A meme, and some observations

Posting later than I was hoping; have been fighting with a nasty head cold the last few days.  One of those that isn't quite bad enough to make you really sick, but just bad enough to make you feel like curling up and grumbling.  Still have some sinus problems; I'm surprised I'm not dehydrated from the way I've been sneezing and my nose has been running almost around the clock.  I've been meaning to take some photos outside (the spring bulbs are starting up), but it's been miserable cold and windy, and my joints are going to have to take a rain check, especially since during the night we had a half a foot of snow dump on us.

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Saw in the news where Davy Jones of the old Monkees died yesterday from a heart attack; he was only 66.  Where the hell did the time go? 


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Am I the only one who thinks Blogspot has its head up its butt?  The Turing words are difficult to read, and the new format for comments sucks, bigtime.
Hopefully they'll get their shit together soon.

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I've been tagged by a meme.  I don't do memes very often, but the tagger was Zeke, from Engineering Johnson.  I met him at the Gunblogger Rendezvous last year, and quite enjoyed talking with him and listening to him tell about some of his engineering jobs around the globe.  I'm supposed to tag five other bloggers, with 200 or less followers.  I don't know if these people will be interested, but here it goes:

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Politics, guns, and family, with general observations on the world around us.

The Reluctant Paladin
An animal control person commenting on life in general, and does some restoring of antiques that are quite good.

Momma Mia, Mea Culpa
Meleah Rebecca tells about family, her life, and comments on life and the WTF of the world.  She has had me laughing more than once with some of her tales.  She probably has lot more than 200 followers, but I felt she deserved a mention.

Total Survivalist Libertarian Bitch Fest
Some ladies with a blog.  Their description says it best:
"We write about self-reliance, gardening, kids, politics, and whatever else we want.  We like what we like, enjoy what we do and never take shit from anybody."

Kilo India Tango
A young lady in Montana who has recently started blogging again.  Her interests are shooting, photography, camping, and life in general.

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Not even going to mention the clown fight for the GOP slot; they're too busy rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch?

"I Ain't Me, Babe" by Bob Dylan
"Red, Red Wine" by Neil Diamond
"Runnin' Blue" by The Doors
"Gypsy" by The Moody Blues
"Greensleeves" by Blackmore's Night
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Runaway" by Del Shannon
"Blue World" by The Moody Blues
"Daydream" by The Lovin' Spoonful

“Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.” - Robert A. Heinlein

It's been cold and sunny a lot around here; a bit too dry, to tell the truth.  When the temperature is dropping well below freezing every night, and there is no frost forming, it means you need some precipitation.
Went out about five minutes drive to the west of where I live and got some pictures of these mulies.  They are on private property, and you can drive right up to the fence without spooking them much.  If you try to roll down a window or open a door, however, they are off like a shot.  The herd was probably around twenty head total. As you can probably tell, I shot these through my windshield.
For a really bigass view, click on the pictures.

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I was hoping this story would turn out better. I remember when this whole thing popped up a couple of years ago, since it was here in West Valley City where I live. Pretty much everyone believes he did away with his wife, but they could never locate her body, so he is still a "person of interest". It is just sad that when he decides to end his life, he felt he had to kill his children also. There is no reason for that; if he wanted to commit suicide, that is his choice, but he had no reason to murder his children. I am not a religious person, but if I were, my fervent wish would be that he rots in hell.
Just my opinion.

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I've been spending a lot of my time trying to exercise back and shoulder muscles, to get them in shape after all the stuff they've been through, but it is going slow. It doesn't help that I've been sleeping even more poorly than usual. When you only get 3 or 4 hours a night for weeks on end, it makes you feel a bit fuzzy and stupid in the head, like your IQ has dropped temporarily. Last night I got almost five hours, so I am feeling a little more clear (hence my posting today).
I've tried napping during the day, but not too successfully. Mainly I have curled up and my mind has gone wandering away to other places and times. It's funny how a certain smell, a sound, a way that a sunbeam happens to cast a shadow or gleam off something can send you to another occasion so clearly that it is almost like you are there. Sometimes it is something in the past few years, but now and then I get an image and memory of things that happened when I was just a small child. Some of my strongest memories seem to be when camping and traveling on vacation with my family. I can picture some of the locations quite vividly, others not so much, but they are places that I will never forget. Have you got had many experiences like that? I'll move on now, before I babble any more.

