Month: September 2022

September 30, 2022 – Atlas Shrugged 2:3

September 30, 2022 /

There is some interesting stuff in this chapter. In fact, we get the explanation of the book title here. I won’t spoil it for you but I am going to talk all around it.

In a related note, I was looking up the other books by Ayn Rand and I ended up reading a little bit of bio on Wikipedia. She is originally from the Soviet Union so that explains her super keen insight into socialism/communism. I guess what I find bizarre is that 2020’s USA is following in the very same footsteps (insert forehead slap .gif).

If I skip what I think are the inconsequential events like Reardon gets caught cheating by his wife Lillian, that will keep me focused on the heart of the events of the chapter. This is what happens of significance.

Reardon refuses Dr Ferris’ (SSI) blackmail attempt. Reardon purchased more coal than allowing under Fair Competition Act. Ferris tries to use that information to get Reardon to sell the SSI the metal that he previously refused. Ferris implies that everyone who is successful (and not going to jail) falls in line with this quid pro quo line of actions.

Ken Danagger of Danagger Coal who was Reardon’s co-conspirator in the situation also was threatened by the SSI. The pair of them are put on trial for refusing to cooperate in the blackmail situation. As a result, Ken abruptly quits his business after a visit from a mysterious stranger. This is reminiscent of the Wyatt Oil situation at the end of section one, ‘Let er Burn’.

Finally, I will end the chapter summary with another insightful conversation between Hank Reardon and Francisco d’Anconia. Francisco seems to see the world here as Reardon just plows on through it. Meaning, he is just going to keep going no matter the obstacles in the way. Francisco term’s it as morality or that Hank is willing to work harder to make up for other’s deficiency.

This is eerie. When I look back at my un-happiness at my previous job, this is precisely why I was unhappy and I just figured it out after reading this chapter. I kept working harder to make up for other’s deficiencies. The more I worked, the more success I had but it still didn’t change the paradigm. Once you realize that the situation will never change no matter how hard you work, the only thing left is to pull the chute.

My mental state was definitely a result of morality. I am not going to expose anything here but there was definitely some shady dealings going on. Nothing was illegal, but morality is usually not a legal question but an ethical one. In my book, an unethical action is also a stupid action and that I can’t stand to be around. I see it as guilt by proximity. I guess that is why I kept fighting for change. And because it never did, I was miserable.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not happy with my new job either. The difference is that I am not really vested in the outcome. I have no power or responsibility other than to do my job. It very well may be the same thing, but ignorance is bliss.

End Your Programming Routine: Wow, I really got a lot out of that chapter. I don’t know whether to be angry or cry or be triumphant. In some ways, this book is getting depressing because all of these things are happening despite what we know. Rand wrote about this in the 1950s, we saw the fall of communism, we heard the stories of depravity and dysfunction yet we double down on the path of failure. I suppose the path to happiness is staying aloof of the outcome, just like my job.

September 29, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

September 29, 2022 /

Rolling around to another Thursday, today I am going to finish off the conversation that I started last week on the ballistics of my reloads for .357 magnum. This was my first trip to the range with my chronograph. Look at all the junk I have to take, I am thinking of getting a larger range bag since mine is chronically full.

Since I provided the raw data last week, I am going to skip entering it this week. But, below I am going to provide the calculations from that data. What I can tell from the data is that charge weight makes very little difference in velocity unless it is the highest charge,

I think that it is worth pointing out a couple of things. Given the choice of charges and based on this data, I would choose the smallest load of 5.8 grains just based on performance. This actually ignores one variable that I didn’t test and that is accuracy. It is possible that one of the four charges is more accurate than the other three. The truth is, that would be the true choice. So, I will have to test that in the future.

5.8gr5.9gr6.0gr6.2gr6.3gr
Velocity9499329259431055
3 sigma327284161131168
Energy316305300312391

What I didn’t get was close to the published velocity. The data suggested that I should get 1050-1150 fps. It could be because I substituted components. I really don’t think so, but it is possible.

Now, theirs was measured on a 10″ barrel. However, I had a 16″ barrel and would expect to get similar to better velocity. To show what a difference barrel length makes, I also shot some factory .38 special on my range trip.

