If You Get There Before I do....

1st Inning.
Highlights of the Brew Crew...  Puppies!  A little over a month ago, my wife and kids finally wore me down and we adopted a couple of beagle mix puppies (about 6 months old) from a local rescue shelter, Unleashed.  Over the past several years I have been hounded (pun intended) to let us get a dog.  I have always objected because I felt the responsibility factor was not there yet in our kids and heck, I'm still raising kids and picking up after their messes so why do I want another to pick up after? In addition, every couple of months when someone at my wife's place of employment had a dog up for adoption I would get an email barrage from her asking if this could be the 'one'.  I would always answer with a no and sometime with a 'HELL NO'.

Then came the emails in early May.  I was hit with multiple messages during my work day showing me these two brother pups that were rescued from a gas shelter in central Missouri and were only 6-8 months old.  Then an email asking if we could arrange a 'meet & greet' with them at a local park.  I agreed and there we were on that sunny Saturday afternoon.  Both of the pups seem to take to the girls just fine and vice versa.  On the ride home I finally caved and we decided to immediately get our application into the shelter.  The kids cheered with triumph. Once we filled out the application and emailed it over to them, it was a waiting game.  The wife was nervous that another family would get them.  Yes, that is plural.  We decided to adopt two rather than one.  Well, what did you expect?  They were brothers.  Brothers need to stay together.

We found out within 24 hours that we were approved and then it was time to arrange pickup of the fellas. The kids wanted to do it right away but the following Saturday was the night the wife and I were going to be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary overnight at a local hotel/resort and we didn't want to have to find a boarding facility so soon.  So, we decided to pick them up on our way back home from the hotel on Sunday. Arriving home with Augustus Gloop (Augie for short) and Willy Wonka (we kept their names from the shelter), the kids were ecstatic.  They were ready to take them on walks and play with them in the backyard. Mark one in the 'W' column for dad.

But over the past few weeks reality has set in and for me it was expected and was the reason why I had delayed getting any pets.  The girls will now argue over taking the dogs out for their potty breaks. They get too involved with their laptops or other devices and the dogs end up pooping and peeing in the house (imagine walking into a house and seeing paper towels placed strategically on your floors and hallways).  They forget to feed them on occasion until I remind them.  It all seemed to be the old phrase, "watch out for what you ask for because you just might get it".  Well, after a 'come to Jesus' talk with their mom, they created shifts, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon and they are in charge of them during those times.  That adjustment has worked out well so far (keep your fingers crossed!).

The dogs are sweet little guys that only seem to bark when they need to go outside. They will wrassle with each other and play what my wife calls 'die doggie die' but they will end up curled up on the back of a couch or my chair.  Augie seems to have taken to me the most and he will curl up next to or behind me on my chair and go to sleep.  Willy is the antagonist and will not let Augie rest sometimes and usually leads to another 'die doggie die' session. For the most part, they have been low maintenance for me.  The wife gets up every morning with them to let them out and feed them.  Then the girls take over during the day now that they are out of school.  Once our little Lucy gets home from the sitter she is usually trying to hug or kiss on Willy (her favorite).  One cost that will be a little pricey is putting in a new backyard privacy fence as Augie is a climber/jumper and has had no problem escaping over the chain link fences to our neighbors yards or to our front yard.  Thankfully he has never taken those opportunities to escape and run off.  Well, as they get older and the girls get wiser I have a strong feeling things will start to fall into place and I will look back and realize they have made us a complete family.


2nd Inning.

American History Lesson... The War of 1812. As a child, the only thing I knew about the War of 1812 was from Johnny Horton's song, "Battle of New Orleans".  I remember listening to that song and learning about ole Hickory and how he beat the British. Well, there was much more to that war or what some would call 'The 2nd American Revolution'.  On June 18, 1812, President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain and the War of 1812 began. He signed the declaration the same day the Senate voted to declare war and a day after the House of Representatives did the same.
 Per History.com, "The American war declaration, opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had

General Andrew Jackson commands his troops
 during the Battle of New Orleans. (Credit: Library of Congress)

been called in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the "War Hawks" had been advocating war with Britain for several years and had not hidden their hopes that a U.S. invasion of Canada might result in significant territorial land gains for the United States."

A picture by William Charles, depicting King George III
 bloodied by President James Madison.

Months after the declaration of war, our American forces started an invasion of Canada on three fronts but all turned out to be unsuccessful.  As Napoleon Bonaparte's French Empire began to crumble in 1814, the British were able to focus more on the American front and move additional military forces towards North America. In August of 1814, Washington D.C. fell to the British forces.  As they stormed through the capital city, the British burned the White House, the Capitol building, and other government buildings.

