Whoda Thunk It?

So the Generational Theft Act of 2009 passes the House without one Republican vote. Looks like the House Republicans finally remembered why we elect Republicans.

It's a durned shame though that it took them so long. If they'd had remembered that some six or eight years ago Nancy Pelosi would be the Minority Leader.

Scattershooting While Wondering What Happened To Jelly Bryce.

I see that President Barky has unified the country. Did Bush ever tell the Donks not to listen to Air America?

So, Bob Woodward says that there are more scandals coming from the Barky Administration. Let's see, Rezko is cooperating with the prosecution, half of his election committee insiders are under subpoena, his Sec Treas is a tax cheat and his Attorney General didn't know about Marc Rich, even though he was the one ordering the Clinton Justice (heh) Dept. to get the money from one of Rich's companies. Gee. ya think, Woodward? Gawd, just the SecState will give us years of scandal fun.

I was looking at Ace of Spades, seeing what the Moronbloggers are up to and noticed that some clown playing Che Guevara had to leave the press conference because someone in the press crowd knew that Guevara was a murderous goon. Then came the update that Ashley Judd is finally glad to live in America, again. There sure are a lot of meatheads in Hollywood, no wonder the last movie I went to the theater to say was A Time To Kill.

I have been looking at the histories of a bunch of old lawmen and gunfighters. Delf "Jelly" Bryce joined the Oklahoma City Police Dept. in the late 1920s, 1927 I believe. He later joined the FBI, shortly after they were allowed to carry guns. Up until then all FBI Agents either had law degrees or accounting degrees. This changed after the Kansas City Massacre. Last I heard there were not very many gunmen on the faculties of law and accounting schools. So J. Edgar Hoover hired some gun fighting cops.

D. A. Bryce got his nickname, Jelly, after a bad guy he either captured or shot said something along the line of "I can't believe that jellybean got me." Jellybean was underworld argot for a fancy dresser. The name Jelly stuck. Up until fairly recently detectives were noted for being sharp dressers. Seems that it helped, criminals were intimidated and witnesses more willing to talk. Of course law enforcement saleries did't cover the cost of fine threads, and once taking a cup of coffee became graft, much less a tailor made suit, we lost that. Notice how crime has gone down? Anyway, Jelly Bryce shot nineteen bad guys in his career, very few, if any, survived. Life Magazine did a article on Jelly in 1945 with a stop-motion photography set of him drawing his .357 in two fifths of a second. Officers can't do that anymore, too many safety featers on their holsters.

Jelly died in his sleep after a long career. I doubt we would have gotten through the crime wave of the prohibition and depression years without these old gunfighting lawmen, who would now be in jail.

I Give Up.

I give up.I am too old to properly train Cochise' Apache Princess. She just turned two years old and she still hasn't learned not to jump on people, Lord knows I tried. And she has pulled Linda Lou off her feet too many times. The cuts and tears on my arm never have a chance to heal from her jumping on me when I try to put the lead on her to bring her into the house.

This does not mean she isn't a sweet dog, she is. But we do not have the money to have her trained and I simply no longer have the strength to do it myself. Even ten years ago I could but I just haven't what it takes any more. So, before I take her to German Shepherd Rescue of North Texas or Camp Wolfgang in Ennis, do any of my readers know someone who wants a sweet, but stubborn, unspayed German Shepherd? I have her papers, although I never registered her with the AKC. At two years old she is ready to breed or can be spayed. So far we have just kept her inside or in the fenced backyard when she is in heat.

I have no idea how much it costs to send a dog places but it is probably less than the cost of a purebred German Shepherd. All I ask is no puppy mills or really weird Nazi types. She is a good girl, we simply got too old to handle a big dog. Anyhow, it is breaking my heart to say this but I just must let her go before one of us is badly hurt.

Princess gets along fine with other dogs that she knows, she needs some work on dogs she doesn't know. We have no cats so I don't know about that.

The Inauguration.

So I think the pundits garbled their lead. Instead of the speech being chiseled in stone they meant that it's an administration of chiselers. The guy in charge of the IRS is a tax cheat. Wonderful.

