A Matter of Choice

by | Feb 9, 2022 | Guns | 233 comments

Choosing a gun is a lot like choosing a girlfriend or a wife. We want one that we consider to be attractive and we want one that will perform all the functions required, flawlessly. Beauty, of course, is an individual definition and a plain lady can be totally satisfactory when it comes to performance.

The discussions of revolver vs auto loader are endless, on the Glibs site as well as in every gun magazine and all the other outdoor media. For years and years the police carried a .38 caliber revolver and the military used a 1911 auto loader, it seems both did the job intended. Then they all changed, technical improvements, manufacturing techniques and politics, yes, politics, found their way into the decision making.

My close friend has both, I mean he likes and shoots both – but not too well as far as accuracy goes. But he still can enjoy both types. Some time back, I’m guessing close to forty years now, a friend showed me his new gun, a single shot, well made, looked good and he could hit stuff with it. I admired it from afar, held it close and I was infatuated. It was close to love at first sight but the romance faded a bit when he told me the price. It wasn’t terribly expensive but my resources were limited at the time. I put it on hold but never forgot. Some day, some day.

 

 

Time passes and my financial situation improved. I finally decided I’d look around and see what was available. I had decided a long time before that that I wanted a Ruger Red Hawk, 41 Remington Mag. Why a .41? There were fewer around and the difference between a 44 and 41 was recoil and I thought I could learn to shoot the 41 better. Now back to the story. I was living in Texas at the time and working in Waco. On the way home from work one day I stopped in a pawn shop and lo and behold, there was the gun I had admired from afar. Not a Red Hawk, but a Thompson Contender, the beauty I had held a few years earlier. The one in the display case was a .45 Winchester Magnum, with a 14 inch barrel. I’ve forgotten the price but it was about $200, used but immaculate. Next to it in the display case was a .41 Remington Mag with a 10 inch barrel priced about $90.The barrels are interchangeable so I asked the clerk if he’d swap out the barrels for me. No was the answer. I went ahead and bought the .45 Winchester and the .41 Remington barrel, ending up with essentially two guns. One frame, two barrels. I forgot the Red Hawk, that’s another story with a happy ending.

 

 

For those unfamiliar with a Contender they are a high quality American made gun with the unique capability of changing barrels and calibers in about a minute flat. Only tool needed is a quality screwdriver and a flat surface so one doesn’t lose the screw or the pin. So simple a cave-, oh, not going there. Anyway, easy to change barrels for those of us with lesser mechanical skills. Now I had a frame and two barrels, what’s next? It came with black rubber grips but I’m left handed and decided I needed the left hand walnut grips. You know, to sort of dress it up a little. Original equipment includes an adjustable rear sight but I wanted a scope. Seems like the grips were about $35 and the Thompson scope was near a Benjamin.

 

 

I was ready. I already had reloading equipment and I needed the reloading dies. I bought those and started reloading and shooting. .45 Winchester brass is hard to find, I happened to stop at Cabela’s in Owatonna and they had two bags @ 100 for seven dollars a bag on sale so I bought the two bags, usually they would have been about $20 a bag.

 

 

I bought another TC at McGuire’s in Austin, 30 Herrett caliber, with a 10 inch barrel. 30 Herrett is a shortened and reformed 30-30 cartridge, a true wildcat, slightly less power than a 30-30 but don’t tell the deer that. Now I had two frames, three barrels. The new one got the walnut grips and a scope as well. Now I had to make my own ammo and this added a new dimension to reloading.

I moved to the Twin Cities in ’95 and found a store in Mendota Heights, south of St Paul. Bill’s had a large inventory of barrels, I ended up with a .223 14 inch, a 6.5mm X .223 14 inch and a .22 cal 10 inch barrel. On these I only added a scope mount, ’cause I could swap out a scope from another barrel. Now I had 2 frames, 6 barrels so 6 different guns to choose from as needed.

Over the years I’ve hunted deer with a rifle, after I had a deer I’d start carrying the pistol, partly for fun, partly to show off. About 20 years ago I did take a second deer with the 30 Herrett. This year, because of circumstances I carried the .41 Rem Mag from the getgo. I would have trouble going up a ladder quietly with a rifle. On the morning of the second day I was challenged by a spike buck and he lost.

