Liberals

At the end of an uberpost about the mindset of liberals, I arrived at a conclusion which summed it up in a single sentence. So I backspaced out five long paragraphs.

Liberals are spoiled children in adult bodies.

History Repeats Itself

In the '80's there were two recessions that I experienced personally. (I was off planet for the next two :-)) After 4.5 years of college, I graduated in the summer of '82, smack dab in the middle of a recession.  I took the first job I could find.  I got a leg up from a friend of my fiance's parents.  Five dollars and seventy-five cents an hour that job paid.  There's some prosperity rat thar.
By '86 I'd moved up a bit and things were getting better.  Our Sage and Wise congress decided that the real estate tax laws needed to be fucked over some revision and it was like someone had accidentally bumped the economy switch to OFF.  The little architectural firm I worked for went from 25 people to 8 in fairly short order. Having worked my ass off at every job I ever had since I was 15, I was in the 8.

I posted, in a whimsical way about this a short while ago. I can't recall which of those two '80's recessions in which it occurred, but we had 250 cars a day arriving in the Houston area that weren't leaving.

Today, on the way home slogging through traffic, it seemed that every 5th car had an out of state licenses plate.
Welcome to Texas.
I joked about this before, but not now.  The reason you left where you were and came here was liberal politics.
It didn't work there.  It won't work here.
Grow up.
Get over it.

Might I suggest Texas?

Specifically the Northwest side of Harris County would be a great place to relocate. 

Also I have this great idea for a factory outlet store.

We are a business friendly State and most of us are ardent supporters of the Second Amendment.

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Never piss off a Guy that Knows How to Drive a Bulldozer

Yes, a Bulldozer

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D.A.B. II is coming up soon

Dallas Area Blogshoot v2.0
Weekend of September 15 if I am not mistaken.
Belle and I were just recounting stories to one another about D.A.B. 1.0
To paraphrase:
Belle: "I aimed low while shooting TRE's garagineered .50 cal.  I wanted to see a big splash in the river.
kx59: yeah, the entry wound in the mud was dinner plate size.  Somewhere on the other side of the planet, a china-man jumped and said WTF? ( in chinese of course)

Republican Convention

Is anybody watching that crap?

just curious

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Product review HTC Evo 4G LTE phone

4.7" HD 720p Super LCD display

1.5 GHz dual core processor
8.0MP primary camera
1.3MP front-facing camera
Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Google Wallet™
Beats Audio™, for authentic sound
HD Voice capable*
An easy-to-use kickstand

All of that would be so awesome if it freaking worked.  Ok, so the kickstand works flawlessly.

 What I have is a cell phone (sometimes) and an itty bitty tablet pc that only works when in range of a wi fi signal.

Step one foot outside the wi fi signal or the Sprint 4G LTE signal and you get "Data Call Failure: error 97".

The GPS works wonderfully if a wi fi signal is available. If there is no wi fi signal, the phone proudly informs you that no cell signal is available in this area. Heh, you can't fool me, I can see a cell tower right thar.

*facepalm*

I coulda had a V8  I-phone.

From what I've read on the innertubes, some folks have returned this phone twice for a replacement only to experience the same result.

While it's going to be inconvenient, in a sadistic sorta way, I'm looking forward to the conversation I'm going to have with the phonedood behind the counter at the Sprint store.

I plan to pick a really really busy time of day.  I will explain to him that I have 5 phones with Sprint, and that after his attempts to remedy this problem, if I have to come back again, I will be shifting each of those 5 phones over to Verizon as the contracts run out. (some already have)

I'm very proud of my restraint in not having used the word "fucking" as an adjective applied to his HTC P.O.S. (well, at least until now)

Uhm...Yes

Should the NYPD Even be Issued Firearms?

And be required to spend much, much more range time. 

(and maybe a smidge of tactical training as well)

In light of the fact that it appears that all nine of the civilians recently shot in New York, were shot by the police, Mr. Owens believes that the beat officers should have applied less lethal force.

Let's see.  Sumdood is pointing a pistol at you, how do you respond:  a) Night Stick. b) Taser or c.) Service Pistol.
Mr. Owens believes answer b) is the correct answer.
I kept reading between the lines searching for hints of sarcasm in Mr. Owen's post at PJ Media, if it was there, I missed it.
If sumdood pulled a gun on me, I don't think I'd be drawing a taser. Hell the reflexive muscle contractions alone would probably cause him to squeeze off a round.

The Nooz picks its Nose

 The Weather Channel meteorologists are just about to wet themselves over Hurricane Isaac.  They have eight meteorologists in the field, spread along the Gulf Coast covering the event.
Even Frozone Paul Goodloe was motivated to get out of the studio to get some street cred.

Fifteen Years Ago

When we moved into this house this tree was seven feet tall. I could wrap my index finger and thumb around the trunk.

 I've had it professionally pruned and deep root fed twice. Once just before hurricane Ike came to visit.  Good call on Belle's part, I admit.
I've not had eight or nine hundred dollars to spare lately to get it done this year.
Oy. It's taller than our two story house now, and the canopy is as dense as a Q-tip.
Isaac winds his way into the gulf.
Firewood I don't really need.

Isaac trending West

Hurricane Isaac is just now entering the Gulf of Mexico.  Current tracking models are lining it up on a direct strike on New Orleans.
Sustained winds at 60 mph, which will stoke up fast in the warm gulf waters.
I have a bad feeling this may trend further west towards the BAR Hacienda.
Time to add to the hurricane supplies and attempt to fire up the generator.

