A three-fer…

Posted on by December 19, 2015

So I’m slacking yesterday… Only 410 miles…

But it was for a GOOD reason, well, actually three…

Breakfast with Snigs and daughter Miss M, lunch with Mr. G from My Daily Kona, and dinner with Joe the gunsmith.

Great to see the folks, and sorry to have missed two regular commenters in GA, due to work and availabilities…

Weather was better today, colder and more ‘seasonal’ as they say. But at least it was a ‘dry’ cold!!!

I always cherish the chance to get together with folks, and it was a pleasure to see each of them, if only for a short time… I never cease to be amazed by the level of conversation and the breadth of knowledge of the gun bloggers I’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the years. Y’all rock!!!

Thanks to all for the comments, and yes I’m being careful. It’s the other idjits I’m worried about!

Slogging down the road…

Posted on by December 17, 2015

450 of 1741 miles down…

FullSizeRender

All day in the rain yesterday…

There are some just flat ‘strange’ folks out on the roads…

Little old blue hair in a great big Lincoln, a huge guy in a little Ford Fiesta (the steering wheel was just about in his chest), the usual snowbirds heading south, and the normal quota of idjits in vans… Sigh…

11 miles (not that I was counting) of following two semis, one trying to pass the other…

And only two phone calls from the ‘former’ work…LOL

Sorry for the lack of commenting and posting, I’m concentrating on getting home! 🙂

TBT…

Posted on by December 17, 2015

The things one ‘finds’ when you move…

A real feed sack quilt- This one is at least 60 years old… I folded it so you can see both the feedsack side, which is normally down, and the top.

quilt feed sack

And this one is my baby quilt, so it’s at least 64 years old… These are what is known as patchwork star quilts. quilt baby size

I can remember the women at the reunions getting together in the old house and turning out two or three quilts over a weekend. I remember my dad referring to them as the ‘hen house’, and not a place for boys or men! 🙂

These will stay in the family, passed down to the next generation… Both my daughters and the oldest grandson spent time in that bottom quilt…

Posted in TBT

Done!!!

Posted on by December 11, 2015

One last look out the window of the office…

office

And DONE!!!

Retirement dessert

With career number two…

Going to be on the road for the next few days, so don’t expect much in the way of comments and/or posts…

Thanks to all of you who’ve sent kind words, and a few ‘other’ words too… 🙂

Packing out…

Posted on by December 13, 2015

Two and a bag(s) drag…

Movers are going to be here in a hour, and I’ll be putting an end to twelve years of working out of here.

I’ve always been circumspect about where I work and what I do for ‘reasons’, but this cartoon pretty much says it all…

Garfield cartoon

Except it was usually MULTIPLE holes… sigh…

One thing I am proud of, is that all the work we did over the last twelve years, we had ZERO fatalities, and ZERO major injuries to any of the folks.

Not going to say we always got all the ‘toys’ back… 🙂

It’s been real, and ‘most’ of the time it’s been fun.

Roasts and get togethers…

Posted on by December 13, 2015

So… I got roasted by my boss and about 20 co-workers Saturday night… But I think I got the better end of the deal…

booze

And no, I’m not telling what went on… What goes on at the roast, STAYS at the roast… 🙂  Seriously, it was great to get together with these folks for one last time, and I’ll miss ‘most’ of them.

Then yesterday I met Murph, Proud Hillbilly, Stretch, Wandering Neurons, and John…

Anyhoo, we did Hooters by the Dulles Expo Center, and I gotta admit Murph got me. He told them it was my birthday… dammit…

Blog meet 12 13 15 smudged

After a great lunch and conversation, we adjourned to Wally World for Toys for Tots.

Toys

We pretty much covered all ages from three up, boys and girls, and I’ve got to admit I was surprised at how much the 3/4 basket of toys cost. We split it up, and then started looking for a Toys for Tots drop box…

How many

How many people does it take to find a Toys for Tots drop off???

More than we had… sigh…

Thankfully the Holiday Inn at Dulles Expo Center was still taking toys for them. We talked to a couple of very nice young ladies, and they put the toys in the manager’s office with others that guests had donated.

It wasn’t much in the big scheme of things, but we all left smiling…

Don’t know when or if I’ll get back to the area, but this was a nice way to leave. Good folks all, and I’ll miss the whole DC area blogging/shooting crowd.

Payback???

Posted on by December 11, 2015

I think most of us saw this last year…

Mark 1 plumbing

Turns out there is ‘more’ to the story…

From the Dallas Morning News, he’s filing a lawsuit over the fact that the dealer didn’t remove the decals as promised, and the poor guy has been getting death threats, etc. since…

Full article HERE.

It’s an interesting ‘trail’ as to how the truck made it all the way to Syria.

PPP was telling me one of their old ambulances is now in Africa, still in her company’s livery…

I was reminded there is a company out of India that apparently buys used medical ‘equipment’ and then resells it in various third world countries. I don’t know that ‘I’ would want to ride in one… Just sayin…

When one of my cousin’s daughters fell out of a tree and broke her arm in Uganda earlier this year, they wanted to send her by ambulance to Ethiopia. My cousin said they took one look at the ambulance, and hired a car and driver for the 28 hour round trip in a Land Rover.

He said it was slow and uncomfortable, but they got there and back in one piece.

Go Navy…

Posted on by December 11, 2015

Beat Army… 🙂

Old school…

Go Navy

h/t Brad L.

New school… Hokey as hell, but pretty funny too!

This is one of those games where the respective records don’t matter…

Any given day either team can win. But Navy DOES have the last 14… 🙂

If anybody is available…

Posted on by December 11, 2015

I’m getting together with Murph and Proud Hillbilly at Hooters by the Dulles Gun show at noon on Sunday. Sorry for the short notice, and doing it on a Sunday, but I just got back off my last road trip.

Last chance for cheap shots at me… 🙂

We’re going to Wally World afterward and buy some toys for Toys for Tots.

If you can’t make it, I understand, and I’ve really enjoyed all the interactions with you folks local to the DC area. It’s been real, and has actually been FUN! We’re all part of the ‘tribe’ so to speak, and I will miss the shoots, gun show runs, and the dinners and lunches. Borepatch is coming to the area, and I’m sure he’ll fill my place and y’all will be better for it! 🙂

If y’all get down to Texas, you’re more than welcome!

One last trip…

Posted on by December 11, 2015

Couldn’t get out the door without getting hooked one last time… Sigh…

image

Stopped off on the way south and I had to grab a quick lunch with LL from the Virtual Mirage. We pretty much decided we’re a couple of old dinosaurs who don’t play well with others in this politically correct environment today.

We also decided we were adrenalin junkies, based on our respective careers…LOL

Gotta admit he’s taken it to a new level, his new toy is a Ducati Diavel bike. It’s a damn beast!!!

Anyhoo, spent yesterday doing turnover with my relief, gave my last brief and slogged back to LAX. FIVE hours 15 minutes to go 113 miles… You folks that live on the left coast can KEEP this s**t… I thought it was bad in the late 90’s when I worked out here, but today it’s ridiculous!

Gah…