Armed and Dangerous
not anymore
friday, august 5th, 2011
actually, that's only half-right: I am heavily-armed but not very easily PO'd anymore. It takes a whole lot more provocation to get me angered and "there", these days, than it did in past years, thankfully.
This beautiful piece (at right), incidentally, was my first revolver – a 1974 Colt Trooper MK III .357 Magnum with a 6" Barrel (a real collector's item now) – purchased at the Tamiami Gun Shop in Miami (FL),
The 1974 Colt Trooper MK III .357 Magnum Revolver w/ 6" barrel is much harder to "conceal" than even a full-size, 5" barrel Kimber 1911 .45cal ACP, unless I'm wearing my Bianchi Quick-Release Shoulder Holster and a jacket over top of the shoulder-harness "rig", whereas I have a Galco FED Holster for the 5" Kimber .45cal and a Galco Dual 8-Round Mag Carrier for my Kimber .45cal,.
Here's why I bought it. On July 14th, 1974, I was robbed and shot, by two lowlife criminal dirtbags, with a .32cal "Saturday Night Special", after walking out of the Tropical Acres Restaurant in Boynton Bch (FL), with my girlfriend, after attending the premier opening of "People" Magazine in neighboring West Palm Bch, and lived to tell you about it, here. After an "out-of-the-body-experience", I "came back to life" in the ambulance in the restaurant's parking lot, with 3 EMTs working on me. I still have the .32cal inside my pelvis and have the multiple hospital x-rays in my files to prove it. Ask me to show them to you next time you're there and tell you the 15-20 minute "history of that night"; it'll raise-the-hair on the back of your neck, and piss-you-off with its conclusion of "justice". The black junkie shooters got away with it, thanks to a racist DA and screwed-up Flori-duh legal system.
God was truly sitting on my right shoulder, that evening. I can't help but believe that He saved from death that night, "for a reason", for which only He knows.The Trauma Center Surgeon at South Miami Hospital said, "You're the luckiest SOB I've ever seen in my 30+ years of these kind of small-bore gunshot wounds. Usually, a .22cal or .32cal "tumbles around inside" a person's body and causes tremendous damage to the organs and bones, and we're inside you for hours rebuilding/resectioning your remaining organs, whereas a larger caliber FMJ (full metal jacket) passes ("fairly cleanly") through and comes out the backside"; unless it's a hi-power HP (hollow-point), in which case it "cavitates" will blow the "unlucky recipient's insides" into very small pieces. We can't "put Humpty-Dumpty together again", in 99% of those cases." I was indeed very lucky, as the .32cal FMJ missed all the pelvic and hip/joint bones, veins, arteries, nerves and spinal column, I only stayed "overnight for observation" and didn't have the then-traumatic major surgery to remove it. They didn't have simple arthroscopic surgery (1" slit), back then; it would have been a 6-7" incision and probably more traumatic to me than originally being shot. God was truly sitting on my right shoulder, that evening. I can't help but believe that He saved from death that night, "for a reason", for which only He knows.
Needless to say, I vowed that I'd never be a "victim" ever again, and have carried a legal, high-power firearm for "self-protection", from that day forward.
Around The Garden Center
I watched another of the Tom Selleck DVDs I'd purchased at the nearby Border's Store on Wednesday, titled "Jesse Stone: Night Passage", and it was the beginning of the series – nothing like watching shows out-of-chronological order, is there? – and it was also excellent, but a real heartbreaker when he had to have his 12 year-old hound dog (Boomer) put-down, like I had to do with my two cats, Pickle in 1995 and just a few months ago, Mama Kitty (Murphy's mother). Next, there was "Jesse Stone: No Remorse"; a really superb movie. Then and last for the evening, I watched another one in the series, called "Jesse Stone: Death In Paradise", also rated excellent, in my opinion. Last one I have until I buy some more – "Innocents Lost", "Thin Ice", "Stone Cold" – on Amazon.com's site, along with his westerns: "Quigley Down Under", "Crossfire Trail", "Last Stand at Saber River" and "Monte Walsh". I called it a night around 9:15pm as t-storms and much-needed rains moved through the area. 3:30am would come early, once again. I didn't even bother turning-on my pre-set alarm for 5am, as I'm always up at 3:30-3:45am now. Dunno why I got into that habit, no thanks to my cat. Murphy was already asleep on the bed.
Another restless night of bad and weird dreams, and not much sleep after getting-up 3-4x for a respite and some aspirin, but not always a smoke, so the "cigarette butt count" wasn't reflective, this time. I was up at 3:30 – It took 4-5 faces full of cold water to finally wake-up enough and "get going" – fed & watered Murphy, made Quaker Oats® Instant Strawberries & Creams Oatmeal, had a banana on it, and made Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System. It looked like an ugly day ahead, with temps in the mid-90s and high humidity, once again. Maybe we'd close early and I could come home to "nap" on the my couch w/ Murphy, for a few hours, before my 8pm Church Meeting in Red Lion (PA). If I didn't. I wasn't sure I'd even go, since driving home at 9:30pm in the dark when I'm real tired poses other problems for me. I'd rather be asleep by then and not take any chances on driving when too tired, nodding-off and having a wreck.
I have a "new addiction": Sherbets – a frozen fruit-flavored, frozen dessert mixture, similar to an ice, but with milk, egg white, or gelatin added; technically NOT an ice cream since it's much, much lower in fat calories – I just can't stop eating it! Black Raspberry, Twisted Cactus, Lemon-Lime-Raspberry, Orange-Creamsicle, Watermelon, Pineapple, Lime, Orange Dream, Rainbow, Mango, Tangerine, Cranberry, Wild Cherry, Blueberry, Strawberry and on and on it goes. Help!
