Month: May 2011

Click if you Like hunting

/ hsoi

Looks like the man behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, only eats the meat he kills:

Mark Zuckerberg has begun slaughtering animals with his bare hands. The Facebook co-founder and chief executive recently vowed to only eat meat that comes from animals that he has killed himself, reports Forbes. The gruesome goal is the latest iteration of what the 27-year-old Internet billionaire calls his yearly “personal challenge” to better himself.

Seems like he gets stuff from local farms and processes them himself. Apparently he takes on these personal challenges as a way to have something else to do in life than running Facebook, and to try to better himself.

“I started thinking about this last year when I had a pig roast at my house,” he wrote. “A bunch of people told me that even though they loved eating pork, they really didn’t want to think about the fact that the pig used to be alive. That just seemed irresponsible to me. I don’t have an issue with anything people choose to eat, but I do think they should take responsibility and be thankful for what they eat rather than trying to ignore where it came from.”

Good for him. It seems both the people he runs with and the author of this article are way out of touch with reality, so it’s refreshing to see someone, especially someone in a role and position as Zuckerberg, to be willing to get a clue and not be so out of touch with reality.

Microsoft Office Mac 2011

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I finally caved in and upgraded to Microsoft Office 2011 for the Mac (Home & Business edition, since I need Outlook). I figure it’s been out long enough now that any major initial issues have been shaken out (it’s version 14.1.0… I rarely do x.0.0 releases any more; I’m a software engineer… I know about bugs).

Yes, I use a Microsoft product. Quite happily too. It’s difficult to escape Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in today’s business world; yes Apple has their own stuff and it’d probably work out fine. But to be honest, for me it’s all about the email client.

Many many years ago the best email client for Mac was Eudora, but there were a lot of competing mail clients out there. Then one day, along came Claris Emailer. Hands down, it was the best email client. From message composition, to filtering, powerful features, just amazing stuff. Off on the side, Microsoft had this “Outlook Express” that was there but really sucked. Well, one day Microsoft basically hired all of the engineers that wrote Emailer, and Microsoft Entourage was born. It was wonderful, but not surprising because you took the best engineers that wrote the best email client and now put tons of money behind them and what else would you expect? Over time, everything else fell by the wayside as it just couldn’t compete with Entourage. But, no question Entourage was getting long in the tooth and showing limitations (as was the rest of Office), especially when it came to things like integrating with Exchange (vital in the corporate world) and heck… even dealing with HTML email. I’ve long toyed with the idea of converting to Apple’s Mail.app, but every time I try I hate it because it’s just not powerful enough. Oh sure, it’s good for most people because it does all the basics you need, and a bit more. But once you work with something as powerful and customizable as Entourage, Mail just feels weak in comparison. So, struggle as I might, I just could never make the switch to Apple Mail.

And finally now, I upgraded to Office 2011 because it was inevitable to have to do, and I felt enough time had passed. Friends that had already upgraded told me how smoothly the upgrade went, how good life was going. So I wanted to, but just wasn’t ready to overcome my inertia. But here we are.

First impressions?

It’s the same, but different. It looks much cleaner, much more modern. I know Microsoft was all about this ribbon thing and well… it’s a little overwhelming, but I think they did an OK job at keeping it reasonable. Things are mostly the same, which is good, just modernized and updated.

I am getting used to Outlook’s default approach, which is left-to-right putting folders on the left, the folder’s messages in the middle, and the message on the right. I’m not sure I’ll stick with that, but geez… the reality is that our screens are more wide than tall, and this approach makes better use of that horizontal real estate. Some of my browsing habits are going to have to change, but I think they may change for the better.

The install, upgrade, and import process was amazingly smooth. Just ran the installer, it walked me through a few questions, and that was that. Launch Outlook, start the import process from my old Entourage database, then went to have dinner. I figured it might take all night, but it was done by the time I came back (I have extensive email archives). Quite impressed with how smoothly things went, but honestly, I’m not surprised. For all of Microsoft’s shitty business practices, they do hire some of the best and brightest engineers. The MacBU has always worked hard to balance the world of Mac vs. the world of Microsoft and has really done a great job with things (wild applause!).

