The village may have replaced "the state," and it in turn may have replaced the fist with the hug, but an unwanted embrace from which you cannot escape is just a nicer form of tyranny.
Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism
20120724
Quote from the recent past
Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism
20120723
20120715
little chores around the house
My favorite camp axe, an Estwing with a hammerhead, is going on 30 years old, and was beginning to show its age. The chrome finish is worn away, showing pitted steel.
As I was browsing an oldtimer's page about restoring old Coleman camping equipment, there appeared a technique to remove rust and prep the metal surface for a newer finish.
The oldtimer described how to immerse the metal part in a weak solution of trisodium phosphate, with a separate electrode of the same metal as that to be cleaned (discarded steel banding in this case). Put positive voltage on that sacrificial elecrode, and negative on the part to be cleaned. Flow direct current through it for a loooonnnnng time, and the rust will be pulled off the part. It worked nicely enough that some steel wool got the whole axe looking uniformly black and rust-free. Then an old slow-cooker heated up some Brownell's zinc parkerizing solution. After that, Johnson paste car wax rubbed deep into the pores; she looks beautiful.
The camp stove that prompted me to look up the Coleman restoration page got less elaborate treatment. The drip pan was pretty rough with some rust and food drippings, but they came off easily. Garage floor cleaner (probably phophate in there too) got most of the crap off, and I tried Rust-oleum's galvanizing spary paint. Gorgeous.
But the burner will not shut off. New generator is on there, but I need to replace the packing in the fuel stem assembly. Replacement packing parts are on the way.
The oldtimer described how to immerse the metal part in a weak solution of trisodium phosphate, with a separate electrode of the same metal as that to be cleaned (discarded steel banding in this case). Put positive voltage on that sacrificial elecrode, and negative on the part to be cleaned. Flow direct current through it for a loooonnnnng time, and the rust will be pulled off the part. It worked nicely enough that some steel wool got the whole axe looking uniformly black and rust-free. Then an old slow-cooker heated up some Brownell's zinc parkerizing solution. After that, Johnson paste car wax rubbed deep into the pores; she looks beautiful.
The camp stove that prompted me to look up the Coleman restoration page got less elaborate treatment. The drip pan was pretty rough with some rust and food drippings, but they came off easily. Garage floor cleaner (probably phophate in there too) got most of the crap off, and I tried Rust-oleum's galvanizing spary paint. Gorgeous.
But the burner will not shut off. New generator is on there, but I need to replace the packing in the fuel stem assembly. Replacement packing parts are on the way.
20120626
The Burden of Perishable Skills
One of the recurring topics of conversation between the Missus and me is, "Why do we never have enough time?" Granted, we're busy people, with a regular -- and sometimes overloaded -- work, exercise, and competition shooting schedule. We're both NRA Certified Firearms Instructors and Range Safety Officers. I "volunteer" as a Steel Challenge Match Director and we'll both soon be official USPSA ROs. I'm an ARRL-qualified "emergency communications responder", for the lack of a better term. (ARECC Level 1, for those that are curious.) We like being outdoors and we work to stay fit in order to hike to the Colorado back country and snag a 14'er or two each year.
Admittedly, when we're feeling overwhelmed, we can simply let one or two things go until we're back to treading water. No problem.
Except 'letting something go for a bit' doesn't solve the core issue: many of these activities involve perishable skills. It's not so much the activities themselves that consume a lot of time, but the maintanance of the skills required to perform the activities competently that requires serious time commitments. This is a very recent realization, discovered amidst some soul-searching I've been doing in an effort to combat/overcome some burn-out problems I've been having.
So let's do a brief run-down of these perishable skills that the Missus and I must maintain:
We started taking Krav Maga classes in the fall of 2011. We did this for several reasons, the explanations being beyond the scope of this post. Much like shooting, the skills acquired thru sweat and blood (literally) are hard-earned -- and easily lost. We took off some time from Krav during the month of April and our return in May was an eye-opener. Yeah, we remembered this technique and that set of moves, but we were rusty, slow, and weak. One run thru a very simple knife defense drill and it was clear that my counterstrike couldn't have knocked over a glass of milk. We're currently taking off the month of June in order to get past some conflicting scheduling and we know our return to class in July will be . . . . .humiliating humbling.
