Hope I don’t drink all my beer before the game starts.
Michigan kicks off their season at 7:30.
There are times in my life when I’m out in public with a hearing friend or family member. A stranger will pass by, look my way and say something that I don’t hear. But the tone that I detect and the expression on the stranger’s face makes me think it was something rude.
When I ask my hearing friend or family member what the stranger had said, they refuse to tell me. This frustrates me and makes me feel betrayed. All I can think is the stranger noticed I have cerebral palsy and made a nasty comment about it, but I don’t know that for sure.
Why do my hearing friends or family members not want to help clear these things up?
I accept that some people don’t like guns, don’t want a gun and don’t feel they need a gun. That’s fine. I completely support their choice. But I take issue when someone says I shouldn’t have a gun and that I don’t need one.
Do I really need a gun? I don’t know. I live in a nice neighborhood, in a somewhat rural area. I’ve never witnessed any crime around here. But occasionally strange people come to my door. You never know what someone’s intent could be.
I know that violent crime can happen anywhere. Not just big cities. Even the most rural areas can have violent crime. So, you never know. I choose to be armed because I don’t want find myself a target and not have the means to prevent myself from becoming a victim.
I have faith in police forces. But I also know that in most cases, the police are not on the scene at the time the crime is being committed. I suspect most other people know that too. So, it’s strange to me when people say things like “We don’t need guns because we trust the police to do their jobs.”
I live in a nation where firearm ownership is allowed. I know that many other nations don’t allow firearm ownership. Most of the people in these nations seem fine with that and I’m happy for them. Maybe it really does make a difference in their country. But just because it works for them, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for everyone.
I’ve heard all of the different comparisons of my country to another country. Most of the time, I don’t agree that country is any better than mine. Usually that country has a much smaller population and does not have as much land. Though they might have a lower rate of violent crimes, the rates are usually high enough to be a concern.
You don’t have to be armed. But how can you honestly not understand why I prefer to be? How can you honestly tell me that I shouldn’t have or don’t need a gun? If I didn’t have a gun, what should I do if someone attacked me with a weapon? I’m physically strong, I can fight. But I’d rather not be hit with a baseball bat, or stabbed repeatedly while struggling with this person who attacked me, or shot.
So, what would you have me do? Your way of thinking seems to be, I should just accept that I will be a mess for the police to clean up.
My dad just gave me one of his chainsaws. I was going to buy one eventually, but now I won’t have to.
I just finished the epic fantasy novel that I stopped writing in 2004. It’s now 707 pages and 141,821 words. This draft is pretty rough and it’s going to need cleaning. I might end up adding more than I take out. But before I start the editing process, I want to finish the series. This was Book One. I hope to have the story wrapped up at the end of Book Three, but it might end up taking four or five books to finish this story.
This is not the first novel I’ve finished, it’s just one that has sat unfinished for fifteen years.
I wasn’t sure it would come this year. My mind has been on different things and I didn’t have much thought about hunting. But just a little while ago, the passion came back. Bow season starts in a little over a month and now it’s all I can think about.
Baiting is outlawed this year, so I’m going to try calls. A cousin recommended antlers to rattle and doe bleats in a can. I’m seeing a can of bleats and a pair of antlers on Cabelas.com, so I’ll order those and maybe another call as well.
Don’t be a cube. Pick up a book and go back in time.
Remember the line from the Reading Rainbow song, “I can go anywhere…”? That’s more or less the case with The Artifacts, a novel by Eric T. Reynolds. I found this book quite fun.
Kayla buys a Victorian house on the outskirt of Sycamore Falls and moves in. Her property is vast and it includes the highest of the Flint Hills. On top of this hill is an old farmhouse that has not been lived in for generations.
In the farmhouse, there is a library with books that will take you back in time. When Kayla discovers this library, she is unable to resist going back to the earlier days of Sycamore Falls. She learns much about the town and secrets are unlocked.
Orange Is the New Black. I had followed the series since it launched on Netflix in 2013. I finished the final season about two weeks ago. I wanted to write something about the series, but wasn’t sure how to go at it. Then my sister told me Saturday night that she’d just gotten home from the women’s prison in Ohio, where she’d gone with members of her church to deliver the gospel. That sparked some inspiration for me.
Based on Piper Kerman’s memoir, Orange Is the New Black is a comedy-drama about women in prison. Though the show is a comedy, it touches on the dark truths of prison life.
There’s the drugs and violence, sure. But it’s more than that. In one episode, Piper explained to a girl what prison is. Facing who you really are and not having anywhere to run. She delivered that speech cold.
Many characters were mothers who wanted to finish out their sentences so they could get back to their kids. That is a reality about women in prison. There are also those with mental impairments who really should not be in prison, but in an institution where they can get the proper care.
In far too many cases, the only difference between the guard and the inmate is the guard is in uniform. This is true of prisons across the country. Prison guards are often not properly trained, they can be abusive and they can partake in criminal activity.
My sister said that one of the things the women at the Ohio prison wanted was guidance for when they get out of prison. A lot of women (and men) released from prison are unable to get their lives straightened out. They’ll need an income, a place to live, and there are expenses they’ll need to cover. Restrictions and curfews can make it difficult for them to find work.
Because of that, they might turn to crime to get by, and that eventually leads them back to prison. The Poussey Washington Fund was created to help these women.
My next door neighbors are cutting down this multiple trunk ash tree that has been dead for a few years. The tree is right beside my driveway, but on their property. There was always the possibility of the trunks falling on their house and my house, so I’m really glad they’re cutting it down.
The Second Amendment doesn’t cover personal protection. That’s not what the Second Amendment is about. If you own a firearm that you never take out in public, you are already exercising your Second Amendment right. Taking a firearm, whether it’s a pistol or a rifle, out in public and saying you’re doing it to exercise your Second Amendment is bullshit.
Carrying a firearm for protection is separate from owning firearms because the Second Amendment allows you to. I believe strongly that if you’re going to carry a firearm in public, it should never be a long gun. It should be a pistol. There are pros and cons for concealed carry and open carry, but I always felt that concealed carry was the better choice. Because if the pistol is out of sight, there’s less risk of a misunderstanding.
If you’re carrying a long gun, though, you’re just asking for trouble.
I had planned to write fifty pages of fiction today, but all I got was five. This topic is distracting.