I scanned the Net news and weather sites, and everything I saw just sucked: "Debt Crisis", "GOP Proposes Another Solution", "Dems Reject Every Proposal & Solution", "Another Ft Hood Massacre Averted", "Hot, Muggy Weather Ahead", "Credit Card Rates To Skyrocket Upon Default", and more and more bullshit headlines from DC where the liberal-demokkkRAT Congressional Pigs Feeding at The US Taxpayers' Trough, just can't get the job done. Perhaps it's because 98% of them have never had a small business, balanced a budget, done long-range forecasts etc; 99% of them are lawyers! No wonder they can't get the job-at-hand done! Or anything done which benefits this Nation and its Citizens. Okay, enough of that.
After arriving at work at 5:45am, I opened-up the Complex and it torrentially-downpoured like it did last Saturday night at 6:45pm, when I slipped on the front steps, fell and re-injured my back and (Sciatic Nerve) during the false fire alarm at the Complex. Almost 2" of rain in 15 minutes! Everything overflowed, everywhere. Within a couple of hours, all employees were in and working, paychecks were done and temps had already climbed to 93°F, with a Heat Index of 103°F, and steadily-rising. I sent everyone home at 12noon, and closed-down for the day, ran some errands I'd put-off while Mom was having her right neck's carotid-bypass surgery and Dad was with her at York Hospital, and he wasn't able to fill-in for me at the Complex. A shower and fresh clothes felt good, as did the AC. At least Murphy was happy to see me. I decided to go to my 8pm Church Meeting, stopping only for a small cup of coffee on the way. No more Coke® Zero™ (with lots of caffeine), with aspartane the carcinogen, to keep me awake on the ride home.
I decided to go to "The Cabin", after work on Saturday, which was forecast to be "hot but less humid" after Friday night's t-storms. So, I packed my weapons and gear: my old faded and worn, US Army Duffel Bag from The 'Nam full of three complete changes of clothes, Satchel Bag full of all kinds of "special survival necessities", 16" English Wellington Boots (snakebite-proof boots, plus deer/wood tick protection), Hoppe's Premium Field Gun Cleaning Kits, If I didn't invent "The Virtual Cabin" to escape to, I'd have gone ballistic over a year ago, with all the many extra burdens that this lousy economy and political traitors in DC have placed upon me and my business, in just the past 2-3 years. Although "virtual" when I'm there, it's "real" to me and I "come back" refreshed and ready for another week in the "real world". 16" Bowie Knife, 12" LLBean Maine Insulated Hunting Boots (more deer/wood tick protection) plus just good comfy sense in that rocky terrain, Tactical Range Vest (too hot in this hot weather, but I take it anyway), my Deputy Sheriff Badge & ID, which I always carry with me daily even in York, my AR-10 .308cal (7.62 x 51mm NATO), with Leupold Gold Dot CQ/T Scope, extra Hi-Power .308cal ammo (7.62 x 51mm NATO) ammo, my Remy 11-87 Semi-Automatic 12ga Shotgun with an EoTech Red Dot Scope, and plenty of hi-power 3" sabot & .00 Buckshot ammo, my Beowulf .50cal with an EoTech Red Dot Scope, and plenty of Hi-Power ammo (300gr .50cal rounds), my Full-Auto, Class III Bushmaster AR-15 .223cal (5.56 x.45mm NATO),
I got home from my 8pm Church Meeting around 9:30pm, watered Murphy for the last time this evening, and headed upstairs to la-la land. He was right behind me and we were asleep by 9:45pm.
Dad, Steffi, Jon & I would be at work on Saturday, with Rich, my Staff Registered Landscape Architect, meeting with 2 landscape client couples, of whom both wanted to get all of their work done this Fall. I needed to move them up into mid/end-of-August, when we'd be running-out of scheduled work, so I'd take one couple and show/ tag their plant material, and Rich would handle the other. He and I worked late Friday morning on finalizing/revising/coordinating their multi-phase estimates and plan designs, so we'd have them ready for Saturday morning's meetings, making it all go smoothly for the Clients.
I was up at 4:45am, much to Murphy's protestations to the contrary of wanting me up at our "regular time" of 3:30, to water & feed him. But since I didn't have to be into work until 8am, the extra hour-plus of sleep felt great. I made Fresh-Squeezed OJ, Eggs Benedict and Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System, and ate a nice, leisurely breakfast instead of rushing through everything to get into work by 5:45-6am. Somehow, everything tasted better when I took my time and ate slower, too. Go figure.
Well, that "peaceful morning" didn't last long. Rich made too many morning landscape appointments, too close together, so he'd have to "hand-off" some of the people to Steffi & I to work with as they overlapped each other, instead of doing his primary job of closing the individual deals, and giving it back to me to finalize the Landscape Estimate revisions and do the HICPA Hardscape Contracts. Plus, I found that 15-20 (container trees along GH-4) drip irrigation lines had sprung leaks and were shooting "geysers" 15-17ft into the air, depleting all of the line's pressure to other container trees, and had to repair that mess at 6:45am. I was soaked when I was finished; so much for a nice, crisp, starched shirt, and silk knit tie. I was PO'd that "other people" hadn't done their job and fixed the mess which they were tasked to do!
After reviewing the upcoming peoples' Landscape Estimates, I found errors in labor time, and corrected those before they arrived, so we'd be covered and could adequately get all the listed jobs done properly and within budget. Plus, I found that Norton-Symmantec had 7 Automatic Renewals being done for us, when we only had 5 computers using various versions of Norton, mainly the new "Norton 360", yet the old 2006-07-08 versions of "SystemWorks" and "SystemWorks Premiere" were also on Auto-Renewal, when they should have been canceled, long ago. I turned-off all "Auto-Renewals" on Norton's Website and we'll do it manually from now on, narrowing it down to the 5 units (my condo, Dad's laptop, my Office and 2 Front Counter Units), which we have in use. My advice: TURN-OFF ALL NORTON AUTO-RENEWALS! They're screwing you with Auto-Renewalw!
