Blog Challenge- Kilted to Kick Cancer

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Bend over and spread em…



And get checked for Prostate and Testicular cancers at EVERY physical, especially if you’re an old fart like me…


As I’ve pointed out before, Ambulance Driver has put up a blog challenge for Kilted to Kick Cancer, benefiting either Prostate Cancer Foundation or  LiveStrong supporting testicular cancer research…


The challenge is out there with some pretty nice prizes, but the BEST prize is potential cures for either of the cancers… We (guys) don’t have anything like the Susan G Komen Foundation, so we’ve kinda gotta do this more or less on our own…


So anyway, go support your favorite gun blogger, or get in on the prizes yourself by putting up links, or feel free to pick one of the links below and donate from here…


Prostate Cancer Foundation   OR   LiveStrong

I’d also like to thank those sponsors who’ve ponied up some pretty dang nice prizes… Those can be seen on AD’s blog HERE…  Even if you don’t donate, at least patronize those fine folks who’ve donated the prizes, they are definitely worth supporting!!!

Confiscation? Because we CAN…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
This one came over the transom today, and I have to admit I was NOT aware this had even happened…

From the Cleveland Scene Mag…

Cops Confiscate Lakewood Lady’s Arsenal; Motive Pending

Posted by Kyle Swenson

Francesca Rices’ home arsenal including handguns, shotguns, a sniper rifle — plus a Thompson sub-machine gun were confiscated WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE by the Lakewood Police LAST SEPTEMBER!!!


It appears they asked an obliging employee of the complex to open up the apartment without her consent. Once inside, they raided the gun rack, making off with 13 firearms worth around $15,000. The only problem: They had no apparent reason to.

When Rice kindly asked to have her toys returned, the cops acknowledged that the weapons were legally owned. But they refused to return them without a court order. And so Rice has filed suit in Lakewood Municipal Court.

So, basically a year later, and untold $$ later, this lady STILL does not have her weapons back…

And an oh by the way, the lady is a VETERAN!!!
You can read the entire story HERE…


My first question is who told the police what she had? Did the proverbial nosy neighbor make a complaint?  Did a cop on patrol see her taking gun cases in?  

And what happened to the 4th Amendment here?

The takeaway is make SURE your guns are secured, a safe, a lockable cabinet, etc.  Now if you’re one of those ‘loony tunes’ that actually has guns accessible (one in each room), or something crazy like that, I’d make sure they are well concealed (in addition to being readily available).  

For any of you from Cleveland area, have you heard of this, or anything relating to this???  Makes me wonder if I want to actually bring any of my ‘good’ guns to the shoot this weekend… 

Is this one of the first ‘shots’ in the “Federal Families” new regulations, since they can’t legislate gun bans?  Is this a defacto act under the new DHS homegrown terrorist action???

 And what if they want her to produce sales receipts for the guns?  How many of you have guns you have no receipts for? Family guns, private sales???  What do you do then?

Time to take a hard look at how we store our weapons, and maybe relook at house vs. apartment living…  Just sayin…


Aviators…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
An old one, it came around again today, and it’s worth posting… 


This was written before there were any female aviators on active duty, so it’s not PC, but it DOES apply to aviators PERIOD…

Aviators

Once the wings go on, they never come off whether they can be seen or not.
It fuses to the soul through adversity, fear and adrenaline and no one who has ever worn them with pride, integrity and guts can ever sleep through the `call of the wild` that wafts through bedroom windows in the deep of the night.
When a good pilot leaves the `job’ and retires, many are jealous, some are pleased and yet others, who may have already retired, wonder.
We wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind, because we already know.
We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times.
We know in the world of flying, there is a fellowship which lasts long after the flight suits are hung up in the back of the closet.
We know even if he throws them away, they will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life.
We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.
Because we fly, we envy no man on earth.
-Author Unknown


