Test results are in:

 

Have a great day!

Shooting fun, get an AR pistol.

Our group field trip to the shooting range was a huge success. We had 18 people and got a little over 2 hours of range time. Some of the inexperienced people got some great basic instruction from the ground up on pistol and AR's while the rest of us blasted away.

It was priceless when I unleashed my new 5.56 pistol... on the pistol range. I knew it would be loud, and it didn't let me down. I've been blessed with being a good shot with anything and I was a little nervous about how accurate this pistol was going to be. From 35 feet to 150 feet it was spot on with iron sights and at the closer distances I destroyed the center mass of a target shooting one round approximately every .8 seconds. There seemed to be less recoil than my AR rifle and everyone who shot the pistol said the same thing, "I want one!". Someone told me it's spray and pray but I had no problem hitting anything, at any distance or accurately suppressing

There were a few bad things about it:
The charging handle is crap, rough edged and took some skin off my finger. I'll replace it with something nice, even if it's going to add a little weight.
No forward assist meant you had to pay attention and really let the bolt slam forward instead of a gentle ride.
2 out of 12 magazines inserted had the first round eject on insertion, with the bolt open.
Calling for a cold range to run down 40 feet and pick up your flash suppressor is a little silly, but I'll say that's my fault for not making sure it was seated properly. Unlike a normal suppressor, this one is held on with a 3 bearing coupler system.
If you shoot in low light or dark condition you better close your eyes, it's like you are waving around a torch hunting Frankenstein.
You don't want to shoot it in a small space... think flash-bang and soiled underpants.

We practiced some hip shooting, quick draw shooting, 2 gun transitions, suppressive fire in teams of 2 while changing magazines and/or weapons, teams of 2 suppressive fire while advancing, teams of 2 suppressive fire while standing with one member high, one low.
We also practiced seeing how fast we could send 30 rounds down range.... ah, the fun... the fun.

My allergies are out of control, I'm going to get a z-pack  sent overnight, I'm starting to think I have a sinus infection. One of the group doctors said he would call in a z-pack script for me but I need to have some in preps anyhow, leave it to me to have everything but that in stock.

Garden and a new gun

I spent most of the weekend working but managed to get 90% of the garden set. I have to fill my pots for the pepper plants and plant some radishes, otherwise it's sit back and watch it grow.

I need more cages but for now all the tomato plants are supported with 6 foot stakes (post picture activity). I'm salivating about the number of tomatoes I might get this year.

The little garden doesn't have anything large in it this year, most of the stuff I can get 2, maybe 3 plantings.

We planted  double to triple the amount of veggies from last year. Corn, bush beans, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, lettuce, beets, peppers, radishes, onions, tomatoes, watermelon, and I might even drop in some potatoes. The blueberry bushes survived the first winter but I'm not expecting any fruit this year. We slacked a little on the water but they are recovering and we might drop another couple bushes in. The rain barrels will be empty in a few days unless we get some moisture, but the yard is really green and the tree's are happy.

I've been hunting for an AR pistol for a while, but not willing to pay the silly amounts people wanted during the peak panic period. This is a bushmaster Carbon-15 in 5.56. Carbon fiber, 3.5lbs total weight and it's shorter overall than the standard AR pistol. It's going to be loud but it will fit and conceal in just about any backpack. My eberlestock pack has a rifle sheath but it's not always practical to have a full size weapon.

We are taking the BBQ group out shooting tonight with the special forces guys training several people that are starting from scratch on shooting skills. I'm bringing my new toy and my XDM and maybe my full size AR. It should be fun, about 14 people attending the shoot.

Sunday we are hosting the BBQ group for a real BBQ so I have a lot of work to do this week getting all the food ready. I have to work all weekend so everything will be done in advance. Happy Tuesday!

A little bit of propper planning

When I organized my food storage (the last time) I strategically placed all of the racks away from the major water pipes and plumbing. Things that can get wet and survive took up a majority of the space under those pipes, and even those things are on racks or off the concrete via extra rack shelving. we figured it's important to not just have food storage, but to make sure it will last in the event of a disaster.

That's our inline water filter, and it decided to explode. We were in Las Vegas over the weekend for some work and relaxing, so our house sitter panicked when she went downstairs to find out what that horrible screeching noise was. We have water alarms in a couple of spots for just such a scenario, and they are indeed loud. The filter doesn't really do a lot of filtering but it helps, but this is the 2nd time we've had this problem.

The solution was just to get rid of the damn thing.
None of our preps were destroyed, and after a few days of fans running, it's back to normal. It might have been spraying out water for a few hours, I'll find out when the utility bill shows up. The good news is the house sitter was able to get the water turned off, it's obvious and close to the filter... actually we have a lot of valves in the pipes, it makes it easier to close off one section of the house at a time.

We drove back from Vegas, I wanted to do a road trip. It was a long drive but once in a while it's nice to cruise across a few states.

That's a picture an hour out of Vegas as the sun was coming up.

This is closer to home, a few more miles ahead we hit a snowstorm.

Luke was happy to see me and get some tail wagging time in. Oh so handsome.

Finally, that's my dinner last night. I'm still making gains at the gym, now I'm just working a little harder on my eating. Very low carbs with an 8 hour window to get all my calories in. I want to cut down another 10 pounds and at this point it's going to be from the nutrition side of things. It was nice to be one of the few in shape people at the pool in Vegas, it made me want to work even harder.

I haven't changed our food storage at all, in an emergency we will be happy to get the carbohydrates and starches.

The garden is going in this weekend, I'm very excited. The prices at the grocery store aren't going down and eating fresh isn't cheap. We plan on adding at least 1 more rack for all of the canning we will get done this year.

back in the saddle

I've been on the road for a few weeks at conferences, life is so hard, laying around the pool after the meetings are done. I got a ton of work done, worked out a lot, went to the beach and amazingly enough, I even got some sleep.

Cocoa beach in Florida at low tide.

Now I'm at work for 2 days, then off to Las Vegas. I do have a new desk in my new office, it's kind of crappy but I think I'll get used to it. When I'm here anyhow. I'm not complaining at all, I got a really nice raise in base salary plus my monthly bonus percentage was tripled. It should average out bringing home an extra paycheck each month, and that will go right into the safe.

My tomato plants are doing great, pepper plants have struggled but I have enough of those so I'm not worried. We had a lot of rain while I was away so I have to mow the yard at some point. The deck benches and deck were sanded and stained while I was laying around in the sun. It's so nice when everyone in the house is of the same mindset.

The garden goes in next weekend and I'm really excited to get my fingers in the dirt and grow my own produce again. Like I've said many times, it's the little things. Longer work hours, preparedness and working out... there is a lot going on when I'm home to keep my busy from sunrise to whatever time I can fall asleep.

Never let anyone tell you that functioning on 4 hours of sleep a night won't work.