31 March 2017

Updated Information

I used CCI "TNT"® Green™ 30 gr at 2,050 fps to figure out my GURPS stats for .22 WMR from a Savage 93F.

The thing is, Hornady's VMAX 30gr is more representational of .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire.

That's tearing along at 2,300 fps.

Using Douglas Cole's spreadsheet we get 2.91 dice calculated and with the ±10% rule that's 2.62 to 3.2 dice or 2d+2 pi-, 3d pi-, or 3d+1 pi-.

The 5.7x28mm 28gr FMJ round at 2,550 fps gets 4d pi- from a 16" P90S. (GURPS: High Tech 4e p. 126).  However... it calculates to 3.12 dice with a fudge range of 2.81 to 3.43 or 3d-1 pi-, 3d pi-, or 3d+2 pi-; so for this round Mr Cole is about 2 points low.

Using Mr Cole's calculator, .22 WMR is about a point less powerful than 5.7x28mm.

Going from the High Tech stats, that would give 4d-1 pi- for ball ammo.  I've also upped the damage of a 1-1/8" barreled NAA Mini to 2d-1 pi- and a 5-1/2" barreled Ruger Single Six to 2d+2 pi-.

Against an unarmored torso 4d-1 pi- is 1-11 points of damage.

Hollow points would be 4d-1(0.5) pi.

Using hollow-points against our coyote from here, we do 3-23 raw damage.  Minus one because the armor modifier of 0.5 gives DR 1 to unarmored targets which means that 2-22 penetrates.  Against HP 7, that's two death rolls for a body hit at max damage.  An average hit of 13 means 12 penetrates almost getting a death roll on a body hit.

This seems consistent with what I've read from people hunting with such rifles.

Supply And Demand

I found a vid...



He mentions production numbers, but misses that a lot of these guns died in the wars they were made for.

He also fails to account for increased demand which is the real driver of the price increases.

But it's called supply and demand for a reason.  The supply of everything except the SKS is fixed because they're no longer being made.  However, even though China still makes their Type 56 Rifle, they cannot import them into the US, so that fixes the supply that matters to us.  Mosin imports are likewise blocked.

The guns mentioned are:

German marked K.98k
M1 Garand
SKS
M1 Carbine
Mosin-Nagant 91/30

The first two on this list are subject to people who must have every variation and color.  Lots of people have multiple examples.  If you can afford more than one, you can certainly afford to outbid most people on a single example.  Every time someone is willing to pay more for a single example, it tends to raise the prices on all examples.

This is demand in a nut shell.

Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

The SKS is a tougher nut to crack.  He shows a Yugo PAP 59/66A1, but talks about the total supply of SKS's.

The Mosin thing caught everyone by surprise, to be honest.  The things were ubiquitous.  So common you started to suspect that ATF had made it a requirement for having an FFL.  "Everything seems to be in order, but where's your 91/30?"  They were common and the prices were set pretty low because a. there are a bunch of them and b. the only people who really wanted one were people who couldn't afford a better rifle in one bite.

Cheap guns are gateway drugs.  Once you have that first, cheap, gun you get the itch for something better.  Even when you have an expensive gun, the monkey on your back whispers in your ear about the grass being greenest over the septic tank.

In essence, prices might come down some, but probably won't recover back to pre-panic levels.  There's gobs of new shooters out there thanks to the panicking.  I know this because ranges we used to have the run of, now have wait times.

Something else to bear in mind about the price of guns is inflation.  With a real inflation rate pushing 12%, some of the "overpriced" guns mentioned have actually lost value if you calculate the purchase price parity with even 8 years ago.

30 March 2017

Doing It With Style

Around here, it is de rigueur for gun shop employees to open carry a pistol.

Today we stopped into one of the local ranges and the guy behind the counter is wearing a stag stocked, nickel plated SAA in a cross draw cowboy rig.

Probably not very practical, but definitely has a sense of style to it!

Fashion Accessory


Willard generously gave Marv and I some genuine made for an AK slings today!


The leather ends are a little wide for the sling loop on the gas block, but they seem to work well enough.

Marv got the color choice and incorrectly chose green leaving me with the proper tan one.  He's got no sense of fashion at all!

29 March 2017

The Illusion Of Literacy

Watching an intrusive ad on YouTube for Grammarly.

The pretty new hire cannot write intelligibly without her digital crutch.

This is the kind of person I'm not hiring, because it's correcting not just spelling, but basic syntax and grammar.  If she can't write, she probably cannot speak coherently either, thus failing the interview.

Sticken Zie Piggen

Got an East German AKM Type 1 bayonet for Mollie.  The DDR didn't invest any imagination into their bayonet and simply copied the Soviet 6X3.



It mounts upside down.  No wonder the Soviets lost The Cold War!


I would say it's a 3/4 scale M9 bayonet, but it predates the M9 by quite a few years.


We copied pretty much all of the features...

