Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

Warren Mary Ellen said:
In college I took the 2 freshman ROTC classes. They were trying to get you to sign up and you could take those classes without having to drill. You had a lab each semester. One semester you had to go to the range. You learned how to take the M-16 apart and reassemble it, then you fired it a target. You had 5 bullets each. When Capt Serrato looked at mine he said, “Son, if you go in the Army, don’t do a job where you have to shoot.” Second semester, we had to repel off a 30 foot tower and I’m scared of heights. You had to do it twice. First one, I was sweating bullets, but the second one was fun.

I was at Fort Jackson a few weeks ago. Our State Qualifying race in Cross Country was there at Hilton Field where the viewing stands are.
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The one thing I can do, is put holes in paper....and quarters. I have one here (photo somewhere.....) that at 100 meters I put a hole in....slightly off center, but not by much. That was done when I was in my 20's....2 rounds of cataract surgery (standard and YAG) and I'm afraid I may not do quite as well today. Not to mention the price of practice, which in the 1990's was pretty cheap compared to today.

But Relaxin' Jaxion still holds a special place in my heart. I learned a tremendous amount about myself. I'd love to go back and reminisce, but know good and well that will never happen. As close as I can get is watching a movie, a horrible one, called "Renaissance Man" with Danny Devito --- it was filmed there.

I did get to stay in the old barracs from long ago --- think the barracks from Full Metal Jacket --- honestly, more comfortable by far over the 'new' ones that I was in. I found the old wooden ones to be warmer even though they were drafty. If I had to go back....older is almost always better.
Tour 931 said:
I took basic training at Fort Lewis in the winter. It snowed on us in our jungle fatigues. We trained on the M14 and for the first few months of my tour we had the M14. Then one day they took the 14 and issued us M16s without any training. The first time I ever shot an M16 was in Vietnam.
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Did you ever qualify with it? The M16 isn't bad -- I just find them still, to this day, to be fiddly. Too many parts. I can clean my bolt Kalashniko's in ...wait...who cleans them? Run a couple cleaning squres down the barrel, its all good.

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I was looking through photos --- and ran across this one. This was just last summer, I was in Pennasylvania visiting Knobles amusement park. COOL PLACE! I didn't realize until 8pm the night before I started my return that Centralia PA was just a few minutes away. Centralia is famous because some fool started a cole seam burning back in the 70's or 80's ....its still burning today, though I suspect/think its not the ecological disaster it was then.

This photo was taken closer to the residential area --- the ol' highway which was graphiti'd to death has been covered with dirt. Of course, the graphite artists just move elsewhere...you can see a little in the lower corner. I wish I could have seen it before it was dozed.

Not much to see there -- probably an hour kind of rolling around. I did zero preparation so I had no idea where anything was. But, I can say I've been there. And I'd go back.

The closest town is about 10 minutes away -- beautiful Catholic Church there. I made a stop. Its really not a tourist trap any longer.

Pardon the grammar if that is hard to read. I can highly recommend a buttery chardonnay in front of a fireplace on a cold winter's day...
 
Sweeney said:
The one thing I can do, is put holes in paper....and quarters. I have one here (photo somewhere.....) that at 100 meters I put a hole in....slightly off center, but not by much. That was done when I was in my 20's....2 rounds of cataract surgery (standard and YAG) and I'm afraid I may not do quite as well today. Not to mention the price of practice, which in the 1990's was pretty cheap compared to today.

But Relaxin' Jaxion still holds a special place in my heart. I learned a tremendous amount about myself. I'd love to go back and reminisce, but know good and well that will never happen. As close as I can get is watching a movie, a horrible one, called "Renaissance Man" with Danny Devito --- it was filmed there.

I did get to stay in the old barracs from long ago --- think the barracks from Full Metal Jacket --- honestly, more comfortable by far over the 'new' ones that I was in. I found the old wooden ones to be warmer even though they were drafty. If I had to go back....older is almost always better.


Did you ever qualify with it? The M16 isn't bad -- I just find them still, to this day, to be fiddly. Too many parts. I can clean my bolt Kalashniko's in ...wait...who cleans them? Run a couple cleaning squres down the barrel, its all good.

