tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18295999048442395222024-03-13T03:42:18.873-07:00Banana FufuWhen your mood is soft and mushy, changing from day to day.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-52811986705336754202010-12-13T19:58:00.000-08:002010-12-13T20:23:57.989-08:00Entreprise Arms -- poor quality and even poorer customer serviceChapter 1:<br /><br />I recently purchased a <a href="http://www.entreprise.com/">Entreprise</a> Standard Rifle from Atlantic Firearms. To my surprise, when I checked the headspace I found that a NOGO gauge would chamber in the rifle. To my non-precise estimation, there seemed to be an additional 0.02" of play with a NOGO gauge chambered. I contacted Matt at Entreprise and he suggested I return the rifle for evaluation and correct. I did that.<br /><br />Chapter 2:<br /><br />Rifle was returned. Entreprise changed NOTHING; not even a letter explaining their conclusions. Hmmm.<br /><br />I had a 0.274" locking shoulder lying around, so I replaced the original with this one and off I went to the range to measure actual headspace by measuring fired cases in an RCBS 308 mic. Three cases measured at +0.011", +0.013" and +0.011" meaning the headspace with a 0.274" locking shoulder was 1.644" (a Forster GO gauge measures 1.630" and a NOGO measures 1.634"). The scary part is that with the original locking shoulder, the headspace was 1.662", a full 0.030" larger than nominal!!!!!<br /><br />The second thing I noticed was that the rifle consistently shot 18" to the right at 100yds. Using similar triangles (18" is to 100yds what X is to 22") I calculated that the rear sight needed to be drifted 0.11" to the left. After I made the adjustment the group was on paper and not bad actually.<br /><br />However, the amount of displacement I needed to apply to the rear sight bothered me so when I got home I pulled the hand guards and gas tube and examined the "verticleness" of the sight and gas block. It seemed a little off, as if the barrel had been over-tightened. I then took a look at the relative position of the timing cutout relative to the receiver and after a little arithmetic, made it out to be about 3.5 degrees past dead center, i.e. too tight. Since the top of the sight post is 1.93" above the center of the boreline, 3.5 degrees would put the top of the sightpost about 0.118" to the left ... hmmm imagine that .... exactly the amount we had to move the rear sight.<br /><br />The third obvious problem was that on occasion the rifle would “double fire” – yes not good. Examination at home confirmed that the rear of the trigger was damaged/worn to the point where holding the trigger down (with the selector in the semi-auto position) while manually cycling the bolt resulted in the hammer to drop .... a situation which can result in uncontrolled fire.<br /><br />At this point I can only assume that whoever assemble the rifle had no idea as to what they were doing and since I've already returned the rifle once, giving Entreprise a chance to correct the faults, I'm assuming that Entreprise has no interest in fixing it. Additionally, I've already corrected the three problems myself so the rifle is no longer in warranty. And yes, I attempted to contact Entreprise by email and have had no response.<br /><br />Summary:<br /><br />A supposed NEW rifle from Entreprise arrived with 0.030" excessive headspace, 3.5 degrees off optimal timing and a trigger so damaged that uncontrolled fire would result. No response from Entreprise so apparently no desire to stand behind their products despite claims of lifetime warranties.<br /><br />Disappointed is an understatement. I had high hopes for Entreprise, being a CA company, but at this point I can’t recommend Entreprise to anyone looking for a FAL.<br /><br />To add insult to injury, the rifle I received didn't have the required number of 922(r) compliance parts. Of the 20 parts on the ATF list, 17 are applicable to the FAL meaning that a FAL builder must replace 7 with US made parts. The rifle I received had the following US made parts: (1) receiver, (2) muzzle device, (3) buttstock, (4) pistol grip, (5) forearms, (6) magazine floor plate, i.e. one short of the required number of parts.<br /><br /><br />UPDATE:<br /><br />I had acquired another IMBEL barrel for a build onto an IMBEL receiver. This barrel handtimed to the expected 10:30 o'clock position on the IMBEL receiver and some quicky estimation indicated a locking shoulder in the 0.256"-0.266" range.<br /><br />I tried that barrel on this sad Entreprise receiver. It too (over) handtimed to the 2 o-clock position. After reintroducing the 0.010" shim, I torqued the new barrel into the Entreprise receiver and proceeded to measure headspace with pin gauges and a Forster NOGO gauge. The smallest pin required to provide any closing resistance to the NOGO gauge was 0.280"!!!!!!!!! A safe gun would require a 0.284" locking shoulder. That's HUGE!!!<br /><br />My only conclusion at this point is that this Entreprise receiver is severely out of spec. Quite simply, the barrel threads are miss-cut/mis-located by 110-120 degrees, thus accounting for the excessive headspace.<br /><br />Some supporting arithmetic:<br /><br />barrel threading is 1-16"<br />A 120 degree mislocation would add 120/360 x 1/16" = 0.021" to the headspace<br /><br />expected locking shoulder should be in the 0.256"-0.262" range<br />0.256/0.262 + 0.021" = 0.277"/0.283" ... mine is 0.284"<br /><br />So, at this point this receiver is unusable. I can't in good conscience flip it on some unsuspecting sucker so I have a nice paper weight.<br /><br />Anyone considering buying an Entreprise rifle or receiver ... DON'T!!!Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-65655956577551612782010-12-13T17:37:00.000-08:002010-12-28T07:52:56.321-08:00CO gun sales does the right thing.12/27/10 Editing title to reflect proper customer action.<br /><br />I recently won a auction on gunbroker.com for a New Metric FAL barrel from <a href="http://www.cogunsales.com/">CO gun sales. (Colorado Gun Sales)</a> aka M&M LLC.<br /><br />When I received the barrel, I immediately tried hand-screwing it into an IMBEL receiver I had lying around and discovered that the barrel face bottomed out against the receiver, leaving a gap of approx. 30-50 thousands of an inch between the barrel shoulder and the face of the receiver. "Hmmmm. How odd!" I thought. L1A1 builds require a breaching washer so a gap between the shoulder and face would be expected for a L1A1 barrel. "I wonder if CO Gun Sales sent me an L1A1 barrel". Checking the packing slip I confirmed that they had in fact sent me an L1A1 barrel.<br /><br />I contacted CO Gun Sales and explaining the situation and expressed my desire to return the barrel. The person responding to my email, a "Mike", was incredulous and stated that the barrels are metric cut and indexing correctly on IMBEL receivers. [Ed: Let me clue you into threading dimensions of Metric-pattern and INCH-pattern barrels .... they're the same, i.e. 1"x16 ... so simply stating that your barrel is metric cut doesn't mean it's a METRIC barrel]<br /><br />Since then I have returned the barrel but CO Gun Sales is apparently refusing the package and presumably refusing to refund my purchase. They are also refusing to respond to email.<br /><br />I'll post pictures when USPS returns the package to me.<br /><br />Avoid CO Gun Sales, aka M&M LLC.<br /><br />UPDATE: (12/17/2010)<br /><br />CO Gun Sales accepted delivery of my package. No response to email or refund yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/TQut6EJN-8I/AAAAAAAAAmY/MZk314cQesU/s1600/m%2526m%2Baccepted%2B2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/TQut6EJN-8I/AAAAAAAAAmY/MZk314cQesU/s400/m%2526m%2Baccepted%2B2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551722178720693186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />UPDATE: (12/27/10)<br /><br />CO gun sales acknowledged manufacturer's error and sent me a refund.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/TRoHsPC3ukI/AAAAAAAAAmw/X_tbph4XCSA/s1600/p1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/TRoHsPC3ukI/AAAAAAAAAmw/X_tbph4XCSA/s400/p1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555761546849139266" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/TRlIpFffEkI/AAAAAAAAAmo/dYOUXQpk1D0/s1600/p1.jpg"><br /></a>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-40006944726591972192010-02-06T19:08:00.000-08:002010-02-10T21:28:35.271-08:00Blackthorne Products suck and they lie.Do a Google search on Blackthorne Products (aka AR/AK parts kits), marketer of AR parts kits and complete AR uppers, and you'll find lots of negative feedback. Apparently quality control is not one of their strong points. However, recently I caught Blackthorne Products in an out and out lie.<br /><br />On their <a href="http://www.blackthorneproducts.com/">website</a>, you will find the following statement:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong></strong></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong></strong></span><blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>Blackthorne Products</strong> sells only the highest quality parts. We do NOT sell "seconds" of any type, Never have, never will</span>.