Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Oops, missed a blog

Oops, missed a blog

I missed writing my blog yesterday. Things were hectic and when I might have done it, I found myself drawn to my new flight simulator like a moth to the flame. I have always liked first person shooter video games like Half Life and a host of others and try and make time once a week to play one. This flight simulator is like one of those games except you are challenged to take off and land a Radio Controlled airplane model without crashing. It is the most exciting game/simulation I have ever played.

This morning Mark and I cut a truck load of wood. I cut down the trees and cut them to 8 foot length. Mark has a grapple on his Bobcat and takes them and puts them in the truck. Then we dump the load on his property for phase 2 of the wood splitting process. After about 1 gas cycle on my big Stiel chainsaw I am pooped. Age is catching up on me. For lunch we had hamburgers and turkey/ham sandwiches. The bread was so fresh and the crust was burnt black. I love the Westfield bread and there were those thin sliced dill pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. I was really hungry with my current diet and was ravenous.

We discussed how we were going to build our Firewood Processor. We will sink some telephone poles in the ground and make a slightly graded ramp onto which we will put the 8 foot logs. At the bottom will be a heavy duty roller. When the log gets to the roller it will be pushed against a stop and blocked to length. The block will then be lifted by my fandango splitter hydraulic lift up onto the beam and pushed through a 4/6 way wedge onto a finishing table. From the table the pieces will go onto an old farm conveyor and into the bed of the truck for deliver to ultimate destination. By doing a little every Saturday we hope to have the winter supply laid in without having to crash the last week of November.

I am reading a book called American Sniper, an autobiography of Navy Seal Chris Kyle, reputed to be the most lethal sniper in US Military History. He is from Texas and while I am just getting into it, it is another one of those subjects that I am interested in. I have several precision shooting rifles and fire them frequently on the range I have on the farm. I also reload my own ammunition. Since I have been retired for over 15 years I have not kept pace with some of the developments in the military’s Sniper programs. He is recorded to have made a kill at 2100 yards. Think about that….at a range of 21 football fields he hit and killed an enemy combatant. Most deer are shot at ranges under 100 yards.

If you think business is slow at the malls go to Gander Mountain. To get waited on in the gun department you take a number and wait an hour. One gun shop owner interviewed recently says the reason is people are getting scared and don’t see the police as being effective in the event of a home break-in and are taking measures to protect themselves. This Trevon Williams (Is that his last name?) story, appears to have been miss-reported initially and the lengths to which black militant groups and a well-known personality have gone to incite retribution against the alleged perpetrator is worrisome. Neighborhood activdst organizations are started for a reason. I hope all this class warfare hype isn’t leading in a direction that is in nobody’s best interests.