.45 Colt Jigsaw Puzzle

You Need Small Fingers For This Stuff...

Wanna know what it takes to tie up a revolver completely?

Look at the tiny chip missing from one of the prongs on the cylinder bolt below:



That's all it takes!

Alas, that wasn't the only thing wrong with the wheelgun.

I also had to replace a broken spring on the cylinder hand. I didn't find out about the broken bolt until I got the revolver disassembled. I'm also ordering a wire bolt spring from Brownell's to replace the flat spring. It ought to make things a bit more reliable.

So, until the new parts arrive next week sometime, I've got a pile of pistol just sitting around.

Sure hope I remember how it all goes back together...

Poker Night!

We Need Morally Ambiguous Cocktail Waitresses. Apply Via Email!

It's time to throw some money away!!

Fortunately, there will be booze & cigars to ease the loss!

Driving By Smell

Holy Toledo! El Cap Posts Some Original Content!!

Here's something a little different...

Did you know that you can blindfold yourself, and navigate your way around Houston by your nose? It's true!

OK, you'd likely end up in a fiery wreck on the freeway, and contribute your unique aroma of roasting flesh to the plethora of Houston smells, but in theory, you could do it!

Here's a list I've compiled from my neck of the woods. I'm fortunate in that I don't often get over to the Ship Channel & the Refinery area or I'd have a few additional unsavory stenches to add to the list! Also, avoid Bacliff if you can. The whole place smells like unwashed ass, crystal meth fumes & despair...


(Click map to biggie-size!)

A) Norteño Pollo Asado Taco Truck - The aroma of grilling onions and chicken greets me every morning. The old bus looks like crap, but the smells coming out are divine!

B) Gorman's Cleaners - A large industrial dry cleaning and service uniform facility. When the wind's right, you get a good hit of steam and hot starch as you drive by.

C) House Of The Unholy - Can't really describe this one, other than to say as you're driving down Memorial Dr. past a bunch of mansions, somewhere in between 610 and Silber you get a huge waft of mold & mildew. My theory is that one of the stodgy old mausoleums has a bloodsucker in residence, a la The Vampire Lestat. I've also seen dead rats along that stretch of Memorial. Creepy...

D) The Bat Bridge - At Waugh Dr. & Allen Parkway, there's a bridge underpass that's home to 300,000 or so Mexican Free-tailed bats. I'm cool with the flappy things, 'cause they eat lots of mosquitos, but their guano just plain stanks!

E) Sunbeam/Rainbo Bread Bakery - God bless Louis-Camille Maillard for explaining the Maillard reaction, or why baking bread turns brown and smells so delicious!! You get the full effect in the morning as they're cranking out the loaves. If you get curious, you can drive down Center St. and watch them trundle carts of loaves from the bakery to the slicing/packaging building next door. In the afternoons, I think they bake pastries and cookies, it's definitely a sweeter aroma!

F) Maximus Coffee Roasting Plant - This used to be the old Maxwell House plant east of downtown. According to the Greater Houston Coffee Association, Houston is home to the only two decaffeination plants in the nation, so if you're fond of decaf, it's likely being made here. It's a great smell from afar, but up close it's a bit overpowering.

G) Taoist Temple - Don't know a lot about this one, other than it's a fantastically ornate temple east of downtown. Some days, you get a hefty hit of sandalwood incense as you drive by!

H) Leeland Bakery - Not sure what they make here, but it's bread-like and smells great!

I) HPD Headquarters - Some people claim that there's a distinct aroma of bacon emanating from the building. Personally, I find that the older I get, (and the less shenanigans I get myself into) the less & less I catch any odor of pork or pork products near any cop shop. In fact, when they're rousting the Occupy Houston slackers & hippies, it's like a breath of fresh air...

J) Tranquility Park - The home of the aforementioned Occupy Houston slackers & hippies, it's really starting to smell like patchouli oil & dirty socks.

So, that's my Tour De Smell of Houston. Feel free to contribute your own in the comments!

New Phone Arrived!

Fun & Games On The 3G Network

Amazon got the phone here two days earlier than I expected.

I haven't psyched myself up for this yet.

It's still charging the battery, so I haven't played with it yet.

I feel like I'm staring at a coiled rattler sitting here on my desk...

When did technology get so far ahead of me??

Legal Suppressor Hunting in TX?

Didn't Expect To See That!

In an astonishingly objective article in the Houston Barnacle, the use of sound suppressors aka 'silencers' is discussed in a rational, non-PSH manner.

Of course, it must be said that the Hunting/Outdoor staff of the Barnacle's sportswriters have long offset the pinkos, pantywaists and poseurs of the Features and Op/Ed sections. I'm just surprised it got past the editors and appeared prominently on the website, as opposed to being buried on the last page of the Sports section in print.

Naturally, the comments section is full of Nervous Nellies and non-hunting ignorami, but you can't have everything...

I Can Haz Smartphone??

This Won't End Well...

*Sigh*

Against my better judgement, I have finally upgraded my cellphone.

I've never really liked the things, though I will admit they come in handy in emergencies. That's why I was arm-twisted into getting one by my mother 8 years ago. In truth, it was her old Kyocera. She upgraded, and I starting carrying the thing around full time. (Aside from the umpteen thousand times I left it in the truck, thereby missing calls from many of you. Lo siento, compadres...)

Virgin Mobile has been steadily shutting down the services to the old phones, and this one was getting a bit wonky around the edges. Several keys needed repeated pressings to work and the display had dimmed to the point that even the brightest setting was looking dingy.

I'm deathly allergic (in the financial sense, anyway) to the 2 & 3 year contracts, and the $20 every 90 days VM charged made sense to someone who used his phone mostly for the occasional obscene text to friends during long boring meetings, and the annual call to AAA to come tow the truck into the shop.

All those $20 bills added up, though. I've got over $200 just sitting in the pay-as-you-go account, and it might as well feed a new phone.

So, $150 for this thing, and I'll spend $35 a month for unlimited text/data and have 200 minutes of talk time. I expect I'll end each month with about 189 minutes of talk time, so they'll come out ahead...

So, there it is. I'm now going to finally see what this Angry Birds thing is all about.

Wish me luck...

Resistance Is Futile!

More Tales From The Man's Domain

You Will Become One With The Bureaucratic Collective!

Ah, but the assimilation process is long and insidious...

I've been working for The Man for about 7.5 years now. It's the longest I've been with any single employer.

Up to this point, I've avoided drinking the Kool-Ade and joining the ranks of the proles, drones, Gammas, jobsworths, or whatever you choose to call the typical bureaucratic wage-slave.

I can see my resolve fraying around the edges, though. Case in point: I was informed that my phone was malfunctioning, and you couldn't leave messages. If I'm there to pick up the call, (and you'd be surprised how few of The Man's employees bother to catch a ringing phone) all is well & good.

I thought I was just having a slow week. I did report the issue. It just took me a couple of days to get around to it...

There's a function next week that I've been asked to attend. My presence isn't necessary, but it could be useful. I've got a conflicting appointment, a scheduled appointment with the doctor. Five years ago, I'd have already rescheduled the visit to the doc shop to free up my schedule. The 2012 version of me? Emailed my regrets and I'll be seeing the doc as planned.

So, it's not like I'm actively f#%&ing off, but I'm not giving it the same level of diligence that I did a few years back.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just getting older, is all...