There is something to be said for that new President smell

 So, there's a new guy in the White House. He, of course, turns out to be an old guy who has been in DC for half a century. I'll give him a chance, and we'll see what he does. However, ignoring him altogether, I have to say I'm glad the previous resident is golfing more. He never did much for me, and I think he hurt a lot of my issues, more then he helped. 
We'll all wait and see, this could be a non-event or the beginning of something we'll come back to in ten years and point out as being the big pivot point.

I'm going to go make some soup.

Gun violence dropping, but citizens don't feel it is

So, since 1993 gun violence has dropped but only a very low minority believe the stat. Could it possibly be due to over exposure of gun crime by the mainstream media?


"Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49 percent lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation's population grew," according to the Pew study. "The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75 percent lower in 2011 than in 1993."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/07/181998015/rate-of-u-s-gun-violence-has-fallen-since-1993-study-says

Ukraine and the former Soviet States right now

This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it. - Tom Clancy  vis Admiral Painter, The Hunt for Red October

My prayers are with those poor Ukraine troops in Crimea. The next 24 hours are not going to be good for them, any way this plays out.

There are some simple secrets to happiness in this world,

and the dogs know what they are.
A blogger I read online* has lost a dear pet, one that was only with her for a too short time. Barkley was written about in her blog, weaved into her stories of work and life, recipes and range trips. He was an erstwhile shadow and thanks to Brigid's wonderful skills as a writer and willingness to open her life bare to her readers, I feel like I know a bit of her and her wonder dog, Barkley. He will be missed by a large online community of readers and as Brigid feels the pain and anguish of losing a loving companion, the rest of us will stand with her as she looks beyond today. Brigid, Thank you for sharing, thank you for being there for so many of us, hopefully we can return some of that goodwill now that you need it in return.



* I discovered Brigid's blog at a low point in my life; having quit a job I really enjoyed, and that paid better than any other job I have ever held, because of a terrible supervisor who was driving me over the edge.
I needed an outlet to blind me temporarily from my worries, something to distract me as I carried on a belabored job search for close to 7 months. Brigid, more so than any other blog I stumbled across**, through her poetry of writing and alliteration was able to sweep me off into her world for little peeks at her past and present. These were brief instances of joy and happiness as I slogged through my day-to-day search for meaningful employment and ever larger worries that I was going to run through my savings and no longer going to be able to make my mortgage payments, or keep my kids fed. She wove her stories well, and they frequently included Barkley, as good a dog as there ever was.
Now I have a good career again, having changed ships from IT server management to SAP software support. But, I still frequently lurk on Brigid's site, b/c she is still a great writer and can make me smile. Thankfully my Feedly app keeps me up to date on the go, as my new job requires me to rarely sit still. That's how I found out that Barkley, brave as he was, had passed. He is now out of pain and Brigid soldiers on, but as someone who has lost beloved animal companions, I know it isn't easy. The loss is real, otherwise the companionship wouldn't be real.

** Another thank you to Brigid is due as I think of it; she opened up an entire online community that I have taken to heart. These people who live around the country, some around the globe, have become part of the tapestry of my life. Reading their posts is far more fun for me than surfing the web randomly, and as I have never been one to much enjoy TV, they, in a way, keep me social. Other than my wife and kids I tend to never go out and do anything with anyone. No offense to them, I love my family and they are the width and breadth of my joy in this life, but a person craves friendship as well. My friends I made in school all reside back home in South Carolina, far from Central Ohio where I have hung my hat permanently and I don't make new friends easily.
I am a bit of an introvert after all (shocking for a server admin, I know).
Yet, that part of my brain that requires 'other' companionship can be fed virtually, I have found. It makes me a healthier person. I tried for a while to be an active member of them and to blog myself, but alas, I am no wordsmith and I lack the gumption to keep it up. I enjoy reading them still though, and keep telling myself...one of these days...when the stars align and they have one of their blog meets, I'm going to drive a few hours, stroll in and have a beer and a cheeseburger with these people who have added so much color to my life. One of these days...

Obiglatory EDC post; Whats in your pockets?

So, its cold, I'm tired of shoveling/driving in snow, and as I'm a little cabin feverish I thought I would keep my mind busy by showing random people whats in my pockets every day.
So, I'm pretty basic; as you can see I carry a slim bi-fold wallet by Wenger, my Zebra F-301 Bold which is an awesome roller ball pen, a cheap AA LED 3-mode high-lumen flashlight, my iPhone 4s in an OtterBox and my CRKT M16-10KZ folding knife. These are with me anytime I step out the house and I'm wearing pants. This has been my EDC for going on 5 years now, except that I switched from a Surefire to the cheap CREE b/c the el-cheap-o light has way higher lumen count and a strobe mode.
I own another cell phone, which is my 'personal' number (the iPhone was issued by work), but the fact that I didnt have it with me for this picture just goes to show its not an EDC. I have the voicemail for that phone tied into my Google account and I have a tendency to leave that cell at home more than I carry it.
I have a laptop bag that is usually within easy reach that has a duplicate flashlight and a little bitty Buck knife, an extra pen and micro first-aid kit with some bandaids and alcohol wipes, but since I dont walk around with that bag on my shoulder all the time, I don't consider it part of my EDC. Don't get me started on the "get home bag" in the trunk of my car b/c again, I dont consider that to be EDC and the contents of that bag changes based on the seasons of the year.

