Going Hunting...

...which translates to a good belly laugh for the deer around my hunting grounds. Yet, it will be nice to be out in the woods even if I will be freezing my tuches (Either of the two rounded prominences on the human torso that are posterior to the hips and formed by the gluteal muscles and underlying structures {source}) off. Wish me luck, the deer have been winning for years now and my butt has been getting cold for nothing. 

All the best,
Glenn B

Speaking Of Jam-O-Matics

I have owned a few (or maybe a couple more than a few) guns, other than the RG 26 I own now and the one I owned previously, that I considered true pieces of dung. I thought so if only because of how frequently they jammed. One of them may have been the gun for which the name Jam-O-Matic was first thought up; then again - that name may be a lot older than I suspect but it certainly fit one of them.

The second truly clunker of a handgun that I ever owned, after the first RG 26, was a Charter Arms Undercover 38 SPL. I bought one in the early 1980s. While I am not certain, I am fairly sure it was the second handgun I ever purchased. Live and learn and better to learn early on when it comes to gun buying I suppose. I learned from the Charter Arms Undercover 38 SPL and I sold it pretty fast. The reason I offloaded it was that when combat unloading/loading the cylinder would ride up over the small half circle of a protrusion on the side of the frame that was meant to prevent it from doing just that. I am not sure what you call that little nub so little nub will have to do! It's on the left side of frame near bottom just behind the cylinder. Damned steel of the frame and that nub were so soft for it to have worn away as the cylinder would ride up over it and get stuck there whenever unloading with any force as in a combat reload. I told the guy who bought it about that - he did not care - he wanted it to practice his engraving. He was an excellent engraver of firearms and I guess needed crap guns on which to practice his trade. All in all though, if not for that, the Charter Arms Undercover 38 would have been an okay gun as far as I was concerned. If you look closely at the nub in this video, you can see where the metal of that nub is worn to the white because it has probably failed in the same way.



Yet another Charter Arms that I owned was a dismal failure - in fact so much so that I think the name Jam-O-Matic was coined because of the piss poor performance of it. That gun was the Charter Arms Explorer II. That gun was a must have for me when I was a young agent in the Border Patrol. Not only did it look retro & cool in a sort of Art Deco way, it also looked like a throwback to the early industrial period (what did they call that not all that long ago - I think Steampunk). It was just the pistol to have at least for me and some of my buddies. I have a vague recollection that mine came with two barrels - one about 6" the other 10". Regardless of how cool it looked or how many barrels it came with, it was a piece of junk and Jam-O-Matic was the right name to wrap around it. I must have tried ten or 15 brands and various types of ammo in it, it operated dismally at best with any of them. Failures to feed and failures to eject were common. I got rid of that one pretty fast too. That's a good thing too because here, in NYistan under the Tyrant-King Cuomo, it is considered an assault weapon and lord knows how many mass shootings I might have decided to perpetrate if I still owned it.

Seems that its reputation, as a Jam-O-Matic, still stands too:



Don't get me wrong, I have no bones to pick with Charter Arms; just telling it like it was with those two particular guns. For all I know they made some great guns too. In fact, I bought a gun that used to be made by them but was made by henry repeating Arms when I got mine - The Henry Survival Rifle (used to be the Charter Arms AR7 or something like that). Nice little gun, lots off fun, does not jam a lot and is accurate enough for its purpose. Heard they were also good when made by Charter Arms.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

Every Firearms Owner Should Have At Least One...

...and this one is mine. I mean how can you justify being called a: firearms enthusiast, gun collector, firearms aficionado, right wing RKBA whacko, pistol packing mama, crazed gunman or an NRA evildoer if you do not own at least one Jam-O-Matic aka a Saturday Night Special. Mine, at the current moment is the RG 26 tat is pictured here but there have been others over the years I have been into guns (which seems like forever):
 

 
All the best,
Glenn B

80 Years Ago - Something Else To Never Forget

Today is the 100th anniversary of the end of WWII but 80 years ago this past Friday & Saturday - November 9 & 10, 1938 - something else that should not go forgotten also took place. It was not an end but a commencement - that of the Holocaust or at least the beginning of it in full view of the world. The night of November 9th & 10 marked the anniversary of Kristallnacht when large scale physical attacks on the Jews of Germany, Austria & the Sudetenland, their houses of worship, their businesses and their homes began at the hands of the Nazis. More at the source. 

