Month: March 2022

March 31, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

March 31, 2022 /

I finally finished sighting in my shotgun that I started in December. I had a free day last week and I figured with trap starting, I was going to have to postpone several more months. I thought that it was worth sharing the results today.

If you remember where things left off, I didn’t understand how to adjust this sight as a result, I shot all of my ammo and the sight stopped working. I think that I solved all of those things before I went to the range this time.

First, the battery was not dead. I didn’t change the battery because it was working when I got home. On my second shot, the sight stopped working. I tightened the cap and the sight came back on. Lesson learned that the cap has the potential to loosen due to recoil.

One thing to note is that a red dot sight is not a precision optic. The more you pay, the better it is, but this particular sight is rated at 5 Minutes of Angle (MOA). I have previously stated that the math is complicated but simplistically, 1 MOA is roughly an inch at 100 yards. In theory, the best this sight can do is a five inch group at 100 yards. That is what you call combat (or field) accuracy.

I was shooting at 50 yards, so my theoretical accuracy should be 2 1/2″ group. My last shots were in the second ring. Exclude the one bullseye, that was my second shot I think this shotgun is about as good as it is going to get.

Now, look at the two holes at the bottom of the target. I switched from the rifled barrel to the smooth barrel and was shooting rifled slugs. That is the graphic illustration of why scopes need to be sighted to the load you are going to shoot. I also tried the field barrel with some different chokes and none of those made the paper even.

I even tried a half assed buckshot patterning. The results of that were inconclusive as only a handful of pellets even hit the target (out of 10 shots). This was barrel and choke agnostic, meaning that they all did poorly. Part of my experiment design was to sight in with slugs and then validate the shot pattern after sight in. I am pretty confident about sabot slugs in the rifled barrel and rifled slugs in the 18″ barrel, but the rest of it I am not. I will have to spend some more time patterning at ranges closer to 50 yards as these tests were inconclusive. Let’s be honest, this is not the best tool for long distances, it was more of a matter of convenience that the target was setup.

End Your Programming Routine: Just like I was talking about yesterday, you can only analyze data when you change one variable at a time. Truthfully, I probably have some refining work to do but at least I feel like I am in the ballpark now. Someday, when this ammo shortage is over I will go back and spend more time to make it better.

March 30, 2022 – Computer Glasses?

March 30, 2022 /

As a trained scientist, I suppose that experimentation is in my DNA. It comes to me naturally. At least part of what I do is to see if I can figure things out or do them just out of curiosity. Part and parcel with experimentation is observation. Data needs to be collected to support the experiment and make conclusions.

Since I started working again, I have noticed that as the day wore on, I was getting very fatigued, like ready for bed by the time the work day was over. Interestingly, I didn’t necessarily feel the same way on the weekends. My hypothesis of the situation is that my office usually starts at 60-65 degrees and will heat up to nearly 80 most days if I don’t crack the door. I was thinking that the increase in temperature was causing me to become more sleepy as the day progressed.

Recently, I was at the eye doctor. We talked about the fact that I could get computer glasses if I wanted to, but if it was not a problem then it wasn’t necessary. I asked him about the fatigue and he said most likely. I decided to perform an experiment on my favorite subject, myself.

I picked up my glasses Friday afternoon. The first thing I noticed is that things are definitely clearer close up. When I look beyond a couple of feet, things are definitely worse than with the glasses off. So, these are to be truly worn for reading and screen work. I put them aside to be tried on Monday.

I have two days under my belt now and I have to say that I have not experienced the fatigue and the temperature is 80 while I type this. Two days of data is not conclusive but it is definitely a nod toward a positive conclusion. I should probably document my experience for a week wearing the glasses and go back another week without them.

I am very aware of the placebo effect. When I first started taking Vitamin D, I was very skeptical. I have been taking it for probably 10 years now and I can actually see physical changes when I am not diligent about being consistent. I will be watching this experiment as well. I can see fine without them, I just can see much better with them on.

A proper experiment would have a control and a statistically appropriate sample size. So this will never be anything other than anecdotal observation. But, the principles remain the same. The main emphasis are propose a hypothesis, define the experiment, measure the data and make a conclusion with the data.

End Your Programming Routine: Not everything is rosy. I think I have to push these glasses up every minute of the day. So, it would seem like adjustment would be in order. I am happy that my vision is good enough that I can get by without glasses. I am also glad that at the end of the work day I am not ready to go to bed.

March 29, 2022 – The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

March 29, 2022 /

I tried to do some research on the origin of the phrase and I couldn’t really suss out the meaning. I was trying to derive the significance of the Camel to the phrase. I did find out that this idiom has a long history which dates back to the 1700s and it has several variations from straw to feather and camel to donkey. It would appear that this is indicating a load bearing animal and it is one item too much.

