Expats…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (“out of”) and patria (“country, fatherland”). 


Got an email from a friend last night, one of my old crew mates apparently died of a heart attack in Thailand three days ago…


He retired and got on an airplane and left the US, “Never to darken the doorstep again”… He’d been through a bad divorce leading up to his retirement, and I think he’d just had enough. We’d flown together back in the early-mid 70s in SEA, and he’d loved it; when he left that was where he was headed.


In honor of ‘Reggie’ and all the other Expats…


And before you ask, yes Earthquake was a real person…
Link HERE.

THE BALLAD OF EARTHQUAKE MCGOON

 

From Hong Kong and Shanghai, to far-off Tibet

This legend is growing with time

Of the behemoth creature who flies in the sky

His three hundred pounds shake the earth when he walks

Yet he soars with the grace of a loon

The legend makes claim that this beast from the earth

Is known as Earthquake McGoon.

While still a mere lad in his tenderest years

He seemed a precocious young boy

Who knew naught of views like women and beer

To his parson a true pride and joy

But tales of “The East” and streetcars that ran

In an easterly-westerly  way

Sowed dreams of wild oats in your young heros head

He vowed he’d go there to stay.

So J.B. McGovern cast off all his chains

Took the name of Earthquake McGoon.

He yearned to carouse on a far eastern claim

Where he would have plenty of room.

He then learned to fly like a bird in the sky

With Wee Willie, the Don and the rest.

He staked out a claim in that far-flung domain

And lived with a Mandarin’s best.

The timbered teak floors in the bars that he entered

Would ground with deep pain at his weight.

He’d heist at his paunch and in thunderous tones

Say, “Fill her up, Matey.  It’s late,

This hollowed–out leg that’s supporting me now

Will hold half a keg of your best,

This stomach of mine which protrudes to your bar

I am certain will hold all the rest.”

But it looked like the doom of Earthquake McGoon

And we swore he would never come back

When he deadsticked his plane into Liushow one day

His future looked truly quite blank

They threw him in Jail and granted no bail

They took both his shoes off his feet

Yet he stomped on the floor and beat on the door

For whiskey and something to eat.

In fear of their lives or because of the din

From this behemoth creature within

His captures  relented  and gave him a bottle

Of rice wine diluted with gin

But they still wouldn’t feed this ponderous hulk

Whose temper grew worse by the day

And quaking  with fear they fmally released him

After six months  and a day.

His ponderous stomach  a hundred  pounds shy

And sporting  a wonderful beard

He came back to fly once again like a bird

And bellowed, “I never was skeered

I’ve eaten them out of their prisoners fare

Drank all of their rice wine and gin

My eating and drinking have turned  back the tide

Those (censored) just had to give in.”

So believe what I say, friend, and lend me an ear

To prove to yourself  if you must

That the legend of Earthquake, the mouth and beard

Is a true as a Venus bust

Go down into Kowloon, in Gingles back room

And there staring  you in the face

Is this behemoth creature, his hand on ·his prop

With a smile on his lecherous face.

From Hong Kong and Shanghai  to far-off Tibet

This legend is growing  with time

Of the behemoth creature who flies in the sky

Who knows neither reason or rhyme

His three hundred  pounds shake the earth when he walks

Yet he soars with the grace of a loon

The legend makes claim that this beast from the east 
Is known as Earthquake McGoon.


Al Kindt (another CAT/Air America pilot)

One to think about…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
After reading the headlines about the US soldier who shot up
Afghanistan civilians, I couldn’t help noticing an irony. There is
all this clamor (SecDef) to try this guy quickly and execute him, never mind his having suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Yet Major Hasan, who shot up Fort Hood while screaming Allah Akbar, still hasn’t stood trial, and they are still debating whether
he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive:
slay as many infidels as possible. So we have a guy in a war zone
who cracks, and he must be executed immediately.

But this Muslim psychiatrist who was stateside in a nice safe office all day murders 13, wounds 29 of our own guys, and they try to argue the poor lad suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from
listening to real soldiers who had actual battle experience.

Two and a half years later, they still haven’t tried the murderous bastard.

