fritz

rat, You are welcome at my place anytime. Bring the pheasant, cause we ain't got any here. We would not have to worry about food, what with all the hogs, etc. As to heat (yes it does get cold here ocassionally) we only need to fire up the fireplace. How are you at chopping wood? Hell, I have a chainsaw if I can get the damned thing started. Next project, as I fear a cold, expensive winter! Propane went up along with the gasoline. fritz

Could this maybe be a military vs civilian thing, rather than a man vs woman thing? Just a thought. The male nurses and the female nurses get along pretty good here. I had one fine male nurse and the rest of the female nurses were polite to me also. Maybe they fought like cats and dogs after they left the room, but I doubt it. fritz

I'm kinda old fashioned, and I believe I will just have a normal burial. Maybe the first (and last) normal thing I do. I remember an old farmer who died a few years ago, he had been on the death bed for some time and was ready. When the preacher asked him if he had any special words he wanted said over his body, he simply said "Give 'em hell, preacher!" He meant he wanted the congregration to be given a good sermon on life and death. Well, the preacher gave a very strong eulogy about the fellow, and there wasn't a dry eye in the church. But he was a real good fellow, and all the words were true. I doubt the preacher could say those things about me. But then, I doubt if he would even be inclined to. I only expect a decent burial. The most moving experience I ever had at the death of a friend occured about two years ago. The fellow died of cancer before he was real old. He was the type of fellow who could be your best friend, as long as you left him alone. He had a sign on his gate that read "Keep out! (except for friends)" Instead of a traditional service (he was cremated) his family held a gathering under tall oak trees in the yard. There was chairs spread out for everyone, and whoever wanted to could come forward and speak their piece. There was a brochure printed up and handed out that was titled "The life of Bob ---". On the brochure was a photo of him holding a Ruger revolver across his chest. He looked magnificent! And that is the way I will always remember him. fritz

Well, it's only $2.90 here, and it ain't stopping the recreation bound folks from heading to the coast with their big rigs/boat. Met a few on the way out of town today, heading to the coast for fishing and their usual dose of recreation. Nothing has changed yet. Not for the well-off folks. Maybe the poorer folks, but since so many folks make such good wages, $2.90 gas will not stop them from wasting it. Maybe $4 gas, I don't know. First the mind-set of the American consumer has to change. Then, and only then, will there be a conservation of energy in this country. Conservation--that's a word that is not in the dictionary of the folks that I see out there on the road every day. Maybe $4 gas will start the process, and $5 gas may just do the trick. fritz

Welding on is advisable. Here is one I did using a piece of old checkered buttplate material. I believe I got several out of that one buttplate--- fritz

The cheapest gas in Victoria this morning was $2.69. Most were $2.99, and there were a few $3.05. The newspaper is obviously slower in getting printed than the gas stations putting up new prices, as the news this morning said gas may reach $3 by this weekend. Hell, it's only wednesday! But saturday it'll be $3.10. We have to drive a lot more right now, what with having to go to the lab (a 50 mile trip) every morning. But mrz fritz has a 2004 Malibu that gets over 31 mpg. We traded last summer from a big Crown Vic to this one. I asked mrs fritz if the state was going to increase her mileage allowance, and she said that starting on the 1st she will get 40 cents a mile. The state always does things on the first of the month, especially september. There are a lot of state laws going into effect tomorrow, one is that everyone in Travis and Williamson counties (Austin area) will now have to pay $16 more to get an emmissions test on their vehicles at inspection time. Many will fail the test, and it will cost up to $500 to repair. The state has already promised to help financially with those who cannot afford it. That will include almost every single Mexican in the area! I can see our taxes going up again! One thing in the paper today mentioned that, in light of the gas price crises, the requirements for certain areas to have to sell special fuel may be eased. They could ease up a lot of other assinine requirements also, if they are going to save the economy of this country. It's time to make a decision on what is more important--save our economy, or save the damned spotted owls! fritz (on his knees)

Marvelweld was the rod, don't know if you can still get it. It came in 3/32" or less. Get a 5/64" if you can, that is what the instructions used to say that came with the Brownell's knob. That Lenard Brownell knob used to be good (some had trouble with voids), now I like the Dakota for the Mauser. There are others, more expensive, but for beginners I like to start with the lower end ones. fritz

I don't cook the stuff myself, but had a friend that was called on to judge some once. He told me he was sorry he ever got snookered into it. He already had a few beers in him, so I guess it was easy to enlist him. Needless to say, he had to have a few more beers during the judging. LBJ loved his Texas Red, and always had some for the news media when they came to his Texas ranch. Don't know if it was the real hot stuff, though. fritz

