Busy...Busy....Busy...

 Got Home Late last night, and had to immediately get ready for work, We had fun in Florida, but it was a long drive and I didn't have anything ready for the blog.

I will have something up on Wednesday.

Sorry about the Lack of posting....

 I have been busier than a....

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    "One Armed paper Hanger..."    Yeah I have been really busy, Work calls, I like blogging, but I like making Money also, LOL

I get emails from Ox and David Morris Tactical and this one involves "Situational Awareness"  There were a couple of tricks I didn't know and a few thinks I knew that they didn't mention, and those I will mention in "Italics". 

Eyes In The Back Of Your Head Situational Awareness

One of the first lessons that you hear when you start learning about situational awareness is to position yourself where you can have your back protected and best see approaching threats.

It’s not a new concept. 150 years or so ago, it was called the “Gunfighter’s Seat.”

It’s the seat in a restaurant, bar, office, church, etc. that’s far away from the main entrance, faces the main entrance and is, ideally, in a corner with an emergency exit nearby.

You see, if you’re in the middle of a room, you have 360 degrees to be aware of.

If you’re against a wall, you have 180 degrees to be aware of.

If you’re in a corner, you only have 90 degrees to concern yourself with.

And for the person who has trained in the tactical arts, that produces a warm, happy feeling that sheep will never fully appreciate.

But what about when you don’t have the gunfighter’s seat?

Sometimes, you might end up facing a wall or corner or find yourself smack dab in the middle of a room because it’s the only spot left.

The same applies to standing conversations. Sometimes you end up with a commanding view of the room and other times you don’t.

When there’s an easy way to improve your position, that’s an easy fix…just move.

But reality is seldom cut and dry and it’s common to find yourself in non-ideal situations and today, I’m going to give you 4 tricks today to have eyes-in-the-back-of-your-head awareness for those times.

I DO want to start with a disclaimer. I do not know about a current specific threat to my life and you’re probably in the same boat. As a result, I’m not concerned about random people sneaking up behind me and stabbing me in the back or doing other crazy stuff. Nobody that I know of has any reason to specifically target me for attack today. So, what I primarily look for are general threats to my safety.

If you’re a parent, you’ll identify with these concepts immediately.  They’re the same skills that we use with our kids to give them the impression that we’re omnipresent, can see through walls, and know what they’re doing even if they’re behind our backs.

1. It’s fairly obvious to use mirrors to see behind you, When I am walking, I look at storefronts and I will cut my eyes and glance at the reflections and see if someone is following me or something like that., anything out of the ordinary. but I want to encourage you to take this to an extreme…look for ALL kinds of reflections, like polished surfaces, the face of your smartphone, the face of your watch, the glasses of the person you’re talking with, and—in some cases—even the pupils of the person you’re talking to.You may or may not see details when using these alternative reflections, but what you can see is whether someone is purposely approaching you.  When you’re meeting someone, it’s very powerful if you are facing away from them with no obvious way to know that they’re approaching you and turn around with a big smile (and no surprise) on your face to greet them.
2. When you’re facing other people and you have other people behind you, watch the eyes of the people you’re facing. They’re going to see things behind you and, oftentimes, their eye lids and/or pupils will observe and unconsciously react to things before they consciously realize what’s going on.It’s not unusual for people who use this trick to pick up on eyes widening or pupils dilating, turn around, and respond to the stimulus before the person who’s eyes widened is able to. As near as I can tell, the reason why you can react faster than the person who’s actually seeing things happen has to do with surprise. Their mind is frozen in surprise, but when you observe the reaction, you KNOW that you’re going to see something that might require a response as soon as you turn around.When you start doing this, you’ll quickly start seeing the subtle differences in micro-reactions when someone sees something they like behind you (an attractive member of the opposite sex who’s favorably dressed) and something they don’t like (a threat, or more commonly, something/someone who they fear or who otherwise is threatening or repulsive to them).When you’re sitting across a table from 4 people, and you purposely tune into their pupil reactions, it’s like having 8 eyes in the back of your head. I’ve found that this works, regardless of whether or not the person is trained and switched on or not, but it definitely works better with someone who’s more switched on.
3. “Feeling” and listening to the crowd. Also known as establishing an audio baseline. I was at a shooting event a couple of weeks ago and several dozen of us were in the bar after the awards ceremony. Because of the nature of an event like that, sometimes I was facing into the room and other times I was in circles of people where their backs were against the wall and I was facing them with my back to the room.What I did throughout the night was occasionally stop for a second or two and consciously listen to the sound of the room. People tend to stop idle conversation and either go quiet or yell when they spot something dangerous or “exciting”. Any time the “din” of the crowd changed noticeably, I looked around and, sure enough, SOMETHING had changed…whether it was a group of guys all pulling out their knives to show them off, a couple of guys deciding to start wrestling, or other harmless antics.But picking up on changes in crowd noise that happen in response to harmless antics just gets you tuned in and sensitive for a time when people are responding to something more serious.
   When the flooring/ground cooperates, start paying attention to the sound of people walking and establish a baseline for the particular event/conditions. You’ll not only start matching the sound of particular footsteps with the right person, but you’ll be able to place where they’re at in the room…even if they’re behind you.

