Low Speed, High Drag

Finished Man of all School

2007-07-23T14:32:00.000-04:00

So a few weeks ago, N heard that cousing Ben had finished school. Entirely. No more collegel, no more classes ever! Nate, in first grade, could hardly believe it. It was as if a new paradigm had burst forth upon his unprepared conciosness.... that there was an End to school, a light at then end of the teacher and test filled tunnel. N didn't know what to say, being so overcome that Ben had actually finished school, and he could only stammer out.. "You mean... he's .... he's a.... Finished man of All School???"

We thought it was a great phrase, so we had a t-shirt made up for Ben, who wears it every day in an attempt to get hot chicks with it. This old Hollowell day, Molly had Auntie Cate make up this shirt for N.

2007-07-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

Nice beach day yesterday. We picked up a free bed liner for the new truck (doesn't quite fit) in Harpswell and found a nearby beach that had a very cool island that was accessable at low tide.. lots of nooks and crannies to explore. The kids loved it, we had fried clams on the way home, and the kids fell asleep as soon as we got back home. It was a very nice day.

New truck!

2007-07-06T20:11:00.000-04:00

Well, I traded in the old Audi A6 and the Mazda B3000 truck and $900 for a 1998 Ford F-150. It's an amazing deal, I haven't seen one that fit my needs so exactly. It's a 3 door, extended cab, 4x4, (electronic), power everything, loaded, full length bed, and in decent shape, all for around $8000!

I'm very excited, Molly likes it, we put the whole family in it and were quite comfortable.

So, the first day of ownership of my new truck, toward the end of the day I decide to take my kids out for a ride in it. 6 Miles away, there is a dirt logging road that goes to some disused gravel pits and logging areas. We tool on over there and drive down the road.

After a while, I get to a section that for some reason is covered in soft sand, looks pretty deep. I chuck it into 4WD, drive though, and take it out back into 2wd. Suddenly, the cabin... starts to stink. Real bad, like. A definite organic smell, not mechanical. The smell got worse and worse, the kids started gagging and holding thier noses. I rolled down the window, and was hit with a solid wall of stench. Rolled it right back up!

The smell... it was almost like really fresh dog shit from a dog suffering from a long, terrible disease, but worse. It was like shit that had died. It was like fresh dog shit that had somehow aquired a corporeal body, and gotten morbidly obese, contracted leprosy, and rotted, while living, until it finally died in a bubbling miasma of shit and rotted flesh, and then that mess putrefied in the hot sun for a day or so. It was a bad, bad smell. I actually wondered if the car was cursed, Amityville Horror-style, and the stench was an evil spirit about to warn us to "geeet ooouuuutt"

We hightailed it out of there as fast as we could, me thinking the forest had suddenly started to stink, but as we kept going I realized that we had probably run over something... nasty. Aftre 5 minutes of all of us breathing through our shirts trying to not choke or throw up, I pulled over to check the tires and wheel wells. Each one stunk a lot, some more than others, I don't know exactly which, my mind was in a state of disconnected horror. I tell you, it took all of my dedicated fatherhood to not abandon the kids, truck and all right there just so I could get a little fresh air. I didn't see any actual evidence of anything other than some moisture on random underside parts.

Anyway, after some experimentation I found out that the stink had not hit the vent intakes, so I could run fresh air through the cabin and keep the windows closed, and inside eventually got normal-smelling. I decided to find a car wash that had some kind of underside wash, fired up the Garmin, which led us, literally, on a 70 mile goose chase of nonexistent car washes until Mrz Jamz called up wondering where the blue blazing fuck we were, and told me that there was a car wash a mile or so from where we were. Oh, and that we had passed one a couple miles away from the logging road.

The car wash didn't help much, by the way, but all the driving did. Smell went away aftre a couple of days.

Nice weekend

2007-05-07T07:35:00.002-04:00

We went to go see Dr. Bob about N's recurrent ear and sinus infections. He talked us out of having the Tonsil and tube surgery, based on the suffering he'd encounter during the recovery, and we convinced N to get tubes in right in the chair! He cried a bit from fear, but was otherwise very brave for a 7 year old getting a bit of invasive surgery done.

He offered to do mine as well, but I want to swim this summer without dealing with earplugs. I'll get it done in the fall.

Sunday, I took most of the day to take the snowblower off the lawn tractor, and sharpen and clean the mowing deck. Installed it, and decided to mow the lawn without bagging it, just as an experiment. When you don't have to stop every few passes to empty the bins, it goes a whole lot quicker! I did the whole lawn in just a couple of hours!

M did a lot of gardening, and the front garden looks really nice.

What a great day for financial disaster

2007-04-02T16:15:00.000-04:00

Ugh. M's car died at the side of the road on Friday, necessitating a cab ride and a tow back home. I figure it is the alternator, or some other part of the battery charging mechanism. (Note to self: check the cables) So, it being that the truck is not inspected, we were down to one car.

We decided to get the truck inspected as it would probably be cheaper than fixing the Volvo, so I bring it to Sears. Three hours later, they show me the remains of the entire rear brake and drum assembly. It just fell apart while they were taking the drums off. It was held together by rust, they said. Also, the front brake hoses needed replacing. The total for this and some other work came to $850. Which we don't have.

So I told them to do the rear work, and I would do the front work myself, which brought the price down to $550 or so, which we also didn't have, but it was less. Four hours later, they report that the main brake line between the front and read setups exploded while they were re-bleeding the system after replacing the rear brakes. They have to replace that as well they say.

All in all, I was at Sears, waiting around, poking about the mall for 7 or 8 hours. Depressing way to spend the day, especially because I had been away at work (Springfield) for the past 3 days and the kids really really missed me and I them.

I had promised to spend all day playing with them.

So I tell them that I will come back Sunday, and call M in for a rescue. We go home, more or less just in time for bed.

Sunday we go in, and I planned to use my Sears credit card to pay for it all. Evil surprise, it has an extrordinarily low limit. so I put $350 on it, and we go back home with no truck.

Monday comes, and I gather the credit card that I had JUST paid off entirely. We go to Sears again, and the card is declined. I call the company, and apparently the card was shut off back in Spetember. Why do they not say this over the phone?

So, we go to the spare bank, and take out whatever is left. $200. I figure with the $200 in cash, I can put the remaining $350 on the NRA card, which I left at home. We go home, no truck.

We go back later in the afternoon, after I ensure a good balance available by calling the CC company twice. I plonk down the $200, and I try to put the rest on the card. Declined. I call them, and they say that the payment is late, so the card is dead. Why, again, do they not say this over the phone?

I say fuck it, I'm not coming back here again, and put it all on the work credit card. I'll explain to them later.

So now, we have no cash money, the CC is almost maxed (at it's low $1000 limit) but at least we have two operable cars.

I do hope the tax returns are good this year.

A short list of things about my life

2007-03-29T08:02:00.000-04:00

Have

sailed to Bermuda

gone wreck diving

had to escape a burning apartment building using the fire escape

shot a machine gun

owned and rode a few motorcycles

more to follow

Well, I just lost about a year off my life...

2007-03-25T17:04:00.000-04:00

I took N (7 years old) karting today for the first time. He is tall enough to fit into the "junior" karts, which are similar to adult karts but fit for kids. He did one race in the Kids Karts, which were quite slow, and I got some video of it. He kept spinning the kids kart. We decided to do a father/son race with the real karts, me in a regular kart and him in a Junior kart. We originally planned, and asked for, a session with just the two of us out there so he could get used to the speed and handling of these big karts, but we ended up racing with a bunch of father/son combos, and there were maybe 5 adults and two other older kids on the track.

We race around for a while, and it was tough on him getting used to the kart while surrounded by a bunch of aggressive adults, but he was doing pretty well until he and a bunch of cars all went into a tight turn at the same time. He got pushed into the wall, and hit hard enough to wedge the front of the kart under the barrier. I was right behind him, but going way to fast to stop, and besides, no one gets hurt in karting.

A couple seconds later, after the hairpin, I can look back and all I see is his little helmet slumped against the wheel, and he isn't moving. The yellow flag is out, but I get worried that he wasn't moving, so I start passing cars, going down the straight. By the time I turn and can look again, his head is still slumped over and he still isn't moving. They motion for all the karts to stop, but I blast past them and stop next to my son's kart, where his head is still slumped forward and he still isn't moving. The spectators are waving sort of frantically for the employees to come. Unwelcome visions of Dale Ernhardt and Adam Petty come to mind.

By the time it takes me to throw off my glasses, neck brace, helmet, look down and undo the unfamiliar buckle arrangement and window net, and take off the steering wheel to get out, he still isn't moving. I was doing some heavy praying during this time, as workers come from all over and surround his kart.

As I run over to him, I see him moving a bit, and his head coming back from the wheel.

As it turn out, the impact had stuck his helmet into the steering wheel and somehow wedged it there! Scary for him, because he couldn't raise his head up until it was dislodged, but he was not hurt at all- just scared. Probably not as scared as I was though. No one at the track had ever heard of the helmet getting stuck on the steering wheel before, but I guess we do things first.

He wants to go back, and I'm going to make sure it's just him and me on the track (which was our original plan) till he gets more used to it.

I love the Maine Constitution, and the Maine Sportsman's Alliance

2007-03-24T07:35:00.000-04:00

I love the Maine Constitution.

Maine Constitution Article 1. Declaration of Rights. Section 16. To keep and bear arms. Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.

A few months ago, after Nancy Pelosi (notorious anti-gun politician) became Speaker of the House, I decided to upgrade my NRA Membership from Annual subscriber to Life Member. While I could not afford the $750 in a lump sum to do so, I discovered an "Easy Pay Life" option that bills you only $25 per quarter... a hundred bucks a year... until your payments add up to $750 at which point you become a full Life Member. I think this is an easy and convenient way to achive Life MEmbership in the NRA if you don't have the immediate funds to do so.

I was researching the Maine Sportsmans Alliance last week, and while it seemed very strong about hunter's and outdoorsman's rights, it said nothing about the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms, so I made the decision not to join until I knew more of their RKBA stance. They might, after all, be a bunch of fudds who think that handguns and semi-auto rifles can perfectly well be banned as long as they can keep their skeet, duck and deer guns.

I'm happy to say that this is not the case. I researched a few gun bills that were proposed in Maine recently, and the biggest voice against these bills came from the MSA. I will be joining their ranks this weekend.

RIP, Uncle Ted.

2007-03-22T15:44:00.000-04:00

I just got word that Uncle Ted, over in England, passed away last night from lung cancer. He was 82. He had only been diagnosed three weeks prior. Our best wishes, prayers and thoughts go out to Iris, Mom, and Nana and Granddad.

Serbu BFG-50 is finally on order!

2007-03-18T07:07:00.000-04:00

I'm so geeked about this, it's not even funny. After a few months of savings, and a couple of well-timed travel checks from work, and selling a couple of less-used guns, I finally had enough to send in to the New England Shooter's group buy on this great rifle.

I sent in the money order on Friday, hopefully we will get the rifles as soon as they are shipped! Needless to say I will generate a full range report and post it up here and on a couple of the other firearms boards I'm on.

In other news, we had a little over a foot of snow here yesterday, and after plowing it all away yesterday afternoon, we seem to be having another couple of inches of light fluffy Christmas-like snow here this morning. The snow blower and the tractor are getting more of a workout this winter than they did last winter.

Weekend at Sugarloaf

2007-03-12T07:19:00.000-04:00

Molly's Brother Tom's wife Sally's parents have this cool cabin at the base of Sugarloaf mountain in Maine, and Tom and Sally (and baby Anna) invited us up for the weekend. It was very cool, we went up Thursday and stayed till Sunday.

I was able to ski a bit with Nate Thursday, then all day Friday, and the afternoon on Saturday.

We rented Skis for T figuring that she would grok skiing now that she is old enough. The above pic is from her first time going up a ski lift! (I had to help her a lot, actually picking her up in one arm when dismounting).

'Twas a good time, can't wait to go back in future years.

The Department of Peace and Nonviolence?

2007-03-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

While I am a big fan of peace, and think that violence should usually be a last option, I am astonished at this piece of legislation proposed by Kucinich.

