Author: bhayes952

June 23, 2023 – Lord of the Flies, Chapter 6

June 23, 2023 /

While on the plane, I got some quality time to actually read. Unfortunately, my reading light was broken so I had to give up once it got dark. But I needed rest too. I only slept about four hours on Sunday for all the things I needed to do before my trip. As short as the book is, the wording is a little odd and foreign at the same time. I find myself rereading many sentences over so that I can attempt to understand what is going on.

The main thing that happened is that some sort of aerial battle occurred over the island and subsequently a dead parachutist landed near the signal fire and Sam and Eric’s watch. They happened to see it as the wind blew the parachute causing the body to flop up and down. With all of the hysteria over the beast, it was deemed that this was it.

Of course, all the kids expected the beast to be alive and moving. So, they decided to go hunt for it. This took them to parts of the island that had not been explored and knowing what we know about the soldier, of course they didn’t find the beast. Finally, they decided to go back to the mountain where they did spot the beast. This caused them abandon the mountain as it has become inhabited.

There is something about hysteria or paranoia that tricks the brain into thinking that something is not what it really is. With that, I’d like to to consider both sides of the political dichotomy. For instance in recent news, President Biden’s son has pled guilty to tax evasion. Of course he is actually guilty of a drug addict possessing a firearm which is a felony. We know this because he took pictures of himself while treatment was goin on. But, despite getting a sweetheart deal of becoming a millionaire for ‘consulting’ and a crackhead at the same time, he apparently didn’t pay taxes based on this income.

All this being said, former President Tump is being charged with possessing Classified documents. You probably don’t remember that after Clinton left office, his aid literally left with documents stuffed in clothing. Of course, that didn’t go without punishment, but it did go without a lot of scrutiny.

My point with both of these examples is that both sides think that this is proof positive that the other side is the absolute downside of the country. What I am trying to say is that both sides are so paranoid of the other that they are willing to believe almost anything that supports their bias. To be clear, neither of these references are absolving either side, nor are they supporting a side. But rather my point is it doesn’t matter if you believe either they are both wrong. I am saying that if you spend your time in delusion you are bound to be wrong,

I have been guilty of this myself. I have been guilty of saying that facts are the ultimate purveyor of truth. Well that is wrong. The facts are the the facts but the truth is not a product of the facts. The truth is that both Hunter Biden and Donald Trump are sleaze balls and that both will do or say anything that make themselves look better. People that follow either side are subject to the paranoia of the beast.

If you believe in the beast, they you are willing to accept that any fact supports your bias of existence and nothing can change that. For that reason, I am a proponent of staying outside of the belief of bias unless of course you are a believer of the beast. By no means do I want to discourage conviction. On the other hand, believe in the circle of concern/control. In the Circle of Control neither of these examples ar exchanged by involvement nor belief.

End Your Programming Routine: When allegations are proven wrong, they are not facts. It is also true that when facts are true the narrative is not necessarily the truth. The problem is that that bias drives media to allege that information are truth. Consider the source. Consider that what you see is not the full picture. In that vein, the parachutist id not through beast.

June 22, 2023 – Is It Really Worth It?

June 22, 2023 /

In today’s world, the cost of ammunition is astronomical compared to three years ago. I have mentioned this before, but I like to pick-up shell casings that people leave behind. Shell casings or brass is one of the four components of reloading and happens to be the single most expensive one.

The downside of range brass is that you really don’t know what you are getting. I have discovered that military brass has a primer crimp that removing adds an extra step. Imported ammunition also tends to have some variation as well. In this find, I have had at least three different casings that I have managed to pull the rim off of the shell holder causing a lot of extra work.

Once the case is stuck in the die, get ready because it is not coming out without some work. Step one is disassemble as much of the die as you can. Good luck because the parts are not separating without force. Then I have to drill out the base for a threaded tap. I tap a hole for a bolt. The bolt goes in against a stack of nuts and washers to eventually pull the stuck casing.

