New Information

I would like to welcome  Prep Blog they have a website devoted to prepping and survival. This site is not a traditional blog but rather info source, you can never gather too much information so take a look.
Duke.

Will History Repeat Itself ?

A great short film, this is a reenactment but there are some real photos of the event at the end. Good story.

We Need More Gun Laws ?

File Photo

After reading about the school shooting yesterday in Ohio maybe the liberals are right, maybe we need more laws  regarding guns. For example there should be a law that says no kid under 18 should have a gun without adult supervision and there should definitely be a law that says they can't carry guns in the school buildings. ....Hmmmm, wait a second I think we already have those laws, oh well maybe the teachers could pray to God every morning before class to keep them safe.....wait scratch that, praying in school is worse than guns in school. Maybe the government should mandate scripture verses be engraved on all guns, the schools do a good job of keeping the bible out of schools. Surely someone should be teaching kids morals. I know have Obama do a video telling all the children to behave and not shoot their class mates, they could play it every morning before class. That would work for sure...... but I'm not sure it would stop me from shooting myself.

You Know What Really Ticks Me Off

Government intrusions, I despise them. I posted a few weeks ago about it but it really gets me riled when I see how far we have let it slip.
Liberty and Freedom are words I think few people understand. We are like the frog in the pot not realizing how hot it is getting. The Constitution is so abused today the Founding Fathers would not recognize us. I get so sick of government telling us what rights we can have. How many times have you seen or heard "having a drivers license is a privilege not a right" I say WRONG, we are a representative republic and if I abide by the laws my representatives pass I have every RIGHT to drive and if our Representatives pass laws we don't want, we need to work to get them out of office. Liberals will have you believe you have the right to free speech (although they will tell you what you can't say) and at the same time tell you government grants you the privilege to carry a gun if you fill out all the right forms, did they miss the second amendment? Was I the only one in class that day ? Oh wait, they don't teach that in school anymore.
I am a rebel at heart, I can follow rules when they make sense in fact I can recognize the reason many laws were passed in the first place but it is way too far out of hand today. For years I have been on a personal crusade to bypass every unnecessary regulation I come across, for example years ago when our state still had annual emissions testing on vehicles (thankfully they realized what a waste that was) I found a way to either exempt my vehicles or cheat the tail pipe sniffer. I hate bureaucrats who think they have to control every aspect of out lives. In most towns today if you wanted to live as pioneers did your home would be condemned and you kids taken away because they were living in a substandard housing. You would be cited for improper disposal of sewerage, untested water supply, lack of electricity. Your stove and fireplace would be a fire hazard. I am sure no running water would be a health violation, and the list goes on.
I wonder sometimes if back in the 1800's couples sat around and wondered if they had enough money to pay their wagon insurance, or property taxes or income tax or had to go get their drivers license renewed or get a building permit to build a barn or home. Did the farmers have to get approval from the EPA to clear land, did they get permission to drill a well or put in a out house
I know people say they like regulations because it keeps the neighbors in line, well if you don't want to deal with neighbors go buy 20 or more acres and build a home in the middle so you won't have to look at them. if you want to live in subdivision you have no right to complain if the neighbors have chickens or a messy yard. I might not like their junk but after all it is their property.....either move or build a tall fence (after you get a permit)
One particular congressman in central Florida was quoted during the Health Care debate as saying "we don't care about the Constitution" (BTW at that point he should have been arrested for violation of his oath) well I don't care about their stupid laws which violate my God given rights.
In closing I am not going to incriminate myself here but rest assured don't miss a chance violate unconstitutional laws. I am sick and tired of government telling me how to act and what I have to pay live in our country because I believe it is OUR country not the governments.

Special Welcome

I would like to welcome 3 new followers, Whskee , He has started a blog mostly about firearms, also Bobby his blog has a variety of topics and The Smiling Lumberjack , he is a young man with an eye on the military.  Be sure and check them out.
Tell 'em Duke sent you.

I Agree With Hillary

Preach it Hillary

Back Again

Thank you so much for all the kind words and condolences in  the passing of my mother-in-law. I am thankful to have such a caring group of friends. The last few days have been hectic to say the least. The Funeral was yesterday and there is still a lot of family in town till this weekend. I am very sad to loose such a beautiful lady in my life and I am trying to get back to a normal routine. I want to get back to reading blogs and posting as well. Thanks again, I will not try and respond to everyone who expressed condolences but know it meant a lot to me, I read all comments several times. Thanks again. God bless you all,
Duke.

