Saturday, February 13, 2010

Kicked by a Mule

 
Got some shelves built today to help get the piles of junk out of the back storage area. I was going to build more but was running out of time and the generator fouled a plug before I had the chance to get started on the others.  Otherwise it was a beautiful day today (probably mid to high 70s) and just the right breeze to really make it nice. The day in general didn't go too hot though. Seems like this was one of those days when I should have just stayed in bed. I spent most of the day screwing up rather than actually doing much good. As I said the generator was giving trouble then the charger I built died twice and then wouldn't start after it died the second time. The filter in the old Harley tank is plugged again. Now it looks like a good bit of time will be spent squaring those two away before I get much else done tomorrow.

 
Then comes the MULE! My uncle mentioned keeping a shotgun by the door for taking care of prowlers which I seem to be having a problem with lately. (The coyote type). Anyway I hadn't shot my old riot shotgun for several years so decided to test fire it. I'd forgotten how bad the recoil on this thing was and instead of shooting it from the hip like I've always done I held it about 8 inches in front of me and pulled the trigger knowing I could absorbe the recoil ok. Didn't happen! The pistol grip hit me in the chest just to the right of my spleen and felt like I got kicked by a mule. My chest is still giving me hell. Did I say I should have stayed in bed today? Maybe tomorrow will be better?

15 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness David, I sincerely hope you get to feeling better. I know that must of hurt. What do you have outside that coyotes would get? If nothing just let them be.

    I don't know if you have a passaport or not but if you don't you might seriously consider getting one. You are in the middle of nowhere and though you can probably drive to Alpine to the emergency room you can't beat driving to Mexico and getting seen by a doctor for $30.00 USD.

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  2. MsB, I feel better this morning. Glad it missed my spleen or I probably wouldn't be writing this.

    Nope... I don't have a pasport, but haven't thought much about going to Mexico for anything with all the violence down there. That does sound inviting though so I may check in to gettine one. I figure about everything should be cheaper down there.

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  3. Well shoot Dave, ya either break'n stuff or hurt'n yourself...ya ain't related to that Billy Bob feller are ya?

    I have to agree with what MsB is say'n. Then coyotes ain't gonna be hurt'n ya. In fact, ya could probably catch ya one and have a nice pet/watch dog. Just be extra careful when ya feed them.

    The tin can dungeon sure is look'n good. Happy for ya that the weather is much better....but ya know, it gonna be hot fore ya know it.

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  4. Yes, shotguns do kick like a mule. That's an interesting one you have there, without a shoulder stock. There doesn't seem to be any good way to hold it securely. What guage is it?

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  5. BB, don't think I'm kin to ya, but I sure know how to screw stuff and myself up. Of course I've had plenty of years to practice so I guess I should be good at it. And Yeah. I know its going to be getting HOT before long. If I haven't got something built on the outside by then I may be sleeping in the tent and hanging out under a tarp on the north side of the container. As far as shooting coyotes? Well I don't plan to do that for several reasons. First is where I hear them at if I did I'd be shooting my trike, the welder and generator to. Second I don't want to deal with getting rid of the carcass. I have the trash stored on that side and the Kangaroo rats may be hanging around it. That would account for the coyotes hanging around there trying to catch them. I SURE NEED a burning barrel! I'm going to be waste deep in trash before long.

    Allen, its just a puny little 20 gauge. If it would have been a 12 it would have been a lot worse.

    And on another note I just got two more batteries up to steam. That puts me at 600 AMP hours (according to BB) I need to get some more Epsom salt or find where I hid the other stuff from myself where I can doctor the other 3. Managed to get another one doctored, but can't use it until I get a mate to go to it done.

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  6. Hey Unc,

    Glad to see your back out at the land and getting things done. We're looking forward to getting out that way, just about a month now. Let me know if there is anything I can bring out, and remember we're on the bikes. I've got to work on getting a few more days off, so as not to rush around. I'm glad you didn't get the weather we've had here in D/FW, can you believe we got 12.5 inches of snow? I've never seen it snow so much. We've been without power for 3 days now, don't have any idea when we'll get that back, at the library now, borrowing internet, pwr and heat. Take care, see ya soon.

