Comfy!

Via Instapudit comes news of the Wall-E-pocalypse:  Honda’s Uni-Cub bringing mobility indoors.

All it needs is some cup holders and a video screen and we will all look like the overly-comfortable humans from the movie Wall-E!!

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Carpetbagger

Good riddance you little weasel.  Too bad tar and feathers is out of fashion.

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Camp

Had a great weekend with B and L at a YMCA camp.   L is heading out later this summer for a week to stay at the camp and this weekend was the new camper orientation overnighter with parents.

The camp is a wonderful place – it has been there for a 100 years and I am kind of envious!  Located on Puget Sound with views of the Olympic Mountains and its own lagoon, canoeing, swimming, archery, rock wall, arts and crafts, super nice cabins with bunk beds and indoor plumbing!  No late night trips to the ‘lollie’ with a flashlight, hoping that the snakes and spiders are busy doing something else! 

I was quite impressed with her archery skills – she put a couple of arrows in the 8 ring and even hit one in the bullseye at 10 yards but she also shot one off in to the woods over the 12 foot high back-stop!  I might have to get her a bow and arrow set to practice with before she heads up there for a week-long stay.  Every kid was eager to try it, thanks to the influence of Katniss Everdeen!

By far, her favorite thing (and mine too) was canoeing in the 40 acre lagoon.  On Saturday, the three of us went out for about an hour and we went out again Sunday after breakfast.  We paddled around for a bit, exploring the shoreline and then dropped B off at the dock and then L and I spent about 30 minutes paddling around, enjoying the beautiful summer day.  We made some good memories there.

She will have a great time there later this summer.  She will of course suffer some homesickness, but we talked about it so she knows it is coming.  We will send her off with some post cards to mail home, plus we discovered that we can send email to the camp which will then get printed out and sent on to her, so that should help.  I know that when I went to my first summer scout camp, I was in 5^th grade but 10 years old and even had my dad there with me and still got homesick!  Back then, the line at the payphone was pretty long in the evenings!

I think this will be a great place for her to start her summer camp experience.  Next year we can find something that is a little more rustic – those midnight trips to the lollie with a barely-working flashlight build character you know!

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Odds & Ends and Some Really Big News

The site was down for a bit over the weekend – Google detected some suspicious activity and took the site offline.  I had to go in and verify that I was who I said I was, changed my password and everything seems to be back to normal.

Huh – silver is below $30 and the APMEX website is down.  Hop on over to Montana Rarities – I know Mark has product and his service and shipping is WAY better than anything else you will find.  My monthly purchase is set up for the 10^th and I might just add some to it.

The weather is beautiful out here – nice to finally see the sun!  It’s about time to take the car in for a wash to get the moss off! 

We spent the weekend in Spokane, saw lots of Brigid’s family and friends and did the Bloomsday Run/Walk.  7.5 miles on a really nice course with 50,000 of your closest friends!  It is basically a 7.5 mile long party with live music and lots of really good people watching.  Spokane is a great town and once again, I have a very strong urge to pack my stuff up and head over there for many, many reasons.

Sold my Les Baer TRS and my Springfield Stainless Mil Spec.  Both were great pistols but a deal came up that was just too good to pass up so those two are in Michigan and California, respectively.  Honestly, I was too damn tentative with that TRS – it was just about one of the prettiest 1911’s I have ever had and it shot like a damn rifle – I could punch 7 shot cloverleafs all day with that pistol at 10 yards.  It was purchased to be one of my ‘fighting pistols’ (yeah, yeah, I know – in case I needed to ‘fight’ my way to the bag of Fritos) and I had that thing slicked up and running like a top but I was always too damn worried that I was going to ding it up and that just wouldn’t do.  I have several pistols like that, ones that have special meaning like Dad’s Combat Elite or his Combat Commander and I don’t need any more museum pieces.  Maybe I will come across a TRS with some good honest wear and not have to worry about it.

The Really Big News?  I got engaged.  Yup, I finally did it and it was a spectacle.  I had planned on doing it during our trip to Spokane and had a couple of spots in mind on when to pop The Question and ended up picking the best place to do it – the finish line of the Bloomsday Run.  I won’t get all mushy with the details but we ended up making the news and I looked like a dork and yes, she said yes.  I am a lucky man.  Here is a pic that a gal at the finish line snapped.

We won’t get hitched until sometime next summer – lots of plans to make and folks to coordinate with.  The 8 year old (going on 20) couldn’t believe it when we told her but she has fully embraced the idea of being the Primary Wedding Planner – researching gowns and tuxedoes and color combinations and flowers and flipping through wedding magazines.  I am not sure how long she can keep it up so I will have to counter all that with some trips to the backyard for some BB gun shooting!

