R.I.P. Pee Wee

Paul (Reubenfeld) Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman. August 27, 1952 to July 30, 2023

 

 

 

I remember Pee Wee as the hotel clerk in a Cheech and Chong movie. My daughter and I watched "Pee Wee's Playhouse" together every Saturday morning, and saw "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" on a cable movie channel. A guy I used to work with had a Kawasaki 750 LTD with a matching Windjammer fairing and a decent stereo. The bike was nicknamed the X-1 after Pee Wee's bicycle in the movie. I got to ride it quite often and always brought it back with a full tank. I like silly mindless entertainment (my wife does not) and so does my daughter, and Pee Wee was a big part of it.

Memories To Share

The following post is actually a comment I left at Mostly Cajun, All American and Opinionated about my US Army basic training Drill Sargents the other day.

 

My Army basic training Drill Sargent’s at Fort Dix both made such an impression on 18 year old me I remember their names, faces, and voices clearly 42 years later. Sgt. Cupp was white and built like a human fire hydrant. He took no guff but had a quirky sense of humor. One day, we came out of noon chow and began loosely forming up behind our web gear and steel pots. He hollered out “Smoke ’em if you got ’em, and if you don’t then simulate! I began simulating toking on a bone. Sgt. Cupp sees me and come straight over to where I am standing and gives me a sideways stinkeye. “Get on the ground and give me 20, then ask for 20 more!” I drop into the front leaning rest position and knock them out, then ask for 20 more. “Knock ’em out! he says which I do. This repeated until I was at 100 and he told me to recover.

Sgt. Cumberbatch was black, a handsome guy with a great mustache, and he was cut. He was only a little taller than Sgt. Cupp but the guy was super fit. He had a great voice for calling cadence and shouting commands. I didn’t have a whole lot of personal interaction with him. Although I believe it was he that taught us the Claymore. We were all sitting in a classroom as he demonstrates setting one up and explaining the steps as he does. “THIS SIDE TOWARDS ENEMY” was facing us recruits on the front table. He sticks in the blasting cap and starts uncoiling the wires walking backwards away from the Claymore still explaining the steps as he connects the wires to the trigger. Everyone is visibly looking around nervously. “Bye-bye boys!” he yells out and hits the trigger. The blasting cap goes off with a loud pop and everyone jumps and he laughs himself silly. I’m sure that is a gag that was pulled on many recruit classes before and after. Near the end of boot camp, we are out on bivouac. After camp was setup, evening chow was done, and well after dark, a fire was lit and the boombox came out. For the next two hours, Sgt. Cumberbatch oversaw a breakdance party of both black and white participants. I just watched, but it was a heckuva stress reliever for everyone.

Until writing this, I haven’t thought about those guys in years. Thanks for triggering the memories.

The Claymore was obviously a dummy training aid, but the blasting cap and trigger were the real deal. To this day I have a similar type gag I use on fire service newbies. We have to do initial and then annual SCBA mask fitting. This is done using a USB connected device on a dedicated desktop computer. The device then connects to our SCBA mask with a filter assembly and hoses. The person being tested puts on and seals their mask.  Then I attach and lock on the filter assembly and start the test program. Whenever I have a first timer, just as I lock the filter onto their mask, I say, "I will give you a wave just before the poison gas comes on" to which I get the dinner plate sized eyes and look of fear. Then I bust out laughing and they breathe a sigh of relief.

The only photo I have of my Drill Sargents is this platoon graduation group photo for Fort Dix A-2-3-2 on May 1, 1981. For those never in the military, A-2-3-2 stood for Alpha Company, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Platoon. Sgt. Cupp on the left, Sgt. Cumberbatch on the right. They are flanked by our squad leaders who were all older and more mature than us 18 year old punks. The squad leader all the way to the right was our platoon PT champion, Pvt. Greggory Heiney. The back of the photos were signed by everyone there. I only remember a handful of faces to go with the names. I am between Mazzarela on the left and Neff on the right. The guy 3 over from me to the right is Edward "Morris the Cat" Morris from Washington state. My family and girlfriend drove down for graduation and he had the hots for my sister. The black guy on the right in the middle of the top row was my friend from Mississippi Carlvet Lee. We were like Forrest Gump and Bubba. He was larger than me and I once carried him just like Forrest carried Bubba for practice for 100 yards. I have a whole story about him and I that took place Memorial Day weekend 1981 and involved me getting fucked on KP. I'll save it for another post.

