Japan

There has been much furor over the natural disaster in Japan. If the news reports were to be believed Japan would become the next Atlantis, submerged in the depths and lost to humanity forever.

One of the biggest stories is their nuclear reactors ZOMG!!!!eleventy!!!! ARE!!! MELTING!!! DOWN!!!!

My reaction was "Eh, why don't they just scram the reactors and be done with it?"

The answer turns out to be "They did, and the danger, while present, is small." The reaction has been shut down, now the issues are due to cooling as the residual heat bleeds off.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever cracked open a Japanese car motor or dealt with any Japanese engineers. They over-engineer everything, and they have a contingency plan for every eventuality. That's why it was so mysterious to me why everyone is in such a tizzy about the nuclear reactors.

The answer of course is the whole "Nuclear" word.

It should be noted that it is impossible for this type of reactor to "go Chernobyl" because of it's design. In fact, the worst thing that could happen to this reactor has in fact happened. Four of the cores have lost cooling water and are now molten balls of slag. The cooling water is needed to get rid of the residual heat as the reaction dies down. No cooling water means meltdown, which does not mean explosion, it just means those cores are now permanently out of commission.

Here's the report. Bottom line, it's bad but everything is under control. You may now all relax.

HT: Larry Correia on Facebook

UPDATE: Jackboot over at The Rott, who was one of those weird blackshoe guys what lived amongst the glowy things "down below" and was far removed from us normal aviation-type guys that populated the sunny climes of the flight deck, puts us some knowledge. His take: chill the f'k out already, ignore the blow-dryed teewee peoples and worry more about the poor folks caught without shelter due to the earthquake and tsunami. It's Ma Nature who's the bitch here, not the nuke plants.

Awwww...

Last night, after trying many times to come to an agreement with the Democrat lawmakers who had fled the state rather than do their jobs, the Wisconsin Senate separated the collective bargaining piece of the budget bill and passed it.

The new provisions require union members to pay more towards their own health and pension plans and strips the collective bargaining option from benefit negotiations. This will save the cash-starved state about $300 million over the next two years while still giving the public sector unions better benefits than most everyone else gets (including Federal employees, who also cannot collectively bargain for benefits).

This morning the Union supporters showed out their butt-hurtedness on the State Capitol. Usual Suspects Jessie Jackson Sr. and Micheal Moore have weighed in as well. Democrat lawmakers have finally decided to come back to work now that their ploy to hold the legislative process hostage has failed.

Now we get to see how well the "new civility" lasts.

Women And Children Hardest Hit

In yesterday's local fish wrap was the story with the headline "Job market is shrinking for Hispanics in N.C."

From that headline you would expect the story would be all about how the Raaaaacist Evil Business Owners are discriminating against People Of Brownish Color.

But gosh, when you get to this paragraph, it is all explained:

"Many of the ones who are leaving are in the country illegally... Because of changes in the law, they can no longer get driver's licenses, which makes it nearly impossible to work. And they worry about getting caught, arrested and deported, earning criminal records that would make it even harder to ever get legal papers."

Another telling line: "It was hard for them before, and now the jobs they were able to get are being taken by [Americans], who are now willing to work at those jobs when they weren't willing to before."

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/05/1030765/job-market-is-shrinking-for-hispanics.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz1FqbMQeYn

The problem isn't that North Carolina is prejudiced against Hispanics. The problem is that we have quite enough unskilled labor as it is, much of it home-grown. Being here illegally just adds to the difficulties.

Oh No You Don't

Do.

Not.

Touch.

The.

Statue.

HT to cmblake6, cause I was suffering from low blood pressure this morning.

Life In The Fast Lane

So far I've had an opportunity to interface with government at local, state and federal levels in the past two days.

First, the IRS sent me a little note explaining that the information I sent off proving my grandsons lived with me during the 2008/2009 school year was not sufficient, so they were disallowing them as dependents, and yeah by the way since you didn't send the information we didn't ask for for Christopher, we're disallowing him, too. Please remit payment for $4700 within fifteen days to avoid penalties.

So I called them to find out just what they needed. We got the requirements worked out, which necessitated a visit to the local school (that's where the local government figures in).

The school wanted to know, among other things, where the boys' mother was. "What the hell difference does that make?!?" I asked, having gone round the flagpole for several minutes with them at this point. "You don't have to swear at me" was the huffy reply.

"No," I explained, "We're not steering the conversation away from what's being said because you don't like the way it's being said. Back to the subject." Finally I got it dragged out of them that since I wasn't asking them to make anything up, lie in court, or do anything that would otherwise be illegal, immoral, unethical or fattening they could make a copy of the ALREADY EXISTING RECORD that had all the information I needed as long as it was given to their dad, my son. Which is all I wanted in the first place.

Finally, since we were out anyway, we went to the DMV (here's where the state government makes it's appearance) to get Eldest Son an ID card and get my driver's license renewed. Just as we were getting settled in their computer system went down. Fortunately it only took a half hour or so for the problem to be resolved, so that was actually the least painful transaction that took place.

I hate dealing with government on any level. Even when I was with the government I hated dealing with them.

On another note, I have not had internet at the Refuge since Sunday and my cohabitants failed to let me know about it until Wednesday night. I put the trouble call in Thursday morning, the tech showed up today at the scheduled time (wonders never cease) and determined my 5 year old cable modem was the problem. The phone guy had told me it might be an issue the day before, so I went out Thursday evening and got one. We put it on today and the Refuge is now back online!

It's been a fun couple of days. Now I have a motorcycle to take apart.

Fair Winds

Steamboat McGoo is hanging up his blogging shoes.

Aardvarks and Asshats has been a favorite since I first discovered it, whenever that was. Science, snark and a bit of "otherwise" from time to time, it has certainly been an entertaining ride. If you are going to say goodbye you had best do it now, because after the week is up the chance to do so is over.

Fare thee well Steamboat, we hardly knew ye!

UPDATE: Edward Von Bear has taken up the A&A mantle. Steamboat may have sailed off into the sunset, but his creation lives on. Well done and thank you Eddie.

It Makes Me Wonder

Today the temps are in the mid seventies and the sun is shining.

I have seen model airplanes flying and motorcycles humming along the roadways.

I have seen groups of people out fishing and riding horses.

I have also seen people out and about in convertible cars.

