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Aug 22nd, Sunday, 2004: 2300hrs:
Back from
the Front.
The trip
out there was both a miserable failure and a success. I didn’t get the
engine for the jeep, which was the whole point of going out there…
instead I bumped into Robin Peng, founder of
Design Engine.
I was in
the parking lot reading a book and waiting for the owner of the engine
to show up. I was using my little Photon Freedom microlight and he was
curious as to what the little light was. (on top of what the hell I
was doing in his parking lot at 11:00PM on a Saturday night. Well, we
starting talking and he gave me a tour of his idea factory. His is the
only joint in Utah that has some really slick cutting edge technology
called SensAble. This is a 3D digital modeling tool that uses touch…
meaning you can feel the model you are working on. After using the
25,000 device myself, I can’t explain it… but I’ll try. Using a stylus
rigged with a force-feedback system you can literally feel the 3D model
as you create and manipulate it. Combine this technology with the
rapid prototyping technology and you have something drastically cool.
Cutting edge stuff. Not only is it cool, but Robin the guy that can
make use of it. He worked for Ford and Nissan designing cars and now
has his own firm here in Utah and his only limit is his own
imagination.
The down
side is that Robin is running dangerously close to severe burn out. He
is so into “design” that he eats and breaths it to the point where
looking at a tree he can only see the number PHI, 1.618, “The Divine
Proportion” and how that is used in the design of the tree… he can’t
see the whole forest of trees. Professional designer to the core.
When we talked motorcycles, a common ground, again he was caught up in
the details of the design of the bikes instead of actually putting the
rubber to the road and riding it for the enjoyment of the ride. That’s
something he is going to have to work on. A ride is not all about
suspension geometry… it’s about the apex geometry of the curve and how
you are going to take it… it’s about the trees and the air and sucking
in the life being force fed to you by the open road. I think he will
be able to get that. Robin is going to be opening up his own school of
design in the future after the successful complete of a project or
two. Because that is where one of his greatest loves is… teaching. He
taught at BYU for a time and wants to get back to doing that. We talked
about this at some length and I think, hope, that I was able to help
him.
Here is a
VW Van that DesignEngine has built up. This is perhaps the coolest VW
I’ve ever seen. Slammed and tricked out with a chromed high output VW
Bug engine… Very nicely done. The interior is not yet complete but is
in the process. A killer sound system is something that they are also
working on designing for it. The photo doesn't do this vehicle
justice. This van is coo. Very cool. So much so that
it's the first time I have ever considered a VW van to be cool.
Look at
what happens when I step out for a bit! Pat
Buchanan slaps the GOP hard across the mouth. And he is totally
correct in this. The GOP full of RINOs and sissy little pandering
pansies. The lost their strength and their direction and their core.
This is why I’ve gone over (for the second time now) to the
Libertarians. While I do not hold all the party’s beliefs, at least
they are trying to follow their beliefs. This year, I’m dropping my
vote on Bush for the reason that it is the only vote that is not for
Kerry. Kerry is a natural disaster. The political equivalent of “Deep
Impact” for the United States. Kerry is such a joke… a bad joke at
that.
Should we
really care if France gives no support to the USA?
I
don’t think so. I don’t think any international support coming
from France would have any merit. Considering that France, and Germany
and Russia are the nations leading the Anti-USA charge in the
international community when it was those three countries leading the
charge at UN Sanction Violations in selling prohibited weapons systems
to Iraq. There they are crying about the UN while at the same time
they themselves were giving the UN the finger. They themselves were
further devaluing the valueless. I can’t really blame them for that
that, for the UN is completely meaningless now, but to criticize the
USA for simply following and enforcing the very UN mandates that they
themselves voted for is in the very least disingenuous. Now they,
France, is leading the charge of Anti-Semitic violence. Firebombing a
jewish community center… just pathetic. The French certainly are
models of sophistication, nuance, and upper brow internationalism. Way
to go France! You guys are on the way of making Palestine look
tolerant.
Someone
give Janet Jackson a drug test.
She is now saying that it’s Bush’s fault she had her famous wardrobe
malfunction. Incredible. I was driving past Deer Creek Reservoir
today and was unfortunate to see a tiny squirrel try to run across the
road. The poor thing was hit by a Honda Accord and was flipped up into
the air to land motionless on the side of the road. Damn Bush for
killing that squirrel!
Speaking of the drive… The Bronco ran great the whole way there and
back with not a hint of a problem. The engine was strong and had not
problem pulling the big green beast 70MPH and was able to cruise at
that speed. For the sake of economy I cruised most of the time at 65
and not pushing it. I wasn’t in a hurry. It was just a very pleasant
cruise with good weather and with the top off it, it was bliss.
Well,
since I was unable to get the little 4 cylinder that I went out for…
I’m going to be forced to go with a plan B on the Cherokee. I
understand that a Chevy 350 will drop in. If there is one thing that
rural Utah has… it’s junk yards full of Chevy engines. I also
understand that it’s possible to put in a Ford 5.0 with the use of a
Ford transmission. That would be interesting. Again, junk yards full
of such options. I’m going to take my time now and study the details
of these options. Replacing the 4 cylinder with a multiport Jeep 4
banger wasn’t the most inspiring of swaps. And quite frankly even that
engine, using the old AMC block, wasn’t the most efficient of power
plants. A small block Ford or Chevy V-8 would be a font of inspiration
in a Cherokee. There are such conversion running around, and the
owners are not giving them up. Must be worthwhile, eh?
I feel
sorry for my sister-in-law Dacia. I knocked on her door at 0300hrs
this morning – scared her to death! I'm so sorry! But, thanks
Dacia. She was a good host to this unexpected guest. I was promptly
given a comfortable bed to sleep on and was undisturbed until I awoke a
few hours later. As comfortable as the guest room bad was, I was
unable to really sleep long, and left shortly after I arose. I didn’t
want to disturb their Sunday any more than I already had. Breakfast
was a half of a Denny’s club sandwich. Denny’s, the eternal pit stop
of nocturnal adventurers across the country. Since when did that joint
get expensive? You used to be able to get a full meal for 3 bucks… now
everything of over 6 bucks. Crazy. Well I'm going to bed now.
G'night!
