I know. I’ve been quiet. Was out of town, and now with some time off work for Christmas I’m trying to be a responsible lad and get my chores and other “work” done first so I can spend the bulk of my time off with the Wife & Kids. Blogging must wait.
I’m also looking forward to working on that .223 hunting load, so gotta have my work done before I can play. Speaking of which, my buddy foo.c has been working on his “Hornady TAP Zombie Load” and you can see his progress so far.
Directly off Exit 285 of Interstate 35 in Salado, Texas lies one of the world’s most wonderful places.
Robertson’s Hams & the Choppin’ Block.
All sorts of wonderful little gifts and food-stuffs, but the best part? Their jerky.
Now some love the Robertson’s old-fashioned hickory smoked stuff. Me? I don’t care for it. But I love the Choppin’ Block jerky. That mesquite-smoked stuff is just wonderful. Smoked strips of beef. Good seasonings. Just the right thickness so it’s got some substance to it but it’s not too tough. Not too dry, not too moist. Without question it’s my go-to favorite.
Any time I drive by, I must stop in and pick up a 1 pound bag.
This past weekend I tried a few other things out. They now have a “hot” jerky and a buffalo jerky.
The buffalo was good. Thick chunks of meat. Very hearty. But you better love black pepper. It was very peppery. I enjoyed that, but my kids didn’t… just too much for them.
The “hot” would vary in heat. Some strips would leave a really good heat in your mouth, some strips would be nothing to sneeze at. The recipe also had a hint of sweetness to it, which I think complemented the heat.
Certainly I’m not giving up on my standard mesquite smoked jerky, but from time to time I’ll pick up a small bag of the other two depending how I’m feeling.
Now that I think about it, I should have picked up one of their smoked hams for Christmas dinner. Mmmm.
Spent the weekend with the in-laws. Good times.
Father-in-law got me a Woods Wise “Buc-N-Doe Plus Snort” deer call. Video tutorial and in action. I’ve got some practice to do. 🙂
Also got a gift from the FedEx man. Rifle gunpowders and primers. Looking forward to working on that .223 load over the next couple weeks.
Next couple weeks should be relaxing and fun.
Satellite Internet. You are better than no Internet, but the latency… it burns… it burns.
Makes me so appreciate the wires I have at home.
Merry Christmas.
No, this isn’t talking about the way the iPhone App Store works….
Found via Reason, The Prometheus Institute has created DIY Democracy for the iPhone. App Store Link.
It’s actually a really cool idea. The only problem with the app is it’s currently California-centric. First thing the app does is ask for your location, but apart from that I can’t see what it really does that’s location-specific. Still, I’d like to think this is just a 1.0 thus the support is limited. I mean, coming up with the database of all the representatives and laws of all possible US (and global?) geographical areas is a monumental task. So I’d like to hope that as updates are released they’ll be adding support for more areas and that geographic selection will eventually be useful.
As well, in the areas discussing many rights, I noticed a distinct lack of discussion about the right to bear arms. I’m not going to read too much into it just yet, but I have inquired.
I’ve written in the past about choosing a defensive handgun. Courtesy of James Rummel I’m directed to this short but fine write-up on selecting a defensive handgun.
A summary of points:
Caliber is important but not that important
Caliber matters, but only so much. All pistol rounds suck about the same, so it’s generally better to pick the one you can shoot best. One that when shooting you can control and get fast, accurate hits.
Gun Fit
The gun must fit you. KR Training has one of the best write-ups about this topic, and I consider Karl’s article a must-read before buying a gun.
Small Guns Are Expert Guns
That’s the phrasing of the article author, and while I wouldn’t necessarily state it the same way, he is right that a small gun should not be a newbie’s first choice. I made that mistake. My goal was for concealed carry, so I made “carry-ability” and “conceal-ability” a primary concern in my gun selection. It was a mistake because those guns are harder to shoot. If you’re learning how to shoot, it’s not wise to start with something hard to use. Better is to get a full-sized or near-full-sized (e.g. “service” model) gun and learn with that. A gun that allows you to get all of your hand on the grip (especially that pinky) leads to increased controlability. A bigger gun is a heavier gun, which will be more managable to shoot. A gun with a longer barrel means a longer sight radius and thus you’ll aim better and get more accurate hits.
If you are well-versed in handgun shooting, you can move on to a smaller gun. If you’re just starting out, do yourself a favor and start out with a larger-sized gun. Get your skills. Then you can purchase a smaller gun for carry. If money is an issue, don’t forget you can always sell the larger gun to help finance purchasing the smaller gun.
A gun that doesn’t go bang when you need it to is useless.
Granted, all mechanical things can and will fail, but do yourself right in selecting a gun that has minimal chance of that. Do some homework before you buy.
Final Thought
The article said it best:
Whatever you get, invest in quality self defense instruction, and practice!
Google Labs has a tool called “Browser Size” to help you optimize your web page layouts. (h/t to Linoge)
It’s my plan to move my blog from wordpress.com hosting to being hosted at hsoi.com in the not-to-distant future, and something like the Browser Size tool can help me when I pick a new theme and layout for the blog.
So this is really just a glorified bookmark for myself. 🙂
Stuff From Hsoi 