6/24/13

Wow, so much stuff to talk about today!  First off, Saturday went just almost exactly as I outlined it the other day.  I picked up Larry in Fiona and we headed to John's house to get Fifi.  From there we went to the convention center to the gun show.  I paid the parking fee and we went inside.  We bought two-day tickets, saving a whole dollar, and went in to find the Russian.  We chatted with him for a bit after receiving our guns then went to an ammo sales booth and bought one box of birdshot to spit between us.  I swung by another booth to show off my gun because I'd spoken to this particular guy about Kushnapup conversions in the past.  We headed down to the truck and cased up the guns before pulling out to leave.  We got to Elk Castle by 0945 h or so.  There, we signed in and had our guns and ammo inspected and were allowed into the lane.  We only rented one lane because we weren’t planning to be there all that long.  I put up a target and sent it out to the far end of the line.  I loaded up all of my five-round magazines with all the buckshot I'd brought and took aim.  BOOM!  The thing fired and kicked my shoulder like crazy.  I first looked down range to see how the target fared, nine 0.33” holes splayed across his torso, and then I looked to see if the action had cycled.  It was in battery so I aimed again and pulled the trigger.  BOOM!  It kicked me again and produced nine more holes in the target.  I emptied that magazine and turned to Larry as I was inserting the second.  I had the dopiest grin on my face, I'm sure.  I fired all twenty of my buckshot ammo into my target and then pulled it in to assess the damage.  Oh yeah, he’s dead.  I put up another target for Larry as he was now ready to go with loaded magazines.  He ran through several rounds of buckshot then loaded up some of the birdshot.  I also loaded a pair of magazines with birdshot for my gun.  We put up a fresh target and I popped off ten rounds of the light stuff, my gun cycling flawlessly, and shredded the target.  Larry burned up his allotment of birdshot as well.  We both tried the other’s gun and found that neither of us liked the way the other’s handled.  For me the standard configuration AK is far too nose-heavy now and for Larry the Bullpup was just too weird.  Once we were done with all the ammo we’d brought, we cleaned up and left.  While talking to the range masters, one of them convinced Larry to try out a Kahr 9mm pistol.  He really liked it.  We took the now much lighter gun cases out to the truck and went to Northern Tool and Supply.  I showed Larry the 10” wheels I really want but then we rounded up four of the 12” units and headed to the counter to pay.  The girl asked if I wanted a can of “Agent Orange” hand cleaner they were hawking on their “impulse buy” rack and since we’re out at the shop, I said yes.  We took the wheels to the truck and rolled towards the shop.  As we were driving down Old Granbury Road, I remembered that Larry is as big a fan of Chicken Tikka Masala as I am and told him about the Maharaja Buffet.  He thought that sounded like a good idea for lunch as well.  We got to the shop and I went in to ask if we could change the tires.  She was hesitant but said it was ok if we hurried and didn’t spill anything.  I backed Fifi up to the trailer and contemplated hooking up for stability.  This I did not do.  I found the tool kit from Lil' Wiggly and the jack and got to work on the lug nuts.  They were all snug but not hell-of tight.  Before I jacked the car up, I released the tow straps.  To release the front strap required releasing the rear and shoving the car forward.  This was when we needed to be hooked up to Fifi.  As we shoved on the car, the trailer rocked as well.  It fell off the 4x4 block under the tongue jack.  Oops.  I got the straps loose and the jack under the side of the car.  I thought I might do it side to side but the car went up ass first instead.  I shrugged and did the rears.  When I took the first wheel off, I was surprised to see that the car already has the Cooper alloy rear brake drums!  This made me quite happy, I must say.  It made the rest of the chore much more tolerable.  The 12” tires are apparently a bit taller than the 10s because they just barely clear the front of the fender opening.  With both rears done, I moved on to the fronts.  I was not surprised to find teeny-tiny little drum brakes up there.  Disappointed, but not surprised.  I put the front wheels on and lowered the car back down off the jack.  They just kept going up into the wheel wells!  I was shocked to see how much they filled the opening.  These wheels will be for rolling around the shop and NOT driving since I'm not sure how much steering input will be possible.  I reattached the straps and hunkered down on them then we put away the tools and jack.  We washed our hands and headed to Maharaja.  We were seated and I noticed I was facing the two girls across the restaurant.  One was not bad, the other was fucking magnificent!  When Miss Not Bad got up to get more food at the buffet, Larry gawked at her.  I said, “Wait ‘til you see her friend!”  Lady Instawood got up just as I was ready to go back to the buffet myself for dessert.  She was not only gorgeous, she was tiny and petite and I just wanted to put her in my pocket.  I got back to the table and finished up my lunch all the while trying valiantly to NOT stare at the goddess across the room.  We paid, by which I mean Larry paid since I bought the time at the range, and headed out.  I sent John a text telling him about the Cooper alloy drums and to inform him that we were on our way back to his house.  We all chatted a bit in John's driveway then I dropped Larry at his house.  I went home and took a shower then a nap.  It was perhaps 1330 h when we swapped vehicles but I felt like it was 1800 h at least.  I was plumb wore out.  And with that, I'll call it a rant.  I'll tell y'all about Sunday’s trip to the gun show tomorrow.