Today In History - And So The Broncks Was Born

Yeah I know, I spelled it wrong - or did I! You see the Da Bronx - a burough (also county or boro) of New York City - was named after Jonas Bronck. Who was he? Well according to different online accounts of his life he was a Swede who married a Dane, he was a Dutch, or he was a Dane. He was also supposedly a sailor, who all accounts seem to agree married a Dutch woman. After the marriage they emigrated from Europe to New Amsterdam. Once there, on August 9, 1638 (or in June or in July as some accounts have it), he purchased a piece of land across the Harlem River from Harlem and started a farm there. Not only did he purchase it from the Dutch government (or maybe it was a grant according to one account) but he also paid two Indian chiefs for it as was the custom among the Dutch to make sure their debts were paid.

The farm later became known as Bronk's Land. A river in the area was also named the Bronck's River. Years later, despite a misspelling, the name stuck and the area became known as Bronxland, then finally the Bronx. It bears his name through the present day though I would bet that only a very small percentage of the residents of the Bronx could tell you why the area has that name. I would also bet they could not tell you some other things about the Bronx:

In New York history, the Bronx was originally part of Westchester County and not part of New York City (New Amsterdam). In or about 1895 the Bronx was incorporated into new York City. It had been a rural area with lots of farmland up until about 1900 when it began to become urbanized at a fast clip. My guess is that the people back then had no idea as to where urbanization of the Bronx would lead; if they could only see it now. Of course, some things that a big city have to offer are okay despite urbanization. The Bronx has some famous spots such as Yankee Stadium (well not anymore, now there is a replacement for the house that Ruth built), the Bronx Zoo (for a long time called the Wildlife Conservation Park but now once again being called the Bronx Zoo), Fordham University and the Bronx Botanical Gardens (actually the New York Botanical gardens). While there is a lot of urbanization, for want of as good a descriptor that remains civil, there is also much natural beauty remaining. I can not think of another boro in NYC that still has small flowing rivers such as the Bronx River and the Hutchinson River (named for Anne Hutchinson) - rivers that still cause local flooding during heavy rains and after snow melt offs. The Bronx also has a lot of brackish marshland. An amazing fact about the Bronx is the amount of parkland that it contains. Almost 24% of it is made up of parks. The largest park in New York City - Pelham Bay Park (nope not Central Park) is located in the Bronx and is made up of over 2,700 acres. Then again the Bronx also houses some of the largest housing developments in all of New York. You can go from spectacular natural beauty at one moment to an urbanized drab but definitely lively environment in the next. Yet those folks, living all crammed together not only have great parks to visit, they also have a decent beach at Orchard Beach (actually in Pelham Bay Park).

Most people living their could probably not tell you anything about the rivers that run through the Bronx, and my bet is many have never been to Pelham Bay Park, or to Fordham University. Along that same line, many may not realize some other fun facts about the Bronx. The Bronx is the only part of New York City on the mainland of the United States. Two of the boros of NYC are on Long Island's western end - Queens and Brooklyn. Another is the Island of Manhattan. Finally there is Staten Island. The Bronx consists of about 42 square miles. It has many universities and colleges. It has some of the most, if not the most, traveled bridges, highways and railroads within the United States of America. There are people living there from virtually every corner of the world. It now is the home of The New Fulton Fish Market Cooperative at Hunts Point (a socialist type name if ever there was one, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg) which for hundreds of years had been located on Fulton Street in Manhattan - but there went Mayor Asshole Bloomberg screwing up the city again when he finagled its move to the Bronx. Of course some things like Yankee Stadium were actually born in the Bronx - the original stadium was built in 1923 the year before my mother was born. While it has not moved it too has been replaced. The old Yankee Stadium is no more for baseball as a new Yankee Stadium was built across the street from it and opened this year.

If you ever come to visit New York City as a tourist (as opposed to vi sting a relative who lives in a certain part of the city) chances are you will spend most of your time in Manhattan visiting things like the site of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building (the observation deck on the 86th floor, the outside one - not the one on the 102nd floor, is probably my favorite spot in all of Manhattan), The Statue of Liberty, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park, Broadway, the Cathedral of St. John The Divine (largest cathedral in the world) and so on. But if you do not take at least a day or two to visit the Bronx you are truly missing something else about New York that is well worth the trip. The zoo, the botanical gardens, the restaurants on City Island (a small island community off of and part of the Bronx), a Yankees Game, a walk down parts of the Grand Concourse (best to be in a group - yeah some parts of the Bronx can be pretty rough for tourists) make it all worthwhile. My favorite spot in the Bronx - well there are three: The Bronx Zoo, the NYPD Firearms Range at Rodman's Neck, and the north facing side of an old stone bridge over the Bronx River Parkway with a small sign on it that says New York City. When I came home from camp, over 5 summers in my childhood, I always knew home was not far off when I saw that sign. One other thing that may become a favorite of mine, something I have never seen, is the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage that once belonged to my all time favorite American author. It too is located in Da Bronx.

All the best,
Glenn B

Thar Be Dragons...

...in my basement. Well lizards whose heads resemble those of dragons anyhow. I have had a pair of crested Geckos together in a tank since early this year or late last year. While I was away in Tucson for 4 months, Brendan took good care of them. In fact he took such good care of them that they got into breeding condition and the female laid 6 eggs in my absence. I found the eggs when i got home. two of them had holes in them and were quite empty. I thought maybe they had hatched and the parents had eaten the babies but as it turns out the eggs were probably eaten into by either crickets or a species of darkling beetle (Zophobas morio). I do not know the common name, if any of the beetle but its larva is called the Superworm and is a common food insect for pet reptiles. Well that meant I still had 4 possibly good eggs. I took those 4 and put them into a plastic container with some damp cypress mulch. I kept them at room temps, about 72 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tonight, I was going to show Brendan that 2 of the eggs had really gotten larger, they do so as they absorb moisture and as the baby grows inside, and there was a head sticking out of one of the bigger ones when I looked in the container. It is a nice looking baby - nice color, looks healthy, yada-yada. Hopefully it will turnout to be a female, they are much more valuable than males; and of course my one male can be kept with a harem of a few females. Time will tell, but it will take several months or more. Now though is the time for me to set up a new tank for the little ones (yes I am hopeful the other eggs will hatch soon). I cannot keep them with the adults unless I want them to wind up being dinner for the larger ones.

All the best,

Glenn B

Tell Us If Your Neighbors Disagree...

...with Der Fuhrer the Obama Administration on the issue of the health care bill. The White House, according to published reports, is asking people to inform on other American citizens when they believe they have found "fishy" criticism of the health care bill online! See: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/07/white-house-collect-fishy-info-health-reform-illegal-critics-say/.

Folks what I am about to say is my own personal opinion. I express it herein using my right to free speech as an American Citizen. I do so with all due respect to the Obama Administration but also with strong opposition to their methods of governance and with strong opposition to their policies and wished for health care reform.

