New York City can't pay its bills

New York City is looking at more than two billion dollars in budget shortfalls next year, and more than five billion in the years after that.

I have a suggestion for the Honorable Mr. Bloomberg: stop wasting your taxpayers' dollars on ill-advised and illegal gun shop "stings"! Dumbass.

Breda's very cool

Breda laid out some thoughts on gender, race, disability, and gun control, and how they relate in terms of equality, all in one very neat, very well-written post. It was all so eloquently put, and is a shining example of why I read her blog every day. Well done!

I am the great Cornholio!

You will give me TP for my bunghole.

Speaking of being a socially-challenged goobersmack

It occurs to me that today's blogger meetup was not the only one I've attended recently, and I quite boorishly forgot to post about the previous one. About this time last month, Phlegmfatale had a get-together at her place in Dallas, and I found myself invited thanks to my brother. Gracie made the drive from Memphis with me, and we found accommodation in the Holiday Inn Market Center.

On arriving in Dallas, we found ourselves at Phlegmmy's very nice loft condo, which had been decked out with all manner of finger foods, munchies, desserts, and tasty beverage refreshments (Mexican Coca-Cola is the bomb, y'all: real sugar, not corn syrup).

I found myself seated amongst a group of the finest Texas bloggers, including of course our host, Phlegmfatale, along with MattG, JPG, HollyB, Fat Hairy Bastard, Peter from Louisiana, and a common commenter and prolific forum poster in Sylvilagus Aquaticus. I missed meeting LawDog by a day, a great disappointment, since I didn't get to make the range trip on Sunday, and I hope to get the chance to rectify that situation at some point in the future.

Gracie immediately took to the pool along with my niece and MattG's daughters, and the adults chatted, passed guns about, and generally had an excellent time during a lovely summer afternoon. It was, much like today's get-together, proof positive that an armed society is indeed a polite society.

Phlegmfatale is the consummate host, and Gracie and I felt very welcome during our visit. We had a great time, and will have to plan to make the range trip (and bring some gun show money) next time around!

Memphis-area blog meetup

Hey, look at me, I finally have something worthwhile to post about!

Gracie and I attended the Memphis-area blog meetup that Squeaky set in motion, and we had a blast. The first item on the agenda was noshing at East End Grill, and the cheeseburgers there, let me tell ya, are top-notch. I am a connoisseur in this area, so you should trust me. Don't believe that I am an expert in the field? See the unflattering profile picture of the fat guy on Paul's blog for proof.

It was great fun to meet Squeaky, Rusty, Paul, Tracie, and Jessie in person. Of course, I stalked Squeaky at the mall earlier in the week, but that doesn't count. There was a lot of excellent conversation, and I hope the group didn't think I was too much of the socially-challenged goobersmack that I felt like.

After the late lunch, we were off to Range USA to put the smackdown on some paper targets. I brought along my Springfield XD, a Kel-Tec P-3AT, and Gracie's Ruger Bearcat. Paul seemed to enjoy the XD, and had good things to say about the sights and trigger, but I don't think he's going to convert away from his Glock. No need: just have both!

Gracie was very taken with Squeaky's new Beretta Neos, and did her best to help break it in. I enjoyed it myself, and wouldn't at all mind adding one to the meagre collection. Gracie is advocating such an addition, so we may have to see what happens there....

I shot my P-3AT for the first time, and it was not a successful session. I had constant FTFs, which I cleared either by pushing the slide forward or easing it back and releasing it forward again to fully chamber the round. I also noticed a tendency for my ring finger to try to jump off the grip, and this is not a reassuring development. I didn't find the recoil at all unpleasant, which came as a surprise as I was expecting my hand to get a beating, but it's hard to keep my thick fingers on the thing. Between the FTFs and my ring finger displacing on the grip, follow-up shots were practically impossible. More break-in and further range time will be required before I can make a final call on this little pistol.

Paul has some pictures that Tracie took posted on his blog, and there's a nice group photo that I'm going to stick right here.


Gracie and I had a great time, and I look forward to the opportunity to make the next meetup. Despite getting run off the range a little early, it was a blast, and I'm definitely up for making this a regular thing. What a great group of people to spend a Saturday afternoon with! Many thanks, Squeaky, for inviting me!

For those referred from Squeaky's

Yeah, I'm piss-poor at posting regularly to my blog, but I'm not a stalker. I swear.