Christmas Shopping and Random uh, Stuff.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope the Holiday finds you with Family, friends, and in good cheer.

This Holiday has been sorta different here at stately manor. With the big honking project at work and working weekends I did not decorate the house or have my usual Christmas party for friends. Perhaps the Lionel train will have a chance to run next year. 

Shopping for Christmas is usually delivered FedEx. They did not disappoint.

So you may be asking what's up with the .32 S&W Long ammo?  Well a dear friend runs a old J Frame similar to this one. 

   













.32 Long is not something you just pick up anywhere (or anything else right now). Another friend needs the .380 ammo.

So tomorrow before I run around for Christmas, I get to go to the range and try out the CT Rail Master on my M&P.  It does not fit my holster anymore with this mod, so guess what. I'm carrying a classic tomorrow. 

  











A Colt Combat Commander in a old El Paso Saddlery rig.  The M&P gets to ride in a rug in the range bag for a change.  Hope it does not get used to it!

Today's fun?  Well it looked like this.

The new HAL is singing "Daisy" just enough to keep the plant from calling me at 0430 hours on Wednesday next week.  Still need to work on points for style as they say and much remains to be done.  As they say though, "perfect is the enemy of good enough".  Hopefully next week we will get him up to a point good enough to run but not predict a fault in the AE-35 unit. 

So, if you will excuse me after a long month of work a note to my CCH students last week.  The Sheriffs Office in Meckenburg County is saying that the next date open to accept applications for permits is now Feb. 5th as of yesterday. I fear it will get worse. 

Range owners presented me a gift today after work.  

If you will excuse me, I think I will go drive the remote on the TV and try some of this.

 

A New Toy for Christmas!

One of the problems I have procuring gifts for friends and Family is that most of them are of a sort.  If they want something they just go get it.  I struggle coming up with meaningful gifts for them.  On the other hand, some people seem to just fall right into it.  The guys that work for me nailed one today.  They brought me this:

A big honking Plano storage box for as they say "stuff" and a really impressive DVD collection on WWII.  I love these guys!  We are still working on the big honking project and although we are not there yet, progress has occurred.

Behold:

 














Two operator workstations are live and so is the scale in the background.  More work this weekend though.  


For funner stuff, here is a Crimson Trace Rail Master in Coyote Tan finish on a Smith and Wesson M&P VTAC. 

It appears that Tacticool color "Coyote Tan" is not Tacticool color "Flat Dark Earth".  No matter.  I doubt Better Homes and Handguns will be here anytime soon for a photo shoot!  

I know of the CT laser for the M&P that replaces the removable backstrap.  I really don't want to give up my custom stippled with a soldering iron backstrap, plus I don't know which size CT uses for the laser.  I have small hands for a guy.  I like this one.    
  
So I purchased it as a gift for Mr. Curmudgeon.  I of course need to test it before giving it to him, right?  

 


 

Shameless Plug!

I have been asked to be a guest speaker on home security systems at an NRA Refuse To Be A Victim seminar this Saturday. This will be followed by my basic pistol class (with live fire of .22, .38 and 9mm) for new shooters that afternoon. Sunday is the North Carolina Concealed Carry class. Space is available in all three classes.
Info is here.

I think I will skip the technical portion of home security systems. Programming them is as intuitive as a football bat! Besides, most people that have one think this is the system:

 

Not this:

Tax Dollars at Work!

Glad to see someone is getting full use of my tax dollars!

I have to get one of these!

I really feel better now about specifying Rockwell stuff for the plant! Don't let corporate see this, they will try to order 5 of them!

Oh, if you are in a legit classroom somewhere and this is what the lecture sounds like, get up and leave. You are in over your head.

For the uninitiated, all of the video is total BS. Running engineering joke for several decades. Yes I said engineering and joke in the same sentence.  

h/t to Bayou Renaissance Man!