A reminder for myself: "We are not perfect human beings, nor do we have to pretend to be, but it is necessary for us to be the best versions of ourselves we can be."
Sim neej aws...
I have to agree, don't want to regret something later on in life. =)
Careful you don't go all gun nutty afterwards.
I've been going roughly twice a month but now that I'm living by myself again I'll have a lot more time to do things like hit the range or build a solar cooker.
My advice for shooting is to try dry firing first to develope a sense of trigger control. Dry firing means pressing the trigger with no ammo in the gun. Your goal is to make sure your sights stay aligned to the target as you press the trigger. The front sight should be in focus as you aim with everything else including the rear sight and target out of focus. Also make sure you have a solid grip on the gun as you do this.
Of course you need to learn about gun safety first but i assume the person taking you will cover that.
Oh, I should point out that some rifle rounds are really loud even with ear protection on, and ejected casings can hurt -especially if they are really hot.
Going to sleep. It is 11.41 pm at my side. Hope that everyone sleep well today.
Sim neej aws...
I would start with a rifle chambered in 22lr first because of the low recoil and fairly quiet report. A larger caliber rifle like a 223 or 308 in an AR/MSR platform or a bolt action might look cool but they are not pleasant to shoot. I can pretty much shoot hundreds of rounds of 22lr without fatigue but with the larger calibers I probably can't do more than 50 before fatigue starts to affect my aim. As for shotguns I've only fired 30 rounds total: 5 slugs and 25 target loads against trap (discs that fly away from you). The slugs were loud with high recoil but the target loads weren't bad.
With rifles it's important to have a consistent cheek weld so you place your cheek on the rifle stock at the same place every time. Also make sure to brace the stock securely against your shoulder "pocket". Pause your breathing mid exhale before shooting. Try not to flinch.
I actually find rifle shooting to be stressful while pistol shooting to be relaxing.
Need to start packing for my trip, any suggestions for China?
How must I have angry and agitated thoughts?
First time to China? An international data plan for your smartphone and the right adapters for 220v if you need it. That helped me immensely in Europe but don't know if companies in China offer same. Preload maps of areas you plan to visit and install a translation app if you need one.
The last time I went back to Beijing was about 3 years ago in the winter. Also spent a couple of days in Sanya that time. As wkeej said it probably depends where you are visiting.
You need a few air pollution masks so you can go out on a smoggy day.
A few Tylenol pills would be handy as well.
Last edited by Trien Chieu; 09-06-15 at 11:42 PM.
Last time I was at the airport in Beijing it looked like I was on some alien planet. That was with the rotating license plate policy in place. Each time I come back to the U.S. I'm struck by how quickly the sunlight burns me.
Speaking of sunlight I cooked an egg in a makeshift solar cooker over the weekend. 5 hours in the sunlight at about 81F. The whites turned white and the yolk was no longer liquidy but it looked a bit odd. Think I'll feed it to my cat instead.
One of my long-term clients (6 years of relationship) has just informed me that the company will be going back to Australia from Jan 2017. Looks like work will be down again for me from 2016. Anyway, at my age, that's life.