OK NOW

 NOW you can decorate for Thanksgiving.

You may not decorate for Christmas yet.

Precision

One item of precision that I'm not seeing much mention of is the alignment of the lugs on the Starship booster when the chopsticks grab it.

They are 180° apart and there's just two of them.

That means they have to be sticking out perpendicular to the chopstick arms when they move in to grab the booster.

Just a couple of degrees of roll on the part of the booster and it falls instead of getting grabbed.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is our Christmas!

Diesel Mode

Crank up the speakers to hear her motor.

Here she is showing her first happy moment since we got her that didn't involve food!

 

Reminiscent

This image of Mist:

Reminds me of this award winning picture from National Geographic:

It probably shouldn't, but...

Mist In Our Midst

 

Little Mist alarmed us greatly today.  We have a planter table that she was collapsed in this morning and we were worried she was going to the Rainbow Bridge.

I already talked about capturing her to clean her eye out.  That did a lot of good, but she was shivering constantly.  Her ears were like ice.

So I snagged her again after we'd given her evening ration.  I put her on a scale and she's just 1 lb. 6.2 oz.  That's on the low end for a kitten her apparent age.  Her eyes have changed color, her ears are up and she's got her canines and incisors.  That's about 7 weeks!  She's 0.2 lb. underweight, that's a big deal at this age.

I think she wasn't getting enough food and shelter to regulate her body temperature.

We held her in our laps and she stopped shivering!  Lots of defensive purring, and eventually she started kneading.

While watching The Lightning TROUNCE the Avalanch I covered her up in a towel and she melted to sleep.

She's in a nice warm garage in a cat carrier at this moment.  We're keeping her isolated until we can get a vet to verify she's not carrying anything that will take out the other three.

The Lifers Done Fucked Up

The VA sent me a whole year's supply of my shoe inserts!

I'm supposed to get a new pair every four months, but it's been on me to remember and drive down to get them.

Last time I mentioned to the nice receptionist that it would be nice if they just mailed me a pair every four months instead of making me remember...

I wonder if my ponderings had effect.

Spicy Diesel

I captured Stripey the FEMA Kitty so we could clean up her eye a little bit.

She hissed and popped as I picked her (confirmed) up and purred like an idling Kenworth while we cleaned her face and paws.

She seemed contented to be held, but once I sat down and let her be on my belly, she sauntered back to the cover of the rims.

Hissing and popping resumed, but she was letting me pet her in her safe space.

Under Pressure

It turns out that Harvey's Equinox uses the exact same high-pressure port as The Beast.

This is good because her AC appeared to be leaking at the HP port as well and I'd ordered both the GM part and the Dorman.

The Dorman has a good old fashioned Schrader valve in it!  That one went into The Beast.  Genuine GM into her car.

Marv brought over his gauges and vacuum pump to facilitate the refilling with refrigerant.

Both cars got the pressures we were looking for and the temperatures desired.

Well, not desired.  I froze poor Marv's nipples off on the Equinox test drive and getting 43° air blasting on your chest is not pleasant.

The Beast can get to 43° too, but I also tested to make sure it'd hold the intended temperature using the 'auto' mode.

Our Milton Refugee

We have an outdoor kitten.

Meet "Stripey the FEMA Kitty."

She(?) is very spicy and doesn't tolerate being petted.  Yet.

We've got dry food out for her and do an evening ritual of feeding her some wet food.

Sometime today something happened and she spent a while with her left eye closed up.  She was fine in the morning and doing a pirate imitation at noon.  She's still squinting a bit with it.

Shadow is VERY interested in the interloper.

For reference, Shadow was the same size as Stripey when we brought her in, literally, last year...  On national Cat Day.

We Only SAY We Hate Each Other

If the ball had gone up when I was stationed in Germany, my tank platoon was assigned to a company of infantry in the 1ID(F).

We trained with them a lot and understood how we needed one another, especially in the urbanized environs of Germany.

We even loved the 113 with the big blade antenna and the Air Force dude sentenced to slum with us ground crawlers.

Taco Bell In Moscow

Russian Taco Bell is a much more frightening thing than Taco Bell here...

 

Got some altitude there!

