• Archives

  • Topics

  • Meta

  • The Boogeyman - Working Vacation
  • Coming Home
  • Quest To the North
  • Via Serica
  • Tales of the Minivandians

  • Join the NRA

    Join the NRA!

All posts by daddybear71

Book Review – Trouble in the Wind

Chris Kennedy and James Young have brought out the third book in their Phases of Mars alternate-history story collections, titled Trouble in the Wind.

Eighteen outstanding authors. Sixteen stories of ground warfare that never happened.

Throughout the human experience, historians have wondered, “What if?” What if Sherman had fought for the South in the U.S. Civil War? What if Germany had fought to the end in World War I? What if World War III had actually happened?

Wonder no more, for these questions, along with many others, are answered within the pages of this book. Told by a variety of award-winning authors, like Sarah Hoyt and Kevin J. Anderson, the 2018 Dragon Award Winners for Alternate History, S.M. Stirling, the 2019 Dragon Award Winner for Alternate History, David Weber, a three-time Dragon Award Winner for Best Military Science Fiction, and Brad R. Torgersen, the winner of the 2019 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction, “Trouble in the Wind,” deals with ground combat that never happened in our world…but easily could have.

The third book in the exciting “Phases of Mars” anthology series, there is something for everyone inside! From fighting Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae, to the early death of Napoleon, to scouting the bush in Angola, “Trouble in the Wind” traces a history of ground warfare…that wasn’t. From warfare in Taylor Anderson’s “The Destroyermen” series…to S.M. Stirling’s “Black Chamber,” this book has it, so come aboard and find out “what if” all of these things had changed history…just a little. You’ll be glad you did!

Inside you’ll find:
The Sting of Fate by William Alan Webb
To Save the Republic by Sarah A. Hoyt
Here Must We Hold by Rob Howell
The Heretic by Monalisa Foster
Secondhand Empires by Brad R. Torgersen
A Shot Heard ‘Round the World by Kevin J. Anderson & Kevin Ikenberry
Marching Through by David Weber
To the Rescue by S.M. Stirling
The Blubber Battle: The First Falklands Campaign by Joelle Presby & Patrick Doyle
Drang Nach Osten by Christopher G. Nuttall
Fighting Spirit by Philip S. Bolger
An Orderly Withdrawal by Taylor Anderson
Mr. Dewey’s Tank Corps by James Young
Soldiers of the Republic by Justin Watson
Unintended Consequences by Peter Grant
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit by Jan Niemczyk

Picking a favorite story from this collection was impossible.  Many of my favorite authors contributed to it, and it introduced me to several new authors that I will be tracking down and reading.

Each of the stories takes an event in military history, changes one or two things, and then explores “What if?”.  If you enjoy military history and fiction, you’ll definitely find something you enjoy in Trouble in the Wind.

I’ve already checked the first two books in the series out of Kindle Unlimited, and I’m looking forward to enjoying them.

by daddybear71 on December 20, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Review, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 20, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/12/20/book-review-trouble-in-the-wind/

Book Review – Possum Creek Massacre

Cedar Sanderson’s second book in the Witchward series, Possum Creek Massacre, is an engrossing, fast read that’s perfect for a long night in front of the fire.

Renowned for her witch hunting skills, Detective Amaya Lombard knew that being summoned from the coastal rainforest of Oregon to the backwoods hollers of Kentucky meant the case was something special. From the moment she arrived at the magic soaked scene in an abandoned farmhouse she knew how bad it was going to be. She had no idea just how complicated it was going to get, professionally and personally. Now she must catch a killer before they catch her. The roots of evil plunge deeply into the past, and the blood soaked history of Kentucky’s witch warded houses and barns may hold the key to keeping her alive in the present.

Sanderson expands and brings the character of Amaya Lombard to life in Possum Creek Massacre.  Even though we got to know her in the first book in the series, she becomes three-dimensional as she tries to solve a series of murders in the Kentucky hills.

The author teases this yarn out a bit at a time.  The world she shows us, from the mountains and the folk who live in them, to the country hospitality Amaya is shown, is painted in vivid detail without dragging into overly-done description.

