GOFWG

[DeaconKC]

Gonna grump right now. Deep freeze was supposed to be delivered yesterday, so I was at home all day waiting. Missed an old friend's funeral waiting for a delivery that never arrives. Well it arrived today with a couple of damaged spots on the box. Had to sign for it to check for damage and while that is going on the Fedex guy leaves. I took pics of the damage before opening and yup, the freezer has dents in both sides. Now it's for the garage, but I am still honked. When Lady C gets home I will see if she wants to keep it. If not, I will be fighting with Walmart/Fedex this afternoon. Yeesh.

[Blackwater 53393]

Wasn’t too bad today! I got paid last night and we went to town for a nice lunch, a little grocery shopping, and a small splurge at Midsouth Shooter’s Supply!

 

Now the crappy stuff! My pharmacy is out of my injectable medication and won’t have it until tomorrow! I don’t need it today, but one of my other meds is out, so I’ll have to do without for a day now! Won’t hurt anything! I usually skip one day a week because the buildup sometimes causes dizziness! Still makes me unhappy that they don’t keep the injectable in stock!

 

Back on the road in the morning!! Hearing aid appointment and the pharmacy.

 

I DID pick up a welding/fabrication project! Just the thing to make me get my lazy ass back out in the shop!!

[DeaconKC]

Pretty good day at work, three of us there, so we could keep ahead of everything. I work with really nice folks, so it is a good thing to go in to work at a place that is enjoyable. Redeemed a nice condition Savage 99 from layaway today, been wanting one of those since reading Roy Chapman Andrews as a kid. For those of you unfamiliar with him, he is the real life dinosaur hunter who Indiana Jones was modeled after.

[Blackwater 53393]

A couple of dreary days!! A trip to the audiologist on Thursday that was set up by runaway AI! The office was NOT expecting me, but it was a slow day and he did a free cleaning just because I was there!

 

I’ve walked into that place a dozen times in the last three years with my sidearm on my hip.  As I sat in the lobby while my hearing aids were being cleaned, I noticed a new placard on the door with the no firearms insignia!

 

When my guy returned, I asked about the sign. He said that the parent company had put it there and to just ignore it!  From what I can figure, he’s going to peel it off the next time the windows are cleaned!

 

It took two extra days for the pharmacy to get my meds in!! I went to pick them up and found out that they had dropped my alert message contact from their files!  THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN AND ORDERED MY MEDS A WEEK AGO!! 😡 Instead they had to wait until I called for them and so they were short my injectable when I was supposed to get it! 🙄

 

I DID get a new shotgun belt in the mail today. It’s a “Brass Thimble” style belt with twenty-five shell holders.  I’ll post pics when I get time.

 

I hope the weather improves tomorrow! I’m just getting to where I can get outside more and this dreary drizzle is coming at the wrong time!

 

😡GROWLGRUMPGROUSEGRUMBLE!!😡
 

Edited November 22, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Rip Snorter]

Meds - order minimum 10 days 2 weeks ahead of an empty bottle.  If it isn't dope, the pharmacy doesn't care.  Probably doesn't matter for some stuff, but you will never run out.

[Blackwater 53393]

5 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Meds - order minimum 10 days 2 weeks ahead of an empty bottle.  If it isn't dope, the pharmacy doesn't care.  Probably doesn't matter for some stuff, but you will never run out.

Doesn’t work where Medicare Advantage only pays for it when they decide you need refills!  Some of these meds are more than a couple of grand per issue!!

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

Woof!   Dad had some like that - mine are so cheap, and there are plenty of them, I just pay cash.  Part luck, part planning. Before I retired, I asked my Doc to prescribe the cheapest stuff that would do the job.  Stuck for going on 20 years with an addition or two in recent years.

[Blackwater 53393]

Unfortunately, after much research and experimentation, we found a combination of meds that work well and don’t have unwelcome side effects! THEY AIN’T CHEAP and there are no generic substitutes!!

 

If I were on a “commercial insurance” plan, these same meds would cost me $5.00 a month, but because Medicare is involved, the pharmaceutical companies won’t discount them to people on that policy.

