Month: June 2025

June 12, 2025 – Convalescence, For the Body and Soul

June 12, 2025 /

In the days before modern medicine, treatment used to involve avoidance and to a large degree living with chronic diseases. I trace my recent family roots to convalescence in fact. My great-great grandfather came to Salem, Oregon to live out his life in a Tuberculosis home. As fate would have it, it wasn’t very long and my great-great grandmother was a single mother of some young children.

You know that I am a sentimental sucker. Why else would I keep, let alone write about 30 year old boots and batteries? When I read a book or see a movie talking about sitting on the front porch every night, it sounds so appealing. And yet I have a hard time sitting still. It is not that I am not patient but that I am always worried about the efficiency of doing nothing.

One of the reasons I love audio is that I can be listening and doing something else at the same time. That makes it doubly difficult for me to just sit and listen to music or a ball game. And yet, radio is my favorite way of taking in sports. It reminds me of a life that I do not lead, a life of leisure and nothing better to do.

One of the things that I have been trying to do this year is go back to my roots and following OSU Beavers sports primarily football, basketball and baseball and largely on the radio. As luck would have it, the Beavers have a pretty good baseball team and were hosting a regional College World Series tournament. As luck (unlucky) would also have it, I got knocked down with some kind of sickness that had me in bed all weekend.

We have had significantly better than average spring weather this year. I decided that I would sit in the sun on the front porch with the radio on listening to the final game of the Corvallis regional. It was win or go home. I had listened to other games in the tournament, but this was the one. I was going to dedicate the time to a game, this is the one to pick.

I did feel guilty that I was just sitting there so I brought my laptop out thinking that I would write with the game on. But, as luck would have it, the laptop was causing electromagnetic interference with the AM signal reception. The signal was clear as day until I flipped the screen open. I repeated this test twenty times or so just to definitively prove the point.

I know, I will move the radio away and turn up the volume. But, I couldn’t find a way to use the computer and have the game on with clear reception, so I gave up. I had to make a choice, listen to the game or work on the computer. I went into the house and grabbed an old bag of sunflower seeds that were stale and enjoyed the Beavers cruise to victory and on to hosting a super regional.

That mid-seventies sun was a good contrast to laying in bed watching television. Both were comfortable but there was something about the fresh air that felt cleaner and invigorating. I hardly had had a cough while I was sitting there. As I was sitting there just being, I thought to myself that I do not know how to relax. To me, relaxing is for when all the work is done. But when is it ever done?

I don’t know what makes us tick. I know that my dad enjoyed sports even though he never really ever sat down to watch or listen. I am sure that is where my behavior came from. My kids could care less about sports even though my wife and I fans. It is more likely she will watch a game with me than they will. I just don’t make the time unless I can find something else to do at the same time.

Even reading is not the same. While reading I am interacting with a book or magazine while the world drives by. It is different than watching the constant stream of cars and wondering who is listening like me as I pump my fist for the double play or home run. Since I am never out there, I am just a crazy guy watching everyone go by.

End Your Programming Routine: I know that I have problems with resting. But, I really enjoyed sitting on the front porch going through a bag of sunflower seeds and cheering on my team. It makes me think that I need to do more of it be it a beer or iced tea. It made me forget that I was sick for a couple of hours and I feel a tiny bit better than I did before I went outside. I probably would have never done it had I not been sick.

June 11, 2025 – Man, I Love Old Stuff

June 11, 2025 /

Take a look at my almost thirty year old boots. Yeah, I know that I love to flaunt this kind of stuff. I originally bought a different brand of boots and the leather ripped on the first day of wearing them. So, I returned them and purchased these significantly more expensive pair of Danner boots to replace them.

They haven’t got a lot of wear, specifically lately. These are my hunting boots. It was about 2014 that I had worn them on my one and only elk hunting trip that I noticed the sole started to separate from a boot. I took them into a local boot repair and asked them to sew the sole back on which they did. The problem with that is that it cupped the boot tip up and the plastic toe protector would rub my big toe. So much so that it would become raw after a couple of days of wear and so they stayed on the shelf in favor of my low hikers the last couple of hunting seasons.

