Sunday, December 16, 2012

It's called personal responsibility folks

In the last couple days I have had a number of "conversations" with people claiming that since a gun belonging to a lawful gun owner could be taken by a criminal and used to commit a murder, That somehow makes owning a gun a privilege not a right. Horse Hockey!

The right to self defense including the right to keep and bear arms is just that a right. However, with rights come responsibilities. Gun owners have a responsibility to exercise their right to own guns in a safe a prudent manner.

When some monster commits an atrocity like happened Friday, it is all about personal responsibility. That person is responsible for their actions. That person alone.

 If they needed psychiatric help and haven't gotten it, that is something that needs to be addressed. How often do these things happen and people come out and say "I knew something was wrong but didn't do anything or didn't know what to do."? Yes we need to have a serious discussion but it is about personal responsibility. Kids are being taught and it is reenforced as adults that you are not responsible for your actions or what happens to you. It is always someone else' fault. Be the persons parents or teachers or the cities fault or the road designer or building owner or someone else. It is never the fault of the person who actually committed the act.

It is called personal responsibility. YOU are responsible for everything that you do! If you screw up and do something that gets someone hurt, it is YOUR responsibility. YOU hurt them. Whether it is getting behind the wheel of a multi ton vehicle and driving into someone while you are impaired or by your inattention, or taking a gun and shooting without adequate backstop and killing some innocent child blocks down the road, or you purposely attack someone with the intent to do them harm, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE!

It's called personal responsibility.



Sunday, December 9, 2012

Subaru Nation

So months ago I wrote about trading in my 2001 3/4 ton 4X4 crew cab diesel truck for a new Subaru Outback. Well, yesterday was the rounds of Christmas parties. We drove over to Mordor on the Colorado to have lunch with the family. Imagine my giggle at pulling back into the ranch and looking at the Trip Information Display and see 33.0MPG Average! That's twice the mileage on gas that costs $0.60 ($369 vs $3.09)/gallon less. That was a big reason why we made this change. We still have misbeHavens truck to pull horse/stock/flatbed trailers but 90+% of our driving does not include pulling those.

However, when we bought the Outback, the salesman welcomed us to the Subaru Family. Yeah OK every car maker wants to have their fan base and assorted devoted followers. Well, on our way back, as we were driving along the highway with the cruise set, there was a small dark spot that was slowly gaining on us. As it got closer I saw it was dark blue and eventually that the grille showed it was another Subaru. As it got closer, the rate of closure slowed until he was right next to us and pacing along side. He looked over, waved and smiled, then sped back up to resume his trip. As he pulled away we saw that it wasn't just another Subaru, it was an older Outback. As misbeHaven pointed out, this is the first time someone stopped to wave just because of the car we were driving. Subaru family indeed.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

What A Day on the range

So, we had two Grad Students and two Undergrads out to the house for some shooting and ceremonial charring of dead mammal flesh. Finally winding down. Got some housekeeping and setup done this morning before they arrived, then did a short session in the house about safety and basics of how to shoot. The we moved out to the range shooting everything form 1911 w/.22 conversions to Colt Anaconda in .44Mag and everything we could throw out in between. Everyone seemed to enjoy and helped pick up so breaking down the range was a snap. Then we retired to the house to char mammal flesh and sit around reliving the day and discussing life. Now we have fed the livestock and are ready to wind down for the day. We need more of these days!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Deer Delinquents

On the drive in this morning, we had to brake heavy for a 4X4 buck that started standing on the shoulder of the road and as we got closer, started walking into the lane of travel while looking at us. All I could think was hearing the other deer in the trees saying, "Go on, they'll stop." and "Chicken!"

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Busted wing update

Appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon today. Got the first cast off. I was so swollen when they put t on that now the cast was seriously loose. Fresh x-rays show it is healing nicely and got to wash my arm so I am not offending myself for now either. Fresh cast and a bit of manipulations made for a painful morning but all good news. Have a picture of the x-rays but they really don't have enough detail of them to see the fractures Also doesn't show the swelling and discoloration of my hand. Now off to eat and drug.