The bayonet is 9.6 oz. and the scabbard 6.6 oz.

AIM-9X

Some video of the latest and greatest American heat-seeker.



Wow.

Surge

I've been reading some that suppressor makers are experiencing a bit of a lull in orders since 41F went into effect and that many are blaming people waiting on the Hearing Protection Act.

Some are blaming the extra tedium of submitting under 41F.

I've been following a couple of places where they're tracking how long it's been taking to get a Form 1 or 4 processed...

We're starting to see July 2017 2016 submissions approved now.  That's a nine month wait.

There were a steadily increasing number of submissions from when 41P was announced and a huge surge of submissions just before the deadline, wait times seem to be increasing by about five days per calendar day of submission!

I suspect at least a few, perhaps many, are waiting for the surge to be processed to assess the wait times before buying.

28 March 2017

McThag's Legal Drama Day 28

Had a hearing today about the no-contact order.

It has been lifted and I am cleared to return home.  In fact, I am posting this from home!

The State's Attorney has indicated they are going to file a "no information" and that means they're officially not filing charges.

The only hitch is that will take another two weeks to get the requisite signature from their Clearwater office.  But it's two weeks I can be HOME!

I am so far behind on The Boy's new procedures, but they're simple.  Just tedious until they become habit.

It's good to be home!

27 March 2017

Why So Many Guns

Because one is none.

Two is one.  But one is none, so two is none.

Three is just one plus two, which is none plus none, so three is none.

Four is just two times two, which is none times none, or none.

Five is just two plus three, (none plus none) or one (none) plus four (none).  Five is none.

And it just keeps progressing from there.

Mathematically proven!

You cannot own enough guns to have one gun.  So all that money on guns, you spent it on nothing.

Fear No Man!

The Secrets of Llap Goch.

h/t Willard.

26 March 2017

How Bloody Fast?

Spring Hill Man Dies In Motorcycle Crash

He was going fast enough, when he t-boned the Civic, to FLIP the car on its roof.

This is not a 55 mph (the speed limit) impact!

25 March 2017

Correction

The Gabapentin bottles say "for nueropathy" not fibromyalgia.

Still doesn't change the side effects of the drugs, but it's a different source of the pain, perhaps more optimistic because it's from an injury and not out of the blue.

It's apparently fairly common for severe injuries to produce nueropathy later in life.  It's also good that it shouldn't spread.

I Don't Go To Meetings

The doc prescribed Gabapentin for my shin pain.

Gabapentin and booze are a problem.

Some people say no real problem.

Some are saying they've had blackouts.

Some are saying they've become violently ill from drinking.

With my legal issue, I don't want to be taking something that will lead to becoming blackout drunk.  I don't drink to that level when I drink because I have before.  I don't like the [DISCONTINUITY] aspect of getting that drunk.

But I don't drink to get drunk,  I like the flavors and nuances of good beer and liquor.  I like the intermingling of flavors from cocktails.

I do enjoy a mild buzz.

In short, I am not ready to completely stop drinking.

A problem with drugs like Gabapentin is they're not take as you need.  They're a build up a level in your bloodstream and maintain it type drugs that also have severe effects if you stop taking them.  So you can't just skip a few doses to have a night out.  You'd have to wean off, have your night out, then build back up.

That takes weeks.

I am also very concerned about the warning, "Gabapentin may cause vision changes, clumsiness, unsteadiness, dizziness, drowsiness, sleepiness, or trouble with thinking. Make sure you know how you react to this medicine before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are not alert, well-coordinated, or able to think or see well. If these side effects are especially bothersome, check with your doctor."

I am definitely not ready to stop being a shooter or a driver.

Frankly there's been just a few too many changes in my life lately to assimilate so quickly.

24 March 2017

Waste Of Time

The VA cannot figure out why my legs still hurt.

Their best guess is fibromyalgia?  I'm not convinced that's even a real disease.

I have a new drug that I don't want to start on.

I have been told by eligibility and travel that my bone scan isn't shown as service connected, so no reimbursement for travel.  They say the doctor has to mark it.  The doctor says there's no place to mark it.  Nobody knows who can fix it, but they damn sure know it's NOT their job.

For a shining moment of hope, I'd forgotten it's va.gov...  Stupid me.

I have appointments with an as yet unnamed "primary" doctor at the Palm Harbor clinic.

Since it does no good to talk to these fucks, I think I will just skip it.

By the way, the Disabled American Veterans office at Bay Pines is only open 9-noon daily.  That is so completely convenient!

Fuck this shit.  They broke me and they can't fix me or want to deal with me.

A Crude Example Of How That Different Koran Could Have Happened

Hebrew and Arabic don't have letters for vowels.

Modern Hebrew and Arabic have "punctuation" to lend context to the reader to decipher the vowels.

Thus, in ancient Arabic...

Hbrw nd Rbc dn't hve lttrs fr vwls.

