Republicans in the 12th Congressional District...

...of Texas have a chance to make a change during this next primary season. Representative Kay Granger has some competition this go around, and her competition looks promising. Sam Finley is throwing his hat into the ring and seems to be working hard to get the 12th district Republican vote.


If you have been disappointed in some of Kay Granger's recent votes, and would like to see a different Republican representing your district, it is worth your while to give Same Finley a good hard look.


Sam will be formally announcing his candidacy during a town hall style meeting tomorrow evening (Sept. 2) at the "Ol" South Pancake House on University Ave in Fort Worth. The meeting starts at 6:30PM. Sam will also be speaking at the 912 Project Common Sense March and Rally in Fort Worth on Saturday, September 12.

Day at the Gun Show

It is a beautiful, cool, North Texas late Summer day. I had to make a decision this morning, do yard work or head out to the Original Fort Worth Gun Show. Heading out to the gun show won.

It seems that the attendance surge brought on my the Obama election and the Eric Holder confirmation has settled down a bit. I arrived a little after 10:00 and there was not much in the way of a line to get in. I was at the show for over three hours and the crowd did build up, but not near the mass of people who were at the shows earlier in the year.

It looked like business was brisk, lots of firearms being sold at the larger dealer tables and the gun safe vendors appeared to be keeping pretty busy.

I had the opportunity to meet up with the NRA-ILA Election Volunteer Coordinator (EVC) for Texas Congressional District 12 (Kay Granger's district) and spent a good while talking guns and politics with him. If you are in District 12, and you want to help elect pro 2A candidates, let me know and I will get you his contact information.

Speaking of Kay Granger, it seems she may have a bit of a fight ahead of her during the next primary season. Sam Finley is throwing his hat in the race as a Republican Candidate for the 12th Congressional District. I spent some time talking with the folks at his table at the show and with his campaign manager. I had to leave before Sam got there, but there is another opportunity to meet him that I will talk about in another post.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Steve Moses of the Bluff Dale Firearms Academy had set up a table at the show. V and I trained with Steve a couple years ago with another couple and I have to say that Steve did an outstanding job of working with us. It is good to see them getting some exposure.

I did pick up a couple of items from the show, and AR-15 parts kit (can never have too many spare parts) and a D-Fender Extractor Enhancer for an AR-15. I have had a couple extraction issues of late and if this fixes them, it is well worth the price. I've been wanting a Center of Mass Car Safe for a good while now, and there was a vendor at the show who had them at what looked like a good price, so I brought one of those home with me also. Something I did not buy was ammo. Some of these folks are still way to proud of their ammo. I saw 100 round Winchester White Box marked at $60.00, other tables had it as low as $45.00 and everywhere in between. There is ammo in stock, but the prices on pistol ammo is still ridiculous. Rifle ammo was a bit better, but still inflated.

I went to the show looking for a Magnum Research Micro Desert Eagle. I need something that I can slip into a pair of gym shorts and just wanted to check out the Magnum Research entry in the .380 market. No luck this time. There was a Sig P232 that felt pretty good in the hand for such a small firearm.

All in all a good day at the gun show. Tim and Michelle have done a great job of building this gun show into an even well worth attending. One of the better shows in North Texas. Seeing as how we have a gun show near every weekend, that is saying a lot.

Taking Shape for Life - Week 13

Let me start out this update by first saying "Thank You" to all the folks who have been encouraging me and leaving such supportive comments in my weight loss update posts. I do appreciate your kindness and support.

A few of you have commented that you are using some of the same principles that I am to lose weight, just doing it without the convenience of prepackaged grab and go meals. Once out of the weight loss phase of my program, I will also be making each of my smaller meals for the day. A book that I have found to be very helpful is Dr. A's Habits of Health (The Path to Permanent Weight Control and Optimal Health). Doctor Anderson is the co-founder of Take Shape for Life, and his book can also be found on the Take Shape for Life website. Dr. Anderson's book supports both the 5 & 1 Plan that I am using for my weight loss program, and a do-it-yourself plan for weight loss. This book goes much further than that even, this book gives you to tools to achieve a long lifetime of ultimate health. Check it out.

Now for the results of Monday's weigh in.....

On Monday morning I weighed 208.5 pounds, made it to under 210 in 13 weeks. I have lost 64 1/2 pounds in 13 weeks, very near a 5 pound/week average. I know I am starting to sound like a bloody late night infomercial, but this program really works. My success is not some isolated incident. I mentioned previously that I am so impressed with my success that I have decided to join with the company to help others have the same success as I have. I am now coaching a small group of folks who want to lose weight and get healthy. One couple that I am helping has already lost 35 pounds between them in the first two weeks. That is way cool, and yeah, that gets me pumped up. I really enjoy helping people.

I am getting near my goal of 190 pounds. When I started 13 weeks ago, I was not so sure that I would be able to do this. A healthy weight seemed out of reach. Now I am almost there. It is getting close to time for me to order my new Milt Sparks belt, I have been wanting one of these for a very long time.

Vacation in California

Vicki and I are visiting my parents in Southern California. The weather this weekend is outstanding! It was 66°F this morning when we had our first cup of coffee on the back patio.

My folks live in Oceanside and we will be spending most of our time in Laguna Beach. Yesterday we attended the Members Appreciation Day at the Festival of the Arts. Today we will be going to the Sawdust Festival and the Art a Fair. Tomorrow will be spent revisiting some of our favorite artist's at these shows and in the art galleries of Laguna Beach. Tomorrow night we will be at the Pageant of the Masters. Wednesday we may charter a half day fishing trip off the coast, fun fun.

