Spent the day at KR Training assisting with Basic Pistol 2 and Defensive Pistol Skills 1.
I’m pooped.
I’ll write more later.
Me
No range trip for me *sigh*
I was planning on going to the gun range this morning.
Weatherman says we’ve got some ugly rain storms on tap. While normally that wouldn’t bother me too much, the Austin Rifle Club is located in a floodplain… thus rain at the range is NOT a good thing. The ARC leadership basically tells you that if you’re at the range and it starts to rain, leave immediately. You really don’t want to be at the club in the rain, because flooding and getting trapped (or worse) is always possible.
But just watch… I’m postponing the range trip, and it won’t rain worth a damn this morning. 🙂
I was hoping to not only do some pistol work, but also take the 6.8 out and recheck the zero issues. I was going to work with Oldest on this. You see, he’s had an aversion to shooting firearms larger than .22’s because he doesn’t like the noise. Understandable, especially when you shoot under the tin roofs at the range (far less problem out in the field). But he’s really itching to try out hunting, so he’s got to get used to shooting something bigger than that Ruger 10/22. Might as well have him work the 6.8, or maybe my .308 bolt action.
I’m not going to be upset about the rain tho. We need the rain. And frankly, that we’re still getting rain in June? That’s a Good Thing™. Just have to be satisfied with more dry fire this morning.
Reloading bleg
I’ve been slack at getting myself to the reloading bench.
In large part it’s been because I’ve been busy with other things and thus when I think about getting out there I’m just not motivated. Furthermore, it’s getting quite hot outside and I just don’t feel like taking a schvitz to reload.
So I’m going to attempt something. Every morning, wake up, tend to morning things (e.g. get dressed, eat breakfast, etc.), then get out and reload 100 rounds of 9mm. That should take me about 30 minutes in total. Not a huge time investment, and if I do it every day I’ll build up a good supply, even as I burn through some of it in my own practice. If I can get a few thousand stockpiled, then I’ll see about switching out the press setup and perhaps go back to my .223 efforts.
I’ve shifted away from using the Berry’s bullets towards using the Precision Delta bullets. While I like the full plating on the Berry’s, their local availability, and being the least expensive of what’s available locally, I’m having problems with them. That is, I’ll go to seat the bullet and something messes up during the seating… typically the bullet seats wrong and “shaves” part of its side off, but whatever happens it equates to a wasted load. I may be able to pull the bullet and recover the powder, but the bullet is certainly wasted and maybe the case and thus maybe the primer. Apart from the wasted components, it also throws off your groove as you’re working. *sigh* It’s happened more than enough with the Berry’s that I’m starting to not want to use them. Besides, when you buy Precision Delta bullets, they’re a lot less expensive than the Berry’s, plus when you buy in bulk it’s even cheaper. So far all the Precision Delta’s I’ve loaded have worked out great, at least in the loading process. So far, so good.
I really want to keep up this routine of wake up, do morning things, then reload 100 rounds. What I really need at this point are some good .30 cal ammo cans to store the reloads. The best place to buy them is “John’s Guns” out in Bastrop, but it’s not a place I can easily get to, and whenever I am out that way all too often I drive by outside of business hours. 😦 I’ve struggled to find a good place to buy such things within Austin, at a reasonable price.
A lovely morning
Finally slept in this morning (you know, got up at 5 AM…. yes, that’s sleeping in for me). After the past week of waking up quite early, it was nice to get back to a normal sleep schedule.
Everyone else was asleep, but Daughter woke up. We hung out in my office, listened to music. Introduced her to UFO, Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin, and more Lenny Kravitz. It’s showing what music was like before Auto-Tune (which she appreciates).
Go downstairs. Look out front and see one muscovy mother and her 4 growing ducklings. Put out some black-oil sunflower seeds for them.
Look out the back of the house. I see one of the local nesting cardinals catching a bug just outside the back door. His mate is with him and she’s flittering her wings and he’s offering her the bug. I watch their little ritual.
Then I look up from them and see one of the does in the greenbelt eating. She moves off a bit and then I see what we’ve been expecting to see — her fawn. We noticed this doe had full teets, so there had to be a baby somewhere; finally got to see it this morning white spots and all. Another doe was also nearby. There’s a third doe that comes around, much smaller than the other two. She’ll probably be by later.
Just something beautiful about the morning. 🙂
Busy
After spending the week in CHL Instructor class, a lot of things got backed up.
Spending today trying to get things back on track.
More later, I suppose.
