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June 18, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 18, 2020 /

‘Gun guys’ are acutely aware of the history and politics of firearms. I am probably a gun guy, but I am too young for some of the most pivotal moments in recent history. I will summarize in layman’s terms what I am talking about.

The Gun Control Act of 1968.

  • Firearms required a serial number on each unit
  • New firearms could only be sold through a dealer network although private party (used) sales were permitted
  • An official prohibited persons criteria was created
  • Imported firearms are prohibited, they must be assembled in the USA

The Gun Control Act of 1993

  • All new firearms have a mandatory background check
  • Five day minimum waiting period on new firearm purchases
  • All new manufacture of detachable magazines were limited to 10 round capacity
  • Stocks could not have a pistol grip

There has been lots of activity before during and after those two landmark points. But, today I don’t want to talk about laws so much as I want to talk about magazines. Magazines are arguably the most vulnerable part of a firearm from a legislation change as well as a functional point. In other words, the firearm is nearly worthless without a magazine (when designed to use one).

There are states today that limit magazine capacity. Fortunately, my state is not one of them (yet). However, I am convinced that it is a matter of time. There is an extreme left leaning agenda in today’s state government. There has already been talk of introducing such bills but the walk out prevented it this session.

My angle today is to buy magazines if you can. Many are available and reasonably priced. I try to have 5-10 magazines per firearm and I will give you some practical reasons why, not just hiding from the boogie man.

  1. Magazines are mechanical. They foul, break and jam. They can be imperfect and cause functioning problems. If you don’t have more than one or two then you may not be able to determine malfunction issues. Without a magazine, the firearm is a single shot.
  2. I like to have enough magazines to at least load a box of ammunition. That way I can spend time on the range shooting rather than loading magazines.
  3. As I have stated above, laws can change regarding capacity or availability. There is nothing saying that new legislation will grandfather the ‘standard capacity magazine’ but why not have the option.
$10 magazine

I think that when you consider the investment in the cost of additional magazines, it also makes me want to be able to justify owning the firearm. So, for instance magazines for one firearm is $35 ea. I have more into the magazines than I actually do in the firearm itself. Since that one is used often, so I think it is justifiable.

Not all magazines are created equal. I really lean toward OEM manufacture even though considerable savings can be made buying aftermarket. The one exception is in the Military Specification (mil-spec) realm. Mil-spec means that things are made to a minimum specification and to work across platform or brand. In those cases, aftermarket may be considerably better than OEM. They can offer additional features like dust caps or sight windows or just better construction.

So, maybe Dad’s a shooter and you are not or you are one of the millions of new gun owners that has decided to take a step in your own wellbeing. These are the reasons I believe in having extra magazines around. I am looking forward to not working seven days a week and twelve hours a day so that I can get out to the range again.

June 17, 2020 – A progress report

June 17, 2020 /

Last night, I started a test to see if I could get non-hosted videos on this blog. Unfortunately, I have to upgrade packages to do so and I know that this is not the final home of this blog, so I am not going to invest in that at the moment.

In lieu of doing something new, I will summarize where I am at on this current project. I am in the punchlist phase. That means that I am essentially done with my work in the apartment minus a few things here and there. I still need to

  • Hang a ceiling fan
  • Install some window film to obscure direct view – waiting for delivery
  • Build a face frame for the microwave cabinet
  • Oversee cabinet painting and final ceiling touch-up – waiting for paint
  • sub floor patching
  • Install the baseboard molding – waiting for floor
  • Move in and install the appliances – waiting for floor

As you can see, the bathroom is a long way from being done. I would estimate two weeks of solid work. I will be doing the roofing when the framing is done. And I am waiting for the framing to be done so I can finish the siding and painting.

June 16, 2020 – Whose fault is this?

June 16, 2020 /

It has been said that some businesses have excellent return policies. These companies have come to mind Costco, Nordstrom and Amazon. Other companies offer no excuse, 100% lifetime warranties like Orvis and Lands End. That is a different criteria but an example of the breadth of differences with companies and products.