Brass

In Pocket.
I found two in the right side pocket of my cargo shorts after getting home from the range.
Belle just found one in the right hand pocket of her shorts.
Kinda like sand.  That stuff gets everywhere.

A memory is a terrible thing.

Where Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Desperation is the Father of strength and courage to get it done.
I finally got the damn oil filter off the tC.  It's the cartridge type filter, so driving a screwdriver through it just wasn't an option.  Well, not today anyway, since I don't have a replacement part.
I've had to dissect one with a chisel before, but that was a well planned event with replacement in hand.

I decided to give the 14 flute filter socket a try again, summing up all my determination. Applying force slowly so as to not round off the corners till my hand hurt...wait...did I see movement there?
Rest.  Apply force to the point of pain again.  Yes, it did move.
Around ten more applications of pain got it to where it would turn reasonably well with the ratchet.
I was so elated that I neglected to put a bit of anti-seize grease on the container threads when I re-installed it.
oh, well. Next time. At least it's not torqued to infinity million foot pounds now.

Range Date Sunday

Being that we played the dart tournament Friday night, Range Date Saturday was delayed.
Belle let me run a few rounds through her 9mm M&P shield today. That will take some getting used to. Skinny little pistol it is.  My pinky finger was hanging off the bottom of the grip.  Very snappy in the recoil category. I was not displeased with my groupings, but then I was shooting at  very close range.

It's been a few weeks since I've made it to the range, or IDPA for that matter.  grumbleworkgrumblegrumble 
For some reason, while running the first few mags through my XDm, I decided I needed a death grip on the gun. This resulted in pushing the trigger left and anticipating the recoil, which made for a nice 6 inch group low and left of target.

Once I relaxed my grip, my groups arrived on target.  A hundred rounds goes by quick when you are having fun.

Did not go as planned......

Yeah, beer blogging did not commence Friday night.  Something about too much beer and being unable to find the buttons on the Blogger app on my phone...........


Normal blogging to continue soon..........

Oh yeah!!!

Beer blogging coming soon...  Woot

IDPA

well last night I got my very first clean run...     was I a happy camper?  Hell yeah!

Cool art

In the ladies bathroom at the range..

Rattling the Saber

Penn State appears to have rotted from the top down.
Heh.  Penn State professor. Michael Mann has elected to undergo the colonoscopy of discovery. "Discovery"  in the legal sense..

Dr. "Hide the decline in the Hockey Stick" says he is going to sue the National Review.  I'd be willing to bet that if this suit even makes it to the point of actually being filed, it gets dropped at the first request for production of documents.

I hope he's deluded enough to carry on. I'm looking forward to watching his "Global Worming".  I'm sure his partners in crime are feverishly performing the "I have to pee pee" dance right now.  Many of his esteemed Global Warming colleagues will be implicated if Dr. Mann's documents become public record.

I wonder if a defense fund has been set up yet at the National Review? I'll kick in at least the price of a movie ticket to whatch this unfold.

Shhhh. It's starting. Pass the popcorn

Sign of the day

This is outside of Shiloh Shooting Range....   love it

New grandson

This is a little late but am testing the Blogger app on this phone

Falling Down on the Job...

Okay, so I have not been posting much lately.  Fact is...  I've been busy.

Work has gotten a little hectic for me but is starting to settle down some.  But my social schedule... holy cow!

Monday Night - Bowling
Tuesday - Typically a Manicure, Pedicure or Waxing appointment depending on the week of the month
Wednesday Night - Darts (yes I know I was going to give it up....   they keep calling me to come back!  I have no self control when it comes to projectiles of any type)
Thursday Night - IDPA (that is if I'm not hungover or too exhausted from darts)
Friday Night - Sometimes a dart tournament but my full schedule during the week... am staying home on weekends more

So yes.... the Belle is a social butterfly who can't seem to stay her ass at home.  I'm sure that KX enjoys the quiet when I'm gone though.

Once I get settled down with my routine, I will start finding more time to spend sharing my sarcasm, humor and risque posts!

Funny of the day

found this on facebook....   it's really a win!

Love it

Stupid Party Convention next week

Libtard Convention follows.  Is this necessary this year? Is there any doubt about who the candidates are?  We'll just have to wait and see. Maybe crazy Uncle Paul has on last trick up his sleeve and is going to pull off a stunning coup.
I jest.  
Although, Uncle Slow Joe Biden is planning on attending the RNC. WTF? Oh, wait, it is the Stupid Party Convention.   Could be some kind of conspiracy here.
I've seen a number of theories on why Biden is headed to Tampa. Considering what a dumbshit that guy is, most of them make no sense.
The one that does make sense creeps me out.
Nah you say, could never happen.
We've never had a full blown Communist in the White House either.

Good Problems / Bad Problems

Too much work is a much better problem to have than not enough. I have about 8 months worth of work to do before the end of the year.
Already this is having a negative impact on my blog reading and posting on BAR. Not to mention that it looks like I'll be missing most of my IDPA matches for a while.
 Oy, the sacrifices I make for Architorture. I'm starting to feel a little twitchy and my attention span is

I think I'm going into withdrawal already.

Well. This should be Interesting.

That crack in the concrete and the wet spot coincide with the water main to the Crik House. Inside the water meter. Of course.  (waiting for North's innuendo, in 3...2...1) :-)
My elder Brother in Law's idea is to sleeve a smaller diameter pvc pipe through the existing pipe.
That "might" work.
I suspect we might have to come up with some creative "coring" techniques though.
I really don't want to recreate the "Great Escape" from Caney Creek.
We may need the Only Son and the older Nephew to operate the excavation devices.

