What the what?

I don't remember THIS jem from the 70s,

Scroll down.  The Hamilton Beach Baconer. 

"A toaster that made bacon, in other words. Why are these not available for a reasonable price in an attractive design today? Why must I dizzy my bacon in the microwave for seven minutes, when BACONER technology was clearly available 30 years ago?"

Hear hear!

Perfect Breakfast

Before the 1911 armorer's course I will eat this, to keep my strength up.

Due Process

The BLNN network sent me this:

"California mulls bill to remove guns from potential offenders"

Huh?  Like a Pre Crime division of the police?  How will they determine potential offenders?  Check to see if someone's eyes are set too close together?  Put a Phrenologist on the State payroll, and check to see if someone has the skull bumps of a serial rapist?

Let me read further...

No, it's if a family member complains.  "Uncle Billy is a little odd, and we had a nasty argument about politics last Thanksgiving.  I'll show him, that right wing troglodyte and get the SWAT team to confiscate his precious guns.   Hmph!"

Yeah, no chance for abuse of Bills civil rights there.  5th Amendment?  Never heard of it in the fight to quash the 2nd.

"If it can save one life, one family from that agony, it will be worth it."

You could say the exact same thing about letting Liberals remain alive.  I mean look at what they accomplished in the 20th Century.  Too chancy to let them keep breathing, right?  Right?

Bill Gates

As many of you have heard, he wants to confiscate all your guns.  This would make the work his private armed guards do a lot easier, I guess.  Him and a buncha other 1990s NW computer billionaires.

He is pledging a million to universal gun registration initiative in Washington State, now.  And all registration schemes, as we all know from history, is merely a precursor to confiscation efforts.  And usually quite quickly. 

What's next on the civil rights violations front, Bill?  Bringing back enforced racial seating arrangements on buses in Alabama?  Separate water fountains?  You should feel ashamed.  And you make me sick.

The part where...

George Costanza calls President Obama a coward.

I'm heartened by the interest in my gun conversation w. Larry King. We need 2 have that discussion. It will come when we elect brave leaders

— jason alexander (@IJasonAlexander) August 27, 2014

And thereby outs himself as a racist. Racist.

Hooray Judicial Branch

So a few weeks ago a judge spanked Washington DC for being effective a no-issue CCW regime.  And you could Vermont carry in the District for about an hour and a half.  My state is effectively no-issue except for friends of the Governor or Attorney General.

This week a judge smacked down the California 10-day waiting period.  Especially for people that already have a gun.  I mean what's the point?   "I'm really mad at my wife, and want to murder her NOW, not 10 days from now.    And I already have a .357... but I really want to murder her with a .44 magnum!  Shoot, in a week my anger might have subsided..."

Maryland also has a waiting period. 

Months ago a judge made Illinois issue CCW.   And today, crime has dropped noticeably?  Related?  Maybe! 

There is a case about having a firearm on your private property while it is on someone else's private property and there is booze nearby.  And the Second Amendment Foundation is on a roll getting local ordnances that are cross threaded with state rules kiboshed. 

Seems like the judiciary is working around the fringes of my state.  I have little hope the state legislature is going to be a remedy, even if they see the parade a-comin' and want to get out in front of it.  But there is some reward in rubbing their noses in it when they are forced to end this hostile-to-civil-rights regime.  FORCE them to change.  With luck, while Frosh is AG.  I have hopes.  Ever hopeful.

(If Brian Frosh was a billionaire, he'd make Bloomberg look like a gun-nut survivalist prepper.)

Iconic Image

What is the image in your head when you think of a 'gun'.  Like, if you dreamed about a person with a gun, what kind is most likely to show up in your mind.

Well maybe not YOU, loyal reader.  You are prolly a gun enthusiast and are extra familiar with guns. 

But regular folks.  Non enthusiasts. 

A lot of input for this is going to come from Hollywood.  That will be the primary source of image in their head.  Sure, everyone has SEEN a gun in real life.  Maybe even have one in the house, but they see more guns through the TV or movie screen.  (Maybe comics too for some people)  So, the more of a familiar type there the more it will become a default image.  Maybe. 

Or I could be talking out my butt.

If I had to guess I'd say a black revolver.   I am biased by my own life experience, however.  My formative years, the cops all had revolvers.  The opening to the Adventures of Superman had the closeup of a revolver in 'faster than a speeding bullet...'  All the TV shows were revolver heavy unless it was a WWII movie.  Cops shows and cowboy shows were revolvers.