    Dale

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  7. Dale, will be good to see you'll. If the guest house doesn't blow away you won't even need to bring your own. I'm not sorry I'm missing the snow and other problems there, but sure miss the family. I figure between you, R and G if you add trailers to the Harleys You could bring me a 250 gallon water tank, a couple of burn barrels and maybe enough lumber to build the first 12x20 cabin side. Someone else can bring the car port to go between the other one I'll eventually build. Hope you'll get power and everything else back there soon.

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  8. If I were camping/living in the area I would prefer either a handgun or a 30/30 carbine. Also glad to see your weather outlook improving.

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  9. Scavenger, if you don't like the weather in Texas just wait because it will change. That also includes going from beautiful to lousy in a flash. Was beautiful up until about an hour and a half ago when a norther blew in. Now its VERY windy and getting pretty cool. The guest house was catching hell so I had to unzip the door flap, windows and tie tie it to the door handle on the falcon in a couple of different places. I'd already added more tie downs and stakes a couple of days ago and all of that has helped, but just a little.

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  10. Oh.. I've got a 9 mill for light duty work.

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  11. Well glad to see you had a bit of a good day with the weather. It has been cold here all day long. I had a tree break down. Not bad but it’s too cold for me to go out and trim up and stack for the city. I just hung out in the garage and worked on my boy’s CBB and strung it up with weed eater string. It has a pretty low thump. It might turn out pretty cool. I posted the build.
    Don’t let that scatter gun get you. I think it’s a good thing you shot it so you’ll remember that thing does damage on both ends. It seems like your dish is doing ok. That’s a good thing, because it is keeping you hooked up to the outside world. Are you running everything off the Batteries? By the way, does the trike work pretty well down there? Or has the weather allowed you to ride? I have been wandering about your ground clearance. Whatever you do don’t get excited and shoot the darn thing!
    I think your thinking right on the crossing the border. I hear it’s pretty rugged over there and pretty ruthless. Of course that probably depends on where you go. Are you that close to the border? I had not thought about that.
    Stay safe and warm. We’re watchin.

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  12. Tigger, I think the border is only about 25 miles away, but the closest LEGAL place to cross is probably about 60 or so miles away. I doubt that I'll go to the trouble to get a passport though. It is tempting though for the cheaper stuff. I wonder if they have a Harbor Freight in Mexico???

    The trike does good on my roads and the highway. I rode it to the legion earlier and was going to watch the Dayton 500, but it was stopped so I came back to the dungeon. I rode it to the Grub Shack once and the fuel filter partially clogged and I thought I was going to be hoofing it. Fortunately it cleared and got me home.

    BTW folks here's the link to Tigger's CGB Blog. Musicians should like it especially.
    Tigger's CGB Blog

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  13. I am glad you are feeling better.

    When I mentioned Mexico I meant Ojinaga, Chihuahua which is across from Presidio and I think about 70 miles from Terlingua. It is a small town and has english speaking doctors. It is also a relatively safe town.

    Whatever you do NEVER but I mean NEVER go to Juarez, Chihuahua which is across the border from El Paso.

    My mom lives in Del Rio and if I need to see a doctor I just cross the border to Cd. Acuna (also a relative safe town).

    Huncker down tonight I understand the winds are bad up there as well as down here.

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  14. Yep MsB, the winds are fierce here now. Believe it or not I can feel this dungeon buffeting. Of course its nothing like being in an RV though. I sure wouldn't want to be in one catching this wind broadside!

    Not sure how to go about getting a passport, but I wouldn't want to take my car across. Unless there was a taxi running or I could walk I wouldn't even think about crossing.

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  15. I used to cross over into nogales all the time on foot then take a taxi around. Im in California and can buy things made by mexicans all the time here. 70%who live here are mexican, had a taco the other day (mexican made) he he

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