Happy 2012 ~BOHICA~

As the old Year passes into the mists of oblivion and fragile memory and a new one makes its lumbering way onto the scene, remember that there is nothing new under the Sun, all is ephemera, and here it comes again...

And don't forget Hipster-Newt - the force with whom to be reckoned.

BWA-HA-haha!

A giant-gun sized hole...

...shaped like a water heater. Yeh that was fun, but hot water is funner.
























In other news, for Christmas as my sole gunny-gift, from a friend I received the Ultra-Über-Dúber Tactiçal... The Tick (AKA the EZ Add-On Rail).

It's pretty cool, just replace the takedown lever with the supplied one that has a pin extension...super easy to do and it's rock solid.

Patent # 7,117,627 B2

THERE ARE NO TOOLS REQUIRED...PERIOD!
*------ slips on and off of your weapon.
*------ accepts most Tactical Lights and Lasers
*------ will stay solidly attached to your weapon
*------ won’t scratch your weapon
*------ maintains bore-sight

TRGear is proud of the short but successful history with the EZ Rail. SOCOM liked it so much, they requested a design for the M6 Sig 226 for the US Navy SEALS.

The EZ Rail has seen action all over the world; from Iraq to Afghanistan, to the Pacific Rim. It has been tested and approved by: Colt, m1911.org, Navy Seals, US Special Forces, and Military Police.

So NOW I'm all TACTICAL and shit - I just need a light for this damn thing, and another for the other one that already has a built-in rail.
What light for TICK!?

Bird Logo

And now for something completely different, has anybody seen this logo before?

For gun-content, it's the logo on a set of shot-glasses - we think they might be from some kind of Scandinavian ship-line...


Did a reverse-image search at TinEye (www.tineye.com/) and got nothing...

Merry Beefmas!

God Bless us each and every one, and you too!

Boneless rib-eye roast from Costco @ 350° for 1-1/2 hours or until 130-degrees, yanked from heat and then tented with foil until interior temps reached 140-degrees. And none of those sissy Centigrade degrees, either.

Trim and Paint

We got the baseboard and door casings nailed up all around with my GunClub buddy's tools and direction, and then today started in on paint with the excellent Frogtape masking the walls, and blue-tape on the floor...

At this time of year the light goes away around 2:00 PM and you can't tell what's wet or dry or already painted, and since we don't have any work-lights we'll start again on the other half of the baseboard tomorrow...

Rockin' Old-School Sigstuff

My friend Uncle came across an old Sig magazine in a dark corner from his Gun-snoot dayze, and currently lacking the base launcher while knowing I did not, sent it to me for a very Merry Christmas!
Quel Surprise! And it happens to be an interesting old(er) magazine in the eponymous caliber beginning with a proverbial 4 and ending with a 5.
And anybody who reads this blog knows, I have a thing for magazines and magazine-y stuff.
All my stuff is spankign new and stainless, this is blue and as you can see in the pics, the magazine uses the spring to lock the base (on the side). Also the magazine-spring fits only one-way in the body, with a pronounced anti-tilt follower - it's kinda cool...it's a zipperback! Reminds me of a ZZ Top song...






Expect to see a future comparison test of this and my other magazines, where I rapidly empty them to see if there's any functional compromises...

Doors and baseboard again

All the baseboard in the "office" and the door casings are removed, and the new stuff will get put-up today. The house is a maze of stacked boxes and crap, the furniture is in the center of the room...

Bathroom Medicine Cabinet

We cut holes and 2x4's and holes for 2x4's and had a double-thick wall and framed it back in to pick-up and carry the load where the cabinet went.
And fished the romex for power to the inside of the cabinet, and that came off the box with the GFI breaker-switch - so that's especially cool too.
























And then we got the sink cabinet in and I almost got it wired but need a longer downspout.
Now there will be storage!













And it's up to me to work my magic with mud and texture and paint and... a new towel-rack, paper-holder, and such-like fixtures...

