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- February 25, 2022
- Pistol Patent Day 2022
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I pack a well-maintained .357 magnum by Ruger called the Security Six.
It was manufactured back in the 1970s I believe and I inherited it from my late father.
It presently has the original walnut grips installed, but I have a pair of pretty pearl grips I sometimes interchange with those on occasions such as qualification for my concealed weapons permit.
They really do give the piece quite the dressy formal look during cap popping time.
I made it a point to become practiced at head shots and when I qualified for my CWP this became quite evident as I consistently aimed for and mostly struck the head area of the target ...
Out of 100 shots I missed twice according to the instructor.
I'm not a threatening type of individual. I prefer that 'live and let live' mentality I have pursued for a number of years now.
There was a time when I would be agressive and instigate hostilities; but that was THEN and this is NOW.
Today is Pistol Patent Day.
It is observed each February 25 annually to mark the anniversary of Samuel Colt's first pistol patent in 1835. This first patent was for a revolver, similar to the pistol I routinely carry.
Modern sidearms are a good means of protection for those of us who take them seriously enough to learn how to handle them.
I don't do a lot of joking about guns and shooting people anymore. It used to be a source of humor but I suppose I'm just too old nowadays.
I find it better to attempt peaceful coexistence rather than wanting to draw down on somebody.
Perhaps I grow more civilized each day.
Regardless, happy Pistol Patent Day to you.
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- February 24, 2022
- National Toast Day 2022
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The last Thursday in February brings us National Toast Day. So this being February 24th and the last Thursday in February voila here we are ...
Toast is bread 2.0.
It's shades and textures coupled with the varieties of bread with which it may be made provide for pretty much endless possibilities.
I am a fan of toasted triangles of marble rye or even pumpernickel with a dollop of cream cheese and maybe some lox myself; but I don't hesitate to indulge other varieties and combinations as well like French toast with butter and honey.
Bread and toast being the same thing you should be carb aware if your condition warrants it.
I think that toasting can turn any slice of bread lighter from a standpoint of digestion.
Toast is tasty. Toast is versitile. Toast is that spin on bread which adds to the experience and meal with which it is served.
Happy national toast day to you !
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- February 23, 2022
- Inconvenience Yourself Day 2022
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I know people who are quick to whine about inconvenience and make it a point to make it an item of contention in various matters. "Don't inconvenience me" has been a complaint I've experienced now and then.
This has caused my behaviors to evolve such that I don't do business with some with whom I had long standing business relationships and this too has damaged those relationships beyond repair. I expect to be inconvenienced from time to time. It's simply a facet of living and interacting and as such I make accommodations where appropriate.
Still, the others among me want more. Sometimes far more than I'm willing to surrender ...
Inconvenience Yourself Day is celebrated on the fourth Wednesday in February. This places it on February 23rd this year. It is an observance dedicated to placing others before yourself.
I personally think it is an exercise in self awareness more than anything else.
So think outside of that box which is your personal space and pay attention to the things going on around you and perhaps lend a hand even though you may not have really wanted to be bothered.
In this way we will experience less disconnect with our cohabitive humans and perhaps engage a little personal growth — not to mention consideration of others for a change.
Happy Inconvenience Yourself Day.
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- February 22, 2022
- Be Humble Day 2022
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Humility has never been my strong suit. I don't consider braggadocio to be my problem either — but the perception of others seems to be all that matters in this regard.
I thought Pope John Paul II was one of the greatest examples of humility to ever exist. His death brought on my personal schism with the Catholic church because those popes who came after not only don't set good examples, they are downright contrary to both teachings and levitical law and entirely too carnally permissive otherwise.
It's amazing how others take you and sometimes it's not even close to how you think you are.
In the big picture I doubt that it matters, either. I just strive not to be too overbearing and I never toot my own horn anymore.
I likewise avoid arrogance when I can but I have a lot of trouble squelching assertiveness. It's too ingrained, I think. I try to avoid feeling overly significant and seek unpretentiousness.
Also, I don't pursue a lot in the way of company either.
Humble people sometimes endear themselves to me. Other times they repulse me as the sniveling individuals I sometimes think they are. Regardless, I view the concept of humility in a person as admirable in these, my latter years.
A modest view of one's self permits others to bloom and grow around you.
Today is Be Humble Day. Celebrated each February 22nd it is an attempt to permit people to come together regardless of their orientation to others in general.
While it is said that humility is a virtue most difficult to attain, I say it is sometimes overdone to the detriment of the whole.
So get on out there and try not to be too pushy for a change !
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- February 21, 2022
- Presidents Day 2022
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President's Day is here again. It's one of those official holidays that have always been around. It corresponds to the birthday of George Washington since 1879 as far as official federal holidays go. The third Monday in February. This year it falls on February 21st.
I think the primary focus is being off from work and sales and shopping.
