Reptile Show, Birthday Shopping, Visiting Family, Birthday Party, Carpet Cleaning, It's Been a Busy Weekend...

...and there was not much time if any for blogging. I took off from work on Friday to get my exhibits ready for the LIHS 21st Annual Reptile & Amphibian Show. I had tanks to clean, animals to select, travel containers to ready, exhibit tags to print up, and so on. That was in the morning and afternoon. Then it was off to the show location on Friday night to help with set-up of the exhibit and vendor tables. It literally took me several hours to get ready and to help out with the tables. In fact, it took so long that I did not have time to go shopping for my nephew's birthday gift that night, as I had planned, so I figured I would do that on Saturday after the show.

Then there was the show on Saturday. I was up at about 0530 to start putting the finishing touch on things, to make sure I had not forgotten anything and to load my car. I was at the show hall by about 0800, a half hour after it opened. I set up my table there and also set up my tanks on the display tables for the competition. Then I found out the maintenance closet was locked with no maintenance men in sight and water could only be had from the sinks in the men's room. Since I was going to display several aquatic and semi-aquatic amphibians, I needed water. I just didn't want to try to fill 5 tanks by the cup full from the washroom sink. After a few hours, I decided that would have to be the way to go, then I remembered I had brought along a hose to siphon my tanks at the end of the show. It was just the right, size so that when using my hand wrapped around one end as a coupling, it meshed almost perfectly with the nozzle end of the faucet. I held it in place, turned on the water, and filled three and a half 5 gallon buckets to get the job done. My salamander, newts, and frogs were finally on display. None too soon since the judging started within about an hour of me having completed the task. Regardless of the competition, having the animals on display was what counted, that is what folks had come to see.

Sometime in the early or mid afternoon, Brendan showed up and helped out watching my table for awhile. My friend Harry, from the LIHS, had already been lending a hand with that and thanks to them I was able to get the tanks filled without having to worry about something disappearing from my table like last year. When Brendan took over the table, I also took the opportunity to walk around to quickly check out the exhibits and to see what the vendors were selling. I had already made a couple of purchases from Slither & Swim, who had the 5 tables next to mine and which were full of herp keeping accessories, tanks, feeder insects, dry food and the like. Paul (hope I remembered his name right, I am terrible on names) is the owner of Slither & Swim and is an all around good guy, one of the nicest vendors at any such show to which I have been.

Brendan also bought a couple of items from Slither & Swim and took a look at all the other tables, both the vendors and the display tables for the competition. After awhile he told me the ribbons were being placed. We waited, impatiently, to see if our animals won anything. In all we had the following on display:

1 Anderson's Aquatic Salamander

1 Iberian Ribbed Newt

2 Blue Tailed Newts

1 African Clawed Frog

2 Red-bellied Toads

1 Male Hermann's Tortoise

1 Female Hermann's Tortoise

Our good husbandry efforts paid off. Of all our animals, only three did not take home ribbons: one of the Fire-bellied Frogs, one of the Blue Tailed Newts and the African Clawed Frog I(that was a disappointment since it is a very nice frog but they are easy to keep and that is figured into the judging). All the others won ribbons and two won trophies:

One of Brendan's Fire-bellied Toads won third place among the frogs & toads division.

The Iberian Ribbed Newt pulled in third place for salamanders, newts & sirens.

The Blue Tailed Newts won second place for salamanders, newts and sirens.

The Anderson's Aquatic Salamander won first place for salamanders, newts & sirens (our animals making it a sweep for that division). This one also went on to win best amphibian and got a nice trophy for that. I was pretty amazed and humbled to say the least. I was humbled because of the quality of the competition. There were two Colorado River Toads on display and one of them had won the first place ribbon in the frogs & toads division, thus putting it up head to head against my salamander for best overall in the amphibians class. It would have been just a bit more than a bit ironic had the toad won best in class because I had given it to Rich M. who had it on display. He surely has kept it in pristine condition, it is a beautiful animal, heck both of them are such.

The male Hermann's Tortoise achieved second place in the tortoises division.

As for the female Hermann's Tortoise - before the judging had begun, Ed (the guy who sold me this tortoise about 5 or 6 years ago) was admiring her and asked me if she was mine. I said yes she was mine. He then said he was amazed by her size as she was the largest, by far, Hermann's Tortoise he had ever seen (and he has seen quite a few having been a breeder of them for years and an admirer and keeper of them for even longer). He also said she was a beautiful animal. When I told him she was the one that he had sold me years ago, his jaw dropped, just a bit but it definitely dropped. She went on to win the blue ribbon for first place for tortoises; then she went on to win best of all turtles and tortoises at the show. That meant I was going home with another trophy. While Ed's compliments had been more than enough to let me know I have been doing something very right in caring for her, winning a blue ribbon and a trophy both surprised me and humbled me since there was a lot of tough competition out there in her class. The competition included, among others, several turtles and tortoises entered by my pal Harry. One of his turtles came in first place. That meant the judges had to pick between his turtle and my tortoise for best overall in the Turtles & Tortoises division. We always have a friendly rivalry going on for the show, and Harry took it in stride as one of us always does when the other guy wins although he did point out that my 'defective' tortoise had won over his pristine turtle! The female Hermann's Tort has some scarring on her shell, barely noticeable after a few years, where my dogs had gnawed on her like a chew toy a few years back. I gloated and rubbed it into Harry's wounds. Really though, I only rubbed it in a little although I may have gloated a bit more. It is all in fun though and next year Harry's animals will probably trounce mine.

Most of all, for next year, I am hoping Brendan will have stuck with it and that he will enter a few more animals of his own and take home a trophy. He was disappointed that 'Bill' the African Clawed Frog (the only of our herps with a given name) did not win, but thems is the breaks! There is always next year.

Of course, Saturday was not the end to this weekend. On Sunday, I drove out to my moms, picked her up, then drove the both of us to my sister's and brother in law's house to celebrate my nephews 10th. Before I could pick up my mom though, I had to go shopping for my nephew's present. Never get anything done until the last possible moment is my motto! Really, I was so tired on Saturday when I got home from the reptile show that I passed out from about 6:30 until 10:30. I had been planning to go shopping for his present somewhere in that time frame before the stores closed at 9. I would have gone days before had my sister gotten back to me to let me know if she and her man approved of what I was planning to buy for my nephew. She didn't though, so I just decided what the heck, I'll get it regardless. So I went shopping before I picked up my mom from the assisted living apartments. We wound up arriving about 45 minutes later than planned thanks to my going shopping and doing my other Sunday morning chores. Those other chores were cleaning out the car. Did I forget to mention I also had to empty out the car of tanks and such that I had not gotten out on Saturday evening after the reptile show.

We had a nice time at the party. The food was excellent, the company even better and the three three Heineken's I had right after I got there went down oh so very well. No more after those because I would be driving my mom home within about five hours of enjoying them. Had plenty of time for good eats, good conversation and good relaxation. Then it was present time and I guess I can tell you what it was I bought that same morning for my nephew's present. The it was a Crossman pump BB rifle and a jar of a thousand BBs. Me thinks, from the reaction it got, is that my brother-in-law may have more fun with it than will my nephew but of course I am sure dad will be teaching the young one and both will love it. My nephew actually seemed pretty pleased with it though it was getting a bit too dim to be shooting it and was a bit too chilly to stay outside by the time we got round to it. Next time I am there I will see how he handles it. If he does well, then when he turns 12, I may just have to give him a .22 rifle and take him to the range (such is the law in NY as far as I know, got to be 12 to shoot at a range).

After the party it was a ride back to my mom's place, then a bit more time spent with her there, then off to home for me. I was pooped. Still though, I got up early this morning. I put away all the stuff I had strewn about from the reptile show, then I got down to some serious business. I started to move furniture in my basement in anticipation of my yearly to biannual carpet cleaning down there. My man-0cave happens to not only be one of my favorite places in my home but also one of the favorite places for our pooches to relive themselves if they have an emergency. We clean up after them, of course, but it still stains somewhat so I clean it, with a carpet cleaning machine I rent at Home Depot, once or twice a year. Luckily my daughter and wife helped out a bit with collateral cleaning such as vacuuming and dusting after I moved the furniture. Then I was off to Home depot, picked up the machine and some cleaning solution and headed back home to get the job done. It took me about 2 hours of cleaning to get it done, not including the furniture moving and dusting and vacuuming. Those all added a few more hours and that does not include moving the furniture back into place. Most of it is in the back part of the basement, shoved in there with the water heater and boiler. I'll move it back later tonight of tomorrow night after I run the dehumidifier for several hours.