It has 59 cosponsors so far.

A. We DON"T need another federal department.
B. Peace and nonviolence, while admirable goals, are not the way to get things done as a Country!
C. Orwell much?

TITLE I--ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE

SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE.

(a) Establishment- There is hereby established a Department of Peace and Nonviolence (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the `Department'), which shall--

(1) be a cabinet-level department in the executive branch of the Federal Government; and

(2) be dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions that are conducive to both domestic and international peace.

(b) Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence- There shall be at the head of the Department a Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the `Secretary'), who shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(c) Mission- The Department shall--

(1) hold peace as an organizing principle, coordinating service to every level of American society;

(2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights;

(3) strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking;

(4) promote the development of human potential;

(5) work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict, use field-tested programs, and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution;

(6) take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict;

(7) address matters both domestic and international in scope; and

(8) encourage the development of initiatives from local communities, religious groups, and nongovernmental organizations.

SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES AND POWERS.

(a) In General- The Secretary shall--

(1) work proactively and interactively with each branch of the Federal Government on all policy matters relating to conditions of peace;

(2) serve as a delegate to the National Security Council;

(3) call on the intellectual and spiritual wealth of the people of the United States and seek participation in its administration and in its development of policy from private, public, and nongovernmental organizations; and

(4) monitor and analyze causative principles of conflict and make policy recommendations for developing and maintaining peaceful conduct.

(b) Domestic Responsibilities- The Secretary shall--

(1) develop policies that address domestic violence, including spousal abuse, child abuse, and mistreatment of the elderly;

(2) create new policies and incorporate existing programs that reduce drug and alcohol abuse;

(3) develop new policies and incorporate existing policies regarding crime, punishment, and rehabilitation;

(4) develop policies to address violence against animals;

(5) analyze existing policies, employ successful, field-tested programs, and develop new approaches for dealing with the implements of violence, including gun-related violence and the overwhelming presence of handguns;(6) develop new programs that relate to the societal challenges of school violence, gangs, racial or ethnic violence, violence against gays and lesbians, and police-community relations disputes;

(7) make policy recommendations to the Attorney General regarding civil rights and labor law;

(8) assist in the establishment and funding of community-based violence prevention programs, including violence prevention counseling and peer mediation in schools;

(9) counsel and advocate on behalf of women victimized by violence;

(10) provide for public education programs and counseling strategies concerning hate crimes;

(11) promote racial, religious, and ethnic tolerance;

(12) finance local community initiatives that can draw on neighborhood resources to create peace projects that facilitate the development of conflict resolution at a national level and thereby inform and inspire national policy; and

(13) provide ethical-based and value-based analyses to the Department of Defense.

(c) International Responsibilities- The Secretary shall--

(1) advise the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State on all matters relating to national security, including the protection of human rights and the prevention of, amelioration of, and de-escalation of unarmed and armed international conflict;

(2) provide for the training of all United States personnel who administer postconflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn societies;

(3) sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute resolution initiatives, create special task forces, and draw on local, regional, and national expertise to develop plans and programs for addressing the root sources of conflict in troubled areas;

(4) provide for exchanges between the United States and other nations of individuals who endeavor to develop domestic and international peace-based initiatives;

(5) encourage the development of international sister city programs, pairing United States cities with cities around the globe for artistic, cultural, economic, educational, and faith-based exchanges;

(6) administer the training of civilian peacekeepers who participate in multinational nonviolent police forces and support civilian police who participate in peacekeeping;

(7) jointly with the Secretary of the Treasury, strengthen peace enforcement through hiring and training monitors and investigators to help with the enforcement of international arms embargoes;

(8) facilitate the development of peace summits at which parties to a conflict may gather under carefully prepared conditions to promote nonviolent communication and mutually beneficial solutions;

(9) submit to the President recommendations for reductions in weapons of mass destruction, and make annual reports to the President on the sale of arms from the United States to other nations, with analysis of the impact of such sales on the defense of the United States and how such sales affect peace;

(10) in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop strategies for sustainability and management of the distribution of international funds; and

(11) advise the United States Ambassador to the United Nations on matters pertaining to the United Nations Security Council.

(d) Human Security Responsibilities- The Secretary shall address and offer nonviolent conflict resolution strategies to all relevant parties on issues of human security if such security is threatened by conflict, whether such conflict is geographic, religious, ethnic, racial, or class-based in its origin, derives from economic concerns (including trade or maldistribution of wealth), or is initiated through disputes concerning scarcity of natural resources (such as water and energy resources), food, trade, or environmental concerns.

(e) Media-Related Responsibilities- Respecting the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States and the requirement for free and independent media, the Secretary shall--

(1) seek assistance in the design and implementation of nonviolent policies from media professionals;

(2) study the role of the media in the escalation and de-escalation of conflict at domestic and international levels and make findings public; and

(3) make recommendations to professional media organizations in order to provide opportunities to increase media awareness of peace-building initiatives.

(f) Educational Responsibilities- The Secretary shall--

(1) develop a peace education curriculum, which shall include studies of--

(A) the civil rights movement in the United States and throughout the world, with special emphasis on how individual endeavor and involvement have contributed to advancements in peace and justice; and

(B) peace agreements and circumstances in which peaceful intervention has worked to stop conflict;

(2) in cooperation with the Secretary of Education--

(A) commission the development of such curricula and make such curricula available to local school districts to enable the utilization of peace education objectives at all elementary and secondary schools in the United States; and

(B) offer incentives in the form of grants and training to encourage the development of State peace curricula and assist schools in applying for such curricula;

(3) work with educators to equip students to become skilled in achieving peace through reflection, and facilitate instruction in the ways of peaceful conflict resolution;

(4) maintain a site on the Internet for the purposes of soliciting and receiving ideas for the development of peace from the wealth of political, social and cultural diversity;

(5) proactively engage the critical thinking capabilities of grade school, high school, and college students and teachers through the Internet and other media and issue periodic reports concerning submissions;

(6) create and establish a Peace Academy, which shall--

(A) be modeled after the military service academies;

(B) provide a 4-year course of instruction in peace education, after which graduates will be required to serve 5 years in public service in programs dedicated to domestic or international nonviolent conflict resolution; and

(7) provide grants for peace studies departments in colleges and universities throughout the United States.

SEC. 103. PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.

(a) Under Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence- There shall be in the Department an Under Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. During the absence or disability of the Secretary, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of the Secretary, the Under Secretary shall act as Secretary. The Secretary shall designate the order in which other officials

Latex? Check. Handcuffs? Check. Donkey? Check.

2007-03-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

Lonely man brought donkey to hotel room, court told

Monday, 26 February 2007

A man who was found dressed in latex and handcuffs brought a donkey to his room in a Galway city centre hotel, because he was advised “to get out and meet people,” the local court heard last week.
Thomas Aloysius McCarney with an address in south Galway was charged with cruelty to animals, lewd and obscene behaviour, and with being a danger to himself when he appeared before the court on Friday. He was also charged with damage to a mini-bar in the room, but this charge was later dropped when the defendant said that it was the donkey who caused that damage.
Solicitor for the accused Ms Sharon Fitzhenry said that her client had been through a difficult time lately and that his wife had left him and that his life had become increasingly lonely.
“Mr McCarney has been attending counselling at which he was told that he would be advised to get out and meet people and do interesting things. It was this advice that saw him book into the city centre hotel with a donkey,” she said. She added that Mr McCarney also suffered from a fixation with the Shrek movies and could constantly be heard at work talking to himself saying things like “Isn’t that right, Donkey?”
Supt John McBrearty told the court that Mr McCarney who had signed in as “ Mr Shrek” had told hotel staff that the donkey was a family pet and that this was believed by the hotel receptionist who the supt said was “young and hadn’t great English.”
Receptionist Irina Legova said that Mr McCarney had told her that the donkey was a breed of “super rabbit” which he was bringing to a pet fair in the city. The court was told that the donkey went berserk in the middle of the night and ran amok in the hotel corridor, forcing hotel staff to call the gardai.
McCarney was found in the room wearing a latex suit and handcuffs, the key to which the donkey is believed to have swallowed. He was removed to Mill St station after which it is said he was the subject of much mirth among the lads next door in The Galway Arms.
He was fined €2,000 for bringing the donkey to the room under the Unlawful Accommodation of Donkeys Act 1837. Other charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

It's been a while!

2007-03-02T14:51:00.000-05:00

I am doing it, I'm getting a 50 caliber rifle. Serbu BFG-50. I can't wait, should pick it up in early May.

Today is a pretty big blizzard here in Maine, they are forecasting one or two feet of snow. At the moment it's blowing hard from the northeast, 20-30 or so, and snow and ice are coming down sideways.

I've spent the whole week at home, it's been hard to shake vacation head.

As for daily carry, my 340PD has seen the most use overall. Haven't done any shooting in the last 6 weeks since it's been so cold.

Tonight: Completely buzzed

2006-12-22T01:21:00.000-05:00

Yeah, okay, so being now sober I feel like I had to edit the drunkposings that were posted here earlier.

This weekend, Saturday, I actually felt GOOD and healthyish! For the first time in what seems like forever I didn't feel like I was going to drown in my own lung secretions. It was great.

Heck of a busy week at work, being the week before Christmas, you would think it would be pretty quiet, but it was not the case. I cam home prety tired on Tuesday, but was looking forward to the Micros Northeast Christmas party, which I had missed for like four years running. They take over half a restaraunt, open menu, open bar, from 6pm till closing time.

Scott and I went.

Well, we had a great time.tons of people, all of them quite nice. We both took advantage of the open bar, and as the proprietor said to me later regarding scott, "That kid can DRINK!" We talked with a ton of people, ate and drank an awful lot. There was a woman there named Tracy who I thought was John's wife at first, and she was a climber so we chatted about that. I decided to play at flirting, something I could never do in college or high school, because she was unattached. I hope I don't have to say that I never had any intention of actually having it lead anywhere, what with me being already married to the best person in the world, just that it amused me to practice something I've never been good at. It was fun, and I considered myself quite dashing, but it was probable in reality, that I was drooling on myself or something. I wish that Molly could have come, it would have been nice to a) have some nice party time with her b) stay with her in a nice hotel, sans children present and show her off as trophy wife #1 at the party.

Scott and I stayed till about 1AM, where I called a cab to take us back to the hotel. Poor Scott could hardly walk. I poured some asprin and water into him and crashed... but oddly couldn't sleep much. Read on the internets for a while, slept a couple of hours, and got up at 6:30 for some nice room service breakfast ( I was starving).

Good time, I will make it a point to go next year! (Hopefully with Molly?)

So Ive been sick...

2006-12-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

Since coming back from RSNA after Thanksgiving.

Started out with fever, chills, and a bad chest cough and congestion... After 1 ER visit and two Dr visits, it finally seems to be clearing up, three weeks later.

Never ever go to a medical convention- you just dont know what youll pick up.

And yes, my apostrophe key seems to be broken.

Mythbusters with kids

2006-12-04T16:56:00.000-05:00

So the kids are playing "Mythbusters"... a show that qualifies as N and my favorite show. Today's myth is "A boy was throwing a medium-heavy ball straight up, and it hit him on the head!"

I play Jamie Hyneman (Well, my name *is* James) and give him testing criteria.

First, scale up, start with small objects. Second, throw it up until it hits you on the head.

hilarity ensues

Myth, Plausible!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

All!

"How to cook a turkey" by a 4 year old girl.

2006-11-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

eggs
broccoli
a potato
salt
a banana

Mix them up with a spoon. Use a bowl to mix them in. Put in a special container. Put it in the oven. When it's done, you take it out and give to all your friends!

Very long!

Very hot!

Rachel Ray, eat yer fuckin heart out.

New holster for the 340

2006-11-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to find an OWB holster for the 340 for when it gets sick of being in my pocket. I know that if you are going to carry a gun on a belt that you should chose a bigger gun than a 5 shot lightweight .357, but this one is more likely to "be there" than the many other candidates in my safe.

So far I've only found the Desantis 55L Lightning holster, built specifically for hammerless small revolvers. Only thing I don't like is a semi-exposed trigger, and the fact that it seems to make the gun look really long, and bigger than it really is. And the thumbstrap.