Brakes part deaux

Two weeks back we did Brother in Law's disc brakes.  We'd have done the drums that weekend too, but we di'int have no instructions. No matter how much we beat it, that drum wasn't coming off. Then the next weekend I had to go fishing, never mind I didn't catch nothing, it was paramount that I be there to catch nothing. If I didn't do it who would? Those fish were not going to get not caught by themselves.

In the interim, the intertubes came to the rescue and the repair manual for BIL's car arrived.

Who knew there was a hub nut under the little silver cap that was actually holding the drum in place?

(k, well, at least one of us, but I'm not pointing any fingers)

A 30mm socket and a 24" breaker bar removed that impediment in short order.

Rebuilding brake drums sucks with a Capital S, but I have to hand it to the Ford engineers.  Rebuilding BIL's drum brakes on his Ford Focus only sucked with a lower case s.

On any new and unfamiliar shade tree drum brake job the first wheel takes about 4 hours.  The second wheel takes about thirty minutes because you have climbed the learning curve and crested the top.

I'm still pissed at Ford about the forward bolt on the wheel cylinder...really? 8.5 degrees of room to turn the bolt and no axial access. Hint, it's called a hole large enough for an 8mm socket you MORONS.

I'm ok, I feel better now.

The only pic I have is the before pic.  This is probably the most important step in the process. It prevents scratching your head with brake dust encrusted fingers when it's time for all those springs to go back together.

Then.   It RAINED.

Fortunately, we were done, inside drinking beer and watching Act of Valor on pay per view.

Desktop Flags at work

Old Glory flying proudly as wallpaper on a desktop at work would make me smile to be sure.
What the folks you work with do with their desktop can be quite telling. What follows are real life observations with real employees.

Bathing suite models wearing one ounce of swimwear as wallpaper indicate the employee in question is a horndog, married right after graduating highschool, that will hit on a client's receptionist and show up to a client meeting stinking drunk. Fired.

Hello Kitty wallpaper and turning all your icons into hello kitties points to emotional development of a 13 year old. She was laid off in the first round.

Changing the default windows desktop colors to "psychedelic"  on their desktop means you are either a) bored, b) have a drug problem and are bored, or c) are obsessive / compulsive and going to night school to become a loiya. (the analog indicator on item C is if you talk on the phone at volume eleventy and prefice every soliloquy, with "but you don't understand", and say the same dam thing again, three times..until kx59 tells you to shut the fuck up.)

Should one of your employees remove all of the icons from his desktop except for "my computer". You should be very concerned.  Especially, if while on the way down the elevator, he asks another employee where he can buy a  "silencer". I found out about this two weeks after the "event".

YA THINK, that might have been information I could have used YESTERDAY?

99.9%

of computer problems are caused by the users. This is 100% true.
50% of the time I can walk to the user's workstation and ask them to do what they did before while I watch over their shoulder, and lo and behold, it doesn't happen again.
Our Secretaries  support staff have been on a roll lately.
"I've tried to rename this file like ten times and it won't let me do it. So I tried to move it to another folder and it won't let me do that Either!"
"May I have your chair so I can get to the keyboard?"
I minimize umpteen different windows open and I arrive at a document.
"What was the file name of that document you were trying to rename?"
"It was xxxdlf.AIA.effing. contract.doc.doc."
"K"
"Let me close this and let's see if it works now."
"Oh! It worked!  That's so Weird!"
"Yes."
"You had the file open."
"You have a voter's registration card, don't you."
"Pity"

If it weren't for computers

My life would be immeasurably simpler.  

We would still be recording music on these.

I miss those days actually.  I would listen to songs played on the radio..played over..and over...and over...and over...and over... and over
If I hadn't gotten to the point where I'd puke on the dashboard before I could change the radio station, I'd purchase the LP in my semi-annual trip to the record store. (the disco years were brutal, thank  God for Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd)
I still have most of my old LPs. Most were only played once or twice. All were recorded to high quality cassettes for rebroadcast via the tape deck in my mean little '68 bug.
I still maintain that the sound from an LP played on a good turntable blows a CD and certainly an MP3 away.  Saturating a high quality tape by closely monitoring the equalizer during recording runs a close second.
And, I could run the cassette to death and make another from the once played LP when it went teats up.

On a Brighter Note

Nature Capitalism always finds a way.  My project in Austin has come back to life and I'm headed up that way as you read this.

Meanwhile:
Liberals Progressives Marxisists  your President especially your Vice President Communists can't find its own ass in the dark.

Overheard at the bar........

So just when I thought that I was done with dart league forever.....    they rope me in again.  I got a text message last Wednesday saying...  please!  We need just one more person!  (dramatic sigh) I just can't say no.

At least sometimes it gets mildly entertaining.....

Dart Thrower 1:   Did you ever serve in the military?
Dart Thrower 2:  No, I didn't. 
DT 1:  Oh, decided to do other things?
DT 2:  Yeah, I could have taken over the world, except I have asthma..

Then he made some off hand remark about having gone to college.  Out of the mouths of drunk people....  

A friendly note to auto assembly personnel

An oil filter does not require 100 foot pounds of torque to ensure it does not leak.
No, really. I've hand tightened hundreds of them with no leak problem. Really.

Also, cross threading is not an alternative progressive installation method.

The  canister containing the cartridge filter on my 2012 Scion tC refuses to budge.

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I do have the 65mm TRD 14 flute oil filter socket, thanks for asking.