Fat Amy Works

I would like to point out that the F-35I worked as advertised over Iran.

I had been, repeatedly, told that it was an expensive boondoggle that was no better (and likely worse) than an F-16C Block 50.

I can think of a couple nation's sphincters that should be clamping about now.

Related:  The F-35C is useless because using it from carriers in a marine environment is too harsh on the stealth coatings and they can't be maintained.

What about all those F-35B flying from short-deck carriers?

Not mentioned.

That's odd.

Because It Kinda Does

I've been considering the range stats I give to 6.5 Grendel and wondering if I should add the 10% fudge factor allowed in Vehicles for the range.

That would change it from 730/4,000 to 800/4,400 with a 16" barrel.

This is .270 Win v .30-06 all over again with the rules favoring the bigger round.

6.5 really does hang onto velocity longer than 6.8; I've never disputed it.  My dispute was always that 6.8 was just as good where everyone but a sniper or long range target shooter would use it.

For humane hunting and combat, there's not a lot of difference between them.

But wait!  There's more!

6.8 really shouldn't have a longer 1/2D range...  What's missing from the equation?  I remembered something and went back to check.

While the 6.8 community had settled in hard for 16" (with midlength gas) as the "standard" barrel...  Most of the velocity numbers quoted by 6.5 advocates were for the 24" barrel.

That changes the damage to 6d+1 pi and the range to 870/4,400 without fudge factor.

There we go!

6.5 Grendel now GURPS!

It's also underscoring what lots of 6.8 people have been saying for a while, the Grendel folks (at least the furries) weren't comparing apples to apples.  In a couple of the proposed head to heads they wouldn't even concede to use the same LOWER...  Which shouldn't matter to comparing the two rounds.

Alternate Range

I did the GURPS math for the alternate rounds.  16" barrel unless otherwise specified.

5.56x45mm NATO is 4d+2 pi, 750/2,900

5.56x45mm 55gr, 1:12 (20" barrel) is 5d pi, 500/3,200

5.56x45mm NATO (20" barrel) is 5d pi, 800/3,500

.22 ARC (18" or 20" barrel) is 6d-1 pi, 600/3,600

6mm ARC is 5d+2 pi, 700/3,900

6.5 Grendel is 6d-1 pi, 800/4,400

6.8x43mm SPCII is 6d pi, 820/3,500

.300 AAC Blackout (supersonic) is 5d+1 pi, 500/3,000.

No Shit There I Was

There was once a time when I brought an AR to the range for a friend's family member to try out because Valentine matched the configuration their family member was most likely to encounter in the service.

They brought me ammo in their own magazines to use so I wouldn't have to use my stock up.  That was nice of them!  Extremely considerate, actually.

The problem, though, was them being fairly well used USGI aluminum mags.

They weren't feeding correctly.

Happily, I did have a PMAG in my range bag and I moved the ammo over to my magazine and the gun ran great thereafter.

I have not clucked about that until today.  My friend looks askance at plastic gun stuff and it rankles that PMAGs trend to being better than the old fashioned metal magazines.

That trend is in how they wear.  Brand new; there's hardly a difference.  But USGI aluminum magazines don't show that they're getting past their serviceable life and your first indication they're worn out is the sudden increase in the rate of malfunctions.

When a PMAG gives up the ghost you can see that it has.

How they show damage works the same way.

MSR v SAR

A couple lawyerly types are advocating we stop calling AR and AK style guns "modern sporting rifles" and start calling them "semi-automatic rifles."

They are aware that the MSR appellation is a response to the "no sporting purposes" line of bullshit from the anti-gunners.

But an AR and an AK are semi-automatic rifles.  No different except in appearance from a Mini-14.

Modern sporting rifle was coined to embrace the military appearance and show that they were still sporty.

Entire sports were invented just to have sports for them to be part of!

Both terms are appropriate for the guns.

Where I think their reasoning is sound, though, is most of these, recent, bans and attempts to ban are aimed at anything semi-automatic that can take a magazine bigger than 1/3 normal capacity (or less).

I don't care what we call them as long as we defeat the anti-gunners.

If calling them explosive feather dusters is the magic phrase, then grab your EFD and meet me at the two-gun match!

