Silver And Minimum Wage

There's a meme going around about how the federal minimum wage was $1 an hour in 1960 and how that could be paid with four quarters and how much richer someone on minimum wage was in 1960 compared to now and why Boomers are so rich...

Let's look at the official inflation numbers:

$1 in 1960 is $10.53 in today's dollars. 

A 1960 quarter has 0.1808 ounces of silver in it.  Silver was approximately $0.92 per ounce in 1960.

So a quarter was worth 16.6336 cents in 1960.  If you paid in quarters, the minimum wage is 66.5344 cents an hour.

But, how much is  0.7232 ounces of silver worth today?  Inflation suggests it should be $7.

Silver is $110.30 per ounce at the time of writing.  So our four 1960 quarters are now worth $79.77 in bullion.  The quarters are still worth $1.

The meme goes that our worker did 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at $1 an hour and made $2,080 and because you could get that in silver then that wage was equivalent to $165,921.60 year.

A worker making a buck an hour in 1960 did NOT have as much money as middle management does today. 

The official inflation number is closer.   $21,902.40 is about right.

Gold was $35.50 an ounce in 1960, our worker was making 0.028169014 ounces of gold an hour.

Gold is now $5,064.10 an ounce so our worker should be getting $296,713.46

Gold was 38.59 times the price of silver per ounce in 1960.

Today gold is 45.91 times the price of silver.

There was once a time when the value of a dollar was a fixed fraction of the value of gold.  There was once a time when the value of silver was a fixed fraction of gold.

X dollars bought Y ounces of gold.  Z ounces of silver bought Y ounces of gold and X dollars.

The three things are no longer tied together.

While the dollar inflated 1,053%, gold inflated 14,265% and silver 11,989%.

There's gobs of exceptions to the inflation numbers that goldbugs like to point out, but the dollar did pretty well even so.  Energy, cars and housing ARE more expensive than they used to be.

BUT!

An IBM 7030 was $7,780,000 in 1961.  A brand new laptop from Wal Mart for $500 will outperform it on any metric you'd care to throw at it.  A $1,200 smart phone, likewise will embarrass it.  Considering that I don't have $81,041,666.67 for a computer, I will accept that some things get cheaper and somethings get more expensive.

I did a gallon of gas not that long ago.  Gas was $0.31 per gallon, on average, in the US in 1960.  Gas is $2.91 right now ($2.78 locally).  It's not the $3.25 inflation predicts.  Again, I'll take it.

A Colt 1911 was $17.50 in 1960 (according to AI) and will set you back $1,049 today.  Inflation says that they should cost $184.28...

Prices don't go up evenly and everything is traded separately.

Retroesque

Dottie now has repop Brownell's triangle handguards to go with her vintage A1 pistol grip and stock.

Brand new Orlite magazine for looks.

The Brownell's Retro handguards are a bit crude in the heat shields, but they fit well.

No issue with the Orlite's ribs in getting the magazine locked and the bolt-stop working on any of the AR's here.  Will they affect feed?  Dunno.  Gonna have to put it in the rifle case and put a few rounds through each gun as I shoot them.  Going to be a long term project to test against all of them. 

Then Stop Paying Them

The courts, again, have ruled that the police don't have to do the job that the public thinks they should be doing.

The police in question, this time from Ulvade, Texas, again, have shown that they like the power that authority gives as long as they don't have to run towards the sound of gunfire and actually be the heroes they often claim title to.

I'm watching video of the police not doing their jobs when riots rage and property is destroyed.

Once again, I am asking, "why are we paying them?"

At least twice I've seen parents being held at a perimeter while their children were being murdered while the police did nothing but maintain that perimeter.

What good were those cops?

Yes, I am aware of police who do live up to the title of hero and represent the ideal.

Because it's becoming very apparent that they are a minority, laws need to be changed to force the majority to adhere to the expectations of their employers, The People.

The court's rulings might be valid if one small thing was different about becoming a cop.

If they were conscripted, perhaps, there would be a point that we couldn't expect them to enter a dangerous situation where they could be killed in the course of saving the citizens they swore to defend.