Some are comparing the Obama Administration's handling of dissent to health care reform to George Orwell's 1984 and Big brother. I think that comparison pales to reality. You see the truth of the matter is that such tactics were used all to recently in real life history by the National Socialist German Workers' Party - yes that would be the Nazi party. It was a common method of gaining information on those who opposed Hitler's regime; it was so insidious that children were informing on their own parents some of whom were then arrested, interrogated and then put to death as enemies of the state. Of course, it did not start out that bad. At first there were lots of propaganda speeches from Hitler about impending doom if action was not taken. Next people were asked to be a good little Nazi and to tow the party line. Then dissenters were made to look bad, they were discredited, they were said to be disloyal, they were called names and they were intimidated by the Brown Shirts (Hitler's early goon squad). Of course there was also the blaming the problems of Germany on a group other than those who had been in power; Hitler blamed everyone who was not German especially the Jews. Then came the informing and the round ups of the dissenters, of the mentally ill, of criminals, and of course of the ones to blame for all Germany's problems - the Jews. Then there were none to very few dissenters remaining and the people were under the grip of a totalitarian regime the likes of which we all thought we could never see again (at least until we saw Stalin, the Red Chinese, Pol Pot, and so on).

Hmm, let's see how this compares to the here and now regarding the health care bill issue: The current administration has tried to push through the health care bill with lots of rhetoric and without any delay, even without allowing enough time for congress-people to actually read the bill. When that does not work they start a propaganda blitz utilizing all means they can such as the political speeches ranting of doom if we do not have health care reform, the use of the media, and the use of town hall meetings. When strong opposition to the health care bill keeps mounting especially at the town hall meetings the government immediately moves to discredit the protesters and starts calling them names and telling you in essence how evil they are. In addition, someone in the administration just recently implied that the protesters were Nazis. I beg to differ I think the administration is acting much more like the Nazis because now that the others things have failed the Obama administration is seeking one neighbor to rat out another if he or she disagrees with the administration on health care reform. What is next, will the government send out goons in brown shirts to intimidate people who oppose the health care bill. Oh that is right, the Obama Administration has already said it would respond with twice "the force" should any politician come out voicing opposition to health care reform. Funny how they should use the word force, sounds potentially violent to me, and like an overreaction to such opposition. Why use such a word when talking about voiced opposition if not only to blow things out of proportion! And of course the administration also immediately blamed the Republicans for the dissent by saying they are somehow at fault for people exercising their rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Tell me please, how can an American citizen be at fault while taking the liberty to legally exercise his rights? I can not figure it, but somehow it seems apparent the Obama Administration can do so.

The community organizer is organizing one section of the community oppose another while his power grows, or at least as he attempts to grow in power. He is using many of the same methods as did the Nazis or predecessors of the Nazis in the early days of Hitler's climb to power. What are we to expect next? Many believe such a thing as a totalitarian takeover of the United States of America could never occur, just as the good people of the Weimar Republic once believed could not take place in Germany. Convincing the German people, first that there was a drastic need for change otherwise doom was upon them, then convincing the German people that others within their own community were the enemy, then having the German people turn on their own countrymen by informing on them, then ultimately annihilating them was Hitler's surefire method of overcoming any resistance from within Germany. It was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful weapons that Hitler and the Nazis had in their arsenal of destruction when it came to their rise to power and their ability to overcome any opposition from within their own country. From my viewpoint, what president Obama and his minion are doing now is all to reminiscent of what the Nazis did then. Please bear in mind I am not saying that Obama's ends are the same as were Hitler's; his ends may be noble indeed. I am saying I think the methods are all to similar. Of course, Hitler believed his goals noble, so did most of Germany at that time. So I am also saying, in that regard, we had best be more than vigilant, we had best be ready to defend and protect in the event that history is repeating itself once again because if it is, well then we are in store for one hell of a time. Remain vigilant, and in the event tyranny rears its ugly head be prepared to chop it off.

All the best,
Glenn B

Centerfire Systems - My Order Results

I ordered a case of Wolf 7.62x39 HP Ammo from Centerfire Systems on Friday last. I received it yesterday as promised. The contents of the carton were exactly what I ordered plus an invoice. They had a great price on the ammo compared to other places currently selling it. A+++ for Centerfire Systems.

All the best,
Glenn B

Commenting On My Blogs

If you would like to leave comments on my blog, I ask that you do so with courtesy, respect, at least a smidgen of decency, and when doing so that you write coherently. I do not mind if you disagree with me or others, that is your privilege, heck it is your right. However, when I receive comments that are rambling almost totally incoherent, disrespectful, indecent and even threatening - well, I will not publish them and that is my right.

I just received a comment, to my most recent previous posting about the CARS program and health care, and the comment was in my opinion rude, incoherent to a great extent, rambling, less than respectful and I think it contained a threat against me. I have taken appropriate action at this stage.

I regret that my writing up a post like this was necessary but I suppose there is no explanation or excuse for the kooks in the world and the way they screw things up for the rest of us.

All the best,
Glenn B

Cash For Clunkers Another Obama Adminsitraton Induced Panic This One Trying To Cloud The Issue Of Health Care Reform

The Following Is My Personal Opinion And Is Stated With All Due Respect To The Obama Administration:

Yeah, that's right people are once again being rewarded by the Obama Administration for doing wrong. First it was the banks, insurance companies and mortgage companies, then it was the automobile makers, now it is the people who for at least the past year have owned gas guzzling automobiles. Yes folks - the requirements of the official government program know as The CAR Allowance Rebate System (CARS), a brainfart-child of the Obama Administration alone, mandates that in order for someone to qualify for this latest handout - they have had to have owned a gas guzzler for at least a year. Imagine the audacity of a program like this, or more so the audacity of the administration that created and pushed it down our throats. They have put aside billions - YES BILLIONS - of dollars to give to people who have owned gas guzzlers for the past year. Do you understand what that means?

That means that last year when gasoline was going for over $4.00, almost $5.00, a gallon - these assholes automobile owners were thumbing their noses at the rest of us and driving around using as much gas as they could and keeping the prices going up. They did not care about the price then for the most part. They snubbed their noses at us. (please bear in mind that many Americans have a need for a larger vehicle, or a more powerful one, and by that I mean a legitimate need. Then again who needs a Hummer in New York City - not much rough terrain to climb or fordable rivers to cross with it; and who needs a pick-up truck with a rear 4 wheel axle in Boston other than maybe someone in the hauling business, and who needs something like a muscle car - you get the picture. The jerks I am talking about are the arrogant SOBs who don't give a rats ass about anything except themselves and how much fun they can have at out expense. This goes across all political ideologies and is not limited to any single political, religious, ethnic, racial or gender group. So if you really needed a vehicle that was not all that great on gas, I am not talking about you - so please don't get your undies in a wad.)

As for the jerks, we thought then they got what they deserved; didn't we! They did not sell em because when they tried they could not sell em. Why? Because the rest of us were too smart and to conscious about conserving our resources to go for a gas hog at any price - no matter how cheap. Now though, our president and congresspeople, in their infinite lack of wisdom, have decided to give them up to $4,500 to buy new cars if they turn in there old ones; those same old ones that no one in their right minds would buy from them because they use too much gas. First they squandered our resources and their money and kept doing so by not outright junking those gas guzzling Godzillas and now President Obama and his cronies are rewarding them for their lack of judgement and outright foolishness. They would have been better off just banning any vehicle that did not achieve a certain number of miles per gallon instead of paying/rewarding people for their mistakes.

