June 13th - Thursday.  I got a lot of responses about my take on Robinson Arms.  Even from the head honcho himself.  I wonder why that was?  They say "The Truth Hurts".  From the evidence, it seems that he took it so hard, because I was absolutely correct and he knows it.  I wont apologize for giving my opinion.  Especially if I'm right.  I wont hold back an opinion either.  1st Amendment blah blah blah.  An opinion is an opinion and for a company president to make personal attacks about it only makes that company president to look like an ass.  Lots of guys say that he owes me an apology.  Screw that... I don't expect it and he isn't man enough.  What he should do is give me a freaking rifle for all the rifles I've sold for him.  He won't even respond on TFL again.  Instead he would rather beat his chest over on this forum, where the members there are all sucking up to him.  "Yes, Alex!" "Your Da Man Alex!"  "Make love to me Alex!"  Pathetic. 

Well, I was told that they would be making the calls for 2nd interviews Wednesday or Thursday.  It's now after 4:00PM Thursday.  No Call.  Damn.  "Your just the guy we are looking for!"  And then nothing.  How depressing is that?  Is there any company out there that isn't afraid to hire a Manager who isn't afraid of speaking his mind?  I guess not.  I've been unemployed for 6 months now. 

June 12th - Wednesday.  This is too funny.  MallNinja.com.  Check it out. 

You what is great?  PB BLASTER.  Stuff is awesome.  I love it.  I have to buy more... at least another large can.  NEVER, ever, work on a car without it.  I found a little that I had left.  Was out swapping the seatbelts in the Sammy.  Talk about an easy job.  It only took about 2 minutes for each set.  Done.  That's not including the wiring.  Anyways, for some reason even doing that job required the Blaster.  Unstick the bolts, blast out the threads & coat with a lube so the new bolts go in right.  After it was all done, some how, as always, the hands are covered in black grease.  Blaster.  Rub the orange stuff all over the hands.  You can see the Blaster eat away the grease.  Then you take the hands to the sink, some soap and water... and you can't tell I was working on a car.  Coupon for the month on the Checker Auto calendar... PB.  I'm getting some more now.

You never know who is reading.  Sunday I posted over on TFL that Robinson Armaments might go under.  I heard this that Sunday, while standing in the parking lot of Arby's out in Heber City talking to someone that I wont name.  Let's just say he has insider info and leave it at that.  I as usual, state the obvious and give my take on the matter.  Hilarity ensues.  Funny.  What is great about it is Mad Dog's take.  He comes in with some personal history on the subject.  That would be just awesome in and of it's self.  But what is better is the challenge he throws out.  Observe that his post will be pointedly ignored. 

Email: "Dude that was hilarious.  You say something to the effect that Robinson is hurting his own company with his personality, and here he comes, spouting off a bunch of insults, and proving that can be a total ass! That sure was some effective advertising. And then Mad Dog got on there, took his lunch money, and gave him an atomic wedgie! That's one entertaining thread! - Correia" - I think so too.  I was laughing out loud over here.  Laughed so hard, I think I hurt my spleen.

June 11th - Tuesday.  Check this out.  This take is GOLDEN.  Props to PAUL HART of Sandy, Utah.  I totally agree.  Here is the situation, Judges in Utah are given an order based on a new law.  Judges don't like the law so they are ignoring it.  Not only is that wrong, but also totally hypocritical.  If a Judge can't obey the law, then that judge can't rule on the law and enforce others to obey.  Doesn't work.  These judges should be forcefully removed from the bench and replaced by those that respect the law.  Simple as that.  The Attorney General should effect that ASAP.

I'm excited about my new gun that is on the way.  A CZ-97B.  I'm juiced for it.  I've looked at another one here in town and it's GLORIOUS.  I can't wait. 

I'm getting a little bit flustered.  I've won an auction for RECARRO SEATS for the Samurai.  I sent the payment via PayPal the very next day.  That was some time ago.  I've not heard a word back from the seller.  Not an email, not a phone call, nothing.  And of course I don't have the seats.  Then again its hard to expect the seats when the jackhole doesn't even take the time to reply to an email. If I don't hear from him by Friday, I'm going to be very, very upset. UPDATE: Dude just emailed me.  Seats are shipping out shortly.  Sweet. 

Yesterday I called the company that I interviewed with last Thursday, they said that they are still interviewing people yesterday and will today.  This means choices should be made tomorrow.  I've been doing a lot of praying and fasting for this one.  This is one that I really want.    I'm so nervous that I'm sick to my stomach.

AOL has it's head up it's ass.  AOL said that some time in the future that they will be pulling 159 bucks a month from every household.  I just had to laugh at that.  AOL will not get a DIME from me.  Never.  And I will certainly not pay for content on the internet like that.  I might donate a few bucks to a website that I like... but I will not pay to stream a video, pay to listen to an MP3, or anything.  Forget it.  I'd unplug and do something else.  Take up making thumb puppets before I pay for that BS service.

