Yeeeeouch!

That's gotta sting!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/29/dc-ordered-to-pay-1m-in-historic-gun-case/

Face: Meet Fist

I was planning on posting about this story when I got home from work.  But then I noticed that Tam had already posted about it and done her usual fantastic job.  Then I noticed something unusual.  In the link that I found was a much longer interview and in that interview, the clerk stated:

Newsman:  Normally, Mothershead is armed.

Clerk:  You know, I would have shot him.

Funny how that is left out of other interviews.  Always carry your gun.  You never know when today is the day.  I love that he made him clean up his own blood.  The guy is lucky he was able to do it under his own power.

An open letter to hunters

Please, take your rifle to the range.
Learn how to shoot.  Practice shooting (this isn't just the once-a-year sighting in). 
Contrary to what I've heard people say, a "pie-plate" group at 100 yards is not good enough.  Practice until your groups are inside an inch, two at the most.  You owe it to the animals you are hunting.  If you can't cut it, don't go out.
Posted from the field where I have had to dispose of/put down a wounded deer for the second week in a row.

Unfortunately, the people reading this aren't my target audience.

High Caliber Pancakes

I wasn't much in the mood to do a recipe post today, but Mrs. 45er gave me a cute pancake tracer to make fun shapes, letters and numbers for the kids.  Of course, it took a turn and I thought it would be a fun post.  Why not throw in the recipe for the good old fashioned pancakes while I'm at it?

Chernobyl Zoo

It started with requested animals.  That's a lion and giraffe in case you couldn't tell.  I guess not a bad attempt for a first time.  So, the kids got theirs and I had some time to play with extra batter.

But, of course

Lesson learned, do the shape backwards and the nice looking side will be up for viewing.

Just so we don't have to have that debate

I had to hurry on these because the kids were almost finished eating.  This means everything stops again.  I just had to do 9mm so we didn't have to argue about whether or not the 9mm pancake was filling enough to stop you from eating vs just one .45 pancake or if you needed more 9mm pancakes.

So, now for the recipe.  This is an easy one and I highly recommend it over the box mix.  It's especially nice to have around in case you are used to using instant but just don't have any.  You'll find it isn't that much harder to do and has pretty much the same ingredients.

High Caliber Pancakes


1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
1 large egg

Large Bowl
Large Whisk or fork for mixing

The key to light, fluffy pancakes that are not too tough is to mix the batter as little as possible after wet and dry ingredients are mixed.  Stirring works the gluten in the flour and toughens the pancakes.  This is why restaurants that make large batches and have to keep stirring them end up serving tough pancakes.

Pour flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into large bowl.  Use whisk or fork to incorporate ingredients together before mixing in wet ingredients.  Melting butter in the microwave is very fast.  3 Tbsp melts in about 20 seconds in a small bowl.  Swirl if there are small pieces that haven't melted.  For wet ingredients, I recommend starting with at least a 2 cup measuring cup.  Pour in milk, crack the egg into a separate bowl to make sure it is good and there are no shell pieces.  Put egg into measuring cup with milk.  Use whisk or fork to premix these ingredients and break up the egg (less stirring of the batter).  Pour the milk/egg mixture and melted butter into the bowl at the same time.  Use the large whisk to incorporate the ingredients (a spoon is ok for this process, I find the whisk incorporates the ingredients quicker for less stirring).  All you are looking for is that the dry ingredients are mixed in and there are no huge clumps.  This will be only 7 or 8 stirs.  The batter will be lumpy and that's ok.  Do not keep mixing.  Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes before cooking.

Set flat top griddle (recommended ) at about 275 - 300 F.  A pan is obviously fine for this (medium heat), but makes cooking slow since fewer can be done at the same time.  Some recipes call for brushing oil or butter on your cooking surface.  I'm not a fan of this if you have good non-stick cookware.  The butter/oil just causes the first couple of pancakes to look funny.  Pour batter using ladle or cup with a spout into 3 - 4 inch rounds.  Cook a minute or two on the first side (until bubbles start to form and the edges are dry).  When edges are dry and underside is golden brown, flip pancake.  Cook until other side is golden brown.  Butter them up and pour on your favorite syrup.  Enjoy!

