Docwagon

I started learning Arabic when I was, unsurprisingly, in the Middle East for 2 years. I got to the point I could do simple things like order in a restaurant, make inane small talk, etc and could read very simple children's books. 9 years later and I can't even do the fucking alphabet any longer. We're planning a visit to Jordan next year in conjunction with our Spain trip (a week in Barcelona then a week in Amman), and I really want to be able to speak half way decent Arabic. My father in law speaks decent English, but my mother in law doesn't know anything but "hi, how are you, I'm fine." It seems rude to go and not be able to talk to her at all or to force my wife to play translator the whole time. So my wife is helping me pick it back up. Some words I remember pretty well, some I can't for the fucking life of me make stick in my head. Grammar is going to be fun. Luckily, Jordanian dialect is a fairly simple one and they aren't really picky about various tenses and things that English speakers get wrapped around the axle about. Its apparently one reason they talk with their hands so much. Why say "this one" and "that one" when it can be the same word and you can point? Hada saboon can mean "this soap" or "this is soap" or "that soap" and you'll figure it out from context or from gestures. Easy enough. The difficultly comes in with the sounds we don't have and vice versa. I need to relearn the alphabet (which, by the way, is named for the first two letters in Arabic alif and baa) so that I can see the words, which helps in pronunciation. Say "then" and then say "think". Notice that the 'th' sounds slightly different in each word? Of course you fucking didn't. You will now that you think about it, though. Well, those are separate letters in Arabic, and then they have an "emphatic" version of them, which we won't even get into. Anyway, to transliterate them into English, they use th, TH, dh, and DH. See the confusion? Right. So I've got about a year. We'll see. At least I can get a cup of tea if I want it, and then find the bathroom afterward. Bidi Chai. Wheyne hammam?

360.8 today. I met my yearly goal with 105 days to spare.

I broke 330 miles for the year this week. I'm at 336.6 miles for 2014, and I'd set my goal at 360 for the year. Last month was low mileage due to illness, weather, and family outings, I ended up with less miles than any month other than January. This month I'm back on it, though. Now if I could just lose some weight. I've lost body fat, but my actual weight hasn't changed much. I'd rather have muscle than fat, don't get me wrong, but my knee doesn't know or care how the weight is stacked. If I'm to go as long as possible without a replacement, I need to lose some actual tonnage. I've been stuck in the 240's most of the year. I guess I'm going to have to start lifting again, too. I wanted to get my weight down and then start lifting, but I've been at this weight too long and need to change it up a bit.

I heard this on BBC news (which we get via NPR stateside) and that the UK Gov't was sending some top shelf cancer doc to Spain to consult as well. Glad things are panning out for some sanity. **Edit** Oh, and that's another difference. The police here cannot drop charges or press charges. The prosecutor's office does that. The police can, of course, arrest you for a crime but the charges you are locked up on are preliminary. The prosecutor's office has final say if the charges stay as listed, upgraded, downgraded, or changed. When I present a warrant request, I will recommend charges, but the prosecutor actually fills out the charging affidavits with the specific charges and then the judge says yes or no before the warrant can be active.

Things must be quite different there. In order to get a warrant here there have to be charges. You can't take out a "lock this guy up while we consider the evidence and think about charges" warrant. The closest thing would be a limited arrest warrant, which is used to obtain evidence such as fingerprints, current photograph, or DNA samples. The person may be held only long enough to collect the evidence, and must then be released. Extradition is also up to the originating agency, but is at their cost. Because of this, many warrants have limited extradition. Low level felonies and misdemeanors may be a 250 mile radius or "surrounding states only", for example, while a major felony will typically be nationwide. I have no idea how international extradition works, I've never dealt with it.

Oh, and First Across the Rhine. http://www.amazon.com/First-Across-Rhine-Engineer-Battalion/dp/B007R90GCY

Oh, and Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). War, history, and culture shock all in one. It's a great book, especially if you've spent anytime in the Mideast.

The Rise of Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Rex The first covers Teddy's life up to his presidency. The second covers his terms as president. He is one of our most interesting presidents, a manly man's man of manliness after a fragile early childhood, and just a fascinating personality.

