The Happiest Day Of My Life

Today, I became a father for the first real time in my life. My wife gave birth to twins at 0823 this morning. A boy, weighing 5 lbs, 15 oz measuring 18.5", and a girl weighing 5 lbs 7 oz measuring 17.75".

The reason I say first real time, is that my other two children were born in my absence, the oldest (God rest his soul) was born while I was in Germany and I didnmt get to see him in person for almost 2 years. My next youngest, was born in another state.

So to be there when these two were born was a special day. The best.

Good To See My Hometown In the News

It's not very often my hometown gets a mention in anything other than statewide press, so to see this piece on a Denver website, is kind of nice.

You see, the only other times my hometown made any news outside the state was when, back in the early '80's, a guy went on a rampage through a section of town with a D-9 bulldozer and in the early '90's when an assistant principle with the high school was caught in the buff, ummmm talking, to the Welding Class teacher who was also in the buff, by the assistant principle's professional photographer husband in a local city park picnic area. (The welding shop teacher was wounded by a gun shot to the upper inside portion of his left thigh, leaving little doubt about what the enraged husband was aiming for.)

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of the Gun Club in the linked article, as if you're over the age of 18, you need to purchase a membership to shoot there, even if you're just a guest of someone else.

The range is nice, shooting areas are well maintained, and it's centrally located in town. As they say, the only other approved range in the county is 10 miles east of town and it costs between $5 and $6 per gun to shoot there, per person plus target and hearing protection if you don't have any. So, the $33 per year it costs to be a member ain't all that bad.

After I came across this article this morning, it seems the City Council has done something to endear themselves to the good people of Gillette. Though it's only a tentative step in the right direction, maybe the town 'leaders' will see the light and leave the Range alone.

We'll see, I guess.

Something Don't Smell Kosher Here

Doing a little Google news wandering this morning and came across this.

A couple members of the local 5-0 are suing a gun store because someone bought a gun legally from them, that was then used to try to kill said officers.

Now, I'm not from WI, so I'm not all up on their gun laws like I am here in SD, but it would seem to me that this shouldn't get out of the starting blocks and here's why.

When the store made the sale, they did so pursuant to the applicable laws of the state of WI, and under GCA 68. Meaning, they did all the paperwork required under federal law (filling out the old Form 4473, which lying on could be a felony punishable by prison time) and from other sources waited the appropriate time also required under WI law.

Reading up on this, I found this little gem by Dennis Hennigan of the Brady Bunch. Now, I'm no scholar on things legal, but it would seem that if the gun in question was purchased from the store, and the buyer was a prohibited person, then either one of two things occurred. First, the buyer lied on the form, which in itself is illegal. The other is that the NICS check was delayed and after the mandatory 3 day wait, the sale was allowed to proceed per federal law.

(See also in the above linked piece the part about the 'assault weapon, high capacity mag, and *GASP* flash suppressor! A masterful piece of scare tactics I must say....NOT!)

Either way, I can't imagine a store with the issues that are purported to follow this one around, there would be a case where the store owner knowingly sold a gun to a prohibited person.

Like I said, something don't smell kosher on this, especially when the Brady Bunch is involved.

Un-Effing-Believable

I've been a Bronco fan my whole life. Been watching Denver games since I was old enought to watch TV. I've seen some pretty pathetic performances over the years, all those Super Bowl losses, and watched them give up leads of 30 or more points to lose in the final minutes of the game.

But todays, I don't even want to dignify it as a game, ass whupping was something I thought I'd never see. There used to be jokes about Denver's schedule. You know, playing Sister Mary's School for the Blind and Cub Scout Pack 22. But I seriously think that wasn't who they were playing, but who was actually on the team this afternoon.

Josh McDaniels challenged his teams toughness last week before the Jets game. I don't think there's any question anymore. What I saw today was a team that just laid down and died on the field.

Oh, you could say they were outplayed, and they were. By a team that could only put up 9 points last week.

There was only one time in all the years that I've been a watching your games that I was embarrassed to be a Bronco fan, and that was when they got their ass handed to them by San Fran, 55-10, in Super Bowl XXIV. Today was by far much worse. 59-14? To Oakland? Really guys? I think the only thing that could have been worse was losing to Detroit or Buffalo.

I'm not challenging your toughness, but your manhood. Man up. Play like like you've got something worth fighting for. I swear, it almost seemed like you didn't even want to play today. I realize it's the Sabbath and all, but c'mon. Does anyone on the defense even know their way to the quarterback? Does anyone on the defense know how to tackle?

Offensively, you know that little round oblong thing that the refs put on the ground at the start of every play? You know, the FOOTBALL? Yeah, that thing is supposed to stay with the folks who have the same colored shirt you have on. Not the guy wearing other team's colors, and it most definitely does not go to the guy who has a free shot at your end zone. It also does not get dropped on the ground for those same other folks to pick up. Got it?

