Pat Miles

First car, 1940 Ford Coupe with a 322 Buick motor, stock three speed tranny and rear end Second car, 1965 Dodge Coronet 440 with a 426 Hemi and 4 speed (still have one of the fender flags) Third car, 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega. I always wanted to drop a Cosworth motor in a street rod, That would have been a screamin 4 cylinder rod! Fourth car, my mom had a gorgeous 1967 GTO. Burgundy paint and interior. 389 with a four speed. I miss them all! CYa, Pat

I spent about two months in Scouts when I was younger (1961). Troop folded due to money issues and I never hooked up with the Boy Scouts again until 1979 when my son, Brian, joined the Cub Scouts. At that time there were four boys in the Webelos den with no den leader so true to form I took the position. My son and I are still involved in Scouting 19 years later both as ASM's in our Troop. He earned his Eagle with two Palms in 1997. He has been the OA Chapter and Lodge Chief and has traveled the country teaching National Leadership Seminars for the OA, taught at two NOAC's, staffed the K2BSA Amatuer Radio station at the '97 & '01 National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. I also attended the '97 National Jamboree and the '99 NOAC. He is a Vigil member of the OA as I am. I earned my Woodbadge Beads in '93, my son in '99. Brian is now 28, married to his lovely wife Katelyn with a two year old daughter and a son due in September. They both have earned their Masters Degree (Brian in EE, Katelyn in Business) and both are employed at Sandia National Labs. Scouting? Obviously I believe that it is the number one youth program in the world. Boys are taught skills and leadership they will use the rest of their lives. They are taught to become productive members of society. As I type this I am packing for an eighty six mile backpacking trek at Philmont Boy Scout Ranch with my son and our Troop. CYa in two weeks, Pat P.S. I went back and reread this thread. Everybody tells of the importance of Scouting in their lives and what their Eagle means to them. Why don't you guys get back involved in Scouting. Help make it important to some other boy in your town.

My son and I have been involved with the Boy Scouts for seventeen years.He is an Eagle Scout with Palms. I earned my beads in '93, he in '99. We both are Vigil members in OA. We've been to the National Jamboree at A.P. Hill ('97), NOAC ('01) and everywhere else in between. The one Scouting adventure we have wanted to go on is a Philmont Trek. In seven days we will start that dream along with two other adults and eight boys. Our crew will cover eighty six miles in ten days with backpacks that will be 30% of our body weight. Mine will be between 55 and 60 pounds with the boys carrying less. We have had five tuneup backpackers in the last ten months. I've been in the gym for over a year, on my stair stepper at home and on my bike daily to prepare for this and now it's right around the corner. The kid? Let's just say he's a young animal. Our last day will be eight miles over the Tooth of Time. By the way, I'll be 60 in six months. CYa, Pat

Viki was an absolute sweetheart. Always a cheerful thing to say while wearing her ever present warm smile. God I will miss her. It will be a long time before I go shoot a local or area match and not wish she was there. My thoughts and prayers for Viki, Richard and the family. Rest in peace sweet lady. Pat

Not much you can do about that situation when you show up at the store and get that story. Last time that happened to me I spent about fifteen minutes filling up a shopping cart with merchandise and then found the store manager. Asked him to fetch the items that Mortimer was holding for me and I would pay for everything and be on my way. After being told that there was no Mortimer and no items were being held for me I told the manager that he just lost the sale of everything in the basket aned he could put everything on the shelf. He was pissed about the loss of a big sale (never intended to buy the stuff) and the fact that he or his people could put everything back. Didn't get my items but sure enjoyed screwing with the manager. CYa, Pat

I learned long ago you never give anybody even a small chance to rip you off anytime. A good friend described the the thieves as "opportunists". They search for that one opportunity to rip somebody off. Chances are that the turd that stole Merlin's buddy's guns was camped out just out of sight waiting for someone to make a mistake. Give him a couple of months and he'll be back lurking for another opportunity. Find the bastard and let the feds charge him. CYa, Pat

Bart Dog, Don't know if I told you my story about rental car companies. Paul and I were at PASA Park for the Limited Nationals a couple years back. We flew into St. Louis and rented a Lincoln Town Car to drive to Berry. Second day a Canadian on our squad was having feeding problems and asked if anybody had a 16# spring. I had one in my parts box and off we go to get it. I locked the keys and remote in the trunk. We call XYZ and explain what happened and ask for the door button access code for the electronic door locks. I explain that we can prove we are who we are by giving the the NM drivers license numbers that they had on the rental agreement. We spent around two hours on the phone and they fed us every worthless excuse for not giving us the door code. $130.00 for an after hours locksmith and three hours later we drive back to Berry for the evening. On the way back to St. Louis I was rooting around in the glove compartment and what do I find, another electronic door remote. Would have been nice if they had mentioned that there was a second one to carry just in case. Parked the car at the XYZ lot, unloaded our luggage and gear, left the keys in the ignition like we were told to do and closed the doors. I walked about fifty feet and locked the damn doors with the second remote. Their turn for a locksmith! CYa, Pat

