My name is
David Robins:
Christian, lead developer (resume), writer, photographer, runner,
libertarian (voluntaryist),
and student.
This is also my son David Geoffrey Robins' site.
Can the unseen be contracted away?
Political, Work, Law ·Monday July 19, 2010 @ 01:17 EDT (link)
(This entry inspired by some thoughts I had while writing the entry on property and liberty.)
How much freedom of self (or your car, or other mobile entities) do you have on someone else's property? Do you have a (natural) right to carry concealed weapons, even if the owner is hostile? Can you ever sign away these natural rights to property (contract to not carry weapons) or are such contracts not binding? How about if the property owner has means of detection (metal detectors, guards)? If you believed that contracts can't infringe natural rights, you'd necessarily be similarly opposed to metal detectors infringing privacy, and not think that even if they found something that it could be taken. But on the other hand, right to enter property could be denied for any reason, even assertion of your own natural rights (or because you were wearing a yellow shirt). This puts the rights of the real property owner against the rights of mobile property owners (cars) or individuals (self ownership). This article also examines the rights of (real) property owners.
In a similar vein, the question may be asked, Can you contract away the unseen?
That is, can you sign a contract with, say, an employer, about something he cannot see (or, to be more general, detect). Can you sign away, for example, your freedom to go skiing on the weekends, or to drink apple juice, if it doesn't substantially affect your job? (Going skiing Saturday might make you a little more tired Monday, but it wouldn't affect your work to the detriment of your employer, or at least not more than many other activities.)
For example, you could sign a contract saying you will not do illegal "recreational" drugs, because it could affect your work (more on that in a bit). You could possibly agree to random urine testing to verify this. I would argue that if there were not some indicator (smell, behavior, poor work) indicating a behavior that one had agreed to forgo, then the employer has no business testing for it. And there could be a gray area here. Perhaps you can't easily observe drug use without taking a lot of time to observe a person, but it could still lead to grievous errors (say, on an industrial shop floor); then it might be reasonable to contract to allow random testing, but even then, a zero tolerance policy is not compatible with the "detectable" policy; there must be a level of intoxication that would compromise safety (not 100% chance, just reasonably, and I'll bet that level is above zero).
The policy would even allow for people to bring in those drugs in, say, pants pockets, as long as they would not otherwise influence contracted work (dealing them, for example, is an abuse of company time and property, engenders profit from use of said property, could be breaking the law—depending if we're in Voluntarytopia or not, takes others' time, might result in customer complaints, etc.). It's not merely whether they can be seen, either; even if an X-ray machine could pick them up, until regular people start wearing X-ray glasses, having something in your pocket doesn't interfere with how you do your job.
An alternative but similar view (that would allow for concealed carry) would be to recognize the supremacy of the right to life, liberty, and property, and allow companies only to require people to contract away the ability to protect those rights (e.g., in the case of protecting life, the right to carry weapons for self-defense) if the company can protect those rights equally well. This might involve hiring personal security guards, or controlling physical plant access with metal detectors and armed guards. For most jobs, actually protecting individual rights in this manner would be prohibitively expensive, and so people would be able to protect themselves, but for occupations where employers really (for business reasons, possibly secret labs or weapons development, or even extreme prejudice) want to disarm people, they can accomplish it by providing equivalent protection (who decides what is "equivalent" is an implementation detail).
IÂm certainly a huge fan of property rights, and private contracts, but I could accept that it is not reasonable for employers to be able to restrict things that do not affect the job they are hiring someone to do.
You could have a contract that says, for example, that an employee will do whatever job they're hired for and buy all their groceries from company-affiliated store X (or go to a specific church on Sunday, or only drink water), in return for being paid (and implicitly, being allowed in the employerÂs building to work). But I donÂt think an employee should be held to the groceries-buying part of such a contract because it's absolutely not relevant to job performance. Sure, if you believe in unlimited contracts you can say the employee shouldn't take the job if they don't like it, but I'm having some second thoughts about unlimited contracts. Or, to state alternately, maybe an employee is held to it, but since the employer suffers no harm they have no recourse: no damages will be awarded.