The Missus and I are also ham radio operators, licensed General Class and Extra Class, respectively. I got my license back when Morse code was still part of the General exam, so I was obligated to learn it. I taught myself and managed to ace the exam. Granted, 5 words per minute (WPM) wasn't a huge hurdle but it was a proud accomplishment, nonetheless. I've since worked my way up to 15 WPM and practice Morse code three or four times a week. If I skip practice for a couple of weeks, it shows -- and badly. Again, a perishable skill.
Motorcycling isn't like riding a bicycle; once you learn the basics, you're not necessarily good to go. There's as much -- if not more -- art and instinct to negotiating 75 MPH highway traffic as there is to the simple act of moving forward on two wheels. I've logged well over 100K miles on various motorcycles in the last 25 years and I can tell when I haven't ridden for a month or two. I'm not quite as 'in tune' to the ebb-and-flow of traffic. Not quite as smooth and confident. Not quite as alert and cautious. I'd like to see the numbers comparing motorcycle accidents to miles ridden. I'll bet it's heavily skewed towards the one-50-mile-ride-a-month crowd.
Physical fitness is not so much a 'skill' as it is a 'state of being'. But like any skill, it's just as perishable. When I was in my mid-30s, I was a CATx USCF (now USA Cycling) road racer with aspirations to tackle the RAAM. I trained like a fiend, grinding out 200 to 300 miles each week on my trusty Litespeed. Due to changing circumstances, I had to give up that kind of training schedule after a couple of years. Backing-down turned to backing-off turned to abandonment. Six months later, I could barely pedal 35 miles. Since then, I've never been able to maintain a focused workout regimen for more than 12 months. Something always comes up -- work, family, etc. -- and I have to drop the program. Getting back into the groove gets harder each time, doubly so as "50 Trips Around the Sun" looms near on the horizon.
Coupled with the fact that these skills need to be addressed on a regular basis, I have the problem of being a goal-oriented person. All of the things I mentioned above involve "journeys", not "destinations" -- and I find most journeys to be tedious and distracting. The goal, the end-game, the finish line is what I strive for. Check a box and move on to the next thing. But none of those things have that. Intermediate goals? Yes. Ultimate goals? No. So I get bored when there's little or no apparent progress toward a destination. I also find much to mock in the 'continual improvement' mindset that's so prevalent these days. I'm sorry, but everyone has a plateau -- and once you reach that, you bump into The Law of Diminishing Returns very quickly. Who has the bandwidth for that?
So I'm always gonna' be a mid-pack shooter, a 'P' level Krav student, a 15 WPM Morse operator, a 125-pound bench presser, a 25-mile-weekend bicyclist, and a 200-mile-a-month (if I'm lucky) motorcyclist. Yes, I find it frustrating to try to find a balance between these demanding activities. Yes, I find it frustrating to continually revisit weak spots that I have worked thru in the past. Yes, I wish I could find an end-game to all these things, wash my hands of them once-and-for-all, and enjoy the freed-up time and money to pursue other things. But, no, because they're perishable skills, I will not give them up. I've worked too hard to gain what little competence I have in them. And, paraphrasing Heinlein*, I'd rather be good at several things than great at one thing.
This is my burden, even if I don't always bear it well.
TCM
* "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Robert Heinlein
Admittedly, when we're feeling overwhelmed, we can simply let one or two things go until we're back to treading water. No problem.
Except 'letting something go for a bit' doesn't solve the core issue: many of these activities involve perishable skills. It's not so much the activities themselves that consume a lot of time, but the maintanance of the skills required to perform the activities competently that requires serious time commitments. This is a very recent realization, discovered amidst some soul-searching I've been doing in an effort to combat/overcome some burn-out problems I've been having.
So let's do a brief run-down of these perishable skills that the Missus and I must maintain:
- Shooting
- Krav Maga
- Morse Code
- Motorcycling
- Physical Fitness
We started taking Krav Maga classes in the fall of 2011. We did this for several reasons, the explanations being beyond the scope of this post. Much like shooting, the skills acquired thru sweat and blood (literally) are hard-earned -- and easily lost. We took off some time from Krav during the month of April and our return in May was an eye-opener. Yeah, we remembered this technique and that set of moves, but we were rusty, slow, and weak. One run thru a very simple knife defense drill and it was clear that my counterstrike couldn't have knocked over a glass of milk. We're currently taking off the month of June in order to get past some conflicting scheduling and we know our return to class in July will be . . . . .
