Off Topic The Goodhand Arms

If my wife knew I was ordering new books, when I already have so many to read...........

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...ew-york/ar-BBAcLEl?li=AAmiR2Z&ocid=spartanntp

 

Hard to blame the poor marshal; we've all done it.

Vin

 

Indeed. My Winchester 73 was left cocked and loaded just the other day. Alongside my nephew's Johnny Seven**.

** Does that sound rather odd these days.?

 

On the subject of guns, I fired my first gun ever about 2 years ago when I went to the US (where else!) when my daughter got married. Her husband took me to the gun range (just like you see in the movies with the paper man you fire at), and the first gun I ever fired was a M16 machine gun as used by the UK special forces. Scared the absolute **** out of me. The noise (even with blockers on), the recoil and the sheer power was awesome, but really really scary. I was literally shaking as I did it. We then went on to semi automatics and then just a lowly pistol (his own). I'm glad I did it - fire a gun (did it again recently), but NO WAY do I ever want one. To me they are there for one reason. And not a good reason.

Edit: just found a picture of me with the pistol - see above

 

When my father-in-law died a few years ago in Serbia the police came round to find his registered guns. He had 5 rifles and 3 pistols! The pistols were hidden in bedside cabinets.The thing that shocked me most was just how heavy a pistol was!

 

I had lessons with a .22 rifle when I was young, but we aimed at small round targets. Creepy to use a human outline.

 

http://news.sky.com/story/bomb-left-at-holy-cross-school-gates-in-belfast-to-murder-police-10848128

Bomb left near a school in Northern Ireland defused. I would like to ask why anyone would want to restart sectarian violence (if it ever really stopped), but there is no point in looking for a logical reason where there is none.

 

I prefer proper books but also have the Kindle app on my tablet and an e-reader on my phone for when I'm absolutely desperate. Like Fran, I'm trying to use my local libraries as much as possible and I'm finding out how brilliant they are these days with a fantastic catalogue, the willingness to get books from other libraries in different local authorities and their stock of audio and e-books.

The one thing I'm not really into are audio books. I'm very, very picky on who's reading the book (tried to listen to an Agatha Christie with American accents a while ago and it almost gave me vertigo!!) and I always worry that I'm going to zone out and miss something important whereas I tend to concentrate fully when reading a book.

I can't imagine my life without books, though I do spend time imagining my box room not full of books, seeing as I'll never read them all (unless I retire tomorrow!) I can't get rid of any, though, what if that's the one I want to read next?!!

 

So sad From what Henry Winkler posted she was finding life difficult (something along the lines of, "Hope you find the peace you couldn't find in life," or similar )

 

Last night's Top Gear was rather good. Matt Le Blanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid really look comfortable in their presenting roles now. I liked the 8-wheel drive Russian all terrain vehicle, and the cheeky Ssangyong Rodius to SsangYacht conversion was actually pretty good too. Previous outlandish attempts to achieve anything by the previous JC led crew were very low brow. But this project had a wee bit of quality thrown in, courtesy of Southampton boat-builders/repairers Osmotech. As Harris said, once you see the car within the boat, you can't un-see it:

 

And here's the genuine online version boat review from Eddie Jordan of Boat International: http://www.boatinternational.com/ya...ry-cruiser-from-the-worlds-ugliest-car--33341

Nice work if you can get it [by knowing all the right people].

 

Me to a tee!

 

And me - I have a kindle, but keep forgetting to charge it (sorry, Vin, I just don't get it out of the drawer enough) and still prefer the good old printed page. As I'm in the process of (hopefully) moving, I have been looking for a place with rooms big enough for all my bookcases, but I also decided to be ruthless and go through my collection and get rid of the ones I don't need and will never read again. I found 1 ......

 

Was it this one?

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If you're likely to get relegated, call on Harry and it's guaranteed! Ask any Saints or QPR supporter. He ain't no BIG SAM!!!

 

Just watching the ITV news on Somalia. WTF is wrong in the world that I am struggling to cut back on food to make myself look ok on holiday, when thousands of children are starving to death. I'm embarrassed to think that I am part of this ****ed up thinking. We waste so much every week, whilst so many have nothing.

 

I find myself in Risør, a small coastal town in southern Norway. I'm spending a couple of days with my son and his girlfriend, who presented me with my second grandson within 6 months of the first one (his sister's) at the end of February, and this is the first chance I've had to meet both girlfriend and grandson. Both lovely, and the country is stunning. More tomorrow.

 

Congrats! I can confirm that grandkids are soooooooo much better than kids lol.

 

Whilst I entirely agree with you TIOONo.7, please reassure me that this not the first time the thought has occurred to you, but the latest time.? Our 1st World and 3rd World inequalities give us Live Aid and such. They might be fun for us, but I'd rather they never happened. Charity shouldn't need to exist, in the form we know it. Peoples of the world should be adequately taken care of. It is perfectly possible to do so. We just don't want to enough. Which is why we get Somalia and countless other famines down through the years. And indirectly, this retreat to individual nationhood, because of some ridiculous idea of lost sovereignty, just makes the situation worse. The World should be coming together more and more, not looking inwardly, while getting more fractured and suspicious.