House Guest

This is Bentley. She is a chocolate lab. She belongs to Pat and Tim, they went out of town and we are taking care of her. This picture was after a good game of fetch in the pond. She was tuckered out.

Projectiles...

Fun fun fun...

Luke and I went shooting...

So, this afternoon Luke and I headed out to find somewhere to go shooting, besides Helmer, since it is so far. Well, we ended up out there, because it is kinda the place to go. Luke was breaking in his new Browning .308. I was trying out some of the loads I worked up last night, while waiting for the bats to leave (pictures forthcoming).
We shot all we had to shoot by 7:00. Then a fella pulled up in a darn good looking Dodge Cummins. He had a bumper sticker that read: God Bless Our Troops, Especially the Snipers. He had a bench rest in the back of the truck and we figured he was okay. He asked us what we had been shooting and then said, "You wanna shoot a real gun?"
With trepidation, we agreed. I told him I would catch heck for being late, but he said it would be worth it.
He pulled out the gun cases. In his hard case was a AR-style .50. He told us he'd shoot one and let us. He flinched when he pulled the first time, w/o firing, then said, "I have to do that, just to get the jitters out."
"You see that rock in the sunshine above the bush?" "Yeah." (It was 120 yards). BOOOOOM!!!
The rock busted into peices and tumbled.
He handed it to me, with a smile. I loaded it, pulled it to my shoulder and then remembered the safety. I had no idea where it was. "Just like an AR-15," Mike says. Since Aaron has one, and I have shot it, I knew where the safety was. I clicked it off. Deep breath. I was aiming for a rock above a bush that I thought was 20 feet up the hill.
BOOOOM!!! I felt the kick, not too bad, but the concussion from the shot hit me right between the eyes. The feeling reverberated down my body.
The rock was actually about 40 feet up. What a rock slide! It was awesome!
Luke took his shot. BOOOOM!!! Dadgumm.
That was one fun gun to shoot. We thanked Mike, of course now we introduced ourselves. He was from Moscow. A native, and a darn good fella.
Our smiles said it all. Mike said it was almost more fun to watch people shoot the gun than it was to shoot it.
So, the load of his ammunition was 220 grains of pulled military powder with a 700 grain bullet. In comparison, I shoot a 130 grain bullet with about 4.3 grains of powder. In the picture above this post is one of Luke's .308's. The next round (middle) is the 50 BMG. The far left is a snap cap.
Way too much fun!

Here are two good articles:

I do not generally do this kind of thing, but I found a couple of great articles on the 2nd Amendment.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Carrying firearms a chance to educate public

Have you ever watched a Western movie and noticed the cowboy who looked out of place, but you couldn't figure out why? At some point in the movie it is pointed out that ol' Slim doesn't pack iron because he killed/nearly killed an innocent man/woman/child years ago and he swore he'd never touch another gun. How Slim deals with his demons is his own business; the point is that he stand out because he's not wearing a six-shooter.

These days the tables have turned and now most people are not seen with a handgun perched on their hip. When one sees someone carrying a gun, one usually assumes the armed person is either an off-duty police officer or someone up to no good. Most likely both assumptions are wrong.

There is a growing cadre of law-abiding gun owners who use their everyday interactions with others to educate them about firearms and our rights. According to a Los Angeles Times story, most states allow people who aren't barred from owning or carrying firearms to carry them openly. That is the way things should work in a free society; what isn't specifically forbidden is allowed. And government must have a good reason to forbid something.

Open carry is legal in Colorado, except where specifically banned. Locally, open carry was the subject du jour in 2003 when a man began carrying a shotgun with him as he went about his business. When his business included attending City Council meetings, council members took notice and banned open-carry in city-owned buildings. El Paso County has a similar law. Other than government buildings, including public schools and post offices, carrying firearms openly is legal most places in the Pikes Peak region.