Even once the casing is out, there are still parts possibly stuck in the casing or the die. I have to split the casing to get those parts out or drive a punch through to get remaining parts out.

So much for free. I bent two decapping pins on trying to remove primers. Those are ten dollars a piece. You add all the extra effort for brass prep and it really seams like it is not worth the time and cost.

There may come a day when I do make that decision that it is not worth it. I am hoping that with enough experience that I can feel that something is going to happen before it actually does. Or maybe some day I will recognize headstamps that are more problematic than others. At this point, I recognize some of the ones that are working better and that is a start.

Fortunately, this is only a problem with one rifle caliber that I reload. Most hunting brass is shot on the rifle range and that is much tidier than the private bays of mostly pistol distances. Straight walled pistol cartridges are not a problem but the calibers that I shoot are no where near as common at this time.

End Your Programming Routine: I find reloading a really zen experience. It is part of the reason why I pick-up range brass because I hope that I can get enough to do another batch. That being said, I don’t like damaging or breaking parts and it certainly doesn’t help the bottom line argument. I will power through this batch and get better.

June 21, 2023 – Technical Issues Ahead

June 21, 2023 /

If you are reading this, then you went ahead and proceeded after the Security Warning or I have already fixed the problem. Wouldn’t you know that my certificate expired right when I went on my trip.

I suppose that I could probably try to fix this remotely but it is a lot to do when I am at home. So, I will wait. I am going to do my best to proceed as if everything is working like it is supposed to.

This is one of those things that I do not understand. Every couple of months my security certificate expires and I have to generate a new one. It happens infrequently enough that I always have to fiddle around to make it work. I don’t understand why and it really seems like amateur hour to me. Surely not everyone goes through this process. Maybe it has to do with my ‘free’ certificate that comes from hosting?

I live with it because spending more on hosting for no real return doesn’t make a lot of sense. Someday when I make it big that will change. Thanks for hanging in there.

June 20, 2023 – The Rhythm of Summer

June 20, 2023 /

It seems like I never stop whining about not having time to do anything. The reason is choices of course. My choices are erroring on the side of getting stuff done and if you remember I am staining the deck? Well, that is still going on. My weekdays go like this.

  1. Wakeup and go to work.
  2. When work is completed, clean-up the mess in the kitchen and start dinner.
  3. When Dinner is completed, go outside and stain the deck.
  4. Repeat.

It is number three that has me occupied. This was something that I wanted to do last year but I ran out of weather to do it. I figured that I could do this in a couple of weeks, but I am finding that it is taking much more time than I had guessed. One, I have never worked with an oil based deck stain before. Two, I am spending an hour or two a night so not much productivity per session.

Maybe I should enlist my natural labor force (family)? I am going to talk about this in my next podcast but I actually enjoy the solitary labor. I can turn off my brain and just focus on the task at hand. It really seems like my Zen time, I look forward to it. I would love it if they would help but that would deny the summer pool parties and standing tennis practice.

Life is like being in a tide. If you are going with it then you are making double progress but if you are trying to go against it, it is a struggle. The tide is like the school year. There is the schedule when it is in session and the schedule when it is not. While I have traded the tennis matches and award ceremonies for summer jobs and personal activities, one isn’t better than the other, it is just different.

It won’t be long and summer will be over. We are more than halfway through June which means the fourth of July is over the horizon. Then I will have an exchange student for month and then my wife leaves for Europe. By the time she returns, my other son will be leaving for Taiwan. Just looking at my calendar, this is likely the only thing I will get done this year.

By no means am I saying that I am not feeling the pressure. But what I am saying is that I am enjoying my time while I can. I think that is the true rhythm of summer. It is not endless, but making the most of what there is.

End Your Programming Routine: I am cutting this relatively short due to the fact that I have to get back out to the deck. Not really but kind of. As I write this, I am on the way to getting my son to a doctor’s appointment for his Visa application to Taiwan. Despite the fact that I am in Minneapolis this week, all I can think of getting back home to keep working on getting this project finished.

