Bad Gun Handling – Flying Shotgun

There are so many things going on in this video.

The first is handing a pistol grip shotgun to someone who doesn’t have the experience to handle the recoil. Even scarier though, is that sweep of the barrel across everyone standing there. Sure, he might have only had one round in the chamber – but how many accidental shootings started with that exact same thought.

Never, under and circumstances point your weapon at people. Treat every weapon like its loaded, every time, all the time.

I Live In A Swamp

It rained most of the day here in South Jersey.

That means that at 10AM my yard looked like this:

By 6PM I had a lake in my side yard:
I already put French Drains around the house, but I lost steam trenching back into the woods. Can you guess where all my drains end at the moment? Yep, just inside that lake. I guess I’ve got a few days of digging ahead of me this summer – although with my back acting up I may just need to pay someone to do it this time around.

Crazy Busy Cracker Barrel

Our town starts at the junction of a few major highways, which makes it the perfect location for a few restaurants. One of those is our local Cracker Barrel.

We recently ordered food for take out and sent our son in to get it. Forty Five minutes after the pick up time we finally received our food.

My wife sent a nice note via the Cracker Barrel website with some helpful suggestions. The bottom line was they were crazy busy and somehow or order was given to the guy who came to pick up his food just before us.

To Cracker Barrel’s credit, they sent a gift certificate for us to have a free meal – which I thought was nice of them.

I tend to get mad when I’m face with poor service, but this is a reminder that simply giving feedback about what went wrong gives the business the chance to hear the feedback and try and make it right. (Which doesn’t happen if your raging right off the bat – and yes, I’m talking to myself there.)

Van Life – Decisions, Decisions

I’ve been watching a few different channels on converting vans into Class B style motorhomes. I’d like to think I’ll be physically able to travel when I cross over into retirement in a decade or two (fingers crossed).

I’d love to buy a fully configured Class B RV, but, well, the ones I like are easily over $100,000:

This Winnebago is amazing. The interior looks like a luxury hotel. I want it, but shy of hitting the lottery there is no way I could ever actually afford it.

So that brings me to the decision to build my own. The up front investment is much smaller, and I can slowly build and upgrade over time.

The next decision point comes down to what van to start with. Once again price is a major factor here. I’d love to build my RV on top of the Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 platform, but try to find even a used one with decent miles and you are looking at a $30,000 to $40,000 starting point. That brings the two real choices down to the Ram Promaster and the Ford Transit.

What I am currently thinking is that I’m going to go with the Ram Promaster. My reasoning comes down to two points. The first is that the Promaster is front wheel drive and drives like a minivan. (I am going to go drive both when I get closer to buy time, so I’m going on what other reviewers have said here.) The second is that the Ram has a larger area across the back, allowing you to put a bed across the back, which leaves a much larger area in the front for living space and kitchenette.

That 73.4 inches across the back means I can put a bed there, and leave the area underneath it open for storage, batteries, water tanks, whatever I want to do with it.

 

Intruders At The Door

My brother got home from working today and had a little surprise on his front porch. Someone had taken his shoes and lined them up by the entry.

He asked me if me or any of my boys might of done it. We hadn’t.

He searched his house quickly and didn’t find anything out of sorts (thankfully), so it was time to see what his little security camera had caught.

So everything was okay at 8:30AM, the shoes are where he left them.Thankfully it was one of our friends who had stopped by to see if my brother wanted to go to a late lunch.

I hope he’s proud of himself, he freaked my brother and myself out for a good half hour.

Comedy – Lez Bomb (2018)

After Zombie Movies my favorite movies are comedies and romances. I know, not a grouping that you see together, but I’m not your everyday person. I stumbled on Lez Bomb while looking for a comedy to watch with my older son and his girlfriend, and the fact that it was also a thanksgiving movie was just a bonus.

If you have a crazy family you will love this movie. It is a touching, funny, comedy that has a strong ending. There are a lot of twists and turns that were totally enjoyable.

Enjoy an awesome thanksgiving love story with a twist!!!

I loved one of the last lines. “I’m the best version of myself with you.” Shouldn’t we all strive for that? Isn’t that what our loved ones should lift us up to be?

Lez Bomb:
From the executive producer of There’s Something About Mary comes a holiday comedy about a woman (Writer-Director, Jenna Laurenzo) who comes home with life changing news. As it turns out, there is no good time to drop the Lez Bomb.

Why My Son Hates Me

I have three sons. All of them are mine, regardless of genetics. (Nothing is ever straight forward in my life. I have one adopted son, one socially adopted son (my adopted son’s best friend), and one biologic son.)

Anyway, my adopted son has a wonderful girlfriend. He was a bit of a gigolo in college, and had one horrendous girlfriend in high school who was a train-wreck. He’s been dating a very nice girl “KT” for over a year now, and she is a real sweetheart. She likes to play board games with us and is just a very nice person.

So why am I telling you all of this? And why does my son hate me? Mostly because I keep telling him and her that I am ready to be a grandparent. My health isn’t the best, and while I don’t think its life threatening, I want to meet my grand babies before I die.

So I sent them this from the airport on my way home the other day. Because I am annoying – and consistent.

First Snow 2018

I love the snow. I love standing at the window with a cup of coffee and watching it fall. This year I was a speaker at a conference on the Gulf Coast.

So of course we had a freak snow storm while I was away, and it was completely melted by the time I got home.

Not fair.

My Three Babies

These are my three babies. Kera is the black dog, Koda is the brown dog. Mr. Squeaks is my cat. We bottle fed him after my next door neighbors kids found him in a bush, his eyes still closed.

This was a very special day for him. He loves the girls, but they growl at him and don’t generally let him snuggle. He was purring so loud until he fell asleep with his head on Koda’s butt.

It is the small things in life that make everything okay.