Interview Meme

1: What would your ideal vehicle be, if money and other constraints of reality were no object?

Something that flies, fast. And has really long range. Like an TF-8E Crusader trainer. That would be OK.

2: Which is your favorite author, and why?

Heinlein. I enjoy his writing style and his presentation of his worlds was always interesting to me.

3: Other than where you are, where in the world would you like to live?

Mecca. Because if I could live there, Arabic would be as important to daily life as ancient Greek. Actually, I love the desert. I don't know why, it's just a neat place to me. I could live just about any desert place.

4: What were the things you liked most and least about your time in the military?

I liked most going to the ranges and shooting the main guns. Thrilling. I liked least the endless stupid make-work tasks that pervade combat arms when not in the field.

5: You have just won the biggest lottery prize in the history of the United States. What do you do with the money?

First, pay off all the mundane things like the house and other debts. Second, I have no idea. Answering this is along the lines of "What would you do with super powers?" Which I think is a lot more likely than winning the lottery.

Now, to continue the game...

If you want to play with this meme, leave me a comment saying "Interview me."

I will respond with five questions so that I can get to know you better. Depending on our degree of acquaintanceship, they may be superficial or fairly probing.

The person I've interviewed will update his or her LJ with answers to my questions.

My interviewee will include these rules and an offer to interview someone else in their answer.

When others comment asking to be interviewed, my interviewee will ask them five questions.

Question

At what point to you say, "fuck it," and throw in the towel?

Last week, I called Del-Ton to order one Stag Arms and one DPMS lower receiver. They didn't have DPMS, would Double-Star be fine? Sure, Marv didn't care.

I give them the card information, give them the name of the FFL who had agreed to receive the shipment.

And waited.

And waited.

Today I call Del-Ton. No fax from the FFL, Cole's Gun Shop in Clearwater. Betty at Del Ton says she will call them. She does. They are clueless. Oh, by the way, they're out of Stag now too.

I call Cole's, talk to "Tiny". He promised he will fax it tonight. "You said that last week too, what's wrong with right now?" He promises he will fax tonight. I don't believe him anymore.

I call Del-Ton back. Talk to Betty again. Cancel the order.

NOW I am pissed.

I had really wanted to get this project going again. Now it looks like it never will.

An Excellent Read

How To Build A Cheap AR In 101 Easy Steps

Mommy Update

They determined that mom did not have Colitis, but a bacterial infection. Once that was identified, they put her on antibiotics and she is feeling much much better. They’ve poked and prodded and she’s a little bruised, but says she definitely feels better. Due to all of the poking, they tried to put a PIC line in. Their first attempt in her left arm was unsuccessful, so she has this in her right arm now. There is a possibility that she has a blood clot in her left arm, so today she received an ultrasound on that arm and we are awaiting the results. Sunday she got her first solid food in 4 days and was very happy about that.

Still in the hospital though...

Someone Took A Lot Of Time Translating This To A Wiki

http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/GURPS_Weapons#Guns_.28LMG.29

You know you've arrived when people are making it easier for people to get to the work you donated to them.

Didja Know

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the flag raising on Mt Suribachi?

Spiritual Conflict

Dead Link

I read that. Here's what I think is the money quote, "[Ahmed] Rushdie, a professor in Penn's Near Eastern Language and Civilizations Department and a board member of Masjid Al-Jamia, says the move raises serious issues for Muslims in the area - under Islamic law, it is illegal for Muslims to consume alcohol."

THEN

DON'T

DRINK

ANY

DON'T

BUY

ANY

Gee, that was simple wasn't it? YOUR religion proscribes YOUR behavior, NOT mine. Your imaginary friend says, "no booze for you," then you don't buy any. I must be some sort of Islamic scholar or something to see this where a mere Muslim doesn't.

And this also touches on something the hardcore religious get wrong time and again. You score points with Mr Imaginary by RESISTING temptation, not by eliminating all sources of it. If there is no temptation, there are is no test of faith and conviction. READ YOUR DAMN HOLY BOOKS! I'm a Godless atheist and _I_ have read three different versions of Christian bible and a translation of the Koran. Wanna bet that's a lot more than the typical person sitting in the pews?

Mommy's Sicker

In addition to cancer, my sister sent me this...

