FB

I need to stop going to facebook for the next month. Every morning it wants to share a memory from last year when I did my semester abroad in Spain. I miss it soo much, seeing the pictures just make me sad.

The Zone

No, not the diet from the 90s I tried for a bit. (it wasn't too bad, more meat and veggies, less carbs) I mean the feeling or mental place you get when you're performing subconsciously at your best.

I used to hit this feeling once a month. Now I'm getting it almost once a practice session. What's change?

Learning how to visualize. Positive self talk. My routine. And just more time behind the gun.

But I can feel it now, where things are just happening and it feels slowed down and yet it will be my best and fastest time of the day.

Getting closer!

PD

-Vanessa and Ethan should have formed a power team and fought Dracula. Dracula battles a witch and a werewolf to the "death". That would have been awesome. Dracula should have died at the end. And I could have tolerated Ethan or Vanessa dying as well if done properly.

-Dorian should have gone quietly medieval on the whore army in his house and killed all of them. At first his character just seemed a vacuous window dressing but I'd like to see him even more developed.

-Not sure what I think of Lilly, Jeckyl, Frankenstein, and the Creature's arcs. I'm glad the Creature didn't reanimate his dead son. I somehow wanted Lilly to either be killed or to turn into a regular person and wander away. I'm fine with her fading from the show with no explanation. Victor I'm not sympathetic to anymore. Lord Hyde I would like to see more of, in both his guises.

-Yes to Sir Lyle and the Mummy. Either in London or Egypt or both.

-Sir Malcom does a good job being the center of soo many characters, keep him.

-More Dracula battles? Will the Creature stay nice or go mean/crazy? Who else? Invisible man? Phantom? Some other form of "monster", either classical or occult? What can the new Kat character bring to future episodes? I hated Dr Seward at first but now enjoy her.

Hmmmm, season 4? I hope so but don't have much hope. It did say The End at the end......

Summer Thunder

No need to look at the radar, I can see the front moving in. Lots of thunder, no rain yet.

Don't eat oats

Lovely little creatures are all over the back yard. Glad I see bunnies, birds and deer. Rather than rattle snakes.

The 1920's

Remember when a large part of the population found something dangerous to the greater good, though legal at the time. Went through the effort to change the Constitution regarding it. A national campaign and consciousness about the evils of alcohol and how it was our moral obligation to the safety of society, family, children, health care and public safety?

Remember that? How is that effort now seen in retrospect? As successful? As a correct principle? And where are we today?

There is something admirable in wanting to make such a change, but the means to it can't be banning a "thing". That's utterly foolish.

Look at prohibition again and make the corollary to the gun issue today and tell me if you think it will be any different? It won't.

Opposite and equal reaction

Never have I had to deal with soooo many stupid, surly, unknowledgeable, unhelpful people in my life.

When will I experience an equal and opposite level of customer service? It's a physical law, it has to happen, right?

Not Special

My old HMO wouldn't write me a scrip or let me fill one for enough Humira to cover me until new coverage here kicked in. Despite having the 90 days of coverage....

I'm used to being "in the system" and I guess cutting the line, or getting special consideration. The new health system is not having any of that....

So it looks like I'll have to go to the ER to force a prescription refill for my Humira.

The GI doc won't accept a self referral, I can't get into a PCP until the middle of August and then a referral to GI from there, leading me to not getting Humira until September at best. I have a shot for my injection in 5 days but nothing for after that date...

War

War on Poverty, check.

War on Drugs, check.

No Child Left Behind, check.

War on Terror, check.

War on Gun Violence, coming.

Let me know how well that works out. The war on obesity, smoking and drunk driving seem to have gone OK, so that at least is good.

?Orlando?

How would I feel if it was someone from my religion who was a mass shooter/extremist that shot and killed people? What would I do?

How would I feel if some group that I strongly identify with were the victims of a deadly attack? How would I mourn?

I am not a Muslim but it does seem the majority of terror events in the past 40 years are related to radical islamists. Also I'm not gay but they do seem to be the focus of quite a bit of hate still, despite a more open society and changes in social norms that make being gay more acceptable.

I was once told that it was a characteristic of an intelligent, civilized person if they could see things from a point of view now there own. That's what I'm trying to do here, is have a thought exercise about both sides.

I'm trying to avoid blanket, absolute pronouncements but instead something more nuanced. In the end though they are just thoughts, which are not worth very much unless they lead to actions. Changes.

We've got protected freedoms of religion, speech and the bearing of arms. I want to keep these as open and free as possible as I think that's of the greatest benefit to all mankind.

The US has had splinter religious groups and extremist groups before. Anarchists, KKK, Jim Jones. Semi automatic firearms with high capacity magazines have been around since the 1930's. Tommy gun, BAR. We've had same day news coverage since the invention of the telegraph. And radio. The core components of "today" really aren't that new.