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There should be a familiar one or two in this bunch.

"After Dark" by Tito & Tarantula
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"Tube Snake Boogie" by ZZ Top
"Get Off My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones
"Help Me Girl" by Eric Burdon and the Animals
"John the Revelator" by Curtis Stigers and The Forest Rangers
"Over You" by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap
"Rock Me" by Steppenwolf
"You Only Live Twice" by Nancy Sinatra
"Scotch and Soda" by The Kingston Trio


A good one from Eric Burdon




Great song, dark and sexy at the same time.




One of those songs that is good to listen to when you've got the blues.

Another trip around the sun.

Sixty years ago today, I entered this world at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada.  Where the hell did the time go?
I was hoping to post before now, but I was feeling quite run down, and I had an aching in my lower jaw in back, which got progressively worse.  Wednesday I was able to get into the dentist, where I found that I had a bigass abscess that had to be cut into and drained.  The last couple of days I have been doped with pain killers, taking antibiotics, and feeling like someone hit me repeatedly upside the head and jaw with a cricket bat.  Hope it gets better soon, I'd like to do at least a little bit of celebrating this weekend.  Right now I am having trouble eating anything that takes much chewing, so a steak dinner is off the books for now.

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Hopefully Congress will get a clue from the protests against SOPA and PIPA and drop them.  If they don't, the people need to remind them when election time comes around again.

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Wanted to do more writing, but I'm in a bit of a fog right now from analgesics and lack of sleep.  Just the little jottings I did today made me feel like I have just finished rewriting War and Peace  Any ranting will have to wait until I'm feeling a little better.  Right now I'm too tired to be pissed off at anyone. 

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Anyone familiar with this bunch of oldies?

"Dark Eyed Woman" by Spirit
"Orinoco Flow" by Enya
"Five O'clock World" by The Vogues
"You Give Me Fever" by The McCoys
"Send Me No Wine" by The Moody Blues
"You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore
"Sometimes in Winter" by Blood, Sweat, & Tears
"It Ain't Me Babe" by The Turtles
"American Pie" by Don McClean
"Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band

All right, this has gone on long enough

I'm over a week into the new year and still haven't posted anything.  Time for me to get off my (metaphorical) ass and do something here.
Christmas was fairly good here; everyone exchanged gifts and no one has gotten seriously sick or had to go to a hospital, so I call that a good time.  

My last set of injections seem to be working; my back is still fairly stiff, but little or no pain for now, so I have been able to do more than usual.  We got about 3-4" of snow Friday night, and I can still feel that in all my old joints.  Woke up Sunday morning feeling like hammered dogshit.  Head was aching and fuzzy, I felt week, and didn't feel like eating, so all I had for breakfast was a V8.  Forced myself to get the grocery shopping done, and when I got back I got stuff put away I had to lie down; I had bad shakes, and was sweating profusely.  At first I was afraid I was having a heart attack, but didn't have any pains.  Didn't get around to eating anything until around 14:00 when my wife got home.  Got better during the evening, so I think it was just some kind of bug that hit me.