Many years ago I read an article by Elmer Keith, a guy who touted a .44 Mag revolver as a hunting gun. Elmer said if you could hit a pie plate at 50 yards that was good enough shooting for deer. Using a rest and scope I can do that but I only get one chance before the deer or pie plate starts laughing at me. A pistol scope has a long eye relief, like 20 inches. You have to hold the gun out at arms length and try to find the target through a one inch pipe. The field of vision is pretty small, even at 50 yards, then hold steady enough to find the right spot on the deer. The good part though, for a geezer, is the gun is a lot lighter. I wear a shoulder holster inside my coat to keep the gun from banging around. For fun and excitement I’ll stick with a Thompson Contender, I may see a few deer run off but that’s what tomorrows are for. It’s a great teaching tool for youngsters. Break open barrel, safe and teaches ammo conservation.

I never looked again for a Red Hawk but somehow I pulled a big boy Smith 29 out of the lake but it fell back in. I marked the side of the boat so I’ll find it the next time I’m fishing. There are only two people in the world that have .45 Win Mags and the other guy thinks a Model 94 Winchester 30-30 is superior to a Marlin 336 30-30 but I know better, I’ve had both. We are both lucky. Now I have to convince my wife that she won the lottery too.

About The Author

Fourscore

Fourscore

233 Comments

  1. Not Adahn

    Pretty. I’ve wanted to put left handed grips on my bullseye gun, but they’re too expensive compared to just getting very sharp G10 grips.

  2. Q Continuum

    “one that will perform all the functions required, flawlessly[…]a plain lady can be totally satisfactory when it comes to performance”

    Damn 4×20, put a NSFW tag at least.

  3. Q Continuum

    Keeping with the guns-as-women metaphor:

    Revolver = gorgeous blonde with big tits who’s serviceable in bed but won’t do oral.
    Glock = fat girl who’s got a great personality and is otherworldly in the sack.
    AK-47 = slutty barfly who always performs no matter how wasted she is.
    AR-15 = beautiful bipolar chick will fuck you to death during a manic phase and forget you exist during a depressive phase.
    M1 Garand = The MILF down the street you fantasize about who sunbathes topless.
    Kel-Tec = Tatted up girl with pierced genitals who’s into anal.
    Sig Sauer = Really hot girl you take out to an expensive dinner but won’t even call you back let alone put out.
    Ruger = The wholesome girl-next-door that you wife up.

    • Don escaped Texas

      Glock = she’s only a 7, but she can cook and never says no

      • Don escaped Texas

        oof….I see now: basically identical comments

    • Not Adahn

      Less SIG, more H&K I think.

      • Drake

        I haven’t shot my H&K in 20 years, so yeah.

      • Sean

        ?

    • pistoffnick the refusnik

      I have a Kel-Tec who is VERY flexible – she folds in half.

      My Arisaka is exotic but expensive to play with (7.7).

      • Sensei

        I had a non-firing Arisaka taken as a trophy as a kid which I foolishly traded to another kid.

        How is it to shoot? Is the Chrysanthemum still intact?

      • pistoffnick the refusnik

        Mum is intact. My grandpa brought it back. It shoots accurately, but I can’t afford to shoot it. Cartridges are $1.80 per round IF YOU CAN FIND IT!

      • Fourscore

        I looked at ammo at Fleet Farm before deer season, 30-30s were about $25 a box with no much choice. Fleet has been empty shelf for a couple years. Reloading helps keep the cost down. I haven’t shot store bought for 30 years or more.

      • Fourscore

        Suthen did a few good articles on reloading a few years ago. Ask the guy at the gun store to hook you up with a reloader. Most would be happy to teach and probably would help you reload if you had the right dies

      • EvilSheldon

        Problem is, right now reloading components are even more expensive (and less available) than loaded ammo.

      • Fourscore

        True

      • Drake

        I have my father-in-law’s 6.5 Arisaka – Chrysanthemum intact. Shoot well enough, but same problem with ammo.

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      I have 3 of those. Does that make me a polygamist? A polygunist?

      • Fourscore

        Makes you smart and lucky

    • Zwak, holding the spinal column of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroes neglegie

      You, sir, have never met a good revolver.

      • DEG

        A relative of mine’s girlfriend left him for a woman.

      • Q Continuum

        “Just a few weeks later, she left him and filed for divorce.”

        I’m guessing they were already having more than a few problems if she switched teams that quickly.

  4. Don escaped Texas

    Elmer Keith

    That M70 is still pretty cool.

    SWC always reminded me of Minié balls, NTTAWWI.

  5. db

    Damn, I typed a really on topic response and then the site told me I wasn’t logged in when I tried to post it and it is lost forever.

    • Don escaped Texas

      every day and twice on Saturday

    • Fourscore

      Story of my life, right there.

    • rhywun

      There should be a name for that. It happens to all of us.

      • Lackadaisical

        The tulpa.

  6. The Bearded Hobbit

    Prediction: This thread will hit 400 posts. Lot of gun lovers here.

