Picto Diary - 03 September 2019 - Piedmont Shoot

Above: Canyons Village. Park City, UT. 03 September 2019.

Sunrise reflects on Grand Summit Hotel windows.

Image captured from F350, traveling to a Piedmont, WY shoot with friends, northbound on UT SR 224.

Above: Remington 7. Piedmont, WY. 03 September 2017

Hit at 1200 yards.

Sight adjustment allowing for wind, earth curvature, powder load, and Coriolis effect (earth rotation). Spotter scope aids in confirming hit.

Personal observation. I'm an eager learner among this highly competent, technically proficient crowd. Shooters in this group are sighting in their scopes for the upcoming elk hunt. Hunters pictured here pack in five miles to remote wilderness to take their animals. No ATV assistance. They dress and quarter their animals at the kill site and take meat five miles out on their backs. One of the hunters pictured here makes his own sausage. I am not a hunter, but, several times over the last few years I have been invited to dine with friends to consume their hunted takings. It is a sobering, meaningful, and awesome privilege to dine on food taken directly by the hunter. It is amazing to watch the shooters fine tune their equipment so as to virtually guarantee a kill. One hunter pictured here has killed an elk at six hundred yards. His adjusted new. Leupold scope, tested here today, will enable a secure kill at eight hundred yards.

Above: AR 15. Piedmont, WY. 03 September 2019.

Sight adjustment at 100 yards. Device between fire arm and target is bullet speed indicator. 5.56 NATO round travels at 3100 feet per second.

Above: 30/40 Krag. Piedmont, WY. 03 September 2019.

The 30/40 Krag was issued to US troops during the Spanish American War. 1898 to 1899. Rifle used by US troops during the battle of Manila Bay in May 1898 and in the capture of Manila, December 1898.

The provenance of this particular rifle is not known. It was passed along to me by my father who used it as a deer hunting rifle. I recently had the gun rehabbed... including stock repair. The built in magazine holds four cartridges. A new bullet enters the chamber and the gun is cocked when the bolt action is actioned.

Above: Francks Restaurant. Cottonwood Heights, Utah 03 September 2019.

Francks has become a favorite of TIMDT and Mwah (sic). While I'll find something good at most greasy spoons, TIMDT's standards are much higher than mine. It is, therefore, a great experience to dine with my wife at a place we can both appreciate.

Here, we are dining outdoors.

I cheated a bit on my eating regimen by having the restaurant's specialty, a crusty fried chicken. But, I held fast on not eating the starch (mashed potatoes).

NOTE: While this diary is for 03 September, I'm composing it on 12 September. Today, 12 September 2019, my weight sunk below 270 pounds for the first time in years: 269.5 pounds. I weighed 305 pounds a year ago at this time, so weight loss to date is 35 pounds. I resist saying I'm on a diet or, that I have a weight goal. Rather, I've entered what I hope can be a life long eating regimen: no processed sugar, no processed carbs, no starch (potatoes, rice, pasta etc.). What weight I end up at is what I'll end up at. At this height, 6/6 1/2", I've weighed as little as 200 pounds. That was during my first year in college in Egypt when I was nineteen and had amoebic dysentery! I never thought I would enjoy a salmon/avocado salad, but, now I'm eating this kind of food and enjoying it. My stomach has shrunk... I don't crave as much volume as before. My favorite snack is a heaping table spoon of unprocessed peanut butter around 4:00 PM.

While this weight loss is good in and of itself, I'm hoping it has some impact on a couple of health issues. I'm an "under control" type 2 diabetic on Medformin. Conventional wisdom says that if one can lose 15% of his body weight, while keeping up the exercise, that the Type 2 diabetic condition can be reversed. I need another 15 pounds of weight loss to get to the total 15% weight loss hurdle. I'd like to go off the medication if I can. We'll see.... we'll hope.

Also, I have had a sensitive skin condition for the last year. Its not allergenic. I've now been through my GP, his referred dermatologist, and now U of U's top dermatologist. With certain medications to subdue my immune system, the condition is much improved... tolerable... but, still entrenched in certain areas. I can get through the day without much irritation these days.

TIMDT has done a lot of research and found out that skin conditions often correlate to obesity and diabetes. While my doctors don't see that correlation in my case, the skin condition has, in part, been a reason for my assiduousness in changing my eating habits. Skin condition or not, though, it is a good thing to get the weight down.

I can see the benefits of my weight loss when I hike. I am still the Peterbilt of hikers... I plod steadily up and cruise down... but hiking comes discernably more easy to me today than when I weighed over 300 pounds.

I am looking forward to (knock on wood) the effects of weight loss on my skiing. Ski instructor Mike Wilwert told me a few years ago that heavy weight guys could be excellent skiers... that proficient skiing was more a function of proper weight shifting than it was pure stamina... but, I have to believe that more stamina is going to help me out on the slopes.