Folks - Whether You Believe It Or Not...

...this whole George Floyd protest bugaboo, as of late, has morphed into a full swing insurrection - at least as far as I am concerned. I can only speak for myself when I say I have taken precautions. I suppose you could consider what I am doing as also being prudent recommendations for all to follow during these explosively violent times:

I know I am not a hero nor do I want to become one.

I know that avoiding a fight is often the best way to remain alive and unharmed. If it is reasonably possible to avoid it without putting myself at greater risk, I will avoid confrontation.

I am at and will remain at a higher level of situational awareness than regular for me. I have been keeping myself at condition orange instead of my normal condition yellow and will remain at that level until the national situation has calmed completely.

My car radio is tuned to a talk/news station and I check the news several times daily on the radio and or online for the latest developments.

I try to avoid known & suspect troublesome neighborhoods and areas.

I try to avoid areas where I see large crowds or any ongoing commotion. 

I would rather be a good witness than a dead or jailed hero.

I have been making sure my cell phone remains charged.

I have a first aid kit in my vehicle.

I have a gas mask and filters in my vehicle.

I carry spare water and food in my vehicle.

I have above a half tank of gas at all times.

My head has been on a swivel to maintain situational awareness.

I always carry a flashlight. 

I change the batteries in my flashlight before they need replacement.

I go armed - virtually everywhere. 

I carry back-up arms - note I did not say that in the singular but in the plural sense.

I carry spare ammunition, more than I think I might ever need.

I carry weapons other than only firearms. 

My vehicle can become, in essence, a guided bullet with me at the wheel if I am surrounded by rioters who give me probable cause to believe they are attempting to block or stop me and seriously harm or kill me.

I am of the absolute mindset that I will defend my lifenad family members' lives, if threatened with imminent death or serious bodily harm. I have done so before and will do so again if so threatened.

I may or may not go to the defense of all others but you can safely bet that should I see an evidently innocent young child being so threatened, or an innocent elderly person in a like situation, I probably will respond to their assistance in some way, shape or form regardless of race, color, sex, creed, citizenship, nationality or political affiliation.

I will not interfere with a Law Enforcement Officer carrying out just & constitutionally lawful duties; however, should I see a LEO breaking the law, I will be a damned good witness against the officer. 

I likely will assist a LEO in distress while the officer is carrying out lawful duties, in most cases.

I know how to get to the local hospitals (2 with Level I Trauma Centers) and urgent care centers, just in case. 

If I had someone to go out and about with, I would go out with them by my side for everyday tasks. I do not; so, I take my dog with me, as often as practical and possible, as a potential deterrent to violence from others. 

I do not want to get into a confrontation, neither non-violent or violent, but I do know how to handle myself and am prepared if either cannot be avoided.

All the best,
Glenn B

Some Thoughts On The Rioting

This is all becoming quite reminiscent of the riots of 1967 and 1968. Bunch of people killed in 1967 in those riots and thousands were injured. 1968 was another very bad year with lots of riots and other disturbances mostly related to race and the war in Vietnam. Of course, some were started due to the assassination of MLK but there were plenty of others. I remember watching them on TV and going up on our roof to watch the flames and smoke coming from neighborhoods only a couple to a few miles away. I also remember seeing a brick with a ten or twenty dollar bill attached that had been filmed by a news crew. Supposedly another news crew did that to try to get folks to hurl bricks at authorities so they could get a good shot and a story. Don't know if any of it was true or not though but can say without a doubt the media was scum then and is worse today.

Some crazy goings on back then for sure. Hope this current situation does not become as bad but today's politicians and bureaucrats are inept as ever (maybe probably more so today) and have learned little if anything from the past. Thus, I fear the past may repeat itself currently and this situation even may explode far beyond what it is now and beyond what it was back then. What with folks having been cooped up for so long and already angry at the government on all levels, the hot weather already upon some parts of the US, this apparently senseless killing of George Floyd, the recent killing of Ahmaud Arbery - it is one very bad explosive mixture that has lots of potential to become much worse. I hope not though but am keeping my self-defense equipment at the ready just in case.

On a personal note, I have experienced some - how shall I call it - I suppose racial resentment from folks is the way to say it. That from folks I have greeted in a friendly manner in the local park while out with my mongrel for a walk. One guy growled a hello back to me through clenched teeth with a look of abject anger on his face when I said good morning to him yesterday, he tensed up and I believe he balled his fists; he got me a bit concerned but he kept going. A woman today gave me a definite nasty look, pursing her face and frowning at me, when I said "hi" to her as we passed one another in the park. Racial tensions are obviously quite high even where there are no riots. Truly a sad/bad time for all of us in the USA. 