Nice deal: we picked-up a 2-phase, $13,850 landscape job in nearby Stewartstown, and have very good prospects for a single-phase $24,500 landscape job in Maryland, as of Saturday. Those two will nicely finish-of August and a fair portion of September for us. Rich is re-working both sets of plans, and I revised the Landscape Estimates and Hardscape Contracts, for the PA job only. Maryland doesn't require HICPA Contracts. It was 91°F. We closed-down at 2:30pm, and I headed home to feed & water Murphy, load my weapons and gear into the Jeep, and leave for "The Cabin" for the rest of the weekend. (Jump down to The “Virtual Cabin” – A Novella; if you please.)
Back at the condo in East York around 7pm, I fed and watered Murphy, did a load of laundry, received 500+ emails and flushed most of them, and got ready for sleep around 9pm. it would be a very busy and hot week, again, and I was tired from the weekend.
Up at 4am on Monday morning, I took care of Murphy's water & food needs, made a quick breakfast and coffee for myself, and left for work around 5:30am. There were 3 new and revised Landscape Estimates to be worked on and mailed-out to customers, so we could get landscape work into the Complex for August and September. I opened-up at 6am, met with Alan, my Foreman, to review the week's jobs and bring him up-to-speed on the weekend's new Landscape Jobs, and then began on the mountain of paperwork on my desk. Dad was off today; both Steffi & Kim were in, so it was just the 3 of us until the LSCP Crew returned later in the day. Lots of plants in the 5 GHs were wilted and burnt from Sunday's 98°F heat and non-watering, so they had to be carried to GH-1 to be either cut-back, repotted and "recuperate", for the upcoming Fall Sale and prior Landscape Jobs. Rich was in with a new landscape customer couple (a VERY Conservative Maryland Retired Police Officer Friend of mine and his wife), showing them his design and my estimate, plus the plant material and we made a few minor revisions to the estimate. They're signed-up for a 2-day job in mid-August. By 3pm, it hit 94°F/ Heat Index 102°F, and it was miserable outside. I closed-down at 3pm, and drove through a nasty t-storm and pea-sized hail to East York.
I'd made a service app't for Friday with Endurance Automotive in nearby Rinely (PA), to check my dash's engine light and some AC problems, but I don't know if the Jeep will be able to make it until then. This suddenly developed and without AC in this ugly, hot & muggy weather, I'm not a happy camper.
I started working on gathering all my weekly writings of "The “Virtual Cabin” – A Novella", into one list by date, going way back to January 15th, 2010, to work on my mini-novel. I'll have to create either an HTML or a more complex xHTML-CSS document, a special folder to hold all the individually-numbered and titled chapters, cut & past one each writing within the weekly "Journal" into a separate chapter, or combine some, expand on many of them, and make it coherent and flow. Right now, it's a work-in-process, so it has no ending, but I'll have to conclude it, sometime. It's going to be a l-o-n-g project, which I'll give its own domain name – www.thevirutalcabin.com – and publish it "sometime down-the-road", when completed to my satisfaction. I started the long and tedious process Monday until around 8:15pm, called it a day and was asleep by 8:45, with loud t-storms overhead and Murphy snuggled-up by my side.
Why the hell I ever woke-up at 3am, and Murphy was still asleep and snoring, I don't know. I fed & watered him, had some Pure & Natural 100% USA OJ, made Cream of Wheat, Smoked, Slab Bacon, and Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System. My cleaning lady and her husband would be in today for their regular Tuesday work, and then back again on Friday for a special project of wiping-down the kitchen walls and ceiling of dirt/grease, built-up over my many years of cheffing for Family & Friends. I took digital pics and will print them out so they'll *where* to put everything in my condo kitchen, back in its original place, afterwards.
By 4:15am, it was already 70°F with 90% humidity and portended to be another hot and muggy day. After breakfast, I loaded the dishwasher for an upcoming wash in a few days, sat at the condo's super-fast HP Computer, and enjoyed a third cup of coffee and another Marlboro®, while scanning weather and news sites. The my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo still wouldn't hold a decent 7,000 RPM idle on the way to Sheetz®, for coffee, and I had to "feather the gas pedal" at red lights, just to keep it from stalling. At 5:30am, I called the service mgr at Endurance Automotive to move-up my Friday 8am service app't to Thursday morning at 8am, and left a voice mail message. Turning-off the AC didn't help either, so when I got to work and opened-up the Complex, I opened the SUV's hood, letting everything cool down, and checked as many caps, dipsticks, belts etc for any "apparent problems". None found. It's only August 2nd, and although July was un-Godly hot, August and September are traditionally even hotter and drier months. A 9-year old Jeep, in that good a condition with only 141,022 miles on it, shouldn't be giving me these problems, IMO. I've had 2 other Jeeps easily lasting 7-8 years – a 1977 Grand Cherokee LTD and a 1994 Grand Cherokee LTD – with 350,000+ miles on each, which didn't cause this kind of grief, and driven by me much harder than this one has been. I got the service app't changed from Friday at 8am to Thursday at 9am.
Dad was in to pay some bills, get the mail and left by 11am; Steffi was off and Kim and I were there taking care of 3-4 retail customers. It's just too hot and dry to do much, if any, new planting these days and weeks, and much of York-Lancaster-Adams-Baltimore-Harford Counties are on vacation, "at the shore" in July & August, so retail traffic is very slow. I reviewed, edited and OK'd a list of perennials for purchse/delivery from Quality GHs in nearby Dillsburg, a wholesale grower. These will help fill-out our GHs, but I'm not ordering-in any more nursery stock for the upcoming Fall Sale or landscape jobs; we'll have to use-up what we have to deplete inventory for Winter storage, so I can order fresh merchandise for Spring. I worked on Landscape Billing, Estimates, Estimate Revisions and HICPA Contracts all-day and could have used another 3-4hrs to get it all done, by the time I quit at 3pm. It was 91°F and very humid when I closed at 3:45, after an old customer came-in to buy some parts for repairing his Drip Irrigation System, which he'd carelessly cut with a shovel. Tsk, tsk.
