Thoughts from Michigan

Busy summer

2008-09-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. I have been to the U.P. of MI on vacation, camping , paddling , mountain biking and riding my motorbike. Here are a few pics from the U.P. trip .

My new ride

2008-05-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

I finally decided I was gonna get a bike. After wanting one for quite a while here it is. Not the prettiest , but it ought to be plenty fun.

Batty at work

2008-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

I was walking the back stockroom at work and noticed a big lump on the concrete. I looked closer and saw a bat! This is kind of unusual , due to no open loading doors or other easy access points.
I grabbed another employee to open the back door then carefully put a box over it , then slid a flat piece of cardboard under it. Took it outside and the bat was gone? it must have slipped thru the small crack between the box and flat board ,because I found it half way to the door. i did get it outside on the second try, it was moving a bit when we shut the door.
I didn't think to get pics w/ my phone , sorry.

Strange dream

2008-05-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was walking down the street and noticed a police barrier tape/ crime scene. Some one had been decapitated . Since I really wasn't interested I walked by and went to my house. A PD officer in uniform followed me and wanted to question me about the apparent murder (since I didn't seem too disgusted/interested.
I explained that I was just heading home and didn't know anything about it. he kept harassing me and I finally told him to call a few of his fellow officers I know to verify I am not a psycho killer. He wouldn't call anyone , but kept insisting I knew more than I was letting on. He also wanted to inspect my knife (like I would bother to decapitate some one with a small knife) . I was getting pissed at him at this point(then I woke up).

Shooting weekend

2008-04-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Went out Sat and Sun this weekend shooting . Took my daughter along and she got to do some shooting too. Looks like I found another shooting buddy. She got to shoot a Light weight AR 15 and a Glock 19 9mm as well as a few .22 rifles. The smile says it all.

Mini watermelon

2008-04-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

Saw this at the store an just had to get it. I didn't know they were miniaturizing fruits like this. It's just a bit bigger than a softball.

Winter Camping

2008-04-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to get out for a quick snow bound camp trip. traditionally known as winter camp(kinda late this year) friends and I have done this every year since 1988 or so. Tough going for the trucks with the snow wet and heavy but we made it.
I went with the minimalist tent again this year using a poncho and tent poles to cover me. I added some straw and a blanket for my dog to stay warm and used a decent sleeping bag myself. It was a bit windy , but not too bad temp wise.

April 1

2008-04-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

Guess the jokes on me this morning. I knew my truck starter was going bad, but don't have a day off till tomorrow. I am all set to replace it, but needed to get to work (early ) today. It figures the starter decided to quit . I crawled under there in my work clothes and tried to coax it to start by tapping with my hammer. No go. Between crawling back and forth from top to bottom I got wet of course . (had to be raining today) Ieven used a poncho lay on.
Next I went inside to call a friend for a lift . In the process I lost the hammer , but got an o.k. for a ride. So I make my self some coffee to wait. Now I seem to have lost the creamer. Hmmm, is this Monday or Tuesday. So I sit here wet and creamer less(without a hammer) waiting on a ride who hopefully can take me to work (late) . Hope everyone else's April Fools joke isn't as cruel. : )
P.S. anyone got some creamer?

Shoplifter

2008-03-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

I work retail security. I busted a shoplifter and among other things they were trying to "boost" was a shirt like this one. I did have a PD car come and intercept the shoplifter in the parking lot. Irony at it's best.

St Pattys day in review

2008-03-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since I couldn't wait to celebrate my Irish heritage, I decided to have a few on Thurs and a few more on Fri. ( the church claiming Mon as the official day). To answer my bro's question of what was I drinking , I post this picture . green beer is for wussies .

Guess what it is (shouldn't be that hard)

2008-03-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

This face looking image was pointed out to me this morning . Perhaps the next big step after finding the face on the surface of Mars? No it didn't come with the teeth and eyes colored, I did that.................or did I?

Paid programming

2008-03-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

I guess I never realized how much infomercials are on late night/early morning. Seems most of the channels are filled with worthless product ads. I don't remember so many ads and programmed commercials being on like this in the past.

400 miles today

2008-03-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

Had quarterly training with the district for work. Unfortunately form me , I live the farthest away and most others live close. So I get to drive the distance . Not that I mind driving, but the truck developed this nasty habit of something breaking every time I go somewhere . This time it decided the cruise control should malfunction.
I am really thinking hard about a new ride since it seems to be one problem after another. I love my '96 GMC with 200,000 + miles on it, but its starting to go body wise and mechanically.

Reloading ammunition

2008-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

One of my hobbies is reloading ammunition to offset the cost of shooting. I have loaded for .40 S&W for a few years. I picked up some .45 ACP dies and conversion for my Dillon Precision press. I finally got around to reloading , specifically making test loads to verify proper cycling and operation of the .45 ACP ammo thru my pistol.
Once the load was researched , I slowly adjusted the dies so all the proper specs were met. Re sizing, Powder charge and bullet depth. I carefully loaded 5 rounds of .45 ACP, only ruining one spent brass in the process.
finally having produced a test batch , I took them out and tested the new load. No problems and I shot some other ammo I brought as well. Having established a working load, I now can reload in bulk to get some cheap practice ammo.

Petoskey's minilight house

2008-03-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

I happened to be in Petoskey today and saw the break wall with small light house on it. I looked interesting so I stopped to snap some pics. Lots of people were out ice fishing and apparently sledding on the frozen lake today.
The pictures probably would have looked better w/ o people in the shot, but they weren't co- operating. My guess is we finally got some slightly warmer weather and people decided to get out and enjoy while the sun actually was visible.

Custom kydex

2008-02-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

As a hobby I work in kydex. Mostly gun related stuff, whatever I cannot find commercially. Here is my latest creation. This holster is made to keep the derringer upright while carried in a pocket.
A little heat, some measuring, trimming and sanding and next thing I know I have a holster and a hour has gone by.

random rant

2008-02-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

I watched aDVD (the Kingdom ) today. Once the movie was over I noticed there was a button on the remote to open /close the loading tray. This makes no sense to me. How is the DVD suppose to get in and out ? You have to get up and remove it by hand anyway. Or is this a feature if you have a wife / kid to make their life easier?
I wonder who the guy is who decided this is a good feature? Probably some high paid engineer who doesn't know how to tie his own shoes.

Moon Eclipse

2008-02-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

So I decided to view the spectacular moon eclipse. I was not sure exactly what to expect, basically the moon appeared to be dimmer than when it started, finally getting hard to see at all. Part of it may have been cloud cover. I tried to get some pics , but my camera wasn't co operating.
May try tomorrow night if it is still visible once I get out of work.