The big scare, or Heck Yeah, God Answers Prayers!

I spent a decent amount of money on some Flexon eye glasses frames, that were billed as "unbreakable". Well, it turns out that they're not unbreakable. I had my arm up on the armrest of The World's Worst Couch, and when I moved my hand, I hit the temple or arm of my glasses. Near as I can tell, that's all that happened, except what came of that was my glasses breaking at the bridge. One minute I had a pair of glasses, the next minute, I had left and right monocular lenses.

Since that was both sucktastic and unacceptable, I went to the Vision Center and made an appointment for an eye exam. I found out once again that I have an unusual prescription, in that my astigmatism, which usually runs up and down or side to side, runs at an angle, and a different angle on both eyes. When I had a root canal last year, I found out that the root of that tooth was unusual, too, and only .5% of the people in the world have that. I don't know what that means, other than that all this stuff probably costs me more in the long run.

Upon getting my eye exam, complete with dilating my eyes and making the whole world blurry, I was informed by my new optometrist that I potentially had a retinal detachment. That was not welcomed news. Knowing how expensive that is, and how crappy my insurance is, I was dreading that being the case.

So, I called my brother back from his Birthday message for me, and told him what the what's up was. He promised to pray about it, and I certainly was. I know it sounds like I was jobbin' the prayers, but that's not the case. I have always been a believer in prayer, as I've seen God come through for me and for others time and time again.

Today was no exception to that rule. I met with an excellent eye surgeon, who it turns out is also into shooting and hunting. He took some really cool photos of the inside of my eye-I'm always fascinated by those kinds of things-and took a look in there with some really blinding white light. In the end, he informed me that I would be needing surgery, but not for the detached retina that I feared. I do have a cataract, and it's growing, so it's gonna have to be zapped. But, it doesn't have to be done right away, which means I have some time to get some funds together (of note, I do take donations at hajipaypal@yahoo.com).

How I'm gonna get that deductible rounded up is another question altogether, but at least its not a detached retina! I may still go for the pirate eye patch. God answers prayer.

Birthday Present to me: The Next Glock 19

I thought that my birthday present to myself was going to be a case of 9mm ammo, which I bought. Turns out, that wasn't all I was gonna have. In addition to the ammo and being taken to dinner at The Longhorn Steakhouse (prime rib was great) on the 12th and Joe's Crab Shack in Nashville on the 13th, I bought myself a "used" Glock 19. I won't tell you how much I got it for, but I will admit that the price was obscenely low. And, as you can tell, while this gun was sold as used, I'm not sure it had much more than a couple of rounds chambered, but probably never fired.




That copper-orange colored stuff is anti-seize, and is applied at the factory. There's no holster wear at all on this gun. Basically, it was sold and never used, so I got it at a smokin' used price. If I tell you how little it was, you'll really hate me, so I'm not gonna tell ya.

I took it to the range today, put a little oil on the rails, and ran a magazine through it. Hard to believe, but it didn't bobble or hiccup even once. It's as accurate as my former G19, and is as easy to shoot as all of 'em are. Its boringly reliable and puts bullets where ya point 'em. Pretty much like every Glock I've ever fired. If they weren't so damn reliable and cool, it'd be somewhat anti-climactic.

I also acquired a Seiko Dive Watch through an incomplete-at-this-time trade. Looks like it's gonna cost me my spare Troy BUIS and some new AK mags. That's a pretty even trade, maybe a bit high on my side, but I dig the hell out of the watch. Once I get a good photo of it. I'll post it up so we can all agree that it's yet another Seiko Dive Watch. In the meantime, here's the crappy one I have. Left to right: my Seiko 5 that I traded a box of 158 grain .357 magnum Hydra-Shocks and a couple speed loaders for (didn't have the gun anymore, so it was all spare stuff), the new Dive Watch, my 1970 vintage Seiko automatic, and a 1900-era Waltham pocket watch that belonged to my grandfather. That one probably deserves a post of its own, and some good pics.

I Have The Best of Friends

I met my bro Murray at SHOT in Orlando. He may be the only Scot I know, but he'd be my favorite regardless. Murray and I hit it off immediately; he's one of my small handful of brothers-from-another-mother.

My bro sent me another very cool birthday present. Last year, he sent me a bottle of Tobermory 10 YO single malt. I'm still savoring that bottle, enjoying it little by little, as it should be. Another box arrived from my bro. In it, I find this:

The Macallan Fine Oak Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Ten Years Old. Oh my, is this stuff nice. And, like the Tobermory, very unlike other Scottish single malts.It doesn't have that traditional peaty and smokey characteristic that many Islay whiskies do, but that is not to say that it is to the Macallan's detriment. This 
particular whisky is aged in American oak barrels, sourced from Southern whiskey 
makers. They are supplied by distilleries like Jack Daniels, Maker's Mark, and other
distilleries from this area. In addition, more aging is done in barrels that have 
previously held sherry, in both American and European oak barrels. The brewmeister
(or head distiller or other proper name) really knows what he's doing! Unusual,to be sure, but with awesome results!

The box says the nose is "Complex, with a hint of fruit and heather honey. It says of the Palate, "Soft and Malty, balanced with oak and fruit. Of the finish, the box proclaims that it is "lingering, with a hint of oak and fruit". I'd be lying if I said I could pick all that out, but I'm learning...and learning is the fun part! Thank you, Murray! You ROCK!!!

Great Birthday Presents

I got a box yesterday from my friendly USPS delivery lady. One nice thing about living in a relatively small community: they know where I live and where I work...that's not that difficult to do, given the proximity of Fortress Haji to the ATS shop. Why that is in some way important is that, instead of leaving a parcel that won't fit in my box on my doorstep where it could be removed by goblins or zombies of nefarious intent, they deliver said parcels to my place of work, where they end up in my hands in short order. As I said, that's what happened yesterday.

Now, I knew that this box was in transit, because my bro Assbags (I'm not sure what exactly it means either, but that name was issued by his DI, so he's stuck with it) told me it was on its way. When I opened it, though, I was even more pleasantly surprised. Pleasantlier, if you will. Or if you won't. Inside that box were not one, not two, but ten new black Magpul P-Mags. But wait, there's more! Also in the box were not one, not two, but ten tan Magpuls to go with the mags!

My usual shooting partner, Top, is stuck at the store today, so I haven't taken 'em to the range yet, but the weather seems to be trending towards the better, so it shouldn't be too long.

Speaking of ranges, I spoke to a guy that used to work at the CCPD with one of the guys who works for ATS. He was the range master there, and said we may still have a place to shoot up that way. Things are definitely lookin' up! I'm gonna go do some dry fire with the AR at the bad guys in Shooter now, as well as enjoy the performances of Kate Mara and Rhona Mitra. They're amazing. :)

old

Woke up, went to work, worked all day, hung out in the shop for a little bit, chipped the ice off my windshield, went home, made stuffed burger, watched Jericho. Uneventful birthday. 41 is very much like 40. BORING! On the plus side, I'm seriously considering getting an LWRC M6A2 as my birthday/graduation gift to myself. Might be the last chance to get a bad ass rifle before the administration change.