It also means something else. It means that the Obama Administration has started a cleverly timed panic among the population, or should I say a frenzy, over the CARS program. Why cleverly timed? Well, because it is distracting us from the whole issue of the Health care reform Bill and the fact that the liberals in Congress and the Presidential Administration are trying to push it through in a manner unprecedented in our nation's history. Congress is never in session in August folks except maybe due to national emergency like war. Yet Congress remains in session right now, and ultra liberal congresspeople keep screaming we need to pass health care reform fast - or else! Or else what??????? Or else they might have to read the actual bill, or else some of you may read, or else people may realize it is one of the worst pieces of legislation to come down the pike in a century, or else we may vote it down and save ourselves trillions of dollars and still have the best health care in the world barr none.

What have we done, or should I say what have you done? This is what some of you, the majority of you, elected into office and I can say that without a shred of doubt because I certainly did not vote for him. I would not vote for him back then, and I hope you have realized by now that your vote for him was a mistake. Maybe by next time around you will have realized that you need to vote for someone else, for something else, for a different party, for a different ideology, maybe next time you will vote after having given it some rational thought and using some logic. Community Organizer indeed. We sure aren't seeing much organization now - are we? What we are seeing is a panic driving administration of government - a panic not in government but a panic that government hopes to instill in us. This cash for gas guzzling cars thing has to be done - it will stop the all powerful and all evil environmental change (note they don't say global warming anymore because the globe is not warming after all). Do it now without regard for the consequences. One of the consequences has just been realized to be that the destruction of the engines of the traded in gas guzzlers may in fact cause as much or more pollution as running them. It is much the same with the whole health care issue. How many in Congress or even the president himself have read the actual bill in its entirety. I hear them say it has to be done, it has to be right away, it has to be quick, yet it has dragged out long enough for anyone to have read the whole health care bill at least once forwards and backwards. Yet they keep insisting it has to be done without delay. The same was true of what they said the bailouts of the auto industry and of the mortgage industry and of the insurance industry and of the financial industry. Funny though that each time none of these bills passed right away as they said needed to be done. in other words the politicians had time to actually think about what they were doing yet all they did was caused a panic by insisting it had to be done or we were doomed. Now they have done it with cash for clunkers, and they still want to do it with the health care system. If health care goes through the way Obama wants it - we are doomed to becoming a third world socialist nation.

You think about it if you have not already. Heck you have had enough time to think about it now for weeks. Write, email and call your politicians and tell them to stop CARS and tell them to vote down the health care reform bill. Now, without me trying to induce a panic, let me say there is some urgency to when you take action if only because they are trying to hoodwink you in the panic of the moment. If you hesitate to voice your opposition to the terrible piece of legislation known as the health care reform bill it may be passed before a week is over. Bear in mind that Nancy Pelosi asked for Congress to remain in session instead of taking August off as has been done since our capital has been Washington, DC. Why - because in the wink of a politicians eyes and the flash of one of those hypocrites' smiles the bill can be passed - but we will be paying for it for the rest of our lives. You, like they, have had weeks to think about it and read the bill - now you finally need to act. If you want to read it though, go here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf, but read quickly because they are trying to get it passed us before we can do anything about it.

Stop watching the sideshow of Cash For Clunkers, Stop paying attention to the smiles, the winks, the whining, the cajoling, the philandering of the politicians - stop and actually do something and voice your opposition to this before it is too late. Am I trying to induce panic - no I am not; although I am hoping to merely get you to take long overdue action to prevent bad legislation from screwing us once again. By now you would think we would have learned - we have had more than enough time to realize that this health care reform bill is bad medicine for all of us.

All the best,
Glenn B

House Cleaning The Blogroll...

...has led me to change around some of my blogroll lists. In checking who linked back to me I realized that there were at least a few bloggers who had given me a reciprocal link since I last checked. I moved them from in whatever section I had their blog's link up to the top section: "Grumps, Geeks, Gun Guys, and Geniuses - All Worth A Read and Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link - Thanks".

I also moved some links to other bloggers out of that section. This has taken up quite some of my pre-work hours this morning. I don't remember which blog I was on today in which I noticed that the reciprocal blog back to me was gone. I then looked to see if this had happened on other blogs and I found that several have dropped their link to my blog. I also figured I had best look to see if anyone else had added me to their blogroll.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a few more bloggers had given me reciprocal links. That is always nice. On the other hand, I must admit I was pretty disappointed to see there were no reciprocal links back to my blog on a few, or even several, of the other blogs that had previously given a reciprocal link back to mine. I don't know why those other bloggers no longer have a link to my blog on their pages and while I am curious I will make no effort to find out. What I do care about more is that the links to my page on their pages are gone. So I looked into rearranging my blogroll list. Please note this is not out of vindictiveness but out of appropriateness. Note I did not say I removed anyone from my blogroll. What I did was rearrange it so that those who, at least to my knowledge, still give me a reciprocal link have their blogs listed in my first blogroll section under: "Grumps, Geeks, Gun Guys, and Geniuses - All Worth A Read and Who Gave Me A Courtesy Link - Thanks" and I removed those who do not afford me that courtesy and placed their links in the appropriate sections of my blogroll. One blog also had an apparent name change from Call Me Ahab to Gun Nus Media - at least that new site came up when I clicked on the web link to Call Me Ahab; I changed it as it seemed appropriate. I think I got it all straight now, but if you notice that I fouled up, please let me know and I'll make the necessary correction(s).

All the best,
GB

One Heck Of A Toy...

...can be seen in the accompanying video. It is a remote control model of the Lockheed SR-71 Jet. I guess it is nice to have lots of money and lots of time so you can have your toys and enjoy them too. of course, for all I know this could be a prototype of a remote control mini spy plane; after all the SR71 was a reconnaissance aircraft.



I should point out one thing for anyone who enjoys remote control vehicles that utilize combustible fuel. While it is nice to have someone with a fire extinguisher standing by as you fuel up your toy - it probably is ridiculous to have an idiot a friend standing there smoking at the same time.

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots 12 - Charter Arms Undercover Model 13820

My very first revolver, that is the first one I owned, was a Charter Arms .38 Special snub-nosed revolver. I don't remember the model number but I am pretty sure it was called the Undercover, and that was in the early 1980s. Currently, Charter Arms offers several models of revolver in .38 Special such as the Charter Arms Undercover model 13820 Blue Standard. Back then as now (as far as I can remember) it came in blue steel, had a 2 inch barrel, and was a 5 shot revolver. It accepted standard powder charge 38 special ammo, the current one can handle +P loads. The current model comes with a traditional exposed spur hammer as did mine (they also offer double action only with shrouded hammer). I don't remember if mine had a shrouded recoil rod or if it was exposed but the current one is shrouded. The revolver weighs in at 16 ounces and the suggested retail is $365.00.