I thought that I would investigate the Danner recrafting services. Fortunately for me, I live close to the home of Danner and there is a factory store in Portland where they actually do the work. One Saturday I had to do some errands in Portland so I thought that I would inquire.

And inquire I did. The stern looking cobbler looked the boots over and said, I recommend a full rebuild. The plastic heel forms were no longer attached to the boot. He also said that there is no way of knowing whether the previous repair had punctured the Gore-Tex sock that make these boots waterproof. I don’t feel like they are compromised but the package offering below the full rebuild did not address the heel and so I conceded.

The cost to recraft these boots was $280. The step down was $240 so it didn’t make a lot of sense to scrimp. I suppose that if I didn’t need the heel structure repaired, I could have gotten away with just a new sole to remove the cupping. Otherwise, I would say the boots are in fantastic shape.

This was a hard pill to swallow. If it weren’t for the fact that now these boots cost $450 dollars to replace and it was extremely unlikely I would wear them again with my toe rubbing I would have said that the financial cost was not worth it. Based on replacement costs of most of their boots, I would say that there are very few models that are worth recrafting. In other words, I would have been money ahead to buy a new pair of boots, just not these.

My understanding of this process is that the boot is entirely reconstructed. The plastic bits at the toe and the heel are replaced with a new sock. There is a new tread put on and probably a new sole core, although I do not know. They do offer options of tread pattern that the boot originally was not sold with, a bit of customization. The brass lace rivets are replaced because over time the pressure of the laces cause sharp edges to form causing laces to break faster over time.

What exactly remains of the old boot? I think just the leather which has been re-dyed. They include new laces and new insole platforms. With all that, they should look like new because they basically are. If it makes the bitter pill any easier to swallow, there is free shipping to and from, that saves time and mileage expense.

One other thing I was offered was 25% coupon at the factory store. I am definitely thinking about replacing my hikers, I don’t like them so that discount is probably worth $50 if I can find a pair of Danner hikers I like. That is still to be determined.

End Your Programming Routine: One of the reasons I justified this purchase originally was that they were an investment. That being said, how many people actually have their shoes repaired? I was going to give them an inaugural run on the sporting clays course but God thought I needed to stay in bed sick instead. So, I haven’t worn them yet. I may have to just wear them around town just to make sure that this fixed the problem. Let’s assume that is the case, I will report back otherwise.

June 10, 2025 – When It Is Too Good to Be True, It Is

June 10, 2025 /

Sometimes, people that pride themselves into not getting duped, do. That’s me. And, hindsight being 20/20, I should have known better. I am a little angry and I second guess the whole process even if it might be the overall right decision. Let’s get into it.

In 2015, we were going to paint the house. It was at this point that some rot was discovered and ultimately led to us putting Hardie-plank over the existing T-111. It was also at that time that the front window started leaking. It is hard for me to believe but it is true that adding something on the outside caused leaking on the inside.

Over the years I have tried various things. I caulked around the upper window once and that seemed to work for a year. We hired somebody that didn’t know what they were doing and caulked on the inside (that was never going to work and it wasn’t worth pursuing given they clearly didn’t know what they were doing). In 2023, I paid a contractor to completely tear off and re-flash the window. It still leaked.

We batted around the idea of changing that window into a bay window in 2018. It was something I thought about doing during my break from work in 2019-2020 but I ended up getting involved in completely remodeling the apartment instead. Finally, my wife decided that she wanted to replace the front windows.

Have you seen the TV commercials where you buy one and get the second one free? My wife called them. These are triple glazed, argon filled, UV coated and lifetime guaranteed. I knew that it was going to be expensive and any business that advertises on TV was going to be suspect. I knew there was a leak and so I gave an extensive line of questioning. The final answer I got was that they were going to own the leak. I am sold.

Most people, myself included would say that two windows for $10,000 was over priced. I wasn’t just getting new windows, I was solving a problem that I had already spent $7500 on. I was told that any rot repair would be done outside of the window contract but that there would be a per linear foot cost and would be performed as part of the installation process.

I should have known that this was too good to be true. As the installers were tearing out the window, they said that structural damage was beyond the scope of the contract. Any additional rot repair would have to be performed first. They could do the work but were not authorized to start at the point that the window is out of the house and it would be two weeks out.