2″16″
17841031
27511094
37731131
47881131
57621154
67831159
77621143
87781143
97761113
Average7731122
3 sigma35117
Energy172363

What is the difference between .357 magnum and .38 special besides case length? It is pressure of cartridge during ignition 35,000 vs. 17,000 psi respectively. What I didn’t say with this data is the bullet is slightly lighter at 130 grains. Granted, this is a lighter bullet but the equalizer number is the energy.

Looking at the energy of 363 ft*lbs for .38 special versus 391 ft*lbs for .357 magnum I would deem this load as inadequate. Energy and velocity are not everything there is something to be said for accuracy as well. At least on the surface, I am definitely not getting the full potential of .357 magnum with this load combination.

If you remember a pound of powder is 7000 grains. And if I loaded 100 rounds averaging about 6 grains each for 600 grains I still have 90% of a pound left. It is good enough to make plinking rounds but given the choice, I would look for another powder.

End Your Programming Routine: I have done this exercise with several different powders and bullet weights. So, expect more of this in the future. Given our current state of reloading component shortages, it is unlikely that I am going to readily find a replacement to try any time soon. Of course, I am going to focus on what I currently have to get the most information on what I have on hand. I found the process enlightening, I hope that you did.

September 28, 2022 – Pre-Hung Doors

September 28, 2022 /

Now that we know how to take a door out, it is time to talk about adding a new door. Sorry if you were hanging on for this after the previous entry, you have now had an open hole in your structure for several weeks! I fully intended to capture the installation of the new door but got busy and forgot.

To make matters worse, I have decided to modify the existing door rather than replace the entire structure. So, I won’t document installing a pre-hung door this time. But, let’s talk about them anyway.

Things to know before buying a new door:

  1. How wide is the existing door? Typical widths are 36”, 32” and 28”. This is how the new doors will be marked for sale.
  2. What is the swing of your door? When on the outside of the door, the side of the hinges will either be left or right. That is the swing.
  3. Know your framing, for depth. Old houses like mine have true, 2×4 framing, new houses are 2×6. By the time you add 1/2″ of drywall, 1/2″ of sheathing and siding, all of this makes a difference when buying a pre hung door.
  4. Do you have a standard door (or opening)? Measure the height of the door, it should be 80″ in height. If your door is less than that, it is possible to modify the door but cutting the frame and door down but is much more work.

This is the reason that I modified the door rather than the casing.

It’s not a great picture, but the reality is the frame of the front door is half an inch wider than the current frame in the back door. The main house is framed with true dimensional lumber where as the back of the house is framed with modern lumber. Instead of 4″ thick, it is actually 3 1/2″ thick. If you have this situation, you are going to either have to cut down a door built for 2×6 walls, add onto a frame that is framed for 2×4 walls or order a custom door.

The truth is there are no good options. I made what I thought was the easiest and quickest method by trimming the door and moving the hinges. Guess what, it worked. It takes some fussiness and careful measuring but it can be done.

The nice thing about a new door is that all of the weather stripping is new. Everything should operate smoothly and easily like the handles and latches. Today, you don’t even have to mortise the lockset in many cases. This is secretly one of my least favorite things to do. If it is a used door, take the time to fix the weather stripping, paint when everything is off, make it install ready.

The next thing to having the right fitting door is to make sure that when installed it is plumb and level. The door will never operate properly if it is not. Do everything possible so that the door can be installed plumb and level including modifying the siding, drywall or structure. I can’t express the frustration you will have over the life of the door if you do not.

End Your Programming Routine: Since I cannot show the installation of the door, I will leave it at that. We got lucky in that I was able to modify both doors to make them work. It very easily could have not worked out because I wasn’t paying attention to all of the variables when my wife ordered the door. Trust me, I have made all of the mistakes before, including ordering a door that was too small for the framing, installing crooked doors that don’t function, having to add onto the structure, removing sheathing., etc.

September 27, 2022 – Tortilla de Patata

September 27, 2022 /

Our exchange student was gaga over this dish. I had never heard of it before and unfortunately, he had no real cooking skills. So, we didn’t really try this until we went to Spain last summer. It is very simple, comfort food that I made following the recipe in Canelle et Vanille for our September meeting of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club.