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I'm certainly getting tired of all the garbage in the presidential races; I can't stand the current POTUS, and the contenders for the GOP slot are pretty much a bunch of losers, in my opinion.  Most of them I wouldn't even want living in my neighborhood, let alone running the country.  The only one that I seem to have any agreement with in some things is Ron Paul (the rest of the so-called "Republicans" don't seem much better than the idiots and crooks in the Democratic party), and I don't think he has a chance of being elected.
After a bit of thinking, I have decided that the independent and libertarian voters are going about this all wrong; instead of trying to elect Paul to the office of president, we need to find more like him and vote them in Congress.  I think a bunch of people like that in Congress would do more good than one guy in the White House.  The office of president is strange in some ways; a president can't really do much good with the backing of the Senate and Congress, but they can whip up all sorts of bad shit without the two houses being able to stop it.  All a POTUS has to do is slap together some bullshit agency (plenty of letters in the alphabet for a lot more), and then let it make laws he wants and bypass Congress completely unless they put up a decent fight.  And too many of Congress and the Senate don't have the guts or integrity put up a fight over anything that doesn't score them some pork.
Time to hit the reset button and boot them all out.  Let's start over with a new bunch.

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Salt Lake City named "America's gayest city" according to an article in a magazine.  Living here in Utah, that cracks me up!  I imagine there are a lot of my acquaintances and some relatives that will be having conniptions about that.
ROFLMAO


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Anything look familiar?   Mostly oldies, and I think the latest ones are from the Eighties.


"Magic" by Olivia Newton-John
"Take the "A" Train" by Duke Ellington
"Crazy" by Patsy Cline
"Dirty Water" by The Standells
"Send Me No Wine" by The Moody Blues
"Li'l Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
"99 Luftballons" by Nena
"Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles
"Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
"Friday on My Mind" by The Easybeats

And good will toward men

Getting ready to do some last minute stuff for Christmas.
Spent part of yesterday morning getting my last series of spinal shots (L3, L4, L5), then spent the second part of the day sort of fuzzy from the sedative they gave me.  Right now I'm a bit fuzzy from lack of sleep (my insomnia is still working); my back is a bit stiff, and my left leg is a bit weak, but almost all the pain is gone for now.

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No complaints or raving today.  I'd like to wish a happy holiday weekend for anyone who drops by, regardless of your personal beliefs.  I'm not religious myself, but I have no problem wishing people a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you believe in.  The important thing is that there should be a time when people can all put aside their complaints against one another and just show some good will to others.  After all, we're all related if you go back far enough.

I'm neither dead nor comatose, but you couldn't prove it by me.

It's been several weeks since I posted, and I don't really have a good reason, because I do enjoy writing and ranting.  I haven't really been feeling up to snuff since the cold weather started (getting up in the morning when it's 16º F outside tends to be discouraging), and haven't been doing my usual photographing.  I usually get some inspiration from the internet, but every time I look at the news, I get overwhelmed by the huge avalanche of WTF? that cascades onto the screen.  I'm already sick of the presidential campaigns, and we still have almost a year left to go; either we will have the narcissist socialist that is there now, or one of two RINO dumbasses for president.  I have a feeling the country is doomed no matter which one of the Three Stooges wins.

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My friend Meleah has lost her grandfather.  From reading about him in her posts, he seems to have been quite a character, and someone I think I would have liked.  She and her family have my deepest sympathies.
That's one of the (many) problems with getting older, the people you care about the most start disappearing, and leaving you with nothing but photos and memories.  Make the most of the people you love now, otherwise you'll regret it later.

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Still no news about why the killer in Belgium attacked all those people.  I'm getting the feeling he may have a lone nut case, but usually they give some sort of idea of an agenda.  This guy just gathered up a bunch of weapons (all illegally, by the way) and started attacking people without warning.  

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Any favorites or comments on this bunch?  Some of them may seem a little dark, but sometimes I get in a melancholy (not depressed) mood, and my music choices can reflect it.  Bear with me, please.

"I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
"The Thrill Is Gone" by B. B. King
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Just a Pilgrim" by Jim Byrnes
"Whispering Pines" by Johnny Horton
"The Actor" by The Moody Blues
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi
"One of the Living" by Tina Turner

One of my favorites by Jim Byrnes, actor, songwriter, and blues singer.