But they weren't involuntarily conscripted to the job.

They volunteered.  They actively sought the education and training to become cops.

THEY WANTED THE JOB!

Until the moment comes where the reason they have medical and pension plans far in excess to the people surrounding them hoves into view.

Then they refuse.

The military, something that lots of cops like to emulate, has a term: dereliction of duty.

What happened at so many school massacres is a dereliction of duty.

A duty they swore to do, refused to do, and then begged the courts to get out of the consequences of that dereliction.

Well, fellow citizens, I think we should start getting our congresses to stop sucking cop cock so damn hard and to remember who THEY work for.

Get of your asses. 

Loophole Gunshow Attended

It has been a very long time since I've gone to a gun show in Tampa.

The Lovely Harvey expressed an interest and a buddy wanted to go too, so we went!

Meh.

Gun shows, at least in Tampa, are soulless things now.

The same guns at the same prices as you can get at any local gun shop.

For the most part, the same ammo at the same prices you can get at any local gun shop.

Not much for interesting stuff.

Buddy got to coon-finger a lot of stuff and since he's no longer living with a felon after his divorce, he can own a gun!

He's only fired a grand total of 100 rounds from Marv and my pistol collection.

Because long arms are easier and he's got some disabilities, I suggested a pistol caliber carbine over a shotgun, or an AR.

A 9mm S&W FPC seems to fit his needs in his new, tiny, home.

He needs to safe a couple weeks to get the scratch together and I've aimed him at Gunbroker for to get a sense of what things are worth. 

Found On Facebook

 

Uber Day

Today is the 4th anniversary of me plowing The Precious into a tree.

I am forbidden to operate vehicles on this day.

I am especially forbidden to go to Publix to buy subs.

Not that we're superstitious or anything. 

Maps

Neither FuzzyGeff nor Marv's characters bought a map.

That meant they got the map that came with the T2K game to navigate from.

I was using Google Maps.

This raises some problems and questions.

They were traveling down an "interstate" that, in all likelihood, did not exist in 2000 and wouldn't have been built by the Communist government anyway.

I've decided to just relax and let the hooks do their work.

It's an alt-history already, using an inaccurate map isn't going to change things all that much.

Though it is really neat to hit Streetview, rotate the screen so the players can see it and say, "this is what you can see." 

Damn Governments

Someone at SHOT Show has spoken to the folks at SNT Motiv about when the K2 clones would be hitting the US market.

End of 2026 at the soonest, if at all.

It seems that a major hurdle isn't US law, but South Korean laws about unwashed civilians having "military" weapons.

They're optimistic, but it's a maze to negotiate.

Gives me longer to save up, I guess. 

I Can Quit Whenever I Want

The Orlite magazines I bought a bit ago both have the rib ground off.

That was commonly done because of interference with some magwells.

So, of course, I need one that still has the rib to check for interference in MY magwells.

Hello, my name is Angus and it's been three days since I bought a vintage magazine of questionable reliability just to have one to play with. 

The Indian Wars Ended

It's apt that we call the hundred years of constant fighting with the American Indian "The Indian Wars."

It was just the last battles of a conflict involving every tribe in every location on the continent that had been bouncing from coast to coast for as long as humans had been here.

After the 1890's those wars were over.

Western Civ won and not only did we stop them from fighting us, we forced them to stop fighting each other.

It was a victory for women's rights.  It was a victory over slavery.  It was a victory over racism and genocide.  It stopped kidnapping, murder, torture and rape.

Noble savages my shiny pate.

Maybe, if we'd never come one tribe might have eventually conquered the continent.

Without horses from our coming, though, it might not be the tribe or nation you think. 

But we ended the wars.

Like all wars, it was not clean or neat.  But that's the nature of war.

War is messy and uneven.

What people are complaining about is akin to bitching the sun comes up in the east and it'd be better if it came up in the west.  It isn't and it won't. 

And Then Europeans Showed Up

European colonists just continued the work done by rebounding waves of humanity that had come over from Aisa over the Bering Land Bridge millennia before.