Click it to big it. Pvt. Dropem circled in yellow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Initial Review: Turkish .30-06 From Tactical Shit

This post is a review of the surplus Turkish MKE (Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi) .30-06 ammunition made for a disintegrating link belt-fed machine gun, and purchased from Tactical Shit. It lists for $335 for a case of 400 rounds. The ammo is linked in four round units with disintegrating links and is advertised as non-corrosive. The ad states that it is 151gr M2 Ball and was made from 1962 until 1978, however as you will see what I received is newer. I received my ammo very fast (5 days from order to delivery from Missouri) delivered by UPS. Because of Kommiecticut state law, I had to send them a copy of my state pistol permit to buy ammo, but unlike the CMP this was not a problem, nor did it cause a delay. A range report will be forthcoming as soon as I can get there to actually shoot it.

It came in this outer carton. Weight was 30 pounds.

 

There was no damage to the outer carton, but the corner of the box the ammo was in had the corner crushed in by handling prior to shipping. Problem?

Nope. The way the ammo was placed in the box allowed the ammo to move and not be damaged. The blue foam on top was hard and crispy from age.

 

From what I saw and this picture shows, the visible ammo is really clean. Near the end of the Greek surplus from The CMP, they were selling 200 round cans of loose rounds and some of them had exterior corrosion on them that I cleaned off with 0000 steel wool. So I decided to dig down through the ammo to the bottom and see what it looked like below the surface. All clean.

Upon closer inspection there was slight green corrosion here and there, but only on the links, the brass was clean.

UPDATE 7-28-23: It turns out NOT to be corrosion on the links, but residue from the crumbling foam packing on the top of the ammo pile that was rubbing on the ammo on top. It brushes off easily.

As I wrote above this ammo had newer head stamps than what was advertised. All of this ammo is dated 1983.

Next was trying to disassemble the linked four rounds for re-insertion into an enbloc clip for an M-1. It wasn't too difficult. I used a block of wood and pressed the bullet tip downward on the wood while holding the links. The round slid out with little effort. Doing a large number of dis-assemblies, it might be wise to wear some mechanics gloves. As you can see, there was no corrosion under the links. All the assemblies I took apart looked like this.

I noticed these rounds looked different from the Greek ammo. You can see ribbed cannelure at the case neck. I wondered about overall length, so I grabbed my Vernier Caliper to measure. Sure enough they are slightly longer. The Greek M2 measures 3.320" and the Turkish ammo measures an average of 3.327". As a reloader, I know better than to fool with changing the bullet seating because those little 0.007" changes can increase pressures and that is never good for an M1 Rifle.

Greek HXP on the left, Turk MKE on the right

Because US Rifle M1 is semi-automatic, I was concerned about possible feeding issues. I loaded an enbloc clip with 8 rounds of the Turkish ammo and took my rifle outside to test loading and hand cycling. With my rifle pointed in a safe direction, I set the clip in the grooves and eyeballed the line up. The tips of all the bullets had plenty of visible clearance from the front edge of the receiver. I pushed the clip down and into the magazine and sent the bolt into battery. It fully locked into place. I then pulled and released the charging handle as hard and fast as I could ejecting and loading all the rounds until the clip popped out with the telltale 'PING!" I picked up and closely examined all the rounds, paying attention to the bullet tips to see if any of them got jammed into the rifling. Not one showed any rifling marks. I went back in the house and proceeded to break apart several more link assemblies so I have about 60 loose rounds. I plan on breaking apart the remainder on the next rainy day I am just hanging around. The links appear to be for an M1919-A4. Once I have all the links separated I will try and sell them to a collector for cheap to offset the price of the ammo a bit. I refuse to just throw such things away. A quick look online shows about $50 for 400, but I saw an interesting notice from AmmunitionStore.com that they WILL NOT sell links to a resident of any state that has magazine restrictions, because links are "feeding devices" and if you link too many rounds together.... well you might be a law breaker.

