For Waterboy

Here is the pic of my gun and the trophy.

The guns are from back to front a Rem XP 100 in 243 cal.  I borrowed it for the shoot.  The black gun is a Thor in 6.5x57R by Tanfoglio, as far as I know it is the only one of its kind in America. The rest is a SEB.  Yes they are real good.  I've met Sebastian Lambang and he does quality work.  If your in the market for a rest, this is as good as it gets.  My scopes are a Leupold Mark IV and a proto type made by Muller.

Prizes:
I received cash.  Plus:
1 Leupold Vari X 3 4.5-14 scope, valued over $500.
3 boxes of Berger bullets, about $100
1 certificate for a new installed muzzle break, valued $200
A certificate for 50% off Serra bullets  up to a max of $5,000 retail
I also have a handful hats, cleaning stuff, custom finishing goodies, software and misc stuff that I received as door prizes. 

Here is my one thought on the subject of 1,000 yard shooting: Anyone can do it.  It's not that hard and it takes less than an hour to learn the basics. Mastering it takes longer, but a person who wants to do it can without a lot of effort.  I think that I can teach a person and have them hitting steel at 1,000 in less than 1hr of instruction and shooting.  IF the new shooter is a women, I can probably teach her in about a half hour.

Pistol Shoot

This is how the game is played:

There are two categories or classes of pistols.  The first is light gun.  The second is heavy gun.  I shot in both categories.  There are three distances: 500 yards, 750 yards and 1,000 yards.  Each class shoots all three distances.  Every shooter gets to shoot 5 shots in three relays.  The best ag group from those 15 shots gets to advance to the shoot off.  In the shoot off there are 5 shots and the best (smallest) 5 shot group wins. There are cash and prizes awarded to the first and second places in the shoot offs.

This year I made some improvement over previous years.  I advanced to the 500 yard shoot offs with in both classes.  Where I promptly blew the whole deal. Competition is normally tougher at 500 yards because it is a distance that most people can shoot and bullet flight behaves about the way the computer programs say it will.  That said, I didn't preform well.  I assume it was totally operator error and I frankly haven't figured out what my malfunction was.

At 750 yards I made it into the shoot off and won first place in one category.  At 1,000 yards I won second place.  So I came home with some cash and nice prizes.

Lessons learned:
1. Just because you have a new gun and Exbal says your load will work, doesn't mean it will.  Find out before you shoot for score at a match that your load is subsonic and keyholeing.
2. Try practicing every once in awhile, you might do better. Just because you know how to do something doesn't automatically mean you will beat some of the best shooters in the world, just because you showed up.
3. Next year make up your mind to go to the match more than 24 hrs before it starts.  Investing in some prep time early will keep you from loading till 3:00am the day of the match and needing to load extra ammo the second day.
4. There is a nice little camp ground and hotels near by.  Staying at either one or camping out on public land is cheaper than gas, plus you might actually get some sleep.
5. Find out why you can't seem to get your act together under 750 yards unless your hunting.  Most people can hit the targets that are CLOSER easier.  This is the third year in a row you've done this.

I had a great time.  If your into shooting specialty pistols this is the match for you.

Questions Not Asked

Two Army NCO's, a Navy Senior Chef and an Air Force Colonel meet in an open field in Wyoming.  Sounds like an opening line to a joke doesn't it?  Its not, its part of how I spent the last three days.  I truly have an eclectic group of friends. I happen to know, in general terms, how each of the men above spent their careers in the military.  They make movies and TV shows about what they did.  Three of the men would have been in "The Unit" or the "Green Berets".  The fourth would have been in MASH. 

I genuinely enjoy listening to the war stories and tales of stuff that may or may not be remembered exactly as it happened.  Having traveled to third world countries myself, I am aware that white guys with American dollars to spend are considered much more attractive by the local female population, than what they might be at home. I never call BS on these stories. 

