Family -- The Jig Is Up!

My Favorite Daughter-In-Law (Mrs. Squidkid) texted me today with the astonishing news that she JUST discovered I have a blog!

It hasn't been a big secret .. I've been writing nonsense and other opinions here for ten years as of December the 4th.   My daughter knows about it (and sometimes read this opinionated trash; I think she gets bored).

My sister knows my shameful secret, too.  I doubt she visits often; our interests do not always coincide; nor do our politics.  

 Now that Mrs. Squidkid knows, I would have to be more careful when I rant .. except every one of the 2,530 articles I have written are available in archive.  So .. screw that.  It just never occurred to me to mention it.  I'm often embarrassed the next morning when I read what I wrote the night before, but I'm not ashamed.

Those of you who have also blogged for a while, has it ever occurred to you to tell friends and family that you are A Blogger?

Me?  I have a small handful of people who read me often, and others who find me here as a result of in internet search they have performed.

Mrs. Squidkid did that .. her teen-age daughter (her name is ELIZABETH, dammit, not LIZZIE!) was scheduled to go to the Oregon school that got shot up the other day(that night, not during the day) but that inter-scholastic was cancelled.  Favorite-Daughter-In-Law was surprised when during her search on related articles  she found my one on website .. with my photo.

Sorry, Missus S.Q. -- I wasn't trying to keep secrets.  It just never occurred to me to mention it.

Now that you're here, I expect to see my readership stats to soar.    Don't disappoint me .. my will is a Work In Progress!

(family joke)

I'm back!

Okay, so you're not impressed by that title.

Keeping it uncharacteristically short,  please note that I went to Washington (the state, not the District) over the holidays to visit my son "The Squid Kid" and his family at his new permanent post.

I haven't seen them for two years, until they stopped by in the area over Thanksgiving to visit with all their family here.  They settled down in their new home in early December, and I spent Christmas with them for the first time "ever".

Yay!

The twin boys, 5 years old, don't really know me.  At first they referred to me as "That Guy" (as in: " ... Is That Guy going to be here long?")  By the time I left, they knew me as "Grampa Geek".   Or words to that effect.  At least, they understood that I was part of their extended family.

So I have had a wonderful vacation, punctuated by my usual frustration whenever I travel.   I missed the turnoff and spent two hours longer than necessary going up there, and coming back I hit a massive traffic jam in which it took me an hour to travel 1.5 miles.  But those are side stories.

I will now resume the normal program of ranting.

Notes From The Squid

I got a phone call from my son today.

If you haven't heard me rave about My Son The Squid, he's in the Navy. He's a "Master At Arms", whichapparently is kind of like a military cop, except it's a Military Occupational Specialty whose member duties include instant "police" reaction to terrorist attacks and otherwise guarding naval installations and ships.

I don't know all the details, but I do know that he has had some really exciting training, including automobile evasive maneuvers and just recently, Sniper School at some place near D.C.

Anyway, he's through with that part, and now he's doing some kind of qualification testing. I was impressed by the very high standards.

On the surface, the trial is very simple. For Level 1 (or Category 1 .. I admit I didn't listen as carefully as I should have), they have to start standing with hands above the waist, draw their pistol (a Beretta 92 ... the crappiest trigger-pull in the world!) and hit an 8" plate at seven yards within 1.9 seconds.

(The old standard was to hit the plate in that time frame at 3 yards.)

I can't do that reliably. It's all I can do to hit an IPSC Metric target ... anywhere ... at that range and in that time. I've been shooting competitively for over 25 years; if he can do it he's a much better gun-handler than I am.

There are levels (or categories) of qualification. For Category 4 certification, they have to hit the plate within 1.3 seconds.

!

I've teased "The Kid" about his Navy training for years, but now I'm beginning to think that he's really getting the martial training he needs to do his job. He's going for Category 4 certification. I think he might just make up.

For sure, if he does, nobody's going to steal the San Diego Naval base or Coronado while he's on the job!

PS: No, I do not approve of him shooting without eye protection. On the other hand, I don't approve of him patrolling without serious bullet-proof vest protection, either.