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February 6, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

February 6, 2020 /

Maybe I am obsessive/compulsive but some things I just cant let go. I like to think that there is a good reason for it, but maybe I am just trying to justify my behavior.

I am talking about cleaning firearms after each use. I just cant put them away dirty. My reasons are

  • My storage environment is less than ideal. So getting the crud off and getting a layer of protective oil on helps prevent corrosion.
  • A clean firearm is likely a better running firearm as long as you are not gumming it up with excessive solvents or oils.
  • Cleaning each time eliminates the heavy duty cleaning sessions that are sometimes required.
  • It builds familiarity with your firearms, how to take them apart and keeps an eye on wear items.
  • I like to do it.
Have a dedicated cleaning space

I have heard the various points to justify less cleaning. These include causing excessive wear on your barrel or cleaning can change a bullets point of impact. But, I have been a victim of dirty firearm function and corrosion in the past so I don’t buy into those arguments.

In this article, I am not going to tell you how to do this or what products to use. The reason is I just don’t know. I have been using one solvent for my whole life, and I don’t think it works that well. I have tried other products and sort of feel the same way. Internet warriors will swear by one company or another and I guess that I am just skeptical based on my own experiences.

Here are some things that work for me

  • I have three rods so that I don’t have to switch tips for the various parts of the process
  • I have a dedicated space and tools that allow me to take my time, not run around and find supplies and spread out.
  • I have an inventory of cleaning supplies so that I don’t feel like I don’t have what I need to do the job when I want to do it.
  • The more I age, the more I value adequate lighting. I have a shoplight over my bench, a bore light for inspection and flashlight for small things that may get dropped.
  • Do you have old cotton around? I makes the best rags for cleaning and wipe down. I hate to throw away old towels, t-shirts when they can have one more life as a rag (as long as it is 100% cotton).

There are lots of YouTube videos out there on how to do this if you need an idea. Most of the ones I have seen I would categorize as OK and the information is reasonably accurate. Some firearms are easier to take apart than others, so refer to your manual or a video. Be careful with springs and small parts, especially if it is your first time. Most of all, be safe. Triple check chambers and magazines and keep your ammunition away from your firearms while handling.

February 5, 2020 – Book Report: Amacord

February 5, 2020 /

A few days ago, I finished reading “Amacord: Marcella Remembers” by Marcella Hazan. This book was selected by the Left Coast Culinary Club to read for January 2020.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Marcella Hazan, probably because of my age. She was a contemporary to James Beard, Julia Child and Robert Mondavi (think 1960s through the 90s). This is a biography about her life and an ode to Italian cooking, culture and living through food.

Preparing Masala Carrots

It is interesting to read a biography when you have no context or even a particular interest in the author or subject. It is probably a ‘You had to be there’ moment because we live in an era where not many things are exotic or unavailable. At the very least items or spices can be ordered on Amazon and the instruction is on Youtube. But during Marcella’s heyday, Italian cuisine and techniques were foreign to most Americans and northern Europeans.

The book jumps around a bit when it comes to a strict timeline, but it is organized in a way that the chapters are broken into phases in life and career which are presented mutually exclusive to the overlap in years. Even though I have been to Italy, I suspect that Italian cooking is much deeper and richer than pasta. Since this is not a cookbook, she alludes to that varied cuisine, but never really gets into recipes.

The chapter that I found most interesting was titled “How to Not get Rich: 1972-1993”. This talks about her various attempts to build branding outside of her cookbooks and teaching, think food products or manufacturing. I will summarize the outcome as she was unwilling to compromise on overall quality to meet the price thresholds to bring products to market. But, I got the feel from reading the book that her life was extremely fulfilling in living in the United States and Italy, pursuing her passion of teaching an building deep friendships with like minded people.

What I would say to that is that we are all in our journey of validation and fulfillment. From where I sit, that sounds pretty rich to me. When I get to my twillight, I think that I would rather be in Marcella’s seat than wealthy.

If you like culinary history or Italian food, you will probably like this book. I enjoyed the peak at a different era and I definitely like to read about success stories. It has inspired me to look a little deeper into Italian food in the future.

February 4, 2020 – Three down, two to go (plus a lot of work)

February 4, 2020 /

I finished the third cabinet on Monday. So the whole set of bottom cabinets are complete.

The biggest cabinet, with an adjustable shelf

Today, I ripped out the old pantry. With it, there was some hole patching and it got a paint job. Part of my motivation to do this at this time is I am starting to run out of room for the new cabinets and working at the same time. I am also anxious to check my measurements before I start building the uppers.

Ready for paint
Watching paint dry

I didn’t know that there was an outlet hidden behind the exiting cabinetry. I am going to test rearranging the bottom cabinets to see if I can take advantage of the outlet placement for the refrigerator. That will only work if the rifrigerator door will open properly in that position.

