Bogieblog

Grass Drags 2013

Last Sunday I had a first experience, going to the Grass Drags. Those are snowmobile races on the grass, held in a farmer's pasture. WS has always gone with Jimmy, and I didn't want to intrude on their "buddy time", so I had never been before. 

I went by myself and found a lot to see. There were grass drags, water drags, and exhibition jumping:

There were vendors with all kinds of cool stuff like a machine that looks like it will go thru just about anything,

and another that is supposed to do work, but just looks like good old fashioned fun

There were helicopter rides, which I wanted to go on, but you had to have at least 2 people in your party. They weren't placing seperate parties together, so I just stood and watched the two helicopters do their thing for a while:

Then there was a sign that you don't see very often - at first I thought it was a No Guns Allowed sign, but then I saw I was mistaken and had to smile at the sentiment - so of course I had to go into the establishment:

and there was abanner on the right to bear arms:

I had a great time, just wish I could have seen the drag final. Unfortunately I had to get home to take care of Prince, who much appreciated being taken for a walk and being fed, so that was okay with me.

A Little Study

So the President commissions the CDC to do a study on guns (link is to the unpublished study). It did not seem to prove out what they wanted it to prove.

You can go read it, or not, but I think that Jay summs it up nicely (go read his entire post):

So, let's recap, shall we? In the landmark study commissioned by Barack Obama in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, we find that mass shootings are less common than bucket drownings, that guns are used for self defense hundreds of thousands of times a year, and that suicides account for most of the deaths by firearms. 

I say we need to ban buckets.

Inequality Under the Law

If you or I did what this reporter did, we would be in jail, or at least arrested - even if we were ignorant of the law (ignorance being no excuse). However, a reporter, who was explicitly told it was against the law to posess this item, is not being prosecuted because "it wouldn't serve the public interest". Apparently it served the public interest in prosecuting those that were just passing thru and doing their best to follow information they were given by the police.

No I don't think either of them should be prosecuted, only because I don't believe the law should exist. But it is evident (under the information that I have) that one was not prosecuted because he is "important" and in the public eye, the other was prosecuted because he wasn't (as were 100+ other people).

The least that can be done is that everyone be treated the same.

Short Videos

Well, I already wrote a great post, then Typepad threw me out and lost the post. So now the short version; Chuck Woolery has videos up about all kinds of stuff of import today - the budget crisis, (so called) assault rifles, taxing the rich etc. You'll have to go find your own links though because I'm not looking them all up again!

 

You're Missing One

You know those stickers that go on the back windshield of a car - the ones that show stick figures of Mom and Dad, Little Johnny and little Maria (or whatever mix the family consists of)? An how in the last coupld of years that has extended to dogs and cats? Why just the other day, I saw a car with Mom and Dad, 4 dogs and 3 cats.

On one of the forums I look at on an irregular basis (I beleive that is where I found this a couple of weeks ago anyway), there was a whole 'nother sticker:

Tranquil Saturday

We spent a good amount of time on yard work today. With the temps in the 70's, lots of sun, and windy conditions keeping the bugs at bay, it was perfect weather for outdoor activities.

WS sucked up dandilion heads with the leaf sucker, then mowed. I weeded flower gardens and planted a couple of potted plants into permanent locations. Unfortunately our winter was so mild that it seems to have killed a few established plantes. i lost two of three sections of lavender and the Sheila's Perfume rose is looking to be on the ropes. All of the plants are next to the foundation at the front of the house. I usually shovel a large pile of snow on all the foundation plantings to protect them from the cold and wind. This year, aside from a couple of large snows, we didn't have snow to pile up on the plants. what snow I was able to heap up, was soon melted from the warm of the house.

The rose I have left in place, as it is entirely possible it could recover (one live cane isn't a big foundation to build upon though). The lavender has been severely cut back, but also left in place in case it decides to come back from the roots (unlikely since these are "evergreen" plants).

I planted two containers of oregano, which is supposed to be hardy to zone 4. the two plants of oregano I planted last year didn't survive, but I am hopefull that planting early will help these plants. I also planted several Gay Feathers which I had started from seed several years ago. After languishing in small pots for a couple of years, I decided that I better take pity on them and get them someplace they can grow. Hopefully I haven't stunted their growth so much that they refuse to do anything.

After our hard work in the yard, we decided to go down to the range. We took the new Hi Point carbine and WS's .22 rifle. Also took the handguns for a little plinking. The Hi Point was everything we remembered from shooting one in Kansas. Low recoil and lots of fun. several other groups were at the range and it looked like they were having as much fun as we were.