"Mom is in the hospital again, this time fighting some severe abdominal pain. At first everyone thought it was her appendix, but after she convinced them that that had been removed a long time ago, they started searching for another cause (some of the younger Dr.s had to be reminded that appendix don't grow back - she had fun with that). At this point, they suspect Colitis, which is basically ulcers in your large intestine, but they haven't given that as the official diagnosis yet and therefore don't have a prescription for a solution.

The Dr.s and nurses suspect she will be in the hospital over the weekend. She is getting pain medication intraveniously. Mom has never responded to pain medication and this is no different, even with morphine, the pain remains. The Dr.s don't think that the new chemo drugs she is on are causing the abdominal pain; this is a separate problem."

Well, fucking joy.

Quote Of The Random Interval

"Tis true that the pen is mightier than the sword, but far more have died for want of a sword than will die for lack of a pen." -- Curtis Mohr

About That AR

Further research has revealed that it just can't be afforded.

Steering away from the lowest price will do that, even if you are avoiding shoddy workmanship and materials by selecting the higher price.

This rapidly changed from a $550 per gun to $750 a gun. And that crosses the line from "worth it" to "why bother". Especially since complete guns are available for just a smidgen more.

Coupled with the legal requirements and their associated fees, it stops being profitable almost instantly.

Oh yeah, the bills didn't miraculously disappear. Still gotta pay to have luxuries like food.

The research was fun though. It's a pity there isn't more to look up.

Advanced orders and cash would change the entire dynamic... Want to get in on the ground floor of a pre-IPO venture in the lucrative gun making market?

Call Your Congressweasels

Tell them that you would be very pleased if HR1022 died in committee.

It's especially important if your Congressweasel is a Blue Dog Democrat. Remind them that we're serious about this shit.

Full On Geeking Out

300 is going to be in theaters on March ninth.

Frank Miller is damn good, and Hollywood is finally figuring out that the source material sold for a reason so messing with it is a bad plan. Sin City proved that comics were a visual medium and translate well to film. 300 looks like it will too!

The battle is justly famous, I only know the glossy details and not the whole thing, but it's the source of some of my favorite lines, "Μολὼν Λαβέ," this was supposedly Leonidas' reply to the Persians when told that if he would lay down his arms the Spartans could leave in peace. It means, "come and take them!" It's the great grand-daddy of, "from my cold-dead hands".

The one liners from the graphic novel are in the trailers, "Our arrows will blot out the sun!" "Then we will fight in the shade."
"Give them nothing! Take from them, everything!"

The story focuses on the heroism and handily ignores a lot of unsavory things about Sparta, but what the hey? In many ways, including the unsavory, Sparta is the true progenitor of the American Spirit, not Athens.

A New Manifesto!

From "The Van Hoffmann Bro's Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness" BUY YOURS TODAY!

What Guys Know About Women

"A man needs a woman, but a man does not need a woman who needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Also, women aren't as crazy about this Earth stuff. The facts are plain at any big newsstand rack - countless titles, increasingly narrowcast to the pursuits and passions of men - these in turn augmented by thousands of newsletters, events, and clubs. In contrast stands the inch-thick woman's magazine, filled with fashion, perfume and makeup ads. These are interests completely alien to the men of the Earth. The covers of these magazines invariably feature some incredible model with her breasts falling out. If these are woman's magazines, then who are these breasts for? We can't figure it, but it seems pretty clear that this whole beauty business is geared toward impressing other women, not attracting men. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to have much to do with Earth. It is illustrative of one of the principle communication problems between the sexes. Earth men feel that they are pursuing the natural course for living on Earth and have trouble holding in equal regard those who do not. The wife, therefore, who begrudges the Earth man his occasional fishing trip is not only being an unnecessarily selfish nuisance, but is also interfering with the natural order. In contrast, the wife who understands and encourages the Earth man's necessary forays is a gal and a goddess - highly wondrous but increasingly rare, thanks to the meddling of today's PC liberal clueless killjoys and other wayward muck-ups."

Simplifying My Life

Today's frustration at Bill Jackson's has cemented it.

No more gun stuff. When it started becoming work to go shooting, it stopped being fun. It's also a ton more comfortable with my shirt tucked in and the gun in the safe at home.

This made me think of some other useless things in my life.

