20090803
20090802
a new Iwanna
Something else to add to the list of things I lust for.
A Crankandstein grain mill. Just the guts, I'll build the rest. It can be chucked into an electric drill. But I'd really want a flywheel hand crank. SHTF y'know.
A Crankandstein grain mill. Just the guts, I'll build the rest. It can be chucked into an electric drill. But I'd really want a flywheel hand crank. SHTF y'know.
20090726
Where next?
The TEA Parties are delightfully morphing into an agile protest machine. Two developments in particular.
One, they are organizing to appear in response to key legislation---Obamacare in particular---on key dates.
Two, they are appearing as counterprotestors to spoil the protests of opposing groups.
This shows agility. But both of these developments are still reactive, and as the general said, we need to recover the Initiative. It's great to have the shorter OODA loop than your opponent, but we need to take the fight to him. He wins who chooses where and when to fight.
The TEA Party I've attended so far is organized consciously and deliberately with the goal of restoring Federalism, and they strive to defer any other goals, alliances, or identifications that could detract from that one.
So where next? The next likely Federal holiday that will release us proletarians from our yokes long enough to appear on the Capitol steps is, er, Labor Day? Well, I guess that could work. Veterans' Day? That's too long.
I think Obamacare still presents a fat target. If Congress truly has deferred any further work on nationalizing medical care until after the August recess, at best that means Obamacare sponsors and lobbyists will be redoubling their efforts through that recess to get a New Improved Obamacare proposal ready for the first hour of the first day Congress is back.
That leaves TEA Partiers only that long to turn their momentum into Initiative, using Federalism as the frame of reference because that's what TEA Parties do (at least the TEA Party apparatus here in Cheyenne).
Well then, what is the Federalism nexus for nationalized medical care? The straightforward Tenth Amendment argument isn't enough: "They can't be allowed to move all of us into a single-payer system because the Constitution doesn't assign them that power!!!" I can hear the crickets already, especially with an electorate that put Obama in power. Even if disapproval of Obama is at its most plangent, arguing to do nothing, or to let the Federal government do nothing, rings flat and hollow.
So perhaps this: we can agree with President Obama that the current trend in medical care costs is untenable. Sure. But we can also argue, taking the initiative and taking the streets, that everything about the current system that makes it untenable can be traced back to the government, at some level.
Take away the Obamacare argument that the free market is failing in health care. We don't have a free market in health care, and we haven't since World Ware II.
Take away the Obamacare argument that CEOs get Cadillac plans while the working blokes get laid off and have no plans. Corporate income taxes made both ends of that stick possible, by connecting medical care to employment.
And so forth.
The signs won't be easy to write, but that can be trusted to all of us dollar-a-day working blokes who have to shoulder the payment otherwise. We've done the sign-making very well so far. The TEA Party movement just needs to call in the signs and the loudspeakers, and find a place and time for the lawnchairs.
Meanwhile, we need to cover a few flanks. What other legislative or executive fronts will President Obama open up to improve his chances on medical care? Back to cap-and-trade? Another stimulus?
One, they are organizing to appear in response to key legislation---Obamacare in particular---on key dates.
Two, they are appearing as counterprotestors to spoil the protests of opposing groups.
This shows agility. But both of these developments are still reactive, and as the general said, we need to recover the Initiative. It's great to have the shorter OODA loop than your opponent, but we need to take the fight to him. He wins who chooses where and when to fight.
The TEA Party I've attended so far is organized consciously and deliberately with the goal of restoring Federalism, and they strive to defer any other goals, alliances, or identifications that could detract from that one.
So where next? The next likely Federal holiday that will release us proletarians from our yokes long enough to appear on the Capitol steps is, er, Labor Day? Well, I guess that could work. Veterans' Day? That's too long.
I think Obamacare still presents a fat target. If Congress truly has deferred any further work on nationalizing medical care until after the August recess, at best that means Obamacare sponsors and lobbyists will be redoubling their efforts through that recess to get a New Improved Obamacare proposal ready for the first hour of the first day Congress is back.
That leaves TEA Partiers only that long to turn their momentum into Initiative, using Federalism as the frame of reference because that's what TEA Parties do (at least the TEA Party apparatus here in Cheyenne).
Well then, what is the Federalism nexus for nationalized medical care? The straightforward Tenth Amendment argument isn't enough: "They can't be allowed to move all of us into a single-payer system because the Constitution doesn't assign them that power!!!" I can hear the crickets already, especially with an electorate that put Obama in power. Even if disapproval of Obama is at its most plangent, arguing to do nothing, or to let the Federal government do nothing, rings flat and hollow.
