Never got into shooting myself, though Lord knows my Dad tried to interest me in hunting. When I was a baby, we were broke enough that my Dad literally fed us with the help of a shotgun and a lot of stupid South Dakota pheasants. My mom won't touch pheasant now with a ten-foot pole. By the time I was old enough to shoot, we were past that, and it was all recreational duck hunting, although we still had to eat the ducks. I remember picking the shot out of them on my plate. Didn't feel like sitting in the water to shoot one, though.

I did like plinking cans with a .22. Maybe part of the reason is that I was so skinny that a .22 was the only thing that didn't knock me down, and the only gun quiet enough that I didn't jump at the noise.

The Heathkit bit brought back memories of my old TVs and radios with tubes. I remember the big tube testing machine down at the hardware store where I could bring a shoebox full and test them out. There was something comforting at night about the soft yellow glow coming out the slots in the back of an old radio. I don't miss having to wait two minutes for my TV to warm up though.

Now, if they can just figure out how to make a computer boot up instantly...

Damn. Sounds like I'm almost ready to haul the rocker out to the porch and bore the younguns to death with tales of my youth. Probably should build a porch.