The Grey Man- Partners…

Posted on by August 19, 2016

It’s a real book! 🙂

Partners book

Albeit a proof copy… Working through this with Tina and Stephanie to make sure they are satisfied, and hope to go live next week with it.

Thanks to those who put up the reviews on Payback, Changes and Rimworld too! 🙂

And it’s emails that I get like this one, redacted to protect the ‘guilty party’…

You hit all my buttons with your main character.

1.  A 60-ish Vietnam vet?  Check.  (I spent my 18th birthday at Ton Son Nhut AB, RVN.)
2.  Has a granddaughter that he loves dearly, who is a pretty serious shooter in her own right, and calls him “Papa”? Check.  (This is the one who thinks the aluminum framed Ruger 1911 compact would be a perfect graduation gift.)
3.  Likes dogs?  Check.  (Right now, we have four.)
4.  Likes horses? Check.  (Two of those.)
5.  Carries a 1911?  Check. (My bobtailed Kimber Pro Carry is with me just about any time I have pants on and I’m not at work.)

Can’t think of anything that you missed to hook me and reel me in.

And if anybody thinks your characters aren’t believable, I have some friends, neighbors, and family members that I can introduce them to, and we can clear THAT misunderstanding right up!!!

Thanks, I really enjoyed the books, and can’t wait to tackle the next installment.

These are why I write the books…

I pissed somebody off…

Posted on by August 19, 2016

My least favorite ‘commenters’ have hit my blog and comment box. I had 140 ‘comments’ in the spam filter this morning, and it seems like I’m getting about thirty an hour. Looks like they are coming from the usual suspects.

In other news, we’re finally getting a little bit of rain appear and the temperatures a broken out of the hundreds for the first time in about three weeks. The only problem is now it is raining again I’m going to have to mow the damn yard at least once more.

TBT…

Posted on by August 17, 2016

Original brochures…

If only we could go back in time and bring one of these cars back…

A little over $4000 in 1957, granted that was a lot of money in the day, but dang… First year of the T-10, first year of fuel injection (in the US), first year of the ‘small block’ 283 with 1HP/cu.in.

57 vette

And this is the other one… I’ve always liked the Nomad, especially the ones with the 283.1957 Nomad

I know, I know, if wishes were horses, beggers would be riding, but still… To buy two of these cars today would easily run well over $100,000 for ‘good’ ones.

Posted in TBT

By hook, or by crook…

Posted on by August 15, 2016

The gun banners have lost at the federal and state levels since 2014, and at least four states are putting forth ballot measures designed to put more limits on gun owners…

Washington- Take guns out of the hands of people who are subject to extreme risk protection orders, which include restraining orders and people at risk of suicide (I don’t know the ‘details’ on who decides the level of risk).

Nevada/Maine- Expanded background check requirements to include private gun sales (don’t know if this includes ‘gifts’ between generations, e.g. father to son/daughter).

California- Proposition 63 to decide whether to ban the possession of large-capacity magazines, and also require individuals to pass a background check before purchasing ammunition. (So… What happens if they go buy it in Nevada?)

Full article HERE, at thehill.com.

And talking about background checks…

In 2015, 271,359 background checks of gun buyers were incomplete after the federal government’s three-day limit, according to data provided by the FBI to The Greenville News. Of those, 9,063 were later denied. That means 9,063 people the FBI later determined should not be allowed to own a gun were allowed to buy guns because the agency could not complete a background check in time.

This is up from 6,000 in 2014…

Several bills filed in South Carolina’s Legislature in the past year sought to change the waiting period for background checks, expanding it to 28 days or until the check is complete, as Clyburn’s bill in Congress does.

None of the bills received a hearing in the Senate, though one is planned in Charleston later this year.

Full article HERE, WLTX TV 19.  

One can only wonder how much money Bloomie and others on the left are spending in these states to get these measures pushed through?

