Just got off the phone with Eric Draven of Draven Industries (by the way, do not use satphones in areas where they are overkill, the damn thing sounds like an echo chamber). He's considering some ways to increase production, but in his area, that means huge expense. He has been looking at tax and LLC laws in various states and some other stuff that I ignored since I ride Harleys, shoot guns and drink a lot.

During the conversation where he is driving 100% on CNC machines and manufacturing capacity and staffing requirements (what are those? You ask some motorcycle club members to help and they do...), I was making a drink and trying to figure out why this Toughbook just fried my old cell phone. That means the word "Harley" didn't come up and I didn't have to listen. But, he screwed up my drink and made me lose my lack of train of thought by mentioning my little cutie, Taka . [Thanks brother, I wanted an entire glass of Jim Beam since I forgot where I was when you mentioned her]. Now I'm listening....

Seems she's been run over with orders {I got a couple for her.... they start with a ride on my new 100 HP Softail} and with a possible change in location,  it's kind of order now or wait nine months. I told Eric that was understandable, since moving tooling and equipment meant shut down time. Then we talk about a photo she sent me regarding a new "project." Hell yes I am in. She does great work and she deserves to have a great - I digress. So, if you need anything from Taka, better order now or it will be a long dry spell as everything gets freighted someplace else.

For some odd reason, my offer to take care of Taka out here while he moves all his stuff seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I told him I did not have a thing to do except ride her around on a new bike, buy her drinks and let her play with my Katana. But, there is hope yet for this old guy. I have her personal cell number.

Since it's Sunday and since I am a Reverend (from the same church that ordained Billy Gibbons, so no need to hide your drinks...), today's sermon is on assumption. From some movie: "Assumption is the mother of all f***ups." Yes, it is. I was talking last Thursday with a guy who owns a company that's been awarded numerous times for its quality. He has also shot everything that walks or crawls. We were going over information - like what does a person need to know to buy something or use something. Easy enough, right? Wrong. It isn't because he and I know "stuff," it's that we don't realize that someone else is not working with our knowledge base. Then, when that person cannot do the task, or gets hurt, we figure that person is just stupid. It ain't he or she who is stupid, it's me or him. That is the assumption. Some examples:

My ex's boyfriend Bo was asking me about how to start up her Softail Harley. [Ok, in drama class, we are all supposed to hate everybody so life is full of crap. Sorry, won't work with us. She and I can't live together but we are friends and she picked out a great guy to be with.] I tell him the usual start procedure and how it will puke oil since it sat so long, etc. I'm over there yesterday and he says it runs but just for a few seconds and dies. I fire it right up. Oh, I'm the cool guy biker, right? Hell, no. I am sitting there with my thumb hooked on the choke, holding the knob out. I realize I never told him that I set it up so you have to hold the knob out manually. Hey, I knew it, shouldn't he? I tell him that I set the choke so you'd have to manually hold it out or, if it stays open, the engine ends up running too rich and the plugs get fouled. My error, not his. Think about how often you think somebody else just can't do something, then think about whether you gave them enough information to do it in the first place.

So, when Bo, who is an ace shot with modern guns, asked me about shooting black powder cartridge rifles, I thought "I know how, but can I teach how?" No. I can't. I've asked the guy in the first paragraph who owns the company that got all the awards to come teach a class. He taught me, so he can teach. Yes, I've heard "those who can't do, teach" but he is not one of those people. Consider whether you can relay enough information to others when you say you can teach.

Anne asked about guns. I've never met her. She's never had a gun and wants one so she can shoot bad guys if she needs to do that. The responses to her question were typical: get a snub nose 38 revolver or a shotgun. Bullshit and bullshit. A little 38 revolver is about the worst fighting tool there is. I'd rather have a Katana but wouldn't suggest a sword for a beginner (or me. Sorry, Stephanie [my girlfriend], I'll fix the fan and the light fixture. And the ceiling. Anyway...the three bears theme - too big too little, just right [or not])

And a shotgun does not spray buckshot in a six-foot circle, despite the gun expert assholes who tell you that. Shotguns are very specialized fighting tools. They are also big and heavy. I told Anne to get a Glock 19. It won't run out of ammo when life gets "real western." It is a breeze to shoot, you can't hurt it and makes a fine beating tool if needed. In this situation, I didn't assume. I know because I can teach this stuff. But, doesn't mean I am not an idiot as the next example will show.

Anne also asked about locks since she said she was afraid somebody was trying to get in. My answer was alarms if she could afford them, drill holes for nails in the windows, get those Master company door wedges - the white adjustable pipes with a hook for the door knob. She already has dogs. I am assuming somebody is trying to break in and get her stuff. My bad. Later on, I see a photo of Anne, who looks like Penthouse and Playboy fight over who gets her photos next month. Mr. Gangboy Prick isn't trying to break in and steal stuff, he wants her. A quick email to her about "wedge chairs against the doors, get door bars, go to my friend D and borrow a Glock until I can give you some lessons on shooting [Hey, this is firearms shooting lessons - don't want Stephanie to shoot me with her very nice HK P7M13, so no "lessons' on what I'd like to do with Anne]. Oh, and Anne has no idea she looks like she does - stunning women sometimes don't which means they are really in trouble (for the hot ones who do know, you can already take care of yourselves). What if she'd been hurt during the delay while I assumed it was thieves rather than rapists? Think, consider, think, work through it in your mind, ask others. I ask Stephanie all the time: "will this work, what am I missing, can you do the task based on what I have told you?"

"Assumption is the mother of all f***ups." That doesn't mean they screwed up, perhaps you did when you didn't give them enough information. Don't make it so they get dead due to the information you neglected to give them.
Thank you and God Bless.
The Reverend David

I accidentally learned a valuable lesson this evening. And, it ties directly to what Mac G. wrote here at Death Valley Magazine. I have an attorney, he wrote up some papers for me, looked fine, I signed them. End of story, I thought. First error on my part. I did the usual, I trusted someone I paid to get things right. First lesson - trust yourself. Not others, even if you are paying them.      

I later hear that there were some minor changes to the papers. Fine, agreed. But, the papers are not quite where I thought they would be (back at my attorney). No problem, everybody on the other side is working overtime on this deal. But, something wasn't "right" in my head [of course something's not right in my head, but that's another story]. I get the paperwork out and start looking it over. An hour and a half later - crap, there's an almost $60K difference in what's listed and what should be listed. Why did I miss such a glaring error? First, I was distracted by some $300 change. Second, I trusted that someone I was paying would not make errors. Third, I didn't listen to what Mac G. wrote about a "sixth sense." I felt it but dismissed it. That alarm feeling you get when something isn't right but you don't know what. So, you play Mr. Logical and ignore it.

That's the stuff that will get you dead in a gunfight and get you financially ruined in the world. No matter what you are paying whoever, from doctors to lawyers to accountants to anybody, if you just feel like it ain't right - it ain't. Instinct (from thousands of years of being human) will get you alerted if you are smart enough to listen to it. I finally listened to me with some doctors and now I will listen to me with lawyers. Please don't make the mistake I almost made this evening. If it just doesn't feel right, it's not.

Update: my personal attorney fixed the problem, so no problem. But, that doesn't mean that we should not listen to our instincts...

I am sticking this out here so I will have a place to send people as I often get asked what's needed to reload ammunition. Rather than some long bunch of instructions, or multiple different choices on what to buy, I stick with this stuff - no matter how advanced you get or when you start buying big Dillon progressive reloading presses, you will still use everything in this kit, so it's what you buy first:
Lyman T-Mag 2 turret press kit

It's got a manual beam scale, a little case trimmer and a bunch of hand tools you'll need plus a reloading manual. Lyman dies work best with lead bullets and their reloading manual reflects that so there are a lot of good load choices. The turret on top of the press lets you stick six dies in it and leave the dies adjusted, always handy - and if you reload for black powder cartridge rifles, you often end up needing all six holes for the various black powder dies, etc. The kit has Lyman's old reliable powder measure (though don't use it with black powder, they make another one that's non-sparking). You can get the kit with an electronic scale for maybe $20 more, but the scale is cheap and it pretty much sucks. The manual balance scale will do fine. Figure low $300 range for the kit.

Next is dies for whatever caliber. Dies are for the most part caliber specific. If you get Lee dies, they come with a shellholder. Everybody else, you have to get the shellholder separately. Lee dies are inexpensive and they work, but are not cut to the super tolerances of say Redding dies. What I did was bought Lyman's shellholder set so I generally have a shellholder that will work with whatever cartridge. Lee dies are around $25 for a set, Redding are maybe twice that. Grab a dial caliper someplace, that's to measure cartridge overall length and is just good for lots of things.

Then, I figure you have empty brass from the loaded factory cartridges that you've shot up — that's where a lot of the cost of a cartridge is — the brass. Buy some bullets (the reloading manual will list bullet weights and diameters), smokeless powder (again, what the load manual says) and whatever size primers. Some guns are somewhat bullet specific, like it's not too wise to shoot lead bullets in a Glock with a factory barrel, the Glock's rifling will pick up lead off the bullets and that can cause pressures in the barrel to go up. Not good. So, plated or jacketed bullets for Glocks. I run plated or jacketed in all automatics anyway, and pretty much all lead in revolvers.

The load manual has how you reload. It is a lot easier than some would have you believe, because I think the process of reloading is considered kind of an "expert's" thing — that's because the "experts" want the label expert, rather than just tell you that you'll be punching out the used primer, resizing the brass case, putting in a new primer and powder, pushing the bullet into the case and crimping the case around the bullet so the bullet stays where you put it. Everything else is extra. The extras will add to accuracy and other things, but the basic steps remain. If I can reload all the calibers that I used to play with, it can't be that hard. Pretty quickly, the cost savings over factory ammo will pay for the Lyman kit and dies. But, reloading really isn't a money saving endeavor. Everybody I know just ends up shooting a lot more since it will be much cheaper to shoot reloaded ammo. And that's fine, what's wrong with more shooting?

Basic beginning reloading:
Lyman T-Mag 2 turret press kit
Reloading dies and shellholder in whatever caliber
Dial calipers
Brass
Bullets
Powder
Primers
and then go shooting —-