Mdrn Hbrw nd Rrbc hv "pncttn" t lnd cntxt t th rdr t dcphr th vwls.

By only adding vowels, how much can you change those sentences.  Go for it in the comments!

Remember When I Said There Were Different Versions

Outage

The internet at Marv's died at 0100 this morning.

Because of how Frontier FIOS is set up, that also took out his phone and television service.

It came back all on its own at 1000.

He did spend about half an hour listening to the "we're all busy, please wait" message for about 15 minutes before we sought pre-recorded entertainment.

23 March 2017

Former Friend

FuzzyGeff's brother and I used to be pretty good friends.

Now I can barely stand him.

I had an epiphany about it just now.

We both went out into the world and promptly learned different lessons from very different schools.

He's no perception of how thin the veneer of civilization is, having never really peered beneath it.

I saw that underbelly.  It's not a happy place.  It's terrifying.

He's never and he's not afraid of kicking at the rickety scaffolding holding civilization up.

Me?  I am loathe to move even the smallest brace lest it prove to be the keystone of the entire edifice.

It's why I stopped attacking the idea that Western Civilization is, at its core, a Christian society.  The framework of Christian values is what shores up the whole thing, and one dismantles it at civilization's peril.

Yes, there's some decorative and non-load bearing parts that can be discarded (we've done so before) but we need to start looking hard at what's essential to our Civilization and be absolutely certain to never jar those mounts loose.  We might discover that some of the non-load bearing items we've thrown away were, in fact, redundant load paths placed there in case of a failure.

22 March 2017

This Has Happened Before It Will Happen Again

As I watch the world do nothing about militant Islam, I am oddly reminded of two other historical times where the world took a long time taking care of an obvious problem.

The two golden eras of piracy.

Piracy was bad for business, but difficult to stamp out because during those two times it served the national interests of at least one of the major players.

It was when the major players had kissed and made up, ignoring pirates for what they were was a diplomatic problem to say the least.

When it was decided that letting pirates run free was no longer in any of the major powers interest, piracy was gone in a virtual instant.

In both cases, they declared it was OK to just kill them on sight.  No arrests, trials or other niceties.

Civilization exacts a high price from those whom choose to live outside it when it decides that everyone outside can be killed out of hand.

I think we might be near reaching that point with Islam.  No Muslim nation is a member of Western Civilization.  They come pre-outsided and pre-othered.

All it would take is summoning the will to eradicate them.

Every terror attack stiffens the resolve and makes common purpose among the peoples of nations being attacked.  People are starting to see that civilizational conflicts only end one way.

All that really needs be done is to convince the non-Islamic nations to hang back and let it happen, and many of them are OK with that.

Or Islam could reform.  Don't laugh.  There's scholastic evidence that there isn't a single Koran, but several versions.  This is actively suppressed, but if you dig around you'll find the references.  If a less warlike version of Islam from a "lost" copy could gain ascendancy, then perhaps they could live as neighbors.

If not, well one civilization has to die.  I don't think it will be mine.

Out In The Open

Something all over the Bay Pines VA medical center are signs that say, "The Price of Freedom Is Visible Here."

In my dealings of the past two weeks I think the medical staff takes that to heart and the administrative drones don't.

I've gotten helpful advice from several people whose name badges identified them as doctors.

My cane is too long, for example, and an ortho doctor explained how to figure out the correct length to shorten it to.

I had a surgeon track down where the lab was for me, because the one on the first floor had closed and she was positive there was another place to have blood drawn.

Because the parking lot should be a solid handicapped space, they run a shuttle golf cart around asking we we'd like a lift.  The drivers never fail to thank the veterans for our service.

The contrast with Des Moines location is stark.

Medical Advance

My first bone scan was at "Second G" hospital in Landstuhl, West Germany.

Boy, that dates it, doesn't it?

It was an injection and I had to force down 2 liters of water in three hours before they had me stand between two plates and "hold very still".  The results were printed on a film much like an x-ray.

The second one was at the Des Moines VA hospital.

Again an injection, but sit on a table and put my legs in front of a single plate.  The results were recorded on 3/4" video tape.

Today, still with the injections, but now I lay in a CT scanner.  The results are recorded digitally and available instantly.

The first one was extremely draining physically and I had a feeling of malaise for a couple days after.

Why Are You So Afraid

Chuck, Dianne; why are you apparently so terrified of a Supreme Court nominee who expresses an adherence to The Constitution as written rather than as a living document?

It's almost as if they know they're doing wrong, and originalist justices stop them.

Government Job? How Could You Tell?

Went in to the travel people to get my travel compensation to find out that while my initial visit to urgent care for my legs was marked "service connected" the appointment today at nuclear medicine was not.

One more thing to straighten out at the next appointment.

21 March 2017

Worming My Way

Asking around a wee bit and I am led to understand that a 10% skeletal disability was intended to be a place-keeper at the time of discharge.

A sort of, "he's fucked because it's going to keep getting worse, but he's just bad enough to discharge right now, but otherwise not too messed up."

