I like animals but I am not a psycho animal lover. I keep them as pets, have used them for utility, have studied and observed them, photographed them and have hunted them and eaten too. So it sure surprises the hell out me that there are actually tears in my eyes right now over the loss to the world of a single tortoise.
No, not one of my Hermann's or Redfoot Tortoises - but over the passing of Lonesome George the last of the Pinta Island Galapagos Tortoises. He was over 100 years old and probably was the best known tortoise, maybe even the best known reptile, heck - one of the best known animals - on the earth. (More on him and his life here.) All that, regardless, or because, of him probably being the rarest of creatures in the universe but such is the case when you are the last of your kind - you gain fame when others realize your rarity and he was world renowned. So, in a small part, he was famous because he was so old, but what made him even better known, since he was unexpectedly discovered in 1972 (his species was long thought to have been extinct by then) was that he was in fact - the last of the last.
There will never be another Pinta Island Tortoise. Despite numerous attempts at breeding George with females of two other closely related species they never reproduced due to the matings. They laid eggs, but all were infertile. Still though, even had they been successful and after years and years of selective in-breeding - none of the prodigy would be a true Pinta Island Tortoise. Thus was George's fame, that he was it, none would ever replace him and now he is gone. He has lost his life and the world has lost him.
That sucks but it was inevitable since long before George was discovered to be the last of his species. It was that way because men - whalers, merchant seaman, explorers, pirates - who did not know better at the time, wiped out most of the rest of his kind for food and probably sent a few to zoos around the world too where they eventually died off. If any survived naturally, into the 20th century, then sailors who dropped of goats on Pinta island wiped the remaining ones out, all but George. They brought the goats to have a supply of fresh meat and left them there to reproduce on their own. The goats did just that, they reproduced. They also did something else, they flourished and overpopulated. They ate virtually all of the vegetation that could sustain tortoises on Pinta Island and the only one that survived, that we know of, was Lonesome George. He was 'an only one'.
It is a shame but one has to have expected it since they realized there were no females on the island. We should have gotten over it as soon as we heard of it years ago; after all, his demise and the end of his species was inevitable, written on the wall. The thing is - life goes on as I understand with or without him. Thus my surprise over the optical sogginess I was feeling when I started this post but in my defense, the giant tortoises (I think at the Bronx Zoo) were among my favorite animals when I was a young lad.
Who knows, maybe they will be able to clone him and later figure out how to 'clone' a female from his DNA and then develop a breeding population. That would be neat. What would be a real bitch would be if they suddenly discovered a female or two of his species now that he is gone. That would seem typical of the gender, coming out when the guys are gone.
I am still a little bummed out, but must say that over the years, whenever I read about George, he brought a smile to my face. I always thought he looked a bit lonely but also comical too, like a cartoon character - the tortoise who won the race against Buggs Bunny (too bad George's situation was not more like 'that' tortoise). So, I'll close with a bit of comic relief in his memory, looking at Lonesome George and at his passing from the viewpoint of yet another very famous critter:
Boy, I feel better now, that put me in the mood for some bacon and tortoise eggs.
All the best,
Glenn B
They were going to call it The Freedom Tower until Red China griped and now they will call it something else (imagine us being so indebted to them we changed the name for them). I think most New Yorkers always will refer to it as The World Trade Center because it is on the site where the WTC once towered above all other buildings in New York City. I call it that anyhow, so do my friends.
The pics shown are from about 2 weeks ago when I visited the area, with two good friends, to have lunch at Ho Yips on Liberty. These show the progress they have finally made on it. That it has taken over 10 years to get this far truly is shameful no matter any or all of the reasons for the delays but at least it is finally getting there. It is a pretty impressive sight. Not as impressive as were the Twin Towers of the WTC but close and I am sure that, once it has been completed, it will look even more impressive than it does now.
"Unexpected" is an understatement when it comes to finding a waterfall in New York City, right in there among the big buildings. The one pictured here was on the east side, somewhere close to Madison and 53rd, wish I had noted the location. It was a pretty neat sight to find in the Concrete Jungle even though some idiot planted a row of trees right down the middle instead of just planting the rows on either side to frame the fall. Still, a nice place to sit to rest, or a place to gather your thoughts, or a great spot at which to enjoy your lunch.
All the best,
Glenn B
...to pick up some paint and a brush. I hate going to that place but after my experience there last week, with the grill (wherein they were nice enough to deliver one to me on Fathers' Day to replace a defective one I had just bought) you can bet I will stick with them for awhile. I have a couple of painting jobs that need to be done in the house - both in the basement. One job is only about 4 feet square, the floor in the in-house. (It's not a bathroom, only has a toilet, is a small room, tiny, narrow and tall just like an outhouse but is inside, so I call it the in-house; after all, it is an in-house facility!) The thing that stinks (no pun intended) about that job is that I have to clean the floor first. It will require a good thorough cleaning, then a drying period, to make sure the new primer and then paint will adhere properly. Then a single coat of primer and probably three coats of paint. In all, the actual work, probably will take less than two hours.
