09:04 – Barbara called at 0755. I figured she was just calling to let me know their plans for the day before she headed home. If only.
Instead, she was calling to let me know that Bonnie had died in the early morning hours. The last we’d heard, yesterday morning, was that Bonnie had been admitted to the hospital, they’d put her on IV fluids, and that she had low magnesium levels but was otherwise okay. They wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days to let her regain strength before sending her home.
Barbara said the doctors and nurses were shocked that she’d died. They expected her to recover, but with an 89-year-old patient, expectations aren’t always met.
This will be particularly hard for Barbara. I visited Bonnie for half an hour or an hour maybe two or three times a month, when Barbara couldn’t go for some reason. Barbara visited her several times a week. Bonnie was a nice old lady, of our parents’ generation, so for Barbara it was almost like being able to visit her own mother again. Bonnie will be missed.
* * * * *
I’m so sorry to hear about Bonnie’s passing. I hope it was peaceful. Best wishes for Barbara.
That is very sad news about Bonnie. My condolences to her family, Barbara, you and her other friends.
Very sad; my condolences as well, to Bonnie’s family and friends, including Barbara and you; I’m guessing her last couple of years were happier with y’all as neighbors and friends.
Requiescat in pace.
Thanks all.
I think Bonnie led a pretty happy life. She was widowed in 1971 and never remarried. She didn’t have children, but she had numerous siblings, nieces, and nephews, many of them local and many who visited her frequently.
Like most elderly people, she was set in her ways and at times could drive people nuts. Her nephew Gene was probably ready to strangle her from time to time, and Barbara was sometimes frustrated. I remember a few months ago Gene brought her some country ham he’d cured. Bonnie sniffed it and announced that it was spoiled and she wouldn’t eat it. Barbara and Gene both sniffed it and told Bonnie it wasn’t spoiled, it just smelled like country ham. I think Gene thought Bonnie believed he was trying to poison her. So Barbara brought the country ham home and we had a couple dinners’ worth of country ham biscuits. When I visited Bonnie a couple days later she mentioned that “bad” country ham. I told her that Barbara and I had eaten it and were still walking around.
But fundamentally Bonnie was a very nice woman. The last words she spoke to me were as they were loading her on the gurney to thank me for coming up to help. As if I could not have.
Well, wife’s mother and mine are still above the grass and in their late 80s, and wouldn’t ya know it? Set in their ways and both have also driven us bonkers on numerous occasions and still do.
I can’t wait to get old and set in my ways so I can do the same to our kids and grandkids.
Oh wait….
I suspect there are too many people in our country who could have lived next to Bonnie and not help her. Although I suspect that very few, if any, of them hang out here.
I am saddened to hear of Bonnie’s passing and would like to express my condolences to her family and friends. She was fortunate to have you and Barbara looking after her.
WOW, such sad news about Bonnie. You and Barbara did all you could and her final memories are of caring friends.
Rest in peace Bonnie and peace to your family and friends.
In other news WRT hospitals:
The phone rings early this morning, the person on the other end asks my Wife if she could come in to scrub in and circulate for a “scheduled unscheduled” surgery at 0800. If y’all recall my Wife retired on December 30, 2016. My Wife reminded the caller of that, and in a good humor the caller asked if she wouldn’t like to “do one more for ol’ times sake”. No way. If it had been a real emergency she would have gone in in a heartbeat. She is still licensed and insured.
Now my Wife is off to have breakfast with “The Old Girls”, a bunch of her long-time friend fellow retired nurses.
Her old hospital is in a bad way, financially. They have laid off nearly 25%, across the board, no job area spared. Just another prime example of how a so-called consulting group can destroy a thriving well run business in a couple of years. First you change the name to something cool, to Trios from Kennewick General Hospital (KGH). Then you (the consulting group) build a palace of a hospital and medical center in the expensive part of town and lease it to KGH (now Trios) for 99-years at $1,000,000.00 per year to start. The hospital board and top administrators are all being paid off by the “consultant”. Board meetings are hostile events and for the past year the board has gone into closed/executive session after just a few minutes of the monthly meeting starting as those of us in attendance want answers and heads. We are a “public hospital district” and the public has not had any real input for years.