Recommended pairings - BACON.

Merry Christmas from me, too

I see most people are wishing everyone well and I wish to do the same.  Whatever holiday or celebration you are celebrating (or not celebrating) all I care about is that you do it with peace and love.

For me, I will say Merry Christmas to all and I hope it is a joyful one.

And just for you, here is a cookie fresh from the oven.

Fighting back, the victim's interview

Yesterday I posted a story about a young lady that fought back and was injured, but drove away her attacker and survived.  Fighting back is obviously a tactical decision and should be calculated based on your ability and the situation (then accomplished with immediate and remorseless violence).  I was more than a little emotional at the time of the post and maybe I should have a "cooling off period" before I post, but it seemed generally well received.  You'll understand after you see for yourself.  This is the interview that got me so worked up.  It is really worth the watch.  I warn you it is pretty emotional and you can still hear the fear and pain in her voice.  No one should be put through this.  It's why I think women should most definitely take their self-defense seriously.  It's not just your life at the time of the assault.  It's your well-being, security and peace of mind afterwards.  Attacks aren't over after the assault.  They stay with you.  If you are prepared to take action to defend yourself, that empowerment can ease your mental stress and recovery in the aftermath.

Fight. Always fight back

This young lady didn't have a chance to find out what the jerk wanted.  He tried to climb in her vehicle and she started fighting immediately.  At least in a public place she had a chance.  With this type of attack, it's very likely that he was not there to take a purse (even though he left with it), but to try and abduct his chosen victim.

Also, (if practical) get a gun.  Practice with the gun.  Carry the gun (permitted if applicable).  Most importantly, be mentally prepared to use the gun.  If that's not practical, research legal methods of defense in your area (knife, kubotan, pepper spray).  An immediate violent response of any kind can turn the tables on an attacker quicker than you think is possible.

I just watched the interview on TV (not shown in the video with this story) with this young woman and as she got emotional, she said she screamed and "Nobody saw, nobody came.  I must have been in my car struggling for what seemed like eternity because I was there for a while trying to fight him off.  Nobody saw and it was really busy for a Monday at HEB.  Nobody heard anything.  It was like they wanted to ignore it."  She finally got her fingernails in his eyes and drove him away.

This.  This is why you must be prepared to defend yourself.  The good Samaritan mentioned in the article became involved after the perp had already stabbed her in the neck a few times and was trying to get away.  Unfortunately, not everyone will come swooping in to rescue you.  There are many studies and videos showing people standing around and watching terrible things happen.  Only you can protect you.  She is now fearful about possible retribution from the scum that attacked her.  Empower yourself.  Protect yourself.

The interview is not posted on the internet, yet.  I will post it when it is available.  It is emotional and quite powerful.  She saw him coming before he entered the vehicle.  She was able to fight him while in the vehicle.  Situational awareness and proper deployment of a firearm from retention would have ended this and she would not be living in fear right now.

Be safe out there.

On Communication, Food And Shopping

Mrs. 45er and I had a great day of shopping today.  There is a great town just North of here that has a huge and eclectic collection of shops and restaurants.  It's a very German town, so there is a lot of good beer, too.  There is also a fantastic kitchen store.  I can hear the collective eye-rolling from the guys, but this is something I actually enjoy doing with my wife.  Mostly because she shops like I do and we get to eat lots of great things.  

On Communication:

It's important.  I think I found the perfect tool for the married couples out there.  It gives a new meaning to the term "pillow talk".

Uhhhh

Or, more likely:

The dust-collecting side

We did a lot of wandering around and ended up in a candy store.  Nestled in between the chocolate and pectin-based fruit chews were these little boxes of joy.

Yum

Double Yum

Triple Yum

And before you ask, yes they are real.  What kid can't wait for their parents to go to the candy store and bring home a box of crunchy insects?  Tasty.  Ok, I can say I've had weirder things. 

If I was lost in the wilderness...  Maybe.