The Missus and I are also ham radio operators, licensed General Class and Extra Class, respectively. I got my license back when Morse code was still part of the General exam, so I was obligated to learn it. I taught myself and managed to ace the exam. Granted, 5 words per minute (WPM) wasn't a huge hurdle but it was a proud accomplishment, nonetheless. I've since worked my way up to 15 WPM and practice Morse code three or four times a week. If I skip practice for a couple of weeks, it shows -- and badly. Again, a perishable skill.
Motorcycling isn't like riding a bicycle; once you learn the basics, you're not necessarily good to go. There's as much -- if not more -- art and instinct to negotiating 75 MPH highway traffic as there is to the simple act of moving forward on two wheels. I've logged well over 100K miles on various motorcycles in the last 25 years and I can tell when I haven't ridden for a month or two. I'm not quite as 'in tune' to the ebb-and-flow of traffic. Not quite as smooth and confident. Not quite as alert and cautious. I'd like to see the numbers comparing motorcycle accidents to miles ridden. I'll bet it's heavily skewed towards the one-50-mile-ride-a-month crowd.
Physical fitness is not so much a 'skill' as it is a 'state of being'. But like any skill, it's just as perishable. When I was in my mid-30s, I was a CATx USCF (now USA Cycling) road racer with aspirations to tackle the RAAM. I trained like a fiend, grinding out 200 to 300 miles each week on my trusty Litespeed. Due to changing circumstances, I had to give up that kind of training schedule after a couple of years. Backing-down turned to backing-off turned to abandonment. Six months later, I could barely pedal 35 miles. Since then, I've never been able to maintain a focused workout regimen for more than 12 months. Something always comes up -- work, family, etc. -- and I have to drop the program. Getting back into the groove gets harder each time, doubly so as "50 Trips Around the Sun" looms near on the horizon.
Coupled with the fact that these skills need to be addressed on a regular basis, I have the problem of being a goal-oriented person. All of the things I mentioned above involve "journeys", not "destinations" -- and I find most journeys to be tedious and distracting. The goal, the end-game, the finish line is what I strive for. Check a box and move on to the next thing. But none of those things have that. Intermediate goals? Yes. Ultimate goals? No. So I get bored when there's little or no apparent progress toward a destination. I also find much to mock in the 'continual improvement' mindset that's so prevalent these days. I'm sorry, but everyone has a plateau -- and once you reach that, you bump into The Law of Diminishing Returns very quickly. Who has the bandwidth for that?
So I'm always gonna' be a mid-pack shooter, a 'P' level Krav student, a 15 WPM Morse operator, a 125-pound bench presser, a 25-mile-weekend bicyclist, and a 200-mile-a-month (if I'm lucky) motorcyclist. Yes, I find it frustrating to try to find a balance between these demanding activities. Yes, I find it frustrating to continually revisit weak spots that I have worked thru in the past. Yes, I wish I could find an end-game to all these things, wash my hands of them once-and-for-all, and enjoy the freed-up time and money to pursue other things. But, no, because they're perishable skills, I will not give them up. I've worked too hard to gain what little competence I have in them. And, paraphrasing Heinlein*, I'd rather be good at several things than great at one thing.
This is my burden, even if I don't always bear it well.
TCM
* "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Robert Heinlein
20120317
scary watershed
This week seems to have been a watershed moment, and not a good one. In 3 airports, two Wally Worlds, and many other public places, it sure as hell appears that female obesity has firmly established itself.
Non-scientific, subjective, but just so: I've seen scores of mother-teenage daughter pairs traveling this week, and in the majority of them, the mother is slimmer than the daughter. It crosses apparent boundaries of class and ethnicity.
this in spite of riding the same plane today as the Golden Girls.
Could it be that I'm on the backside of thirty? I don't think so.