I’ve only really used Outlook at this point because that’s what I mostly care about and use on a daily basis. Over time I’ll use Word and Excel and see how they go. Light poking around with them was pretty positive.

So sure… it’s a Microsoft product. But who cares. I got over that crap years ago. Yes, I think Windows is painful to use, but I’m not using Windows, I’m using a Mac… and I’m using a Mac product, MS Office for Mac 2011. So far it seems to be a well-written Mac application. If it allows me to get my work done without getting in my way, if it’s going to “just work”… well, I can’t ask for more. 🙂

SB 766 – passed!

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

SB 766, the shooting range protection bill, passed out of the Texas Legislature and is on its way to the Governor for his signature. Good deal.

The House sponsor was Rep. Jason Isaac. It’s still weird to see his name in regards to Texas politics, because we went to high school together in Virginia. Just one of those “small world” things. But I’m glad to see this!

Mythology abounds

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I was reading this article and shaking my head ruefully at the irresponsible gun handling.

Officials are investigating a weekend incident in which a man said his wife fired an AR-15 rifle at a target inside a master bedroom closet, missing the target and blasting holes in a washing machine.

[…]

Investigators found .223 caliber and .45 caliber cartridge casings in the master bedroom and a wood and metal shooting target in the closet. Bullet holes riddled the washing machine, and bullet exit holes were spotted in the wall across from the washing machine.

A deputy learned they’d been in the bedroom shooting the target in the closet.

“They had done this on multiple occasions,” a report states, noting both had been drinking.

The husband said he was cooking on the grill outside. His wife was inside, and he ran in when he heard shots.

“According to (the husband), once inside he observed water all over the floor and learned (his wife) had shot the AR-15 assault rifle, missing the target, going through the wall and striking the washing machine causing the water leak,” a report states.

But I must admit, the author of the article seems to have a sense of humor:

It could be argued that firing a rifle within the confines of a bedroom is unwise.

[…]

It wasn’t immediately clear what the husband was grilling.

Heh. 🙂

I came across that article via Fark. It’s generally amusing to read the Fark comment threads, but this time, it was just depressing. The amazing amount of misinformation about guns and self-defense was astounding. I can say I know because I too was once one of the unenlightened masses and heard all the myths and took them for gospel. I’ve become educated on the matter, and can cite credible sources for my information.

I thought “hey, this could make a good blog posting, to pick apart the myths” but there’s just too much… it’s overwhelming and I just don’t have the energy. But I can say this: there’s a lot of bad information out there in the world, about guns, about everything. Make sure your sources are credible and the information you receive can be backed up. Especially when it comes to matters of life and death, do you want to trust your life to ignorance?

On shotgun ammo carriers

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Chances are, if you’re ever going to be involved in a home defense situation with a shotgun, you’ll be in your birthday-suit.  So unless you’ve got ammunition Velcro’d to your ass, all the extra ammunition you’ll have will be on the gun.

– Greg Hamilton, Insights Training Center (courtesy of Joe Huffman)

In light of my recent participation in Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun course, I had an opportunity to try out some different modes of carrying shotgun ammo. I had a few thoughts, and here they are. This isn’t gospel, just my opinion, which is well subject to change.

Since a shotgun doesn’t hold much ammo, you really need a supporting mechanism for carrying more ammo. Two of the most popular choices are side-saddles and butt cuffs.

TacStar makes a SideSaddle product for many shotguns, in 4 and 6 shell configurations. These put shells directly on the side of your receiver. Butt cuffs are sleeves or similar contraptions that fit over the buttstock and hold shells there, and there are many many vendors and configurations of these out there.

