First Drive

I was hoping drive the new Corolla to the Hessney Auction House Geneva, NY very early this morning. I dragged my aching bones out of bed at about 0230 to try to get up that way by 0800 but it just wasn't happening. I was too tired and too achy to try a 5 hour drive, in my brand new set of wheels, with only about 2.5 hours of restless sleep. So, back to bed I went. I crawled out of the sack again at about 0800, turned on my laptop and made several bids online (turned out none were the high bids). 

Then I grabbed my oldest Remington 870 and some things I needed to hunt squirrels and turkey and hit the road. I took a leisurely drive toward the Cascade Valley State Forest in the town of Windsor, NY near where my uncle once owned his farm. I stopped in Roscoe, NY to get some #4 shotshells, deer lure and chocolate fudge. I noticed their shelves were almost bare of ammo and they had very few guns for sale where they used to have a fair sized assortment. When I left and walked up the block, I think I saw the reason - a gun store across the street and thus competition. That may not be the reason but I suspect it as such.

Only got to the state forest just after 4PM leaving me about two hours and 20 minutes to hunt. I wasn't in the woods all of 5 to maybe 10 minutes at most whenI bagged a nice fat busy tail rat. That should taste delicious but I hope to add a few more to the bag tomorrow because a nice few in a stew in the pot would taste better.

I am staying the night in Binghamton, will go back to same state forest to hunt tomorrow and after that to my brother-in-law Hans' place for the night. I will likely hunt there on Monday for deer with my crossbow. Then back home on Tuesday or Wednesday if I do not wear out my welcome.

So far the new car has run like a charm although while it has some new doodads, I must say they cut back on some things they should never have eliminated that had been in the 2005 model. Oh well, such is progress or so the progresives think.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Toyota Corolla Is Dead - Long Live The New Toyota Corolla

Finally got my new car to replace the one that was totaled last month. Basically the same car but seems cheaper overall although it was much more expensive in price than the other one that I bought new 11 years ago.

If I can fall asleep within the next half hour or so and then sleep until about 0200, I may take a ride up to Geneva, NY for the Hessney Auction; I am addicted, so to speak, to their firearms' auctions. That would be a nice break in, about 300 miles each way. If I am up for it, I may drive east to my brother-in-law Hans' place after that, if he will have me of course.

All the best,
Glenn B

Excellent Way To Mount A Scope...

 

 

...NOT!

 

Just imagine bringing your rifle and scope to a friend, Bubba, so he could mount the scope for you. I cannot say with certainty that I would kick Bubba's arse but the thought surely would cross my mind. Thanks goodness I have no scopes that need mounting and if I did then luckily I have no friends named Bubba because then I might wind up going to jail for assault or worse.

 

All the best,

GB

To All My Readers Of The Jewish Faith

When you return from temple tonight, I wish you gut yom tov or chag Yom Kipur sameach - both in essence meaning happy holiday and specifically the second meaning a happy Yom Kipur. Might I add: I hope you had an easy fast.

All the best,
Glenn B

NY City Democrat Board of Elections Commissioner On Voter ID

Get a load of this video before it is removed from YouTube. It is allegedly a video of the NYC (or Manhattan - a borough in NYC) Board of Elections Commissioner essentially blasting the policy to allow voters to register and vote without showing valid ID. He also blasts NYC Mayor Bill de Arsehat Blasio's policy of issuing NYC ID cards to just about anyone with little or no verification of their identities. Furthermore he readily admits the practice exists of bussing voters from one polling place to another to cast multiple ballots on election day. This guy is a democrat but I have to hand it to him, he is quite candid about the deplorable system we have in place to register voters and then to allow them to vote.



I must point out that I work in a place where aliens are processed for U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. Many of them write down United States when asked for their country of citizenship, yet since they are aliens none are U.S. citizens but are either residents or some other classification of alien who is living in the US. I inform them they are aliens and not citizens yet quite a few recently have asked me how they register to vote.

