No Good Deed

TDP is back.

Daughter just pulled up in the driveway with it, knocking and banging like she had a bunch of midgets in the bottom end of the engine with hammers.

Depending on how we do it, it will run between $300 and $2000 to take the hammers away from them.

Guess who gets to foot the bill?

I really hate that car.

Of course Daughter's solution to that is to let her drive the only other automatic transmission car I own.

That ain't gonna happen.

Around the Interwebs

A few links to things I have found interesting in the past couple of weeks, in no particular order:

First, this guy isn't quite going Galt, but he's at least going Wyatt.

Second, we might want to pay attention to what Bubba knows.

Black is White has eloquent words on the debt crisis, much more so than your humble scribe could aspire to. I generally break down into meaningless sputtering profanities if I get too involved in thinking about it.

Brigid is taking the day off today, which now that I think about it is a pretty excellent way to spend the rest of the day.

I've had a roast in the crock pot all morning, it's going to get shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce and put on some hamburger buns for supper tonight (supper is what civilized people have for their evening meal, unlike Yankees who eat dinner for supper and something called lunch when they should be having dinner). Which means I need to take myself to the grocery store for some hamburger buns and slaw to put on the top.

Have a great day!

Predictions

Iowahawk has made a few.

THIS Is Why You Need A Gun

I would not have chosen a .22 caliber for the job, but this is an example of how important shot placement is. It doesn't matter if you are carrying a caliber suited to stop a charging rhinoceros if you only manage to nick his ear.

From the article: "When deputies got to the scene just after 6:00 a.m., they found the suspect unresponsive on the floor. Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Carson died from a single gunshot to the chest."

This is also an example of how a gun puts a smallish woman on equal ground with a man who stands a foot taller than her, weighs another hundred pounds more than her, and is intent on doing harm to her.

But the gun grabbers will call this another needless gun death. Because, you know, if she had been robbed, raped and killed she would at least occupy the moral high ground. Too bad that would have gone along with occupying the physical under-ground.

HT: Say Uncle

Monster Hunter: Alpha

It shipped on Friday. It left Charlotte NC last night at 6:30 on a FedEx truck. It should be here today by the time I get up.

I have to work tonight. And Tuesday. And Wednesday.

It looks like Thursday night is going to be all booked up.

Middle Daughter will probably have it all read by the time I get a crack at it. That's just as well, I won't have to put up with her pestering me about it that way.

I've also ordered the autographed copy from Uncle Hugo's. You can also get an autographed copy there, or you can go to the bookstore today and get it right away!

As a side note, this may be the book I'm supposed to be brutally murdered by werewolves in. I can hardly wait to see!

UPDATE: It's here! The awesome continues...

I think I'm supposed to be Ryan Horst's wheel-man. Spoiler alert...we won't be appearing in a sequel. I think you kind of expected that.

Time On Red Bull

My oh my how time flies! It's hard to believe it's been a whole year.

Day By Day is having it's annual fundraising event.

Stop by and show the love.

Give money, get stuff. Unbridled capitalism!

Image by, who else, DBD cartoonist Chris Muir.

Lucas Elliot, Soldier

A Youngsville NC man will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery after the vehicle he was driving was hit by an IED in Iraq on June 15th. He was not quite 22 years old. A five year veteran, Specialist Daniel Lucas Elliott was on his second tour in Iraq.

An Army Reserve MP with the 290th Military Police Brigade, 200th Military Police Command based in Cary NC, Elliott was influenced by the events of 9-11. Although he was only 12 years old at the time, he told his family that he was going to be a Soldier as they watched the events unfold on that dreadful day.

Friends and family attended a memorial service to celebrate his life yesterday. Chapter NC-7 of Rolling Thunder attended the event to hold the flag line and his muddied 4WD truck sat outside the church as a reminder of his love for the outdoors.

I did not know SPC Elliott, but I knew one of the three injured men that was in the truck with him the day he died. He was a dedicated Soldier, taken from his young wife and his family far too soon.

Rest in peace Lucas.

Ain't It Cool?

Don't you wish you had one?

Of course you do!

But you CAN'T! They're SOLD OUT!!!