Aug 20th, Friday, 2004: 2200hrs:
The
responses regarding the Kel-Tec P3AT have been overwhelming. It seems everyone has an opinion of these
little things and want my take on it something fierce. Let me just say
this… I’m going to follow the mantra of Ernest and Julio Gallo's
advice. I will print no line before its time. I want to give this
little gun an honest evaluation with no preconceived notions. I’ve
been packing it for a couple days now going about a lot of errands,
shopping, trips to the dentist, a county fair, 4 concerts, a road trip,
dog walks, chasing boys, loading a pickup truck with bales of stray
that fell out of it when the guy turned a corner, running up and down a
steep hill, and arguing politics face to face with ignorant self
centered but enthusiastic liberals who just realized they are actually
overbearing authoritarians. I don’t know what else I could do with
this carry wise. After I am done with the road trip tomorrow I’ll be
doing more shooting with it and taking the photos for the article.
Opinions are certainly formulating about many of the pistols
characteristics, but this evaluation and the opinion are not yet
complete. I beg your patience on this matter.
I need
to formulate a pistol evaluation matrix…
a set standard based on certain criteria that will allow for
a rapid comparison between other pistols. I’m not sure just how to do
that yet… But I think some of the criteria should be Reliability,
Accuracy, Ergonomics, Concealability, and maybe a couple other things
like weight and balance and overall quality. Because you could take
for example a couple guns I’ve reviewed recently… say the Detonics and
the Cougar and on paper they are pretty similar. Same caliber, same
capacity, and close in size and weight… but they are so different that
they are actually nothing alike. They feel very different, they
function very different… So how could you compare the two? Not only
that, but how would you make a rating system that takes into account
other people’s perspective? For example, we had a small Utah Gathering
last spring and several folks shot the Cougar… I absolutely love the
thing but no one else did. No one really hated it, but they all took a
pass. Something about it clicked with me, while no one else got a
click with it. That individual quality that any one object has with a
person is something that you just can’t rate. Might as well forget
about even trying it. Maybe I’ll just give each quality a 1-10 score
and total that score for the guns overall rating. That might work.
I’ll maybe do that for the P3AT and then go back and give each gun I’ve
reviewed in the weapons section a similar ranking. Wouldn’t take all
that much effort or time and might be fun… Then I’d have an easy model
to follow for all future reviews. I kinda like that idea.
Got an
email from Rockstar Games. How did I get on that mailing list? The message/spam was about
the next Grand Theft Auto release coming out in October. It looks
hot. Graphics wise it looks like a cleaned up Vice City… so that’s not
bad. Doesn’t look like there is much of a change to the actual game
engine either. So this is good. It means it will play on my PC with
no problem. What is truly impressive about this next GTA is the scope
of the game. It is HUGE. And THAT is what I like. Take for example,
Doom 3. As amazing as it is, the scope of it is so small, that its
claustrophobic. It’s practically a railed shooter… you can’t go off
and explore around things and other than the sake of improving your
performance, the replayability is limited. You have the same hallways
with the same staged events to explore where as in GTA, you have a
whole city to explore. Just the back ground noise in GTA is
entertaining all on it’s own. In fact, with GTA Vice City, you can go
to the music store and buy the CD’s of the game’s different radio
stations. I counted 4 or 5 different Vice City CD’s at Wal Mart’s
music section. Don’t get me wrong… I love Doom 3! It is a hell of a
ride. But it can’t compare to the gaming potential of GTA. Nothing
can. Nothing. Of course it’s coming out for the Playstation first…
and there is no date given for a PC release. Damn it. I will forever
have a grudge against Console game systems, and this is just another
thorn in my side about them.
It is 2200
hrs on a Friday night, and I’m sitting here at my computer blogging.
My life sucks. *sigh* Actually not that bad. I've already been
well fed and well laid tonight so I'm set. There is a contented
ogre over here, let me assure you. Now, I’m watching the boys
while Mrs. Ogre is out with all her sisters watching The Princess
Diaries 2. At least I’m off the hook on that count. I think I’ll put
in Aliens for The Wrecking Crew. They like that flick as much as I
do. I’m heading out to SLC in the morning to pick up the engine… don’t
know when I’ll be back for the next update… so look for an after action
report Sunday. I checked with some Jeepers and the engine swap should
be straight in swap… even my old headers should work. The computer
will have to be swapped… hope he still has it… and maybe some wiring.
But I should be able to stumble my way through it. Push comes to
shove, I’ll have a local shop do it and worst case scenario it would be
under a grand to have them do it for me. Not bad. I know of one
certain swap they did that cost almost 2 grand for them to pull off.
No, that wasn’t any of my rigs! That’s what my rigs COST not how much
they are to FIX them. Sheesh! Speaking of cool rigs. 2700 bucks for
a sick 84 Jeep Wag in an SUT configuration, jacked up with big meaty
“mudder” tires, cool wheels, roof rack, and all that jazz. It’s
insane. I LOVE IT! Alright… time to head back to LV246. Hasta!
1300hrs:
This has
been a fantastic week. I
got some goodies; I got
quoted by Acidman; and I got an engine for the old Cherokee. I
just have to get out to the Wasatch Front to pick it up. This means
eminent road trip and the first time the Bronco will be taken. Man…
this is all very excellent. Yet this makes me very nervous. Normally
when I have a good day, something really bad happens… and I’ve had an
awesome week… so something outrageously bad is looming over me like a
shadow. I don’t know what it is… what it could be… but something wicked
this way comes. It always does. I don’t think I’ve ever had more than
2 good days in a row that I haven’t paid dearly for. That’s just the
way things have worked in my life.
I’m
excited about this engine… You see, our Cherokee is an old 86 with an
AMC 2.5L 4 banger… the thing is actually on the 3rd engine
(one engine swap and 2 rebuilds) and the odometer has been rolled,
which means It’s over a million miles and showing 250,000 on top of it.
