Good Morning, folks...

I am so prepared for 2013, yes, I do know that it is almost June. But I finally have the experts' advice.  How to be a Man 2013. Seems Esquire magazine has all that I need to know about being a man. And I buy the magazine for the babes. All two of them. That is okay, I also get to read about Brad Pitt - not that I would. I have always liked much of his work as an actor - well, I will put all that on the to be done when I have sometime to need filled with foolish.

But don't I want to know how to be a man in 2013? No, I am still working on Earl, there are things about some other men in the world I have met, some of which are worth doing - but really, I am not going to be concerned with being anything my parents wouldn't be proud of - would you want to be wrong just because someone writes that the NEW MAN of 2013 is ______.


Being a real fashion monster, I had my Appleseed shooting jacket dropped off to get a pocket sewed on the inside of the lower on the trigger side. I do shoot in it, but mostly it is worn to make the shooters feel I am professional enough to pay attention to... If Campaign hats weren't so expensive I would be wearing one, and will give you a pic of long ago and far away... No, never mind, but if you ever saw the Wild Bunch, they had some well adjusted ones.

Mayor Bloomberg isn't afraid, since he is working so hard to make sure the rest of us are powerless while he has a lot of beef surrounding himself - I guess in a way he isn't afraid.  The truth is all the anti-gun folks are very afraid. And they don't understand why the gun people aren't afraid of anything except other good people's foolish intentions. I have another day on the range in Idaho this weekend, on my son's birthday. Figure that if the shooters are few I will get some personal shooting time in, will take both of my favorite firearms. And again, more safe rounds will have been expended and no one was hurt in the exercise of my right to keep and bear arms. Go away Mayor Bloomberg, New York and California are right there with Mexico on my list of places I don't need to ever visit, buy from or travel through. They hate me there. They might be trying to kill me or emasculate me for my benefit... they know nothing about being Earl, only how to be a man.

Risk of... a percent of risk of...

The phrase 'risk factor of...' everything seems to have risk. I got out of bed, what was that risk factor? Well, if I can't get to the coffee pot it could be considerable. For some reason beyond my ken the government thinks it is supposed to modify my terrible risky behavior by pounding the chance that bad things could happen to me.  Gamblers and most folks have a better idea of the odds of something happening than that fearful government.

Scarred by Scandal -- Gibson Guitar? Do you mean there is a risk factor to allowing government to believe it rules and it can get away with it?

I just saw a security guy on FOX News, and if I ever saw a typecast for Mafia hood, he was it. Hope he is as nice a man as I think he is from his shy few words -- probably in a bit of trouble for being caught on live camera feed. Wouldn't want his job, do you think they really grow different men in New York City?

How should we teach them?

I traveled a few hundred miles this weekend and helped at an Appleseed in CdA, Idaho.

I had a great time, and remembered well the people, the tales and the time. Didn't get pounded by rain until I returned to the Puget Sound area in Washington and that only helped to wash all the bugs off the windshield. Although, watch vigorous sneezes while driving on rain slick roads in the mountain rains --- panic, oops here comes another sneeze!

Normally, I would give you a bunch of pictures for sharing my happiness - but camera shy the public seems to have become. I was asked to remove two of the pictures I had posted - so I did - I am not a man that wants to bother anyone. Maybe with all the government spying, we should be very afraid.

But since it is Memorial Day observed I will share more positive thoughts.

Today is a great day to take some young people to the graves - of those that have departed - on the battlefield or years later after having suffered for years and then finally called to that final rest. Someone has to explain to them why we fight wars, and what is a real hero, and why war can't be shown on television or in cinema since emotions haven't a real digital presence.  A great day for an old worn warrior to visit his fallen comrades and tell tales about their service to that younger future hero or heroine.  I liked seeing the scouts putting the small flags in front of the markers, and I hoped they read the campaigns and ranks and tried to picture the people they were - it is time to honor and remember they served. God bless them all.

A bit chilly here, but it is damp Springtime in the NW

I put a favorite sweatshirt on to keep my warmth from fleeing. It is bright (like I was once) yellow (which I dare you to call me). It is comfortable, not very stylish, I have a rule, hoods can be better than hats, long sleeve is better than none, and that big belly pocket can replace gloves and keeps all kinds of stuff. I, like this sweatshirt, once functioned well in adverse weather - jogging along the road.

But upon closer examination, it resembles me too much now - wrinkled, weathered, worn and to the uncaring - worthless. Can't figure out if it was the running or the washing the sweat and dirt out that wears at it so much.

