The Next Chapter

Well, its almost that time, folks. After what will be almost exactly seven months in Little Rock, its finally time for me to hit the road. Its bitter sweet.

I'll be leaving a lot of stuff. Friends, for one. Some military, some civilian, they're all great folks that help each other and have given me more than I can ever repay. I will miss the fine group of people I have met here the most. I'll see some of them again, down the road, or downrange, but others I'll have to come back to The Rock to meet up with again. And I will.

I'll be leaving a great apartment building. Its only a year old, parking garage, right downtown, within stumbling distance to my favorite watering holes, and everything else downtown has to offer. The management is great to work with, pro-rating and extending leases for us unpredictable military folks, and working with our odd situations in general. They've been great. But the building is a great little community. A lot of the residents know each other, socialize, and my friends were only a few minutes away, if that far. Great place to live.

I'll be leaving some great watering holes with great staffs who know me and always have a cold one waiting for me. The Flying Saucer and Cregeens will be tough to leave. Thanks for the beers, guys.

But some things are best left behind. I'll be leaving the Black Jack 20 and SR232, for a few years, at least. I'll be leaving the most worn out airplanes in the fleet, albeit for some that are only slightly less worn out. I'll be leaving AETC (Air Education Training Command), for a while, anyway.

I'll be gaining some things, too. A whole new group of friends and colleagues awaits me in Texas. I'll have a reunion with some old friends I haven't seen in a while. I've got a new apartment set up and a home of my own in a few months time. I'll get all my stuff that I last saw in Florida, almost two years ago!

I'm sad for all the stuff I'm leaving behind, but I'll replace it all-no replace is the wrong word. I can't replace this place and these people. But I'll find others to fill their slots in their absence, make new friends, find new bars. I'll make the most of it, as we military types do every time we move. It'll be one hell of a ride.

So, thanks for the beers, the good times, the french toast, the spare room, and everything else. I'll see you all down the road.

Movie Review: Taken

I just went out and saw the movie Taken, starring Liam Neeson. It's about a retired CIA operative whose daughter is kidnapped while visiting Paris. He uses his skills learned from years as a Secret Squirrel to track down the slavery ring that took his daughter and try to get her back. It seems to be an action/drama. There is some genuinely good acting combined with Liam Neeson kicking some serious scumbag ass in numerous, and sometimes creative ways. I wouldn't be surprised if he won some awards for this one and I hope the morons in Hollywood recognize it as a bit more than the typical action-suspense movie with the typical action-suspense actors blowing things up and shooting things. I enjoy both, and Neeson's character does shoot a lot of stuff, but not to the point of cheapening the movie. Any more, and I'll end up spoiling it for those who haven't seen it.

Outbreak's First Book Review

I've never done anything but a passing verbal recommendation of a novel, so this will be a first. I just finished Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter, and it was excellent. It's told in three parts from the points of view of the two main characters: Sam Vincent and Earl Swagger. It tells the tale of an old prison farm for "coloreds" in Thebes, MS, circa 1950.

I'm not going to do a book report, and describe what happens. What I will say is if you can't tolerate a heavy amount of racial slurs, used in context of the time, of course, steer clear of this book. It's not a racist book, quite to the contrary, actually, but it accurately portrays how good ol' boys in Mississippi used to refer to blacks. Also, if you can't stomach some pretty graphic violence in print, again, not the book for you.

Now, if you like prison break stories, guns(lots of guns) and one hell of a suspenseful story, you'll enjoy this book.
This was my first Stephen Hunter book, but won't likely be the last. Hunter has an interesting writing style that drops enough clues for you to figure out one mystery without actually revealing it till the end, and then whacks you with an interesting turn that you'd never expect just when you're feeling smart.

Highly recommended.

Peltor Tactical 6-S Review

I haven't made much light of my love of guns here yet, but I have a few new toys in the gun inventory, so I thought I'd start reviewing them here, as well as over at We The Armed.

First up is the new hearing protection, the Peltor Tactical 6-5 earmuffs.