June 19, 2023 – Time Machine to 1996

June 19, 2023 /

I thought I was getting ahead and then a couple of days go by and pretty soon, I am staring at the eight ball. I am gone this week for travel and my tank is a little empty. That being said, I will do the best I can to keep up this week.

The trigger for this post was something another podcaster said. All of the sudden, I was taken back to a particular day and time. Hence, I am talking about a particular bill that was signed in 1996. Who knew what happened then would have such wide ranging impact today.

End Your Programming Routine: From my fatalist point of view, it doesn’t do much good to wonder what if. But really, what if? It is interesting to take a look at something that did so much good and bad at the same time. That is probably the definition of just a thing. It is neither good nor bad, it just is what it is.

June 16, 2023 – Lord Of the Flies, Chapter 5

June 16, 2023 /

I have to say that I don’t totally get the book. I find that it is a slow moving story that may or may not have deeper context. I guess that I will save my analysis for the final book review, but right now I am having my doubts. It feels like we are stretching a bit to make it something that it is not.

This might say more about me than the book but I am struggling with the significance of the book. For that reason, I am finding myself looking at other people’s analysis of the story. I don’t really like to do that because it influences my opinions and analysis of each chapter.

Most of this chapter is the contents at the required general assembly. Ralph is trying to assert that people are not meeting their commitments. Without order, they run the risk of not being able to be seen and ultimately get rescued. I don’t believe that type of organization and cooperation is really within their level of comprehension. There is also an undercurrent of some unseen beast that is causing panic and fear.

Having read several analysis of this chapter, it seems like there is more and more importance of the beast. Of course, I would know for sure, plus have my own opinion if I had read this before. But let’s say that is true for now and let’s focus this week on the beast. From Merriam-Webster:

  • a four-footed mammal as distinguished from a human being, a lower vertebrate, and an invertebrate
    • a lower animal as distinguished from a human being
    •  an animal as distinguished from a plant
    • an animal under human control
  • a contemptible person
  • something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Do you know how polarizing works? Well it gets into chemistry and physics but for the simplicity of this discussion, lets say polarizing is a form of filtering based on how the device you are looking through is constructed. Have you ever flipped your polarized glasses 90 degrees and couldn’t see a screen? That is the filtering that occurs.

What does polarizing and beasts have in common? Well, it is the filtering of the definitions within the book. So far, we don’t know if there is a beast. But, I think that it is certainly implied that the beast is some kind of scary creature. One of the children even says that it comes from the ocean at night.

It is still early in the story development but from the second definition, I think that the readers are still trying to identify which characters might be the contemptible person. Most people probably feel like Ralph is trying to do the right thing and execute the consensus decisions. Whereas Jack seems to move to his own desires. At least on the surface and from the way the story is going, Jack might be the beast. He is also doing a lot of sneaking around in the bushes ‘hunting’.

As a quick aside here. It is my observation that people often agree to things that they don’t actually have conviction to execute. This is particularly true in a public setting like a meeting or a gathering. Countless times as a group leader I would propose solutions or changes that ostensibly were approved only to have nobody execute.

The third definition is the most interesting and I believe the foreshadowing that all of the online analysis are referring to. Fear is primarily born of ignorance. The kids are in a very unenviable position of being stranded on an island without resources and very few skills. There is also the silent battle between Jack and Ralph that is visible to everyone else. Other themes seem probably too mature but nuclear war going on would be one as well.

Since it is graduation time going on, we attended a graduation party this weekend. It was a partial excuse to get together as a family and spend the night at the beach. We hung out, had a fire, drank too much etc. This was the same family that two years ago, we were explicitly not invited to spend time with if we did not have vaccination cards. Whether I did or didn’t, I told my wife that I was not going to go at that time. My stance is pretty clear on the issue but I didn’t like the implications. My how things have changed.

