*ND, as in Negligent Discharge. I was scrolling through the Gunblogs and was prompted to post after reading this one over at Miss X's place. It was the following statement that really did me in:
You will have a negligent discharge some day. Col. Cooper went to a lot of trouble figure out how to limit the damage. Please pay attention.
The Four Rules are holy. Learn them. Respect them. Know them. Any new shooters that I take out learn all about them, and I don't (deliberately) shoot with anyone who doesn't know them.
Miss X has put it in terms similar to the one rule all motorcyclists face. There are two types of riders: those who have laid a bike down, and those who will. I suppose she's right. I would like to think not; after all, I keep my finger off the trigger of my friggin Dewalt cordless tools until I'm ready to pull it, and if I'm walking with one it's always pointed down (always a safe direction with a DRILL, mind you). I'm worse with guns. My 6-year old can recited the Four Rules and even explain each one. She'd better, or she gets no gun for Christmas.
But, I suppose Miss X is right. I've ND'ed, too, sad as I am to admit it. And it couldn't have been with a .22 target pistol or something. No, it was with a snubbie .357 Smith in an indoor range. Surprise! A few years ago my brother and I were shooting .38 and .357 from his Model 60(?). I first shot .38, and it was very easy to shoot. I then loaded a cylinder full of 158 gr. JHP (it's what we got for Christmas) and took what would be my first shot with a Magnum caliber. The muzzle flash was impressive, the flames that shot out from the cylinder gap were much larger, and the sound that echoed through that indoor range stopped every shooter on the line. You couldn't have removed the smile from my face with a belt sander. However...
If my first shot was transcendental, it was my second shot that slammed my spirit right back into reality. See, I don't own revolvers, so I do not know revolvers. I didn't know how to learn to appreciate the Smith and Wesson double-action trigger. What I knew was Boom Equals KICKASS!, and I wanted that again. So I went for Round Two by reaching my right thumb back for the hammer to set a single-action shot, all the while my right forefinger happily in the trigger guard. I'd say it wasn't on the trigger, but it didn't matter much. To set that hammer all the way back, you kinda have to squeeze right as it sets on the sear. Kinda squeeze + finger in trigger guard = Earth-Shattering KaBOOM!
I ignored Rules 1 (all guns are always loaded) and 3 (keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot), and let slip 158 grains of Magnum destruction. The very outer edge of that paper target will never be the same; more importantly, neither will I. I broke the rules and had an ND in the best imaginable circumstances, and because I held the muzzle downrange - as opposed to kicking it up towards the ceiling like so many tend to - the bullet went to the end of the range and into a pile of shredded tires, just like they're supposed to.
I have no bullet wounds. I have no person's lost life on my conscience. No holes in my walls, either. But I negligently let a round slip, and I'll never forget it. I got off easy. Don't assume you will. Learn the Four Rules of Guns Safety, and obey them!
tweaker
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
#$@&!
I got my ass royally handed to me by an installation today. We've got this house with a massive distributed audio/video system in it, with a damn nice front-projection theater to go with it (45" x 107" curved screen, Runco projector with optional Whitney anamorphic lens). It was in this theater that I received my fail.
After doing the math a few times, I ended up with a 2.35:1 image a full 5 inches too high on the screen.
I fucking HATE external lenses.
*sigh*
I has a sad.
tweaker
After doing the math a few times, I ended up with a 2.35:1 image a full 5 inches too high on the screen.
I fucking HATE external lenses.
*sigh*
I has a sad.
tweaker
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Courage of our Forefathers
The other day I mentioned that I have started listening to talk radio when in a vehicle with no options beyond AM and FM.
That may be about to stop. Most all of it makes me angry now.
I was inspired to write this post a few days ago. See, there's this FM station here that was recently reformatted from a hip-hop/R&B station (upgraded?) into the area's first FM talk radio station. They run Laura Ingraham after Boortz. It was during Laura's show that a concept I had been stating really started to reveal itself on a national level. That concept - common among Libertarians - is that Republicans are just as much to blame for the downward spiral that they are so eager to point out that we're in as the Democrats are.
