Holy shit, it actually snowed!

Well, we got a dusting of light snow over night. It came down after we hit the sack at midnight or 1 AM, but it sure was purdy when I opened the garage door this mornin'.



I scraped what little ice had accumulated off Denise's windows and got the car started and warmed up for her while I put the garbage can out on the street to get picked up. Friday ritual that.

I took this shot of the sunrise as I jetted off to the stop-n-rob to get my regular breakfast of corn dogs and Dew. The sun had come out and warmed the temps up to about 45 degrees, melting all the snow away, by the time I drove home from Florence at 10 AM. It was nice while it lasted.

I got a report and a picture from Dave Thursday concerning my new M-1 carbine. He found a picture on the CMPs web site that he says is the spitting image of my gun. Check it out.



Dave's been putterin' around with it, cleanin' much of the cosmoline off of it, but he says it still needs a LOT of work. Dave said I'd probably need to just hit it with a wire brush or somethin'. If anyone has any ideas about gettin' that shit off, I'd appreciate it.

It's apparently got a pretty new, lighter colored wooden stock with a darker hand guard, just as you see above. He says the metal and wood are in great shape, and he's identified the origins of many of the component parts.

He says the barrel and action are Winchester, the operating slide was made by IBM, and the Trigger housing is made by National Cash Register. Based on the serial number he thinks it was manufactured in late 1943. The mix match of parts comes from the soldiers mixing up the interchangeable parts when they disassembled and cleaned the guns in the field.

In the war, no one took the care to keep the original parts together in each gun, so virtually all the guns you'd get today are in this sort of condition. Another story tells me that the parts got mixed up in the armories after the war when the guns were taken apart, refurbished, and then set aside in storage so they could be distributed to our various allies or clients during the years from then to now.

This particular rifle is one of a large batch that was just returned to us from Italy. If the Italians has taken it out of the cosmoline and used it they would have stamped it with the letters F.A.T. (no clue what that stands for - an acronym signifying their ownership and certification of the rifle). How funny would it be if ol' Fat got himself a carbine with "FAT" stamped on the butt? This one apparently has no such stamp. Dave thinks that means it was given to the Italians many years ago and has been sitting in their armory since then, untouched.

I told him I didn't really mind some wear and tear on the stock, and don't really care about the mix match of parts. To me, it speaks of the history of the gun. The cool thing about havin' it is thinkin' about where the gun has been and who may have used it in one conflict or another. If only it could talk, what a story it would tell.

I told him so long as it shoots nice I don't really care what it looks like. Then he said "Oh, it shoots great. I put three rounds through it this mornin'." I looked up at him and said "YOU BASTARD!", and we both laughed our asses off.

He told me he was thinkin' "Do I wanna wait till Sunday to see how this thing shoots? Naaaa!" He didn't even wait and let me pull the trigger first on my own gun! Well hell, let that be his reward for being such a great friend and getting me such cool toys through his connections with the CMP.

As I told you before, Mom and Denise are going to get their palms read today at about 3 PM. The whole thing cracks me up. She'll pay so much for a palm reading, and then the cost goes up. A little more for a crystal ball, and then a chunk more for the tarot cards. I feel like tellin' her if she has a huge desire to throw her money away, throw it at me. What a bunch of ridiculous bullshit!

Anyway, while they get their rocks off with the hokus pokus, I'll be across town gettin' my tires balanced and rotated. It's way overdue. Then, weather permitting, while the ladies go out to eat somewhere else, Dad and I will hit golf balls and eat Chinese food.

Maybe then Denise and I will hook back up and see a flick. We'd both still like to see the new Rambo movie, which I think is still playin' at the local multiplex. Someone out at work told Denise it was great. He'd seen it twice. I tell ya, I LOVED the first Rambo, and the third when he's in Afghanistan, but I'm not sire if I want to see Stallone stumbling around in that stringy hair again. He should have gone in the direction of Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Bald, with some cool hill tribe tattoos or somethin'. Now THAT would have been cool.

Well, you guys stay warm and have a great weekend. We'll chat again soon. Cheers.

More food and fun.

Monday night, Denise and I went to a local place off 190 called Boston's, and had dinner. It's sort of a sports bar, but we've never sat at the bar and watched any games. They really don't have very nice monitors for game watching. So we just go there for dinner. They are known for their pizza, but we like the pizza at another place on the other side of town, so we have other things here at Boston's. I tried to get a shot of the little woman with the phone, but apparently the folks in the witness protection program trained her well.