This might turn out to be like the cap on Belle's Chevy Malibu cartridge oil filter. It appears I'll have to find a replacement before the next removal attempt, cuz I had to break that one off to replace the filter.
When I say "break", I mean take a chisel and hammer to it.

This is going to require some deep deep google fu. I may not be back for days.
Thank god for google translate, otherwise I might have to learn how to read Japanese.
 The car was built in Japan. Nobody has replacement parts, that I've seen. Not even my go-to site www.rockauto.com.
God forbid, I should have to go to a stealer dealer for parts.

As an unsolicited plug, if you need parts for your car, particularly parts you can't get at your local third party auto parts store, fire up the intertubes and go HERE.
They have everything you need and can't find anywhere else. (except for my Scion just yet)

See, this is what happens when you elect moonbats to positions of power.

Cal-State has put a "freeze" on accepting new students to the University system if Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown doesn't get him some sweet sweet tax increases.

"The university is moving to reduce enrollment to deal with $750 million in funding cuts already made in the 2011-12 fiscal year and position itself for at least an additional $200-million cut next year if the tax proposal fails"

As in, not accepting California residents.

Californians must be so pleased about this.  They've paid hard earned tax money into the system their whole working lives, hoping their kids will make decent enough grades to get into the State University, the one with the "less expensive" tuition, only to have their elected officials commit... what's the word I'm looking for..there it is..extortion.  Pay up or no State college for little Johnny.

But Wait! There's More!

 If you have cash, you go to the head of the line!

Out-of-state students, who represent only about 3% to 4% of the system's total, will probably not be affected because their higher tuition covers the cost of instruction, officials said.

Now, their State University System has become the British National Health Service, or is it the Canadian Healthcare System?
From personal experience, I know that if you have cash in your pocket and pay free market rates, you go to the head of the line in a Canadian Doctor's office, bypassing all the wheezing Canadians with their little plastic cards in the waiting room. In and out in twenty minutes tops, pharmacy script in hand.
Either will do for comparison.
This is exactly what we have to look forward to with Obummercare.

Meanwhile Governor Moonbeam and his band of moonbat miscreants in Sacramento continue to ratchet down the vice grip of increased taxation in an effort to squeeze more blood out of the rock.

found via: The Conservatory

Way too cute!!

Saw this on Facebook...

Just HAD to post it here....

This is for CoolChange

Reminiscing about football stars from long ago over at his place. Days gone by before so many of the players were heavily tatted and moronic wife beaters.
Earl did everything he could to avoid hurting anyone, really. He'd juke and jive to get around you, but if you were persistent, God help you.  Point in case, right around 2:16 in the video.

Temporary Job Listing

Wanted: Project oriented  individuals that can adhere to a strict schedule.   Job offers low pay and no possibility of future advancement.. Benefits include 72 virgins.  Must be capable of pushing a button.

Al-Qaeda’s ‘suicide bombers wanted’ ad

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Captcha codes, MessNBC and George Soros

No direct relationship between the three necessarily, just three random musings vying for Top Thought.  It's Coops fault.  Mental whiplash from looking at a pic of The Won!, and then cute cheerleaders.

1)  The Captcha codes have gotten so distorted that I'm pleasantly surprised when I get one right.  Commenting on Coop's post, I managed to get that one right the first time.  I had to tilt my head at a 45 degree angle, but I gotterdun.  Sigh.  No lotto win this week for me.
2) MessNBC has a new logo! Bend Over!  Lean Forward.  Bias Much?
MessNBC has to be losing money hand over fist. I mean, that network is a gigantic sucking vortex of insane liberal fail. George Soros must be funding them to keep them afloat.
Speaking of which:
3)  Good ole George is engaged to a women less than half his age.   I wish her all the best.  The pre-nup was probably drafted by a dungeon full of loiyas, so it's going to be tough to pull an Anna Nicole Smith on him.  But I say give the good old gold digger try anyway.  I suggest pumping him full of Viagra, just to road test the ole ticker.  Downside is that you go back to your old job and go on the hunt again.  The upside for the rest of the free world is you tie his estate up in legalese beyond November 2012.

Go out There??!!

In the Boat? No, nonononono.
It's dangerous.
I'm staying riiiiight here.

Thank goodness I didn't make myself a widow!

Okay, so we are back from the crick and I would have wrote written about this yesterday but I was a little too shaken and Kx was even more so....

We went to lunch yesterday at a restaurant that sits on the creek.  We decided to take the boat.

Now, keep in mind that I'm no expert at driving a boat.  In fact, I learned from my other half how to drive a boat as I had only steer from the lap of my dad when I was a little girl.

The boat in question, I was always reluctant to be at the helm because for one, it's an expensive boat, and two...   well, it's longer and heavier than the boat that I used to drive and three, it's not exactly our boat, but rather Kx's father's boat that we are allowed to use at our leisure..

Lately, I've been wanting to drive the boat more, which means I have to learn how to pull it into the slip so that we can dock it.  This of course is a useful skill in case something happens and I have to drive us back in from a fishing trip because Kx is for some reason unable to do so.

So yesterday, we go to the restaurant and I'm pulling into the slip.  Kx is barking his usual commands... REVERSE... REVERSE...  STRAIGHTEN YOUR WHEEL....   FORWARD.. REVERSE REVERSE!!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to avoid an obstruction in the water AND I notice the starboard (right side of the boat for you land lovers) stern (back of the boat) are about to be under the pier.  I was in neutral but didn't want to let go of the wheel (my mistake, its okay to leave the helm when you are in neutral) but my arm caught on the throttle and I ended up giving it a lot of gas.

