Interviewed for career day

I just got a call from a 14 year old kid in Michigan that wanted to know a bunch of things about being an “explosives specialist”. The most memorable questions were:



  • Q: What is most important about your career? A: Safety. Being very, very detail oriented and being careful.

  • Q: What do you like most about your career? A: Making people happy and changing the way people think about gun and explosives.

I also told him that if he was serious about explosives as a career he should consider something other than doing Boomershoot type events. He should look into demolition, mining, and certain specialties in the military. I should have mentioned road construction but I didn’t think of it until after we had said goodbye.

Quote of the day–Nate Murray

We are shooting what I wanted to from the beginning,…. a pilot for a new show on the outdoor channel. The show would be called “Gun Nuts”, or ‘Tactical TV”.


Nate Murray
Sound Theory Productions
April 20, 2009
[There was a change of plan on the filming for the TV show at Boomershoot 2009. Instead of filming for the Western Extreme/Adventures Abroad TV shows it’s going to be a pilot for a new show. The pressure is on!–Joe]

Private party

As I reported yesterday due to a failure in communications one of the Boomershoot spectators showed up a week early on Saturday night. I felt so bad about it that we put on a private party for them. They got the full Boomershoot experience. From helping fold the boxes for the targets (a staff t-shirt will be delivered within a week or two), seeing the targets made, shooting boomers, seeing an awesome fireball (Caleb was some distance away and thought it had enveloped us) and even helping to put out a fire.


Son-in-law Caleb and daughter Kim starting the box folding. We ended up with about 65 crates of empty boxes.


Our guest after hitting her first boomer.


Notice there is still a smile as she prepares to engage the next one.


The second boomer in the early stages of earth movement. Notice the dirt moving outward?


Our shooter was 25 yards from the boomers. Almost Entertainingly Close.


Due to some technical difficulties I shot the fireball target and there was no one on the camera.
This is want it looked like about 15 seconds after detonation. Notice the flames to the far left.


After about 15 minutes of fire fighting. We were very glad it was near the creek and we had buckets to move water with.
Click to see a higher resolution version.

Quote of the day–Judge O’Scannlain

We therefore conclude that the right to keep and bear arms is “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Colonial revolutionaries, the Founders, and a host of commentators and lawmakers living during the first one hundred years of the Republic all insisted on the fundamental nature of the right. It has long been regarded as the “true palladium of liberty.” Colonists relied on it to assert and to win their independence, and the victorious Union sought to prevent a recalcitrant South from abridging it less than a century later. The crucial role this deeply rooted right has played in our birth and history compels us to recognize that it is indeed fundamental, that it is necessary to the Anglo-American conception of ordered liberty that we have inherited. We are therefore persuaded that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment and applies it against the states and local governments.


Judge O’Scannlain
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Nordyke case
April 20, 2009
[As Dave Hardy said, “This has got to hurt.” Let’s keep them hurting too. No quarter!–Joe]

New Shooting Range?

The last few times I drove north to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho I noticed a sign on hwy 95 touting a shooting range.  This last time I noted the name and the location; Moses Mtn Shooting Range near mile post 391, just outside of Plummer.  Can’t find anything on the interwebs so I’ll just have to drive up there to check it out.


We sure need more shooting ranges around here.  A nice big, 500 or 1,000 yard rifle range would be sweet.

Quote of the day–Maj. John Pitcairn

Disperse, you rebels — Damn you, throw down your arms and disperse!


Maj. John Pitcairn
Lexington, Massachusetts
April 19, 1775
[When distant rulers attempt to seize the arms of todays free people will it rate a turning point in history or just an incident report in a forgotten police record? You decide.–Joe]

A failure to communicate

While at the Boomershoot site yesterday I didn’t have cell phone service (AT&T). Last year it was fine. Even yesterday it would, for a minute or so, have “four bars” but then it would go to zero. In one of those bursts of service, around 1330, I received notice I had a voice mail. I immediately tried to call out and retrieve it but even when there was signal indicated the call would not go through. “Oh, well,” I thought, “It probably was just the girls at the house wanting me to pick up something at the store on the way home. I’ll get the message on my way home.”

I checked the voice mail about 1715 on top of a hill as I was leaving the area. A chill went through me. It was someone from work that was, “Just leaving Seattle.” The time on the message was 1100. They expected to be in Orofino by 1700 in time for the Boomershoot dinner. Yeah, that would be in plenty of time for the dinner. Exactly seven days early. “See you tonight they said.” And, I was told, “I found accommodations at the Helgeson.”

