Category: Personal

Events that effect me or that I have an interest in.

Declaration of Independence

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This 4th of July, as you’re munching on hot dogs and drinking ice-cold beer, take a moment to remember the reason for the season.

I think we should read the Declaration of Independence on July 4th like we read the Bible on December 25th. The same truths apply to today’s government as they did in 1776. The people and the politicians should always remember, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” And “…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government….”

Maybe Gary, Jill, Donald and Hillary should read it twice.

Lotteries enter the billion dollar era

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powerballBillionMegaMillionsMillionPowerBall surpassed $1 Billion grand prize this weekend; the largest lottery jackpot ever.

When I went to check my numbers on the txlottery.org website (I won $4) I noticed the background image for the jackpot was changed from Millions to Billions. I thought that’s a trip.

The next drawing is Wednesday (1/13/2016) for an estimated 1.3 Billion dollars.

 

Texas Concealed Handgun License Shooting Test

Posted on | by C. | 1 Comment on Texas Concealed Handgun License Shooting Test

NTCSilhouetteTargetB-27[1]Handgun CHL Requirements

Must be a .32 caliber or higher to qualify. There is no minimum caliber to legally carry as long as it is a legal pistol.

There is no longer a classification of concealed handgun license. If you qualify with a revolver you can carry a semi-automatic.

Number of Rounds Fired

The shooting test requires 50 rounds of ammunition

CHL Shooting Distances

The CHL Shooting test is fired at three distances:

  • 3 yards – 20 rounds fired
  • 7 yards – 20 rounds fired
  • 15 yards – 10 rounds fired

The majority of students pass the proficiency test when they have completed shooting at 3 and 7 yards.

CHL Shooting Proficiency Test Scoring

  • 5 points – shots fired in the X, 10, 9, & 8 rings
  • 4 points – shots fired in the 7 ring
  • 3 points – shots fired outside the 7 ring but on the silhouette
  • 0 points – shots fired outside the silhouette or off the target paper
  • Shots that hit just outside the ring but break the line count as the higher score

CHL Passing Score

The Texas CHL shooting test passing score is 175 points out of 250 points or a score of 70%. The state allows for three chances to pass the shooting test.

Remember, I have had students pass the shooting proficiency test with flying colors who fired a gun for the first time ever when they took the test.

Be still my heart

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This is going to sound like a commercial that has been popular for the past decade: people with an irregular heart beat – known as atrial fibrillation or AFib or AF – are at a higher risk of blood clots and stroke. AF – in a nutshell –  is the condition of having disorganized electrical impulses driving your heart beat. The impulses normally start from the top chambers of the heart (atria) and travel to the bottom chambers of the heart (ventricles). This causes your heart muscle(s) to contract. When this happens on a regular basis you have a normal (sinus) rhythm. During AF, the electrical signals are fast and chaotic. The atria quiver rapidly and irregularly, so blood pools in the atria instead of being pumped properly to the ventricles. Pooling can lead to clotting and clots, when pushed out, can go any place in the body. If the clot goes to the brain it can cause a stroke. Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

On Wednesday, September 16, I started feeling heart palpitations in the afternoon. Thursday morning we went to see my doctor. He got an EKG on me and promptly sent me to the ER – I was having a paroxysmal atrial fibrillation event – and the hospital could administer the drugs to help slow down my heart. As I recall my heart beat was bouncing between 160 and 60 beats per minute. My blood pressure was high – something like 170 over 110.

The ER took another EKG, a chest xray, then started one IV in my right arm with medicine – something like amiodarone (Cordarone). Then they started another IV with medicine in my left arm to regulate the first medicine; it took two techs and two sticks to get the IV to take – OWW! Then I got a CT scan with contrast. This is where I thought tests were getting a little excessive. Eventually (about 5pm) they put me in a hospital room in the critical care unit (CCU). Around 7pm my heart “reset” itself and I returned to sinus rhythm.

Friday morning I got an echocardiogram – an ultrasound of the heart. I didn’t get a run down of the results – probably not much to say. The echo went to a cardiologist who came by around 2pm. By 4pm I was walking out of the hospital.

They prescribed the following meds: metoprolol tartrate (25mg), flecainide acetate (50mg). And I had to add low dose aspirin (81mg).

My doctor wanted me to start Lipitor 3 months ago, but I didn’t – I wanted to try diet and exercise. A week after the night in the hospital I had a checkup with my doctor and afterwords I went to get the generic Lipitor – so September 26 I started taking generic Lipitor (atorvastatin 20mg).

If you’re keeping score at home that’s 4 medicines or 6 pills per day. Ten days ago I didn’t take any meds now I’m stuck with 6 pills. My goal is to get off of the meds as quickly as possible; some internet pages say 2 years.

Just FYI, I started a new category, Health, with this post. I plan to put my health news and other things I find useful into this category.

Texas earthquakes

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Have you heard? We have earthquakes in Texas. The USGS thinks its because of oil drilling technique know as fracking. The oil and gas companies are silent about the earthquakes. This is a growing problem. It’ll will take several deaths and property damage before it goes to court.

Officially, the cause of the earthquakes is inconclusive, according to the USGS, but on Tuesday, a Southern Methodist University-led research team found that in Azle and Reno, towns northwest of Fort Worth, the oil and gas activities in the vicinity were “most likely” responsible for several earthquakes in late 2013 and 2014. Source: CNN.com

This was a really well-written article. I encourage you to read it. Fracking has been going on in Texas for several years now, and the amounts of earthquakes (tremors if you will) has dramatically increased: from a few every few years to 40+ in one year; most concentrated in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Here’s a fracking term to look up: flowback.