analog_kidd

I got my wife one for Christmas. She's put a few hundred rounds through it so far, and not one problem. She loves the way it feels in her hand, and is prety accurate with it. Overall, she is very happy with it.

Great, now I have to wipe off the Mountain Dew from my monitor after reading this while drinking. That's just awesome!

Call me paranoid, but I have gotten into the habit of locking my doors ALL THE TIME just because of events like this.

I found a good use for the cheap plastic holster that came with my XD. I screwed it into the back of my closet door, a little higher than head level. It is very handy, but difficult to see. The closet is right next to the bedroom door, so if there is trouble, I can grab it and go.

I was just talking to one of the guys at Coal Creek Armory in Knoxville last week about this. I forget all the details, but I was very impressed at the system he described. They have several filtration systems, with each filter costing several hundreds of $$. He said that when they pull the filters every month or so, they find several pounds of lead in each one. I always thought they were a little pricey on their range time, but I guess this explains a little of it.

Go to the Norris PD, pay $25, get a key that you get to keep. The year ends June 30, no matter when you pay. You can also pay $10 per day. Not such a good deal for a regular, but if you want to bring an out of town friend it's OK. Also, EVERYONE on the range has to have paid. They don't care if it is your 100 year old grandma, who is blind and sitting in the car. If she is there, she needs a range permit. The PD will give you a map if you ask for one. The road is paved most of the way, except for about the last mile or so. The gravel road is well maintained, I wouldn't hesitate driving the wife's car there. They have two ranges. One is a pistol range with two backstops, the other is a rifle,range with 50, 100, and 200 yard backstops. There are covered pavillions for both ranges. Skeet shooting is not alllowed. They don't like to have to pick up the mess. It is a very nice range. Very pretty area.

I noticed last night the Shell gas station here in Oak Ridge had a few different selections. Of course I didn't go browse because I didn't want anyone thinking I was looking at the girly magazines.

Not a problem for me. I only use cash. Haven't owned one of those darn cards for years after paying it off. I do use a debit card sometimes, which comes out of my checking account. I wonder if Visa, who backs the debit card, could deny that transaction?

Is your wife's phone an older model? Mine is the latest edition, and I got it about a month ago. The Verizon guy said that this is a new feature they are requiring on all new model phones.

Well, I called Verizon about this yesterday. They said that they have recieved a lot of irate calls about this, but they claim it is out of their hands. They say that the FCC regulated this feature to assist people with disabilities, specifically people who cannot speak. The phone will continue to ring the alert until the 911 call is ended and reset by the 911 Operator. This way when help shows up, they can find the caller by listening for the tone. They thought it would be a good idea, until they actuyally put it into action. They are apparently working with the FCC to get the ruling changed. Unfortunately, Verizon specified the feature to all the companies who make phones for them, so it is locked into the phone's hardware. The manufacturers may be able to provide a firmware update to correct it, but that is up to the manufacturers (who probably would rather just sell you a new phone.) Again, we have a government agency dictating what services a company must provide, just to help out the 0.01% of the population that needs the service, but puting the rest of us at risk. Then they don't give us an option of disabling the service. ARRGH!

Welcome, and a big Thank-You for your service. I know it's hard to be away from your family, especially during Chritmas.

I looked around the net and discovered that this is something new in the past few months. All new Verizon phones (and other carriers) will have this "feature" from here on out. I'm not too hopeful that Verizon will be able to help me disable this on my phone. My experience with the local folks is they know how to sell you a phone, and that's about it. There was some discussion on a web forum about removing the 911 from the ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact from your phone. This did help on some models, but not on others. Mine is one of the ones that doesn't work. Unfortunately, it is going to take someone getting attacked because their phone alerted the BG to their position, and then a Civil Suit being laid on the Cell Provider before something will probably get done. We also have cancelled our land line and only use the cell. I think I may call the local police dept. office and find out if there is another number I can program in to get to the same dispatch. Also, even though we cancelled our land line, we still get a dial tone. If I try to place a call, though, I get a message that it can only be used to place 911 call. I still keep a phone plugged in just for this. In the future, I'll remember to use this phone.

I got woken up last night at 2:30 am by some people at the neighbors house loading something into a van. Seemed a little strange to me, and we have had several break-ins lately, so I called the police. Turned out to be nothing. What disturbed me though is that I used my cell phone to call the police, and as soon as I made the call, my phone made a very loud ring-tone announcement, and displayed "Calling 911" on the display. When the call ended, I got a similar announcement. My phone was set to silent, so this was something that my phone thinks is a good feature. What bothers me about this "feature" is that if i'm trying to quietly call the police, my phone will give me up. What if there is a BG rustling around in my house, and I want to call the police before I go confront them. Or my wife calls while I'm looking around. I looked around the settings of my phone (a newer LG Chocolate), but found nothing to turn this off. I think I'll call Verizon later this week and see if they know anything. This is the first time I've ever called 911 from a cell, and I bet there are others who have never done so. Thought I'd make others aware of this.

