Guard Dog

I used to get coyotes here all the time when I first built this place. One night they knocked my grill over and made a hell of a racket. My dogs were going nuts. I eased my shotgun out the window and fired a round off in the air... didn't hear a peep out of them the rest of the night. Anderson Tully has at least two good sized packs living in it. I still hear them from time to time but they have not paid a visit in a while. For a time they were a real pest though. I was considering shooting one or two of them to see if that would run them off. It is perfectly legal to do so in TN. Thankfully they lost interest and it never came to that.

Congrats to you and the missus Hurlie! I'm afraid I won't be able to come though. I don't think I could make it from Memphis to San Francisco before the champagne & BBQ run out!

Rodney blew another save AND lost the game Thursday night. WTF? They may really have lost faith because the left Peralta in to pitch the 9th with a two run lead and the meat of the O's order up last night. So far the Rays have proven no lead is safe with their bullpen in the game.

I have a feeling I'm getting nothing done today. It has taken a maximum effort of will just to get up, make coffee and sit down at the computer. Sounds like a good day to watch DVDs and wait for the Rays game to come on at 3.

Gotta agree with you guys in this one. Prosecuting MJ users is nothing but big nanny government BS. I say legalize it and tax it. Besides, nobody ever got stoned and then killed their wife. Booze certainly can't boast that. Funny thing is, if it were legal I still wouldn't use it. I just hate the idea of the government telling people what they can't do when it hurts nobody.

I believe in most states they are considered a nuisance. That means no season, no limit, no end to the bacon. But they don't taste like pork. I have found them to be a little gamey. Marinade is a must. Plus as Hurlie pointed out, they are somewhat dangerous so I'd used the most expeditious weapon available to hunt them. Namely a large caliber rifle.

I gave up firearm hunting when I discovered archery. To be honest my reasons were more practical that any sense of sporting fair play. Archery season is two months longer, you get two extra tags and some of the best hunting areas are primitive weapons only. Anderson Tully right near my house is an example. Gun season is only three weeks long, archery is three months. Plus I've never heard of a hunter being accidently shot with an arrow.

I have no problem at all with the folks who choose not to own firearms. I have a very real problem with the folks who want to take mine away from me. Generally they are one in the same... but not always.

You'd never think it would you! I think it's because we have a pretty stable list of board members.

It's great. I haven't tried Skyrim yet, still waiting for the GOTY version but it can run FO3 & FONV at max settings with no lag. Gotta use a cooling pad though.

They ARE organized! Ever heard of NAMBLA? They are big supporters of the US Democrat party!

Don't get down on Ros too much. Like a lot of folks on this board he does not have exposure to an opposing view on guns that we have here in the US. The truth is, if you are not exposed to an opposing view point you tend to believe what you hear the most of and often forget that it's propaganda that is politically motivated rather than any kind of real analysis. Actually that's one of the things I like about this board. Most forums where politics is discussed tend to be pretty homogeneous is opinion. And most folks tend to hang around with folks who think pretty much like they do. There are not many places where you get an opposing point of view. I've already been banned by Free Republic & Democrat Underground and Liberty Post is populated with nimwits so this board has become one of my favorites.

The NRA has nothing to do with this. Just a bunch of guys who came up with something to sell.

Reading Labadal & Calax's posts make me realize how happy I am with my current profession. I don't have employees or managers. Only partners and I very rarely see any of them face to face. Unless seeing them on a computer screen counts. I'm going back to Oklahoma & Nebraska for the next few days. Time to wrap those projects up. I was thinking of taking a little vacation up in Wyoming at Medicine Bow National Park and do some fishing. We'll see how the weather looks. It's been pretty doggone cold for May. I think the Global Warming crown might have it backwards!

And when we play games and are shooting/hacking to bits phisical representations of other human beings? I understand what you're getting at, but also understand how easy it is to see the wrongness in almost any human activity. That is an excellent point. I shot the Powder Ganger Chavez in FONV from a mountain top with a sniper rifle. I went Rambo in Vault 3 with the dog machine gun from Old World Blues. Neither means I harbor any desire to do it for real.

