I find it really hard to explain what I mean by that.
Infringement on my rights is binary, it's either happening or it isn't. There's no nebulous gray area. No room for compromise.
I get into a snit about property. Is this mine or not? If I own it, then you don't get to tell me what to do with it unless it's encroaching on your property. For example: If I stop mowing my lawn, vermin can begin to use that as a breeding area and then spread from there into your house. You can reasonably demand that I keep my lawn mown so that my vermin do not spread into your property. You don't get a say in my changing the purpose of one room of my house to another. I want to change my bedroom into a study, you have no say. I want to turn my sun room into a study, you have no say.
Permits are a formalized method of you telling me what I can do with my property. Because of said permits, to legally convert my sun-room into a study I would have to spend $30k. To do it on my own illegally, $4k. The house was $69.9k when we bought it. Adding the extra room legally does not increase the value by the amount it would cost to add it. It adds more like $10k. The cost exceeds the value. Want to guess what the main cost is? We have to raise the floor to match the rest of the house to be in compliance with code. If we do that, the east end of the room is too short (ceiling will be too low) by (get this!) two inches. I intend to line that wall with book shelves, I will never stand there. Doesn't matter. It's just stupid. Don't even get me started on the room having to survive hurricane forces that will knock the remainder of the house down.
I think what we'll end up doing is bricking up the screen walls, putting in some windows and a real door. That should be relatively cheap and under the radar for code enforcement.
31 August 2008
The Subject Has Come Up With The Selection Of Palin
Abortion.
Talk about a sticky wicket.
I do not oppose abortions. I have never felt that abortion was murder. The line in the sand there is primarily religious and I am not a member of a religion that feels that life begins at conception.
I am more inclined to believe it's a human when it starts paying its own rent...(I kid!) But it's a child when it's breathing on its own.
I am getting very sick of the militant, "RIGHT TO CHOOSE!" screaming getting shoved up my nose. Fuck you, bitch, I agree with you, now go yell at someone else for a while! Jeebus! All these unpleasant encounters do is get me to thinking.
My conclusion is that Ms Righttochoose should have chosen to exercise her right to not fuck. Ain't getting no babies without fuckin. Abortion is a non-issue of there's no unwanted pregnancy. Can't get pregnant if you don't have sex. I KNOW that this basic biological fact about mammals was covered in High School Health Class. One could take the position that, yes, you have the right to control your own body but the decision point was when you allowed penetration and is not when you discover you are pregnant.
Please note, I think that Ms Righttochoose SHOULD have chosen abstinence, not that she MUST and after first hand experience with the results of watching the uncontrolled breeding of the Shitheels (and watching my total tax contribution going into their pockets), I don't want anyone who cannot mentally or financially handle being a parent to have a child. If it takes abortion to stop things like Shitheels, then kill all you want.
Edit:
My position tends to make me unwelcome with conservatives. Too many people assume that because I am pro-gun that I am also all-in on being a conservative. Um, nope.
Talk about a sticky wicket.
I do not oppose abortions. I have never felt that abortion was murder. The line in the sand there is primarily religious and I am not a member of a religion that feels that life begins at conception.
I am more inclined to believe it's a human when it starts paying its own rent...(I kid!) But it's a child when it's breathing on its own.
I am getting very sick of the militant, "RIGHT TO CHOOSE!" screaming getting shoved up my nose. Fuck you, bitch, I agree with you, now go yell at someone else for a while! Jeebus! All these unpleasant encounters do is get me to thinking.
My conclusion is that Ms Righttochoose should have chosen to exercise her right to not fuck. Ain't getting no babies without fuckin. Abortion is a non-issue of there's no unwanted pregnancy. Can't get pregnant if you don't have sex. I KNOW that this basic biological fact about mammals was covered in High School Health Class. One could take the position that, yes, you have the right to control your own body but the decision point was when you allowed penetration and is not when you discover you are pregnant.
Please note, I think that Ms Righttochoose SHOULD have chosen abstinence, not that she MUST and after first hand experience with the results of watching the uncontrolled breeding of the Shitheels (and watching my total tax contribution going into their pockets), I don't want anyone who cannot mentally or financially handle being a parent to have a child. If it takes abortion to stop things like Shitheels, then kill all you want.
Edit:
My position tends to make me unwelcome with conservatives. Too many people assume that because I am pro-gun that I am also all-in on being a conservative. Um, nope.
More Mundane Matters
This week has been an assault of minor irritations from failing appliances.
The livingroom converter box for the Dish is no longer locking onto Sat 119 reliably. I called their tech support line and got them to send out a tech. Said tech called Thursday at 9:10 in the 8-12 window and flat stated they weren't coming out until Monday morning. Labor Day. Wanna bet nobody shows?
The drier that The Lovely Harvey bought used in 1988 when she first moved down here finally failed in a way I couldn't fix. There's a sheet metal duct that is completely clogged, I can't get it out of the machine to clean it. This is making us run the drier for 3-4 cycles just to get the clothes dry. This problem is fixed, I bought a refurbed drier from the place up the road. Not only does the new one work its auto-dry function works, unlike the old one.
Today the damn DSL quit. The status light indicated that the problem was upstream from the "line in" to the modem. That normally means the pole outside has a fault. For the first time The Lovely Harvey got to witness me dealing with Verizon's DSL morons in Calcutta. She thought I was extremely rude until she heard me say, "Dial tone? I am talking to you on the line that the DSL is plugged into, how can there be a dial-tone?" She asked, "Were all of the stuff they wanted you to check that dumb?" After I got them to schedule a tech for Tuesday, we discovered that the line splitter had failed. I'll play dumb with the tech and ask him to check for water in the pole. This is an epic fail for customer support from Verizon. They need to train their techs that someone is going to be upset about their internet being off for no reason. They need to hire people who speak English as a first language, or at least can converse idiomatically. The trouble-shooting procedure is first done while you are still talking to the robot. Then the tech in Calcutta wants you to repeat all those steps. Then he adds several steps and refuses to answer simple questions like, "why would swapping the line from one end to the other help?"
