Writing Tip #4,957

Eschew obscurantism, redundancy, and prolixity. That is, avoid arcane, esoteric, recondite, or obscure expressions; avoid undue repetition, reiteration, and duplication-reduplication of statements, and, above all, refrain from extreme, inordinate, unbridled, unchecked, and exorbitant wordiness.

YW.

Addendum: dictionaries are your friend. Thesauruses? not so much.

Well, It’s True. . .

The really disgusting thing about politicians advancing ANY kind of gun control measures is that they know, they KNOW the laws already on the books are unconstitutional, despite US v. Miller (1939) et al, and yet, despite KNOWING the current laws are unconstitutional, they thumb their noses at the Constitution because. . . they can. And that is the even more disgusting thing about “gun control”: WE allow them to flout the fundamental law of the land. WE allow them to continue to violate their oaths of office.

Even worse, WE allow them to treat any constitutional restrictions on federal power as just paper restrictions to violate at will.

And that gives us state and local governments that play follow the leader into illegitimate exercises of power.

A Sad State of Affairs

I have quite literally had more civil and well-reasoned conversations with atheists and (genuine, practicing) pagans about the Bible than I have had rational discussions about the passing scene with any Dhimmicrap. Of course, Repugnican’ts can be (almost) as bad, but at least I have never had a rabid Trumpist scream at me when I stated that I don’t like the guy, personally.

Walkin’ Weird

In recovery from my latest knee dislocation. Off crutches for a few days, now. Cane with knee brace. But. Walkin’ a bit weirdly. If I place the foot on my damaged knee side with the knee flexed quite a bit more than normal, the pain is decreased to “less than requiring naproxen sodium” levels. *heh* In order to keep a mostly even keel, that means elevating my heel ~4” and walking on the ball of my foot (still using cane for partial support).

Yeh, weird walkin;. Still, my new sock-shoes are very well suited to that gait. Like ’em.

Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?

Onychorrhexis can be caused by many different factors, but it seems to be a generational thing in my case (maternal great grandmother, grandfather, mother, to some degree, older sister [confirmed] and me, AFAIK, in sibs). as a result, even after factoring in best nutrition, etc., the shorter I can keep my fingernails (and to a lesser degree, even toenails) the better. And that’s the primary reason my Swiss Army Knife has had nail care as its main function for quite some time. Since I also carry a multitool, its other functions are pretty much superfluous. So, replacing it with a specialty Swiss Army tool was the route I’ve taken. Like it.

Victorinox Folding Pocket Knife/Nail Clip

Still has tweezers, toothpick, scissors, and one small knife blade, so essentials for a SAK are covered. N.B. I did change out the dinky lil split ring for a larger, more substantial flat one so it’d be easier to attach and remove from my “belt loop” keychains. . . that I hang from belt clips for “pocket carry.”

Meanwhile, my daily carry Swiss Army Knife (I have others, of course) goes in my EDC bag. Just in case. 🙂

Continue reading “Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?”

“You’re lost in the woods. What gun do you take with you for all purposes?”

Silly question. Presupposes I could get lost in the woods. Maps. Compass. Planning. Oh, plane crash? Outlier. Supposes I were to a.) get on a plane despite my aversion to Thugs Standing Around, b.) disregards the hassle would I have to put up with to even be ABLE to transport a firearm past Thugs Standing Around and c.) I’d still have a compass in stupidly TSA-limited EDC bag *heh*) and general knowledge of the area downed in.

Still, noodling around in the woods, if only one firearm carried, it’d probably be a Ruger 10/22 Takedown (model 11100, because 18.5” barrel as opposed to the 16.x” barrel. There’s room in the pack). If allowed 2, then selecting a handgun would be variable. Depends on area. Alaska? Yeh, not going there, and not only because I don’t want a .44 magnum as a backup. *ouch* Don’t own one anyway. VERY different to piney woods in America’s Third World County™ where a handgun that can handle “snakeshot” might be the choice (depending, in part, on area and season).

Still, “lost in the woods”? Who does that? Oh, yeh. Dunning-Krugerands. The same folks as would ask such a silly question. Got it.

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. . .

Laid up with bum knee, but am making a bit of progress in a couple of areas anyway. One is more than just fun. Pistol work: dry fire exercises. Converted my aiming practice to “instinctive aiming” by working on my grip. With a better grip, I am now having success in simply pointing my practice handgun where I am looking. I started by doing that and then checking my sights and aim point with my dominant eye. Check. Then single-action (cock-aim-“fire”) checking my aim throughout (before and during trigger pull). Then, double-action.

Proper two-hand grip: quickest consistent successes. Dominant hand only: also came along quickly, just not as quickly as two hands. Off-hand: surprised me. Came along as quickly as my dominant hand.

Fun part: when I’m alone in the house I can imagine anything as “targets” and service them. Usually it’s sitting or standing still (because of knee), but even though I move with a cane in my strong hand, my off hand can still practice dry firing while moving. (Or, I can stop, use my dominant hand, then move again.)

Sure, it’s not as good as firing rounds at the range, but it’s drilling new muscle memory in so-called “instinctive shooting,” so I count it as good enough for my current circumstances. I’m eager to see how this affects live fire practice with this lil handgun.

Interesting Training Aid

I like. Where this (and other sims) fall short is haptic feedback. Still probably useful, though, as a step up from dry fire exercises and, long term, perhaps less expensive than spending tons of ammunition for completely realistic (because, REAL *heh*) experience at the range or in the field. Out of my comfort zone for $$ expenditure, though. $$ better spent on more RW equipment in my case.

Gaim training Sim hardware/software

Playing Cops-n-Citizens

SO, two converging trends: tattoos and LEOs (Yes, I have seen a growing percentage of LEOs with tattoos; N.B. my data set is limited and may be idiosyncratic). Multiple studies have linked visible tattoos and low impulse control (causative factors are still being explored, so there are only correlations noted so far).

I do not like these two trends being associated with each other. Maye it’s just me.