I got out to the airport and picked Reese up this afternoon. It was his first unaccompanied flight, and he did really well. It’s good to see him again, the distance is tough. We grabbed some lunch and then went up to Homebrew Headquarters to pick up supplies for a forthcoming brew day. After that we headed back and spent a bunch of time playing on the Wii and hanging out. We’ll be going up to church and making the starter for the beer brewing tomorrow, provided work doesn’t interrupt too much tonight.
Author Archives: Pat
Kegged The Baltic Porter
The Baltic Porter is now in a keg, cooling down and carbonating. It looks like it’s going to be a tasty brew, or at least what was left in the sample jar after taking the final gravity reading seems to indicate that. By the numbers it’s weighing in at a little over 7% ABV with 27 IBUs. A couple more months of maturing and it’ll be ready to go. What to brew next? I’m thinking a barleywine…
Another C&R For The Collection
The UPS guy dropped off my latest C&R this afternoon: a Nagant M1895 revolver. It’s an interesting design in that the cylinder actually moves forward to create a gas seal not usually present in revolvers. Mine is from the Tula arsenal, and has the year 1944 stamped in it. I picked it up from J&G Sales.
Suppressor Paperwork Is On Its Way
It’s all out of my hands now. The paperwork and payment for the transfer taxes is making its way to the BATFE. It looks like processing times are in the neighborhood of 10 – 14 weeks, but there seems to be some pretty wide variability in that, and if Congress can’t keep the lights on it could get even longer. Now to get some barrels threaded and get ready for some fun…
North Texas Irish Fest
Heather and I took DART down to Fair Park to spend the day at the North Texas Irish Festival. It was a little chilly and very windy, but once we got indoors it was fine. The turnout was a little better than it had been in years past, which was nice to see.
I picked up another print from Jabberwocky Graphix, got some cranberry orange scones, and a new kilt belt. I also got to meet up with some of the local X Marks the Scot members and took some pictures there.
The five of us that made it to the meetup…
Upstairs Bathroom Renovations Are Done (For Now…)
The tile’s been put down and grouted and today Heather and I cleaned up the grout and fixed the toilet. It wasn’t too tough to get it all put back together, though there was some fun getting everything lined up right. I really hate working with those wax rings. We had to take the tank back off because the supplied foam washer/gasket was not up to the task. A quick trip to Home Depot and I had an extra-thick one in hand. No more leaks and I’ve got a working toilet upstairs again.
Oh and the tile looks great!
Suppressing The .22 And The AR
I’ve started the paperwork to bring a couple suppressors home.
The first one is a Silencerco Sparrow so that Reese won’t have to worry about hearing protection while we work on his basic marksmanship with .22 pistols and rifles. He had a rough time with earmuffs and eye protection last time we went out to the range, so this can only help.
The other one is a Gemtech TREK for my AR platform. That one’s not going to have as much sound reduction as the .22 will, but it will make it more manageable, especially for Reese. My goal is to get him moved up to the AR, provided he shows improvement with the .22s.
Ordered My Second Kilt
I placed the order for my second Kilt today. I’ve settled on the 5 yard traditional in Texas Bluebonnet tartan from USA Kilts. I’m not sure when it’s going to be in, but pictures will follow. They’re estimating 6 to 10 weeks, but for a hand made, traditional kilt, I’m ok with waiting. Maybe. The jonesing has definitely started!
The Eagle
Heather and I met a couple friends out at Harkins – Southlake to go see The Eagle. It’s a story of a son trying to redeem his father’s honor (not to mention Rome’s) by recovering the IX Legion’s lost standard. There are definitely some historical inaccuracies, and the plot was a little predictable in places, but it was still a lot of fun. It’d be nice to see some more historical dramas like this, instead of everything being set in Elizabethan or Victorian times…
Flogging Molly
I kilted up and made my way down to The House of Blues – Dallas to catch Flogging Molly again. I met up with a friend from work, but he had a ticket for standing room/floor and I had a seat up in the balcony area. The show was great, as I’ve come to expect, and while they played their classics, the new stuff was really good too. I’ll be picking that album up once it’s available.
The only down side to the night was that I lost my drivers license, probably while buying beers. I guess I’ll wait and see if anyone turns it in, otherwise I’ll have to brave the DMV to get a replacement.