Great customer service from two companies

As regular readers will know, when a vendor goes out of its way to render good service and put things right for its customers, I like to acknowledge that.  I encountered that this week with two companies:  Impact Guns and FedEx.

I'd ordered some handgun magazines (the kind that hold ammo, not the printed variety!) from Impact Guns, but the order was partly mis-filled.  Instead of one of the items I ordered, I received one for a gun I don't own.  I called Impact on Wednesday, explained the problem, and asked what they could do to fix it, as I'd intended the missing item as a Christmas gift for a friend.  The people at Impact went out of their way to solve my problem.  They shipped out the correct item immediately, complete with a return shipping label for the incorrect one, and sent it via FedEx's overnight service.  Great customer service in the middle of their busiest period of the year.  Full marks to Impact Guns.

FedEx also went out of their way to get the magazines to me.  While some are complaining that their shipments weren't delivered on time, I can only marvel at how many were delivered in time for Christmas.  I suspect those that didn't make it are a tiny minority (probably measured in fractions of one per cent) of those that did.  (Besides, everyone knows - or should know - that last-minute shipments at the height of the Christmas rush may not make it on time.  Order earlier!)  FedEx tried to deliver the package early yesterday evening, but Miss D. and I weren't at home;  so the driver left a slip informing us that he'd tried, and telling us that we could collect it today, Christmas morning, if we wanted to drive to the nearest FedEx office.  I did so, not because I desperately needed the magazines right away, but to thank those on duty for giving up their Christmas morning to help others.  I took them a dozen donuts as a gesture of appreciation.  They seemed to like the gesture - they perked right up.  So, full marks to FedEx, too, for going the extra mile.

Peter

Post-Christmas turkey-induced coma and a red dot sight, among other things

Burp!

Oh - excuse me.  You see, Miss D. and I cooked up a turkey for Christmas dinner, as we can't take the contents of our freezer with us when we move next month (it'd take too long between packing it here and being able to unpack it back into the freezer there).  As a result, we're "eating it down" this month and next, and we had a turkey to dispose of.  Today was the day, complete with gravy and a vegetable casserole.  Three servings later . . . diet?  What diet?  Surely you jest!

I had to laugh at two Christmas blog entries.  Joel brings us a 'Scary, scary solstice' with variants on Christmas carols patterned after H. P. Lovecraft's fictional universe.  I'd never heard of Cthulhu-themed carols before, but I guess there's a first time for everything . . .  Next, XBradTC brings us the tale of 'The TOPGUN Christmas Card', complete with a photograph that's emphatically not Santa's reindeer!  Clearly, political correctness was honored more in the breach (or should that be 'breech'?) than in the observance at the time . . .

Finally, thanks to everyone who entered the drawing for a TruGlo red dot sight.  Well over a hundred of you responded in comments at that post and via e-mail.  The winner is someone styling herself 'Lady Mondegreen', a pseudonym which made me chuckle all over again.  Ma'am, you have e-mail.  If you'll let me have your postal address, I'll send the sight on Monday when the Post Office reopens for business.  Thanks to everyone for taking part.

It's been a peaceful, happy Christmas for Miss D. and I.  I hope and trust that yours has been likewise.

Peter

Christmas eve

I'd like to wish a happy, holy and blessed Christmas to all my readers and friends.  May this season of grace lead to a grace-filled year for all of us in 2016.

Blogging will be suspended until tomorrow evening, to allow me to relax and enjoy the day with my wife.

To celebrate the feast, here's one of my favorites.

God bless you all.

Peter

More about - and from - Peter Warlock

After I put up Peter Warlock's carol 'Bethlehem Down' yesterday, I had a few e-mails from readers asking for more information about the composer.  It seems he's not very well known in the USA compared to some other classical composers.  You can read more about his rather strange, disjointed and all too short life at Wikipedia.  While you do that, here's one of his best-known short pieces for string orchestra, the Capriol Suite.  It's one of my favorites.  This performance is by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.  Turn up the volume and enjoy!

And, just to prove that musical genius is very adaptable, here's a transcription of the Capriol Suite for four classical guitars, performed by the excellent Los Angeles Guitar Quartet at the Hamburg Guitar Festival in 2011.

Lovely!

Peter

Christmas Heh

From 'Madam and Eve', my favorite South African cartoon strip:

Kids . . .




Peter

Christmas give-away: a TruGlo red-dot sight

I was recently presented with several older-model TruGlo red dot sights, very similar to the Traditional model shown below.  They're magnified 2x, with a 2.5 MOA reticle.