So it is with this mindset that I was a bit put aside when, the other day, Miss Ingraham was discussing the recent 9-12 March and compared it to our Forefathers' journey to this land and creation of the nation that stands on it. She was condemning the Democrat leaders of Congress and the mainstream media for effectively snubbing their noses and the masses of attendees on Capitol Hill on 9-12-09 (whose numbers, depending on who you ask, literally range from hundreds to over 1.5 million. You be the judge). In this, she said that the politicians had no inclination to pay any mind to the masses, as they faced insurmountable odds against the lawmakers themselves. She then noted the strength of the masses, and its regularly underestimated determination. That's when she got to it. She said our forefathers journeyed miles and miles to a completely unknown destination in the hopes of living in a world where freedom rules the day. She said that the courage of our Forefathers was amazing.
I said that the courage of our Forefathers is dead.
No one, not one living creature in Congress or the White House, not a one of them possesses the courage of our Forefathers. None of them believe what our Forefathers believed: that the nation was for the People, and the States (in that order, motherfuckers) and that the role of the federal government was to be minimal.
The role of the federal government is not minimal. It is massive, overbearing, and seeking out control wherever control might be available. The fed has violated every corner of the Constitution, and every inch of the Bill of Rights except the Third Amendment (quartering of troops). The federal government could give a two shits and a fuck about the freedoms we have long fought to maintain, and that goes for Republicans and Democrats alike.
Yes, the gauntlet is down.
Then it gets better. Remember, I'm only slightly annoyed at Conservative Republican rhetoric at this point. I got no beef with Miss Ingraham so far. Then yesterday happened. She was in Philadelphia, PA; the Birthplace of Freedom. She was talking about being in that city and taking in its history. She mentioned that our forefathers were rolling over in their graves these days. She said that the federal government has its hands in way to many pies that they don't belong in. She was feeling things that I felt when I was in Philly, and I was agreeing with her. Then she said that we need a re-do of the last nine months.
Thank you, Miss Ingraham, for shooting your credibility completely to shit.
We need a re-do, alright, but it sure as hell ain't for just the last nine months. You trying to tell me that things were all okey-dokey while George W. was in office? Seriously? Didn't he have his hands in too many pies? Wasn't he spending money we didn't have on shit we shouldn't have spent it on? Didn't he start the whole bailout juggernaut?
And before that, Clinton. Wasn't he the charismatic fuckhead to end all charismatic fuckheads? Thanks for that Assault Weapons Ban, asshole! By the way, Laura, did the Republicans rush in to the majority of (both houses of) Congress with their repeal pens out for any of the asinine garbage the Dems passed while they held all the cards? Hell no! Just like the current administration - you know, the one who really, really hated (honest, they did) the Patriot Act - didn't rush in to overturn all the eeeevil, unconstitutional garbage the last round of Republicans got passed, did they?
It's because the government does NOT give up power. And it never will as long as this bullshit two-party system has the keys.
Well, get ready. Lovers of true freedom are getting tired of having their rights shit all over. We're getting fed up, and our voices are getting heard.
The line is getting drawn.
tweaker
Related news, seen at Unc's:
That may be about to stop. Most all of it makes me angry now.
I was inspired to write this post a few days ago. See, there's this FM station here that was recently reformatted from a hip-hop/R&B station (upgraded?) into the area's first FM talk radio station. They run Laura Ingraham after Boortz. It was during Laura's show that a concept I had been stating really started to reveal itself on a national level. That concept - common among Libertarians - is that Republicans are just as much to blame for the downward spiral that they are so eager to point out that we're in as the Democrats are.