Rich stopped by with 3 new/revised LSCP design plans, and my Condo Ass'n president did also to inform me that the Board wasn't going to reimburse me for the $250 deductible for my Homeowner's Ins Policy, for the large, broken/shattered Sunroom Window, back in June. Screw it; I knew that was coming. I called it an early night around 8pm, tired of the day's BS.
Up at 3:30am, I fed and watered Murphy, made breakfast and coffee, scanned the weather and news sites on the Net, and it looked a semi-rainy day coming. We could sure use the rainfall, whatever it amounts to, in this hard-as-concrete, parched ground. I opened-up the Complex at 5:20am, and stood-up laid-down 2-30 pieces of containerized nursery stock. Many Jap Maples and most of our Heritage-River Birches in 30-40gal pots were burnt from the heat and lack of enough water. 30,000+ gallons/ day just isn't enough, it appears from the 3 of 8 wells. I'll have to increase it to 40,000 gals/ day. I turned-on the watering systems, and went back inside to do paperwork, wait until it got light outside and for Alan & Arthur arrive to finish the LSCP Job in nearby Fawn Grove. Jon was out today; Steffi was in.
Major-league bummer: the day's pending and promising, all-day rainstorm fell apart as soon as it hit western York County, giving us only a "few paltry drops" of rain – I counted 35 on my Jeep's windshield – not even enough to wet the Display Gardens' mulch. We can't catch a break, here.
After a frustrating day of Landscape Estimate revisions, complicated invoicing from a just-completed job (hat-tip to Steffi for helping me through it), and 2 new Landscape Estimates, I called it quits at 3pm. New Irritrol Irrigation Controllers arrived via UPS Overnight and more motherboards are on-order, so we can update and replace the older existing units with easier-to-program/run models for the Nursery Areas. I keep them in my Office as spares and give Alan what he needs for hardware replacement(s). Knit ties – 5 new; making my total now 54! – and DVDs (Tom Selleck) arrived USPS for me. I was home by 4:30, after running a few errands, fed & watered Murphy, received emails with more Landscape Estimate changes from Rich, and hit the sack around 8pm. All-in-all, the day sucked, and I was just happy to be asleep (unconscious) for 7-8 hours and forget about it.
Up at 3am again, it was already 70°F and very, very humid outside. I fed & watered Murphy, made fresh-squeezed OJ, breakfast and coffee, and left at 4:45 to get more coffee at Sheetz®, and get into work to sort-out and begin working on all of the Landscape Estimate "revisions" mess, which Rich had sent me last evening. Dammit, I hate having to do stuff 2-3x! I corrected one estimate with an error of his – for not including the 25% US Military Discount – and sent it back via email, and couldn't start on the "large plan revision mess", since I had 2 plans and didn't know which one was the "operative one" to use. I'd have to wait for his call/ email back before I started.
Alan was in at 6:30 to review today's several minor jobs and deliveries, and tomorrow's LSCP Job with me. Because of so many trees "burning-up in the heat and sun", we'll now have to use upside-down black nursery pots to mark their place, so that when they defoliate and re-leaf-out, we can return to the Customer's home and finally install them. Nothing else I can do, at this point, since I'm not in charge of the weather; Mother Nature is.
Holy moly! The DJIA's down -372 points today at 1:15pm! At 2:05pm, I just heard on WSBA-910am that the DJIA was "down only -232 points"; at 3:37pm, it was down a mere -402 points and it closed at -512.46 points, for the day. Has the American "Archduke Ferdinand Moment" arrived? This isn't all the US; it's global as well. I'm loading .308cal and .223cal mags as I write this.
The “Virtual Cabin” – A Novella
After hitting I-83 north and getting-off at the Dauphin County exit for quaint old village of Adam's Junction, I drove down the creekside, two-lane road off I-83 under the canopy of large trees to The Cabin's long 1,000ft, crushed stone gravel driveway and turned-in. It was 16:15hrs (4:15pm). I'd called ahead this morning to Randy, my Cabin & Jenny-sitter, to stand-down for the rest of the weekend, but his brand-new $60,000 pick-up was parked in my driveway near the front porch, with the driver's door wide open. I stopped about 400ft from The Cabin, and used my 8x20mm Single Lens Spy Scope from my Satchel Bag, to see what was going on way-up on the porch area. He lay face-down on the front deck, in a pool of blood. Oh shit!
I parked the my Jeep, jumped-out and grabbed my Full-Auto, Class III AR-10® .308cal (7.62 x 51mm NATO) from its carrying bag in the rear cargo compartment, plus 3 extra 20-round mags, loaded 1 and chambered a .308cal round, called the Police Dispatcher on my cellphone and requested immediate back-up with multiple-ambulance/ EMT medical help, and dialed-in the Leupold Gold Dot Mark 4 CQ/T Scope on The Cabin. Two men with sawed-off shotguns rounded the corner of the porch. They weren't good guys and one of them spit at Randy's lifeless body and both raised their shotguns and pointed them towards me. At 400+yds, sawed-off scatterguns are worthless, even if they were firing 12ga Shotgun Sabots (Slugs) for fully-rifled barrels only. I fired twice in rapid succession and hit both in the Sniper's Triangle, killing them instantly. They now laid in expanding pools of blood on the deck.
I unholstered my Kimber 1911 "Eclipse Target II" .45cal ACP and Galco Dual 8-Round Mag Carrier for my Kimber on my belt, chambered a 230gr round and ran as fast as I could toward Randy on the deck, keeping the .45cal pointed at the scene, in case someone else popped-out unexpectedly from somewhere. I set the AR-10 down at the porch steps, unchambered its round, dropped-out the mag and put it under the steps with the extra 2 mags I'd grabbed, so the rifle would be worthless as a weapon to anyone else, checked Randy's neck for a pulse – he was dead and his blood on the deck was starting to dry –and crept around the deck to the back porch. The back door and all back and side windows were intact, so I went back to Randy and the two "alleged" murderers. I secured their weapons, went through their pockets for ID and found their wallets, large amounts of cash and baggies of white powder: Joe and Benny Holtzapple. Natch; more Holtzapples in the local drug business. I checked their necks for pulses; none. I laid their IDs and cash alongside each. I went through Randy's pockets, too; same thing with lots of cash and some small ZipLoc® bags of meth or coke.
