fritz

There was a letter to the editor in this morning's paper entitled, "Honor Lee's 200th Birthday". It brought out some things I did not know about Mr. Lee. One was the fact that Lee applied for an amnesty after the war, but it was never granted. It was rumored to have been purposely lost by a spiteful northern war veteran worker. It turned up in the archives in 1970, and in 1975 President Ford signed legislation posthumously restoring US citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee at Arlington. Part of that resolution reads, "As a soldier, General Lee left his mark on military strategy. As a man, he stood as the symbol of valor and of duty. As an educator, he appealed to reason and learning to achieve understanding and to build a stronger nation". fritz

" I expect the Democratic congress to reinstate the draft and to some how make Bush and the Republicans the scapegoat. " Would you care to make a small wager on that? I don't see the draft being reinstated, however it's a given that the Democrats will try to make Bush the scapegoat for a lot of stuff. It's called politics. fritz

"With that logic, Did the Colonies have the right to fire on the flag of Britian? " And what about the right of the oppressed people in what is now Texas, if they had not fired that first shot at Gonzales would we all be speaking spanish here now? Bad question---we are well on the way to doing that right now. At least the cannon shot delayed the process by about 173 years! It was just a small cannon, but cannons speak louder than words! fritz

jerry, I had a 1952 Ford, my first car at 16 years of age. My father bought it for me. He could see the flaws in it, but being the hyper kid I was, he bought it for me. It didn't take long for me to realize that my father was right, it was not a good car. But being a teenager I would never admit it. I plowed more money (both mine and my father's) into that piece of schitt untill it quit running on one of the busiest intersections in Houston. That did it. I bought a VW. They were good cars, those beetles. But that old Ford still held some fond memories for me and mrs fritz. It was the car I had when we were dating (and that's all I got to say about that!) fritz

Tomorrow is the birthday of Robert E. Lee, born on that date in 1807. I wonder if there will be marches (or even if the government will allow their employees the day off, as for Doctor King?) I think not, because we have somehow forgotten the actions of Americans in long ago struggles for freedom, in favor of those who are more "popular" today. And what a quandry it would be to honor both men on the same day. I guess, after all, there are only so many days in the calendar year to be set aside as holidays. Let us, for damned sure, not set as many holidays as football bowl games! You have to draw a line somewhere! Edit---God bless the State of Texas (I'm sorry for all I have said about you), because they are giving state employees the day off tomorrow. That is good, now mrs fritz can accompany me to the ear specialist and do the talking for me, as I am still deaf. fritz

Well, as a self-employed farmer (a gentleman too) I do not have to worry about a tax refund. I do not have the income of those who, each year, appear to be salivating for that "refund". Just who in hell says they have a refund coming before filing? Oh, I'm sorry but I should know by now that everybody gets a refund! It's a part of American culture. Like the old commercial by the Western Company of North America---"If you don't have an oil well, get one!" Well, I'm still waiting for my well to come in. And I ain't drooling over no tax refund either. Guess that makes fritz a dull boy. Whatever. fritz

DT, I used penicillin for a week, and the cortisone was empty in 5 days. Still had penicillin left, but found out (the hard way) that I was allergic to it. So no antibiotics until I see the ENT on friday, which was the appointed day to go back. mrs fritz was supposed to call him today and give him the update. You should see the pretty "tattoos" all over my chest, back, and legs. If it weren't so damned cold I could go hunting without a shirt and still be camoflaged. But it don't itch yet, and I believe I can make it until friday to start plan B. I thought for sure that sometime in my 63 years that I had taken penicillin without a reaction---I was wrong. fritz

Today is Martin Luther King Day, and there are going to be marches held all over the country. It would take a real die-hard believer (or a fool) to march here today. We have been having rain for several days and now the temp is dropping into the upper 20s tonight. Look for ice on the roads, with sleet and very cold winds. Makes me cold just thinking about it, and thinking about the cows exposed to the elements for another 2 days at least. No, I don't need to go marching today. My ear infections still have not cleared and I cannot hear worth a damned. That and running a fever. The only times I go outside are to put out more hay. A question for the medicos here---what do you do when penicillin and cortisone don't work? I have been taking them for a week and no help yet. fritz

