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Just in case any of you guys were wondering where my avatar came from............................... December 7th is always a thoughtful day for me. Not because of the Pearl Harbor attack, but because December 7,1961 was the day the U. S Army decided that an 18 year old Private named me needed to take a boat trip to Europe. So, on that day 53 1/2 years ago, I hoisted my duffel bag onto my shoulder and walked up the gangway to one of the most memorable experiences of my life – crossing the North Atlantic in a howling December storm on the lowliest of lowly tubs, a troop ship…..the United States Naval Ship General Maurice Rose. “The Rose,” as we called her, was 608 feet long, 75 feet abeam, displaced 9,600 tons empty, and carried 5200 troops in all the luxury of a camping trip to the Kansas City stock yards. First commissioned in 1945, the old ship could reach 19 knots in calm water, but was lucky to do better than 12 knots on our trip because of the ill tempered seas. She was owned by the Navy, operated by the Army Transportation Corps, commanded by Navy officers, had a merchant marine crew, and carried Army troops. What could possibly go wrong with a system like that? "The Rose" was two football fields long. At about 0900 hours that morning we started to move away from the dock and, as we reached the end of a huge warehouse at the end of the dock, our morale suffered its first real blow of the trip – painted on the end of the warehouse in 25 foot high letters was the greeting “WELCOME HOME .” The misplaced sign appeared without warning and had a stunning effect on a ship load of G.I.'s who were already aware that they wouldn't see home again for a long, long time. It got awfully quiet on deck until the sign disappeared from view, and it would be the last time any of us would be on the open deck until we were completely across the Atlantic Ocean. Note the size of the men working at the water line. Not long after the sign disappeared, the fun started in earnest. As soon as we cleared New York harbor we ran afoul of a nasty, boiling Atlantic winter storm that would royally knock us about for the next nine days. For the entirety of the trip to Southampton, England, and then to Bremerhaven, Germany, “the Rose” rocked, rolled, dove, climbed, and vibrated its heart out. We were in seas so heavy that the screws often came out of the water and flailed about in the air until the ship righted herself again. The violent shaking and vibrations of those huge screws churning the air made even the most stout hearted among us wonder where the devil we’d left our life preserver! Naturally the weather decks were off limits to us for the entire trip, and on the one occasion when a crewman opened a door looking out to the deck, we were looking UP at the Atlantic Ocean. I didn’t look again until we reached the English Channel – once was enough for me. Trying to eat while the ship was diving and rolling around in one trough after another was often a very humorous experience. The tables in the mess halls were long, rectangular affairs coming out of the sides of the ship and were anchored to the floor. They were covered in Formica and accommodated about a dozen men seated on each side of the table. We soon found out that stainless steel mess trays slid like crazy on the slick Formica every time the ship rolled, and usually wound up several persons away from where the sliding had started. Desperation being the mother of invention, some brilliant soul found that if one inserted a wet napkin between the tray and the Formica, the tray stayed put – but the food kept right on going. Oh well, try, try again. She wasn't nearly as big on the inside as she was on the outside. The most disconcerting part of the voyage happened as we stopped in calm water off of Southampton, England to pick up a pilot for the North Sea part of our voyage, and to conduct a lifeboat drill. Well, I guess that’s what they called it, because it took the merchant marine crew a full half hour just to get the first life boat off of its davits! A Special Forces Sergeant standing next to me watching the comedy of errors expressed all of our feelings when he blurted out loudly: “Boy, if this tub ever decided to sink, we’d have about enough time to say Our-Father-which-art-in-blub-blub-blub!” The frightening part is that he was absolutely right. All things have to come to an end, and our trip ended at the Port of Bremerhaven, West Germany on December 16th. The trip through the English Channel had been quite calm, but the overnight sail through the North Sea was the roughest of the whole trip. And believe me, by this time we were bloody tired of “rough.” On arrival we were no longer accustomed to walking on a surface that wasn’t pitching and rolling, so we staggered and stumbled off the ship to the waiting trains like the biggest bunch of drunks in history. It took most of us a week to learn how to walk again without lurching all over the place and grabbing anything we could find to steady ourselves. It had been one heck of a ride. Mercifully, the Army flew me home when my overseas tour ended in 1964. The trip took nine hours instead of “the Rose’s” nine days. And I didn’t miss the old girl one bit. Epilogue “The Rose” was named after Major General Maurice Rose, United States Army, who was the only American general officer killed during the fighting in western Europe in World War II. He was killed in Germany in the spring of 1945. The General Maurice Rose plied the Atlantic route from 1950 to 1965, completing more than 150 round trip crossings between New York and Bremerhaven. She sailed the Mediterranean run for a while, and then spent her final years of active duty ferrying troops to the Far East from the Pacific coast. The old ship was mothballed into the reserve fleet in 1967, decommissioned in 1997, and they scrapped her in 2000. I guess she was a pretty good ship. After all, how many people get to look UP at the Atlantic Ocean and live to tell about it? The rose's biggest customer - the United States 7th Army. Looks suspiciously like my avatar, huh? EssOne

