New LED Floodlight Is A Winner

One of the first things I did when we moved into our house almost 18 years ago was put up the brand new UncommonUSA 20' telescopic flagpole I had purchased beforehand and had in storage. Knowing that the US Flag is supposed to be either lit or taken down at sunset, I originally chose to put a 150 watt halogen lamp with a dusk to dawn sensor on the overhang of my garage at flag level aimed right at the flags. LED light fixtures weren't really known or readily available, then when they became available they were prohibitively expensive. Lowe's recently had a fixture made by Lithonia Lighting for less than $60 with my military discount. I had decided the next time the 150W halogen lamp burned out would be the last. Yesterday morning, I swapped out the fixture. 

The one I chose is rated for 2500 lumens, but the light temperature is switchable, from 3500K/4000K/5000K. The power rating regardless of light temperature setting is a minuscule 17 watts and it has an integrated dusk/dawn sensor. I initially had it set for 3500K mimicking what I had. But last night when we came home after dark I thought it was too dull and yellow looking. So this afternoon I threw a ladder and climbed up to switch it to the whiter 4000K. As I suspected, it made the colors of the my brand new US Flag really pop.

The flags tonight at 4000K

 

 

The fire hydrant was a gift from my former neighbor when they moved away. It was removed by his Dad's construction company on a street renovation project, and my neighbor had it in his yard. It is deceiving how heavy those bastards are until you try to pick one up. The yellow second flag is for The Patriot Guard Riders and has their "Riding With Respect" saying on it. That will fly until November 1st, when I switch it out for the standard black and white POW/MIA flag for Veterans Day. That will stay up the entire month of November.

I may get a side benefit of annoying my *COTHO neighbor "Mrs. Bitchy McBitchy Bitchface" (H/T to fellow blogger Mr. Garabaldi for that nickname) as she leaves for work in the dark wee hours of the morning. The light shines into the woods past the flagpole and eventually onto her driveway. I hope it shines just right nice and bright as she drives by now that most of the leaves are down. Now it is setup exactly as the old one was, so only the higher light temperature may get noticed. However, I'm sure you can figure out what my response to any complaints will be.

*COTHO: Cunt Of The Highest Order

Remembering 23 October 1983

From Military.com:

"Between 1975 and 1990, Lebanon was embroiled in a country-wide civil war that saw its rival religious, ethnic and nationalist populations form armed militias and shifting alliances. The fighting inflamed regional tensions and provoked international responses.

One of these was a peacekeeping mission of American, British, French and Italian forces called the ​​Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF). Deployed as part of an agreed cease-fire after a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent invasion of Lebanon in 1983, the MNF spent almost a year and a half in the Lebanese capital.

The MNF was responsible for training the Lebanese military, restoring the country's central government in Beirut and overseeing the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Lebanon. A massive suicide bomber attack on the Marine Corps Barracks in October 1983 wiped away any success the MNF could claim, and led to the eventual withdrawal of American forces in March 1984."

From The Marine Corps Times - "The BLT Building is gone!!"

This date holds special significance for me. At the time, I was serving in the US Army Reserve and sleeping comfortably in my own bed at night, every night. I reported for duty one weekend a month to Westover AFB in Chicopee, MA and went on a two week "summer camp" every year. I was not on watch 7/24/365 in some shithole country of ingrates somewhere. I had been married just a little over two months, and my wife was out of state for the funeral of her uncle Gary in Austin, Texas. When I heard the news of who was killed when the names were released I was devastated, and remember crying myself to sleep that night. I mean deep wracking sobs that left me out of breath and my eyes burning so bad they hurt to close.

 

 

Stephen was a childhood friend I had known since the fourth grade. When he first came to my elementary school, he was in a set of leg braces to stabilize his weak hips. The brace went from his waist, down both legs keeping them straight, with a cross-bar between his feet. His feet rested on steel plates with thick rubber treads for traction. He "walked" by using a pair of arm brace crutches and kind of skipped along. He was a clown and smart ass and he and I got into a lot of mischief together. In middle school he no longer needed the braces and from then on and in early high school we played Senior League baseball together. His Dad was the football and baseball coach at Rockville High School and our Senior League baseball coach. Because we went to different high schools, we lost touch, but I always heard about his athletic exploits, especially in baseball. It was no surprise that Stephen would join the Marines right out of high school.

His funeral service was an impromptu reunion of old school chums, but certainly not joyful. No one spoke to each other, just glances and silent nods of recognition. We followed the horse drawn caisson on foot from the church to the cemetery, where full military honors were rendered. It was my first exposure to Taps played at a funeral service, and is why to this day while doing a Patriot Guard mission for a perfect stranger, I get a little tug at the old heartstrings and a little choked up.