<br /></blockquote><br />That is a lie.<br /><br />A buddy of mine recently purchased a <a href="http://akpartskits.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_17&products_id=305&zenid=0310cdbc4fb7813a33df39f2feaa94f6">Blackthorne flattop 20" upper</a>. He wanted to mount a scope on it and asked me to replace the tall A2 sight tower with a low profile gas block.<br /><br />After removing the sight tower, we made a sad discovery. The barrel on this upper was most definitely not a "first".<br /><br />Exhibit A: Behold the "D" roll mark, indicating the manufacturer to be DPMS.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24xEe9lpcI/AAAAAAAAAl0/muQ4Vtkvjw8/s1600-h/p1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24xEe9lpcI/AAAAAAAAAl0/muQ4Vtkvjw8/s400/p1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435335753383388610" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Exhibit B: Near the gas hole we find a sight tower taper pin cut, off-center. On the topside of a barrel? Also, ahead of the gas hole we see what appears to be the remnants of another welded over and ground down taper pin cut. How interesting? Wonder what we'll see on the underside of the barrel. A welded over gas hole perhaps?<br /><img src="file:///E:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Radek%20Aster/Desktop/Blackthorne/p2.jpg" alt="" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24xv__Wo-I/AAAAAAAAAl8/PVUCaRCF_Ug/s1600-h/p2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24xv__Wo-I/AAAAAAAAAl8/PVUCaRCF_Ug/s400/p2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435336500983538658" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Exhibit C: Indeed. A welded over gas hole. Off-center near the new taper pin cuts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24yehBAt5I/AAAAAAAAAmE/FSzwXImzook/s1600-h/p3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/S24yehBAt5I/AAAAAAAAAmE/FSzwXImzook/s400/p3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435337300122843026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">What is one to make of this? Clearly this is not a "first" barrel. I'm guessing this is a DPMS "second" that was accidentelly "long chambered". Blackthorne then took the barrel, turned it down, plugged up the old gas hole and taper pin cuts, drilled a new gas hole, cut new taper pin cuts and hid the surgery under a sight tower.<br /><br />But let's not forget. They never sell seconds. Never have, never will. Um ... except for this one time.<br /><br />BLACKTHORNE SUCKS!!!!<br /></div></div>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-90172298258549474982009-09-11T08:03:00.000-07:002009-11-11T07:34:53.634-08:003" 629 range report<p>While in the "dealer of death's" store recently, helping a coworker pick out a 1911, "the tempter" showed me a pre-MIM, pre-lock, 3" S&W 629. Naturally it followed me home. It has a rounded butt so I was a little concerned that the gun would turn in my ape hands under fire. But it has been Magna-ported. I'm not a big fan of Magna-porting as am not convinced that the muzzle flip reduction is worth the added muzzle blast and noise being directed at the shooter.<br /></p> <p> I was testing two loads: </p> <p> (a) 240gr Ranier HP plated bullets over 21.0gr of 2400<br />(b) 240gr cast L-SWC bullets over 21.0gr of 2400 </p> <p>I must have not crimpled the Ranier loads properly, as early during the shooting session I had trouble rotating the cylinder. Close inspection showed that one of the bullets had pushed forward under recoil and was poking out past the front edge of the cylinder. Also, the accuracy of those loads was not great. I was shooting about 4” to the left. </p> <p>The SWC loads were the cat’s pajamas. All holes were centered about POA with a group spread of about 3” at 15yds. [Several sub-groups were 1” in diameter ..... if I slowed down and concentrated]. I was shooting two handed, unsupported, standing up. I was VERY happy with this group, considering it’s coming out of a 3” barrel. </p> <p> The gun is quite manageable, even though the recoil is stout, both in DA and SA modes, but the factory trigger is heavier than I like it. Will have to lighten the trigger return spring a tad. </p> <p>Combined with shooting my Glock 21 with stiff loads, playing with an M1A and Chronying some loads outta my Puma 454, it was a great day. </p> <p> I certainly had a better day than the guy a few tables down who “hot dogged” his S&W 500. His barrel split right down the vertical plane. He confirmed that he was shooting handloads so considering that his cylinder was intact, I’m guessing he had a squib, then an uncleared barrel obstruction, and he then touched off another round. </p> Be careful out there ......Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-75312713441131536302009-04-26T11:14:00.000-07:002009-04-28T06:26:41.857-07:00Anger ... and HopeSpent the day walking around Berkeley (yes, CA) yesterday .... you know ..... for educational purposes. Yes, Darwin would have had, and should have, a field day.<br /><br />As for anger ..... ugh ..... I switched off and observed .... and even then I had to suppress the urge to punch a bunch on a few occasions.<br /><br />But the day was punctuated by polar differences. It was the day the Dalai Lama was to speak and inspire the crowds. I have no interest in what the Lama has to say [though I would pay money to hear him say "SEE! THIS is what unchecked PACIFISM leads to"], but I was more fascinated with the people coming to see him. The starry eyed, the sheep who need a leader in troubled times, the SUV driving drones who come to hear him speak of global healing.<br /><br />My wife and I actually came to Berkeley to hike up to the Lawrence Hall of Science, where we stumbled across a High School Solar Powered Sprint Car Competition. The cars were nothing special, though it was obvious that some kids understood that mechanical design matters. What did stand out was that the Lama didn't matter, at that moment anyway, to these kids. For them science, competition and design mattered. Those who didn't win will be back next time with better designs. Learning, progress, perseverance.<br /><br />So, yes, anger .... but hope too.<br /><br />P.S. Turns out, the Lama spoke about terrorism and admitted <a href="http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/dalai-lama-stuns-audience-admits-i-love.html">he like George W. Bush</a>. Well, knock me down and shit on my head. Maybe the Lama does have a clue.<br /><br />P.P.S. Telegraph Ave. was once, oh ... say in the mid-1980s, interesting. Now it's gritty, dirty ... and irrelevant. Seeing the <strike>summer-of-love rejects</strike> aging hippies, with their skin wrinkled from years of drug abuse, flogging their wares and their old and tired political screeds, is sad.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-41156307034918095572009-03-10T11:16:00.000-07:002009-03-10T11:24:23.544-07:00Obama speaksAfter listening to "The One" talk before congress two weeks ago, where he promised to cure cancer, I couldn't help thinking that he has a lot in common with a certain character from the comic strip Luann.<br /><br />Maybe I'm wrong. You be the judge.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/Sbav6kZs22I/AAAAAAAAAls/XEePlqrNpLI/s1600-h/luann.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 385px; height: 171px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/Sbav6kZs22I/AAAAAAAAAls/XEePlqrNpLI/s400/luann.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311626231268825954" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Or maybe, if you've <a href="http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=293613">listened to him speak (sans preparation) for 3 minutes without saying anything</a>, while attempting to answer a fairly simple question, you'd come to the conclusion that perhaps he has more in common with a certain Loony Tunes character.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-70047604692499150922009-02-10T09:16:00.000-08:002009-02-10T09:24:46.348-08:00GM seizes better business climate in Brazil ... on US taxpayers' dime<a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=12396&ArticleId=320909">GM invests $1M in Brazil</a>.<br /><br />Makes sense. GM can't budge against the labor unions so they build plants where the business climate is more conducive to ... well ... doing business. It's about time the UAW pulled their heads out of their collective asses.<br /><br />And I hope this comes back to bite the sycophants in congress who passed the $700M <b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>bailout<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> package, part of which was handed to automakers by "Bush the Lesser" to "save American jobs".<br /><br />What a bunch of putzes we have running this country.