Telling it like it is

A couple of weekends ago, a friend of a friend and I went out shooting on saturday. We hadn't planned it but he mentioned he had a novelty gun - one so ridiculous that it could never be used for anything other than having fun. A 50 action express Desert Eagle. 50 caliber. As in the same caliber used in a sniper rifle. But in a handgun. Holy crap it was amazing to shoot. The recoil was, as you might expect, extraordinary. It got easier to fire once I got used to the tightness of grip required but what an amazing piece of weaponry. In a true emergency you'd never be able to shoot it straight - you'd be better off throwing it at your attacker. The weight of the gun alone would be enough to kill anyone it hit if thrown properly. A lot of fun, needless to say.

Two nights ago (after we'd gone to bed, sadly) Utah was buzzed by a disintegrating meteor. For a couple of seconds, the entire state was essentially in broad daylight. It was caught on security cameras all over the place. This photo is from one of the security cameras on the building next to us up here at research park. Note the time stamp and how bloody bright everything is....

The first "proper" winter weather arrived this weekend. A couple of inches of snow in the valley and we awoke to -9°C temps this morning. Chilly. I'm glad I managed to get the final mow of the season done on the lawn on friday. One more big leaf drop from the trees and we'll be done with yard maintenance until April.