Notice no keys? Thats right, as soon as I get where I'm going the car fob comes out of my pocket and gets thrown on my desk at work, or dresser at home (I also hate walking around with coins in my pocket). During the winter the key fob stays in my outer coat pocket. We have an electronic lock at home, so I type a code to get in the house or garage.

What do carry every day?

OHIO House Bill 203 Status Unclear

So, here I was assuming that since we have a GOP house, a GOP Senate and a GOP Governor that HB203 and its needed CCW reforms would roll right on through to Ohio Law. However, it passed the House with flying colors back in November of 2013 and is now sitting unassigned to a committee in the Senate. In other words, its been pigeon holed. Some newspapers in Cleveland wrote op-eds claiming its a "stand your ground, kill the little kids law" (which isn't true) and now it looks like the Senate is going to stay away from it to avoid trouble in an election year that would see 1/3 of the Senate members up for re-election.
Great.

This law was supposed to:
1. Have all county sheriffs use the same application form
2. Make it easier for the Attorney General of Ohio to determine whether another state had reciprocity with Ohio's CCW laws.
3. Makes it simpler to prosecute anyone who lies on a CCW application.
4. Changes the training hours from 12 to 4. This is good since the 12 hour class I took was only 4 hours of information anyway. Making people sleepy doesn't abet learning.
5. Clearly states a number of things that CCW permit holders cannot do (citizens arrests, etc). The gun can only be used in lawful defense during legal activities. If you're a criminal breaking the law, you cant use self-defense as a defense in court for shooting someone whilst breaking the law.
6. Defines imminent danger.
##### THIS IS THE ONE THEY DONT LIKE #####
#7. You do not have a duty to retreat if you are anyplace you are legally allowed to be. Previously you had a duty to retreat if you werent in your home or car. Now the law corrects that problem, allowing you to defend yourself wherever you may be with your CCW, as long as you are legally allowed to be there.
This is not the same as the stand your ground law in Florida and certainly does not provide the legal defense shenanigans that the Florida law provides for. You can't chase someone down, you cant instigate the encounter, you cant insult, shout or be belligerent and THEN pull out your CCW.

This is a common sense piece of legislation and I hope the Senate takes it up soon.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_203

Recipes for the restive

I got nothing except a recipe from a friend of mine, Gus. I inspired him with my talk of good ol' Southern food on Friday and he went home this weekend and whipped up some tasty goodness. I got his in my email this morning. Enjoy.

Gus’ Super-Duper Crab Cakes with Crawfish Tails Instead of Crab

Degredients

1 lb crab meat, but instead of crab meat use crawfish tails

1 rib of celery (Wait, is a rib the whole thing or just one piece you pull off the clump? Just use

 one piece.), cut into itty-bitty pieces about this big

1 carrot, peeled and cut into itty-bitty pieces about this big

½ of a small onion, peeled and cut into itty-bitty pieces about this big

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup of toasted breadcrumbs (optional)

3 large eggs

½ tsp or so of lime zest (optional) (Ha! Yeah, no, this isn’t optional.)

To taste:  Salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestercestershire sauce

Destructions

Roughly chop the crab crawfish tails and set aside in a small bowl. Sauté celery, carrots, onion and garlic in some olive oil for a minute or two until soft.  Add to the shrimp crawfish. (Unless your cat ate it all out of the bowl when you weren’t paying attention; if so, go back to Wally World, buy some more, and start over again. Not that this happened to me or anything.)

Separate the eggs (by removing the yolks from the whites, not by placing the eggs in different locations around your house).  Stir the yolks in with the salmon crawfish mixture.  Beat the egg whites to soft peaks and then fold into the moose crawfish. [Editor’s note:  I’m not sure what the point of this step was.  As soon as you start folding, the egg whites begin to deflate.  When I make this recipe again I may omit this step and just stir the whole eggs into the crawfish mixture.  Use your best judgment.]  Season with salt, pepper, Worcestercestershire, lime zest and Old Bay. 

Decide whether you want to add breadcrumbs.  Without the breadcrumbs, the cakes taste great but they don’t hold together well during frying.  With the breadcrumbs, the cakes hold together better but they taste like, you know, they have breadcrumbs in them.  You have the power – you decide.

Form the whale crawfish cakes into patties and refrigerate for about half an hour to firm them up.  Heat some more olive oil in a pan and fry the patties until golden brown on both sides.  Sprinkle with lime juice, if desired.  These would probably also taste good with Hollandaise sauce except 1) I don’t know what Hollandaise sauce is, and 2) I didn’t have any.