If I ever invite the Reverend Lowery over he ain't saying grace, we'd starve to death. And what's with "Whitey, do what's right"? I'm pretty sure a lot of whites voted for this guy. Last I looked there weren't enough black voters to elect a President, even with ACORN's help.

I note that there was very little applause during the Obama speech. I would imagine that is because he kept harping about responsibility. All those people waiting for free ice cream and hearing responsibility. As the puppyblender would say, Heh.

Scattershooting While Wondering What Happend To Walter Walsh

First thing I saw this morning was that Bill Faith had died. This was enough to send me back to bed except I was hungry. While I never met the man I enjoyed his writing. We shared a little something, we both got to play on the second place team in the southeast Asian war games. See you on the other side, Bill.

I can't remember, is real butter a killer or safer than margarine on Sunday. I wish these public spirited "scientists" could make up their minds. Anyhow I had a big stack of buckwheat cakes with bacon today. I couldn't remember so I had butter on some of the pancakes and margarine on the others. It's funny how one becomes a public spirited "scientist" these days. It takes a fax machine and a fancy sounding name for your "Institute". Take OwlGore. His education is flunking out of Divinity School, rumor has it that he majored in marijuana. Now, with no evidence whatsoever he is making bazillions in the glow bull warming racket. I'd have a better chance at believing in this glow bull warming if OwlGore himself acted as if he did.

Of course I'd also have a better chance in believing in glow bull warming if the climate hasn't been changing, in cycles, for all of history. The last time we had glow bull warming the Vikings were rowing their long ships 'cross the oceans. With no coal fired electric plants, I might add.

Now we're seeing Obambi flags. I sure hope the realisation of the responsibilities hits this guys soon. I realize that it's fun being important, eventually he must realise that we have families to protect. Screeching that George Bush is a dummy does nothing to protect Michelle's children. Or my grandchildren. Barack, in a very short time, it's on you. Buying the world a Coke ain't gonna get it.

I would feel a lot more comfortable if I had the slightest idea that you know there are a whole bunch of people in this world that would like to see America in flames. Heck, for right now I'd be happy to know that you aren't one of them.

Is it any wonder that I should still be worrying about whether or not Obambi wants America to burn while the Chicago Tribune is going broke? Aren't the reporters supposed to find out such things? Kind of like Enron. Somehow Enron cheated all through the Clinton Administration, the Bush Administration caught them and it's all Bush's fault.

Oooh, cool. Seems that the Plague has hit an AlQ camp in Algeria, killing forty, so far. I hope it's painful and spreading fast among them. Some Leprosy would be nice, too. Please, nobody tell these nutbags that making life miserable for the educated means that all your doctors end up in Britain and California. I read this in a UK paper's website. The comments indicate they mostly think it's the CIA. If only.

I just finished reading Col. Charles Askin's autobiography, Unrepentant Sinner. Charlie was a Border Patrol Officer back during Prohibition. Back when lawmen had different rules. Charlie left a lot of bad guys toes up or face down in the Rio Grande. Charlie didn't much care which side of a bad guy he shot. His specialty was a Remington 1100 shotgun with a custom eight shot magazine and the barrel cut down to 22 inches. This being before night sights he tied a white bandage around the end of the tube.

That got me Googling around, looking for other old lawmen from those days. Walter Walsh was a Feeb from back when they were gunfighters. Today they'd both be in jail. It's too bad that crooks have more rights than lawmen these days. How's that working out for us?

It's no wonder I concentrate on my grandkids, my dogs and cowboy action shooting these days.

Naturally, I Forgot The Camera.

So I got up this morning and called Tammi on the Cell phone, she was almost to Texas, just passing through Shreveport, LA. I told her to call here when she blew through the Tyler area and I'd meet her at the side of the road and we'd have lunch.

Then I dressed in something easy to spot, one of my bright red "bib" shirts and my big Mexican style cowboy hats. Then when she called I got in the car and drove down to the highway 34 exit, with a fast stop at a pawn shop to buy an adjustable wrench. I had loaded Bingo in the car and off we went.

I hadn't been at the exit even five minutes when up drove Tammi. We scurried over to the big Outlet Mall just south of the freeway and Tammi parked right by the small Police substation and we drove to a little down home cafe there in Terrell, Pop's Fried Chicken and cafeteria. By the time we got there Bingo and Tammi were best friends forever.