They had stopped by my office on Friday to talk to my office-mate and then we talked about going to see Boomershoot this year. They wanted to watch and also see the explosives being made but exactly which Saturday and Sunday was apparently miscommunicated.

I called back but there was no answer and I left voice mail. There is no AT&T cell service in Orofino and I was pretty sure they have AT&T as their carrier. When I got back to Moscow I called their phone again, which went to voice mail, and then the Helgeson. They hadn’t checked in yet. I sent a text message to their cell. An hour later I called the Helgeson again. Yes, they had checked in and got my message but they had just left. I expressed my concern that they might not have cell phone service, which was confirmed. I said I would call back in an hour.

About an hour later they called me from a land-line in Orofino. I apologized profusely for the miscommunication and told them we were going back out to the site tomorrow and they would get a “private party”. They will get to see the explosives being made, get to detonate several boomers from “entertainingly close” ranges, have lunch with my parents, and maybe even test out a new fireball construction method I thought of.

Pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Boomershoot conditions look awesome!

Both the conditions on site now and the forecast for the rest of the week look absolutely awesome. It’s a little wet right now but still easily dealt with. The forecast is for the weather to be clear or scattered clouds until Friday with temperatures sometimes reaching the upper 70s. That should dry things out. Friday night, after the High Intensity event there is a strong possibility of showers. Which would wash away any spilled Boomerite minimizing the chances of a fire. From then though Sunday night it is supposed to be cloudy with temperatures in the upper 60s with, again, a chance of rain Sunday night after the event is over. I couldn’t ask for a better forecast.


Here are some pictures from yesterday:



The daffodils are starting to bloom on the shooters berm.



All the snow in the shooting areas is gone.



The road into the shooters area is nearly dry.



Even with one of the seats removed the van was packed with equipment and supplies.



The Taj was over crowed after the van was unloaded.



The target prep area was dry.



I “paved” the work area where we walked in mud last year.



I found three small patches of snow on the property. This was the largest at 1:21 in the afternoon.



The same patch of snow three hours later at 4:18. I suspect it will be gone when I visit the site today.

The things I put up with for Boomershoot

Just after Boomershoot 2008 I received the following email:



Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 2:46 PM
Subject: boomershoot


Joe,


Once again I want to thank you for ruining another fine Cavendish springtime weekend; as you well know, they are far and few between in this “quiet” North Idaho community. I spent the weekend caring for my dog who is absolutely terrified of the noise generated by your idiotic activities of one quarter of a mile away. I also spent fifty dollars at the vet for tranquilizers to get him through the ordeal.


Too bad you can’t direct your intelligence to a more constructive cause.


XXX XXX, a resident of Cavendish for 37 years.


I forwarded the email to a friend who works with dogs and asked for advice. I then procrastinated for nearly a year before attempting to address the issue in a polite manner. My attempt was:



From: Joe Huffman [mailto:joeh@boomershoot.org]
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 11:52 AM
Subject: RE: boomershoot

I’m very sorry you and your dogs are upset by the noise. I have consulted someone who has worked with dogs who had problems with loud noises and she had some suggestions. I thought she might be able to attend again this year. She had offered to stop by and work with you and your dogs some. It turns out she will not be able to attend. Her comments:



Tell him that one of the range safety officers is disabled woman, and has a service dog who can be at close range and the dog is practically unfazed by the sounds of close-up gunfire/explosives.* This dog was once-fretful/skittish dog at the slightest sound — even that of a falling leaf (no joke). The dog is a survivor of brutal beatings due do gang-related pit bull abuse but has overcome most of the sound-related trauma, thanks to training and desensitization, so the dog can now handle loud sounds.


Every dog is different. We’ve had other people w/ their dogs attend Boomershoot in the past and their dogs seem unfazed by the sounds. In fact, the neighbor dog is so unfazed by Boomershoot sounds, he sometimes playfully runs through the field (aka shooting range), and we call a “cease fire” to ensure the dog’s safety. We’ve waited up to 30 minutes before, until the dog playfully ran back home.


I have to disagree with you on the view that the activities are “idiotic”. Thousands of people think otherwise. The Seattle KING5 television station did a very positive video of the event which was nominated for an Emmy award in 2006. Newsweek and Outside Magazine and others have had positive articles on it as well. People travel from all across the country and sometimes (including this year) even from Europe to participate. This year, as nearly every other year, we have spectators driving from the Seattle area just to watch. All have found it to be a constructive cause.