My point was fear is what drove that behavior. The beast, i.e. Covid was raging and all the children were having nightmares. At the center of it all, they are good people. But, good intent and appropriate response, especially when there is ignorance involved are two different things. Ultimately, I cant blame people for not being able to detect truth and lies. A story for another day but they have been believing lies for the whole thirty years I have known them. In that sense, it is forgivable because they are just not capable of analyzing critical data.

The Beast brought great fear in 2020-2. It brought nightmares and irrational behavior. Even as ridiculous as choosing between doing nothing or something that doesn’t work, brought near hysteria. Except for the fact that some people seem to have PTSD from the situation and still are wearing masks, now that we have been ‘rescued’ that has all been forgotten. If I think about it too long, it drives me crazy.

In no way am I saying that I don’t have bias. I absolutely have strong bias. I like to think that presented all of the facts, I could analyze that data and change my opinion. The problem is that all data also has bias as well. Any proper analysis has to consider the source, the intent and the content as well. Vaccinations weren’t a left/right issue, as both were requiring them. It was a freedom and who stands to gain issue.

End Your Programming Routine: This is the life of a true scientist; the science is never settled. That is why there are very few laws in science. They are endlessly fighting about bias and minutia. Fighting only stops when the other side gives up or there is no way to execute an experiment that proves otherwise. Only when we prove the beast does not exist will we collectively accept it. To do that, we will burn the island down. And even when everything is wasted, some people still don’t believe it.

June 15, 2023 – Learn Your Variables

June 15, 2023 /

We all have heard the saying that ‘ignorance is bliss’. There is also a point where you can know enough about something that there is conflicting information. What I am talking about today should not be the case.

As a trap coach, I have literally observed thousands of rounds of ammunition shot in a season. I see different equipment and I see different brands of ammunition used weekly. Traditionally, our team secures an ammunition grant which we provide to the team for practice and games. Each shooter needs to provide their own ammunition for the scored rounds.

As such, the ammunition that we use for practice we have a periodic failure to fire. I am not sure what the problem actually is. But, it has happened with nearly every shooter. We could say that there is some variable with that particular brand that is a problem.

In the great ammunition shortage that we have been in for the last couple of seasons, it has been difficult to consistently obtain shotgun shells. I participated in a bulk buy of some Italian ammunition that my kids have been shooting through. Two of the three shotguns that we have been using have shot it just fine. One was having misfires every three rounds.

This particular shotgun is what I would call my ‘back-up’. It is one that was fitted for my son on his first season as a 8th grader. He shot all fall and some into the spring with no problems. He decided to purchase his own shotgun by the end of the season and so I put it away.

Meanwhile, I bought an adjustable stock for my primary shotgun so that my younger son could shoot in the fall. I only brought out my backup because I was having problems keeping the adjustable stock tight. This is when the problems started happening with the Italian ammunition.

One coach was saying the firing pin spring, so I took it all apart. I saw nothing wrong, but I cleaned and lubricated everything and went to try again. I had the same problem. I watched some videos and again saw nothing wrong. But when I was reading problems on forums, I saw something that caught my eye, an out of tolerance chamber.

For those that don’t know, a chamber belongs to a barrel. I purchased this barrel for my backup shotgun because my shotgun only came with a fixed choke, 18″ barrel. It was not suitable for trap. And, not only that but this was an aftermarket barrel that I only paid $70 new. A factory replacement is $250, nearly the price of a new shotgun.

I surmised that the problem was this ammunition with this barrel. I took it to the range last weekend with the original barrel on it and fired five different brands of ammunition without fail. It is definitely the chamber. It seems to fire fine with certain brands of ammunition but not the stuff that I have cases of. So, now, I am not really sure what I want to do.

Clearly the best resolution would be to get a factory replacement barrel and move on. Do I really need to do this? What if I just stuck to brands of ammunition that worked consistently? And, this is a back-up shotgun, do I even need to do anything? For now, the season is mostly over and I am going to do nothing at the moment.

