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September 10, 2022 – Whiskey Lullaby

September 10, 2022 /

Hi friends, I know it is Saturday, but sometimes I just have something more to say. You may more may not be familiar with this song, But, to sum it up, a man ends up drinking himself to death over his pain of a broken relationship. And the woman cannot live with the guilt, so she drinks herself to death as well.

Last night, my wife’s uncle passed away from complications due to diabetes. Out of respect for him, I am not going to mention his full name. But, this is my forum so I am going write about my feelings and perspective. I think that was his own whiskey lullaby. It wasn’t the relationship that caused the drinking, it was the drinking that ended the relationship. But, ultimately when he lost everything it was too late stop the damage.

I feel bad for him, the baby of twelve. He wasn’t too much older than me, I would say fifteen years or so. In some ways a distant older brother rather than an uncle. You almost can’t help it with age gap as my wife and he grew up together, and that took a long time.

I would say he was about forty when he married and assumed a family. He seemed happy and changed from couch surfing and staying up all night drinking to buying a small property and raising animals, a stepson and a life I never knew he had in him. I suppose that the forties are an age where cracks start to appear from the habits acquired in life. My father-in-law was diagnosed with diabetes in his mid-forties, my wife’s other uncle that drank himself to death in his mid-fifties had diabetes for a number of years.

I guess what I am saying is that everything seems fine until it isn’t. At that point, you have two choices: straighten up or continue the way things are. Like all addictions, it is really hard to change. I don’t know if he was really an alcoholic or someone that just couldn’t imagine life differently. We knew that the doctors advised him to stop, we also knew that he didn’t. I suppose that it is one of those things that you think there is still time.

I can’t help but think that if he had a couple more spankings as a child and a few less turned heads as an adult that this wouldn’t have been the end. He was a good guy with a few faults. If he was an alcoholic, he made it to work every day was always helpful setting up and cleaning up family functions no matter how much he had drank. Maybe that is what you call functional?

Once his wife had enough, it went downhill fast. The house went up for sale, in fact he was in the hospital when the property closure happened and we had to help move his stuff out. I don’t know for a fact but I assume that the pain was too much because he was in and out of the hospital all summer. Then we got the call yesterday that if we wanted to say goodbye, we had better hurry.

End Your Programming Routine: I suppose that we all have people in our lives that are headed to a crash course to reality. I am sad that this is how the story was written. I really don’t know what else to say but R.I.P – Jim. I hope that you have now have the peace that this life did not bring… “and the angels sing a whiskey lullaby”.

September 9, 2022 – Atlas Shrugged 1:10

September 9, 2022 /

This is the last chapter in part one of Atlas Shrugged. It is not quite numerically a third of the way through, but practically it is. Let us just say that the world is quickly losing it’s mind. By the end of the chapter, we see the beginning of the end.

As the story line goes, Dabny continues her search for the engineering brains behind the ‘perpetual motion machine’ or the motor that converts static electricity from the air into mechanical energy. Of course, the search is very difficult because the Twentieth Century Motor Company closed over ten years prior and anyone that is affiliated doesn’t want to talk about it.

Most of the chapter wanders around interviewing different characters who lament how their desire to make the world better ended in hard feelings and failed financial enterprises. We had the banker who loaned money without any credit check or collateral and lost everything. We had the owners who levelled the entire organization payroll structure to have the entire company vote on need based results and punitive for those who got less votes. The people involved with the enterprise for pure reasons like science left out of disgust. The people involved with the enterprise for social engineering failed miserably.

I guess where I want to go with this today is philosophy of the premise. What I mean is that making the world a better place is a laudable goal. But, logic must be applied to the methods. Ideologues that act without a solid premise are destined for failure and ridicule regardless of how equitable the changes might be.

Speaking of Ideologues, I would also say that perception of the surrounding world is skewed. If I believe that every person should be paid equally (or the same amount), then I am going to perceive anyone that runs a company against my beliefs as deficient. That may project as greedy or selfish or a workaholic or any number of adjectives negatively describing someone with opposing views as mine.

Additionally, in today’s fascist world I am going to use the means of the state to try and force my beliefs as policy or law. This leads us to a new dirty word, fair. If you are anything like me then then the connotation of the word fair is positive. As I do, I want to look deeper into the word.

I have thought about this quite a bit. Is fair a reality? What is fair and what does it really mean? On thinking deeper, something can only be fair when all parties agree. Just like in the book, losing your business to bad business practices is not un-fair it is your perception of the circumstances. I don’t think all would agree that it was un-fair, I sure don’t.