All the best,
Glenn B

A Very Special Veterans' Day

Lest you forget your history, allow me to remind you that today is a very special Veterans' Day. It was at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918 (one hundred years ago today) that the war once called The War To End All Wars but more commonly known as World War I came to an end. There were nearly 40 million military casualties (deaths and non-fatal injuries) in that war, including about 9 million military deaths. There were also approximately 13 million civilian deaths - more civilians died than did military personnel (more at the source). Spare them all at least a few moments of solemn thought and or prayer today. 

My thanks to all of our veterans for their service, without them we would know what it truly would be like to be oppressed under boots of tyranny, that is if we were lucky enough to be alive.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Voted - Did You?

I voted and I voted Republican/Conservative across the board because there is no way I want to see leftists bring this nation to its knees. Hell, I am not a complete political conservative nor even a Republican but I knew which was the better way, by far, to vote and it certainly was not to the left. Too bad more of us did not think like me and get their asrses to their polling places and vote the right way. Hope you were not one of the slackers.

All the best,
Glenn B

Some Folks Have Asked Me...

...why I would ever sell a gun. They approach asking me with an air of incredulity not as to whatever will be my answer but as to how I could sell one in the first place. To them guns seem almost sacred as something that one should never part with. I guess I have never seen them quite like that to me they are tools or grown-up toys (some are both) and while I like some more than others I see not reason not to sell or trade them if and when the need arises. Over the past couple to few years I have brought quite a few new ones into my flock collection and that has at times been an expense I could not have borne without selling off some of the others I had owned prior to them. Others have just not suited my fancy. Take for example one of my earliest handguns. That was a Charter Arms 38 revolver. Nothing special about, I bought it for concealed carry, used it for awhile and realized there were a few things I did not like about it. The thing I did not like about it at all was that it was, in my opinion, a piece of junk. So I sold it. That was 37.5 years & 1 day ago (give or take a few hours) as I write this - damn I am old and so is this receipt (yet it's much younger than me).



As to all the obliterated content - that stuff is confidential.

The same people who ask me why I sell them often also ask: Don't you suffer from sellers' remorse after selling a gun. Sometimes yes and sometimes no is the honest answer. I just bought an RG-26, probably one of the crappiest pistols I have ever owned. I knew it would likely turn out to be a clunker before I bought it. So why buy it? Well, the first handgun I ever owned was an RG semi-auto in 25 ACP. It served its purpose and then was disassembled disposed of where it would likely never be found and wherein the conditions would soon make it inoperable even if they were found. No, the gun was never used for nefarious purpose, I just did not want it any longer and was relocating back to NYC from out west and did not want to even attempt to go through the pistol permit process in NYC even way back then; that was in the mid 1970s. I told you I am old.

My current Jam-O-Matic, the RG 26.

Anyway, I got the latest one, an RG 26 (made by RG Industries in Florida) because I suffered from a bit of nostalgia while at an auction.When saw it, I said to myself that is for me. I felt a strong urge to bid on it even though I was not 100% certain it was the exact same model as the one I had owned before (it was close enough and after all it had been my first pistol). I wound up bidding a bit above my limit but still little enough not to have been way too much and just enough to have the high bid. I took it to the range earlier this week and as expected it was a jam-o-matic (that brought on another wave of nostalgia as the first RG I owned was likewise). Probably never will sell this one, as I said I bought it due to nostalgia so, it may just become a safe-queen and considering the price of 25 ACP ammo, that may not be a bad idea. Of course, another possibility is I will work on it until I can get it to feed, fire, extract and eject reliably. That might be an interesting project as I usually never so anything that would require taking a polishing stone to metal on a gun.

