Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

November 2009

Range Report

sw908s.jpgWe decided to take the 9mm pistols to the range today. We brought a hundred rounds of 9×19 ammo. I brought my Glock 26 subcompact and Damsel brought her S&W 908s. The latter being a little workhorse with a single-stack 8 round magazine. This nice little gun has been one of our most reliable guns but seldom sees much praise when we post about shooting.

Image: Damsels 908s after clean-up. Click to enlarge.

We actually have two of these, a ‘his’ (in black) and ‘hers’ – this one – the ‘s’ after 908 indicates ‘silver’ finish. As I said before, these guns have been pretty reliable. We have had them for several years, shoot them regularly, and have only replaced the slide springs and spring guides in them after one of the two was showing some wear.

We also took two shotguns today – the 12 gauge Remington 870 Security Shotgun and Damsel’s 20 gauge shotgun. As usual we took 25 rounds for each gun. You can read more about shooting them here.

08 Nov 2009 by Firearms Shooting

Model Train Show

This is the second year we took in the model train show at our local Botanic Garden. I love all trains – full size and models. Had we known about this annual show earlier, we would have started coming to them a long time ago.

We saw live steamers, electric trains and streetcars, realistic models and a lot of toys and whimsy. The layouts were intricate and nostalgic since most were set in the great train eras up to and including WWII.

The video starts with some stills of the indoor exhibits and then some video of the outdoor train sets. This was a family event and the kids loved watching the trains as much as us old guys.

The outdoor exhibits were set up near the cactus garden. I ran into a former colleague of mine, also retired, who was an exhibitor in the outside displays. We talked about how good it was that everyday was Saturday except for Sunday these days.

I would love to take up model railroading as a hobby, but I seem to have enough expensive pastimes as it is. You know, the cost of ammo and vacationing take their toll. We’ll just have to vicariously enjoy the train hobby at these shows.

07 Nov 2009 by California Culture Entertainment

Winners

Michael Ramirez skewers Nancy Pelosi‘s claim, that Tuesday was a big win for the far left:

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UPDATE: Nancy would likely say that CNN won the ratings wars, too . . .

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Finally, this from the Patriot Post:

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06 Nov 2009 by Humor Sports Whacko Politics

Godspeed The Ft. Hood Victims

ft-hood.jpgDamsel and I have the Ft. Hood victims in our thoughts and prayers tonight. We are still following the news as it develops.

Looking around the internet and watching the news, we see various reports and opinions about this horrific event. I found this tweet from K.J. Lopez, who blogs at the NRO Corner, very interesting:

re fort hood: why do we reflexively rule out terrorism?

Given the identity of the alleged shooter, Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, we have to ask the same question.

Image: Ft. Hood commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone making statement to press

UPDATE: Talk about the inmates running the asylum – Hasan was an Army psychiatrist!

UPDATE: Col. Terry Lee (RET), a psychiatrist who worked with Hasan, told Fox News that several times Hasan made radical statements and thinly-veiled threats against US involvement in the War on Terror.

05 Nov 2009 by Islamic Terrorism Military

Saguaro National Park

Damsel took this shot from the Saguaro National Park (West), near the museum. I cropped it down to this panoramic image looking west from the park. We drove up from Tucson to visit the park, then on to Marana, where we stayed for a couple of days to relax and look around.

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There certainly is some pretty scenery in Arizona. Click on the image to enlarge.

04 Nov 2009 by Panorama Travel

Fish Hook Cactus Flowers

This is a very pretty flower on what is called a ‘fish hook’ cactus. The cactus is a barrel type with spikes and spines similar to the ‘Devil’s Tongue’ that we have in the patio here at home. I took this photo on the grounds of the Casa Grande Ruins near Coolidge, Arizona.

The red color of these flowers contrasts nicely with the yellow colors of the pollen stems in the center. Click on the image to enlarge.

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03 Nov 2009 by Arizona Home & Garden

Whack Job

I planted an umbrella tree in one corner of the yard a few years ago to provide a barrier between our yard and the neighbors. It does the job quite nicely, but, as you can see in the “before” panel above, it’ got a little out of control. Exacerbating the control problem, a group of several California palms popped up behind the umbrella, next to the wall in back. Many people consider this variety of palm a weed – in this case, it’s true.

For the “before” picture, Damsel posed me next to the garden project just as I began to whack away with the branch cutter and chain saw. Two green bins worth of tree parts later, she snapped the “after” picture. It was more work than it appears. The palms were a bitch to clean up, all intertwined and always with the little razor sharp spikes catching on stuff (luckily, I escaped any of them snagging a chunk outta me). Eventually, I will remove the palms completely, before they start moving the block walls.

Remember that little squirrel that kept popping up in people’s pictures on the web? Somehow, that little guy managed to get in the “after” picture. Maybe he was hiding there before – you just couldn’t see him through the thicket.

02 Nov 2009 by California Home & Garden

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