When you combine these together, and get a little practice under your belt, it really is amazing how aware you can be of what’s going on behind you.

I play a little game in restaurants when a table gets sat behind me. Based on what I hear (footsteps, chairs, voices, etc.), others’ reactions, and reflections I see, I try to guess as many details about the group as possible, including how many, sex, age, build, and threat potential. Then, I turn around, grade myself, and try to figure out what clues I missed that would have made my guess more accurate.

This all happens in a matter of seconds. Better yet, after you get into the habit of doing it, you’ll start doing it unconsciously and don’t really have to think about it very often.

There’s a 4th little trick that I use that kind of falls into the realm of “eyes in the back of your head” but it’s more of a trick for observing a room without people realizing that you’re as switched on as you are.

It’s incredibly simple, and kind of obvious.

Whenever possible, flick your eyes instead of turning your head. Three big benefits are:

1. It’s nice to blend in. Normal people are oblivious. **THIS IS HUGE** When you’re an obvious watcher, it marks you as an outlier. Other outliers will identify you as an outlier, but may not know whether you’re a good guy or a bad guy. Bad guys might give you unwanted attention if they identify you as a good outlier. Good guys may waste their attention on you instead of seeing real threats. When you blend in, you don’t make yourself a target for bad guys or a distraction for good guys.
2. It’s faster to scan by flicking your eyes than to turn your head. For me, I have about 90 degrees of binocular vision before my nose gets in the way, but roughly 220 degrees if I look as far as I can to the right with my right eye (knowing my left eye is looking straight into my nose) and the same to the left side.That also means that I can turn my head 60-70 degrees to the right and see straight behind me. (It’s easier if I look down slightly) If you observe a threat, run or square your head up to it and take care of it.
3. MOST people have issues meshing visual and vestibular (balance) signals in the brain to one degree or another, and if it goes unchecked, it gets more pronounced with age. (This is what The Automatic Aiming Course focuses on). Turning your head rapidly can cause many people to get disoriented JUST enough that they lose the ability to focus for tenths of a second, up to a second or more.If you’re one of those people who gets a slight delay when you turn your head quickly, try keeping your head still and shifting your focus instead.

What a circus...

 No I ain't dead......

There has been a lot going on in real life and unfortunately my blog got caught in it.  I wanted to blog about stuff going one but real life kept interfering.  I'm hoping things will settle down but we will see.

More goings on at Casa De Garabaldi

I took my son to the "Welding" Merit badge class with the Boy Scouts, he is 15 and 2 eagle merit badge and a project away from making his Eagle.  I haven't really leaned on him...yet.   Well anyway I dropped him off then drove 50 minutes away to visit my friend Mac to look at a new rifle that he has at his shop....

    It is a Henry Golden Boy in .357.  I was looking for one of those for a while and .357 isn't a real common caliber for a lever gun.   But I was excited and put down a deposit to hold the rifle.   If you need any firearms, go contact Mac and if they have it, he will make you a reasonable deal on it.
      Well I got home from my trip to a different part of the state and started working on my truck, and my garage.    I found this on a shelf...

