It’s been one of those Mondays.
Monday is a watering day. But the forecast called for rain, so early this morning I went out to shut off the irrigation system.
“Huh,” I thought. “Doesn’t look like rain to me.” So I left it on.
Monday is also Geezer Ride Day. So, naturally about the time the watering was done, the clouds started creeping in and the wind began ramping up.
“Huh,” I thought. “Better bail on the ride.” Which I did.
Monday is not Grocery Day. That would be Sunday. But I blew off Sunday’s grocery shopping for a two-hour bike ride in the wind plus a meet-and-greet with the mayor and a few dozen of his supporters.
So suddenly Monday was Grocery Day. And off I toddled to the Sprouts at Tramway and Central, en route nearly getting croaked by a street racer who roared up behind me in the right lane, then shot into the left and around me, barely missing both me and the dude slightly ahead of me in the left lane.
He then swerved onto the shoulder to pass everyone else in sight at about 25 mph over the 50-mph limit, which encouraged another jackass to do likewise, scattering dust, gravel, and debris from previous eejit-triggered crashes across the traffic lanes.
It happened so fast, in so much traffic, that I couldn’t grab the iPhone for a shot of either license plate. And it wasn’t the first time I’d wished I had some other sort of shooter with a tad more authority, like a Browning Hi-Power or a Colt 1911. I mean, you can’t AirDrop one or both of the silly sonsabitches.
Anyway, I got to the grocery without being killed to death, and only then did I notice that I’d left my grocery list at home.
“Huh,” I thought. “Maybe I can do it off the old internal hard drive.”
And I did! Didn’t miss a single item, and even picked up a bonus packet of ground turkey for a chili con carne in case the weather turned ugly.
Which of course it did, since I’d decided earlier to water the lawn. Our widget makes it 0.08 inch of precip slashing down sideways out of the north, and I expect that statistic does not include the hail.
“Huh,” I thought. “I suppose a run is out.” Which it was.
So instead of running, since a few of you seemed to enjoy our little Tour of Memory Lane, I decided to spend a couple hours collecting and posting PDFs of a few of my Adventure Cyclist reviews.
Naturally, I couldn’t find the one about the Rivendell Sam Hillborne, the bike I was riding in yesterday’s wind-fest (13 mph with gusts to 23). If I recall correctly, that one didn’t make the print magazine, but was posted to the Adventure Cyclist blog, where it languishes behind the membership paywall.
“Huh,” I thought. “I bet I have my original copy on another Mac.” And I do.
But I’m not gonna post it. Not yet. I got chili to cook.
Mad Blog Media 
You get the rain, and all we get is the wind.
When I worked in the gun and tobacco store, we got what you need to die quick or slow, I carried a pretty FN made Browning Hi-Power. It was an extremely well made and finished gun. Now I carry guitar picks.
I should probably stick to the iPhone. I bet half the preteens in this burg are better armed than I am. Probably got more shooting experience too.
I skipped the Century (or should I say half century) yesterday as we had 20-30 mph winds with gusts over 40 and it just didn’t sound like fun. Plus, I re-injured my left bicep wrestling with leaky roof repairs. A Saturday ride up a Hors Fatguy climb on the north side really aggravated it to the tune of a lot of Advil and sleeplessness.
Yeah. That experience really sounds like it releases The Urge to Kill. I imagine that N Frame S&W would be a handful on a bike or even in the car. The Hi Power is a great gun (I passed on one a few years back and am still kicking myself) but if you can find one in reasonable shape or new (the FN), it would likely set you back well over 1,000 pictures of George Washington. I think there are some knockoffs as well.
With all due respect to Frank Serpico, I’d recommend for a double stack something like a Beretta 92FS (lots of used ones around) or Beretta PX4 or CZ or something for about half to two thirds the price. I hate Glocks but they are the Toyota Corollas of guns: cheaper and they always work. The M9 was the military version of the 92FS for a long time after they retired the 1911’s. 1911’s are also pretty good guns if you don’t mind more recoil. Just avoid the really cheap shit.
I have a hunch you are not really that serious but if you ever want to waste a few hours and ruin your reputation as a Democrat (I promise not to tell David Hogg), you are welcome to mosey up here and try a couple of mine for shits and giggles on the BLM land.
My Model 19-4 is actually a K-frame, a bit smaller than the N, and a bit lighter (but not much).
Whenever I pick it up I hear Boris the Blade pitching a big ol’ wheelgun to Tommy in “Snatch”: “Heavy is good; heavy is reliable. If It doesn’t work you can always hit him with it.”
For some reason I thought you had a Mod 27. I have a 19-5 with a 6″ barrel. A lot of fun to shoot, but I rarely shoot it.
Mine’s got the 4-inch barrel and it’s just too much boom for the ’burbs. I mean, you shoot a baddie in the hallway and the round goes through him and a wall and drops one of the neighbors.
I haven’t fired the damn’ thing in, what? 22 years? For sure not after we sold the Weirdcliffe place. I don’t like ranges, but I enjoyed blazing away on our property up there.
Back in the Day® I had a .41 S&W Magnum with a 6-inch barrel. Now that thing was fun to shoot. Not quite the hand cannon that the .44 was, but still, yow.
Every time I see someone flip the cylinder into a fine revolver I want to shoot them with it. When I worked in the gun shop and a customer started to do that, I told them if they did the gun was sold. To them.