Non-scientific, subjective, but just so: I've seen scores of mother-teenage daughter pairs traveling this week, and in the majority of them, the mother is slimmer than the daughter. It crosses apparent boundaries of class and ethnicity.
this in spite of riding the same plane today as the Golden Girls.
Could it be that I'm on the backside of thirty? I don't think so.
20120213
readings
Just finished: The American Revolution by Wood.
Now reading: Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.
Next up: either Strauss's Emergency, or Baze's The Road Home.
Now reading: Goldberg's Liberal Fascism.
Next up: either Strauss's Emergency, or Baze's The Road Home.
20120204
not bad
Ordinarily I don't watch any TV sports. However, there's a pretty good film on ESPN Classic about steroids, bodybuilding, and the Law.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster.
20120115
Buying American
Am recently on a jag to buy American more often. Seems to me that I'd rather spend $100 to hire an American to repair an older chainsaw, than $100 to buy a new chainsaw made elsewhere. The $100 spent in town on American labor to fix an older piece is likely to stay in town.
20111121
QFTD
The first generation of kids who grew up using hand sanitizer every 30 seconds and everyone gets a trophy is currently Occupying Whatever.
Says Uncle
If you can't protect it, don't collect it
Chez Fûz just received two identical letters from a company that does IT work for TriCare. One addressed to Her and one addressed to Him.
If I were the guy reading this letter, my first thought would be that this is a mother-schtupping phish. Sainted wife will call TriCare tomorrow to rule that out.
My next thought would be, DOD cannot transition from the SSN to a randomly-assigned service number fast enough. As the DOD's successes, failures, and lessons-learned accumulate, the rest of the Fed Gov should be compelled to follow suit.
The next thought after that would be, let's adjust all future contracts between DOD and TriCare to require them and their subcontractors to apply the same risk management practices over these records that GIs are required to use when they plan anything more dangerous than the company picnic. Make them liable for costs plus penalties for the abuse of the lost data. The dollar signs will probably tell them that they should catalog and encrypt every backup volume that ever leaves their data center, and use a courier service to transport those volumes.
Then let's require TriCare and their subcontractors to identify the clients whose records were on the lost volume, and notify only those clients. Within 48 hours of the loss.
And I was the guy reading that letter. How many thousands of other letters just like it have been read tonight?
We are sorry to inform you that a backup tape of many healthcare transactions, while being transported by one of our employees, was stolen from the employee's vehicle. This tape includes sosh-scurty numbers, addresses, names, and piles of other information prone to compromise. Your information may be among those records lost, we aren't sure. Because we feel so very very very very very sorry, we're telling you about it more than 2 months after our employee notified us of the theft, and encouraging you to monitor your credit reports very carefully for the foreseeable future, in case the guy who went to such extraordinary effort to steal this data tries to use it.
And by the way, we have arranged for a fourth party company to watch your credit reports for you, for free, for one year. All you have to do is send them your sosh-scurty number, name, address, and much of the other data that we already have, but have allowed to become stolen. Just fill out the attached form and put it in the postage-paid envelope.
If I were the guy reading this letter, my first thought would be that this is a mother-schtupping phish. Sainted wife will call TriCare tomorrow to rule that out.
My next thought would be, DOD cannot transition from the SSN to a randomly-assigned service number fast enough. As the DOD's successes, failures, and lessons-learned accumulate, the rest of the Fed Gov should be compelled to follow suit.
The next thought after that would be, let's adjust all future contracts between DOD and TriCare to require them and their subcontractors to apply the same risk management practices over these records that GIs are required to use when they plan anything more dangerous than the company picnic. Make them liable for costs plus penalties for the abuse of the lost data. The dollar signs will probably tell them that they should catalog and encrypt every backup volume that ever leaves their data center, and use a courier service to transport those volumes.
Then let's require TriCare and their subcontractors to identify the clients whose records were on the lost volume, and notify only those clients. Within 48 hours of the loss.
And I was the guy reading that letter. How many thousands of other letters just like it have been read tonight?
Nervous reflex
Congress punts the spending-reduction deal. All of Europe, not just the PIIGS, at risk of collapse. I missed National Ammo Day. Bennetton pulls its ad with the photo of the Pope and the imam swapping spit. My knee-jerk reaction?