50 yards standing to 35 yards. Then head shots at 12y and 7y:

As I stated awhile back, I put together a PSA rifle. I finally got to the range and got it zero'd in today, and figured I'd do a review. First off, I'd like to state I am not an AR-15 expert when it comes to the nuts and bolts. I've never owned my own AR before. I'm pretty familiar with running one, though. I've been using government issued ARs off and on for almost 20 years. As such, I won't be discussing twist rates, mechanical details, etc. I'm sure folks who know a lot more than me have already said what needs to be said on those fronts. I'll just be talking about if it worked or not. (Spoiler: It did.) Before you get bored: That's the rifle sans sling. The sling is a Viking Tactics two point bungee with a quick release up front and the supplied side ring on the left side. Here's the price break down: Lower: $129 BCG: $89 Charging Handle: $25 Complete upper with rails: $309 Transfer fee: $15 Used Magpul rear flip up: $25 Used Eotech EXPS: $325 Vtac Bungee sling: $45 Quick release front stud: $0 Magpul Angled Foregrip: $35-ish (can't recall exact cost with sales tax, but within a buck or two) Haley Strategic Inforce weapon light: $119 Total: $1116 as it sits, $791 with irons only, $672 with irons only and no weapon light. I first zero'd it with the iron sights. I'd never used flip up rears before, but they worked just fine. All groups are 50y, prone, free hand, mag grounded. First group is nice, buy way high: Cranked the front post up to move the point of impact down, then one click of the rear to move the point of impact left (as viewed by shooter) a bit, and here's what I ended up with after 12 rounds. That's about 1.5" at 50y and right in the chalk. I'll take it. I zero'd the Eotech off of the irons and it was really close. I dialed it down and a fuzz, and all was right with the world. I ended up running 80 rounds through it, and then my hour was up. After zero, I did some three to five shot drills stationary and moving from 50-35 yards, head shots at 12y and 7y. I find the rifle to be accurate and easy to run. The angled foregrip is both natural and comfortable. For an hour outing, it didn't make much difference. For an 8 hour day, its going to be huge. The lighter weight and angled foregrip vs A2 handguards is going to be much easier on my wrists. The gun was 100% reliable. 80 rounds isn't much of a test, I know. However with it being the first 80 rounds and no break in hiccups, that's a good sign. Lube was standard CLP. Ammunition was 55 grain American Eagle .223. Magazine was a standard metal GI 30 round mag. The fit and finish seems good to me. Remember what I said, though, and the only thing I have to compare it to is GI weapons. The upper and lower fit together with no play and do not wobble. The finish is smooth with no visible flaws. The rail does have a tiny bit of play. It will rotate slightly if you wobble it, maybe 1/16" of an inch. As something to hold a light and a grip, it does just what I want it to. I would not want to use it to mount a flip up front sight or optic, though. The Blackhawk! pistol grip is very comfortable. The collapsible stock does what I need it to. It provides a decent cheek weld, doesn't rattle, and locks in place without any fuss. All in all, probably not the best option but definitely good enough. The trigger is better than GI. It works for me, as the groups show. I have no doubt a RRA 2-stage or Gisselle or whatever is a better trigger, lighter and smoother, but I don't know how much difference it would make in how I shoot. I found the trigger to be good enough. It did not feel gritty, it broke predictably, and was a good weight for a patrol rifle. The Vtac sling is awesome. It deserves its own review, and when I have some more time with it, I'll try and do so. In short, this seems to be a great working rifle. It doesn't have brand name cache, its not particularly sexy, but at this point I believe it will do everything I will ask it to do. Once its proven reliable over 400 rounds or so, I'll likely qualify with it and turn in my refurbed M-16. My wrists will thank me, if nothing else.

You reckon its real?

Yup. Just finished it off today with a front side sling mount. Will put up pics later. Look up Jerry's j-frame shot where he shoots a snub nose upside down and ridiculous distance.

No, I'm right handed. Go to post #153 in this thread and look at the diagnostic target. See where it says "tightening fingers" on the segment that's about 8 o'clock? That's what I'm doing. I'm not "milking" where you tighten all your fingers as you squeeze the trigger and then relax as you let off the trigger which would pull you to the 4 o' clock position, I'm simply too tight on my strong hand throughout the trigger pull. Lefties would flip that target left to right. Yeah, JM is a machine. That's what thousands of hours of dedicated practice can do for you, along with keen eyesight and a good grasp of geometry.

I had my 3rd range inservice for the year, and even though I was using the issued Glock for the majority of the shooting, I saw a marked improvement in my accuracy at 25 yards to 50 yards. I was able to shoot more intuitively despite the different platform, so dry fire practice does have benefits beyond the particular weapon platform you are practicing with. I still did not shoot as well as I do with my Sig, but that's a given for me at this point. Today I tried to really concentrate on why, and I think a lot of it boils down to the pistol grip. The fatty Glock grip just doesn't let me feel like I have a good purchase with my support hand, making me squeeze to hard with my strong hand, pushing rounds left. When I combat that, I can bring them back center. Sights are also a limiting factor, I really like having a different color up front as it allows both eyes open shooting to be easier and more accurate, as well as faster to acquire.

Well, at least they still have professional wrestling.

I've been balding since high school. I'm ok with it.

Staap's Circle S Ranch. Its an exotic animal rescue in Indiana.

and the 3 little pigs... and a lonely elk that wanted a kiss: but mostly the tiger: