Saturday, November 19, 2022

An Adventure at Boudreaux's Cajun Restaurant and Bill's Pub

An Adventure at Boudreaux's Cajun Restaurant and Bill's Pub
A company man till the end.

Our shoes. I hope you don't spend too much time looking at this picture.

They don't make them like this anymore. Boudreaux's was established in 2001 by the Founder Robert Boudreau. All the character and charm you would expect from one of these old town building.

Gator Bites and Bar Trash. Well if there was any place I'm going to eat Alligator it's gonna be here with my Alligator Sherpa Josh.  He said it was excellent. Tastes like Chicken, a little chewy.

What the door says ...what more do you need to know? What's the point in going someplace, if it's just going to be different?

7 boards total. It's a good space. A welcoming atmosphere.

Perfectly Bulbous ....Look I fit in the template to prove it.

The Lovely Lovely Stephanie. We didn't know it, but her night was going to get a lot better.

#horizondarts #laserdarts ...That's all!

How do you go to St. joe and not see these two? Derek and Jenni. oh course Stephanie behind me, and and out of focus Melody. Why is she the only one out of focus? I know she is short, but is she in some way related to Big Foot?   “I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside.” — Mitch Hedberg,

"I'm not evil, just slightly bent and very twisted" - Snidley Whiplash

Oh look the winners. Chad & Stephanie. Told you the night was going to get better.

The Bills Crew ...Well what was left around the wee hours of the tournament.

I'm in the back seat, got nothing to do for 45min. Let the hazing begin ...Poor Josh

Proverbs 16:27-29
27 Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.
28 An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends.
29 Wickedness loves company—and leads others into sin.

Pardon Me, Do You Have Any Grey Poupon? Hurry up Josh, I'm getting cold inside your car, that you are putting gas in. "I'm feeling very inconvenienced, that you did all this for me". What's the point in helping someone out, if it's just going to help them out?

ARE WE NOT ENTERTAINED! What is a gas pump, if it doesn't have Television/monitor/jobby? Electronic and Gasoline goes together like Hotdogs & Ice cream. ....Someone say Hotdogs?


Friday, October 21, 2022

Weekly Blind Draw List Update

It's been a while since I updated the KC Area Blind Draw List. Here it is. 
 

It's time of year. Can I make it home, or do I have to stop for gas first? Keep'm above 1/2 tank.



Sunday, October 9, 2022

Darts Cleaning Day ( How I Roll ...Like a Kaiser )

 Darts Cleaning Day

After a few months my darts start getting a little slick. Mind you they are well "seasoned", about 6 years old. I could get some new ones, but these are like a pair of well worn shoes, familiar and comfortable ...Except for that slick part. They do make these darts (LaserDarts Silver Eagles) with a Black Oxide and Gold Nitride. Believe it or not, as dense as tungsten is, it's a porous metal and will absorb the oils from your hands after a while. Coatings like Black Oxide and Gold Nitride help seal out those oils and maintain the sharpness of the grooves and knurling. Probably should have went that way, but I didn't and here we are.


Brush them off first with a small wire brush. I choose stainless. Then soak them in degreaser. Good to have gloves when working with degreaser. 

Before I didn't get a before before picture so this will have to work as the before picture.

I have a drill press, but a hand drill will work. I used to use a hand drill. I use a jewelers file to clean the grooves out. You don't want reshape the grooves as mush as clean them. I use a rosin bag to keep my hands dry. Rosin and oils from my hands is what I'm mostly cleaning out. You can see in the picture to the right, the file is smooth. 

Lets compare ...Much Cleaner ...Just one more step.

Break out the torch and burn out any and all oils and hand residues. How much heat? I get them dark cherry red like the middle one. Around 1000 degrees nowhere near the melting point of tungsten. Tungsten melts around 6000 degrees. You could go bright yellow around 2000, but then your going to have to wait for it to cool, 

One cool effect is, they will turn black. It lasts a couple days

Finished. They are clean and have noticeably more grip. I must note if you are doing this to steel point darts, you will most likely have to reset the points. This is also a good time to replace them if need be. 