This engine is a 4 cylinder as well, but from a 97 with multiport fuel
ejection. A much more fuel efficient engine with much better
performance. Horsepower and torque numbers are not all that much
higher, but this engine gets there at lower RPM’s. Much better
situation all the way around. Especially since the old engine thumping
under the hood is so completely tired… Its fuel economy is as bad as
the Bronco’s even though it has half number of cylinders at half the
size. That and my beloved spousal unit has abused it to death so many
times… running it with out oil for a few days before I hear the engine
running… overheating and running it with no coolant… It’s a miracle
that Jeep can still roll let alone actually drive! This engine should
be a straight up swap with the old one... and if all goes well it
should totally revamp this Cherokee’s attitude. I’d love to be able to
have a nice big fat hot rodded engine dropped in there, but really what
we need is a good economical scooter motor with some spunk. This
engine will make frequent trips to SLC possible, and economical. It
will also make this Jeep worth digging into the transfer case to see
why I no longer have four wheel drive in it. (When I pull it into 4
wheel drive mode it sounds someone dumped a box of nuts and bolts into
a blender) Anyway – I am stoked. I’ll be going out to pick it up
tomorrow I hope.
1000hrs:
You guys
have got to see this.
This gun is mounted on a US Navy Blackhawk helicopter. Freaking
awesome. The thing is used for busting mines at sea. Kerry could have
used it… but he would have just hurt himself with it. From the thread
there at Amback, the gun is a 30MM cannon and it has a barrel swap
upgrade available for a 40MM. Looks to use the same 30MM rounds as an
A-10… and that means some impressive heavy duty hitting. The round can
penetrate a main battle tank, so I am sure it would have no problem
punching through a mine.
Drudge is
reporting that the Kerry Campaign is calling for a ban on the book
“Unfit for Command”.
Even if you are staunch Democrat and a Kerry zealot, this should scare
you. They are wanting to trash the first amendment, the most basic
right outlined. Not that this is the first time the Democrats have
wanted to trash the 1st Amendment… they want to kill talk
radio, political weblogs, and small newspapers that are not part of
their establishment. This scares me. Without the First Amendment, we
don’t have any freedoms anymore and would be no better than Cuba or
China. Of course the Democrats have a hard on for Cuba and China, so
it doesn’t surprise me in the least. Just watch out for Dukakis
rolling towards Times Square in his tank.
Emails in regarding the Kel-Tec P3AT: “Ogre, Looking forward to your review and
experience with the P3AT. Whilst at the range last night, a gentleman
walked in with his new P3AT. I asked him how he liked it. He replied
that he did not have a chance to shoot it yet, and stated that he just
took his CCW class and this weapon came "highly recommended".
Now, let me preface by stating that you published one of my e-mails
regarding my Sub-2000 9mm Glock variant carbine, which I love. Fairly
reliable (a stovepipe or two after 500 to 600 rounds before a cleaning
job), and it was a cheap buy for what it serves (my "trunk" weapon). I
have nothing against Kel-Tec, and have received great support from the
Company when I've dealt with them directly. They even offered to do a
trigger job for free if I sent back my Sub-2000 (I just did it myself).
However, I was surprised that someone would "highly recommend" this as
their first choice for CCW carry. I have not fired the P3AT, but from
the 15 or so people I have personally spoken with, and the handful of
reviews, it seems about 50/50. Some have major feed issues. Some have
minor issues with the first 200 rounds through a NEW P3AT. Rarely do
people report NO issues with it out of the box.
IMHO, is this should be considered a DEEP carry weapon, better served as
a backup weapon of last resort. It should not be handed to the
inexperienced shooter (regardless of gender) as a PRIMARY CCW weapon.
Range time, reliability testing, and familiarity with a CCW weapon
MIGHT cure this. It depends on the shooter.
My wife has been shooting since she was 10. She can handle a weapon or
two, and just got her CCW. I'm still probably going to lean her
towards something like a S&W 642 (Airweight J-frame .38 with concealed
hammer). As much as I like Glocks, revolvers go BANG when you want 'em
to. Rarely will they not. My $0.02 worth. Looking forward to your
experience with the P3AT, as I'm still considering getting one myself
as a "last resort" go-to gun. FYI, a good forum to check out, the Kel-Tec
owners group:
http://www.ktog.org/ Brad”
Thanks for the email,
Brad. You are right about reservations for making the Kel-Tec’s highly
recommended pieces. They seem to be impressive little guns, but some
do have issues that must be addressed before they should be carried.
Not that while I was carrying it yesterday, it was carried as a back
up to a .45 that is known to be more than reliable. But dang, if that
little thing didn’t carry well! I forgot it was there, and it was in
my right front pocket of my Levi’s. Its width is only .77 of an inch…
that’s seriously skinny. Some guns have trigger guards wider than
that. Totally slick sided, not a real bad trigger, 6+1 capacity,
Browning type lock up… the gun is such a neat little package that it
warrants every effort available to make sure the gun is totally
reliable.
Another KT Email: “Those Cor-Bons are little hot in the Kel-Tec
3AT. You might want to try some round ball too so that you can see the
difference. I found Cor-bon Hollow Points to be downright painful in
the Kel-Tec 3AT. After a box or so, the trigger pin will back out a
little and the gun will stop going boom. Maybe they fixed this issue.
The suggested fix is to put a little lock-tite on the pin and push it
back in. Look behind the trigger and you’ll see the trigger pin. With
hot loads, it tends to push out and to the point that the trigger does
not go back for enough to release the hammer. Do me a favor and look
at the trigger pin before shooting and then after to see if there is a
difference. For size and weight it is an awesome little gun. Fits
nicely in the pocket too. I can’t wait to see your review of the gun…
I’m hoping it is not good, because if it is, I may have to try another
one. J Oh… I could not shoot the darn thing straight either, but
that was just me. John, from
John’s Conservative Thoughts”
Thanks for
the heads up about the pin. And also about the little bit that holds
the front of the recoil spring, and the ejector… oh wait… I discovered
those the hard way. I said “WTF!?” twice in a row shortly after taking
the slide off it. Interesting and down right clever design… but I
don’t like that ejector. Sure, it makes for easy replacement, but
still. You are probably right about using hot loads in this thing.
But this is a press sample for evaluation purposes… so I will be making
sure I put some long miles on it. You should take a ride with me when
I rent a car. I’m not gentile. And evidently neither are the other
gun writers who have used this particular pistol. When I took the
slide off… man… the gun was FILTHY inside. The outside looked fine,
but inside it looked as if it had been dredged up from the bottom of a
septic tank. Nasty. The barrel looks like it is caked with copper
fouling. If anything, I now know that Kel-Tec does not send out
specially worked examples to try to get the best reviews possible.