Providence Health & Services, a supposed “non-profit” (ha-ha…) is waiting on the shore for the body of Trios to wash up so they can finish Trios off.
I suspect there are too many people in our country who could have lived next to Bonnie and not help her
Someone like Bonnie I would help. My current neighbors can eat shit and die. The female portion of the duo is always on my case about something in my yard she does not like. Claimed one my trees was shading her patio and she could not get sun and demanded I take the tree down or she was taking me to court. Was also claiming the roots were going to damage her basement foundation. I told her the tree stays.
Another time some bushes along the fence were growing into her yard. She wanted me to trim the bushes. I did one time. The next time I told her no. I was not going on her property to trim my bushes. Anything on her property was her responsibility. I explained if I was trimming bushes on her property and cut myself then her homeowner’s insurance would be responsible. She went away in a huff.
About a year later the bushes started dying. I think, but cannot prove, she sprayed herbicide on the bushes rather than trim the bushes. Now I have a bare spot and on the fence and I trying to find something really annoying to plant in that spot that will not be so annoying to me.
So basically if she needs help, tough. Call 911 and don’t wake me up with the sirens.
Ray put up one of those cheesey yard decorations of a fat lady bending over showing her bloomers. Facing her side of course.
There are many individuals and a few categories of people I’d watch die in front of me rather than help them.
It’s an unpleasant sign of the times that black people as a whole are people I generally won’t help. The last several black hitchhikers I picked up all tried to mooch money from me and a couple started cursing at me when I wouldn’t give them any. I’ve had to deal with or be exposed to any number of “disadvantaged” blacks, especially “unfortunate” single mothers, who won’t lift a finger to help themselves or take responsibility for their actions but instead expect endless handouts and “second” chances. I’ve stepped in to stop many-on-one beatings and immediately became the mutual enemy because I wasn’t black. And through all that black spokesmen have lectured me about ancestral evil and told me I have to give up even more of my earnings because of white privilege. And through all that, almost none of the notional “ordinary, hard-working middle class” black Americans have spoken up to say that the loudmouths don’t speak for them.
I’m not prejudiced, per se, against black people. Nor am I prejudiced, per se, against Muslims. But the time comes, when you’re declared the enemy and steadily attacked, that not fighting back is sheer stupidity.
Ray, how about you put up some yard lights, aimed right at their windows. “Oh, yah, that’s supposed to be on a motion sensor but the damned thing never turns off.”
Or put a sign in your front yard: My neighbors over there are stupid assholes and I wouldn’t lift a finger to stop any burglars who were checking out their house to see if it’s true that they have a safe filled with cash and gold.
I’m reminded of a church that annoyed the father of one of my cow-orkers…
Various activities at the church (wich ajoined the father’s house) were very noisy. Requests to the church to quieten things down were ignored. So just before the Sunday service the father set his lawn mower going and left it running on his own property, as near the church building as possible for the whole service. The church became *very* co-operative… 🙂
Providence Health & Services, a supposed “non-profit” (ha-ha…) is waiting on the shore for the body of Trios to wash up so they can finish Trios off.
My wife interviewed with a Providence group in Portland about a year before we moved to Vantucky to work for … well, that place still owes us money.
Anyway, the money from Providence was lousy, but what really killed the deal was the clause buried deep in the contract that said that she would forfeit the relocation bonus money if management caught her practicing medicine outside of Catholic doctrine. In other words, the moment she prescribed birth control pills, we would have received a bill from Providence for the entire cost of our move.