Ok – that is enough for now.  I truly hope that you and yours are doing well out there!

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Barn Door, Open

Note to self:

When transitioning from 501 button-fly jeans to regular ol’ zipper jeans, check the barn doors before walking all around the office with your hands in your pockets….

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Time Traveling

Digging through some old catalogs last night and came across a Cheaper Than Dirt issue from August 2009 and this caught my eye.

I had to rub my eyes and take a 2^nd and 3^rd look – were those magical bullets?  Sterling Silver core?  No – this is how much Lake City SS109 was selling for late that summer - $729 for 1000 rounds….you can get the same thing today for $409 from CTD.

I know that a couple of folks have mentioned this – Ah, it was two of my favorites -  Commander Zero AND Tam from View from the Porch and I also saw a piece over at SurvivalBlog too - If you are just now freaking out with your pantaloons all in bunch – well, Tam says it best:

Okay, is it just those of us who've been shooting since '08 or earlier? Yeah? Good...

Then why in the name of Mars Pater did you wait 'til now to stock up?!?

You were around during the circus that was gun shows after Election '08 and you're just now waiting to stock up on magazines and buy that extra AR? You experienced the Big Ammo Drought and you've allowed your reserves to drop so low that you feel compelled to go make a panic purchase?

I am still buying when I see good deals – beans, bullets and band-aids and I have ammo and mags for guns I don’t own – but Tam and the Commander are right – we have had years and years to prepare. 

Things might get better, but more than likely they are going to get worse.

At one of the local Wally Worlds – you can buy a new Windham Arms AR-15 M4 clone (link to review) for the same price as that case of August 2009 5.56…..just saying….

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Armageddon Book Lovers Club

UPDATE!!  Fitting right in with this post -  John Wilson of WilsonBlog has published his outstanding novel Joshua.  It is gritty, dark and foreboding, is as enjoyable as any post-apocalyptic fiction can be, and is written by a guy who knows guns - that makes a huge difference to me.

If you like any of the books I mention below, you must get a copy.  Available in Kindle and paperback format.  Congratulations John!

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This weekend in Portland, we got to spend a couple of hours at Powell’s Books – a true Mecca for book lovers.  I found an old Jim Harrison book of poetry that I didn’t have in my collection so I picked that up and saw a couple other newer Harrison books that I don’t have yet.  I made a note of those for a future purchase.

The most interesting thing was the whole wall of end-of-times, post-apocalyptic, Armageddon-themed books on display next to the coffee shop.  Lots of good ones there, some I haven’t heard of (World Made by Hand and Swan Song).  The selection ranged from Stephen King’s The Stand to Earth Abides, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Lucifer’s Hammer and our own James Wesley, Rawles’ Patriots, right at the top of the display.

Of the 30 or so books they out, I have read about 25 of them. 

 

Has the shark jumped?  I really doubt it.  The stories are compelling, the different takes on how people react and adapt are intriguing, the contrasts between books written today versus 30 or 40 or 50 or 60(!!!) years ago is almost bittersweet.

Most importantly, they all feed my inner wookie.  I just hope they don’t all become How-To manuals anytime soon.

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10 Years?

Wow, 10 years ago today I started this site – lots of posts since then, lots of changes in my life and all of them for the better.  Back in the Spring of 2002 I was mooning over an ex-girlfriend (isn’t that what 98% of blogs are about anyhow?), I was doing a consulting gig for a firm out of San Diego, trying to recover from a layoff, crashing on my brother’s futon and living the dream!  Life is much better now. 

Because I have never been very good at getting things posted on a regular basis - this kind of says it all – from April 9, 2002:

Well, I should get back to work now, just thought I would throw a little content on to the site for now. I will try and post again tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

I better get back to work.

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Pass the Patchouli

We are all hippies now.

Joked with my mom about doing some macramé rifle slings over the weekend and she sent me a link to a DIY paracord rifle sling (AKA macramé) from the Jen’s DIY Lifestyle site and Tam is defending and extolling the virtues of free range chickens.

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Hippies

Saw a post over on SayUncle where he discusses the benefits of kefir – which I need to check out.  What caught my eye was his statement about the hippies which has come up quite a bit lately around my house and in discussions with my brother.

