Firing New Synapses in Our Brains - Sunday, January 10, 2016

Shoot-out at the OK Corral it was not: no Wyatt Earp, no Doc Holladay, no Clanton-McLaury gang. We weren't in Tombstone, Arizona. But there was a blaze of gunfire with approximately 500 rounds being fired by ten people. It happened in San Antonio, Texas.  Thankfully it was friendly fire and no one was hurt.

What happened? For my birthday in November, Bob bought us lessons on "Introduction to Handguns" at Nardis Gun Club. This past Sunday morning we went in for our 2-1/2 hour lesson. Upon entering the gun club, we filled out registration forms and signed all the requisite disclaimers. Gun safety, philosophy, classroom instruction, handgun rental, and experience in the firing range were all included.

Bob and I had almost no experience shooting guns. When I was a around 14, my dad showed us how to use an air rifle and a BB gun. That was my only experience with guns. Bob had even less experience, I think. We wanted to take the class to help us make a decision about whether or not we would like to become gun owners.

The class was very well taught. Our instructor was very logical and thoughtful in his teaching method. First we had to know about gun safety. Do not point a gun at anyone during class, especially the teacher.

He taught us the parts of the 9mm handgun, how to cock the chamber, how to load the bullets into the magazine, how to insert the magazine into the gun, how to hold the loaded gun, how to prepare the weapon to fire, how to align the sights, our stance when it was time to aim and shoot at the target, how to re-load, and how to lay the gun down when we finished shooting. We did practice our aim at a target with a laser gun he had in the classroom.

After the 1-1/2 hour classroom session, we went to the firing range. After explaining how to enter and exit the range, and giving us ear and eye protection, we went inside where he led us in drills. We learned how to use the automated target mover and sent our target sheets out 15' from us. Then he told us exactly what to do and we got to shoot our handguns. What a trip. Even with the headphones on, it was very loud in the shooting range.

Instructor running a drill with Bob

Bob at indoor firing range

Me at firing range with ear protection

Each of us were required to buy 50 rounds of ammunition for our rented 9mm Sig-Sauer automatic pistols. On his command, we stepped into the firing booth, loaded our weapons, cocked the chamber, checked our stance, lined up our sights, put pressure on the trigger and fired. I loved it. When we finished, our hands were covered in gunpowder so the first thing we did after turning in our ear protection was wash our hands thoroughly.

My target about half-way through

My "booth" at the firing range. (Note: My 9mm
Sig-Sauer is facing the wrong way...should be able
to see into the breach when it's laying down!)

Final target after all 50 rounds fired.

Bob's final target after all 50 rounds fired.

Both Bob and I did very well. I'd like to go back to learn more about the different types of guns and which fit our grips the best. Plus I'd like to continue with our training and shooting so we don't forget what we learned. Very educational 2-1/2 hours for us.

The day isn't over yet, so stay tuned for part 2.

Finishing up 2015 (finally) - Monday, January 11, 2016

Christmas Day we slept in, then checked to see what was in our stockings. There was a new luggage tag for our new luggage, movie candy, gift card to the Red Lobster, lottery tickets, tangerines, apples, and chocolate. As I was finding the gifts in my stocking, I asked "Here's a luggage tag, where are we going?" and when I found the movie candy I asked where the gift cards were for the movie theaters. LOL. I knew the answer. We didn't have room for a tree and our big gift this year was the cruise to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras.

I cooked yams for our RV park's Christmas Dinner, and we took a can of jellied cranberry sauce. The park provided turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, coffee, iced tea and water. The rest of the meal was potluck. Everything was wonderful. There was an abundance of food and fellowship.

The Christmas dinner buffet line

Lydia, Pam and Paul

Sue, Dick, Clari, Tony, Lyle, Norena, and Shirley

My dinner! Mmm.

Bob was ready to dig in.

Margaret, Steve, John, Pat, Stan, Lanora, Fran

The Neville's

Peter and Rene

A very Merry Christmas, indeed.

Sunday, December 27, we went to see "Spotlight," a movie about the Boston Globe's Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative journalism team known as Spotlight. Stars are: Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup.

The movie starts with the team trying to decide what their next major exposé should be. As they toss around ideas, a new editor starts working there. The new editor (Liev Schreiber) suggests re-opening a story from years before about Roman Catholic priests abusing young children in Boston. Much ado is made about how the Catholic Church will sue the Boston Globe if they try to publish the story.

As the reporters on the team look into prior allegations against priests, they find more and more priests who had been involved only to have their transgressions covered up by the Catholic Church. Priests were being re-assigned and their records showed they were on leave, sick, and other vague classifications of their status.

As the reporters delved deeper into the investigation, they interviewed some of the victims, searched archives and met many dead ends in trying to get information from the Church, lawyers and government officials. Public records were missing. The Spotlight team suspected the Cardinal knew what was happening but did nothing to punish the priests.

We loved this movie. The acting was excellent. The story was maddening. The facts during the closing credits were appalling. How could these atrocious acts go on for so long? Why did the Catholic Church cover up/hide the abuse of power against children? Very good movie.

Thursday, December 31: We both worked today. For New Year's Eve we decided to listen to Arrowhead, our favorite rock 'n' roll band in San Antonio. They were playing at Tonic the Bar, a place we hadn't been before. The vibe was odd there. There weren't many tables but there was a huge dance floor. As the band played, we sat and listened, loved the music, but no one was dancing. I think one couple danced. Then a lady danced by herself. We finally got up and danced one dance by ourselves, but mostly people just drank and listened.

One lady who had been sitting at the bar was totally drunk and decided we were her best friends. She came over and was talking to us. We could barely hear a word she said because of the band. She came over on our side of the table and was hugging on me.

We left the bar at 11:50 p.m. As we were driving home, we saw so many fireworks all throughout San Antonio. The big fireworks show was going on over the Tower of the Americas. We pulled over on the side of the freeway to watch with a bunch of other people until a police cruiser went by blasting something on their loudspeaker. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but figured we'd better move on. We were up on an elevated freeway so we had a great view of thousands of neighborhood fireworks. Wow!

Happy New Year!