This road to the harbor is all that I know
I'm here at the crossroads, which way do I go?
I've been lost, sometimes found
Down this road, that's where I'm bound
With all of the others, we all travel alone


I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yes, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road


This road to the harbor is paved with our tears
I've been out here walking for what seem like long years
I wonder, how can this be, that they all feel like me?
All of these others, though we travel alone


I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road


Please don't let me find that I've been left behind
Hope I will reach the end before dark night closes in


This road to the harbor out here under the sun
I'm tired, Lord, I am weary, my race halfway run
But I must, I will soldier on, even when hope is all gone
All of the others, we have to travel alone


I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim standing at the side of the road
Yeah, sometime I, sometime I, sometime I need help on my journey
I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road





One of Tina's best, in my opinion.

"I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime." - Will Rogers

We had a snowfall a few days ago, but it melted away within a couple of hours.  Didn't really affect much other than the tomatoes and zucchini plant; they are down for this year.
The flowers are still doing fine, even though it has been freezing every night.  As of yesterday, it hasn't been too bad; these are some pictures I took in my yard.

Nasturtiums

 
 

Chrysanthemums

Wild Geraniums

This morning that all changed.  What is especially bad is that none of the leaves have dropped yet.

Looking west from my mailbox

Tree hanging into driveway

Apple tree in back yard

I guess winter is here.

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The news is all full of an effete boy accused of fathering a child, and a gold-digging bimbo is getting divorced.

WTF, people?  Don't you have anything more important to worry about?


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I get quite amused by all these protestors with their Guy Fawkes masks; do any of those people have a clue who he was, other than a mask in the movie Vendetta?  Fawkes committed treason against the British government to replace an Anglican king with a Catholic queen; he really didn't give a shit about the British subjects, their rights, or anything like that.  So why is he treated like an icon of freedom?
It makes about as much sense as all the brainless halfwits who run around with Che Guevara on their t-shirts, and treat him like some kind of freedom fighter.  The man was a ruthless cold-blooded killer, who only cared about people as tools to use in supplanting one type of dictatorship with another.  He helped set up a government that was just as vicious as the one that he and Castro kicked out. 

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One of my favorite commentators has passed away.  I always considered him the best of the bunch on 60 Minutes; you're welcome to your opinion, but I found him very entertaining.

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A few days ago one of my favorite bloggers left this world.  In between stuff with his job (he was a medical examiner) he had interesting posts on shooting and life in general.   I didn't know him personally in the real world, but enjoyed reading his blog, and will miss him.
For a better look at his personality and character, Breda has a good post.

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There must be at least one favorite in this bunch.  Any comments?

"Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"La Grange" by ZZ Top
"Evil Woman" by Electric Light Orchestra
"Salt Lake City" by The Beach Boys
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"See Me, Feel Me" by The Who
"Break On Through" by The Doors
"Do You Believe In Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

"You know you're getting old when you bend down to tie your shoelaces and then think about what else you might do while you're down there." - George Burns

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything.  At the time of my last post, I was doing quite poorly; my back was a constant throbbing and cramping that kept me from doing much.  Even walking forty or fifty feet required me to sit or lean against something to get some relief.
Back on the 13th I had an appointment with a pain-management specialist, and have gotten some relief.  I was given some steroid injections in some of the L vertebrae, and in the S-1 vertebra, along with some Lidocane.  The Lidocane helped somewhat with the immediate pain, but I was somewhat dizzy afterwards and had to be driven home.  Over the past few days the intensity of the pain has lowered considerably, even after the Lidocane wore off.  The pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was, and seems to be abating still.  I still have a lot of stiffness in my back from my waist to my shoulderblades, but I am able to ignore it in most cases.  For about a week after the treatment, I had sort of a low level buzz going on, just enough to keep me from sleeping well, but not enough to make me feel active.  I'll be getting some more treatments next month, and hopefully will improve even further.  Now that I have a little more mobility, I hope to get out and do more photography, and maybe get more sleep.  Lack of sleep tends to make me feel fuzzy, and I have a hard time posting when I am feeling burnt out.  I am able to walk more, and have started doing some light work with weights.
Thanks for having patience with me and showing up here.

