Michigan won, by the hardest. Tulane won, too. So did NSU, going 8-3 on the season with a win over West Alabama. That’s the most wins in a season in 25 years. The six-game winning streak is the longest in fourteen years, and the last time they won five road games, they went on to win the NAIA championship in 1994. Go Riverhawks!
I had an interesting experience in Walmart this week.
For the first time in twenty years of carrying, I got made.
In my defense, the shirt I was wearing was a little clingy, so I was printing (the outline of the gun was showing) pretty well. On the other hand, that happens more than occasionally, and I don’t worry about it too much. I’ve got a permit, and I don’t carry where I’m not supposed to.
And realistically, even when I do print, 95% of the people I encounter aren’t looking for a gun. Plus, I live in a relatively gun-friendly state.
At any rate, I was in Walmart on the grocery side when a gentleman in a scooter passed me, then turned in the middle of the aisle like he was going to get something. And as I usually do, I asked if he needed any help. He said no, and I turned to go.
He caught up with me a moment later and asked if he could ask me a question. “Sure,” I said.
“Are you off-duty?”
It took a second for the question to register, partly because he was asking me quietly, I assume so as to not draw attention.
Once it clicked, I replied, “No, I’m not.”
“You’re not a cop?”
“Nope, I’m a civilian.”
He indicated his disagreement with an expletive describing bovine excrement.
I wasn’t sure just then what his game was. I’ve never been confronted in public. The common advice is to deflect the question and disengage as quickly as possible to avoid any unpleasant incidents. But he hadn’t specifically asked about my gun and I hadn’t mentioned it either.
Turns out he was a former corrections officer (I think. He was being quiet and it was hard to understand him.) and he had a knack of picking out people who were “on the job.” He said I “had that bearing,” which I found amusing, because I never really thought I carried myself that way. I’ve always tried to blend in, something akin to the Gray Man Theory. We chatted for a moment and went on about our shopping trips.
So I don’t really know if he saw my firearm or just thought I was a cop.
Reading Humor
I subscribe to a bunch of comics at Comics Kingdom, and one of my favorites is Macanudo, drawn by Liniers. Saturday’s comic amused me.
Fencing
Fencing is going well, even though I’ve missed two weeks in a row. The first week, I had a blood sugar low kick in about 15 minutes before I was supposed to leave. By the time I recovered enough to feel safe driving, class would have already started, so I called out. This past week, there was a crash in the middle of the bridge construction zone that closed the bridge for a while, and that bridge is the only route to Tahlequah right now. After twenty minutes of sitting still, I bailed and went home.
On the other hand, I finally got off my butt and ordered my own fencing gear from Blue Gauntlet. NEOK Fencing has quite a few loaner jackets and weapons, but it’s all donated gear. The jacket I’ve been wearing is about half a size too large, which causes problems with the glove. The foil I like to use actually belongs to another club member, so when he’s there, I have to use a different blade. I get foiled, you might say.
I might go ahead and build a trainer like this one I found on YT. Gods know I need the practice.
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