A few years ago, I needed some new shoes for an upcoming half marathon. This was a time when I was working a lot and shoes are a very personal thing. It seems like some brands need some miles on them to become comfortable while others comfort fades. Some brands seem to comfortable for everyday wear and others never. It is very difficult to know with a store fitting and always somewhat of a gamble.

It was late in the evening, like nine PM and I couldn’t decide. I was persuaded to get both, run in both and return the ones I didn’t like. I did, and I hated myself the whole time. I didn’t think that running in shoes for a week and returning them was the right thing to do. What happens to those shoes? Are they sold as new again?

Recently I bought some roof jacks from a home center. I was in a hurry when I grabbed them and they looked a little scuffed up. Overall, no big deal. When I got home and looked at them more carefully, I could clearly see signs that these had been used and returned. The scrape patter of sliding on shingles, the nail marks from where they were fastened, the tar from shingle contact, etc.

Now, these are items that will last a lifetime, especially at my usage level. There really is no harm in them being used, and obviously lightly. But, it got me thinking of the psychology of someone using something and then returning it (again).

I have bought the ‘open package’ before and low and behold it was missing some critical component. I just dont know if the missing part was removed or carelessly not returned. With today’s customer service at stores, their only real recourse is to replace the entire contents rather than make it whole which is another hassle. So, I have become a person that avoids obviously opened packaged because I have been burned by the consequences too many times.

See my post about Amazon Warehouse. They clearly did not inspect the item as the policy states or they would have known that they did not even get the same part back.

On my current project, I mistakenly bought 5lbs of 3 1/2″ box nails instead of sinkers. I didn’t even notice for weeks because I was working out of another source. I hadnt even opened them but I was going to refill my working container and noticed that they were the wrong type. So, I returned them because I can never see myself using those nails (in that quantity). In that case, the package was unopened and as new.

So, I get down to the fundamental question. Who’s fault is it when something clearly used is sold on a store shelf? Is it the returner who treats the item as a loaner? It is the store who is unable/unwilling to make a judgement on accepting items for return and by the same turn resells used items as new? Or is the consumer who expects that everything is new including the price?

Not surprisingly, I think a little bit of all three. It first starts with ethics. If a store’s policy and practice are to accept all items, regardless of condition then that is OK. To try and return the item in as un-used is not. If the store wants to resell used items, that is OK. I would like a discount (or at least a warning so that I pay more attention to the selection). The consumer should not mindlessly grab and go if these factors are important.

Multiple times, I have grabbed items from the same bin which turned out to be different. Things like pipe fittings and cabinet hardware come to mind. I now pay a lot more attention to make sure that I getting what I think that I am getting. I would like to point out that this seems to be much less so at the small hardware stores. Not only is the customer service more personal, they know their inventory and do a better job making sure things are in the right place. They also tend to have much less inventory which makes a different sized pipe fitting stand out much easier.

In the end, I just want to know that some items could be used and I will decide whether I want to shop there or purchase there.

June 15, 2020 – You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with

June 15, 2020 /

I am not 100% sure if Mondays will be a continuation of Sunday small group discussion topics or not. I was asking myself if this is how I want to run this blog? Having spent the better part of my working life primarily around proclaimed athiests and agnostics it kept me a quiet about my beliefs.

On the other hand, this last year has been a new direction. I have never strongly felt that that my identity or path was truly laid before me. I suppose that I have felt like I have one, and not worried too much about it. Maybe this is God’s way of correcting me and setting me straight. In the words of Aaron Tippin, ‘You’ve got to stand for something, or you will fall for anything’

This weeks application of freedom takes a look at how our relationships influence our thoughts and behaviors. The basic concept of being that we behave as an average of the five people that we spend the most time with. Ideally, if Jesus is one of those people then your life will be elevated for the better.

This is an interesting concept for me, because I don’t spend a lot time around people outside of my home. At least quality time or time in relational sense. So, I could complete the activity and add some names into that circle, but I would argue that my small interactions are of little influence. So, I suppose my first order might be to add people, in addition to Jesus.

So the questions this week are

  • Who are the top five in my circle of interaction?
  • How can I reasonably add Jesus into that circle?