While I'm talking about Internet stuff, here is one more.  Some Senator is wanting the US Government to control ICANN (ICANN is a private org that controls domain name registration).  Why in the world does the Government want that?  No.  I don't think the Government should control it.  The Internet ISN'T an American thing.  The Internet is GLOBAL.  If the Government did take it over, it would ruin everything.  Name registration would become a long and drawn out process... requiring forms and Administrative screw ups... It would ruin it.  Why change?  It's working just fine as it is.

The Matrix RELOADED.  This is going to be a cool flick.  For one, they are wanting to shut down a whole city for filming.  Cool.  Can't wait to see this one!

Jun 10th - Monday.  My Explorer is screwing up.  Has been acting up all week.  Wont display all the images on a page.  Annoying.  As a result, I've been playing around with other browsers.  Loyalists seem to like Opera.  I've downloaded and installed Opera 6.01.  And while it has some nice features, I have to say it is FAR from the faster browser ever.  In fact, it seems to be the slowest I've used since Webscrape 2.  I'm not really impressed.  And as an added annoying feature - my mouse buttons for "Back" and "Forward" don't work with it.  On to the next candidate.  I was thinking about Netscape 6, but decided against it.  I don't like that ghetto PowerPuff Girl look.  And I don't want to deal with "SKINS" either.  Next candidate... Mozilla.  Went to Mozilla.org and downloaded the latest version 1.0 I think it was.  Downloaded it and installed it inside 3 minutes.  That was nice.  Been using it around the web today.  I like it.   Clean.  Fast.  It's good to go.  And there are no banner ads in it either, unlike Opera 6.01.  One thing I miss... When I was running Linux, I had a kick ass little red star icon like a Soviet logo with a T-Rex in it.  Cool.  However the Windows version desktop icon is a gay little blue gecko lizard thing that looks more like a sperm.  That's so uncool.   My mouse buttons don't work for back and forth either... but that's okay, because its a lightning fast browser.  I like it.  Explorer is generally the best, but Mozilla is a close second.

If anyone wants, I have a game I wanna get rid of.  Dungeon Siege.  Retail version with the books.  Looking to trade for retail version of Rogue Spear or Operation Flashpoint or Medal Of Honor.  Let me know if you want to trade.

June 9th - Sunday.  Just a quick check in here.  First take... Tyson got blown up.  I didn't think that would happen.  But I am glad it did.  This means Tyson is pretty much out of the picture in the world of boxing.  Lennox SCHOOLED Mike hard the whole way.  Mike came out hard at the start, but didn't have enough.  This is a good thing.

My second take...  This Homeland Security bill is a freaking JOKE.  Started out at like 27 billion and once Congress got it's hands on it, it was swollen to 33 billion with BS such as counting Otters and other crap.  Gotta love how the Government works "I wont sign that unless you add in a rider that includes some pork for me!"   Bush is threatening to kill it.  I hope he does.  

June 8th - Saturday.  Email from my most loyal Ogre Reader: “Hi!  We just got back from the Family and Friends Day, at Fort Pickett.  We got to go see Josh and Zach fire the big guns!  We spent the whole day there with them. They looked good, just very tired.  It is amazing how much hard work it all is.  The gun is huge and setting it up is a major job, but the hard part is after you have fired the thing, you have to take it down, go somewhere else, and set it up again.  They do this all day longggg--into the night!!!!  We asked them when they got a shower, and they said they had had their first one last night, since they had been there. Actually our being there gave them and easy day.  They sleep in the truck when they are out in the field, and they stay out there for at least seven days at a time. Ticks, heat rash, dust, mre's, spiders, allergic reactions to whatever flora and fauna may be out there, make it an even more fun time.  They are such good guys, so polite, and thoughtful.  One of their Sgt.s came up to us, and told us what really good guys they were, said they could not get them to swear!!! He said you could tell they were brought up right. Made my day.  Also, I got to fire and M-16, and I got to pull the Lanyard, to fire the big gun.  It was awesome!!!  You can not believe how loud they are. They jumped every time they went off, even knowing they were going to fire.  It was an interesting day.  When it was time to leave, I really wanted to bring them home with me, so they could sleep-cause they aren't getting any, and a bath, and something to eat other than an MRE.  They will be home next Saturday, and I told them, I would have Pizza and Dew for them when they get home.  I was very impressed with them after I saw what the go through when in training.  Josh, and Zach, and their friend Capelli, are each on different guns, but in the same battalion.  So, in other words, they are right next to each other.  That gives me comfort.  Wanted you to know what we saw, and how the boys were doing.  Can't wait till they are home again, keep praying for them, they still need it.  Injuries can happen so easily when they are tired.  Hope all is well with you, loves and kisses, Mom.”  I know my littlest brothers are soldiers... but for some reason this email was shocking.  I know they are good at what they do... but it's still odd.  I'm proud of my Brothers... they rock.  I guess its just weird because i've never seen them as Soldiers.  To me, they are just my little Bros that like video games and pizza.  Play WARHAMMER 4000 all the time.  This is a new side to them.  They have scholarships to Southern Virginia University and are cross enrolled to ROTC through VMI on another scholarship... both of them.  Twins.  We were all Military, all the sons in my family.  My other brother went USMC.   Anyways, enough of this kinda talk.  I might get teary thinking of my Brothers.  I love those guys - all of them.  They rock.