We ate and talked. Yes, Tammi did let me get a few words in. All too soon it was time for her to continue on. We got back in the car and Bingo assumed his spot on her lap and we drove back to the outlet mall. When last seen Tammi was advancing on the Old Navy outlet store with a brilliant blue light flaming in her eyes and warehouse work clothes on her mind. I rolled my window down and hollered YEE-HAW, knowing nobody in that store had a chance.

The I drove home, Bingo missed Tammi.

Update: I parked the car right next to a raised concrete slab so I could hug Tammi without getting an eye full of something that ought not be in a married man's face. I forget to tell her that old Groucho Marx line: "Take me to your ladder, lady. I'll see your leader later."

Life In A Bingo Parlor

I didn't realize how fast my house became a Bingo Parlor. Bingo has settled in, the first day he wouldn't eat but now he's settled right in.

He and CAP are already BFF. That's the good news. The bad news is that he seems to like me better than he likes Linda Lou. I may be banished from the house.

I took a nice little nap today with both CAP and Bingo, it only took a few minutes before CAP quit trying to play and we had a triple nap going. I was worried that CAP wouldn't settle down. It's also kind of worrisome when they get to playing and suddenly CAP has that whole Pug in her mouth, so far she hasn't chomped down, though. I haven't had the camera aimed when Bingo's whole head in is her mouth.

On the way home we stopped in Tyler, the rose capital of Texas, on the way home to get a new collar for him, he and Ming were a hit. Seems everybody loves Pugs. Then I took him with me to pick up the laundry at the bundle service, our washer just bit the dust and the washer Linda Lou wants won't be at Lowe's 'til the 26th. Anyhow the lady running the laundromat also loved Bingo.

I'm experimenting on how to format the pictures, I think I'll leave them all on the left, moving them around makes for a weird layout. We got a new Froggie at Petsmart, I think we need to keep it away from CAP, she tends to rip stuffies limb from limb.

Bee Eye Enn Gee Oh, And Bingo Was His Name-o

Linda Lou woke me earlier than usual, then refused to make me breakfast because she wanted to get moving. We drove to Quinlen and filled up the car and then set out toward Lufkin, some 150+ miles away, just knowing that Bingo the Pug would be gone when we got there. Oh well, I figured it'd be worth the drive, after all it's a known scientific fact that the further you are from home the less calories count.

We hit Lufkin at about two or three PM, I never did stop to eat for fear someone would barely beat us there. Yesterday was unusually warm for this time of year, today it was flat out cold. When the wind comes out of the north during winter there ain't nothing between Texas and the North Pole but a few barbed wire fences.

Update: I did eventually eat, my favorite traveling meal, a BBQ rib dinner. It's lucky I don't get that way very often, the ribs were dried out and horrible crunchy. The place was in Rusk, a town best known for the State Hospital for what we used to call the criminally insane. Perhaps the folks running that smoker are graduates.

Anyhow we took Ming the Merciless along, it's important that the two Pugs get along. We made only one stop on the way, at a highway rest stop. It's kind of unfair that we men get to stand up to pee in an unheated rest stop, something Linda Lou reminds me about every winter trip. She doesn't cut down on drinking soda, though.

At any rate, Bingo was still there. He started giving me puppy kisses right then, and then gave a few to Linda Lou, also. We filled out the paperwork, I brought Ming out of the car and they got along as well as a young male and an old lady dog can.

Cochise' Apache Princess hasn't met him yet, we're leaving her in the backyard for another hour or so for Bingo to get used to the house before springing giant Dog on him. I think it'll be fine, though, CAP likes to play. She really misses Eddie so this should work out. Pictures to follow.

Update: As you can see, the pictures are here now.

We may be stuck with the Name, Bingo. He is not a stray but an elderly couple turned him in when they decided they couldn't care for him. So he's had the name since he was a pup. The fact that he's not a stray is very good news, we have his medical records and he's already neutered and all that, checked out as heartworm free. He is about 14 months old, born 11/21/07.

