my smith & wesson range bag finally arrived, prompted i’m sure with my purchase of another one a couple weeks ago. of course, it’s even smaller than the browning bag, so that prompted me to do a little shopping for a few pistol rugs, which are soft pistol cases that take up much less room than the hard cases i’ve been using. uncle mike will be happy to know that 2 of the 3 i got were his (sportsman’s warehouse didn’t have the smaller size so i got the next higher priced brand), and since a hip holster for my small revolver was on sale, i got that too.

i’m not convinced that open carry is something i’m into. it tends to freak people out a bit, and i’m not really into drawing attention to myself, but it might have to do for the summer months. that ankle holster is just too warm.

anyway, since i’m feeling a little better today, i wandered around the store a bit more and found another .38 cartridge to try.

the winchester super x .38 rounds come in a box of 50 for $38.50, which is a much better deal than the hydra-shok or hornady jacketed hollow points that i’ve tried so far for my .38 revolver.

the super x is on the left, next the hydra-shok, the hornady, a full metal jacket, and a lead round nose.

the tops of the bullets show some interesting differences, most notable is the hydra-shok, with a small protrusion which allegedly keeps schmutz out of the hollow. it also has a steel casing, as opposed to brass, like the others. the winchester features a silver tip, which may offer addition protection against angry vampires and werwolves. but i have to say, if the winchester performs close to the others, it will be my round of choice, unless i find something less expensive. as soon as i feel better, i’ll check them out at the range, probably this weekend.

on another note, since my posts about firearms seems to generate little interest for my readers, i’m thinking of doing gun related posts on a different blog. maybe i’ll call it “estrogun”.

so i stop by my local advanced urgent care for some medical care. i’ve taken the hubby there a few times and we’ve had adequate care in the past. i personally liked it because all the doctors we’ve seen there were women. except this time.

like many trans people, i don’t particularly like visiting doctors that don’t know me. the nurses, aides, and doctor ask questions of me that require information i don’t like to talk about with strangers. like when my last menstrual cycle was. or if i’m pregnant. or any major surgeries i’ve had in the past 10 years. especially when it comes to my current gastrointestinal issue, i don’t see how that relates. though i suppose the doctor simply wants a complete profile.

but then again, he didn’t even look in my mouth, eyes, or ears. he listened to my heart and lungs, and tapped on my belly, and prodded a little in my lower abdomen. of course, he had his nurse come in to take my temp, blood pressure, and weigh me. the good news is that i’ve lost a few pounds from not eating anything for the past two days.

the bad news is, all he did was prescribe loperamide (that’s right, i paid $1.89 for 3 capsules of imodium A-D) and is having me drop off a urine and stool sample at the lab. which doesn’t open until monday.

and apparently, he doesn’t think i have salmonella, or he wouldn’t have prescribed imodium, which is more risky as a treatment, according to the wikipedia entry.

perhaps he might have waited for the lab results to confirm that, as we have an outbreak, my symptoms fit, i ate possibly tainted tomatoes, and i advised him of my lifelong food sensitivities. but who am i to question the doctor. then again, the pepto hasn’t been working, and imodium would have been my next self treatment.

i’m also on a “BRAT” diet (how fitting for me, no?) for today (and yesterday, apparently), which stands for bananas, rice, apple sauce, and toast, and i can also drink clear liquids. which apparently, includes jello, so i have a batch of strawberry cooling in the fridge. no coffee, tobacco, or alcohol though (yeah, right).

funny thing is, other than the imodium, this is the exact treatment i was self administering, based on my research on the internet. i should have been a doctor.

anyway, i do seem to be getting a littler better. the cramps are less frequent, along with my trips to the bathroom. i should be back to my usual disgruntled self in a day or two. and thanks to you all for your well wishes

update @ 8:22 PM
i feel a lot better. i guess that doctor knew what he was doing. so i’ll continue to follow his advise. i took a drink of clear liquid (vodka) with my cranberry juice.

azfamily.com reports that salmonella has been found on tomatoes in arizona.

Health officials say they’re tracking a growing bacterial outbreak in Arizona involving contaminated tomatoes.

Health officials with the centers for disease control say they’ve found multiple regional cases of food poisoning due to salmonella on fresh tomatoes.