THE question we should be asking is where are the bills for reciprocal carry rights???

Thoughts on Rio…

Posted on by August 14, 2016

I know the Olympics aren’t over, but I can’t help but contrast the coverage the swimmers and gymnasts have received over that received by the shooters (both guns and archery).

We all know what Phelps, Ledecky, Biles, et al have done, but what  have you heard about Rhode, Cogdell, Thrasher, Ellison (Archery).

The first gold was Virginia Thrasher in air rifle. She only got covered because it was the first gold by a US athlete, interview HERE. She missed the small bore rifle final by 2 points.

Ellison and Team USA won a silver medal in archery, and Ellison won a bronze in the individual competition. Did that get any MSM coverage? Or rate a prime time interview?  Crickets…

Kim Rhode got a little coverage, because she’s now won a medal in SIX Olympics, but did anyone hear about Carey Cogdell winning the bronze in trap?

I didn’t think so…

HERE is one interview with Kim Rhode.

But the online write up does all it can to minimize Rhode’s achievements, IMHO…

Rhode set all sorts of Olympic longevity benchmarks.

Rhode is the first athlete to win an individual medal at six straight Summer Olympics. Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler has done so in the Winter Games.

Many would argue that a shooter doing this is far less impressive than, say, a gymnast or a swimmer.

(snip)

One can argue Rhode’s accomplishment doesn’t equate to Michael Phelps winning four straight 200m individual medleys, or Usain Bolt’s triple-triple bid, or the long winning streaks of judoka Teddy Riner or wrestlers Saori Yoshida or Kaori Icho.

But at least recognize what it took for Rhode to get here.

The full article is on the NBC Olympics site HERE, just take your BP meds before you read it… sigh

According to some reports, NBC ‘structured’ it’s Olympic coverage to appeal to women, which meant ‘soft’ stories (whatever that is), and grouping the main events, even if delayed to nighttime watching…

In other words, no negative stories, like the hate and discontent with the Israeli athletes, including not being allowed on buses with the Lebanese, having muslim athletes refuse to compete against them, etc.  Where is the coverage of that??? Or broader coverage of the Russian doping scandal?

It’s pretty bad when the ‘agenda’ being pushed is more important than actually giving fair coverage to the Olympics.

Sigh…

Aviation Art…

Posted on by August 13, 2016

28

Gareth Hector is a UK based artist who works in both traditional and digital mediums.

Interestingly,  he not only does aviation paintings, but has also worked with video games companies, done story boards,  and worked as an art director. Quite the diverse portfolio!

Still watching the Olympics…

Posted on by August 12, 2016

Go read the folks on the sidebar, or tune in the Olympics. Kim Rhode got Bronze in the Skeet Shooting (missed Gold medal round by 1 shot).

Or… A little humor for the weekend…

The Human Body!

 

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

One human hair can support 3kg (6.6 lb).

The average man’s penis is three times the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person’s skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

Women reading this will be finished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

 

The Grey Man…

Posted on by August 11, 2016

It’s almost a book!

The cover is complete! Tina did a super job as always!!!

patners.indd

The final edits are complete, and proofs have been ordered.

I do have a bleg though…

If you’ve read TGM- Payback or TGM- Changes and haven’t left a review, I’d appreciate it if you would hook the respective link and leave me an HONEST review.

I’m trying to get to the ‘magic’ 100 reviews on those two.

TGM- Payback link HERE.

TGM- Changes link HERE.

Thanks in advance! I truly do appreciate your kind words, and I hope to have Partners live in 2 weeks, assuming the proofs look good!

TBT…

Posted on by August 10, 2016

A strange bit of history…

I knew this was the first Air Force One, but I ‘thought’ it was actually in the museum at Wright Pat… Sigh…

This is truly a shame if it’s lost.

Ironically, the Sacred Cow, Roosevelt’s and Truman’s VC-54, IS in the museum. Link HERE.

Posted in TBT