Dehumanization is part of EVERY American Indian language.  Their name for themselves always translates to "human being" and they never use that word for anyone else.

Never mind this is a quote from a Somali colonist trying to white guilt us into thinking we need to let her run things and make us pay for perceived slights to a people she's not a member of without any shared history or culture. 

Missed My Chance

Darn.

The special commemorative Vietnam editions of the 1911, Vietnam Tribute to Valor and Vietnam War Golden Anniversary Tribute, are no longer available.

Because the web page is dead.

But fear not!

There's a new web page!

A different company.

And a new commemorative 1911...

Only making 500, ten for each of the 50 American states!

How much?  Sign up for their mailing list and they will, most assuredly, let you know!

I Voted!

 

I have fired off my ballot for the NRA board of directors.

Eyes firmly crossed that the reformers get firm control and actually manage to reform the place.

I'd happily see it changed from a lifetime magazine subscription to a powerhouse gun-rights organization.

Partially related, it came in my first issue of American Rifleman since Shooting Illustrated is kaput.

Chili Recipe

What you're gonna need:

1 lb. ground beef.

1 lb. Jimmy Dean sage sausage.

2 med yellow onions, diced

2 jalapeno peppers, minced

3 poblano peppers, roasted, de-skinned, chopped

28 oz. diced stewed tomatoes (one big can)

12 oz. tomato paste (one big or two little cans)

29 oz. tomato sauce (one big can)

48 oz. Bush's med chili beans (these are pintos) (3 cans)

27 oz. red kidney beans (one big can)

4 tablespoons of your favorite chili powder

3 tablespoons of ground cumin

salt to taste.

Roast the peppers first!  I put them on the top rack set to broil until the skin is black.  Set them aside to cool while you do the rest of the chopping.

In a stock pot saute the onions until clear, add meat, onion, chili powder, cumin and peppers.

When the meat is cooked, dump in the tomatoes and beans.

Bring to a bit of a bubble, I think that called "simmer".

Put in bowl and eat!  I like oyster crackers best but you can add cheese and chopped onions to your heart's content. 

My Body Is Ready

 

I really miss my ban era DR-200.

For My Funny New Guys Players

 

It IS Kinda Creepy

Apparently ICE agents are running the plates of protestors who are following them around.

Then, at the end of the day, the agents drive to the address the car following them is registered at.

The protestors are kinda upset by that.

While it's a bit creepy, I'm not really seeing anything illegal about it.

The worst I can come up with is wasting resources.

I'm, again, caught between wanting the liberty where the cops can't tell where I live from reading my car's tax stamp and wanting people who are actively trying to intimidate and thwart the enforcement of a reasonable law to be punished for it.

Oh, I forgot, yeah that license plate is just supposed to be proof of tax paid and it was promised that it would never be used for other purposes.

When government lies like they do about that kind of stuff, it's no wonder so many people like me are conflicted between the wanting more liberty and the wanting the laws enforced. 

Corollary

I have long held that once someone has served their sentence they should be returned all of their rights without prejudice.

Successfully completing that sentence is predicated on them being SAFE to be among the rest of society.

Here's what happens when no real sentence is applied and the perpetrator is not safe to be among us.

Douglas Kraft, 68, and James Puchan, 68, of Columbus and Galena, respectively, were fatally shot Jan. 17 near Kissimmee, Florida, in what families said in a statement was a "random, tragic act." Kraft's brother – Douglas Kraft, 70, of Holland, Michigan – was also killed in the shooting.

Authorities arrested Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, 29, on three counts of murder, Dispatch news partner NBC4/WCMH-TV reported.

The three men were staying in an Airbnb to attend Kissimmee's Mecum Car Show, according to the families' statement. While they were waiting for help after "rental car trouble" and preparing to travel home, they were "being observed from a distance by an unknown individual who was well-known to local law enforcement."

"There were no known interactions between the men and this individual prior to the event; they were then approached and senselessly murdered," the families' statement reads. "This was a random, tragic act."