Latest Update:  Bills have started to arrive. Even with pretty good insurance, the copay will be more than we got for the cow damnit. Now on to the important stuff, like taking care of one of our own. Tam is without insurance as selfunemployed writer. So the gun blogesphere is helping out with her medical bills. So go help out already.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Your TLA is not my TLA

Acronyms have become so ubiquitous in our language that conversations with people in other fields can get confusing.  Sometimes it's just funny.  Not too long ago, one of my best friends and I were agreeing that we were both doing a lot of PCRs lately... except that in her job (EMT), that's Patient Care Report, while in my job, it's Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Sometimes, though, it's just downright disappointing.  Once a month I get an email from HR inviting me to attend EOD* training... but they won't ever let me blow anything up!




*Employee and Organizational Development.  Much less exciting than Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Thank you...

...to all veterans for your service, and your sacrifice.

Yes, I know that Veteran's Day was yesterday.  But yesterday, we were holed up at the ranch, with zero opportunity of seeing a veteran.  So, like the fed.gov, I choose to observe it today, when I am out in the world.


Friday, October 26, 2012

One handed shooting

Do you practice it? How about one handed off hand shooting? You never know when an angry cow is going to break your arm, wrist and thumb and you may have to operate one handed. When it happens is not the time to learn. It should just be reinforcement of why it's a good idea to practice those skills. Just a helpfull int from your drugged up uncle John. I'd post the x-rays but they're really not all that impressive.


Monday, October 22, 2012

Stuffings for your mags

See it every class. People stuff as many rounds as they can into a mag then stuff one more. Middle of a drill, they reload, press the trigger and while the gun fires, the mag decides to exit stage bottom. Usually we see this with double stack standard capacity mags. This past Saturday we had someone with an EMP that if the mags were filled to capacity they would not seat unless you sat on the mag with the gun on the bench underneath it. Loading one round down did the trick. Before discovering that, they had basically beat their palm senseless trying to seat mags during class.

So, if your mad holds 11-20 rounds, load one down, if it holds 21+ load two rounds down. This will save you much grief and embarrassment and who knows, it could even save your life some day.

Next minor gripe, know your gun. practice with it enough to know if it has quirks. Don't buy something new and expect it and you to perform flawlessly together right out of the box.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

What a weekend

The weekend started early as some moron called in a bomb threat to TAMU. the response was a prudent evacuation of the entire campus. The UPD, CSPD and BPD along with bomb squads and other outside experts did their very best to clear the campus and get people back to their normal routine. Normal, that's a laugh. This weekend was A&M vs LSA football game. Tailgaters from not onlu TAMU but also folks form LSU were streaming into town for the game and pregame festivities. Huge crowds and LSU were just evacuated last month when they and UT both got bomb threats. So, they strolled into town just in time for the threat and evacuation.

As was pointed out to me late Friday,"Terrorists don't call in threats ahead of time!"

We ended up back on campus late Friday night to get into MisbeHavens lab so she could secure DNA samples that were left out on the lab bench as she was herding students out of the building under the evacuation order.

That bit was after going to the Odyssey Academy fundraiser. These folks are doing a fantastic job educating our future engineers and scientists. They deserve all the assistance that we can give them and I was more than happy to help out in my own small way.

After that long Friday, Saturday was a a long day out at KRTraining. We started the day with Defensive Pistol Skills 2. This is all about equipping students with the skills they need to survive and win a gunfight on the streets. We then played through the afternoon with AT-2 Scenarios. This is what really separates KRTraining form all the other trainers in armed citizen self defense. We have been trying our best to take students form HOW to shoot and move them to WHEN and WHY to shoot as well as developing the mindset or "what else should / could I be doing instead of shooting." This is the closest you can get to being in a gunfight without actually being exposed to possibly dieing. Or at least this is a brief introduction to the beginnings of starting to develop this mindset and thought process. While I really get a tickle out of Basic Pistol 1 classes where we introduce new shooters to the world of handguns and have them try a huge variety of handguns (some good, some bad) so they can gain their own understanding of gun fit and function so as to make a sound and informed decision about purchasing a handgun for themselves, the joy of seeing the light go on for people who actually think about self defense in this way for the first time is what keeps me coming back for these loooonnnnggggg days of work. The "First time shooter grin" is a massively powerful motivation. If you have never experienced it, you should go out and introduce someone to safe shooting. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Seeing a first time shooter turn around grinning and giggling is more addictive than any drug. Now take that feeling and turn it up to 11. When people who have chosen to take their defense and the defense of their loved ones seriously enough to come out and go through scenarios to get a better understanding of what they should and should not be doing and add an extremely important mental skill of learning to think on their feet and plan ahead before the fur flies, the point where the light goes on and they finally click to seeing how important this is and how much sense it makes to think this way is a really satisfying experience. When stressed under scenarios, peoples brains will overload sometimes adn they will realize afterwards that thinking about having a plan and thinking through situations before they happen puts them well ahead of the curve when it come to defending themselve. Better to screwup here where the only injury is to your pride than to screw up on the street where the consequences could be much graver.
We rounded out the night with AT-1A Low Light Shooting. Most if not all of the students that come out for this class have never before shot in the dark. This is a fantastic chance for them to experience everything from low light and ambient light shooting to pitch black shooting and more importantly, positive target identification, while using a flashlight and protecting themselves. We also throw in a night scenario to again get them into the habit of thinking things quickly before applying their ballistic hammer to the problems at hand.

