised if the officer or others involved would be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter. However I look at it though, I believe it to be inexcusable negligence that led to and resulted in the woman's death.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Garden Poem

My back’s still sore

From my bending over
My knees ache more
From kneeling on clover
Yet holes were dug
And bushes are in
From wife no hug
Nor merely a grin
But chores are done
And now I'll smile
Cause I’m the one
Without work for awhile!

Bushes

When I woke up this morning at 0610, my hips hurt, my shoulders ached almost as badly as my hips, my back and neck were sore. So, I went back to sleep for a couple of hours or tried anyway. My wife interrupted me at 0700 calling me to get me up because I wanted to be up kind of early for a retired guy and to get 4 or 5 bushes planted before it got too hot today. I went back to sleep again with all of the same aches and pains and again woke up at about 0830 and went right back to sleep. I finally crawled out of bed at about 0945, all stiff and creaking in just about every joint. I threw some laundry into the washer, grabbed a cup-a-joe and sat down at my laptop. Been there ever since dreading having to go out back and plant those bushes. It's not that it going to be a lot of work, hell it's only 4 or 5 of them and the soil I fairly easy to dig into; it is just that everything still aches. Got a tick bite on mine arse a month or so ago and started to ache in my joints within a week or two; doc swears it is not Lyme disease but I have not felt like this since the first two times I had it. Regardless, those holes have to get dug and those bushes need to be planted in them - otherwise I am going to get holy hell for not doing it as promised - no excuses will appease she who must be obeyed.
Then, after that, I am calling the doc to see if I can go in for another blood test. The first time I had it, the test came back positive but it was only after having been tested several times and suffering for well over a year. Then, the second time they told me: "It's definitely, positively, absolutely not a Lyme disease rash" but we will test you just in case. Of course, the test came back positive. It's a sneaky little disease that can cause different appearing rashes and sometimes no rash at all but it sure pains the joints the same each time (at least so far for me) and that is why I am pretty sure after those two previous episodes that I have it again or have something similar.

It's damned ironic, or at least it will be darned ironic, that if I actually have Lyme disease I have to plant those bushes today while in pain caused by a disease that I most likely got from a tick bite while dumping a load in the woods (next to a bush). Oh well, such are the joys of life. Now, I am going out to dig some holes.

All he best,
GB

Not Too Bad For A Lefty

In fact, Brendan's friend Pat was pretty good shooting my Remington 870 and doing it left handed.



Yeah, his first shot was a bit off to the right (took off some of the bark on his right-hand side of the tree) but at least two of his other shots, if not all, were just about dead center. (And yes it was a dead tree and I say that for the tree-huggers but even more so for the shots-ricochet-off live tree types cause I do not ant to hear your BS criticism when it is not warranted.) The distance was guesstimated to be about 30 yards or so.

Anyway, both Brendan and Pat had fun shooting the 870. Yet, neither shot more than 10 rounds through it since the masculine youths today are not manly men like us of old. Of course, being a manly-man with an 870 is one of the reasons my adversary Arthur I. Tis comes around so often to slap my shoulders, especially the right one.

All the best,
Glenn B