Getting back to why I sell guns - I have to say it is not as difficult thing to do as some folks seem to think it must be, at least relative to the letting go aspect of selling them. I can understand why someone might not want to sell a gun that is their favorite, or that has great sentimental value for them, something that is maybe was handed down through a few generations of their family, or not wanting to sell their first gun, or not wanting to sell the one they brought back from wartime service or any other one with emotional ties but will never understand why someone would not sell a gun simply because it is one among others of the ones they own. I usually sell them as a matter of practicality - either because I need the money for personal/family concerns, I want the money t buy another gun or something else, or would rather have the money than the piece of junk I am selling the particular gun I am selling simply because, for whatever reason, I do not like that particular gun and am ready to part with it. Luckily for me, and I mean this quite seriously, my wife has never even once indicated in any way shape or form that I have too many of them and that makes for a least a happy gun collector if not a happy marriage (maybe there really is a 🎅).

All the best,
Glenn B

If The Election Result Projections Hold True...

...from tomorrow onward, I think it will be a very disappointing two years for me as far as politics and the state of our nation goes. Then again, President Trump continuously turns adversity around to our benefit - so who knows.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Voted This Afternoon

I have been in upstate NY since Saturday. Drove to Geneva to pick up two handguns from the Hessney Auction Company, then drove to my brother-in-law Hans' place. Been feeling like crap ever since I arrived there. I got out to do a bit of hunting on Sunday but not much because I was out of it. I even stayed at his place an extra day because I felt too sick to leave last night. I guess it was a virus of some sort, one I caught from my grandson before leaving on the trip. Once I got up today though, I knew I had to hit the road because I knew I had to vote. Drove to my hometown in about 4 hours and fifteen minutes but did not go right home once I arrived there. I went directly to my polling place to vote.

Once inside I was greeted by a nice gentleman at the entrance whe asked where I lived to get me to the right table. Then once at the table, a nice lady asked my last name and she told the woman next to her, a nice older lady asked I was in her book. She repeated my last name and said, there you are Brendan on line 4 (or maybe it was 6). She told me to sign next to my name on line 4 next to where it showed Brendan xxxxxx. I told her I was not Brendan and she looked perplexed so I told her I was on line 6 and I signed there. I also told her Brendan was not here in NY anymore because he had moved to AR and she and the woman next to her both asked how he liked it. I replied he loved it and both said that comes as no surprise and the older woman added that everyone who leaves seems to think likewise.

Then a third woman at the table and I had a bit of a lively discussion when she tried to get me to accept a slightly torn ballot which  she said would only go into the voting machine one way (they are supposed to go in from either end) so I asked for a new one because it was defective. She said it was not damaged or defective. I told her I did not want there to be any chance for my ballot not to be counted, so please give me another because it was obviously defective. I did my best to remain respectful and calm but also remain firmly insistent.

Then she got furious after again claiming it was not damaged. To that I told her she had been the one who had just pointed out to me it was defective or damaged and she had told me it would not work as would other ballots. I asked for a supervisor, and another worker told her "just give him a new one". She took a bit of a hissy fit, slamming the ballot onto the table, grabbing a stamp of some sort (probably that said defective or cancelled or something to that effect) and slammed the stamp on the ballot even harder than she had slammed the ballot onto the table. The whole table shook. Then she handed me a ballot pushed the new ballot across the table that another poll worker had handed her and then threw her pen; I think she was going to throw it at me but it was clear she pulled back a bit just before letting it go and it hit the table and slid a ways across it toward me. Before leaving the table I said this as close as I can remember: 'what is wrong with you, you slammed the stamp on the ballot and threw your pen in a fit, but you are supposed to be helping people not acting like a bitch'.

Then I voted and as I voted some other woman started screaming at me: "What did you just call my mother"! I merely continued filling out those little circles on the ballot and then put the ballot into a machine that gobbled it up and then said my vote had been accepted.

After voting, I thanked the ladies at the table and they said their goodbyes to me and smiled (except maybe two of them). Then, as I walked out of the room, I said good night to the guy at the entrance and thanked him for being there to help out and he actually thanked me with a wide grin on his face. Maybe those smiles meant they are familiar with her nasty side and were happy I gave it right back to her - I'd like to think so. It is a shame that even voting can be such a pain in the ass but such is America today. Anyway, it was nice to see that everyone else who worked there was being respectful and courteous and quite the professionals.