Mutter Mutter Mutter

First off...  I did it wrong when I added some R134a to The Beast.

Dur moment.

When you open the valve to the can, the low pressure gauge is going to surge upwards.  I panicked and closed the valve and looked at the pressure, then lather rinsed and repeated until it looked like I was getting what I wanted.

What I should have done was to open the valve and leave it open until the low pressure side came back down and read correctly.  This will also cause the high pressure side to read correctly instead ever so slightly low.

Lesson learned.

Because I'd not actually added any R134a, it wasn't keeping up on Friday when I went to get Harvey her tobacco and take Bubba to the used book store.

Second.

The HP port appeared to be leaking at the valve.  It's not a regular Schrader valve.  It's a plunger with a rubber bumper on top.  I took the rubber bumper out, thinking it was something that'd gotten into the port by mistake and the leaking appeared to have stopped with it removed.

What bean counting EPA sycophant at GM changed the HP port from the tried and true, easily servicible, Schrader valve to a completely different kind of plunger valve that needs the entire port replaced instead of just the Schrader?

Rat fuck son of a bitch is what they are.

Oh, and good luck finding that port without a lot of community knowledge.  GM doesn't admit that the port CAN be replaced without replacing the entire high-pressure line.

For the record it is GM p/n 52458184, ACDelco p/n 15-5438 and Dorman p/n 800-955.

The Dorman has a replaceable Schrader valve and the ACDelco is rumored to have one.

Almost every GM vehicle since the change to R134 uses this HP port.  You're welcome!

Third.

Once I'd removed that hunk of rubber and properly added Freon R134a, the AC appears to be working correctly.  Pressures were right.  Pressures changed with the RPM correctly.  Temperatures looked good both at idle and on the road and matched what the service manual says I should get in "manual" and automatic modes.

Three days of it behaving!  Eyes crossed!

Voting

Got our sample ballots today.

Seven choices for President.

Five choices for US Senator.  One of which is Rick "Lurch" Scott, known gun banner.

I've only heard of two of each.

Thanks to term limits I get to vote for a new state Representative.  Actually happy about that, the previous one voted for the Lurch Scott gun control package.

Mostly the same idiots from the same pool of families that have dominated county politics for decades for the county commission and school board slots.

Six constitutional amendment referendums.  Abortion and marijuana are the two hot-button ones.  Both sides are blatantly lying.  Happily, I can live with the status quo and can vote no to both without qualms.

State Of The Alternates

Has it been a year already?

The availability of 6.8 Remington SPC, 6.5 Grendel and .300 Blackout based on what Midway USA carries.  Plus the ARCs!

6.8 SPC

14 loadings from 6 manufacturers.  2 available, 4 out of stock - backorder OK, 3 temporarily unavailable, 3 out of stock - no backorder, and 2 unavailable - limited production.

6.5 Grendel

17 loadings from 7 manufacturers.  7 available, 3 out of stock - backorder OK, 2 Coming Soon, 2 temporarily unavailable, 1 out of stock - no backorder, and 2 unavailable - limited production.

.300 Blackout

69 loadings from 20 manufacturers.  42 available, 9 out of stock - backorder OK, 2 temporarily unavailable, 9 out of stock - no backorder, 4 unavailable - limited production, and 3 coming soon.

22 ARC

2 loadings from 1 manufacturer.  2 coming soon.

6mm ARC

4 loadings from 1 manufacturer.  4 available. 

Update:

.30 AR

1 loading from 1 manufacturer.  1 temporarily unavailable.

6.8x43mm Surprise

Will it GURPS?

The 75gr bullet from the 22 ARC at 2953.4 fps will do 6d-1 pi.  20 avg.

The 108gr bullet from the 6mm ARC at 2626.7 fps will do 6d pi.  21 avg.

The 123gr bullet from the 6.5 Grendel at 2485.6 fps will do 6d pi.  21 avg.

The 120gr bullet from the 6.8 SPC at 2648.6 fps will do 6d+1 pi.  22 avg. <-- This is more than the normal 6d pi from a 16" barrel.