But a 25 year old, now...  What gun is first to mind for his or her head?  Has the Glock style black generic semi taken over from the revolver?

I did a quick poll of folks around me.  I got "revolver maybe" and "shotgun usually" and "skinny skinny barrel" and "nothing specific but I am a gunnie" and "non specific black pistol, could be revolver or semi" and "Beretta" and "9mm Beretta" and "the one 007 has in the opening of his movies" and, oddly "Mauser BYF 42 is my default image."  And that last one was a Marine who owns no pistols.

Usually a pistol, you notice?

This would be entirely different in a different culture.  Burma?  Morocco?  Totally different cultural and real life exposure to firearms.   If you go your life rarely seeing a pistol, and never seeing a revolver, then a revolver shouldn't be the default.

But it looks like the Army and the Lethal Weapons movies have worked their way with the generation slightly younger than me.

1 Adam 12

I have a confession to make.  I never watched a whole episode of Adam 12.

Oh sure, it ran while I was alive.  And there were endless repeats for years and years after the show ran its course.  But I only caught snippets.  Never watched a whole one as a kid.

Oh I knew the basic concept and all.  So it's not like I was talking out of my butt when griping about over rambunctious over-militarized modern polices.

Dad's early shows, in my memory, were Star Trek repeats, Mission Impossible, and Emergency (the other Mark VII production).  I guess he wasn't a fan of police procedural.  Then the shows were all sorta ours, after.   

Well, thanks to Netflix, and a more mature taste and being able to enjoy a slower paced cop show in my dotage, I can watch Adam 12 now.   And just saw the first DVD.  Not bad.

But it's fiction.  It's idyllic cops.  What they wanted to be, not what they actually were.  Jack Webb was a fan and wanted to show the LAPD in the best light possible.

You know how I know it wasn't true truth on that show?  Look at the squad room.  Out of 2 dozen cops there is maybe 14 pounds of fat total between all of them.  That right there blows it out of the water.

This is what police work was really like.  True truth.

Reptoid

From wikipedia:

According to British writer David Icke, 5- to 12-foot (1.5–3.7 m) tall, blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, now hiding in underground bases, are the force behind a worldwide conspiracy against humanity. He contends that most of the world's leaders are related to these reptilians, including George W. Bush of the United States, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Icke's conspiracy theories now have supporters in 47 countries and he has given lectures to crowds of up to 6,000. American writer Vicki Santillano included it in her list of the 10 most popular conspiracy theories, describing it as the "wackiest theory" she had encountered.

A poll of Americans in 2013 by Public Policy Polling showed that 4% of registered voters (+/- 2.8%) believed in David Icke's ideas

Let me reiterate:

A poll of Americans in 2013 by Public Policy Polling showed that 4% of registered voters (+/- 2.8%) believed in David Icke's ideas.

That means 96% of us are ignorant of the TRUTH!  Wake up, sheeple.

I'm not fat

I'm just big boned!

h/t tam

Cocktails

I know.  It's early Saturday morning.  If you are thinking about adult beverages now it's prolly a Momosa or a Bloody Mary (use OldBay in your Bloody Mary.  Trust me.)

And I am normally a Bourbon/Rye or Beer man.  Prima is my favorite.   For Rye, Bulleit.  For Bourbon, I got for Knob Creek or Very Old Barton.

But I have run into a cocktail enthusiast.  And he had some WWI era drinks I really got into.  And since we are still in the Gun of August 100 year anniversary...

Note, these were invented by flyboys.  Man, do aviators like to get in their cups.

The French 75.  Named after the field piece.  Booze wasn't super available near the battlefields, you take what you could get.  And you couldn't get drunk fast enough on champagne alone so they'd add some brandy to the glass to spike it up.  That's it.  Champagne and Brandy.   There are dozens of variations since the war, subsituting gin for the Cognac and adding zest or actual citrus juice of one variety or another.  Why was the drink named after artillery?  Because the hangover the next morning made you think you were being shelled, close aboard.

The Aviation.  This is now my favorite.  Gin, maraschino cherry liquer, lemon juice (sometimes lime) and... creme de violette.   The color of the drink is of the sky. 

