Month: June 2022

June 30, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 30, 2022 /

I was being kind of indecisive on what to talk about today. Originally I was going to talk about the Supreme Court decision NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOCIATION, INC., ET AL. v. BRUEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF NEW YORK STATE POLICE, ET AL and it’s potential implications. But, I decided to not do that because I really haven’t read the decision and have only heard a few other’s opinions on the matter.

So, what else would I talk about? How about firearms and Spain. This is another subject that I really don’t know much about but I got curious because my airgun pellets are from Spain. I also know that there is some kind of gun culture in Spain for manufacturing fine(r) shotguns.

One of the podcasts I listen to is the Orvis Hunting and Shooting Podcast. I didn’t re-listen to this but I am pretty sure the story went like this… Makers of shotguns were looking for a more inexpensive alternative manufacturing base. For instance, a Beretta Silver Pigeon is in the $3000 range. While most people probably could swing this, it isn’t super likely that is going to compete well against a $300 Remington 870.

There is a niche for sure, but makers started moving manufacturing to Spain to get shotguns down to a more appealing price range ($1000-2000). I seem to recall that this happened in the 1970s. That being said, most of the value shotguns are now made in Turkey which happened in the early 2000s as it is too expensive to make in Spain now.

So, there is a small culture of making in-between entry level and fine shotguns. Orvis was one of the companies that purchased and branded Spanish shotguns. There are some other Spanish brands like Star, Astra and Llama that ultimately succumbed the same industry collapse in the late 1990s. Although it seems like that CZ-Colt bought and is using the Llama brand as I can see items in stock at Sportsman’s Warehouse.

Within the air rifle category, Gamo is probably the biggest brand. Amongst the biggest brands Daisy/Crossman – American, Umarex – German and Gamo – Spanish. There were several models that I wanted to by before I ended up buying my Crossman. I made my decision more because I had a gift card to the place that I bought the rifle rather than the brand, but I was really looking for a Gamo first.

It would seem that it is possible to possess firearms in Spain. It does appear that there is some kind of licensing system with the federal government that depends on what you are trying to own and what you want to do with it. Here are some other global examples, so Spain doesn’t stand alone.

End Your Programming Routine: In a small way, the recent Supreme Court decision relates to owning firearms in Spain. If you recall my earlier definitions, rights are not granted, they supersede laws and the existence of government. In theory, we all have the same rights. It is a cultural matter if we collectively decide to defend those rights.

June 29, 2022 – Travel Anecdotes

June 29, 2022 /

A lot of my travel information I wrote and talked about was before the trip. Now having gotten back, some things have changed from what I knew (or thought) was true before hand. I thought I would throw some grab bag items out there.

  • Covid tests are no longer required to re-enter the US. This changed June 12, right before we left. After getting advice from other recent travelers, we were making plans on how to accomplish this on our trip.
  • Customs Forms are not used for entry – At least this is true for the US and the EU. This eliminates the ‘need a pen scramble’ on the airplane as you get ready to land. We did have some e-forms filled out for health screening which helped speed the process.
  • Air travel within the EU has pretty much the same restrictions – The only real difference I observed with security was I could leave my shoes on. There were still restrictions on liquids that needed to be in a 1L (1qt) bag. Electronics had to come out of the bag.
  • Security is not Safety- My son went through three different security checks with scissors in his bag before they were identified. Portland to Barcelona, Barcelona to Palma and finally Palma to Barcelona he was stopped in the bag scan. I don’t even know how that is possible to feel like this procedure is adequate.
  • Having friends at the airline has perks – We got priority parking and our own personal check-in when we flew to Mallorca. We also took advantage of sending a bunch of liquids back in order to not loose them.
  • Five fifty a gallon is a bargain- Our rental car was a diesel and the prices were in Euros per liter but the cost was roughly $7.75 a gallon. Fortunately, the cars are small and relatively efficient so it only cost about $30 to return the rental car.
  • Cash is still king- We got a 10% discount on fuel just by paying in cash. I really didn’t know what was going on when the price was different than registered but figured it out as I drove off.
  • Living/Travelling in Europe is expensive – Even thought the Dollar and Euro are near parity I would say items on average are probably 25-33% more. In one example, I paid 25 euros for a tube of sun block. For me, that was worth the price but I can’t imagine paying $25 for that, even if it was from France.
  • Spain is not Italy – I expected the people and experience to be very similar (if not the same). I found Spain to be orderly and law abiding compared to Italy. Traffic was not crazy and nobody got pickpocketed or had someone try to rip the watch off your wrist.
  • The world has become smaller- When I was in Italy in the 1990s, they siesta’d hard. Almost nothing was open between 1 and 6 pm. Siesta is still a practice in Spain, but I hardly noticed a change. Maybe it was where I was at but I think the world has changed to the point where this practice is not nearly as prevalent.
  • English is definitely universal- If my broken Spanish didn’t work there were no problems switching to English anywhere.
  • Spanish is not Catalan – The native language of the northeastern coast of Spain is not Spanish. While I can understand most simple Spanish, I had no idea what was happening when spoken to in Catalan. Many of the spellings are the similar but with the accent it is a different word. The tempo of Catalan sounds more like Italian but the words I could not understand.