I've installed most of them on the rifles of disabled and handicapped students, who are enjoying them very much.  However, I have one left with no-one needing it.  It's unlikely to find a home before Miss D. and I move to another state next month, because I've drastically cut back on my training activities.  Therefore, with the permission of the donor, I'm going to offer it as a Christmas give-away to my readers.

All you need to do is either leave a comment on this post, or send me an e-mail (my address is in this blog's profile) asking me to enter you in the drawing.  US residents only, please, to avoid ITAR complications in sending a red dot sight outside the country.  Make sure you provide a working e-mail address, so that I can contact you if you win.  (If you leave a public comment here, I suggest you disguise the e-mail address from spambots by spelling it out, or something like that.)  I'll accept entries up until noon on Christmas day, and draw the winner's name during that afternoon.  I'll announce it on this blog on Christmas evening, and mail the red dot sight to the winner next week.  (If you wish to remain anonymous, and not be named if you win, please mention that in your entry.)

Good luck to one and all!

Peter

To begin setting the mood for Christmas . . .

. . . here's a carol by Peter Warlock.  Lyrics are here if you'd like to follow them.

A lovely, meditative piece - even if it was written with the express intention of earning enough money to finance a pub-crawl!

Peter

Say a prayer for the soul of the owner . . .

I was astonished to see a series of photographs of a Colt military-issue 1911 pistol that had been struck by artillery shrapnel during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.  It was picked up on the battlefield after the fighting was over.  Here's just one of the images, to illustrate the scale of the damage.

Looking at how severe those gashes are, the shrapnel was obviously coming in at very high velocity.  The pieces weren't small, either, and judging by the number of scars, there were plenty of them.  In another photograph you can see fragments of the leather holster in which the gun had been carried, lodged in the gashes where the shrapnel drove them.  Judging by the damage, and considering that the person carrying the gun had been just as close to the explosion, I think he would have been most unlikely to survive.  Even if he did, he must have been very seriously wounded.

Go look at the whole series of images, and read the story behind them . . . and, this Christmas, if you're so inclined, say a prayer for the soul of whoever it was that carried that gun in the Ardennes, 71 years ago this month.  May he rest in peace.

Peter

Big Brother is alive and well in New York

I'm sure many readers have heard of the proposal to tightly regulate ammunition sales in New York state.

The legislation would place a strict limit on the number of bullets a gun owner could purchase over a 90-day time period, and prevent gun dealers from selling ammunition for a firearm to anyone unauthorized to have such a weapon.

. . .

While the measure is aimed at owners of assault rifles, the language contained in the draft legislation would also affect owners of handguns with much smaller capacities, such as six-shooters.

Since the measure would cap the amount of ammunition to no more than twice the amount of the capacity of the weapon every 90 days, these gun owners would be limited to buying a dozen bullets every three months.

. . .

While the practicality of limiting small-capacity gun owners to a less than a box of bullets is unexplored, those familiar with the legislation say the lawmakers look upon the language as a starting point in negotiations.

There's more at the link.  The proposal is accompanied by all the usual whingeing, hand-wringing and emotional appeals we've come to expect from moonbats of this ilk.

Quite apart from its impracticality (you're going to restrict the owner of a 5-shot snubnose revolver to ten rounds of ammo for it every three months?  Really?), this illustrates the depths to which anti-gunners will sink in their efforts to impose their will on the rest of us.  They've already abandoned logic and rational thought, as we discussed after the San Bernardino terrorist attack.  Now they've decided that if they can't ban the instrument itself, they'll do their best to ban its fuel.  It's like trying to combat drunk drivers by controlling how much gasoline every driver can buy over a given period, whether they're drunk or not.  The idea is nonsensical . . . not least because there are literally millions of gun-owners out there who reload their own ammunition.  It will be child's play for gang-bangers and criminals to obtain more ammunition than the proposed legislation allows.  All they have to do is buy it out of state, or buy it privately from those who've built up stocks, or have someone reload it for them, or reload their own.  It couldn't be easier.

Nevertheless, this is yet another important wake-up call to those of us who take self-defense and personal security seriously.  Check your ammo stocks, friends.  I've written before about "How much ammunition is 'enough'?"  I suggest you take a look at that article, and also make sure you have enough for ongoing practice.  In the light of idiotic proposals such as this, you might want to double or triple your stocks, just in case.  (I don't need to.  I did so long ago, because I've run into fools like these before.)




Peter

Doofus Of The Day #868

Today's award goes to assorted moonbats in Bristol, England.  A tip o' the hat to reader N. S. for sending me the link.

All the fish in a lake in Bristol are to be removed and destroyed in a bid to discourage fishing.

Last year, the local Neighbourhood Partnership voted to ban fishing at St George's Park lake to stop wildlife being harmed by fishing line and hooks.