The relevance to the original discussion is that carrying a firearm in your vehicle (or, even, arguably, concealed on your person) doesnÂt affect your job, so, under a "limited scope contract" theory it's off the table for employment contracts (or entirely unenforceable by contract law). Of course, a company could still fire you for any reason, so if they could detect a breach of even an unenforceable provision they could fire you. Does this mean they can install metal detectors? Sure. What if they do, with guards at the doors? ItÂd be a huge expense for companies that decided to go that route, but (depending on the training of those at the doors) might make people feel comfortable being unarmed if they had the choice. (All hypothetical, of course. Usual disclaimers.)
I would also use a broad definition of "affects your job" to the point that if someone else sees that you have a firearm and is alarmed, you may have violated a legitimate contract provision (keeping it undetectable is your problem), and companies can ask employees not to do things that might annoy others, such as wearing excessive perfume, since it does affect the work environment.
(Another argument that was made by others in the thread where I posted some of the above was that if self-defense is a right—via the second amendment, say—standing at the same level as the right to control one's property, then there's a bit of an impasse if both rights must be preserved. I'm not arguing constitutional rights, though, but rather natural rights, and both over one's own property.)
I would thus support a "personal castle doctrine" as it were (extending to more than just defense), where one's own body or vehicle or other property is inviolate if it doesn't interfere with whatever one is contracted to do. (This is all, of course, theoretical.)
Books finished: A Song For Arbonne.
Blackhawk Serpa holster for Glock 34
News, Guns ·Saturday July 17, 2010 @ 16:34 EDT (link)
Picked up a Blackhawk Serpa holster for my Glock 34 today at West Coast Armory ($46.99, which is comparable to online prices). I really do like the retention—a very solid lock. Very slick holster altogether. Comes with a paddle as well as having belt loops. The motivation to get it was to compete in Action Pistol events at SVRC; apparently my Galco CSL (Cop Slide) leather holster cants too sharply; they claim the impact point is more than 3' behind me. But I like the Serpa enough to consider making it my daily carry holster.
We also shot there today—between us, about 100 rounds each of .22 (through the Ruger 10/22), .223 (AR-15), and 9mm (Glock 34). Good times.
The relationship between property and liberty
Political ·Friday July 16, 2010 @ 21:01 EDT (link)
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Â Frederic Bastiat
In effect, there are layers of ownership: the real owner of the land pays no taxes (rent), can sell it at will, and can build anything he wants on it; no restrictions (except the usual non-infringement on others' rights to life, liberty, and property). In a free society that's the individual; in a feudal society, that's the lord. The next layer is a lessee (in current society, a so-called home or business owner). They have some property rights, but the lord's always trump theirs. The lord might even enforce those rights (or instead decide to take the property and give it to someone else). They can do a lot, but they are regulated by the real owner (the amount of regulation is your degree of private property rights, less absolute right, of course). The next layer would be either a renter or a plantation with (Southern-style chattel) slaves; the plantation "owner" may allow the slaves some claim to shacks, or sleeping areas, or found or made or given goods, but they can be taken at any time and he does not need to provide any real justice. At the bottom of the pyramid, this slave can be abused by the serf and the lord; not a good place to be in at all.
Allodial title is a name for the true ownership mentioned above. It might be one thing that would turn a nation into a stateless society as people obtained and capitalized on full dominion over their property (no taxes, eminent domain, or police access). Private property must exclude any other jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is law through violence. It means somebody else has control over your property, so you do not actually own it. You effectively lease it at the pleasure of the state, and they can take it away, charge rent, etc.
If one supports the violence of the state (taxation, regulation, by force), then either (a) one believes "the state" owns everything or (b) one supports violence as a legitimate means to accomplish one's goals. The first is illegitimate; that was never intended in any country except communist ones, and land was always taken by force, and the founders believed in private property to a greater extent than now even though they erred and allowed for some infringements; there can be no such thing as collective ownership (who can sell it, etc.; see The Objectivist Ethics etc. on private property and collective ownership). So once the veil is taken away, then what? We claim that our local legislatures own all property in their zone of control? Not them personally; the current officeholder? But if the property is to be transferred by a vote, then they don't own it either. So it's either unowned (and claimable) or owned by whoever's name is on the title deed (since the voluntary trading that brought it into possession could and likely would have happened the same way in a free society) and they are being illegitimately charged rent.
In a similar vein, the video The Story of Your Enslavement (text) contains some explanatory elements relating liberty and truly private property, free from the coercive interference of the state. Also related: Can the unseen be contracted away? where I consider the rights of property within other property (e.g., a car in an employer-owned parking lot, or even an individual).