During the month of September 1814, the American naval forces, lead by Thomas Macdonough, won an important victory at the Battle of Plattsburg Bay on Lake Champlain and turned the tide of the war.  After that battle, the British had to tuck their tails and head back into Canada.  This decisive victory led to peace negotiations in Belgium where on Christmas Eve in 1814 the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war.  Terms of the treaty included that all conquered lands were to be returned and a commission be established to finalize a boundary between the United States and Canada.

But the fighting did not end after the Treaty of Ghent was signed.  Information did not travel fast back then and British forces in the Gulf Coast region were still fighting our American troops in January 1815. On January 8th, the U.S. forces, lead by Ole Hickory himself, Andrew Jackson, were victorious at the Battle of New Orleans.  This was by far the greatest American victory of the war.  As the American people heard about the victory they were also learning of the Treaty of Ghent which led to a greater confidence among the people of our young republic by defeating the world's lone superpower twice in its short existence.

History.com compiled a list of  "10 Things You May Not Know About the War of 1812" and it can be found here.  Good stuff!  A short video about the war is below.  Enjoy!




3rd Inning.
Firearms Corner...Revolvers.  The world of revolvers!  The Truth About Guns website put together a primer on revolvers that is very informative that I would like to summarize as it contains some very good information for the newbie to guns as well as useful information for the well-versed.  The revolver is as American as an apple pie and as such deserves its fair share of recognition in the firearms world that has become inundated currently with the modern sporting rifle craze.

When you think of revolvers some think of cowboys and their Colt Peacemakers or you might think of every policeman during the majority of the 20th century and their .38 Specials or you might think of Dirty Harry and his Smith & Wesson 'most powerful handgun in the world' and lastly you might think of Rick Grimes and his Colt Python.  All of these examples are a part of our culture and are interesting pieces of our history and the history of firearms as they have grown bigger and badder.  With the plethora of semi-automatic handguns now available on the market, the revolver has stayed true to its simplicity and overall appeal.
 
First, you have single action revolvers, which are your old cowboy sidearms or 'six guns' and require cocking the hammer each time to fire the gun. This style of revolver is also slow to load as you have to open a little gate on the cylinder to load one cartridge at a time.  Great for cowboy competition or for carrying with you in the woods.  The calibers you are likely to see in this style are .45 Long Colt, .357 Magnum, and .22 Long Rifle. Second, you have the double action revolvers, which are modern revolvers and what the police would have carried for most of the 20th century. These revolvers are much quicker to reload and unload as the cylinder rolls out and allows you to load all rounds at once.  This style of revolver is great for self defense and comes in a variety of sizes, especially for conceal carry.  These type of revolvers can be found in .22 Long Rifle, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum along with many others.

The modern double action revolvers typically come in a large, medium, and small size.  The large revolvers come with a barrel length of 4" and longer and generally hold six rounds. The medium size revolvers come with barrel lengths in the 2"-3" range and generally hold 5-6 rounds.  The small size revolvers have barrel lengths of 2" and less and have 5 round capacity.  Both the medium and small size are what most people will use for conceal carry with the medium size being used by larger folks. Revolvers do not come with external safety mechanisms that have to be switched on/off.  Thus, the single action revolvers, and modern double action revolvers with an exposed hammer, that only require cocking the hammer to fire can be prone to unintentional discharge whereas the double action revolvers with no external hammer rely on a heavy trigger pull as safety feature.

The major manufacturers of revolvers these days are Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Rossi, and Taurus.  Colt is still making single action revolvers along with many other smaller manufacturers. I purchased my first revolver recently, a Ruger Blackhawk single action chambered in .30 Carbine, for primarily carrying with me in the woods.  Holding it I think back to my youth and watching reruns of The Lone Ranger or The Cisco Kid!  For more information on this topic I highly suggest the primer from The Truth About Guns.  Also, I have added a quick informative video from Hickock45 below that provides a valuable tip on how to NOT shoot a revolver.  Enjoy!



4th Inning.
Random Thoughts...Nothing beats a fresh, hot donut except another fresh, hot donut...If you have one hunting knife you need many hunting knives...Stepping in dog urine while walking down your hallway is almost as bad as stepping on a Lego, almost...Stuck on the toilet without any toilet paper can lead to panic attacks...

Never trust a person that says Tootsie Rolls are their favorite candy... Sometimes I would like to smack a parent at my daughters' softball games, but only the whiny ones...A town carnival is a magnet for mullets, vomit, and horse shit...Drones are the doorway to flying cars...Any politicians that defend or apologize to the IRS have GOT TO GO...




5th Inning.