Before consistently writing this blog, I used to write in a journal. I tried to write weekly, but sometimes it was only quarterly. I did this for over ten years and it was mostly about goals, accomplishments and book summaries. I suppose it was more like an activity log than anything, but during those periods where I was reading devotionals or more spiritual work I was definitely more deliberate in my thoughts and actions. I would think about and apply what I was reading on a more consistent basis.

One of things that is important with freedom is that we have to respect choice whether we agree with it or not. Without choice, there is no true freedom. I am choosing to try and make myself a better person. With that, welcome to this digital, Christian oriented small group.

June 12, 2020 – Still going… barely

June 12, 2020 /

On Wednesday, my wrist was exceptionally painful. It was to the point that I had to grit my teeth to use my right hand. After making my post, I spent the rest of the morning pacing around and trying to figure out how I was going to get anything done. I went parts shopping for a lot of the afternoon and settled to the reality that I was going to have to do my best with my left hand.

I am OK with my left hand. I can shave, brush my teeth, use a fork and kind-of write. Toe nailing a 16p sinker is not as easy. I know that it is a practice thing. It is the very reason I have spent some time shooting left handed, because you never know if you will always have use of your primary hand. The thing that I noticed is that my left hand is nowhere near as strong as my right, as well as being awkward.

After immobilization, ice, ibuprofen and CBD cream it seemed a little better yesterday. Last night I didn’t wake up from the pain. I don’t want to push my luck though. So, the carpet is in the bedrooms, the broken window has been replaced so those rooms are done.

We bough new appliances to replace the downdraft range so the vent is also a microwave. That required re-routing electrical, cutting a vent slot and sheetrock work. I also have to build a new cabinet for the above the microwave. I am hoping that will be complete before the weekend is over.

I must say that throughout this process, my fear of disturbing sheetrock has gone away. I am to the point now where I would rather spend time repairing the sheetrock than trying to guess or work with it in place. This building seems to have structure ‘at random’. This patch seen here is a 24 inch stud bay that also had blocking for the cabinets (which weren’t used).

This Friday playlist sort of describes how I feel about this week. It has been pretty dark, some hurt, anger and craziness. Have a good weekend, with hopefully better days to come.

June 10, 2020 – 100th post and a side of pain

June 10, 2020 /

I suppose that I have been lucky in life. I haven’t had any broken bones, so far no chronic illness and never a trip to the ER. I do occasionally have some kind of issue in my wrist that is triggered by typing on my lap and some prolonged mouse usage. That stems from a time when I was a young man and holding a high pressure hose all day.

The pain goes away in a few days by modifying how I use the computer and lightening up a bit on things like typing. This last week, I have been dealing with some wrist pain. Unfortunately, it is not getting better but worse. It now feels like it is sprained and is visibly swollen.

My body is telling me that I need to stop and take a break. Unfortunately, that is about a week and a half too early. Ironically, as much as I have been fortunate, I have a lot of experience with the medical system around some of the lessor known specialties.

The science of pain management is much less developed than trauma or acute medicine. It has been a number of years now, but I believe my wife has some sort of immunodeficiency. It started with psoriasis and manifested into full body pain. That lead to incorrect diagnosis of fibromyalgia, then later lupus suspect to eventually disappearing. The complete tale is very long and not really my story to share.

What I am trying to say is that based on my experience, the medical system does not know how to treat pain. The basic approach is to keep trying pharmaceuticals until the pain goes away or you do. It seems to me that the hospital is pretty quick to offer Dilaudid of Fentanyl but root cause is lacking.

I have observed this process several times. Here is a simple workflow.

  1. Person feels pain, goes to ER
  2. ER doesn’t know what to do, sends person back home to follow up with Primary Care Physician (PCP)
  3. Person meets with PCP. PCP doesn’t know what to do and prescribes drugs and tests. Person is told ‘if this doesn’t work then follow up’
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 until PCP refers to specialist
  5. Now substitute specialist for PCP in the chain until specialist gives person back to PCP or hopefully the problem is solved.

In the end, who is managing the care? It is the patient not the doctor. If you do not advocate for yourself or you are not pushy enough then you may end up near death before the issue is addressed. You cannot abdicate your health to someone else, that is foolish.

I am not anti-doctor, nor am I claiming that this is an easy job. What I will say is that they are overburdened and dare I say a little too comfortable writing prescriptions rather than root cause analysis. What changed our lives was investigation and education into actual science. Learning about the causes of inflammation and a willingness to admit that lifestyle and not a drug deficiency was the problem. Cutting out things in our diet that were causing inflammation made those problems disappear.

This has been over ten years now. The experience has made me much more receptive to the idea that there are things broken within the medical system. Care is actually one of them. It has made me realize that there are other tools that aren’t used enough like physical therapy and nutrition. If you are over weight and eat garbage then you are suspect to these problems as well.

The experience has opened me to the idea that there are new frontiers that are not medically or politically acceptable but can be effective like the cannabinoid receptors in our body. I do believe that the legalization argument for marijuana is largely for recreation use but so what? That doesn’t mean that we should write off what is possible.

Wow… I didnt wake up seeing this go this direction this morning. I was thinking that I was going to justify waiting out the pain. I feel like I have a lot more to say but I think that would be rambling at this point.

June 9, 2020 – The final push to the end

June 9, 2020 /

This is typically a week I look forward to. It is a week filled with hope and optimism. I am talking about this week traditionally marks the end of the school year.

I live in a small college town and the Oregon university system has it’s graduation on Saturday of Father’s Day weekend. I don’t know many college kids, only one graduate this year. But it also marks a change of pace for our small town. Traffic lessens noticeably and the everything relaxes a bit. Commencement will be some sort of online ceremony not the typical, hope the sun shines, bask in the glory of completing school on the football field.

High School graduation was last Friday. Had our exchange student not had to leave, we would have been celebrating last weekend. We had a taco cart lined up to throw a combined graduation and good-bye party. They had a single person walk across the stage, one at a time (all day) ceremony. I don’t think that there was an all night party or baccalaureate or even the chance for a senior ‘skip’ day.

Today my oldest will cease to be a middle schooler and will be a high schooler. We have a ‘drive through’ promotion this afternoon. These are all events that I have very fond memories. Real or not, the feeling of accomplishment and the tingling unknown of what the next steps in life will look like have all been diminished a little bit this year.

I also have my own ‘graduation’. June 15 was supposed to be move in day for the apartment. I will have to do that one class in the summer, if you will. My apartment will not be ready by this weekend. Not because of anything I did, the bathroom contractor is behind. The current schedule is carpet tomorrow, window repair on Thursday. There is still the kitchen and some cleaning for my part to be move in ready.

So, for all of the online and drive through graduation ceremonies, here is my digital salute and congratulations to all of you graduates this year. I hope that you enjoy the moment and have fond memories of the year that sort of fizzled at the end. Know this, I am just as disappointed as you are because I feel like something was taken that you didn’t know you were going to have, a yearly reminder of that feeling of new beginnings.

June 8, 2020 – Am I qualified for this role?

June 8, 2020 /

This post started on Friday, like all tasks recently, I got interrupted and never got through it all. Now it is going to take a slightly different twist, somewhat of an analysis. It has been a long time since I talked about my faith on this site. In some ways, it is very personal but religion can also be very divisive.

I mentioned last Monday that I took a class on leading a small group for our church. Because we cannot gather as an entire church congregation on Sunday, this is a two fold effort. I will use my terms – one is to enable people to connect in a deeper and more personal level and the other is to build a deeper and more resilient organization.

I want to divert to religion and doctrine for a minute. I grew up in a church that was more liturgical. That means that the process of ritual and symbolism are important in the worship. I now attend a church that is evangelical and it is more about living values. As I have tried a lot of different things and explored denominations, I have not found one that I feel like ‘this is exactly like what I think it should be’. But, we were attending a different church for a while and one day the message was load and clear – don’t let perfect be the enemy of good (for attending church). If God is going to discriminate on denomination, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

In my introverted, liturgical mind, there are some things that are uncomfortable like asking for prayer and such. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t agree with them and think that practices are more in line with how I interpret the message. I also often find that if you remain on the outside, these things never get easier or more comfortable. I guess jumping in, leading a small group and becoming vulnerable is a way to overcome that.