Action pistol at SVRC
News ·Saturday July 10, 2010 @ 12:49 EDT (link)
I went to watch action pistol at SVRC (every second Saturday of the month); first time observing such an event (even if I had wanted to participate, they complained about the cant of my Galco Cop Slide holster and said it put the point of impact too far back, making it unusable for competing… I picked up a Blackhawk Serpa from West Coast Armory a week or so later, and liked it so much it became my carry holster).
Tim was there shooting for the first time in this type of event with his XD9, and Sandy from MSGun was also shooting, but not for the first time. Since I arrived early (the event is set for I think 0800 but people don't start shooting until around 1000), I helped set up the various courses of fire. They had a variety of requirements—white "no shoot" targets, black cover, considered impermeable, and of course the bad guys, in regular brown cardboard. Some had reload requirements, or required a certain number of shots, or carrying a heavy item, etc., designed to simulate real-world shooting "problems" and requiring creativity and adaptability to solve them.
Driving across America #4: Canada: canoeing, Ports Maitlin and Colborne, gunpowder and lead
News ·Friday July 2, 2010 @ 22:01 EDT (link)
Continued from parts 1 2 3. As planned, we went on our canoe trip to the Grand River on Wednesday, with Scott Barbacki and his niece Scarlett, stopping by the Port Maitlin lighthouse afterward. (Canoe photos are Rebecca's—I didn't bring my camera into the canoe fearing Emily might need too much help, or tip it; but she proved a quick study.) On the way home, we saw some tiny horses too.
Thursday was Canada Day—July 1—and we went over to Port Colborne. We wandered around the park there; got ice-cream; saved my Coca-Cola mini-basketball from certain death; and went to Harold Black park for fireworks later on.
I called up Jonathan (Jon) Yade; I'd found we shared an interest in shooting sports, and we arranged to meet up Friday at 1400 and go to a local range, the Silverdale Gun Club in St. Anns. It's a pretty nice range; clubhouse at the front; nice guy manning it. Not real cheap—$20 to shoot, but that included targets. We had to drive in further (past an electronic gate at the front) to the range itself, which is much like SVRC but looks in better repair and is longer, with particular sections dedicated to particular target distances.
The difference between what I'm used to was mainly just the flag system: there are red and green flags that have to be switched out: red means active, green for cease-fire (which seems odd; SVRC has an audible and visible alarm system, so I'm not used to flags at all, but I would expect red to be "don't fire").
I shot Jon's H&K SL8, a nice rifle, .223, probably with a 10-round magazine due to Canadian restrictions (think Massachusetts or California as a starting-point). Jon had the SL8, not the SL8-1 "permitted" in the US due to import restrictions (922(r), most likely): there are indeed some few guns that are banned in the US and allowed in Canada. The range had some (creaky but functional) spotting scopes on the tables, so I spotted for Jon and vice versa and we made a pretty good go of it.
Although Jon had a grandfathered PAL (Possession and Acquisition License, required to own firearms in Canada, although you still can't carry them and there are transport restrictions), allowing him to own and shoot pistols, he didn't own any yet; I think he was waiting on getting the required safe. The range master, however, was shooting pistols, and let us shoot his Para Ordnance 1911? and another pistol he had with him (Beretta); we just had to buy some ammo at the clubhouse (.45; it wasn't cheap either, but then it was convenient to us, and neither in a store nor in bulk). I shot pretty well with it (better than the owner… but it was new to him and I have a Springfield 1911 EMP at home).
Since I hadn't been by since becoming interested in firearms, I stopped by the gun store in Fonthill (during one of the few times it was open); not a bad little store, really, although not terribly friendly.
We also went into St. Catharines to look around used bookstores earlier in the day; we picked up the first few books of the Belgariad for Emily (we bought her one, dad the other).
Books finished: A Conflict of Visions.
Driving across America #3: Canada: Niagara Falls, high tea, Euchre
News ·Tuesday June 29, 2010 @ 21:38 EDT (link)
Continued from parts 1 and 2.
We arrived at my parents' house in Fonthill 0030 Monday morning. When we got up our first trip was to Niagara Falls, parking at Dufferin Islands (free parking) and walking down to the falls proper. We had a nice walk through the crowds and past various views of the falls; Emily enjoyed her first trip to the falls and the walk too, straying closer to the edge of the walkway than perhaps her mother would be comfortable with, although it was only a short drop where there was no barrier in place.