So it is with this mindset that I was a bit put aside when, the other day, Miss Ingraham was discussing the recent 9-12 March and compared it to our Forefathers' journey to this land and creation of the nation that stands on it. She was condemning the Democrat leaders of Congress and the mainstream media for effectively snubbing their noses and the masses of attendees on Capitol Hill on 9-12-09 (whose numbers, depending on who you ask, literally range from hundreds to over 1.5 million. You be the judge). In this, she said that the politicians had no inclination to pay any mind to the masses, as they faced insurmountable odds against the lawmakers themselves. She then noted the strength of the masses, and its regularly underestimated determination. That's when she got to it. She said our forefathers journeyed miles and miles to a completely unknown destination in the hopes of living in a world where freedom rules the day. She said that the courage of our Forefathers was amazing.
I said that the courage of our Forefathers is dead.
No one, not one living creature in Congress or the White House, not a one of them possesses the courage of our Forefathers. None of them believe what our Forefathers believed: that the nation was for the People, and the States (in that order, motherfuckers) and that the role of the federal government was to be minimal.
The role of the federal government is not minimal. It is massive, overbearing, and seeking out control wherever control might be available. The fed has violated every corner of the Constitution, and every inch of the Bill of Rights except the Third Amendment (quartering of troops). The federal government could give a two shits and a fuck about the freedoms we have long fought to maintain, and that goes for Republicans and Democrats alike.
Yes, the gauntlet is down.
Then it gets better. Remember, I'm only slightly annoyed at Conservative Republican rhetoric at this point. I got no beef with Miss Ingraham so far. Then yesterday happened. She was in Philadelphia, PA; the Birthplace of Freedom. She was talking about being in that city and taking in its history. She mentioned that our forefathers were rolling over in their graves these days. She said that the federal government has its hands in way to many pies that they don't belong in. She was feeling things that I felt when I was in Philly, and I was agreeing with her. Then she said that we need a re-do of the last nine months.
Thank you, Miss Ingraham, for shooting your credibility completely to shit.
We need a re-do, alright, but it sure as hell ain't for just the last nine months. You trying to tell me that things were all okey-dokey while George W. was in office? Seriously? Didn't he have his hands in too many pies? Wasn't he spending money we didn't have on shit we shouldn't have spent it on? Didn't he start the whole bailout juggernaut?
And before that, Clinton. Wasn't he the charismatic fuckhead to end all charismatic fuckheads? Thanks for that Assault Weapons Ban, asshole! By the way, Laura, did the Republicans rush in to the majority of (both houses of) Congress with their repeal pens out for any of the asinine garbage the Dems passed while they held all the cards? Hell no! Just like the current administration - you know, the one who really, really hated (honest, they did) the Patriot Act - didn't rush in to overturn all the eeeevil, unconstitutional garbage the last round of Republicans got passed, did they?
It's because the government does NOT give up power. And it never will as long as this bullshit two-party system has the keys.
Well, get ready. Lovers of true freedom are getting tired of having their rights shit all over. We're getting fed up, and our voices are getting heard.
The line is getting drawn.
tweaker
Related news, seen at Unc's:
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) declared in a radio interview that same sex marriage is part of a socialist agenda to undermine “the foundations of individual rights and liberties.”
Yeah, they’re the ones doing that. It was totally the gays who passed roving wiretaps; mandated two flush toilets; made it a felony to import lobsters in bags and not boxes; eliminated my right to choose which light bulbs I can use; mandated that all my banking transactions be monitored; and said I needed a proctological exam to board an airplane. That was the gays alright and not boneheads whose names start with Rep.
Game, set, match.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Never Again
Tonight, The Little Girl's school put teachers in a local McDonald's for a special event. The event puts teachers to work, and they get 25% of the take during the hours of the event. So The Wifey and I decided that we were all for it. It beats the hell out of the money being taxed out of my pocket, right?
Dangerous thinking, that.
We arrived at the Mickey D's (which shares a building with a convenience store/gas station) to find no parking at all. We went inside to find a madhouse. Apparently, public school teachers are all about some serious control - OR - most parents are indifferent fuckheads, who cherish the opportunity to let their hellions run and scream unchecked in hopes of a loss of energy sufficient to cause early bedtime.