Then, probably sometime this coming week or the following one, I will go back to Home Depot to pick up some paint for the basement walls in the front part of our cellar. That too will require a coat of primer, then a couple coats of paint. It is going to be a lot more work. Before I forget, I guess I'll have to paint the ceiling too. Perhaps, it will be better to do that first so that no paint from the ceiling splatters my newly painted walls. I'll have to ask them if a job like what I am doing requires primer or not. I am basically putting fresh paint, of the same color as the old, onto the walls. Maybe just a good cleaning off would do the trick. Then again, I don't often have good luck with things when I change how I have always done them, a coat of primer first is probably the best way to go.
Oh well, did I mention, I loathe going to Homer's!
All the best,
Glenn B
Blog pages of mine that seem to consistently get the most visits are now my home blog page and those that deal with certain guns. The write up that I did on the Marlin 336, with embedded disassembly and assembly videos is one that gets a lot of views.
For some reason though, over the past 2.5 to 3 weeks or so, I have noticed one of my pages, dealing with a very different subject (or at least I hope people think it very different from ones dealing with guns and ammo), has been getting a lot of attention primarily from Europe but some from Asia too. I figure it is getting at least 3 to 4 unique visits, and even more page views, per day and from at least 10 different countries by now. That may not seem like a lot to you but it certainly was noticeable to me because the page, while looked at in the past, has not been anywhere nearly as popular, as it has been of late, since I wrote it back in August 2010 almost 2 years ago.
About the only reasonable explanation I can give, for its increased popularity now, is that I suspect that the subject I wrote about has become an even more popular one abroad than it had been in the past. The subject was Bombina orientalis, commonly called the Fire Bellied Toad. Remember, I said above that I hope people are looking for something very different in it than even something remotely to do with guns and ammo. The reason I said that is because of the frog's scientific name. I am hopeful that the folks who have visited the site have not been looking for information on bombs or bombing plots and also hope they do not think that the word Bombina has something to do with that subject, a subject that could easily be associated with guns and ammo. As I also said though, the reasonable explanation would be that this frog is increasing in its popularity as a pet in Europe and parts of Asia and I'll leave it at that for now, at least until an exploding frog lands on my lily pad.
Well, there is one last thing. I would certainly appreciate it if one of the people in Europe who reads this post could confirm whether or not Bombina orientalis has risen in popularity as a pet in Europe this year. Thanks.
All the best,
Glenn B
This week, after a considerable amount of thought, I have decided that, after this post, I will no longer post (in this blog) or comment (on other blogs) about what I have done to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. (I will continue blogging about guns and ammo and tactics and emergency preparedness and such but not about anything specific as to what I have done to prepare myself and my family.)
With all due respect to this great and very informative site, and to the site's owner, that asks the weekly question "What did you do to prep this week?", and considering I only commented now and then about what I had done to prepare in the past, I see no good reason to continue doing so and every good reason to cease from doing so. My stopping to do so though, from after today on, is exactly what I have done to prep this week. Now that I have gotten that out, let me also say, this though is the last week I will discuss the matter, of specifically what I have done to prepare for hard times, openly on the Internet.
The reason I have arrived at this conclusion to my no longer commenting on or blogging about what I have done to prep is that I believe it foolish to advertise just what preparations I have made and in essence to put out a sign saying: "Glenn B--------- has stocks of this, that and other survival things. If you want them - come and get them once the SHTF". I believe that leaving comments about my disaster preparedness could well be my and my family's undoing should bad come to worse; it seems an open invitation to marauders.
Maybe this seems a bit overly cautious on my part but I would bet there are people out there who already have zeroed in on the locations of those who have prepared for TEOTWAWKI events. Furthermore, I would be willing to venture my reputation that some of those same folks are willing to go to those locations with the intent of taking what I or you have for ourselves in the event of an emergency. It is just like a burglar scoping out a potential target before attempting his burglary. It is not all that difficult, in my understanding, for anyone to go online and track down an Internet user by using their IP address. In addition, it is not difficult to find almost anyone if you know their name. So, if you know my name Glenn B---------- and you input it into an Internet search, you probably would come up with my home address, or at least the village in which I live. If you actually found my residence address, you could input that into something like Google Maps and or Zillow and see what my house looks like and maybe even see some of my vehicles. With an aerial view, on a mapping program, you could certainly see the area around my home and figure the best way to assault it if you so desired.
In addition to finding out about my home address and the like, an Internet search could also reveal several other things about me that I might not want to have known during a TEOTWAWKI situation, well at least not known by potential looters, robbers, thieves and the like. For example, you could easily discover several forums or other website to which I belong and which I use regularly. You then could easily find forums posts in which I have discussed survival issues including my preparations, my stocks of food, supplies, firearms and ammunition, my stay-put or bug-out plans, my abilities, photos of my family and so forth.