Wound up I moved most of the crap stuff back tonight. Right now I am a bit achy, a bit grumpy and in dire need of a vodka and something. That is where I am going right now - to mix myself a soothing concoction and calm the beast within. Believe me, after all the stuff I did today to put an end to this weekend, the beast was pretty grouchy - it would much preferred to have rested today. Now it will settle for a good stiff drink and while I drink it I can ponder this: One of these days, the dogs my wife's dogs will get housebroken beyond accident and marking stages and the friggin carpet cleanings will become a thing of the past.

I cannot find the vodka! Damn must have moved it when I was shifting all the stuff around in the basement. I guess it will have to be a couple of cold ones - HB Hofbrau Oktberfest! Not a bad substitute for a vodka now that I think of it. I have had enough, I took all I can stands cause I can't stands no more but I ain't going for a can of spinach! Bring on those cold ones; and maybe as I takes me a swig, I'll take another look at those trophies I won to calm me nerves.

As for me - next weekend I am going hunting and my male heir will be coming along. As for you - later for you - when the beast is calmer.

All the best,
Glenn B

Reminder - LIHS 21st Annual Reptile & Amphibian Show Tomorrow

The Long Island Herpetological Society will hold its 21st Annual Reptile & Amphibian Show on Saturday October 9th from 10AM to 4PM. The location of the show will be Roosevelt Hall at SUNY Farmingdale in Farmingdale, NY just off of route 110. The show will consist of educational exhibits, a judged show of reptiles & amphibians, and sales of reptile & amphibians and supplies and accessories.

More information about the show can be found at: http://lihs.org/files/events.htm

Directions to the show can be found here: http://lihs.org/files/dir_suny.htm

All the best,
Glenn B

1979 A New Beginning...

...was about to commence in my life. I would have to wait until September of that year to begin my career as a federal agent in the U.S. Border Patrol. That first federal job had me encountering more aliens than I would have ever imagined would have been possible but that is not new beginning to which the title of this post references. No, there was another new beginning in 1979 for me, one that had to do with aliens that were even more unimaginable. It was a new beginning for all of us, especially for those among us who wonder if there are others out there, or just those of us who enjoy a good, and I mean really good, sci-fi movie now and then.

It was on May 25, 1979, just 4 months and 4 days before I was sworn in as a Border Patrol Agent, that an as of then almost unheard of actress appeared in her first leading role, only the third film of her career. It was a film that would scare the peanuts out of your M&Ms (no not my quote but I forget who said it) and maybe I should have seen it as some sort of omen of what was to come for me with all of the alien chasing. Of course, by now you must have figured that the actress was Sigourney Weaver and the film was ALIEN. It was a whole new beginning for the sci-fi genre of films.

Well, I just sat down to watch it, it's on TMC as I type. I have got to say, before I allow myself to become totally enmeshed in it for about the 25th time I have watched it, that it is one of the best all time sci-fi (& horror & action & adventure) movies of all time. A good friend asked me, just two days ago, "What is the best sci-fi movie ever?" and I was unable to answer. I still can't answer that question without some serious thought of all the ones I have ever seen but I can tell you that when he asked, just as when I think of it now, this movie popped right into my mind as one of the very best.

If you have never seen it, and if you decide to watch it, try to see it in a theater that shows old movies. If you cannot, then watch it on the biggest screen television you can with a good sound system and watch it with others who have not seen it yet, at night in a dark room. You will enjoy it if you like sci-fi, just don't eat any Peanut M&Ms while or just before watching it.

All the best,
GB

Election Time - Merry November

I don't know who wrote it, I got it in an email. I am posting it here because the email said to pass it on and that is what I am doing:

Gift wrap them and send them all home!

MERRY NOVEMBER!

'Twas the night before elections
And all through the town
Tempers were flaring
Emotions all up and down!

I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap
Had cut off the TV
Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden
There arose such a noise
I peered out of my window
Saw Obama and his boys

They had come for my wallet
They wanted my pay
To give to the others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money
And quick as a wink
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, On Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause
And as he flew out of sight
I heard him laugh at the nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think
On this one final note-
IF YOU DONT WANT SOCIALISM
GET OUT THERE & VOTE!!!!

That was great, wasn't it!

All the best,
GB

Krista Branch - I Am America

I need to see her in concert and America needs more entertainers like her!

Just X out the annoying ad that will pop up at the bottom of the screen. Not there because of me, I guess it is a new YouTube annoyance.

All the best,
Glenn B

October A Good Time For Gardening...

...at least I think so. I got out into the garden at around nine ten this morning and puttered here and there. I also did some of the same yesterday.

Yesterday, I picked a good number of both ripe and green tomatoes and some in between. All will ripen sooner or later. I also picked a few nice banana peppers and a good number of Cayenne peppers. Then I picked most of the remaining butternut squashes, 4 of them. We still have at least another 4 of them on the vines and I figure next week or the week after for picking them. They are all still pretty green, then so were the ones I picked yesterday but those were on vines that were pretty much dead. The remaining ones are on live plants. No worry though, the greenish ones will ripen in our kitchen or down in the basement. We just leave them and sooner or later before Thanksgiving or Christmas they will be ready and yes they stay good a long time if the skin is not broken. We have a few others that are ripe and ready to be cooked and boy do they cook good. My wife makes them in a casserole dish in the oven with butter, garlic and some other spices. Bakes em till ready, then puts em under the broiler to get the top crispy. When she does not over do the garlic, they are scrumptious - one of the best vegetables I have ever eaten.

Getting back to today, I pulled out some near dead tomato plants, picked some green tomatoes (they will ripen inside brown paper bags), pulled out some more squash vines and others, dumped them on the compost pile, then planted a couple of bushes. Linda bought the bushes, two Euonymus japonicus also known as Chollipo, at different times over the summer. I just left them in their pots waiting until the fall to plant them. My uncle used to tell me it was best to plant most trees and shrubs either in early spring or in the fall, so I waited. These are supposedly evergreens though the variegated leaves are both green and yellow. I suppose they mean they have their leaves throughout all the seasons. They supposedly grow 6 feet wide by about 12 feet tall and that will be nice. Probably will piss off my neighbor if they grow over her fence but that is what monthly trimmings are for, and I always take care of that. Easy to care for, tolerant of heat and dry conditions and able to withstand the cold in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6 to 9; we are in zone 6 so they probably will survive even in our backyard. I have to admit, if they keep their color and grow wide, tall and busy - they will be pretty nice looking.

As I was digging the holes for the shrubs, I found a couple of nice fat worms which reminded me I had to hit the compost pile both for compost to put in the newly dug holes for the bushes and to get some worms for my salamanders, tortoises and turtle. The very first spadeful of compost I dug up seemed to have a life of its own with earthworms wriggling here, there and everywhere. I picked out about a dozen for my critters and also took some to throw in the holes for the bushes I was about to plant. I then set the bushes in the holes I had dug for each, then filled in the holes with a combination of fresh garden soil formulated for trees and shrubs, potting soil, compost from our compost pile and soil I had just dug up from my yard when digging the holes. I watered them well, let the dirt settle, added more where needed, then headed inside to get rid of those worms. My critter collection enjoyed lunch though I am guessing that the worms may not have enjoyed being lunch. Such is life, it ends in death - often as a result of being eaten - especially if you are a worm.

Now, I am left with an area about 6 feet long between the two shrubs. Neither one is very big yet and they will probably take years to grow enough to cover that space, so for at least the next couple to few year, I have that space to fill. I guess I may as well start now when the weather is still warm enough and just cool enough to really enjoy puttering around in the yard. I will be turning the soil, adding some peat moss, some potting soil and some compost - mostly compost, and letting it all settle in over the fall and winter. By next spring it should be a regular garden-spot of Eden. Probably a perfect spot for some pepper plants or maybe some squash.

