A Reminder

I just want to remind everyone that the stock market panicked way worse about the prospect of President Obama than it has over COVID-19 and unlimited oil production from Saudi and Russia.

It was the policies of 8 years of Democratic Socialism that kept it from being a blip.

I don't think we're going to have to deal with that this time.

Good Bad!

For years I've been listening to how high oil prices are BAD®!

Now that oil prices are in the basement, low oil prices are BAD®!

Low oil prices have caused the unlimited stakes gamblers to panic and run for other markets to make up for their losses in oil.

This causes the rest of the stock market to freak out.

I surely know how a medieval peasant felt once the planting was done and the local baron was feeling stroppy about the neighboring fief.

My life is affected by the decisions of degenerate gamblers who are not accountable to me in anyway just as a peasant would be by his lord deciding it was time to go to war.

But the stock market is a section of economics that pisses me off.

The reason it pisses me off is the media manages to portray every indicator as being bad,  especially opposites.

It occurs to me that what's going on with COVID-19 and oil prices, and something that we should prolly address, is the mass media is screaming "fire" in a crowded theater when they try to provoke market panics to assault an elected official they don't like very much.

Wal Mart Sells Flame Throwers!

Though, I wouldn't be too worried about them...



A spray bottle and mineral spirits don't throw much flame.

Even worse the spirits melt the innards of the sprayer so it stops spraying during the second fill.

Full Moon

Canon EOS M50 EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II at 250mm, f/32, 1/10", ISO 100

Cropped image of the full moon.  It was a bit low in the sky and a lot of atmospherics were going on.

Triple Or Three Gun

Traveller turrets have long been single, double and triple in Little Black Book 2.

LBB 5 handled turrets differently, but the total number of weapons were the same per type.

But a "triple turret" in Traveller wasn't a triple turret.  It was a three-gun turret.

We know this because if you mounted a laser, sandcaster and missile rack in one... you could target two different targets with the offensive weapons and use the sand independently of them.

Triple means all three weapons are aimed at the same target at the same time.

BUT...

If all the weapons in your turret were the same... the three gun turret becomes a triple...

UGH.

The rules break the combat phases by weapon type, not by individual weapon.

Two turrets could engage two targets independently, but... all like weapons in that turret must fire at the same target.

The Galilean Moons Of Venus

We took several pictures of Venus trying to see if we could resolve the Galilean moons of Jupiter...

Because we didn't check our star chart.

SIGH.

It is, however, more than good enough to resolve Venus as disk!

This Is It We're All Going To Die?

Stolen from Irish's place:

Here are some thoughts, feel free to yell at me.

What is weird to me about the Corona Virus is that it has been covered and reacted to in a way I have never seen before.

We can quibble about infection rates and how deadly it is, but a few things are not debatable.

This article for example.

The premise is that a patient has recovered after getting HIV treatment. GREAT.

But at this point I would assume that tens of thousands have recovered, because somewhere between 97% and 99% RECOVER.

Why is this being treated as a miracle, the article doesnt list the patients condition when he was admitted or hint that he was brought back from the brink.

The article seems tailor made to aid in the panic.

The Virus originated in China, and millions were quarantined, which was unheard of and shocking.

Manufacturing shut down, media blackouts, etc.

We had no choice to assume that something truly awful was going on.

But the virus is out now, we can see its effects around the world without the thumb of the Chinese government on it.

I am not panicked by what I am seeing, but yet I am seeing a panicked RESPONSE.

Global markets are fluctuating, supply lines are broken, etc

But it all feels surreal, because the underlying reason doesn't compute.

People are recovering unaided, most of the overwhelming of the system is due to panic, not inability to treat the sick.

I have no idea if the Corona Virus is "the big one" or not, but what I will tell you is that the effect does not match the cause.

Something is off about everything that is happening.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that based on the geographic spread of this thing and the total lack of effective isolation of people who've been where confirmed cases have been seen that it's among us and we're not noticing because it's not that serious a disease for most of us.

If it presents as the flu and you act like you have the flu and get better, you're never going to get tested are you?

Speaking of the flu, which you're not scared of or panicking about, it's managed to snuff about 20k people in the US this season.  This is after the second year in a row where the flu-vaccine missed the strain encountered too.

PGMP

France has a PGMP?

Holy crap!  We're still debating cased telescopic rounds and they have a PGMP!

What's that?