The livingroom converter box for the Dish is no longer locking onto Sat 119 reliably. I called their tech support line and got them to send out a tech. Said tech called Thursday at 9:10 in the 8-12 window and flat stated they weren't coming out until Monday morning. Labor Day. Wanna bet nobody shows?
The drier that The Lovely Harvey bought used in 1988 when she first moved down here finally failed in a way I couldn't fix. There's a sheet metal duct that is completely clogged, I can't get it out of the machine to clean it. This is making us run the drier for 3-4 cycles just to get the clothes dry. This problem is fixed, I bought a refurbed drier from the place up the road. Not only does the new one work its auto-dry function works, unlike the old one.
Today the damn DSL quit. The status light indicated that the problem was upstream from the "line in" to the modem. That normally means the pole outside has a fault. For the first time The Lovely Harvey got to witness me dealing with Verizon's DSL morons in Calcutta. She thought I was extremely rude until she heard me say, "Dial tone? I am talking to you on the line that the DSL is plugged into, how can there be a dial-tone?" She asked, "Were all of the stuff they wanted you to check that dumb?" After I got them to schedule a tech for Tuesday, we discovered that the line splitter had failed. I'll play dumb with the tech and ask him to check for water in the pole. This is an epic fail for customer support from Verizon. They need to train their techs that someone is going to be upset about their internet being off for no reason. They need to hire people who speak English as a first language, or at least can converse idiomatically. The trouble-shooting procedure is first done while you are still talking to the robot. Then the tech in Calcutta wants you to repeat all those steps. Then he adds several steps and refuses to answer simple questions like, "why would swapping the line from one end to the other help?"
Quote Of The Day
From: http://www.neptunuslex.com/2008/08/30/saying-that-like-its-a-bad-thing/
"Because many of us prefer thinking about government - when we think of it at all - for a hobby rather than being forced to fixate on it as an uninvited guest that nags us about the unhealthy things we’re keeping in the fridge and the parlous state of the garage and Simply. Won’t. Leave. After all, for most of us our closest personal experience with government comes in the renewal queue at the DMV, an experience that may not have fully endeared us to the notion of Wise Government Bureaucrats in Charge of Important Things."
"Because most of us realize that the quality of our lives is almost entirely dependent upon the quality of choices that we make and the efforts we put for to improve it, and - having reached our majority and moved out of our parents’ houses - resent the notion of further, creeping dependency and constrained choices and just make sure you’re home by 10."
"Because many of us prefer thinking about government - when we think of it at all - for a hobby rather than being forced to fixate on it as an uninvited guest that nags us about the unhealthy things we’re keeping in the fridge and the parlous state of the garage and Simply. Won’t. Leave. After all, for most of us our closest personal experience with government comes in the renewal queue at the DMV, an experience that may not have fully endeared us to the notion of Wise Government Bureaucrats in Charge of Important Things."
"Because most of us realize that the quality of our lives is almost entirely dependent upon the quality of choices that we make and the efforts we put for to improve it, and - having reached our majority and moved out of our parents’ houses - resent the notion of further, creeping dependency and constrained choices and just make sure you’re home by 10."
29 August 2008
They've Picked Veeps
The candidates have picked their running partners.
We're back to racist and sexist again... I kid.
I was pretty firmly not an Obama voter already. But he picked Joe AWBiden. Joe's on the list of "must get rid of the traitor" list.
I'm not all that excited about McCain, the best I can do is "better than Obama". Come to think of it, that's what I thought about Bush Jr; look how that's turned out. Well, maybe not as bad as it could have been. If Gore or Kerry had been picking USSC justices, we prolly wouldn't have gotten Heller.
As old and decrepit as McCain is, we might just get our first female president (if he's elected).
I will predict, not endorse, that if we get a President Obama, we will also get a President Biden before 2012. Someone is going to get stupid, and I think there's enough stupid that someone will also get "lucky". Even though I don't like him, someone shooting him would set what little gains the pro-gun side has made in the last ten years evaporate like they never were.
We're back to racist and sexist again... I kid.
I was pretty firmly not an Obama voter already. But he picked Joe AWBiden. Joe's on the list of "must get rid of the traitor" list.
I'm not all that excited about McCain, the best I can do is "better than Obama". Come to think of it, that's what I thought about Bush Jr; look how that's turned out. Well, maybe not as bad as it could have been. If Gore or Kerry had been picking USSC justices, we prolly wouldn't have gotten Heller.
As old and decrepit as McCain is, we might just get our first female president (if he's elected).
I will predict, not endorse, that if we get a President Obama, we will also get a President Biden before 2012. Someone is going to get stupid, and I think there's enough stupid that someone will also get "lucky". Even though I don't like him, someone shooting him would set what little gains the pro-gun side has made in the last ten years evaporate like they never were.
Generic Whine
A couple of the people I consider friends are just plain drifting away.
These things happen, I can be philosophical about it, but it's still kind of a bummer.
These things happen, I can be philosophical about it, but it's still kind of a bummer.
27 August 2008
Prototype Speech For Lenny
We've been talking politics. I don't want to talk about politics anymore. I want to talk about freedom. It's different.
You accuse me of only thinking about the gun thing when talking about politicians. Well, Lenny, it's that important. Really.
It simply must be impossible for the government to know with any degree of certainty how many guns there are and where they are located. This is the surest, simplest way to avoid a repeat of the various Socialist and Communist massacres history has provided us.
Impossible. That's the goal. A 4473 records that a given person bought a given gun at a given time. That form goes back to the feds if the licensee goes out of business, for any reason. The ATF is forbidden to computerize that information. They have been caught computerizing that information more than once. Hey, that's illegal. And nothing is done to punish the people responsible. This is why this information should never be collected in the first place. If it exists, it can be used to create a de facto list of owners. Historically speaking, every time a government is capable of making such a list, they do. These lists are used to disarm people with depressing regularity. The disarmed are never more free after they are disarmed. More often than not, they are imprisoned or murdered shortly thereafter.
