Word of the day

"Post-denominationalist"

Try saying that 3 times real fast. That's how Gov Palin is being described. Raised in Assemblies of God but doesn't consider herself to be Pentecostal.


Jean Gibson used to joked that if you learn enough of the big words you don't need to go to Seminary.

In any case, this "post" or "non" denominationalism isn't a surprise to any of us who grew up PB. We were told to take on no name but that which was used in the Bible for believers.

So then, it was an awkward reality that whenever we were asked "what denomination" are you, we'd just stutter and say something like "We're just New Testament Believers" or "We're Brethern." Of course that usually left people wondering what kind of odd sect or cult we belonged to.

Sometimes we'd give in and say "We're Evangelicals" but that wasn't enough for some. That would escalate to saying "Sorta like Baptists but without belonging to a denomination." If pushed further, we would say "if we didn't go to 'The Chapel' we'd probably go to Mountain View Baptist. That's where we'd fit in best."

90% of the time that then would satisfy the questioner. Then there were those times the person was either so persistent or so dense that we'd give in and admit we're "Plymouth Brethern." Then quickly explain "It's NOT a denomination! It's a movement!" As if "movement" mean't something to the average person.

Of course, a wee twinge of guilt or inadequacy would follow you the rest of the day as your conscience tweaked you for taking on an un-Biblical or extra-Biblical name.

As you got older you got more refined and figured out how to dodge that guilt a bit by not saying "We're Plymouth Brethern" but instead saying "People refer to us as Plymouth Brethern." Not so much guilt that way. ;^)

See? It just depends on what your definition of "is" is.

I guess we were post-denominationalists before it was cool. Some Christian musical "Ar-teest" oughta write a country song... But that's a whole 'nother blog.

The ONE. In his own words

From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

Out of the abundance of a man's heart he speaketh... Indeed.

Feel free to correct me on accuracy of quotes or context of comments.

As it stands it sorta explains how a man could sit under the preaching of one right Rev Wright for 20 years without removing himself from fellowship and finding another more committed to living love. Not to mention how one would be comfortable with William Ayers hosting fundraisers in your name.

Momma always tol' me you're known by the company you keep.

Palin's it!

I was the first and last of 6 kids. Last to be born. First to be born in the State of Alaska. The others were all born in the Territory.

Feel free to sing along with me.

Friday: In poor taste

A rich lawyer was going down the street in his limo when he
saw a hobo kneeling in a park, eating the grass. The lawyer
asked his chauffeur to stop and rolled down the window to
talk to the poor fellow. The lawyer asked, "How come you are
eating this grass?"

The hobo replied, "I have no money and no house, so my
family and I live in this park, eat the grass, and drink out
of the drinking fountain."

The lawyer said, "Well, I'm rich. Go get your family and
friends, and you can all come to my house and I'll feed
you."

Eventually the hobo, his family, his friends, and his
friends' families all piled into the limo. As they were
driving down the road, the lawyer broke the silence. "You
know, you guys are really going to like it at my house. The
grass is at least a foot long in the back."

Yeah, well it figures. Probably a conservative. That is if we're to believe the laundry list of evils and suffering attributed to them from the Temple of Obama last night.

Talk about poor taste...

Who knew GDP growth report in excess of 3% could be so terrible as to be called a recession. 8 years of suffering in Egypt are coming to an end, but the new Pharoah will be just like the old Pharoah -- or worse. Lead us to the Promised Land O' Anointed One! Deliver us!

/Sarcasm. Just another service I offer.

Well ain't this just peachy on the beachy!

Someone get a cluebat. Please.

Another judge is in the news who has apparently checked out from the realm of good sense. Link

Nude sunbathers can continue to let it all hang out along a secluded stretch of San Onofre State Beach, unless someone objects.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled Wednesday that state parks officials can cite sunbathers and swimmers in the buff only if a private citizen complains.

It's the same policy that has been in place since 1979, but complaints of lewd behavior prompted a crackdown by state parks officials earlier this year. (emphasis added)

Uhhh, you miss something there Judge? There WERE (as in ALREADY HAVE BEEN) complaints related to the nudists behavior at the beach.