"....You know, Watergate hurt
But nothing really ever changed
A teeny bit quieter but we still play our little games
But we still play our little games
But we still play our little games
We still play our little, we still play our little, we still play our little
We still play a lot of games!
I am the owl
I am the owl
I seek out the foul
Wipe 'em away, keep America free
Wipe 'em away, keep America free
Wipe 'em away, keep America free
For clean living folks like me!
- D.K. , I Am The Owl



Sunday, September 25, 2022

A case for a new Case

 A Case For A New Case

This is a picture of my old case I got in 1997. The zipper ripped and the plastic compartments are breaking apart. Time for a new one. It had a good run. 

What's in your case? What's the old saying? "When you need a hand grenade, any hand grenade will do". I usually say that when my partner hits a 180, 9 Mark, or White Horse.  

The last time I bought a dart case, gas pumps looked like this

How about a new Metroline case?

Back in the day I would make fun of such a big case. Anymore you have your phone, charger, ear buds, and whatever. Plus I'm getting forgetful in my advanced age.  


There's the inside. It can carry 10 sets of darts, 4 tubes for shafts, and points, some round plastic thing (for salad dressing?), pockets for foldable flights, or business cards, debt cards, and a big pocket in back of that for papers (8-1/2" x 11")


There Ya Go!

The compartment walls can be removed. The foam is just kinda rubber cemented down. You can peel them off without damage to the foam if you are careful. Who needs 10 sets of darts? Maybe you are a couple or whatever and share a case. I'm not judging Ya.

About 12-1/4"


About 8-3/4"


You just place your darts in the foam. 

Then another set in the lose foam piece on top. 2 sets, 1 compartment.

I just carry 4 sets mainly. 2 sets of steel tip, 2 sets of soft tip

Fully Loaded. Here I have my parts spread out, Like I said, you can put 2 sets of darts in 1 compartment. I need to reconfigure it to carry my phone and charger. There is no reason not to have your electronics fully charged, but league and tournaments can get long. 





Friday, September 23, 2022

Winmau Firestorm Darts
20g, 90% Tungsten
(50.8mm x 6.35mm)

My minimalist Dart Review

Here you have them. 20 years ago the only real textures put on darts was knurling or grooves. 


                                Now there are all kinds of machined shaped grooves. 

In the beginning when they started using these new technologies the darts gripped you, and were hard to release. 

Now they are less aggressive and now you grip the dart, instead of the other way around.


Monday, September 19, 2022

He's Back ...It's like the first day of school all over again

 

He's Back ...It's like the first day of school all over again
The last 9 months have given me time to think about a lot of different ideas. How does a person get better playing darts? Sure you can practice 5 hours a day, that will get you so far, but what are you doing to improve the thing throwing the darts? The body and mind are easy to neglect in a sport like darts. After getting home late after drinking and eating bar food, who want s go beyond practice?

What are you going to do with your life? With the passing of Len Dawson at the age of 89 had me thinking. Sure that's 36 years older than me, but lets look at it the other way around. Lets go 36 years back. That's 1986, just 1 year before I graduated high school. That's not that long really. I mean I started throwing dart in 1992. That's all considering I live to the ripe old age of 89. I don't want to look back at my life thinking, I should have really applied myself. Lets see what happens in 2023.

Basically I'm going to explore some ideas and document it here. What do I have to work on. These are from an online doubles tournament last Sunday. If you notice the 501 is way off balance with my cricket. By looking at my cricket numbers, I should be averaging around 40 in 501, not 10 less hovering around 30. 

I don't know what it is with the bullseye of late, but some days, I just don't hit it. I don't know if it's because I practice on a steel tip board, and the larger soft tip bullseye creates the illusion I'm closer to the board. I mean the bullseye is a lot bigger than a triple. I hit more 9 marks than hat tricks. Who does that. ...I don't know, but lets figure it out.



Friday, December 31, 2021

Last Post Of The Year

Last post of the year, until tomorrow, then it will be next year. I intend to look into what it takes to become a better dart player, than took at equipment. Happy New Years!