Tag: miscellaneous

I’m Conflicted.

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I’m Conflicted.

There are a lot of things I ought to be writing about. Things I feel I need to write about. Unfortunately, this need comes up against two opponents – I have a lot of things I need to do that do not involve sitting on my ass in front of my computer, and I have developed another case of ennui, where I do not particularly want to sit and write for hours, or even minutes. Thus, instead of my trademark long, rambling essays, you’ve recently been receiving Free Ice-Cream Lite in the form of Quotes of the Day, videos and cartoons.

Still, there’s half a dozen (or more) things a day that poke at me, insisting that I write something about them just to get them out of my system. For example, here’s a case of EPIC FAILURE:

Witchcraft rumor sparks riot at Congo soccer game

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported Monday.

Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province.

Charming, but not Epic Fail. This is the Epic Fail:

Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans.

Now, this is an AP story, so I expect to receive a lawsuit for having linked to it and quoted from it, but the interesting thing is that between the time I first read it (and emailed it home so I could write about it) and now, when I opened the story to do the pullquotes, the AP has revised it. The revision? The original story reported that the soldiers fired into the air “to calm the rioters” (no mention of defending the commander), which then sent them into an even greater panic.

Got a angry riot on your hands? Try full-auto fire into the air! That’ll calm ’em down!

Next up, the Nigerian scammers have apparently switched tactics. No longer has some rich dude died, leaving million$ in an account somewhere that needs to be moved. No, now apparently I have won a lottery that I didn’t even enter!

Your E-mail Address was selected online and has won you $2,000,000.00 in the lucky day lotto NL world-wide.Write to agent E-mail: [email protected]
contact the claim agent Mr.Pieter Vaart,

Win no: 442/121/909, Ticket no:al-4343/132/001, our phone No:0031-6111- 464-78,Regard,Mrs,I.versloot,Award co-ordinator.

Nice, Dutch-sounding names, right? And if you can’t trust the Dutch, who can you trust? The originating email address is [email protected]. Is Idi Amin still alive and living in exile in Italy? If so, why did no one tell me?

Sorry, Mrs,I.versloot,Award co-ordinator, I think I’ll pass on your truly generous offer.

Now, I’m going to generate one more post after this, look up something for tomorrow’s Quote of the Day, and then get to work on some things I really, really need to do around the house.

If You’re the Praying Type. . .

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If You’re the Praying Type . . .

. . . and even if (like me) you’re not, please point your thoughts towards those about to receive the full fury of Hurricane Ike. Fellow blogger Jim of Smoke on the Water and I traded emails yesterday. Jim recently moved off his 30′ sloop New Dawn into one of the stilt-mounted houses common in Galveston. He has sent his significant other off to safety, but decided to ride out the storm in Galveston. He wasn’t clear on whether he was staying in the house, or just someplace nearby.

The storm surge is predicted to top 22′.

I doubt his house stilts are quite that tall.

Good luck, brother. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.

California Statehood!

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Do you know what happened this week back in 1850, 158 years ago?

California became a state!

The State had no electricity.

The State had no money.

Almost everyone spoke Spanish.

There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically, it was just like it is today, except the women had real breasts and the men didn’t hold hands.

(Via email, but I had to post it!)

Talk About an Internet WayBack Machine

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Talk About an Internet WayBack Machine!

The Technorati Monster appears to have escaped again, but no one there has noticed. I checked my links page just a few minutes ago and saw this (click for full size):


Note the link ages – 14121 days? That’s . . . (carry the one . . .) thirty-eight years and eight months! I’m pretty sure Al Gore hadn’t invented the internet that long back!

Well, THIS Sucks

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Clayton Cramer is getting laid off from his job at Hewlett Packard after moving to Boise Idaho and building a home there. Anybody know of a job opening for a software engineer / semi-pro historian / part-time college professor / amateur astronomer / gun-rights activist?

I blame George Bush.

Flying with a Firearm

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Until this trip, I’d never checked a firearm while flying. It was an interesting experience. I took my Kimber Ultra CDP II and my Comp-Tac Minotaur holster. I’ve modified the Kimber slightly. At Chris Byrne’s suggestion I’ve added a stainless S&A mag guide with an arched mainspring housing, and replaced the original checkered Double-Diamond grips with a smooth set of Cocobolo grips cut for the magwell from Hogue. I packed these in the original Kimber plastic container along with the factory 7-round and one Chip McCormick 8-round magazine. To meet the “original packaging” requirement, I dug through my reloading bench and found a 20-round box that originally contained Cor-Bon 45ACP+P loads, and put 20 of my handloads in it, then locked the box with two sturdy Masterlocks.

The guy at the Phoenix Delta counter was pleased that I’d followed the rules, gave the pistol a cursory glance to ensure the magazine well was empty, and sent me on my way to the TSA guys and their X-ray machine. They did not ask to see the pistol.

On the way back, the ladies at the Norfolk Delta counter ooh’d and ahhh’d. “That’s pretty!” one of them said. “I really need to learn to shoot,” said another.

As Tam once put it, I love being in American-occupied America.

The TSA guy in Norfolk wanted to look at the gun. Again, all he did was check to ensure the magazine well was empty and the magazines were unloaded. “Nobody ever checks the chamber,” I commented. “We’re not allowed to touch the gun,” he replied, “but when I put it through the X-ray machine, I’ll be able to see if there’s a round in the chamber.”

As I noted below, I made the flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, but my bag didn’t. It’s an uncomfortable feeling knowing that your luggage – with a lot of expensive stuff in it – might not be showing up as scheduled. This further reinforces my resolve to drive where I need to go if at all possible.

Stuck in Norfolk

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Apparently Atlanta is stacked up. We were supposed to push back from the gate here in Norfolk at 4:01PM local time, and arrive in Atlanta at 5:50. Now they tell us that we’ll depart about 5:30, and nobody knows if our connecting flights will still be on the ground when we get to Atlanta or not.

So I just paid $9.95 for a 1Mbps wireless connection so I could get back on the ‘Net and do some surfing. I’m on Boingo. I’m not impressed. When I logged on it immediately gave me a chat screen and a perky salesperson who tried desperately to convince me that I needed to sign up for the $6.95/month service rather than the $9.95 single-use. It was tough to convince her I really didn’t need it. Until I mentioned I was a blogger.

I need to learn to control this power . . .

I think I’m going to be late to work tomorrow.

If I get there at all.

The power of blogging is very limited in scope.

Made It!

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Made It!

I’m in Norfolk. The Delta ticket agent did not freak when I checked my bag with a pistol in it, the flights were pretty much on time, and I was met at the Norfolk airport by JR, Sailorcurt, Caleb and Rob. I managed to break the bug deflector on a pickup in a parking lot getting out of Curt’s van. (I figure that’ll cost me a couple hundred bucks.) Had dinner with the guys at a steakhouse, and Rob was his normal hysterical self.

My dad refers to my mother as “The Defendant.” They’re not married anymore. After picking me up from my mom’s, he’d ask, “So, how’s The Defendant?”

Now I’m checked into the hotel, got my internet fix for the day, and I’m going across the street to the Hilton to meet the crowd at the Hilton’s bar. SayUncle has arrived, and I’m not sure who else is here besides Sebastian. Should be fun! Later.