I know a couple of champions!
Tag: Rendezvous
UPDATE
OK, I’m backlogged. I have another essay on Rights that I owe people from a couple of weeks ago. I’ve started it, but it looks like another überpost, and those take a bit. Markadelphia has returned, once again wrapped in his blanket of “I’m not, you are!” I owe HIM a response to something from quite a while back, but that’s not gonna happen until after the Rights piece.
I’m buried at work, and I’m supposed to go on vacation starting Labor Day weekend, but it now looks like I’ll be tied up for a day or two on an emergency project before leaving for Gun Blogger Rendezvous VII on Thursday of next week – and if you think I’ll be doing any non-GBR related posting over THAT weekend, you’ve got another think coming. Over Labor Day and the days leading up to leaving I WAS going to finish painting the exterior of my house. I still hope to get to that. Blogging will, of course, suffer.
Somewhere in there I need to load some more ammo for the trip, get all my stuff put together and in the same place.
TL;DR version: Don’t expect much out of me for a week or three.
Two Weeks to Go
Hope to see you there!
Bummer
The seventh annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous is only 27 days away, and I’m not going to get my .458 SOCOM upper in time.
I ordered it on May 3, with an advertised 90-day lead time. I checked with Rock River a couple of days ago, and here is their response:
The .458’s are running over the approximate 90 day time frame, so it could be 30-45 days before it is available.
Rock River is still advertising “60-90 days” for “most LAR-458 rifles and upper halves.”
Regardless, I won’t have a “thumper” to bring with me to the Rendezvous. I’ve got dies, brass, bullets even (some kind people let me have some of their private stash, so I’ve got about 200 of the 405 grain Remington softpoints to load.)
But nothing to shoot them through.
Ah, well. It’ll still be fun.
30 Days Until GBR-VII
Vacation is scheduled, reservations are made. Trip itinerary is still somewhat up in the air, so to speak. I may have a traveling companion. But I’ll be there all four days.
Project Valour-IT (Bumped AGAIN)
Project Valour-IT is the charity that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous supports each year, and has since 2007. It was established by Major (then Captain) Chuck Zeigenfuss and his Soldiers’ Angel after Chuck was severely wounded by an IED in Iraq. While Chuck, a milblogger, was recovering in the hospital with about two functioning fingers on one hand, he asked his Angel to get him a laptop computer, and blegged for voice-recognition software so that he could get back online and communicate with the outside world. As he put it,
It was the first time I felt whole since I’d woken up wounded in Landstuhl.
In fact, it made such a difference in his recovery, he thought about all of the other soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines like him and how much it could help them out, so with Soldiers’ Angels he established Project Valour-IT to provide as many as he could with the technology to help them reconnect.
He has spoken several times at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous since he first attended GBR-II in 2007, and he is always inspiring.
As I noted last month, Project Valour is low on money. They are currently conducting a donation drive running through September 3 (just before this year’s Rendezvous) and are trying to raise $100,000. I know times are tough and things are tight, but please pitch in if you can. You can donate to team Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines (the Marines are currently leading).
Since my father and my father-in-law are both Air Force veterans, I’m going to support the flyboys in this one:
Thanks.
BUMPED 7/25. This is just sad. C’mon Air Force, represent!
My Next T-Shirt
Actually, I’m kind of fond of Maxim 11:
Everything is Air-Droppable at Least Once.
but this one is pretty good, and should be in time for the Rendezvous.
Ordering information is available here.
I Wonder if This One Will Be There
The Gun Blogger Rendezvous occurs the same weekend as the Reno Balloon Races.
Think I’ll see this one?
UPDATE (from comments): Yes, this one’s better.
THIS SHALL NOT STAND!
Today is the seventh anniversary of the resurrection of Maj. Chuck Zeigenfuss, who was blown up by an Iraqi IED in 2005. Chuck is the creator of the Soldiers’ Angels Project Valour-IT program that provides technology to help wounded service personnel adapt to their injuries. Project Valour has been the designated charity that the Gun Blogger Rendezvous has supported since the second gathering in 2006, and Chuck himself has been guest of honor three times. But in this morning’s post, Chuck asks:
I would appreciate it if you would consider making a donation today to Project Valour-it; the silver lining to this story. We’re currently out of funds to provide wounded troops with the same tech that helped me recover.
This shall not stand. Please, if you can spare it, dig deep and contribute whatever you can.
Click on the picture to go to the donation page. And please spread this around.
Well, Part of it is Here!
My York Arms stripped AR lower receiver is finally in my hands. (Looks just like the picture!) Perhaps this weekend I’ll be able to put it together with the DPMS lower parts kit I have.
Brass is here, dies are here, case gauge is here, bullets are coming. The upper is still the better part of two months out, though. I really hope it comes in time for me to take it to the range once or twice before the Gun Blogger Rendezvous.