Sunday in Austin.

Took my "Wowman" to her first gun show Sunday. We rolled around till about 10, and then she cooked an amazing breakfast. Taters and an amazing ham and cheese omelet. We headed down to Austin at around noon. I took the Enfield, thinking I'd find a bayonet for it. I'd seen a few at the show in Ft. Worth last weekend, but wasn't sure which one went with my rifle. I found the right kind in Austin, but they weren't as nice as the ones I'd seen In Ft. Worth, so I didn't get one. I can wait till I see the right one. It's not a big deal.



I found my knife guy at the show, and finally got the parts to make another bowie. Picked up the Damascus blade (same as the last one I used), a few different handle options, and a brass guard. The handle piece on the right is mountain goat horn. Those always polish out nice. If I don't use them on this one, I will on something else one of these days. Lookin' at them here, I think it'd be REALLY cool to have these set up as grips for a 1911. Ooooh, there's an idea. The grip material on the left is a piece of 12,000 year old petrified walrus penis bone. Yep, that's what I said. How cool would it be to have a big mean bowie knife with petrified penis bone grips? Somehow, it feels really natural, gripping it tightly in my hand. I'm just sayin'...

Denise really enjoyed the show. She was amazed at the variety of people you see there, and all the stuff other than guns to be found. It's a real slice of life. She's not a gun person, but she was looking at all the cool toys for sale, and asking me all sorts of questions about getting a concealed handgun permit. She was particularly fascinated by this little tazer that one dude was demonstrating. I wouldn't want to get jabbed with that thing, fer sure.

Then it was off to Papsito's for an early dinner. This time she had the "Top Shelf" strawberry margarita. My pictures of this stuff didn't come out, so I'll show you a few old ones to make up the difference.

Our selections were the same as last time. She had the chicken enchiladas...

And I had the combination; one chicken and one beef enchilada.

We had the spicy ground beef queso dip again, and this time they gave us the three dip choices with our endless chips, just like they did when I took the guys to the place in Ft. Worth. The one with the lid and spoon was the hot stuff. I'd put some of that on a chip and then spoon on some cheese dip, and chase it with Shiner. Nice combo.

The big difference this time was that I remembered to order six brochette shrimp on the side. These are jumbo shrimp, split and stuffed with a slice of bell pepper and cheese, wrapped in bacon, slathered in butter sauce and grilled. Here they are, on a sizzling platter, with one that I've already dunked in the butter/garlic/white wine sauce, getting it ready to go.

Here's the procedure; take the shrimp by the tail, having covered it in the dip sauce...

Place it in your mouth, slowly, so that all the flavors combine to knock your friggin' socks off. Notice the eyes. They tell the tale. Note also the gun show stamp on my right hand. Damn, those shrimp are good. You hungry yet?

After dinner, we drove up to the west side and walked through the R.E.I. store. I fondled the canoe paddles, and the canoes, and the backpacking equipment, while Denise checked out the clothes and camping gear. She's going to Terlingua with us this year, and is sweating out her first camping experience. I told her I'd hook her up. It'll be plush.

Then we walked over to the marble slab ice cream place, down the way from the R.E.I. store. I had my usual; cheese cake ice cream with heath bar crunchies mixed in, in a heath bar cone. Mmmm, now I bet you're hungry.

After that, we drove down town and into west Austin, to look at the cool houses and scenery, and then south to Bee Caves, to get on 71 west. We drove west to 281, and then north, driving home by the scenic rout. This drive takes you out through the Hill Country, which is some of the prettiest country in the state. We went north on 281 through Marble Falls and Burnet, to Lampasas, and then East to Killeen. We found a radio station that was broadcasting the Cowboy game, so the win really put a sweet cap on everything.

Well, I'm exhausted just tellin' you about it all. It was a great time. I hope all your teams won, and that your weekend was as fun as ours. Cheers.

Sunday was a lot of fun. Hell, the weekend was a lot of fun.

But first, this is hilarious....



The weekend started on Friday night, when Denise and I took my dad to eat Chinese food, and then to a high school football game. The Academy Bumble Bees, my dads old team, won a lop sided victory over little Leon, something like 35 to 10. The game was a lot of fun to watch, and always makes me wish that I'd grown up and spent my life in a little town with this sort of spirit and community. But then, I wouldn't be the man I am. So it goes.