On the way out of the same store, there was this:

Yes, it says that

And yes, those are chocolate covered Jalapenos to the right.  I didn't try them or the chocolate covered pickles to the left (not shown).  This wasn't bad, but it really wasn't great.  I think with a better cut of bacon it could work.  The bacon needed to be cooked a little more to render more fat if you're serving it cold and give it a better crisp.  Anyways, now I can say I've had it.

Moving on, we got hot chocolate in a shop a few doors down and saw this:

Oh, the good old days.  I'm sure it had cologne of some kind in it.  This is the kind of town that had plenty of the old silver cap gun revolvers that brought back great memories for me.  The hot chocolate wasn't all that fantastic, so we kept moving.  

Next, it was the place with the great hot sauce/salsa for sale.  This place is fantastic.  It has almost everything right out there for you to taste.  I always end up leaving with something.  I also always have to head to the back room, which is the seventh level of hell for your tongue.

My kind of sign

By the way.  They aren't kidding around with that sign.  I tried a Bhut Jolokia sauce for the first time sitting on this table.  If you don't know what that is, it's between 850,000 and over 1 million on the Scoville Heat Unit Scale.  Habanero peppers top out at 350,000 or so and the puny Jalapeno is about 2,500 to 8,000 tops.  Needless to say, I didn't buy the sauce.  But I did try some things in this room:

The Inferno.  Dante is in the corner

You know, normal sounding sauces like:

Yes, they went there

And

So did they

So after this room, I go back to the front and Mrs. 45er asks me to try something to see how spicy it is.  My answer was pretty much "How the hell would I know, now?"  Subtle spice nuances were lost at this point.  It was all one burn.  I did end up with a great bacon chipotle grilling sauce.  I'll have to try it out and do a post on that later.

All this munching has kicked up our appetite, so it's time to get lunch.  We found a nice place downstairs under the kitchen store.  Almost all of the buildings here are pretty old and very not ADA approved.  So, we head down some very narrow stairs and walk into the restaurant.  The first thing that hits you is the smell of a flat-top grill doing its thing and the pungent smell of sauerkraut.  This place has a good looking turkey reuben on the menu.  However, that's not what I had my eye on.

Now, that is yummy

Pecan crusted chicken with a creole gravy served with rice and candied ginger carrots.  This was fabulous.  Mrs. 45er had a good old shepherd's pie.  It was a chilly day and this hit the spot.  It was a great day.  We ended up not breaking the bank, which is nice and got some great exercise which was more than offset by lunch and the cup o' creme brulee we had for dessert.  You've got to enjoy life.  :)

An Incredible Story - A Girl And Her Gun

I was scrolling through the blogs I follow.  You know, the normal routine.  Skim and read as much as you can.  Make a point to hit the people you have connected with.  It was a normal night of catching-up.  Then the unexpected happened.  I clicked over to Another Gun Blog and was sent to a place I haven't really been before.  A Girl and Her Gun.  The serious and intense request by Mike to go read this post caught my attention and I had to look.  Then, when I got there I was pulled deep into the post and the story of the recent events of her life. The post has two things working together.  On the one hand there is a deep and honest story of the emotional journey that has led the writer to her current place.  On the other hand (and something that she showed class and did not attack) is the perfect example of how the anti-gun crowd feels the need to personally attack people for choosing to take control of their lives and defend themselves.  It is the one thing in life that drives me crazy.  Anti-gun people spew hate toward people that have guns.  Vegans spew hate toward people that eat meat.  Enviro-wackos, well they spew hate at pretty much everyone.  None of these groups think or care about the repercussions that their intolerance causes.  I'm extremely proud that this blogger is part of our community and I think it is worth a trip over to check her out.

Notice that I don't have class so I can attack the morons that spew the stupidity.  It's ok, I'll be their Huckleberry.

Muchas Gracias

Many thanks to both We The People and Flier389 for hitting the follow button.  I do my very best to respond to all comments and welcome anything you have to say (within reason).  We the People has a nice collection of hot-button posts, but you just have to check out the Dane Cook video.  I'm a big fan of Dane Cook and that one is hilarious (NSFW, but Dane Cook never is).  Flier, I could have sworn was already a follower since he's been a regular in the comment section.  I guess it was a surprise because he's already becoming blog-family.  Check out his blog linked above, the link isn't in the profile from the follower icon, but you should definitely check it out.  There are some great posts and wonderful stories there.  Thanks to both of you and to all of my followers.  I'll do my best to make it worth your while.