Other industrialist are doing a lot of whining about the fairness of Hank Reardon’s success and productivity. Subsequently, under the orders of Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources railroads speeds are capped at sixty miles and hour and the maximum train length is limited to sixty cars and trains are required to operation the same number of trains in one state as adjacent states. In addition, no one metal company can produce quantities exceeding another. And finally, there is a 5% Value Added Tax to Colorado. This is all in attempt to have a fair marketplace.

End Your Programming Routine: The name of this chapter is Wyatt’s Torch. The reason being is that Ellis Wyatt, the oil baron and the reason the John Galt Line was built just gave an ‘F’-You to all the people demanding fairness. He set his facility on fire and gave up on drilling oil. Like the engineers, at some point you can’t fight these kind of battles head on. You have to regroup and take the fight in a different direction or front.

September 8, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

September 8, 2022 /

I was reading the literature to see what to expect with the Crossman Legacy 1000. I didn’t actually realize that it is a twelve pump maximum, not a ten pump. Let me tell you, that is a heck of a lot of pumping. In this experiment, I am measuring the velocity of each number of pumps to determine if it at what point is the work of pumping diminishing.

123456
1219399497565618657
2223400504562615659
3226392498568617662
4231400502561616666
5226398493564622664
6220402494568618664
7220396500566611663
8225389499563618669
9232397502559623665
10218398497567613668
224 +/-15397 +/- 12499 +/- 11564 +/- 10617 +/- 11664 +/- 11
values in fps
789101112
1701726752775798812
2700732755781796808
3698727751779799803
4688730760781793802
5695729758771790810
6695729758772797803
7699725763774798811
8696728758773798807
9695724757777795809
10693723757777789811
696 +/- 11727 +/- 8757 +/- 11776 +/- 11795 +/- 11808 +/- 11
values in fps

One thing from the data that is very pleasing is that repeatability is extremely consistent. It is interesting that the standard deviation is very constant throughout the experiment. That means that the rifle is operating the same as well as the ammunition. This data was obtained using the Crossman Wadcutter pellet (7.4 grains) at muzzle velocity.

There is math to actually determine the optimum pump versus velocity return. It involves calculus, so not so simple and therefore I won’t put it in here. Without actually showing the math, I am going to give the answer: two pumps. I have graphed the data to make it much easier to see. The math says that the inflection point of the curve

Despite the fact that two pumps is the optimum efficiency, we probably want to take advantage of the more available velocity. So, this becomes a subjective decision. In my view, the optimum maximum is eight pumps. 727 fps is 90% of the maximum 808 fps which would save 4 additional pumps.

Going back to my point of aim, point of impact discussion a couple of weeks ago the shooter really needs to settle on goals because simply pumping less or changing ammunition can relate this whole conversation moot. What I am implying is missing the target. When shooting at something the size of a squirrel head, an inch makes a difference between hit or miss.

To boil this all down, what I am suggesting is knowing the performance curve allows the shooter to select the desired outcome and subsequently sight in accordingly. Once that is done, then the shooter needs to stick with (or at least check the outcome) of variable changes.

End Your Programming Routine: I promise, this is the last concurrent week of this testing. Next week will be something new. This experiment actually took some work because of all the pumping and there was a lot of math. I am very surprised at how well this curve fit into a logarithmic function. I suppose that means that physics and math really does describe the world. I have always said that math is only interesting if you care about the results and what it says. In this case, I do care about the results, but it is nice to see that math validates how everything works.

September 7, 2022 – Removing a Pre-Hung Door Properly

September 7, 2022 /

My wife has been hounding me to get new doors for years. I like the look of the front door, but it has never operated the way it should. I have messed around with the lock sets and the screws holding the door in place but it is no use. It is imperative that doors are installed plumb and level for them to operate to expectations. I finally gave in and when I take a level to the exiting door, it is way out of whack. Now it the time to finally get a door that works properly.

Generally speaking, a pre-hung door is simpler to handle than just a door blank. It should be cutting the entire unit out and replacing the entire unit. Getting the entire unit plumb and level should be easier as well because the door should operate within the frame correctly.

Of course, you can always get a door out by destroying the frame. And if your door works properly, you could just replace the door and not the opening. In this case, I am going to put the front door in the back because my wife want’s a little more privacy than the current back door offers. And since it is easier to install as a unit, I am going to talk about the way to get the door out without destroying everything.

Step 1, Cut all caulk and paint lines around the trim, inside and outside the door using a utility knife. Note: in a pre-hung door, the exterior trim is typically part of the unit. Make sure it is all the way free before prying on anything.

Step 2, Carefully remove the interior trim so that it can be reinstalled.