The athletic fields at Ellington High School were named in his honor a few years later with a permanent stone monument placed in one corner. I wear this patch on my biker vest in his honor.

Years later, his parents bought the house in the cul-de-sac two doors down from my parents, and his sister Nancy already lived a few houses down in the other direction. I had gone to the cemetery trying to find Stephen's grave, but could not. I went over to his dad's house to inquire where his grave was. All he would say is that Stephen had been cremated, which lead me to believe they kept his ashes. Rather than push the subject, I wished his father a good afternoon and simply left. I never had the guts to go ask his sister. Last I knew, Stephen's parents were living the retired life somewhere in Florida.

As a side note, my own cousin Steven is a Marine veteran a week younger than I am. He was part of the MNF in Beirut, Lebanon but I believe he had rotated out before the bombing. I don't know if he was in those barracks or somewhere else. But I do remember him remarking what a beautiful country those animals destroyed.

 

Stephen Tingley's death is the reason I get so miffed at the way people view and "celebrate" Memorial Day as the "1st Day of Summer" or National BBQ Day. It is also one of the many reasons I am a Patriot Guard Rider.

WTF Assholes?

I have noticed a recent phenomona... drivers that do not dim their high beams regardless of where they are driving or if there is oncoming traffic. The absolute worst offenders are those obviously night-blind fucktards that can't see shit without driving with their high beams on the interstate, blinding drivers ahead of them as well as in the opposite lanes. This evening I had to run out for a gallon of milk and a pizza. 16 miles round trip and countless morons that refuse to dim their lights. Now I know we were taught in drivers ed to dim your lights anyway so only one driver is blinded. Fuck that! You get one, maybe two flashes and then its in your face, asshole! There are those that do get the message and turn them down at the last second, but its too late for me to bother to reach for the lever.

Don't get me started on those idiots running off-road LED light bars on the road. Those clowns I aim for.

Gorgeous Fall Afternoon

Sunny, 70 degrees, and the slightest hint of a breeze. Right now I'm sitting out on my front porch having just refilled the bird feeders and bird bath, enjoying the company of assorted woodpeckers and song birds stopping by for a meal. About an hour ago I got back from a 73 mile jaunt around Windham County on "The Beast" enjoying the spectacular fall foliage. Brilliant yellows, reds, and oranges that show up well in the sun's lower angle this time of year. I went by myself since my wife is at an event with her sister-in-law, and had the tunes cranked up on iHeart.com on the Rock Nation channel. I stopped at Riverside Pizza in Thompson for lunch and chowed down a BLT wrap, Lipton lemonade (no brewskis while on two wheels) and bag of Lays BBQ chips. I continued south on RT. 12 to RT. 6 in Brooklyn to start heading west towards home. A quick stop for fuel by Windham Airport, and I jumped on the L.A.H. (limited access highway) portion of RT. 6. Abandoned on the side of the highway was a white BMW 4 door sedan, that looked like a 5 series with it's hood up. Oh, the hood was up all right... it must have flew open, smashing the windshield and front of the roof. The car will probably also need new upholstery on the driver seat because those deep shit stains are never coming out. 

As usual, I went out well armed, today carrying my 9mm Ruger SR9c with 2 spare mags, all safely tucked in my OWB kydex holster and dual mag carrier from On Your Six Designs. The hoodie and leather vest kept everything nicely concealed, and since no one decided to FAFO, it all stayed put.

Get Ready, Kommiecticut Compliant Fudds

Those of you obedient sheep that got in line to register your firearms and magazines in 2014, get ready to lose them all. The peaceable citizens that dare keep and bear arms in Kommiecticut will once again be held accountable for the actions of the criminally insane.

The compliant Fudds lined up around state police headquarters in Middletown in 2014

 

Word is some type of eeee-vil semi-auto "assault" or sporting rifle was used in the Bristol cop shooting Wednesday night.

But wait! Gov. "Jolly Ned" Lamont tells us those are illegal (technically they are not, but he's a moron, after all...) so how can this be?

Go to the 2:32 mark to hear Jolly Ned declare "assault weapons" illegal. Oh that fucktard just could not be more ill-informed or stupid.

 

As I told anyone that would listen back then, do not comply with their pre-confiscation registration scheme. That registration is always a precursor to confiscation, because they need to know who has the guns before they can take them (and then make you get in the boxcar). And if it's time to hide your guns, it's time to use them. I registered NOTHING! 

Everything of mine was tragically lost in a kayak capsize. Oops!