I bought 100rds of CCI Mini Mags because I always try to buy something when I'm in a gun store. I want them to associate my face with the jingle of the cash register so that they are happy to see me when I walk in.
He had a guy behind the counter I did not recognize. I pointed at the revolver case and said "May I see the 2" pre-Model 10 square-butt?"
He opened it and said "Now, which one?"
I successfully managed not to reply "The only 2" pre-Model 10 square-butt in the case," instead pointing with my finger and saying "That gun on the bottom with the bone grips." (See? I'm not always snarky.)
It's an early postwar with the half-moon front sight, mechanically sound with some odd wear patches right through to the bare metal and a bit of fine pitting on the topstrap and here and there on the right side. He had $249 on the tag. Were it $50 or so cheaper, it'd be neat to buy and do the whole vintage "Fitz" treatment to, just for grins. Shame, really; the trigger had a bit of cancer, and there was a tiny amount of freckling on the hammer, but the case colors on the hammer were gorgeous. Too bad the owner apparently kept it in the drawer with his damp socks.
2) Stopped at a used book store. They had a copy of the David Drake anthology Tyrannosaur. The cover blurb read "Peril In The Jurassic!" and I thought to myself "If you have a T. Rex running loose in the Jurassic, damned skippy you've got some peril; somebody's lobbing theropods across millions of years to where they don't belong."
The cover itself is intrinsically hilarious, since it's basically a repackaging of Drake's earlier (and excellent) Time Safari to catch a ride on the coattails of... well, I'll let you guess which movie
.
"well, I'll let you guess which movie"
ReplyDeleteMeet the Hendersons?
On behalf of the clerk, thank you for withholding the snark. A willing clerk, such as this one, suits me as a customer far better than one who is obviously bored and/or superior ("No, not a magazine, a clip - why is the customer always wrong?)
ReplyDeleteAnd as a former clerk, I took a job because despite obviously knowing almost about the products I could find what was asked for if it was in stock. and the employer was glad to get so much as a warm body - never mind a working mind. Why else would I, at 240 pounds, be made the sales clerk in the Athletic Apparel department of a major department store? It was quite obvious that I would not be able to even wear the track suits, and certainly even the best of the basketball shoes would not make me into a star on the court. I never did find out why a "track" shoe with an embedded fiberglass strut legthwise might be preferable to a "running" shoe with the spar inset crosswise, or vice-versa...
Sounds an awful lot like Rivers of Time by L. Sprauge de Camp. Actually slogging through that right now. Well, not RIGHT now but it is on my nightstand. Have to say I am not completely thrilled by it though. Collection of short stories describing trips back with repeated info in some and just a bit too disjointed for my taste.
ReplyDeleteThis was after you bought Monster Hunter International, right?
ReplyDeleteI didn't buy Tyrannosaur because I already have Time Safari.
ReplyDeleteYou think it's bad that a gun store clerk selling from the thousands of gun, ammunition, and extras in or which might come intio the store.
ReplyDeleteWait until you have to explain to a Jeep "sales manager" the difference between two of the option packages among his thirty or forty $20,000+ items.
Sheesh.
I guess it depends on why he asked you to repeat your request. If he simply didn't hear you or hadn't properly focused his attention, then I also would have saved the snark. Had he been condescending, then both barrels, surely.
ReplyDeleteJim
Drake? Time Safari?
ReplyDeleteUmm... must not be the same story I'm thinking of.
A Sound of Thunder by Bradbury.. 1952.
Now I've read a couple of different versions, and one of them might have been by Drake. But the original is Bradbury, and the first one I think of. (can be found in 'R is for Rocket'
)
No joy on finding .45 long colt locally, except for crappy aluminum Blazer, and I'm damned if I'm going to pay fifty-something bucks for one box of non-reloadable ammo. Row after row of .45 acp, .22rf, .308 and most centerfire rifle fodder, every type and manufacturer, at Cabelas.
ReplyDeleteAgain. Why are we here in the east so blessed?
TXGunGeek, if you're into De Camp, try the Viagens Interplanetarias series(s) he wrote. Some seriously good space opera, with a very well thought out cultural background.
The Krishna stories obviously influenced the March To The Stars series by Weber and Ringo.
Ormazd is the future according to Obama, Osiris is the future according to somebody from a cave in Idaho, and the Thothians reminds me of some of my paternal relatives. An absolute hoot, and it's amazing how well it's aged.
I've got both books, their some of my favorite books. Wish Time Safari would be made into a movie or two. Unfortunately someone would add a save the planet message and screw it up.
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ReplyDeleteTam, I deleted the comment above. I couldn't send an email, your address keeps bouncing back to me as undeliverable. The comment had nothing to do with this post, but I wanted you to know. I hope you get it in your email. If not, I sent it as an email to MattG, Lawdog, AD, and Marko. Or email me and I'll forward it.
ReplyDeleteMr Fixit
Buck, I wish they'd make a movie out of any of the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories Fritz Leiber wrote, except for the fact that it approaches unity that they WOULD screw it up.
ReplyDeleteOn the cancer on the S&W, you never can tell. Few years back friend found a rifle that his dad had brought back from Europe in WWII that nobody knew he had. It had been wrapped in cloth, in the bottom of a trunk, in the basement, in Ohio for at LEAST twenty years best they can tell; half-a-dozen specks of rust and that was it. Thing was beautiful.
"If you have a T. Rex running loose in the Jurassic, damned skippy you've got some peril; somebody's lobbing theropods across millions of years to where they don't belong."
ReplyDeleteYou owe every last one of us a dork dollar.
If it was worth $50 less than tag to you, you should have made an offer. Worst case, he knows what his high water mark is, and might come down if it sits in the case long enough.
ReplyDeleteValue is relative, as dear ol' dad always says.
I almost bought a .32S&W revolver once that was probably 90% bare metal. I thought, $119, what a great project starter! Then I thought about an nickel plating setup from Brownell's, etc... not so much a cheap project anymore.
I've got a bunch of new production brass case .32 Auto; I think I've sold exactly 6 boxes of it in a month or so.
ReplyDeleteOther stuff is selling pretty well.
When I worked the counter, I admitted I didn't know everything; especially the Smith revolvers that came in on consignment, but I did try to be helpful with them if need be.
I was only thinking snarky thoughts, not saying anything aloud, because I got the vibe that he'd hired somebody new after I dropped off a resume several months ago.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'd be bitter if he hired someone less qualified or anything. ;)
You should check out Mastodonia by C. Simak...I think. The main character found a time machine and built a nice cabin in the past so that he could get away, relax and hunt Mastodons and Saber tooth tigers. He eventually gave up on the present time and stayed in the past.
ReplyDelete