I Loving Memory

I know many of you found out through my friend Stephen that my Mother in Law passed away.
After the assault it was discovered she had ovarian cancer and it was too far advanced. She was in Hospice care at home when she passed away. She went through so much being severely beaten and loosing twin daughters to the same cancer, one was my first wife and the second died just 2 weeks ago, she was not able to attend the funeral.

She was an amazing woman and meant so much to me. She lived next door and other family was out of town, I would check in on her and help her when she needed it. I would take her to church and usually lunch afterward.
She was born in England in 1931,  I was intrigued by her stories about WWII. As a girl she remembered the bombings and dog fights in the sky over head, as kids they would run to find pieces which were shot off of fighting aircraft that they would see fall to the ground. She moved the the US in the late 60's with her husband and kids and they became US citizens. She was proud of her new country. She was always thinking of others. The night before her surgery (which the doctors said she probably would not make it through) she was weak and in pain however she wanted a birthday card to send to her friend who had a birthday coming up, which she got, I can still see her writing in the card and addressing it, I mailed it for her. I have never met anyone quite like her. She will be missed.

What Goes On In Your Garden

Amazing video only 4:23 long. Be sure your sound is on.

Welcome.

I would like to say welcome to Ericka, thanks for clicking my follow button. I always read and strive to respond to all comments and questions. Welcome again my friend.

Revolvers, What I like, 3

This is an old 32 S&W long which has some sentimental value to me, it belonged to my great grandfather. He was a  policeman, retired from the force in the 1940's, he died before I was born. This was his pocket gun he carried every day. I have shot it and it still functions flawlessly despite the obvious surface wear, My brother has his model 10 service revolver.

OMG, you won't believe this.

Not what you thought ?

Bad Days.

I was over visiting  Flier389  at his blog the other day and he was telling a story about having a bad day (check it out for a good laugh) and it got me to thinking about a bad day I had 30 years ago. It was not funny at the time but looking back now it is somewhat funny.

It was 1982, I was young and working on a survey crew in a Florida swamp, We were doing a survey for drainage, it was late afternoon and we had spent most of the day, waste deep in the swamp wading around getting elevation shots. I was with one other crew member, we had walked up on a little high spot and I was blazing a tree with a machete so we could see by it with the instrument. My blade glanced off the tree and hit with full force to the side of my knee-cap. The blade cut about half way under my knee-cap almost taking it off. The gash was about 8" long and about 3" deep. Surprisingly enough it did not hurt very bad (come to find out I had massive nerve damage)  we were about half a mile from the road and the other crewman wanted to try and carry me out. I knew that would be almost impossible due to the swamp and terrain so I told him to go out and have the truck at the road and I could get out myself. He reluctantly did so and I commenced to half crawl and half drag myself out of the swamp all the while using both hands to keep pressure on the wound. I remember crawling through the mud and water and over logs and I did make it out. When I arrived at the road the truck was waiting and I was whisked away to the closest hospital. The crew chief checked me in to the emergency room and went back to the office to report what happened, (this was before cell phones) I hobbled over and sat down on one of the only vacant chairs. I sat there, head down still holding pressure on my wound. When I looked up I noticed all the other patients, all around me, were men and they were handcuffed to the chairs,  there had been a riot at the local Prison Farm. Shortly thereafter a couple of guards came in to load them all up to go back to the 'P farm' They were un-cuffing them and herding them back on the bus and I was having to explain I was not with them.
I don't know how long I waited to see a doctor but my wound was very dirty and contaminated and I would have to have surgery to clean it out.
Meanwhile on the other side of town my wife was waiting for me to come home for supper. It was after 6:00 PM and already dark as it was winter and the days are short. My wife had not been contacted yet (some kind of mix up at work) she had driven around the corner to a friends home to see if I was there, of course I was not. She drove back home and as she walked in the phone rang, it was one of my supervisors calling  to update my wife, you see he thought she had already been told about the accident, but she had not so all he said was "I just want to let you know your husband is going into surgery now" She was a little upset to say the least. She drove to the hospital at break-neck speed only to see me being wheeled into surgery.
I had to spend a few days in the hospital but was eventually released to go home. When I arrived home I was ready to take a shower because I had not had a proper bath since the swamp incident. My leg was in a splint to keep it straight as to not damage the knee any more. I was told to wear a plastic bag over it to shower. I stripped down and got the water in the shower to the right temp. The bath room of our home was very small. I went to swing my injured leg up and over the side of the bathtub (because I could not bend it) as I did I lost my balance, I grabbed the sink to try and catch my fall. It was one of the old style sinks which attached to the wall with no cabinet underneath, it did not hold me but rather came crashing to the floor with me on top......also it ripped the hot and cold water lines loose and water was gushing everywhere. The shutoff valves were broken away also so there was no way to shut the water off except the meter in the front yard. So here I was crawling in the front yard in a bath robe, plastic bag over my injured leg, crescent wrench in  one hand and digging the dirt out of the meter box with the other hand. I got the water shut off and to be quite honest I don't remember the details of fixing the sink, I know I did.....by myself but I think I was so mad I refused to remember any more.
It is still amazing to me the situations we get ourselves into, I guess you live and learn.

