How can this be? I had thought that I would at least rank PG-13. How have I failed you all?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
ACK!
This is simply unacceptable! My blog has been rated
How can this be? I had thought that I would at least rank PG-13. How have I failed you all?
How can this be? I had thought that I would at least rank PG-13. How have I failed you all?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Good Company, Good Books, and a Crappy Connection
Well, my sister came by to visit this weekend. I had ended up taking both Thursday and Friday off due to my ill-health and she was kind enough to run to the store after getting here Friday afternoon and load me up with drugs. NyQuil is my daddy.
She ended up sticking around 'til around 6 Saturday evening. She had never seen the second or third installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy so we watched those in three installments of 2-4 hours each. By the time she left I was feeling mucho better. I went to Cabot to visit D and discuss guns, politics, and housing developments. (Don't ask. We're still in the wishful thinking stages ATM.)
I managed to finish both Animal Farm and MHI over the course of my illness. I would recommend both. Animal Farm would be best described as a cautionary tale about socialist democracies (and possibly governments in general). I'd highly recommend this to those of you who might be dealing with a friend or loved one who's living in a state of denial about the direction that our own government is headed.
MHI was a very fun read and I do recommend it but with one caveat. Please remember that this is author Larry Correia's very first published novel. Unfortunately, the lack of experience shows as "stream of consciousness" writing style in several places. There are several misspellings (in more than one language), run-on sentences, and some sentences that are just down-right constructed poorly. It's obvious that Larry could use the services of a few professional proof-readers. If this is the kind of thing that can distract you from a good story, this might not be the novel for you. However, if you're willing to forgive a few grammatical faux pas in the pursuit of an excellent story arc, then this is something you'll want to read. The story breadth is really astounding for a first-timer (though those of you who've read the Welcome Back, Mr. Nightcrawler thread on THR probably had an inkling of Larry's abilities.) It's almost unfortunate that there have been so very many mainstream vampire/werewolf/zombie blockbuster movies recently as this feels almost like it's trying to use those as a springboard to get more of an audience than it really would otherwise attract. However, as the story progresses, it's obvious that Larry has no intentions of sticking with the same old same old. He manages to use the old horror formulas, throw in a dash of campfire ghost stories, add a generous sprinkling of Lovecraftian lore, and the excellent portrayal of use of a metric ton of the biggest and baddest small arms that you'll never see on the big screen and manages to serve up a novel that is completely new and exciting.
Overall, I'm giving MHI 4 out of 5 smoking .308 casings of approval (with 0.5 deducted for technical writing errors).
Lastly, my internet connection has been flaky for the better part of this last week. It seems like if I go for more than about 3-4 minutes without bringing up a new web page, the ISP drops my connection. I then have to use the repair button on my local area connection icon in the toolbar and everything's fine until I let the connection idle again. I have no idea if this is an ISP issue or if my modem might be flaking out on me (it's about 4 years old now and was getting glitchy before the move anyway). Anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be?
She ended up sticking around 'til around 6 Saturday evening. She had never seen the second or third installments of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy so we watched those in three installments of 2-4 hours each. By the time she left I was feeling mucho better. I went to Cabot to visit D and discuss guns, politics, and housing developments. (Don't ask. We're still in the wishful thinking stages ATM.)
I managed to finish both Animal Farm and MHI over the course of my illness. I would recommend both. Animal Farm would be best described as a cautionary tale about socialist democracies (and possibly governments in general). I'd highly recommend this to those of you who might be dealing with a friend or loved one who's living in a state of denial about the direction that our own government is headed.
