A weekend project completed...

Back in February, Pam and I went down to the Troy Home Show just to look around.  It was a pretty crummy week with lots of clouds, wind, and cold temperatures so we just wanted to get out of the house.  Besides, we had not been in Hobart Arena for quite a while, so it was good to be in the old building again.  I used to coach high school wrestling tournaments in there, and it was where we held our high school graduations when I was employed at the Troy City Schools.  They have spruced it up a bit, and the displays were pretty good.  Home show was pretty small -- probably too early in the year for a lot of the contractors.

One of the displays did catch my eye, however.  It was a guy and his wife selling flagpoles.  I had been looking to kinda consolidate all of the flag displays at our house and this looked like the perfect way.  Going to a home show and looking at a display you kinda, sorta want anyway is like going to just "look" at puppies. Everyone knows you cannot just go and "look" at puppies without bringing one home.  That's the way I bought our last Trailblazer.

So, this weekend was the planned project date.  Pole - check.  Flags - check. Cement - check. Posthole digger - check. Advil - check. Rainy forecast - check.

I put 340# of Quickcrete in this hole which should hold it pretty well.  While it was setting up, I also had to scrawl our initials in it along with the date I put it up.  Just like some kid,  Also checked it several times that afternoon while it was drying just to make sure it was level.  Nothing worse than a leaning flagpole.

Finally got everything done, mulch re-positioned and raked, excess dirt taken down to the pond to fill in a low spot by the bank that I had noticed, and flags attached.  This is a telescoping pole, so I did not have to mess with a rope.  The pole is a 20' pole when extended to it's full height, but I put it up at that height and thought it was too high, so I brought it down to the first stop on the telescope which put the pole at 15". I think that looks better, so it will probably stay there.  The picture at the left is the taller version, and the one to the right is where it now stands.  After everything was completed and the area policed, I saluted the flag and took all the others down.  I am not sure if the old lights from the small flag that used to be in the front of the house will sufficiently light the new one at night.  We'll see.

Oh, yeah.  So if you remember, I had a check list earlier in this report.  Well, guess what -- this project has been completed now for about 45 min. and it is now raining. Guess a new U.S. flag and a new Army flag should be broken in properly.  Kinda like the old Army sayings, "If it ain't raining, you ain"t training." Or "If it ain't raining, you ani't having enough fun."  Oh well, I am sure there will be plenty of sunny days ahead -- and maybe some snow, and lots of wind.


Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
(Francis Scott Key, The Star-Spangled Banner)

Hooah

Published...just in case...

When I started my blogging back in 2007 I always thought that I would like to have a hard copy of all of my writings someday.  Not that I didn't trust the electronic gods to preserve my work, but I am one of those people who likes to have something in my hands to read, reread and think about .  I also didn't want to count on some electronic nook or cranny saving my work.  So, I spent several weeks copying my entries, putting them in a binder by chapters, and printing them.  I did this with a sense of urgency -- something not to be put off because you never know when something is beyond your ability to recall and recount. I guess I am just selfish enough to not want my life to be lost in some pool of ones and zeros somewhere.

I now have a printed -- published (well, sort of) copy of everything since the beginning. Here's what it looks like.  Probably the only place you will see these books.

I'm actually kinda proud of this accomplishment. I know you cannot tell from this picture, but these binders are each 3.5" thick. I plan to pass these on to my son and grand children at some time down the road. Some of them are pretty good.  I hope they like them. 

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.  (Saul Bellow)

Hooah

Man trip 2016...

Did you aver have something you have waited for for a long time and when it finally comes about it doesn't live up to your expectations?  Well, that was not the case with this year's Man Trip -- our annual golf outing to somewhere in North Carolina. We had a great time.  The weather was beautiful and the golf courses were all decked out in budding flowers and trees.  Of course the pine pollen was pretty high, but that didn't seem to have any impact on the flight of the ball, so we tried not to take notice. 

This year, we went with 12 guys.  First time for that, and I wasn't sure if it would work out.  I know how hard it is sometimes getting the family organized to go somewhere (kinda like herding cats).  But that was not the case.  Maybe it's just that the group was made up of all easy going, friendly types, who just wanted to get away from our Ohio winter and play golf. No agendas, no PC preconditions, no "holier-than-thou" issues.  Just a common pursuit of those elusive pars and birdies.

We stayed at the  Village Inn Events Center in Clemmons, NC.  They put together a pretty nice golf package and the price was right ($249 per person for three 18-hole rounds of golf, carts, and 3 nights rooms). They also included breakfast each day, comp. drink nightly at their bar, and a meeting room for our group to use while we were there.

We played the Reynolds Championship course, the Reynolds Course, and Salem Glen golf course.  The Championship course was super tough.  95 sand traps ... big, deep, tough traps that took a bit of skill to avoid or (lacking that) get out of.  I cannot guarantee that there were 95 traps, but the group I played with can attest to at least 80 of them !!  There were a couple of different kinds of sand in the traps too.  Some had white fluffy sand, while the others had a redish sand.  The starter at the course told us that the club was looking to replaced the redish sand with the white kind, and it was going to cost in excess of $1.25 million just for the sand.  One thing that they did do was to redo all the fairways.  When we were there last (maybe about 5 or 6 years ago), the fairways were rough and brown early in the year.  Now, they all have been redone and play spectacularly.  When I was in the fairway (which surprisingly was a lot of the time), I never had a bad lie.  As a result, I didn't play too badly.

This was a pretty good test run for doing the same thing next year.  There are still several courses in that area that needed to feel the wrath of this group, and since the accommodations and food were both pretty good, and the drive is not hatefully long (only about 9 hours), we will probably look at this area again next year.

There were not very many people around on the Salem Glen course when we finished, so Dave took one for the team and took this picture of the group.

It's a road trip...it's about friendship, adventure and fun...it's not like we have to be somewhere anymore!
 Hooah

Range Fire, II...

Well, a little time has passed since our first range fire trip, and it was time to get back to it.  So I called Warren and my brother, Walt, to see if they were ready to try again.  Sure enough, they were set to test their skills again.  Actually, if the truth be told, it was such a crummy day they both may have just wanted to get out of the house for a while.  No matter -- a trip to the range is worth it on its own merits.

I must say, both of them improved quite a bit. Warren really didn't shoot with his eyes closed.  He's just one of those people who always has their eyes closed when they get their picture taken.

When we went this time, he said he wanted to use the smaller target because he concentrates more.  OK.  Well, it seemed to work because he managed to put a bunch of rounds in the center of the target.  The picture to the right shows his shot groups for two different tries.  The black patches on the target were the first ("warm-up") rounds, and the uncovered ones (the pink ones) were from the second attempt.

Warren is using a .40 cal. pistol (1911 model) that he picked up. I asked him why he carried a .40 cal. and he said it's because they don't make a .41 cal.  Good answer.  Good answer.

It seems to fit his hand real well and he is pretty much comfortable with its firing mechanics and kick.  Quite frankly, for a WWII Vet (almost 90 yrs. old), I am impressed he is able to fire any sort of gun.

Now we turn our attention to my brother.  If you remember the last time I wrote about his range fire, I said it was a good thing he was a cook in the Army.  At least he could throw a spoon at the enemy and maybe do more damage.

Well, he certainly improved over the last time.  Check out these pictures. 

He also decided to use the smaller target.  Maybe Warren has something there.  Anyhow, he did pretty well on his "warm-up" shots considering he was using a rented pistol from the range. 

You can see (to the right)  his shot group was climbing a bit to the right each time, which was just from pulling the trigger a pit to the right each time he fired.  That is easily corrected and shouldn't happen once he gets used to the trigger pull.

The bottom picture shows that he started to get comfortable with that rented weapon and put several in the center ring.  Maybe he could be considered for a reenlistment, s'pose? 

So that pretty much wraps up another morning at the range.  Again, I know this probably isn't for everyone, but so be it. 

