Move Along... Nothing to See Here

Absolutely nothing happened early Wednesday morning at the parking garage down the street from my work. Despite the presence of 3 fire trucks, an ambulance and at least 3 police cars, surrounding the structure and blocking off the street on one side entirely, there was nothing going on. I know this because despite the fact that I saw it with my own two eyes, there was not even a blip on the local news.

TXGunGeek thinks it was a figment of my imagination. I think that's what they want me to think.

No, Obama RESPECTS the 2nd Amendment

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6960824&page=1

So, Obama respects the 2nd amendment and won't move to restrict gun owners rights and all the folks who went on buying sprees to get EBR's and ammo were nuts huh?

Well, it didn't take long for the move to start and it won't stop here. You know by "reinstating the expired ban" they mean expand the previous attrocity to a new level and keep going.

AND, this morning the radio news was playing a sound bite of the Mexican AG saying that Gov. Perry's request for more troops to seal the border was a step in the wrong direction. Who the HELL is the Mexican AG to tell any US official what to do in order to protect the US from the current invasion of illegals, drug runners and terrorists that are streaming accross the border from Mexico. Acticle here .

I owe WHAT?

When I was sickly last month, Doc ordered some tests that had to be paid for up front. The billing office told us that my insurance wouldn't actually pay for any of it, but that they had a contractual agreement that policyholders only paid ~60% of the cost. The tests cost ~$1100, we were told, but because of the contractual agreement, our charges were ~$625. Which we paid.

Last week, we got a bill for $350 more. I managed to lose the bill for a couple days, but brought it with me to work today, so that I could call and get an explanation.

I didn't get the chance to call. A lady from the billing office called me at work this morning wanting to know where the #&*% their money was, and wanting me to pony up the rest by credit card or check over the phone, right then.

Their explanation: the tests actually cost~$1900, and the $1100 was after the contractual adjustment, and they only charged us the $625 before because they assumed that we had already met our deductible... apparently the insurance does actually pay a portion, after the contractual discount, if the patient's deductible has been met.

Sure would have been nice to know that up front.

I told her I couldn't give her any money this instant, that I have to go home tonight and look at our financial situation. For God's sake, even the credit card companies give you a month to pay before they start hounding you.

I know the federal regulations and such have put the medical community in a bind when it comes to money... and I empathize... but this lady is probably better suited to working at the IRS.

And I've lost my appetite for lunch.

The Other Half

Hi there. I'm the other half. I'm not sure why the hubby invited me to join him here... I guess he heard me say once too often, "If I had a blog, I'd blog about this" or that, or whatever.

I'm not a gun geek. I have a few guns, and I'm familiar with each of them; I haven't ever felt the need to know everything there is to know about every gun. I was strictly a one-revolver woman for a lot of years. Then a friend talked me into taking a defensive shotgun class (with a borrowed gun), and I did well enough that TXGunGeek asked me out! Since we've been married, he's talked me into a 1911, which I like, and an AR, which I'm still getting used to. I guess if I have a revolver, a semi-auto, a shotgun and a rifle, that makes me well-rounded enough.

So I'll leave the gun specifics to the hubby. I might say a word about gun rights now and then,(though there are bloggers out there who are much more eloquent), or a good day at the range, or whatever random thoughts are passing through my brain, or just life in general.

Force on Force Class

So, this weekend is Force on Force class. An entire day of FoF training. we break the class up into two groups, one inside doing scenarios with red guns in the range house and the other group outside in a shoot house we setup with barricades and plasticore sheets hung up under one of the range covers and use airsoft and simunitions for shooty FoF scenarios. It is a long day for the instructor staff and promises to be tiring but it seems I always learn something from the students in each class. Someone does something different that I haven't seen. Sometimes unexpected. Should be a long but good weekend.
Then a week off and a reloading class. Need to get prepped for that one as I'm the lead instructor for that class.

BLEH

So, It's been a long couple weeks. Worked every day long days mostly with my head up the ass of an extremely greasy motor housing.. Tired and need sleep and to catch up on things at the house.

Census Rant

So there was an ad on the radio this morning for census workers to "confirm addresses and record GPS coordinates for each living unit". WTF?!?! Why the hell does the census need GPS coordinates? Anyone, anyone.

Stimulate WHAT?

So, Houston local news was on the dish and they had Congress Cretin Shiela Jackson-Lee (Dimwit-TX) on at a neighborhood meeting. The folks there were concerned with the crime rate in the area and were considering hiring a constable to close patrol their area. SJ-L was in the camera blathering that "we're in the middle of negotiating the stimulus bill and there will be money for increased law enforcement" so we should all just wait to see what congress can do to take care of the people of Houstons The Heights.

Can someone explain to me how this stimulates the economy?

Weekend Class

So, this past Saturday was Defensive Long Gun. Basically a "run what ya brung" home defense class. Shotgun, pistol caliber carbine or rifle is acceptable. Teaching the pricipals of using a long gun in a defensive situation and pro's and con's there of. We had a great class although a bit windy. I managed to get some shooting in before class started so in addition to teaching time I got a bit of range time in. Got people interested in a reloading class now out of all the shooting we did so that class will be coming up soon.

Got to deal with a bolt over ride jam on an AR-15 during class. First shot of class and the gun jammed. Found 3 rounds in the chamber area on inspection. One in the chamber, one over the top of the bolt and one wedged as a classic double feed. While another instructor talked to class for a moment, I performed quick surgery on the gun by prying the bolt face back with a multi tool to clear the jammed up round then gave the gun back to the student. Not a lick of trouble out of that gun or magazine the rest of class. That was a quick fix that worked all too well.

We have about doubled or more our interest in introductory classes and had about a 50% or so increase in advanced classes. More work than we have weekends to teach them. But, this is good. More first time shooters interested in learning the proper safe way to enjoy the shooting sports.

Work SUX

So, the 1300HP synchronus AC motor that is the heart of where I work took a huge dump today. Wouldn't sync up. So, up into the greasy oily mess that is the main motor housing we go to find the brushes that link the DC generator to the Field windings are hosed in a most spectacular way. The insulation on hte brush holders as well as on the rings is burnt through and has arc'd enough to eat away at the underlying bolts. Now, not just anyone has the right size of phenolic material to make these insulators and being in a not so large college town means the parts to fix are not available locally. So, with a customer waiting, we are ordering parts for first AM and will be working long days all week to make up time. BLEH!


UPDATE 2/3:
FedEx First AM ROCKS!!!!!!
It helps to be located on the airport grounds but at 06:45 this morning FedEx pulled in to deliver the package of phenolic needed to make the insulators we needed to replace. With the machinists working their butts off and some gymnastics to get the parts installed by 09:45 the motor was up and running and we are back to the grind.