Looks like I might be getting that CZ97B that I am wanting.  We'll see how it goes.  The only thing is, I don't know which finish I want.  The highly polished blue or the polycoat.  I can't decide.  I think I'm leaning to the black poly.

Okay, that didn't take long.  This pisses me off.  In Ft Lauderdale, Florida the city just passed a law stating that the police can take your bike from you if it isn't registered.  They can stop you and demand your papers.  If you don't have them - they take your bike and give it to homeless people.  It just gives me the creeps when you are asked for your "Papers".  What happen to the land of the free?  First off, the city is full of shit.  Look at the number of bikes stolen and the estimated cost of 2M.  That means the bikes have an average price of $1,333 dollars. *sniff* what is that I smell?  Bullshit.  They are saying it is a crime prevention tool.  *sniff*  Yup.  That smells like bullshit too.  Now, it may just be me... but this smacks of EXTORTION.  You don't pay your protection fee - something bad might happen to you.  That is such horseshit.  Yeah, that makes me angry.  MadOgre is back in full force here.  I suggest that the residents of Floriduh fight this.  Fight this hard and the assholes that put this into law should be expelled from public service.

Oh Yeah.  Johnsonville Brats and sauerkraut.  The best.  I hope all the Ogre readers out there are enjoying the Saturday like I am.  Nice sunny day, grill is happily smoking and Ogre is pleased with life.  Maybe not so "Mad" just today... but tomorrow I'm sure something will piss me off and I'll be Mad again.  Or maybe later today.  Who knows.  But right now... everything is great. 

Some automotive journalists are complete morons.  For example:  The review of the Hummer H2 written by a drooling boob named Georg Kacher for Automobile magazine's July issue.  I don't know who this Georg guy is, but he must be an idiot.  He is at best totally unqualified to write a review of the H2.  The guy is not an off roader and Automobile should just reserve him to kiss BMW's ass and leave the off road reviews to guys that only shave on Sundays.  Georg says "The comfortable but annoying unsupportive seats, and the absence of stability control and side airbags are glaring oversights."   WTF?  Stability Control?  You mean the DRIVER?  This isn't an Audi, Georg... Side Airbags?  Come on.  This is a vehicle for OFF ROAD use, its a HUMMER not a HONDA!  Its a big 3 ton jeep worked over by military advisors.  Maybe Georg doesn't get that.  To illustrate this guys ignorance as to the nature of off road vehicles, he complains that the way it drives on the freeway is "both benign and uninspiring".  You can't expect anything with a 4 LOW range to drive like an M5.  Then he complains that it gets less than 10 MPG.  What do you expect from a large 4X4 with a 6 liter V-8 that grunts out 360 pounds of torque and 316 horses?  Vehicles like this are not for the masses, not for commuting to work from the burbs to the city.  No.  That's not what the H2 is about.  If you don't get it, I can't explain it to you.  To me, the H2 is awesome.  I'll wait for the diesel version.  The thing is perfect.  My DREAM MACHINE.  Gimme one with a full length roof rack and mount the spare tire up there next to the rest of the OR essential equipment and it's done.  I think HUMMER is a little short sighted by not offering that as a factory option... what are they thinking putting the full sized spare inside?  That its a Cherokee?  Manufacturers really need to study the product more.  Take a look at what the enthusiasts use it for, how they use it, and how they modify it to work better.  Then include those kinda mods to the product.  (This goes for guns, trucks, jeeps, computers, everything)  Jeepers with Cherokees that are serious about off roading put the spare up top or out back.

The Ogre's cave is over run with kids.   Last night we picked up one of those collapsible pools and a BBQ grill.  Did the BBQ thing with some Pink Floyd music playing... nice.  This morning, every kid in the hood is over here.  Kids running in and out, Bugs Life playing in the living room, pool in the back yard, popsicles being handed out... Mad House.  The only upside is that when the kids get sticky from the popsicles they splash in the pool and get rinsed off.  I think I'll fire up the grill again for some brats for lunch. 

June 7th - Friday.  You gotta love P.J. O'Rourke's take on the Cadillac EXT, "How a Humvee would dress up if it were marrying Liza Minnelli".  Classic take.  I'm one that is all for big and powerful ulitity.  I've got no problem with a big truck that can seat 5 hombres.  But the problem that I have Caddy EXT and the similar Lincoln Blackwood, is they are bringing the trucks into the luxury category.  Luxury trucks?  Like Thurston Howell the third is going to be loading gravel.  Right.  This is ridiculous.  I guess there are people out there with way too much money that are thinking these things are just the ticket.  Maybe to pull the yacht, or the horse trailer out to the Kentucky Derby.  These are the kind of people that I generally don't like.  The people that own the company and insist that they cut back on employee benefits so  that the assholes at the top can take the money that would normally go to support the employee with the kids... get those teeth check at the dentist... instead it means for them that they can get the EXT instead of the Chevy Avalanche.  I don't like these people.  Not that I don't like rich people... There are a few that I respect.  And they wouldn't be buying these overpriced chunks.  They have more sense and better taste.  Note:  If you own one of these things - I don't like you.  These things because of the extended price range and tax bracket - have limited utility.  You are not going to be working these trucks, your just showing off that your loaded.  These are trucks for Rap Stars, not Ranchers.

