I Don't Even Want THIS America

Bernie.

I think we need to sit down and talk.  You can relay to Horseteeth.

I don't want a New America.

I agree that Present America isn't all that wonderful, but the problem isn't solved by "more but harder" which is exactly what you and Horseteeth are advocating.

I want Old America back.

Besides:  Nobody who's played Twilight: 2000 thinks New America is a good plan.

Politics Ball

Judging from some of the pictures:

The National Basketball League should be supporting the Tibet and Hong Kong protestors.

Why?

Because the protesters are actually paying for seats.

I've seen several images where the only people in the stands are the people holding up signs and being angry at China.

Ponder This

While I am somewhat sympathetic to the Kurds, because they've gotten a pretty raw deal since before the Ottomans rolled over their patch...

I am not blinded to the idea that they're only friendly to us because we're shouldering a large part of the burden in the form of air support.

When they realize that we're not paving the way to an independent Kurdistan, they will turn on us like snakes.

Which brings us to the point to ponder:

OK, we stay in Syria.

What if we win?

What's the plan for that?

Because I don't like shedding blood for a place to hand it back to the same idiots who fucked it up so bad we had to come in and shed blood for it.  That was and is the plan in Iraq and Afghanistan.  That was the the plan for Vietnam.

We didn't use this plan for Japan.

Lovely Harvey Marinade

The Lovely Harvey is a great experimenter with cooking.

Which is odd, because she's not very experimentive about eating new things.

A standard marinade for her is soy-sauce and garlic.

So far it's worked on every land animal we've tried it with.

Dirt simple.

Fill a pan or bag with soy sauce so it comes halfway up the meat.
Add about 6 tablespoons of minced garlic per pound of meat (we use the stuff packed in olive oil).
Add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Flip (or shake if you used a bag) frequently for about an hour or two.

Toss on the grill until meat is at desired temperature.

Consume!

Burning Off The Carbon

Put a few miles on The Precious today.

Got on the toll road east of here, put her in 4th and set the cruise at 70.

Runs at about 3k rpm like this.

Ran the oil temp up to 221˚ F, but the pressure was running at 50 psi the whole time.

Exited and tooled around the back roads a bit and cruising the speed limit in 6th.  Oil temps dropped back to 196˚ or so and the pressure was running about 40 psi down around 1,500 rpm.

It barely dropped at stop lights, where it'd been dropping to 30-35 depending on oil temps before.

I think I melted something with the higher rpm and oil temps that was blocking an oil passage slightly!

Oil change is coming tomorrow.

Also of note: The new clutch is definitely gripping better than the old one.  A spirited punch to get ahead of traffic with a bit of wet on the road had the traction control intervening.  Last time I tried this, there was enough slip in the clutch that the tires held.

I call that winning!

I'm totally unconcerned about that lifter because the ticking/clanging hasn't repeated since I picked up the car.  It's a bleed-down from lack of use.  Yes, something is wrong; no it's not a huge worry if I just drive it frequently (gee darn).

Why Didn't I Think Of This Sooner

We use soy sauce for a lot of things.

$2.99 for 15oz.  19.9¢ per ounce.

A gallon is $22.21.  17.4¢ per ounce.

It adds up!

How To Make Radioactive M1911's

This procedure also works on M1 rifles, M1 carbines, M1919 machine guns, M1918 BARs...

Boots, trucks, tanks, artillery...

Blip Blip

Since the clutch is broken in and the fuel system appears to be sorted...

Pulled out onto the local 3-lane and punched it.

Blip!
Shift to 2nd...
Blip!
Going 70....

Drop it in neutral and end up braking all the way to the stoplight because of the traffic I'd caught up with.

The Boy whooping all the way.

If the lifter that was bleeding down was all that weak, we'd have seen something going wrong with this.

Doing It Wrong?

Melling lifter set - $125.12
Ultra-Power engine gasket set - $102.79
8x Spark plugs - $17.20
Spark plug wires - $33.79
ARP head bolt kit - $131.46

Grand total $410.36.

This, of course, skips doing the heads and valves while I have them off the car.

I suspect that the $600 would be the same since Joe farms this work out.

Springs are $44.48
Valve stem seals are $50.88 They're included in the engine gasket set.

That brings the DIY to $1,105.72.  $1,054.84

Harvey will not be pleased to have to spend more, but I have a hard estimate in hand to show her what listening to me cuss saves.

I think, though, that the $410.36 plus s/h is what I'd do.

One can take prophylactic repair too far.