I keep hoping though that when I wake up tomorrow we will continue on the road to recovery and the right will hold the House & gain in the Senate. I'd also like to hear that FUAC lost the governorship of NY but even I know that is likely hoping way too much.

All the best,
Glenn B

If You Think Right & Don't Vote In This Election...

… it may take a month or three or even six but if you are a shooter you will see the effect as ammo supplies dwindle and ammo prices skyrocket if the Dems will have regained the House. The panic buying will be sure to commence sooner or later. Of course, there are other issues at hand so let me name a few even more important to me than the price of ammo (at least more important for me since I am well stocked right now). These should be important to you too but bear in mind so too should be the price and availability of ammo as without ammo your firearms are worthless and without firearms the control of the government by the people is impossible - they will run tyrannical beyond the wildest imaginations of your minds should they ever figure out how to silence our boomers. But I digress, so here are some of those other important issues:

The Economy - will lose whatever impetus it has going for it as they (the Democrats/Liberals/Leftists wil oppose each and every proposal by President Trump to keep on improving it. And mind you, no matter what Obama claims that he was and remains responsible for improving the economy - it is President Donald Trump who actually had the magic wand that Obama said Trump would need to get the GDP to where it is today.

Reduction of Government Regulation - may cease if the Dems take control because they will oppose whatever Trump does to cut out more of the red tape o government and thus allow us to prosper and to enjoy our rights by way of our exercising our unencumbered liberties.

Nomination of Another Supreme Court Justice - well, not so much the nomination but the successful nomination and actual appointment of justices by President Trump likely will at least become more difficult because they, the Dems, will have control of the House of Representatives and thus will be able to twist the arm(s) of the Senate.

Passage of Any Legislation The President Favors - may take place in the Senate but certainly not in the House. There will be little if any improvement in our nation attributable to passage of legislation.

Rampant Division By Way of Pushing For Diversity - will further destroy our country and its Constitution. Our rights and liberties will be destroyed because we have become ununified due to he left trying to pit everyone against the other by way of their so called celebration of diversity and by their particular form of tolerance (which means being tolerant only for those who want to be different first instead of being unified Americans first).

The Crime Rate Will Go Up - especially violent crime, and even though this may take longer to be effected it will rise because the left supports criminality. They go easy of violent criminals all of the time yet try to make it more and more difficult for law abiding citizens to exercise their rights. If you cannot think of several examples of this - you are blind - but just ask and I will discuss them. A few that pop right up are: illegal aliens invading our nation, illegal aliens remaining within our borders, illegal aliens voting, illegal aliens taking our jobs; the government now having what it calls the right to spy on us by ay of the follow-up laws to the Patriot Act, the government have the right to seize our property without du process, government officials openly trying to turn us into a socialist nation (look at the crime rate in every one of those) and sharing the wealth (in other words taking ours and giving it to ne'er-do-wells, illegal aliens, drug pushers, and sloths). We will become Chicago or California - sooner or later under democrat control.

Health Care - will likely return to exactly what it was under Obama and that was not good. If you want you premiums to skyrocket and if you want to be forced by the government to even have health care - then don't vote.

The President - will be impeached. This is not to say he will be removed from office because I am pretty sure the Senate would never convict him but it will become a possibility. No other president in my lifetime has done as much for this country as had Donald Trump with the possible exception of Dwight D. Eisenhower and if Trump remains in office for a full term and then a second term - he will likely surpass Eisenhower in the good he has done for our nation. One thing about Trump whether or not you like his personality or his flare for being obnoxious at times - he has gotten more done than most presidents combined since Eisenhower and what he has gotten done has actually been for the good of our nation. It all can end though just because you fail to vote. I urge you - vote tomorrow - vote right - vote for the true good of our nation under our Constitution so the true reason for the RKBA never has to come into play - I would hate to see a bloody revolution in my lifetime. Let's get the job done at the ballot box and not from the ammo box.

