Firearms Friday: Sometimes You Just Need A Rifle

When on the range you sometimes get the weirdest songs stuck in your head playing against the staccato of rounds being sent toward dozens of targets. It is the sound of this muffled music when we sometimes think of our favorite things as it is common to look around and voice your own internal opinion of some of the firearms with which people are practicing. While I usually pay more attention to the handguns that I pass, this week I am going to focus on the rifles that I have enjoyed over the years.

Keep in mind, I have never been much of a rifle shooter as my preference has always been and still remains in handguns. However, there are exceptions to every rule and there are a few rifles that I enjoy taking to the range whenever I get a chance. Some old, some new. Some ready to go out of the box, some with modifications, and other built from the ground up. Here are some of the long guns that I particularly enjoy taking to the range.

Some people prefer the AK platform while others prefer the AR platform. While I have nothing against the former I am firmly falling in the latter with regard to my own personal enjoyment. In addition to the functionality and ability to personalize the firearm, it is a great feeling when you can build something from parts, customize it, and take it to the range as a fully functional and comfortable firearm. While there may be other similar builds on the range, you have something that was built for you. And, if you see something you like on someone else’s AR, you can easily change your own rifle.

The AR is something that you can shoot all day at the range given the minimal recoil but sometimes you just need to be kicked in the shoulder. However, I want to still maintain some semblance of a budget. This is where the Nosin Nagant comes in. This Russian military surplus rifle is an inexpensive way to get kicked at the range. While there are some people out there who do modify these rifles, I enjoy the simplicity of the platform (rough edges and all).

Finally, sometimes you just want to shoot all day and not have a big dent in your wallet. The Ruger 10/22 provides a great balance of training and just good old fun on the range. 22LR is still inexpensive and the Ruger provides a reliable semi-automatic platform that will just keep going. However, while the rounds are more expensive I prefer the 17HMR so this could be replaced on my list if I am ever able to test out the Savage A17.   

Obviously, nothing groundbreaking and no surprises but it is sometimes fun to think about what you enjoy taking to the range and why you enjoy looking down the sights. With that said, next week’s handgun post on the same topic is something I really have to think about… so many choices with such limited space. For now, what are your favorite rifles to take to the range?

More Trips This Summer?

It has been a busy summer which actually started in the spring. This year, in addition to the various day trips around the area, we have been to Hershey, Pittsburgh, Stone Harbor, and all over Virginia. Additionally, I took a short trip to Atlanta. It has been a lot of miles, provided us with a few challenges, and also been a great experience with our son. The question now is whether or not we want to continue traveling during the remaining summer months?

My wife and I have discussed taking a few day trips to revisit some places and introduce our son to some of our favorite spots. At the same time, we obviously have to take into consideration the fact that we are no longer traveling as a couple but as a family so some of our previous adventures are incredibly impractical at this point in our lives. We have been so busy this summer that it has been nice not having to be anywhere during our weekends. August is already well underway and there aren’t many days left before things get busy at work.

However, while it may not be this summer, there are a couple of spots that we will visit again and show our son some of the places that we have enjoyed over the last few years. Jim Thorpe is definitely on the list as it provides us with a nice relaxing place to walk and I am sure our son will enjoy riding on the train through the mountains. Maybe we should hold this off for the fall so we can finally experience it with the trees burning the horizon.

Gettysburg will definitely be another family trip. In addition to being a great place to walk there are a lot of things that we didn’t get around to seeing when my wife and I drove down there last time. However, with so much open space, this isn’t going to be the best place to go during the heat of August. This will, most likely, be a trip that we take in the spring.

The last place that immediately came to mind when we were thinking about other places to bring our son was Knoebels… didn’t really have to think hard about this one. It is a great way to introduce our son to an amusement park without the intensity of the huge crowds or the cost of parking and general admission. There are so many thing that he can look at and new experiences that we want to expose him to. I expect to be riding the small train quite a few times whenever we are able to get up there. I am thinking that this will be perfect for next summer.

Of course this doesn’t really answer the question of where we will be taking our son this summer but at least there are a few places planned out for the future. What can I say, he likes to travel and be out and about so we need at least a few of these things planned ahead of time. I guess you will find out where we bring our son this summer shortly after we return from our brief travels. Sometimes, that is the best way to plan out a summer anyway.

Bills And Bank Statements

As many of you know, I am one of those people that checks all financial statements on almost a daily basis. I have had credit cards hijacked in the past and I know how much of an issue that can cause. I am also doing everything I can to pay off debt and keep our financials in a healthy position so the little bit of time each day is well worth the effort to ensure that all the numbers are where they should be. And this is just my personal accounts.