Booger Hook/Bang Switch

You know, keep the booger hook off the bang switch.  First, a bit of a pet peeve.  The headline is silly.  A gun in a carry-on did not accidentally discharge.  A gun removed from a carry on by an officer was negligently discharged by the officer.  But enough about how words mean things.  On to the snark:

No touchy.  I know you feel the need to because it's shiny, but no touchy.  Because you carry one on your belt doesn't make you a weapons expert, so no touchy.

The gun's owner was telling Phillips how to clear the loaded .22 magnum revolver when it was accidentally discharged, Phillips reported. 'The weapon was pointed down toward the screening table."

I'm just guessing here, but most likely the firearm in question is a NAA revolver which doesn't have a trigger guard.  Why are you cocking the hammer?  Why are you touching it at all in public if you don't know the firearm?  Just a few questions I had and I'm also relieved to see no one was hurt as a result.

Giggle for the day - Mentos and Coke car

Don't tell GM about this.  They are probably looking for a replacement for the Volt right about now.

Pig Bustin' Fun

Well, That Guy and I trudged out in the rain this afternoon intent on making a hunt happen.  We saw some deer this morning, but nothing worth taking.  Same this evening on the deer front.  Just a few yearlings.  But then, the couple of deer milling around bolted and in charged a pig.  Nothing makes a Texas hunter snap up their rifle faster.  He was pretty jittery and I knew I wasn't going to get the perfect shot, so I took the first one as soon as he paused.  It ended up really doing the job.  He was a boar and weighed in at about 80 pounds, the perfect eating size.  I ran out and dragged him back behind the blind and 15 minutes later I had a few deer back in front of me.  Still, just young bucks and yearlings.  Then...  they all looked up.  I glassed with binoculars in the direction where their attention was focused and I saw a flash of black and white in the brush.  Back up came the rifle, but this time the pig was moving across the hill in front of me at about 125 yards.  I snap-shot him in the neck and he went down.  Here's where I made the mistake I always warn people about.  I cycled the bolt out of habit, but then set the rifle back down on the bag.  I was just too sure of myself.  I saw the pig start to move a bit more than normal.  I got the rifle up just in time to see him get up and run up the hill.  The distances were ticking in my head as he ran through the brush.  135... 140  I saw a small opening through the brush and broke a shot.  A miss.  I scolded myself for trying to hit him in the head.  165... 170  No shot through the brush.  180... 185  and he finally broke into an opening.  It was my last chance before he reached the top of the hill so I broke the shot and he fell.  Out of sight.  Great.

Well, after trudging up the hill in the rain, I found him close to the top and I had to drag him down in the mud.  It turns out I hit the neck in the perfect spot, but just about 1/4 inch high.  The bullet didn't connect with the spine itself.  This is how tough a pig is, that it gets up after that kind of hit and runs up a hill.  There were two unfortunate things.  #1 it was a boar and weighed about 150 pounds and stank to high heaven.  #2, the third shot as the pig ran up the hill was a quartering away running shot and entered too far back.  Unfortunately, this one wasn't going to be good for much and I didn't keep it.

It's still raining.  It rained the rest of the night.  I had to stretch a tarp over me to quarter out the smaller boar.  Everything I had with me is completely soaked, muddy and hanging in the garage.  Luckily, my mom had hot venison stew, homemade cornbread and hot chocolate waiting in the house.

All this miserable cold and wet and you know what?  It was a blast.

I did the best I could to get some pictures in the rain and make them blog-worthy (as little gore as possible).  This is the best I could do.  The rest showed the pigs better, but were just a little much for a blog post.

This is perfect for starting to make some sausage.  It's just about time to make the first batch.  I can't wait.

Dear New Restaurant:

If you're going to choose a sign to put on your front door, you have many choices.  This was my first visit to a newly constructed up-scale sandwich shop in town.  Not only did the store not have the "no guns allowed" legal  language sign (which is pretty much a "going out of business sign" in this area), they had an NRA sticker on the front door.  Whatever you think about what the NRA does, any business that displays their 2A beliefs that proudly has my business.  Oh, and the sandwiches were incredible too, which kind of helps.