So perhaps this: we can agree with President Obama that the current trend in medical care costs is untenable. Sure. But we can also argue, taking the initiative and taking the streets, that everything about the current system that makes it untenable can be traced back to the government, at some level.
Take away the Obamacare argument that the free market is failing in health care. We don't have a free market in health care, and we haven't since World Ware II.
Take away the Obamacare argument that CEOs get Cadillac plans while the working blokes get laid off and have no plans. Corporate income taxes made both ends of that stick possible, by connecting medical care to employment.
And so forth.
The signs won't be easy to write, but that can be trusted to all of us dollar-a-day working blokes who have to shoulder the payment otherwise. We've done the sign-making very well so far. The TEA Party movement just needs to call in the signs and the loudspeakers, and find a place and time for the lawnchairs.
Meanwhile, we need to cover a few flanks. What other legislative or executive fronts will President Obama open up to improve his chances on medical care? Back to cap-and-trade? Another stimulus?
You are entitled to be angry
I'm the bastard who bids on all that stuff on eBay with at least 5 days to go in the auction.
Sure, I'd buy the item for $19.99 if the remaining 5 days, 19 hours and 43 minutes pass with no other bids for a $600 weather station. You would too. But some other bastard will notice, and because he has no job and no life, he'll hang out, watching and waiting, and snipe it. Or he'll steal hours and internet bandwidth from his employer to do it.
So I feel obligated to bid, just to pump the price up earlier and summon karmic justice for the sniper's employer. Call it amusement, call it sour grapes, call it pissing in the well.
Seriously, I would respect eBay a lot more if they adopted gunbroker's 15-minute rule.
Sure, I'd buy the item for $19.99 if the remaining 5 days, 19 hours and 43 minutes pass with no other bids for a $600 weather station. You would too. But some other bastard will notice, and because he has no job and no life, he'll hang out, watching and waiting, and snipe it. Or he'll steal hours and internet bandwidth from his employer to do it.
So I feel obligated to bid, just to pump the price up earlier and summon karmic justice for the sniper's employer. Call it amusement, call it sour grapes, call it pissing in the well.
Seriously, I would respect eBay a lot more if they adopted gunbroker's 15-minute rule.
20090721
Sorry, Chucklef^ck, you have it exactly backwards
"If you walk down the street in New York ... you can have the solace of knowing that if someone has a gun on them they've gone through a rigorous police background check. After this bill, you can have no such comfort," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday.
No, Senator Chuckie, you really should have said, "If you walk down the street in New York ... you can have the solace of knowing that if someone has a gun on them they are either a hardened career criminal, or a dozy celebrity who has paid off a City official."
You bastard. Not that you spend a lot of time 'walking down the street in New York' instead of riding a limo in DC. If only you had to live, work, and move about in the same helplessness you force on your own constituents.
20090713
about the kit
Bill Quick is floating the idea of amateur radio gear for post-apocalyptic San Francisco.
This is what we have in Chez Fûz, geared towards mobile QRP.
Yaesu FT817ND, a 2.5/5 W transceiver that runs every band from 160m to 70cm, except 1.25m and Weather.
A Buddistick HF antenna that I'm still figuring out.
An LDG Z100 autotuner that I'm hacking various other antennae for.
A couple sealed lead-acid batteries that will keep the 817 running for a couple of days between charges.
It's cool for me, Bill will probably want something else.
This is what we have in Chez Fûz, geared towards mobile QRP.
Yaesu FT817ND, a 2.5/5 W transceiver that runs every band from 160m to 70cm, except 1.25m and Weather.
A Buddistick HF antenna that I'm still figuring out.
An LDG Z100 autotuner that I'm hacking various other antennae for.
A couple sealed lead-acid batteries that will keep the 817 running for a couple of days between charges.
It's cool for me, Bill will probably want something else.
20090704
Cowboy TEA Party pics
I'd say there were 300 people in Cheyenne today in front of the Capitol.
Many of the Usual Suspects attended.
Revolutionary War Veterans' Association
HR 1207, Audit the Fed
Harley Riders
The Tyranny Response Teams are still around.
Several Gadsden flags
The was a speaker for Oathkeepers. Another speaker is a regular morning talk host here, Dave Chaffin.