Music...Collin Raye.  Lost Country Stars of the 90s Top Ten countdown #8.  That era of the mid-1990s was busy producing country artists left and right. This week's entry into my personal Top Ten list of artists who were getting record deals and radio play time but ended up fizzling out of the national scene is Collin Raye. Collin (real name--Floyd Elliot Wray) grew up around the music business.  Per Wikipedia, "His mother, Lois Wray, was a local musician; in the 1950s, she served as an opening act for several Sun Records artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.  Later, she became a solo musician in her own right; she would occasionally bring both Floyd and his brother Scott onstage to sing harmony vocals.  By the 1980s, the two brothers began a country-rock band called the Wray Brothers Band, in which Collin assumed the stage name Bubba Wray.  The Wray Brothers Band performed primarily in the state of Texas, Corvallis, Oregon and later in Reno, Nevada, eventually releasing singles on independent labels. By 1986, the band (which had shortened its name to The Wrays) signed to Mercury Records, releasing four singles. After the singles performed poorly on the charts, The Wrays disbanded."  

After signing a solo record deal in 1990, Collin released his debut CD, 'All I Can Be' in 1991.  The title track from that CD, 'All I Can Be (Is a Sweet Memory)' saw mild success but the follow-up single, 'Love, Me' became a #1 on the country charts in early 1992.  Collin's second CD, 'In This Life', came out in 1992.  The title track from that CD, also the first single, spent a couple of weeks at #1 on the country charts.  That CD also saw top ten hits with 'I Want You Bad (And That Ain't Good)', 'Somebody Else's Moon', and 'That Was A River'.  His third CD, 'Extremes', was released in in 1993.  It saw hits with 'That's My Story', 'Little Rock', 'Man of My Word', 'My Kinda Girl', and 'If I Were You'.  All of his singles on 'Extremes' hit top ten status and 'My Kinda Girl' became his 3rd #1 hit.     

Raye released a fourth album in 1995, 'I Think About You', which produced six singles.  The first three reached top 5 status, including 'One Boy, One Girl'.  The title track won Video of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards.  The remaining singles saw success as well.  In 1996, Collin released a holiday CD and a year later released a greatest hits CD.  The greatest hits collection, 'The Best of Collin Raye: Direct Hits', had four new songs that were released as singles.  Those singles included 'Little Red Rodeo', which reached top 5 status on the charts.  His fifth CD, 'The Walls Came Down' came out in 1998 and saw less success than his previous entries.  He would release two CDs in 2000 with one single becoming a top 5 hit.  In 2001, he would release his last CD for his record company and with little success he asked out of his contract.  In 2005, he signed with an independent record company and released a CD with none of the singles charting.

His CD, 'In This Life' was one of my first CDs I owned.  I recall his music being popular with his ballads being played at funerals ('Love, Me') and weddings ('In This Life').   I was personally touched by his song, 'Little Rock' which dealt with alcoholism being that I have a recovering alcoholic parent.  It's amazing how certain songs can talk directly to you and make you think of people in your life.  He has more of a country-pop sound along with a great voice.  A video for 'Love, Me' is below.  If it doesn't make you think of your grandparents then you are missing out.  Enjoy!




6th Inning.
Park Maintenance Memories...With summer upon us I felt it relevant to share memories from my summers after graduating from high school spent as a temporary employee with the Grandview, Missouri Park Maintenance department doing the grunt work but having some fun with a buddy that worked there too!

As the low man on the totem pole at the Park Maintenance in Grandview, I found myself being paired with the next man up on that pole (my buddy, Billy) driving around in a mid-80s model Chevy pickup with a nice big Parks & Rec decal on the doors.  Each Monday and Friday we found ourselves loading up the truck with some cleaning materials, gloves, and lots of trash bags.  We headed out to all the parks in the Grandview area, which included--John Anderson Park and Meadowmere Park.  The primary goal on those days was to dump all the trash cans around the park pavilions and elsewhere in the parks.  The problem we encountered was on Mondays we would usually find rancid meat with maggots and all sorts of nasty stuff from picnics and parties that typically lead to chasing each other around trying to touch each other with it (like a couple of elementary school kids trying to give the other one cooties).

After dumping trash we would have to clean the restrooms.  Apparently park restrooms were/are toilet optional when you find yourself having a bowel movement.  The nastiness we would find on the floors, walls, etc. definitely worked the gag factor.  But never fear--goggles, rubber gloves, all-purpose cleaner, and a high pressure water hose did the job! Now while we were cleaning, another two-man crew of summer temps were also working usually doing some mowing which meant their truck was left alone and empty.  This provided a great opportunity on one occasion to take the stiff, dead squirrel we found, with front legs in the upright 10 & 2 position, and place it in their driver's seat with hands on the steering wheel with windows up in a summer heat bordering on 100 degrees.  Now those days didn't end until we drove by the River Oaks golf course, specifically the green across the street from the Grandview Public Works facility.  We would always time it right so that when we would drive by the green there would be a golfer setting up to tap in his ball and in a loud yell, as he was in his backswing, we would holler, "HEY!!!!".  As he buckled, ruined his shot, we would always get a middle-finger salute! Some of those parks are off the beaten path which meant nobody around which meant you could pull that truck down a trail and get a quick nap in during those long hot days.  In my next blog post I'll devote an inning to our fun in the pools, mowing, and finding park treasure.


