Then, Memphis to Louisville. Layover, ya know.

See y'all there!

Now all I gotta do is wait until my flight leaves tomorrow.

... Tick... Tick... Tick...

But it is tempting...

At work, I'm pretty much in the wilderness when it comes to politics. Most everyone around me is a flaming liberal / progressive and me being the small government, well armed kind of guy is an anathema to them.

Over the past few weeks, I've gotten quite an earful on the upcoming elections and it pains me to say even the Democrats don't appear to be happy with their choices. Many of them are talking about voting McCain since Hillary! and Barrack Whatchootalkinaboutwillis Obama do not represent their views. There's the typical "If my candidate doesn't get the nod I'm voting McCain" shtick, but there's a lot of general unhappiness with both of them overall.

What alerted me to this was a conversation a group of them were having about who to vote for and plenty of them said McCain because he was going to win anyway and they hated Hillary! and Barrack Macarena Obama. I've also gleaned from their conversations that they don't think they're going to win because so many of them are willing to vote for Col. Tigh - something I can understand since he's pretty much a Democrat anyway.

Then, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there's a guy on my floor who makes Rush look like Al Franken. This guy named his daughter Reagan, has Fox news as his homepage, and adjusts his driving patters to attempt to make right turns instead of left. Someone jokingly asked him this morning who he was voting for (knowing damn well what the answer was) and my jaw hit the floor when his response was "None of the above".

When the most ardent Republicans won't vote for McCain yet progressives will, it's a clear indication we're all fucked.

John McCain will be at the NRA convention. I'm not sure I want to put myself through that.

Had to stay home to get the Jeep repaired. Generally you should probably change your shocks every 60-80,000 miles. I'm at 170,000 and the factory shocks have finally told me where I can shove it. Starting last week (after an odd sound I can't quite describe), the Jeep would sway horribly, almost to the point where I couldn't keep her on the road.

Had new shocks put in today.

Oh wow. It's like a new car. I mean, she still drives like a tank, but a smoooooth tank! So, there went a few hundred dollars right there.

As I was waiting on the Jeep to get fixed, I walked home. Being that I sweat a bit on the 2 mile hike back (uphill both ways), I thought I'd take a shower. A cold shower. Not that I wanted to, but it was quite apparent I didn't have any hot water.

#*&(@ water heater died. Like the shocks on my Jeep, this thing lasted well beyond its expected life (it was 20 years old). Actually, I think it's been dead for a while. The other day I noticed very little hot water during my morning shower. Of course, even with the power to the heater off, I almost burned myself tonight. You see, the AC unit is cooled by water which in turn returns the hot water to the tank. During the summers when the AC runs all the time, the water heater never even turns on since the AC return keeps it scalding. It just happened to be a cool morning and I noticed the lack of heat. I wonder how long it's been dead?

So, several hundred dollars later and tomorrow I should have a new water heater. Which I won't use much over the summer.

If you want to meet me at the 2A Blog Bash, look for the guy crying in the corner because he's too broke to buy anything on the show floor.

For the new Doctor Stickwick!

Fighting for Liberty takes his son to the range. Important lessons are learned!

Shut 'em down. They're dishonest and the entire organization needs to be disbanded. I'd have no problems if they themselves followed the law, but the agency acts as if it is totally unaccountable to the people of the United States.

With behavior like this, it’s no wonder that more and more, FFLs and gun owners are assuming that the ATF isn’t interested in enforcing the law, but rather in shutting down licensees across the country.  That’s essentially what’s at stake here for Adventure Outdoors - their business and livelihood.  I don’t run a gun shop - but if I did, I’d think twice about going above and beyond to help them.  I’d stick to the letter of the law, stay perfectly legal, but I wouldn’t do any extra work to help out ATF.  Not if this is how they treat law-abiding firearms dealers.

Give Ahab's article a read.

10. Try all 45 flavors at Baskin Robins
9. Watch Snow White and the 9 Dwarves with his kids
8. Divide by Zero
7. Push for legislation declaring Pi to be 2.75
6. Run the quarter mile in 1,230 feet.
5. Hope
4. Change
3. Bowl a 38

And the number one thing Obama plans on doing on the campaign trail

1. Visit the last state, Alaska and Hawaii

The 2A Blog Bash is coming up this weekend.

I'm more thrilled to meet dozens of bloggers who, until then, have only been names on the Interweb Tubes. I'm really bummed I won't be meeting Breda and her husband Mike, however.

I have to get my gear ready and try to pack as light as possible since the airlines have switched to a "Only one checked piece of luggage that shall not weigh more than 37.8 oz." policy. I think I can get 2 checked luggages since I bought the ticket before the policy went into effect, but I have a feeling the people at the counter aren't well versed in ex post facto legalities.

As a photographer, I have to bring the big gear which weighs a ton as it is. Plus checking in a pistol is always fun at the airport. And a laptop. Maybe some clothes too. I should also bring some of my targets with me to give out.

I wonder if my roomie has any idea what he's getting himself into?