If you guys recall, throughout last year CostCo was selling the Lifestraw 4-pack. As time went by, the prices kept dropping:
Until, finally, they hit the “stick-them-in-a-corner-and-blow-them-out-we-need-the-space’ price of $4.25 ea. I bought a bunch and some of you got them as Paratus gifts.
So’, Im in CostCo yesterday and beheld this absurdity:
We’ve gone from a low of $4.25 each, to a WTF price of $12.50 ea. In Januray, of all times. Dunno the reason behind this but I can tell you that I was absolutely tickled to think I got as many of these as I did at the $4.25@ price.
Moral of the story: when the price is right…buy and buy hard.
Well, its another year in the books. 2023 was a mostly quiet year. Didn’t have any tremendous disasters, I’m still alive, house is still standing, truck is still running, still have a job, and I didn’t have to use my AK. (But the Glock……..)
I crossed a few things off my wish list this year…the Barrett, more armour, BBQ gun, ICOM 7300, more precious metals, etc. but I’m still not where I want to be on the land purchase. The markets have not been as cooperative as I would like, but I’m hoping that will change when (fingers crossed) Biden leaves office.
As in previous years, the focus is less about acquiring more things but rather holding on to what I have. Remember: its not about what you make, its about what you keep.
Forecast for 2023? Inflation continues and blame for it goes everywhere except where it should. Wuhan Flu continues to be an issue until finally we develop natural immunities and it becomes a seasonal nuisance like the regular flu. China continues to a) duck the blame for the Wuhan Flu, b) continues its incremental imperialism, and c) keeps feinting at Taiwan. The Russians continue their low-key war against the rest of the world in the form of cyberattacks and state-sponsorship. On the domestic front, I think we’ll see the whole BLM/Antifa/Woke nonsense hit a nadir as people start getting tired of paying high taxes just to have ‘marginalized groups’ threaten to kill them and burn down their neighborhoods. Gun and ammo availability? Guns up, ammo down. “Supply chain issues” becomes the catch-all phrase and excuse for people and businesses not living up to expectations. Cubs do not win the Series.
No idea what next year holds, but I’m sure that like every year there will be no shortage of high points but also no shortage of nadirs. I prepare for it, I hope it doesn’t happen, but when (not if) it does I’ll hope to be the guy who gets up after getting knocked down…although my Plan A is to avoid getting knocked down in the first place.
Good luck in 2024, guys. You’ve done something right to make it this far into the 2020’s…keep up the good work.
It’s the dang near last day of the year. I thought I was done buying guns for 2023. Done, I tell you!
And then I get the text message from a gunstore buddy: “You might wanna come by”
Well, poop….this is not gonna be cheap. Let’s open the chute and ride this thing:
Beretta Cougar in .40. Nothing special there. And a Colt Series 80 Combat Commander that someone put some work into. Check out that squared triggerguard. Red Ramp front and an ancient MMC rear sight. Extendo beavertail and aftermarket trigger. Other internals seemed factory. Needs a cleaning badly, has some minor freckling.
“But..but…Zero, you said three guns. Where’s the third?”
Ah, the third one. The third one, me boyo, is the whole reason I bought this package. The third one scratches a 30-year-old itch. Notice that the two guns above are sitting on a wooden presentation box. Whats in the box? Why…the stuff that dreams are made of:
That, mi amigos y amigas, is a Smith and Wesson Model 27 with a factory five-inch barrel.
:::mic drop:::
Back in the mid-90’s I had a lovely 5″ Model 27 and in a college kid cash crunch I pawned it for $150 and never got it back. There are two guns I have bitterly regretted selling in my life…My HK93A3 (bought for $600 in 1986!) and that Model 27. And now, I have another.
But, my tastes have changed a bit since then. While I love S&W revolvers, I keep a practical eye on things like durability and reliability…which means a 5″ GP-100 would be a better choice than this 5″ M27. But nostalgia. And it does no harm to have a few safe queens.
That M27 was the reason I bought the other two guns. The Cougar is nigh-impossible to sell. Since Stoeger made their version no one wants the oddball Beretta. The Colt will probably go out the door too….I’m not a 1911 guy. But that Smith….hmmmmm.
