Weekend Steam: White Steamers In Jay Leno's Garage

Crankin' It Up: Brat Takes A Break As We Recycle One For You

My Handy Man was recorded by Ethel Waters in 1928, and we have featured it here before through YouTube.  YT gave me grief about it, and tonight we put it back up on DailyMotion.  I hope it doesn't cause any trouble for us over there. 



My Handy Man by TrueBlueSam

Great Deals On Rugers, Benton, Illinois, Rural King Store

                                                           Ruger M77/44® Rotary Magazine Rifle

We all piled in the Explorer tonight and went to Benton to shop at the Rural King store.  They are having a big sale event this week, and one of the segments of that sale is 10% off all Ruger guns in the store.   You never know what to expect with sales until you spend some time shopping in a store, and I think you will be impressed with the Benton Rural King.  The Rugers in the rack and display cases still had the same prices they had before the sale, which are all below the suggested retail price.  The one that made me go weak in the knees was a 77/44 All Weather Rifle.  The suggested retail on this rifle is $969, Rural King's price is $649.95.  Take 10% off that with the sale, and your price before the Illinois sales tax is just $585!  This sale goes on through Saturday, so if you are in the market for a new Ruger, check it out.

We went there to shop for an air compressor.  I behaved myself and stuck to my shopping list, so that beautiful hog rifle is still in the rack waiting for you.

Why Johny Can't.....

...eat venison this winter.

 One of our hunting friends missed a trophy buck with an easy 50 yard shot in December.  His mistake was thinking his miss was some kind of fluke, and he did not check his zero to see if his scope was on with the ammo he was using.  He came out to hunt during the last firearm weekend in January, and he missed another deer.  He had one more day to hunt, and I left a target clipped to a sheet of cardboard in the barn for him.

Here's what he learned.  The slugs he was shooting from his shotgun were printing about 6" high at 25 yards.  I don't know just what the problem is; maybe he sighted his shotgun with a different type of slug than he used to hunt, maybe someone fiddled with the elevation on his scope.  Whatever the problem, my friend would have bagged a couple deer if he had just taken a few minutes to check his zero before his first hunt last fall.  

Another hunter I know recently told me that for years he has fired his muzzleloader twice a year; once to check his zero, and a second shot to kill a deer.  I think he would enjoy life more if he spent more time shooting, but it's a good lesson.  Zeroes aren't forever, and you must check how your gun/ammo combination shoots if you change anything.  Now, go and miss no more.

Rip It Out Of The Ground!

Scrolling back through photo files I found some unused raw video from our timber harvest in 2012.  Here we see the Timbco pulling a tree out of the ground to open up the woods for trucks to come in.  It takes a while to learn tricks like this one.

"Yeah Man, That's Cold, That's Cold."

Tuesday Turbo Boost

Any Ice Today, Lady?

We're going back to work this week in the deep-freeze....


Does that qualify for  Back To The Old Grind?

If that doesn't work, this will....

Not My Victrola: Stereotyping, Or The Way It Really Was?

This humorous Edison disc is one that falls into the category of what folks used to call 'coon songs'. Edison liked the genre, and recorded them long after other recording companies dropped them, and it's one reason Edison lost market share, and ultimately went out of the record business.  But, this razor business; is it an unfair stereotype or maybe even something like the dreaded 'profiling?'  I think there is a lot of truth in it from history that I have heard and read.  My dad often spoke of seeing men with scars from razor fights when he was a kid in Moline, Illinois.  One of my professors at Mizzou told me about a man he knew in his younger days who killed a man with a razor.  It's an incredible story, and the man wasn't prosecuted, because the man he killed was having a rendezvous with his wife.  The way I see it, it isn't any different than talking about gang-bangers today doing drive-by shootings, or holding their pistols sideways.  Whatever your feelings on the subject, have a listen to this oldtime, obscure classic (that I learned forty-five years ago) and have a few good laughs.  I especially like the verse about the insurance.

Weekend Steam: It Sounds Like A Locomotive!

This home video from YouTube highlights a 1902 steam motorcycle on its first run.  In the early years of motor-transportation, the four stroke gasoline engine was not quite a done deal.




If you liked the motorcycle you will love Jay Leno's restoration of a 1906 Stanley Steamer. It's mostly early Twentieth Century technology, but Jay has done some impressive tweaking to the design so this car can go right down the freeway. It sounds even MORE like a locomotive!

Crankin' It Up: One For These Cold Mornings

Have Some Fun With A Daisy!