In all, this TEA Party had a core message and kept hammering on it: the lack of meaningful Tenth Amendment protection. Kudos to the organizers, Cowboy TEA Party. Lisa Ray has been out in front with this effort, especially on the air.
Downside: there are some folks circulating a petition to form a Tea Party, as in political party. I think that's a mistake. The TEA Party organizers take pains to point out that the organizers of the political party are not connected to the TEA Party, and they're pissed about it.
I saw little of the mainstream media at this event. There were certainly some pros with heavy cameras, but I didn't see any credentials or brands on them. No TV coverage I could see, and this market has at least one station with an ENG vehicle up to the task. Their front webpage shows zip about the TEA Party.
Many of the Usual Suspects attended.
Revolutionary War Veterans' Association
HR 1207, Audit the Fed
Harley Riders
The Tyranny Response Teams are still around.
Several Gadsden flags
The was a speaker for Oathkeepers. Another speaker is a regular morning talk host here, Dave Chaffin.
In all, this TEA Party had a core message and kept hammering on it: the lack of meaningful Tenth Amendment protection. Kudos to the organizers, Cowboy TEA Party. Lisa Ray has been out in front with this effort, especially on the air.
Downside: there are some folks circulating a petition to form a Tea Party, as in political party. I think that's a mistake. The TEA Party organizers take pains to point out that the organizers of the political party are not connected to the TEA Party, and they're pissed about it.
I saw little of the mainstream media at this event. There were certainly some pros with heavy cameras, but I didn't see any credentials or brands on them. No TV coverage I could see, and this market has at least one station with an ENG vehicle up to the task. Their front webpage shows zip about the TEA Party.
20090629
Surely he considers himself an educated man
. . . but an error such as this annoys me:
"not even one black firefighter could have been promoted based on the results of the original exam"
The damnable serial past participle. Could he not have recast that sentence?
"could have been promoted on the basis of the results of": clumsy, I'll admit, with daisy-chained prepositions.
"could have been promoted on the results of": is ecoomical and leaves little doubt of the meaning.
It's vexing. Soon enough this construction will be accepted usage.
"not even one black firefighter could have been promoted based on the results of the original exam"
The damnable serial past participle. Could he not have recast that sentence?
"could have been promoted on the basis of the results of": clumsy, I'll admit, with daisy-chained prepositions.
"could have been promoted on the results of": is ecoomical and leaves little doubt of the meaning.
It's vexing. Soon enough this construction will be accepted usage.
20090621
20090620
Reward builders rather than traders
" . . . we need to scrap shareholder value theory entirely. When it expires, so will stock-based compensation, and in due course, we will get back to rewarding builders more than traders."
" . . . executive compensation should have no component of stock-based compensation at all. Compensation should be based entirely on real-market measures such as revenues, profits, and return on book equity."
Undermining staying power: The role of unhelpful management theories
" . . . executive compensation should have no component of stock-based compensation at all. Compensation should be based entirely on real-market measures such as revenues, profits, and return on book equity."
Undermining staying power: The role of unhelpful management theories
Eulogy for an old friend
We first met in August, 24 years ago. I was fresh and optimistic; it was stoic and business-like. Yet we needed each other. $202.56 was a princely sum at the time, with me being a starving student and all. But school -- real school this time -- started in a couple weeks and I needed reliability that three generations of Texas Instruments hadn't given me. As I'm wont to do in the case of an expensive decision, I hemmed-n-hawed, made a few phone calls asking for advice, and, finally, capitulated to what I knew was the right decision. On August 16th, 1985, a shiny-new Hewlett Packard 41CV Scientific Calculator came home with me.
If memory serves, most, if not all, HP calculators of that era used Reverse Polish Notation. RPN was touted as being more efficient for the entry of long, complex formulas, especially when intermediate results where necessary elsewhere in the equation. Back in my Salad Days, though, I hadn't a clue how that would be helpful. I also didn't have a clue how to do RPN. Having been brought up using algebraic calculators, it was more than a few days before the lightbulb came on. That's because what had to happen first was to develop an understanding of what a "stack" was. Upon diving into the user's manual, I learned that the 41CV had a stack that was four entries deep. Huh?? Further research was in order.
Turns out a stack was an "automatic" way to store succesive data entries. Unlike many new terms I would become familiar with, "stack" was actually rather descriptive. Think of it as a spring-loaded cafeteria plate storage unit. As plates are added to the stack, the spring "automatically" reacts to the additional weight, dropping down a bit and keeping the new plates (roughly) at the same level as the previous plates. When a plate is removed from the top, the spring, now slightly less burdened, pushes the remaining plates upward for the next person to remove. In technical terms, this is known as a LIFO structure: last-in, first-out. It's embarrassing to say, but it took a while for this concept to sink in as it related to a calculator. But it did. And when it did, understanding RPN came quickly thereafter.
