Well, family and other responsibilities prevented me from shooting USPSA on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, I planned to get out all my guns and all my photo equipment and shoot gun pr0n, to illustrate some upcoming gun reviews.

But first, I think I’ll blow all the leaves off the driveway.

Only, now I remember the leaf blower won’t start. So I check the easy things – plenty of gasoline flow, filter is clean. Spark plug is ugly. Off to the home center for a new one. That doesn’t work.

So, I break it all down, and find the starter spindle has a tooth broken off. But the motor still turns when I pull the cord, so that’s not it. So I put the compression gage on in place of the spark plug, and when I pulled the cord, the pressure is all over the place, never the same reading twice.

According to the gurus on the interwebz, who are all experts, the means bad gaskets, a cracked cylinder, or worse. Maybe $50 to repair. Given this machine is 7 years old, it’s better to spend the money for a new one.

Back to the home center. But the only models they sell are the same make as the one I have. I’m not buying.

So I need more research, and maybe a backpack model.

But by now it’s getting late. Too late to take pictures. Besides, I’m too annoyed to do a good job.

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Now I know why I shoot guns and play golf. Besides the exercise (dubious) and the tension relief (less dubious), they both involve an individual solution to a problem.

When I’m shooting a USPSA stage, I don’t always solve the problem the best I can, but in the end, it’s solved. And the Range Officer says “Unload and show clear,” and I’m done.

I wish the rest of my life’s problems had a Range Officer. One thing’s for sure, when he asked at the beginning “Do you understand the course of fire? Any questions?” I would sure as hell speak up.

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Only now it occurs to me, when I breathe my last, and open my eyes in Glory, maybe the first thing I’ll hear will be “Unload and show clear.”

I write myself notes all the time about ideas for blog posts. From time to time I get them together and try to make sense of them.

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I found another shooter at work last week. He and I spent lunch at the range on Friday. He’s got a Glock 21SF like me, so we shared our experiences with them. I noticed his has the normal Glock magazine release, while mine has the ambidextrous SF release. To be honest I would prefer the normal release – I should have asked when I bought this one.

I was cleaning out my stuff Sunday and found an old G21 magazine, 10 rounds, that I’ve had 10 years or more. A guy I used to work with flipped repo’d cars as a hobby, and I was helping him detail a Corvette when we found it under the seat. I tried to trade it a couple times over the years, and I was disappointed that it didn’t work with my new gun when I got it.

Anyway, I gave it to my friend. I guess kept it all these years just for this time.

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I’m working on a post about my Rules of Engagement, and it’s sparked some interesting discussion around the house. What started out pretty straightforward turns out to be more complicated than I thought. The post will likely involve not only my rules, but the process behind them.

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Reviewing my traffic numbers, the most hits I get from Google are for my ammo reviews. Not that I’m writing for more traffic, but is that something I should be doing more of?

Thoughts?

As you may have read before, all my guns have been bought with other people’s money – bonuses, stock options, awards, and the like.

The company I work for has offered an end of year bonus, if we meet certain goals, which we are on target to achieve. If my performance matches last years, I will make enough in bonus to build a new AR-15. That’s my goal.

But I was thinking this through the other day, and I realize, as I’ve said before, that adding a new gun like an AR-15 means adding a new caliber of ammo for me to buy.

So, I’ve decided to amend this goal. I decided to take the bonus and make my first foray into the world of reloading. Then, if I have enough left over, I’ll build the AR. At worst, the AR will be my next project after that.

I’ve never been a great one for deferred gratification, but what’s working for me is the economic analysis. It’s sweet that I can shoot for half the price by reloading. And, if I buy the reloading equipment using other people’s money, it’s even sweeter.

Six months ago today I got a wild hair, and clicked on a link on the top of someone’s gun blog, and started my own. That was as easy as it got.

Picking a name was no problem. I’ve been using Fill Yer Hands for 4 years or so on the various gun forums. I just fleshed it out.

Lots of people have encouraged me and given me pointers and ideas. Thank you to all.

For those of you interested in these things (JP), my most visited pages are my ammo reviews. Not surprisingly, “usa ammo review” is the number one Google term that’s gotten people here.

I’m having a ball at this. I hope you’ve gotten something out of this too. Thank you everyone!