Kinda puts recruiters in the same light as used car dealers, eh? I have a cousin that once was a recruiter in the Air Force, he didn't stay at it very long. Maybe he wasn't that good of a liar, or he saw the errors of his ways. Anyway, he later became the mayor of College Station after serving on the city council for years. I like to think that he was always interested in helping others. But a recruiter? fritz

swamprat That sounds about right, what an Aggie scientist would conclude. I had to show one of them the fireants eating on my corn plants before Texas A&M soil scientists would believe that fireants do indeed eat corn roots. Right after that amazing discovery, they put out a bulletin on fireants in corn! fritz

Yes, there is always someone out there who will get his cartridges mixed up. I have had .308 Win shells jammed in a 25/06 chamber (scary), then same fellow brings his .270 Win rifle and complains of poor accuracy (he was shooting 25/06 in it). Now a fellow brings his Marlin tube fed .22 model 60 with a tube jam. The guy had put a .17 HRM shell down the tube, and it hung up tight at the bottom of the tube. At least it didn't make its way to the chamber. There is enough difference in the rim diameter of the Hornady round that will clog the tube at the bottom. While this was an easy one to fix, I shutter to see what some fool will bring me next. fritz

And I just got a gift certificate to Home Depot for Christmas! fritz

I love it! fritz

I've said it before, we should have used all of that Mideast oil we could years ago when it was cheap. And left our reserves until the time that the overseas oil became a problem. Now, we are being forced to use our reserves and hope to God that they will be enough. In the meantime we have pumped too much of our own oil, because this country refuses to cut back on it's squandering of a cheap oil from wherever they can get it. Well, the days of cheap oil are over, and ethanol is only a stop-gap measure. It has already driven up the price of livestock feed. Look for your food to go up next. fritz

Yeah, I have been hearing quite a bit about global warming. Seems the last few summers here in Texas have been rather hot. But this is TEXAS, after all. If you average it out it ain't no worse than the drought of the 50's. It's a cycle. It's el Nino. At least that is my short-term view. Yes, the climate is changing. But the weather goes in cycles, and right now we are in an el Nino. Bless that little fellow, he brought us the first good rainfall in two years--I had 3 inches last week. My ponds are full and I don't need no anti-freeze in my tractors. If this is really a climate warming, I guess the snowbirds will not have to leave Michigan for South Texas in years to come. I can see the tourist business down here going to schitt. I will also miss a few good friends from up there. Maybe it's my turn to visit them (and escape from the excessive temperatures of Texas, kinda a reverse snowbird thing). fritz

"Since we don't want to withdraw from the Iraq and strategically targeting Shiites would be considered a civil war, what is the solution to this mess?" Maybe another Vietnam retreat? fritz

Fortress fritz

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -A woman watching New Year's Eve fireworks from a picnic table found out that her bra can do more than lift and support: It also slowed a falling bullet. The .45-caliber bullet struck Debbie Bingham, 46, after someone fired a gun into the air about 20 minutes before midnight. She still needed stitches, but the wound might have been much worse except for the bra strap, police spokesman George Kajtsa said. Bingham, who was in town from Atlanta, said she is thankful for the undergarment, which she said was "very cheap." "I'd love to have a couple more of those bras," she said. Bingham said she was listening to music and enjoying the fireworks with her daughter and son when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Then Solanda Bingham, 30, noticed blood seeping through her mother's white shirt, and they found the bullet lodged halfway into the gold-colored bra. The other half was barely breaking the skin, Bingham told WTSP-TV. Kajtsa described the wound as a "big scratch with bruising." St. Petersburg police were searching for the shooter to determine if the shooting was intentional, Kajtsa said. fritz

"FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A giant wild hog boasted to be bigger than the near-mythical "Hogzilla" caught in southern Georgia a few years ago has been killed in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood. The hog hung snout down from a tree Friday in William Coursey's front yard, not far from where the avid hunter said he shot the beast. He said he hauled it to a truck weight station, which recorded the hairy hog at 1,100 pounds. The Department of Natural Resources did not know whether the hog was a record for the state. "We don't keep records on hogs," said Melissa Cummings of the DNR's public affairs department. But Coursey believes his behemoth surpasses the famed super swine shot and killed in 2004 that weighed in at half a ton on the farm's scales. A team of National Geographic experts later confirmed "Hogzilla" didn't quite live up to the 1,000-pound, 12-foot hype, saying the beast was probably 71/2 to 8 feet long, and weighed about 800 pounds. "Nobody keeps official records," said Daryl Kirby, an editor with Georgia Outdoor News. "But it's one heck of a hog." fritz

