08:31 – It was 64.5F (18C) when I took Colin out at 0630, dim and overcast. Barbara is going to the gym this morning. This afternoon, she needs to get ready for a trip down to Winston. She’ll leave early tomorrow, run errands during the day, stay with Frances and Al tomorrow night, and then head back Friday, making a Costco run on the way home. For Colin and me, it’s wild women and parties, as usual. And PB&J sandwiches for dinner, as usual.
More science kit stuff today. More bottles to be labeled and/or filled. I ordered more bottles yesterday, two cases of the 15 mL plastic and one of the 30 mL amber glass. Those are to arrive tomorrow. While Barbara’s gone I’ll make up another half dozen or so solutions for SKUs we’re running short of.
We finished watching War & Peace (2016) last night. I turned to Barbara and said, “This really is a Russian comedy. At the end, everyone dies.” She said I’d read her mind, because she was just thinking exactly the same thing. So now we’re watching A Place to Call Home, which is much more peaceful, excepting the flashbacks to Nazi Germany during the war.
My case of Angel Soft toilet paper arrived from Walmart yesterday. As it turns out, it’s not much of a deal. One roll of Costco Signature TP weighs 202 grams gross (196.5 g net of the 5.5 g cardboard core). One roll of Angel Soft weighs 112 g gross. I didn’t weigh its cardboard core, but assuming it’s close to the same as the Costco core, that’s 106.5 g net. IOW, the Angel Soft roll weighs about 54% of the Costco roll.
Walmart sells the Angel Soft case of 36 for $15.97, so on that basis the Costco stuff would be a wash cost-wise at ($15.97 / 36 / .54) = $0.82+ per roll. In fact, the Costco stuff costs $0.73+ per roll, shipped. That’s normal price. On-sale it’s less, and still less in the store.
Of course, 9 cents a roll isn’t much difference, even if you’re buying several hundred rolls. What is a big deal is that a “roll” of the Angel Soft weighs about half what a roll of the Costco stuff does, so you’re going to need about twice as many rolls. IOW, if you figure you need 250 rolls of the Costco TP in your LTS, you’d better figure about 463 rolls of the Angel Soft. I just entered the 36 rolls of Angel Soft into our LTS inventory, but I recorded it as only 18 rolls for just that reason.
“so you’re going to need about twice as many rolls. ”
Which, given the bulk of storing TP is a big deal.
n
Here’s an example of my auction stuff, and .gov waste.
Remember a couple of Christmas’s ago when I got all the thermal cams and wireless gear, which I figure cost about $375k new? And I paid $52? It was very well used at least.
I picked up a few lots yesterday. One of the lots was a microwave wireless data link. Carrier grade, 5 nines, etc. I got 2 radios with attached antennas and a spare antenna for $3. They look like they were never used. They were $60K new. Our county spent $60 – 70,000 and then sold them for $3. They are still current product.
Multiply that by all the other local county state and federal spending and you get some insight into the ‘budget crisis.’
As a taxpayer in the county I’m appalled. As a reseller, I hit the lottery.
All I can do is shake my head and curse.
n
School districts which got grants for computer equipment, had no idea what to do with it, but “had to” spend the money or it would be “wasted”. Then stuffed the computers into a storeroom for a year, then sold them at scrap prices to school district employees. Happened, er, 15 years ago (?) in a district near me.
As a taxpayer in the county I’m appalled. As a reseller, I hit the lottery.
Yeah, since the telcos went fiber there are a lot of microwave licenses sitting unused in metros around the country. Clever startups are beginning to utilize the licenses to provide gigabit Internet service to companies and apartment buildings, and you’ll have no trouble selling the equipment.
When we lived in Vantucky, the WSU campus link to the Internet was a microwave connection to one of the big nodes in a building in Downtown Portland. I don’t recall that link ever being down even if local phone lines and main power were out.
Sunny w/blue skies and a nice breeze, in the mid to high 70s. Maybe some showers and t-storms tomorrow when I have to be out and about at meetings and appointments, natch. Whatever.