End Your Programming Routine: The reason that I bring this up is that you need to know the limitations of your equipment. Failures in the trap field are frustrating and embarrassing. Failures when you life is on the line are deadly. I only gained the knowledge that I did by being around a lot of different variables frequently. To solve problems, you have to start eliminating variables in a controlled manner. I feel confident that this shotgun is reliable, just not for trap with the ammunition I have and the barrel that I have.

June 14, 2023 – What Do Kitchen Ranges and Cars Have In Common?

June 14, 2023 /

I was thinking about how to say this but the number one thing that I value is value. I know that is ill written but I think that you get what I mean. It is the reason why I have never leased a car. There are reasons to do it, but none of them actually fit into my life. Consequently, the smartest thing to do is buy a car and drive it until it doesn’t make sense anymore like too many repairs, too frequently.

On our Memorial Day fishing excursion, the tail light fell out. The plastic has become brittle and broke. I knew last fall that there was a problem, I guess I didn’t think that it would just fall out. Sometimes I don’t realize problems until they happen even though the warning signs were visible. That is called experience, now I know.

I wanted to order a new taillight since the plastic is brittle. It makes more sense than buying a used one with likely the same problem. Guess what, finding a new taillight assembly is nearly impossible on a thirteen year old car. It turns out that there is not enough market demand I guess.

At one time, I was doing work for the company that makes carbon fiber layups for the F-22. They told me that they only make enough to satisfy orders and once that order was closed, they will never make another part again. That means that the parts that exist are the only parts that will ever exist. On one hand, that kind of makes sense because how many body parts on an F-22 will ever be replaced?

Also during Memorial weekend, my wife wanted oatmeal for breakfast. Her version is boiling in milk which I hate to do. Primarily because it often burns on the bottom of the pan but I also forgot that milk has a tendency to quickly boil over. Of course I was distracted with all of the breakfast tasks and that happened. So, now I had to take the stove apart to clean up the mess.

I so happens that this range is a 1990s vintage. It has been well used and in fact there are also irreplaceable parts on it as well. Even the burner cassettes are no longer for sale. The appliance repair guy told me that they have to rebuild them because they cannot get replacement parts. Spilling milk and wort on them does not help.

Better is clearly a matter of perspective. Plastic taillight assemblies make the overall vehicle lighter and therefore more fuel efficient (maybe even safer). That is better, but it doesn’t make them more durable. I suppose electric ranges are going toward induction or instant heating as a technology. But induction doesn’t work with aluminum so no canning for me and that is not better. I would dearly like gas but that makes this change a $20,000 endeavor because we would have to run a connection. Plus, how would the climate change warriors feel about that switch?

Every since Eli Whitney pioneered interchangeable parts, it has helped productivity. It helps build things faster and more reliable and makes the cost ultimately go down. That model starts to break down when parts are no longer interchangeable because they don’t work with all things. Those of course are negatives to manufacturers. When parts become commodities then there is little margin or incentive to innovate.

As complex things age, they start to break down. This of course is a negative when you are multiple model numbers removed because most people will replace things rather than repair them. Or if you are leasing something like a car, you don’t even care because you never have anything less than current. Intellectually, I understand the landscape but it is a bitter pill to swallow when you are looking to play the value game.

A couple of things to consider here. First make sure that you are taking care of your stuff. Things like routine maintenance and cleaning go a long way to making expensive items last. Second, look to buy the most popular models. Part of my taillight problem is a limited number of Navigators were produced. Look for the non-limited edition models for longer term support.

I suppose the older I get, the more crochety I get about change. If I had never had the ability to can on my range, I would have looked for a different solution from the beginning. Ultimately, I could use a propane burner or some other mechanism if I have to but why would I compromise from the start?

