Nom de guerre: Rivrdog

Whew! That's over...

Thanksgiving, that is. Did the Big Fambly Dinner as usual, and the next day motored downstate and picked up my Sis, who hasn't been up here to visit me in several years. Arranged a huge Dim-Sum clan gathering with two daughters, both their intendeds, friends and family. Came off well.

Had a big dinner here, formal dining room and all, for young RivrDaughter and beau and Sis last night, and this am, got up early and motored Sis back downstate to her little River home in Cottage Grove, then motored back.

Just got up from the nap this has all mandated.

Report complete.

That is all.

Next activity, Blastorama Weekend and related arms/ammo prep for the trip North.

Welcome to the Flotilla!

Let's all welcome Marilyn's new blog, Waterborne, to the blogsphere AND to my blogroll. Marilyn and hubby, whom she chooses not to introduce yet, live aboard a POWER boat on Vancouver Island, BC. Sorry, old salt ragbaggers from Texas need not apply for sympathy there.

Captain's Orders

Bosun, assemble the crew midships. I will address them with my Sunday message. Uniform will be the work uniform for those on watch, and undress blues for those off watch.

Giving Thanks

Yes, I do have a religious bone in my body. The religion's not been written down, but I believe that God does guide my hand some, and also guides the hands of others who impact my life.

So, I can give Thanks on this day that is set aside for it.

To God, for you have guided minds and hands to do these great things for myself and others:

1. Thank You for guiding the United States Marine Corps in their terrible struggle with the forces of evil that they fight in order to preserve our way of life. As You can, keep them safe. Watch over the rest of the military that supports them.

2. Thank You for guiding the deft hands of my surgeon this year. Without him, I'd be sitting at Your table, not my family's.

3. Thank You for guiding the majority of voting citizens of this great nation to resist the blandishment and temptation of undeserved reward and re-elect President Bush to continue to guide our Republic.

4. Thank You for guiding my hands and thoughts during my past forty-five years of labor, and making that labor worthwhile enough so that I may now enjoy a few years of rest and retirement before joining Your Company.

5. Thank You for the vision and clarity of thought that enables me to write, serving You and enlightening my readership.

Finally, thank You for the shield of Safety that you have raised to protect my family. We thrive because of You.

Ding Dong

"...The witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead..."

Say good-night Dan

GOOD-NIGHT DAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shop/Shed is in!

Got up at oh-dark-thirty to gimp out to the construction site and take a dark picture of the pre-construction shed site.

Right on time the crew arrives, with the prefabbed building on their flatbed. They set to work with a will, and work straight through, with no breaks (even though I tempted them with coffee). They handed me the key at 3:30pm.

The shed arrives on the truck, the crew gets out their tools.

The shed is up and the roof is going on by lunch.

The boys finish the roof skylights and there's a painter somewhere touching up. Note the steel-beam base this thing's built on.

Site's cleaned up, shed is ready for my inspection.

Foreman Elliott makes one more turn through before accepting my check. Only 22 years old, he runs a crew of three lads who made this job look routine. My neighbor, a contractor, thought very highly of him, and offered him work on the spot. On time, on spec, on budget. An All-American crew doing a great day's work. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The shop foreman stopped out at the site to see how his fabbed product had survived the trip from his shop.

Needless to say, I'd recommend this outfit and their products to anyone. Heh-heh, I just have.

On Sportsmanship

The ugly scene in Detroit's NBA arena the other day pretty much prompted this post on Sportsmanship.

Forget that the very word is "sexist".

Forget that every newspaper devotes considerable paper and ink on a daily basis to sports.

Let's look at the concept.

White Flag of Surrender?

So, Mr. and Ms. CEO of the Mainstream Media, where are your reporters on this story?

We get howls about a marine shooting a man in a group of dead terrorists, but when the same thing happens on the other side, we get silence from the MSM.

I've added it up. Yep. Done the math. Old math, new math, it still adds up to this: The mainstream media don't want US forces to win this war. They do not support the President, or the grunts in the field, either.

I won't go so far as to call them traitors, but I will say that by their concerted action, they are very close to being defined as a Fifth Column, on the wrong side in the war on terror.

What happened on 9-11-01? Besides the terror attacks? We all were glued to our TV sets, for days and weeks. Advertising revenues went up. The MSM profited by 9-11.

Could it be that the MSM don't want a quick, efficient end to muslim extremist terror for dollar reasons?

Time's up, Game Over

and your "gentle" Cap'n is armed better than before National Ammo Day/Week. Yesterday

the ammo came that I ordered last week (yep, jumped the gun so it would actually arrive during the appropriate week), and today I picked up

Kilo Delta Tango, a Marlin Camp .45, my newest rifle.

Together with the new 1911, I am now armed with a fearsome combo of the best semi-auto pistol ever made and a decent companion carbine that takes the pistol's mags and ammo.

Note that the new "A" team is in Condition one and ready to go. Since I haven't conducted function tests with ammo + mags, I have split the magazine loads

for KDT: one fifteen round and one seven rounder in 230gr Mil Ball, and one fifteen round and two seven rounders in 230gr JHP Federals.

This, my friends, is how you do Ammo Day right.

Somedays you get the bear...

But, somedays the Bear gets you, especially if you are a kneejerk liberal.