While not nearly as regular as my personal habits, I am also continuously cognizant of the financial situation of the lodge. This is just another one of the duties that I agreed to when I took office as Secretary. Just like my personal financial situation, we are not talking about big numbers so I make sure to know where every dollar is coming from and how much is going out. Lately, we have gotten a little behind as all of our summer schedules have hindered us from getting together. We were finally able to get everything squared away this evening… it really puts my mind at ease knowing where everything stands.

Of course, when some of the balances were brought to my attention I expected some inquiries to be made by some of the brothers at the lodge. After all, this is our budget and our accounts and this is why I keep a meticulous record of what has come in and what has gone out. It is required of me to do so and I would expect them to hold me personally responsible if I was unable to provide them with a receipt. And that is what we should all take away from this.

It shouldn’t matter if you are involved in the financials of a business, lodge, charitable organization, or your own personal accounts. Everything has to be accounted for. I know that if I want to be reimbursed for a purchase at work or for the lodge I have to have a receipt. No receipt means no check. While we have provisions in place to ensure transparency, I have heard of too many instances of fraud and downright theft both within lodges and outside of lodges. I am well aware of these instances and I made it known that the books are open to members and that I am happy to answer any questions.

Even when looking at my own debts I can account for all the credit that has been used… this is particularly important regardless of the type of account because you don’t want to wake up one day to the reality of owing 10 or 20 thousand dollars to a bank or credit card company. I know where all of my money is going (especially on the tight budget that we have had in recent years and the process of paying down debt that we are currently undertaking). I shouldn’t expect any less from the lodge and the lodge shouldn’t expect any less from me.

TMI Tuesday: Power Outage

As I was getting ready for bed last night I could hear the wind screaming against the windows and doings it’s best Jethro Tull impression with our chimney. I guess we were on the wrong end of the thirty percent chance of rain. The wind continued with relentless gusts as my wife and I recounted the day and not long after we both shut our eyes the room went completely dark. With echoes of thunder and strobes of lightening filling every corner of the house, we knew that this was going to be one storm that our son was not going to be able to sleep through. Just as we finished vocalizing that thought our son proved us right.

He was already having some issues staying asleep lately and this meteorological front was the final piece in ensuring that he completely woke up from his peaceful slumber. We could hear him rustling in his crib between the rumbles and as the rain pelted the roof and the waterfall filled the windowsill, he became more and more vocal. As soon as the crying overpowered nature, we knew it was time to comfort him so we got up, rummaged in the nightstand for a flashlight, and prepared for the long night.

As soon as we walked into the room and began trying to sooth him he calmed down and went back to sleep (well, maybe the second time). What ended up getting him was the fact that the electric decided to start stimming, turning on for a second or two every five or ten minutes for about an hour… just enough to wake him up. The other thing that wasn’t helping was the fact that our son was beginning to overheat. He is a little space heater and needs to be kept cool so he was stripped down to a single layer for the night.

Surprisingly, PECO was actually pretty close to their estimate from earlier in the evening as power was restored two hours later. At that point we could all rest a little better and home that we would be able to recover relatively quickly in the morning. It was already going to be a long day for us and now we just added lack of sleep to the mix. It looks like it is going to be a late morning and early night for all of us… it was actually the first morning that I can remember our son not greeting me with a wide smile. Instead, I got a nearly silent snore.

Has It Really Been That Long?

 

It is that time again. Today marks the 800^th post for the blog and I am a little dumbfounded as to how I have been able to keep the blog going for that long. This is especially true when you consider the fact that the average length of each entry has been about 500 words. That is a total of 400,000 words... and that is being pretty conservative with the estimate. Is there really that much that can be said?

While I continue to look for guest bloggers and other interesting items to include in the various posts, there haven’t been many contributions up to this point. That might be the hardest part of this whole thing. I would like some more interesting and different perspectives included in these pages. I am happy to continue sharing my thoughts on various subjects but there is only so much that I can say without becoming repetitive (this is already evident in a number of posts).

However, I continue to enjoy the process and the simple fact that I am able to record my daily life, discoveries, and events that are of particular interest to me. As I have said before, this is my way of leaving a legacy. It isn’t anything special but the words here on this blog give a much fuller picture of who I am rather than just a few documents. This is part of the reason why the more I look into the family history the more motivated I am to continue writing.

With that said, time has become more precious over the past year in particular and there are changes on the horizon that will definitely put additional strain on my schedule. These are all good things but they take time and energy. Don’t get me wrong, the blog will continue but, with these additional commitments, the long periods of silence may become more prevalent. Of course, this may be a moot point if some of you out there would like to contribute to the blog (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

Right now it is just a matter of pushing through the slow days when writing seems more like a chore and taking advantage of the easy days when I can quickly write three or four posts. There are certainly a number of topics that I will continue to cover (i.e. genealogy, freemasonry, firearms, travel, parenthood, etc.) but I am looking for other subjects and also want to know what subject you want me to write more about. So what would you like to read? Also, I am well aware that this blog is by no means perfect. What would you change? Let me know your thoughts.

