More Twin Peaks stuff

So we covered the waitress that posed with the rifle in the parking lot here. I heard them talking about her again on the radio today. Guess the chick is going to pose for Playboy.

Update: Her new website

My latest toy

There hasn't been a gun post in at least a couple of days. Got a Remington 700 SPS Varmint with stainless barrel in .308 last week. Just gotta decide what scope I want to put on there.

College Pick'em 2009

It's that time again. I sent out invites this morning, but please feel free to forward the invite to anyone I missed or your other friends. Pre-season predictions are welcome. And if Ben sets up his money league I'm sure he'll post the info here.

Twin Peaks Watch

We stopped by Twin Peaks yesterday to make sure it was still safe for the general public. I give it my stamp of approval. James's truck was dirty, and they even took care of that.

Bad Way to Start the Day

This morning while on my way to work I was eating an English muffin. I ate half of it and grabbed the other half to start on it. On my second bite of this half I noticed what appeared to be a hair on my muffin. Not too alarmed since I assumed it was mine or Shey's I simply put the muffin down and continued on to work.

When I got in the parking lot I picked up the muffin to inspect a little closer. If it belonged to Shey I wanted to know so I could give her a hard time about it. But no...not this time...I could see that the hair was sticking out of the middle of the muffin like it had been baked in at the factory. Gross.

Latest Additions

I know Tarkus and others are dying to see the latest upgrades to my AR-15. Here's what's been added:

• 5.11 Tactical Gun Case (courtesy of my in-laws for my birthday)
• Magpul Ladder Rail Protectors
• Fenix TK11 Flashlight
• CAA Quick Detach Tactical Light Holder
  

Doing my part

John Mackey (CEO of Whole Foods) had an op-ed in the WSJ last week proposing some suggestions for health care reform. You can see it here. This resulted in some of Sean's fellow travelers getting worked up with some suggesting a Whole Foods boycott.

Now, I don't agree with many of his decisions in general (e.g., the message board scandal). But it's funny to see the libs in a tizzy, so I kicked off my anti-boycott and picked up some stuff from the flagship store on my way home today.

Hate Crimes: Bum Edition

Excerpts from Hate crime law may be expanded on The Daily Texan:

The bill, co-authored by U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, could make attacks on the homeless equivalent to those dealing with race, religion and sexual orientation. It would require law enforcement to track crimes against the homeless — something few law enforcement agencies in the nation do at this time, said Michael Stoops, National Coalition for the Homeless executive director.

“It’s clear that [hate crimes] have been happening,” he said. “We think by adding homelessness, it will send both a symbolic and practical message that attacks against the homeless will not be tolerated.”

“We have crimes that are occurring with homeless involved all the time, but when we say hate crime, we try to be very clear that somebody has said, ‘You homeless bum,’ or something that indicates it’s been an act of hate because they’re homeless,” Troxell said.

House the Homeless also works toward raising minimum wage, set at $7.25 nationally, which Troxell said is not enough to cover basic living expenses.

“A full week at [minimum wage] and you won’t afford the basics of life in Austin and, without that ability, you’re going to end up homeless,” he said. “If you’re homeless and on the streets, then you’re subject to these atrocities where people conduct these hate crimes.”

I'm having a hard time believing this is serious. The article describes an incident in which some punks used a pellet gun on some homeless dudes downtown. Guess what...they were arrested and confessed to the crime they committed. So why exactly are our lawmakers wasting time to make a new law? How about stiffer penalties for the existing law if that's what is needed?

And does it really matter what they make the minimum wage? I don't really think a high percentage of the homeless population is trying very hard to work. They've already got more expensive medical care than me. They can get free meals and shelter so the only 'work' needed is just enough to cover drug and alcohol costs. And I'm told by my downtown source that many of the homeless accomplish this by: aggressive panhandling, acting as lookouts for drug dealers, and theft. If they really wanted to work they could easily show up at one of the many day-laborer hang outs and do some honest work.

Mullen Interview

Just in case you didn't already see this one:

• Kicking it with Dan Mullen, Part I
• Kicking it with Dan Mullen, Part II

What's Better Than One Hooters?

Thirteen Hooters

As John pointed out in Back from the big D, and I mean Dallas we decided to take on the challenge yesterday:

• ~9:00 AM - John makes the call and asks if we are going to do this today. I reluctantly agree.
• ~9:45 AM - Depart to run some errands and head to DFW
• 11:45 AM - Arrive at the Czech Stop for some kolaches
• 1:25 PM - #1 Hooters of South Arlington
• 1:43 PM - #2 Hooters of Ft. Worth; we go ahead and eat lunch here; John shows his philanthropic side and donate to charity to have his truck washed by the bikini team in the parking lot; we also saw some dummy hit the one nice (parked) vehicle in the parking lot...a Porsche
• 3:14 PM - #3 Hooters of North Richland
• 3:34 PM - #4 Hooters of Arlington
• 3:55 PM - #5 Hooters of Irving
• 4:18 PM - #6 Hooters of Grapevine; on the way to this one saw some chick throw her car in reverse on a ramp for a toll road...not a good idea
• 4:49 PM - #7 Hooters of Lewisville; this location had the best layout
• 5:23 PM - #8 Hooters of Addison; independently told by two sources (Tarkus and Erik) that this location has one of the best talent pools...we weren't too impressed
• 5:49 PM - #9 Hooters of Plano; on our way out John does his good deed for the day and changes a tire of some girl in the parking lot
• 6:34 PM - #10 Hooters of Mesquite; leaving this location we see a grass fire on the North side of I-30
• 6:59 PM - #11 Hooters of Dallas; the largest Hooters in the world; met Jeff, Kristin and Erik here for dinner
• 10:20 PM - Stop at the Czech Stop for round two of kolaches
• 10:43 PM - #12 Hooters of Waco
• 11:39 PM - #13 Hooters of Killeen
• 12:45 AM - Finally get home

If you are wondering how to take the fun out of Hooters...follow the above recipe. Anybody want to try and beat that single day record?