I leave you with a picture, remember that I am a very married man, and kept around for warmth, utility and memories of another time.

Time to get into the yard...

Read Isaiah 49 vs 13-22, it helped me a bit. Oklahoma knocked the foolishness in D.C. off the television, until this morning. We are between rain storms but just until tomorrow. A cousin and his family are waiting on an airplane for lift off to vacation, but they are together and safe. As I was watching the early reports and films from Oklahoma - I saw the communities, so hard hit, just coming together to get things right, just like the Texas town with the big explosion after the fire. That may be the problem in the Blues states - waiting for someone to take care of the problem, not knowing that they are the one everyone else is waiting upon. Yes, I am talking to you. Be good out there.

Up before the Sun, here anyway.

Couldn't keep sleeping, I am such a failure. But at  three in my morning darkness, I know that it is after the Sun has risen on the Mohawk Valley and people in Boston are wandering to work - wondering where the Revolution went, although I hold that New England could never get as far from the Mother Country as they pretended. It isn't called New England because it is an island.

At church I was asked why all the Appleseed events are in Eastern Washington, I blamed the culture of Seattle, but that isn't totally true. Mostly, many shooters are comfortable with their skill level, firearms, their local ranges and are quiet law abiding folks with real lives. The Appleseed events depend on personal experience and participation. If you think you are doing fine, you don't need the AS, but if you don't want to be the last rifleman in Western Washington, the Appleseed Organization would appreciate your participation. The program needs to expand, must become a valued part of a normal life.

When I explained I was going to Idaho for an Appleseed event, and to Oregon next month, he had a better idea of the distance and what it takes to make it happen. Border raiders needed. Still checking on posting from another shooter I find he is blaming his improved performance in competition on his Appleseed experience. What is taught is sound, and the NRA and CMP have the same basic marksmanship, what I think sets the RWVA and Appleseed events apart for making Riflemen is the teaching, coaching and constant reinforcement of the steps, over and over.

Finally, the Sun also rises, and only FOX tells the news at  the same time across the Time Zones, how cool is that? Very, don't get three hour old stale news. I am researching plans and thoughts on a reloading bench. Today I visit the Home Depot for stuff, after mowing the backyard and back behind the fence. Have a great day!

Wore my NRA fleece thingee today...

I know nothing about fleece - to me that was always a sheep skin with the hair still attached, I am so old. Don't get excited I went out to rake the clippings up from the the yard. Seems I had not made my wife happy leaving them when I went off to shoot and visit the YMCA. It is a damp cool here in the Great Northwest.

I cut the front yard since there was rain on the way, but it was a dry as it was ever going to get. So I put my gear into the van after washing off the mower and putting it away. And off to the range. Range 15.  When I sign in they offer point fifteen, which I pointed out that the old man always used. I have been calling him the old man for about twelve years (sometimes I don't look in a mirror much). They told me if he wasn't here before they opened he wasn't coming, and they are probably correct. I took that point and set up.

It wasn't going to be a lot of shooting for me, I figured sixty rounds of 22LR. Enough to check my marksmanship, just enough. And it was going to rain and the YMCA called - plus I was going to clean up the yard after all my good times. So I shot the Green quick AQT, five rounds per target, standing, sitting open legged, and prone.  Then I started walking the line to check out the other shooters, since there were three of us on the pistol side of the range - over half the shooters were rifle users, and there was a waiting list on the rifle positions.

So I looked, talked and enjoyed the day without gunning down hundreds of innocents, no matter what the anti-gun crowd will tell you. I finished my AQT and was rushed on my last three shots, which seem to have been my best. Making me think that I am thinking too much about each shot, just enough would be best. Or so I say.

Pack up and head off to the YMCA, mentioning to the fine staff at the range that having black coffee would be a good thing. Just a light workout at the YMCA, 3,1 miles of rowing, and five miles of bicycle machine. Then I went to fill up the van, and it cost me sixty-five dollars - what is going on? Is the dollar sinking that fast? Yep, seems to be so.

While at the YMCA I talked to another old man, about his desire to buy a pistol for protection, he is getting training, hasn't purchased a firearm yet, and really hasn't gotten through the shooting another person yet. I did ask him the important point, how many times has he been mugged, robbed or assaulted? Zero, and he is over seventy. So much of his information was wrong about the local laws, and he is cautious about trusting the sales people for advice. Still he is much sharper than Michael Moore advising Bill Maher about home self defense. It is on video, don't waste your time.