These first pictures are along the walk from Dufferin Islands to the falls, along the Niagara Parkway; the Skylon Tower can be seen in the first (it has a restaurant at the top, which rotates); in the next, an old barge caught on some rocks; in the next, one of the bridges to the USA; and next a section of the stone and wrought-iron barriers that line the walkway on the river side (as one approaches the falls, the drop unsurprisingly becomes rather precipitous).
The Maid of the Mist tourist boat, which goes in quite close to the falls; Honey and Emily sitting by the railings with the falls behind.
General shots of the falls (primarily the Horseshoe Falls).
We got ice cream at the Lazy Loon on the way home (in Fonthill, quite close to my parents'). We had pizza and wings for dinner later and then took a walk around the block. Swims were enjoyed at various times in the backyard pool. It was getting rather dark for unaided photography when we walked.
On Tuesday, Honey, Emily, and mom went shopping at the Pen Center. That evening Honey and Emily and I met with my friend/former co-worker (at Acres) Scott B. at Tim Horton's where we talked about getting together the next day to go canoeing. Mom put on a splendid "high tea" and afterward we played Phase 10 and Euchre.
Driving across America #2: Mullens, WV, to Fonthill, ON
News ·Monday June 28, 2010 @ 00:32 EDT (link)
New River
Emily's Wall of Rob
The previous leg ended Sunday, June 20. The first stop on our tour was Emily's wall of Rob; she's absolutely bananas over him and the Twilight books. We were staying in her room, so it greeted us morning and night. It had been a long time since I'd seen any of them, but Emily was of course most noticeably older but we still got along famously. (And if that usage seems strange to you, it's probably "Chiefly British", however it's perfectly cromulent and you can jolly well look it up.)
On Thursday we went over to the New River Gorge bridge near Fayetteville, and walked around a little, got a few photos.
I didn't make any notes about between Sunday and Thursday; we mostly stayed around the house, sometimes went out to run errands, watches movies in the evening.
We went to the local pool where Emily has a pass (we had to pay $3/each) one day, had a nice time, but I really missed having swim goggles and ended up picking some up in Canada—at Canadian Tire, naturally.
Some of the New River Gorge photos:
Some of the family pets: Smokey, the (skittish, but that's a downgrade from "very skittish") cat and Muffin the dog:
And then some random pictures of people (Emily and mom Christine, dad Doug passing a plate, Grandpa and Grandma Pollock, and you know the rest), dinnertime and Guitar Hero™:
We spent a week there—planned to spend a week at both parents' and a little more than that driving—leaving on Sunday the 27th at 1440. But we picked up a passenger, and this is the way of it.
Honey and I had been joking with Emily, or Christine, about taking Emily to Canada; and then we started thinking about it more seriously, and Emily thought she could handle it (not having been away from home or even out of state overnight much thus far). Her parents permitting, I called my parents and asked if we could bring her along, and they said they'd be happy to have her come with us: so we proceeded to cover our bases for the border. The official sites indicated the important things: a letter from her parents with contact information and giving us permission to take her to Canada with us, provide medical care if necessary, and so on, carefully worded according to the requirements. A photo ID card, from the DMV ($5); her insurance card and birth certificate. We put it all into a folder and put it with our passports. She packed a backpack with clothes a cloth net bag with swim gear. Everybody gave her spending money for Canada, too.
We had two boxes of camping supplies and food in the back set so things were within easy reach; I stacked one on the other to make Emily room to sit (and sleep—it's about a 10 hour trip). We also left a few things with Honey's parents to make packing the trunk easier (and since Canada frowns on the rights of free people, I stashed my two handguns with Honey's grandfather—papa—hoping against hope that I would see them again). Emily was very excited about going to Canada ("If the border people ask where you're going, what will you tell them?" "CANADA… duh!")
We took the I-77/I-64 to the I-79 and up through Pennsylvania, stopping for gas and the state welcome center (to get a map… I like to collect state maps) and then at 1900 at Wendy's for dinner. We hit the I-90 tollway in New York at 2215, stopped for gas again, had an uneventful border crossing (I don't even think they asked for any of Emily's paperwork, or asked her any questions, although we made sure she was awake), and arrived at my parents' house in Fonthill at 0030.
Books finished: Give Me a Break, Beyond This Dark House, The Constitution In Exile.
Driving across America #1: Redmond, WA to Sumner, IA and Mullens, WV
News, Bad Drivers, Guns ·Sunday June 20, 2010 @ 17:20 EDT (link)
This summer we elected to drive across these United States, to visit our parents and see the sights along the way. And this was the way of it.