This is not a page turner, although there are a few sections where I found myself rushing to find out what happens next.  Rather, it is a study of a woman thrown into a strange place to solve an even stranger mystery.  This character-driven story pulls you in and holds you close as you explore it.

Possum Creek Massacre is definitely recommended for readers who enjoy richly-drawn stories with endearing characters.

by daddybear71 on December 19, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Review, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 19, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/12/19/book-review-possum-creek-massacre/

Book Review – The Grey Man – Sunset

Jim Curtis returns to his Grey Man series.  Sunset is a wonderfully written capstone to a wonderful series of stories.

Whoever said retirement was quiet never met John Cronin…

The old man may have retired for the final time from the Sheriff’s office, but there are still cows to run, court cases to testify at, and consultation calls to tap decades of experience. And that’s not even counting the cold cases he’s still trying to solve…

With his granddaughter Jesse running the gun store and managing the ranch books, and her husband leaning how to fill Cronin’s shoes on investigations and arrests, John is keeping busy training the next generation, while settling a few old scores!

Curtis continues the story of John Cronin and his family.  Sunset shows us how the torch is passed to the next generation, but we also learn more about Cronin and his past.

By now, we know this world, so the author is able to concentrate on the story and the characters who live in it.  The story is well paced and brings many threads in the Grey Man stories to full completion.  There is action to be had here, but Sunset is more of a story about people and how they live and enjoy life.

If you’re looking for a good book to curl up with for an evening, Sunset is for you.

by daddybear71 on December 18, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Review, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 18, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/12/18/book-review-the-grey-man-sunset/

New BoogeyMan Story

The latest BoogeyMan story, A Woman Scorned, is up for pre-order on Amazon.

Never cheat on a succubus.

Martin Shelby’s latest client is a woman out to hurt her husband where it matters most to him – his pride. She’s teamed with the best lawyer in town, and The Boogeyman is out to find the evidence to turn her shark loose in divorce court.

But indulging a taste for younger women isn’t the only shady thing her husband’s been up to, and the blood in the water is all too real as the body count starts mounting…

You can find the idea that grew into this one here.

Many thanks to the alpha and beta readers, as well as Cedar Sanderson.  She saw my feeble attempt at cover art and sent me a “Bless your heart” message. Half an hour later, she’d turned what looked like pictures cut out of the Montgomery Ward catalog and pasted to felt into exactly what the story needed.

It’s on pre-order until Monday.  Hope you all enjoy it.  And remember, the best Christmas present you can give me is an honest review.

by daddybear71 on December 12, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in book, shameless self promotion, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 12, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/12/12/new-boogeyman-story/

Political Rumblings

I’ve been mulling a few things over and it’s time to get them so they’ll stop ricocheting around inside my skull.