End Your Programming Routine: This is a place where I really can’t fight the system. I am not going to change how car parts or appliances are made. But it is also a warning sign. There will come a day when I can’t work around all of the problems. It would be better to think through what my potential options are now while I still have time to plan and react rather that after something is broken. We have a little shopping of both, I don’t really like the price ranges so I am crossing my fingers that things can hold on.

June 13, 2023 – Pennywise and Pound Foolish?

June 13, 2023 /

The last thing that I wanted to finish last year was staining the deck. If you recall, I spent the majority of the summer fixing the siding and facia. We paid for a new fence and a hand railing on the deck to replace the ailing, plastic deck railing. When it was first completed, we were in Spain. I wanted to give it some time to dry out and then I got involved in my siding project.

I built this deck in 2007. The lattice frames I cut out of the old cedar deck. Other than replacing a panel here or there, that is about all I have done. I saved the larger offcuts of the lattice for future work. So, when I did some maintenance, I found a suitable scrap to fit the hole and away I went.

I an effort to get everything spic and span for staining, it was time to fix some of the panels that need repair. I am now at a place that I have run out of spares. So, I thought that I would run out and pick up a new panel for replacement. Talk about sticker shock. I know that it has been a while, but I am pretty sure that I paid $15 a panel for lattice the last time I purchased 3/4″ cedar lattice. I am seeing $80 a panel.

Then, it came to me, I have a stapler, planer and cedar. Why don’t I just mill some pieces to replace what is broken? After all, lattice is nothing more than strips of cedar stapled together. And so that is what I set out to do.

I spent a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon making some replacement strips. Of course, I made more than I needed. I don’t want to have to do this again too soon. They really do stand out like a sore thumb, but then again, so would a whole new panel. In my view, this is probably the lesser of two evils.

Another added advantage is that now I had the stapler out, I could re attach other loose strips as well. At least potentially, that will prevent other strips from breaking loose from the grid. All told, I probably had four hours into the operation. Granted, some of it was reorganizing the firewood pile and tiding up unrelated messes in the shop to work.

Economically, this move doesn’t really make sense. At least the only way it does is if I do not value my time. I was already at the store looking at lattice, with the intent to buy. So, I had already sunk that time. The only part of it that really does is environmentally. I took wood from the burn pile and reused it in a place that I needed it. That also means that I didn’t throw away the old lattice, I didn’t have waste cuts from the new lattice either.

This would have been a poor decision as a contractor. But, since I am not I can justify it by saying to myself that I didn’t spend $80. I didn’t have to handle an unwieldly 4×8′ sheet. I could repair everything in place and I put to work all of these high dollar tools I own. I built some spare strips for the future.

The decision to build or repair is a simple equation. You put together a simple pros / cons list. The winner is the one that favors one side or the other. But, it is way more complicated than that because you have to include want. And want is not governed by pros and cons. So, in my case here the pros would have been to buy the panel but I wanted to fix the strips rather than the whole thing. To me, it justified my capability to do so.

End Your Programming Routine: There is a time when repair is more economical than replacement. That is a time when what is being worked with is not replicable. The other situation is that the preponderance of the scope of work is small in compared to the overall scale. That is a little cryptic but assume that one dining room chair needs work and a replacement is not available. It wouldn’t make sense to replace the whole set, just the chair that needs repair. If the cost of the repair is high but cheaper than replacing all the chairs, then it is certainly worth it.

June 12, 2023 – Not in My Backyard

June 12, 2023 /

The original title of this was going to be ‘From Population 20,000 to Gotham City’. But I actually forgot when I went to do the editing. I also forgot to bring up why I was going to call it that title because I was disrupted a few times including 6 hours in between. Oh well, so I stayed pretty much on topic.

End Your Programming Routine: This is a complicated problem. I think that if previous implementations had worked, then we would be well on our way to solving the problem and I would be in support of the project. Given that micro shelters have really not worked, I am not really for doing something rather than nothing in this case. I strongly feel like this will concentrate the problem without any real results. But, I say my peace in the podcast, so listen to that.