Email in
from a cat named Gato. It is unedited. I take it that English is not his first language,
so be nice to him. I’m posting this as I have tried to reply but the
email keeps bouncing. “Dear Love You web page bad A** frist i
have llama 357 mag comanche 4inc love it was my grand uncles get when
he dead .. this gun he had for many year `s he was army retierd his
army ended in 1955. stated in 1930? his wife hated it but he loved and
i showed my llama 45 to he loved and this was hi last day`s hear on
earth get killed but hell he was in late 80`s and ride motorcycles that
how he get killed . get that and had to to texas to get stuff .well the
one i would like to know how has grips for this or what fit the stock
are to big my smaller hand i have 45 fits like glove . and when this
modle made ???? have ballaster 45 this my sisters all of shot guns and
love !!!!! and love ar15 site way to go have russia sks love the round
7.62x39 and take frinde to shot it he was a ar 15 fun than shot the
7.62x39 hp round he loved it an the sound from was oh Sh**t ..well
you site is why cool take care R.Ortegon NM USA P.S. this site wins
big time what do think of the sks ? ? like your 30- 30 site cool had
30- 30 but like ass sold now i what get outher one what do think about
45 colt? i know good home gun take care be safe out ther .........
Gato”
Thanks for
the email, Gato. I would like to help you about the Llama .45, but
have no idea when it was made. The design is a copy of the 1911
Government Model, and that is almost 100 years old now. But I think
most of their 1911 type guns were introduced in 1951 and 1952 and ran
through 1977 when old models were discontinued and new ones came out.
Then these guns form ’77 ran through till ’88. I’m not sure about
that… but I if I remember right those are generally the dates of
interest. I’ve not looked at a Llama made handgun in a few years, so I
may be wrong. Any Llama experts out there? Anyways, hope that is
helpful. The SKS is a great rifle, I like them. They are a good
defensive weapon for home or truck. .45 Colt, I am assuming you are
talking about it for use in a lever action rifle… it does very well in
those rifles. The Winchester Trapper in .45 Colt is very popular and
is a favorite at western style competitions. Thanks for the email
again.
Early Morning:
Someone needs to bring
Iran up to date on current events really quickly,
because they are putting their feet into their own mouths. I
can’t believe I just read what I have just read. Look at this like
here: "The US military presence (in Iraq) will not become an element of
strength (for Washington) at our expense. The opposite is true, because
their forces would turn into a hostage in Iranian hands…" Wow.
Question for Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani:
Who was the last guy
that was talking smack like that to the USA? That’s right, it was
Saddam. Where has Saddam been this last year? Let’s see… spent a lot
of time hiding like a scared little girl in a spider hole, then stayed
as a guest in a US run prison, and is now enjoying some time spent in
prison at the hands of the new interim Iraqi government. What happened
to his vast army? To quote Bill Murry in Stripes, the answer is “Blown
Up, Sir!” Iraq was our bitch and Iraq’s army was a hell of a lot
bigger and badder than Iran’s! When punks like Ali Sham start spouting
off like this, that tells me one thing. That they are scared. And
they damn well better be. Because we can blow up those Iranian nuke
sites without even being there and there is nothing they can do about
it. Iran is just like how Iraq was before we pulled the trigger. Most
of the population is ready to dump the corrupt government and would
welcome any regime change. These guys just don’t get it. Such
statements are asking for our military attention, not scaring us away
from it! Hey, Ali Sham, ask Saddam about smack talking the USA. You
little punk, all you have to do is cooperate with the international
agency to assure everyone you are not making weapons and you will have
nothing to worry about. Such posturing is only making you look guilty
and unlike Iraq, America still has a grudge to settle against Iran. We
remember hostages during Jimmy Carter’s watch… we remember all the
terrorists that called Iran home… we remember all the threats. Ali,
don’t you dare push us, because you would be nothing more than a
Freebie to us. We would eat you so hard, you wouldn’t even know which
direction Mecca was in. Lots of people want to take you out… itching
to take you out. Saddam got his power from us, just so he would piss
you guys off… and look what we did to him! And we liked Saddam! We
don’t even like you guys… so just think about what we would do to you.
Just be glad I’m not the president you little dirt bags, because your
nuke programs would already be a stamp on the sides of my F-117’s.
I was at a book store
this evening and noticed a couple books on the clearance table.
Bill Clinton’s so called best seller was right there, deeply
discounted. The were practically giving it away. I watched a few
people pick it up, laugh, and put it back down again. I walked out of
the store with a copy of The Bourne Supremacy. I’ve not read it in
ages. The movie is at the drive in this weekend along with Collateral
for a “10 bucks per vehicle” double feature. I’m so there. First, I’m
going to read the book again so I know just how much the movie hosed
it. Matt Damon is still one of my last choices for the Jason Bourne
character. He’s right after Bill Paxton and Jim Carey for that roll.
Game over, man!
Looks like I am going
to be getting deeply involved in politics soon. I’m going to be helping out the organization of a
Libertarian Party Chapter here. I am not completely down on all the
party’s issues… I’m more of a Soft-Core Libertarian on some things.
I’ll be running for an office in the future, as a Libertarian. I’ll do
as much as I can. My wife took a political positioning quiz and the
results surprised both of us. She is more hard core libertarian than I
am. I’m a bit more compassionate about some things… and for this I am
going to be giving her hell for some time to come. I’ve been calling
her my little Anarchist all night.
Aug 19th, Thursday, 2004: 1500hrs:
Sorry for the
late posting today.
I’ve been busy. The
Kel-Tec P3AT
arrived and is now in my possession. By possession I mean riding in
the front pocket of my jeans loaded with Cor-Bon hollow points. I’ve
got a small mountain of ammunition for it and I am about to take it up
into the mountains to physically abuse this thing… out where no one can
hear it scream for mercy. (insert evil laughter here) It is just
amazing how little this thing weights. It doesn’t weight anything.
