Post #100

Well. My 100th post. I should do something special, something big, something meaningful...



...I've got nothin'.


Actually, I'll be going to a barbecue tomorrow afternoon at the new house of some friends from church that I helped move a while back. I'm planning to take my bike but I'm not sure how to take along a lawn chair. I may have to head out to Target tomorrow afternoon to pick up one of those collapsible chairs that have a carry bag.

I passed this past weekend on a planned trip up to Osage Beach in Missouri with my parents and sister. I later found out that they intend to head to Branson Saturday night. Today I got an email from Ron Paul's campaign advertising a rally in Branson tomorrow night. Now I'm wishing I could have gotten the time off to go.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some. I'll probably buy some saddlebags and a mesh jacket for my bike instead.

On a side note, I've ordered a High Noon pancake holster for my Para. UPS' website shows that they've received the billing info but haven't received the package. I'm eager to get it and my earlier order of belt and holster for my CZ 97B. That order will probably be delayed until July, though, due to the made-to-order nature of their belts.

I've also finally ordered a replacement for my dearly departed ergo-keyboard. It has shipped and is sitting in a UPS facility in California at the moment.


Well, what do you know. Not a bad 100th post after all. Managed to get most of the things that I love or consider important stuffed in without too much effort.

Newest Addition to the Armory

Richard and I were doing a bit of window shopping weekend before last. We hit some of the local motorcycle dealerships as he is seriously considering a purchase. We also made a stop by Fort Thompson in Little Rock to look for a new holster for my Browning.

We didn't find a holster but did find a Para Ordnance widebody LTC for a very tempting price. After sleeping on it, I decided to ask Terry if he wanted to purchase my Browning. He and Richard have been bugging me consistently about selling it to one of them so that they can convert it to 9mm. Apparently, they have some idea of making the most durable 9mm ever. Whatever his reasons, we agreed on a price and it gave me the funds to pick up the LTC.

This pistol is sweet. A 4.25" barrel, 14-round capacity, stainless construction with an OD Green finish on frame and slide and black controls. My only complaint is the plastic mainspring housing (solved when I replaced the flat, plastic one with an arched, steel housing) and full-length guide rod. I've got the parts saved at MidwayUSA to solve the latter issue. The trigger is sweet and it feeds without a hitch.

Now I just need a good holster...

Another New Addition to the Blogroll

This gentleman has more than earned the spot. The post that interested me in his site can be found here. The post that made me laugh 'til I couldn't breathe can be found here.

Welcome "The Smallest Minority".

Wal-Mart Signs "Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership"

I know, this is actually old news. But I wanted to make sure I documented it. Personally, I've defended Wal-Mart on a lot of issues over the years due to the fact that they gave me the best job I had during college. But this has crossed the line. I've not purchased a single item from Wal-Mart since hearing about this.

See these links for details.

What really irks me about this is the fact that they are agreeing to "develop a computerized system that participating retailers will implement over time to log crime gun traces relating to the retailer." The issue I have with this is, how do they expect to get the data that a gun that they sold has been used in a crime? From discussions I've seen on THR (although I can't seem to find the thread I had in mind, that one has a good discussion going), there's only one database that contains such information and access to it is restricted to LEOs investigating active cases only.

The only thing I can think is that Bloomberg intends to set up a LEO to provide the information to his "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" group. Which is probably illegal itself.

Electrical Engineers, Rejoice!

The long-sought-after fourth component has been found!

Seriously. No, I'm not joking.

It's called a memrister.

And it's going to render every electronics/circuits book in the world obsolete. Well, maybe not obsolete, but definitely in need of revision. I'm not going to bother discussing its merits/uses in this post. The articles do a darn good job of that.

But please feel free to start a discussion in the comments.

And After an Almost Three-Week Hiatus...

You'll remember that two posts back, I mentioned a second movie that Richard and I watched the previous Friday. One that I was too sick to remember. Well, Richard stepped up and reminded me. Tremors II. Hilarious. And the gunplay is fun and accurate. I highly recommend it.

Also, you'll remember that I was sick due to allergies. Thankfully, I've pulled through and have managed to find an effective method for preventing allergy attacks of such drastic size. After talking it out with my dad, we came to the conclusion that it was mowing my yard that triggered my attack. I was then informed that there's this invention out there called a "filter mask". It's just a bit of formed filter paper that fits over your nose and mouth and is held in place by a rubber band.

Genius!

Sarcasm aside, I've mown my yard once since purchasing a pack of masks and nary a sniffle.

This Delay Brought to You by Technical Incompetency.

Whose you ask? Why, mine, of course.

Egad.

All I wanted was to hook my new 26” Sony Bravia to my computer. Apparently, that was too much to ask. First, I had to get a new wireless router since my old one bit the dirt back in Fayetteville and I never bothered to replace it. Then I realized I had removed my wireless card at the same time to make more room around my GeForce video card so that it could have sufficient ventilation. So, I had to have a wireless transceiver (got a USB version). I then decided that I might as well go truly wireless and bought a wireless keyboard and mouse combo pack.

Now here's where the problems reared their ugly heads. The wireless network was most definitely not plug-and-play. After realizing I was in over my head (again), I called tech support (also known as Jason – but tech support sounds much cooler). Between the two of us, we managed to get my network communicating. Kinda. It turns out that the wireless keyboard and mouse I bought were the kind that use a radio signal as opposed to infrared and it managed to interfere with my wireless network. Wonderful.

So, I kicked the new keyboard to the curb and went back to my old keyboard. Who apparently managed to give up the ghost when I disconnected it the last time. At that point I could just hear the new keyboard chuckling. “I knew you'd be back.” I hooked it up just long enough to get the computer back to it's old video settings and just called it quits.

That was on April 31.

I finally threw up the white flag and have resumed using my flat- and wide-screen LCD monitor. The sacrifices we make.

And while typing this, I realize that my wireless keyboard simply isn't going to work. It's cramped and not nearly as sensitive as my old ergo-keyboard. I've decided that wireless simply isn't for me. I've looked up a nice new ergo-keyboard with USB connection for about $35 online. I'll be ordering it soon.