There is a new Boot Barn in town. I have

not been there yet. Money is kind of scarce.

I took this picture on my way by.

Random Around The Ranch Photo of the Day.

Back on Saturday September 1st of this year I posted some

pictures of my Buck 112 Ranger knife, a knife that I have

had for some 36 years. I wrote that I really wanted to buy the

110 Folding Hunter, the Ranger's bigger brother. Well, my

meager tax return was received and I did buy the 110.

Here is the back of the package showing the leather sheath.

These knives used to come in nice boxes. They still might,

but when you buy from Walmart I suppose that this

blister packaging is the best that you can expect.

Kind of a drag, but whatever.

And this is an all leather sheath. It smells SO good.

Like a new leather holster. Just something great about it.

The sheath is made in Mexico. They do a good job.

The Buck 110 in the closed position with the sheath.

Nice looking, eh? The clip point blade length is 3.75 inches and is

made of 420HC Stainless Steel. The overall length is about 8.5

inches. Not a small knife and at 7.2 ounces, it is not light either.

Belt carry is the best option.

This knife is SHARP and easy TO sharpen.

When I first opened it I was a little disappointed. I had thought I

received a "lemon". The blade did not "snap" back into the closed position.

I could even easily get the blade to rest about a quarter of an inch from the

complete closed position. This is not good. That blade needs to have

ZERO play and to close COMPLETELY... every time. But I had simply

forgotten that sometimes a knife like this just needs a little oil, some use

and tender loving care and BAM! The action is now smooth

as owl shi.... as my dad would say.

No lemon here.

I should have known.

I love Buck Knives.

The Buck 110 Folding Hunter is all American made. The symbol next

to the number 110 indicates that my knife was made in 2018.

With care this knife will be handed down to my son and

in turn maybe to his son or daughter.

And speaking of miniature golf, this is the

little giraffe that my son won in the arcade.

 

Nature's majesty!

 

We celebrated my son's birthday recently and as is our

kind of tradition we went to play 18 holes of miniature

golf. Since the last time we were there a year or two ago

they added a few things. One of them being this cool pirate.

A closer look at his face begs the question:

Who spiked the rum with all that coffee?

In other news....

Unfortunately we are unable to go on our Annual Halloween

Crawl this year. Gas is just too expensive and cash is a

little too tight right now. We are disappointed, but we are

looking forward to things being a little better next year. We

are still celebrating Halloween all month long here at

The Ranch. That never changes.

Never give up!

My first and probably only Halloween purchase for

this year. I could not resist this skull and crossbones

I found over at the Target store when I went to buy

my Blu-ray of "Solo: A Star Wars Movie". He was

$10.00 and I knew I would kick myself if I did not buy

him. I have not seen a whole lot of these guys around.

In the above picture he is hangin' with me in

the car while I eat a pizza for lunch.

I really had no room for him so he (and with love) resides

in the garage over one of the doors. I think he looks great

and he will be one of those guys who we don't see a lot,

but when we do? We will love him.

He will just get better and better with age.

 

I had not been down here since I got the news.

Toys "R" Us: Closed up for good.

Man, I have walked out of these doors with some

good stuff. Action figures. Jason Voorhees. I miss

this place. But the room I don't have for the figures

doesn't. It looks like the gangs have moved in. This

never was and never will be my favorite

town in the world.

Several years ago a friend bought this ashtray for me

as a gift. It wasn't meant to be used as an ashtray. It was

to be used as just a cute little decoration which is good

because I don't smoke. And today is my Fifteenth Non-

Smoking Anniversary. I have not had a cigarette for 15

years this go around.

Yes, I did smoke for many years. I picked it up when I was

younger than I want to say. I quit once or twice for 5 years

or so at a time if I remember right. Things are kind of a blur

after a while. But now I don't even want to smoke at all.

I don't even ever think about it. For real. Not at all.

Not smoking is good. It is not the paradise that it is made

out to be. But I feel better than when I smoked, especially

at the end of the day.

All of that said, and as I have said before, I am always on

the side of those who smoke. Folks who smoke get a

raw deal. Anyway, 15 years... Huzzah!

Star Wars Day at El Rancho.