Back from the big D, and I mean Dallas

Ever been to 13 Hooters in one day? James will be posting a summary of our trip later. Just two more passport stamps here in Austin, and they'll be finished. I'm spent.

I Can Smell It in the Air

College football season is near. What better way to kick it off than with Cowboy's latest video about Alabama's season opener against Virginia Tech.

I wonder if this dude is related to Luke.

Bums Need More Money

Homeless patients weigh in on health care debate from News 8 Austin:

One look at the long line outside of the CommUnityCare Clinic housed at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless will tell you how much need there is for health care among Austin's homeless.

The Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (or ARCH) is a nice looking building conveniently located 1 block from Austin's entertainment district. I'm glad we have such high-dollar real estate set aside for our homeless.

"There's a major, wide range of problems, as far as behavioral, mental health, dental and vision," clinic administrator Tony Moore said.

John says it best, "Yeah, #1 behavioral problem is sleeping under the overpass."

About 10,000 patients squeeze through the 1,100-square-foot office every year.

Patients of the CommUnityCare clinic at the ARCH are part of the Medical Assistance Program. Their annual budget of about $50 million comes from Travis County tax payers and the federal government.

If I'm reading that right they already have a budget of $50 million and they "squeeze" 10,000 patients in per year. So every visit cost tax payers ~$5,000. Sounds good to me...let's give them more money so our homeless can continue with their daily routine of alcoholism, drug addiction and aggressive panhandling. I'm glad I don't live downtown.

And the problem is?

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/texas/Sheriffs_Deputies_Behaving_Badly

This happened at the Twin Peaks near me and James. Unfortunately, we weren't there Monday night to witness the action firsthand.

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Sheriff deputies from Midland County, Texas are being investigated on allegations that they posed a restaurant employee in front of their patrol cars, holding a gun, in a Round Rock restaurant parking lot on Monday night.

While the pictures were not available for viewing and were not described at length in a police report obtained by KXAN Austin News, the restaurant was Twin Peaks- known for its scantily clad waitresses.

Outdoor Range Trip

We're still shooting-landless out here, but did take another trip to Lone Star Gun Range on Saturday. It didn't take James long to figure out that the rails on his AR get pretty hot after putting a few rounds through it. Saturday was his first test with his new Magpul rail protectors. He thinks they help.

Here I am trying to hit a 3" Shoot-N-C at 75 yards with my wife's 10/22. I suck. It took a while to hit it.



Some guy had a .50 cal upper for his AR. It looked pretty cool.

And since we were near Lockhart, we tried out another BBQ joint (Chisholm Trail Bar-BQ). James doesn't like their sausage, I thought it was aight.

NEW TOYS AND VIDEO FOR JAMES

THESE ARE PICTURES OF MY GLOCK 23 AND26.

AND THE VIDEO IS SOMETHING I THOUGHT JAMES WOULD ENJOY DOWN IN TEXAS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgbIdbXIHiE

Update: Slow Play is Dangerous

Remember the story we told you from June where some old dude pulled a gun on some golfers here in Austin? I've been meaning to put an update up about it and finally remembered today.

Last week I was at lunch with some peeps from work. One of the dudes was talking about his neighbors and I was only half paying attention (was concentrating on the food in front of me). Then he said he heard that some old dude that lives in his neighborhood had gotten into an altercation at a golf course recently and ended up pulling a gun on some young dudes.

I told my co-worker to make sure he stays off of his lawn.

Still Pimpin'

Every now and then someone at work will notice my license tag holder and have a quick laugh (like earlier this week heading out to lunch). Thanks to Mark, I've now had this for 8-9 years and it's even moved vehicles with me. On occasion I wonder when I'll grow out of it. Seems like I've kept it this long...might as well keep it so if I ever have a teenage kid I can embarrass him/her.

office pranks

Office Pranks

I put this on facebook and James reminded me of the cause of the story...

HardCore was in the single room in Suite 1 and apparently had been a good little student alllll semester. As a result, he was going getting out of all his finals. He was very excited by this and opted to share that fact...alot. So, he left as the rest of us were studying away. Word to the wise: don't brag about you skipping finals and then leave your room unprotected for days.

I believe it was Ben that had the Reflector delivery route. And for a week, the eager young minds on his route had to go elsewhere for their thrice-weekly campus news, for all those bundles of paper had a higher purpose. A great brotherhood event was called after chapter meeting. Someone trusted with the keys to all the rooms violated that trust, for the greater good, and broke into Hardcore's room. For hours, brothers took turns filling every space from floor to ceiling with wadded up Reflectors. Cheap newspaper ink was on many hands, but a good deed was done.

Hardcore returned and was milling around the courtyard...somewhat puzzled that most of the chapter came down to welcome him back. The magic moment approached as he walked to his door, looking over his shoulder quizzically as the suite was just about filled with brothers watching his grand entrance. The recently violated lock accepted it's true owners key, and, with a flourish, the door opened, and Reflectors fell like an avalanche. Good times, indeed.