I didn’t spend much time in the water. I am very susceptible to the sun and since it was literally 58 degrees as a mid-June high when we left, I didn’t have much time to toughen up. So, I limited my water time until after 6pm just to avoid massive sunburns. The kids went into the water here and it was a summertime high 80s. I wish I could, but the view was amazing.

Does this look like paradise or what?

End Your Programming Routine: I am wrapping up my week on vacation. There will be one more on Friday but I promise I am moving on. You cant exert that much money, time and effort and not have it play a factor in my work and opinions. I know that it is hard to enjoy someone else’s vacation, but hopefully there was at least some good information presented.

June 28, 2022 – Do You Have a Favorite Architect?

June 28, 2022 /

I sometimes tease my wife that she is the only person I know that has a favorite architect. There may be some competition with the previous title holder after our trip to Spain. The truth is, I am pretty much enamored as well.

Where we were both exposed to architecture as an art was in college. We both took Art History 101 and 102. From there, we learned about Frank Lloyd Wright. For Americans, his work is much more approachable since we can more easily travel and visit some of his buildings. Wright was prolific and there is even one of his houses here in Oregon. In 2002, we made a specific destination as “House of Falling Water” on an east coast road trip.

The genius of specific architects is that they are visionaries. For instance, Wright invented the Ranch style house. Arguably, that is the most popular American home style ever. It is simple to build, easy to maintain and infinitely adaptable.

Another architect that we learned about in Art History was Antoni Gaudi because Spain was out of sight, out of mind in 1995 so it got filed on the backburner. However, modern Barcelona is the city that Gaudi built (and is still building despite his death in 1926).

I am not going to go into all of the specifics of each work, but you can check the link for additional information. Above is Casa Batllo, a personal residence Gaudi remodeled in 1904. It is remarkable for the use of color as light direction, ventilation as a function of design and flexible spaces with movable room dividers.

Park Guell was originally envisioned as a housing development outside of the city. Only two houses were built but much of the infrastructure was and that is what has become the park. The dragon fountain is the symbol of Barcelona and it is in this park.

Gaudi’s real masterpiece in my mind, and I think much of the world’s is Sagrada Familia. This is a categorized as a Basilica not a Cathedral and it is still in progress. When it will be done, who really knows. Gaudi kicked it off knowing that he would not see it completed but laid out the master plan and then also left it open for future generations to make their particular personal stamps.

End Your Programming Routine: Barcelona is a top twenty-five world destination and Gaudi is part of that. As you know me, I am not all about collectivism or subjective interpretation but I can admire a future thinker and a reverent one at that. Gaudi is one of the founding voices in modernism. It has taken me a while to appreciate that type of expression but in many ways modernism is a more complex presentation. It may appear simpler or cruder even but there can be more behind the image.

June 27, 2022 – Back to Reality

June 27, 2022 /

It is strange sitting in the Barcelona airport and typing this message. We are about board the plane for the first leg home. I had all of my posts staged for the last week and a half (with the exception of last Tuesday’s). So, I haven’t given much thought to the beginning of the work week.

So much of my future has been pegged to this trip. It seems like everything was categorized as ’Needs to Get Done Before’ or ’Needs to Wait Until After’. Now, the trip is over, so there is only what comes next. For instance, It is truly time to get to work on my siding project before I actually run out of summer.