If you have been considering pulling the trigger on a Ford Focus, think again.  The Focus is a total piece of crap.  What Ford wanted to do was build a Japanese car.  They thought that meant using cheap and thin parts.  I've heard of them having a lot of problems... but I didn't know it had this many.  Ford is now under its 5th federal investigation on the Focus.  Future car buyers, that should tell you something.  If you have a Focus and are thinking "Wait a second, Ogre.  Hold on now!  I have a Focus and I've had ZERO problems with it."  Just wait.  Your engine could stall.  Your front end could collapse.  Your electrical system could short.  Yeah, that could happen to any vehicle.  But with the Focus it isn't an off chance... it's likely.  It's not if, but when.  "Hey, Ogre, your Jeep is doing those things."  Sure.  But then again everything that has gone wrong in the Jeep has been fixable in my own driveway and not rolling it (or towing it) into a dealership.  Its also a 1986. It as 200,000 miles on it.  It's been there and done that.  And it's mine, not the Bank's.  I'm not making payments on it.  I'm only into it $3,000 bucks and that was on a trade.  I'm not paying interest on top of an MSRP of 13,000 to 19,000 dollars.   But hey, if you want to drop your jack on a new POS like that and lose all that cash - be my guest.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe I've been thinking backwards on this.  Maybe the Focus isn't almost as ugly as a Pontiac Aztec.  Maybe it is a good little car, as good as a Honda.  Just misunderstood.  Somehow, I don't think so.

Usenet came up on TFL.  This link was posted for the old Usenet/Guns.  Pretty cool.  Coolest thing is the old messages from Gale McMillan.  Man was a fountain of wisdom.  Rest in peace, Gale. 

Hostage rescue operation went bad. There were 3 hostages, 2 were killed.  One wounded.  It was a gunfight that lasted 2 hours, but in the end the good guys won and all the terrorists were killed.  I only say that it went bad because normally these operations should only last a couple minutes.  Normally it is the attempt to save the hostages... but I think that is a secondary goal.  Killing the terrorists should be the number one goal.  Period.   Email regarding this: "Political terrorists take hostages for a reason. I would deny them the benefits. Even if it was my own family, the first thing I would do is hold a funeral for the hostages.  Then kill all the terrorists, no negotiations, no ransom, no amnesty, no publicity, just capture if possible, interrogation to locate others to kill, summary court martial, followed by immediate execution.  It's very difficult to mount a hostage rescue operation against larger forces.  A handful of hostage takers is one thing but an infantry platoon or company?  That's quite another.  I'm amazed that one survived.  Remember when the terrorists hijacked the TWA plane, landed at Beirut airport, beat a Navy SEAL to death, and threw him on the tarmac?  The terrorists were demanding the release of some seven hundred Palestinians held by the Israelis.  I would have secured that airport with our military by any means necessary and told Israel to have the seven hundred Palestinian prisoners landing at the airport within several hours...or the Israelis could go it alone in the future.  No negotiation, do it now or suffer the consequences.  Have the highest status Palestinian off the plane first and shoot him right between the eyes directly in front of the cameras.  Then tell the terrorists that they have a choice: 1) They can release the hostages on the plane after which we will interrogate them, give them a summary court martial and execute them.  However, we will give them honorable burial according to their rites.  Or 2) They can kill the hostages, after which we will kill them as well as all seven hundred Palestinians.  However, burial on this occasion will be in shrouds of pigskin.  Also, I'm perfectly willing to be politically correct about all this and treat any terrorist regardless of race, creed, sex, sexual orientation or national origin in like manner. - Byron"  Great email.  Great take.  My thoughts exactly.  However I'm not sure I'd hold the plane hostage until Israel gave in.  I'd have taken over as you've suggested, yes, but this put this to Tangos: "Free the hostages, throw down your arms, and give yourselves up within 5 minutes.  If you don't, WE will blow the plane, all on board, and then execute all 700 prisoners.  Your call."  Then hover a flight of armed Apaches so the Tangos can see them.  While they are shitting bricks, and looking out the windows, in goes the Delta teams to waste them.  Hostages or no - The job is to execute the bad guys.  Some hostages may die.  But most of them will live.  Hell, if you have to, blow the plane, and execute the prisoners.  You might lose a couple planes that way, but quickly you will teach the Tangos the lesson that hijacking a plane for political purposes.  This isn't a time for pussyfooting around.  We are at war.  No more games. Also, it would be nice if airliners designed in more emergency access points for anti-terrorist operations.  Hidden cameras throughout the cabins that the good guys can tap into from outside.  This will let us know where the bad guys are inside.

Is it time to lift the sanctions off of Libya?  Back in the 80's Muammar Gaddafi was then what "Sodamn Insane" is today.  He was the Chief Evil Bastard in the world in those days.  But nowdays?  He's been laying low and playing nice for about 10 years now.  I may be wrong about that, but his name really hasn't been coming up much has it?  Now he is saying that he will give 2.7 BILLION dollars to the families of PAN AM Flight 103 if the US and the UN lift the sanctions.  That's a lot of cash.  Can he buy his way out?  Is Libya ready to come out of it's "Time Out"?  Let's take a look at that for a minute... If we did, it sure would be nice to have another friend in the region.  If we played Libya right, they could be a powerful friend to back us up.  I think we should.  

June 6th - Thursday.  Had a great interview today.  This is only the 2nd job that I've looked at that I can say I've wanted.  No details but it was with a small local company that looks like to have serious potential and growth.  I want to get aboard on this one.  I think this is the one.  Like I said, it was a great interview and I think I may have this one in the pocket.  They are looking for my kinda management style. They'll either pick me, or someone like me that has less experience... They gave me the over qualified thing again. Aargh.  Anyways, cool job with a cool company that has the potential.  Sounds like just what I've been looking for.  Something I can sink my teeth into.

This in from Jim Corbett.  Took the altered magazine cover idea and ran with it.  Hilarious.  Have a look.  Jim is the cat that sent us the scans of those cool military ads.  Appreciated.  He's working on a newsletter/zine project.  Takes current events and puts a spin on it through a comedic filter.  Funny stuff.  When he gets it up and running I'll link to it.

Short Techno Rant.  I despise Comet Cursor.  I hate it worse than Spam Email and almost as much as Pop-Up advertisements.  Usually find Comet Cursor wanting to install its self when your looking stuff up on Google.  Going to some strange website and you get hit with that pop-up "Do you want to install Comet Cursor?"  No.  I don't.  Now I don't even want to look at your webpage.   Comet Cursor is slime-ware.  They say they are not "Spyware" but it still keeps track of you.  Nice. 

Let's kick things off today with some automotive takes.  When I am wrong about something, I'll take it on the chin.  I'll admit I was wrong.  This is a confession.  I was wrong.  I stand corrected and offer my apologies to Bob Lutz, the Big Cheese over at GM.  I'm talking about the new Pontiac GTO.  I think Pontiac can go ahead and bring in the new car and show off it's GTO badge with honor.  I ranted some time ago about the new GTO as all I've heard of it was it was an Opel that was going to be renamed.  This isn't the case.  The chassis started out life as Opel, but that's where the Opel line ended.  This car was being manufactured in Australia as some other weak coupe... but a team of car nuts were working on a side project after hours.  How come all the best things come out of these kinda projects?  Anyways, these car nuts took out all the BS of your normal mundane auto-cruisers and put in all the good stuff.  The stuff the hot-rodders like.  The pulled the V-8 engine out of Corvette and threw it in there.  They ripped out the automatic transmission and put in a 6 speed stick-shift.  These are used to push the car from the rear wheels like a Hot Rod is supposed to.  This is no underpowered, front drive, transverse mounted 6... This is old school iron stuff here.  Detroit mixed with some Mad Max.  This could earn the GTO Mad Ogre stamp of approval with a full 5 star rating.  The problem with the new GTO is that GM is still getting it wrong... Only 18 to 20 K units a year because they want it to be exclusive.  WRONG ANSWER.  Instead of making it something cool for your Boss's Boss to drive, the should make it cheap and plenty so that all the car nuts can get it.  Fill up the parking lot with GTO's instead of the run of the mill Mustangs.  That's okay though.  Typical Corporate America move.  Take something awesome and still manage to fuck it up.

While we are talking cars, let me mention another performance car... The Mini Cooper S.  Probably one of the most fun cars to drive - Ever.  I look forward to test driving one as soon as I can.  A Go-Kart with 167 horses.  I think I could fit it in the back of my Wagoneer as a spare.  Would love to take one on a Rally-Cross course.

While I'm talking about something small and powerful, lets talk handheld computers.  No, not Palm or Visor or Ipaq... I'm talking about a real computer.  This isn't a PDA, but a real honest to Gates personal computer that you can hold in your hands.  Not much bigger than a Game-Boy.  A micro-laptop.  It's called the TIQIT.  Since it's a real PC, you can run any PC type OS that you want from Windows XP Pro to Linux.  Built in color screen, keyboard, and a 4 hour batter life.  You can of course plug in your desktop type monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers... use it like a regular desktop PC.  But the coolest thing is that you can unplug all that stuff and take the thing with you.  No more PDA devices and Docking stations and data-syncs... How cool is that?  VERY.  And they are going to be selling these things for only a Grand.  I want one.  Finally, a handheld I can play Operation Flashpoint or Rogue Spear on!  Make Lan-Parties a snap.  "Hey John... How about a pickup game of Rogue?" It's not just about the games and stuff... that's just for fun.  Just think about the work applications!  I want one. 

Keep getting some dumbass questions about my site here so I changed the ABOUT page again.  I think I make everything quite clear now.