Tom Givens was saying he’s not a fan of the SideSaddle for a few reasons (but in the end, Tom doesn’t care what you use). I don’t recall them all off the top of my head, but a couple are that it throws off the balance of the gun (it does made it “side heavy”), and it can come loose and rattle. Certainly it could get in the way of things… certain models can’t work with particular forends, and a host of other possible issues.

I actually like the SideSaddle. We always talk about economy of motion, so why traverse all the distance to the buttstock and back to the loading ports, when a SideSaddle is right there on the receiver and it’s minimal movement to get a new shell and put it into the gun? As well, the saddle is in my field of vision, so I can see what I’m doing instead of having to feel around or take my eyes off the threat. Plus, if you orient the shells in different ways (up or down), it’s easier to remove them from the SideSaddle than trying to do the same from the butt cuff (especially shell brass up). I also find it cleaner/easier to remove the shell from the SideSaddle, whereas the elastic and movement of the butt cuff can make it difficult to withdraw a shell. Granted, a good solution here is to just screw the cuff down to the stock so it doesn’t move.

But really, the biggest win for me is the speed of reloading and how the ammo being right there, positioned in a well-defined way, really helps the loading process. If the point of the class I took was all about those manipulations, then pick the ammo solution that’s going to best lend to that. For me, it’s a side-saddle.

That said, I also have a butt cuff on my shotgun. Why? Slugs. The magazine is full of buckshot, the SideSaddle has buckshot too. But just in case a slug is needed it’d be good to have one. So, I put them in the butt cuff. It allows me to have them, but it’s unlikely I’ll need one. It’s more likely for me to need buckshot and to keep that fed into the gun. As well, when you’re working fast and under pressure, you might not remember that “these are buckshot, these are slugs” if you have them mixed on your carrier. Some solve that by putting the buckshot all facing one way and the slugs all facing another. I can’t do that since I prefer 2 brass up in the saddle for the quick ejection port reload, and then 4 down in the saddle for the slower loading port. But it’s well-defined to me to have buck in the saddle and slugs in the cuff; highly unlikely I’ll confuse the two when under pressure.

Granted, there are many other ways to carry more ammo — like a magazine extension. 🙂  But these are two of the most popular. I’m happy to use both and so far seem to have a strategy that works for me. Find what works for you.

Only if you agree with me….

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Remember…. “open minded” means “agrees with me”. Remember… free speech, so long as I approve of it and it agrees with my beliefs.

*sigh*

Beck, Limbaugh, and Fox News irritate me, Maddow and HuffPo irritate me. Those precious 1A provisions are there precisely to protect unpopular speech. It’s a shame so few people understand that any more.

Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun – AAR

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I spent yesterday as a student in Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun course, hosting at KR Training. This is my After Action Report (AAR).

Background

I’m mixed on the use of a shotgun for self/home/office defensive purposes. While there’s no questioning the brutality and lethality of a shotgun, there are numerous limitations of the platform. I still tend to lean towards an AR for home defense, but I’ve softened my stance towards the shotgun. Consequently, I’ve wanted to learn more about the “fighting shotgun”. I picked up Magpul’s Art of the Dynamic Shotgun. Last time Tom Givens was in town I picked up a copy of his new Defensive Shotgun DVD. Naturally, when I heard Tom was coming back to town to teach a shotgun course, I had to take the class. Not just because of the subject material, but I hate missing opportunities to train with Tom.

The Class

This is a “level 1” course. Everyone in the class was familiar with shooting to various levels, so there wasn’t a need to get rudimentary about all things shooting, but the class was focused on shotgun background and shotgun skillset foundations. Note: the skills presented were in the context of fighting shotgun use. This was not about sport, no clays, no skeet, no duck nor dove hunting. It’s important to understand that context.

The background part was quite useful. Tom covered history of the shotgun, different types of shotguns, different types of ammo, nomenclature, modifications and accessories. Tom’s been around and involved in so much for so long, and while he may not always focus on history, if you pay attention to the things he says and the experiences he tells about, you wind up with a greater understanding of how the gun world came to be what it is today. This is part of the reason why taking classes with Tom Givens is so worth the time and money. Sure this isn’t “tactical”, but it’s good and important to know.