My opinion about revolvers like this is that they are fair to good home and self defense firearms. Revolvers eliminate some of the stupid factor that can take place with semi-automatic pistols or should I say that come into play because of gun owners who have not become sufficiently with how to operate and shoot their firearms. Guns are not stupid nor can they be, it is people who can be and often are stupid. So what does that translate to about a revolver possibly being easy to become accustomed to than a semi-auto? Well, first of all a revolver is less prone, under most conditions, to jamming. Jamming in a semi-auto pistol require knowledge of how to clear a pistol should it jam. Thus it requires more learning than does a pistol. many types of jams with semi-autos, at least with those of high quality, are shooter induced at that. So not only do you need to learn how to clear a jam with a semi auto should one occur, but you should also know how to shoot said pistols without the likelihood of causing a shooter induced malfunction. Now this is not to say that malfunctions leading to a revolver jamming never take place. They can and do occur but are usually less likely to occur. Of course a shooter should know how to prevent and fix them too but the thing is if a revolver jams during a firefight you can just about forget getting it cleared in time to come out the winner. Hmm, maybe that is a negative on the side of the revolver that needs reconsideration when saying a revolver may be preferable to a semi-auto, but that discussion is for another day.

Allow me to get back to the revolver, such as the Charter Arms Undercover for home and self defense. Revolvers like this are fairly easy to conceal, and fairly easy to shoot, probably are less prone to jamming than a semi-auto (whatever the cause), and certainly do not have a slide to rip open your thumb depending upon how you grip it (never grip a semi-auto pistol with the weak hand thumb on top of the strong hand thumb around the backstrap, if you do you will find out first hand about that of which I write). As opposed to most semis, snub-nosed revolvers carry less ammunition - this one is limited to 5 rounds in the cylinder. The trade off here is that 38 Special +P rounds are more powerful to some degree than are most .38 caliber (9MM and the like) semi-auto rounds. As with any 38 snub-nosed revolver though you are bound to have to put up with a decent amount of recoil, especially if using +P rounds in the current model.

Short barreled snub-nosed revolvers, this one's barrel is 2 inches, are primarily close in weapons. They are best used for shooting at distances from arms length away to about 10 yards distance but you can become proficient with them out to 25 or more yards distance. As I recall, shooting my Charter Arms 38 snub-nosed was fun. It was accurate out to 25 yards although I could hardly imagine using it at that distance in a self defense situation.

I cannot speak to the quality control of currently produced firearms by Charter Arms but as I already pointed out I had some experience with a Charter Arms snub-nosed back in the early 1980s. While I liked how mine shot, I also recall a pesky problem that kept recurring with it. It had a cylinder stop, the current one does not. The reason I recall it had a cylinder stop is because when combat unloading the cylinder would sometimes ride up over the cylinder stop. Easy to fix, but quite the unwanted thing to take place during a self defense situation - did I say something about revolvers being less prone to jamming. I sold that one to a gunsmith who was looking use it as a practice piece for engraving. Of course he would also keep it as a shooter. I liked everything about that revolver except of course for the poor fitting of metal parts that allowed the cylinder to ride up over the cylinder stop. I would have gotten another but for the fact I had heard that said problem was a common one and I had a buyer who knew of the problem but was eager to buy it. As I said above, I cannot speak to the quality control of the currently manufactured models. My guess is that they are not quite up to the standards of Smith & Wesson or Colt but I base that on hunch and pricing alone. Why pricing? Well, because Charter Arms is a lower cost alternative to those more expensive brands. Lower cost usually implies lower quality, but not necessarily low quality.

So, one may be left wondering about whether or not they are quality firearms or not - if only because of the low prices at which their firearms are offered as compared to brands like Colt and Smith & Wesson. Then again I have heard some good things about Charter Arms in recent years, so it is quite possible that their current manufacture revolvers are of high quality with no such problems. Looking through the firearms forums on the Internet I have come across people both praising and complaining about Charter Arms quality control with regard to their current production revolvers. My guess is that they make a viable alternative to a Smith & Wesson for someone who cannot afford the higher priced brands; then again I don't know that I would want to bet my life on it. If you do get one, read the instructions and follow them. Get yourself familiar with the revolver and how to shoot it. Then go to a range and shoot about 400 to 500 rounds of ammunition through it to make sure it functions flawlessly before you depend upon it as a self or home defense weapon.

All the best,
Glenn B

This Stinks Too

The it that stinks would be life in New York state; and as far as I am concerned it is all because of arsehat politicians like Charles Schumer (aka: Scummer). For a typical example of how this, in my opinion, charlatan operates as a senator - go to read a blog by the Angry Patriot here.

All the best,
Glenn B

It Stinks...

...yes it does - big time too. My insomnia is really getting to me tonight - making me uncomfortable, tired and edgy. I must say I have not suffered from its nerve biting grip lately all that much - but tonight/this morning is a bad one. Too late/early to take a sleeping pill, I need to be up and at em by 8, but maybe I ought to try to get at least 40 winks before too long.

Goodnight,
GB

Centerfire Systems

I am impressed so far by Centerfire Systems. I placed an order with them today and within an hour of placing the order received the UPS tracking number which meant they had told UPS my package was ready for pickup. A few moments ago, in the middle of a fit of relentless insomnia (what do you think I am doing up at 2:29 AM) I checked the tracking number and the package is already in transit on its way to me. What did I order? I ordered a case (1,000 rounds) of Wolf 7.62x39 122 grain JHP ammunition. In my last post I promised I would do just that if they had it in stock - and yes they had it in stock - they said they had exactly one case remaining - that is until I ordered it.

I have ordered from them before, but I don't think I ordered any ammo from them. I was not all that pleased with my last order but through no fault of Centerfire Systems, it was the product requiring tooling/fitting that unsettled me a bit. If I remember right, Centerfire Systems shipped promptly back then too. If I had to fault them for anything it would be that they did not advertise that the scope/scope mount kit, for an SKS, that I bought from them back then required metal fitting. I am not faulting them though, I should have realized it would be required. As it is right now though, I am quite happy with them. I will be happier yet when the box arrives and it contains what I ordered in good condition.