So why this post? What does it matter to me? Live and let live dude!

This is the beach we (as in, family with kids) were camping at just two weeks ago. It was on my short list to return regularly. That trip was the first time we'd camped there. I'll have to keep an eye on this now.

Lots of folks talk down the San O' campground due to it's placement alongside the I-5 and railroad and it's plain jane layout on a straight stretch of old Highway 101 right of way. Well, we really enjoyed it.

I'm half deaf so don't care about the noise. Since all the sites are laid out along the same side of the road, the sites were actually pretty private. Plus it's close to other beaches and the town of San Clemente so we had options for getting out.

Roll Tide!

h/t to Lex for this news item.

I understand why Lex being an officer and gentleman, student of international affairs and all, wonders why there's been a run on ammuntion at Walmarts in Alabama. He poses a reasonable possiblity. However, it seems intuitively obvious to me that it's not necessarily 'cause of the Russian invasion of Georgia. Well maybe -- Georgia being raw't next door to 'Bama and all. O'course it may just be 'cause a) the gungrabbers are having their National Convention, b) Michelle spoke last night and c) Hillary speaks tonight. Either way you slice it... :-)

So that gives rise to a perennial and much debated question among gunnies, hunters, shooters, and reloaders. To wit, "How much ammunition/how large a reloading component stash is enough?" It's an unanswerable question. Well except for the obvious answer, "There's no such thing as 'too much.'"

I reckon that once't a feller starts thinking about building an outdoor, underground magazine detached from his house for storage he's gittin' to a reasonable minimum inventory. That raw't thar's the space I'll be converting (Deo Volente) to a powder/primer/ammo magazine... heh, heh, heh. Charlton Heston, RIP.

A fisherman's tale

Sure it's a cheap shot but still it got a chuckle from me...


The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither the Republican candidate nor the Democratic candidate had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, court challenges, etc.,
but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed the sportsmanlike way to settle things. The candidate that caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election.

Therefore, it was decided that there should be an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner. After much back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest take place on a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota. There were to be no observers present. Both men were to be sent out separately on this isolated lake and return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties.

At the end of the first day, John McCain returned to the starting line and he had ten fish. Soon, Barack Obama returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having a bad day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the next day.

At the end of the 2nd day, John McCain came in with 20 fish and Obama came in again with none. That evening, Harry Reid got together secretly with Obama and said, "Barack, I think John McCain is a low-life, cheatin' son-of-a-gun. I want you to go out tomorrow and don't even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating."

The next night, John McCain returns with 50 fish. Harry said to Obama, "Well, tell me, how is John McCain cheating??"

Obama replied, "Harry, you're not going to believe this, but he's cutting holes in the ice."

Experience Counts

Daddy date and an "ah-hah" moment.

Front sight. Presss....

The order of the day yesterday was to be afternoon at the beach and a birthday dinner there for a friend's college age daughter. As the drive plan and car was getting organized, Boo (daughter #3) quietly asked me if the two of us "could go shooting or something instead." Well bless my soul. Don't throw me in that briar patch. The rest of the crew went west. The two of us went east to the range for a "daddy/daughter date."

Yesterday we'd been every which way and all over the county with kids activities and odd jobs. My sense is that Boo being a quieter sort (except when she's in a mood to ham it up/do skits) just didn't feel up to the additional crowd time. It'd been a bit hectic yesterday for me so I understood her feeling.

It started early for me with a drive to the Olympic Training Center in Otay for a 0800 scrimmage with the Divine Miss M's soccer team. Nice facility -- those are some beautiful soccer pitches. Just need to keep an eye peeled for rattlers if the ball goes into the brush. Then home to catch up on some odd jobs and prep online with church treasurer for a financial presentation Sunday.

We took the 22 revolvers to the range. This was Boo's first time with a revolver. Up to this point it's been 22 rifles and a 22 semi-auto pistol. I let her do the honors and be the first to initiate Preciousssss.

Fill 'er up!


