Water, water, everywhere

Last night I went to a restaurant I have been to on several occasions and ordered my normal side to a beer, a glass of water. I know it sounds silly to have a glass of water with a beer, but it has been my norm for a very long time. My beer came out, a massive mug of Sam Adams Summer Ale, but no water in sight so I asked again. My waitress was working on another table and I figured sooner or later the magical elixir which keeps us all alive would appear. As I continued to consume my massive mug of Sammy I became even more thirsty for some water. It is bad when you are drinking a liquid, but it just is not quenching your thirst. In truth I had been thirsty hours before and just had not had a cool bottle from which to partake. Soon another waitress passed my table and so I asked her for a glass. She returned a few minutes later and saw me and admitted she forgot to which I told her, “No problem, I asked my waitress twice and she didn’t bring me a glass of water either.” Finally as my meal arrived a glass of pure heaven was placed on my table and I quickly drained the contents to put out the fire. After that my water-glass was kept brimming and all was well with the world.

On more than one occasion I have told the waitstaff when ordering the water is just as important as the beer and I guess from now on I will make that even clearer than I did last night. Hydration is always important, but even more so when consuming alcohol!

Pieces, Parts and Accessories

I’ve posted several times I am not enamored by the black guns, but I can appreciate the versatility of a lightweight customizable platform. So I’ve been dabbling in compiling the parts for a build and what I have found it there really is no one good central source for everything. I’ve purchased several items from a business in Kansas, but with the stocking issues everyone seems to be facing right now it has required several orders to get the majority of what I am after. Now admittedly I am piecing together a rifle which will be all parts from the same manufacturer and there is absolutely no reason to try to do that.  That is the beauty of the platform you can use parts from all over to complete the build since they should all be to the same spec. Now what you will find is some have much better reputations than others, but in the end you could certainly have almost every part come from a different manufacturer if you so desired.

Anyway, I thought I would offer up just a few tips for how to locate a good deal since anyone who reads my blog knows I am always looking for a deal. I’d suggest whatever you are after you first check three places to see what the baseline price will be and those three places are Amazon, Brownells, and Midway. Keep in mind at Brownells and Midway you will have to pay shipping and you may have to pay shipping at Amazon depending upon your order today and the vendor who is selling the part. From those three you should have enough information to be able to go to the web and locate other sources. Recently I wanted an engraved ejection port cover and an engraved billet trigger guard and after scouring the web found a vendor who offered free shipping above $100 so I threw in some extra items to make the free shipping. Unfortunately the shopping cart did not remove the shipping and I ended up having to contact them to get it reversed, but it worked out well. Amazon was not that much more for the parts, but since I was not in a hurry and they were less expensive from this vendor I went with them.

I’d also suggest before you jump on what may appear to be a deal on certain parts you check the reputation of the manufacturer. There was a lower receiver deal last year and when I did a little research on the manufacturer it became clear there were more negative comments about it than positive. I passed and so did many others. So do your homework, check out the main sites and then scour the web and you may find exactly what you are after for less.

Note: If anyone knows an in-stock source for a Spikes Tactical Troy Folding Rear Sight let me know. I think this boat has sailed, but the Troy with a Spike’s logo is something I’m after.

 

 

Twenty thousand – Thank You!

Sometime last night my little blog passed the 20,000 view mark. Not too shabby for a thus far daily blog about whatever happens to come to mind. Like Bartles & Jaymes always said, “Thank you for your support!”

National Bourbon Day

Yesterday, June 14, was National Bourbon Day and I hope you celebrated the day. Myself I poured a little Blanton’s followed by some Booker’s. Note to self, next time just pour the Blanton’s.

Coppola By Candlelight

I was all set yesterday to finish up the last couple of bottles of Ommegang I had in the fridge, when BAM!, a storm rolled through North Carolina and knocked out our power. Whatever will I do? Open the fridge and allow all my goodies to warm up? Never!

Luckily being the resourceful person I had picked up a bottle of the Coppola Pinot Noir I mentioned a couple of days ago. My wife had cooked a magnificent meal using our gas stove and a flashlight so we thought why not have some good wine with it!

I must say I’ve not spent enough time around Pinot Noir if this one is any indication. I’ve had it on occasion, but often it seems just a bit thin for my liking. This one is near perfect and at a $14 price point from our local wine store it is certainly affordable and highly enjoyable. I may add a few bottles to the bar, but anymore I try not to stash too much wine. Since this one is easy to get I think I’ll let the store be my cellar.

House Bill 937 Passes Second Reading in NC Senate

Yesterday I listened to the debate on H937 in the North Carolina Senate. What I found interesting is the discussion during the bill.

First to speak against the bill during the debate was Senator Kinnaird. She said, “Bushmaster Firearms, the most popular firearm in the United States.”

I wish someone had let me know they were so popular, I would have bought stock in the company. I guess everybody and their brother must have one and their sales must outpace those of everybody else in the country. I’ve said it before and I’ll undoubtedly say it again, but when you put a falsehood into your statement it renders your entire statement invalid to those in the audience who recognize the illusion of truth.

Next Senator Blue rises and decides to talk about the movies. It was a nice recap of Tombstone, but had nothing to do with the bill. I worry when those in our legislature start to find theatrical releases as anything more than an escape from reality. Just because a movie covers a historical time, place, event, or person, does not mean it is based in fact. This was later pointed out to him by others in the chamber.