When the case of ammo does arrive, my guess is that it will put us at about three or 4 thousand rounds of this ammo on hand. That should be it for ordering any more of it for awhile - unless of course it goes down in price again by a considerable amount. Something tells me though that it is never returning to the approximate $175 (plus shipping of about $19) per case that it was about a year and a half to two years ago. Then again while I hope it does return to those lower prices I also hope it never again comes close to the price that it was listed on CheaperThanDirt.com several months ago when it was advertised at $399 and change for a case of Wolf Military Classic. I got this case for $249.99 shipped. A considerable savings over prices on the same stuff as currently offered by other online retailers, much less than I could get it at a gun shop, and much - much - much less than it would have been in about January 2009.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ammo Price Alert

I'll probably hate myself for telling others about this, if only because it will sell out quicker and I don't have any cash for any now, but it seems that at least one major retailer of 7.62x39 ammunition has initiated a price drop. AmmoMan.com is offering Wolf 122 grain JHP (black box) in that caliber for $279 shipped. A comparison shows that Sportsmansguide.com lists it currently (as I write) advertised for $314.97 plus $19.49 for shipping for a total of $334. Going with AmmoMan in this instance would save you $55.46 - a nice chunk of change. There are similar savings on other types of Wolf 7.62x39 ammo at AmmoMan. For example they want $259 for a case of 124 grain FMJ Military Classic shipped while the Sportsmansguide wants $271.97 plus 19.49 shipping for a total of $291.46. AmmoMan would save you $32.46 on the Military Classic. Now, you can get it less expensively at the Sportsmansguide if you are a club member but that cost about $25 to join. It gives you a 10% discount on all orders but even then the price would not match that of AmmoMan right now. Sportsmansguide also offers coupons from time to time of up to $10 off on an order for that much money, but it still would not match Ammoman right now either. I usually buy from Sportsmansguide because they usually have the best prices in town, but not this time. If you were to join Sportsmansguide's club you could also get free shipping on your first order, but you get the picture - AmmoMan is offering those prices to everyone - no club membership required - and shipping is included regardless. Besides all that, Sportsmansguide seems to be back-ordered on most of the Wolf 7.62x39 that they advertise. I guess that makes it a no brainer if you need some of this ammo right now.

Now I don't know if I should scrape up the cash for a thousand rounds from AmmoMan or wait a week or two to see if ammo prices are falling and will soon be even lower. If I wait I could lose out if it is only a fluke. Maybe I'll wait a day. If they still have it on Saturday, and other places prices have not fallen, then maybe I'll order a case from Ammoman. Hopefully they will still have some left.

Wait a minute, did I just say it was a "no brainer". There I was about to go ordering more ammo. Then suddenly I heard a voice say: "Hang on there Glenn - wait one cotton pickun minute - maybe this requires a brain after all". It was my voice, and thankfully it was only in my head as I had said it to myself; then I went thinking again and burned up more of my little gray cells. The thinking got me to checking.

So, I just checked the price of the Wolf 7.62x39 122 grain JHP (black box) at some other online vendors. Cheaperthandirt.com does not even offer it (as I write they only show soft point available from Wolf), ClassicArms.com shows 124 grain (that should be the Military Classic as far as I know) listed for $289 (probably plus shipping) with this Wednesday's date on the web page, and CenterfireSystems.com has it at a lower price than all of them yet - including much lower than Ammoman. Now while AmmonMan advertises it with a Polymer coating, CenterfireSystems does not mention if it is the old lacquer coated ammo or the polymer coated stuff - while that may matter to you, at the offered price it does not matter to me one way or the other.

As for the price at CenterfireSystems: No - I am not telling you the price. What I will tell you is that since I have never ordered ammunition from them before as far as I can remember (that is none too far nowadays) I will call them tomorrow to make sure this ammo is in stock and then order over the telephone. It beats all the others hands down folks is all I will say. Wow what a deal compared to other current prices that I could find!

All the best,
Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots 11 - Mosin Nagant 91/30 (with Turned Down Bolt)

Mosin Nagant bolt action rifles are well known rifles. The many models and variations were the main battle rifles of the Soviet Union, and other eastern bloc nations, for many years. If you are not that familiar with them but have seen the movie Enemy At The Gate - those were Mosin Nagant rifles used by the Soviet snipers. That movie was set in WWII. The Mosin Nagant predates WWII by many years and went through many models and variants before it wound up used in that war. The 91 in the model number is short for 1891. The rifle was used from 1891 through the 1960s as a battle rifle. That includes service in: The Sino-Russian War, The Russian Revolution, WWI, WWII, The Korean Conflict, The Vietnam War and so forth. Of course once the old bolt action rifles were replaced with semi-automatics and fully automatic weapons the became dinosaurs for the eastern bloc military, but that took quite the while. That was a boon for collectors.

As for the actual rifle models of Nagant (as they are commonly called) I will not go into them all here, it would require pages and pages. I will discuss one of them though, not as to details of its history but as to its current availability and shootabilty.

Currently there are at least a few online vendors who offer the Mosin Nagant model 91/30. They are usually available with the round receiver but some also come with a hexagonal receiver. Both are usually inexpensive, that is unless you find a sniper model. The regular ones, with the straight bolt handle (it sticks straight out to the side and is not curved down when the bolt is closed) can be had for as little as about $80 plus shipping; figure about $20 to $25 for shipping. Not a bad deal. The sniper rifles, on the other hand go for about $400 to $500 apiece, plus shipping. The biggest difference between the two of them, of which I am aware, is that the sniper rifles have a turned down bolt handle. That means when the bolt is closed the bolt handle is pointing down, and when it is open the handle does not stick straight up as does the straight bolt handle but cants off to the right. The allows for a scope to be fit above the receiver, something impossible to do practically on the straight handled models because with it sticking straight up it gets in the way of scope rail and scope placement on the receiver. Another difference, of course, is that the sniper rifles come with a scope too, some with the original old scopes, some with new replacements.

If I wanted one of these rifles I would not care all that much about whether it had been a sniper rifle or not. I like to shoot em for fun, I am not about to use an old warhorse like a Nagant as a sniper rifle today. I would rather opt for a modern bolt action rifle, in a manageable weight, that shoots .308 ammunition, and that has an adjustable trigger. Yet, when I recently heard that Nagants maybe available with the turned down bolt for only $155 I figured I had best look into the situation. So I did a bit of Internet surfing and came up with this source of the Nagants with a turned down bolt at a great price: RGuns.net. Folks they have the Mosin Nagant 91/30 with turned down bolt for the amazing price of $155. My guess is that they had some extra bolts from the sniper rifles and put them into a regular 91/30.That is just my guess, maybe they were actually manufactured with these bolts but somehow I doubt the price would then be so low.

As for the basic Nagant design - it was built to last. These were true warhorse type guns: big, heavy, strong. They fire 7.62x54R ammunition which is readily available either in surplus (much of which uses corrosive primers) or current commercial manufacture (all of which should be noncorrosive). If you are familiar with them, you don't need me to make up your mind for you. If you are not familiar with them and are a shooting enthusiast, might I suggest maybe you should look into acquiring one or more of them. I am about to do likewise. If they still have them in stock, I will be sending them a copy of my C&R license as soon as possible. Once they receive it, I'll place an order. of course if you have a C&R you can order this rifle directly from them; otherwise you will need to go through a local FFL holder in your area. That adds more to the overall price of the rifle (probably around $50 average across the USA), but the rifle is still worth it in my opinion. It can last you for decades if cared for properly.

For more info on these rifles, see:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/russianmosin189130/index.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin-Nagant

All the best and safe shooting,

Glenn B

The Last Surviving Soldier...

... to have fought in trench warfare during WWI was not a hero, maybe never even killed a German during the war, although he recalled at least one whom he had shot with his machine gun and revolver. That was in his very first battle in 1917.