She had a bit of a learning curve with the revolver grip and working the cylinder release. Double action is still too much for her grip so she had to learn (and remember) to cock the hammer for each shot. Her first attempt was all over the paper at 7 yds.


I moved the target back to 5 yards and she steadily improved there.


After a box of 22LR through the Nickeled kitgun I set her up with the blued full size model 17. Even with the extra weight she was more comfortable with the larger grip (and shot even better).

THAT's what I'm talking about! You go girl!

Just for kicks I set her up and taught her to run a failure to stop drill (aka Mozambique drill)on a profile target. Two shots to center mass followed by one to the head (repeat).

That was an "ah-hah" moment for her. Said she after that with some realization dawning, "I could protect myself."


She'd had enough after 3 boxes of 22 LR and enduring the muzzle blast from the mall ninja 44 mag autoloader in the next lane. I had words with him about sweeping us with his muzzle while trying to clear his action -- that's a whole 'nother topic. grrrrrr

We had several hours still. Everyone was still at the beach so we went for a movie together (The Longshots -- by the way a good little family flick based on a true story) and a drive through burrito on the way home.

Quality time? Quantity has a quality all it's own.

Ooo, Ooo, Mr Kotter!

Come back Mr. Kotter.

Somehow or other I got added to distribution for Fox and Hounds. This is good stuff. Go there and subscribe to stay abreast of happenings in the Golden State.

1 in 8 Americans live in CA. The state in inordinately influential nationally and even internationally due to the presence of Hollyweird in SoCal. Wherever you hail from, what happens in CA has strategic implications for the entire nation and even globally.

New media like Fox and Hounds may prove to be a big deal for California in terms of propogating conservative message and ideas through the state. So far I'm enjoying the news and editorials. I alluded here to how challenging the media/message problem is in California. It is a large state with many independant geographically distant media markets. This amplifies the power of leftist incumbency and the left (which have inertia and the MSM in their favor).

Good article yesterday by Scott Harris on the problem with California government schools.

Excerpts and paraphrase:

Here’s a simple True or False test for our California public educators and the CTA (California Teachers Association, more powerful force in CA politics)

Education is more important than tenure. (T/F)

A high school diploma should represent 12th grade level abilities. (T/F)

The stigma of a lifetime without the ability to read and write is worse than the stigma of failing a grade. (T/F)

California taxpayers deserve accountability for our $68 billion. (T/F)

Good teachers should be rewarded; bad teachers should be fired. (T/F)


The CTA has everything to do with teachers and very little to do with education. The CTA can take comfort knowing that our CA teachers are the highest paid in the country -- regardless of our low student acheivement.

Read the whole thing here.

Wheelguns rule

Been too long since my last range trip. As noted earlier I made it out for some therapy.

I didn't have much time to spend at the range so I just did some coin tosses to narrow down the firearm options. The winners were a couple semi-auto pistols -- my S&W 22A (22 caliber) and 9mm Browning High Power (genuflect).

Once again I'm struck by the fundamental reliability advantage of a wheelgun over a semi-auto. No Tap/Rack drills required when a fail to feed or eject occurs.

Got a revolver? Pull the trigger. That is all. Misfire? Pull the trigger. That is all.

Well today that wheelgun prejudice was reinforced. I expect any 22LR to periodically misfire. Even with a 100% performing pistol the state of 22 rimfire primer quality is pretty poor.

What shocked me today was when my ultra reliable BHP failed to eject properly. More than once! That never happens with my BHP. Never. NEVER. It is hands down my most trusted semi-auto. Not sure what's up this time. It was clean and lubed. Mags were clean. hmmm...

Only 2 things I can think of that changed. One is the ammo I was using; Remington 115gr JHP are an uncommon load for me to shoot. Usually it's WWB (Winchester White Box) 115gr FMJ or 147gr JHP.

The other thing is I've changed (corrected) my grip recently to a higher grip as taught here in this video.