I guess there ain't much you can do to keep out a sex offender if the state sends them to your area. But there sure as hell is something you can do if the sex offender ever threatens your kid! But I'm sure most of us here already know that, and are prepared for it. But what about the rest of the people in these communities that do not have the ability to defend what is THEIRS? Can you still get a burdizzo? My dad used one many years ago on bull calves. The male hogs, we just cut with a razor blade. Either one would seem to be in order for the fellow in question. And maybe the legislator/judge that sent him to you! fritz

"cap pistols with a real tooled leather holster,but never no caps,a swimming and fishing hole down at the creek,bicycles built out of other junk bicycles" Damned, I remember one particular cap pistol that looked just like a Colt Peacemaker. It was even about the same size (as opposed to most cap pistols). It had ivory looking grips, and I had me one. Wish I still had it. But you know what, in some states that toy would be outlawed today because it looked too real! I also remember when there was a time that my parents were too pore that they could not afford to get me that "real tooled leather" holster. Guess what? My mother made me a holster and gunbelt out of cotton sacking! It was the heavy denim, unbleached, and man did it smell good. Better than cosmoline, which I did not know about at the time. And I wonder if my old friend remembers the fishing and swimming hole, 6 miles by bicycle. Better stop this post now, before I start crying and water down my brandy. fritz

You could hardly see for all the snow, Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set, "Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet." Depending on the channel you tuned, You got Rob and Laura or Ward and June. It felt so good. It felt so right. Life looked better in black and white. I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys, Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane. Father Knows Best, Patty Duke, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too, Donna Reed on Thursday night! -- Life looked better in black and white. I wanna go back to black and white. Everything always turned out right. Simple people, simple lives... Good guys always won the fights. Now nothing is the way it seems, In living color on the TV screen. Too many murders, too many fights, I wanna go back to black and white. In God they trusted, alone in bed, they slept, A promise made was a promise kept. They never cussed or broke their vows. They'd never make the network now. But if I could, I'd rather be In a TV town in '53. It felt so good. It felt so right. Life looked better in black and white. I'd trade all the channels on the satellite, If I could just turn back the clock tonight To when everybody knew wrong from right. Life was better in black and white! fritz

What the hell is a Wheel-O? fritz (62 years old, or young)

I still think they should have gone with German, lieber! fritz

Well, at the Victoria Home Depot, there is only one self-checkout. And manned (or womaned) by one person. Maybe this is a test program for them in this particular store. Whatever--the fact is that they did the majority of their business in the first two weeks of opening their "super store" in Victoria. After that, the people around here saw that their prices were no better than Lowe's or McCoy's. Lowe's and McCoy's did suceed in running one chain lumber yard out (the name does not come to me at the moment, but I bought a lot of materials for my house 9 years ago from them). McCoy's still leads the pack as far as contractors buying materials. Lowe's started out cheap, but then McCoy's matched or beat their prices. Home Depot is more for the homeowner, and cannot match the prices when it comes to contracting a house. Or for a farmer/rancher. They would have a hard time believing that a treated 2x6 board is going to be used on a corral. No such problem at McCoy's, and they have sent me 25% off certificates in appreciation of my business (tax exempt). With Texas having the highest sales tax in the nation, it is only proper that an eligible buyer take advantage of the Texas Food and Fibre act. And Perry and Klan was trying to increase that tax until his house of cards came falling down. He is next. Did you hear about the beating that Texas took under Land Commissioner (now Lt. Gov.) Dewhurst? He pursuaded the legislature to trade our public land natural gas for electricity from Reliant Energy (the company that owns the field where the Texans play). We lost a few million that was earmarked for the schools (as that is where public land royalties go). I do believe that Texas needs a total house cleaning in the next elections. I just remembered the name of the lumber yard that was run out of town--Sutherland's. fritz

While the cocking piece changeout is the simplest way to go, I have found some firing pins to just be too short with any cocking piece or sleeve. New firing pins are not the cheapest of the Mauser parts, but there comes a time for a new one every so often. Century sometimes runs a special on '98 parts, and while it is hard to make up their minimum order on parts alone, this might be a good time to buy a rifle and the shipping costs will be reasonable. I usually keep about a dozen cocking pieces and sleeves on hand. Also just stocked up on the stripped bolts at 5/$30. Some even had the collar and extractor on them. That's a good buy. But since you already have the bolt body shaped, try a new firing pin. fritz

Well, Mr. Lee's "free" Invision Plus service was just as sorry (or more so) as is the Invision Power service. And I was beginning to think I had made a mistake in blaming Mr. Lee (in my email) for this problem. I guess I had it pegged about the weekend thing though. fritz