6+1 rounds in it and still the only weight it has is in the slide. The
very thin, slick sided, impossible to snag on anything slide. I’ve
already sent an email to Kel-Tec asking them how much it would be for
me to keep it. Considering the cost of the transfer and return
shipping, it might just be more cost effective to keep the little
thing. At least that’s how I am going to sell it to Mrs. Ogre, so wish
me luck. She owes me one for stealing the Mak!
I’ve also been working
with Magnum Research today about sample guns for the article after the
Kel-Tec article. Lisa there at Magnum Research is a pleasure to deal
with… she is awesome. Very helpful and on the ball. I’ll be doing a
review of 2 guns in that article. A compact and a sub-compact both in
9MM. These are the poly framed versions that I’ve never fired before,
so that’s something I’m really forward to. In fact, they are shipping
tomorrow so I wont have long to wait. Very cool. Now when you thing
Magnum Research, you are probably thinking Desert Eagle. This is not
the case here, don’t worry about that. I’m talking about the “Baby
Eagle” guns which are built, I think, in Italy. They are based on
the CZ-75 design which is world renowned as one of the best handgun
designs – ever. Hopefully I’ll be able to get both of these articles
done and out of the way before the semester starts so I will be able to
concentrate on my classes.
Speaking of which… One of the things I was doing was getting all the
arrangements and stuff ready for the fall semester again. It’s going
to be all night classes. So I’m set. Looking for some of the books
online. One of the books is a small one with a huge price. Tiny
little book for 87.95. WTF? I had best find the answers to the
meaning of life in that damn book. This book had best become not only
my favorite little book of all time, but also the most meaningful… I
mean come on… 87.95? That’s insane! The other books are not much
cheaper either. Sheesh.
Okay, I give in.
There has been a low grade cold war here in my house and my
wife just one. It’s about the spelling of our youngest child’s name.
“Torin” or “Torrin” has been the question. She has wanted the name
spelled with one “R” and I wanted it spelled with two. An all records
filled and signed by her, it’s with one. On all records filled and
signed by me it is with two. It has been concluded that his name shall
forever be spelled with one now. I apologize to all low level
bureaucrats and paper pushers at the Selective Service, CIA, NSA, and
Homeland Security that have been troubled by this. You may now update
and correct your files accordingly.
When I was a young lad
living in Tacoma Washington,
I liked this stuff. Evidently I’m not the only one. I pretty much
did the same thing one night before a huge football game. I don’t
remember anything from that night, but I woke up the next morning
wearing the letter jacket of a cheerleader from the other school named
Cocoa who looked like
Tyra Banks. It seems that I had a very good time. Man, that was a
life time ago. Several life times ago.
By now you have all
heard that one of the
Swiftboat Vets also received a Bronze Star for bravery under fire
during the same incident that Kerry received his Bronze Star. Here is my take on this. This guy has never said that he
came under fire. Kerry is the only one who has said that there was any
enemy fire. Other people have also said that there was no enemy fire.
The Liberals want to make this look like the other vets are all lying.
I don’t care about the Bronze Star here. Someone else put him in for
it. Probably the same guy that was doing the award for Kerry put the
other boat captain in for it at the same time. I don’t think this is a
big deal. The man still swears that there was no enemy fire. Other
people still swear that there was no enemy fire. Who do I believe?
The guy that voted for the 87 billion before he voted against it? Or a
bunch of other decorated vets who served more than 4 months in Vietnam
and didn’t throw their medals away and are not running on those 4
months as a presidential platform because his 19 years of congressional
service are a complete joke? Let me think about this for a second.
Hmmm. Yeah, I still don’t think I am believing Kerry.
Aug 18th, Wednesday, 2004: 2300hrs:
Just got back from a
battle of the bands. 2
groups were actually pretty damn excellent. “Old School” out of
Rangely Colorado and “Ten-96” out of Salt Lake. I had a great time. I
dropped 5 bucks on Ten-96’s CD because Old School didn’t have any CD’s.
But in a few weeks they should have a website or something. I’ll post
a link or something when I can. They were very good… on par with most
everything on my MP3 play list. Cool guys too. I’ll have to go next
time they are playing in town. Rangely is only an hour from here so
they will probably be around. Love live music, I really do. Before I
got married I used to go to clubs at Park City and listen to the bands.
Woke up under a ski lift one time, but that’s another story.
Fair Skinned
Warriors in Peru?
Interesting. Sounds very Book of Mormonish… in fact, sounds like
they found a Nephite city there. Very cool.
Oh, speaking of some archeology,
I think this explains the severely hard core nature of Norwegian
heavy metal.
Stig checked in:
“HV-12 is the national-guard or home-guard, directly translated,
regiment in my area. I am attached to a Rapid Deployment Force, company
size. "øvelse nidaros" was an exercise this year, where my
"district"="company" was used as a support element for the police.”
Excellent. The United State’s National Guard groups could take some
notes. Impressive. Here is an
English language site.
HP Lovecraft...
there is an
HP Lovecraft game coming out. Looks pretty dang cool. Looking
forward to it. A lot of the game is about the mood and feeling…
“Madness” is a factor here, and that’s something big in the Lovecraft
works. This game has a lot of potential. After this comes out, they
are going to do Mountains of Madness, so they are tackling my two
favorite Lovecraft stories!
FPS horror games are my favorite… I hate the 3rd person
games like Resident Evil. But they are not perfect. They are more
immersive than 3rd person games… but the level makers have a
bad habit of being retarded. For example, you pack enough fire power to
destroy a small planet and have slain thousands of demons… but you are
totally blocked my a few crates or a stuck door. DUDE! You should be
able to blast through the wall, ceiling, floors… everything. Come
on.
Call of Cthulhu looks like it’s not about firepower, but cognition.
Should be excellent.
Lovecraft made the ocean scary. But
I don’t think the ocean needed the help.
I was playing around
with this little Photon Freedom light… Damn… this thing is cool. Brightness control, multiple
strobe settings, SOS strobe… sweet. The hands free clip is also
magnetized so you can stick it anywhere to light up what you need. And
as far as LED microlights go – it’s the brightest I’ve seen. Smokes
the little LED light I have on my keychain, even when it had new
batteries. (An old Gen 1 Photon) Impressive little gadget. You guys
should get one. As far as tech toys go, it’s not all that… but as far
as actually useful little gadgets go – impressive.