Restrictions on what kind of gun I can own lead to expansions to what kind of guns are restricted.
Restrictions on who can own a gun have been expanded several times. Now someone who was accused of domestic abuse can no longer own a gun. Note, not convicted of a crime or sentenced, merely accused. I have long felt that if we cannot trust a person to own a gun, we cannot trust that person to be at large unsupervised.
I have some "common sense" rules. If you can vote, you can own anything an infantryman carries, or has carried. Yes, that means machineguns. It likely means bazookas and the smaller mortars. I think the government would become quite tame if it knew that.
I would like to remind you that the people whose behavior led to machineguns being registered in the first place were a class of criminal created by the government by the passage of the 18th amendment. That amendment was put in place by a group of people who wanted alcohol to be banned "for our own good". Prohibition on alcohol is gone, but those criminals remain. Yaaaay gubmint!
There will be more to this as I think of it. This is a draft.
You accuse me of only thinking about the gun thing when talking about politicians. Well, Lenny, it's that important. Really.
It simply must be impossible for the government to know with any degree of certainty how many guns there are and where they are located. This is the surest, simplest way to avoid a repeat of the various Socialist and Communist massacres history has provided us.
Impossible. That's the goal. A 4473 records that a given person bought a given gun at a given time. That form goes back to the feds if the licensee goes out of business, for any reason. The ATF is forbidden to computerize that information. They have been caught computerizing that information more than once. Hey, that's illegal. And nothing is done to punish the people responsible. This is why this information should never be collected in the first place. If it exists, it can be used to create a de facto list of owners. Historically speaking, every time a government is capable of making such a list, they do. These lists are used to disarm people with depressing regularity. The disarmed are never more free after they are disarmed. More often than not, they are imprisoned or murdered shortly thereafter.
Restrictions on what kind of gun I can own lead to expansions to what kind of guns are restricted.
Restrictions on who can own a gun have been expanded several times. Now someone who was accused of domestic abuse can no longer own a gun. Note, not convicted of a crime or sentenced, merely accused. I have long felt that if we cannot trust a person to own a gun, we cannot trust that person to be at large unsupervised.
I have some "common sense" rules. If you can vote, you can own anything an infantryman carries, or has carried. Yes, that means machineguns. It likely means bazookas and the smaller mortars. I think the government would become quite tame if it knew that.
I would like to remind you that the people whose behavior led to machineguns being registered in the first place were a class of criminal created by the government by the passage of the 18th amendment. That amendment was put in place by a group of people who wanted alcohol to be banned "for our own good". Prohibition on alcohol is gone, but those criminals remain. Yaaaay gubmint!
There will be more to this as I think of it. This is a draft.
24 August 2008
I Have Found Garand And It Is Mine
3.2 million serial range, Springfield. US Rifle, 30-caliber, M1. That puts it as a November 1944 gun.
UPDATE! Detailed disassembly and cleaning has revealed a virtually unfired bore, nearly no metal to metal wear and original factory arsenal grease. This gun seemingly was manufactured, made ready and never issued. It has been floating around in the system accumulating stock scars and rack wear for 64 years. Almost literally new old stock!
I am thinking Rosie is a good name, opinions? Not going to name her for sure until I've shot her.
Compared with the M-1903A3
It is worth noting that taking the bolt apart if you don't have to is a needless pain in the ass. I needed to make sure it was clean and lubricated. I don't intend to make this a regular part of cleaning.
UPDATE! Detailed disassembly and cleaning has revealed a virtually unfired bore, nearly no metal to metal wear and original factory arsenal grease. This gun seemingly was manufactured, made ready and never issued. It has been floating around in the system accumulating stock scars and rack wear for 64 years. Almost literally new old stock!
I am thinking Rosie is a good name, opinions? Not going to name her for sure until I've shot her.
Compared with the M-1903A3
It is worth noting that taking the bolt apart if you don't have to is a needless pain in the ass. I needed to make sure it was clean and lubricated. I don't intend to make this a regular part of cleaning.
23 August 2008
Learning About Cameras
This pic was taken with the ISO set to 1200.
This pics was taken with the ISO set to 100.
Lighting for both shots was identical and both used the built in flash on the camera.
This pics was taken with the ISO set to 100.
Lighting for both shots was identical and both used the built in flash on the camera.
Wish List Is Smaller By One
Tried to go to the gun show today. Wrong week! It's in another town this week.
The Lovely Harvey flipped me some shit and said that I could still make it to Shoot Straight and order the revolver I am after. Even though she was flipping me grief, it was an excellent idea, so...
This is hers. Smith & Wesson Model 640-3; 2 1/8" barrel, 5 shot, .357 Magnum.
This is mine, same model. I missed the sale so I had to pay a little more than The Lovely Harvey.
Here they are together. Interestingly, even though The Lovely Harvey has had hers longer, mine was made first. Both guns came with an envelope containing a spent case for ballistic fingerprinting. According to the date on the envelopes, mine was made 14JUL08 and hers was made 15JUL08.
And a bit of scale. The top gun is a Colt Anaconda; 4" barrel, 6 shot, .44 magnum.
Tomorrow I will be going to Orlando to see if I can find a Garand worth owning.
22 August 2008
Paring The Wishlist Down
The Lovely Harvey loves her S&W 640-3.
She needs practice, but got all the rounds on paper at 21 feet. It's DAO, so trigger control is everything. Trigger control only comes with practice.
Despite dire warning from 'expert' Lenny, .357 Magnum was a non-event for our girl. She was impressed by the muzzle flash, but was in complete control the whole time! YOU GO GIRL! Oh, did I mention I was not there at all? She took delivery of the gun and went straight to the range. I am so proud!
I really like her new gun. I think I have to have one now. The morons who made the deal with the devil and Clinton are no longer in charge of S&W, so there's no need to boycott them. If the place she bought it from still has them in stock Saturday, I will have to get one.