Just an update on this ordeal - I just got a call from the police that someone tried to pawn my gun this morning. They don't think he's the one that stole it but he is telling who he bought it from. The detective in charge is related by marriage and said I could call him tomorrow and pick it up. I hope it's not trashed and the expensive mag is still in it.

I think they learned it from our state elected officials!

So I have been going to the stables with my wife for a while now. One of her friends, who is extremely liberal, has a son that normally sits around playing games on his tablet or wanders off on his own to do who knows what. He is a quiet little kid that is really timid but he is well mannered, polite and extremely smart. Well the last few visits to the stable that kid and I have become friends. I have been showing him some different things as well as watching him build dams in a small creek. Then a few visits ago I took him a slingshot but I wasn't sure he would be allowed to have it because of his liberal parents but his mother said it was ok so I let him have it. We spent an hour or two knocking plastic bottles over with it as well as shooting into some water and mud. He got pretty good with the slingshot but before he left that day he said it would be easier with his BB gun. I thought it was odd because his parents are extremely liberal but I guess anything is possible.   Well yesterday I was at the stables again and the boy showed up with his "BB gun". I would have never imagined he would have had it in a million years but there he stood with a Knights Armament PDW, Berretta pistol and an HK MP7. He had some cheap scope wired to it, it just flopped around and there is no way it would ever work. I thought to myself how can you expect him to shoot this thing. So I took the scope off and showed him how to use iron sights. I promised him a real scope, that actually works, the next time we meet. And while we were sitting there a few more kids showed up with a BUNCH of plastic guns in their arms.   So what I did was spend a couple of hours working with all those kids. And despite some odd looks from parents and other riders I was determined to teach these kids something. So I spent the next couple of hours showing some 10 year olds how to do a combat patrol, how to setup an ambush and the most fun was teaching them how to enter and clear a room.   I took my long sleeve shirt and used a couple of brooms tied together to make a target for them to shoot at. And in the end I had them clearing rooms and doing it safely with their airsoft guns loaded and ready.   It was fun and honestly they did better than most of the Afghans I have tried to teach.   Before it is all over I will try to teach the son of my wife's liberal friend how to clear, disassemble/reassemble and perform a function check on an AK-47. If an Afghan can do it I am sure this smart kid will be able to learn it easily. I will also see if I can convince the mother to let him shoot some guns. At a minimum I will be replacing his single cock airsoft rifle with a full auto because everyone needs a machine gun.   It was definitely a fun day for me.

My buddy and I drove to Alpharetta, GA to see Rush on their 40th anniversary tour, and although they haven't outright said it, probably their last tour of this magnitude. It was like a religious experience. Those guys are still at the top of their game and put on a GREAT show. I saw them last year too, but this show was great because of how much of their back catalogue they played. Also, the Verizon Ampitheater was really nice. Lines to the bathroom were quick and plenty of places with ease of access to purchase adult beverages. Any Rush fans on here?