Congrats, Mr. Nick, on your nice acquisitions. Now if I can just locate one or more forgotten CONEX containers that the Feds stashed all around the country over the past few years….loaded with ammo and Lord knows what else.
Back on the local errands and mostly indoor stuff, but I’ll have to mow the back yard, I guess; I did the front and sides yesterday but was in continuous pain and fatigue, like I’m 90 years old or something. So I gotta sit down every half-hour or so and it takes me three times as long to do as it does the teenage neighbor kid.
Did I mention that getting old sucks rocks? And still no return call for my appointment with my primary care doc; guess I have to jog their memories down there today.
Speaking of getting old.
Does anyone else get vaguely nauseous or motion sick when doing a lot of reading online that involves (basically constant) scrolling?
I’m beginning to suspect that I do.
n
You suspect you’re nauseous? You certainly are!
(Hat tip: RBT)
Ok, yeah, I posted the dictionary.com link last time…..
but I am motion sick, and think it’s the scrolling. Or it could be the head mounted POV cams in the vids I’m watching. I usually shut my eyes at that point though.
n
HT Drudge:
tRump Bans Trans
lol! Let the LBGTXYZ hissy fit begin!
“Does anyone else get vaguely nauseous or motion sick when doing a lot of reading online that involves (basically constant) scrolling?”
Not yet.
Now, I’m not saying that people who do that should be punched in their stupid, camera-wearing heads …
… except that I’m totally saying they should be punched in their stupid heads.
Something that someone pointed out: doesn’t the B in LGBT stand for bisexual? Implying that there are exactly two sexes (or genders, if you prefer to squish on the naughty word)? So where does that leave the Heinz-57 of identified “genders”?
“HT Drudge:
tRump Bans Trans
lol! Let the LBGTXYZ hissy fit begin!”
Just called my M. D. to cancel scheduled surgery.
Oh, right: as for nick’s original question, no, I don’t get queasy from scrolling or watching dumbheads with cameras on their dumb heads. I damaged my inner ears forever ago, so I’m always slightly dizzy, meaning it’s my constant state, meaning I don’t get dizzy, queasy, or nauseated from any kind of actual or perceived motion.
(I started to write that I don’t get queasy without qualifying it, but that was totally wrong. Why, just the thought that Moochelle Obama has had a couple of kids and therefore someone must … have …
Sorry. Gotta run…)
I picked up a few lots yesterday. One of the lots was a microwave wireless data link. Carrier grade, 5 nines, etc. I got 2 radios with attached antennas and a spare antenna for $3. They look like they were never used. They were $60K new. Our county spent $60 – 70,000 and then sold them for $3. They are still current product.
Those could be the spares purchased in case the original equipment failed. Never used but there in case they needed to replace in usage items.
Yup, at least one has never been used. The other has some weathering, upon closer examination. And the spare antenna for the same system is unused.
Spares are cool, and hot swap might be necessary, but why get rid of the spare? they still have the systems deployed, I can see them on towers. If they decomm’d the system, there would be 10s or 100s in the auction. Oh well, it’s part of my justification for doing this sort of thing, I get some of my tax money back which is more than most people.
Several new outdoor wifi antennas too, although they aren’t very expensive. The straight antennas usually aren’t, it’s the combo radio and antenna, esp in microwave, that gets pricey.
The funny part is that the ubiquiti line does a lot of what the stuff I’ve got in this lot does, and for essentially no money (access points and point to point links) but this stuff is carrier grade, weighs a ton, and is built like a tank.
n
Just took my parents wheel and tire to get a new tire at Sam’s Club. Sams Club tried to order it, a Michelin Sport 245/45ZR17, and could not get it to order. So, I went down the block to NTB who said that they could get two tires no problem. Maybe even this afternoon. After I ordered two tires and left NTB, the lady at Sams Club called me and said that she figured out how to get the tires. I had to tell her that I had already ordered the tires at NTB.
The dude at NTB is going to call me when the new tire and wheel are ready. I will go get it, bolt it back on the car, and drive it back to get the other tire installed. There is no spare tire whatsoever, a serious fail in my book.
