Yipee!

Look what's coming to Bad Dog Central!!!



(that'd be the M1 carbine)

Monday, by 1030. I think perhaps I shall get up with the Mister and sit in a lawn chair in the front yard, drinking coffee and waiting on the Big White Truck of Joy.

I say again...

I knew this town was evil when I was there.

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces captured a key suspected Special Groups financier May 28 in Mahmudiyah, about 15 km south of Baghdad.

Intelligence sources led Coalition forces to the residence of the individual believed to be a key Special Groups financier. He is suspected to be the primary financier between Iranian intelligence elements and Special Groups criminals in Mahmudiyah and southern Baghdad and was reportedly distributing funds to weapons smugglers supplying criminals in those areas.

Every so often some little piece of info will trickle out that makes me really happy to have gotten out of there in one piece.

I do remember a few good guys down there - hopefully a few will still be around once all the rats have been rooted out. The region from Mahmudiyah west to the Euphrates is the last thing you'd expect to see in Iraq - green and fertile farmland. It would be nice to see that producing for the whole of Iraq, and not merely serving as tall grass for evil bastards to lurk in.

Hovering ain't natural

and that has bene proved yet again by a helicopter crash on a hospital roof.

Fortunately, it appears from local news reports that there were no deaths, and only minor injuries for the two folks onboard during the training evolution.

I love a good helicopter ride, but they do seem a little bit complicated and prone to fall out of the sky.

This caught my eye because it was in downtown Grand Rapids. Fortunately, not at the hospital where Mom works in the emergency room, however.

Her hospital is getting the overflow. Heh. She's got a couple of days off, so I know one ER nurse who is most likely not answering her phone today.

WTF is THIS???

Calling all my people out there who might know anything about Texas lawn pestilence! I noticed this...weird crap this morning.



I fear a fungus. It looks like...ash or something similar. And there are several spots of it around the front. Just the front, of course. Not the back or the sides where we have some sort of "undesirable" (but much more hardy) grass.



Any ideas out there? What might it be? What will it do? Should I just treat the entire front lawn with diesel fuel now, burn it to the dirt and lay down astroturf?

Cheese for morons

I loves me some cheese, so I picked up a package of pre-sliced swiss at the store the other day.



This was pretty good cheese. Nice flavor, nice texture. A great sitting-around-munching-on-cheese choice. I was doing just that when I flipped the package over and perused the text on the back.

At which point I realized that apparently, some people need serious instructions to execute even the simplest tasks. Check this out, for those of us who cannot figure out how to open a package of cheese...



I was going to comment on the number of non-english speakers who might still struggle through this process, due to the one-language instructions, but then I realized that even folks who speak strange sub-Saharan dialects could probably work from the pictures.

It was nice to know that the good folks at Kroger are committed to helping even the very confused access cheese. But what about post-access? What if you used the pictures, got the cheese open, ate some, and then became confused?

What of this extra cheese, you might wonder?

Relax. Kroger got you covered, with a little block of helpful text I like to call "concept of bag."



I think that's readable, but if it's not, here you go:

This recloseale package is a convenient way to store unused cheese. For best quality keep refrigerated and use within 3 to 5 days after opening.

This is good info, because I cannot count the times I have dumped unused cheese into the dryer, left it there for a week, then been disappointed in the quality when I wanted to finish it off.

Plotting...

For the week ahead. If I was a better adult, I'd have this figured out so that the kids did all the housework while I hung out at the range. In fact, a couple of years ago, I could have gotten away with that. Now, though, they're smarter, and they'll probably catch me sneaking out the door with my Black Bag O' Joy.

Hmmm....

In other news, we have business days again, so I'm back to constantly checking to see if the CMP rifle has shipped.

Memorial Day

We'll be cooking out in the backyard with the kids and the dogs. I hope all of you are doing something similar.

This day is about the ones who didn't make it back, but it has always seemed to me that they wouldn't begrudge us spending it enjoying our friends and family.

But do think of them. Remember them.