It was my 10 inch subwoofer that I had on my 2001 Sports Trac.  Well I decided to see if it works, and if it does...it will go on Craigslist for some ducats.   Well I took the subwoofer to my bonus room and fired up my AAFES stereo....you GI's know what I am talking about....the Stereo's that all G.I's would buy for the inevitable stereo wars in the barracks.  And I switched on my cassette player, and I heard stuff that I used to listen to in my Mustang in the Autobahns in the 1980's

Talk about a blast from the past....and speaking of "Past"...I had posted Yesterday for funsies...this pic on the U.S Army in Europe on Facebook and got a lot of comments..

The License Plates....the one on Top belonged to me on my Mustang from  when I was stationed 1986 to 1991 in Germany
and the one on the bottom was on my parents Ford Granada from 1975 until 1978 in Germany.   Now both are on my garage wall.   Funny how symmetry works...

Some more goings on at Casa De Garabaldi

A few days ago, I was working on the truck, I had to replace the 3rd brake light and redo the seal around the "Halo Surround". 

    

The Old 3rd brake light had crazing and several of the lights no longer functioned...so I replaced it

The New 3rd brake light, looks much better and you can see the seal for the Halo surround on the roof.

I also was asked to run a shotgun and Rifle range for the boy scouts this weekend and I did, first off the scouts went to the shotgun range....they were shooting the 20 gauge over and unders..

And the scouts had a good time, I forgot to bring my 12 gauge over and under so I could have gotten in some "upscale Redneck Golf" as my friend Mack likes to refer to sporting clays.

   

The Scouts then went to qualify in the .22 LR rifles for the rifle merit badge, it always is good to get some range time, even if you are working them....and I did get a little bit of trigger time

22LR pistol from Smith&Wessen that I brought, I put about 50 rounds thought the pistol, but the scouts showed up after Lunch so I had to shelve shooting some more...Oh well.  A little bit of trigger time is a good time.

Rough weekend...

Went to work Sunday Morning like normal and around Lunchtime I discovered that I have a kidneystone....*Ouch*    So needless to say Monday Music didn't happen....I will post Monday
 Music tomorrow...

   I did take this cool pic Saturday evening...

doings at casa de Garabaldi

My apologies for not posting after Tuesday.  I would have these ideas to post on on the way to work but by the time I got home I was so tired my creativity was zilch, zero, nada, goose egg and variations of the theme.  I and other bloggers  occasionally do suffer from "writers block" and have to wait for the creative energy to manifest again.  Last week it was

This week it was not so much of it but it was still there. but by the time I got home, my ideas have vanished like the integrity of the average democrat politician.
    On a different note, I changed vehicles...in a manner of speaking...
 I was riding this for the past 3 years...and racked up 30,000 miles on the bike. I was the second owner and she had 56000 miles on the clock.

she is a Bergman 650 a big scooter.  I used to mock them until I owned one.  They are very forgiving of newbie rider foibles.and I learned how to ride a motorcycle on it.  I went through tropical downpours, and many traffic condition with her.  and overall she was trouble free.  I have no complaints.   But Friday morning I took the scooter in to get new tires on her and rode home with this...

2013 Yamaha VStar 1300 Deluxe with 2200 miles on the odometer,  I got a far better trade on the scooter than I was expecting and I used part of my bonus to pay for it outright so the best part was that there is no note.   I will be spending the next few days learning how to shift gears again lol.  The scooter was all automatic so I have to learn how to use a clutch...all over again.  When I was taking the Motorcycle safety course I learned how to ride on a Honda 125 T(Training) and got good at shifting. but the skill atrophied so I have to recover it.  I look forward to it though :)

     We will be going out of town for a week and I will load the que with video clips and other stuff that don't relate to politics especially because the political scene will be different from day to day.

