The Picture for my office was delivered today

I had been searching for a year for something like this. I didn’t really mind what city, but I’m pleased that the one I found is of Detroit. It’s actually a painting, but it looks like a photograph.

The view is from the Renaissance Center. Whoever made this had the same idea I did and went out of their way to make sure the picture showed reflections from the window they’re looking out of.

Since getting it up on the wall, I haven’t been able to stop looking at it.

Patient Zero, by Jonathan Maberry

Joe Ledger does not fuck around. He’s a natural badass and the guy you want on your team. Joe doesn’t waste time talking. He takes action and gets the job done.

Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry‘s first Joe Ledger novel, is packed with wild action that keeps you turning the pages.

Joe Ledger, a Baltimore police officer, is recruited by the Department of Military Science to lead the newly formed Echo team against the worst terrorist threat yet. The entire human race is in danger and Joe must not fail.

My hunt for wall art has come to an end

The blank back wall in my office will not be blank for much longer. I’ve been searching for a year and I finally found a window view that will work for me. It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it’ll do.

I just placed the order. The picture should arrive in a week or two. It’ll be 36 inches long and 24 inches wide. Can’t wait to get it on my wall.

About the NCAA Basketball Championship Game?

Villanova was a mighty foe. Not even Jordan Poole could save us. Villanova beat Michigan by seventeen points. I think they  had two or three guys with an incredible talent for making shots far outside the arch.

My team  accepted their loss with  proper sportsmanship. I’m proud of them. They didn’t let us down. They played their best.

I still have some whiskey left, so I’m going to drink that.

Weapons or Tools?

It wasn’t so long ago that my brother had an online business called The Holster Shack. He sold holsters and firearm accessories, which included magazines for pistols and rifles, ammo for pistols, shotguns and rifles, scopes, range bags and all kinds of shit that firearm owners would be interested in.

I signed on as an unofficial promoter. It was my job to run the business’s Facebook page and keep people entertained. We had more than 5,000 followers. All were firearm owners and fans of the Second Amendment.  Many were current and former Military personnel and many were NRA members.

One article I wrote and posted on there had to do with my belief that firearms are weapons and should be classified as such. This started a huge argument between NRA members and Military personnel.

The NRA takes a very fierce position that firearms are not weapons, firearms are merely tools that can be used as weapons. The Military feels strongly that firearms are weapons and should never be classified as tools.

The NRA members were saying things like, “anything can be used as a weapon, anything at all.” as if this justified their position that firearms are not weapons, but tools. They’re not wrong, anything can be used as a weapon. But, when you think about it, pretty much everything is a tool.

My cell phone is a tool, my computer is a tool, my chair is a tool, this shot glass of whiskey is a tool.. All these things can be used as weapons, but they were not specially designed for that purpose.

The Military personnel in that argument felt that calling a firearm a tool and denying that it is a weapon was undermining the deadly seriousness of firearms. Of course a firearm, like everything else, is a tool. But firearms, no matter how they’re marketed–like “Uh, this one is meant for target shooting and this one is meant for hunting.”–are  designed to be weapons.

I’m very much in agreement with the Military on this. Firearms are weapons. They are designed to kill. No matter how you use them, there is no denying what they’re meant for. Firearms are serious, deadly, dangerous weapons.

This is Madness!!!

That was the Michigan-Loyola Chicago game. Michigan had me pretty nervous. In the second half, they were far behind. But they caught up and got ahead. The final score is Michigan 69- Loyola Chicago 57.
 
Michigan will be in the NCAA Championship game, which will be Monday night.
 
Next up is Kansas and Villanova. I have friends who are Kansas fans, so I hope their team wins. It’d be nice if we could faceoff in the Championship game.

Get It Shipt

It started as a means for me to try Carlo Rossi’s Sangria. My friend Megan suggested I try the sangria, but I wasn’t finding it at Kroger where I usually shop. I didn’t want to ask for a ride to Meijer, which is a bit farther away. I made a comment about how it would be easier if I could find a service that would deliver the sangria to my home.