<br /><br />The environuts may just get what they wanted; fuel efficient cars made by a "US car maker", at the cost of US jobs. [Pulling up a chair to watch the upcoming cat-fight between "big labour" and environuts]Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-32263078739055590042009-02-08T10:19:00.000-08:002009-02-08T10:55:03.359-08:00No, we are not all to blameIn the Sunday (2/8/2009) issue of the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11649004">San Jose Mercury News</a> (interestingly, the paper headline read "Budget Mess: We're all to blame") columnists Rogers and Poitinger claim we're all to blame for the budget mess. Missing from their analysis is the many multi-billion dollar bonds, passed by proposition, floated by voters to fund many feel-good measures. Naturally, most of these bonds would be paid from the general fund or homeowner property assessments.<br /><br />One glaring example that comes to mind (on the ballot 8 years ago) was a "Open Space preservation" measure what would be funded exclusively by private property assessments. It passed. The subsequent analysis was astounding. Of the "yes" voters, 75% owned no property. Yup, business as usual ... those who "can" pay for those who "need". (Where have I heard that before?)<br /><br />And so it is typically for bond measures. Obligations are paid out of the general fund, the income from which comes, primarily, from income taxes; 80% of which are paid by 20% of tax payers.<br /><br />So, no Misters Rogers and Poitinger, we are NOT ALL TO BLAME. Some of us didn't vote for this crap, and do understand economics. Stupid voters, who don't have a stake in the financial obligations for the measures they vote for and pass, are to blame.<br /><br />As for how to fix the budget problem, since the state can't just erase the obligations with the stroke of a pen? I'm OK with a general tax increase, paid for by EVERYONE. A general consumption tax? Sure .... raise the sales tax to 15% and reduce income and property taxes, thus proportionately spreading the pain for economic stupidity. That I could get behind.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-49956407974650583892009-01-24T07:47:00.000-08:002009-01-24T08:03:44.792-08:00What you won't read about the "beatification" in the MSMFirstly: This is what the National Mall looked like after the inauguration.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SXs4gEoi4FI/AAAAAAAAAlk/tmV_Hh0b2Ik/s1600-h/capt.7d249c265a934f498f2a848402460546.inauguration_a_nation_gathers_dcck123.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SXs4gEoi4FI/AAAAAAAAAlk/tmV_Hh0b2Ik/s400/capt.7d249c265a934f498f2a848402460546.inauguration_a_nation_gathers_dcck123.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294887910554918994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This from supporters who claim to be "green" and wanting to "save the environment". Yup, someone else will clean it up, while we "save the environment".<br /><br />Secondly: "The One, The Light" decided to skip the "<a href="http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=7224">Salute the Heroes Inaugural Ball</a>". The argument that he was too busy because he had 10 other balls to attend sounds hollow. Clearly "The One, The Light" prioritized the"Neighborhood Ball", the "Youth Ball", the "BET Ball", "The Recording Industry Ball" over a ball honoring Medal of Honour recipients.<br /><br />Well, I was hoping to see leadership from "The One". Nope, not this one. Perhaps if he'd attended, he would have met <a href="http://www.cwoauscg.org/history/history_janitor.htm">William Crawford </a>and could have learned something about leadership from a janitor, who's also a Medal of Honor recipient.<br /><br />Nah, nothing to see here ... Hope ... Change.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-53243369143538762552009-01-09T09:15:00.000-08:002009-01-09T14:53:53.635-08:00Gran Torino and sensitivity<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/840752.html">Mr. Pitts nails is</a>.<br /><br /><blockquote>Indeed, Kowalski gets as good as he gives from his barber, an Italian, each slurring the other's ancestry with good-natured brio. Yet when Kowalski confronts a group of black street punks, the script has him calling them "spooks" — not the more obvious epithet that rhymes with "trigger." Eastwood doubtless knew using that word would have rendered the character irredeemable.<br /><br />That the script allowed Eastwood to fire at will at his Italian friend but required him to pull up short in dealing with black thugs is telling. It speaks not simply to script dynamics, but to dynamics of American history and culture, to the question of <span style="font-weight: bold;">who has assimilated enough that we deem them fair game and who has not</span>.</blockquote><br />[Emphasis mine!] Hear that Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson? You fucking race-baiters.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-52251357076588609242009-01-06T17:24:00.000-08:002009-01-06T17:29:55.150-08:00[Not so funny] Comedian in the houseHow appropriate that a rather unfunny comedian will most likely take a seat in that, once, august body. It's not a laughing matter that congress has become somewhat of a laughing stock with the US public.<br /><br />But then, He's Good <em>Enough</em>, He's <em>Smart Enough</em>, and Doggone It, <em>People Like Him</em>!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SWQFUv3b4RI/AAAAAAAAAlM/_nDVS9p7M7A/s1600-h/frankendiapers.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SWQFUv3b4RI/AAAAAAAAAlM/_nDVS9p7M7A/s400/frankendiapers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288357716444307730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-78767927401220273372008-12-28T17:59:00.001-08:002008-12-28T18:04:09.398-08:00New bumpersticker<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SVgvJfKlmGI/AAAAAAAAAlE/sbqmcPiv3HY/s1600-h/PalinCleese2012.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 381px; height: 115px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SVgvJfKlmGI/AAAAAAAAAlE/sbqmcPiv3HY/s400/PalinCleese2012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285026002750511202" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-24478185113587028312008-12-01T17:32:00.000-08:002009-07-16T19:51:42.446-07:00About Angels and PoemsOn Saturday, Kathy and I attended a memorial service for the sister of a friend. I barely knew the sister, having met her only once and in passing. I'm puzzled as to why the service affected me as much as it did.<br /><br />It would be presumptuous of me to write that I "know" her, because all that I know of her is what I learned during the service and from talking with her family and friends at the service.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.legacy.com/montereyherald/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=119588178&IADID=Search-www.legacy.com-www.montereyherald.com">This person</a> selflessly gave herself and her time to her chosen close friends and to her family. She wasn't a mother, in the biological sense, but <b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>was<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> a mother to her many nieces. But at the same time she clung to her identify and knew instinctively that to avoid sinking into the muck of darkness and ugliness that surrounds us in our daily lives when we venture out of the safety of our homes, she must gain sustenance from the shared love, laughs and silliness with her husband, her close chosen friends and her family.<br /><br />As it often seems, a person "comes by" when you need them the most. This person "came by", however briefly and remotely, when I was searching for the answer to the question "what next". I think I already knew the answer, but the memorial service was like the little man tired of being pushed back in the line because he is small and rushes to the front of the line and yells: "Hey! I'm tired of being pushed back. I have something important to say!" And say it, he did.<br /><br />Don't isolate yourself.<br /><br />That's it!!! As geeks, we tend to isolate. Perhaps we are by nature solitary and asocial. Perhaps the nature of our work requires lots of alone time. Perhaps it is due to the competitive nature of our existence, the competition that leads us to finding little faults in people, competitively self-elevating ourselves above the "faulty" others, and thus pushing them away. But in isolation, we can succumb to the darkness and ugliness. And no good comes from walking down that road.<br /><br />During the service, a poem, <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=176044">"Questions About Angels" by Billy Collins</a>, was read. One passage in that poem still brings a tear to my eye every time I read it.<br /><br /><blockquote>She sways like a branch in the wind, her beautiful<br />eyes closed, and the tall thin bassist leans over<br />to glance at his watch because she has been dancing<br />forever, and now it is very late, even for musicians.