My plan for the range is at least three clips fired for function testing. Subsequent shots will be for accuracy testing compared to the known Greek accuracy. My rifle holds a 200 yard battle zero so if I can at least bang the 8" gong at 200 yards consistently, I will be happy to have some cheap target ammo for blasting away.

Me So Happy!!

After two years of trying to get the bullets I use for my sniper precision rifle, an order for 500 Sierra Matchking 174gr .311" BTFMJHP bullets are on their way from Precision Reloading. I used to get them directly from Sierra, but they have been unavailable and Sierra has no mechanism for consumers to place a back-order to create demand. I had a pending back order from Optics Planet since 2021 that I cancelled this morning right after I placed my new order.

 

I load my ammo precisely using hand polished with 0000 steel wool, fire-formed brass and have the cartridge O.A.L. set .005" off the lands of the rifling based upon the chamber length measurement. I use Hogdgon Varget powder and Winchester Large Rifle primers. The primers and bullets are sealed with red enamel paint. I currently have 70 rounds loaded and 100 bullets ready to load. I have not been shooting my rifle since last year trying to conserve my ammo. The next range outing will be checking the 100 yard zero, and then adjusting the scope turrets for 200 for some slow fire bullseye.

 

Thanks to a heads up from Chris at Last Stand On Zombie Island I also scored some machine gun linked Turkish 150 gr 30 Caliber M2 Ball from TacticalShit.com. All the millions of Ethiopian returned M2 U.S. 30 caliber ammo at The CMP vaporized before I could buy my allotted single can of 400 rounds. I've had 30 Caliber machine gun ammo before that had a little corrosion from metal links and it cleaned up easy and shot fine out of a WWII vintage M1.

(100) 4-round linked assemblies in a case. The missing 5th round was the tracer

I had not purchased from The CMP since 2013 and my credentials had expired. For two months I tried faxing and emailing the required credentials, and phone calls went to voicemail with no response. I must have sent the paperwork a dozen times to no avail. A gun bud of mine familiar with The CMP told me today that they play favorites. Ammo for themselves, donors, and friends but none for average Joe Blow. I guess will only buy from them in the future if I can make it to Anniston, Alabama to purchase in person. With the 12% off coupon they offer on the Tactical Shit site and no Kommiecticut sales tax, I got the 400 rounds for $231.60 to my door. I will de-link and then clean them with 0000 steel wool if necessary. I may sell the MG links to also help offset some cost because I hate to throw them away.

Chris asked if I could review the ammo when I receive it and shoot some. I will post my review on this blog and send the link to Chris for cross posting.

I Know A Few

DISCLAIMER: This post is simply the musings of a guy that appreciates real biological females. Too bad if you are offended. Sorry Dylan, YOU ARE A DUDE!

 

Older hotties that is, in fact I have been married to one for 40 years and know a few more. Women around 60 that in my opinion are pretty smokin' hot. When I was in my twenties, I wondered if my taste in women would mature as I did, or would I always be pursuing young vixens. I didn't understand how an 80 year old couple stayed attracted to each other. I do now. Oh sure, cute little twenty-somethings are pretty to look at and I'm sure a lot of fun in the sack, but that's as far as it goes. I don't have enough time left on the planet to train one to be compatible (think "training" like Liza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady").

A few years ago when Dateline NBC and law enforcement was trapping dudes looking to hookup with teens for sex, my wife gave me the "If you ever.... " speech, to which I replied she needs to be more worried about the lonely sex-starved MILF whose husband doesn't pay any attention to. That shut her up quick.

But just like with the hot chicks in their 20's, I am not interested in infidelity, either for myself or those women I described that are married or otherwise attached.

Added at 07:20 EDT: What prompted this post was a motorcycle event I went to last Friday. My neighbor was there with his wife. Meeting them separately, I did not know they were husband and wife until then. I met her initially a few years ago while walking my dog. She pulled over in her car and we had a pleasant chat. The next time I met her, she was out for a walk while I was on my bike during cold weather. She told me her husband has a bike but hasn't taken it out in a long time and she missed riding. Friday night I got a good look at how hot she really is. Well fitting jeans, biker boots, tank top, leather vest, and her hair pulled back into one large braid. Plus she is very nice and personable. Her hubby is a lucky guy, because unlike my wife, his likes to ride.