Originally, I thought that I was going to title this the ‘fall that broke the camel’s wrist’ as a play on words for reasons that will become obvious later in this post. I was thinking that the camel was a stubborn animal and that it was more than just a plain, gruesome act. But it doesn’t seem so.

To say the least, this has been a difficult time since my father-in-law has died. I have written about this a little bit and for obvious reasons, not explicitly. To state it bluntly, my mother-in-law is dying, not capable of caring for herself and refusing to accept the situation. This has caused a strained relationship with her children and has driven wedges between my own marriage.

This is just a small flavor but she paid a down payment on a puppy. The children all agreed that this is a bad idea. My wife even spoke to the owner of the puppy not to sell the dog to a person that is living in a travel trailer and cannot walk more than a few yards un-assisted. I am sure we can all use our heads on what the possible problems are here. This lead to a huge blow-up where my wife blocked her mom and I had to become the middleman in constant conversation for two weeks. The words were nasty and hurtful.

That situation came to an end two weekends ago. They were all supposed to stay in a beach house for a week. My wife wanted nothing to do with her. My sister-in-law and her family didn’t want anything to do with her. I was supposed to drive my mother-in-law to the beach house but I couldn’t get ahold of her. A few hours later, I got a call that she had fallen and possibly broke her wrist. She was in the ER, already at the coast.

I told my wife and she unblocked her to communicate in the situation. They ended up spending the planned four days at the beach but that wasn’t easy either. I had multiple phone calls about how my mother-in-law was behaving and I don’t have words. I prayed.

I am not claiming to have a command of the best Christian behavior. Quite frankly, I would just as soon not have anything to do with her either. It would make my life a lot easier. But, that is not the way of Jesus. I certainly didn’t want to be the middleman or even try to get deeper into the situation. But, this is a time of need and our my beliefs would tell me to forgive the sinner.

I think that the broken wrist has made a thaw in the relationship. For one thing, we moved her into our apartment last weekend. The travel trailer is getting moved before the first and it will likely be her last night there. I haven’t had a direct conversation specifically, but I think it was a wakeup call that today is the best day that there will be.

Fifteen years ago, before podcasts I used to listen to Dave Ramsey a lot. One of his recommended books was Boudaries. I never got around to reading this book but I maybe it is not too late. I think we could all use some help in this situation.

End Your Programming Routine: From my observation, this is the reverse of raising a teen. They are trying to resolve the desire to become more grown-up and yet not quite ready. This situation is trying to get the person to realize that they cannot do the things they did even a year ago. It is hard and we have no legal standing to stop it in most cases. Keep all of us in your prayers.

March 28, 2022 – More Techno-junk

March 28, 2022 /

My kids have been into music for a little while now. Recently, they have shown a big interest in vinyl. In fact, the record player I talked about a few months ago was spotted by my son at a second hand store. They have been talking about having their own hi-fi setups in their rooms. During Spring Break, we stopped into a local record shop and one of my son’s bought a record. My other son bought a record at a second hand store.

One of my sons has a periodic appointment. If I get the chance, I slink away to the local Goodwill while I am killing time. There is a lot of junk but there is also some really good deals on vintage audio equipment. In this era of sound bars and Bluetooth speakers, quality equipment is passé. I have seen many of stereo receiver for $15-$25, literally pennies on the dollar versus original cost.

I have my eyes open for some alternate speakers and since I don’t really need them, I am being very choosy. When I see the right deal, I will eventually buy them. I have lately been thinking that since my kids are interested, that I could build them their own systems, one piece at a time. I saw this turntable marked at $12 so I thought it was worth a chance.

The last time I hesitated, I missed out on a Technics turntable that only needed a stylus (needle). It was pricey at $100, but I have seen many of them for sale at at least double the cost, depending on the model. So, I grabbed this one when I saw it. Goodwill does a minimal amount of testing. They make sure the device at least powers on. I figured that the price was pretty low risk if it didn’t work.

It turns out, this one also needed a new stylus. I bought a replacement at $22 and then I went for the real test. Setting it up, I found out that the other problem was two of the four rubber feet were missing and the remaining are rotten (bad rubber). That is why I have the clippers wedged underneath the table. I am planning on getting some replacement feet in the $10-$20 range and this old turntable will be back in business.

It played great. I put on Tom Petty and my son’s records and everything was perfect. I suppose all in, this will be a $50 purchase but a vintage player in today’s dollars is a way better than anything I can buy new at the same price.

