06:48 – When I was making up solutions for forensic kits yesterday, one of them required concentrated sulfuric acid, 160 mL of it. I always weigh sulfuric acid rather than measure it volumetrically, so instead of putting 160 mL into a graduated cylinder, I put 294.4 grams of it into a tared beaker.
As I was doing that, it struck me that my failing memory is something I need to take into account. I of course remembered that the density of the acid was 1.84 grams per mL. I’ve known that since I was about 12 years old, along with the densities, freezing points, and other key physical characteristics of hundreds of chemicals. Maybe thousands. At any rate, of any chemical I’d ever looked up even once. I should say, I “knew”, since those tens of thousands of factoids that used to reside in my memory have apparently taken the last train for the coast.
Yes, it’s easy enough to look up the density of sulfuric acid on Wikipedia, but what if Wikipedia is no longer accessible? In this case, it wouldn’t have been a problem, because I have a copy of the CRC handbook on the shelves downstairs. But what about all the stuff I used to know from memory I no longer remember? I need printed copies of that type of information. Either that, or a hypnotist who’s good at recovering lost memories.
Wikipedia can be bulk downloaded. That assumes you have working computers and electricity, of course, but it’s useful in case of infrastructure disruption.
Paper copy, of course. In addition to CRC reference books, I have a 1980s version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, dictionaries, “How Stuff Works”, textbooks and reference books, and lots of fiction. Most of this hasn’t left the boxes in my office closet since we moved into this house, but they’re not hurting anything and they’re just fine as a last-ditch knowledge repository.
Yep. We have a very practical paper library, including an 80’s EB and a bunch of science, engineering, and 19th/early 20th century references/compendia. Also the Foxfire series, bunches of books on food preservation, gardening, etc.
Rats!
I just tried to order some gas cans from amazon.ca to avoid the nasty EPA/CARB-compliant US models. No dice. Amazon won’t ship them to US addresses.
A phrase from my youth: A dull pencil is always better than a sharp memory.
Amazon won’t ship them to US addresses.
Road trip.
Yes, but that didn’t used to be true for me. Up until I was 30 or 35, I had a nearly photographic memory. Until around my early 20’s, I had a true eidetic memory, as in I could remember completely everything I saw or read. It worked even when I wasn’t consciously trying to memorize things. I could walk down a city street along a row of parked cars and then recite their license plate numbers, even if I hadn’t been paying attention, because I could recall their images.
So I never learned the habits that normal people use to remember things. Hell, at the time I didn’t really realize that my memory *wasn’t* normal. I never took notes in class all the way through grad school. I just remembered everything significant. I never kept an address book, because I never forgot an address or phone number. Ever. Until I did start forgetting them, when I was in my mid-thirties. Actually, I’m not sure that I so much forgot the data as that I lost almost all of the index that allowed me to retrieve the data. For example, I still remember the phone number of Connie Stewart, a girl I called once when I was in sixth grade. (654-0263) But there are literally thousands of phone numbers and addresses that I used to remember that I can no longer retrieve.
I just tried to order some gas cans from amazon.ca to avoid the nasty EPA/CARB-compliant US models. No dice. Amazon won’t ship them to US addresses.
Around here non EPA/CARB cans can occasionally be found on Craigslist. If you think the EPA/CARB ones are nasty for your purposes, try using one to transfer diesel from a can on a sailboat in the ocean in rough seas.
Rick in Portland
Just another stupid, counter-productive regulation that at least several people should be strung up for.
I may do some testing to find out how PET 2-liter bottles stand up long-term to gasoline.
Just another stupid, counter-productive regulation that at least several people should be strung up for.
The gas cans are a minor pain compared to what’s coming. The 2025 54 MPG CAFE standards will probably end private car ownership. Of course if that is their intent …
I may do some testing to find out how PET 2-liter bottles stand up long-term to gasoline.
Find a place that sells the gas without ethanol. I’ve been through three valve cover gaskets on my 2001 Toyota in the last six years, and I have no doubt about the root cause.
Things may well go completely to hell before 2025.
Actually, I’m halfway hoping things go to hell sooner rather than later. The longer it takes for the collapse to occur, the worse it’s going to be post-collapse. And I’m getting older and less capable of dealing with it, at a rate of one year per year.
If I thought a collapse could be avoided, I’d be in favor of doing whatever is necessary to avoid it. I don’t want to see millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions die, and I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of world. But I think it’s inevitable, and the more the federal government does to stave it off, the more they’re gutting the resources that would be needed to recover from it.
We recovered from the Great Depression because the majority of people then were much less dependent on government programs than people are now. Most food was grown locally then, and most manufactured goods were made in factories that were widely distributed. Electric power was largely locally produced, and we didn’t have a vulnerable national grid that was under constant attack. Pandemics were a much smaller threat in the days before air travel would allow them to spread worldwide in only a few days.