All the best,
Glenn B

Boring Halloween

I've been sitting outside next to my front stoop, in a nice comfortable chair from the patio dining set, for about an hour now. Several parents with young children have hit the three homes directly across the street from mine for trick or treat goodies but they seem to be avoiding me like the Red Death. Older kids too have been stopping at the other houses but not one has crossed over to the dark side my side of the street. Damn, I am not even wearing camo let alone anything scary or even weird. 

I do have a huge bag of candy at the ready though. I also have 25 Canadian Maple Leaf silver coins in my pocket. Was going to give one each to the neighbor's kids if they came by and at least 10 to my grandson. Still waiting on him to be brought over by his mom and or dad. 

Last year, the neighborhood kids wiped out my entire candy supply. This year not even one Tinker Bell, goblin, ghoul, dwarf, hobbit, Elmo, axe murderer, Hillary Clinton nor Melania Trump has stopped by yet! I am abominably bored! 

All the best,
Glenn B

Did A Bit Of Shooting Tonight

It was a wet and windy night, the mid-fall rain coming down not too heavily but wind-whipped sideways at times. I had the thought it would be a good night to go out drinking but figured it was still early enough to go out shooting. Decisions - decisions - I opted for shooting first and maybe drinking later - that is if it does not get windier and wetter outside when I want to walk o the local gin mill.

I had been planning on going shooting on this day or night - or that day or that night - for quite the while now. I either wound up with something else that needed doing, was too darned lazy on a given day or just put off going as part of my role as The Great Procrastinator. Last night, I had the brain child of an idea that maybe, just maybe mind you, if I laid out he ammo I would need, put a range bag near the ammo, grabbed some guns and cased them, then just maybe as I just said, I'd get around to going to the range today. It worked.

Tonight I grabbed hold of my, as of then unfired, Browning BLR Lightweight '81, lever action rifle,  in 30-06 and cased it up.  I also searched through the mess of my basement and came upon & took hold of my other recently purchased (earlier this month) long guns: a Browning BL-22 Classic lever-action in 22 LR, a Henry Lever in 22 WMR and a Marlin 15 YN youth model single shot bolt action rifle. They all followed me to the range tonight.

Being that this was happening on a Saturday, it did not matter that I arrived at the range before 6PM - I was not getting the senior discount (only $2.00 per hour for shooting time) that I would have received on a weekday. Damn, finally old enough old enough but there on the wrong day! Didn't matter, I paid the $12.00 per hour fee and headed to my point.

First on the bench was the Browning BL-22 Classic with a rinky-dink Tasco scope of yesteryear. I have to check but I am guessing the scope is at best 2 or maybe 3 power. I cranked the target out to 15 yards and blasted away with 10 rounds from the tubular magazine. Holds 15 I think but I only loaded 10. I was pleased, it shot pretty darned good considering I was firing from standing unsupported position. Nothing impressive but good enough to hit Bullwinkle if not Rocky and I would bet if I had rested my elbows on the bench it might have been a much smaller group than the one I actually shot, one good enough to put Rocky and his cousins in the pot. 

Next was the Marlin 15 YN youth gun. Damn, I almost could not see the front sight or the rear, they were that fuzzy with either my distance glasses or my strong readers. In addition, it was too small for me. I really had to press my cheek into the stock and twist my neck to be able to get my eye low enough to try to get a sight picture. It shot okay though, functioned flawlessly. A very probable future gift for my grandson is this one. Got all these guns at auction and this one while not new was either used very lightly or not fired at all, it is that nice. Wish it had a box mag, prefer them much over a single shot as a first rifle for a child (since you can fire it single shot or as a repeater) but it will do.

Then I brought the Henry Lever to the bench. It took me all of about a minute or more to be able to twist the end of the magazine plunger to be ale to pull it out of the mag tube. Got it out and when I put it back I could not get it to seat. Saw there was an O-ring at the muzzle end and took that off and it seated okay. Hope I remembered to put it back on but I kind of think not. I may have to get a replacement O-ring if the plunger loosens in the tube in the future but that would be no big deal. Other than that, the Henry functioned flawlessly. Yet again though, I had a really difficult time focusing on the sights. It wasn't that this gun was too small for me like that Marlin youth model, just that my eyes are too senior.