This is NOT the military I served in…  Just sayin…

Profiling…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Had lunch with a friend who is an active LEO here in Northern Virginia, and we got to talking about ‘profiling’.


Not in the way you might think, but OUR profiles…


Are you a ‘high’ or ‘low’ profile person?  How do you perceive yourself, and how do others perceive you???


By now you’re probably wondering WTF I’m talking about…


Your vehicle- Is it distinctive?  Vanity plates?  NRA stickers? Bumper stickers?  Odd color/make/model?


I’ll admit mine does have vanity plates and a couple of stickers.  Why you may ask???


Without getting into specifics, he talked about two different cases here in NOVA where ‘distinctive’ vehicles were part of investigations…


In one, it was a case of trying to push blame on someone other than the actual perp, and the course of the investigation finally got around to that individual a week or so after the actual ‘act’ was perpetrated.  The individual was ‘placed’ at the scene through his vehicle/license plate description provided by “witnesses”…


Only problem, he was able to prove his vehicle was actually IN THE SHOP at the time he was supposedly at the scene!!!  And he was able to prove he was home at the time, thanks to emails sent from his home computer.  


The witnesses finally admitted they had seen the vehicle before, and happened to remember the plate and description, and just spouted that when questioned…  


The other case was a ‘get even’ set up, where again a vehicle was used to prove ‘guilt’ due to it’s distinctive plate and bumper stickers. In that case it apparently took much longer to ‘clear’ the individual, and that was by luck more than anything else (apparently a parking garage camera finally cleared him).


That led into a discussion of high/low profile clothes…  Do you wear a “shoot me first” vest?  Loud Hawaiian shirts?  Jackets when it’s warm out?  3XL shirts that hang to your knees???


In this case, I am low profile… 


He said about 50% of the time he can pick out who is carrying just by their clothing…  The ‘bad’ part is apparently some of the gangbangers are also catching on, and targeting those individuals  to get their weapons, or break into their vehicles hoping the weapon is left in the car.  


Another point he made is he picks out a lot of CCW people by their attention to their surroundings and having one hand free at all times.  He said paying attention will, many times ‘cue’ him to that person, and he goes down his mental checklist, then goes back to scanning for the perps.  He said the perps tend to be much more furtive,  and once he sees one, he starts looking for others (as most gangbangers tend to run in groups of at least three or more)…  AND they tend to ‘pat’ their weapons, just to make sure they haven’t moved from the carry position…


As far as open carry, he said if the gun is in a holster, he doesn’t ‘worry’ about it. 


YMMV, but I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on this…

A Real Tribute- 98 years in the making…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Nuff said…

Edit- Appears this is a fake per Snopes… Thanks DT for pointing this out.

Father’s advice to his son…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
                The following is a father’s advice to his son just moments before he gets on the bus that will carry him off to join the Navy.


                “Son, you are getting ready to embark on a great adventure as many of the men in our family have done since your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather did many            hundreds of years ago.

 


                There will be many dangers ahead that you will encounter. Remember your training and obey your commanders, this will keep you alive during the arduous days of battle. Always stay with the plan, if you deviate from it you will be in grave jeopardy.


                When the time of battle is over, be wary as you go into the towns and cities ahead because there are many hidden dangers lurking there. There will be many temptations to lure you away from your brothers in arms and this could put you in danger even if it seems safe at the time. In every town there will be a street that will be most treacherous of all there will be strong drink to dull your

senses, loud and crude songs to suppress your hearing, and wild women of ill repute to enable your enemy to catch you off guard. My advice to you as a former sailor is simple – Whatever you do…


                FIND THAT STREET.”
Now the ‘funny’ part is today at lunch a couple of us were talking, and one of the guys sons is currently stationed in Japan, and he was bitching via email to his dad about how the “Honch” didn’t live up to his dad’s sea stories… He said he dug out a picture of the Honch back in the day (one that the wife didn’t know he’d kept), and sent it to his son via email.  Apparently the son responded that it wasn’t ‘fair’… That is was obiously a LOT more ‘fun’ back in our day 🙂 

New Rules for Old Farts…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Another one from the mil-email… This one is SOOOO true…

If you remember when health insurance was optional, you are an old fart.