• shot of gin (I like it with lots of botanicals, but that's me)
• tsp of the creme de violette
• half ounce (third of a shot) of the maraschino
• half a shot of lemon juice

Or, make 3 at once

• 3 shots of gin
• half shot of the creme de violette
• shot of the maraschino liquer
• shot and a half of lemon juice

Pour over ice in a shaker, shake, strain over chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a cherry or twist of lemon peel.  Mmmmm.

More Thought on Militarized Cops

Whether or not cops playing solider are worse now or back in the old days is irrelevent.  UN-militarizing them is the goal.

 Why?  Because it is possible for cops to wear a blue suit and not cammies, a motorcycle riot helmet and not a military kevlar style, and not have to tool around in a mine resistant armored personnel carrier and still be as safe as they are now.  Heck, they can be just as effective and safe with revolvers and lever action rifles as they are now with semis and ARs, if they are trained right.

Let's stipulate that.  We don't want cops less safe, we want them less soldiery.

Now, why, that?  Sure, a jackboot in the face while you are getting pepper sprayed is not nice.  Good enough reason to yoink them for that.  But that is attitude as much as equipment.

Because if you demilitarize cops then we in the 2nd Amendment Civil Rights community have won.  The rifle in your gunsafe has deterred (or are one part of the deterrence factor) the police policy makers so that your rifle can remain in your safe.  The mere existence of you owning an AR changed tyrannical policies.  And the fact that there are 20 of you to 1 of them.  We, in the gunnie community don't WANT to snipe police.  We want police to act like police.  Heck we LIKE cops when they are like that.   It's win win for us and them.  The loser?  Folks like Bloomberg.  Yay.  Pat yerself on the back, and now use your rifle for fun stuff.

And that's a big reason for our side to advocate demilitarization and to thank our lucky stars that the country already went through a bit of this and passed posse comitatus laws over 100 years ago.  

The purpose of the 2nd is to fight tyranny.  Not so you can hunt.  Not even as much for you to defend yourself (that was always and assumed right).  The Founders put it there so you can oppose the government.  Now you don't want to USE arms to oppose the gov't if you don't have to.  Because that would be horrible all around.  We want this struggle to end like the Cold War did.  Not like WWII did.   We get our victory with no shots fired.   We win, they lose.

Got Nuthin'

Monday-Blog-Bupkis on a Thursday.

Let's go stream of consciousness.

Getting old sucks.  I fell and landed on my bum knee exactly one month ago.  STILL a bit tender.  I just don't heal like I used to.  Plus too damn fat.  Stupid old guy metabolism. 

Speaking of old, remember Archie?  My crotchety WWII vet neighbor?  He had to move to an old folks home last winter.  He wasn't able to keep up with the day to day even with my help.  And he got an infection that put him in the hospital for coupla weeks.  Bad bad.  I've visited him at his Old Folks Home in Hagerstown and he HATED it.  Well, daughter found a place a couple miles from her house.  AND he now has a help come in in the mornings and evening for a few hours each time.  Takes care of meals and pills and whatnot.  He is MUCH happier.  So, that is good.  Gonna go visit him again real soon.

In the mean time the new owners did THIS to his old house near me.  Wow.  Used to be just one floor.

Got a gunsmithing class coming up next weekend.  Looking forward to that. 

Face Palm

" College Newspaper Can’t Be Called ‘The Bullet’ Anymore Because It’s Too Dangerous "

Interactive Map

Of all the great milsurp swag the feds have been over-militarizing the local po-po with.

It's not so bad.  No armored vehicles for my rich county, Montgomery.  And only one each in the 3 surrounding counties: Howard Frederick, and Prince Georges.

Montgomery took advantage to load up on night vision, mostly. 

Heck I SAW the Howard county armored vehicle while I was grocery shopping.  The cops were squiring around young ladies wearing civvies in the back.  Shocking that dudes would use a unique set of wheels to try to impress the chicks, "Hey baby, wanna ride in my urban assault vehicle.  Oh no, I ran out of gas..."  "Then get on the Mottorola and call a tow truck, flat-foot, I'm not falling for that old line again."

You aksed, I antswered

What caused them dimples?  Easy.  Manganate Hookworm.  Harmless to humans that genus of hookworm prefers a diet of manganesium, but will settle for trace amounts of it in a diet of mostly iron alloys and tinctures.  Very common problem in the US Midwest and Kamchatka (consult your Risk board.)

