“My” Christmas present (to my self)…

Earlier this year Les browbeat tricked, gave me a sob story; yeah, yeah, that’s it… And sold me a 1940s era original Colt .22 upper conversion kit for a 1911.

I put it on the Ed Brown and it was a tad ‘loose’ but shot well.  I was chatting with Joe the gunsmith (threezerozerosix (at) gmail.com) , and wondered if he ever ran across Colt frames…

And it went downhill from there… Smile

Have you EVER tried to find a plain Colt 1911 frame?  Good frikkin luck!!!

So he finally runs across one, I picked it up, and he assembled the pistol and tuned it for me.  Due to scheduling issues, I wasn’t around for him to ship it until last week, so today I hauled it out to Virginia Arms and filled out the paperwork, figuring I ‘might’ be able to get it next week (I never clear on the same day)…

Low and behold, I cleared in under four hours!!!

So here it is…

And no the finishes don’t match, the slide is polished and the frame is matte; but frankly I don’t give a damn, it’s ALL Colt…

1911 22 left

Here’s the right side…

1911 22 right

And close ups of the slide left side

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Right side

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And damn near the hardest part was finding TWO spare .22 Colt mags…

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One more picture of Jace, in his Navy camo… Smile  Daughter’s gonna kill me for that one…

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Tomorrow it’s back to the gun show in a most probably fruitless search for ammo…

I did meet up with The Miller and New Jovian Thunderbolt today at the show for a bit, and both are doing well, and we all bitched about the prices… Sorry I had to bolt early, but I wanted to at least attempt to get the pistol today!

Sometimes the engraving is dead on…

At Christmas met one of the daughter’s neighbors who is 94, lives by himself and is a Korean War vet.  He figures he outlived most if not all of his enemies, and is quite the character, but said he ‘was’ concerned about ‘those damn kids’ and potential for problems.  Knowing he’s getting older, he downgraded from a 12GA to a 20GA and #4 buck just to make sure he could handle the shotty.

When I showed him this pic, he burst out laughing…

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And said it’s too bad he couldn’t get that on the end of the barrel on the 20GA…

Something tells me he’s NOT an old fart one wants to mess with…

h/t JP for the pic

Going to the dogs…

I don’t care who you are, this one’s funny…

Since I’ve never ‘lived’ in snow country on purpose, I can’t say this is normal, but the pups obviously have done this before…

Slogging it back to the house, so fighting with TSA and the airport crowds will be the ‘fun’ for the day.  Patience IS a virtue today…

Oh yeah, and one more Vito for ya…

Vito at his best.  Talk about laser like concentration…

PSA for Veterans ID cards…

If you know anyone who has a VA ID card, please let them know about this…

The fact that a simple scanner program on a cell phone can get the member’s SSN is NOT good!

h/t JP

Now THIS would be a Christmas present…

This is a great story, long slog to get it done, but it flies…

Can you imagine the feeling of being the pilot for that first flight in fifty plus years???

THAT would be one helluva Christmas present!!!

I’m very blessed to have been able to spend Christmas with the kids, and grandsons; but now it’s time to start reconnecting with the reality of the daily grind.

Finally…

Finally wore Vito out…

Just went out and all he could do was lay his head on the back of the couch…

IMG_1502It took three of us and two days…

But his butt is now draggin…

 

Merry Christmas…

Merry Christmas to all…

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Jace waiting on Santa… With his backup guard dog…DSC00540

Jace and “Oh SHINY”…

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And there are some things that Vito just WILL NOT put up with…

Enjoy the day folks, and remember those who are on duty, wherever they may be…

Twas the Night before Christmas!!!

Jeff MacNelly was a friend of the military, and especially of the Navy.  He did a number of ‘special’ cartoons over the years for those of us who served…

This is one of my favorites…  Sadly he passed way too young in 2000 due to lymphoma.shoexmas

Author unknown, but a damn good one…

This one goes out to Brigid, Frito, Flake, Juvat, JP, Joe and all the other aviators out there…

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tiedowns with care,
In hopes that come morning, they all would be there.

The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I’d have sworn that the call sign he used was “St. Nick”;
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.

He called his position, no room for denial,
“St. Nicholas One, turnin’ left onto final.”
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!

With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
“Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!” What pills was he takin’?

While controllers were sittin’, and scratchin’ their head,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
“When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower.”

He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard “Left at Charlie,” and “Taxi to parking.”
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh
And stopped on the ramp with a “Ho, ho-ho- ho…”

He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.

His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn’t inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster’s belly.

He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to “fill it, with hundred low-lead.”
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin’ the sump.

I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, “Clear!”

And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
“Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot’s discretion.”

He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
“Your traffic’s a Grumman, inbound from the west.”
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed through the night,
“Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight.”

h/t TBG for the words…

Christmas Eve…

TSO brings the goodness…

I hope this night finds you safe in home and hearth with family. Say a prayer for those in the military on duty world-wide who protect our freedoms…

Almost Christmas…

Time with family is important to all of us this time of year, and more especially when one has to travel to get there…

It also brings back memories of holidays missed, far away places; ships, airplanes, bases, foxholes, as the case may be for those who served.

Luckily I have a chance to spend time with the daughters and the grandsons, although never as much as I’d like…

Grandson 1 playing with grandson 2.  Just a ‘bit’ of a size and age difference there…

IMG_1497And there is Jace with his ever present guard dog, Vito…

IMG_3818And then there is Vito ‘patiently’ waiting for me to play with him… IMG_1500

And lastly, there is this…  Political correctness run amok again…

“Our equal opportunity representative stopped the briefing and told us that we can’t say Christmas,” the soldier told me. “Almost the entire room blew up. Everybody was frustrated. The equal opportunity rep told our commander that not everyone celebrates Christmas and we couldn’t say Christmas celebration. It had to be holiday celebration.”

Read the article HERE.

And the Grinch is alive and well in San Francisco too…

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Put away the chestnuts; the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has announced that wood burning will be banned in the region on Christmas Eve—and possibly on Christmas Day, too.

Read the whole article HERE

Where does this crap end???

h/t Les