End Your Programming Routine: I suppose I am in now on building individual stereo setups. This player won’t work without an amplifier. I need a receiver and some bookshelf speakers. Those are both much easier to find than a good turntable. Now, I am in the market for a third turntable as well.

March 25, 2022 – Fun-Day Friday

March 25, 2022 /

This saying was an inside joke for a number of years. What it really meant was that Friday was a day that higher ups were gone and the workers were stuck in the muck. Really, it was someone else’s fun day, not mine. But, since we have had a number of weeks of heavy stuff on Fridays, I am going to stay light today.

What then shall we talk about? How about tool repair? You can find ax, hammer, maul, sledge, hatchet, etc heads at garage sales, second hand stores and even free. This is where this one came from. My son hauled it home from some job that he had. He proceeded to pour vinegar on it and there it set for months.

I didn’t know this but apparently, vinegar is a good rust remover. The problem is, the surface needs to be treated to it doesn’t re-rust. That is where it is at again, very rusty. I may someday spend some time with a wire wheel or something and try to paint it or even wax it but for now, I just put a new handle on it.

The first step is to select the appropriate replacement handle. This splitting maul required a round head to fit properly. This is also the right handle for the sledge hammer. The options are wood and fiberglass. I like fiberglass in a lot of cases, I think that they weather better if you are going to leave tools out in the elements (not really recommended, but it happens). The attachment is slower, using epoxy which needs to cure. Wood is quicker, cheaper and traditional.

Once the tool head is seated on the handle, you then drive the wood wedge into the handle. This wedge forces the handle tight to the tool head. Note: most sledges and mauls leave the tip of the handle out from the top of tool head. I am not totally sure of why, but I suspect that it lets the head slip a little when splitting. Also note that the wedge is oversized and must be trimmed or split in order to be hammered in correctly.

I chose to trim the excess off. I don’t have any at the moment, but I like to pour epoxy in the hole. I feel like it make a better bond of the tool head to the handle. I have observed older handles eventually wearing to where the head comes off again. This technique helps last longer I feel. Finally, hammer the steel wedge perpendicular to the wooden wedge. This will help lock all the pieces together.

Now, I have another working splitting maul. Lets talk about the economics of the situation. I paid $13 for the replacement handle. I checked a couple of sources (box stores) and I found handles running $20. I also checked the cost of a replacement. The cheapest one I saw was near $40. A comparable model with hickory (or ash) handle was $67.

I already have a maul, why would I want another one, especially if I rarely use it? Remember two is one and one is none. But also, I have come around to having duplicate yard tools because I can have more than one person doing work, if needed. At least for me, it gets the tool head off the floor and makes a useful tool. I think the $13 was also worth the cost of the topic as well.

End Your Programming Routine: Let’s be honest, I probably didn’t need another splitting maul. In fact, I gave away one when I was cleaning up my father-in-law’s estate last summer. But, I was stuck with this one since my son brought it home. I will probably hold onto it and give it to him when it is time. Knowing how to fix tools is an important skill if you ever live rurally and it can save you time and/or money.

March 24, 2022- ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

March 24, 2022 /

My gunstock came last Friday as expected. Today I will talk about my first impressions and thoughts of the Boyd’s At-One gun stock. My son will get fitted on Sunday with the first trap practice starting. Mine is made of solid walnut (which I had to pay more for) in an attempt to not have to also swap out the fore end.

First, I will talk about cost. I paid $160 for this shotgun in 1992. Before Remington went out of business, I think the 870 Express was going for $300 – $350 new. My lightly used 20 gauge I paid $200 in 2020. This stock cost $220. What I am trying to say is that this is a significant upgrade relative to the overall cost of the firearm.

I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect that all of these are the same for whatever shotguns they fit. They use an aluminum block to connect the firearm to the stock. So, the stock can fit a number of models, the aluminum block is the part that is specific to mating to a shotgun.

At first blush, the thing is ugly. It is angular and chunky. It is certainly no upgrade in the looks department. The fit an finish is OK. It is clear that this is made in a mechanized way, like CNC. The fitment of the rubber/plastic to the wood is a little sloppy particularly around the palm swell. It looks like the wood was dipped in water based polyurethane and there is some bubbles in the finish as well.

Despite reading the instructions, I didn’t know what I was doing when I was trying to mate the wood to the block. I say that because the bolt and washers fell out when I tried to put the bolt back in, I didn’t realize that the palm swell cross bolt was blocking the reinsertion. I lightly tapped on the bolt because the hole is curved, I thought it was getting hung up trying to make the angle. The tapping wedged the hex key into the wood and broke a chip out. I was trying to be gentle but I was looking at the hole for the bolt exit, not the entry when it happened.