what has transpired this week

I had some health issues crop up the past few weeks and it had me really concerned.   I was getting chest pain and loss of energy at work.  I had another issue at the end of the Order of the Arrow event that I was working.  At camp they were teaching wilderness First aid and I asked the Dr teaching the course to check my blood pressure.  The Dr is a flight surgeon with F.A.A, she listened to my heartbeat for several minutes and commented that I have an irregular, irregular heartbeat.  I remembered my dad going in for a heart scan and being told that he had 5 blockages and if he had a heart attack, he would be D.R.T.  Well as people whom know me in meatspace know that I am real heavy, I carry it well and I am in good shape, especially for being as large as I am.  I had already scheduled an appointment with the heart people to make sure that I was "ok" before I start ramping up my activities.  Last thing I want to do is stroke out on a treadmill.....You can't go to Valhalla that way, the other vikings will mock you.  I have had concerns about the health issues.    I went to the Dr Monday morning  about the pain and they wanted to admit me to the hospital for 24 hours to run tests and I refused...Remember I work at night and I wanted to go home to sleep.  I told the Dr I have 3 reasons why I don't want to go to the hospital...crappy food, crappy bed and I would be disturbed all the time."  The Dr agreed and then had me hooked up to a 24 hour heart monitor which was uncomfortable.  I then returned the items on Tuesday.  I had a stress test, echo and nuclear test scheduled on Wednesday.  Well I finished the test Wednesday afternoon.  I then had a Dr appointment today to hear the results.  I was of 2 minds, part of me wanted him to find something to explain the pain and other issues, part of me hoped that it was in my mind and that I am OK.  Well the results are as follows......According to the test, my heart is in real good shape, it works as it should, there was no blockages shown, the blood flows as it should.   I was told that I need to slack off the caffeine.  I tend to have more problems on Sunday night when I am trying to roll back to my work schedule so I drink a lot of coffee.   Dang...the stuff I gotta do.

      On a different note during all this, I had planned to meet Jim and Mac at the original ChicFila in Hapeville....the Chicfila that started it all.  Jim is know as the author, traveler of renown, and tellers of good tales and he is good people.  Mac who is a good friend of mine who is a frequent commenter on Jims blog and on mine, I shoot at Mac's place a lot, I find it relaxing..Recoil therapy is a good thing.  It was a good lunch, with good friends and nobody can ask for anything more.  This is one of the benefits of my having my little corner of the internet, I meet and associate with people that I would never meet otherwise, I consider myself fortunate in this regard. 

Monday Music 2 fer. "Rubber Biscuit" and "Walking in Memphis"

This was an eventful week.  My mother in law went into the hospital for complications relating to her first round of chemo and 36 hours later had crossed over.  It was real sudden, she was in good health before the chemo.  She was an advocate for the deaf community and was loved and respected by all that knew her.  I enjoyed her company and she was a classy lady, there was a running joke with the spousal unit and myself.  She would tell other people  " If he and I divorce, my mom would take his side."   I wrote the obituary since I have a modicum of talent in writing and having the ability to turn a phrase, and was amazed by what she had accomplished.  She had bridged the deaf and hearing worlds and was respected by all. 

 Also today was a bit bittersweet, I sold my little black Ranger, my "Disgruntled Veterans" truck that I used for many camping trips and other adventures. I loved that little truck and she was a good truck, but I needed a bigger truck.  So I will use my $$$ from the sale plus my bonus and buy a newer F150.  Still I wish the little truck well on her new journey.

                                            " Soo long and thanks for the Adventures...."

Leaving my driveway for the last time....

I decided to roll 2 songs, both bracketed my favorite decade the 80's.  First off was "Rubber Biscuit" that the Blues Brothers sang...I loved the movie and the movie has become a cult classic and still hilarious today.  I also used Marc Cohn from the early 90's .  Both are excellent songs.

"Rubber Biscuit" is a doo-wop song by The Chips, recorded in 1956. It was famously covered by The Blues Brothers (on their debut album, Briefcase Full of Blues), among many other artists as well as featuring in the 1973 film Mean Streets. Label credit for writing the song was given to Chips lead singer Charles Johnson and Adam R. Levy. Levy, though, was the son of label owner Morris Levy, who was notorious for adding either his or his son's names to songwriting credits in order to claim partial, or in some cases all composer royalties on songs they did not write. There is no evidence that Morris or Adam ever wrote any songs.