All the best,
Glenn B

The George Floyd Controversy Astonishes Me...

...or should I say the support that the police officers involved are getting from some, especially other law enforcement officers (thankfully a minority it seems ), befuddles me. I find it very hard to believe that anyone who has seen the video of the restraint used on this man (can be seen at: https:// www.facebook .com /cuapb.org/ posts/10158114619252221 - I put it in this way so you can copy and paste the address - just remember to eliminate the 4 spaces and I think you have to be logged into Facebook) and who has read the criminal complaint (looks to be genuine but I cannot say for sure), can say that Floyd caused his own death and or can otherwise show support for the officers.

Supposedly when he became unresponsive, one of the officers reportedly attempted to take his pulse but then said he could not find one. For almost a full two (2) minutes after that, the officer kneeling on his neck allegedly did not get up off of his neck or seemingly relieve any of the pressure on Mr. Floyd's neck. Again, that supposedly was after he became unresponsive and no pulse was found! Listen to the guy in the video begging for the officers to get off him and check his pulse because he obviously was unresponsive. I find it outrageous that evidently no relief was given, that no attempt to see if he was responsive was made and that no attempt was made to try to give him CPR or otherwise revive him. 

Now cities burn and a police station has been abandoned to rioters and essentially destroyed due in part to a what I believe is a total dereliction of duty and responsibility by law enforcement and elected officials; of course it is mainly due to the thugs perpetuating it but the officials are allowing it to continue essentially unabated, I believe due to either ineptness or politics or both! What next - more lives lost with officials looking the other way! This is government at its worst and government once again has proven itself pretty much useless and in need of replacement. Get the bums out and put into place someone with some spine, grit and ethics.

All the best,
Glenn B

59 Years Ago This Month...

... is when this photo was developed. I figure it was either taken in April or May that year - 59 years ago this month! Damn, how time flies and wherever it all has flown off to is beyond my grasp now. The others in the pic are my older brother, my mom (next to me) and the distant family relative (or maybe just a family friend) we called Aunt Mary. I was right around 5 1/2 years old and even then it seemed I was well on my way to getting into guns. We were standing along the side, of one of three, of my great-grandfather's and great-grandmother's apartment buildings. 

In all likelihood the rifle I am holding was an actual firing percussion rifle of sorts and was bought for me at Freedomland U.S.A. in the Bronx, NY; the time frame is perfect. I well remember begging for it and finally being the happiest kid in the world when my mom & dad got it for me. I also got a coonskin cap with a real racoon tail (don't recall if the rest of it was real fur but maybe cause that was still back in a different era). I had to beg them not only for the rifle but to go back to Freedomland a second time and that's when they got it for me; I saw it on our first trip there. 

Much like a real percussion rifle where you put the cap onto the nipple, you placed a cap on a platform where the hammer would hit it and just like on a percussion rifle there was a small hole leading to the inside of the barrel into which, from the muzzle end, I would have loaded one of several very light weight cork balls that came with it and then seated it with its ramrod (not in the photo for some reason). Amazingly, when I think of it now, it worked every time as I recall. No way you were going to shoot out anyone's eye with that though even though I got that speech despite it not being a BB gun. No clue whatever became of it, wish I still had it. It would have been an excellent first rifle for my daughter & son. As it was they were started on 22s.

All the best,
Glenn B

Plotting A Road Trip For June

What better way to spend some time with my son Brendan than on a road trip. To where? North by northwest is how and wherever we wind up with enough time to get back home within a week (all the time he has) will be where. 

I am hopeful we will make it to Shell Creek Campground near Shell, WY. That was a stopover on my first cross country road tip, destination Missoula, MT (although we stopped there, we then went on some), with some friends many moons ago. We has been heading to Yellowstone but being the idiots we were, we did not realize that week would terminate in Independence Day weekend and the roads were already jammed. So we headed toward Cody, WY on some back-roads but had to stop in Shell Creek Campground because the road ahead was closed due to an avalanche (yes there was still a good amount of snow on the mountain tops). 

Anyway, it was excellent there and I hope it still is worth sharing with Brendan. Deadwood, SD and Mr. Rushmore National Memorial are also part of our plans and maybe going as far north as just crossing into ND (one of only two states which I have never visited, Hawaii is the other) or maybe even getting to Bismarck, ND or Fargo, ND to buy a used car or wood chipper could be possible. Hoping to return through CO, NE NM, down into western TX and back home.

