My timing SUCKS!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Alternate title- Well, THAT was just special…

Sigh…

Pushed it a ‘bit’ late leaving the work site, so we decided to take the Expressway back up to where we were staying. Now the tropical storm eye wasn’t quite here, but the wind/rain was getting interesting…

For those who’ve been over here, you remember the Expressway is made with volcanic rock in place of ‘gravel’ seen in most roads in the USA. It sheds water really well, but it’s also SLICK when wet!

Anyhoo, we jump on the Expressway, and the “mid-sized” car (read tin can with roller skate wheels) is a bit of a handful. The guy riding with me is already nervous, since he’s in the left front seat with no steering wheel, no brakes, nothing…

It’s blowing 30ish knots, gusting 50ish knots, raining ‘medium’ (about what we’d call a frog strangler back home) and sideways. So visibility is not the best.

I’m more concerned about staying on the road than I am about speed, so I’m not really looking as I’m also trying to see the road and kinda crabbing into the wind. About that time we come out from behind one of the hills onto the first bridge going North…

Next thing I know, the other guy goes, “did you do that on purpose?”

What?

“Did you change lanes on purpose?”

I didn’t change lanes!

“Yes you did!”

Huh???

“I can see the guardrail now, before I couldn’t!”

Meh… So we get across the bridge, and there we go again…

See above… Same comments from him and from me. He has had all the fun he can stand, so he flops the seat back down and tells me- “Lemme know when we die!” and closes his eyes like he’s sleeping.

So I fight the car up the Expressway for 25 klicks, get off, and- The wind drops off, the rain stops and the sun comes out…

And he looks up and asks, “Did we die? Is THAT why the sun’s shining and there’s no wind?”

My timing sucks!!! And I’m STILL trying to get the seat cushion outta my ass…

10Lbs in a 5Lb bag…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Well, here we go again… Trying to get 10lbs in a 5lb bag, er… ship…

This is a working ROV on the ship we are working with; it’s not the cutesy little things you see on TV, this one is a workhorse ROV!!! 4600 lbs, 100 inches high, depths to 16000 feet, two manipulators…
And a pic of the ship from the pier…
The big blue thing sticking up through the picture is the port A-Frame support, capable of >30,000 lbs. The other bits and pieces are semi positioned on deck, based on offload and ability to flake equipment out prior to deployment.
This one is from the 01 Deck, looking aft past the ROV sheave. Even though the deck ‘appears’ open, you can see the cable spool that has to be spooled out down the center of the aft deck.
And finally, what I think is probably the ‘best’ headline I’ve seen about OBL. And it pretty much captures the folks out here on the pointy end’s perspective…

And in what is becoming a habit, got another @#&*% Tropical Storm (03W) that has us boresighted… I want to find the sumbitch with the target painted on his back and send him somewhere/anywhere else… sigh…

Happy Mother’s Day…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

To each and every Mother, thank you for being there for us, bearing us, nurturing us, and most of all, putting up with us…


And a special thank you to those Blue Star and Gold Star Mothers out there. Without you, we would not have a military. Your sacrifices go above and beyond what any parent should have to endure.

The Blue Star Mother’s Flag. Contrary to what some think, this is NOT a Brigadier General/Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Flag…

A Gold Star Mother’s Flag- ‘Technically’ this flag is incorrect, the original intent was for the gold star to be slightly smaller than the blue star on the blue star flag and the blue star would form a border around the gold star.

USS Murphy DDG 112…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

USS Michael Murphy, DDG-112 was christened today, 7 May, 2011 at Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine. Adding to the significance of the date is that this was also his birthday. Lt Michael Murphy would have been 35 years old. Instead, he gave his life during Operation Red Wings at the age of 29. He gave his life for the other team members, and his memory will live on in this Burke class Destroyer.

More on USS Murphy HERE:

More on Operation Red Wings HERE:

More on the christening HERE:

Of note, LT Murphy and the other SEALS had the option of killing the herders who initially discovered them, but chose NOT to take innocent lives, even though it would ‘probably’ cause them problems. THIS is the kind of thinking that sets US military apart from the bad guys… Sadly, we lost three outstanding sailors that day and only PO1 Marcus Luttrel survived, and he is living every day with survivor’s guilt. I think it is truly appropriate that the “stock” photo used for the commissioning is not the officer portrait, but rather one of the last pictures taken of LT Murphy in theater. The ship’s motto is also true of not only LT Murphy, but the SEALs in general, the motto is “LEAD THE FIGHT”.

