| My
wife and kids are still up in Moorhead, visiting Grandma and being with
her after Grandpa's death. Since I was all alone, I decided to go up to
the ranch. Here's what I did. |
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First,
I had to fix up the shootin' range. Last time the family was up there,
the near target stand got blown over by the wind (after Nettie mounted
a big hunk of cardboard on it, which acted like a sail). I built this
new target stand, and used 4x4s instead of 2x4s, like last time. The
4x4s will not be broken in half by the wind!
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We
have been taping targets to our target stands. I got really sick of
having to do this all the time, so I put these "bull clips" on the
target stands. You may think that this is a good idea, but really it
isn't. Soon, you see, one of my kids will shoot one of the clips, then
this clip idea of mine will show itself for what it is -- a bad idea.
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This,
however, is a good idea. In fact, a really good idea. I made this
sign(can't you tell?). It has the four rules of gun safety endorsed by
the IDPA (these rules are generally accepted as universal). I think
they ought to post these at every shootin' range. At least they are
posted at my shootin' range.
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This
is my new tinker (I turned in all of the change in CEL and used it to
buy this). It is just like Nettie's tinker, but mine can handle 9mm.
The point of this picture, however, is not my new tinker. Rather, the
point of this picture is the state of the cinder blocks on which my new
tinker sits. I put those cinder blocks there to hold Nettie's tinker,
and they did that just fine. The cinder blocks were able to withstand
getting hit with .22 rounds well enough, but aparently they are not
going to stand up to 9mm rounds very well. I expect that Nettie's
tinker stand will be pulverised before too long.
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Typical scenery up at the ranch.
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On
Saturday, I helped Jason reinforce his pig pen. He was receiving three
pigs that day, and the pen was not yet ready. It doesn't look like
much, but it should hold them now that we fixed it.
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The
three pigs. These little honeys weigh about 85 pounds each. I was the
one whose job it was to get them from the trailer to the pen. We backed
the trailer up to the pen as close as we could, but then I had to get
into the trailer and grab each pig, one by one, and pick it up, carry
it over to the pen, and plunk it inside. I now understand why they
grease these things up at county fairs and have people try to catch
them. Pigs are really squirmy, and they sqeal like you wouldn't
believe! I was downright winded by the time I had all three pigs in the
pen (but it was fun).
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