I end this post very simply. Thank you for your continued support and sharing with me your thoughts, stories, and opinions. It has been an interesting experience thus far.

Sunday Search: Putting The Pieces Together

Picture taken during my visit to Leverington Cemetery in 2003. 

In recent months I have made a little bit of progress on the family tree tracing back a number of lines a couple of generations and finding out a few additional details of some of my ancestors. One line that I keep coming back to lately is that of my great great grandfather, John Uttley. While I never knew much about this line growing up (and I still kick myself for not talking to my grandmother about genealogy when she was alive), there has been a lot of progress made in finding out some of the details.

Last year, through online research, reading through a variety of books, sorting through brief mentions in the local newspaper, and calling various city offices, I was able to piece together a few facts about John Uttley and his career in the Philadelphia Police Department. It wasn’t much but I was able to find out that he was appointed to the police force by Mayor Stokley on May 6, 1876 and assigned badge #596. After over five decades on duty, he retired from the force in 1931 having reached the rank of Sergeant. Because the official records for the police department have long since been destroyed, this is all of the information that I could find on the career of the man who helped raise my grandmother.

The same record that provided me with his retirement year, his death certificate, also listed some very important information… the names of his parents. While I am still search for additional information on the Uttley line, his mother’s tree proved to be more fruitful. John Uttely obviously got his longevity from his mother, Charlotte Noblitt (also found at Noblit, Noblett, and Noblet), as they both died as nonagenarians. In fact, according to her obituary, she was believed to be the oldest living resident in Manayunk at the time of her death at age 93 in 1903.

While death certificates in 1903 don’t provide the same valuable information as later official forms, her obituary did offer some additional leaves as her father, Thomas Noblitt, was mentioned as having served in the War of 1812. This is always great information to find so, with those new details I started looking for his pension application. Days of searching and nothing was found. Could it be that the information in the obituary was wrong?

This happens more often than people realize, when obituaries are written, especially those authored by non-family members, there are assumptions made. Maybe Thomas was older than the reporter realized. Maybe it he wasn’t in the War of 1812. Once I made this adjustment to my search criteria, I found the answers I was looking for. The pension application and supporting documents from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania confirmed his service in the Revolutionary War. Charlotte was actually conceived later in life long after Thomas Noblitt’s military service… longevity it obviously part of the Noblitt legacy.

Recently, I also made an interesting discovery to expand the branches out further in this line. While attempting to learn more about this line I came across a book, Genealogical Collections Relating to the Families of Noblet, published in 1906 by John Hyndman Noblit. The surname was close enough that I had to take a look inside these digital pages and found that this was our family. Not only does the book contain the basic information that you would find in any family tree but it also has reproductions of the actual documents from the countries where the name was once prevalent. While it doesn’t have everything, it has given me a lot more information to sort through, digest, and add to this part of my family history. And, just think, this all started with a desire to learn more about a single leaf.

First Trip To Lancaster County

We were finally able to take advantage of not having to be anywhere today. It had been some time since our son had an opportunity to play with his cousins, nearly a month in fact, so earlier in the week we coordinated with my sister to bring our son over to her house for the first time. It actually wasn’t a bad ride from our place into the heart of Lancaster County and our son was able to sleep for a few minutes right before our arrival. We got there around noon and almost immediately our little boy was looking around at this new place wondering where the heck we were.

Soon after we pulled in and as I was giving my brother-in-law a quick tour of the new car, my sister pulled into the driveway and started unpacking the groceries. It didn’t take long for my niece to climb out of the passenger seat and start doting over her baby cousin. It is great to watch the connection that the two of them have. My niece can’t seem to get enough of him and our son just keeps smiling whenever they are playing.

Spending the day with family was good for all of us. It got our son out of the house (he prefers being out and about as opposed to relaxing at home), it got us out of the house, and it afforded us an opportunity to catch up with family. We all have a lot going on right now and sometimes phone calls and text messages can only cover so much. It was also good because my wife and I could go do our separate things while we were there. She was able to sit and talk while my sister and niece watched our son, and I was able to help with putting up a gate outside.

While we did a few things separately we also came together to watch the kids on the swing, play some tetherball, and relaxing in the warm summer sunset. By the time we sat down for dinner we were amazed at how fast the day had drifted by. We were all getting a little tired and so we got back on the road almost eight hours after we arrived. It wasn’t long before our son was sleeping and we were back at the house putting him in bed. Of course, one we put him upstairs it hit us just how much work we still have to do at the house. Another project for another day.