Property owners have the right to forbid customers to carry on their property. We'd urge them to err on the side of freedom. When people see firearms owners as the friendly guy ahead of them in line at the grocery store or the woman sharing a joke with them at the coffee shop, they're likely to have a good opinion of firearms owners. Too often, the only thing non-owners hear about firearms is in connection to criminal activity. That unfairly casts legitimate owners in a bad light.

It's not just men packing iron these days, either. More women than ever before are attending firearms safety classes and carrying guns, openly or concealed. They know that firearms can be a safety factor for someone who knows how to use them. A 250-pound thug will think twice when he discovers his 130-pound intended victim is not inclined to do his bidding and has the ability to protect herself and her rights.

Firearms dealers and shooting clubs are presenting classes specifically aimed at educating women about firearms. Manufacturers are responding to this new market by rolling out firearms designed for women's smaller hands.

Open carry is not without its problems, though. Many police officers might not be aware of the legality of the practice and are apt to err on the side of caution when they come in contact with an armed citizen. Other people can feel uncomfortable in the presence of a firearm and might complain to management or call the police. Those who carry openly must be ready to explain their rights and let others know they don't present a threat.

It can be a dangerous world, and the recent budget cuts show there won't always be a police officer or sheriff's deputy around to protect everyone. Even if government had enough money to put an officer on every block, he could be at the other end of the block when some bad actor demands your wallet or kicks in your front door. Ultimately, each person is responsible for his or her own safety. And if gun owners can educate the public on positive aspects of firearms, everyone is better off.

Click here to read this on its original page.

Swiss prove guns not the culprit

Monday, 16 June 2008

Charley Reese Niccolo Machiavelli, who was a sort of Karl Rove of his day, though with more integrity, said of the Swiss that they were "the most free and most armed people" of Europe. Get it? The connection between arms and freedom? That statement is still true of the Swiss. Many people know that they practice neutrality, but not many know that they practice armed neutrality. If the gun controllers' claim that the mere presence of arms leads to mayhem were true, the Swiss would have wiped themselves out years ago. There are guns and gun ranges all over the place. You would be hard-pressed to find a Swiss home without a firearm and ammunition. Yet, the Swiss have a very low crime rate. If you were a robber or a rapist, who would you rather have as a victim? Someone who is armed, or someone who is defenseless? Even a stupid criminal knows the answer to that question. If the police can protect us -- which is another claim the gun-control people make -- then why are so many people murdered, raped and robbed? Even the television fictional stories tell you the answer to that. The cops get there after the crime has been committed. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a crime scene. Nearly all the cop shows open with the police looking at a dead, unarmed body. Do you really believe that the men who had just fought a long and bloody war against the British and were writing what we call the Bill of Rights had this conversation: "Well, let's see. We've guaranteed freedom of assembly, of religion, of speech and of the press. Oh, my gosh, we've forgotten the duck hunters. They'll raise heck if we leave them out, so we'd better write an amendment for them." The Second Amendment has nothing whatsoever to do with hunting. It states: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The men who wrote these amendments were pretty darn fluent in English. If they had intended the right to keep and bear arms to apply only to the militia, they would have said so. They would have written "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the states to arm their respective militias shall not be infringed." They didn't say that. The main sentence says "right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." "People" means everybody, not just the members of the militia. The subordinate clause, "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state," just gives one, but not the only, reason why all the people have a right to keep and bear arms. The militia, after all, was drawn from the people. It was not the Army. The first meaning of "bear," by the way, is to carry, bring or take. Americans have the right to keep arms and to carry them. The word "regulate" in those days meant trained, and do you notice again the connection between arms and freedom? The subordinate clause refers to a "free state." Obviously, an unfree state would not allow the people to be armed. The Founding Fathers were not urban neurotics like so many of today's politicians. They were almost all outdoor people. Guns were to them just tools, like their axes or plows. You couldn't survive in the wilderness without firearms, and at the time of our Revolution, there were only about 3 million people from Maine to Georgia. Nor were there any police forces. There was no Secret Service, FBI or any of the other alphabet law-enforcement agencies. If you decided to travel, you traveled at your own risk, and you can bet people traveled armed. When I was last at Williamsburg, Va., they had a room in one of the historical houses arranged as if a traveler had just arrived and unpacked. There on top of a dresser was a pistol. (Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, FL 32802)

Click here to read the article as it appears in the Malvern Daily Record


Amen!