5AM to midnight makes for a long day on the range.

This morning MisbeHaven got a surprise call from a long time friend who she hadn't seen in a couple years that is in town. So she has a visitor for the day. meanwhile, whatever bug has been stewing around in my sinus's' decided to take advantage of me being tired to flare up and kick my butt.

Still a good weekend. We shall see how things play out after some good rest and lots of hot tea. Of course the tea is made with extra Love, that's what makes it so powerful.


Friday, October 19, 2012

EVACUATE!

So, now Texas A&M is under evacuation orders for a bomb threat. great!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Selective Reporting?

The old adage, If it isn't written down, it didn't happen has been carried to its illogical conclusion. If there isn't video, it didn't happen. Saturday evening HWY 30 outside College Station had a massive law enforcement presence. Bunch of vehicles with their overheads on and then others from three different agencies parked in various places along two roads, blacked out. Local TeeWee station didn't even mention it even after being asked about it. This morning the radio station had the story. A TPWD officer checking fishing licenses ran one that the owner came back as wanted on an outstanding warrant for Parole violations. He bolted as the officer got out the handcuffs. County Sheriffs officers, Texas DPS units and College Station PD units all converged on the scene. Those where what slowed and or shut down traffic in the area. Yet no mention on the local news. If only they had camera's in the officers cars, or maybe if the TV station had actually called any one of the four agencies involved to ask what happened.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Todays random aircraft sightings

So today we got a visit from an old Beach 18 transport.

And an experimental Eurocopter BK117.

Talk about old and new.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

What's cooler than a P-51?

                      
Todays not so random aircraft sighting today is a P-51D. How cool is that? Well, not as cool as a P-51D being chased by 4 Harriers!  This beauty belongs to an Aggie who was in town for a meeting on campus and we knew he was coming in. So, working at the airport and having the wind tunnel take a huge dump this morning meant we had time to pile out onto the flight line for front row seats to see him come in. As we were watching him peel off from making a high speed pass down the runway, we heard quite the roar coming up behind us. Turned out to be four Harriers coming in to participate in the flyby this Saturday at the football game featuring the local sports franchise. Be sure to look over the tail of the P-51 in the video for the harrier making his landing.



 No sooner had we settled down to climbing all over the P-51 and we heard more noise as four more Harriers came in.



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Click Click Boom

When things go wrong in the wind tunnel, they go wrong quickly. Like at 200+MPH it takes all of about 0.3 seconds to get from test section to the prop. At that point, all bets are off.
BEFORE:

AFTER:BEFORE:


AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
When stuff up to and including Aluminum go through a B-29 prop spinning 1200RPM, there is not much left on the other side. I used a broom to sweep up the white bits of housing and the remains of the cooling fan that was inside the housing.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Not a Texas A&M Shooting

Most folks will have heard by now that there was a shooting NEAR the Texas A&M campus. NEAR not on. This is not a Texas A&M shooting or anything like that it was a shooting incident Near Texas A&M Campus in a residential area three blocks south of campus. People should know better. Especially folks on our side of the civil rights movement.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Accidental Release of Info MY ASS!