Deputies were called around noon on Jan. 17 to reports of shots fired in the Indian Point subdivision near Kissimmee, NBC4/WCMH-TV reported. Authorities found the three men dead from gunshot wounds in front of a residence in the 200 block of Indian Point Circle.

Not long after, law enforcement detained Bojeh, who lives nearby. Investigators said deputies reported seeing the suspect flee toward his home, later finding two firearms in Bojeh's residence after obtaining and serving a search warrant, according to NBC4/WCMH-TV.

In May 2021, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bojeh for shooting at random into cars at a Wawa gas station in Kissimmee

While Bojeh faced attempted murder and aggravated battery charges, court records show a judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity.

The court ordered Bojeh to undergo mental health treatment, to live at his parents’ home on Indian Point Circle, and he “shall NOT own, possess or have access to firearms or any other illegal weapons."

 A judge found him...  Not a jury.

Well, the suspect was known to law enforcement, who did nothing to prevent it.

He was arrested and found to be too insane to understand his actions and was put back among us.

I think it might just be time to apply some damned liability to judges who let dangerous people loose in society when those dangerously insane people go on to hurt someone.

Shocked! Shocked! I Say

An experimental all‑female nightclub concept made headlines this week after industry insiders revealed it shut its doors shortly after its first official night, with organizers blaming a complete lack of bottle purchases as the main reason for the abrupt closure. The venue, marketed as a space dedicated exclusively to women and designed to create a safer, inclusive nightlife environment, opened with much fanfare in a major city — but according to reports circulating on social platforms and nightlife forums, the night ended without a single champagne or bottle service sale, a revenue stream most clubs rely on to stay afloat.

 

Nightclubs often depend heavily on bottle service and high‑margin alcohol purchases to cover staffing, entertainment, rent, and overhead costs, so an evening with no bottle sales would put severe financial strain on any venue’s business model — especially one trying to establish itself in a competitive nightlife market where drink revenue typically accounts for a large share of profit. Industry observers have pointed out that even innovative or niche nightclub concepts can struggle to attract patrons willing to spend on premium services, particularly in an era when many young adults are cutting back on expensive nights out due to cost‑of‑living pressures and shifting entertainment preferences.

 

Despite this early setback, some nightlife analysts say the closure doesn’t reflect a lack of appetite for women‑centric spaces overall. Successful women‑only or women‑focused venues in other regions have shown that with the right location, pricing, and community support, specialized clubs can thrive and offer social alternatives free from typical nightclub pressures. The all‑female concept may still evolve — and perhaps resurface in new forms — as venues experiment with different ways to attract crowds and sustain business in a rapidly changing nightlife landscape.
- Lauren Chen

First, my shocked face is shocked.

Second, "safer, inclusive nightlife environment," my chaffed hairy ass.

If you're excluding someone you're not being inclusive.

It's like saying a Klan meeting is creating a safer and more inclusive cross burning environment.

I seem to recall lawsuits about all men's country clubs.

But it's hilarious that these women went to an all women's nightclub and seemed to still expect men to buy them expensive drinks.

Food Costs

This batch of chili was $42 for the ingredients.

It fills my stock pot.

The last time I made chili, it was $55 for the ingredients.

From my chili making perspective, the economy is doing fine.

Chili Day

Made a batch of my award winning chili today!

Nummy!

Really Sad

Got this message on Facebook:

This is a gun range.

No open carry.

Blink blink blink

Sooner or later, a gun range has to trust you with a loaded firearm that is not concealed.

But I am fed the fuck up with gun shops, shows and ranges who don't seem to trust anyone with a gun that's not sanctified with a badge while they simultaneously pander for your money to sell guns, ammunition and

HOLSTERS THAT ARE FOR OPEN CARRY! 

For fucks sake.

Tank Test Bed Autoloader

Living in the future rocks!

The System Is Broken

Take the sights and charging handle off your M1919A4 and put a cable-pull charger on it and it becomes an M37.

Do the same to an M2HB and it becomes an M48.

At one time small changes totally changed the designation system.