CHL Instructor class
As of now, I am certified in the State of Texas to teach the concealed handgun licensing course.
I spent the past 4 days taking the class, and wanted to share some details about the experience.
I took the abbreviated class because I already have teaching experience (NRA Certified Instructor and my work at KR Training). The course was 3 days in the classroom and 1 on the range. The topics run the gamut of all things required for a CHL from legal issues to accommodating people with disabilities, how to deal with all the paperwork, and so on.
One thing I like to do in any firearms class I take is look at demographics. Why? It’s interesting, especially in working to dispel the notion of “gun owners are old white male rednecks”. Of the hundred or so people in the class, most were white men probably over the age of 50. There were some younger folk, there were a handful of women, and a larger handful of non-white folk. Take that for whatever it’s worth. One interesting thing was at least half the class were current or former law enforcement officers.
The three classroom days covered a range of topics. Matters such as use of force, relevant Texas laws, how to handle all the paperwork, the course of fire, non-violent dispute resolution, and so on. I’ve heard horror stories from old-timers, but it seems they’re really improving things. The course flowed well, lots of useful information. Even the information I already knew and had heard many times before was always good to hear again. The only downside was the hotel: the conference room chairs were painful to sit in, no tables so we could more easily write and take notes, and a few other issues.
The range day went pretty quickly. The course of fire for instructors is the same as for students, but it must be passed with a 90% or better score. Furthermore, instructors must qualify with both a revolver and a semi-automatic. I did take a bit of pride in being one of the few snub-shooters on the line (you should have seen some of the hand-cannons people pulled out).
The DPS facility is really nice, and that it’s just a couple of miles from Dawson Precision meant I had to stop in. Never been there before, they gave me a tour of the place. Oh man… what a setup they have there! Quite nice. I had to force myself to leave, else my wallet would have been lighter and an STI would have been with me.
A long week, but a good week. I’ve much work ahead of me. I do want to give credit and thanks to Sergeant Stuart Bamsch of the Texas DPS for all the hard work he and his staff did to put this week together. It sounds like he is working to make a lot of positive changes that will benefit his group in DPS as well as all CHL Instructors and CHL holders.
If you would like to come to me for CHL Instruction, please contact me through my company website, Hsoi Enterprises. I’m not quite ready to start doing CHL work, got some ducks to get in a row. But anything I do in that regard will be discussed on the Hsoi Enterprises company website (likely not here, since this is a personal blog).
14 things about me
I am looking at a legal form. It’s an “Eligibility Affidavit”. In order to become a Concealed Handgun Instructor in Texas there are 14 preliminary eligibility requirements listed under 37 TAC Chapter 6 and Chapter 411, Texas Government Code. Because I can answer affirmatively to all 14 statements, here are 14 things you can know about me:
- I have an established legal residence in Texas for at least 6 months.
- I’m at least 21 years of age.
- I have not been convicted of a felony.
- I am not current charged in any jurisdiction with the commission of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or an offense under §42.01 (Disorderly Conduct) Texas Penal Code, or of a felony under an information or indictment.
- I ma not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a Class A or Class B misdemeanor.
- I am not chemically dependent.
- I am not incapable of exercising sound judgment with respect to the proper use ans storage of a handgun.
- I have not been convicted in any jurisdiction of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or an offense under §42.01 (Disorderly Conduct) Texas Penal Code in the past 5 years.
- I am fully qualified under applicable federal and state laws to purchase a handgun (and that’s a whole other set of qualifications in and of itself)
- I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in making child support payments
- I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in the payment of taxes or other money.
- I am not currently restricted under a court protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the spousal relationship.
- I have not in the past 10 years been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony.
- I have not made any material misrepresentation or failed to disclose any material fact, on my application.
Maybe you can say those same things about yourself. Great.
My point?
Look at the sorts of things one must go through – as a preliminary minimum – in order to be a CHL instructor (or hold a CHL) in Texas. Looks like you have to be a pretty sound and law-abiding good citizen.
Furthermore, if you can know this is what it takes (in part) to obtain a CHL, then when you come across someone who is a CHL holder (at least here in Texas), you instantly can know a good deal about a person and determine what sort of person they are. You mean some Joe on the street… is he a good guy or a bad guy? You discover that Joe is a CHL holder, it’s a reasonable assumption Joe’s going to be a Good Guy.
Desert Deuce Surplus
Never heard of Desert Deuce Surplus before, but I wanted to order a couple of pairs of Tru-Spec 24/7 shorts and Desert Deuce came up as a place with them in stock. Submitted an order.