We truly have lost almost all sovereignty as a nation. The U.S. in essence has no borders, is made up of diverse cultures that refuse to unify but would rather do the liberal thing of celebrating diversity instead of unity, and that refuse to come together under one language - American English. We are doomed as a nation to become a third world country controlled by diverse factions akin to the various clans under the tyrannies of the warlords of Afghanistan. The lunacy of the left, in ultra-leftists states like NY, is killing our country and the electoral process.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

God Damned Capital One Bank

Back in April, Capital One Bank notified my wife that they suspected someone had opened, or attempted to open, a credit card account in her name. Luckily for us, no charges had been made. This week, we received a letter from Trans Union saying there was suspicious activity on her credit report. I checked both of our credit reports and saw another inquiry made by Capital One just last month on each of our reports. I called Capital One's Customer Service department. I explained the situation and the representative put me through to their credit card department saying they had to handle this.

I got a rep in the credit card department and was told there is a credit card in my name, never got around to checking on my wife. The Cap One rep said he had to call their fraud department, explain the situation to them, and then put me on the line with them. I was on hold several minutes and was then disconnected, just my luck.

I called Capital Ones' Fraud Department. The rep there found all the info about the current mess already typed into the system by the rep I spoke to earlier. Then the rep told me she was in the general fraud department but I had to speak to someone in credit card fraud department. She put me through to yet another rep in credit card fraud. That rep said the fraudulent account was closed and had been closed in April 2016. Apparently his grasp of the current situation was nonexistent. When I explained, he said there had been an account in my name in April but that was closed. he said he would check on the current situation since the rep in the credit card department had told me (during my first call) that there was a new fraudulent card in my name. The rep on this call did not see that new fraudulent card and again said he would check but it would take 20 minutes and he would call me back. 

I also explained that I had tried to input my ID into their phone system but it would not take it because it said my telephone PIN was incorrect. I know my PIN, I use it frequently. Evidently the fraudster changed that too. I made sure to tell the capital one re I needed to change that ASAP so as not to lose any money in my accounts He said he understood and would get back to me in 20 minutes. Now I wait.

Anyway, I cannot believe the ineptness of Capital One in as much as they issued yet another fraudulent card in my name (and I am guessing also one in my wife's name) after the fraudulent activity back in April, less than a full 6 months ago. In addition, I cannot believe that the guy in credit card fraud could not see that a new fraudulent card was issued in my name, apparently since last month, yet the rep in the credit card department easily brought up all that info and typed notes into their system about it and the other rep to whom I spoke between those two, in the general fraud department, saw those notes immediately. I think it may be time to start looking for a new bank wherein to keep my money!

Update: So, the rep from Capita One's credit card fraud department called me back. He said there has not been a card issued in my name since a fraudulent one in April. He has no reasonable explanation as to why my the earlier rep told me there was a new card issued in my name. he also had no reasonable explanation as to why my PIN did not work except to say I must have forgotten my number. That is extremely unlikely as it is the same number I have used recently and frequently probably for too long. I decided to change the PIN which required yet another call. At least the call to change the PIN went relatively smoothly. I also made yet another cal and ordered a new ATM card and suppose I should change my PIN on that to.

Still though, as I said above, I may have to shop around for another bank in which to keep my money, what little of it I have needs to be safe and when you get conflicting info from a bank as did I, well then, something stinks in that bank.

All the best,
Glenn B

Unemployment Versus Being Out Of Work

Read about it here, this is excellent:

https://oldnfo.org/2016/10/12/unemployment/

Hat tip to old NFO.

By the way, if you are too young to know who were Abbott and Costello check them out at IMBD and then watch one or three of their movies. Three of my favorites starring that duo are:

Who Done It

The Time Of Their Lives

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (This was the best Frankenstein comedy before Young Frankenstein.)

All the best,
Glenn B

So Much For My Most Recent Ammo Order...

...being that the ammo dealer cancelled it. They say that decision was not political and had to do with their "shipping contracts". I don't quite get what refusing to ship ammo to NY has to do with shipping via UPS but then I do not have a contract with UPS, maybe some companies do have contracts. The person who replied to my inquiry as to why my order was cancelled promised to bring it up at their next board meeting and who knows, maybe they will start to ship ammo to NY. With all the liberals living here, I almost cannot blame them if they don't want to arm the opposition.