Sign Of The Times

I could see a market for these signs.

Revolvers, Colt Trooper Mk III

I recently wrote about how I like wheel guns, This is another one of my favorites. I have had it a little while. It originally belonged to a retired State Trooper but I acquired in a trade from my buddy Stephen (I traded him season one and two of American Idol on DVD)   It is Colt Trooper, Mk III,  .357 Mag.  The action is super smooth and the gun handles very nice. I have always been partial to S&W but this is one sweet shooting gun. You don't see these for sale much any more.

Weapons Cleaning

A while ago I was reading over at Tam's blog about gun cleaning and it reminded me of some experiences I have had cleaning weapons. I remember in years past standing at a cleaning table and dis-assembling my M16 and cleaning it for hours with Q-Tips and a butt-stock cleaning kit.

 Weapons cleaning Al Asad airfield Iraq 2004, Awaiting C-130 to Kuwait

I did develop some other techniques though. Once (stateside) it was about 0100 in the morning, I had to turn in a clean weapon at 0600 and I needed sleep. I had learned break-free loosens carbon while you sleep and it was best to get it all off. I went around behind the chow hall, pulled the front pin on the upper and broke it in half. I then took the steam hose and cleaned the whole weapon, because the gun was now very hot it dried almost immediately, I gave it a light shot of
lube and put it away. the next morning I turned it in with no problems even though they use a Q-Tip to inspect it and probe any spot they think was missed.
In Iraq we took our weapons everywhere, even to the shower so I would routinely open it up in the shower and rinse all the red dust out, it was so arid it would dry quickly so I would oil it lightly, swab the barrel and it was good to go.

At home my quick clean consists of oiling them down thoroughly then blowing it out with a high pressure air hose, following it up with a swab down the barrel and wiping the outside with a lightly oiled rag. This seems to work well in between major cleanings.

Additional Note: Water will not hurt anything on an AR as long as you dry it. The places to watch would be the buffer spring and the bolt. They could be taken out if needed. Remember, they were designed to be used in jungle weather, rain and river crossings.

Interesting  footnote, This is the M16 A1 I carried in Iraq, it was a Vietnam era arsenal rework, It was issued to me right out of the crate from rework facility.  It  is marked Colt AR15, (not M16) Property of US Government. It's hard to see but  the selector switch has 'auto' on it. It did have the forward assist and the barrel was an upgrade.  Almost all Marines and Soldiers  had the 3 round burst and they found this 'full auto' one a novelty.

What am I missing ?

I don't claim to be the brightest kid on the block but what am I missing ? I keep hearing about the government bailing out these homeowners because they are behind on their mortgages. Apparently many of  these people lied about their assets and income levels and the banks did not verify the claims, all these people had to do was sign a paper swearing all the information was true and correct. So now they can't pay the mortgage and the government is bailing them out because the bank took advantage of them ???? Are you kidding me, They lied and signed false documents and  the bank is the villain?  What about the poor slob working two jobs to pay his mortgage, does he get any help? No wonder this country is so hosed up. Somebody tell me I am wrong....please.

New Project

I've been working on a design for a new gun to build.  It's a 3 shot, 50 BMG revolver. Now all I have to do is find a  sucker .....ah...volunteer to test fire it.

It seems everyone wants the biggest and baddest, this might be it.

