Rules to Live By...

RULES FOR A GUN, KNIFE, BASEBALL BAT OR FIST FIGHT
1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap - life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap - funerals are expensive
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell "Fire!" Why "Fire"? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will.... and who is going to summon help if you yell "Intruder," "Glock" or "Winchester?"
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. "No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy."
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don't drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That's how you live if hit in your "good" side.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don't (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)
19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.
22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than "4".
25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." At a practice session, throw you gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.
26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.
27. Redardless of whether justified of not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperatire.
28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, "He said he was going to kill me. I beleived him. I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm very upset now. I can't say anything more. Please speak with my attorney."

Back when dirt was still rocks

37 years ago today I made my mom and dad parents for the first time. Here are some cave paintings I got on loan from the museum of natural history.


My first day home.























My first birthday party. Hmmmm. Cake.

Opening Day/The Cabin

Last Saturday was the opening day of quail season in KS. Trent and I have been friends since cross country and track in college. His parents own some land near Ottawa and it’s a long standing tradition for Trent and me to head ‘Down South’ the night before opening day. We camp-out at his cabin, cook steaks over the camp fire, and generally catch-up on things. The location is remote and our only interruptions come from the crackle of the camp fire, the wind in the trees and the occasional yapping of coyotes in the distance.

We meet down there at least 4-5 times a year, but opening weekend is the one trip I really look forward to making. If I had to guess, I’d say this is our 10th year running. The quail population is down this year, but hunting, like many things in life, is more about the camaraderie, tradition and enjoying the outdoors than what’s in the game bag at the end of the day. It’s something I’ve grown to appreciate more and more over the years.

Trent built the cabin with his own two hands using nothing but second-hand lumber and materials. I think he even reused old nails. He built it over a year’s time at his parents place and moved it down there in ’94. It’s situated on 200 acres of land that is a balance of CRP, hayfields and woods and includes five farm ponds; a bonus for bass fishing. The amenities are sparse and if you look up the word rustic on Wikipedia it probably says “see Trent’s Cabin”. At 8’ x 10’ it easily accommodates two, but it has slept as many as five. It has a kitchen, dining room, den, three bedrooms, a loft and a porch. The bathroom, however, is behind the wood pile (shovel provided). It has hosted birthday parties, card games, hunting expeditions and week long retreats. The inside is decorated with, among other things, quotes by the likes of Emerson, Eastwood, Ansell Adams and Abraham Lincoln. The most fitting quote was penned by Trent himself. I asked him to send it to me to make sure I got it right. Here is an excerpt along with a note from the author. I’ll leave it at that.

“There is no sound save the wind in the trees and the soothing crackle from the old wood stove. Once as I was getting ready to leave for the cabin someone joked I was getting away from it all. Upon reflection, I find it much more accurate to say I was going to where it was at!”

When asked to write of a special place for a high school class assignment, the cabin was just a smile floating loosely in my cranium. I wrote of a camping spot over by the pink house that Leib and I frequented. I shuffled the words a bit as a smile became a dream and the dream became the cabin. As more of the world passes these eyes and the miles wear the tread, nothing pleases my soul more than getting back to basics. With a good dog resting at my feet, my cabin never fails to stir that old smile.

Trenton Stumpff




Me getting the fire going.


Trent and Mac in The cabin.


Hmmmm...Diner.


The hunt.

Road Wrap-Up

With road season nearly two months behind us, I’ve had some time to reflect on my rollercoaster ride that started last spring. There were plenty of ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. It started with Froze Toes where everyone was still finding their fitness. I finished 5th and considered it to be starting out on the right foot. I upgraded to 2’s right before Dogwood so I could do the 100+ miles in preparation for the longer races later in the season. I made the split the second time up the hill but Mercy ganged-up on me and spit me out the back a few miles later. I ended up riding the last 20 miles with Nick, finished 7th and am very happy with how I raced. Dogwood was a real eye opener. It was as bad as I had ever hurt during and after a race. It took several hours to feel even close to human again and it caused me to sincerely question my sanity in deciding to race in the 1/2’s this year. Washington was a high point. I got away with Josh toward the end of the race and notched my first victory. It was a smallish race, but I was really stoked to get my first win. Joe Martin, in contrast, was a humbling experience. I did ok in the TT, but had my head up my @$$ in the RR and DNF’d (tuck tail between legs and limp home). Tulsa was another humbling experience, but a learning experience as well. My season made a turn for the good in August with a strong finish at the State Crit, two top 10’s at the Tour of KC and 2nd at Sedalia. Totally stoked. The season finale was Gateway. All I can say about Gateway is that shit was insane.

Overall I’m very happy with the progress I made last season. Upgrading to 2’s in the spring was an aggressive move, but I still believe it was the correct decision. It certainly steepened the learning curve and I think I responded well to the challenge. I made quite a few mistakes, but I think I learned from those mistakes and am a better racer for the experience. I also identified several of my weaknesses (like margaritas, burritos, chips and salsa) and intend to focus on fixing them for next year. At the same time I experienced some amount of success and made some new friends to boot. Overall, I consider ’09 to have been a good year.

So now we are deep into ‘cross season. I tried ‘cross last year and it didn’t really grow on me. Sure, I only did about five races, but something about getting off the bike and carrying it just doesn’t seem right (JB calls me the Anti-Cross). This season I’m really enjoying ‘cross. Mostly because the closest I get to racing ‘cross is riding my bike to the race, then minding the keg and providing beer hand-ups while everyone else tears it up. It has been the right motivation to stay on the bike and get in the long rides on weekends.

I jumped on the computrainer this morning for the first time. Not real fun, but there’s work to do for next year.