TripleDigitRide

That one is the greatest, ever. Dat's only in da monin'. You sposeda' be makin' brefist! Wooo Woooooooo!

I'm going to hell for laughing so hard during such a story.

Remember, we're talking about Government Employees. They aren't know for being the most productive bunch.

Castle is a Marine. He served in Viet Nam.

Yep! It's gonna be real sweet.

Glad to hear your trip went well. Welcome back!

Nice! I'd like to get one of these, but I know nothing about them. I'll have ot wait until I'm with someone who knows what to look for, so I don't buy a pile of junk.

With any luck, when my HCP expires in 2012, maybe they will have their act together.

Thank you. I'll check into those.

Mine was actually quite simple. She signed 100% custody over to me. She has no visitation, nothing. The only further step would be for her to sign all parental rights to me. That would be nice. I'll double check, but I don't think there is any mention of a parenting plan. Could you go into a bit more detail?

I don't recall a "parenting plan".

Thank You! I've thought about it, and I decided I'm going to buy her a little pink .22. She's never been shooting, but I think she would enjoy it. This would give us something to do, together, that both could really enjoy. I know I would really enjoy it, but I'll have to see her reaction. She has shown interest in my guns, but never enough to ask for her own. I'll just surprise her with it.

I'm in. I'm just a few miles away, and I sure could go for a Route 44 Cherry Limeade. Hell, a Super Sonic Cheeseburger with mayo doesn't sound too shabby either. Now that I think about it, I think I'll take an order of onion rings while I'm at it.

In the meanwhile, you're more than welcome to carry a slingshot. I have no clue how difficult it is for them to conduct the necessary BG check, but if a BG check while purchasing a firearm can be conducted in a few short minutes, you'd think it wouldn't be much more difficult for the DOS.

I checked into a lawyer, but they want such a huge retainer fee. So far, she hasn't given me any trouble. She's shown very (almost none) little interest in my daughter in the last 2 years, and with any luck, things will stay that way. If I even begin to sense her getting the slightest bit froggy, I'll have no choice. Fact is, she has NO money. If she were to fight, her family would have to foot the bill. Lucky for me, she has only one family member who has the funds, and I'm not all that confident that she would help. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'd like to thank everyone for the concern and advice. It really helps. Thank you!

Today, I spoke with some Mental Health experts in the Sumner County area. They plan on setting us up with someone who they think would be best suited for our needs. I expect to hear back from them in a few days. I'm confident this will help us get headed in the right direction.

There is no court ordered visitation. Full custody was granted to me roughly 2 years ago. No mention of visitation at that time. 14 months later, I went to court for child support. I gave her the first 12 months as an opportunity to get her act together. She did not do anything of the sort. Again, no mention of visitation was mentioned at this time. "Someone" has made multiple "anonymous" calls to the Department of Children Services. To say they [DCS/DHS, whatever] is a joke would be an understatement. The first visit they made to her home resulted in almost no action. They told her that if she could come down to their offices and pass a drug test, they would close the case. Problem was, they allowed her days (3, I think) to take the drug test. This allowed her the time to use supplements to rid her system of the drugs. Actually, more like cover the sign of drugs in her system. The second visit yielded slighly better results, but not what was needed. IIRC, they made her clean her house, and fix a few broken windows. I guess they already have their hands full, so dedicating much time to any one case isn't an option.

When she gets back from her summer vacation (with my parents), I'm going to find her some professional help. Actually, find US some professional help. I'm sure I need it as much as she does, if not more.

I have already given that some serious thought. I will likely attempt that route. Thanks to everyone for your advice.

I have that feeling. But I had to start somewhere. I'm gonna start with exactly what I want, to the best of my financial ability.

