I'm not a real Cowboy, but I play one in the movies.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Mmmm...Cookies....
Donated platelets at the ARC today. They asked politely if I wouldn't mind having a supervised trainee take my history and stuff. Sure, why not? The nice lady trainee had input a lot of data into the laptop, then asked, "May I ask why you are donating today?"
"Because the Lady on the phone asked me to."
The supervisor piped in, "How about 'To give back to the Community?'"
Jeez, Luis! What was wrong with MY answer? It's probably multiple choice. Should have asked what the other choices were. Next time my reply will be, "Because on my previous donation, I didn't finish The Last Samurai DVD and I don't want to ruin the resale value of the DVD I still have in the plastic.
Actually, this time I watched Godzilla, and even though I was able to give two units of platelets, I still didn't finish the movie. That's okay, since I picked one of which I'd seen the ending, but not the beginning. They would have let me finish the movie, but I was already looking forward to my can of Welch's Grape Juice and a package of Nutter Butters. And a pack of mini chocolate chip cookies. I almost never buy cookies for home, and even my road trip travel bag is heavy on beef jerky and cheese/peanut butter cracker packs, but no sweets. But I love me my free cookies at the ARC cantina!
November is the month I turn off my a/c at the beginning and turn on my heat at the end. Last night's freeze warning signaled the end. Heck, I might as well go back East and get snowed on!
Please, Mother Nature, no sleet while I'm driving. Okay?
It's a good thing Lil Bro is so meticulous! While I'm normally unresponsive on the subject what I'd like for Christmas, this year I relented and told him about my hankering for a Walker Dragoon .44 caliber black powder pistol from Cabela's...only if the whole family chipped in on it, not just him. I'm a little hazy over whether I'd said the word "reproduction," so when he sent me this (right), I first wondered why they were selling it without a box. Then I noticed the word "Colt" and "Gun Library" and thought, "Whoa, Nelly!" I looked it up and saw it cost over $500 more than the item I had in mind.
Buying something like that for me (and taking up the slack the family couldn't chip in) is just something Lil Bro would do, but I'd declared the Gun Gifting Wars over. At least until I get a high-paying job again. My wants are simple: something that looks, feels, and shoots like History and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Reproduction BP pistols are excellent and relatively inexpensive pieces of authentic 19th Century technology. I'm looking forward to shooting the Dragoon, which was king of the Magnum Pistols until the .44 Mag. cartridge came out. Besides, when I remake The Outlaw Josey Wales, starring myself, I'll need a gun that looks fairly new and can take a dropping or two into the dirt.
It's not like I'm going to break down in Lancaster County PA and some guy with chin hair in a black coat says, "Hey! Thou art the one on the Internet with all the Amish jokes!"
Yesterday, after a long illness, my wife passed away. My daughters and I are in mourning and would be grateful for your prayers. She was always very supportive of my blogging and I will strive to continue to post again as I can bring myself to do it.
Bob, the New Guy, turned in a good journeyman performance...don't know whether he needed any coaching from Jon, because he certainly didn't slow down much for it. From now on, he's no longer Bob-the-New-Guy.
Last month, Bob tried out Jon's slick Springfield M1A; the Colt HBAR was the subject of his sophomore outing. I think he beat me head-to-head on Feel the Burn. Here on Choose Your Weapon (below), I offer my only advice. Lean into it! Tuck in that elbow, Bob!
Probably the next time I see that rifle, it'll be Bob's and it'll have some kick-ass optics on it, and I won't even be able to beat him with my speedy little Bushy. And I'll be okay with that, because I'll have another regular shootin' buddy!
Speaking of not-so-new, I'll have to shoot with Desert Cat next time I do the Pima 3-Gun.
Update: No scores published yet, but I think I beat Jon on a stage or two. My one goal was merely to stay ahead of New Guy Bob. I was shooting my Heavy Metal Line-up, while Bob had faster and/or higher cap weaponry all around. I could have added up all the score cards and known for sure, but I was tired.
Here's the November 3-Gun stages (accepted as proposed). The League Poobah's AOL (AOL! Yech! PTooie!) account might be puking out our previous Emails, so this is as much for him as it is for my precious trihoplophilic readers.
Pistol: Starting position Normal Ready behind Table A
On start signal engage P1 through P11, proceed to Box B and engage T1 through T5, avoiding the white sticks...these are your guns! Paper requires two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.
Shotgun/Pistol: Starting position Shotgun at Port Arms behind Table A, loaded pistol in holster.