The installer advised me to get some additional estimates, his was going to be Time and Materials one to three days. Do you have any idea what it would be like to get someone within two weeks time to do the work? The longer this process takes, the longer there will be a hole covered with OSB in my front room. I am not a fool, I knew that there was a risk to more damage, I was already planning on redoing the sheetrock on the south side of the wall anyway due to water damage (after the new window). We could have solved this problem in the ten weeks we were waiting for the window.

I think that it is worth re-iterating, I am not looking for something for nothing. I knew that additional rot damage would be on our dime. I am also not surprised that there was more damage. I guess what is disappointing is that when he said they were going to own the leak, I believe what he really meant was that they were going to make sure that their windows were not the source and take as little responsibility as possible. I don’t honestly believe that they are vested in solving the problem.

All of that linear foot nonsense was about the wood casing itself. Really? In my experience rot is rarely limited to superficial trim. And so I am beat. I got suckered into buying windows that are five times more expensive than the average window all because I believed what I wanted to believe.

End Your Programming Routine: My gut feeling with these outfits is always no and from now on it will be. About two weeks later my wife called in a shower outfit and got a quote for a $20,000 shower. I was smart and said no to that one. The product brands are good and nice and all but they way overcharge and under deliver. I guess you are never too old to learn another lesson. One I should have known before the salesman walked in the door.

June 6, 2025 – In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection, Chapters 13-14

June 6, 2025 /

OK, my opinion of this book is changing from what I believed before I read the book until now being almost finished. These two chapters are nearly worthless because so much has changed in 45 years. Even some of the information is no longer accurate because of technological changes. I just don’t think that you can overlay the old information with today’s new choices.

The first chapter is all about firearms choice. Ayoob recommends a two inch, 38 Special as the best overall choice. Personally, as someone who owns one, I have to disagree in today’s market. With a short barrel length, accurately aiming is very difficult. Recoil ranges from snappy to stinging, making shooting often uncomfortable. A magazine capacity of five pales in comparison so something like a Sig Sauer P365 that holds 13.

Something that I feel is definitely wrong is the lack of endorsement for the rifle as a self defense platform. The Modern Sporting Rifle (ex. AR-15), primarily in carbine configuration has a long track record in urban combat. I do not believe that it works well for the untrained and unpracticed but then again I don’t think that any of this does. Any sort of long arm is not for street carry. Ask Kyle Rittenhouse about packing around a rifle into trouble. That fits right into the Machismo of carrying a firearm.

But as far as home defense, it is amongst the best choices. As a rifle, the bullet energy of a 223 Remington is three times that of a 357 magnum. Rifles are inherently easier to aim and shoot accurately. An MSR magazine can carry 30 rounds. Last and best is that the 55 grain bullet tumbles on impact. This phenomenon tends to significantly reduce over penetration that will be experienced by almost any other choice.

When I started this series, I referenced the 1986 Miami shootout. This was a pivotal moment in self defense and ballistics theories. It was deemed that a large part of the failure was the result of 9mm full metal jacket ammunition that was unable to penetrate glass and deliver lethal force. As a result, the FBI developed the 10mm cartridge.

The 10mm proved to be extremely effective but caused an unintended consequence of swelling the grip size. The extra recoil and increased size made slighter, statured officers unable to competently use the firearms. That quickly morphed into another cartridge which is the 40 S&W. The Forty reigned supreme for twenty years in the law enforcement arena due to superior ballistics over 9mm.

But, times change and the economy of scale with the military (and most of the world) using 9mm, it was deemed more economical to use. There were also still complaining about the recoil of the Forty as well. As a result of the shootout and all of the cartridge development led to the FBI ballistics test. Note that the test is not caliber specific. Consequently, 9mm has largely overtaken the law enforcement market again due to significantly better ammunition development.

All of this is to say that Ayoob deemed the 9mm marginal which is simply not the case in 2025. Ayoob himself claimed that the ‘king’ of cartridges is the .45 Auto. This analysis is simply due to bullet diameter. Mind you .45 caliber is 11.4mm. So, in reality we are talking about a 2.4mm difference between bullets as the only real differentiator on full metal jacket ammunition.