Well shucks. Looks like I'll have to spend some more time at the range sorting it all out. Don't throw me in that briar patch! :-)

Which brings up full circle (yes, I'll take the pun) to the title of this post. When the chips are down wheelguns still rule. That's my prejudice. 95% of the time the handgun closest to my hand is a revolver (or as a backup to a semi-auto). I'm just old fashioned that way I s'pose.

Maybe the tupper guns are more reliable and that explains their popularity. Or maybe they're just less expensive and have the firearm equivalent of a GUI interface for modern Law Enforcement types who aren't always the sharpest tools in the drawer when it comes to firearms operation, maintenance and training. Dunno. I just haven't gone down that path yet. The S&W MP series feels good in my hand. Either way most tupperguns strike me as soulless pieces of disposable mass production, two steps removed from the weapons fantasy role player aisle at Toys R Us. Tupper guns vs blue and wood -- but I digress. That's a whole 'nother topic.

Therapy Zone

Car repair expenses, grading wrapup & retaining wall planning/budgeting/permitting to do, seasonal crunch as family prepares to launch into school year, church leadership meetings, eldest daughter moved north to the OC for school (harder on her Mom than anyone), yadda, yadda, yadda,

Could be a busy, stressful time of year. All in all though not so much so far. Still though I'm busy enough that I have much to write about, less time to do the writing and not all of it sorted out in my head (or appropriate for public display).

One thing that did punch my button pretty good yesterday was a contracter. We'd agreed to meet at our place to discuss some needed concrete & retaining wall work. Of course, I had to push my schedule around at work in order to be around when he was "certain" to be available. What do you think the odds of him showing up were?

HAH! 5-10 minutes after our scheduled meet he rang me to say he couldn't make. He got held up on a job. "No problem mate." says I.

Thinks I, "My time's free. You're the center of the universe so I defer to you. Sure, I'm going give you the job if this is all the better you can do while we're still dating. I know you'll expect to paid on time the minute the last tool goes on your truck. Still you can start off before you even quote a job by messing with my time and be clueless about what a smuck that makes you."
{Sarcasm. Another service I offer}

Of course this is par for the course with contractors. It's hard to imagine one actually performing like a professional in relationship to customers. Even with things slowing down they still act like the only girl on the island when the Fleet's in port.

Well, this one got me on the wrong day. He doesn't know he broke his pick with me before he even looked at the job. I admit I'm feeling a wee bit vindictive towards him and I haven't even met him face to face yet. He's the lucky one to catch all the emotional baggage accumulated from all the contractors who went before him.

I think I'll definitely quote him, and maybe get some design consult from him free, then bid him against some others and get him to move on price a time or two (just fo the fun of it). Maybe I'll even call him out a couple times more. Saturday mornings are good. heh, heh, heh. It's tempting to call him out and then leave him hanging without me there -- see if he likes the taste of that. Nah, I'll probably just give him a civil piece o' my mind on the way out the door. Thank him for his input and tell him he loses the job because he convinced me he'd be unreliable.

At this instant I can't imagine actually contracting with him. Call me a flip flopper if I change my mind later. I'm allowed. It's an election year.

All that to post these pics... Figured I would distract & refresh myself from the putz-ish behavior of CA contractors and myriad other seasonal stresses with some range time.

Ah yes, range time. STILL cheaper than Therapy!!!

Shot some bullseye with my 22. Finished with Browning HP 9mm bullseye and then failure stop drill (Mozambique).

That one hurt

For my birthday a coupla weeks ago I got a ruined engine in my primary commute vehicle. Pretty sure it was the fruit of a botched repair by a mechanic I used in a pinch about a year ago. Nothing I could prove in court but pretty clear to me and my regular good ol' boy mech. Got it back on the road today after almost 3 weeks.

Glad to have it running again. Glad to have a nest egg available for such a rainy day.

Still it's comforting (cough, cough) to know that at this rate I should be able to retire for certain the day they throw dirt on my face.

The grading crew loaded up their Cat about midday and headed into the sunset. The center of the lot (planned playfield) still has some slope where it should be level. That final volume of dirt will come later from wall footings, shop footings and (hopefully) a pool dig.

Score!