Bastards. (The parents, not the kids.)
I get claustrophobic pretty easily. I do not like crowds. Add in the stress of fifty million running, screaming children surrounded by parents who could give a shit as long as you don't have the audacity to so much as look at their precious little one should they run full force into you, and you have the makes of a tall long-hair with a high pulse and a sudden need to Find The Lord because there's no way in the Nine Hells that I alone possess the restraint to keep from strangling the living shi......
See where I'm going with this?
I'm gonna keep drinking this Super-Size (Whiskey-and-) Coke and remind myself that I had the one kid in there that stayed put and talked at a conversational level not suited for a Slipknot concert.
Next year, I'm gonna cut a check to the school for 25% of the amount of tonight's food and beverage (minus the Whiskey), and stay the fuck home.
tweaker
Dangerous thinking, that.
We arrived at the Mickey D's (which shares a building with a convenience store/gas station) to find no parking at all. We went inside to find a madhouse. Apparently, public school teachers are all about some serious control - OR - most parents are indifferent fuckheads, who cherish the opportunity to let their hellions run and scream unchecked in hopes of a loss of energy sufficient to cause early bedtime.
Bastards. (The parents, not the kids.)
I get claustrophobic pretty easily. I do not like crowds. Add in the stress of fifty million running, screaming children surrounded by parents who could give a shit as long as you don't have the audacity to so much as look at their precious little one should they run full force into you, and you have the makes of a tall long-hair with a high pulse and a sudden need to Find The Lord because there's no way in the Nine Hells that I alone possess the restraint to keep from strangling the living shi......
See where I'm going with this?
I'm gonna keep drinking this Super-Size (Whiskey-and-) Coke and remind myself that I had the one kid in there that stayed put and talked at a conversational level not suited for a Slipknot concert.
Next year, I'm gonna cut a check to the school for 25% of the amount of tonight's food and beverage (minus the Whiskey), and stay the fuck home.
tweaker
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bad Advice*
*Alternate Title: "Head, Meet Desk"
So, lately I've been known to listen to some talk radio. It's partially because I really can't stand FM radio anymore, and partially because, despite what side you listen to (right vs. left), if you're smart you can deduce the truth on your own. I only do it when I'm driving at work anyway. My automobiles have CD players, and nifty 1/8" jacks for my iPod, so the FM tuners don't see a lot of use there.
Anyway, so the other day I found myself listening to Neal Boortz when he took a call from a gentleman who had called in to comment on a recent Shooting of a Bad Guy. I do not know what shooting was being discussed. I do not know where it happened. I also don't know most of the circumstances involved. What I do know is that the bad guy was shot outside the shooter's house during a foiled attempt at Very Bad Things. Judging from the conversation, the bad guy may have been shot while running away.
*NOTE* papa delta bravo sums up my feelings on shooting at a "retreating" bad guy thusly:
I don't plan on attempting to divine the intentions of bad guys, either.
All that being said, it wasn't the debate over whether or not to shoot that bothered me. I fully expect those who A. don't carry firearms and B. have never needed one to have no clue about the ethics surrounding their use. What got me was the advice given by the caller. He said that the shooter was wrong. He said that since the bad guy wasn't inside his house, he wasn't a threat. He said what the shooter should have done was go outside and shoot a couple shots in the air and watch the bad guy run faster.
Head, Meet Desk.
I will now address the caller directly.