You have GOT to be joking

This administration is just completely out of touch with reality.  The examples of this just keep coming but here is yet another one.

Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence.

I just don't even know how to discuss this.   Calling the Fort Hood shooting "workplace violence" is like calling a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier a dinghy.  This is either unforgivable ignorance or unforgivable misdirection.  I think it's a bit of both.  The misdirection has been intentional from the very beginning in the unwillingness to admit it was a terrorist act.  The ignorance is that the administration actually believes the public will fall for the line they are being fed.

First Real Mobile Post: From the Blind

I wondered why I would ever need to post from a mobile device.  I think this is why.  Nice, cold sunny day.  It's perfectly quiet.  I love being out here where it is calm.

Failure in Victim Selection

Well, this is the kind of thing that should happen more often.  If crime became nearly as dangerous to the perpetrator as it should be, then you'd see the cost of everything you buy drop dramatically.  Well, this guy learned the hard way.

Justin then kept his attacker collared until police arrived. 

Asked about his training, Justin offered only vague hints at his background: "Former military," "high-risk training," "Hostage rescue."

He said he makes a living in a variety of ways: "Sometimes I do clubs.  I do close protection."

Uh, yeah.  Apparently, the victim is 250 pounds of muscle.  What were you thinking?  Also, note in the story that the attacker chose to rack the slide for emphasis causing a jam.  Learn this lesson for yourself on whether or not you carry prepared or not.  Then, he decides to pick up the ejected round and show it to the victim.  Everything this guy does screams opportunity for a person carrying for protection.

The mug shot is priceless.

Milestone

Ten Gs

Ten Grand

One stack of High Society (if we were talking money, which I wish we were)

10 K

10^4

10,000

...views

Any way that you say it, I'm happy you all dropped by and I really appreciate that you took the time to peek in and say hello.  A myriad of thanks.

Submitted Without Comment

Because all of my comments would be censored...

Homemade Guns, How Not to Do It

I mean, HOLY COW.  When I heard PVC and a blowgun, I knew it couldn't turn out good.  This isn't from YouTube, so I couldn't embed.  This is unbelievably moronic.  That being said, I did some things a lot like this when I was this age, sooo....

Take that for what it's worth.  Anyway, after I saw this I tried to find it on YouTube by Googling and was truly amazed at all of the rest I found.  It's amazing these people aren't all dead.

Time off from the old grind-stone

Doing the hard work

A big project at work has kept me from taking much needed vacation and it has been building.  It's finally finished and I'm just taking vacation just so I won't lose it.  The good news (maybe not for my gracious readers) is that I'll be able to spend some time keeping up with the blogs.  Boy, is it ever needed right now.  Nothing special planned, just time at home and maybe getting some hunting in.

Wookiee Talk

Brigid had been doing some talking about Tam's Wookiee.  It made me chuckle and appealed to my inner (and sometimes outer) geek.  Then I saw this and just had to share.  Autobios for Star Wars characters.  Too funny.  The names of the others are just awesome.  My personal favorite is Andrew Tauntaun.  I almost wish they were real.

Penetrating the Gun-Free Force-Field

So, I see this story today.  Anyone that has gone through a class for concealed carry has been grilled over the fact that a US post office is federal property.  There have been arguments over whether you can even legally possess a firearm in a vehical in the parking lot.  These are hugely off limits for anyone that legally carries a firearm.  And yet...

A 29-year-old postal employee was charged with two counts of attempted murder Friday after authorities said he used two guns to fire shots inside the main post office in Alabama's capital city.

My only guess is that he doused himself in magical unicorn urine to penetrate the gun-free zone.  The only other thing that might work is powdered freeze-dried elf scat.  Oh, there is one other thing.  BREAKING THE LAW.  Yeah, that works to penetrate gun-free zones, too.  Thankfully, no one was hurt in this particular incident.  Luckily, the running and hiding worked for once.  Me, I'd rather be able to defend myself and stop the threat.