Comments Policy Clarificaion

If you don't sign your name, a name, ANY name to your anonymous comment it'll sit in moderation forever!

Example:

"What you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on the internet is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

-- YOUR NAME HERE

There's been a couple good comments that I want to release, but...  One must have standards.

Fuel System Detailed After Action

The original reason for dropping the gas tank was because the pipe at the flange had cracked and was spraying fuel on top of the tank.

Drop one got the new pump in.

Drop two got the jet line return routed correctly.

Then I did the clutch.

Then I noticed a stronger gas smell than before.

This appears to be because I had the o-rings at the tank for the crossover in the wrong order.

Drop three was to fix that.

During the third reinstallation of the cross-over we (meaning JT who is being blamed) the brittle hard plastic tabs that hold the brittle nylon jet and return lines decided that three times was the charm and BOTH broke off.  That caused the fuel pump to just dump into the crossover.

This is despite the in-tank side of this was brand new.

Joe put a new crossover in and a new in-tank jet/return and buttoned her back up.

There's a new problem though.  Long crank time, like the fuel system check valve isn't holding.  If I prime it a couple times it cranks faster.  We're keeping an eye on it and if it's not better by a tank full or a week, take it back down.

Joe told me, over and over, that these parts just fail for no reason during installation and I'd been lucky to get it back in and working the second time.

Doing It Right?

The cold start tapping of a lifter had the owner of the shop impress upon me the need to do the job right...

Here's a list of what he'd charge to for the whole thing:

His labor - $1,417. (13.5 hours at $105).
LS7 lifter set - $179.99
2x LS3 head gaskets - $88.72
2x valve cover gaskets - $39.76
8x spark plugs - $31.92
Plug wire set - $49.99
ARP head bolt kit - $124.63
Valve stem seal kit - $46.00
2x Exhaust manifold gasket - $15.98
Intake manifold gasket set - $64.34
Beehive spring kit - $200
2 gal DexCool - $33.90
Amsoil oil change and filter - $99.95


Getting the following done to the heads is $600
Surface the heads
Valve job
Install valve stem seal kit

Grand total with tax, title and license: $3,223.67.

There's a huge part of me that's thinking that it can be done in my garage for a lot less.

Like Retired Wrench says, it's easier than that clutch.  Hell, it's easier than dropping the gas tank and I did that three times!

Bad luck got me on the tank.

I prolly won't get the parts deals he's getting, but...  I think I can do the lifters for about $500.

I don't really WANNA, but I can.  It'll be kinda nice to work on TOP of the car for a change.

The real danger is an attack of the stupids and putting in a new cam...  The car makes enough power now, I don't need more because I don't use it.

Once A Always A

I'm going out on a weak limb and speculating that the real reason that ATF is dropping charges in cases like Roh is how this upsets the apple cart with regards to other rulings they've pulled out of their asses.

26 USC § 5845 says:

The term “machinegun” means any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun, and any combination of parts from which a machinegun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person.

That seems pretty clear that a machine gun receiver is a machine gun, no?

Well...  There's only a tiny difference between a full-auto upper receiver on an AR and a "semi-auto"; a small relief cut for the auto-sear.  Wait!  Did I say difference?

There's hardly an AR made today that doesn't have that relief near the rear lug.

As near as I can tell, only Colt bothered to make an upper without them, and most of those also have the ginormous hole in the front lug for screws instead of a pin.

And people wonder why Colt lost the AR market?

But!  Should the AR's upper be ruled to be the serialized part, and that relief makes it "designed to shoot" automatically...  Also, since it's the work of seconds to plug in a lower with all the fun parts, they're also readily restored...  H&K had to redesign their upper on the Model 91 because full-auto trigger packs plopped right in.

There are a METRIC fuck-tonne of unregistered machineguns out there.  A large enough number that it's far more reasonable to do an amnesty than to attempt to get them all on the registry.

Another ruling that's out of their ass is the once a machinegun, always a machinegun.

For some guns, it's really difficult to undo the receiver so that it's can't be readily restored to automatic fire.  For most, though, it's not rocket science.

Take, for instance, the M14.  What really sets the receiver off from an M1A is the lug towards the rear of the body which houses the selector and where the automatic connector's rear rides.  Cut off this lug and it's no different from an M1A and is no more readily restored to than an M1A can be converted to.

Another thing pulled from their asses is what, exactly, constitutes "readily restored".

