quick pics of ye olde emergency kit

It still needs a stove, a small pry-bar and more batteries. The blue bottle contains water purification supplies and basic toiletries.

Remington 597

Some pics of our only tacticool rifle.

Special Edition Remington 597 22lr

(yes, that's chameleon paint, from the factory)

our first morel!

The Mrs and I went out mushroom hunting today. No luck at one location, we even saw another guy who was hunting. We dropped the dog off at home and headed to another spot. After about 45 minutes of searching, we hopped on the trail to head back. Within a few feet, I almost stepped on a little morel growing off the path. We snapped some pictures and plucked him out of the ground. After about searching the surrounding area, we moved on. We walked out of the woods with one lonely 'shroom. But, where there is one, there are more. So, we'll head back again soon.

hunt of another type

Hunting for chametz!




This will be our first Passover, we're both excited and nervous. There are a lot of rules and regulations and we have to figure out where we fit in. Our rabbi is Sephardi, so we definitely lean that direction. I admit, I don't understand a lot of the Ashkenazi traditions. Some seem overbearing to the point of being ridiculous. Like no green beans during Passover? Huh? Leavened products I can see, same with fermented but beans? Too each his/her own.



A family from the synagogue invited us to their seder. We're looking forward to it. They're incredibly nice and I know we'll learn a lot. And there is a vast amount of knowledge that still has to be absorbed. It can still be intimidating at times but there's no turning back, nor would I want to.

*edit*
Today at the morning service, we got invited to the 2nd night seder at the Cantor's house. His wife was our Hebrew teacher and did a great job, too bad I'm lazy at studying! Anywho, it was a good day at the synagogue. In addition to the invite, we also got called to the bimah to close the ark. Then Rabbi D. introduced us to the congregation. It was a good day. =]

it's almost hunting season....

My grandfather is a morel hunter and he has finally agreed to show me his secret morel spots. I went hunting a few times as a child but I don't remember finding anything.

As I got older, I grew away from things like this. It's too bad, I would have my own secret spots by now and a wealth of information. It's never too late to learn though. I'll start scouting my area and see what I can find. Maybe we can train the dog to find them? =]

Mrs. Red has never had morels, so she's in for a treat.

Wish us luck!

(image is property of it's owner, as listed on Flickr)

walkin' with bones...

The Mrs, puppy and I went for a walk along the river. It was a good time for all, especially puppers. Today, she found a good amount of deer bones (two skulls, ribs, pelvis, a spine and a pile of misc bones). The Mrs and a I keep saying she'd be a good "remains" dog. Why do they love dead and stinky things?

empty your pockets....

I just dumped out my pockets and I think I lost 10 lbs.

What's in your pockets?






(Technically, the revolver wasn't in my pocket but let's see your current carry piece.)

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy 5th Day of Hanukkah and have a good Kwanzaa tomorrow. Be safe in your travels and I hope all your gunny and non-gunny wishes come true.

Homemade apple latkes!

braving the hoards....

A good New Yorker piece about shopping during the rise of the living dead:

"...So then the only space I can find is next to Macy’s, which is still on fire, by the way, and a mile from any of the open stores. Do you know how aggravating it is to run past all those cars in primo spots, abandoned and overrun with snakes?..."

Is the correct term for a group of zombies a hoard or what about a stagger of zombies? I doubt it's a flock of zombies or a gaggle of zombies...

H/T to Turk

I miss Alaska...

Palin's press release.


The Mrs was asking me about Alaska while we were playing with the puppers in the snow. If you haven't been there (Alaska, not the field where we take the dog), go before you die. It's amazing and you'll leave a piece of your heart there when you leave.

One of my best memories from my short stay there was wandering around at night smoking and I got the "something is different" feeling. I looked up and the sky was full of pulsating green stripes of the Northern Lights (they deserve to be capitalized). The small display I saw was nothing compared to pictures I've seen.

We often talk about moving to Montana, if it doesn't capture part of my heart like Alaska did, then I'll be disappointed.

H/T to Sebastian

and a darkness was spread across the land....

After dinner on Tuesday, the Wife and I plopped down on the couch to watch the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Just when things were getting good, *BOOM* the transformer gets nailed by lightning. Our river shack is on septic and well. No power = no more water after the tank has been drained. I grabbed the flashlights and glo-sticks while Amanda light some candles. Turns out, most of the glo-sticks were past their prime. Looks like I need to restock my emergency kits! According to IPL, the power would be out until midnight.

We spent the rest of the night enjoying the silence, waiting for the power to return. By morning, it was still dark. After a shower at my Mom's place, I grabbed the cooler and some ice to try and save the food.

The power came back about noon. By then, I had made up my mind that we've lived without a generator for too long. So, I'm trading my Kel-Tec and a little cash for a new Coleman Powerman 5000, I mean Powermate 5000w. One step closer to surviving the zombie hordes. But now I'm down a firearm.

Guess it's time to save my pennies for a new carry gun!

IT'S ALIVE!

The CB350 fired up yesterday! We had some gas leaks due to a cracked overflow tube but a bit of tiny fuel line fixed that. I reset the timing but it still needs some fine tuning as do the carbs. But it runs well enough to zip around the neighborhood. I put about 10 miles on it. Good stuff! Now I need some new tubes and tires. Plus a visit to the BMV to make it all legal.


Looks like I'll make it for Ride to Work Day this year!

better late than never!

So, I'm an idiot and never posted wedding pictures from last year. I thought I did but I was wrong. Here are just a select few:

Ruby

Take a moment of silence to remember the 8 Israeli children that were slaughtered senselessly at the J'lem yeshiva.

Hahaha! *edited*

**The posted image is property of Penny Arcade**


If you're like the rest of the modern world, chances are you spend at least a little time on net forums/boards. In a country full of wasted educations and too much hand holding, it's about time someone made this:







There is a lot of jack-assery on the Zombie Boards but it makes for some great laughs when an idiot gets his/her hands on a keyboard.

calling all book hunters!

I'm trying to track down: "From the Battle Returned" by Nikolai Zhuravlyov. It's the story of Roza Yegorovna Shanina (Роза Егоровна Шанина), a WWII Russian sniper. I checked eBay and Amazon but no luck. My Google-Fu turned up squat.



Any ideas?

practice session

The deal with the cool little house on 1.88 acres fell through. Amanda and I decided that our offer was all that we wanted to spend on that particular house. So, we continued the search and toured another house we've had our eyes on. This one is much more us and even bigger with a 2 car garage! (or as I look at it, a multiple bike garage and shop)

We made an offer and they countered with a slightly higher price but still willing to pay $1500 of our closing costs and let us keep all the appliances. We're going to take it, I'm just waiting on the money man to call me back. Kinda crazy, we're getting a house!

It was one of those things where you walk in and your mind says, "this is my house", well before we even made an offer. The guy that lives there has some Suzuki sport bike, a ton of crazy horror movie action figure/statue thingies and he's an EMT. Hell, we share a good amount of interests. The house was built in 1930, it's 936 sqft with a 2 car garage. It sits on a flood plain but that's ok, life gets boring without a little risk! (see if I say that again if it floods!) The important thing is that we really like it and it's in our price range. Plus, it's still close to work and friends. There won't be any fun days of shooting guns in the backyard but that's what Sharky's compound is for!


I'll keep you updated....