I recently saw an article in our rural electric co-op magazine that there is a local group that has started a clay pigeon shooting club for high school students.  They talk about the confidence and excitement it has generated in the students who belong.  It also talks about the respect the young people have for shotguns, their sport, and the older people who serve as their mentors.  Seems like a great success all around.  I have never participated in clay pigeon shooting.  Might have to make some contacts and if this is something I might be able to try.  Could be embarrassing at first, but what the heck.  Maybe I'll take a spoon along, just in case!! 

If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

If guns cause crimes, then matches cause arson. 

If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

 Hooah

Boy are we getting close...

There are lots of things a mid-winter thaw and a handful of sunny days with temps in the 50-60 range will bring to mind -- like our spring golf trip, riding my bike, taking a vacation, boating on Lake Loramie, and fishing.

But this is Ohio, and in the next couple of days we'll get cold rain and some snow.  So, other than planning, not much of these things are going to take place.  I know people fish in winter, but not me. Tried riding my bike in snow once.  That didn't work very well at all -- a couple of times in the ditch told me to try something else.  The boat is still covered and sitting in the driveway, and is likely to have snow piled around it for a while yet.  So, planning is the extent of my activities for now.

I went out to the pond the other day and the water looks really clear.  No floaters, so that is good. While I was out there, I dropped in the barn and checked on the fishing poles and gear.  Things looked in order, so I thought I would get down the fly rods and "stuff" to clean it and inspect the lines.  Looked pretty good.

If you enlarge the photo, you'll see that I use lots of dry flies.  I really like fishing for pan fish in local ponds and lakes walking around, flicking that little bug around docks and weedbeds to see if I can entice a fish to take the bait.

One of the reels I plan to try this year is the old automatic reel (center).  This is an old Montgomery Ward offering (if you don't know what Montgomery Ward, or "Monkey Ward" as we in Southeastern Ohio used to call it, was ask your parents or grandparents.).  This reel cost me all of $2.95 at a flea market in Nelsonville, OH and works well. Should be fun.

Another thing I had to check was to see if I still had good sunglasses -- the kind with magnifiers in the bottom of the lenses.  These really come in handy when tying flies to the line while standing in a river or stream.

Do I have any unfulfilled fishing dreams?  Yep. I am still planning to try my luck at some Montana river -- at least it's on my bucket list.  That's kind of like the Holy Grail of fly fishing and usually requires hiring a professional guide for a couple of days.  This is another thing I am not really all that good at, but one that I have fun doing so maybe the expense of a guide will be worth it.

This isn't the only kind of fishing I like to do and have lots of hours and fun bait casting for bass, crappies and other fish.  In fact, my brother-in-law, Chuck, and I are in the tentative stages of planning a fishing (and maybe golfing) trip to the Kentucky Lake area.  We call this "Bass-n-Bogies."

OK.  So for now, I'm off to take another dose of cough medicine and listen to the OU Bobcats take on Bowling Green in basketball.  I've read all the fishing books I stockpiled last fall, and now I plan to dive into a couple of Jeff Shaara novels.  These should get me through this next spell of cold and snow.

All the romance of trout fishing exists in the mind of the angler and is in no way shared by the fish.  (Harold F. Blaisdell)

Hooah

Hard to believe it's been that long...

About a month ago, one of my high school classmates contacted me regarding our high school class's upcoming 50th reunion scheduled for later this summer.  I would suspect that for those of you who have also lived long enough to experience this, it is pretty hard to believe that we would qualify for a 50th anything, let alone a high school graduation.  That means our late 60s are all over us like an early morning fog -- hopefully not anything serious enough to be really a hazard, but more of a nuisance that keeps you from your early tee time .

My wife, who is scheduled for her 50th this summer, is also facing the prospect of relying very heavily on those little sticky name tags to keep us from being embarrassed at how we could possibly forget the names of so many of our friends from the past -- friends with whom we shared so many monumentally earth-shaking secrets, sealed with a pinky swear.

