Friday's Dispatch

Mi24 on a gun run against insurgents in Ukraine. Click to enlargenate and you'll actually be able to see the empty shell casings falling away from the bird.

• Big Agnes' new Z core sleeping mat is getting nothing but good press- so much so nobody can keep them in stock. It is supposed to be light for its size, quick to inflate and deflate and pack reasonably small. One has been back ordered for me by REI for 3 weeks now. Gag, they look ugly though- a bright baby blue. Hopefully it won't look that bad in real life. Backpacker magazine's testers literally gushed over it. It is as I recall 4 inches thick but cored and chambered to not feel mushy and wobbly. It will be good to see how it compares to my Thermarest which is OK, especially for the price on sale but man, it could inflate quicker and be 1 inch thicker. Interestingly, Thermarest has been around 40 years and you still read testimonials from people who report still using their first edition versions made in 1972.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Hummingbird feeders are very nice. It would go a long way toward keeping them calm, cool and sane if guys in prison were taught to watch and care for birds, wildlife and nature in general.
• Ribeyes were on sale for 7.97 a pound yesterday (05/30/2014). Wow, does that sound as crazy to you as it does to me? Eight dollars a pound for steak- and it is a bargain?!
• My nursing buddy comes back to work on Monday. I hope I am missed as much as he is by the other nurses.

  

  Here, have a picture of a kitten.

• Although great my new Columbia Bora Bora hat is a little too big for my jug head. That is a new one for me.
• My head has to big- to hold all those brains.
• Stedman Graham went to college in Weatherford. I considered purchasing a house that he supposedly lived in the associated garage apartment during his college days here. 
• A girl at the pool is named Zefra. Well, she has the name ready made if goes into stripping. I'm thinking Zefra Starr! Yes, with an exclamation mark. What did you have pictured?
• I was surprised and heartened this video had 42 million views. There is hope for this corrupt, rotten species after all.