It's just an optic mount for the FAMAS and not a plasma gun man-portable?

I am disappoint.

Night Of The Stolen Hour

In just a little bit, by Decree of The State, an hour will be stolen from this morning.

This is done in order to shift the sun in its track against the clock.

It's yet another case where the desired effect could be accomplished by simply letting people shift their day an hour to better take advantage of the lengthening amount of sunlight.

No daylight is actually saved.  The earth's rotation is not altered.

It just means we're all an hour off for a while.

It's like everyone moved a timezone east without moving an inch.

Gods Deliver Me From Technology

While, for the most part, I enjoy living in the future.

The update cycle pisses me off to no end.

"Update 100% complete.  Do not shut off your computer"

For an hour.

A bleeping hour.

0 to 100 in a couple minutes, an hour to finish form 100%?

The solution, of course, was to shut off the computer.

Then reboot in safe mode.

Then watch it hang at 35% complete for five minutes.  Then "Cleaning up" for another 17.

Then Windows Explorer crashed on the restart to normal mode.

Then AVG, the program that asked for a restart to begin with, refuses to fire up.

Go to the install/uninstall programs section and click on repair.

Run the repair.

AVG asks for a restart...

Restart goes smoothly this time.

Meine liebenden Götter!

Dragon's Fire

Took the M50 to the back yard to see if I could get some pics of the Falcon 9 launch.

Success!

MECO

Staging

First stage deceleration while second stage continues

Hard to hold still for 1.5 second exposures, but I'm very happy with the camera's performance.  The old SX20 wouldn't have gotten these.

Speaking of SX20...  Marv took a video from his place!

For Strength! For Courage!

We miss you Lex!

I Don't Let It Get Me Down

While I'm casting aspersions at the vast majority of full-size pick-up owners...

I've noticed that when you do so, the small minority of the group feels like you're picking on them, even if you mention exceptions that places them outside the group you're bitching about.

I have been in that minority a couple of times.

The first time was when I rode motorcycles.  I wasn't a Biker, even though my father and I were in a club.  I rode to ride, and people made assumptions about that which, while true of many around me, weren't true of me.

I'm noticing it again with The Precious.

Corvette owners and Corvette clubs fall into a reliable template.

I don't match that template.

The first sign is putting near 170k miles on the thing as the first owner.  This is second or third owner kind of mileage!

I'm still the only owner of the car and it turns 13 this October.

I bought it because I wanted the power and handling, not for people to notice me.

I work on my own car.  It still galls me that I failed to get that tank vapor leak fixed without involving professionals.

I am willing to eliminate the originality of the car.  Because the car is sufficiently powerful for my meager driving skills, I've not made many mods, but I have made mods.

Most Corvette folks don't do this.  Most Corvette clubs exclude people who do.  They get so very focused on originality they forget they can enjoy the car.

People who hot-rod Vettes tend to congregate with other hot-rodders rather than Vette owners.

Even as big a pain as electronic fuel injection can be, I do NOT yearn for carburetors and points.

Something You Don't See

If you hang onto any car long enough, it becomes cool.

ANY car.

Once it gets past a certain age, and gets that survivor cool factor, something stops being mentioned with regards to the value.

"How many miles on it?"

After a certain point, having those miles is a bragging right.

It means the thing was put to good use.

It was enjoyed.

Cars are not static works, they are dynamic art.

Better in motion than stationary.

So get in that seat and drive it!

Enjoy it.

Upgrade it so it stops breaking.

Learn to fix and upgrade it yourself to discover another world of satisfaction.

Remember, nothing kills a car faster than letting it sit.  It seems counter-intuitive, but it's so very true.

Go on The Power Tour.  The WHOLE Power Tour!

Unbearable Darkness

It's been just 8 short years since Lex passed.

Courage and Strength to come.

Privately if I cannot find anyone else to share the toast.

I'm Getting The Hang Of This

Perfect evening viewing for the moon!

EOS M50 EF-S 55-250mm at 250mm, f/5.6, 1/80", ISO 100 cropped.

EOS M50 EF-S 55-250mm at 250mm, f/5.6, 1/100", ISO 100 cropped.

EOS M50 EF 75-300mm at 280mm, f/5.6, 1/80", ISO 100 cropped.

The EF-S 55-250 is simply clearer glass.

Because I was thinking I wasn't taking as good a picture with the new camera as the old...