Other than that, I like it. We'll see how it works after it arrives.

Note To Self: Gun Vault Manual and reset instructions

2006-11-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

Manual:

http://verizonsupersite.com/gunvaultcom/nss-folder/pdfsandfiles/GunVault_Manual.pdf

Backup of manual:

http://www.4jamz.com/gunvault_manual.pdf

Programming Your Access Code

There is a soft “beep” sound and a brief light with each keypad entry. Enter the factory-default, from left to right: one, two, three, The door will open.

Leave the door open. Find the Learn Button (see above).

Press and hold the Learn Button for two seconds. You should see the green light and hear the two-tone beep – the unit is now in “learn” mode.

Enter your new code. The light will remain green. Press and hold the Lean button again for two seconds. The light will turn red, and you will hear a beep. Release the Learn Button. While the light is red, enter your new code a second time to confirm it. Press and hold the Learn Button a third time for two seconds. Release the Learn button. The light will blink green five times. And you will hear five beeps, confirming that the new code has been accepted. If the red light blinks three times with three soft beeps at this point, and error has occurred. Just start over by depressing the Learn Button for two seconds.

**********
help from someone else:
Yep. Been there done that. Start by pulling the batteries out for a full 30 sec. Replace the batteries and start over. Press the "learn button" per the manual and follow the rest of the instructions. When you enter the code you need to do it quickly and press the "learn button" within 5 sec max. I called them the first time I tried to program the safe and the gentleman said that the unit will become "confused" with multiple attempts to program. Pulling the power will reset the unit and allow you to program the code. I used one hand to hit the learn button and other to enter the code. Good luck. If you still have issues, give them a call. They are part of Cannon Safes now.

Notes and help from http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=206245&highlight=vault

Migranes

2006-11-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

N had another Migrane this morning. he said it was not a usual one, rather it was in his eyeball, and it hurt inside and out. We got 2 tsp tylenol in him, he didn't vomit, and seemed to be better in an hour or so.

Smith and Wesson 340PD Range Report and Review

2006-11-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

This is the first new revolver I’ve ever bought. All of my other ones were bought used, and were built in the 1970s, 80s or early 90s. I had never bought a revolver with an internal lock, but I wanted this gun so much that the lock became a non-factor.

Picking it up out of the box, it is light as hell. I remember the first time I ever picked up a 340pd a year or so ago, it felt like it was made out of plastic. It practically jumped up from the table… of course I had been carrying an old Model 60 snubby, an all stainless gun that weighed in at around sixty pounds. Felt like the hard rubber Hogue type stocks were at least half the weight of the gun, so I replaced them with my much more handsome and carryable Ahrends Cocobolo stocks.

Hearing some negative things about new guns from S&W, I carefully inspected it from all angles, looking for scratches, nicks, dents or anything of the like. It appeared to be in very good shape, except for the white lettering stamped into the barrel. The “357 S&W Mag” marking was stamped well into the barrel, but the white anodizing was very faint, where it was bright and clear on both the “No less than 120 gr bullet” and the funky S&W atom logo thingy.

Dry firing the 340pd was not comforting exactly, and the trigger pull was considerably stiffer than the model that I had tried in the store. You have to overcome serious initial resistance before the trigger moves back in one swift movement and the hammer releases. It is difficult to pull the trigger slowly and in a controlled way due to the stiff initial pull- once you put that much pressure on it, when it gives, it goes back all the way. After dry firing it a few hundred times, the trigger becomes much smoother, with a more controllable pull back. Later on at the range I was able to smoothly pull the trigger back with no drama.

When the hammer falls it makes a non-confidence-inspiring “tinngggg” sound that resonates a little bit, very different from the solid bank-vault like CLICK that an old steel gun makes. In addition, it seemed to me to be too easy to release the trigger just short of the stop so when you pull it again it rotates the cylinder, but does not actually engage the internal hammer.

I can’t have a new gun in my possession for more than a few hours before firing it, so despite having a cold, and being pressed for time, on the way home I found an old dirt road, went a ways down and opened up the trunk to see what kind of ammo I could find. I found a bag of handloaded .38spl rounds that I knew to be pretty gentle- plinking rounds. The lighter powered rounds fired as expected, slight recoil, no big deal. A couple of Winchester White Box .38 +p Personal Protection rounds later proved that it was a good, controllable gun that I could put multiple shots on target, quickly.

When I finally got to the range a couple of weeks later I was ready with the WWB +p 125 grain, Speer 125 Grain .38spl +p, and Speer 125 Grain 357 magnum HP rounds, several water jugs, a chronograph, some targets and a shooting glove.

The first order of business was to chrono the three types of rounds and see if .357 was significantly better. At the same time I’d test the grouping and accuracy from a two handed, kneeling position. Based on strings of ten shots, the average velocity of all 125 grain bullets were as follows:

Winchester: 749.6 feet per second
Speer 38 +p: 826.1 feet per second
Speer .357: 1090.3 feet per second

Which means as far as energy delivered to target:

Winchester +p: 155.92 ft-lbs
Speer +p: 189.37 ft-lbs
Speer .357: 329.87 ft-lbs!!

Looks like .357 out of a snubby delivers TWICE as much energy to the target than .38+p! Clearly .357 out of a snubby is considerably more potent than .38+p, so so much for the myth of there being no difference between .38 and .357 out of a 2" barrel! I noted as well that the Speer was loaded a bit hotter than the Winchester. Now let’s look at the targets.

Winchester .38 +p Personal protection

Speer Gold Dot .38+p (Ignore the Winchester box, I put it there by mistake.)

Speer Gold Dot .357

Seems that the Speer gold dots grouped significantly better than the Winnies, but didja notice what happened to the accuracy with the .357? :D

Yeah I saw it and I felt it. .38 +p out or this gun is a piece of cake, and I wasn’t expecting .357 to be too much worse… but it was.

I noticed that when I shot the .357, the trigger guard would come up and hit my index finger right at the first knuckle. Didn’t dent it or make it bleed, but it was noticeable. Also noticeable was the kick on the pinkie finger as the grip flicked it out of the way during recoil. The gun otherwise seems to push right back instead of flip up. The first shot was surprisingly powerful, and stung my hand. The second shot stung more. The third shot actually hurt my wrist! And this was with a padded shooting glove on! No wonder my accuracy went to hell. 

So it seems that the best grouping and accuracy comes from the Speer GD .38+p, which is probably what I’ll run in it. I noted a small amount of bullet pull in the Speers, but not too much.

Let’s do a penetration test! I lined up some water jugs, Box-o-truth style.

The first shot skimmed the bottom, holed the first and third jugs, and disappeared, missing the second and fourth jugs. What the heck?
Lining them up again, a better shot penetrated two jugs just barely, leaving the fully expanded JHP nestled there.

I couldn’t leave without firing barehanded with the .357 rounds.
Eyyouch. I’m a righty, and shoot right handed. The gun slapped back with the first and second stunning rounds, and I became afraid of the third. By the fourth and fifth rounds I was actually pulling the gun back in anticipation of the recoil. Terrible, and I’m not at all recoil shy.

There was no actual blood, but there was considerable pain in the base knuckle in the index finger and the web of the hand. It actually made the index finger and pinkie pains go away in comparison. :p It took me a minute to recover to try another 5 rounds. I really could not do five rounds accurately, really no more than two before my sense of limb self-preservation made me undergo silly gymnastics to compensate for the recoil.

I took exactly one left handed shot- you can never tell if you will have to use your non-dominant hand. It was so bad, I couldn’t do another…unless my life depended on it I suppose. It is a few hours after I shot it and my left thumb still hurts as if I overextended it backwards, which I probably did. Just for fun with one of these shots I fired at a still full water jug that was coming right at me with a knife. It was entirely destroyed.

In conclusion, I think it’s a great gun, and easily controllable with .38 +P, but not controllable for me at any range with .357. Use with that round would be limited to card table distance, and no further- at least not for more than two shots. I am considering carrying it with 3 .38+p and two .357, in that order. The two .357 rounds are all I could fire accurately anyway, and the three .38+P would hopefully get any social work job done with maximum controllability nad speed in followup shots. I’d just have to remember that the last two are real kickers.

Advice for a new Baby, from some recent babies.

2006-07-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

My brother in law had a new baby (thier first) a couple of days ago.

Molly had the kids dictate a letter to the new baby. The letters are as follows:

Nate's letter:

Dear Baby,

So, How's it going? We hope you're having a good time. We really hope you like it at Auntie Sally and Uncle Tom's house. Here are some things you need to know:

Your parents need to teach you how to be a good little kid.

You should eat properly with a spoon or a fork. And when you're a big kid you would need to learn how to eat with a knife.

You need to sleep in your own crib So when you sleep you need to not make so much noise. And you need to be real quiet when you're sleeping so you don't wake your parents up and get in trouble.

When you are friends with other people you need to be nice to them, you can't be mean because then they will hate you and you should tell mom.

Little baby, you should understand about toys.
Some toys are very delicate and some aren't delicate at all! Some are medium delicate, and medium-not-delicate.

And there is a special time called Christmas. And someone named Santa comes to your house at night pulling a sleigh with magical reindeer- he puts a train around your tree, then when you go downstairs in the morning there will be presents wrapped in wrapping paper!

When you are playing, you should be careful- if you play too rough, you might get really hurt... You might need stitches.

When you go to the doctor you might need shots.
You might get stitches, shots, pricks in your back, or a checkup. Or, you might just have a checkup, it is fine, they listen to your heart and weigh you and measure you.

Dear Baby, this is my biggest hope for you. I hope you stay calm and very brave when you go to the Doctor.

Love, Nate (Age 6.5)

Tess' letter:

Dear Baby,

I really love you on your first birthday.

I really want you to sleep in your bed, don't ever wake your parents up, and when you're thirsty just get some water.

You have to be patient with friends.

And when you are at the doctor's you have to be really still. And he puts things in the holes and it makes silly sounds. [editors note: what the fuck?]

You have to swallow when you are eating.

You have to play with toys so you might like to choke on one.

You have to peek carefully so don't wake up Mommy and Daddy and get in trouble. [editors note: I'm noticing a trend with the waking of the parents...]

Love, Tess (Age 3.5)

Firefly- Season 2?

2006-07-10T17:13:00.000-04:00

Possibly the best thing going...

right here.

Put down your name! Show your support! Bring back Serenity and Crew!

Nice evening at the gravel pit

2006-06-12T15:19:00.000-04:00

Sunset at the standish gravel pit. Almost looks like Sauron is out there, about to make an appearance.

I blew up a couple of cans of shaving cream and a can of spray paint. I used the 77/22, and the Ruger Bisley.

As usual, I came back with a small plastic bag filled with garbage.

Holy Crip it's a Crapple!

2006-06-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

From the OT (9vapors):

Anyway, I once said something to a lady that parked in a handicapped spot, here goes:

John-"hey lady, you don't look handicapped"
Lady-"you do!"

She torched me, and I couldn't think of a comeback, so I just laughed. I learned my lesson, never to attempt to be good again...

HAAhahahaha

Fire Dept arrives

2006-05-11T18:29:00.000-04:00

The Gorham FD lesurely puts out the smoulder

Pics of the fire area

2006-05-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Pics of the fire area:

New bikes and a brush fire

2006-05-11T18:22:00.000-04:00

So I bought the wife n kidz new bikes this weekend. Nate got his first "big boy" bike with hand brakes and a grip shifter, and Tess got her first 2 wheel bike.... with training wheels of course. :) Molly got a nice comfy but light and pretty nice cruiser.

We found a parking lot to ride around in...it was such a beautiful day, and Tess needed some gentle space to practice in. When we first got there Molly said that she thought she smelled smoke, and sure enough, I did too. We assumed that someone was burning leaves somewhere nearby.

We rode around for about twenty minutes, going around and around, the kids getting used to their new bling rides, and Nate and I are off in another part of the parking lot when Molly shouts out "James! There's a fire!!"

Sure enough, some bushes spontaneously caught fire in one of the parking lot islands. We called 911, the fire dept arrived and put it out.

Has it really been this long?

2006-05-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

Has it?

I suppose it has.