What brings him to noteworthiness today is that he was the last living of all known soldiers to have fought in the trenches during World War I, at 111 years and 38 days he was also the oldest man in England, was also one of the oldest in the world, and he passed away on July 25th. Another thing that made him noteworthy was that he never believed the war was worth the effort. His father was wounded in WWI in 1914 and was returned home where he told Harry of the war's horrors in an attempt to keep his son from voluntarily joining the army. It was to no avail as Harry was called to join (conscripted) in 1916. He stepped foot on the continent in 1917 and faced his first battle then.

During his first engagement that involved an attack, Patch recalls the terrors he experienced. As his unit advanced (he was a machine gunner) he came across another British soldier who begged Harry to kill him because he had been severely wounded. A moment later the soldier cried out for she who which all men call at such times - his mother - and he perished. Patch also described the first German he shot, a soldier during the same engagement. As the German soldier charged, Patch shot him with his Lewis Light Machine Gun. The German dropped his rifle but did not fall and within a couple of seconds Harry decided to shoot him in his leg and ankle with his revolver to stop but not kill him. He recalled later that he had thought of biblical verses of when Moses received the commandments and the commandment: Thou Shalt not kill. Despite his firm religious and ethical beliefs, Patch went to fight - probably because he also believed in service to his country. He served again in WWII but on the home front and not in the military because he was too old at the time. Patch served 4 months in the trenches during WWI before he was wounded in the groin due to an explosion that killed 3 others in his unit. It was a day and an event that would haunt him for the remainder of his life.

It took him over 80 years for him to talk about it or anything else about 'the war to end all wars'. He was interviewed in 1998 for a documentary about World War I and apparently felt it was time to start talking because he realized then he was part of a vanishing breed. I imagine he did not think then he would be the last of them but he began to do several documentaries about WWI. In 2007 though the realization sank home and he made the following observation:

"Any one of them could have been me. Millions of men came to fight in this war and I find it incredible that I am the only one left."
—Commenting on graves at a Flanders war cemetery, July 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Patch)

Amazingly Harry was born in the 19th century - that would be the 1800's folks - in 1898. He lived through 3 centuries. He was a plumber by trade. He served on home defense in WWII being too old for military service by then. He married at least twice and survived both of his sons. Henry Asllignham, the next to last living soldier who had been in the trenches during WWI passed away exactly one week before Harry. Mr. Patch's view of war was a simple one, at least of WWI:

"Too many died. War isn't worth one life..."

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/6921217.stm)

I don't know that I agree with him on that point overall athough maybe he was right about WWI; WWII was a beast of a different nature. WWII, I think, was worth the price to defeat the evil in that one. As for Harry Patch and his view of WWI, as I said - maybe he was right on with that one. As he said, in 2004 when at a memorial for a battle, when he met Charles Kuentz (a 108 year old German veteran at the time):

"It was very emotional. We had both been on the same battlefield at Pilckem Ridge. He was a nice man, and we communicated, even though we had no common language. Then we both sat in silence, staring out at the landscape. Both of us remembering the stench, the noise, the gas, the mud crusted with blood, the cries of our fallen comrades. We had both fought because we were told to. All of those lives lost for a war finished over a table. Now, what is the sense of that? Neither Charles nor I ever want any other young man ever to go through that again." (reference link)

Read more about Harry Patch at the above links, or if you have the inclination read about him in his own words in his autobiography: The Last Fighting Tommy. Lest we forget Harry Patch - he was a man of conviction and a man who served with honor, and was indeed the last surving soldier, The Last Fighting Tommy, who saw trench warfare in WWI.

All the best,

Glenn B

Biweekly Gun Shots - Lack Of Gun Rants

I have not forgotten that I promised a new section, some time ago, dedicated to presenting you with gun rants at least once every two weeks, or twice per week depending on how you interpret the word 'biweekly'. While I was in Tucson, I just did not have a lot of time to blog, and while I had access to three firearms, I did not have access to any more of them and had darned little time to shoot. I think I went to the range twice - once to qualify for my job and once when my son Brendan came to visit me for 10 days. With that said allow me to also say that I will continue the Biweekly Gun Shots starting sometime today or within the next few days. I'll try my darnedest to get one done today, maybe later tonight since I probably will be tied up with other obligations this afternoon.

All the best,
Glenn B

4 Suspects Detained In U.S. Border Patrol Agent's Death - Did You Even Realize a BPA Had Been Shot & Killed Recently?

The article at the below link appeared on FoxNews.com today Sunday July 26, 2009. The death of Border Patrol Agent Robert Wimer Rosas (photo), and the capture of 4 suspects gets a good amount of press, the story is well written and so forth. Still, I have to wonder how in Hades this article only appeared today! Was there anything about the killing of the Border Patrol Agent on Thursday or Friday? I ask because he was gunned down on Thursday. I heard about it through official channels at work. I certainly would have thought that the death of a federal agent due to foul play would have been newsworthy - then again - one wonders if the current administration had anything to gain by keeping a lid on it for a few days. You know let it out over the weekend so all the hype over it dies down by Monday morning when Congress will again consider giving health benefits to illegal aliens. Maybe I am wrong, maybe it did appear in online news outlets and I just missed it. I guess I missed it on the news on the radio and on TV on Thursday and Friday too.

Oh well, enough of me ranting, the important thing is that another LEO has fallen doing his job trying to protect the USA - and also that this was one of the most pointless deaths of all. I mean think of it this way, our borders are like Swiss cheese because the politicians refuse to enact simpler yet stricter laws - they just do not care how many enter illegally or how many bring in drugs or other contraband so long as the flow of illegals fulfills there political agenda for whatever twisted purpose. Yet at the same time we have thousands of Border Patrol and other federal agents working in harm's way along our borders fighting immigration crimes for which none to few are prosecuted. Go figure. Don't spend too much time figuring right now though, instead spend some time trying to honor the fallen agent's memory.

Suspects Detained in Mexico in U.S. Border Agent's Death - Local News News Articles National News US News - FOXNews.com

Posted using ShareThis

Well look at this one below too, it appears I was wrong and the story did come out earlier - well on Saturday anyhow.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534761,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.029487:b26726076:z0

Bear in mind though he was shot and killed on Thursday. What a shame that the media is so slow in reporting such news - yet Michael Jackson was on the news almost before he was cold, and he stayed there for what - two weeks or so. Of course we have also heard an awful lot about some guy who got arrested in Cambridge, MA and who cried racism, or was it he screamed racism. We have even heard about that at least two or three times from the President of the United States himself. I wonder, how many statements has he made about Border Patrol Agent Robert Wimer Rosas (or was it Albert Rojas - I have seen it reported both ways)! I have not heard word one from President Obama about this tragic and senseless loss, then again it is possible I missed the news conference he may have held about it. If anyone deserves your prayers, your condolences, you admiration, your attention right now - then it is this fallen agent and his family and other loved ones. Come on President Obama, come on all you Congresspeople, come on all you entertainers, come on you in the Media, come on fellow bloggers, come on all you regular Joes and Janes - give up the time to spare him a thought and a comment or three in his honor.