Spreading The Word

Police Should Not Be Able To Use 'Split Second Decision' Defense

h/t Bacon Time and 357 Magnum

Dammit

I just found out a friend has passed on.

He'd been fighting a heart condition and cancer for years.

Cancer finally got him.

Dammit.

His preferred beer was Yeungling.  Toast in his honor tonight!

Open roads, Garry.

It's Back Hurray I Guess

The owner of the shop informs me that I have a lifter that's bleeding down.

Yay.

That could entail another trip down there and over $3k.

Dick, resin, ground glass, my ass.

Fuck me running.

There's a part of me that thinks a set of lifters and DIY might be a better crutch.

But I'm so sick of it being broken.

I'm so sick of not getting a moment to enjoy the last repair before the next thing breaks.

Not As Expected

I look at my empty garage and rather than a sense of loss...

I feel a sense of relief.

I feel apathy about the status of The Shitbox Precious.

I might really be over owning this car.

I'll never be able to afford anything like it again, and I'm not sure I want to.

Paper Of Record

The Babylon Bee is, I think, the official paper of record of the US; despite being satirical.

Oppressed Chinese Citizens Apologize To NBA

The M1911 And CMP

"As of September 2018, the Department of Army retained 90,016 surplus M1911/M1911A1s, not including the 8,000 already transferred to CMP or a prior cache of firearms that had been disposed of through the 1033 Program of the Law Enforcement Support Office within the DLA.7 The conditions and histories of the individual items vary considerably, as shown in Table 6.1. The DLA, which is tasked with storing the surplus items, defines supply condition codes, ranging from A to H, to describe that status of the items. In January 2018, the 8,000 M1911/M1911A1s were transferred to CMP. A large majority of the transferred items had the best condition codes, A (29.6 percent) or B (54.6 percent), while the remainder of the transfers were directly from the Army

Museum and TACOM and did not have documented DLA supply condition codes.

Most of the pistols remaining in possession by DLA/TACOM are in Condition F (84.2 percent) and require repair, overhaul, or reconditioning. About a tenth of the remaining inventory is condemned (Condition H, 9.5 percent). If future transfers are authorized and no new inventory is found, CMP will receive Condition B pistols or worse, and mostly Condition F pistols. This will have implications for the profitability of CMP sales of M1911/M1911A1s in the future and for whether 2018 is a representative year for the analysis."

1,242 guns from the museum system were shipped to CMP.

22 guns from TACOM were shipped to CMP

2,367 condition A were shipped to CMP, 0 remain in inventory.

4,369 condition B were shipped to CMP, 3,240 remain in inventory.

0 condition C were shipped to CMP, 0 remain in inventory.

0 condition D were shipped to CMP, 12 remain in inventory.

0 condition E were shipped to CMP, 2,407 remain in inventory.

0 condition F were shipped to CMP, 75,755 remain in inventory.

0 condition G were shipped to CMP, 14 remain in inventory.

0 condition H were shipped to CMP, 8,588 remain in inventory.

Condition A = New, used, repaired, or reconditioned material that is serviceable and issuable to all customers without limitation or restrictions. Includes material with more than six months of shelf life remaining.

Condition B = New, used, repaired, or reconditioned material that is serviceable and issuable for its intended purpose but is restricted from issue to specific units, activities, or geographical areas by reason of its limited usefulness or short service life expectancy. Includes material with three to six months’ shelf life.

Condition C = Items that are serviceable and issuable to selected customers but that must be issued before Condition A and B material to avoid loss as a usable asset. Includes material with less than three months’ shelf life.

Condition D = Serviceable material that requires test, alteration, modification, conversion, or disassembly.  This does not include items that must be inspected or tested immediately prior to issue.

Condition E = Material that involves only limited expense or effort to restore to serviceable condition and that is accomplished in the storage activity where the stock is located.

Condition F = Economically reparable material that requires repair, overhaul, or reconditioning. Includes reparable items that are radioactivity-contaminated.

Condition G = Material requiring additional parts or components to complete the end item prior to issue.

Condition H = Material that has been determined to be unserviceable and that does not meet repair criteria; includes condemned items that are radioactively-contaminated, Type I shelf life material that has passed the expiration date, and Type II shelf life material that has passed the expiration date and cannot be extended.

Taken from "An Evaluation of the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety."


In a nutshell, if you didn't get yours in the first batch, you're very unlikely to get one at all.

They make an analysis of the cost to get those condition F's ready for sale and conclude that it's not viable at the rack grade price, which those pistols will most certainly be.