Wow, I saw them on their 30th anniversary tour. It was awesome.   Something like 5 hours of unadultrated Rush. No opening act, no intermission, just Rush. They played just about anything you wanted to hear. It was the same time they had just released their cover album, so that was their encore.   Rush is one of the greatest acts out there, and they have been at it a long time.

The Spyderco sharpmaker is the best you can get for around $50.00,  I reccomend this and a good leather strop, I use one of these  http://stropman.com/BILLY-Leather-Strop-BILLY.htm

Like so many good things, hippies ruined it for a lot of people. Most people just want to buy some clean fruits and veggies, free from the crap the industry giants use to produce. Then the hipsters started showing up because it was the 'in thang to do'. The only people who can tolerate those people are .....those people.

My great grandfather served in the Civil War in the 9th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was essentially wiped out at Shiloh. After the war, the 9th's Chaplain wrote the wartime history of the Regiment. The Chaplain was a Major Marion Morrison. He was John Wayne's grandfather.

It wasn't all that long ago that Staff Duty Officers & NCOs along with the Officers of the Day were always armed on Army Posts. I did my last armed duty as the Field Grade Officer of the Day in the early 90s at Bragg.  It was also SOP for units to man an armed Guard Force to control and secure sensitive areas.  Fast forward to post 9-11 and all the talk was about hiring rental cops to secure the post I was on. I was confused. When I suggested to the CG that we arm all senior NCOs and Commanders - - - the look of shock on the faces of the JAG and the Provost Marshal told me that my Army was no longer one that I recognized. The Army didn't trust us anymore...... 

He didn't think you were a donkey. He thought you were from Kentucky.

http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/15199/   Hard to beat this price.  Add a stripped lower and you are ready to rock and roll!  I recently bought a similar rifle kit from PSA and was very pleased. 

For those interested, we are hosting the Nashville Google I/O Extended event. There will be speakers, food and prizes. http://mercury.io/blog/join-us-at-mercury-for-google-io-extended-nashville-2015 Join Us May 28th we’re hosting Google I/O Extended Nashville 2015 with GDG Nashville (aka Nashville Mobile Development User Group). Join us at 10am for a live stream of the Google I/O keynote followed by live presentations and other sessions throughout the day. Pizza and snacks will be provided and Google has generously donated prizes that will be awarded throughout the day. Visit the Nashville Mobile Development User Group or the GDG Nashville page to register and learn more. Event Details Where Mercury Intermedia 214 Overlook Circle Suite 220 Brentwood, TN 37027 map When Thursday, May 28th, 2015 10:00am to 5:00pm Cost Free. All are welcome. RSVP Please register here. Local Sessions and Speakers Project Ara and Metamorph Software Adam Nagel, CTO Metamorph Software Programming Mobile Services for Android Handheld Systems Dr. Douglas Schmidt and Dr. Jules White of Vanderbilt University Google Fiber Updates / Q&A Googlers from Google Fiber Nashville Android Study Group – Apps Presentation TBA Prizes Nexus 6 Acer Chromebook 13” LG Watch Urbane Two $100 TicketMaster gift cards Nexus Player Chromecast Raspberry Pi 2 – Complete Starter Kit Anker 10,000 mAH battery pack - See more at: http://mercury.io/blog/join-us-at-mercury-for-google-io-extended-nashville-2015#sthash.ht0btMfP.dpuf

Nice job with the bedazzler.

You gotta stay out of those girly bars. You got glitter all over you gun.

My conscience feels a bit better too that my gun isn't out there with a criminal.

I was in the lawn standing near that Huck Finn dude in overalls too! Hahaha! I was amazed the rain held off.

Never claimed I was good looking, though I wouldn't expect to be confused for a donkey. Went to a friends today. His next door neighbor has donkeys. Mom and baby donkey were pretty close to the fence, so I walked over and they came and said hello. Dad is across the pasture and starts running over. At first I thought that he must love his carrots, then I noticed that he look mad. The little jerk thought I was after his girl, who was in heat. He mounted her and then looked at me so I would know who's boss.

I was there last night as well thanks to a good friend of mine with a nasty habit of buying to many concert tickets. :up: Second time I've seen them and it was an absolute blast both times. I'm really glad the weather held last night, but we were ready to flip our tarp over our heads worse come to worse, the glory of lawn seating lol. Right when they came on the clouds directly above the amphitheater seemed to get sucked down towards it, was really cool to watch. There was a rough looking dude in overalls, a huck finn hat and swimming goggles posted up fairly close to us, he was a hoot to watch too ,almost as much so as the show. :lol:

I have the Sharpmaker, the Worksharp, and the Edgepro. The Edgepro does the best job by a WIDE margin, but it's expensive. The Worksharp is fast, but you can damage a blade if you're not careful. I use it for bladed tools more than knives. The Sharpmaker is very good. I'm just too spastic to hold a consistent angle. I can get them sharp, but they're not as pretty. The Edgepro will do this...

I've been to a lot of shows but unfortunately, Rush is not one of them.  I really need to do something about that.

Not really a fan, but ecstatic you got to see them. And don't give up hope. A few years ago I had the joy of seeing Jorma Kaukonen. It wasn't Airplane but a joy to see nonetheless. My point being, musicians need an audience, so don't write them off just yet.

The leather I use is not much thicker than kydex. I mold the leather, front and back, with a curvature to fit around the body. I let the two halves dry separately for 2-3 days. Then I trim off the excess leather. Then I spray adhesive on both sides of the leather then vacuum it again. I leave it vacuum sealed overnight to ensure a tight bond between the two pieces. Then I mark, punch and hand sew the two halves together. And finally I seal the leather completely and in five years of constant wear the leather is still stiff. Everyone has there own way of doing things. No one way is the right or wrong way.

I have been using CL for years. Bought dozens of cars from there. Sold a dozen too.   The point is, we are in the middle of closing on a house, I work two jobs, seven days a week. I don't have time to deal with Craigslist. I am not out to make a lot of money off of the truck. I would honestly like to keep it and put an engine in it, since the body is in nearly perfect shape, which is why I still have it.   If our landlord had waited two weeks, I wouldn't care and I would wait it out. But as it sits, I don't relish the idea of paying to tow the truck somewhere, to pay to store it for a few weeks, to pay to tow it to my new house. There is nothing in the lease stating how many vehicles we can have, but as I will be breaking the lease in less than thirty days, I don't want to start a major hassle today.   My thought was that a charity could come pick it up, and do some good with it, and I could write it off on my taxes. I thought that might be better than getting paid $200 by a scrapper to come haul it off. For the love of god it has $800 in barely used tires on it.   And no, I don't have time to part it out either.

Just the video, for anyone that doesn't want to load the site   [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tEYcUSQDyw[/media]

Mate that up with this and you've got one of the lowest cost ARs around. http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/15199/

I had the Lansky system but moved over to the Spyderco Sharpmaker.   While the Lansky was good it was a little more cumbersome getting everything attached and ready to use.  With the Spyderco you just put the stones in and get to work.  Spyderco seems much better to me.

Go medieval on the skunk....   step 1--they are primarily nocturnal (unless they are rabid), so sometime before bed, put a good coat of flour on the ground around the hole. Chances are the skunk will be out foraging during the late evening. Check the flour mid-morning the next day-- if you see Pepe LePew footy prints in the flour, odds are that the skunk has returned and is sleeping in it burrow.   step 2-- get out the ol' turkey fryer, and heat up a couple of gallons of cooking oil. it doesn't have to be boiling, but does need to be close to frying temperature.   step 3-- VERY carefully transfer the oil (a small stove pot or boiler can be used as a dipper for this) to a large stove pot or cast iron with a sturdy handle...   step 4-- recreate the classic Medieval castle siege defense by pouring as much of the hot oil as possible into the burrow hole as quickly as possible-- a gallon or two will work nicely.... and take care of the oil splash unless you want to end up like the skunk.     step 5-- run.   step 6-- go back and fill the hole in completely with dirt or concrete.   step 7-- 2 years later, excavate the perfectly preserved skunk skeleton, and display it on your patio as fair warning to other nuisance varmints.     Once skunks take up residence, it is damn hard to get rid of them by just filling in or blocking their burrow. The most successful non-firearm-related solution is live capture and relocation-- which is a royal pain in itself.   PS-- skunks just can't resist a peanut butter/tuna fish (or canned cat food) casserole, so keep that in mind when baiting traps.     Of course, there are easier methods than the one I just mentioned.... sorry if anyone took this 100% seriously-- it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek overkill.

I can tell y'all a lot of local business has been lost to the high end restaurant industry. I would try to source as much local produce as I could when ordering. Even the large suppliers are buying from local now for resale. We would design menu items specifically for what was in season locally and request it from our supplier. The farmers realized long ago they could not sustain themselves at the markets. With the cost of being a farmer it was the only way to survive. The days of farmer Dave ( real guy by the way) driving around in his pickup from restaurant to restaurant selling his in season produce started a lot of this in Nashville. Great guy too by the way. It was good and bad. Many people, not just hipsters, have been awakened to the benefits of non gmo foods. Read about monsanto, it will scare the crap out of you. There are still the smaller markets mentioned and they are pretty good. As for the Nashville farmers market it could go either way. I went once about five years ago and never went back it was such a joke. There were only two or three true local growers.

Jonnin gave you some very good advice.  In addition to what he said, here's how I check timing on my DA revolvers:   1.  Make sure weapon is unloaded. 2.  Hold the gun so that it is pointing to your left or right, and positioned between your face and a light. 3.  Watching the cylinder latch, slowly pull the trigger. 4.  If your gun's timing is good, then the latch will:         A.  drop down before the cylinder starts to turn;         B.  pop back up and drag on the cylinder;          C.  lock into place and stop the cylinder's movement - BEFORE the hammer drops.   You should check this on all six bores.  If this doesn't make sense then take a look at the Iowegan Book of Knowledge or PM me.

They're in the transition phase. They've kicked out the guys selling 100 packs of tube socks and airbrushed Obama T-shirts, but have not yet replaced them with the local producers. I don't see it working out well for them. I don't think there are enough local producers who would be willing to haul their stuff downtown, pay rent, and still be able to make a buck. Winter months will be particularly challenging to keep the stalls filled with local producers. We'll see, but I expect to be able to buy a Tupac wall hanging again in about 24 months.

We did a little shooting over the weekend too. Would have done a lot more had I know it was going to happen at all. Had several adults and kits shoot for the first time and a couple others shoot for the first time in a loooong time. My little one, first time shooting more than a BB gun.

To all those afraid of the bet, come on.  It's worth $100 to make the friend eat crow.  If he DOES hit the target, maybe you have a new shootin' buddy.  Maybe his wife finds out and is so impressed she decides to start shooting too.   You at least get a memorable day at the range!  $100 is not a small amount, but its worth it in this case!

Spyderco Sharpmaker

I use a Lansky sharpener and also a 4 sided leather strop block with different grit compounds.  

Wicked Edge!

  Barton, Very Old : One of the top choices if you drink a LOT and don't have deep pockets. Ask me how I know. ;)   From Wiki:   "On February 16, 2011, Very Old Barton 100 proof tied with Evan Williams "Black Label" as "Best Buy Whisk(e)y of the Year" in the 17th Annual Whisky Advocate Whisky Awards."   I guess second place went to rubbing alcohol or something.   And yeah, ole Evan was another low down top choice, too!   - OS

short story some might see humor in   dude comes in tonight carrying a bottle of Blantons, NIB.  He speaks to me and said he had wanted to buy a gift for a friend and knew nothing about liquor.  He had been in earlier in the day and was recommended the Blantons by one of my co-workers.  He was telling me how he heard Blanton's was not very good.  Basically he was telling me he was going to be embarrassed by gifting this bourbon. I was dumbfounded.  We all know Blanton's is top shelf.   I plain told him I did not know what to do, that Blanton's was a awesome bourbon gift.  So we chatter a for a minutes of two, I show him a couple other bottle, but none any more regarded than Blanton's.  I could tell he just did not know what to do or believe.   We walk to the counter and then sheepishly he says he might have texted the wrong name of the bourbon to his buddy.  He then admitted he told his buddy that we sold him Barton's Bourbon. He was holding his phone and reading the text he sent.  LMAO.  At least he owned up to his mistake.  And at least we knew why his buddy was mistakenly bad mouthing Blanton's.   We had a good laugh.

usually its an issue with really old guns, or heavily worn guns, where the worn out parts do not quite do the job anymore.   For example I have a bad one that the "pusher thingy" what is attached to the trigger and the cylinder notches are so badly worn out they only turn the cylinder about 95% of the way.  The cylinder stop is also worn so it does not really lock into place either.   Bottom line is the thing is dangerous to shoot, it will shave bullets and spit the shavings out the side of the gun, or worse.   It was my great grandfathers and its just not to be shot anymore.   One thing to check is the cylinder lockup.  If it can be turned by hand, that is bad, even a little wiggle is not great, it should not move at all when it is in fire position.  This is not quite the same issue but its related.   Another issue is if the cylinder rotates when it should not, not talking wiggle but for example, some revolvers allow you to rotate the cylinder freely under some conditions, but most DA/SA do NOT.   The gp and sp should NOT rotate freely with the hammer down, for example.   What most folks do is dry check each chamber ... that would mean cock it 6 times and try to wiggle the cylinder each go, and make sure it is aligned (look down the  barrel or use a caliber-sized rod ) each go.     The only other source of the issue that I know of  are 1) manufacturing defects: fixed by sending to manufacturer. 2) some idiot changed the cylinder out for one that does not quite work.  Fixed by undoing this.  Example, putting a 7 shot cylinder into a 6 shot gun of similar models that seems to fit but don't.   I would think this would be a non-issue on a gun like a GP/SP unless its been abused badly or shot to death, both should be obvious.   Do you have a reason to suspect a problem?  If you discover a problem, ruger should fix it, might cost you though.   The only way to fix a worn out one is a new cylinder and pusher, which don't exist for most of the guns that are so old they have the issue..

My friend told me that all he talked about was  Mister Gordon and he played with him for 2 hours while I went out riding with his mom.He is the cutest little guy and  so gentle and sweet. I miss having a little guy around and so does Gordon (I bet)

That's funny as hell! I don't care how bad that guy took a hit, if you're stupid enough to stand there....... Natural Selection, Gods finest law.

I have that. It's a handy little sucker.

Nossir. Ruger Gunsite Scout .223

Never bet on another mans game!!!

how can I get in on this action?

I've heard Jerry talk about McGivern.  He idolizes the man and has studied, thoroughly, everything the man ever wrote/recorded.     To me, it's trivial to try to decide who is/was better.  It's apparent that I will never be able to be in the same galaxy as either.....I will say this though, I don't think Ed devoted equal time to shotguns, autos, rifles, three gun competition, as well as the commercial & celebrity aspect.  If Jerry never truly matches McGivern with a revolver, it might be that he has too much on his plate.

Exactly why I will not be going.

That and no AC, very little and bad restroom facilities sure make it a "pleasant" place to be. lol

It stinks in there. Is it the building or do gun owners stink? I didn’t pay attention to the fact it left. I only live a few miles from there and went a few times. Like all others though I didn’t see any deals. I think gun shows are dead. Why should dealers drag all their guns to a gun show when they can sit in their shop and sell them just as easily?

This has been in the works for 2 years now. I bought all the parts & it was put together by a really good friend of mine in Florida, Shane Thomas. It's based (loosely) on a 1740s style French Fusil de Chasse. Usually a smoothbore gun, I had this built as a .62 caliber rifle. The barrel was special ordered from Colerain with a 1:60 twist & round bottom rifling. The maple for the stock was ordered as 'plain' Yeah...you can see how that turned out! I had the barrel mounted with a hooked beach & wedges, rather than the correct pins, because I actually use my guns & I wanted the ease of cleaning that an easily removable barrel allows. I've only shot a couple of light loads (80gn FFg) so far & it shoots as well as it looks! I'm off to the range tomorrow to start working on a load & adjust (file) the sights as required!