Our New Home...

The entry way...

The dining area/living room

The kitchen

So, yeah these pictures are kinda self explanatory, but oh well.

Tonight I tracked two deer all over the place. That was a heckuva work out.

You ever wonder where somethings come from, like just now, Olivia just asked if we can get a Christmas tree, in October... I think if we do that we may need to get one in October, then one near the end of November. An arbor I am not. In fact if it isn't a cultivated plant, I am not your man. (i.e. house plants and flowers...) Heaven knows that Grandma Jean and Gramma Marj tried to teach me.

Tomorrow is Father's Day. Call your dad and tell him how thankful you are for him. I tell you what, I am proud to have my dad as my father. He is a good man. He has raised four decent children; taught us how to work; respect ourselves and others; how to be a good husband & father; and he taught us all how to have a good time. I miss having Dad around, roping with him and working with him. I sure learn a lot from him (I almost put an "ed" on the end of learn, but that would be foolish, I learn new stuff from Dad all the time). One thing you should really see is my dad do back-flips on the basketball court during halftime when he referees... You ROCK DAD!!!

This is our view...

Looking west out of the living room, this is what we see. Sorry that the picture is not all too clear, when I find the real camera, I will post better pics.
BTW I just spent an hour or more stomping around in the woods. It was swell.

See the post below.

GLOBAL WARMING MY @$$...

For those of you who are "Green:" IT IS SNOWING HERE IN MOSCOW. NO, this is not a joke, and we are NOT in Moscow, Russia. I rode my motorcycle to skool and as I was going I thought, "Wow, that is a lot of white pollen coming off those trees." But then it hit me as the pollen melted on my helmet: that precipitation, in the form of snow. I tried to take a picture with my camera phone, but you just can't see it well enough.
In other news, we are 3/4 moved. We have a little left to move out. Then start the unpacking and organizing, Liv's favorite. We will get pictures on for everyone to see as soon as we find the camera... We think we know where it is in all the stuff we packed. At my request, we did not pack it in boxes, we packed it in trash bags. (They pack easier and there is less to clean up when your done, and we aren't moving across the country, it is only 5 miles).
Any how, I better get studying for today's classes...
Have a good one, and would someone get Al Gore's phone number for me, I have a somewhat inconvenient truth to tell him...

Did he just say that?

Steve just bought this Izzo bag from Big 5. It is a golf bag, for those of you who don't know. Steve also bought balls and tees. The cashier asked him if he needed a bag for his stuff. I said "Isn't that the point of the golf bag?" I do not think he got the joke...

100th Postiversary!!!

That is right folks, this is the 100th post on my blog! Those of you who have read all of them: WOW, congrats to you for following me on this crazy journey. I wonder if anyone has read all of them. I am pretty sure I have, but I wrote 'em!
Anyhow, guess who was smiling at the gas pump today: ME! I filled my motor bike up for $8.73. I am used to filling my truck, which, these days takes about $80-100. I have driven over 100 miles on the bike since I got it last week. It is amazing the excuses I can find to jump on and go. Driving that thing is way fun. Yeah, it leaks a little oil and the temperature control is speed, but is just like Old Blue. (For those of you who do not know Old Blue, she is a '72 Chevy step-side straight six, three on the tree. That was my ride in High School.) Heck, I even rode it today in the rain. I got a little wet but nothing like Steve Kun does during the rainy season, when he delivers the mail.
日本の郵便大好き。日曜日、僕は日本のため寂しくなったよ。日本へ戻りたい。モスコに雨がよく降ているので日本の梅雨のようなことだ。だけどイアダホを愛すろので大丈夫、それとも奥さんがいらしゃて下さているから、問題ない。
Well, this is short, but the above says most of it. Sorry to my friends who do not read Japanese, I just wanted to say something that some people in the Far East might like to hear.
Take care!

my veiw for the summer.

