Middle Son to Youngest Son: I made a treasure map for you!
Youngest immediately grabs the popgun.
Middle Son: You don't need a gun!
Youngest: There might be bears.
Middle: There aren't any bears on the map!
Youngest: There are woods on the map.
I'm so proud.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Global Warming/Climate Change, what have you.
I see a lot of people claiming that climate change is horrible and a lot of people claiming it doesn't exist.
I claim it doesn't matter.
Let's look at the facts of my little corner of the climate:
1. We have had one year in the last fifiteen that had a normal amount of precipitation.
2. Even though we have set a record for snowfall staying on the ground this year, we are still behind in total rainfall, snowpack, etc.
3. Pine beetles have been killing the shit out of trees around here for the entire drought and it's worse this year than in any in memory.
4. It takes a long time to grow a nice tree around here, in the wild, fifty plus years is normal.
5. With dry trees that are dying, fire is big deal, even for city dwellers. I've still got a pretty defensible fire perimeter, but a really bad year, or water rationing in the city could change that, fast.
After fifiteen years, it's time to make plans like things might not get better. I'm not talking cap and trade or any of that kind of crap. If you are going to spend money on something, it should be of econmic benifit all on it's own. Say, drought resistant landscaping, low flush toliets, water disipline while brushing your teeth. All of these things do one very important thing, they reduce my costs of home ownership. Just like CFL bulbs make it cheaper to light my house, and LCD monitors lower the cost of my computer habit.
They also have a second effect, they help the environment. I really care about the land around me. I don't dump motor oil on the ground, I use it to heat my garage. When I wander into the woods, I don't leave anything behind that would let someone know I was there. That allows more people to enjoy the woods and keeps the woods nice for my kids.
Cap and trade assumes that there is no economic reason for companies to reduce their carbon footprint outside of some artificial market. Carbon footprints go down as energy gets more expensive. Energy gets more expensive every year. Energy efficiency will happen automatically, if you want to to show up faster, drop some money on R&D instead of implementing a new tax.
If you want to know the real reason we are in a recession you really don't have to look much further than the huge spike the energy prices took a few years back. Sure, there were lots of nasty bad things happening in the banking industry, and housing was out of control. But nothing kills an economy faster than high energy prices. High energy prices effect every part of every day of the entire world. Transportation gets more expensive, making food more expensive, it costs more to heat the house, so you've got less money to spend on that food that now cost more. Oh, and that max leverage mortgage you took out to buy that 'investment grade' house has left you without any extra income to afford those higher energy prices. It's a vicious cycle that only really has one solution, use less energy.
In short, make your life more efficient and leave some slack in your budget. And remember, not even taxes are sure, only change is constant.
I claim it doesn't matter.
Let's look at the facts of my little corner of the climate:
1. We have had one year in the last fifiteen that had a normal amount of precipitation.
2. Even though we have set a record for snowfall staying on the ground this year, we are still behind in total rainfall, snowpack, etc.
3. Pine beetles have been killing the shit out of trees around here for the entire drought and it's worse this year than in any in memory.
4. It takes a long time to grow a nice tree around here, in the wild, fifty plus years is normal.
5. With dry trees that are dying, fire is big deal, even for city dwellers. I've still got a pretty defensible fire perimeter, but a really bad year, or water rationing in the city could change that, fast.
After fifiteen years, it's time to make plans like things might not get better. I'm not talking cap and trade or any of that kind of crap. If you are going to spend money on something, it should be of econmic benifit all on it's own. Say, drought resistant landscaping, low flush toliets, water disipline while brushing your teeth. All of these things do one very important thing, they reduce my costs of home ownership. Just like CFL bulbs make it cheaper to light my house, and LCD monitors lower the cost of my computer habit.
They also have a second effect, they help the environment. I really care about the land around me. I don't dump motor oil on the ground, I use it to heat my garage. When I wander into the woods, I don't leave anything behind that would let someone know I was there. That allows more people to enjoy the woods and keeps the woods nice for my kids.
Cap and trade assumes that there is no economic reason for companies to reduce their carbon footprint outside of some artificial market. Carbon footprints go down as energy gets more expensive. Energy gets more expensive every year. Energy efficiency will happen automatically, if you want to to show up faster, drop some money on R&D instead of implementing a new tax.
If you want to know the real reason we are in a recession you really don't have to look much further than the huge spike the energy prices took a few years back. Sure, there were lots of nasty bad things happening in the banking industry, and housing was out of control. But nothing kills an economy faster than high energy prices. High energy prices effect every part of every day of the entire world. Transportation gets more expensive, making food more expensive, it costs more to heat the house, so you've got less money to spend on that food that now cost more. Oh, and that max leverage mortgage you took out to buy that 'investment grade' house has left you without any extra income to afford those higher energy prices. It's a vicious cycle that only really has one solution, use less energy.