My biggest blunder in that regard has been that I rarely posted any of this information anonymously and almost always used my full name when I did post in forums and when I did so on social media sites. Even if you do not have my IP address, you could easily identify me by way of me leaving a comment on someone else's site about preparations I have made. How? Just click on my user name on that site and what comes up but my blog. My whole name is never used on my blog as far as I can remember but there are links to forums and other sites I frequent. Since I use my real name in forums, you could click on ones to which I am linked and search me out there using my first name and last initial. It might be a painstaking way to do it but sooner or later you could identify me and then locate me and you could do it long before you actually planned to come and get my goods and certainly without me knowing that you had located me and mine
What has happened, is that I , like so many others, have become too comfortable with the Internet and with living in our world (here in the USA) that has essentially been pretty much free of the things that I should be worried about that could and quite possibly would happen under a true TEOTWAWKI situation. I plan to correct as much of that as I can do. One way to start the corrective process is to stop being so open about what preparations I have been making. I will no longer advertise how many firearms I own, how much ammunition I have, what long term foodstuffs I have purchased, how much water I have at hand, medical supplies I have and so forth - or even if indeed I even have any of it. I see no reason to keep posting a large virtual glowing sign for all to see saying - "Hey, if you don't have it then Glenn B sure has more than enough for himself and his family and you can find it here".
Now others may think they are well hidden by anonymity but my bet is that a savvy Internet user could easily track you down though the methods I mentioned and through others unknown or little understood by me. I don't know about you but I truly believe that a major worldwide catastrophe possibly is coming to us soon, probably in the form of WWIII and I would like to be somewhat prepared for it if and when it arrives on our shores. I most definitely do not need to help someone who is not as well prepared to try to redistribute, against my will, what I have worked hard to have on hand.
In closing I will say this: If you know where I am and want what I have and are willing to try to take it away from me by force or other illegal means - beware - I will be quite ready and willing to legally protect myself and my family and what was meant to help me and my family survive from thieves, bandits, freebooters, looters, outlaws, thugs, plunderers, ravagers, marauders, robbers, and the like.
All the best,
Glenn B
...but something tells me that once he is incarcerated for having molested young boys, he will be on the receiving end and will be getting it from an older class of men. So, he may not want it so much anymore but I would bet he is going to get it nonetheless.
All the best,
GB
...to try to garner campaign contributions from the wacky leftists who love him so? I thought it was pretty ridiculous when both the Romney and Obama campaigns set up a sort of lottery whereby if you made a donation to their campaigns, you could win a dinner engagement with the one to whom you donated. To think - both of them have a campaign gimmick like that. It makes me sick, if for no other reason than it shows how miserably Obama-like is Romney. Perhaps, he is not quite as bad as Obama though - I don't think Romney's campaign has stooped quite as low as has the Obama campaign in its attempts to generate donations.
You see, the Obama campaign has done something that no other presidential election campaign apparently has even thought of before. It is asking supporters to forgo things like birthday, wedding and anniversary gifts and, that if you have a special day like that coming up, you ask those who would give you the gifts to make a campaign contribution to Obama instead. What a bunch of unmitigated arrogance. I guess it shows the true colors of the man - redistribution of wealth being his number one goal - so long as he is not giving up his wealth but is receiving that of everyone else.
If Romney falls to that deep murky depth and mimics Obama's seeming absolute lack of ethics and class, I will be voting for a write in candidate like Ron Paul.
All the best,
Glenn B
After about 3.5 months of submitting over 90 applications, résumés and cover letters, I have found myself a job. It sure isn't what I had in mind, as far as pay or hours go nor as the position itself goes, but it is a job even if only part time. I am starting at $14 an hour with yearly raises. It is a civil service job with no benefits other than salary, that because it is part time. The job itself is a security guard slot at a public library. The hours are, as I said, part time - probably only 8 to 12 hours a week to start. I can probably earn just enough for two weeks worth of groceries a month at that rate. More hours may be forthcoming.
As I said, not what I ever had envisioned myself doing with my investigative skills. Yet, other places, such as a large, well known department store, the owner of which never told Mr. Gimble anything nor did Mr. Gimble tell Mr. ---- any of his secrets (you need to be fairly old to understand that), have turned me down time and time again for similar positions because they say they cannot match my skill set or I am flat out unqualified. Imagine being unqualified for employment as a front door guard at a department store! That was pretty depressing to hear especially since they paid better and had more available hours but getting this job is a blessing since I have been out of work since November.
As it now stands, I am taking what I can get and will be happy with it to supplement my partial pension payments. I will probably keep looking for another job and if luck has it that I find another part time job, well then, I may wind up with two of them.
As for this job offer, it should be at least somewhat interesting working in a library across the street from a high school. Of course, the hours I work will be right around when the school kids are there. I imagine the job will be not so much to protect them as to protect the library from them but maybe a bit of both.
