The Annunciation

Last week was the celebration of the Annunciation.  It kind of caught me by surprise.

I don't know much of anything about the liturgical calendar other than Christmas and vaguely where Easter is supposed to be.

The funny thing is that I had been having a premonition about it all the way on the lead up to it.

I kept on thinking about it, before I even knew that it was coming up.

I had never really thought about it before, and I am not sure where this thought entered my mind.   But I couldn't help myself.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to really understand the implications of the fact that Mary was fully human and completely within her will and agency to have said "No".

I had always taken it for granted that she said "Yes".  I know how the story goes, since before I can remember.  So much so that it normally just bores the heck out of me to even think about it.

But as I started thinking about it a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but focus on that so much.

All we really know is the story in the New Testament, so everything else that I was thinking about was just conjecture.

But I kept thinking about what that meant.  If she could say "No", then there was no absolute assurance that she would say "Yes".

So I imagined all the angels and saints in Heaven waiting with bated breath in eager anticipation for her answer.

And when she finally said "Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy Word" I imagined all of Heaven exploding with jubilation!!!!!!!

The kind of joy and happiness that only the Creator of joy and happiness can host!!!

This thought hijacked my mind so much leading up to the Annunciation that I was daydreaming at work, and so full of joyful happiness that I was practically crying at my desk!!!

Hahahahahaha!!!!  I bet my coworkers thought I was a freak!!!

Wrap up 25MAR17

Last weekend was the Signal Symposium.  18-19MAR17

Pretty fun, and the have started up the North Star Chapter of the Signal Regiment Association.

I am thinking of getting a lifetime membership but it costs $225.  I should probably do it soon though because I think the price will only go up.

Kim is dating a guy named Kevin now, and I hope they do really well.

I met with Lisa and she is really pushing me towards the collar.

I read at CL and they really liked it and said that I would be the designated reader from now on.

Wuollet

Not quite sure what to think.

Wuollet posted something complaining about Trump saying the "Riots is Sweden" thing that the whole media made fun of him for even though there actually were riots going on.

Her dad pointed out how bad things are getting in Sweden and she still just wanted to complain about Trump.

I don't understand what people are thinking when they would rather complain or virtue signal over sticking up for what is right.

I especially can't believe it when it comes from someone who has first hand experience and knows how horrible things are over there.

It is weird how fading memories and the desire to please can make even stalwart people fold to social pressure.

Current Towns of the Month

As of today - 12MAR17 the Towns of the Month that I am most interested in are:


La Crosse, Wisconsin

and

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Honorable mention - - - - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Big Day at DEED!!!

Today we had a Cultural Awareness speaker at DEED.

A Somali guy named Haji who was one of the founders of United Cloud.

He gave a pretty boilerplate explanation of saying that Muslims are basically just like Polish immigrants, and that Islam is pretty much just Catholicism and that anyone who says differently is just racist or spreading hate and fear.

I was so tempted so many times to speak up but I never did.

It is so weird because I know I could have, and I have many times in the past.

And I know that part of my reason for not speaking up was just that I still want to keep my job, and if I had told the truth today, there is a good chance that I would no longer have a job.

But more than anything, I just had a really horrible sense of despair.   I looked around the room at all the women I work with, and I looked at their faces.

I know that there are a few women in that room who were smart enough to look into things and think for themselves, but the vast majority of them really just wanted to believe what they were being told.  Not even for being dumb either.  Plenty of them are quite smart and mentally agile, but just don't want to have to think for themselves.

I feel bad because they have the best option already on the table, and most of them have either neglected it or completely abandoned it by choice.

They are like empty vessels just waiting to get filled up, and since they have turned away from truth and love, they are inevitably being filled with hate.

And not only that, but they seem to be excited about it too!!

4-5 MAR 17

This was a good weekend.  Unseasonable warm.  It was in the 40's and even got up to the low 60's.

I spent Saturday going to the gun range and I met a new guy named Richard.  Looks to be in his 50's and is a tall gentleman who seems a little too cultured to be hanging out with the normal gun range crew.

On the other hand, he was a big fan of Smith and Wessons and had a S&W M&P 9 Shield as well as a S&W 642 stainless snub nosed revolver.  He had just bought the snub nose and was doing an admirable job of sighting it in.  Slow shooting, but scoring very good hits and doing it consistently.