Few of the lyrics can actually be understood, as they are sung in the scat manner. The scat is interrupted every few bars for short one-liners, most of which are implicit references to the singer's poverty and the low-grade food he eats: a "wish sandwich" (where one has two slices of bread and wishes for meat in between the slices of bread), a "ricochet biscuit" (which is supposed to bounce off the wall and into one's mouth, and when it doesn't, "you go hungry"), a "cold-water sandwich" (or a "cool-water sandwich") and a "Sunday-go-to-meeting-bun". The song closes with the question "What do you want for nothing? A rubber biscuit?"
"Rubber Biscuit" became the theme tune to Jimmy's Food Factory, a programme about supermarket's food tricks on BBC One. It is The Chips' version that is played at the beginning and end of each show. It was also featured in the 1990 John Waters film, Cry-Baby.
The Chips were teenage friends in New York: Charles Johnson (lead vocal), Nathaniel Epps (baritone), Paul Fulton (bass), Sammy Strain and Shedrick Lincoln (tenors). "Rubber Biscuit" started life as Johnson's answer to the marching rhythms of the Warwick School For Delinquent Teenagers while he was an intern there.

When Josie Records heard the tune they signed the group and the record was issued in September 1956. Although it did not chart, "Rubber Biscuit" became an instant east coast radio favourite, and saw its performers touring alongside The Dells, The Cadillacs and Bo Diddley, but the momentum gained by their debut single was waning and the group broke up at the end of 1957. Only Sammy Strain went on to success in the music industry, as a member of Little Anthony & The Imperials from about 1961 to 1972, when he left to join The O'Jays. Strain left the O'Jays in 1992 to return to The Imperials, where he remained until his retirement in 2004.

Marc Cohn was inspired to write "Walking in Memphis" by a 1985 visit to the Memphis, Tennessee area: he was then based in New York City working as a session singer while pursuing a recording contract - "(quote) One night while listening to all of my demos, I came to the realization that I shouldn’t be signed, because I didn’t have any great songs yet. My voice was good and the demos were interesting, but the songs were only just okay. I was 28 years old and not in love with my songs. James Taylor had written 'Fire and Rain' when he was 18, and Jackson Browne wrote 'These Days' when he was only 17. I thought: 'I'm already ten years older than these geniuses. It's never going to happen for me.' So it was a pretty desperate time, and I went to Memphis with that struggle at the forefront of my mind." Cohn made his first excursion to Memphis after reading an interview with James Taylor in which Taylor stated he overcame writer's block by "go[ing] somewhere I’ve never been, hoping to find some idea I wouldn’t get just by sitting at home": Cohn emulated Taylor, choosing Memphis as his destination - "I always knew it was a place I had to visit because so much of my favorite music came from there. From Al Green, Ann Peebles, and everything on Hi Records, to Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, and the Stax catalog, an almost endless stream of brilliance and soul came out of Memphis. I was aware early on that...there was something going on in Memphis that was utterly inexplicable. It was part of what made me want to be a musician in the first place."

Cohn recalls that on arrival in Memphis: "I did all the [expected] touristy things...I went to Graceland, and I saw Elvis Presley’s tomb and his airplanes" - (Cohn would express misgivings after, eventually referencing Presley in the lyrics of "Walking in Memphis": "To me, the song is so minimally about him, but I worry that it gets cast off as another Elvis tribute. It's a testament to the power of his name, even if you just mention it in one verse, the song becomes about him because people focus on it.") - "But a friend told me there were two things in particular that I had to do, things that would forever change me. They would later become the centerpieces of 'Walking in Memphis'. The first thing was go to the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on a Sunday morning to hear the Reverend Al Green preach...I [soon] had chills running up and down my spine. The service was so deeply moving that I found myself with sweat running down my face and tears in my eyes, totally enveloped by everything I was seeing and hearing. There was something incredibly powerful about Al Green’s voice in that context. Even after three hours of continuous singing, his voice only got stronger and his band only got better. I sat there crying in the church, aware of the irony of how I used to cry in Synagogue in Cleveland as a kid — but because I wanted to get the heck out of there! Al Green’s service was one of the great experiences of my life."

