Ping…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
No, not THAT ping…

This is about Ping golf clubs, and something they do without any press, any renumeration, or anything else as a way to say thank you to our wounded warriors…

This isn’t a joke or cartoon; just something interesting to know…
This is an email that came in via the Mil-Email net…
On Monday, I played the Disney, Lake Buena Vista course.  As usual the starters matched me with three other players.  After a few holes we began to get to know each other a bit.  One fellow was rather young and had his wife riding along in the golf cart with him.  I noticed that his golf bag had his name on it and after closer inspection, it also said   “wounded war veterans”.  When I had my first chance to chat with him I asked him about the bag.  His response was simply that it was a gift.  I then asked if he was wounded and he said yes.  When I asked more about his injury, his response was “I’d rather not talk about it, sir”.

 


Over a few holes I learned that he had spent the last 15 months in an army rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio Texas .  His wife moved there to be with him and he was released from the hospital in September.  He was a rather quiet fellow; however, he did say that he wanted to get good at golf.  We had a nice round and as we became a bit more familiar I asked him about the a brand new set of Ping woods and irons he was playing.  Some looked like they had never been hit.  His response was simple.  He said that this round was the first full round he had played with these clubs.


Later in the round he told me the following.  As part of the discharge process from the rehabilitation hospital, Ping comes in and provides three days of golf instruction, followed by club fitting.  Upon discharge from the hospital, Ping gives each of the discharged veterans, generally about 40 soldiers, a brand new set of custom fitted clubs along with the impressive golf bags.

The fellow I met was named Ben Woods and he looked me in the eye and said that being fitted for those clubs was one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was determined to learn to play golf well enough to deserve the gift Ping had given him.  Ben is now out of the service, medically discharged just a month ago.  He is as fine a young   man as you would ever want to meet.


Ping has the good judgment not to advertise this program.  God Bless America and the game of golf.

I’ve played a couple of rounds with folks that also had these clubs, and every one has the same goal; and a couple of them whipped up on me pretty well!  Another thing Ping does with little/no fanfare is to provide ‘rental’ clubs to military golf courses (especially overseas), and little to no cost… 

Enough to make you wonder…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
This is an editorial that was printed in the Washington Times on 7 August…

The Civil War of 2016

Imagine Tea Party extremists seizing control of a South Carolina town and the Army being sent in to crush the rebellion. This farcical vision is now part of the discussion in professional military circles.
At issue is an article in the respected Small Wars Journal titled “Full Spectrum Operations in the Homeland: A ‘Vision’ of the Future.” It was written by retired Army Col. Kevin Benson of the Army’s University ofForeign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., andJennifer Weber, a Civil War expert at the University of Kansas. It posits an “extremist militia motivated by the goals of the ‘tea party’ movement” seizing control of Darlington, S.C., in 2016, “occupying City Hall, disbanding the city council and placing the mayor under house arrest.” The rebels set up checkpoints on Interstate 95 and Interstate 20 looking for illegal aliens. It’s a cartoonish and needlessly provocative scenario.
Full Article HERE…
h/t Joe

And HERE is an editorial by Charlie Daniels, I have to say I agree with him on ALL the points!!!

This country IS on the brink of fracturing, and if we don’t do something, we’re going to be in serious trouble.  And the ads that are being run are just absolutely outrageous, especially the cancer ad (proven to be an out and out lie), and the ad in Florida against Allen West…

If I were king for a day, I’d cut off ALL outside money and PACs and make it so that they couldn’t buy ads; and give each party $50M for everything (ads, convention, the whole ball of wax).  When it’s gone, it’s gone… And I’d make the debates 3 hours one a month until the election. And I’d put a member of SCOTUS as the moderator…

Bumper Stickers…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

As seen on Military Bases- Obviously a LOT of these are from the Marines… 🙂


“When in doubt, empty the magazine.”

“Marine Sniper – You can run, but you’ll just die tired.”

“Machine Gunners – Accuracy By Volume”

“Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything.”

” U.S. Marines – Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club.”