The other main portion of the class was focused on basic skills of manipulation. We all know how to shoot a shotgun and make a hit, that’s not a problem. Where is the problem? Manipulating the shotgun. That was the focus of the skills portion of the class.

We worked dry for a while, on basics of stance, ready positions, moving from ready to a solid firing position. One of the biggest things we had to learn was how to deal with a pump-action shotgun. See, we’re all mostly handgunners, and whether you shoot a semi-automatic or a revolver, we press the trigger and the gun goes bang… then we don’t have to do anything to chamber the next round in order for us to make the gun go bang again. With a pump shotgun, we have work to do! So when we shoot, pressing the trigger is NOT the end of our work cycle, we must also pump the gun and THEN we’re done. The mantra for the day was “click-chunk-chunk” (or “boom-chunk-chunk”) — I named it the Tom Givens Waltz. That’s what has to happen every time you fire that pump-action shotgun: click-chunk-chunk, click-chunk-chunk, click-chunk-chunk. That must become habit. Chances are you won’t have to fire again, but then there’s a chance you might — you need to keep the gun running and ready for action.

Keeping the gun running is really what it’s all about. So we have to learn how to keep the gun well-fed since the magazine doesn’t hold much ammo. Shoot one? load one. Shoot two? load two. Techniques for keeping the gun loaded and ready to go were taught, and you do come to appreciate shell carriers on the shotgun (e.g. butt cuff, side saddle).

Tom had us run a great drill called “Rolling Thunder”. Groups of 4 or 5 people stepped up to the line, each loading 1 round in the chamber. On the go signal, the leftmost person started and shot one. As soon as that person shot, the person to their right shot, and so on down the line until reaching the last person. When the last person shot, we went back to the start of the line and now this person fired 2 shots, and so on down the line 2 shots each. Then 3 shots. Then 4 shots. Note, this meant as soon as you shot, you had to get your gun reloaded with the correct number of shells for the next go-round. The goal was to have a constant string of “boom” going off, so you had to not only pay attention to what was going on so you didn’t miss your cue, but then you had to hustle and get your gun reloaded in time to not break the string. That pressure really tells a great deal about how you need to work and function, what equipment can work under pressure, what what won’t. And if you’re going to fuck up, you’ll do it here. 🙂  A great drill for not only working all the basic skills, but pushing you and putting you, your equipment, and your techniques on trial.

Another important skill we learned was dealing with “cruiser ready” as the proper mode for keeping a shotgun. It’s simple: shotguns are not drop-safe. Mossberg told me their shotguns are drop-safe, but I’m wary. Even if theirs are, others are not. Thus, storing a shotgun with one in the pipe is dangerous and should be avoided, so cruiser-ready is the way to go. We worked on how to set this up, how to get into action, and how to properly unload and restore cruiser-ready condition. Proper unloading technique isn’t as easy as you think.

We ran mostly birdshot because — birdshot is for birds. But it’s also good for practicing basic skills because it’s inexpensive. We did run some buckshot and even did Rolling Thunder once with buckshot so people could see how bad their stance was as the recoil pushed them backwards. 🙂  Oddly, we didn’t run slugs, tho we were supposed to bring some. Not sure why we didn’t.

One great thing about being in class with a lot of other people and guns was being able to see what worked and what didn’t and how other choices worked out. This was most evident when we spent time patterning buckshot, which I’ll talk more about later.

The skills presented were the fundamentals. No, we didn’t shoot tactical courses, we didn’t get all high-speed-low-drag. In fact, most of our shooting was done standing at the 5 yard line. What we did do was learn the foundational skills necessary to run the shotgun in a defensive context and run it well, to enable us to fight and to keep fighting. Upon these skills everything will be laid.