Only three of those cars, including mine, had their tops down.

Apropos of nothing, I suppose, all three were Mustangs.

Be Prepared

Yesterday there was a message on my phone from the Sheriff's Department. My CWP was ready to be picked up.

This morning I put the Grok in it's plastic case, put the case in the back of the Baja under the Ozzbros cover, and went to the Sheriff's Department.

After getting the permit in hand and placing the Grok in it's holster I went to the gun store to see if I could find another holster for IWB carry. Florida's laws are such that any exposure is a violation, so I needed something to carry to Eldest Daughter's house.

They had an Uncle Mike's IWB holster that fit the bill, so I've been carrying with it all day to get used to it. It should do the trick quite nicely.

It has also been a beautiful day, temperatures in the seventies and partly cloudy. Right now the sky is clear and blue and it's 72 degrees. I fired the grille up and did some burgers and steaks.

And so with supper out of the way, I think I'll go for a ride.

Mundanity

This morning I finally made an appointment to get my eyes checked. I'm probably going to need the kind with lines on them, so that's something to look forward to.

Nothing planned this weekend, no running off to Roanoke like we have done the past couple of weeks. This weekend we will just hang around the Refuge. Bob is probably breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Roberta X had a post about how if the balloon went up most of us were done for. I was reminded of it as I was cooking supper, most of what I was doing was mixing up pre-packaged ingredients. She's probably right on the money, most people living in the US today have never really known hardship and don't know how to do things from the ground up like our grandfathers did.

My mother was a good cook and usually prepared everything from basic fresh ingredients, but these days it's much easier to open a can, jar or bottle and mix it with browned hamburger, or combine it with the contents of the powdered spice package...you get the idea. Home-cooked has certainly taken on different meanings since I was young.

Fortunately the chances of things really going sideways are vanishingly small, but small scale natural and "man-made" disasters are always a possibility, and time and again political and financial systems have crashed and burned, leaving strewn wreckage in their wake.

I don't really know what I would do, but I'm far enough out that I could probably get going farther if need be, I have firearms and a fair bit of electro-mechanical skills that would end up being useful when the immediate danger was over and some sort of effort at rebuilding was being made, but things would certainly be dicey for a while. Hunker down and remain in place or run for the hills, that is the question. The answer would likely depend on the situation.

But for now this is just an exercise in brain-stretching, luckily I have nothing pressing on my schedule, the lights are on, and we are all warm, dry and well fed. Things could change in an instant, and you never know if or when, so the best thing you can do is be prepared as much as you can, pray for the best and plan for the worst.

So for today we are having a bit of the mundane life, there are kids to be picked up from school and groceries to buy. I checked out a new grocery store that has just opened and they have my brand. I also picked up some of this, I'm not usually too fond of lagers but I do like the redheads.

And since we don't have anything planned this weekend I think I'll have a few.

Range Report

A preliminary report can be found here, but it's scarce on details.

The first thing that was done was a sighting in at 25 yards, just to make sure everything was close enough to mark the paper. The Arisaka shot slightly high and right, about the same distance high as right, but close enough to get on the paper (or so we thought at the time).

The Saiga was also high, but slightly left. Once again, it was determined to be close enough to get on the paper.

We set the targets up at the 200 yard line and prepped the rifles. Five shots out of the Arisaka and ten out of the Saiga, and a peek through the spotting scope revealed that...

Actually it revealed that the spotting scope wasn't strong enough for 200 yards, so we had to hike the distance back to the targets. The Arisaka was high and right enough to be off the paper and on the cardboard, the Saiga was high and slightly left.

Back on the firing line the Saiga got it's sights adjusted, and we decided to fire one rifle at a time and check shot placement after each magazine (the ulterior motive was to make sure all the ammo would feed out of each of the Saiga magazines since I had some trouble with one or two of them before). Each round of firing required a 200 yard hike to the target and 200 yards back.

Since the Saiga had more capacity we started with it. By the time we were through the third magazine we had it sighted in fairly well, so the fourth magazine grouped right in the middle where it should have been. The group was in a pattern about eight inches or so across (32 rounds in each magazine) scattered evenly around the X, so not bad for iron sights.

Next we attempted to sight in the Arisaka. Attempted I say, because the tool we used on the Saiga did absolutely nothing for the Arisaka. We put 20 rounds through it total and it consistently shot about eight to ten inches high and eight to ten inches to the right, but the grouping was pretty good at about 4 to 5 inches for a 5 round magazine (once again, iron sights).

I don't know how the elevation problem is going to get resolved because there is absolutely no adjustment for elevation, but with the proper tool I should be able to get the azimuth dialed in. There didn't seem to be any performance differences between the 129 grain and the 140 grain bullets, the original Japanese rounds were 139 grains so I'll probably stick with the 140 grain rounds unless I get a good deal on something else.

We have also decided that 100 yards is a good enough distance, and since the spotting scope is good for 100 yards it would cut down on the hiking time.

Next we moved over to the pistol and shotgun range. I pulled the plug out of the Franchi and wanted to see how it did. With the plug out the magazine holds 4 rounds, two more than with the plug in. To load 5 rounds you have to first load the chamber and then load the magazine, which is kind of a pain in the nether regions due to the way the semi-auto feed system works. The grouping with a modified choke installed (the Franchi has screw in chokes, unlike the pump-action Mossberg) was pretty good at 25 yards, so it would be a good duck gun (with the plug in, of course).

I then shot about 75 rounds through the Glock and made a big hole in the middle of the paper at six yards, so I'm happy with that. I had absolutely no feed issues this time, not like during quals when I had one stovepipe on me. It may have been something to do with the ammo I purchased from the range, the ammo I had on hand did just fine.

After all was said and done and the toys were put away I said something about getting a Mosin Nagant to play with since it would be cheaper to feed than the Arisaka. As luck would have it my range buddy just so happened to have one, along with enough ammo that I should be able to pass it down to my grandkids. Russian surplus, so I'll have to get some good cleaner for the bore, but plenty of it.

So now my gun safe is multicultural; I have two Russian rifles, one Japanese rifle (the older Russian and the Japanese rifles might have either faced each other or served side by side, they are about the same age*), one American rifle and one American pump shotgun, one Italian semi-auto shotgun, and an Austrian pistol. I have rifle calibers in .22, .223, 6.5 x 50 and 7.62 x 54R so all my bases should pretty well be covered. Both shotguns are 12 gauge and the Glock is .45 so I'm pretty well equipped there, too. I'd like to get another .357 before I'm all done, maybe a 9mm and a .380, but by now I have the "needs" covered and so I'm down to "wants."