The second advisement of his friend was that Cohn visit the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Mississippi, 35 miles south of Memphis, to see Muriel Davis Wilkins, a retired school teacher who performed at the cafe on Friday nights: "When I arrived, Muriel, who...was in her 60s, was onstage playing a beat-up old upright piano and singing gospel standards... I felt an immediate connection to her voice, her spirit, her face, and her smile. I was totally transfixed by her music. While many of the patrons were busy eating and not paying close attention to Muriel, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. During her breaks, the two of us would talk. Muriel asked me why I was there, and I told her I was a songwriter trying to find inspiration. I also told her a little bit about my childhood — how when I was two and a half years old, my mom had passed away very unexpectedly, and about ten years later, my dad had passed away and I’d been raised by a stepmother. My mother’s death was a central event in my life, and I’d been writing a lot about it over the years, both in songs and in journals. I think a part of me felt stuck in time, like I’d never quite been able to work through that loss....By midnight, the Hollywood was still packed, and Muriel asked me to join her onstage. We soon realized that there wasn’t a song in the universe that both of us knew in common. A quick thinker, Muriel started feeding me lyrics to gospel songs so that I could catch up in time to sing somewhat in rhythm with her and make up my own version of the melody. Some songs I was vaguely familiar with, and some I didn’t know at all. The very last song we sang together that night was 'Amazing Grace'. After we finished and people were applauding, Muriel leaned over and whispered in my ear: 'Child, you can let go now.' It was an incredibly maternal thing for her to say to me. Just like sitting in Revered Al Green’s church, I was again transformed. It was almost as if my mother was whispering in my ear. From the time I left Memphis and went back home to New York City, I knew I had a song in me about my experience there."

 Soon after returning to New York City, Cohn began constructing the melody for his Memphis song on his guitar: "I started playing an arpeggiated figure that I liked, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that I couldn’t play it very well on guitar. So I went to the piano, where that kind of rolling rhythm was easier for me to play. Then I added that first line to the piano riff and I was off to the races. The music for 'Walking in Memphis', except for the bridge, is really just the same thing over and over again. It’s an attempt to keep things simple so that the narrative is what the listener focuses on. The story keeps changing; it goes from one scenario to another, all following the thread of my elation, described in the lyric 'Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale'. What’s being expressed is my love of music and the spiritual transformation I’ve always felt through it. The line: 'Tell me are you a Christian child, and I said 'Ma’am I am tonight' - even in the moment I wrote it down, I knew I was getting closer to finding my songwriting voice. To this day, people still ask me if I am a Christian. While I have to admit that I enjoy the confusion the lyric brings, the thing that makes that line work is the fact that I’m a Jew. So many great artists over the years needed to hide the fact that they were Jewish to protect themselves and their families from anti-Semitism, so I’m proud of the fact that I could come right out and practically announce my religion on the first song I ever released." Cohn wrote numerous drafts before he had a set of lyrics which satisfied him: "When I finished the song, I felt like I had completed a jigsaw puzzle. I wasn’t sure if it was a hit, because I was still years away from being signed to Atlantic Records. Six months later [in 1986], after I wrote many of the songs that would later comprise my album 'Marc Cohn', I went back to the Hollywood Café to play them all for Muriel. After I finished, Muriel said to me: 'You know the one where you mention me at the end? That’s the best one you got!'" (Muriel Davis Wilkins, born 6 December 1923, would die 1 October 1990, five months before the release of "Walking in Memphis"

Taking a Break.....

I have a lot going on right now, I will post Monday Music Next week...and there will be 2 of them.   I will be taking a break from the blog for the rest of the week.  There is a lot of stuff going on in real life.    

     

  Just a note....Having to tell your 12 year old son that his meemaw is not long in this world really sucks.   Just saying.

Friday Trip and other stuff,

a couple of things happened here,  This happened on Thursday afternoon in my subdivision.  

My 2010 Focus rolled 100,000 miles.  I happen to look down and saw this.  I immediately stopped and grabbed my camera.  I remembered when I was younger, cars didn't "do" 100,000 miles on the average.

     On a different note, I went to my mom up in Tenn to pick up my son from "Camp Grandma"./  He has had a busy several weeks, from summer camp with the Boy SCouts, to going to San Francisco to going to camp grandma,  School starts up week after next.  But on the way up there I stopped at my favorite knife store Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville Tenn .  Apparently they sell firearms now also.  I picked up some ammo, a few boxes of 5.56 along with some  politically incorrect bumper stickers for my tool box at work and a "Secret Squirrel" patch for my riding vest.   It was a quick trip but I am glad to be home.  