The sudden motion caught Kx by surprise and almost dumped him into the creek between the boat and the pier, which I rammed in to.  Had he gone overboard, I would have crushed him.........  

Once everyone calmed down, and the better part of my ass grew back from the chewing that it got from Kx, it was fine.  It was a close call and a lesson very well learned.

Good news is that he let me drive home and pull the boat in the slip at the house, which wasn't exactly pretty but I got the job done without hitting anything which is an improvement!

In two weeks, we go back......   docking drills are a MUST.......  

Something about this just appeals to me

Bare bones fishing boat
Hmmm horseshoe pits need some maintenance.  Yeah, not happening this weekend.

This is your Captain speaking

STFU I'm Driving

Fishin time

I'm in love!!!

I'm all smiles and giddy....

Little man is coming by the office today to see his Nana. 

His mama is taking him to the doc to go get weighed, so Little Man will have his mom and big sister, Scooter in tow.  The little ginger is in pre-school today so she won't be with them.. :(

But oh i am soooo  in love!

Right now my arms are aching to hold the little guy.......     my day just got 10 times better.

Went looking for something and found this instead

Maybe it's just me, but when I look for something, I tend to not find it. I've found the way to find the thing I was looking for before is to look for something else. I won't find the something else, but invariably I find the thing I was looking for before.
What I was looking for was a Bonnie Raitt music video with a harmonica player that just ripped his solo up.  Borepatch's post dredged this memory from my mind.
What I found instead was a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn she did in Austin.  "Pride and Joy".
Stevie Ray's guitars were custom built.  The strings on his guitars were of a heavier gage than what I play on my acoustics. He could bend baling wire just shy of a C sharp with his pinky finger.
 I digress.
I've attempted to learn how to play a steel slide on a six string.  I failed.  Bonnie, like a true professional makes it look effortless.  I cannot even begin to describe the deftness of touch playing a slide on a guitar requires.

Not the way I planned to spend the evening

My BIL emailed me this morning, writing that his car was struggling to start and that he thought his battery was headed south. So I wrote back to check the battery terminals for corrosion before he went and bought a new battery.
So, BIL was going to stop by this evening to borrow a few wrenches and clean up the terminals. They were pretty bad. When I say bad, I mean they looked like tempura fried shrimp. The negative terminal connection was completely buried in white corrosion.
When you are doing shade tree mechanics, something always goes wrong.  If things go well for too long, it means something really bad is going to happen before it's over.
BIL dropped one of the terminal nuts down into the engine bay. We hunted for it for a while and gave up.
Fortunately, I keep random left over nuts and bolts so we overcame that little problem. Given the minor nature of this mechanical undertaking, I thought we'd made it through the driveway crawler's rubicon.
BIL gets in to start it up and we are greeted with...nothing, no crank, no click no nothing. So, after a bit more inspection, we discover a small ground wire, formerly attached to the negative wiring harness has broken loose. Holding that wire to ground does not result in a starting car, so I pronounce the car dead and tell him he's going to have to get it towed. For him, that's the really bad part. Tow charge, pay a mechanic etc etc.
So, we were going to push it out into the street by the curb to get it out from behind Belle's car.
Key is turned to the on position and the emeffer will not come out of park.  It is now a Ford Brick.
Long story short, I managed to maneuver Belle's car from in front of BIL's car out into the front lawn and get it out into the street by the curb so she can get to work in the morning.
Just imagine every youtube video of the world's worst parallel parker you've ever seen and you'll have a good idea of how that process went.
Now I'm back from dropping my BIL back at his place and enjoying a hoppy beverage I put in the freezer to chill when I got home.  Beer  Slushy anyone?

I feel..... dirty

Yeah, am feeling a little unclean right now.  Just had to enter a donation to be paid to the Mittens campaign for President.

UGH...  

Sometimes work is just....    work...


Good news is that in two days time, i will be on the water fishing.....   

The higher you rise, the further you can fall

Brings to mind Icarus from Greek mythology (hey, I'm a highly educated, and licensed redneck... by the State of Texas no less).
Randy Travis' life has apparently turned to shit, so he decided to get drunk and get neckid and now he's in the news. ( and jail)
For my non-Southern readers: If you are naked, you are disrobed. If you are neckid, you are disrobed and up to something.
It appears Randy was so neckid that he either;  a) got into an altercation with the PoPo, or;  b) fell down of his own accord and face planted on the asphalt.
Getting your name out there appears to have become a life threatening undertaking for aging Country Music Stars these days.  I mean really. What you have to do to get higher up the list on Drudge than Lady Gaga.
All of that blather aside, I'd like to dedicate this to my lovely, and well armed wife, The Southern Belle.

Range Report M & P Shield

Well, I took my Shield to the range today and she fired beautifully, though I'm not completely accurate with it just yet.

The gun is small, perfect for concealment and the action on it is smooth.  I had no misfires or jams and I put about 100 rounds through her.

What I like about this gun is the trigger.  The trigger is nice and tight, not a lot of play in it and it's not what I call spongey at all like the regular full size M&P models that I have fired in the past.  The reset on the trigger isn't that far forward so it makes rapid firing very easy.

A warning that I do have about the trigger is that it's heavy.  It takes a lot of pressure to squeeze off those rounds so the temptation to 'pull' rather than 'squeeze' is significant.

