World Class

Lately I've been thinking about what it would take to be world class at my pistol competitions. I know what it takes to be one of the best in the state and top 20-ish in the nation for my classification. World class though, that's a different story. But a story I wouldn't be considering if I also didn't think it was possible!!

-My own bay. Twenty yards wide by 50 yards deep. Unrestricted access. A bay is my field, my court, my track. To be world class I need more time in a bay. Perfection would be at my residence, currently impossible but maybe not in the future. I'd be super happy to have one in less than an hour's drive for my own private range. Not sure what this would cost, not knowing land values or usage/zoning restrictions. $30,000?

-Targets and props. I need to be able to run drills and set stages. Steel, paper, sticks, stands and movers. Some of this is a consumable, but the other stuff would last and last. Plate rack,Texas star, 4 large poppers, 4 small poppers, two drop turners, two swingers, 4 barricades, 4 barrels, 16 target stands and all the misc stuff like stapler, paper targets, sticks, cables and so on. Maybe a shed to store stuff as well. $10,000 for it all and then some getting top quality everything.

-50,000 to 100,000 rounds of ammunition per year. Shooting well is a perishable skill. For 100k rounds that is $12,000 if I make them myself.

I mean I already have the pistols. Holsters and other equipment. Hearing and eye protection. All the other small personal stuff like timers, score sheets and so on.

Right now I get to do outside practice once a week and indoor practice twice a week. In good weeks I shoot 1,000 rounds in a week between practice and matches.

But with the above mentioned facility, training equipment and ammo I could be world class. I know it. Roughly 45,000 dollars and hours of daily effort.

Of course one would then have to go to matches and prove it! hahahha. But I feel pretty good about that too.

Unfinished Business

Been seeing pictures online lately of people I used to train jiu jitsu with who are now black belts. I bowed out when I was a purple belt. I'm pretty sure I had the physical and mental skills where I could have made it by this time as well. I for sure would have been a brown belt with a couple stripes.

The community college I take classes at is across the park from where I used to race bmx. If there were more than 4 riders I never made the main off of winning a heat race. I only ever made the main off of low turn out. Either in cruiser or regular. I never raced bmx as a kid so racing against 10 year old experts was pretty humbling. And in retrospect irritating.

I still only have a BS degree. Multiple years of trying to get into PA school never worked. Never started a different masters program. I don't really use the degree I have. I'm not complaining but most everyone I am friends with have advanced degrees so there is a tinge of inadequacy. Each year it is a struggle to renew my nuclear medicine license. My EMT cert lapsed long ago.

Languages. Yep, I'm doing good in Spanish and learning more than I ever have but my language history is littered with stops and starts. I got straight C grades through two and one half years of high school French. I did one semester of high school Spanish. Later I dropped out of a community college conversational Spanish class when I lived in Yuma. I tried taking Russian twice and dropped out within two weeks of a privately run course and a college one. Hebrew. Arabic. Both the same. Spanish is the only one to have taken root. And while I have plans to attend a semester in Spain I might have to ditch that for possible work development.

I'm not complaining at all. Just been reminded lately of things I didn't really see all the way out to a possible end. I'm not even sure if these things even warrant more attention or effort from me, but they did pop up in my mind the past month.

Reeeeeeeeemix

Some cover songs I like.

Chromatics covering Neil Young's Into the Black.


Steven N Seagulls covering ACDC's Thunderstruck.


Duran Duran covering Elvis Costello's Watching the Detectives.


Charley Pride covering Hank William's Kaw Liga.

T and C

Flying the day after Thanksgiving to go see Simon. So a weekend in Utah instead of New Jersey. Though I will have to go to NJ sometime soon after to visit him as well. That Friday should be an easy airport day but the Sunday will be monstrous.

Christmas. Hmmmm, the ultimate celebration of buying stuff. Maybe one of you dear readers might buy me something!?!? So with that in mind, here is my Xmas wish list.

-Aimpoint Micro gun sight. $600

-Wheelie University class. $500

-Bookends. Any sort of cool metal or glass "thing" like lions, skulls, wwII fighter plane parts or whatever would make a heavy, decorative bookend.$10-100

-Megalodon shark tooth fossil. Yep, a nice big dinosaur shark tooth. $40-200

-Exhaust and FI computer for my motorcycle(2014 Yamaha FZ09). Akrapovic, Graves, Yoshimura. Slip on or full system. Coupled with a Power Commander. $500-1100.

-Anything collectible from the Universal series of monsters. You know, the 30's Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Mummy and Creature from the Black Lagoon. That sort of thing. Posters, t shirts, dvds, books, or whatever. Especially vintage but new reissues are cool too. $10-1000?

-A real gun safe that is also bigger than the one I have now. $500. Sadly it would have to end up in the garage due to the two story nature of my house. Not what I consider ideal.... Though I have seen some that come in sections you can assemble in your home. That might be troublesome at first but worth it when done. I don't know, I just know I need more....

-Dual sport motorcycle. I miss being able to ride dirt with Super D and go on my own adventures. The best choice I think is a Yamaha WR250R. I had the supermoto version of this bike in the past so I know how good it can be. $4000 used and $6000 new. Second choice would be the Honda CRF250L like I had before, but sold for a real motox bike.

-Mountain bike. Something all mountain, enduro or whatever they call it now. Probably from Giant, Trek or Specialized. $2500-3500.

-New sunglasses. $50-120