A day at the range...

A couple of weeks ago, I took two of my friends to a local firing range.  They had both just recently obtained new hand guns and wanted a warm place to try them out.  That was back in January when the temps were down in the single figures with constant wind chills near 5 degrees.  It costs $14 per hour at the range, but it is warm in there and the target systems are pretty good.

The first guy I took was my friend, "W".  He is a WWII Veteran who will turn 90 in a few months.  Yep -- he is that old and still handles himself pretty well and knows his way around guns and firing.  He just got a new .22 mag. pistol.  It was very nice, very clean.  He got his target set at 20 feet and proceeded to put six rounds in the "belly" area of the target.  He was not happy with the pattern, said it was a bit sloppy.  The problem was, he forgot his box of ammo and they didn't have any .22 ammo out at the counter so that ended his shooting with that gun.  That stuff is pretty hard to come by right now.  Seems everyone is buying small caliber hand guns and ammo production is not keeping up with demand.  I think "W"and I will have to talk to the government about all of this -- must be a hold up somewhere.(Hmmmmm).

So, anyway, when "W" was finished with his pistol, I asked him if he might want to shoot my 9mm.  I told him the .45 cal. might be too much for him with his bad shoulder, but I thought he could handle the smaller 9mm.  He has one of these so he thought he might be able to shoot it pretty well.  I don't think I wanted to question his abilities -- he used to be a real fine shooter, and I have no reason to doubt him after the display he put up with his little .22 (first time he ever fired it). I don't hold his age against him when it comes to shooting, and he doesn't hold mine against me when it comes to missing (sorry, Mr. Reagan).

Below is a picture of "W" on the firing line.  The target on the right is the shot group with the 9mm. It is a bit hard to see, but if you look down around the belly, you'll see five holes.  He had six rounds, and I told him to try to put the last one in the yellow circle in the head.  Seems he was a bit low, but probably would have taken out a couple of teeth on the bad guy.

When we were done firing the 9mm., he just looked at me and said that was not too bad for the first time with this gun.  But in the next breath, he said that wasn't a very good grouping and he would do better the next time.  I am sure he will.

 

The other gentleman I took, about a week later, is a good friend of mine.  He's a Vietnam Vet.  "B" is taking classes to get his permit so he wanted to get in some practice.  He, too, just bought a new "piece."  He told me that the first time he fired his, he couldn't come close to hitting anything.  He said he never fired anything this small before. This time, however, he did pretty well.  This is a picture of one of his targets, and it has quite a number of holes all over the place.  But that is because we were moving the aiming point all over the place, trying to get some good shot groupings.  Besides, the targets are about $1 each so no sense in getting a new one after just a couple of rounds.  He knew what he was doing. 

 

You know, there are lots of things people do around here in the winter to pass time.  Some go to movies in the afternoon, some take power walks at the local indoor mall, and some read.  I like to go to firing ranges, and I like to take some of my friends with me.  It gets all of us out of the house, doing something different.  For some it satisfies that primeval desire that men have to still shoot things and kinda lets them think they are living just on the edge of the blade again.  Yeah.  OK.  maybe that's a bit over the top.  But there's just something about doing Colt or Remington surgery on a stationary target that is not firing back at you, running toward you with a knife, or otherwise threatening to make your life a whole lot shorter, followed by you admiring your handiwork with the sounds of Don Johnson's "Miami Vice" theme song playing over the range's stereo.  Man it doesn't get any better than that.

Also, did I mention that I/we get to have all this fun in a heated indoor range?  I got a note from my old Army and golfing buddy, Dave,  when I wrote my last range article.  He reminded me how much "fun" it was to go to the range in the rain, the snow, the sleet and ice.  Yeah, Dave, that was fun.  I just wish that you, as our supply sergeant, could have arranged for the stereo just once.

Gun control is a big hot button political item right now.  Fall behind a bit in your campaign and you have already gone through the usual stuff ("I'm more conservative/liberal than you" or "I did not send classified stuff on it" or "I am more in favor of immigration reform than all of you put together." and so on, and so on...) and I can guarantee that it won't be long before "that gon question" (as some of my neighbors say it) hits the teleprompter. It gets pretty near impossible to hold a civil conversation with some people on this issue, so I just ignore them.  

A lot of my friends like "W" and "B" have guns.  They're pretty good people.  I think I'll use them as my measuring stick.  As long as they are OK with theirs, I think there will be hope for all of us.

 If guns cause crimes, then all of mine are defective. (Anon)

 

Hooah

Well, it worked the first time...

About this time last year, I was out cutting holes in the ice on the pond to try to make sure oxygen could get into the water and carbon dioxide could escape.  There were quite a few times I would go out on the ice, at least 8" thick at the time, and fire up the chain saw in order to get the holes going.  This picture brings back old memories.