That leaves only a couple of guns on the gotta-have wish list.
Browning Baby in .25 ACP.
M1 Garand; must have for any collector of US mil-spec.
Cowboy single action in .45 Colt; right now that's a Ruger New Vaquero. Not sure if I would prefer the 7.5" or 5.5" barrel more, but definitely color case and blue! Bill Ruger died and his son has dumped the stupid "no sell high-caps to civilians" rule so we can deal with them again.
Scoped bolt action; leader here is a Remington 700 SPS-DM in .30-06. Not as big a priority as it could be. This is just a niche that I think every gun owner should fill.
Despite dire warning from 'expert' Lenny, .357 Magnum was a non-event for our girl. She was impressed by the muzzle flash, but was in complete control the whole time! YOU GO GIRL! Oh, did I mention I was not there at all? She took delivery of the gun and went straight to the range. I am so proud!
I really like her new gun. I think I have to have one now. The morons who made the deal with the devil and Clinton are no longer in charge of S&W, so there's no need to boycott them. If the place she bought it from still has them in stock Saturday, I will have to get one.
That leaves only a couple of guns on the gotta-have wish list.
Browning Baby in .25 ACP.
M1 Garand; must have for any collector of US mil-spec.
Cowboy single action in .45 Colt; right now that's a Ruger New Vaquero. Not sure if I would prefer the 7.5" or 5.5" barrel more, but definitely color case and blue! Bill Ruger died and his son has dumped the stupid "no sell high-caps to civilians" rule so we can deal with them again.
Scoped bolt action; leader here is a Remington 700 SPS-DM in .30-06. Not as big a priority as it could be. This is just a niche that I think every gun owner should fill.
18 August 2008
Shooting Report
I just noticed that I have not given a range report for my M-1903A3.
Fist sized groups at 100 yards off-hand. A bit right of center. Recoil is stout with the 180 gr rounds the range had for sale.
I've named her Catherine.
I took Dottie out too. This was her first range trip since putting the rifle stock on. Some 6.8 guns short stroke with the heavier rifle buffer, but not Dottie. The Medieval muzzle brake works pretty damn good, not too bad of a flash hider either.
The Lovely Harvey took her first shots with her carbine (see the link in my previous post).
We went with our friends Lenny and Laurie. Laurie is just learning to shoot, I am teaching her. She's doing quite well, if coming along a little slow. She's got some nerve damage in her right hand (and she's right handed) so she has to shoot lefty. She's had shoulder surgery on that side that makes that hand weak. I've got her doing some strengthening exercises and practicing the fundamentals.
Lenny is an 'expert'. He's also a very competitive person who has to be right in every discussion. Very illuminating to see what others doubtlessly see in me. If this is how I come across, I don't think I like me very much.
Much fun was had by all, though.
Fist sized groups at 100 yards off-hand. A bit right of center. Recoil is stout with the 180 gr rounds the range had for sale.
I've named her Catherine.
I took Dottie out too. This was her first range trip since putting the rifle stock on. Some 6.8 guns short stroke with the heavier rifle buffer, but not Dottie. The Medieval muzzle brake works pretty damn good, not too bad of a flash hider either.
The Lovely Harvey took her first shots with her carbine (see the link in my previous post).
We went with our friends Lenny and Laurie. Laurie is just learning to shoot, I am teaching her. She's doing quite well, if coming along a little slow. She's got some nerve damage in her right hand (and she's right handed) so she has to shoot lefty. She's had shoulder surgery on that side that makes that hand weak. I've got her doing some strengthening exercises and practicing the fundamentals.
Lenny is an 'expert'. He's also a very competitive person who has to be right in every discussion. Very illuminating to see what others doubtlessly see in me. If this is how I come across, I don't think I like me very much.
Much fun was had by all, though.
17 August 2008
16 August 2008
More Statistical Information
Remember this?
It seems I was close!
Out of 35,310 2008 Corvettes, 20,030 are coupes. Out of 20,030 2008 Corvette Coupes. 45.9% are the 3LT trim level, 13.8% have dual roofs, 38.7% have the Z51 suspension package, 46.2% have dual mode exhaust, 17.4% have manual transmissions and the Z51, 33.5% came with base rims, 24.8% are black, and 10.8% have a cashmere interior. That math works out to there being just one car with my exact combination of features (actually the math adds up to 0.35893039928 cars).
My car is the only one with my exact combination of options.
There are only 82 with my color combination.
Of those, only 15 have a manual.
Of those, only 9 have the 3LT, and Z51 suspension.
Of those 9:
Only mine has the dual tops. 2 have just the clear top. 6 have just the painted top.
Mine and 5 other have the Bose stereo. 3 have the Nav.
7 of us got the dual mode exhaust.
4 of us got the base rims. 1 got the Gumby rims. 4 got the chrome.
Except for the top (it has the painted), there's only one car like mine, in New Braunfels, TX.
Except for the top and rims, there are only 3 others like mine.
Slim company.
It seems I was close!
Out of 35,310 2008 Corvettes, 20,030 are coupes. Out of 20,030 2008 Corvette Coupes. 45.9% are the 3LT trim level, 13.8% have dual roofs, 38.7% have the Z51 suspension package, 46.2% have dual mode exhaust, 17.4% have manual transmissions and the Z51, 33.5% came with base rims, 24.8% are black, and 10.8% have a cashmere interior. That math works out to there being just one car with my exact combination of features (actually the math adds up to 0.35893039928 cars).
My car is the only one with my exact combination of options.
There are only 82 with my color combination.
Of those, only 15 have a manual.
Of those, only 9 have the 3LT, and Z51 suspension.
Of those 9:
Only mine has the dual tops. 2 have just the clear top. 6 have just the painted top.
Mine and 5 other have the Bose stereo. 3 have the Nav.
7 of us got the dual mode exhaust.
4 of us got the base rims. 1 got the Gumby rims. 4 got the chrome.
Except for the top (it has the painted), there's only one car like mine, in New Braunfels, TX.