Yummy!

I've been on shift today since 22:30 last night, and got up at 06:00 for the shift change for my incoming partner. OMG... she is so young, but IMHO fully capable. It is strange to work in the fire service with someone born after 9-11. My own daughter was already 18 when my shift partner came into this world. I have actually met her parents and they are bikers, so OK in my book.

I had a leftover baked potato and some kielbasa, so with a couple of fresh eggs from my birds cooked over medium with some Mexican style shredded cheese and an English Muffin, I had a good breakfast.

I did the potato and kielbasa in the toaster oven for 10 minutes under the broiler, while the English muffin went in the 4-slice toaster and I fried up the eggs. Perfectly timed to all be hot and ready at the same time. I thought about turning the potato into homefries, but opted to just halve it with sour cream. I washed it down with an ice cold cup of milk. Real milk... like I have drank all my life... from a cow. Not from a nut tree, oat field, or soybean plant. As an aside; I was the oldest of 3 kids in an intact nuclear family of five. We went through 5 gallons of milk a week. It came direct from the Moser Farms dairy store right in town. They sold a 5-gallon jug that fit in the refrigerator with a spigot at the bottom. We also bought the rest of our dairy goods from them, and went to their soft-serve ice cream stand once a week in the summer.

Not Even The Same Area Code

While watching Newsmax this morning, they showed footage from the recent state dinner at The Whitehouse in June. There he was, the 1st Criminal, glad-handing with assorted VIP's and a thought occurred to me.... who in their right fucking mind would purposely be seen and photographed with that piece of shit? Like the title states, I don't want to be anywhere near him or any other criminal for that matter. Guilt by association? I don't need the added aggravation.

There have been times in the ambulance transporting a patient of questionable, uh... shall we say standards. They lost, misplaced, or don't have a phone and want to make a call. If there is no ALS Paramedic on board, I have to use the app on my phone to contact the receiving hospital. I tell them a lie that I need to keep the app open for the hospital only. If there is a paramedic, they are responsible for using the app, and so I lie again saying I just don't have my phone. I do not ever want my phone number appearing in the call log of some criminal's phone while being scrolled though by law enforcement, and then have to explain it. I got into an argument with another department member (who is a total jackass anyway) that told me I was "heart-less" for not letting others just use my phone. My response was "good, I will send them to you to make their phone call." Boy, you shoulda heard the excuses.

How Humid Is It?

After the tropical downpours of yesterday, this is what the windows at the firehouse look like. Heavy condensation on the outside of Pella double pane insulated windows.

I came on at 06:00 and the outside air is thick and soupy. The A/C is on throughout the station so it is cool and comfy. Ambulance calls won't be bad, but being outside for any length of time or at a fire will suck.

Afternoon Earworm

After my post the other day talking about riding The Beast while digging the `70's tunes on my bike's sound system, this just popped into my head this afternoon and I had to hear the whole thing.

An unknown live performance of "No Matter What" by Badfinger. This is the hardest rockin' tune of their hits.

 

Because I loved their songs and sound in my youth (and still do), some more Badfinger. Another live performance, this one is "Baby Blue"

Next up a song I never realized was theirs. I always thought Harry Nilsson wrote it and performed it first. But it was Badfinger and "Without You." Nilsson's version is so much more mournful and sad. This almost sounds sarcastic and like good riddance to the bitch!

 

And what I always think of as their biggest hit IMHO, "Day After Day"

 

 

 

Finally, "Come And Get It"

 

Hope you enjoyed these. Let me know in the comments section.

The Internet of Things? NFW!!

This post was prompted by the purchase of a new window air conditioner, and an ensuing conversation with my sister-in-law.

Because our home has an open floor plan on the first floor, we are able to keep the first floor cool and comfortable with a single large window unit and a ceiling fan. The original was an 8,000 BTU Frigidaire unit given to me by my cousin that continues to operate in my basement. It was moved down there when we purchased a newer, larger, and more efficient 10,000 BTU LG brand machine in 2009. Well, as most appliances these days don't last as long as older units do, it has crapped out. I am going to open it up and see if it can be easily repaired, otherwise it will be recycled at the town transfer station. There is a controller problem that won't let us shut it off. The fan will shut off but the compressor stays stuck on. We paid $259 for it at Homo Cheapo.