We may have hung up the flight suit, but it’s funny how you really CAN spot aviators in a crowd; much like the bond among those that serve in the military regardless of country, there is an understanding and respect among aviators of all generations…

We are coming up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I would ask that you remember it by flying your flags on your home, your car; hell, stick one on your office wall…

Lets cover the USA with flags like we did after 9/11, and show the world we have NOT forgotten…

Gun Blogger Challenge(s)…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Not one, but TWO blog challenges…


Ambulance Driver, doing a blog challenge for male cancer- HERE and HERE


AND…


Carteach0, doing a blog challenge to support the Wounded Warrior Project- HERE  


Folks, these are BOTH worthy causes, BOTH are donating good stuff from a number of prominent manufacturers, and both of these gents are taking a lot of personal, unpaid time to put these together.  


Jump into the challenges, or just donate, but PLEASE don’t just sit on the sidelines on either of these…


Thanks for taking the time to read this, and go check em out… 

Blog Meet follow-up…

Posted on by March 6, 2013



I got mine 🙂  Thanks to Longhorn Jeff for the infamous “wheelbarrow full of money” us gun bloggers are supposedly getting from the NRA (yeah, right)…


Well, I ‘was’ going to write a big follow-up on the blog meet, but so many others already did that (and much better than mine, WITH links), I’m just going to link to them 🙂  And congratulations to Tam for SIX years of blogging!!!


Midwest Chick, Brigid, Roberta X, Mr. B, and Peter.


One thing the rest of them missed was the waitress moving a table of patrons to “Give us more room”, by telling the patrons they might want to move to a ‘quieter’ table… 🙂


Obviously it was NOT that waitress first rodeo with the bloggers!


I’m not saying we were quite as ‘loud’ as these two, but this is worth watching…


http://www.dogwork.com/relp8/


Jenny & Shirley were elephants at the same circus when Jenny was just a little calf and Shirley was in her 20’s. The two lived one winter together, but then were separated 22 years ago. It’s very rare for elephants to display this kind of emotion in captivity, and it’s probably the first time such an occasion has been documented on film. Just remarkable, absolutely worth the watch, and bring a Kleenex…


h/t to JP

Good Times Were Had…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Just got home from Indy, a real pleasure to finally put faces to blogs, and roughly 20 folks made it.  More later, butt draggin… 

The South, from a Different perspective…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

This came from somebody that obviously DIDN’T grow up in the South, and sounds kinda like they weren’t real impressed with our flora and fauna…

(Y’all  read this, heah?)

 

 

A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

 

 

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no-one’s seen before.

 

 

If it grows, it’ll stick ya. If it crawls, it’ll bite cha.

Onced and Twiced are words.

 

 

It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

 

 

Jawl-P? means, Did y’all go to the bathroom?

People actually grow,eat and like okra (pronounced “okry”).

Fixinto is one word. It means: I’m going to do that.

 

 

There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there’s supper.

 

 

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

Backwards and forwards means: I know everything about you.

The word jeet is actually a question meaning, ‘Did you eat?’

 

 

You don’t have to wear a watch, because it doesn’t matter what time it is, you work until you’re done or it’s too dark to see.

You don’t PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

Ya’ll is singular. All ya’ll is plural.

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

You carry jumper cables in your car – for your OWN car.

You own only five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, the motor sports, and gossip.

You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

You know what a hissy fit is..

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don’t need no dang Driver’s Ed.  If mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!