This is what I see every day. Kinda depressing.

Here is my new ride...

Yeah, it is a bit old, but I did get it up to 65 the other day.
For those of you wanting to know, the weather in Moscow has been pretty friggin awesome. It is different without the undergrad kids. No partiers running around drunk in the middle of the night. It is nice.
Summer school is neat. It is a whole lot of work, but I think it will be worth it. For those of you keeping score: I got a 2.26 this semester. That brings my overall to a 2.17. I am feeling good about that.
I hope all ya'll are doing well. There will be more coming on the blog since I can do it mobilly. BOOYAH!!!

These are my feet. I am trying out the mobile blogging. I shot this picture with my camera phone and am typing this entry on my tiny keypad. This may not be the ultimate way to do this... We shall see...

Good News:

I got an email yesterday that I have been accepted to the Waters of the West Masters Program. Yahoo! It means one more year of school past Law School, but it also means that when I graduate I will have both a J.D. and a Masters.
In related news: Olivia and I are moving! We are moving out of town into an apartment over a house. We are pretty excited to get out in the country, away from all the frat boys, sorority girls and the loud peeps who live behind us. The place is pretty, and quite nice. We will probably put pics up soon.
In other news: My Ruger is broken. I will have to send it away for repair, which means that I will be unarmed for the next three weeks (though I may convince Liv to let me get a lever action Marlin).
In World News: Congratulations out to Emi, she got married! The pictures she sent are gorgeous!
恵美ちゃん：美しいだよ!ご主人様はかっこいだよ!写真を送て下さたありがとう。
And finally today: We will miss all our school friends who are leaving. I hope all of you have some good times over the summer. Stay cool...

So this teknology thing...

I am not too sure about it. Why? Because I just had the creepiest feeling that I might be being watched. I cannot explain it, but it is almost like how Marshall Dillon always wondered if someone was stalking him when he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. I don't carry my sixgun with me, though, so it is not a huge deal. Just a little weird.
Today is my last final for my first year of law skool. The funny thing about these tests is it really isn't the tests that bother me, it is the grades. I could take these tests all day, but getting the grades back is enough to make me very crazy. You know, I have only developed three or four stress-based illnesses since starting here. Some have more and some have less.
Anyhow, I think it is time to get back to studying. I am, right now, knowing and purposefully avoiding thinking about people who are willfully blind. Such people are not reckless or negligent. I hope.

Compliments...

I have been called a few things in life. Some things I have been called are nice and build me up and some aren't very congenial at all. Tonight I was paid a real nice compliment, a friend told me that he could always depend on me to tell him where the bear sits. I reckon that is pretty nice. For those of you not acquainted with country life, it means, in simpler terms that I am trustworthy. I have always believed it is better to be trusted than to be loved. Give that a thought.
I would also like to tell you that one word has been a complement to my life. That word is the one description I love to be called more than any other. More than "cowboy," "funny," "handy," or even "handsome." That word is Husband. I am glad that a good woman calls me husband. It does my heart good.
-By the way, I know the difference between "compliment" and "complement."

ENVIROMENTALLY FRIENDLY

I decided to go green with my blog, seeing how that is the new hip thing to do. I tell you what though, truth is I was green long before this whole movement started. I grew up riding horses or my bicycle where ever I went. I even got a little green on my face when I got bucked off the horse. These days, though, everything is "going green."