Importance of Training 2

 I wanted to recap some thoughts about training from yesterday. There is no set course to follow, you can make up things, be creative (just stay safe) I mentioned training hard, to me it is actually more fun than shooting paper targets. I really hate public gun ranges, most will have a cow if you draw from the holster and rapid fire, you have to shoot approved targets (no tin cans, how un-American is that) So private property is your best option.
You need to be familiar with the weapon you carry and know it inside out, you can practice that doing almost any shooting, and to some extent drills at home.  But when it comes to shooting 500 to 1000 rounds the 22 is an excellent training weapon as pointed out by Keads, it is still fun to shoot and inexpensive (to me there is a direct correlation between cheap and fun) this is in fact the round I shoot most now-days.
I shoot the Ruger 10-22 also the Ruger Mk II pistol and I have a 22 adapter for my AR15
Some simple drills you could try. Have 2 shooters line up 10 tin cans each in a line, use a distance which offers a challenge, load your magazines with 5 rounds each. Have both shooters wait for the command upon which they will draw and shoot all their cans as quickly as possible, reloading as needed, compete for time.
Do the same drill with rifles except put the cans out at about 100 yards. Upon command drop to the prone position and fire. Bench rest shooting is excellent to sight in a rifle but does little to give you real life training.
Another target I like to shoot is a 20# propane cylinder (make sure it's empty Stephen, another story for a different day) It is about the right size for 'center body mass' It can be hung from a tree limb at 100 yards, I like to shoot it using my AR15 with 22 adapter. You can clearly hear the hits at that distance. You can try these drills using variations like running between trees or posts and firing  2 or 3 shots at each station till you finish.

This is wrong, don't shoot up a good Jerry Can.

Milk jugs or 2 liter bottles filled with water make a fun target. Old fruit (don't go there) makes a good target.
You can buy all kinds of commercial targets but I am into low budget (translate fun) training. I know this is old hat to lots of you but bear with me because there are newer shooters who are looking for ideas.
If all else fails you could  practice similar drills in your yard using a BB pistol or Air Soft gun.

I should learn not to give people bad ideas like I did yesterday, talking about shooting from vehicles. I knew someone would want to try it (I won't mention any names but his initials are 45er )   This is really a combat tactic and not a self defense drill, if someone shoots at you on the highway concentrate on getting away, not shooting back......BUT having said that I will give give some words of caution strictly in the interest of freedom of information.
We were taught this in Kuwait by ex-special forces guys, contracted by the military to teach troops going to Iraq. It lasted 3 days. The weapons we used (apart from roof mounted) were the M16

Practice from a stationary vehicle before moving, be careful of outside mirrors, they tend to get shot. The driver has to shoot his rifle with the barrel resting on the window sill, he can't use the sights so you shoot low watching the dust where the round hits the ground. You then 'walk the rounds' on target, the 20# cylinder is a good target here. Passenger has to shoot in an awkward position unless they are left handed (BTW driver needs to shoot right handed) Passenger does all the reloading, when the driver shouts reload the passenger loads HIS weapon and chambers the round and hands it to the driver, sweeping the barrel first and toward the windshield careful not to ever point it at the driver, at the same time the driver passes the empty weapon, (butt first) to the passenger. In this manor driver and passenger keep trading weapons. Another word of caution, spent brass bounces around violently inside the vehicle when ejected. It will bounce off the windshield, the roof etc. Some of it will go down your shirt....and it burns, you can't get it out so beware it will undoubtedly hit you in the face so safety goggles are a good insurance as well  A rider in the back of a truck can have targets called out to him from driver or passenger because they see them first, you can map out a course and drive it, changing it up all the time. The rider in the back is best to be in a seated position.
The Law probably takes a dim view of this kind of training so beware, needless to say it is not easy, not like gangstas make it look on TV.
Here again I am not recommending this, it is written for entertainment purposes only. If anyone tries this and gets hurt I will delete this post and no one will ever remember where they saw it.

Hi Ho Good Neighbor

I would like to welcome two new followers, DeanO , he has a interesting blog which covers all kinds of different subjects, and  Russell1200 his blog deals with a lot of current events. Be sure to check them out and say Hi.

As always I strive to answer all comments and questions. Thanks again.
Duke.

Importance of Training.

 Disclaimer: I am not recommending anything here unless you have proper instruction or are willing to do so at you own risk. It is your responsibility to stay legal and safe.

