The People's Democratic Republic of Insomnia

"It's just laser beams and power chords--there's no plot at all."

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Another Range Report

It seems that killing 9" pieces of paper is my new favorite hobby, so here's another range report...

John (not YJ but a guy I work with) and I went to the range with his new Kel-Tec PLR-16 as well as his .44 snub and my Glock 23. We had a blast. The kel-tec has a flash supressor, barely kicks at all, and will put lead downrange fairly accurately just as fast as you can pull the trigger. Man that was fun. I couldn't stop grinning. The sights need a little work though--they're too open for my taste. I put a few rounds through the .44 as well, just because I hadn't shot that yet...I still like my Glock .40 cal better, although I'm getting to the point where I can control the bigger handguns more effectively.

We had the range to ourselves for half an hour or so, so I worked on my draw-and-fire. I have absolutely no benchmark for this, except to know that faster and more accurate are better, but I can reliably draw from an exposed hip carry and hit a 9" target at about 15 feet in (I think) about a second. Plenty of room for improvement, but also raises an important question:

When will this be useful?

I don't carry exposed (I can't, by law). So it will take me even longer to get to my weapon in a "live" situation (yes, I practice drawing from concealment, but currently I cannot do so safely with a loaded weapon). I can't imagine being in a situation where I would feel the need to draw down on someone who is not brandishing a deadly weapon. Human reaction time is, if I remember correctly, about 1/5th of a second. This implies that a goblin would be able to shoot me 5 times before I could defend myself with a firearm (obviously, other factors involved will reduce this number, but not to zero). It still looks like I'm better off disarming the goblin (I know/practice a few hand-to-hand moves for this, and can reliably deflect a handgun before the trigger is pulled in non-lethal tests*) if I'm in hand-to-hand range, and just running otherwise (tried this once, it worked well).

There's a lot of firearm enthusiasts out there who espouse the use of handguns for self-defense. I ask of you: what non-apocalyptic scenario am I missing where a handgun will actually be useful? Should I, with practice, expect to be able to draw and fire accurately before a goblin can pull his trigger? As a budding firearm enthusiast, I am sincerely curious. This is not flame-bait.

*I've never tried disarming anyone who was trained to use a handgun in a hand-t0-hand situation. Does anyone know if police (and related personnel) are taught anything about handgun retention?

Monday, March 17, 2008

Globalization

Finally, here is a definition of globalization I can understand and to which I can relate!

Question : What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer : Princess Diana's death.

Question : How come?

Answer : An English princess with

an Egyptian boyfriend

crashes in a French

tunnel, driving a

German car

with a Dutch engine,

driven by a Belgian

who was drunk

on Scottish whisky,

(check the bottle before you change the spelling),

followed closely by

Italian Paparazzi,

on Japanese motorcycles;

treated by an American doctor, using

Brazilian medicines.


This is sent to you by

An Irishman,

using Bill Gates's technology,

and you're probably reading this on your computer,

that uses Taiwanese

chips, and a

Korean monitor,

assembled by

Bangladeshi workers

in a Singapore plant,

transported by Indian

lorry-drivers,

hijacked by Indonesians,

unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,

and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....



That, my friends, is Globalization!

h/t to TGR, who doesn't have a blog.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

WANT!!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Range Report

All the fuss over on AD's blog made me realize that I haven't been to the range in a little while, so I loaded up to go kill some paper. Before I left, though, I spent a few minutes adjusting my carry rig. I'd been carrying in the small of my back under a loose shirt, but with my recent weight loss that isn't concealing so well, plus it's hard to draw from that position. I tried a few set-ups and realized that I can now conceal acceptably with an outside carry on my hip, which makes for a very easy draw.

In other news, despite being a bit rusty I was still able to make 10-round groups the size of my hand at 20 feet. Room for improvement, but very acceptable shooting for my purposes. I'm a lot tighter on the x-axis than the y-axis (about a factor of 2), which is supposed to happen (or so I understand). The cure for this malady? Practice, of course!

Friday, March 14, 2008

I'm Certifiable...

As a paramedic, that is. Yesterday I took the NREMT-P computerized recertification exam. It was surprisingly hard, with lots of esoteric questions about neurotransmitters and acid-base derangements. Still, I got my results today, I passed. Apparently, due to the nature of the test, there is no "score". You either pass or fail. There's some fairly advanced testing theory that I won't try to explain here.

In related news, the testing facility was great, with friendly staff, a lack of distractions, really comfy adjustable chairs, and a positive overall feel. I was WAY more impressed with this facility (Pearson VUE) than with the groady losers at Thompson Prometric. Oh yeah, and I got my results the next day, instead of after two months. That's a definite plus.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Tough Discussion Question

Tough, hard, manly, Cult of John Wayne...call it what you will. It occurs to me that we need to be able to quantify badassery--if only so I can understand why YJ thinks Ghurkas are so hardcore (I mean, they can't even make a straight knife).

The challenge I set before you, noble readers, is to rank the following in toughness. Additions to the list will be accepted, but remember that the list is meant to be a scale, not a canonical list of folks I don't want to piss off. Candidates have been listed in first-name alphabetical order.

Chuck Norris
John McClane
John Watson
Lou Costello
Rincewind the Wizard

Monday, March 10, 2008

Caption This



Have at it.

Sittin'

I had a lot planned for today, and none of it seems to be happening. It's my first real day off in kind of a while and I had planned to get a lot of stuff done...I have a presentation to write, a paper to start, bills to pay, chili to cook, and a mortgage to get approved.

But I has the lazy. I'm barely able to get off my ass to post this. Oh, wait--I'm on my ass! Ahh, the sweet, sweet relaxation.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

He's Gaming with the Angels Now

Gary Gygax, famous for creating the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game (and, arguably, roleplaying in general) has run out of hit points. He will be remembered by geeks the world over for creating a reason to hang out in the basement until three AM drinking Mountain Dew and eating Doritos, all while unknowingly polishing those blunted social skills.

He reportedly had this to say about himself: "I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else."

I can think of worse legacies.


E. Gary Gygax

July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008


Monday, March 03, 2008

H.T.F.U.

Seems like the wussification of America is spreading...See what the folks Down Under have to say.

With thanks to the good people at M.D.O.D.

On a related note, let's add "change a tire" and "jump start a car" to the list of skills a high school graduate should have.