I knew that sooner or later, I would get back to the squash. I planted two types of squash this year, and only two types as far as I am aware. One was called Crooked-Neck Squash. It lives up to its name. The squash grows to about a foot to 16 inches in length and the neck twists or turn into a crook as on the end of a Shepherd's staff. They came out early and matured rapidly. Then their vines all died off. Probably picked the last of them in August. They are fairly tasty but nowhere nearly as delicious as were the Butternut Squash we had last year. I could not find any seedlings this year for Butternut Squash but luckily I saved seeds from last year. I planted them, watered them, and luckily they grew.

The thing is they grew weirdly. Last year, the biggest one was about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times the size of the smallest one from this year - see the smallest from this year in the picture - that little greenish one in the middle row. In other words the biggest one last year were close to the two lying down in the front row, maybe a bit bigger and those were the largest from last year not the average. I think the smallest one this year probably weighs a pound and a half or two pounds. Most from this year, and all from last year had a shape similar to that one too, most were more elongated or bottle necked but all similar in shape with fat bottom and less wide top. Well this year I got one squash that looks more pumpkin shaped and I figure it to be the biggest or second biggest by weight at about 6 to 8 pounds. Yep, it is a squash, and should be a butternut squash even though it does not look like one. It is definitely not a pumpkin, just has that roundish shape. Another one on the same plant is more or less the classic butternut squash shape but also much bigger than any from last year. Those are both pretty big compared to last year's crop, even though planted in a large pot instead of actually in the ground. Still, they possibly are not the biggest of this year's crop though very close if not. We got several other butternut squashes this year that are much bigger than any I got last year and one possibly bigger than the pumpkin shaped one of this year - that one in the middle of the pic. I wish I had a scale to tell which weighed more.

Maybe I did something right to the soil that I did not do last year but all I did each time was turned the soil, added composted cow manure and compost from my compost heap. Maybe we got a great batch of cow poop this yea. Maybe divine pollination was achieved. Maybe cross pollination between different species of squash happened and we have some hybrids. Maybe aliens landed and zapped them with super-growth radiation rays. Whatever, they grew to some pretty big sizes considering that last year batch looked pretty much like the ones with the bottleneck shapes in the foreground of the accompanying picture or like the one behind them on the right side in the pic (as you look at it). That shotgun shell in the foreground is there for scale; it is a 2 3/4 inch 12 gauge shell.

We have at least another 4 of these beauties still on the vine. The three looking the most, what would you call that color, pale yellowish-orange pukish color are the ripe ones ready to be eaten. They have been off the vine since at least early September. They were not as green as some of the others when picked, nor were they as big, but are definitely butternut squash. So, I am wondering did I get some hybrids because at least some of the others, including that big one in the middle came from the same plant/vine. It looks like one of the others on steroids. While I wonder what they are, I really don't care, as long as they are delicious with turkey in a stuffing, or baked in a casserole pan in the oven with plenty of butter and a good portion of garlic and spices like cinnamon and allspice, or similarly roasted in the oven, or cooked on the grill. So many ways to prepare them, maybe we don't have enough of them.

We had several others growing, some got knocked off the vine when a neighbor moved them when he ripped ivy out of his garden (they were on our mutual fence with the ivy), others got knocked off the vine in high winds, others got diseased or bug infested and one or two knocked off the vines by our dogs. We probably would have had another 10 to a dozen of them. As it is, I think we have enough of them to last for a few meals and I should have plenty of seeds for next year.

Heck, I just remembered, the squash seeds I had and planted this year were not from last year's crop there was no squash crop in our garden last year. In fact, they were from the year before and still germinated his year! Last year, I did not plant anything, I was out in Tucson for the whole spring and halfway through July. Last time I gardened before this spring was in 2008.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 94 - The Aging 870 & The Old Man's Shoulder

The aging Remington 870 struck hard against my shoulder today and my old man's shoulder middle aged, arthritic and bursitis encumbered shoulder was no match for the harsh retort of recoil from the old Remington. As soon as the butt of the shotgun slammed back into my shoulder, it felt as if a searing bolt of lightning had been sent down my arm from my shoulder to the tips of the last two fingers on my right hand. The pain, in my neck, right shoulder, arm and hand that accompanied it was almost unbearable. Then I shot again! I don't know if it was due to stupidity, machismo, the idea that it would be better on the next shot, or that I just could not put down my old friend after only one shot, or that I was determined to be ready for the upcoming hunting season. I fired two more slugs, then I put down my old friend with a grimace still on my face. The second and third shots were not as bad as the first, no more lightning bolt shooting down my arm but the pain was severe nonetheless. I had just fired the Marlin 336 in .35 Remington several times, and had also fired the Mosin Nagant 91/30 in 7.62x54R and the Yugoslavian M24/47 Mauser in 8MM Mauser, also both several times. None of them had inflicted me with even a hint of discomfort, let alone pain. I figured the shotgun would be uncomfortable, or even hurt a bit, as usual but I was not prepared for what it hit me with.

I went to shooting the Marlin 25MN in 22WMR, then back to the Marlin 336, the Mauser and the Nagant. All still no problem. I gave the shotgun a few more tries about an hour and a half or so after the first few rounds. It hurt but was nothing like the first shot, or the second and third but it still hurt too much. Then again, even the second and third shots were nothing like the first one had been, that one was by far the worst. I suppose it must have just pushed on the nerve in my shoulder just right to put my pain receptors into overdrive and to make me actually think I might never be able to shoot it again. Yes, it hurt that badly and I suppose that was in part due to my arthritis, bursitis, and the cyst removal surgery I had on my neck back in May; that cyst had been pressing on the nerve that runs from the neck to shoulder and down the arm. I also know it has to do with me not exercising enough and I guess with me getting older too. I guess maybe before I feel too old before my time, I ought to be exercising more to build up mooscles so it won't happen again too soon. If that does happen again, especially that feeling of a bolt of supercharged lightning running down my arm ending in my finger tips, well then I may have to retire the old 870 for the duration. Of course, before I would do that, I may try some sort of recoil pad added onto my shoulder between me and the recoil pad on the shotgun butt. I just don't want to give up one of my favorites guns without trying to figure out a solution to this problem if there is one.

Besides that incident with the shotgun, the range day was great. I was there with Brendan. He needed to see if the Marlin 336 was sighted in for himself and also had to shoot the 870 for the same reason. He fired only 3 shots out of the 870 and called it quits with that one for the rest of the 4 hours or so that we were at the range. I suppose I cannot blame him. He had a lot more fun with the 336, the Mosin Nagant, his Stag Arms AR15 (which I forgot to mention above that I also had fun shooting), and the Marlin 25MN. He must have fired about 150 rounds through the 25MN, and 100 of them as rapidly as I have ever seen anyone shoot a bolt action rifle. I was pretty pleased he had about a 2 1/2 to 3 group, with only about 2 fliers out of a box of 50 rounds, at 50 yards, while firing that fast. His slow fire is usually not any better, if that good, so seeing him do that well that fast was fairly impressive. He was really having a blast with it between shooting the other guns. In fact, he pretty much ended up the range day shooting the Marlin 25 MN although he took time out to fire a last few shots from the Marlin 336 - just to make sure it was sighted in for him. I think any big game that may cross his path this year, while he is holding the Marlin 336, had better start worrying now. As for the gray squirrels, he would easily take them at 50 yards with the Marlin 25MN. I can almost smell the roasting venison and the squirrel stew but I guess we first have to see some of them within shooting distance.

After the range, we stopped off at a Hooters for a late lunch. We didn't have anything like squirrel stew or roasted venison but the onion rings were out of this world, the hot chicken wings just deliciously hot, the fries were nice and crispy and only the BBQ ribs were left needing something that the waitress' ribs certainly were not lacking. After all - it was Hooters, not known for the best of food but certainly known for something to do with ribs!