</blockquote><br />I'm pretty sure the poet's intention was to illustrate the timelessness of angels. But mortals in angel form must rest.<br /><br />I ended up buying one of Billy Collins' anthologies, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Alone-Around-Room-Selected/dp/0375755195/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230515801&sr=8-2">Sailing Around the Room</a>". For someone who hated "literature" in high school in general, and poetry in particular, Billy Collins' prose is quite lucid and understandable.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-89737820628677403832008-11-07T20:36:00.000-08:002008-11-07T20:52:34.282-08:00Time to visit UtahSeems that Prop 8 opponents are <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_on_re_us/mormon_backlash_boycott;_ylt=ArOKIlvL3gONbYlF8jexIP5vzwcF">calling for a boycott </a>of the state of Utah as punishment for the Mormon church's support of Prop 8.<br /><br />I have no dog in the race and groups (read Hollywood and yuppie Californian skiers) are certainly entitled to exercise their 1st amendment rights just as the members of the Mormon church exercised theirs during the elections. On the other hand, statements like the following are sure to endear gays to the general public and advance their cause to show people they are "nice normal people".<br /><br /><blockquote>"The main focus is going to be going after the Utah brand," he said. "At this point, honestly, we're going to destroy the Utah brand. It is a hate state."<br /></blockquote><br />A "hate state"? Wow! Sounds a little harsh to me. I predict this will backfire at the "gay community".<br /><br />I've never been to Utah and the thought of spending time on the slopes without hordes of "sensitive" Californians does have a certain appeal.<br /><br />Let's see: spend money on crappy movies coming out of Hollywood or go to Utah and spend some money there. Hmmm.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-65210959347140795732008-11-07T20:20:00.000-08:002008-11-07T20:34:06.650-08:00Solution to the recessionSeems the election of "The One" has spurned an economic recovery. All the gun shops in the area tell me that their distributors are backlogged, and several ammo dealers (<a href="http://www.aimsurplus.com">AIM Surplus</a> and <a href="http://www.jgsales.com">J&G Sales</a>) report shipping delays as the volume of orders spiked following the election.<br /><br />This anecdotal evidence is <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081107/ap_on_re_us/obama_gun_sales">confirmed by a report</a> that gun and ammo sales have spiked nationwide.<br /><br />Today, GM <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081103/bs_nm/us_gm_2">reported a 45% drop in sales</a> as evidence of a recession.<br /><br />Now I'm not the president elect but the juxtaposition of those two stories would tell me two things:<br /><br />(a) consumers are shifting spending priorities from cars to guns and ammo.<br />(b) the recession could be eased by making policy changes to boost the production of guns.<br /><br />Clearly, that's what consumers want. Imagine how much money they could inject into the economy and how many jobs could be created if there were more guns for them to buy.<br /><br />Now THAT would be Change (tm) I could sink my teeth into. ;-)Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-1428290040208822442008-10-26T20:37:00.000-07:002008-10-26T20:39:27.909-07:00Prominent Obama supporters are controlling assholesOr, "Socialists are sphincters".<br /><br />Took my daughter to the beach today. It's a 23mi drive from my house to Santa Cruz on HWY 17. Normal driving protocol is slow cars move right for fast cars. Now, I don't drive <span style="font-weight: bold;">that </span>fast. THREE TIMES I come up on someone driving below the speed limit in the "fast lane". I politely flashed my high beams and politely waited for them to move over. EACH TIME they tap their brakes and SLOW DOWN so they're now pacing the car next to them in the slow lane, preventing anyone behind them from getting around them. EVERYONE of these road boulders was sporting an Obama sticker.<br /><br />Coincidence?<br /><br />They're not content to hog the fast lane, but they want to CONTROL EVERYONE AROUND THEM.<br /><br />Now you know.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-88350234499631329262008-10-26T11:14:00.000-07:002008-10-27T14:47:00.378-07:00House to HouseJust finished reading House to House, by David Bellavia.<br /><br />David was a sergeant in 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, part of the Army's Task Force 2/2 in November 2004, when the US army assaulted Fallujah to destroy the insurgents terrorizing the city. His was one of the first companies to penetrate the city and his book describes the harrowing events of the first three days inside Fallujah, clearing house by house while dealing with insurgents hopped up on atropine and epinephrine. He encounters houses wired to explode, filled with trip wires and booby traps. And he describes a story of personal heroism and courage.<br /><br />He describes soldiers, like Corporal Piotr Sucholas who is a liberal, who cynically believes that the assault is a political ploy to get Bush reelected, but who in battle is unyielding, rock steady and dependable. He describes a military that is professionally committed to what they are doing, believing in the end goal. Each infantryman believes that America is a force for good in the world, and living free of tyranny and oppression is a basic human right.<br /><br />At the same time, however, he understands that his fight isn't clear cut. In describing his enemy he says: "<span style="font-style: italic;">The young ones were more committed. They've been indoctrinated since childhood and are radicalized beyond reason. They will go willingly when their leaders stay back and order then to their deaths. I wonder if this place is beyond hope.</span>"<br /><br />Unfortunately, the media portrays America's warrior class with two wide brushes: "<span style="font-style: italic;">that of the victim and that of the felon. They appreciate neither.</span>"<br /><br />But the best is left for last. In my mind, the last chapter, the epilogue, is the best writing of the whole book. David describes leaving the army to commit himself to being a father and a husband, having neglected his wife and son. It is bitter sweet because he understands that the camaraderie of brothers in arms will be gone forever. He will probably never see his brothers again. He returns to Iraq in 2005 to gain closure, and to memorialize the sites, by placing a carnation at each site, where three of the most important people in his Army life gave up their lives in Fallujah; Command Sergeant Major Steven Faulkenberg (shot by a sniper during the early hours of the assaut), Lt. Edward Iwan (cut down by an RPG while standing in the turret of a Brad commanding his men), Cpt. Sean Sims (killed in an ambush while clearing a house). After placing the last carnation he describes feeling like he's being watched, a lone westerner without a weapon. In his rush to "get away" he crashes into a woman coming around a corner, and rushes on without apology. He then writes:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Then I heard her footsteps stop. I turned, and saw her regarding my carnation. She stared at it for a long minute before looking back to study my face in the early morning light. My shoulders sagged. I could not even feign a smile for this woman. Instead, I turned up a street to leave her and this miserable city behind. I took a few steps. Behind me nothing broke the stillness of the morning. I expected to hear the swish-swish of her sandals again walking on the side of the road, but there was nothing. Curious I glanced over my shoulder again. She was kneeing in front of my flower. Tenderly, she placed her own weeds alongside my cheap carnation. She touched her heart then the ground and uttered a prayer. She kissed her hand and touched her heart again. My mouth fell open. She looked over at me and as our eyes met again my heart broke. All the emotions, all the bottled up angst and grief I pretended didn't exist suddenly broke free. Tears rushed down my cheeks and I began to sob uncontrollably. I covered my face in complete shame but I knew the woman still watched me. She regarded me sadly. For a moment I thought she would attempt to console me. Instead she nodded, turned and ambled away. An anonymous elderly woman, lost in a city, I unapologetically helped destroy. I slipped off into an abandonded home, a street away, embarrased and surprised by my own meltdown on that Fallujah street. I sat and stared at the front gate. I have no idea how long I sat there, wracked with guilt for surviving. I lost track of time, lost track of where I was. Finally I moved outside the gate in an attempt to find that woman again. I looked up to see an empty street. I was alone. She left without knowing the gift she'd given me. She wasn't the reason I came to fight in Iraq. But she reminded me of the importance why we fight. The soil in Fallujah and all of Iraq has been consecrated with the blood of our dead, and her reverence reminded me of that. Fallujah will never be just another battlefield. This old woman showed me that my time in Fallujah was a life-altering privilege. It was here that we fought for hope. It was here that we fought to end the reign of terror that had descended on the innocents of a city. Through it all I witnessed the best of human condition - the loyalty, the self-sacrifice, the love that the brotherhood of arms evokes. I realized that I am complete for having experienced that. Those who died gave their lives for their brothers. They gave their lives a noble ideal: that freedom from tyranny and oppression is a basic human right. We were the force to do that, and my brothers paid the price. I stood up and headed for the street again, tears gone now. I had work to do, a fight to continue but I knew this: as long as I honored these men each day, I would have a second chance at redemption. At last I understood."