Dear Google

All I want to do is check my mail. If I wanted to know what was going on with Facebook, I'd look at Facebook. If I wanted to know what was trending on Twitter, I'd look at twitter. If I wanted to know what was going on in the world of news, I'd turn on the idiot box.

All I want to do is check my mail. But is it on the main page? Noooooo! Is it on a hot link, or on a button that is easily and intuitively located? NOOOO!!! It's on the Apps tab (WTF??? I'm not on my phone or a tablet here!!!) buried under tons of other bullshit.

All I want to do is check my mail!!! But you jackasses have set the page up to do everything BUT check the mail! The only reason I even have a gmail account is because my phone and cell carrier for some reason insists on using your crap products, but because of your company policies and the asinine way you have everything set up I avoid your sites whenever possible.


That's why I don't use my gmail address for anything.

Musings

On any military installation I've ever been on, the possession and/or carry of personal firearms is strictly verboten. One may bring firearms on the base according to the base commanders discretion for certain events at certain locations under certain very strict conditions, but the 2nd Amendment is for all intents and purposes non-existent onboard any military installation.

This applies to most of the other Amendments as well, for what it's worth. A base commander's authority over his/her installation is almost God-like, subject only to the whims of those in positions of authority over his own, but most higher authorities choose to leave a lot of personal discretion to the base commander.

This tickles me somewhat because the military is an organization formed and dedicated to the preservation and defense of one Constitution of the United States, which as one of it's attachments expressly forbids the .gov from prohibiting the firearms ownership and carry of the citizens thereof (not that this has stopped them, of course).

Furthermore, this military installation is staffed by the various military members who have all taken an oath to support and defend this same aforementioned Constitution Of against all who threaten it, domestically or otherwise. Presumably this also means the Amendments, since they are part and parcel of the entire document as a whole.

Lastly, such servicepersons are lengthily lectured and trained to recognize their duties with regards to the carrying out of certain orders, to include the recognition of lawful and unlawful ones. First and foremost, for an order to be lawful, IT MUST NOT VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Given the above points, tell me how the prohibition of carry on military installations is not an unlawful order?

This is merely a theoretical exercise of course. That camel's nose is not only under the tent, the entire camel is sleeping on your cot and making babies in your socks.

On The Road Again

Looks like I'll be heading off to the Great Midwest the middle of next week. The folks will celebrate 50 years together and my distaff sibs are putting together a shindig for it. I have the time, and if I ignore some of the bills (I'm paid ahead on all of them anyway) I have the cash, so I'm going to show up for it.

Current plans are to head west on 40 from Raleigh and overnight in Millington TN, then head north and further west from there. Yes, I know that it's farther than going through the Peoples Republic of Illinois but going the route I've chosen means I don't have to stop at the Indiana border to disarm and then drive unarmed through St Louis.

I'm thinking really hard on riding the pony. It's not really Mustang weather in the midwest right now and the Scooby's AWD would definitely be more suited for this time of year. But they do have a few paved roads in Iowa, and they do know a thing or two about snow removal there, so I should be OK.

Either way I'm looking forward to the trip. I need a break, and it's been a while since I've seen the folks. I really need to get out there more often, they aren't getting any younger and now that I'm the only one left out this far it's better that I do the traveling these days instead of them.

No one has told Mom. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised.

Paul Ryan Can Snarfle The Garthog.

It takes a lot of stones to beg a retired military guy for money after breaking one off in all of us.  Chief Master Sergeant Wooten says all that needs to be said (although quite a bit less profanely than most of us would have said it. This, BTW, is how I knew it wasn't MSgt B in disguise).

Well said Zoomie.

Presents

As if I needed another reason to go to the range...we've got fun and games!

I  think I may need a new set of sights for the 9mm...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David...

 a Saviour.

Merry Christmas everyone.

One Of Those Nights

Four machines down in the first hour (the first two within the first five minutes) and my co worker isn't here yet.

Sometimes it isn't worth getting out of bed...

Of Ducks And Men

A&E suspending Phil Robertson may have been a bad move financially, time will tell, but I won't shed any tears for Phil. The Robertsons did not make their money on Duck Dynasty, and long after the show is but an interesting footnote in Duck Commander's company history the ducks will still be flocking to their calls.

With that being said, A&E's decision is NOT censorship, any more than was the Dixie Chick's label dropping them, any more than Alec Baldwin losing his show, any more than GEICO dropping the Gunny, or any company's decision to not continue a professional relationship with any of their spokesmen. A&E didn't tell Phil Robertson to shut up, they merely said "you can't say that on our time."

For it to be true censorship...you need a government to use the power of the purse to audit you, the power of regulation to harass you, and the power of the boot to crush you. No matter what poncy Brit twit Piers Morgan says, that is what the First Amendment is all about.

Incidentally, the Second Amendment is all about the people telling the government "you can't do that on our time."

Try to keep that in mind.

Dear Santa

For Christmas this year I would like .22 long rifle ammo. I have been very good sort of good depends on your definition of good never mind how I've been fat man, just deliver the goods and no one gets hurt.

Your friend,

blah blah blah


UPDATE: My ammo order has been pushed from December 31st to the end of June.

Hey, I warned you. Now things have gotta get ugly...

