Late last night I got a phone call on my cell. The Caller ID indicated it was incoming from Kathleen. I haven't been in contact very much with her since we broke up and the last email I got from her was nine months ago. I answered the call, and when the caller started speaking and it wasn't her, I knew that I was in for some bad news.
The caller was the mother-in-law of her daughter Kerri, and she was asking for me. I knew before the news was broken to me what had happened: Kathleen had passed away. She had had a massive stroke, and died on Saturday, the 21st, at the age of 51.
I was at a loss for words, and I still am. The news has numbed me and has brought some memories, both joyful and painful, back to the forefront of my consciousness.
Kathleen's memorial service was this morning. I was not able to make it due to conflict with my PT appointment. She will be interred in Pennsylvania, next to her son, who died tragically in an accident several years ago near Philadelphia.
I am very saddened by this, but also at peace. She was a believer and I'm sure I'll see her again on the other side.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Miscellaneous Stuff, 1/17/12
Do you remember that one entry that I made where there was a botched robbery? The one where I happened to catch the scanner traffic in real time?
I had forgotten all about that until I read this.
The one issue I have with the sentencing is that the multiple sentences are being served concurrently rather than consecutively.
I left work early yesterday so that I could go to physical therapy for my hand. The swelling has come down in my finger but it is still sore. The good news is that my range of motion is coming back, although not 100% of what it used to be. I return for more PT tomorrow and again on Friday.
In a twist of irony, the young lady (who is also my next door neighbor) who drove me to the hospital last night is one of the therapists!
On the way home from PT I decided to stop off at Second Amendment Sports in order to get some more ammo for my deer rifle. I came out of there suffering from some sticker shock as to what ammo prices have done. I hadn't bought any for quite some time and as I was looking at the sticker yesterday I decided it was time to get into re-loading my ammunition.
Re-loading is something that I've always wanted to do, but never took up since I don't target shoot at the rate that I used to. I have kept all my brass (spent shell casings) in the event that I do take this up.
I have done some cursory research into this. There are three well-known manufacturers of reloading equipment. They are Dillon (based here in Arizona), RCBS, and Lee Precision. I'm sure all three make quality equipment and I have personally seen a Dillon progressive reloader in action.
I don't think I need a progressive as that I am not planning to turn out lots of rounds. I think a single stage press is what I need, with dies for my deer rifle and for my handguns. I plan to start out loading rifle rounds so that I can save some good money on factory ammo.
The research has been interesting thus far, and I'm going to have to carefully select my press and dies. Some dies, interestingly enough, are for where you are using one handgun (or rifle) exclusively for your reloads. Others will accomodate different handguns that have the same caliber. I own more than one .357 and more than one .38 special, so I need that kind of press/die setup.
I don't think I'll reload for my 9mm, as that the European guns are built with tighter tolerances and they don't do that well with reloads. My Glock gives me excellent groupings when I shoot it anyway, and with my revolvers....well, I need more practice.
I have read where your really serious hunters prefer to make their own rounds. These guys know their ballistics, and are of the opinion that the rounds they make are more accurate than factory ammo.
I have several rounds of factory ammo designed for hunting, and if I ever have occasion to use them then I might have to make my replacements.
Either way I slice it, I like being creative and building things. I think I'll come to enjoy reloading.
I happened to catch part of the Republican debate last night. I didn't watch all of it as that I had to take care of life. The field has narrowed down since I last mentioned politics and I think it will narrow down some more.
I was impressed by the performance of Newt Gingrich and also of Mitt Romney. No, I don't like Mitt Romney and I personally think that he is a conniving bastard who will say anything in order to get elected.
What I'm saying here is that Mitt Romney talked a good game. He did stumble badly when Rick Perry challenged him on releasing his tax returns.
Newt made a classic remark invoking Andrew Jackson. "Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America's enemies: Kill them."
I am at this point in time, still a registered independent, but I am considering re-registering as a Republican so that I can do my part in stopping Mitt Romney. I don't like any of the candidates but only one is backed by the Republican Establishment and that's Mitt Romney.
The inevitability of a Romney nomination is indeed a frightening prospect. I think it would be most interesting to see what would happen if the rank and file voter would somehow rebel against the Establishment and veto Mitt Romney in favor of someone else. We would, in that instance, see one of two things.