PowerShot SX20 IS 5-100 at 100mm, f/5.7, 1/30", ISO 80

The new camera is better.  I'd just needed to learn it.

This Is Why We Don't Freak Out

One one bill is heading for a vote in both chambers.
One bill is heading for a vote in just one chamber, but I expect the other to pick it up in the event it passes.

All the other gun control just... didn't go anywhere.

Despite Mini-Mike buying the senate president and to all appearances, my senator.

The dire prognostications from several people did not come to pass.  I wish they'd not been name calling jerks about it.

Home Stretch

One week two days until we're free of the annual madness which is the Florida Legislative Session.

Eyes crossed.

Since this is a gun blog, here's where all the stupid bills sit as of this writing.  Green for any bill which is actually scheduled to be voted on.

SB 94 & H 451 - Universal Background Check via FFL - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 114 & H 47 - Risk Protection Orders - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 117 - Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms Licensing - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 134 & H 6009 - Preemption of Firearms and Ammunition - End of the World Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

CS/HB 183 & S 1524 - Prohibited Places for Weapons and Firearms - Not Great, Not Terrible Bill
     House Version out of committee and headed for a vote.
     Senate Version Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 245 & S 398 - Concealed Weapons and Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 266 & H 631 - Safe Storage of Loaded Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 270 & S 548 - Sale and Delivery of Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 273 - Carrying of Firearms - Good Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 289, H 291, S 460 & S 462 - Sales of Ammunition - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 311 & S 728 - Threats - Not Great, Not Terrible Bill
     House Version out of committee and headed for a vote.
     Senate Version out of committee and headed for a vote.

HB 353 - Weapons and Firearms - Bad Bill
     Withdrawn 09Jan20.

SB 428 - Prohibited Places for Weapons and Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 499 & S 718 - Domestic Violence - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 548 & S 270 - Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 558, H 627, S 794, & S 1208 - Large Capacity Magazines - End of the World Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 586 - Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 629, S 627 & S 1208 - Large Capacity Magazine something something - End of the World Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 634 - Lawful Ownership, Possession, and Use of Firearms and Weapons - Bad Bill
(This is the guaranteed to pass ban on fishing carry because "idiots" were open carrying in RINOland.)
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 809 & S 1566 -  Licenses to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 885 - State Preemption of Firearm and Ammunition Regulation - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

HB 923 & S 1248 - Safe Storage of Firearms - Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

SB 1300 - Assault Weapons -  End of the World Bad Bill
     Introduced and referred to committees.  No action since 14Jan20.

Don't Be Discouraged Mini-Mike

I know!

Spend ten times as much in the upcoming primaries and they will vote for you, I am sure of it.

You just didn't spend enough.

You can do it!

Decimated?

Maybe if the population of Nashville was 210.

Devastated is the word you're looking for.

I Beg To Differ

I own a gun.

I know all ten amendments of the Bill of Rights.  I do defend them all.

I was MOS 19K.  You know what that means?

That means I DO know how fucking tanks work.

I'm willing to posit that Mr Hofstetter has no clue how tanks work and wouldn't know what track tension was if we used him as an end connector.

As for nobody is coming for our guns?  Dumbass, you live in California.  The state government has already come for guns which were registered as you seem to advocate.

You're also not just ignorant of tanks, you're ignorant of your own native language and make the common mistake of what regulated means.  Never mind that the "regulated" reference is the subservient clause of the amendment you're mocking.

Even given that the gubmint might be able to regulate (like he means) and register guns...  That whole privacy thing guaranteed by the 4th Amendment and the protections of self incrimination from the 5th Amendment should preclude any attempt at registering firearms.

Especially since prior restraint is a thing.

I wasn't supposed to know all this, was I?

All of this aside, he's actually funny.  Worth a watch, and it's free on YouTube.

Update:

California has, also, already come for the cars.  CARB and related agencies have made it increasingly difficult to own a car that's not still under its factory warranty or old enough to be exempt.

They repealed the rolling date cutoff for being old enough and the cars which are exempt are now expensive collectible cars.  The average person doesn't own one.

Tech Marches On

I mentioned that the power output on the 2.4l Ecotec 4-banger in the 'Nox is pretty impressive compared to what a 305 TBI small-block made in 1996...

The 1971 tragedy of the Dura-Built 140, 2.3l of screaming inline-4 making 70 hp.  110 horsepower for the Cosworth.

