Hey, he missed our sign!

Please slow down when you turn into our driveway. Thanks.

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Paintball in the news...

Red Wings play paintball
The Detroit Red Wings took a break from their Stanley Cup quest for a little down time.

State Parks consider banning paintball
Paintballers create problems for Park Rangers.

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Save a tree. Shoot a beaver...

What the heck is wrong with the state of Arkansas. Businesses all over the world are telling us how much money we can save and how many trees we can save if we use direct deposit as well as pay our bills over the internet.

I did my part. I filed online and opted for the direct deposit. I know the deposit was made because I saw it on my online bank deposit statement.

So, what do I get in the mail a few weeks later. A paper check stamped (THIS IS NOT A CHECK). Was this a reminder that I didn't get on my knees and thank the state for my refund? Did they send it to rub it in that I got such a measly refund? Maybe it's a test to see if I can read or maybe it's a trap. Maybe they want me to try and cash it so they can put me in jail!

I wonder what kind of administrative paperwork avalanche I could start if I tried to give the refund back! I'm just saying.

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Cool...

But, no, you can't have one. This is being issued to troops in Iraq for "crowd control". It's called a "paintball gun on steroids". The paintballs they use have metal particles in the fill so they pack a bigger punch. Oh, yeah!

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Link alert...

Very, very cool site. Fifty-nine "where to", "why to", "how to", "who to" and "what to" paintball videos and counting. I haven't had a chance to look them all over so if you find a clinker let me know. Paintballtechpb

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TMI...

I had to take a break from PBNation. One might think that would give me more time to blog but I'm the type that tend to replace one compulsion with another. So I've been hanging around Squidoo . I'm an information junkie so places like Digg and Wikipedia tends to suck me in for hours at a time.

I've even taken a break from EBay. There may be a lot of EBayers, especially sellers, who will be taking a break from EBay. Ebay management in their infinite wisdom screwed up the feedback system in such a way that it's now easier for buyers to screw sellers over.

There's always ola.com (on-line-auctions) or UBid.com.

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U-High seniors busted after paintball vandalism
05/23/2008 17:48:53 Bloomington Illinois

A number of University High School seniors won't walk in tonight's graduation ceremony thanks to this week's paintball prank. Spokesman Jay Groves couldn't confirm how many, but sources tell WJBC about nine students were told during today's graduation practice they wouldn't be allowed to walk tonight.

U High had to cancel school on Monday because crews had to cleanup the slippery mess left behind by the paintball vandals. Groves says the students will receive their diplomas sometime after tonight's ceremony. He says they'll also pay for the damage and cleanup.

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Promises, promises...

When you call and make a reservation for 12 or more for the group rate you are making a promise. "A promise made is a debt unpaid," a wise man once told me.

If you show up with less than 12 players you have broken a promise and lost all rights to dictate terms. No you will not just pay for 12 and play as a private group.

You are walk-ons and will play with the walk-on group at walk-on rates.

My field. My rules.

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So it's Friday and I'm just now starting to recuperate from Sunday's Big Game. A couple of mornings fishing helped. The water is finally down at the Red River and the Browns are banging pretty hard on my favorite Rapalla.

The typical question I hear during the week after is, "How did it go?"

My typical answer, "No one got hurt."

One hundred and sixty three hot dogs, 103 cases of paint, five 50 pound CO2 tanks, 4 hours on the compressor clock, 85 degrees, over $500 in raffle prizes given away, 166 players...

Too many players. The only reason I didn't run out of parking space was we parked cars inside the fence where next Big Game I hope to have the new shooting range and laser tag field.

Should I have a sign up cutoff (104 players were walk-ons, 10 of the 72 that signed up didn't show)? Maybe charge an entry fee? Maybe charge a non-refundable paint deposit and charge walk-ons an entry fee?

Someone suggested instead of 2 Big Games a year I should do 4. My field manager over heard and threatened to have me committed. She enjoys the Big Games. It's my pinging for two weeks prior that makes her crazy.

Seems like a small price to pay for all the fun we have.

In the mean time it's back to more routine things - power, for some reason has decided to stop flowing to the airball field. Netting on the observation walkway needs to be repaired. New bunkers need to be put together. The spool field is due for a complete replacement. New field guns have to be tested. Old guns need to be repaired.

Oh, and I have to start planning for November's Big Game.

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Looking for a few good people...

I'm hiring. Here's a hint if you're looking for a job at T-Square - don't have Mom call asking if I will hire you. I will want to talk to Mom and Dad but you need to make the initial call.

