Anogete's Journal

My will power is set at zero when it come to shopping. I went out to get running shoes or cross trainers since mine have broken down to the point that they look shabby. I was just going to get shoes. I ended up with shoes, a pair of jeans (which I can *almost* fit into--hey they were on sale), two shirts, and a purse. ::bangs head on desk::

I have trouble finding purses since my requirements for a purse are a bit off kilter from every other woman's requirements. A purse needs to accommodate three things: my wallet, a paperback book of at least 1,000 pages, and my gun. This purse fits the bill, and it's even cute. See! The zippered pocket in the middle is the perfect size for my Glock.

On the subject of guns--Jason and I where browsing the selection at one of the local stores here, and I saw these itty-bitty Kel-Tec 380's. I had my heart set on a Walther PPS, but they didn't have any of them. I really do want something a bit smaller than the Glock 26 to carry on me when I don't have my purse. It isn't too bad most of the time, but if I'm wearing a tight shirt, you can totally see that I'm packing, and I don't want to scare those who are afraid of guns.

I want to start a website, but I shouldn't. Everyone, please smack my hand away from the mouse when I try to register for a domain.

The office will be closed on Friday. I was worried, but it seems the boss hasn't totally lost her marbles and isn't going to make us work on a day we usually have off. Well, she has lost her marbles a little bit. She sent someone out to purchase four new toilets for the office. We don't really need new toilets, but she thinks they will fix the problem we've been having. Really, I think we just need a plumber to clean the calcium buildup out of the pipes, but whatever... I'm staying out of it because we're getting nice, new toilets that will look much better than the ancients ones in there right now.

Jason wants to go to the shooting range after dinner. I'd rather go for a walk, but he's all hot about practicing, so I guess I need to go pick up some rounds before I go home or I'll have to buy the insanely expensive kind at the range.

I've been recruited to bring dessert to Easter Sunday dinner. Have I mentioned how much I hate Easter Sunday dinner? Hate. It's all eggs and pastels and ham and flowers. I get nauseous just thinking about it. Ugg. I wanted to ask if I could just drop off dessert and go home. Apparently, this plan of action would be considered rude and anti-social. Dammit.

I'm making Jason watch Cowboy Bebop. We watched the first two episodes tonight. He's also reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Yay for conversion! I win.

Spring needs to arrive soon. I received a catalog in the mail with pictures of gorgeous plants and flowers of all sorts. I came so close to dropping fifty bucks on bulbs and seeds. I should just wait another month. They don't ship until the spring anyway.

I finally decided to split the two hamsters up. Their fighting hasn't been as bad since I moved them to the larger cage, but every now and then they get into squabbles. Neither one has been very active, and they seem to spend their days worrying about the other. The smaller one (who happens to be the more aggressive one) seems to enjoy smaller, confined spaces. So, I moved her over to a small Habitrail sort of cage. The larger one was moved into the ten-gallon aquarium I was housing the two gerbils in. And the gerbils were moved into the twenty-gallon aquarium both of the hamsters had been in. Musical chairs with rodents. Everyone seems happy. The gerbils are thrilled with their new space, and both hamsters are acting normal and happy. So, mission accomplished, I suppose. I wish someone at the pet store had warned me about the dangers of housing two of those little hamsters together. I had no idea they prefer to be alone and would turn into fighting demons when they hit hamster adolescence.

This news article makes me sick. The area where this poor woman was mugged is just a couple miles from my place. A co-worker of mine used to live on the corner there. It's a nice neighborhood, even slightly better than where I live. I suppose I'm relatively safe when I walk Ferguson because I never bring my purse, but still... It's disconcerting to the max. It makes me want to buy that Walther PPK that I've been lusting over. Despite being a subcompact, my Glock is just too big to carry in an ankle holster or IWB holster. Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but I think it would look super obvious that I was packing.

I have done absolutely no work today, but I did rearrange some papers on my desk so it looks like I've done something. My lack of work ethic is for a good cause, though. I just finished the first draft of my post-DH fic. I need to go through and clean it up, which will include adding some things in to make the plot flow properly. But, yay! Now I get to bug my lovely betas.

Jason and I went to the gun range on Sunday afternoon, and I hurt my pinky. No, I didn't shoot it off or anything. My gun is a subcompact, which means that the grip is itty bitty. My pinky won't fit properly and keeps flying off with the recoil. I need to get the grip extender to slap on the end of the magazine, but I'm procrastinating. At any rate, I've got a tiny red blister on my pinky now. :-( Feel sorry for me.

The boss decided to be extra generous and close the office on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I am ecstatic for my long weekend. Hopefully, the next two work days won't be filled with ridiculous office antics, and if they are, then I hope they are fun antics instead of frustrating ones.