View media item 2731

I was looking through photos --- and ran across this one. This was just last summer, I was in Pennasylvania visiting Knobles amusement park. COOL PLACE! I didn't realize until 8pm the night before I started my return that Centralia PA was just a few minutes away. Centralia is famous because some fool started a cole seam burning back in the 70's or 80's ....its still burning today, though I suspect/think its not the ecological disaster it was then.

This photo was taken closer to the residential area --- the ol' highway which was graphiti'd to death has been covered with dirt. Of course, the graphite artists just move elsewhere...you can see a little in the lower corner. I wish I could have seen it before it was dozed.

Not much to see there -- probably an hour kind of rolling around. I did zero preparation so I had no idea where anything was. But, I can say I've been there. And I'd go back.

The closest town is about 10 minutes away -- beautiful Catholic Church there. I made a stop. Its really not a tourist trap any longer.

Pardon the grammar if that is hard to read. I can highly recommend a buttery chardonnay in front of a fireplace on a cold winter's day...
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No I never qualified with the M16 although I used it in Vietnam. It had a bad reputation for jamming but it never failed me. Of course I was using newer ammo which was the real problem. The older powder did not burn clean causing the gas operation to plug up.
 
Rented a house at Harbor Island, SC for the week. It’s the 2 of us plus our daughter and my mother. Cold & windy this evening walking the dogs. Then it struck me, I never grabbed my shirts and they are 270 miles away from me all the way across the Palmetto State. Now I have to go shopping 2 days before Christmas.
 
Warren Mary Ellen said:
Rented a house at Harbor Island, SC for the week. It’s the 2 of us plus our daughter and my mother. Cold & windy this evening walking the dogs. Then it struck me, I never grabbed my shirts and they are 270 miles away from me all the way across the Palmetto State. Now I have to go shopping 2 days before Christmas.
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I did the exact same thing once on a trip to the Outer Banks of NC. Came back with some cool shirts.
 
Tour 931 said:
No I never qualified with the M16 although I used it in Vietnam. It had a bad reputation for jamming but it never failed me. Of course I was using newer ammo which was the real problem. The older powder did not burn clean causing the gas operation to plug up.
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I knew they had early problems, I didn' know what it was. I can say that as much fun as they are to shoot, they are horrible to clean. I haven't done that since 1991, but am in no hurry. I'm more a bolt action kind of guy anyway. Semi-Auto (or worse -- full) gets expensive fast :)

Warren Mary Ellen said:
Rented a house at Harbor Island, SC for the week. It’s the 2 of us plus our daughter and my mother. Cold & windy this evening walking the dogs. Then it struck me, I never grabbed my shirts and they are 270 miles away from me all the way across the Palmetto State. Now I have to go shopping 2 days before Christmas.
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SOunds like something I would do! Too many things happening all at the same time is what I blame it on. Professionally, I had to start making checklists...ANytime I'm working on a project, next to me you'll find a Moleskine and a mechanical pencil with sketches and numbered lists. Some days, I feel like Indiana Jones with his father's notebook, except the writing is my own and often just as cryptic as the former.


OK...got to say it! I've got cabin fever!!!!! Be going to visit my aunt tomorrow, so a few hours behind the wheel will help.

 
It’s been mostly in the teens here which is about average. By tomorrow it’s going to be above freezing. Not much of a winter.
 
Today the high is expected to be 41F and rain this evening. Then in another week the low will be around zero. I wish the weather would make up its mind.
 
Filled with jealousy! I just ran some erands and was visiting with a good friend, and we're both suffering from acute cabin fever. I know we've gotten past the solstice...its all uphill from here...but a springtime bonfire sounds really good right now.

At this point, I'd settle just fro some blue skies! The grey is getting to me.
 
Made it safely back across the Palmetto State Park dodging one Turkey vulture and only made my mother scream twice about my driving and/or other’s driving abilities. Didn’t see any of the remaining escaped monkeys in Yemassee, SC and made good time through the bomb plant. Had a delightful lunch in North Augusta at a Waffle House.
 
We had a couple inches of snow on the ground then it rained all night and now it’s snowing again. It sure doesn’t feel like a Wisconsin winter.
 
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