If you live around here, you know we haven't had anything close to the weather conditions shown in this picture so far this winter.  And I know I am probably jinxing things, but it won't be the first time for that.

So, this morning when I got up, I saw the pond was frozen over.  We had a whole day yesterday with temperatures around 24 degrees, so I wasn't surprised.  But it was bright and sunny so I thought maybe this would take care of itself.  By mid-afternoon, however, my curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to test the sales line the pond aerator guy told me.  He said that when the pond got frozen over, all I had to do was go turn on the pump and the aerator would open up a hole in the ice for me.

I understand the theory behind it -- the warmer (?) water from the bottom of the pond, mixed with the warmer air produced by the pump, would generate a warm stream of water and bubbles and it would thaw the ice from below and open the hole.  Guess what -- it did just what it was supposed to do, and it only took 10-15 minutes.  Now, again, this was only about a half inch of ice so the jury is still out.  But, if this works, I think the chain saw will stay in the basement this winter.  I'll let you know.  And I think the key will be keeping up with the ice, not letting it get so thick.

In seed-time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy... (William Blake)... and wait for the spring thaw and theorize how much bigger our fish will be.(me)

Hooah

Christmas 2015, Part 1 of 3...

Well, we started our Christmas season with the Michael W. Smith concert in Cincinnati and that gave us one day to rest up and then we would be off to Brooklyn to spend time with D,D,Q,H & V.  Really looking forward to it.  Not only do we get to celebrate Christmas with them, we get to see Quinn's school's Christmas show and we get to celebrate Doug's birthday.


Normally when we drive to Brooklyn, we stop in PA and spend the night in Bethlehem.  Boy what a fitting place to spend the night.  So, we arrived on Friday.  And before I get into telling about the weekend, let me first say that the State of NY gets a boatload of "attaboys" for getting the highway completed through Staten Island. Boy does that make a huge difference.

The choir show was pretty good.  Lots of parents and little kids in the audience. The school doesn't have an auditorium so they use their church for things like this.  It was decorated nicely and added lots of atmosphere to the Christmas songs and stories.

What better way to spend a Christmas than with your grand kids.  Quinn showed us their Advent calendar and told us what it signified.  He and Heath also showed us their tree and the ornaments they made for it. I think Vivian wanted to tell us about her role in all of this, but she was having too much fun flashing that big smile of hers and those bright eyes.  That was pretty much all she had to do while we were there to get our attention.  And it worked every time.

It was really fun watching the youngsters opening their presents.  Things haven't really changed a lot from the times of my childhood.  Paper goes flying every which way, and mom and dad have to keep track of things for them so nothing gets lost or put in the trash bag by mistake.  And no phrase is more important to note prior to even wrapping the gifts is -- "batteries not included."  The best way to shut down the moment is not having batteries for something.  (It also helps to have the correct size, Grandpa!)

Some of the gifts came without batteries being required.  Grandma got both of the boys puppets.  She has been a ventriloquist for many years and showed them some of her puppets when they were here this past summer.  They both really liked them, so Grandma got them each one.  Quinn got a lion, Heath a turtle.  These only require some imagination to make them work and Quinn jumped right on that idea.  He was having lots of fun with his.

The weather was really nice while we were there.  Really unusual for Christmas time.  We were able to take some walks and we took Heath up to the church courtyard to play some hide and seek. He took his glider and we had a good time outdoors too.

And did I mention that Miss Vivian was the hit of the show when she broke out that smile ?  I would often wonder what the kids were thinking when they would stare at the tree, or the decorations or just smile at us.  I know for certain that when I was there age, there was nothing going on between these ears, and I probably wouldn't have to work too hard to come up with an unlimited list of those who would attest to that fact.  But when I look at these little ones, I know that they are WAY beyond that, way into deeper things that I ever imagined at their age.  Good for them.  Keep going.

One night, we went out to look at the Christmas decorations.  Doug took us to a place to see lights that put Clark Griswold to shame. They were unbelievable.  I noticed TV news trucks there and sure enough, there wea a segment on the NBC nightly news a couple of days later about these lights.

 Of course, a celebration of any kind wouldn't be complete without some silliness.  We played a game of 20 questions one afternoon and these pictures came out of that.  Lots of fun.

What a great time we had.  We left on Monday and set out for Carlisle for the evening.  This normally 3-hour drive took 5.  The next morning we finished the trip home.  Again, this was a long day of driving in the rain and heavy fog, accidents, and sitting in traffic.  This leg is normally 6 hours depending on stops and traffic.  However, this time it took about 9 hours.  Oh well, it was worth it.  D,D,Q,H and V were going to spend their first Christmas at home and then they were off to NC to spend time with Danika's parents and some of the rest of the family.  I hope their trip is smoother than our drive.  The I-95 corridor can be a real bear normally, let alone during a holiday. 