The next thing I need to do is find the proper sight adjusting tool for the Arisaka (and more ammo for it), then I will take it and the Mosin out to see how they do.

*EDIT: The Mosin and the Arisaka are not, in fact, about the same age; the Mosin is forty years younger. The Arisaka T-30 was produced in a four or five year span right around 1900 and the Mosin was made in 1943.

Good Things Come

To those who wait.

Science Channel.

Sunday, March 6th.

Eight PM EST.

In the correct order, and in HiDef.

Since I work Sundays the DVR will be programmed and ready to fly.

A tip of the hat to BruHa. Man wears a hat like that, you know he's not afraid of anything.

Image credit: Sidney Baldwin

The Teachers Are Revolting

My heart bleeds little pink polka-dots for them as our military works longer hours for less money per year with no three month break over the summer.

My heart bleeds little purple unicorns for them as they take a sick day and march, knowing that if I pulled any such nonsense as that I’d be looking for a job the very next day.

My heart bleeds baby blue lightning bolts for them while our children still can’t read and a large number of them graduate without being able to locate their home country, much less their home state, on a map of the world.

The sad thing is there are many talented and dedicated teachers in our schools, both public and private, that don't get the credit they deserve because their slacker co-workers are protected by the same union. One bad apple spoils the entire barrel, and there is a lot more than one bad apple in that particular barrel.

Fire all the slackers and replace them with returning veterans (Troops to Teachers Program). At least the vets are aware of what happens outside their own little insular world.

And by the way, while we are discussing who needs to be fired...

Mission Accomplished!

Youngest Son and I finally got out on the Blue Ridge Parkway all by ourselves today. Sister had to work but you can be sure the new convertible went with her!

It was a bit cold even though the sun was shining, so the top stayed up. Youngest son even managed to drag me down a trail or two. The scenery was spectacular.

I guess I'm going to have to do more of this, if for no other reason than to make sure I can.

He's Going To Kill Us

The plan was simple; take the Firefly out on the Blue Ridge Parkway and have a fun couple of hours in the sun.

As we were heading towards the Parkway, Sister noticed a bright red 2009 Mustang convertible in a used car lot. "Let's go in and look" she said, "I don't want to buy it, I'm happy with my car (2000 Mustang convertible), but I'm curious."

The next thing I know she's trading in the 2000 for the 2009. The funny thing is, seven or eight months ago she was signing papers for the 2000, and once again it was one that she had noticed while riding in my car. It was like deja vu all over again.

Brother In Law is never going to let me visit ever again.

Living With Women

Yesterday was beautiful, but today is going to be phenomenal with temps in the mid seventies. Topless weather for sure, and where better to be topless than on the Blue Ridge?

Youngest son and I loaded up the Firefly last night and went to Roanoke with the intent of driving the Blue Ridge, north this time towards the Shenandoah Valley. Of course we stopped off at Sister's for the night, she isn't at work today so she is coming along for the ride.

As I stepped into the shower this morning I was overwhelmed by the sheer femininity of it. Sister has two teen-aged daughters and poor Brother In Law is the lone male, living solo amongst all that fluffery. It's a wonder he still has his man-parts.

For Christmas this year I'm going to go to the man-store and buy Brother In Law shampoo that smells like gunsmoke, soap with lava in it that smells like motor oil baking on hot metal and will take the first layer of hide off, shaving cream that smells like race car exhaust, and after-shave that smells like wood smoke. That should hold him over until the girls go to college.

After Action (Preliminary) Report

The Arisaka shoots high and to the right, the Saiga has been pretty well sighted in, and I have a new (well, new to me) rifle that I have yet to put anything through. It's a Mosin Nagant purchased from the same friend that provides range time.

All told it was a pretty good day. I am presently in Roanoke VA and tomorrow we will be cruising the Blue Ridge for the day with the top down.

I hope your day was a good one as well.

Concealed Carry Forums

I tried to register at carryconcealed.net and got bounced for being a spammer. When I attempted to contact them, apparently their computer system doesn't like the answer "John Moses Browning" for "Who invented the 1911" and I couldn't figure out what answer it wanted for "What is CCW" either. I'm thinking that's also the reason they tagged me for a spammer.

I was going to send them another message, but decided "to hell with it." At this point I'm thinking it's not worth the effort. That's a hell of a way to improve your membership.

So here's the deal for my gunny type readers out there, are there any concealed carry forums that are worth getting into, and what is the general opinion of USCCA? Worth the price of admission or no?

I could just troll the boards, I guess, but it's not as good if you can't ask questions.

Train Lover's Day

Last Saturday was Train Lover's Day at the Virginia Museum of Transportation, so youngest son and I hopped in the Mustang and went to Roanoke.

Chesapeake and Ohio 4-8-4 number 614 was on display along with the usual Norfolk and Western locos. She was missing her piston rods, but otherwise she looked pretty good.

Of course I also had to take a peek at the most beautiful steam locomotive ever made while I was there, in all her black and red glory. That's her on the left in the picture.

The museum also hosted the local model railroad clubs, there were displays of N scale, HO scale, On3 scale and Lionel three-rail trains as well as a few items for sale. I picked up a LifeLike F-7 in Pennsylvania livery to go with the fleet of Bachmann Spectrums I have on hand.

All together it was a good day, and of course it is always good to see Sister.

Scheduled

A range session has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Planned festivities are to see how the Arisaka does with two different weights of ammo (I have a feeling the heavier bullets are going to work better with the shorter carbine), sight in the Saiga (it was shooting a bit high, but that might have been the shorter range that we were using), and get some much needed practice with the Glock.

I will be filing an after-action report on the Arisaka soon.

Happy Valentine's Day

Star Drives and Phantasms

I am a professional knuckledragger.

I have always had a love of things mechanical and electrical. I began as an amateur fixing my own bicycles (and cars a bit later on) and gained professional status when Uncle Sam taught me how to fix airplanes on floating airports. Nowadays my machines don't fly, and I don't have to float to fix them, but it's still machine fixing. No one really notices when all the machines work, but when they don't it's up to the knuckledraggers (both amateur and professional) to Make It Better.

