Since I’m not a great orator, nor am I any kind of motivational speaker, I started this blog just to post my own thoughts, opinions and actions (depending on what the action may or may not be). So, along those lines, CA, AP and JM have all been harping on personal improvement for quite some time (at least as long as I’ve been reading any of them). There are some things from each of them that strike me. One of them is this photo:

While I wasn’t quite that big, I am considered obese by most standards (including my own). I’ve got two bad knees, a bad back, a bad shoulder and neck pain. Each of these things have contributed to my excuses for not exercising (and not paying attention to what I was putting into my body didn’t help either). I have tried to lose weight in the past, sometimes temporarily successful, but it’s never been permanent because I wasn’t quite as aware of what’s going on in the world. Leaving out what’s happening in the world, being overweight is definitely NOT good for bad knees and backs. My fat hurts me. It doesn’t just make me slower, it actually, physically hurts me. So, several months ago I decided that I needed to lose weight again, but this time I need to actually keep it off. Phase one was just changing my diet. To assist me with this, I found a free app for my phone that merely allows you to put in a starting weight, a goal weight and how much you’d like to lose per week (along with height, age, etc) and it’ll calculate how many calories you should eat to lose weight at the appropriate speed. I’m not going to name it because there are a lot of free apps out there that will do this. I’ve been doing this for about 4 months now and I have lost about 26 pounds. It’s a good start, but I’ve hit a plateau. I have remained right around my current weight for coming on two weeks. It is time for me to add exercise to my “diet”. Because of my injuries, I can’t run at my current weight, it’s too much impact on my knees. I have an elliptical in the house, but I hate that. A) it’s boring and B) I can’t stretch out and run at a truly comfortable pace. When I was in the army, I was running just over a 6 minute mile. For someone that’s just over 5’4″ tall, that’s moving and it requires being able to stretch my legs. So, I have started the search for a bicycle. I haven’t found the one I will buy yet, but I’ve started the research. I’ve talked to friends that ride competitively and been to a bike shop to get pointers. I’ve narrowed my search down to what’s called a ‘hybrid’, now I’m trying to find a good deal (money is always a factor).
OK, so I’m working on the physical. While I am always working on the mental, I believe I am prepared to do what I must. Only a true test will determine whether I am actually ready for that. The final phase of getting ready is equipment. While my weekends activities were planned before this post by ND, this quote about sums it up:

Combat mind-set implies on open-minded readiness to adapt to any effective method or skill that will increase your lethality on the battlefield. Unwavering conviction in your ability demands a “software-centric” approach to training and preparation. Even within the “dedicated, cold-dead hands three percent,” there are masses of gnu-owners who purchase a firearm at their local sporting goods store or gun shop, along with a box or two of ammunition, based on the advice of the inexperienced, minimum-wage clerk (or strangers on the internet forums…). Then, the firearm and ammunition gets tossed in a closet or drawer and is promptly forgotten. These people place absolute faith in the weapon, expecting it to solve their potential future problems. The firearm becomes a sort of magical talisman in their mind. This “hardware-centric” approach is the route of amateurs, the path to hell-fire and damnation.

So, in that vein, I attended my first Appleseed shoot. Prior to this weekend I considered myself an adequate shot. Saturday showed me that while I may not be “too bad”, I’m not that great either. I had a few problems. I took a S&W M&P-15 with a CMMG .22 LR AR Conversion Kit and a box of Remington “Golden Bullets” that the guy who sold me the kit recommended. The first problem was the ammo. That Rem stuff was getting a misfire about 1 out of every 10 rounds. I have some with multiple hammer strikes that didn’t go off. So, one of the cadre gave me a box of Federal ammo to use, that problem was fixed. The next problem was zeroing. I could not get my AR zeroed with the .22’s. I finally gave up trying to zero so the other two shooters (and me) could move on. None of us were able to qualify on Saturday. One of the cadre went home and did a little searching and found out that the conversions practically never get better than 6 MOA accuracy. That is terrible, and nowhere near good enough to qualify at an Appleseed.
So, Sunday rolls around and he tells me about this at breakfast. After much cussing and complaining about wasted money, I decided to try to zero/qualify with my AR in its original configuration (expense is the reason I did not do this previously). So, I got zeroed fairly quickly and we went to shooting for quals. I was unable to qual with my AR. I was zeroed fine, but my bad shoulder was not liking the weather (never got above freezing) and by the time I got to phase 4 I could no longer hold steady. I was going to call it a day at lunch, but one of the cadre offered to let me use his 10/22 to try. So, a quick zero and no adjustments later, we started shooting for quals again. It took me a couple tries with an almost qual first (I miscounted on phase 4 and put an extra hole in the first target which cost me 10 points):

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The next round was going to be my last, no matter what, so they asked me if I wanted to do “Rapid Fire” and I did. I got qualified in 3 minutes (out of 4 available) with a 212. Got my picture and my patch:

After that one we did one final run with the “Redcoats” and I cleared that one:

I am very grateful that Gary let me use his firearm. I had a great time, but even more I learned a lot which helped me become a better shooter, now it is up to me to practice. I will definitely be returning to more Appleseeds, and I’ll be taking my wife next time (she’s already signed up for March).

So, yeah, we need to learn and train, what are you doing to improve?