So the prosecutor's office in the George Zimmerman case has "accidentally" released confidential information covered by a gag order as well to the press. What they "accidentally" released was selectively autopsy photos and Zimmerman's school grades. All designed to make him look bad, evil, not understanding the law, stupid, who knows? But it is interesting what was released "accidentally" by these assclowns. They released these records on purpose and they know it. They are trying to win in the court of public opinion with selective information since they know they have no case to take before a jury. This is nothing more the the systematic destruction of an individual to fit the politically correct narrative of the day. Racist and stupid gun carrying neanderthal brutally murders innocent child who was just trying to get his life together.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

What a way to celebrate the 4th

So, the morning started with the sound of chainsaws in the air and the smell of burnt two cycle fuel. Cutting down a bunch of trees that had died as a result of the drought last year. Then took a break and walked over to the range to do a little shooting. Well, it would have been a perfect day but there were mechanical problems to be had. We shall see how things shake out. Next up will be the ritualistic charring of dead mammal flesh and consumption of mass quantities. Soon as I start the fire and get the grille warmed up. Movies from then on out. Fun Day!

Monday, July 2, 2012

BUSY BUSY BUSY

So for the three of you that refuse to stop coming here despite my failure to update lately, Between work (new job responsibilities) and home (dead trees left over from the drought, continued fire danger this year, trying to save the trees we have left, repairing fences, dealing with cows......) I've been busy and am going to be busy for a while. Probably not too many updates here. I haven't even been able to wrangle time in for teaching as much any more either. I guess this is a good problem to have though since things are going relatively well for us right now.

Friday, June 29, 2012

MoH

So, now the truth can be told, I was awarded the Medal of Honor. TWICE! Unfortunately it was posthumously both times.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

purse or cell more importnt that your child?

So there is a campaign on the radio to raise awareness and prevent child heat stroke brought on by people leaving their kids in the car. The ad and news stories that are being repeated suggest you should leave your purse or cell phone in the back seat with your child so you don't forget either. WHAT. THE. HELL? Is your cell phone more important to you than your child? If that is the case, you deserve neither. The idea that someone needs to use forgetting their purse as a reminder that they are forgetting their child is laughable in my book. What kind of self absorbed society have we become?

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Out with the old, In with the new

After 70 years of service the original motor here at the wind tunnel finally gave up. Last week we pulled the old motor out and spent the week cleaning out 70 year old grease and slime and dust and other stuff that I am evidently allergic to as I and a couple other folks had skin reactions from it.

Well, today we finally reached a point where we could install the new motor. Problem was a line of storms rolled through last night and they were predicting more for today. We managed to get the new motor dropped into place before the heavy weather got here and the lid on top of the tunnel is back in place at least temporarily so we can continue to work inside.Here's to 70 more years of service form this new motor.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

BaG Day gun 2012

Well, I made a BaG Day purchase but have not put it all together yet. This year I actually had funds to make a purchase and plans to get a gun that is something I have wanted for a while. Pictures will come once it is all together.
I've wanted a long range rifle without actually getting a custom rig built so, I consulted with a friend from Rifles Only Inc. and he and I came up with a pretty cool package. Start with a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD. Man that's a mouthful. Top that with Badger Ordnance  mount base and rings holding a Bushnell Elite Tactical Mil-Dot scope and a Harris Bipod.

All was going well until I realized I had ordered the 30mm rings instead of 34mm rings. So, short delay in putting it all together. Pictures will follow once I have it all together in picturable form. So, now I wait on the 34mm Rings and shipping the 30mm Rings back or selling them to a friend or deciding to keep them and use them on another rifle. They're just so massive and cool, it is hard to think about getting rid of them. However, I don't have another rifle worthy of them or the optics they would hold.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Chasing the Dream

So, the majority of testing we do here at the wind tunnel is customer proprietary so we cannot talk about it.  Well, the last few months we have been beating ourselves with a major project and now it is public. We have been working on Sierra Nevada Corp's The Dream Chaser. This has been quite the undertaking with Texas A&M faculty, staff, graduate students and undergrad student workers all contributing to making this test a big success. The students involved in this have made major contributions in helping with this project from beginning to end and until now have not been able to talk about the really cool stuff they got to do. Never underestimate the ability of students. they can and do do some pretty incredible work and I very much enjoy and appreciate working with them. They know who they are.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Alone, Cold and in the Rain

So, I posted earlier about letting the smoke out of our main drive motor 2 weeks before we had scheduled to replace it. I called Utilities and Energy management here on campus and asked them to come disconnect incoming power to the motor so we could start demolition. We went through a round of "are you sure? really? really sure?" questions and followed up with written confirmation that we are never going to run this motor again. They sent out a crew to disconnect and lock out incoming power.
As soon as they guys got here, it started to rain and get cooler as a cold front started through. Hence the title of the post, this motor that has given 60+ years of service to the Texas A&M University Low Speed Wind Tunnel after being surplussed from the US Navy, has finally met it's end.