All the best,
Glenn B

Soldiers' Care Packages - Donations Please

It is October 1, 2010. Once again, as over the past few years, I am going to start putting together care packages for some of our military personnel foreign soil or seas and I am again going to ask for my readers' help by way of donations. I have already requested, just minutes ago, that Soldiers' Angels assign me a new soldier. I specifically asked for someone in Afghanistan and asked if this time they would assign me a female since the others were all men. I figure it is both our men and women over there, so why not try to get at least one lady included among those to whom we send these packages. If they can do it - fine; if not, then to whomever they assign me will be fine just as well.

I also went out today and picked up the first items to include in the first package, I hope, with your help, there will be at least a few to several other good ones going out between now, Christmas and New Year's Day. So far this is what I have purchased for the first package:

A four pack of Merino Wool Socks (it is about to start getting cold in that part of the world)

A large box of Tootsie Roll Pops

A 48 pack of AA alkaline batteries

A 30 pack of Hershey's candy bars including Hershey's milk chocolate bars (both plain and with almonds), KitKat bars, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups)

A 60 pack of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (including a variety of chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin)

That set me back about $56.93. This is my donation so far, all out of my pocket. Any donations I receive from my readers, or others, will go toward future purchases of items to go into the care packages.

So, once again I am asking that you, my readers, help out with whatever monetary contributions you can to help make these packages something worthy of our young men and woman who are fighting terrorism, and protecting us and the freedoms we enjoy. As in the past, if you donate anything to me, every penny I receive will go toward the purchase of items to be included in the care package(s). I will also make a sizable donation to the package(s) (such as the items I already bought today - they are at my expense alone and I will probably throw in another $50 or more worth of goods that I alone pay for). I will also pay for boxes, tape (unless I use free boxes and tape), and I will pay for shipping the package(s) to my assigned soldier and his or her unit all out of my own pocket. I guess I am also paying for the gas to drive to the store and pick this stuff up. Again, any donations I receive from you go 100% toward the cost of items I put into the care packages. (Note: What I RECEIVE as a donation is what goes toward the purchases. So there is no misunderstanding, if you donate $25.00 by way of PayPal, I will use all the funds I receive, after PayPal takes their small cut, toward the items for the care packages. PayPal is not free; I get nothing of the percentage they charge but they do charge a fairly small amount for receiving funds through them. a Paypal account is free, or was when i signed up. If, on the other hand, you donate $25.00 cash, then 100% of that money will go to buying items for the care packages. (Please note, PayPal is free to sign up for and, as far as I know, still does not charge you for sending money; they charge the person who receives the money - see this link.)

By the way, these gifts are nondenominational and will be for anyone in my assigned soldier's unit regardless of religious beliefs or anything else. Regardless of it being the Christmas season, they are to be shared among the unit and with other units if my soldier and his or her unit feel generous and I hope that will be the case. I just send em out at Christmas because I was brought up as a Catholic. I am not a practicing Catholic any longer but have the Christian upbringing and still feel this time of year is an especially nice one for giving. I especially like the Christmas spirit. The Christmas spirit is not one of a stingy scrooge; it is a time for giving what you can give. I know, the economy sucks. I know a lot of people are hurting. Still, you have to realize these guys and gals are far from home, they are hurting even more than any of us and they are in some god forsaken hell holes. They surely could use some recognition from us beyond simply saying - I support the troops. No matter how tough times are, if you are reading this you have something to give - don't you?

"Money is tight, times are hard" - we have all heard talk like that recently. Remember though, talk like that is cheap but so too are the donations for which I ask. Send whatever you can to help out. Send $50 if you have it and can spare it, or send $5.00 if things are bad. Heck send a dollar if things are really that bad - then feel happy you did something because even a dollar will help make some of our boys and girls have it just a bit easier during the holiday season and the time leading up to it. I do not know about you but I don't want to be the one to send our troops a photocopied Christmas card showing Santa giving them the finger and saying "Money is tight and times are hard, so here's your fucking Christmas card"! I got that card once, I laughed until my sides hurt. Think about sending that sentiment to our troops, it quite likely would be seen in another way. Think about the message we send when we send nothing - then think about the joy we send when we send whatever we can. If it is is just a few pennies, then do it please because those few pennies will help both our troops and you.

Once I know the identity of my soldier, I will post what I can here on the blog. As usual, by the rules at Soldiers' Angels, I can only give my soldier's first name and where he or she is located (in general). If I later get permission from the soldier, I will post more info. I will also post any thank yous I receive from the soldier and his or her unit. I can tell you this without a doubt, when you and I gave in the past, when we sent those other packages, the folks on the receiving end had a better time for it. We made them smile, we made their days, we showed them that the ones here still at home really do care and they were thankful for it. Please, let's do it again - anything you can donate goes a long way toward making a soldier smile.

You can either click on the donation icon above or click on the donation icon located on the upper right hand side of my blog page. The icon in the upper right of my blog page will remain there throughout the time period I will accept donations which probably will be sometime in early to mid December. If you prefer to donate by money order, please email me for my address. I will only send my mailing address to those whom I already know. Thanks.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 93 - Gun Cleaning Kits - Real Men Prefer Brass

When it comes to gun cleaning kits, I have tried a pretty good variety of them to get the dirty work done. I try to assure I am doing it without damaging my firearms. The various parts of a gun cleaning kit can be made from quite a few different materials, some of those materials are more likely to cause damage to your guns and I think they are just best to avoid.

Of all the types of cleaning kits that I have tried, and they have been numerous, I prefer those using a brass cleaning rod as the heart of the system. (Note: the one shown is only an example, I would change and add a few things with that particular kit, which is available here.)Others I have tried have included those with aluminum rods, steel rods, steel rods coated with polymer, other polymer coated metal rods, nylon rods, bore snakes and chains. The reasons I prefer brass rods are several. First and foremost, brass is not as hard as steel. This means it is less likely to abrade or otherwise mar the breech, the chamber, the bore or the crown as I run it through the barrel to clean it. While some of the other types of cleaning rod are even softer than brass, I still prefer the brass. Aluminum is pretty good but cannot stand up to the repeated use as can a brass rod. All of the aluminium multi-section rods I have used have always started to compact at the point where two pieces screw together by way of repeatedly being pushed though the bore. They then tend to flange out forming a collar like bulge at the joint of two rods. This is not desirable as the bulged out sections are more likely to rub unevenly along the bore. While the aluminum or other softer metal is softer than the steel of the bore, repeatedly runs these bulged areas against the bore could begin to cause damage to the rifling sooner or later. Brass is hard enough that this either does not happen (at least with good quality brass cleaning rods) or takes so long to do it that the cost to replace the rods would be minimal. With aluminum, I find myself replacing multi-section cleaning rods, in my field cleaning kits, on a regular basis of at least once every year. Brass rods I have had for between 5 and 10 years have never had this problem and did not need replacing. One other thing with aluminum as compared to brass, in my experience. Multi-piece aluminum rods I have used also tend to bend and snap easily at the joints and sometimes even in mid rod. This is a much rarer occurrence with brass rod. brass is, in my opinion, a much better choice than aluminum as a cleaning rod. Note that brass rods are available in various sizes to fit different caliber barrels however, I prefer a universal cleaning kit just because I own various calibers and the universal kit makes the cleaning chores a little easier. Sadly, it is much more difficult to find universal field cleaning kits with brass rods than it is those with aluminum rods. It is not difficult to find universal kits with brass rods - just the type you would normally consider a field kit - which is the type I prefer.

As far as some of the other choices go:

While I have used them before, I now never use uncoated steel rods because of the chance of damage to the bore with repeated use of such a hard metal. As far a coated steel or other coated metal rods go, let me just say I hate flaking and peeling and scraping. Every time I have used coated rods, the coating begins to flake, peel or scrape off within just a few uses. Not only do you then stand the chance of the metal possibly scratching the inside of the bore and damaging the rifling, you now also are quite likely to have a residue of the polymer/plastic coating remaining in the rifling, or to even have larger pieces of it remaining in the bore or in the action. I sure don't want any crud left over in my guns once I have cleaned them, what about you?