In short, make your life more efficient and leave some slack in your budget. And remember, not even taxes are sure, only change is constant.
New Holster
At the beginning of December I ordered a new holster from Side Guard Holsters for my Kel-Tec PF-9. I already had a pocket holster I liked, and an IWB holster that was OK, but didn't fit with the Armalaser attached. I decided that what I really wanted was a basic, OWB holster that would fit my gun with the laser attached. There didn't seem to be anything off the shelf that really got the job done. So I order this one. I got mine with a 15 degree FBI cant as I like to wear my gun right behind my hip, say about 3:30 to 4. The farther around behind your hip, the more important the cant of the holster becomes, without tilting, the butt of the gun ends up sticking out an printing no matter how heavy your cover garment is.
The above the belt nature allows me to wear a shirt or sweatshirt that doesn't really look like it's to long for me. It also reduces the chance that I'll flash my gun when reaching for my wallet.When the gun rides this high, the muzzle doesn't get pushed on by your hip, which in turn doesn't push the butt into your side. Great for comfort, not so great for concealment.
Erik told me that the belt slots on this holster are critical for a good fit and concealment. It's very important when ordering a holster that it match your belt width, otherwise the holster will move around and the gun won't be exactly where you expect it when you need it. In the case of this holster, it's doubly important. Erik also told me that it would be seven weeks before he could make my holster. I have trouble waiting seven hours got new toys. I'd rather pay extra to go pick it up today. I resolved to forget that I ordred the holster at all.
Seven weeks passed like lightening. Not really, I was actually sure that the end of the world would come first. On first examination the holster is really a piece of industrial art. There is no unnecessary leather, the stitching perfect, the boning is enough to hold the gun securely and yet no nooks for my shirt to hang up on. Initial comfort was pretty good. It took about two days for the leather against my side to soften up enough to feel like it was a part of me. The gun rides beautifully tight. The butt rides just under my rib cage, the muzzle rides even with the bottom of my belt. No part of the muzzle protrudes below the bottom edge of the holster. This holster is everything I wanted and needed in an OWB holster. Recommended. Next, a IWB model, tuckable I think....
The above the belt nature allows me to wear a shirt or sweatshirt that doesn't really look like it's to long for me. It also reduces the chance that I'll flash my gun when reaching for my wallet.When the gun rides this high, the muzzle doesn't get pushed on by your hip, which in turn doesn't push the butt into your side. Great for comfort, not so great for concealment.
Erik told me that the belt slots on this holster are critical for a good fit and concealment. It's very important when ordering a holster that it match your belt width, otherwise the holster will move around and the gun won't be exactly where you expect it when you need it. In the case of this holster, it's doubly important. Erik also told me that it would be seven weeks before he could make my holster. I have trouble waiting seven hours got new toys. I'd rather pay extra to go pick it up today. I resolved to forget that I ordred the holster at all.
Seven weeks passed like lightening. Not really, I was actually sure that the end of the world would come first. On first examination the holster is really a piece of industrial art. There is no unnecessary leather, the stitching perfect, the boning is enough to hold the gun securely and yet no nooks for my shirt to hang up on. Initial comfort was pretty good. It took about two days for the leather against my side to soften up enough to feel like it was a part of me. The gun rides beautifully tight. The butt rides just under my rib cage, the muzzle rides even with the bottom of my belt. No part of the muzzle protrudes below the bottom edge of the holster. This holster is everything I wanted and needed in an OWB holster. Recommended. Next, a IWB model, tuckable I think....
Saturday, January 30, 2010
New 'Safe Gun' Tech
Here you will find an article about the new gun law in New Jersey. I really applaud the idea of keeping guns in the hands of ordinary citizens so they can defend themselves while attempting to prevent criminal abuse of firearms. I do have a couple of problems with this idea.
It wasn't very many years ago that BMW designed a car that opened and started with a fingerprint ID. Let's imagine what would happen someone was carjacked with such a vehicle. "The two youths kept the owner with them for quite some time so they could continue their drive. At least until they figured out that they really only needed his thumb."
Fortunately BMW never took this feature to market. Instead they went to electronic key fobs. Nifty for the extra features that it brings to the car, but doesn't really increase the security of the vehicle.
The second problem with this law is it's exemption for police officers. Police officers' guns get stolen too. With every other gun in the state locked down and more prone to failure, why wouldn't the criminal walk up behind an officer, smack him to the ground with a pipe, and take his perfectly function, 100% mechanical gun? If it's good enough for your citizens why isn't it good enough for your police? I'll tell you why, they only way to get the law enforcement community on board for this kind of law is to offer them an exemption. I don't really blame them. Every gun is already a complicated device that is built to contain a rapidly expanding gas cloud at 23,000 psi or more to propel a projectile in a very specific direction. Does this sound like a good environment to introduce electronics and radio signals into? I know I don't really want it on mine.