 

If it weren’t for a grant, Schoolmarm’s cancer medication would consume our entire income for a year in three or four months!! A SINGLE MONTH of her medication retails for over $23,000.00!!

 

 

[Doc Shapiro]

Medical system sucks.  My daughter needs botox treatment for migraines every quarter.  Thankfully the first treatment covers her deductible and the company that makes it gives her a check to cover each followup, so she's only out $3000 a year.  

 

I've been grumpy for purely hobby reasons.  It's been warm and no snow.  Thankfully it looks like that will break on Monday.  Ski resort was supposed to open in a week and that's not gonna happen.  

 

Daughter called.  One of her birds bit her laptop and busted the screen.  $1100 for repair.  Screw that.  She'll get a new laptop, and it'll likely cost less than that with the seasonal sale.  Her college fund will cover it.  But still.  That's highway robbery!

 

On the upside, kids will be here on Wed.  We're really looking forward to seeing them.

[Blackwater 53393]

Had a mostly uneventful weekend! We tried a new sandwich shop over in town. The breads were great, but I wasn’t really that impressed with the portions or the variety.  For $12.00 to $16.00 a sandwich had better be huge or have outstanding flavor and quality.

 

Most of the weekend was just hanging out with the kids! My son and grandson volunteered to help hand out meals for families on Saturday.  They wound up with several left that weren’t picked up by those who had spoken for them, so Hatfield grabbed one for the neighbors next door. The lady of the house just had some serious surgery and they hadn’t had a home style meal in a few days!

 

The organizer insisted that the boys take one home themselves, so we had a pretty nice lasagna dinner Saturday night!

 

I took most of the afternoon, Sunday, and built up some more hot .45 Colt loads for my Blackhawks and ‘92 rifle.  Tedious work when you hand measure and weigh every powder charge to the .05 of a grain!  I finished them up this afternoon.  Just kinda’ worked a few and then took care of chores, worked a few more and did some laundry, and then worked the last of ‘em before supper.  Just now finished getting them all boxed up and labeled.

 

Looks like I’m gonna hafta’ rearrange the shelf where I keep the .45 Colt stuff!  With several varieties and loads and keeping them sorted where I can get to the different smokeless loads and the Black Powder and the HOT  loads separate is getting harder.

 

WELLLL! C’MON! I gotta have somethin’ ta’ GRUMP AND GRUMBLE ABOUT!!

[DeaconKC]

We had a new guy start at the gun store and today was the first time I worked with him. Young guy 25, got hurt in the Army while deployed, waiting for his partial disability to start. Really nice guy and sharp. Things have been picking up at the store the last week or so, that is good as things slowed down when Trump got elected. Got home tonight we ate then went back out and I helped my Missus with going to Walmart to help with the Thanksgiving shopping. Yeesh, my faith in humanity continues to slip every time I go there. People really should have to have an IQ test and permit to reproduce and vote...

[Doc Shapiro]

Uneventful here.  Finally cooling down and there is snow coming, which we really need.  Grocery shopping is done.  Got that "w" thing tomorrow, then a break.  Will clean the house on Wed and make chili and cornbread for when the kids get here.

[DeaconKC]

Just dropped in for a minute to say may God bless you all on this day of Thanksgiving. We are packed here already, Uncle Kevin has been getting lots of hugs. See you guys tomorrow!

[Blackwater 53393]

Schoolmarm decided that she wasn’t up to a bunch of people today, so we stayed home. Our local barbecue guy was serving Thanksgiving day meals this morning and we picked up a couple of those. Smoked turkey, mac ‘n’ cheese, dressing, and a rocking loaded mashed potato dish! The turkey was really good and the ‘taters had pulled pork and cheese and chives. The cheese in those ‘taters stretched a whole two feet!

 

Talked to my mom on the phone. The treatments for the myeloma are going well. She’s not having negative reactions, she’s gained a bit of weight, and aside from occasional moments of depression, she seems to be upbeat and thinking positive!

 

Some of the family that lives close by are visiting with her today.

 

Thank all y’all for keeping me entertained, encouraged, and feeling supported!!

[Blackwater 53393]

Spent the morning rearranging my gun safe. I bought one of those Rifle Rod kits and some of their peripherals Wednesday afternoon and UPS delivered it this morning!