1500hrs:
It’s like Christmas or
something or something over here…
First, the postman
drops off a package. From Norway. Inside is a cool OD Green T-shirt
wrapping up a music CD. The music is hard core Norwegian heavy metal
that just shreds. Perfect music for playing paintball, Doom 3, racing
across the desert, or sacrificing virgins to Cthulhu. Very hard core
stuff. It can’t be any more hard core than this stuff. I was tickled.
Thanks Stig. You rock to a shockingly high degree! The shirt
has a logo on it… a regal crest with lettering HV in the crest and
under the crest it says “HV-12 Nidaros 2004”. I don’t know what this
is… hit Google…
Came up with this. From what I gather, HV-12 is a Norwegian
counter terrorist commando unit or something… I don’t know. I can’t
read the language and there is no translator for this. Still… very
cool. That’s a cool website BTW… browse around and check it all out.
Good photos of the grunts with HK weapons. Looks like Thor still
smiles down on the Norsemen. Awesome.
Okay, as cool as that
was, the pizza guy rolls in with my delivery cause I seriously didn’t
feel like fixing lunch and the boys have been very good lately. Got a
free 2 liter of Pepsi. Again, very cool.
So I’m sitting here listing to some Norwegian hard core heavy metal,
drinking Pepsi, eating pizza and all the sudden UPS shows up. With a
box from American Backyard. A waterproof travel blanket and an LED
light. Sweet. This blanket is perfect for in the Bronco or for
strapping to a motorcycle for Adventure Touring. That’s going to be
very handy. The little LED light is pretty dang nifty too. It’s a
Photon Freedom light and what makes it especially cool and handy is
the hands free clip that it has and the brightness control. It is a
very neat little light. This thing is going to get some good use in
reading at night in bed, because it’s perfect for that. Among other
things. It will be perfect for the haunted house trip. I’m
delighted. Very nice.
Thank you American Backyard!
There is a dog show
tonight that we are going to attend.
My boys are wanting to see all the different dogs… I’d take Ranger,
but I think he would be a bit of a handful there. He’d eat a few
little dogs, hump the cute bitches, and then fart on the judges while
wagging his tail the whole time. He he he… maybe I’ll take him. Be
more entertaining that way.
1030hrs:
Cabela’s.
They are opening a new store here in Utah out in Lehi.
That’s like 10 minutes away from where I used to live. Now it’s over
3 hours. *shakes fist at sky* Just as well. Cabela’s is one place
where I could buy everything in it if not live there. If you go
outside – Cabela’s is your store. It’s that cool. I’ve been to one
and it was incredible. Old hat to some guys, sure… but out here it’s
big news. Many in Utah are excited about this. Many are also pissed
off. The Sportsman’s Warehouse guys are not happy at all.
Florida’s
Judges just don’t get it.
They have ruled that the law allowing for School Vouchers is
unconstitutional. They don’t get it. These guys do not understand
what the constitution is all about… The constitution isn’t about
keeping kids in bad schools. It’s about liberty and freedom.
Unfortunately too many lawmakers see it as a means of government
controlling the population when it is supposed to be the other way
around. So Florida isn’t unique in this. I’m sick and tired of this
Living Document bullshit and that the constitution is subject to
revision at will.
Make me King… not even for a day. I need just 1 hour. Make me king
for one single hour and I’ll write a revocation of all the gun laws on
the books, and all the amendments after the 10th. I’ll also
bust California into 2 states, North and South, and dismiss the 9th
circuit court of appeals and bar those justices from ever sitting at a
bench again. I only need an hour. Oh, and I’ll also banish everyone
on my fecal roster to Guam for the rest of their days. They will not
be allowed to leave, or send any public messages. However if NBC or
Fox wants to, they could do a Reality Show there called “Surviving
Poisonous Snakes”. Come on guys – I only need an hour and some pen and
paper.
I
like the Voucher plan. Public schools are crap and they are damaging
our children for the sake of political correctness.
You want evidence public schools are in dire need of revamping?
Here you go. Kids poll show they favor Kerry. Wait, who did the
poll? Neopets.com? WTF is that? Ah, a generic Pokemon thing. Lovely…
there you go guys… The Pokemon kids like Kerry. Let me just ask them
one question. “Why?” I really worry about the future of this nation.
Our nations kids are growing up extremely moronic. It’s like they are
all from West Virginia or something. And you guys in West Virginia –
you can’t argue that… Look who is still the Senator for your state! So
sit down and shut up or we will turn on the hoses. Again. Back to the
kids; Guys, make sure you spend time discussing things with your kids…
like the difference between right and wrong and legal… and about
politics… and about why some wars are necessary. Talk about history
local and national and global. Because your kids are not going to be
getting any of it at school. The schools can barely teach our own
English language. Yeah, look at me. Shit.
Bash Bruce
Springsteen?
Again, I have to ask why. His face looks as if he has been bashed
enough already. Don’t worry about “The Boss”. Who the hell gave him
that nickname anyway? No one listens to him anyways. He had one
popular song that I remember. His voice sounds as if someone dragged
deep sea fishing tackle through his throat.
Aug 17th, Tuesday, 2004: 2200hrs:
I now have a party of
four adventurers ready to make the trip and take on whatever is there.
We are still gathering information about the joint, and will
try to work out something that will keep us from getting a trespassing
charge if you know what I mean.
Here is the plan: We gather together at a rally point, make final
preps, and move to the site. We establish a base camp on the grounds
in a suitable location. We break into teams and start an organized
recon of the site. Once recon is complete, we set an LP/OP inside
while other return to the base camp to prep some grub. Teams will
rotate duty as time allows with more exploration as needed. Sleep will
be on a rotation basis if desired. This will continue until we have
completed our investigation and break camp. After that point we
depart, leaving no man behind, and rally at the nearest all you can eat
buffet for after adventure celebratory feasting. Slots are still
open. Date and time of this are TBD. Your offer of professional
assistance our grateful acceptance. Terms: cash on delivery, up to and
not exceeding one fourteenth of total profits (if any); all traveling
expenses guaranteed in any event; funeral expenses to be defrayed by us
or our representatives, if occasion arises and the matter is not
otherwise arranged for. Oh, wait… no… not travel or funeral expenses…
are all on our own that ways. I was just getting carried away there
getting my Hobbit on.