Bottomless Pit Of Agony And Despair

The Shitbox Precious is off to the shop.

I am getting ready to be fucked the old way... dipped in resin and rolled in ground glass... (100 points if you get that reference).

Rumor Has It

Willard has asked why one would want to buy a PMAG with the ammo counting window.

I now have an answer!

Apparently the medium coyote tan PMAG M3 with the window are held to slightly tighter or, at least, more consistent tolerances than the magazines the USMC aren't buying.

I'm getting twitchy that I don't have enough AR magazines again.

Must be because it's fall.

Make It More Illegaler

Ammunition background checks.

The person creature who shot up Mary Douglas Stoneman high school passed the background check to buy the rifle; therefore he it would have passed a background check to purchase the ammunition for it.

The problem wasn't that there weren't enough background checks; the problem was not a single politician in Broward County was willing to do what needed to be done with the creature in question and get them convicted/committed and on the prohibited person lists.

Once again it wasn't the citizens who will be punished by such a law who're responsible for the killer getting a firearm and ammunition but a failure of Democrat elected officials.

How about we ban Democrats?

Judging by the "illustrious" rolls of Illegal Mayors Against Illegal Guns; we'd do better without D in politics.

Glad I Saved It

I have an old Sears floor jack.

I bought it in 1991.

It lasted until just two years ago when it decided to stop lifting and start leaking oil.

The replacement from Northern Tools has decided to stop pumping except for the very bottom of the swing.

Today I looked for a seal kit for the Sears jack, expecting nothing like I got two years ago, and found a company selling the seals!

HUZZZAH!

The old Sears jack is an excellent piece of kit, very controllable.  It's not as low profile as The Shitbox Precious would like, but otherwise...

I am happy that I didn't throw my old jack away now.

UPDATE: The Strongway brand jack responded to air purge procedure that's in the owner's brochure.  Looks like I'll have two working jacks now.

Cracker Day!

Since we can't celebrate Columbus any more...

Today has been labeled "Indigenous People's Day" by the SJW community.

Fine.

Then today we celebrate the folks who were actually born in Florida, as opposed to the carpet-baggers and snowbirds.

Service Life

You never know how contentious an issue is until you hit the internet...

At issue is the service life of the M14.

One of the "experts" defending the design has stated that it has a longer service life than the Garand as the primary issue infantry rifle.

The Garand began issue to troops in 1936 and was replaced by the M14 in 1959.  That's 23 years for the math deficient.

The M14 began issue to troops in 1959 was dropped to limited service use in 1964.  That's five years and 18 years shorter than the Garand, just in case math is too hard.

I am sure they're going to dissemble and try to claim that the limited service counts.  If we're going to count that, we need to find out when the last Garand left US service...  One could even say that because of the USMC's silent drill team that the Garand is in more active service than the M14 was until they started trying to make ersatz DMR guns from moldy guns in deep storage.

Kent state shows that the Garand was still being issued to the National Guard as late as 1970.  If we accept 1975 as "early 1970's or later" for Guard issue then the Garand hung in there for 39 years.

The M14 wasn't issued like that.  The M1 still being issued to Guard units as the M14 was being replaced with the M16A1 is very telling.  Many (most?) Guard units transitioned straight to the M16A1 from the M1!

For all intents and purposes the M14's service ends when enough M16A1's became available to equip troops.  It is not, despite limited issue as a DMR, 1959 to present.

HALP!

In light of the Roh case...

Besides the AR, is there another rifle where the half with the trigger and hammer is the "gun"?

So far, it appears to be the only rifle where the barreled part isn't the serialized part.

Maybe the AR-180?

I Think I'll Just Burn Gallons Of Gas In An Open Pit

AOC has indicated that global warming/climate change has made her decide to not have children.

Anything that keeps them from breeding is a good thing in my book.

Barely Overlapping

My life and Dieudonne Saive's barely overlapped.

I'm just past 50 and he's been passed on for just less than 50 years.

I've used, own and carried three of his most famous designs (pictured below) and been issued and used a fourth (MAG / M240 not shown).  None were found wanting except the Baby, which is entirely too small for my mitten-like paws.

A person armed as above cannot be considered ill armed.

Repose en paix monsieur Saive!

Feeling A Little Better

I occurred to me this morning that even though I failed to track down and eliminate the gas smell from The Shitbox Precious, what I attempted was the most difficult job on a sixth generation Corvette when you're laying on your back with the car suspended from jack-stands.