Eggs, potatoes, onion, salt and oil, it cant get much simpler than that. First peel and fry the potatoes and onions. The recipe called for three medium Yukon Gold potatoes. I used four shriveling, nearly rotten ones cooked in 3/4 cup of olive oil. In the mean time, scramble 6 eggs, I used 8 medium eggs.

I don’t know if this is the key or not, but after the potatoes are fried, you put them into the raw eggs and then dump the whole mixture back into the skillet. The key to the whole thing is that you need to flip the tortilla once. This is where our exchange student went wrong the couple of times that he attempted it as he never flipped it.

Aran said that you need to use a good, quality non-stick pan. Well, I dont have a good one and the truth is, I really don’t have a ‘non-stick’ (teflon coated) pan, so I used my cast iron skillet. And it worked perfectly fine.

Finding something to flip the tortilla onto was also a challenge. If I were to hazard a guess, I think this recipe would work better in a 10 inch pan rather that a 12 inch pan. My feelings are that the the over all product was too thin, but it worked just fine. I think the texture came out a little to rustic compared to the pictures I have seen (as well as real life) because of the ratio of potatoes to egg and the overall size.

We frequently make eggs and potatoes for breakfast. This combination is nothing new. I guess what is that every time I have mixed raw eggs and cooked potatoes is that the eggs seem to coat the potatoes and disappear. So, taking them out and mixing with the eggs before cooking seemed to be a better way of doing it.

End Your Programming Routine: As soon as we arrived to the dinner, the tortilla was served and nearly eaten. I would say that it was a success. Like I said, a little tweaking of the recipe could make this an easy stand-out. I say, not bad for the first time.

September 26, 2022 – Adding More Adventure in Your Life

September 26, 2022 /

On the heels of my recent evaluation of my goals and accomplishments, my wife isn’t completely happy with what we got done so far this year. In fact, we had a conversation about selling everything to free us from the obligations of maintaining a home. I of course am pretty tepid about the idea preferring to see what we can do with what we have where we are at.

Today, I am talking about some my mindset issues and how I got to where I am. But it is not just problems, I look a what I want to do and ways to approach them. Hopefully, it is a good way to compromise with everyone.

End Your Programming Routine: I am within three years of having an empty nest and life changing thoughts. I am inclined to sit tight until that point, but who really knows what will happen in the meantime. I am open to consider change but what I really don’t want is moving for change sake and then moving again a few years later when the kids decide ultimately what they do.

September 23, 2022 – Atlas Shrugged 2:2

September 23, 2022 /

This is one of those chapter’s that I struggled with a bit. I struggled to make time to read and I struggled to pull something out meaningful. The subject matter was a little dull as well. But, I think that there was something to pay the fuel bills here.

When I was a child, grade school to middle school, my uncle bought a fishing boat. With that boat was also a commercial fishing license. At that time, salmon fishing lasted two weeks. We would go out at least once while he fished for money, we fished for sport. A day was measured by whether your catch met your expenses or not. A good day exceeded your expenses (hopefully significantly).

So, Jim Taggart is marrying the dime store girl. Not much is written about him or the relationship in between the time that they met and actually getting married. The book feels like it has been about a year but the truth is that very little is spoken about time. It seems like it is always fall whenever the weather is mentioned but there is very little actually marking time.

Because Jim has really evolved into an insignificant character in the book, this wedding has to have a higher purpose. After all, there is over forty pages about it. Wouldn’t you know who shows up? Francisco d’Anconia of course and he ends up with a hard hitting soliloquy.

As is customary, the minor characters behave as snooty, intolerable children. They talk in empty platitudes. You know the kind where people say something rude out load without addressing a person specifically or making eye contact. “Money is the root of all evil” within earshot of Francisco. That set him off into some real insightful analysis.

I have heard it said that money is a measure of work or better yet energy. The reason money works is that I don’t necessarily want a bushel of apples for my beef every time. Money equalizes the peaks and valleys that bartering cannot. And, not all work is as equally valuable. While you may not want to throw hay on a trailer all day, there are plenty more people that can actually do that job than fix your automobile. Hence those jobs command different rates.

