Gummy Bear Perils

Who knew they screamed?
...Also, I don't think the lifts are gonna help any. Just sayin'.

The Politics Of Doom

     ...In case you've been wondering why I have not posted much on politics -- not even the goofiness of the Left asserting that pretty much the same GOP Congressthings who were a-okay when a Republican President appointed an African-American woman named "Rice" as Secretary of State are now dire, sexist racists for opposing an African-American woman named "Rice" as Secretary of State when appointed by a Democrat President* -- the reason is simple:

     The so-called "fiscal cliff" we're all supposed to be peerin' over and shakin' in our boots about is nothing; it's a curbstone compared to the huge gap between FedGov income and FedGov non-discretionary spending.  That's a bottomless pit! And the outcome of the presidential election wasn't going to make a bit of difference; we're talking about money they're stuck spending.  They could chop and hack and "tax the rich" and it still would not make a difference: the Federal Government is already bankrupt and when the music stops, it's going to go smash.  The only thing that's holding it up is the misguided confidence that it will stay up.  When that fades, as it must, we're in for a mess.

     And no party has a clear plan for the collapse or the clean-up.  Oh, some of the madder hacks on the Left are dreaming of the good ol' days of Uncle Joe and Chairman Mao, but they don't have a visceral understanding of how bad it could be; few living Americans do.  I'd like to tell you the GOP has a better idea, but they don't.  Most Republican pols are -- like their opposite numbers -- distracted by the glitter of smaller, shinier issues with well-defined constituencies.  Guns, abortion, child abuse, health care, wars and "Homeland Security" pale to nothing when the whole country's broke -- and it will be. 
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* Srly, WTH?  Lookie here, WaPoMSNBC and Dems in gen, if'n y'wanna call 'em "partisan hacks," that's supportable; if you wanna tell us the GOP can't abide Mr. Obama's pick 'cos they are making a wrong interprtation of her role in wallpapering the Administration's slant on Benghazi on the Sunday politricks programs, fine; but you haven't a leg to stand on when you clam Susan Rice is opposed 'cos she is a woman of color -- unless you are claiming Condeleezza Rice is actually a fiendishly talented white female impersonator? (And in that case, why do you hate effeminate gay men?) Is it some "who's more black" contest? If so, you're objectifying women and racial minorities!

Y'know What Sucks About Being A Gunnie?

     You can't ever say, "Gee, I feel physically lousy and generally depressed," without a half-dozen idiots inquiring meaningfully about what you might be planning to do.

     Soak in the tub and afterwards get a good night's sleep, is what.  And hope for a better mood tomorrow.  The flu that hit Roseholme Cottage recently tends to linger in lungs and sinuses and general exhaustion.  It's no darned fun.

And, In Shooting News...

     ...Another person shot at Don's Guns!  Not an attempted robbery this time but a guy reportedly shot in the leg in the parking lot.  Taken to the hospital, stable condition.

     It's tempting to blame this on what Tam and Shootin' Buddy call "administrative gun-handling;" like most area gun stores, Don's has a "No Loaded Guns" sign on the door and compliance usually involves manipulating a loaded gun in the confines of a car.   If you're having an inept or unlucky day (or lifetime, whatever), that can lead to exactly this sort of outcome.  There's not enough information to be sure that's what happened here but it's certainly happened in plenty of other times and places.

     In that light, it is a reminder.  If you have to shuffle a loaded gun around, do it mindfully.  The Four Rules always apply!

    The need to move my carry gun to a locked container before entering the parking lot at work has driven my choice of means and method -- a double-action-only, off-body, in a little trigger-covering pocket-type holster that it stays in when moved to storage.  It's no substitute for paying attention but it helps reduce the odds of an ND.

     (Elsewhere on that site, a report of a fatal shooting on the south side has prompted one of the nanny-types to muse oh-so-feelingly about, "would there still be shootings if there weren't any guns?"  I guess murder isn't an issue for him; or perhaps he feels that a fellow bludgeoned to death with a brick isn't nearly as dead as a man who has been shot?)

Art Lesson/Serendipity

     I'd never heard of the guy; found him via a simple series of links, from the Trotify to Eadweard Muybridge (of galloping-horse photographic study fame) to Thomas Eakins, who had the misfortune of being a photo-accurate painter in a romantic age; people wanted idealized images and he gave them...the world as it was.  Unsurprisingly, he was an avid photographer and made much use of photographic studies in his work.  Over a century later, he remains a bit controversial but there is no denying his skill.

     One of his subjects was Frank Hamilton Cushing, a kind of real-life, anthropological Indiana Jones and one of the earliest, if not the first, anthropologists to jump in with both feet and try to understand a culture from the inside.  How immersive?  Try, "After some initial difficulties (the Zuni seriously considered killing him as he was obviously after their secrets...."  Yikes!

Bicycle Trot

     Best. Bicycle. Accessory. Evar: Trotify!

     My heartfelt thanks to the reader who sent me this link. --Might need to add another cam running harness bells, at least for the holidays.

Mangled Aphorism

"The sesame is the mother of invention."

GUN! Well, More Of A Gunette

     H&R Hammerless, Second Model, Small Frame, Top Break, Third Variation.

     Made in 1913.

     Picked up at the recent gun show for a song, and one with hardly any lyrics at that.  Supposedly okay for smokeless-powder pressures, I'm thinking more like CB caps.  Appears to cycle; it had one balky position on the ratchet until cleaning.  Next range day, I'll find out for sure.

     Odds are good that it was originally blued and has been fairly carefully stripped, probably to remove freckling.  So it's more a shooter than a collectable, though it fits right in with my collection of .22 revolvers.

Mooooooooon

     Really should be a rocket -- or perhaps a huge bat -- zooming through this picture.

Small Is...Beautiful?

     I like 'em -- stumbled over the King Midget automobilette in a 1951 issue of Popularly Mechanical Scientific Inventions (or some such title) via Google and decided to see if any had survived.

     Oh, have they -- with their very own owner's club!  I'm kinda partial to the Mk. II, with its Jeepster-like looks, but they're all pretty kewl.  And with gas pushing $4.00 a gallon, they look better than ever.  Plus, you can yell at Mini and Fiat 500 drivers about their huge, gas-guzzling road-hog rides!

Tam Update

     As you have read elsewhere, the Operation Tamalanche care package arrived at Roseholme Cottage recently, prompting glad cries from The Lodger and rather a lot of show & tell.  "Look, look, it's the Tam edition My Little Pony!"

      More seriously, things medical are moving forward; the Docs have been, so to speak, recalibrated and the next consult is scheduled soon.  Hooray!

$9 Hand Drill

    Garrett Wade offers generally-nice hand tools, photographed for their catalog with the same level of obsessive photographic dedication as the more artistic variety of pin-up calendar.  They usually have a few handy-but-inexpensive offerings, too, picked with care and worth the price.

     The latter group can be a bit of a gamble; their most recent batch of hand drills wasn't all they'd hoped but rather than scrap them, they're selling them at a huge discount: cast iron, single-speed hand-cranked drills for nine dollars American.  Here's the thing: the finish on the wooden handles isn't pretty and the chucks are kinda wonky.  But hey, nine bucks.

     Me, I prefer a keyed chuck even on a hand-cranked drill, at least the smaller ones.  I can't promise you these things have a standard thread, but I have swapped out the chuck for a keyed one (a nice Jacobson, found at Hedlund's Hardware) on a drill very like these and it threaded right on.  Have a look.  They're not giving me a dime, it just seemed of interest.

     (N. B. There are several different standard threads for hand drill/drillmotor chucks -- measure your threads or take your drill along when shopping!)