I have discussed this subject with my good friend Stephen and have been mulling it over in the back of my mind then the other day  I was reading a girl and her gun where she was talking about some realism in training so I decided go ahead and do this post.
We all hear that you need to train and practice with your guns (or anything else for that matter) so you will know what to do if or when the need arises. This usually involves getting up Saturday, after a good nights sleep,having a shower, getting dressed and stopping to eat before going to the range, laying out your gear and commence to target shoot at leisure, sipping coffee in between reloads. It is a great way to relax from the week and enjoy a favorite pastime. We all have done this and it is very enjoyable and it is an excellent way to introduce shooting to a beginner..........BUT it is not realistic training.

A lot of people think military training is harsh and many times unreasonable (many people in the military think this also) they think it is nothing more than a glorified hazing to give you bragging rights, however most of their training does have some reasoning behind it.
For example a Drill Instructor may keep you awake with menial tasks then after you get a little sleep, wake your squad up at 0200 yelling at you and make you do pushups outside in your shorts, in the cold while harassing you then get you up at 5 AM to run 4 miles before breakfast. Then march you to the range and yell all instructions as loud as possible (in your ear if necessary) and expect you to perform. You will be tired, maybe hot or cold, exhausted, confused, frustrated, maybe mad or sad but to be sure it will not be your best day, and that is exactly what they planned, you learn to perform in the worst conditions and in the worst mental state. In later training you will do field exercises (we did them every year) where at some point you will  be kept up for 24 Hrs and longer, and you will be 'assaulted' ,almost always at night, maybe in the rain and cold there will be tear gas and you will be using night vision equipment and gas masks and MOPP gear, they will attempt to confuse you with flash grenades, smoke grenades, simulated artillery shells, illumination rounds which cast moving shadows as they descend. I have done weapon's qualifications in the pouring rain, laying in the mud. It is all done with a goal in mind, training you to perform under the worst conditions because in combat the enemy will attack at your weakest moment, when you are the least alert or confused.
So it is with us in the civilian world, a thug could attack you at night, you may be half asleep or tired or your mind will be on other things or you may have been running and out of breath, they will prey on your weakness.
So how can we train?  For one thing you need to find a private range to do this as most public ranges have no tolerance to this kind of training.
You can make up moving targets and shoot at them while you are moving, I should point out this is exactly why the military teaches to keep your finger straight and off the trigger till you are ready to fire, if you fall down the weapon won't go off accidentally. Keep your barrel (if un-holstered) pointed in the direction of the threat or slightly down.
You could try running 100 yards as fast as possible then drawing and firing at a target.
Try walking fast and shooting at a silhouette
Try drawing and firing at the target while someone behind you is yelling at you or makes loud noises trying to distract you.
Try shooting and reloading at night or very low light, with a flashlight, at a target.
Try shooting with a group, develop sectors of fire, have a 3rd party call out your targets.(you will have to listen for your targets and not shoot till they are called)
I will not recommend it here but I will for the sake of this discussion mention it is good training (maybe not legal, but fun) learning to shoot a target from a moving vehicle, driver and passenger or from the back of pickup truck. It can be dangerous but 'news flash' most shootings are dangerous.

Maybe this gives you some ideas. In a stressful situation you will tend NOT to react as you should  unless you have had proper training. In a fire-fight and probably to a similar extent in any threatening situation your adrenalin will be flowing, you will be breathing heavy, nerves will be on edge with your guts in a knot so you need to be a machine, you will need to react on instinct. That only comes with good training. I have seen news stories where someone was attacked and they had a gun and  froze or fumbled around had the gun taken away from them. Furthermore in a survival situation you may need some of the skills required of combat troops to survive as well.

I can assure there is no such thing as a fair fight, whoever is doing the attacking is gaining every advantage they can, "fun shooting" is fun but sometimes you need to train hard.

Importance of Training part 2

Revolvers, What I like.