The trip to West Virginia, where we were headed first, was about 42 hours, which we did over three days. We left our apartment in Redmond at 1640 on June 19, but I-405S was so jammed up near I-90 that it took about an hour to get onto it. Shout-outs to bad drivers WA 958 VQP in a maroon Ford Contour, "Fairest" sticker in rear window and WA 742 SVU in an old dark green Nissan Sentra, for letting half the world butt in line. Honey was driving; I took over near Spokane. Lot of beautiful mountain views from the windows (although it was dark when we drove across most of the Cascades in Idaho: a short but very twisty crossing of the panhandle).
We hit the Montana border at 2335 PST (time zone change at the border—following times MST), stopped briefly at a rest area before Missoula, leaving at 0141, and then stopped for a brief sleep at another rest area, 0321-0727, with Honey driving again. Of course, you don't see all that much from the highway: some nice scenery, for sure, but it's nothing like having the time to explore, take in some parks, maybe even camp for a few days, which we'd like to go back and do in some of states within driving distance, especially Montana. And there weren't any pictures while I was driving.
We reached Wyoming at 1615, just crossing a small strip of it on US-212 rather than heading further south on the I-90, rejoining the I-90 in South Dakota: in retrospect we probably didn't save much time since the two arcs (212 and 90) are about the same length: but Google Maps sent us along the 212, possibly not accounting for conditions. We either missed the sign or there was no sign, so didn't notice when we crossed into South Dakota. Since people had spoken highly of it—and there were signs for miles—we stopped in at Wall Drug, but it really wasn't that impressive: it's a set of touristy stores under one roof with a Western theme; we weren't there long. We stopped at 0035 in Mitchell, SD at the Kelly Inn, about 70 miles west of the I-29 crossroads (and Sioux Falls). We rested well and checked out at 1026. Since I had my handguns with me, we had to make some stops to reposition them according to the patchwork of local laws that infringe in various ways on the right to property and self-defense, following, at worst case, the federal safe passage law that inhibits states from bothering travelers if firearms are stored in a certain way (FOPA). Many states allow open carry in vehicles; some have reciprocity with Washington, or accept any permit, or don't require one at all ("constitutional carry"). I had brought a printout of the various restrictions with us, but we had no trouble.
The Goldens', Sumner, IA
Many years ago—it must have been around 1990—Ted and Lois Golden had left the Welland Gospel Hall (link is to the Brethrenpedia… I'm as surprised as you are) where we attended when we first moved to Canada; "Uncle" Ted was my Sunday School teacher, and we knew their children well and visited often. They left suddenly—plant shutdown—and moved to Iowa, which to me was as remote as outer space at the time, but I filed it away. I'd found Virginia ("Ginny") on Facebook, and through her Ted and Lois, and contacted them about stopping by on our trip, since, fortuitously (providentially!) we were passing through the state. As it happened we weren't to be too far from their home in Sumner, and when we arrived at 1745 Lois invited us for a delicious home-cooked dinner and we visited with her, Ted, Virginia, and the kittehs—Virginia rescues them and there's always a number around.
Orange kitteh
Ted, Virginia, and Lois Golden
Honey holding a kitteh
We stayed about four hours catching up, and left at about 2115. At 0015 we entered Illinois, one of the most anti-gun (anti-individual, anti-rights) states in the nation (up there with a few other contenders such as CA, NY, NJ, MA, MD, HI— the usual suspects). No stops there: just passing through. Their neighbor, Indiana, is much friendlier and would be a place we'd consider living if we moved back east; beautiful scenery (trees and hills rather than the mountains and plains further west), nice mix of rural and urban. We slept at a rest area again, 0147-0600, drove all day, and arrived at Honey's parents in Mullens, West Virginia at 1720 on Sunday, June 20, as planned on our trip calendar, which sketched out dates and gave us plenty of time for a somewhat leisurely journey. It had been a long time since we had seen everyone, especially for me, and the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness.
Books finished: Rich Dad's Guide To Becoming Rich Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards.
epguides.com schizophrenia
Technical, Media ·Sunday June 13, 2010 @ 23:17 EDT (link)
epguides.com seems to be a bit schizoid. It seems to have two versions of most shows' episode lists, one of which is hopelessly out of date. For example, (the new) Doctor Who is currently showing as either having 6 or 13 episodes in season 5 (refresh a few times to see the other one).