In the intervening time, I have:

Had tear duct drain surgery

Loved my job

Hated my job

Bought a Glock

...and a colt defender

Traded my M60 .38 for a M38 Bodyguard

Seen Nate's first T-ball practice

Had Christmas at out house

Had my 40th b-day in a hotel near the data centre, working

Discovered a great Shootin' Pit just a few miles from home

Hunted with Tom again (saw deer, did not shoot)

And a lot of other stuff. Now that picassa can link photos to blogs, I will blog more stuff.

tear duct infection thing

2005-07-25T13:54:00.000-04:00

OK. Been going through the tear duct infection again.

It's been watering for the past 4 weeks or so, since a major allergy attack. Friday, it started to hurt, and by friday night it hury enough to decide to go to the er in the AM.

I had started 2x asprin and 1x tylenol every few hours. Also took a couple of old codeine tabs I had left over from last spriing's ear infection. ER doc gave me prescription for keflex, 500mg, 3x a day.

The pain was okay until 3pm or so, then started getting bad. Meds were not much help. Very painful at night and in morning. Sun AM went to eye doc, who stated it doesn't look so bad. After leaving there, very bad pain, seemingly related to sinus stuffiness... when sinuses where stuffy, pain was intense. When sinuses were clear (on that side) pain was minimal.

Sun PM pain not so bad after regimen of benadryl. Sun night, swelling started, with brown discharge. Discharge continued monday, pain minimal monday. off most pain meds monday.

Notes: when the pain is bad, meds don't do jack shit, it seems
Pain is connected to nasal stuffiness.

If WWII was fought by gamers...

2005-07-22T13:33:00.000-04:00

*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: fuck Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got crap to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: fuck
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do shit til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bullshit u fuks im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bullshit u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o shit i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right biznitch im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh shit help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: eisenhower hax hes killing all my shit
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun cocksocker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this shit im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: shit now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY SHIT I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy shitholyshithoylshti!!!111
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bullshit u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for shit
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all fucks
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o shit!
*paTTon has left the game.*

large thunderstorm, some damage

2005-07-20T13:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I was at work in Woburn and Molly calls, all out of breath and excited sounding. Turns out we had a fairly destructive thunderstorm that tore Tess' window off it's hinges, killed a few birds, flung our lawn furniture around and soaked the house.

This morning, Molly told Tess to go out and play on the trampoline. Tess kept coming back saying "Mommy, where's the trampoline?"

Molly and Tykie spent 10 minutes or so searching all around for the massive 15 foot diameter, 10 foot high thing.

They finally found it, across the street, crumpled and destroyed in a farmer's field, looking like a dead spider. The farmers said they'd drag it back to us.

Man it's hot

2005-06-26T16:01:00.000-04:00

Every time someone comes to visit us during a weekend, we seem to have a heat wave.

When Nana and Grandad were here a few weeks ago, it was amazingly hot. High 90s. Now, when Molly's Finnish friends are here, it's not only amazingly hot, but humid too. All we can do is lie around and wilt.

This supposed 12,000 BTU air conditioner sure doesn't seem very powerful. It blasts in our small bedroom and only cools down the place a degree or two an hour. For an expensive portable unit, it seems to do jack shit for cooling.

We went to the beach today, my first time at a Maine Beach. It was fine, a tiny bit rocky in places, and the water seemed FREEZING at first, but after a while, I decided not to leave the water at all- it felt too good. I got out after my hands and wrists started getting quite cold, but my core temperature was still doing fine.

Last night was jsut as hot and humid, but we decided to have a fire in an outdoor fire pit thing and make s'mores with all 5 kids. The end product of Smores are definitely not worth the effort of making the fire, getting all the materials ready, and preparing them. Might be fun with older kids.

Daddy you have a gold toof!

2005-06-25T16:09:00.000-04:00

Is what Tess told me today in the car... I;m like, What the fuck... "Where?" I ask.

"Smile Daddy!" I grin. "Look! Dere it is! You have LOTS of gold teef Daddy!"

Really time to consider a tooth whitener apparently.

Kill those damn Wops

2005-05-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

We have some wasp nests in the new garage/office space. Upon moving in it became my first priority to kill the wasps and remove their nests so I could start renovating the space into a home office.

Tess and Nate accompanied me the day after the carnage to examine the bodies and look for stragglers, so I had a can of wasp spray with me and told them that we needed to kill any wasps we see. Nate agrees to watch out for wasps, and Tess agrees to watch out for wsap...swaps...wips...waps! Her mouth and brian very active in puzzling out this new word.

"No Tess", I say, "Not Waps, Wasps."
"Waps!"
"No, wasps!"
"Yeah, Wops!"

She just couldn't say it correctly so I stopped correcting her.

We spent the next few days killing all the Wops we saw. Every now and then she's come in the room all excited, eyes wide saying, "Daddy! Daddy! I saw a Wops!" and I'd say "Really? Wops? Let's go kill those filthy wops!"

Good times, good times.

Hopefully all the wasps are dead now over there. They'd better be, because insulation is going up.

Lots of emergency activity in the new town

2005-05-21T17:56:00.000-04:00

For some reason, this little town of Gorham Maine has a ton of emergency activity going on. It seems like five times a day I'm hearing a siren or two, or three, and I only live near one of the major roads. Either we live right next to a very dangerous intersection or there are a lot of siren happy cops and EMTs around.

Seriously, it's like living in Boston or Allston or somewhere. In Sudbury, if we heard a siren, we paid attention and wondered what was up. Here, it kind of blends right in.

Dictionary Nate

2005-05-19T19:14:00.000-04:00

Nate's Word of the Day:

Magnetical!

Some updates from recent life

2005-04-15T20:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we certainly are moving out of Sudbury to Gorham Maine. We found a beautiful house, (Pictures Here) I feel like I've had a cold more or less since November 2004. I still have one.

maps.google.com is great. It's only a matter of time before Google takes over Microsoft and creates their own Nation.

I Find your lack of faith disturbing

2005-04-07T20:01:00.000-04:00

hair boogies

2005-03-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

Tess sits in my lap, looking up at me and says "Daddy, I have boogies in my dose.:
Then she puts her hands up, cradles my face in her hands, leans in close with a biiig smile and says "Daddy, you have HAIR boogies!" and starts laughing.

Really time to trim the nose hairs I think.

Secret Electical Rocket

2005-03-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

For some reason, Nate's been all about "secret electical" stuff lately.

As for me, I've been sick for what seems like forever.

I have the flu!

2005-02-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

Go, me.

2004-12-26T17:16:00.000-05:00

Christmas eve, went bunny hunting early in the morning. Got there at an hour before sunrise or so, saw one rabbit on the walk in, but it was way too early to shoot. HE hopped almost up to me before I told him it was his lucky day, and kept walking. Saw nothing else that morning, other than some local crows and a flight of geese heading north for some reason.

Matt Nicole and Penelope came over later in the day, and Matt gave me a cool R'C plane. We flew it for 15 minutes or so until Nate crashed and had to be brougth home screaming. We lost the remote somehow so haven't been able to fly it again.

Christmas day- good fun, exhausting.

Nate has the runs, all the time

2004-12-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

My five year old Nate is not physically capable of not running. He seems to be actually hardwired to run rather than walk. Maybe most five year olds are like this, I don't know. From one room to another, he runs, or at least jogs. From activity to activity, he runs. from house to car and vice versa, he runs. He tries to run at school in the halls, and is constantly told that he has to walk in the halls. He even runs in his sleep!

At night, when he wakes up and wants to either go to the bathroom, or find one of us, he runs. Even when he is so barely awake and can not even talk coherently, he starts to run. He'll stumble out of bed, barely able to stand upright, and start running for the bathroom. He'll do his business, slam shut the door, and run back to bed and crash in. And be asleep instantly.

We're trying to plan Christmas now, and who we will see when. Molly wants Sunday to be a kind of wind-down day, and wants to see Dad, Merge, Matt Nicole and Penelope on Christmas eve. Mom and Vic will be over Christmas morning, as per usual. I think I'd rather do nothing Christmas eve, and do an early morning sunday with the family, leaving the afternoon to decompress. We'll see.

Christmas list

2004-12-19T18:12:00.000-05:00

The nice thing about no one in my family knowing about this blog is the secrets I can tell. Here's what I'm getting for people this year:

Molly: Health club membership.

She can bring the kids to this place, and they can play. It's a great setup. It's a thousand bucks. This one is going on a credit card, and I guess I'll have to do a lot of mileage at work to pay it off.

Nate: Toys. A cheapie electric train, to see if he like electric trains. A hovercopter. A toy helicopter rescue thing. A set of electronic drums.

Tess: No idea. Molly got her doll shit and stuff.

Dad: A surefire flashlight. He seemed to really like the one I got Matt for his birthday.

Merge: Photo stuff, a little collage in a frame from the beach last summer.

Mom: We agreed, in the spirit of de-cluttering, and relative poverty, to not give each other anything this year. They'll just do a couple small things for the kids.

Vic: Same. I had gotten him a Surefire flashlight too, but that was before we agreed to not give anything this year.

Matt: Benchmade knife. Looks nice, Vic says it's good quality.

Tom: Surefire flashlight.

So excited to give people things. Hopefully it will be a great Christmas. Can't wait to give Molly her present. :)

coffee tree

2004-12-18T07:24:00.000-05:00

So I was at a gas station the other day, and being desperate for gas, I had to stop at a local joint that pumps the gas for you. I noticed the attendant, an older guy, repeatedly looking down at the back of my car with a puzzled look on his face.

I remembered I have an "All your base are belong to us" license plate frame.

Hell, it was sort of passe when I got it in 2001, now it's really old, but I guess it's still a mystery if you aren't part of tEh in4r-web.

It's one week 'till Christmas! I need to go get Molly's gift- a year's membership to the local health club. She can bring the kids, and they can play in a big, reasonably allergy-safe area so it might be cool.

Oh, and I shit my pants yesterday morning without realizing it. Had to sorta go, farted a few times, and one of the farts was of the liquid variety, but I didn't realize it 'till I went to go take a crap and saw the long brown stain! What the fuck was that about?

Yestderday was the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. May we remember their sacrafice, and celebrate what they won for freedom and out country.

golf vs. guns

2004-12-11T10:08:00.000-05:00

I've decided that this blog would be a lot more fun if I knew I could do it anonymously.

It's a rainy dismal Saturday. I've already been out three time this morning, once to get trash bags, and twice to the dump.. Excuse me, Transfer Station. It's ten o'clock, the house is nice and warm, I have a chocolate muffin waiting for me that the kids don't know about, and I have to mildly take a shit.

I discovered something wierd about myself the other day. I often get the urge to hit annoying people with a golf club. Any time I'm confronted with an idiot, I have this vision in my head of picking up a club, sometimes a driver, sometimes an iron, and smacking them till the club breaks, then smacking them with whatever is left over.

When most people run into an annoying person, what I hear most from people is the desire to get a gun and shoot them. I own some guns, and I never get the urge to shoot anyone. My urge to punish idiots involves golf clubs, however, I don't golf and don't own any clubs at all.

Weird, huh?

Overheard in the Bathroom on Thanksgiving weekend:

2004-12-06T08:50:00.000-05:00

Players: Nate, small boy. Cate, aunt.
Scene: Cabin, on Sugarloaf mountain, Thanksgiving weekend, 2004.

Nate:(In the bathroom) "Auntie Cate!!"

(Cate comes in from the living room)
Cate: "What is it, Natie?"

Nate: "The good news is you get to wipe my bottom! The bad news is that there's no toilet paper!"

(Stunned silence from Cate, then doubled over in laughter)

fin

Hunting Report

2004-11-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

The hunting trip went off as planned over thanksgiving. Thanksgiving morning, I got up at 5 AM, (not unusual), and Brother-in-law Tom, along with Cousin Tom, all assembled in the living room. We piled all the gear into the truck, and got going.

We drove for a short bit on paved roads, the went off on a dirt road. Twenty minutes down the dirt road found out parking spot- a small turnoff from the dirt road. The road seemed to keep going, but we all got out of the truck. I had expected cold weather, so had brought long underwear, pants, and arctic insulated Carhartt bib and jacket and hood. As I put all these on, I noticed that it was actually rather warm. It was raining lightly however, so I figured I'd wear the stuff at least to keep the rain off. We loaded up and set out on foot.