And it was beautiful!
I quickly became an RPN junkie. An RPN elitist. An RPN whore. And the 41CV was my enabler. To this day, I find algebraic calculators to be clumsy and, excuse me for saying so, proletarian. But the RPN wasn't the only thing contributing to my bigotry. The 41CV had it all, it seemed. Tactile keys. 100 memory locations. A (semi-)intuitive programming language. A plug-in module that contained programs for curve fitting, root finding, and basic matrix manipulations. And it was built like a Merkava tank. Unlike the disappointing TI-55s of my past, this thing Got It Done. Again and again and again. I was in calculator heaven! Newer and shinier HPs came along with their fancy graphics and overkill 32K memory, but I wasn't tempted in the slightest. Being the Luddite that I am, I figured that if the 41CV couldn't do, it probably wasn't worth doing.
We stuck together like glue. Tucked safely in its own ALICE pack pocket, the CV was dragged from class to class and braved year-round motorcycle commuting, exposed to the gamut of Maryland weather conditions. Rarely did a day go by that world-changing calculations didn't take place. From the mundane square-root-of-two, to the multi-term Practical Operational Amplifier formula, we did it all. Complex variable manipulations, crude Runge-Kutta-based projectile trajectories, multi-joint truss stress matrices, and countless "final numerical results" for everything from simple integrals to PID controllers to mind-boggling State Space systems. For five years of undergraduate electrical engineering classes, two years of half-hearted -- and incomplete -- graduate degree studies, and nearly 20 years of paid, on-the-job work, it stayed with me, a trustworthy, reliable assistant.
But about a year ago, things started to change in the CV. Unexplained shut-downs in mid-equation. Refusal to turn on. Intermittent lock-ups. One time I extracted the CV from its case and it was hot. And I mean hot! I had used it about an hour earlier and had shut it off faithfully as I'd done thousands of times before. But it wouldn't turn on. In a panic, I pulled the battery pack and let things cool for a bit. I cleaned up the (already clean) battery contacts, reinserted the pack, and it resurrected itself. But that moment was a turning point, for it was never the same afterwards. Reliability was sketchy. Battery life dropped to nil. New batteries that had easily lasted a year or more before were now lasting but two weeks. Finally, fresh batteries weren't enough. We crunched our last numbers together sometime back in November. I'm sure it was a simple muzzle energy calculation; I wish I could remember exactly. Since then, it's been sitting in the top drawer of my desk, looking no different than any other time in its life. But it is dead. If calculators have souls, I hope the CV's has gone to a place worthy of its contributions. It certainly earned it.
I recently replaced the CV with a newer HP calculator: a 35s.
So far, it's been fine. The keypad layout is different but my fingers are learning to trace the new patterns on their own. The keys have the familiar tactile feel and it is, needless to say, RPN. I'll begrudgingly admit that I like the two-line display. I helps me remember what's in the second spot on the the stack, aka, the Y-register. The temporary memory structure is (strangely) alpha-based, not numeric-based like the CV. Additional memory is available thru indirect addressing, which I'll have to experiment with. But it lacks the reassuring heft of the 41CV and the jury's still out on the pixelated display.
I don't know yet if the 35s has a soul or not. I don't feel especially enamored with it like I did the day I first brought home the 41CV, and every day thereafter. The 35s is perfectly functional and I suppose it will serve me well. But I doubt very seriously that the challenges we face in the future will bring us together in the same way the past did with the CV41 and me. Perhaps it's not so much the thing itself as it is the shared experiences.
I miss you my old friend. RIP...
The Cabinet Man
If memory serves, most, if not all, HP calculators of that era used Reverse Polish Notation. RPN was touted as being more efficient for the entry of long, complex formulas, especially when intermediate results where necessary elsewhere in the equation. Back in my Salad Days, though, I hadn't a clue how that would be helpful. I also didn't have a clue how to do RPN. Having been brought up using algebraic calculators, it was more than a few days before the lightbulb came on. That's because what had to happen first was to develop an understanding of what a "stack" was. Upon diving into the user's manual, I learned that the 41CV had a stack that was four entries deep. Huh?? Further research was in order.