I took Scott and Paul out to the range today and tried the new muffs out. They're are electronic earmuffs. They have a microphone on each ear cup and a speaker inside, but the mic's won't pick up gunshots, so you have crystal clear hearing except for the gunshots. Pretty cool stuff.

Now, I was a bit skeptical of the hearing protection these things would actually provide. We were shooting at an indoor range, where I've always doubled up on yellow foamy ear plugs and ear muffs, because either one on its own still allowed an uncomfortable amount of noise through. I chose to try the Peltor's with no plugs to start out, though I had them in my pocket.

The most surprising thing was, I forgot about the plugs after the first shot. The Peltor's worked GREAT. The noise level was comfortable even as the range began to fill up and 4-5 people were shooting at the same time. I could hear the guys' questions very clearly with the electronic system, and everyone other conversation in the room, too. They don't just let you hear like normal, you can hear BETTER.

The only downsides I could find were the cheesy headband, though it works fine, so it doesn't need any more over engineering. Also, they're pretty pricey. I've seen them between $50-100. I got mine for $25 second hand, from a friend, but now that I've used them, I can say I would be willing to drop $50 for them if I had to.

Holidays with Outbreak

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It certainly was for me.

Christmas break started with almost a week back in the hometown with the folks and some friends I don't get to see often. I had a great time. We then trekked down to The Rock and celebrated the New Year at my Favorite Olde Pub with some of my best friends and some exquisite beer.

When I arrived back at The Rock, I had my very first Evil Black Christmas Present waiting for me from the nice people at Stag Arms.



I also brought some old heirloom guns back from the hometown and will be refinishing them and hopefully they haven't fired their last rounds yet.

Why I'm Part of the Panic Buy

As most people know, since B.O. got elected to be the next President of the United States, there has been a run on guns. Evil Black Guns mostly. There are many opinions on this. Some think the panic buyers are nuts and resent them for driving prices up. Some believe the panic buyers are right and are doing the same thing. Many are kicking themselves for not buying sooner.

I bought my Evil Black Rifle just after midnight on 6 November. The price hadn't gone up yet, and I had been saving for it anyway. I wasn't buying because of fears B.O. would ban them. I do fear that, but that alone didn't drive my decision to purchase. I knew that a lot of people would be driven to buy because of the election, and I knew demand would skyrocket, prices would rise, and it wouldn't be government that would keep me from getting my rifle. It would be the market.

And boy am I glad that I bought when I did. The next day, the online retailer that I ordered from called and asked if delays would cause me to cancel my order. "Of course not!" was my reply. She told me that Stag Arms, the manufacturer of most of my rifle, was already backed by about 6,000 rifles, and my order would already take 4-5 weeks. Four weeks later, I still don't have my gun, and Stag's website says their current backorder is 20 weeks long!

Black Rifles (often wrongly labeled as "Assault Rifles") can't be found anywhere. Many gun dealers have remarked that their inventory flew off the shelves within a week and they're unable to get more. Black Rifles can't be begged, borrowed, or stolen right now. The ones that are still available are only there because some dealers have started price gouging. Pre-election, a simple AR-15 rifle could be had for $800-$1000, and could be built for less than that (mine will be about $750 once I get it and put it all together). Recently, I've been hearing about them marked up to as much as $2000.

Luckily, there are plenty of dealers out there who aren't marking up their EBR's, or any other merchandise, any more than their costs require. The manufacturers haven't been raising their prices either. They don't need to. They have backorders for the next six months. They're doing just fine.

Hopefully, the boom in gun sales will send a message to the congress-weasels and local legis-critters that Americans like our guns, and when our rights are threatened, we don't roll over. We stock up.

Farewell, Kim

My favorite daily blogger, Kim DuToit, has retired. His daily writings included politics, guns, cars, women, and a host of other topics. He wrote about everything, and he wrote it beautifully. His wife, Connie, also retired, and though I didn't read her material very often, it was always very thoughtful and well written. (It is all still available to read, but they're no longer publishing new material. You can read it at www.theothersideofkim.com.) So, farewell in your retirement, Kim and Connie. You've earned it and will be missed.