” U.S. Air Force – Travel Agents To Allah”

“Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don’t Testify”

“The Marine Corps – When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight”

“Death Smiles At Everyone – Marines Smile Back”

“What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil”

“Marines – Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775”

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It”

“Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon”

“It’s God’s Job to Forgive Bin Laden – It Was Our Job To Arrange The Meeting”

“Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl”

“One Shot, Twelve Kills – U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support “

“My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College”

“A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy – Blessed Be The Peacemakers”


and finally
“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world.  The US Marines don’t have that problem.”
– Ronald Reagan, President of the United States

Edit- On the way in this morning I saw three interesting plates…

ADOP- Phlegmmy, somebody back here has the SAME problem you do.  Attention deficit, oh pretty! 🙂

HIOF1CER- On the back of a hot rod Subaru

1SHOT1K- On a Yukon with Marine stickers…

h/t JP

Yeesh…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I swear if I have to sit through one more meeting where I have to listen to a bunch of PHDs argue, I’m gonna shove their M up their N SIDEWAYS…

3 1/2 hours into a 2 hour meeting, with absolutely NOTHING accomplished, and thankfully the meeting finally broke up.  I really wonder if these people have lives???

In other news, this one reminds me of certain of my friends out there, and I just don’t “know” why… 🙂

I’m gonna go have a good Scotch and call it a wasted day…

Product Review…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Y’all know I don’t normally do product stuff, but in this case, I’m going to put one up!

Some of you know I’ve played with an iPad a time or two and can’t type on it worth a damn…

So I’m sitting next to a guy on the airplane and we get to talking and he breaks one of these out.

Turns out it’s a Pelican iPad case!  


WITH a keyboard even!!!

And storage space underneath for cables, headphones, and charging plug.


Even an idjit like me can use THIS! Quick and easy way to enter zero data right on the shooting stand, and no worries about damaging the iPad on the shooting table as the unit stands up in the case as either a vertical or… 


horizontal display and it’s easy to read!  You could also set it up to film your shooting to collect position data, and look at any possible things you’re doing wrong or what you are doing right!


And you can just close it up and throw it in a backpack and not worry about it getting damaged!

Highly recommended, I’ll give it 5 bullets out of 6!  The ONLY drawback is that it doesn’t have a handle, just a shoulder strap.  But it’s STILL worth it if you’re an iPad aficionado…

Choices…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
 Interesting chat a lunch over the ‘choices’ we have today as shooters…

Two of the folks were late 60’s early 70’s (“John” and “Joe”), myself, and then one ‘youngster’ (“Mike”) that was 35!

Us ‘old’ farts were talking about the ‘choices’ we had growing up, which pretty much consisted of getting to shoot what ever dad/mom, or grandpa/grandma had; which usually meant a shotgun, and some kind of .22 rifle, and either a Colt, Remington, Springfield, or S&W pistol (usually a revolver) in .32 or maybe .38 or a 1911.  

Occasionally, there might even have been an old Winchester lever gun, or a rifle in 30 GOVT 06. Every once in a while that might have also included an M-1 or carbine or some bring back from the War… And they all had wood furniture,  very few scopes, and the ‘range’ consisted of the back yard, or back 40, or out in the ‘country’…

Your ‘training’ was by whom ever owned the gun, and a lot of folks got the basics from ‘military’ style training (Most of us had multiple veterans in our families).  You didn’t get to shoot hundreds of rounds, not even .22 unless YOU bought them with your own money (if I remember right, back in the 60’s a box of .22 longs were something like .50 cents, so I could get four boxes for each yard I mowed)…

Note- I can remember killing coyotes to pay for ammo and gas ($5/pair of ears), and never shooting on a ‘range’ till I went in the military in the 70s.  

The youngster “Mike” has never shot a revolver, he grew up shooting Ruger .22 and 1911s until his dad got a Glock in 1990! His first rifle that he shot was a Colt AR-15 SP-1, and other than his military service, he’s never shot anywhere BUT on a range!!!

He was complaining about how hard it was to find ‘good’ gear for his AR at a reasonable price, and moaning about the cost of optics, and how he’d had to spend money to get his M and P upgraded with the Apex trigger, and trying to find a light for the rail.  

Finally “John” told him to shut-up, that he didn’t realize how lucky he was, and of course he didn’t understand…

John proceeded to tell him that he’s NEVER owned a plastic gun, nor a AR platform, and he bought his last gun in 1980!  And he’s perfectly happy with the ones he has, and wood is just fine, and all those fancy ge-gaws don’t mean a damn thing if you can’t hit what you aim at!!!

And “Joe” chimed in about practice, and how many rounds does he shoot, and does he practice at long range, and does he know the dope for his rifle, can he shoot with his weak hand, and can he snap shoot???

I just sat there and smiled, because these two had the poor Mike whip-sawed, and he had the proverbial deer in the headlights look! 