Take an M240, ditch the pull-cable, add sights, pistol grip, bipod and normal charging handle; it becomes an M240G.  Why not M240A1?  Why does changing the bipod and flash hider and changing the muzzle device make it an M240B and not M240A2?

WHY?

Dunno.

Used to be an M4 was a 14.5", flat-top with a 3-round burst.  The M4A1 was the same with full-auto.

There used to be a heavier barrel that SOCOM used in their M4A1's...  But that didn't change the designation at all.

Now that heavier barrel is standard and...  It's an M4A1.

Then there's M16A3.  It used to be an M16A2 that exchanged the 3-round burst for full auto.

The M16A4 was an M16A2 with a flat-top.

Now the M16A3 is an M16A4 with full auto.

So the M16A3 is both an A2 carry handle version AND a flat-top version with full-auto.

Shouldn't an M16A4 with full auto be an M16A5?

I've heard that it's because the parts are interchangeable and configuration can be changed readily.

Then explain why the parts swappable M17 and M18 pistols have different designations!

They're actively not using any system for designating the guns.  It will bite them someday.

Updates To The Updates (Updated)

The base Abrams in my T2K conversion is now the M1A2.

Yesterday it was the M1A1(HA).

History did not stand still while I polished other cannon balls.

Now I need to find out how much an M240 and M240D weigh, because it's different from the commonly found weights for the ground guns.

All without ammo or slings.

M240 - 22.2 lb.

M240C - 22.2 lb.

M240B - 27.1 lb.

M240D - 22.9 lb.

M240E1 - 25.7 lb.

M240G - 25.8 lb.

M240N - 24.1 lb.

From TM 9-1005-313-10 (Nov 2002).

Astonishingly hard to find this information considering where I found it.

Completist

I have GURPS stats for all of the M1 Abrams tank variants I can find.

I have not, yet, done the non-tank versions.

It was interesting to see just how similar the M60A3 and M1(IP) are in protection from KE rounds.

The Chobham armor is a huge upgrade against HEAT rounds though.

GURPS, where pi is three, doesn't distinguish between a lot of the real improvements in thermal imagers or computer systems.  I've given them bonuses to the computer and electronics operations rolls where the systems are intuitive.

Classified

No shit, there I was...

We were finished with gunnery at Graf and were loading the tanks onto the tank transporters.

This is the most nerve wracking thing I've ever done with a tank because you cannot see where you're going.

The nose of the tank is WAY up in the air and all you can see of the ground-guide* is their hands as you creep past the center of gravity and the bow falls back down to normal.

I hear they replaced the trailers we used with better designs that take more weight and have a shallower angle so you can see what the ground-guide is telling you better.

So...

With the nose in the air, hands just barely peeking above the bow, sliding back in the seat...  There's a strong temptation to pull oneself up to see better.

The only thing to pull on is the steering bar.

Me?  I'd listened to the pre-load brief and adjusted my seat so I didn't slide back and could still see.

But someone from 1st platoon didn't.

They pulled themselves up on the steering bar and managed to gun it AND steer hard to the left!  Now there's an M1(IP) on its side next to the tank transporter trailer.

Worse, the impact tore open the front skirt section and the Chobham armor within was exposed for all to see.

I seen't it!

We all got rounded up, once a tarp was put over the exposed, and classified, armor, and got briefed on how we never saw that.

Everyone in the battalion knew 1st platoon had dumped a tank and exposed the armor.  So, of course, everyone asked, "what'd you see?"

We were sworn to secrecy and we kept the secret!  It did not stop us from making shit up. 

Our favorite story was how there was a pink, toothpaste-like material in there and that was the secret.  "I saw the pink goo oozing out!"

Or we mentioned that it was just sand in there.

One guy said it was Styrofoam with black flecks.

I sure hope we messed with the Soviet espionage efforts! 

* A ground-guide is a person on the ground giving the driver hand signals to maneuver the tank in tight spaces or with precision because the driver cannot see where they are going. 

How Thick

The protection of the Abrams has gone up more than once.

The M1 has the thinnest.

M1(IP) and M1A1 have the first upgrade.

