All your correspondent really wanted for his birthday – which was very nice, by the way: Brunch at La Valencia in La Jolla with the whole clan, and 50 rounds through a borrowed H&K USP .45 at the American Shooting Center while Son Number One broke in his newest acquisition, a Rock Island Armory M1911 clone that sold at a price found hard to resist (and lucky to have found it, the store’s shelves utterly innocent of new firearms for sale, and nothing on offer but a few previously owned Glocks), a little R&R around the house (including the fabrication of a cat house [shush!] intended for the crazy old homeless man in the cat suit that hangs around the back yard muttering to himself, the creation of which was a task well within these our austere woodworking talents), and a slice or four at the Pizza Port, with a pint of their ESB that went down ever so kindly, followed up by cutting up a bit of wood for the fireplace, the better for to warm our creaking limbs in anticipation of the cruel, San Diego winter that stands a tip-toe on our doorstep – but all I really wanted, as I was saying, was full ownership of an Aviat Husky for to take us to the back places where a four-weight line might profitably be wet, and, quarter shares, say in a Pitts Special for those moments where we are feeling a little too well grounded.
Instead I got a couple of lovely cards, including one hand drawn by the Biscuit, who is proving to be quite the artist, and a bottle of smell good, the receipt of which I acknowledged gratefully, while hoping that no hidden message is intended. I have gifts aplenty.
But between Andrey Melnichenko and myself, one of us is doing something wrong, for hizzoner has just taken receipt of a privately owned dreadnaught, 390 feet along the waterline, complete with helo pad, two 30′ runabouts, and a 31-year old supermodel wife. Himself just turned 36.
If this is the way things are going to be, we need to get our president-elect to enlarge his redistribution schemes worldwide. Divvy up Melnichenko’s £4.6 billion (USD $7.2 billion) between the rest of us, and we’ll all be nearly $1.10 the richer. After all, the man is the 172nd most wealthy man in the world.
Keep that up 240,000 times, and the Husky’s in the bag. For me, anyway.
Finger’s crossed!
Lex… I’ve read all manner of things in your blog, dealing with fighters, naval warships, politics, the economy, and other things. The following, however, is easily the most confusing phrase I’ve ever read here:
“the cruel, San Diego winter ”
Shivering in Nebraska,
-Jeff B.
Somewhere in Ecclesiastes there is a blurb about the folly of Melnichenko’s ways…
And that yacht?
The designer’s long suit is interior design…
Of course, the owners of such vessels are rarely are on them when the going gets rough.
Jeff, you poor thing … I think Lex was being ironic here. But you never know. As one who was raised in the chill environs of Wisconsin, I feel your pain, as Bill Clinton used to say. All the time.
Marianne
Happy Birthday
From Paul’s mom
rm4d
Sounds like an all-around nice day Lex. The NRA family that shoots together, stays together!
Split some wood? In Del Mar? Or did you buy a bundle o’pine logs at Safeway?
Mr. Melnichenko can have his supermodel wife and big boat, I’m going out west to one of our red counties, Garrett, to hunt (not necessarily kill…) the wily, beady-eyed Bonasa Umbellus and his mild mannered counterpart, Scolopax Minor…Should be about 25 F. at 0800!
As an American, I have simple needs while he’ll always be a dang Rooskie!
b2
While cruising to Grand Cayman, in the early morning I spied OCTOPUS, one of Paul Allen’s rides, all 415′ of her….been obsessed with her ever since.
Not my picture but a nice one nevertheless at: http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/february04/octopus2.jpg
Now, what would a flyboy know about the profitabilities of a four weight line?
Happy B-day to you sir!
That RIA 1911 is one of the best buys out there in the 1911 market. Check out the Armscor/RIA forum at m1911.org for lots of good tips & accessories. The Armscor techs frequent the forum and are very helpful. I tossed some nice Pachmayr grips on mine for a good grip.
B2, The second sentence of your comment # 5 above was unnecessarily snarkey especially on this special day… after all spliting a Blazer Log/s ( AKA…a composite residue log) can be quite challanging…I think you owe Lex an apology . Best
Snake, I think it depends on whether you split them vertically or horizontally.
..at his age? he’ll split it whichever way the pull-strip seam runs..
Paint it gray and slap a gun on it! It’s DDG-1000!
Paint it gray and slap a gun on it! It’s DDG-1000!
Well, these days NAVSEA seems to be only concerned with making sure the USN has “nice rides” that are built and “peopled” by a properly colorful and happy crew…
Oh, come on, Lex, she ain’t that hot.
XAB /RRM, Trust me… either way they’re a bitch to split…Lex is a true domestic hero/hubby…mucho kudos to him…the birth-day boy… Gomer. Best
Shame we can’t share a Guiness with Lex and show him how to split a Blazer Log.