We started out with wings, and they were very good. Teryaki flavor, with a little kick to them. After I started to chow down, I realized that Denise doesn't eat dark meat (I know, bizarre), so she had the celery and carrots as I consumed the bird. It was finger lickin' good, I wanna tell ya. OK, It's not like the fat little dudes they serve at Wild Wings, but ya have to make due with what you can get. They gave us a little dish of lemon water and nappies to clean up with, and as soon as we were done, on came the main attractions.

I had Ravioli, with Italian sausage and cheese, and Denise had the chicken salad (white meat, baked, of course). She's watching her figure, as am I, as it steadily grows more alluring. We're both losing weight. It's good to be happy and have someone to do things with, and things to look forward to.

We probably eat out too much, but it's more convenient considering both our schedules. Nether of us have the time or the energy to cook.

Boston's is very nice. It's one of several places we have along what's called "restaurant row", along 190. We've got some good stuff to choose from, and as the local population (about 100,000) gets bigger, more will probably build here to try to cash in. There's even a rumor that we might be getting a Pappasito's/Pappadeaux. Imagine that!

Uh, speaking of Pappasito's, guess where I took the old folks Tuesday? Yep, I drove over and took them down to Austin and we had an early dinner. They hadn't been there in months, so it was something they were looking forward to. Sis was supposed to go too, but begged off at the last minute. Well, you snooze, you loose.

We got there by about 4pm, just as the rush hour (which lasts about three hours) was getting kicked off. The place was almost empty, which surprised us, but didn't deter us.

We started off with the regular basket of tortilla chips and the three bowls of dip they've begun serving in the last few months. The one with the lid and spoon sticking out is some sort of Indian red chili sauce - very hot. The green stuff just peeking out from behind my Shiner is green chili sauce - mild. And the two red bowls contain the regular mild-to-hot salsa they've been serving for years. It's all good.

You can see mom's top shelf Margarita there on the top left, and the aforementioned Shiner Bock on the bottom right. Dads Tea is peeking out from the top right. He asked me at one point if I was old enough to drink beer, to which I quietly answered "Fuckin-A!" He then said something about mom being the beer drinker in the family. He was always partial to mixed drinks, like Rum and Coke, but his health issues have forced him to mostly give up those joys. I slip him a diet Dr. Pepper now and then, when the ladies aren't looking. The dudes have to stick together, by God!

The real treat among the dips was the queso with spicy ground beef mixed in. I only ordered a medium bowl this time, trying to cut back a bit.

It's wonderful, and never lasts long on the table. Denise requested that I bring her some of this, so I ordered a big bowl in a to-go box. It won't last too long ether.

Once I spooned some into mom's plate, and then into dads, there wasn't much left for me to play with. Some times I like to mix this stuff with the salsa or chili sauce, but not recently. I've developed a taste for the pure item.

You salivating uncontrollably yet?

Of course I had my usual... the combination enchiladas, one chicken and one beef, while mom had her regular chicken tacos and dad his normal order of pork tamales. We each also ordered Brochette shrimp on the side. Mom's order came on the side of her taco plate, but dad and I had ours delivered on sizzling hot plates.

I tell, ya, these little babies are all the reason anyone would ever need to try this restaurant out. Make sure they give you the butter/white wine/garlic sauce to dip them in.

After dinner, we headed back up I35 to Temple, but stopped briefly in Salado to get dessert.

We each got a small dip cone, something we've been enjoying for as long as I can remember.

It's one of the earliest memories of my life. During our regular drives back to Texas, going home to see the grandparents from wherever it was we were living, and stopping at the first Dairy Queen we saw once we crossed over the border and getting a dip cone. They used to only have these in Texas, so it was a real treat, and a sign that we were back home.

After takin' the folks back to Temple, I headed back to Killeen and waited for Denise to get away from work so I could serve her the left-over chicken and rice my mom had given me, and the to-go order of queso I'd brought back from Austin. It was all appreciated.

So, I went in to work today and turned in my grades from the semester that just ended. The kids in Florence still have me showing up each morning, so it's not like I'm really off. But the long lazy naps I've begun to enjoy in the late morning are allowing me to fake it nicely. Not sure what we'll do for dinner today, but the Wednesday night pool games will commence at 7:30PM. I'll be drinking Mics and smokin' Macs, or whatever, and usin' my new 3 burner blow torch lighter. I think I could do some welding with this thing. It should cause a little mirth with the fellas.

Well, you guys take care, and try not to hurt yourself rushin' to get here. They'll still have the shrimp when you manage to arrive. Later, Cheers.