AWOL

Greetings once again, my friends. According to the Blogger dashboard, it’s been 15 days since I posted any free ice cream for your enjoyment. My sincerest apologies for the absence. You do your best to make plans only to see them beat to death by cold, hard, unsympathetic reality.

Before going any further, please allow me to welcome two new followers. First is Dan Oblak. According to his profile, he has a bigger online presence and more links than GunDiva which is saying a lot. Dan, I’m not sure which is your main outlet. So, if there is a particular link you want plugged here, drop me a comment and I will update accordingly. Second is Caterina Serra. Her profile reveals four blogs all of which appear to be written in a Latin based language…Italian, I think. Same offer I made to Dan applies…let me know which link you want plugged….

If the dashboard is to believed, the ranks of the “official” Blogger sanctioned faithful have swollen to 53. Add to that several people who lurk here from Wordpress and Facebook (I’m looking at you Bob S. and Ellie H.) and pretty soon I will have to be looking for a larger venue to host this party. That and find a discount on adult beverages and snacks.

Anywho, the reason for my absence is fairly simple. When I had time, I had no energy. When I had energy, I had no time.

To bring everyone current on life at Castle Erickson, the two little girls who were briefly introduced in the last post have already passed through to another home. We only wound up having them for the one night. It turned out for the best for everyone. M&M had come home from her visit with the bio parents that day with a cough that developed over the remainder of the week into an upper respiratory infection and bilateral ear infection. So, it wouldn’t have been the best time to bring to new little ones into the mix and get them acclimated while having to give full attention to a sick little one. The family who took them already had a little girl of the same age which would make the transition easier.

M&M is doing much better now. We had been hoping it was only allergies and that it would pass when the weather settled. Such was not to be though. When she started gurgling in her sleep over the weekend, it was time to get her to the doctor. M&M has remained her usual, calm self throughout the entire process. As I described to Mimi, it was M&M plus phlegm and snot. No crying. No fussing. No loss of appetite. No diarrhea.

I think I caught a touch of whatever M&M had as I developed a scratchy throat and sinus congestion as well. That, and my perennial sleep deprived state, is likely the source of my lack of energy of late. The Queen seems to have avoided my and M&M’s fate which is surprising considering her bouts with the mystery illness over the last several years.

Other than that, there is not much of significance to report at this time.

I did shoot in a USPSA match almost two weeks ago. I placed first in the Single Stack division (we’ll overlook the fact that I was the only one shooting in that division at that match). I was 14TH out of 18 overall. My match results are definitely highlighting fundamentals I need to work on if I want to get better. First, I need to practice securing a repeatable grip following the draw. My strong hand thumb is developing an annoying habit of slipping under the safety, and my weak hand might as well not be there for all the support it’s giving me. Magazine changes also need work. It does me no good to insert a fresh mag and not seat it fully. Finally, I need to work on slowing down and focusing on the front sight for accuracy. If you can’t see it, you can’t hit it.

One of these days I will get around to posting some content that doesn’t involve guns or M&M. There is plenty of content in the world upon which to pontificate and gloriously excrete. I haven’t spent any time in a long time discussing politics. There’s gas prices, the recession and basic economics to discuss. There’s libertarianism and other –isms to discuss.

In the meantime, I’ll get back to wishing someone (or several someones…I’m not picky) will send me a Rock River Arms LAR-15 Elite Operator 2 for my birthday coming up in 11 days. They’re on sale right now, too.