In 1977 Pontiac introduced the iconic Iron-Duke inline 4.  Its 2.5l made 85 to 110 horses and stayed in production until 1993!  This was the first GM 4-banger to get throttle body injection (TBI).

From then until 2003 we got  the 122 which came in three sizes, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 liters.  It could be had with carbs, TBI, and multi-point injection (MPFI) and could make 83 to 120 horses.

I am unaware of anyone truly happy owning the Dura-Built or Iron-Duke (except that the Duke was nigh indestructible.)

This brings us to the Ecotec.

The first gen is MPFI, the second direct injection.

The worst performer of this batch is the 135hp 2.2l in the Saturn L-Series.

The best is the 275hp turbo 2.0 version in the Camaro.

Yet The Flu Doesn't Scare You

We're up to six deaths from COVID-19 in the US.

The flu and pneumonia have claimed about 18,000 lives this year (so far).  CDC says this year's versions are running 6.9% fatality rate.

How many of you who are panicking over coronavirus didn't bother getting a flu shot?

Monitor

Monitors are such a player character style of ship it's not even funny.

Why is this?

"What's the smallest ship I can attach to the largest available guns with the thickest armor?"

It can't be fast too.

"We're OK with that, our armor makes us immune to attack."

USS Monitor is a fine example, but the Royal Navy's Roberts Class is probably the ultimate PC style ship.

Armament:

• 2 × BL 15-inch Mk I guns in a single turret
• 8 × 4 in (100 mm) AA guns (4 × 2)
• 16 × QF 2-pdr "pom-pom"s (1 × 8, 2 × 4)
• 20 × Oerlikon 20mm guns (20 x 1)

Armour:

• Turret: 13 inch
• Barbette: 8 inch
• Belt: 4-5 inches

She's not fast, but she can take a pounding.


Historical examples like this class are why games like Traveller and its successors have rules limiting the number of weapons for a given ship size.


When I was once a player character in FASA's Star Trek roleplaying game, I designed a ship I dubbed the Chicago class.


Chicago had all the performance, weapons and shields of Constitution II with the smallest hull that would hold the warp-core, drives, weapons, sheilds and minimum crew spaces.


She ended up being around 1/5 the size of Constitution II and there were no liabilities to it written into the game rules.


When we stopped playing and I moved back to Iowa from Minnesota, I had forgotten my FASA folder with our GM.  This included deck plans.


Imagine my amusement, years later, when I see what's essentially my Chicago on screen as USS Voyager.  The warp nacelles have been updated from original crew movie ear to the next-generation style; but that's my design.


Later on I also find that my old GM had moved to California and landed a job working for the people who made the ship designs for Star Trek Voyager...


I'd demand royalties, but I think I owed my GM money when I left...

Password Reset

I really loathe it when a site just randomly decides that I need a new password and forces me to check my email, enter a code, click on a link from another email and THEN change my password.

UGH!

Plus there's no good damn reason for my password to be a palindrome.

More Attainable

Tickling the same whimsy is the Remington TAC-14 Hardwood.

These are selling for less than $400 on Gunbroker.

No, I have no use for such things, but they delight me as toys.

If there was no room for something of limited utility that gives us joy, there'd be no The Precious in my garage and everyone would own a 4-door crossover SUV.

Change

I got this coin in change:

72 years and it still spends as 25¢.

25¢ in 1948 spent like $2.68 today.

In real terms this coin is worth less than 10% of what it was worth when it was minted.

The bullion in it would bring $3.06 today, so it's actually appreciated a bit.  We're not supposed to go melting down legal currency to get the metal out though.

If it were in average shape it'd be worth $6 as a collector piece, up to $50 if it were in mint condition.

Unfortunately, all of the people who've owned this coin for its entire life just used it as a quarter and put it in their pockets or purses without regards to future collectors and numismatists.

Kinda Want

Henry has joined the unregistered short barrel shotgun "firearm" craze.

The Henry Axe.

Being that it's MSRP near a grand, there's little to no danger of me actually buying one of the silly things; but it does tickle my whimsy.

All Better

Took off the intake trunk and engine cover on Moxie and checked the intake solenoid's resistance.

147 thousand ohms.

It's supposed to be 9.5 to 15.

Exhaust solenoid was 13.6.

I replaced them both because a) I was already in there and b) spite.