Except for the top and rims, there are only 3 others like mine.
Slim company.
15 August 2008
Three Cheers For The Gun Parts Corp Of West Hurley New York
The magazine that came with the Colt Vest Pocket sticks on removal. It hangs on the magazine safety and on the mouth. I think it's an early mag from before the addition of the magazine safety.
Their web page has online schematics of most of the guns they stock parts for. While I was shopping for the magazine, I noticed there was a small part missing. The guide for the striker spring.
I ordered both a magazine and spring guide and they arrived today.
The new magazine releases smoothly and, with the spring guide installed, the trigger sounds and feels crisper on the break.
HOOOWAAAH!
I also, in a nod to originality, put the magazine safety back into the Junior.
I don't really care for such safeties.
Their web page has online schematics of most of the guns they stock parts for. While I was shopping for the magazine, I noticed there was a small part missing. The guide for the striker spring.
I ordered both a magazine and spring guide and they arrived today.
The new magazine releases smoothly and, with the spring guide installed, the trigger sounds and feels crisper on the break.
HOOOWAAAH!
I also, in a nod to originality, put the magazine safety back into the Junior.
I don't really care for such safeties.
13 August 2008
Time To Move On
The car thing was fun, but the people that are part of the club now I have no interest in being around.
Well, about half the people I still like, but the other half is like nails on a chalk board.
Being around the latter half ruins being around the former, so I think I will stop attending the meetings.
There will be a brief adjustment period where I cast about for something to do on Wednesdays, but I will find something I am sure.
Skipping all the conflict will likely reduce my stress levels and save money. I think I am ready for this.
Well, about half the people I still like, but the other half is like nails on a chalk board.
Being around the latter half ruins being around the former, so I think I will stop attending the meetings.
There will be a brief adjustment period where I cast about for something to do on Wednesdays, but I will find something I am sure.
Skipping all the conflict will likely reduce my stress levels and save money. I think I am ready for this.
12 August 2008
Home Improvements Continue Apace
Today's project is returning the garage shower to service.
The the floor of the shower stall is a non-standard size and the drain is in a location that precluded just installing a standard pan and stall.
Bath Fitter; http://www.bathfitter.com/ is who we selected for the work.
10 August 2008
Home Improvement
Getting the driveway expanded to allow us to park the Biscayne on it and still be able to get the 'Vette out of the garage. Also so that The Lovely Harvey can walk to her car and not have to walk in the wet grass.
We decided on pavers because they are decorative as well as functional.
They are covered in left-over sand and some dust that will look more like the above pic once clean. We have to wait until Sunday to clean this off to allow the base to cure.
I think that The Lovely Harvey intends to paint our yellow bricks on the house to match the pavers.
All done! Finally enough room for all the cars!
Wen Nug
Got the second of two of the .25 ACP trifecta.
Colt M-1908 Vest Pocket!
How it compares to the Colt Junior.
#3 of the hat trick is the FN/Browning Baby Browning.
06 August 2008
The Lovely Harvey Is Now Legal
My love's CCW permit arrived today.
She's now a pistol packing momma!
The funniest thing about this is she's had her carry gun since '98. Took her just ten years to get motivated to get her permit.
They've changed a couple of things since I got my permit too. Hers is good for seven years. Mine was just five.
She's now a pistol packing momma!
The funniest thing about this is she's had her carry gun since '98. Took her just ten years to get motivated to get her permit.
They've changed a couple of things since I got my permit too. Hers is good for seven years. Mine was just five.
Happy Hiroshima Day
Today, 63 years ago, marked the first use of atomic weapons in war.
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
05 August 2008
Story Time
We were a day behind the bandits. We'd been behind for the last four days. I think we'd have starting closing ground with them if we hadn't had the tenderfoot, our employer, with us. The job was simple enough, the bandits had taken his wife and son, we were supposed to track them down for him. The problem was he was slowing us down.
He didn't know how to ride for one. He was just plain soft for another. Not used to life outside of a city, probably from some place back east.
Some things didn't add up though. He didn't complain about every little hardship like I'd expect someone from back east to. He at least knew how to dress to keep the weather at bay, or at least didn't complain about being cold up here in the hills. Davis thought that he hadn't always been soft. Said there was something in the tenderfoot's eyes that reminded him of something.
I didn't know anything about that, but I was never a good judge of folks. All I knew about him was he paid in gold, he was soft, he talked funny, he dressed funny and he had too much baggage. And that was slowing us down.
The tenderfoot was toughening up, I had to admit it. Even his horsemanship was improving. I swear we'd even managed to get a bit closer to the bandits. “Just get me a clear line of sight within a mile.” he told me when I mentioned that we might be gaining.
He got his mile today. We'd turned wrong and ended up on top of a butte with no way down to the bandits. I figured it would take us the better part of a day just to get back on their trail. So much for Davis' shortcuts. “Perfect!” the tenderfoot says. Then he starts unpacking some of his luggage. “Mister,” I says, “we got to get going back down to the bottom of the gulch so's we can get back on their trail.” “Won't be a minute,” he says.
That big damn box of his had a big damn gun in it! So big that it was in two pieces. It had a sight on top like I heard tell about in the war, telly-scopik or something like that. He puts that big thing together and lays down on the ground and aims. And aims. And aims. Then he fires! My lordy, that was the loudest gun I heard short of a cannon. And no smoke to speak of either, unless you count the dust. Without even moving, there's another shot, and another and then another. He didn't cock it again between shots or nothin'!
Then he just lays still, aiming again I think. “That's three of them and the conveyor, they're stuck here now,” he says. I look and I see that three of their horses don't have riders anymore and one horse is flailing around with, I kid you not, smoke coming out of the left saddlebag.
He didn't know how to ride for one. He was just plain soft for another. Not used to life outside of a city, probably from some place back east.
Some things didn't add up though. He didn't complain about every little hardship like I'd expect someone from back east to. He at least knew how to dress to keep the weather at bay, or at least didn't complain about being cold up here in the hills. Davis thought that he hadn't always been soft. Said there was something in the tenderfoot's eyes that reminded him of something.