A bit busy…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Sorry for the light posting and commenting…


We took a bit of a different approach into Tokyo this time, as far as I could tell from listening to the controllers, this is the ‘new’ standard approach…

On the road for the next month or so, as usual lousy connectivity, and limited bandwidth at best…

So posting/commenting will be light and for that I apologize. I will throw stuff up when I can. Y’all go read from the side bar, ALL good folks over there!

Osama Bin Laden is dead!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Looks like the US got him yesterday with a SOCOM team (update- SEALS supported by 160th SOAR) on the ground in Pakistan! Been waiting for familial DNA comparison, apparently it came through tonight! Best news I have heard since 9/11!

And even better, all our folks got out okay!

NRA Convention Wrap up…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

GREAT TIME! 🙂

Seriously, the dogs are now howling, but it was worth the effort and the time…


Estimates of attendance are around 70,000 (official figures will be released later this week)


Sebastian over at Snowflakes in Hell has been doing the grunt work attending the law seminars and other important meetings, and his reports are up HERE. Thanks Seb!!!


Thanks go to the NRA PR office, they let us in, and even gave us credentials! Other thanks-
The Pittsburgh Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department. Everyone of their folks I talked to were polite, helpful and pretty much ‘ignored’ all of those that were open carrying. Of course it might have been that they figured at least half of us were carrying…


And I did get a comment as I was leaving from one of the PD Sgts that not a single person had shot them the bird or called them pigs all weekend 🙂 Amazing how that courtesy thing works…


The event staff did an excellent job, they were unobtrusive, polite, helpful and the food was actually pretty good! But about those little bitty coffee cups…


I believe the ‘signature’ event was Wayne LaPierre’s call for Holder’s resignation. One can only hope they were listening in Washington!!!


We had a BUNCH of bloggers there, and it was a pleasure to meet folks I’ve been reading and those who comment (sometimes) on my poor little blog… One of the highlights was getting to meet Breda’s Mom- She’s in the dictionary- Under FEISTY! I can now see where Breda gets here attitude!


This morning I got in a ‘bit’ early, so I wandered around and ended up talking to John Bianchi for a few minutes, and got a chance to ask him how he came up with the design for the ambidextrous holster for the M-92. It was a truly interesting story involving three years of research and ALMOST didn’t get accepted because he added the cleaning rod to the front of the holster. John said he finally told the General that Bianchi would pay for the rods themselves!!!


I also got in early enough to speak to Ronnie Barrett for a minute or so, he was on his way to the big meeting, so was formally dressed, but he was willing to stop and talk. He indicated the MRAD should be officially released next month!!! Interestingly enough, EVERY person that came up to him while I was standing there (probably 15-20 folks) ALL thanked him for his stand on California!


So THIS is now on my wish list (probably about the 12th of never, but what the hey)…

I also stopped back by the FN booth after my last conversation with Frank James about hogs and the amount of ‘power’ needed to bring them down. I got a chance to talk to Eric Lund, one of FN’s shooters, and asked him for an honest appraisal of the SCAR 17. As we were talking I found out he used to be with an agency in Fairfax, and we know a number of people in common, including my gunsmith and folks that routinely whip my ass on the range…


His comments (or words to that effect)- It’s a slower cycle time than an AR platform, since it’s not direct impingement, it’s easier to clean and breaks down quickly (he did it in about 30 secs). He said it’s a smoother ‘felt’ recoil even as light as it is, and due to the lower alignment of the barrel to the stock, he felt the rise was very manageable for repeated shots. He also said the rifle should hold 1 MOA fairly easily. Trijicon is also making an ACOG optic that will fit it with the BDC built in like the TA31RCO. He also said it can be set up as either right or left handed depending on the shooter, with the exception of the ejection (always to the right).


I think this one goes on the serious want list…

And I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Breda for setting up the blogger get together! It was great, and we had the added benefits of Alan Gura and Alan Gottlieb attending. Mr. Gura is one smart individual, and I believe there are other things coming from him. I also believe he has a critical capability that most of his opponents don’t have, and that is the ability AND willingness to think out of the box! I’m just glad he’s on OUR side!!!


And for those who are curious about the BBQ leather I wore last night, it was done by Kenny and Cody Rowe out of Hope Arkansas. Their web site is HERE!