And then Joe proceeded to give a good 10 minute dissertation on the AR platform from Stoner to the present, ALL the latest technology and how his is tricked out thanks to Brownells!

Then John started in again on all the new technology, and Mike finally stopped him asking, “but if you bought your last gun in 1980,  why to you know so much about the new stuff?”  John’s answer, “well I may not buy it, but I DO keep up with the stuff!”

If I were a new shooter today, I’d probably get brain lock just trying to figure out ‘what’ I really wanted… You can get just about any caliber, any manufacturer (of hundreds), any configuration, any furniture, any scope/optics from $30 to $3000; and do all that in pistols, rifles AND shotguns!!!

I think we had it a lot easier! Colt, Winchester, S&W, Mauser, Browning, Remington, Mossberg and Savage were pretty much it!!!

The other problem is there is so much information out there today, some good, lots bad, and oh so many instant experts on the webs, forums, etc. that it’s just about impossible to get an unbiased review of a product.  It’s now pretty much a matter of hunt, peck, buy what you ‘hope’ is right, and add stuff until you get it the way you want it… 

Eia has a good set of posts up HERE on just the basics, and he and Keads are both instructors and I’m sure they will offer advice…

And don’t get me started on ammo… 

Or holsters…

Or training options…

But all of us recommended to Mike, regardless of what he gets, and what he carries, to go practice regularly!  THAT is the true key, not the caliber, not the weapon, not the optics or lack of, not the rounds or the holster.

It’s how well YOU can run the gun, how well YOU can hit what you’re aiming at, how well YOU can defend yourself if required.   And it’s not just about being able to do it in good light, in the a/c on the range either…

Somehow I don’t think he is going to want to go to lunch with us anymore…LOL  

Oops…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Seems like the Navy can’t count… Sigh…

The Big “E” is on her final deployment prior to decommissioning after 51 years on the Navy roles; and they started doing the final screen of documents and all the other things that go along with putting the final history together. 


AND it seems they ‘missed’ a few deployments…  Like THREE of them…  

It appears that dropping of the WESTPAC tag (10 deployments) caused them to lose the first three deployments (which were LANT/MED deployments0…

Full article HERE.

The real total is 25 deployments, or over 15 years at sea, JUST on deployment!  That doesn’t count work-ups, trials, transits, etc…

One hellva career for one hellva ship! The first nuclear carrier, she was originally designated as CVN-65 and set many records for speed, range, etc.

In other Navy news…

The Navy is currently struggling to fill at-sea billets…

They will have to ship hundreds of sailors to sea before their projected rotation dates (PRDs) in order to fill undermanned billets, while at the same time separating thousands of sailors to get down to the “required” end strength for the cuts that have been decreed!

Teh stoopid… It BURNS!!!

And there is NO plan to actually FIX any of this, at least not by this administration…

They walk among us…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Compilation from an Aussie with WAY too much time on their hands…


Recently, when I went to McDonald’s I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. “We don’t have half dozen nuggets” said the teenager at the counter. “You don’t?” I replied. “We only have six, nine, or twelve” was the reply. “So I can’t order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?” “That’s right”. So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets.


I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of the divider that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn’t get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the divider, looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code, she said to me “Do you know how much this is?” I said to her ‘I’ve changed my mind – I don’t think I’ll buy that today”. She said “Okay” and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened.


A woman at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing she said she was shopping on the internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM thingy.


I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. “Do you need some help?” I asked. She replied “I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can’t get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery to fit this?” “Hmmm, I don’t know. Do you have an alarm too?” I asked. “No, just this remote thingy” she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied “Why don’t you drive over there and check about the batteries. It’s a long walk…”


Several years ago, we had an intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said “I’m almost out of typing paper. What do I do?” “Just use paper from the photocopier” the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five ‘blank’ copies.


A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room – the kid had eaten ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some cough medicine and he should be fine. The mother says “I just gave him some ant killer….” Dispatcher: “Rush him in to emergency!”


I was at the checkout of a K-Mart. The clerk rang up $46.64 charge. I gave her a fifty dollar bill. She gave me back $46.64. I gave it back to her and told her that she had made a mistake in MY favour and gave her the money back. She became indignant and informed me she was a University of Southern California graduate and knew what she was doing and returned the money again. I gave her the money back again… same scenario! I departed the store with the $46.64.