I asked for a plane for my birthday too.
I got one…22 feet shorter than expected and made of balsa wood. Dang-wanted one that would occupy a hanger not a bookshelf. Will be more specific next time.
Belated best wishes to you.
Glad to hear your son got a RIA. I bought their Tactical model and love it. in fact, I also have a $1300 Kimber, but the RIA gets shot the most. Tell him there is a specific formum for RIA at the m1911.org.
By the way, happy BDay.
You know, for all that the RIA M1911 is a sweet pointing pistol – I actually shot better on hammered pairs and a follow up at 7 yards with it than I did with the H&K (which put 8 rounds into the orange at 20 yards, so no disrespect), but I have to say that the stock sights left a little to be desired.
Anyone have the gouge on the upgrade options for the stock RIA sights?
I grew up in a shooting family. My dad and grandfather both shot at Camp Perry in Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie.
A short history is here.
http://www.shootersjournal.com/Features/Haps/ShortHistoryofPerryandtheNationals.pdf
Down here in S. Florida, feral hogs are considered nuisance game and can be hunted year round.
This link is to a very good guide if your interested in a wild boar hunt.
http://www.huntsflorida.com/AboutWildboar.htm
My photo is on the site with a spotted brown boar shot with a Winchester Model 70 .358 Magnum Sporting weight bolt action rifle.
Ahh, con mis amigos en el desierto…Glock 21…factory loads…10 ring.
Nowadays: Glock 20 w/ DoubleTap
Onceuponatime: SpecWar Leftcoast CMC with 1911, hammer back in the leather, responded one day to ye olde skipper-san whilst in sandbox “Yessir, at the ready..and everybody’s on the wrong end of this sweet little gorgeous.” apattin’ ol’ trusty… ‘sigh’ We should all be so prepared…peektures by speshul askin’…
ah, come on now, Boss. Think Gallagher here. He could split anything with that juicemator of his.. Ya think Lex could do worse?
Adjunct to all the above: during the rotny kwang rye-ots, los side-arms salez growed by a level of order of magnutood in the conetry of the lost angels. Fancy that!!
Lex, in the verbiage de los sudenos, esperete un poco…
It really depends on what you’re looking for in sights…nite-time or have-quick…
Forgive the lack of tilde on the above…something to do with keyboard layouts and such…
Airmail/
My late Father (ex-Army) had some association with Camp Perry as an NAIA representative USOC member for pistol and rifle in the 60-64-68 Olympics. The pdf on Camp Perry was dead on about the anti-gun Congressional hysteria that booted the Army out of the process–Dad was so disgusted he finally packed it in and left the Committee–just couldn’t take the politics…..
Ya know, Virg, there’s somethin to be said for those folks who had something to say back in the day. Seems ol’ Ronnie Raygun had some pretty choice words too in ’64. Damned if hearing them last week on il rad-eeo didn’t sound strangely familiar to today’s times. I imagine your Pop had some idea of what he wuz sayin’.
Best…
Discount Guns wants $40/box for .45 ammo. Is it cheaper at American Shooting Center?
Lex,
Check the RIA forums at m1911.org for options/opinions on changing sights.
There is something to be said for building your own M1911. Being an engineer, I like to know how things work, and I particularly like to tinker with stuff. My last M1911 was made on a Crown City frame with a Remington Rand slide, mostly GI parts internally, and a host of bits from the Brownell’s catalog. Study it, plan it, build it, the worst that can happen is you need to spend another $100 to make up for a mistake, or wind up with a $400 collection of parts you have to re-sell.
One side benefit is that, during the cold San Diego winter, you can spend quality time with the family in the living room while stoning that sear. Mine breaks at a crisp 2.5lbs, since I’m used to very light and crisp triggers.
Of course, this isn’t a carry gun. The Glock 36 gets the nod there, it being so reliable and much more compact. Still, I highly recommend building your own, if only to learn How It Works and to make one that suits ya.
– Max
There is only one (1) period in that entire first paragraph.
*whew*
HF6,
You really have filed your eyeballs to a point to notice that remarkable neverendingsentence. Good catch!
My advanced composition teacher told us that if you can write a sentence with +50 words in it and not make her grind her teeth, she’d give you a B. If you could do it with much more than that, you’d get an A. It’s one of the hardest things to do in writing, at least without sounding stupid. Doing it like Lex does, which is just flawless, is a work of art.
Well, thangee. But I count two, including the one preceding the “45″.
So there.
That’s a decimal.
The reason I noticed was because I was reading the post to MacGyver as I thought it was rather funny. And, like Byron’s teacher, I would have given him an ‘A’.