Shotguns and other stuff

This is an idea for a post that Murphy and Old NFO did a week ago? perhaps a bit longer where they pulled out a pump shotgun and a sporting related shotgun.  I thought that was a good idea but didn't have time to do one of my own until now.

The first one is my Remington 870 "Police", I bought it in 1987 at the Nellingen barracks Rod and Gun shop in Germany, I bought it at the same time I had purchased my first pistol.  The shotgun has stayed relatively the same since I purchased it with the exception that I added a magazine extension and I added a couple of extra magazine caddies on it.  One in the stock and I also used a "first aid" pouch to clip some more shells on the sling.  It actually has a regular sight rather than a bead which was unusual at that time.  I can go either slugs or regular 00 buck.  I got that idea from all the pictures of the WWII GI's clipping extra ammo on the sling of their rifles for easy access.  I need to add a light to it for target illumination.

    The second shotgun is my Czech over and under made by BRNO, it is a model ZH 107.  I had bought it from one of the Germans that used my skeet range and if I recall, I got it at a "fire sale" price.    The rifle looked rough at the time.  I had the internals reworked by another German friend that was a "technicker" by trade, I think that meant he was a industrial engineer.  Heinz rebuilt the internals.  One of the guys in my unit redid the furniture and added a shoulder pad.  I was blown away by the work he did.  And he just charged me $94 in 1988 dollars.  A lot of money but I though the work was worth it  The shotgun has 2 triggers, one for each barrel and a safety in the trigger guard that would automatically engage once the breech was closed after loading.  The shotgun also used an "open bore" no choke for the shot pattern, so when I shoot, I had to be fast. 
    

You can see some of the combloc craftsmanship.  No Western shotgun maker would have left such an exposed aesthetic flaw such as that.  I don't care, to me it adds to the character of the shotgun.
     There is no skeet range near my house so the last time I fired skeet was over 20 years ago.  I used to be decent, now I prolly suck at it.

    I have 2 weapons made by BRNO, I also have a CZ-50 that uses .32 ACP.  I carry that pistol on a regular basis, the 32 isn't a preferred man-stopper, but the pistol is easily concealable and it can fire single or double action and when I have a round in the chamber, I have the safety on which I can flip off and squeeze the trigger.  or pull the hammer back and squeeze the trigger.  That pistol used to belong to the Czech national police until they upgraded to the CZ-75 in 9mm.  I wish I had bought another one, but back then I didn't think of future value.  I was just a regular GI back then.
     On a different note, My son went to boy scout camp right after Christmas and one of the merit badges he got was his "rifle" merit badge.  The instructor commented that he was the only one that wasn't "prairie-dogging" after he shot which meant that he didn't raise his head up after each shot.  I had taught my son to keep his cheekweld on the stock while he operated a bolt action rifle so his point of aim wouldn't change and he shot some impressive groups.

We had gone to the range right after Christmas so I could dislocate/relocate my shoulder making some brass for my friend who uses mosin nagant brass to load his .45-70 rounds.  My son also shot my EBR.

While the son went to camp we went car shopping for the spousal unit, whom had totaled her Ford Freestyle in early December.

Well we found a cherry 2009 Ford Edge limited with real low miles and got it for a real good price

This is why my postings have been light the past couple of weeks.  I can start raising hell about the Obama regime and all the things they do that is unconstitutional and the lamestream media gives him and the democrats a pass and actually carries his water up the hill for him.

Very Hectic

Sorry about not posting the past few days, it has been very busy and I can't post from work (Dang Internet Explorer).  I will post stuff including my Monday Music on Wednesday....Yeah Wednesday....

uncertain posting

I am out of town and not by my computer,  i am gathering material for a future posting.  if i can get to a computer i will post some stuff.  keep checking in.

Oh Deer......

It is hunting season and the Deer are in rut so you find them everywhere........Including interstates......:(

This was my paid for 2005 Focus ST......Now I gotta look for another car...probably another Focus.   Considering the speed I was traveling and the size.....He was huge.   I am very lucky to walk away from that one.   All I suffered was a bruise on my leg...and finding glass in all the strange places....like ear...pockets....hair....I ain't complaining though....the alternative is worse.   Now I am driving my Ranger while I car shop after the insurance company settles.