I Don't Need no Doctor, 'Cause I Know What's Alling Me......

Today is going to be a long day. I get a M.R.I. on my right knee this afternoon and see how bad it is. (The way it has been hurting since this weekend, it should be pretty bad)then maybe I will get a idea of when they will cut on me.

I watched most of the John Adams program last night on H.B.O. I am not sure what I think of it. I liked the overall look and content, but I didn't like the man playing Adams. I guess I have been spoiled by William Daniels and his portrayal of Adams in the movie 1776. He was born to play that part. The only thing I could say about the gentleman playing the role last night, was that he looked constipated or needed Prozac. Either way, I hope the program will grow on me. I gotta have a colonial fix once in a while

I also need to make a quick run to Gander Mountain and pick up a few odds and ends. The biggest thing will be a two gun transport case. I figure that would do to transport my surgical tools on the up coming road trip to San Juan. And since I will be there anyway, I might as well pick up some balls for my new pistol and see how it shoots. GRIN

Well, I did the M.R.I. this evening. Of course they wouldn't tell me if they saw anything. So now I have to wait until someone calls me to tell me what it looks like. Afterwards I took that quick trip to Gander Mountain. I got some cleaning gear, but no round balls for my pistols.They didn't have any. Their selection of black powder stuff consist of mostly stuff for in-line guns and sabot bullets for regular muzzle loaders. So all in all the night wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be. Oh well........

Doctor, Doctor give me the news..............

I just got back from the event at Guilford Court House. I just kicked off my shoes and tuned in to the First 48 on A&E. This is one of my favorite law enforcement/reality shows.

I had a pretty good time at Guilford. I took out the medical kit and discussed the art and mystery of medicine with the public. Saturday I was joined by John LaRosa (Johnny the Elder) of my hospital. We stayed pretty busy, visitation was steady all day long. I figured that since my knee was still giving me fits, that I would day trip and go home at night. That was one of my better decisions I have made lately. The bottom fell out about 4:00 p.m. and the damp and rain fired up my knee some kind o' bad. Pain medicine is my friend.

Sunday was clear and sunny with a good breeze. About midday I was joined by LT, another member of my hospital. We stayed pretty busy until about 2:30 when I had to leave to give a talk on 18th century dentistry at another place in the park. I did my talk for a grand total of 5 folks. I was a bit disappointed with the turnout, but I think that the people that were there got some good out of it.

Yep, this was a pretty good event, the kind that when you pack up and head home you feel like you have accomplished something. The public always loves to discuss medicine and it's practice, and it is always a very popular attraction.

I finished cleaning up the revolver I just got. For those who do not know, Black powder fouling is VERY corrosive and will cause a weapon to rust very badly. If rust forms in a barrel, it can destroy the accuracy of a weapon. Looking over the revolver, there was rust on the breach of the barrel and a small bit in the cylinder. Thank goodness there wasn't any in the bore of the barrel. I guess I did get a pretty good deal after all.

Big Iron on his Hip......

I am a bit of a gun crank. I buy, sell and swap weapons quite a bit. I was bemused recently after making a deal with someone on one of the civil war boards that I belong to. Let me share the details with you.

A few weeks ago, I saw a person who was offering a "Army" Colt with a full flap holster for $150.00. Well it was advertised as only been fired once and carried out once, so it sounded like it was in good shape. Since this kind of pistol retails for over $250.00 I thought it sounded like it was a pretty good deal. So I contacted the seller. I was the first to get in so he told me he would sell it to me. This pistol (a cap and ball revolver) would fit in well with the naval gear I am collecting so I was tickled to death.

Well, I got a package in the mail and low and behold, it was the pistol. However, it was NOT a 1860 Army. Stamped on the barrel was 36 caliber. (Army pistols were 44) I studied the situation a bit and discovered that this pistol is a model being sold as a 1861 Navy revolver (A slicked up 1851 model) It DOES look like a 1860 model but much slimmer and with a rounded barrel. It is in good shape and is very nice looking. Now here is the interesting thing. When I looked it over, it was loaded. Not with live rounds mind you. With blank loads. It had 5 chambers loaded with black powder topped with a corn meal/crisco mixture and one empty chamber. I guess this guy believed in truth in advertising. It HAD only been fired once, then packed up and shipped up to me without cleaning or unloading. How he had the guts to send it through the U.S. Mail loaded, in this day and time, I will never know.

Now I need to clean it and get it ready to serve it's new owner.

The ol' creative urge strikes again

I could have SWORN that I posted about my getting ready to make a trip to the horner's guild meeting, but it must have been lost in the black hole of the world of blogs. Oh well.

This past weekend I spent in Williamsburg VA attending the meeting of the Honorable Company of Horners. This is a group of people who reproduce items made out of animal horn. Mostly powder horns but also cups, bowls, spoons, and multiple other different items. As a matter of fact, just about anything that you can make out of plastic today, can be made out of horn. I picked up several ideas on projects that I want to start on as well as getting to see some wonderful original artifacts. There is a great deal of charm in holding something made 250 years ago, particularly if it has personal touches such as carving, engraving or even the previous owner's name scratched on it. I love the patina of a well used item, such as a powder horn. The stories that it could tell if it could speak.

I was proud of myself as I resisted temptation and didn't buy any more raw horns. I had sworn that I would not until I finished up what I am working on now. I did get a couple of new books. But since books are reeactor children, they don't count.

This coming weekend, I will be set up at Guilford Court House in Greensboro with the traveling medicine show. I will be setting up a light camp and coming home each night. With my ever present knee giving me fits as normal, I don't think that a night under the stars would do too well for it. Even WITH rum. GRIN