I think most preppers understand that being prepared does not guarantee they’ll survive a catastrophic emergency. All preparing does is increase one’s chances of doing so. And just increasing the probability of a better outcome for myself, family, friends, neighbors, and community is enough to motivate me to prepare.
With regard to ethanol-free gasoline, one of my preps is having what’s needed to ferment n-butanol with ABE bacteria. n-butanol is a drop-in replacement for gasoline. Unfortunately, it boils higher than water does, which means the only way to recover it is to boil off the water. That takes a lot of time and a lot of (wood?) fuel, but being able to produce even relatively small amounts of gasoline-equivalent may be priceless. n-butanol can also be mixed with about a quart of motor oil or even vegetable oil to five gallons of n-butanol and run in a diesel engine.
I don’t really think I’ll ever need to do this, but the time, effort, and cost involved in knowing how to do it and having what’s necessary to do it is worth it to me.
My memory wasn’t quite as good as you report, but when I read something with intent to keep it, it was in my head for good. Alas, my memory fizzled in my late teens. You know, college years, engineering school, when it would have been useful. Instead, I had to learn to study, while carrying 19+ credits, while putting myself through school. It was a challenge. Most likely the constant exhaustion and stimulant abuse made the memory problems worse, but that wasn’t easy to see while I was in the middle of it.
There’s only one thing to do: blame racism and a legacy of colonial abuses, march in protest, and demand reparations nigh unto the thousandth generation.
Oh, wait. You’re not a member of one of the special classes. Oh, well, you’re screwed.
Poorly, though as Greg suggests it might have been the alcohol that did them in. Or manufacturing flaws, or other additives, or …
ADDENDUM: Now that I think about it, I think it was the caps that gave way, not the bottles themselves. Don’t remember clearly (ref above) and it’s been decades.
Agreed. Not only will the collapse be worse, but the younger generation is overall less capable than the older.
(On the plus side, if half of the under-40 population dies off because they can’t handle a world where a cell phone and a credit card take care of all problems, well, no big loss.)
It’s looking to me like the next few months, into deep winter, look potentially dicey. Besides the “election” mess that could end up being a complete circus unlike anything in our previous history, we have the major holidays. Those would seem to be ideal for terrorist activity in the putatively Christian West and this country in particular. Believe it or not, the musloids think we’re all active Christians, and like it or not, this has been a British Protestant country since the very beginning. So between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I plan to avoid any crowds, events, cities, or meatspace shopping frenzies. And winter here is problematic anyway; we have to be ready for long periods of snow, ice, bitter cold and wind, and possible power outages. Such weather generally, however, keeps the goblins off the streets.
And I expect that the general situation will deteriorate further anyway over the next six months, regardless of which psychopath becomes National Administrator.
Like RBT, I’m not enthusiastic about having to deal with all this shit at our ages, and it’s not gonna get any easier. For inspiration, however, we have our elders and ancestors, many of whom also faced tough circumstances, often worse than ours (so far) and survived.
We had some overnight rain the other night but today is once again sunny with blue skies and in the low 60s; leaves turning orange and red faster. Our peak foliage time is usually in early October so we should start seeing the tour buses again and lotsa outta-state plates.
I gotta get cracking on the rest of the firewood racks and stacking of wood but my back has been worse than ever this past week, and I have all I can do to get up and down the stairs. I really hope the VA med appointments coming up in the next two weeks can do something permanent about this. Sucks being old AND semi-crippled. Because otherwise it’s the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak thing going on right now. Frustrating!
On the plus side, if half of the under-40 population dies off
What about all the hot chicks? Can they get a bye?
Just finished listening to Jeff Wayne’s “War of the Worlds” on the Echo. I love that album.
Yeah. Avoid shopping malls from now on, too. Buy yer chit online or in your local downtown, assuming that “protesters” haven’t taken it over while the cops set up a perimeter around it and just watch.
http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2016/09/23/authorities-4-dead-in-shooting-at-cascade-mall/
Described as a “Hispanic” male. Which appearance could also fit another group known to be occasionally hostile and violent. But I love how the “authorities” try their damndest to automatically rule out terrorism immediately.
@ofd, I don’t think I mentioned it before, but one thing I found very helpful in this last round of lower back pain, putting my back and legs in traction.
I lay on the couch, with my legs hanging over the arm at the knee. A bit of squirming or judicious placement, and the weight of my lower legs levers around the arm of the couch and puts a gentle stretch on my lower back.
That coupled with chiropractic (which you haven’t mentioned) did the trick.
Some people think chiropractic is up there with homeopathic for it’s ‘whoo whoo’ uselessness. I’ve had good experiences with good Drs. who have really helped when things were out of whack.
nick
I’ve been through three valve cover gaskets on my 2001 Toyota in the last six years
If you think fuel is causing the valve cover gasket problems then you have some serious problems in your vehicle. There should be no gas in the valve covers, only oil. Usually ethanol causes problems with gaskets in the fuel system if the gaskets are not designed for ethanol. A 2001 vehicle will handle ethanol just fine.