I am a big fan of revolvers. I know they don't have hi-capacity mags and aren't as lightweight or 'hip' as some of the auto load pistols (I do love the 1911 though) The first handgun I had was a revolver. I grew up watching westerns and they always appealed to me. I like the simple design, they have no real safety except the one between your ears. Double action is neat, you pull the trigger and it goes bang, if it fails to fire you keep pulling the trigger till it goes bang, no clearing needed.  In my ever so humble opinion they are a good 'first gun'
One of my favorites is this S&W model 29. it is a 44 Mag with a 4" barrel. It is the same gun as seen in the Clint Eastwood movie, "Dirty Harry", only his was a 6" barrel. Many of these 4" barrel guns were sold only to  traded back to the gun shop a week later with a box of shells (less 6 rounds) They are fairly brutal to the hands with a full high power 44 mag load, feels like someone took a sledge hammer to your palm. I reload my own shells so I load the 44 mag shells with the 44 Special load. This makes them very pleasant to shoot and easy to control but I still have the option of the heavy loads.  When I bought this one (years ago) it was like new in the box but my guns are not safe queens, I shoot them and enjoy them. I don't purposely beat them up but I don't baby them either.
I like a well used gun, light scratches are OK and some holster wear is fine. A safe queen probably never saved anyone and it certainly never won any battles.

Special Welcome

I would like to offer a special welcome to A Girl And Her Gun she has an interesting blog, sharing life stories and with a lot of shooting information, very interesting. Be sure to visit if you haven't already.

Home Schooling, My Story.

 This in in memory of my 1st wife who passed away when my youngest was in 11th grade. She was not a teacher by trade but her legacy lives on it her children.
I was reading Heroditus Huxley  where she was explaining why she is homeschooling her kids, it prompted me to write this blog and maybe encourage some who are doing it or considering it.  

All 4 of my kids (now grown) were home-schooled and graduated as such. My daughter is now married and has a small home business, My eldest son is a doctor, My next son has his degree and is now starting law school and my youngest went to trade school and has a good paying job as a diesel mechanic for a dredge company and gets to travel.
It is not as hard as you might think and we found there is tons of information out there to help and contrary to popular belief most states do not set any real standards. You can get curriculum form MANY places and there is always online lessons as well.
After registering as home-schoolers we never had any problems or questions from the county school board. We were required to send in a end of school year "report" so to speak, for us it was a SAT test the kids signed up to do (the test are mainly reading and basic reasoning, very easy). There are many tests out there they will accept, and due to the high number of home-schoolers  there are many avenues for testing.  In my opinion school boards love Home-Schoolers because they still get to collect the taxes and it lowers their class size. College is not a problem either, when my eldest son signed up for college he took the standard SAT's and all I had to do was sign a form saying he graduated from home school....no report card, transcripts or anything. I think they realized that by law they HAD to accept any grade I gave him and I could lie about it so they figure what's the use just sign a paper saying he Graduated....I know hard to believe but that is ALL I did.

Most kids in school only have about 2 hours of teaching a day by the time you factor in all the other "junk" they do. break time, lunch, changing class, roll call, settling everyone down etc and then they get almost no one on one teaching so you can home-school in a lot less time and you know what they will be taught. The neat thing is you can take vacations during the school year, the weather is better, no crowds etc and chalk it up as a field trip. You can visit interesting places and they can do a report about the history there and they will never forget it. A kid in school will never get that experience.
My kids loved home school, they would get up early and self start and be finished before lunch. All my kids played sports at the local High School, By law they had to be accepted but they were quickly liked by the coaches because they were generally more disciplined.  

We have stayed a week in Key West in the winter and the the kids would write  essays about the history and geography, something they never learn as well in a book. As I said earlier the state sets no curriculum you have a lot of freedom. Even High School is not hard, for example, you  have to have 2 years foreign language my daughter studied sign language, she had a book to study from and she would sit in the deaf section at church and in  few weeks she actually got good at it.

If you get in a group you will find TONS of support and help. You will find other parents who will co-op their skills to teach groups of kids once a week. The big thing for me is they wont be indoctrinated by the liberal teachings like "hug a tree day" or learn  America is the scourge of the planet.
One of the neatest stories was when my son was in college a professor asked him after class where he went to school because he was so disciplined and knew how to think for himself when he said he was home-schooled the professor told him any home schooled kid would always be welcome in his class.
Nobody cares about your kids like you do so why leave it to a government  employee to teach them their values.

On a final note, you never know the friends your kids will make in a home-school group. My 3 sons played flag football with a little home-school kid, they got to be friends, he would sometimes come with his mother to our home and play and they would go to his home as well, His name?............. Tim Tebow.

Welcome

I would like to welcome 2 new followers, Yart and Kellie, thanks.
I always try and answer all comments and questions, give them a visit,  it's always good check different blogs.
Thanks again, Duke.

