Patience is a Virtue...

... and I don't have it.

I ordered a Taurus PT99 from a firearms shop in Jersey, and the guy told me it would probably be in as of Tuesday, unless they didn't have any at the warehouse. I was very psyched about going to pick it up, but he said they didn't get it in and it could be at least a week still before he can get a hold of it.

I hate waiting for stuff. I have no patience. He told me there was a chance it wouldn't get there very quickly, but I chose to convince myself it HAD to be there by Tuesday because I was so excited. And now I have to wait more, which is killing me!

On the plus side though, I used the time I would have spent going to pick it up in Jersey at the range nearby in Coplay and temporarily satisfied my desire to go target shooting. I started out renting a PT92 (the same as the 99, but without the adjustable sights) and put a box of 50 down the range before switching down to the double deuce rimfire.

I haven't shot 22 in so long, I forgot how much fun it is [and cheap! $2.75 for 50 rounds!]. Played around with a Browning Buck Mark, Ruger Mk II Target, some Smith & Wessons, and some really awesome SAO cowboy style revolver with a super long barrel. Great grouping at 10 yards... but then again, it's hard to shoot poorly when you've got a 10 inch barrel on a gun with basically no recoil.

Well, I'm off to shower and head up to Delta Upsilon for Marc and Bridget's pinning party. I have to dig around my closet and see if I can locate some "cocktail attire"........

Motorcycles and Strip Mines

Well, I'm home for the weekend. Mom made a very good dinner and I ate too much, just as I expected I would. Now it's Sunday and I am in no rush to get back to school -- even though there is only one week of classes left, and then I'm moving back here anyway.

Dad and Emily and I went motorcycle shopping yesterday afternoon at the Harley Davidson dealer. I have found the bikes of my dreams, and the price tags of my nightmares! Either: Sportster 1200N Nightster, or Dyna Super Glide (or maybe Fat Bob..). I love the look of the Nightster, but I'm just afraid that its smaller size won't be as satisfying over time as the bigger Dyna would. Either way, I'm taking the course at the end of the month and then I will have a license, and buying one of these will be even more realistic!!

The downside though -- I have completely ruined any consideration I was giving to buying Suzuki or Yamaha cruisers.. They're incredibly attractive bikes (with an even more attractive MSRP....), but there is just no denying that they aren't Harley Davidsons.

They're just missing that extra little bit that I only found by sitting atop an HD V-Twin.

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In other news, we had a field trip last weekend for Structural Geology class to the Bear Valley Strip mine of Shamokin, PA. We also went to Centralia, PA -- the [semi]abandoned town that has a 40 year old underground coal seam fire.

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We've got Centralia here above, yours truly in the Miami shirt. You can see some of the steam rising out of the ground from rain the night before.

Then we went out to Bear Valley Strip Mine in Shamokin, PA. About 5 miles west of Centralia. Very awesome folded rocks here, some of the best exposures in the United States actually. The place also has a lot of Carboniferous plant fossils, which are always a lot of fun to hunt around for. What you can't get out of this picture is the scale of the place -- it's about a quarter mile long, and maybe almost a tenth of a mile wide -- the big anticline hills are VERY steep!!

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If you feel like checking it out, you can find links to the Google Earth and Google Maps points here.



Well, that's about all for me today. I'll try to keep more on top of this -- I'm sure everyone [read: all 3 or so people that read this] is very interested in what I like to write about.

T-minus 42 days...

It's already April.. which means I have less than one month of college classes left. That feeling is taking some getting used to.

I've got a lot to look forward to, though!
Last Friday, I took step 2 towards getting a motorcycle -- took the written permit test and passed. I can't wait (but, sort of can!) until the end of April when Dad and I take the safety course to get licenses.

So, that's one new hobby on the horizon. As for another, my handgun purchase permit came through the police department this week. I had gone to the shooting range in Coplay a few times and really enjoyed it, so I'm going to join a shooting range near home that does competition shooting tournaments and such -- I think that could end up being a really fun hobby to get into! It's not something that many people do, and the people that I do know who are involved with it really love it.

As for the rest of college: There are a bunch of fun events coming up, like Senior Week in Ocean City, MD. Dylan, Sam, Joe, Adam and I are sharing a place down there for the week -- it should be a fun time! Then graduation at the end of May... These last four years have gone by so quickly -- just like everyone said they would.. except I didn't believe them until now...

This past Friday night was the Senior Formal at the Allentown BrewWorks. It was quite a fun night, hung out with some friends I haven't talked to in a while. One of whom, Marjan, has a new blog! Check it out: transphatt.

Also -- hit up the RSS feed at the very bottom of this page!!