Author: hsoi

I guess I was lucky

/ hsoi

Back from our shopping day. I guess the gods were smiling upon us.

First stop was JC Penny’s. They’ve come a long ways and overhauled their image and merchandise. We actually managed to knock out most of our shopping there, racking up a hefty bill. When we got to the car I took a moment to look at the receipt to see how much we didn’t spend (note: not “save” because this isn’t saving, it’s just not spending as much) and I noted that we were charged tax! I knew we’d have tax on a few little things, but I checked the math and we were charged tax on everything! That’s not right. I went back in and pointed it out. Seems they had some problems with a bunch of registers charging tax. They thought the register I checked out on was working, but apparently not. In comes the manager. The only way to fix it was to totally void the transaction and start over. So, on the faulty register she voided it all out, then we had to haul all our stuff to a register in the back of the store at the exchange/returns counter and have everything rung up all over again. Yeah, a pain… but, no big deal.

You see, here we go again with the InSights ABC’s: Always Be Cool. Smile on my face, taking it easy, no big deal. And it really wasn’t a big deal. Sure it was a bit of an inconvenience, but the manager kept apologizing and I just looked at her and said “Hey, shit happens… no big deal.” and smiled and relaxed. I could have pitched a fit, but what good would that have done? Frankly, I was in a great mood, I had no desire to complain, so ABC was just natural. Just be cool. And what did I get for being cool? Well you see, there was a coupon in their sales flyer: spend $50 and get $10 off, or spend $75 and get $15 off. That should apply to the whole transaction. Well, for whatever reason (I can only assume good customer service, and because I was so understanding and cool about the problem), the manager opted to ring up the whole of my purchase in $75 increments and give me the discount each time. 🙂 Score! That’s not a normal thing and not how things are to be done, plus it’s a lot of little transactions, but hey… Always Be Cool. It pays off.

In the end, I we didn’t spend about $120 due to the lack of sales tax and then the nice manager. That was well worth it… both shopping today and well, being cool. 🙂

Went to a couple more stores.

Let’s just say Burlington Coat Factory aims for a different demographic. The sort of clothing they sell… nothing really there for my kids in terms of style.

Old Navy still has a store. I thought they were closing up and Levi’s was eliminating them for Gap stores or some such. But we went there and were able to round a few things out.

In terms of how much we truly didn’t spend, that’s hard to gauge. The original JCP receipt said we saved a few hundred bucks. My guess is that’s totalling the actual sticker prices vs. the price we paid. There was a lot of sales, 30% off, buy one get one free, buy one get one 50% off, clearance discounts (about 75% off original price). So yeah, I feel we did OK on things. But if I walked into the store during an off day, I’m not sure they’d still be selling any of that stuff for sticker price. So how much we really didn’t spend I don’t know, but the sales are aggressive this weekend and compared to what else I’ve seen I think we fared OK. Frankly in total we spent a little less than we normally do for kid clothes shopping, but I know we came home with more clothes for them and even Wife and I picked up a few things for ourselves. Plus then the flat out non-spending on the sales tax, the bonus discounts and such…all in all I think in the end we did alright.

And to boot? Had to run a little errand when I got home. Walking back past the grocery store I poked my head into the entrance just to try to buy a Coke from the vending machine. The Coke guy was filling up the machine and I asked if I could get one while he was filling it. He handed me a bottle. I asked how much I owed, he said “nothing… it’s cool.” Really? Yup. Wow… that was nice.

Always Be Cool.

Today was a good day. 🙂

Seeking facts

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Linoge is seeking information. Click here to find out on what, and if you can contribute please do.

I am curious about this myself. I’m still figuring out where I stand on the open carry issue. There are political aspects, social aspects, tactical aspects, practical aspects. I see pros and cons of each, but still undecided on what to do as a whole. Open carry of handguns is illegal in Texas, so presently the issue doesn’t directly impact me, but maybe in the 2011 legislative session it will come up (it was possible for 2009 but didn’t happen). The questions Lingoe brings up are good ones, and answers would certainly play a part in my personal decision.

On a semi-related note, I figure if it did happen in 2011, it’d be appropriate to buy an STI Eagle 5.0 to celebrate. 😉

Pistola potable

/ hsoi

When I was at Spec’s a little while ago, as we walked up and down the aisle’s, we saw a couple bottles of tequila.

We first noticed the rifle, just thinking it was some long weird bottle. Then we saw the pistol next to it, then realized the long bottle was actually a rifle. It’s hard to tell that in the picture, but that is what it is.

And I felt like such a geek. All I wanted to do was determine what sort of rifle and pistol they modeled the bottle after. 🙂

Ah, found a website for the pistol and the rifle.

Wish me luck

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Texas has a “sales tax holiday weekend” designed to help with back-to-school shopping.

It’s this coming weekend, Friday through Sunday.

We’ve never bothered with this. The main reason is we don’t want to deal with the crowds and chaos. And unfortunately, we fear people are going to be petty, rude, and ugly because they all want the best deals for themselves. We’ve experienced this during “big shopping weekends” before,  and we just choose not to deal with it. Plus since we homeschool, we don’t always need to be on the same clock and schedule as the rest of the world.

