Notes from the gun shop...

It was quite a day and pretty busy all the time. There are some neat guns in the shop right now. TWO Winchester Model 61s, a pre-64 Model 94, a waffle-top Marlin, a Colt Police Positive Special (albeit reblued), and... heck I can't remember them all. This is pretty good.

Sandy started to make herself felt on Monday and we had a pretty steady rain with fairly cold temps so a lot of people who didn't work because of the storm came in to see us to pass the time. We did sell 10 or so guns but did a whole lot of other business.

Evaluating sources of information...

Everyone should be reviewing the sources of information they use to make decisions. Whether it is for whom one votes in an election or which refrigerator one buys, one should use all available tools and reasoning to discern the best information so that one can take the most favorable course of action. Look back at your life and honestly answer yourself as to how many times you would have been better served to have just smiled, nodded and ignored advice because the bearer of that advice was not in a position to know and/or completely unreliable as a source of information. I think you'll see just what I mean. Of course, we do judge reliability from experience with a source and sometimes it takes some time before we discover that some people are simply liars. Still, as in all things, one must do the best one can with what's available.

Intelligence source and information reliability rating systems are used in intelligence analysis.
A system commonly employed rates the reliability of the source as well as the information. The source reliability is rated between A (history of complete reliability) to E (history of invalid information), with F for source without sufficient history to establish reliability level. The information content is rated between 1 (confirmed) to 5 (improbable), with 6 for information whose reliability can not be evaluated.
For example, a confirmed information from a reliable source has rating A1, an unknown-validity information from a new source without reputation is rated F6, an inconsistent illogical information from a known liar is E5, a confirmed information from a moderately doubtful source is C1.
The evaluation matrix as described in the Field Manual FM 2-22.3:

Source reliability

	Rating	Description
A	Reliable	No doubt about the source's authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency. History of complete reliability.
B	Usually reliable	Minor doubts. History of mostly valid information.
C	Fairly reliable	Doubts. Provided valid information in the past.
D	Not usually reliable	Significant doubts. Provided valid information in the past.
E	Unreliable	Lacks authenticity, trustworthiness, and competency. History of invalid information.
F	Cannot be judged	Insufficient information to evaluate reliability. May or may not be reliable.

Information reliability

	Rating	Description
1	Confirmed	Logical, consistent with other relevant information, confirmed by independent sources.
2	Probably true	Logical, consistent with other relevant information, not confirmed.
3	Possibly true	Reasonably logical, agrees with some relevant information, not confirmed.
4	Doubtfully true	Not logical but possible, no other information on the subject, not confirmed.
5	Improbable	Not logical, contradicted by other relevant information.
6	Cannot be judged	The validity of the information can not be determined.

Notes from the gun shop...

Tardy with this report because I've gotten out of the habit.  Anyway, we had a middling busy day on Monday past and there were some nice guns contained within the confines of our establishment.  First off, I found a re-blued Colt Police Positive Special with "pearl" grips.  A 4" barreled gun, it might be a grand shooter and it isn't too expensive.  Also, there was a pair of Winchester Model 61s, both .22LR, one a 1947 and the other a 1953 if I remember correctly but I might be off a year or two.  Boss man is asking just under $1000 for either of them.  We had a fella bring in a gorgeous, 2", flat-latch S&W Kit Gun trying to tempt Boss man into a trade deal but Boss man resisted the temptation to pay retail and the fella took all his trading stock home with him.  There was also a nice Colt 1908 hammerless pocket pistol (.380)  but I'm not certain that isn't already bound for someplace else. 

Got to talk with and help a number of people including several young people interested in buying their first handgun(s).  All in all a good day.

Truck troubles...

It happens.  Battery was dead.  Usually happens at a bad time, did today.  Took Linda's Jeep to drop the dog, run to the grocery while I thought the battery was charging.  No go.  Pulled the battery and got a new OEM battery from the dealer.  Clearly the 3-year warranty on the Advance Auto "Optima" battery was not going to be honored as the receipt was gone from the glove box.  Then my 5/16" open end wrench broke so I had to get another...  So it goes. 

Visiting family...

We have been in LA visiting relatives.  That is we have been in lower Alabama visiting my sister-in-law in Atmore and son who lives in Cantonment, FL.  Everything went well.  David was well and Nana's house was in pretty good shape.  We got a bonus in that brother-in-law Tony come over from Green Cove Springs for a visit.  We saw Uncle Colvin as well.

Visiting with Mickey is always interesting.  We got to help put an Air Tractor 802A in a hanger.  A very tight fit with only a couple of inches to spare at each wing tip.  That's nearly 60 FEET of wingspan.  Officially it is 59.2 feet but it seemed bigger.  They are using these to spray/fertilize pines for the paper companies.

There is a counter-insurgency (i.e. armed and armored version) the AT802U.  In flight it is pretty quiet.  These would scare the stuffing out of me.  I am told this is the largest single engine agricultural aircraft made.  You can see how big the plane is here. 

Mickey does fabric work on planes as well but says he doesn't want to take on the work load employees would give him despite being able to work full time on just this aspect of aircraft re-building/maintenance. 

Up and down the road we spent one night each way at Sevierville, TN.  Both times we ate a Joe's Crab Shack.  The apple-dumpling a la mode is a meal in and of itself.  Didn't eat one but saw it delivered.  I had the scallops, mussels and crab combo.  You get an ear of corn and two small potatoes with the meal.  Think low-country boil.Good food if a bit expensive.  Loud music.  Nice young people serving.  Was full when I left.  

Bailey is resting after a week of watching Sue's dog, Shorty (a miniature dachshund).   I'm glad to be home, too.