Category: The Occasional Rant

My occasional rant about whatever I feel passionate about at the moment.

Downtown Louisville’s Best Distillery Tour: Kentucky Peerless

As I mentioned in my review of Southern Cross Bourbon, although I like bourbon, I’m not a bourbon reviewer. Neither am I a travel blogger. However, I did go to an exceptionally good distillery tour on my last trip to Louisville, KY and I like writing about things that impress me. In my opinion, downtown Louisville’s best distillery tour is Kentucky Peerless Distilling.  Continue reading “Downtown Louisville’s Best Distillery Tour: Kentucky Peerless”

10 Keys to Success in the Police Academy…and Life

I recently attended the police academy. I made it through the course fairly easily, and did so as the class Sergeant, and the recipient of the Outstanding Student award. There are a few things I noticed that made it easy to be highly successful in the class. These are keys to success in the police academy, but they also work in many other avenues of life. These same keys to success will serve you very well in the military, or any high-stress job. Continue reading “10 Keys to Success in the Police Academy…and Life”

2024 Year in Review: A Heavy-Duty Training Year!

At the end of most years, I try to post a year in review (2020, 2021, 2023). This year saw me attend a LOT of training, even thought I missed two of the classes I intended to take. Let’s take a look at what I accomplished in 2024, from training and personal development standpoints. Here is my 2024 year in review!
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A Well-Rounded Training Resume

The spirit of this blog is to celebrate being good at wide range of skills rather than being excellent at a single skill. This is exemplified in my About The Name page, where I talk about the origins of “swift, silent, deadly,” and being a Jack of all Trades. I’ve also mentioned it in articles like my article called “Embrace The Coyote” from a few years ago. Today I’m going to cover similar ground, but through the lens of developing a well-rounded training resume. Continue reading “A Well-Rounded Training Resume”

Concealed Carriers: Don’t Be Like the Police!

Law enforcement agencies have some characteristics that are worthy of emulation by civilian concealed carriers. Shooting police qualifications is not a bad thing, as I have repeatedly said on this site. Using the ammunition used by prominent law enforcement agencies probably isn’t a bad thing, either. But there are some things done by law enforcement that you should actively strive to avoid emulating. Don’t be like the police if it harms your readiness.
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Working Through a Major Disaster: Helene

I am one of those folks in a major disaster area in the Southeastern U.S. I thought I would share a dog’s-eye-view of what is going on and a few of my own experiences. Be advised that this is mostly an update for the myriad friends and family who have reached out asking how I’m doing. In the near future I will post more typical content in the form of some lessons to be (re)learned for those of you interested in preparing for such events. Continue reading “Working Through a Major Disaster: Helene”

5 Ways to Stay Ready So You Don’t Have to Get Ready!

One of my favorite phrases ever is “stay ready so you don’t have to get ready!” I find it is applicable to a lot of things in life. At the beginning of a new year – and an election year that promises to be more polarized than ever – I want to offer you some encouragement, and encourage myself, to stay ready.

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Someone Trained in CPR Saved My Life

The title is not clickbait. On Saturday, January 6, 2024, someone who was trained in CPR saved my life. I’ve said in the past that CPR is at least as important the TCCC-style, tourniquet-based training, and I’m now even more adamant about it. Though no one performed CPR on me, someone trained in CPR saved my life. Continue reading “Someone Trained in CPR Saved My Life”