We (and hopefully you) are spending a lot of time and effort getting prepared – for what, we aren’t sure yet but there is definitely one or two things on the horizon that don’t look very promising and we don’t want to be caught flat-footed and unprepared.  Part of this ‘getting ready’ process has us looking at water catchment, expanding our garden, canning, storing food, studying and reading books on edible plants, researching solar panels, dusting off our old Boy Scout skills of working with rope and lashing, looking at land for sale off the beaten path, re-learning how to make lean-to’s and other shelters, smoking meat, going over what it takes to make candles, and I have dug out a pile of back issues of Mother Earth Magazine “for the articles”, etc etc etc. 

Basically, we are learning the back-to-the-earth skills of the 60’s and 70’s!  We ARE hippies, except this time we have USMC MarPat ILBE main packs and are much, much better armed!

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Secure Your F'ING Firearm

More on that toddler shooting in Tacoma – mother and boyfriend arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.  From The News Tribune in Tacoma:

Vita, who has a concealed weapons permit, had been carrying the gun – fully loaded and with a round in the chamber – in his waistband. He placed the weapon, which was equipped with a laser sight, under the passenger seat when he went to pump gas.

Vita told investigators he took the gun from his waistband because his pants were hanging low and because the last time a gas station attendant saw his gun, police were called.

…

Detectives talked with McIntosh’s family and friends who said Vita had displayed the gun to friends with the children present, showed off the laser beam to Julio and once offered to let the toddler hold the gun before another adult intervened.

The piece of crap “parents” deserve all they are going to get.

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Good Advice from the Bunker

Commander Zero has been on a tear lately – his latest is must-read stuff.  Gender Issues in Preparedness

He makes lots of good points and hits the ball out of the park, as he usually does. 

Go read.

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Cherry Blossoms and Silver

And just like that – POW – the cherry blossoms are all out here in the beautiful Northwest!  Hope they stay around for a while – usually they get in to full bloom and then we will get a crazy windstorm/rainstorm and there won’t be a trace left of the beautiful blossoms.

Following the advice and recommendation of Commander Zero, I have started a small monthly purchase plan with Montana Rarities.  I had been buying every now and then when I had the $ but the monthly plan is working out great – the one area where I save $ is that with the monthly plan, free shipping is included.  If you get ahead a little and have a few more bucks to spend on PM’s, any items that you add to your order are shipped for free with your monthly delivery.  Getting it set up was easy and straightforward.  Mark, the proprietor, has been great to work with and I highly recommend Montana Rarities and suggest you make a visit and check out the Monthly Silver Purchase Plan or if your pockets are deeper, check out the Monthly Gold Purchase Plan.

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Rainy Day Guns and Leather

Had fun shooting the pics last week and thought I would shoot a few more.  The 'models' in the photos are a S&W 635 625 Mountain Gun in 45 LC, a Savage 32 ACP (not as nice as Tam's but for a little over $100, I couldn't pass it up, maybe I will get it bead blasted or cerakoted.....), Colt 1908, Springfield MilSpec and a Colt Combat Elite.

All of the gun leather is from Dad. He had great taste in guns and accoutrements.  Hope you like the pics.  I tried using more natural light this time, less flash as John recommended.

Just realized that all the wood grips are Ahrends - I guess I like his stuff!  Smooth where it needs to be smooth and grippy where it needs to be grippy.

Three Babies, Three Weeks

For the third time in as many weeks, a parent being careless about how they secure their firearm has led to the wounding or death of a child.

It started with a horrible accident at a school in Bremerton: a 3^rd grader brings a gun to school because he is afraid of bullies, drops his backpack on the classroom table and seriously wounds a classmate.  She is still in the hospital and has gone through 5 surgeries so far to repair the wound from the .45 caliber pistol.  The 3^rd grader found the gun unsecured at his parents’ house.  The “parents” ( and I use that word hesitantly) are now being charged with 3^rd degree assault and face up to 5 years in prison.   The “parents” are also being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm because they are felons – banned from owning firearms.

The second horrible accident happened north of Seattle in Stanwood.  A 7 year old was shot and killed by her sibling.  The child got the gun out of the glove box of the minivan they were in while their parents – a Marysville police office and his wife – were outside the car.

The third one just happened Wednesday night.  Parents stopped at the filling station to get gas and the father leaves his pistol in the car while he fills the tank.  The father has a concealed weapons permit but apparently the gun is uncomfortable to wear, or it pinches his waist or who f’ing knows.  He stashes it under the seat of the car.  His 3 year old, one of two kids in the car, gets out of his car seat, pulls the gun out from under the seat and shoots himself in the head.  I know that there is more to this story but no one is talking about it yet.  Leaving a loaded, unsecured gun in a car is a crime here in Washington State. 

