For those not schooled in history, it turns out new research has shed light on an obscure footnote in history.
Mayonnaise is a wonderful emulsion of oil, egg yolks, and seasonings, and has been made in France for centuries. Most people don’t know that a hundred years ago the best mayonnaise in the world was made in Calais, France, and was bottled and sold throughout Europe. Due to its limited shelf life, however, sales outside of Europe were pretty much ruled out.
In the early 1800’s, when Spain lost control of Mexico to France, the leading families in Mexico were eager to fit in with the new rulers, and tried to adopt French cuisine, but about the only thing that was successfully accepted was mayonnaise. Soon, people throughout the country fell in love with it, frequently adding their own local spices.
Then, in 1912, came the era of the Fast Luxury Liner, as the Titanic prepared to make its maiden voyage. Finally, the commercial mayonnaise prepared in Calais might be brought to Mexico. A group of people in Mexico City arranged to purchase a shipment of 12,000 bottles and have them sent by a hired freighter from Calais to Plymouth, England, to be loaded aboard the Titanic for shipment to Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
But as we know, the Titanic did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
With poor communications in those days, it took three weeks for word of the disaster to reach Mexico City, and the people were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on the anniversary of the arrival of the news, and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.
Overlaps
First, if you don’t follow my other blog Skin That Smoke Wagon, I encourage you to check it out and subscribe. It gives me an outlet to share my other passions of food and drink.
Sometimes these passions overlap, and one such instance involves the saloon at the River Bend Gun Club in Dawsonville, Georgia. I shoot USPSA and GSSF at this club, on the range originally built by their Cowboy Action Shooting club.
This is a very interesting range, as it includes several stages that reflect an Old Western tempo: a jail, a graveyard, and a saloon. Now, when I first started shooting, there were maybe a dozen empty bottles on the piano, and I took a picture.
Then, I got into bourbon, and on a whim, I started carrying empty bottles to matches, and putting them on the piano.
Well, things grew, and here we are now, with more to come:
Match Prep 2.0
Some time ago I wrote a concise piece on what I do to prepare for matches. Since then I have added a few things to my to-do list, and it occurred to me that I haven’t shared them.
First, I still do the same gun prep, including changing to connector, and lubricating. I also load magazines, only now, since I shoot Limited and not Production, I load to fully loaded, which with my magazine extensions, is 22 rounds per magazine. (Of course, if I am shooting GSSF, I only load to 11 rounds.)
One other thing I did was to create a Match Prep Checklist:
As you can see, this lets me be sure I am doing all the things I need to do. Basically there are four stages: Clean and inspect, Prepare, Pack, and Load. There are a few things on there that I didn’t do back in 2011, like adding an extra phone battery and USB cord. I print this 2 to a page, and complete it before every match.
This also gives me a chance to mention a couple of additions from the past few years, both in the Load section. First, I have a pair of football cleats that I take, as I have found they are very useful if I am shooting in the rain, or on a wet range.
The last is” Bourbon bottles,” which takes a little explaining. But I will leave that for another time.
Taking it to the Next Level
Having been a USPSA Certified Range Office since 2013, for many years I have acted as RO in local matches. After some time, I felt like I wanted to do more, and when the USPSA Georgia State Championships came to River Bend Gun Club in 2020 and 2021, I took the opportunity to act as RO for those matches.
ROing the State matches was a wonderful experience, as it gave me the opportunity to engage with other excellent competitors, as well as see the top tier shooters in a very close fashion.
Then, in 2023, I got the opportunity to act as RO at the USPSA Open / PCC National Championships, over at the Talladega CMP Range, and wow, was that an awesome experience. While the ROs and shooters at the State matches were a great experience, working with the next levels at the Nationals was something else.
So, this year, I am planning to do both the State Championships in Savannah in October, and the Handgun Nationals in Talladega in September. And, since I shoot Limited, I will get to shoot in the Nationals, something I didn’t do last year, since I don’t shoot Open or PCC.
On the next tier of this, I got to watching some Steel Challenge videos, and it occurred to me that this would be a wonderful next step for me, shooting my 10/22 Captain America. So, look for this next step in my shooting travels.
Stay tuned!
Fill Yer Hands 