Nylon rods do not flake or peel, do no damage to the metal parts and seem almost perfect. The thing is that nylon is a lot softer than steel. So as you run a nylon rod in and out of the barrel there is a good chance you are leaving very small pieces of it (probably specks to small to notice) inside the barrel. My guess would be that these specks begin to form a buildup sooner or later inside the grooves of the rifling. Now before someone goes and says that this is BS because shooting a round through the gun would force out any small particles, let me tell you that I know of at least one pistol manufacturer who says you should never shoot Nyclad ammunition through there pistols because the buildup of residue left behind by Nyclad ammo (from the nylon coating over the bullet). If it does not blow all of that out, well - I am none too certain it would blow out any small particles left by a nylon cleaning rod. They probably would be blown out but I figure why take the chance of a nylon coating being formed in the rifling. The other thing I do not like about nylon rods is that they have no spine, so to speak. They are flimsy compared to metal rods and bend way too easily. I have only used them in pistols and did not like them at all but if it is all I have on hand I use them.

A final note on gun cleaning rods. I have mentioned above, several times, the fact that use universal cleaning rod kits. besides being in a small diameter to fit down to at least .22 caliber these kits always contain multi-piece cleaning rods that you can screw together to reach the needed length to clean your firearm's bore then unscrew for storage. Another type of cleaning rod is the one piece rod. These are more expensive that multi-piece kits but are excellent cleaning rods and are usually caliber ranger specific. They are best used when you are especially concerned about about avoiding damage caused by a cleaning rod due to the flanging of the joints or about the possibility of the rod or joints snapping when in use.

There is yet another choice of cleaning tool though this one can't really be called a cleaning rod. This choice would be the bore snake. A bore snake is basically a flexible rope like tool with a weight on one end and the cleaning brush on the other. The weighted end helps it go through the bore, you then grab that end and pull the rest of it through. This type of cleaning kit is pretty compact since the snake coils inside the carrying case and is therefore good for the field. The thing is, the place you are probably most likely to wind up with a barrel obstruction is when out in the field. The bore snake is no substitute for a good cleaning rod to help rid the barrel of an obstruction. For instance, - it won't do the job if the barrel just got filled with dirt because you fell while out deer hunting and the muzzle rammed down into the soil. I have used them and was unimpressed by their capabilities at all. I don't even consider using them when I clean my firearms.

Bore Snakes are akin to bore chains and I don't use the chains either. I have seen very few bore chains ever offered for sale. The only time I have actually gotten any were with old military surplus rifles and once with an order of ammo from an online surplus dealer (it was free with my order so I took it, looked at it, put it away, remembered it, then gave it away by way of a contest on my blog).

Before I get into all of the other accessories that I use regularly to clean my firearms let me talk about a specialized little piece of brass that may save you a lot of heartache and cash If you have a rifle or pistol that is a real pain to take apart, or if you are cleaning revolvers, and therefore are passing the cleaning rod into the bore from the muzzle end first, you may want to consider picking up a muzzle guard. This is a small conical shaped tool with a hole running through it from wide end to narrower end. It gets placed into the muzzle so it appears to be evenly placed and slightly snug. Then you run the cleaning rod through the hole in the muzzle guard and down passed the muzzle into the bore. This helps protect the muzzle and the crown, from uneven application of the cleaning rod, when you clean a firearm from the muzzle end.

The next cleaning accessory I will discuss is the slotted patch holder. It is basically a cleaning rod tip that screws into the rod. it has a slot in it designed to hold a cleaning patch. These come in nylon, plastics and metal. Again, I prefer brass. Nylon and other plastics just do not hold up to the repeated pushing and pulling of a patch through the bore. A good brass patch holder will outlast a nylon or plastic one by scores of years. Anything harder than brass could damage the bore. There are universal and caliber range specific patch holders available.

There are a number of other accessories that go along with whatever type of cleaning rod you choose to get the dirty work done. I suppose the next one to consider would be the jag. A jag is another form of patch holder. It does not have a slot but usually has a small pointed end and also has a ribbed body. It is designed to push a patch through the bore with even pressure on all sides of he patch as it slides along the bore. Note, I said designed to push. It is not slotted and therefor the patch usually fall off if you try to pull it back through the bore after it already exited the other end. This is a good tool to help assure a snugger patch to bore fit and therefore to help achieve a cleaner bore. Jags are caliber specific or caliber range specific.

Next come the bore brushes. These are available in metal and nylon (or other plastic). I never use nylon for all the reasons I mentioned above and because i find that nylon brushes are not stiff or strong enough to remove fouling as well as do metal brushes. I prefer metal brushes and use Phosphor Bronze Brushes almost exclusively. These are the copper colored prickly brushes you usually find in the gun cleaning accessory section of your gun store. They are as popular as they are because they get the job done well without damaging the bore of your firearms. They come in a variety of sizes to clean just about any sized bore out there as far a commercial and military small arms go. While you can usually get away with using a universal cleaning rod to clean your rifles, you should always use the exact size cleaning brush meant for your bore when cleaning the interior of the barrel. I sometimes use one or two sizes up but only for the chamber of the firearm, the chamber being wider than the bore. I never try to force to wide of a brush down the barrel, this could result in a difficult to clear obstruction. If this ever happens to you, and you cannot clear the obstruction with a wooden dowel from the other end, then bring it to a gum smith. Never try to shoot an obstruction out of a barrel - this could rupture the metal parts and seriously injure you or even kill you. If you use the correct sized brush, such an obstruction should not be a problem. One other thing about Bronze Phosphor Brushes - they are meant to clean the bore or the chamber and nothing else. If you use them to clean the inside of your action, or to scrape rust off the outside of the gun, you will in all likelihood bend the bristles unevenly on at least one side of the brush. You may as ell throw it out once you have done that because the brush is almost useless as a bore brush after it has been bent out of shape. Even with regular use, metal bore brushes bend, usually evenly is used only in the bore or chamber. When they start to look a bit on the skinny side - replace them to assure good cleaning results.

There are other types of brushes out there for cleaning a bore. One of these is the Tornado Brush. These are offered by Hoppe's. They consist of s steel brush (yep steel just like the barrel material) with a looped spiral design with no bristle ends. These brushes are designed to snugly glide down the length of the bore and to very effectively remove fouling while doing so. I found they are also excellent it and are also great at removing rust from a bore that is frosted with it. That could be the case after firing corrosive ammo and not cleaning it correctly immediately afterward (live and learn - who knew Hoppe's No. 9 would not work for corrosive ammo residue). They are available in a variety of popular calibers. I use these brushes now about once or twice per year on my regular guns for an extra good cleaning and a bit more often, maybe 4 times per year, on my military surplus rifles. I always use them in combination with Phosphor Bronze Brushes - a few passes with the tornado then I switch over to the Phosphor Bronze Brush for a few passes. At other times I use only the Phosphor Bronze Brushes. Replace Tornado Brushes when they either start to look skinny or star to slide through the barrel to easily to be making good all around contact.

One thing, as far as cleaning accessories go, that I hardly ever use are bore cleaning swabs. Now don't get me wrong; I often use Q-tips or similar swabs to clean parts of my guns. When I say I do not use bore cleaning swabs, I mean those designed to be attached to a cleaning rod that are a permanent accessory in the cleaning kit. just see no use for them. Basically they are a cotton swab with a metal rod bass that screws into the end of the cleaning rod. Not sure of what I mean, then click on this link. They come in a variety of sizes for use in different calibers. I see no need for them, though they may help get fouling out of the grooves in the rifling a bit better than cleaning patches.

Patches, did I just mention patches. These are an important part of any firearms cleaning kit. Again, there is a variety of them available. prefer 100 percent cotton cleaning patches, one cut to fit one or two calibers up from the caliber bore I am cleaning. I try some different ones and use the size that passes through the bore snugly but easily. A snug fit assure good contact and therefor good cleaning, easily assure or helps assure that the cloth will not get stuck and require Herculean efforts, that may result in a broken cleaning rod, to clear it. I not only use the patches in the bore but on all parts of the firearm for cleaning. I tend to buy quality patches, made for firearms cleaning. Doing so helps assure I avoid some of the traits of poorer quality patches such as: being too thin to get the job done, non-absorbency, shredding apart, pilling and leaving bits and pieces of cotton behind in the muzzle.

Some other accessories I use to clean my firearms are:

Utility brushes - again I prefer metal to nylon. I use both brass and steel brushes depending on the job I need them for but prefer to use brass first each time to see if it gets the job done. The reason I use brass first is because brass is less likely to harm the finish or the steel or alloy of the gun itself.