That is all semi-automatic pistol stuff. There have been a bunch of new cartridges in the revolver arena as well. I will disregard all of the elephant rounds and say that the 327 Federal and the older 32 H&R Magnum have come onto the scene. When Ayoob says that there are no 32 caliber cartridges that are adequate for self defense, that would be wrong. There are a host of other benefits that I will not get into here but if I was picking a revolver and cartridge for self defense, I think I would look in this direction.

I want to end this by saying that I do not own a whole bunch of firearms. But, the reason that there are so many handgun choices and calibers is that there is a situation for all of them and choice is only one of them. A person could reasonable justify revolver for the woods, a small handgun for pocket or summer carry, a double stack for crowded situations or winter carry. In my mind, there is no perfect situation. A handgun is best for concealment and to keep the other hand free.

If you were to tell me that I had to pick one, I would say that I prefer not to be there when the confrontation happens. If you said that I had to be at the confrontation, I pick a long gun. If that is not an option, pick the one that you are the most comfortable with and can shoot the best. While I respect Ayoob’s vast experience in the ballistics arena, I side on the fact that a hit is better than a miss.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t mean to demean Ayoob, it is just that these chapters do not stand the test of time for reasons that is beyond his control. As a person that was alive in 1980, I can tell you first hand things are very different technologically between then and now. What if you were advising cars from 1980 in 2025? The best economical car to buy is a Renault Le Car…

June 5, 2025 – The Ethics and the Reality of Hunting

June 5, 2025 /

I enjoy the show Life Below Zero. When I first started watching it, I believe that it was 2019. I remember finishing all the episodes on Netflix in my early days of ‘retirement’. I would take the time to find tasks that I could do with the TV on such as sewing patches on the kid’s Boy Scout uniforms. Then I kind of forgot about it until we were in Montana for Thanksgiving.

Most AirBnBs today have internet and the idea is you will log into your services on the TV. My wife had logged into Hulu and I was up several hours earlier than everybody else. I decided that I would put on some background show while I worked on clean-up and breakfast for the day. I found that Hulu had some seasons of Life Below Zero that I had not seen.

That got me thinking about filling in the gaps. I found out that Disney Plus had all of the seasons and episodes. Low and behold, we pay for that as well so I started catching up where I left of on Netflix. This is one of those shows that has a lot of reality to it. But, I have noticed that it has a lot of not reality as well. For instance, they will play up a character that lives 200 miles from the nearest town and yet they will have a snowmobile or four wheeler that requires a significant amount of fuel in between trips to town.

It feels like characters actually run out of things to do. Not every episode but frequent enough they are building a hot tub in the middle of nowhere. One character built a solar powered boat. I mean, these are people that are supposed to be hustling to make it? Let’s not kid ourselves, they get paid to be on the show and that salary affords them luxuries that non-TV stars don’t have, like fuel drops by airplane.

Hunting has a huge share of the TV time on the show. As such, I have noticed some discrepancies between what I would expect under the American ethos and what happens on TV. For example, it is considered unethical to shoot turkeys from a roosting position. Turkeys fly into the trees at night and come down to the ground in the morning. The ‘proper’ way to hunt turkeys is on the ground. Well, Alaska does not have any turkeys so that is not an issue.

In the show, nearly every single waterfowl is shot on the water. That is supposed to be a no no for bird hunters. With the exception of turkeys and grouse, birds are supposed to be shot in the air according to hunting ethos. Make no mistake, this is not illegal but it is considered non-sporting.

Another thing that I see all the time is bad shooting. It can be caribou quartering away (this means with the butt facing the shooter) or shooting into a herd of animals. A huge part of hunter’s safety is shoot/don’t shoot. If you cannot clearly identify and isolate your target then that should be a don’t shoot. You wouldn’t want to accidently wound a second animal or damage the meat that you are hunting for.

If this were a show like Meat Eater, that kind of film would never make it to the final product. They go out of their way to do everything by the book even to the point of punching their tag if they cannot recover a wounded animal. My guess is that the producers at National Geographic have no idea what the ethics of hunting entails.