I debated, for 3-4 seconds, whether or not to rid him of that evidence, so his father and my friend, Roy, wouldn't know about it. But that would be a felony – tampering with evidence, and possibily other felonies – and I wasn't going to go there. "Sorry you had to get mixed-up in this shit, Randy", I said under my breath. The State Lab would have to sort all of that stuff out, as it was "above my pay-grade", now. I laid all his belongings next to him and went over to his truck. There was a cardboard box on the passenger's floor, full of scores of bottles of Hydracodone®, Oxycodone® and Oxycontin®, plus many more small bags of white powder and large wads of cash. I heard multiple sirens coming down the road, at last.
I sprinted to my Jeep and quickly-pulled it on to the grass, so the 3 AJ Police Dep't Cruisers and 2 Memorial Hospital ambulances could get by me, and then followed them up to The Cabin in the Jeep, now parking on The Cabin's left-side, at the Winter carport by the side door. Capt Clay, the Deputies and medics were all over the porch, deck and the trucks, doing what they needed to do. I disarmed the building, went in and didn't see Jenny, anywhere, and called her. Then I searched all the rooms and closets, and found her hiding under the Master BR's King-Sized Bed, quite freaked-out by all the yelling, screaming, gunfire and final absolute silence. She was shivering and I gave her a great big hug and rubdown, as Capt Clay, Deputies Tim, Alex and Jon came in to talk to me, after securing the crime scene on the deck. It was nearly 5pm.
After feeding & watering Jenny, we all sat down in the Living Room, and I recounted in detail what had happened, into two recorders; no more "hand-written reports". Now, there'd be both an audio and computer-generated transcript of all Police matters, for the Official Records, thereby eliminating any possibilities of errors or "misstatements of fact" by witnesses and perps. Or by me, for that matter. So I recounted it all in excruciating detail, leaving-out nothing. Clay asked if I had Deputy Sheriff Badge & ID, on me, and I did; he said I'd need it very soon, but since it was "an officially-justified shooting", there shouldn't be any problems.
I heard more cars coming-up the driveway; 4 unmarked PA State Bureau of Narcotics Investigation squad cars. The meadow looked like a parking lot. I invited the 8 of them inside. Suddenly, The Cabin got much smaller than when it was with just Jenny and me, with all those people in there, and I spent 25-30 minutes with the State Police Unit, answering their many questions, also into recorders for later computer transcription. Then they left with the evidence carefully-catalogued and the AJPD left in-charge of the bodies. Shit, I hadn't even brought my weapons or gear inside yet, unpacked, showered or changed into fresh clothes and it was already a 3-ring circus here. I'd barely gotten the dog fed. I could tell it wasn't going to be a peaceful weekend, as I'd hoped.
On this weekend's visit, "The Virtual Cabin" wasn't so peaceful or all that worth "escaping to", since a long-time friend's son had been mixed-up in something he shouldn't have been, and had paid the ultimate price with his young life. It was a sad weekend which I'll not soon forget.Clay called Roy's Shell Garage & Service Station, Randy's father, told him what happened and requested two tow trucks to remove the pick-ups from my 43-acre property. Roy drove one out himself, saw where his son had been murdered, and towed the new pick-up back to the AJPD, which was then officially-impounded by PA State Police BNI for evidence and prints in the crime. The other truck also went directly to the AJPD's impound yard, with both under padlock and inside the barbed-wire, fenced-off area. The ambulance had already "tagged & bagged" the 3 men, and taken them to the Coroner's Office & Morgue. Roy drove there to ID his son, who'd taken at least one sawed-off 12ga blast in the chest, and died almost instantly as he bled-out on my deck.
Meanwhile, after 100+ pics were taken of the scene, Deputy Tim hosed-off the porch and deck's blood, which was easy since I'd had it refinished and clear-seal-coated just last Fall, in preparation for a possible bad Winter, which we'd definitely had. Capt Clay helped me carry-in my weapons and gear and asked if I'd want to stay at his Family's house for the weekend, instead of here. I thanked him for the kind offer, but I wanted to find that meth/coke lab, and wreak "absolute hell & havoc" on it and its occupants. He warned me about becoming a "Loner Vigilante" and any unprovoked killing without the proper evidence and court-issued warrants, but that went in one ear and out the other. He reminded me that this wasn't 1968, VietNam, I wasn't a Green Beret or Sniper anymore and that I should call him anytime if I had any thoughts along "those lines". I thanked him again for the advice, yet was determined to "find" those who'd murdered my precious love and financee, Gabrielle, and now Roy's son, Randy, and who also had, in the past year-plus, tried many times to kill me over all that gold I'd discovered in the creek, just below my 4-acre meadow.
I remember hearing that "Revenge is a dish best served cold", in a long-past Star Trek II: "The Wrath of Kahn" Movie, in 1982. I would *one day soon have my revenge* for both Gabrielle's and Randy's murders, and that "someday" wouldn't be soon enough for me.
After everyone had left, I slumped-wearily in one of the LR's comfy chairs, petted Jenny, who wasn't too interested in her Kodiak Bearskin today, and decided to drive to the AJPD Station & Town Hall to get into the unmarked Police Cruiser with new, state-of-the-art everything inside, tap into the ongoing State Police investigation records to locate the 2 dead perp's pick-up truck plates and location, figuring that meth/coke lab might not be too awfully far away. It was easy-to-do, and I found that they'd suspected it was located on the western side of AJ, in the steep mountainous terrain. Apparently, 2 of the Feds' numerous UH-60L Blackhawk Choppers had already been dispatched with full contingents of 16 men each, and 6 PA-SP Unmarked Cruisers, plus numerous heavily-armed DEA and BATF units were already on their way, so I decided to back-off for now and let them handle it. Dammit; I wanted to get there first, but they were 10+ steps ahead of me with air power and much greater firepower, though I was a far, far better shot than any of them. They could "learn at my knee" about that, any day.