It's either that or the gun has been firing percussion caps with di-methyl meatloaf.  They are supposedly non corrosive, but don't you believe it. When oxidized in the presence of aspartame and Red Dye No. 4, it turns into di-methyl death acid.  Bad bad.  That'll cause them dimples easy, according to your Material Safety Data Sheet.  No other explanations possible.

You're welcome.

And yeah, low on fodder...

The world through my eyes

Metrocons

There are two types of conservatives.   One is libertarian leaning and know the police are people, too, that make mistakes and sometimes violate civil liberties and are even actual thugs.  The other type is more patrician and authoritarian and are big on Law and Order, especially order, and to them the police are the protecting thin blue line and get a bunch more benefit of the doubt.

The second kind are often Metrocons.  City conservatives.  Conservatives that call the cops when things go bad but to actually take up arms to defend themselves.  As if they were too civilized to possess a weapon.  They would never stand in front of their store in a riot defending it with their rifle.

Bush Sr. lost some respect from the first kind, the more libertarian conservatives, when he defended the ATF from charges that the ATF was acting like jack booted thugs.  And they WERE acting like jack booted thugs, is the thing.  Bush resigned his NRA life membership over that.


The unpleasantness in Missouri exposes this difference, again.  Leftists are SHOCKED to learn there are conservatives that don't like the militarization of the police.  As if abusive cops only abused Democrats.

And now Bush Jr's speech writer Robert Patterson is calling Rand Paul a traitor for "giving aid and comfort" to the 'enemy' because he criticized the over militarization of the police.

That's the thing though.  You can be all for law and order and still be against cop playing at soldier in numbers larger than 4.  And it seems the more effective calming influence in Ferguson is being accomplished by cops wear blue than by cops wearing camo.  Seems.  It's still in flux and a gawdawful mess down there. And we know even fewer facts at this stage than we did with Le'Affaire Zimmerman.

Bottom line here:  the Metrocons.  They are wrong.  Their desire for security is understandable but also achievable while retaining a bunch more liberty that they currently propose to yield.  

Crazy Eyes

So a person I knew in High School, I see her posts on Facebook.  None of you reading this know her.  She has a kid.

This kid has the Crazy Eyes.  Like uncanny, frighteningly crazy.  Like, 'gonna be a psycho in a few years after puberty hits and then the world will know about me!' crazy eyes.  The has that vacant look that the Connecticut school shooter had.

But really, what can I do?

What are the chances I am even right?  What do I know?  I'm just a shlub.  I can't give some sort of informed psychological evaluation that will impact the rest of the boy's life because of a 600x900 .jpg file!  Even if I did know what I was talking about.

And what if I did say something and what if I am right?  Do I just use it so in a few years I can go "Tolja so..." when the kid shoots up an Automat?  Most likely, a statement of this sort would be treated as an insult.  And understandably so.  And if my hunch proves true making such a perceived insult will probably result in less chance of any intervention before it is too late.

The kid is cute and adorable, too, so she posts a lot of pictures.  But there is just something off about the eyes.

Most likely it is nothing and the kid will grow up and lead a happy life.  And they live many many states away.

It's People

They're breeding us like cattle

Oh My God

But... It's people!  Soylent is made out of people!

How can they even name their quasi bulk-up workout protein powder that?   Maybe it's a joke.

When Will the Cops Arrive

I hope that cops arrive at that Missouri things sometime soon.  Someone needs to spell those soldiers out there.  For posse comitatus reasons at a bare minimum.

There are no cops there.  It's all soldiers.  Have you SEEN them dudes?  That ain't right.  Not cool.

CNN is reporting that the Ferguson PD claims that they didn't have the money to install their dashboard and body cameras.   Stick with iron sights instead of trijicons and they'd have that money... "We bought fifteen unmanned aerial drones, but we had to remove the cameras to fit the guns."

And what, NOW Eric Holder regrets giving them all that stuff?

What Happens in a Car Jacking

Well, little good.  Even if you are trained, accustomed to dealing with bad guys, alert enough, and willing to respond, sometimes it doesn't work out at all good for you.

An off duty DC cop was the victim of an attempted carjacking in the wee hours Wednesday.  Three miscreants in a Nissan Altima getaway car.  Shots were exchanged, and it looks like the bad guys got in some licks. 

I hope the cop recovers.

