The Rain.

“The rain falls upon the just
And also on the unjust fellas
But mostly it falls upon the just
Cause the unjust have the just's umbrellas”

― Cormac McCarthy, The Stonemason

Heh.  Just like that. 

I hope everyone has a great Easter Sunday.  Me? Well we need to get this back out.   

A Gentle Tune

I have built my house but as opposed to this tune no one is coming. I can call, but life choices are made. We do what we can. 



Oh, I was at a Fleetwood Mac concert in 1979. My Grandmother sold the tickets! 

So working on this...

I have removed most of the allergen media in the house.  

The carpet that came out of the living room and its backing looked like it should have had a hazmat team. 

 

Hideous green carpet replaced with cut up sawdust with a picture of what real wood looks like. 

So we note this. I don't know why but two holes in the drywall lower left. 

 





























Looks like some drywall repair.  These plates had old school brackets.  So I do some Interwebz research.  I found this. 





Well maybe! I doubt she will be here anytime soon to fix this. 

Rolling Restoration Has Begun It Seems

On my daily ride. The '94 Mustang is finally succumbing to over 215K miles, no garage, and being totaled some years ago. 

A crack on the dash pad has been joined by another. Me being a Mustang sorta guy thought "No biggie, just get a new one". They are not to be had anywhere on the Interwebz. So we look around and find these people:





I'm thinking you just don't get one of those vacuum machines at the 2:30 mark from Eastwood! Looks like a summer project!  
 
    

Road Trip!

A short one but worth it. I got to spend some more time with the new ride and curse myself for missing shifts with the short throw shifter. Here we are at a rest stop off of I-85. 

 


Then we get to the mountain of geese to score these:

Then stop by Mrs. Curmudgeon's house for some coffee. Always good to see her. Mr. Curmudgeon is off somewhere in frozen land north.

So what is in these? Why more of these! 

All is not as it seems though. These are all .22LR caliber and although marked as S&W they were made by Walther. The mountain of geese had them on sale and it was just a bit more than wholesale, but they had them.

 










No removable backstraps. Other than that the look and feel appears to be close to the real thing. 

Perfect to train new students with! It looks like I will have to wear this hat tomorrow for the pin shoot. 

 













The M&P is my friend's favorite pistol you know! Old NFO was kind enough to bring me this cap the last time we shot together. He LOVES the M&P =) . 
  

 

 

Ruger Rebuttal Review

So my friend Brigid whips out a review of the Ruger Vaquero. As always it is a masterpiece of the written word backed by experience and some humor. 

Me? Well not so much. 

A Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum in a western rig and with a Puma West German knife. 

In a Bianchi rig no less. 

My review of this revolver? Load, cock, and hang the he*l on as you pull the trigger! 

I hope you found this review helpful! Me, the first time I pulled the trigger on this thing oh, 35+ years ago it took a chunk of my thumb off. 


I am told that it was purchased for 80 bucks. A deal!

Blind Spot!

I really appreciate all those that have commented on the "blind spot" I am creating on the 2013 Mustang. I am touched that you are concerned for my motor vehicle safety. 

The first car I had after being newly minted by the DMV at 16 years old looked like this from the drivers point of view to the rear window. 

 











Here is the view from the drivers seat to passenger side:

This car did not come with a passenger side mirror. I put one on it. It does not say "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". Flat glass New Old Stock. 

The 1966? Looks like this from the drivers POV. 

I am touched by your concern. Fear not. Not only have I managed to merge or change lanes safely for many years, the 2013 has this:

Integral blind spot mirrors. Both sides. To me its an improvement reguardless what happens to the rear quarter windows on the '13. 

   

Weekend Update!

First up a shout out to my RSO's this weekend as we congratulate many new shooters and CCH class students. They rock on the line as I do the administrative stuff. 

So I have decided to stick the rear quarter window louvers  on the new ride. A precursor is to insure that you cannot see the unpainted side of them inside the car. OK. I'm on it. 

Before:

 










After:

Flat black window decal.  That is functional all by itself.  Less UV and heat inside. The best part? The bling will attach to them making it all that more easy to revert to stock later.

This was a cake walk.  

 

Weekend question...

So I'm continuing to Try to show the Mustangs some love. For some reason I wanted to try to replicate the retro look of the 1966 Fastback rear window on the 2013. Here is the real deal:

Here is the rear window of the 2013:

 









The '66 was a true bolt in. It actually worked. Here are the commercials from back in the day from a old post of mine here. 

Best I can do now is some fiberglass that attaches to the window. So what do ya think about this?

 








Yeah, I can place it better when the 3M trim adhesive comes out! Sorta hard to take a pic and hold that in place at the same time! 

I await your comments. I now have time to do so because the color match was great but:

  









Trash in the paint or bad fiberglass mold. They will ship replacements next week. 

So, in the meantime off for a full new shooter class tomorrow and the same Sunday for CCH! 

I hope y'all have a great weekend!

The Mountain of Geese

Is getting ready to open. A firearm superstore. In a old best buy. One month to opening. Strange that when I got here the Kmart was the thing.




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Mustang Love

So today was wonderful. Shirt sleeve weather and new flooring pretty much done (more later). 