An aircraft is nothing more than a collection of nuts, bolts, rivets and assorted parts all traveling approximately the same direction at more or less the same time. It's the job of the professional knuckledragger to keep this a true statement, and when it is not all sorts of Unpleasant Individuals with no discernable sense of humor start asking Probing Questions. This is, in the knuckledragging community, what we call A Bad Thing.

Other knuckledraggers in fields other than aviation can tell similar tales. Ship fixers, for instance, have their own collection of stories about main shaft bearings seizing up at inopportune times (for instance, when you already have two of your props dragging and the INSURV team is onboard; the only solution is to shut the third main down long enough to get their helo off the deck, fire up the two that will run long enough without causing the water outside to come inside, launch everything else off, shut them both back down and head for home...slowly...on one screw - not that I would have heard any of those stories, of course).

And now it appears as if starship maintenance is no different than anything else, only in this case the collection of odd fasteners travels more or less in formation in a hard vacuum, and it's the professional knuckledragger's job to keep the vacuum out, the air in, and the rivets all heading in the same general direction. "I Work On A Starship" is a book and blog about just that.

You see, it seems that unbeknownst to anyone else, the Nazis managed to put men on the moon before their precious Reich collapsed in on itself, long before Armstrong and Company arrived. Those Who Followed found the equipment as they were gearing up to put a defensive installation on the moon and promptly confiscated it for their own use, who knew? Good thing they're not Nazis, but at least the war is over.

This is not a single story containing the normal good guys vs bad guys conflict and resolution. It's a collection of tales and anecdotes that will be familar to anyone who gets grubby for a living, and if you are that sort of person you will find yourself chuckling and nodding at parts that, even in an unfamiliar setting, are intimately familiar. And that's just the first half.

The second half of the book is an actual story, with chapters and everything. It does have good guys, bad guys, conflicts and resolutions, and if you only read that part of the book it's a good tale in and of itself. You don't have to be a knuckledragger to appreciate "Another Day" (although it does help), but if you are looking for a space tale this is a good one.

I can only hope that Senior Drive Tech Roberta X, wherever she is, keeps writing about her adventures on the USAS Lupine. Maybe her counterpart on USAS Vulpine will be encouraged to spin a yarn or two as well.

I could also hope that the USSF would be interested in a fat old retired squid next time they need knuckledraggers, but for now I can at least read about it.

Man Bites Dog

I don't know why no one is covering this, but I haven't seen it at any of the usual sources. I heard it on the radio on my way home yesterday.

Maybe no one thinks it's a big deal, but it seems pretty significant to me.

Well, I guess I can't say no one is covering it. The Other McCain has a headline on it at the Live At Five post.

Somehow I thought it was at least worth a flaming skull.

UPDATE: Ace has it now. No flaming skull, but you can't have everything.

The Taxman Cometh

I just got done e-filing my return. All together I am paying as much in income tax as I made my first year in the US Navy as a raw recruit and airplane fixer in training.

Of course I'm making much more now than I did then. I'm not quite up to the level of evil rich yet, but my itemized deductions are worth more than my standard ones would be so there is still hope.

There is also hope that this year the state of North Carolina won't see fit to hold on to the paltry amount they are returning to me until the last available moment like they did last year.

Hope springs eternal. Now I'm just waiting for my change.

Browncoats: Redemption

Suffering from a Firefly jones I found and ordered this little gem. After a not unreasonable wait it showed up at my doorstep. As I had to work when it arrived I didn't have time to review it, but since then I've had a chance to sit down and watch it.

The scenery and acting is par for the course for a low-budget fan film (I have seen numbers of 20K and 25K, total, for the entire film). Not that there isn't a lot of heart in the effort, it's just that without the expertise that an accomplished studio and a seasoned cast brings to the table the result is always going to be less than polished.

In the acting there are some that are better than others, but in the end they are all delivering lines, and it's pretty clear. The cast is made up of unknowns that have few films to their credit, many of those being low budget B-movie specials (ninjas and vampires feature strongly in them), and several of the actors have only been in this one. One of them, Chris Lark, was employed in exactly two scenes and was apparently cast only for his resemblance to Nathan Fillion. Another, Guy Wellman (playing medic Cameron Allen), is actually one of the better actors in the film.

The intonation and timing of the dialog is off, sometimes jarringly so, and it does detract from the overall effort. Line delivery is flat, and the emphasis never seems to be on the right words in the right places. The Chinese is stilted and forced, a bit of practice would likely have helped the delivery. It's kind of like watching the high-school drama club put on a production; no matter how much energy each individual brings to the scene it's always pretty clear the actors are not greatly experienced. I have also seen it written somewhere that shooting the film only took ten days start to finish, perhaps if there had been more time to rehearse the finished product would have been more refined.

The choice of roles is somewhat confusing as well. For example, there are both a chief engineer and a mechanic for Redemption, which is a smaller ship than Serenity who only has a single mechanic to care for her. Jobs are arranged by a businessman who travels with the crew, yet serves no other discernable purpose and is not the Captain. Initially there is no pilot save the Captain, and the medic is never seen practicing his craft so it's not real clear going just by the action in the film what his purpose is until near the end where the Captain is telling the story of when she met him. They could have eliminated or combined several characters and I don't think anyone would have noticed.

There is one scene that doesn't seem to fit, and that is a rocket attack delivered by what is apparently supposed to be Adelai Niska as the ship approaches Ezra. There doesn't seem to be a real reason for it, and the crew's reaction is muted to say the least. The captain, for instance, should have launched into the scene spitting and snarling (imagine Malcolm Reynolds in the first scene of Serenity ripping a strip off of Kaylee because the primary buffer panel just flew off of his "gorram ship"), but instead she walked - WALKED! - to the bridge for a pleasant chat with the pilot. This doesn't really bode well for the "willful suspension of disbelief" and would have been left on the cutting room floor if it were up to me.

The music, while appropriate for the 'verse, is understated and overly mute when it shouldn't be, for instance at the changing of the scenes. Otherwise it adds what it should where it should. The scenery is more contemporary and less Firefly, I can't really put my finger on it but there's more plastic and less wood and other natural looking materials evident, which gives it more of an artificial feel. Redemption herself appears to be made of painted canvas (in other words, obviously a set), but at least the layout looks good.