Sir, please cease and desist any further dispensing of advice concerning what you consider the proper use of firearms. You are not qualified in any way to do so. Your idea of which part of one's property being invaded displays a lack of respect for the idea of personal property altogether. Your generalizing displays a lack of knowledge of use of force and use of deadly force laws, which vary greatly from state to state. Your blatant disregard for public safety beyond the limits of your property line - a line that, by the by, is NOT one where your fired projectiles suddenly stop and fall harmlessly to the ground you fucking retard - displays a years-old and still wrong idea that a couple shots fired 'harmlessly' into the air as a warning will deter a criminal; a flawed logic that is wrong for many reasons, not the least of which is that, unless those rounds are fired out your front door and directly into the backstop of your home firing range, will continue to travel at lethal velocities until such a time when those velocities succumb to the effects of gravity and friction, or the effects of a your next-door-neighbor's brain stem.
Please let the wise dole out the wisdom, k?
It's scary to think that this asshole might live across the street from me, and I'm just one of his broken car windows away from being on the receiving end of a bullet that should have meant the deanimation of a bad guy.
*sigh*
tweaker
So, lately I've been known to listen to some talk radio. It's partially because I really can't stand FM radio anymore, and partially because, despite what side you listen to (right vs. left), if you're smart you can deduce the truth on your own. I only do it when I'm driving at work anyway. My automobiles have CD players, and nifty 1/8" jacks for my iPod, so the FM tuners don't see a lot of use there.
Anyway, so the other day I found myself listening to Neal Boortz when he took a call from a gentleman who had called in to comment on a recent Shooting of a Bad Guy. I do not know what shooting was being discussed. I do not know where it happened. I also don't know most of the circumstances involved. What I do know is that the bad guy was shot outside the shooter's house during a foiled attempt at Very Bad Things. Judging from the conversation, the bad guy may have been shot while running away.
*NOTE* papa delta bravo sums up my feelings on shooting at a "retreating" bad guy thusly:
I, personally, don’t have a big ethical problem with shooting retreating threats. I’d like to learn the Jedi mind trick to tell the difference between a violent criminal departing the area, and a violent criminal going to retrieve a better weapon, find a better piece of cover, or go get friends!
I don't plan on attempting to divine the intentions of bad guys, either.
All that being said, it wasn't the debate over whether or not to shoot that bothered me. I fully expect those who A. don't carry firearms and B. have never needed one to have no clue about the ethics surrounding their use. What got me was the advice given by the caller. He said that the shooter was wrong. He said that since the bad guy wasn't inside his house, he wasn't a threat. He said what the shooter should have done was go outside and shoot a couple shots in the air and watch the bad guy run faster.
Head, Meet Desk.
I will now address the caller directly.
Sir, please cease and desist any further dispensing of advice concerning what you consider the proper use of firearms. You are not qualified in any way to do so. Your idea of which part of one's property being invaded displays a lack of respect for the idea of personal property altogether. Your generalizing displays a lack of knowledge of use of force and use of deadly force laws, which vary greatly from state to state. Your blatant disregard for public safety beyond the limits of your property line - a line that, by the by, is NOT one where your fired projectiles suddenly stop and fall harmlessly to the ground you fucking retard - displays a years-old and still wrong idea that a couple shots fired 'harmlessly' into the air as a warning will deter a criminal; a flawed logic that is wrong for many reasons, not the least of which is that, unless those rounds are fired out your front door and directly into the backstop of your home firing range, will continue to travel at lethal velocities until such a time when those velocities succumb to the effects of gravity and friction, or the effects of a your next-door-neighbor's brain stem.
Please let the wise dole out the wisdom, k?
It's scary to think that this asshole might live across the street from me, and I'm just one of his broken car windows away from being on the receiving end of a bullet that should have meant the deanimation of a bad guy.
*sigh*
tweaker
Monday, September 14, 2009
Housekeeping! You Want Fluff Pillow?
Wow, it's been forever since I updated the Blogroll of Extremely Limited/Non-Existent Fame. Well, some updates have been made. Mainly just changed addresses and deletions of deleted blogs.
More later...
More later...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Look at Me!!!
I can read!!!
Sorry bout the empty pages here, folks. Been busy. Also, been lazy. Or been playing video games. Or other stuff. I just haven't been feeling the bite of the blog-bug.
So, how y'all been? Pull up a chair, stay awhile! I have stories to tell.
