Some things change, some things never change.

It has been a little over a month since I started my new job, and I'm starting to feel like a normal human being again.

The sleep pattern is starting to be the norm, I'm getting over this weird cold that just seemed to linger for a few weeks, the new job stress took a couple hits when I got my first customer survey back (perfect), and some guy who's supposedly awesome was impressed with my work. Things are starting to feel normal again. But not that kind of normal I had at the last place, where things were slowly sliding downhill, and you never really realize that stress until it's gone.

Real normal.

Feels damn good.

I called my old paintball buddy when I decided to go paintballing the next day. The same old paintball buddy who had grown accustomed to me turning down every offer of an outing due to me being on call or some other engagement. And I do mean every. I went so far as to explain to him that I really did want to go, and to continue inviting me, but cosmic forces seemed aligned to prevent me from going paintballing with him.

Kharmicly, he was unable to go due to a prior engagement, however he hooked me up with one of his friends who asked him if he wanted to go the same day.

We hit it off immediately, all he had to do was mention "phantom" and "machine shop" and I could tell we were going to be best friends. He and his friend are stock class players, and run phantoms, so I told him I'd bring mine and we'd make it a triple. Since it'll just be three of us, he recommended we join a walk-on and take them to school. My kind of pump players.

I hit the local shop (the only one that's left) after work, and it turned out the shop owner was there. We started talking kit, and it turned out he was on the socal paintball scene for 12 years. When he found out who I knew and what I used to do, we caught up on common friends, and the ones who were no longer with us. We talked about the scene, the drama, how some things changed, and how other things never changed.

A lot of those times are over. There are glimmers of hope, but the scene is a shadow of what it used to be. The economy is to blame as much as silly drama.

The halcyon days of southern California paintball.

It made me sad that it was gone, but I was still happy to have been a part of it. It felt strange to talk about "the good old days." I'm only 27...

But time marches on, and the oppressive cost of doing business in California, and the high insurance rates for "shooting sports" forced fields to make up their costs by requiring players buy field paint instead of bringing their own. This paint was usually low quality and high cost to maintain the necessary margin the field needed to stay in business. This made players seek lower cost forms of playing, hence an uneasy spike in pump play.

Generally pump play is the polar opposite of the "Agg Kidz" (HK kids) I fought against in the sport. It's really easy to get your aggression going with 2 grand of kit slinging four cases of paint a day. "Whoops, lit up that last guy on the bunker, and he turned out to be a scared little kid just trying out the sport. Guess he won't be back! High five!" I'm hoping the return to pump play brought a return to focus to the game style down here, but I suppose attitudes don't necessarily have to change when play style changes. But I'm hopeful, and I'm going to find out today.

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Blogging should return to normal once I get this new schedule figured out, and determine where it fits in it. I used to be able to write bits and pieces at work, but that won't be the case now. I'll be back. Don't worry.

Fuck "some other time!"

I was talking to a coworker about how the missus and I used to be hardcore ballers, and regaled him with all my awesome stories. Afterwards I sent him some pictures and checked out a field I've been meaning to try out for some time.

So fuck it.

I'm going paintballing tomorrow!

Impressive customer service

I was cleaning my paintball markers last night, and realized my Phantom needed some parts. Nothing too critical, just parts that make it run a little more smoothly, and some new springs to replace the lighter springs that were giving me low velocity.

I checked the availability of the parts, and found them available from CCI (producer of the Phantom) for distractingly reasonable prices, but I could only order by phone, so I gave them a call.

Mike Cassidy, designer and producer of the Phantom since 1987, answers the motherfucking phone!

Once I realize it's really him, I compliment him on his marker design, and place my order, which he says he'll rush out to send so he can make the last pickup of mail.

I'm just not used to service like that. Especially from what I later found was a one-man shop that has been kicking butt for over 20 years. Phantoms are still very popular lightweight pump markers. Awesome.

Feeling handy

Got my hands dirty a bit ago.

When I got my second car, the first sat outside for months after the battery died. I had ignored it too long, and actually began looking up the things that could go wrong with it. Bad idea. I picked a time to give it some attention, and ascertain its status.