My Takeaway

I’m happy I took the course because it addressed the key thing that I needed: manipulation skills. Whenever I tried working with a shotgun, I struggled with one key thing: reloading technique. I mentioned in my review of the Magpul shotgun DVD that the best thing I liked about that DVD was learning good reloading techniques. I took some things from the Magpul approach (e.g. first 2 shells in my side-saddle were brass up, last 4 shells were brass down), then went with Tom’s approach. In the end, I’ll probably have a hybrid of the two. But again, this key bit of manipulation is so fundamental to fighting with the shotgun and keeping it (and you) in the fight.

Another thing that that I improved upon was my grip and stance. I’ve been putting my head on the comb of the stock. No, I should be bringing the comb to my cheek. Keeps my head up, straight, and I’m not banging my thumb knuckle into my face any more. I still need to work on keeping my thumb from wrapping around the grip (that’ll be a hard habit to break), but I may not break that habit since if we’re talking “commonality of technique” across firearms well.. I keep my thumb wrapped with my handgun, why break that habit? Keeping my head up and back, bringing the gun to my cheek instead of my head to the gun, seems to have made a big difference and enough to keep me from getting whacked in the face along with the other advantages of that technique.

My shotgun is mostly factory stock. It’s a Mossberg 500, thus 12 gauge, pump action. It’s a field model (i.e. wood furniture), so it came with a long barrel, but I replaced it with Mossberg’s factory 18.5″ “security” barrel, which has a fixed cylinder choke and a simple bead sight. I learned a bit more about how to use that bead sight correctly and my confidence in using it improved. Frankly, I think the bead is pretty darn fast, due to its simplicity. Now that I know better technique, I’d like to now check out how accurate I can be with slugs; I wouldn’t be surprised if this is why Jay and I had some accuracy problems with slugs during our shotgun ammo trials.

It did make me think a bit about gun modifications. The only “true mod” to my shotgun is putting a side-saddle AND a buttcuff on it (why both? because the only ammo you’re going to have is the ammo on the gun, and is there any such thing as too much ammo?). Tom talked about decreasing the length-of-pull, and we all got to try his shotgun with a 13″ LOP. Big improvement, especially in terms of mounting the shotgun from the high-ready position. I’m going to look into doing that. Do I want different sights on the gun? Not sure, and probably not. The bead is quite sufficient, so it seems. I still tinker with the idea of putting an Aimpoint T-1 on it, mostly so I can shoot with both eyes open. But I’m really not sure. Part of the appeal of a shotgun is that it’s an inexpensive solution. Almost everyone in class had “black tactical shotguns”, save for (fellow KRT asst. instructor) Tom Hogel and myself, who both had wood furniture (Brian Brown, another KRT asst. instructor, ribs us for our use of “grandpa guns”… tho since Tom’s has an EOTech on it, it’s a tactical grandpa gun 🙂 ). When you start down that road, it’s just more and more money. Is it worth it? Perhaps. But I can tell you based upon what I saw that my almost-factory wooden Mossy did quite well, and it’s more about the person running the gun than the gun itself.

That said, I still think about getting a more “tactical” gun mostly for the extra magazine capacity and more steel parts (and less plastic). But really… there’s lots of frills and trinkets out there, whose purpose is mostly to separate you from your money.

But in the end, I’m happy with the class. I’m happy with my gun. I’m happy with how I did, and what I got from the class. Lots of practice ahead, and thankfully just about all these skills can be practice dry at home with a good set of A-Zoom snap caps.