  1. President Trump is almost certain to be impeached, but will almost certainly be acquitted in the Senate.
    • President Johnson (Andy, not Lindy) freely admitted that he did what he was accused of, but even a Senate dominated by the Radical Republicans didn’t convict him.  Seriously, they hated his southern butt and still decided that the case was too chickenshit to convict.
    • Nixon was going to be impeached and probably was going to be convicted.  There was bi-partisan agreement that he had poked the pooch and needed to be ejected from the Oval Office at high velocity.  Only the judicious use of a deal with Gerry Ford involving the 25th Amendment and the power of the pardon saved him from that shame.
    • In Clinton’s case, he probably did what he was accused of, but there wasn’t a senatorial consensus that he deserved to be removed.  I’d insert a tasteless joke about bribes consisting of boxes of Cuban cigars here, but… ew.
    • In Trump’s case, the certainty that what he is accused of is a crime or not is pretty muddy, much less whether he did it or not.  Even if it is, it’s a pretty weak high crime or misdemeanor.  Trust me, if the Democrats could hang something easier to understand on him, they would.  I don’t see any way for enough Republicans to peel off in order to convict.
  2. The fact that Trump’s approval ratings have gone up while he is being impeached do not surprise me in the least.
    • We have been bombarded by almost weekly new “This time for sure!  Presto!” accusations of treason, discrimination, bigotry, and worse for over three years.  We’re numb to it unless presented with video evidence of President Trump admitting to doing something heinous.  Even then, I’d want forensic evidence and witnesses, because I’ve been in technology long enough to not trust video completely.
    • The Democrats are going to have to come up with something a lot more concrete, and to be honest, sensational, than “He may or may not have demanded an investigation that may or may not have been justified during a phone call and may or may not have threatened to withhold aid if he didn’t get it.” to get the American populace off the couch and into the streets.
    • At the same time, the economy is doing pretty well, and people worry more about their savings account than Congress settling accounts.
  3. This is all going to come back to bite us in the ass.
    • If the Trump presidency has taught the Republicans anything, it’s that being a gentleman statesman in a political knife fight means you’re the only one bleeding.
    • Someday, there will be another Democrat in the White House. Maybe it’ll be next year, maybe in four years, but it will happen.  It’s likely that they will have a Congress that’s run, at least 50% of it, by Republicans.  May God have mercy on that President’s soul if they open their eggs on the wrong end.
    •   The junior Republican Senators and Congressmen are watching what’s going on in the halls of Congress and learning the new rules.  You can bet the farm that they will keep playing by them when there’s a D in the Oval Office.
    • The big loser there will be the rest of us.  Political stability, even one as vicious as ours can get, is a bedrock of our success.  People invest in the United States because we don’t throw our leaders out on a whim and we don’t throw our former leaders off the Tarpeian Rock.  We can concentrate on innovating and making money because we don’t concentrate on political vengeance at the highest level and grudge killings at the street level.
  4. The Democrat field for 2020 creeps on at its petty pace
    • The current frontrunner is a guy who lost to Michael Dukakis in 1988, Barack Obama in 2008, and forfeited to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
    • Kamala Harris has dropped out because Democrat donors and primary voters are too bigoted to support a black woman, or something.
    • I’m not paying much attention to the free stuff and Orange-man-bad rhetoric these rejects from a Teletubbies reunion tour are currently spouting.  This is just an extreme example of how Democrat primaries have gone since at least 1932.
    • I will say that if the D’s want to have any chance at victory, they need to have a clear winner before their primary season is half over.  Sanders and Clinton stretched things out way too long for Her Imperial Majesty, Hillary the -1st, to tack back to the center in time for most of the electorate to forget all of the nasty things she’d said about them in the primary.
  5. Finally, it’s time for all of us to start getting interested.
    • If you’re a Democrat, you need to start figuring out who you’re going to vote for. There’s no shame in it. Just wash your hands afterward.  On second thought, you’re going to need a Karen Silkwood level shower to get that icky feeling off.
    • If you’re a Republican, it’s time to decide whether you are ready to stand with President Trump or not. If not, it’s time to start looking for someone to vote for next fall.
    • If you’re a Libertarian, it’s time to finally decide whether or not the United States was justified in invading Canada during the War of 1812.  You’ve debated long enough.
    • If you’re an independent like me, it’s time to invest in twelve-month popcorn futures.
by daddybear71 on December 9, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Politics, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 9, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/12/09/political-rumblings/

Musings

  • We signed up for the new Disney streaming service the other day.  Boo and I watched the new Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, tonight.
    • Dear Disney – If you’d made this story instead of “Mary Sue Goes Walkabout”, I wouldn’t have spent the last three years complaining.
    • There was so much that reminded me of the original trilogy that I can’t list it all.  Seriously, it goes beyond easter eggs or even fan service.  I’m pretty sure the writers sat down in front of a white board with “WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE THESE JOKERS HAPPY?” written across the top.
    • I refuse to get too attached to it, though.  Disney owns Fox, and we all know what Fox does to sci-fi westerns that a bunch of nerds get attached to.
  • We got our first cold snap this weekend.  Not quite cold enough to bring the brass monkey in for the night, but definitely enough to get me to zip up my sweatshirt.
  • While the latest word thingie is off to the beta readers, I’ve been working on cover art.
    • Hint to supporters of open-source drawing programs – Don’t get snide when a newbie politely asks how one uses said program to draw a rectangle.
    • Referring me to a page that holds the 12,385,757 steps necessary to DRAW A RECTANGLE does nothing to incentivize me to support your project.
    • Commercial software still has a learning curve, but at least there’s an incentive to make folks want to use your program.
    • PhotoShop is a little more involved than using a ruler and a pencil, not much more.
    • GIMP feels like the developers intoning “When you can lift this cauldron of glowing coals using only your wrists, then you may draw a rectangle.”
by daddybear71 on November 13, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on November 13, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/11/13/musings-334/