Most people, countries and entities act first in their own self interest. I'm going to do the same and the first thing I think of is my own personal security. Which sounds safer to you? Being at home, in bed, behind locked doors, gun next to my bed, in a decent neighborhood at 0200 or being buzzed, at a club, in a large city, unarmed, at 0200.

Goes to prove the sayings -Nothing good happens after midnight. -The worst feeling in the world is needing a gun and not having one. -Be careful who your friends are.

In the end I'm angry that 50 Americans died at the hands of a person influenced by something foreign to us. I want a strong, united America. One that sees the differences but ignores them for the greater good. Less division and fraction and more compromise. You can keep your individuality in being gay, religious, a gun owner, ect but at a secondary level with national citizenship, pride being of greater importance.

But then we're back at the selfish thing I mentioned earlier....

What am I going to do? Continue to support my moderate Islamic friends. Continue to want to fight and kill radicals opposed to freedom and democracy. Work on having more empathy for the victims in these cases. Be more aware of my personal security. My concealed handgun class is tonight. I'll be carrying my gun, legally, everywhere possible afterwards.

And before I post any statements on fb or whatever, I'm going to try and look at it from as many angles as possible. Then if I feel like what I have to say will add value, I'll say it.

Less social, mostly media.

Oh man, so the new job has me running a business' social media. Their Facebook, blog, web store, forum accounts and Instagram. Generating content, posting, answering questions and updating it all is wayy more work than I expected.

And of course I'm doing my own internet promotional work for my shooting career.

This is one reason why I'm hit or miss on this blog or why it seems I post a ton and then none.

Oh and I got asked to help a Cub Scout group each week as well. Which requires a bit of internet training. hahahah.

Adjusting my AR

Ok, I've been living in Arkansas for over two months now, so time for a report and a review.

1. Driving here if you want to visit from San Diego is a non starter. You'd have to do two 12 hour days. That's brutal. Flights are less than $300 if you look around, just do that. I do have a nice guest room though should you want to....

2. They don't understand my voice often and I get theirs, but for the idioms. I think I have a higher toned voice and a west coast cadence so people here often ask me to repeat myself unless I am talking slowly and there is no background noise. It's ok, I understand. I get their accent OK most the time. Except the one time I couldn't find the restaurant called "Hal n Mal" as I was looking for "Howling Mal".

3. I live out in the sticks. Really. Dear, turtles, turkeys, bobcats, snakes, birds ect. Three acres of land at the edge of wooded land. FedEx can't find my without issue. My address is on no GPS. Everyone requires written or verbal directions just to get to the gate, let alone find my house once past the gate.

4. Religion. A large percentage of the people here are religious. It's like the total opposite of California. In CA if you talked about God, guns, America, Christianity and being straight you were the whack-job minority. Especially if you were white and male. Pretty much the exact opposite here. Not judging, just pointing out the differences.

3. Houses are cheap here. You can buy an amazing house for $350,000 here. That buys you crap in San Diego.

4. Going out to eat here is expensive. Especially for the quality of the food you're eating most times. Now there are good places here, but they are just not as ubiquitous as other places I've lived.

5. Bugs. Holy smokes bugs could take over and destroy this state if they wanted. Good thing they are not sentient to the level people are. I've gotten 5 ticks off of me and 42 bug bites on my legs here in this time frame.

6. People just generally aren't as healthy or attractive. A 7 in San Diego is a for sure 9 here.

7. It is definitely the Natural State. They love their outdoors of all variety. You can be into biking, boating, hunting, rock climbing, kayaking, fishing or just about anything but snow skiing and be good here.

8. Living in Little Rock area like I do you can be anywhere in the state in a 3 hours drive. Anywhere.

9. The weather has more drastic changes, more often, than any other place I've lived in my life.

10. I've met most my neighbors. DEA agent. ATF agent. Retired state patrolman. Yeah, it's that kind of neighborhood.

11. Customer service from blue collar or service industry jobs here is atrocious. Absolutely horrible. Adjust your expectations to toilet water level and you'll be happy. Seriously. Morons!

12. The roads are in good condition, but the state highway system is kind of circuitous. Hard to drive anywhere in a efficient, straight line. Fun for riding a motorcycle, not fun for trying to make time.

13. The house is closer to getting done. Waiting on a new batch of furniture for the dining room, living room and kitchen. Also all the window treatments for the front of the house. Only two rooms in the house need any real attention now.

14. There is room for the garden in the yard. It will happen. It will just take time. And time just lazes on by here.

15. Daylight! I don't know the science behind it, but it is light out till like 9pm already. Summer time here will easily have 14 hours a day of bright light. That's pretty cool.

16. Back to people just looking different here. Zero Asians it seems. Lots of blandness. Or the other extreme of being all tatted, dyed and pierced. Sense of style is not the same here at all. No dudes in flip flops, but tons of Tevas. You can tell instantly it is the South and not southern California.

17. No one speaks Spanish here. I've let my Spanish degrade to first year high school level and I still speak more than 95% of the non Hispanic population here.