Observations

  • 18 people in the class. All male. Ages ranged from 20-ish to 60-ish.
  • About half the people in class I recognized.
  • 15 pumps, 3 semi-autos. I think most were Remington 870’s, then Mossberg’s of various pump flavors, at least one Benelli, a Winchester. I didn’t get to directly survey every gun out there.
  • Semi-autos are going to have problems, be ammo finicky. Manual of arms may be simpler, but everything else is much more complex than a pump. Pump may require more manipulation skills, but it’s a simpler machine and should run almost anything.
  • When choosing a pump, make sure when the forend is pulled all the way back it doesn’t cover the loading port. If it does, replace it.
  • It’s important to label shotguns in class, esp. when you have a whole bunch of black Remington 870’s on the line… whose is whose? But when you have a wood stock, you don’t need a label. 🙂
  • Side-saddles and butt-cuffs are important.
  • Sling? In this context, more of a liablity than a help.
  • Rifled shotgun barrels have one specific application context, and this isn’t it.
  • If it screws onto the gun, it will screw off the gun. There’s a lot of recoil going on.
  • When it comes to buckshot, Federal’s 00 buck with FLITECONTROL, low recoil (if it’ll cycle in your gun… again, pump no problem) is going to run amazingly well. While shotgun ammo patterns can vary from gun to gun, this stuff was amazingly consistent out of any gun it shot from. Really, when it comes to choosing buckshot for your shotgun, this is the place to start… and try both the 8 and 9 pellet versions to see which works better in your gun (Tom made a good case for 8 pellet and I’ll probably pick up some eventually and see how it does in my gun vs. the 9 pellet in my gun).
    • Read my post on Shotgun ammo and patterns, with a lot of buckshot pattern pictures. If this doesn’t convince you to use Federal with FLITECONTROL….
    • Also read the Addenda because it has some good links to things like ATK’s brochure on their shotgun ammo.
  • If you pick up Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun DVD, it will cover a lot of what we did in class, without the shooting or helpful instructors. It’s certainly a good place to start, but I’ll tell you… I watched that DVD before I took the class. It was good, but taking the class made it come alive — you just can’t beat actually training with Tom. The DVD will be quite useful now as a reference resource, and I know watching it now that I’ll “get it” a lot more. Point? Train with Tom if you get the chance.
  • Speaking of DVD’s, the class gave me a different perspective on the Magpul shotgun DVD. I think Tom’s a little more focused, a little more no-nonsense. I’m not going to say what’s in the Magpul stuff is bad (a lot was consistent with what Tom said), but it’s a matter of the presentation. Tom’s is very honed and focused on one topic. The Magpul attempts to be honed and focused, but it doesn’t quite succeed as it’s attempting to mostly be able fighting but there’s some gaming and other presentational aspects to it. I think both are good, and them along with live-instructor training would be useful for anyone interested in using a shotgun in a fighting context.
  • And I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it a hundred more… people, sunscreen is your friend. Use it.

A big thank you to Tom Givens and his crew for coming down here to teach us. Always a pleasure and always a highly educational experience. Plus hey… it’s a lot of fun. 🙂

Sunday Metal – Ron Young

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This isn’t really “metal”, but it’ll work for this regular blog feature.

Ron Young is probably best know as the lead singer of the band Little Caesar. I always loved that band, and still do. Just straight ahead rock-and-roll, blues based, hooks, riffs, soul. They had attitude, presence… but most of all, they had Ron Young’s voice.

I always thought Ron had a fantastic voice. Listen to their best known single, a cover of “Chain of Fools”

Or off the same s/t album, another cover… “Wish It Would Rain”

I picked the two covers because they come with a frame of reference, and I think really showcase the soul that Ron has in his voice.

In 2009 they released a new album, “Redemption” and made a video for the song “Supersonic”

It shows the band hasn’t missed a beat. And whereas when a lot of guys age and their voice goes, Ron’s is still as strong as ever.

Ron did a stint in a “supergroup” called Manic Eden. Here’s a track, “Do Angels Die”

If you’ve never heard of Little Caesar, if these sound good to you, they’re a band worth checking out. I wish they could have hit it bigger, but the stars just didn’t align for them. But they’re still out, touring around. I’d love ’em to come to Austin. 🙂

Maintenance check

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Whatever it is you rely upon… when was the last time you did some basic maintenance on it?

I was doing some dry fire practice with my snub revolver and noticed the cylinder spin was sluggish. Gave her a little oil, checked screws for tightness, and all is good.