I've got a rental SUV reserved but am left wondering if they will even be open by then, they are not open now at Enterprise. Maybe I should make  couple more reservations at other car rental agencies to be on the safe side. Of course, there is always my Corolla but I had planned on something a bit more comfortable for us and Skye the mongrel. As for Brendan and me, I think in an SUV, one can drive and the other stretch out if need be.

All the best,
GB

In The Mood

The things I see while out walking Skye! Usually they'd be in the water in the drainage ditch but today for some reason they did it on the rocks (or at least on the pavement)! Rona V or not - they were in the mood!

All the best,
Glenn B

Remember Them On Memorial Day

I surely do miss getting my Buddy Poppy for Memorial Day each year, it might have seemed a trifle to some but was important to me as a way to honor and remember those whom this day memorializes. The Buddy Poppies used to be given out by members of the American Legion and of course I always donated something for mine. It's a small thing with which to honor our fallen but yet a rare and an exceptional thing to see today. Don't forget them, nor the reason why we honor them today, the members of our military who fell during time of war while defending out great nation!

In memory of all those who have fallen defending our great nation while in military service during time of war. 



 
All the best,
Glenn B

Maybe My MGM Stock Will Go Up...

...I am betting on it anyway, that's why I bought it in the first place. With Las Vegas about to open its casinos, I imagine the stock price can only go up. More on the opening at the source. Heck, in that event my UAL and MRO & BP stocks may also go up - I mean how long will people stay away from flying or driving to open casinos!

All the best,
Glenn B

Are You In The Market For A Used Car...

...because if so you may want to wait a little while before buying one. Car rental giant Hertz may begin selling as many as 30,000 cars per month (that is about one thousand per day) through year's end and that may spell good deals for used car buyers. That is because Hertz Global Holdings Inc., in business for over 100 years, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy due to lack of rentals during the COVID-19 shutdowns. It currently employs over 38,000 people worldwide, who I am guessing will lose their jobs if Hertz does not receive some kind of relief and the bankruptcy goes through. More at the source.

And these liberal hardliners just want to keep our economy closed until what - maybe until many more companies go belly up and our economy totally crashes. Then what - blame it on President Trump - that would be my bet as to where they will shift the blame.

All the best,
Glenn B

Where Is The Racial Outrage Over This Attack - Woman Hit In Face?

A retail employee of a sporting goods store was attacked by another woman. The victim was not the race of preference for this to be shown as a racial incident it seems. But I must ask, where is the outcry and why is this not being reported as an attack due to race? Of course there is none and my guess is because the attacker was black and the victim white; I would bet had the races been reversed, this would be hot topic news on CNN and MSNBC and the networks with reporters lambasting all of us about racism once again. Instead those who have reported on it seemingly use everything else possible as a motive other than race. More at the source.

All the best,
Glenn B

I've Got A Hankering For...

...a really good vanilla ice cream. I have not had any ice cream in probably over a year (I could have forgotten but think that is about right, maybe even longer). Once I start on it, I usually gain a few pounds within a couple of weeks, it is a bad binge addiction. Of course, I can be careful and buy just enough for a large single serving and hopefully that would kill my craving but I'd really have to apply all of my self control and when it comes to excellent vanilla ice cream that ain't easy, at least for me. I've been having this craving for well over three months now and am thinking I am about to give in to it. If I do, I only hope my pants will still fit in a week or three.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Need A New Laptop But...

...finding one that meets the specifications I want seems impossible. First off it must run Windows whatever; second it must have at least 16MB RAM and a 512GB hard drive or SSD; then it must have a graphics card, preferably Nvidia with at least 6MB memory onboard, 17" screen, full sized keyboard and an optical drive would be nice but if it does not have one I suppose I could settle for a stand alone DVD drive. 

The thing that seems impossible to find is a laptop with a user & easily replaceable battery. Every company I have contacted says they only make laptops now with non-user changeable batteries! Why would that be since it defeats the major reason for buying a laptop which is portability. I sometimes use mine when out hiking, camping, shooting, in remote areas where there is no power available and depend on having at least one extra battery with me if not more of them. The computer companies have essentially created a laptop that tells people wanting a portable system to go screw themselves. I have queried: HP, Lenovo, MSI, Dell, ASUS.

Yes, I suppose I could buy a converter for my car, plug it into the lighter and use that as a power source to charge the laptop - if I am near my car when I need a new battery or a recharge. The thing is many professionals who do field work (and I used to be one of them) are often not anywhere near a power supply and need a laptop on which they can easily change batteries when one runs out of juice. I suppose though, it has to be this way in someone's idea of doing things in the name of progress - or in other words liberally fucking over those of us who need it the way it was once upon a time. 