Again, I’m sorry our once a year activities cause your dogs so much anxiety. We are having another event next weekend with a few boomers going off on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and hundreds of them on Sunday the 26th. If it would help I would be glad to compensate you for the problems with your dogs. I would be glad to send you a check for $50 to cover the medications or for you to take them someplace else. If this is agreeable to you please give me your mailing address and I’ll get the check in the mail as soon as I can.


Regards,


Joe Huffman
Boomershoot Event Director
P.S. It’s over a mile away, not 0.25 mile.


The email bounced so I forwarded it to my brother Doug asking if he had a current email address for our neighbor. He did not but offered that I might be able to find his work email address. Then a couple hours later I received the following email from one of my cousins in the area:



Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 2:34 PM
To: Joe Huffman
Cc: Doug Huffman
Subject: dogs

Hey Joe,
Our German Shepherds are becoming very anxious and even upset in anticipation of the upcoming boomer shoot. I think the cat maybe disturbed also, however all three say that fifty pounds of T-bones would probably settle their nerves.


He had me going there for the first half of a sentence but I figured it out and fired off the following reply:


From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 3:09 PM
Cc: ‘Doug Huffman’
Subject: RE: dogs

Would that be 50 pounds each or 50 pounds combined?


And since you didn’t specify I will assume any bone tributes can be delivered in powdered form.


-joe-


The things I have to put up with for Boomershoot…

Boomershoot 2009 status

Things are looking really good to me. I delivered about a half ton of supplies to the Taj Mahal this morning without getting stuck or even cutting into the ground much with my van.


The snow is essentially all gone. I was able find a little bit of snow but I had to look for it and it is likely to be gone by Boomershoot time.


I’ll post pictures tonight or tomorrow.


Update 1453: Live blogging from the Boomershoot site.


I’ve verified the problem with our “well” is that it doesn’t have any water in it rather than a problem with the pump or the pipe. I put about five gallons in it and I was able to pump water out just fine.

Quote of the day–perlhaqr

I knew that the battle was futile when I couldn’t convince a girl I know, hell, a girl I love with all my heart–American, but of immediate Jewish Russian extraction, who herself had fled the Soviet Union as a child–that private ownership of arms was of vital importance.


After that, well, what else do you say?


perlhaqr
April 12, 2009
Comment at Hell In A Hand Basket
[I think it depends what one means by “battle”. I’m certain there are people that can never be convinced. Evidence is irrelevant to their beliefs. But I do believe that enough people can be convinced that we can live our lives relatively free with only a few bigots who rant at us on special occasions. But they will be relegated to a status like Fred Phelps or the Grand Wizard of the KKK who are recognized as kooks by nearly all thinking people. It may take a generation or three but I think it can be done.–Joe]

It’s official

I won’t be attending the Second Amendment Blog Bash and NRA convention next month. I just sent my regrets to the organizer.


Xenia’s getting married in June and there are a lot of other things that are sucking up time and money this year so I just can’t make it happen.


Last year I had a wonderful time (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for examples). Nearly every time my wife or kids talked to me on the phone they commented on “how happy you sound”. I think Barb got a little jealous that I sounded happier to be with other bloggers than be with her. Yeah, I had a really, really great time.


Maybe next year. For this year the Boomershoot Gun Blogger Day next Thursday, with 11 gun bloggers attending, is going to have to be my main fix for the year. Even the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in September is out.

Quote of the day–Jeff Cooper

I have never been taken with the idea of selling a gun. When you possess a firearm, you possess something of importance. If you trade it for cash, you have lost it – and the cash in your hand will soon be gone. Sell something else! 
   
Jeff Cooper
Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries
June 11, 1993
[I posted this once before but it likely wasn’t noticed much in the collection of 146 other Cooper quote.


I’m selling a gun today. Other than a few guns I bought with the specific intent to resell this is the first time ever. It’s not because I want the money, it’s because the other person wants it and I don’t really have a use for it. I haven’t shot this one in years and I have another gun that fills this niche better than the one I am selling that I do shoot sometimes. Still, it makes me sad.–Joe]

Homeland Security Assessment

To be completely transparent about the Homeland Security Assessment titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” which I first saw at Kevin’s place. I didn’t see what the big deal was about it. The left has been saying I was a threat to humanity since I purchased my first gun, a SKS, back in December ’93 right after President Clinton (and her husband) were elected. I live in Idaho, so of course I’m considered a sexist, racist, bigot who would get violent now that we have a president who is of (one quarter) African descent. Never mind I would have cheered until I was hoarse if were Condoleezza Rice who had been elected President.


