UnitedCardists.com - The forum for Cardistry, Magic, Custom Decks and All Things Playing Cards.

Congratulations for the orange Gandalf (although white would be a better fit given the name ).

Thanks Harvonsgard

I’m still getting used to being orange - the paparazzi outside my house are freaking me out a bit…

Paparazzi? Nothing a Haenel RS9 couldn't handle...

Harvonsgard wrote: ↑Sun May 08, 2022 7:27 am Paparazzi? Nothing a Haenel RS9 couldn't handle...

America is very strict - Paparazzi can only be taken using live capture traps and all mine are too small for the purpose - still waiting for my Amazon order to arrive with the big ones.

Lel... Europe is stricter. I can't even have a Haenel RS9 before junping through loops of fire for years.

Well that certainly isn’t a problem here - I can pick up two handguns and a 50 cal on the way home if the mood strikes me - no waiting period for anything, a quick background check, which yes, I do manage to pass, thats it. It’s the Wild West baby.

I knew I've entered the gates of heaven, when I went to a walmart in the US and the rifle/gun section was next to the toy section. Good times, awesome memories.

Speaking of toys:

On the cat front, I've decided that it will just be me and Mjolnir. She seems happy, is insanely talkative, and purrs all of the time. Kinda how Sunny used to act...

It sucks when I leave her alone for 24+ hours if I go away on a Saturday night, though.

Good to hear that.

It have been always strange to see people talk about getting guns so casually, I have never in my life held a real bullet, and the closet thing to a real gun i have ever touch is a dummy AK47 back in my mandatory military training time.

People are often alienated by what they aren't accustomed to. I guess it doesn't help that guns are somewhat demonized.
It's stranger to me that people pay taxes to finance a bunch of fellows they even don't know at all to have guns to protect them, but then are suspicious or even afraid if their neighbour has them.
I guess it's kind of an outta sight, outta mind mindset? Or something with not wanting to be reminded that life can be tough once in a while?

kasuma99 wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 5:03 am It have been always strange to see people talk about getting guns so casually, I have never in my life held a real bullet, and the closet thing to a real gun i have ever touch is a dummy AK47 back in my mandatory military training time.

Firearms are awesome. I think that everyone needs to learn gun safety in school. I also think that everyone needs to get to a range at least once in their life. It's so senseless to be afraid of an inanimate object. It's also so damn fun and stress-relieving to fire off some rounds.

I'll be buying a Sig Sauer P322 at my earliest convenience.

It hits me with some level of surprise that mandatory military training didn’t include target practice. My father was taking me and my brother to the range when we were around 12 years old - though certainly not all of us in the states were brought up the same way thats hardly unusual over here.

GandalfPC wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 7:31 am It hits me with some level of surprise that mandatory military training didn’t include target practice. My father was taking me and my brother to the range when we were around 12 years old - though certainly not all of us in the states were brought up the same way thats hardly unusual over here.

Ah, i am not afraid or anything, i would be exited to be able to actually use a gun if i got a chance. The things i find strange might be due to guns and weapons and stuffs are strictly controlled where i live even for polices on duty and hence the aspect of guns up for sale in road side shops are very strange to think of lol.

Also on another matter i think there is some favouritism issues going on here with our new mod as i saw he goes around offer good tips for all members in the sale/trade section except me...

My sincere apologies - an oversight on my part with no slight intended…. I was hitting up some unanswered posts last night in an effort to be more modish and simply missed you - hit me in a PM anytime and I’ll help with anything you need on any topic I can manage

Just peeked over there to see your post in the marketplace - looks like you ain’t doing too bad without me

GandalfPC wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:19 am My sincere apologies - an oversight on my part with no slight intended…. I was hitting up some unanswered posts last night in an effort to be more modish and simply missed you - hit me in a PM anytime and I’ll help with anything you need on any topic I can manage

Just kidding , you are perfect as a mod being modish like that, of course i won't decline any help getting my wishlist more complete though.

On the other hand... my joke must be really bad for peoples to keep missing them.

It was the double frown that threw me - rather err on the side of turning them upside down

kasuma99 wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:11 am Ah, i am not afraid or anything, i would be exited to be able to actually use a gun if i got a chance. The things i find strange might be due to guns and weapons and stuffs are strictly controlled where i live even for polices on duty and hence the aspect of guns up for sale in road side shops are very strange to think of lol.