Life Below Zero is a dichotomy of should and should not. I am amazed at the number of times there is a nuisance predator that they devise all kinds of schemes to chase the undesirables away rather than just killing it. Much of the reasoning comes from Native American spirituality than from ethics even if it is within the legal purview to eliminate the problem.

There is a lot of talk about the reverence of the animal and the eco-system in general. Animals that I don’t consider food, primarily fur bearers get eaten. Most trappers here would discard a beaver or muskrat once skinned. I am not clear what happens to the rare fox or lynx. I have seen where natives burn the wolverine due to cultural belief. While many of the harvesting methods can be questionable, there is no doubt that killing is serious business to not be taken flippantly.

I think what we are seeing is hunting for survival. The rules of ethics were developed as a result of shooting a million bison from trains just for the hide and tongue. With these modern tools, we should have some limits to make it fair for the animal and to not entirely eliminate the species. When it comes to survival, many of those artificial limits are out the window. It is not self serving to eliminate the species and the number one rule is to actually survive.

End Your Programming Routine: Salary aside, hunting is very important for food procurement. I could name some other things that I have seen on TV to support my discussion today but I would also point out that there are some things that natives can do that non-natives cannot. I would point out that I am not an expert in ethics, Alaska law or a lot of other things related to the show and I don’t think that Nat Geo is intentionally exposing questionable processes. But, I think that they would do better to craft a message to the ethical hunter’s expectations.

June 4, 2025 – What Am I Missing?

June 4, 2025 /

It has has been quite a while since Covid began and a whole new normal. I can’t ever remember a time pre-Covid that I could not buy something that I knew existed and wanted to purchase. I should qualify firearms and ammunition shortages of 2010 an 2014 excluded. We got through toilet paper, electrical boxes, Romex and plywood. Maybe I am reading more into things than I should but I am finding former common items that I have not seen on the store shelves in months.

Eighteen gallon compactor bags, Head and Shoulders Intensive treatment and Theraflu (specifically the night time formula). I have been able to find the bags and shampoo on Amazon but the Theraflu is another story. Just when things are getting crazy, we are all getting sick.

It could be the whims of the market. How many people have trash compactors anyway? Ours is a relic from the days when we had to supply our own garbage can. But, as time goes on, I am sure those installed in the 1990s are slowly giving up the ghost. I have jerry rigged a new handle to accommodate the broken plastic handle and we have to hold the door in to make sure the switch contact is maintained.

This all started happening about a year and a half ago. I keep checking each time at my local stores to see if it is really true and it appears that it is. The same is true with my shampoo. Head and Shoulders Intensive Treatment is the only that works for me and I have tried everything.

One bottle lasts about a year for me. Being a pantry guy, I buy a replacement when I open a bottle. In theory, I have about a year until I truly have to replace it. I did find it at the discount supermarket which means that I don’t know if that means it truly is on it’s way out or that people are not looking for it there yet. This is another one that I can currently buy on Amazon.

As luck would have it, we are sick in this house. I have never found any cold medicine to be effective. But, I will take the night time formula to knock myself out. I find that to be the only therapy that actually helps. I could honestly not give a rip about daytime cold formulas. In fact, when I was trying to research Theraflu, I ran across multiple articles that stated the active decongestant ingredients was called phenyl-ephedrine was recalled in 2013.

Every since the powers that be severely limited pseudoephedrine, they may have moved it behind the counter? I have no idea since we are now down to one pharmacy with bankers hours. But this is one of those things that is not readily available on Amazon. While it can be purchased via the marketplace, it is not an in-stock item.

The last time I went to look for Theraflu, I found that it was out at most stores. I attributed it to it being the sick season (February). As I continuously do my loops for compactor bags, I found it at the grocery store as ‘discontinued’. For this reason, I wasn’t surprised that I haven’t been able to find it in the stores.

I think that is actually abhorrent that we are so dependent on China for critical materials. The fact that we cannot produce our own medicines and defense components is really inexcusable. Only a critically arrogant people would give up sovereignty and self-reliance for cheaper prices.

Or maybe, this isn’t some sort of supply chain fubar but a regulatory whim. I think that RFK really does have our best interest at heart. For way too long the robber barons in the medical industry have been defining health. Maybe (probably) Theraflu is not good for me. I guess I don’t know because my research was inconclusive as to why I cannot find it on the store shelves.