For starters, after finishing Monster Hunter International, I bought a very nice trade paperback of Tolkien's The Hobbit. I flew through MHI with blinding speed; I simply could not put it down. With The Hobbit, I decided to pace myself, and let the story soak in. See, I am a bit of a fan of the author, though I've never read any of his work. I do know a bit of an expert on the subject, though, and he tells me that the movies were quite nearly perfect to the books.
I've seen the movies a few times. I could probably write the script from memory.
So, this very morning I took in the last chapter of The Hobbit, and can say that I was overjoyed to do so. What talent; if I could peel potatoes with the skill that Tolkien wrote, I would be a millionaire. I am looking forward to getting that large, hardcover, single volume copy of The Lord of the Rings. It's not that expensive...
Well, when I started reading The Hobbit, I really got into the genre again, so I loaded up Black Isle Studio's Icewind Dale II for PC. It's an excellent Infinity Engine RPG that plays on AD&D rules. If you ever played D&D, you'd love it. Anyway, so it made sense that my gaming and my reading go hand-in-hand. In fact, it was between reading and playing that took up so much of my time that I haven't spent any time blogging or erasing alien-zombies from existence, which has some of my online buddies a bit peeved.
So, like I said earlier, I have finally finished The Hobbit - and Icewind Dale II isn't far from the end, either - so I preempted the emptiness of not having a book by a little visit to Barnes and Noble's last Friday for a copy of Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller.
I cannot wait to crack that one open. In the meantime, I'll resume blogging with at least some regularity.
See y'all soon!
tweaker
Sorry bout the empty pages here, folks. Been busy. Also, been lazy. Or been playing video games. Or other stuff. I just haven't been feeling the bite of the blog-bug.
So, how y'all been? Pull up a chair, stay awhile! I have stories to tell.
For starters, after finishing Monster Hunter International, I bought a very nice trade paperback of Tolkien's The Hobbit. I flew through MHI with blinding speed; I simply could not put it down. With The Hobbit, I decided to pace myself, and let the story soak in. See, I am a bit of a fan of the author, though I've never read any of his work. I do know a bit of an expert on the subject, though, and he tells me that the movies were quite nearly perfect to the books.
I've seen the movies a few times. I could probably write the script from memory.
So, this very morning I took in the last chapter of The Hobbit, and can say that I was overjoyed to do so. What talent; if I could peel potatoes with the skill that Tolkien wrote, I would be a millionaire. I am looking forward to getting that large, hardcover, single volume copy of The Lord of the Rings. It's not that expensive...
Well, when I started reading The Hobbit, I really got into the genre again, so I loaded up Black Isle Studio's Icewind Dale II for PC. It's an excellent Infinity Engine RPG that plays on AD&D rules. If you ever played D&D, you'd love it. Anyway, so it made sense that my gaming and my reading go hand-in-hand. In fact, it was between reading and playing that took up so much of my time that I haven't spent any time blogging or erasing alien-zombies from existence, which has some of my online buddies a bit peeved.
So, like I said earlier, I have finally finished The Hobbit - and Icewind Dale II isn't far from the end, either - so I preempted the emptiness of not having a book by a little visit to Barnes and Noble's last Friday for a copy of Hugh Laurie's The Gun Seller.
I cannot wait to crack that one open. In the meantime, I'll resume blogging with at least some regularity.
See y'all soon!
tweaker
Saturday, August 1, 2009
*evil grin*
Status report: Monster Hunter International, Chapter I - complete
Aquisition: Last night, Barnes and Nobles
Assessment: Made of Win and covered with Awesome
Future Consideration: WTF am I gonna do if I finish it this weekend? I no more have an unlimited book budget than I do a Blu-Ray budget or Ferrari budget, for that matter.
Decisions, decisions...
tweaker
Aquisition: Last night, Barnes and Nobles
Assessment: Made of Win and covered with Awesome
Future Consideration: WTF am I gonna do if I finish it this weekend? I no more have an unlimited book budget than I do a Blu-Ray budget or Ferrari budget, for that matter.
Decisions, decisions...
tweaker
Friday, July 31, 2009
It Needs The Bookses, Precious
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had started a book.
As of July 30, 2009, I have officially read a book! The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was frickin AWESOME!!! By far the best book I have ever read. Course, it's the only book I've ever read, but that's beside the point. If the rest of the books I read are half that good, I'll be doing just fine.
I had been doing about a chapter a day. Once I started, there was only like one day that went by that I didn't read at least a couple pages. I got down to the last four chapters last night, and I went ravenous; I couldn't stop myself.
*SPOILER ALERT* Just in case you haven't read it, don't read any more of this post! Instead, go get a copy for yourself and do yourself the favor of reading it.
I fully expected Professor de la Paz to die at some point. I figured he wouldn't make it back from Earthside. I was caught off-guard when he did die. I wish Mannie and Wyoh could talk to Mike, though. I am sad for them both.
*sigh*
Like I said before, I really get into movies. When I watch a good movie, I deliberately place myself in it. Not like an extra character or anything; more like watching a movie from the camera lens, but in the world with the characters. I never thought I had the imagination to actually create that world in my mind from the description of words on a page, but with Mistress it played out in my head as if I had watched it on a screen.
I want more.
So, at lunch today, I will be slipping over to Border's for the Baen edition of Monster Hunter International.
And I can't wait.
tweaker
As of July 30, 2009, I have officially read a book! The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was frickin AWESOME!!! By far the best book I have ever read. Course, it's the only book I've ever read, but that's beside the point. If the rest of the books I read are half that good, I'll be doing just fine.
I had been doing about a chapter a day. Once I started, there was only like one day that went by that I didn't read at least a couple pages. I got down to the last four chapters last night, and I went ravenous; I couldn't stop myself.
*SPOILER ALERT* Just in case you haven't read it, don't read any more of this post! Instead, go get a copy for yourself and do yourself the favor of reading it.
I fully expected Professor de la Paz to die at some point. I figured he wouldn't make it back from Earthside. I was caught off-guard when he did die. I wish Mannie and Wyoh could talk to Mike, though. I am sad for them both.
*sigh*
Like I said before, I really get into movies. When I watch a good movie, I deliberately place myself in it. Not like an extra character or anything; more like watching a movie from the camera lens, but in the world with the characters. I never thought I had the imagination to actually create that world in my mind from the description of words on a page, but with Mistress it played out in my head as if I had watched it on a screen.
I want more.
So, at lunch today, I will be slipping over to Border's for the Baen edition of Monster Hunter International.
And I can't wait.
tweaker
Friday, July 17, 2009
Third Leg
Mind out of the gutters, guys. I'm talking about one of these:
No, I do not have anything quite so fancy. I spent $15 on one at the local pharmacy. I figured at that price when it doesn't work I'm not out much money.
Well, now I'm pissed. Because it works.
Why a cane, do you ask? Well, be cause I have a pair of fabulously trashed knees. Actually, it's my kneecaps that are screwed up, and have been for nearly all of my life. A combination of them never getting treated until I was 28 and years of trying to compensate for the pain has left my knees and a few muscles in my legs in shambles. The last fabulous incident involved the left knee, and the event was described in detail about a year ago (it's been that long?). Like the Democrats said before the last presidential election, it's time to punish the right.
Sometimes, the pain only shows up at the end of a long day on my feet. Other times, I don't make it much past lunch before I'm having Vicodin Wishes and Demerol Dreams. There are some days where getting out of bed rates up there childbirth. Okay ladies, maybe I'm exaggerating that last one a bit. But I did have a client recently tell me that having her knees repeatedly drained after her ACL repair hurt worse than giving birth. I'm just sayin...