I found out why my parents car does not have a spare tire. It has an 8 gallon adblue tank in the spare tire hole in the trunk. It is a 2011 Mercedes diesel sedan that they bought new and has 80,000 miles on it. They are planning it drive it to 250K miles like the last one. I have told Dad that he needs to buy a doughnut tire but, he ignores my advice as usual. Sigh.
I saw 101 F in Stafford, TX on my truck thermometer. I feel for the people living in the Houston heat island, it is 97 F out here in the sticks.
I probably don’t do enough reading online to have that scrolling/dizzyness/nausea thing (there’s a ton of books for me to get through, still) and I certainly don’t watch peeps wearing head-mounted cameras for very long unless it is absolutely riveting. Rather than punching them in the head, I’d favor precision sniping so as to blow the camera off w/o necessarily hurting the wearer. Using, say, a .300 Blackout or 6.5 Grendel. To make it interesting.
Got my National Parks Lifer Pass today; wife has to get hers in person w/photo ID. If we damage them, they’ll replace ’em; if we lose ’em (like wife is all too likely to do) we have to buy new ones, and at the new price, too. But the good nooz is that if one derp has the card among a carload of derps, the rest of them get in on that card.
And my VA “case manager” apparently referred a state of Vermont Labor Department functionary to me, so I have an appointment with her tomorrow at 09:00. Dunno really what that’s about, but hey, I’m game. I’ll pahk the cah in the Chinese restaurant lot and stagger/limp across the railroad tracks, hoping not to get smashed to pulp by the Amtrak Metroliner, then cross unpaved Federal Street (all coarse rocks/gravel pending new water and sewer lines) while dodging tweakers in their souped-up pickup trucks with no mufflers and soccer moms unable to control their gigantic SUVs while texting on a cell phone.
Then it’s off to the vets group down in Burlap and later on, the local ham radio club at the VFW.
Shit, maybe I should hit the sack now…
I understand every word there, but that phrase makes no sense.
“US Special Operations Command chief claims ‘60,000 to 70,000’ ISIS fighters have been killed”
http://www.businessinsider.com/gen-raymond-thomas-socom-60000-to-70000-isis-fighters-killed-2017-7
“During a discussion at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, Army Gen. Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, cited estimates saying that the US-led fight against ISIS had killed 60,000 to 70,000 ISIS militants.”
Didn’t we get Vietnam VC KIA counts every night on the tv ?
And Mosul, Iraq looks a little rough there. Sucks to have a war in your country.
Didn’t we get Vietnam VC KIA counts every night on the tv ?"
Yup. Sometimes with vid footage of infantry patrols being very busy. That nooz alternated with vid footage and reports of a bunch of Murkan cities in flames from violent rioting and snipers shooting at firefighters and cops while the paratroopers fired back with Ma Deuce from APCs.
It was a very lively time, and whatever has happened along those lines in recent years is as NOTHING compared to that time.
“Sucks to have a war in your country.”
Indeed:
King Philip’s War, French and Indian War, War of Independence, War of 1812, Mexican War, War Between the States, Indian Wars, and then we got busy with Empire in the rest of the world and had our wars in other countries.
The first four wars I listed all had action around this AO. But go ahead and ask any random hundred derps here about any of it and I’m guessing 95-100 won’t have a clue. I’ve yet to find anyone, for example, who is aware that we had friggin’ full-fledged NAVAL battles just offshore a ways here. And General Benedict Arnold starred in one such, to his vast credit.
Ever heard of the Battle of Hubbardton? Battle of Bennington? Battle of Plattsburgh? How about Saratoga, you must have heard of that one, eh?
I found out why my parents car does not have a spare tire. It has an 8 gallon adblue tank in the spare tire hole in the trunk
8 gallons of extra horse pee or the spare tire hole is where the main reservoir for the exhaust system sits? That’s a lot of fluid weight if it is auxiliary, and God help them if it leaks.
I noticed that Sam’s had DEF so I assume Wally World does also. Finding the fluid on a road trip wouldn’t be a problem, but a flat tire often happens in very inconvenient places.