I also noticed that tile was placed over the existing floor so there will have to be a small amount of chiseling to do to remove some grout that is in the way for final cabinet placement.

Aside from building the final two cabinets and shelves, I need to build a counter top, a face frame for all of the cabinets to lock them together and a toe kick. So, while I am making good progress overall there is still a lot of work to do.

January 28, 2020 – Does TV effect society or the other way around?

January 28, 2020 /

As I have been spending a lot of time in the shop, I have had the TV on in the background as some of the best shows of the 80s, 90s and 2000s have been playing in the background. On the antennae, there is a network called Laff that plays blocks of sitcoms. Usually by the time I turn it on, “Home Improvement” is on. After an hour or so, “Night Court” plays for two hours and the “That 70s Show” comes on for two hours.

I can remember sitting around an old black and white portable with my brother and cousins watching “Night Court”. We would laugh and laugh. We were probably in grade school at the time. Seeing it now, there is some low brow humor, but it is PG compared to much of the dialog on more recent shows.

The thing that struck me is how strong the moral message is in the show “Night Court”. Every episode wraps up with some message about spending more time with your aging parent, working out marital problems when they are put into appropriate perspective or understanding mental illness.

“Home Improvement” always had some sort of lesson as well. It wasn’t quite as in your face or as wide ranging across issues, but a lots of good relationship moments. Moving on in scheduling and time, “That 70s Show” makes me laugh a lot. I like to watch it, but there is not the moral undertone of the other two shows.

The era of the sitcom has come and gone. Sure, there are some still but they don’t have the same soul. Shows like “Will and Grace” are risque but also pushing other values more along the lines of social engineering. We are dominated by reality TV programming with shows like “The Bachelor” which I don’t even understand why people would watch it. It is no wonder people are watching individual programming on mobile devices.

I can remember when “America’s Funniest Video’s” premiered and it seemed as though everyone at school was talking about it. We have lost some of our societal cohesiveness with all of the viewing options available. I think that has been some of the drive to push more extreme programming to try and get more attention. For me, I will keep watching Laff.

January 27, 2020 – One down and four to go

January 27, 2020 /

My first cabinet is assembled. It is the most complicated one. Hopefully, the rest will go quicker. In fact today I did all of the millwork to go from rough lumber to panel glue up for the second cabinet. With any luck that one will be near completion tomorrow.

The broom ‘drawer’

Here are five tips I have learned by building this first cabinet.

  • Bandsaw setup for re-sawing is critical. This is an area that I have really struggled with. I have tried to get half inch boards from 1 1/4″ and ended up with firewood because the blade wandered so badly. Make sure the blade is tensioned and the guides are tight. I have also learned my saw better and know how much allowance I need to make a quality cut.
  • Dust collection saves time and gives better results (usually). I have never really used dust collection preferring to cleanup the mess later. After hooking a shop vac to the tools, I believe that it improves precision (in re-sawing) and productivity.
  • Mobile bases on tools in a small shop are worth the cost. I don’t have mobility on all of my tools and what I notice is that instead of moving machines to optimum positioning, I will suffer with less than desirable results rather than milling a new piece. That will be in the works for the next project
  • Water-based polyurethane is a great product. It is a little pricey at $50/gallon but you save tremendously on clean-up and I can get six coats on in a day with a serious two hour dry time. I still prefer the warm look of an oil based product, but it is really hard to argue with the performance of a water-based.
  • Pitch still runs after 15 years. When you hit a pitch pocket that hasn’t been exposed to air, it drips out and makes a mess of everything. I have some paint thinner on hand to wipe it off, but usually after it gets all over.

I am technically nearing the end of week two on this project and there are still lots of things to do, but I am enjoying the process. The next update will be after I hit another milestone.

January 24, 2020 – Making Enchiladas

January 24, 2020 /

I had a hankering to make enchiladas last week. I spent a little more time learning to edit the video for a better viewing. I know, I need to work on my dynamics a little bit, but hopefully there improvement in the overall quality.

Ground Beef Enchiladas

January 23, 2020 – Tacticool Thursday

January 23, 2020 /

I thought that I would talk about belts today and some of the things that I have learned through the years.

Three different belts

The top one is a casual belt that I have worn for years. The bottom two are advertised a pistol belts. Hopefully the picture captures the thickness differences between the three belts. That increased thickness is an attempt to influence the stiffness of the belt. The theory is that increased stiffness keeps the pants and the firearm in place.

Belts held horizontally

The number of options available in gun belts are something to consider. The typical thickness are 1 1/2 – 2″. If you wear khakis or more dress pants beware of the belt width, thicker belts tend to not fit into more formal dress.