MHI was a very fun read and I do recommend it but with one caveat. Please remember that this is author Larry Correia's very first published novel. Unfortunately, the lack of experience shows as "stream of consciousness" writing style in several places. There are several misspellings (in more than one language), run-on sentences, and some sentences that are just down-right constructed poorly. It's obvious that Larry could use the services of a few professional proof-readers. If this is the kind of thing that can distract you from a good story, this might not be the novel for you. However, if you're willing to forgive a few grammatical faux pas in the pursuit of an excellent story arc, then this is something you'll want to read. The story breadth is really astounding for a first-timer (though those of you who've read the Welcome Back, Mr. Nightcrawler thread on THR probably had an inkling of Larry's abilities.) It's almost unfortunate that there have been so very many mainstream vampire/werewolf/zombie blockbuster movies recently as this feels almost like it's trying to use those as a springboard to get more of an audience than it really would otherwise attract. However, as the story progresses, it's obvious that Larry has no intentions of sticking with the same old same old. He manages to use the old horror formulas, throw in a dash of campfire ghost stories, add a generous sprinkling of Lovecraftian lore, and the excellent portrayal of use of a metric ton of the biggest and baddest small arms that you'll never see on the big screen and manages to serve up a novel that is completely new and exciting.
Overall, I'm giving MHI 4 out of 5 smoking .308 casings of approval (with 0.5 deducted for technical writing errors).
Lastly, my internet connection has been flaky for the better part of this last week. It seems like if I go for more than about 3-4 minutes without bringing up a new web page, the ISP drops my connection. I then have to use the repair button on my local area connection icon in the toolbar and everything's fine until I let the connection idle again. I have no idea if this is an ISP issue or if my modem might be flaking out on me (it's about 4 years old now and was getting glitchy before the move anyway). Anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Bleh...
It seems that I've been ambushed by a round of sinus trouble that has left me with a runny/stuffy nose, a headache, and absolutely no energy.
I seriously doubt that I'll be heading in to work tomorrow.
On a more happy note, my Burris QD rings arrived today. Pretty good delivery time as I placed the order Sunday evening.
That is all.
I seriously doubt that I'll be heading in to work tomorrow.
On a more happy note, my Burris QD rings arrived today. Pretty good delivery time as I placed the order Sunday evening.
That is all.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
What the...?
That was wierd. I started to create a new post and when I began typing into the title block, the autocomplete came up with "Re: Bleeding Heart Gayboys".
Just wierd.
Anyways, not a whole lot's been going on. I've managed to do some cleaning on my truck and organizing around the house. Only a few things that warrant a mention: I'm a good way through Animal Farm by George Orwell. I will give my thoughts on this book once I've finished it.
My copy of MHI has apparently been lost in the mail or stolen. Larry Correia was good enough to send out a replacement copy this past week. I'm just itching to get my mitts on it.
Lastly, the gent from my work who made the comment that Ron Paul had dropped out of the race has retired. He put in his resignation just the day after having lunch with us. I think he annoyed my supervisor more than a bit what with not telling anyone.
Hopefully, there will be more of note later.
Just wierd.
Anyways, not a whole lot's been going on. I've managed to do some cleaning on my truck and organizing around the house. Only a few things that warrant a mention: I'm a good way through Animal Farm by George Orwell. I will give my thoughts on this book once I've finished it.
My copy of MHI has apparently been lost in the mail or stolen. Larry Correia was good enough to send out a replacement copy this past week. I'm just itching to get my mitts on it.
Lastly, the gent from my work who made the comment that Ron Paul had dropped out of the race has retired. He put in his resignation just the day after having lunch with us. I think he annoyed my supervisor more than a bit what with not telling anyone.
Hopefully, there will be more of note later.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Random Album Meme
Well, I first saw this on Tamara's site and then on Breda's. I figured I'd give it a shot and I really like the raw materials I got. Unfortunately, I can't save or copy the image to modify it. I'm assuming this is on purpose by the image's owner. I can respect that.
Anywho...
Live and for a limited time, I am proud to present:
The Anatolian Turkish Beyliks performing their hit album Summon Up the Blood!
Cover art can be found here.
Anywho...
Live and for a limited time, I am proud to present:
The Anatolian Turkish Beyliks performing their hit album Summon Up the Blood!
Cover art can be found here.
Organic LEDs
One of the high points of the vendor visit that I mentioned in the previous post was a mention of a new technology that I hadn't heard of before. Organic LEDs. Sony has already presented prototype televisions using this technology. This was brought up in the context of using LED touchscreens in place of the old mechanical switches that are the staple of our industry.
