How'd you spend your weekend?

Hmm, a little interactive visit to Sea World? Very nice.
I don't think so. Maybe a trip to a huge European outdoor
pee-in Eh? Damn, is that Carlos Santana? Naaaaa.



HEY, eyes front mother fucker! Eh? Or was it more like this?



Aaah, hogs-a-plenty. Exquisite violence. No, not that ether. I went to Ft. Worth to visit a buddy, go to a gun show, drop off some parts to my gun smith in Mansfield, and do some car shopping on the side.

Got away from work at about 2pm on Friday. Got home and there was a message on the machine. "Two words dude, Greens Sausage!" My buddy and his wife are BIG fans of the stuff they sell there in Zabcikville, a little one blinker east of Temple. I take my dad out to eat Chinese food every Friday and didn't want to blow it off, so on the way to the Chinese food place, dad and I made the detour to Greens and I picked up about 9 lbs. of various meat products, as per their order; three lbs. of beef, three of jalapeno, and three of mixed, I think beef and pork. After dad and I pigged out at the buffet, I took the pops home and then headed north at about 7pm.

Got to the gun smiths place in Mansfield at about 9pm. He's building me a few new toys ( a nice Polish Tantal and a Hungarian side-folder), and I needed to drop off a few parts so he can finish one of them. His name is Randy Kline, and he runs Sledgehammer Arms Works. He's a great guy. Specializes in FN-FALs, and does great work on all sorts of other things, like Kalashnikovs. He's finished most of the Tantal, which is basically a Polish AK-74, and has sent the gun to a welder to have the left side safety latch put on. This latch is a special feature most other Kalashnikovs don't have. It's a little lever on the left side of the receiver that allows you to manipulate the conventional right side safety lever from the left side of the gun with your thumb. The original service rifles also have a three shot burst setting, but there's a limit to what I can legally have built, so I'll settle for the little selector lever.

Most Tantals you see don't have it. There are places where you can buy them, like the Tantal link on the left of this page, but my parts set came with it, so he's putting it on. The Hungarian side folder is more of a conventional AKMS from the 1960s or '70s. I had to give him a sling swivel and a cleaning rod for that one so he can install the swivel. It has to be attached to the left side of the receiver, like a very early AK-47 from the '50s. He thinks he'll have one or two of these rifles finished by the next gun show in Dallas in a few weeks, and I hope to pick at least one up as I hand over another parts set to him. Can't have too many toys. It's all about the gear babies.

Made it to Ft. Worth by about 10:15. These folks are my best friends, the people I floated the Grand Canyon with in '03 and '05. I've known this guy since about '88 when we met on a canoe trip in Oklahoma, and I've known her ever since they hooked up in the early '90s. We've all been floatin' and hangin' around together ever since. He was up watching TV when I got there. His dog alerted him to my presence and he came to the door as I walked up. His wife came out to visit and we talked about what we'd all been doing as we sat through most of an episode of Nip Tuck (what an amazing show) and then a while later everybody hit the sack (separate sacks, get yer mind out of the gutter). Their kid (her kid from a previous ugliness) is now enrolled in the tech school in Waco, TSTC, so I took his bed. Thing is, he's got a short little single bed slid up sideways against his wall, with a head board and foot board that stick up about 10 inches on ether end. I laid down on it for a time, with my legs propped up on the foot board, but then took the mattress off the bed and put it on the floor. Slept like a baby under the ceiling fan. Put it back in the morning. All is well. They don't give a damn. You know, I'm a large hairy mammal, and I gotta do what I gotta do.

We got up at about 8am, and after breakfast burritos (potato bits, egg, bacon, beans, salsa, cilantro, cheese, etc.) were consumed he and I went out to terrorize the car dealers. My buddy is the sort of friend that guys like me need to make it through life in one piece. I think dads ether train their sons to fix stuff, or they train you to know how to find a good repairman. My dad was the latter sort, so having a good friend who can fix things and who knows about cars is a great thing to have. Mostly we just drove to different places and tried on a few cars. "Tried on" is the operative term, because being able to fit into these things is a critical issue. I'm looking for a two door rice rocket that gets good mileage, like an older Solara, to take over from the old jeep. The Cherokee's got over 357,000 miles on it now, and badly needs a rest. Not replacement, just a rest.

