Neanderpundit

I’ve lamented the loss of Winchester, I’ve lamented the loss of Mr Reagan, I’ve posted my thoughts here about the passage of a lot of things, and people…

How about we don’t fucking wait?

How about every one of us, who knows of someone who is still around, someone who can still be contacted, a company still in business, point it out, once a week. Maybe give contact information if you can find it.
Sir Edmund Hillary is still alive. Anyone a fan? Track him down. Write him a note. Tell him how his adventures affected you. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Sir Arthur C Clarke is still alive. maureen O’Hara. Peter O’toole. Like them? Do something people don’t do- sit down and write them a letter. Put a stamp on it. Mail it. Dave Brubeck is still alive. DAVE BRUBECK. Wanna see him play? you still can.

How about we seize the fucking day and enjoy, appreciate, celebrate those among us. Don’t wait till it’t too late. That goes for your gradma, your uncle bill, your local gunsmith who is still in business despite WalMart, the local guy who works on your car in an actual gas/service station.

Life is “nasty, solitary, brutish and short,” according to hobbes. No, not the stuffed tiger.

Let’s get a handful of it before it passes us by.

I had always wanted a Winchester Model 94, and when I got old enough to legally buy one, I went for it. I found it in a local shop, a gunshop I still frequent, and scraped together nickles and dimes out of my pay at the lumberyard to buy it. It cost $190.00. It was used but in perfect condition, but for a scratch on the left side of the buttstock. A little furniture wax and steel wool fixed that fine, and I was in business.

I discovered that even then, the buckhorn rear sight was not to my liking, so I purchased a Williams Peep sight- I like the williams particularly, because they’re bloody hard to knock out of alignment and give a good sight radius with a good sight picture.

With the Williams sight and the hooded front, I’ve done some impressive shooting. Not quite up to the par of Jimmy Stewart in Winchester 93, but some good shooting.

Loaned it to my brotherinlaw, who dry fired it, and shattered the firing pin.

Replaced the firing pin from Numrich, and just sat the rifle in the closet. And just came out a couple years back, after reading some of Kim’s stuff.

It’s in my lap now. I’m happy to have it here. I like it a lot. I will never let it leave my posession.

RIP, gentlemen.

It pours- or it was sure pouring here last night at Chez Og. A horrible pelting rainstorm turned into sleet and snow late in the evening. Normally, I’d be inside unconcerned about this, but not so last night, as I was OUTSIDE IN IT with a DEAD BATTERY IN THE TRUCK.

Nephew got out of a warm bed and came to give me a jump, redeeming himself for a lot of past sins. Then I came home and tested electrical systems till I was blue, and finally put a charger on the truck. Turns out the battery won’t hold a charge, I think maybe I lost a plate or had a dead cell. Got a solid 12 volts but no amperage to speak of, certainly not enough to start the Exploder. So i think to myself, the battery can’t be but a year or two old, I need to get that replaced. I pull the receipt from the side of the battery, and discover the battery is in fact five years old, out of warranty.

Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a bananna.

So I go BACK out in the freezing pelting sleet to Wally World to grab myself a batry, then swap out the deader. At eleven I finaly have the new batry buttoned into the sploder and take it for a test drive.

It’s unusual as hell for a batry to die off so quickly, and so suddenly, but I’ll just assume it was waiting for the most miserable weather moment.

Ah, well. I’ll have my cables in the back.