The 1994 Mustang may have felt neglected after all that has transpired. No, Francis is my daily ride. Yes I do at times take her for granted but today some care after a new windshield last week.

Although I am a stickler for factory correct on the old rides, I modify the newer ones subtly. I hated the tail lights on the 94 so I changed them as soon as the 96 lights came out. 

  













I love the sequential taillights on the 2013. They harken back to the Shelbys and Cougars.

No, not those Cougars, the Mercury ones of long ago. It seems that you can retrofit for old school turn signals on the 96. So we get to it. 

Replace the wiring harness for the tail light. Got it. 

No big deal there, but something is lacking. Lets take a look:

 

 












On the bolts you can see some dead body sealer. That prevents water from getting into the trunk. Well it did 10+ years ago. 

Need some of this:

 

 








Magic sticky body sealer. Applied to the threads correctly you end up with this. 

Nice residue as you tighten the bolt. Good seal.   

So was it worth it? 

Well I think so. 



So we go to the 2013.  Any self respecting Mustang should have the tri-bar pony somewhere on it and I need to modify this thing. We start subtly. The trunk. 

 







 

 





So the weight limit is tough. 3 pounds per pouch. I'm thinking a small first aid kit in the drivers side pouch. 
 
I need a patch to denote the first aid pouch. I thought of this one first. 

 











Then decorum and a bit of being circumspect hit. More later.  
 . 

A Mentor and Friend

A dear friend has passed. I left the Adjunct Instructor gig at Central Piedmont Community College a short time ago. My department head was a gentleman in every sense of the word and imparted many words of wisdom to me that I carry to this day. Even in a totally different classroom and subject matter his words ring true. 

MATTHEWS-Hoyle Lee Blalock Jr., 73, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Hospital in Houston, Texas.
A native of Cleveland County, he was the son of the late Hoyle Lee Blalock Sr. and Sarah Hamrick Blalock. He is also preceded in death by his first wife, Linda Hamrick Blalock.
Hoyle was retired from Central Piedmont Community College where he worked for 48 years as Department Head of Computer Information Systems and as a faculty member. Hoyle was an influential leader in the field of computers and a mentor to many students and professionals in the computer field. He contributed extensively to the development of the computer science department at CPCC. He was a long standing member of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte where he taught a Young Married Sunday School Class and held various other leadership roles for many years. Hoyle later became a member of First Baptist Church of Matthews where he served as a deacon and in various leadership positions. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather.
Hoyle is survived by his loving wife, Carolyn Flowe Blalock; children, Willene Blalock Byrd and husband Bobby of Charlotte, Joseph Hoyle Blalock and wife Andrea of Charlotte, Hannah Lee Blalock of Matthews; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and brother, Jim Blalock and wife Nancy of Boiling Springs.
Visitation: The family will receive friends from 6 to 7:30 p.m. prior to the service in the Life Enrichment Center at the church. At other times, the family will be at the home of Jim Blalock, 313 North Main Street, Boiling Springs, N.C.
Celebration of Life Service: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Boiling Springs Baptist Church, 307 South Main Street, Boiling Springs, N.C.
Officiated By: The Rev. Todd Bolin
Graveside Service: 11 a.m. Saturday at Cleveland Memorial Park, 1225 College Avenue, Shelby.
Funeral Home: Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the family of Mr. Blalock
Memorials: May be made to the Music Ministries at Boiling Springs Baptist Church, P.O. Box 917, Boiling Springs, N.C. 28017 or Music Ministries at First Baptist Church of Matthews, 185 S. Trade Street, Matthews, N.C., 28105
A guest registry is available at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com . 


I found out about this late. On my phone at work this morning a voice mail from his wife told me the news and as was his Families nature it was not about him. She spoke of his friendship with me and how he always scheduled at least one night class for him next to me so we could talk on breaks. She spoke of the fact that he valued my friendship and help in recording audio and MIDI computer interfaces. It got real dusty in my office this AM. 

There is a reason he was always asking about audio and other related matters. His youngest daughter has performed at the Kennedy Center, Paris, and many other venues. He was all about recording her performances. I met her and she is amazing and just as humble as her Father and Mother. 

Here she is at Garner Webb University.

Here is a link to her playing the harp. Scroll down to Debussy: Sacred and Profane Dances
Hannah Blalock, harp
Greensboro Symphony Orchestra
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, conductor

A very talented family and he took great care to help any way he could his family and friends. 

I am honored. For my friend:

 




  

Hoyle, I know the compiler will no longer throw out errors  where you are. I will miss you and cannot thank you enough. Godspeed Sir.

Monroe City Council OKs $44,000 drone for police department | CharlotteObserver.com

Um, yeah.... Great. Just what this little berg needs. What caliber drone? 


Monroe City Council OKs $44,000 drone for police department | CharlotteObserver.com

Words of Wisdom

Ironically enough from the band that won the Grammy in 1990 for Best Hard Rock Performance. 

"I told you 1 and 1 make 3."

Indeed. 

 

Old Habits

Die Hard.

There really is no reason to put a bookmark on a Kindle! Sigh....