I didn't know anything about that, but I was never a good judge of folks. All I knew about him was he paid in gold, he was soft, he talked funny, he dressed funny and he had too much baggage. And that was slowing us down.
The tenderfoot was toughening up, I had to admit it. Even his horsemanship was improving. I swear we'd even managed to get a bit closer to the bandits. “Just get me a clear line of sight within a mile.” he told me when I mentioned that we might be gaining.
He got his mile today. We'd turned wrong and ended up on top of a butte with no way down to the bandits. I figured it would take us the better part of a day just to get back on their trail. So much for Davis' shortcuts. “Perfect!” the tenderfoot says. Then he starts unpacking some of his luggage. “Mister,” I says, “we got to get going back down to the bottom of the gulch so's we can get back on their trail.” “Won't be a minute,” he says.
That big damn box of his had a big damn gun in it! So big that it was in two pieces. It had a sight on top like I heard tell about in the war, telly-scopik or something like that. He puts that big thing together and lays down on the ground and aims. And aims. And aims. Then he fires! My lordy, that was the loudest gun I heard short of a cannon. And no smoke to speak of either, unless you count the dust. Without even moving, there's another shot, and another and then another. He didn't cock it again between shots or nothin'!
Then he just lays still, aiming again I think. “That's three of them and the conveyor, they're stuck here now,” he says. I look and I see that three of their horses don't have riders anymore and one horse is flailing around with, I kid you not, smoke coming out of the left saddlebag.
Too Fat To Be Executed?
I have an idea!
Stop feeding him after the execution date. Heck, stop the meds too. His resistance to the sedative will drop along with his weight until he can be executed in the normal fashion, or just let him starve to death.
I have little sympathy for murderers and none at all for rapists. A rapist who murdered his victim? Is it possible to have negative sympathy?
Add me to the list of people willing to use an alternative method of execution than lethal injection. I am also putting my name in the hat to pop a .30-06 into his forehead, just in case they can't find anyone else willing to do the job. Catherine has killed before, she'll do nicely.
Stop feeding him after the execution date. Heck, stop the meds too. His resistance to the sedative will drop along with his weight until he can be executed in the normal fashion, or just let him starve to death.
I have little sympathy for murderers and none at all for rapists. A rapist who murdered his victim? Is it possible to have negative sympathy?
Add me to the list of people willing to use an alternative method of execution than lethal injection. I am also putting my name in the hat to pop a .30-06 into his forehead, just in case they can't find anyone else willing to do the job. Catherine has killed before, she'll do nicely.
04 August 2008
I Have Idiots On My Team
Quote from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
I think the reason we have the gun control we have today is because we gun owners are a self dividing group and divide and conquer works.
A Worry
I've been reading "Liberal Fascism."
The early chapters are on the rise of fascism in Europe. They cover the rise of the nazis and Hitler in some detail.
One of the core tenants of the book has been that fascism is not right wing at all, merely less left than socialism.
Fascists and communists fought over the left until only one was left in Germany and then moved to take control of the nation using any means that came to hand.
My current worry is McCain. He's not as far left as Obama, but he is most certainly not right of center about many things. The worry I have is that we are seeing a parallel of the German experience in the farthest left is rejected and we will get something evil while thinking we had staved it off.
This situation is why I maintain that we should not vote for the lesser evil. Evil is evil. The Republicans need to be made to understand that we oppose socialism and will no longer support a lesser version just to slow the advance of the opposition. We need to reverse the trend, not slow it.
By the way, Democrats, drop gun control, political correctness and socialism and I will be a supporter! Not a very long list at all is it? The huge one for the Democrats to give up will be socialism and the statist mechanisms associated with it. I am not going to advocate a total anarchy situation for the economy, but less regulation seems to make the ups and downs shallower (but more frequent).
I think less amplitude and more frequency is much more survivable down here at the street level.
The early chapters are on the rise of fascism in Europe. They cover the rise of the nazis and Hitler in some detail.
One of the core tenants of the book has been that fascism is not right wing at all, merely less left than socialism.
Fascists and communists fought over the left until only one was left in Germany and then moved to take control of the nation using any means that came to hand.
My current worry is McCain. He's not as far left as Obama, but he is most certainly not right of center about many things. The worry I have is that we are seeing a parallel of the German experience in the farthest left is rejected and we will get something evil while thinking we had staved it off.
This situation is why I maintain that we should not vote for the lesser evil. Evil is evil. The Republicans need to be made to understand that we oppose socialism and will no longer support a lesser version just to slow the advance of the opposition. We need to reverse the trend, not slow it.
By the way, Democrats, drop gun control, political correctness and socialism and I will be a supporter! Not a very long list at all is it? The huge one for the Democrats to give up will be socialism and the statist mechanisms associated with it. I am not going to advocate a total anarchy situation for the economy, but less regulation seems to make the ups and downs shallower (but more frequent).
I think less amplitude and more frequency is much more survivable down here at the street level.
03 August 2008
Awkward Situations
Something that comes up from time to time in my life is having a falling out with a friend who is also a friend of a friend.
Often times the person I had no falling out with wishes to not choose sides. That's fair, it's not their argument.
What they often don't realize is that sort of means they are choosing the other person because I will avoid situations where the person I had a falling out with will be present. All too often the person I am still friends with doesn't see any problem with inviting us both to social events and is hurt because I don't show up.
The second awkward part of this sort of situation is when the second person gabs and gabs about all the things they are doing with or talking about with the former friend.
I don't like awkward, so I tend to stop answering the phone and after a while I have lost two friends.
Often times the person I had no falling out with wishes to not choose sides. That's fair, it's not their argument.
What they often don't realize is that sort of means they are choosing the other person because I will avoid situations where the person I had a falling out with will be present. All too often the person I am still friends with doesn't see any problem with inviting us both to social events and is hurt because I don't show up.