Anti-Gun Newt - Big Liar Pants on Fire, the Nanny-State beckons!

"As long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights"
~ Newt Gingrich lying to the American people

What's up with Big Nanny-Stater finger-in-the-air Gingrinchster's position on guns and the 2nd Amendment: In '96 on Meet the Press he said the Lautenberg gun ban, which lowered the threshold for losing one’s Second Amendment rights to a mere misdemeanor, was "a very reasonable position"... WTF?
And he refused to co-sponsor a repeal of the gun-ban during the next Congress, in Helen Chenoweth's "States' Rights and Second and Tenth Amendment Restoration Act of 1997," despite repeated requests to do so. Double WTF??
He voted for an anti-gun "terror" bill that had the provisions(a DeLauro amendment) that would have severely punished gun owners for possessing a laser sighting device - a first step to banning those items, AND the Schumer (*ick!* spit/gag/barf) amendment to "centralize Federal, State and Local police." Triple WTF??? Schumer??
Other candidates own guns. Rick Perry shoots coyotes with a .380 Ruger and has demonstrated proficiency with an AR, which happens to be the favorite gun of Michelle Bachman. Rick Santorum has seven guns with his favorite being a Kimber 1911 pistol.  Huntsman has the trifecta a rifle (.22), a pistol (.38Spl), and a shotgun (12 gauge) - not too bad for his name's sake there, despite being a wussy Palo Alto High School dropout, mullet-head garage-band, REO Speedwagon fan-boy.  Ron Paul owns some guns but (typical) won't say what or how many.
Mitt doesn't and neither does "lifelong hunter" and MA gun-ban liar Romney.
The hell with Newt.

Nothing Spells HATE like b-o-u-r-g-e-o-i-s

"Boor-zjhwah!" Cried the Marxist rolling the dice, "Death to (1.) the bourgeois class. (2.) (in Marxist theory) the class that, in contrast to the proletariat or wage-earning class, is primarily concerned with property values!!"
Simply put, to the quasi-Educated Marxist (BA Puppeteering 101, MA Street Theater, PhD Dramatic Irony), the Middle Class is the enemy.
Meanwhile the wealthy Apparatchiks who man the pumps at Le Fannie-Mac-Freddie pour freshly printed money down the flume to the Hansel the Wandering Proletariat, leaving a trail of financially wet crumbs that lead to a FREE HOUSE! (Soon to be underwater as a submarine with screen doors.)
No wonder the whole despicable primarily-concerned-with-property-values Govt. Housing Thang collapsed, the 99%ProletariatPure place no value in property! As evidence clearly, they leave their encampments filthy and denuded, looking like the Somme 1916 after a hard night of mustard gas and bombardments.
Thus lives the hipster NeoPagan, for that's what the Olde-Tyme Co-Religionists did (besides k-k-killing homosexuals). The non-property-valuing I-take-what-I-want Viking-type renters (and other) Pagan-Heathenists trashed a place and then moved on, letting the all-powerful Gaia-Natura take care of it herself. After all, it's her job. And don't say "get a job" like those other anti-hippies say, that's just mean and Mean people Suck. #OccupyFairyland! #Coexist! Etc!

Christmas Gunny Wishlist

Since Nature and The Universe abhor a vacuum and a lack of symmetry, (and to double-down on SayUncle's list-post) I came up with my own future vision of what marvels of gunnyriffic excitement might-oughtta show up at Teh Shotz Shoe (which I will again not be attending because it costs too much and I don't have any money). To whit since it's Glock's World (Die Glockenwelt) and we just live in it, Glock needs to make a plastic .410/.45 pistol called..."Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen" (no that's too long and nobody could pronounce it)  Der Rechtsanwalt,  no not that either,...what is German for Leader... Der...Füh - whatever - anyhow-and-meanwhile, then Taurus can go ahead and make pink one called Judge Judy...