    Aside from .22 all of my handguns are .38/357 or 9mm. A friend offered his .44Mag to let me fire. I handed it back to him after three shots. Way too much recoil for my small frame. I do like the solid *thump* of a .357 vs a .38 though.

    I’ve been trying to talk the Mrs. into switching to a .327 Mag but she likes the .357 to point at the Bad Guys. Thinks that the smaller bore will be less intimidating. Seems to me that being on the business end of *any* gun is intimidation enough.

    Excellent post, Fourscore, thanks!

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      And I think that the GP-100 is one of the most beautiful guns ever produced.

      • dontreadonme

        +1

      • MikeS

        +100

      • Sean

        I like mine.

    • Q Continuum

      I carry a Ruger LCR in .327. I love it though the ammo is scarce.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Hammer or hammerless?

      • Q Continuum

        Hammerless.

  7. DEG

    Nice guns Fourscore!

    One of my grandfathers had a .44 magnum revolver for deer hunting. I don’t know what happened to it.

    • Fourscore

      These days I need a scope, even as our hunting is fairly close range,the cross hair is cleaner than open sights for me. The Smith that I don’t have has open sights and serious recoil.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        I had come back to camp for lunch and was hiking up the hill to get to the hunting area with my rifle slung over my shoulder. Just as I reached the top of the hill a buck showed up from the other side about 50 feet away. We were both surprised but I managed to pull my rifle off of my shoulder and look through the scope for a shot. All I saw was fur. I dropped my eyes from the scope and sighted along the barrel. Got him in the neck.

      • Fourscore

        You probably shoot a lot farther than we do. A 100 yards here is a long shot. Most I’ve shot have been 30-40 yards, a couple at 15-20 feet. Almost what you are talking about.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Normal shot around these parts is 100yds. All of my high-powered rifles are zeroed at 200yds.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Reminds me of a rant.

        The common thing now is some Mt. Palomar mounted on rifles with adjustments from 2x-45x or whatever. Dad hunted for 70 years with a Weaver K-4 and took home game every year.

        He pointed out something to me:

        Look at your ballistics. Sighted at 200 yards you’re about 2 inches high at 100 and 8 inches low at 300. Those numbers are well within the kill zone. His advice was to screw the rangefinders. If you’re within a few hundred yards aim for the heart. If it is a long shot place your crosshairs on the critter’s backbone. You won’t shoot high and your drop is still covered. If you shoot low then you’re taking a shot at too far of a distance.

      • Fourscore

        My Contenders scopes are 2.5. Any more than that on a long eye relief is gonna be tough to use.
        Rifle scopes are zeroed 1 inch high at 50 yards, since all our shooting is close range and I have a 50 yard range.

  8. pistoffnick the refusnik

    …but I only get one chance before the deer or pie plate starts laughing at me.

    I have a tendency to flinch on my first shot. I flinched when I shot at my first deer – the bullet sailed above her and splashed into Lake Roosevelt. The deer stood there stunned, wondering where that sound came from. I tried to reload, but the next cartridge jammed. I had to remove the magazine, take out the bolt, dig out the jammed cartridge and then reassemble everything. By the time I got another cartridge seated, I looked up AND THE DAMN DEER WAS STILL THERE!

    I didn’t flinch on the second shot.

    • Fourscore

      I’ve had that happen, with a rifle, miss the first shot and the deer waits for me. Second chances work well.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I knew a guy who hunted with a .270 with a pistol grip. He carried a T-bar walking stick to balance it on. I can’t imagine the recoil from such a device.

      • Fourscore

        TC makes a 45-70 barrel, the .45 Winc Mag is all I want to shoot. TC has dozens of calibers to chose from, I think they’ll make special orders too.

    • Don escaped Texas

      rabbits stand bolt upright, frozen

      from 200 yards and further, I’ve hit rabbits with a 22LR after four or five shots; out in a freshly plowed bean field, you just watch the rounds bang into the dirt and adjust…..more like shooting a mortar than a rifle; the misses would be ten inches either side………….and 30 feet long or short; you just keep lobbing them in there for giggles

      • Fourscore

        For some reason or another, the snowshoe hare that we had when I was a kid are gone from here. I think logging has resulted in a mono culture of pine forests. We ate a lot of the white bunnies when I was kid, I used a .22 as well. Grouse have disappeared as well, maybe for the same reason.

      • UnCivilServant

        This area is still infested with showshoe hares. No grouse that I know of though.

      • Fourscore

        Time to chase those things, UCS, make a nice wine sauce, save some of the wine to enjoy with the bunny. Is everything posted/privately owned? Any public hunting?

      • UnCivilServant

        Worse. It’s all urban. Shooting at the hares will get me arrested.

