Random Thoughts

It's a scientific fact that a Doberman's nose will reach the neighborhood of 3 Kelvin sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 am. Coincidentally, it's usually the same time as when he sticks said nose in your arm pit to find out if you're awake enough to let him outside. But wait, there's more! It's also the same time that a Golden Retriever will have snuggled you to the edge of the bed and about 5 seconds before that last nudge over the edge of oblivion. I swear it's true. It's been written up in the American Journal of Weird but Strangely True Science Stuff (AJoWbSTSS).

I just knew it.

I've been telling you and telling you that those EBR's won't work against Zombies. You need a good solid M1A/M14/Garand with a righteous wood stock. And now they're here!

Empty your Pockets

Brigid put a post up on what's in you pocket. I thought I'd jump on board and take a pic. The only thing not shown is my phone. Because, that's what I used to take the pic. So, it's crappy but it gets the job done, sort of, a bit. Don't question my art. So, in my pockets and on my belt, really. Yes, that's a quarter next to the forum coin. That's all the cash I have on hand.

I'll wait while you finish laughing.

That's a 25 year old original leatherman's. That's how long I've been carrying that thing. The only thing I don't regularly carry that I should is a flashlight. But I haven't found one I like yet.

Friday mind game.

I'm combining my plot to rule the world by driving it world crazy with the seasonal depression disorder. I figure if Puxatony Phil doesn't see his shadow the extra winter depression will get me caught up with my master time line.

It is if he doesn't see his shadow right? Or is it 6 more weeks of winter if he sees his shadow. No, no, it's got to be if he doesn't see his shadow we get 6 more weeks. I mean it's predicated on him seeing his shadow and getting scared and running back down his hole. Or is it he sees his shadow and figures the suns out and stays out. Damn, I can never get it straight. Where's my Poor Richard's Almanac when I need it. I could have sworn it was over here in this pile. No, I needed it last wednesday, so it's over here..... No, it's upstairs... except... Oh, oh! Sorry {evil laugh} Ah, what the heck, {maniacal laugh} too. I'm feeling generous.

A Pledge

Over at the Life of Anthony he's got a post up of a YouTube video of a pledge. A pledge that starts out nobly enough, but ends voicing an idea shunned since the fall of Nazi Germany and it's cult of personality by the western world. A pledge to be a servant of a man. Tony states the argument better than I. To subscribe to a servitude in a free state strikes me as abhorrent. In response to that video, I'd like you to watch this. And I hope all those socialist/marxists out there claiming to be something else watch it too. They've obviously forgotten what this pledge is and what it means.

Lolcat of the day.

As I slowly return to the land of the living, I bring you this:

Flu Update

yeap, I still got it.

The Downside of a Day in the Life of a Charter Pilot

One of the downsides to my job is the whole enclosed space thing. You see, if someone, say a passenger for instance, has a case of the flu when he walks on the plane in Miami. We're pretty much looking at catching the flu at some point in the three hour flight back to Kansas.

Blogging will resume when I have rejoined the land of the living.

Friday mind game.

In keeping with the temperature. The next week will find you hearing this over and over in your mind. Yes, it's the same thing every week. Keep up. And of course {evil laugh here}

Home is the hunter...

home from the hills.
And the pilot home from the road.
(my applogies to A.E. Housman)

But when I got home the Brown-Truck-O-Goodness had been by and left me a plethora of parts for my AR project. Ahem.... SQUEEEEEEE!

Another month or so and it'll be done. And I've been streaching it out too.

Wx Trivia

Did you know it's 74 and sunny here in Miami right now. I'm just sayin.... I think I'll sip some mango juice down by the hotel pool now.

For the record.

I hate hotel internet. Stupid thing wouldn't let me log in to Gun Nuts: TNG till it was almost over. Excuse me while I go down the the front desk and kick the night manager.

Yet another Day in the Life of a Charter Pilot

So, here I sit, or lie more accurately, in a hotel room in Secaucus, NJ. Just a stones throw from Teterboro airport. It's day one of a 5 day goat rope around the eastern United States. Exciting, huh.

I'm also watching Waitress on TV. Andy Griffith is fucking genius in this. "I made sweet love to her all through 1948." Imagine Sheriff Taylor saying that. I laughed till I got the hiccups.

Here's a test...

I was glad to fail!

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 17 on the Obama Test

H/T to Voodoo Medicine Man

It's 10:45...

What are your neighbors doing? Mine? Glad you asked. They're in the middle of one of their weekly domestic disputes. Only this time she's banging on my door to use my phone to call the police her mom her friend. Tears flowing, screaming her boyfriend live in loser pulled a knife on her. But it gets better, there's alcohol involved. Then he's outside and it becomes a he said/she said fiasco. Improv theater, gotta love it.

I made sure she had somewhere else to go for the night (her mom's) and a way to get there (her car).

I so have to find another place to live. At least the last neighbors with the meth lab were quieter.

Friday mind game.

Sorry about getting this up so late. Long day flying and I'm about beat. But on the plus side I get two whole days to get ready to spend the next week on the road. Boy, I'm sure glad we're slow... {snerk}

Anyway, to break with tradition I'm going to use a relatively new song for sanity suckage. Enjoy.

Ooo, right almost forgot. (Insert evil laugh here) Must observe the proprieties at all times.

Oh, the humanity...

Today, in the Philadelphia Examiner I came across this article about rationing gun purchases and other such nonsense. What gets me is the last line of the second paragraph. And I'll quote:

At the same time, the Assembly's calendar contains another smart gun-safety measure that would ban .50-caliber sniper rifles capable of targeting a plane.

ZOMG!!!1!!111!! It's the .50 caliber terror! I've read all the emotional, fear inspiring arguments from the banners. And I'd like to state as eloquently as possible... TTTTTHHHHHBBBPPPP!

