Father's Day

Called Dad for father's day, and to tell him I love him. Less than 2 minutes into the conversation, we were talking about gunnie stuff. Specifically, reloads, and what loads I wanted loaded for my 638 Smith and my Savage .308.

Just one of the many reasons I love my dad.

Happy Father's Day, dads!

Geaux Elyas

Ain't that a good lookin' Tigers Fan?

barbecue

Jay G. Did a post about grills, and it got me thinking. I have a love affair with grilled and barbecued food, but I never posted anything about the subject.

My barbecue addiction started in October of 2004 when I took a break from college and went to work for a locally owned barbecue joint. Within 6 months, I impressed the owner enough with my desire to learn all aspects of the business that he decided to make me the manager. Now, I learned some valuable skills about payroll, inventory, ordering, stock rotation and accounting, but the thing I loved the most about my job was cooking.

I became a decent camp cook in boy scouts, and my Dad helped me refine those skills over the years, but I didn't have much experience with barbecue. I quickly learned, though, and soon was able to turn out amazing meats on our 3 foot tall, 4 foot deep, 16 foot long wood burning pit. And the key to it all? Temperature.

For those just entering into the world of grilling, gas grills are great. They're easy to use, are easy to maintain a constant temperature, and are relatively quick. But if you are interested in really becoming a true Pit Boss, then you will need a large charcoal pit with a smoke box. This lets you use direct heat with charcoal for burgers, steaks, and such, or you can use an indirect wood burning fire in the smoke box if you want to barbecue ribs, brisket, ham, chicken, etc.

My pit is a Char-Broil barrel grill with a smoke box. Yes, I can grill 2 dozen burgers at once. I can also smoke a large brisket, if I so choose. And if I want to grill 2 small steaks? I can just put a grate in the smoke box and build a tiny fire!

When I moved to Florida from Louisiana, I didn't have room to bring my pit with me, so after things settled down I went looking for one. The one I wanted was a charbroil barrel pit with smoke box attachment, and it ran $180.00 at Home Depot. That was a little rich, but I was smitten. I happened to walk into Winn Dixie the next day, and they had a charcoal display with my Char Broil right in the middle of it. I grabbed a staffer who was walking by, and asked the price.

'not for sale.'
'what do you mean?'
'It's a display.... Well, what would you give for it?'

It turns out he was a manager, and the display was going away next week anyway.

'I'd give 100 for it.'

He thought for a minute, and agreed. I loaded it up, fully assembled, and took it home for $80.00 less than retail. Never hurts to ask.

Now this is just me, but I'll never own a gas grill. Is there a place in the world for gas grills? Absolutely! But if you are ready to enter a whole new and exciting world go for the charcoal, and don't forget the smoke box!

Dinner

Farm fresh black-eyed peas, Yukon Gold mashed taters, and fresh Pork Chops.

Didn't have any of Momma's sweet and spicy pickles for the peas, but we had some pepper jelly that a friend made. It was almost as good.

Hope everyone else had a good dinner too.

For Dad

My Dad mentioned in comments that he'd like to see my belt clip for my keys. I removed my main ring so you can see the clip easily.

Also, a posed picture of a wallet I made today. I think it'll go to my brother Barrett when I see him next month.

Dad, I'd be happy to make you a clip if you'd like.

Also, bonus points to those who can Identify what the three keys go to.

*UPDATE*

On second thought, scratch the bonus points. I realised that if you click on the image, the resolution of my HTC camera phone is so good that you can read the keys. I like my phone.

Carrying

So I haven't started carrying yet, as I don't get my permit until late June/ early July, but I've been thinking about it a lot. I've given myself a set of requirements for carrying, and they go as follows:

Weapon in front left pocket. I'm left handed, and as I'm carrying a j-frame snubby, pocket carry seems easiest, and in practice runs in my house, carrying in my pocket is comfortable. Nothing else goes in this pocket to help prevent accidental discharge, lint issues, etc.

I have a smart phone, and I got a belt case for it, but I can't find a comfortable yet effective place to wear it on my belt. Furthermore, I don't like it's construction/ durability. This leaves me with pocket carry for my smartphone. If I do this, I want it isolated in the pocket as well, as it is a touch screen, and I don't want to activate it/ scratch it. If it is in my front right pocket, that's all good and well, but it leaves me with only my two rear pockets to house my wallet, keys, pocketknife, and change, plus any other sundries I pick up throughout the day.

I've worried over this problem for the past 2 days, and low and behold, I found a solution!

I went digging through my old knife box, and found a few belt sheaths for folding knives. between the three sheaths I have, 6 or 7 of my pocketknives will go into one of them, including my 3 favorite pocketknives that I almost always carry anyway. I can position this to the right of my right rear pocket, and it rides comfortably, is out of the way, and is easily accessible.

