Too much is made of this so-called conversion therapy, for and against. When my son showed an unnatural interest in snowdrops, I just drove him repetitively past Stonehenge. It is far more solid, I told him, and way more permanent than any bloke with a few hairs on his chest. It worked and it didn't. On the plus side, he is the father of 19 kids so I am a successful extremely egotistical grandad. On the minus side, he votes BNP.
No power for 3 days, but it's currently on.
Almost no water, and we have been told to boil it.
Store shelves are bare of all essentials: water, milk, meat, eggs, bread, etc.
No fuel at the pumps.
Roads are finally mostly passable, but it will drop below freezing tonight and more snow and ice are likely.
My car had a flat tire today.
2021 can kiss my ass.
It shouldn't fall below freezing from Saturday onward, so there's light at the end of the long, frozen tunnel.
This is how I've spent the last 3 days: on a mattress in front of the gas fireplace which was the only available source of heat. I don't usually sleep with a pistol at my side (although it isn't very far away) but the previous night my neighbors decided to "prank" me by shining flashlights through my windows in the middle of the night. Not very smart...
Glad power is restored and hope it stays that way. Is that gun loaded and what safety catches are there on a weapon like that?
Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 17th February 2021, 11:51 PMIs that gun loaded and what safety catches are there on a weapon like that?
An unloaded gun doesn't offer any protection at all - unless you're planning to throw it at someone.
There's a trigger safety and a grip safety, but the best safety of all is the lump of meat between my ears. The pistol isn't going to fire unless I want it to fire.
It's a Springfield XD-M in .40 Smith & Wesson. It doesn't look like they still make it in that caliber.
https://www.springfield-armory.com/xd-series-handguns/xd-m-handguns/
Thank God I live in the UK (I think 
)
Hope you're back to normal soon DB.
The sun set and the power went out. I managed to charge all of my devices, but the dishwasher wasn't finished yet.
Back in front of the fireplace.
Quote: DaButt @ 18th February 2021, 12:00 AMAn unloaded gun doesn't offer any protection at all - unless you're planning to throw it at someone.
There's a trigger safety and a grip safety, but the best safety of all is the lump of meat between my ears. The pistol isn't going to fire unless I want it to fire.
It's a Springfield XD-M in .40 Smith & Wesson. It doesn't look like they still make it in that caliber.
https://www.springfield-armory.com/xd-series-handguns/xd-m-handguns/
I wasn't suggesting an unloaded gun offers protection just wondering if you're posting pictures of a loaded gun on the floor because that doesn't seem in control of a weapon. What if you nodded off and a gang of toddlers broke in looking for, among other things besides rusks, loaded guns lying around on the floor to shoot each other with? They can't climb so floor level weapons are the only option for them.
Before you know it you have a pile of dead toddlers and some very irate parents demanding answers damn quick.
It's the picture of the loaded gun that's probably the most shocking to us Brits.
It just never ever happens here.
But from what I read and see in American news, there are actual armed scumbags that will enter your property to rob and maybe kill you.
It's just the fact that you have to sleep like this to feel safe.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 18th February 2021, 8:12 AMBut from what I read and see in American news, there are actual armed scumbags that will enter your property to rob and maybe kill you.
That's true, but it tends to happen in bad neighborhoods. I can't recall any burglaries of an occupied dwelling in my neighborhood since I moved here in 2007.
Most home invasions are planned because someone is known/rumored to keep large sums of cash or drugs in the home. "Normal" burglars are hesitant to enter occupied residences because there's a good chance that the owners are armed, so they'll typically knock on the front door first. If nobody answers they'll try a back door and claim to be looking for a lost pet if they're caught in the act.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 18th February 2021, 8:12 AMIt's just the fact that you have to sleep like this to feel safe.
That's not at all true. I feel perfectly safe in my home, in my neighborhood, and in all but the most sketchy parts of my city. My firearms are stowed away safely, but I can get to them quickly if I need to. I am grateful that I live where I can defend myself against an intruder/attacker, rather than having to rely on the government to protect me. A Brit's shock at seeing a pistol is similar to the shock I felt when I learned that a woman in the UK can't carry pepper spray to defend herself against a rapist, and a man can't carry a pocketknife. Attempting to legislate the populace into safety is a fool's errand. I live in a country where murderers can be put to death, yet the murders continue, while some of the population request that the police be de-funded or abolished. It's madness.