Then there is color. Again, if you are trying to coordinate your dress, consider having multiple belt option like black and brown. A tip here is that the holster hardware is often black, so black belts conceal Inside the Waist Band (IWB) type hardware better. I have more brown shoes and I think brown is more informal, so I tend to lean toward that color.

Belt length is subjective to your waist size. Many manufacturers offer measurement instructions so that you get a proper fitting belt. Depending on how you wear the pistol, you may need more length to carry IWB versus Outside the Waistband (OWB). My first belt I bought was at my peak of fitness and now no longer fits. Consider your weight trends when buying a belt, ideally you would be in the center of the belt holes when wearing your handgun in the preferred method. If you use a normal belt to measure your waist, be aware that those belts may stretch while you are cinching them up and give you a smaller waist size that you want. Hence, my first belt I ordered had little adjustment remaining (to get fat!).

These belts can be pretty pricy. I think my first one was $65. Since I was looking to replace my belt recently, I ran across a screaming deal from Midway USA. Normal price for the belts were $50, but I got special birthday pricing and paid $26 per belt. I just got them last week, so don’t know how well they hold up, but so far so good. Remind me and I will update after a year of wear.

January 23, 2020 – Building cabinets is easy, just 800 simple steps

January 22, 2020 /

In today’s ‘insta’ world I feel like the difference between easy and simple get used interchangeably without regard to the actual definition. We are bombarded by marketing pertaining to fitness, weight-loss, entrepreneurship, making money, selling on ebay, buying a car, taking supplements on and on, add naseum.

Human beings use there brains to process information into relatable chunks. By our nature, we want to get things done the most expedient way unless for some reason we particularly enjoy the activity. It is natural to optimize it by cutting corners or combining steps.

Using a personal example, often times when baking recipes call for sifting the flour and pre-mixing the dry ingredients. I understand the science behind the instructions (typically a gluten reaction minimization) but I don’t like doing the extra dishes and I cant say that I have noticed the difference, so I don’t do it.

The word easy should imply a skill level or expertise, meaning requiring little. Whereas the word simple is more of a duration. Easy can be simple and simple is usually easy but they are not mutually exclusive. Using the two effectively in any sort of endeavor requires knowing yourself, likes and dislikes.

For instance, I have been studying content creation and building a brand, making money etc. for a while now. The Gary Vanderchuck idea of 1000 true fans sounds good, but you have to know something about the internet and computers, marketing, have something to offer and be consistent in delivering to build a brand. I think that I can do it, I want to do it, but will I? I know that one of the things I really don’t want to do is manage social media interactions while I have millions of content ideas.

Our society is developing automation and widget’s to make these things easier if you take the simple steps of setting them up. Think about writing a book fifty years ago using a typewriter, later a computer made editing easier. Now you can self publish and sell a book on Amazon (Publish on Demand). An author from fifty years ago might say that it is easy. So, these evaluations are also relative to the context of the opinion, however I would argue that it is easy to become an author in today’s world. What’s not as easy is to make a living without the right marketing or luck.

In the end, I think the formula for success is not that hard (read: easy) when you genuinely apply yourself every day (read: simple). Also consider that if others are doing it, than you can probably make it work. I am experimenting with the medium, the formatting and my abilities to find the right fit. It probably wont be what I thought it would be, the journey is a growing experience.

January 22, 2020 – Introducing the “Pantry Project”

January 21, 2020 /

A few days before Christmas, we had a problem. It was a big one. The supply line for the toilet had been leaking and it caused the ceiling in the pantry to collapse. Of course I had no idea that was going on and the kids said “oh yeah, the floor is always wet”. Days before Christmas we had a ruined pantry, a leak, a mess and to top it off we were leaving for two weeks.

Fortunately, we have a friend that has done some work for us before and we were able to get him to work on the repairs while we were gone. After fixing all of the damage I started looking at the empty pantry and thought, this would be the time to make some changes if I wanted.

The old pantry

I talked to my wife about the situation and she was game. So I started thinking about what I wanted to change. I didn’t like how full it was or all of the clutter, brooms and mops blocked the dryer door when carelessly stowed. I wanted to add a wine cooler (mini fridge for now). The bank of drawers were largely useless. The shelves were added as an afterthought and were at risk of tipping over or collapsing when pressure applied.

At first, I wanted to do this the tyical way. I was going to use prefinished plywood and build cabinets quickly. But, my wife didn’t want the expense so we compromised on this idea that I had always had. Back when we moved into this house, there was a Douglas Fir that we had removed. I hired a portable mill to cut the lumber and it has been dried and stacked, waiting to build a project that belonged to this home. So, that is what I am going to do.

Plans for the pantry

It wont be the fastest way to get this done, but in the end, I think the story will be worth it. Stay tuned for updates, I estimate this will take six weeks or so to complete.