However, we decided to give it a try this time around. The kids need clothes, we know every retailer in Texas will be stocked up and prepared for this event (I even got an email from Waco Harley-Davidson promoting this weekend), and there will be sales and lots of aggressive pricing and discounting and so on as retailers jockey to attract customers. Then the sales tax alleviation on select items. The kids need the clothing they need so buy it now or later, they still need it. If we buy it now, I expect we’ll be able to lower our total bill. By how much I don’t know yet, but I expect any reduction in the overall bill will be welcome. 🙂

Being the planner I am coupled with my desire to get in and get out as fast as possible, we’ve figured out all that the kids need. We know what pants, shoes, socks, skirts, shirts, underwear, and whatever else they may need. We figured out what sizes of everything to get to minimize the slow down that comes with fitting rooms. Plus we figured out quantities. I think that’s a key factor at keeping cost controlled… you know you need 5 shirts, you get 5 shirts instead of saying “gosh at this price, we can get 7 shirts” which then just jacks up the total bill. If last night before you saw the prices 5 shirts was enough, then today after seeing the prices 5 shirts is still enough.

And going with the fact we aren’t on the same clock as the rest of the world, the plan is to go at the time we feel will have the smallest crowds: first thing Friday morning. Most people will have to be working, most people aren’t morning people. So if we can be on the road at 8 AM and done by lunch, awesome.

The geek in me is also wondering if the iPhone will come into play. If I’ll be able to comparison shop, look up prices, product reviews, or any other sort of on-the-spot information gathering.

Finally, I suspect there will probably be a man with a gun wandering through all these crowds, through all these retail establishments, being around lots of children…. and I’ll betcha nothing will come of it. 😉

So, onwards we go. Hopefully tomorrow won’t suck. 🙂

The picture says it all

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Robbie shows us a picture that pretty much sums it up.

The track record isn’t good folks. What makes you think this will be any different?

Again, I’m not saying things are great and perfect, I’m not saying we don’t need improvements, but I am saying that more government is not the answer and will not solve our ills (pun intended).

Just because it’s part of their job….

/ hsoi

…. doesn’t mean they’re awesome at it.

Jay is at the police academy, and he gives a breakdown of the firearms experience of his cadet class:

Of the 24 of us, 12 have never fired a firearm in their life. 8 have fired a firearm once. 3 are prior military, with all 3 just qualifying while they were in the military, meaning no badges for expert, sharpshooter, etc. Of those 3, 2 were in the Navy and 1 was in the Air Force.

Then there is me. I have more experience shooting a firearm than the rest of my cadet class combined, as one of the instructors noted.

So let’s make some percentages:

50% – never fired a gun before, ever.

33.3% – fired a gun once.

12.5% – prior military but no in-depth experience (e.g. sharpshooter)

4.16% – has long-term gun experience. 1 guy.

So, 95.8% of the class — 23 out of 24 people — have almost no experience with firearms.

And they’re going to be police officers.

Now, this isn’t to say these folks can’t get trained and become good shooters; I certainly hope they get training, practice hard, and become good shooters. But the take-home message is just because someone’s job might require them to carry gun, it doesn’t necessarily equate to awesome incredible gun skills (or any gun skills at all). Conversely, there are a lot of private citizens that have awesome incredible gun skills (Rob Leatham, Jerry Miculek, Todd Jarrett, Julie Goloski Golub, Jessie Abbate, Tom Knapp, BJ Norris, Dave Sevingy, the list can go on and on).

Gun handling skills come from the individual using the gun. Don’t assume because they’re a cop they’re awesome. Don’t assume because they’re a private citizen they’re inept.

More questions from stats

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

More questions from the stats page… things people are searching on that bring them to my blog.

federal p308h

What we’re talking about is Federal Premium Vital-Shok .308 Winchester 165 grain Barnes Triple-Shock X-Bullet

I picked this as my hunting load because of the constraints of my M1A. It works great. I’m no longer using the M1A for hunting (after that first time, it was just too much), but I’m still using that load in my Savage because the load works. I like those Barnes bullets.

what choke to use for home defense

Despite what most people think, there isn’t an easy answer to this. The conventional wisdom is to use as open a shotgun choke as possible, typically going for cylinder bore. I’ve even seen some home-defense shotguns with spreader chokes (e.g. Mossberg 500 HS410). But the reality is you have to pick the right combination of choke and load that patterns as you want it to be. Take a look at what came from The Box O’ Truth on this matter. It presents a good argument that there isn’t a simple recipe that works for everyone and anyone, you have to know how things will pattern and invest the time and money to find out.

One additional factor is to consider your particular situation. Will you be shooting longer distances? Shorter? Might you have to deal with shooting around objects (barriers, potential for hostages)? How about risks of collateral damage, e.g. are you out on 50 acres of land or are you in an apartment complex and what happens if one of those pellets doesn’t strike the intended target? One if the biggest things I picked up out of KR Training’s Defensive Long Gun class is knowing your weapon and what it’s capable of at distances and with objects. There’s no question a shotgun is a vicious weapon, but it’s also a trickier one because you’re dealing with numerous projectiles that spread as they travel. If you have to shoot to 25 yards, you may need a tighter choke (it should still be effective at 3 yards). If you live alone it may not be as big a deal to ensure all pellets hit the target as if say you had children that might risk being caught in the crossfire and thus a tighter pattern offers a bit more control in shot placement.

