Spring Training Baseball

One of the benefits of living in the desert is beautiful weather this time of year. I wish all of you well in your various states of emergency as we soak up sunny weather. Before saying "Screw it, we're moving to Arizona", Remember Spring only lasts four or five weeks and then our outside temperatures are North of the century mark from May 15th to October 15 (give or take a week on either end)!

Here's a 180-ish degree panorama from my seat. Autostitch had a little trouble with two fans (#2 & the purple shirt to the right) at the intersection of the two left most shots. Also the 3rd base umpire apparently moved between the middle shots, leaving a ghost. [click on images to embiggen]
He's swinging... is it a hit or a strike?
And the pickoff.... Out or Safe? I don't know... he's still pretty far out and ball is halfway there (look for the ball just left of the red shirt at the edge of the field).One question that came up during the game. What's the league minimum these days? Last I heard the players had to be paid at least $175k. Seems my info is quite out of date... Last year it was $400k! Nice work if you can earn it! On a percentage basis (those who make it over those that want it times one centum) you might as well desire to be an Astronaut!

Spring training ends this week and next week teams all over will have their opening days. Let the games begin!

Shopping Spree

No, no gunnie stuff. Just a story of customer service as it should be.

A long time ago, in this galaxy, one of the SCSibling units gave me a gift certificate to a Orchard Hardware Supply, a California based chain of hardware stores. The stores are bigger than ACE but smaller than Home Depot or Lowes.

Another SCSibling unit worked there and mentioned they were very customer service oriented. If you wanted to buy one nail, they would just sell you one nail. But if you needed a complete MIG welder kit, they could handle that too.

Anyway, the closest store is some 300 miles away and the certificate had a 1998 expiration date. So while I've hung on to the gift cert, I also haven't been near a store in years. On the trips up to see the 'rents, I'd either forget it or wouldn't have time to get to the local store.

Today we had both the time and the certificate and went on a spree:
* Chainsaw file guide (Thank's TBS)
* #2 Phillips screw bits
* Hacksaw blades
* Toilet fill valve kit
* 3/4" rubber grommets
* Lawn mower air filter
* Earplugs
* Utility knife
* Weeder tool

With tax the total came to $40.82. We handed over the certificate and cash. The cashier examined the certificate then looked on her register for some clue as to how to redeem it. Not seeing an obvious answer she asked the next cashier. Seeing how old it is, she said it predated their current gift card system and we would have to send it in to HQ and get it re-issued. We explained that we are from out of state and that is why it hasn't been redeemed in that time.

They called the manager... who apparently asked how much was the certificate for and how much were we spending. The manager OK'd the purchase.

That was it... No polite reminders of the gift certificate law in this state (They can't expire). No veiled threats. Just a couple minutes delay to get the manager's nod. The seem to have a good understanding of the economics of the situation. They've had use of the cash for a decade and a half and are now handing over goods that were much cheaper now than then. And customers talk to other customers and relate the experience for better or worse. That's how customer service should be.

I'd shop there again.

"We are so screwed"

I wrote that back on election night 2008. The vote today is exactly what I feared...

The socialist one is about to get his so called "Health Care Reform". This will mean huge tax hikes now when our economy can least afford it and no "benefits" for four years to make the CBO score look good.
Everyone knows the numbers are bogus and they don't care.
They know how the people feel and they don't care.
The approval numbers are in the crapper and they don't care.
Some know they will lose their seats and they don't care.

The only hope is that the opposition party will run on "repeal the bill" and turn enough seats in the mid term elections. I think this issue will give control of both houses to the R's, but I doubt majorities will be large enough to sustain the inevitable veto of the repeal legislation. And will the rage still burn in 2012?

The ratchet tightens...

Hmmmm......

The "Cleaning my gun and it went off" story might be a bit hard to sell when the bullet goes through a window and hits your wife in the head...

I really hate to see stories like this here and here.

You can bet there will be additional questions...

I doubt he intended to shoot his wife. But I'll bet he thought it was unloaded, put the sights on her head and pulled the trigger. I hope he can live with himself and look their kids in the eyes.

These "Accidents" are easy to avoid with The four simple rules:
1. Guns are always loaded.
2. Never point a gun at something you do not intend to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond.
Click here for more information.

PS... I know posting the four rules here is preaching to the choir, but on the chance that someone will stumble on this post while searching this situation, I'll waste the bytes.

Beautiful Spring Day off Range report

Spring has broken here in the Desert. Today was bright and blue with temps in the mid 70's. We could not ask for a nicer day. Spring only lasts for about two weeks here in the desert so these days are pure gold (Au).

The SCSon is on spring break. We were scheduled to head out to visit the SCGrandpa in another state. However the SCFIL had a stent inserted and the SCQueen is concerned about his recovery. [side note, both SCGrandpa and SCFIL are in less than optimal health and could use all they prayers and good thoughts]. Anyway, we delayed the planned trip. By then the day was already half gone. I could have worked half a day but instead decided it would be a crime to stay inside on a day like this. "Put your shoes on, we are going to the range!" I called out to the SCSon*.

There were a couple ePostal targets in the range bag and I wanted to better my earlier attempt. The SCSon landed 3 shots [out of ten] on target, two of which scored 20's. We really need to work on his stance and trigger pull.

Still his pair of 20's beats my 35 (20+10+5) with the same gun... and also logged a 50 in the centerfire iron sights class.

We tried twice more with much better scores (each 200+ **), but were sidetracked by a near emergency and left them out on the range :-(. But that's a story for another blogpost.

I'd include a link to the match but since Cheaper Than Dirt has thrown in a $50 certificate to a randomly selected entrant, your entry will diminish my chances. So go find it your self!

* He objected, preferring to play computer games. However given the alternative of staying home to mow the lawn, he relented!
** my fish tale for today.

Bad Choices

Story here.

Short version, fine upstanding young man (FUYM) takes to choking the life out of his date.. On her father's lawn.

Oooohh, bad choice.

Dad jumps out of a second floor window, uses an SUV to break his fall. One shot in the leg apparently failed to dissuade said FUYM on his intent to choke the life out of the homeowner's daughter. But a second shot to the groin did.

No mention of a fatality, but we can hope the wedding tackle is damaged beyond repair and prevent that particular DNA strand from propagating. It should also serve as a life long reminder to mind your manners.

Actually there were a lot of bad choices here...

Daughter could have chosen her friend better and avoided the whole incident.
FUYM could have chosen a better venue for the bout. Thank God he didn't
Dad could have had better shot placement and/or selected a larger caliber leaving one less human piece of dirt consuming oxygen.

ePostal Entries

No, not for me... my targets were not good enough :-( But the SCQueen and her sister logged decent targets.

First the SCQueen took a liking to the CZ-82. I like the pistol, it's small, light and easy to conceal. This one came with two 12 round magazines. With street prices are in the low $200s, it may be the sleeper opportunity for concealed carriers on a bargain basement budget. The 9x18 "9mm Makarov" ammo it only slightly less available than the ubiquitous "9mm Luger" cartridge.

However to me, it's none too pleasant to shoot. The 9x18 cartridge uses a fast powder to accelerate the projectile down the short 3.8 inch barrel and there isn't much mass to soak up the recoil. The result is a pretty snappy, borderline unpleasant recoil.

But if she's happy shooting it, that is all that matters. I suspect it fits her smaller hands better than the large framed pistols I prefer.

Here's her target: She scored a pair of 20 point stars.


The SandCastle Sister In Law shot a nice 100 score with a Ruger Single Six. (50+20+15+10+5)