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Qadhdhafi is finally gone; I doubt if anyone will miss him much.  I just hope we don't get mixed up in that mess in Libya; from the sound of it, the new government will probably be just as bad, if not worse.  They are planning to run it according to Sharia law, which is about as backwards and barbaric as they come. 


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The OWS protests are reminding me of the ones I used to see in the sixties; probably the same sort of people.  There were some idealists out there back then, but most of them didn't have a clue what they were talking about.  The rest of them were basically out for free stuff, and getting stoned and laid.
I've been seeing some ugly stuff happening at these OWS happenings, and I think it's going to get worse before this is over.
 
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Any favorites in this bunch?  A lot of older ones in there.

"Something's Gotta Give" by Christian Kane
"Ribbon of Darkness" by Marty Robbins
"Chelsea Morning" by Judy Collins
"Just for Love" by Quicksilver Messenger Service
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Mr. Bad Example" by Warren Zevon
"Yesterday's Gone" by Chad and Jeremy
"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
"Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond
"Squeeze Box" by The Who

Starting to get some fall weather around here.  We haven't had any frost yet, but we did get some snow and sleet last week, though none of it stuck at our elevation.
Thursday, I had this view of the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of my mailbox:

My vegetable garden is still ok, so the temperatures are still well above freezing at night, but we've been getting a lot of rain, wind, and cool weather.

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A few days ago I received a box of  .45ACP ammo (PMC 230 grain bronze hardball) from an internet ammo company called Ammo.net to try out.  Their prices are relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other companies, especially for good name brands, so I will be adding a link on my sidebar if anyone would like to check on their goods and prices.

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NBA lockout still on.  You know, I can think of a lot of things more important than a bunch of guys getting paid enormous amounts of money to play games.
Yawn...

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"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project
"I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles
"Run to You" by Bryan Adams
"Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers
"Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs
"I'm Alive" by Spooky Tooth
"Down In Mexico" by The Coasters
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"The Midnight Special" by Johnny Rivers

"Only criminals, dictators and democrats fear armed citizens." - Jeff Cooper

It would appear that the Gunwalker program of the ATF is looking worse all the time. The Federal government has been maintaining that it was merely a sting operation that has suffered miscommunication. Now we find out that not only was the ATF knowingly selling to illegal buyers, but they were actually buying firearms illegally themselves, and delivering them to the Mexican cartels. That is not a sting operation; it is the deliberate arming of criminals, and the only explanation I can see is to give credence to their complaints that the cartels were arming themselves from American dealers, all so that they could whine for more gun laws and more funds.
Sort of like an unethical fireman starting fires so he could get more work and a raise. And these sales were under the aegis of the Department of Justice, though they claim they didn't know about it. The ATF would have had to inform the FBI for the NICS checks, so the DoJ would seem to be lying. The information was also being relayed to the White House, so when the POTUS says he had no knowledge, I don't believe it. Most of the information media has been completely ignoring the situation, with the exception of the NY Times and the Washington Post, who have both been trying to make excuses, so we know who's pulling their strings.
It's a sad day when the federal government is working with foreign criminal gangs for the purpose of curtailing civil liberties of American citizens.

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The last time I posted I mentioned that I had received a copy of a book for a review; the book was Glock: The Rise of the American Gun, by Paul Barrett.
I found the book quite fascinating.  In it, Paul tells the story of Gaston Glock, from his humble beginnings repairing car radiators and making cast items such as curtain rods, to becoming a multimillionaire.  I can't say that Glock comes off well; he changed along the way, and not for the better.  A quite common story of someone with humble beginnings catapulted into wealth and power, and losing part of themselves in the process. 
Alongside his story, we are shown how the Glock pistol spread ripples into modern culture, including politics, movies, TV, law enforcement, and music.  Something that I found interesting was that the more anti-gun groups attacked him, the more successful he became; he had people working for him who were smart,  knew how to spin things successfully, and used their own attacks against them.  He also had amazing luck; things would happen at just the right time and to just the right people for him to use to his own advantage.
We are told the story mainly through the people who were involved; his sales people, legal people, and those from other parts of society; the other firearm companies, politicians, police, and more.  If I were making a documentary of the book, I could advertise that it would feature "politics, intrigue, treachery, sex, violence, and courtroom drama!". 
For the most part the book is quite objective; the author does believe in some gun laws that I do not, but reserves those for the last part of the last chapter of the book, and doesn't let them affect his telling of the story. He actually corrects a lot of misconceptions that people have about firearms and gun violence statistics, including a lot of false facts spread by the anti-gun groups, so I feel that he is doing his best to tell the story in an unbiased manner.
Whether you are a firearm owner or not, pro-gun or anti-gun, I can recommend it to anyone interested in modern culture and its influences.