Tony, I softened the wax with some of the drops mrs fritz's doc gave her for a popped eardrum. It happened the night after we got home from my appointment. I don't know why the doc didn't give me any, maybe something about family practioner not wanting to be accused of treating a patient wrong before referring him. I had a kidney stone once, and being pretty darned sure that is what it was, went right to a urologist. He seemed puzzled as to why I wasn't referred. I told him I was cutting out the middle man (and I did, but there was still one more specialist down the line---the kidney specialist). A very wise fellow, he fixed me up without any surgery. mrs fritz will not require surgery for the eardrum, just antibiotics and time. Today, after one day of softening (instead of three as could have been) I had my ENT appointment. He sucked the wax out with a mini-Hoover attached to a scope. I loved the sound of it. But then the real problem was discovered---fluid behind both eardrums, infection in both. I have some hearing back, but won't have the rest until the infection is gone. Included in the appointment was a hearing test, and I'm going to need hearing aids by summer. After that comes new eyeglass in order to pass my driver's test this fall. It's a real blast growing old---but what's the alternative? fritz

I know a lot of us have a somewhat dimished hearing. It comes with all the years we have been shooting (sometimes without ear protectors). But right now I am totally deaf, probably only temporary and I see a ENT specialist tomorrow. The family doc said that ear wax has gotten so impacted that she prefers to let a specialist remove it. If that were the only problem, it wouldn't be so bad as the fact that a severe cold brought this on, and has now decided to hang around. Right now I just want to get a slight bit of hearing back. As to eyesight, hell that went down the tube years ago. I used to have eyes so sharp that I could tell the slightest movement several hundred yards away from a deer blind. Come to think of it, I could hear the deer moving within 100 yards. Thank God for "closed captioning" on the TV, but for the football games it wasn't necessary. A touchdown is a touchdown. PS: By eyesight and hearing loss, I refer to partial loss and not total loss of either. fritz

Jerry, At least you didn't "shoot your eye out". Seems I have had my hand pinched with a Daisy slide action once. And I probably pulled the trigger on a lever rifle before it was closed, but never shot my eye out. fritz

"It looks like the case is hanging in the chamber. Maybe hit it with Kroil first?" Yep, that's what I did and it chambered and extracted smoothly afterwards. I need to get one of those chamber brushes for a semiauto. I found a pack of 4" long acetone alcohol swabs in the first-aid kit. They had a flexible plastic stem and a large cotton tip soaked with alcohol. I could bend them just enough to get into the chamber with the bolt locked back. But a brush would be better for major fouling. fritz

I would like to say Merry Christmas to all of you, and thank you for all the help you have given me again this year. Let's hope that the new year will be easy on us, with a bit more peace in the world (and a bit more rain down here in S. Texas). The forcast does call for rain later today and tomorrow. Then I'll be headed to Austin for a Christmas with the kids. As to those long boxes under the tree, I hope you receive them. I'm afraid my wife and my son have figured out that I don't need another one, but there is an over/under 12 guage at Academy that I have hinted at. The best to all, fritz

I believe the problem was a dirty chamber. Semis are notorious for requiring clean chambers (except the AKs). I cleaned the bore, and the chamber as well as I could (this being a semi-auto) and the first shots worked fine. He was using Remington factory loads, and after cleaning it works with his ammo. I'll try it tomorrow with some other ammo, and if it works he will just have to admit he didn't clean it well enough. Ain't that the case in too many guns being returned to gunsmiths? At least I ain't going to charge him $50 for cleaning it. I read the book I have on dissambly/reassembly on the 742, and it says that this is a difficult rifle to take apart. Even minor extractor or ejector replacement requires the complete dissasembly. I would definitely need help if I had to do that. Thanks, fritz