And, of course, he's already perfected that tilted-head gaze. So, I'm missing a cowboy action shoot, the next one ought to be warmer, anyway.

Cross Your Fingers, Lufkin Here We Come!

So I was getting ready to go to my last appointment with the Doc that cut me open and repaired my rotator cuff when Linda Lou printed out a page from Petfinder with a picture of a young male Pug. Well she called them later and it seems that we are driving to Lufkin, Texas first thing in the morning. I hope nobody beats us there.

So we are driving a hundred and fifty miles, one way, to see a fawn Pug named Bingo. If we end up with him that name won't last. Anyway, y'all keep your fingers crossed, Linda Lou NEEDS another Pug.

I've only been through Lufkin a few times, it's not on an Interstate and there is nothing there for me to drive to see. Aside from a big chicken processing plant there are paper mills and foundries. Let's face it, if there weren't a Pug, I wouldn't bother.

I'm sure Lufkin is a nice enough town, though. I believe it's in the east Texas piney woods, I'll tell you more after the drive. We'll take the camera, just in case there is something worth a picture. I suspect that this trip is going to take the place of the Sunday Cowboy Action Shoot.

Peas On Earth

I blame Army Wife Toddler Mom. A few days ago she wrote about creamed eggs on toast for supper back when families knew what poor was. Well, we seldom had that but creamed tuna on toast, or when I was really lucky, biscuits was pretty common, so was creamed chipped beef.

Now I haven't made creamed anything, ever, so I decided to try.I started out with a simple roux of butter and flour and added a cup and a half of hot milk. As the white sauce started to thicken I drained a can of tuna, a can of peas and peeled three hard boiled eggs. I added a sprinkle of garlic, paprika and crushed red peppers. Note to self, a whole can is WAY too many peas. Even Ming the Muslim Dog (peas be upon her) thought it was too many peas. Anyhow I added all that and now think I could have done with only two boiled eggs.

Anyhow I mixed it all up and served it over buttermilk biscuits. I think with only a third of a can of peas and two boiled eggs it will be perfect. Not bad for a first try, though.

Next up, creamed chipped beef on biscuits. Now I've been eating that pretty regularly, Stoufers makes it in frozen bags but now that I know how easy it is to make white sauce I'm making it myself. I feel as if I'm becoming the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show. And I'm not even Swedish.

Just don't tell my Momma that I make canned biscuits.

Durban II

So, I don't know where I read it but there is supposed to be a new gathering at Durban in South Africa, fighting racism and suchlike. They hope to get a law passed against demeaning religions.

I wonder if such a law would shut up Michael Newdow. Or maybe all those Muslims saying awful things about Christians and Jews. Now I understand the purpose of this law is so folks like me can't call Muslims murderous goons when they fling rockets into Israel and then whine like sissy boys when the Izzies get tired of it.

So, how is a UN law going to keep me from calling the murderous goons that attacked Bombay murderous goons? Last I looked the UN had very little authority in Hunt County, Texas. Maybe a little more down in Austin, at least near the University, but here?

Personally I think that if the various Islamic nations would like to be well thought of they should stop killing people. Or at least not whine like little girlyboys when people fight back.

The Big Party

So we rounded up the usual suspects and celebrated William's birthday. There was an extra present here. I'd given our dogs each a bone so they wouldn't notice us being gone, at least until we were out of earshot. Since there were three bones in the package I took one to Pele, Dean and Stephanie's dog.

Anyway there were two parties offered, a small party with just the grandparents and aunts and uncles, plus brothers and cousins or a party with all of his little friends. I chose the grandparent party and will not go to the other one. I am not overly endowed with sanity already.

There were only five children, it felt like dozens, and that's with one not walking yet. Speaking of the one not walking, he's out of the will for trying to pull my moustache off. All the other grandkids will get guns and stuff, he's getting the underwear I will be wearing when I drop dead. Unwashed. My lip is two sizes bigger than it was*.

Anyhow it was fun seeing the kids, now I can go back to being a curmudgeon for a while. The next birthday is a canine birthday, C.A.P. turns two on the fifteenth of this month. She says send meat.



*You believe that threat, right?

Happy New Year!

