This Is So "Tornado Alley"

While Kommiecticut is no stranger to tornadoes, they typically occur in the heat of the day in late afternoon. Not in the dark of night or wee hours of the morning. They are also usually EF0 or EF1 and don't get very large or travel very far due to the terrain. At 03:50 this morning, my weather radio went off for a tornado warning. I grabbed my phone to check the radar and there was an emergency alert on the lock screen. It didn't go off with the sound because I keep my phone face down on the nightstand by my gun and silenced. I don't care to hear boops and beeps all night long from emails and such or see my screen lighting up either. It is there for me to call 911 only.

A screenshot of both warnings. First at 03:50 and updated at 04:13

I hit the bathroom and woke up my wife. We roused the dogs and all headed for the basement. I put the TV on (yes we have our satellite TV extended to the basement) for the Hartford news and sure enough, doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm with rotation, and we were in the warning area. The TV went out because of the storm and I grabbed a couple of flashlights in case power went out. We both had our phones on us in case it all went south we could call for help. Thankfully it was short lived, and the storm passed to the south of us and was a nothing burger. If nothing else, it was a good drill. At this time there have been no reports of damage from the area.

Snerk!

 

More fun with General Pinochet

UPDATE: About the song in the video "Mi General Augusto Pinochet" with lyrics and translation.

Finally... A #TwoWheelTuesday

On this first day after the unofficial end of summer, I finally get to ride "The Beast" in to work. All summer long, it has been either rainy in the morning, rained all day long, or thunderstorms in the afternoon. On the one or two days I might have been able to ride, I needed to go somewhere after work and needed my truck. My shift partner has not ridden in since back in the spring.

This Saturday September 11th is the 5th annual "Ride For Gage" to benefit the Jordan Porco Foundation for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Gage Rondeau was a 15 year old motorcycle enthusiast that committed suicide. It will be my third time on this ride, which is police escorted and goes for 45 uninterrupted miles through Tolland and Windham county. It ends at the Rockville Elks Club for a BBQ and band. The weather is supposed to be fantastic and wifey is supposed to come along again this year. She actually had a good time. Because of Chink-Bug, last year the ride group was smaller, and the BBQ at the end was limited in attendance. The gang I rode with broke off in Rockville before the Elks Club and we had a nice lunch together at the famous Rein's Deli.

On the 25th is a poker run for the CT Citizens Defense League. I had such fun at my first ever poker run earlier this summer I'm gonna do it again. 

For a long time, I had little use for the CCDL, because like the NRA (Negotiating our Rights Away) they were a toothless organization under the old leadership. I abandoned them after the former president, Scott Wilson, told me directly he did not believe in the existence of or the participation in the ARMED CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE OF NON-COMPLIANCE against the unconstitutional/intolerable acts passed in 2013. They were all too happy to let gun rights in this state slip away, and IMHO to keep them all employed while at the same time supposedly "fighting real hard." You know, just like the minority poverty pimps need to keep the minority poor... poor. The new president, Holly Sullivan must have Scott Wilson's balls in a locked box so she can use them since he never did. CCDL recently sued all the Demon-crap controlled shithole large cities in the state, for purposely drawing out the permit application process from the statutorily defined 60 days to 7 or 8 months. Poor New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker was on TV crying about have to expend resources to defend the city. Meanwhile, he is on board with the whole de-funding the police movement and his city has an almost nightly body count. In that press conference, he tried to allude to the application for permits as a contributing factor in the violent crime on the streets. Hey Asshole... it's not permit holders shooting up your city, it's the thugs and street vermin you and your ilk coddle.

Finally... A Day At The Range

Ah yes, a range day on a beautiful sunny Friday that I am off and no one else is at the range. As usual, I carry a firearm that I will not shoot, but for protection of myself and my firearms. I call it my "fuck around and find out" gun. For Friday's outing, I chose my Ruger GP-161 openly carried in my "*Wyoming Deputy Sheriff rig." Ammo was Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain .357 Magnum and included a pair of HKS speedloaders. I will describe the firearms in vague descriptions so no one has access to an actual "list" of what I may or may not own, or perhaps I just borrowed for the day.