I warned you, but did you listen? Nooooooo, you did NOT.

OK, qwitchersniveling. Second chance right here, back by popular demand!

Sean over at An NC Gun Blog was contemplating a second run of a slightly different design, but it looks like the original is the one that will be made for the second run instead. So here is your chance to have a shirt of the same original design that is worn by such august personalities as David Codrea, Mike Vanderboegh, Rep. Darrel Issa, and the world's most dangereous librarian!

You have two weeks. Go now.

Only The Good

I just got the word through a commenter on my last post, a comment that I did not publish because it deserves a post of its own.

Anniee451 who blogged at Purely Politics is gone.

I first "met" Anniee through the Rott, she followed the link on one of my comments and checked in on me from time to time. She was very supportive when Laura passed, as were all the Rotties. Although we never met face to face we had many pleasant email exchanges and we traded comments at each other's blog. Her last post was dated over a month ago.

I didn't really think much of her recent lack of posting, she would sometimes go months without writing anything and then all of a sudden make up for it with a flurry of activity. At one time her blog disappeared and I took her off the blogroll, only to add her back when it re-appeared just as suddenly and mysteriously as it had gone.

I am gratified to know that many (if not all) of my readers also checked in with her. The aforementioned unpublished comment included this tidbit from her: I looked at my stats, as I mentioned, but didn't notice that 90% of the readership I get is my friend Larry from "Last Refuge of a Scoundrel". It was my pleasure to host the link, and it will stay up and active for as long as Purely Politics stands.

I don't know what happened, what I do know is that she has left a huge gaping hole in the fabric of many lives. Rest in peace my friend, and may you find in Heaven anything that you lacked for in this life.

Thank you for telling me Stephen. I'm sorry you had to be the one.

In The News

Roving gangs of Amish thugs have exploded car bombs and shot up a youth camp in Norway.

Oh wait, I guess it wasn't the Amish at all. Gee, it sure would be nice if we could figure out who is behind all of this terror! Anyone want to take bets?

UPDATE: Huh. Well, I'm a big enough guy to admit when I was wrong.

In other news, Senate Democrats vote to "let the MF'er burn" in a straight party line vote. Three Senators (including former Presidential candidates from both parties) declined to cast votes at all.

I'm going to go find something to do that doesn't involve screaming at the television.

Diamondback Video

With music by Chris Ledoux. Enjoy!

Earwig Of the Day

Way To Go Marine!

So what does a young single Marine Sergeant do when he doesn't have a date lined up for the Marine Corps Ball?

He reaches for the stars, of course!

He shoots! He scores!

Ooh-rah Devil Dog! Well done!

Fortune favors the bold.

Ruminations

Over at An NC Gun Blog Sean put up a post about a robbery victim that was shot as an afterthought, after being relieved of his property.

This sparked off a round of posts all around the blogosphere about shooting someone over property, the pros and cons of.

It put me in mind of a post at 3 Boxes of BS that I linked to in a previous post over pretty much the same thing.

If someone offers to relieve me of my life over the contents of my wallet, it is not I who have set the minimum value on my life.

Setting the maximum value on my life, however, is my decision.

Blogshooting

I have an opportunity to attend a local blogmeet and pistol shooting class, and of course I am taking full advantage of it.

In preparation for the October class I have a couple of months to collect another 200 rounds of .45ACP ammo and three more Glock 36 magazines.

I'll probably go ahead and get the Pearce +1 extensions for the magazines to give me a bit more capacity.

I have the option of renting a Glock 17 from the range, with ammo, for an additional charge that is cheaper than buying my own ammo. I might go that route instead.

At any rate I'm looking forward to going.

If you are a blogger and you are interested in attending, contact this guy for details.

Want! Like! Burning!

Photo taken by Larry Correia

Road Wars

El Capitan tells a tale, brought on by more tale swapping otherwhere on the Intertubies, of idiots behind the wheel and the comeuppance that rarely follows, but when it does it is oh-so-sweet.

The only one I have to share is the race that I "lost" when I got the Mustang. I had already been awarded my first speeding ticket in about 18 years and wasn't really fishing for another, so when the brand-new Camaro SS lined up in the next lane wanting a go at me I wasn't very interested.