You know Ros, I'm a member of the NRA. A Lifetime Member for that matter. I own six rifles, three pistols, two shotguns, and a number of collectors pieces that will never be fired again. I have well over 1k rounds of ammunition for my weapons either at my house or in storage. Do you think I conform to your little stereotype? Do I strike you as someone who feels powerless or disenfranchised or afraid of the world or some nut who buys guns in the hope they get to kill someone? That you would even think that's how most NRA members are is utterly clueless on your part. I guessing you have never met many NRA members (an accident of geography, not any fault of yours) but if you did I think you would see we do not, by the largest part, conform to the propaganda the political left spreads about us simply because we oppose their political ends. Besides, there is a huge leap from shooting targets of any type to actual people. And Alan freely admitted the fact of the article and post were not what they appeared and so what if they were not. Everyone needs to pull the stick our of their a***s

What the hell happened to Fernando Rodney? Last year he comes within a few dozen votes of the Cy Young as a closer, this year he chokes on even a four run lead. His ERA is more than the cost of a 6-pack. WTF? I caught the Giants-Dodgers game Sunday night. The Giants almost blew a really great performance by Matt Cain but they pulled it out in the end though.

Good Luck Calax! Been busy the last few days. I started clearing an area for solar panels next to my house. I've got a full acre garden going and I've finally caught up with my design work. Tomorrow I'm going to finally finish that barn I started building a year ago and this weekend I'm installing the solar panels. Next week I'm having a generator installed with a 500 gal fuel tank (propane). I'm not doing that one myself though. Busy busy

I completely disagree with your first point. In 2012 14,974,534 individual hunting licenses were sold in the US. It is a safe bet that 95% of those individuals own a firearm. Probably more than one. That's just hunters. Add to that the number of legal gun owners who don't hunt. It may be half as much, it may be double. The entire muster of the US armed forces including the state national guard & reserves is under 3 million. If even half of just hunters are willing to fight, and 100% of the military is willing to turn their weapons on US citizens if someday ordered to do so (by NO means a certainty) they would still be outnumbered 2 to 1. And granted private gun owners could never be organized into any type of regular fighting force, however I don't think I need to remind you of the effectiveness of partisan resistance. If any political party or group entertains dreams of taking total power in the US step 1 is disarming the citizens. I say we don't take the first step.

Wals brings up an excellent point but I agree a kid that young should not be anywhere around a real firearm the the parents were criminally negligent in a) giving him one & b) leaving him with it unsupervised. That has nothing to do with me, and should not lead to even the slightest infringement upon me. @Hurlshot, the problem with your comment about "reform" is that in this administration we are not dealing with an honest partner. This whole plan for expanded back ground checks is not a bad one at all but the President and his party view it only as a first step. Their ultimate aim has always been complete and total disarmament. They are just looking to do it incrementally. If I thought for a second the Manchin plan would be the end of it, I'd support it completely. But I know better, and I do not trust the President or his party. They have been nothing but opponents of freedom of any sort. And firearms is at the top of their hit list.

There is no way to know what he is going to need in the future. Don't burn the bridge you might need to cross later. Like Gifted said, what good comes of "clearing the air"? It might make you feel a little better in the short term but not if it harms you even a little bit somewhere down the road in some way you can't even conceive now. It costs nothing to lie and smile at everyone, it might cost something to speak the truth and I promise you this, it will not change anything. That company has been around for 70+ years and it has been amess this whole time. Nothing Calax is going to say, no matter how true or how politely stated is going to change anything so why do it? Ros just reminded me of an old saying, "The toes you step on today might be connected to the a*s you have to kiss tomorrow."

You know that was not his point

Yeah that's great. Let's take away the freedom of millions of responsible people because a few idiots, criminals, stupid parents that don't supervise their kids. No f*****g thank you.

First off Calax, don't send the letter. In the end nobody will care why you left once you are gone. You are going, that's the end of it. Even when you give your exit interview you should say nothing but positive things about the company, the time you spent there, and the people you worked with. Even the fools. Heck, especially the fools. Thanks them for the opportunity and try to forget for a moment every s****y thing about working there. What you say in your last interactions with management is what will be recorded and remembered about you. If you ever need to use them as a reference, odds are the person giving will not know you, or have ever met you. All they will not is what is recorded in your file when they look it up. you don't want anything that would cast you as being malcontented. Telling someone off, clearing the air, bringing up grievances, even if done politely, might feel good but it is ALWAYS self defeating. Nothing you say will change the company one iota or improve the experiences of anyone else down the line. All it will do is leave a poor impression of you later on. So keep your cards close, smile, shake hands and wish everyone well, lie if that is what it takes. Nobody will care why you are leaving and it does not matter anyway. Just make sure you are remembered well.

http://youtu.be/fzLtF_PxbYw