But this could happen to regular CCW types.  And a policeman in civvies is like very close to a regular ol' person, but on the high end of readiness.   Call him an above average conceal carrier.  Not the victim you want to select if you are a bad guy.

No word if the policeman was able to return fire in that article, but the radio report made it sound like shots were 'exchanged'.  So let's go with that assumption.

Ok, what do you and me do in the event this scenario is rolling toward us?  What could we do different, since you and I may well be average or below average CCW types?

I don't know.  We may never get a good AAR on this incident.  Was the cop not alert, walking around in Condition White, not ready for it, and thus not deterring attack?  That'd be a biggee.  It happened at 3AM.  Nothing good happens at that time of night, regardless.

But it seems that no matter how prepared you are, sometimes...  Sometime you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.  Your only consolation might be a few seconds of realizing that at least you fought back before going unconscious.

Now Yer on the Trolley

I love Trolleys.

Streetcars.


The sound they made is unique.  You just don't hear that anymore.  

Well, I love the IDEA of the Trolley.

They are wonderful.  They are also gone 50+ years now.  You can't bring that back.  Though man, do the Leftists try. They are just spending money on something that is no longer worth it.  And can't even recapture the magic of a bygone age.  It's gone.  You don't want to spend a hundred million taxpayer dollars on a nationwide telegraph system, too, do ya?  I mean, it would be cool and all, but... why?  It's gone.  And it's ok it's is gone. 

Trolleys are gone.  And when brought back they aren't really not as good as before, they are downright awful now.  Stop the waste.  I understand the impulse.  But... spend your money on city buses. 

This sounds like a good idear.

A bill proposed, and none too soon.  The Regulatory Agency De-militarization Act.  Keep the FDA from SWATting folk, shooting their dogs.

I wonder what its chances are.

Well, that website says 3% chances, so... slim.   Been out there a month and a half without me noticing til now, too.

According to the drafter, Utah's Rep Stewart, the proposed  law is to:

• Repeal the arrest and firearm authority granted to Offices of Inspectors General in the 2002 Homeland Security Act.
• Prohibits federal agencies, other than those traditionally tasked with enforcing federal law—such as the FBI and U.S. Marshals, from purchasing machine guns, grenades, and other weaponry regulated under the National Firearms Act.
• Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to write a complete report detailing all federal agencies, including Offices of Inspectors General, with specialized units that receive special tactical or military-style training and that respond to high-risk situations that fall outside the capabilities of regular law enforcement officers.

 

Good.  More Adam-12, less SWAT.  If you want to discuss 70s TV shows.  Tho SWAT, portrayed on that program, is a bit different from SWAT now.

APEX

I've heard good things about Apex Tactical and their trigger kits for the ever popular S&W M&P pistol.

But I have forgotten they have stuff for revolvers too.  Like a spring set for a J-Frame that reduced the trigger pull from 12ish to 9.

Hey, I have a J-Frame.  Maybe I should try that...

Field Stripping

It's always nice to have the internet for tutorials on field stripping 60 year old durable goods.  Either Grandpa's pistol or the 60 year old Maytag in the basement.

So let me get this straight...

While I was away on a RoMERO mission, you people managed to fix it so I can now CCW 6 miles away in Washington DC, but all body armor is now banned because armor is for war and only the Police are at war inside this country...  Is that all I missed

The Solution?

To a new Army sidearm.  Yeah, I think the rattlesnake is probably the way to go.  Bees don't have the knockdown power.  Sorry Tam, you are wrong on this one.

Republic

Can you guess why I posted this?  Why I identify with this?

Is it because I am a bit overweight and obsolete before my time?  Anachronistic even? Slow, with a prewar mindset?  And that I want Jimmy Stewart to do the introduction to my biography?

Oh, come on!

The designer was an immigrant that came to the US to escape the Bolsheviks.  Good on em.

Sometimes, I watch these to relax

But remember, trains are racist, sexist, classist imperial exploiters.   That sentiment makes me laugh and laugh.  Others, too.

Baltimore-ese, called: "Flares"

I planted poppies again.  I think I will keep that up for a few years.  Or tried to.  I think I planted them too late.  And some wildflower volunteers that doesn't actually 'bloom' came back despite getting a turnover.  Sigh.  Should probably round up now and prep for a poppy only bed for next Spring.

Poppies for that whole 100 year anniversary thing.  Guns of August and what not.

