It’s the little “victories” in life that I celebrate anymore and even those are getting fewer and fewer these days but I’ll still take them however they come. Yesterday before going out to dinner I dropped my wife, mother in law and sister in law at the mall for some quick shopping for a few things that mom needed while I went across the street to Sportsman’s Warehouse. They’re usually stupid expensive but I’ll still poke around and look for things I don’t need that are on sale or clearance. One thing I wanted was another lightweight hunting vest since I took my Sitka vests up to my place on POW. There was 1 vest in my size (xl or xxl) that was marked down from $120 to $50 so I decided to get it. When it was rung up it was reduced even further and wound up costing me $32 out the door which was about 75% less than normal…..a minor victory but a victory nonetheless.
This morning we drove my sister in law to the airport and traffic was smooth both directions. Since we were going right by Cabelas I told my wife that I was going to swing by Cabelas and look for yet ANOTHER tackle box since my other 5 big boxes are FULL and I hate a messy tackle box. I needed another big tackle box for my bottomfishing gear and wanted the identical box to the one I use for my primary salmon box, a Plano 3700 Guide series 4-By Rack system…that way I can slide the trays from one to the other if I don’t want to bring several boxes. They had what I wanted for $70 so I grabbed it and went to the checkout. As I was going through my wallet I found a $50 gift card that our children bought me for Christmas so my new tackle box cost me $18 out the door.
At West Marine a few days ago I stopped to buy a good set of chart plotting tools but I immediately saw that they had a clearance table with a bunch of Kingfisher, Coyote spoons, 8” double glow jigs as well as P-Line 2 packs of 8” UV Hootchies….all for $1 each. I bought them all even though I didn’t “need” them but when it comes to fishing tackle it isn’t about need for me….it’s about feeding my sickness. 😂
Today I checked my email, which I don’t do nearly enough, and to my absolute astonishment I had an email from ATF e-forms letting me know that my tax stamp for my SilencerCo Hybrid 46 was approved! I started the application in the middle of November and picked it up today….right at 3 months! I was hoping to have it by September since this one will be used on my “bear guns” and over .30 cal hunting rifles so to say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. I’m friends with the owner of Esstac who is the local shop I use for class 3 stuff and firearm transfers and even he was surprised with how fast I got approved. Ray didn’t want to charge me for the transfer but I would NOT take advantage of our friendship so I happily gave him a $50 bill.
Sometimes….rarely in fact, do things go that right but when they do it sure feels good to “win” one…..3 months for the ATF to approve a suppressor is a hell of a lot more reasonable than a year or more.