I turned the key to just before starting, and checked the fuel level... Full. Damnit. I had hoped I could add half a tank of gas to mix up the possibly settled old gas, but no dice. I wanted to try a start without draining the tank, so I rocked the car as much as I could in the hopes of getting some mixing action in the gas tank. The tires were very low, but still had a seal, so they would work to make it down the street to the gas station and air compressor. I checked the hoses again for any weathering damage, and tried for a start... VROOOM! Just as strong as when I left it. Go Dodge.

After letting it run for a bit, I slowly drove it to the gas station, and saw a hastily made sign taped to the air compressor, "Broken." A little bit further was the Sears I was going to buy the battery from, It was only half a mile, and one light, so I made a go at it. (like I had any other choice)

As I waited to make a left turn at the light, I noticed the dashboard lights flickering as they got uneven energy without the help of the battery, and realized that given my position, and my intended destination, the car dying at this moment would mean me pushing the car across a large busy intersection, ~500 yards down the street, and up a notable slope into the parking lot. I pushed the thought from my mind as I idled the car a little high until the light changed.

I parked the car on an incline, and bought the new battery. I popped the hood, pulled the connections, and pulled on the battery. It didn't budge. I checked around the battery, and it looked clear, but it wouldn't move. Could it be glued by the factory or something? That wouldn't make sense. I noticed a screw that held a small piece of metal at the base of the battery, but it was at such an angle that it didn't look like it was holding the battery at all. So I thought for a bit, and decided that bolt had to go, mostly because it was my best guess. But all I had were some vicegrips, and the engine jungle of wires and hoses made it impossible to get at it without a ratchet and an extender. Well, I've needed a ratchet set for a while.

I walked from the sears auto center to the main store, and bought a ratchet set and extender set, and was able to replace the battery with no problem. The screw held down a piece of metal that put pressure on a flair at the bottom of the battery body I hadn't noticed before. Pretty solid hold for such a simple system. They were kind enough to let me fill up my tires there, so I was off to the oil change spot where they changed the oil, topped off fluids, and cleaned a layer of crud off the windows, and cobwebs out of the interior. It almost looked normal again.

I am a dangerous man.

Feeling handy for the rest of the day, I lightened the trigger on my 91/59 by placing two short pieces of a plastic straw under the sear/spring/thingy on either side of the screw that holds it there. This makes the trigger just ok, but it'll need some more work before it gets to the level of the M39. While I was at it, I floated the barrel by applying layers of painting tape to the stock where the base of the barrel rests. The barrel now sits loosely within the stock and barrel bands. I have yet to shoot it though, so I'll have no real gauge for improvement. Whatever... HANDY!!!

I then thought for a bit how to repair my paintball pants, which had a hole worn through the kneepad clear to the lining. It's very painful when you slide into a bunker into a position on your knees and stop your knee right on a rock without the benefit of padding. I wandered the house searching for something I could use, and actually found something! The old leather couch had been destroyed and disposed of, but we kept some of the cushions for Ava to chew on and play with. I cut a section out of the leather, and cut a cube out of the first layer of foam. With a bit of fitting, the cube matched the hole in the existing knee padding perfectly, and I somehow managed to get the whole thing under the sewing machine to attach the leather patch and foam cube to the pants securely. I didn't want to cut a hole in the liner for fear of catching it when putting the pants on and tearing it, so I just sewed through the liner too. The results were quite good. The stitching was a little uneven, but secure. I used some "anything" glue to touch up the edges so the patch wouldn't catch and tear off, but the glue was so good I wished I had skipped the sewing and used the glue only, which would have left the liner loose. Oh well, it still works great.

It's not like I built a house or anything, but baby steps for now.

I would totally build a house.

Some Tombstone memories

I was digging through cold storage, and found some old pics from Tombstone Paintball.

I like this shot because it looks like I'm in a third-person shooter.


These kinds of hits are acceptable. It's the hits in the areas you are not supposed to expose for a shot (chest, stomach, knee, shin, ass) that are bad.


Playing in the mud.