As a boy I learned something about war stories.  There are times to ask questions and times to just nod your head in acknowledgment.  I learned this the hard way with a WWII USMC vet.  He was one of grandpa's friends from work.  He had a couple of beers and was feeling like impressing a young boy with his sea stories.  I was all ears.  He was into a story about island hoping in the South Pacific and talking about the time one of his buddies did something funny.  All his buddies got a big laugh about it.  He stopped talking all of a sudden and changed the subject.  When there was a break in the stories I keep on him to tell me more about the buddy.  He did.  The funny story happened in a landing craft.  His buddy was getting the platoon to laugh as a way to lighten up before they hit the beach.  The reason he stopped talking, was the guy making him laugh didn't even make it 30 yards out of the landing craft before his head was vaporized by a bullet. No more stories that day.

I learned that letting guys say only what they want can be a virtue.

This weekend, the guys talked about how all the bad stuff in special ops just seems to disappear from your memory.  One guy talked about a bad situation that hadn't left his memory.  He fell silent.  The other operators covered for him and changed the subject while keeping the conversation going. 

My gut wrenched at what I had been told.  I haven't wanted to ask a follow up question so badly since I was ten years old.  Nevertheless I keep my mouth shut. 

The question I wanted to ask was, "So did you kill the bastard?"  I hope he did.  I hope he didn't shoot him either.  My buddy is a very big guy.  I hope he grabbed the SOB by the throat and squeezed the life out of him.  I hope he saw the full terror in the eyes as life left his body and the demons in hell started clawing on his soul. That's what I hope happened.  What I'm afraid of is that he didn't.

This Week End

This is what I'm up to.  I wasn't going to go and then I got talked into going.  Which wasn't that hard since I really wanted to go anyway.  All my efforts in the next 24 hrs will be dedicated to getting my poop in a group so I can make some kind of reasonable showing of myself this weekend.

Sounding Conceited

Today I was accused of being a narcissist because I mentioned that I had access to some political figures.  The person claiming that has proven himself an asshat, but thats not the point.  I don't think narcissism means what they think it does either but that's a different topic too.

Fact is, I've got to meet some famous people, as well as some very rich ones.  Is talking about it a sign of a psychological short coming?

I've met a handful of celebrities over the years. Most of them have been by chance and about half the time I had no idea who the person was or even that they were famous when I met them.  Is this conceded or just clueless?

A couple of weeks ago I had a classic clueless celebrity encounter. A couple of them as I had no idea who I was hanging out with.  Encounter #1 I let a guy from New York borrow my cell phone.  He needed to call his girl and his phone was getting texts but he wasn't able to call or text out.  This is a hazard of being in WYO if you have an out of state cell phone.  I now have a 212 area code phone number on my bill that belongs to a model in NYNY.  Dave, the guy who made the call, has an above average resume for someone in that industry.  The same week I had that encounter I was working with (unknown to me) an actress who is currently on this show.  Again I had no idea.  As we were leaving work she asked me if I wanted to buy her a drink.  I told her no but she could buy me one.  She did.  We ate dinner and had some laughs.  We also went dutch.

If I tell you about the summer I worked on a ranch you'd probably be bored after the first story about redoing fences.  If I tell you the ranch was owned by Bill Nicholson and who he is, stories about who I met from my $200 a week job might seem more interesting.  I did meet several celebrities that summer.   Last year this time I went to the home of an artists grandson to relax and catch some fish on their pond.  You've seen grandpa's art.  Impressed?  What if I told you I was invited there because I was hanging out doing a favor for Larry Flint's former chef?   What if I said some of the girls were there too?  They weren't and I'm not saying that, my wife checks up on me and reads this from time to time.

How about this: My folks phone number when I was a kid was off by one digit from Ted Nugent's.  I've had some interesting 3am phone calls and my mother still doesn't believe it wasn't my friends calling me drunk from Potters Pub.

As a consultant I had a client that was a municipality.  I worked on some government projects.  I got to meet some politicians.  It was part of the job.

