It's Friday, but Monday's Comin'

I am so sick and tired of packing. At this point, as long as the Ramen noodles arrive, I will not starve, and I am bringing a week's worth of clothes in my carry on.

I feel like I spent my whole summer getting ready for this trip, and now I am ready to just GO!

I still have to resign my old position. I finished all my physical appointments. Still have to send Alaska certificate paperwork in and finish up financial estate issues.

Monday evening I will be on a plane to Seattle to spend a few days with my cousin, Eileen, and her family. Then on the 5th of August I will be headed for Anchorage. I did meet with Derek Luke, and I will have his apartment when I get up there. We agreed to share costs on produce boxes, and I agreed to teach him how to cook. That reminds me...pack the cook book!

Procrastination

Today I sent two more bins to Alaska. They told us we could start mailing them on July 1st, but my first one went out on the 11th. Yes, I am a procrastinator. The more bins I send, the lower my anxiety. I sent two more bins today. The important thing is to drill a hole on each side of the lid and then put strapping through to lock it.

Then, just to be sure, I put duck tape all the way around the lid and the bottom. I never knew the post office would mail these things!

Monster Fish

Here is a link to view a video of the Lake Iliamna Monster...

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/river-monsters-massive-white-sturgeon.html

This one was only 9 feet, but maybe I will catch the 20 foot one!

NRA Certified: First Steps Pistol Orientation

Today I took a 6 hour class at Anthony's Arms in West Mifflin about The Basics of Pistol Shooting. It covered the parts of a gun, safety, proper shooting, cleaning, storage, etc. To pass the test you had to hit one set of 5 shots within 9 inches of each other out of 20 total shots. All of my shots were within the 9 inches! (All but one was within 5 inches.) I earned a certificate and *Basic Practical* patch. I shot a .357 Magnum revolver, and everyone else had a .22. I had no trouble at all and it was way easier than I thought it would be.

My only disappointment is that I did not get to shoot the .500 Smith & Wesson because it had been sent to the gunsmith, and they only had one. That is one the smallest caliber handguns that will kill a brown bear, and I'm sure it is one the highest caliber revolvers they make.

So now I don't know whether to buy one or not? The gun range guy said he didn't think I'd have any trouble at all with it. However, I will not buy one until I am sure I can shoot it. There is only one other range where you can shoot a .500, but it is about 1 1/2 hours away in Greensburg. :(