[clicky for full picture]

Me and the wife. I was watching the last row of bunkers for an opening. When I saw one, she gave me covering fire while I ran up and bunkered the last bunch of players. I took out four before I got shot out.

Tombstone Paintball reopens in Colton!

Tombstone Paintball Park

This is exciting news! Tombstone was forced out of Corona along with 1,500 other businesses by the Prado Flood Control project in preparation for the 100 year flood (Still waiting on that horrifying flood, guys. Good thing you kicked out all those businesses!). Leon, the owner of the park, fought against several socal counties to get another park opened closer to populated areas, and was eventually able to open a somewhat limited indoor field called Splat Factory.

Recently, Leon closed Splat Factory and opened Kart Factory in its place. For those of you who knew Leon, this should come as no surprise since he was a rally car driver.

I only today found out that Leon was opening a new park with the same name as the original in Colton. It's a bit farther away, but it still looks great. I can't wait to try it out!



On a more somber note, James Scarcella recently passed away.

James (left), Leon (right)

I talked to James a lot while I reffed Tombstone, and found him to be a helluva guy. It's been a long time since I've seen or spoken to him, but as soon as my friend said "James" I could immediately remember his goofy smile and his laugh. That was the kind of guy he was. Memorable.

Pictures from Paintball

Lakeside Giant Paintball in Barona, San Diego California.

Click any pictures for larger size

The Castle


Western Town


Concrete Thingy Place (I forgot the name)


Of course the field looks very different when you're in cover.


Lots of places for opponents to pop out of.



I spent the last few games photographing the action.

Movement between cover must be fast.




Marker or hand in the air indicates you've been shot out.



The views from playing positions on the field are very different than those looking in from the sidelines.




The ref oversees the game as a player leaves the field.


Spot the danger in the window before he paints you.


Positioning your body so you can snap into a firing position, shoot, and snap back behind cover is important.

Your sides and thighs will quickly get sore if you're doing it right.

Player moves to the next structure, enters, and watches for a target.




Paintball is all about angles. Rather than try to outshoot an opponent behind cover, you should try to flank so your opponent can't use the cover.


"Slicing the pie" and staying back from barriers makes it easier to use cover.


A player closes in on another on the other side of the container, shooting through the window.

He misses, and moves around to bunker the player. Except she moved forward to close on him from behind.

He stops at the corner, looking for her, as she rounds the corner and bunkers him.

Paintball rewards the aggressive.







One player takes advantage of a small opening at the door hinge by shooting through it. Kind of a dick move, but hey.



Look at those trigger fingers.

Paintball video; Pumping it up

Some videos from my first day back Paintballing last Saturday. We all played pump except for one young semi, and we stuck to the speedball fields. It was hot, but it was fun.


I'm the player on screen at 0:13, and moving up at 0:56

This was one of the first games back, and I am obviously sluggish :) I wasn't shooting straight for the first few games, so that was my first out of the day.


I make a brief appearance running to my bunker off the break (right side), then you don't see me until I get shot out at 3:03. Bleh.

This is a little later in the day, and was one of those games that just sucked. It's funny that I couldn't see a damn thing that game, and the camera couldn't see me either :) It's interesting looking at it from this angle because the way the bunkers were set up, I could only see one player on the opposing team, and he wasn't focused on me so I wanted to move up, but couldn't get an idea of where everyone was. My teammate at the 50 was not able to communicate because he was caught up. So I just sat there, trying to see somebody to shoot, and taking a few shots at the one guy I could see whenever he moved to the other side of his bunker. Eventually one of my teammates asked me to watch a bunker, and when I switched back to that side I shot it out with a player I hadn't seen before, and caught one in the forearm. I'm always so surprised how different the game looks once you step to the side of the field.

These are the only videos of that day

Paintball LOLtivational poster

After a day of paintballing, I only had two body hits, and both were on bunkers so I didn't mind. The one on my shoulder was pretty tame, but the one on my side was considerably closer, and looked much worse. The hits only hurt after you're done playing (and only if someone pokes or touches them), but I had forgotten that I was supposed to fix a hole in the built-in knee pads on my pants, and skinned my knee pretty good sliding into the bunkers. The skinned knee hurt more than the two hits combined.