One: the Republican Establishment actively campaigning for President Obama.
Two: the Republican National Committee engineering a "brokered" convention, where the will of the Republican voters is overturned by a fiat declaration that Mitt Romney is indeed the nominee since they know what's best for us and those who disagree are too stupid to know when something is for their own good.
Either way, I am currently suffering from the belief that the Republican National Committee really doesn't want to win the White House this year.
I think they would much rather see bad things happen during Obama's second term (even if it's the Iranians detonating a nuke here on our soil). It's much easier to be a minority party in that kind of situation and snipe about things and to not offer an alternative solution.
They have to know that Romney can't win this year, yet they are blindly marching off the same cliff that they did four years ago.
I had forgotten all about that until I read this.
The one issue I have with the sentencing is that the multiple sentences are being served concurrently rather than consecutively.
* * * * * * *
I left work early yesterday so that I could go to physical therapy for my hand. The swelling has come down in my finger but it is still sore. The good news is that my range of motion is coming back, although not 100% of what it used to be. I return for more PT tomorrow and again on Friday.
In a twist of irony, the young lady (who is also my next door neighbor) who drove me to the hospital last night is one of the therapists!
* * * * * * *
On the way home from PT I decided to stop off at Second Amendment Sports in order to get some more ammo for my deer rifle. I came out of there suffering from some sticker shock as to what ammo prices have done. I hadn't bought any for quite some time and as I was looking at the sticker yesterday I decided it was time to get into re-loading my ammunition.
Re-loading is something that I've always wanted to do, but never took up since I don't target shoot at the rate that I used to. I have kept all my brass (spent shell casings) in the event that I do take this up.
I have done some cursory research into this. There are three well-known manufacturers of reloading equipment. They are Dillon (based here in Arizona), RCBS, and Lee Precision. I'm sure all three make quality equipment and I have personally seen a Dillon progressive reloader in action.
I don't think I need a progressive as that I am not planning to turn out lots of rounds. I think a single stage press is what I need, with dies for my deer rifle and for my handguns. I plan to start out loading rifle rounds so that I can save some good money on factory ammo.
The research has been interesting thus far, and I'm going to have to carefully select my press and dies. Some dies, interestingly enough, are for where you are using one handgun (or rifle) exclusively for your reloads. Others will accomodate different handguns that have the same caliber. I own more than one .357 and more than one .38 special, so I need that kind of press/die setup.
I don't think I'll reload for my 9mm, as that the European guns are built with tighter tolerances and they don't do that well with reloads. My Glock gives me excellent groupings when I shoot it anyway, and with my revolvers....well, I need more practice.
I have read where your really serious hunters prefer to make their own rounds. These guys know their ballistics, and are of the opinion that the rounds they make are more accurate than factory ammo.
I have several rounds of factory ammo designed for hunting, and if I ever have occasion to use them then I might have to make my replacements.
Either way I slice it, I like being creative and building things. I think I'll come to enjoy reloading.
* * * * * * *
I happened to catch part of the Republican debate last night. I didn't watch all of it as that I had to take care of life. The field has narrowed down since I last mentioned politics and I think it will narrow down some more.
I was impressed by the performance of Newt Gingrich and also of Mitt Romney. No, I don't like Mitt Romney and I personally think that he is a conniving bastard who will say anything in order to get elected.
What I'm saying here is that Mitt Romney talked a good game. He did stumble badly when Rick Perry challenged him on releasing his tax returns.
Newt made a classic remark invoking Andrew Jackson. "Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America's enemies: Kill them."
I am at this point in time, still a registered independent, but I am considering re-registering as a Republican so that I can do my part in stopping Mitt Romney. I don't like any of the candidates but only one is backed by the Republican Establishment and that's Mitt Romney.
The inevitability of a Romney nomination is indeed a frightening prospect. I think it would be most interesting to see what would happen if the rank and file voter would somehow rebel against the Establishment and veto Mitt Romney in favor of someone else. We would, in that instance, see one of two things.
One: the Republican Establishment actively campaigning for President Obama.