My wife’s guesstimate is that WA State Obamacare is 85% Medicaid in disguise. Washington Medicaid and, be extension, the entire state government are technically insolvent. Your wife retired at the right time, but I’d think about bugging out to Idaho if I were in your position.
Nor am I prejudiced, per se, against Muslims. But the time comes, when you’re declared the enemy and steadily attacked, that not fighting back is sheer stupidity.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Islam’s Most Eloquent Apostate
Idaho has always looked like a nice place to me but it’s not on the coast.
Well, I can’t consider her muslim other than by birth/heritage, since she’s declared herself an atheist. She and any other “muslim” like her is welcome in my home.
I’ve had a few Muslim coworkers. Most were only nominally Muslim and were no problem to deal with. One guy did the multiple prayers during the workday, which wasn’t a problem, but he was staggeringly incompetent as a programmer, which was a problem. (On the plus side, he didn’t claim he was fired because of prejudice when he was fired.) Another coworker was Pakistani and a vaguely devout Muslim, but his (new) wife and her family were very devout and traditional, and when the father-in-law ordered the coworker’s wife to leave him and return to her family, she did. (A couple of us took him out for a consolation lunch and drinks.)
On the other side of the matter, I’ve known several American-born converts to Islam, and I think every one was a raging asshole. Whether they were assholes before the conversion, whether their pre-existing assholery led to their conversion, whether the conversion gave them an excuse to let their inner asshole out, I don’t know.
No one is as fervent as the new convert… regardless of belief
Sorry to hear about Bonnie, I hope you get a new neighbor that is at least half as good to have around.
n
@ray, plant a fruit tree with prolific and squishy fruit, like plums.
you get the plums on your side, she gets hers….
n
Thanks.
Yeah, I’m hoping for a nice young couple, if not one of Bonnie’s grand- or great-grand nieces or nephews. It’s a small cottage, but it’d make a nice starter house for a young couple who didn’t have much money.
Ray, how about you put up some yard lights, aimed right at their windows. “Oh, yah, that’s supposed to be on a motion sensor but the damned thing never turns off.”
Already have them, set on maximum sensitivity. But they only shine in their kitchen window. There is quite a bit of distance between the houses so I doubt the lights are that annoying.
ray, plant a fruit tree with prolific and squishy fruit, like plums.
Nope, no fruit trees. I also don’t want to deal with the mess. Their front yard is mostly weeds which significantly affects my yard as the weeds spread their seeds. A constant battle with weed killer. I even spray part of their yard to help my yard.
Various activities at the church (wich ajoined the father’s house) were very noisy.
There is a church on the other side of my house. I used to mow Sunday evenings when they had services. One time they came and asked me if I would refrain from mowing when they had services. They have treated me well as they let a cement truck use their driveway to pour the foundation for my shed. So I have obliged their request. No problems at all with them.
At one time across the road some guy set up a car repair shop. Started accumulating junked cars. Complained to the city and the city was aware but was having to go through the legal processes to shut him down. Any time someone came to their shop and parked in the road I would call the police and they would show up within a couple minutes. Sometimes citing the driver of the vehicle. Any chance I had to call the police on them I did, noise at night, noise in the daytime, test driving race cars on the road.
Eventually the city got the state police involved and somehow they got a search warrant. Came and checked the VIN numbers on the vehicles and found several had been reported stolen. Within two days all the vehicle were gone as were the occupants. I stood out front as the owners were being arrested and waved to them, just didn’t use all my fingers.
Dam it was freezing in Cleveland last night and 6″ of fresh snow just before we got there. It was supposed to be in the 70’s. MrsAtoz spoke at the Case Western U. Multicultural Affairs bash. I’m about libturded out after that one. I though about just saying “I voted for tRump” to every big shot I met, but would probably be slugged and spat on from the the fem President of Case down to the guy who sang The “Black” National Anthem. I didn’t even know we had one. That was after the Native American land blessing. The peeps were nice, though. That’s probably because I didn’t wear a MAGA hat.