Turns out a stack was an "automatic" way to store succesive data entries. Unlike many new terms I would become familiar with, "stack" was actually rather descriptive. Think of it as a spring-loaded cafeteria plate storage unit. As plates are added to the stack, the spring "automatically" reacts to the additional weight, dropping down a bit and keeping the new plates (roughly) at the same level as the previous plates. When a plate is removed from the top, the spring, now slightly less burdened, pushes the remaining plates upward for the next person to remove. In technical terms, this is known as a LIFO structure: last-in, first-out. It's embarrassing to say, but it took a while for this concept to sink in as it related to a calculator. But it did. And when it did, understanding RPN came quickly thereafter.
And it was beautiful!
I quickly became an RPN junkie. An RPN elitist. An RPN whore. And the 41CV was my enabler. To this day, I find algebraic calculators to be clumsy and, excuse me for saying so, proletarian. But the RPN wasn't the only thing contributing to my bigotry. The 41CV had it all, it seemed. Tactile keys. 100 memory locations. A (semi-)intuitive programming language. A plug-in module that contained programs for curve fitting, root finding, and basic matrix manipulations. And it was built like a Merkava tank. Unlike the disappointing TI-55s of my past, this thing Got It Done. Again and again and again. I was in calculator heaven! Newer and shinier HPs came along with their fancy graphics and overkill 32K memory, but I wasn't tempted in the slightest. Being the Luddite that I am, I figured that if the 41CV couldn't do, it probably wasn't worth doing.
We stuck together like glue. Tucked safely in its own ALICE pack pocket, the CV was dragged from class to class and braved year-round motorcycle commuting, exposed to the gamut of Maryland weather conditions. Rarely did a day go by that world-changing calculations didn't take place. From the mundane square-root-of-two, to the multi-term Practical Operational Amplifier formula, we did it all. Complex variable manipulations, crude Runge-Kutta-based projectile trajectories, multi-joint truss stress matrices, and countless "final numerical results" for everything from simple integrals to PID controllers to mind-boggling State Space systems. For five years of undergraduate electrical engineering classes, two years of half-hearted -- and incomplete -- graduate degree studies, and nearly 20 years of paid, on-the-job work, it stayed with me, a trustworthy, reliable assistant.
But about a year ago, things started to change in the CV. Unexplained shut-downs in mid-equation. Refusal to turn on. Intermittent lock-ups. One time I extracted the CV from its case and it was hot. And I mean hot! I had used it about an hour earlier and had shut it off faithfully as I'd done thousands of times before. But it wouldn't turn on. In a panic, I pulled the battery pack and let things cool for a bit. I cleaned up the (already clean) battery contacts, reinserted the pack, and it resurrected itself. But that moment was a turning point, for it was never the same afterwards. Reliability was sketchy. Battery life dropped to nil. New batteries that had easily lasted a year or more before were now lasting but two weeks. Finally, fresh batteries weren't enough. We crunched our last numbers together sometime back in November. I'm sure it was a simple muzzle energy calculation; I wish I could remember exactly. Since then, it's been sitting in the top drawer of my desk, looking no different than any other time in its life. But it is dead. If calculators have souls, I hope the CV's has gone to a place worthy of its contributions. It certainly earned it.
I recently replaced the CV with a newer HP calculator: a 35s.
So far, it's been fine. The keypad layout is different but my fingers are learning to trace the new patterns on their own. The keys have the familiar tactile feel and it is, needless to say, RPN. I'll begrudgingly admit that I like the two-line display. I helps me remember what's in the second spot on the the stack, aka, the Y-register. The temporary memory structure is (strangely) alpha-based, not numeric-based like the CV. Additional memory is available thru indirect addressing, which I'll have to experiment with. But it lacks the reassuring heft of the 41CV and the jury's still out on the pixelated display.
I don't know yet if the 35s has a soul or not. I don't feel especially enamored with it like I did the day I first brought home the 41CV, and every day thereafter. The 35s is perfectly functional and I suppose it will serve me well. But I doubt very seriously that the challenges we face in the future will bring us together in the same way the past did with the CV41 and me. Perhaps it's not so much the thing itself as it is the shared experiences.
I miss you my old friend. RIP...
The Cabinet Man
20090513
Haaaaaiiiiil to power and to glory's way
What should come up on the shuffle of my ChiPod this morning at PT but Gentle Giant's album, The Power and The Glory?
Quite appropriate for our Hopey Changey President, I think.
Quite appropriate for our Hopey Changey President, I think.