<br /><br /><br /></span>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-10353630829973658612008-10-02T05:39:00.001-07:002008-10-02T06:18:48.652-07:00The senate must think we're not that brightAs you may have heard, the senate just passed the "bailout plan". It's on to the house and I hope reps. get their ears pasted back by their constituents prior to a vote, and toss this thing down the nearest sewer.<br /><br />Like a parent trying to get a fearful child to take some bitter tasting medicine, the senate "sweetened" the deal:<br /><ul><li>An increase from $100k to $250k in the value of deposit accounts insured by the FDIC</li><li>Tax cuts</li></ul>Does the senate really think "We the People" are that stupid? The net affect of the above two changes is to increase federal liabilities and reduce funding for these liabilities. Huh?<br /><br />Mark my words: the bailout is BAD BAD BAD!!! Without a doubt, some banks will (and should fail) because of toxic investments in their portfolios. Bad choices will and must have consequences in a free market economy.<br /><br />One problem with the bailout plan is that it essentially gives the Treasury Secretary the power to choose <span style="font-weight: bold;">which</span> banks get to fail and which get to live on. He gets to choose which of an array of toxic investments he buys on the taxpayers dime. Not all banks are in bad shape, and most will survive after this is all over, bailout or no bailout. But placing the power over "life and death" in the hands of one man who now gets to choose which banks die and which survive worries me immensely. As ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs, I'm sure Mr. Paulson has the unbiased experience and will do the right thing. Uh huh!<br /><br />The other essential problem with the bailout plan is that it delays the inevitable and thus delays recovery. These toxic investments move from private hands (banks) into public hands (taxpayers ... er ... federal government). In private hands, these investments would be written down, mortgages would be foreclosed and remaining funds recovered. In public hands, (there's no incentive for the Treasury to even buy them at market value) these investments will not be flushed because which politician has the needed courage to start foreclosing on "over their heads" home owners (interesting perversion of the word, no, when these owners own zero equity in the homes they currently occupy?) and recover remaining funds. No, the investments will be kept in the hopes that their value will rise. Right! The housing bubble has burst, folks, and these toxic securities will never regain the value they had when the banks that securitized mortgages believed in infinite bubble expansion.<br /><br />Some experts are chastising us lumpen proletariat as lacking in understanding of how the financial system works. They're saying we should stop calling this a bailout plan and call it a credit flow rescue plan. Excuse me, but a plan that bails out, er ... rescues, some banks at the expense of others, at the discretion of the Treasury Secretary can't be impartially called anything but a "buddy bailout" plan. A plan that bails out, er ... rescues, some banks while leaving the taxpayer holding a bunch of "underwater" investments that will never regain their value is a "buddy bailout" plan.<br /><br />Let the recovery begin now! Vote this sucker down. The result will be the same, it will just take longer if this thing is allowed to pass.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-45873832467109586072008-09-04T08:45:00.000-07:002008-09-04T11:36:34.129-07:00SKS trigger jobBit the bullet. Took the trigger group of my Yugo SKS apart to<br /><ol><li>figure out how the thing works</li><li>reduce weight</li><li>eliminate crunchiness.</li></ol>Yesterday, I was successful in all three endeavors. What a goofy design. The sear rides on a pair of rails and is pushed by a bar, horizontally, levering off the trigger. The disconnecter pushes this bar vertically, thus allowing/disallowing engagement of the trigger bar with the sear. This design almost cries out for crunchiness because there is so much contact surface between the sear rails and the sear that any particles or non-smoothness will be amplified by the full weight of the hammer spring bearing down on the sear pushing it into the rails.<br /><br />Nevertheless, smoothing/stoning out the top surface of the rails and the sear/hammer engagement surfaces did wonders for the crunchiness and shortening the sear spring and the hammer spring by one loop reduced the weight of the trigger quite nicely. The pull is still long, but is now uniform and smooth. I can imagine that the length of pull could be reduced by taking some material off the hammer edge that engages with the sear -- another day perhaps.<br /><br />I was *quite* surprised at the outcome. The before and after difference is noticeable.<br /><br />Let's do a step-by-step tour.<br /><br />After removing the trigger group from the rifle, locate the latch stop pin near the front of the trigger group. This pin also serves as a group retention pin, sliding into recesses in the receiver to hold the trigger group in place. This pin must be driven out. One can start it out with a few taps of a brass hammer and then complete the driving out with an appropriately sized punch.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMADlZh5JVI/AAAAAAAAAZw/irjXanN_vd0/s1600-h/P9020815.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMADlZh5JVI/AAAAAAAAAZw/irjXanN_vd0/s400/P9020815.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242193907302344018" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Once the latch stop pin has been removed, the latch stop, the sear spring and the sear can be removed by sliding them out the front of the trigger group housing on the rails they ride on.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAEhbXBizI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/a0rL0lfASMk/s1600-h/P9020818.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAEhbXBizI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/a0rL0lfASMk/s400/P9020818.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242194938585778994" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Next, we need to remove the hammer from the trigger housing. Fortunately, this can be done without disassembling the rest of the trigger group. Merely, hold the hammer in a vice so that you can push the trigger group down against the weight of the hammer spring. The hammer must be in the decocked position before an attempt is made to remove it. The hammer hinges in two recesses, one on either side of the housing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAHdUT7fCI/AAAAAAAAAaI/MLqbqMwQlLk/s1600-h/P9020820.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAHdUT7fCI/AAAAAAAAAaI/MLqbqMwQlLk/s400/P9020820.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242198166509157410" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Once the hammer is pushed past these recesses, it can be removed.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAHrrE03PI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/8NHIAcldhYM/s1600-h/P9020821.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAHrrE03PI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/8NHIAcldhYM/s400/P9020821.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242198413137992946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We can now see the rails on which the sear rides.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAGf_F3T6I/AAAAAAAAAaA/vpHWlX510qw/s1600-h/P9020817_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAGf_F3T6I/AAAAAAAAAaA/vpHWlX510qw/s400/P9020817_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242197112840998818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Since the sear is pushed down against the top portion of these two rails by the full weight of the hammer spring, the top portion of the rails must be polished to remove any burs and non-uniformities. We do this with a ceramic stone.