I had a 2001 Camry, great car. I bought it with 23K miles, drove until I had 175K on the vehicle, sold to a friend who kept it until it had 250K. No issues other than maintenance stuff, water pump, brakes, timing belt. Did lose low speed on the A/C blower. A resistor pack had gone bad and was an easy fix.
The starter quit on me one day. Went to get a replacement starter from the dealer. Dealer said before they sold me a starter they would sell me some solenoid contact points. If that did not fix it they would give me credit for the points on the replacement starter. I had nothing to lose. Removed the starter, disassembled the solenoid and put it all back together. Problem solved. $12.00 verses $240.00. Nice of the dealer parts guy to tell me about the probable cause.
Well, I’m feeling better but not 100% this morning.
I had chills and shivering last night, so it might have been more than just food poisoning. Although, I have a real good idea what food poisoning feels like. I’m gonna take it easy today, no attic work, no sales.
Gah, I’m breaking out in sweat. Maybe it WAS food poisoning. The only thing in common from yesterday to today was the coffee. I’ve never heard of coffee going bad, but I guess it could have been contaminated at the factory.
Shit.
n
If you’re doing well enough after SHTF to afford luxury goods, then sure.
“Some people think chiropractic is up there with homeopathic…”
Years ago I tried several chiropractors and got about 50-50 results with them; the first guy helped a lot, inside of about a minute in his office. But I left another guy dragging my leg across the parking lot and it felt like it was on fire.
I’ll try the couch trick; when it was excruciating several weeks ago I had to sleep downstairs in the recliner chair with my right leg crossed over my left, having popped half a dozen OTC pain pills. I managed to get some sleep but woke up with a sore right leg/knee from being in that position for eight hours, but at least most of the back pain was alleviated.
I’m OK sitting down or driving in the car; on my feet it gets old real fast. And sleeping has been problematic this week; the old pillow between the knees trick doesn’t work as well anymore.
Damn. I never thought I’d get old and be whining about my aches and pains and medical bullshit. WTF happened???
x-posted w/Mr. nick; hope that clears up for ya today; looks like you and me ain’t doing shit today.
Well, at this point, depending on who makes it here, my nascent group is about 2/3 women.
Some people think chiropractic is up there with homeopathic…
Before I retired from the Army, using chiropractic for back pain was allowed, but only that. No curing of sinus problems, etc.
I believe the mobility/stretching routine I do with P90X3 has kept me away from serious pain/injury. But maybe I’m just lucky. I’ll probably be Mr. Nick’s hospital roomie by tomorrow.
Gotta prep more so I can afford “luxury” goods. It’s that or leathery, crusty, dusty Zombie Strippers.
Chiropractic – just a good massage without the happy ending.
RBT wrote:
“I still remember the phone number of Connie Stewart, a girl I called once when I was in sixth grade. (654-0263) But there are literally thousands of phone numbers and addresses that I used to remember that I can no longer retrieve.”
Getting old is hell.
I still remember our home phone number from the Sixties: 537428, and the registration number of dad’s cars in the late Sixties/early Seventies: RRW-416 and 195-214.
But yeah, I’ve forgotten a lot of stuff too, so much so that if my degree certificates fell in to the Torrens I might not be able to re-earn them.
I took MrAtoz’s “hot babes” comment to refer not to “people of varying degrees of usefulness who happen to be women” but to “women who will not be helpful at all but who are physically attractive”. Luxuries, in a word.
my nascent group is about 2/3 women.
Dr. Bob’s got to up his game if he’s gonna reach the Strangelove ratio.
“”If you think fuel is causing the valve cover gasket problems then you have some serious problems in your vehicle. There should be no gas in the valve covers, only oil. “”
+1
I see that UVM (presumably, the University of Ver Mont) is flying a BLM flag. Can these folks not spell even their own state’s name?
“I see that UVM (presumably, the University of Ver Mont) is flying a BLM flag.”
UVM is, despite its name, a private university, and I see that the students interviewed by the local nooz outlet were all “of color,” natch, and 100% favorable nooz piece, of course. I’d guess also that most students are not from around here and come from other shit-hole cities around the country; Burlap itself looks a lot like northern NJ or eastern MA anyway.
This student quote says it all, the level of thought involved, the culture at large now, etc.:
“”I just kind of felt emotionally like this was needed,” said Morel.””
Yup. Passive tense feelings.
This is typical college commie bullshit that no one around here takes seriously. Next week there will probably be an ISIS flag up there, in PLACE of the American one. No one cares, except the one or two disgruntled fanatic WHITEY students who have to be quoted for nooz articles anonymously, of course.
Groovy UV is also long known as a party skool; a lot of the trust fund kidz who go there simply party their asses off for four years at Mommy and Daddy’s expense.
During a real SHTF situation, they’ll all mostly be lost.