By the way:

Yeah I know, I only blogged about this in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Then again I am not the media, I am not the President, I am not someone whose job it is to notice such men or honor them. I had been thinking of doing this piece on Friday, but had no time on Friday (unlike the media which has minions to do the reporting). In addition I cannot just take time out of my schedule the way certain politicians can to drop by a baseball game like the All Stars game, or take time to meddle in things like disorderly conduct arrests and make statements about them before even a bit of the facts from BOTH sides are known, or then invite the parties in that petty affair to my home for beers and a kiss and make up session. Nope I actually have some important things to do that I do not have lackeys to do for me; things like like balance my checkbook, or spend time with my mom who was hospitalized today.

Somehow though I found time to honor BPA Robert Wimer Rosas in my own small way because I thought that was very important too. I found time at 1:15 AM to do so. I am not blowing my own horn here, I am just wondering why the heck aren't many others doing likewise especially in politics, government service, and in the media. It boggles my mind, so much so that now I am going to go have a beer and maybe a shot of excellent Irish Whiskey. Why? Because to tell you the truth, after reading about this agent and writing about it myself - then thinking about M. Jackson, and about the whole disorderly conduct arrest of that guy Gates, and President Obama's response to it, and about the response overall or lack of it to the death of BPA Rosas (or apparent lack of it) - well I need both and you can bet I will toast him as I drink them. Heck it could have been me or any other federal agent or LEO but it wasn't - was it. It was Border Patrol Agent Robert Wimer Rosas and we should honor him and grieve with his family.

My condolences go out to his family and loved ones. He is and will remain in my thoughts for some time to come. He is doing Line-Watch of a different sort now, from a much loftier perspective, I suppose.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Balancing Act...

...or should I say Balancing Accomplishment, or better yet Balancing Milestone - I balanced my checkbook today. Actually, I started on it a few days ago. I sat down then for about 3 or 4 hours with it and started to rewrite the whole thing. Why? Well, it seems that when I was in Tucson it did not get filled in as it should have. I sat down with it again today and was busy with it for 6 1/2 hours nonstop except once or twice to answer the phone. When I was done it was off by $75.93. I found that one tonight after about another 1/2 hour. We paid a bill twice, my wife by check and me by EFT but it only got entered once. It is amazing I found. While in Tucson I kept details of all the bills I paid by EFT, I sent emails to my wife and called her with the info to input into the checkbook. I kept the details in a file called 'bills' on my thumb drive. Wouldn't you know that when I looked for that folder tonight it was not there. Beats me how it disappeared but I was miffed. Luckily I also had a folder for my ATT bills and the only one in there was the one that was paid twice. So when I looked at that file, there it was, the extra payment. Sometimes dumb luck hits us on the head.

I have to tell you that when I arrived home to find only a couple of grand in the checkbook - when I knew it should have contained at least about $9 0r 10 thousand dollars - I was pissed and I let everyone know it. People three or four blocks away probably heard me. Besides that there was another thing to be p-o'd about. I had opened a new account in December (the one in question) because another account had not balanced correctly and was off in our favor by about 2 or 3 grand. We knew the money in there was legitimately ours because we sought of stash money in the account sometimes by not writing in deposits. Leaves us a windfall if there is ever an emergency. The thing is we just lost track of the right balance and had let it go that way over a year. So I stopped using that account for a couple of months to be certain every check had cleared. I opened a new one to use while it was in essence shut down. The new one was only opened in December 2008, and it was already fouled up big time by the end of my 4 months in Tucson. What a mess; but it got taken care of after about 10 or 11 hours of work at it.

It sure pays to stay on top of things like that, and my wife and I plan to do so from now on. Really folks, all kidding aside, my wife is usually better at this than am I, by a long shot.

Oh, before I forget, lest you think I am rolling in dough - I am not. Most of the money in the newest account is either owed to my government credit card account for my trip, or is money I have on the side for a car. It will soon be time to sell the 1996 Ford Taurus and get a new one. We bought the Taurus new way back in 1996 or maybe it was late 95 (whenever the new cars are out which I think is in the actual year prior to the model year for at least a few months). So I guess we have had it at least 13 years, maybe 14 years. Yes we tend to hang onto our cars for quite the long while before we get another. It took forever to save the approximate 8 grand I have set aside for a down payment and if I can convince my wife to cough up her money from her private account (imagine a husband having a private account - yeah right) then maybe we can buy a new one outright. One can hope.

All the best,
Glenn B

A New Soldier...

...has been assigned to me by Soldiers' Angels. While I cannot tell you his name, I can say that he is assigned to B Trp 3-61 CAV 4BCT 4ID COP Keating. COP Keating is a Combat Outpost located in eastern Afghanistan only about 15 miles from the Pakistani border. For more Information see: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/15/life-grim-at-remote-outpost/print/. It sounds like one heck of a hellish place to be stationed, so my bet is that this soldier sees too much combat.

There is a fly in the ointment with this assignment for me. My soldier has no email address listed with Soldiers' Angels. That means I cannot be in rapid contact with him to find out anything about his needs and wants for a care package for him and his fellow troops. He did put down a list of some items with Soldiers' Angels such as toiletries and cigarettes and dip (smokeless tobacco) since his base has no PX. I imagine I will start shopping in the next day or two. If he is still assigned to me at Christmas you can expect solicitations from me to you for help once again. Although I have a donation button posted on the upper right side of my blog I probably will not really pester anyone before then unless he and his buddies have some special needs that I cannot cover financially. Of course if you want to you can always help out by donating money to my PayPal account using the donate button I just mentioned.

All the best,
Glenn B

Are They On Your Mind - Or Have You Forgotten?

I was away in Tucson, AZ for the past 4 months. Over that time I did not have a lot of time to blog. Yeah I got some done but not as much as usual. I did have a lot of time to think though and one of the things I thought about often was that when I returned home I was going to have to contact Soldiers' Angels to sign up for a new soldier to whom to send care packages and with whom to keep in touch by email. That thought was prompted over and over again as I realized that most people in the USA do not seem to remember that we are at war on two fronts right now - one in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. I saw, everywhere I went, that we act normal during time of war. That is not normal for the people of a country unless they have in essence forgotten the war or have not been affected by it. I think there is a combination of both and an add on of the fact that we have gotten used to being at war. Of course there is the fact that the media is not blasting President Obama anywhere as near as they did President Bush (is that media bias). There is little to nothing in the news each day about how many soldiers died this day or that day, there is little reminder that we are up over four thousand dead and tens of thousands wounded, there is little to report on how successful we are in Iraq or Afghanistan, the reports of fighting are few and far between - yet our military men and women keep on getting killed despite our current president promising to bring them home in short order once elected.

It is a shame that so many of us have seem to forgotten that we are at war whether it be because it does not affect us as much as it should or because it is convenient not to mention it such as in the lesser amount of media coverage it currently receives. Of course there are those who do not forget. They who are there on the front lines have not forgotten. They who are here at home who have sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends or lovers in the midst of a war do not forget. They who have their loved ones return without being able to say goodbye - they do not forget either - and for them the memories will never fade. There are also some others of us who do not forget; as you will see the folks in rural GA certainly remember that we are at war and what it means to be an American and how important it is to honor our troops.