Knowing what I know now, this would never happen again. None of that was in the manual. I think I would have shipped it without the grip swell on the stock to eliminate this potential.

End Your Programming Routine: This is an American small business. The materials appear to be quality, it is just that that the execution was poorer than I would have liked for a $200 item. The truth is, none of this really matters. What is important is how it works in fitting to the shooter. Trap guns are in general ugly I think. The high rib is meant to help with aiming and getting the target in the middle of the pattern. So, this is just another variation in the group.

March 23, 2022 – Total Domination

March 23, 2022 /

I remember this vividly. I was 17 and I was wrestling in high school. My brother (15) was also a wrestler and cousin(15) was a football starter. We challenged my dad and uncles to a 3 on 3 basketball game. I figured that they were all smokers and out of shape that this would be a cake walk.

I can still remember my grandfather cackling as they proceeded to beat our asses badly. I think that the final score was 40-2 or something like that. I don’t really remember the game itself other than they were way more physical that we were. Not in a fouling or nasty way but more like aggressiveness.

When getting the family settled into the beach house on Sunday, we play a couple of hours on the ping pong table. My sons recently started playing tennis. So, my younger son thought that he was going to school mom. No way Jose. Mom played several years when she worked at a youth residential treatment facility. It was closer than my loss in basketball, but my son was shocked. He proclaimed that he was going to beat her 10-0 in the next game.

I have noticed over the years that youth are not as strong as I think they should be. I don’t know if it is mind over matter or they are just not fully developed. I have had my nephew or kids help me move furniture around and they seem to not be able to move or lift things despite spending hours a week “working out”. Don’t get me wrong, I am out of shape and they can run circles around me. I am talking about practical fitness however.

I have spoken about wisdom in the past. Back to basketball, my guess is that we were in top physical shape, but they used wisdom to play to their strengths. Maybe if we were all basketball players instead of wrestlers the game would have ended more like the ping pong game. I just dont know but I have seen this enough times in various forms to know that it is more complicated that how much you can squat, bench press or deadlift.

Back when I was in high school, I used to play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. Your character has both wisdom and intelligence. Intelligence is analogous to knowing pi is 3.14159 (plus a whole lot more) versus wisdom of using 3.14 when calculating the area of a circle. I can’t remember all the severely complicated math I learned to prove pi as a number but I certainly remember where to use it.

End Your Programming Routine: It very well may be that high schoolers competing against other high schoolers are at a roughly equal mental development. At that age, we don’t realize the influence that our mental ability has on the physical. We also don’t realize that we have not mentally peaked or that we don’t know what we don’t know. As I sat there watching that ping pong game, the great memory flashed back of my grandfather just howling as we got schooled.

March 22, 2022- Making Coffees

March 22, 2022 /

There are probably some people reading this that don’t remember this skit or were not even born when this aired (Jan 1991). I was only sixteen and I barely remember it myself. It was a big thing in school to emulate the name rhyming when you ran into a friend. But, this was just a cute intro to what I am talking about today.

It is probably no secret that I like making fine food. I enjoy the complexity of Pinot Noir with food and generally like quality of food and drink. My wife thought that my next step should be coffee (and tea). For Christmas, she gave me an expensive drip coffee maker along with an electric kettle.

My relationship with coffee is a little complicated. When I was working at my previous job, I was drinking tons of it. I think it was a way to get out of my chair and avoid working. On the weekends, I could easily drink a 12 cup pot. My wife asked me to switch to tea which I now drink during the week. I only make coffee on the weekend.

To unlock the world of home coffee making, you need to be able to grind your own beans. When we buy coffee at Costco, nine out of ten choices are whole bean. At the grocery store it is more like fifty-fifty. Whole bean is preferred because oxygen degrades the bean, so when it is ground, it occurs much quicker because there is so much more surface area.

Truthfully, I am not a snob. The first pot we made with the new coffee maker was Folgers and I have to say that I liked it. This maker has an insulated carafe rather than a glass one. So, it doesn’t continue to cook after it is poured through. I think that makes a huge difference in quality.

I didn’t have a grinder (officially). The last one that bought has become a spice grinder. It was a mini blender kind of device. It was small and messy. It was a hassle to use so I gave up on grinding 20 years ago. Doing some research lately, I found that there was a whole new world (and the internet) of videos and reviews and comparisons between different models. I made my choice, the Baratza Encore.

In the reviews that I watched, this model consistently produced the most consistent grind. I have come to understand that this will yield the best results when making coffee. I have also learned that different types of coffee making require different types of grinds. So, not only are whole beans fresher, but likely the grind can be controlled for better results.

