It Is Official.

I am officially part of the gun lobby. No, I haven't been hired by the NRA, but I did receive my first wheelbarrow of cash:

This arrived in the mail last week from Jeff K. I have my very own wheelbarrow full of cash now! Thanks Jeff!

It's funny. I saw the small box in the stack of mail, and wondered what the heck I'd ordered and forgotten about. I saw the return address, and was extra puzzled - it looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Plus it was a residential address, not a store, and I hadn't purchased anything on eBay that would be delivered last week.

Then I opened it up and started laughing, and I think my family thought I'd lost my mind.

Well, moreso than usual...

Thanks Jeff! It now occupies a special place on top of the desk, my very own initiation in the great and powerful - and well-funded - gun lobby... 

That is all.

I Coulda Told You THAT

Looks like the guys over at LaserLyte have themselves a major award!

Accessory of the Year: LaserLyte Laser Trainer Target TLB-1Finally, in the Accessory of the Year category, it didn’t take the editors long to settle on one of the neatest products they’d seen in a while. After all, what could be better than a device that allows unlimited practice of the shooting fundamentals without spending a penny on ammunition? Enter the LaserLyte Laser Trainer Target TLB-1, a bookshelf-size electronic target that registers “hits” from one of the company’s sound-activated training lasers. The TLB-1 encourages perfect sight alignment, trigger control and breathing—the foundation stones of good marksmanship—and, best of all, it can be reset right from your chair.

Yep. I reviewed the TLB-1 at the start of last year, and it's easily my favorite training tool. It makes dry firing nearly as much fun as going to the range, and (best of all) there's no cleaning involved! It's even easier using the Training Cartridges (OOH! They have .380!), where you simply load the Training Cartridge into your firearm, turn the TLB-1 on, and commence practice.

Congratulations to LaserLyte for winning Accessory of the Year!

That is all.

It's A Major Award!

I have no idea how this happened, but somehow I am in the running for a "Gunnie" from Luckygunner. I'm listed under "2011 Best Gun Blog - Entertainment", and believe me when I say the competition is fierce! SayUncle, Tam, Kevin, Breda... All good folks, all wonderful bloggers, all more than capable of crushing me like the bug that I am...

But go vote for me anyways!

The competition may be fierce, but remember who gives you teletubby bayonet charges...

That is all.

I Have The Coolest Blogchildren...

So, I go get the mail a few days ago, and there's a letter for me. A little on the unexpected side, as e-mail, Facebook, and chat have made long distance communications instantaneous and free, but not entirely out of the ordinary. I open it up and find a present from my blogdaughter inside:

LOVE IT!

There's so much win packed into this I hardly know where to begin. First off, I'm thrilled that I was one of the people she thought of when she saw Gadsden tattoos. Secondly, the note is a great touch (comments about head notwithstanding... *g*) - whenever I send something out via mail I always like to add in a short handwritten note (and if you know how pitiful my handwriting is, that's a labor of love right there). Third, it is incredibly cool that not only does a Gadsden temporary tattoo exist, but it's also made in the USA...

And lastly, well, this is one of the designs I'm toying with for my first tattoo. I'm turning 40 next year, and one of the things I want to do before I turn 40 is get a tattoo. I've managed to avoid one thus far, not finding anything I'd want permanently attached to my body as of yet - but this is clearly in the running. I think I'll skip the yellow background (lots of pain and expense for something that's not going to show up all that great on my skin), but the snake, grass, and text will be perfect. This will give me a chance to try it out before I go under the needle!

Thanks for thinking of me Nancy - you made my whole week!

That is all.

If I Had A Dollar...

...for every hit I had since I started MArooned, I would be a millionaire today.


Yes, at some point in the wee hours of the morning, MArooned rolled over one million hits. One. Million. Hits. That's a thousand thousand times that y'all have clicked here, and believe me, that's humbling. Hell, it's pretty humbling that a thousand of y'all check in to read my brain droppings. One. Million. It just floors me that I've made it this far. Oh sure, to the big dogs like Unc or Tam, one million hits just come with the scenery, but to me it's a big deal (and a big hearty thanks to Unc and Tam for throwing linky-love my way - I'd be quite much further from this milestone without links from them and other big time bloggers like Robb and Breda and Kevin).

