my life, my thoughts, my world.

… you examine all possible candidates, for every position from the President on down, and find nowhere to cast a vote?

That is the issue I’m faced with right now. Nowhere, in any of the races to be on my ballot, is there a single candidate that strikes me as worthy of my vote. The vast majority are glaringly at odds with the contents of The Constitution I swore to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. Those seemingly concerned with matters as they fit within the framework of The Constitution lack any record that suggests credibility. It seems that the only option I now have, is to abstain from voting.

For a long time, I’ve advocated voting as a necessity. Specifically, I have pushed for more people to take interest in politics, become involved, and when able to vote cast one from an informed position. Given the current state of affairs, and the conditions under which I find myself, I’m not sure it is necessary to actually vote. If the general consensus is that you waive your right to complain if you do not vote, I have to disagree. Having only options that are entirely unacceptable, casting any vote will still result in a situation about which I am unhappy. Voting, or not voting, does not keep me from actively contacting those elected to represent me in Congress. Abstaining from the election also has no bearing on my seeking out those willing and able to run on platforms I find agreeable, and in turn supporting their efforts to be on the ballot in future elections. Choosing to not vote, based on the information and options available, may be just as participatory as choosing to vote. If the option “none of the above” was included, that is the only box I could check this election.

T/C Encore zeroing session

Originally uploaded by Anthony J. Martinez

Finally got around to zeroing my T/C Encore with the .260 Remington barrel. I did the range session at Red’s Indoor Range in Austin, TX. Seems like a decent place, even though I personally hate indoor ranges. I could have finished this in far less than 20 shots, but frankly I hadn’t squeezed a trigger since my last hunting trip in December 2006. Once I let that first round fly, I’d already decided to burn through the entire box of ammunition. The target may well look like I was just pumping rounds down range, but there is a method to my madness. If you click the photo, and view it at Flickr, there are notes over the respective “groups” that describe what was going on there. Anyway, the final group was fired with about 4sec between shots, and measures less than an inch center to center – right at 2.25″ above center at 100m. That should put me dead on at 200m, and keep me “minute of dinner” from about 50m to 350m. That should do the trick, I think.

T/C Encore

Originally uploaded by Anthony J. Martinez

Finally got around to swapping the .223 barrel out for the .260 barrel. I took a drive up to Cabela’s to get an old Redfield Tracker 3-9x scope my Grandpa gave me mounted to the rifle. Handles really nicely, I need to get a few different loads to find out what it likes before I head off to New Mexico for my elk hunt.