Gaming. Who am I kidding? I don't game anymore. No need to waste any more time or money on it.

Cars. Toys for the idle rich. I need basic transportation I can rely on. That can be slow and ugly, can't it. No more money for fast and pretty.

Computers. Now that I am not gaming and have graduated college, I need a computer about as much as Paris Hilton needs more publicity. I have three. Today the laptop and iMac get shut down and may never be restarted. The desktop will continue until it dies, and I don't have any intention of replacing/repairing it.

Cell phone. For the active person who's on the go! My polar opposite, in fact. If you get my voice mail without a ring, guess what? It's off and I am home.

It Just Keeps Getting Funnier

Cancel or Allow

I Just Noticed Something

Have you ever wondered how an obvious nut like Hitler got elected? Ever wonder how that process worked?

Sit back and watch Hillary get elected and UNDERSTAND.

And believe it or not, this does not equate her with Hitler except on the score that lots of people don't like them (at election time) and they got elected anyway.

Update: April 23, 2014.  Turns out I was right about the path, but not the actor.  Obama certainly is treading the path of Fascism.

Like You Know And Stuff

US Troops Are Mercenaries

I've heard that before.

From Soviet propaganda when I was stationed in Germany.

I never imagined, while standing the line there, that the socialism I was ready to fight would just sneak past and become one party in my home political system.

Remind Me Again

Remind me again why public school teachers are being paid at all.

Listen Up Fuck-Knockers

It is possible to disagree about HOW something is being done and still feel that it NEEDS to be done.

My Iraq analogy. We feel that we should have been shooting people and blowing things up rather than arresting people and knocking gently and asking, pretty please, can you come out and be arrested.

Essentially, I disagree with the means, not the ends.

NEVER EVER think my disagreement with the means to the end make me support running away.

My dumbass congresscritters are all missing the damn point. We want to WIN. Kill all the damn foreigners you want. Don't care about them anymore. Not sure we ever did.

Same goes for Mexicans by the way. Mexican-Americans that have done the naturalization process, they are AMERICANS now and my fellows. Mexicans that didn't bother with even a visa, shoot all you want. Put their heads on pikes at the border as a warning to others.

I no longer give half a shit about the hurt feelings of people who don't give a damn about mine.

I used to think we'd have a civil war over the gun thing. I no longer think that. It's going to be about the borders and the fact that the USA has a culture of its own. Cultural Americans are going to DEMAND that people who live here join, leave or die.

And we are actually a pretty tolerant bunch. You need time to pray? Take ten, go right ahead. Want to smoke? Feel free. Want to own a gun? Cool! What caliber? Want to own an SUV? Hey, I'm moving next Tuesday... Want a hot rod? How fast does it go?

I heard over and over again how the Republicans were going to do a holocaust on gays and ban abortion. They had the executive and legislative branches for six years and not one law was passed.

I often replied that the Democrats would ban guns. 1934 GCA, 1968 GCA, Brady and AWB all passed and signed by Democrats. Where is the equivalent legislation for abortion and homosexuality?

I am not pleased at all with the Republicans either, I'm looking at you McCain. Reagan signed the Firearm Owners Protection (HA!) Act in '86.

McCain-Feingold was bipartisan. Joy. With all the things the media thinks of as protected by the First Amendment, they completely miss the ENTIRE FUCKING POINT TO IT! Being free to speak politically was exactly why the people who wrote the US Constitution and Bill of Rights included it! We have been very liberal with this freedom because one can take the position that any speech can be political speech. So 'Piss Christ' is as protected as publishing a list of things about McCain I don't like on October 31st in an election year. Don't believe me? Go read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers.

While there you will also discover the Second Amendment really does mean any damn gun I want. You will learn that the commerce clause was for direct commerce and not third party six times removed transactions. Careful reading also reveals that Unconstitutional is illegal and should be ignored by the populace.

Gunsmithing

The Lovely Harvey's shotgun is at the gun smith awaiting news on if it can be repaired. The smith is confident that new wood can be found.

For those scoring at home it's a W.H. Davenport, Acme Model 1896 in 12ga. I've never heard of them either. It's very similar to a Steven's break-open single, but not quite. We're hoping that a Steven's stock blank will work OK and we'll be in business.