So I went and got a brand new GE 12,000 BTU unit at Homo Cheapo for a whopping list price of $459! Luckily with my military discount, I saved some dough and got out the door for a grand total of $439.33 with tax. It installed easily and fits and weighs the same as the unit it replaced. It doesn't seem to work as hard to cool the first floor and certainly does a good job. So good in fact, that after an initial run I will put it in "ECO Mode" and let it cycle on and off completely. It has a remote for controlling it across the room. It also has Wi-Fi capability which I refuse to enable.

 

Features list on the box. Wi-Fi... HA!

Voice enabled on smart devices? Aw HELL NO!!

 

 

My sister-in-law thinks it would be a great idea to use an app on my phone to be able to turn it on before I get home from work. I say if I can control such things so could a hacker....

Wi-Fi capable. "Whites" and "Colors"? That's racist!

That gray cap under the LED on my Genie garage door opener is where the Wi-Fi adapter goes

She kinda made fun of me for being worried about a nefarious character messing with my air conditioner. How about fucking with my washing machine? Opening my garage doors? Now THAT would be a serious breach of security. While getting hacked is a big concern, here is a bigger one... data collection. I value my privacy and always have and hate the argument I sometimes get about having "nothing to hide." Those people have been totally conditioned to not give a shit about their personal privacy and willingly give up info about themselves to whomever is willing to receive it. I don't need my air conditioner operating habits logged and stored somewhere, or some entity deciding on my comfortable temperature setting and changing it. Nor my laundry cycles, type of clothing washed, and measured water use. How about logging garage door operation when I am coming and going from my home. What about those refrigerators that keep track of your food and make a grocery list for you. Uh oh... you're not eating healthy enough, wonder why those medical insurance premiums have shot up? 

Yeah, FUCK 'EM... FUCK 'EM ALL!

If the day comes when appliances (or anything for that matter) comes automatically enabled and configured to use a cellular data network, I will find a way to make that stop working.

New Blog

 Just for fun and something different for me to play with.

The Revolting Peasant

I Almost Became A Tranny

Well, I guess a more accurate description would be a eunuch, since I wouldn't be cross-dressing or asking people to use made up stupid pronouns.

I went on an ambulance call yesterday at one of our apartment complexes. When I knocked on the door, the door wasn't latched and swung open a few inches. Much to my surprise, a large pit bull shoved it's head through the opening right at and against my groin. I was not injured, but I used my best Drill Sargent voice and commanded the occupants to "CONTROL YOUR DOG!" They weren't too happy to be yelled at about their supposedly "friendly" dog, as I was axed "Why you gotta be like dat?" as they pulled it backwards into the apartment and closed the door. The person we were there to see opened the door and squeezed out through the opening so the dog wouldn't get out and the rest of the call was a routine transport.

I documented all this in my Patient Care Report, and then had a phone conversation with the Chief so he was aware. We both agreed that if that had been a state trooper that came to the door first, the dog would have gotten a lead pill in the noggin, no ifs, ands, or buts. They should be happy they just got told in a loud voice to control their dog.

I wouldn't Put It Past Them (snerk alert)

The Brandon Administration acquires vintage WWII era German box car for reverse engineering.

 

In order to have an accurate type of transportation system for moving political opponents to prison camps, The Brandon Administration has acquired an authentic Deutsche Reichbahn G10 type boxcar. 200,000 copies will be constructed using the $400B originally earmarked for student loan forgiveness but sidelined by SCOTUS. The cars will be constructed with the insides smeared with human waste, and pulled only by steam engines utilizing the hideous sounding high-pitch European whistle for authenticity.

In related news, DHS, ATF, IRS, FBI, and all other armed alphabet regulatory agencies will begin learning to speak German so that the shouted commands for moving political prisoners on and off the rail cars sound more angry and authoritative. Federal personnel will be armed with Mauser 98k rifles, Schmeisser MP-44's, and Luger pistols. See the new federal uniform styles below. All federal canines will be transitioned to German Shepherds that only respond to German commands.