Me thinks maybe it's time to get some glass for all of my rifles. I much prefer open sights but now that my eyes are not what they used to be (I had 20/15 vision in both eyes until my 50s) - I must say - what a difference scope makes. Even that Tasco scope on the BL-22 made everything look clear and crisp compared to not having glass on the gun.

Last and certainly not the least was the Browning BLR Lightweight '81 in 30-06. I was anticipating shoulder shock  really, really kick like a mule recoil but I wound up very pleasantly surprised. There was relatively little kick. I expected a lightweight version of the BLR to kick viciously with 30-06 ammo. I think it was not until the 12th round I fired that the kick to my shoulder was very hard and that was only because I had crouched down to fire with my elbows supported on the bench and had the butt resting at a somewhat different point on my shoulder. Fired another 4 rounds after readjusting how I held it against my shoulder and it was back to a surprisingly small amount of felt recoil. Even though I had the same difficulty trying to focus on the front sight, I did fairly well at about 30 yards (the far length of this indoor range). Had I been aiming at a deer or a bear - I would have hit my mark and brought down my target - likely with one shot each time. I must add that follow-up shots were quick and decently close enough to the preceding shot(s) so they would have hit the mark more than just well enough. I can see I am going to like the BLR very much. it is my first rifle in 30-06; maybe it won't be my last but if it winds up being the only one - I  think it will last.

Now that  have shot them, I think I am down to three rifles I have gotten at different times within the last year and a half that remain unfired by me. One is a Norinco SKS, another is a CZ 527 Thumbhole Varmint in 223. I have nice Warne rings that will fit CZ's proprietary base but need decent glass for it. The last (I think it's the last) is a Savage 111 Long Range Hunter in 300 WIN MAG. I have ammo for it but need glass on it but first have to get a scope base that fits it. Of course, there are the pistols I have not shot yet too but they are another story.

All the best,
Glenn B
  

Indian Blood One Minute - White Again The Next

All the best,
Glenn B

The Blog Header Above

As for the blog header, it say says something important. Maybe you think though that if you vote, it won't count. Well here is something you need to read in regard to that:

Now make sure that on November 6th, you get your arse to your polling place to vote or maybe do it early if early voting is an option.

All the best,
Glenn B

Not So Far Fetched

Maybe the meme in the post prior to this one is not as far fetched s I had thought, now that I have seen this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

A Sympathy Vote Getter?

 

 

I doubt it is that but if it turns out to be an extremely diabolical hoax meant to garner sympathy votes for the dems, they will find some way to justify it by bashing President Trump!

 

All the best,

Glenn B

Bombs Away!

So bombs have been sent to leftists and President Trump has, with an immediate response, made it absolutely clear that the federal government will track down who is responsible and throw his (or her) ass into jail. So what do the asshole fucking liberal rocks with lips Democrats have to say: ""President Trump's words ring hollow until he reverses his statements that condone acts of violence," Schumer and Pelosi said..." More at the source.

Funny, I have not heard them (the Democrats) say one single word about even one, let alone the multitude, of democrat politicians 
who have out and out repeatedly condoned violence against political opponents on the right. Yet, Trump is promising to use the full force of the federal government to investigate these acts AGAINST LIBERALS/DEMOCRATS and to prosecute the criminal(s) who perpetrated them. It seems to me that the president's words are not the ones that ring hollow.

All the best,
Glenn B

So I Bought My Son A Vortex...

... 4-12x40 AO Crossfire II Riflescope (Dead-Hold BDC) for the Savage 93 BTVSS I sent to him. Not a very expensive scope by any account but one that should be decent on that rifle. I ordered it at B&H Photo and had it and a pair of rings shipped directly to him. They also sent a Celestron Elements TrekCel 3300 power pack/flashlight as a freebie (the sell anywhere from $18.00 to $37.00). B&H had the best price on the scope that I could find, average price in the rings, included that free charger/light - and it all came with free shipping. Got the three items for the price I would have paid for the scope alone elsewhere, good deal it was.

He mounted the scope as I would have done - slapped in in place by sight and tightened whatever - no levels, no torque wrenches just good guesswork. He must have done it okay. Within a week of receiving the scope and rings, he sent me this photo of a target he shot after he had mounted the scope and sighted it in. This is what he said about it: "10 rounds with the 22 at 25 yards", the 22 being the Savage which is a 22 WMR.

All I can say is sweet & I love how well he shoots.

I told him to do that at 50 and 100 yards. Damn, I'd be happy with a group 2x as large at 25 yards and 3-4x as large at 100 yards. Anyway, he loves the rifle and the scope - the scope and rings were very early Christmas presents; after that all he gets is coal in his stocking. The rifle was an I miss my best shooting buddy kind of a gift.



All the best,
Glenn B

This Was Me Last Night...

...first at the Mexican restaurant:

...then at home enjoying tequila and wearing my birthday present:

This is me today after a quick trip to the local scalper:

I looked jollier when my hair was longer, felt better last night when I was drinking my way to being hungover instead of already having a hangover, look pissed off now that my hair is shorter but definitely made the wife happier when she saw my haircut.

All the best,
Glenn B

I'm Sittin' Here By Meself...

...thinking bout the Mexican food I had earlier at a nice but what I had thought was an imitation Mexican restaurant. Now, I must admit, there was a Mexican guy there, accompanying a singing guitar player, playing a small harp. Got to talking to him a bit and he knew Mexicali, Calexico and El Centro where I spent 4 years of my life - and he traveled to Las Vegas from Chicali as I often did with my buddy (at the time) George W - while and agent in the Border Patrol. So, maybe the restaurant is not all that unauthentic a Mexican joint after all - but I digress.  
 
Anyway, I am sitting here now surrounded by the warm invisible clouds of wafting aromas emanating from within me. While doing so - and at the same time whilst hoping to destroy the demons brewing hellfire in my bowels - I've been enjoying a couple (so far) of tequila shots (well a few now). I'm also listening to Terrapin Station by the Dead.

Have not sat down with a lemon, a bottle of tequila and the Grateful Dead in way too long. I guess it was the combination of things - the somewhat overdue but eagerly anticipated birthday present I got from my son today (and he sends good ones for sure), that Mexican food I ate earlier & talking to a genuine Mexican and having those demons in my bowels brewing noxious concoctions of brimstone and hellfire - that surely put me in the mood. No salt mind you, it's bad for the blood pressure ,but the rest of it is good for the soul if not all of it for the digestion (anyway the tequila and lemon will help there).

Now someone has to straighten out that these t-shirt designers of today when it comes to what Grateful Dead covers actually looked like but I love the shirt regardless of the artistic license taken with it. After all, it's the thought that counts and the fact of who gave it to me. Thanks my boy - loving it.
All the best,
Glenn B

If You Can Spare A Couple Of Bucks...

...and you don't buy a ticket for the upcoming Mega Millions drawing on Tuesday night - you are out of your mind. The prize right now is reportedly 1.6 billion dollars, read again: 1.6 BILLION DOLLARS. Yes, just in case you missed it, that was:

1.6 BILLION DOLLARS!

I am going to buy one or three or ten tickets (that is about my limit). I would take care of the family first and foremost; then I might buy a new car, buy a couple of new guns (very expensive ones), travel to a few places and give a bit more than a smidgen to charity should I win. Then I could... A man can dream, can't he!

All the best,
Glenn B

Thursday Already and...

...all I can say is I have been busy doing good deeds helping out the daughter of a recently passed retired Customs Supervisory Special Agent to sell his long guns and knives and if I feel up to it tomorrow his ammo too (what of the ammo is in good enough condition to shoot anyway). Damn has that taken up a lot of my time, so much for volunteering but he was a good man as far as I am concerned and I am happy to do it for is family and in his memory.