Genuinely sorry for your woes mate, on the gun side of things I should imagine the average Texan owns at least 5 guns and no snow shovels,
And before you offer the old 'Guns are not as good a snow shovels for defending yourself' I will refer you to the fate of Wet Bandits in Home Alone .
Quote: Teddy Paddalack @ 18th February 2021, 6:43 PMAnd before you offer the old 'Guns are not as good a snow shovels for defending yourself' I will refer you to the fate of Wet Bandits in Home Alone .
It's been snowing huge flakes for 3 hours; probably 3 or 4 inches of fresh snow. We drove my neighbor to the airport to pick up his truck and it was easy going at first, but conditions rapidly worsened. At least we have electricity.
Quote: DaButt @ 17th February 2021, 11:33 PMNo power for 3 days, but it's currently on.
Almost no water, and we have been told to boil it.
Store shelves are bare of all essentials: water, milk, meat, eggs, bread, etc.
No fuel at the pumps.
Roads are finally mostly passable, but it will drop below freezing tonight and more snow and ice are likely.
My car had a flat tire today.2021 can kiss my ass.
It shouldn't fall below freezing from Saturday onward, so there's light at the end of the long, frozen tunnel.
This is how I've spent the last 3 days: on a mattress in front of the gas fireplace which was the only available source of heat. I don't usually sleep with a pistol at my side (although it isn't very far away) but the previous night my neighbors decided to "prank" me by shining flashlights through my windows in the middle of the night. Not very smart...
If that is what owning a gun leads to, I wouldn't bother with it mate.
Trade it in and buy 
a mouth organ and (B) a busking alcove on time share.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 18th February 2021, 9:09 PMIf that is what owning a gun leads to, I wouldn't bother with it mate.
I can protect myself against attackers and you can't. I think both of us are happy with our current situations, so why bother discussing it further? 
Basically, we Brits don't like the idea of ordinary citizens becoming Judge, Jury and Executioner. Even the full legal processes go wrong too often and incarcerate innocents, but at least they can usually be released and given some compensation some way down the line.
There can be too many cases of mistaken impressions in the USA where a possible criminal gets shot dead for just seeming guilty. And there has been at least one recent case where a young man (foolishly) did a prank attack on a girl friend and was shot dead by a different friend of the girl, who had not been told it would be a prank. Also in this past year in the USA there have been far, far too many cases where the police have opened fire on persons with mental instability usually killing them, yet they usually get off any severe punishment.
What I fail to understand about the American attitude to guns is why the NRA and gun-lovers are so reluctant to have the manufacturers put effort into creating guns that can only be fired by the owner (or approved substitute). As far as I can see after phasing in such controlled weapons (itself a difficult task), this would put a stop to school massacres and also to toddlers accidentally firing guns and killing parents; yes, that has happened. It would also make it more difficult, though not impossible for criminals to use stolen guns.
Admittedly the present personal-fire technology is too slow and that needs to be overcome, but the prime reason that I've seen put forward (mainly by the NRA) is that the Government/Police forces could create over-riding transmitters which would prevent the gun firing, so preventing those guns from being used to attack the Government forces. The NRA attitude seems to have stalled the efforts to invent/create a reliable & fast personalised-fire-control system.
In my opinion this is due to mis-interpretation of the infamous Second Amendment to the constitution. All too often we see that espoused as "it is necessary that citizens can be armed, so that they can displace a bad government". Actually there's nothing in the second amendment to support that, it is far more clearly intended to ensure that the citizenry are armed so that they can quickly become a Militia to assist the Government forces to defend the USA against EXTERNAL invasions.
This latter was a technique that worked/works well in Switzerland and kept the Nazis out.. Swiss men having done their equivalent of National Service and having been trained to use guns, were/are required to keep their supplied weapon at home {with a very small quantity of ammunition} and to head for the mountains and become Guerilla fighters if the relevant national alarm is raised. This fact was/is well publicised to potential enemies, so became an effective deterrent.
I hope you all keep safe DaButt. It is a measure of how much the world has changed in recent years that a bunch of brits (and the other nationalities too) can show real concern for a Texan they have not met. And get real time updates. An amazing thing this internet.