For a little while, I've longed for a means of taking the pain away without chemical assistance. Then, I saw a guy with a cane and thought that might work. So I tried it, and it did. Which sucks. See, the drugs were a sort of a crutch (one that I use in only the most severe circumstances). The cane is sort of a crutch, too. What I want is for my damned knees to not hurt. Anyway, so walking with the cane takes some of the weight of a full step off the knee and thus makes each step a lot less painful, making it easier for me to get through a full day. So I've accepted the cane, hopefully only for a little while...
Having said that, it seems that I've accepted a great deal of other stuff, as well. I've accepted that I only have one hand if I'm walking with the cane. Think that's easy? Go to a restaurant where you have to carry a tray of food from the register to your table. I've accepted that people will constantly be offering to help, which will begin to depress if one is not careful. I've accepted that I have one more step to consider should I need to draw a firearm (drop the cane from strong hand). I also have most reluctantly accepted the fact that I'm appear now an easier target, limping around on my cane.
(I'm not suggesting that I actually AM an easier target. I'm still only thirty. There are plenty of guys on canes out there that appear significantly less able to resist an attack than someone who's walking along unassisted. I almost feel sorry for the bastard that makes that assumption on Peter, though...)
I have a new respect for anyone who walks with a cane or worse. I've had to do crutches before, but that's always "until it heals." The cane sucks nearly completely, but for now it is a necessary evil.
I'm going to talk to my orthopedic next week if I can get an appointment. I think it's high time we started discussing other options...
tweaker
No, I do not have anything quite so fancy. I spent $15 on one at the local pharmacy. I figured at that price when it doesn't work I'm not out much money.
Well, now I'm pissed. Because it works.
Why a cane, do you ask? Well, be cause I have a pair of fabulously trashed knees. Actually, it's my kneecaps that are screwed up, and have been for nearly all of my life. A combination of them never getting treated until I was 28 and years of trying to compensate for the pain has left my knees and a few muscles in my legs in shambles. The last fabulous incident involved the left knee, and the event was described in detail about a year ago (it's been that long?). Like the Democrats said before the last presidential election, it's time to punish the right.
Sometimes, the pain only shows up at the end of a long day on my feet. Other times, I don't make it much past lunch before I'm having Vicodin Wishes and Demerol Dreams. There are some days where getting out of bed rates up there childbirth. Okay ladies, maybe I'm exaggerating that last one a bit. But I did have a client recently tell me that having her knees repeatedly drained after her ACL repair hurt worse than giving birth. I'm just sayin...
For a little while, I've longed for a means of taking the pain away without chemical assistance. Then, I saw a guy with a cane and thought that might work. So I tried it, and it did. Which sucks. See, the drugs were a sort of a crutch (one that I use in only the most severe circumstances). The cane is sort of a crutch, too. What I want is for my damned knees to not hurt. Anyway, so walking with the cane takes some of the weight of a full step off the knee and thus makes each step a lot less painful, making it easier for me to get through a full day. So I've accepted the cane, hopefully only for a little while...
Having said that, it seems that I've accepted a great deal of other stuff, as well. I've accepted that I only have one hand if I'm walking with the cane. Think that's easy? Go to a restaurant where you have to carry a tray of food from the register to your table. I've accepted that people will constantly be offering to help, which will begin to depress if one is not careful. I've accepted that I have one more step to consider should I need to draw a firearm (drop the cane from strong hand). I also have most reluctantly accepted the fact that I'm appear now an easier target, limping around on my cane.
(I'm not suggesting that I actually AM an easier target. I'm still only thirty. There are plenty of guys on canes out there that appear significantly less able to resist an attack than someone who's walking along unassisted. I almost feel sorry for the bastard that makes that assumption on Peter, though...)
I have a new respect for anyone who walks with a cane or worse. I've had to do crutches before, but that's always "until it heals." The cane sucks nearly completely, but for now it is a necessary evil.
I'm going to talk to my orthopedic next week if I can get an appointment. I think it's high time we started discussing other options...
tweaker
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