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Category Archives: Things that are just cool
Big Shout Out To Beretta
I have had my Beretta M9 22 LR for three years.
It’s virtually identical to the M9, but chambered in 22 LR.
This is a fantastic gun to shoot !!
BUT !!!!
A couple of months ago, this happened:
The thumb safety sheared off.
DAMN !!!
I contacted Beretta and was able to ship it back to them and they fixed it for free and they also replaced the firing pin as well !!
WOOOOOO!!!!!
Because I am a compulsive tracker of things, I’ve put at least 10,000 rounds through this gun. I really don’t know what the life expectancy of the firing pin should be, but I know that I didn’t dry fire it or abuse it.
I shot a lot of 22 LR rifle growing up on the farm, but stopped shooting when I left the farm. My brother is a big elk/turkey hunter (Mostly bow but some black powder for elk/deer) and he started arming up a few years ago when he was woke up at 3:00 am by a couple of county sheriffs chasing a violent felon and they wanted to search his out buildings. That made him start thinking that he needed some 9mm home protection. Plus, living way out in the country, we built a little range in his back yard.
Lots of brass flies there !!!!
I got my conceal carry in 05/2018 and the M9 under certain circumstances could be a carry gun, but not for an EDC.
When I bought the M9, because it was such an incredible gun to shoot, I never had any intention of getting another gun, but I needed one for an EDC. I went out and bought a S&W Compact 22 LR. Yes, I carried a 22 LR for a year as my carry gun. I never felt like I was underpowered. Not tooting my own horn, but I shoot my 22’s lights out and I would like to think that if the SHTF, my rounds would be on target and quite frankly, that’s the most important part of a self defense shooting.
However , after a year, I did get another gun, this time it was the S&W 380 Shield EZ.
https://bacontime.wordpress.com/2019/06/06/smith-wesson-380-ez/
Again, a big shout out to Beretta for taking car of my gun !!
Vacation Bacon
VACATION !!!!
I took the Fourth of July week off.
I didn’t have any plans except to smoke some homemade bacon.
I actually get quite a bit of time off, but I have a hard time getting away from work and I don’t usually take time off early in the year, and it’s not uncommon for me to have 3 full weeks of vacation time left in October/November.
That’s my little smoker. I think that was my 15th anniversary award from work about 6 years ago. This is the first smoker that I have had and it’s a good beginner model to learn and to see if you have the chops to smoke your meats!!
Not in the habit of using additives to the fire, but my father in law gave me this bag of hickory pellets so I thought I would use it up today.
Made up two packets. One will go on the bottom and the other on the top of the charcoal.
The bowl of unlit charcoal gets set inside on the bottom. I have to hand feed replacement charcoal though that little door on the side and I pick out the biggest lumps from the bag so it is easier to reload the charcoal. I’ve smoked with lump and briquettes and not sure there is a huge difference in using either one.
This little piggy went to get smoked !!!
The good news is that I have found a local source for getting my pork belly rather than having to go some distance to find the pork belly, but the bad news is that they only have chunks of the pork belly, not the big slabs. I would rather have the big slab, but this works for me !
Charcoal burning and the pork belly is on the grill.
VIOLA !!
About 2 1/2 hours later, WE HAVE BACON !!!!
It will go into the refrigerator overnight and we will start eating it the next day !
This might be about the 8th time that I have made my own bacon, and I am still learning but just nibbling on a tiny bit of this, I think this might be my best !!
https://bacontime.wordpress.com/2019/01/11/homemade-bacon/
https://bacontime.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/making-bacon-part-iii/
https://bacontime.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/making-bacon/
The Three Most Important Words A Man Can Say To A Woman
John Wayne Movies With Mustaches
John Wayne made almost 150 movies in his career.
Between 1930-1949, he made about 91 films. That’s about 4 films a year !!!!
Yeah, there were some dogs in that period. I personally don’t care much for most of his work during that period. The biggest exceptions are: “Fort Apache (1948)” and “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949).” “Stagecoach (1939)” may have been the movie to set his career on fire, but I really don’t care much for it.
My personal all time favorite Wayne film (in a serious role) is “The Searchers (1956).” This is the movie that I think really showed his acting chops.
The scene at the end is iconicy turned up to 11 .
Hmmmm, he does walk like the guy in “The Birdcage.”
OK, time to get to the mustaches.
The point was that John Wayne made a lot of movies, but rarely had facial hair.
The WORST !!
The Conqueror. It’s like he ate hairy spaghetti yesterday and never wiped it off.
This movie may have the only movie that he wore a wig, other than his own toupee.
Better
Rio Grande. Could have used a bigger soul patch.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.
Best
The Shootist. Not high on my list of favorite Wayne movies. Wasn’t really thrilled with his supporting cast. This was a fitting mustache for an distinguished gentleman of the time.
My second favorite (serious) Wayne movie, “In Harms Way (1965)”. A movie that was filled with great characters. The movie was able to do backstories in minutes and develop quality characters very quickly.
The best scene in the movie is when Eddington and Powell go into the officer’s latrine and Powell flips the coin. “Good-bye, Commander! Enjoy it!” Eddington then proceeds to bitch slap Cmdr. Owynn and that’s the scene where Rock’s son Jere, learns what it is to be a man !!!
Favorite Wayne comedy, “McLintock! (1963).” Mmmmmmmm, Maureen O’Hara !!!!! This movie is just all great chuckles !!
Maybe next I’ll do movies by The Duke’s toupees !!
B-17 “Aluminum Overcast”
This is another post that has been in que for a long time !!! (2014)
I live “near” the Aurora Municipal Airport”.
The airport sometimes has fly ins with classic military airplanes. The really cool thing is on most days the classic airplanes are in town and flying, my house is on the landing path and I get to see (and hear) the planes coming in low and slow over my house which is really pretty cool !!!
I believe this visit by the “Aluminum Overcast” was Memorial Day weekend 2014 and we took a drive to the airport to see the plane up close.
It was a beautiful day and there was a good size crowd there to see the plane. I’ve seen B17s at the airport before, but this is the first time I paid to walk through the plane.
The cockpit.
Now, at this time in my life, I am a full figured adult and there is no way that I would be able to sit in that pilot’s seat for a 8-10 hour mission !!
Even at the time in my life when I could have been in the military, (18-26) at 6 foot and 190 pounds, that still would have been a very tight fit for any position on the plane.
This is obviously not the plane that George Bush flew in WWII.
You could pay to take a flight in this plane.
If you could have seen the look of the man in the rear gunner seat after they landed, you would know that it was money well spent for him !
Toaster Bacon?
Making bacon in the toaster?
Yep, it was tried in the mid 1960’s.
Just drop the foil package with precooked bacon into the toaster and just 60-90 seconds later, hot bacon.
I can think of at least two possible problems with this idea:
- Obliviously any grease leaking out is a fire hazard.
- There are several way of opening the package that I could easily see someone carelessly spraying hot grease around.
The approved way to cook bacon:
