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I have enjoyed a couple of shows. No commercials, able to watch them at my leisure, choosing particular topics to consider. There are few shows I have seen for which I have been tempted to spill coin. The only failure, so far, has been Hannibal. And I wouldn't really call it a failure. It simply what I had hoped, or wanted, or thought. It is a detailed show, without too much drama, based on ideas and ideals I contemplate. Not offensive, I know there are real monsters out there, and some of what they really do. I know the line between good and evil, and how tight it can be drawn. I had just hoped the lead character would have been more on the one side of the line, rather than a drifter.
The new series is Fringe. I haven't seen enough to know if this will turn out to my tastes. I have seen enough specific but random shows to have had my interest piqued. Five seasons. I would not have purchased it, but it was on sale for one third the usual price. Yes, that will get my attention on something of interest. While I was at it, I purchased a couple of knot-tying slide-cards. Plastic cards, solidly waterproof, on a brass rivet. One for general knots, one aimed at fishing. Yes, I continue to attempt to learn, and I do need distractions. Time, often, is all I have. That time is not always useful, due to health. As today.
Oh, and I am considering gearing up for fly fishing. A bit at a time. Something that has been on my mind for some long time. I researched rods, and found a reasonably priced, to me, kit. I am considering fly tying kits, though... some seem enormously, errantly, expensive. Other seem quite incomplete or of questionable quality. I don't know where to start there. I have reviewed youtube vids. My father was a fantastic fisherman, fly fisherman exclusively. I don't think he tied his own, due to a number of factors, though he may have. The problem is that we didn't live close enough to the rivers he fished to know what was being taken best, so being spot on was more difficult. And his job was demanding. Excuses? Perhaps. But the truth is, a man can only do so much. He did that, and more. It has been on my mind for years. Trout sashimi with salt and lemon or lime among other cooked and variously cooked dishes... such as ceviche, fishing itself, learning the skill, and enjoying the time out on a stream. It can be a quite expensive hobby, if tying flies might help cut the cost.
Lots of things to do, just no way to get to it, often. I may call my friend and cancel until next week. The weather isn't behaving, in any case. And I seem to need to rest through it. I prefer to have these events planned a bit better. But to plan, and fulfill the planning, I need to be doing better. I think I am getting there, or at least holding on. Yes, flat on my back, but not falling. I just need to figure out how to get back up. I've done it, partially, a few times. But those attempts sent me right back down, and quickly. Bleh. I'm working on it.
Oh, one other thing that has been on my mind. Fear not. If you are with people you know hold to Truth, God really, but more you do... don't worry. For good or ill, here, all things work to God's will. Don't just believe it, know it. Yes, we have our own plans, our own hopes, and many other things. The plans of men are as so much straw to a wind. Even death should not cause you undue worry, less so the possibilities of life. Hard, easy, often these things, as many others including fear, are just fictions in our mind, born of a doubtful heart. If nothing else, find a moment, and take your fears to God. Lift them to Him. Then listen. It might be answered right there. You already knew but would not hear, or it hits. Or, over time, you will see that path is exactly as it should be. Amen.
Yes, yes, I fear. I also, when I realize it, do exactly as I have prescribed, which was taught to me by another as well. It is a failing, but a very understandable one. It will, if you let it, drive you to misery, and perhaps great sin. Don't go there. I've been there. It is an empty place of death. Later.
Hm hm...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/2015/03/26/people_in_kazakhstan_keep_falling_asleep_for_days_and_nobody_can_figure_out_why/
Yeah, not quite. If any of them had the potential to be on the heart transplant list, no one would think twice about what is happening to them. Actually, I have had one of the head cardiologists have me follow him on a track, then check my vitals, to then believe my heart had greatly improved... to in his opinion the point that I should no longer need to be seen in his clinic... until the refraction ejection numbers came back, not only showing I hadn't improved almost at all, but keeping me clearly on the list o' the damned... of medicine anyway. Should have seen the look on his face when he was trying to relate the test results with what he had just seen. *delicious* It's just stamina that I lack, not instant on.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing very good for a dead guy, so that isn't my problem. There is a lot of given in there, I am oh so very ill. But within that given. Doctors, if they had their way, would shove enough medicine down my throat to cripple me, so that I would be like the rest of the mostly-dead. :p I won't let them, casting aspersion and psychic defecation (correctly, albeit, and quite accurately and precisely:) their way, while staying out of their surgical wards and limiting their attempts at medicinal castration, caging, deconstruction, call it what you will.