Living in a rural state, like I do, you can call your elected politicians and they will actually get back to you.  If you hang out at the governor's office and he's not to busy, he'll probably meet with you too.  Of course if you had a job working on projects that they were part of chances are they'll see you sooner than someone else. See above.

The most recent encounter I had with Gov Dave, last year, was because I was flipping burgers to make ends meet.  He came in for a free meal.  I fixed it.  Impressed?  Over the years I cooked for some famous people and thousands of regular Joes. The most recent political encounter was doing the training job.  I got an "atta boy" from two men who thought I was from their home state.  They were out "supporting the troops" with a camera crew, so they could get credit.

Some place there are pictures of me with Bill Cosby, Barbara Bush, and Colin Powell.  You want to know how to get yours?  Your alma mater has a fund raising dinner, you pay big bucks, you get a photo.  Yes I got to chat with them for a few min.  It was cool.  If I told you about getting my picture made with two black guys and an old lady, you might be less impressed.

What if I told you I 'dated' a Hawaii Swimsuit model or an actress and one very hot rodeo queen.  I did.  For the life of me, I can't think of either one of their last names in RL.  

You care about famous people because they are famous.  If it was a story about some Bob or Bill it wouldn't be as interesting.  Famous people are famous because lots of people know them.  Their families don't think they are very exceptional.

Is it telling of some personal short coming to mention any of this in conversation?

Well......Yep

You're Lost Between Baby Boomer & Generation X If...

• You remember when Jordache jeans with a flat-handle comb in the back pocket was cool.
• Any photograph of you shows you wearing an Izod shirt with the collar turned up.
• You know any "Weird Al" Yankovic songs by heart.
• You've ever rung someone's doorbell and said "Landshark!"
• You were once bowled over by the technological excellence of such products as Atari, IntelliVision, TelStar and Coleco.
• You remember the premier of MTV -- or worse yet, you remember its predecessor, "Friday Night Videos."
• You and your friends ever discussed having a reunion at the end of the century and playing Prince's "1999" until you passed out partying.
• A predominant color in your childhood photos is plaid.
• You remember when music that was labeled "alternative" really was alternative, and when "alternative comedy" was really funny.
• You took family trips BEFORE the invention of the minivan.
• You rode in the back of the station wagon facing the cars behind you.
• You've recently horrified yourself by using any one of the following phrases: "You know, back when...," "When I was your age...," or "When I was younger..."
• Schoolhouse Rock played a HUGE part in how you learned things like grammar, math and history. (A big hint here is if the only way you can recite the Preamble to the Constitution is by singing it.)
• You ever dressed to look like someone in a Madonna, Cyndi Lauper or Duran Duran video.
• You remember your first kiss with someone having happened while either "Leather and Lace" or "Crazy for You" was playing.
• You remember with pain the day the Green Machine hit the streets (or the sidewalks), instantly making your Big Wheel obsolete.
• The age-old question "Where's the beef?" still makes you laugh.
• You remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever possibly have more advanced special effects than "TRON."
• You had a crush on Ted the photographer on "Love Boat," Gage from "Emergency," or Ponch from "CHIPS."
• Your hair at some point in time in the '80s could only be described by saying "I was experimenting."
• You've ever shopped at Benetton.
• You're starting to believe that having the kids in school year-round wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.
• You're currently employed doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with your college major.
• U2 is too popular and mainstream for you now.
• You remember trying to guess which episode of "The Brady Bunch" it was by the first scene.
• You had a front-row seat (i.e., blew off one or more classes) for Luke and Laura's wedding on "GH."
• Your parents wanted you to attend medical school, but you decided it was pointless since Quincy got all the babes anyway.
• You know who shot J.R.
• You recall when Love's Baby Soft was in every girl's Christmas stocking.
• This rings a bell: "My name is Charlie, and they work for me."
• You were unsure if  Diet Coke would ever catch on. (Related item: you were sure that "New Coke" would NEVER catch on.)
• You know all the words to the double-album set of the "Grease" soundtrack.
• You've ever had a Dorothy Hamill haircut.
• You sat with your friends on any given Friday night circa 1982 and dialed 867-5309 to see if Jenny was actually there.
• "All skate, change directions" means something to you.
• You've ever owned a pair of rainbow suspenders like the ones Mork used to wear.
• You bought a pair of Vanns and wanted to order a pizza in history class so you could be just like Jeff Spicoli. (Related item: if you've ever smacked yourself in the head with a shoe and exclaimed, "I'm so wasted!")
• You owned a Preppy Handbook.
• You were too young to see "Blue Lagoon," so you just had to settle for the second-hand reports.
• You remember when movies were only PG and R.
• You learned to swim at about the same time "Jaws" came out....and still carry the emotional scars to prove it.
• You remember when your cable TV box had a sliding selector switch... and your "cable remote" was connected to the TV by CORD!
• Your jaw would ache by the time you finished one of those brick-sized packages of Bazooka.
• You remember Bo and Luke Duke, Daisy, Boss Hogg, or-worst of all-what Sheriff Roscoe's full name was.
• Your parents paid $2,000 for a top-loading VCR that was almost the size of a coffee table.
• You found nothing strange about Bert and Ernie living together.
• You remember having a rotary phone.
• You actually believed that Mikey, famed kid on the Life cereal commercials, died after eating Pop Rocks and drinking a Coke.
• "Members Only" jackets...say no more.
• And lastly, I'll make a song stick in your head for the rest of the day: ...you actually remember the words to the theme song of  "The Greatest American Hero." ("BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'M WALKIN' ON AIR...I  NEVER THOUGHT I COULD FEEL SO FREE-EE-EE...")