Yeah, that cylinder flipping is the sign of someone who watches too much Youtube and doesn’t know what the fuck they are really doing.
41 Mag is a lovely cannon. But as Pat says, could take out three of your neighbors along with the bad guy. I thought about getting one or a .44 but have no real use for it other than just having it for shits and giggles, which is why I have most of my guns. They are just fun to shoot. I don’t own them for any practical reason other than I like guns. One or three would be good enough for self defense, since I don’t hunt any more. After a few years of filling the freezer, I just got sick and tired of killing animals when I could avoid meat altogether. I don’t even eat much eggs or cheese any more.
The real question is what my better half will do with all this shit if I croak before she does.
I’m one who will always have respect for firearms and handle them accordingly. I can understand the ridiculousness of spinning a cylinder irrelevant of whether it is loaded or empty, but the techie in me wonders why spinning an empty cylinder does harm to the firearm. Certainly I can see the wear it would cause to the springs if done often enough, but if the spinning were done only a few times, what harm could result? My thought is the idea is simply to learn and display the respect for the firearm by not treating it like a toy. Spinning the cylinder delves into the aspect of the toy realm.
Spinning the cylinder out of the frame on a double action revolver doesn’t hurt anything. Spinning the cylinder in the frame of a single action revolver does no harm. But, flipping the double action revolver to slam the cylinder into the frame can damage the lock work, crane, and or knock the cylinder out of alignment on most brands, with Ruger maybe the exception.
My problem with speed racers is my race driving gene kicks in and I’m like a hungry lion wanting to go after the wildebeest (or maybe Dug the dog in the movie “Up”). I have a difficult time telling myself “No! Don’t do that Shawn! You shant do no more chasing those wilee’ drivers along shoulders, bike lanes and narrow alleyways at speeds that are mostly frowned upon”. A few months back when I exited a freeway offramp at night I had a modern vette and a porsche pass me at speed on the left at a right turn stop sign. I was not bothered so much by their marginally unsafe maneuvers, but that they were just going a bit fast. A switch clicked and off I chased. Fortunately after less than a minute of quite close driving I realized that although we were the only vehicles in the area of those roads, what I was doing was not acceptable for me to be doing. But those old habits are hard to shed.
Reminds me. I was headed back to Los Alamos from Fanta Se one day long ago and headed up the main hill from the valley. This minivan passes me at a high rate of speed on a curve. I thought the driver might flip the van. So I chased it all the way into BombTowne where the guy stopped at a restaurant. I got out of my car and asked him loud enough for the multitude to hear “do you always drive like an asshole, or was that a special occasion?”.
Turns out it was the restaurant owner and a “big man in the community”. Was pretty funny, but stupid, as Arte Johnson might have said.
When I bought my Corolla SE hatchback, my brain said the standard version was all we need. But, my heart said get the GR Track Edition.
When I was shopping for a Subaru to replace the Tacoma the salesman at Heuberger offered me a test drive in a turbo Forester. After a quick lap around Motor City I said, “Nope, not for me. I will be having many conversations with the John Laws if I buy this one. Many, many of them.”
I bought a WRX in 2007 when I was tired of pumping money into a black hole, aka the Porsche, which I sold. First thing I did was get a speeding ticket.
Meanwhile here in the Mitten State…I’ve had it up to here and back again with semi-trucks barreling down our country lane instead of using the wider, weight rated road a mile west. They love to go 70 in a 40 mph zone and even if they aren’t really that close to you, the after draft will make your bike wobble enough to scare you. Coming down a longish hill on the road bike, I spotted a semi with aggregate trailer coming to a crossroad stop sign ahead. I just KNEW he would misjudge my speed and pull out in front of me. I began feathering the brakes but he stayed put, waited until I passed and pulled in behind me. “Here it comes” I figured as he’ll throttle up and give me two inches of clearance and deafen me while also giving me a good diesel fume bath. Instead, he followed docilely behind me at a low murmur and waited until he could see no oncoming traffic and then passed by me as far away from me as he could get. No bath, after draft, no eardrum damage. Renewed my faith in mankind for a wee bit.
That’s great to hear about the truck driver Herb. Perhaps he’s a rider to and realizes the affect that his truck has on cyclists and pedestrians. I recall a bike tour I did a few years back in Baja Mexico. The trucks would driver pretty fast down the highway and even though they were in most cases offering an acceptable passing distance, the turbulence they created was always thrilling. If you relaxed it wasn’t too bad.
Doesn’t Michigan require additional axles on truck trailers? I seem to recall most trucks up there driving with more then two axles both on the tractor and on the trailer.
The trucks would “drive”….. Sorry. Ed
Yeah trucks do have “extra” axles in most cases due to the fact that Michigan allows almost double the weight loads that other states might. And when they wander over to the road shoulder, which isn’t made to take that weight, they crush the pavement which can start the water seepage, which in turn starts more @#$% potholes and road heaves. A civil engineer I know who is a road specialist says that they draw up plans for resurfacing roads here but contractors often fail miserably to follow the proper drainage steps and before you know it a new road begins to fail. Wisconsin and Minnesota have the same freeze/thaw issues we have but their roads are usually far better for longer. Due to not having the heavy truck load traffic partly.