Theraflu is not the only product out there. In fact, we have night time cold medicine pills that also work. It is more for my non-pill taking children that anybody. But, a good hot cup of something also helps relieve some pain as well. I like the variety.

End Your Programming Routine: The new world is a world that possibly whatever you want is no longer available, for whatever reason. It’s too bad because these are the things that work for me. I’m sure we will make due as they are not necessities and maybe they will come back but something is up. I don’t know what it is exactly, but be prepared for more of this.

June 3, 2025 – I Never Would Have Pictured This

June 3, 2025 /

This saga has been going on for several years which I have referenced many times. The college coach (consultant) that we hired in 2023 was supposed to deliver us to the promised land of best schools, best price for my youngest son. He was hired on reference from others that got those kind of results. I am not going to bad talk but I will say that I don’t feel like the price was worth the results.

The only university that my son wanted to go to was Harvard. I knew that the reality was slim but then I found out that we would be on the hook for $80,000 per year and it was time for a new reality. I find this very hard to believe, but according to the consultant, students could not take out loans because they don’t have the credit or the income. Student loan debt is largely the parents these days.

What this really means is that the most debt that they can really incur is the federally backed debt which caps out at something like $7000/year. It also means that the ‘crushing debt’ that we keep hearing about is around $40,000. It is hardly something to snivel at but I have to say that it is less than the cost of the average new car. It is definitely too much for a barista salary but it isn’t that much more than the $25,000 my wife borrowed in the 1990s.

I want to point out the obvious that the education they are getting is not worth the cost that they are paying. Even what I would call a small amount of overall debt is considered ‘crushing’ by today’s graduating standards. The point of all that is that we could not afford Harvard. There were a number of Ivy League schools that my son applied for as well with his second choice being Brown. They all declined him and he was crushed.

This brought about a second round of applications which included a number of ‘safety schools’. Amongst the higher tiers of schools in the second round was Northwestern which did accept him. It didn’t matter now about the handful of other schools that had also accepted him, that is where he was going.

Before I get into the rest of the story, I have to throw into the politics of it all first. I have to say that watching my son apply to all of these schools that are front page news in their very public, political battle is somewhat sickening. Harvard, Columbia and Northwestern have been trying to assert their tax free, first amendment status to house and support radical behavior.

You should know me by now that by all means, fly your freak flag. But, don’t do it on my public money dime. I will continue to support my son, whichever institution that he chooses even if that means I am paying a school that ultimately flaunts their radical leanings. Consider that it allows me no greater position of influence (at this point).

It cannot be discounted that I have also done more for cultural understanding than most Americans. The exchange students that have been under our care have wanted to be here and have grown in caring and nurturing relationships. By all means, it is a privilege to be here just as I have acted legally and respectfully in the countries that I have visited. I do expect reciprocal treatment.

The old saying of “my right to swing my fists ends at your nose” cannot be truer. I do believe that the Bill of Rights are human rights regardless of what country you are from or what country you are in. That being said, just because you have the right to jump off the cliff doesn’t mean that you should do it. Further, if you do jump off a cliff don’t expect a lot of sympathy for the consequences. While I think that Harvard (or Northwestern) should be able to permit whatever the executive board tolerates, I for one am in favor of penalization when the mission of education is subverted into political grandstanding.

I never thought that I would have a sweatshirt that says anything ‘DAD’ on it. Yes, I am fifty and my two kids have graduated from high school. But always the gray man, I feel like the average person interprets that symbol as radical solidarity which cannot be anything farther from the truth. At the very least, it opens the door for that kind of conversation in public. For that reason I have not worn it yet.

End Your Programming Routine: My son has worked very hard as a straight A student throughout all school. He has skipped a grade, learned Mandarin and Spanish, took ten extra college correspondence classes and went a year in Taiwanese high school. He has earned the right to be proud of his achievements. He has also earned the right of his parents to be proud of his achievements even if I don’t agree with all of his choices.

June 2, 2025 – Is This An Illusion?

June 2, 2025 /

Things may not be as they seem. In this case, that was true. Our senses are a good predicter on whether things look right, feel right then probably are right. But when there is conflicting information it does pay to take a closer look.