The day usually features Washington and some other president. Most often it's Lincoln. Other times including Jefferson. Personally, I don't really envision the day as one of honor so much as contention as it comes in February and anything that comes in February simply doesn't mean anything to me anymore.
That goes for Valentines day too. Ruined by the self aggrandizement of a fairly worthless subset of the population who think we all need to toot their unskilled do nothing horn for them.
Happy Presidents Day anyway.
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- February 20, 2022
- Clean out your Bookcase Day 2022
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This is February 20th. It is designated as Clean Out Your Bookcase Day.
I cannot determine the origin of the day. I suppose some bibliophile got a wild hair and just declared it enough til it stuck.
Anyway, I am the proud owner of a single six foot cherry finish book case I've had a long time which I intend to give a good cleaning in the immediate future.
I store books, a few personal items, and my collection of marine animal glass sculpture my Mama gave me back in her cruise days.In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle:
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
Gomer Pyle
portrayed by Jim Neighbors
I have been known to take everything out, dust it off, wipe down the shelves really well, then replace everything to it's place periodically.
The glass statuary ususally gets a good soapy soak in a plastic wash basin padded with a towel.
I just didn't know that there were people out there who have an entire day set aside for it all.
Happy Clean out your Bookcase Day to you !
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- February 19, 2022
- Iwo Jima Day 2022
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My late friend Dewitt was a marine. He told me that "once a marine always a marine" and he said there was no such thing as a "former marine". I suffered long and hard throughout his interest in the Marine Corps League — and let me tell you he was gung ho and eat up with it.
He had a fine old colorized 16x20 print of the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. It appeared to be rotogravure or some manner of spectacular gravure process print in a frame under glass. I think it was one of the many treasures he obtained from various yard sales he was known to frequent. It hung upon the inside of his bedroom on the door and is something we regarded and admired and discussed pretty much at each and every opportunity.
This is February 19 and that is Iwo Jima Day marking the anniversary of the 5 week or so battle between American and Japanese forces which was perfectly horrible as far as military engagements go.
Thousands of combatants lost there lives with the United States emerging victorious in light of the terrible viciousness of this battle.
This day is in tribute to our lost soldiers, remembering their victory, and rejoicing for our nation as a whole.
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- February 18, 2022
- National Battery Day 2022
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I go through a lot of batteries. I maintain a good supply of AAA, AA, C, D and 9 volt batteries with a couple of of various cell configurations for the various things I use that require them. Additionally, I have acquired a few AAAA batteries purchased in error. In particular I like a flashlight handy with a fresh set of D batteries installed.
I use batteries as a manner of convenience and to accessorize myself with various technology I utilize. I would have to say that my cell phone and two main flashlights are the biggest need I have personally.
Batteries are containers comprised of one or more chemical cells which are manufactured such that the chemical energy they contain is converted into electricity for use as a source of power. We refer to such chemical to electrical conversion as "battery power" and it makes a lot of the new era gadgets operate for us ... particularly those cell phones so many of us have become fanatical about.
Today is National Battery Day. It goes down each February 18th. I suppose it's a function of everything and everyone wanting their own "day" as it were.
Without batteries we would be slaves to the electric socket to engage technology by and large. Thus, batteries give us the ability to be portable without permanent attachment to some less than mobile power source.
They really are a marvel even with their explosions and other mishaps and misadventures likely due to how they are treated during operation.
My only qualm with batteries have to do with recycling them as my local jurisdiction can't even handle anything "battery" in the recycle and so I am forced to place spent batteries in the trash.
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- February 17, 2022
- A Year without Rush Limbaugh
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It's been a year since Rush Limbaugh died at the age of 70 from the sequela of lung cancer. He had been a long time smoker and February 17, 2021 will always be a sad day for me personally.
Others have stepped into the conservative movement to try to fill the huge gap in support and commentary he left and we mark this day in his honor.
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- February 17, 2022
- Random Acts of Kindness Day 2022
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One of those days I like to note is Random Acts of Kindness Day. It is ostensibly set aside for those nice things we may do for one another in the name of benevolence that indicates a propensity for courtesy, favor, grace, indulgence, and mercy.
Once upon a time I was a gruff redneck ruffian with little in the way of kindness in my soul. Over the years I have calmed down somewhat and with all that water under the bridge I've seen a lot that was previously unknown to me.
The acquisition of technical information and skills over time changed my direction. After several mistakes along the way I at least attempt to take other people into consideration prior to going off the deep end anymore.
This has caused me to take pause before acting and that in itself has resulted in the kinder, gentler Dave of the present.
Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty
It's become a recurring theme in my life. I continually attempt to live up to the notion. Many times I fail miserably. Other times I rise to the occasion. Regardless, I try to keep it as a tenet in my life.
I used to see art contests for school children touting random acts of kindness. I can recall being touched by a number of them given the child like innocence of the drawings coupled with the very adult admonition that kindess and beauty are importent elements of the world today.