Well, I just looked at the clock, it's a new year. It doesn't feel much different than any other Midnight. Except a little bit of fireworks off someplace not too far. The main fireworks out here are off at the boat ramps on the lake but there are always a few people setting them off away from the water, I hope nobody burns their house down, or, more importantly, my house.

We thought about driving to see them shoot off fireworks, then we thought of the stop signs and stuff that get run over on regular nights around here and stayed home. The dogs don't like fireworks anyway. I did stop at the fireworks stand and bought five boxes of green sparklers. These should be cool cut up into my black powder shotgun shells for the Cowboy Action matches. White smoke, red flames and now green sparks. Maybe I ought to wear a Santa Suit and shout Ho Ho Ho every shot.

Yesterday was William's birthday, he's six now. During the afternoon will be the small party, since it's a day off for most people. We got the boy a nerf gun for now and two hundred rounds of .22 ammo in a fancy target shooter's ammo box for later in the spring when we start his training. Not that I'll let him run out of ammo after that two hundred is gone.

Sure seem to be a bunch of alleged humans mad because Israel is finally getting tired of Hamas flinging rockets willy nilly into their country. The Pals are lucky I'm not running Israel. Seems the Pals are allowing Hamas to fling those rockets from their crowded neighborhoods. I'd announce that this is unacceptable behavior and that each rocket launched gets a napalm canister on the launch site. I suspect it wouldn't take long for the behavior to stop. That should take out the screeching that the Izzies are being disproportionate, too. One rocket, one napalm canister. It's not the Izzies fault that Hamas can't aim.

Oh, and who is this idiot journalist (but I repeat myself) claiming that the Palis are just "taking potshots"? Somebody tell him that words have meaning. A potshot is a shot taken by someone needing a critter to eat. Back in the day that was the job of the boys and young men. And they'd better bring something home for each charge of powder and each ball. Folks doing that kind of hunting didn't have powder and ball, and then cartridges later, to waste.

Speaking of potshooting, a lot of folks in places like the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky, the hills of upstate New York and Vermont, places like that, held on to their muzzle loaders long after cartridge guns came along. Oh, many, perhaps most, had those newfangled ca'tridge guns but we can cast our own balls and find our own flints, even make our own powder, though that's still pretty dangerous. Not quite as dangerous as flinging missiles into the blue in hopes of killing anyone at all. Potshots. When did it become a requirement to not know the meaning of words to be a writer?

Levergun Shooters Take Note

It has been a while coming but Hornady's LEVERevolution bullets are finally available to handloaders. This is big news. Since there are those who do not read themselves to sleep with handloading books let's start at the beginning. Lever action rifles have always had one weak point, that tube magazine under the barrel. With those magazines we cannot use sharp pointed bullets for fear that a sharp pointed bullet might set the primer of the next round off. Considering that our own personal hands are wrapped 'round the fore end with that mag tube running through it, it is a valid worry.

This is why leverguns are woods rifles, the flat point and round nosed bullets are like trying to win a footrace in hip waders. But a couple-three years ago Hornady came up with a sharp pointed bullet that will work in a lever action rifle. They found a plastic tip that was stiff enough to maintain it's shape, yet soft enough to not set off a primer.

This just about instantly extends the range of your levergun by a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards. Figure a .30-30 Winchester or .35 Remington levergun. We figure those as running out off steam by about a hundred and fifty yards. Where a rifle that could fire a spitzer bullet at the same speed is a three hundred yard gun.

These bullets aren't cheap but then today, no bullet is. They are available for most of the calibers used in lever actions. In .30 caliber they have a 160 grain bullet that might just bring the ol' thutty-thutty into the 21st Century.

The old .35 Remington has a 200 grain bullet, so far they haven't released one for the .357 Mag carbines out there. I would imagine it's coming soon, though, they make a nifty little 140 grain bullet with that sharp point for their factory loads. I suspect that bullet over a hot load of H110 or LilGun would zap a Texas Whitetail out past two hundred steps.

The folks shooting .44 Magnums or .444 Marlins have a nice 265 grain slug, start that one off at some 2250 feet per second from a .444 and you could bombard cities better than the Palestinians and their stupid rockets.