Cotton swabs - I use only good quality swabs and prefer those with a plastic body as opposed to those with wood or cardboard. I always make sure that no visible cotton has been left behind in the bore or the works of my firearms.

Cleaning picks - I use steel cleaning picks, if I could find brass I would buy a set of them instead. I use these only for special cases when I cannot otherwise get to an area of the action or frame to remove visible fouling. I never use a pick inside the bore - NEVER. I do use a pick, or a knife or small screwdriver blade to clean behind the extractor claw on most of my firearms.

There are also the cleaning solvents and lubricating and protecting oils. I am not going to go into these in this blog post. There are just too many types to cover and I will probably dedicate a future post just to them. I may even make it two posts, one on cleaning solvents and one on lubricants. I will say this, you almost cannot go wrong if you shoot modern non-corrosive ammo out of your guns and then clean the gun with a general purpose gun cleaner like Hoppe's No. 9 and/or a product containing a copper solvent like Hoppe's Bench Rest Copper Solvent. If you shoot copper jacketed bullets this is highly recommended; after I use the copper solvent I follow up with dry patches, then once the bore is clean I again clean the bore with a patch with regular gun cleaning solvent. I do this because I have heard rumored that copper solvents can sometimes corrode the bore. I am not sure it is true; but unless proven false, why take a chance! After I have cleaned my firearms, I give their metal parts a light coating of Break Free CLP. (Note: If the manufacturer's instructions say not to oil a part, or to oil it heavily, or something other than giving parts a light coat of oil - I follow those instructions). As for the Break Free CLP, it is the best lubricant and protectant for the money as far as I am concerned. It can even double as a cleaning product in the event you run out of your regular solvent; though I recommend using a solvent made for cleaning instead of using a lubricant that doubles as a cleaner.

I also keep a variety of small tools on hand to help facilitate cleaning chores. Not so much as cleaning tools but as disassembly and reassembly tools that I might need to take down and put together my firearms before and after cleaning them. Tools you might need could be: a screwdriver set (especially one made for guns), a punch set, a small hammer for the ppunches, a borelight and so on. Bear in mind though: One of the easiest ways to damage a firearm while cleaning it is to disassemble in with the wrong tools and or without the proper knowledge of how to properly take it apart. So read the manual for your gun and learn how to do it right when taking it down for cleaning. Don't try to force pieces apart or force them back together during reassembly. Use proper punches, screwdrivers or other tools as needed and remember those proper tools also include the use of the right cleaning kits.

In closing, let me repeat the words of Pete G, U.S. Customs Service Special Agent & Firearms Instructor, Retired, who always reminded his shooters - A Clean Gun Is A Happy Gun! Let me just add one thing with which I am pretty sure Pete would agree when it comes to cleaning rods: Real Men Prefer Brass!

All the best,
Glenn B

Been A Rough One...

...or two. Had a long day at work yesterday and a long one today - both working in assisting agents from another office on a case and raid. Out in the field all day yesterday then again for all of the day today. Cannot get into specifics but will say it was some ball busting heavy duty work - especially today after only about 4 hours sleep last night. I should sleep good tonight. Worked with some good people including a new agent in my office. She was a pleasure to work with since she worked hard, did things sensibly, kept things moving, and was not a prima dona. I would be happy to go through the door with her anyday even though this one was not all that potentially dangerous. Nice to see they sometimes still make agents like they used to.

Will probably blog more tomorrow and over the weekend.

All the best,
GB

I Took A Test Today - I Failed

You too can take the same test that I took today. One to see if you are cool:

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/general/2002/cool_test.htm

Don't expect too much no matter how highly you think of yourself.

All the best,
GB

Awesome Teamwork and I do mean AWESOME

If the video did not show up, and sometimes it does not, then you can also go to this link: http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/rpg_surgery/

It is good to know there are still those among us who think like these guys and who are out there protecting the rest of us back here. The amount of camaraderie they showed was absolutely awe inspiring. I will sleep a good night's sleep tonight knowing that their kind is watching over the rest of us. When I wake, I guess I'll have to get a new soldier assigned to me by Soldiers' Angels.

All the best,
Glenn B

Today In History - Well In My Personal History Anyhow

Today marks the last day of the 31st year I have spent in government service. Tomorrow starts a new year for my service, the 32nd year. I think I will pull the plug at or near the end of 32 years next September.

I am not going to go into a long or even brief history of my career that began in the Border Patrol, changed to the Customs Patrol, then to the Customs Office of Investigations and finally to Homeland Security Investigations with a good number of temporary assignments in there with my home agencies as well as to being temporarily assigned to other agencies like the Secret Service and the Federal Air Marshals Service. I could tell you some pretty wild stories about arrests I have made, seizure I have effected, fights for my life I have been in and luckily won, conquests I made of senoritas down south of the border (and those north of it too), crazy things I have seen, sacrifices I and others have made, injustices I have witnessed and tried to right, my family life and on and on. Someday, I think I really will have to write a book about it all. It has been one heck of a career so far.

When I started off, I sure looked a bit different than my portly self does today - that is for sure.

All the best,
GB

I Always Thought Spring Was The Time...

...when the birds and bees went about their business along with most of the rest of the smaller critters in the animal kingdom and figured that tortoises were included in that group. Today though, my tortoises proved me wrong. It was such lovely and warm day, for an early fall one, that I decided to put the tortoises out in the yard for some natural sunlight. They have been in an indoor enclosure ever since the outside one essentially fell apart due to rot caused by carpenter ant damage and age. So out they went today in a concrete mixing basin right out in the sunlight. I left em there like that for about an hour, then decided to turn em all loose in the backyard for awhile. They could use both the exercise and the variety of plants they would be able to browse upon. Once out, the female Russian Tortoise headed for the shade and stayed there for a couple of hours before coming back out to feast on grasses and other low growing plants in my yard. The Hermann's Tortoises, on the other hand, had something else in mind. Well at least the male had something else on his mind. As the much larger female Hemann's Tortoise made for the inside of our backyard shed, the male was close behind her and once they were in the shed, it became obvious why he had remained so close to her, he mounted her or tried to. I let them be alone and have no idea if his mission was successful. Later on they both made the rounds of the yard stopping here and there for a nibble of whatever caught their fancies.


Just a little while ago, I went to round up all three of the tortoises and found the Russian right away on our patio. The other two required a good deal of looking on my part and I was having trouble locating them when Pepe, our male Chihuahua , started yapping in his I found em bark. They were under a bush and were going at it again, or at least the male had been trying again until so rudely interrupted by Pepe. It seemed as if the rear portion of the female's shell was down to the ground so low there was no way he could, um - get to her. I left them a bit longer but Pepe kept barking at them and was soon joined by Mimi and Roxie (our two mutts) and Lucy our female Chihuahua. I don't think the tortoises thought the serenade the dogs were giving them was all that romantic so I scooped em up to put em inside. Now you might think that would stop them but no way! Once in their tank, the male just started in again. He certainly seems to be a persistent little fellow once the urge overcomes him.


Today was the first time I noticed the male Hermann's Tort showing any interest in the female. Of course, for all I know, they could be going at it all day long each and every day when I am at work and she could be gravid already. She also could have already laid eggs earlier this year. If she did that in the old outside pen then I'll have to hope for the best as to finding the baby tortoises once the eggs hatch. They are so small they will be able to escape from my yard pretty easily. I have been keeping an eye out for any but am pretty doubtful that she laid any eggs since I never saw evidence of nesting while I had them outside. If she gets gravid now, I suppose she will lay the eggs inside just as she would have outside. If that is the case, I will incubate them in in a homemade incubator. It would be a plus to have some baby Hermann's Torts born this year but my guess is I will have to wait until next spring for the adults to get it done right.


All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 92 - My Papers

Look here at what I found. These two certificates have been hiding among some of my papers so well that I had no clue I had them. I got them from my mom several years ago when she was going through some of her older junk collectibles. I am happy she kept them and then gave them to me instead of throwing them out as I know she did with similar mementos she had of my childhood. I found them a couple of weeks ago in my office of all places.