And now with the bad parts out of the way, let's move on to the high spots. The plot is consistent and well drawn, and the scripting appears to be good, if less than appropriately delivered. The two times we see the ship, once taking off and once entering atmo, are extremely well done and could have been used as-is in a higher quality production. Given a bigger budget, improved sets and experienced actors this would be a great film. As it is it's still good, and since the profits all go to charity it's an acceptable trade-off.

The actors appear to be big fans of the Firefly universe, and it's quite evident that what they lack in spit and polish they make up for in sheer joy and exuberence. There are plenty of references to both the series and the movie "Serenity" (for instance, in the opening scene the ship has just delivered a cargo of beagles and the discussion is how cows may be a better cargo) so it ties in well. It's as if a bunch of fans got together to make a movie.

And in fact, that is exactly what happened.

If you are looking for a well made polished film at the production level of Firefly or Serenity this is not the flick for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a fun tale set in the same 'verse, you might do well to check it out.

Now, We Wait

The application has been made, the paperwork has been filled out, the fees have been paid and the fingerprints and photo have been taken. In six to eight weeks I should be in possession of a North Carolina permit to carry concealed.

I don't know if I will carry all that often, but I might. The main reason I am getting the concealed permit is because I'm a bit self-conscious about carrying openly and I figured this would get me used to carrying at all.

The biggest detriment to carrying openly here in North Carolina is this little tidbit stuck in the law, I have emphasized the pertinent sections:

"By common law in North Carolina, it is unlawful for a person to arm himself/herself with any unusual and dangerous weapon, for the purpose of terrifying others, and go about on public highways in a manner to cause terror to others. The N.C. Supreme Court states that any gun is an unusual and dangerous weapon for purposes of this offense."

Basically what that means is any gun-fearing wussie, when seeing you armed, can call the police and say they are scared, and that's all it takes for you to be in violation of the law. In other words, your Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms is subject to someone else's arbitrarily constructed "right" to be a big pansy. Of course this would be determined on a case-by-case basis, and the winner would be whoever has the better lawyer.

That's one of the reasons I have decided to get the concealed permit. Another reason is that if you possess a concealed carry permit you don't have to go begging to the Sheriff for permission to buy handguns. Either way it isn't right that you should have to get permits to exercise Constitutional rights, but until the laws can be changed that's the way it is.

And so that's why I have applied.

Seventeen Years Later

Seventeen years after the first space shuttle disaster the orbiter Columbia broke up during re-entry and was lost with all hands.The cause was determined to be a piece of insulating foam from the main booster fuel tank that had come loose during launch and damaged the thermal tiles which protect the ship against excessive heat build-up during re-entry.

On this day we remember the seven astronauts of STS-107:

Mission Commander Rick D. Husband
Pilot William C. McCool
Mission Specialist 1 David M. Brown
Mission Specialist 2 Kalpana Chawla
Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson
Mission Specialist 4 Laurel B. Clark
Payload Specialist 1 Ilian Ramon

STS-51-L

Twenty five years ago today I was checking out of Naval Air Technical Training Center at NAS Memphis, Millington TN after attending Avionics Class A1 and Advanced First Term Avionics schools in preparation to become an avionics tech on the F-14 Tomcat (and later the F/A-18 Hornet) aircraft.

As I was handing in my linens the space shuttle launch was taking place. The TV in the office was tuned to watch it. Before our incredulous eyes what had been a glorious triumph of human engineering turned into a horrible tragedy.

Today we remember the six professional astronauts and the one high-school social studies teacher from Concord, New Hampshire who gave all they had to give to further our explorations.

Mission Commander Francis "Dick" Scobee
Pilot Michael J. Smith
Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka
Mission Specialist Judith Resnik
Mission Specialist Ronald McNair
Payload Specialist Sharon Christa McAuliffe
Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis

Schedules

I just signed up for the concealed carry class and am awaiting confirmation and a class date.

I have my ammo, holster and firearm ready to go.

Yes I know, it's about time.

UPDATE: Tomorrow. That was quicker than I expected.

UPDATE II: I have my certificate, but I had to shoot twice to qualify. I really need to get to the range more.

Think Of The Wee Tots

The Tater Tots, that is.

Time to take a stand.

The Only Thing

that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Every day we lose more and more of these good men, and good women, the ones that chose to stand in the way of evil, and sometimes watched their brothers and sisters in arms perish because of it.

Six million of the earth's inhabitants became air pollution in the skies over Europe while good men did nothing. Those good men who came later and put an end to it photographed it so that the world would know, so that those who would deny it ever happened could be proven wrong, so they would be forced to acknowledge fact.

As those good men, both the ones who were in the camps and those who liberated them, shuffle off this mortal coil their stories are being lost. Those who come after increasingly refuse to believe that it ever happened.

I don't know if they refuse to believe because they don't want to acknowledge man's capacity for evil, or if they advocate disbelief to mask their own capacity for such evil. Either way evil is served, either by willful misdirection or willing ignorance.

It is not only the ovens that garner such incredulousness, but the gulags and the killing fields as well. Every place that utopia has been attempted at the point of a gun has it's mass graves and it's hidden past, and all of those have disbelievers.

Kipling warned us that we cannot escape from what is, no matter how much we wish to believe it is not so. Shamefully we must learn that lesson over and over and over again.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

But then again, Kipling warned us of that as well.

UPDATE: Just to drive home the point, cmblake6 links this article written about a chain letter that addresses exactly the points I did here.

What's The Difference

Between this and the oft-cited back alley?

Disconnect

I see this, and I see this, and I can't help but think there's something not being said.

Thanks to CMBlake6, who got me thinking about it.

Special Delivery

My ammo has arrived!

Now all I need is a time and place to turn money into smoke and noise.

Range report after the fact. Stay tuned!

This Is A Good Idea?

In Fayetteville NC, home of Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, and the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions of the US Army, the Mayor decided it was high time the Vietnam veterans got the welcome home that they deserved and did not get forty years ago.

Someone decided it would be a good idea to invite the Quaker House to the festivities. Quaker House is an anti-war group, established in 1969 to protest American involvement in Vietnam. Among the things they did was organize protest rallies and assist draftees in escaping to Canada.

Their idea to honor the vets is to show Jane Fonda films.

