Month: October 2010

Early Voting Rally

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

I just returned from an Early Voting Rally. It happened to be sponsored by Texas Republicans… not 100% sure who exactly was sponsoring it (e.g. Travis County Republicans, Texas as a whole, etc.), but it was attended by all your big Texas Republicans: Gov. Rick Perry; Sen. John Cornyn; Jerry Patterson, Texas Land Commissioner; Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller; Attorney General Greg Abbott; Melissa Goodwin, 3rd Court of Appeals; Paul Workman, candidate for Texas State House District-47; Dr. Donna Campbell, candidate for US House Texas District 25; and a host of other Texas Republicans.

Now, I’m not a Republican… and on more than one occasion I wanted to shout out something that would have rubbed folks raw. But this was not the place for such things, and I had bigger reasons to not stir the pot. For you see, I took my children to this event. I was glad to see other parents brought their children too, because this is a lesson in civics. Furthermore, it let’s them see these people close up and see they’re not just a picture on the TV. Besides, you can’t appreciate Gov. “Good Hair” unless you can see him up close. 😉

What I loved most? Oldest. He groaned at the thought of attending this event, but of course he had no choice… he was going. Then I happened to notice during Gov. Perry’s rousing speech… there was Oldest, cheer and applauding with gusto! Yeah, he got into it. 🙂

As a random aside, it was fun watching Gov. Perry’s security detail. One guy (you can see him behind Jerry Patterson in the above picture, in the sunglasses) was pretty tough and serious looking. I nicknamed him Agent Franks. 🙂

As the rally broke up, I managed to chase down Dr. Campbell to say hello. Introduced Daughter to her as well. I could tell she was a tired lady, but a tough one. I applaud her efforts and hope it pans out in a couple of weeks. Daughter was excited to meet Dr. Campbell. 🙂  I was also happy that on the drive home we saw a couple more Donna Campbell yard signs in the neighborhood!

For me, that’s the big reason I went this morning: I wanted my children to experience this. Oh sure, I’ve done things like this before, when I was a kid and my Dad was a Congressman; but then it was “Ugh.. can we go home now?”. Today was the first time I attended a rally because I wanted to be there, and I wanted my children to be there. I want them to understand that politics can and does suck, but we cannot ignore it. It’s important to our lives and something all responsible citizens must care about and partake in. Plus, since they had such a good time, I think it left a positive impression on the kids that sometimes yes, politics can be fun.

Dog-strong

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I’m getting quite the crash-course in being a good dog owner.

Before owning a dog I could generally tell who was a good down owner and who wasn’t… it was evident in how the dog behaved and how the owner treated the dog. But now I see more subtle things, and one very interesting thing.

Read this article.

 

The number one biggest mistake dog owners can make with their dogs is to treat them like humans. The human race is such a kind, compassionate species that we tend to look at our canine companions as little humans. When in reality, they are canines and have a very different thought process. This is what differentiates mankind from other species in pack societies; there must be a specific order, from the leader on down to the last follower. Everyone has a place. The leaders are the strength of the pack. The followers need the leader to guide them. This primal instinct keeps the pack secure and happy.

 

 

And oh, do we treat our dogs like little humans.

We must think like a dog and must treat the dog… like a dog. Of course, in human society, to treat someone like a dog means to treat them in a sub-human and poor manner. If towards your dog you act in a manner that humans see as strong and compassionate, your dog will see it as you being weak. If towards your dog you act in a manner that the dog sees as strong, then humans are going to see you being an incompassionate asshole to your dog.

What to do?

Be viewed as an incompassionate asshole.

Treat the dog like a dog. That doesn’t mean treat them badly, that means treat them as they need to be treated — like a dog. Dog groks dog, and our human behavior passes through their dog-filter and gets interpreted in dog ways. In any communication, what’s more important is the message received by the receiver. Make sure your dog receives the right messages.

 

Bushmaster ACR recall

/ hsoi

Bushmaster is recalling ALL ACR rifles. If you own one of these, you MUST contact Bushmaster immediately. It’s a safety issue and a legal issue.