20090420
A Clinton appointee is now a right-wing extremist?
Judge Gould writes in Nordyke v King, quoted here:
Careful, Your Honor, you're now on Secretary Napolitano's radar.
. . . the right to bear arms is a protection against the possibility that even our own government could degenerate into tyranny, and though this may seem unlikely, this possibility should be guarded against with individual diligence.
Careful, Your Honor, you're now on Secretary Napolitano's radar.
20090418
My BAG Day Score
I'm ashamed to admit that I've missed every Buy-A-Gun (BAG) Day since its inception. I've never been one to wait around to buy something to commemorate a particular event. But that's not true this year! (Sorta'...) Even if it was an "semi-unintentional" BAG buy -- and I had to sell a gun to get it -- I will assume still earn a BAG point. (And besides, even if I did sell a gun to get this one, somebody else enjoyed his BAG Day, too!)
I present to you a Smith and Wesson Model 18, circa 1980.
The revolver came with horribly mismatched target grips and while they were aesthetically pleasing (when viewed from only one side by someone with a short visual memory), they didn't really fit the hand very well. So I bolted on the Hogue rubber grips to match my 625 and 325 and all is good.
The back-story is that I'd been looking for a Model 63 on Gunbroker for going on a year. A few NIBs had gotten past me when I was short on funds and that ratcheted up the frustration factor. Then for a good two months, no 63s of note appeared for sale. An apparent drought.
Then while logging my daily read over at Tam's site, I was informed of something I'd never heard of: a Model 18 Combat Masterpiece. Really? A K-frame 22? Really? How had this gone unnoticed by me all these years? I admit that part of my lusting for a Model 63 was because of its stainless steel construction................, but a K-frame 22?
Oh, I had to have one. Off to Gunbroker.
I lost out on a nicely priced 98% Model 18 when the seller ignored my inquiries and another more daring buyer hit the "Buy Now" button. (The seller had two pictures in the ad and one was obviously not of a Model 18.) I went to the LGS and inquired about the "Classic" reissue of the Model 18 that S&W has out. $900 and indeterminate back-order duration. Unacceptable.
So back to Gunbroker. There was quite a disparity in "going price" for the listed Model 18s. Some of the rode hard and put away wet models were going for ~$450 but I just didn't like what I was seeing.* A few models were advertised as NIB or 100% -- and built before I was born -- but they were in the $1000+ range. I know that vintage Smiths are currentlyoverpriced being sold at what the market will bear and I didn't want to contribute (too much) to that trend. One Model 18 stood out as being in 98% condition and (relatively) reasonably priced. I agonized over it for about 12 hours and did the "Buy Now" thingy.
One week later, I had it in hand. I took it to the range the same day to test it out. Unfortunately, the tornado force winds we'd been having for the better part of a week didn't give me as many warm-fuzzies about the data as I'd have liked. All things considered, though, it did well at 25 yards and at first blush, appears nearly as accurate as my Mark II 22/45, which up to this point has been the standard bearer for 22 handgun accuracy in my meager collection thereof. But until I can get out there under "normal conditions", I won't know its true accuracy.
So my old Mini-14 has a new home and I'm the happy owner of yet another Smith, one that I didn't even know about three weeks ago.
Ciao!
* Gunbroker should have a mandatory photography tutorial for its sellers. If nothing else, people, Google "macro lens" fercrissakes and learn how to use one. Lighting, too. I'm by no means an expert photographer but I can get a useful and informative gun pic out of my measly 4M-pixel Canon. I'm jealous of folks like Tam that have decent-sized gun shows locally. They can see/fondle first hand the goodies that are up for sale and not have to rely on someone else's (sub-)amateur photography skills. Why Colorado gun shows are an insult to the genre, I'll never know...
I present to you a Smith and Wesson Model 18, circa 1980.
The revolver came with horribly mismatched target grips and while they were aesthetically pleasing (when viewed from only one side by someone with a short visual memory), they didn't really fit the hand very well. So I bolted on the Hogue rubber grips to match my 625 and 325 and all is good.
The back-story is that I'd been looking for a Model 63 on Gunbroker for going on a year. A few NIBs had gotten past me when I was short on funds and that ratcheted up the frustration factor. Then for a good two months, no 63s of note appeared for sale. An apparent drought.
Then while logging my daily read over at Tam's site, I was informed of something I'd never heard of: a Model 18 Combat Masterpiece. Really? A K-frame 22? Really? How had this gone unnoticed by me all these years? I admit that part of my lusting for a Model 63 was because of its stainless steel construction................, but a K-frame 22?