WRT Burlington WA mall terrorist:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article103937016.html
There are 3 photos on that page and I am leaning toward a mooslem. Of course the mall is a gun free zone but this turd had no problem walking in with a rifle.
WRT memory: I have used a “paper brain” (pocket notebook) since my Navy Nuke days. I started using a Personal Information Manager (PIM) with the first one made by Borland, the Sidekick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borland_Sidekick). He also made a little credit card sized device that I cannot recall the name of or find at the moment. I also used Palm’s first Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
“I also used Palm’s first Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).”
I had a PSION, and later the ultimate Ericsson-branded version of it. Mr Potter’s masterpiece of a portable keyboard was amazing. It’s too bad nobody makes those any more; that keyboard and a modern smartphone or tablet would be a winning combination.
“”Wikipedia can be bulk downloaded. That assumes you have working computers and electricity, of course, but it’s useful in case of infrastructure disruption.””
Need to work on that… Anybody got shortcuts?
Stick it on a memory card or stick for tablet or phone?
I have an old WikiReader that runs on AAA batteries. Not sure it can still be updated. Might be better than nothing for lots of reference materials.
I had a pair of those along with a cable to connect them. They could sync to each other, either as a backup or so you and your assistant could share schedules. There was also a cable to connect to a PC for backup, but that never worked at least with the hardware and DOS I had.
There was a link right up there, which went to a page with more links and instructions.
A couple people I know have put wikipedia backups on memory sticks and put them in their farraday boxes in the basement. Others burned DVDs, not trusting the stability of flash memory.
For back problems, I recommend the book “Treat Your Own Back”, by McKenzie. As he puts it, you can do a lot more to help your own back than doctors or chiropractors can do for you.
Well, unless the doctor is one of the few who not only believes in stealthy infections but treats them. That can really fix the underlying problem.
By the way, when making post-SHTF copies of information, don’t forget wikibooks and wikiversity. Few of the “projects” are both high quality and complete, but there’s some good stuff on both sites.
A random collection of comments on y’alls comments:
– – – – –
Fading memory definitely sucks, no question. Who knows, those of us with lousy memories may even have some small benefit, since we are used to the problem. Paper, Psions (great for their time!), nowadays everything goes into my online calendar, which also has a set of reminder lists that I use for all sort of things.
Typical for aging, I remember things I learned in high school better than things I learned last week. Strange, how that works.
For reference works, nope, none of those left on paper. We cleaned out our library several months ago, and that included my old CRCs that I hadn’t used in decades. But then, I’m not expecting to be the local biochemistry wizard. Not sure how math and programming fits into the post-apocalyptic world – probably not well…
– – – – –
Perhaps on the subject of the coming collapse: Congress has again been accusing the Russians of trying to mess with the US election.
I can’t see why the Russians would bother. The US has walked into this mess all by itself, over the course of decades. The finger pointing is yet another a failure by the political elite to admit to their own mistakes.
– – – – –
For sciatic pain, I’ve had good luck with the back stretching exercise from the Tibetan rites that JerryP recommends. I’ve been doing it several times per week, as part of a larger exercise routine. Over the course of months something has helped. Hard to say for sure, but that’s what I’d put my finger on.
At this point, I have a lot more left to do/know. I just wish I had more background in chemical engineering rather than just chemistry. Lab scale syntheses seldom translate well to larger scale, so right now my focus is on lab scale, stuff that’s useful 10, 100, or 1,000 grams at a time. Stuff like insulin, ether, nitrous oxide, opiates, several herbal drugs that actually work, a couple of synthetic antibiotics that aren’t too complicated to make, etc.
Maybe the problem is that the Russians aren’t explicitly backing the American Uniparty. Unacceptable!
What you need to do is find a solid, upright, honest meth manufacturer. Here, Diogenes, you can borrow my lantern.
I learned a lot from the NRA Shotgun class. Most notably I can’t hit a small flying orange disk with a shotgun.
“I learned a lot from the NRA Shotgun class. Most notably I can’t hit a small flying orange disk with a shotgun.”
It’s much easier hitting them with pellets than with the shotgun. Guns are harder to throw!
Seriously, though. Don’t be discouraged. Clayshooting is a knack, and has to be both learned and practised.
Mr. Dave; IIRC from reading the online info, you may now be able to take the NRA shotgun instructor class, too.
I believe I probably referred to the ongoing and coming “election” stuff as a “circus.”
Exhibit A:
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/donald-trump-bill-clinton-gennifer-flowers-presidential-debate
I am happy I took the class, even though I correctly estimated my skeet shooting ability. I learned a lot. Most importantly, my dominant hand and my dominant eye are on the opposite sides of my body. Actually I realized that, but I did not understand the significance.
Thing is, now he doesn’t even have to bring her. Just mentioning it will ensure Hateful Hillary is thinking of it at least a little for the next couple days.