One of the things that really excites me about this particular technology is the ability to deposit the organic compounds that the OLEDs consist of onto flexible substrates. I'm sure most of you have seen the sci-fi movies/tv shows where the characters pull out a long but thin device about the size of a large tv remote and pull on one side to unroll a flexible touchscreen. With the research into this technology, those special effects gurus could be modern-day prophets.
I want one.
One of the things that really excites me about this particular technology is the ability to deposit the organic compounds that the OLEDs consist of onto flexible substrates. I'm sure most of you have seen the sci-fi movies/tv shows where the characters pull out a long but thin device about the size of a large tv remote and pull on one side to unroll a flexible touchscreen. With the research into this technology, those special effects gurus could be modern-day prophets.
I want one.
Egads
We had a couple of vendors visit us today at work, trying to steal some of our business away from their competitors. As part of this, we were treated to lunch.
During the course of our conversation, the topic turned, as they often do, to politics. And then something unnerving happened. The vendor stated that he couldn't think of a single candidate for president from the Republican party who is still truly conservative except for Fred Thompson. I quickly put in Ron Paul's name into the mix, to which the vendor replied that he had not heard anything about Dr. Paul. I was interrupted by one of the senior engineers. "It's really too bad he dropped out of the race."
I was dumbfounded. I hadn't checked Dr. Paul's site in a few days and I flatly refuse to watch any of the news networks that are available on cable and so I couldn't reply with anything beyond, "Oh. I hadn't heard that." But frankly, it seems incredibly unlikely to me. But I'm the newbie.
And of course, now I'm home where I have unlimited access to the internet (freaking sonicwall), and I see that Dr. Paul is still going strong. And I'm still dumbfounded! How is it that someone could even mistakenly get that impression? I can't think of anyone from the Republican top candidates who dropped out of the race recently, so that can't be it. Could it just be an assumption due to the lack of publicity for Dr. Paul?
This is really rather disheartening.
During the course of our conversation, the topic turned, as they often do, to politics. And then something unnerving happened. The vendor stated that he couldn't think of a single candidate for president from the Republican party who is still truly conservative except for Fred Thompson. I quickly put in Ron Paul's name into the mix, to which the vendor replied that he had not heard anything about Dr. Paul. I was interrupted by one of the senior engineers. "It's really too bad he dropped out of the race."
I was dumbfounded. I hadn't checked Dr. Paul's site in a few days and I flatly refuse to watch any of the news networks that are available on cable and so I couldn't reply with anything beyond, "Oh. I hadn't heard that." But frankly, it seems incredibly unlikely to me. But I'm the newbie.
And of course, now I'm home where I have unlimited access to the internet (freaking sonicwall), and I see that Dr. Paul is still going strong. And I'm still dumbfounded! How is it that someone could even mistakenly get that impression? I can't think of anyone from the Republican top candidates who dropped out of the race recently, so that can't be it. Could it just be an assumption due to the lack of publicity for Dr. Paul?
This is really rather disheartening.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Too Tired
I'd really like to comment on this particularly unfortunate incident that fortunately had a happy ending. However, I am very tired and very cranky and feel that I could not do this justice. Go read what the Bayou Renaissance Man has to say about it instead.
Debt Seminar Redux
Well, we finished out the seminar tonight. Honestly, the basics of what I learned can be summed up pretty quickly.
1) Make out a budget and stick to it.
2) Don't borrow money on depreciating assets
3) I need to get someone to handle my investing for me because I have no clue about any of what the man was talking about.
Basically, it seems to boil down to "use common sense". Most of the stuff he covered, I'd already known or deduced on my own. It's simply a matter of implementation.
But at least it was somewhat entertaining.
1) Make out a budget and stick to it.
2) Don't borrow money on depreciating assets
3) I need to get someone to handle my investing for me because I have no clue about any of what the man was talking about.
Basically, it seems to boil down to "use common sense". Most of the stuff he covered, I'd already known or deduced on my own. It's simply a matter of implementation.