Oh, I had to have one. Off to Gunbroker.
I lost out on a nicely priced 98% Model 18 when the seller ignored my inquiries and another more daring buyer hit the "Buy Now" button. (The seller had two pictures in the ad and one was obviously not of a Model 18.) I went to the LGS and inquired about the "Classic" reissue of the Model 18 that S&W has out. $900 and indeterminate back-order duration. Unacceptable.
So back to Gunbroker. There was quite a disparity in "going price" for the listed Model 18s. Some of the rode hard and put away wet models were going for ~$450 but I just didn't like what I was seeing.* A few models were advertised as NIB or 100% -- and built before I was born -- but they were in the $1000+ range. I know that vintage Smiths are currently
One week later, I had it in hand. I took it to the range the same day to test it out. Unfortunately, the tornado force winds we'd been having for the better part of a week didn't give me as many warm-fuzzies about the data as I'd have liked. All things considered, though, it did well at 25 yards and at first blush, appears nearly as accurate as my Mark II 22/45, which up to this point has been the standard bearer for 22 handgun accuracy in my meager collection thereof. But until I can get out there under "normal conditions", I won't know its true accuracy.
So my old Mini-14 has a new home and I'm the happy owner of yet another Smith, one that I didn't even know about three weeks ago.
Ciao!
* Gunbroker should have a mandatory photography tutorial for its sellers. If nothing else, people, Google "macro lens" fercrissakes and learn how to use one. Lighting, too. I'm by no means an expert photographer but I can get a useful and informative gun pic out of my measly 4M-pixel Canon. I'm jealous of folks like Tam that have decent-sized gun shows locally. They can see/fondle first hand the goodies that are up for sale and not have to rely on someone else's (sub-)amateur photography skills. Why Colorado gun shows are an insult to the genre, I'll never know...
20090406
quote for the day
"I tend to get angry, dealing with deadbeats, but you know, that’s where a lot of the money is. Why I love America a whole damn lot - tons of money is just tied up with morons."
Scott Chaffin
Scott Chaffin
20090327
20090325
As close as I've ever come to batshit unhinged in public
I once had a company car. I was given a list of eligible models and a max price, and told to pick one and get the office manager to order it for me. Had to be domestic, had to be 4-door with good interior trim and a sound system. It would be used to take my customers out for entertainment.
It was delivered about two weeks later, and it came with a fuel card. I didn't pay for the gas to put in it either.
When I was briefed on how it was to be used, and how I was to report its value on my income tax returns, it was clear that corporate tax laws made the whole racket possible. I took customers out to lunch in it perhaps twice.
That racket came rushing back to me this morning, painfully and frighteningly. I seriously was screaming at the radio in my dash, slogging along Pershing Boulevard on my way to work.
This is why: NPR ran the story of GM's car perk program.
Some mewling would-be saint mewled, "we don't get fwee caws. We don't get fwee gas. Why should they get fwee cawws and fwee gas?"
I was shocked by how forcefully and spontaneously the rage leapt from me. Drivers in the lanes beside me turned and looked.
"Bawney Fwank gets a fwee caww. He gets a fucking dwivewww. He pwobabwy even gets a secuwwity detaiww. AND SPEAKEWWW PEWWOSI DEMANDS A FUCKING GUWWWFSTWEEAM!!! FWOM MY AIWWWW FOWWWCE!!!"
Congress made this. Congress made it possible. And I am more angry about it than I would have admitted 12 hours ago.
It was delivered about two weeks later, and it came with a fuel card. I didn't pay for the gas to put in it either.
When I was briefed on how it was to be used, and how I was to report its value on my income tax returns, it was clear that corporate tax laws made the whole racket possible. I took customers out to lunch in it perhaps twice.
That racket came rushing back to me this morning, painfully and frighteningly. I seriously was screaming at the radio in my dash, slogging along Pershing Boulevard on my way to work.
This is why: NPR ran the story of GM's car perk program.
Some mewling would-be saint mewled, "we don't get fwee caws. We don't get fwee gas. Why should they get fwee cawws and fwee gas?"
I was shocked by how forcefully and spontaneously the rage leapt from me. Drivers in the lanes beside me turned and looked.