If you are polite to strangers, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever changed a typewriter ribbon, you are an old fart.

If there was only one fat kid in your class, you are an old fart.

If you think “Occupy” is a verb and not a noun, you are an old fart.

If you just want to be left alone, you are an old fart.

If you remember when only sailors had tattoos, you are an old fart.

If you remember when civil rights meant equal rights, not reverse discrimination, you are an old fart.

If you’ve never uploaded naked photographs of yourself, you are an old fart.

If you know how to spell, you are an old fart.

If you ever waited to hear your favorite song on the radio, you are an old fart.

If you remember when being radical meant hating the government, rather than relying on it, you are an old fart.

If you know how to get there better than that GPS contraption, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever felt shame, you are an old fart.

If you still feel a twinge of dread seeing a phone number with a lot of “9″s and “0″s, you are an old fart.

If you think a nice warm day is just a nice warm day and not proof of impending doom, you are an old fart.

If you ever paid for your own condoms, you are an old fart.

If you know how to fix mechanical devices, you are an old fart.

If the phrase “turn of the century” makes you think of the year 1900, you are an old fart.

If you had a blue mohawk in 11th grade, you are an old fart.

If you remember when Top Gun actually sat in the plane, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever bought something with cash, you are an old fart.

If you don’t go all the way on the first date, you are an old fart.

If you remember when being a Democrat meant being anti-communist, you are an old fart.

If you remember when “books” were made of paper, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever played pinball, you are an old fart.

If you remember when sex scandals would ruin a starlet’s career, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever gotten on an airplane without first being searched, you are an old fart.

If you even know the meaning of the word “bipartisan,” you are an old fart.

If you you don’t have a Facebook page, you are an old fart.

If you do have a MySpace page, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever used the word “gay” to mean carefree or joyous, you are an old fart.

If you still haven’t scraped that “I believe you Anita!” sticker off your bumper, you are an old fart.

If you kept a few leftover French francs and German marks the last time you visited Europe, you are an old fart.

If you think self-esteem is earned rather than a birthright, you are an old fart.

If you remember when the media at least pretended to be impartial, you are an old fart.

If you ever ate at Sambo’s, you are an old fart.

If you still have some bell-bottom pants way back in your closet from the first time they were cool, you are an old fart.

If you remember when every quarter had an eagle on the back, you are an old fart.

If you hold the door open for ladies, you are an old fart.

If you remember when tech support answered without an accent, you are an old fart.

If you can’t remember why you used to laugh at the phrase “You bet your sweet bippy,” you are an old fart.

If you remember when being on welfare was embarrassing, you are an old fart.

If you know what VHS stands for, you are an old fart.

If you admire successful people, you are an old fart.

If you know what “the blue dress” refers to, you are an old fart.

If a teacher ever smacked you on the knuckles with a ruler, you are an old fart.

If you ever paid for pornography, you are an old fart.

If you think school should be taught in English, you are an old fart.

If you still think music comes on these black vinyl disks called “records,” you are an old fart.

If you played with toy guns when you were a kid, you are an old fart.

If you’ve ever visited a public library, you are an old fart. (Breda excepted)… Just sayin…

If you remember when Apple was a small struggling company, you are an old fart.

If your debate coach taught you to see both sides of an argument, you are an old fart.

If you still have some of those 8-track tapes in the garage, you are an old fart.

If you love your country, you are an old fart.

If you remember when budgets were measured in billions, not trillions, you are an old fart.

If you want to go back to measuring budgets in billions like we used to, you are really an old fart.

If you remember when campus revolutionaries fought against The Man, and weren’t yet The Man themselves, you are an old fart.

If you’d welcome a death panel at this stage, frankly, you are an old fart.


And on THAT note, enjoy the rest of your week…

Appleseed AAR…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
I will just say I highly recommend it!!!