Sometimes you just have to wonder how some people have enough neurons firing to maintain respiration.

It's A Shooter

The Arisaka tested good, so it's ammo I'm looking for instead of a display rack.

I dropped by the local local Merchant of Death (the one where the Arisaka was is all the way across Raleigh from here) and put an order in for 6.5x50 Japanese. The supplier is out of stock, so they are going to put the request in and let me know when it will be available.

But, since I am impatient, I also ordered a box of 129 grain Hornady and a box of 140 grain Hornady from Graf & Sons. It is being shipped via FedEx and will hopefully be here soon.

In the meantime I have a bottle of Old English wood oil and I am rubbing down the stock. The first couple of applications soaked right in with no noticeable effects, but the shine is starting to come back now after numerous additional coats. The stock was pretty dry, but it is in good shape otherwise for a 100 year old rifle. Compare the picture here with the one here to see the difference.

When the ammo gets in I'll take it to the range and check it out, report to follow.

No Dangerous Weapons

Only dangerous people.

Anticipation

The Arisaka is ready to be picked up. I didn't catch the phone call so I don't know any details. Tomorrow I will go get it and find out if I should order ammo or a display rack.

Sunny and warm today, the Mustang had the top down and the grille was fired up. Tomorrow isn't supposed to be quite as warm, but the sun will still be shining.

I'm planning on doing a whole lot of nothing this weekend, and I'm hoping it will be everything I wish it to be.

Definitions

Jared Loughner was not a domestic terrorist. He was a crazy man.

Terrorists commit their acts for the specific purpose of affecting the political climate to make political statements or political changes.

Jared Loughner committed his act specifically to kill Representative Gifford because she couldn't come up with an answer to his nonsensical question.

No agenda. No terrorism. Just crazy.

Tell Me Again

Five snow events in North Carolina so far this winter, all in the past two months.

The last one was expecting two inches of snow, which fell short, and a tenth of an inch of ice, which arrived as advertised.

The good news is the Subaru is an adept traveler even in the ice, as long as its driver acts like he has a modicum of good sense.

The bad news is my tire cables won't fit on the Subaru. They are for fifteen inch wheels (which the Pontiac has) and the Scoobytruck has 16 inch wheels.

The ice is mostly gone now, but I suppose I should get a pair (or two pairs, since it's AWD) of cables for the Scooby. I have a feeling I'm going to need them.

Band Of Brothers

Thank you, Major Winters. Rest in peace.

Weather, Not Climate

The first flakes of 2011 have fallen.

There aren't many of them yet but they are expected to have lots of friends starting at about 5 PM. It shouldn't be too bad driving in to work, but by tomorrow morning between 1-2 inches of snow is expected with a bonus of 1/10th of an inch of ice from the freezing rain expected to follow the snow.

It will be a long drive home tomorrow morning.

Prayers

They are being said for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D, AZ) who is recovering but still in critical condition following an attack by an apparently crazed gunman Saturday.

Shame on anyone attempting to make a political statement out of this.

Not surprisingly, Correia says it better.

To Boldly Go

Having now seen the video, here are my thoughts:

1) meh.

2) I'm glad that the people I cruised with on Forrestal in 1988 are safely retired by now.

3) Having been through the whole Tailhook brouhaha a senior Naval Aviator should have known better.

4) Nothing - and I do mean NOTHING - that gets recorded is safe. Keep that in mind boys and (especially) girls.

Thought Of The Day: Blaming The Victims

If you are suffering from the predictable outcome of your own stupidity (lack of planning is stupidity) you are not a victim, you are an imbecile. The only thing we do when we canonize victims is encourage the creation of more of them. We are now at the point where victims are placed on a high pedestal and regarded as authority figures based only on their own incompetence.

Blatant idiocy should always be a disqualifier for victimhood status. If you get on a plane to escape a natural disaster according to your disaster preparedness plan and the plane crashes, you are a victim. If you are in a bad situation and choose to stay, for whatever reason, rather than change your situation, you are an idiot.

These people are idiots.

HT: The Other McCain

Telling You What You Want To Hear

It's not enough that the Republicans have a majority in the House and that they picked up gains in the Senate and in the State-houses across the land.

It's not enough that they are riding the current wave that was started by Tea Partiers across the nation.

What matters is that eternal vigilance is the price we pay for eternal freedom.

I'm a bit disappointed in Rep. Darrell Issa. After putting out a laundry list items to be investigated, he is now rolling them back. Political "reality" is re-asserting itself, and the reality is the pursuit of power, not justice. Confederate Yankee has the story here.

Our elected "representatives" need to be constantly reminded of who they work for.

Antiques: An Update

When last we saw the Arisaka it was in the hands of the local Merchant of Death to be evaluated. I have been reliably informed that gunsmiths are at least a month behind in their orders, so I expected a lengthy delay.

I called the other day to check on it's status, and the gunsmith has not yet returned it. I am assuming (don't you love that word?) that it's because of the backlog, not because there are any problems with the carbine.

At any rate, I'll check back with them at the end of the month if I have not heard from them before then. And of course I will post the results, as well as a range report when and if it happens.

By the bye, I did manage to talk to the man I got it from regarding it's history and found out nothing I didn't already know. His father bought it sometime in the 50's, but where and exactly when is unknown. Since that worthy gentleman is no longer with us, that part of the rifle's history remains a mystery.

Christmas: The Second Round

Turkey dinner and present opening at the Refuge. Everyone is pleased with their gifts, and the holiday season is now complete.

May all of you have a joyous and prosperous 2011.

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing a prosperous and Happy New Year to all of you, from all of us at the Refuge.

Touchdown

We have returned home safe and sound. The snow has for the most part melted off of all the roads, so there was no slipping on the trip back.

When I got back I cleared the snow off of the poor little Scoobytruck and started him up for the first time in a week. He came right to life and warmed up without any issues, so I guess he survived the storm OK.

Tomorrow we will take the Scoobytruck up to Roanoke to see Eldest Sister, and then back here for the New Year where we will open up the remaining presents under the tree.

That will conclude the holiday season at the Refuge. I hope you and yours had a good one as well.

Travels And Travesties

The weather gods are taking their revenge on me for yesterday's post. Today it's 37 degrees in Jacksonville, and the precipitation has taken the distinct characteristics of snow. Yes, snow in the River City, it's not sticking and it melts as soon as it touches anything, but it is snow nonetheless. I would still rather be here than at the Refuge where they have 5 inches already and are expected to accumulate another three before it is all over.