8 gallons of extra horse pee or the spare tire hole is where the main reservoir for the exhaust system sits? That’s a lot of fluid weight if it is auxiliary, and God help them if it leaks.
That is the only DEF, Adblue, tank. Very heavy duty black plastic tank.
You can buy DEF at most truck stops from a pump next to the diesel pump. Or Sams Club:
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/bluedef-diesel-exhaust-fluid-2-5-gal/prod4490189.ip?xid=plp:product:1:2
but a flat tire often happens in very inconvenient places.
A flat tire has never been convenient for me.
That is the only DEF, Adblue, tank. Very heavy duty black plastic tank.
Weird, but I have no experience with modern diesel cars. The first time I saw someone buying DEF for their Cruze in Vantucky, I thought they were kidding me about what was in the bottle. I’ve wondered about the science ever since.
Where does the spare tire go, then? Under the tank? Underneath the car?
Where does the spare tire go, then? Under the tank? Underneath the car?
There is no spare tire ! FAIL !
Mercedes put a can of fix-a-flat and a compressor in the trunk.
Yah, Son#1’s car (probably 2016 model year) has that lack of a spare, as does my wife’s 2012-ish Toyota sedan. Neither is worried. If there’s ever a flat or other problem, they’ll call the insurance company and someone will come out to fix it. -sigh- I feel like a failure, so far as Son#1 goes.
“I’ve wondered about the science ever since.”
I’d never heard of it, but AFAICT from MSDS’s it’s a 6M aqueous solution of urea.
The Passat TDI has enough room for both the DEF tank and a full size spare. Something I checked when I purchased.
I have always wanted a full size spare, but have sort of gotten past that. Driving Corvettes and motorcycles over the many miles and years, has convinced me that you can live without a spare 99.9% of the time. My Vette has run-flats and real TPMS and I have never had an issue. Drove it 2500 miles last month on a trip – only worry is heavy rain with the wide tires… I have put around 15,000 on the current tires with no issues (but I do not do donuts and burnouts typically). A lot of guys that drive Corvettes get rid of the run flats because they are more expensive and deliver less performance than alternatives. They are fine as far as I have heard. Of course, many of these are not daily drivers.
It is really rare to get flats since radials have come along. As long as you pay attention to tire pressure and work to avoid road hazards as much as possible.
As long as you pay attention to tire pressure and work to avoid road hazards as much as possible.
This was a four inch nail. Went in on the side of the tread and out the sidewall. Total loss of tire. And the tire had 40K miles on it (I would have replaced it earlier since there was no tread left in the middle). Knowing my Dad, he was driving 80 mph when it happened. He really needs to calm down at 78 years old.
Dad also has a 2015 Mercedes with a turbo gasoline four in it. He spun that car the other night in a rain storm driving 80 mph down I-69. He says that he started hydroplaning and the lane assist feature jerked the steering wheel out of his hand. My mother was freaked out. I was, “why are you driving 80 mph in the rain ?”.
I’d never heard of it, but AFAICT from MSDS’s it’s a 6M aqueous solution of urea.
32% urea with the balance deionized water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid
“Mercedes put a can of fix-a-flat and a compressor in the trunk.”
10-4, I always carry a can of that, and it sometimes works. OTOH, on several occasions out in the Mojave Desert, I’ve blown tires so badly, that I have to change them to a full sizes spare. Now, how often do folks check the air in their spares, so I also carry a 12V air pump.
Lynn – your dad sounds like my mom. I was driving with my dad through northern New Mexico a few years ago and he told me about a trip we made back in the 60’s on the same road. He used to drive during the night and she during the day. He woke up one afternoon and she had the needle pegged and wide open throttle. This was back when my dad worked for Chrysler aerospace and we had 440’s and real hemi’s as our rides. (wish I had several of them now). They would get down the road. He asked why she was going so fast and her response was “there’s nothing out here – what’s the problem?”
