9.3X62AL
09-05-2006, 04:11 PM
As many of you know, one of our members from The Land Down Under visited the United States for the past several weeks--"Ron"--and his wife Jen. Buckshot asked last night by phone why I hadn't posted anything concerning their visit, and I thought I had. Well, between DSL downtime and other distractions the text isn't here......so let's try again.
Marie and I met the Stanfields at LAX after they flew half-way around the world and landed to await a connecting eastbound flight. I relied upon picture recognition to make the connection in the arrival lounge--Bruce B's NCBS intro technique of using a mold and handles assembly at The Griddle didn't seem like it would translate well at the arrival concourse of the LAX International Gate--something about "bullet mold" or "bullet ANYTHING" would get the TSA types a little tense and twitchy--and I had better things to do than spend a day or three explaining the thing, enduring cattle prods/endoscopy/handcuffs or whatever other entertainments the TSA might provide under the described circumstances. Why go there at all?
We sat down for a cup of coffee, and like every other meeting I've had with Board members--it was more like-minded friends I just hadn't met yet. We arranged for a shooting accessory that Ron wanted to order to be delivered to my house during the visit, planning on some form of meeting as the Stanfields returned through our area enroute to LAX for their flight home. THAT morphed into a 2-night stay with Marie and I, rather than seeing them stay in a hotel near LAX for that time period. FWIW, that area surrounding LAX is an unpredictable blend of "Kosovo Tour/1999" and "Beirut Today"--with a larger percentage of participants more fluent in English than in the aforementioned garden spots. The idea of nice folks like the Stanfields staying there wasn't acceptable.
Ron was able to attend a chapter of the Burrito Shoot serial drama, and the antics of all in attendance were fairly docile. Glen--who needs no "edge" to win the rifle portions of the proceedings--still seeks advantage through clever use of things like Model 29 revolvers to get Ron "warmed up" for the competition--with high-order loads, no less. Hardly sporting, that. He and I were able to shoot a target or two for the Slughammer D/A Revolver Match, too--which were mailed on 8/31.
Buckshot mentioned that he wasn't sure how Ron felt about the beef tacos he had for lunch--I'm sure that such items were kind of "culture shock" to him. Things weren't helped by insisting that he try the "hot sauce" that joins the burritos and tacos on every trip to the range, which was another spot of poor form to inflict on someone not inured to such delicacies. Now, the sauce is about a California 6.4 and a New Mexico 4.1 (out of 10 possible) in terms of temperature--but to the uninitiated, it probably borders on the incandescent. Ron was a good sport about all this, but my overall impression from both Ron and Jen is that people in the USA eat MUCH larger portions at meal time than in most parts of the world, to include Australia. Lotta truth to that, I reckon--where else in the world can you find MORBIDLY OBESE POOR PEOPLE?
Our conversations through the visit reinforced my belief that people throughout the world who participate in gun sports have very similar concerns and beliefs about their pastime, and universal disgust at governmental interference with and restrictions on hobby/recreational use of firearms. Another VERY close parallel between Australia and the USA is the similarity of police work in both countries--with two retired law officers from points halfway around the world discussing the work, it was obvious that either of us could be transplanted to the other's venue and likely do rather well--and not be surprised at much of anything we encountered.
To sum up--I treasure the time that Marie and I were able to spend in the fine company of the Stanfields, and would jump at the chance to see them again.
Marie and I met the Stanfields at LAX after they flew half-way around the world and landed to await a connecting eastbound flight. I relied upon picture recognition to make the connection in the arrival lounge--Bruce B's NCBS intro technique of using a mold and handles assembly at The Griddle didn't seem like it would translate well at the arrival concourse of the LAX International Gate--something about "bullet mold" or "bullet ANYTHING" would get the TSA types a little tense and twitchy--and I had better things to do than spend a day or three explaining the thing, enduring cattle prods/endoscopy/handcuffs or whatever other entertainments the TSA might provide under the described circumstances. Why go there at all?
We sat down for a cup of coffee, and like every other meeting I've had with Board members--it was more like-minded friends I just hadn't met yet. We arranged for a shooting accessory that Ron wanted to order to be delivered to my house during the visit, planning on some form of meeting as the Stanfields returned through our area enroute to LAX for their flight home. THAT morphed into a 2-night stay with Marie and I, rather than seeing them stay in a hotel near LAX for that time period. FWIW, that area surrounding LAX is an unpredictable blend of "Kosovo Tour/1999" and "Beirut Today"--with a larger percentage of participants more fluent in English than in the aforementioned garden spots. The idea of nice folks like the Stanfields staying there wasn't acceptable.
Ron was able to attend a chapter of the Burrito Shoot serial drama, and the antics of all in attendance were fairly docile. Glen--who needs no "edge" to win the rifle portions of the proceedings--still seeks advantage through clever use of things like Model 29 revolvers to get Ron "warmed up" for the competition--with high-order loads, no less. Hardly sporting, that. He and I were able to shoot a target or two for the Slughammer D/A Revolver Match, too--which were mailed on 8/31.
Buckshot mentioned that he wasn't sure how Ron felt about the beef tacos he had for lunch--I'm sure that such items were kind of "culture shock" to him. Things weren't helped by insisting that he try the "hot sauce" that joins the burritos and tacos on every trip to the range, which was another spot of poor form to inflict on someone not inured to such delicacies. Now, the sauce is about a California 6.4 and a New Mexico 4.1 (out of 10 possible) in terms of temperature--but to the uninitiated, it probably borders on the incandescent. Ron was a good sport about all this, but my overall impression from both Ron and Jen is that people in the USA eat MUCH larger portions at meal time than in most parts of the world, to include Australia. Lotta truth to that, I reckon--where else in the world can you find MORBIDLY OBESE POOR PEOPLE?
Our conversations through the visit reinforced my belief that people throughout the world who participate in gun sports have very similar concerns and beliefs about their pastime, and universal disgust at governmental interference with and restrictions on hobby/recreational use of firearms. Another VERY close parallel between Australia and the USA is the similarity of police work in both countries--with two retired law officers from points halfway around the world discussing the work, it was obvious that either of us could be transplanted to the other's venue and likely do rather well--and not be surprised at much of anything we encountered.
To sum up--I treasure the time that Marie and I were able to spend in the fine company of the Stanfields, and would jump at the chance to see them again.