So again, there’s no single solution that works. You have to know your situational needs, then take your gun (and do this with each gun if you have multiple), you have to buy a lot of different loads, you have to see how they pattern at different distances, you have to ensure it’s reliable in the patterning, switch chokes around to see how they work, and you cannot be afraid to switch and shop around until you find what satisfies your need. Or at least, you need to know how what you’ve got works, the capabilities and the limits.

do .38 special snub noses have recoil

Yes they do. All guns, when fired, will have recoil. 🙂  Just a question of how much actual recoil and how much felt recoil (felt recoil usually being more important to your shooting experience). Generally people are wanting to cope with “felt recoil”, and generally larger guns with heavier frames will absorb more recoil thus you’ll feel less. That is, take a .38 Special snub that’s one of the ultralight frames (e.g. aluminum alloy, or maybe one of the newer scandium alloys like the S&W 340) and a snub that’s an all steel frame, and you’ll feel less recoil with the all steel model. Take an all steel snub revolver vs. an all steel full sized revolver (e.g. S&W 627), and you’ll feel less recoil with the larger one.

the best 9mm gun

Why, the one I shoot, of course! 🙂

“Best” is highly subjective. You’ll have to be a little more specific about your goals.

I like my Springfield XD-9, customized by Springer Precision. It fits my hand well, the customized trigger is nice, the Dawson Precision sights (thin red fiber front, black “target” rear) are great, good capacity, good balance and weight for me. If I was buying a gun today, I’d probably get a Springfield XD(m) 9. It’s XD 2.0, if you will.

great self defense handgun

Now that’s a little more specific. But still rather broad because what works for one person may not work for another. Check out this guide from KR Training. I’d say what fits you and thus you can shoot well, is reliable, and you’re willing to practice and train with… that’s good for a start.

what is the more effective gun 9mm .45

Define “effective.” Seriously. Effective in what way? If you’re talking terminal effectiveness, they’re more or less the same. .45 ACP will have more recoil than a 9mm; if you can’t manage that additional recoil, if that keeps you from putting the shots where you want them to go, then who cares about cartridge/caliber terminal effectiveness because shot placement is the most important factor in terminal effectiveness… better to have a .22 you can shoot and nail things with than a .45 that you can’t hit the side of the barn with.

farting funny pictures

That seems to require the prerequisite of being able to capture a fart on film. I didn’t realize they were visible. Either I need new glasses, or maybe there’s an app for that.

socially accepted rifles for defense

That’s a good question, and I guess it all depends what social circles you run in. I’m sure Paul Helmke would say no rifle is socially acceptable for any reason whatsoever, but Ted Nugent would say whatever you can get your hands on. 🙂

The general rule seems to be that black plastic parts on the gun equal scary, and wood parts on the gun is not scary. Black plastic has a “military” look, wood parts has an old fart hunter/farmer look. Of course, the real important parts of the gun (e.g. the action) are the same.

Read this article.

Carano vs. Cyborg

/ hsoi

Finally got to see the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from the Strikeforce show from this past weekend.

No question, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos dominated that fight. She was aggressive, threw and landed more and better punches, had the ground game, submissions. She was just all over it. I think maybe for a few seconds Carano may have had the upper hand, but any judge watching the fight would have easily scored the round for Cyborg. Any that scored for Carano could only be voting based on beauty.

That’s the thing that I have to wonder about Carano. She’s pretty, and consequently she’s been dubbed “The Face of Women’s MMA”. She gets to doing so many other things, from appearances, to TV shows, or whatever… any time doing those other things, that’s time not training. I honestly don’t know what her training was like up to this fight, but I can’t help but wonder if non-training-related activities cut into training. I also can’t help but wonder if that added a little extra motivation to Cyborg, to want to ensure to beat Carano in a decisive way. Motivation or not, IMHO it was a decisive win for Cyborg.

But some will say the ending of the fight isn’t decisive. Yes, Carano was covering up, but she was not truly defending herself. From what I could see from the camera angle, which certainly wasn’t as good as the ref’s vantage point, it looked like Cyborg’s punches were breaking through Carano’s arms and landing on her face. Carano was getting a lot of hits to the head, she wasn’t actively improving her position, and the ref did the right thing to stop the fight to avoid any serious injury to Carano. If it had gone one second longer and the bell ended it, I’m pretty sure Cyborg would still have won and probably in round 2. Carano was dazed enough from all those punches at the end, then walk back into round 2 not only with the shots landed but probably some mental/emotional dejection because she was dominated that entire first round. I feel safe in saying that Cyborg would have eventually won.

Nevertheless, the 4:59 that it did go for was exciting. The crowd was hot, the fighters worked hard. Congratulations to Cristiane Santos.