So I know that's gonna happen.  Doesn't mean I have to like it, but it's gonna happen. Sometimes I can't even remember the names of people I met just yesterday.  And if the truth be known, the guy who invented those little sticky name tags was probably facing his 50th high school reunion when he came up with this great idea.

So, setting that inevitable embarrassment aside for now, there are a couple of other things I thought about, things that could also be interesting.  I used to play athletics back in school.  Even though I received several varsity letters back then, I was not really very good at any of them. 

I played football, starting out as an offensive guard.  But, at 5"10"/145#, this didn't look very promising.  During my sophomore year, I discovered I could catch the ball reasonably well if it was thrown somewhere in the vicinity of my hands.  So I was moved to the end of the line (don't know if that was the coach's way of telling me that I was going from the center of the action to the end of the line, which was only one step from the bench).  And while I was there, I became a defensive end too.  The defensive position wasn't too bad --  just hold my position and don't let anyone around me.  Didn't have to run too far and I could get in the way of a running back until the linebackers would get there to bail me out.  Fulfilling my duties as a receiver turned out to be more of a challenge.  I was not fast, and didn't know how to get into the open very well.  When I would run a pattern, if the wind was blowing really hard, I spent a lot of time running in one spot (remember -- 5'10"/145#).  But I did have some good moments and our team was really short on numbers and everyone else was pretty much the same size as me (except the two big tackles we had) so I got to play quite a bit.

I also played baseball and golf.  Well, sorta, because at our high school, we only had 5 guys who knew anything about golf, and all of them also played baseball.  Back in those days, baseball and golf were both spring sports, so it was worked out that these five guys would play baseball on Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday, and play golf on Monday, Wednesday, and maybe on Friday.  Not a lot of time for any practices once the seasons started, so our golf swings really looked like batting practice, and the scores were usually around bogey levels.

But none of this is in any way important now, except that we were on a team, with our classmates, having fun, and developing relationships that are still alive today.  I hate to admit that I don't see many or any of them except for the reunions.  Some have died.  And I don't think any of us would still come in at our old playing weight. 

Having spent 30 years of my life as an educator, I am certainly glad that our old high school teachers won't be allowed out of the "home" to come see what a collection we turned out to be.  I, for one, certainly wouldn't want to be the cause of any heart failures once they learned how I (or others, too) turned out. Unless they had a lot more insight into us than I suspect, I am sure they never would have guessed our outcomes.  I would hope, if they were to come for the evening, they would be gracious enough to give us credit for slugging it out over the years, fighting the good fight,  Each in our own way, each with our own demons, and with a lot of help from others, we made something of ourselves.  In some small measure, each might be a credible reflection on their efforts.  One thing I learned over the years is not to be too hard on oneself.  There are plenty of people in line waiting to do that for you. 

I have one small suggestion that I might bring up to our "committee" when we get together this summer -- Let's have our 60th reunion next year.  I know Sam Hall would be saying right now that that boy didn't learn his counting in my class, but here's the logic.  We have lost a few along the way getting to this 50th reunion.  The next big one would be 10 years from now and who knows how many we would lose by then.  So -- they're our reunions, we can call them anything we want.  We can call the one two years from now the 70th if we want.  Might be kinda nice to say I made it to my 70th high school reunion.

Oh yeah, one other thing that reunions are known for -- finding out if others in the class were successful in life.  I think I will carry a little card with me to the reunion, one that outlines all of the successes one can be proud of in life (other than a good marriage, good children and grandchildren and good health).  We'll measure from here:

SUCCESS:
...at age 4, SUCCESS is not peeing your pants.

...at age 12, SUCCESS is having friends.

...at age 16, SUCCESS is having a driver's license.

...at age 35, SUCCESS is having money.

...at age 50, SUCCESS is having money.

...at age 70, SUCCESS is having a driver's license.

...at age 75, SUCCESS is having friends.

...at age 80, SUCCESS is not peeing your pants.

Should be a fun time.  I'm actually looking forward to it. And when the evening is over, I hope my classmates read the backside of the card...

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Hooah

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