These are probably the first set of Marksmanship Awards I ever received. I got them both in the summer of 1966, which was the second year I spent out of 5 years at summer camp. I may have received similar certificates in 1965 but I think they did not let us shoot until we hit 10 years old. I have vague memories of wanting to shoot ever so badly the first year I was at camp and them telling me I had to wait until the next year. I was 9 going on 10 during the summer of 65 and 10 going on 11 in the summer of 66. Man am I old but, after 44 years of it, I still love shooting. I also have two certificates for archery, one from 1965 and one from 1966 - and while I own a bow - I have not shot it in years. I guess I was never meant to be a bowman as much as I was destined to become a shootist.

If you looked at them closely, you probably noticed that the distance at which I shot to attain these awards was only 15 feet and was on an indoor range. I think, and am pretty sure, that these were attained while shooting BB Guns (rifles) but it could have been 22 shorts and I may have shot the BB guns in 1965 instead. Whichever - after we achieved the Marksman award, we were allowed to move up to rifles in .22LR caliber. I had a jacket, somewhere recently, with a few patches on the arm. All the patches were from the NRA for shooting at 50 feet and the shooting for them was done with a .22 rifle in .22 Long Rifle caliber. I have had the jacket around the house, probably since my mom gave me these certificates, but as of late have been unable to find it. My bet is it got thrown in the trash by my wife while I was out in Phoenix this past spring for my job. She won't fess up - so I'll keep looking. Who knows - maybe it is still here.

For now though, I'll just have to think about getting these two certificates professionally mounted and framed. I think are worthy of being passed down to my son, then down to his son and so on, in order to pass on a firearms legacy that none of my descendants should ever forsake.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 91- ArmsLocker Forums: Reloaded and Ready To Fire

I was clicking away of some of the links, over at the right side of my blog page, that I have not visited recently enough, when I got to the one for the ArmsLocker. I clicked on it and got an unfamiliar looking page with the ArmsLocker logo at the top of the page but with no forums showing up (seems the address changed a it, I have now updated it in my link list). Anyone who has been to this site in the past knows that there were plenty of forums at the ArmsLocker site. If you visited the site in the last couple of years, you may have also realized that despite all the available forums, interest in that site was way down. I don't know why, it was a good forum with good people for the most part registered to use it and it had many interesting threads/posts. It was also run by a man that knows a thing or two about guns and about how to run a forum. Go figure, it was going bust anyhow.

With my interest in guns, my registration on said site, my having picked the name for said site (I am honored my creation was chosen), you probably can imagine that I was sorely disappointed to see what seemed to be the demise of the ArmsLocker. I was, then I became apathetic of a sort and I have not visited the site in weeks, maybe even a month or more. Then when I visited today and the site appeared to be down, it sank home that a good thing was gone and I had not done enough to prevent it from being lost though I did try a bit to help to keep it going. Then I clicked on the ArmsLocker logo at the top of the page. I don't know why I did it, perhaps maybe just curious, or hopeful, to see if the site was still alive. That click redirected me to what appeared to be the ArmsLocker forums but in a very new and somewhat abbreviated format.

It seems the site had fired its best shot and needed to be reloaded and that is exactly what was done. Where there used to be more forums, there are now a few less. The color scheme was also changed. Things certainly looked different so I supposed that Rich Z, the owner of the Armslocker, had made some format changes in the hopes of resurrecting the site. I was wrong. Upon looking at the 'Announcements' forum to see what was up with the new look, I immediately saw this thread: "ArmsLocker now has a new owner". It seems that Rich Z. laid his guns down, so to speak, regarding the ArmsLocker (though he is still a forum member). I cannot blame him. What I must do is congratulate him for bringing his guns to the fight in the first place and for the fact that he kept shooting his best shots all along despite the fact that the odds of success seemed against him. He is a good man who created a good gun forum site and who kept it up and running for years. I wish him the best in his other ventures. One of those is another forum he has up, one of a different nature, http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/ - a great site for the reptile & amphibian enthusiast.

As for the new owner of the ArmsLocker, his name is Lash. I know little else about him except that he went to the reloading station, set up the press and dies and has loaded a new charge into the ArmsLocker. He promises to keep the ArmsLocker going, to keep it free for users, says of himself that he likes guns and that he plans to improve the site and have the community grow by utilizing what Rich Z started. Sounds like a good deal to me and I for one intend to give it some help getting back off of the ground. With that in mind, I ask my readers to visit the site, and if you at all like what you see, I encourage you to register to become a member and then start posting in the forums. Just reading is one thing but keep in mind that forums are forums because we share our information and our stories there. Forums cannot succeed if all the visitor does is stop by to read them, you have got to contribute to keep it interesting and therefor to keep it going. Little posts, mediums sized posts, big posts - it does not matter - just post. So register there but take some shots too - start firing away with some of your firearms related anecdotes, your firearms information, pics of your guns, lists of your favorites, questions about firearms and other such shots. You don't have to be a great writer or a gun-know-it-all, just like at the range all you have to be is a shooter. So, keep a good thing going by keeping the ammo coming and remember it may have been reloaded but your finger on the trigger is what keeps it firing. Please, let's all take our best shots for the ArmsLocker, for the new owner Lash, for Rich Z who started it all and for our own enjoyment of our firearms related interests.

All the best,
Glenn B

Need A Knock Around Rifle...

...then check out the Mosin Nagant, round receiver, 91/30 rifles at Classic Arms starting at only $69.95 each! Sounds like a good deal on what is typically a good shooting and quite durable rifle. They also have others but these appear to have just come in so they probably have a good number of them. You can bet at that price, they probably will not last long.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Gun Shots 90 - The Marlin 25MN Is Almost Sighted In...

...and had I had more time and more ammo, I suppose I would have gotten it just right with just a couple of clicks, at most, of each of the adjustment screws. The thing was though, I got carried away having fun and took 40 shots at this target and ran out of time despite having enough ammo. The circle on the target is 1.5 inches in diameter and as you can see, all the shots except 2 were inside a group smaller than that. No, not all were inside the circle but all (except those 2) were in a group smaller than the size of the circle. I am pretty convinced that this rifle/scope combo is ready for squirrel hunting. Now all I need is the time to get away for a weekend upstate. Of course, next time I go to the range, I'll bring this rifle again and get it zeroed in a bit better to bring my shots up about 1/2" and to the left 1/4" - two clicks up and one to the left. Normally, since I was sighting in this rifle, I would have done that when at the range while there yesterday but I just started to have way too much fun with my last 40 rounds of ammo in a box and just kept plinking away.

Then, I went back to the Marlin 336 and the Mosin-Nagant 91/30, the other two rifles I had along with me. I got the Marlin 336 sighted in pretty good too but may have to give that one another day at the range to satisfy myself that I got it right. I sure did not shoot what basically amounted to a one hole group with it but the group was acceptable for deer hunting I suppose. The orange center ring of the target is 3 5/8" high by 2 3/8" wide. There are 18 shots in there, the last 18 rounds of .35 Remington ammo that I had with me yesterday.

I only sighted in both scoped rifles at 50 yards. That us mostly because I don't expect to get a shot at a deer or bear at much beyond that, all of my shots on deer over the years have been within 40 yards. Of course, a longer shot could present itself and I guess I should really sight the 336 in at 100 yards - maybe next time I go to the range. My shoulder was starting to take a pounding after having fired 65 shots of .35 Remington through the Marlin 336 and another 20 rounds of 7.62x54R through the Nagant and that was enough shooting with them for a Sunday afternoon. Thankfully I had the 25MN, in .22 WMR, along to give me a break between volleys with the larger caliber rifles.

As for the Nagant, I shot it using its original open sights. Those sights suck, especially with my aging eyes but I did okay with them. I had all of my shots within a spread of about 1.5 to 2" on the horizontal plane. My problem was with the vertical. For some reason, about 1/3 of my shots went high by about 2 to 3". There is a chance I may use this rifle when I hunt, especially if Brendan is along because he will likely use the Marlin 336. He did not come along yesterday, he was visiting a friend at an upstate college this weekend so he needs to come to the next range session to make sure the scoped 336 is sighted in okay for him. It should be, although he usually shoots a bit differently with it than do I. So, it may need some slight adjustment for him. I am satisfied to bring either the Nagant or my Remington 870 with me in the woods, so however he needs to adjust the scope on the 336 is fine with me.

