I have been trying to come up with something useful to toss out here. I’ve got a number of things rolling about in my currently migraine-addled skull (woke up with the damn thing this morning and the meds are barely keeping it in check), so you’re going to get a bunch of random thoughts on random shit.
The Recent Election
Well didn’t the Democrats take a serious ass whippin’? With a few exceptions, Democrats across the county were unelected in droves and Republicans put in their place. This is a clear mandate for Republicans and their ideas on How Things Should Be Done.
Or not. As has happened before, I think this is more likely a statement by voters across the nation that they didn’t care for the shenanigans of the fools in power, so they voted the only other available fools into power. Since these fools are, in realistic terms, pretty much the same as the fools that just got voted out, nothing much is going to change other than the rhetoric. In a few years, the voters will get fed up with the new fools, and will elect a different group of new fools from the other side.
The single bright spot I see is that liberty-minded voters did get some ballot initiatives passed here and there, and Libertarian and other third party candidates polled well in many states.
The big dark spot is that anti-gun initiatives passed in Washington state. The anti-gunners are going to start going after us even harder at the state level now. Rather than a big national battle, we’re going to be fighting them in every state legislature, county commissioners meeting and city council chamber in the country.
Oh, and Obamacare isn’t going to be repealed. They will amend it, tweak it, rework it, but never repeal it. Too many people stand to make too much money from it for it to ever be repealed.
The Economy
If you believe the government, inflation is nearly zero, as are interest rates for savings, and unemployment is down. If you, as I, believe Shadowstats, inflation is around 10% and unemployment is 24-ish%. At least gas prices are down, as are silver and gold. Real estate may be getting ready to crash again, and the stock market is running like an old steam boiler with the pressure relief tied down.
Lower fuel prices are good for consumers, bad for the shale oil and fracking-based natural gas producers. I believe they are down simply because demand is tanking as economic activity slows.
Grocery prices, on the other hand, are going insane. One thing to bear in mind is that hungry people do stupid things. Very hungry people do very stupid things.
A corollary to this is that the food in restaurants, especially fast food joints, is going up in price and decreasing in quality in a hurry. It’s getting to be difficult to go out and have a decent meal these days in my area. This seems to be showing up in the number of patrons at restaurants.
The smartest thing I’ve heard on interest rates is that they are being held down because if they go up, governments who are now all busily monetizing their national debt will suddenly find themselves using 75% or more of their annual budgets for debt service.
I still think that at some point that can’t be predicted, we are going to see an economic collapse of epic proportions. What it will look like and how it will play out are anyone’s guess. All we can do it prepare, try to arrange our lives to be as flexible and resilient as possible, and hope we survive it.
The Springfield XD Mod 2
Great Bleed Ghu. I’ve watched Rob Pincus’s shill piece for it. I’ve looked at the ads and the web site. I haven’t see one in person yet, but I’m going to try to. But I have to ask, “Really?” I’m mean, did you have to actually mold “Grip Zone” into the freaking grips? Somewhere, there is a marketer who needs to be unemployed.
While it may be an incremental improvement over its predecessor XDs, I doubt it’s good enough to make anyone who likes their XDs rush out and trade them all for Mod 2s.
And the grips are ugly. Have I mentioned that?
Lasers
By this, I mean the kind you mount on your guns. My eyesight is getting bad as a byproduct of getting old. Getting a sharp focus on my front sights is almost impossible. This is a concern when you carry a pistol for protection.
Lasers are a big help in this regard. Whether red or green, they move the point of focus further out to a place where I can focus. It’s taking a lot of practice to use both the front sight and the laser at the same time, but I’m slowly getting the hang of it.
They are expensive, but I’m putting them on every pistol that I carry on a regular basis. I prefer the Crimson Trace products over anything else I’ve tried, mostly because of how they are activated (turned on).
The Holidays
I’ve been reading a lot of stuff from folks on why the upcoming holiday season sucks for them. They’ve lost family on or near a holiday, been kicked out of their family (always wrongly from their point of view), they are far from family, they are in a tight position monetarily, soon and so forth.
Hey, I get it. I’ve spent a few sucky ones myself. Everyone does. One particular Thanksgiving at Ft. Knox, KY springs to mind. And then I consider my Dad in World War II spending several Thanksgivings and Christmases much further from home and probably unsure if he would see the next day, more or less the next holiday, and that sort of puts it in perspective.
Folks, the holidays are only going to suck if you let them. OK, you’re by yourself. Money is tight. Like I said, I get it. Been there, done that. It won’t kill you–really, it won’t. It’s all in how you chose to look at it and how you choose to take it. In all but the smallest of places, there are going to be Thanksgiving get-togethers at recreation centers, legion halls, churches and other places for those who are alone for one reason or another. Some are bring a covered dish, others are show up and let us feed you. All of them will let you share the day with others, and I’m betting that if you approach it with the right attitude, you’ll leave knowing a few more people than you did when you arrived.
The secrets are in finding them (they advertise, but it’s PSA sort of stuff), putting on your game face and going and allowing yourself to get into the swing of things.
You’re only going to be miserable during the holidays if you want to be.
Winter
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s winter. I know the calendar hasn’t quite gotten there, but screw the calendar. The time has changed back, plants have been brought inside, firewood has been carried up to the house, the wood stove is burning, the trees are bare and it’s damn chilly outside. By my definition it’s winter. Another year is going to flip off the calendar soon.
As I get older and know for a fact I have fewer years ahead than behind, I wonder how the scorecard of my life looks. I believe I’ve raised a couple of good kids. I’ve done some good work. I’ve helped out a few people here and there. Have I made a difference in the world?
I don’t know. It’s not me filling in the scorecard. I know that history is made up of millions upon millions of people like me, who will be essentially anonymous after we’re gone. I’ve seen the world change a lot since I was a kid, and I expect to see more before I take my leave. I wonder what the far future holds for my kids and grand kids.
One thing is for certain–I’ll not be around to see it. Best thing I can do is enjoy what I have left.
Well, that is probably enough randomness. If you’ve read this far, you’re probably a glutton for punishment, bored beyond belief, or stuck in an airport waiting for your flight to be called. But if you have stuck with it, I appreciate your doing so.