I closed-down the Unmarked Cruiser in Parking Space #7, and went inside Clay's newly-appointed, spacious and now, modern Police Office – yet another 3-4 "notches" up from that of last week – and chatted with him. He was having the entire AJPD re-furbished, all offices expanded, re-painted and modernized, thanks to a $1,500,000+ State/ Federal Grant. Workers, drop cloths, dry wall, partitions, expanded offices, new wires and fast computers being installed, a new ceiling and recessed lights, fresh paint etc were everywhere. New, state-of-the-art Police Cruisers with state-of-the-art-everything inside, all new communications equipment for all office and patrol personnel, 2 new vehicle impound areas, 4 new jail cells, 2 new evidence rooms, and finally IMO, many new weapons, as per *my exact list*, in a new, being-readied, specially-deigned and secured "Weapons Room". Capt Clay kept his word, as I knew he would. Those new "toys" would arrive by August 22nd, from a reliable FFL (Federal Firearms Licensed) dealer in Harrisburg (PA). And I would personally test, break-in and clean each, at my Cabin's Outdoor Shooting Range, before they were issued to Capt Clay and his Deputies.
Capt Clay had a surprise for me: a dark, navy-blue Deputy Sheriff Baseball Cap, embroidered with "Deputy Sheriff" on the front, and on the back above the adjustable strap. Just like all the other Deputies now wore. Clay wore the Sheriff Chief's Cap; natch. I wondered to myself why it didn't read, "AJPD", instead, but no matter. Right now, I was wearing my Old Straw Hat, which I always had to ditch in a firefight, since it made such an inviting target. Hells-bells, if I had known that the Dep't was so strapped for money that they couldn't afford embroidered AJPD baseball caps ($18.50ea), I'd have bought them for the Deputies, Clay and myself. No biggie. I buy dozens of embroidered caps, t-shirts and hooded-drawstring/front pocket sweatshirts for my LSCP Crew and Staff each year, through Snyder & Co, Red Lion, PA.
I drove back to The Cabin, unpacked, locked/armed the Jeep, checked the front/ rear spotlight array, locked all windows and doors, armed the building, turned the AC down to 77°F to get the heat and humidity out, finally took a shower, changed into some fresh clothes and had sit Jenny next to me on the couch, something she normally doesn't do. She was still a little "unsure" of what had happened – definitely not in either of our "normal weekend routines" for the past year – a little shaky and so I "explained it to her". I think she understood and calmed-down. It was getting dusk now at 20:00hrs (8pm), and I decided that it would be a good time to get some sleep.
After all this depressing crap today, I thought about having a Scotch, Cognac or Brandy, but since I'd given-up all alcohol on January 10th, I dismissed the idea completely. Well, almost. Instead, I laid-out everything in the Kitchen, Kitchen Table & Pantry which I would need for cooking breakfast in the morning, as well as for Jenny's needs, set the Dining Room table for myself – I hate to "fumble around" anytime I chef for Family or Friends, or just cook for myself, and want everything laid-out and accounted for in minute prep detail, per my training at CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in mid-80s –, except the perishables, and headed to bed. Jenny was right behind me at 21:00hrs (9pm).
Just like clockwork from my daily work routine in York, I was awake at 03:30hrs (3:30am) to feed & water Jenny, have a Marlboro®, and then decided to go back to sleep for a couple more hours before making a large breakfast and staying up for the rest of the day. So I slept until around 09:30hrs (9:30am), splashed some cold water on my face and began breakfast prep.
I made Fresh-Squeezed OJ, Eggs Benedict, Country-Butchered & Cured Sausage, Grits w/ Butter & Sea Salt, Pancakes w/ Butter & Vermont Maple Syrup and Turkish-Grind, French Roast, Drip Coffee in the Chemex® Drip System. After her usual Iam's® Wet & Dry Dogfood, Jenny got a fat, sliced-up country sausage and made "short-work" of it. I just wanted to go for a ride.
After doing the dishes, a load of laundry, some vacuuming, I decided to go into AJ's North Main Street area and drive through some of the residential sections, just to relax. I wore my Old Straw Hat, instead of the Deputy's Baseball Cap, because it's cooler on a hot day and I wasn't officially on-duty. I had it, my Badge & ID, and the Beowulf .50cal (the AR-10 .308cal, and Remy 11-87 12ga Semi-Auto) in the back seat of the Jeep, as I always do when I go out driving, anywhere. And of course, my Kimber 1911 .45cal ACP is always with me, as well. One never knows just what might happen.
After Randy's death yesterday, and having to kill those 2 Holtzapple scumbags who murdered him, I felt pretty bad today; even worse than usual after having to kill someone, let alone two people, even lowlife, subhuman dope dealers. I just wanted to crawl back into bed, pull the covers over my head, and go to sleep for a long, long time. But with all the scheduled and new work at the Complex back in York, I didn't have any choice in the matter. I had to return for another 5¼ days do what needed to be done. Not having taken my usual 20mg dose of Naltrexone© for 4-5 days, I had an urge to get a bottle of something, and drink myself into a stupor to forget about it all. I decided to go back on the 50mg as soon as I got back to The Cabin; I had it with me, but still hadn't taken it as prescribed. Maybe getting the craving back, after almost 7 months of sobriety, was not a good idea after all.
If you live long enough, you have regrets, and the ones that "nag" at you the most, are the ones where you knew you had a choice. The very same ones where you knew you could have stopped yourself; the very same ones where you looked into a mirror, and everything good inside yourself said, "Don't do this". It hit me like a ton of bricks.I stopped by Bev & Tony's General Store to get some Marlboros®, Turkish-Grind French Roast Coffee (fresh-ground in their grinder from aromatic beans) and a couple of 1-gal jugs of cold Ocean Spray® Diet Blueberry-Pomegranate Juice, to drink while driving and put into the 'fridge, when I got back. Because of yesterday's murder-shootings, I never got my food and personal shopping done on Saturday afternoon, as I customarily do when I come to Adam's Junction on weekends. It's a small town and word traveled fast about the incident at my place. I was planning on driving next to Roy's Shell Gas & Service Station, to talk with Roy, Randy's father and offer my condolences, but Tony said Roy had left town after ID-ing his son's body, and didn't say when he'd return for the unscheduled service and funeral. I thought that somewhat odd. I paid my bill and left.