I guess it all just means I have to continue my search from some decently priced 8mm Mauser ammo elsewhere for now.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ammo Inventory Shocker

There I was updating my ammo inventory, last night evening, to add 700 rounds of 22 Short to it. Once I got that done, I took a look over what I had listed for each caliber. I was pretty satisfied with most although, as I went along I saw I could use a bit more of this and a bit more of that but heck, I have to buy a new car and will be broke this week or next. Yet, my reservations about buying any additional ammo went right down the drain when I saw the paltry amount of 8mm Mauser ammunition I have in my stock. I have only 240 rounds of it and that was a shock.

I thought about that and remembered I had intended to get more last year but as it seems, I never followed up on it. So much for procrastination because the price has gone up considerably. Last year, or was it the year before, it was pretty abundant and stuff like Sellier & Bellot 8mm JS, 196 grain semi-jacketed soft point, was going for around $13 to $15 per box. Now it is from $18.50 to over $20 per box of twenty rounds. I ordered 100 rounds. I really cannot afford more than that, or even just that, right now because I do need to buy a new car this week  or next if possible. So, what I will have to do to build up my 8mm Mauser stock is to buy 100 rounds per month until I at least have about a case's worth of it. That should last me a decent while considering I only have one bolt action rifle chambered for it.

Placed my order with a company in Texas, Red River Reloading & Outdoors, that I have not used before. Hopefully they are on the up and up and will get it out to me soon.

All the best,
Glenn B

Nice Mailbox

Every now and again, while driving usually in the countryside, I come across an unusual mailbox. I must admit, I never came across one like this in my travels, this one I found on the Internet:

All the best,
Glenn B

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

To Watch an excellent video on Islam and the West, and how western liberals are screwing things over by allowing no criticism of Islam, click on the below link.

Is Islam a Religion of Peace?: Is Islam a religion of peace? Is it compatible with Western liberalism? Or does Islam need a reformation, just as Christianity had the Protestant Reformation? Somali-born author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali explains.

Hat tip to Peter Q.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye On Voting This November

You may have noticed that I have not been posting a lot about the upcoming election. I think you all know for whom I will cast my vote for the presidency; so, I figure why bother. If you are not sure for whom I will vote, look below. I am not planning on be victimized by any delusions especially any my own mind might think up.

 

 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

A Kind Of Different View Of Gun Control...

...but it still sucks.

All the best,
Glenn B

Gun For Sale - Used Only Once By Original Owner

All the best,
Glenn B

I Might Be Concerned...

...if he was my next door neighbor; then again, we might get along just fine.

All the best,
GB

A Not So Routine Workout

Pretty good comeback!

All the best,
GB

It's Never A Simple Or Routine Call For Law Enforcement

The murder of two police officers in Palm Springs, California this weekend is, I think, as sad a tragedy possible while at the same time being as strong a warning as possible to other officers and one that may help them survive a similar incident. I cannot say how the two officers who were killed or the other who was wounded approached the situation but there is a chance that they too saw it as did their own chief of police who reportedly said:

"It was a simple family disturbance and he elected to open fire on a few of the guardians of the city,"

Why the chief of police would say that is beyond me. Police officers and others in law enforcement are trained from day one that nothing is routine and in essence nothing simple. They also are taught that things can go bad in an instant, really bad. Lawmen need to remember that an live by that each and every moment of their working days (in fact it is not bad to keep in mind for each and every one of us during each moment of our lives). I have to wonder why the chief said that in light of the fact that, by the time he said it, it apparently was known that the suspect was ready to take out police officers. In addition, the police probably already knew by that point, after the fact, that the suspect had been wearing body armor when the police arrived at his house, he had been armed at least with a handgun and had several spare and loaded magazines on his person. It seems likely that by the time the chief said it, it was also known that the suspect's father had gone to a neighbor's home pleading for help because, according to published reports, the neighbor had called authorities after the suspect's father told her:

 “Help. I need help. My son is in the house, and he’s crazy. He has a gun. He’s ready to shoot all the police," (Source for above quotes and reported facts.)