I am going to kind of go back and forth between the book and reality here. Francisco sets off to dispel the myth that money is the root of all evil. I tend to agree with him that people with money are the ones that subconsciously understand the value proposition of job rates being unequal. However, the balance of power is changing to people that are gaining money by changing the laws. He calls them ‘takers’.

We do not have to look far to see this in our own lives. This was the first article I looked up on congress people’s net worth changing while in office. I am willing to concede that there are no poor people running for congress but I think that it is pretty apparent that there are a lot of people somehow increasing wealth while in office.

“Money is the barometer of societies virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to seek permission from those that produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft or pull, not in work, and your laws do not protect you against them, but them against you – when you see corruption getting rewarded and honesty a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed”.

So, let’s see here, we have health insurance as a tax. That sounds like trading done by compulsion, not by consent. Then we have Monsanto suing farmers for their genetics interbreeding with non-Monsanto grains because the wind blew the pollen into other’s fields. Meanwhile, the USDA is a revolving door “experts” that come from the major agriculture companies. The same with the FDA. This sounds like seeking permission to produce. By the way, these were just the first things I saw when I looked for supporting evidence to my claims.

I have one more thing to say so I can get to the end here. Let’s get more local rather than the US Department of…, landlord tenant law. In my state, this is quintessentially law protecting the pullers rather than the producers. Fortunately, the pullers don’t seem to be smart enough to actually capitalize on getting richer but for no good reason there is a perception that tenants are always the victims. Let me state that there are very few circumstances that landlords want good tenants to leave. There are literally hundreds of reasons that they want bad tenants to leave.

End Your Programming Routine: Francisco d’Anconia seems to have a pretty good read on the tea leaves. What is interesting is that Ayn Rand saw this over sixty years ago. At this point, I am not yet convinced that all of these things happening today were already growing at the point this was written. I assume that concepts in the book were largely the growth of European socialism and communism. However, I do think that the ignoring of the Constitution goes back to Abraham Lincoln as the tipping point.

September 22, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

September 22, 2022 /

If you listened to my podcast on Monday, then you got a sneak preview to what I was going to talk about today. After all of these years, I am finally getting around to testing some of my reloads. I needed/wanted some validation data before I resumed doing any further reloading.

Now, I don’t know if you have been aware of what has been going on the last couple of years but in case you have been in a hole, reloading components are really hard to find. Fortunately for me, I loaded this ammunition in 2017. The challenging part is that replacing it is going to be challenging with the lack of components. Listening to Gun Talk the other day, I heard that some powders won’t even be made for another year. Good luck finding primers too. Fortunately, I have some of both.

What was my setup? Well, here is my source for my loads, the Hodgdon website.

My starting point is the second line, but I included the first line for comparison. I can’t possibly inform all the nuances of reloading today but you should know pushing a lead bullet too fast can cause barrel fouling. I interchange bullets sort of willy-nilly as long as we are talking about the same type bullet construction. My rule is as long as the weight is the same and it is copper jacketed, it should be safe to load with published data. If using lead bullets, make sure you are not using jacketed load data to start with until you have some idea of what you are doing.

Not everything is perfect. The cases I used were mixed head stamp instead of Winchester, the bullet I used was a Speer 158gr hollow point instead of a Hornady XTP (also a jacketed hollow point) but the powder was Hodgdon Universal and the primers were Winchester.

I have another secret, I also mix and match primer brands with starting point loads. This is not an endorsed reloading best practice. You can find tables ranking primer ignition and granted, I am not an expert but we are in a time when you have to work with what you can get. My best guess is that you might effect accuracy or not be able to duplicate published data but I really have my doubts that changing primer brands is actually dangerous.

The way I initially choose my starting point loads was to cross compare powders that work across multiple cartridges. I also look at multiple sources, availability and so on and pick a direction. I literally wrote down a list of powders that would work and went to the store to see what they had. Lest you think that you can buy this stuff online – you can. But it has to ship under a specific HazMat banner so it costs quite a bit more for small quantities. Purchasing local is almost always the best deal, but again this is a matter of getting it or not.

