12/22/14

Well, I’m back from vacation… and plenty grumpy about it I might add.  Wow, like I said on the 3^rd, so much has happened since we last “spoke” I’m not really sure where to begin.  So, since I have to go to a meeting right quick, I just won’t worry about it for a little bit.  Ok, six hours later we try to pick up where we left off.  As mentioned in the last installment, Gregg had called to say he needed to sell his Saiga 12, and I wanted to buy it.  I went to mom for a loan.  I started off by telling her about how the “Idiot in Chief” banned the importation of these guns back in July and that with no more coming into the country, its value can only go up.  It is an investment!  Pshyeah, right!  Anyhoo, she cut me a cheque which I cashed so I could meet Gregg at Cabela’s after work on the 5^th.  He wasn’t up to meeting me what with chemo and other cancer stuff up-fucking his body and stuff.  So I went home with $900.00 in my wallet.  Friday the 5^th I decided that it was time for new contact lenses since I should have thrown out the ones in my eyes on the first of December.  With that in mind, I went to the optometrist… or ophthalmologist, whichever Dr. Luck is, for a new set.  I got the cute little Indian doctor, or at least I assume she’s cute because I couldn’t see her for shit without my lenses.  Anyhoo, that ate up two of the Franklins in my wallet.  Once I was done with that, I think mom and I had lunch together then I took my SKS to the gunsmith in Bowie again to have what he calls a “Neck and Throat Job” done.  I’ll try to ‘splain that in a few words.  SKSs suffer from tight/short chambers and sometimes can overpressure the round popping the primer.  Murray’s Gunworks Neck and Throat Job reams out the chamber a tiny bit allowing the gun to eat whatever ammo Juan chooses to feed it… apparently.  It is the final thing my SKS needed to be “perfect.”  I drove to Bowie and had it done.  It took longer to type the sentence than it did to do the job… much less make the drive!  That ate another Benjamin.  I called Gregg as I was leaving Bowie to ask if he wanted to meet that afternoon but he was still too sickly.  I said I understood and went home.  Saturday the 6^th John and I did more dismantling to the Chickenhawk.  I don’t recall what all we did to it, but it got even more stripped.  Sunday afternoon I sent Gregg a text asking if he felt up to having visitors saying something to the effect of, “The Franklin sextuplets in my wallet are trying to get away and I’m having trouble denying them.  He agreed to let me come all the way to his house to buy the Saiga.  He’s generous that way!  I bought the gun and went back home.  Since the rest of the conversion parts had arrived Friday, I took the gun to the shop Monday and did the conversion.  I was jealous as hell of John working for Patrick at the shop and it really started getting under my skin thinking that I would have to come back to THIS job in two weeks.  Feh!  I don’t think I did anything with the Chickenhawk that day.  Tuesday the 9^th I think was the day I took the paperwork to the DMV to get the title for Scooby Two.  I’m glad I didn’t try to mail it in because I needed one more piece of paper saying that “Christina Hood” and “Christina Andrijeski” were the same person.  I texted Tina and told her about it and pointed out that, in a totally non-stalker way, I knew where she lives since her address was on the other paperwork.  She agreed to allow me to come to her for the signature one evening.  Eventually that happened and further eventually I went back to the DMV and got the title!  Now I just have to get THAT signed and I can go to the courthouse and have it transferred.  I’m so close!  Once I had the title in hand, I called GEICO and had the car added to my insurance.  Then I went hand had the tires installed.  I was going to get the title transferred but it was in between paydays so I was broke.  I did drive the car around the neighborhood and up to the freeway… then onto the freeway!  If Juan is not in a hurry, the thing is a hoot to drive.  John and I installed a set of fender mirrors and a pinstripe down the side and I think we might be just about finished with that car.  I also spent a few days doing stuff with/for mom, I think, and many days hanging out at the shop with John ostensibly working on the Chickenhawk.  I built a skate thingy to put under the car so we could remove the suspension… and put it under the car and removed the suspension.  One of the other things I did to/with the Chickenhawk was install a filler neck.   See, on Saturday the 13th, John, Patrick, and I went to an airplane scrapyard for a swap meet sort of thing where I found a fuel filler neck thingy like the one on the Seven and a cool double switch which I may or may not use.  The thinking behind the switch was it could power the park lights in a left-only, right-only, or all-on sort of way… sort of thing.  It doesn’t really match the other switches in the control box so I might have a $5.00 albatross to put on top of the fridge with the rest of the albatrii I have collected.  Well, since I just passed a page break, and I’m about to crap my pants, I think I’ll call this a rant.  Have a day.