I had my Police Scanner on and heard a "2-11 In Progress" (armed robbery) at a convenience store, just 3-4 blocks northeast of where I'd left Bev & Tony's Store, so I sped-up to get there only to find the two employees shot dead inside, near the front glass doors, with blood and tissue matter all over the place. Sawed-off 12ga shotguns will easily do that at close range, so I ran around back with the Beowulf .50cal with an EoTech Red Dot Scope, and 300gr .50cal rounds (causing massive damage to whatever it hits inside of 200yds). The perps robbers/murderers were just gone; I could still smell the rubber from their peeling tires and see the marks on the concrete parking lot. Deputies Jon and Alan showed-up first; then newly-promoted Sgt Alex arrived. They'd called for ambulances, but body bags were all that were needed now. The AJPD's Forensics Officer arrived and took charge, directing the Deputies with pictures and diagrams. The the memorial Hospital Ambulances and EMTs showed-up just minutes later. I was more interested in catching the lowlife trash who did this.
I jumped into my 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee "Laredo" and sped-off in the direction of the tire marks out of the lot, and saw a lone pick-up truck moving at a high rate of speed down through Bank & Maple Streets' intersection, just a block away, without stopping for the red light, causing 3 other cars to crash into each other to avoid the speeding truck. I followed with no lights or siren – actually glad I was in the Jeep and not in AJPD's Unmarked Cruiser – it'd be way too obvious. The truck slowed-down as it neared the outskirts of the AJ Village limits, on the north side, and pulled into a large, white farmhouse with multiple barns and out-buildings. I called back to Sgt Alex the exact location and what I thought was the truck belonging to the convenience store attendants' murderers. Capt Clay arrived and so did Deputies Tim, Jon and Alan. They took immediate charge and called-in the PA State Police for back-up. I told them that I had to get back to The Cabin, and home to York. I left the problem to them to "remedy", as I'd had enough for one weekend, being "off-duty".
I listened to the Police Scanner chatter in my Jeep, on the ride back to The Cabin, fed and watered Jenny, called Tony & Bev and reminded them to come by and take care of her and The Cabin until I could make other arrangements for a new handyman, now that Randy was gone, by next weekend, and they promised they would. I left a spare key and the alarm system lock/unlock codes with him (I can change those anytime so only I and the security company know them), while at his store, and I knew that I could trust him and Bev. I packed-up, turned-up the AC to 80°F, said goodbye to Jenny, armed the building and left for my condo in East York, south off I-83. It was good to get home and take care of my condo cat, Murphy, unpack and get ready for some well-deserved sleep. Monday morning would come all too soon for me. (Go Back Up To "Around The Garden Center".)
Things Which Make Your Head Explode
This week, the wipe-my-ass-with-it, circulation-plummeting, nearly-bankrupt "LA Slimes" newspaper commented, "The Norwegian terror attacks allegedly carried out by right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik present an opportunity for introspection for "muslim-bashers," the Times Editorial leftist wingnut Board Bored wrote Tuesday. "It is unfair to blame ideological extremists for violent actions, just as ‘tea partiers’ were unfairly blamed for allegedly inspiring the shooting of US Rep Gabrielle Giffords (d-AZ) and others in Tucson", the left-wingnut idiots on the Board Bored said. Mention the Nazi Murderer and litter the names "Tea Party", "Jihad Watch", "John's Journal", "anti-muslim", "right wing extremist'”, "muslim bashers" around the pathetic, so-called article, and you have the very leftists who created the very "muslim problem" here in America, such as 9-11, OKC Bombing, Ft Hood, Military Recruitment Center murders, mall shootings, honor killings, sharia law etc. That's five white men out how many hundreds of millions of subhuman, murderous muslim filth? Are they really trying to equate this with people that run training camps for murderous jihadists, and who raise money for jihadists, and cover for jihadists, and cheer when the jihadists kill millions of innocents? They don't even mention the fact that those five had different ideologies that are all over the map, covering the entire spectrum from left to right. What a stinking load of leftist-demokkkRAT bullshit!
So now, NASCAR Fans, all hot dogs are killers? Like cigarettes? Like my Marlboros®? You've got to be kidding me, liberal-demokkkRAT assholes! This "nanny-state", "cradle-to-grave" shit is just getting to be too much to listen to and watch. GO FUCK YOURSELVES, LIBS!
Stupid, incompetent, inept, racist, America-hating sambo, ∅&Co has passed a law which mandates and almost doubles new-car fuel economy standards (CAFE) from 35.5 mpg in 2016 to 54.5 mpg in 2025! That will completely destroy the US Auto Industry, or what's left of them. The fucking "nanny-state" marches on and on and on and on!
∅'s 50th birthday party in corrupt, liberal-demokkkRAT-controlled Chicago, is next week. I was hoping he would have dropped dead by now from natural causes, like "lead poisoning". And "Plugs" Biden, too. Tsk, tsk; too damned bad.
FUCK ramadan, pig-fucking muslims and murderous islam!
"Agenda 21" is coming and will kill 90% of American Family Farming Operations, including mine.
Yes, I use the Opera v11.5 Browser, and not the shitty/crappy/unstable/lousy IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers. You?
Ignorant, stupid, moronic, dickbreath-faggot-fuckfaces, like the "NY Slimes" Joey "Butt-Boy" Nocera, can't begin to grasp the phrase, "budget and live within your means", as we Tea Party Americans do, everyday. Hey, Joey-the-fag: start your own business instead of so-called "working" for someone who hands you a check every Friday, and see what it's like to REALLY budget, do long-range business plans, real marketing, hiring/firing employees, going without a paycheck after paying other bills first, when times are tough like NOW, caused by the corrupt lib-dem Congress and ∅bummer-sambo-boy, you ignorant liberal-demokkkRAT, drug-addicted, boyfriend-beating, alcoholic asshole!
