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I was having a really good day at the Inland Fish and Game range today. I shot about six 10-round strings of fire, slow fire standing, for practice.

I was shooting a point above average, a few 97s, a couple 96s, and a nice 99-3x that was a basically a clean string until the last (10th) shot:

I decide to call it quits for the day so I go out and grab my targets and on my way back, some guy who I’ve seen at the range before and his son or grandson were sitting at a firing point just lounging on the chairs at the firing bench. Just for reference, the firing line has a red line, and you’re supposed to be behind it during ceasefire conditions.

So as I’m walking back and still in the firing area, I get within earshot of the firing line I yell out the words to get off the firing line. The guy just sits there and I yell out the command again. I’m continuing walking and I yell out to get off the firing line a third time and finally the range officer gets on the loudspeaker to give a general announcement to drop all firearms and get behind the red line (because of the ceasefire). The person in question and the child with him finally get up from the shooting bench and get behind the red line.

A few minutes later as firing resumes, the man walks over and literally asks me what I was ‘motor-mouthing’ about. I told him that I was telling him that he needed to get off the firing line and get behind the red line. Then he proceeds to argue that he didn’t have any ‘weapons’ on the bench and therefore, it was fine for him to be sitting there. I countered that the presence of firearms is irrelevant and that all persons are supposed to remain behind the red line during a general ceasefire condition. He then proceeds to argue with me and tell me to stay ‘fucking cool’. At that point he pretty much pissed me off because he was basically saying that he didn’t care for me telling him that he’s not following the range safety rules. He obviously knew that the rule existed, but that he didn’t care. If he didn’t know the rule existed, he wouldn’t have tried to argue with me about how not having ‘weapons’ on the bench exempted him from not having to stay behind the red line.

Also, his use of profanity to tell me to essentially to let him go about his business basically got me boiling since I didn’t speak to him in a profane or condescending manner.

What is more disappointing about this person is that he had a young child with him, either a son or grandson. This guy should be setting a good example, but instead, he’s basically teaching this child that it’s fine to violate range safety rules when you think it’s safe to do so.

The next time I run into this guy at the range, and I’m sure I will soon, I’m probably going to end up getting into an argument with him again. I’m 99% sure he’ll commit some sort of range safety violation and I always tell people about it when they’re doing it.

The fact of the matter is that there are range safety rules. If you are in the act of violating one, if someone sees you, whether it be the range officer or another range patron, they’re going to tell you that you are in violation of it.

This is the most heated Presidential races in my lifetime, and will probably be the most heated I’ll ever see.

Most of my friends and colleagues at work are Democrats and/or liberal and the amount of trash talking towards the Republican party and the promotion of Obama is non-stop.

But for the most part, I sit quiet and I don’t argue. Why? I just don’t care.

Yes, I probably should. But I just don’t think anything will really change if either McCain or Obama takes the White House.

Will the economy get better? Who knows? It probably will, but not because of whoever becomes President. It will simply be America as a whole collectively digging out of the bottom of the whole. The economy always has cycles of recessions and upswings. Eventually will hit the upswing and then another economic disaster will cause calamity 12-15 years down the line and we’ll be another recession. It will never end.

Will the war be over? Who knows? It probably never will be. The “War Against Terror” started long before 9/11/2001. But the scale of our active military deployment will most likely scale back no matter who becomes President in 2009. If and when we do pull out of the Middle East, I can almost guarantee there will be another strike against civilians on US soil to pull our military back into the Middle East on enemy territory. It will never end.

My shooting buddies are afraid that Obama’s election to office would lead to new harsher gun control laws. Who knows? I would say it is a 30% chance that any serious Federal level gun control laws. The “Assault Weapon Ban” in 1994 barely passed the Senate and the bill had to modified to have a sunset/expiration to even get the votes. Could they pass an even stricter and broader version of the 1994 AWB with Obama in the White House? As scary it may be, I doubt it would happen. While gun control is a volatile issue socially, it is a very sensitive political issue that many Democrats don’t want to touch.

As a registered Republican, I feel it important to say that the Republican Party is dead. If Obama does get elected President, it will definitely signal the death of the ‘traditional’ Republican Party. The hardcore right-wing Republicans can be alienating to moderate Republicans such as myself. Gay marriage? I’m not for it, but I’m not against it. Let homosexuals get married. More money for divorce lawyers. Abortion? I’m not for it, but I’m not against people having the choice to get one.

Personally, I’d like to see a third party spin-off from the Republican Party. Something that appeals to people more like me.

Anyway, come Election Day, you can be assured that I’m voting McCain-Palin. Hate me if you want. In California, it’s a moot point. It’s a symbolic vote since there’s no way McCain will win in California.

The Desert Sun newspaper needs to moderate it’s advertising placement for their online articles.

Check out this screen capture of poor taste.

After owning my first dSLR, the Canon XTi, for less than a year, I found myself desiring another body with better low-noise / high-ISO performance. The 40D has come down enough in price that I ended up ordering one on Monday and it arrived today.

I bought the kit which came with the 28-135mm IS lens, with the full intent of selling the lens.

As far my XTi is concerned, I’m still keeping it as a secondary camera during ‘photo shoots’ so I don’t have to switch lenses if my primary camera is fitted with a less than optimal lens range for the situation (i.e. 70-200mm for mid-range animal photos, but I need to take an up-close portrait or wide-angled photo).

Here are a couple more photos with the 40D outfitted with my Canon 28mm f/1.8 ‘general use’ lens.

She’s definitely got a better feel in the hands than the XTi due to the larger grip and magnesium body. I can’t wait to stretch her out. I may take her for a walk around campus tomorrow to stretch her legs.

This demonstrates how you should handle your child if [s]he ever speaks to you using ‘texting’ abbreviations:

*IDK = I don’t know
*BFF = Best friends forever