I've always heard that FMJ is preferred because it may NOT kill the enemy. Human nature makes us (them) want to save our buddy. If you take one guy out and kill him, his buddy continues on after you. If you wound him, his buddy helps him to safety. You have effectively taken out two men with one bullet. May or may not be true, but is sounds like a good strategy to me.

Pump it full of LOTS of Helium and then just float it in.

The print kind that the mailman brings each month?

I went to W. Knoxville CompUSA today to look for a tape drive for a client. After walking around for ten minutes with no luck finding one, I sucked it up and went looking for help. The guy I found looked at me with a puzzled expression when I told him what I wanted. I asked him if he knew what I was talking about, and he said "Are they those things that write to a cartidge thingy?" He obviously had never seen one. We walked around together for a few more minutes while he said "Lets try here, no, OK let's try there". Ultimately we came to the conclusion that they don't carry a single tape drive. This is one reason I don't like to shop here. They never have what I am looking for, and it is rare that I find a knowledgable sales person.

Thanks for the offer Rightwinger, but I already got her one. Picked it up yesterday.

My wife has finally come over away from the darkside and decided she likes shooting enough that she wants her own gun. We went to the range and she tried a few on, and really liked the Bersa 380. I'm thinking of buying her one for Christmas. I really like the look of the dou tone, which has some matte black and some nikel finish. What surprised me is that the one that I think looks better costs less than the all black model. Like $40~$50 less. Usually I pay more for the one I like, so this seems really strange to me. Does anyone know why there is this price difference, and is there a problem with the nikel finish that may cause problems in the future?

Actually in the info paper we got it said cash or "certified" check. I guess he missed the certified part. For me it was no big deal at all. I only deal in cash, that's all I ever use.

I know it will probably take a bit longer, but a kid can hope, right? After my class, I realized that I did not have my birth certificate. I had to send off for one from Florida, so it took about three weeks. Wish I had checked before I took the class. Then after all that waiting, like an idiot, I forgot to bring it with me to the DMV. DOH! Had to go back home and get it. My son went to put in his application on the same day and only brought a check. Cash only! He thinks that they really don't want citizens to have their permit, and so they make it really difficult to get it. He said they can kiss his ***, he is going to get it, no matter how many hoops he has to jump through! I kind of agree. Why can't they put in a fingerprint kiosk at the DMV? The setup looked really simple. Just a laptop, a little scanner and some software. My closest location was a UPS store, and it was manned by a teenager who did my prints. This could / should be done right where you put in your application. I had to drive all over creation to find the closest location. Anyway, I got the whole thing done in a day. Even though the paperwork said you had to wait a day after calling to make an appointment and actually getting printed, they told me that was incorrect and I could do it anytime. Now I just have to wait.

Right now I just have a cheap .22 rifle, but I think a Ruger Mk III is in my very near future. Ammo is so cheap, you can spend an entire afternoon plinking for $10.

What molonlabetn said. I pretty much had already made up my mind when I bought my XD9. I researched it like crazy, and liked what I heard. I started off knowing I wanted something like a Glock. When I went and looked at them, I held the XD and it just felt better in my hand. Every person I have ever spoken to that owns an XD says the exact same thing. What really drew me to it though was the grip safety. This is my first handgun, and my wife was a little uneasy about owning one. We have grandkids. The safety was just an extra bit of peace of mind for her. By the way, she is now toitally on board with guns, adn even wants one of her own for Christmas. I also like the indicators that show it is cocked and chambered. I am very happy with it. The more I shoot, the more I like it.

I teach the Dave Ramsey program at our church, and I am always amazed by the lack of knowledge folks have about smart finances. We churn out graduates from public school, that know all about how to apply a condom, or about really useful things like how a single cell amoeba reproduces, but they don't even have a clue about how simple compound interest works, or about the benefit of early investing in a 401k or IRA. We teach to save up a 10% down payment, then make sure the mortgage is no more than 25% of your take-home pay. With that formula, most people can afford a house. It really boils down to common sense and self discipline. Many of todays young marrieds want to start off with what took their parents 25 years to get. It's dumb for them to bite off more than they can chew, and it's dumb for the mortgage company to approve it. I think both parties share some the responsibility for the problem, but ultimately the homeowner is the one who has to pay up. Unfortunately, it's become almost the norm to just file for bankruptcy these days.

Thanks for the offer Phantom6, but I will be out of town for that shoot. It seems like every time I go into Frontier Firearms, someone is bringing back a holster, and they seem pretty OK with exchanging it. I'll probably head that way and see what they have. I'm pretty flexable, so I'll probably be OK with whatever I decide on anyway. I also may take your advice and go look at Greene's. I know they don't sell guns there. Do you think they would have a problem with me bringing mine in to see how it fits?