 

Another One Bites The Dust

Mi compadre at work has turned in his notice. He's accepted another position closer to where he lives.

And he didn't even offer to take me with him, the bastitch. (I'm only half joking here. See previous post. Note that I didn't know he was leaving until I got in today.)

Good luck Jason, it was a pleasure working with you.

Discombobulation

I'm really beginning to think I'm ready for a new job. Maybe in a new location. A change of pace, as it were.

If it weren't for the fact that I'm the answer to everyone elses problems I would likely have already pulled up stakes and moved on.

Four more years. It's coming.

Obamacare in Pictures

Kerfuffle

Apparently we haz one.

You see, it's NC Governor Pat McCrory's 25th anniversary, and for this special occasion he's taking his lady somewhere nice and leaving the LT Governor in charge.

Somewhere nice is apparently other than NC, since the LTG is in charge, and that's where the kerfuffle is. Our chattering class here is aghast that he wouldn't spend his vacation in North Carolina, after all we have nice places, too.

I don't see what the problem is, after all it's Christmas and the legislature isn't in session anyway so it's not like he has something really really important to do...other than celebrate his 25th anniversary with the woman that has put up with him that long, that is.

Besides, if it were me I'd be out of state even if I was in-state IYKWIMAITYD.

I guess if that's all they have to complain about everything must be going pretty good.

Squibs

I'm a subscriber to the Grass Roots North Carolina's E-mailed Gun Blast newsletter, and one of the features therein is the latest quotable quote from the anti-gun crowd, called squibs. This episode's squib comes to you courtesy of National Gun Victims Action Council, and says "Merry Christmas, North Carolinians! Thanks to laws passed this summer which just went into effect this month, the guy sitting in the bar next to you can carry a concealed firearm. Don’t piss him off."

This sounds like good advice regardless of if the guy next to you is armed or not. The famous and oft-repeated Heinlein quote is "an armed society is a polite society" but I oftentimes think that if we had a more polite society we wouldn't have as much need for an armed one.

Which leads me to the famous and oft-repeated (well, if it isn't it should be) GEN James Mattis, USMC (ret) quote, "be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

Merry Christmas everyone. Remember to be polite.

Whirlwind

Favorite Niece and Eldest Daughter both had birthdays today.

Favorite Niece's boyfriend got her an engagement ring for her birthday. From what I can tell she liked it, not that there was any doubt.

Eldest Daughter called me this evening with some sad news, though. Laura's best friend is not expected to last the night.

I have known this woman for 20 years. Sometimes she makes me crazy. She has been dying of something  or other since I've known her, and sometimes I've thought she would outlive us all in spite of herself. It looks like that will not be the case after all.

I will call her husband tomorrow when I get off work and offer my condolences. In spite of everything they have always been there. I wish I didn't know so well what tonight holds for him.

Go in peace, best friend of my best friend...and when you see her, tell her I love her.

Today's Earworm

You're welcome.

December Redhead

I've been remiss. The first week in December has come and gone and I'm just now getting around to changing the header.

As per an earlier suggestion, December's Redhead of the Month is:

Rose Leslie, AKA Ygritte from Game of Thrones.

Enjoy!

This N' That

Friday it was 70 + degrees out, so instead of changing the oil in the Subaru I drove around with the top down for a while. I also grilled some of Bambi, which turned out pretty darn good. Unfortunately I also hit a dog, which didn't turn out all that good. He darted out in front of me and all the ABS in the world couldn't stop me in time.

That evening Daughter let me know that I had a fog lamp out, and when I checked it out Saturday morning I found out that the impact had broken the mount, so the entire light assembly has to be replaced. This means the front bumper cover has to come off, which isn't really as hard to do as it sounds, it's just a PITA.*

Also on Saturday morning I braved the cold long enough to do the Subaru's oil change, and while I was at it I decided I'd put in the mirror that I broke the day before Thanksgiving. Yep, heading to work in the dark, someone had their trash can right on the white line and I tagged it with the passenger mirror and shattered the glass. Thankfully nothing else got damaged.

The oil change went well, but I wasn't able to get the mirror glass in, in fact I broke it trying to get it to go into the frame that it was supposedly perfectly cut to fit, right. So, another has been ordered and I have the sanding tools on the Dremil standing by to carve it down to size. In the meantime I bought one of those 4" bugeye mirrors to stick on the backing plate. It's working pretty well, but it looks awful funny.

After all was said and done I was supposed to go to Lenoir for a toy run, but Youngest Boy had come down with a cold, and I was wet and cold from laying on the ground (Friday's almost 80 degree day turned into a rainy 56 degree overnight, which turned into a damp and steadily cooling Saturday), and I had a Bambi stew going, and a fire in the fireplace, so I just stayed at home.

And that's my exciting life.

*Update: the bumper cover is also cracked around the area where the fog light resides. The damaged portion is almost completely covered by the fascia and the only part you can see is from underneath the car, but I know it's there. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $165 for the bumper cover and probably $500 for paint if it ends up being equivalent to previous incidents. Plus, where the fascia attaches to the left inner wheelwell splash guard, the hole is pulled open on one side, but the captive nut can still be put on in such a way it holds everything together.

The dog lived, by the way. The neighbors have invited me to come hit it again, apparently it isn't a well-loved animal in the neighborhood.  

20

She's been gone for three and a half of them.