Rifleman's Prayer

I remember on one hunt being by myself in the boonies for a day or two as my hunting pal had to bail out early. My wife was concerned that I was alone. I tried to reassured her by telling her that if anything happened to me it would not be for lack of weapons and ammunition. This did not seem to actually sooth her concerns for some reason.

I ran across this as gandalf23;

"A Rifleman's Prayer

Oh Lord, I would live my life in freedom, peace and happiness, enjoying the simple pleasures of hearth and home. I would die and old, old man in my own bed, preferably of sexual overexertion.

But if that is not to be, Lord, if monsters such as this should find their way to my little corner of the world on my watch, then help me to sweep those bastards from the ramparts, because doing that is good, and right, and just.

And if in this I should fail, let me be found atop a pile of brass, behind the wall I made of their corpses."

The author is now found and acknowledged at Musings of the Geek With a 45.

Spectator Killed at Firebird

There is some inherent danger being at or around the track. This unfortunate lady was not even track side. It would have been spectacular from where we were sitting but debris would not have been a problem. I have gone down toward the end of the track and watched Funny Cars go by at 300 MPH. My thoughts were that it was neat watching them zip by but that if anything happened you were in the path of fast moving parts and pieces. We sit close to the line so I would expect that the main danger there is blowing an engine/supercharger and getting shrapnel from that. Most accidents take place moving down the track.

I Like the Drag Races

This weekend was the annual trip to Firebird for the NHRA Nationals. We typically go on Saturday which is one of the qualifying days for the Top Fuel and Pro Stock classes. The Phoenix area was not living up to its normal amount of sunshine in the morning. There was a distinct possibility that this was going to be a rain day. We arrived early enough to roam the pits prior to getting in our seats but there was no hurry as no racing was taking place. There should have been Supergas and others racing but the track was wet and it was drizzling. The stand were empty as anyone who was there was in the pits our sitting in their vehicles.

It started to rain harder so we went to the car. I was glad that my friend brought some Hot Rod magazines etc along as it gave us something to read while sitting in the car waiting for the rain to stop.

We had purchased some nice seats in section P2 - A5&6. Note that old hairy butt is not sitting on that wet seat yet.

I was texting my better half for the weather radar. She informed us that it looked like about 45minutes more and then it should at least stop raining. That report was music to our ears and turned out to be correct. Woohoo - the rain had stopped so we went to get something to eat and watch them dry the track. It is kind of like watching grass grow or paint dry.

Since we were bored it seemed a good idea to roam the pits again. This was good timing as we went to Nitro Alley in time to hear the announcement that the schedule had changed to run Top Fuel, Pro Stock and then the rest. I like to be in the pits when the top fuel cars are firing up. I love the smell of nitro-methane in the morning! Nothing like a lot of DBs, burning eyes/nose, and tears running down your face to jump start the day! If you think that we are nuts then you obviously not a fan of the drag races. I would suggest that you never stand at the very front of the crowd when one is firing up in the pits. It is real hard to back away through a crowd that can't see either. It is amazing how much money has to be in the trailers for the cars.

Help - I can't get up! JK. Note the fine expression wondering why that jerk is taking his picture.

The name says it all.

My wife would love this as she has that spot for Mopar & purple.

I am not a big fan of the new Government Motors takeover but this is a fine looking vehicle.

Motorcycle tricks to amuse the crowd from the Geiko group while waiting for the crew to dry the track.

It's time!
You should be able recognize and name this gent if you have spent any time watching funny car drags.

I will not post every picture I took but you get the idea. I like drag racing!

Bill O'Reilly Supports Gun Confiscation

Gatewaypundit has the video of this tool spouting off. I guess according to Bill, weather events suspend Constitutional Rights. What a maroon!

Government-Led Witch Hunt

"Ford, less than one year ago, was forced to recall more than 4 million cars based on 550 vehicle fires."

"There was no government outcry and no demand for Congressional hearings over these recent recalls. So why has Toyota suddenly become the target of a government-led witch hunt?"

Can you say, non-union? Can you say, completes with Government Motors?

Anatomy Boosting Pants

A department store in Britain has seen a 76% increase in online sales of the underwear in the last week coming up to Valentines Day. It uses a lift and hold feature at the front. The article doesn't mention a trade name, just the generic description. I can only imagine the suggestions made for the name of the new underwear in the marketing department.....Peter Propping Pantaloons, Short Arm Swagger, Never Fail Schwang Stretcher? I guess I could see these as a joke between lovers, but who would actually buy them thinking that this would help attract your next fling? Oh, I know - Sven & Ole.

So Sven and Ollie go to the beach and after a couple of hours Sven says, "This ain't no fun. How come the girls aren't friendly to me?"
"Well, I tell you, Sven, maybe if you put a potato in your swim trunks that would help."
---So Sven does, but he comes back to Ole later and he says, "I tried what you told me with the potato, but it doesn't help."

"No, Sven --- you're supposed to put the potato in the front!"

AZ Joins the Fray

HB2307 was passed without debate. This basically allow an AZ resident to purchase a firearm without federal paperwork concerns if the weapon was manufactured in AZ. I am unsure that any of these laws that various states have been passing will stand in the courts. It is nice to see that there is at least sentiment telling the feds to get out of our daily lives. I would like to see this applied to many more topics that I feel belong being controlled locally.


"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."


The bottom line is that the federal government has become too intrusive and is really bad at running anything. The urban myth is that in 1990 the government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in NV for tax evasion and tried to run it, as required by law. The Government could not make a profit running a legal brothel that sells whiskey! They had to sell it. This is actually twisted a bit from the reality as they never tried to run it. The government auctioned off the assets and after a couple of years also auctioned off the property for a song. They actually did not have enough sense to sell if off intact for big money. I wonder what GM will be worth when the government is done with it?


DBD is one of the very best strips out there!

Flagstaff Snow

Flagstaff has had some record snow this year. I went there to visit my daughter at NAU last weekend. It started to snow shortly after my arrival. My wife sent a text message informing me that there was a winter storm advisory out predicting 8-12" of snow by 5 PM the following day. I asked my daughter where her bicycle was. She pointed here:

I suggested that she get some spray oil and get the chain and gear clusters as soon as she could. This might actually be a while before digging out is possible. That evening it looked more like this:

The RAV4 kept getting covered. I now remember why a clean push broom was my friend in MI.

This looked much better in person but what do you expect from a cell phone picture.

The next morning there was even less of the bikes showing.

I decided that we would go to breakfast in the morning as there is no sense in hitting the highway prior to the plows getting out. The road was a bit slick coming down out of Flagstaff but not too bad as the plows had been out scraping away. The only time there was any real "pucker" factor is when descending through the cloud cover the visibility is quite low, especially when it is still snowing. I am always concerned when you must go about 35 mph to be able to see ahead of you as some of the people (think idiots) sharing the road seem to think that it is still a good idea to be going fast. They can't see but that is OK by them.

Reminds me of a hymn from Firesign Theater's "Powerhouse Church of the Presumptuous Assumption of the Blinding Light".

Oh blinding light

Oh light that blinds

Look out for me

For I cannot see!