If that's true then I really REALLY want the bastards who told me to "gut it out" in Des Moines to burn in Hell.

Gutting it out is what I've been doing the past 27 years.

I don't like Naproxen 500mg twice a day either.  It does take the edge off, but it leaves a taste in my mouth about an hour after taking it and it really saps my energy.

I looked up how much filthy taxpayer lucre an increase in my percentage would yield.  I'd always assumed that the percentage was a close approximation of your pay for your time/grade.  It's the same rate regardless of time in service and rank.

100% isn't 10x 10% either.  Figure that one out.

I can't tell if The Boy counts towards the calculations either.  Rates of 30% or higher include matrices for spouses, parents, children and A/A spouses.

Just for vanity's sake I want the 70% rating because you become eligible for the spiffy special license plates.  Greed, of course, wants the 100%.  The Wookie in me says I shouldn't suck from the taxpayer's teat at all.

I promise that the money spent on my Veteran's Compensation will only be dollars taxed from Hollywood Liberals.

Cherenkov

Assessment


What color is Magpul's plum?






20 March 2017

Rudderless

The Lovely Harvey sent me some pics from home via text message.

I can tell she was home when she took them.

The problem is that the house in the background doesn't seem like MY home now.

This no-contact bullshit has really warped my reality.

I caught myself the other day referring to Home as "Harvey's House" like I'd refer to a friends place.

Maybe it's washing the same six sets of clothes for the third time?

Sproing

Tis the solstice today.

Spring has sprung!

Warmer weather soon to be expected.

Which brings both relief and misery here in Florida.

The Snowbirds go home, and lead starts to melt.

It's Always Cut Funding To The Military

First things first, Snowflake:

Which of these two things is Congress specifically empowered to levy taxes for and allocate funds?

1. The Military.

2. Education.

Think hard.

Next.

Let's talk about the legalized extortion known as unions.

Education has a funding problem.

The problem is the taxpayers have definitely noticed that while spending per pupil has gone up a great deal, test scores have remained flat.  They've also noticed that teacher salaries have gone up, and those scores remain flat.

They've begun to notice that teachers aren't teaching their children things they wish their children to learn.

Those things have evaporated all the sympathy the tax paying citizen had for the poor underpaid teacher.

But the funding problem isn't from overpaying teachers.  It's from over pensioning them.

Teachers tend to fall into the same fellow travelers group as social justice warriors, and thus get favorable mentions from the media about the evil of denying them their fair wages.

What the unions have done is taken advantage of elected officials desperate desire to make the strike and bad publicity go away before it's election time by essentially caving in to the union demands.

That includes lavish pensions.  Pensions that simply do not exist outside of non-government, non-union careers.  Retirement ages can be as low as 44.

Think about that.

Since the average lifespan is pushing 75, that's 20 years of work right out of college then 31 years of retirement at full pay.  Pretty sweet, huh?

Well, there's this thing called inflation, and that means that the pension must write a larger check over time to keep the pensioner in the lifestyle they've become accustomed to.  Which means the pension fund must take in more money over time just to stay on the same financial footing.

Add in that the number of people collecting the pension is increasing faster than the number of people contributing to the fund, that means a lot more money has to be collected to keep up.

People who are looking at working, literally, until they die at their desks, are noticing.  They are becoming resentful.  They are slowly beginning to not give a fuck if a teacher starves to death freezing under an overpass.

Maybe if the teachers were doing an exemplary job teaching their children the things they want them to learn... but alas...

19 March 2017

Good News!

Marv fixed Willard's Yugo AK!


Critical Thinking

Next Stop: The Range

Marv has completed his build!


It tips the scales at a mere 1 lb. 1.2 oz., hardly noticeable hanging out there on the end of the muzzle of a 6.7 lb. gun!

PS: interesting light mount, no?  Primary Arms put rails on top of their scope, so Marv couldn't stand to leave them empty; thus a pistol light becomes a rifle light.  No shadow from the front sight or barrel with it up there either.

Pretty Sparks



This is Marv cutting a piece of titanium tubing to create an expansion chamber for his home-built solvent-trap suppressor for his SBR.

The choice of titanium is to be both a spacer for the first expansion chamber and as a liner to protect the aluminum body from the effects of the muzzle blast from a 10.5" barrel and 5.56x45mm ammo.

For the nitpickers, yes he's got an approved Form 1 for both the carbine and this sound snuffer.

Well Isn't That Interesting

I had always assumed that my service connected disability from my broke-dick legs, would be classified as "orthopedic".

I looked at my paperwork and my disability is listed as "skeletal".

I've also been told I should wander across the compound at Bay Pines and visit the Disabled Veterans of America to talk about upping my disability.  Especially since I'm gimping about with a cane most days.

Too Far

I've been absorbing AK kit build videos.

I think I found a process error Palmetto is making repeatedly.

