I'm not a Genius.

I'm not a genius. Or even a member of Mensa. The official IQ test I took in college had me at 138. And you need it to be 140 or greater to be genius, so just not quite there.

Well this not quite genius has been bore with his blog and had no inspiration to write anything beyond my normal "oh, look at me!", kind of post. And I still haven't came up with anything different than that, so it's what you're going to get today too.

Bored the other night I went to Barnes and Noble to check out books and magazines. I ended up with the usual motorcycle magazines but also a book titled "Combat Shooting" by a well known gun journalist and cop who has had to use his gun multiple times in the line of duty. An expert and well respected for decades in the field of using lethal force.

In his book he talks of the value of competitive shooting to prepare you for using your gun in real life, for self defense. So I thought, I wonder if I've ever competed against this guy and low and behold I have a few times. The most recent being at the IDPA national championships. Like in golf, the lowest score wins. His score was 358, mine was 356.

HA! He gets to write a book and is an expert in the field, and I rank newbie in comparison has beaten him in our sports biggest match. Who cares if I am over 20 years younger than him. What do they say should happen with old age and treachery versus youth and enthusiasm? (that it should win, but it often doesn't)

Not having learned my lesson from showing off a la the one finger pull ups 3 weeks ago, I went to last night's match feeling pretty confident. I had an imposed 4 week ban on shooting with my right hand to let my finger heal properly. Well, it's been 3 weeks and I did beat the guy whose book I just bought, so why not just go for it? Hubris. Again!

Well guess who slipped and fell, running, holding a gun, flat on their face onto concrete last night? Me, Mr Not-Quite-A-Genius.
The gun stayed in my hand. It did not go off. My finger was out of the trigger. The gun was pointed down range the entire time. After a few stunned seconds on the ground, I got up at the RO's prodding and continued to shoot the course.

A little pain to body and pride. Battered but unbowed. We'll see if I've learned my lesson.........