Especially since I knew Johnny Law was waiting in the shrubbery just a half block down.

Well this kid, he insisted, so I turned the traction control off and gave him a chirp of the tires to let him know he had something coming to him! When the light turned green he hit the throttle like the hammer of an angry god.

I turned the traction control back on and sedately went on my way. A half block later I waved at him as I drove by.

This was just before dyno day, and lo and behold the Camaro was there. He pulled a bit over 700 horses at the rear wheel, so he would have ate my lunch.

Funny thing is, he didn't really want to talk about it.

Oh My

This is getting deeper and deeper by the day.

I wonder how it ends?

Get your shirt here.

And Now There Are Two

In a ceremony at the White House on July 12, 2011, Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry, US Army, was awarded the Medal of Honor for service as set forth in the following citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008. As a Weapons Squad Leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Staff Sergeant Petry moved to clear the courtyard of a house that potentially contained high-value combatants. While crossing the courtyard, Staff Sergeant Petry and another Ranger were engaged and wounded by automatic weapons fire from enemy fighters. Still under enemy fire, and wounded in both legs, Staff Sergeant Petry led the other Ranger to cover. He then reported the situation and engaged the enemy with a hand grenade, providing suppression as another Ranger moved to his position. The enemy quickly responded by maneuvering closer and throwing grenades. The first grenade explosion knocked his two fellow Rangers to the ground and wounded both with shrapnel. A second grenade then landed only a few feet away from them. Instantly realizing the danger, Staff Sergeant Petry, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers. As he was releasing the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist and further injuring him with multiple shrapnel wounds. Although picking up and throwing the live grenade grievously wounded Staff Sergeant Petry, his gallant act undeniably saved his fellow Rangers from being severely wounded or killed. Despite the severity of his wounds, Staff Sergeant Petry continued to maintain the presence of mind to place a tourniquet on his right wrist before communicating the situation by radio in order to coordinate support for himself and his fellow wounded Rangers. Staff Sergeant Petry's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, 75th Ranger Regiment, and the United States Army.

(For those of you who are wondering, Staff Sergeant Petry was promoted to Sergeant First Class after the events chronicled in his citation, which is why the citation reads SSGT and his award reads SFC.)

Sergeant First Class Petry is the second live recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Global War on Terror.

Well done SFC Petry.

You Buy Shirts

Here.

Hurry though, cause they're going fast.

Diamondback

Yesterday Youngest Son and I got up at 5:30 AM (after being out until after midnight watching the Bulls game, see post below) and headed out the door at 6:00 AM. Our destination; the Diamondback in the North Carolina mountains.

This event was attended by members of the Carolina chapter of the Mustang Forums. Youngest Son and I left Franklinton under cloudy and threatening skies, so the top stayed up until we got to Hickory.

In Hickory we met up with the occupants of four other Mustangs, introduced ourselves and lined up for the drive to Love's Travel Stop in Marion NC. Two more cars joined us there, giving us a group of fourteen people and seven cars.

We left Love's at about 11:00 and proceeded up the mountain. We went up NC Route 126 to 126A to Little Switzerland where we made a stop for pictures and souvenirs. We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway from there, stopping once at Deerlick Gap Overlook for more pictures.

We left Deerlick Gap heading south on the Blue Ridge once more until we got to NC Route 80, which we took back into Marion. After a lunch stop at Moondoggy's we cruised down US 70 to Lake James State Park where we enlisted the aid of a willing photographer to take a group photo.

After the group photo we all went our separate ways (for some of us those ways were parallel for a bit more of the trip). Boy went to the skating rink and I went home for some much needed rest.

There is talk of scheduling a trip to the Tail of the Dragon sometime later on, perhaps this fall.

Mustang Night With The Bulls

Friday night Youngest Son and I went to a Durham Bulls ball game with the Heart of Carolina Mustang Club.

Since it wasn't a car-type event, and since the rain clouds were threatening, and since it was Durham after all, I left the Mustang at home and took the Baja instead.