They are pressing the things onto the barrel too far.

Both Marv and I had to shave off some material from the front of the "fitted" gas tube to get it removable without tools.  This is because the gas block was pressed a tiny bit too far to the rear and the rebate was too deep inside the tube.

Marv's rifle has too much threaded muzzle in front of the front sight, a common complaint.  I think that, this too, was pressed on too far.  Marv's slant brake bottoms out on the muzzle before getting tight against the front sight base.

Vast Sums

While NATO doesn't have a debt account, there's no denying that the US bore the brunt of funding NATO's obligations.

It's also difficult to avoid the economic elephant in the room that most nations of NATO spent more on butter and less on guns while we were buying so much gun.

In Germany's case, there's some exception.

Right after World War Two, NOBODY wanted a rearmed Germany, even if it was partitioned into two smaller nations.

What NATO accomplished was two-fold with regards to Germany.

First it got them rearmed to be at least a credible level to assist in case War Were Declared®.

Second it did so in a framework designed to intertwine Germany's economic interests with the rest of Europe so as to make the idea of cyclically declaring war on France non-viable.

Those economic relationships still hold.

But Germany is no longer really credible with regards to its own defense.  We're still there and still providing much of it.

I think it's a fine idea for them to pay the bill for that service or to stop providing it.

Beaten Zone

This is kind of a GURPS post.

High Tech 3rd Edition for GURPS 3e had rules for attacking an area under the beaten zone.  They were cumbersome and bothersome to use.  Players avoided it like the plague, even though this is how a machine gun is normally employed!

Machine guns are area weapons, not point weapons.

Another issue with the beaten zone rules was there weren't any guidelines at all for determining the size or shape of the area attacked, other than it being an ellipse.

I dug and dug for a good rule of thumb and never really figured one out.

Why, because it's complicated!

The first variable that shows up is in the ammunition.  There's a tolerance range for bullet weight and velocity.  If you put up a target and only had this variable, the hits would string vertically.  Impacts on the ground string in a line along the axis of the barrel.

The next variable is dispersion.  This is gun simply not hitting the same spot between shots.  On a target this creates a pattern that falls within a circle.  On the ground it's a nearly round oval.

Combined, the impact pattern on the ground is an ellipse with the long axis aligned with the direction the barrel is pointed.

The farther from the gun, the bigger the ellipse.

The problem for making a rule of thumb is finding out how much the ammunition tolerances affect bullet impacts and how much dispersion is built into the gun; then calculating the shape of the ellipse.

It's doable, but generally not worth the effort for a game, especially when the rules for using it are so damn irritating!  One roll per target in the zone, per shot fired...  So if there's 4 targets with a RoF 12 gun, you're rolling about 48 times with an effective skill of 9.  The good news is, if you hit, then you roll one time less per hit on the remaining targets.  It's taken an hour to make all the required rolls.

4e has the suppressing fire rules which replace the beaten zone rules and are MUCH easier to use.

Slump

The present doldrums of gun buying aren't my fault!

My rate of purchases didn't really change throughout all the panics.

My post Trump purchases pretty much matched my post Obama rate.

I bought as I had money available and ban threats didn't really affect my decisions.

Only the FAL was bought with even the mention of a potential ban, and that was wild speculation between Harvey and I.

The rest of the pile was simply because I found them interesting.

But I did realize that damn few of my guns were purchased new.

As far as modern guns go, I tend to buy used.  For AR's, while I buy new, I buy new parts not complete rifles.  My last two new guns were the Savages.

You can tell from reading this blog that those were not my last two purchases!

I have not done my part at all in keeping the gun companies alive.

But, then, they haven't really done much in the way of making something I wanted to buy.

17 March 2017

Cross Section



That's pretty darn neat.

Pinch Me

I am not Irish.

I am not Catholic.

I am Scots/English/Norwegian/Italian with a smattering of others, but no Irish.

I am not wearing green.

Bring on the pinches!

McThag's Legal Drama Day 17

The Lovely Harvey and The Boy had their meeting with the State's Attorney and Victim's Advocate today.  What follows is what Harvey related to me.

The Victim's Advocate did not show up.

The arresting deputy and several other deputies who've been involved with The Boy's escapes were present.  They all said hello to The Boy by name and asked how I was holding up.  I'm touched they cared enough to ask!

The Boy was adamant that he wanted his daddy back and that my being gone was stupid.

Harvey had to explain, more than once to them, how his disability worked and managed to catch them in the overly focused questions by demanding context be applied to the answers.

For example: is he ever afraid of me?  Yes.  When?  At Halloween, because of scary masks.

They both demanded that the no-contact be lifted.

They both demanded that since there's nothing to see here, why don't we just end it now?

The State's Attorney said that to get the no-contact removed they'd have to talk to the judge take that "everything is abuse" domestic abuse class and then the judge would consider it.  Oh, by the way the presiding judge is on vacation for a week.

We found out that if nothing is filed or changes, the no-contact comes off at the end of 30 days.

She got the impression that they were going to run out the clock, because they can.

16 March 2017

A Politician?

They renamed Bay Pines Regional VA Medical Center to C. W. "Bill" Young VA Medical Center?

C. W. "Bill" Young did a stint in the National Guard, but he's mostly known for being a politician.

I guess we're out of heroes to name hospitals after now.

Pep Talk

Got to spend some face time with my legal team today.

They briefed The Lovely Harvey over the phone about what to expect from the State's Attorney and the victim's advocate tomorrow.

They think she can handle it.

Harvey thinks she can handle it and the advocate.

The advocate's job is apparently to convince the alleged victim they were abused by defining abuse down so low that mild disagreement constitutes abuse.

Harvey ain't buying it.

They're fairly confident that no charges will be filed and this will all be over with in a week or two.  Hopefully sooner, but don't count on the government moving fast.

14 March 2017

How Did You Spend Your Day

Turns out I do have a friend who works at the VA.

At the C.W. Bill Young Hospital (formerly Bay Pines Medical Center).

She got me straightened out and it turns out I was in the system already.

Got examined, x-rayed, bled and pissed.

Still need to get a bone scan and get a primary assigned.

Progress!

The sad part is I'd done this all before.  And the progress got erased.

Quote Of The Day

I forget where I saw this, but one book had a bureaucracy in hell that required forms to be filled out several times, by hand. One copy is to burn. Not even a ceremonial sacrifice-type burning, just tossed in a regular fire. 
And then it hits me, what I said: V.A. bureaucracy? I've seen worse ... in fiction ... set in Hell.
--FuzzyGeff

13 March 2017

Domestic Violence Injunction

Florida has two different things for a similar effect.

The No Contact Order and the Domestic Violence Injunction.

They're very similar but, for me, have a key difference.

A No Contact Order doesn't encumber my right to own or possess a firearm.

A Domestic Violence Injunction, does.

I'm under a no-contact order.

That's why the judge didn't warn me that I may not possess weapons like she did for so many other defendants at the bond hearing session.

I think it's also a measure of how guilty they think I am in this case.

I've discovered I have several lawyers as friends who're good at explaining, informally of course, how this process works and why they think my chances are excellent for a no-file of charges.

One likened filing charges to a spaghetti dinner.  When it's hot and fresh, you want to dig right in.  The longer it sits and the colder it gets, the less you want to touch it.  He indicated that two weeks without a scheduled arraignment hearing is a good sign that the state's attorney is letting the clock run out on the investigation.

I'd Meant To Get Back To This Earlier

Sabrina exhibited a rather large change in zero when you change from the Black Hills 69gr SMK it was zeroed with and PMC 55gr FMJ.

When I expressed this change in a conversation with Erin and a couple of her minions on Facebook, someone with more know-how than me expressed disbelief that it was as large as I remembered it.

I vowed to get back to the range and confirm it.

Because Black Hills 69gr SMK has the same zero as M855, I'd intended to do the confirmation with the much cheaper and much more available round.

Just in time for all the local ranges to make M855 forbidden.

When I fell back and punted, I couldn't get any new 69gr SMK...

Now I'm in no-contact exile.

But I swear I'm going to get right on it!

12 March 2017

That Explains It

Me: "Wow this website sure likes John Lott."

Uh, because it's HIS website...

Shortest Day Of The Year

Despite having more actual daylight than yesterday, today is shorter by an hour.

Anyone Know Anyone With Some Pull At The VA?

My legs are killing me.

There's just no place to put them or arrange them where they don't hurt.

11 March 2017

Living In The Future

I just got done reading "The Firm" Kindle edition.

Now I can watch the film using Amazon Prime Video.

There's times The Future® rocks.

Avoid Criminal Activity

It's a condition of my release.

Sorry, I needed that 150 mph pass to clear my head.

Medicinal speeding.

Are Laser Bore Sights Useless

Marv's Palmetto AK's sights disagree quite a bit with his laser bore sighter.

Last time I used one, the hits on the paper weren't even close to where the dot landed.

What are your experiences?

10 March 2017

Best Laid Plans

I had planned on regaling you with a range report about my new AK.

Circumstances prevent it.

If things go really pear shaped, this blog will be a place where one learns about the life of a formerly activist gun owner become felon.

After my release.

09 March 2017

Speaking Of Too Much Time To Think

A week of a low-grade panic attack is very exhausting.

Lots Of Time No Data

I have no new information since I walked out the door of the jail a week ago from the powers that arrested me.

I have some reassurance from my lawyer, but nothing since I retained them.

Willard says to not hold my breath.

The 22nd is The State's nominal deadline to file charges.  They've got extensions they can file that can extend that another 120 days.

This could be the longest three weeks of my whole darn life.

So Stressed I Missed The News

Joe Rogers, the co-founder of Waffle House, passed on at 97 years old.