Jason and I went gun shopping on Saturday afternoon. A nice salesman at one of the stores suggested I take a look at the Springfield XD Subcompact 9mm if I was interested in a Glock. It is slightly larger than the Glock 26, but not overly so. It also comes with several accessories. I took a look at it and got a feel for it, but I'm not sure it has that same magical feel that the Glock 26 had for me. It just doesn't feel as comfortable in my hand. So, I'm still loving the Glock. I promised myself that I wouldn't go out and buy the first gun I fall in love with, so I'm waiting for at least two more weeks before I buy anything. I'm going to make Jason go to Calibers with me this coming Friday so he can shoot the Glock 19. He wants a Glock as well, but the 26 is just too small for his hands. I'm going to ask them if I can try out the 26 myself.

It's that time again. I've added all the books I've read this quarter to the list.

( books read so far this year )

Guess who qualified to carry concealed!

I was expecting a long day at the shooting range, but it went surprisingly fast. The instructors were amazing and so helpful, never condescending or rude. I don't think we could have picked better people to teach us. Anyway, we had a private "classroom" at the range. Basically, we were surrounded on three sides by burms. The bottom of the U-shaped classroom was were we were shooting. To warm up, we just shot a few rounds together, each of us with our own target. We used nine-inch paper plates for this exercise since they are are smaller than the target we'd have to qualify on.

After the initial exercises, we moved on to shooting with only our dominant hand on the gun, and then shooting with only our weak hand. I thought I'd flop if I tried to shoot with just my left hand, but I actually hit the target both times, even if it was the very edge of the paper plate. Anyway, moving and shooting exercises came next. It was so very cool. They set up a triangle of criminals and hostages. We had to run into the area, shoot a criminal holding a hostage, turn and shoot another criminal with a hostage, then do a one-eighty and shoot the last hostage-taker. Then we had to back up (keeping our weapon pointed at the bad guys)and take cover behind a wall so we could peek out and shoot two additional bad guys. I only killed two of the bad guys because I suck at shooting and moving, but I'll deal. I did better on the speed shooting of the bad guys because they were lined up in a row. I ran down the line and shot the bad guys without shooting the friendly folks' pictures. There were five bad guys and I got all but one of them in the twelve seconds given to us, even if I did shoot one of the bad guys in the ear.

Qualification came last, and it was a breeze compared to some of the moving and shooting exercises. Because most violent confrontations happen within three to seven yards, we had to demonstrate that we could hit a target at those distances. In New Mexico, if you want to carry (concealed) a pistol and a revolver, you need to demonstrate competency with both firearms. So, my first qualification test was with a 9mm Ruger. I passed with just missing two shots at seven yards. You can miss up to seven and still pass. I also qualified with a .38 Special. I know I said I wasn't feeling the one I rented at the indoor shooting range on Friday, but the one I shot today was nice. It was actually a .357, but we used .38 Special ammunition. I hit every single shot at both distances with it, and I had never shot the gun before qualification. Jason, Payroll Girl, and Super Foreman (the other fellow I work with that attended) all qualified as well. Jason qualified with the same handguns as I did.

( this proves I can shoot )

We have to jump through a million hoops now to actually get the license itself. The hoops include, but are not limited to:

( Read more... )

The Chronicles of Riddick is on television. I'm sad that it wasn't better since I really wanted to love it.

I'm desperately in love with this hat: Chapeau Marnier. I'm going to seek out some fingering weight yarn (which I've never knitted with before) so I can make at attemept at this. Lace scares me, though.

Payroll Girl has a pinched nerve in her neck, so our lunchtime trip to the shooting range has been put on hold until next week.

I'm feeling rather blah today. I have to skip over to Costco for office supplies. I dread it because of the crowds. However, it will allow me to take a long lunch, and I plan on stopping by the bookstore to pick up something.

Jason has been raiding my bookshelf, looking for something to read. The last time I suggested he read something, he told me I liked abstract novels. That's what I get for handing a Gene Wolfe book over to him. He took Issac Asimov this time, though I desperately tried to talk him into reading the R.A. Salvatore books I've finished already. He was reading The Worm Ouroboros by Eddison, but he threw it down in disgust last night, muttering about the high-handed language. I dunno. I've never read it. I suspect he's just burned out from reading a couple heady sci-fi novels written in the 1960's, and he wants something a bit more straight-forward.

It looks like I've been trapped into going to a barbeque in Santa Fe this weekend. Barbeques and I aren't good friends, but I'll deal if I can bring my Boca burgers. As long as no one infects them with particles of meat, that is. Plus, I'm not really a huge fan of Santa Fe. I feel like residents are required to wear floaty skirts and swish about talking of art galleries and crystals. Anne certainly does, and she's the barbeque host. Anne also can't watch "violent" movies because they make her physically ill. My only consolation is that Jason's dad saw Liam Neeson in a bar/coffee house in Santa Fe. This was probably because Seraphim Falls was being filmed there at the time, but I'm going to delude myself into believing that Liam Neeson hangs out in Santa Fe. I would surely make a bumbling fool of myself before falling at his feet if ever in the same room as him. I luff you, Liam. I really do. Let's play a game. You be Qui-Gon, and I'll be the naughty Jedi padawan. Punish me!