Using this gun as a main carry gun, for me, is not an option.  It only holds 8 + 1 rounds and because it's a single stack magazine, it's harder for me to load than my XDm.

Racking the slide can also be problematic for some women out there, women who are a little more delicate in the hands than I am.  The slide is tight on it and can be hard to rack for some.  Also, for some out there, the gun is a little snappy when it fires and it beats the hell out of your hand.

All in all though, I really love the gun and I'm going to enjoy shooting it on a regular basis.  I'm sure that once I get used to it, I will be much more accurate with it, I just have to practice.

Do I recommend the Shield for a back up gun?  Absolutely.  Would I recommend it for a lady shooter who wants a carry pistol?  Well, on that, I would have to say that it would depend on the lady.  I know that a lot of men out there like picking out guns for their wives, my best advice is always  DON'T EVER DO THAT GUYS!  But especially in the case of the Shield.  It may pack a little more punch than your wife is comfortable with, again...   it depends on the lady and her comfort level with guns.

So, here's my target, over all I didn't do too bad, but it wasn't all that great either.  Practice Practice Practice

I was shooting low and left a lot today, which is of course finger placement on the trigger, plus I tended to pull not squeeze.

I am really a happy camper though.

Watching the Olympics in High Def

High jump is on as I type. First round, bar set at 7'-6".  That's almost as tall as The Ogre Big Guy.
Put a mark 10" above a door in your house and imagine jumping over that with no mechanical assistance.
My skills at digression are improving. Back to the subject at hand.
Watching the up close slow motion replays from the women's 200 meter hurdles finals was interesting in HD.   The force of impact from each stride could be seen in slow mo ripply goodness  all the way up to cheekbones and eyelids.  ("ahem, my eyes are up here")
No, really. The images reminded me of the old astronaut g force tests in the giant centrifuge thingy that pushes your brain out through your ears.

Where is that freaking thing!

My range bag and my 'puter have had a thing going for a while it appears. When I got home from the IDPA match last week, I set my range bag down on the floor as I sat on the couch.  The 'puter reached out to entwine little velcro fingers with the range bag.
So, when I picked up the bag to head upstairs, I summarily yanked the laptop off the end table via the velcro strap on the computer power chord.  I was unaware that it was possible for this action to accelerate the chordless mouse to the requisite 88 miles per hour allowing it to break the time / space continuum.  There's just not that much stuff in this room, but that mouse is still nowhere to be found.
Probably hanging out with the cell phone I lost in here a few weeks back. (and half the mates to my socks)
I don't know...not as young as I used to be. Maybe it's my brain that went down the wormhole.

wait..I didn't look in the clothes dryer...

Welcome Home Little Sister

Today, I got a call.....

My Smith & Wesson M&P Shield came in.....   finally!

What a week!  A new grandson........   A new gun!

Yep, life is good!

Range report tomorrow!

Running out of daylight

My brother in law and I started on his brake job this morning at nine. The disk brakes went quick, with the exception of the autoparts dood giving us the wrong rotors and pads.  So we hightailed it back for the correct stuff.
My BIL let his brakes go a bit long. 95,000 miles.
Yeah, it was time for a brake job.

Meeting Joshua David

This morning I woke up at 5am to find a photo of my new grandson that had been texted to my phone....   I spoke with my daughter and everything was just perfect.  He came in at 6lbs 9oz and is 19 1/2 inches long.

So after I got up, made coffee, showered and got dressed, I went to the hospital and met him.

When I first got there, they had taken him to the nursery for a checkup and so I had to wait.  I had a very nice visit with my daughter and then....    they brought in Joshua.

I don't know what came over me, other than pure joy.  Don't get me wrong... his sisters are a joy, but there is something about my first grandson that really tugs at my heartstrings (probably the fact that I've always favored little boys born into the family) but all of a sudden, the tough Southern Belle, was reduced to a puddle of joyful tears.

I cried and cried... and all I could do was look at him until I stopped shaking.  I can't tell you how happy I am today, it's simply.....  bliss.

Now I find myself  thinking of all the cool things that I'm going to get to teach him to do....   fish...   shoot...   play ball....   fish....   shoot.....   haha!!

Without further ado, here are a few pics of Joshua David and one of his emotionally proud Nana holding him.....    

A note to my grandson....   "Joshua, your middle name is David which means 'beloved'...   the name is fitting as you are truly my beloved baby boy.  Welcome to the family, Nana loves you with all her heart."

A note to my granddaughters....   "Heili Maria Lynn, and Alana Diane...    I love both of you girls just as much as I love your brother.....   The both of you make Nana proud.."

Today, my friends....   I am truly blessed.

Looks like

The new grandbaby is finally going to arrive tonight.
Timing could be better. We are headed to the KISS concert. 
Bet I'm not the only old dude with ear plugs there tonight.

IDPA

So last night was totally fun.

Kx shot really well..........   but not well enough to defeat the Belle... woot!

I FINALLY beat him.........    hehehe

The Purple People Eaters showed up

Left early for lunch to make my third attempt to get my fingerprints taken.  Finally succeeded.
As I exited the elevator into the lobby I noticed a bunch of purple shirts protesting outside the front doors (SEIU). The janitors are on strike.  I so wanted to snap a couple of pics, but after two failed attempts at getting the fingerprints done, there was no way I was going to be late for my appointment.
I wondered if they realized the office park is private property.  I suspected they'd be gone by the time I got back. Heck, maybe Security didn't have to run them off.  If they are still around, they are out in the public right of way somewhere sweating their asses off. Ninety-five degrees outside with a heat index of eleventy hundred, and not a one of them looked to be a pound under 240.
ooh girl, my press on nails are startin to come undone, I got to get in to some air conditioning.