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You have money waiting in a Nicaraguan Bank...

Everyone knows there is a lot of SPAM on the internet. There's stuff out there you can click on, including e-mails, that will curl your hair and fry your motherboard! So when I see stuff in my inbox I don't immediately recognize like, "Please reply", or "How ya doin" I automatically click it into the trash basket. If you really want a reply it has to include some reference to the paintball, item, subject or idea. I would hate to trash an important e-mail and make someone think I was being mean and grumpy and ignoring them!

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RING...RING...

"Good afternoon. T-Square Paintball."

"Ummm, yeah. What time does your 6 hour game start this Sunday?"

"It starts at 11:00."

"And when does it end?"

"Six hours later."

"When's that?

"Sir, the gates open at 9am for Sunday's 6 HOUR BIG GAME, the safety briefing is at 10:30am, the game starts at 11:00am and ends six hours later at 5pm."

"Well I didn't need to know all that."

click...

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Do this. Don't do that. Can't you read the signs...?

We have signs at T-Square. We could have more. We joke (seriously) about how we could hang a sign on every tree and wall and fence and still not cover everything. We count on common sense but as we all know - common sense is not always so common.

Signs we could add:

"No Shooting Here"
"No Shooting Here, Either"
"Don't Even Think of Shooting Here"
"If You Shoot Here We Will Shoot You"
"Slippery When Wet"
"Muddy When Wet"
"Deep When Wet"
"Field is Wet After it Rains"
"Do Not Let Your Children Eat Paintballs"
"Swollen Paintballs Will Jam Your Gun"
"Your Flag Station is That-a-way"
"Out of Bounds"
"Still Out of Bounds"
"Way Out of Bounds"
"If You are Reading This You are Lost"

There's more.

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Multi-use Transmorgrifier...

Here is something I see a lot (The situation - not the marker!!). This hot little EBay item is described as "well maintained and would be great for a professional player or make a great kit for someone just starting out."

So which is it? Is this a marker for a professional player or a player just starting out?

Fact is, a professional player would not be caught dead with this thing and a new player wouldn't know which end the paintballs come out.

On the other hand I give it an A+ for "shock and awe." Anyone who has seen my "Tankinator" or "Frankenray" knows I have a soft spot for Rube Goldberg designs.

I think I'm going to bid on it just to get it off the market. It looks dangerous!

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No. Not you....

Hey! You. Yeah, you know who I'm talking too. I just spent 20 minutes assuring a Mom that T-Square Paintball is a safe place for her to bring her children. I promised her the staff is helpful and the people who play here are friendly.

Don't screw it up for me.

Thank you.

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I paid enough. It's got to be good...

Paintball needs a Consumer Report magazine. You know, the magazine that doesn't accept advertising so it can present fair and unbiased reviews of products. Nearly every day someone comes into the shop wanting something because they read something positive in some paintball magazine or saw a rave review on some forum.

Just today I read in a popular paintball newspaper a review on the Planet Eclipse Etek 2. It was a glowing report written by a player on a particular team. A couple of pages further into the paper was an article about this player's team receiving a sponsorship deal from Planet Eclipse. A couple more pages into the paper was a full page advertisement for the Etek 2.

For all I know the Etek 2 may be the best thing going (I'll never know since I can't afford the 1000+ dollar price tag). Why cast doubts with such an obviously biased review?

I see it again and again in nearly every paintball publication - editors pandering to manufacturers and distributors in exchange for advertising dollars. On top of that, many reviewers write good reviews in hopes that manufacturers will notice and send free markers for review. There's nothing like a free high end gun to get the old creative juices flowing!

And imagine the review you get on the forums from a kid who has already charged Mom's credit card and has already told all his friends he's waiting for UPS to deliver his new Galactic Blaster marker. Do you really think he's going to go on a review forum and tell the world (and his friends) he's stuck with an over priced piece of junk? It's going to be hard convincing Mom to buy all the after market stuff needed to get the marker in some sort of working condition if he gives it a bad review.

As a result nearly every review is a glowing review OR it's a negative review (deserved or not) by a writer that will never be convinced a piece of junk FORD could ever be as good as a CHEVY!

So what do you do? Where do you go for real information on all the stuff out there?

You could ask me. Paintball is not just my hobby. It's a business and I study it daily. I hear things, test things, use things and fix things and I've been doing it for 14 years.

Course, the problem there is all you get is my opinion.

And we all have those!

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