7th Inning.
Articles of the Week...

• The Brainy Bunch..."...in the Harding family from Montgomery, Ala., the self-titled "Brainy Bunch," who boast seven children enrolled in college by the time they were 12 years old."  I really wonder if we as a society were to take on education in this model, would we make greater advances in life and reduce some of society's ills.
• Kids eat free..."So, it’s hard to imagine how Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar can afford to feed and clothe all 19 of their children. Honestly, it just doesn’t seem possible. Now, they probably make a decent amount of money from, you know, starring in their own reality TV show, but even that can’t be enough to pay all of the bills. Because, seriously, can you even imagine how much they spend on groceries?"  It's always nice to see someone live a good life debt free or live off the grid and still provide for their family.
• The Whiskey Diaries..."The American Whiskey Trail is a journey. An American pilgrimage — but instead of Mecca, we were headed to Nashville, where the men drink, the girls dance, and you only get stoned for it if you pay the man $20."  A series of articles from a journalist on a pilgrimage to enjoy our nation's whiskey offerings and other adult beverages.
  
• Military Police..."Let me make something clear: you’re right to feel uncomfortable that cops have MRAPs and look like soldiers. I’m a twenty-year cop and even though I’ve received fairly extensive tactical training, even though I carried a carbine and plate carrier in my trunk when I was on the street, even though I believe there are times we need to be warriors, I agree that too many officers think of themselves as “operators” instead of cops. And one symptom of the dreaded Police Operator Syndrome is the desire to rush to every “my neighbor’s dog is pooping in my yard” call in an MRAP."  An interesting look at the ever evolving police departments and the officers who patrol the streets.
• Welcome Home..."There was some extra excitement Sunday at the graduation ceremony of a high school in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  A military father surprised his daughter — and brought the crowd to tears."  You have to love stories like this.
• Dr. Government...."On May 14 Breitbart News was able to speak with former Airman Brian
  
  Kolfage, an American hero who lost both legs and his right hand during a rocket attack in Iraq in 2004." Another sign that government run healthcare is not the solution and that government bureaucracy is the enemy.
• Gangs Kill People..."To hear gun control advocates speak, one would be led to believe that gun violence is a widespread problem whereby the mere existence of a gun is as much a problem as the person who intends to wield it. But the reality is that gun homicides are overwhelmingly tied to gang violence."  Some insight regarding all those gun violence statistics.
• Told Ya So..."The Emerald City may witness the economic dangers of hiking the minimum wage to $15/hour sooner rather than later. SeaTac, a suburb of Seattle, hiked the minimum wagefor certain service industry employees to $15 at the beginning of the year, and there are already signs that the sudden increase is having a negative impact."  There are consequences for actions no matter how stupid those actions may be...
• More Than Meets the Eye..."Each year, the visual research community gets together to celebrate illusions, or 'those perceptual experiences that do not match the physical reality.' The Neural Correlate Society recently released the top 10 best optical illusions created this year, and they’re a treat."  Who doesn't love optical illusions???
  

8th Inning.
FFL Factoid...Top 8 Questions Asked by FFLs on the ATF website.  #7:  How do I report theft or loss of firearms?

A theft or loss of firearms must be reported to your local police as well as to ATF within 48 hours after the discovery. Licensees should notify ATF on the 24-hour, 7 days a week toll free line at 1-888-930-9275 and by preparing and submitting ATF Form 3310.11, Federal Firearms Licensee Theft/Loss Report. Theft or losses of NFA firearms should also be reported to the National Firearms Act (NFA) Branch immediately upon discovery. The NFA Branch can be contacted at 1-304-616-4500 (18 U.S.C. 923(g)(6), 27 CFR 478.39a, and 479.141).

You should also log the applicable firearms out of the acquisition and disposition (A&D) record as “lost” or “stolen.” Include the date of incident as the disposition date, and include the ATF-issued incident number and the local police report number, if applicable.

9th Inning.
Baseball Video...Royals top ten highlights over the years...This week's entry--Brett's 3000 hit.  Funny thing is he ends up getting picked off of first immediately afterwards with his friends and family in the stands.  Oh well...