Thank you. Everyone that reads my poo-flinging humble scribbling. Everyone that links me. Everyone that sends me stories. Everyone that has provided guidance along the way. And especially to the drivers and legislators in MA that provide me with a nearly endless well of rage to tap for inspiration...

I hope to be here for several million more hits, and I hope you'll be reading and commenting too.

That is all.

MArooned Contest!

Reader "PISSED" was kind enough to send me a handful of these:

Say Whut?

Whoever can tell me what this means can have a couple stickers (assuming you want 'em, that is).

That is all.

A Warrior's Final Tribute

Portrait of Valor: Hero of Afghanistan Sgt. Jared Monti Wins Medal of Honor Posthumously

Soon after Sgt. Jared Monti died -- killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while trying to save a comrade high in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2006 -- his father Paul found hidden in his son's bedroom drawer a bronze star, five Army commendation medals and four Army achievement medals.

"He never told anyone he won them. He was always very humble. He didn't want accolades. He didn't want medals. He wanted his work to speak for itself. When he was a kid he was never one to jump up and down and say 'look at me,'" said Paul Monti.

Soon Monti, 30, will be awarded another medal, the highest award the U.S. military
bestows for bravery -- the Medal of Honor.

These are the people that give me hope for our country. The brave men and women fighting to keep us free; the ones that we don't often hear about. These are the heros, the ones that die doing what they love so that their comrades-in-arms might live. All so that we are free to sit at our keyboards and bicker amongst ourselves regarding the current state of the state.

"If I see far, it is because I have ridden on the shoulders of giants". Sir Isaac Newton quipped something to that effect when talking to his contemporaries; it is never more fitting than now. I am not fit to shine the shoes of men like Jared Monti; all I can do is honor his memory and offer him the praise he never sought, yet truly deserves.

Throw open the doors of Valhalla; a warrior dines with Odin tonight.

That is all.

The Kindness of Strangers

Sometimes the generosity and kindness of people gives me hope for us yet. After I posted about my new eeeevil assault weapon acquisition, I got an e-mail from an anonymous benefactor. Seems this person wanted to send me a pre-ban 30-round AR-15 magazine as a "new AR-15 owner welcome package". There were also hints of other little items that would find their way int the package.

The pins were a neat touch - all of them are manufacturers of guns I own: Bushmaster, SigSauer, Glock, and a 1911 pin. Obviously this person reads MArooned... :) What was completely unexpected, however, was the NIW pre-ban National Magazine AR mag - if you look closely, you can see the date of 1986 on the wrapper. Not only is this pre-Assault Weapon Ban, this magazine could have been intended for a new, civilian-owned M-16!

Another benefactor presented me with an extremely generous offer for a large quantity of pre-ban 30 round AR-15 magazines. Suffice to say, I am now pretty well set for large-capacity magazines - nearly a dozen 30 rounders and five Colt 20-rounders. I'd still like to pick up a handful more, seeing as how I'm in MA and "pre-ban" refers not to pre-2009, but pre-1994... It's always a good idea to have spares.

So, to my benefactors (both of whom expressed their desire to remain anonymous), I give a hearty thanks. I'm touched that you would extend such generosity to me; however I am not surprised - the 2A community is a tight-knit one, a group whose alliances are forged in blued steel and copper jackets...

Thank you both.

That is all.

Okay, I'll Play...

Epijunky has tagged me with a award. I'm speechless! (Aw, hell, those of you who know me know that's not possible...)

Here are the rules according to Epi:

Pass it on to five other bloggers, and tell them to open the nearest book to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence on that page, and also the next two to five sentences. The CLOSEST BOOK, NOT YOUR FAVORITE, OR MOST INTELLECTUAL!

