Obligatory Sunday Morning Post

Space filler here just to let folks know I made my escape from The Paramecium and, well, Papillon said it best whilst floating away on the raft of coconut husks.

Now I have address the massive task of getting things in order after a career of IT work. I started on that last Thursday with my son, the U. S. Marine soon-to-be-USAF who departs next week for a two-week introductory course for prior service members at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. There he re-learns to salute, then an introductory EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) course at Shepard AFB in Wichita Falls where he learns to cut the blue wire, and finally his primary EOD training of 42 weeks at Eglin AFB in Florida where learns *why* he has to cut the blue wire.

Anyway, he qualified and re-qualified as "expert" several times in the USMC and was kind enough to help me zero my newly acquired Savage Model 10 with the Primary Arms FFP 4-14x44 FFP scope. I would have been lost without him, believe me. At 100 yards, neither one of us cut paper with the first few rounds until Sho got the rifle back on paper and, eventually, zeroed. Here is the range we shot at; Angeles just a shade North of Los Angeles. (Note: stock You Tube video. Not us.)

Then, with the gentle yet insistent prodding from him, I worked up the nerve to try the metal targets 200, then 300 yards, then 400 yards. With about an hour and two line breaks to go, he took a crack at 600 yards and was successful. After nagging me, I took a crack and -- after properly understanding the Primary Arms ACSS HUD reticle -- and was able to ring up one of the bigger square steel targets at that distance.

It was like a drug as we blazed away with the remaining rounds we had. It got so that even 400 yards seemed mundane and repetitive. I was satisfied I could do 600 yards consistently. So, I do not know whether i will push out to 1,000 yards as that will necessitate further tuning of my dubious skills and a serious road trip to a range of suitable distance. But a lot of happy tasks will serve to occupy my time, namely working up a decent load for the rifle, consistently working on sub-MOA groups at 100 yards, and doing this with windage considerations dialed in. (It was dead calm at Angeles that day.)

But all this said, I am grateful to my son and realize that there will be one more reason that I shall miss him as he starts his Air Force career.

A few items collected from various blogs that I found humorous.