      • MikeS

        That’s what a can and .22 shorts are for.

      • pistoffnick the refusnik

        Even air rifles?

      • UnCivilServant

        @Mike, I’m pretty sure that would get the Death Penalty ’round these parts.

        @Nick, I doubt the locals can tell the difference, so I’d wager the moment someone spots me, the police will arrest at best and roll up shooting at worst.

      • MikeS

        As a kid I had long shots like that at gophers in the pasture on the edge of town. Buddy and I would lay prone on a low hill looking over the pasture and take turns seeing who could “snipe” one first.

    • MikeS

      I’ve shot four deer in my life. Three times I flinched and missed on the first shot and made a good kill shot on the second. I guess I better not ever buy a single shot gun.

      • Fourscore

        That’s why I waited until I had meat in the freezer before I took the Contender. This past season I started with a Contender, I couldn’t climb a ladder with a rifle. Worked out well.

      • MikeS

        They are cool guns. (nice article, by the way) A buddy of mine has one in a few calibers that I forget, now.

  9. Sensei

    Thanks Fourscore. I’m looking forward to leaving the People’s Republic of NJ where buying a handgun isn’t such a chore that I’ve limited myself to just a few. Unfortunately, those few were lost in a tragic boating accident.

    Allow me to go off topic and demonstrate that the folk running Peloton are continuing to impress me.

    Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy’s first all-hands meeting cut short after laid-off employees crash it

    “The company messed up by allowing people who were fired into this chat,” another user wrote. “Too late to mod [moderate] this.”

    Toward the end of the conversation, McCarthy was asked if employees who had been laid off had somehow gained access to the chat, to which he replied: “No comment.”

    • Gustave Lytton ????

      That company is so fucked. They´re laying off 2800 employees. How many employees do they have to begin with? LinkedIn says 5k-10k. And the new CEO has cost cutting axeman written all over him. Employees are getting it now. Customers are going to get it next. CFO of Spotify and Netflix. Aka no real insight or attachment to Peloton.

      Circling the drain.

      • rhywun

        5k-10k

        Geez. My company is in that range and I’d wager we do a lot more with folks we have.

        What the heck are all those people doing?!

      • rhywun

        I wanted to write what were they doing.

      • Gustave Lytton ????

        I’m gonna guess they don’t manufacture any of their products so managing, marketing, sales, customer service, creative productions, and the usual accounting/HR/IT backend. And the empire building/feather bedding of unquestioned growth.

      • rhywun

        I bet half of them were involved in making all those annoying commercials.

      • rhywun

        My God, I wish.

        I actually work. Hard enough that my brain is fried by 5pm every day.

      • MikeS

        No, I meant the Peloton folks who are currently bitching about not getting paid and threatening to burn the place down.

      • rhywun

        I was riffing on our hero who works like half an hour a day.

        And now I realize the linked clip was different 🙂

  10. Tundra

    I learn so much here.

    Thanks, Fourscore. I think the rest of the guns I buy will be revolvers and lever guns.

    • Fourscore

      I’m out of lever actions, the last one went to Alaska a couple years ago with the grand daughter.

      • Tundra

        Hah!

        That’s where they belong. Are she and her man doing well?

      • Fourscore

        Her husband shot a moose, now the GD gets to shoot the next one. They are doing well, learning more than they are teaching.

      • Tundra

        Excellent. So fun to watch the kids succeed!

      • Gustave Lytton ????

        You and your family have done good, 4X. That’s a legacy to hang a hat on.

      • Q Continuum

        I have a Marlin .45-70 lever gun that is a blast; literally and figuratively. Thing kicks like a mule but it sure is fun.

      • Tundra

        I think Ruger just launched one. I’ll bet it will sell well.

      • Shpip

        I’ve had my .45-70 for more than thirty years. It works a charm on Florida hogs (rolls them over like a beer keg, with very little bloodshot meat). I’ve been thinking of toting it to Kansas or Nebraska to go after big whitetails.

        My next rifle might just be in .416 Rigby, for no good reason whatsoever except that I want one.

  11. Q Continuum

    My most outrageously impractical gun is a .460 S&W Mag with a 4 inch barrel. I tell myself that I’ll use it someday when I’m camping in Alaska but really I just like taking it to the range to shock the people around me. It is insanely loud and actually pretty fun to shoot. It probably weighs 7 pounds and has a huge muzzle brake so it doesn’t really hurt; my .327 LCR mentioned above is much, much worse.

    NB: I’m *this close* to closing on a 10 acre plot in Fairbanks so I might get to carry it for its intended purpose after all.

    • Tundra

      Congrats!

      When would you move?