Today I took a side trip to my old stomping grounds on the former NAS Cecil Field (now Cecil Commerce Center) just to see what had changed and what had remained the same. NAS Cecil Field fell to disbelief and the BRAC axe back in 1999, no one in Florida could believe the Navy would do something so foolish as to close a base with such beautiful runways situated where the jet noise was not bothersome to the locals in favor of a base that was completely surrounded by a hostile city. They were wrong.

The barracks are all gone, of course, as are the old commisary and the enlisted and Chief's clubs. Most of the remaining structures are in use as offices now, the gym is still a gym, and the on-base housing that remains has been taken over by a private management facility, as has the golf course.

The change that surprised me the most is the draining of Lake Fretwell. The playground and ball diamonds are still there, but the man-made lake has been drained and grass now grows where alligators once swam. Apparently the cost of keeping the lake up was too great for the Cecil Pines management company to want to cover.

Once upon a time the Navy made some noise about re-opening Cecil Field. The city of Jacksonville said they would be glad to share the base, but the Navy wanted it back the way they had it. Since the city is making money from Cecil Commerce Center of course it went nowhere.

I'm certain there is a lesson to be learned there somewhere.

Without Further Comment

OK, maybe one comment: Christmas day, 68 - correction, 70 - degrees.

Merry Christmas

Yesterday the temps in Jacksonville Florida were in the high 50's, the highest I saw on my dashboard thermometer was 58. So, of course, the jacket was on and the top was down.

Eldest Daughter has to work today so when she got home from work last night the kids opened their gifts. Everyone was pleased with the haul, and Youngest Son elected to stay with the rest of the kids while I went back to the motel to catch up on a couple of days worth of sleep.

Today's festivities will be basic, consisting of Christmas dinner and that's about it. Youngest Son and I will head back north on Tuesday and have a second Christmas at home with Eldest Son and Youngest Daughter.

We at the Refuge wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a most happy and prosperous New Year.

Image from Mustang Parts.org

The Countdown Starts

In less than 24 hours I will be on my way to Jacksonville FL for Christmas.

Eldest Daughter has not been to Father In Law's house to help him with the sorting, so there is no reason for me to take the trailer.

No reason to take the trailer means no reason to take the Subaru.

No reason to take the Subaru means I'll be driving the Mustang.

It should be a good trip.

Seasons

Last night two significant events occurred.

The first of these was the winter solstice. Last night was the shortest night of the year, and from this day forward the nights will be getting shorter and the days will be getting longer. Today is the first day of winter.

The second of these significant events, one that very likely passed right by without notice unless you made a special effort to see it, was the eclipse of the moon. It was the first time the winter solstice has had a total moon eclipse in almost four hundred years, but the next one will occur in 2094, only eighty four more years from now. So, if you missed it you won't have as long to wait.

I like to joke that here at the Refuge we don't grow grass in the yard, we grow rocks. Every year we get a fresh crop. That's not as much of a joke as you might think.

The ground water close to the surface freezes and creates patches where the ground pokes up in hundreds of tiny fingers, as if it was caught in the act of exploding. When there are rocks under the surface, this ground water freezes underneath them and forces them to the surface. This is how we get a fresh crop of rocks every year.

As you can see in the photo, the new crop is coming in nicely.

Busy Days

I finally got the lights hung outside, just before the next round of Glowbull Warmening happens. As I finished up the first snowflakes started to fall.

Youngest Daughter and Son-In-Law got me a new monitor for Christmas. I had been wanting a flat screen, so they went out and ordered a widescreen Compaq S2021.

The only problem is, my computer is an ancient (3 or 4 years old) Compaq Presario SR1303WM, and the integrated video card wouldn't support the widescreen. So I could either set the monitor to aspect and have dark bars on both sides of my screen (and a compressed display because it wasn't quite wide enough on aspect) or I could have a stretched out display.

Or I could go get a new video card.

Off to Comp USA I go!

The new graphics card is installed, the software is set up and running, and the resolution is set properly for the display. It's really looking good!

Now I'm all set for a night of surfing as the snow falls.

On The Agenda

Eggs and sausage now.

Next is a trip to the big box store to get some clips to hang my outside Christmas lights. I must have my lights hung by 3 PM today.

Sometime after 3 PM we are expecting the next round of snow and freezing rain to begin.

When does Spring start?

Wikileaks

Julian Assange is out on bail.

He begged the judges not to release his address on his bail request.

The judges said "Information wants to be free!"

Spare me the drivel about how this might put his life in danger. He leaked information for the sole purpose of embarrassing the United States, and in doing so very likely put the lives of countless others in jeopardy.

This is what we call "poetic justice" in these parts.

Winter Advisory

The bad news: A winter weather advisory is in effect across the central Piedmont and the northern coastal plains until 4PM. This area includes Wake, Durham and Franklin Counties.

The good news: The Subaru is an adept and sure-footed winter traveler.

The better news: I have no reason to be out in it today.

I hope you can all stay warm and dry today.

High Finance

Youngest son stays with his aunt during the week while I work. She is his schoolteacher, so it works out in more ways than one.

I pick him up from school on Thursday, he has Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, and I take him back Sunday on my way to work.

I will also pick up any needful things for Sis's house while he is there. He will occasionally want something different, and Sis will ask him how he proposes to pay for it.

"That's easy" he replies, "First Bank of Dad!"

Sigh. I think I need a bail-out.

Unfortunately I'm not "too big to fail" so I most likely wouldn't qualify.

Gods Of The Copybook Headings

Karl Marx said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and then as farce. Put that down under the category of blind hogs and acorns.

Rudyard Kipling wrote "If you don't work you die." Put that down under the category of hard facts and reality.

Utes in Britain should study more Kipling and rather less Marx.

On a related note, Professor Jacobson remembers the Iron Lady. Perhaps Britain will one day do the same.

Until then they will only be the "formerly Great" Britain.

Winter Party

Last night we had the company Christmas party.

I'm not much for parties as parties go, but it was OK.

Pop

My father in law goes in today for surgery. He is having some stents put in.

He has been having small heart issues for a while now, and while not serious in and of themselves, given his age they are a matter of concern.