 

I had modified the old notch system to add two rows on one side, but it just became a tangled mess to work around.

 

So this morning, I pulled out all of the long guns and grouped ‘em by length. Then I separated out the tactical long guns and set them aside.

 

I pulled out the notch boards and added a shelf on one side to lower the ceiling so that the shorter guns would not be flopping around because the rods stuck out too far.  I can adjust the stocks on the black rifles and a couple of the shotguns, so they fit just fine with the longer guns.

 

Then I started putting them all back in the safe, moving the least often used ones to the back on the shorter side and working my way outward with the most often used guns, (match long guns and stuff the grandsons use) until I had all the short rifles and shotguns where I wanted them.

 

I have a couple of really long barreled shotguns that I seldom, (once or twice a year at the most) ever take out. They went in the very back, against the back wall, and then the newer and more often long guns in the next row. The semi-auto black guns and my 1860 Henry went to the front.

 

The extra shelf gave me a place to store several handguns and a couple of knives along with some of my scopes, lazer sights, and a tactical flashlight as well as the batteries for all of that stuff. I got a magazine rack that’ll hold a dozen of my double stack mags and there are some pistol hangers to use with shorter barreled handguns. They won’t, unfortunately, allow me to hang my cap ‘n’ ball guns because they end up hitting the safe door!   I DID free up enough space to put more of them on the top shelf, which gets them out of the holsters that hang on everything in sight!

 

 

 

It’s still a work in progress. I may build up a riser for the tactical guns to get them closer to the ceiling on that side. It’ll stabilize them a bit and keep them standing straighter which will make them easier to deal with.

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Doc Shapiro]

That's an interesting long gun organization solution.

 

Kids left this morning.  It was a very good visit.  Hoping that the boy will come back later in the winter to go snowboarding with me.  

 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

6 minutes ago, Doc Shapiro said:

That's an interesting long gun organization solution.

It’s pretty handy! You can retrieve any gun in the safe by removing no more than two guns!!

 

There’s still some tweaks needed, but it’s not too expensive. It’s expandable and there are a number of different accessories available to streamline it even more.

[Grumpy Old Man]

My son, DIL, and grandson were here from Colorado for Thanksgiving. Had a great time with them. They had to leave Friday instead of Saturday to beat the weather. ThanksChristmas with all all the Grands was great.

[DeaconKC]

• Well we survived the Thanksgiving events! Had 30 people here for dinner Thursday night and it was fantastic. The last of the guests departed today and all made it home ahead of bad weather. I did get a new locomotive, one of my g'nieces [6 years old] bought me a Hot Wheels locomotive! Uncle Kevin was pretty much buried in hugs the whole holiday time. I'm glad for even the "sticky" hugs from the little ones, that's why I like good shirts that can get tossed in the washer. Worked yesterday and today, the gunstore was busy both days, Black Friday is popular with hunters around here. Got home, took a nap, had a dinner of delicious leftovers and studied my lesson for Sunday School tomorrow. My g'nephew Lucas is hoping for snow so they don't have school Monday, typical 13 year old. My opinion is the weather folks are using a Magic 8 ball for their predictions.

  I too, have been using those rifle rods for years and love them. 

  Glad for all the good reports from all of you.

Edited November 30, 2025 by DeaconKC

[Doc Shapiro]

I'm sure all of you have a box of misc cables collected from various devices over the years.  Today I used one.  Do not throw them out.

[Blackwater 53393]

1 hour ago, Doc Shapiro said:

I'm sure all of you have a box of misc cables collected from various devices over the years.  Today I used one.  Do not throw them out.

Yep!!  Got a drawer in the end table beside my LaZboy with nigh on a dozen!  The one for my little Duck vacuum disappeared and, sure enough, there was one to fit in “the drawer”! 😎

[Blackwater 53393]

It was a whacky day today! I started out to take Schoolmarm out for lunch and by the pharmacy to pick up the stuff she’s going to need for a Friday colonoscopy and upper GI.

 

Before we left the house, we discovered that the bank had taken out THREE mortgage payments instead of the one we had scheduled!!  Spent a WHILE on the phone getting that straightened out!