It has now approved an option proposed by Bristol City Council to destroy the fish rather than relocate them.

There's more at the link.

So . . . first you ban fishing in the lake to stop wildlife being harmed . . . and now you're going to kill those same wild critters . . . to discourage fishing.

Is it just me, or is the logic somewhere waaaaaay out in left field on this one?


*Sigh*


Peter

An instant cure for constipation?

That's what an Australian man experienced yesterday.

An Australian surfer had a close encounter with a shark off Sydney's Bondi Beach on Tuesday when it jumped onto his board, giving him a huge fright in a near-miss witnessed by lifeguards.

Dean Norburn said he was surfing with two friends early in the morning when the shark launched itself out of the water onto his board.

"We were just past the break and as I was paddling in a little bit, I slowed down and went to sit up on my board and... as I did that, the shark brushed by me and landed on my board," Norburn told AFP.

"It gave me a bit of a shock as you can understand. And as quick as it came up it jumped off my board... swam towards one of my friends, swam under his board and then swam off.

"It's really quite freaky... it was my first (shark encounter) and hopefully it's going to be the last," he added.

Bondi Rescue Lifeguards confirmed the incident, adding that Norburn was not hurt and the shark - which the surfer's friend said looked like a bronze whaler - was about six feet (1.8 metres) long.

"Lifeguards spoke to both men and cleared the water afterwards. Will be a very memorable surf for both guys," the lifeguards said in a Facebook post.

There's more at the link. 

That'd sure unclog any blockages I might have!




Peter

The power of cheese . . . is real!

I'm sure many readers are familiar with the 'Power of Cheese' trope, exemplified by this tall tale:

"For millions of years, man thought the moon was made of cheese.
In 1969, we went there and discovered it was made of rock.
We haven't been back since.
Behold, the Power of Cheese."

Well, cheese may not actually have any particular power (except a certain addictive quality, of which I'm a victim!);  but to my surprise, it can certainly produce power.  The Telegraph reports:

Generating electricity from cheese could be the plot of an Asterix comic book, but that is exactly what is happening at a new power plant in the French Alps.

A by-product of Beaufort cheese, skimmed whey, is converted into biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, at the plant in Albertville, in Savoie.

Bacteria are added to the whey to produce the gas, which is then used to generate electricity that is sold to the energy company EDF.

“Whey is our fuel,” said François Decker of Valbio, the company that designed and built the power station, which opened in October. “It’s quite simply the same as the ingredient in natural yoghurt.”

. . .

It is not the first cheese-based power station, but one of the largest. Valbio built its first prototype plant 10 years ago beside an abbey where monks have made cheese since the 12th century.

Since then, about 20 other small-scale plants have been built in France, other European countries and Canada. More units are planned in Australia, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay.

There's more at the link.

What can one say except, "Whey to go!"  (Well, that and hope that they never, ever use Limburger as their raw material . . . the odor of sanctity, it ain't!  Eeewwwww!)

Peter

All the "Simon's Cat" Christmas episodes in one video!

Thanks to the "Simon's Cat" team for setting this up.

Peter

Looks like active-shooter training is getting real at last

I've long maintained - and I've not been alone - that teaching people to run and hide in an active-shooter situation is a self-defeating proposition.  Now it seems that at least some training programs are getting the message.

Spooked by a year of high-profile rampages, hundreds of companies and organizations like NeighborWorks are racing to train their workers how to react to a shooter in their workplaces. And after decades of telling employees to lock down and shelter in place, they are teaching them to fight back if evacuating is not an option.

The idea: Work as a team to disrupt and confuse shooters, opening up a split second to take them down.

The paradigm shift in response — from passive to active — has been endorsed and promoted by the Department of Homeland Security. Last month, it recommended that federal workplaces adopt the training program “Run, Hide, Fight,” which it helped develop.

. . .

“If you can move him from offense to defense, you have changed the outcome of the event,” said Greg Crane, a former SWAT officer whose company, the ALICE Training Institute, taught workers at NeighborWorks as well as at Facebook and Apple. “He’s thinking about what you are doing to him, not what he’s doing to you. Mentally, he’s going through a whole different process.”

. . .

For many people, the idea of confronting a mass shooter is new and totally startling. But Lanier and security professionals say they are pushing that response for a couple of reasons. For one, it works. An FBI study of active shooter events from 2000 to 2013 found that 13 percent of the incidents were stopped “after unarmed citizens safely and successfully restrained the shooter.” The other reason: With most shooting rampages ending before police arrive, what other option is there?

“If you’re passive in the face of extreme violence,” Crane said, “you’re going to get hurt.”