Random Acts of Kindness Day is that day to celebrate and encourage random acts of kindness. The day is observed February 17 in the US. It is also celebrated on other days elsewhere.
See Also:
Random Acts of Kindness Day
Random Acts of Kindness Day 2018
World Kindness Day 2018
World Kindness Day 2019
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- February 16, 2022
- Remembering Margaux Hemingway on her birthday
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The birthday of Margaux Hemingway brings back those long past memories of pining for her early in my career.
Margaux Louise Hemingway was born Margot Louise Hemingway on February 16, 1954.
She became an American fashion model and actress then a supermodel appearing on the covers of those fashion magazines of her era.
All this became moot July 1, 1996 when she passed from apparent suicide at aged 42 in Santa Monica, California.
We were close in age and those things you want don't always materialize. Matters of the heart are particularly fickle in a big world of disparate environments and circumstances.
She was interred near my childhood home at Blackfoot Idaho in a town called Ketchum.
That turmoil in her later years due to highly publicized episodes of addiction and depression prior to her suicide by an overdose of phenobarbital made me think that aspects of her life were left unfulfilled and likely of a relationship causality; but of course I would grasp for anything in my meager sphere containing the "what ifs" and "if onlys" of personal desire.
Though in my experience the reality has always been one thing, "personal wishes" another despite the entire notion being quite irrelevant from the beginning to boot — the thought of her still gives me intermittent and brief wistful pause to this day.
I recall the news of her death and that I thought it was a waste of what should have been a wonderful idylic life.
So much for my personal fantasies during those earlier times of life long gone by.
Shucks.
See Also:
Pining for Margaux Hemingway
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- February 15, 2022
- The Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013
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I'm one of those paranormal enthusiasts ... though I freely admit to be totally nonpracticing from an investigatory standpoint.
One of those television programs I enjoy is Paranormal Caught on Camera which discusses various clips of paranormal and extraterrestrial incidents caught internationally.
They had a clip about the February 15, 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia and injured some 1500 people, blew out windows, shook buildings, and shook up everybody otherwise.
This unexpected event happened mere hours before the anticipated closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid known as 2012 DA14.
The various clips included from concurrent camera feeds were shocking from a human standpoint and the damage to people and places was stupendous for such a brief event.
This particular piece was scary from the standpoint of empathy and the fact that it could have happened to me. I personally feel that Russia has a lot more of these ocurrences due to the size of the country more than anything else.
Reports of the Chelyabinsk meteor classified it as a small asteriod around the size of a 6 story building which then broke up over the city of Chelyabinsk in a blast said to be stronger than an nuclear explosion.
It triggered detections from monitoring equipment as far away as Antarctica.
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- February 14, 2022
- Valentine's Day 2022
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While originally a religious observance and feast of the various Christian martyrs called Saint Valentine across the ages, the holiday has become a secular observance for sweethearts around the world.
With all the trappings of that cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love all over. Likely it's all the result of commercial interests in the greeting card and chocolate industry.
Be all of this as it may, Valentine's Day aka Saint Valentine's Day aka Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14th.
It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, through later folk traditions, has become a significant .
Saint Valentine's Day is not a "public" holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church but remains widely observed and celebrated by sweethearts everywhere.
Personally, I'm crazy about Denise.
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- February 13, 2022
- Kim Jong-nam assassinated in 2017
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I'm afraid I haven't been a fan of the nepot regime ruling North Korea. "Dear Leader" as it was simply strikes me as a despot who seized control and made it a family legacy without anything remotely resembling any initial inherited title or legacy of service warranting such control. This leaves the rest of his family without anything remotely qualifying beyond strong arm tactics, intimidation of a nation, and murder.
Sorry, but anyone who could in good conscience execute his uncle with an antiaircraft weapon simply for being bored and falling asleep absolutely cannot be an individual of sound or moral character.
Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. He was born May 10, 1971 and was heir apparent to the cult of personality ruling North Korea from about 1994 until 2001.
It is believed that he fell from favor due to perceived embarrassment of the regime in 2001 when he attempted to visit Tokyo Disneyland with forged passport credentials.
He said his loss of favour had been due to advocating reforms.
Exiled from North Korea around 2003 he became the occasional critic of the family regime such that his younger paternal half-brother, Kim Jong-un, was named heir apparent in September 2010.
His accommodations and lifestyle were quite modest after his fall from grace in the regime.
Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in Malaysia on February 13, 2017 with the nerve agent VX which is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound of thiophosphonate compounds developed for military use in chemical warfare as a spinoff of pesticide research.
He was said to be returning to Pyongyang.
The attack was allegedly on the orders of his half-brother, Kim Jong-un and those delivering the agent believed they were part of a television attack according to their accounts of the incident after arrest.
He was allegedly outed by The Wall Street Journal on June 10, 2019 as a CIA source according to US officials which is quite par for the treacherous course.
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