Things that make a nerd go SQUEE!

I got another package in the mail yesterday (it's been a good week for nerdiness).  Whatever would make me so happy you ask?

That would be my brand-new copy of Klingon Academy, a game I remember loving right around 2000.  It's the height of nerd space combat games, and I've searched for years for its equal and been left wanting.

So, once again, squee.

Lokidude

The only thing better than a new book...

Is a FREE book!

A week or so back, I won a giveaway for a free book from my friend Sarah's blog Bookworm Blues.

It got here today.

 

 Sorry for the sideways, it's late, I'm tired, and it's been a long day.

I'm stoked.  This will be the first dead-tree book I've read in months.

Thanks Sarah!

Lokidude

Not that I needed more motivation

But the good people at CCI are giving away a free spinner target with the purchase of 2 boxes of ammo.

The ammo is worth the cost anyways, the free target is just a bonus.

The FCC can take a flying leap, nobody paid me to post this, I just like quality products.

And anyways, free stuff good.

Lokidude

A voice from my youth silenced

According to the news this morning, G-funk legend  Nate Dogg has died.  There is no cause of death yet, but he had serious health issues in recent years.

Rest In Peace

Lokidude

What I Did With Guns This Week

One of my favorite podcasts has a feature "What I did with guns this week."  Seems like good blogfodder to me, and it will hopefully push me a bit, both in shooting and blogging.

That said, this week has been cold, snowy, and busy, so the gun stuff has been a bit slim.  However, I did acquire a pair of Safariland Comp-I speedloaders and a pair of Tuff Products speed strips.

(Clockwise from top left, Safariland Comp I, HKS #36, Tuff Products speed strip)

I'll post reviews after I've run them through their paces, but so far, I'm not unimpressed, particularly with the speed strips.

Lokidude

My own Zombie Squad

(Shamelessly stolen from Breda.)

Here's how it's supposed to work:  Go to your Facebook profile, and the top five friends on the left-hand sidebar are your team in the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.  Based on your team and their skills, estimate how long you'll survive.

I got lucky.  My team?  Bex, my buddy Kyle that I've known forever (picture the sunglass and cowboy hat wearing jailers in most any prison movie, and that's Kyle), GayCynic, the infamous Nightcrawler, and my friend Lacey (the only non-gunnie on the team, but she's wicked smart, and every good team needs a techie).

The zombies don't stand a chance.

Lokidude

Provenance

Here is the link to the article in the Casper Star-Tribune about Governor Mead signing the Wyoming Constitutional Carry bill into law.

And I'm still grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Lokidude

It PASSED!

I just got an email from Wyoming Gun Owners, bearing excellent news:

Governor Mead signed the Wyoming Constitutional Carry bill into law!

Pardon me while I do the world's happiest Truffle Shuffle.

Lokidude

A moment of realization

Between a discussion over on The Gun Counter, and learning of the death of a friend of a friend, I inadvertently stumbled across what will someday become my epitaph:

Life is short.  Living is dangerous.  We are fragile.

 I'm not really worried about dying anytime soon, and I really don't want to sound morbid, but the above is the realization I've recently reached.  However, instead of making me depressed, I view it as inspiring.  Because, knowing that it is truth, I'm reminded that I need to do more than just metabolize oxygen and sugar.  I need to get out and LIVE.  I need to spend more time fishing with my brother and my dad, and worry less about my own mortality.

And that, I'm realizing, is a refreshing freedom.

Lokidude

Black Swan

Two words.  Just.  Don't.

It was like A Clockwork Orange had a drunken one-night stand with Swan Lake, and the child was born addicted to psychotropic substances.

Watch a couple Tim Burton flicks instead.

Lokidude

We need more of this

Congratulations go out to Marko, who's celebrating the seven year anniversary of his naturalization as an American this year.

What is it that we need more of, though?  This:

I still get this little rush every time I have an occasion to affirm my nationality–checking off “United States of America” for citizenship on a 4473, for example, or acknowledging verbally that I am an American citizen.
I did it for the first time the day I got back from the courthouse with my naturalization certificate in hand, and went straight to the town clerk’s office to register to vote and apply for a passport. So far, it hasn’t lost its thrill.

 We need to make it easy for folks like Marko to emigrate to America and become legal citizens.  A person who wants nothing more than to become an American, work hard, and strive for the American Dream is a person I want to see become an American.

Congrats, Marko.  Our nation is better for you and folks like you.

Lokidude

On moving

While I've made reference to it a couple times, I haven't come out and said anything about our upcoming move.

For family reasons, Bex and I are moving back to Salt Lake the first week of April.  We're both working on getting transfers, and we'll be living with her mother for the forseeable future.  It should be a good change for all involved.  We're both excited to be near family and friends.  I'm stoked to be able to go to concerts and races and work on my Volkswagen.  Something tells me Bex won't complain about variety in restaurant choices, and local craft stores.

We're definitely looking forward to home.

Lokidude

How to NOT be a good mother

Despite any argument the writer may make, leaving her children and family behind does not, in fact, make her a good mother.  In fact, it makes her a selfish, narcissistic, overgrown child whose children seem far better off post-divorce.

Now, I know I stand to get railed here, as I have no children yet.  I am, however, Uncle Loki to 4 wonderful little kids (soon to be 5!), as well as having firsthand knowledge of shit marriages.  And Bex and I are actively trying to have kids.  And part of making the decision to have kids is that both of you have to be 100% behind the decision.  And yes, that means sacrifice.  When we have a kid, the hatchling becomes the priority.  My car, beloved though it is, comes after the kids.  Same with the guns and the hunting and the fishing.  I hope to share all of my passions with my kids, but the kids take precedence over the hobbies and lifestyle.

The screaming reality that shows me how selfish the author of the article is?