June 5th - Wednesday.  I'm still looking for alternatives for a handgun.  I ran over to the AF Gun Range.  That was a wasted trip.  I don't know how those guys stay in business.  They had only 2 autos on the shelves, and 4 revolvers in another case.  Place is bleak.  Last time I was there, they only had 4 autos on the shelves.  That was about 3 or 4 months ago.  These two still there, were there the last time I was there too.  Pitiful.  One thing that was also missing that I wanted to take another look at was the FNC.  I can't believe they had one to begin with.  Not surprised that it got snapped up.  An FNC for only 1500 isn't something you see every day.  On a whim, I drove down to Rangemasters in Springville.  They STILL don't have the FFL.  That sucks.  Rangemasters in the best indoor range in Utah.  What's special about it?  Nothing really... Other than the fact that they have backstops able to stop any rifle you might have (even .50BMG).  They have an interactive shooting system.  They have plenty of lanes.  The range systems are by Active Target, a good solid Utah based company. IT all works very well and the icing on the cake is that the people that work there know guns - are smart - are customer oriented - and are genuine good guys.  Even the owners... Ron and Mike.  You can talk with them, shoot the breeze... Good people.  That's why Rangemasters is #1 to a great many shooters in Utah.  It is to me.  Admittedly I do most of my shooting out doors.  I've probably only been there to Range masters 4 times this year.  Anyways, While I was there I took a look at a couple guns that really liked.  CZ-75b SA.  The single action version of the excellent CZ-75 9mm handgun.  If I was in the market for a 9MM, that is THE GUN.  Another gun that I liked was a cousin of the 75.  An IMI Baby Eagle.  Let me just say that IMI would be on top of the sales charts with this pistol if it wasn't for the dumbass name.  American sportsmen, shooters, and LEOs really don't want to drop large jack on something named "Baby" unless Baby is a blonde with a cup size of a "C" or greater.  Baby Eagle is however a great pistol.  They should seriously consider going back to the Jericho name.  This gun was originally imported as the Jericho 941.  The Jericho was beloved by all who touched it.  It was just marketed very poorly.  Instead of promoting it as a 9MM they promoted the .41 Action Express caliber and the guns ability to swap calibers.  The .41AE is really just an odd sized .40... but back before we had the .40.  So back then no one knew anything about it.  Here is what I'd do if I had a position in the company.  Introduce the Jericho 940.  Promote the guns strong features and such... If you can make the 941, then the 940 should be no problem.  This Baby Eagle has only 2 downsides.  One is the slide mounted safety.  Get rid of that.  CZ's have frame mounted safeties... why change?  Go to the frame.  The other is the slide's finish.  I really don't like Parkerizing.  Make it a polished blue... powder baked... or stainless.  Anything.  I'm not sure what the finish is that it has, but it felt like a parkerized finish.  Still.  The gun felt great in the hand.  Trigger was easy to reach and the grip fit the hand wonderfully.  Very natural feeling... just like the CZ, but a hundred bucks less.  Good option, but I'd rather drop the extra jack for the CZ.  I am REALLY liking the CZ family of arms.  Outstanding guns. 

Oh, I forgot to mention... Yesterday on the way to and from the interview... The Jeep ran amazingly well.  Shockingly well.  Normally "Scooter" will cruise at 60 to 65.  Now it'll cruise at 85... I have to keep backing off the gas.  Here in Utah there is a place called "Point of the Mountain".  You have a big hill to climb in both directions for 2 or 3 miles. This is on the freeway.  It used to slow me down to 50 climbing up it.  Yesterday I danced up it, passing traffic left and right at 75MPH.  Could have gone faster but for the traffic.  This is a HUGE boost in performance.  Huge.  It's like a totally different Jeep now.  I can't believe it.  Wanna know what I did to get this?  Right behind the XJ's grill there is the fresh air intake. It has a little elbow and a short tube facing down to the bumper. I removed that elbow and tube. This allows the air to go straight through the grill and into the air box. I didn't notice much if any improvement in the local running around... but there was some.  Any difference in Fuel? No.  Any difference in oil? No.  Spark Plugs? No.  The only thing different is that I removed that elbow and tube behind the grill. 8 screws to pull off the grill, and a swift yank to rip off that thing off, and 8 screws to put the grill back on. Done.  The Jeep ran STRONG. It's NEVER run that good. Never.  Here is the kicker...  It was running cooler too. Never got above 200*. Normally it would hit 220 climbing up that hill because I had to be deep into the throttle the whole climb.  Not now.  Now I'm lifting off the gas to keep from riding up into the guy ahead of me.   Happy Ogre over here.  Might have to change my domain name.

June 4th - Tuesday.  Interview in SLC.  What a freaking nightmare that was.  Worst Interview Ever.  I don't know about you guys, but being told your Over Qualified generally means you don't have a chance in hell of getting the job.  Company I went to today is a small PR firm just on the outside of the SLC Down Town thing.  Small company.  Only 10 people.  I've got a snowball's chance. 

The good news for the day... Britney Spears is now officially "out" and some other skank is "in".  This is cool because her 15 minutes ended a log time ago.  Prediction:  Her handlers will come up with some sort of publicity stunt to get her back into the lime light.  Normally this isnt the thing I'd talk about... but my wife teaches dance and as a result has 2 CDs.  I've always hated the way Britney sings.  Grating.  Worst than a French man with a Southern Accent.