MAJ Gregory J. Fester
SPC Michael J. Stokely
SGT Paul A. Saylor
SPC Joshua P. Dingler
SGT Thomas J. Strickland
SFC Class Lawrence E. Morrison
SSG George R. Draughn Jr.
SFC Robert L. Hollar Jr.
SSG Jason A. Fegler
SPC Joshua J. Munger
SPC Benjamin A. Smith
SGT Regina C. Reali
SPC Cheyenne C. Willey
1LT Benjamin T. Britt
SPC William Lopez-Feliciano
SGT Kenith Casica
SSG Travis L. Nelson
SGT Matthew D. Hunter
1LT Garrison C. Avery
SPC Marlon A. Bustamante
SPC Anthony C. Owens
PFC Caesar S. Viglienzone
SPC Andrew K. Waits
CPT Shane R. Mahaffee
1SG Carlos N. Saenz
SPC Teodoro Torres
SGT Nathan J. Vacho

What do we have HERE?

The Mister is off at the airport, trying to find his children who, it appears, were diverted to some other city in Texas when their plane developed some sort of issue.

You know, about seven years ago we had them, and they were scheduled to fly home on Sept 11. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Their luck with flights hasn't improved much.

Anyway. I trudged out to get the mail.

Standing in front of the mailbox, I conducted inventory. Box from World's Coolest Grandmother - yipee! Little package with a used paperback I ordered online - woohoo! Flyer from gas company.... Hey...what's this?

STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF TARRANT
Jury Summons

For me!

I mailed in my voter registration like ten days ago, and do not yet in fact have a voter registration card. They don't waste much time.

But I am all excited. I've never had jury duty. I love things I've never done before.

It's next month, and there's about a 50/50 chance the Army will have me somewhere doing something, but I'd like to go do the jury gig. I think I would be a fabulous juror.

Countdown to

a full house. The kids will arrive for the summer this evening. There will be dogs on beds, much pool-related activity, and generally a much higher optempo around here.

The boys are going on 15, and so I am mostly concerned about the food issue. I was never a teenage boy myself, but I have known a few. I predict we have less than a week before they may attempt to eat the furniture.

Preparations have been made. There's enough peanut butter in the pantry to float a battleship, we've been buying pasta like the Old Country Buffet in preparation for Italian Night, and we have cases and cases of Ramen noodles.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make some "please don't eat the dog" signs for the pets to wear.

Range trip!

I took Barney's advice from the last set of comments and took off to the rifle range in order to be doing something other than sniveling about the CMP.

Up front, it would have been a more productive range trip if, in addition to the Inland carbine and 100 rounds of ammo for it, I had remembered magazines.

It turned into a wringout trip for the .308 that came to live here recently. Does this look like a good time or what?



The first group of shots (at 50 yards) was...well, it could have been worse. It took a couple of figure out the whole bipod thing, and several more to be sure I was shooting where I was shooting, then an adjustment right and up, then a few more...



I am a terrible "adjuster." I could singlehandedly use an entire ASP zeroing a single M16, making sight adjustments one click at a time. So after I pulled the above target down, I'd totalled 6 UP and 4 RIGHT. So I took a deep breath, cringed, and added another 4 UP.



Which worked. Cool. Having by this point become buddies with the range officer (another recovering Marine), I trudged over to the 100 yard line to see where I was.



'Twas good.

DISCLAIMER - That is NOT a photo of the target! I didn't want to call a cold range after three shots so I could go get it, so there IS no picture! This is an "artist's rendering" of said target, made crudely from the image from the 50! The flyer was the first shot at that distance, and the other two were nice.

150 grain Federal softpoints of one sort or another. I was pleased. I still don't really see the point of the bipod, but it doesn't offend me, so I don't see any need to take it off right away.

Kudos to the guys down at Alpine, who were helpful and non-irritating all the way around. Props to the friendly dude inside who boresighted my scope, and the nice old boy running the range. But maybe you guys should stock a couple of M1 carbine magazines...

Since that was so much fun and the Mister is out of town, it occurs to me I have a ton of .45 acp and couple of pistols to match.... I'm off again!

Staying busy

and trying not to click on the CMP e-store too often.

Today, I was getting desperate. So...what is our fearless author up to?



Other than pulling sticks out of the undercarriage (left over from the trip up north), that is?



That's right - changing my oil! All by myself! Because I am an uber-liberated post-feminist total badass self-sufficient not-needing-any-help type of gal!