Also on another matter i think there is some favouritism issues going on here with our new mod as i saw he goes around offer good tips for all members in the sale/trade section except me...

That's good to hear! I really hope that you get a chance to fire at a range someday. A lot of my company's international employees and customers visit the gun range every time they're here in the States. "Gun collecting" is something of a thing here, hence a lot of stores in some areas. I wouldn't even consider myself a "collector", but I have more than a handful of them. There are simply so many different platforms, and different models/calibers, that if you're into shooting just a little bit it's easy to buy more guns just to play with.

For those who can’t make it to the range often (or ever), an Olympic quality air pistol is quite the treat for target practice - they aren’t powerful and are meant for paper targets at 10 meters but they will put a pellet through the same hole all day long. That level of precision is a real joy, and leaves you with all the challenge with none of the excuses.

I had a Pardini K10 for a while, which cost an arm and a leg, but Daisy and others make relatively cheap ones (I have a Daisy 747 at the moment)

Level of precision without a doubt but the army made me love bigger calibers. Everything smaller than .308 Winchester feels childish to me.

Harvonsgard wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 12:49 pm Level of precision without a doubt but the army made me love bigger calibers. Everything smaller than .308 Winchester feels childish to me.

I want to get a .22 LR bolt-action so bad, but the short-action is so unfulfilling. Unlike my .300 WM, which is so damn fun to shoot, but at $5/rd it's not economical at all.

I totally get finding something strange when it's alien to what you grew up with. I find the idea of growing up with compulsory military service to be alien.

I love compulsory military service because it opened my eyes about the nature of states.
I went there with the intention to become a sniper at the special forces... I left as an anarchist, who couldn't give a bigger F about the government.
Ah... great memories... being stoned on duty, being at the range often... and all of that financed by tax payers...

The only reason that I like compelled military service is because people are so uneducated on the subjects of firearms, military weapons, and civilian weapons. I'd rather mandated education be a part of K-12 schooling, though. Understanding how they work and how to safely handle/use them is essential, IMO.

Yeah, my father started teaching my sister and me firearm safety at a very young age (well, my sister and I were young, not my father ) and I agree that it's one of many things that should be taught in schools but usually isn't. My ex-wife went to school in a rural district, and they *did* teach firearm safety and even had a school holiday (at least, at the high school) for opening day of deer hunting season. Another person I knew went to a high school in a neighboring district to mine, and his high school had an indoor range where they used to teach firearm safety, but the class had been discontinued a few years before he started going there. Alas.

Other things that should be taught in school -- at least as an introduction to the basics -- but usually aren't: rhetoric, critical thinking, civics and political theory, self-defense, CPR and first aid, economics, personal finance, parenting skills, and swimming. Many schools teach one or two of these, but All schools should introduce the basics for All of them, in my not so humble opinion.

Change my mind!

No mind to change. We should do a better job at educating our offspring. Outsourcing the most important part of growing-up never was a good idea - change my mind!
Parents should be heavily involved in the educational system. Blessed are the ones that do .

The main problem of the current system in industrialised countries is that the main focus lays on creating workforce drones. A system in most cases is just interested/focused on keeping it afloat, doesn't matter if useful or not.

P.S.: It is part of critical thinking but I'd specifically would add media and news competence to your list Allan.
As well as psychology (for older teens of course). It's essential to know how we are wired.

rousselle wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 2:12 pm Other things that should be taught in school -- at least as an introduction to the basics -- but usually aren't: rhetoric, critical thinking, civics and political theory, self-defense, CPR and first aid, economics, personal finance, parenting skills, and swimming. Many schools teach one or two of these, but All schools should introduce the basics for All of them, in my not so humble opinion.

Change my mind!

I refuse!

To be fair, some of the best schools in my state do teach a lot of these subjects, but many of them are either electives or you must pass prerequisite courses (meaning that you may not even get the option until 11th Grade, and if you didn't plan your trajectory to take that course you have no recourse to enter that path).

Forgot to mention that Bear Grills should be the physical education teacher in the School of Life. P.E. is a mandatory class of course - anima sana in corpore sano.

And here’s hoping for sanus mundi

We're getting there. Slowly but surely ...