I’m thinking a better surprise guest would be the 12-year-old girl who was raped and Bitch Clinton defended the rapist (perfectly acceptable, if distasteful) and then smeared the girl during and after the trial (indefensible, and a prima facie violation of Arkansas’s legal code of ethics now, though maybe it wasn’t 40 years ago). Done right, the bitch would die right there.
“Just mentioning it will ensure Hateful Hillary is thinking of it at least a little for the next couple days.”
Good point. Wrack her nerves a bit. Psy-War. For psychos.
“I’m thinking a better surprise guest would be the 12-year-old girl who was raped…”
Indeed, but make it a surprise (she’s made statements recently but I forget where I saw them.) Killary not only defended the rapist and smeared the victim, she bragged and laughed about it afterward. She’s a real piece of work; she laughed about Quaddafi being sodomized and murdered after he was disarmed and no threat to anyone; she blew off the Benghazi men she left to die, in a failed op probably run by her or her minions, and even telling wannabe rescue troops to stand down.
she blew off the Benghazi men she left to die,
Don’t say “blew off” and Cankles in the same sentence. I just don’t like it.
Aw, poor, squeamish MrAtoz. Next thing you know, he’ll complain about the villainous virago’s rain of bribes being called a golden shower.
“”Most importantly, my dominant hand and my dominant eye are on the opposite sides of my body. Actually I realized that, but I did not understand the significance.””
Same here. Not sure anything can be done about that. Dominant eye also has worse vision…
Anybody got solution(s) for this issue?
Surprise! Surprise! NYT endorses Hillary.
‘The newspaper described Mrs Clinton as “one of the most tenacious politicians of her generation” and said she had displayed a command of policy and diplomatic nuance while building a reputation for grit and bipartisan cooperation.’
Get me a bucket!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-25/new-york-times-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president/7875146
Topic of clay pigeons…
Used to be pretty good against these pesky birds.
Knew a guy who hand-threw them with an erratic and fast sneaky flight that out-flew most mourning doves… though of course the flight path was more like a (turbo) quail.
And on the topic of shooting the bird of peace…
I shot well at a dove shoot (no “hunting” involved). That might be a southern thang…
Part of the deal there is to hang camo burlap on a fence and pop up when birds that flare off the guy in the orange shirt turn your way. I impressed folks, but it was actually pretty easy. Also sky-busted at least one bird because a dove will drop when hit by one pellet, and not fly away horribly wounded like a duck or such.
One #7.5 or even #8 pellet will often knock down a small bird or a rabbit… though of course you might want to twist a neck for a quick relatively humane kill.
Once, at a dove shoot, some yahoo with a 12 with heavy loads shot at low birds directly across from me. I let him do that a time or two, meaning that I just ducked as his shot “sprayed” over me, but I got tired of it, so next low bird I just held my 20 pointed directly at him, and he stifled his spray for the rest of the day.
Set up properly, a dove shoot is relatively safe. Open chokes and relatively light loads and guys spread out pretty well ensure that nothing worse than losing an eye will occur. Shot raining down is not a big deal… Somebody will often holler “low bird” and that’s generally a signal not to get carried away, shooting to endanger.
Dove shoots (and rabbit hunts with or without beagles) are good chances to “practice” for more intense shooting. I think that “training” stays with one pretty well into old age, I hope.
“Get me a bucket!”
Yeah, the NYT, what a shocker, huh? That paper has long since lost whatever relevancy it may have once had as some sort of overall arbiter of professional journalism and news reporting. They’re on the way out anyway, and good riddance, like most dead tree nooz papers. The SHTF future is samizdat; local meatspace stuff, useful to local meatspace people. OFD has that project in mind going forward; Continuous ink printer systems, basically cheap-ass inkjet printers and a couple of refurbished desktops.
I never got into sporting or clay shotgun shooting for some reason; just never had the interest or opportunity. And the handgun and rifle training I had with the military and the cops sucked for the most part; paper silhouette targets on square ranges. One guy tried to kick it up a notch and while doing the inside range stuff he’d cut the lights out on us; that’s as advanced as we ever got. Better training was had over in SEA, a lot of live firing exercises with rifles and machine guns and you learn REAL fast that way.
So as I embark on NRA classes and other training in the next few months and year or two, I consider myself a more or less rank noob with the handguns, especially, but also with the new civvie AR rifles, thus am starting at the bottom. Quite frankly, if I don’t get my back in shape again I’ll only be doing dry-fire practice at home, or the sitting and prone positions at the gun range.
Mrs. OFD is enroute back up here, probably sitting in the United Club lounge for a nice three-hour layover in beeyooteeful Newark, NJ. She’ll get into Burlap airport around 11 or so and stay at her mom’s tonight and then I’ll go get her tomorrow and maybe we’ll do lunch again at our seafood joint.