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  

Hooah

Christmas 2015, Part 2 of 3...

On Christmas day, we all headed up to Paulding to Luke and Linda's house to have a celebration with them, Walt and Carol, Jessica, Meredith, Brian, Logan and Megan.  We haven't been up that-a-way for a while so it was good to be at their house.  They have do quite a bit to it in terms of redecorating and it really looks nice.

 Meredith spent a good part of the day explaining various aspects of smart phones, downloading some different aps, and putting together a hilarious video on something called "jib-jab."  Somehow this got posted to Facebook.  It really was a hoot.

Luke and Linda have a dog named "Buddy."  It is a spaniel and really good-natured.  So, when we were opening presents, Buddy had to see if anyone needed any help.

I think it's a dog thing.  Our Bailey used to get her nose into the wrapping paper and give the recipient lots of help (wanted or unwanted) as the gift was unwrapped. 

As with all pets that are easily mistaken as part of the family, Buddy had his own present that was his to open any way he could.  Adult humans usually try to pick up after themselves when they unwrap a gift.  Dogs -- not so much.

 

And then, what would Christmas be without a family picture.  Over the years I have been in charge of doing this and have gotten quite good at setting the timer and running around to be in the shot just before the timer delivers that final beep.  Pretty good looking group.


This was a fun time.  We all agreed that we don't do this often enough -- not the gift giving, but just getting together.  We said we were going to try to do better this coming year. Perhaps that is the best gift we could take away from this gathering.

"How could it be so? It came without ribbons!... it came without tags!... it came without packages, boxes, or bags!" (Dr. Seuss)

Hooah

Christmas 2015, Part 3 of 3...

On Saturday evening, we sent up to Lima to spend the evening at Chuck and Mary's house.  All of their kids and grand kids were there.  Busy place.

It seems that Mary had asked Chuck to play his sax for everyone.  He used to play in high school and was a member of a jazz group at the school.  Mary said this was one of the things on her wish list, so Chuck got out the music stand (which he said had not been put up for 30 years or so) and his sax and got an accompaniment disc that he could play thru his TV and entertained all in attendance.  The kids were amazed and the adults were impressed.  Good job, Chuck.

 

Oh, yeah, one other thing...we were also impressed that Chuck didn't need oxygen after holding one of those notes for a while.

Later on, the younger ones were playing a game that ultimately ends up with someone getting pie (or in our case, whipped cream)  in the face.  It looked like fun, so I violated one of my cardinal rules and volunteered to try it.  I spun the wheel and got a "5" and began turning the crank/release mechanism.  As it got to the fifth click, I had not been hit by the quickly melting cream.  I counted myself lucky and prepared to get up from the chair.  Notice the smile on my face.  Well, hold that thought...

because that short bit of luck was quickly erased as I was shamed into another try.  Luckily, the wheel came up with a "2" and I figured I would escape again.  WRONG-O!! After looking at these pictures, I have no idea how that whipped cream missed a nose that big, but I sure was glad it did.

Fun night.  Kinda glad that part of the joy of Christmas is celebrating with children, regardless of how big or old they are.

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.  (Anon.)

Hooah

Christmas concert in Cincinnati with Michael W. Smith...

Pam and I were talking one evening about doing something special this year for Christmas.  We thought a concert might be a fun thing to do to spark the seasonal spirits, so we looked on line for something in the area (or at least in Ohio).  Well, we looked and saw a couple of them, but kinda dropped it and thought we would get back to looking on some other day.

And then we were watching TV one evening and the CMA Christmas program was on and we really enjoyed it.  Great music and songs by country artists, singing songs about the season which brought back some old memories of Christmases in the past.  I also liked it because there were no political agendas or any of that garbage, and they called it "Christmas time" and NOT "holiday time."

So, somewhere during the show, Michael W. Smith and Martina McBride sang a very nice Christmas song.  Pam and I decided that we always liked Michael W. Smith's music so we would look up any of his concerts in the area.  As luck would have it, he had a concert in Cincinnati coming up and there just happened to be two really great seats available.  We got them and planned our trip.  Neither of us had ever been to the Cincinnati Music Hall, so this was going to be a first.  We were excited.

This is the Cincinnati Music Hall.  It was a huge building.  Really Grand.

I took a couple of pix, including this "selfie" while we were waiting for the doors to open.

  

 The orchestra area was all decorated in a Christmas theme.  It is a very nice place.  Our seats were in the second orchestra section, center-stage, row 16.  There was a break in front of our seating row so we were able to stretch out, and didn't have anyone sitting in front of us for about ten feet.  Really good seats.  Don't know how they were available all that time, but we sure enjoyed them.

This makes the third concert of Michael W. Smith's that we have gone to see...Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis,MO; and Cincinnati, OH.  Does that make us "groupies?"