Megan and my cousin Mark told me about Shipt.com and my life is forever changed.  Since then, the only time I’m in the grocery store is when I’m tagging along with my dad while he’s shopping.

It’s not that I don’t want to go grocery shopping. In the past, I had very bad social anxiety issues, but my anxiety isn’t so bad anymore and I actually like going out these day. The problem was, there were many times when I wanted to get something from the store and there was no one available to give me a ride.

I had looked for services that would deliver groceries, but none of them operated in Lapeer. I didn’t expect Shipt would either. But they do and they’ve been delivering my groceries since December. It costs more than it would if I was going to the grocery store and doing my own shopping, but for me, it’s worth it.

I was tired of asking for rides and waiting until someone was available. Sometimes it would be days before anyone could take me. So, Shipt has made my life easier.

Auto and Semi-auto

This isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. I just want to talk about it, because I keep encountering people who don’t know the difference between an automatic weapon and a semi-automatic weapon.

An automatic weapon fires multiple rounds per trigger pull.

A semi-automatic weapon fires one round per trigger pull.

Automatic weapons are Military hardware and, I think, the police have them too. I think most modern Military infantry rifles have selective fire, which means they can be set for automatic, three-round burst or semi-automatic.

Since the Reagan years, it’s illegal to sell automatic weapons to civilians. Some people own them, but they were likely purchased before the ban.

I don’t mind that automatic weapons aren’t available to civilians. I see automatic weapons as wastes of ammo. Firing multiple rounds per trigger pull, you probably missed your target a few times.

I’m also fine with the idea of outlawing kits, bump stocks and whatever else that can make a semi-automatic fire as a full-auto. I had thought these things were already illegal, but then I was hearing that they’re not. So, I guess they’re legal. Which doesn’t make sense. If there’s already a ban on automatic weapons, why then are you allowed to convert your semi-auto to a full-auto?

Again, this isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. It’s just what I was thinking about this morning.

Something Random

I’ve been on the fence about whether I’m ready to crawl out from under my rock and get back into blogging daily about whatever random thing happens to be on my mind. I don’t feel ready. My long withdrawal has me feeling like I’m climbing a steep hill just to write this entry. Chances are, once I post the entry, I’ll then want to take it down and crawl back under my rock.

“So, Wob, how’s stuff?”

I’m glad you asked. Stuff has been, meh. Usually when people ask me that sort of question, including “How are you?” I just shrug because I don’t fucking know. I don’t like to say “Good!” unless it feels entirely true, and don’t like to say “Bad!” for the same reason. I’m usually in the middle of good and bad,  But to say “In between” would just confuse people and to explain beyond that might get too wordy.

“Gweat! So, whatchu been up to, Wob?”

That’s an easier question to answer. I’ve been doing what I always do. Productivity is up. Been watching The Walking Dead on Sunday nights and I checked out the new series on AMC. The Terror. It’s interesting so far.

“What about Woseanne, huh? They webooted the show.”

I did watch Roseanne last night. Don’t really have any complaints, but I thought the actors were a little rusty. I don’t know what they’ve done since the shows first run ended in 1997, but I had the impression that it’s been a while since any of them had any major acting roles.

Roseanne was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up and I’m pleased that the show was rebooted. It’s like reconnecting with old friends after twenty years. I was surprised when I got on Facebook today and saw posts from left-leaning friends declaring their desire to not watch the show, because they don’t like Roseanne Barr’s positions on political and social issues.

I admit, I didn’t know about Roseanne Barr’s politics until I saw these posts. But after watching last night’s episodes, I thought it would be far right wingers voicing disgust about the show. It’s my understanding that it was Sara Gilbert who put the reboot together, not Roseanne Barr, and I’m under the impression that Gilbert  is the one calling the shots, but I could be wrong.

“Wob, what about NCAA Basketball?”

I am following the Madness. Michigan’s in the Final Four, that game will be Saturday night. Very exciting. On the side, baseball is back. The Tigers just finished Spring Training and their first regular season game is tomorrow in Detroit at 1 PM, Vs the Pirates. But the Tigers have a new team this year and it might take time getting used to that.