Currently in Milwaukee. Weather is in the 60’s and partly cloudy. There’s some big ass lake next to Milwaukee.
We’ve got decent neighbors on both sides and in front here; there has been, and is, some traffic to and from the multi-family apartments across the street and on the corner that we don’t much care for but on the whole, they haven’t bothered us.
As for prejudice, when the vast majority of Afrikan-Murkans and musloids stay mum about the behavior and depredations of their own alleged minorities, then I have no time or sympathy for them. I generally operate on a one-to-one basis with people, and I’ve known several marginally decent Afrikan-Murkans over the decades, and zero musloids that I know of. (yikes, where did they all come from so suddenly?)
When we win the lottery we’ll buy out the four dumpy, non-brick, non-19th-C houses around us and level and landscape the area, with some nice flat sunlight space for a decent garden. And more distance between us and the remaining neighbors. In fact, the nearest structure would be the town hall.
Speaking of which, I’ll be at the Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night and the Selectboard meeting the following Monday, and it looks like they wanna appoint me to the former for a one- or two-year term. It also seems that several people serve on multiple positions, so that could be a possibility in the future, too, seeing as how I’m now semi-retired. WTF? How did that happen??
And I have the gun club/range and Legion post monthly meetings coming up, too.
MEATSPACE
“There’s some big ass lake next to Milwaukee.”
Yeah, I heard it makes ours here look like a little puddle.
“There’s some big ass lake next to Milwaukee.”
Not as big as the one by Duluth. It’s superior.
“Not as big as the one by Duluth. It’s superior.”
Ho, ho, ho. Well, so fah today, Mr. Spook wins the innernet.
Our wittle puddle is only 130 miles long and 400+ feet deep in some places. And had naval battles on it back in the day, between us and the Brits. We won.
I never ran the numbers, but ISTR reading that the water in the Great Lakes would cover the lower 48 to a depth of about 3 meters, while Champlain would be something like one inch.
Or was it one mm?
We are lucky in our neighborhood. Retired SEAL across the road and retired Marine next door. The SEAL, Bill, is getting older but he gunsmiths a bit and showed me a quarry nearby where we could sight in our ARs. The Marine, Jim, is always helping out when we need things done. He doesn’t talk guns but always goes to the mailbox with a Glock on his hip. We have a pretty quiet neighborhood, mature trees and two lakes, with only three, easily defendable access points. However … we live 10 minutes by car from one of the crime neighborhoods of Memphis and last month had our first homicide from Memphis gangs. They chased a car of other gang bangers into our area and had a shoot out in Krogers (local grocery) car park. Three punks were killed, two injured, and one shopper hit by flying glass from wild rounds going through the window. When I think SHTF, I think Bug Out because too many perps too close. But Memphis has only two bridges across the Mississippi and those could become choke points. There is another bridge about 40 miles south in a more rural community that I’d probably head for. Destination would be my sons 40 acres in Oklahoma, he already has most of my arsenal, the bits that didn’t fall off the boat, and good well, and good neighbors.
“hey chased a car of other gang bangers into our area”
This goes to the point I’ve made previously that trouble has no trouble finding you.
I was 100 yards from a shooting in broad daylight in the Silverlake part of Los Angeles. 4 pm and someone got shot just outside the 7-11, across from the grocery store parking lot where I was putting my groceries in the car. No telling where any strays went.
I looked at the lady next to me and said “Time to go.” And we went.
n
Oh yeah, trouble can find your ass lickety-split. Best to watch yer 6 at all times and help out when you can.
@Mr. Harold; kind of a tough call to make. What about discussing it with those two solid neighbors? Is the ‘hood feasibly defensible with just you three? Anyone else close by of the same mind? Do those two guys have plans to di-di-mao when SHTF? If so, do they have places to go?
