Skills, like Napoleon but different.

After moving to our new place I discovered that we have to share our porch with a neighbor. I took it upon myself to take care of it. My long dormant snaring and trapping abilities were awakened by the smell of pines and visions of mountains. The old figure four (google it, you'll see) worked like a charm and now I have a very scared neighbor who still shares my porch with me. We still see him from time to time. He's lucky it was only a cardboard box I had land on him.

Rob Wood wherever you are, I hope I've done you proud.

My Man Mason

I am very proud of my kids. For the most part they are very polite, kind and they do what we ask of them. I had a moment the other day that made me especially proud though. Mason had seen me use my Byrd Cara Cara many times and was always asking for his own knife. I finally got him a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife for Christmas. He uses the various tools on it frequently for little tasks often in ingenious ways. He also frequently misplaces it since he doesn’t always have pockets. A couple days ago he looked at me and said “Dad, I wish my knife had a little clip on it like yours does so I could put it right here” as he pointed to his waistband. Appendix carrying a folding knife is actually very comfortable and handy, you all should try it. Well, my chest swelled and I savored the moment of my son’s first mod. He wanted a pocket clip! On his SAK! We undertook the modification this evening. The results were stellar. We used a clip from a Pilot V5 Roller ball pen, a dremel and some epoxy. Behold Mason’s Mod.

Check this out.

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf

The joy of modern materials

Kydex rocks. I tried my hand at it for the first time a few days ago and it rocks. It's an extremely versatile material. No special tools are required. If you have a pillow, a board, a stove, a pair of scissors and a bic lighter you're good to go. (Well, ok. I used a pop riveter but they are cheap) Anything can be made with it. A person could make a Christmas ornament or a utensil organizer or some such thing. I, however, made a new knife sheath.

Get your kydex here.

Look what G&R will do to your kids.

My kids are hellraisers. They are rebellious and self-destructive. They are rude and disrespectful to their parents and those around them. I'm so sick and tired of the sideways glances and whispers when I'm around other kids' parents. My kids have completely turned away from the path we tried to keep them on and it's all because of the music kids listen to these days. This video is a perfect example. Here we are trying to have a quiet evening at home as a family. They had Zac over to play. I used to think he was a good kid but just look at what my children have done to him. The body gyrations... the sneering at the camera... that look in his eyes. Camden is back there acting all innocent, "strumming" her mic. Mason is another story. There he is blatantly "strumming" his sword. What, is that some sort of threat? A "parents-you-better-watch-out-'cause-I'm-rockin-and-I'm-not-stoppin" kind of threat? For his own safety I think it's best if Zac Attack is not allowed at our house for a while until we rein in our kids a little.

5 Dangerous things you should let your children do

I'd like my wife and the rest of my detractors to take special note of #2. #4 leaves me scratching my head a little so I'll replace it with my own. From now on #4 is "learn to properly use and handle a firearm". Ooh. Scary. And dangerous. #3 is fun but could just as easily be throw rocks or even more specifically skip rocks. I couldn't throw enough rocks as a kid. I'd say the list is a good start but is far from complete.

Those of you with short attention spans probably won't watch a nine minute video. I just don't want to hear any bellyaching about it.

Sorry folks, the video is gone and I'm not going to fix the link.

Finally. A holiday I can really enjoy. It's the longest night of the year folks. Are your flashlights in working order?