Also have been playing middle man in passing info onto my Customs family about another retired agent who has been in the hospital with the big C and it was worse than originally thought. Sorry to say, I have not seen him yet because the other thing has kept me so busy. Maybe tomorrow but only after I finally get to some of my own affairs and personal business that needs taking care of because I have been neglecting it while doing that other stuff with the guns and knives.

All good though and when I have gotten a chance to go outside to get something of my own done today, I noticed that the roses in my front yard are still looking good. They are the most fragrant roses I have smelled in over 7 years since radiation therapy for throat cancer ruined my sniffer at least as far as smelling roses goes. This is the first year since then that I can really appreciate their fragrance again and it is wonderful. This is one of the several I have left:

 

Our daughter gave us the rosebush a few years ago. It as and remains a good one. Heck, the way things are going, it may well outlive me. Certainly produces lovely roses. Now being it is 44 degrees outside right now, the end of the rose blooming season may be upon us; although, I think it was last year or maybe the year before, there were roses blooming in the neighborhood into December or January! My guess though, with the sudden temp drop yesterday, is that this fall and winter is going to be a cold one - too cold for roses sooner than later.

 

Speaking of cold, it was chilly outside today when I took a break from the above things to get a bit of work done in the backyard. While doing that, I saw one of my Russian Tortoises basking in the late afternoon sunlight. I found another two, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 buried in depression under some weeds and found the fourth dug in but not too deep in the compost pile. The male Hermann's tortoise is also dug in there. Decided to leave those outside this year so it will put them in breeding mode come the spring. Have to heft the female Hermann's tomorrow to check her weight and maybe I'll put her into the compost pile as well tomorrow; the thing is though, she often lays eggs in December so maybe I will wait then bromate her indoors. The Redfoots will stay indoors for the cold weather and basically active for the fall and winter.

 

That's it for now. Screw commenting on politics and current events, I am hitting the hay.

All the best,
Glenn B
 

I Am Not A Fan Of Pickled Eggs...

...I can take them or leave them, almost always  preferring to leave them. That is exactly what I have done each of the several hundred times I have gotten something out of or put something into the fridge in our basement when I have seen this on or of the shelves on the inside of the door:

 

Yes, that I took a pic of them means I actually pulled them out of the fridge today. Did that because I told my son, a couple of days ago, that the eggses (they made me think of what Gollum might eat) he pickled ages ago were still in the fridge.

 

Now that I have taken them out of the fridge, I am none too sure he pickled these as they look to have been store bought. I did not buy them so Brendan must have bought them (or used that jar with the label already on it if he pickled them). Regardless, they have been in the fridge at least since last December when he visited us for Christmas or longer. Longer would mean they have been in there at least since before he moved to AR in March 2017 or pretty long ago far as keeping things fresh in the fridge goes. I wonder how long it will be before the jar explodes.

 

By the way, if you are up this way and in the mood for a pickled egg... On second thought, maybe you would want to get them somewhere else being these are a bit old.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

I Wish The Post Office Would Get Serious...

...and raise the price of first class postage for a letter to a buck and raise all the others rates accordingly. Maybe then they would actually start making some money for the government instead of hemorrhaging it. Their proposed price increase for a first class letter from 50 cents to 55 cents is laughable considering they are virtually always in the red.

More here (at 1:18 of the video.

As for me, I had no clue they were already at 50 cents per letter. Last time I bought stamps, I got a year or two's worth of those forever stamps and my wife has bought any we have needed since then.

All the best,
Glenn B

Luckily One Man Disregarded Startbucks Firearms Policy...

...and concealed carried at one in Utah. It was into that Starbucks that a man reportedly identified as Benjamin Scott Overall burst onto the scene and allegedly started to attack a Starbucks barista. After reportedly beating her savagely, Overall allegedly "aggressively" turned on a male customer in his 60s who had just witnessed the attack on the barista. The man, evidently fearing for his own safety and believing that Overall was about to attack him, drew a concealed handgun (for which he had a permit) and shot Overall in the chest.

Oddly enough, after the attack, the barista was actually thankful that the man was armed, was in Starbucks and shot the suspect. Imagine that - from a Starbucks employee!

More at the source.

Hooray for the good guy and for him being a good shot.

All the best,
Glenn B