Who knows? I may like the job; I used to love hanging out at the library as a kid. It got me out of the misery of my childhood family life and into the fantasy of living a life of adventure by way of reading about others' lives and such. I guess that kind of led me to my career and the work I did over the past 32 years, that sure was an adventure at times - more than my fair shares worth.
Anyway, libraries are pretty neat and I am hopeful I will have book borrowing privileges (it is in another county than where I live, so maybe and maybe not). Too bad all my years of seeking out, collecting, preserving and cataloging evidence, intelligence gathering, intelligence analysis, report writing, and the like does not qualify me for a even an assistant librarian position. It would be okay by me if it did so - working as a librarian, even an assistant librarian, would be kind of fun, if for nothing else, then for a change of pace.
All the best,
Glenn B
...just have not been blogging. I have not been wanting to write about politics, have not done anything gun-wise (well, a little but that is for a blog post later tonight or tomorrow) and have been just plain out lazy this week. I promise to get something out by tomorrow night. I have a bone to pick with Glock reference the sight repairs on my Glock 26 and a good thing or two to say about Browning so far relative to my having sent in the Citori Lightning for repair but as I said, later for that stuff.
All the best,
GB
This is one powerful video about a man who is obviously not presidential material even though he is our president. I shudder to think how he would react should another country sink some of our fleet, then foreign troops begin landing on our beaches instead of oil.
Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.
It is a powerful reminder of just how inept is President Obama. I think, he should have stayed in community organizing.
Thanks to Pete Q. for the link to the video.
All the best,
Glenn B
You should strive to always carry your pistol in a holster or other device designed to carry the type of pistol you are carrying. Carrying one in a pocket or in the waistband of your pants is not a smart idea. Shame on me for sometimes carrying one in my pocket, but it is unlikely I would ever shoot myself like the guy in the linked article shot himself if only because rarely is there a round in the chamber when I do it that way. That is the second person I know of who shot himself where this guy got it. Ouch.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120615/NEWS03/120615029/Man-shoots-himself-in-the-penis-in-Birmingham?odyssey=tab%7ctopnews%7ctext%7cFRONTPAGE
A hat tip to Larry H. for the link.
All the best,
Glenn B
I bought a new BBQ grill on Friday. I got it to replace a 5 year old Charm-Glow grill that was pretty good but that had a burner explode on me. That was maybe due to a spider finding it comfy and building a web inside the burner. I heard that is the number one reason they go pop. Not a big explosion, I did not even hear it as I was probably inside the house when it happened but enough to break the burner apart and flare out the exploded ends where it came apart.
As for the new grill, I tried to get it earlier last week but all they had were display models and I wanted to get one assembled right out of the box because all the display models were outside getting soaked in the rain and building up rust. Home Depot would oblige but I had to wait because the assembler was not going to be until Friday. So, I was patient. The new one was ready on Friday and I picked it up, rented a Home Depot truck to cart it home and had my son and a couple of his friends help me offload it. I even got $35 plus tax off of the price because it had a few minor dents in it. Not bad.
Then yesterday, I found out one of the burner/igniter control knobs, for the sear burner, did not work properly. Damn, what luck, that little black cloud, with my name on it, found me again but I suppose you get what you pay for and this while not the least expensive certainly is not a Weber. In fact, it is a Brinkman Elite, 6 burner grill (they call it a 4 burner grill but it has 4 regular burners, a sear burner and a side burner and no matter how I add it up that comes out to 6 burners). I decided to exchange it and called Homers to see what had to be done. They told me I had to return it before they could do an exchange. I explained that would cause me to have to make 3 round trips back and forth to Home Depot. I would have to drive there in my own car and park in in their lot, then drive home with an empty truck to pick up the grill, drive back to Homer's with the old grill, pick up the new grill and drive it home from HD (not Harley Davidson), then return the empty truck to Home Depot, where I would pick up my car to drive home. I asked if it would be okay for me to drive there and leave my car, pay for the new grill and have it loaded onto a truck (at no charge to me for the rental fee), drive the new one home, offload it with my son, load the old one onto the truck and drive it back to HD (thus only one round trip with the truck), where I would drop off the old grill and get a refund for it, then pick up my car and drive home. The guy told me that required management approval and he was talking about me buying a new one and getting a refund for the old one - not the truck use at no charge to me. Three and a half hours and about 3 of my phone calls later, they told me they would bring the new one to me and exchange it for the old one. GREAT thought I. As I should have expected, what with that black cloud of mine, they never came yesterday, it was a few more hours before they called me to tell me they would have to do it today.
