Okay, now that my sarcasm quota has been met for the day, may I present...

GUN PICTURES!

If you're on dial-up, I weep softly for your modem.

Some of us went shooting last weekend without any planning or preparation, so I thought I'd show pictures to encourage the rest of you to come out shooting with us next time.  I'll try to plan it with at least a day or two of notice, and I'll try to call all of you.  If your numbers have changed recently, be sure to let me know!


Here's the first group shot, taken before we got started.  From left to right: Me with my SKS at the ready and my XD-40 on my hip, Jerod Lodholtz (fresh out of the Navy) with a .308 FN-FAL, Ashley Candelaria (Mike's SO) with a .44 Magnum Desert Eagle, Mike Masura with a 12ga Remington 870, and Craig "Spanky" Pankoff with an AK-47.



Another group shot.  Jerod stepped out to take the picture, and Meredith stepped in to replace him, posing beside me with a Mini-14 in .223.  Dead sexy, if you ask me...



Here's the fun table, with everyone loading up their weapon of choice.  Craig is posing with an AK-47 and a goofy grin, with Jerod in the background with the 12ga Remington, me with my SKS, and Ashley looking scary.



Our target for the day was an old bedroom door, which Jerod was kind enough to spray-paint for us.  Our targets included a monkey, a dog, and a retarded kid, among other things.  Of course, we also shot the ¾-full spray paint can, which took off like a rocket.



Mike and I playing "Vanna White" with the gun collection in the back of the pickup truck.  Alright, the target has been set up, the guns are loaded, let's SHOOT!



I'm up front with my .40S&W Springfield XD.  Jerod is in the center with a two-tone Glock in .45ACP.  Mike is in the back, with the Desert Eagle in .44 Magnum.



I know I'm just asking for trouble by posting this picture.  Meredith was taking a picture, and I was pointing at her to say "Your turn!"  I can't wait to see what kind of captions you guys are going to come up with for this picture.



Here's Mike with my .22LR Ruger Mark I.  It's the perfect gun to teach new shooters with, especially girls.  In this picture, he's inserting a magazine into the pistol and preparing to hand it off to Ashley for her first-ever shots.



After Mike was finished showing Ashley how to shoot, they moved on to a bigger pistol, and Meredith and I were up next.  She's an excellent shot for a first-timer, as girls often are.  Before the day was up, she also shot my .40S&W XD with amazing accuracy.  I'll have to remember to never get on her bad side...


We spent about two hours shooting that poor defenseless door.  I got to try out the 12ga shotgun with a 3½" shell, which is more like an artillery piece than a shotgun.  My shoulder was quite red by the time I was done!

We'll plan a "geeks with guns" day before too long.  I know Craig is leaving for Houghton toward the end of the month (June 28th, methinks) so we'll have to aim for the third weekend of June or so.  Any takers?

-b0b
(...cheers for guns!)

Meredith got her pictures developed yesterday, so I've got even more gun lovin' goodness to post.  I'll try to get them scanned tomorrow if possible!

-b0b
(...weeee!)

You know you're envious of my l33t earmuffs.

-b0b
(...thinks they might be too l33t for you.)

...maybe if princess leia got it on with a care bear....




Cait
    (...spork!)

I got 100 shells and 90 clay pigeons, can we shoot in the air at your "shooting place"?

I got the one you use your arm to throw it, has a handle.  Its hard to explain.

After a bit, we stopped shooting for a beer break.  Since I don't drink, my weapon of choice was root beer.  All of Mike's glasses were dirty, so I used a vase instead, which I chased Ashley around the room with.



Back to the shooting!  After shooting for another hour or so, we had killed quite a few targets and left a number of holes in the door.  At the bottom of the picture, you can see the remnant of the paint can we blew up.  For the record, Mike got the kill shot on it.



Here's a view of the back of the door.  On the far right is Tony, Mike's older brother, who brough out some toys for us to play with.



An afternoon of shooting would leave anyone famished, especially a bunch of growing young men and women.  We headed up to Kalamazoo with Cheeseburger in Paradise as our destination.  Craig challenged me to drink my root beer through five straws, and I met the challenge admirably!



Of course, no meal would be complete without two beautiful women feeding one another.  (If I get killed for posting this picture, it's been a real pleasure knowing all of you.)



Once our impending starvation had been avoided, it was time for some old school D&D craziness.  Ashley and Meredith had never played, Craig was a relative newbie, and the rest of us hadn't played D&D in years, but we were up to the challenge.  I think it's safe to say everyone had a ton of fun.



Metric tons of sugar were consumed that night.  Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, and Geek Cake for everyone!



In the wee hours of the morning, after D&D had wound down, we finished out the day with a campfire.  Don't ask why I look like the humpback of Notre Dame, because I really have no clue.  While sitting around the fire, we came to the profound conclusion that we had experienced what life was really all about.  After spending years focusing solely on my career, it was a pretty deep realization that sitting around the campfire with my friends was more important than the best job in the world.  Deep?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  *shrug*



...and, just because I can, here is a picture of Mike looking crazy.  That is all.

-b0b
(...has even more pictures somewhere!)