When I was taking things apart, I noticed the intake trunk to throttle body clamp was not very tight.  Loose enough that it was prolly sucking unmetered air.

It's much smoother and quieter now!

I love when the fixes are simple.

Et Tu Haynes

Because we have two 2nd Gen Equinoxes in the family, I bought the 2005 - 2012 Equinox book by Haynes.

I'm getting code P0010.

That's the intake VVT solenoid most likely.

According to Haynes, there is no VVT on the 2.4 in the Equinox.

But there sure as heck is on an Ecotec 2.4 LAF code engine.

I wondered if, perhaps, the 2.4 from 2005 to 2009 was a different engine, but there doesn't appear to be a 4-banger of any size in the 1st Gen.

Damn book is just plain wrong.

SIGH.

Sick Joke

It's really a sick joke that not only do election years seem longer than normal years but thanks to leap-year they actually are longer.

Burning Ring Of LED

"Don't I have a ring-light around here someplace?"

I do!

It was entirely unsuitable for use with the SX20 because the SX20 needed to be so close to the subject that the center of the light was gone being occluded by the adapter ring.

Same settings as before, but with the ring light attached.

Just the 14-45mm lens.

f/8.0, 1/125", ISO 100

10mm extender:

f.8.0, 1/125", ISO 100

16mm extender:

f/7.1, 1/100", ISO 100

Both extenders:

f/6.3, 1/80", ISO 125

Is It Macro Daddy Or Daddy Macro

Got a couple of Viltrox brand extenders from Amazon.

All images taken from as close as the auto-focus would bear and as steady as I could make my hands hovering over the target.  Camera was in Program mode and allowed to run as it saw fit.

Admission: I still need better illumination.

No extender:

EOS M50 with EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM at 45mm, f/6.3, 1/80", ISO 200

10mm:

EF-M 15-45mm with 10mm extender tube at 45mm, f/6.3, 1/80", ISO 320

16mm:

EF-M 15-45mm with 16mm extender tube at 45mm, f/6.3, 1/100", ISO 500

Both:

EF-M 15-45mm with 10mm and 16mm extender tubes at 45mm, f/6.3, 1/80", ISO 640

The old camera is no slouch when it comes to macro...  Set to Super Macro in program mode with ISO locked to 80.

Added a small LED flashlight shining in from about 11 o'clock that ended up illuminating by bounce off the face of the lens because it's damn near touching the coin.

PowerShot SX20 IS at 5mm, f/2.8, 0.5", ISO 80

Need Better Illumination

EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM with x0.5 wide angle filter; at 45mm, f/22.0, 1/500", ISO 10000

Crop of above.

I don't have the lights I want to illuminate it, but I think I've begun to grasp what advice I've been given.  I need to get some.  The dedicated Macro lens I'm eyeing has a ring light built in, but it's a few months of saving away.

Thanks SiGraybeard!

Godspeed Professor Dyson

The average IQ on the planet has just dropped measurably.

Freeman Dyson has entered the void.

Target

I just realized that I'm going to have to save that particular nickel for macro photo comparisons now.

On the plus side, I will never be broke as long as I do.

Macro

The old S5 IS had epic super-macro mode.

The SX20 IS was good, but not as good.

The M50's kit 15-45mm lens is NOT a macro lens:

But tonight I remembered that Marv had bought a set of cheap lenses that screwed into the 58mm threads on the hood for the S5.  Standard ø58mm threads...

So I screwed the "wide angle" lens into my 49-58 adapter and then onto my kit lens.

With manual focus, it does OK.

Not as well as the SX20, but...

I'm still going to be getting a dedicated macro lens for my M50.  The 28mm one is well thought of.

Better Glass?

The EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II appears to have clearer glass than the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM.

EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II f/5.6, 1/25", ISO 100

Same image cropped

EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM f/16, 1/4", ISO 100

Manual Mode Moon

f/16, 1/4", ISO 100

The new sensor is a lot more sensitive, so it needs shorter aperture times than the SX20 and S5 wanted to get the moon.

I kinda misst the digital zoom...  Saves me from cropping:

Finally The Moon

The weather has not cooperated in my attempts to get a picture of the moon with my new camera.

Today things worked out.

Luna and Venus

I've taken better moon shots.  Still practicing.

While I was waiting for the clouds to move, a hapless MD-80 flew past.

Hand held, image stabilization on.

I'm having a blast learning this stuff!