Two: the Republican National Committee engineering a "brokered" convention, where the will of the Republican voters is overturned by a fiat declaration that Mitt Romney is indeed the nominee since they know what's best for us and those who disagree are too stupid to know when something is for their own good.
Either way, I am currently suffering from the belief that the Republican National Committee really doesn't want to win the White House this year.
I think they would much rather see bad things happen during Obama's second term (even if it's the Iranians detonating a nuke here on our soil). It's much easier to be a minority party in that kind of situation and snipe about things and to not offer an alternative solution.
They have to know that Romney can't win this year, yet they are blindly marching off the same cliff that they did four years ago.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Getting Ready for Deer Season
This may seem like a very odd title for a posting in January. North of the equator, deer season is a fall thing, with some seasons starting in September and the last of the seasons wrapping up in mid-December. If anything, deer season is a fresh memory for those who were just out late last year. So why the title of the post?
It's like this.
Ever since Todd and I had a long talk about what we wanted to do this year, I've been thinking about how this year I really want to bring home a venison harvest. In previous years we were out there and we saw some deer....not any bucks, just does....not legal to shoot (nor would I want to shoot a doe). We used techniques that Todd has developed over the years with his previous deer hunting outings, combining them with my knowledge of the back roads of southern Arizona. Looking back, we did a lot of things right, but also in looking back I couldn't help but wonder if I myself needed to be better prepared.
I think I needed to be. Our last time out, we were in a great unit with not very much hunting pressure. We saw more wildlife on that outing than we had in years previous. Our disadvantage was that we had not made any scouting runs to that unit and so we were going out in unfamiliar country. That was mistake number one.
Mistake number two, for me, was that I had not spent enough time sighting in my deer rifle. Yes, I had been to the range with it, and yes I knew I stood a chance of hitting a target at 200 yards, but how much of a chance? The way it is, you might only get one opportunity to get a shot at buck. You're not going to have a great deal of time in which to take that shot either. If you're lucky you might spot one grazing and have time to put the crosshairs on him, but my gut feeling is that it won't be very much time at all.
As I was driving back from Todd's place I was pondering all of that. I made a determination to be better prepared for my next time out. And in being better prepared, I decided that the time for getting ready for deer season is now.
Two weekends ago I made a run down to Willcox to scope out the area south, and to re-visit the area where we were before. I did not go too far off-road as that with my injured finger I am still wary about slipping on a rock and taking another fall. I wanted to make sure that I could find that canyon again, which I was able to. I plan on making more runs down there but I also want to check out the area near Cascabel. In my conversation with Todd earlier this evening, we both want to check out Cascabel Road in the early afternoon to learn where the public land is and where we can hunt. We may also return to that one canyon in the late afternoon to get a better understanding of how often or likely we will see some deer there. If we could get in ten or twelve scouting runs, that would be great, though I'd be happy if we pulled off four.
In the other area of preparation, I spent some time at the range today sighting in my rifle. This time I decided to take some time between shots, using more mental discipline than I have in the past. That meant really taking the time to dwell on the bullseye, waiting until I was ready to take the shot, and then squeezing the trigger. I did lose a few shots due to a form of "nervousness" but after three shots I found myself settling in and getting some good groups at one hundred yards. I had two sessions, each with a different target, and I had a much better grouping in the second round than I did in the first.
I learned that I need to tweak my scope just a bit as that the grouping was about one and a half to two inches left of the bullseye. I wanted the group to land one inch above the bullseye, and elevationally the rifle is fine. At one hundred yards your bullet is still climbing, and if you can group one inch above bullseye at that distance then you should be elevationally even at two hundred yards. I figure that I stand a very good chance at getting off a good shot when it's time to do so in the field, yet I also figure that I should get in some more range time before then. It will take one and possibly two more range visits before my scope is dialed in to where I want it to be. After that, I should still go, mainly because practice makes perfect as they say, and I would very much want a perfect shot if I manage to get a buck in my crosshairs later on this year.
Driving home from the range, I was realizing a few things.
I had forgotten how much fun target shooting is! Sure, I've shot plenty since moving here to Arizona in 1999, taking advantage of the public hands here where I can do that. Plinking at a soda can is fun, but I found that trying to zero in on a bullseye at one hundred yards is also fun. It requires a mental discipline and a presence of mind that you're not going to be aware that you will need unless you decide to try it.