Oh this is just classic!

So NBC is calling it bad timing, but remember that this gets aired hours after it's happened because of the time difference.

First off, I can't stand Bob Costas and so the fact that this has happened and he's the one it happened to...  priceless.

So the question is....   does someone at NBC have a grudge against Bob Costas?  A sick sense of humor?  Or is it racist?

You decide.

Of course had it been Fox News Channel with this incident, the left would be calling for someone's resignation....

Overheard On the Couch

Sometimes I can be a little 'gruff' in my tone of voice when speaking to my other half.  Poor guy, he will say something and catch me in the middle of watching TV or surfing the web or chatting..  and I will turn around give him my reply in full snark tone.

This happened last night and this is what took place:

Kx59:  Asks question....
Southern Belle:  Snarky reply...
Kx:  "Well goddamn, Taz!"
SB:  "Taz?"
Kx "blahblahblahblah ppppbbbllllttt" (Taz imitation, a very good one at that)
SB:  (laughing)
Kx:  "I'm just going to call you Taz, that's what you sound like."
SB:  "Fine, just for that I'm going to go get a tatoo of Taz on my shoulder"
Kx:  "Knock yourself out"


I see a Taz on my shoulder in the very very near future....   bwahahahah

IDPA Thursday

If I ever learn how to follow directions, I might get a little competitive at this. I was either hot or cold on a given stage tonight. One stage I'd smoke it, the next just totally duff it.

My worst stage of the night should have been the easiest - hammer drill. First mag loaded to six. Six shots to the body, reload, two shots to the head, distance to targets was close enough even I could see the holes. My body group was not bad. I pushed the trigger bigger than shit on the two head shots and very precisely missed.  Had I been more attentive, I would have known I was limited to two shots at the head. Dumbass me missed the two, and figured, hell I 've got 8 more, keep at it.
10 points down on that stage. I did eventually get two in the head. With the time penalties, I think my time on that stage was about 10 hours 15 seconds.

The most interesting thing tonight was shooting in the dark with a flashlight. I've not done that before, and come to think of it, the opportunity to do so doesn't present itself every day.  Six targets total, two of which are no-shoots.  While standing behind cover, the no shoot targets are re-positioned for each shooter.  One shot in each of the four viable targets. To my surprise, I got a clean run on this stage, nothing but net.

The thing that has become patently clear to me from shooting IDPA matches is that shooting under time pressure highlights every little fumble with drawing, shooting, tactical reload, or dropping an empty mag and reloading.  I need to do a little training on this.

Oh, I almost forgot my best duff of the night. On a tactical reload, I failed to seat the mag all the way and on the following shot, the mag said CYA and dropped to the floor.  Video at ten.

Wow, time flies... Rolling up on 2nd Blogiversary

On September 4th, BAR will be having our 2 year Blogiversary.

I never really knew where I was going to go with this little blog when I started it.  I started off with a mild political rant and then moved on to a couple of funny stories then from there, once Kx sent the famous Borepatch a headsup that I started blogging....  zoom!  My blog started taking off.

My first inquiry about who the heck is reading my blog recieved a comment from The Big Guy and he said, "Reading? We're not just reading, Sugar... Some of us have added you to our blogrolls and RSS readers.  Keep up the good work!"  (I love fact that he called me Sugar  good ole Southern boy that he is...   and meeting him in person was wonderful! I hope he can make DABII)

Soon, I started reading other blogs, mostly Gunnies and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed shooting and so I decided to take it up again.  That's been about a year and a half ago.

Finally, I convinced Kx59 to join me in blogging and thank goodness he did!  He's been great about keeping the blog rolling and because of him, I have gotten more and more in tune with the gun blogging community.

So, how is BAR doing?  For a little blog that I never dreamed anyone would care to read so far our stats look like so:


Total Pageviews as of this morning 52,608
Average hits per day are anywhere from 100-250
We have 1067 (about to be 1068) posts published
There are 36 Followers (thank you so much!!!)
We have hits from EVERY state in the Union, plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the USVI
Since this past November alone, we have hits from 79 Countries (Excluding the US) spanning over 6 continents (am missing Antartica).

Top 10 Countries who read BAR Highest to Lowest Hit Count:
United States
Russia
Germany
United Kingdom
Canada
Turkey
Indonesia
The Netherlands
France
Brazil

Our largest referring sites:
Goggle
Gun Blog Blacklist (thanks North!)
Feral Irishman
Borepatch

So I want to just stop and take the opportunity to thank all of you for reading.  Thank you to our readers from all over the world (would love an email from you letting me know who you are and why you like our blog...  I'm way curious over that one)!

I think that the best thing that I have gotten from blogging is the sense of a very good blogging community out there.  Having the opportunity to meet wonderful people such as The Redneck Engineer and Bob S and aforementioned Borepatch and The Big Guy.

It's not just those four, but so many others that we've met Ye Old Furt, Alan and well, they are all listed in the Side Bar.... Having met each of you is an honor and a pleasure!

My suspicion is that many of our overseas readers are either Military or people who are working over seas.  For those of you in our Armed Services, please, once again, accept my humblest thank you for not only reading, but for defending my right to even have this blog!

I know also that many of our readers are Veterans and again, my deepest thanks to you as well.

I am seriously in awe and very humbled by how quickly this blog has taken off most of which has been in the past 8 months or so.  (Since KX joined the BAR team)

If you all keep reading....  we will certainly keep writing!