One Hell of a good run, I'd say.

08 March 2017

Gotta Love It

I closed a bank account because the maintenance fees were eating up the funds.  We'd stopped using it and stupidly didn't close it when it changed from free checking to charging a monthly fee if you didn't maintain a non trivial balance or had a regular direct deposit.

PayPal, no matter what I did, would not let me remove that account from them.

Today they sent an email saying that a payment was being applied to my debit card of record because they couldn't bill the bank account that was closed.

In punitive terms they informed me they were removing that account from my PayPal account.

Well, don't throw me in the briar patch B'rer PayPal.

This Program Made Possible Through Generous Contributions By Viewers Like You

Legal retainer, stage one, is paid and The Firm is on the case.

Fingers crossed.

Because there's likely to be associated fees for records and research, please don't hesitate to donate (again for some).

07 March 2017

Somehow It Isn't Theft

When I was arrested I had $113 in my pocket.

When I was released, I was given a prepaid debit card with $98 on it.

$15 just disappeared!

If you used that card as a card, there was a $2.95 a transaction charge.

The salvation was that if you did an "over the counter" transfer at a bank for the full amount on the card, it was not charged a fee (unless your bank charged one).  This is a first-time, one-time transaction.  If you use it at all, you're no longer eligible for the full transfer.

Because ATM machines don't dispense anything but $20 bills around here, if I didn't have a bank to go over the counter with, then I'd have lost $18 in addition to my missing $15 because I could only withdraw $80.

The real trap of this card is if you don't have anyone to pick you up from jail.  There's an ATM in the lobby so you can pay a cab...

It's Hard

It's very difficult to write about gun stuff and advocate for pro-gun stuff when you're staring down the barrel of a felony charge.

It saps all your joie de vivre.

If they don't file charges, there's still probably a mess with my carry permit.

Who knows what else goes on?

At present I've got about a third of the money I need for the lawyer, THANKS! to those who've contributed so far.

I hate to be a broken record, but spread the dang word.  I really need more eyes to see this and hopefully make a donation.

06 March 2017

Five Unbearable Years

We miss you, Lex.

Bad But Not As Bad As Feared

Found me a lawyer who'll take my case for a flat $2,000 for everything right up to an arraignment.

$4,000 more if I have to go to trial.

Ugh.

They don't think I should have been arrested, and figure the charges will be dropped even if no action is taken.

But that won't clear my record.

Paying the lawyer increases the chance that charges are dropped and guarantees the records are sealed and expunged.

Still got my hat out begging for donations.

Fingers crossed.

05 March 2017

Defense Fund

Please spread the word about my legal plight.

Every little bit helps with the attorney and saves us from selling everything we own to pay the lawyer.

A bunch of $10 donations is a good a single large one, and well below most people's "what the heck" threshold.

Not Like TV At All

County Jail was a lot more like the Army than I would have believed.

Some interesting things happened.

I was approached by three guys speaking what was clearly code to see what motorcycle club I was in.  I haven't been a biker for going on 20 years now, so I don't know anyone's secret handshakes.

Kind of cool I still give off the vibe though.

My fellow inmates were astonishingly nice and helpful in finding my way around.  If I could score a pair of ear plugs I think I could do the time with most of my sanity intact.

Like basic training, it's rigidly scheduled.  Most of this rigidity is why it took so long to secure my release once bonded.  Thing A happens at time Y and it takes X minutes per pod.  Only one pod can be open to the central point at a time and there's six pods to a point.

Normally by the time Thing A is done, it's time for B to start then C then...  Releases have to wait for the gaps.

All in all, I'd really rather not go back.  But it's sure not what I expected based on television accounts.

THANKS!

Thank you to everyone who's contributed to my legal defense fund!

I speak with an attorney tomorrow who said, on the phone, "no problem we do this all the time."

That's exactly what you want a professional to say!

Honor Hurts

The Lovely Harvey calls in tears.

The Boy is in an incoherent rage.  He's screaming obscenities.  He's throwing things.  He's hurting himself.  He's screaming threats of further violence at Grandma.

She doesn't know what to do.  He's been like this solid since 1400.  He's taken five (5) [FIVE!!] clonazepam's and isn't even slowed down, normally two would knock his ass out for 12 hours (or more).

I am 35 miles away.

I am prohibited by law to make the 15 minute drive (Corvettes are fast) to get home and help.

I tell her to call 911.

She has and the deputies have been out and he's doing his second Baker Act.  72 hours mandatory this time.  Harvey is inconsolable.  She feels like she's failed him and they're going to take him away to a "never see him again" institution.  It doesn't work that way.  What he's going to get is a full evaluation outside his normal environment.  With blood work fresh from his raging!  This could be the missing key to getting his meds in the right spot.  Fingers crossed.

The deputies got to see him at full steam this time.  I feel guilty thinking that this cannot help but bolster my pending case.