But at least it was somewhat entertaining.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Debt Seminar
The church here has invited a guest speaker to perform a lecture series on handling debt and financial planning. The series started in the morning's service, continued tonight and will run through tomorrow night. So far, I have been rather impressed with what I've seen. So far, the advice the gentleman gives is pretty much common sense stuff that people really know already but don't want to think about. I plan on attending tomorrow night's session so we'll see what kind of solid plans he has beyond just the framework he presented today.
Rant About The Well-Intentioned
This is a fair warning alert. The following post contains excessive angst and more than a little self-pity. Persons who are angst-intolerant or have exhibited tendencies to attempt "pep-talks" should not read this post as any comments made by the aforementioned may well be deleted. This is simply my way of blowing off steam on a situation that I am tired of being in. And at the moment I am not feeling very generous toward snide remarks, pity parties, or unsolicited advice.
At my church's evening worship service today, a fellow we'll call L sat down beside me with his family before service began. This gent is about my own age and is one of the few in the congregation who has made an effort to engage in conversation with me beyond simple pleasantries. After talking about my company's latest layoff, he motioned me a little closer so we could speak without having to raise our voices above the murmur of 100 other voices in the auditorium. He pointed out a young lady seated one pew back from us and told me that he had it in mind to play matchmaker. And apparently he thought that this young lady, tall, quite attractive, and probably 90 pounds soaking wet, would be a good fit for me.
Now, for the record, I'll give you a brief description of myself. I'm about 6'2" with brown hair and eyes and a heavy bone structure that is pretty much eclipsed by being substantially obese. Despite this, I still manage to have a head that is noticeably larger than proportional to my body along with ears that are larger still. Even when not grossly overweight (which happened for all of a year during college) I'm not much in the looks department. I had pretty much stopped even considering the possibility of further dating around two years ago. I realized that it just wasn't going to happen. To paraphrase a quote from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds: "I can't swim. I know I can't swim. So you know what I do? I stay out the pool!"
I tell you this because I have to wonder what exactly was going through L's mind when he came up with this oh-so-crazy idea. I realize that some of you may try to make arguments about physical attraction being of no or little consequence. Frankly, you can save your breath (or keystrokes as the case may be). While I will agree that in some cases personality can somewhat make up for unattractive features, I firmly believe that in the main, such attitudes are mainly reserved for young female pop stars acting in badly written movies intended as modern day morality plays for teenagers. For the most part, an attractive woman is not going to give serious consideration to an unattractive man unless she is: 1) desperate; 2) looking for a rich husband/boyfriend; or 3) he has a personality such that he could sell electric space heaters to desert nomads. I cannot see any of these items applying much in this situation.
However, L did mention one thing that made me think. He noted that it was very difficult to find unmarried members of the opposite sex in our town who were also members of the same church as we are. He expanded on that saying that he believed most folks our age had gone to college and, if they did not get married in or before college, they usually stopped attending services altogether.
That is the only thing he mentioned that held out even the smallest sliver of hope that she would take serious his suggestion that she and I might give it the old college try.
The problem with hope though, for me, is that getting one's hopes up means they are that much easier for life to send crashing back to earth. Left unchecked, it tends to soar ever higher, like a paper airplane thrown at just the right angle into the wind ... before nose-diving ignobly into the water-filled ditch. I once again found myself pondering the possible implications of a woman actually being amenable to the idea of dating me. Thankfully, I think that I managed to catch all such thoughts before they could climb too high and quickly slapped them back down to earth before they soared high enough for it to hurt.
L had made the remark that he would introduce me after services were over. I saw him speaking with his wife afterward and am pretty sure he pointed my way at least once, after which I am sure I saw her shaking her head. When services concluded, he shook my hand and we exchanged pleasantries before gathering our belongings and leaving. I'm hoping that maybe his wife talked some sense into him.
This concludes today's angst-laden rant. Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your regular blog posts.
At my church's evening worship service today, a fellow we'll call L sat down beside me with his family before service began. This gent is about my own age and is one of the few in the congregation who has made an effort to engage in conversation with me beyond simple pleasantries. After talking about my company's latest layoff, he motioned me a little closer so we could speak without having to raise our voices above the murmur of 100 other voices in the auditorium. He pointed out a young lady seated one pew back from us and told me that he had it in mind to play matchmaker. And apparently he thought that this young lady, tall, quite attractive, and probably 90 pounds soaking wet, would be a good fit for me.