Well, let's see... Books... Books... Uh... there's about 5,000 gun magazines in the office, but where's the nearest book... (Oh who the hell am I kidding? There's about 8 or 9 hundred books in the office...) Here goes:

In other words, we weren't allowed overtime. Come 6:18 PM, we had to pull the plug and get off the set, whether the scene was filmed or not - and tomorrow's schedule didn't allow for us to come back and finish it!
To emphasize that fact, Roddenberry and two or three production assistants wandered out onto the set - letting us know by their silent, ominous presences that they were watching the clock.
We had just enough time for one take - so it had to go perfectly!

If you know where this came from, you're as big a geek as I am...

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So, five people to pass this along to... Let's see:

My blogson, Ted. While I fear it may be a computer manual of some sort, it might be something from his private stash...

Lissa, because I have a feeling whatever she has close by is absolutely fabulous.

Amusings, because she was all verklempt when I missed her for the last award. :)

Brigid, because no matter what it is she'll write it up wonderfully.

And lastly, Robb, just because.

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That is all.

There Must Be Some Mix-Up...

I think TOTWTYTR has me confused with someone else. Like, someone else with a shred of actual talent. Either that or one of his lovely Smiths recoiled too hard and bounced off his noggin, because he's bestowed a "Superior Scribbler" award on me (origins of the award can be found here):

I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, I'm honored; doubly so considering both who gave me this award and who gave it to him - the one, the only Ambulance Driver, a man whose writing I so thoroughly enjoyed that I bought his book (gratuitous plug alert) - which, BTW, is destined to become a classic and is rapidly flying off bookstore shelves, so get your order in today (hey, I am in sales...).

This is an award I can grok, as "scribbling" is a fairly accurate description of what I do here at MArooned. I've tried to post thoughtful, descriptive posts, and in some cases hit my mark, but most often there's bits of road rage, random politcal rants, car nut stuff, and of course, the gun pr0n. It's basically a clearinghouse for whatever flits through my mind at any given moment. Which, I suppose, fits "scribbling" to a tee.

The real bitch is gettting the crayon off the computer screen... {cue rimshot}.

Thanks, TOTWTYTR.

Now I've got to choose five bloggers from my blogroll to give this award to. As if that wasn't hard enough, I'm coming to this late in the game, and as such, many of the folks I'd like to give the award to have already received it. So I'll have to try harder...

Let's see...

Liberty of Fighting For Liberty. He and I are cut from the same cloth; he's kinda like the Jay G. of the Frozen North. Plus he has hair. He's got a sick, warped sense of humor and very little in the way of filtration apparatus set up to shelter us from it. And that's a feature, not a bug.

The Geek of TheGeekWithA45. Perhaps this might spur him to post more (hint), but I've long enjoyed reading TheGeek any time he posts (plus for a long time his blog was the first place to turn for news of Bill Whittle sightings....)

Firehand over at Irons in the Fire. Firehand, like og and doubletrouble, is one of those guys that just make me green with envy. He's mechanically inclined (as I think I've mentioned, I'm more along the lines of what could charitably be called "mechanically declined"), lives in Free America, and can express himself with a clarity and eloquence uniquely his own.

Epijunky at Pink Warm And Dry. Through this weird little "Follow Blog" widget (which I am still desperately trying to figure out, lumbering dinosaur that I am), I came across Epi's blog. She's sharp as a whip, loves her kids more than life itself, and quite prolific, mostly stream-of-consciousness akin to my own brand of "toss it against the wall and see what sticks".

Gotta give the anchor slot to my friend tweaker over at Where Sometimes Things Go Boom. He may not post as often as we'd all like (that's a hint, brother), but he brings a razor-sharp wit to the dance and a Texan sense of goodness. Plus he's a long-haired hippie gun-carryin' Texan. Gotta love us our paradoxes...

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Now here's the rules:

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
• Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

Thanks to TOTWTYTR for the honor, and thanks to everyone who reads my insane rantings poo-flinging verbal diarrhea random potshots at life.

That is all.