Come On August!

July has been a pretty trying month around here.

Since the 1st...
Had to buy a new radiator for my wife's jeep.
Tension spring on garage door broke sending garage door crashing down.
Lightning strike took out our chest freezer and the pressure switch on our well.
Found out that my constant headaches are the result of a cracked vertabrae in my neck.

Just seem to be in that cycle that hits once in a while where lots seems to go wrong.

However, am still blessed with a wonderful family and good friends. So things are not all bad!

Power is out. Too hot to sleep. Sitting out on the patio watching the lightning show. Awsome stuff.

The Colony..My First Impressions...

The new show on one of The Discovery Channel networks debuted this past week. It is called The Colony.

The basic premise appears to be whether a "diverse" group of survivors after some sort of apocolyptic collapse can band together and survive for a 10 week period.

As expected, it appears to be more of a loosely based "Survivor" type reality show, rather than a true expirement in preparedness or survival. Essentially the group of people are made up of scholars,engineers, and actual medical personnel, rather than a diverse group of the type that might actually band together after a world altering event.

I will watch again, just to see if my initial perceptions actually change....but I suspect they will not. I am quite sure that there were many glaring mistakes made by this group on the outset, which will be very obvious to anyone with even a loose grasp on survival.

The greatest of which for me, was the utter lack of awareness about securing the safety of the group from outside forces. Yes...shelter and water are two immediate needs, but this is also true for all the other dregs of society out there as well.

I did not expect the producers of the show to in any form, include any actual means of self defense such as firearms or tactical training, but they really lowered the bar on the protection issue. Only one of the group members has any type of self defense training. She is supposedly a martial arts instructor, but seems much more likely to be a fitness trainer who uses some self defense moves as exercise.

The group resembles much more the typical herd found after a catastrophic event, who figure if they can try to be comfortable for a few days, the Gov will show up and slap the big band-aid on it.

In reality, if things had gone bad, these people would not make it through the first week. Let alone a full ten weeks. In the real non-television world, "marauders" do not come beat on your unsecured compound, and run away if you yell at them.

Remember, in our current state of civilization, their are predators out there who will take what they want and gladly kill you in the process. So, in this scenario, where there is little to none of police protection, you can imagine what these predators would be like!

So, The Colony might be neato entertainment for the uninformed. Yet it is in no way a realistic experiment as it has been portrayed by the promoters.

I will give it a bit more time to develop. But I am not to confident it will improve.

I Am A Bigot!!!

At least that is what I was informed today!

Here is the context of this revelation....

I was at a gas station filling up my truck's tank. I happened to be wearing a black t-shirt, which in white letters, says "got Jesus?". A take on the Got Milk? commercials.

As I stood their, a young fellow approached me and said...."So you are proud to be a bigot?"

Huh? Which was exactly what I said!

He then informed me that I was a bigot who spent my life forcing my views and morals on others. I asked if we had met before, and he informed me that we had not. He then went on to tell me that he had met many like me, and knew just how I "was".

Ok. So being a helpful and enjoying learning type fellow.... I asked him to explain to me how I "was".

He proceeded to tell me that I was full of bitterness and used religion to hide my homophobia and hate towards people who were different than I was.

Hmmm... he did not look like Obama, but sure did sound like him! And man... he sure did know a lot about me just from reading two words on my shirt.

He then went on to tell me how he led an alternative lifestyle and was tired of people like me getting in his face about it. At this point, I just fell apart with laughter! Serious tear inducing, breath robbing laughter.

This met with much disdain from my accuser. He demanded to know what I felt was funny about his comments. So... again wanting to be helpful, I pointed out that I had been the one standing here minding my business when he launched his attack. In other words, doing exactly what he had just accused people of doing to him.

This little bit of info only served to aggravate him. He then began ranting about me twisting his words to fit my agenda.

I then pointed out that my agenda had only been the fueling of my vehicle until he presented himself into my life!

At this point he stomped off to his Rav4 and left the scene of my bigotry!

So, I learned that..... the fact I am a Christian. And believe that my Saviour loves all people, no matter what their agenda is... makes me a bigot. And this young man, who I suspect is very unhappy in his alternative lifestyle judging by his attitude and actions, is a fine example of compassion and tolerance.

Oh well! Live and learn!

Gonna wear that Jesus T-shirt more often. No telling what else I might learn from it.
I definitely learned that there are some odd people out there just trying to hold up that huge chip on their shoulder.

This bigot will pray for that young man tonight.

It just hit 103 degrees!
I do not like!

Confirmation Hearings?

I sit and marvel about why they are calling this Liberal lovefest, a hearing to confirm Ms. Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.

Any type of question that could actually be considered as mildly fact finding oriented, is immediately headed of by the Judicial Committee members of the Obama fanclub.

I wish I could laugh at her response when asked about views on gun control. It was just not funny!

Ms. Sotomayor has a godchild who is an NRA member! Ok, nice I guess. But she delivered this fact as if she was talking about the beloved family member who eats dirt, and who we all know should not be left alone, lest they harm themselves.

She then let loose the bombshell that she has a friend who hunts! Holy Cow! Seriously Sonia?!
That is awsome!

Same old answers used since The Clinton Gang days. It sets the stage to draw the distinction between firearms used for hunting, and other uses. And it is NOT comforting my fears about her as one of our Supreme Court Justices.

She has already made it clear, as has our President, that her views and feelings, read "empathy"
by Obama, will color her rulings.!

Yikes!

Crimson Trace!

Recently obtained a set of Crimson Trace lasergrips for my Smith & Wesson J frame.

I firmly believe in using a traditional sight picture when shooting...however I spend a great deal of time working in dark areas. The sights on the J frame are rudimentary at best in good light.

So in low light situations... not so much!

Gave the lasergrips a good workout tonight. Shot some steel at distances from 5 yards out to 25 yards. Shot from a standard two hand standing position, and from some odd and uncomfortable positions.

I am quite pleased with the grips. Was able to put solid hits on steel without using the sights. I will still use the sights as first choice, but feel comfortable relying on the lasergrips for low light situations.

So...So....So...Hot!

Thank The Lord for air conditioning!

There are times I long for a simpler life. If I got my wish, I would have to live in a cooler climate.

High 90's today. Well 99 to be exact! Can't get much higher 90's than that.

It does make the evenings when it drops to the 80's quite enjoyable. Went for a walk with my wife and daughter. My son opted to watch the Dodgers game. Can't fault him for that.

Nice walk though. Had a fine Drew Estate cigar, and fine company.

Am really trying to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life. The way the world is going, the simple things may be all we have left!

Enough Said!!!

God Bless This Hero!

Sergeant Andrew (Andy) Tingwall

New Mexico State Police New Mexico

End of Watch: Thursday, June 11, 2009

Biographical Info Age: 36

Cause of Death: Aircraft accident

Date of Incident: Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Sergeant Andy Tingwall died following a police helicopter crash on a mountainside near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He and a police observer had just taken off after rescuing a stranded hiker when the helicopter struck the mountainside and crashed. Despite being severely injured, the observer was able to hike from the area the following the morning and was located by a rescue party. An intense search was initiated but rescuers had difficulty reaching the crash site due to weather and terrain. The bodies of Sergeant Tingwall and the hiker were located two days later when rescuers were able to reach the site. It was determined that Sergeant Tingwall survived the initial crash and had removed the injured hiker from the wreckage before passing away.

Andy was the best of the best, and my friend.

Go with God Brother!