The “assessment” looked perfectly reasonable to me. What’s the big deal? It’s politics as usual. I’ve read enough garbage DHS reports and draft reports and given feedback on reports that never made it to the public that I don’t have any illusions about their ability to think their way out of a paper bag let alone be able to connect with reality.


But some people figured it was a forged document. I looked at it and didn’t see anything which indicate forged to me. Sure, the best lie is one that you want to believe. But the left wants to believe that too. They could just be lying to themselves. [shrug] Whatever. It’s kind of amusing. The irony is a bit funny.


I haven’t been paying all that much attention to what people have been saying about it. I’ve been very busy working on domination of the galaxy and planning to make a couple thousand pounds of explosives and gathering up a couple hundred people with guns for next weekend. Why should I care about what DHS says? It doesn’t really apply to me doesn’t? Surely they couldn’t have been thinking of me when they wrote it.


I did get an email from CCRKBA on the topic which I think is worth sharing. The came out with a news release with a line that made me smile:



“It’s ironic,” Gottlieb concluded, “that President Obama’s friend, William Ayers, is a leftwing terrorist bomber, but nothing in this report suggests monitoring his activities.”

Quote of the day–Aravind Seshadri

You know how to get a solution? First you create a problem.


Aravind Seshadri
April 15, 2009
[One of my favorite things about working at Microsoft is that I am surrounded by smart people–very smart people. Also knowing that some of the software I write will be used by, literally, a BILLION people is really, really cool. That and being part of the Borg means we get to rule the galaxy.


So, yesterday Aravind, Hiep, and I were discussing our plans for domination of the galaxy when Aravind told us the above. I burst out into laughter as my mind went flying into all the different directions implied by those two sentences. Here is a sample:



  • Before you can solve a problem you have to define (create) it. Once it is accurately defined you can much more easily solve it.

  • Most businesses sell “solutions”. The grocery store sells you a solution to your hunger problem, the electric company sells you a solution to your energy problem, etc. Before you can sell anything new you have to create a problem. Before there were telephones did the people know they had a communication problem? Before there were cars did the people know there was a transportation problem? Before there were diamond engagement rings did people know there was token of commitment problem? We create problems in people’s minds so they will buy our solutions. This applies to (perhaps especially in) politics, and personal relationships, as well as the business world.

  • If you have a problem in “Area A” you may be able to solve it by creating a problem in “Area B”. For example, a scumbag is causing you discomfort by threating you with a knife and you want a solution to your discomfort. You create a fluid retention problem for him by inserting multiple jacketed hollow points into his thoracic cavity. You now have your solution.

  • And my favorite, “There is no problem the proper application of high explosives can’t solve.”

-Joe]

Wow!

From James Kelly on the gun control debate (see herehere, here, here, here, here, and here):



The difference in this debate is that I have been arguing on the basis of what I believe to be true, and doing my best to explain why I believe it. Kevin, by way of contrast, claims to be able to literally ‘prove’ his case beyond any doubt whatsoever by recourse to detailed statistical data.


Kelly argues on the basis of his fantasy world. Kevin argues on the basis of real world data which of course cannot hope to have any effect upon Kelly’s imaginary world. And he admits it. There is no point in engaging him. Only reality itself will be able to connect with him when it bites him in the ass.

Quote of the day–Sean Flynn

“Freedom from fear” and “freedom from want”, two of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms, are insidious positive rights. They are provably incompatible with liberty.


Give the government the enough power to assuage James’s fear and I will fear that government.


Give the government the economic power to sate the wants of the laziest among us, and I guarantee that someone else’s wants will not be met. The economy will never reach the desired equilibrium and the thermodynamic losses of the effort will impoverish all.


Sean Flynn
April 13, 2009
In the comments to this post.
[There is something about the vocabulary and the way Sean puts words together that makes it nearly instantly recognizable to me. Any one of those paragraphs would have been enough for me to guess that it was Sean writing them. So succinct and yet not leaving out anything important. What is just as interesting to me is that he talks just like that too.–Joe]

Crazy mixed up world

The world is kinda messed up right now. Economic conditions are scary. We have a socialist government in D.C. that is apparently working toward the destruction of the capitalism and our freedom. It’s hard to understand what is really going on. Barb and I have spent a lot of time on the issues and this weekend she got me a card, “Just because it is so appropriate.”



The front.

The inside.