 

Piled off into the Buick to go to lunch, “Click click click!” Dead battery!! Hell, it’s nearly eight years old! Should have thought of it before, but it has never hesitated to start until this morning!

 

Hopped out and loaded into Ol’ Green!! Schoolmarm groaned and rolled her eyes and I smiled and turned the key! It didn’t turn over twice and roared to life! 
 

We made it fine to lunch, stopped to pick up a couple of burgers for Hatfield, drove back to the pharmacy, stopped and bought a new battery for the Buick, and headed home!

 

That old tank ran flawlessly!! It started on the first grunt every time, the heater and everything worked perfectly, and we covered well over a hundred miles on a quarter tank of gas!! Not too shabby for a 29year old, three ton dually truck with a hopped up 454!!

 

When we got back to the house, Hatfield put the new battery in the Buick and it fired right up. 
 

Reckon it weren’t too bad a day!

 

If it wasn’t for the bank and a dead battery, I wouldn’t have much to GRUMP about, DAMMIT!!

[Blackwater 53393]

First, the good news! Schoolmarm’s examination today was almost perfect! The colonoscopy went well and the upper GI confirmed what we knew already, so she’s home and in good shape!

 

The grandson performed very well last night in the opening of “A Christmas Carol” as Scrooge! He hit all of his marks and delivered all his lines smoothly. At the drop of the curtain, his drama teacher came on stage for the curtain call and informed the audience that he and another senior student were basically responsible for the play getting off at all! She was extremely complimentary!

I’m looking forward to the two shows tomorrow!

 

Now, the CRUD!   The weather has sucked the last couple of days! Never got above 35f all day today and we never saw the sun at all!

 

The battery failure on the Buick knocked out my satellite radio and I have to go through dealing with the help desk and people who don’t speak English as a first language to get it working!!

 

 Broke my favorite cane yesterday and had to use my walking staff to get around! I have to build a new cane, something I had already planned, sometime this weekend.

 

The bank finally put back the two extra mortgage payments that they took out, late last night!  We didn’t overdraw anything, but it might have been touch and go if it had gone to this weekend.

 

Last but not least, the small electric heater in my compressor shed crapped out. I keep that shed warm enough to prevent freezing. I guess I’ll buy two so that I can have one in reserve when the next failure occurs.

 

I guess I’ll just provide the customary GRUMP  this evening! Y’all stay warm and have a nice weekend!

 

Edited December 5, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Eyesa Horg]

Thanks for another sparkling update on Schoolmarm.

The radio thing is assininity!!

Good luck on the new cane.

-9 here this morning! Grump

[DeaconKC]

Great news on Schoolmarm, and the Christmas Carol. We left out by 830 and got to Osage Beach MO this afternoon. Stopped for lunch in Branson and had good but cold weather all the way. The room is really nice and spotless, looks over the lake with a beautiful view. My grump is that I had to pay $50 for this week's internet.

[Doc Shapiro]

Many of you may find my Grump to be odd.  Now that we've got some snow, it's going to warm up and rain for the next week.  This is very sad.

[Blackwater 53393]

The Saturday showings of “A Christmas Carol” at Sycamore High School in Pleasant View, TN were outstanding!  The first show on Thursday night was a little rocky, mostly due to opening night jitters and some freshmen who had never been in front of an audience!

 

Saturday afternoon’s performance was much smoother and more “filled out” with additional lines and a Christmas Carol sung by the cast for a closing scene!

 

The cast and crew had a nice “after party” at a good restaurant in a nearby city, something that was new and different, (in past seasons, they would go to a local Mexican restaurant) but may become a tradition.

 

My son and I both saw all three performances and my grandson, who played Mr. Scrooge was definitely on his game for all three shows!

Sadly, although not unusual, Schoolmarm only saw the Saturday afternoon show because she was preparing for a medical procedure on Thursday and she wasn’t up to two shows on Saturday.

 

Anyway, the audience gave Kale, my grandson, a rousing round of applause and several other parents and students made a point of congratulating him after the final curtain!

 

No GRUMP  today! We’re celebrating and looking forward to the spring event that will be his final high school show!

[DeaconKC]

Great news BW. Fantastic job to the kids and especially your grandson!

