Concealed Carry Class and Guns

I took a concealed carry pistol class this week. There are a lot of contradictions, some may say choices, in choosing a concealed carry pistol, and what to take to the class. We all know small, light pistols conceal better, and carry easier due to the size and weight. However, those two features are a disadvantage when you have to shoot that pistol. Small pistols are less reliable and less dependable. That is, they malfunction more often, and their service life is shorter. They're also harder to shoot well, and hold less ammo. So, the best gun to carry isn't the best gun to shoot. The same relationship extends to caliber. In addition, the smaller the caliber, the smaller the gun needs to be to handle the power of the load. I have a .380acp pistol that weighs 8oz. I've seen very few .45acp pistols less than 20oz (the Kahr .45 is 17.3oz.)
I took my alloy 1911 sub-compact that is 24oz. I planned to make it my carry gun, as I don't expect to shoot it a lot, but I wanted to have a .45 if I needed to shoot. In the course we had a steel target with upper and lower plates that swung when shot (think of plates at either end of a letter 'S', so it looked like this --S--. Hitting the plates at the right time, with enough shots, would cause them to spin around the post. It was a lot easier for the .45 shooters to swing the plates than the .40 or 9mm shooters, but they had more shots in each magazine to succeed. I was able to spin it using a 6 round magazine (on my second mag). Still, my mousegun is a handful, with considerable recoil, and I lack in accuracy when shooting it. After trying the method taught, I encountered a problem with my gun where the trigger would lock up. Racking the slide would fix the problem, and shooting it the way I'm used to 'prevents' the problem (at least I never had the problem until then). The instructors and I decided I should switch to my second gun, a full sized 40oz 1911, also in .45acp. This gun shot great, accurately, and has two more shots, but it's HEAVY, and caused discomfort on my waist as the day wore on.
Quick aside. We were told to bring a jacket, so we could conceal and practice drawing our guns. I bought a used Sport Coat, but everyone in the class had a vest or winter jacket. Luckily, I also had an old winter jacket that I used day one, and a fleece vest for day 2.
The course was 2 days, with half of the first day being classroom, and the rest being at the range. The classroom time was about everything, except what we were going to be doing later. It covered philosophy, methods, law, equipment selection, student and instructor introductions and some other stuff. I felt like the Mall Ninja of the class- having the gear, but not the training or expertise. As it turns out, I may have been able to shoot better than a couple of guys in the class, but it was probably luck (I know I'm a D shooter in USPSA).

Pens, paper, and lefties

I'm a lefty. That brings about challenges. One of them is writing, where my hand goes over the text I just wrote. After a day of writing, the back of my ring finger is shaded from the smeared pencil or ink. At work, people have had trouble using ball point pens on thermal paper. Mainly the problem happens when there's nothing under the paper but the glass tabletop. Put a piece of regular paper underneath, and the pen works better. But, I hate having to need a loose piece of paper to hand someone when the pen doesn't work, as it does work some of the time. This morning I went out to try and fix this problem, while still allowing the ink to dry fast enough to not smear when I use it. I bought a pack of the new Sharpie Pens, and a pack of the Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens.
Both seem to work, but it's an expensive fix to the problem, so I'll need to keep an eye on the pens to prevent them from disappearing. I think others will enjoy their first fountain pen experience.

More Mustard Sardines

OK, I had one more tin of mustard sardines, and I wasn't looking forward to this. The cheapest brand of sardines I found was Beach Cliff. They had two varieties available, so I bought one of each (I'm trying every variety available in town from every market). I tried the plain last week and it was so bad I put it in the alley for the cats. It was mushy, had a bad taste and texture. Now, the other tin was mustard, so I figured the strong taste would cover up the bad qualities of the fish. Wrong. I had three or four bites before it too went into the alley. It took the animals two days to eat it all.

I also had the second tin of Herrings I bought from Sprout's. Bar Harbor Wild Herring Fillets. The first was great, a Cabernet Wine Sauce flavored tin. This one was pepper flavored. Not as good as the pepper taste was too strong, but it's good meat. I'd get it again, but would get the wine flavored tin first.

What Mustard Sardines may look like

A freshly opened tin of Crown Prince Mustard Brisling Sardines. The same tin menioned in the previous post.