Scruit

Like many things - you don't always get what you pay for, but you definitely pay for what you get.

File the report NOW - the "not taking reports" means they won't do the report taking during the bad weather - you can still go to the cop shop and file now. Or get your insurance to do the legwork - that's what you pay them for.

It's not an individual LEO decision. In bad weather there are more crashes than cops - they have to concentrate on the ones with injuries or that are blocking major roads. They can't just pull officers out of thin air.

Good boat story: My neighbor has a house on a lake in MI and his boat is moored on his personal dock. The lake is several miles long and he goes water-skiing, tubing and fishing. He's out on it a few times per week. Never had a bad word to say about his boat. Loves it. Bad boat story: My old boss paid $1600 for a boat at the end of the season. Used it a couple times then winterized it. Next season we de-winterized it and we found the outdrive was on its way out. He insisted on taking it out for a shakedown and it ran ok. Next day it broke down while he had his family on it. The top end of the motor had to be rebuilt. Motor had to be pulled. Season was over by the time he got it all ironed out. During the off-season he paid $2500 to have it painted. The only guy who would paint it wanted cash up front. The pain has runs, sags, debris, mark from where the air hose was draped into wet paitn etc. He demanded some kind of recourse (partial refund or repaint) and the guy told him "You paid cash, right? Fuck off." Next season they went out a couple times but is kids soon got bored so he only went out alone in it, which meant hardly ever. He has the brass balls to offer to sell me the boat for $6400. I told him to sod off. (He bought it for 1600, put 2500 for a bad paint job, $~500 for the engine work and it still had a bad outdrive that sounded like a broke gearbox) He listed it on ebay for $6400. Nobody bought it. Eventually he put a for sale sign on it and parked it in the parking lot of a nearby business. Someone cut open the cover and tried to hotwire it. Didn't succeed, but fucked up the ignition wiring while doing it. He found out the prior owner had redone all the ignition wiring on the cheap and used all the same color wires! Took him weeks to get it sorted so he could start and run it using a generic ignition from autozone. He eventually sold it fro $1600. He figured out it cost him $500 per day out in the boat - and he was using on on lake dillon which is only about a mile long anyway... Day he bought it, day he sold it. Exactly. I would have a boat if I lived on a lake with my own private dock. Otherwise it's a hassle to get it in and out the water every time, or paying dock fees to store it in the water.

Boats are like swimming pools. Great idea on paper - doesn't always work out that way in real life. This house had an above-ground pool when we moved in. It took me a season to get the hang of the chemicals, way too many shock cycles etc. Then we found that the water temp is usually about a week or so behind ambient temp, so that one warm day in a cold week = no swimming, water too cold. Then I found out that the thing can algae over in a day if the chlorine gets too low. Then it's several days of shocking and letting the chlorine and ph levels come back to normal. We averaged 3 or 4 swims a year - and in that time we had to replace the pump, the sand filter and spent hundreds on chemicals, testing supplies and pool toys we never used. The the liner started to leak up just below the skimmer level so we were constantly filling it up to stop the skimmer gurgling and the pump making noise. That became a weekly chore. Finally I tool an arrow, drilled a hole just behind the tip, and one about 2" back from the tip (hollow aluminum arrow) and went out the to pool and shot the arrow into the floor of the liner. Took 2 weeks for the water to empty out. Then I scrapped the aluminum (got $600 for it!) and used the money to install a play yard for my son where the pool used to be. I see a boat as being about the same. Great in concept, shitty in practice.

So where us the compromise? The grabbers want background checks on private sales. The compromise includes that. So where is the consideration that gun owners would get? Compromise is give & take, not take and take.

The compromise originally had ccw reciprocity, but that was dropped. I could live with background checks in exchange for reciprocity. But alas...

On the freeway, why not just allow motorcycles to use the (shoulders/emergency lanes/ breakdown lanes) in stop and go traffic? No car has any reason to routinely merge into that lane or open doors into it except in an emergency. Bikes would only be allowed to do this in stop and go traffic at a 20mph max speed (meaning once cars go above 20mph it's better to merge back into the travel lanes) so bikes would have time to react if a car needed to use the shoulder. One of the reasons cars aren't allowed to use the shoulder is that they would block emergency vehicles from getting to an accident scene - but a bike can easily be moved out of the way, and if they go single-file / use the portion of the shoulder closest to the roadway then they won't block emergency vehicles.

So wait - does this new law not allow night hunting with a suppressor? Does it allow night hunting withOUT a suppressor?