This morning at 0900, I called HD and was told they would leave HD with the new grill at 1000. I called them again at about 1115 but before the call went through on my cell phone, the house phone rang. It was the delivery guys, they were outside my house. They brought in the new one, looked at the old one, affirmed the problem, then set up the new one, hooked up the gas and made sure all the burners worked as they should. They were really very nice about it, professional and very courteous and apologetic about the one that did not work. As they left, I gave them a $20 tip that I hope was more than enough for a good lunch for them. I just figure it came out of the $38 and change I had saved when I got that off the price of the first one because of the dents. While they arrived here later than expected, but before noon as promised, they sure saved the day because we are going to have a BBQ this afternoon and out future in-laws are coming over for a joint Fathers' Day celebration. I have to hand it to Home Depot for going the extra mile on this one and actually doing the exchange for me at my home. That was really very nice of them. I always sort of thought of them as a we do not give a shit company, much the way I see Walmart and other such stores but I was certainly wrong about this particular Home Depot. They went out of their way to satisfy the customer and did it in the nick of time too. After the delivery guys left, and after I made sure the grill was working, I called up customer service at the store where I bought the grill. I thanked the customer service gal (who helped me today) profusely. I also asked her to convey my thanks to the customer service gal who helped me yesterday, the manager (who okay'd the exchange at my house, maybe even thought of it first), the assembler (who made sure one was ready for me and who apparently pushed for the exchange at my house) and I told her what a great job the delivery guys did today and how professional and courteous they acted. They really did a nice thing. I have to say, I think the customer service gal was rather surprised I called to thank her, she sure seemed surprised and quite happy about it too. When you (or I)get service like that it is your (or my) responsibility to let them know about it just as you would complain if it was bad service (anyway - I would complain).
Now, I just hope it is a good cooker. After the delivery guys left, I turned it on to check it to make sure all the burners work (a second but why take chances). I left it on for about 10 to 15 minutes to waste gas to break it in. Seems to work just fine. As far as cooking goes, I bet I will get stuck doing all the grilling today even though it is Fathers' Day. Oh well, it is a man thing or so my wife would say - maybe (I sure would say so). I must admit though she does her share of the BBQ'ing and would do it today if I asked her to do it. I may as well do something around here now and then and grilling is not a bad something to do so long as I have a cold one in hand Funny, I just stocked up the mini-fridge in the man cave with a 12 pack of Spaten Oktoberfest and still have a couple of Franziskaner Hefe Weisse Biers in there.
Happy Fathers' Day
All the best,
Glenn B
I recently posted about my new Obama T-shirt. The complaints usually are post-specific and are usually left in the comments section of my blog posts. I usually answer those complaints right in the comments section but today I will answer the most recent complaint I received right here in this blog post.
Here is the complaint from the comments to the Obama T-shirt post:
"Anonymous17 June, 2012 08:52
Hey Anonymous, what is amazing is you would make that comment, saying it is funny, that I do not post a larger or better picture of myself on my blog yet you commented anonymously and gave a truly lame excuse as to why in justification of your own action to disguise you identity. While you tried to justify your own action, you did not ask me if there was justification for the crappy photo of me in the t-shirt or for the small profile pic.
I will explain, not that you deserve an answer, being that you are not respectful enough to post your name with your comment but because I feel like it and because it will satisfy the curiosity of others who made read your comment. As for you, you could have easily signed your comment with your name by typing it in at the bottom of your comment. You could have very easily registered so that your name would show without you remaining anonymous, well if mom or dad let you register with your name. Yet, you apparently chose to register in a fashion that would keep you labelled as anonymous and hide your identity. There are other ways to register so your identity will show - that is if you are honest about the identity with which you register. So, you easily could have registered in a way that your name would come up each time you comment and as I already pointed out, you could just have signed your real name or at least first name on the comment you left. Please, don't make up ludicrous excuses as to why your name does not appear and expect me to believe them and please do not give me a line of seeming bullshit about why you say it is posted anonymously when you could have easily made it otherwise.
As for the shitty pic of me in the Obama shirt, it is due to my camera being on its last legs. I have complained about it (the camera not working properly) in posts sometime during the past several months. Right now, I have to prioritize my spending because I am on a limited income due to my recent retirement and due to the fact that I am receiving less than 65% of my retirement payments until my pension is finalized (that has been no secret on my blog either). Thus I have made do with a camera on which the flash usually does not work, on which the button to take the pic only works about 40% of the time and which often does not focus correctly. I take what I can get with it. Lately it has not worked at all, that T-shirt shot may be the last pic the camera will have taken. Anyway, the pic shows the shirt clearly enough (at least enough for you to say it makes a bold statement) which was the item of interest in the relative blog post.
As far as me making a bold statement, by wearing that shirt, is that bold - posting a pic of it on my blog? I think not. I do not even think it bold, to actually wear the shirt during the course of a normal day. When I wear the shirt out, when I go to the range, or to do some shopping, or when I go elsewhere, it is even more visible to more people than in the lousy photo on my blog and I am right there in person wearing it. I have gotten some great comments on it. In fact, all the comments I have gotten have been positive, very much so. When I wear it out, everyone I encounter or pass by can see it plainly and can see me plainly too. So what is your point again about the bold statement and my picture being barely visible to the average viewer? (I guess your eyesight is pretty good though for you to have commented on the boldness of the statement.) I can tell you what is not bold: Leaving an anonymous comment to complain about someone's blog is not bold, it is disrespectful too.