There's more at the link.

I still believe that the most appropriate response to armed aggression is armed defense;  but if that's not possible, due to political correctness, corporate policies or any other factor, defense remains essential.  The average human running speed is about 15 mph, but a bullet from an average handgun moves at plus-or-minus 700 mph, and one from an AR-15 rifle moves at over 2,000 mph.  You can't outrun them, so you might as well fight back at the person shooting them!

As the late, great Jeff Cooper pointed out:  "The will to survive is not as important as the will to prevail... the answer to criminal aggression is retaliation", and, on another occasion, "The proper solution to armed robbery is a dead robber, on the scene."  The latter applies equally well, IMHO, to any terroristic threat.

Peter

When will DNA be required for official ID here?

It seems Kuwait has begun demanding DNA profiles from everyone wanting official documentation of their existence.

The Ministry of Interior’s Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passports Major General Mazen Al-Jarrah ... said that DNA tests will be a condition to issue [passports] with the aim of building a database with citizens’ DNA information.

. . .

“DNA will be a condition to register babies older than six months, be born in or outside Kuwait in order to prevent unlawfully adding anybody to citizenship files,” he explained, noting that he followed up this measure with a ruling family member.

There's more at the link.

OK, that's birth certificates and passports.  What else?  I guess drivers licenses will be next.  And if all this is going down in Kuwait, how long before Uncle Sam decides he wants the same information from US residents?

Seems like Big Brother is getting bigger and less brotherly every day . . .

Peter

A really important book for troubled times like ours

Back in the Cold War era (which was all too frequently a pretty damned hot war for those of us involved!), Jerry Pournelle's 'There Will Be War' series of anthologies focused on analyzing military conflict, providing answers, insight and food for thought to its readers.  There were nine volumes in all, and I found them very interesting in my younger days.  They contained a mixture of fiction (both contemporary and sci-fi), factual articles concerning aspects of warfare that were of current interest (usually written by experts in the field[s] concerned), and editorial comment from Dr. Pournelle and others.

With the end of the Cold War, publication ceased . . . but I'm glad to say that was only temporary.  Castalia House has worked with Dr. Pournelle to produce a brand-new volume in the series, 'There Will Be War, Volume X', which is published today.

It's also begun re-publishing the first nine volumes.  Kindle (e-book) editions of the first four volumes are available now, at greatly reduced prices compared to the (out-of-print) originals, and paper volumes will follow if there's sufficient demand.  (Try Volume 1 for a vintage taste of how war appeared not so long ago, and follow the links there for the other volumes.)  At only $4.99 for any of them, including the latest volume, they're a steal.  The earlier volumes may seem a little dated in modern terms, but the insights they contain are still valuable, IMHO.

In the headline to this article I called Volume X "A really important book for troubled times like ours".  I really believe that.  Too many people have become ossified in their thinking about warfare and conflict.  This new volume will challenge them, and all of us, to review our assumptions and preconceptions about modern warfare.  (For example, Dr. Pournelle's son, Cdr. Phillip Pournelle USN, is a naval surface warfare expert and contributes a very interesting article to the latest anthology.)  I think Castalia House has rendered an important public service in re-publishing the series as a whole, and revitalizing it with new editions (Volume XI is already in preparation).

I highly recommend this book to all my readers.  In an era of unconventional conflict and so-called 'fourth-generation warfare' such as ours, it'll help to pull our heads out of the sand and keep us alert to the changing security situation in which we live.  (And no, I'm not being compensated in any way for recommending it:  I do so out of profound respect for Dr. Pournelle and his accomplishments and contributions, and out of personal interest in the field.)

Peter

"Winnie the Pooh" was a real bear

I didn't know that until I read this article in the Telegraph.

The ‘prequel’ to Alan Alexander Milne’s 1926 collection of stories, Winnie the Pooh, begins in 1914 in Winnipeg, Canada ... Harry Colebourn, a vet, waved goodbye to his family to embark on a 1,500 mile rail journey to a military training camp near Quebec.

He was to join the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, tending horses on the Western Front in World War I.

When the train pulled in to White River, Ontario, Harry stepped out to stretch his legs and noticed a man with a bear cub tethered to a bench.

A few short moments of deliberation later and Harry was carrying the cub onto the train, having handed $20 to the hunter.

. . .

He resolved to call her Winnie (yes, the real Winnie was in fact a girl) after Winnipeg, his home town, and recorded the event for posterity in his diary: “August 24: Bought bear $20”.

At the time, however, Harry’s corporal was far from pleased to find him fawning over a bear cub. When Winnie stood up on her hind legs as if to salute him, however, he couldn’t help but laugh along with the other soldiers.

