Guy's Day Out

We had a rocking day out, just the guys, touring guy spots.

We saw an airplane museum, the Smoky Mountain Knife Works store, where I bought a few ammo cans at a steal of a price, a Muscle Car Museum, and the Highlight of the trip for my son, the Helicopter ride.

My brother flew with Elyas and 2 other nephews, and as soon as Elyas touched down, he looked at me and said

'wanna fly the helicopter some more!'

We just finished up a great meal of burgers and hotdogs, and now it's time for a Sam Adams.

Prosit!

Poker Night

With the brothers.

Good times.

Family dinner out

We're eating dinner out as a family. First cousins and closer relations only. We're missing about 10 people.

Quite the bunch, huh?

Birthday stuff

When I met up with my dad on saturday, he had a birthday present for me. 26.2 pounds of bullets, and a new handgun.

The bullets are:
About 20 rounds of my .308's favorite load, and 5 rounds of a new load he's developing.

About 400 rounds of .38 special, both target and defense.

About 250 rounds of .45 for my new handgun, both target and defense.

A midway catalog.

And my new handgun, a springfield GI .45. I took it to the range today, and the first magazine, it all went in the 10 ring, without me really having to try. I love it. It's a beautiful, classic shooter, and it's my first 1911.

Pure awesome.

Range Time

I haven't been shooting with my dad and brothers since last Thanksgiving. We had an opportunity to go to one, and we slipped off.

I gave one brother the Titan .25, and the other brother brought his 9mm Ruger.

There was also a mystery gun that I got as a birthday present, but it'll have it's own post later.

At any rate, we had a ball.

Lots 'O' Fish

We went to the Aquarium today. The boy had a great time. We saw all kind of swimmy creatures, including a sharks and that beastie in the picture.... No, not that picture! That's Paw Paw! The other beastie! Yeah, that one.

Fun stuff!

Trip Goodness

We took a cable tram over gatlinburg, the wife did some ice skating, and me and my brother and his wife made a bunch of dang meat pies for dinner.

It was busy.
It was fun.
It was just one day.

Today's gonna be another busy one.

The North Carolina Arboretum

On the way to meet the family in Tennessee, we stopped to look at some flowers.

Nice view.

The boy-o

A shot of the boy in a 57 chevy couch. Oh, how classy!

The Treen Ware Family

I started carving treen ware back in April, and this is all the pieces I've carved to date. They are in chronological order, with the uppermost being the oldest. I've posted pics of a few, but in order, they are:

4 and a half inch pear spoon. I carried this one in my haversack and have eaten with it several times.

12 and a half inch cherry spoon. It's my wife's.

14 and a half inch cherry spatula. Also my wife's. They have matching hearts. We cook with them regularly.

11 inch cherry 'no frills' spatula. It was almost perfect from the split off the log. I just rounded the ends and sharpened the 'blade'. It will go to sis-in-law Misty.

13 and a half inch cherry spatula for momma, the best stepmother ever.

12 inch maple spoon. For my grandmother, Mom D. She's the matriarch of the clan.

12 inch maple spoon. Beefier copy of Mom D's. For my sis-in-law Sonja.

12 inch maple spatula. Also for Sonja. The set is a wedding present for her and my brother.

7 inch maple spoon. It is going to replace the pear spoon as my 'kit' spoon. I'll carry it with my reenacting gear from now on.

I guess this concludes this post...

Heh! Hope ya'll enjoy the pic!

1000 rounds of .380

Yeah, I'm kinda a late poster to this contest, but, hey, I loves me some free gun stuff.

The Firearm Blog is hosting a contest to give away 1000 rounds of .380. The Ammo is being provided by Lucky Gunner.

It's good stuff. If you have a blog, get in on it. Win some ammo, maybe.

Slow News Week

Not much has been happening lately. Mainly, the family is gearing up to meet in Tennessee on Saturday. It'll be nice to see all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, but I can't wait to see Dad, Momma, and my brothers.

Dad says he has 26.2 pounds of ammo for me. That's nice.

I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about next week, and if anything cool happens in the next day or so, I'll let ya'll know.

Sorry it's so slow lately.

accuracy

I took the Titan .25 auto to the range wednesday. 7 yards, off hand, weaver stance, sweat in the eyes, shooting at a hand drawn, 5 inch circle, 7 shots. The hole in the "bullseye" is actually 2 touching bullets. One shot is outside the five inch circle, but the results are pretty good for that little gun, with a sight radius of something right over 2 and a half inches. Used WWB ammo, by the way.