Tomorrow WS has to work tomorrow, so I'm glad we had time to get a little stress relief and fun in!

A Little Before a Lot

Yesterday we went to pick up WS's bike out of storage. He's been riding BIL's bike to work so he can put it out by the road with a For Sale sign on it. Decided it was time to get his home,even though it will be a pain to have all 3 in the shed.

We arranged to pick it up early in the morning, as later in the afternoon it was supposed to rain. We took my bike up, so we both got to ride some. It didn't rain in the afternoon, in fact was sunny, so he later he rode back up to Concord to get a case and targets for the BAG day acquisition. We had coupons that had to be used by yesterday - too bad we didn't remember the coupons when we went up to get the bike. But, with the nice weather, it worked out well for WS.

It did rain a little overnight, but it looks like only about 1/8" by the rain gauge. The ground will not be prepared at this rate - they have already called for flooding in MA, it wil be that way here too if the storm predictions are correct.

BAG Acquisition

Last Sunday was BAG (buy a gun) day. Don't knwo why, but it has been so dubbed for the last couple of years. Usually we don't participate, but I managed to snag something we had been looking for.

If you remember, we went back to Kansas to visit family last November. While as WS's relatives, we did some shooting. His sister's boyfriend had brought a Hi Point 995 carbine and we all had fun shooting it. Her boyfriend had bought his used and when I looked up the new ones, I found that they had changed - and not for the better in my opinion. They had gone more "tacti-cool" in looks and in stuff that was added. I didn't want all that, so we started looking for used ones.

Well, those suckers aren't something you see every day. In fact, finding an older (a couple of years anyway), was nigh on impossible. The search waned and I hadn't looked for a while, when a conversation at work made me decide to look again. So I went to Gunbroker, and lo and behold, there was an older one for sale. After emailing the seller a couple of times with questions, I put in a bid. About a week later, I was high bidder (just a bit under what I was willing to pay too) so I got to pick up the gun that was descibed thusly:

Here is a Hi Point Model 995 Semi Auto Carbine in 9mm caliber with a 8 round mag that loads up through the pistol grip. The previous owner told me he purchased the gun new and never fired it and when I inspect the rifle it does look like it was never fired to me but I cant say for sure??? The barrel is 16.5" long and the bore is clean and bright with strong rifling. The gun has great open sights with the rear being a adjustable Peep sight and the front being a adjustable post that is circled buy a metal ring. The gun has some light marks and blemishes from a few years of storage and being moved in a gun safe. This carbine as the pictures will show is in super shape and it is ready to go!!!

Fortunately the seller was in Vermont, so we were able to drive over last Saturday and pick it up after the background check was run. That was a real bonus as it saved $30 in shipping charges and $25-50 in FFL charges (FFL's are the ones who run background checks and release to the buyer). Those charges would have effectively placed the cost of the gun way higher than I was willing to go, so it worked out. We were super pleased with the condition of the firearm - as stated by the seller, it doesn't look like it has ever been loaded, much less fired.

So, we managed to get a gun the day before BAG day - I count it towards participation in the event. Now we just have to get it to the range.

New Targets

Last Sunday, after WS got home form work, he declared that it was time to go to the range. So we packed up the pistols and headed for Deering Fish and Game. DF&G is an outdoor range, that is pack in / pack out so we were shooting in the mud (hey, at least it wasn't snow covered in our area), with a slight breeze.

We started with ordinary bullseye targets, getting back into the groove of shooting. Then, WS pulled out some special targets; Jimmy had given us exploding targets for Christmas, and we were eager to try them out.

Now, the reactive targets were 2" x 2"cubes that hold a magical powder that goes BOOM when a round goes thru it. Additionally, a bright flash of light and a small smoke show ensure that you can't miss when you hit the target exactly right. See, you have to get exactly in the center before it explodes - we know, we had several that had myriad holes all around the center, but stubbornly refused to go BOOM, until hit just right. I should have gotten pictures of some of those targets, but didn't think of it until we were on the last one, and I made WS quit after one shot so I could take the picture:

Ignore all the holes around it - Other targets had been placed there before, so those are holes from it - this one had only one shot aimed at it, and WS did a mighty fine job of getting it close (remember, it's 2 x 2). It only took him another couple of shots to get it to go BOOM on this one.

And yes, it was great fun getting them to go BOOM!

Logic

Unfortunately, I've forgotten where I saw this at, so can't give credit proper credit. I'm pretty sure it was either Say Uncle, or Instapundit.