Well, a week went by and I hadn’t received any sort of information about the handling of my order, other than it was received and the money was taken. I phoned, left a message, 24 hours and no callback. I phoned again, got someone on the phone. She looked up my order and was obviously puzzled as to why my order hadn’t been fulfilled. She took my phone number and said she’d call back in 10 minutes. I went about my business and about 30 minutes later she calls back saying my order was going out right now.
So I’m waiting for my order to arrive. It seems the lack of fulfillment was an oversight and I was happy to see it promptly dealt with. We’ll see how things go once the order gets here. But so far, well…. while I’m not thrilled at what went down, I’m willing to let it slide and I’d consider ordering from them again. If nothing else, they’ve got an interesting selection of products — including parts for M35 and 5 ton military trucks!
Updated: The package arrived. Contained 100′ of 550 paracord and the Tru-Spec shorts.
The rope is… well… paracord. Useful stuff.
As for the shorts, I’m pleased! They are pretty much the same as the Tru-Spec 24/7 pants that I like so much, except in shorts form. I haven’t had a chance to pull out the shorts and the pants to side-by-side compare, but I did notice one difference: the side leg pockets. On the pants, the rear bottom corner is pleated (is that the right term?) such that when you have a lot of cargo in the pocket the pocket expands. Thus, the pocket can be VERY roomy. Sometimes that’s good (e.g. picking up lots of range brass), but sometimes it’s annoying because of how the gear can flop on your leg. On the shorts, that corner of the pocket is sewn to the leg so there isn’t as much expansion in the pocket. I think for shorts that’s a good thing.
Anyway, I’m pleased with the shorts!
As for Desert Deuce, they did what they said they would. Again, I didn’t get the best first impression of them, but they made things right and did so promptly. I wouldn’t be against using them again.
Coda
Today was an emotional shithouse.
The whole duck thing? Sure, I know they’re just ducks. But as the saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I knew I had some attachment to them (I knew the kids had a heavy attachment to them), but I guess I had more than I thought. Imagine someone walking into your home and taking your family pets away. I doubt you’d find that an enjoyable experience. I keep finding myself going to the front window, looking out on the lawn expecting to see the ducks there but now realizing there aren’t any. Seeing them throughout the day brought such joy to us; looking out the empty window just brings sadness. Feelings of betrayal, anger, sadness… on the one hand I feel kinda silly for feeling this way, but I didn’t ask to feel this way… it’s just how things are and I accept my feelings.
Then I try to get work done and the code rewrite I attempted just didn’t pan out; in fact, while on paper it should have been better, in reality it turned out exponentially worse (performance was abysmal). That’s two days of work down the tubes, but such is R&D. I had such high hopes. Alas.
But while most of the day went wrong, towards the end it got better.
The neighbor that I know called for the duck removal? He came by the house to check on the boys. He apologized for what he did. I wasn’t there, but Wife tells me that she saw genuine remorse in his eyes. I have to give him a lot of respect for coming by like he did. That took a lot of guts. While it doesn’t fix things, we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and if we don’t learn to forgive then well… what sort of person are we?
Then I capped off the day with a glass of 2007 Grape Creek Merlot and a Rocky Patel 1990 petit corona cigar. Sat with Wife in the backyard and watched the kiddos having a blast with their squirt guns and running through the slip and slide. Two does wandered into the greenbelt for their evening meal. We watched them, they watched us for quite a while. It was most peaceful and satisfying.
Woke up in a fright
You know what you don’t want to hear in the middle of the night?
Your children letting out panicked, blood-curdling screams.
*sigh*
Kiddos were “camping out”, sleeping in sleeping bags in the living room (it’s just something they like to do, and it’s harmless). Daughter reports that Oldest started to fidget and itch. He was groggy and not sure what was going on, but something was bugging him. He wanders into our room, wakes up Wife, and asks if she could look at his neck, if she might see anything.
She sure did.
A scorpion.
It was a striped bark scorpion, very common in Texas. We get them inside the house on occasion. Seems the scorpion was taking a midnight stroll across Oldest’s body. Once everyone noticed what it was, the screams and cries went out. Sure freaked me out to be woken up in that manner.
There’s a small welt on Oldest’s neck, another on his chest, and one on his hand. He’s doing OK, it’s just annoying him at this point. His siblings both got bad sunburns last weekend, he just got some light scorpion stings. Everyone’s happy. 😉
Stuff From Hsoi 