6" of wood is DR 6*

1.57" of concrete is DR 12*

The 1/2" mild steel plate backing the first two tests is DR 28.  None of them should penetrate the steel after the frangible materials.  All of them go through the wood.  All of them should exceed the HP of the concrete paver.

I'm ignoring the water test.

1/4" of mild steel is DR 14, they should all penetrate and they all do.

3/8" of mild steel is DR 21, 6.8 should penetrate and the others should not.  By ONE FREAKING POINT OF DAMAGE!!!  I guess this is what a single point of damage looks like.

I am not sure it really GURPS, but its a marginal case.  That 6.8 round went through with more than a point left over.  There's a ±10% fudge factor built into the rules that might help account for it.  Adding 10% to the 6d+1 brings us to 7d-1 and that averages 23 points of damage...  It still seems like it's carrying more through than 2 points.

It's not really a difference in bullet construction, they're all plastic tip rounds.  If anything the DR of everything should be doubled because they're all (0.5) pi+ rounds because expanding ammo!

I'd say it almost GURPS.

35% Raises

I did the math.  Harvey got a 17% increase in pay over the past four years.

I see that the IAMAW is demanding about twice that from Boeing over the next four years.

I will admit, they're demanding their pay keeps up with inflation and, unlike Harvey, can extort it from their employer.

But, over and over, with unions in manufacturing: their salary increase has to come from somewhere and it inevitably comes from the white collar side.

You know, the high salary, experienced, engineers; leaving cheaper and less experienced engineers to do the job.

And people are actually surprised when quality drops.

With Boeing, the IAMAW might be learning what Caterpillar workers did.  The minimum wage is $0 an hour when your company either dramatically contracts or goes under altogether.  Boeing appears to be aiming at the latter from a lack of wins lately.

Survival Is Inefficient

Reading this I am reminded of study after study talking about how big, nuclear carriers are more efficient than smaller ones.

Those studies are correct.  A big CVN like Ford is more efficient than resurrecting something like an SCB-125 Essex class.

The total number of aircraft carried is similar, but the super carriers carried larger and more capable planes.

Oriskany carried five squadrons of 12 planes each.  2x F-8 Crusader and 3x A-4 Skyhawk squadrons.

Forrestal carried five squadrons too.  2x F-4 Phantoms, 2x A-4 Skyhawk and 1x A-6 Intruder.  A lot more capable.

That's as close to apples and apples comparison as I can get with CV v CVL.

The modernized Essex boats were getting long in the tooth when the decision to go all CVN super carriers was made.  They were more expensive to operate than conventionally powered super carriers at the time.

I wonder if the math is different now.

Admitting we lose efficiency, but gain survivability with three lighter carriers with 2/3 the aircraft each as a Ford for the same shipbuilding cost might be worth it in a real fight.  If nothing else, the enemy has to get 3x as lucky to get rid of all the carriers.

Yes, I understand that 3 ships for only twice the planes is less efficient.  It's a given.

But I've always wondered if we took a Wasp or America class LHD/LHA and put an angled deck on it if we'd have a winner.

An America is $3.4b.  A Ford is $13b.

It's worth thinking about.  If they MUST be nuclear powered, steal the reactor from a Virginia class sub and get some benefit of standardization!  Don't forget you're going to need two...

What I am reminded of is an old GDW game set in Traveller: Trillion Credit Squadron.

What worked for me, over and over, was a larger fleet of mid-range ships over a small fleet of expensive ones.  It would often overcome a TL advantage from my opponent.

I am not reassured that China appears to be using my strategy...

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Technomancer's Merlin-1 is an alternate history.

It specifically states that unless they mention it, history runs as it did in our world.

I've made an alt of an alt...  Where the chimera veterans of Vietnam decide that, rather than return home to where they're subject to bigotry, they sign on in significant numbers to help keep the filthy Commies from taking over in Rhodesia.  They win here too.

Merlin-4?

It's my my world and I can change it if I want to...

And it's a small change.

In 1956 the United States Army adopts the S&W model 39 (X100 to get technical) as the Pistol, 9mm M4. 

Funny New Guys

GURPS came up with a world called Merlin.  It's the centerpiece of GURPS: Technomancer.

Technomancer was set in the same year it was published, 1998.