Monday will be more or less shot for getting anything done around here and Tuesday and Wednesday I should bone up a little for my phone interview late afternoon on Wednesday for the Fed IT drone job. Cisco routing and switching, Microslop server (I never had any problems with their servers; it’s the desktops and other chit I hate), SANs and NAS stuff. I’m not hoping for much with this job attempt; the other possibility is going back to the former IBM plantation and the same ol’ data centers running hundreds of racked RHEL servers. That’ll be like riding a bicycle again after an absence of however many years.
“”I never got into sporting or clay shotgun shooting for some reason; just never had the interest or opportunity. And the handgun and rifle training I had with the military and the cops sucked for the most part; paper silhouette targets on square ranges.””
I think a lot of it is keeping your eye in (even if it’s the wrong one)…
Shoot arrows or marbles with a slingshot… I have a “pump” (as in single slide action) BB gun (450 fps at most) that I shoot cans with (not enough lately), usually freehand like a pistol with one hand. Of course, with BB you can see the projectile, so some cheating is involved (at least on the second shot) but this still keeps you tuned up.
I’ve let this skill slide too much lately.
On the other hand, I hit pretty well with a revolver (one of those painfully loud ones mentioned recently), fast and loose double action, at the range not too long ago. Same day I shot a buddy’s lovely Henry lever .22 with a stupid-overkill scope. I did rather well, even with minimal scope experience (and, again, with the “wrong” eye), partly just knowing when to let the hammer fall between twitches, heartbeats, and breaths.
Not saying I’m a great or even good shot; just sayin’ I have it basically figured out and it’s now all about “opportunity” …
Well looky here….I’d forgotten about ammoseek…
…you want 5.7×28??
http://ammoseek.com/ammo/5.7x28mm
Yo, OFD might gonna look into this caliber some more….
And these continue to look interesting…
https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/masterpiece-arms-defender-57×28-5-barrel-17-rounds-black-784672659758.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=&from=fn
Probably too far off the point, but got opinions on the .17~ varmint stuff?
Seems to always be plenty on store shelves.
“… got opinions on the .17~ varmint stuff?”
Not really, just useless scuttlebutt. The gun mags were/are raving about it; seems to be a hopped-up .22 to this old fart, though. Never fired it so my opinion is utterly worthless. I’ve got, or used to have, a bunch of .22LR and .22WMR so never got onto the .17 bandwagon.
What kinda varmints ya got in your AO?
We have three domestic cats who take care of all the rodent and bird problems here; the gray tree rats stay up in their trees, mostly. I’ve had a bird or two get into the house but managed to shoo them outside before they got hurt, and at our previous house we had a couple of bats get in, one landing on the pillow next to my head while we were trying to get some sleep. Wife freaks a little but I love the little buggers and got that one out safely, too. They eat tons of skeeters EVERY day.
We also have a regular late-afternoon swarm of seagulls here; they’re after the black flies so more power to them, too.
We’ve seen coyotes from a distance but they don’t come around that we know of, not this close to the village. So far.
Two-legged varmints a couple of blocks away and up the shore road a ways, maybe three miles, in a swamp holler, and some more such varmints up the main drag closer to the “city.” Smash-and-grab cretins, probably associated with local drug trade and manufacturers. If they attempt to crash into here, they’ll get a big and nasty surprise. Our idiot golden retriever barks, at least, but after he’s gone I’m thinking about a German Shepherd or similar, but mos def no more hairy dogs. If we lived way out in the sticks I’d get an American Pit Bull Terrier, finest dog there is, with a decent owner/handler, of course.
For birds our main attractions here are the usual corvids, cardinals, chickadees and doves around the house, and up above seagulls and turkey vultures and the occasional raptor; we’ve seen both bald and golden eagles fairly close up, plus our favorite, the great blue herons. Among the corvids, several big-ass ravens, who don’t seem afraid of anything.
Mrs. OFD called a little while ago and is indeed cooling her heels at the United Club lounge in Newark. She wants me to do breakfast with her at the gig in Montpeculiar so as to introduce me to her instructor partner, a police officer from Arizona. If I feel up to it that morning, I will; otherwise I’ll catch up to them on my way back from the VA Med Center. I met another one of her colleagues last summer in NJ; a retired Rochester, NY SWAT commander. Good guy, but suicidal and PTSD all over him. So far they all think I was smart to GTFO back in 1986.
Now that’s odd; Mr. Spook’s just-prior post on all his varmints disappeared into thin air…
“””Now that’s odd; Mr. Spook’s just-prior post on all his varmints disappeared into thin air…”””
Yeah, sorry. Decided it was a bit too offensive, especially against the safe zones evident here…
I’ll try to re-write it, more calmly.
This place has safe zones? Why was I never informed of this? As should be evident, some of us (by which I mean myself) are delicate flowers, unable to fulfill our potential as special snowflakes in the face of the oppression of Otherthink.
“Decided it was a bit too offensive…”
Say wot? I dint see nuttin’ offensive anywhere, but then again, I’m one of the more offensive bastids here. Nolo contendere, fummamuckers.
“This place has safe zones? Why was I never informed of this?”