The Shower Valve

The tile all around the valve was poorly cut and I have to caulk gaps surrounding the trim-plate. I took it all apart so I could find out what it is - a Delta 600-series.
It's not a bad valve (if a little delicate?) and it's easy to find parts and fix, and does everything with a twirl - literally.
It does Hot-Cold by rotating the round knob Left/Right, and water volume is handled with with the Up/Down function of a single knob. Some of the fancy stuff I've seen requires more rotating wheels and knobs - kinda defeats the idea of simplicity.
It is possible to get a stainless-steel trim-kit and make it work with a "handle," but they didn't have one and decided to hold off, and the H -to- C index thing is emblazoned with a big ugly colorful decal or something I don't want and don't know if I could remove.

Anyhow I gotta caulk around the trim and and fill in the unsightly and unprofessional gaps as a stopgap measure until I can line up our contractors and make a bigger move on the whole tub-shower-tile-toilet-floor assemblage...

Bathroom Renovation

The Hallway Bathroom renovation has started. My carpenter buddy is coming tomorrow and I thought I do a little preparation so as not to waste his time. The first installation point being a new, Monster-Medicine cabinet and I figured I'd better remove the old one(s) I installed about twenty years ago.
Holy-Damn, that long already??
The hole on the right is just gonna get plugged with some fresh 1/2" Sheetrock.

Since the sink was in the way and I have a new one, I removed that too.

The Tiki Dude is up on top of the Aloha Christmas tree...

Moto-Cops have have Hogs and dirtbikes...

And you can get a big box of Squid at Costco!

Is this A GREAT COUNTRY - or what??

Trading with the Media Enemy

I wonder if Media-Matters will argue that there was no issue with the State Department selling guns to Mexico despite knowing that guns wound up in the wrong hands, or that the Fast & Furious program AND the DEA’s "Project Buckwalker" money-laundering operation both violated the "Kingpin Act" (21 U.S.C. §§ 1901-08) which was a component of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701, the follow-on to the Trading with the Enemy Act) that was expanded in order to criminalize any transactions between U.S. entities — to include departments and agencies of the U.S. government — and all foreign drug cartels. 

The Kingpin Act is an extension of the highly successful IEEPA sanctioning program specifically targeting Colombian drug cartels. It expands sanctions authority against various drug cartel operations worldwide — including Mexico — which have been determined by the president to be threats to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

 ...crickets-crickets... Unless THIS president didn't consider the Mexican drug cartels to be security threats, perhaps he only thought of them as future campaign donors.

New Doors

With a little help from Shootin'Club Buddy the Union Carpenter, I got the bi-fold doors that hide the washer and dryer and which I painted last month (or earlier?) cut to fit and hung. He needs the side-job work, what with this severe economic downturn and so little construction activity motivating the Trades...


















Can't believe I don't have a before pic from the painting and baseboard work...but these have considerably fewer and larger louvers, and better match the new baseboard and door-casing.

Powdered Milk

Og write about preparation and  coffee and it triggers an old memory.  I/we grew-up drinking powdered milk because we were kinda poor (we prefer the word "frugal") and my dad could buy big boxes of it and mix it cheaply. It was skim-milk without the fat and it was fortified with vitamins.  My folks still have and use the plastic containers that came with each box.
Overseas in hot and Socialist India we got a 2-litre milk ration from the Govt. store - it tasted funky and a bit gamey.  My brother and I (ages 8 and 9) rode our bikes over to the Govt. shop, each with a 1-litre pail/can that had a lid and a handle and with our family's ration-book, to wait in line for the store to open in the morning before the supply of milk ran-out.  Usually we received some local Hindu harassment from adults standing in line who didn't like "f*ing white monkeys" -- and the usual reception of rock-throwing from other kids as we rode home with the milk hanging from out handlebars.
In Spain when I was stumping around with my leg all swollen up from the Brown Recluse bite, to fortify myself I drank Spanish milk from a plastic bag - it was pasteurized and sterilized (?) and designed to last without refrigeration.  I left this comment there, and dammit now I have a blog post.

Soldier's Angels Effort

Times are tight and baby needs a new pair of shoes, but go help Linoge if you can. I am changing my SA link in the Left sidebar for the duration. He's doing well with the Current Total Donation Amount of $1270 - kewl!
How to Earn a Ticket:

1. Every five dollars you donate directly to Soldiers’ Angels nets you one numbered ticket.
2. Every five dollars you spend in their Dollar Days or Amazon shops (where the products are shipped directly to them) gets you one ticket.
3. Every five dollars you spend in the Angels’ Store for any product that is shipped to "ANY Hero", "ANY Wounded Soldier", or "A SPECIFIC Soldier" earns you one ticket.
4. DO NOT SEND ME (Not "Me," me, Linoge at Walls of the City ) MONEY. All money and goods should go directly to Soldiers’ Angels.
5. DO SEND ME (Not "Me," me, Linoge) THE RECEIPT. Anonymize it however you like, and use the actual receipt or a screencap, but email from an address I can reach you back at. Send the receipt/proof to “linoge (at) wallsofthecity (dot) net”.
6. Specify how many of your tickets you want in the "holster", "belt", and "general" pools.
7. Within 24 hours, you should receive an email from me indicating your ticket numbers. If you do not, feel free to email me again or comment here.

The Walls of the City Fundraiser Prizes:
Current number of prizes:  15
(In the order they will be drawn.)
The Dragon Leatherworks Holster Pool:

1x Yet-Unnamed-and-Unreleased Pocket Holster for a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380, as made and donated by Dragon Leatherworks.  So it does not have a name yet; that is ok – maybe if you win it, Dennis will let you name it.  What cannot be questioned, though, is this is a holster from a fabricator with a history of producing quality products, dressed up in some pretty shiny-looking snakeskin, and designed for one of the more-popular up-and-coming pocket pistols.

 
The Best Belt Pool: 

1x The Best Belt, courtesy of Michael’s Custom Holsters.  Whether or not this belt lives up to its name is up to you, its eventual winner, to decide, but with two layers of top-grain leather, a sandwiched layer of nylon webbing, stainless steel hardware, and a lifetime warranty, I am not really seeing how it could not.  Want a way to carry your holsters in comfort and security?  This is a darned good start.


The General Pool: 

1x Crimson Trace Corporation Glock Lightguard, courtesy of CTC.  Imagine a flashlight that is mounted underneath your sidearm that comes on when you squeeze the grip a little more tightly – that is the prize you could win, from a company who made its name applying similar technology and concepts to laser sights, and who know what they are doing when it comes to “light” and “firearms”.


1x Crimson Trace Corporation S&W M&P Lightguard, courtesy of CTC.  Yes, the awesome folks at Crimson Trace donated another Lightguard to this fundraiser. 




1x Crimson Trace Corporation Springfield XD Lightguard, courtesy of CTC.  No, you are not seeing triplicate – Crimson Trace donated three separate Lightguards to help out Soldiers’ Angels.  How awesome is that?  I can put the winners of these three prizes in touch with one another if they need to swap around who won what, just for compatibility’s sake.



2x FlipSide Wallet, courtesy of FlipSide themselves.  I reviewed these outstanding wallets here and wrote a follow-up here, but suffice to say that if they are worth the price of admission, they are probably worth a donation to an outstanding cause to try to win.  The first one drawn will be the Mech Grey version, and the second will be Stealth (black) – appropriately “tactical” colors indeed.



2x Soft Target, by Stephen Hunter, courtesy of Simon and Schuster.  I have not read my copy yet, but the reviewers, including the folks over at Downrange.tv, are writing rave reviews.  In any case, this is a brand-spanking new hardback copy, straight from the publisher, and complete with its publicity insert.  The book does not even come out until the 6th of December!



3x Gunwalker T-Shirt, as designed by and courtesy of Sean Sorrentino.  The entire Gunwalker scandal is a disaster no matter how you look at it, but increasing public awareness of it and trying a little gallows humor will probably help everyone come to terms with it – suffice to say, this perfectly concise t-shirt accomplishes just that. 