M1A1(HA) gets 1st gen DU added.  Without adding mass, I note.

The heavy common gets 2nd gen DU.

M1A2 SEP v1 gets 3rd gen DU.

The line of sight thickness gets thicker from M1 to M1(IP) on the turret.  We noticed because it was harder to get out of the driver's hole.

The question is, how much protection does the line of sight protection provide?

Because this is for a game, I'm not actually looking for the real numbers.

There's a War Thunder page that seems to say that OG Chobham armor is 3x LOS thickness for KE rounds and about 5x for HEAT.

That same War Thunder page misses that the LOS thickness of the IP and A1 turret front changed.

Selecting from more than one online source...  The turret face has:

M1 should have 400mm RHAe from KE and 700mm RHAe from HEAT.  DR 1,100L.

M1(IP) and M1A1 should have 450mm RHAe from KE and 900mm RHAe from HEAT.  DR 1,240L.

M1A1 (HA) should have 610mm RHAe from KE and 1,050mm RHAe from HEAT.  DR 1,680L.

M1A1 (HC) should have 940mm RHAe from HE and 1,320mm from RHAe from HEAT.  DR 2,590L.

M1A2 SEP v1 should have 960mm RHAe from KE and 1,620mm from HEAT.  DR 2,645L.

I might have to make some changes to my T2K conversion in light of this!

How Many Of These Myths Are There?

Widner's did an article about how shooting out the tires doesn't work like Hollywood, and thus not like how most people think it should.

Linky dinky.

Anyone who's watched a live cop show has seen how long it takes spike strips to flatten a tire and seen that it will still run on the rims for a bit.

But the rims don't give a lot of traction or control...

Shooting out the tires could cause a car to do far more damage than the driver is trying to inflict.

Artwork Differs

In the US Army Vehicle Guide the "M1A2 Abrams III 'Giraffe'" turret is clearly inspired by the Teledyne armored gun system.

This is not at all the direction the Tank Test Bed was heading, but it was probably still classified when GDW wrote the original game so they went with what the Army Green Book was speculating.

But the remote turret in the artwork of the NATO Vehicle Guide's "Leopard III" looks a lot more like what the TTB had, if a bit taller.

The M1 TTB:

Teledyne Armored Gun System:

Yes, that looks familiar, it's the same turret and gun as the Stryker MGS.

Abrams This Time

The mighty M1!

There's a lot of sub-variants.

1979: The OG M1 with the 105mm gun.  58 tons.

1983: M1 Tank Test Bed.  3-man crew in hull.  Unmanned, remote, 120mm turret.  45 tons.

1984: The M1(IP) "improved performance" which got thicker turret armor and a bustle rack.  60 tons.

1985: M1A1 with the 120mm gun.  This is often called the M1A1(RA) for regular armor.  63 tons.

1988: M1A1(HA) "heavy armor" with DU plates inside the not-actually-Chobham-anymore armor.  63 tons.

1990: M1A1(HC) "heavy common" 2nd gen DU plates.  69.5 tons.

1992: M1A2 an M1A1(HC) with commander's independent thermal sight (CITS), new commander's weapon station, many electronic upgrades.  69.5 tons.

1995: M1A3 fictional development of the TTB speculated for Twilight: 2000.  Called M1A2 Abrams III "Giraffe" in game.  60.6 tons.

***Twilight: 2000 Cutoff Date***

1999: M1A2 SEP Upgraded gunner's sight, 3rd gen DU.  69.5 tons.

1999: M1A1(D) "digital" M1A1(HC) with new electronics from the M1A2 SEP, only 2 battalions worth made.  63 tons.

2006: M1A1 (AIM v1) M1A1 refurbished and significantly upgraded.  Most sold to Australia and later given to Ukraine.  63 tons.

2006: M1A1 (SA) or (AIM v2) Morrocan export version, similar to the AIM v1.  Also M1A1 (SA-UKR) for Ukraine export.  67.6 tons.

2006: M1A1 (FEP) "firepower enhancement package" AIM v2 for USMC M1A1(HC).  69.5 tons.