A semi-auto .22:LR

This particular rifle was the first real gun I bought over 40 years ago at age 18 from KMart (remember those days when stores like KMart had an entire gun department in Sporting Goods?) I think I paid $59.95 for it. It has consumed thousands of rounds and the only problem was a broken extractor. The manufacturer (back when they were a stand-alone manufacturer not a subsidiary) sent me a new extractor AND and new style bolt. That was at least 25 years ago and the gun has been fine ever since, just not shot as much as it used to. I had put a Fiberforce skeleton stock on it, but wanted to go back to original. The eye relief on the scope changed, so I wanted to re-zero it. I sight in all my .22's for 50 yards which IMHO is practical. Sure, I can lob rounds out to 100 yards, but I normally don't.

My best effort. Minute of squirrel, minus the 6 o'clock flyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this is a forty one year old rifle, it has the original magazine capacity of 18. But for my purposes on this outing I only loaded 10 each time. The trigger pull is more than I remember, and with a little work on trigger control I could really tighten up that group. Also, I need to go for an eye exam and new glasses as you'll see on the next evolution.

A bolt-action .22LR

This was a 1947 vintage single shot bolt action rifle fitted with a Williams peep sight. It has a 25" long barrel and has a split in the stock. The gun was a mess the first time I saw it but it cleaned up really well. The split is minor in the butt stock on the right side, but does not affect the way it shoots. And it shoots way better than I can make it until I get new glasses. This would be a fun gun for silhouette shooting.

 

 

Since the Williams sight is kind of a pain to adjust, I will wait until I get new glasses before fine tuning it. The stringing across once again is trigger control on my part.

 

A semi-auto U.S. mil-surp

Oh yeah! A 30 caliber WWII battle rifle that now is properly sighted for 200 yards. The basic procedure is to shoot a group at 25 yards to "get on paper at 200." Pictured below is at 25 yards.  Once zeroed at 200 I whacked the 12" steel gong consistently.

The low one was the first shot. One click up and I was in the red.

 

I have spent more time at my new club since December, shooting, pulling work details, and working events than I did in the last five years of my previous club. Of course, the main reason is the facility is only a few miles from home, not 20.

*My "Wyoming Deputy Sheriff Rig" consists of a Bianchi thumb-break holster, a Bianchi dual speedloader carrier, a carabiner for my keys, all carried on a Wilderness Tactical 1.75" belt. I think it is pretty bad-ass, is very comfortable, and works really well for such a large handgun.

This is what I normally wear hiking in the woods or out walking the dog. I use a different ammo, Federal 158 grain JFP for bear or other creatures. It will certainly fuck up the two-legged kind as well.

Longest and Best Ride In Recent Memory

Like I always say, if you aren't getting caught in the rain on your bike, you don't ride enough. And if you're not riding enough, why do you have a motorcycle?

I am not the old Glypto of 25 years ago when I had my previous bike. Back then, I would make these elaborate plans for a ride, and then feel I had to cancel them for the slightest chance of rain. I would then get so angry about it I was unbearable to be around. Not any more. While I won't venture out if it's already raining, I no longer cancel plans for a simple chance of showers. That's what rain-gear is for. And if plans do get washed out... oh well, just hafta ride another day. No sense walking around all pissed off about something I have no control over.

Several other riders were invited for a ride today before plans or a destination was decided on. They all either had other commitments or simply didn't even respond to the text messages. Since it just ended up being me and my fellow Goldwing rider, we decided our final destination would be Brattleboro, VT for lunch at a place we had been to before. But we were going to definitely take the scenic route to get there.