Here’s Bushmaster’s notice.

The Firearm Blog has a transcribed copy of the notice.

Monster Hunter Vendetta

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I finally finished reading Monster Hunter Vendetta by Larry Correia.

You see, I didn’t want to give a hoot about the Monster Hunter books. It’s just not my cup of tea. But TXGunGeek loaned me his copy of the first book, Monster Hunter International, and I did enjoy it.

So when I had to go to California a few weeks ago, I needed a book. I’ve found that when I fly, the best thing for me to do to pass the time is read. I can’t read technical or deep-thought books; I need light but engaging fare. It’s how I started reading the Harry Potter books. So while at the bookstore I was looking for the Dave Mustaine autobiography (which I enjoyed), but while waiting for someone at the counter it hit me that MH Vendetta was out. So why not… I picked it up figuring it would be good fare for the plane.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I don’t want to say too much and risk spoilers for folks that haven’t read it but plan to.

The book is certainly a good read. It’s enjoyable, action-packed. I reiterate that I think the Monster Hunter stuff could make for exciting viewing on the big screen (and again, Julie Strain for Julie Shackleford!).

I felt this book had more twists, more things to keep you on your toes. For instance, Agent Franks. I think there was more character development and more depth, but also a lot more to keep track of. I read half the book on the plane, then have been reading what I can when I can since then. If I stepped away for a couple days, I did find myself having to reorient and remind myself of the state of things, else I lost track of what was going on. It can be an involved read, but not heavy or demanding.

Certainly felt more suspense in this. A lot more “damn… how are they going to get out of this? thoughts… more “geez.. and I thought it couldn’t get any worse”. But it never felt forced or campy, at least, within the realm of sci-fi limits. 🙂   Oh sure, there’s still a lot of perfect far-fetchedness going on, Owen is still a super-human despite being merely human, but hey… suspend disbelief and just enjoy the fun.

No regrets about buying it. Very much enjoyed reading it.

And yes…. G-Nome. Couldn’t stop laughing. 🙂

Sunday Metal – Danko Jones

/ hsoi

I wouldn’t classify Danko Jones as heavy metal (they’re not Iron Maiden or Cannibal Corpse), but they are pretty hard rockin’, so good enough.

Besides, Lemmy’s in the video:

And someone needs to teach Elijah Wood to keep his finger off the trigger unless the gun is on target.

I bent my wookie

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Reloaded another 200 rounds of .38 Special this morning.

It was anything but routine.

I broke the decapping pin on the sizing die. *sigh*  I’m not 100% sure how it happened, but here’s my guess. Earlier in the session I guess I didn’t get an empty case set in the shell plate correctly. I pulled the lever and it felt and sounded strange. I look at the shell plate and notice the old case was on its side and had been smashed flat against the bottom of the resizing die. Furthermore, the decapping pin had punched through the brass walls. Oops. I removed the damaged case and kept going. There were some hard to resize cases. I figure the pin had a crack or at least was stressed from the punch-through, and now with the difficult cases probably had more stress. Then on one pull of the handle I heard a strange noise and the pull felt weird. I looked, no more pin… it was in crumbled pieces inside the case I was attempting to resize and decap. *sigh*

Fortunately, I had an old set of Lee dies that I bought off Karl for cheap some time ago. I was able to put that sizing/decapping die in and finish the session.

So now I need to buy a new decapping pin. Thing is, I’m sure the cost of shipping it is going to be more than the pin itself (it’s about $3 for a pack of 5 pins). So, I need to find a way to make this worth my while. I am probably going to need to go to Cabela’s to get more bullets and probably some deer-hunting stuff, so if they have pins, great. If not well… I guess I’ll hope the Lee dies hold out until I’m done with .38 and then I’ll pick up pins whenever I next do an online order.

I’m just glad I had the spare dies and didn’t really have to break my stride. I’m itching to get .38 done with so I can get to working on 6.8 SPC loads with those Barnes .277″ 95 grain TTSX bullets. They won’t get used for hunting this season, but maybe hogs afterwards and into the future.