 

In memory today of December 7, 1941 when so many Americans lost their lives while standing guard of our Country. May God bless all those who have and still do stand to protect us.

[Eyesa Horg]

19 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

The Saturday showings of “A Christmas Carol” at Sycamore High School in Pleasant View, TN were outstanding!  The first show on Thursday night was a little rocky, mostly due to opening night jitters and some freshmen who had never been in front of an audience!

 

Saturday afternoon’s performance was much smoother and more “filled out” with additional lines and a Christmas Carol sung by the cast for a closing scene!

 

The cast and crew had a nice “after party” at a good restaurant in a nearby city, something that was new and different, (in past seasons, they would go to a local Mexican restaurant) but may become a tradition.

 

My son and I both saw all three performances and my grandson, who played Mr. Scrooge was definitely on his game for all three shows!

Sadly, although not unusual, Schoolmarm only saw the Saturday afternoon show because she was preparing for a medical procedure on Thursday and she wasn’t up to two shows on Saturday.

 

Anyway, the audience gave Kale, my grandson, a rousing round of applause and several other parents and students made a point of congratulating him after the final curtain!

 

No GRUMP  today! We’re celebrating and looking forward to the spring event that will be his final high school show!

Big 👍 and congrats 👏 to Kale.

[Doc Shapiro]

Dinner tonight at the pub was free!  We must be making a good impression with the locals.  When they found out it was my birthday, my money was no good.  Def not a grump.

[Blackwater 53393]

Got the results from Schoolmarm’s doctor visit last Friday. Came by text last night. 
 

No malignancy and no other serious issues. She was worried after seeing a preliminary report that she might have developed celiac disease. Big false alarm, but we had to put up with her trying to change everything she eats!  She’d shown no symptoms, but she went into panic mode!!

 

I had my last foot doc appointment for the year on Tuesday morning and met my new physician’s assistant. She’s competent and thorough. Clean bill of health and no need to go back for three months!! 
 

I don’t have any more medical appointments at this point until February!!  I don’t think I’ll know how to act, not having to fight downtown traffic and hauling my a$$ to town two or three times a week!!

 

I guess getting myself in some kind of shape is the next hurdle!!  I’ve set a goal to shoot the first of the month match at Wartrace on January 3rd. That’s a little over three weeks away

 

WE’LL SEE!!

 

 

[DeaconKC]

Great news all around BW!

Good morning all, it's 36 and sunny here this morning. I've been fighting a low-class bug for a couple days, but feeling better today. Gonna take the Missus Attack Shopping later today, I will relax in the car with a good book while she does that. Hope you guys all have a great day.

[Blackwater 53393]

46 minutes ago, DeaconKC said:

Great news all around BW!

Good morning all, it's 36 and sunny here this morning. I've been fighting a low-class bug for a couple days, but feeling better today. Gonna take the Missus Attack Shopping later today, I will relax in the car with a good book while she does that. Hope you guys all have a great day.

That’s exactly how I handle shopping!  If I go into a store, it’s BUYING!! I know what I’m after and I get in and get out as quickly as humanly possible!!

 

I can stop at a convenience market for Schoolmarm to pick up a candy bar and it’ll take her twenty minutes to get in and maybe get out and about half the time she will have forgotten the candy bar!

 

I drop her at the door of whatever store she wants to go to and I park where I can see her when she’s leaving. I have thousands of songs on my playlist and I set it on random and kick back!

 

I try to park where she can see the car because she’s liable to take forever and I might doze off! 🤣

 

Edited December 11, 2025 by Blackwater 53393

[Eyesa Horg]

Excellent news Blackwater. What a great Christmas present for you both. It's about time! I know what you mean about no appointments, felt the same after constant cancer BS.

Merry Christmas to Schoolmarm and yourself.

 

Just finished plowing the weather off my driveway and door yard. Ripped up a little grass, but not a disaster! Grump anyway just cuz! At least temps are finally back in the positive. The negative teens were a bit much! Grump to that too!

[Doc Shapiro]

Good news all round!  I got nothing to report.  It's way too warm here for this time of year.  Mid 40's.  Snow pack around the house is gone, and it's melting in the mountains.  Looking like the pattern may change late next week.