Sugar water and dry toast.

Jurrasic Bug Park

When I left San Diego for Arkansas I had a list of things I thought I probably wouldn't enjoy about Arkansas. Well something that wasn't on that list at all is definitely number one.

And it is BUGS! For the past year I have had some sort of constant bug bite or 40 before I learned what chiggers are...

Seriously, it may be where I live in the state or the pass times I'm involved in but the number of freaking bugs and how much they bite me is what I hate the absolute most about Arkansas.

Freak

I just saw what looked like a husky mixed with a chihuahua. Freakishly wrong.

Third Person

Video showing just part of a match, from the point of view people have when they watch.

El Floridita

Not too far from Hemmingway's ocean side house lies the famous club El Floridita. Tennessee Williams was a very frequent visitor.

Memories  of 50's Cuba were suppressed after the revolution. So it's only with a little digging do I find some of the interesting history behind what I  saw just in a day trip to Havana.

Cuba infil video

Short video showing initial land fall over Cuba, and leaving the airport headed to the touristy part of Havana.

Etsy

Remember how I paid $50 for a bow tie? A trip to the fabric store and $8 later I have all the material amd interfacing for 5, yes 5, bow ties.

Check out my new spring line!

Zero

Yep drove this car down to zero bars of gas. I had 0.30 of a gallon in it when I filled it up.

To the very edge my friends....

Two weeks

Never a good injury two weeks before a National match....

A Day in My Life

0700 eat breakfast

0730 do laundry

0800 answer emails and browse forums and such

0830 exercise

0900 shower and dress

0930 Kroger for Humira refill and food. Toys R Us for SS present. Cycle Gear for part. Gas fill up. Oil change.

1130 Home for lunch

1200 dry fire

1230 pack up truck and head to range

1430 head home from range, clean up

1500 rest. review practice. work on Tactical Journal article

1600 head to airport to pick up Gordo and SS

The Right Stuff: Season 4 | Episode 4

CQI

Continuous Quality Improvement. What are you doing, all the time, to get better? In the realm of my shooting world this is what I did to get better today.

-Tore my D1050 totally down, cleaned it and installed new parts. Adjusted it for the bullet I like and will be using all year.

-Did physical exercises for strength and some stretching.

-Dry fired for one hour at a good pace working on skills I on which I need improvement.

-Developed a load for the bullet from my notebook and set it aside for accuracy and chronograph testing.

The weather also looks like it is getting a small break, so I'll probably go to the range soon as well. USPSA Optics National Championships in a few weeks.

Fla...... Cu.....

So I've been in Florida the most of the past 5 days, with a one day detour to Cuba. I went to Florida to shoot their state IDPA match with a friend from CA.

I've only been to Florida for tourism once before, Universal Studios for two days. Being there a few extra days this time was nice and I thought of going to the Everglades and see alligators and other wildlife. Or go to the Keys and just see that area. Maybe even do a half day of catch and release shark fishing.

What ended up happening was some going out to eat, the match for 3 days, going to the movies, going to the Keys for an afternoon and a whole day in Cuba.

There seems to be a lot of worry and misinformation about going to Cuba as an American in 2017; so let me share my experience and research with you.

-Flights are out of Miami or Fr Lauderdale. You can go on Delta, Jet Blue, American Airlines or regional Latin American based carriers. Flights are cheap, anywhere from $115 to $200 at the most. The flight isn't even two hours.

-Going for tourism as a US citizen is technically against the law. You are supposed to go for one of the 12 reasons. The most nebulous is "Support for the Cuban People". The only time I was asked to state this was during the electronic portion of printing my boarding pass. No one in America in either direction personally asked me about this. Cuba didn't at all as it's not a Cuban thing, but US.

-Lots of Americans are going there. My day, it looked like most where part of a tour group who did things such that there was a well defined connection to one of the 12 reasons, like "Person to Person Cultural Exchange". Trust me, they were still tourists. Visas are variable in price depending on when and where you buy them. $50 from online vendors well in advance to $100 at the airport gate before take off.

-Nothing there is cheap. The tourist money you use, a "CUC" and pronounced like "kook", is 1:1 with a dollar. Want to buy stuff like food or trinkets and they'll be cheap-ish but not super cheap like say, SE Asia. Lunch will be $10. A tshirt the same. The taxi ride from the airport to downtown Havana is $30. You can only get CUC in Cuba as an American. If you can get Euros before you go, do that. About $2-300 per day of your stay is a good conversion. You will not be using your plastic AT ALL except in less than a handful of places. Never out and about.

-If you don't speak even a little Spanish it's not as fun. There are tons of Canadians there as tourists, hell cruise ships dock in Havana so English can be had. But walk half a step off the path and you better have some Spanish. Or good confidence.

-It is like a third world country. And you will have no wifi, no internet, no cell service with anything you brought from the US and definitely not at all outside of a few hotel that cater to foreigners. Prepare to unplug.

-It felt safe. No one was anit American. Beggars and such were very very rare. Prostitution was apparent. General infrastructure is run down.

-There are a lot of museums, galleries and performance spots. Into any of the arts and you'll find all sorts of things to appreciate. Food in Cuba is simple, sparse. I don't smoke or drink so can't comment on Habana Club or cigars.

-Retail places are very few and far between. It is difficult to buy goods.

-Get Global Entry. I got back into the USA in 30 minutes versus 3 hours!! Seriously.

So go. Walk around. Be respectful. Reduce your "USA! USA! USA!" clothing and attitude, you'll get farther with the locals and they'll know where you're from quickly anyways. Get there before there are McDonalds and KFCs in Havana. Before there are Hiltons and Marriots. Go to Havana. Go to the beach. Eat fish. Talk to people. Spend money. Get your passport stamped and come back knowing you went first, before it became another Jamaica.

2nd from the right.

Squad from this weekend's match in Florida. Signed my first autograph this match.

I wasn't even close to winning, making 8 mistakes.

Observe, analyze and reinforce before USPSA Optics national championship in two weeks.

Beber

Having a drink on the streets of Habana/Havana Cuba.

My E Hemingway quest is almost complete.

They didn't ask...

I went to Cuba Thursday during a lull in my Florida trip with DO. It was easy and I was never hassled.

Please go and do it as well before the first McDonald's or Hilton shows up.

Check it and see.

Spring time in Arkansas