The second awkward part of this sort of situation is when the second person gabs and gabs about all the things they are doing with or talking about with the former friend.
I don't like awkward, so I tend to stop answering the phone and after a while I have lost two friends.
02 August 2008
Stupid Hollywood
I had thought they were learning. Harry Potter is recognizable; Lord of the Rings was not too far from the source; the Christian Bale "Batman" movies are very close to the comics; "300" is the comic, panel for panel.
I had some hope for "Without Remorse", a Tom Clancy book, being made into a movie.
Um, dash all hope all who enter here?
The book is set in 1970. The movie will be set in today.
When I am reading the synopsis of the screenplay you can see all the plot holes that are introduced by setting it today rather than in 1970.
The rescue mission in 1970 is of a Wild Weasel pilot who's been declared dead by the Vietnamese and is being interrogated secretly. The Admirals and CIA have a strong motive to rescue this guy and using the military is not incongruous. Today the Robin Zacharias character is some CIA operative being held by Generic Middle Eastern Terrorist Organization (GMETO) in Indonesia. Using our military in Indonesia to rescue a CIA dude does not survive suspension of disbelief.
Kelly being a former SEAL works in both settings. His vendetta against the drug dealers works in both. The 1970 version is more artful, heroin smuggled inside US servicemen's corpses. "American Gangster" even told us the story of a real drug dealer who did this in real life!
I am not sure why they felt the need to change the setting so radically. I just have the same sense of dread I had since "Clear and Present Danger" about Hollywood and Tom Clancy.
I had some hope for "Without Remorse", a Tom Clancy book, being made into a movie.
Um, dash all hope all who enter here?
The book is set in 1970. The movie will be set in today.
When I am reading the synopsis of the screenplay you can see all the plot holes that are introduced by setting it today rather than in 1970.
The rescue mission in 1970 is of a Wild Weasel pilot who's been declared dead by the Vietnamese and is being interrogated secretly. The Admirals and CIA have a strong motive to rescue this guy and using the military is not incongruous. Today the Robin Zacharias character is some CIA operative being held by Generic Middle Eastern Terrorist Organization (GMETO) in Indonesia. Using our military in Indonesia to rescue a CIA dude does not survive suspension of disbelief.
Kelly being a former SEAL works in both settings. His vendetta against the drug dealers works in both. The 1970 version is more artful, heroin smuggled inside US servicemen's corpses. "American Gangster" even told us the story of a real drug dealer who did this in real life!
I am not sure why they felt the need to change the setting so radically. I just have the same sense of dread I had since "Clear and Present Danger" about Hollywood and Tom Clancy.
Critical Mass
I've been reading about the antics of Critical Mass, a group bicyclist who've decided that they must inconvenience and terrorize motorists to get their point across.
Among the things they want is a tax break for people who ride their bicycle to work. Guys, you already are. You are not paying for the road when you aren't paying for gasoline. Don't cop the, "I buy gas for my car and..." either, the gas in your car is paying for your car's use of the road, not your bike.
I believe in share the road. I don't run bikes off the road. I give at least a half a lane to them when I pass. I don't pass unless I can give that kind of clearance.
The key phrase here is SHARE. I've even looked up Florida's law about bikes. Bicycles are to treated as any other vehicle, EXCEPT; they shall stay as far to the right as practicable and shall travel in single file when there is more than one. Critical Mass travels in packs that take up the entire lane.
One poor Subaru owner (not in Florida) was assaulted when he discovered himself in the midst of one of these packs.
Again referring to Florida's laws; one may respond with deadly force if one is in fear of ones life or great bodily harm. Attempting to run a car of the road is an example they teach in the CCW classes. I predict that Critical Mass is going to try their normal BS someplace like Orlando (normally a very liberal area) and one or several of them are going to end up dead. And they will discover that if the police rule it to be a legit self defense then there's no lawsuits for the deceased.
Among the things they want is a tax break for people who ride their bicycle to work. Guys, you already are. You are not paying for the road when you aren't paying for gasoline. Don't cop the, "I buy gas for my car and..." either, the gas in your car is paying for your car's use of the road, not your bike.
I believe in share the road. I don't run bikes off the road. I give at least a half a lane to them when I pass. I don't pass unless I can give that kind of clearance.
The key phrase here is SHARE. I've even looked up Florida's law about bikes. Bicycles are to treated as any other vehicle, EXCEPT; they shall stay as far to the right as practicable and shall travel in single file when there is more than one. Critical Mass travels in packs that take up the entire lane.
One poor Subaru owner (not in Florida) was assaulted when he discovered himself in the midst of one of these packs.
Again referring to Florida's laws; one may respond with deadly force if one is in fear of ones life or great bodily harm. Attempting to run a car of the road is an example they teach in the CCW classes. I predict that Critical Mass is going to try their normal BS someplace like Orlando (normally a very liberal area) and one or several of them are going to end up dead. And they will discover that if the police rule it to be a legit self defense then there's no lawsuits for the deceased.
01 August 2008
But At Least They Have Free Medical Care
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/01/canada
Next time someone tells you about how much better Canada is about [insert issue], be sure to mention this one.
Next time someone tells you about how much better Canada is about [insert issue], be sure to mention this one.
McCain vs Obama Plus Rambling
While I think that McCain is preferable to Obama, I don't think it's by much of a margin.
One of the stupidest things I've read about why we should vote for McCain over Obama is that we will get a better chance to replace him in four years.
WHAT?
When has the party with a pres sitting ever not nominated the incumbent? The fastest route to a Republican that's even remotely conservative is through an Obama presidency. Ick.
My political position is not easily defined by the Liberal/Conservative definition. There are things I am radically far right on and things I am radically far left on. This is what happens when one wants liberty and feels that to have liberty one must let others have it too. I also believe in personal responsibility. I can be compassionate, but there are times when you have to withhold the helping hand. Tough love I think it is called.