Alone, Cold and in the Rain.

Magic Smoke

Most folks who work in electronics and or electro-mechanical systems know that everything runs on magic smoke. Once you let the smoke out, things stop working. Here at work we are prepping for replacement of the main drive motor. That is supposed to start in two and a half weeks.

Well, it starts now. Yesterday we let the magic smoke out of the bearings of the main drive system. Actually, the bearings came apart and that burned oil and that let out the magic smoke. This bearing is supposed to be smooth but it has shredded. Things went down hill quickly.

Not to mention the spacious work area. Trashed one set of clothes with the grease leftover inside the housing. Not to mention all the shavings of babbit that were floating all over with the oil smoke.

Whheeeeeeee.....................................

R.I.P., Jonathon Frid

Jonathon Frid, who portrayed Barnabas Collins in the original Dark Shadows has passed away.

I was going to make a snarky comment that he must have seen the trailers for the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp reboot, but then I read that he has a cameo in it.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

BaG day purchase

Well, technical difficulties prohibit me from posting pictures at the moment. Will have to wait. First a story that starts with, last year my Mom passed. We're not rich but there would be some inheritance, if you knew our family you would understand that when we went on family vacations, we would never had gotten there if not for Dad and we never would have had fun getting there if not for Mom. She was a firm believer in feeding your whimsey on occasion. So, part of inheriting is the condition that goes with honoring the passed. That meant using the inheritance to pay bills and get things fixed around the house but keeping a little back for something fun. So, I set some aside for a new gun fund for something I would normally not spend that kind of money on. Then last month I took ill and spent some time in the local hospital and underwent all sorts of poking and prodding. Well, each person or group that does the prodding gets their own cut of the bill and we got hit with a series of bills and are still getting them. Just so happened that the amount was pretty much what I had set aside. So, the funds got sent to the hospital and various specialists and diagnostics companies.
Then misbeHaven steps in and informs me that I will be buying that gun. If we had to put other things on hold for a time so be it but I was going to get the gun I had been planning. Have I said lately how much I love my wife?
So, I called around after one gun store had been looking for the particular one for a while with no success and found a shop about an hour and a half away that had one on the shelf. The woman I spoke to said come at noon as that is a slow time and would be able to get the attention needed. So, I made the drive. Walked in and the first salesman I came across was busty with someone else as were all the sales people. If this was slow, I wouldn't want to be there when they were busy. Anyhow, the salesman asked if I was just looking or looking for something in particular. So I told him I had called yesterday and was told they had what I wanted on the shelf. I said," I'm here to get a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD M O U S E R E S P E C T." He responded by turning and pointing at the rack behind him and replied, "Oh, that's right he...... wait, A WHAT?" After it sunk in, he pulled the rifle off the rack and handed it to me then finished with the customer that he was helping. In between steps helping the current customer he asked if that was really it and I told him, "Yup I'll take it." so he reached for a 4473 and said, "You're easy, now you need to fill this out and we'll get a check started." So, I dropped my CHL on the counter and replied, "Don't bother wrapping it, I'll wear it." You may get the idea now that I am a bit of a smart ass but the guy was having fun with it and so was I. Anyway, we finally got into the deal, the salesman went into teh back room and not only did they have the one on the shelf but had two more on the shelf in back in their boxes. Being the salesman, he asked about optics and such and I explained, I already had Badger mount and rings on order and a Bushnell Elite Tactical scope to go on it.
Since this is uncharted territory for me, I talked to my friend and neighbor who teaches at Rifles Only and we put together a beginners package that will fill the bill for my purposes. His professional opinion was that I could put this together to get the most bang for the buck and do everything I had wanted and more. And since I already have .308's and reloading setups for it as well I would be able to tweak as much as I liked without any additional setup needed.
When I have it all together I will get pictures. I already took shots of the bare rifle to add to the gun inventory database and put all that information in but need to get the finished ensemble together and take finished pictures. Then it is off to the range for break in, sight in / dope gathering and some serious learnin from the student side instead of as the instructor.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Medium Voltage Fun