One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when one of them shouted “Look at that dead bird!” Someone looked up at the sky and said “Where?”


While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn’t want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked “Does the sun rise in the North…?” When my brother explained that the sun rises in the East, and has for some time, she shook her head and said “Oh I don’t keep up with that stuff”.


I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call centre. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call centre was open. I told him “The number you dialled is open 24 hours a Day, 7 days a week”. He responded “Is that Eastern or Pacific time?”  Wanting to end the call quickly I said “Uh… Pacific”.


My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.


I couldn’t find my luggage at the airport baggage area so I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. “Now” she asked me “has your plane arrived yet?”


While working at a pizza parlour I observed a man ordering a small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding. “Just cut it into 4 pieces I don’t think I’m hungry enough to eat 6 pieces”.


Some guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: ‘Free to good home. You want it, you take it’. For three days the fridge sat there without even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too un-trusting of this deal. It looked too good to be true, so he changed the sign to read: ‘Fridge for sale $50’. The next day someone stole it.


My colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible but “didn’t think she’d get sunburned because the car was moving”.


I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said “Wouldn’t the chain rip out every time she turned her head?” I explained that a person’s nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.


The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef’s claim was approved.


After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.


An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

Some Assembly Required…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Here’s a quick two minute video from Boeing on assembly of a 737 for Southwest Airlines, it’s worth watching if for nothing other than the painting process!



In real time, this all takes place over about eleven days; which is an extremely fast build time for an airliner.  The use of automation and  a rolling jig contributes to the capability and pre-positioning of pieces/parts down the line allow a smooth flow of installation in a just-in-time process.


Now for a contrast, at the height of war production, Boeing was building 14+ B-17s A DAY in 1943…  BY HAND!


h/t JP

Range Time…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Alternative title, I’m stoopid… sigh…

Met up with a couple of folks at the range this afternoon to ‘help’ get a basic AR on paper. 

So, I ask is it on paper?  Ummm… We ‘think’ so… Of course I didn’t have my boresighter with me (Mistake #1).

I was ‘helping’ rather than doing, so we started with a clean target (and backer).  I set up the spotting scope, and away we went- First round, nothing on paper…

Yeesh…

Okaayyy- Come over to this open lane and see that white spot on the backstop? Shoot at it… Nada… REAL high on the backstop…

Pack up, move over to the short range; reset everything and take a try at 50 yards.  Have you got the EOTech turned ALL the way up?

I didn’t personally check the gun out (Mistake #2)

Um… well, it’s acting kinda strange…  Strange HOW???

Well, it’s kinda blinking on and off… Sigh… Batteries???

Anyone???

Buelher???

Nope, no spare batteries. When did you check it?  Um… Last night, played with it a bit and ‘sighted’ in on the neighbor’s house.  With what?  Well, I kinda looked through the back up sights and then held it still and moved the EOTech to that point…

ARRGGGHHHH!!!

Okay then, let’s see where the back up sights are hitting.

18 inches high and a foot left at 50 yards!!!

WTF??? I had helped align the back up sights a month ago, I “KNOW” they were on then!!!

Has somebody played with the back up sights? Well, we took em off to put the EOTech on, and I ‘think’ we put them back where they were.

(nope, off by 1 spot)…  AND they were only hand tight…  Sigh…

See Mistake #2 (Again)!

Reset, retightened, eyeball realigned, and FINALLY got em on target!

Good enough, now go buy batteries and we’ll try this again later…

Off to the pistol range, run into a friend and his dad there, and we start playing with .45s and .22s killing paper plates.  Then his dad goes back to the truck and comes back with a little black bag, and in it is a late 60’s early 70’s MK III Trooper 6inch.  They offer it to me to shoot and of course I took them up on it (just happened to have a box of .357 in my ammo can)!

First round I touched off the guys two lanes over jumped! 🙂

It was in great shape, the only wear was muzzle wear and it was fitted with a set of Herritt classic grips.  And it was for sale!!!

Say WHUT???  Yep dad was getting ready to move and was downsizing the safe to a smaller one and go to a common caliber (.45 and .22), so this one was one of the ones that had to go (he’d already given his son a Trooper in 4inch).  Was I interested???

Oh HELL yes…

95-98% gun, target sights, no original grips, but great Herritt combat grips on it. Sweet shooter, and it’ll find a home in the safe no problem!

I REALLY need to stop running into people with guns to sell, especially when they’re ones I like… Sigh…