“10-4, I always carry a can of that, and it sometimes works. OTOH, on several occasions out in the Mojave Desert, I’ve blown tires so badly, that I have to change them to a full sizes spare. Now, how often do folks check the air in their spares, so I also carry a 12V air pump.”
YEP, yep, yep. More than one can of FaF…
I pick up screws all the time. Wife does too. The mexican guy on the corner charges $8 to fix a puncture. If it’s too bad, then used tires…
n
One more 60’s highway story. We were living near New Orleans, where my dad worked part of the Apollo program, but were from Denver. So we made the trip back and forth at least 2x a year. It was always fairly slow through Louisiana, because almost every town had a speed trap running. But, once we hit the Texas border it was: “let the horses run”. One day, with my mom at the wheel, going fast enough on an old 2 lane hwy that the lines on the road looked like dots (Hot Rod Lincoln quote) all of the sudden the windshield was covered with hydraulic fluid.
My mom got the the car slowed down and off the road with no drama and without even a quick intake of breath as far as I recall (and I was sitting up front). My dad found a failed power steering hose, removed the belt, we proceeded to the next town that had a hose, fixed the problem and went on down the road. It set an example for me. My wife has been along on several “auto shop parking lot” repair jobs through our marriage. Like Red Green said: “if the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy”
Like Red Green said: “if the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy”
Heh.
I had a job where a very attractive woman worked. One afternoon, I walked out to the parking lot and she was standing by her car. It would not crank and she asked if I could help. I told her to turn on the headlights – yep battery is fine. Pop the hood, give the starter a tap with a tire iron (has worked in the past). Told her to hit the key – car fired right up. I will remember the way she looked at me until the day I die 🙂
how often do folks check the air in their spares
Current vehicles with a tire monitoring system will also monitor the spares. At least my Toyotas have done that. Went to go to work one cold morning and the TP light is on. Checked all four tires and the pressure is at 32 where it should be. Checked the spare and it was down to 25. Aired it up to 32 and the warning went away.
I had not adjusted the air pressure in the spare to account for the colder temperatures for winter.
“I pick up screws all the time. Wife does too. The mexican guy on the corner charges $8 to fix a puncture. If it’s too bad, then used tires…”
If you don’t want to spend the $8, you can get a puncture repair kit that will fix several (5 or 6) nail type punctures for about $6. Of course, it helps to have a jack and decent air compressor handy – or a can of compressed air for roadside use.
If the failure is in the side wall or too bad for a simple plug – time for a different tire like you say.
One more story (it is still too hot to work much in the yard tonight). We were talking about PSIG vs PSIA and it reminded me of the ideal gas law. When you assume constant mass and temperature you can write P1/V2 = P2/V1 which solves many undergrad thermo 1 problems.
So, when students are not prepared for a test question, they often tend to write this equation and try to make it work. I told a much more experienced prof one day: “someone tried to apply the ideal gas law to a liquid on the last test I gave”. He laughed and told me that if I hung around long enough, I would see someone try to apply it to a solid. (Engineering humor)
One of the lessons learned from Katrina response was ‘if you are entering a hurricane zone, (or tornado) you need a full set of mounted full size spares.’ Roofing nails are everywhere. You change the tire, continue on. Fix the puncture with your plug kit, and re-air. Repeat, Repeat, repeat.
Is it possible to buy a plug kit that says it’s ok for highway use? Every one I’ve looked at shows only off road vehicles. Or is it just the same as always and the lawyers have gotten involved?
n
On a related but sideways note, if your TPM system is giving you fits, unplug any in vehicle chargers. Many cheap chinese phone chargers radiate RF in the same freq range as the TPMS and will block out the tire TX.
Also, there’s a guy on youtube whose decoded the msgs from the TPMS and can uniquely identify cars as they drive by, based on the unique id for each TPM which is broadcasting constantly. Pretty cool.
n
Good question Nick. I think they (plugs) are fine for highway use but my experience is limited. I am funny about tires. When I first started driving, I had limited funds and ran mostly re-treads. This was back in the 70’s and they were fair to terrible. Ever since I have had spare money, I have run good to great tires and batteries. If I have to plug one, I replace it as soon as possible. However, I have run a plugged tire on the highway for many miles with no issues. It seems like there should not be a concern if there are no torn belts.