So, some of you may think 15KV is High Voltage but in reality it is really Medium Voltage. This morning was all about lifting a 15KV 2400KVAR capacitor bank and a four place 15KV / 1250 Amp Trayer Switch into place All this is to control / feed a 15KV / 4160V step down transformer that will end up powering a 3000HP induction motor and variable frequency drive to power the main propeller of our wind tunnel. This will be quite the upgrade from the WW2 surplus 1000HP synchronous motor we are currently using. The existing was surplus when it was sent here and it has served well past it's expected lifetime. It is now past due for retirement. Add to that the ancient transformers that are in the low right corner of the picture. That is the original gear installed to power the tunnel and the crews that care for the power distribution here at the University are more than happy to see it all go away.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Act of Valor - from a different perspective

Yes, I know I'm way behind the curve here, but sometimes I have to chew on a thought for a while before I'm ready to spit it out... and I've been chewing on several reviews of this movie, plus my own thoughts on it. I've read close to a dozen reviews, and most of them were from folks who either served or married into the military, or grew up as military brats. I am none of the above. My dad and older brother both served, so I was raised to respect the military, but I was never exposed to the life directly. Thus, a different perspective.

Others have remarked on the acting skills or lack thereof, the gun-handling skills, the cool toys... er... gear, the Hollywoodized tarted-up effects, the action sequences, the "OMG, Propaganda!", the errors or deviations from "the way it's really done", the plot or lack thereof, the awesomeness of "shooting tangos in the face", etc. Yeah, I noticed that (or some of it), and to everything but the cool and the awesome, I say, "yeah, so what?". The cool and the awesome I appreciate. But what really grabbed me was the real.

1. These are men. Intelligent, competent, able men, comfortable in their own skins, doing a difficult and dangerous job, and doing it well, with no fuss. Not pretty boys. Not metrosexuals. And not swaggering, arrogant Hollywood-version "manly men". Real Men. One of the criticisms I read was that we don't see the "characters'" back stories. Horse hockey. Back stories are for "becoming" stories: coming-of-age or becoming-the-hero tales. These guys aren't "becoming" anything, they ARE. Likewise, there's none of the angst or soul-searching that Hollywood likes so well because the angsty ones and soul-searchers never made it through the SEAL training.

These men love their families, their fellow team members, their fellow man and their country, deeply, whole-heartedly and unapologetically. There's a campfire scene early on in which the SEALs are told to make sure their family life is in order before they leave, because once they're on the mission, they can't be distracted by whatever's going on back home. The subtext of the following and later scenes implies that they have all done so - that they have done all they can to see that their families are well and taken care of. These men aren't just dedicated to being the best warriors they can be; they're dedicated, period. We need more of them.
The campfire scene also speaks to the lack of back stories or cut-aways to what's happening at home: this movie is about being present, fully, in the moment. It's good advice for the audience as well... leave everything else outside the theater and just be present in the moment.

2. The women are women. Intelligent, competent, able, women, comfortable in their own skins, doing a difficult job, and doing it well, with no fuss. This is mostly in the subtext, so Hollywood probably missed it. A couple of women are in on the action, but I'm speaking of the wives, who have the difficult job of loving and supporting a warrior, and "holding down the fort" while he's off to war. If man hath no greater love than that he lay down his life for... whomever, then woman hath no greater love than that she give her love and support to a man who would do so, knowing what the price might be. It takes a strong woman to watch her man go to war, knowing that he might not come back, and moreover, to do so as calmly and resolutely as he goes, to give him comfort in the sure and certain knowledge that she will take care of the homefront in his absence. It takes a strong woman to be proud of her husband and support what he stood for, even as she grieves his death, and to teach her children to be proud of their father and the path he chose, even though that path took him away from them. We need more women like that.

This is not to say that either the SEALs in this movie or their wives are perfect; they're not. They're human. I'm sure they all have their flaws, and plenty of less-than-stellar moments... moments that Hollywood would love to showcase, to drag them down to the level of the rest of us. But those moments aren't the ones that matter. As a favorite song of mine goes, "we are the choices that we make when the chips are down". This movie is about the moments that matter, the choices that heroes (and their wives) make when it's time to step up.

3. I don't watch war movies, usually; they're not my thing. I wanted to see this movie mostly to say "in your face, Hollywood!" I hoped (and still do) that it makes a crap-ton of money at the box office and another crap-ton in DVD sales, and I was willing to put my money where my hopes are. I wasn't expecting to like it. And I certainly wasn't expecting to walk away from it asking myself the question "Am I living my life in such a way as to be worthy of the price they pay for it?"