This drives my monitor/show renaming program a little crazy, especially as it caches results (cache is cleared daily so the error doesn't last too long if the wrong version is read). I wish they'd fix it.
Books finished: Life At the Bottom, The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins, Kaplan LSAT Direct.
Shooting on Whidbey Island
News, Guns ·Saturday June 12, 2010 @ 19:43 EDT (link)
Georgeo, an ally on the Lively Politics discussion list at work, invited us to come out to his gun club on Whidbey Island, Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club. When I got to Mukilteo, I hadn't expected such a long wait for the ferry—although it wasn't as bad as it could be, judging by the ferry wait lines on the road. I got to Mukilteo at 1130 and waited about an hour for a ferry (caught the 1230). We were supposed to meet at the club at noon, but fortunately Georgeo and his friend (girlfriend's brother-in-law?) Dave from Chicago were still there shooting. I really like the setup there—nice wood shelter and benches, wooden boards to attach targets to (rather than the wood or iron stands at SVRC), and plenty of sandbags and benches in the rifle area. We shot pistols first; I shot both my 9mms and Georgeo's Beretta, and did pretty well (but we were shooting at a fairly short distance). Victor and his son Eric arrived a little after I did and his son fired a pistol for the first time. Georgeo seemed to like shooting my Glock and EMP.
Then we headed over to the rifle area; I shot (and zeroed) my AR-15, and Georgeo had several rifles (an AR-15, a Remington 700 PSS in .308, and a cowboy rifle in .45 long Colt). He had a spotting scope (a Barska, 15-45x60?, straight eyepiece) which made zeroing my red-dot site very easy, and then I kept in the black and was exploding soda cans one by one. I also brought my box of used bowling pins which people seemed to enjoy shooting. Georgeo's Remington 700 was great, very light trigger, and very little recoil (compared to my Mosin Nagant, at least). I really want one… probably still the 5R milspec or the SPS (synthetic) Varmint. But the spotting scope is next on the list.
Afterward we went over to Georgeo's place for some food and talk. Great place on 15 acres, had the land cleared and house built himself, very open layout. He just put in a generator, and has landscaping plans and plans to increase self-sufficiency, like getting some livestock. With some clearing, he has a water view.
Victor and I left I think around 1800, and this way there was no wait for the ferry: we got onto the first one.
<Previous 10 entries>
Continued from parts 1 and 2.
We arrived at my parents' house in Fonthill 0030 Monday morning. When we got up our first trip was to Niagara Falls, parking at Dufferin Islands (free parking) and walking down to the falls proper. We had a nice walk through the crowds and past various views of the falls; Emily enjoyed her first trip to the falls and the walk too, straying closer to the edge of the walkway than perhaps her mother would be comfortable with, although it was only a short drop where there was no barrier in place.
This summer we elected to drive across these United States, to visit our parents and see the sights along the way. And this was the way of it.
We hit the Montana border at 2335 PST (time zone change at the border—following times MST), stopped briefly at a rest area before Missoula, leaving at 0141, and then stopped for a brief sleep at another rest area, 0321-0727, with Honey driving again. Of course, you don't see all that much from the highway: some nice scenery, for sure, but it's nothing like having the time to explore, take in some parks, maybe even camp for a few days, which we'd like to go back and do in some of states within driving distance, especially Montana. And there weren't any pictures while I was driving.
Georgeo, an ally on the Lively Politics discussion list at work, invited us to come out to his gun club on Whidbey Island, Holmes Harbor Rod & Gun Club. When I got to Mukilteo, I hadn't expected such a long wait for the ferry—although it wasn't as bad as it could be, judging by the ferry wait lines on the road. I got to Mukilteo at 1130 and waited about an hour for a ferry (caught the 1230). We were supposed to meet at the club at noon, but fortunately Georgeo and his friend (girlfriend's brother-in-law?) Dave from Chicago were still there shooting. I really like the setup there—nice wood shelter and benches, wooden boards to attach targets to (rather than the wood or iron stands at SVRC), and plenty of sandbags and benches in the rifle area. We shot pistols first; I shot both my 9mms and Georgeo's Beretta, and did pretty well (but we were shooting at a fairly short distance). Victor and his son Eric arrived a little after I did and his son fired a pistol for the first time. Georgeo seemed to like shooting my Glock and EMP.