First off, I'm going to look at this issue from a strictly historical and physical standpoint. The 2nd amendment, punishing the law abiding, and other arguments hold for any of the issues the anti's raise and while they apply here as well, there are others who have stated those positions much better than I ever could.

What I'm talking about is the cry that the .50 caliber rifle can shoot down airplanes. And then they point at the bolt action rifle that's for sale to enthusiasts in our country.

First off, yes, I'll admit that historically the .50 caliber was used by the US and other country's airforces as the dogfighting weapon. But please note that they were machine guns and generally grouped in sets of 6 or 8.

Fighter pilots of that era talk about weight of fire. That is to say that a skilled dogfight pilot could expect to have his sights on the enemy plane for times that were measured in fractions of seconds, and to have a good sight for longer than a second was to have all the time in the world. These experienced duelers KNEW that they had to put tens if not hundreds of rounds into the enemy to be guaranteed a "kill". That meant, machine guns with high cyclic rates of fire and several of those firing together to boot.

A person with A BOLT ACTION rifle to score a hit is remote at best and for a single hit to bring the airplane down is, well, if he can do it, he should be playing the lottery. The chances are vanishingly remote, to say the least.

The fact is, even at take off and landing when the airplanes are, arguable, at their most vulnerable, they're still doing better than 125 mph. Even light single engine general aviation planes are travelling faster then highway speeds. Anybody who has shot at a moving target can tell you how hard it is to hit. It's not a matter of point and shoot. Now, you're shooting at a moving target, but not at just anywhere. You've got to hit specific points to disable and even fewer points to bring the plane down immediately. In fact with today's modern jets, the amount of redundancy, I seriously doubt any single shot could bring a plane down in flames.

Finally, the US Air force abandoned the .50 caliber machine guns in the 1950's in favor of larger cannons because it just wasn't a guarantee that it would bring down an enemy plane.

So, please for Pete's sake. Don't bring that argument up. It doesn't even hold up to a weak light. Much less any reasoned examination.

A Cause for Concern

I've been seeing rumors all over the web in the last couple of days concerning the incoming administrations first attempts at legislation. Particularly, it seems that it's going to take a swipe at the new AWB. Both Michael Bane and Jim Shepard are reporting these rumors coming from the hill. Others are talking about when not if for this fight. Since an ounce of prevention and all that seems to be smart, I'm going to take a moment out of today to call my Representative John Sullivan and my Senators James Inhofe and Tom Coburn to let them know my concern and stance should this sort of legislation be proposed.

I'm also going to ask that you do the same with your congresscritters. This is one of those times when I feel that leaving it up to the PAC's and lobbyists isn't enough. D.C. should know that there is a vast sea of individuals out there that are wholeheartedly against this sort of attack.

Edit: Made the calls, talked to the legislative aide for the issue in Inhofe's office, left a message with the aide responsible in Coburn's office and left a message with the office manager in Sullivan's office. I tried to sound concerned and non-threatening. But I did say I would be watching this upcoming session and how they were voting.

Warning: Time Suckage in progress

It's Armegeddon Week on History Channel. Do not expect much in the way of coherent blogging from me.

The word Armegeddon has an interesting origin. And the history of that particular mount is extremely long. But I'm a history nut anyway.

Random Thoughts

You know when you grow a beard and hit that point where it just itches you too much and you shave it off even though you don't go back to work till thursday. Yeah, there.

Friday mind game.

It's a new year and with it a new level of insanity inducement. Enjoy. Over and over and over and over...

A partial list.

I'm wandering the internet today with the Military Channel playing in the background. They ran a series of great planes shows. One of the ones they spotlighted was the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. And this got me to thinking on what were my favorite planes. Now, I'm a propeller head from as early as I can remember, much to the chagrin of my parents. So, in the interest of creating discord and controversy on the internet. (Because we don't have enough of that already.) I'm just going to quick name a couple of my favorite airplanes of all time.

First, and these are in no particular order, the one that got me to thinking. The P-47. Arguable the best fighter of WWII. The J model is the fastest. A fighter that weighed more than some of the AAF bombers of the 30's it was adapted to more roles than the lightning or the spitfire. It carried the reputation for being able to take more battle damage and still get home than any other fighter in any theater. A quick search will find stories of Luftwaffe pilots firing at a Thunderbolt till their guns ran dry and the Jug would just keep flying along.




Second, the Consolidated PBY-5a Catalina. Here's another ungainly looking bird that had that can do attitude. Sub hunter, Search and Rescue, Night Raider, Airliner, Bush Plane, she did it all and years after she was called obsolete to boot. In fact, it was considered out dated by many at the beginning of WWII. She may not go fast, with a top speed under 200 knots and a cruise like some of todays piston singles. But, very few planes could go 2000+ miles on a single tank. I'd love to get one, convert it to a flying camper and just go. Sort of a "send ya an email from polynesia" dream.



Thirdly, and this is by no means the end of the list, the Cessna 177 Cardinal RG. And I don't know why. The first fully cantilever wing from Cessna. It was only produced for a short number of years, 1968-1975. Nothing like the life of the 172 or 182. Plagued with gear troubles the first years it was out, it never overcame that stygma and that may have lead to it's short production life. Still, with the wing set back on the cabin, you've got an excellent view both up and down. The RG version made for a limited payload. And yet, it still looks good to me.



Now, there are more airplanes that I drool over. Jets, props, rotors I'm an equal opportunity plane nut. Plain nuts? Anyway, discuss, flame, lambast... what are yours?

Lest we forget.

The Shootist has an excellent post up on the effectiveness of gun control. Go read it.

I think the line:

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

says it all.