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Act of Valor

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

The Hollywood and media elite hate this movie. Mainly because it shows the men and women who are willing to bravely put their lives on the line to protect us and our way of life. Hollywood is more than happy to exploit war movies if it shows the US Military as an aggressor stomping on the little people who just want to be free or depicts soldiers as blood thirsty nut jobs who are unstable and just looking for an excuse to kill. This movie will not win any Academy Awards, Emmy's, Golden Globes or other accolades. About the best revenge would be if this movie makes a metric crap ton of money at the box office. That would be fantastic if the people show that they are willing to support such a movie and will do so with their pocket books.


What the hell happened to Hollywood? There was a time when big actors put their career on hold to serve, studios made pictures showing what our forces REALLY did not what the goobers now imagine they think these brave men and women really do.

I will also say, take tissues with you. If you do not cry at the end of this movie, you have no soul. I have been on the receiving end. I have been forward air control for flyovers multiple times, see the header photo. Each and every time it brings home that people are willing to go into harms way to protect us and our way of life and they are willing to risk all for us. You know, that means that Occutard goobers can have to right to peaceably assemble and show how much of a bunch of retards they are. Or that Hollywood has the right to make movies that shit all over the brave souls who have died to insure they have the right to say what they want even if they are wrong.

Enough ranting for now.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Take a friend or two.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Quote of the Century - Greg Hamilton

I have met and trained with Greg and John and the rest of the crew at InSights. Good Guys All! In this case, Greg hits one not just out of the park but out of the county.

Ok facebook friends we have to get some shit straight.

If you are an atheist then the Koran is fiction, if you are Christian it's either fiction or worse, the work or Satan, if Jewish well I don't know, you probably think something like the Christian, and if Muslim, ....oh yeah I don't have Muslim friends.... Well whatever you believe, unless you are Muslim the koran is NOT holy or sacred, it is a FALSE book, about a FALSE religion, by a FALSE prophet of a FALSE god. Everybody have that straight?

We publicly fund shit like "Piss Christ" and the same Americans who protest to protect it are mad about a fucking Koran?

Today should officially be "go buy a Koran, put it on the barbecue, and cook some fucking pork chops and bacon with it" day.

It's called a fucking war, if you don't like it feel free to castrate yourself and all the males in your genetic line, convert to Islam, and let the savages breed with your women.

Oh, one more thing, unless you are a follower of Islam quit calling that boy-buggering pedophile Mohammad a damn prophet! Wether you are atheist, Christian or Jewish he CAN'T be a prophet. He is either a wack-job like L.Ron who made some shit up or he is the minion of the Devil.

Rant not even close to being off.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Todays Special Guest & Random Aircraft Sighting


Today's visitor would be the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Much hoopla for his arrival for something on campus. Not really sure what but interesting arrival none the less.

Something I found interesting was after his formal arrival and reception, while the vehicles were already loaded and waiting for him, he took the time out to get out and greet each of the Ross Volunteers Honor Guard that greeted him. That right there is a sure sign of class and distinction in my book.
And his ride would be a .MIL version of the Gulfstream G5.

Book Bomb Callout (Bracken Sends)

Matt Bracken (Author of the Enemies series of books) is going to release the first book "Enemies Foreign and Domestic on the Amazon for Kindle FREE section in seven days or so. He is wanting to get a movement going to spike the downloads of this book. So, for the half dozen regulars who read this, stop by and keep up with Matt and when it happens, download the book. After all, first it is a good read, second it's FREE. Read it then see if you want to maybe support the author by actually buying the books. I highly recommend them.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Idiot Gun Owner of the Day

The BMW driver who brought their car in for service last.

My boss just got back to the tunnel after taking his car in for service and informed me that evidently loaner cars from BMW now come with a free gun. He got in the loaner assigned to him and opened the center console to put stuff away and there was a loaded revolver sitting there. He went back inside to tell the service counter folks and their reaction was, "Oh Mrs. Soandso must have forgot her gun." Now first it is interesting that there was no panic and the staff handled it without freaking out. Second, that they knew who it was that left the gun in the loner car is a bit scary to me.