While the gas pump was filling up my car, I took a walk around the car and just gave it a look over. Do you normally just hop in your car? When was the last time you saw the right rear tire? Air pressure good? tread depth still deep enough? lights all still working? Pop the hood and check the fluid levels? air filter?

Your computer running well?

How about your own mind and body? Taken a step back to assess how you’re spending your time? If you’re eating right? Getting enough exercise? Spending enough time with family and friends? Doing what you love and what’s important, or at least ensuring balance in life?

How about just taking a little time off and doing nothing… just relax and unwind for a bit. Or, if you’ve doing a lot of that, getting out and doing something productive.

Just take a little check on the things you rely upon… be it a gun, a knife, a car, a computer, a friend, your own mind and body. Doesn’t have to be deep, just a little check now and again goes a long ways towards ensuring we don’t forget nor lose what’s important to us. 🙂

Tapioca Pudding

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Tapioca Pudding.

Some people love it. Some people hate it.

I love it.

But not just any tapioca pudding. It has to have large pearl tapioca in it. Why? Because it’s fun… or at least, as a kid I sure thought so. I still do.

When my paternal grandmother died a few days ago, I couldn’t help but think of tapioca pudding. She made it for us all the time. For whatever reason, she refused to use the small little “grains” even though she could conveniently buy them at the local grocery store. No… she would drive all the way to the PX to get the large pearl ones. Just for us (me and my sisters).

Any visit to Grandma’s house had this implication of tapioca pudding. We looked forward to it. Sometimes she didn’t have it; maybe a bread pudding or a rice pudding, which were good too, but they weren’t tapioca. It’s those big tapioca pearls in your mouth.. the way it feels.. it’s just fun. I think that’s why Grandma made it for us — the fun.

So when Grandma died, I went online and found a place that sells large pearl tapioca. I ordered some for each of my sisters and some for myself. Younger Sister received hers first and immediately emailed me… she knew, and she thanked me. Older Sister received hers just a few hours ago; I haven’t heard from her yet, but I know she knows. It holds the same special place in each of us.

As soon as my shipment arrived (and I realized that 5# is a LOT of tapioca), I demanded some be made. Wife understood — it’s a memory, it’s a tribute, it’s a memorial. Half a cup of pearls started soaking….

I didn’t realize that they had to soak overnight.

I looked at them. Within 30 minutes they felt soft enough… did they really need to soak overnight? They’d be dissolved and useless, wouldn’t they? But OK… we’ll follow the recipe. And gosh, they are a little bigger from soaking up the water, but they still seem smaller than I remember. Hrm. Is this going to turn out right?

Sleep. Wake. “Come on, Wife… let’s make pudding!” In fact, I gave Wife a bit of a hard time about making the pudding; it had to be a the priority for the day! I didn’t want to miss it. Hanging on to Grandma, just a moment longer.

I leave for a doctor’s appointment and Wife has started cooking. Very involved process… not difficult, just time consuming. You have to tend to it and stir and such for at least 30 minutes.

I return. Pudding.

I dig into it.

It’s not exactly as I remember it… but honestly, I have a hard time remembering it. The last time Grandma made us tapioca pudding was very long ago (she wasn’t well for many of her last years). But the exact flavor and texture didn’t really matter… it was all about the large pearls. 🙂  I fall back to my childhood, to being at Grandma’s house. I see the spoon, the bowl, the pearls, Grandma smiling at us and us smiling back at her.

This is the first time I paid attention to what it takes to make tapioca pudding. No it’s not hard, but it is time consuming. It takes a lot of planning — you can’t just decide to do it and whip it up as some 30 minute meal. You have to think ahead, you have to plan ahead, you have to work ahead. It takes time to obtain the tapioca. It takes time to soak the pearls. It takes time to cook and prepare it. It takes time for it to chill. You have to be thinking of things… you must have these things on your mind, long before they’re in front of you.

I never knew.

But now I know. And I can see… just how much love Grandma had for us.