I ordered more shelf-stable stuff from Honeyville Grain, and am adjusting the shopping list for Sam's Club. Buying in bulk.
I ordered more shelf-stable stuff from Honeyville Grain, and am adjusting the shopping list for Sam's Club. Buying in bulk.
20111115
third-world visual impression in DFW
Passing through a major airport this weekend, my eyes fell on a wall-sized ad for Christmas toys. Except for the name of the retailer, there were no other English characters, just pictures of the toys, each with its QR thingy beside it. It made me feel like I was back in Barrigada, or Bizerte. Don't people here read English, dammit? Well, uh, no they don't.
C33 at DFW, BTW.
C33 at DFW, BTW.
higher education bubble visible to the military
One of the biggest pushers of higher education is the United States military. They encourage it among their enlisted, they require it of their officers, and Congress lets them craft myriad ways to shower money on it. I myself am a shameless beneficiary in my own modest way.
This week, for the first time, I heard an education counselor for the military admit that there are perhaps too many Masters degrees in circulation. "How would your life be any different if there were fewer" higher-degree holders, he asked. It wouldn't, he answered for us. Then, "how would your life be different if there were fewer engine mechanics, chefs, or plumbers?" Insert vague reference to Occupy Wall Street encampments here.
He was hinting that fields needing advanced degrees are saturated with graduates, and reminding his audience that GI bill education benefits also are eligible for the trades. The benefits taper off quickly over time in such apprenticeships, because the GIs receiving them are drawing steadily increasing pay.
Makes me want to drop out, again, and go to gunsmithing school.
This week, for the first time, I heard an education counselor for the military admit that there are perhaps too many Masters degrees in circulation. "How would your life be any different if there were fewer" higher-degree holders, he asked. It wouldn't, he answered for us. Then, "how would your life be different if there were fewer engine mechanics, chefs, or plumbers?" Insert vague reference to Occupy Wall Street encampments here.
He was hinting that fields needing advanced degrees are saturated with graduates, and reminding his audience that GI bill education benefits also are eligible for the trades. The benefits taper off quickly over time in such apprenticeships, because the GIs receiving them are drawing steadily increasing pay.
Makes me want to drop out, again, and go to gunsmithing school.
20111107
It has arrived
Update: We didn't make it while it was playing in theaters. Sainted wife and I watched it, and I was delighted with how it was done. Wife at once dug out my 32-year-old paperback copy and started in on it.
20110916
an addition to the if-wishes-were-horses wish list
I'd like to see R. Lee Ermey do I Like to Move It as a jody call. Lyrics should be adjusted to suit the messenger.
Friedrich Hayek on the Military Decision Making Process
Compare this:
to this:
Such problems, consequences of how information is distributed among line units and staff agencies, appear even in very small organizations.
The peculiar character of the problem of a rational economic order is determined precisely by the fact that the knowledge of the circumstances of which we must make use never exists in concentrated or integrated form but solely as the dispersed bits of incomplete and frequently contradictory knowledge which all the separate individuals possess.
. . . in any society in which many people collaborate, this planning, whoever does it, will in some measure have to be based on knowledge which, in the first instance, is not given to the planner but to somebody else, which somehow will have to be conveyed to the planner. The various ways in which the knowledge on which people base their plans is communicated to them is the crucial problem for any theory explaining the economic process, and the problem of what is the best way of utilizing knowledge initially dispersed among all the people is at least one of the main problems of economic policy—or of designing an efficient economic system.
to this:
The peculiar character of the problem of battle command is determined precisely by the fact that the knowledge of the circumstances of which that command operates does not spring into being in a concentrated or integrated form but solely as the dispersed bits of incomplete and frequently contradictory knowledge which all the various members of the command's staff possess, and must consciously concentrate and integrate under the command's leadership.
. . . in any military organization . . . planning . . . will in some measure have to be based on knowledge which, in the first instance, is not given to the planner but to somebody else, which somehow will have to be conveyed to the planner. The various ways in which the knowledge on which a battle staff bases its plans is gathered is the crucial problem for any theory explaining the staff process-—thus the main problem of designing a coherent operation.
Such problems, consequences of how information is distributed among line units and staff agencies, appear even in very small organizations.
20110903
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