I am sure I will probably talk about my trip most of the week, so I don’t have to get it all in today. Plus, I am in kind of a mental fog right now. I don’t know exactly how to name it, but I will attempt to describe it. It is not a hangover, that is the next day pain from the party. It is not the intoxication from the trip, I guess that I would call it the afterglow? You just want to be and nothing really else.

I don’t always feel like every vacation is over. I suppose that it is more like the vacation never started. Maybe it is a function of the duration of the time and maybe distance. In this case, having 10 days in Spain is probably enough time and disconnection from reality that it worked. In contrast, my last day off was a drive to Texas and back in a week. That was definitely not relaxing.

I don’t know if there is a proper formula for a successful. It very well could be different for each person. I know for me, I don’t want to just lay by the pool or in the sand. However, I don’t know if a constant touring format is enough downtime. This vacation had a bit of each.

I was able to finish my pretty substantial book “The Lost Symbol” on the trip as well as see Barcelona multiple days. If I had full control of the itinerary, I probably would have tried to take advantage of the fact that this was my first time in Spain and try to see as much as possible like it was my one opportunity. But, in retrospect I think leaving something for later as well as not filling every minute made it successful.

I am a creature of habit. My days are filled with doing the same things every day. I listen to my podcast list, I check my usual blogs, social media, news and information aggregators. None of these things I did on the trip. The instinctual part of me wants to catch up but a larger part of me want’s to leave it where it lies. That is probably part of a successful vacation as well. It is so difficult for me but probably worth it.

End Your Programming Routine: A lot of this I wrote before we got home. I definitely had some major surprises when we got home. However, I am not going to take today down with those specifics. Let me just say, it was definitely back to reality on Sunday and hopefully another trip to Spain someday.

June 24, 2022 – Podcast Episode 3, Dungeons and Dragons

June 24, 2022 /

I suppose game playing has become more acceptable, particularly role-playing games. Now that they can be played on the computer or game console and not had to be read out of a book, more people do it. Yes, I was one of those Dungeons and Dragons nerds in middle school and high school. Today, I make an argument for why I benefited from playing those games.

Anecdotally, we started watching Stranger Things recently. You know that the opening scene has the four characters playing Dungeons and Dragons. We are mostly through the first season, if you have seen it then you will see the undertones of Dungeons and Dragons keep popping up.

I actually wrote the outline of this podcast May 17, 2019. I was trying build up a library of show topics before actually starting to podcast. I remember what happened was that my wife was not totally into the name, then I kind of got put off and stopped working on the project all together (until December). I did keep them and I was looking for something non-temporal to talk about.

End Your Programming Routine: We should be on our way home by the time this is published. I am currently unable to predict the future, so we will see how things go for next week. For now, I am going to leave my point in the podcast and hope that I am able to get back in the groove Monday. Until then, enjoy your weekend.

June 23, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 23, 2022 /

It’s probably a foregone conclusion that semi-automatic pistols are a superior design to revolvers (for the most part). It is the reason the the majority of the handgun’s sold are semi-auto. But, that doesn’t mean that revolvers don’t have a niche. The one area revolvers actually accel is in the cartridge selection for performance.

First we start with handgun versus rifle. Generally speaking, the rifle is always the more effective tool. So, a handgun is a compromise. We carry a handgun when carrying a rifle is not practical. If we are going to have any tool, then we have to understand the purpose of the tool.

An example of purpose is self defense. Fishing in the Alaska back country has a different set of potential risks than walking the dog at night. Revolvers are significantly stronger and fire cartridges that are higher pressure and have better terminal performance. This is a long way of saying revolvers can fire more potent cartridges which work better for hunting and stopping larger animals,

Semi-Automatic pistols are easier to shoot because the barrel and therefore the recoil is more in line with the hand and the arm. This means that the propensity of muzzle flip and controllability for follow up shots are easier. The design of the revolver lends itself to more muzzle flip.

In the picture above, I have illustrated the recoil force directly opposite to the path of a bullet. The design of the grip actually leads to a fulcrum effect, potentially causing the whole firearm to flip. This requires a firm grip and wrist to hold things in place. There are some other potential factors to control as well that I will talk about.

It is worth pointing out that different revolvers have different grip designs and overall positions. The one pictured above has probably the most exaggerated design for muzzle flip that I will talk about below. The higher the barrel is to the grip, the more likely control could be a problem.