Hostile Fire and Imminent Danger Pay

I get a lot of emails from veterans groups regarding Obama cutting Combat Pay for troops. According to the Military Times, The rules for Hostile Fire and Imminent Danger Pay have changed. Service members will now receive imminent danger pay only for days they actually spend in hazardous areas. This change went in effect on February 1, 2012.
A member of a uniformed service may be entitled to Hostile Fire and Imminent Danger pay at the rate of $225 for any month in which he/she was entitled to .......

It has most vets fired up and 'spittin mad' over Obama's contempt for the military and that he is limiting their 'Combat Pay' From what I gather they want to pro-rate it for the days ($7.50 a day) of the month you are actually being shot at which means it will be up to some pencil pusher to determine what that means. When I received combat pay if you were in country 1 day out of the month you got the full amount for the month and trust me it was not worth $225 for one minute of getting shot at let alone a month.

Combat Pay also means you are tax exempt for the month, which I guess would change also.

What really gets me is the government will spend billions to feed and give health care to illegals, bail out wall street and cash for clunkers while depriving those who are laying their life on the line for our country.

I would encourage the scum suckers in Washington to stand down range for 24 Hrs and get shot at an see if it's worth $7.50 to them.

Got it Running

I decided to till up a small plot for a garden (about 30'X50') so I broke out my old tiller. It had been sitting for a few years and was sure to need some attention. It was old when I bought it 20 years ago so I was not sure what would be wrong with it. The first thing I did was remove the gas tank and flush it out, the valve on the bottom was gunked up pretty good. After reinstalling the tank I flushed the line to the carburetor. I then removed the spark plug and cleaned it.  After everything was back in place I sprayed the air intake with a shot of starting fluid and pulled the rope, second try it started and ran like a sewing machine.
I like old machinery and I like this old tiller it was originally sold by Sears, I acquired it used but  I quickly removed all the shrouds and guards around the pulleys and belts and trashed them, I figure I am bright enough to keep my hands clear (the more dangerous a piece of machinery is the better I like it) and it makes them lot easier to work on. I like to be able to see everything turning and moving.
In a week or so I will turn the soil again, I may water it in between to get any seeds or weeds to sprout. The more weeds I kill now the better.

Just a note: Any small engine that is going to be sitting for a few weeks it is best to shut off the fuel and let it run out of gas. In my experience that will solve about 90% of the problems you could have getting it restarted. I had to drain the tank but the carburetor was clear, that's a big plus.

Special Welcome

I would like to welcome 2 new followers, MSgt B  of  my muse shanked me   and  andrews reclaimed 
Be sure to check them out and say Hi

I will work on getting my tiller running today and turn the soil for the first time this year. I do have a 8N ford tractor I could use (and may) I used it to plow gardens and mow heavy brush years ago.
I still think these are the best looking tractors ever made, mine was made in 1951 and still runs good.

Garden Time (almost)

I was reading SciFiChick this morning, she had a post on starting seeds. Got me to thinking I need to get my garden ready. Around here (Florida) I like to have a garden in around March 1st but in order to do that I like to plow it at least twice before I plant, allowing seeds to sprout or weeds to come up before I plow again so I get a good kill. On a small garden you can lay a tarp or black plastic out on the ground to kill all grass in the area. One of my favorite things to grow is bush beans (green beans) they produce almost all summer and can be picked almost every day. I have about given up on growing corn as the varmints get to it before I do, squirrels are the worst, I have seen them shuck and eat the corn right on the stalk. I live in a suburban area but have two acres with woods and a creek nearby so critters are in abundance.

Over 20 years ago I used to trap racoons and possums around my garden,  I would take the trap, animal enclosed, down to the inner city area and sell them to the local's I would usually find standing around a burn barrel in vacant lot. I found out they wanted them alive but they would ask me to kill it so they could be sure it was fresh kill. I would take a long barrel 22 revolver out of my truck and do the deed right there on the side of the road, I don't think I could get away with that today. Police now days take a dim view of discharging weapons in public especially in the middle of the city.....no sense of humor.

Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day which I think is wonderful, I like ground hog.....very tasty. I also wish we had a day for ground beef, ground turkey and ground chicken.

On another note, I saw Stephen today, he is fit to be tied. He hopes he can go home soon but will need in home care till he is out of the woods. He is starting to get his mean streak back so maybe I will have to stop being nice to him.

Photo taken Ramadi Iraq 2004

BTW Stephen, While you are sucking up the A/C in the hospital just remember it could be worse, you could be here.