leroy

Garufa... I simply can't come up with a story as great as Ole Jimmy's..! It's fantastic Brother...!!! We did; however have a shot go bad right about half way between the crossover bridge to the UT AG campus and the light at 23 d street n Cumberland AVE in the UT area about 1965 or so. We shot some boulders in a cut we were excavating to boulevard 23 d Street that were poorly covered. We broke a bunch of glass out of the old AG campus greenhouse and scared a poor gardener almost to death who was working at one of the stately old houses that were about a block east of 23 d Street. We searched and notified everyone in the area about the blast in the neighborhood prior to setting it off and closing the road, but evidently the ole guy was forgotten by the lady he worked for. I'ma guessin he was asleep in a garden shed or small greenhouse right next to the excavation when the blast went off. The blast evidently scared him so bad he ran home and we couldn't find him, nor could his employtress. She panicked n swore we blew him up, and she was a retired city judge's wife; so we were concerned. We also cracked a bunch of window glass in her house from the shock wave of the blast. As the rocks rained down, a long with the dust; we were converged upon by Knoxville City Police, UT officials of various flavors, and the Trainmaster of the old L&N ( now CSX ) West Knoxville yard. The Trainmaster was livid and wuz swearing horrible epithets and ordering us to get the " damned rocks off the track so he could run trains ". At the same time, the Knoxville Police wanted to know " who the hell was in charge " so I fingered my ole boss who was the powderman in charge and the project superintendent. He had actually set the shot off. We were all severely threatened by everyone, called everything but a " Child of God ", our heritage was questioned, and we were all thoroughly cursed in the process of all this. I made myself scarce and went to cleaning rocks off the tracks. Mista John, the powderman and job superintendent, continued to catch hell hell from everybody; including our company owner and the insurance company that wrote our blasting insurance. We were all thoroughly threatened and told to clean this mess up, while our owner worked valiantly to keep us all from being lynched on the spot. The Gardner was found at his home about a week later, but he refused to come back to work for his last until we finished our project. It wuz, indeed, a helluva sight. " Powder monkey " leroy... Now retired...

I can help y'all with this... First a bit of background; about 60 years or so ago, dynamite was a normal staple for construction guys, farmers, loggers most everywhere. Ya could buy dynamite at the hardware store a long with fuses n caps. When I wuz a young boy and early teen, a friend of mine's dad regularly kept a case or two of dynamite around to break rocks and shoot stumps as needed in his small excavating business. One of my first jobs was drilling and helping to shoot rocky excavations for a small road building contractor. That was in the mid sixties. We had portable " magazines " not unlike the one described in the article. We kept the dynamite and caps separate, but the dynamite was almost always housed in a steel box magazine which sounds exactly like what the squalling is about. I've handled and played with dynamite lotsa times as both a boy and worked with it as a young man in the construction trade. I'ma thinkin someone found an old " magazine " and brought it to the recycle center. I'ma also guessin the " owners " are long since gone home to their reward and are resting from their earthly labors, abandoning their magazine. That said, dynamite is not particularly dangerous when not struck directly ( as with a sledge hammer ) or shocked with a blasting cap. I've dropped a many a stick of 3 1/2 inch diameter " powder " as we called it down 30 or 40 foot blast holes in rock and I'm still here. Dynamite will burn if split open like a hot dog( that's how we used ta get rid of old dynamite ). Dynamite generally deteriorates by " sweating " out droplets of nitroglycerin. If stored in a cool place, it never goes bad. The " sweating " makes the dynamite more sensitive because the nitro is separating from the filler materials. That can be dangerous, but is manageable. All the hand wringing about dynamite and prilled ( diesel fuel mixed ) ammonium nitrate and the " chain of custody and licensing of explosives " came, as I remember, from the Terrorist/ Kansas City bombing incident. Dynamite n prilled ammonium nitrate now can only be handled by " licensed " and certified blasting contractors with a requirement of 100 percent traceability for the explosives. It wasn't always that way though. blasting leroy.. One time " powder monkey "... Now retired... With all my digits n appendages.

Update on the pistola and a gunsmith recommendation. The little pistola came back with about a 3 lb crisp trigger pull in the timeframe promised. The gunsmith is Brother Eric Slater, proprietor of " Slater's In House Guns "... Excellent job, delightful to deal with. Highly recommended. Address n business details here: https://www.ffls.com/ffl/162009011e08281/slater-eric-e leroy.... Fully armed n dangerous with my baby 45 colt...

If ya watch the Erwin, TN area, ya see Lotsa TN National Guard engineering folks and logistics folk working in the background.. leroy...