      • Q Continuum

        It’s a future project/investment. I’m looking at building a vacation cabin there long term; maybe someday for a permanent move but not for a while.

      • Tundra

        Fun!

        Don’t you have a place in the CO mountains, too?

      • Q Continuum

        Yeah, the place in the San Juans is more of a family place and the one is Alaska will be my place. My sis may take the one here if the Alaska place comes to full fruition.

      • commodious spittoon

        This is honestly the greatest song I dredged up from memory half an hour ago which you absolutely can’t live without, like all the songs I constantly sometimes reference around here.

      • MikeS

        OK. This is good. I’ll be listening to this album until bedtime.

        I just got the Bottle Rockets first two album deluxe CD set. A lot of good stuff there.

  12. Rebel Scum

    Choosing a gun is a lot like choosing a girlfriend or a wife.

    Loud but reliable and gets the job done as long as it is oiled and serviced on a regular basis?

  13. MikeS

    I like my guns like I like my women…

    • Tundra

      Sweaty and available?

      • MikeS

        Cheap and easy to come by.

      • Tundra

        Loud but shiny?

      • Q Continuum

        With a smooth action and cushioned for recoil?

    • MikeS

      Always loaded and a hair trigger.

    • commodious spittoon

      A much-forgotten distended appendage that you retrieve at times of high stress and

      I forget what the question is.

    • Q Continuum

      Confiscated by the police?

    • Gustave Lytton ????

      Sold for a couple of bucks downtown when the money gets tight?

    • JaimeRoberto (shama/lama/ding dong)

      With plastic grips?

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Wrapped in plastic and dumped in a lake during a “boating accident”?

    • Chafed

      Hard and black?

  14. DrOtto

    I bought my Glock 21 from Bill’s in the Diamond Jim mall. Back when they had Bill Clinton’s picture hanging as “Salesman of the month” just before the large capacity magazine ban was about to go into effect. Fun fact, the liquor store a few doors down from Bill’s was a favorite for underage alcohol enthusiasts.

    • Fourscore

      Same store I shopped at, I forgot that it was Diamond Jim’s. He had another store in Robinsdale? Someplace on the northwest side.

  15. dbleagle

    I owned the same Ruger Blackhawk .357mag since 1980, until the canoe accident. It is the original style with firing pin and no transfer bar so you only load 5 rounds. But I have had tons of fun with it and even took a nice Mule Deer buck in Montana with it. The deer came up in an oak thicket we were sharing and stopped to look back. No way to get the rifle around but at ~40 yards the pistol did the job.

    I also had .22mag, and Army model 1861 .44 revolvers. That was a catamaran that tipped over and threw me into the drink. The M1911A1 .45 ACP was lost when I fell on a stream crossing. Water obstacles are hard on handgun ownership.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Amazing at the number of boating accidents. I never should have taken my firearms to Navajo Lake.

    • Fourscore

      I hear you. Hope you able to scratch an X on the side of the boat.

  16. Zwak, holding the spinal column of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroes neglegie

    When I was young, I was all about the semi-auto, pistols or rifles. But, as I have gotten older, I have truly come to appreciate the beauty of a revolver. Now, I have four or five of them, from .22 to .45colt. Still, I have picked up or inherited a few autos, which are nice but don’t seem to give me the same pleasure in shooting them. Not that I have much time for that these days, what with the driving out to find an open spot in the hills. I hate ranges, especially indoor ones.

    As far as rifles go, I am gravitating to the single shot, and here is where inheritance is moving the window. I have come into possession of two single-shot rifles over the last few years, when my FIL died and, once again, when my father was unable to own guns due to his health. A Sharps in .45-70, and a Martini stalking rifle, in .303 improved. They kick like mules, but nothing has come up as smoothly as that Martini, made by Thomas Bland of London. And the Sharps can reach out so far as to be ridiculous. Since then, I have added a BSA single shot target rifle from the ’30s, with a trigger so sweet, less than half a pound, and crisp as an apple. And, I shoot about half as much ammo, with twice the results. Iron sights, the lot of them.

    • dbleagle

      My father and my brothers have come to an agreement that my dad’s Lee-Enfield .22 single shot trainer is mine when dad dies. It is a fun bit of history and a tack driver.

      I love love love shooting my .54 caliber plains rifle. It is my favorite hunting rifle and I taken deer, elk, antelope, and moose with it. One shot, so be sure of your placement. I would love to get a .45-70.

      • Zwak, holding the spinal column of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroes neglegie

        One of the other toys I inherited from my FIL was a Tennessee flintlock. Haven’t gotten a chance to shoot it in a while, but it held its own.