Parents  – SECURE YOUR F’ING GUNS.  If you don’t like the f’ing holster you are wearing, get one that is f’ing comfortable or don’t f’ing carry it.  If you need to leave your pistol in the car, pony up 20 or 30 bucks to get a secure locking box to put the f’ing pistol in.  Is your 3 year old worth $30?  Is having your child traumatized for the rest of their lives because they blew their sister’s f’ing head off worth $30? 

Don’t leave your f’ing guns laying around the house where your kids or their friends can get to them.  If you need to have guns in a couple rooms of your house – SECURE THE F’ING things so your kids don’t f’ing kill themselves or their friends.  Talk to your f’ing kids about guns and talk to them often about what to do if they see a gun at school, in the park, in a car, in a schoolmate’s backpack, at the mall or in the fast food bathroom.  As soon as you are able, drill, drill, drill the Daisy 10 Commandments of Firearm Safety into their heads, start them in the backyard with a BB gun and then once they are mature enough, get them out to the range to shoot pistols and rifles and out to the trap field to shoot some clay targets.

 

Teach them, show them how to be safe with guns and how to have fun with guns.  Teach by example.  Don’t be a jackass.

I cannot even begin to imagine what the parents of these children are going through.  It was and is avoidable.  Don’t be a f’ing jackass – secure your firearm when you are not in direct control of it. 

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Ear Worm

Whatever you do, do not click on this link to Tam’s site – I have had the Monkee’s in my head all morning…

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New Camera

Picked up a new little camera that will step in to the action when the camera phone just doesn't cut it.  Took a few fun pics of some of the collection today to see how the macro and super macro lens worked out.

Dad's Combat Commander with quite a bit of custom mods and the Combat Elite I gave him ~10 years ago - both of Dad's Colts have the grip safeties pinned.  It is just the way he liked them.  I bought the Elite for $369 used - it was part of a lot of ex-Seattle SWAT guns that Kesselrings had.   Should have bought them all.  Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special is mine.  I traded for it a couple of years ago - one of those situations where you see it in the used case and you try to act all cool and nonchalant and not let the dealer know that you have set your mind to walking out of the store with it.  More accurate than I will ever be, capable of 5 shot clover leafs at 15 yards.

I need to set up a light box and do these a little better. I do like the macro shots though.

Got Ammo?

Do you have enough ammunition to last you the rest of your life?  Do you have enough reloading components on hand to feel comfortable heading to the trap fields and shoot 4 or maybe even 8 rounds of trap and have it not feel like someone punched you in the gut and stole your wallet?  I am getting to the point where it pains me to shoot anything other than .22’s but being comfortable doing that takes having enough Federal Bulk on hand to crack the concrete slab in the corner of the garage!

Saw over at SHTFplan.com that there is pending legislation in Illinois to add a 2% tax on to ammunition purchases to “go toward a ‘high-crime trauma center grant fund’…”

It is a slippery slope friends, and like Mac says:

Like cigarettes and booze, ammunition, it will be argued, is a danger to public health and the general welfare, and as such, will require high taxation to cover the adverse social impact it causes. It’s only a 2% tax today, but once the idea takes hold without protest, it will without a doubt lead to massive price increases, leaving many without the ability to exercise a right that is a pillar of the US Constitution.

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Campaign

I am at the point that when I see an Obama re-election advertisement on a website that I have to look really close to make sure that it is real and not some type of joke or satire site.  Seriously. 

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Cool (hot) Gadget

Check this out – the BioLite Camp Stove, that when lit, using small sticks and twigs, creates thermoelectricity which powers a fan which stokes the fire creating more thermoelectricity which makes the fan to go faster which in turn generates excess electricity to charge cell phones, lights, etc. via USB.  Whew!!

Larger version is called the HomeStove which works on the same concepts as the Rocket Stove but with the power generator/USB doo-hicky attached.  Great idea.  I will be getting one or two of the smaller versions to add to my kit.

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Gotta get some canning tools!

Great post over at SurvivalBlog on canning all kinds of stuff.  I have been talking and thinking about canning for a long damn time and I just need to make the investment in the tools and get hopping!  The article covers canning meat, meatballs, meatloaf, soups, gravy  and even mentions bacon.  My mouth is watering!

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The End is Near

Shopping at Wally World last night and saw a couple of interesting things. First was this:

TONS of Auguson Farms products and all at really damn good prices.

Second thing I saw that made me do a double-take was the new Sig Sauer AR-15 in the Sporting Goods section….

They also had a good clearance deal on 28 gauge shotshellls.  I have quite a bit of ammo for guns that I don’t own yet J but I was able to resist picking those shells up!  It was hard though!!

If you aren’t stocking up, you just aren’t paying attention.

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