All the best,
Glenn B

If A Zombie Attack Was Imminent

Shamelessly stolen from Breda for your zombie killing pleasure:

Lucky for me, I have two rifles with ammo immediately to my left and right in the line of that finger. I think the Marlin 336 would be a great zombie slayer and that is one of those rifles. There is also some other great stuff, in line with the finger, to help me survive a raving zombie horde such as a Camel-back backpack containing what amounts to a decent survival kit.

All the best,

Glenn B

Off To Te Range...

...to sight in the Marlin 336 and the Marlin 25MN now that their scopes have been remounted. I'll let you know, later, just how things turned out.

All the best,
GB

Ballseye's Gun Shots 89 - Marlin 336 CS Disassembly & Reassembly Videos

PLEASE SEE THE UPDATED VERSION HERE:

http://ballseyesboomers.blogspot.com/2011/04/ballseyes-gun-shots-129-marlin-336.html

Kansas Closer Than You Think To NYC

I may have set a new world record for land speed over a 23 mile course last night! Well okay, maybe it wasn't a new land speed record that I set last night on my way home from my office but you can bet that you will be impressed by the amount of time it took me to traverse the 23 miles between my office and my home. Usually, this drive takes about 1 hour and fifteen minutes to maybe an hour and a half. Last night, after the storms that ripped through Brooklyn and Queens, there was a bit more traffic than usual - what with trees down everywhere in the storms path - including on the highways. That little bit more of traffic increased my travel time just a wee bit. It took me three hours and fifty minutes to get from door to door. Yep, 23 miles in 3 hours and 50 minutes! Amazingly, I did not even have a beer or a shot when I arrived at home, I just sat down, watched about 5 minutes of TV and then passed out.

I suppose the extra two and a half hours I spent at break-neck speeds, which were on average about 6mph (though a lot of it was at only about 1.9mph), really tuckered me out. They are saying the cause of all the bad stuff last night may have been a tornado. Maybe now they will have to change those NYC souvenir T-shirts that show a smoking revolver and say "New York City - It Ain't Kansas" because after last night it seems like Kansas isn't so far away anymore.

All the best,
Glenn B

Koran Burning - I Agree With The NY Civil Libterties Union On This One

On Saturday, September 11, 2010, a man in New York City decided to protest the planned mosque/Muslim cultural center planned to be built near the site of Ground Zero. He bravely, if not untastefully or insensibly or foolishly or disrespectfully, tore pages from the Koran (one which I am assuming was his own personal property) and he then burned them as a form of protest. His name is Derek Fenton and he lives in New Jersey; he used to work in New Jersey too but apparently not anymore. You see, New Jersey Transit, his one time employer of 11 years, his employer on the day he burned pages of a book, reportedly fired him.(1) Amazingly the governor of NJ reportedly supported his firing.(2) Why? Because, reportedly according to them, he violated their ethics code for employees even though he did this on his own time.

According to the New York Daily News article, a statement from NJ Transit said this:

"Mr. Fenton's public actions violated New Jersey Transit's code of ethics," (3)

I was not aware that any form of exercise of free speech (or expression) would violate a code of ethics of a state run agency when the ethics seem to be based upon the religious beliefs of one religion. To me that seems as if the government is taking the side of a religion, heck it seems as if they are enforcing the religion. As a NYCU representative reportedly pointed out (4), flag burning is protected speech in this country. Would Mr. Fenton have been fired had he burned the American Flag in protest? Mind you I am not saying that a man like Mr. Fenton would ever even consider burning the American Flag. Would he had been fired had he stood up at a podium, in front of the proposed center, and said something to this effect:

"I do not believe in Allah, I believe Mohammad was a minor prophet at best, I do not believe the Koran to be a holy book, I believe Jesus is the Lord God, therefore I believe the Koran to be false prophecy and Allah to be a false god."

Would they have fired him for professing his religious beliefs because said statement of beliefs violated their ethics? I know, and so should you, the above statement would probably be almost equally as repugnant to Muslims as would burning the Koran but how would it violate an ethics code? Would they have fired him for drawing a satirical cartoon of Mohammad? That too would probably be equally as repugnant as burning the Koran to Muslims as can be witnessed by the riots that ensued a few years back when someone did just that but how would it violate an ethics code. I doubt they would have had the chutzpah to have fired him for either because it would have been a clear cut violation of Mr. Fenton's civil rights under the most important document in this land and folks that document is not the Koran, it is the U.S. Constitution! So why have they fired him for professing his beliefs, or for protesting, by way of a book burning?

Whether or not Mr. Fenton's actions were sensible, whether or not they were tasteful, whether or not they were disgusting, whether or not controversial, whether or not those actions were liked by Muslims or those of any other religion, whether or not they were disrespectful of someone else's religious beliefs (remember that every day, the Muslim faithful could be considered disrespectful to Christianity by their belief that Jesus Christ was a minor prophet and not God) Mr. Fenton has the right to do what he did so long as his actions did not otherwise constitute a crime (and even then it is possible they could later be deemed as free speech) or constitute fighting words. So my guess is that NJ Transit will later explain that they fired Mr. Fenton because he violated some NY City law about starting a fire or something like that and that was what they considered a violation of their ethics code; otherwise they will rehire him or Mr. Fenton will sue them for a civil rights violation and win. I cannot imagine they will admit they fired him because he burned a Koran as a form of protest and therefore offended Muslims; I cannot believe we have buckled under allowing our rights to have been totally destroyed and ourselves to have been conquered by a religion.

When the Virgin Mary of Christianity can be portrayed with feces smeared all over picture of her and the government allows it calling it art (and I believe paid for it or paid to display it), when a movie can depict Jesus Christ and his apostles as homosexuals, when someone can run our flag through the dirt and piss on it or burn it, when anyone can buy pornographic material at a local news stand, when a whole faith can profess that the God of another religion was merely a prophet, when politicians can lie repeatedly in connection with their official duties and get caught at it and yet remain in office, when atheists can successfully demand removal of religious symbols from public property and when all the above can be protected as free speech - then there is something very wrong with NJ Transit firing Mr. Fenton for having burned pages the Koran (that is of course if that is why they fired him, they are not giving specifics yet as far as I am aware).

If that is why they fired him, and then if NJ Transit does not relent, which I am betting they will do so after successfully placing pressure on Mr. Fenton to apologize for his actions, then you as fellow Americans of Mr. Fenton should protest his firing and support his anticipated legal claim(s) against NJ and NJ Transit. It does not matter if you are religious or not, nor what religion of which you may be a member, nor whether or not you think Mr. Fenton did a wise or honorable or disgusting or stupid or terrible thing. What matters are our rights and our Constitution, the basis of all our laws and legal actions and that they have quite possibly been violated in Mr. Fenton's case. So yes, I am saying if he asks for donations to fight NJ transit you should give to him. If he does not ask for anything, then you ought to at least be showing him support, or showing our rights under the Constitution support, by contacting NJ Transit and the NJ Governor's office to condemn the firing of Mr. Fenton.

I think everyone in this country ought to be very afraid that their rights are not only being trampled but are being destroyed by the government to honor a specific religion, that of Islam. After all, when was the last time you heard of a government agency firing someone for offending Jews or Christians or atheists? The 1st Amendment protects speech and included in that is offensive speech (or expression) no matter whom it offends. It is one of the rights we enjoy as American Citizens and legal resident aliens. As Americans, it is or should be more important to all of us than should the tenants of any single religion because it is in part the bedrock of our freedoms and our rights and of our nation. Without freedom of speech our country would never have been born, our Constitution never written and agreed upon, and our other freedoms never expressed nor enjoyed. You may not like Mr. Fenton or what he did but you had best not like, even more so, they who would attempt to suppress his rights because his rights are your rights and your rights are his.

All the best,
Glenn B

References:

1) http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/14/2010-09-14_koran_burner_derek_fenton_fired_from_his_job_at_nj_transit.html

2) http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_christie_njtransit_right_to_can_koranburn_creep.html

3) same as 1

4) same as 1