I have told him he is not allowed to leave us this year, but much like his daughter and his wife before him he does pretty much as he pleases, regardless of what I would like.

Pop is old and tired, and his world has been rocked with the loss of his wife a year ago last May and his only child last June. Lesser men may have given up already, but I have never known Pop to give in to anything.

Prayers would be appropriate, and appreciated.

UPDATED: Upon further investigation the docs determined he didn't need stents, the irregular heartbeat he's been having can be taken care of by non-invasive procedures. So that's good.

UPDATE II: The procedure went well and Pop is back home and doing fine.

Infamy

Sixty nine years ago today, at 7:48AM local time, air and submarine elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a devastating attack on US Navy, Marine and Army Air Corps assets at Pearl Harbor and Oahu, Hawaii.

Two strikes were launched and a third contemplated before the attacks were over. In the aftermath four battleships were sunk and four more were damaged, along with three cruisers, three destroyers, one minelayer and one training ship. 188 aircraft were destroyed, 2,402 personnel were killed and 1,282 were wounded.

The un-launched third wave would have taken out the submarine base and the support facilities, including fuel depots and shipyards. The three American carriers, not in port at the time of the attack, were also spared. One of those carriers, USS Enterprise (CV-6), would not only survive but would become the most heavily decorated ship of the war.

In time all but two of the battleships (Arizona and Utah) were raised and, except for the heavily damaged Oklahoma, returned to service. The Iowa class battleships were built to replace them, but ultimately it was the carriers that turned the tide of the war.

Although it was a tactical success for the Japanese, the attacks were fortuitous for the Americans in several ways. Had the warnings from the radar station been heeded, the ships would have been underway or in the channel. This would have blocked the harbor for the returning carriers, and instead of being raised and returned to service the ships would have been lost in deep water.

Additionally, fears that the American carriers and land-based bombers would find them played a part in the Japanese decision not to press a third attack. This spared the shipyards that were vital in the restoration efforts as well as the fuel and ammunition needed to immediately send the subs, also spared by the decision, to sea.

It was the submarines that crippled the Imperial Japanese Navy by attacking it's logistics trail, and it was the carriers that put their ships on the bottom. Although a clash between the titans, USS Iowa and IJN Yamato, would have been epic, it was not to be so; Yamato was repulsed by escort carriers at Leyte Gulf while Iowa chased ghostly foes, and ultimately it was carrier aircraft, some of them from Enterprise, that laid Yamato low.

Sixty nine years later we are losing the veterans from that time in our history. As they fade from the scene it falls to us to ensure that the lessons we have learned do not fade with them.

Snow Event

The first snowstorm of the season has come and gone, leaving us blanketed in a thin layer of white. The highs are expected to near 50 today, so by this afternoon quite a bit of this covering will be gone. It never really did stick to the paved surfaces, which makes driving a much more pleasant experience.

Yesterday morning Youngest Son and I took the Mustang out for a car event, and when we got back I didn't bother to put the cover back on it. I had not looked at the weather for the day, and the forecast from the day before said nothing about snow. The weatherman can't always predict what is going to occur within days, but the "climatologists" would have you believe they can predict what the weather is going to be like decades from now. But I digress.

It sits under a covering of snow right now, but in a moment I will go out and start it up. I'll let it warm as I clear the windows, the heat from the motor will loosen the snow on it's hood enough to slide it off without damaging paint (this car has the most fragile paint that I have ever had on a car) and then I'll take it out to blow most of the snow off of it's top and trunk. After that it will sit in the sun, and by the time I have to go to work this afternoon it will be dry so that I can put the cover on it again.

Boots and I went out to walk the perimeter this morning and the wind was already knocking big chunks of snow out of the trees. When it would pick up the snow would fall and swirl almost as if it were falling from the sky for the first time. I love the morning right after a snow, the world is quiet as if it is spending another hour or so in bed nestled under it's glistening blanket.

I like this type of snow best of all (or perhaps more to the point, I dislike it the least) because the roads don't get covered and by the time I have to go to work the pavement should be mostly dry. Within a few days it will be gone as if it had never come.

First Fall

The snow is falling, first of the season. It's hard to tell if it will stick or not, but it is falling at a good clip.

Seventeen

Happy Anniversary Boo.

I miss you.

Six Months

Nurses today rarely wear the uniform that they are famous for. My sister had a picture taken when she graduated from nursing school, in her white smock with her white nurse's cap.

The nurse that day wore no cap, nor did she wear a smock. It was chilly in the cardio unit, even during the dead heat of a North Carolina summer, so she wore a sweater over her surgical scrubs as she efficiently went about her business.

She patted my arm as she walked out, her face full of sympathy. "She doesn't need me now" she whispered, and then she was out the door.

I sat and held her hand, an eternity, an instant; the eternity between her breaths, the instant between life and death. Fifteen minutes later it was over; the eternity and the instant both.

Six months later we prepare for what was her favorite holiday. I will remember how much she loved the season, how much she loved me, and how much I loved her. I pray that somehow this little comfort will be enough.

Soup For You

Over at the Flying Monkeys the soup nazi has raised her ugly head. There is soup, but none for you! That's why you should come here, for the soup!

Potato Soup

5 lb potatoes, any kind you like.
1 med sweet onion
1 bunch celery hearts
1 lb bacon
16 oz heavy cream
1/2 gal milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb shredded Cheddar cheese

Peel and dice the potatoes and put them on to boil. You want to cook these until they are done clear through but still firm, about 10 minutes or so.
While the potatoes are cooking, chop the celery and onions. In a cast-iron frying pan, fry the bacon crisp over medium high heat. Go ahead and have some, you can make do with 12-14 oz. Go ahead and give some to the dog too, you know you can't resist those puppy dog eyes. Let the rest drain and cool on paper towels.
Cook the celery and onions in the bacon fat over medium high heat until the onions are slightly transparent and the celery is soft, about 5 minutes. Drain the celery and onions and pour the bacon grease into a container, it is useful in almost any recipe that calls for shortening.
By now the potatoes should be done. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Add celery and onions, add cream and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until warm. Crumble and add bacon. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with shredded cheddar on top.

Calling All Angels

Or tooth fairies, as the case may be.

Incisor emergency!

Please make a donation to the "Tam needs a new grille" fund. Your snark-o-meter will thank you for it.