(okay - so the Mister was an arm's length away reminding me which nut needed to come out, and the proper order of steps. But I think I'll remember well enough to do it all alone next time)

Beats housework

Jack finally pointed out that I was being absolutely NO FUN. So we got the floating duck and headed outside.

Yipee! Floating ducks call for belly flops!



I cannot get over how well that dog swims. Like an otter, but only if otters made weird chuffing noises to keep the water out of their nostrils.



We did ten or so duck retrieves, then I killed fun when I insisted on securing the duck and getting in the water myself. Oh well - he got over it, and is now joyfully rolling on the floor and growling - his favorite way of recovering from a swim.

[sigh]

The CMP people are tormenting me. My S'G' order went to open/processing on the 15th, and it looks kinda like it'ss running about three business days before they are shipping.

[taps fingers]

Any time now...

Oddly, clicking on the "pending orders" button 37 times per hour doesn't seem to be speeding the process along at all.

Mundane

and, at the same time, pathetic. In the wake of a very nice weekend, I thought it probably wouldn't kill me to clean up around the house today.

Since we have a G. Shepherd, there are always doghair tumbleweeds rolling across the horizon here at BDC. Our last decent vacuum gave up the ghost a few months back, so we had a trainwreck fling with a Bissell FlipIt (which may work well for something, but sure didn't for anything we tried with it).



After that, we gave up on the fancy-schmancy floor-sucking machines and decided to combat the dog hair Redneck-style.



A-yup. That's right. We clean the house with an off-brand ShopVac. It's the cat's ass on the tile. The only drawback is the short cord.

So today I whack the kitchen, the master bath, and most of the floor. Also several loads of laundry and dishes. I am totally a domestic goddess.

Wow.

Weather.com says it's 100 degrees out right now. So does my thermometer, but I don't trust it.

Which explains why the slightly-over-two-miles I jogged this afternoon very nearly killed me. But character was built.

In other exercises in character-building, the Mister is spending his day walking around in the sunshine, smiling and shaking hands. Wearing the shockingly uncomfy Dress Blue Deltas with the equally awful Shiny Black Shoes. Poor guy.

And THAT is why

I am not a good biker wife.

Good lord, that perching on the back is uncomfortable. North Texas was very pretty, but I feel like I've been scrunched in a laundry basket for the last six hours.

I also find the sportbike thing pretty much terrifying. It requires every bit of trust I have in my husband's ability for me to not have him pull over so I can walk home. Too fast, too curvy, too scary for me.

But, because he is more or less a saint, the Mister did not seize the opportunity to launch off the back of the bike and speed away.

In an ongoing effort

to be a decent wife, I'm participating in the "couples ride" the Mister's motorcycle group is doing. Not as a rider - as a passenger. Nonetheless, wish me luck, and please try to avoid hitting any bikes you may see in North Texas this morning.

Man...

Write one quick entry on how you don't feel too bad about an American soldier shooting up the Quran, and next thing you know, CNN has 8 zillion people visiting your blog.

I'm not editing or deleting any comments (other than my own, for typos), since that's not the point of the medium.

If, at some point, we want to talk about this in more depth, we can. But that's probably best saved for when I haven't been having beers at the VFW.

Oh, the shame

This sort of thing just tears me up.

No, really. I'm weeping here. Weeping.

The U.S. military on Saturday formally apologized to an Iraqi village after
a soldier admitted using the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target
practice.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, apologized
to the Radhwaniya tribe for the staff sergeant, who was a sniper section leader
assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment.

Now, really. I am fully aware of all the many reasons why this sort of behavior is bad and wrong and offensive and counterproductive and tacky and evil.

But really. It all gets back to the one thing the entire West would like the Middle East to understand - the need to chill the Hell out.

Win one, lose one

The lawn got mowed. However, it was a really nice day. A little warm, sunny... And so it didn't occur to me that running, then mowing the back, side and front yards in a tank top was maybe not a smart idea.

Seriously, sometimes it's a miracles I made it to adulthood being this slow.

The sunburn on the face and arms will fade, but the part on my shoulders and the other flesh that hasn't seen direct sunlight in months....well, I'm thinking blisters.