I don't know if y'all have seen this statement from the Congressional Rep for the Asheville area. It's very interesting. The NC political class is scared to death... https://edwards.house.gov/media/press-releases/debunking-helene-response-myths?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10/9/24 AM:&utm_term=Punchbowl AM and Active Subscribers from Memberful Combined leroy...

RED... I think the " slippery slope " opinion is well founded. The big hitter here in my mind is the fact that it's being discussed at all. Greg Abbott in TX and Ron DeSantis in FLA have already fired the " across the bow " shots on the Feds NOT ENFORCING federal law with no consequences. The reason ( I think ) is that they are in the right. The federal gubt cannot pick n choose which federal laws to enforce based on their particular proclivities. That's why the feds ain't moved on it. The next step ( And the step that the original Articles of Confederation envisioned ) is individual state nullification of federal law. We're living in interesting times Brother... leroy...

It's very interesting ( to me at least ) that the issue of State Nullification of Federal Law is being discussed. This has peeked it's head up a few times in recent past during the Haslam gubernatorial years over some federally sponsored 2A related issues. I think it's very interesting that it keeps percolating beneath the surface of TN state politics. Link below: https://tennesseeconservativenews.com/tennessee-senate-state-local-government-committee-hears-expert-testimony-on-nullification/ leroy...

Some Mountain City / Johnson County, TN proof of local EMA clownishness n incompetence. Note the local reply... https://www.thetomahawk.com/news/community/johnson-county-ema-struggles-with-donation-logistics/article_024468d6-82a2-11ef-a27d-cfd71fc4db66.html leroy...

Folks... The FEMA folks will do nothing more than hand out dollars for storm cleanup and infrastructure repairs. They may pass a few dollars along to those affected by the storms n flooding, but it will be little n late. That's what the gubt does. I've got several buddies that worked part time for FEMA after retirement, they surveyed n assessed the cost of storm cleanup, infrastructure damage and the like. They always took up motel space and drove around surveying damage, nothin more. I think the TN national guard is, in fact, helping to clean up storm debris, take care of logistics for relief supplies, n fly them into remote areas. I see that as a good thing simply because of the tools and manpower the guard has. That said; I DO BELIEVE there are some shenanigans goin on in Johnson County, TN and probably in some isolated Western Carolina counties. I'ma thinkin these are local issues where sheriff's n local state emergency management folks are becoming the wannabe tyrants they always were. As to Western NC; I think that the ratty governor of NC could care less about Western NC. As to the " local tyrants "; affected folks will take due note of who they are and get rid of em in due time at the ballot box. Getting rid of the governor will be a bit tougher I'ma thinkin. Meanwhile, there are plenty of lovely stories of outside groups helpin with the full support of gubt agencies. Problems are never fixed by gubt, nor kindness shown by them. It's always the kindness of benevolent groups n individuals that make the difference. Please continue to give time and treasure to those who are helping these folks; they are doing a whole bunch of good where it counts. The gubt ain't gonna help anyone in the short run, they never do. leroy...

Wish ya were closer ... SIGH ... GLWS. leroy.

For those who are able to give, I recommend this bunch: https://missionofhope.org/ They are a benevolent organization and headquartered in Knoxville. They have been around a long time, are thoroughly Christian, and arrow straight... leroy .

Behind the hip. IWB or OWB depending on the shirt. Front pocket with a small pistola... leroy...

Dear folks... The recent flooding in Greene, Cocke, Unicoi, and other East TN counties is the worst I've ever seen in my 78 years. I've been searching for a way to donate as close as possible to ground zero on this. The water supply systems in these counties ( 15 of em I'ma thinkin ) has simply been wiped out by the flooding, and these folks need food n water badly... That said, I'm asking for those closest to this tragedy to post any worthy local organizations that need dollars for supplies. I'ma thinkin churches, benevolent organizations and others, so we can build a list of " the worthy " and help these folks who do desperately need help now. I'll start off with one. " The Mission of Hope " here in Knoxville. They have already set up a giving page. The First Baptist Church at Erwin, TN can also accept donations. https://www.erwinfirst.org/ Our Man Johnny " B " also has some info here: Thanks a bunch... leroy

I'ma likin the Reflex too... I really like the internal hammer thing. It's been around a long time. I just picked up a 9 mm EZ S&W . I like it alot... leroy...

We used to railfan up the French Broad toward the NC line in the " Ole days ". I recognize Lotsa the old spots in the drone photos. It is devastated. I don't think I've ever seen this much damage before. The area right at the Nolichucky Dam ain't much better. leroy...