The Wandering Minstrel

We’re in a little hotel in California’s high desert tonight. We took a scenic drive today and when we got back to the room, I fired up the barbecue on the patio to grill a couple of tenderloin steaks.

Suddenly, I started hearing the barking of a small dog. To my wonderment, a black and tan miniature pinscher (cute li’l sucker, no less) was on the roof of our cottage barking at me - ME - a dog-loving person. I actually took no offense from it and snapped a photo.

I later found out this was Bela, a pet belonging to some other guests in another cottage in the hotel. Theirs is on the second floor and this cute li’l pup gets on the balcony on their suite and can step onto the roof of the single-story units - and often does. The owner/guests are extended-stay types working at a nearby military facility.

We picked this hotel because they are dog-friendly and ours is here with us. Actually, I recommend this place - it’s clean, all suites, out-of-the-way, has a rustic old desert west feel and other than canine rooftop attacks is quiet. Click the link to see what I mean.

By the way, the steaks and salad were terrific. Our dog, “Bear” got the leftover scraps. Had “Bela” been around after dinner, I would have offered her a treat, too.

Clickable image.

Now that the Obamination has taken over General Motors, the GM management is embracing the sort of horseshit near and dear to the left. As a consequence, their sales have fallen off dramatically in spite of the Obamination’s attacks on Toyota. GM’s latest entry into the auto sales fray is a two-person electric piece of shit - not unlike the Segway®

“We were the S.U.V. company, and we accept that,” said Larry Burns, vice president for research and development and strategic planning at G.M. at the time. “We want to become the U.S.V. company — known for ultra-small vehicles.”

U.S.V., also known as “Un-Safe Vehicles.” Imagine a collision between the POS above and the SUV below. Which one would you like to be in?

Reportedly, the SUV market is playing a big part of Ford’s success. Their SUV and truck sales have topped new vehicle sales across the board, with Ford’s F-150 trucks leading the way.

Automotive Sales:

On Tuesday, the Ford Motor Company announced that its sales rose by 43 percent in February, enabling the automaker to outsell General Motors and become the best-selling carmaker in America for the month, but not by a lot.

Ford sold 334 vehicles more than G.M. Ford’s Mercury brand sells roughly that many vehicles every day. In 2009, General Motors outsold ford every month by an average of approximately 33,000 vehicles.

G.M.’s sales also increased, 12 percent from the same month in 2009, and 32 percent for the four auto brands G.M. is holding on to: Cadillac, Chevy, Buick, and GMC. Nevertheless, it dropped behind Ford, which announced a 54-percent increase in the sales of passenger vehicles.

Thus far in 2010, Ford’s sales are up by 34 percent, compared to only 13 percent for General Motors.

Via Planet Gore

I’m a couple of days late on posting Ramirez’ cartoon that says it all about Congress’ and the Obamination’s latest fuck-up . . .

. . . and I challenge you to do as the cartoon asks - name a government program that is not losing money.

Via Barking Moonbat.

We’re on a little sight-seeing trip for a couple of days. The Better Half snapped this photo of a late-sixties or early-seventies VW Bus with doo-dads reminiscent of the hip-generation. I have to agree with Eric Cartman when he says “Goddamn stinkin’ hippies - I hate ‘em!” Clickable image . . .

Using deception, thuggery, backroom deals and coercion, Chicago-style politics have foisted yet another Obamination upon American taxpayers. Revolting, isn’t it?

Remember this in November . . .

The Better Half just got her copy of NRA’s First Freedom magazine in the mail. One of the feature articles in the magazine was about Para USA, formerly of Canada and currently of Charlotte, NC. In the article the new award-winning Para Tactical Target Rifle is discussed along with some eye-candy photos.

The Better Half likes this rifle. She already has a Para Warthog (Miss Piggy) and likes that gun too. We’ll put this on the list of small caliber rifles to consider AFTER we move to Arizona, since, as described below, the rifle can not be approved in Kalifornistan.

Para’s Specs on the rifle:

Tactical Target Rifle™ (TTR™) Specifications:

Model Names (Product Codes):
TTR – Aluminum Partial Rail Forearm (TTR-XAS)
TTR – Aluminum Full Rail Forearm (TTR-XA)
Caliber: 5.56 NATO (.223)
Barrel: 16.5 inches chrome lined
Twist: 1 in 9 inches, right-hand
Action: Semi-automatic, DIGS™ (Delayed Impingement Gas System)
Bolt: Rotating lock
Sights: Front sight adjustable for elevation, rear sight adjustable for windage
Receiver: Flat topped with full length Picatinny Rail
Trigger: Single-stage
Magazine: 30-round capacity
Stocks: RDS™ (Rapid Deployment Stock) 5-position folding stock
Overall Length: RDS open and fully extended: 36.25 inches, RDS open and telescoped in: 33.25 inches, RDS folded: 26.50 inches
Height: Bottom of pistol grip to top of sights – 9.125 inches
Weight: 7.4 - 7.8 pounds (depending on model)
Finish: Black
Safety: Trigger blocking selector
Add’l Features: Field strips with no tools, multiple sling mount points
MSRPs: TTR – Aluminum Partial Rail Forearm (TTR-XAS) - $2,397
TTR – Aluminum Full Rail Forearm (TTR-XA) - $2,397

While at the Elite Sports Express event yesterday, I took this shot of a classic Li’l Deuce Coupe parked next to the display. The Better Half got a closer shot of what’s under the hood (click link to view). Clickable image above.

This is the Elite Sports Express “rolling” showroom that is visiting the Field Time Sports and Guns store in Westminster, CA. Having only learned about the scheduled appearance of the express yesterday, we changed our plans and drove out there this morning.

Inside the express, we saw a lot of rifles and pistols on display along with a variety of accessories. They had several video monitors showing demos and shooting.

From the Elite Sports Express website:

Elite Sports Express is a “rolling” showroom on wheels and is coming to an outdoor sporting goods store near you! We carry a complete display of Remington, Leupold Optics, Springfield Armory, Winchester, Ruger, just to name a few, as well as many other lines.

The Express travels to dealer stores and is an excellent drawing attraction that will entice shooting, hunting and all outdoor enthusiasts to stop, walk through and check out the products. It is a manufacturers exhibit at a dealer store.

We also went inside Field Time Sports and Guns store and had a look around. On a scale of Cabella’s being equal to 10, Field Time is at about 7 or 8. Not a bad way to spend a Friday morning, it was worth the twenty-some miles each way to visit.

The Better Half took the clickable image above.