After speaking with more than one mechanic about this, they all congratulated me for dropping and reinstalling the tank three times.  "These things happen," was a common refrain followed by, "I don't think I would have attempted it without a lift."

When I mentioned that the first two attempts were with the torque-tube, trans and rear cradle out of the car...

They applauded my thinking about it being easier to get at the cross-over with those out of the way and mentioned that a clutch swap was close to being the second hardest job just from the sheer number of things to keep track of.

The fuel system on these things have too many places where luck is the deciding factor of success rather than skill or planning.  That's bad engineering.

Quote Of The Random Interval

Zoon.

“If you can get past those awful idiot faces on the bleachers outside the theater without a sense of the collapse of human intelligence, and if you can go out into the night and see half the police force of Los Angeles gathered to protect the golden ones from the mob in the free seats, but not from the awful moaning sound they give out, like destiny whistling through a hollow shell; if you can do these things and still feel the next morning that the picture business is worth the attention of one single, intelligent, artistic mind, then in the picture business you certainly belong because this sort of vulgarity, the very vulgarity from which the Oscars are made, is the inevitable price that Hollywood exacts from each of its serfs.”



-- Raymond Chandler

Positive/Negative

Pro-gun people read about a mass shooting and think, "Oh God, NO!"

Anti-gun people read about a mass shooting and think, "Oh God, YES!"

I think that says all that needs to be said about whether the respective groups want there to be more or less mass shooting.

There Goes The Cure For Cancer

Armed robber shot dead at Dollar General.

Of note:  This is not the first of ten siblings to be shot and killed.

The corpse's sister claims that the clerk who did society a favor should not have been armed and should have called the police, "like he was supposed to".

I think I can sense the disconnect here.

Her criminal siblings should not be impeded from armed robbery.  If only the clerk had followed the script, everyone would be happy.

Personally, I think that we have the happiest ending already.  Look at all the money we saved on tedious trials and incarcerations and lathering, rinsing and repeating until... he got shot and killed anyways.

Fascinating Read

I'm not sure how to summarize it, so just go to the link.

This guy appears to have gotten a "go forth and sin no more" plea deal because a judge ruled that ATF designating the lower receiver of an AR as the serialized part is not in compliance with ATF's own regulations concerning what constitutes a receiver; and that they want this ruling buried because of its implications on future enforcement efforts.

I think I got that right.

I think the judge is correct.  The upper is the serialized part on most other rifles with split receivers.

Another Gun Control Success Story

4 dead, 3 injured in Brooklyn.

Two handguns found at the scene of the crime.

And here I was thinking that handgun ownership was severely restricted in New York (spit) Fucking City.

So restricted that the owners are taking a case all the way to the supreme court to get the restrictions reduced.

Restrictions that, I am assured by several, well funded, organizations will make mass shootings impossible.

Well, I guess it's a good thing nobody was open carrying a rifle.  Someone might have gotten hurt or gotten a restrictive anti-gun law passed or something.

Can Your Game Do That

The fireball pistol question also raises the reason I love GURPS and why so many people don't.

There are rules for making such a thing at all.

Most games will either have the fireball launching gun in the weapons table, or it's not available at all.

This is the soul of what GURPS IS!

Generic.  Universal.

That means a lot more work for the GM in both creating the world, but also informing the players of the definitions and boundaries.

What does having magic, mages and enchantments mean to you?  Does it mean the same thing to your players?

What are their assumptions?

World specific games define everything and set the boundaries starting at character generation.

GURPS puts that on the GM.

I'd rather have the flexibility to go anywhere and do anything.

What other game has actual rules for a magic fireball firing single action revolver and a light-saber built right in?

It will, you'll find, be a rather short list.

Fireball Pistol

It came up.

I threw together a world where magic existed in 1879 and had existed for a long time.

It was my modified GURPS: Magic system with a requirement of Mage's Guild membership and an athame for spell casting.

One of the players misunderstood how much magic this implied.

He wanted to go to the hardware store and buy a gun that fired fireballs.

That's not a standard magic item.  Not even close.

It was also outside the scope of how I imagined magic in this world so I tabled it.

But I got reminded of it while chatting with FuzzyGeff this evening.

One way to do it is to buy it with points:

Innate attack; 2d+1 burn damage.  Range 10/100, Acc 3, RoF 1, Rcl 1.  5pts per die. [12]

This needs to be modified to be more like an 1879 era revolver's stats or nobody would buy one.

Increasing the range to 120/1200 is a +40% enhancement.