Now, for the record, I'll give you a brief description of myself. I'm about 6'2" with brown hair and eyes and a heavy bone structure that is pretty much eclipsed by being substantially obese. Despite this, I still manage to have a head that is noticeably larger than proportional to my body along with ears that are larger still. Even when not grossly overweight (which happened for all of a year during college) I'm not much in the looks department. I had pretty much stopped even considering the possibility of further dating around two years ago. I realized that it just wasn't going to happen. To paraphrase a quote from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds: "I can't swim. I know I can't swim. So you know what I do? I stay out the pool!"
I tell you this because I have to wonder what exactly was going through L's mind when he came up with this oh-so-crazy idea. I realize that some of you may try to make arguments about physical attraction being of no or little consequence. Frankly, you can save your breath (or keystrokes as the case may be). While I will agree that in some cases personality can somewhat make up for unattractive features, I firmly believe that in the main, such attitudes are mainly reserved for young female pop stars acting in badly written movies intended as modern day morality plays for teenagers. For the most part, an attractive woman is not going to give serious consideration to an unattractive man unless she is: 1) desperate; 2) looking for a rich husband/boyfriend; or 3) he has a personality such that he could sell electric space heaters to desert nomads. I cannot see any of these items applying much in this situation.
However, L did mention one thing that made me think. He noted that it was very difficult to find unmarried members of the opposite sex in our town who were also members of the same church as we are. He expanded on that saying that he believed most folks our age had gone to college and, if they did not get married in or before college, they usually stopped attending services altogether.
That is the only thing he mentioned that held out even the smallest sliver of hope that she would take serious his suggestion that she and I might give it the old college try.
The problem with hope though, for me, is that getting one's hopes up means they are that much easier for life to send crashing back to earth. Left unchecked, it tends to soar ever higher, like a paper airplane thrown at just the right angle into the wind ... before nose-diving ignobly into the water-filled ditch. I once again found myself pondering the possible implications of a woman actually being amenable to the idea of dating me. Thankfully, I think that I managed to catch all such thoughts before they could climb too high and quickly slapped them back down to earth before they soared high enough for it to hurt.
L had made the remark that he would introduce me after services were over. I saw him speaking with his wife afterward and am pretty sure he pointed my way at least once, after which I am sure I saw her shaking her head. When services concluded, he shook my hand and we exchanged pleasantries before gathering our belongings and leaving. I'm hoping that maybe his wife talked some sense into him.
This concludes today's angst-laden rant. Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your regular blog posts.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Well, That Sucks
It seems that my employer has decided to lay off approximately 300 employees out of the 1200-1300 currently on the payroll. This is in addition to a week-long plant shutdown at the end of January and the reduced production rates (15 units/day instead of the normal 31!) afterward. This is due to an overage of around 1400 units (!) on the standard model. Thankfully (I think) the powers that be have declared that engineering will not be affected except for a hiring freeze currently in place. There are no guarantees, however.
The real kicker is that the sister plant in OK will not be laying people off, will be taking some of our orders, and is actually increasing their production rate. It actually makes sense from a productivity standpoint as the orders that they are taking from us are for models that they build exclusively, so their productivity on these units is substantially better than ours. The bad news is that without more orders coming in, sooner or later, my plant may send everything their way.
But business savvy or no, there are a lot of POed people around here right now.
The real kicker is that the sister plant in OK will not be laying people off, will be taking some of our orders, and is actually increasing their production rate. It actually makes sense from a productivity standpoint as the orders that they are taking from us are for models that they build exclusively, so their productivity on these units is substantially better than ours. The bad news is that without more orders coming in, sooner or later, my plant may send everything their way.
But business savvy or no, there are a lot of POed people around here right now.
Cthulu '08
It seems that FBMG (Fuzzy Bunny Movie Guns for those of you not in the know) has officially announced their endorsement of Cthulu the elder god for president in 2008.