We had group tickets to the Miller Light Corral, complete with a spread laid on by the ball park. We had a pretty good group that showed up to watch the hometown Bulls get roundly defeated 17-2 by the Norfolk Tides (who used to be the Tidewater Tides when I lived in Virginia Beach the first time).

There was a rain delay in the third inning, and afterwards there was a fireworks show, so it was after 1 AM by the time Boy and I got back to the house. We then got up at 5:30 AM to be on the road by 6:00 AM to drive the Diamondback with the Carolina chapter of the Mustang Forum (see post above).

It's been a busy weekend, and my parents are in Roanoke visiting Sister now, so they will be here next week. I have to go back to work tonight so that I can rest up.

As is usual for the panoramic views they are fuzzy on the page but they clear up when you click on them.

Keep Moving

Space shuttle launch yesterday, the very last one. Durham Bulls game last night, with rain delays and fireworks show we didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. Up at OMG:30 to go to Marion NC to drive the Diamondback. Pics of everything except the space shuttle launch when I get a chance.

Letting It All Hang Out

UPDATE to add this WARNING: Some of the links have nekkid boobehs.

Apparently it is completely legal in New York City for the fairer sex to go around sans upper body clothing.

A couple of women have tried it out, and aside from some low-level nagging from officious personas, nothing happened.

I particularly liked this statement from the second linked story: "Because we live in a fascist police state, it wasn’t long before two of New York’s finest stopped and questioned her..."

(She apparently was not ticketed in this episode, so the fascist police state has some ground to make up in order to become the sort of fascist police state that we can all be proud of. But I digress.)

The longer third linked story (all four pages of it) told the story of how a young woman wandered around Central Park unencumbered by the weight of top-hamper sails, so to speak, and no one raised much of a fuss.

I tell you all of this so that I can get to the point that in Virginia the members of the national OpenCarry.org internet group regularly carry openly, much to the dismay of some of the second amendment supporters and concern trolls. It happens other places as well, but since I live close to VA I hear more about it from there.

There is much discussion whenever open carry is brought up as to whether it is better to carry openly to get the public used to seeing it or to carry concealed so as not to upset the soccer-mommies and alert the criminals.

I carry concealed mostly because I am a bit self-conscious about carrying openly, but now that I have been carrying for a while I'm not so much anymore. I have a friend who regularly carries openly even though he has a concealed permit, both because there are places you can actually carry openly where concealed carry would be illegal in NC (financial institutions being the most common) and to get the public used to it.

And just because I don't think I have strayed far enough afield yet, here is an article that explains the issues involved in a self-defense case. USCCA has a new program called Self Defense Shield that seems like it would be a good idea to have. I'm planning on upgrading when I have the coin to do so.

UPDATE: I have just been informed via email that there is a quarterly payment plan in the works for USCCA's Self Defense Shield, so getting the coin is going to be getting easier very soon.

What say you?

Cleaning Up

Yesterday as we drove home from the camping trip it rained on us. It rained into the night as well, so this morning we had a truck full of soaked camping gear.

We unpacked, unrolled and laid everything out to dry. I took the opportunity to repair the tent where one of the tie-down rings had torn out of the side (it was the third time the tent had ever been set up, and it's a Coleman tent). After an hour or so we flipped everything over to dry both sides. Lather, rinse, repeat.

After a few hours everything was dry, so we re-rolled, repacked and stowed everything in the shed for the next time. This took long enough that I was late getting ready for work.

As I was running around like a madman I couldn't help but remind myself that I only work three days this week and I took two of them off. Why I didn't take tonight off as well I will probably never know.

Tomorrow I get to take Eldest Son back to the doctor, he's still not feeling well, so the adventure continues.

Happy 4th of July!

We have spent the entire weekend at Gatewood Campground in Pulaski VA with Eldest Sister and her hubby. We did not take the Mustangs.

We took one of Youngest Son's friends along. We also took Boots the dog along.

Youngest Son caught a 9 inch yellow perch and his friend caught a nice catfish. Boots the dog did not like the boat.

It rained like crazy Sunday afternoon, but the rest of the time was hot and sunny. All in all, everyone had a great time.

You Buy Books

Even better, buy a signed copy.

You can thank me later, you will be busy reading now.