I know, after that last one you now officially hate me. Happy ear worm.

OK here you go, get it out of your head:

Revisiting

I spent some time visiting with Farmer Tom and his family last week.  The food, company and political activism were good.  As always I enjoyed my stay in the Pink Room.  Tom asked me about my post from several months ago regarding a job working for a Christian Youth Camp.  He made a point or two that I've been mauling over in my mind.  So I'm putting this out for you all to give me some feed back on.

The ministry is for Table in the Wilderness.  The job is for business development and marketing, which I am uniquely qualified for both educationally and professionally. My impression of everyone I met was vary favorable.  I like the location and the camp.  I like their goals and program and their willingness to make the handful of changes I suggested to them during my visit.

In short I like almost everything about the deal, except: 1. I would have to fund raise my personal salary in order to spend my time fund raising for and doing development for the camp, 2. I would have to learn to be accepting, at least of others, some things I'm not comfortable with doctrinally 3. I would not be able to fund raise from my own church denomination.  The reason I would not seek support from my brothers is that our denomination has its own camp program here in Wyoming.  That may not seem like a big deal to those of you in other states, but here it would mean that I would have to ask the 15 or so congregations that I'm most likely to get support from to support me when our own camp program isn't getting everything that they could use.  Now those of you living in a state with a big population probably have 15 churches similar to yours within less than an hours drive.  Here that's not the case we have very few people in a very large area.

Assuming that: They still want me and would hire me, and I could get the amount of money I want for the first years salary either in cash upfront or in reliable pledges; I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on this endeavor as well as any useful input you may have.

Thanks.

This School Year in Texas

This just came to my attention: Texas Student Suspended for Taking Down Mexican Flag.

Is Texas still part of the United States? Brain-off people live everywhere, I guess.I remember seeing a video of a Post Office, in CA, flying a Mexican flag over it, and an Army veteran was shown taking it down. I've also seen video of post offices in CA flying three flags at the same time. American Flag, the Mexican Flag, and the Canadian Flag. Do they know something we don't?

Let me make this perfectly clear!
A Map Of My Country:

If you like Mexico so much, by all means: Stay There!

Home at Last

Four states in three days.