5 have been found in the phoenix area. guess who had tomatoes on her salad the night before she fell ill, with the exact symptoms of salmonellosis.

so now i have to decide if i want to go to one of those urgent care facilities, and expose my body to potentially anti-trans medical personnel, tomorrow morning. or just pray that my symptoms go away and just go to work.

so much so, that today is the second day in a row that i’ve called in sick to work. regarding the nature of my illness, i’ll say that periodic doses of pepto bismol over the past two days have not had the desired result. i’ll take this opportunity to apologize for comments i may, or may not, have made on other people’s blogs over the last two days. i know not what i say.

if this continues, i’ll be stopping off at the doctor. not that they’ve ever been able to resolve any of my stomach or gastrointestinal issues.

that is all.

i sent off my final payment for my 2003 honda civic yesterday. it’s mine, all mine
hard to believe that when i originally made the purchase, gas was $1.78 a gallon. the last time i filled up, it was $4.10 a gallon.

you read that right. the goddess of indie, acoustic, and folk music, 4-time outmusic award nominee singer and songwriter, 40+city tour spanning over 10,000 miles talented multi-instrumentalist jukebox heroine, and my personal most favorite soundsmith and story teller, namoli brennet will be playing at mama java’s coffeehouse on saturday, july 12th at 8:00 PM.

be there, or be not. there is no try. or spoon. or something.

i went to the range today, in part to try out this new hydra-shok ammo for my smith & wesson .38 revolver. since i prefer to shoot with a friend, i emailed my best shooting buddy last night and let him know i’d be at the range today. we met there at around 3:00, had a cigarette or two outside, and then got down to business. since he also has a smith & wesson 38 snub nose, very similar to mine, i definitely wanted his opinion on the ammo. especially because we both complain about the high degree of recoil with standard (not to mention +P) .38 ammo.

i shot 10 rounds, and he shot 5, and we both agreed that the recoil was even less than the remington wadcutters i normally use for target practice. that has a lot to do with the light weight bullet in the hydra-shok round, weighing in at a mere 110 grain. compare that to the 140 grain bullet in the hornady ammo i tried in may, and the 148 grain weight for wadcutters.

overall, i very much liked the hydra-shok ammo, it was accurate, reliable, and offered low recoil. too bad it’s $18.99 for 20 rounds at sportsmans warehouse (compared to $13.99 for 25 rounds of the hornady, or $17.99 for 50 rounds of the wadcutters at cabela’s). hornady makes a 125 grain version of the .38 jhp for a few dollars more, which i plan on trying next. i like the idea of jacketed hollowpoints for personal defense, but i’m trying to find a good cost/performance balance. i notice too that remington makes a 110 grain jhp (product # R38S16) which i’ll see if i can find.

i’m still a little confused why .38 ammo is so hard to find - perhaps because it’s so popular, no one can keep it in stock.

i also tried the federal champion .22 cal value pack ammo. at $17.99 for 525 rounds, it’s a great buy. i did have 2 duds during the day, in about 150 rounds. still not bad for the price, and it shoots pretty accurate, and burns rather clean. no messy residue on my pistol during cleanup. i prefer the american eagle ae22 ammo though, despite it costing a little more ($17.99 for 400 rounds).

on a final note, the range bag i got is a bit small. so what i think i’ll do is get a couple of soft pistol cases, which take up way less space.

no doubt, you’ve all heard of the pregnant man, thomas beatie. matt bors points out that “cartoonist” sean delonas, of ny post infamy, can’t even come up with more than one “cartoon”, and has to reproduce his one attempt at humor in order to continue his transphobia.
h/t alas

looks like daisy has tagged me again, this time with the evil seven song meme. the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring-summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

the songs:
i was totally enthralled with the movie sweeney todd, with [swoon] johnny depp playing the demon barber of fleet street [/swoon]. i now own the DVD, and a good number of songs from the sound track (who knew that johnny depp could sing?!?!) which i downloaded from iTunes. so the first three songs are from that movie, which i seem to play over and over again.
pretty women
my friends
not while i’m around
next, a song i found originally from colleen, by imogen heap, hide and seek.
over the past few months, i’ve been reconstructing my beatles album collection. my current favorites:
norwegian wood (this bird has flown) from rubber soul (probably my favorite beatle album),
when i’m sixty-four from sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band,
and i’ve just seen a face from help. or maybe the night before. or help.

um, help.

oh, and as far as tagging goes, if you’re reading this, you’re tagged.

i went shopping the other day and bought a new range bag and some ammo. i’m looking forward to trying them all out this saturday. as usual, i’ll report my findings.