Step 3, Locate the fastening mechanism of the door frame to the structure. Some use screws through the hinges while others are face nailed through the frame itself. If screwed, remove them. Also, consider not just the hinge side but also the strike side. Long screws are often used to secure deadbolts. If the frame is nailed, it is best to cut the nails with a reciprocating saw.

One other tip, if you can see shims in between the door frame and the structure (like the picture above, upper left corner) it is a good bet that there is a nail or screw in that spot. Shims are uses to get a solid backing to nail/screw through so that the frame stays square.

Step 4, If the frame is free on all four sides, then carefully rock the the entire assembly out of the rough opening. I find this easier to do when the door has been removed from the frame because it is a lot lighter

If all goes well, you should have a door and frame that you can use somewhere else or even donate. As an FYI, most contractors do not take a lot of respect or care for re-use. So, if you hire someone to do this job, don’t expect that you will get a re-useable result unless you specifically ask for it. Also, expect that it will cost more because being delicate takes time. I missed my chance at salvaging fence boards because they just cut the panels and threw them away before I could talk about it.

End Your Programming Routine: Sometimes things are easier said than done. For instance, it looks like there was caulk/adhesive added behind the door frame but it somehow missed the installation and therefore the door wasn’t stuck to the structure. What I would have done in that case is sacrifice the outside trim to try and keep the rest of the door frame together. Overall, this took me about two hours. I will talk about installation coming up in the future.

September 6, 2022 – The Modern Consumer

September 6, 2022 /

I hope that everyone had a great Labor Day. Unofficial Fall is here and my kids go to school tomorrow. I have tried a couple of newer mechanisms to get goods for my projects and my experience was less than stellar. Today’s podcast is all about my opinions on what the modern consumer can expect.

End Your Programming Routine: I am coming around to the realization of the statement ‘Ignorance is Bliss’. Before the internet existed, a person would go to a store and whatever they carried is what was possible. In today’s world, we have so many choices, but getting them when you want them makes it very difficult to end up being satisfied by your choice. I feel like this has to get better, but that will be a different podcast.

September 2, 2022 Atlas Shrugged 1:9

September 2, 2022 /

I don’t want to come off sexist, but I will say it anyway. There are some elements of this book that read like a romance novel. It could be that this becomes important later, but it does seem a little dramatic and over the top. This chapter gets into that aspect quite deeply. That is all I am going to say about that.

It is human nature to feel vindicated having success when there were so many doubters. Dabny and Henry are riding high and begin having an affair and end up going go on vacation to Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Jim is low and I don’t think that he really knows why. I think that it is because situations are not really going his way and he knows that he is wrong. These are not really what I want to go into this week.

The real money in this chapter is a conversation between Mr. Mowen on Amalgamated Switch and Signal Company and an unnamed worker. Mr Mowen observed Quinn Ball Bearing Co. moving to Colorado from his office. There is some discussion of the Equalization of Opportunity bill and how they don’t agree with it and then there is this quote.

“I don’t see it. It is a backward, primitive, unenlightened place. They don’t even have a modern government. It’s the worst government in any state. The laziest. It does nothing – except keeping law courts and a police department. It doesn’t do anything for the people. It doesn’t help anybody. I don’t see why all of the best companies want to run there.” – Unnamed worker.

And there is your economics lesson for all time. Money goes where it is treated well. And where the money goes, so do the jobs and consequently so does the wealth. Have you ever observed an un-incorporated area growing rapidly? Who moves there and why is this happening? It is the upwardly mobile moving to a lower cost area. Housing costs and taxes drive the migration.

By the same token, so does industry. I did a job in China back in 2009. This was making epoxy resins for carbon fiber layups (primarily building aerospace parts). The plant operators were Chemical Engineers with Master’s degrees and English almost as good as mine. The company was paying them about $20,000/year. Part of the reason this was being done in China is because the US equivalent would be paying operators $50,000/yr plus benefits, so say $75,000.

Of course not everything is perfect. For instance, a local pipe fitter was hired for the installation. When they finished, all of the piping sloped backward. This caused problems with the line contamination and dosing. So, the pipefitters had to redo the entire installation. That being said, it still cost less than doing it right in the first place.

Businesses are not stupid. If an advantage can be obtained by shifting operations for a better long term outlook then they will do so. It is the same reason the “Anti-Inflation Act of 2022” is going to fail. The government is pretending that putting price controls on pharmaceuticals is somehow going to reduce inflation. How will these companies respond? Move operations to a cheaper location i.e. China, distribute costs to non-listed products or cease production all together. I ask you, is this win-win or even lose-win?