As for the small pic in my profile, so what. That is how it came out. It is a profile pic for a blog not a portfolio pic for my new career as a male model. Anyway - on my profile it is a good 2x3 inches (on my screen) - larger than many on other profiles. Many, if not most profile pics, do not enlarge when you click on them. Mine does. If you would like to see larger pics of me, even videos of me, search through the blog, there are quite a few. Here look at this one, it is one of my favorite self taken photos. Or you can look at this one, not the most flattering but another clear photo of me.
By the way, if you still think my profile pic is too small, and if you use MS Windows 7, why not enlarge the screen view by clicking on the magnify icon on the status bar. You can enlarge the view up to at least 150%. If you have other than Windows, I would bet you could do that with any OS.
Many people, who blog, would not even accept and post an anonymous comment like yours on their blogs. I not only accepted and posted it, I have done one better, I have blogged about it. Ooh what a bold statement I have made, it makes me tingle all over (sarcasm).
FUCK OBAMA (straightforward statement, the word fuck used in the non-sexual context).
All the best,
Glenn B
I was schooled by nuns of the Dominican Order in grammar school. They were some tough old coots (and some young but they all seemed old to me at the time). I went to summer camp because of those nuns (and other things), where I learned, from Marist brothers, how to shoot rifles (BB and 22 rimfire). Lately I have been thinking about those nuns, for some reason, and wondering what nuns would look like today if they advocated things like summer camp where kids could learn how to use guns. I found a picture, online, that pretty much sums up how I think a modern nun, who advocated gun rights, might look like.
Scary, isn't it. Cool too. Not very realistic though and not because she is holding an AK but because there are just so few nuns left today who wear the habit.
All the best,
Glenn B
See the article: Documents detail serious accusations against Secret Service agents since 2004 at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/15/us-reveals-accusations-against-secret-service/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews#ixzz1xygEpDau
Since 2004, eh! Back when GWB was in office! He must be at fault or so I would bet some lib-tard is thinking.
All the best,
GB
Bought a Brinkman Elite 5 burner grill (4 regular burners, one sear burner and a side burner - sounds like 6 burners to me but they said 5) yesterday, at Home Depot. Of course, I got it assembled by them since I can be sort of all thumbs with a temper.
Brought it home in one of their rental trucks. Now it has to go back for an exchange or refund because the sear burner knob does not turn correctly nor does it operate the igniter as it should. You get what you pay for I suppose and $324.00 was not that much. Wish I could but I cannot afford the $1,400.00 for a similar sized Weber. I am waiting for them to call me back about making an exchange, I know they have others of the same model in stock.
I want to pick up the new one, bring it home and offload it, load the old one onto truck, bring it back, then go home and have a BBQ. It seems the guy in the BBQ Department has to check with his boss to see if it is okay for me to buy the new one, then bring back the old one for a refund. They wanted me to bring in the old first to make an exchange, which would have meant going there first in my car to rent a truck, driving home with empty truck to pick up old one, bring the old one back on the truck for exchange, bring new one home on truck, bring back truck, then drive back home in my car. I don't understand how my step, time and gas saving way could be a hassle, it seems like a no brainer to me, but they must check with management first. What a pain in the neck, it is about to ruin my seventh Saturday of the week.
All the best,
Glenn B
This kid is only 13 years old but he is fast.
All the best,
GB
Back in April of this year, I bought Browning Citori Lightning, Grade 1, SxS, 12 gauge shotgun at an auction. I examined it thoroughly before the auction. Not only was everything in excellent functional condition (as in everything worked) the gun was as new, in the box, never fired. well, somehow, somewhere, between the auction house and my hone something happened that I cannot understand. When I got hone, the barrels would not go onto the rest of the gun. No way, no how, many tries - it is just not going together. I tried, my son tried and guys at a local gun shop tried.
I called Browning. The first moron customer service person, at Browning, to whom I spoke, told me to bring it to a gunsmith and he told me with apparent nasty attitude. Maybe he was having a bad day. I called again and explained what the first customer service guy had told me. I was told that would be looked into to. This time, I also was told I could bring it to a Browning Authorized Service center in my state but when the lady in customer service looked up the closest one, she found there were none at all in NY. She then told me I could send it directly to Browning. That was back in early May or so. I am finally getting round to sending it in to them. I have the form filled out to alert them to the problem and give them my info, it is in the box with the gun, and the box is taped and ready to be shipped. I plan to bring it to UPS in a little bit, once my son gets here (we are going to pick up a new BBQ grill too, so I need him along).
I am very hopeful this will be a minor problem, something that falls under a warranty repair or that is inexpensive, as in under a c-note. Even if a bit more than inexpensive, say a couple hundred to a few hundred dollars, it will not be too bad considering the price I paid for this gun. I still would have to pay even more in a gun store. More on that after I get it back from Browning and I can figure the full cost of it to me.