On start signal engage P1 through P11 with shotgun. Ground empty/safed SG, proceed to Box B and with pistol engage T1 through T5, avoiding the white sticks...these are your guns! Paper requires two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.
(Jon painted the no-shoot sticks white and wrote on them in marker, "Your First Gun, Priceless" "Ruger 10/22, $180" "Your Dad's Favorite Rifle, $900" etc.) Those sticks sure got hammered.
Pistol: Starting position Normal Ready in Box A
On start signal, engage P1 and P2, then in any order T1 through T5. From behind Table B, engage T6 through T11 and stop-plate P3. Paper requires two hits to neutralize, all poppers must fall, stop plate requires one audible/visible hit.
Pistol/Shotgun: Starting position Normal Ready in Box A. Loaded shotgun staged safely on Table B.
On start signal, engage P1 and P2, then in any order T1 through T5. From behind Table B, with either pistol or shotgun slugs, engage T6 through T11 and stop-plate P3. Hardcover does NOT apply to slugs! Paper requires two pistol hits or one slug hit to neutralize, all poppers must fall, stop plate requires one audible/visible hit.
Pistol: Starting postition: seated behind Table A faced 90 degrees to left or right, remote control held forward in strong hand at arms length.
On start signal, engage T1 through T10; in Box B, engage T11 through T15; in Box C, engage T16 through T19. Paper requires two hits to neutralize.
Rifle/Pistol: Starting postition: seated behind Table A faced 90 degrees to left or right, remote control held forward in strong hand at arms length. Loaded pistol in holster. Loaded rifle grounded safely on table.
Note: At Table A, you may begin with either weapon, grounding safed/empty weapon as necessary. Once you have grounded it after use, you may not use it again. You may NOT switch weapons after leaving Table A.
On start signal, engage T1 through T10; in Box B, engage T11 through T15; in Box C, engage T16 through T19. Paper requires two hits to neutralize.
Pistol: Starting position: Behind Table A, wrists above shoulders.
On start signal, engage T1 through T7. From Box B, engage T8 through T12. Paper requires two hits to neutralize.
Pistol/Rifle: Starting position: Behind Table A, wrists above shoulders. Loaded rifle grounded safely on table.
On start signal, with pistol engage T1 through T7; ground safed/empty pistol . From Box B, with rifle engage T8 through T12. From Carpet C, engage T13 and P1 through P5, all shots passing under stick. Paper requires two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.
Just what I need, another webcomic to catch up on. This one's got 10 years worth of archives! Sluggy Freelance follows the adventures of Torg and Riff as they summon demons, transport to alternate dimensions, and vacation in Nag's Head NC. Throw in a homicidal talking bunny and a second-banana ferret (ooh, that irks me), plus lots of other quirky characters, and you've got a recipe for days of enjoyment.
Snarky hat tip to The Smallest Minority for slowing down my blogging, housework, and gun-cleaning.
I record video of the Cactus Matches so that Jon and I can learn from observing ourselves and also relive some of the fun we had on the range. That you, dear visitors, get to see them is a pleasant by-product. So, I gotta ask, "Would you rather I capture some of the more competent gunners shooting the stages?" "Are you getting sick of seeing the fat, slow geezer blunder through a match stage?" Our matches attract some Master class gunners...should I go out of my way to record and blog their performance?
Gorgeous weather (except for the wind), great stages, nice people!
Jon came out sixth out of a whole bunch of 21 semi-auto gunners while I squeaked out seventh sixth out of 14 pump-gunners. The match attracted many Tucsonans and Phoenix-area luminaries that I hadn't seen since the Superstition 3-Gun.
Prizes were determined by raffle...I brought home an Uncle Mikes shotgun case that I can barely squeeze my 870 into (darned sidesaddle!). Jon got a T-shirt and cap from the big sponsor, Sportsman's Warehouse. We're all entered into a raffle for the grand prize, a Remington 870 Magnum Express. I hope I win so I can retire my beat up 870!
Ya know, it's not so bad placing where I did...I'd rather be an "average" shotgunner among Arizona shooters than a basement-dwelling C-Classer as I am in USPSA competition. Enjoy the video (and don't mind the soundtrack).
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Donated platelets at the ARC today. They asked politely if I wouldn't mind having a supervised trainee take my history and stuff. Sure, why not? The nice lady trainee had input a lot of data into the laptop, then asked, "May I ask why you are donating today?"