One divergence from our home timeline, in addition to magic coming from the Trinity Event, is the US winning the Vietnam war.

A small supplement for Merlin covering playing in 'Nam, Funny New Guys, came out in 2004 and is set in 1962 through 1975.

A staple, to me, of Technomancer was the chimera.  Partially human, partially animal to some degree.

Full chimara are more animal looking than human.  Half-chimera are more human with animal traits.

The animals listed are Cats, Coyote, Foxes, Hawks, Snakes, and Spiders.

The cat is a mountain lion or puma.

The coyote is what it seems.

The fox is a gray fox.

Hawks are likely red tail hawks.

Snakes are diamond back rattlers.

Spiders are red-leg tarantulas. 

You might notice that cats, coyotes, and foxes have fur.  Hawks have feathers.  Spiders are hairy.

Humans aren't furry.

Vietnam is wet and muddy.

Bare skin is unpleasant enough with mud and wet; but FUR?

I have made several full-snake chimera characters for this setting, but never a furry one.

I've considered a spider.

Because They're The Canaries In The Coal Mine

I've been asked why I'm so concerned about Jews and people hating on Jews when I am not, in fact, Jewish.

Because the people who hate and murder Jews have no compunctions about killing other groups.

The Holocaust is a great example.

Jews were the majority of the people killed in the death camps, but they were not the only people killed in the death camps.

In all likelihood, when the last Jew is up the chimney, the people who killed them will begin to look for others to keep the camps in business.

Radical Islam, for example, has a long list of non-Jews they wanna whack.  That list will not get shorter once they've done for Israel.

Not that I expect them to manage the task.

Of course, it sure looks like a large chunk of the Islamic world is fine with Israel ending the Iran problem, and if that takes the radical Islam problem with it...

Analysis True

They're BAAAAAAAACK

It would appear that the Snowbirds have returned to Florida early this year.

US19 was choked with them today.

It distresses me that I have to increase the level of driving aggression so that I can get to clear air and set the cruise at the speed limit.

It's that or suffer at ten under and try to interpret the random engagement of brake lights on the car in front of me with the New York/Virginia/Massachusetts plates.

Someones Clearance Needs Revoked

Apparently, Israel's entire battle plan with regards to Iran was leaked from the US.

I remember when leaking classified materials was a crime.

The problem I have about getting too upset about this is how often we used to catch Israel doing espionage here and against our interests.  Look it up!

I generally support their right to exist and I don't think that Iran having the detailed plans will help them much.

It's like Mike Tyson walking up to you and saying, "I am going to hit you in the face with my right fist."

There's fuck all you can do about it unless you are a heavyweight boxer in your own right.

Obligatory

Today is 10-22, so we post the obligatory 10-22.

You've Got Your French In My German

I don't know where I came up with "hue and drang" but it appears that I'm combining stock phrases.

The hue comes from hue and cry.

The drang comes from sturm und drang.

I went looking for the etymology of hue and drang and discovered that it's found only on an obscure blog originating from Florida.

In other words, ME.

They're not even remotely related phrases in meaning!

The thing is, I am pretty sure I'm repeating someone else who said it enough for it to stick in my memory and become part of my vernacular.

Arthritis

Did some saber drills today.

My wrist hurts.

No surprise.  I'm old and arthritic.

A familiar burn is in my forearm.  Exercise is good, right?

Two Weeks

It seems strange that after four eight solid years of the press shitting on Trump that we're just two weeks from four more years of the press shitting on Trump.

It doesn't even matter if he's president-elect on November 6, 2024.

After all the sturm und drang about Trump for the past eight years, I am perfectly willing to accept literally Hitler just to get them to shut up.

I'm a party member, after all, and we get sent to the camps last.

A Quibble

In The Three Musketeers Planchet is not a squire.

Planchet is a lackey.

Despite the modern usage of the term as a toady, in the 1600's it's an honorable profession.

The amusing thing is that this came up during gaming once.

A player was looking for a way to make his character fit in and I suggested the job of lackey.

He initially balked, but I got to explain that it was much sought after position.

A noble gentleman without a lackey is less than whole.

Batman and valet are equivalent.