I come across as pretty right wing because the broadcast media has confused things so badly. It baffles me that nobody on the left spotted that the media began weighting its economic reporting negatively just about the same time Al ran out of appeals. And gee, whiz, lookie that; the economy started slipping! And no, I don't think the media is controlling the markets. The dot-bomb was destined to happen, but did they affect the timing? Would it have happened sooner, and been smaller, if the reporting hadn't been so overwhelmingly upbeat on the economy for Bill?
There's a formal definition for the dissonance about reading the newspaper and on one page reading an article about something you know intimately and the paper getting it wrong and then assuming that the article on the next page, on a topic you know nothing about, is accurate. I noticed a while ago that the press is very consistent in getting the facts about topics that I am knowledgeable in wrong. When I started wondering what else they were wrong about, I found a lot. That got me to wondering how it could not be deliberate? Then I discovered just how small the owner base is for the mass media. It's like seven people from similar backgrounds. It doesn't even have to be malicious, it's just how they see the world. The problem is, their world view may not be representative of my world, or applicable to the real world.
I am defined as right wing because I am pro-gun; because I think the vast majority of welfare is mooching; because I don't think that higher taxes solve any economic problems; because I want to be left alone to fly or sink on my own merit.
I am defined as a "rabid Bush supporter" because I take the position that he's not Hitler and I think he's doing a better job of it than Al Gore would have after 9/11. If it had not been for what happened on September 11th, 2001 I don't think history would take much note of him.
Being something of a history buff; Name the last Democrat president in office when the USA won a war. Name the last Republican. The answers are Truman and Lincoln. It's surprising, the republicans being the ones who are owned by the "military industrial complex". Wait, wasn't it Eisenhower who warned us about them? What party was he again? That aside, the reason we don't see an R next to the name of the winner in a war is it's very rare that a war started when a republican was in office and it used to be unheard of that the US lost. Twice now a republican president has been handed a loser that was started by a democrat; Korea and Vietnam (and Truman was who got us into Korea). To be fair to Truman, he was winning it and the voters kinda kicked him in the shins. LBJ was a clusterfuck. I'm of the opinion that the present conflict dates from Carter and would have bloomed sooner if we hadn't been so focused on the Cold War.
The current conflict, in meta terms, seems a lot like: Carter committed the original sin. Reagan pissed them off by showing they didn't really matter. Bush compounded the feeling of impotence by riding to Saudi-Arabia's rescue. Clinton made the resentment worse by mostly ignoring them (HOW DARE THEY IGNORE US?) and lobbing the occasional cruise missile in their direction. It finally came to a head for Bush 2 (We will show them they cannot ignore us!). The real roots to this problem stem from the Brits. How the hell is it they have escaped the blame for how they left their empire when they bailed?
Wow, this not the post I started out to write.
One of the stupidest things I've read about why we should vote for McCain over Obama is that we will get a better chance to replace him in four years.
WHAT?
When has the party with a pres sitting ever not nominated the incumbent? The fastest route to a Republican that's even remotely conservative is through an Obama presidency. Ick.
My political position is not easily defined by the Liberal/Conservative definition. There are things I am radically far right on and things I am radically far left on. This is what happens when one wants liberty and feels that to have liberty one must let others have it too. I also believe in personal responsibility. I can be compassionate, but there are times when you have to withhold the helping hand. Tough love I think it is called.
I come across as pretty right wing because the broadcast media has confused things so badly. It baffles me that nobody on the left spotted that the media began weighting its economic reporting negatively just about the same time Al ran out of appeals. And gee, whiz, lookie that; the economy started slipping! And no, I don't think the media is controlling the markets. The dot-bomb was destined to happen, but did they affect the timing? Would it have happened sooner, and been smaller, if the reporting hadn't been so overwhelmingly upbeat on the economy for Bill?
There's a formal definition for the dissonance about reading the newspaper and on one page reading an article about something you know intimately and the paper getting it wrong and then assuming that the article on the next page, on a topic you know nothing about, is accurate. I noticed a while ago that the press is very consistent in getting the facts about topics that I am knowledgeable in wrong. When I started wondering what else they were wrong about, I found a lot. That got me to wondering how it could not be deliberate? Then I discovered just how small the owner base is for the mass media. It's like seven people from similar backgrounds. It doesn't even have to be malicious, it's just how they see the world. The problem is, their world view may not be representative of my world, or applicable to the real world.
I am defined as right wing because I am pro-gun; because I think the vast majority of welfare is mooching; because I don't think that higher taxes solve any economic problems; because I want to be left alone to fly or sink on my own merit.
I am defined as a "rabid Bush supporter" because I take the position that he's not Hitler and I think he's doing a better job of it than Al Gore would have after 9/11. If it had not been for what happened on September 11th, 2001 I don't think history would take much note of him.
Being something of a history buff; Name the last Democrat president in office when the USA won a war. Name the last Republican. The answers are Truman and Lincoln. It's surprising, the republicans being the ones who are owned by the "military industrial complex". Wait, wasn't it Eisenhower who warned us about them? What party was he again? That aside, the reason we don't see an R next to the name of the winner in a war is it's very rare that a war started when a republican was in office and it used to be unheard of that the US lost. Twice now a republican president has been handed a loser that was started by a democrat; Korea and Vietnam (and Truman was who got us into Korea). To be fair to Truman, he was winning it and the voters kinda kicked him in the shins. LBJ was a clusterfuck. I'm of the opinion that the present conflict dates from Carter and would have bloomed sooner if we hadn't been so focused on the Cold War.
The current conflict, in meta terms, seems a lot like: Carter committed the original sin. Reagan pissed them off by showing they didn't really matter. Bush compounded the feeling of impotence by riding to Saudi-Arabia's rescue. Clinton made the resentment worse by mostly ignoring them (HOW DARE THEY IGNORE US?) and lobbing the occasional cruise missile in their direction. It finally came to a head for Bush 2 (We will show them they cannot ignore us!). The real roots to this problem stem from the Brits. How the hell is it they have escaped the blame for how they left their empire when they bailed?
Wow, this not the post I started out to write.