Not sure what they would do in a panic situation.
Yeah, mainly I’m wondering if I’m just not sourcing correctly, or if the plug kit companies just don’t want the liability.
In an emergency, I’m plugging and motoring on.
n
Added, and in normal times, I take them to the tire guy and he does a repair that involves dismounting the tire and patching as well.
Added again, I’ve had 10’s of thousands of miles on tires with multiple repairs, WAY overloaded at times, and never had a failure. YMMV of course.
“I’d never heard of it, but AFAICT from MSDS’s it’s a 6M aqueous solution of urea.”
32% urea with the balance deionized water.
What’s the theory?
At 8 gal. DEF/10000 miles of diesel exhaust, the arrangement seems awfully “cargo cult”.
From the Single Payer Department:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/07/no_author/single-payer-food-insurence/
As a change, probably very temporary, from tires and tire pressure.
Just did a significant overhaul of the old office here; put the beat-up old ramshackle desk, missing a couple drawer knobs and peeling its crummy exterior coat of splintering whatever, off to the side to hold the radios (shortwave, scanner, and Yaesu FT-60) and one of the Kindle Fires. The new main desk is an Origami folding desk and it works pisser, for under a hundred bucks. MUCH better knee and leg room than I had, and currently sporting two PCs underneath, one Winblows 8.1 and the other Xubuntu, on “shelves” made for them to either side. Easier also to mess with all the wires and USB plugins. Got rid of the equally ramshackle printer table and put the printer up on the desk next to the monitor stand, plenty of room. Along with the stereo speakers and external hard drive.
Will be back to more active and long-term listening to the scanner and shortwave and making antenna adjustments accordingly.
Meanwhile, still no call back for the PCD appointment and tomorrow is kaput due to many other commitments.
Sorry to hijack Dave, but back to tires for a moment. If the inflation is close, you are usually good. The main failure mode is heat. Let the pressure get too low and it can get real bad, real fast. I learned this driving big trucks years ago…
I say this not to this forum, but I regularly see people driving around on under inflated tires. I think that requiring some type of TPMS on new cars is a very good thing (much as I hate gov’t rules),
“Democrat House Staffer Imran Awan Arrested At Dulles Airport – Apparently Attempting To Flee…”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/07/25/democrat-house-staffer-imran-awan-arrested-at-dulles-airport-apparently-attempting-to-flee/
“The backstory to the Awan brothers is a story within congress where three Democrat staffers within various House committees, including the House Intelligence Committee, were suspected of a variety of unlawful actions including accessing highly classified information under suspicious circumstances”
Nope, no smoke here …
Hat tip to OFD and
https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/debbie-wasserman-scandals-aide-arrested/
“Is it possible to buy a plug kit that says it’s ok for highway use? Every one I’ve looked at shows only off road vehicles. Or is it just the same as always and the lawyers have gotten involved?”
10-4, highway people can call AAA rather than use a plug. Yes, I have special plugs that are specified for off-road use; however, I carry what I carry and I have never used one for 4WD tire issues in the back country.
Note that I am at home now and have always made it back; consequently, I could not have been that wrong.
@ MrAtoz, ready for some 4Wheelin’ with me?
“Sorry to hijack Dave,…”
I was the hijacker but I failed, miserably, and what’s more, knew I would.
“Nope, no smoke here …”
Pretty funny. I’m so glad we vet all these IT people. Brings to mind the security audit team that showed one time at IBM and began interrogating drones in the offices and examining paperwork, etc., all ESL from obviously foreign countries. I thought that was deuced odd at the time.
What would be nice is to start seeing some of those swamp people down in Mordor going on trial and then off to jail. We can dream…
When we lived in rural Oklahoma, we drove on dirt and gravel roads regularly. We averaged one puncture every 3 months. Always carried a good spare and hydraulic jacks. Then we went overseas for 8 years, driving in city and county in the UK and France and New Zealand, without a puncture. Returned to the US, lived in Virginia and Memphis for 11 more years without a flat. Last month drove to Oklahoma to visit the MIL down a dirt road, had a flat in first 5 miles.