5.56 For Home Defence And General Looter Repellent

There's been a flurry of YouTube vids that have been suggested for my perusal about what is the best 5.56x45mm for home defense.

They're mostly focused on how the very affordable M855 isn't really all that good for social use.

It always mentions that M193 isn't ideal either.

I feel like I need to remind some of these pundits that 55gr M193 has killed more people than every other version of 5.56x45mm combined.

Both rounds work at social distances.  Even a barrel so short you have to call your AR a pistol or pay for a stamp will with either at the ranges you're going to see inside your house.

The main problem with SS109 and M855 rounds is indifferent quality control and the steel portion of the round not being precisely located inside the jacket.  That affects accuracy.

Many range forbid M855 rounds because they tend to chew up the back-stop or are a spark and fire hazard.

That sucks because it's affordable.

I prefer 69gr Sierra Match King for social purposes.

I would not, however, feel unarmed if I had to resort to one of the 1:12 twist retro guns firing M193.

PS: If one of the aforementioned looters makes me use my heavier-than-an-FAL M16A4 clone to repel them, they are going to die.  Even if I have to beat them to death with a flip-flop.  Gods I dislike that thing.  Even if it IS an accurate rifle, it's too gorram heavy.

Fair Weather Fans

It's no secret that I'm a Hockey fan.

The local team is having a bad couple games.

This had led to cries for the coach and goalie to be fired by people that I don't consider fans.

Players have bad days.

Coaches have bad days.

Teams have bad runs.

It's the nature of sports.

NIMBY

We have a "low barrier" homeless shelter near here.

It's on the grounds of a defunct assisted care living facility.

It's a bunch of one-room mini-houses and what I'd call FEMA trailers.

Joy.

What low barrier means is homeless people who are ineligible for normal shelters because of their criminal and/or drug histories.

It has a decidedly temporary appearance, and I hope that it is.

The people it's intended for are NOT good neighbors.

I am not sure if it's a coincidence, or not, that we had someone riding our doorbell at 0430 this morning.

That stopped when both Harvey and I lit up the window in the front door with our weapon lights.

I don't want that to become a regular occurrence.  Someone is liable to get shot.

Life Support

The AC was cycling off and on last night on The Beast.

Plenty cold, but at the desired temperature, it was alternating warm and cold.  Full cold would stay cold.

With the over computerized climate control system, that's a symptom of being a little low on Freon R134a.

So I hooked up my gauges and put my thermometer in the vent.

Running about 50psi low on the high side, 25psi low on the low side and 8 degrees warm at the vent.

So I added a little R134a and now the pressures and temperature are perfect!

I wonder how much this would have cost to take to a shop.

She Handles

We've a local road that's good and twisty.

I've long been the kind of hot-rodder that builds the car to handle rather than for the 1/4 mile.

Although all I've done handling wise to The Beast is fix the suspension, it's shown itself to be wonderfully sure footed.

The gigantic Brembo brakes from the previous owner's mods are a bonus to handling too.

Tonight I left a C6 Z06 in the dust on this twisty road.

He's a friend and he doesn't DO twisty roads from what I've seen.  He's modded his Vette to be very quick in a straight line and ignores the handling potential.

It means that I can get ahead and stay ahead despite fewer horses and more mass.

Once I'd gotten back on normal roads and set the cruise to 5 over, it took him 6 miles to catch up.

Bwahahahahaha!

For Entertainment Purposes Only?

Colion Noir tries to put a game face on it and insist on complete coverage.

But Donald really did say that guns are for entertainment purposes when he mentions the more important reasons.

Ooops.  That's a soundbite that we're going to be hearing a lot.

The thing is, he didn't really answer the question.

Explain his policies to the parents of the victims of school shootings.

I can explain it.

The reason your kids are dead is because people like the questioner demanded that schools be gun free victim zones where the criminal could shoot as many children as he wanted while the police impotently stand a safe distance away, in effect facilitating the murders.

That millions of Americans own guns that are identical to these murderous criminals is irrelevant to school shootings.  Millions of Americans don't shoot anyone every day.

Yes, I am getting fucking cold blooded about this.

It comes from being continually blamed for the failings of others.