It should be able to be fanned, the rules for fanning led me to rule that the increase in the RoF is completely offset by the reduction in skill while doing so, so +0% enhancement.

Revolvers of the day are less accurate than the default power: Acc 2; -5% limitation.

Revolvers have six shots:  Limited Use, 6 shots, slow reload 5-sec per round, -5% limitation.  This assumes that ammo is readily available.

Revolvers have recoil and it will come up when fanning, so Rcl 2, -10% limitation.

It's magic so it cannot be used in a no-mana zone: Accessibility, not in no-mana; -5% limitation.

It's a physical object that can be damaged, broken or break-down:  Breakable, DR 14, 6 HP, can break down; -15% limitation.

It's a small physical object:  SM -6; -10% limitation.

It's a physical object that can be stolen:  -30% limitation.

The total of the enhancements and limitations add up to -40%.  That comes to 7.2 points or [8] because we always round to more expensive for the player!

8-points is fairly cheap, to be honest.

The rules state that if something can be bought with money, then it should be rather than with points.

What would this firearm that uses magic cost?

It the magic is inherent to the firearm itself and conventional .44-40 ammunition comes out as a fireball, then it requires the attention of a real live enchanting mage to make.  That's going to make it more expensive than the normal Peacemaker ($450 in G$ or GURPS dollars)

If it's the ammunition that makes it special and the gun is a normal Colt, then we need an alchemist making the projectiles.  There are very few to no alchemical products that are cheaper than $50.  A normal round of .44-40 is a mere 60¢.

If they're both magic...  Mage and alchemist.

They cost whatever I, as the GM, say they should cost.  If I like the idea and think it fits the world, they're going to be cheaper than if I don't.  A player's attitude about asking for such things can certainly affect my willingness to allow it as well.  I've allowed too many things which ended up unbalancing my worlds before.

Basically I need to decide if it's the gun, ammo or both that make the item and decide the relative merit against 2d+1 pi+ versus 2d+1 burn.

Better wipe that gun off if you buy it, the arbitrarily set prices are pulled straight out of my ass.

K-15 Korrection

The Model 15-3 Willard generously donated to my SEALs in Vietnam gun collection came with some God awful ugly stocks:

Before bequeathing it to me, he found much nicer target stocks.

While they're period correct for the model, they're not for the setting.

So I got a replacement set from Midway and applied the no-name grip adapter from The ElectroySmith Model 10.  The down side of no-name grip adapters is you might have to file off some material to make them fit your gun and stocks...

That's more like what a budding gun-snob SEAL would pack!

It also has the bonus of making the ElectrolySmith more in keeping with her neglected appearance.  Never mind that the grip adapter wasn't available when she was new...

CVE-63 Has Been Located

USS St. Lo was located back in May.

She's something of a confirmation of the idea of it being bad luck to rename a ship.

She was laid down as USS Chapin Bay then USS Midway then USS St. Lo.

Then she was murdered by a kamikaze.

Speaking of bad luck names, Samuel B Roberts is only running at 1/3 success for avoiding catastrophic damage, but interestingly 2/3 for making it to decommissioning.

FFG-58 had terrible and excellent luck.

Just Wait Until They Ban Plumbing

At least when near a million people in Florida lose power, it's because something damaged the lines, like a hurricane.

California leads the nation in idiocy, again.

One wonders if the wealthy denizens of the area have generators which let them ride out this stoppage in comfort while the little people suffer.

One also wonders if the emissions from those generators is better or worse than the power plant that's shut down while in fire prevention mode.

I watch a crew every year clear trees away from the line running in my back yard.  That's all it takes to prevent wind from hitting the lines and causing problems.  49 states call this normal maintenance.

One does not.

h/t Mike at Cold Fury

Pocket Firepower

Just 109 years separated in design, but identical in intentions.

Colt Pocket Hammerless in .380 ACP and S&W M&P 9 Shield in 9mm Parabellum.

The Shield is smaller in every dimension but width, holds the same number of rounds with the flush magazine, has better sights, is lighter and fires a more powerful 9mm round.  What's more, it's actually hammerless!

Technology marches on.

I think it's interesting is they both have a passive safety that's activated by the act of firing.  The Colt with a grip safety, the S&W with the articulated trigger.

It'd Cost Me My NCRS Points

This entire fuel pump fiasco has me thinking of sacrificing my National Corvette Restorer's Society score and coming up with a way to make the fuel system serviceable without accidentally breaking things.

There's no real reason for the jet line and return to run inside the crossover.

But...