I will defer to others who had MUCH better cameras than I for the pretty pictures, and thanks to all for the pleasure of your company! Looking forward to seeing you again next year, if not before!

NRA Day 2…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

The dogs are barkin…


Damn, there is a LOT of area to cover! A number of interesting conversations, some OUTSTANDING displays, and much much drool worthy stuff was seen…

Conversations with, among others, MAJ John Plaster, Patrick Flanigan (extreme shotgun shooter), “Dutch” Van Kirk (the Enola Gay’s Navigator), George Cohen (Top Secret’s Flight Engineer), Les Baer, the “Gunny”, Frank Brownell and Steve Hornady.

Heading off to the gun blogger bash, more later…

NRA Convention Pittsburgh…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Made it to Pittsburgh in a bit over 3 hours, took an HOUR to go the last 8 miles… Pittsburgh was NOT expecting the amount of folks that showed up, traffic was snarled beyond belief!!!


Oh yeah, and my 8 miles in an hour was trumped by another gent who spent an hour going 1.2 not twelve, but 1.2 miles to get to the parking lot!!!

The NRA had a well set up procedure for getting folks in the show, the media passes were there, and I didn’t even get in the door before I started running into bloggers 🙂

Jay G was the first one I saw, closely followed by Say Uncle, Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks, ZerCool, William the Coroner, Newbius, Breda, Alan from Snarkybytes, Frank from Corn, Beans, Spent Brass, JB Miller, NJT, Weerd, Bubblehead Les, Heath and Amanda, Falnfenix, Caleb, MBtGE, Newbius, Cybrus (and Mrs. Cybrus) and at least 6 others that I sadly can’t remember… My apologies to you all. (they are all on the sidebar)

The first low pass was to VZ to find some grips for Jay (to match is new holster). Now I’ve heard of accessorizing, but it’s ‘normally’ women that do that…

And then the distractions started…

The obligatory pic of Jay with BIG pistols 🙂 .45-70s to be exact…

And Dennis is calculating how much leather THOSE would take…
As you can see, there was quite a crowd there; every aisle was at least this busy!
Needless to say, we got separated in about a half a heartbeat…

And I ran across this ‘thing’ at the Mossburg display. Looks more like a chainsaw than a shotgun, but what can I say, I ‘guess’ it is truly one of those if we make it, SOMEBODY will buy it…
And wondering around with Say Uncle, Alan and Breda we ran across this display 🙂

It’s a bra holster… Breda turned about the color of the bra, but it IS an interesting concept, the pistol fits on the bottom of the bra and is ‘concealed’ by the breasts so size DOES matter… Just sayin…
And the ONLY quiet place in the whole convention center… Only because it was blocked off!
I wandered quite a few aisles, saw some interesting weapons, some REALLY nice weapons, and some ‘accessories’ that I have NO idea what the hell they were even for…

As I said, the place was packed, young, old, males, females, families with children, and I noticed quite a few ladies in the crowd who were obviously shopping for themselves, not for anyone else.

The NRA folks I saw circulating were very polite, well informed, and more than willing to answer questions, point one in the right direction or any thing else they could do to help.

There are a number of notable shooters manning the booths of the various manufacturers, and willing to talk to the folks that came by and asked questions (more power to them, I’m SURE they have been asked the same questions time and time again)..

Frank and I decided not to go with the ‘kids’ to a party, and opted for food, since we were both starving. Frank is truly an impressive gentleman; very well read, knowledgeable on a wide range of weapons (it helps when you have a gun range in your back yard and ‘connections’…). Frank is also a curious individual, as he said, sitting on top of a tractor for hours on end gives him a LOT of time to think and it is obvious he’s done a lot of that over the years. He has taken on trying to find out all he can about night vision equipment and applies it to killing feral hogs; it gives him not only a real world test bed, it also helps out the farmers whose farms are being torn apart by the hogs. As a farmer, he’s also intimately familiar with the weather, crops and the vagaries of Mother Nature and what she can do to you when you least expect it.
Tomorrow is more walking the aisles, and I’m sure more good conversations with an outstanding bunch of bloggers, and I will try to do better with remembering whom I meet…

Bring a Hankie…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Video compilation of homecomings of our Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Soldiers…


Not stuff you will ROUTINELY see on the MSM, just look at the joy on ALL the faces!!!

Nuff Said…


Fixed based on comments… Is everybody happy now???