That was not a simple domestic disturbance. In fact, no domestic dispute is simple or routine, those types of calls are among the mot dangerous to which law enforcement officers respond.

The only reason I am writing this now, so soon after the tragedy, is in the hope that others in law enforcement will possibly heed my words and remember - there is no such thing as a simple or routine call. You need to be alert, to continually observe and assess and to be ready beforehand to take cover and take action in less than it takes to blink an eye; heck you should be behind cover if at all possible during any such encounter. My brothers and sisters, behind the shield, be ever vigilant and be safe as you risk your lives to uphold the law and protect the citizenry.

My heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of Officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny. My wishes for a swift and complete recovery for the other, as of yet unnamed, officer who was also shot but is expected to survive.

All the best,
Glenn B



 

As I Sit Here Enjoying A Tequila Laced Lemonade...

Makes sense, doesn't it!

All the best,
Glenn B

Trump Hillary

Nuff said!

All the best,
GB

Crime Reduction

Yeah!

All the best,
GB

Out Of The Ashes - A Snippet Of My House's Past

I know very little about the history of my house. I know it is old, we think about 80 to 100 years old. I know that it was said that the original owner is the same man who built it. He did decent job on the brick work and foundation but was a shoemaker as the old saying goes. Windows are odd sizes, the roof has a very angled peak, there was a pseudo-fireplace, built out of brick, in the basement with no outlet and other oddities. Then again, we have a dry basement where others are often damp and musty, he did an excellent job on drainage. Yet, he might have done better sticking to his profession or trade than building houses but honestly he did better than, much better, should I attempt the same.

I know that he lived in my house, when it was his house, until his death. I know he was married and had a son. I know it is said the son was off kilter and so too was the owner and his wife. I know that up until the time of her death, his wife lived in the house, I think alone except for several cats, numbering above 10 and no more than 20 and they lived on for at least a few to several days after she died with no one caring or them except themselves (it took some doing to get rid of their, shall I say, aroma). She was supposedly very looney near the end.

We heard the son was booted out for being on the wild side and having trouble with authorities and his parents. I forget their name but think it was a German name; I can go outside to see the son's initial carved or scratched into our bricks. Some were there when we got the house and a neighbor said the son had done it, said he saw him doing it; there are swastikas too. Apparently he, or someone emulating him, comes by now and again and does that anew.

Tonight, I discovered that they had not cleaned out the fire place overflow  (trap) in the basement. The access to the bottom of the trap is in the room we use as a pantry in the basement, the same room I have been giving a thorough cleaning over the past two days due to a recent mouse infestation. Evidently there was a trapdoor in the bottom of the fireplace (I do remember that) which you could open and then sweep ashes into it. Then you could go to the basement, open a small door, for the trap, in the wall and clean out the ashes down there. I guess that was so you would avoid getting a mess in the living room. Truly pretty neat. It had to have been cleaned over the years but probably had not been thoroughly cleaned in a long lone time, I found that out tonight when I tried to open the door and I will show you why I think so in a moment. The door did not budge, it is iron and its latch is rusted shut. I was able to reach through a hole in the wall above it, a hole cut there to run gas and electric lines up to our gas burner in the fireplace. When I reached in, I realized how full it was and started to awkwardly scoop out pieces of charcoal, partially burned wood, ash, old iron nails, a few pieces of brick and mortar and a small snippet from an old newspaper. I did not get all the ash and debris but retrieved that piece of paper from about a depth of 8 to 10 inches in the trap. There probably is another couple to few inches left that was under that.


Click it to big it.


Anyway, what I found is what is pictured. It's an old, yellowed, torn and partially burned fragment from an old newspaper. Specifically, it is an advertisement, or what is left of it, for a product called NuJol. It is touted as "For Constipation". Rather appropriate considering how plugged up was the fireplace trap. It has a copyright date on it of 1936. Wow. I wonder if the old lady had old newspapers laying around and used one shortly before passing. Or maybe the newspaper page, on which that little piece of paper had been on the bottom corner, was used to start the fire in the fireplace back in 1936. It is rather amusing, for whatever reason, to think it was used back then and survived all those years under the ashes. Anyway, there is no doubt it has been down there for over the 20 plus years that we have lived here.