If one partner doesn't want kids, no amount of begging, cajoling, or negotiating will make the decision to have kids a right one.

No ifs, ands, or buts.  If you're not ready to make the sacrifices for your family, then you don't need to be having a family.  And if your family happens unplanned, well, you learn to sacrifice, like my friend Sarah, or you give the child up for adoption.  Seriously, there are wonderful people out there who would love nothing more than to become parents, but can't.  And you, Ms Narcissistic Blowhard, get to celebrate how you were able to abandon your marriage (by your account, good for 20 years, right up until you walked away on the beginning of your journey of self-absorption), and your two children.

And it should have ripped your cavalier heart out to hear them say "When I called you last night I felt like I really missed you very much."

I'm just shy of 29, and I can tell you with a certainty that no matter how bad it got dealing with my mom, I missed her.  Not "felt like."  Not some rational, composed, English-major sentence.  I flat out missed my mom.  Because I have a good mom.  Mom gave up a lot of lifestyle and fun to raise Baby Brother and me.  But instead of treating us like a burden, she treated us like her kids.  Her legacy.  The lasting thing she leaves to this world.  And in doing so, she taught me how I want to raise my own.  And it's not by walking away from my family to pursue a selfish career opportunity.  Not without a plan in place.  Not with any kind of ambivalence.  Because that's what parents, good parents, do.

And that blowhard is not a good parent.

Lokidude

Rest in Peace, Mr Buckles

 America's last WWI veteran has died.   Not only did he survive WWI, he was a POW in the Philippines in WWII.

Rest in Peace and Godspeed, Mr Buckles.  You've earned it, sir.

Lokidude

One of the best things I've ever seen

Everybody knows Mike Rowe.  He's the Ford guy, the Dirty Jobs guy, the voice of Deadliest Catch.  He's also incredibly intelligent, well-educated, and has an uncanny grasp of the human condition.

It's 20 minutes long, but watch the whole thing.  Trust me, it's so very worth it.

 

Lokidude

365

One year ago today (right about now, in fact) was the best day of my life, and the first day in the best year of my life.  For some reason, she let me fool her into thinking I was worth marrying, and she still seems to believe it.  If the next year is half this good, it'll be epic.

I love you, honey!

Lokidude

In less fun news

Somali pirates have hijacked a yacht and are holding 4 Americans.

However...  "US mulls responses?" I'm sorry, there is only one response to piracy where American citizens are involved.  That response has been around for well over 230 years:  The United States Marine Corps.  It's what they're for.  Point them at the general area and tell them "fix the problem."

The article also mentions that a court in New York has sentenced the one surviving pirate from the Maersk Alabama incident to 33 years in an American prison (quite an upgrade from his life in Somalia, I'm certain).  Why, for the love of all that's good and decent, did we bring one home?  By international law, which has never changed and is still valid, piracy is a capitol offense, violators are tried on site, and if convicted, summarily turned into chum.

I don't care about "fixing" Somalia, I know for a fact that it's an impossible notion.  I just want to make piracy so dangerous that it's no longer a viable business model.

Lokidude

Addendum

As a side note, compare Martina McBride's handling of the Star Spangled Banner at Daytona to Christina Aguilera's rendition at the Super Bowl, if you will.  I'll give you a hint.  The country girl did it right.  The princess, well, she did it entirely wrong.

Lokidude

It's that time again...

Time to reach on back, pull those belts tight, and crank it up!

Boogity boogity boogity, let's go racin boys!

Lokidude

Wheaton's Law, as applied to gunnies

Breda linked to a news story of some Michigan OC activists who (according to the story, and that's my caveat) violated Wheaton's Law* in the course of their activism.

The commenters on that post MOST DEFINITELY violated Wheaton's Law.

Here's the deal.  You can either damn the torpedoes, and make your point at all costs, or you can be a bit pragmatic (I know, amongst some gunnies, that's an insult almost as bad as "fudd" or "democrat").  While taking a stand and making a point can feel damn good, it's not likely to get you much of anyplace.  We didn't get where we are in this rights battle overnight, and we won't get Constitutional liberties restored overnight, either.  At least, not in a way that any of us who has 2 brain cells to rub together wants.

Instead, let's take a lesson from the snowball.  Start small, pick up support as you go, and soon, you become unstoppable.
The concept of open carry is something I dearly love.  I don't OC as often as I might, in no small part because I don't want to deal with the stupid that comes from the tourists I've had to deal with in the past couple years.  During the winter, though, I'm far less concerned and far more apt to OC.  It is, quite simply, a convenience thing.  However, there is a major difference between a holstered pistol (which can be an excellent icebreaker for a rights discussion), and a slung longarm, which, while legal, is going to make anyone nervous.  It has nothing to do with rights or legalities.  It has everything to do with a deeply-ingrained image in our souls.  Men, ready-carrying long guns, brings to mind an image of so many police states and government oppressions.  We've seen in on the news the world over, for the entirety of my generation and the one before it.  And when people see those things, it causes a gut reaction of opposition, whether or not it is warranted.  It's the same imagery that causes a gut reaction of acceptance and home in me when I see a gun rack in a truck, because that's just redneck good times.  Conditioning like that will take a generation, maybe more, to weed out.  And that weeding has to be done deliberately, slowly, and calmly.

So open carry whenever it's legal and appropriate.  Be friendly and courteous.  When someone asks about your pistol, and why you're open carrying, give them a friendly, simple answer, and maybe some direction as to where they can find further information.  Don't become a shrieking harpy, screaming "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!"**  Don't get into arguments with screaming harpies, because they'll drag you to their level and beat you with experience.  We have to be ambassadors and diplomats, not conquerors.

So be good ones.

Lokidude

*In summary, "don't be a dick."
**A mighty hat tip to JayG and Vine, that.