Vacation in Phoenix

Well, Yosemite Sam and I are getting ready for our annual visit to the NRA Convention. This time it's in Phoenix, Arizona. Once again, we'll be blogging the convention and the Blog Bash. Through the Bash, we'll have media credentials which give us access we wouldn't have otherwise.

We are driving there this year. We're making a road trip of it and will visit many of the wonderful places in this country. We'll post along the way. See you later.

NRA Convention and Vacation

I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ve been too angry to do much more than useless rants. I’m angry that the new administration has suggested a renewed AWB, but glad that Pelosi (of all people) slapped it down. I’m angry that the economy is faltering, that Obama insults Special Olympians, and so much more.

Anger makes good rants, but ranting gets tiring after a while. I’ve ranted many times to Yosemite Sam and vice versa. I’m tired of politics, tired of fighting for gun rights—something which shouldn’t have to be fought for at all. So, I’m going to talk about an upcoming trip.

Yosemite Sam and I are going to the NRA Convention in Phoenix. It will be the fifth straight convention we’ve blogged about. We plan to make a road trip out of it. We’ll go to Amarillo, Texas and visit the Big Texan Steakhouse. I won’t attempt the 72-ounce steak. I love steak, especially Porterhouse, but I know my limits.

We’ll visit Tombstone, Arizona and NRA's Whittington Center and do some shooting. Then we will attend the NRA Conference and meet the rest of the bloggers. The way home will also be interesting.

We’re planning a long trip and it will be unbelievably good to leave everything behind us. I only hope that we’ll have no new politics or gun rights infringements to rant about with each other on this much anticipated vacation.

Post-Christmas

Yosemite Sam and I are on our mini-vacation. Needless to say we are enjoying the relaxation and getting away from it all, I am using my Blackberry, so this will be short.

Santa was good to us. Yosemite got a sextant. He is a surveyor and cartographer, so it is right up his alley.

I got one of those flintlock pistol kits. I like working with my hands and have tools and equipment left over from when I did art and object conservation. I've also heard building one of those is an excellent way to understand how guns work.

Enough for now--my thumbs are cramping.

Merry Chirstmas and Happy Holidays

I wanted to wish any one who reads one or all of our posts a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and a fabulous New Years.

Yosemite Sam and I are on an all too brief vacation and will continue to blog. Our posts will be short because I'll be blogging from my Blackberry. My thumbs aren't very fast. So enjoy your holidays and if you're traveling keep safe and here's hoping you don't get stuck in an airport.

Happy Thanksgiving

Yosemite Sam and I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are home in New Hampshire and it is good to be here. Yosemite Sam loves how quiet it is. Our cat loves being able to go upstairs and be away from the dog.

I cooked a small meal with some traditional elements. We called family. In short, we had a great day. It is good to be away from thinking about politics, work, and other stuff.

We took that civics test that many people are talking (no link, not sure how to do links on a Blackberry). Yosemite Sam got every one right and I missed one. I noticed these results are similar to other gun bloggers and commenters. Not too bad for a bunch of cousin-loving, redneck, bitter clingers. The average on the web site was about 78 per cent.

Good Time Had By All

Yosemite Sam and I are in Louisville attending the NRA Convention--the fourth convention in a row that we blogged. There are a few differences this year. Thanks to the hard work of Bitter, many bloggers were given media credentials including Sam and me. This is allowing us access to meetings and resources we did not have before. We set in a press area and heard John McCain and a number of other politicians speak at the "Celebration of American Values: Leadership Forum" (more on this tomorrow--it is late for us right now).


Another great thing that Bitter and others did was to arrange a blogger mixer. Michael Bane was our host. We met many bloggers who are on our blog roll and a few that will be on it soon. We swapped stories over beer, ice tea, soda, or spirits. We met Todd Jarrett, one of America's best practical pistol shooters.


We will be writing some essays on what we observed at the forum. We have pictures. We have stories. But for now, we're heading to bed with our alarm clock set for o'dark thirty. We want to thank Bitter, Michael, and Todd for the great time that was had by all.

Merry Christmas

Yosemite Sam, Cooper the wonder Basset, Tummy the cranky ole cat (you've never met him), and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. We're here in a thawing New Hampshire getting ready for breakfast and other Yuletide fun. Hope yours is special and here's a blast from the not so long past:

Anniversary of 9/11

It is 9/11/2007. Six years after we were viciously attacked. In fact, we were attacked on Tuesday, the same day of the week as today. Six years ago, that Tuesday was bright and clear. Today it’s cloudy, cool and drizzling. Appropriate in some way.

I thought about writing a memorial post and realized I had done so a year ago today. In that post, I said all I could say now. Give it a read if you wish.

Today I only wish to say that I still grieve for those innocent people killed on 9/11. I still loathe the bastards that did it. I am still angry at those people who spin conspiracy theories simply because they cannot accept the truth. I still honor the courageous passengers of United 93. I will never forget and I will never forgive.

Happy Anniversary to Ten Ring

Today is a momentous occasion for the Ten Ring. It is our Second Anniversary. I had doubts that we would see our first one, but here is number two and with it the beginning of our third year in the blogosphere.

Anniversaries, especially when they fall so close to the end of the old year, cause introspection. One of the things I find heartening is that we gunnies are winning. That’s not to say that we have no problems. We must continue to be vigilant. Still, Americans seem more skeptical of gun control’s empty promises, Democratic activists see gun control as the kiss of electoral death, more people are buying guns, and more women are joining the shooting sports. All good things.

Also, anniversaries engender a tendency to look back:
Our first post,
Our First Anniversary announcement, and
My favorite post (a parody).

I don’t post as much as I once did. Thinking up new posts gets hard after awhile, especially because I tend to write essays rather than link to news. Still, Bill and I will be around and you’ll see a Third Anniversary post before you know it. Meanwhile, give a click on the archives to the right and enjoy.

Merry Christmas

Bill and I are here at home and both of us are under the weather. Bill brought home a flu-like virus. At least we think he's the one who brought it home given half of his office is sick. We had planned a turkey dinner with all the trimmings--made even sweeter when his work gave turkeys to employees. Now, I think we may emulate Scrooge and eat gruel by an open fire.

Oh well enough whining, we sincerely wish our readers a very Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, we wish you a wonderful day, Here's a Boston-centric picture for the day:



It's the deck of the USS Constitution during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony (from www.ussconstitution.navy.mil).