In a free market, if consumers can’t afford an item, then it doesn’t get purchased. When something doesn’t get purchased, it eventually doesn’t get made. If I was pricing something, I would try to keep it at a razors edge of profit and market toleration of cost. Let us not fool ourselves, we do not have a free market. It is highly likely that the drug companies were in on the creation of the list of drugs where these price controls are instituted in the first place. For all I know, the maximum allowed price may be above the current cost and this could all be a sham.

End Your Programming Routine: The quote by the unknown worker resonates something that is so fundamentally wrong with today’s society. The greater society believes the government needs to do something about gun violence, climate change, social justice, inflation or Covid, None of these things drove the Pilgrims to come to America. None of those things are even thought of in the Constitution. My point being, we the people have absolved our self-responsibility and now believe it is the job of the government. Now, if we just elect the right people…

September 1, 2022, ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

September 1, 2022 /

So I found more stuff to test, what are you going to do about it? As I pull my son’s Crossman 760 off of the wall, I saw my Daisy 840 looking all lonely. This was my one and only air rifle until about five years ago.

This was the quintessential air rifle of a country boy. My brother and I had the same model. Many a time, a rope was tied across the barrel and the grip and then off on our bikes or trekking through the fields. Our favorite thing to do was take old catalogs and setup on the deck. We would shoot the catalog for half an hour and then leaf through to laugh at what we had hit on the inside pages. We shot things that we were not supposed to but I think that was a rite of passage and made me the rifle shooter I am today.

Time and kid’s ownership was not good to these things. My brother’s broke where the grip was attached to the action turning it into a stockless rifle. Mine, the spot welds broke on the rear sight leaving it more of a guess than an actual rifle. I was able to super glue it for a couple years but that has long since fallen apart and now lost forever. The forearm is also split where the two plastic halves are joined together. So far, it is still usable.

I first realized that it was time for an upgrade when I had a family of racoons living under our kitchen about five years ago. We were eating dinner on our deck and it was in the tree right next to us. I shot it to try and chase it away. When the BB hit it in the chest, the animal brushed the spot where it was hit and slowly climbed out of the tree and sauntered away. I realized that this was not going to work in a pest elimination capacity. That is when I bought the Crossman Legacy 1000.

The Daisy 840 was a single pump BB/pellet rifle. I did some research on this rifle to see if I could learn anything about it. Apparently, it was made between 1978-1986. It advertised 300 fps. My brother’s came with a scope which was broken within a six months, mine did not. I tested it to see how it was going to compare the the 760 and at first, I was only going to use BBs since the magazine was full. I quickly found out that this thing shot all over the place and my trap was not holding BB’s (when it hit where I was aiming).

840 BB840 pellet7601000Optimus
1263180579775944
2307248544781942
3285239540779968
4282265542781936
5264257549771938
6200248541772965
7180223529774940
8242223539773906
9189263552777964
10132230554777953
234 +/- 169238 +/- 76547 +/-40776 +/-11946 +/- 55
All values in fps

All values were measured at the muzzle and each rifle was pumped to the maximum (1 or 10 pumps) using the Crossman 7.4 grain wadcutter pellet. This was an attempt to compare the maximum performance across the spectrum. The thing that struck me was the inconsistency of the the 840.

Before I get too down on the 840, it needs to be said that this rifle is almost 40 years old and hasn’t been well treated. I am considering trying to do some minor seal maintenance by adding some lubricating oil. There has literally nothing ever done in that manner to the rifle.

Despite that, I was a little shocked when I missed the target multiple times standing five feet away. In all of this testing, this is the only occasion where this has occurred. The difference between BBs and pellets is that only pellets are stabilized (and therefore accurate). But, I was capable of hitting targets fifty feet away in one shot as a youth with a BB. My operating assumption is that the wildly varying velocity is causing the accuracy problems, so we will see.

I also had to double cock the action each time I shot a pellet. I am not sure what that problem is. I didn’t seem to have that problem with BB’s and I don’t understand what the different types of ammunition would have to do with the problem. That is a wait and see problem.

End Your Programming Routine: If my relubrication efforts fail, it may be time to end the run of the Daisy 840. There are no serviceable parts, it is missing a rear sight and I can’t trust the accuracy or performance. A single pump is pretty nice for shooting a lot, even if it is not the most powerful tool. But, if you cant keep the shots within the backstop, it is not safe.

August 31, 2022 – Shop Siding, Before and After

August 31, 2022 /

It is a good thing that I am done because summer is almost over. I ended up finding more rot in the facias and I debated leaving it. Ultimately, I decided that I had everything setup and I was in the mode, so I ended up spending a full day taking care of the unexpected damage. But, it is done.