Oh, and there's a bit about some other candidates, too.
Oh, and there's a bit about some other candidates, too.
Still Waiting
As some of you have probably realized, I'm really excited about Correia's new book Monster Hunters International. Unfortunately for me, it has yet to make it's appearance despite Larry having shipped all of the preorders last Saturday (1/5/08).
I just know some postal employee somewhere is lounging in a recliner at home and reading my book while trying to figure out where he's gonna put my patch.
What? Paranoid, me?
I just know some postal employee somewhere is lounging in a recliner at home and reading my book while trying to figure out where he's gonna put my patch.
What? Paranoid, me?
A Little Too Quiet
Where has everyone gone? According to sitemeter, I'm not getting any hits at all. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
I know there weren't that many of you to begin with but still...
I know there weren't that many of you to begin with but still...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
That Pioneering Spirit
I was watching the history channel tonight, particularly a show on the moons of Jupiter. In it they mentioned that there has been discussion on the possibility of manned missions to some of these satellites.
That got me to thinking about the old chart that we had on the wall of my classroom back when I was in the fourth grade. It had a projected time line on the study of Mars. The best that I can remember, it seemed that the projection stated year 2012 as the date that we send an extended manned mission to Mars' surface.
This in turn caused me to think of Heinlein's novel "Time Enough for Love" in which Lazarus Long hypothesizes on the fundamental nature of humans who were driven to colonize other planets.
I'm sure you're wondering if I have a point to this. I do and here it is. Would you choose to leave the Earth if you were given the opportunity to colonize another world?
Feel free to reply here or in your own blog.
That got me to thinking about the old chart that we had on the wall of my classroom back when I was in the fourth grade. It had a projected time line on the study of Mars. The best that I can remember, it seemed that the projection stated year 2012 as the date that we send an extended manned mission to Mars' surface.
This in turn caused me to think of Heinlein's novel "Time Enough for Love" in which Lazarus Long hypothesizes on the fundamental nature of humans who were driven to colonize other planets.
I'm sure you're wondering if I have a point to this. I do and here it is. Would you choose to leave the Earth if you were given the opportunity to colonize another world?
Feel free to reply here or in your own blog.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Polymer Revolver?
Holy crap! Check this out. It's a top-break revolver in .357 mag that uses a polymer shell for the handle/triggerguard. When the revolver is opened, the cartridges automatically eject.
This is exactly the kind of revolver that I've been wanting for several years now. And because of Clinton, I'll likely never have one. :cry:
This is exactly the kind of revolver that I've been wanting for several years now. And because of Clinton, I'll likely never have one. :cry:
Sunday, January 6, 2008
A little help? Redux
As some of you may remember, I asked for your assistance in choosing optics for my Saiga S308. Unfortunately for me, you guys were ... less than helpful.
Well, I've looked into the matter a little more and I think I may have a solution. Currently, my rifle has a rail made by DPH Arms that replaces the rear sight leaf and then attaches to the rear tang. It's quite possibly the lowest (viable) optics mount available for the AK-style rifle. I've since modified it to accept an XS Sights Low Weaver Backup aperture sight.
After doing some research into the matter, I found that some 3-Gunners had already addressed the issue. See the article at the bottom of the linked page. Once I saw this, I looked at some of the options that I had already rejected and came up with this:
Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35 scope with quick release rings.
Burris FastFire miniature red-dot reflex sight mounted to the right on a YHM 45 degree angled, 5-slot rail.
The Fullfield will provide me with varied range capability as needed and has a ballistic plex reticle that will allow for a better hold-over approximation at extended ranges. The MRD (mini red dot) will allow me to shift to close quarters sighting by simply rotating the rifle slightly. And if either of these are damaged/dead (batteries) a simple flip of a couple of levers will allow the scope to be removed for access to the iron sights.
Any thoughts?
Edit: After looking at the eye relief numbers, I think that the Short Mag might be a better idea than the Fullfield.