I am still playing around with it since I have only used it twice at this point. In the picture above, the grind is significantly more coarse than I have been using with pre-ground. This was supposedly the optimum setting for drip. I think it needs to be a little finer personally because the overall coffee was weak. But, I will keep working at it.

End Your Programming Routine: There are many ways to make coffee. It would seem as though the grinder is more important than the way of making it. I guess that is why the prices range from $20 – $10,000 for grinders. I will probably do a more formal review after I get some time with it in a few months.

March 21, 2022 -What is Seafoam Green?

March 21, 2022 /

When I was young enough to have a spring break, going to the beach meant Cancun, Daytona or Padre Island. At least that is what I saw on MTV, remember this is pre-internet. Of course, I was never going to spend that kind of money so we settled on the Oregon coast. Frequently, we spend a couple of days during spring break week.

As I wrote about last week, a storm was coming, but we were going to the beach anyway. The family was staying for several days but I was just spending the day and taking the dog for a long walk. The truth is, the weather wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (for a storm). The surf was rough and I ran across to big piles of foam.

I don’t think the picture did it true justice. When I saw this in person, I thought it looked yellowish rather than greenish. I would say the picture looks more brown than green or yellow. You get the point. When I hear the name, I think of a washed out green. Or maybe a better description is Kelly green with a lot of white added to it.

I once heard an interview with Sherwin Williams marketing and the person said that each color name is unique and never to be repeated or changed. That means when they come up with a new color, they have to validate that the name has not been used before. What I can’t remember was what person in my life questioned the origin of the name Seafoam Green. When I saw this pile of foam, that question popped in my mind and I took a picture and now I am writing this.

End Your Programming Routine: I am keeping it light today. I guess this is more of an anecdote rather than my typical writing, but that’s OK because I am on spring break too.

March 18, 2022 – American Dream: Where Do We Stand?

March 18, 2022 /

This was kind of an interesting exercise for me. When I wrote off the cuff about the qualities, I really was reacting to what I thought that I knew. After really digging into the definition of the terms and their applications, I came away with a different perspective.

As a refresher, here were the five properties of the American Dream: Democracy, Rights, Liberty, Opportunity and Equality. In my opinion, the most important one is also the most subjective. Rights are recognized and incorporated into the government, have known boundaries and an expectation of exercising.

When we look at what our founder’s described as rights, properties that we were born with before the existence of the government are not necessarily recognized in other cultures, some examples the right to keep and bear arms or women’s suffrage. The fact that we have an entire category of law and lawyers means that rights are constantly evaluated and not considered static or even inherited before the government.

If we believe in this concept, then we have to be OK that our neighbor is doing something that we don’t like. We have to accept that my dream is not my neighbors just as his is not likely mine. We have to agree that the risk of not living in a Home Owner’s Association is worth the reward of freedom. We have to agree that we have the right to succeed beyond our wildest dreams but that comes with a risk of losing it all. We have to agree that consenting adults can gather together to worship the devil or have sex parties or snort cocaine as long as no one is being forced to do so and no one else is harmed in the process. We also need to understand that there is recourse for damages in a free society rather than attempting to force them to do something by creating laws.

You see, there is nothing wrong with the American Dream concept except we no longer believe in it. At the risk of sounding harsh, the term mental masturbation applies here. We like the thought of the American Dream, but we don’t actually want it. Just as a person could be very happy and thrive in a socialist, homogenous society, it could be miserable if you believe differently. Back to my comment on freedom I said a few weeks ago, totalitarianism is some of the most prosperous and happy conditions when you are on the right side of the ruling class.

I spend a lot of time railing against the fascist left (that’s right you are just as fascist despite what the media says), my religious right friends need to look in the mirror as well. Jesus never required us to legislate morality. In fact for salvation purposes, morality is strictly the responsibility of the individual. When the veil was torn so were the ways of Judaism and the ceremonial laws of sacrifice and circumcision. While I can understand the distaste for sin, judgement and condemnation are also some of those sins. Creating laws of minimum square footage restriction may impact my dream as readily as I am not allowed to own livestock or buying alcohol on Sunday.

In case you feel like I am a bit all over it is because I am trying to get across is that both sides are pinching at the American Dream for their own reasons. Let’s be honest, both sides hope to use the power of the state to force everyone to adhere to our version of the better society. What is the impact? We lose the ability to pursue our dream our way.

End Your Programming Routine: Seems like we are ending about where I started, probably not for the the same reasons though. I assumed the American Dream was dead because the characteristics weren’t being upheld. It is even the case that some of those properties really are only ideals and not actually true, particularly Opportunity and Equality. I now think that the American Dream is dead because the definition of the characteristics change.