But I hadn't been out shooting for quite some time, and once I get in the range visits in that I need to sight in my rifle I plan on shooting again with one of my handguns. I've got a .38 special revolver that I need to try, and it's been a while since I've shot one of my .22s.
The other thing is how much I enjoy the outdoors here.
I definitely want to get out there more often this year.
It's like this.
Ever since Todd and I had a long talk about what we wanted to do this year, I've been thinking about how this year I really want to bring home a venison harvest. In previous years we were out there and we saw some deer....not any bucks, just does....not legal to shoot (nor would I want to shoot a doe). We used techniques that Todd has developed over the years with his previous deer hunting outings, combining them with my knowledge of the back roads of southern Arizona. Looking back, we did a lot of things right, but also in looking back I couldn't help but wonder if I myself needed to be better prepared.
I think I needed to be. Our last time out, we were in a great unit with not very much hunting pressure. We saw more wildlife on that outing than we had in years previous. Our disadvantage was that we had not made any scouting runs to that unit and so we were going out in unfamiliar country. That was mistake number one.
Mistake number two, for me, was that I had not spent enough time sighting in my deer rifle. Yes, I had been to the range with it, and yes I knew I stood a chance of hitting a target at 200 yards, but how much of a chance? The way it is, you might only get one opportunity to get a shot at buck. You're not going to have a great deal of time in which to take that shot either. If you're lucky you might spot one grazing and have time to put the crosshairs on him, but my gut feeling is that it won't be very much time at all.
As I was driving back from Todd's place I was pondering all of that. I made a determination to be better prepared for my next time out. And in being better prepared, I decided that the time for getting ready for deer season is now.
Two weekends ago I made a run down to Willcox to scope out the area south, and to re-visit the area where we were before. I did not go too far off-road as that with my injured finger I am still wary about slipping on a rock and taking another fall. I wanted to make sure that I could find that canyon again, which I was able to. I plan on making more runs down there but I also want to check out the area near Cascabel. In my conversation with Todd earlier this evening, we both want to check out Cascabel Road in the early afternoon to learn where the public land is and where we can hunt. We may also return to that one canyon in the late afternoon to get a better understanding of how often or likely we will see some deer there. If we could get in ten or twelve scouting runs, that would be great, though I'd be happy if we pulled off four.
In the other area of preparation, I spent some time at the range today sighting in my rifle. This time I decided to take some time between shots, using more mental discipline than I have in the past. That meant really taking the time to dwell on the bullseye, waiting until I was ready to take the shot, and then squeezing the trigger. I did lose a few shots due to a form of "nervousness" but after three shots I found myself settling in and getting some good groups at one hundred yards. I had two sessions, each with a different target, and I had a much better grouping in the second round than I did in the first.
I learned that I need to tweak my scope just a bit as that the grouping was about one and a half to two inches left of the bullseye. I wanted the group to land one inch above the bullseye, and elevationally the rifle is fine. At one hundred yards your bullet is still climbing, and if you can group one inch above bullseye at that distance then you should be elevationally even at two hundred yards. I figure that I stand a very good chance at getting off a good shot when it's time to do so in the field, yet I also figure that I should get in some more range time before then. It will take one and possibly two more range visits before my scope is dialed in to where I want it to be. After that, I should still go, mainly because practice makes perfect as they say, and I would very much want a perfect shot if I manage to get a buck in my crosshairs later on this year.
Driving home from the range, I was realizing a few things.
I had forgotten how much fun target shooting is! Sure, I've shot plenty since moving here to Arizona in 1999, taking advantage of the public hands here where I can do that. Plinking at a soda can is fun, but I found that trying to zero in on a bullseye at one hundred yards is also fun. It requires a mental discipline and a presence of mind that you're not going to be aware that you will need unless you decide to try it.
But I hadn't been out shooting for quite some time, and once I get in the range visits in that I need to sight in my rifle I plan on shooting again with one of my handguns. I've got a .38 special revolver that I need to try, and it's been a while since I've shot one of my .22s.
The other thing is how much I enjoy the outdoors here.
I definitely want to get out there more often this year.
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