Hey, maybe we’ll go
check out Area 51 some other time. But Logan is good enough right now.
Noonish:
Question was “Do you
believe in Ghosts?”
Indeed I do. I’ve has
some experiences that had changed my previously skeptical attitude.
But I’m not going to talk about that right now.
There is a nice thread on THR. The reason I am posting this is
that I want to point you to the posts that is talking about “The
Nunnery”:
Saint Anne's Retreat
(The Nunnery)
Reports of children’s voices by the pool, a woman dressed in black,
ghost lights, cold spots etc.. are just a few of the phenomena
witnessed at this location. As legend has it this building was founded
in the 1920's as a lodge, it was soon after given to the Catholic
Church as a retreat, but the legend tells a different story, one of
murder. According to local lore the nunnery was home to many local nuns
one of which was going to have a baby, the head nun didn't know that
this particular nun was pregnant until she had the baby at the Nunnery,
the head nun was irate and told the nun she would kill the baby. So
fearing for her newborns life she tried to escape the Nunnery late on
night but the head nun gave chase through the forest. The nun was
terrified of what the head nun would do to her and her child so with
the head nun on her tale she hid her baby under some leaves and brush
and continued to run. Later when she felt like it was safe she went
back to the spot where she hid her baby but it wasn't there. Now not
knowing what to do she walked back to the Nunnery only to find her
child floating face down in the pool, the sight of this made the nun go
crazy and she committed suicide at the side of the pool so she could be
with her child.
This place is here in Utah, located up in Logan Canyon. I want to go
check this place out. I got a lot of Scooby Doo in me, what can I
say. If anyone in The Horde has any actual details about this place…
its exact location, who owns it and their contact information etc… let
me know. If possible, I’d like to gather a few hardy and rugged
individuals together to go in and check things out. Just for fun.
Camp out for a night there. That would be a blast. Halloween is
coming up.
1000hrs:
Those in Florida… my
heart goes out to them.
That hurricane was a monster. One of the Horde has a house
there but luckily it was spared. Our prayers go out for all those
affected by this storm, either through loss of home, loved one, or
both.
I didn’t know women’s
Beach Volleyball is now an Olympic sport…
God Bless The Olympics! I watched the US spank Canada.
Okay, they only played them and defeated them… there were no actually
spankings... but I was hoping.
The Military is
getting restructured.
I think this is long over due. Pull out ten thousand troops from
Europe and Asia… It’s about time. Most all of these troop
positionings were due to the Cold War and leftovers from WWII and
Korea. Updating the distribution of forces and their organization is
something that I see as a good thing. As it is, US Forces are spread
very thin and I don’t see any reason to keep them where they have
been. We no longer need a large garrison in Germany for example. A
flood of soviet tanks is no longer coming, and that was what we were
planning and ready for. Having our forces spread out so much only
invites terrorists to make targets out of them… That and US Forces
spend US Dollars and I really don’t think that Germany, with it’s
contempt for the USA, really needs any US Dollars anymore. Europe
with it’s total lack of loyalty is going to take a huge financial hit
when all the sudden the ugly arrogant Americans are no longer spending
money there every day. Na na naa na... Na na naa na… Hey hey heeey…
GOOD BYE! If they are so superior, then they don’t need our money, do
they? I’m down with spending money with those that are on our side….
Czech Republic, Italy, Norway… lots of countries supported us and had
our back. Germany stabbed us in our back. I’m all for yanking our
guys outta there. The sooner the better. I say we shut down the whole
thing there… Army and Airforce bases… all of it. Move our equipment to
locations in Italy, Israel, or other such places as we need. As for
the internal restructuring, come on… again, old structures and stuff as
dictated by the needs in WWII that have been the tradition ever since.
Rethinking is necessary. Especially when considering the new nature
of the threats we have to face in the future. Another thing to
consider… With China heating up, this restructuring could very well be
for the cause of prepping for war with China. Turning our guns from
Moscow to Beijing. China is now a greater threat than the Soviets ever
were. I just hope that China is a consideration here. But
considering some of the comments I’ve hear Rummy and Newt say in the
last couple weeks, I think the US is well aware of it and that’s why we
are restructuring.
Mark Hacking appeared
in court yesterday.
He was guarded by a number of police officers and was wearing a bullet
proof vest to protect him. Is that really protection? Let’s say you
wanted to take Mark Hacking (or someone else like him) out. The vest
is going to stop handgun rounds… so don’t even bother. And with all
the deputies around, you wont be able to get close enough to pop him in
the head. So how would you make the hit? You can’t pack a rifle
either. Too long of a weapon and it will attract attention. Should
you need to be positioned in a vehicle (considering you are doing this
solo and do not have the luxury of a driver) a rifle would be
impossible… yet you need a rifle’s range and horsepower and accuracy. I
don’t think this is a problem here. Just aim carefully as to not
injure any innocent bystander or constable… and you can take “The
Defendant” down and out. The Thompson Center Encore is an upgrade to
the classic Contender Pistol. Unlike the Contender, the
Encore is designed to handle full power hunting rifle cartridges.
Everything from .17 Hornet all the way up to .300 Win Mag… and more.
I am sure that one could find the proper combination for such an
application. With such a kit, you could move to within range on foot
in a suit with a briefcase, or easily from a car. A nice scope would
allow the range and the accuracy as well if the shooter was up to the
task. I doubt those vests are rated against 338-06… His head certainly
isn’t. Just some morbid thoughts for the morning… have a great day!
Early Morning:
John the Baptist’s cave?
Interesting. Not that
I am ready to believe John was actually hiding in there… Osama maybe…
but John?
Email:
“In your review (HERE)
you mention a fix for the Taurus for which I have not read else where.
Can you give me a little idea of what and where on the firearm this
needs to be modified? Any help would be great. - Jason”
Take the gun apart, and examine it closely... Inside the frame you will
see where the lower part of the front of the slide comes back and
impacts the frame. If the gun has had some round through it, the
markings will be noticable. On a new gun you might not see them.