The real problem with this whole mess is the limited access to where the crossover enters the tanks.

Access that could be provided by cutting a slot into a frame gusset and box welding the slot.

Then you could lower the tank 6" and get at the collar from the wheel well instead of from underneath and between the back side of that gusset and the transmission.

But that would have added $20 to the cost of making the frame.  GM hates spending money on things like making future repairs possible without replacing more than what's broken.

The tank pressure vent on the top should be a replaceable item on its own, not something that's molded into the tank.  I loath inseparable assemblies and there's far too many of them in this thing's fuel system.

And it's ALL because of The California Air Resources Board.  It's their standards on permeability that led to how this is all sealed up.

Ironically, this mania for sealing things lead to materials that grow brittle and begin leaking on their own.  This releases more fuel vapor in a few days than the older "unsuitable" materials did over decades.

Gods be damned greenies!

This Just Struck My Fancy

Kinda neat!

Spoke To The Shop

The Shitbox Precious goes into the shop in St Pete on Tuesday morning.

Joe, the owner, made me feel a lot better about my predicament.

The nylon-like fuel lines that go from the pump in the driver's side tank to the passenger side tank and back are the bane of this design.

E is the driver's side pump/sender assy.  H is the passenger side pump/sender assy.  N and P are the lines in question.

The orange things at each end of N and P are where they separate from the tank assemblies.

These lines, while designed for being in fuel, are still attacked by it.  They get brittle.

Dropping the tanks stresses them a lot.

I replaced the in-tank portion of these lines when I did the pump, but didn't do the lines in the cross-over or passenger tank.

Bearing in mind that any disturbance to these lines can break them, I dropped the tank THREE times.

A break was bound to happen.

Joe's going to send a camera up in there and find the break.

The good news is these parts are not expensive or scarce.  The labor is what gets you in the ass.

I'm Handing This To The Professionals

Convinced that because the cross-over o-rings were the source of the smell, I went to drop the driver's side tank today.

This is the first time I've tried it with the transmission in the car.

In the process of disconnecting the cross-over... the tank fell right out of the car.

Breaking the evap line that runs to the top of the tank.

This is a part of the tank, so you have to replace the tank if this breaks.

Luckily, I had a spare tank!

So I swap out the fuel pump from the old tank to the used tank.  This is the biggest pain in the ass EVER.

JT came over and helped me get it in the car.

His help cost him more than I am worth because his Caddy just up and quit.  We tow him to a dealer and I gave him a ride home.

I finish buttoning up The Precious and get her ass back on the ground.

I go to start her to get her nose out of the air and off the ramps...

Crank crank crank crank... nothin'.

FUCK!

I can't tell if the pump is running.

There doesn't appear to be pressure at the rails.

I jumper the relay and I think I can hear the pump running.  Still no pressure at the rails.

Something is amiss.

There's a speed shop in St Pete that specializes in Vettes.  They can tell me what's wrong.

Because in each of the four times I've had the tank out I've managed to break something else.

To date this has cost me more than just taking to St Pete in the first place would have cost me.

Other Side Of The Coin

While I don't blame victims for being victimized...

There's a lot of simple things you can do to keep from becoming a victim.

Like locking doors.

Like not leaving valuables visible, accessible and unattended.

Why make it easy for the criminal?

But there's some misconceptions about how hard you're making it for the criminal.

A car isn't less secure than your house.

A car is a different kind of opportunity.

The difference is in exposure time.

Someone stealing something out of a car is generally in plain view of any passerby.

Someone stealing out of a house is not, and thus has much more time to work on the problem of finding valuables.

Having your 72" flat screen visible from the street is in the same category as leaving your wallet on the dash.

In an ideal world, one without thieves, the wallet and the television are safe.

Because we don't live in that world, it's prudent to take precautions.

Saying What I've Said Before Again

All you have to do is search for the term "victim" and you can find how I feel about blaming the victim.

I literally said it years ago.  Not that anyone read it...

But there's something about blaming the victim that doesn't often come up any more.

Have you ever looked at the FBI stats for rape and compared them to a change in how the police and courts handled the victims?

When we started applying the philosophy that the rapist was the one responsible for the rape, irregardless of the sexual history of the victim or their manner of dress...

More rapists went to jail.  Fewer rapes occur.

Blaming the victim for their portion of the victim selection process absolves the criminal of their crime.

This absolution leads to less stringent investigations and fewer convictions.

It's easy to blame the victim.  It's also lazy.

Blaming the victim is also morally reprehensible.