Oh well, I will keep up the search. If anyone knows of a current model of laptop running windows that meets my specs, please clue me in. Thanks.

All the best,
Glenn B

Where Is The Racial Outrage Over These Killings?

Read the article here: https://www.foxnews.com/us/maryland-couple-slain-at-delaware-veterans-cemetery-visited-sons-grave-almost-daily-surviving-son-says (You may have to cut and paste the link to get it to work.)

Then tell me the answers to these questions:

Where is the racial outrage? Why is White Lives Matter not marching or for that matter why is Black Lives Matter not marching? Where are Al Sharpton and his minions? Where is the ACLU? Where is the NAACP? Why is no one marching for the cause of these two victims? Where are all the liberal media types and why are they not incessantly reporting on this apparent hate crime?

Hypocritical race baiters should gag themselves forever.

All the best,
Glenn B

The Bluntness Of Our President Is Refreshing

All the best,
Glenn B

It May Rain Today - Somewhere...

...so enjoy it if it does.


All the best,
Glenn B

Good Morning All

Beautiful song, excellent accompanying video, nice way to start the day although mine was started by walking three plus miles with the mongrel Skye. Anyway, let me say, how the guy who sang this song as he did ever seemingly became a die hard hating the rest of the world  extremist Muslim is beyond me. What a waste but those songs he sang back before his conversion are worth listening to in my opinion as long as you're not paying for them today and putting money into his pockets now.

All the best,
Glenn B 

Slow Down!

 

All the best,
Glenn B

Amazing Story - If True, I'd Like To Know More

Commercial aspect aside, this was an amazing bucket list type of story if ever there was one.


All the best,
GB

Still Trying

Today, I wrote another letter to Rush Limbaugh. I am hoping someone there reads it and he takes action.

"Dear Rush,

I have written to my two state senators here in my new home of Texas (used to live on Long Island in NY) asking them what mechanism is set up for someone to return the COVID-19 stimulus payments to the government when unwanted by the payee. I have also previously written to you, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin about the same issue. I received only one reply, that from  Senator Cornyn of Texas but it in no way at all answered or even addressed my inquiry relative to how to return the payment to the government.

I do not want it, my wife is also willing to send it back. We do not need it, we do not want to burden the economy or the taxpayers in our great nation. We do not want to be at all responsible for turning this country into a nanny state nor for the double or possibly triple digit inflation we expect because of the stimulus program.

Please, if you can, help us to find out exactly what official mechanism is in place to return this money to the government.

We are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers for a full recovery.

Thank you,

Glenn -------------"

 
All the best,
Glenn B

A Post Office Of Yesteryear - Today

Sold some Tapco 10 round AK-47 mags recently to a guy back in NY. Received the money order from him yesterday; only found it in the mail box when it was already too late to get the mags sent out so waited until today. Took a look to see which post offices were open near me and as per Google Maps, none near me were open. There was one open that was about 17 miles away in Hope, AR but it was closing with 20 minutes of me checking. There was another in Ogden, AR scheduled to open within a half hour of my inquiry, and I figured since I was not doing anything else better I'd head there.

The ride was pleasant and the post office easy to find. It was one of those quaint little post offices consisting of a small building and had its own parking lot in which you could squeeze about all of four to five vehicles. Sign on the door said masks were required so on mine went and I went inside. Only one person ahead of me but while I had the package with the mags to send out, I had forgotten the $40.05 money order in my car that I wanted to cash and use to pay for the postage. Went outside and got it and then there were two folks ahead of me. The clerk seemed very confused dealing with the guy already at the counter. Once he was done with, she handled the next person quickly. My turn and I asked the clerk if she could cash the m/o. She did not know, said she was new and had to make a call because she was uncertain if that was allowed. Made the call and said she could not cash it because she only had $100 in her drawer.

Oh well, I'd pay cash to send the parcel. She looked up the postage for the medium sized flat rate box I was using at told me it would be $14.35. Being she was new, I asked her to check again because as per the USPS website, the postage is $15.05 for a flat rate medium Priority Mail box. She looked at the aged chart stuck to the counter top and said something to the effect that 'No, it's $14.35'. I said okay, I would not argue and be glad to pay less. She took $15.00 from me and gave me 65 cents change. 