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If anyone is curious about the type of people who go to a Gunblogger Rendezvous, Sam has put together a slide show just under five minutes long of some of us who attended.  If anyone is interested, I'm the fat guy with the shaved head and photographer's vest at 2:41.   SandyG (my wife) is holding a Cabela's hat at 3:47.

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Anyone familiar with these oldies?



 

Trying to blog more often

Back again.
Had a meeting with the doctor about my x-rays and MRI scan to see if they could do anything about my back problems.
As I was already aware, I have several disks in the lumbar area that are somewhat displaced and are also arthritic; these are what is causing my spasms and bouts with sciatica.
The doctor also was curious when I had fractured my spine.
 "!!!!?????????"

Evidently I have fractured one of the higher vertebrae at some time, but luckily it healed without adding to my problem. I have a feeling that it may have happened when I injured my shoulder, and the pain may have been masked by the pain I already have in my back.
They have decided to try a treatment that has done fairly well in the past in which they do some injections into the bad area, and then do it again a month later. This has been successful in most cases like mine, though on occasion a third set of injections has been necessary. Hopefully it will work, otherwise I may be looking a a surgical approach, which I would rather not do, unless absolutely necessary.  I am currently waiting for them to schedule the treatments.

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During the Gunblogger Meet a few days ago, one of the people we met there was author,journalist, and editor Paul Barrett, who has written a soon-to-be-published book entitled Glock: The Rise of the American Gun. I sat across from him at dinner the first night, and talked with him later that evening and the next day about such things as gun control, gun rights, violent crime, and similar topics. He told us about his book, and offered to send interested bloggers galley copies if they would read it and give it a fair and critical review. I got my copy today, and will be reading it over the next few days. According to the author, the book is about the invention and marketing of the firearm,and examines its impact on modern literature, media, and our culture in general. I think this shall be some interesting reading, and I would like to thank him for this opportunity.

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A meme going around the gun blogs, started by Og, is to show which knife you carry normally.

The bottom one is always clipped to my pocket, it is a  S & W SWAT with 3.75" blade.  I like it because it is one of the few folders that fits my hand and feels comfortable.
The Swiss Army knife and the Leatherman Wave are usually in my vest pocket, but sometimes I carry the Leatherman on my belt. 

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Any favorites in this bunch?

"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"On the Road Again" by Bob Seger
"Back Where You Belong" by 38 Special
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
"The Old Man Down the Road" by John Fogerty

"Right Down the Line" by Gerry Rafferty
"Come As You Are" by Mindy Abair

 

Vacation

Got back from the Gunblogger's Rendezvous late Sunday night/Monday morning. Still getting stuff put away, but wanted to start this post, even if I don't finish for a bit.
The post below is not all that we did, it is only hitting the highlights.  We were actually doing more than it appears. 