The plan became meeting for breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts on Windsor Avenue in Windsor near his house at 09:00, because right around the corner is I-91. We take 91 north to exit 27 just above Northampton where we can jump on RT. 5 without too many traffic controls to jam up the ride from there. South of that area are several downtown areas of too much stop-n-go for a nice motorcycle ride. We took RT. 5 to Greenfield where we picked up RT. 2 west, also known as The Mohawk Trail. Since We didn't have all the live long day, we did not go to Shelburne Falls and The Bridge of Flowers this time. We did stop and visit Mohawk Park because I knew my bud had never been there. The plan is to do a foliage ride and go back up there in the fall, stopping at the Bridge of Flowers and then on to Mt. Greylock.

The magnificent, life sized bronze statue of a Mohawk Warrior

A close-up of the arrowhead shaped plaque at the base

"Hail To The Sunrise"

 

I am so glad to see that like so many bronze statues and plaques this one has not yet been destroyed by junkies cutting it up to sell for scrap to then buy their junk. There is also a stone monument that has all the tribal names, Chiefs and Sachems from over the centuries. We got rained on a little while we were parked there. Just enough to wet the road. A mile west and the road was dry. We continued west on RT. 2 and crossed the railroad tracks as shown on the GPS in Florida, MA but there were none to be seen. That's because they were several hundred feet below us in the famous Hoosac Tunnel. There is also a sign on the side of the road that lets you know you are passing over it. Next up, the famous hairpin turn before the descent down into North Adams.

The Hairpin Turn circled in yellow

Just before you reach the turn you cross the summit of Mount Whitcomb with the large bronze elk statue and vistas on both sides of the road. The westbound side has a distillery, and the eastbound side has a brewery. It was pretty crowded so we did not stop.  We did stop at the hairpin turn.

Looking down on North Adams

There was a biplane flying up and down the valley. We were watching from the parking lot of The Golden Eagle. When the plane turned and came right at us to fly over the building, I did my best Cary Grant imitation and ran from it looking over my shoulder like in the movie "North By Northwest." The restaurant staff got a good laugh and the chef said, "Yeah, but he's not shooting at you!"

The Golden Eagle on the Hairpin Turn

We mounted up and headed down into North Adams to pick up RT. 8 north to Vermont. The plan was to hookup with RT. 9 over Hogback Mountain to get to Brattleboro. The trip was uneventful except for a few sprinkles and the traffic jam in the little tourist town of Wilmington. All kinds of little shops, cafes, bars, and pedestrian traffic. It is also where RT. 100 continues north. We sat through a couple of traffic light cycles. Those sprinkles were so brief in places, it was like someone sprayed you with water as you drove by. Finally into downtown Brattleboro where we headed north on RT. 5 to our lunch destination... the Top Of The Hill Grill.

Yup, the little piggy sculpture on top is made out of old license plates

When we were here last summer, the place was a zoo and we got in just in time before the huge crowd hit. It was about 2 PM when we got there today, so the big lunch crowd was done. First thing to do after parking was to hit the restroom. My back teeth had been floating since Wilmington. We got right to the window to order food and it came out relatively quick. I got a catfish wrap and a side of delicious coleslaw, washed down with a Pure Leaf raspberry iced tea. My bud got a combo plate with pulled pork, brisket, and burnt ends. The food is really good but a little pricey. Meh... since I didn't go away on vacation who cares. I sprung for lunch for both of us.

After lunch it was going to be a straight ride all the way down I-91 until I got off in Enfield and my bud continued to Windsor. A quick fill up with fuel was in order before getting on the highway. We got spit on a few times traversing MA, but when we hit Springfield it was raining harder. We pulled over under the I-291 overpass to get on the rain-gear. By the time we hit Longmeadow there was no rain and the road was dry. Oh well, better safe than sorry. Good thing, because I got rained on one more time on RT. 190 in Stafford and then nothing the rest of the way home. So how far did I go today? The next photo of the display from my bike tells the story.

TRIP B is my daily ride total. TRIP A is used to see how far I've gone on a tank of fuel.

 

Since I didn't go on vacation, my wife is staying the extra day we would have had to miss out on to get back since the house/animal sitter had to leave a day early. Good for me! I will be out on my bike again tomorrow, but for a much shorter duration.