"Bawney Fwank gets a fwee caww. He gets a fucking dwivewww. He pwobabwy even gets a secuwwity detaiww. AND SPEAKEWWW PEWWOSI DEMANDS A FUCKING GUWWWFSTWEEAM!!! FWOM MY AIWWWW FOWWWCE!!!"
Congress made this. Congress made it possible. And I am more angry about it than I would have admitted 12 hours ago.
20090306
This snip from this post at Volokh Conspiracy reminds me:
President Obama appears to me not so much an evil man who smooth-talked his way into "the most powerful office in the world", rather as a convenient patsy shoved into the job by the real evildoers elated to have him at their disposal. (Yes, I mean Congress.)
Mind you, if you look at Barack Obama the law professor, Barack Obama the community organizer, or Barack Obama the Illinois legislator, I concede he looked pretty evil. But today he is merely a conduit for someone else's evil. They pull the strings. He twitches.
I don't particularly miss Bill Clinton's presidency. But I adored the bowel-voiding hysteria of 1994 when the Democrat majority in Congress vanished overnight, and I got a few good chuckles from the divided government that followed.
Given that President Obama seems unable to tie his shoes without some wisp of approval or direction from his handlers in Congress, what sort of President would he be, and over what sort of America (and American economy) would he preside, if 2010 swept his present handlers out of power?
Congress has been the problem all along. If we want to solve the problem, it's not the Presidency we should seek to influence. We need to change the way things are done in Congress.
There is no need to romanticize Clinton. Government growth was constrained on his watch in part because his worst instincts were checked by a Republican Congress, and he in turn checked theirs. As a general rule, divided government leads to limited government.
President Obama appears to me not so much an evil man who smooth-talked his way into "the most powerful office in the world", rather as a convenient patsy shoved into the job by the real evildoers elated to have him at their disposal. (Yes, I mean Congress.)
Mind you, if you look at Barack Obama the law professor, Barack Obama the community organizer, or Barack Obama the Illinois legislator, I concede he looked pretty evil. But today he is merely a conduit for someone else's evil. They pull the strings. He twitches.
I don't particularly miss Bill Clinton's presidency. But I adored the bowel-voiding hysteria of 1994 when the Democrat majority in Congress vanished overnight, and I got a few good chuckles from the divided government that followed.
Given that President Obama seems unable to tie his shoes without some wisp of approval or direction from his handlers in Congress, what sort of President would he be, and over what sort of America (and American economy) would he preside, if 2010 swept his present handlers out of power?
Congress has been the problem all along. If we want to solve the problem, it's not the Presidency we should seek to influence. We need to change the way things are done in Congress.
20090304
Evidence, if you demanded it . . .
. . . that the recipient of 12 years of government schooling, plus a 4-year baccalaureate degree qualifying one for law school, plus law school itself, can still be embarrassingly illiterate:
The [sic]'s are not mine. Found at Volokh Conspiracy.
This is the output of someone practicing law. Would you want this attorney representing you?
Sadly, this attorney is responsible for the defense of someone who was convicted with the help of 'evidence' generated by a charlatan regularly targeted by Radley Balko, whom I admire.
I’m am [sic] Mr. (x)’s lawyer. This case is currently on appeal. You are not the prosecutor, the judge or a forensic expert. You have noted contacting several people who are potential witnesses in the case and who will be called as witnesses later on in an evidentiary hearing. As a lawyer you should no [sic] that you have no business talking to witnesses when you are not a party to this case. Cease immediately or I will file an ethics complaint with your state bar.... You are a memeber [sic] of the general public you have no right to be demanding that this child’s autopsy or medical records be turned over to you. Again you are neither the DA or the JUdge [sic] in this case.
The [sic]'s are not mine. Found at Volokh Conspiracy.
This is the output of someone practicing law. Would you want this attorney representing you?
Sadly, this attorney is responsible for the defense of someone who was convicted with the help of 'evidence' generated by a charlatan regularly targeted by Radley Balko, whom I admire.
20090222
Meet Bettie Jean
Bettie Jean arrived. I've had the receiver, a Grade B Springfield from Civilian Marksmanship Program, for about 2 years. The barrel is a New Criterion from Midway. The rest of the parts came in a cosmoline-jammed bag from Sarco. Will tell you later how they all came together, but they did just yesterday and here's the first bearskin-rug photo of her.
TCM: I've proved myself wrong. Bobbie Jo the Grendel was supposed to be done first, my bad. Once Bettie Jean got into qualified hands, well, she just happened.
She's still not quite done, there will be some Eliza-Doolittle-style improvements to be made to her. But she's here.
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