Next, I solved the problem of my keys by making a belt catch for them. it's a simple ornamental piece of ironwork that a key ring attaches to, and it has a tab that slides behind and locks under my belt. It's handy, functional, and once I thought about it, it was really easy to make. (I am a blacksmith, after all.) It rides right in front of my knife sheath, and is easily removed one handed, with a little practice, yet virtually impossible to fall off.

Being left handed, my left rear pocket has my wallet, so I'm left with my right rear pocket to corral pocket change and sundries that I pic up throughout the day (receipts, etc.).

I've used this system sans revolver today (I've just been leaving the front left pocket empty), and it seems to work great. Cheers to my carry solution!

WooT!

One of my favorite things to do on my days off is to cruise down to several local gun stores and browse. I don't really have the money to be buying anything most of the time, but finding a good deal is almost as fun for me, and if it's a REALLY good deal, I can always come back, so long as no one else has picked it up.

On these excursions, I bring my son, and he really enjoys the only box store I stop at on these trips: Gander Mountain. He likes to lightly touch the long guns (daddy always grabs the forend to make sure he doesn't pull them over, and I like that he's showing an interest, however timidly) and he enjoys climbing into the dog transport crates, which I am forever telling him to get out of.

But today, I found an awesome deal: Fiocchi 16 gauge ammo for only 9.95 a box! It's target loads, to be sure, being 2 3/4 in. shells, and they're only available in 7 1/2 or 8 shot, but still, that's a decent price!

I'm gonna go back on Friday and buy 4 or so boxes, as I have a skeet shoot coming up. Anybody have strong feelings about 7 1/2 vs. 8 shot?

It's Awl Right

Sometimes I get put in the leather shop at work, and I'm tired of borrowing tools, so I'm slowly building my own kit. These are a few awls I made in the last few days. One is a round awl forged from a file tang, and the other is a square, dog-leg awl forged from a concrete nail. Both have whittled pear handles, and I made sheaths for both, so I don't stab myself in the hand while looking through my kit.

Anyway, I had fun making them.

Family

Here's a picture of my Brothers. I was perusing my Dad's blog, and I came across this picture. It got me thinking about Family.



For many people, the word Family doesn't hold connotations stronger than law. For me, and probably most of my readers, it does. Family does indeed mean my wife, who I love deeply, in ways that I couldn't begin to explain. Family means my son, for whom I would gladly give my life at a moment's notice, if it could spare him harm.

But for me, Family goes back much farther than that. Family means my Dad, who would lay down his life for me, or any of my siblings. Hell, he'd lay down his life to help a stranger. He's a cop. It's part and parcel of 'to serve and protect', and he lives by that motto, bound by a sense of duty that few understand.

Family is my Mom, who loves me unconditionally.

Family is my brothers and sister. Whether working on cars or playing poker or just having a beer and shooting the breeze, I am happiest when enjoying the company of siblings.

Family is aunts and uncles who will see when you are stretched tight, and offer to help financially, even when you are too proud to accept, much less ask.

Family is grandparents that insist on gathering the clan back at least twice a year, because they understand the importance of Family.

Family is the friends you grew up with, and who will drive 3 hours across the state when you need a shoulder to cry on.

Family is a bond you carry with others. Blood may have a part to do with it, but the relationship you have with those you call family is the important part.

I won't think twice about defending my family.
I'd damned sure die for them, and count it a small sacrifice.

I live with part of my Family. My wife, my son. For certain sure, my life would be dull and grey without them. But it's the rest of my clan, my Family back in Louisiana that I don't see often that I miss so much.

But that's okay, because I'll meet many of them in Tennessee in July. It'll be good to see you guys.

Ammo

For the past year and a half, I've had well over 100 rounds per gun I own, with about three to four hundred rounds of .22 long rifle. It's plenty to have on hand, and when my dad sent me another 300 rounds of .38 special, I felt as if I was ammo-rich. I recently decided to get my concealed carry permit, and promised myself that I'd practice regularly so that I'd be competent with my self defense tool. I got a range membership and I've been shooting. A month ago, I had about 450 rounds of .38, and 200 rounds of .357. Now, I'm down to 105 rounds of .357, and a scant 73 rounds of .38. That isn't much. Hell, I've been through about 400 rounds of ammo in the last month, and I've only been to the range twice. (my S&W 638 is surprisingly comfortable to shoot, so wrist fatigue doesn't really set in until 150-175 rounds.)

Well, my dad said he'd reload ammo for me, so next week I'll be putting 400 rounds of brass in the mail to him, but methinks I'll wear out that hospitality pretty quickly, considering how much I'm shooting now. Looks like I'll have to start buying ammo again soon. *sigh*.

Don't it suck to have to pay to support your hobby? So goes life.