I'm looking hard at the bullets they make for my .45 Colt rifle. Here there are two, a 200 grain and a 250. Now I have clocked over 1900 fps out of the 24 inch barrel of my '92 Winchester clone with a 250 grain bullet, that same action is used for the .454 Casull Mag so I would probably make that weight bullet fly faster. I haven't bothered because those flat point bullets lose speed so fast. But with these pointy ones? Hmmm.

Guys with the '86 Winchesters and 1895 Marlins have a couple of bullets, too. Guys with a .45-70 or one of the others, the .45-90s and such have a sharp pointed 325 grain that would reach out way past Fort Mudge. Winchester fifties and the .50 Alaskan would be taking a long poke with the 300 grain pointy bullet.

Now these bullets aren't the end all and bee all of levergun bullets. There are a lot of times I'd want a bullet for something up close and big, say I lived where there might be an old sorehead Grizzly Bear popping out of the bushes with mayhem on his mind, I'd want my levergun loaded with the heaviest bluntest bullets I could fit in there.

It might be a while before the loading data for some of these bullets is found in every manual, too. But still, this is a big step.

So far the only folks I know of who are selling these bullets are the Potterfield gang at Midway USA. There may be others but I know Midway does, they're on the January flier on the "new products" page. I like to call them, 1-800 243-3200. They have country music while I'm on hold.

Latest Pics From NASCAR Country

Number Two son, Robin lives in a town called Huntersville, near Charlotte. Very near all the big NASCAR team headquarters. Thanks to the Democratic Congress they couldn't make it this year for Christmas but they did, finally, send new pictures of the kids. That's Christopher James in the red chair, next is John Mark with his heavy construction equipment.

Nathaniel Philip is just layin' there and Ethan Presley is getting ready for football.

That's a pretty good bunch o' boys and we miss them. Maybe next year.

The Big Christmas Adventure

So, on Christmas Eve we had a bit of last minute shopping to do. So we filled the car with $1.35.9 a gallon gas and started the adventure. After dog food and suchlike from Wally World we went to Petsmart, Ming the Merciless was her usual hit. Then to Barnes and Noble for something to read. I got a couple of paperbacks, the newest issue of Guns of the Old West and the 2009 Hodgdon Reloading Manual. Speaking of that, what's with all of these new cartridges, none doing anything unusual? In ten years will anybody buying the .300 Hornady or the .338 RCM or a half-dozen other new ones going to be able to get cartridges, or even cases to handload?

Anyhow, then we stopped for Linda Lou's favorite meal, a Sonic burger, then home.

Then Linda Lou was up all night and half the morning making her world class Cinnamon Rolls. These rolls take so long because she keeps having to wait an hour for the dough to rise, then she pounds it down, then she has to wait again.

Then came Christmas day, we didn't need to get there 'til noon, thank the Lord. So we drove to Plano, Linda Lou sleeping gently in the passenger seat, presents and Cinnamon Rolls safe on the floor or back of the van. An hour later we got there to a house with no children, they being with Dean's parents. Shortly thereafter, Stefanie's twin brother Michael, our youngest boy, showed up with his wife Jennifer, their two and Amanda, her younger sister, plus her boyfriend.

A while later Dean's folks and the three boys showed up and, while dinner was finishing, we all ate a cinnamon roll. Michael Junior declared them "the best ever" which made Linda Lou's day.

Eventually we opened presents, the usual stuff. This year the children got taken to the dollar store where they each got presents for the grandparents. Like my new hat? I'm not sure the color is perfect with my red bib shirt but that's what happens when a six year old boy is let loose to choose a gift.

Then it was time to drive home, bedtime came early.

Writing On The New Confuser

So Linda Lou and Ming the Merciless are lying on the couch for a Sunday afternoon nap and I am trying to blog on the new infernal machine. I forgot how easy it is to type on a brand new keyboard. There are a couple of downsides, though. I can barely point an' click with the new mouse, or maybe it's just the new mousepad is so smooth. Another minor downside is the new monitor screen has about a two-two and a half inch strip down the right side that has the clock, some headlines and a bunch of our pictures scrolling through, one at a time, over and over. Including lots of pictures of Eddie. I wish I knew where he is and how he's doing.

