Momentous day at Casa De Garabaldi

Well it is official, my son passed his drivers test and got a 100% on the driving practical. The driver instructor commented that this is the first time she ever gave out a 100% and he was in earshot, wow, talk about swelling his head. I guess all that driving we had him do paid off, he drove very confidently on the course and on the road. We are proud, but nervous. Egads...we will be establishing a " gofundme" for the insurance, lol. 

                                        I quickly took a picture of the score....

 He is getting ready to depart for the first time by himself...setting up his music and other important stuff that is important for teenagers..

Here he is departing to go to the Boy Scout camp to work the requirements of his last merit badge before his Eagle project in August.

Strange seeing my truck departing without me driving it....I was having momentary flashbacks of..

 Well anyway, I contacted my insurance company USAA and officially added him as a licensed driver and  my insurance from $2400 a year to $6000....Holy Chit.....  I drive a 20 year old truck and the spousal unit drives a 10 year old Edge.  Sheesh.  We are checking into defensive driver and my son qualifies for the A&B grade discount, I am hopeful that this drops my insurance to a more manageable level.   The Joys of living near the ATL.

Returned home and the Tam Challenge

I went to Tennessee to visit my folks and they have a nice range about 5 minutes from their house so getting started on the "Tam Challenge". Which basically is firing 2000 rounds through older pistols usually from the 1980 or the 1990's and see how they stack up performance wise against the new shooting iron and new manufacturing processes.  Well I decided to use my Sigma, I have had this pistol since the late 1990's.  It is my "Truck Gun".  Basically it stays in the truck unless I have to take it out for some reason like it going into the shop for an oil change or something then I take it out.    I know it is one of the earlier Sigma's

Well anyway I decided to go to the range and start the "Tam Test".  She told me that it was someone named Todd G that actually came up with the idea, but I had told her that I heard it associated with her.
     Well anyway we got to the range and I walked to my station and noticed this off the bat...

Apparently someone violated one of the "Always" rules....or to use a Tamism"They had their meathook on the bangswitch" when they were not supposed to.  It reinforces that accidents do happen.
    Well I laid out the ammo I had to plink with...

I than pulled out the pistol and the clips to load them...

Notice the 2 "AWB" magazines and the one regular magazine that I bought last year at NRAAM in Dallas.

I flipped over the magazines and noticed something....

"Opsie..left the "Go to the Mattresses" ammo in it...so I had to unload them...."

I have plink ammo to burn...not the "more expensive" stuff.

Unloaded the 'expensive" ammo, then loaded the PMC ammo first and set up the target and started shooting..

That is my target at the 10 yard line. the one in the center.   The Pistol ran the first 34 rounds flawlessly...

Not bad, but I had some impressions after shooting....The Pistol fired, but the trigger was a long squeeze and I caught myself anticipating the shot and jerking the pistol.  Not a good habit so I forced myself to slow down and do it right per the fundamentals.   And speaking of trigger, I noticed the trigger/safety pinching the crap out of my finger while the pistol fired and the resulting action of the slide going back and ejecting the round and scooping up another round from the magazine and going back into battery.
    I burned through my PMC ammo then went to the blazer ammo...and my finger was killing me so I passed the pistol to my son and let him shoot a couple of magazines...I figured it didn't matter who shot the pistol as long as the pistol was run...

 We did have one no bang...it showed a hit on the primer but no "boom"

Not sure if it was the pistol or the ammo on that one....

The pistol ran all the other rounds flawlessly so I am impressed so far...but time will tell.

   The next day we drove home after getting detoured  trying to drive over the Smokey Mountains due to high winds

Why they call it The "Smokey Mountains"  My son took the pic

I had my son drive in GA on the way up because he has a learner permit and Tennessee doesn't offer reciprocity for his GA permit.  But he got in a lot of driving in Georgia on the way up and on the way back but it seems that I spend a lot of time in the Truck today...

I did see at the range over there a brand new Springfield Range Officer .45 ACP for less than $500, I almost plonked down the plastic because the price was really good.  That is the pistol that Old NFO would call a "BBQ gun" or a Sunday go to meeting gun...I texted Mack about the deal and commented that "If I got that pistol, I might find myself divorced" because I already have a Henry Golden boy on layaway.    He being the stellar person that he is offered me the guest bedroom....Mack UNDERSTANDS, LOL

"What DRIVES me nuts....."

     I got the idea of this posting from what Old NFO ranted about on a drive that he had in Virginia if memory serves.  Well I figured that I would do the same thing kind of thing.   I have a few pet peeves that I see on a regular basis on my drive to work.  I shamelessly clipped the pic from Wirecutters place.   To back up my driving experience, I have been driving since I was 15, I am in my late 40's now.  I have been driving in many places in the world including 5+ years on the autobahn with my 1986 Mustang:).  I learned how to drive properly in Germany.  In Germany they have a very strict program for people to get their license...no Drivers ED there.  The people would have to go to an actual driving school and learn how to properly drive.

    

     I saw several different things on my way to work tonight.  As soon as I hit the main drag from my house I saw the ever popular Chevy truck running with their high beams on.

     I then had the plug in the traffic flow caused by some person that would drive 15 miles BELOW the speed limit and you cannot pass this clueless idiot due to oncoming traffic and the Chevy Trucks with their high beams on.

     I am continually amazed by the total number of mal-functioning turn signals in new cars.  I guess people use them to hang their purse on since they ain't used for nothing else.

     Then when I drove to merge on the interstate, the person 2 cars in front would drive 45 miles an hour to merge on an interstate that has a 70MPH limit on it.  Merge to my old fashioned dictionary means to speed up to facilitate a seamless transition to the speed on the right lane....not force the tractor trailer to slam its brakes  on to keep from plowing into your stupid butt when you jump in front of him at 30 miles an hour slower.  Tractor trailers DO not stop on a dime...there is a thing called inertia....and their brakes are good...but not THAT good.

     Then I had the popular left lane bandit that insisted on going 10 mph slower than the max and on a 70 MPH interstate the speed are usually 80+.  I always told myself that if I was ever a police officer, they would be my favorite target since I consider left lane bandits the ultimate kind of douchebags.  People don't realize that if a person has to get out of the lane of travel to go around your slow ass, they increase the possibility of an accident because lane change is the top 3 or 4 for root cause.

     Also I had the car running with their high beams on and they usually are the slower ones and people speed up to get away from these people.

     I had the people who will run in the left lane then head immediately for the off ramp and cross 4 lanes of traffic and they get angry if the car they are trying to cut in front of don't let them in.

     Another one is  if the person that is in the fast lane and creeps past the other car in the slower lane and you are waiting for 5 minutes to get enough of a gap so you can pass on the right to get around grandma moses.

     I also see when there is bad weather, there is the car doing 25 MPH with their 4 way flashers and their wipers on warp drive.  I always mutter " If you are so scared, don't go or find a bridge and hide under it until the rain stops.

     There is a special hell for those that are able bodied and park their lazy butt in the handicap spots.  My first Step-mom was dying of cancer and my dad had a hard time finding parking because of all the able-bodied people that parked their BMW's and Maxima's in the handicap spots.  With him being a Police officer, he would enjoy writing those $400 tickets.

     There are many more, but I figured I would scratch the surface with this.