Author: bhayes952

December 9, 2025 – Milwaukee 12V Max

December 9, 2025 /

I needed another cordless tool-set like I needed a hole in head. I have an old Craftsman 14.4V drill, Makita 14.4V drill and Makita 18V drill and impact driver already. But, I wanted a second impact driver for one in the house and one in the shop. I thought that a smaller form factor would be the right approach rather than adding another 18V tool.

This actually all started several months earlier. I don’t like to admit this on multiple fronts but I started thinking that I wanted a power screwdriver. My wrist occasionally bothers me when I put together all of the boxed furniture my wife purchases. This has become especially true since I have been battling this neck injury. I did some research and there were a few, good options out there but the battery platforms were all lower voltage than the tools I had.

The Milwaukee brand screwdriver had high ratings and they offered a lot of other tools in the same battery platform. Once purchased, I had the green light to buy tools from a different line. Another benefit was that local hardware stores carry their tools and batteries. Of course, a lot of the above jibber jabber was written in early October before we decided to move. So throw that logic out the window.

What I mean to say is that there is an argument for owning both the 12V and 18V platforms. The smaller form factor of 12V tools are more compact and cheaper than their 18V cousins. It really doesn’t matter that they have less run time (my experience) and homeowners need one hole or is installing one shelf and not pounding screws all day long every day.

When I compare my 18V Makita to this new 12V Milwaukee setup, I really do feel as though the Makita is superior. They batteries run longer and hold charge for literally months without me touching them. That said, the Milwaukee has plenty of power for the around the house use when charged and ready to go. I have noticed a significantly faster, dormant discharge rate of the 12V batteries. I am still looking to quantify how much better in my long term ownership of these new tools. But what I can say is that every battery was fully charged when I put it away and a month later the batteries are showing half charge.

If you will recall, at one point I was considering becoming a contractor or something in the construction field. One reason I have multiple tools is to have them in different places at the same time. I could leave tools at the job site (securely of course) and still have enough resources at home to do the things that I need. It goes with a similar philosophy of having tools in the shop as well as in the home. Let us be honest, no homeowner really needs more than one battery operated drill unless it is special circumstances like building a deck with multiple helpers. The prudent thing would be to see if a tool could be borrowed. But, I am also kind of lazy and don’t like to run to the shop 100 times for everything that I need to do a job. Adding a second pair just shortens my trips to the basement instead.

One tool that I find I use a surprising amount is my corded multi-tool. This thing is amazing, especially for fine, finish type work like scribing or precision demolition. When trying to precision cut an 8′, T-111 panel it is a pain to try to manipulate a cord and be on the ladder at the same time. I would desperately like to get a cordless version but as handy as it is, I need a justification to spend $250. But, if I look at the Milwaukee 12V version, it is only $100. I think that I could probably justify that for almost any project. Yeah, it is not going to run all day but I already have a corded version that can do that. This would be to trim up one molding spot to slide a floor tile for a finish cut without moving furniture to get to the outlet.

I would argue that for most homeowners, the 12V is more than adequate. I wouldn’t even recommend going to 18V just to get the extra benefits given the cost. I have been extremely impressed at these tools considering my last 12V experience was in the Ni-Cad battery days. This was when you needed the higher voltage tools just to have adequate power.

End Your Programming Routine: My son asked, why Milwaukee and not Makita? They also have an extensive 12V line. The real answer is that they had the screwdriver I wanted but he also doesn’t know that I have been a Milwaukee fan since before I owned the Makita cordless tools. I have a number of corded tools from them and I think they are equally good in their own right. It is hard to justify another battery platform unless there is a distinct advantage like dipping into another tool line that meets your needs.

December 8, 2025 – Tis the Season 2025

December 8, 2025 /

It’s that time of year again. It is time for my gift buying episode. The thing that is different about this year is that I also talk about strategies that I typically use for my spouse. I probably won’t get a lump of coal this year but these are the kinds of things I would suggest for guys like me. Feel free to send me something on my list and good luck in your season’s shopping.

December 5, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Three: Chapters 1-6

December 5, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

Hopefully you have all finished the book by now. I have not but maybe you listened to my podcast of excuses yesterday. I really did not plan to just go silent for weeks but my life runs me at this point. Those are the the things that I can do along with the things that I have to do and limited by the things that I am able to do. Enough of that.

Below are the bullet point summary. One for each chapter.

  • Morality is a set of rules that attempt to regulate individuals internally as well as between each other. All rules are equally important and not to be picked and chosen.
  • Prudence, temperance and justice are three virtues essential to Christianity. These are not binary, all or nothing ideals but have degrees of gray that have to be weighed.
  • Biblical views should support political opinions and not run them.
  • Psychoanalysis, very popular and up and coming academic idea is separating the unconscious from free will. This is controversial idea when equating self worth and sin. Those were Lewis’ thoughts.
  • Sexual morality; repress it and get more of it. Yet, Lewis subscribes to the traditional idea of celibacy outside of marriage. It does seem a little counter intuitive.
  • Being in love and relationship love are two different things. This is the concept that relationships change or progress over time. Interestingly, the begins the chapter with divorce and that is why it is important to recognize the progression of love.

It is good that I did this chapter summary weeks ago because I have a hard time remembering what I read two months ago. This is really half of what Lewis was trying to get across but it makes it more convenient for me to split this section in two. What is he saying anyway? I say that the message is that morality is necessary to the human race.

You might say what does morality have to do with proving that there is a God? I would probably be in your camp as well. Lewis tries to make the connection between God and morality. After all, the Old Testament is generally many, many pages of Jewish laws largely about morality. The new covenant sends Jesus to edit many of those laws.

I think that it is an interesting idea that Lewis comes up with that morality is not to control people or sort them out per se. Rather, he has this idea that morality is a training ground for Heaven. Meaning, these are the skills necessary to be successful in Heaven. I suppose that you could say people self select entrance to Heaven by being moral or not. I really do not know how this could be proven.

I really do like the idea that virtues are not binary. When I learned the ten commandments as a child, I learned the words “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. But, I have heard the more modern “Do not Murder” which I think is actually more appropriate. If the commandment was more in my language, then so many biblical heroes would have violated that commandment and could have never been in favor of god. That is also presupposing that there are exceptions for things like war and self defense. My personal feeling is that it would be better to stick to “Thou Shalt Not Kill” but then there are always those gray areas like what if it was an accident? Therefore, I have to agree that morality is not binary.

The world is full of paradoxes. I mean what about surrogate parenting. I really don’t believe that it is infidelity but by the strict definition of fidelity we have somehow agreed that this is a place where a woman bears a child that does not belong to her is morally OK. To play devil’s advocate, what if God was saying that particular couple was not supposed to have kids for whatever reason? And what if that reason was that one of the parents poisoned their bodies with diet or drugs or whatever? Or what if the person just did not want to go through the pregnancy process (Paris Hilton anybody)? The permutations are endless.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week we will get the full effect of this Book and what Lewis was trying to do. It seems amongst the literary analysis there is some speculation that this is a weaker argument then the first two books. I tend to agree but that doesn’t mean that we cant refine a little value out of this. Let’s keep going into pride, hope and faith next week.

November 11, 2025 – A War To End All Wars

November 11, 2025 /

Today is finally the day that you can thank someone who served in the armed forces and not Memorial day, which bugs me a lot. On the 11th month, 11th day, 11th hour the war to end all wars (WWI) was over.

I was looking for something that wasn’t going to bore you to tears by being hours long. However, I found it interesting that there were some discrepancies in the facts from the same source. If you watched both then you probably heard it.

End Your Programming Routine: I recently finished watching the Ken Burn’s mini-series “The War” about WWII. If you haven’t seen it, you should. It really brushes the sugar coating off of the American and allied victory. While most of the WWII and Korea veterans are gone, time has a way of dulling and mis-rembering things. Let us not forget how horrible war still is.

November 10, 2025 – I Had a Dream

November 10, 2025 /

I had a dream that one day I would be independent pursuing the American Dream. This is my admission of surrender that AltF4.co is limping along as a labor of love rather than a career. Today I talked about the changes in my life, where I have been and my future.

November 7, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Two

November 7, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

I have to feel a little bit bad about going dark for over a month. It was never my intention to do absolutely nothing and in fact, I read Book Two in September. That was plenty of time to at least keep this series on schedule as this was supposed to be posted October 4. I kept reading still and there should be no reason to delay any longer.

I have plenty of reasons why I took a break, but a lot of it was that time just slipped away. I was getting ready for hunting and then I was gone for a week and then I had to clean-up as well as a host of other things that needed doing. So, I really had to shake the cobwebs out of my head to try and remember what this book was about as well as the poignant points that Lewis made.

I have to admit, I was born a Christian. I don’t know if my mom still has the audio tape but I was a toddler reciting The Lord’s Prayer as well as some of the Ten Commandments. For that reason, faith is ingrained in my being. There is no question about my beliefs but unlike many faithful and unfaithful alike, I am open to the idea that I am wrong. That is the scientist in me.

Since it has been so long, let me refresh a minute. Mere Christianity was a radio broadcast made for the British people during the WWII German bombing raid as a way to keep hope. Lewis claims that this text is a direct translation of his words without any editing. It would be interesting to see if there is an audio file out there somewhere. I bet so. The bullet points below are the highlights that I took out of each chapter.

  • God has many believers regardless of religious origins.
  • How can bad things happen in a world with a good god?
  • Acceptance of good automatically implies that there is evil. Good has to have evil but evil does not have to have good.
  • No free will, no choice. Without free will then there would be no choice because it would just be pre-programmed.
  • Jesus was manifested as man to better relate to people. God was already supernatural this was a different approach.
  • Without Christianity, it does not necessarily mean damnation. This is Lewis’ interpretation of theology.

There are probably a lot of different analogies I could use here. The one I am going to use is when you are sick. Now, I am fortunate that I have never had anything serious like my wife has gone through but at least it is something everyone should be able to relate to. The last time I was sick (early June) I felt cruddy but not so bad that I kept working and doing what was in my social calendar. You know that when you are living that way, you take for granted what not being sick feels like.

There have been times for me that I have been quite a bit sicker. I felt like all the energy I could muster was to go to bed. I might get up to have some soup or get some water or take more medicine so I could go back to bed. My whole point is that feeling well is very difficult to describe but when you are sick, you sure recognize that sick feels terrible compared to well.

This is my attempt to relate what Lewis is saying without evil there is no good. Just like without sickness, there is no wellness. Without the dichotomy we would probably have no concept or any such vocabulary. Suppose that there were areas of the planet that had air that was not 77% Nitrogen and 16% Oxygen but some combination of poisonous gas. We would have to make a special term for good air versus rotten air. But, since we do not it is not even a concept.

Free will is a very similar argument as good as evil. This is why I focused primarily on that aspect Lewis’s commentary. I have often heard the argument that how can there be a good God when such evil exists in the world? You know, I can’t really answer that but to use Lewis’ philosophy. On my scale at least, I don’t know if there is an equal level of good to evil in this world. I will take solace in the best is yet to come.

End Your Programming Routine: What a bold thing to do. Try to come up with a philosophical argument for something that is nearly unprovable. I know that Catholics claim saints and divine miracles and the like but something extraordinary does not prove the existence of God. But the way that Lewis goes about the argument could only be done by a converted Athiest.

September 26, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book One

September 26, 2025 /

http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

In case you didn’t buy, borrow or check out this book good news, it is in the public domain. I posted the link above for you to read along. I wish that I would have known it before I purchased it. Sure it was cheap, but free is always better.

I will be honest, I didn’t know a stitch about this book before I read it. It was recommended because of some of my other purchases on Amazon. It turns out that this is a compilation of radio broadcasts that CS Lewis did during World War II. It was meant as a morale piece for the British citizens and soldiers who had impending gloom and fear over possible Nazi invasion. I have to admit that I have been enjoying it tremendously because it is a very logical and composed argument for the existence of God.

It’s funny that I get to use my inner scientist and Christian now. They are two things that are not distinctly compatible. But, this Book (1) is all about merging the two. A huge theme is this idea of Natural law and a debatable concept of moral law. Natural law is scientifically provable such as gravity and believe me you can do a lot of math if you want to prove it.

If you need a less technical description, drop something on earth and it will always fall to the ground. There is no choice by the object be it rock or person. Notice I didn’t say if you were in the upper atmosphere or anywhere in the universe and drop something, That is also part of Newton’s Law of gravitation but it puts too many variables into a laymen’s argument. But that makes it absolute, observable proof of natural laws existing and there is no possible, logical argument otherwise.

If we as humans can agree that there are some absolutes, then we can agree on some other things such as morality. Democrats, Republicans, Independents and non-voters alike would agree that you should not walk-up and punch a baby. Before someone says that it happens, I would have to say that those people are not right as in normal. We can fins supporting evidence because the belief is held in China, India, Zimbabwe and everywhere as well.

Humans can agree that there is some universal morality such as don’t steal and don’t hurt other people. So, while I understand the pro abortion argument that a fetus is not a living being, I do believe that it is a warped justification for not taking personal responsibility for the consequences of sex. And this is the counter argument for natural moral law is that it can be argued or debatable.

Despite it’s flaws, the fact that we can acknowledge morality existing without being scientifically provable is a sign of an external force. Why do we agree that stealing is wrong? Animals do not hold such beliefs. This is because they do not hold humanity. Sure, they might be trained not to steal or they might be afraid of the pack leader or whatever analog I am talking about but animal behavior is about instinct. I want food, there is food there, I am going to take it when I get a chance even if it is possibly detrimental to me and my existence. My dog is trained not to eat of the counter and yet if I leave something overnight there is a good chance it is gone in the morning.

Life force is unique to our known world. It is going to be a pretty tough sell to me to say that all rocks will someday be some sort of living entity. I will admit that it’s very existence cannot be measured but on the other hand, we can see the results of when it is destroyed and therefore can empirically see that it exists. I am not completely turned off to evolution theory but I have not seen a link that life consistently strives to improve moving completely from a single celled organism to a human.

If that were true, I don’t believe (and neither does Lewis) that we would have moral law. In that case, people would steal because they can get away with it. Sure, plenty of people do but then what happens when they are stolen from? They don’t like it too much hence they also believe in moral law, just a perverted version of it.

End Your Programming Routine: Pretty cool huh. Next week I will discuss Book 2. It is no wonder this book was popular, it is a well laid out argument without resulting in name calling or condemnation. The book really doesn’t try to justify human existence using the big bang but to use human nature itself to support the existence of God. It is the best argument I have ever heard and the best defense against the lack of hard proof because it is right under our noses.

September 25, 2025 – Experts Say…

September 25, 2025 /

Early June, we started to hear a grinding noise that had the distinct hint of metal on metal. As I have profusely espoused how ridiculously busy the summer was. But, I did find time in late July to have the brakes checked along with an overdue tire rotation. Their report to me was that everything looked fine with the brakes.

The next week after the all clear, my wife was complaining again. I have to be honest, I am very easy on brakes. Many times what she hears and feels It will take me months to hear. On top of that, I trusted that the tire people knew what they were doing. I said that I would take it in again but I kind of deprioritized it to the point that she took it in herself. They said that sound was metal on metal.

Needless to say, she was mad. She was mad at them and she was mad at me for believing them and not acting faster. She has this trait where if there is a perceived safety deficiency then there is going to be some yelling. The tire shop asked if she wanted to schedule a brake job, I said no way. I am not paying $700 for a couple hour job.

If you look at the picture closely, you can see that the pads on the left are bare metal whereas the pad on the right look like they are half used. My theory is that the tire store only looked at one side of the brakes when they declared that everything was good. Clearly, that was a mistake but how did this happen really?

My theory goes back a couple of years to 2023. We had taken the vehicle to a mechanic shop to do a few things. One of them ended up being the front brakes. A couple of months later, I was on a business trip and the rest of the family was on a road trip. My wife called and said that the brakes were making a metal on metal noise. I couldn’t do anything and we couldn’t take the car back to the shop and so we took it to this Northwest tire chain.

I had assumed that when any mechanic did one brake they did both. Since I was not present for the work I kept the same theory until looking at the brake hardware. It was very clear that one side was different then the other and so I think the tire chain only replaced one side. It had only been a few months and so I can’t argue, I think it was the right decision to only do one. That being said the pads were clearly different durability.

We never went back to that shop again. I don’t know if it was faulty work or faulty parts. There were a few other things that they didn’t follow through with and so this was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. I sent them a copy of the bill as well as well as their bill along with my displeasure about the situation but I never got a response, so I guess that pretty much cemented things. They could have apologized or given me a credit or something if they really cared.

As the title implies, if we always trusted experts then it could be trouble. My wife frequently said that if she had trusted doctors, she would be dead. I can’t say that I disagree. While experts are experts in their field, we are experts in our bodies and our vehicles. We live with them everyday. If something doesn’t look, sound, feel right, it may not be. It takes this type of misdiagnosis to keep teaching the lesson that we should have confidence in what we know.

End Your Programming Routine: The lesson that I learned from this is that I should put more faith in my wife’s observations and complaints. Just because I don’t notice something doesn’t make her wrong. The truth is that I did hear it once, just not repeatedly and so shame on me. I don’t mean anything by it. I think it is the skeptic in me that makes me more of a scientist whereas for her is a matter of respect. That is an expert that I should always listen to.

September 24, 2025 – A Booze Hound’s Guide to Gourmet

September 24, 2025 /

A Booze Hound’s Guide to Gourmet is the September selection for the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. As the president, one of my practices is to let the host select the book/theme for the meal. This one came up in July but we had already set our plans in motion for the month and I try to get things solidified as early as possible so that people have time to find it at the library or order it or whatever the preference for obtaining the book.

I heard that the host selected the book because he was a local author. While trying to substantiate that, I found it rather difficult. I found an Australian, children’s author. I also found drug kingpin as well as the lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Who knows.

I suspect that based on the book, this is the author’s seminal work. The website that is attached is still operational albeit very simple and dated. The typeset and formatting of the book looks like it was written in Microsoft Publisher and amateurish. Many of the photos that accompany the recipes have a low resolution and even sometimes un-appetizing look to them.

But let’s not pick at the man, at least he has published a book. To tell you the truth, I look at some of the photos that I take and sort of hold my mouth. Then I rationalize my poor work by saying, ‘hey, it’s free. I am not making a cent on any of this.’ The real truth is that that I get in the heat of the moment and snap a picture. Later when I get ready to write, I look at past history (my pictures) and say to myself that I wish I had done more when I had the chance.

Any man that has fought through formatting hell to get to a publishable book state has my respect. There have been many a document that I have spent thirty minutes to an hour trying to get a page break or text wrap to look correct. I do have to say that technology has come a long way in my career and lifetime since I have been working with it.

The most fascinating part of the book is the backstory. According to McGuiness, he spent twenty years as a charter captain in the Caribbean. While the book doesn’t go into this aspect extensively, I imagine that he is sailing a small group of wealthy people around for a week or more. Part of his duties is to produce the meals and this book is a reflection of what was on the menu as well as meeting expectations by this group of clients.

Informally, I would say that about fifty percent of the recipes contain alcohol. It is not as forward as the title would lead. Alcohol is largely relegated to marinades, sauces and deserts. They are certainly not the featured components of the recipes. The foreword even suggests that they can be omitted if desired.

One interesting thing that McGuiness did was that there was a section of entire meals. In that, he put a Gantt chart for all of the events to plan the meal. If you don’t know what that means it would be like saying twenty minutes in you should be doing x, y and z. That looks like browning the meal, chopping the vegetables and warming the oven. Instead of single recipes that you have to figure out, he has mapped it all out. I like that and I think that restaurants would do better by just telling you how it is going to go rather than the other way around.

I will be honest, I haven’t made anything out of the book. Even for the LCCBC dinner I hadn’t had a chance to finish it or look close enough to make a proper decision on what to make. Now that I have finished the book, I probably will not make anything from it. I just didn’t have a compelling dish that I felt inspired to make. There were a few recipes that peaked my interest, but honestly when would I make a Turducken? Thanksgiving is the only time for the three of us. I asked my wife about risotto and lobster stuffed Cornish game hens, she said too many competing flavors and I have to agree.

End Your Programming Routine: The final verdict on this one is a no. The title is misleading from a novelty standpoint. I am positive that the recipes are fine but I already have a plethora of cookbooks that I could pick out any number of dishes to make a fine meal. It might be worth considering if you timing is terrible and you just want a whole meal already laid out that might be semi-fancy. But that is as far as I can go with this one.