I predict that there will be another spike in gun sales and ammo come November. Oh, and price hikes. Can’t forget the price hikes.
Blog
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Range Trips as a Form of Meditation
Jim Downey over a Guns.com has a good post on “recoil therapy.” He’s obviously more of a handgun guy, and I’m more of a rifle guy when I need some zen time, but to each their own. I have used pistols for recoil therapy sessions, but that’s largely because the rifle lanes of the closest outdoor range are pretty popular and tend to fill up quickly.
One thing he didn’t talk about in selection for the proper medication is what action your delivery system uses. While I’ll be right there with you guys grabbing my semi-auto rifles when the zombies come, they’re honestly not my first choice for this kind of shooting. It’s like the difference between driving a manual transmission and an automatic. Sure the automatic transmission is the more convenient and probably more practical way to go, but it also is that much more of a separation between you and the machine.
There’s something about cycling my lever actions that makes me happy inside. It might be the images of the Wild West that they conjure up. Also, It can offer faster fire rates than a bolt, but I’m still part of every step in the process.
Then there’s my bolt actions. Every step is deliberate. Pull the bolt back, push forward to load the round, place finger on trigger, aim, squeeze, assess, repeat. I can choose .22 for when I want to really concentrate on my breathing, or I can ramp it up to my Ishipore Enfield when I need some .308 to pound the stress away.
I find myself doing similar on the pistol range. I have some great examples of modern semi-automatic pistols, but I seem to keep going to my .22 SAA clone for meditative sessions. The action forces me to slow down, take my time, and be in the moment.
Oh, and for these exercises, I prefer tube, cylinder, or non-detachable magazines over detachable magazines. Don’t know why, but loading a detachable magazine always seems like a chore, while loading directly into the firearm is part of the process.
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I… just… wow…
So, apparently Murfreesboro cops can’t tell the difference between an older black man and a younger asian guy. Apparently the fine, upstanding asian 28 year old ran a stop sign in a stolen vehicle, nearly rammed a squad car and hid in the neighborhood. In the meantime, a 58 year old black man by the name of Sushak is returning from a shopping trip at the local WalMart.
Somehow, this was an offense that required being tackled by 4 or 5 officers and beaten badly enough that one eye was swollen shut and he is now wearing a full leg brace. Of course, the officers initially claimed Sushak was resisting, but witnesses have reported the opposite.
Apparently other officers found the actual suspect a block over. When Sushak saw the guy, he asked the cops how they could mistake him for someone 30 years younger and who wasn’t black. The officer’s response? “Sorry, you were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I… have no words…
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Answering the important questions
Yes, it is possible to train for a 5k while wearing a Glock 23 with an M6 light/laser inside the waistband in a Raven Concealment Phantom riding on The Best Belt.
As a matter of fact, I might go as far as to say it was comfortable.
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Too much excitement
Thanks to Oddball for picking up the slack for me. My new job started Friday and ho boy do these people need my help. My expressions have gone from “oh” to “oh dear” to “Oh Dear God” to “Oh Dear God NO!” in a very short amount of time. Seriously, how do you not have a system in place to notify you that your Sarbanes-Oxley required compliance software stopped working for three days? I’m definitely not going to get bored.
I honestly don’t know if this site is blocked because I haven’t had time to check.
Also on Friday? My wife’s grandmother was admitted to the hospital. As my wife was telling me about her grandmother, my sister texted me to say that my grandmother had fallen and was in the ER.
My grandmother is okay, but my wife’s grandmother will be transferred to hospice shortly.
So it’s been a bit busy ’round here. I did have time to make some purchases at Amazon based on past blegs so expect some reviews in the next little bit.
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Fire Mission
From a TFA Alert:
TFA Email Campaign on Employee Safe Commute Legislation
URGENT – the link/page below is directly to the action center on the TFA website. This page will allow you (and all your friends) to send emails to the Tennessee General Assembly (your individual legislators + all members of both judiciary committees + the governor) telling them how YOU feel about the EMPLOYEE SAFE COMMUTE bill (a/k/a parking lots bill).
It is important that we let our voices be heard – by the thousands – to support this bill because it is almost certain that Speaker Beth Harwell and others who are “first and foremost aligned with Big Business” will try to stop this legislation. It is going to require that we call upon the conservative legislators (not necessarily equal to ALL of the GOP) in both houses and in both parties to carry this bill to law. It will have substantial resistance by those with large and powerful PACS.Please go to this site now and take less than a minute to participate. Then, forward this message to every email list that would be interested in this change in the law. Next, post this campaign and link on every web forum, blog or bulletin board whose members you believe may have an interest in this change in the law.
TFA Action Center – Employee Safe Commute (Parking Lot) Campaign
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Two in the same three days?
So there were two local cops that made the news for behaving badly in the past couple days. Namely DUI and possessing firearms while under the influence. This is usually where you expect to hear that they were sent home with pay to think about what they’d done.
Not this time.
Both have been decommissioned.
Both are “under investigation.”
Both are out on bail (which I read as there are criminal charges).
While I’m never happy to see folks endangering the general public, it is sadly refreshing to see a department doing similar to their own as they would to you and me.
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The perfect flash drive for Linux
Due to some of the comments on the last post about my disaster thumb drive, I figure this would be relevant to your interests. I present to you what I think is the perfect thumb drive to use as a Linux install/run from flash drive:
And yes, that is what I’m currently using at home for installs or if I need to work on a machine that won’t boot to its native OS.
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Thumb drives for disaster preparedness
Tam and Uncle both mentioned someone raising the idea of including electronics in you bug out kit. Me being me, I figured I’d throw in my two cents. Especially since, while I wasn’t one of those hit by the little bit of rain here in Nashville last year, I did have to quickly evacuate in the middle of the night a few years ago due to an apartment fire that took out my entire building. I was fortunate enough to escape with my wallet, car keys, and money, but that was largely because they were still in the pants next to my bed. A few of the other folks weren’t as lucky and had a bit harder time dealing with the rescue workers (and I’m assuming everyone else) when they were asked for identification.
I would highly encourage everyone to carry a USB thumb drive with scans of important documents on it. I will say that you don’t have to buy a high capacity one or one that’s been “ruggedized.” I’ve been carrying a 1GB Sandisk MicroCruiser that I bought back when that was the high capacity size. It’s been riding on my key chain ever since and has taken a pretty good beating because of it. I check it periodically to make sure it still works, and so far, so good.
Here’s what I have on mine and would recommend having on yours: a folder encrypted using TrueCrypt that contains scans of my birth certificate, SS card, driver’s license, and other important documents or information (some include a text file with bank account info, etc), a portable copy of TrueCrypt to access the folder, and portable copies of OpenOffice and Foxit (PDF viewer) from portableapps.com. As long as I have access to a computer running Windows with an open USB drive, I’m good to go.
Oh, and notice I said “have on me,” not “ready to go” or “in my bug out bag.” I learned in the fire, that I only had time to grab a couple things (including pants and shoes) before I had to get out due to smoke. I failed to find my cellphone because my girlfriend moved it a foot from where I had put it when I went to bed.