I could pick on others, but I would like to commend two in particular. Senator Goolsby added an amendment which would increase penalties for habitual offenders of gun laws in NC. It has real teeth and he did an excellent job presenting his amendment. Senator Newton did an excellent job presenting and defending points in the bill. He almost forgot the bill would do away with the antiquated PPP in NC, but was assisted by a colleague. It was clear he understood the bill and was dedicated to what it will accomplish. I will detail the bill in a later blog post once the final version is passed and it has crossed the desk of the Governor.

If you are interested, you can listen to the debate using the YouTube link below.

Carrabba’s Tasting Tuesdays

How have I not known this existed? Last night I stroll into a Carrabba’s after NEVER getting waited on at my first restaurant so I really was in a less than stellar frame of mind. I decided more waiting was not in the cards so off to sit at the bar I go. I was eyeballing the tap handles when the barkeep mentioned Tasting Tuesdays. All of a sudden it was as if the dark clouds lifted and the sun shined down to brighten the day. What’s that you say, three wines for $8? Sure, I’ll give that a whirl!

The bartender indicated the selections change monthly, but you can do three white wines or three red wines and you are given 2 ounces of each. They have a iPhone and Android applications called Uncorked which provides more information on the wines being presented and allow you to provide your thoughts on the selections. Last night the selections were Markham Merlot, Coppola Pinot Noir, and Folie à Deux Cabernet Sauvignon. Personally the Markham was just ok, I would not go out of my way to find or have it again. The Cab from Folie à Deux was tasty, but not very complex. The winner was the Coppola Pinot from their Diamond Collection. I might have to locate a few bottles to have around the house.

So I now have a new haunt when out an about on a Tuesday and no other place to go. I really enjoyed Tasting Tuesday and you might want to try it out yourself.

Is Protecting The Brand THAT Important?

Came across an article on craft beer and why naming a beer can be difficult. I’m sure trademarks are enforced all the time in various industries, but does it have to be that way in the beer industry? I mean if I want to call the beer X and someone has already trademarked X I am SOL? We only get 26 letters to work with in the English language and so the potential names are somewhat limited. There are slightly over one million words in the English language and I am sure some English major could tell me that certain types of words would never be good as beer names so that would limit what can be used as a name. In the US we have over 2,400 breweries so does each get to capture 416 words and throw a trademark on them?

I think trademarking beer names and brewery names is asinine. I get that we don’t want some pico-brewery in BFE making a beer named Samichlaus, but what’s the harm if they did? Do you really think people will mistake his holiday ale with the classic? Perhaps there should be a rule that in order to trademark a brewery or a beer name it has to be open and available for at least five years. Someone would undoubtedly cry foul that an upstart brewery was trying to capitalize on their popularity, but in the end who cares? Heck, make a rule that a brewery name has to be uniquely different to that state. (FWIW – I believe that rule is already in place with the NC Secretary of State to file your LLC.) Disputes could pop up over time, but I believe they could be settled with a phone call and a handshake rather than a lawsuit and legal bills.

YouTube is your friend

I’ve determined for almost anything firearms related someone has made a YouTube video about what you are after. At times it can be a bit of a pain to search out, but eventually you can find exactly what you are after. I happened upon a Radom P64 in fantastic condition locally and was excited because I’ve been wanting something which chambered the 9×18 Makarov cartridge. Unfortunately the original hammer spring made it almost impossible to pull the trigger double action. The weight of the spring best I can tell was 24lbs and it was a beast.

Wolff Gunsprings came to the rescue with a set of springs (18, 19, & 20lb) for $9 plus shipping. They did have a 17lb spring as well, but I opted for the pack. Now I needed to know how to replace the spring and you guessed, YouTube was my salvation. I found several videos online and after getting all the pieces and parts together swapped out the stock 24lb spring for an 18lb spring and now I can actually pull the trigger. Based on the difference between the 24lb and the 18lb I probably would have preferred the 17lb, but I don’t plan to shoot this beast that often so the 18lb spring should be great.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have been to YouTube to find some obscure video about a firearm topic and almost always there is one there. Often you will need to take the methodology of several and combine to have the best plan of action, but just having a resource like that handy is mind-boggling. I’m sure 25 years ago I would have called all over the country to find the answer to replace the hammer spring and may not have been successful at finding the solution and would probably have sold the gun. Contrast that with today, an online search, nine dollars plus shipping, and some YouTube video training and now the firearm is ready to use.

Is It Fresh?

Last night we were at a small concert venue and I decided to have a beer from the VIP lounge. Now this lounge only has a handful of people and the beers are kept in a small counter-top glass front beer cooler. At first glance you would think the stock must be rotated often, but looks can be deceiving. Actually I think several of the brews move quickly, but others probably languish for far too long. Last night I chose poorly and my beer was way past its prime. Now that could have been from being stored in too warm conditions, or it could be the beer has been in that counter-top storage for a long time, but either way this was not fresh and I was disappointed.

This got me thinking how can you tell if a beer is going to be fresh or not when you are not familiar with the venue/store. The short answer is you cannot. The best you can do is select a beer which would not suffer with time if it has been in that cooler a little longer than it should have been. Most breweries date or code the bottles, but do you really have time to inspect the bottle at the counter? So my word to the wise would be to choose wisely and select brews which will not fall apart over time.  Next time I’ll know the IPA may not be fresh and to get that local brown ale which has always been tasty on previous visits, lesson learned.