I know I have been complaining about how difficult it is to live off of the partial payments from my pension right now but rest assured the money to buy this came from my savings with the intent of me getting something of lasting value - an investment. If I did not somehow screw it up badly enough, then it will have been well worth the price to purchase it.
All the best,
Glenn B
It all depends on for whom you vote. I don't think there is anything that ever could sway me to vote for this guy, whom I believe to be the most anti-American of all communists presidents ever.
All the best,
Glenn B
Glock got back to me saying this:
"I apologize for the delay. We are currently back ordered on your sights. I expect to have some in next week."
What I do not quite understand is how Glock could have had my slide since April 20th and still have the parts on back order since then. After all, they are standard Glock sights they are supposed to be putting on the slide, not some after market night sights or anything special order. Glock not having standard sights, manufactured by them, in stock for over an eight week period (today marks 8 weeks) seems to me as if that would be pretty indicative of some type of problem with the company.
They say they will have the sights in stock, perhaps, by next week. Then they have to still put them on the slide. My guess would be another few days to a week before they get to that. Then ship it back to me, another few days. My guess is I am looking at at least another ten days to two weeks before I have my Glock 26 slide back on the frame. The long wait certainly is not something that makes me happy.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wow, talk about assholes and guns not going well together gunpowder and alcohol not mixing, this story says it all. See the story here.
My view on all of this: First of all illegal aliens should not be in our country. The three guys in this alleged drunken binge, that apparently played a great part in the death of the 17 year old, were all reportedly wetbacks; illegal aliens in Texas (where the shooting took place). One supposedly was the father, the other two, including the guy who reportedly wound up allegedly shooting the bullet that killed himself, were the father's sons. Someone pulled out a gun, a .380 pistol. The 17 year old allegedly got hold of it and reportedly tried to give it to his girlfriend to shoot it. She had enough sense to refuse. So the 17 year old allegedly takes out the magazine, turned toward a butane tank (of all things) and pulls the trigger (this is corrected below but this was the story told in the Fox News piece). I am guessing, the gun goes bang, the bullet probably went something like bing-ziiiinnnnnggggg. It must have come right back at the shooter striking him in his head - killing him - or so the story goes so far. Local police investigate and call it an accident due to alcohol and are reportedly investigating to see if the father is guilty of anything leading to the death of his own son.
Now I would think that the father and his sons, being here illegally, would have been illegally in possession of any handgun they had. Hmm, there is a crime, or so I would think. It would be a felony at that, at least in my opinion. That because an illegal alien not only had the gun but discharged it. That is, I believe, felony possession of a handgun and whatever would be the charge for shooting it when illegally possessed. The father was present, thus, I think, making it felony murder since the son died while in, what seems to me to have been, a felony. Add to that, that the police reportedly said all three had been drinking heavily (did I forget to mention there was alcohol involved) and they were allegedly all very drunk! So, the father seemingly was sharing alcohol with an under aged drinker, his 17 year old son, or was at least there while the kid was drinking and did not stop him or so it seems to me. That might be a crime in some places, just maybe not in Texas, not when the suspect is an illegal immigrunt alien. Did I mention alcohol was involved - it was allegedly consumed in large amounts by the father and his two sons. Did I also mention how the police, or at least one officer, reacted as reported on in the story:
"It was just an accident under the influence of alcohol," Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino said Tuesday.
(Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/13/drunken-teen-killed-by-own-ricocheted-gunshot-in-southern-texas/?intcmp=trending#ixzz1xfVPAdMc)
Did I also mention, or forget to mention, that the police are now reportedly investigating to see if the dad is in any way criminally responsible! Holy shit, it's Texas, not the friggin' Moon or Uranus although the police, on this one, sure seem to be acting like if they came from Uranus. (Note I said from yours, they certainly are not from mine.)
No mention of any arrests, not for the three being in the USA illegally, not for the supplier of the booze endangering the welfare of a minor, not for the father allowing the kid to get drunk thus endangering the welfare of a minor, not for illegal possession of a handgun, not for allowing the kid to handle a pistol illegally, not for felony murder (yes he apparently was killed during the commission of what seems to have been felony, during which the others were present seemingly making them accomplices) not even for disturbing the peace - not for anything. Maybe the cops should be investigated! Although, I guess to be fair, I'll have to admit this was something reported on by the media and they rarely give the whole story out to us, let alone get their stories right, at least in my opinion. I also have to say, I think that if it is just as reported, then that was some truly bizarre bit of police work.
UPDATE/ADDITIONAL AND DIFFERENT INFO:
What did I say about the media screwing up stories. I just checked the source from where the author of the above linked article got his info. That would be from The Monitor - here. It is a very different version of the story, reporting very differently in these ways among others:
The father gave an evidently false story to the police at first.