Just scored this bench in an auction of surplus material at work. Won it for $20. Yeah baby!

20 dollars. Twenty bucks. Veinte dollares.
HAH! For twenty bucks I could hardly pay for the hardware to put together a bench from salvaged (free) wood.

This one is std desk height -- perfect level for my MEC 650 shotshell reloader.

Now to get it home and clear some clutter from the back of the tool shed. The jointer is going to have to be relocated. Hmm...

Moving day 5

"Racetrack" drive is taking shape. Here he's connecting the dots on back drive to the lower stretch. The volley/soccer field in the middle of the circular drive is the last detail. Tomorrow should wrap up this grading exercise -- more to follow as some retaining wall footings are dug and extra dirt becomes available.

I spent the better part of the afternoon tearing out and reworking the relocated sewer line.

The young crew I had on it was overwhelmed by all the joints and glued it up with high spots and joints under extreme tension. Pass me that Sawzall please (and a pile of couplers)!

One young man (an recent refugee from Burundi) insisted on digging in bare feet with a mattock. He only had one pair of shoes and didn't want to mess them up. Toes? What toes? He was a good worker. Kept up the digging tempo on a hot day. I fixed that shoe problem when I was out at Walmart midday. Picked up some steel toe work boots for him. The way he works he won't be going hungry -- or on the dole.

Probably shouldn't have paid them the time to work on the rework and redigging with me. Oh my aching...

(earth) moving day 4

Shop and RV pad level is finished. Holy retaining wall project Batman!

Now to work out the transition from the road to the drive...


...and then on to grading the racetrack (driveway) around perimeter of the lot and to level out the center playfield.

I feel the the need; the need for speed. Speaking of racetracks and circular driveways I think I see some go-kart potential developing here. arrr, arrrh, arrrhhhh...

Moving day #2 & 3

Finished rolling out pool pad, including elevated pad at one end for deck and hot tub. Got started cutting down at top back of the lot to form a pad for new shop and RV parking.




Well lookie there. Found the sewer line. Duh-ohhh! Actually that was anticipated. It was a matter of if -- not when.

"HEY GIRLS! Get out of the bathroom." Still to be patched up today before I head back up to where the rest of the family is camping. That'll be temporary. The tight line will have to be redug and relocated hard up against the fence line in the next week or so.

Check out that transition! It's going to be about 30 steps down to shop floor from our upper yard. I see a retaining wall and stair/deck framing wall project.

One for you, two for me...

The brown truck of happiness made a delivery while we were up north last week.

This delivery of powder and primers was a group buy I put together for some local reloaders. Even after paying shipping, insurance and the Hazmat fee we saved a bundle (40-50%) over buying locally.

Now to parse it out and arrange payment & pickup of the other's shares.

Moving day #1 (morning progress)

Earth moving that is...
1st to clear the old driveway rock and bank it below for later use.


Next to flip/buildup and compact dirt for a pool pad to be dug at some later date. Actually the pool deck level drops it below the level of the old wall footing. There's going to be a serious bit of rebar and concrete to shore that up. I've estimated as much as 15yds of concrete in just that footing. Cha-ching! From the initial grading so far it's looking like maybe I estimated high. Here's hoping...

Packed out in Packwood: What a long strange trip it's been

Back briefly at the ol' homestead last night after a week in WA (state). Packed up the trailer and headed back out today for our traditional summer-end beach camping trip with the kids and some old friends.

Our time at the end of the week on the eastern side of the mountains in WA started off clear and hot and ended with some unusual thunder and precipitation.


Rain is big news this time of year in eastern Washington. One midday storm in Yakima put on quiet a light show -- a real barnburner.

The trip back over to the "wet side" over White Pass was really something. Overcast, showers, roaring rivers, even a road kill young elk along the way. Grabbed a quick pic of the old Lions Hall/roller rink/movie theater in the mountain/logging town of Packwood. We used to rent that hall and play dances there in the late 70's.