While I am making predictions... Other than me NOT getting a job for the rest of my life... Is that the Tyson and Lewis fight is going to be a disaster.  Okay - That was an easy guess.  Like "The sun will rise tomorrow".  Let's look at this.  Tyson is a nutcase.  He gets backed into a corner and he turns into a damn badger or something.  He goes Hannibal Lector as soon as it looks like the fight isn't going his way.  We can expect some cannibalism from his corner.  Lewis on the other hand is smarter... he is at the top of his game and will probably do very well.  But lets not drop the cash on a Lewis bet just yet.  The boy has a glass jaw, and has been knocked out by boxers that are weaker and slower than Tyson.  It would be an interesting bout it it's played out like a normal match.  But this isn't a normal match.  Why? Because Mike is in the ring.  This will not end well.  Lewis will either leave in a body bag, or Tyson is going to be pulled off my a gang of wranglers and the fight will end with a judgment call.  Either way, one thing is for sure... it will be entertaining and short.

Time for a moment of Mirth.  How about this for off the wall news:  Elephants raid village searching for beer.  This was a herd of 200 elephants... wow.  Must have been a sight.  This was in India so you just know that they were thinking of using Nukes to stop them.  This is funny.  Like a Monty Python skit gone bad.

I gotta go now.. I'm heading over to McDonalds to try out the new Spamburger.  I think some McD's exec lost a bet or something.  How do ideas like that get initiated in a business?  I know... YES-Men.  As the old saying goes, for evil to succeed all it takes is for good men to do nothing.  I can see a lot of people biting tongues in McD's staff meetings... and then laughing out loud in the restroom.  Spam mixed with eggs and rice.  Nasty.

What is it about Harry Potter?  My kids are watching it AGAIN.  This is like the 12th time since we got it the other day.  Oh - and I still insist that Snape is a hero in the Harry Potter series.

One last thing... Get this.  Man beats up on his wife. Drops a box of stuff on her. Goes before the judge.  Said he did it because she is a Vampire.  Judge doubted the story and rejected the defense.  Told the lawyers not to even bring it up.  "Your honor... I did it because she is a blood sucker." Judge says "That's no excuse... I'm married too." Okay, maybe not as funny as the troop of Elephants out bar hopping... but it struck me as funny.

June 3rd - Monday.  Email from reader regarding my slam on the guys that are protesting the Dr. Seuss Statue: "Greetings, I think you misunderstood the Citizens Against Government Waste protest of the statue of Dr. Suess.  They don't have a problem with Dr. Suess, but with the fact that taxpayer money is being used for this project. This is certainly NOT one of the constitutional duties of congress. Now maybe $950,000 is pocket change to the federal government but they should spend it on something meaningful.  What they OUGHT to do with that cash is to buy me and my whole neighborhood selective fire rifles and a trailer full of armor-piercing incendiary ammunition, then rent us some range time, because that IS in the consitution: Article 1, section 8, Clause 16: "To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States . . ." Anyway I think Citizens Against Government Waste is among the good guys, so check them out before you call them silly.  - Steve Markley"  Thanks for the email Steve. First off, it's constitution. Secondly, I didn't call them silly.  I called them retarded.  Everyone could think of a hundred things "The Government Should Have Spent Money On" instead of our tax payers dollars going to what it is going to. There are so many things that the Government does wrong - why lash out when it does something nice?  What's wrong with a lighthearted object that will make people smile for the next couple hundred years?  Dr Seuss books are great for kids... and sometimes give adults a pause to think.  (such as the butter battle book)  I learned how to read with those books.  And Richard Scary books as well.  I'd like to see a Huckleberry Cat statue made.  Why not?  A little mirth is not unconstitutional.  A little sense of humor in this ugly time we live in is important.  When the Government starts passing out rifles, it's because you've been drafted.  Why doesn't this group go after the head of the guy that ordered a 35,000 golf cart and the 25,000 dollar sofa for our air force base in Saudi.  Government waste is a fact of life.  So are protesters I guess.

I'm having one of those Mondays where someone might say "Your having a case of the Mondays."  Not that anything is wrong - it's just that It's a Monday with nothing going for it.  Biggest plan of the day is to get my suit ready for the interview tomorrow.  Nothing going on in the news either.  Same old middle east crap.  However, there are some small stories that are worth mentioning.  For example:  Fried Twinkies.  Good grief.  As if a Twinkie wasn't bad enough.  And then from the weird side of the left... People will protest anything.  Even Dr. Seuss.  Seems they are upset that he has a statue.    As retarded as that is, how about this.  Your given 10 Billion bucks, but then cry because it's not enough.  The airlines may be forced into cost cutting measures such as dropping the number of peanuts in those little packets from 6 to 5.

Let's look at the emails "Ogre...... Sir your site is AWESOME....I have enjoyed reading about the family.this is a great site......every down in texas drop me a line and we can get a beer and bar-b-que.....:) YORATHE" Thanks, Yorathe.  If I do end up in Texas, I'd be glad to snarf up some BBQ with you. 