 

 

This was my own parody "news" story. The photo came from an email announcement I received from The American Heritage Museum. The actual official announcement from the museum with the photo can be found at this link. I have been to this museum in Hudson, MA and it is pretty cool. It's even better if you attend on Columbus Day weekend for the "Battle For The Airfield" WWII re-enactment.

A Couple Of Items

Monday I was out on "The Beast" to run an errand and then help out a friend with his Goldwing. It was a warm and partly sunny midday, with thunderstorms in the evening well after I got safely home. My riding bud has been laid up since winter, and is no closer to riding after stints in the hospital and rehab facilities. I don't think he will ever be able to ride on two wheels again, so I went over to dust off, start, and take his 2015 Goldwing out for a short run. It already had and still had a full tank of fuel when I got back. He came out in the blazing heat with his walker and sat on his bike side-saddle, and then barely made it back into the house without collapsing. I thought his girlfriend was gonna kill him for that. I let his bike cool down and hooked up his battery charger and put the cover on. On the way home I had a revelation. I stream iHeart Radio on my cell phone, connected to my bike via a Bluetooth adapter. I happened to be streaming the iHeart 70's channel and something felt really familiar. Not deja vu but just very familiar. OF COURSE.... I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!

The earlier model Archer Road Patrol Bike Radio I had

I got one of these for maybe my 11th birthday. My siblings had later received the newer round red model. They were AM only, mounted to the handlebars of your bike, and had an electronic horn. There was a large round yellow reflector on the other side. We spent all summer riding our bikes from just after breakfast until dark every single day it wasn't raining. All of us had our bike radios tuned to WDRC AM-1360 in Hartford listening to the pop hits of the day, and what they play on iHeart 70's is exactly what they used to play on WDRC. Just before the WDRC noon news break every day, the DJ (I believe it was Ted Dalaku) would say the day's "sandwich of the day" (which was usually a gross combination of foods and toppings) and then loudly proclaim, "It's LUUUUUUUUNCH TIME!!!" followed by the news jingle and noon news with Walt Dibble. After the noon news it was music with commercial breaks until late afternoon drive time when news and traffic would be at the top and bottom of the hour in between music. While I was heading home on my motorcycle Monday listening to my streaming tunes, I was mentally transported back to summer vacation 1974 as a 12 year old kid riding my bicycle. Oh if only I could have 3 months off every summer to do nothing but have fun like a kid again with no worries or cares as an adult.

Today would have been Cassidy Wofford's 35th birthday. Who is she you ask? She was a PT I once transported that attempted to commit suicide by lying down in the middle of a dark back country road. Luckily an alert motorist spotted her and called 911. I won't go into any more detail, but she is the primary reason I do not like what I call the "sad little girl call." To me the "sad little girl" is 13-22 years old, depressed, suicidal, crying her eyes out, most likely abused, a cutter, and I am probably meeting her because of a suicide attempt and a law enforcement 72 hour psychiatric hold in the ER. While there have been many others, she is the one that I probably should have sought counseling for, it was that upsetting. I am much better on these calls now, even though I still would rather drive the boo-boo bus and let someone else tech the call.

Cassidy during one of her few happier times.

Cassidy had moved out of state; to Kentucky I believe, and finally, sadly committed suicide on May 28, 2011. At 35 she would have been only 3 years younger than my own daughter. I think about her on both days; her birthday and death day. 

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Little One. You are not forgotten and although you never knew it, you touched someone that really did care for you.

Uh... You Dropped Something There, Hunter

 Cocaine found at the White House in the West Wing by Secret Service.

That's not mine, dude.... I swear

Another SCOTUS Ruling For America

9-0 in favor of the mailman that was forced to resign from the USPS for refusing to work on Sunday, instead honoring the Sabbath. If it was me, I have a higher tolerance for bullshit and would have made them fire me. In that case it probably would not have to go so far in the courts, but good for him.

(Gerard) Groff vs Dejoy (Postmaster General)

I hope he fucks them into total bancruptcy and dissolves the whole operation.