It was sort of a long hike, uphill on the road, which narrowed to a wideish ATV trail. We hiked up it for about a half hour, and I was soaked with sweat. We arrived at the power lines, which we were to hunt on, and sent Cousin Tom down the path of the lines to set up a half mile or so away on a small hill, and BIL Tom and I would slow hunt through the woods on the right to either suprise a deer, or drive him toward Cousin Tom. At this point, I decided to ditch the insulated jacket, but as soon as I did, the rain, which had stopped for a while, started up again, so I elected to wear it to keep me dryer.

We got into the woods, within sight of each other, and waited for the legal time (one half hour before sunrise) to start hunting. We'd walk slowly through the woods for a couple of steps, the stop and look all around, then take another slow step, then look all around, etc. Takes a long while to cover ground this way, but is quiet and a good way to sneak up on deer.

It was beautiful in the woods there, and the going was more strenuous than I had imagined. in about half an hour, I ditched the arctic jacket because the rain had mostly stopped, I was soaked with sweat anyway, and was getting really hot. I fired up the GPS and got a waypoint on the jacket so I could find it later.

We saw a little sign, some deer scat and some tree scratchings, but nothing really fresh, no scrapes, etc., and certainly no deer. We walked for a long time, until I was barely able to lift a foot over one more log. We called it quits for the woods, and walked out to where Cousin Tom was- he hadn't seen anything either. At this point I ditched my insulated bib, and it was a huge relief. We decided to walk up to a hill where Tom had seen lots of sign a few weeks ago. This time there was nothing. I was quite tired bu this point, even though walking was easier without all the weighty insulated stuff on.

Around 9:30, we decided to get back and go home again. Collected the bib, and fired up the GPS to find the jacket. As I did, I found a path that had lots of sign, inclugin what looked like fresh scratching, but I just went in , got the jacket, and came back out. We went back to the path, and started down back to the truck.

Halfway there, Cousin Tom sees a snowshoe hare huddling on the side of the path, about ten feet away. Conversation breaks out as to wether to shoot it or now. BIL Tom says he can't because his wife Sally had a pet rabbit once, and it's the only thing he's not allowed to hunt. Cousin Tom wants to shoot it. I ask if it's in season. Consensus is, shoot it, but BIL Tom walks away to be no part of it.

Cousin Tom aims his rifle, and BANG!- misses the bunny, which hops off another fifteen feet to get between some trees. Tom get appropriate ribbing for missing such a close stationary bright white target. I tell him to put crosshairs above bunny's head, so the shot goes into his head. Tom goes up the embankment a couple of feet to get a shot again on stationary bunny. BANG! Rabbit dissapears. We both figure he got him, but upon investigation, no bunny was to be found. Tom gets additional ribbing for missing an easy shot twice.

Tom, the week before, had shot a 225 pound buck at 150 yards, clean kill, with the same gun. He tried to make me promise to keep the bunny incident a secret.

The next day we went partridge hunting with Nate and got skunked again, but that's another story.

phone bag

2004-11-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

For hunting this year, I was going to use a gun to kill the deer, but I think I'd rather go back to using less traditional methods.

I plan on using a rubber band, some zipties and an old Richard Simmons workout tape to bag MY deer this season.

Some people say it's cruel to use the tape, but I say, hey, for the wild animal in the winter, would you rather they starve to death, get eaten alive by other carnivores, or have to watch the tape?

And you know, that's a really tough question.

hankie rumbling

2004-11-15T07:38:00.000-05:00

The Patriots are on a roll again. Good to see them demolish another team at home.

Things are getting lined up for Thanksgiving weekend. I have the time off work, I have my hunting license all set up (ninety bucks- the most expensive part of this trip!), all my warm clothes, and hopefully all the stuff I need for hunting. All I have to do now is get my gun sighted in a little better.

I winterized the hot tub yesterday, hopefully there isn't any water left in it to destroy it when it froze last night. At least we are now saving the $50 or so per month it was costing us in electricity.

Veteran's Day

2004-11-12T06:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Veterans Day. While at work, I had been visiting a number of hospitals to connect some of our referring doctors. One time, the elevator opened to reveal a car half full of an all female Air force Honor Guard, complete with a few M1 Garands and a flag. It was great. You don't usually see really cool rifles in a hospital.

The Honor Guard was there for a ceremony that had just finished on one of the upper floors.

Early Morning Report

2004-11-12T06:11:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a shower in three or four days.

Not that that has anything to do with anything, but I thought I'd share.

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. The plan is, we are going up to Maine, to Sugarloaf, to Sally's Parent's condo. Nearby is the Martinelli's hunting/skiing camp. It will be just Tykie, Molly's siblings and me and the kids. I wish my family would be there too, but a 5 hour drive is a lot to ask.

We plan on doing some deer hunting while we're up there. That will be fun, it's something I've never done before. Can't wait to show off the Mosin-Nagant M44, with it's freshly mounted chapie red dot scope. I was at the range a few days ago, and at least I could hit an 8" circle or so with the red dot at 100 yards. Tom might be bringing me an old 20 guage to borrow for a while so I can hunt around home too this season.

Sounds like we're getting some snow this afternoon. It would be the first snow of the season!

Tess gets respect, inadvertently

2004-11-09T11:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been remiss in blogging due to the elections and the crap flying all around as a result of same. Thank goodness it's over. :)

Yesterday, Nate and Tess were running up and down the hallway racing along. Nate runs past Tess, bowling her over onto the floor. She starts to cry, devastated that such fun has suddenly turned into such a bump (like it doesn't happen a hundred times a day). Nate rushes off and buries his head in the couch, obviously embarassed and not knowing what to do about it.

Molly comforts Tess, and calls over to Nate: "You know, you would feel better if you came over and asked Tess if she is okay".

Nate comes over: "What do I say?"

Molly: "Tess, are you okay? Can I give you a kiss to make you feel better?"

Nate: "Tess, are you okay? Can I give you a kiss to make you feel better?"

Tess stops crying, stands up, and says "Yes Nate. Right (she reaches around and points to her butt, on which she had fallen) HERE."

Molly falls on the floor laughing, Nate kisses Tess's ass, and they keep racing on.

Free! Garbage!

2004-10-12T20:21:00.000-04:00

You know, it's amazing what people will grab when it has a "FREE" sign attached to it. Past places I've lived, you could put out an old, broken chair, a couch that had been physically sawn in half, a shadeless lamp, a lampless shade, or spare pieces of pipe, electical bits, and other detrius that collects in garages and basements, and once on the sidewalk, it would be gone within the hour. I've had people stop and take stuff before I had even made it back to the house after propping up the "free" sign.

I was a bit nervous here in Sudbury, because it's kind of a swanky neighborhood and they might frown on this sort of activity, but I spray-painted the word "FREE" on a couple of spare pieces of cardboard, and propped it up next to an old wicker loveseat and table that came with this house when we bought it. Under these was a wicker-type rug, ruined in some summertime rains. Next to this was the clonky old riding mower that I bought from my brother Matt after we moved in here. It has no brakes, and the throttle is stuck at full speed. Plus, lately, you can't mow for more than twenty minutes or so before it eats the belt that turns the mower blades. I only fill it up every so often with gas, but I have a steady supply of belts to keep it running.

Anyway, the mower disappeared after a day. The wicker junk left us after two days. I am quite happy, and my faith in people's strange need to get something, even if it's crap, even in a swanky neighborhood, is quite restored.

Medium-pimpin in da hoooood

2004-10-10T13:26:00.000-04:00

There she is, my new ride. 1999 Audi A6 Quattro 2.8. 37,000 miles.

Not as fast as the subie, not as fun, but so much easier to drive, and it has the BLING and a few toys.

I was sad to see my beloved WRX go- my first, and so far, only new car, and the only car I've really loved. You know, in that special way. But it went to someone who had never had a Suabru, so it has a chance to become someone else's favorite car.

Already my new car has thrown a check engine light- pulled it, it's an air sensor flow meter. I'll bring it back to the shop if it comes back.

The Old Timer

2004-10-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night I got the opportunity to go to the Old Timer in Clinton, MA.

The Old Timer is a small little restaraunt with an Irish theme to it. It's run by "Jimmy", a sad faced, quick witted man in his sixties.

One walks into the Old Timer, and goes down a dark, narrow hallway back to the main dining room. The Old Timer looks like it used to be a church, or a theatre, or a playhouse or something that was converted into a restaraunt. The lighting is yellow, there is lots of dark wood, and the seating reminds me of church pews turned to face each other. At one end, up high on the wall, is a large enclave, big enough to provide ample seating for midgets, or a large nativity scene (parts of which, including lights and fake snow, are present year-round).

On Roast Beef night, you are less than American if you don't order "The Buffet." The Buffet is small, including only corn fritters, green beans, Mashed Potato, and a huge honkin' slab of roast beef.

French cuisine it ain't, but the mashed potatos are good, and the roast beef is good, provided that you like roast beef. The old Timer's roast beef night isn't really about the food though, it's about the atmosphere.

Atmosphere is provided by Jimmy, in cook's whites, large apron and running sneakers, belting out traditional irish tunes, american tunes, show tunes, and whatever else comes into mind, while walking around the dining room, carving and serving the roast beef, and otherwise directing the activities in the dining room. Jimmy is accompanied by a pianist banging away on a baby grand set right behind the buffet. The music is like the food, solid, but not technically good, but it's not about the quality as much as the quantity, and the amount of good humor that comes out of it.

I had only been here once before, and I had forgotten how much dman fun it is! Did I mention that they have a really good selection of draft beers? Guinness, Harp, Bass, Sam Adams etc. are on tap, and help to out you in the mood for singing along with your mouth full, swaying back and forth and generally having a great time. With the beer and music and sense of fun, it's kind of like a bizarre Irish Octoberfest. I can't wait to go back.

Further bad game installs

2004-09-28T19:30:00.000-04:00

OK, bought the Sims2, which is a game in a genre that I always thnk I'll find interesting, but ends up boring me to tears with the slow pace and clunky interface.

Naturally, the DVD/CD player on my laptop picked this time to shit the bed. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. I ended up having to try 6 times to install it before it finally went. Now I can't actually play it because the DVD/CD is br0ken again.

Is it a Scam? I kinda hope so.

2004-09-28T19:25:00.000-04:00

So I'm trying to sell my car. It's only been seriously advertised for a day or so, and I got a call today from some guy in, get this, Georgia. He asks me what my bottom price is, and he says he's going to "call his bank" and see what they can do.

I'm thinking why the hell does someone want to drive 1500 miles north to buy a used car?

I'm pretty sure his next call is going to be "I'll give you an offshore bank check for $100,000, you write me a check for $80,000 and keep the difference for your troubles.".

I almost hope this is the case, because it would be sort of fun to go along with it, string the guy along for a long time, and then finally have some FBI personnel waiting for him when he tries to pick it up. :)

Genocide

2004-09-26T07:42:00.000-04:00

From a post on The High Road by user "Solo":
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about
20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million
Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million
Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and
exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million
political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan
Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000
Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million
'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

--------------------------------------------------------

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because
of gun control: 56 million.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new
law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own
government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million
dollars.

The first year results are now in: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. (Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!)

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in "successfully ridding Australian society of guns." The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the American evening news or hear our president, governors or other politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens.

The historic theme has always revolved around restricting ownership among under and middle classes and reserving the right for the powerful in order to preserve that power for those in control of whatever political system existed at the time.

Gun control has never really been about crime control, although that has always been the stated reason. Rather, it has always been about making sure the "common people" have no way to resist and/or revolt against the ruling force that wanted to preserve their power.
Take note my fellow Americans.....before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

**********

The Holy Gospel According to John Moses Browning

2004-09-25T01:55:00.000-04:00

An oldie, but a goodie. :)

The Holy Gospel According to John Moses Browning

I. In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was the pistol, and it was good.

II. John Moses Browning went up into the mountain, even unto the top of the mountain. And he received from the Lord the 1911, yea, and the design thereof, and rendered it into steel.