Well, I've looked into the matter a little more and I think I may have a solution. Currently, my rifle has a rail made by DPH Arms that replaces the rear sight leaf and then attaches to the rear tang. It's quite possibly the lowest (viable) optics mount available for the AK-style rifle. I've since modified it to accept an XS Sights Low Weaver Backup aperture sight.
After doing some research into the matter, I found that some 3-Gunners had already addressed the issue. See the article at the bottom of the linked page. Once I saw this, I looked at some of the options that I had already rejected and came up with this:
Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35 scope with quick release rings.
Burris FastFire miniature red-dot reflex sight mounted to the right on a YHM 45 degree angled, 5-slot rail.
The Fullfield will provide me with varied range capability as needed and has a ballistic plex reticle that will allow for a better hold-over approximation at extended ranges. The MRD (mini red dot) will allow me to shift to close quarters sighting by simply rotating the rifle slightly. And if either of these are damaged/dead (batteries) a simple flip of a couple of levers will allow the scope to be removed for access to the iron sights.
Any thoughts?
Edit: After looking at the eye relief numbers, I think that the Short Mag might be a better idea than the Fullfield.
Shifting interests
This is a post that should have been written a while ago.
Those of you who still log on to World of Warcraft may have noticed that I haven't logged on in quite a while. My characters may still be on due to H having my permission to use my toons but I haven't logged on but a couple of times since Thanksgiving. This is mostly due to the fact that ... I just don't feel like logging on.
Frankly, I've begun doing a lot more of the things that I used to do before WoW. Reading, a little amateur gunsmithing, political interests, TV, etc. And after ... lessee here ... bought it in early winter '05 ... 2 years or so of play and the new Squadron's almost obsessive interest in running Kara, well, I think I've burnt out.
Now, I'm not gonna drop my subscription. I highly encourage H to continue using my toons as often as he wants. And eventually I'll probably get back on. Most likely, if I haven't already, I will once the new expansion pack is released.
I just figured you guys had the right to know.
Those of you who still log on to World of Warcraft may have noticed that I haven't logged on in quite a while. My characters may still be on due to H having my permission to use my toons but I haven't logged on but a couple of times since Thanksgiving. This is mostly due to the fact that ... I just don't feel like logging on.
Frankly, I've begun doing a lot more of the things that I used to do before WoW. Reading, a little amateur gunsmithing, political interests, TV, etc. And after ... lessee here ... bought it in early winter '05 ... 2 years or so of play and the new Squadron's almost obsessive interest in running Kara, well, I think I've burnt out.
Now, I'm not gonna drop my subscription. I highly encourage H to continue using my toons as often as he wants. And eventually I'll probably get back on. Most likely, if I haven't already, I will once the new expansion pack is released.
I just figured you guys had the right to know.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The Shame
I have a confession to make...
First of all, it's not like I actually bought it. It came with the gun. And I didn't have a holster that would fit...
*deep breath*
I own an ankle holster. And even worse I've used it. And worst yet, I think I like it.
Please, stop throwing things for a second and listen, will you? Just hear me out.
My standard mode of carry until now has been a full-sized sidearm in a hip holster either outside or inside the waistband. I then usually wear a baggy T-shirt or a loose button-down shirt, untucked, as a cover garment. This is great for normal about-town jaunts but in situations where sitting for a long period it gets quite uncomfortable. Inside a vehicle is even worse as the armrests and seatbelts can encumber the drawstroke.
Another strike against it is when in situations where there's a good chance of physical contact between yourself and another person. I've posted before on THR that my brother has made me a couple of times while I was carrying. Each time, he made an unexpected move such as poking me in the ribs at something he found funny or trying to playfully punch me in the side. And even though he's gotten a little more mellow about it, the first time ended with him making a scene in a restaurant and possibly outing me to other patrons.
Pocket carry would go quite a ways toward mitigating the risk of the latter problem but does nothing to help the former. However an ankle holster can work to solve both problems. It is an unobtrusive mode of carry and quite discreet so long as you don't go around lifting your pant legs in public or trying to kick people (or getting frisked by fellows in blue uniforms with guns and badges. Hey, whatever you're into...it's just not my bag). While wearing loose pants (think carpenter jeans) the pistol is not any more likely to get hung up on the draw than with a loose cover garment and the risk of printing with a small pistol like the PF-9 is minimized. And while sitting, the pistol is much more accessible than in normal carry methods.