And if you do all that correctly, could you at least try to make at least 10 yds in the number of downs given? I'm not asking much, just the occasional first down every once in a while. The punter should not be getting the lion share of time on the field unless he's holding for the kicker on a point-after or field goal.

I'm not sure how many team-low records you set for yourselves today, as I could only watch until the Raiders were already up by 38 POINTS.

Gad. Get it together.

Awww, Poor Baby

just caught the post game wrap up from the bear/giants game.

Crybaby extrordinairre, Jay Cutler got bagged 9 times in the first half, and left the game exclaiming "I'm Batman" with a concussion.

BTW, tying this from my phone, so fingers crossed...

Finally Made The Plunge

After starting out in handloading with a little Lee hand press (let me tell you doing 100 rds of .45 ACP was wondermous with THAT set up) about 4 yrs ago, for Christmas 2 yrs ago, my wife got me an RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master reloading kit.

Man, what an improvement. I could actually sit down and load ammo in a normal fashion. It works great for fine tuning loads for hunting and for precision work (not that I'm any kind of a precise marksman). Which will still be its primary function.

But doing bulk reloading was getting to be too much. When I got into the 10mm thing (on top of the .45 ACP thing) last winter/spring, ammo was scarce and components were even worse. So I bought stuff when/where I could. In doing so, I wound up with over 1k pieces of 10mm brass. Using that little RC single stage press took me the better part of 2 months to push out that 1000+ rds of 10mm.

So, I'd been really thinking long and hard about getting a Dillon. Specifically for reloading bulk ammo. But, in looking through the Blue Press (for those of you not in the 'know', the Blue Press is Dillon's catalog) it came down to either the RL 550B, or the 650B.

Decisions, decisions.

So, this past Thursday, I was walking through one of our local big box sporting goods stores and noticed an RL 550B on display. After some questioning back and forth betwixt me and the salesdude, I'm heading out the door the proud owner of a brand spanking new Dillon RL 550B press.

Cost? $50 under book. And without the shipping charges of ordering it from said catalog. Since then, I've got conversion plates for .45 ACP, .40 S&W/10mm, AND .41 Mag. The only other one I need is .308 and I'll be cranking out bulk ammo like a madman.

The sad part is, due to events this weekend, I was unable to get it set up. Between my brother showing up yesterday afternoon, a full afternoon today of watching an absolutely amazing game between my Broncos and the Titans, getting car seats for Hazmat A&B (who are due at any time I might add) and some persistent neck issues, I didn't get much done save getting the area cleared off to set it up. Maybe tomorrow.

Rest In Peace, SSgt Bryan Berky

UPDATE: Yesterday, there was a dedication ceremony in the ring of the fallen at Ellsworth AFB, honoring SSgt Berky. Here is the memorial dedicated to his memory:



On Saturday morning, 12 Sep, SSgt Berky made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, leaving behind a wife and 9-month old son.

I didn't know SSgt Berky well, but I knew him. A great sense of humor and being an EOD troop, dedicated to his job. I got the sense that being around him, you couldn't help but smile.

Lo there, do I see my father,

Lo there, do I see my mother

and my sisters and my brothers.

Lo there, do I see the line of my people,

back to the beginning

Lo, they do call to me,

they bid me to take my place among them

in the halls of Valhalla,

Where the brave may live forever

Rest in peace, brother. You have earned your place in Valhalla.

Another Hollyweird Remake

Just when you thought all the originality in Hollyweird was gone, and they couldn't possibly remake ANOTHER classic movie, along comes the Coen Brothers. You know, of 'Fargo', and 'Oh Brother Where Art Though' fame.

Here's the trailer.



Now, I'll give the brothers credit where credit is due. I've seen 'Oh Brother', and probably a couple of other of their films, but I'm out to lunch on this one.

This is the movie that gave us one of the most famous and memorable scenes from a western:



Now, in the interest of honesty, I have seen some of the recent Hollyweird remakes, and they were pretty good. 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (Side bar question: Is it still a remake if the guy who originally did the film is behind the remake?), Both of the 'Halloween' movies by Rob Zombie, and of course Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 'Walking Tall'. '3:10 To Yuma' wasn't bad, but in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't see the original. 'Last House on the Left' was pretty good, considering, again, I didn't see the original.

Some were so awful I can't even begin to describe them, like the remake starring Sly Stallone playing the part of a gangster that was originally played by Michael Caine, or 'I Know You're Home Alone' or some such nonsense.

Will I go see the remake of True Grit at the theater? Don't rightly know. Could I keep my head out of the old John Wayne classic and watch this from a fresh perspective? Again, I don't know.