        And good on you for the Enfield .22, the Brits used to make damn fine firearms.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Maybe the finest rifle I’ve ever fired was a Ruger Model 1 in .22-250. Amazing accuracy. I’ve lusted after one for years but the price is tough to take.

      Maybe I’ll bite the bullet (hah!) one of these days. YOLO.

      • Fourscore

        I lusted for a Model 1 for years. As a Two Score I always had other obligations and then the Contender itch set in and calmed me down.

  17. Brochettaward

    The only deadly weapons I need are my Firsting hands. Come at me.

    • MikeS

      Too bad the only ammo you have for them is blanks. Sad!

      • kinnath

        Shooting blanks in more ways than one.

      • Brochettaward

        Women get pregnant just looking at my Firsting hands.

  18. R C Dean

    “I may see a few deer run off but that’s what tomorrows are for”

    The old one speaks wisdom.

  19. Loveconstitution1789

    So this got me thinking about weapons that I used in the US Navy. I was really fortunate to have served as base security as the US Navy took this over from the US Marine Corps.

    M-16
    M-203 40mm
    1911 .45
    M-14
    M-4
    Bolt action rifle (30-06 IIRC)
    Berretta 9mm
    SAW 5.56mm
    M-60
    .50 M2
    12 ga
    AK-47
    Navy duty revolver (.38 IIRC)
    Frag grenade
    CS gas grenade
    Smoke grenade

    Fun fun fun

  20. Trigger Hippie

    I adore you, you wise, gentle old fart.

    That being said: gun post.

    “Shut the fuck up, Donny. You’re out of your element!”

    • rhywun

      *sips, hics*

      #metoo

      I have zero to add to this topic.

      • Trigger Hippie

        *tips the last tallboy for the evening*

        Sleep well, my friend.

      • rhywun

        dittoes. Time to retire, here, too.

  21. Gustave Lytton ????

    The covid protests are spreading. One or more of these authoritarian autocracies is going to miscalculate, overstep, and ramp up the violence. And one of those escalations will end up with the Stasi/Gestapo/Unit 731/Public Health Kommisars/Politicians stretching out some lampposts. Thats when the rest of the fuck nuggets will panic. Look at what the cowering shitweasels did on 1/6 in the face of boisterous almost universally non-violent demonstrators. Imagine what it would be like if the Turtle’s head was bulging from a noose or Pelosi got thrown off the top of the dome onto her ice cream pile? Those pussies would ok any measures the Deep State put in front of them.

    • rhywun

      I’m not seeing it, at least here.

      NYC is authoritarian central, as usual, and the protests against it are negligible. I can only guess it’s because we are showering millions of unproductive people with tax dollars, to an extent unheard of elsewhere.

      I suppose that could blow up but the elites have a lot of practice at this so who knows how long they can keep up the charade.

      • Gustave Lytton ????

        I mean worldwide, seeing the NZ protests and the official thuggish response. Jacinda becomes the star of the Wicker PM remake and the rest of the global cabal will be shitting bricks.

  22. LCDR_Fish

    Apropos of nothing – since I haven’t had time to read anything today other than the morning post and comments….. Got my Federal tax refund today (or yesterday) after submitting via HR Block (in person) on 1 Feb. We’ll see how long it takes for the state refund.

    • hayeksplosives

      Bully for you! Tonight I entered my W2 for my Cali job, the W2 for my Nevada job (current job) and my Family Medical Leave payments from California when the Mr Splosives was in the hospital.

      The big question is what is going to happen when the statement comes from my early 401k distribution that I took to annihilate all our debt and to pay cash for the house we wanted in Nevada, which we then bought outright in cash. (I was feeling pessimistic about whether I’d even own my 401k by the time I retired rather than having it nationalized. Plus, Tesla was at $1200 per share so…:)

      I withheld a high sun from the distribution for fed taxes and another sum for Cali taxes. But only time will tell if it’s enough!!!

      So glad to be done with Cali taxes after this year.

      • dbleagle

        Don’t be surprised if Cali comes after for taxes for several more years. They frequently try to shake down ex-residents for more money

      • hayeksplosives

        How can that even be legal?? There’s no basis for it.

        I do finally have enough cash to hire a lawyer/accountant if needed.

        I owe California nothing.

        One weird remaining “one-timer” is that my current employer is going to reimburse my moving expenses, including closing costs on selling the Cali house and buying the Nevada house. But that wasn’t over til late December so the expense report was only submitted in 2022.

        No idea what the tax implications are there either.

        My husband was outraged to find out that the meager sum he got last year in SS benefits was taxable income. If he filed singly, I guess it wouldn’t be taxed, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s still much cheaper for us to file together.

  23. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh?