III. And the Lord saw that the 1911 was good, and blessed it, and said "Let it be made in .45ACP, that you may smite thine enemies a mighty blow, for the .45ACP shall cleave unto the 1911 as man shall cleave unto his wife, and likewise the 1911 shall cleave also unto the .45ACP, for this union is a holy one, from which thou shalt not stray.

IV. So the 1911 in .45ACP came to pass, and it was good, and the righteous therefore smote the minions of evil, as the Lord had intended.

V. And behold the Lord said, thou shalt not muck with my disciple John's design for it is good and it worketh. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain.

VI. And shouldst thou muck with it and hang all manner of foul implements upon it, and profane its internal parts, thou shalt surely have malfunctions, and in the midst of battle thou shalt surely come to harm.

VII. And as the ages passed men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their metal smiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by lust.

VIII. Their artisans did hang all manner of foul implements upon the 1911 and did so alter it that it became impractical to purchase. For lo, the artisans didst charge a great tax upon the purchasers of the 1911 so that the lowly field worker could not afford one. And the profaning of the internal parts didst render it unworkable when the dust of the land fell upon it.

IX. And lo, they didst install adjustable sights, which are an abomination unto the Lord. For they doth break and loose their zero when thou dost need true aim. And those who have done so will be slain in great numbers by their enemies in the great battle.

X. And it came to pass that the Lord didst see the abomination wrought by man and didst cause, as he had warned, fearful malfunction to come upon the abominations and upon the artisans who thought they could do no wrong.

XI. Seeing the malfunctions and the confusion of men the lord of the underworld did see an opportunity to further ensnare man and didst bring forth pistols made of plastic, whose form was such that they looked and felt like a brick, yet the eyes of man being clouded, they were consumed by the plastic pistol and did buy vast quantities of them.

XII. And being a deceitful spirit the lord of the underworld did make these plastic pistols unamenable to the artisans of earth and they were unable to muck much with the design, and lo these pistols did function.

XIII. And the evil one also brought forth pistols in which the trigger didst both cock and fire them and which require a "dingus" to make them appear safe.

XIV. But man being stupid did not understand these new pistols and did proceed to shoot themselves with the plastic pistol, and with the trigger cocking pistols for lo their manual of arms required great intelligence which man had long since forsaken. Yet man continued to gloat over these new pistols blaming evil forces for the negligent discharges which they themselves had committed.

XV. And when man had been totally ensnared with plastic pistol, the lord of the underworld didst cause a plague of the terrible Ka-BOOM to descend upon man and the plastic pistols delivered their retribution upon men. And there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth in the land.

XVI. Then seeing that the eyes of man were slowly being opened and that man was truly sorrowful for his sinful misdeeds, the Lord did send his messengers in the form of artisans who did hear and obey the teachings of the prophet and who didst restore the profaned 1911s to their proper configuration, and lo, to the amazement of men they didst begin to work as the prophet had intended.

XVII. And the men of the land didst drive out the charlatans and profaners from the land, and there was joy and peace in the land, except for the evil sprits which tried occasionally to prey on the men and women of the land and who were sent to the place of eternal damnation by the followers of John.

Bad game installs. Business as usual.

2004-09-21T19:21:00.000-04:00

My game installs usually don't go well. For someone who loves games as much as I do, I'm pretty suproised and annoyed that almost ever time I install a game, with a very few exceptions, the installs fail inexpplicably for one reason or another. This has happened since around 2000-2001. I haven't had any installs go well since that time, and i'm getting pretty fucking sick of it. Other installs are just fine, and oddly, pirated games work just great, but if I buy a game from a legitimate outlet, BOOM- install dies every time. I get soooo sick of typing in registration codes.

Todays failure is Star Wars: Battlefield. Looks pretty cool. 2 dead installs so far, we'll see if the third one works.

I gots a new job

2004-09-20T19:44:00.000-04:00

Welp, Cambridge Health Associates offered me a permanent gig, but my job at the MRI Centers counteroffered with an astonishing offer of freedom and more focused work.

Looks like I'm staying here for a while.

They made it so I work more and more remotely, so much so that I might even be able to move to Maine and still keep this job. :p

I'm psyched.

We had the kid's Birthday parties over the weekend. Family party Saturday evening, very nice, everyone had a good time, and friend party Sunday morning at a play place. Naturally, there was a habitrail thng there, and you couldn't keep me out of it. My excuse was that I was making sure my 2 year old was okay in there with the biggger kids, but the truth is, I love playing in those things. Great fun.

All the other parents were saying things to Molly like "I can't believe your husband is so energetic in there" and "The kids are loving it". I would never be able to sit on the sidelines, just waiting, while there was something to climb on or in. Most people are boring, it seems.

Freedoms are not based on "Need"

2004-09-13T19:14:00.000-04:00

Thank God that we, as American Citizens, are a little bit more free today than we were yesterday.

I refer to, of course, the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" that barely passed 10 years ago, which regulated scary looking features on some guns. A more useless, stereotype-ridden, liberal piece of feel-good, do-nothing legisation I've never seen.

They say that 70% of polled people supported the Assault Weapon ban. I bet that almost 100% of those polled cannot define what and "assault weapon" is, does, or functions, they just know they see them in the movies and are scared.

The people who made this happen are people who removed a small piece of the freedom that American Citizens are supposed to have. Americans have a few facets of freedom that are supposed to be guaranteed to us, just by being Citizens. Among these, are freedom of Speech, Freedom of assembly, freedom of redress, freedom to practice religeon. Also listed is the freedom to keep and bear arms.

Take away these freedoms, and you take away the value of being an American. To be an American Citizen, it is granted that the government actually trusts you to be one of the "good guys" with several potent weapons at your disposal. Arms and Free speech are two of the most powerful tools a people has available to itself if it wants to affect (or deny) change. Start taking these away, and it's a big sign that the government no longer sees you as trustworthy, but sees you instead as a potential problem that Must Be Controlled.

But, all I have to say to Feinstein et.al who authored, sponsored, and drove this ban is "HA-HA! We win."

Labor Day Weekend

2004-09-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we had a very pleasant Labor Day weekend. Saturday was spent scraping the house, doing a little work around the place, and then we went out to visit at Mom and Vic's place where Nana and Granddad were. We sat out for a while while Tess napped in the car, then we all drove off to a very beautiful field where we used to go sledding as kids.

The field was just hayed a week ago, so the remaining ground cover was short. We took the model rocket (El Cheapo Wal-Mart brand) and set it up upwind on one side of the field. We flew it 3 times with "B" Motors, which shot it up and away, and we had great fun. The 4th flight we put in a "C" motor, which launched the thing probably 500 feet or more, and we actually lost sight of the nose cone- although by carefully aiming the lauch pole, we had the rocket body come down to within 20 feet of where we had launched it. :)

Vic finally spotted the nose cone parachuting down about a quarter mile away- all the way across the field, where it went down over a small rise. I waded into grass that became higher and higher, until it was at the height of my head. It was rough going, with lots of bees around, holes, and finally, a wideish muddy stream that I quite failed to clear by jumping it. I did eventually find the nosecone, no worse for wear, and I hiked back through the mini-brush and streamage (again failed to clear it on the way back) and fought my way out to clear land again, shedding mud in all directions, triumphantly presenting the rocket to Nate.

I was too tired to continue any more flights however, plus Nate had lost interest and wanted to go across the street to the playground. Those "C" motors are a freaking handful!

Monday I went "hunting" with Nate in the WMA near our house. I wanted to go armed, in case something offered an interesting shot, but Molly was too nervous about Nate being around guns. I'm still not sure what her though process is regarding this, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't know either. Nate and I ended up just scouting some of the area, but it was still so mosquito infested that we bugged out pretty quickly. Hearing that a 13 year old boy died locally from a mosquito-transmitted virus didn't help much, either.

Hump Day

2004-09-01T19:31:00.000-04:00

Today was one of those days where the little things really grind you down, but overall the day really isn't so bad.

I am officially ready to get rid of my car. Driving in crappy traffic for the past two days has really left me wanting a quiet car with an automatic. A BMW 3 series, for instance. Sadly, finances will in no way allow this type of thing. My current car is paid off, and I'll need a huge income/cost of living change before I can afford a car payment again.

Anyway, do you know what the hardest part of rollerblading is?

Telling your parents you're gay.

Fun Range Day

2004-08-28T19:36:00.000-04:00

This is the first time it's felt really hot all summer long. I've been enjoying this summer so far, becasue it's been coolish, and even when it's been hot, it's been sort of dry, which makes it quite comfortable. Today is the first day where it's been humid and hot enough to have me sweating profusely almost constantly.

I had the best range day on Thursday with Dad. We spend about four hours there, mostly at the 100 yard range, where I played with a number of guns for the first time. The M1A was fantastic, but after 160 rounds or so my shoulder can still, three days later, feel the punishment. Also shot was the Ruger #1 in .30-.30, a very nice looking, light single shot gun that also let you know that you had shot it.

After these, I put a few magazines through his AR-15, which, even though I remembered as having "a bit of recoil" compared to my 77/22, felt like shooting a dart gun. I really want an AR, though I think I would like a CAR-15 M4-gery type thing. I like the coolenss factor, to be brutally honest, but I also like the light weight.

Sadly, the 2-300 yard range was closed, so we could not do any long range plinking. I should pick up a steel target for those long ranges, provided that the range allows their use.

At the end of the day, (lunchtime) I bought the Walther P-22 from Dad. I now am the proud owner of two guns. I was nervous about telling Molly, from her past reactions to any kind of firearm, she seems to have a visceral fear reaction to any sort of gun. However, she took it very well. I promised that it would be dissassembled while it was at home- or maybe I promised that only part of the gun would remain at home- the details are vague- I promised that it would be "safe", one way or the other. As soon as I think she is ready to handle it, I will introduce her to the thing and try to take away some of the mystery/fear associated with it.

Tomorrow morning I get to go to the Company Outing, which is renting a few 12 meter America's Cup yachts to race against each other. The last two years, I had missed this, due to a couple of emergency things, but this year, my Boss called me and pretty much locked me in. I actually resent this right now, because weekend time with my family is scarce, and I hoard it and relish it extremely.

Boston.com

2004-08-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or is Boston.com the worst website ever? Terrible design, near-total lack of vital information on the front, and just plain bland. If you are going to have no data, at least have bling. If you have no bling, at least have data.

Well, you Sons of Bitches really know how I feel now!

2004-08-25T20:04:00.000-04:00

A-Fucking-Men! Tell it like it is, Brother!

This is one of the best rants Ive ever heard. It's from a cop. I don't know what place in the US he's from, but DAMN he is on the money with this one.

I think I'm in love with Henry "Snake" Bowman. ;)

Well, you Sons of Bitches really know how I feel now!

Some choice quotes:

If you are a uniformed Police Officer of any rank and do not fully, and honorably support the pre-existing God given rights enumerated in the 2nd Amendment, you are a disgrace to your Badge and your oath of office to protect and serve.
**********
There is plenty of documentation to support the fact that "gun control" laws in the United States are and have been rooted in the dishonorable practice generally known as "Racism." If there is any doubt about this? I suggest you do some research on your own (Author Clayton E. Cramer has written a short essay that can bring you up to speed quickly, search it out.)
**********
Understand this concept: Criminals misuse firearms in violent crime, law-abiding citizens DON'T. The mere fact that one is willing to misuse a firearm against his fellows automatically brands them an evil-doer, unfit to share the company of non-violent citizens: Their intent and action (Human responsible agency) defines them as violent criminals, mere possession of firearms does not.
**********
These dishonorable individuals are a disgrace to the Badge for their craven contempt of officer and civilian safety by condoning firearm confiscation, this "thing" called "gun control."
**********
The bottom line: Telling it like it is, and Deal with it! The constant spiteful attacks, slander, demonization and ridicule of law-abiding gun owners over the years are taking their toll. The peaceful citizens of the "gun culture" are fast reaching their limit of how much abuse they are going to take. They are fed up with being compared to violent criminals, because they know they are not.
***********
By standing against the lie embodied in this unnatural anti-self defense concept of "gun control," you are making the ultimate statement to truth, justice, integrity and honor. You are assuring that the Police in America will not go down the same path as the Politzei of the Nazi era, passively participating in the oppression of those citizens disfavored by the current government. (James Madison: "Americans [having] the right and advantage of being armed- unlike citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.")
**************

Man, this guy, this Henry Bowman (Interestingly the same name as one of the protagonists in Unintended Consequenses) doesn't take half measures. For what it's worth, I think his message should be broadcast far and wide. Somebody give this guy a medal!

Shooting tomorrow

2004-08-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

Gonna go shooting tomorrow with Dad!

I CAN"T WAIT I CAN'T WAIT I CAN'T WAIT!

A human Right

2004-08-24T11:38:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it took me so long to link to this site- it's one of the best sites on Self Defense that I've seen. Owned and operated by The High Road's proprietor and chief shopkeeper, Oleg Volk.

I show this to anyone who is on the fence or slightly anti- self defense. If anyone is totally anti-self defense, their logic is so skewed that nothing really makes a difference, except for the possibility of having to undergo a violent crime of some sort.

Self Defense is a Basic Human Right.

Misanthrope's Dictionary

2004-08-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

From the Misanthrope's dictionary:

The misanthrope hates not man. The misanthrope hates idiocy, stupidity, self-righteousness, authoritarianism, selfishness, greed, ignorance, dishonesty, cant, and balderdash. All of these he hates rightfully. The problem is that all of these are shared by no other member of the animal kingdom but man. And the misanthrope does not entertain the vain hope that these traits will ever stop determining man's behavior.

Good stuff, good stuff.

Beach Weekend

2004-08-23T09:15:00.000-04:00

We went to the beach this weekend, the one we all own. We need to come up with a name for this place- the barn-to-be "camp" will be called the "farm", but the beach is entirely a different place and needs to have it's own name which would differentiate it from going to any one of a number of local lakeside beaches.

It was a nice get-together, Me, Molly, Nate & Tess, Mom, Vic, Dad, Merge, and Nana and Granddad. It was nice to be at the beach together, but I really can't wait until the farm is built- much nicer to have a 10 minute drive back to "home base" rather than an hour and a half one.

Speaking of this Farm, I'm starting to get a little worried about it. Dad has always said that it would be like the Family Camp, the Retreat in which we would all be welcome at anytime, with no ceremony. This sounds ideal, and would really be a great thing for our family. I'm starting to think that this may not actually be the case though, as Dad said to me not too long ago to just call him if we were going to spend the night there, in case they invited one of their friends over, and they didn't want to take up one of our bedrooms.

All well and good, but this changes the idea of the farm from a place that we know we can always go to and consider "ours" to one where we just have to ask permission to go there. Once we have to ask permission, it will become Dad and Merge's farm, and going there will be just like going over to their house. Enjoyable certainly, but not "homey", and certainly not relaxing. It is their place, however, and they are certainly welcome to do what they want with it. I just hope they recognize that if it does really become just an extension of their house, we won't be over all that much.

All this being said, it's still unbelievably generous that they are doing this, and it has a lot of great potential, and I hope it brings us all together more often.

In other news, this week is the week that the Portland Maine job becomes either a reality or a rejection. I've put it out of my mind entirely, but Molly's having a harder time doing that.

Backsplash from a Pit Toilet

2004-08-22T13:14:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago, I went camping in New Hampshire with my friend Scott. We stayed over the weekend, Thursday to Monday or Tuesday, to go climbing at Cathedral Ledge and Withehorse.

Thursday at the campsite, one of the campsites along the Kankamangus highway, passed quietly, and without incident. So did Friday night. Saturday was a different story. The radios started playing early, and the yahoos came out of the woodwork- every *good* camper's worst nightmare. You could hear, smell, and feel the drunked debauchery and excess that was going on in quite a few of the campsites around us. Sleep came hard and late that night.

The next morning came, and we got up early to go climbing again. After breakfast, the coffee did it's usual magic, and I wandered off to the Pit Toilet to offload some excessive baggage. As I approached the toilet, I noticed something was...different. It was like something died nearby. As I got closer, I realized that the smell was eminating from the outhouse structure itself, and it stank like you would not believe. No ordinary stink, this, it was fouler than Beelzebub's own toilet after a hard night with cheap beer. But I had to poop, so I reluctantly opened the door and was almost swept away by the stench. I started to suspect that someone had thrown a body into the pit a few weeks ago, and it was only now starting to decompose. Looking seven or so feet down the toilet into the pit revealed the ugliest possible miasma of human effluent. I sat, determined to do this deed as quickly as possible.

The poop, when it came very quickly after I sat down, was a good one. Solid, one piece, and torpedo shaped (I imagine, I didn't actually check). It came out rapidly, like a watermelon seed that was squeezed between two fingers. It shot out so quickly, and so determinedly, that my morbid imagination started to go over various scenarios, and the most likely one was that this thing was goign to hit that stuff down below...hard. What happens when a solid object hits the water straight down? It creates a hole, which the water fills up quickly with a *splat* noise, and ejects a good quantity of water upwards.

This turd hit the waterwith the poise and grace of an olympic diver and created a perfect hole in the vileness below. The vileness, in turn, rushed in to obey the laws of physics, and with a flat sounding *splat* that made me absolutely cringe, I knew I was to be on the recieving end of some really foul shit.

Indeed, that horror below was ejected up over seven feet into the air to splatter on my butt. I knew from the moment of launch that this would happen, yet I was frozen in disbelief until I actually felt it on my nether regions. Needless to say, there were no shower facilities at this campsite. It was the most disgusting thing to happen to me in a long, long time.

*************************

Break to a few weeks ago when I went with Molly and the kids to Story Land, in New Hampshire. We took the Kank because it was a more scenic route, and halfway through the drive across it, Nate informed us that he had to go to the bathroom. We stopped at a rest area on the Kank that had, right there by the side of the road, a pit toilet.

Now Nate is sort of fascinated with holes in the ground in general, and his absolute love is to drop things into the water. The pit toilet represented a novelty of the First Order. I went in there with him because he likes to have the company, and because I don't want him to pick up a candy bar with nuts in it or anything. So, he manoevers himself onto the toilet seat after a long investigation of the hole, looking at all the shite and yucch down at the bottom. He is very excited at the prospect of being able to drop something from his own body into the water, and is somehow craning his head around to look down the hole as he sits on the edge of the seat.

You know what happens next, I bet.

A big :PLOP!: and then backsplash reaches up, out of the toilet seat, into the air a few feet, and splatters onto his head. He had no idea. I was simply horrified.

I don't know what I'm going to do about pit toilets in the future.

Rules for being a Republican

2004-08-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Heh. Rules for Being a Republican. A little spiteful and sometimes sacrafices fact for wry humor, but still kinda funny in places.

You must believe that being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime - unless you're a millionaire right wing radio personality; then, it's an "illness" and requires prayer for "recovery".
You must believe that those born to privilege achieve success all on their own.
You must believe that folks who work for their money should be taxed at a higher rate than those who inherit theirs.
You must agree that racking up huge amounts of debt to future generations is worth the few thousand extra in tax breaks you give to your wealthy "investors."
You must believe that the US should pull out of the UN, but that our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against Iraq.
You must believe that government should stay out of people's lives, except to punish anyone having private sex with the "wrong" gender.
You must believe that pollution is ok, so long as it's profitable.
You must support prayer in schools, as long as no one is allowed to pray to Allah or Buddha.
You must believe that "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
You must believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can be trusted to make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever.
You must love Jesus and believe that Jesus loves you, and that He shares your hatred of the poor, homosexuals, and the Clintons.
You must hate the ACLU for representing convicted felons, and believe they owed it to the country to bail out Oliver North.
You must believe that the best way to increase the morale of the military is to serve turkey and empty praise to the troops overseas, while cutting their VA benefits.
You must be willing to believe that group sex and drug use are degenerate sins that can only be purged by running for office as a Republican.
You must see the "wisdom" in keeping condoms out of schools, because without condoms, there will be no sex among teenagers.
You must agree that the best way to fight terrorism is to alienate our allies, rattle our saber to the rest of the world and then demand their cooperation and money.
You must agree that government-run health care is a disaster, while insurance companies only care about giving you the best darn health care there is, damn the profit. You must also believe that providing health care to Iraqis is good policy, while providing it to Americans is a "Socialist plot."
You must agree that the link between tobacco and cancer is "dubious," that claims of global warming are "junk science" and that creationism has a sound scientific basis that should be part of all school curricula.
You must believe that waging war with no security or exit strategy was wrong in Vietnam but right in Iraq.
You must agree that Saddam Hussein was a good guy when Reagan was sending him arms, a bad guy when he invaded Kuwait, a good guy again when Cheney did business with him at Halliburton, and then a bad guy again when Bush decided that a war in Iraq would be a very lucrative deal for his "investors."
You must believe that the Bill of Rights is absolute in the case of the Second Amendment, but the rest of the document is negotiable.
You must agree that the adulterous affairs of Democrats require public embarrassment and impeachment, while those of Republicans are a private matter, and excusable because, well, "boys will be boys" (or girls) You are also required to ascribe to the notion that the Clintons' business deals are major breaches of the public trust, while the fact that Dick Cheney is still being paid by Halliburton, which is now getting billions of your tax dollars, is simply not a big deal.
You must agree that lying about a country in order to start a war is simply how you do business, and no one should be upset by it.
You must believe that everything that Democrats do should be public knowledge, but that the public has no right to know anything that Republicans do.
You must always deride a Democrat's changes of mind and philosophy as a "flip-flop," while referring to those of fellow Republicans as "growth."
You must openly support "state rights," except when John Ashcroft wants to force local libraries to turn over their records or Tom DeLay wants to impose new districts because he doesn't like election results.
You must agree that the outcome of an election is always more important than making sure everyone got to vote and that all votes were counted.
You must agree that income tax cuts for the rich are good for the economy, while payroll tax cuts for the working class are bad. Furthermore, you must believe that making sure that the rich have a few extra dollars in their pockets is good for the economy, while raising the minimum wage is detrimental.
You must believe that trade with Communist Cuba is wrong, while increasing trade with China is perfectly fine.

A Little Story

2004-08-19T15:08:00.000-04:00

I typed up this story for a Subaru board I'm on, to describe RKBA to those who haven't yet "taken the red pill"

Lemme tell you a story.

A long time ago, a bunch of guys got together with a really unique opportunity. They got to build their own country *from scratch*. No one had done this in a very long time, and they all came from places in which rule and government, had, for centuries, been from birthright alone.

Think about that- you get to build your own nation, make up all of your own rules, and do anything you want! No precedents anywhere that you have to follow.

So, as everyone knows, they came up with a few ground rules- Chief among these were that the government of this new country would *always* be a government of the people, and the people were served by the government. This was key.

From this one ground rule came a bunch of sub-rules- like people could say what they wanted about the government without restriction. All men are created equal, etc. People have the freedom to choose a religion they like and worship they way they want to. They covered all the shortcomings of places that they left.

Now remember- the basic rule for this new country was that government will always be a people's government. They put in safeguards to that it would be hard for government to go out of control. They instituted the three branches of Government, made up a system of checks and balances, and restricted terms in office and suchlike. The key idea here, again, was to keep the government under control.

However, even with all these checks and balances in place, there were still plenty of examples throughout history in which the government started out doing what it was supposed to, then accumulating more and more power, and then the people were pretty much out of control and at the government's mercy.

So, they instituted an additional rule, which was considered to be an integral part of the checks and balances system of their new nation- the rule was that all people shall have the right to keep and bear arms. Not to defend the country against invaders, and certainly not to have the right to hunt, but rather so that if the new government *did* somehow go out of control, the citizens would always have the right and means to regain control of the country by force.

A final "reset button" if you will. A means of, when all else (and I really mean ALL else) fails, the people can rise up and take control of the country again. This is why the second amendment exists. It is for this, and for no other reason.

*****

Now, that all being said, the country is a pretty stable place right now. We have democratically run elections every four years, the checks and balances system more or less works, and it's been running okay, with some major changes here and there (think: Income tax- only started in the 1930's) but otherwise pretty stable. Those guys did a really great job when they wrote those rules. It has produced a pretty stable, flexible, and prosperous country so far.