Yo, I dint get dat memo, either.
“”We have three domestic cats who take care of all the rodent and bird problems here; the gray tree rats stay up in their trees, mostly. I’ve had a bird or two get into the house but managed to shoo them outside before they got hurt, and at our previous house we had a couple of bats get in, one landing on the pillow next to my head while we were trying to get some sleep. Wife freaks a little but I love the little buggers and got that one out safely, too. They eat tons of skeeters EVERY day.””
Actually, bats don’t bother to eat mosquitoes.
But they do try to get tangled in your hair…
I think that domestic cats kept indoors entirely are OK, if you like that.
I hunt cats, carefully, since it’s illegal to protect native birds from cats.
Native birds should be left alone (although I will admit to tossing a wren nest or two, built where they’d infest me with mites, likely). They ain’t endangered…
Native squirrels are a big problem here, chewing on house wood and vehicle wiring.
They ain’t endangered, but it’s hard to guess which ones are the problem(s).
Shot one, in years here, and maybe whacked others with BB & slingshot, so maybe a solid hit would be less cruel.
The Euro-trash mice (encouraged and enhanced by domestic cats) are the worst. ‘Nuff said. Spring traps, bucket traps (go for a nice swim!) …
Native mice are mostly confused if they wind up inside a house (though they sometimes nest). I feel sorry for them, but I evict them (one way or another). Typical traps get them, same as the Euro-trash…
Ms. No-Legs & Big Mama No-Legs and all the little No-Legs chilluns are on my side and they can do no wrong (uh, other than provoking heart tremors!)…
Famous last words, especially pending cold weather.
Sorry. Lost most of the rant, and that list of critters I love (and hate).
On Chrome, guest mode, and no text editor to save the rant and try to tone it down, write more clearly, and so on…
Yeah, though…
Native critters I love: Hispid Cotton Rats, Flying Squirrels …
Not quite the same rant. Sorry…
Cat folk are usually offended by any mention of any attempt to fail to worship.
Yeah. Shoulda left the rant as it was.
Mostly about love and such…
I do love me some hispid cotton rats and flying squirrels…
I have a bat house, given by a wood-worker buddy.
Gotta get it on a steel pole I have, before spring pup season!
Bats just don’t eat tiny meals…
Mosquitoes make for good publicity, but it’s best to deal with the fact that bats eat larger bugs.
“Cat folk are usually offended by any mention of any attempt to fail to worship.”
We are cat folk here, me more than wife, who is also a dog folk. And I get it that some peeps don’t care for ’em much, so be it. My next-door neighbor for one; the cats sometimes hang out on his motorboat and they were killing the birds that his old mom had on our other side for a while (she had a bird feeder on her porch). But he doesn’t say much (he’s got five dogs who bark if a leaf falls off a tree out front) and his stepdaughter now lives where his mom used to and we can hear her every night coughing and hacking her lungs out as she continues to smoke ciggies. In her 20s, overweight, smoker, and history of diabetes on her side of the family. Shit for brains, obviously.
But who am I to judge? Ex-drunk, ex-junkie, lunatic war vet, etc. With a short fuse. (although I’ve gotten better at that in recent years; now I just don’t give a shit about stuff.)
Neighbors have a cat that I feed when they are out…
He’s “my” cat too but he’s an ungrateful piece of shit.
Rescued, helpless kitten just dumped in the yard…
Dumped same as my late dog.
Miss that big silly mutt, and she appreciated being taken in,
loved anybody and everybody.
Still, I need no pets.
Kitten dumped recently near here probably got grabbed by the corvids.
I guess nobody saw me “discourage” it since I have not been arrested…
This whole “pet” animal scenario is insane. It has huge horrible impacts on native species and on the quality of human life (especially for those who get shit on, literally) and if you dare to do something about it, or just speak up, or even just do nothing, you are gonna do jail time or worse.
Quick euthanasia ought to be required by law, for any loose “pet” animal !!
Yep, back in rant mode.
“Quick euthanasia ought to be required by law, for any loose “pet” animal !!”
Agreed; I heard there was an obese mammalian type lumbering along between Mordor and the NYC area, occasionally tumbling over, spewing green slime and making hacking noises, a little over five feet long. A .22WMR round in the right place would do the trick, methinks. Maybe a couple of 5.7×28’s….
And the breaking news is
Washington Mall Shooter Caught: Suspect Is 20 Year Old Turk
While the police previously described the mall shooter as Hispanic, according to unconfirmed reports – as the police still hasn’t released the suspect’s name – the identity of the shooter is Arcan Cetin, aged 20, who according to his Facebook profile is originally Turkish, from the city of Adana.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-24/washington-mall-shooter-caught-suspect-allegedly-turkish-origin
Me, partly/mostly recovered from the whatever, now removing the poison by passing thru me lengthwise……
But my eyesight is currently a bit blurry due to being in bed all day. Hard to read, even with ctrl-zoom.