This morning I inspected the hits and saw that the one on my side broke skin strangely. Usually paintball impacts leave a crescent moon (I've got a perfectly shaped crescent moon scar), or a outline of a circle. (FYI, if you make friends with any pro players and see them without their shirts on, they look like leopards) But this hit didn't have either of those shapes, and when I realized what I was looking at, I had to take a grainy cell phone picture.

(NOTE: do not try to adjust your monitors; I really am that pasty. I have a skin condition called Computera Geekus)


clicky for large size


I LOL'd heartily, then I made this;



clicky for large size

Good to be back.

Paintballing tomorrow

Finally going paintballing again. We leave tomorrow for jungle island. My paintballing friends tell me they're going to have an all mech group to play. Honestly, I prefer playing electros only because dumping paint makes them sloppy. It's a lot of fun to let someone pound ropes of paint into your bunker, and snap shot them out with a pump.

I realize I've never posted any pictures of my markers, so I'll do that while I clean...

Click any pictures for larger size.

Here's the Tippmann 98 custom with it's guts spilled all over everywhere...


The cleaned marker with assembled internals


Assembled and completed...


And closer...


Now I disassemble my Phantom for cleaning...

And realize that I forgot the part that I always forget on the Tippmann...

The ball detent. (the orange thingy)


Pull the Tippmann back apart... And put it in its place... There!


There it is in there.


Now the Phantom assembled again...


And again.


And my Chipley S5 pump, which wasn't that dirty so it only got a barrel swap, a wipe down, and an oiling.



Ok, all done.

I feel like I should post more, but I've got nothing.

Paintballing at last

I had been kicking myself for not getting my lazy ass to the paintball field, and I finally got fed up enough to go.

It was a pretty mediocre day at OC Asylum. There were about 8 rental walkons, a large group claiming to be some form of team (after I watched them play, I didn't believe them), and one other pumper of moderate skill (which was perfect for me, because I hadn't played in such a long time!)

Before I started, I wandered onto the field to get a feel for the bunkers which were usually in different positions from week to week. I stood off to the side as a (quite skilled) semi player gave a young kid (brother?) a pep talk, and then they separated to play against each other. It was obvious that this was the kid's first time, and that this was simply a training exercise. I watched because I wanted to see how he was going to teach him. I soon discovered that his teaching style was not to have one... He sent 1 to 3 balls at the kid and encouraged him to shoot back. He tucked in, and handled his marker properly, and generally held just short of wailing on him. The kid returned fire a few times, but half way through, stayed behind his bunker. The player approached the kid's bunker, and told him to fire back. The kid called for him to stop, and asked a question, "Is there a surrender option?"

Aww geez. "Alright! Alright, that's game!" I said, and walked toward the two. "Why don't I play against the kid and take it easy, and you give him pointers as we play?" The player replied, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'm not very good at teaching..." Yeah. So I played against the kid, and got him to actually return fire, and to keep most of his body in, and to shoot straight, and not be afraid to get shot. The player gave him pointers as he played, and I called out tips as we played. I would send some balls wide so he could see that they weren't going to hit him, and stay out to return fire, and plenty of other confidence building exercises. I love this stuff. I get so sick of the idiot "Agg kidz" with their wiping, ramping, overshooting, cursing, screaming, angry ways giving paintball a bad name, and turning newbies off to the sport. It warms my heart to see kids enjoying the game. By the end of this training session, I got the feeling that I had accomplished what I set out to do, build confidence, make some memories, and give the kid something to remember when he's at school on Monday. I was sure he'd be back, and that's what it's all about.