“Take a look at the Sig Sauer P220. It is a damn fine pistol. Eats any ammo without jamming, and shoots tight groups right out of the box. Molon Labe, Britton” I had a P220 and consider it a fantastic pistol.  It is one of my all time favorites.  But I am wanting something different.  “I'm thinking of adding a 1911, probably a Kimber, largely so that I can use the 1911-Carbine Kit from Wilson Combat. It just looks like a hell of a fun gadget. Maybe with next year's tax return... Britton” The Kimber is a good example of the 1911 family.  You’ll like it.  I’ve not met a Kimber yet that I didn’t like.

One last thing for right now... If your into printing your own cash: Don't let your grandkids take the new bills to school for show and tell.

June 2nd - Sunday.  Decided to have some fun with SWAT MAGAZINE.  The covers are a little boring... Let's see what we can do.

Dutch Oven cooking today.  We wanted some sunday dinner but wanted something different.  We broke out the Dutch ovens and went to work.  If you don't have a Dutch oven, your missing out.  It's good stuff.  We had two ovens going and just pulled them out.  The smell is enough to make Ally McBeal knock over a Boston Market. 

The CZ-97B remains in my mind.  This is a handgun that I will have to get at some point if I trade in my 1911 or not.  Right now I'm leaning to keeping the Springfield.  Who knows.  The whole situation could change well before the match.  I might even change all together and run a 9mm Browning High Power.  All depends on finances.  We'll see how it goes.  I was called fickle and that is probably very true.  I admit it.  Sure... I'm fickle.  Then again, I want to take the best weapon I can to the match.  If I find a better weapon than my Springfield, then that's what I'll take.  The CZ-97B is a very good option.  If I couldn't have a 1911 - that CZ would be it.

June 1st - Saturday.  What a jackass.  Check this out... unbelievable.  Lady across the street wanted to put in a swamp cooler.  She's a single mom with 3 kids there and no AC.  She needs a cooler.  She buys one, but needs help putting it up.  She asked this guy two houses down because someone said "Ask mr so and so."  Well, she asked the WRONG so and so with the same last name.  Guy says sure, I'd be glad to help.   Get up on the roof.  Cuts a big giant hole in the roof. Then leaves it for the night.  Today he makes no effort to finish the job until she goes over and asks him to finish... since there is a big hole in the roof!  Guy goes over, puts in the vent shaft deal, and mounts the unit on top of it... only puts on 2 legs, puts on the flashing totally wrong and upside down.  The he said he is too tired to finish it tonight and cuts out.  Me and another guy are going over in the morning to redo the job.  And then kick this guy's ass.  Hopefully the unit wont collapse the vent shaft.  We'd do it tonight but it's too dark and the power is out due to a felled tree.  Nice neighbor.  Way to go.  No, you can't borrow any tools.  Dude borrows something every week.  Sometimes I get it back.  This guy is such a winner... He has the department of housing paying his rent.   He has a full time job... has 3 cars.  Sure he has a family.  But his is milking the system.  I have a family too.  Yeah, I'm on unemployment, but I'm still paying my own way and that unemployment is something I paid into on my own already.  So I'm still holding my own.  This jackass is buying DVDs and shit.  So everyone is paying taxes to allow this asshole to buy DVDs.  If you can't tell, I don't like the guy.  It wouldn't be anything to me if he just kept things to himself.  But no.  He can't do that.  He has to brag it up that he's getting the public assistance, while at the same time pulling this holier than thou attitude.  Slimy.  Then he goes and tears up a lady's house and leaves it.  Fucker.  I'm fixing it tomorrow.  Got some help to do it and we'll get it done right.  And if he gets high and mighty, I may just accidentally drop a hammer off the roof onto his head.

Wind storm rolled in like a damn freight train.  Took a tree down that killed power to the house across the street.  It was scary.  Big tree.  Hard wind.  Saw a helicopter up the air.  Life Flight bird.  It was flying like a crab.  Scary.  Hope those boys landed alright.

More thoughts on some guns.  I looked at an EAA Witness .45 and was impressed.  Really impressed.  Makes me want a CZ-97B a lot more.  The 97 is similar in design... the Original too.  Better quality and finish and everything than the EAA gun.  And the 97 has a full length dust cover that adds a bit of weight to the muzzle end... helpful.  It looks sharp.  It feels even better in the hand.  Not only does it feel good - but it "Fits" me very well.  Comes right up online perfectly.  I want it.  Well, I want one, but I don't think I'll trade my 1911 off for it.  I think I'll keep it... I'll have to think about some things before the Match in September.  I'll have a job by then.  Maybe I'll get one and keep the 1911 too.  The other gun I want is the Browning Hi Power.  But that is another story.

I am thinking about changing my handgun.  If your in Utah, then my Springfield is up for sale or trade.  I'm looking for an HK USP .45 or perhaps a CZ-97B.  Sell price would be 700 or a reasonable offer.  Gun comes with a few holsters including a G-Code prototype shoulder rig.