A few lines below this you will find an embedded video of a procession bearing the body of fallen Army National Guardsman Sergeant 1st Class John C. Beale from a small airport just south of Atlanta to his home in McDonough, GA. SSGT. Beale was killed near Kapisa, Afghanistan on June 4, 2009; two other National Guardsmen fell with him that day - Maj. Kevin M. Jenrette and Spc. Jeffrey W. Jordan. All three suffered fatal wounds due to improvised explosives and small arms fire. (As to John C. Beale please note: I have given his rank as Sergeant 1st Class and as Staff Sergeant because I have seen it both ways in reports of his death and because I do not know if there is a distinction.)

Apparently a notice was placed in local town newspapers about the date and time of when the procession would likely take place. Those notices apparently had some great effect, much like the force to topple the first of thousands of dominoes. I never saw this on the television news - but maybe it was reported on, I never heard about it on radio talk shows - but maybe they covered it, I never heard a word about it - not until I received an email from a friend of mine today who had a link to the video. Maybe you have seen it, maybe not. If you have not seen it - watch it and be humbled, maybe even shamed. If you have seen it before, watch it again.



Damn it folks, if tears did not start flowing down your cheeks, or at least well up in your eyes, then there is something wrong with you. If those tears did flow, then there is something you need to do as an American. You can contact a group like: Soldiers' Angels, A Million Thanks, Email Our Military, Tell Them Thanks, Hero Box, Operation Dear Abby, or another one that helps to get you in touch with our troops and start an email/letter writing and care package sending campaign to help keep their spirits high. As for the above, I can only speak about Soldiers' Angels, Email Our Troops and Operation Dear Abby by way of personal experience since I have used those three to contact our troops. With Dear Abby and Email the Troops I never got a reply from the troops but that was okay - supposedly they forwarded my emails to them. With Soldiers' Angels - well that is a different story. You see I 'adopted' a soldier from them twice. They give you privileged information about a serviceman or servicewoman serving our country overseas. Then it becomes your responsibility to stay in contact with, and send care packages to, that person for the duration of his or her deployment. I can tell you this - the soldiers appreciate it very much. Luckily, both of the soldiers that I 'adopted' came home alive and well as opposed to how Sgt. Beale arrived back home. The thing is that Sgt. 1st Class Beale was honored for his sacrifice and I wonder, if while he was in Afghanistan was anyone here among us or among the throng of people who honored his posthumous return home thinking of him then - was anyone thinking of what you, I, we could have done to make his day better while he was still alive and fighting for us over there? I certainly hope that was the case - I hope that at least he knew some of us back home remembered and cared that we had troops in harms way fighting a war many of us seem to have forgotten - I hope someone let him know that by way of sending him a letter now and again, and sending him a care package chocked full of goodies, goodness and hope.

What I am getting at is that if you have a conscience, if you love your country, if you believe in freedom and democracy and our way of life, if you truly want to support our troops, then you had best be thinking of certain things that you can do to help after having watched that video. You had best remember that we are at war, that people like Staff Sergeant John C. Beale serve and die for our country and for us all to regularly while fighting it, that too many of us seem to have forgotten that or just do not care, that it is not one of life's trifles but is an important thing in the line of many that keeps us a free nation, that there is something you can do to help even if you are here sleeping safe and sound in your bed each night, and that it is truly up to you - to us - to get it done.

So get to it now - right now - click on those links over at the right side of my blog under the Support Our Troops header and start supporting them yourself. Having the war or the troops on your mind does not get it done. Saying "I support our troops" or displaying a banner or bumper sticker that says likewise does little to really give them support. Do something tangible to not only show your support but to actually bolster them up and do it now. It will not only benefit our troops and America it will be good for your soul - believe me on that one.

There have been 77 other military personnel who have died while at war (the info at this link is humbling indeed) since the day SSGT Beale was killed in action.Yes folks the war is still going on - our soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines are still fighting and dying for us - have you remembered that lately? Have you done anything to support them?

All the best,
Glenn B

Departure Was Exigent Not Imminent...

...and I am home already. As it turns out, right after I made my last post to my blog page, I found out my wife had pneumonia. With her already having Swine Flu I figured I had best get on a plane faster than a speeding bullet. So I called my boss at about noon on Friday and told him the situation and he said "get outta here" or something to that effect. I drove into the office, got some necessary job related paperwork done, made a flight reservation, handed in stuff that had been temporarily assigned to me and was off to do some quick shopping before leaving. Shopping included a trip to a store or two to pic up some gifts of chocolates for hotel staff at the front desk and in the kitchen. The staff was great except for the maids, and one higher up. The maids sucked at cleaning or speaking English so no sweets for them. Then it was back to the hotel for packing. That was a whirlwind affair about as wild as a roller coaster ride in a tornado - but I only forgot one thing, a small pair of scissors. I also cleaned up any food I had in the room, and after just about 4 months of staying at a hotel you have as much packed into the tiny fridge as you can, or at least I did; likewise for my pantry or the drawers that served as a pantry. After I was done there it was back shopping, this time at the mall. I was too wired to really shop and did not get a thing for anyone back home. Luckily I had already bought some small gifts but not many. I had been planning on shopping yesterday but that was out. When done with everything I returned the G-ride back to the lot at work. Another agent gave me a ride back to the hotel and since he was remaining on the temporary assignment I gave him my stash of beer. I figure that was about 8 Heinekens, 10 Coronas, and 12 or more Bud-lights (no I do not drink Budwiper of any sort if I can avoid it; they were left overs from a party). Then it was to bed for me. I hit the hay at about 11:15 PM on Friday night and had to get up at 3:15 AM on Saturday. I slept all of 3 hours and tossed and turned the rest.

At 4:00 AM I was off to the airport in a limo/cab. It was really a Crown Vic. The driver was from Russia so that made me feel closer to NYC than I had for months - there is a large Russian population in Brooklyn. Nice guy and when I tipped him he was happy. Check-in was a breeze. No one from TSA even looked inside my shotgun case. (They did look in my suitcase and I do think a K-Bar knife is missing; I have to do inventory tonight.) My flight departed on time at 6:10 Am, and I flew into Atlanta where I connected to another flight to LaGuardia in NY. Both flights got in early. When I landed I called my son - he had not left home yet to come to get me. I told him to turn on that engine and get rolling. As it turned out, just as I got all of my luggage, he called and said he was waiting outside - perfect timing. Julia, his girlfriend accompanied him as did our Chihuahua Pepe. The ride home was nice as was getting there. My wife actually seemed happy to see me and I was happy to see her. may not last long but take it for what it is worth because I am doing so.

Thankfully she is doing okay - not good - but okay. We go to the doctor tomorrow and that is when I start asking questions about why she was not hospitalized after first being diagnosed with Swine Flu, and then several days later with pneumonia.

So as it turns out - I had no choice to make about whether or not to try to hike up to the top of Mt. Wrightson at Madera Canyon or if I should go back to Tombstone instead to see the Courthouse Museum. Something else decided for me what I should do, and I knew I had better get home quick to make sure the Frau was okay.

All the best,
Glenn B