But...

There are changes. Lately, the Patriot Act for instance. It was a law that passed into being under somewhat shady circumstances, if you recall. So far it has restricted the freedom of the people only a little bit, not too much to be concerned with. But it will still be law when the next president rolls into town. And the next one.

In ten years, they could easily strengthen it. Especially if (when) there is another terrorist attack. And what would you do if, in 20 years, it gets strengthened again, and this time there is a curfew involved for some people? You can see where I am going with this.

The reason the RKBA people are so zealous over this issue is that it gives away the final, ultimate control that citizens have over the government. And while we don't necessarily need an assault rifle today to overthrow the government (Heck, it's almost 2PM and I haven’t needed an assault rifle *all day long*), can you guarantee that you won't need one in ten years? Twenty? How about fifty years from now? How about a hundred? Two hundred?

Take the guns away now, and they will be gone forever. We want this country to be around and stable for a long, long time. That's why they fight this stuff so hard right now. To paraphrase the gun control folks, it’s For The Children.

Foresight Pays Off

2004-08-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention this for some reason, but a few months ago, the company decided to move to a new cell phone service. When I was speaking with the CFO, we had the choice of base-level phones for people. It turns out that the camera phones were only a dollar or three more than the non-camera phones. I had a strong suspicion that, one way or another, having these camera phones would pay off.

Indeed they did. Now there exist some very compromising pictures of one of our staff members, who willingly put her camera to Good Use. The pictures are known to a very select number of people here, almost entirely in the IT department, and the person who took the camera home, studied poses in an adult magazine and did her level best, does not know that they are more or less public domain now. Even though no one will or should know about this in the company, and hopefully never will, I feel that somehow I deserve a raise for this little piece of foresight.

So tired

2004-08-18T13:14:00.000-04:00

So freaking tired all of the sudden. The network at work has gone all to shit, as have the phone systems in the farther-flung sites. I think work is telling me in no uncertian terms that it wants me to leave and go do something more fun until things straighten themselves out again.

I killed my potential job at Cambridge Health Alliance today. Just flat turned down a $84k/year job offer coz I just didn't feel like a-doin' it. I can see project managing something if you are familiar with it, but I'd have two additional things to project manage there, both of which I have no experience with at all. Top that off with the fact that there is only on-street parking, in which you have to move your car every two freakin hours and I say No Thank You. I can't see ebing overwhelmed with a new job and having to be interrupted four times a day to fight for scarce street parking. I'll stay with my job here 'till something comes up in Maine.

On the plus side, I was able to disassemble my ruger magazine last night, clean it, and reassemble it. Hopefully it will still feed cartridges- I'll find out today, if I can duck out of work for a quick break.

Work places ought to have napping rooms available to employees.

Another day, another Jimmy Leg

2004-08-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today, thanks to the Urban Dictionary, I've learned the definitions of the following: Jelly Donut, Rear Admiral. It is high time to use these in everyday conversation.

I've become re-aquainted with the word "blumpkin", which is one of the funnier words in the language for some reason. You can look that one up for yourself.

I took the Boy into work today so the Girl could have an allergist's appointment in relative peace. I took him to the shooting range for a bit, which made a big impression on him. We shot my Ruger 77/22 a little, but not more than 25 rounds or so, because I noticed that my magazine was sticking and not springing the cartridges up into place to be stripped off by the bolt. That reminds me, I gotta clean that tonight.

I think I'm going to try to get together with my Dad later this week to buy his P-22. I have such a good time shooting that little thing, andI think it's time to break it to Molly that I'm gonna be a handgun owner. She's handled the rifle pretty well, now it's time to take it to the next level. <- I hate this phrase so much, because it doesn't really describe anything, it's just a vague idea form. Also, people who are against the idea of self defense use it a lot to indicate why bringing a gun to a gunfight is a Bad Idea- it brings the violence to the "next level".

Brillinace. Pure Brillinace.

2004-08-16T11:01:00.000-04:00

I have a headache. :/ Woke up with it this morning. Ouchie.

I spent yesterday with Nate, we went shopping, to the mall, like a couple of girls. Granted, we spent most of the time in the arcade playing driving games, then went to "daddy's toy store" which had guns, primarily, and then "Natie's toy store" which had toys.

I finally realized how to beat the big bull creature in Doom too, last night. It was sort of pissing me off that you had to kill it in such a wierd, lame way, but oh well.

Tomorrow Nate will be coming with me to work- I think I'll take him to the range and let him watch me shoot. If I think that it is right, I might let him sit with me and pull the trigger. I think he'd love that. My idea is that I would hold the gun on target, resting on the table top, and Nate would reach in to do it. I don't think his hands are really big enough to grip around the stock though, so I'm not sure how this would work out.

At any rate, we shall see how it works out.

New job update: Hoping that a job in Portland ME works out. Am interviewing for a Cambridge group that wants me badly, will give me a small raise, but it's project management, which I hate, it's only a 2 year position, which is risky, and there is NO FUCKING PARKING at the site- this grates on me most of all, I think.

It turns out Andy Molloy knows, hunts and/or fishes with the CEO of the Portland group, and Tykie also knows one or more of the doctors there. We shall see what we shall see.

And now, Frogboy.

My CCW letter

2004-08-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

In Massachusetts, you need to provide a reason to your local Chief of Police in order for him to issue a License to Carry Class A (Otherwise known as CCW). Here is the letter I had written him last January. It worked, and I have the license to carry concealed.

Dear Chief L****, (or Chief F*****, depending on when you get this)

I am writing you this letter in order to clarify my reasons for requesting a Class A license to carry firearms.

In the past, I have not felt the need to carry a weapon of any sort, with the possible exception of a short time that I lived in Miami FL. (I had some mace then.) S******* is a very quiet town, fortunately, and I am thankful for that, and I expect it to continue to be a quiet town, with a very low probability of encountering any threats to my person.

I work, however, in an environment that is changing. I am the IT manager of the MRI Centers of New England, and we have 8 sites currently, all over Massachusetts and Rhode Island. My job is forcing me, more and more, to start transferring large amounts of valuable merchandise, (laptops, computers, flat screen monitors, and medical equipment) late at night to do my work, when the centers aren’t so busy. Specifically, I have had instances when I haven’t felt safe loading things into my car from the site, or vice versa. I have had, on occasion, to stop what I was doing, and go inside until I felt that I was no longer getting unwanted attention from people. It is times like this that I have a reason to fear injury to my person or property.

We have centers in Chelsea, MA (100 Everett Ave) and Springfield MA (3500 Main St). These two places are not in the best of neighborhoods, and I don’t see my job function changing anytime soon.

I don’t intend to carry a weapon on a regular basis, around town, or on the weekends. I would carry during those times at work when I felt that the risk, and my exposure, is higher than it normally is. I also don’t intend to get rusty or unfamiliar with the weapon I would carry- Our Woburn center (where my office is) is about 200 yards from the Massachusetts Rifle Association, so I can practice daily, almost, on my lunch break. I have been shooting rifles and handguns with my father for the better part of twenty years now, on and off. I am familiar and comfortable with firearms, but I have never lost the respect I have for the damage they can cause when inattentive or careless with them.

I fully understand the magnitude of responsibility you bear when you carry a weapon. Not only do you expose yourself to civil and criminal suits should you need to use it, but your judgment must be absolutely solid, your situational awareness must be very alert, and your ability to verbally defuse a potential situation becomes that much more important.

I hope to God that I never have to use a weapon to defend myself, but afraid of that as I am, I am even more afraid of leaving my wife, 4 year old son, and 1 year old daughter without a Dad.

You probably get many requests for this, and I understand a Police Chief’s hesitation in granting such a license to a person that they don’t know. I can assure you, however, that I will do everything in my power to be one of those people that you simply never hear about until three and a half years have gone by, and it’s time to renew again.

Thanks for considering,

J. Hollister

Another 4AM Day

2004-08-11T09:16:00.000-04:00

Tess started crying this morning at a little before 4 Am- about 3:45 or so. "Mama, Mama, Mama!!!" I went in to her, and she usually responds to my questions like "Do you want to get all cozy?" and such, but not this time. All she would say was "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

So I gave up and eventually Molly went in there to pick her up and hold her. I didn't go back to sleep myself, but lay awake in bed listening to Tess burble away happily in her mother's arms for the next 45 minutes or so.

She fell asleep, and Molly put her back in her crib, came back to bed, and we counted to about eighteen before Tess woke up again with the same MO- wouldn't respond to me, only wanted Mommy. After the third repetition of this, I just said that she would just have to cry it out. This was at about 5AM, and naturally the noise woke Nate up, who came into our bed and started poking Molly, talkng to her, and trying to shove her off the bed.

I took him out to give Molly some rest, Closed all the doors to minimize the noise, and went with Nate into his room to keep him company. Every so often I would poke my face into the screaming girl's room to tell her that all was really okay, and she should give it up and go back to sleep. I checked her every now and then to make shre she was not rashy or feverish or anything, but she was just fine. And pissed off.

At about 5:30 or so (Nate was playing in his room) I made some coffee, washed some dishes, cleaned up the kitchen a little, got the kid's breakfast ready in preperation to bring them all downstairs for a little video oriented parenting, but by 5:50, when I told Nate that it was okay to get up and get out of his room, Tess had fallen asleep, proned out over her warm water bottle.

I cant wait.... wait a sec....Tess is up again. It's 6:15. She's screaming again. Well, it's time to get up anyway.

.....

She is very happy to be downstairs with her brother and I. I think I need a lot more coffee.

Long day at work

2004-08-10T19:10:00.000-04:00

Long day at work today. Kids were up at 4:30. What can you do? One starts crying, 1 starts talking, they want to see each other, etc etc.

Up at the Data Center at 6am, installed stuff and was able to reboot the servers before 7Am when people get to work.

OTOH, Molly might have found me a great job up in Maine. It seems almost a perfect match. I emailed them my resume and such, we'll see what happens.

My motherboard crapped out two mornings ago, so it's been difficult to continue my Doom 3 game. Still in the Delta labs, and I won't be getting to hell until I get a new motherboard. Especially if it's an intel one. :)

Beheading Hoax

2004-08-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

I love this beheading hoax.

News sources yesterday reported an American beheaded in Iraq. It was splashed all over the place. Next day, (this morning) it comes out that apparently it was done by some guy in California with his friends, to make a point of how the media can present something as fact with no verification.

Now, the guy is being questioned by local authorities and the FBI. This is the best part: They are seeing if the "can press any charges" against the guy.

The government is embarrassed, and now they want to bust him for something, using sensitivites of beheading victim's families as the cause, or injured party.

So Michael Moore can make statements like this with video, and is an Icon, but the average guy has to hire a few lawyers?

Of course, only a few hours after reporting this fakery, the embarrassed media as shuffled it off to page 298378427- I doubt we hear about this in the popular media again.

Bleh. I hate media.

What, no Firefox?

2004-08-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

OK, I am extremely disappointed that this blogging software doesn't support my browser of choice, Mozilla's Firefox 0.9. Can't seem to log in with that one, although IE works just fine. Hopefully they will rectify that in the near future.

Edit: Seems to work now. Good going, Blogspot, being so quick with fix requests like this. :p

A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
My name is James, I am 38 years old, and I live in Massachusetts. I have two kids, a 4 year old boy and 1 year old girl. I will be interrupted a lot.

(after 4 hour interruption)

Back. I work full time, my wife stays home with the kids, and we own a house. Pretty white bread stuff. I get my news almost entirely from the internet, usually from Google News. Other news sources include a subaru web board, and a gun owner's board

Also, I am getting fatter, tipping the scales at almost 200 pounds lately.

Start Here

2004-08-08T08:26:00.000-04:00

This is the start of my blog. I bet quite a few people start this and continue it maybe one, two weeks and then decide that they're bored and give it up.

This will be me, I'm sure.

I have away too much going on in my life to blog regularly, and adding to that, I don't have any dep thoughts whatsoever. In fact, whole days go by without me thinking, even at work. So whomever reads this is not going to get away with any additional cool or relavant information at all.

Anyway, self fulfilling prophecy check #1:
This won't last too long.

-James