Okay, here was the routine today. After working from home most of the day, I left in the early afternoon to pick up the kids from school, and continued working from their place.
When I left their place, I went to the range to put a hundred or so rounds downrange. As an aside, I noticed that my Remington 180 grain jacketed hollowpoints have a lot more muzzle flash than my Winchester 165 or 180 grain full metal jacket rounds. Anyway, I made a few little holes, and one really big hole, right in the middle. Good session.
Anyway, back to my point. I get home, take off my jacket, get my notebook computer out of the bag and set it up, put various other stuff away, and then I notice that my cell phone isn't in its holster. I look around the floor, but I don't see it anywhere. None of my roommates are home, and we all just use our cell phones, so there's no phone to call the kids or the range to see if my phone is there. Or, for that matter, to call my cell and see who answers. Grr.
It's almost eight, so I figure I'd better go ahead and eat dinner (it was frozen, ah, the bachelor life!) and watch a little bit of "Deal or No Deal," and decide I have to take some action. So I jump in the truck and go over to the kids' place to see if my phone fell out there, figuring if it wasn't there, I could call the range. Or the phone itself.
So I drove over to over to the kids', look around, and don't find the phone. Then I pick up their phone and call my cell number to see if someone might have it. It rings several times (it's set to vibrate first, then ring), and then...I hear my cell phone ringing. It seems to be coming from inside my jacket. I check my pockets — nothing. I look around — nothing. I unzip my jacket — nothing. Then Megan notices the glow from my waist, coming from inside my sweatshirt. My sweatshirt had dislodged my phone from its holster, but held it inside its waistband, where it had migrated over my belt buckle.
People ask me, "Why do you need a gun?" Here's an example of why:
Loudoun County, Virginia- The Sheriff’s Office is investigating two overnight burglaries; in both cases the residents of the home were alerted that there was an intruder in the home by their dog.
The first incident occurred around 1:30 AM in the 43860 block of Laurel Ridge Drive in Ashburn. A female resident was awoken by her dog barking. The woman went towards the kitchen and saw a Black male, in his mid-twenties to early thirties going through her purse. The woman ran back upstairs and called authorities. It was later determined the man took several credit cards from the victim’s purse. The suspect in this case is further described as being over 6’ in height with a medium build. He was also said to have a shaved head. The suspect appears to have entered the home through the unsecured exterior and interior garage doors.
Approximately one hour later a Leesburg man heard his dog barking inside his residence in the 43200 block of Canal Creek Place. The man went to the top of his stairwell where he noticed a subject run out the front door of the home. Nothing was taken from the home and there were no signs of forced entry.
Now, no one was harmed in these two incidents, thank God. And certainly in the first case, and likely in the second, the failure to secure the home contributed significantly to the break-ins.
But it's not a tremendous leap from these two examples to forced entry and violence visited upon the occupants of the homes. These two incidents happened within scant miles of my home, so could it happen to me? You betcha! Will I be prepared if it happens? You betcha! And as time goes on, I intend to be better prepared by becoming more skillful with my weapons, improving the accuracy of my aim and improving my mental abilities to respond to protect myself and other innocents.
Why do I need a gun? I think the better question is, why do you think you don't?
I'm not very big on memes, but I (belatedly) noticed this on my friend David's site, and I feel like it's one for me to pick up on. Although David and I have never met, there are a lot of similarities.
1. First name? Boyd (but my middle name is David)
2. Were you named after anyone? Family name.
3. Do you wish on stars? No
4. When did you last cry? I'm not sure. Many things move me to the point of watery eyes.
5. Do you like your handwriting? Not especially.
6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Hot Pastrami
7. What is your birth date? [Redacted] Spring, mid-50s
8. What is your most embarrassing CD? I can't think of any
9. Do you have a journal? What do you think this is?
10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? It's not unknown. I'm an inveterate punner, though.
11. What are your nicknames? El Oso, but that's more than 30 years old
12. Would you bungee jump? Maybe. I'm not sure.
13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? I don't think I could physically take my shoes off without untying them.
14. Do you think that you are strong? Physically, no. Spiritually, yes.
15. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Anything involving chocolate and caramel.
16. Shoe Size? 14 EEE
17. Red or pink? Red, I suppose. Neither are my favorite.
18. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I procrastinate too much. I'll fix that later.
19. Who do you miss most? My parents.
20. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? I don't tend to put obligations on others. Do what you will.
21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Blue jeans, mostly white sneakers.
22. What are you listening to right now? An Olympics report. But it's just background noise.
23. What was the last thing you ate? Some chicken and shrimp thing at Longhorn Steakhouse. I would have eaten steak, but I think their's are too thin.
4. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A crayon? Give me a break. My favorite color is blue, with a grayish tint.
25. What is the weather like right now? 36°F, clear, calm winds.
26. Last person you talked to on the phone? Lisa, my soon-to-be ex-wife.
27. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? (Notice or observe closely?) Face, breasts, legs...what don't I notice?
28. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Hell yes! Even if he is a pinko Commie liberal.
31. Hair Color? Brown. I was heart-broken when it was pointed out to me that I was no longer blond.
32. Eye Color? Green on the outer parts of the iris, gray around the pupil.
33. Do you wear contacts? No, I had superb vision through most of my life, but in my early forties, presbyopia set in and I started having problems with my reading vision. I got frustrated with having to carry reading glasses with me after a couple of years, and got glasses I now wear all the time.
34. Favorite Food? Anything that tastes good. Steaks (rib eye, especially). Chili (my own recipe). Indian food. Chinese food. As I said, anything that tastes good.
35. Last Movie You Watched? I watched a bit of "I, Robot" with my son this evening.
36. Favorite Day of the Year? Every day I get to spend with family and/or friends.
37. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Scary Movies
38. Summer or Winter? I'm a Texan. Summer.
39. Hugs or Kisses? Hey, I"m not picky. Whatever you feel you want to share with me. The expression of affection is what's important.
40. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Desserts don't figure into my diet very much these days. I like 'em all. Except divinity. Bleh!
41. Most Likely To Respond? I don't ask anyone to respond. If you feel moved, do it. If not, that's fine.
42. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? Non-sequitur for me.
43. What Books Are You Reading? The Waste Land, book III in Steven King's The Dark Tower series.
44. What's On Your mouse pad? Office Depot (where I bought it, I don't give a rat's patootie what's on my mouse pad)
45. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? House, 24
46. What's in your CD player? The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer.
47. Favorite Smells? Bread. A person I love, and who loves me.
48. Favorite Sounds? A good, strong bass line.
50. What's the farthest you've been from home? What happened to #49? Anyway, since I spent 20 years in the Navy, I've been around the world. Much of Europe, having lived in Greece and Spain for a total of about eight years. I spent time in the Persian Gulf and the North Arabian Sea, the part of the Indian Ocean that abuts the Arabian Peninsula (Asia Minor). Diego Garcia, an American base on a British Protectorate in the Indian Ocean, about 7 degrees north of the equator. Singapore. The Philippines. Briefly visited Tokyo en route to the Philippines. What more do you need to know?