To be honest, I don't know if I like it. What do all the other colors think? Has anyone considers that maybe blue and yellow are feeling a little over used and under appreciated? How about red, you never even hear red as an option any more. The only red you see zipping around is the firetrucks, what if they went green? That'd sure be a lot of towns needing new paint for the fleet. Black is simply out of the question, cause it is dark and scary, although some folks sure like to wear a lot of black, but I think they get balked at. Those folks aren't exactly wearing black cause of a funeral or cause they are in the Japanese mafia, I don't even think it is because they like Johnny Cash, although I haven't asked 'em. Heck if those folks started wearing green, things could go crazy! UPS lately has been driving brown trucks for as long as I have been alive, I sure hope they don't change to green, that would throw off the wildly popular marketing scheme of the white-board with brown marker. Those are good commercials, keep 'em coming!

If you sense a little bit of apprehension for all this going green, just remember that there is usually a reason why things catch on: money. Money is also green in our country, at least it used to be, till we got these new fangled bills with all sorts of funny pictures. They tell me its to keep folks from copyin' the bills, but who knows, I think its just cause some people like new wallpaper.

I think this green trend was started by Jim Hensen, with Kermit. I doubt he was thinkin' that it'd catch on like this, but it sure has. Kermit was right though, it ain't easy being green. Just ask the feller who ate organic food all his life; a pal told me a story about a feller who ate pretty much what all the cows eat, just stuff that was green. When the doc pronounced him dead folks asked what killed him. All's the doc said was "He died of natural causes."

Cold Pepsi

I am downing a cold Pepsi right now, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and it is 66 outside. The only problem: I am in the Law Bldg. I am trying to wrap my head around the world of Contracts. This was my worst subject last year, and I hope I can pull my grade up a little.
The morning hasn't been all bad though, I changed the oil on the truck and installed a new fan clutch. In the last few days the fan has been making a neat whistling sound. Stuff like that bothers me, and I like to catch it when it happens, so I got it fixed. The clutch cost me about $90 and I payed $23 for my oil (I buy the five quart oil, keep some in the truck). How much is the labor? I dunno, I don't think I have been put on the payroll since my education has kicked in, so I must be worth about $1.295 an hour now. That is up from $1.00 a few years ago, I feel good about that.
By the way, I will soon be posting pics of the ammunition reloading process. In the short spare time that I have I have got 100 rounds done. My goal is to have about 250 done before finals. Then after every test take a drive in the woods and shoot some targets. It is a very therapeutic way to get through the finals around here.
Things have been good for Liv and I. It was her birthday yesterday, the big 20! She worked in the afternoon and then we went and helped some friends move. When I recovered from the moving, we went out to eat. The palce was called the Sangria, not too shabby. It wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I prefer places like Bubba's in I.F., or the Helmer Store. I was the only hat in the place and people were drinking their hoity-toity wine and talking politics (the substance of which was limited to leftist crap, the tough decision between Obama and Clinton). I caught myself thinking about the time I pulled a three year old colt up and over on top of me and almost broke my femur. That seemed a pleasant thought compared to listening to people tell each other how the price of fuel needs to rise to over $5 so people will get away from fossil fuels that pollute Mother Earth. ANY HOW, it was good tasting food. I was also pleased to be there with Liv. I love her and whatever makes her happy is what makes me happy.
Well, I guess I had ought to get studying. I wish this stuff would work by osmosis, but I just get headaches when I try that...
恵美ちゃんへおめでとう！けこんしきの発表をうけました。いくことはできないけど、行きたいね。ご主人へよろしくを伝えて下さい。そのカドをおくるつもり。また、ね！

Soon life will be back to normal...

I am happy to announce that I am sort of finished with my Appellate Brief. The reason I say sort of, is I am in the polishing stage of this gem. I am going to put it away, enjoy Church tomorrow and look at it afresh on Monday Morning.
Tuesday will be like a new life. I am certain almost all of my classmates will say the same thing, LETS GET PLASTERED!!! I don't even drink and that sounds like a good idea, almost. I have typed a lot today, so I am going to leave this post as is, and maybe post this coming week.