Five instructors, 4 men/1woman; all very knowledgable and patient! 15 students ranging from 8 years old, two 10 year olds, three women, up to me as the old fart…

I’d estimate each instructor had put in 120+ hours to get to the top level, and they give up an average of 1-2 weekends a month to do this, so COMMITMENT in addition to the expense and loss of family time means these folks truly care.

And they are all volunteers!!!

Basically a 4:1 ratio student to instructor, lots of good demo’s on both the M1907 sling and the M-1 style web slings.

I shot with an M1907, since that is what I’m more used to…

They teach the military way to rig both slings, so if you’ve had that training, you’ll be a leg up, otherwise, go look for Blackfork’s videos on you tube about sling rigging!

They worked with folks to find the best ‘positions’ for prone, sitting/kneeling, and offhand (standing) positions.  Having said this, they didn’t try to ‘force’ you into the classic military positions, but worked to get you comfortable (yeah, I ‘know’ comfortable and prone/sitting don’t necessarily go together) and provide constructive criticism where they noted problem areas.

The targets were reduced for the 25m range, and challenging enough to make one work HARD to do things right.  Yesterday was primarily working the basics, a little bit of ‘timing’ (yes, the qualifications ARE timed), and a practice Army Qualification Target (AQT). 

You will need at least two mags, and if you’re shooting an AR, get some 20 round mags.  If you’re shooting .22s or other, try to get at least one 10 round mag.

I’d gotten sloppy on a couple of things, and they pointed those out to me; one of my ‘worst’ was not chicken winging enough on the offhand and dropping the rifle butt too far into the shoulder (Too many years of shooting higher power rifles). 

The history of the battles at Lexington and Concord were used to break up the day into manageable chunks, and give folks a bit of a history lesson (sadly one that is no longer taught in school).  Apparently today’s text books give about 3 sentances or maybe 3 paragraphs total…

Sadly, today I wimped out, I was simply hurting too badly in the neck/back to even try to shoot. I was not about to jeopardize others by doing something stupid to ‘manage’ my pain and lose attention to detail.  On the positive side, I did get some errors brought to my attention, and things to work on, AND info for my surgeon on how badly my back/neck are really screwed up…

The “reference” books are presented below:

I’ve ordered both of them, as the last two days have rekindled my interest in that time, and I know that I’m going to have to ‘teach’ my grandson the real history… Sigh…

Again, HIGHLYrecommend you go do an Appleseed, it will be worth you time, regardless of your proficency level (well, unless you’re somebody like Blackfork), and you’ll learn a bit too!!!

Thanks for the invite .45ACP, truly enjoyed meeting you and your lovely wife! And thank you for doing this for all of us!

Appleseed, first impression…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Professionalism, patience, lots of experience! These folks are GOOD!!! And the learning experience is not just about shooting, but also the history of the shots heard round the world.

My shooting, on the other hand, just flat sucked… About every 4th try I could actually string 4-5 shots together.

More Later!

Makin a list…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
And checking it twice…


Watch, wallet, spectacles, tes…er… wrong list…


Appleseed receipt- Check


Gun(s)- Check

Marlin 780 (Thanks Carteach!)  Mag-1 (order didn’t come in)
       ACCURATE AS HELL

Savage MK II (Thanks Bernie) Mags-4

Good, but not as good as the 780
NM Garand- Nuff said…

BUG- Yep…

Slings set up, thanks to Turner for the quick turn around!

Ammo- um…er… Oh yeah, hiding under the guns

Tools/cleaning gear/eyes/ears- yep

Ability to shoot- Order didn’t come in… sigh

Maybe a couple of others will be down there tomorrow, if nothing else, I’ll finally get to meet .45ACP+P, so the trip’s gonna be worth it anyway!

I’ll try to get a post up with my impressions later in the weekend. In the meantime, go read THIS from Marko over at the Munchkin Wrangler. He hits this one out of the park!

Y’all have a good weekend, and shoot em good!!!  🙂

Don’t screw with Seniors…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Score one more for seniors!


When told he couldn’t wear a bathing suit in the lobby, this gent did the logical thing…



Remember, don’t mess with old people. They’re already angry, don’t get embarrassed, don’t care, and you have absolutely no chance of winning.