Not much to report today.

I may be tripping too far into the gun world...reading the inevitable outraged handwringing following the Colorado shootings about the fact that wait, miscreants can order AMMUNITION on the INTERNET???! my first thought was "Hmmm maybe I better place another order for Garand ammo before they outlaw that too..."

Went to the range on Wednesday with Gun Mentor. We took a pair of Smith & Wesson 5906s and I worked on my (not very impressive) pistol shooting. I still have problems with figuring out where the shots went on misses, but I think it's becoming clear that my problem is all about the trigger squeeze - I think I'm pulling the muzzle down as I shoot. That would explain why I'm better on double action shots - the gun has more time to steady out. I can hit the metal drop targets (8 inch) 14 of 15 shots at around 30 feet, but when I try to shoot at paper and then group consistently, the rounds just don't go where I'm expecting. I have trouble finding that first shot to repeat, sometimes! Sigh. Well, this is a skill, and you only get better by practicing. And my eyes aren't what they used to be. I took the time to join the club that owns the range, too - although I may not get there very often over the next year, I've certainly been there several times this summer, so all is fair.

I was going to fly today - went to the airport and found that the Skyhawk was available, and had the thrill of saying "Great, I'll take it." Got to the plane and preflighted it - and as I did so, the wind picked up noticeably. Thought about it, decided this was an excellent opportunity to Exercise Smart Judgement. I had only planned to stay local - practice area, in the pattern - but my CFI had cleared me to fly 'if it's not too windy.' So I went back inside and called up weather reports from some local airports with with FSBs. Barnes Municipal (around 15 miles southwest) was reporting wind at 190 degrees, 13 knots, gusting to 18. Thought about it, decided that yeah, there was no good reason to push - and 15 miles wasn't that far away. Reluctantly handed the keys back. I'd say I'm hoping to get Good Judgement points, but really - I'm sitting here comfortable and unfrazzled and alive, and that's the real win, right? 99% sure I would have had no problems with the wind, but...1% is too high a risk factor, by far. And I'm not experienced enough to have a high confidence in that number.

So, chalk it up as judgement exercised, and hope the predicted thunderstorms for Tuesday (next time I have the plane) don't materialize.