The target is represenitive of every group I shot.

The picture is telling.

The Titan is pretty darn accurate.

Ammo

One of the last three boxes of .25 auto in the entire town. I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I'm going to the range tomorrow and want to bring the Titan.

Thoughts on Concealed Carry

I've been carrying all day today, and I've noticed a few things that I'd like to share.

For some reason I had the expectation that I was going to be noticed as having an eeevill handgun on my person. No one noticed. No one questioned. I even got stopped by an Australian tourist and asked for directions.

When I was just going about my day paying bills, running errands, etc, I didn't even notice that I had it in my pocket. It was when I was thinking about it that it felt heavy. That being said, lighter is better. I had to pull up my pants a few times today. I solved that by taking up another notch on my belt, though. Note to self: when carrying, wear belt TIGHT. otherwise, your pants ride down and your underwear stays in place, until you pull up your pants, that is... then you give yourself a wedgie.

It always bothered me that Gander Mountain asks that all firearms be unloaded in their store, but I didn't sweat it before, as I wasn't carrying. I went to Gander Mountain today, and I knew what the big sign in the store said, so I left my gun in the car. As I was leaving I noticed the sign read something to the effect of : All guns must be unloaded and checked at the counter (then in smaller print beneath) except those carrying a concealed weapon in accordance with law and state regulation.

Score one for Gander. I like that they don't wanna take my rights away.


Aside from these observations, I have come to realise that carrying isn't a huge life changer for me; it's just an opportunity for me to further exercise my rights. Nothing to get excited over.

Huh. How'da thunk it?

My Permit

I've been excitedly waiting on my CCW permit for over a week. I got it in the mail today, and I'm not excited anymore. I'm a bit in shock of the heavy responsibility I've taken on.

I pray that I can be worthy of this responsibility.

The Shrine

The Kiddo and I are at Nombre De Dios, generally accepted as the oldest catholic mission site in North America. I'm not catholic, but I am christian, and I couldn't think of a more fitting place to enjoy nature's beauty and commune with God. It's a gorgeous site and a place for enjoyment and reflection.

Grips

I've been thinking about getting some new grips for my 638. I'm really liking the Altamont Rosewood boot grips. The factory rubber ones work great, but they aren't very attractive. I know that shouldn't count on a carry piece, but I love the look of wood on a revolver. I like these, because they are an attractive color, they have Fleur-de-lis designs in the checkering, which I like, and they are the same size as the factory grips, which keeps it to an easily concealable size.

Any thoughts on grip materials, brands, types, etc.?

Sweaty, Nasty Work

My job is in jeopardy.

The University of Florida Assumed control of 34 historic properties in downtown St. Augustine today. Properties that have been in the stewardship of the City of St. Augustine for about 10 years now. Approximately 10 of those properties housed the Colonial Spanish Quarter, where I work as a city employee. I went to work this morning, and technically, I was trespassing. My boss came by with an email stating that during the transition process, we had a right to continue to do our jobs. This is a good thing, as I like getting a regular paycheck.

The city and UF are in talks as to what will happen with the Colonial Spanish Quarter. I may continue to be employed by the city. I may become an employee of the University of Florida. I may lose my job.

We're all grown-ups, though, and my immediate supervisor being the stand-up guy he is, he was present this morning for the shakeup, even though it's his day off. My boss (also his boss) gave us a list of things that needed to get done, after she told us that we weren't trespassing. It was matter of fact. She's in the same boat we are.

I saw my immediate supervisor's face fall at the laundry list she gave us. Shit rolls downhill, and most things fall on his shoulders around the Quarter. I decided that since I was an extra on the schedule, I'd try to get as much done as possible for him. He's a great supervisor, and doesn't need an extra ration of shit. Also, it kept me busy, and didn't allow me to think about the possibility of being laid off.

Today, I cleaned and cleared an area of rubble, re-attached a fence gate, moved a few railroad ties to a dump site, removed 6 fence panels to a storage site, tore down a fence and drug off the debris, moved about 1/3 of a chord of firewood, moved a hose and reel across the site and watered some plants, and moved 2 large terracotta pots approximately 2 acres. It kept me busy. It apparently caught my boss' eye, as she came by and personally thanked me, and hopefully, it spared my supervisor some headache tomorrow.

It's been a long, hot, nasty,sweaty day. I'm tired. I'll talk to ya'll later.