About the Old Man

Pretty much what you see is what I am.  All opinions are mine and may or may not coincide with other groups or entities.

In short, I am a retired Federal Flatfoot.

I spent six years as a Border Patrol Agent in beautiful downtown Calexico, People’s Democratic Socialist Republic of California. For those deprived of visiting Calexico, it was at the time a hot and dusty little town that was actually the northernmost suburb of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. There is the legal fiction of a fence, but essentially, it’s part of Mexicali. The population of Calexico was about 95% Mexican or Mexican derived, 3% Chinese or Chinese derived and 2% Federal employee.

I worked the last twenty-two years of my ‘gainful’ life as a Customs Inspector and then beginning in March 2003, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer. I was the friendly guy at the U. S. border who greeted you as you arrived with a cheery smile and the opening line of “Welcome to the United States! Let me see your passport and documents, open all your bags and take off all your clothes.” In my case, the ‘border’ was the ‘functional equivalent of the border’ at Los Angeles World Airport (LAX). For my sins.

Among other things while working for Customs, I arrested two men on murder warrants, dealt with two known terrorists, several others I thought were terrorists, one child molester – gack! – and a plethora of other villains, malefactors, evil-doers, sloppy keepers of track, and the clueless.

Somewhere in my life, I made my living as a locksmith for about seven years.

My life long passion has been for firearms. I collect, study, shoot and talk about guns probably more than any other single subject (except for Christianity and Cosmology). Having carried a firearm in the cause of my country for thirty-two years (four Marine Corps, six Border Patrol and twenty-two Customs/CBP) I have some pretty strong opinions on firearms ownership and use. It’s pretty simple: Unless one is a thug or mentally/emotionally deficient, one should OWN and CARRY a firearm at all times.

I am literally a life-long Christian. I was in church in what was called ‘Cradle Roll’ when an infant. I made a public declaration of my affiliation with God through Jesus Christ when I was nine years old. Albeit I’m a rebellious and somewhat dastardly sort at times, I know my duties to God and His will. I was even pastor of a church for a short time. None of which is to say I’m a model character. I’ve been divorced three times. When I get out of line, God has a way of dealing with both me and the situation. A cattle prod would be gentler. Still, God is a lot more lenient than I deserve.

This blog will include essays on things political, firearms and ballistics and theology with perhaps an occasional foray into cosmology and some humor.

If anyone is interested, this is me in early 2012.

The format is not the way I want it, but I’m working on altering it to make finding posts by subject easier. We’ll see how that works out.