Another day shot to smithereens, or devoured by locusts, take yer pick. Made a huge dent in yard cleanup with both of us slaving away. Me to the point that my sciatica has gone shithouse wild with pain if I make a wrong move. So I loaded up on OTC dope and a prescription pill and hope that’ll stop me from screaming again. Also got myself another minor burn on the grill. For some reason these incidents always make me thing how easy it would be for interrogators to get somebody to spill the beans.
Tomorrow we’ll take a downtime ride out to morning mass at Saint Amadeus in Alburgh and then out to the Alburgh Dunes, have lunch somewhere cheap. Come back and do some more stuff here, maybe.
For anyone interested, in light of the 100-year anniversary when we got involved in a war that Professor Wilson told us he would not get us into, PBS has a three-part series Monday through Wednesday nights this coming week. The description informs us that they will certainly be sure to include and discuss the vast contributions of Afrikan-Murkans, womyn, gay people, and trannies. Considering, as I told wife and she agreed, 98 % of the troops from here and the UK and France were us hateful and loathsome and evil white male sons of bitches. Fighting probably 100% of the same.
But I’ll give them a chance and watch, see how badly they fuck it up.
In other nooz from the blogosphere…
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/derbyshire-trumpism-cucked-on-both-foreign-policy-and-immigration-already/
Please, for the love of God and the FSM, GTFO of the Middle East, Germany, Ukraine, Korea, Japan, Okinawa, etc., etc. and seal our fucking borders, coasts and airspace.
More from SLL that we hope is gonna work out like he hopes it will:
https://straightlinelogic.com/2017/04/08/calling-a-bluff-by-robert-gore/
“Saint Amadeus in Alburgh”…
You going to swim or go via Canukistan? 🙂
My day was mostly unproductive. For one thing, I got two, maybe three, hours’ sleep last night, and it wasn’t even my own nightmares that woke me up but my daughter’s. She stumbled in, half awake, woke me up, plopped down, and was out. Me, I’ve been up since 3-ish. I was reasonably productive until noon, and have been about useless since. Haven’t been able to take a nap because I’ve been watching the girls most of the time — Latin lesson, make sure they’re fed, try to find the tent because they wanted to do “living room camping”, start to put the swings on the playground (only to find that someone put them on the ground for the winter and now the chains are really rusted; I’d put them up and covered them with a tarp, but someone moved them) and the usual 1,000,000 things that eat the day.
Me to the point that my sciatica has gone shithouse wild with pain if I make a wrong move.
As a thought, you might want to research how Jerry Lewis, yes, that one (lives in Vegas) got through his back pain. It almost killed him. I remember him on TV swollen up like a sheep with Mr. SteveF’s XXXX up its’ XXX. No drugs worked, I believe he had back surgery and an implant of some kind.
The description informs us that they will certainly be sure to include and discuss the vast contributions of Afrikan-Murkans, womyn, gay people, and trannies.
I hope they don’t forget the “transracials.” Oh, wait, that White “Black” chick made that shit up. lol!
You gotta love PtRump using his Syria attack to call Obola a pussy. lol! Odoosh will probably run back to Tahiti to right his book and cry in his watered down ‘Murka horse piss lager. He should move there.
@Mr. SteveF: Bro, I get that there are a zillion responsibilities, but you really gotta do whatever it takes, at your advancing age, and despite your awesomeness, to get at least 6-7-Plus hours of sleep EVERY night. Be utterly RUTHLESS about it. I remember years ago when I worked night shifts and nobody else gave a shit and would still expect me to be up all day (I’d actually get this question all the time: “Why don’t you sleep at night??” And I’d scream back at them “Because I FUCKING WORK NIGHTS!!”) I actually reversed the normal human bean day schedule and would get home from work and stay up until noon or early afternoon, having dinner and usually drinking, of course. Then sleep until 9 or 10 PM, get up and have breakfast, and go off to my job (cop night shifts doing combined foot and motor patrol beats in shitty ‘hoods, and later, the IT drone gigs overnight). And I’d eat a decent lunch around 3 or 4 AM. I made sure the lights were off during the day, windows closed up tight, phone off the hook, a white noise machine going, and strict orders to all and sundry to leave me the fuck alone or die miserably and in great agony.