One of the variables is cartridge. Light loads is translated to lighter bullets and lower velocities. You will remember from a few weeks ago that Energy = 1/2 * mass * velocity * velocity that I talked about. This also happens to be be Newton’s second law. Since we are talking about Newton, his third law paraphrases in recoil will be the same in opposite direction.

Recoil is a somewhat complicated and subjective subject. There are the physics of actual recoil and the perception of felt recoil. One of the known factors of felt recoil is the overall mass of the firearm helps the user ‘feel’ less recoil. I suspect that this is because true recoil is not exactly linear but conical. It is widely held that lighter revolvers are more punishing to shoot. I can say that the aluminum alloy .38 special is much more punishing than shooting out of a full size steel pistol.

It is not just the material the firearm is made of that adds mass but also the size. Standard revolvers are 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″ and 6″ barrels with 2, 4 and 6 being the most prevalent. This adds to more mass but the control is a little counter intuitive until you look at the lever again. The longer the barrel the more leverage on the fulcrum. So, when firing powerful cartridges, a shorter barrel is easier to control because there is less perceived recoil for a couple of factors.

Going back to the compromise again and barrel length. Factory cartridges are loaded to function in all scenarios (and devices). When you look at handgun cartridges, the longer the barrel, the more chance that the entire powder charge is consumed. The more powder consumed, the more velocity is created and that squares the energy calculation causing more recoil. Not only does the energy increase, but so does the leverage on the fulcrum. This is another way of saying that perceived recoil is compounded with longer barrels.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t write this to scare you or dissuade you from selecting or carrying the best tool but rather to explain the phenomenon of recoil. The good news is that you can practice with lighter loads, which help a lot. Practice will help tremendously with mastery and confidence. Those two properties will make you much more likely to have it with you and mitigate risks in the back country. Don’t forget, something that can stop a bear can also stop a bad guy too.

June 22, 2022 – Time to Look Ahead

June 22, 2022 /

Wasn’t that great? We are a couple days from the end of our time here in Spain. I will spend time next week unpacking the important items from the trip. Today, I am starting to change my mindset into looking forward beyond vacation. And boy, there is work to be done.

  1. My summer project. It is time to start ripping off siding and fixing the rotten siding. In theory, I think that it is going to take a couple of weeks. Those ideas always get waylaid by everything else going on. I am going to estimate that this is going to take all summer.
  2. Fourth of July. Since the fourth is on Monday, this will be an entire weekend fireworks, parades, barbeques and carnivals. I don’t mind a fireworks display or drinking some beer. But, I have to say that one day is enough for me.
  3. Chess in the Park. When my son has a dream, it quickly becomes my dream (responsibility). My son has created eight Saturdays where he is running chess in the park. Basically every Saturday between the Fourth and Labor day has a commitment of several hours in the park to run this event.
  4. Of the age of Summer Jobs. My other son will be driving tractor for five weeks. This entire time will be before having a drivers license and therefore we will have to drop off and pick up every day.
  5. Birthday week. The last week in July is birthday week for my wife and son. This is usually the most hectic week of the summer with activities.

That is just July (mostly). What happened to camping and fishing? I don’t foresee this happening this year. August starts to look ahead to the next school year, harvest time and finishing what we started for the summer. Hopefully, I can sneak some respite and recreation in there before the summer is over.

I do have some other expectations for the summer. My wife wants the lattice replaced on the deck. Now that my son’s car is in the garage, I need to block off some time to see if I can help him get it working. This isn’t mentioning things that I want to do like take my dad out for belated Father’s day and restart my range trips that have fallen off in recent months. Culinary book club has restarted and I am planning on an AltF4 series on Atlas Shrugged. Plus, I wanted to put some time into making Adirondack chairs while we can still enjoy them.

End Your Programming Routine: In many ways, I have put my life on hold for the sake of this vacation. To be clear, I did have a good time but I am glad to be moving on. I am anxious to get my project started that I have been putting off for months. It’s a beautiful country with lovely food and people. It is not just me to live my life as a party and lay on the beach, even on vacation.

June 21, 2022 – Hola desde Espana

June 21, 2022 /

This is a mobile update from Spain today. I will have plenty of time to unpack any lesson’s learned or anecdotes when I get back. I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures that I have taken so far.