I picked up my very own copy of "Solo: A Star Wars Story".

Dinero has been a liiiiittle scarce here at El Rancho in 2018, so

I have been passing up going to the movies unless it is something

that I am DYING to see. "Solo" was not one of those movies. I just

had a bad feeling about it. But I said that I would buy the

Blue-ray when it was released and I did.

I am still not totally excited, maybe I will be surprised.

The viewing will have to wait a few days anyway.... work.

I found the movie "Lights Out" in the $5.00 bin at

Walmart. I think people liked this movie when it

came out. It was much more expensive in the past.

I am anxious to see it. I am betting.... jump scares.

But oh well, I love having a new scary movie to watch.

It is Knife Day again here at The Ranch!

Above is a screen grab of Don Henley's video of his

song, "Boys of Summer". In the picture you can see

a surplus store that is/was in Van Nuys, California. I had

a friend who worked there for a time when we were

about 17 or 18 years old. One night when we went to pick

her up after work she brought out a present for me.

 

She knew that I liked knives so she got this Kabar "Rifle

Knife" for me. I guess it was just unusual enough to be

interesting. Stainless steel. Four inch blade with an overall

length of eight inches. I never really knew what this specialty

shape was for. I've never used it or needed to sharpen it. I've

just always had it and appreciated it.

That is all I know.

 

 The sheath is not the correct sheath though.

It won't hold it in, but it covers it fine.

Kabar. U.S.A. Nice.

The further Adventures of Tire.

Happiness is when you find out

who left this garbage on your land.

We will not forget.

Another beautiful oak tree along the road.

As I was walking through the parking lot on my way

into work today, I found this hex wrench. Although I do

not recommend walking along with your eyes to the

ground, if you do on occasion do that, you might

spot some cool stuff..... and lucky coins too.

This wrench is actually teeny. Teeny tiny. I will

put it in my toolbox and someday it might be

just the thing.

The Sprinter.

I have never had the pleasure.

There are only a couple of movies that I will not watch

if I am alone in the house. To this point that list has included

all of the "Paranormal Activity" movies. But now?

Hereditary.

Holy cow. I saw this in the theater two months ago and certain

parts of it are STILL giving me the heebie jeebies. Without giving

anything away I will just say "ceiling" and "in the shadows".

I am watching this one tonight.

 

Today's post kind of goes with yesterday's post. This is

a partial picture of my beloved brother-in-law. This is a

scan of a picture I took with a film camera twenty-four

years ago at Toontown in Disneyland, Anaheim. The reason

I am showing this picture is because of the knife on his belt.

This was back in the better days when Disneyland didn't

worry about such things. We weren't hooligans for carrying

tools. Sure, there WERE hooligans that carried knives, but

anybody could see that we wasn't them.

For us, wearing a knife was/is a non-issue.

Didn't even think about it.

Better days. In many ways, yep.

 Knife Day at El Rancho De La Tex!

This is not a knife review. This is a "Hey, check out this

great knife I have!" thing. This knife has a LOT of

sentimental value for me. This is the Buck 112 Ranger

knife. I bought this knife in about... oh.... 1982 or so.

It has been with me during a lot of events in my life.

It came with a great leather sheath. I don't know about this
sheath, but the sheathes today I hear are made in Mexico.
But the knife? All American. Proudly made by Buck
in the U.S.A. As you can see, my sheath has seen a

lot of love.

The Buck 112 Ranger is a lock back knife and I have full

confidence in the strength of the lock. The grip panels are

I believe a resin infused wood that have held up great and

are beautiful. Great clip point blade. Back in the day Buck

called it a "California Clip". Don't know if they still do.

The bolsters are brass and if one wishes, with a little

Flitz or the like they will polish to a bright finish,

It is said that everybody from the casual collector to the

expert should have a Buck 112 or 110 in their collection.

The 112 is a smaller version of the 110. I have decided that

I am going to add a 110 to my collection in the next few

months. I just have that hankerin'.

This is a big and heavy knife. Belt/sheath carry is just

about mandatory. I think this is why many people don't

carry this knife anymore. Pocket clip light tactical knives

are the thing now. I am older school. I am good with the 112.

I love Buck knives.