I checked out NuJol in a Google search and discovered it is still in use. I don't know if it is the same product today but the intended use is the same. The generic form of the product is mineral oil. My mother used it and cod liver oil when I was a kid. That cod liver oil tasted terrible, as did mineral oil, and was probably overloading my liver with vitamin A.

I did some further checking and found out what likely was the word under the copyright in the ad, Stanco or an abbreviation for Standard Oil Company who made the product. Here is a link to an ad for NuJol by Standard Oil. The add to which I linked is 20 years older than the copyright date on the snippet but I imagine it the same stuff.

I once found a couple of old black & white baseball cards behind the house's original  molding when I was replacing it. One was paint laden from the original paint that had run down behind the molding when I was panted many years ago and the other had been used as a bit of a wedge and had a nail driven through it. Had they been pristine, each would have only been worth maybe $5.00 or $10.00 when I found them. I forget the players names and lost the cards but it was kind of neat to find and research them a bit. If I recall correctly they were from the 1920s or 30s. So, I may have to dig out all the rest of the ash and debris in the fireplace trap to see if I come up with anything else of any interest.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

What A Way To Spend A Friday Night & A Saturday

I've been cleaning out a pantry in our basement since last night. We had a small rodent problem not that long ago, dispatched a few house mice in snap traps. At the time I had thought they did not get into any food stuffs and I had it cleaned up pretty well. That was until my wife opened a 40 lb. bag of rice that was full of mouse turds. I sprayed everything with Lysol, stripped down the shelving unit, took it apart, sprayed and swept the floor, cleaned the shelves outside, assembled them again, and am still in the process of cleaning everything else. That is just for one shelving unit. There is still another. I had better get back to it. Hopefully I got all the mice but will reset the traps just to be sure. Too bad I no longer keep snakes, they would love the little vermin!

All the best,
GB

If It Comes Down To Four More Years Of This Or That...

...I think I will take this over that. If you don't know which I mean as this and which I mean as that then you need your head examined. Let me come right out and say it if you are that dimwitted - it ain't that as in in Hillary and her spawn.

Hat tip to Herr Milla for that one.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Have A Bad Habit When Shooting...

It is not often I catch a 35-40 pound or so
fish that goes from the deck to my hip and
I may never get another chance at a halibut.

...pictures. I take photos of those with me and allow them to take pictures of me but I forget to hand them my camera to take at least some of those photos of me. I did that when I went to Alaska with my son, I allowed him to take pictures of me but he did it with his cellphone camera not mine. So, the other day, when I asked him to send me one of those pics because I could not find it in my files, I was very disappointed that he already had deleted the pic I wanted. Luckily for me, I found the one I wanted.

Luckily he already sent this one before
deleting it. Halibut put up one heck of
 a fight for a flatfish.

The thing is though, Brendan already may have deleted almost every other photo we had of me in Alaska. Next time we are doing something worth taking pictures of, I need to remember to hand my camera to who I am accompanied by, so as to have some pics of me on my own camera and thus not have to depend on others to save them or on my little gray cells to remember I make sure the other person sends them to me.

All the best,

Glenn B

My Son Is Taking Me Out For Dinner This Evening And...

Click it to big it to really start salivating over this pic

of that greasy but ever so delicious tidbit of culinary art.

...I surely would not mind having one of those but that would mean flying up to Alaska and then driving to Wasilla. It was one excellent burger and the fries were tasty morsels as well. That lunch was one much like from the greasy spoon type luncheonettes and Irish Pubs I remember from my younger years. You can indubitably rest assured that whatever I enjoy for this evening's repast will have its tastiness accompanied by an imbibition of a dram of whiskey and a pint or three of an excellent ale or cider (since he is buying).


All the best,
Glenn B