With her thick, glossy black coat and tan muzzle, Winnie looked nothing like the fraying yellow teddy depicted by EH Shepard in the illustrations to Milne’s stories - and even less like the slightly chubbier Pooh from Disney’s film adaptations.

With her thick, glossy black coat and tan muzzle, Winnie looked nothing like the fraying yellow teddy depicted by EH Shepard in the illustrations to Milne’s stories - and even less like the slightly chubbier Pooh from Disney’s film adaptations.

But Harry’s diary entries prove that Winnie shared certain character traits with her fictional namesake. For a start, she was always hungry.

Back then there wasn’t much honey about ... but Winnie went wild for the small bottles of condensed milk that were cherished by the soldiers.

She’d hold them between her paws and gleefully slurp them in a couple of gulps, before lying on her back and humming with contentment.

She was also a natural born entertainer, climbing tent poles in the army training camp.

. . .

By the time Harry’s regiment, the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade, sailed to Britain, there was no question of Winnie being left behind in Canada. She travelled on board across the Atlantic as their mascot.

. . .

When the time came for Harry’s regiment to leave for the front line, Winnie posed proudly with her comrades but Harry couldn’t bring himself to take her too.

Instead, he took a day’s leave, and drove her up the A303 to London where he reluctantly left her at London Zoo.

. . .

By the time armistice was declared on November 11 1918, Harry considered it too cruel to uproot Winnie from her home in London.

“He visited her at the zoo and saw that she was the star attraction,” Lindsay says. “In so many ways it’s a blessing that she stayed. I always tell Cole that sometimes one story has to end for another to begin.”

Back in Winnipeg, Harry often talked about Winnie, recounting their adventures and showing photographs of her to his son Fred, who in turn passed them on to his daughter Laureen, Lindsay’s mother.

But it was only after his death in 1947 that Fred and his family learnt that Winnie’s friendship with a small boy at London Zoo had inspired one of the bestselling children’s book series of all time.

There's much more at the link.  It's a fascinating story for animal-lovers and bookworms alike.  Having "grown up", so to speak, on a diet of Winnie the Pooh (among other literary greats for children), I was fascinated to read 'the story behind the story'.

Peter

So true!

Stefan Pastis nails it in this morning's "Pearls Before Swine" strip.

Word.




Peter

Sobering memories from World War II

Here's a long talk (1 hour 25 minutes) from a survivor of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines in 1942, followed by over three years in Japanese captivity.  It's a sobering reminder of a period of history about which far too many are ignorant today.

There are very few survivors left among us from World War II.  We need to record their memories like this one, so that future generations won't forget.

Peter

Gun show madness

This morning I went to a gun show in Murfreesboro, TN.  It was absolutely packed, so much so that moving around was an exercise in frustration, negotiating tiny gaps between groups of people, and squeezing past those standing at tables examining firearms and other goodies.  The parking lot was full to overflowing, and cars lined the street for half a mile in either direction.  Other businesses nearby were complaining about their parking lots being taken over by gun show attendees.  Some did more than complain - they called in tow companies, and the gun show was constantly interrupted by broadcast reminders not to park in front of certain businesses, or advising the owner of a vehicle with a given registration number that if it wasn't moved within the next five minutes, it was going to be towed.

The show may have been crowded, but there wasn't too much trading going on.  People were looking rather than buying.  The vendors I knew were all complaining about it, and private sellers hoping to make some extra money for Christmas were mostly disappointed.  I was, too:  I took a couple of guns to sell, but had no luck at all until I'd actually left the show and was on my way back to my (distant) car.  A guy who'd looked at my guns in the exhibition hall caught up to me and made a low-ball offer on one of them.  He seemed a little embarrassed about it, but admitted he just didn't have enough money to go any higher.  Since I had things I wanted to buy, I accepted the offer, so the morning wasn't entirely wasted.  I also traded five used magazines (for a gun I no longer have) plus $10 for three new magazines (for a gun I do have).  At least that was cheaper than buying them outright for cash.

I was surprised by the amount of anger and resentment directed against President Obama.  I've heard it all before, of course, but today it was laced with profanity and real bitterness.  I think, if he tries to restrict private sales at gun shows or any other such step, he's going to spark the most widespread civil disobedience since the civil rights era.  People are fed up to the back teeth with the left's anti-gun rhetoric, and they simply won't take it any more.  That's just the way it is.

Ah, well . . . the money I got for my gun will pay for a Crimson Trace Laserguard and some spring kits for various weapons (mine and my students').  I'll have fun installing them soon, with a little help from a friendly gunsmith.

Peter