And you wonder why ‘Hooked on Phonics’ doesn’t work so well in the South… 🙂

Let the PANIC Begin…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Well, here it comes, the second ‘disaster’ in a week for the DC Metro region…
Panic buying- Check (try finding toilet paper or bottled water, or bread)
Media Hype- Check (including dragging out the 1930-something Hurricane that hit NY and Conn)…
Traffic hosed- Check (including the obligatory beater packed to the gills, weaving in and out of traffic)
Obigatory sob-story interview- Check (“Me and my NINE chirruns don’t gots no power, no food, the gubbermint ain’t doin nuthin; as her cell phone rings in her Gucci handbag)
Rampant rumormongering- Check
TEOTWAWKI- Two ‘disasters’ we can’t take anymore…
They are gonna turn off power (Ocean City, MD)
They are gonna turn off water (Ocean City, MD)
The Washington Monument is gonna fall over/be blown over.
Washington is gonna flood… (not necessarily a BAD thing… Just sayin)
There gonna be BODIES in the streets (again)
The Republicans did this to hurt the Obamallama- I don’t EVEN get this one…  All he’s going do is blame it on Bush.
They’re going to confiscate guns (DC)
I can’t get FILL IN THE BLANK…
Sigh…
The “actual” forcast is for 60% chance of rain Sat starting about noon, ‘possible’ flooding of low lying areas, 70% chance of rain Sun, with winds to 28kts…
We truly ARE idiots…

Blog Challenge and other things…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
First and foremost, Ambulance Driver has a blog challenge post up to benefit Male cancer organizations, go HERE and read the post and sign up. There are some good prizes that have been donated, and they are ALL worth it.  Please take the time to sign up and participate, it IS for a good cause (it’s all about keeping our ‘bits’ working as advertised)… Just sayin…


And I’ll play along on the book meme…

Via Mostly Cajun, and a WHOLE bunch of other folks, the NPR’s Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels with the ones I have read in bold:

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card- This SHOULD be required reading for everybody today! It is now on the required reading list for the Military!

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert Well, I read the original and that was it… Lost interest…

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov – THIS was one of Isaac’s best.

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut- Another HARD read…

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien  This one was HARD to get through…

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett – I will be.  I’ve actually read ALL his books…

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi- Read all three of his…

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson – And after I was done, my reaction was “Meh.”

96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis


I’ve read over half of them, after all those LOOOOOONG flights are good for something, along with a bunch of nights in hotels…


I also recommend getting an e-reader, as they DO save money, space, and are convenient as hell 🙂


But some, like Gaiman, I just can’t get into…  Others not on the list, Andre Norton, Spider Robinson, John Ringo, David Drake, and a bunch of others in the long past… 


Sadly, if you gave this list to a teen today, I’d have doubts that they would have read 10 of them…


And if you go over to Kevin’s blog Smallest Minority, he’s starting his own Top 100 list!    

I’m Awake… I’m Awake!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Well, it’s pretty bad when we not only get California weather in DC, but we get the earthquakes too!!!

It was a little 5.9er felt like mostly S-waves, and probably lasted 15 seconds…


We were sitting in class (again, dammit), and about 60 miles from the epicenter when it let go.  My coffee cup started dancing, I picked it up, looked across the table at one of the other folks (TAD here from California) who was doing the same thing, and we both said Earthquake at the same time!


The instructor didn’t know what to do, so we ‘suggested’ evacuating, since the building we were in was build in 1938…


We got outside and everyone was trying to figure out if  ‘something’ big blew up (or got hit), or that was REALLY an earthquake…  I sent a quick text to my daughters to let them know no problems, and then watched as everybody tried to use their cells at the same time (and about 1 in 30 actually got through).


As typically happens, the system was overloaded in about a minute, and everybody was getting more and more frustrated.  About 15 minutes later, we go back to class, only to be booted out at 1500, since the powers that be weren’t ‘sure’ the building was safe, AND as we found out, they kicked EVERYFRIGGINBODY loose at the same time… 


Roads were a @#&* mess, it took me 1 1/2 hours to go 16 miles home… sigh…  


And the phones didn’t really come back up until about a hour after the quake happened…  Initial reports, no serious injuries, no deaths, we were shaken but not stirred.


AND I got @#^% homework now… sigh


Mudbug made this comment over a Troublesome Times and as far as I’m concerned, he wins the Interwebz today!


I always wondered what would happen if all of the Founding Fathers rolled over in their graves at once… interesting.