1x Monster Hunter International (Tombstone, Arizona branch) patch, as designed by and courtesy of Jason of Empty Mags.  Check out that monster-whacking awesomeness!  Something like that would look perfect on an IDPA vest, range bag, or just on a jacket to show off your gunny-geek cred.




2x 2 Monster Hunter International (Eastern Tennessee branch) patches, as designed by me.  Yup, you get two chances to win two patches, and, yes, they look as monster-hunting-cool in person as they do on your screen.

December Practice-Match

I hate getting up early in December, it's cold and dark, even here.  At first the camera takes a picture of the inside of my windshield - it doesn't know where to focus.  I need to clean my windshield.

The early light throws shadows on the target frames and on my position on #3, but it brightens up in the usual fashion.

I did pretty well in the rapids and managed to eak-out a 400. I need to practice more often but lately things have just been in the way - things like Hawaii anyhow, so it's not too bad.
I shot my coveted and dwindling supply of Black Hills 68-grain Match (now Heavy Match) since I was tired of the generous variability offered-up by the Army-issue XM193. I need to shoot better than it allows.
As always, click to embiggenate.

We're Winning...

The somewhat fudley Hunter-Guy store that never carried "black rifles" now does, and Magpul stuff too.


It must have happened a long time ago back when the BayArea was a lot less Bay-Aryan, hipper and less brain-dead Liberal - but try not to do this especially to an early (five digit) commercial:

And that Luger will never have quite the same value either...

Climate Hootenanny

The Climes they is a-changing... Science is hard, and repeating the obvious with great nuancedness and all the complicated caveatistics too - but with all the Scientifical hectoring and bumptiousness Link goes to a brief abstract that says:
Assessing impacts of future anthropogenic carbon emissions is currently impeded by uncertainties in our knowledge of equilibrium climate sensitivity to atmospheric carbon dioxide doubling.
"We have no clue about Co2 balance and just made it up."
Previous studies suggest 3 K as best estimate, 2 to 4.5 K as the 66% probability range, and nonzero probabilities for much higher values, the latter implying a small but significant chance of high-impact climate changes that would be difficult to avoid.
"Previous use of anonymous numerals (3!) and letters (K!) allowed us to flim-flam a fake (%!) equation-sounding zero-sum analysis."
Here, combining extensive sea and land surface temperature reconstructions from the Last Glacial Maximum with climate model simulations, we estimate a lower median (2.3 K) and reduced uncertainty (1.7 to 2.6 K 66% probability).
"And more of the same analysissy-stuff only more integrated with more letters and numbers - except the sea and land measurements are totally unfounded, just trust us that they exist."
Assuming paleoclimatic constraints apply to the future as predicted by our model, these results imply lower probability of imminent extreme climatic change than previously thought.
"That's it for modern-day Catastrophic Anthropological Globular Warmening! Now can I get $ome more re$earch funding for $omething $uper-$cientificky, plea$e?"

As one commenter said:When you mix politics and science, what you get is politics. That works equally well for economics, and certainly the political economics of Scientific research funding.
Politics is the P-factor where P = poo, as a chocolate milkshake made with poo is still only a poo-milkshake.

Memorial on a Heiau

This lei and some white sea-salt(?) was left on the lava rocks of an ancient Heiau on the North Shore, overlooking the Waimea river's entry to the sea.

UPDATE: Oh yeh, this is the location of Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau State Historic Site, and prior (and also later) to contact with the West, the Heiau functioned as a luakini heiau where people were killed and sacrificed to the ancient Gods.
It was a bloody place and probably not very well liked by the local population since they were the ones most subject to being conveniently and involuntarily offered-up upon the altar. It remains sacred because of all the death and bloodshed that occurred, and many other small stones, wrapped and tied with ti-leaf, were found along the crumbled old walls.

And these white Plumeria exhibited a curious spiral twist.