(update:    I composed this post months ago.  An invasive tall weed volunteered and I think I planted the poppy seeds too late.  I even turned the soil before planting!  Maybe try again this fall.  Maybe not toast the bagel this time.)

Sob Sisters

Ok, Sob Sister is a bit provocative.  And over simplifies things.

But what was it about WWI?  It changed the narrative about war and we still use that mold today. It's where the change all started.  The way war stories changed permanently then.  With a kick from Crane a decade or so before.

The war started a much more serious Pacifist movement that we'd ever seen before.  War was no more of less horrible for the participants, but folks sure acted like it was.  And except for tamping down this new instinct a bit in Dub-Dub-Two, is still ongoing today. 

Ugh the DRECK some of my English professors who happened to have been born around 1950... hint.  Oh they all LOVED Platoon, too.  My XO, the Lt. Colonel, had a different view of that movie.

I said, before, "But the flavor is similar.  Reading war memoirs from various wars...  You get a flavor.  A generic section and you can tell which war is on."  The flavor of futility started entering the literature and diaries available after WWI.  The Great War, and the pacifism at home, I think, penetrated the mindset.  And it is still there today.  Oh, you get futility in all war writings.  US Civil War, for example.  The diaries and letters.  But the futility takes on more ennui with WWI.  WWII you get more gritted teeth and job to do.  The Vietnam war brings back ennui with disillusion, again, like in WWI writings.

And the biggest popularizer of this was, I think, All Quiet on the Western Front.   A big reason for this is that is a pretty good book, on its face,

I doubt we'll ever get back to a 19th Century romantic view of battle again.  But you never know.  Fashion changes.

Fix Bayonets

Fix Bayonets, by John Thomason.

The war memoirs of an AMERICAN officer, this time.  Much less war to be exposed to. 

Originally published in the American Mercury.  That was H. L. Mencken's magazine.  In the 20's.  The story reads like just about all the WWI books.  That kind of war experienced that way....  It got the same flavor as Remarque's masterpiece but written in a shorter form three years prior.

These are the memoirs of war from a 5th Marines officer.  A bit more game at the game than All Quiet on the Western Front, but still dwells on the meaningless slaughter, all around.  With graphic sections and description.  All these WWI books have those.  If you were looking for a slashed picture in the 1970s at a Grindhouse, you could have done better reading 50 year old war books

But the flavor is similar.  Reading war memoirs from various wars...  You get a flavor.  A generic section and you can tell which war is on...    

All That

Good-Bye to All That.

By Robert Graves.  A memoir of a British officer serving in a Welsh regiment.  Remarkably funny in spots.  In that British way.  Graves was an odd duck in public school, with the usual buggery there, and joined right up when the Great War started.  Even before the Pals Brigades were started up.  He survives all those years of the war, but in the end his nerves are pretty shot, and take every decent opportunity to get away from the fighting.

But he doesn't cry about it.  And he certainly did his part.  But they knew or learned even then that there is only so much you can be exposed to before cracking.  And that idea has been a constant refrain, in the forefront, ever since.

Oh, and the title?  It's not about the war.  It's a reference to his divorce 10 years AFTER.  Sheesh.  I felt cheated.  AND ROSEBUD WAS HIS SLED.

My broker is E. F. Tamara

And she says...

When E. F. Tamara talks, people listen.

She told my buddy, get a pistol.  Well, sorta.

That whole internet thing...  What do you need or want to have?  A 3 guns system and spares plus a .22 in case the Zombocalypse comes!  If you can have only one, then a shotgun!  Marines get guy on just the rifle, so the AR is fine!  Naw, you want a man sized round instead of a poodle shooter, get an FAL...

And so on.

But what if you are sorta banking on civilized society kinda going on like it is not for the next 75 years?  Sorta like it has for the previous 75 years.  And you are a suburbs person, working in an office, with hobbies that don't include wilderness adventure?

Well, yeah, if only one gun is to be had, that one gun should prolly be a pistol.  Especially in a carry regime like Virginia's.

Dang Dirigibles

Heck of a recruitment message...

It's important

To keep some variety in your survial larder.  You need novelty in your diet.  Nothing but peanut butter, Dinty Moore beef stew, and Minute Rice?  Add this:

Mmmm, mackerel pudding.  That and some Spaghetti-O's.

Num.

Tamarind paste and canned butter.

Trout.

Red Faygo.