Got to wonder why the range RO didn't send the whole family home for the day after the first 180 infraction and sure as hell after the second. Bad enough the moron dad didn't do anything but the RO! CYa, Pat

Was it a yellow 32 Ford with a small block Chevy? CYa, Pat

I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed the High Desert Classic this year. My hat is off to all of the folks who gave their time to put it together and put it up OUTSTANDING JOB!!! Rod is a tireless leader who spurs the best of everybody involved by providing leadership by example. Jerry is the genius behind the stage designs as well as Wayne and Randy. The stages this year are a good examples of the stages we shoot twice a month in Albuquerque at our club matches. Damon put together an outstanding first tme prize table! Damon, you do damn fine work! Carolyn and Nanci had the computer humming and cranked out the standings and final standings in the usual lightening quick manner. Our stats chicks are the best, bar none! Congratulations to the victors. Damn fine shooting! Damon, welcome to A Open. Now you will stop terrorizing us B Open shooters. A great big THANK YOU to all of the stage sponsors and folks who gave generously for the prize table. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Also, a great big thank you to everyone who came to shoot the 2008 High Desert Classic! CYa next year, Pat

No, this will not be a lost brass match. Folks can recover brass for the shooter while we are scoring and tapeing targets. I tried to talk the boss into making it a lost brass match for 38 SuperComp but he said NO!!! CYa Saturday, Pat

Just put the finishing touches on all nine stages this morning. ALL of the stages are world class. No mind games anywhere but you better have your wits about you and pay attention. You will be running the bases, swinging from ropes, tilting at windmills, going postal and starting from a crapper. The real men will start with their pants around their ankles. Just kidding! The prize table is worth $15K. The weatherman says clear skies with temps in the low 90's. Bring your sunscreen and we will provide all the water you can slurp. Mexican food, barbeque, beer in the evenings.... CYa, Pat

Years and years ago a friend and I did something similar. We decided to make some gunpowder. We crushed several charcoal briquets, added saltpeter and sulpher from the local hobby shop and mixed it all together in a glass beaker about the size of a two pound coffee can. We spooned out a bit on a piece of aluminum foil next to the beaker and lit it off. It burned so well it shot a spark into that beaker and we had a small volcano on our hands. 45 years later the charred roof beams still remind me of the day we damn near burned down his house. It's a wonder that I lived through my childhood. CYa, Pat

We have a new open air mall here in Albuquerque. I wonder what effect the weather during the summer (95 degrees daytime) and the winter (cold, snow, rain,etc.) will have on the customers who might want to visit it. I don't care to walk from shop to shop in hot or cold weather. I'll go to the traditional malls and only when I have to. CYa, Pat

When I enter a conversation with a person I ask "what do you do for fun"? Nine times out of ten I am answered with a blank stare and no reply for about ten seconds. You can see the wheels turning as they realize that they do nothing for fun. How sad! CYa, Pat

A wise old friend of mine once pointed out that as you age the hair moves from the top of your head down to the crack of your arse. The nose and ears are just "on the way south". Oh great! Now we will all hear stories of men waxing their arse! CYa, Pat

Many years ago a friend came up with the bright idea of burning his nasal hairs. I walked into his place as he was rolling around on the floor crying and holding his nose. He had fired up a butane lighter and stuck it up to one of his nostrils! OUCH!! I asked him if I could watch him do the other nostril. Never did get an answer. Lots and lots of tears. CYa, Pat

More time to play with your little one. First things first! Just have to be more careful. CYa, Pat

WOO HOO!!! A $10,000 prize table!! And the match is still a month and a half away. Awsome work Damon! CYa there, Pat

Jay, If you haven't already fitted the ambi safety to the OEM stuff don't do it yet. Let's take a good look at everything first. Give me a call. CYa, Pat

Pantyhose Tommy! Pantyhose! I'd have to use control tops. CYa, Pat

Tommy, I've alrready apologized profusley to Bart for not letting him know. What am I saying! I'm worth $44 million, I don't have to apologize to anybody! Not until tomorrow at least. CYa, Pat

GJ, And here I thought you lived in Mountainair and you really reside in Nigeria. CYa, Pat

Rocket dude, A fun time was had by all. Glad to finally put a face with a name. Give me a call and we will get your SS straightened out. Hope to see you next Saturday at the club match. CYa, Pat

Bart, Dress code fot the hired help will be chick pants!! CYa, Pat