TBT…

Posted on by August 9, 2017

If I have a grail car, it’s the 1937 Supercharged Cord 812.

The brochure is for 1936, but it’s the only complete one I found…

The one thing I remember (as a little kid) was the engine turned instrument panel! SHINY!!!

A family friend had one, sadly sitting in a garage over in Dallas. Her husband had it, and he’d gone to Love Field to fly to Chicago, had a heart attack on the plane, from what I remember. They car was parked and never driven again (that I know of). I was maybe 8 or 9 the one time I got to sit in it.

This is probably the best pic I could find of the dash… Gaudy as hell by today’s standards, but back in the day… 🙂

Wikimedia Commons

What’s your grail car, or truck?

Posted in TBT

The next Air Force One??? And other stuff…

Posted on by August 8, 2017

President Donald Trump said the projected cost of new Air Force One aircraft was too high, so the U.S. Air Force found a way to lower it: by buying a pair of Boeing 747 jetliners abandoned by a bankrupt Russian airline.

This is an ‘interesting’ way to do it, and it WILL save the USAF quite a bit, as Boeing wants those birds off the inventory. Full story HERE from DefenseOne.com

What will be MORE interesting is how the media is going to spin this, since the birds were originally ordered by a Russian airline… Cause you ‘know’ it’s coming…

In other news, from The Firearms Blog, more news from yesterday’s post on the Sig P320… Link, HERE…

Apparently Sig is going to announce a ‘free upgrade’ next week. Interesting, VERY interesting…

And one more- The Volokh Conspiracy Short Circuit update… HERE. As usual there are some screwy ones in there… Sigh…

Sig P320 issue…

Posted on by August 7, 2017

It appears there IS truth to the ‘rumor’ of Sig P320s firing when dropped…

The Firearms blog picked up on it, HERE.  And Guns.com posted Sig’s response, HERE.

But Omaha Outdoors did their own test… Results below…

Hopefully, Sig will take action to remedy this.

h/t Gerry

 

Sigh…

Posted on by August 6, 2017

Well, AMA-Con was a learning experience. We made table money, but that was about it…

But it was an interesting weekend, anyway… It’s always both an honor, and very humbling to meet actual readers. And we did have a couple stop by the table, so that was really nice! And I didn’t get chewed out this time for killing Juanita!!!

Things seen in included-

Sumdood’s “camo” pickup, seen at the hotel… Sigh…

And costumes at the con- These two were excellent! And homemade! The guy was on overturned 5 gal buckets to get him up to the ‘height’ required!

And the cutest was this young lady and her baby… Apparently this is a Game of Thrones thing, but since I don’t watch it, I didn’t know that. She said she got the baby’s costume off Amazon! 🙂

We’re back home, safe and sound and NO tickets! Thanks to Alma for the local course knowledge and the good suggestions for the restaurants, and last but not least, I’ve got to give a shout out to Rachel Caine, a NYT best selling author who was there. She actually came over and bought some of our books yesterday afternoon.

She is one classy lady! Her website is HERE, and her latest, Stillhouse Lake looks very interesting! I haven’t gotten a chance to dig into it yet, but I will.

AMA-Con update…

Posted on by August 5, 2017

Well, this has been interesting…

This was the table set up, and we did get traffic. Direct sales were a little slow, but we were handing out cards for the kindle versions, so we’re hoping for some follow up sales from that.

There were some ‘interesting’ costumes, to put it mildly. But the winner, IMHO, was the R2D2, repurposed as a minion. By the way, it was a 3 foot high RC version…

In any case, we are having fun. 🙂 And meeting readers!!!

Grumble…

Posted on by August 4, 2017

What is wrong with these idjits…

MADISON, Wis. — Democrats pushed back Thursday against a Republican measure that would allow Wisconsin high schools to offer gun safety courses, arguing such classes aren’t appropriate and could generate fear in classrooms.

Full article, HERE.

I think this is more about Progressives preferring to keep seeing the occasional mishap due to violations of the four rules than risking more pro 2A voters as youngsters grow up not being afraid of firearms, AND using them RESPONSIBLY!

I’m gonna go try and sell some books… Gotta give Dot credit for the elevator line for The Grey Man series, it’s Cowboys vs. Drug dealers! I LIKE it!

 

Out of pocket…

Posted on by August 2, 2017

Gonna be in Armadillo for a couple of days (I used to screw with the kids and call it that)… 🙂

We’ll be at AMA-Con, sponsored by the Amarillo Public Library, on Saturday and Sunday. If you’re able to make it, we’re in the North Exhibit Hall, all the way in the back, against the wall in the back right corner…LOL

There is NO way we could be any further from the entry… sigh…

Anyway, if you drop by, we’ll be happy to chat with you, and sign things!

TBT…

Posted on by August 2, 2017

Up to my alligator in assholes this week, so took a bit of a break. Read Pratchett’s Mort and found my copy of Doc Smith’s First Lensman. But I drug a couple of others out… 🙂

I also have a bunch of old Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey too…

Note the price- 60 CENTS!

And a couple of others, including the First Lensman, which was 50 CENTS!!!

Not saying I’ve had it for a while, but it was published in paperback in 1964, and somehow survived all the moves.

I was asked why I put other authors in the back of my book, with links to their books. This is what is in the back of the First Lensman book. New releases in SF, and Mysteries. A lot of times, you’d see something there, and end up buying another book or two that way.

I know I don’t have the coverage of a real publisher, but if I can steer folks to a good book by an author I enjoy, I’m going to do my best to help them out.

OBTW, 1964 dollar = $7.89 today. So our books ARE reasonably priced against the historic prices (if you’re under $5, that is).

Posted in TBT

I love it…

Posted on by August 1, 2017

When a plan comes together…

A team of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy have created the military’s first 3D-printed submarine, an achievement that may have the potential to accelerate the defense R&D process.

Full article, HERE.

It was actually completed last year, but just released. Here’s a good video on the manufacture.

 

And it’s going for a swim next year… In the MAST. This video gives you an idea of the capabilities of that little, well NOT so little facility.

Some folks might recognize the design, but the way it was done is the revolutionary part… Along with the potential that carbon fiber brings to the table, it could get ‘very’ interesting… At least for the bad guys! 🙂

Go read this…

Posted on by July 31, 2017

Kathy Jackson, over at Cornered Cat has an excellent post up about protecting your kids from strangers, HERE.

My opinion, FWIW, is that the PC culture and fear of ‘offending’ someone has brought us to the point that we are afraid of any kind of public ‘confrontation’. The diaper snipers, panhandlers, assholes, and others feel free to prey on John Q. Public because they pretty much know they can get away with it. Look at all the issues with fast food and the fights, 911 calls, shootings, etc. over incorrect orders, for example…

Now, if you say something, the SJWs are going to go loud on you, trying to shame you into compliance, or possibly physically attack you if you don’t ‘let’ them do what they want.

To my mind, this is just one more reason to carry, and especially maintain situational awareness any time I’m out with my grandkids. I’m a grumpy old fart, so I’m not going to be real complimentary if you try to screw with my grands or me. This applies doubly at night or in parking lots. I like to park where I’m not next to anyone, but it’s summer in Texas, so I WILL fight you for the one shady spot in the parking lot, even if it is a quarter mile to the store…

Seriously, go read, and check the links she has at the bottom. Kathy is good folks, and a damn good instructor, in addition to being a wife and mother.