Food is very important here. Our first night was dinner with ‘the family’ purchased with items from the market. I am positive that I will be talking more about food and eating habits coming up, since they play such an important prominence in life.

Our first trip was west to a nearby city called Tarragona. Roman influence dates all the way back to 200 BC. Consequently, there were many interesting things to learn about and see. Having been to Rome before, this is kind of small potatoes by comparison, but everything was lovely. I wish we could have seen some of the re-enactments while we were there.

Then, we learned about Gaudi. I should say re-learned because I remember his work from art history class in college. We spent several days looking at his work throughout the city. My pictures are not nearly as great as my wife’s. Maybe I will get them after the trip.

End Your Programming Routine: So far, so good. We are enjoying our trip so much. Today we are off to another adventure (and part of Spain). Look forward to more about Spain next week.

June 20, 2022 – The Rain In Spain

June 20, 2022 /

The first time I ever heard this phrase was in Steven King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. If I remember correctly, the main character Roland recites these words as a poem.

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
There is joy and also pain
but the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
Pretty-plain, loony-sane
The ways of the world all will change and all the ways remain the same
but if you’re mad or only sane
the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
We walk in love but fly in chains
And the planes in Spain fall mainly in the rain.”

I didn’t know the origins of the lyrics, I think I read the book in middle school or high school. I thought it was unique to the book when one day I heard my grandfather utter the phrase. We were working on a rental house and it started raining and then he said, “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain”.

I never asked him, but I am pretty sure he was not a reader of Steven King. He read a lot of other things like National Geographic, the newspaper, the Bible, the Catechisms, Reader’s Digest, etc. It made me think that there was another source. But, this was the time that was pre-internet so research was not so easy to do. I kind of forgot about it until I was think about our trip to Spain.

It turns out, it was referenced in the 1938 film Pygmalian and subsequently published in 1956 for My Fair Lady. I am no old movie/musical/theater buff. So, I haven’t seen either but I am sure that is where he picked it up. This would have been in the early 1990s.

From my research, it appears that King changed the words so I guess if you get past the first stanza, you wouldn’t recognize it. To me, it sounded kind of like gibberish in the first place. It’s probably a book that I could re-read and get more out of it. I don’t remember a lot of it anyway. But reading the plot summary again, it said that King re-wrote it in 2003 because he thought it was difficult to understand and follow. I kind of agree and I think that is why I don’t remember much of it.

There was a movie made in 2017. From that plot summary, it was a combination of two books (in the five book series). So, the phrase was not in the original play, but in the subsequent movie, then changed by King in his books which have movies combining books together. No wonder I don’t know what is going on.

End Your Programming Routine: Coming from very temperate Oregon, we have not had any rain in Spain. It got up to near 90 at the end of April but we have been seeing highs in the low sixties lately. It is nice to get a taste of summer on our vacation.

June 17, 2022 – Looking for a Quick Win

June 17, 2022 /

I want to start building some rigor into podcasting and unfortunately, the timing is poor with me being in Spain. I thought maybe I would talk about some travel tips today since I have flown quite a bit. In addition, I have flown internationally many more times that I would like and this all fits into what I have up to lately.

At one time, I was a Delta Platinum frequent flyer (back when that was the highest tier) and I even got a Christmas card from a hotel one year. I know a bit about travelling. What I am trying to convey is not the nuts and bolts of travelling or packing tips or how to get the best deals or the most out of travel but best practices.

The Merriam Webster definition of best practices are as follows: a procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard suitable for widespread adoption. To be clear, these are most typically opinions from subject matter experts (like myself in this case). There is nothing saying that there are not conflicting opinions labelled as best practices from different sources.

Travelling for business and travelling for vacation are not exactly the same thing but they share a lot in common. Primarily, they are both travel. I think most people in the business world pack and orient toward speed. Meaning ‘How can I get off the plane and get home as fast as possible’? This means no checking bags and keeping things as compact as possible. I am going to let the the podcast speak for itself for the rest of this.

End Your Programming Routine: Bear with me, this is the beginning. I have listened several times and heard the smacks and uh’s too. I mean, I don’t think it is too bad considering these are off the cuff and I don’t have much practice. I anticipate adding some bumper music and working on a more standard intro and exit. But overall, I am pretty happy with what I have here.