So with that, I am going go a little deeper into what we are doing. The following are the core values of the church and our group.

  • Safe
  • Serving
  • Submitted
  • Spiritually Awake
  • Sent

The initial kickoff of the group is to watch the service together and then dig in deeper into the message. There are some questions at the end to help facilitate that.

As I am writing this, it feels as if world is on ‘proverbial’ fire. We have riots and plague to a level that I have never seen in my life. With that, I have personally observed nastiness and name calling. Friends accusing others of racism when they don’t think you are doing your part or to the same level (even when you are agreeing with them). This is my attempt to re-center and lead by example.

The questions of the week are

  • What does freedom mean to me and what has God freed me from?
  • How can I love carefully this week?
    • What is it that you are saying that you think I need to know?

Admittedly, I struggle with empathy and forgiveness. That is definitely something that I need to keep working on. I could probably go on with analysis and so forth. But, I think that providing the gist of small groups and what we are about is a good start today.

June 4, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

June 4, 2020 /

There is a concept in the preparedness and concealed carry circles about this idea of ‘Everyday Carry’ or EDC for short. The idea is to evaluate what you have on you or with you, always. Those are the things that you will most likely have if something goes south and we are not talking about a zombie takeover, but a car breaks down, you are notified that a loved one was transported to the hospital or the power goes out at the library (or a zombie apocalypse).

I have run the gamut between less and more stuff. Right now, I definitely lean toward the less end of the spectrum. I am talking about things such as keys, wallet, phone, etc. (add facemask for now). Since I have not been working and have been primarily home this last year, I haven’t had a normal ‘get ready in the morning’ routine which now makes me grab and go when I leave.

Example of EDC loadout

There are forums on the subject and some people get really into their gadgets. There are keychain wrenches and gizmos, some people carry USB drives or battery packs for their phones. I have even heard of someone carrying another cell phone from a different carrier as back-up.

What I find is that there is a limit on reasonable amounts of stuff in your pockets. I have literally had my pants falling down from weight at times. This is particularly true when your pants are too big or too small. Women can put a lot of stuff in a purse but I really dont want to carry a ‘man purse’. There is a different level of gear called a ‘get home bag’ for another post.

The concept of EDC is not supposed to change with circumstance. For instance, don’t go to a bad area of town. You want to avoid a gunfight at all costs. However, we are all human. Elastic waste band shorts just don’t hold enough weight to pocket carry a 12oz firearm and phone and keys and flashlight, etc. Unless you are prepared to look like Batman, adjustments have to be made. Cargo pants can help without looking too out of place.

In the past I have enjoyed perusing the forums to see if anyone has had a better idea or some new piece of gear. I always end up enjoying the pictures but not changing anything because there is limited space so it needs to be pretty high value.

There is one more term that is fairly common and that is minimalist. This is the idea that functions are combined and/or reduced to the minimum. Truth be told, I rarely use most things in the picture outside of my wallet and keys. Therefore, I don’t carry most of those things.

Just remember, with all things urban survival, you want to be the ‘gray man’. You don’t want to stand out in any situation.

June 3, 2020 – Making time

June 3, 2020 /

Life is so busy for me right now. I have a significant deadline to get this house livable in two weeks. I am feeling major pressure to find a suitable replacement job. I have a desire to build a lifestyle income and I have other personal interests that I would like to complete.

That said, I took last night off. I have been working from the moment I wake up until nearly bedtime since early March, every day. I took Mother’s Day off and I took the Saturday of Memorial weekend off.

I love what I am doing, I am seriously considering making a go of construction or handyman work. I also have a really hard time turning things off. Even as I sat around the fire, I had to weigh the pressure of my project versus the guilt of my presence. But, I decided to push that all aside.

It was a beautiful evening. We started a fire and popped popcorn over it. The kids roasted marshmallows and made smores. I drank a beer and enjoyed the warmth of the fire as well as sitting down doing nothing for an hour.

I have been accused of being around, but not present. I don’t know if that is something that will ever change, but it is something that can make a conscious effort to be aware of. I am ready to be done with this project. Everyday, all day for months is starting to get old when you want the freedom to do something else at times. So, back to work for me.