I suspect Russia is just experimenting, or it's slow fallout. The Russian government, no government actually, cares about human lives, at all. I don't even think it is power, fully. That is a toy to keep some people in the game, a fringe benefit really. It is chaos they seek, because their reasoning, which they have staunchly sought, doesn't work. Either they choose to enact chaos, or it is the result of their efforts to mandate reality. Absolute chaos or absolute order, but that isn't life.
ReplyDeleteIt's like going 0 to 60, or your desired velocity, instantly. They have no problems murdering people to either make that true, or force people to believe that is true. Which, it seems, means getting rid of anyone who can't believe the lies, or learn to see and lie without a thought.
These, however, are probably, if intentional, just deniable involuntary candidates for making a government love potion.
You might want to start by fishing for a while first, THEN see if you really want to tie flies. It can be really time consuming, frustrating at first to learn, and it is WAY more expensive than buying a few flies to feed the willows now and then. And - learning by observing - you can end up with a room full of stuff just for materials.
ReplyDeleteFly tying looks harmless enough, but beware. I personally would rather just fish.
serendipity!
ReplyDeleteOh, and right. I have been reviewing some things and am starting to come to that very conclusion. Distraction. Sort of like loading ammunition. An engineer's toy, toys really, but within some set of events, useful ones, not probably ever to end up saving money, and one can get lost in the endeavors themselves, losing track of the notion. Going deep can be right, or not.
Now, to a degree, hunting and shooting are just those as well. More easily, however, kept from taking over life. I have to think fly tying might be perfect for someone who loves to fish but can't. As with my father, save that his "business", as a minister, didn't allow that luxury of time, I think. Always on call, variable calls, and such. A way to do something about something they can't do, for those who have the luxury of set up and exclusive off-times, perhaps. Thing is, every place, and time, has different flies that are working. Keeping up on that is another complexity.
I do believe you are correct. I am set to order a fly rod and reel, and some fishing equipment, then get started with that. It's, honestly, just the fish I want. Thank you for the... deciding vote. Not a democracy, my mind that is. However, being slightly attuned to being slightly out of tune, sometimes there is room for other voices in my head. As it turned out, there was room for you. Well, and I think you are spot on. Danged womenfolk experts. *I'm no expert! Sure you are.* :)
"... fly tying might be perfect for someone who loves to fish but can't." So very true. It explains why so many guys have unused .375s and .458s. They fancy they would hunt dangerous game, but for myriad reasons never will. Nut they are prepared and can dream.
ReplyDeleteWomenfolk with practical experience with both ammunition and flies tend to have opinions. Reloading is nothing similar to making your own flies. Ammunition is different!
Oh, my! A woman with sensitivities... regarding ammunition, reloading? Now you, my dear, are a prize plum indeed! Still, I will debate that, just not to termination. You seem quite fixed and fearless and I have no need. *fluffs and runs* :)
ReplyDeleteAh, I have no big gun, but if I did, it would either be a .416 rigby or a 7.62x54r. Well, or a .338 laupua magnums, actually, as a first such rifle for a number of reasons. The latter of the former set isn't an elephant caliber, just an exotic caliber. And the terminal latter isn't typically a hunting round, but would do quite nicely in some situations. Plus, it's not difficult to find such a rifle with a 3-10 mag/mag well. Never liked the notion one shot, or even two. Not for some game. Not for any game which requires such a round.
Just woke. Blathering.
Yes, well a .418 Rugby or Taylor would be quite African, as would the more "European" 7.62x54. Fine for elephant or lion. The Laupua,perhaps might have a place not so much among simple quadrupeds than other dangerous game. Not bad choices among them for a heavy rifle. All more comfortable (only by comparison) than a .500 Nitro Express. But if you will only be fondling it while reading Peter Capstick tales, then what the heck.
