Linoge has been nice enough to allow me some time polluting his fine blog with my kooky ideas and aimless ramblings, so I figured the least I could do is give you an idea of who I am.
Born and raised in Southern California has done nothing if not influence the loathing I have for the seemingly endless tide of government nanny-ism and rampant state spending resulting in an abundance of taxes. (The first half of my property tax bill is due in about a month, so the sticker shock is fresh in my head). It can be hard growing up in a state where there seems to be many-a-law to protect yourself from well, yourself and things I took for granted as a kid are now considered illegal. (How in the world can people grow up not knowing the simple pleasure of fireworks on the 4th of July or of riding in the bed of an open pickup truck?) But I guess it’s all relative (or maybe the incremental nature of politicians got me) considering I still live here after thirty-eight years (minus less than a year living in Portland, OR) and I can’t seem to convince the family to move out to one of the preferred states like Arizona or Texas.
I grew up conservative to nice, hard working middle-class conservative parents, and have not strayed too far from the tree. I call myself what others have termed a small “L” libertarian and dream of a day where we regain our lost freedoms and return to the Constitutional Republic that our legislative branch seems so willing to throw out the window. (I say legislative branch because although I think the Democrat party is largely responsible, I also give much credit for our countries backslide to the Republicans who at times do not appear conservative at all). I am a strong believer in the Second Amendment and the individual’s right to defend oneself with the best tools available, and although I don’t want one, miss the days of going out to shoot my friends AR-15 before the media demonized it as The Evil Incarnate. (I suppose the AK-47 is the official Evil Incarnate, but the AR is a close second only because the military and law enforcement still use the M-16). Sometimes I wonder about the people who so greatly fear black plastic and magazines that hold 15, 20 or 30 rounds (as opposed to our 10rd max laws) and still can’t figure out how perception got so swung out of whack.
Before home ownership my hobbies were shooting, camping, movies and shooting. (You said shooting twice…..) I like shooting. With the “honey-do” list ever expanding, time has been tight, and when time does free up, ammo costs have been a killer. With the costs of metals going up worldwide, probably due to both high demand from growth countries like India and China and the increase in fuel costs, ammo costs have gone up quite a bit over the last three years. As I understand it, this is not going to let up for a while, so my goal for next year is to get a new hobby; Reloading. I have read a few great reviews on reloading at The SmallestMinority and The AnarchAngel and hope to be able to report back from a layman’s perspective on the whole process. More to come there.
In the mean time, for those of you out there who may be in the same predicament but still want to shoot, you might want to consider an NRA match at your local range. I competed in my first this year and it was more fun that I imagined. All that was required was to join the club (in this particular case it was $60, others may vary), pay the match fee ($20 should be a standard deal since it’s an NRA match) and bring ammo. Total ammo expended for the match, 60 rounds, and they even had loaner M1 Garands for those who didn’t have the appropriate firearm. (As it happens, I shot the match with a magazine fed bolt-action CZ-527). The range-masters were very friendly, experienced and helpful and although I did not come anywhere near the top shooter, I was well above last place. Now I have a baseline to try and better next time. This particular match also qualified me to join the CMP which I did immediately. For anyone out there who wants a classic WWII battle rifle for a relatively reasonable price, this is the way to go.
In his introduction Linoge mentioned my proximity to the recent wildfires that made a destructive run through San Diego. These events have sparked a renewed interest in disaster preparedness, something that I have been continually working on over the last two years. I have an ever-growing list taped to the wall of my garage of things I wish to acquire. This list may never be complete as I am adding to it all the time, but it helps me take note and prioritize my needs. The fires here put the spotlight on a few major deficiencies that I have been trying to fill but have been putting off because they are big ticket items; a generator and high capacity water storage. As I further research I will post my findings, it may come in handy for anyone out there looking for something more permanent than the Costco 2.5 gallon bottled waters like I have stacked in my garage. There are several great places out there for information on this stuff, and many of my ideas have come from a few of the fine blogs in the Pacific Northwest: Rivrdog has a blog dedicated to overall preparedness called Paratus, which has some fine info on topics from armed conflict to vehicle preparation. Random Nuclear Strikes, although not dedicated to disaster prep, has semi-regular articles filed under the category of “By Ourselves, For Ourselves” that can be very handy in increasing readiness. If you haven’t already, check them out.
One last thing I wanted to do was piggyback on Linoge’s post from Oct 29, and make one addition to his “damn skippy #2. Though shall not post hateful material.” I would like to add that I hate clowns. That is all.
Thanks to Linoge for having me as a guest in his bloghouse. It’s new for me, but already a lot of fun.