I shot the Glock 34 and the Walther PPQ22.  I did better with the 22, but overall I think I am improving.  I certainly need more practice, but I am making strides and having a lot of fun while I do it.

Sunday I went to the late Mass at the Cathedral and since it was the first Sunday of Lent, the place was packed to the gills.

The jeep is still running but making a lot of weird noises and taking a lot to get up to speed.

I posted on Facebook about the Expanse and got a lot of strong recommendations for that TV show.  Lots of people strongly recommended the books as well.

I have continued running every day and am at 5.3 mph.  My lower back is hurting but so far not too bad.  I have been able to control it with stretching and ice packs and ibuprofen.

Unfortunately it looks like Colt is going under again.  There are stories floating around of them doing big lay offs.  They just came out with a cool new revolver, the Colt Cobra, two months ago, but it is not for sale anywhere.

So far Lent is going well.  Reading and praying on a regular basis.   I have been consistently attending CL and we even had that special Mass in the Cathedral two weeks ago.  Two of the gals at CL are pregnant and are having trouble with their pregnancies.

I am really excited to get down to the cities and go shooting with Chad and his new 9E.

Ash Wednesday

Las weekend was pretty fun.

I went to Mass and Confession on Saturday.  I tried to go shooting at Firing Line but they were about to close, and they were really busy.   The nice girl there offered that if I was willing to wait 20 minutes that they might be able to get me in for 30 minutes (if she stayed late) but I said thanks but no.

Then on Sunday I went out to eat with Josh, Krystle, and Kim.

It was fun but kind of sad to see them again.  So much as changed.

Afterwards Josh and I went to the Pine City Technical College Annual Gun Show.   I got a ton of pictures and the best deal I found was a 31 round 9mm magazine for Glocks for $20.  Also I found a book about the Holodomor for only $2.

The weather has been incredible.   The last two weeks in February 2017 have been around 30-40 during the day and around 20 degrees at night.

It has been so nice.  My electric bill has still been really high since I have been using the radiator a lot more, but it is a decent trade off.

Regrets - Milo

This has been a week of media bombshells.

The media tried to seriously pummel Trump for saying that there are problems in Sweden.  Tons of jokes (someone had trouble putting together their IKEA).  And then Muslims rioted and people found out about the 1400% increase in rape in Sweden.  By the end of it, anyone with an ounce of compassion had to see Trump as making sense, and the media and their leftists useful idiots as cold hearted  monsters.

A guy called PewDiePie (one of the biggest names on YouTube) had a hit piece from the Wall street journal.  The media tried to destroy him for making jokes about nazis.  Really backfired on them and the very abuse itself has consolidated most of the online community against the media.

The saddest situation though was attacks on Milo.

Media oppo researchers finally unloaded everything they had against him by dredging up all the bad sexual things from his past that they overlook and even praise in every other situation.

It does look like they will burn Milo although it is not clear at this time how much, but it looks pretty bad.

SuperBowl 2017

Atlanta Falcons versus the New England Patriots.


The Patriots were down by a huge margin and ended up coming back and winning the game.

Booo.

Boooo.

Patriots suck.   Oh well, gotta give them credit - they really are the Lords of the (Superbowl) Rings.

Con of the North = Great Weekend!!!!

This was a pretty fun weekend!!!

A long weekend  for presidents day.

Saturday 18FEB17 I went down to Plymouth for the Con of the North.  That morning, Kim had called me and she was hanging out with Josh and Krystle and it almost sounded like she wanted to come to the Con with me.   Now of course that never actually happened, but it was neat to imagine for awhile.
The Con itself was a lot of fun.   I hung out with Chad, Scot, Aaron, and Kelly.   We also spent a lot of time with Swenny there and he was making plans for Gen Con in August.

Today was a weird crazy 60 degree day in February (19FEB17) so I went to the gun range, and it was packed.

I ended up talking to that one old guy quite a bit and I found out his name is Tim.  He is the guy who shoots hand cannons (10mm's and .44 magnums) He constantly smokes cigars and works as a range safety during the summer.

Now I am watching videos about getting my FFL and taking classes with SDI to get a gunsmithing AA degree.

I have tomorrow off too, and then back to work.