Pam and I used to go to a lot of concerts together when we were first married (Chicago, Three Dog Night, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops, The Beach Boys, etc., etc.).  Since then our tastes have changed, and although we still really like those older groups, I/we have settled into music like this concert and TV show where we can understand the words (without my hearing aids) and don't have to worry about any more hearing loss.

What a great evening.  We thought about staying the evening in Cincinnati, but we were planning to leave for NY to see the "kids" in two days and still had some Christmas shopping to do.  

My favorites of the evening ??  His songs, "Heroes" and  "All is Well" were far and away my two "I-would-have-been-disappointed-if-they-weren't-performed" songs.  Both of these hold very special, personal memories for me.  Needless to say, I was not disappointed.  What a great way to kick off the season.

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! (Author Unknown)

Hooah

Reliving the glory days...

Just every once in a while, I get the urge to get the guns out and head on down to the range just to see if I still have it (yes, that is an implied assertion that I actually once really did have "it").  If any of my old NCOs happen to stumble on this and take issue with this statement, perhaps thinking that they were better, or that much better at this art than I was, I would challenge them to 50 rounds of .45 cal. or 9mm at the range of their choice. Loser buys the beer guys!!

So this past weekend, I got myself down to the local Gander Mountain store and picked up some boxes of ammo to take with me.  The prices there are usually better than at the range.  I think I will also pick up some targets next time as I think they are also a bit higher at the range.  So, having done that, on Tuesday evening I called an old friend of mine (an old WWII gentleman who is still very spry and really knows his way around guns) and asked if he wanted to go down for a while.  He had a bit of a cold and thought he should maybe stay home.  Wednesday was a beautiful day, sunny with a high of 64 degrees.  I wonder if he might have rethought his plans.  Oh, well, maybe next time. 

The next person I thought of was my brother.  He kinda likes to shoot and is thinking of purchasing a gun so he likes to go and look.  He shoots OK, but then, he was a cook in the army.  I guess if you could fire a spoon he would be pretty good.  He told me he too had a bit of a bug, and would pass this time. 

So, I asked my wife if she wanted to go.  She has never been anywhere near a firing range, so this would be a first. So the "Pioneer Woman" said yes and off we went.  She also wanted to stop at the book store to pick up a couple of things she had ordered, so this was really a trade-off.  I can live with that.

Here are the targets from the range. The first one you see is the 9mm target.  The second one is from the .45 cal. Again, the whole purpose behind this trip was just to get back to doing something I once really enjoyed doing.  The secondary reason was that I just got new glasses and wanted to see how much of an impact they would have on my initial accuracy.  Both of these sessions were fired at 20 feet (a normal close contact range) and if necessary, I could make adjustments later.

On this target, you will see three distinct shot groups.  The first group is the center-mass.  A little scattered, but still pretty much on the mark.  the second group is the neck shots.  I pulled one off to the right, but the rest of the group is pretty good (need to work on the horizontal sight picture some).  Then I went for the head shots.  Kinda all over the place there, but still effective.  I have never really felt comfortable shooting the 9mm for some reason.

This is the target for the .45 cal.  Same distance, same progression.  First ones (center-mass) were pretty much on, but just a bit high.  The second grouping (neck) were OK.  I was good with the head shots.  Then I had some ammo left over, so I tried to see if I could hit spots.  I took aim at the outside ring, shoulder levels.  The ones on the left were good, but the ones on the right needed some help.  Might have been a breeze at that time (oops -- forgot, this was an indoor range.  No breeze.  Must have been operator error!).  Then, to finish it off, I thought I would see if I could give this target some pierced ears.  The left two shots were mixed, one good, and one missed him by an inch or so.  The right ones were right on. Could hang a couple of big old hoops on that side (once the ringing stopped).

All in all, it was really fun for me.  Not sure the "Pioneer Woman" was all that cracked about it, but at least she went.  I wanted to get a picture of her up by the firing line with a target behind her so she could post something on her Facebook about her going to the shooting range.  Just to see what kind of comments she would get form her more "civilized" friends.

So, later on as I was cleaning the guns (in my Army days I would have called them weapons -- guess I am getting older, huh!), I got to thinking back to how much I really enjoyed going to the range with my troops.  Seemed like it always rained, or the wind was blowing 100 miles per hour, or it was snowing , or all of the above.  But it was a time for us to come together as a team.  We laughed, cussed, spit, fired, made excuses, bragged and ended the weekend tired and soaking wet, but we really enjoyed it.  All the real soldiers couldn't wait for these trips, and the others (usually the younger and less experienced soldiers) ended up enjoying it because we worked real hard with them and they got to where they could hold their own with the "old guys."

I guess those who don't like guns are pounding their fists on the desk as they read this, coming up with all sorts of names for me and those like me who just really enjoy this sport.  Too bad.  So sorry you feel this way (not really).

A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box. (Frederick Douglass)

Hooah