“I believe he had back surgery and an implant of some kind.”
I’ve had two shots, but no surgery. I’m working on dumping off the 20 pounds of inner tube and also some exercises, low-key. I need to also remember not to try to do a full day’s work of semi-hard labor for the time being. I kept seeing chit that needed to get done and being El Mucho Stupido, went at it. And guess what; still plenty of chit needs to get done.
“He should move there.”
Naw, he’s got his mansion-bunker two blocks down from the WH and is busy with Valerie working sabotage against the current administration, half of which is still infested with his minions, and the rest, a burgeoning crowd of Goldman-Sachs assholes and neocon sons of bitches commies.
I naturally need about 4 1/2 hours of sleep per night. In practice I average something under that between various interruptions and my own nightmares. It’s just when I’ve had several short nights in a row that things get rocky.
Son#2 is currently working nights. It’s not for the pay — apparently he’s paid 12.5 cents per hour more for night work. Before taxes. However, he’s new, and deliberately took the night shift for brownie points in getting transitioned from temp or probationary to perm staff. He’s talked with my mom, the retired cop, for tips on dealing with night shifts. Pointless to talk to me about that. I’ve worked nights, but only when I was also working days.
(Fun fact: for 2 1/2 months when I was in Korea, I was on duty 24 hours per day for two different duties. Neither boss was inclined to allow me to sleep when I was working for him, and I was supposed to take it out of the time I was working for the other guy. There are good things about the military, but the way “military discipline” allows worthless shits to act like tinpot dictators just because they were born before you is not one of them.)
Another thing to worry about – another asteroid is headed our way.
http://www.voanews.com/a/big-asteroid-heading-close-earth/3802630.html
“I naturally need about 4 1/2 hours of sleep per night. In practice I average something under that between various interruptions and my own nightmares.”
Then you are a truly singular adult male past the half-century mark. The vast majority of us gotta have the eight. Uninterrupted. Restful. Or we get fucked up, and in my case, just one night without it impacts me negatively, and more than one is a big kick in the ballz. If the nightmares are a result of mil-spec experiences, there are several avenues of help available. My first year back was like that and I drank a case of beer per night so I could sleep. Not an ideal solution, but it got me through that first year, more or less. Nowadays there are less destructive and less expensive means of helping with that sorta thing. I think I can assume that if they come from experiences similar to mil-spec stuff, say, law enforcement or “vigilante” activities, the type of help is also gonna be pretty similar.
“…the way “military discipline” allows worthless shits to act like tinpot dictators just because they were born before you is not one of them.)”
Been there, done that. Especially older lifer maggot muthafucka NCOs. Usually office pogues, too, not the air crew guys, many of whom were WWII and Korean War vets. They took me in as The Kid and made sure I got through it OK.
“Another thing to worry about – another asteroid is headed our way.”
“Astrophysicists and astronomers say there is no chance of a collision…”
So I can go to sleep tonight and subsequent nights w/o this particular worry. Unless the bastards are lying…or incompetent…
There’s apparently some research that the antibiotic doxycycline helps PTSD.
And our usual weekly group moderator (psychiatrist) for the combat vet support group told us recently that they’re finding good results for treating PTSD with Psilocybin, and then we got off into a hike down Memory Lane with our various hallucinogenic experiences, in my case probably close to 100 acid trips in high skool (purple haze, windowpane, laboratory, orange barrels, etc.) We had some pretty good laughs, which is nice for a change.