Our band got so popular with the Packwood locals we had to stop going up there. Oh those locals -- real Grizzly Adams type characters with Danner logging boots, bushy beards, wearing flannel and bib overalls or Lee 77 pants -- stacking beer cans on the stage, holding up lighters and generally making me very nervous about their proximity to my loaded smoke pots. The more they liked us, the more wound up they got, the more damage they did to the facility and finally it just wasn't worth it to play there. I think at the last gig we had to replace a couple broken toilets and a sink or two.

Spent the night in Cle Elum. Looks like it's mostly a highway stop and logging base town these days. It's in the middle of the old WA coal country on the east side of Snoqualamie Pass -- just down the hill a bit from the old coal company town of Roslyn (Northern Exposure).

We rented a Chevy Cobalt at SeaTac. No cruise control but a nifty info display you can toggle thru with a button on the steering wheel -- tire pressures, fuel range, %oil life, ave speed, yadda, yadda. Plenty to entertain a geek on a long drive.

Instantaneous mpg is my favorite. Gettin' some great numbers downhill in neutral coming down east side of the Cascades -- watching it to try pushing up avg mpg readout.

Lil green apples... Pucker up!!!

Yep, made it up to Western Washington. We missed the raspberries but are just in time for almost ripe Transparent apples and blackberries. They'll put a pucker on yer face fer certain.

We've enjoyed a couple days with big (#2) Sis. Been a big time around her place these coupla days seeing lots of the extended family. She's not too far from the UW and runs a virtual boarding house for with various nieces, nephews and extended family and friends staying her at different times (like now). Got to spend some time with my Dad and Brother #2 as well.

Met my brother downtown for lunch yesterday. He was in court intepreting (Thai or Lao) so we got down to meet him near Pioneer Square and the Smith Tower for lunch. That's an area I always did my best to avoid in the 70's and 80's. Only drive through there if you made a wrong turn or were lost. It's cleaned up some but still hasn't lost all it's Skid Row flavor (and the "aroma" of homelessness). It's probably still a good area to stay clear of after dark.

Was sorely tempted by a men's kilt shop -- being the grandson of a WWI Cameron Highlander Recon troop and all.

Looks like kilts are the trendy counter-culture item now for men in the city. Huh, go figure...


Asked the tourist, "Is anything worn under one of those things (kilt)?"
Answered the Scotsman, "Nope. Everything works just fine."

Roadtrip!

Hooterville here we come!

The trophy wife (aka "First Wife") and I are flying up to WA for the week. The kids are all either at church camp, with friends or working this week. Next Saturday is a High School Reunion for me in Hooterville. The American Legion Hall above Willie's Sport Shop -- be there or be square.

So we're making the most of the excuse to head north and plan (D.V.) to spend the week visiting my dad, several siblings that are still in the area, and a couple of my wife's best friends.

Now, to get me some pork rinds and Blue Ribbon. Boy-Howdy!!!

Oops, wrong type of roadtrip. We're flying this time -- not our usual summer driving roadtrip.

Wise words

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, "Lillian, you should have remained a virgin."

-- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

Too late for Barack's Mom. Bummer.

distracted...

Had a birthday to celebrate Friday evening. Family had to wait for the old man while his car got towed to his favorite repair shop. Got a look at it this afternoon and was served a heaping helping of bad news.

The timing belt was a goner -- that much I'd figured on. What I wasn't expecting was to see the belt tensioner I'd replaced about 40K miles ago kaput and two idlers seized up (also nearly new). The main idler seized up and backed out the bolt holding to the head. Then it must have dropped down and jammed against the water pump where it broke a cast thread tower (belt shroud mounts to it) off of the water pump.

Need to loose the cam and get a pressure test on the head to see if any valves were bent. Here's hoping... Could be a new engine in my future. ouch -- bye bye bonus check. LOL.

I should have snapped some pics with my phone while I was at the shop. Guess I was distracted what with the mental image of my retirement party delayed until it can happen simultaneously with my graveside service.

Easy come. Easy go. U won't never see no hearse pulling no U-haul.

Nothing up my sleeve Rocky!

yeah, yeah, I know. The music's cheesy, but a pretty remarkable video.



now where's that Adolph's Meat Tenderizer...?