With all this in mind, it's looking like I'll be able to arm myself in situations where it might be detrimental to certain aspects of my life (think sitting at a desk for hours on end). But at least I'd still be alive to look for other prospects.
So yes, I own an ankle holster. And I'm proud of it!
And maybe one of these days I'll be able to admit that to someone's face...
First of all, it's not like I actually bought it. It came with the gun. And I didn't have a holster that would fit...
*deep breath*
I own an ankle holster. And even worse I've used it. And worst yet, I think I like it.
Please, stop throwing things for a second and listen, will you? Just hear me out.
My standard mode of carry until now has been a full-sized sidearm in a hip holster either outside or inside the waistband. I then usually wear a baggy T-shirt or a loose button-down shirt, untucked, as a cover garment. This is great for normal about-town jaunts but in situations where sitting for a long period it gets quite uncomfortable. Inside a vehicle is even worse as the armrests and seatbelts can encumber the drawstroke.
Another strike against it is when in situations where there's a good chance of physical contact between yourself and another person. I've posted before on THR that my brother has made me a couple of times while I was carrying. Each time, he made an unexpected move such as poking me in the ribs at something he found funny or trying to playfully punch me in the side. And even though he's gotten a little more mellow about it, the first time ended with him making a scene in a restaurant and possibly outing me to other patrons.
Pocket carry would go quite a ways toward mitigating the risk of the latter problem but does nothing to help the former. However an ankle holster can work to solve both problems. It is an unobtrusive mode of carry and quite discreet so long as you don't go around lifting your pant legs in public or trying to kick people (or getting frisked by fellows in blue uniforms with guns and badges. Hey, whatever you're into...it's just not my bag). While wearing loose pants (think carpenter jeans) the pistol is not any more likely to get hung up on the draw than with a loose cover garment and the risk of printing with a small pistol like the PF-9 is minimized. And while sitting, the pistol is much more accessible than in normal carry methods.
With all this in mind, it's looking like I'll be able to arm myself in situations where it might be detrimental to certain aspects of my life (think sitting at a desk for hours on end). But at least I'd still be alive to look for other prospects.
So yes, I own an ankle holster. And I'm proud of it!
And maybe one of these days I'll be able to admit that to someone's face...
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
I'm Ba-aaack...With Presents!
Welcome back everyone! Here's hoping you enjoyed your break and had a merry Christmas. I know I had one.
Now, I'm sure everyone is just itching to find out what I got. Well...
In clothing I got: A t-shirt that says I'm right You're wrong Any questions? (The graphic is a little different on mine); A fleece pullover with pockets on the sides; Socks. (Of course. But hey, they're insulated and I didn't have any like that); An insulated jacket; Slip-on type shoes to replace the ones that I ruined while mowing the lawn a couple years back. (Hey, at least I didn't lose any toes)
For entertainment: Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity DVD. (F-U-N-N-Y...funny!)
In cash: $160.
And finally,...
Used the cash to buy: Kel-Tec's PF-9. I got a deal on a slightly used pistol at a pawn shop in J-boro. The $160 didn't quite cover the cost but it did cover almost 2/3. And now I have a pocket pistol!
Now, I'm sure everyone is just itching to find out what I got. Well...
In clothing I got: A t-shirt that says I'm right You're wrong Any questions? (The graphic is a little different on mine); A fleece pullover with pockets on the sides; Socks. (Of course. But hey, they're insulated and I didn't have any like that); An insulated jacket; Slip-on type shoes to replace the ones that I ruined while mowing the lawn a couple years back. (Hey, at least I didn't lose any toes)
For entertainment: Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity DVD. (F-U-N-N-Y...funny!)
In cash: $160.
And finally,...
Used the cash to buy: Kel-Tec's PF-9. I got a deal on a slightly used pistol at a pawn shop in J-boro. The $160 didn't quite cover the cost but it did cover almost 2/3. And now I have a pocket pistol!
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