I want to know why he suddenly nosed dived behavior wise since the new year.  It just doesn't make any damn sense.

Sailors Pilots And Prisoners

They're all superstitious types.

A jailhouse superstition I was introduced to is, "don't start a book inside you can't finish," or you will be back to finish it.

Because time is the main thing you have in jail, you become desperate for something to do with it.

So in one afternoon/evening while waiting for my bond I knocked out about 20% of The Firm by John Grisham.

I grabbed a Kindle version almost as soon as I was reunited with my Motox and have been reading the rest of it.  Just in case.

If you've read it... this is going to need no explanation.  If you have not... well read it, it's pretty fast reading and entertaining.

SPOILER ALERT

FBI folks...  you need the dirtier files than Mitch can access as a new associate?  Hows about instead of offering him gobs of money to grab files that he doesn't have access to; you grant immunity then back off for ten years and let him just be a member of the place until he makes partner and let him keep all the wealth he'd accumulate working there.  With the understanding that when he's made partner and ingratiated himself there he rolls over on all the stuff he's NOW able to get at.

When you're bragging about spending billions of dollars and decades to bust this crime syndicate, why aren't you playing the long game?

04 March 2017

Can't Go Home

It's astonishing all the little things that you find you have a want for once you're unable to just go grab them.

03 March 2017

Restraining Order

A restraining order is worth something.

The honor of the person ordered to be restrained.

In the right hands, worth all the money in the world.

In the wrong hand, not worth the paper it's printed (in triplicate) on.

I see, now, how such orders drive people to break them.  There's so many innocuous things that cry to be said.  Things like "don't forget to check the oil" in their car with a slow drip.

Things that, if they're said, break the no contact order.

Persons without honor don't see that they must hold firm and do what they must.  Including replacing an engine months later when things blow over.

The Reason For My Silence

I was arrested!

Felony Domestic Assault On The Elderly or Infirm.

The Boy has violent outbursts and is built like a tank.

On occasion you have to physically intervene to get him in a safe place for a time-out so he can cool off and calm down.

Once confined in the safe place he will scream obscenities for a while and occasionally head-butt things.  And you just kind of have to let him wind down before you can insert yourself into His world again.  Takes between ten minutes and an hour.

Then you check to see what kind of scrapes and bruises he's accumulated, treat as needed and continue your day.

Tuesday I did and while I thought he was sleeping it off, he was going out the window.

He was located about a mile from home by an employee of his school with a gash in his forehead, telling them that I had hit him and caused the injury.  They took him straight to the hospital and he was Baker Acted .

Because of his mental health diagnosis, that triggered a mandatory arrest for me under the Abuse of the Elderly Act.  Hurrah.

While I was in jail, The Lovely Harvey left work to recover The Boy.  His story had already changed.

He's been running off a lot now.  We've been slowly, as finances allow, making the house and perimeter more secure to his flights.  Fixing the fence was part of that.  Adding alarms to the doors was part of that.  But securing his window wasn't...

Sunday he'd run off twice.  Once out the front door while we slept and again from Harvey while they were at Home Depot buying the door alarm kit.

This is on top of four other flights in the previous 30 days.

Monday I grounded him, the first real punishment he'd ever gotten for this.

Tuesday... well you know that one.

Wednesday I spent mostly waiting in County to see the judge and get my bond paid.  Willard and Marvyn went far beyond my assessed value to get my bond paid and waited around for my release.  Court a 1300.  See judge at 1330 and set bond.  They find out where to take the money and wait until 1610 for the system to finally acknowledge that bond had been set.  1615 Bond paid.  2055 I am released.  No contact allowed with The Boy, don't get within some distance of his (MY!) house, don't use third parties to make contact...

This next part is relayed from friends whom I can contact and have talked to Harvey.  By the way, the county thinks her cell phone is his contact information so I can't even call my wife!

Harvey didn't attend my court date because DCF was at the house interviewing The Boy about what happened.  His story now matches mine and he even did a walk through with them going step by step from the "take-down" to being confined, to splitting his head open, to taking a nap to taking out the window.

The pattern of his injuries aren't consistent with being beaten, but are with self-abuse.  He's a documented habitual self abuser.  He's also a documented story shifter.

He overwhelmingly doesn't want to be in trouble for things that he knows he should not have done, so he says what he thinks will garner the smallest response.  If you ask, "did your dad do this?" in his mind I had.  I'd interrupted his tantrum and put him in time-out, so I'm responsible for why he bashed his thick skull against the wall.  He can't quite articulate it, but he's sort of saying, "look what you made me do!"

DCF thinks the charges should be dropped.  The Boy's psychiatrist thinks the charges should be dropped.

There's a meeting of some kind, which I still don't know if I am supposed to attend, in two weeks.

Holding pattern until then.

Since I am apparently too rich to be appointed a public defender, I will have to hire my own lawyer for this.  I am without liquid assets being separated from hearth and home.  Now would be a great time to stab that donate button!