In other news I durned near burned up the neighborhood yesterday. We had a bunch of boxes so I took them out to burn them. Well, as soon as the fire was going good, the wind came up, hard and dry. The grass and weeds were also very dry. Ooops! We managed to get it out before the house burned down, though. Still, had all the neighbors investigating the fire, kind of embarrassing. Especially since I was doing this in the front yard where our hose doesn't reach, I wanted to burn a stubborn patch of bushes that are too thick to mow.

Note to self: Never again try to burn stuff outside while wearing flip flops. Yes, it was that warm, thing is, the wind picked up as the cold front blew in, by the time I got the fire out I had icicles hanging off my toes. I blame Algore.

Update: I'm still reading about why the Secret Service let that bozo throw two shoes at Dubya. The answer is simple, it's very bad publicity when the good guys cut loose with gunfire on someone armed with two shoes. Even worse publicity when the bozo has already thrown them. Can anyone imagine what the lefties would be saying if the bodyguards had cut loose a burst each with those little subguns? Now I wouldn't complain too much if overpenetrating rounds, plus misses and ricochets had knocked down a half dozen media types. Far as I'm concerned there ought to be a bounty on 'em, but the same people that are complaining about how he managed to fling both shoes would be having a cow. Each.

What An Ordeal

So we set the new computer up and (of course) nothing worked the first time. We never did make the program that was supposed to transfer what we wanted from the old computer to the new. After trying to load it from the disc for an hour, with no end in sight, we just blew it off. Linda Lou will just enter stuff over the next few weeks.

Then I put Linda's computer in my room and got it half set up. Enough to use, for now. Meanwhile my old monitor wouldn't come on so I had to drag the ancient cathode ray monitor in here and put it on my desk, the thing is huge. Doesn't look as if I'll be eating many meals in here until I get my new flat screen monitor.

Meanwhile I'll have to few items at a time to my Firefox bookmarks. This is a pain as I have to put the laptop on line, write the urls down, move the phone line to the desktop, add those in, etc. Plus the thing won't let me register my printer because it's already registered. Ah well, at least I have a keyboard, as well as a new monitor coming.

Reversed Polarity

So it was sixty degrees out there yesterday and people in New England were coping with the loss of power from some big freezing storm. So I put the big box fan out on the deck and pointed it northeast and turned it on high. Hoping, of course, to blow some warmth up there. Well, there must have been a reversal of polarity somehow, it was 31 degrees in Dallas just before I turned the radio off. Seeing as how the city is always warmer than the country I don't even want to think about the actual temp out here by Lake Tawakoni. I knew something was wrong today when a Polar Bear showed up, begging for blankets. Fortunately Ming the Merciless chased him off. It's nice to have a vicious killer attack Pug.

It was cold enough to bring CAP back in the house. In other news, the Dell showed up today off the FedEx truck.After nap time we'll set it up, then comes the big deal about transferring of all Linda Lou's pictures, bookmarks and other stuff over. Then I have to transfer my stuff from the laptop to this computer. Then, at last, I'll be typing on a real keyboard all the time.

Quiet Here

Not much going on right now down here. I read where there are crooks in politics in Chicago. Imagine that. Next they'll tell me there are political crooks in south Texas.

We've got some cold wet weather coming, nothing like up in Massachusetts and suchlike places, but the high tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 40s. So Linda Lou is off at Wally World, shopping for grandchild Christmas gifts. Ming The Merciless is laying where she can look out for her Momma to come home. Meanwhilw I'm sitting around with an actual keyboard to write with, with nothing to say.

I'm still in a mild state of shock, I had bought some Hornady XTP hollowpoint bullets for my .45 Colt rifle and my .357 Mag carbine. Well one of the bags of bullets was mismarked. Instead of being 250 grain .45 bullets they were 210 grain .41 bullets. Well, I don't have a .41. Nor will Linda Lou let me have a .41. So I finally got around to taking the bullets back to the store. The bag of bullets that was $13.95 in late 07 is now $26.00. I know that prices were going up but jeez. Double? Primers are way up there, too. $28.00 a thousand now. This before Obambi.

Well, since Linda Lou is gone it must be naptime.