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIJmhanjI/AAAAAAAAAaY/JMBD6nkEypE/s1600-h/P9020822.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIJmhanjI/AAAAAAAAAaY/JMBD6nkEypE/s400/P9020822.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242198927311806002" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Next we polish (again with a ceramic stone) the two engagements surfaces between the sear and hammer. Here's a view of the engagement surface on the sear.<br /><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIc3yQ7PI/AAAAAAAAAag/bS9cu1t7uJA/s1600-h/P9020823.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIc3yQ7PI/AAAAAAAAAag/bS9cu1t7uJA/s400/P9020823.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242199258363391218" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And here's a side view of the two engagement surfaces.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIyNwFWFI/AAAAAAAAAao/gpJAV_c4QnQ/s1600-h/P9020824.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAIyNwFWFI/AAAAAAAAAao/gpJAV_c4QnQ/s400/P9020824.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242199625037076562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Like with the stoning of any sear engagement surface, care must be taken to not introduce high spots by stoning the left and right sides non-uniformly. Don't remove any more material than is necessary to achieve a mirror smooth surface. The leading edge of the hammer surface can be rounded a little to spread the weight of the hammer weight over a larger radius.<br /><br />Finally, I cut one loop off both the hammer and sear springs with a pair of wire snips.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAJujMW_pI/AAAAAAAAAaw/ZQDajZW1-2U/s1600-h/P9020825.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAJujMW_pI/AAAAAAAAAaw/ZQDajZW1-2U/s400/P9020825.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242200661584969362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>The edges should be ground flat against the coils of the springs.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAJ_lQvnGI/AAAAAAAAAa4/6fve6vePU6M/s1600-h/P9020827.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SMAJ_lQvnGI/AAAAAAAAAa4/6fve6vePU6M/s400/P9020827.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242200954198006882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Reassemble and give it a go. I will be taking this SKS to the range this weekend to test whether the smoother trigger affects accuracy.<br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-91502218470844606702008-08-24T18:14:00.000-07:002008-08-25T14:44:16.748-07:00Knife pornWhen I was in Texas in May, I visited “Burton’s Blades” in Rocksprings. He had on display a bunch of Anza Knives. These knives are built from “raw” carbon steel files, rough cut, ground, heat treated and honed. Elk horn or Maple grips are added. The effect is beautiful.<br /><br /><p>I bought two small knives from Burton’s Blades while in TX. Upon returning, I looked up <a href="http://www.anzaknives.com/">Anza Knives</a> and discovered that the builder is in my own home state. Naturally, I bought two more, bigger knives.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here they all are for your viewing pleasure.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>First the two small ones.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJgH3tU0I/AAAAAAAAAY0/P-LOtvZ_bWQ/s1600-h/p1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJgH3tU0I/AAAAAAAAAY0/P-LOtvZ_bWQ/s200/p1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238259764058477378" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJsONaiiI/AAAAAAAAAY8/-Vw2BkDwL34/s1600-h/p2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJsONaiiI/AAAAAAAAAY8/-Vw2BkDwL34/s200/p2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238259971918563874" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">and the two larger ones.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJ9e17poI/AAAAAAAAAZE/ZioYnRsd3-w/s1600-h/p3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIJ9e17poI/AAAAAAAAAZE/ZioYnRsd3-w/s200/p3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238260268441249410" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIKF2Le0CI/AAAAAAAAAZM/R_0x1OkrDpo/s1600-h/p4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIKF2Le0CI/AAAAAAAAAZM/R_0x1OkrDpo/s200/p4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238260412144603170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And here's a picture of all of them together.<br /><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIKW8lzxbI/AAAAAAAAAZU/Hy4g9BCil3A/s1600-h/p5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SLIKW8lzxbI/AAAAAAAAAZU/Hy4g9BCil3A/s200/p5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238260705923417522" border="0" /></a></div>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-42324856400429138122008-08-12T17:12:00.000-07:002008-08-20T17:44:38.357-07:00The hitchhiker's guide to Douglas AdamsJust finished reading [the first three books of] Douglas Adams' "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy/dp/0345453743/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219244245&sr=8-2">The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</a>". This is a compendium volume of five of his best known novels. I'd been immersed in the culture of Adams since college. "42", the ultimate answer, "Don't Panic" and "Mostly Harmless" were well known phrases in my lexicon, but I'd never read any of Adams' actual works.<br /><br />Reading Adam's works is somewhat like reading the script to a Monty Python sketch. Characters may be brutal, but decorum must be maintained. Tea is a priority even if your ship is being destroyed. And like Monty Python sketches, not all story lines are necessarily tied together because that isn't necessarily the intention when the goal is highlighting the absurdness of certain human activities.<br /><br />The five books should be read in sequence as they are sequels of each other and cannot be made sense of if one hasn't read the predecessors.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="">The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style=""><br /><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Many millions of years ago a race of hyperintelligent, pandimensional beings (whose physical manifestation our universe is that of white mice) got so fed up with the constant bickering about the meaning of life, that they built a huge, powerful computer, Deep Thought, to solve their problem once and for all. This gigantic computer was tasked with coming up with “The Answer”, the answer to “Life, the Universe, and Everything”. It would take Deep Thought seven and a half million years to come up with the answer. When it finally spoke, its answer was “42”. This, it claimed, was the answer to the “Ultimate Question” of “Life, the Universe, and Everything”. But when asked what the ultimate question was, Deep Thought said that it did not know, that it would fall upon the one that came after to calculate it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">So, this race of hyperintelligent, pandimensional beings contracted with some Magrathean engineers and scientists to build a more powerful computer, “Deep Thought II”, to calculate the “Ultimate question” to the “Ultimate Answer” to “Life, the Universe and Everything”. This computer was Earth. However, just before Deep Thought II was to speak the answer to the ultimate question, it was destroyed by a Vogon constructor fleet because it was in the way of a hyperspatial expressway.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The only survivors were:</p> <ol><li>Tricia McMillan (aka Trillian) – who was now a guest of ex-president of the universe Zaphod Beeblebrox aboard his ship the “Heart of Gold”, which was powered by the Infinite Improbability drive.</li><li>Ford Prefect – a denizen of a planet six hundred light-years away in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. He’d been stranded on earth for the past fifteen years while research entries for the <i style="">Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</i>.</li><li>Arthur Dent – a denizen of Earth who was befriended by Ford Prefect and thus whisked off the planet just before it was destroyed, ironically just after his own house was destroyed by a village bulldozer making way for a highway bypass.<br /></li><li>Two white mice – these two were, nominally, Trillian’s pets but were in fact members of the race of hyperintelligent, pandimensional beings on Earth to observe the progress of Deep Thought II.</li></ol> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent ended up hitching a ride on a Vogon ship just before Earth was destroyed, but because the Vogons weren’t exactly a sociable race they were flung out of an airlock into space. Fortunately they were picked up, just in time, by Zaphod Beeblebrox. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The mice, seeing their investment destroyed figured that since Arthur Dent was a product of Deep Though II (aka Earth) his brain would contain hints to what the ultimate question was. Consequently, they wanted to remove and examine Arthur Dent’s brain. Naturally, Arthur was somewhat resistant to this. Escaping aboard Zaphod’s ship, the group went to seek a place to grab a bite, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b style="">The Restaurant at the End of the Universe</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe gets its name from being balanced in time just on the edge of the event when the universe comes to an end, drifting back and forth across this event horizon; quite a fireworks show, guaranteed to entertain diners.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, the Vogons, not liking leaving a job unfinished, trying to finish off the destruction of earth and all its inhabitants, attacked The Heart of Gold. It appears, however, that the reason for the destruction of earth had more sinister roots. Gag Halfrunt, figuring that discovery of the question to the answer to the ultimate question would put his psychiatric business to an end, paid the Vogons to destroy earth and all its inhabitants.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After escaping the Vogon attack on his ship, Zaphod figured that consulting with the real ruler of the universe, Zarniwoop, would provide them with a hint as to the question to the ultimate answer. Marvin, the paranoid android claimed he could see the question in Arthur brainwaves but refused to say what it was. Zarniwoop turned out to be quite a disappointment. He didn’t believe in much, except his dog for example.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After escaping from Disaster Area’s (the loudest band in the universe) stunt ship, which was diving into the sun as part of Hotblack Desiato (Disaster Area’s front man) opening act, Arthur and Ford Prefect end up on earth of two million years before it was destroyed. They come into contact with two groups of people; the primitive ape men who Arthur had previous assumed (Dr. Darwin call your office) he was descended from and a group of Golgafrincham’s whose ship had crashed on earth. They were the vanguard of the evacuation of their planet which, at least as far as they were told, was doomed. In fact, they were the useless third (hairdressers, TV producers, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, public relations executives management consultants, lawyers and telephone sanitizers) rejected by the actual doers (the leaders and the makers) who stayed home<span style=""> </span>and lived full, rich and happy lives until they were suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone. When the “apemen” came into contact with the Golgafrinchams, and witnessed their “fire making committee” in action, became so depressed and desperate that they died out. Hence, Arthur realized, he and the rest of the erstwhile Earth's population was descended from the useless one third of the race of Golgafrincham.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Later, still in search of the question to the ultimate answer, Ford Prefect postulates that since Arthur is a product of Deep Thought II and “The Question” is imprinted in his brain patterns, that perhaps he can coax the answer out of Arthur (without removing his brain like the mice wanted to do) by having him draw Scrabble tiles out of a bag; the resulting sentence construct would be “The Question”. Arthur agrees and proceeds to draw tiles.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="PT-BR">W-H-A-T-D-O-Y-O-U-G-E-T-I-F-Y-O-U-M-U-L-T-I-P-L-Y-S-I-X-B-Y-N-I-N-E <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">[Read that carefully and realize that the ultimate answer to Life, the Universe and Everything was 42.]</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Ford Prefect's Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic hasn't picked up a signal for years, so he and Arthur are well and truly stuck on earth of two million years ago. But Arthur may be finally discovering the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything. While talking with Mella and Agda, two of the surviving Golgafrinchams, about what happened (or will happen in two million years) to Earth, and not making much sense, Arthur stops worrying and throws his copy of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" into the river.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Life, The Universe and Everything<br /></span><br />On prehistoric Earth, one fine day, Arthur Dent is spectacularly insulted ("You're a jerk, a complete kneebiter") by Wowbagger. Wowbagger is immortal and doesn't instinctively know how to deal with his status, because he wasn't born with it but rather had is thrust upon him due to an unfortunate accident involving an irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch and a pair of rubber bands. His purpose, he determined, would be to insult the Universe and he would do it in alphabetical order. His next stop would be Arthur Philip Deodat.<br /><br />That same day, Arthur and Ford Prefect spot a red couch moving across the landscape. Ford understands its significance (it's a time portal) and they both chase it down and jump on it ... emerging in the middle of the pitch at Lord's Cricket Ground, St. John's Wood, London, toward the end of the last Test Match of the Australian series in the year 198-, with England only needing twenty-eight runs to win.<br /><br />When they arrive, you meet up with Slartibartfast (remember him? He won an award for designing Earth's Fjords). His ship, disguised as an Italian bistro, was parked just behind the bleachers. Ford Prefect points out an S.E.P. (Someone Else's Problem) just as an alien ship lands disgorging white robots who proceed to kill everyone in sight and leave after taking the Cricket trophy.<br /><br />Slartibartfast urgently ushers Ford and Arthur to his ship which is powered by a "Bistromathic Drive". Dissimilar to the "Infinite Improbability" drive that powers Zaphod's "Heart of Gold", Bistromathics is a revolutionary new way of understanding the behavior of numbers ... in a restaurant. It operates on three non-absolute numbers, the first of which is the number of people for whom a table is reserved. It varies during the course of the first three phone calls to the restaurant and will finally bear no resemblance to the number of people who actually show up.<br /><br />Inside the ship, Slartibastfast explains to Ford and Arthur what just happened, and what they must do. The white robots were foot soldiers of the planet Krikkit, a small planet surrounded by a huge dust cloud. The people of Krikkit were peaceloving people who, because the dust cloud obscured their view of the sky, believed they were completely alone in the universe. When a derelict spaceliner, the starship "Titanic" built as one of the first experimental ships to be powered by a prototype of the Infinite Improbability drive , crashed onto Krikkit, the people of Krikkit realized that they were not alone. They built a ship which took them beyond the Dust Cloud, into the starry, inky blackness of the infinite universe beyond. Upon seeing this infinite universe, the people of Krikkit decided that "It will have to go!". Overnight the whole population of Krikkit was transformed from being charming, delightful, intelligent, whimsical ordinary people, into charming, delightful, intelligent, whimsical manic xenophobes. The succeeding destruction, Slartibartfast told Ford and Arthur, was long and violent and came to be known as the Krikkit Wars.<br /><br />The wars were finally won, and the people of Krikkit contained, when His High Judgmental Supremacy, Judiciary Pag, L.I.V.R. (the Learned, Impartial and Very Relaxed), Chairman of the Board of Judges at the Krikkit War Crimes Trials sentences them to be encased for perpetuity in a "slo-time" envelope, shut and closed by a lock placed on an asteroid slowly orbiting the envelope. The key was the symbol of the peaceful Galaxy (peaceful after the Krikkit Wars), the Wikkit Gate. The "slo-time" envelope would deflect all light and escape from it was impossible. It was intended to slow down the progress of time on Krikkit, thus rendering the people of Krikkit harmless until the end of the universe, when they would reemerge and continue on, alone.<br /><br />The key consists of three vertical pillars, connected at the top by two bails. The pieces were scattered.<br /><br />When the envelope was put into place, a missing Krikkit warship, presumed destroyed but actually only missing, remained outside the envelope. The Krikkiters aboard this ship zoomed around the galaxy retrieving the five pieces of the key.<br /><br /><ol><li>The Steel Pillar -- one of Marvin the paranoid Android's legs,</li><li>The Plastic Pillar -- the royal scepter of some or other (I forgot the name) minor deity,</li><li>The Wooden Pillar -- the reconstituted ashes of a cricket stump burnt in Melborne, Australia, in 1882, to signify the death of English Cricket,</li><li>The Silver Bail -- part of A Rory, a small silver thing set on a large black base, the award for The Most Gratuitous use of the word Belgium in a Serious Screenplay.