The father then reportedly admitted they were all drinking heavily and his son did almost all of the above with the gun, but only pointed it at the butane tank and "...thought twice about shooting it"; then he allegedly turned the gun towards his own head and pulled the trigger - killing himself. I guess he did not think twice about using his own head as a target. Did I mention a lot of alcohol was allegedly involved.
The police have not made any arrests and are not planning on arresting anyone at anytime soon (I told you maybe they were from Uranus, certainly not from mine) but are looking into criminal responsibility of the father and researching any applicable laws. No arrests, not for anything I mentioned above, nor for impeding an investigation by way of the alleged false story first given to the police.
Man oh man, I think they are quite possibly about the most inept police force I have heard about if all that is true. They did not even turn them over to Homeland Security Investigations or to ICE for being here illegally from the sound of it. Yep, I think they must be from Uranus, not from mine!
All the best,
Glenn B
...without adult supervision - maybe there is a reason for it. I tend to think that at least one young man learned his lesson. Watch the video and see if you agree with me on that.
In a way, I have to hand it to these kids. They were quite enterprising, that was a neat looking project. I have to slam them too since it seems (it sure looks real to me) they were pretty careless and rather ignorant, and totally irresponsible, in how they went about manufacturing their version of a black powder rifle and in how they demonstrated it. Not wearing eye protection or hearing protection could have cost the shooter dearly. For all we know, maybe it did at that. I would hate to have had my eyes subjected to that back-flash. If he was lucky, he blinked in the nick of time but it sure happened quickly.
Those kids sure looked old enough to have known better. Then again, I sort of, kind of, somewhat vaguely recall having been young and dumb myself - once upon a few decades ago. So, I can understand why they did it. If his eyes did not get burned, nor his face too badly, then they probably had fun or will have fun recalling their mischief at a later date (if they are ever allowed to hang out together again). Truth is, they probably could have had, and should have had, fun in a much safer manner. In fact, they still could have had it with a gun if they had some responsible adult supervision. My closing thought: I would bet, if the shooter had parents who taught him how to be responsible with guns and still have safe fun with them, that whole misadventure probably never would have happened nor even crossed their minds as a passing whim.
All the best,
Glenn B
It seems a hiker who was mauled by a brown bear, apparently protecting her cubs, climbed a tree to escape the wrath of the sow. At some point he depended on ski poles to defend himself from the raging sow that seemingly continued to try to get at him while he was up in the tree. Imagine that, going for a hike in Alaska and depending on ski poles for defense against a bear. Me, I would have preferably used a .44 magnum that I would have had strapped to my side (if the right to keep and bear arms was truly honored in this country) or had I not been able to carry a pistol I would have carried a 12 gauge loaded with slugs or a rifle in a good sized caliber. Heck - why not carry both a long gun and a handgun if at liberty to do so.
In this case, somehow, ski poles may have been just enough, if not to keep him from being badly mauled, then to keep him alive. Well, the poles along with him being able to climb a tree and hang on for dear life until help arrived. Luckily he was able to place a 911 call (imagine that - his phone worked) and State Troopers saved the day but that day must have seemed to have taken forever for the hiker. I am truly surprised the bear did not use the ski poles for after dinner toothpicks for her and her cub.
Imagine the terror, being stuck up in a tree, swaying in the wind, bleeding badly from wounds that had been inflicted by a brown bear, trying not to pass out from blood loss while hanging on for dear life and that mad as hell mama bear is still trying to get you to feed to her cub. Now imagine it taking about 2 hours for the police to arrive while all that was going on. Yep, I think I would have chosen a .44 magnum over ski poles any day.
See the story here:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/12/12185917-alaska-man-mauled-by-bear-climbs-tree-to-escape?lite/
All the best,
Glenn B
...and if only is wasn't so cold, I might move there. Why? Because there is something about it that warms my heart. Last time, though, that I was there was during the Winter Olympics that were held in Salt Lake City, UT in late 2001 or early 2002. I was working a voluntary assignment as a Federal Air Marshal and my partner and I spent 3 or 4 weeks in Pocatello, ID. The night we got there it was -25 degrees Fahrenheit (give or take two degrees). That was without the wind chill factor and it was cold.
Now though, it seems to be thawing out a bit out that way. The thing about Idaho that has warmed my heart recently is that it is striving to become one of the, if not the most, gun friendly of states. It has been making an effort to lure gun and ammo manufacturers to within its borders and since there are currently about 58 companies there that manufacture firearms and ammunition, I would say they are doing a bang up job of it.
See: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/11/firearm-friendly-town-in-idaho-lure-gun-makers/?test=latestnews (make sure to watch the video that accompanies the article, sorry there was not an embed code to put it here on my blog).
All the best,
Glenn B
Then when one clicks on your profile all they get is a small face pic. Lol cmon now if you going to post a pic at least post one that has good lighting.
And the reason why I'm anonymous is because I don't have an account created for any of the profile options."