M1A1 (M) Iraqi standard armor variant.

2008: M1A2 SEPv2 Commander's weapon station replaced with CROWS, electronic upgrades, air conditioning, upgraded thermal optics.  71.2 tons.

2017: M1A2 SEPv3 Massive electronics and comms upgrade.  Many changes to make maintenance easier.  Better armor.  APU.  Reactive armor capable.  Airburst ammo.  M1A2T, M1A2R and M1A2K regular armor versions for Taiwan, Romania and Kuwait.  73.6 tons.

2025: M1A2 SEPv4 Cancelled upgrade to Gen3 FLIR for CITS and gunner.  Better sensors for fire control.  Laser detector sensors.  New smoke grenade launchers.

2026: M1E3 3-man crew in hull.  Unmanned, remote, 120mm turret.  Remote weapons station on turret roof.  SEPv4 levels of electronics and defensive countermeasures.  Goal of 60 tons.

Done With Going Out Today

The Snowbirds are heeeeeerrrrrrrre!

But what's made me decide that today is a good day to stay in now that my errands are done was the Tesla minivan that cut across three lanes of traffic, plus a right hand turn lane, to get into a left hand turn lane without any regard to traffic and caused a three car pile up behind me.  I was lucky that I was in the middle lane and the person right behind me was paying attention when I had to stab the brakes.

The left lane, though, wasn't so lucky because the Tesla driver slammed her brakes HARD to get into the turn lane and the car she cut off got rear ended for their trouble.  And the car that rear-ended them got sandwiched.

Then there's the old people at the shopping center who appear to be trying to commit suicide by waiting until I'm almost there to jump in front of the car from the curb.  Suck it old people!  I'm on to you!

I managed to make it home despite it all, but man are the emergency vehicles out in force this afternoon.

PS:  Heard a rapid string of gunfire from somewhere south of the house...  No sirens yet.

Suffering Fan

It's gonna be very cold for Florida tonight.

The only TV that has an antenna that gets the station playing the hockey game is on the back porch.

We're gonna be sitting back there, bundled up, watching.

It'll be like going to a live game up north!

Well Said

 

There Are Two Times

If you're pissing off the US military there's two clear things to look for.

First, if you're in an active firefight and the US troops pull way back and start filming your position.

Second is when every single plane in the air shuts off their ADS-B transponder.

These are signs that things are about to go south for you.

If the phones still work, it's an EXCELLENT time to surrender. 

Marketing Fail?

I'm on Atlantic Firearms email list.

They frequently send me links to items I might like.

They are never in stock.

Not even if I click the link the moment the email arrives.

To say that this makes it hard to make a purchase is a gross understatement.

On the plus side, it's sure easy to fight temptation this way. 

I Had No Idea

A long, long, time ago: I borrowed a book from Gerb.  <-- He is missed every day.

I don't remember what about it made me ask to borrow it, but I did.

I remember enjoying it then returning it and, basically, forgetting all about it.

Only to be reminded of it in the comments at a political blog.

The book was "Tuf Voyaging" by George RR Martin.

Yes, THAT George RR Martin.

I can now say that I've read a GRRM book and enjoyed it.

This had been true for... uh... decades.  I think I borrowed it before I went into the Army.  I just didn't realize it because I never made note of whom wrote the book and I'd even forgot the title. 

Almost

I am nearly in this picture!  I took a picture of the picture in my copy of Tankograd American Special No. 3044 "REFORGER 88: Certain Challenge."

That's my tank on the right edge of this photo.  I was standing on the turret watching 1/4 Cav pass through during REFORGER '88.

The photographer took pictures of me standing there, but I didn't make the book...

Coincidence

Shooting News Weekly posted an article about shoulder holsters yesterday too.

I didn't find out until after I'd posted and saw a link to the article from Instapundit.

Great minds and all.

Lemme Say It Another Way

They recorded over $700 million in cash being taken from the US to Somalia.

And didn't even ask where the money came from.

But a guy who can prove that his business did just less than $10k a day got legally harassed for years for "structuring" withdrawals?

Anarcho-Tyranny.