Not a really productive week…………………………………………..

As always, first the chronology:

2/11/18 – Sunday – Up early and out to pick up Gary for church. Kathy didn’t sleep well so she didn’t make church. Back home and had another bagel and coffee. Then to bed for a nap. Up for lunch. Then over to Gary’s for the afternoon get together. Then home and did chores. Dinner, more chores. Downstairs and did the blog. To bed, some TV, computer work and sleep.

2/12/18 – Monday – Slept late and didn’t feel too bad. Just ignored it and pushed ahead. Did chores in the morning and played radio. Had lunch. Then over to Gary’s to help him with some things. Came home and more chores. Then dinner. Downstairs and chatted with the guys on the air. Upstairs to bed, computer work, research, TV and sleep.

2/13/18 – Tuesday – Up early and out to the doctor’s office to get a blood test. While in the area stopped at CVS for some things. Then to Taylorsville and stopped at Country Mart for milk. Home and put things away. Kathy had a dermatology appointment. After we both got home we had lunch. Then to my room to clean some things up and get some banking done. Played radio. Then up for dinner. Some chores and to bed. Computer work, TV and sleep.

2/14/18 – Wednesday – Up early and usual routine. Went to get my hair cut around 10:30. Home and had lunch. Some chores, a nap, then over to pick up Gary for dinner at church. Home and desert. To bed, some computer work, Big Bang and sleep.

2/15/18 – Thursday – Slept late. Kathy Was up early and went up to Mike and Julie’s to watch the grandchildren. I did chores around the house then down to Dairy Queen to have lunch with Kathy and the kids. Back home and played radio. Bands where in great shape. Kathy came home, had dinner. Kathy went to bell practice. Went next door to chat with the neighbor. Back home and made the evening nets. To bed, computer work, Big Bang and sleep.

2/16/18 – Friday – Up and regular morning routine. Down to my room. Had much more motivation today. Got my desk cleaned off. A big accomplishment. Kathy got her hair done this morning, did chores around the house and took her dulcimer to the UPS store to ship back for repair. Had two great meals. Chatted with Gary on the radio awhile. Then to bed, some computer work, TV and sleep.

2/17/18 – Saturday – Up and regular morning routine. Kathy got up and headed out to help Julie with Chloe’s birthday party at the movie theater. I did chores then to my room and played radio. Up and made lunch. Back downstairs and worked on my audio project. Kathy came home so we went out for Chinese. Home and more work on audio project. Upstairs to bed. Computer work, Big Bang and sleep.

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Now the specifics:

Finally got motivated to something Friday.  First part of the week was slow.  Managed to get my desk cleaned off and work bench organized so I can work more aggressively on my audio project.  Still waiting for parts I ordered 3 weeks ago  Those people are going to get a nasty email when I do finally get the order.  I understand it wasn’t their fault that the post office miss-routed the stuff, but all I got from their customer services was to watch the USPS website for status.  Unacceptable.

Need to replace the battery in the motorcycle.  I think that’s going to be a priority tomorrow as the weather is suppose to be in the 70s and overcast on Tuesday.

I haven’t ranted in awhile so I think now is the time.  It’s amazing how people suddenly get excited about things when it hits home.  The events this week in Florida were truly tragic.  But look in the paper any day of the week and there is a tragedy somewhere in the world and if you have way to apply metrics, some are worse than this weeks events in Florida.  Anytime there is loss of life it is sad.  I think we should constantly be looking at ways to eliminate all these problems.  I’m not a smart person, but I do know some facts.  There are those that would blame guns or certain kinds of guns.  They want to ban AR15 type rifles and large capacity magazines.  I’m not sure what that will accomplish.  As explained in the Justice Research and Policy dated 2016, Vol 17(l) 28-47:

“Do bans on large-capacity magazines (LCMs) for semiautomatic firearms have significant potential for reducing the number of deaths and injuries in mass shootings? The most common rationale for an effect of LCM use is that they allow mass killers to fire many rounds without reloading. LCMs are known to have been used in less than one third of 1% of mass shootings. News accounts of 23 shootings in which more than six people were killed or wounded and LCMs were known to have been used, occurring in the United States in 1994–2013, were examined. There was only one incident in which the shooter may have been stopped by bystander intervention when he tried to reload. In all of these 23 incidents, the shooter possessed either multiple guns or multiple magazines, meaning that the shooter, even if denied LCMs, could have continued firing without significant interruption by either switching loaded guns or changing smaller loaded magazines with only a 2- to 4-seconds delay for each magazine change. Finally, the data indicate that mass shooters maintain such slow rates of fire
that the time needed to reload would not increase the time between shots and thus the time available for prospective victims to escape.”

The bottom line is that banning any kind of weapon or magazine is not going to accomplish a thing.  So, the next scenario is let’s ban ALL guns.  Yes, that would help if it were possible.  There are those that would like to ban hand guns or just AR15 type weapons but it won’t do anything.  Just this week 14 people were killed and more than 30 injured when 2 suspected females rode their bicycles into a crowd and detonated explosive device that were attached to their bodies.  No guns were used at all.  Some believe as Hitler said in 1933, “To conquer a nation, first disarm it’s citizens”.  America has a gun mentality and I’m sure it would be totally impossible to eliminate all weapons.  Too many people would not allow that.

Now we have the politicians that many are relying on to “fix” the problem.  Well, in my opinion they are part of the problem.  They make a lot of money doing what they do.  It is a career.  Therefore, they are going to do whatever gets them the most votes.  Not what they really think is the right thing.  So, let’s take that out of the equation completely.

So, where do we look.  I read a post on facebook from a teacher that stated several students talked through the minute of silence the school was having for the victims of the shooting in Florida.  Today in church I watched as the minister started the service.  He was talking and preparing people to worship this day and many adults continued talking over him.  The bottom line here as in many cases is the ignorance of people to what is right and wrong.  Try telling any of these individuals that they had no respect that they are wrong and most likely you will get into an argument.

I personally feel we are at a point of no return.  Politicians doing what gets them votes, people not knowing the difference between right and wrong.  Organizations like the FBI and many others that are not allowed to do their jobs (in Louisville, KY the city police pick and chose the laws they will enforce).

So, what do we do?  Well, I don’t mean to sound gloom and doom, it’s really not that bad.  My plan is to avoid any and all mass gatherings where some nut case might decide to cause problems.  I do go to church and that has been identified as a high risk place with so many non-Christians proposing violence toward Christians.  But, I do carry a gun most of the time.  The idea is to accept the fact that this has become a way of life in our society so simply be proactive and protect yourself from the violence.  If you can, arm yourself and make sure you have the proper training.  To simply get a concealed carry gun permit is not sufficient training in most states.  Become modest and set an example for others.  Don’t try to change the world through confrontation but rather do it through example.  And when you see things that concern you, let someone know.  Continue pointing it out till someone does something or the problems is gone. And be careful and prepared.

OK, that’s far more than you wanted to hear.  I apologize for the long rant.  Please let me know your thoughts.

Blog at you again next week.