I took a trip and saw my brother his family, Farmer Tom and picked up some chicken.  I also discovered that yes Virginia there is a Kiester MN. Nothing much happens there, mostly they just sit around on their you know keisters.

My truck has been acting up lately so I rented a car to make the trip.  I decided that I'd spend the extra $3 a day and got one of these to ride around in.  I felt this was the environmentally responsible decision since the car gets about 9MPG better than my truck.  It was also the fun decision.  Unknown to me, my brother has been wanting one very badly.  However child number four is due to arrive in a couple of weeks and his wife said no.  Considering they won't be able to fit the whole family into one of their existing cars its probably a good choice.

My brother didn't see what I arrived in until he went outside to call his daughter in for dinner.  He came back in and asked me about my rental.  He said he knew it was a rental because 1. he saw a bar code on the window 2. it wasn't the V-8 and 3. He knew I would never buy a sports car with an automatic transmission.

For those of you dying to know.  It handles well.  It will get triple digits fairly quickly.  Acceleration doesn't slam you back into your seat, but it does push you back very steadily.  The speedometer claims 160 mph, but the car's steering response gets a little squirrelly around 124 mph making 130 about as fast as I wanted to try.  The engine was only pulling about 3800 rpms (its rated for 8,000) so I think it could have gone the distance.

Over all I had fun.  I disliked the standard transmission even with the manual option.  Driving a sports car is like marrying a virgin supermodel and wearing a condom.  You know its going to be really good, but it could be that much better: And that much would make all the difference.

I also enjoyed the XM radio and having a good sound system, so I did something I don't normally do and listened to the radio.  Does anyone know why the station dedicated to gay/lesbian programming is right next to the Disney station?

Assuming the Joke

It's not exactly a secret that I'm a fan of All in the Family.  I enjoy the various Archieism.  I also enjoy insights that can be gained from the show.  One insight I've been thinking over recently is the assumed joke.  An assumed joke is one where the joke is never made but everyone pretends it is and has a laugh.

Archie was almost always portrayed as an ignorant bigot on the show.  Normally Archie would make a comment and someone (Michael or Irene normally depending on the season) would respond "Archie how can you stand to think that way?".   As a rule what Archie had said that provoked that response, was some observation about a person and a comment about a stereotype.

Two points:
1. A stereotype is a statement that is normally true about a group of people, although it may not be true about a particular person belonging to that group.

2. I can't remember anyone every logically disproving why Archie shouldn't hold a particular view.  He was simply demonized for his beliefs.  It was assumed that everyone knew why Archie shouldn't think that way.  Archie was a bigot; therefore whatever he said or thought was wrong.

If I say: "rednecks like NASCAR", I have made a pre-judgment about a group and an activity.  If I come across someone who has on a set of bib-overalls, a ring from a can of Skoal in his left rear pocket, sporting a three day old growth of beard, with a Dale Earnhardt Jr. tee shirt and a straw cowboy hat on their head, and I say, "he's a redneck", have I done something wrong?  What if I decide I don't want to let that person in my house?  How about if I refuse to give him a job?

If you were to hear me call the man a redneck, and you asked me, "how do you know he's a red neck?".  And I said "he likes NASCAR, see he's got a Dale Earnhardt Jr. tee shirt", would you be offended?   

The thing is, nobody cares about a group of people we call red necks.  Heck on a good day you can go into Wal Mart and see nothing but rednecks.  Its not a big deal because there is no National Organization for the Advancement of Trailer Trash (NOATT).  No organization, no official victim status, no special rights.  No need to watch what you say about them either. 

What happens if someone is part of a group that has lobbied for Special Victim Status (SVS)?  Are you suddenly evil because you don't want to associate with that person?  Are you guilty of a crime simply because of something you might think applies, like a stereotype?  Should you go to jail for it?

Thirty years after All in the Family went off the air, we're still assuming the joke and not requiring anyone to think if its true or not.  Now we call it "hate" and now its a crime, unless of course the person doesn't have SVS.