    On my day night off Jugsy is snoring on the couch. So I have to tip-toe around the Palatial 2X-Wide™.

    • Tres Cool

      Show me the man and Ill show you the crime.

    • UnCivilServant

      I’m more surprised that the ACLU landed on the correct side of the issue. Probably for the wrong reasons, but still.

  24. UnCivilServant

    Mask requirements for businesses and indoor settings in New York State have been updated. As a result, the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER) is rescinding the mandatory mask policy for agencies in State leased or owned space, effective Friday, February 11, 2022.

    It’s about fucking time.

    • UnCivilServant

      I might try to go into the office friday (or maybe monday) just for the novelty of it.

      • Tres Cool

        Like our R̶o̶m̶u̶l̶a̶n̶ Romanian pal Pie, I have a reason to be up all night. What’s your excuse?

      • Don escaped Texas

        indigestion

        going back to bed now

      • Tres Cool

        I had White Castle (sans bun) yesterday before I went to bed. I feel your pain.

      • UnCivilServant

        Insomnia.

        I ended up cutting another length of angle aluminum and started milling it to size. I absolutely cannot sleep for some reason. I’m going to go give it another try.

      • Tres Cool

        I managed to cobble together a system of levers, ropes, pulleys, and hearty canvas (for a sling) and transported Jugsy from the couch to our boudoir. Then, with her snoring in the proper end of our Palatial 2X-Wide® unfettered Tres was able to go about chores. I have laundry in, and the kitchen is clean. Dishes done and put away.

    • rhywun

      And NYC does NOT have its own mask mandate. The media was being cagey about that.

    • Tres Cool

      + Slurm

    • rhywun

      Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Leela as an alien. She is in fact a sewer mutant. The error has been corrected.

      *snort*

    • Sean

      Doctor Who?

      • Sean

        ?

    • Tres Cool

      I probably need to pull out a sheet of foil and wrap my head. But I was just thinking (kinda)….when you go to the hospital, and they pull blood, where does the remainder go?
      Ive tested a lot of HWMWI (hospital waste medical waste incinerators) to know that a lot of nasty stuff goes in there. But what about the blood that doesnt?

      • R C Dean

        How do you think they keep the executives fed?

      • Ghostpatzer

        I’d like to hear Pie’s take on this.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        How hard would it be to get your hands on one of those vials? Filling it up with cranberry juice and sipping it in a conspicuous place would be rather hilarious.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Adrenochrome doesn’t good on trees you know.

  25. Sean

    Lol, news just claimed gas prices are up because Russia/Ukraine.

    • Fourscore

      Podunkville price yesterday was $3.39, up a dime from the day before. It’s always a few pennies higher here, it’s kind of the end of the delivery line.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Well, at the end of the day they were all injected.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      Huh, I wonder what their angle was. Obviously they had the title and the car was paid for in full. Very shady to say the least.

      • Tres Cool

        Ive bought and sold from Carvana and they’ve always been straight with me. I dont have an opinion outside “they can be better than a dealer’s auction”. But n=1
        They took a bath on my Camaro, but Im sure the company makes it up it volume and 26.99% interest for the suckers.

    • Gender Traitor

      I can’t imagine buying a car I hadn’t test-driven first. I feel lucky that I’ve had (mostly) good luck buying shoes online for my smallish-but-wide feet.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        We test drove the model but bought a different physical car online. 6 months in, and everything is good. I’d prefer they stop annoying me about extended warranties, but whatevs.

        (this was Vroom, not CarVana, but the business model is similar)

  26. Gender Traitor

    Good morning, homey, Stinky, Sean, 4(20), and any lurkers! Yesterday just as I was getting ready to head out the door to work, I saw a beautiful sunrise out our SE-facing back windows. Got a couple of quick pics, but didn’t have time to share them then, so here’s the better one, in my opinion. [Disclaimer: I don’t select my mobile phones for their cameras.]

    • Tres Cool

      Waht? The sun is already up? I need a nap. And pray Rumpke comes rumbling through here.
      They skipped last week due to snow. Pussies.

      • Gender Traitor

        Our usual pickup is Friday, and they got the trash Saturday but never came for the recyclables. They hate Mother Earth.

    • Fourscore

      Morning GT, looks like a weather change for you, snow by tonight, I would guess. Nice picture, I have a few of those, mostly from the summer.

      The telephone cameras are keeping the government in check somewhat, no cop wants to make the 5 o’clock news.

      • Gender Traitor

        Hopefully, it’ll be no more than flurries for the greater Dayton area. (Neph may not get off so easily up there at the wrong end of the state.) Back up into the low 40s for tomorrow, but then back down into the 20s for the weekend. ?