That impact there is what I believe is causing the failures in the
weapons. Things to try:
1. Apply a thin layer of black gasket sealer to the portion of the
frame being impacted and allow to dry well before reasembly. This will
add a rubberish cushion.
2. Heavier recoil spring. This will also cushion the hammering on the
frame - at least in one direction.
3. Stick with “Soft Loads” such as Federal Personal Defense or other
low energy loads. +P loads are right out… don’t use them, don’t even
“try” them.
Other than this, write down the Taurus phone numbers and put them
someplace handy.
Email:
“Well boss, when I listed my cache of weapons directly at hand, I
didn't think that my 7 machetes would be on the endangered list for
banned weapons.
Interesting article. Looks like Boston is going to go the same way
as England and Australia and they will be banning everything up to and
including butter knives. Sounds good to me. Just remember that when
butter knives are banned, only criminals will be able to butter their
bread. Take it easy and keep up the good work. - Andy”
Oh hell… that is just pathetic. Talk about hiding your head in the
sand. That is just sad. Bunch of fucking sheep.
The following
comes from Horde Commander Glenn:
A Republican Tool-kit
for Kicking Liberal ASS!
Here are a few tools for your anti-liberal war chest, arranged by
common topics. Feel free to use these to go out and trounce the crap
out of our not-so-bright liberal friends:
Outsourcing:
If your favorite pet liberal is pointing out that George Bush has
allowed the outsourcing of well paying jobs to overseas, point out the
following facts:
The tax benefits of outsourcing in fact were put in place by
Bill Clinton not George Bush.
If they claim that he supports it because he's "for" big Business,
simply tell them that George Bush is clearly not "for" outsourcing
American jobs to foreign countries. Forcefully insist that they are
swallowing party propaganda (http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=236)
More on ousourcing:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=225 &
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=168
Jobs:
If they claim George Bush has lost more jobs than any other president
in history here's a nice pill for them:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=108
If they're spouting something about Sure there's been jobs created but
they're all minimum wage, low paying jobs Here's a few pages to feed
them:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=228 &
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=208
If they are whining about Bush "eliminating overtime for 8 million"
feed them this little bitter pill:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=151
Bush Lied:
If they're spouting their favorite "Oh well, when Clinton Lied, no one
died" Point out that George Bush did not lie! (http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=222)
Additionally point them to the fact that even John Kerry, who was a
member of the Senate Intelligence committee (btw John Edwards is on the
committee now!) believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and
point them to Ogre's excellent list of quotes that he published a while
back. In fact point out that the committee's jurisdiction is as
follows:
"Created pursuant to S.Res. 400, 94th Congress: to oversee and make
continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the
United States Government, and to submit to the Senate appropriate
proposals for legislation and report to the Senate concerning such
intelligence activities and programs. In carrying out this purpose, the
Select Committee on Intelligence shall make every effort to assure that
the appropriate departments and agencies of the United States provide
informed and timely intelligence necessary for the executive and
legislative branches to make sound decisions affecting the security and
vital interests of the Nation. It is further the purpose of this
resolution to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the
intelligence activities of the United States to assure that such
activities are in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the
United States."(http://intelligence.senate.gov/)
In other words... It was Kerry's job to ensure that George Bush was
receiving good intelligence, a job that he did not take seriously as
his attendance on the committee was haphazard at best!
If they're whining about there being no connection between Iraq and Al
Qaeda... Here ya go!
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=203 Be especially
mindfull to point out the fact that out reason for being in Iraq is:
"If we’re successful in Iraq, if we can stand up a good representative
government in Iraq, that secures the region so that it never again
becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it’s not
pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it’s not a safe haven for
terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of
the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have
had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11 .
. .
So what we do on the ground in Iraq, our capabilities here are being
tested in no small measure, but this is the place where we want to take
on the terrorists. This is the place where we want to take on those
elements that have come against the United States, and it’s far more
appropriate for us to do it there and far better for us to do it there
than it is here at home." - Cheney (Sept. 14, 2003)
Translation: To provide a place in the middle east that would draw
terrorists like moths to a flame, bringing them out in the open to be
combated - also to create a democracy in the middle east that would be
its very existence force other nations in the area to inspect their
totalitarian forms of government that creates the environment that
breeds extremism.
Military Service:
If they claim that George Bush was AWOL, here's a page to feed them:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=140
If they claim that Bush cut off funding for veterans, here's a good
one:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=144
If they're saying "Republicans are pushing for a draft" -
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=200
It's probably not a good idea to call Kerry's quality of service into
question, unless you yourself are a veteran, then you can question all
you want! We are talking about liberals here and very few of them have
ever served in the military. I've personally never run into one on chat
boards... If you do run into one, no big deal! It comes down to a
matter of opinion then doesn't it?
Corporate Corruption:
Another liberal gold standard is the old Halliburton got handed the
Iraq contracts without a bidding process... Just let them chew on this
one:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=201
Even if George Bush was freinds with Kenneth Lay, saying that he is in
some way implicated in Lay's wrongdoing is like saying that you should
be prosecuted for a friend's illicit drug use...
George Bush signed strict new laws that have been used to prosecute a
lot of corporate corruption figures from Ken Lay right down to Martha
Stewart.
Deficits:
If they're whining the Bush has created the "largest deficit in
history" here's a nice right-hook for them:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=148
Medical Coverage:
If they point out that Kerry wants to give everyone medical coverage,
point out that that is a standard liberal thing to claim, but that if
one investigates a little closer the democrats feel no compunction to
provide universal medical coverage. In fact, there was a window there
where the democrats held a monopoly on Washington under Clinton... What
kind of medical coverage got signed into law? Nothing! Point out that
the only meaningful legislation to be signed into law in regards to
health coverage was signed by George Bush. They of course will attempt
to point out that the legislation in question only benefits drug
companies (good they've taken the bait) Slap them silly with this:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=182 (also contains gems
regarding Halliburton and Enron)
Education:
The liberals will whine that he has cut education spending... Here's
the answer that you need to feed them:
http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=162
They will complain about the "no child left behind" bill... Ask them,
"what's wrong with making sure that teachers are doing their job?" and
"How many kids get pushed from one grade to the next without learning
the skills they're going to need for life."
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