Thanks again!

Sweet Anticipation!!!

My Smith & Wesson Shield will hopefully arrive at the gun store today....   I've been waiting for one since before Mother's Day. 

It was supposed to be a Mother's Day present for me....  I got a new Bluetooth instead....   so I thought it was going to be a birthday present... but it wasn't.....   so now it looks like it's just a pleasant surprise... :D


I'm and sooooo excited!   Alexa is going to have a Little Sister....   

I will post a review with pics later on, and once my other holster arrives, I will post on how I carry, etc. etc.

So much fun!!

Welcome to a new BAR member

David, from Musings Over a Pint.
He didn't know it till now, but I'm one of the frequent gazillion hits on his blog via the GBBL.
Quite the shooty goodness social network North created there, The GBBL, isn't it?

Speaking on my own behalf, I'm honored that David finds my expletive laced rants amusing enough to follow.

I know, it's probably Belle's posts.  I indulge my own delusions.

Tactical Firearms Owner steps in it in a Radio Interview

Language Alert!   Another Douchebag is making me use the word "douchebag" in a second post this week.

One Jeremy Alcede, Owner of Tactical Firearms, Katy Texas, went on one of our local AM Talk Radio stations today, on the Matt Patrick radio show talking about the "stop online ammunition sales act".
Tactical Firearms is a really nice indoor range. I've shot there one time now. Looks like it's the last until the next ice age kicks in.
Poor ole Jeremy really stepped on his own dick.  Somehow, this pinged Tam's spidey senses way up yonder.
For one, Jeremy appeases the bully, "Let's just give them this one, maybe they'll just go away", speaking of the anti-gun 'tards in D.C.
Then Jeremy's true motivation surfaces as he whines about big online ammo sites buying direct from the manufacturer, and to paraphrase, hey, maybe if big online ammo seller is out of the picture, then the manufacturers will be begging Tactical Firearms to take the ammo off their hands at a discount.
And, of course Jeremy would pass that savings on to you.
  It's just a win-win situation I tell ya.
If you get real quiet, even as far away as you might be while reading this, you'll hear a faint scream momentarily. That would be me.
1)  You never, ever give a fucking inch where gun control legislation is concerned Jeremy.  You are a self serving weasel of a Douchebag.
2)  You want to sell me 1000 rounds of 9mm for $200 Jeremy?  You do that, I'll buy it from you instead of the online ammo dealers I buy from. That will require a capital investment on your part to buy a butt load of ammo to get the price break from the manufacturer. Until you are willing to do that, don't go fucking whining on the radio, douchebag.
YOUMUTHERFARGINSONOFANICEHOLE.
I am so fucking pissed, and dissapointed in Mr. Alcede.
Ya kind of expect the owner of a shooting range to be on the good guy's side, ya know. As opposed to selling out his own customers.
I hope you reap the rewards of your self serving douchebaggery Jeremy.
Does Chick-Fil-A ring a bell with you?

H/T:  Keads

FCC says No Double Dipping to Verizon

So you've got an unlimited data plan on your swoopy smart phone.  To tether and use it as a wifi hotspot, you have to pay an additional fee (assuming you haven't rooted your phone) to access data you've already paid for.
Irritating, no?

Verizon recently got spanked by the FCC for doing this.

More in the article by Stephen J. Vaughn-Nichols at ZDNet

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Shields Up!

Not exactly a Star Trek deflector shield, but close enough.

Dan Patrick, Texas State Senator Sold His Soul

Dan Patrick, former television sports announcer and radio personality. Dan bought a radio station, KSEV, in Houston, and became a conservative opinion leader for the Houston Metroplex.
Dan excoriated and vilified David Dewhurst, lieutenant Governor of Texas on the airwaves over Dewhurst's liberal politics for years.
Dan, so it appeared, had his fill and threw his hat into the ring to run for a state senate seat a few years back, to do something about the liberal politics in this state.
Dan won his first election bid 75/25.
In this election cycle, Dan endorsed David Dewhurst, the same man he vilified a few scant years ago.
(this is my quizzical dog face)
WTF?
I heard Dan on KSEV just the other day, talking about the Cruz / Douchebag Senate race, trying to soft pedal his endorsement.  To paraphase: Cruz, Dewhurst, both are good canidates, however you want to vote, is ok with me, be the ball Danny, I'm a veg)
What was so important Dan? Such a huge issue that you would sell your soul to David Dewhurst and endorse him? (does he have unseemly photos of you Dan?)
I voted for you, in the past.
You've lost my vote.
BTW, Cruz beat your BFF by 12 points, inspite of Douchebag spending $20 mill of his own money.
On the brighter side, maybe this will put a serious dent in Douchbag's next  bid for Lieutenant Governor.
I'd be totally ok with that.
Dan Patrick's political days are numbered. Hope the radio gig is working out ok.
Oh, Mac in the morning sucks, just a helpful parting comment.
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In the Presence of Giants

We had close friends down at the creek this past weekend. Husband and Wife, and her Dad.
He's 75, about the same age as my Dad. Enlisted in the Air Force at 18 or so. Got out and in short order enlisted in the Army. He is, physically a giant of a man as well.  Career Military man.
Stationed in the U.S., Korea, Vietnam Vet, Germany, you name it.
I found myself drawn to him, eager to engage him in conversation, of which there was much.
I'm still mentally processing the conversations.
Thank You Joe, for your service.
I think he had a good time down on the crik.
Ever been hugged by a Giant?