Spent a day with Inder yesterday

[mehulkamdar]

Friends,

With Inder in Chicago and both of us temporary bachelors at the moment, I had a nice time yesterday. We visited the Naperville Shotgun club and they have offered Trap coaching next week - the club president also offered to stand as my sponsor for membership there on the 14th. We couldn;t shoot as I had an old gun that could not take steel shot, but the club has offered us the use of their guns next Sunday when we go for coaching. It was a warm and friendly crowd and Inder and I are sure to make some good friends in the days ahead.

I had a bad shoulder - a pulled muscle that still hurts terribly - but I also took Inder on a drive through downtown Chicago with the highlight being a drive on the city's famous Lakeshore Drive and past some of the most prominent attractions here. I worked hard on my sales pitch trying to persuade Inder to move to North America with his family something that I do to friends who are interested in shooting. He has relatives in Canada who are willing to help look for jobs in Calgary - gosh, I can't think of a better place to be in than the city that has been described as the best city in North America to live in for 8 of the past 10 years!

We also came home to my place for a little while and he checked out my guns - hopefully, we shall shoot them very soon, and, we might find some bargain guns at the next two gun shows on the 5th and the 12th. It does promise to be a good time ahead!

Now, the sales pitch continues anyone else who has an opportunity to come here and is not taking it up for one reason or the other will be tempted with some photographs that we took here yesterday as well as more that we shall be taking in the future. Proceed to visit these threads at your own risk. To yield to the temptation to come to the Chicago suburbs, however, would mean great fun and good times. Don;t say that you haven't been warned!

[Vikram]

Glad to know of the good times had and all the best with the plans.Lucky chap Inder.

Best-
Vikram ( Eagerly and impatiently waiting for the photos and updates).

[mehulkamdar]

Vikram,

Do I need to remind you that you have an open invitation that has been pending for close to two years now? Well, the invitation, if you gentlemen do not come here officially, is to stay at my little condo if you're in Chicago. As I said, the temptation is great - yield to it and you have fun to enjoy.

Mehul

[kanwar76]

Yep.... Lucky I am for sure, Lucky to have friends around like you chaps 

Yesterday was an enlightening day for me... there is so much difference in attitude towards guns here. I saw families coming together to shoot. Moms bringing their kids to range and the friendliness of the people. Club president took time out to make us understand the formalities. Just opposite to what you might face in INDIA. I still remember my visit to Bangalore range. The officer sitting there didn’t even bother to look up until i raised my voice.

And Mehul, I don't know what I should say about the man; anything I write here will not be enough. He literally took pain to show me around the city, took me to club, then his home and even gave me some Mangoes while returning... .

All in all yesterday was one of the best days of my life. Thank you Mehul..Thanks a lot.

Inder
PS: How’s your neck now Mehul?

[eljefe]

What did yo do to his neck you mad man?
Axx

[Mack The Knife]

I forsee quite a bit of lead in the air. Have a good time.

Mack The Knife

[mehulkamdar]

Inder,

Everyone who has good friends is lucky - I am happy to include myself in your classification of yourself. Yes, yesterday was a great day and the only unfortunate thing was that I couldn't shoot or that we couldn;t get out and check some of Chicago's beautiful lakeside places out because I had the gun in the back of the car. In any case, you're here for three more months and we shall do this without fail.

Asif,

Couldn't stop laughing at your post. Have to rush out now but shall talk to your friend in an hour and mail you with information on what happens.

What did happen was that I pulled a muscle in my neck while exercising earlier in the morning and it hurt like crazy despite taking some painkillers. Inder suggester Tiger Balm and it worked like a miracle.

Mack The Knife,

Deepak, Grumpy and now Inder have visited us. I am hoping that these fine gentlemen will visit again and I look forward to it, especially to Grumpy spending more than just two days in Chicago when he visits here next.

Now, let me ask the million dollar question - when are you going to visit? I know that I can expect visits from penpusher, Abhijeet and Asif, all of whom have plans to visit the US at some time in the future. So when do I look forward to the pleasure of you, Vikram (who has promised to come and stay with us) and other friends visiting? Come on buddy, there is no need to be afraid of someone who owns guns!

Will look forward to you travelling here in the future. I need to practice my hard-sell techniques to market North America to shooting buddies harder.

Cheers,

Mehul

[conty1]

Mehul,

I didnt get your message until 4ish ... was helping my in-laws move some furniture. But man, I wish you had given me a little longer notice!! Looks like I missed out on a lot of fun on a beautiful day that it was yesterday. And maybe you guys missed out too, coz maybe we could have all shot my 870. I've shot at Naperville club many times. Its a nice little place in the heart of town. It would also have been nice to meet Inder.

Are you guys planning anything any other time this week? Or the weekend?!?

[mehulkamdar]

Amit,

Buddy, there is a gun show at Wheaton on the 5th and one more at Rockford on the 12th. We plan to go for both and, of course, it would be wonderful if you also came. I shall talk to you on the phone - the Sunday programme was sudden, hence the call at such short notice. The next two weeks, we have sufficient time, so we'll plan on this. In any case, Inder is here until Jan the 15th when his business meetings get over. We have enough time to do a lot of shooting.

The Naperville club has memberships open - $ 45 a year which is very reasonable compared to the $ 800 a year at Aurora. Memberships open on Tuesday, the 14th and the President of the club agreed to introduce me. I am sure that if you would like to join, there would be no problem either. They also have a special coaching session by a national level coach on the 5th which is free to the public - the club meets from 12 noon to 4:00. Let's make it this weekend for both the gun show as well as the coaching session.

I'll call and co-ordinate this with you. We will have a great time!

Look forward to meeting you,

Cheers!

Mehul

[Mack The Knife]

Hi Mehul,

You don't have to hardsell North America to me, just find me a good job in the shooting/hunting industry, preferably in close proximity to the sticks and a water body or two.

Mack The Knife

[conty1]

Done ... We're all set for the 5th and the 12th.... I've double checked with the 'headquarters'... made sure we dont have anything going on. I'm open afternoons both days so 12-4 works just fine.

[Mark]

I heard Mehul and Inder had a good time discussing guns and hunting, the waitress is a friend of mine and sent me this picture of the two of them [strike]shooting the bul[/strike] er debating merits of bottleneck vs straightwall cases....



To be honest, both their complexions look a little pasty to me, I think a trip to a more southern climate and a healthy dose of black powder smoke should work wonders.

[Mack The Knife]

LOL. Love that pic!

Mack The Knife

[mehulkamdar]

Wonder where the pic was taken - those are two VERY satisfied gentlemen!

[kanwar76]

Man... You just can't have a bit of fun with friends... spies every where