Free cellphones and 250 free minutes/ month of service, here in Pennsylvania, are now a "civil right" for subhuman welfare filth and scum? Where's the duct tape? My head is exploding! Fuck that bullshit; get a couple of JOBS and earn it, asshole sambos and white trash scumbags!
Are you ready for personal and family survival, when it all (soon) collapses and TSHTF?
Fuck you, asswipe commie sen Dickhead Durbin (TRAITOR-IL); I won't be "reporting any taxes" for online sales, you alcoholic, drug-addicted asshole. FUCK YOU!
It's about damned time that the corrupt, criminal, half-breed, lowlife dirtbag AG, Eric Holder, did something worthwhile. He should be in prison or executed for his crimes against America and for being an accomplice to murder.
Hey Gingrich, would you do us Conservatives a real big favor? DROP DEAD, you lying, philandering, alcoholic asshole!
Sauing that the murderous cult of islam is pigshit means I'm playing the "bigot card"? Fuck that shit. Subhuman muslims are filth, garbage and pigshit, and islam is a murderous political system which must be completely destroyed and erased from this earth! Call the that pigshit system for what it is: iSLAMIC PIGSHIT! Herman Cain caved to it – he's a wimp and I'd never vote for him, now – but I never will! I'll fight islam to the death with everything I have, which is considerable.
HEADLINE: "Where are the people of color in national parks? US has grown more diverse, but park visitors remain overwhelmingly white." Well shit, maybe "they" just don't go to National Parks? Maybe they do other things, instead.
Some People Just Need Killing
It's not my intention to be the judge here — that's God's "job" — but rather to "hasten the meeting" so that He can send the following subhuman filth to the "Fires of Hell", "River or Lake of Sulphur", or whatever He deems appropriate. I'd gladly/happily volunteer, at no cost to any of my Hard-Working, Fellow US Taxpayers, to gladly/gleefully/happily headshoot these murderous, lowlife dirtbags of all stripes — their skin-color doesn't matter to me, at all — and rid American Society's innocents (especially our precious children and the frail, defenseless elderly) of them, once-and-for-all. And yes, I'd rather see one innocent man convicted and executed, than 10 murderers/robbers/child rapists-murderers freed, to rob, rape and murder again. Hey; call me an "Old Fashioned Conservative"! Too harsh? Nah. Just & RIGHT!
Yes, I agree with the premise of this article, that "the death penalty is a Noahic Covenant with God, in a post-flood world", and America should apply it everyday to those deserving death for their crimes against society.Society's innocents — our precious, defenseless children and the frail, defenseless elderly — must be protected from predators, murderers, rapists, robbers and other subhuman filth, at all times and at any cost.
Get all of the lowlife, subhuman, pig-fucking muslim filth OUT of the US Military and OUT of MY COUNTRY, dammit! There's almost been a "2nd Ft Hood Massacre", and IMO, all muslim shitscum, dirtbag filth and stinking islamic garbage should be deported DEAD TO HELL! Shoot all of them, bury them face down in pigshit, and let pigs roam, piss and shit on their mass graves. islam is the enemy!
I shit on the unholy koran!
Someone, anyone, please KILL THIS MURDEROUS, PIG-FUCKING, SUBHUMAN mUSLIM PIECE-OF-PIGSHIT, Major Nidal Hasan, accused of the 2009 mass shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and dozens badly wounded, and who has retained his military rank and continues to get paychecks from the government! KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM! If I could get the shot, I'D KILL HIM in a heartbeat!
No "life in prison" for Abdulhakim Muhammad: DEATH FOR HIM!, the islamic murderer of 2 US Soldiers at an Arkansas Recruiting Station in June, 2009! KILL the subhuman muslim trash! I shit and piss of the un-holy koran!
Best account yet on US Navy SEAL TEAM 6's killing of the subhuman muslim, al-Queerda islamic garbage, bin Laden filth. Rot in hell, binnie-boy pig-fucker!
Shoot and kill all of this feral subhuman "flash mob" shit! KILL THEM ALL! Reason #1 why I Carry Concealed (PA-CCW 1990) a Kimber 1911 "Eclipse Target II" .45cal ACP, in a Galco FED Holster for 5" Kimber .45cal, with a Galco Dual 8-Round Mag Carrier for my Kimber .45cal! Dead feral sambo punks; end of problem.
We have now reached passed the "point of no return" with the subhuman, commie, hate-America leftists; it's now time to start KILLING THEM on-sight, IMO!
I love a "home invasion story" with a happy ending. Starts my day off nicely, thankyouverymuch.
No, the filth called islam cannot be reformed; it must be totally-destroyed and completely-removed from the face of this earth! No muslim must be left alive, anywhere, if this world is to prosper. Anything to do with islam is stinking pigshit: destruction and death. I wipe a dead pig's ass with the koran and all subhuman, pig-fucking muslim trash.
No, Johnson Aziga can't be trusted to reveal he's HIV-positive; KILL HIM and all subhuman garbage like him, who knowingly pass it on to their sexual partners!
Boston Newspaper Story: "The MBTA has been forced to rehire seven drivers and other key employees after they were fired for offenses ranging from dozing at the wheel due to drug use, child rape, and assaulting and making bizarre threats of violence against co-workers – after bureaucratic arbitrators overturned their dismissals on technicalities." I say, KILL THEM ALL! FUCK the unions; KILL THEM TOO! Clean-out the liberal-commie subhuman union filth! KILL THEM!
After reading "this official view" of US Rep Gabrielle "Broken Head" Giffords (MURDERESS-AZ), I'm now very sorry that she wasn't outright killed in that January head-shooting incident by the left-wing, lib-dem, nut-case, Loughner.
