Insanity.

We could have used a couple of items yesterday, but I was adamant that we were NOT going to make any purchases on Thanksgiving Day. I never actually left the property all day yesterday. The vast majority of people working retail are paid very little, and while I believe that it's the right of the retailers to be open on Thanksgiving Day, I think that it's pretty sorry to do it. I won't be part of the problem; I don't shop on that day.

Likewise, I won't take part in mobs. Maybe wall-sized million DPI televisors are available for $20 bills. I don't care; I'm going to miss out. I've got a 30" CRT screen that only plays Netflix and Amazon and DVDs, so I'm a bit behind the curve, anyhow.

This stuff? Oh, HELL no.

For all these things, we give thanks.

Too much food. A genuine feast.
9 people around a long table, telling stories.
An olive tray.
Deviled eggs.
A well-baked turkey.
HUGE salad tossed by my brother.
A second pan of rebaked potatoes, with too much butter and sour cream and bacon and cheese and chives.
Rolls and bread baked by The 11 Year Old In The House, with guests fighting to take some of the few remainders home.
Dressing. Gravy.
Cider. Coffee.
Green bean casserole.
Pie, pie, cake, muffins, bars, pie.... I'm missing something, but that's 6 deserts, and the muffins actually stole the show, strangely. Mini pecan muffins with too much butter.

All with a broken oven in our house.

I'm missing some stuff.

I got a call from a good friend at the end of dinner.

It's tempting to feel sorry for those who don't have what we had. But today, I just give thanks for the blessing of riches. I have a family. I have friends that I think of like family. Even my kids have friends that I think of like family. If that's not a thing to give thanks for, I don't know what is.

I've got to start taking in Thanksgiving orphans. We had too much. But it was wonderful.

11/11/13 - Veteran's Day.

Most of you didn't have to sign up, but volunteered instead. Others, you were called, and you came.

And after you signed up, you had to go.

You had to go, but you didn't have to come back.

Most of you did come back, though.

And this nation is better off for the going, and the coming back both.

Thanks.

I remember.

The hell?

I woke up Friday before work, with the fresh memory of a dream that demonstrated a familiar old theme: I had just sighted in on my foe with my carry pistol (a 637 loaded with Buffalo Bore Plus P 158g SWCHPS) from short range, only to find that the strain of the 200+ pound trigger pull caused my aim to shake off target. As I thumbed back the hammer to single-action the brain pan of the giant man-eating hog, my sleep-time Airweight hammer spring showed so much resistance that I couldn't make the cocking notch. I finally woke up with the boar unshot, and me on a higher limb of the tree that I was in. MOST unsatisfactory, for a guy who just wanted to put dream bacon on the ground.

That super-heavy dream trigger has happened so often. I guess it's a "nightmare," but up until then, it was just exciting, not scary. With the heavy trigger, the dream grew very frustrating. I woke up right after.

But to be sure, I've had this happen in real nightmares.

So maybe, just maybe, that's the thinking behind a banner that I just found, advertising a new TV show called "Sleepy Hollow:"

I may have taken liberties with the graphic. 

But the woman with BOTH of her index fingers on the trigger of her Glock is supposed to be "Lt. Abbie Mills." 

I thought for a bit that perhaps it was a comedy, but the given genre is "Adventure / Drama / Fantasy." 

Hey, Hollywood? Let me explain something: to make fantasy work, you have to make every part of the show that is not fantastic be super-realistic. Please train your actors.

Guns and video.

--And now I must go to Tahiti. Sure, Paul Gauguin had kinda implied that I oughta go, but those were dated images. Devin Graham says that it's still worth going. Now I've got to figure out financing.

--Speaking of Graham's videos, he does some fun bulletcam stuff with dogs at a dog park, using an array of GoPro cameras set in a semicircle, here.

--I'm really thinking about getting a GoPro camera. Older generations like Hero 3's can be had for under $200, and newish used Hero 5's are just around $400. When you consider what they'll collect for you, that's pretty amazing. (Waterproof. Lightweight. Virtually shockproof. High definition. Good color saturation and frame rate.) Of course, then I've got to learn video editing.

--Speaking of video, check out this FBI training film, from 1969: "Shooting For Survival." Some points are actually not too bad. Some are horrendous. http://blutube.policeone.com/videos/2751205980001-throwback-1969-shooting-for-survival/
Good gawd, WHY would you teach someone not to shoulder a shotgun when taking on a guy thirty feet away?  The stuff at the end about indexing off the hip (AKA "speed rock" is fine. The crouch at intermediate pistol distance is odd.) (Yes, Caleb, I'm mining our conversation where I brought this up to you.)

--Why does Colt offer the 1911 in a Series '70 Mk IV, but doesn't offer their Gold Cup with the non-firing pin interlock trigger? They're missing a bet.

--Speaking of Colt 1911, has anyone messed with one of their Rail Gun 1911's, like the Marines reportedly contracted them to make? I'm mildly interested.
--Ender's Game is out. I may go see it tomorrow. Well, today, now. Dad, you wanna go with?

--I also want to see Gravity.

--The shooting of the TSA agent in LAX was terrible. The TSA union is calling for armed security at each checkpoint.  I've seen people trying to get traction for the TSA agents being armed, now. I'd rather question why they're on the federal payroll, doing the work of basic security guards. We do NOT need more armed federal LEOs.  I will agree, though, that if you're going to insist that a population in an area be disarmed, you'd better provide broadly for their security.

--In Texas, even CHL carriers can't carry at sporting events and school functions. I did a walk-through of a high school football game recently, and saw a middle-aged man standing to the side of the stands, talking to another guy. I didn't recognize him. I walked up, shook his hand, and asked what agency he worked for. He introduced himself as a detective at a local medium-sized police department. I laughed and mentioned that, in his .511 pants and untucked shirt over a pistol on his strong side, he basically was in uniform. I don't think most people would have made him, but I was looking for the pistol. Nobody heard us, and I didn't ask for ID. Why should I?

--I'm thinking about next year getting a moderately-used Tundra.

--I made a superb pot roast today. Maybe I'll post the can't-miss recipe. It's surprisingly good and easy. I used to be pot roast-impaired.