No, this is not gun related, but I really need to get this off my chest. Some possible feedback from parents would also be nice. For those of you who don't already know, I'm a single father (with a very helpful girlfriend, who is not my daughters mother) of a beautiful 9 year old daughter. She means EVERYTHING to me, and now I'm being forced to make a decision I had hoped I'd never have to make. I've had full custody of my daughter for roughly 2 years, due to some very serious issues with my daughters mother. She's battled with drugs and alcohol. She feels the need to put her scumbag boyfriends before her children. She has two other children (not mine) living with her at the present moment, BTW. She is always with men (men used lightly) who are drug addicts, alcoholics, and are often in and out of jail. She doesn't see any reason to have a job. She has a fairly wealthy family who gives her a home, vehicles, and pay her bills, BTW. Over the last 2 years, she has seen my daughter very few times (her choice), and very rarely bothers to pick up the phone. She has not paid one red cent in court ordered child support. Now she's taking advice from her lowlife friends, who suggested she claim a back injury, which would possibly allow her to obtain disability, which would possibly prevent Child Support Services from forcing her to pay child support. The child support issue is the only reason she's attempting to obtain disability. The list could go on and on, but you should have a pretty good idea as to what type of person she is. The issue I'm struggling with is, should I allow my daughter to have any contact with her mother? I struggled with myself for a very long time when it came to gaining full custody of my daughter. Not because I didn't want her with me, but I didn't want her to hate me for taking me from her mother. I knew she wasn't in the best of living situations, but at her age, she doesn't see things quite like I do. Finally, I had no choice. Things were getting to the point where there were no other options. To this day, I honestly believe I made the right decision. Her quality of life is so much better than it would have even been had I continued to allow her to stay with her mother. There was only one option, IMHO. In the two years my daughter has been with me, her mother has made almost no real attempts to clean up her life. In the last 2 years, she became pregnant by some guy who also struggles with dependency issues. He was just recently released from serving several month in jail. He's now living with her, their infant daughter, and her 15 year old son. Her son is also going down a very similar path. Since his preschool day, all the way to present time, he's been kicked out of every school he's attended. He's also been arrested for stealing beer from a local store in their area. I know he's been known to use drugs, smoke cigarettes, and drink alcohol. He's nothing but trouble, and his mother has done nothing to help him. I never wanted to keep my daughter from her mother, but I'm not sure if I have a choice. My daughter can become a totally different person (not in a good way), from simply talking to her mother on the telephone. Spending any amount of time with her mother becomes a total disaster. She's not the same person when she comes back. Luckily, neither of these happens all that often, but when they do, it's a nightmare. Her mother tells her to lie to me. She tries to teach my daughter ways to be dishonest with me. Mainly how to do something without me knowing or finding out. Even though my daughter has very little dealings with her mother, the transition has not been a very smooth one. My daughter does (I think) realize that her mother has issues. The problem is, I don't have answers to all her questions. I've never been the type to talk bad about her mother (when my daughter is around), and that makes answering the questions very difficult at times. I want to be honest with her, but I wonder if the truth would do more harm that good. Even at the young age of 9, my daughter knows a lot of what's going on with her mother. She knows all about the drinking, drugs, and the scumbag boyfriends she allows to shack up in her home. Her mother has made very little attempt to hide anything from my daughter. Hell, I found out she would smoke joints while driving with the children in the car. My daughter has found marijuana and paraphernalia throughout the house. She's walked in on her mother and friends doing drugs. One of the boyfriends offered crack to her 13 year old son, just so he wouldn't tell his mother what her boyfriend was doing. DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It pisses me off just to think about it. I know to some the answer may seem very clear to some, and I guess it does to me as well. At least I think it does. I think. Can I really keep my daughter from having contact with her mother? Is that really the best answer? What other choices do I have that would also ensure (to the best of my abilities) my daughter a decent future? I'm so lost right now. And before anyone suggests otherwise--NO I DO NOT WANT TO BE WITH HER MOTHER. NO I AM NOT JEALOUS THAT SHE IS WITH OTHER MEN. We have been apart for many many years. She was not this way when we were together. I'm not saying it was because of me, but she didn't start going downhill until our seperation. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than my daughters own well being. I apologise for being so verbose, but I really needed to get this off my chest.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I pretty well have my mind set on the lower parts, now I'm trying to determine what direction to go with the upper. Thanks again.

Never been skydiving myself, but they made that look very easy.

I meant different grain bullets. Will they have an adverse effect on the barrel.