I remember orange barrels being 1,000 MG and we were supposed to cut them into quarters, because that would give us a pretty good ass-kicking dose. I once ate a whole one and holy fucking shit. May as well have been in another dimension or galaxy, for several hours. Made it over to a friend’s house somehow and he kept an eye on me for the duration. I was still tripping the next day, and usually if I was awake nights coming down from that stuff, I’d listen to WBCN in Boston with my headphones. Heard all kinds of great stuff, from early rock-and-roll through blues and jazz; at one point Peter Wolf was a DJ there (J. Geils Band frontman). That’s also where and when I first heard Larry Coryell playing guitar. Amazing chit.
Would I take a hit of acid now to help my PTSD? Fuck no! I’ll manage without it somehow.
Frankly, just being off the booze for the past nearly eight years is enough of a trip for me now.
And as Memorial Day draws nigh…
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/by-request/
OFD wishes to go out standing up, if possible.
Not sure if I already posted this, but it’s late and I’m about to crash and burn and I’m too tired and lazy to find out:
https://straightlinelogic.com/2017/04/08/calling-a-bluff-by-robert-gore/
Interesting hypothesis, and we’ll know if he’s right, like he says, in a few more days.
“You going to swim or go via Canukistan?”
We will pass very close to the international border but will forgo swimming due to the floating ice floe hazard.
Pax vobiscum, fratres, et semper paratus; tempus fugit
Would those of you who, prior to your various tragic boating accidents, might have owned an AR-pattern rifle be so kind as to search your memories and tell me what are the essential maintenance tools/accessories, please?
I know nothing about poodleshooters, but sadly felt obliged to get one, at the bargain price of 1200 euro-bucks, since the European Commission says I ought not to be allowed to have such an evilscary item.
For the curious, the piece is a Colt M4 Expanse 2000:
https://www.gunsweek.com/en/rifles/articles/colt-expanse-m4-affordable-original-m4-colt-defense
Neighbors… We have one sweet old lady (sounds sort of like Bonnie) that I do favors for on a regular basis. For example, last month I put up a set of blinds on one of her basement windows. She has two kids, both living in Switzerland, but they apparently can’t be bothered with their mom. Kind of sad.
Speaking with her is…interesting. She’s Scottish, and learned German by being immersed here 40 years ago. So she speaks Swiss-German, but with a *huge* sprinkling of english words inserted at random, plus her Scottish accent on top of it all. I have no problem understanding her, because I speak both English and German *and* lived in Scotland. How anyone else understands her, I don’t know…
Then there’s the woman to our west. I can’t seem to have a normal conversation with her. Anything to do with the property or the house, either we have to talk to her father (she’s living in daddy’s house, working in daddy’s company, in her mid-40s), or I put it in writing to avoid any misunderstandings. My wife has better luck, but it’s still difficult.
The rest of our neighbors we barely know. They never talk to us, we never talk to them, beyond the casual “hi” if you meet on the sidewalk. Even as an anti-social kind of guy, I find that weird after living here nearly 20 years.
@OFD: Meatspace, go for for it. But geez, you must have the patience of a saint, if you can handle small-town politics…
“She has two kids, both living in Switzerland, but they apparently can’t be bothered with their mom. Kind of sad.”
I’ll bet they’ll both be there with their hands out when her estate is divied up.
I once ate a whole one and holy fucking shit
Growing up in the 60’s, Nam, and other group activities I never attempted to use any kind of drugs. Tried to learn to smoke in the USAF because you got more breaks from activities but was unable. Tried drinking but a couple of drunk experiences stopped that. Both brothers were heavy pot smokers, younger one had to quit because he flies commercially, older one I am not so sure about. Maybe age has taken it’s toll and he has stopped.
I’ll bet they’ll both be there with their hands out when her estate is divied up.
Spot on. When my uncle died four or five people showed up that I did not even know exist. All of them looking for handouts. My aunt wanted to help them but I convinced her to do otherwise. They got a free meal after the funeral and that was more than they deserved. When my aunt died, penniless, none of these same people said a word even though they knew she died. Fucking worthless leaches.