The system put together by this company faces a similar problem. It also faces the problem of radio signal interference. Sitting here in my bathrobe I can think of two ways to steal this gun and use it for badness. I'm sure I could think of more with a little more coffee. I can also envision a small jammer unit that would prevent these guns from working when they are close to me. A handy device to have, if I wanted to rob an otherwise armed citizen.
Keeping guns away from criminals is a great goal, but I haven't seen any way of actually doing it yet.
It wasn't very many years ago that BMW designed a car that opened and started with a fingerprint ID. Let's imagine what would happen someone was carjacked with such a vehicle. "The two youths kept the owner with them for quite some time so they could continue their drive. At least until they figured out that they really only needed his thumb."
Fortunately BMW never took this feature to market. Instead they went to electronic key fobs. Nifty for the extra features that it brings to the car, but doesn't really increase the security of the vehicle.
The second problem with this law is it's exemption for police officers. Police officers' guns get stolen too. With every other gun in the state locked down and more prone to failure, why wouldn't the criminal walk up behind an officer, smack him to the ground with a pipe, and take his perfectly function, 100% mechanical gun? If it's good enough for your citizens why isn't it good enough for your police? I'll tell you why, they only way to get the law enforcement community on board for this kind of law is to offer them an exemption. I don't really blame them. Every gun is already a complicated device that is built to contain a rapidly expanding gas cloud at 23,000 psi or more to propel a projectile in a very specific direction. Does this sound like a good environment to introduce electronics and radio signals into? I know I don't really want it on mine.
The system put together by this company faces a similar problem. It also faces the problem of radio signal interference. Sitting here in my bathrobe I can think of two ways to steal this gun and use it for badness. I'm sure I could think of more with a little more coffee. I can also envision a small jammer unit that would prevent these guns from working when they are close to me. A handy device to have, if I wanted to rob an otherwise armed citizen.
Keeping guns away from criminals is a great goal, but I haven't seen any way of actually doing it yet.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tax Software
For the last three years I've been using the H&R Block tax software called Taxcut. I've been pretty happy with it. It's better than going to their offices and way better than doing taxes by hand. Last year was the first year that it couldn't do everything I wanted it to do. It was incapable of electronically filing my state taxes if I wanted to get credit for the insulation I blew in. I went through the complete nightmare of filling out the state tax forms by hand..... and discovered that the credit would only give me about another $50 and because I was filing on paper, it would take almost six weeks to get my check.
This year I see that Taxcut has become H&R Block at Home. It won't work on my primary desktop machine because I haven't upgraded my OS since W2k. Sue me, it's incredibly stable. It's also gotten a touch more expensive. More than a touch actually, last year I bought a copy with my state edition for $35. This year it was $45. It really wanted me to spend $55 so I could chat with a live person about my taxes.
Really? If I wanted to talk to someone, why wouldn't I just go to the H&R Block store? I don't like people, I don't want to talk to them. I would let this go if it didn't ask me to upgrade four more times.
The jury is still out on this software because I'm still waiting for forms from the mortgage, the bank, the IRA accounts. Sometimes I wonder if computers are really worth it. All these records are 100% electronic. How come I can't get last years info until a month after it's all over?
This year I see that Taxcut has become H&R Block at Home. It won't work on my primary desktop machine because I haven't upgraded my OS since W2k. Sue me, it's incredibly stable. It's also gotten a touch more expensive. More than a touch actually, last year I bought a copy with my state edition for $35. This year it was $45. It really wanted me to spend $55 so I could chat with a live person about my taxes.
Really? If I wanted to talk to someone, why wouldn't I just go to the H&R Block store? I don't like people, I don't want to talk to them. I would let this go if it didn't ask me to upgrade four more times.
The jury is still out on this software because I'm still waiting for forms from the mortgage, the bank, the IRA accounts. Sometimes I wonder if computers are really worth it. All these records are 100% electronic. How come I can't get last years info until a month after it's all over?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
An Interesting Study
I don't think there is a single person out there that wants criminals to have guns. I certainly don't. Many would like to legislate some way to keep guns away from criminals. I can't think of a single way to make it happen that doesn't completely destroy a persons right to self defense. This is a link to a study on criminal use of firearms. It's worth reading.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Some Days
It took me 30 minutes to travel fifteen miles on an almost empty interstate today. I could see a highway patrol officer, lights and sirens going traveling my way. I never exceeded forty five miles an hour, and he never caught up. Days like today make me think about moving south. Maybe the Yucatan.
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