I load 100 cartridges at a time. So in this case, I loaded 20 – 5.8 grains, 20 – 5.9 grains, 20 – 6.0 grains, 20 – 6.2 grains and 20 – 6.3 grains. I fired all of them and measured the velocity. I am working on my 1000 round trigger job concept and my rifle is not even sighted in so I just shot for velocity measurement.

There are two other variables to consider. One is the barrel length. Mine was fired out of a Rossi 92, 16 inch barrel. In theory, this should give the highest possible velocity compared to a shorter barrel. You can see the published load used a ten inch barrel. The other is the outside temperature. This day was a smoky 80 degrees. In theory, the warmer the outside temperature, the more velocity you are going to get. It has to do with the theory of reaction, gas/pressure etc. You don’t want any more science today.

Without further adieu, here is the raw data.

Since I have given you all of the tools to calculate the results, you can go ahead of me if you like. I am going to save the analysis for next week and I will let you in on a secret, I am withholding some information that will be helpful on my overall prognosis. Nevertheless, what is presented is the basic starting point looking at the data.

You did listen to my podcast on Monday didn’t you? You will see that I have some values highlighted in red Those to me are the outliers. You will also notice that I have some blanks, those were the results of missing the chronograph. Since you listened, you know my theory and how I am going to handle them next week. I will give you this week to catch up and listen to the podcast.

End Your Programming Routine: This is the culmination of years of kind of stumbling around in the dark. My next planned range trip I have a very similar exercise planned with a different powder. As a scientist, I can only make educated decisions with data. I don’t know how far I can actually take this given today’s shortages but I will probably have enough data to decide to keep looking at components or work on dialing the current ones in.

September 21, 2022 – Is ‘Cutting the Cord’ Really Better?

September 21, 2022 /

We were early adopters of the concept, cutting the cord. That means that we don’t pay for cable. We did it for purely financial reasons, we couldn’t afford the service. At the time (2005), we owned a house in South Carolina, we were renting a house in Oregon, we had no furniture, I had just took a permanent 17% pay cut and my wife was unemployed. I am not saying that we were starving but we did make sacrifices.

It actually took a career change (four years) to get back to making the same amount of money that I was making. We did sell the house in six months and it took a few more years to recover from our move financially. By that time, we really didn’t feel the need to pay $50-70 a month for cable.

I liked to watch HGTV before it was all ridiculous makeover shows and property buying and I liked to watch TNN (Spike) for the auto programs on Saturdays. But, what I really liked was sports. That is the thing that I have always missed since we went cable-less. I watched Monday Night Football on ESPN, NASCAR on Fox Sports, baseball play-offs on TBS when I had the chance.

Free of the ability to watch sports, I started really not paying attention to that much. I still followed Beavers football, the NFL and watched the World Series. Since I was local to OSU, I could listen to the games on the radio, my first love. Racing was over along with bowl games and a lot of other time killers but life moved on.

In the last 10 years, my wife has been adding streaming services. It started with Netflix. Then, because we had Amazon Prime we got another service for free. In the last three years she has added Hulu. And the last two years, we have turned on Sling during football season.

Now, I have to say that I barely ever turn on the TV. I am not totally sure I even know the passwords to the services. My wife wanted to watch Yellowstone with me, I made it a couple of episodes into season 2. I wanted to like it but it took too much commitment and the ridiculous story line drove me crazy, so I quit. I really cannot get into any kind of ‘soap opera’ because no matter what, I don’t think that there is a compelling story line year over year that appeases my sense of logic and reason.

We turned on Sling again the other day. I was just checking out to see what was on and I left it on MotorTrend. The show All Girls Garage came on. I was cooking and I looked up and saw a knife on one of the host’s hip. I was asking myself was that a tool? Does she use the knife for repair work? I am just going to watch and see.

I didn’t see any use of the knife after an episode or so. So, I decided to look up the host Faye Hadley. It seems as though she is a certified mechanic that graduated from Harvard with a psychology degree. Despite the dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings, I think the knife is schtick. And here is where the rubber meets the road.