After the game (we left a little after half time), Denise and I drove back to Ft. Hood with mom's drivers license and paperwork so that I could get her a new base sticker for her new Buick. It was quick and easy. The best time to do this sort of thing is ether right before they close at 10:30PM, or just after they open in the morning. Mom needed me to get it done so she could go to the commissary over the weekend, so we got it done. After, it was back to my place for a relaxing evening.

We slept in Saturday morning, into the afternoon, and then we went to a wedding in Cove. A friend and coworker of Denise was getting married to a guy she'd met at church. He's a golf pro somewhere in Indiana, so they'll be moving there. This lady is a great friend to Denise, and she'll be missed. We hope they have a great life together.

Make note of the healthy young lass in the red dress on the left. The brides daughter-in-law. Woof, is all I'm sayin'. That puddly lookin' dude on the right is her hubby. Must have to tuck it in his sock.

After the wedding, there was the reception. Lots of food, beer and wine on the house. Denise had about 4 or 5 glasses of White Zinfandel, and I had 3 Coors lights (the beer choices were not up to it). We ate lots of little finger foods, and later ate chicken and baked potatoes and salad, and we laughed at the conversation around the table, having a great time with the office folks. Then, as the geezers hit the trail, it being past their bed time, we hit the dance floor and slow danced to the oldies. From time to time, all the ladies in the place pulled Denise over and asked her how the hell she'd landed that big guy. It was a huge ego boost for me, I'll tell ya. Makes me wonder where all these heifers were back when I was such a looser. And I do mean heifers. Lots of big plow horse, Percheron women workin' on the main campus. If the lightning goes off just right they could stampede and you wouldn't be able to turn 'em till they hit Ft. Worth. Scary.

We eventually made our exit, and ended up at my place again. The alarm went off at 7:30AM Sunday morning, so that I could shower and get up to Gatesville by 9:00. A few friends and I were planning to go up to Ft. Worth to walk through a gun show at the Will Rogers coliseum. I was a little late getting out of the house (what can I say - she can't keep her hand off me), but the roads were empty, and I broke a few laws, and managed to make it by about 9:20. My buddy Dave and I, and another friend of his, all piled into Dave's Ford 500 and headed out. It's about a two-and-a-half hour drive, but the gun show is well worth it.

I was packin' an AK that I'd decided to try to unload. It's an old pre-ban Chinese Type 56 that I'd picked up at a show in Austin back in the mid '90s. It was the least favorite of the bunch (I have about 12 or 15 of these things, in various versions), and I needed the money. I figured if I didn't sell it, there'd be no bug deal. I'd just stick it back in the closet and wait till the demand went up again.

We walked through the show in a few hours, and I saw lots of cool stuff, pistols and rifles, that I'd love to have, but nothing that really grabbed my attention. I'm lookin' really close at a smallish .45 pistol, like the Kimber shortie that has no sight posts and a smooth black finish. They kill me, those things. Perfect for my future carry gun. Lots of people looked at the AK, and several asked what it was and how much I wanted, but nobody bit. I was just about to walk out and take it back to the closet when this little Latino dude got my attention. He was obviously smitten.

First of all, let me tell you what happened outside the hall. We were walkin' down the corridor to the entrance to the show, to pay our $7 and get my gun zip tied, when these two young Black dudes slide up behind me. They are obviously in love with the AK and want to know what it is. I tell them about it, and how much, and they want to know if I can get any more. I was like, "Huh?" Yea, can I get any more. They need a LOT of them, apparently. If I could get a lot more, we could have done a deal. I told them it was just the one, and that I didn't have a regular suppler. Jeeeze! "Like dude, our gang needs a crate of those. Could you hook a brutha up?" Damn! We laughed our asses off, and went inside.

Anyway, this little Latino dude in the cowboy hat and big belt buckle was cradlin' my gun like he wanted it, but balkin' at the price. I paid $750 for it in about "95, but I'd only really bought it for the cool and rare magazine bag that came with it, loaded with Chinese mags. I'd left the bag of mags at home, not wanting to part with them, so I figured I could make him a deal. Hell, the bag and mags are probably worth a hundred by themselves. We agreed on $700, and moments later, with seven crisp Benjamin's in my wallet, I walked over to where Dave was looking at a bayonet for his Japanese Arisaka, and told them that I guessed lunch was on me. There were grins and congrats all around, and then we jetted out of there. And yes, he got the bayonet, and it fits his rifle nicely.