Today’s Plans

It’s Veteran’s Day, and I took a day off from work.  To celebrate, I’m going to relive some of the best moments from my glory days.

Here’s my agenda:

  • Take a perfectly clean rifle out of the safe and spend a few hours ‘cleaning’ it before presenting it to someone who hates me with the fire of a thousand suns for ‘inspection’.
  • Get into a spotlessly clean and pressed suit of clothing, complete with immaculately shined footwear, then climb around a greasy, dirty truck for an hour while filling out paperwork that will be glanced at and thrown into the trash.
  • Remove everything from my basement, sort it out into neat lines, and have the neighbor check to make sure I haven’t lost anything since the last time I opened up the storage room.
  • Lock a craggy old fart who’s too old for this shit into a room with an enthusiastic college senior who thinks he’s Patton.  Take side bets on which one survives the encounter.
  • Pack everything I need to survive for a year into two small bags, carry it all to the end of a runway, then sit and wait in the rain until told that the op’s been cancelled and there’s an equipment inspection in the morning.
    • Repeat that last step while blind drunk at 2 the next morning because you never know when you’ll need to do it for real.
  • Spend weeks planning something really, really important and extremely fun, including travel and lodging arrangements and a list of interesting people that you want to meet and have long conversations with, then cancel it after your plane has taken off because some pissants in some 3rd world shithole decided to have a ‘peaceful election’ and form a ‘democratic government’.
    • Spoil sports
  • Pack a briefing room full of guys from upstate New York, Michigan, North Dakota, and Alaska for four hours and teach them how to stay warm and dry in the winter.
  • Pack the same room full of native Texans and Arizonans and teach them about surviving the heat.
  • Teach about both heat and cold injuries after issuing a complete set of cold-weather gear to two Air Force guys and telling them to walk two miles for chow.
  • Be called fat and out of shape by someone who got carried by a fat and out of shape dude after she passed out carrying 20% of her body weight up the side of a relatively long, steep mountainside.
    • It’s OK, she only weighed about as much as my rucksack did. Soaking wet.  Holding a brick.
by daddybear71 on November 11, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on November 11, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/11/11/todays-plans/

Musings

  • I’m not sure what’s wrong with America’s youth.
    • I left a bowl containing five pounds of assorted chocolate bars on a stool at the end of my drive for trick or treaters when I left this evening.
    • Maybe five pieces were gone when we got home.
    • In my day, not only would all of the chocolate have been gone, but the mixing bowl and stool would also vanish for a few days.
  • Speaking of young people, apparently adolescent humans are using the hashtag #OKBoomer to dismiss someone older who disagrees with them on social media.
    • The explanation I’ve been given is that it’s a shorthand way to express how  motivated the writer is to deal with the mess left over from the Baby Boomers and Generation X.
    • I suggest that when some little pissant who still has egg yolk behind one ear uses that hashtag, it should be answered with #PissOffInfant.
    • We can use that to express our disdain for folks of any age who believe that their limited life skills and experiences qualify them to hold an informed opinion on anything more advanced than whether Huggies or Pampers are more comfortable after nap time.
  • So, the House of Representatives held a vote today to authorize the already-begun impeachment investigation of President Trump. Surprise, surprise, it was almost a party-line vote.
    • I won’t comment on what got this all started or the motives of either side in what little debate is happening.  A pox upon both their houses.
    • What I will say is that the time for closed-door hearings is officially over.  When Watergate was going on, Sesame Street and my mother’s soap operas were preempted to show testimony live for months.  I want that again.  I want it on C-SPAN, YouTube, BET, ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX, PBS, and Nickelodean.  I want the public to watch, in real time, what’s said and who says it.
    • Yes, sunshine is the best disinfectant.  If the President is dirty and deserves this, show me the facts.  If he’s clean, show that to me unfiltered.
    • Either way, it’s time for us to see how the sausage gets made.
by daddybear71 on October 31, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Politics, Thought for the day, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on October 31, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/10/31/musings-333/