The immoral like to talk big and cluck at how stupid the victims are, but they're really enabling the criminal and providing cover for their actions.  After all, the immoral aren't blaming them for their crimes...

The criminal is responsible for their crime.  That the victim made it easy is irrelevant.

Focusing on irrelevancies is a good sign that someone has no point to make and no moral ground to stand on.

Flying

Marv says The Precious should be eligible for frequent flier miles.

To get the tank high enough...

First, the front wheels go up on the ramps.

Then the ass end is lifted to the limit of the jack.  Set jack stands.

Insert a block on top of the jack, lift to the limits of the jack again.  Set jack stands.

UGH.

Now the big question is if I can get the crossover off with the exhaust in the way.  I dunno.  The service manual says to drop the intermediate pipe.

Vichy Gunowners Support This Idea

Victim of gun theft gets rest of collection stolen by state under color of law.

This is where blaming the victim ultimately leads.

Punishing the victim is very popular with Vichy Gunowners.

They spend far more time condemning the practice of keeping a gun in a car than they do blaming the person actually at fault, the thief.

Congratulations, Vichy Gunowners, your advocacy has been codified in Connecticut!

Why stop at "don't keep a gun in your car and it won't get stolen" and go straight to "don't own a gun and there's no gun to be stolen!"

Utterly Unmotivated

To get the tank out...  The Precious needs to be 16-20" in the air at the tank.

That means raising it up in stages.

It gets increasingly precarious as you get higher.

Then the damned exhaust has to come out.

Now you can wrestle with the crossover by braille.

Now you can disconnect the evap by braille.

Then you can lower the tank to see if you can see where that gas smell has been coming from.

I'm spent.

I'm sick of the large number of steps to do get prepared to start working on the broken part.

I'm growing to hate this car so much.

One More Character And I'm Done With The Project

I mentioned when I started this, I'd be making a TL8 character too.

TL8 is modern day.

TL8 is where the TL Project will stop because TL9 needs world building before you can start character generation.

Definitely need to make a Transhuman Space character though.  Not sure what TL that ends up being because it's originally 3e and the tech levels are all slightly different for 4e.

Just Takes Buckets Of Money

Say you just dropped $1,500 on a new PC to play DCS.

Say you simply must play the F-14, because Maverick and Goose.  $80.  Your RIO has to plunk down for the machine and their own copy of the plane too.

Because immersion is all...  You need some HOTAS.

Virpil makes a stick that sure mimics the F-14 one.  Cleverly named the VFX.  €159.95 ($175.72) and that is JUST the part you grab with the buttons and switches.

You'll need a base, €169.95 ($186.71); and an extension to connect them, €49.95 ($54.88)

Then you're going to need a throttle.

Virpel VPC MongoosT-50CM2 for €269.95 ($296.57)
or
Thrustmaster Warthog for $299.99

≈$715

There's an alternate plan where you buy the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS bundle, then replace the stick handle and add the extension.

$661.80

Then pedals...

Virpel VPC ACE-1 €299.95 ($329.53)
or
Thrustmaster TPR $533.99!!!

Yeah...

$1,200 on top of a $1,500 game machine and I'm not even sure that the game machine has the VR goggles included.

Of course you can go cheaper.  Stick to the Warthog HOTAS for $446.97 and use the much cheaper Thrustmaster TFRP pedals for $89.99.  $536.96.

Skirting WTF Japan Territory

I've been watching, and enjoying, an anime called Cells at Work, it's really strange.

It's also amazingly accurate with regards to science and biology if you accept the conceit that each individual cell is a person.

Teachin'

Took a not-quite-a-new-shooter to the range yesterday with Marv.

It was a bit strange, I've known this person since she was nine.  She's 22 now.

She's mid-process of getting her CCW and is a little nervous about the shooting portion of the class.

She needn't have been.  She's a decent shot.

She's still making up her mind about if she's going to carry a snubby revolver or teeny 9mm, and has one of each.

She asked more questions about the law than the guns, which is a solid sign she's paying attention to the right stuff about carrying.

We learned something about the SIG P365 and astigmatism too.  The shape of the rear sight tends to make an arc thanks to the corners of the rear sight notch fuzzing out when you're focusing on the front sight; so you put the front sight at the top of the arc instead of flush with the top of the rear sight and you end up shooting low.

She says she can see the correct alignment if she concentrates, so that's what she's working on.

We also discovered that my Ruger Standard doesn't like 21gr CCI Copper-22™.  Several stoppages.