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A pretty good time was had by all. We got there Thursday afternoon, and met up with the rest of the group at Cabela's, who was kind enough to give us a tour and a $20 certificate. We got together afterwards, and listened to some speakers, saw some new equipment and goods displayed and explained by manufacturers, and went to dinner. Afterwards we got together again and mainly visited until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday after breakfast we spent several hours at the range. Since there was quite a variety of firearms there, a lot of time was spent shooting one another's ordinance, and getting familiar with different types. For example, Rick of Traction Control had a nice little full-auto Uzi with a silencer that was a hoot. My wife got to shoot a Ruger 45 Long Colt, got to fire a Glock for the first time, and had an especially good time shooting Skip's .308; she had never shot a center-fire rifle or used a scope, and she quite enjoyed doing some precision long-range target practice with a firearm suited for game hunting and military shooting.  An amazing person to watch was Molly, a young lady in her teens who can shoot better than most grown men I've seen; she was a joy to watch.   My shoulder was acting like it belonged to someone else, so as I had thought, I couldn't shoot worth a damn.  I am basically having to learn all over again from scratch with my shoulder in its present configuration.

Pic 1: Rick with his Uzi
Pic 2: My wife doing her sniper shooting
Pic 3: Molly

More time that night listening to people who are helping to keep the Second Amendment alive in this country, and more milling and such until late.

Saturday after breakfast was steel shooting, but I was hit with sciatica bad, so wasn't able to go. Felt a little better after lying down, so we played tourist and went out to lunch and to the National Automobile Museum in Reno. I have uploaded a few pictures to my Flickr account; you can go to it from the sidebar if you would like to see them.

We had raffles and drawings for some firearms and a lot of sporting equipment that night. Visited until late.
Left after breakfast on Sunday. There was a cowboy shooting contest for those who desired to attend, but we had to start on our way home.

One of the reasons the GBR takes place (other than like-minded people getting together and having fun) is to raise money for the Project Valour-IT program to help some of our wounded soldiers. We managed to raise a fair amount ourselves, and some of our sponsors added to this also.

This was my first visit to the GBR, and I must say it was awesome to find how friendly and helpful everyone was, and how much they went out of their way to make my wife and me feel welcome and have a good time.  I hope we can make it again next year, if possible.

Pic 1 and 2:  Couple of candid shots of us milling about.
Pic 3: Caleb displaying his awesome hat-wearing skills.  He is a top competition shooter, and was in the first season of Top Shots, if you are familiar with the show.
Pic 4: The person standing is Alan Gura, whose name you may know if you are familiar with the famous Heller decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was an individual right, rather than a collective right.

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After leaving Reno, we went to Carson City, and visited the
Nevada State Railroad Museum; there are also some pictures from there at Flickr.

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 Should be something of interest to someone in here; I was in sort of a disjointed mood for music here.

"Rocky Top" by Chet Atkins
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Alone" by Heart
"England Swings" by Roger Miller
"Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." - Rudyard Kipling

Next week my wife and I are going to Reno for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous; getting together with other bloggers in the western US for some visiting, range time, and whatever we feel like. Should help get rid of some of the cabin fever bothering us at this time. I haven't been to Reno in years, and then it was passing through at about midnight, so I'll be interesting in seeing the sights, and meeting some of the bloggers I've read over the internet for several years now.
Don't know how well I'll do at shooting; I haven't been able to work a firearm for over a year now because of my shoulder, so it should be interesting to see if I can hit a target, or end up seeing Maggie's Drawers a lot.

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I got almost a full night's sleep last night; feel like my IQ went up several points.
Went in for an MRI on my back yesterday (had an X-ray last week); the doctor is supposed to look them over and get back to me on whether there is anything they can do for my sciatica and spasms; I'm trying to stay hopeful that they can help without any major surgery.

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Looks like the revolt in Libya may be winding up soon; it all depends on when they can dig out Qadaffi from where he's holed up. Then will come the fight to see which faction/tribe will run the country; at that time we may see a bloody civil war take place, depending on what the military does. I just hope the POTUS doesn't get us involved in that part; what those barbarians do over there is their own business, not ours.

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Some oldies; some of you out there might even remember a couple of them.

"Substitute" by The Who
"If You Don't Like Hank Williams" by Kris Kristofferson
"Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot
"Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight" by Buddy Holly
"Mechanical World" by Spirit
"Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Diggy Diggy Lo" by Doug Kershaw
"Runnin' Blue" by The Doors
"Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band