There is too much entertainment in the world. Sports is no longer TV and/or cable but now NFL network and Amazon Prime. In order to compete in personalities a capable mechanic needs to dress like a badass assassin. When it comes to cost, I don’t think I am saving any money by picking and choosing different services. In fact, to see what we want this method may very well cost more. At the very least, it is a lot more hassle.

The only reason we added Sling TV in the first place is that it is the only streaming service that has Pac12 Network. I guess I would describe the service as streaming cable. I really will never take the time to really watch what is available, but I do like to tune in every now and then to see what is there.

In the end, I will answer the question, is it worth it? For me, I will say no. I have enough income that that cost of cable would be insignificant. What isn’t worth it is the time. And that is the most valuable commodity to me. I am also getting to the place where I just want stuff to work. I don’t want to fiddle with a bunch of different ways of getting to the same end. I really don’t want to turn on and off services and deal with managing all these different subsriptions.

End Your Programming Routine: Ultimately, if it was up to me I would probably leave Sling TV on. I am much more likely to browse on any given day than binge watch a series or even watch a movie. That being said, I likely wouldn’t watch enough to justify the cost of $65/mo. In fact, I don’t even think that my current interest is worth the cost. It is nice to turn on and turn off when you are done. It is almost like a more mature pay per view.

September 20, 2022 – Cannelle et Vanille, Part 2

September 20, 2022 /

I wasn’t the only one confused. It seemed as though most of the book club members weren’t sure if it was one book or both. So, most of them looked at both. This was the first cookbook that Aran Goyoaga wrote and it is all about dishes but includes baking.

I think that it is natural that everyone wants to put a stamp on their work. In this case, I saw something that I had never seen before which was about ten different meals. They included the entre, salad and drink/desert/side. This was the last third of the book. I suppose kind of like wine, pairing everything together.

I kind of like the concept. At least it makes the decision making kind of easy. I guess what makes the book speak to me more is that the ten dinners seem to have a Spanish bend. There is paella, tortilla de patata and various seafood, pasta and Mediterranean vegetable dished that are in Aran’s culture. I made the tortilla for our dinner and I feel closer to these Spanish recipes than I did with the Jose Andres cookbook.

If there is any downside to the cookbook, I would say is that it shares content with the baking cookbook. So, there is some duplication in the introduction fundamentals and the baking sections. I suppose that it is nice to know that she sticks to her principles and has found something that works. The other thing that I found a little too much gluten free baking in this particular cookbook. Since this one was written first, this is a much more comprehensive cookbook and I could see the other one as a niche reference.

Just like the others, there are a few things I am interested in trying. I am definitely going to give paella a whirl. I have made it before and after feeling disappointed in Spain, I feel like I can do it better. I mentioned after reading Self-Reliance magazine that I would like to try to make yogurt. There is a recipe here as well. I also saw a very approachable ragu using beef roast. I am always looking for more ways to focus on the primal cuts besides just Sunday roasts.

Once you start getting so many cookbooks, it is difficult to invest much unless it speaks to you. I was not excited when I saw the list and this one included. However, after giving it a chance and our connection to Spain, this one is stack ranking on the higher third on the list. What I am saying is that I don’t think that this cookbook is going to appeal to everyone but it seems to be the right mixture for me.

End Your Programming Routine: I feel for those that have a severe gluten intolerance. I know other chef’s that are absolutely tortured by situation. So, for that reason alone, I applaud Aran for attempting to solve the problem. As I said last week, I am going to keep trying things until we can eliminate some of the extra ingredients around or give up. If this is you, then I would give a recommend to the book at least for experimenting.

September 19, 2022 – What to Know About Data Integrity

September 19, 2022 /

I recently watched part of the Hulu mini-series ‘The Dropout’. Assuming what we saw was true, it was very apparent why Theranos crashed in a big way. What really boggles me more is how it rose to such heights without a solid foundation in accepted science. You can hear all about it right here.

End Your Programming Routine: When things are too good to be true, don’t be surprised when they are. I know that I have the benefit of hindsight, it is much easier to take the moral high ground. But, I also lay the blame on all the people who invest in ideas that they don’t understand. It is not to say that you need to know how to build a widget, but you should at least understand how the widget fits into the product landscape.