  27. Fourscore

    Morning, Sean, TCool, Stinky and all the other early birds,

    I probably won’t be buying many cars in the future, my ’04 F150 looks new, runs perfect and I don’t drive much these days. A few 100 miles a month so the gas prices don’t have too much affect on me.

    • Gender Traitor

      After everything I’ve heard about all the new gadgetry they’re building into new cars, I want to keep my beloved Subaru running for as long as possible. Just had a small ($1K + the interest) CD mature last month, and I suspect most of it will go toward the recommended 60K-mile maintenance. Worth it if it helps keep the car going for many more thousands of miles.

      • Fourscore

        I take my truck to the dealer for service. As I wait I walk around, kick the tires on the new vehicles. I see numbers getting closer to 6 digits and it’s scary. A year ago I saw a big Lincoln SUV, I forget what they are called, but the price was unforgettable, like NKCole. North of 90K.

      • R C Dean

        The guys at out mechanics shop were telling us they’ve seen a couple of FJ Cruisers come through with 400K miles, so I’m optimistic we’ll get a lot more years out of ours.

      • UnCivilServant

        “Mind you, the only thing original on it was the Odometer, but man those FJ Cruiser Odometers really last.”

      • Gender Traitor

        Read that and at first was thinking “PT Cruiser”…and decided it wasn’t my place to judge.

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s what I’m still thinking.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        The only PT Cruisers that’ve passed 400K miles have done it as repurposed scrap.

      • robodruid

        Ive got 220K on my Volvo. I need to plan to keep another 220?
        I wound think that the Musk guy would make all of the govt. mandate uncleanness work all on fuse.

      • UnCivilServant

        Having looked up the FJ Cruiser, I’m surprised at how ugly it is.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        They fetch a mint for what they are though. A very highly desirable used vehicle for some reason.

      • UnCivilServant

        Well, their odometers last forever.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Huh. Looks like New Jersey.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        Even the decision makers in Jersey would have the sense to locate that somewhere less repellant. That’s a Blade Runner visual except not as nice looking.

      • Ghostpatzer

        “Even the decision makers in Jersey would have the sense to locate that somewhere less repellant.”

        I dunno. I’m picturing Christie in a beach chair photoshopped into that.

      • Fourscore

        Looks like North Jersey 60 years ago, probably hasn’t improved much but gas was cheap

      • Fourscore

        That’s the Jersey I remember.

        I lived in Eatontown in ’71, had my apartment burglarized. My gun cabinet had a glass front, glass was chipped but no entry. Lost a couple cameras, some cash (not much) and a pair of gloves. I was happy to move to TX.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        You get around!

    • rhywun

      Yeah, I got a chuckle out of that. I wonder if it’s real.

    • Fourscore

      I’ll have what Stinky is drinking.

      Oops, never mind…

      /Roseanna Roseanna Danna

    • UnCivilServant

      No one should have attended.

      “We’ll wait until they’re held in a real country.”

  28. Sean

    Mornin’ y’all.

    • Ghostpatzer

      Yo.

      • robodruid

        ‘sup?

    • UnCivilServant

      1.75 acres from the developer for future affordable housing.

      Makes me think there will be some ugly towers going up in a dense cluster. Or a span of projects.

    • rhywun

      Liberals pounce!

    • Gender Traitor

      the comedian supports affordable housing, but actually opposes both residential development plans in his hometown.

      Yeah, that’s almost certainly the general consensus in YS, SW OH’s own little Baby Berkeley. They’ll happily hold a candlelight vigil to advocate for affordable housing…elsewhere. ?

      • rhywun

        I bet there’s plenty of actually affordable housing in the area but it doesn’t provide the string-pullers the opportunity to grandstand.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Perhaps he could buy the land…

  29. Sean

    Seen this morning on my way to work:

    Tractor trailer flying a big American Flag on the back, and “Resistance to tyranny & obedience to God” lettered on it.

    Dude (I assume) got a *honk honk* as I passed him.

  30. Sean
    • Fourscore

      Gadsden lives in Podunkville

    • UnCivilServant

      I don’t care what ‘people’ want. They get no say in my medical decisions.

      • Ghostpatzer

        “They get no say in my medical decisions.”

        True. Unfortunately they have some impact on my ability to go about my business.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        They put the “pleb” in plebiscite.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Ooh, where can I get a “vaxed” pendant??

      • rhywun

        Her flying monkeys fetched it for her from somewhere.

    • rhywun

      All I got out of that was “propaganda works” and “I’m surprised the numbers aren’t higher”.

      • UnCivilServant

        I’m past the point of wanting to just nuke downstate.

        Sorry Rhy.

      • rhywun

        Mutually assured destruction with Albany.