Most Influential Firearms

Plastic Winchester 73 lever action

Smith and Wesson 686

Julious's bolt action 22lr

Molly, my Basic Training M16

Remington 870

PT92 and XD45

Gun Reviews (Lucky Gunner)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dhgS_trU0c


http://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/the-handgun-test/

Yankee Marshall

MOS 97B

Counterintelligence Agent

Counterintelligence Agent (97B)

Intelligence and Combat Support Army MOS Information

• Enlisted
• Active Duty
• Army Reserve

Having access to the correct information is absolutely necessary to plan for our national defense. Intelligence specialists, such as the Counterintelligence Agent, are integral to providing Army personnel with information about enemy forces and potential battle areas. Intelligence specialists use aerial photographs, electronic monitoring and human observation in order to gather and study information that's required to design defense plans and tactics.
The Counterintelligence Agent is primarily responsible for supervising and conducting counterintelligence surveys and investigations of individuals, organizations, installations and activities in order to detect, assess and counter threats to national security. Some of your duties as a Counterintelligence Agent may include:

• Studying aerial photographs of foreign ships, bases and missile sites
• Studying foreign troop movements and codes
• Operating sensitive radios to intercept foreign military communications
• Conducting security investigations
• Processing counterintelligence evidence
• Preparing and distributing counterintelligence reports of Force Protection information to all relevant parties
• Performing counterintelligence support to anti-terrorism operations
• Consolidating intelligence data
• Conducting liaison operations
• Maintaining counterintelligence files and databases

Training:
Job training for a Counterintelligence Agent consists of nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and nine to 24 weeks of Advanced Individual Training and on-the-job instruction, including practice in intelligence gathering. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Planning aerial and satellite observations
• Preparing maps and charts
• Analyzing aerial photographs
• Preparing intelligence reports
• Using computer systems

Helpful Skills:
Helpful attributes include:

• An interest in reading maps and charts
• An interest in gathering information and studying its meaning
• An ability to organize information
• An ability to think and write clearly

Advanced Responsibilities:
As an advanced level Counterintelligence Agent, you may also be involved in:

• Conducting liaisons with foreign agencies
• Planning and conducting counterintelligence investigations
• Applying fundamentals of military and civil law
• Detecting, neutralizing and exploiting counterintelligence targets
• Conducting overt collection and non-technical operations and surveillance
• Conducting counterespionage investigations and operations 

Weekend update - WIND GAMES

Pretty good weekend.

This is the Superbowl weekend.  Atlanta Falcons versus the New England Patriots.

I was going to go down and watch it with Chad, but I decided to stay home since my jeep is still unreliable.

I did get the oil changed, the tire fixed and the remote entry fixed, so that is good.  Still haven't found the time or the money to get the Heater Core replaced and the brakes changes.

I did Saturday Mass and spoke with Father Tim.  I think Katie from work was singing in the choir.

Today I went shooting.

I shot 45acp's today including my Springfield XD and my Taurus 24/7 G2 Compact.

My marksmanship is just horrible!!!!

Last weekend with all the 9mm's I was hitting pretty bad and I had the targets out at the second layer of braces.

So this weekend I moved the target to the first - closest layer, and I was still hitting low and not having tight groups at all.

I did better with the Walther PPQ22, but it makes sense that practice and a closer target would yield better results.

I need to keep practicing as much as I can.

That is going to be hard though since next weekend is Drill and the weekend after is the Con of the North.

I might have to spring for some indoor range time.

My run is doing ok.  I have been doing longer slower runs, and I think I am making progress on getting used to long runs, and conditioning my body.  I need to make it a regular habit though to reap the best results.

I am totally off diet though, and my weight shows it.  I am fluctuating between 219-223 pounds.  Mot good.



Also - - - - I found this new thing called Wind Games.

This has captured my imagination and I have been thinking about it all weekend.  It is so cool, and the kind of thing that it almost seems like modern society takes for granted, but any other point of human history would have considered an expression of God!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70OfBaxWwo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qlzQBryT9A

The Weird Disease of Leftism

One of the strangest things that I have noticed is how strongly the Left rejects the libertarian scale of government.

Let me explain.