I enjoy this yearly visit with my parents, the art, the beach cities, and the great food (no worries, all the food is and will be on plan). I don't enjoy the fact that goblins have more rights than free citizens in the Peoples Republic. I guess that is what "Civil Disobedience" was invented for.

Taking Shape for Life - Week 11

Last Monday completed another week of my program to develop a fit, lean and healthy body. I lost another 5 1/2 pounds last week. To me, that is pretty amazing. Over the course of 11 weeks I have lost a total of 57 1/2 pounds.

I started blogging about my journey as a means to hold myself accountable. I figured that if I started slacking, you all would keep me in line and motivated. Now I blog about it because I am so excited about how well I am doing, and because it has not taken a whole heck of a lot of effort to get here. What is really cool is the fact that my success is not atypical, people everywhere are enjoying the same success that I am.

Eleven weeks ago I couldn't walk up a long flight of stairs without panting for breath by the time I got to the top. Last Monday I ran up those same stairs, twice, just for the heck of it.

This attempted take over of our health care system by the .gov highlights one very important issue. We need to become responsible for our own long term health. I am going to do everything within my power to stay as far away from a .gov run health care system as possible. Building a healthier, leaner body will go a long way towards achieving that goal.

The program is a simple one, not always easy, but simple. Pretty much has to be for me to be successful on it. As I have mentioned before, I am so impressed with my success, and with this program, that I decided that I wanted to help others see the same results that I am. If you are at all interested in losing weight and gaining a healthier body, head on over here to see if this program might be the right one for you too.

Need More Proof...

...that gun free zones just don't work?

Try this on for size.

Obese Inmate Hides Gun from Texas Officers

A nearly 600-pound man was able to hide a weapon for more than a day while he was in custody, police told KPRC Local 2 Wednesday.

"Obviously the system broke down," former Harris County Detention Major Mark Kellar said. "The procedures didn't work as they were designed to work."

Houston police said George Vera, 25, was arrested Aug. 2 and taken to the city jail. He spent a day there before being transferred to the Harris County Jail. After being there for 14 hours, going through intake procedures, he was taken to the showers, the final step before going to his cell. There, Vera told police he had a 9mm handgun on him, along with 2 clips.

So this inmate had a pistol, and two magazines inside a jail cell. He then carried them on prisoner transport between jails, and was only found out because he "...told police" he had them?

To my way of thinking, the inside of a jail cell is pretty much the most secure "gun free zone" there is, yet still the goblins get guns into those zones.

This is not an isolated incident. Inmates With Guns and Inmate Found With Gun are earlier posts of incidents where goblins had guns in lockup, once in a maximum security unit of the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Those who restrict our rights by creating so called "gun free zones" know these facts and understand that some silly sign will not provide any measure of safety to the good folks who are unfortunate enough to be caught in one of these zones when a goblin goes on a rampage.

So if our safety is not their goal, what is?

Taking Shape for Life - Week 10

Yes I changed the title of this weekly post a bit. Calling this program a diet is a bit of a misnomer. I am taking charge of my body, and my health. I am getting fit.

For those of you who have been following along, I have just completed the tenth week of my plan to take back my body. Ten weeks ago I weighed 273 pounds, was wearing tight XXL shirts, and size 44 jeans. Ten short weeks ago I could not climb up the flight and a half of stairs to get on any of the roofs of the buildings I am responsible for at work without getting a little winded. Ten weeks ago I was severely obese.

Last week I lost another 3 pounds for a total of 52 pounds in 10 weeks. Yeah, I'm kinda proud of that achievement.

For all you folks like me who enjoy charts, here is a quick chart of my weight loss journey so far.


A nice steady downward trend. I'll tell you what... V is very happy with my somewhat leaner, stronger and more energetic body. My doctors are also very happy with my success so far. Resting heart rate, cholesterol and blood pressure are all well within healthy norms and I am feeling great.

This site has a couple of good videos that explain the program in some detail, and more great testimonials. This site has even more information.

If you have any questions about my progress so far, how I am accomplishing it, or even my future goals, go ahead and send me an email. The address is in my profile.

Quote of the Day

From my friend Fits:

Ya see, its like this: Obama took 6 months to decide on what dog to get the kids, okay...

And wants Congress to pass universal healthcare in 6 weeks.

Why do I get the feeling that somethings wrong with this picture...

Need Some Phone Help

I know squat about the new smart phones. I know the IPhone has some cool aps that I would use (shot timer, ballistics to name a couple), but I don't know if these type of aps can be run on other phones.

It is well past time I upgraded my cell phone. I need easy email access and an easy to use keyboard. I need a phone that is, you know, a quality phone. Imaging and MP3 capabilities are nice options that I would use, but are not my primary focus.

Under my plan, I can upgrade to one of these phones without breaking the bank.

An iPhone 3G - 16GB Refurb)

A Samsung Impression (Refurb)

A Nokia Surge

A Motorola Karma QA1

And a BlackBerry Pearl 8110

The internal memory and the screen size of the iPhone are large pluses. The Surge has a very nice display and the BlackBerry is a BlackBerry.

Any of you have a good recommendation for me on this one? Right now I am leaning towards the iPhone, but I have not made up my mind yet.