</li><li>The Golden Bail -- the heart of The Infinite Improbability Drive aboard Zaphod's ship, The Heart of Gold.</li></ol>Slartibartfast explained that they must proceed to Krikkit and prevent the opening of the lock and stop the Krikkiters from activating the ultimate weapon that would destroy the universe.<br /><br />After reconstituting the key and unlocking the slo-time envelope, the Krikketer's proceeded with their plan to destroy the universe. They'd invented (or thought they had) a small bomb that was actually a junction box in hyperspace that when activated would connect the heart of every major sun, thus turning the entire universe into a hyperstatial supernova.<br /><br />However, with Trillian's shoulder to cry on, they apparently had a change of faith with regards to the whole universe destruction thing.<br /><br />Trillian told them a story. Hactar, a supercomputer, was contracted by the super violent race Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax to built the ultimate weapon: a junction box in hyperspace that when activated would connect the heart of every major sun, thus turning the entire universe into a hyperstatial supernova. Hactar designed in a flaw hoping that, upon sober reflection, no one would use the bomb. The Silastic Armorfiends disagreed and pulverized the computer. Hactar was build like a brain; each and every cellular particle carried the pattern of the whole. Hactar ended up as the impenetrable dust cloud around the planet Krikket. He felt bad about not fulfilling his function by introducing the flaw in the ultimate weapon he built for the Silastic Armorfiends and nurtured the Krikketers in their xenophobic binge of destruction, thus allowing Hactar to fulfill his function by proxy. And now his plans were foiled again.<br /><br />Arthur returned to Earth, to bring back the ashes of the burned cricket stump. Standing on the pitch at Lord's Cricket Ground, he found a small red ball in his bag and had an urge to bowl it at a White Robot that miraculously appear in front of the wicket. [The little red ball was another bomb planted there by Hactar while he and Trillian were in the dust cloud over Krikkit] While bowling, he was distracted and discovered that he could fly if he forgot to hit the ground while falling. The bomb, which would have been activated had the White Krikkit Robot hit it with his club, sailed harmlessly off into space.<br /><br />Arthur, having saved the universe twice in one day and seeking a quiet place was dropped off on Krikkit, which had by then returned to being an idyllic place, where he pursued his desire to learn how to fly more effectively and to talk with the birds. To his astonishment he realized that most of what birds talk about was exceedingly boring, having to do with wingspans, weight-to-power ratios, etc. He "settled" for living on the ground.<br /><br />The game of Cricket, on Earth, is a echo of the memory of the Krikkit wars, a White Robot hitting a little red ball being one of the most heinous images to the rest of the galaxy. One has to wonder what Douglas Adams thought of the game of Cricket. :-)Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-51586475591048429252008-08-11T13:58:00.000-07:002008-08-11T14:54:44.516-07:00Learned a new word today.The word is <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">canardly</span>. The word's normal usage can be explained by the following, hypothetical, exchange.<br /><br />Person 1: "That your dog?"<br />Person 2: "Yeah, that's my canardly."<br />Person 1: "Canardly? What kind is it?"<br />Person 2: "I don't know. It's so mixed up, I can hardly tell."<br /><br />Apparently, the wild canardly (cunardly) has <a href="http://www.porkyfarm.com/cunardly.asp">discovered in Antarctica</a>. :-)<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-Heathens-Spirits-During-Depression/dp/0553384244/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218488672&sr=8-1">Mildred Armstrong Kalish</a> for introducing me to the word.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-79200581216636460912008-08-04T10:07:00.000-07:002008-08-04T10:37:59.146-07:00Justifying violenceSeems the chicken-shit, yellow-bellied, cowardly <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10091249?nclick_check=1">ALF members are at it again</a>. Over the weekend, they firebombed a UCSC professor's house, while he and his children were inside, and another professor's car.<br /><br />It's the same story. He's "cutting up animals" in his lab. Dipshits! He's doing primary research into cell growth and development. You know? Research that is directly applicable to cancer prevention?<br /><br />And to make matters worse, their chicken-shit spokesman had this to say:<br /><br /><blockquote>Spokesman Dr. Jerry Vlasak showed no remorse for the family or children whose home was targeted. [...] Vlasak said often the people responsible for these types of acts notify his group eventually. “We certainly understand where these people are coming from,” he said. ”<b>We understand their frustration. We understand why they are doing that sort of thing</b>.”</blockquote><br />Really? So if I’m frustrated I’m justified to use violence? Let’s see, I’m frustrated at all the bums and pan-handlers on the mall in Santa Cruz, and wish the police would cart them off to San Francisco. Am I justified to firebomb them? I’m frustrated with the friggin’ tree huggers and bark munchers up in the trees near the science buildings at UCSC. Can I start shooting them down out of frustration?<br /><br />And <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/MNMI124HSI.DTL">here</a> he's quoted as saying:<br /><br /><span id="bodytext" class="georgia md"><blockquote>Vlasak said the bombers likely were not trying to hurt Feldheim, but were instead "trying to send a message to this guy, who won't listen to reason, that if he doesn't stop hurting animals, more drastic measures will be taken ... it's certainly not an initial tactic, but a tactic of last resort."</blockquote></span><br />Really? Good thing the Santa Cruz police aren't treating this as a "harmless message", but are treating this as attempted homicide. Sorry folks, someone attempts to throw a Molotov cocktail at my house and I shoot them dead, no jury would convict me.<br /><br />Dr. Feldheim writes:<br /><br /><blockquote>I would like to see the citizens of Santa Cruz and our elected officials (including the mayor) step up and condemn this kind of violence.</blockquote><br />Dr. Feldheim. I am EXTREMELY, Red-Curtain-Of-Blood (tm), angry about what happened to you. If it was up to me, I’d be rounding up all ALF members and especially that Vlasak ass, but to expect the citizens of Santa Cruz, who by and large have their heads up their collective asses and have a deficit of logical thinking ability, to come to your defense .... well, don’t hold your breath.<br /><br />But, on the bright side, the good doctor now has all the justification, even for Santa Cruz, to apply for a carry permit and to start carrying. But to be fair, I know a few Santa Cruz cops ... and they feel just as frustrated by being hamstrung by the socialist city council as I am. And not all Santa Cruz residents are left-leaning, pantywaists.<br /><br />COME ON SANTA CRUZ. If you condone this behavior, you are no better than those who harbor, aid and abet homicidal criminals.Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-36510536298721051062008-07-11T10:48:00.000-07:002008-08-21T07:53:18.840-07:00Don't use guns for self-defense .... you could get hurt.<p> <a href="http://www.fredoneverything.net/Smith.shtml">Fred</a> had me giggling, as usual. The money quote:<br /></p><p><br /></p><blockquote>What is true of intruders is that they don’t want a firefight. When you rack a round into the chamber of a semi-auto, the sound is unmistakable and means only one thing: <b>Someone is preparing to fire.</b> You have to want a television very badly to go against someone who audibly is planning to kill you and audibly has the means.</blockquote><p></p> <blockquote><p></p></blockquote>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1829599904844239522.post-28601765998153873232008-06-23T10:51:00.000-07:002008-08-21T08:07:51.856-07:00Harbor Freight can be so sexy<p> So there I was leafing through the recent Harbor Freight catalog. The page was turned to <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42947">this </a>item.</p><p><br /></p> <p> My wife leans over, looks at the page, and says: “I didn’t know they make those things out of concrete”.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SKxcwGb_wUI/AAAAAAAAAXg/kK2ZYJ-M0O4/s1600-h/42947.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sx-g35OksQc/SKxcwGb_wUI/AAAAAAAAAXg/kK2ZYJ-M0O4/s200/42947.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236662448156557634" border="0" /></a></p><p>You sexy thing you. ;-)<br /></p>Felix Estrellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05437830578931891297noreply@blogger.com0