Monday, October 31, 2005

Lay off Wal Mart

I'm sick to death of Wal Mart bashing. You think Wal Mart is killing America? If that's the verdict, then we're all accessories to the murder.

I'm watching the Communist News Network (not an entirely accurate name, but nice and inflammatory nonetheless), and the current old-codger-talking-head is lauding some pseudo-"documentary" criticizing Wal Mart for killing small businesses.

Wal Mart didn't kill small business. We did, because we're too cheap to pay slightly higher prices to keep small businesses in business. I know of one individual, who I love dearly and who will remain nameless, who preaches sermons on the evils of Wal Mart and "greedy" CEOs, and then will go back and forth between Wal Mart and the grocery store to save a couple of cents on a gallon of milk. Whose definition of greed are we using, anyway?

You don't like Wal Mart? Don't shop there. Go somewhere else. Need groceries? Go to a grocery store. Need hardware? Hardware stores still exists. Find one. Need medicine? Go to a pharmacy. Wal Mart isn't to blame. They're giving us what we want - low prices. And we'll take it at any cost. We'll cut our own throats to save a buck. If you want to know who is killing small businesses, go look in the mirror. Where's the Tylenol?

Thursday, October 13, 2005

What's this?!?!?

I never thought I'd have a single good thing to say about San Francisco. I stand corrected.

http://www.sfpoa.org/Journal/articles/october_05_article4.htm?id=24653

Of course, when California slides off into the Pacific, I'm still going to drive out to western Nevada so I can pee in the surf; but this gives me one reason to feel slightly bad when that comes around.

Monday, October 10, 2005

My mother-in-law RULES....

Yeah, you read that right. I get along with my in-laws. I rant and gripe about a ton o' stuff, but one thing I can't complain about is my in-laws. They're some of the nicest, most tolerant, peaceful people I've ever met. Besides, they've put up with my gun-toting, mountain-climbing weirdness and my foul attitude for somewhere around ten years now. They're champs.

Anyway, my mother-in-law recently decided it's time for her to get a home-defense weapon. Hooray for her! I don't know exactly what brought that on, but it's a good decision, for whatever reason.

She's been asking about my Remington 870 shotgun - a 12-gague, which would intimidate most newcomers. But not her. She took to it like a pro. Not only did she shrug off the recoil, but she asked intelligent questions and took pains to understand the gun and how it worked. She even CLEANED it. I'm in awe.

Most people like her are decidedly anti-gun. She has surprised me. Not only in the fact that she has taken the big step toward gun ownership, but because she has been so non-judgmental and open-minded about the whole thing. When she buys her own shottie, I'll pitch in some major pesos to help her along. We gun owners need more people like her on our side to show that even peaceful people may need to take steps to protect themselves. I'm proud to have her as my mother-in-law.

Kudos to you, "ma"!

For my friend SRC...

UGA beat the snot out of UT. I can't claim to be a sports fan, but I've never really liked UT.

My good friend SRC is holding down the fort in the land of breweries and cheese. SRC, this one's for you... dare I say, "Go Dawgs!!"

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/stewart_mandel/10/09/weekend.rewind/index.html

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

After 5 or so years of shooting....

... International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) matches, I finally moved up from Novice to Marksman! Considering how many thousands of rounds I've poured through various handguns in those years, I'm not sure how much of an accomplishment that is, but it's better than nothing. Especially considering: 1. I may have competed once this year before last Saturday (I've had so many conflicts this year I can't recall how many, if any, matches I've attended), 2. this match was the first I shot with my Springfield XD-40, and 3. this is only the 2nd Qualifier I've ever shot.

I still made some stupid mistakes. I mis-counted the number of rounds I had in my magazine in one particular string, so I had to re-load, which cost a second or two. Also, on the next-to-last string, I was supposed to fire 6 rounds at 3 targets from behind a barricade, reload, and then run up to a barrel & fire 6 more rounds.... problem was, I blazed through six rounds & took off running. Then I heard the Safety Officer yelling, "RELOAD!! RELOAD!!" I cursed and fumed, ran back to the barricade, reloaded & finished the string. Who knows how many seconds that burned.

Anyway, I feel great about progressing one classification, and I'm happy I had a weekend that I could compete. Hopefully I'll soon be cradling a brand new, full-size 5 in., .45 Para Ordinance LDA PXT with which I'll shoot even better .... but that's another post....