In that time I took care of a couple dozen minor household chores
I do that for MIL when I take the wife to visit. For many years the MIL barely acknowledged my existence except as someone that moved her daughter from TX to TN. Last trip was different. I fixed several items including one that an electrician did incorrectly. Got her (deceased) husband’s boat ready to sell by fixing the fuel line, getting the engine started, and the batteries charged (starting and trolling). She was finally grateful and realized I am not just fungus to be ignored.
“…tell me what are the essential maintenance tools/accessories, please?”
My 2 cents for now; got spousal quality time today so will be back later w/more:
1.) If any kind of manual came with that rifle, read it. If not, we can see if there is one somewhere. To that end, learn how to do a basic field strip/disassembly and put it back together. Get a basic cleaning kit for it. Brownell’s, MidSouth, and Midway are your friends. Also luckygunner.com, surplusammo.com, and ammoseek.com.
2.) A good sling for it; I like the ones by Viking Tactics.
3.) Look into optics; a lot of older folks prefer the red dots, but there is also a plethora of scopes designed for AR rifles; I’m experimenting with both, the scope being a variable-power model.
4.) Is there a local range where you can zero it? If so, do that, and also seek out like-minded folks, esp. any with AR experience.
More later, but gotta sky up soon here and hit the road. Congrats on your purchase!
2.)
Read the R Gore piece. Interesting idea, makes some sense, fits with other stuff, like what Scott Adams has been saying.
We’ll see pretty soon if any of it’s on the money.
n
@denis, congrats! Stick a thumb in their eye. There are good DVDs and online stuff regarding maintenance and ass’y and dis-ass’y.
I can’t recommend any at the moment, but the Midway catalog company has a bunch of sponsored content that is educational.
From my very noob understanding, there is a block (usually plastic) that fits the mag well and lets you mount the rifle in a vise. This is very helpful. Also there is a special tool (many that combine various specific functions, but I don’t know if they are useful or a gimmick) for the castle nut that is hard to ‘make do’ without. People seem to swear by Boresnake in the appropriate caliber for ease of cleaning.
Everyone I’ve read curses some little springs that fly off, and a certain ‘ball detent’ ball and spring that go flying. There is also a special tool for installing the ball detent.
Those are the things I see all the time while reading blogs.
n
This post talks about the necessity without going into the details:
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/running-spares-keeping-your-weapon-going/
other than a few specific mentions.
As long as you’re talking guns
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a25945/potato-launcher-history/?visibilityoverride
Thanks, Nick and OFD!
I have experience with firearms, just not with this specific type. I discovered when going to hold it in a vise that the only way to do so was by the barrel, which is not optimal, so I see that upper and lower-receiver holding fixtures are in my future, as is a front sight bench-block block, plus a barrel / action wrench and probably a decent set of roll-pin punches.
The problem with the AR/M4 is not finding gear for it, it’s that one is spoilt for choice. Brownells have a whole catalogue for AR-pattern rifle stuff. I spoke to Pete Brownell at the IWA (European SHOT show) in 2016, so I know I can get what they carry, which is excellent news…
This particular rifle comes with a standard A-frame front sight, but no rear sight. I got lucky, and found a set of “Magpul” plastic back-up sights in my spares box (I think I bought them out of pure curiosity on DX long ago, when I saw them listed under “airsoft supplies”). The rear sight is exactly right, so much so that I didn’t have to adjust anything at all to get five shots in one hole at ten metres this afternoon, right out of the box. I was delighted, as I thought I’d be chasing all over the paper, wasting ammunition. Looks like this rifle will turn out just fine. Long term, I’ll be adding a scope, and either cutting down the A-frame sight or replacing it with a low-rise gas block plus folding iron sights.
I doubt any of us can help you all that much, Mr. Denis; you seem to have things well in hand. Nice shootin’, too! (I dunno; what are these metres that you speak of?)