Their "World's smallest camera" for $129 is available from ebay for under $10. Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hidden-Small-Mini-DV-MD80-Pocket-Camcorder-Sports-DVR-Video-Camera-Spy-Webcam-/400452501814?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item5d3cd44136 I have a handful of them. They are throwaway cameras I use for recording in situations where the camera may get damage - from my RC plane etc. Also, pointing a blank firing replica at someone is a GREAT way to be shot for real.

New bike arrived today. Full suspension / disk breaks Nishiki. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17185996&cp=4406646.4425420.13061620 Went out on the intermediate track at Alum Creek and my old bike (Specialized Hard Rock, caliper brakes, no suspension and 16 years old!) and although I got around OK I came off a couple of times when my chain jumped gears going uphill, etc. Have grip shifters and I keep changing gears when I grip the bars too hard going over bumps etc. Have to assemble the new bike - hopefully I can get out on it this weekend.

I have done a couple of active killer seminars (most recetnly at Ohio Krav Maga) and we did a knife attacker drill. The attacker just walked into the crowd and started slashing people silently with a rubber knife - couple of sobering thoughts from that were... 1) The first victims may or may not communicate what has happened to them to the crowd. I was the first victim and I didn't say a thing. He slashed 5 people before someone said anything. 2) The folks who try to take down the attacker should assume they will get stabbed/cut and may die. The attacker in our case was a child who was easily overpowered - but a full grown man with a knife could only be safely incapacitated by a ranged weapon like a gun, taser or similar. Yes, you might be able to incapacitate by going hands-on, but doing so without injury would be a stroke of luck.

Guns have a practical utility IN injuring people.

Learning to fight is a long intensive process and it can take years to become proficient against a determined attacker. Some people never overcome the physical size difference. I'm over 6'2 and about 215 lbs - teaching a 5'5 120lb lady how to fight off a guy of my size is not a trivial thing. Kicks and punches probably won't reach me, and I can always wrestle much better than her. There *are* women of that size who could beat me to a bloody pretzel-twisted pulp, but only after a lot of dedicated training. Having said that, did her situation require a gun? Maybe when they tried to grab at her? Maybe not. Difficult to say form the description. It'd suck if she got all jittery and shot someone who she misinterpreted as a threat while she was still on edge from the recent genuine scare. Had she been armed in this situation, where would she carry it and when would she have retrieved the gun? After he grabbed for her her main goal was to get away and she would not have had any chance to rummage in her bag for it. She'd need a holster of some description. Her first response to this should be to learn more situational awareness. Try to avoid being in a situation where a carload of people can surprise you. Always know where the escape is, etc. Don't let yourself get cornered. Keep an eye for people approaching you. Know simple trucks like putting a car between you and the bad guy. Have your keys out in your hand before you go outside so you aren't stuck fumbling for keys. Does she have a camera phone? Once safely inside the car could she have taken pictures? It's a difficult situation to deal with. If she is goign to carry a gun she has to do it all the time - carrying a gun only when you think you might be attacked is like wearing a helmet only when you think you're going to crash.

Feinstein is going to ban elbows.

Well that's ok then. Slash away, as long as nobody dies. Ban lead bullets and replace them with rubber balls. Stings like a mofo but not fatal.

So he slashed up 14 people with what is basically a scalpel?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/09/justice/texas-college-stabbing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

My son was 7mo when I BOUGHT my first bike. No need to give it up.

I wander if he sees the irony in him calling people stupid?

If you do it then it's up to you to make it work. Assume people will hate it and block you. Don't be surprised when people suddenly start to find excuses to open their doors in stop&go traffic. Of course you'd take the blame in pretty much any collision. And get tickets. If it was legalized then people would expect it and it would be safer. A companion law would make a driver presumptively liable for any collision between his door and a splitting motorcycle. Also drivers should be required to leave space for splitting down the white line in traffic jams.

I'll use the bike's size to get through gaps that my car won't fit, but don't lane split. The worst I ever did was ride the fog line at 5mph for 100 yards to reach my turnoff when traffic was backed-up because of a problem a mile ahead. I'm all for anything that promotes and encourages motorcycle ridership - the more bikes out there, the more cagers will (hopefully) expect / see us. Oh, and did you see the bridge I just bought?

I'd only do it at traffic jam speeds. I also like the UK approach to allow motorcyclists to skip a line of traffic and get front row at red lights. There's two lines at a red light - one for bikes at the light, one of cars about 10' back. Bikes can lane-split and wait in this space so they get ahead quickly.

And those endorsements are for companies that use him to advertise their product, which causes millions of people to buy those products, further fueling the economy...

What about IT folks? I studied computing at college and university plus an 18mon internship ("residency?"), so a total of 7 years as a poor starving student. I make 6 figures now. Did I not earn that?