Unfortunately, the "team" monopolized the field for large periods of time to do drills. The drills were valid (unlike many I see), and I saw the value in what they were trying to impress upon the players. Unfortunately, there were only two players that I saw who played the drill correctly, and one that I saw who actually improved from his first failure. Oh well. I guess you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him focus on the flag instead of trying to shoot out people who outnumber you and are behind good cover. (horses aren't very good ballers)

My play time was mostly spent playing 1 on 1 with the other pumper. I immediately discovered that he was a few skill levels below me, in movement, and strategy. On shooting we were about par because I was still trying to regain my muscle memory with my Chipley S5. I figured I was at about 85% of my previous shooting skill. My snapshooting was off by about 7 inches at medium distances. So I spent most of my time giving the other pumper pointers as we played. When he failed to follow some bit of advice, I'd shoot him out. This went on for a few games, and I started to get lazy with my movements. He got me once when I started playing loose after the game lagged. (but, in my defense, I wasn't 100% in the game at the time :) I was still kind of instructing when he made a good move. By the end of the day his strategy had definitely improved, though his movements were still a little sloppy. I commented that he was playing better, and he said, "Well, you gotta adapt when you keep getting schooled!" This elicited a smile from me.

A little bored with my sub-par performance with my S5, I grabbed my Phantom to see how it was shooting. I admit that I'd been neglecting my phantom for quite some time, since I'd been playing my pro friends, I found that I needed the constant feed my S5 had against their semis. Additionally, I loved the way my S5 shot, and could shoot it better than my phantom. Back when I was playing with my S5 almost exclusively, I picked up my phantom and was surprised to find that I was at about 70% of my previous shooting skill. Rather than practice with it, I just put it back down, and played with my S5. Folly, thou name art me. Anyways, I grabbed my phantom, and returned to play more 1 on 1 with the pumper. I gave it some quick tweaking and was surprised at how well it shot (I guess I always am). I knew that playing was the only way I'd find out how effective I was with it, so I got back out on the field. After three surprising rounds, I determined that I was at about 95% of my previous shooting skill level with my phantom! Beautiful! And not having to carry around a big cocker and 68/45 tank, gave me better movement. SO good.

An odd thing happened near the time I left, while playing the pumper, our shots managed to collide in mid-air. We both spotted it instantly and reacted with surprise and disbelief. In pro games where you're firing ~20 balls a second pretty much non-stop, it's not uncommon to have your paintballs hit your opponent's paintballs (frankly, it's uncommon for that NOT to happen once every few games), but this was pump ball. Where you really have to pour yourself into each ball that leaves your barrel, and be connected with every other player on the field to play well. At this particular juncture, I was testing his resolve. I had just enough of my mask showing to see him, and was letting him shoot at me without returning fire. I was staying out for the balls that were going to miss me, and dodging the ones that were headed for my goggles. It's kind of an intimidation move and is supposed to force your opponent to rethink the strategy of shooting at you from that distance or angle. He had three my way, and only one was going to hit, I quickly drew my phantom up to fire, and he didn't duck in as he had done previously when I did this exercise. He stopped firing and stared at me, and I stared back at him, waiting to see if he intended to try to dodge my shot. I planned on him attempting to dodge, because I can send two in rapid succession and break the pattern. This meant that after he ducked in to dodge the first shot successfully, and drew back out, the other ball would be timed to hit him as soon as his head popped back out. This was a good lesson for pumpers to learn, and I was looking forward to teaching it. As we stared, something caused our neurons to fire at the same time, and we both shot. I didn't see his muzzle report because mine masked it, I remember thinking that he was waiting awfully long to dodge my shot, when our shots hit each other and broke in the air. We immediately knew what had happened, but it took a few hours for me to dissect the exact exchange that occurred.

Man, I love playing pump.

CCM Series 5 Autococker

I'd been thinking about picking up an autococker (paintball marker) for quite some time. Not really for the want of another semiautomatic marker, but so I could invite more people along. An impediment had been that everyone complains about their autocockers. They're complex pieces of equipment, which lends them to failure. Though many will argue that once an autococker is timed it needs little attention, I've found this to be true.

The autococker internals consists of a sear, hammer, and valve just as other markers do. To cock bolt back and forth the use of gas pressure and a ram is used. In normal cocked and gassed position, the hammer waits to be released into the valve whereupon the air will be released into the hollow bolt which blows the air and paintball out the barrel. The trigger releases the hammer and actuates an arm which controls a valve which controls where the air goes to the ram. When the trigger is pulled back all the way, the valve directs the air to the back of the ram which is attached to a rod which runs down the body and "cocks" the back block which sets the hammer, and pulls the bolt back letting another paintball in the breach. When the trigger is released, the ram pulls the rod forward and pulls the back block forward, now the bolt is set forward with a new ball in front of it, and the hammer can be released.