Second honorable mention to this was one of the lead stories on the news this morning was that a moron filling his car up with gas at a local station was, "rearranging items in his back seat when a gun there went off striking him in the leg." The police spokeslady said it was unknown if the gun was legal or the legal status of the owner if he was allowed to have one. Boy did that get my blood pressure up to start the day. It wasn't until later in the story that more details or actually the lack of details came out. She also stated that the owner was unaware that the gun was in a condition to go off when he was rearranging things. He evidently drove himself or had a friend drive him to the ER where police were called. Now, that last bit calls everything into question about this story. Was he really at the gas station and the gun loose in the back seat or was he involved in something nefarious when he got hisself shot? That makes the legality of the persons possession of a firearm more of a question. However, they didn't know if the gun was legal? What, did it cross the border in search of work in El Norte?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Oh what a wicked web.........

So, the Iola TX VFD has some financial issues with some of their leadership. Nothing new there. I know. Now, the folks who called in the county to investigate have been booted from their positions in the department and the husband of one of the three charged and brother in law of the old chief who was charged and is a convicted cattle thief himself, has been elected to be the new asst chief of the department? WTF?! I know who is not getting a donation from us. Thank goodness there are neighboring departments who are all too willing to come in and help when there are fires because I certainly do not trust the department leadership with my safety or money. Unfortunately, I can't stop the ESD money that the county collects from going to them. I will have to have a chat with the board members of the ESD Board and see if they are at least trustworthy as they once were or if they are part of the in crowd doing these financial misdeeds.

Friday, February 3, 2012

What's wrong with this picture?



Every well-bred petty crook knows that the small, concealable guns go on the far left of the place setting. ;-)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Overheard in Pantry

This morning while in the pantry I overheard the news story about the homicide rate in N.O. and the ability or lack there of for the police to handle the local everyday issues and the influx of people for Mardi Gras. misbeHaven was just walking down the hall getting ready to leave for the day.

misbeHaven: Did he just say Mardi Gras will be held on Tuesday this year?

Me: I am pretty sure he did.

misbeHaven: But it's on Tuesday Every year.

Me: Well, factually there is nothing wrong with his statement. It will be on Tuesday this year.

misbeHaven: ..........!?!?!!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Is it just me?

Constantly, when rain has come through our area it misses our ranch and pours just down the road from us. Kinda like it is doing right now. Getting 20MPH winds with 37MPH gusts but no rain while the surrounding area is pelted.
You see that big white hole? We're pretty much centered in it.

UPDATE: Average windspeed 26MPH, latest gust 40MPH!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Gunowner cars being "Tagged"

My uncles brothers cousins nephews sisters best friends next door neighbor was there. NO REALLY it has to be true!

There are wild stories floating all through the intratubes and by e-mails about cars being tagged at local gun shops and shooting ranges and national competitions where criminals then follow the car and break into it at another time to steal their guns. The worst of which is a story at a shotgun nationals match in San Antonio Texas about peoples tires being tagged with little red dots. Problem is, it is all bunk! THe marks people are pointing to are used by manufacturers to indicate thick beads on the tires and are there from the day the tires are released into the wilds. The story goes on to say it must be true because even teh local PD came out and talked to the folks at the match about it. Problem is that it never happened.

http://www.nssa-nsca.org/index.php/2012/01/nsc-response-to-rumors-about-gun-thefts/

Follow the link above for the true dope on it. I have received the story in three different forms from 8 different people so far. The latest being form a Denver gun store and a comment from a Gunsite instructor making it true. Well, it isn't.

Please, let's stop this before it get's more out of hand than it already is.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

NASA Image of the Day

Great photo of where I work. This is one of the many projects we do with NASA. Fortunately it is public domain so we can talk about it. Most of the stuff we do and especially the really cool stuff is not allowed outside the building so we can't share. It's fun when something comes up that we can share.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Canton PD AssHat firing

Remember the Canton PD officer (and I use the term officer in only that he was wearing a uniform) that threatened a CHL and harassed the guy as well as the other two people during a traffic stop? He has finally been fired. It is about time. Now they just need to file multiple charges of assault and abuse under color of law charges and things will be right with the world.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Metric Conundrum

So riddle me this, Metric tool sets come with 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch drive sockets. WHY? I thought metric was all cool and shit. And don't embarrass yourself saying it is for the American market. I used to work for a German company working on European equipment with tool kits built and bought in Europe for the European market.

Just curious.