Time short.

Blog later.

Interesting thing at the new job. We need a particular service that we do not have in house. Hiring people for this position is difficult because we do not know what to look for in a person to do the job, have little experience setting up the environment for them to do it, and don’t really know if there’s enough work to be done so that the person would still have a job in 5 years.

I suggested they look at consulting as a way to get everything set up. It’s a short term way of rapidly getting up to speed and at the end of the contract, you would have better know-how of what to look for, or even if you needed someone to do the job.

So I suggested my previous company. Because they’re a great company even if they let me go.

We are in the midst of scheduling a lunch meeting with them to go over our needs and see if they can help. Awkward? Sure, but in this case, it truly is nothing personal, it’s just business.

And read this. Michael Z. Williamson absolutely nails it. I will be using this as a reference to those who believe encouraging self-defense is ‘blaming the victim’ or some such twaddle.

It’s got stats. Links. Charts. Reality. None so blind and all, but it’s a nice, succinct way of putting it all in perspective.

Now, here's the part that all these "experts" who don’t actually know how to fight want to pretend doesn't exist:  The cites above prove single most effective means of fighting an attacker is a firearm.  Thousands of tabulated crime reports through the Department of Justice bear this out.  There's no "interpretation."  Attacks committed, attacks successfully defended against, guns are the most effective means.  End.  The cites above are based on years of tabulating actual events.  Violence works, and guns are a device that doesn’t rely on the physical strength of the user.

Got my Kershaw Blur last night. Couldn’t be more impressed. The spring assist is nice and the size is perfect for what I’m wanting.

It’s also nice to have a folder in my pocket again. I do this little Macarena dance any time I leave the area where I check for keys, knife, wallet, phone & pistol. Missing the one spot where the knife should have been was annoying. Not anymore.

And I really like the coyote brown. Nice to have something that’s not all black.

Haven’t cut anything yet, including myself, but it’s razor sharp. I need to invest in some sharpening gear and learn how to do it even though Kershaw has free, lifetime sharpening.

Haven’t been able to run in the evenings due to a combination of the normal evening thunderstorms we get this time of the year and the puppy not being able to be left by herself while the wife goes to get the kids from VBS (she’s getting worse & worse about panicking during storms. She’s destroyed a few doors / frames in the past week). So even doing the treadmill at the Y has been a no go.

So I decided to get up an hour early today and run.

Blech.

One, the humidity was oppressive. At 80°, it’s not exactly ‘cool’ although generally cooler than the evening run, but the humidity makes it impossible for your sweat to evaporate. That’s usually my killer – when I can’t cool off enough, I peter out quicker.

Second, the smell. Everything has been coated in a blanket of Gaia sweat that the sun hasn’t had time to dry up. Things get… musty smelling. That & today was garbage day & I swear a few people had dead bodies on the curb.

Finally, I didn’t have the energy I thought I would. Sure, I was rested-ish (didn’t sleep well because I was thinking I was going to miss the alarm to go running), but I just didn’t have anything in me to do the full 3.1 miles. Maybe had 2.5 in me today before I just had to walk it off. I can’t exactly eat before I run because that always ends… poorly.

So, maybe the morning run thing ain’t for me.

I love seeing a gun rights advocate get his message out on the Joyce Foundation’s dime

I’m doing it right.

Georgia, on her own, decided that she was going to grow out her hair and donate it to cancer patients. Yesterday, while her sister was getting a trim, the stylist (knowing George was doing this) looked at her hair and told her it was now long enough.

10” chopped later, she went from this

To this (interestingly, she’s wearing the same shirt)

The after pics don’t do justice, mostly because they’re camera phone pictures and the wide angle doesn’t do justice, but it’s very, very, very cute and the style suits her. Plus, she’s already realized it’s a lot less hassle having shorter hair than all that past the middle of her back.

I’m proud of her. Both my girls have high degrees of empathy while maintaining a sense of personal responsibility (i.e. they’re being taught that if they believe something should be done about X, they should be the ones to do it). It’s heartening to see them do these things on their own without any sort of goading on our part. Hopefully, there is still a world they can inherit when they’re older, but I take some measure of comfort knowing they’re going to be well prepared for life regardless.

I loved my 5.11 XPRT, but the clip broke off even after getting replacement screws so it’ll take quite a bit of effort to get it back into carrying shape. Also, it’s a big, big knife and a) I need something a bit smaller for EDC and b) I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on something I’m going to abuse and throw away when it gets dull.

So, after much help from many people who know knives, I picked up a Kershaw Blur

Should be here by Thursday. I’ll let you know how it works out for me.

This was neat