ReplyDeleteMy "big gun" is a pedestrian .338 Win mag, but it is a tack driver, and does a fine job with a 250 gr A-frame. It has many scars from much carry and actual use.
Ammunition needs to do what you need it to do. Handloading is frequently the best way to get what you need for a precision tool.
Ah, one of "those". Yes, for what you are discussing, handloading is absolutely the only way. I am discussing, on my part, pistol target shooting (albeit with full, not target, loads). As for fondling? No, madame, I assure you. Should I spill coin into that sail it will not be in order to... fondle. Beside being realistically jealous of my own coin's usage, I am quite... practical. Death does that to a boy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a big gun does not have a single use. My true guess is such tools were weapons before they were ever hunting instruments. Only kings could afford the process and powder. As a warrior to a hunter? You are welcome.
Oh... a few knots... What, is a .418? The 7.62x54 is quite similar to the .308. While I don't know about load, my guess is they are rather similar from what I have heard. So, while those are respectable rounds, I wouldn't call them elephant calibers, the way I wouldn't call an epee a reasonable response to my bastard sword.
Oh, and a "humble" .338 is quite a nice round itself. I don't think there is much it would not take. Though, as with the 7.62x54 or .308, elephant hunting with it, to be successful, would require great precision, best at some distance, and probably, if wisely, with a well armed, practiced, guide or partner. Even water buffalo would be a challenge for those calibers. But bear, lion, other big cat, and the various green-eaters would be perfect fits.
Well... that's my story, and all imho.
Heh, .418 = typo for .416
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, of the old ivory hunters, John "Pondoro" Taylor favored things larger than a .350 in the area of a 450/400 Nitro Express (4 bore), or similar. On the other hand W.D.M. Karamojo Bell favored a 7X57 with well placed brain shots.
Of course back then bullets were very different, and loads often left a lot to be desired.
Placement still trumps raw power.
Yes firearms were no doubt the spawn of war. We had hunting weapons before we had real wars. Hunting weapons, could easily double for skirmishes of territorial defense, however. I expect the practicality traded back and forth.
As far as a .308, that fine cartridge has taken lots of game, and worked well in war before they pulled the fangs of warriors. Whatever falls around the ballistics of a .308 is a pretty efficient caliber, choose what you will.
Okay. I was just hoping the .418 was some exotic, as yet undiscovered caliber... the question was not a form or petulance. Discovery is a little joy of mine, especially on some topics. No matter how much one knows, there is... always more. And, I know only so much anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh, I have a .308. And, after I get going, and break her in, get her sighted, and such, I will begin handloading her food. But she isn't a true elephant gun. Still, with 30 rounds and my native and trained, it would work if need be, should I have studied the why's and wherefore's of a particular... objective. Perhaps even if not, should there be enough room to unload if necessary.
Hunting men (war), in truth, was a misnomer of hunting game (sweat of the brow), a corruption from a corruption, to be honest. Neither... were in the formula, if assured in either case. But to one who is a corruption itself, the notion can become a bit lost in the translation. Still, for my part, I am pleased to have seen and known the options before coming to the Truth.
As for which I would honestly prefer? As you said, shot placement first. Big guns have always bothered me, of the old school, in that of having one or two shots. The kick, in theory, though I can handle much, there is a yard too long in all things. I suppose, with the ranges of the old big guns, one shot was all that was reasonable. No followup shot was probably possible, or one at most, between kick and distance. Poor shots learned of Darwins theory? :p I think, for a big gun, the .375 H&H, from what I know, it probably what I would go with, even for elephants should I hunt such. The .500 express seems too... much. Compensation, ego, or fear, are the drivers for it. imho CZ makes a 5 round bolt. Yes, yes, I have been... looking... for some time. An Alaska move would... make that a part of my kit.
Those old school big game hunters played for keeps. Addicted, as I understand, to pain and adrenalin. Trying to see into the eyes of death, and live... or not. The red mists of some thoughts can never truly be sorted or known. This, too, I know. If from my own ways and methods. Bullfighting, by any other name, smells just as... sweet.