Normally the Left is full of hate and casts themselves as the only decent, good people and the Right or any freedom loving people as the worst type of monsters.   Since they draw such huge (and largely imaginary) differences, they have to see anyone else as the "other".

They have to portray them as being as different as possible.

Now even as a kid I noticed that there were some layers of overlap.  Some are just tactical (in a democracy people often work together to get bills passed).

But some seemed to be items of genuine agreement.

When this happens, the Left always downplays it and pretends like it is one of the few times that monsters come close to behaving like humans.

But I couldn't help but notice that this seemed weird, and that the agreement indicated a point where they were both on the same political location.

It was never on something that there was only ONE option.  So if there were other options and these "two" sides agreed, then they are occupying the same place.

It seemed that there must be a different scale that took into consideration this location as well as the others that could potentially be believed.

It wasn't until I started reading about libertarianism that I started becoming familiar with a different scale.

This one was based on a percentage.

The percentage of private society that was controlled by the government.

The easiest way to imagine it is to see Communists at 100%.

Anarchists at 0%.

Nazis and Fascists at 60-80%

and Democrats and Republicans at 40-60%.

Once you look at this scale and understand what it means, then it becomes obvious that libertarians generally tend to be anywhere from about 10-15% all the way down to 0%.

Now once I found this and understood it, it was immediately intuitive, and I was really surprised that it isn't taught in schools.

This really was an easy way to conceptualize what the Founding Fathers were trying to do with the Constitution.

They knew that as Government's share of the pie grew larger, that tyranny and suffering were certain to follow.

Now the funny thing with that was - most Leftists instinctively ignore this percentage way of looking at it.  

It's not even like they deny it, they just change the subject, or start shouting insults.

The other - even MORE funny thing about it - is that when this comes up, this is the only time that they ever hold themselves close to "right-wing" people or Republicans.

Milo At Berkeley

Last night Milo's event at Berkeley ended in massive amounts of violence assaults and arson.  Milo had to be evacuated.

I ended up posting a ton of stuff online and getting in a long argument with Anthony Noon but it ended pretty well.

Yesterday I visited Lisa and went to CL.

I told Lisa about the big Turn Down with Kim last weekend and I think it really impressed Lisa quite a bit.

CL was pretty good and I talked about how the weirdest thing about overcoming sin was how anti-climatic it is.  How it feels like you are offered to go to a great party, but choose to stay at home doing homework instead.

I explained how even if you know that you are doing what is right, that it feels like you are missing out on something.

How it sucks, but you have to do it because you know it is right, and slowly and surely you get better at it.

Sort of like cardio.

Drill Phone Book

I need to go around and talk to every section and find out how many phones they need.

30JAN17 Roundup

Mondays suck.

But this one wasn't too bad.  It is over 32 degrees in January in Minnesota.

That is pretty nice.

Trump fired the acting Attorney General.  An Obama appointee who was refusing to do her job.  Of course leftist heads are popping.

I can't go on social media for more than a few minutes at a time without breaking into fits of laughter!!

Chad is really interested in his new toy and going around getting everything he needs for it.   I will probably try to go down next weekend to have fun.

I am interested in starting reloading.  Dan K on facebook and Kevin R both highly recommend Dillion presses.  I need to look into those to find out how much I need to save up.

Strange Saturday

It is not even noon yet, and the day has already taken some strange twists and turns.

I turned down a date with a girl today knowing full well that it will probably be the last opportunity I get.  It really is strange when you want something so much, but you know that it is the wrong choice.  It is hard to pull the trigger on that, and afterwards I am just faced with self doubt and sadness.

Oh well, the bumpy road of life.

And now, my brother actually asked me for book recommendations to learn about liberty.  This is AMAZING!!!

He has been a hardcore Leftist since before I even knew what any of that meant.

I ended up recommending Anatomy of the State since it is sort of my go-to.

Wow, if I would have had the opportunity to think about that beforehand, I think I would have agonized so much!!!

I think Anatomy of the State is going to be too much for him, and he will cast it aside and call me a bad person and double down on his groupthink, but who knows, I might be wrong and I can never give up trying.

Now off to the gun range, and then confession and Mass!!!

Lets see what else this day has in store!!

Important Considerations to keep in mind

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2016/03/01/the-us-secret-service-training-guide-for-spotting-concealed-weapons/