I waited for my receipt until it became obvious she was not going to give one and then I asked her for it. She fumbled around, slowly punched the keys several times on her calculator, printed up the result from the calculator, stamped that little maybe 3" stub of paper with a post mark, fumbled with the post mark then stamped it again. Then she handed it to me with another small slip of paper with a thin band of a sticker on it. When I asked what was that -she said the receipt. I was flummoxed. I asked where was the typical register receipt, printed out with the tracking number, the zip code and town to where being sent, the date it was being sent, the time it was being sent, the amount paid, and the expected date of delivery among other things. She looked at me with kind of a panicked doe in the headlights gaze and said "WHAT"! I explained I wanted a normal receipt as I have gotten in every other post office I have used in the past ten or more years. She said what she gave me was the normal receipt along with the tracking number. 

I handed her the 65 cents change back and told her to give me a refund and that I'd send the package elsewhere. She handed me cash back that I did not bother counting (shame on me because it was a dollar short, as well as being a new postal clerk she also was no math wiz). I realized she had shorted me when I got in my car but just drove away, I figured she'd maybe start crying if I told her she had miscounted.

The box will be mailed from a real post office, where I will get a real receipt, on Monday and not from one that is using the type of receipt they used in small out in the middle of nowhere podunk post offices in the middle of the last century. It's a wonder the post office is still in business.

All the best,
Glenn B

Lest We Forget - May 8, 1945 - VE Day

May 8, 1945, Victory In Europe Day, was the official end of the war in Europe with the Allied victory over the Axis Powers when Germany offered its unconditional surrender. It would be an understatement to say that the free world celebrated that day; hell the Germans were probably happy it was over too.

The Brits celebrating with Churchill above.

It would be another 3 months and one week (exactly) - August 15, 1945 - before VJ Day when the Japanese surrendered (the 15th in Japan and 14th in the US due to the dateline - the surrender documents were not signed until September 2, 1945 but the Japanese did in fact surrender on the 15th of August) and of course that only came after Truman ordered the only two atomic bombs ever detonated in actual warfare to be dropped on Japan. 

All the best,
Glenn B

The Poor Math Skills of Progressive Media Types

I guess you do not need to be a mathematics wiz to become a reporter or editor. The headline says: 

"46 shot, 4 fatally, in Chicago weekend shootings"(Source.)

That was including 4 who were killed but the number of those shot as stated in the first sentence of the article does not add up to 46:

"Four people were killed and 41 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago so far over the first weekend of May."

Seems to me the numbers in that first sentence add up to 45 not 46. Close but no cigar!

Oh - did I forget to comment on where the shootings took place? Where else but Chicago the windy city - all those bullets whizzing by create quite an air current!

All the best,
Glenn B

There's Nothing Like Fresh Eggs

I love fresh chicken eggs probably as much as the next guy but what I love even more is when my girls drops eggs. She essentially put four into a hole in the ground today. I found her trying to dig in the outside tortoise pen but its only got maybe an inch of substrate, at most, above concrete. So, I grabbed her up and put her in the inside pen, a turtle tub, that has substrate on both ends - one end shallow and one end a deep basin. She started to dig with a couple of minutes. Keeping my fingers crossed that this was the first day she was trying to deposit them and that they are fertile; her last batch was all duds. Makes me think maybe the male is shooting blanks since she is relatively young as tortoises go but I suppose she could be the reason. Then again, they may have sat at too cool a temperature last time before I got them into the incubator. Today I got em set up inside the incubator within 15 minutes or so and had put them out side where it was nice and warm until then. 







She, by the way, is a Hermann's Tortoise around 17+ years old, damned if I can recall her age. I got her when she was a at least a couple to few years old and have had her at least 14-15 years is all that the little gray cells can come up with. She won Best In Show at the Long Island Herpetological society's annual show in 2007; I think I had her about 2 years by then. 

I should be able to tell if the eggs are fertile within a week or so. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

All the best,
Glenn B

I Saw What Was Coming

I knew what was coming as soon as he grabbed his shades but it still gave me a really good laugh. It also got me to thinking, with the responses he got from the ladies (not the guy) I may have to go get myself an ice cream cone!

All the best,
Glenn B

Serious But Sad

What is truly sad about Biden being run as the Dem candidate is that he was the best for whom they had to vote in the primaries - or so they thought. I cannot believe that they did not revolt against the DNC for the totally shit selection of candidates they put to the vote: from Spartacus, to Fauxihontas, to the the skin flute player, to the fake Mexican gun grabber, to a no good rotten commie/socialist, to a wanna be Musolini who instead of keeping railroads on time wanted to control your sugar intake, to a dipshit mayor whose actions spread Corona virus through mass transit, to several unheard of idiots, to a guy who apparently has full blown dementia (or a similar mental disease) and they vote for that guy the one who can't remember what office it is for which he is running! If he beats Trump, I hope there truly is a God because we will truly need his help.

All the best,
Glenn B