New-to-me Rifle

The other day, Irish Woman indulged me and we went to the local big box sporting goods store.  This is one of those with an indoor fishing pond and enough taxidermy that my loving wife calls it The Dead Zoo.

Anyway, I followed my habit of strolling through the racks of used guns to see if there was anything interesting.  It was an embarrassment of riches.  They had several Swiss K-31 straight pull bolt actions.  There was a rather beat-up Spanish Mauser next to a row of CETME clones.  There was the obligatory rack of Mosin-Nagant 91/30’s, all of them looking like they’d been dug out from underneath an old bunker west of Minsk.

By the way, when did Mosins start going for almost $400?

Then I caught a glance of polished wood and steel.   Nestled between a couple of Russian shotguns was an old Enfield.  Further inspection showed that it was chambered in 7.62×51.  It was missing its magazine, but was otherwise in heavily used, but good shape.

Being the responsible adult who had his wife along with him at the time, I put it back on the rack.  I asked a few friends to convince me to not go back and get it, and they dutifully told me I needed to go back and get it.

So, tonight, I went back and got it.

My new purchase is a 1967 Ishapore 2A1, an evolution of the SMLE MkIII.

IMG_1973IMG_3730

IMG_5921

Other than the proof marks and serial number on the receiver, this was the only marking on the rifle. The furniture is dinged up quite a bit, but seems sturdy.

IMG_7078

The rifle has seen quite a bit of use. Anywhere the finish could wear off the steel from use, it has. The bore is quite shiny, and I couldn’t find any rust on it.

First, I’m going to learn to tear her down and give her a good cleaning.  Then, I’ll find a magazine for her and get it fitted so that I can invest in a few boxes of 7.62×51 and take her to the range.

Time to find out why everybody’s been raving about the Enfield action.

 

 

 

by daddybear71 on October 23, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Guns, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on October 23, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/10/23/new-to-me-rifle/

Musings

  • I started a new injection today for my arthritis.  Possible side effects are ravenous hunger, abnormal hair growth, irritability, and an aversion to silver.
    • Am I the only one craving really, really rare lamb right now?
  • DaddyBear’s Maxim of Yard Work – Do not mow the lawn until after Memorial Day and do not rake leaves until after the first wind storm.
    • However, if it’s snowing, you better be out there shoveling while it’s still coming down.
  • I told my boss the other day that I was officially changing my title to “Designated Guilty Bastard”.
    • He may have thought I was joking.
    • If the reward for doing a job well is more of that job, I just be doing pretty good.
  • We turned on the furnace for the first time tonight.
    • Apparently, we were also making a burnt offering to some arcane deity in our ductwork.
    • Usually, we get a couple months of fall between turning off the air conditioning and turning on the furnace.  This year, we got a week and a half.
  • I was feeling pretty good about Boo and I getting out of the house this morning.  No bad attitude, no sharp words. We even got in the truck ahead of schedule.  We had a few extra minutes to listen to a Larry Correia audiobook and talk about the day before the doors to school opened.
    • Truly, it was a great way to start the morning.
    • Then Boo got out and noticed that he’d forgotten his lunch on the counter.
    • Oh, well, there are worse things to forget.  One of his uncles once forgot his left shoe and didn’t realize it until he was halfway to school.
by daddybear71 on October 15, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on October 15, 2019

https://daddybearsden.com/2019/10/15/musings-332/

« Older Posts
Newer Posts »
%d bloggers like this: