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Congratulations Ohio pards!

Our sincerest condolences Widder on your loss. Prayers up for you and family. Eyesa & Ellie

$2100 is a lot for a lever gun. I think that’s going to be its demise!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Moma. Prayers for you and your family

I have tried to follow Mike pretty much since he started writing. Too many magazines were fools to let him get away from them. He and his writings will be missed.

Lord Father. You have all of our days numbered. You have every hair on our head accounted for in every tier wipe dry. Father we ask you to put your cloak of protection over Mike . Father walk with him down this narrow path and guide his steps to you. Lord be with Mike's Family and friends during these trying times . It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen .

I met the family yesterday, what a wonderful group. I was talking more about the pesky kids we call Sidekick and his sidekick Lefty or is it Lefty and his sidekick Sidekick. Cant remember, seems like a lot of Crown disappears when they are around. Seem TN State is a pretty good draw this year, last night the folks at the campground came from Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Georgia, and Kid Rich dropped by for a short visit so another for Arizona. Glad Dixie and Reno showed up last night so TN would be represented. Lets see how this goes starting tonight.

I'm opening a tab at the Saloon for all to Drink too Outlaw Gambler. One of us who is a little overwhelmed at the moment with life . Taking care of his beloved wife , and running a Cowboy business supporting others . Cheers to a good Man ! May God bless all of your days . Keep that smile on your face & your friendly spirit. Rooster

For What It’s Worth

Mary Ann email

Mike Venturino was the Skeeter Skelton of this era, and that’s about the best compliment I can give a writer.

Send in the Clowns!!

Adulthood

Thanks!! We now return you to your regularly scheduled program! FRIENDS!!

EAU DE PAYNE Jacob Keller lay on his back on the rocky ground. Jacob Keller looked up at the deep blue sky. Jacob Keller hurt to bad to move. Jacob Keller rode a good horse, a steady and reliable horse, a horse he'd trained, that he'd trusted, that he'd relied on and depended on, and he'd forgotten ... ... sometimes a horse will shy, startle and panic. Jacob parted company from his saddle of a sudden. Jacob landed flat on his back, and he didn't land gently, and once he hit -- by his reckoning he hit hard enough to shiver the granite mountains themselves -- why, he just laid there for quite a long while, gathering enough gumption to try and move. He had no idea where his horse got off to. Whatever shied him was likely still around. Jacob took a long breath, listened: he laid there, unmoving, until he was satisfied nothing was close by that might want to take a bite out of his carcass. Jacob took a long breath, sat up. He regretted the move, but clenched his jaw and moved anyway. He rolled over, looked around. Birds he heard, wind ... a horse's hoof, likely his own mount. He rose up on elbows and knees, refusing to surrender to the pain: he rocked back, rose, looking around. Jacob stood, carefully, slowly, willing himself upright. It still hurt to breathe, but breathe he did, and deeply: Jacob was a contrary and hard headed sort, just like his pale eyed Pa, and when something didn't want to work, Jacob made it work, simply because he was so strong willed -- whether it was a recalcitrant tool, a chunk that didn't want split into kindling wood, or his own body. Jacob looked around, eyes busy, turning slowly, listening. Nothing. He studied the ground. Apple's hooves went that-a-way, he thought. Likely the rest of him did too. He smiled a little, remembering his Pa saying that one time, when they were tracking another of the spotty horses that got out and decided to take a gander at more countryside than usual. Let's do this the easy way. Jacob made a kissing noise, pulled out his plug of molasses twist tobacker and shaved some thick curls off it. He smiled a little at the sound of approaching hooves. Apple-horse bribed as readily as a politician, and it wasn't the first time Jacob used that tendency to his advantage. Jacob Keller set his boot up on the brass foot rail. His coat showed signs of having been engaged in some vigorous activity; it was not torn, but its back appeared dustier than its usual immaculate self, as if it had been briskly hand-brushed and swatted to knock off the excess. "Mr. Baxter," he said quietly, as was his habit, "might I trouble you for a good slug of medicinal alcohol?" Mr. Baxter gave Jacob a concerned look, then turned, pulled down a dusty bottle from the top shelf. "Been saving this," he said quietly, setting out a broad, squat glass that held a deceptively generous volume: "looks like you need it." Jacob slid a coin across the gleaming bar, thanked the pomaded barkeep quietly, raised the libation and drank it like water. Mr. Baxter polished a mug, watched the lean-waisted deputy set the glass silently back on the bar. "Might a man inquire what happened?" he said, leaning confidentially closer. Jacob twisted his hips a little, grimaced. "Mr. Baxter," he said, "do you recall that drummer that come around a week or so ago, sellin' those par-fumes an' such-like?" Mr. Baxter nodded solemnly. "I do recall," he said quietly. "He called 'em Eau this an' Eau that an' Eau de Cologne an' a few other fancy words." "Yes, I recall that too." Jacob smiled with half his mouth. "I reckon after fallin' off m' horse, I'd ought to get m'self some of that good smellin' stuff." Mr. Baxter waited. Jacob grinned, slid the empty glass back across the bar, straightened his back: Mr. Baxter saw the discomfort in Jacob's pale eyes, though he gave no other indication of his discomfort. "I reckon I'll be wearin' that new men's cologne," he said solemnly. "Eau de Payne."

Interesting that one lawyer kept emphasizing to go, 'cash only, no paperwork,' for private sales. That might work to end the government's ability to trace a gun, but wouldn't saying that to an undercover ATF agent put someone ON their radar? And if you had possession of a gun that had been used in a crime, doesn't it put the pressure on you to clear yourself? I think I had an encounter with an undercover ATF agent back in the first big ammo drought. I ran into a guy at the gun counter in a Walmart (checking what they had on the shelves) and in talking mentioned that I reloaded .380. He started trying to buy however much I could reload. When I told him I couldn't sell reloads he said it wasn't a problem, upped his offer to a ridiculous amount, and started following me around the store, pestering me to sell the ammo. I'd already spotted his carry gun under his jacket, and when I asked him for his badge he did a 180 and headed for the door, climbed into a plain black sedan parked in the 'Reserved for Law Enforcement' spot, and split.

BEAT it

When I was a kid Dad always said to open the windows on the side of the house/car away from the tornado to 'equalize the pressure' and keep the house/car from exploding. I think that's been kinda debunked now. But I did find it interesting the screamer kept hollering at someone to 'get inside the car'.

My son wrote a couple songs with her. They were on her first album. She’s the real deal. Talented gal, good lookin too!

Prayers for you and yours; very sorry for your loss.

I'm rereading DaVinci. The church where it is supposedly buried - it says that Baudelaire was baptized here. That name sounded vaguely familiar, so I looked him up. He was a poet and painter. The wiki article had a picture of his cenotaph. So I look that up. That's an empty grave. Like a monument. The guy's buried over there but we put a grave over here also. In the article about them, they have a picture of Captain Huddy's, in New Jersey. Well who the heck was Captain Huddy? This leads me to Yorktown. I knew of Cornwallis surrendering at Yorktown. I thought that was the end of the war. The war lasted for another two years. Huh. American history class didn't teach as well as it could have. Captain Huddy was in command at a salt works. He was captured. Apparently a bunch of colonials captured a tory and had him run the gauntlet. Afterwards his body showed evidence of torture, including one eye gouged out and one arm lopped off. A Tory officer named Lippincott took Captain Huddy from prison - supposedly for a prisoner exchange. Instead they hanged him. Leaving a note on his body saying that the hanging was in retaliation for the torture / murder of the other guy. Who happened to have been Lippincott's brother-in-law. This happened after the surrender at Yorktown. Washington was pissed. He told the British they needed to punish Lippincott. The British said that he was not a soldier, and therefore they had no authority over him. Washington got together with some of his advisors and came up with a solution. They had the captured British officers draw lots, and the short straw, Captain Charles Asgil, was to be hanged unless the British punished Lippincott. This, by the way, does not sound like something you would expect the hero of the war and the father of our country to do. That didn't happen. The French got involved. Asgil's wife and his mother petitioned the king of France to step on them pesky colonials and make them act like rational human beings. Mrs Huddy said not to do it, because he had nothing to do with the murder of her husband. And it was a clear violation of the Articles of Capitulation, which both Cornwallis and Washington had signed, saying that British officers would be treated as prisoners of war. After the war was finally over, 2 years later, Lippincott went to Canada, where he was presented with 3,000 acres of land and appreciation for his service to the crown. All that because I wanted to know why the name Baudelaire sounded familiar.

email 1. I try to cut down on pointless annoying alerts on the phone. 2. I can set up filters to ditch the ones I really don't care about, and shunt ones I might care about into a folder for review at my convenience. 3. Every now and then I might check one to see what they've got. 4. I can block delete a bunch of emails faster than texts. 5. I don't get things that might be truly important mixed in with BS messages. 6. I try to keep texts for either personal comms or 'right now' issues -- not some BS ad.

Remember this is Rocket Science

A few states allow entity claimants -- form a corporation, let the corporate veil protect the identity of the actual winner. Most states prohibit entity claimants, and the lottery corporation publicizes winners (especially BIG winners) to draw in more suckers players. Once the word gets out, it spreads.