Thing is, I'd bought that rifle on an impulse, having fallen in love with the bag that came with it. When I got it home and looked closely at it, I realized that it was really a piece of crap. Someone had drilled a hole in the receiver to simulate a full auto notch, and there was a spring missing from the action. I had to replicate one from my own gear to put it back in working order, and then I'd thrown the thing in the closet and never shot it. It was the step child of my collection, and now it's someone else's step child. Glad to be rid of it. Hope he loves it, and enjoys it for a long time.

Then it was time to eat. These guys don't make a lot of money and are not what you'd call big spenders. That is, unless we're talkin' a Civil War era musket, or a piece of original Civil War era clothing. They have their priorities (both are HUGE C.W. buffs and reenactors). They were lookin' for some place cheap and quick, but I had other things on my mind, and a wallet full of cash and plastic. And hell, I was in the mood to be generous. Payin' it forward, you know what I mean?

So I took the wheel. I used to live there, for like 18 years, and know where a few nice eating places are. We slid up into the parking lot and strolled into the lobby of the Papasito's there off I-30. I sat them down, and you should have heard the howling when they got a look at the menu. "$24 dollars for fajitas?" I said "Just shit the fuck up and listen. This shit is GOOD. It's worth it. How the fuck often do we come up here,... and it's on me!" They balked at first, but I took charge, and the next thing you know the drinks are arriving. They both ordered unsweetened tea (free refills - Jesus!), but I had three Shiner Bocks off the tap. The unending chips and dip there are to die for, and they had some special new stuff that they were tryin' out on us this time. One was a green tomatillo sauce, and the other was a strong, hot Indian chili sauce. I tried it all, and loved the hot stuff.

I ordered the Queso with the ground beef, like I did last time (check out this earlier post for pictures), and the guys loved it. The real fun came thought when the dinner arrived, and these guys got their first taste of the Brochette shrimp. These shrimp are huge, split down the middle, filled with cheese and a slice of bell pepper, and then wrapped in bacon and grilled. They cover them in butter, garlic and white wine sauce, and then give you more of the same stuff, whipped in a dish, to dip them in before you eat them. I always order four on the side, and got Dave to order the Del Mar fajita plate that comes with them. You should have seen the smile on Dave's face when he bit into that fucker for the first time, and the flavors took him to another place. I was a proud daddy there for a while. Dammit, ya gotta live when you can, even if it breaks the bank! You only live once, right?

Both of them took about half their dinners home with them, but I was somehow able to consume all of mine. I think the place in Austin is a little better than this one in Ft. Worth. When I ordered the Fajita Enchiladas, the waitress just looked at me and said something about how they could maybe make some but it would cost extra. Hell, they're on the menu in Austin! Just one of many reasons why I love that town. We headed over to the house of another friend of mine, and while we were there it started to rain. A nice fat drizzle, comin' strait down in big dollops. After a short visit, we headed home. I drove us out of town, but then I started to get tired, so Dave took over.

We got to his place, northwest of Gatesville, by about 6PM. I drove home after a bit, and got to Denis' place just in time to watch most of the Cowboy game with her.



I took this picture on the drive down from Gatesville. Had left the camera in my car, which is why this post isn't even longer. Anyway, I got to Denis' place, and we watched the game. Would you believe, she was rooting for the Giants? I was like, "What was your name again?" Not a deal breaker, but very fuckin' close. We ordered pizza and had a few drinks, and surfed over to PBS to watch a bit of Mystery during the commercials. We're both big fans of those English detective shows they love to put on. They were showing some great old Sherlock Homes shows, between pledge breaks. Damn, why don't they just put friggin' commercials on there and stop beggin' for money all the time. It's gross. Anyway, it's not like PBS has anything like a hard indie edge, what with all the geezer programming they put on to get that fat geezer money during their ever present cash drives.

After the game we watched the highlights of some of the other games, and then we parted company. And so, here I sit, trying to get caught up with this blogging thing, having let it slide for almost 48 hours. I know, shocking. It's late, and I've got to get up early and go back to work. You guys take care. I hope all your teams won (well, most of them), and that your weekend was as fun as mine. Cheers.