Preparations

Sweet Daughter and I are renting a beach house on Chincoteague thanks to a rather generous Christmas gift and we’ve spent the past 8 months preparing. I asked SD what was important to her … she said “Just a place to sleep. We’ll be busy doing other things!” I wanted a screened porch where I could sit and read with a drink in hand after a day at the beach. Oh, and at least two toilets. Because two is one, and one is none, and all that.

 

The next step was prioritizing what we needed to acquire. Another umbrella, so we didn’t have to both squeeze under the shade of one, a SD- sized shovel for digging moats that wasn’t too heavy, and a set of buckets sturdy enough to haul seawater without the handles falling off, but not so big that SD couldn’t carry them herself. We also watched the sales and picked up things like a small cooler on wheels so SD could help haul things from the car. I got a better chair that I can get out of easier, and will hopefully be easier on my back. SD got my hand-me-down chair. We’ve been squirreling away things like an extra box of mac & cheese, pasta sauce, and making cookies to freeze for the trip. We’ve put a jar out to collect discretionary funds for dinner out one night. SD has been hoarding her allowance to spend on … stuff. She’s a very thorough. We spend several days shopping, and then at the end of our trip she makes a list of what she wants, what it costs and how best to spend her hoard.

 

It’s been a good exercise in planning and prioritizing. And like all good plans, it won’t survive first contact with the enemy. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning – keep your fingers crossed for us. And hope that tropical disturbance near Hispaniola doesn’t get stronger and come a-calling.

 

Side-tracked

So, instead of dusting baseboards and washing dishes the other night, I decided to do this.

Sweet Daughter had a pair of outgrown jeans that couldn't just be sent off to Goodwill. Oh, no. They had a cat on them and so must be kept forever. So I cut off the bottom of the leg, and added one of the pockets to the back. Then I added a rectangle to the inside to form the bottom of the purse, and another rectangle with a zipper down the middle for the top. Made a shoulder strap out of the scraps ... and

 

Then the topic of Halloween came up. She's picked her character and outfit.

In order to justify this sort of effort, she's going to have to wear it more than once, which means a trip to the Renaissance Festival. Which means I've got to make something for me, as well, and how did this spiral out of control so quickly, anyway?

What to do with your Basement

I have a copy of the 1934 booklet put out by the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois, titled "Your Basement  What to do with it .... How to do it"

"The Jazz Age is past and American Home is coming into its own again, as the scene of a more wholesome, closely knit family life. Surest is the question that children and parents alike are asking, "How in the world can we find space for all the home parties, home hobbies, home pleasures that we want to enjoy?"

Seventeen different suggestions are given, but the one that caught my eye first was this one:

Theatre and Pistol Range

Click to embiggenate any of these ...

" ... archery practice, pistol shooting and the presentation of home movie shows."

 

The construction of the back wall is interesting.

 

 

Sorry about the quality of the images. If there is interest, I can try to get scans.

America's Night Out

Last night Sweet Daughter and I attended our local "America's Night Out", and as I've done every year we've gone, I open carried. Last year the sheriff asked if I was a LEO. I said no. He asked why I was carrying then, and I pointed at SD who was participating in some activity, and said "To keep her safe. And make your job a little easier." He pretty much grinned and gave me a metaphorical thumbs up. I like our sheriff.

This year the only comment I got was from a boy about 10 years old.

"Is that a gun?"

"Yes."

"Are you an AGENT??"

"No. Agents don't have 'Hello Kitty' stickers on their magazines."

"Then why ...?"

[Pointing at SD] "To keep her safe. And me, too. I can't run as fast as I used to."

And then I told him about some of the guns I shot at NEBS last weekend. I think his poor head was going to explode as he tried to process the concept ... middle aged mom ... pistol ... machine guns ...  And since our county has one middle school, and one high school ... maybe he'll spread the word about SD's crazy mom, and the boys will be less of a problem in another few years .

The fire department did a demo where a pan of bacon was set on a stove on "high" and left to catch fire. There was a good speech on how fire needs heat, fuel and oxygen to burn, and how eliminating one will put the fire out. Then they explained why water was a bad idea for a grease fire, and threw some on the bacon flambé. It made a beautiful cloud of flame ... and then went out. They put out a grease fire with water.

So, they tried again (all the while emphasizing that just getting out of the house in case of a fire was also a very good option). This time was to demonstrate how a grease fire will catch the cabinets on fire. This also failed, but as I pointed out to an EMT standing next to me, this was a new mock-up of a kitchen. That cabinet had not been saturated with cooking grease for the past ten years. We were shown how to put out a fire with wet towels, flour, and/or a fire extinguisher. All good things to see demonstrated, even if our fire department stinks at actually setting things on fire.

Another demo was done with our new K-9. We have two now. This one actually got put to work earlier in the day, when a gentleman walked into the courthouse and asked if there were any warrants out for his arrest. This was checked, and answered in the affirmative, and the dude turned and ran. Ruger got sent after him, and performed admirably.

"Ruger?" I asked the EMT next to me. "Why is it always 'Ruger'? Why isn't it ever 'Hi-Point'?"

The next demonstration was almost watching the removal of Diet Pepsi from the lungs of said EMT. At least he has a sense of humor.

The Weekend

So, I did this.

Of the 59 hours I was gone, over 25 were spent in a vehicle driven by somebody who has a "road rage" tag on his blog. The trip was never boring, I can say that much. The stream-of-consciousness that at times just fell out of my blogfather's mouth was staggering. And entertaining. And I learned a few new compound words.

All the nice things people say about this event and group of people are true!

I got to meet Maj. L. Caudill, USMC (Ret) in the flesh. And he fired my Brown Bess.

This was a great idea. Muskets get messy.

I shot lots of stuff, and to be honest ... I'm still trying to sort the blur that was the weekend. As always, everyone was very generous and helpful. And ... towards the end of the day, we prepared for the bayonet charge.

"That's not a bayonet ..."

I brought these:

Sweet Daughter was brought along to the thrift shop to help pick out the victims. Clifford (we both HATED the TV show) obligingly erupted stuffing when shot, but the scary doll with the dead eyes and bunny rabbit nose JUST WOULDN'T DIE.

So, time to run them through with a bayonet charge. The doll ended up skewered right through the head, and Clifford?

" ...pour encourager les autres"

The bunny doll still didn't seem damaged enough. And that's when I spied a red paw. It was Elmo from a previous shoot. So the undead zombie doll was dispatched to keep Elmo company.

Maybe somebody will bring a flamethrower next year, and we can kill it for good.