As I like to do, I thought that I would provide some project accounting. What did this project really cost?

Hardware$111
Paint$45
Siding$555
Lumber$34
$746

I did spend more than this, but they were unrelated costs to the project. They were expenses for my home and apartment that I picked up because I was already at the store. It is possible to argue that I may not spent the money if I wasn’t already purchasing project supplies.

I wish that I had kept better track of my actual hours. I should know that I am going to write about it by now. I am just going to have to make an guess at this point.

SidingDemo12
SidingSheathing/underlayment10
SidingPainting26
SidingInstallation12
SidingFinish5
SidingMaterials Purchase15
Siding Subtotal80 hrs
FaciaAll work20
Total100 hrs

My biggest labor expense was in painting. I did paint everything by hand and every exposed surface got a primer coat and two topcoats before installation with touch-up afterward. Had I installed everything then shot it with a sprayer, I am sure that I would have driven that cost down to 8 hours. I also feel like some of my trips for materials were wasteful. I had to replace the Hardi boards that broke as I was unloading and I made one trip to purchase a 15 degree finish nailer plus caulk (more on that some other day).

I am giving myself a raise on this project because of inflation. If I estimate my rate at $35/hour then my labor is $3500 and my overall cost is $4246. A smart contractor is going to add some contingency to the job, like 20%. I would estimate the overall value of the project to be $5000.

End Your Programming Routine: The project actually totaled more time than I expected. It was the painting phase that seemed to really drag on. Of course, most weekends I spent some time but not really sun up to sun down or even a straight eight hour day. The truth is, I didn’t really feel like I needed to work that way. But now, I need to move onto other things while the weather is still good. It feels good to finish however.

August 30, 2022 – Rodeo Season is Winding Down

August 30, 2022 /

I don’t think that I have ever talked about Rodeo before. Before I get started, I don’t want to leave the impression that I am some kind of poser. I have never attempted to ride bulls or broncos and I don’t know how to rope or steel wrestle. Despite that, I do have respect for the people that do this.

The origins of American rodeo come from cowboys and working the ranches. But, the truth is is goes way back to Rome. This is the modern day form of animals and humans in the colosseum together. American rodeo has it’s set of events but there are other countries that have theirs. Ours tend to focus on buckles and prize money while others bring a focus on horsemanship with fancy stepping horses marching in unison.

This particular rodeo we went to was called a rough stock rodeo. This means that it was an abbreviated event. A full rodeo would include steer wresting, calf and team roping which the winners are based on the quickest time to complete the events. A rough stock rodeo is the bull and bronco riding (for some reason this one also has barrel racing as well).

The object to riding an animal is to hang on for eight seconds. If that happens, then the two are scored up to 50 points for the animal and 50 points for the rider. The nastier the animal is with bucking and twisting, the higher the score. For the rider, spurring front to back and keeping one hand in the air lead to points deductions for technique. With that, the best score wins. This means that there is some luck in this as well as skill.

When I was a youth, the Fourth of July was unofficially called Cowboy Christmas because there were so many concurrent rodeos happening. In my area, there were three big ones which would draw bigger names because the could compete in all three and therefore enhancing chances with a bigger payday.

Most venues are outside making summer the primary season for rodeo. The biggest one to my knowledge is the Calgary Stampede which runs for two weeks in September. That is one that I would like to see. The official commencement of the year is the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in February. That is an organization like the PGA that requires membership and has it’s own rules for participation and qualification.

The one that we attended was at the Oregon State Fair. We specifically went to the fair to watch the rodeo and the concert by Ned LeDoux afterward. We are planning to go back to see anything else at the fair since this took our entire evening. It is pretty common to see food, games and a carnival atmosphere associated with rodeos. It is an entire entertainment experience, not just a spectator event.

With TV series like Heartland and Yellowstone, I think that there is a resurgence or new awareness of rodeo. This is one of those pursuits that can be very dangerous. And you don’t see old rodeo cowboys. It is just too physically damaging to ride bulls and horses for long. Actually, I think the roping sports tend to be older guys because it takes a lot more skill to do it and it is not nearly as physically damaging.

End Your Programming Routine: I like putting on my boots and hat to go out and watch the rodeo with my wife or family. Stick and ball athletes may be strong or fast but cowboys are tough. The whole process requires desire. The desire to travel and live on the road, the desire for a chance to complete for mostly peanuts as wages, the desire to be the best at a life threatening pursuit. It is a culture and a lifestyle that I enjoy participating.