One of my favorite people joined me at the international office and cocktail bar here in Oxford, Mississippi late yesterday -- Colonel George Reynolds, U.S. Army retired. Not exactly retired as Col. Reynolds spends much of his year still over in "the Stan" as he calls it as an advisor for the Department of Defense. See pic above showing The Colonel's outstanding reading taste while working in Kabul. Last night over some Elijah Craig and Cuban Cohibas, The Colonel presented me with a Enfield rifle -- check out specs of similar weapon -- once of the British Army that he'd bought from a village elder in the Kandahar province. The chieftain told him about inlay added to the weapon as "something taken away from the British and made our own." We were a strange site walking around the Oxford square last night in the rain with a vintage weapon and smoking cigars. But this being the Deep South, there were no questions asked. *For those keen readers of the QC books, you know The Colonel always has a cameo in the books as he was the one who introduced me to the U.S. Army Ranger who became the basis for QC. The weapon is now displayed proudly next the U.S. flag, the Colonel sent to me several years ago from "the Stan."

-- Ace