.
Mr. CowboySlim and I will take my Tacoma 4WD out behind Penn Jillette’s compond. Been nice knowing you.
The reason those plugs are “not for highway use” is because tires are supposed to be patched from the inside so the internal pressure holds the patch in place. With the plugs, the potential for leakage past the plug is great enough that DOT “prohibits” their use. Plug & patch is the preferred means of repairing the tread area of a tire.
In theory, such a tire (plugged only) shouldn’t pass inspection. In practice, the garage is not going to dismount the tire to check. The only real hazard is if you’re in an accident with such a tire. You could be held liable if the tire is found to be a cause.
One of the benefits of working for Uncle. I got a free day-long (3 day?) course in tire repair, inspection, and maintenance so our battalion could claim to have a certified tire inspector on-site.
Thanks Jim, that’s pretty much what I hoped.
n
One of my bennies from working for Uncle was their Air Police traffic safety course, techniques of which were reinforced a few years later when I was on a small-town police force and they sent us to Liberty Mutual’s “skid school.” They had an obstacle course laid out and then when we’d mastered that, laid down some stuff that replicated glare ice. Lotta fun.
A second or third day involving the use of various firearms and tactical maneuvers in and out of the vehicle would have been nice.
That was the most fun class in my mini- cop course. EVOC, emergency vehicle operation course. Go fast, turn sharp, brake hard. Lots o fun in the parking lot.
I killed some cones. The Crown Vic is a wallowing tub that pushes in hard cornering.
n
Glare ice makes driving up here even more fun; you discover that you have nearly zero control over your vehicle. Not fun when you’re on a busy state highway at night and you’ve been turned 180 degrees and are now facing oncoming traffic while sliding backwards and toward the ravine below. Yes, this happened to me back in the 1980s and I remember it vividly. I somehow managed to turn it back around and continue on my merry way just a foot or so from the edge and before I got creamed by the traffic.
Off now to meeting with somebody from the state Department of Labor, for unknown reasons. Can’t hurt, amirite?
I killed some cones. The Crown Vic is a wallowing tub that pushes in hard cornering.
The police here in Texas are missing the Crown Vics right now. Some departments have resorted to installing carbon monoxide monitors in the new Explorers.
Neighbor kid who mows our lawn keeps telling me to get a used Crown Vic off our State Police surplus and used-vehicle sales when they come up.
Dunno if I want a car that’s had the shit beat out of it by manic highway cops, though.
If you really want a crown vic, you want a detective’s car, or a supervisor’s car. They are the ones that aren’t white and usually cost more. Often the fire marshal will drive a crown vic. That would be a good choice too. Highway patrol is better than city squad car. Any agency that assigns vehicles to individuals is gonna have better vehicles than ones with a motor pool. Small agencies are better than big. If it has the hard shell back seat for prisoner transport, STAY AWAY.
That said, I’d never buy a crown vic when I can buy a truck. I’m very happy with my Expy, its condition, and the money I put into it. There are plenty of SUVs and even pickups for sale.
If you just want a big car, then Mercury Grand Marquis. It’s very similar to the Lincoln Town Car, but costs less. Lots of good Grand Marquis on the used market, with one owner little old lady only drove to church and Krogers condition.
n
Naw, I want another truck. Preferably one that ain’t got all the computer gimcracks, gadgets and geegaws in it. 4X, zero rust, long bed. Can’t get one now, though; maybe in another year or two.
The police here in Texas are missing the Crown Vics right now. Some departments have resorted to installing carbon monoxide monitors in the new Explorers.
What ?
Lynn, don’t let your dad see this car: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/technology/g3125/bugatti-chiron-test-drive/
TL;DR: The Bugatti Chiron has a governor that limits top speed to 261 MPH, and you have to insert the special key to go above 237. Of course, you can only go that fast on a straight line course (or the computer slows you down) for a few miles before you run out of gas or wear out the tires. Tires are a few thousand. Each. The car is about $3 million.