My buddy advised me on the different cars that are out there, which he knows a lot more about than me, and on how to talk to the sales guys. I sat in a Mini Cooper, just for the fun of it, and no, it didn't fit. Love those things though. Sat in LOTS of stuff. Test drove a nice 04 Nissan Altima. Very nice; white with tan cloth, all the bells and whistles, 5 speed stick, but I think I need a two door. Something in me rebels against getting a big, four door geezer car. Sat in a lot of other stuff, and have basically narrowed it down to an 03 or 04 Solara, so long as it has an electric seat adjuster. That one feature alone gives me the head room I need. I dunno. It's not an emergency, so I've got time to look and see what's out there.

After all that, we headed off to the Amon Carter convention center and walked through a gun show. The museum and convention center area were crowded as hell, due to several other shows going on there at the same time. We had to park in the far off lot on the other side of the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, and then walk past the huge bidet they have spewing water from the cement in front of it. There was some sort of kids event going on at the museum of science and history, and a food show, Zestfest or something, down in the convention center, along with the gun show.

I was looking for a receiver for my next project, which is a 5.45x39mm AKS-74. There's a guy who shows up there who sells them, and I was able to get one. Last time I saw him he didn't have any. He mistakenly pulled a 7.62x39 receiver out of the box, and I bought the thing, even after looking over the stamps. I don't know how the hell I missed it. We left the show after my buddy bought some jerky and later, sitting in front of the boob tube, I realized it had 7.62 stamped on it big as day. We went back, found a parking place right up front, and I went in and easily exchanged it. The receivers are basically the same, but it would suck to have the wrong thing stamped on the rifle when it's finished.

After all that, with his wife begging off (she wasn't hungry and wanted to watch tennis), I took my buddy to eat big Mexican food at Papasito's. Introduced him to the Brochette shrimp, which is the best thing they make there. Large sized shrimp stuffed with cheese and a slice of jalapeno pepper, wrapped in bacon, spiced, grilled, then dipped in whipped butter. To die for. After that we took his pooch to the park and walked off the bloated feeling, and then I hit the road back here to the house. Got home by about 10pm.

It was good to see the buddy and his wife. He's in town for a good while this time, so we'll do it again soon. He's talkin' about comin' down and goin' tubing in New Braunfels in a week or so and then going camping at Lost Maples state park in a month or so. Slept in today and watched a long documentary on Heavy Metal on VH-1. Love these sorts of shows. It's the history dude in me I guess. I loves me some metal some times, but I also love to listen to Maria Callas sing an aria from Puccini, or some old Dusty Springfield. So I never could be a part of the whole Metal culture. I guess it's like that line from Annie Hall- "I could never be a member of any group that would have me for a member." Then saw a documentary about the wars in Afghanistan. What an amazing mess. It seems that no matter what anyone does, the progress of time only furthers the goals of these crazy mother fuckers. To paraphrase Caligula, it's too bad they all don't have but one neck. We'd hack it through!

Dinner tonight was at Mom's (big shock). She cooked chicken and dumplings to die for, plus peas and carrots, and there was a peach cobbler layin' around too. Her shit don't stink, I wanna tell ya. Sis and I converged on the place from different directions and consumed mightily. Took dad some aluminum cans I crush and save for him. He's been saving those things and recycling them for 20 years. Doesn't get much for the aluminum these days, but it's his thing, so I do it. We ate big food and then watched the football games.

Couldn't believe they cut to the commentators on CBS with about 40 seconds left in the Tennessee game, just as they were driving down to maybe tie it up. And then the Cowboys screwed themselves out of a win with stupid penalties. Same old Cowboys. Actually we flipped back and forth from the football to the tennis. I'm avoiding all the 9/11 coverage. Depressing as hell. Amused by all the people screaming over the ABC 9/11 program. Interesting how they only notice bias in the media when it's FOX, and only get mad at historic inaccuracy in the coverage of events when it's them that are being covered inaccurately.

Well, it's late. I've got to do a wash and look into my classes for tomorrow. The new week is upon us, damn it. Later dudes. FHB.