That’s What Friends Are For

Airsoft M4

A couple of weeks ago I bought a cheap M4 Airsoft rifle from Walmart for about $100. Needless to say I was hooked – which I didn’t think would happen considering I’m a member of the Canadian Forces and can handle any of the M4 / C7 variants with ease. I’ve been out shooting Tim Horton’s cups in my porch and taking a microwave packing box full of polystyrene to the parking lot of Two Bears Marina and shooting the shit out of it (I shoot out towards the water for safety).

Anyway… so almost immediately I felt the need for something more powerful and better quality. I went and checked out 007 Airsoft to see what Ken had.  Needless to say I was rather excited by his range of Airsoft weapons – it’s only too bad some of them are available to law enforcement or licensed movie production companies.

Canadian law basically states the lower receiver has to be clear plastic.  If you look closely in the picture you’ll see the lower receiver on the weapon I bought is tinted dark so it’s a bit more realistic.

It has an anodized aluminum upper receiver and detachable carrying handle, tinted clear glass fiber reinforced C8 lower receiver conforming to Canadian regulations, CNC Aluminum RIS unit, a Nylon fiber pistol grip, railed vertical grip, RIS panels, retractable crane stock (holds battery) with two styles butt plates, 14mm threaded aluminum CNC outer barrel, iron chamber block, 6.05mm tight bore inner barrel, a metal one-piece hop up chamber, ultra high torque motor, 300rd high capacity magazine,

The gear box has an M120 spring, steel gears, 8mm ball bearings, aluminum cylinder, aluminum cylinder head with double o-rings, reinforced nylon fiber piston with steel teeth, aluminum piston head with bearings, aluminum bearing spring guide, POM nozzle with internal o-ring, high temperature wires.

Steel furniture includes charging handle, magazine catch, bolt catch, selector, front sight, and flash hider. The other metal parts are rear sight assembly, trigger, ejection port cover, trigger guard, magazine, front/rear sling mounts, forward assist knob, steel motor pinion gear, and locking body pins.

The best part is the velocity is 400fps using 0.20g plastic BBs. I can’t wait to get out and start shooting helpless little moggies. I’m also going to check out Xtreme Tactics in Winnipeg and kick some serious ass – show some of those newbie punks how British dudes with a rifle get busy!

Oh yeah… Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare 2 kicks serious arse. Every review I heard about it was positive – the reputation was well worth it.

A good experience with Associated Bank

I have an account in the United States with Associated Bank. The story is my former girlfriend Kellie Hunt (who is now apparently married to an extremely insecure dude) used to work at First Federal Bank in Kenosha, Wisconsin. A number of years later Associated Bank bought First Federal. The first thing I lost was the ability to use internet banking to check my accounts and stuff like that – because Associated Bank’s system used only Social Security numbers, and as I’m not an American resident I don’t have a SS number.

When the account was originally set up I was told that I would only be allowed to spend what I had in my account (no overdraft). I was given a Debit card with a MasterCard symbol on it. Turns out this is a very handy card to have as I can use it at Tim Horton’s to get coffee.

So anyway to cut a long story short… I called up yesterday to get a new card and found out I had USD$798 in overdraft fees. I was obviously livid which was made even worse to find out that the fees all stemmed from four transactions totalling USD$13. I told the guy on the phone to cancel the charges or close the account, and then I asked to speak to a supervisor. I got through to a nice lady who took all the information and sent it up the corporate ladder to a splendid lady called Jennifer Fox who is (I think) the Vice-President of Customer Service for Associated Bank.

Ms Fox zeroed my balance, removed those late fees and gave me back the deposit I’d made a few weeks earlier. She said that she’d looked at the account, saw the charges were small and knew right away I’d never have made those tiny transactions knowing it would cost $35 a time. Ms Fox also removed the ability to go overdrawn so now if I have a balance of $10 and try to swipe $11… the transaction will be refused (which is how I always figured my account functioned).

Ms Fox also had a web banking specialist in her office at the time and they set me up with web banking so now I can check my balance online.

Suffice to say I am very happy with the outcome. I’m very pleasantly surprised that Associated Bank cared enough about their customers to come to an agreeable ending. No doubt I’ll be referring customers whenever possible.

Why the Army Reserve has it’s advantages

Everyone who isn’t a self-centred twit knows by now who Major Nidal Hasan is. If you don’t know (which means you’re a self-centred twit) he’s a Major in the United States Army who went on a killing spree in Fort Hood, Texas and killed thirteen soldiers. Whilst I suspect that he’s definitely going to be charged under military law and given the death sentence, I simply do not believe this attack was connected in any way to Islamic extremism.

I think that he was a man pushed over the edge by being forced into something he objected to. The death penalty is the only just punishment for that murdering bastard, but it’s clear a lot of people won’t even understand or care why he did what he did.

According to this story on CNN, Major Nidal Hasan wanted the military to allow Muslims to refrain from participation in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on the grounds of conscientious objection. This is by far the best suggestion I’ve ever heard and I simply cannot believe that someone with the rank of Major wasn’t listened to.

All of this could have been prevented if Major Hasan had been in the Army Reserve… because as I understand it Major Hasan then could have simply refused to go and nothing would have happened. As is demonstrated by the book ‘Fifteen Days’ by Christie Blatchford, at least in the Canadian Forces, it’s usually Reservists who are eager and willing to be deployed and so the Reservists who wanted to do a tour wouldn’t be deprived of the opportunity.

Gordy’s Got To Go

Gordon Brown is a twat. A spineless jellyfish.  I realise that his problem is common for most politicians, but it particularly bothers me in Gordy.  One reason is he simply doesn’t have the charisma or charm needed to make people stand up and pay attention.  He never has had that skill and public perception is hugely important for a politician.

In this recent news story about Lt Colonel Rupert Thorneloe – the most senior British officer to die in Afghanistan – it says Lt Col Thorneloe wasn’t happy about the amount of trips British troops are taking on the ground in Afghanistan.  Some memos by him were published in the Daily Mail in which he warned about the increasing danger to British troops and the shortage of helicopters fit for ferrying troops around. Read more...