As you can (or even can't) understand there are quite a few things that need to happen exactly as timed or you have yourself a patented 'cocker problem! Getting your cocker retimed is usually a pain if you don't know an airsmith (and sometimes even if you do!). Autocockers have a reputation for being a handfull.

In just looking for autocockers one really seemed to stand out the ones made by Chipley Custom Machine (CCM). One of the major deciding factors was their great support (said to be second only to CCI). Knowing I could just send it in and have them fix it (if I got overzealous and screwed it up :-> ). The fact that they had one of the smoothest pump conversions on the market was also helpful :-D. I looked for a long time and finally found one for what I thought was a good price. I picked up the marker from a friend from the PHoG for $290 shipped, timed, and drop-forward-ed(?).

When I picked it up for the first time I was so suprised at how slick it looked. It has a very plain body and most paintballers would fault them for that, it didn't have any creative milling (funky/cool lines cut into the body), nor did it have some crazy anno. I liked black, and I liked simple. At the time I did not notice the weight but I later realized that it was quite light. I also picked up my first hpa tank (68/4500) for a good price from a friend.

Not being used to playing with a full hopper or a tank more than 3.5oz my first play with it was kind of a trial. Man, all that stuff is bloody heavy! I got a few eliminations on my first few games out with it, but I didn't intend on playing a full day with it (and I was only out for a half day that time anyways!).

So, satisfied that it worked I left it in the corner until I invited someone else along who would need to use it.

Some weeks later, I played a *single* game with a sniper2 pump that belonged to a friend of mine. I was blown away with the comfort and ease of motion. Sure, it wasn't that light, but different pumps for different games. My intrest was piqued.

About a week ago, I picked up the CCM (just because it looks-a soo good!) and started to wonder what I should do with it. I already knew it could be a mean speedball machine, but what else could it do? I've never been a fan of slinging paint, so the need for a gi-normous 20bps hopper seemed silly to me. I picked up a brass eagle 50 round hopper to keep the weight down, and keep me from overusing that lovely electro-style double trigger! I also picked up a 12oz CO2 tank for it's slim, long shape. I began to fiddle with different configurations, and in the process put my old tippmann back-bottle ASA on the grip (has about a 15 degree downward angle), when I picked it up, I was stunned at how much it felt like my phantom! Since my phantom has the T-stock at about the same angle it felt perfect. Even with the huge hpa tank sticking way out like that, it felt better than being hunched up on the marker. Putting the marker farther from my body gave it more stability, and with the back-bottle replacement stock I could do all the tricks I'd done with my phantom's stock for increased stability in wierd positions!

With all this fiddling though I couldn't help but take the marker completely apart. I did all but remove the valve, and disassemble the pneumatics (I'm not stupid!). I put it back together with a better mechanical understanding of how it worked and knowledge on how shorten the trigger pull, back block motion (faster cycling), and generally how to get maximum speed out of it (theoretically of course! I had no reason or desire to fux with it then). I appreciated the simple-yet-complex design for a bit, and then put it back together. (it still worked of course :-> )

I think I've decided on a configuration; back bottle with a 15(?) degree drop, running hpa (if the co2 sucks) in a 33ci tank ($37 from whitewolfairsmithing.com), delrin pump kit, and smoked 50 round hopper. I'd also run the same configuration as an autococker, and hopefully one-ball as long as the situation would allow. I like the double trigger, so I plan on keeping it on both configurations. I don't have much intrest in an autotrigger or an 86 degree frame for some reason. Perhaps I'm too used to the phantom feel, and need to be weened onto possibly better alternative configurations (shoulder stock, 45 grip frame, light weight, maximum consistency) slowly, but only if the desired configuration has shortcomings! (if it ain't broke...)

My pump kit should arrive today.