Small snack and back to bed..
n
BTW, anyone else wondering what happened with the five guys they nabbed in NYC with the suv full of weapons? Why haven’t we heard more on that front??
n
“…anyone else wondering what happened with the five guys they nabbed in NYC with the suv full of weapons? Why haven’t we heard more on that front??”
First I’ve heard of it myself; hadn’t seen anything on it anywhere else. Probably Hispanics. Maybe Hispanic protesters. Not to worry.
“Washington Mall Shooter Caught: Suspect Is 20 Year Old Turk”
Yeah, previously a Hispanic and now ALLEGEDLY a Turk. They must think we’re all fucking stupid. Yet another case where I wish I or someone like me or even better than me (not hard) was there with a handgun to park one in his brisket or noggin.
And now we’ll get to watch the Prophet Barack Hussein Soetero, many blessings be upon his name, mention it and the awfulness of firearms without ever uttering the word “terrorist” or “muslim.”
“…now removing the poison by passing thru me lengthwise……”
Gee whiz, guy, TMI! How about a trigger warning, dude? Wow, I gotta find a safe space…
…my own bed, where the pillow between the knees trick don’t work so hot anymore…but hey, I took a handful of OTC pills and two prescription pills and maybe I can get to sleep real fast and stay that way and not have nightmares or weird stuff about walking a fucking beat again somewhere.
Pax vobiscum, fummamuckers.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Eye dominance and shooting.
Lots about this on the net. My advice to students who are cross dominant is to shoot a handgun with the head inclined so the dominant eye lines up on the sights. That is what I do (as I am right-handed and left-eye dominant).
For long guns, the theoretically best solution is to shoot from the shoulder of the dominant eye, but that is often awkward or uncomfortable. It is also troublesome if it means shooting left-shouldered, as the available selection of left-hand firearms is limited and usually expensive.
I therefore suggest shooting from the side of the dominant hand, but teaching ones-self to use the dominant-hand-side eye. That is perfectly possible, once the shooter has understood the difference between the view from the two eyes. The view from the dominant eye will include looking along the side of the gun barrel, whereas the view from the dominant-hand-side eye will have the top of the barrel. This is easier to do than to explain – just hold a brush handle up to you shoulder and try it.
For those who can’t consciously switch which eye is in command (I can, but it does take a little practice over a short period), there are means to force the non-dominant eye to take over the sighting function – momentarily squint or blink the dominant eye, and control shifts to the non-dominant one. If that can’t be mastered, a smudge of Vaseline on the dominant-side lens of the shooting glasses will obscure just enough to force the switch, as will a little piece of translucent sticky tape.
A one-sided “blinker” (like for horses) can be used, but this might interfere with balance and peripheral vision, so is usually better avoided, at least for shotgunning (though it is commonly seen among static target shooters). The last resort is a modification to the gunstock, whereby an s-bend puts the sights in line with the off-side eye.
Ethanol: lower energy density, lower mpg.
Dave Hardy wrote:
” I’ve had a bird or two get into the house but managed to shoo them outside…”
Never had a (feathered) bird in the house. They do fly into the windows about once a week or so. Then they stagger around for a few seconds like a drunken sailor… 🙂
I don’t like cats.
And they don’t like you. Sad.
~~Mark Twain:
“Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”
“If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”
“A home without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat, may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove its title?”
“Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain’t so; it is the sickening grammar that they use.”
“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat has only nine lives.”
And finally:
~~Fernand Mery:
“God made the cat in order that man might have the pleasure of caressing the tiger.”
“Cats are evil, hateful things.”
— Colin, and every other dog I’ve ever known
Although I never saw it, I remember that stupid movie where the protagonist got shrunk to 6″ tall. I remember thinking that if that happened to me, my dog would protect me, make sure I had food, carry me around gently in his mouth, and so on. If I had a cat, it would do its best to kill and eat me. Cats are evil, hateful things.
Bah. Any dog who thinks — I mean “thinks” — that is the same as any other racist: simple-minded and afraid of the abilities of the despised group.
Mr Atoz wrote:
“I don’t like cats.”
Hater.
I love cats. Dead cats.
I don’t like any* cats.
* had to add any to prevent a duplicate. Stoopid WP
I love cats. Dead cats.
The only good cat, is a …
http://www.nickscipio.com/pod/2005/08/07/free-cat/
Ah, for the good olde days back in the 19th century, when sporting shooter shot real pigeons instead of clay ones, and they had cat throwers that clamped on the cats’ tails and tossed them for the gunners.
All you cat haters get to live your next life in some Bangladeshi mangrove swamp infested by tigers. Chew on that.
http://www.nickscipio.com/pod/2008/04/08/tennis-cat/
https://www.ttgnet.com/daynotes/2008/2008-15.html#Wed
The classic meme (before they were memes)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/joke-cat-vs-dog—-war-of_n_1534447.html
“my favorite thing!”