Swung by to say hi to my buddy at Grizzly Gold and he had these for me:I’m always a sucker for these discontinued ‘divisible’ silver rounds. Although, really, a hammer and chisel makes any round divisible.
The Metals Pimp is enjoying a semi-retirement so I don’t bother him for much in the way of metals these days. As always, I recommend him as your first choice, but be warned…he’s not answering the phone for anything but larger orders. However, Ive no doubt he will continue in his reduced role with the same integrity and efficiency that he has demonstrated since Day One in that business.
If you’re in Missoula, go talk to Bob over at Grizzly Gold and tell him Commander Zero sent you.
At work, we get the usual paid holidays, and we accrue about five hours of paid time off (PTO) every month. I famously don’t take any PTO until I have let it max out at 120 hours. I do this because the company, when I leave, have to pay out that 120 hours. So I try to keep it maxed as a ‘parachute’ in case I get fired or something. But, we also get a free ‘personal day’….eight hours of time to use whenever you want. Use it or lose it. So, tomorrow being the last workday of the year, I am taking off.
Tomorrow is the start of a four-day weekend of trying to get caught up on prep stuff. Filling gas cans, rotating gas, run the generator, reconcile the preponomicon, make lists of things to buy in 2024, do some research, etc, etc.
What I am desperately hoping doesn’t happen is….I just sleep through all four days.
Man left behind a tremendous legacy…..that old rich men can still get hot young wives.
Glock Perfection
I also hear he designed some cool guns.
But seriously…no idea who the next ‘disruptive designer’ will be in the field of firearms, but if you’re carrying a plastic handgun you can thank Glock for making it mainstream (even though HK did it first.)
Episode 3 of TLOU was pretty much the reason I subscribed to the series. I’d heard they had a survivalist character from the game that was going to be shown and I wanted to see how it went. And, lets get the elephant in the room outta the way, the survivalist dude was gay. Ho-hum.
As the episode opens, we see an awesome hidden basement strong room, a man having an entire town to himself, all-you-can-take shopping trips, perimeter defense construction, active defense, and, ultimately, self-deletion.
Personally, other than ‘bugging in’ right in the middle of town, I thought it was pretty good. I really admired the secret entrance to the basement and the radio codes. Not sure I’d have been running around with a 7-shot 1911 and a shotgun, but you do you, man. (I mean, c’mon, theres an FAL right there on the wall!)
Was there anything to take away from the episode? Not really, in my opinion, except that apparently when all the other humans are forcibly relocated out of your AO, you can have a pretty nice quiet life. And, sooner or later, someone will want what you have and you’d best be ready to stand or run.
It’s unfortunate Bill won’t be a recurring character, but it was nice to see survivalists portrayed in a somewhat more sympathetic light.
One of the blogs I read daily is The Field Lab. Basically, a guy in Texas moved to the middle of the desert and lives his life the way he likes…flying drones, building stuff, and doing life on his terms. (Basically, a more theistic version of Joel over at TUAK.)
Right up until a tumor shows up in his pancreas. As you know, a pancreatic cancer diagnosis is pretty much a one way trip to the forever box. This guy, in less than a month, has gone from “Waitasec Doc, youre telling me….” to checking in to hospice. It happens that fast apparently.
While I am all for doing whatever it takes to preserve my comfort and life in a world that shows ironclad disregard for both, I am very cognizant that, eventually, the music stops. Its easy to forget that, but sometimes stories like this remind us to memento mori.
I had planned on mentioning this last week, but I got sidetracked: don’t get so focused on the future (and preparing against it) that you don’t enjoy the moments in the present. Walking through the snow at night, watching stars twinkle, enjoying every sandwich, etc. The day will come when you won’t have the chance to do those things again, so appreciate them when you can.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled apocalypse…….
Until, finally, they hit the “stick-them-in-a-corner-and-blow-them-out-we-need-the-space’ price of $4.25 ea. I bought a bunch and some of you got them as Paratus gifts.
So’, Im in CostCo yesterday and beheld this absurdity:
We’ve gone from a low of $4.25 each, to a WTF price of $12.50 ea. In Januray, of all times. Dunno the reason behind this but I can tell you that I was absolutely tickled to think I got as many of these as I did at the $4.25@ price.