(Thanx to Ralph Wiggum for the title).

Early Voting starts Monday

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

OK fellow Texans.

Early voting starts on Monday.

If you are registered to vote (and if you’re not, why aren’t you?), if you know who you are going to vote for, you best make sure you get to the polls and cast your vote!

If you are registered but don’t yet know who you are going to vote for, you best get yourself educated quickly! Then go cast your vote.

There’s no excuse to not vote.

If you think one vote can’t make a difference, think if everyone thought that way. If instead you think that your one vote can make a difference and everyone thinks this way, then look at the turnout we’d have! Races can and have been decided by one vote. Your vote matters! If nothing else, that you voted also validates your “I can bitch about things” card… you know, don’t vote, don’t bitch. 🙂

If you want to not vote as your way of voicing your opinion, realize that doesn’t work in our current system. The system doesn’t tally who doesn’t vote, only who votes. Lack of voting as an explicit message just gets lumped in with the people who didn’t vote because they didn’t give a darn or couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed in the morning. So if you are trying to say something, you must vote!

Vote!

Counting blessings

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Weather is perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Sunny skies.

Sitting in the backyard overlooking the greenbelt.

Doves flying everywhere. Can’t shoot ’em, but I can sure point at them to practice tracking and follow-through.

Wife sitting next to me. Dog at our feet.

A glass of good Cabernet Sauvignon.

Rocky Patel Edge Missile, with a Maduro wrapper.

Kids playing and having a ball together.

Life is good.

Now THIS is a boilerplate

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I just received an email from one of my US Senators.

Dear Mr. Daub:

Thank you for your recent letter.  I am glad to have the benefit of your ideas and appreciate you bringing this matter to my attention.

You may be certain I will keep your suggestions in mind as these matters are discussed.  I appreciate having the opportunity to represent you in the United States Senate.  Thank you for taking time to contact me.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator

 

 

How… personal!

I have no idea what this is in regards to (their reply system could have at least quoted why I contacted them). My guess is the muscovy duck FWS issue, which they are unlikely to have a stock reply about (e.g. my previous email to him regarding some tax issues with gun makers received a boilerplate “gun rights” reply since they merely keyed off the word “gun” and not “tax”).

My tax dollars at work.

 

.300 BLK

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I just read about the .300 AAC Blackout on The Firearm Blog. He wrote about barrels and reloading dies, but I’ve never heard of this round before. So I went looking.

Here’s a writeup.

Here’s the official website.

Now, I’m all into 6.8 SPC because of the purpose-built nature of the round. Looking at .300 BLK? It too is being purpose built along the same philosophy as 6.8 SPC but attempting to address some issues with it. For instance, to use 6.8 in your existing AR you need to change the barrel, bolt, and magazines. With .300 BLK? only the barrel. That’s huge, especially if you’re aiming for adopting by the military.

Here’s a brief synopsis from the .300 AAC Blackout website:

 

Full power 123 grain ammunition matches the ballistics of the 7.62x39mm AK, has 37% more energy than 5.56mm M855, and 9% more than 6.8 SPC TAP 110. In fact, from a 9 inch barrel, the 300BLK has more muzzle energy than 5.56mm M855 from a 16 inch barrel. When 300 BLK is used in a 16 inch barrel, it has 23% more energy than 5.56mm M855 from a 16 inch barrel – with much higher-mass projectiles for a more dramatic effect on the target. Or choose subsonic cartridges for optimal use with a sound suppressor – 220 grain Sierra OTM (open-tip match) bullets vastly outperforms a 9mm MP5-SD in penetration and long range accuracy.

 

 

Look at that performance from a short barrel. Now stick a suppressor on the end of that, and you’ve got suppressed fire with adequate ballistics out of a rather compact package. Wow!

Of course, there are the obvious social implications. But I also think about hunting. For instance, using the same platform in the morning for deer hunting, then just attaching the suppressor and switching to a subsonic load for hunting hogs at night.

Go check out the official website. Lots of information, data, spec sheets, and even handloading information.

This is something I’m going to keep my eye on.