Today at my local Home Depot, which I don't go to very often because it's too large and the prices ain't no better than smaller stores, I saw this Self Checkout counter. It was about the only one nearby, so I stopped at it. Seems you scan your merchandise, then a computer tells you how much you owe. You place the money in the provided slots, and you get a receipt and change through another slot. But they have a clerk standing there to keep you honest! I guess if they didn't you could just walk out of the store without paying. Is this stupid or not? If they are paying a clerk to stand there, where is the savings to the store? Is this the wave of the future, or just another stupid idea? I don't like the size of the store anyway. You have to walk like a block to get from one item to another on your list. They should provide shuttle service instead of this stupid Self Checkout. fritz

Karl, I'm not sure that some of these stupid governments are out to disarm you for fear that you may overthrow them. Some are doing it because they are just that--stupid. They are do-gooders. They want to "protect the children", etc, etc. They believe what they are doing is for the good of us all. While we agree that that is a stupid approach, they actually believe it. Because they are stupid. Now, countries like Cambodia (Pol Pot) were not stupid. They really were out to disarm for their own gain. And damned if they didn't do a job on the country. Anyone who has seen the movie "The Killing Fields" can attest to that. I doubt that Australia and some of the others have that fear. They are just stupid, and their do-gooder approach hurts more people than it helps. Where were the people that this hurts? They let this happen in THEIR country. They allowed it to happen. Not here, over my dead body, etc. fritz

I have to agree with the fact that our customer service (such as it is) will go down the drain if we lose residents of India etc. Just the other day, I called customer service at Dish Network asking about my satellite programing. I was talking to a girl that had a very limited knowledge of the English language. She also had a limited knowledge of the company's business, it seems. I was promised three months of free HBO, Showtime, and Starz (a $30 per month savings). She told me my free 3 months would end on 9-27-05. I told her that I wanted to cancel the movies before then. Guess what? I got a bill yesterday with the $30 added in. Not only do they not speak good English, they lie. But I guess they do that to keep their measely jobs. Honesty was never a requirement for a customer service employee. To the contrary. fritz

A Texas Panhandle rancher and his wife were bickering while vacationing in France. They were still hardly speaking to each other after being seated in a fancy French restaurant for dinner. When the waiter arrived the rancher said: "I'll have a big, thick porterhouse steak." The waiter replied: "Monsieur ... what about ze mad cow?" To which the rancher replied, "She'll have a salad." fritz

Emul8, I never tried buffaloe (damned, is it with the "e' or not?) but we had a neighbor who was a rich fellow because of his paintings try bufffalo ranching here. You need VERY strong fences and corrals to hold those beligerent animals. We have also had some who tried longhorn cattle. It didn't pan out, maybe because there was no market for the buffalo, or because he was no cowboy in the first place. He had the money, but not the experience. How about old man Turner and his herd of buffalo? Did he succeed in his buffalo herd? I heard he owned quite a spread out west. But he still went to sleep at the baseball games! Some people will try anything. It's the American way. fritz

I don't believe all recruiters go to church, and I don't believe that belief in the after-life is in decline. Especially in the Muslim countries. To the contrary. We Christians believe in the after-life, do we not? Why not do the Muslims? They do, now more than ever. And so do we Christians, or we would not keep pursuing this thing. fritz

Well, I don't think the so-called board of higher education has a leg to stand on either. The only reason that it got to this point is that he enlisted in the Marines while living in another state. But with Strayhorn (our next governor) and others intervening, he will win. He is a Texan. He was born about 30 miles from me. fritz

Just read an article in the paper about an Ex-Marine who has applied for admission to Austin Community College, and was told he did not qualify anymore as a Texas resident. He is therefor required to pay $2600 a semester compared to the $500 that is charged a Texas resident. He was asked for proof of his Texas residency, and he produced his Texas driver license, car registration papers, voter registration card, bank records, and even tax returns. Still he was refused as a Texas resident. Seems he had served two tours in Iraq, and the Board of Higher Education told him that it was his military service--he had been out of country for too long to still be considered a Texas resident. What the schitt? Is he supposed to be called an Iraqi resident? Comptroller Strayhorn and Rep. Suzanna Hupp (R-Lampasas) who represents scores of veterans serving at Fort Hood, has promised to intervene. Their message to the higher education board is that these people who have bullets flying over their head aren't treated properly when they get back. The former Marine corporal wants to work toward a degree in emergency medical care--a very needed profession. Hopefully the state government officials will be able to throw a little weight into this thing. fritz

Support the beef industry--run over a chicken! Or an emu, an ostrich, or anything that is supposed to taste like beef, but ain't! Beef--it's what's for dinner! I just had me a nice beef steak fresh off the grill tonight. Mrs fritz brought home a salad, and what more do you need? Emu? It's for the birds! fritz