The tires are the limiting factor in the top speed. Michelin is working on better tires, but there are some design limits – for example, the valve stem caps go from a few grams of weight to over 16 pounds each at top speed.
The tires are the limiting factor in the top speed. Michelin is working on better tires, but there are some design limits – for example, the valve stem caps go from a few grams of weight to over 16 pounds each at top speed.
My parents diesel Mercedes only got 27K miles out of this set of Michelin tires. And just about all road miles between Port Lavaca and Houston, 120 miles each way. The good thing is that the car consistently gets over 30 mpg on diesel.
My 2005 Ford Expedition gets 40K+ miles out of a set of Michelins. Something is wrong here.
TL;DR: The Bugatti Chiron has a governor that limits top speed to 261 MPH, and you have to insert the special key to go above 237. Of course, you can only go that fast on a straight line course (or the computer slows you down) for a few miles before you run out of gas or wear out the tires. Tires are a few thousand. Each. The car is about $3 million.
Captain Slow of Top Gear takes a Bugatti Veyron to 253 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC00qHonfj8
Ten freaking heat exchangers. V16 motor. 4 turbochargers. And faster than a Porsche 917-30.
Meh. It’s just a widget.
The tires on the Veyron are $10k each. Need to be changed about every 10k miles, IIRC. And every other tire change, the wheels have to be replaced. At $2ok each.
The Chiron is the successor to the Veyron.
Chump change if you can afford the sticker…
n
Some background info:
““Considerations and Recommendations for Implementing an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program” from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) helps agencies navigate the complex legalities of privacy laws, documentation and information collection while still focusing on all the benefts a UAS program has to offer.
Agencies should also be transparent with the community about any UAS program from planning to implementation. This is a key component to address the many civil rights/civil liberties and privacy concerns before the program even takes flight. Building trust with the people you serve is a key part of maintaining a strong and respectful relationship.”
https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/operations/aviation/Pages/harnass-benefits-of-unmanned-aircraft-systems.aspx
n
More background, this is how some of them are being trained, presented w/out comment.
https://www.policeone.com/reality-training/
And some from the fire dept side:
https://www.firerescue1.com/videos/originals/reality-training/
Some interesting stuff on the FD side–
Reality Training: Firearms in the fire service
Nov 21, 2016
Chief Wylie discusses a host of issues surrounding firefighters being armed. If you’re going to carry a weapon on duty, one of your primary jobs has to be care and custody of that weapon.
Reality Training: Disarming a suspect with a fire hose
May 10, 2017
You pull up on scene, and a police sergeant comes up to you and asks you for a fire hose to get a suspect armed with a knife out of a car. What do you do?
nick
Those appear to be relatively decent “reality training” vids and issues to look at for both PD and FD. However, a cursory examination by yours truly doesn’t seem to show me much that wasn’t covered back in my day during the cop training, whether military or civilian police.
I have a hard time, though, imagining or countenancing FD guys carrying firearms, unless they will have designated personnel as such; the rough-and-tumble stuff would knock chit sideways almost always, no matter how great the holster retention or slings are.
I’m a fire guy and the cop sergeant wants me or him to use my hose to get a suspect out of a car, allegedly armed with a knife. Fuck no. It’s my hose. It’s for knocking down fires. The cops can figure it out without me. It’s been done before, maybe in week three or four of the academy training, Sarge. Throw some CS in there, or MACE. Crack the windows and yank his ass out, with liberal use of CS, clubs, dogs, whatever. If he’s truly dangerous and a bad hombre and comes at you, blow his shit up.
The times they are a changin’ and maybe the FD is thinking, we’re getting shot at anyway, I want to be able to shoot back….
Issuing vests to EMS and FD in some areas.
FD and EMS need to follow PD into an active shooter and start triage or more people are gonna die.
Combat medic is the end result, mark my words on that one.
nick
My 2005 Ford Expedition gets 40K+ miles
I am approaching 60K miles on my F-150 with the factory tires. I figure I may get another 10K before I reach the wear indicators.