Random Ramblings

alldatndensum wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

...

We also walked around Bass Pro Shop.  I wanted to look at a 38 Special (the pistol, not the band).  People keep telling me to get a .380, but they just don't seem to fit my hand.  A .38 feels good in my hand.  Yes, I know you don't get as many shots with a revolver as you do a semi-automatic.  But, with firearms, you have to first be comfortable with the weight and feel of the weapon.  If the gun is so small that my pinky goes under the grip, I just don't feel comfortable shooting that firearm.

You also don't have to worry about a revolver jamming.

Keep your weapon clean and buy good ammo and your semi-automatic won't jam either.  I have a Ruger .22, a Ruger 9mm, and a Hi-point 9mm.  If cleaned frequently, oiled semi-regularly, and keep good brands of ammo, they don't jam.  That's bad news for paper targets and perhaps those bad guys who buy guns off the radar so they can get into all sorts of evil deads.  Hopefully, I will carry mine for a lifetime without ever needing to do more than kill paper targets.

During my stint in the military I had 3 different M16A2 rifles and two different Beretta 9mm pistols and one Colt 45 (1911) pistol.  I kept them all so clean that the bluing wore off most of them.  I still had all of them (except the colt) jam on me at some point.  Of course I would put hundreds and hundreds of rounds through each weapon over the years, and some of the magazines got a ton of use.....but still, magazine fed weapons jam on occasion no matter how well you take care of them.

When I close my eyes I think I'm there.
But as soon as I opend my eyes the BBQ was really in my backyard.

I ducked into the States for a couple days on the way back on a cross-continent road trip. I passed a truck that said "protected with Glock." You'd never (or almost never) see that anywhere else in the world. Gun culture is just so different in the US.

Driven wrote:

I ducked into the States for a couple days on the way back on a cross-continent road trip. I passed a truck that said "protected with Glock." You'd never (or almost never) see that anywhere else in the world. Gun culture is just so different in the US.

Very true!  If you don't like it, we will shoot you!  


I have guns and have my carry/conceal permit.  I carry quite frequently.  However, I don't like to go around advertising that I have one.  To me, that is just asking for trouble as someone will eventually come at you to see if they can take your firearm.  If they do, they will use it against you.  When I carry, I make sure it stays out of sight, and I feel embarrassed if it shows in public.  You won't freak anti-gun people out if it stays out of sight.

I mm liking the look of the new Samsung Galaxy Fold.  For those of us with increased need for glasses as we age, a larger display on foldable phones would be amazing.  For people with large hands like myself, a larger screen would be awesome.  I just don't like the $2,000 price tag.  I want a foldable phone, but not at that cost.

Yeah, no way can I afford that but it would be nice. Hopefully the cost will drop after it's been out awhile.

Black Rider wrote:

Yeah, no way can I afford that but it would be nice. Hopefully the cost will drop after it's been out awhile.

I am just hoping that Moto will produce a cost effective Razr model.  They had the flip phone market cornered with the Razr many years ago.  If they could put out one that does whatever Sony does but a half or less of the price, they could be sitting on a goldmine again.  I am really surprised that, after Samsung started pursuing this so adamantly, that Moto didn't double down to get their own model out before them.  I sure would have!!!

My Daughter applied at a job and they want her FB name. What kind of invasion of privacy is this?

Black Rider wrote:

My Daughter applied at a job and they want her FB name. What kind of invasion of privacy is this?

I think we are probably going to to be seeing more and more of this kind of thing.  Companies aren't wanting to hire people with a negative social media presence.  It will force a lot of people to lie about their social media accounts and/or create ones under false names to protect themselves from being fired for those online postings.

I don't see how this is even legal. What I do in my private time that isn't illegal is none of their business.

Black Rider wrote:

I don't see how this is even legal. What I do in my private time that isn't illegal is none of their business.

People  have gone to court over this and so far the companies win.  Everyone scouts someone's social media now before hiring them.

I tried a different tuning on my guitar to see if I could come up with some new riffs. I dropped the E and A strings down to D and G. I already have one riff that was harder to play before the retuning, and another that I just came up with. Would I have found them otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I found them nonetheless.

Driven wrote:

I tried a different tuning on my guitar to see if I could come up with some new riffs. I dropped the E and A strings down to D and G. I already have one riff that was harder to play before the retuning, and another that I just came up with. Would I have found them otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I found them nonetheless.

So your bottom three strings are D G D? 

I am used to a D A D F# tuning in my four string cigar box guitar.  It gives me single fingered chords with a blues 7th.  I can easily retune to standard and play most of any traditional chord.  It makes it versitile to say the least.

alldatndensum wrote:

Driven wrote:

I tried a different tuning on my guitar to see if I could come up with some new riffs. I dropped the E and A strings down to D and G. I already have one riff that was harder to play before the retuning, and another that I just came up with. Would I have found them otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I found them nonetheless.

So your bottom three strings are D G D? 

I am used to a D A D F# tuning in my four string cigar box guitar.  It gives me single fingered chords with a blues 7th.  I can easily retune to standard and play most of any traditional chord.  It makes it versitile to say the least.

Correct. So the bottom two behave like a full step below standard tuning, but you get a power chord G from it. What I've used it for is a riff a bit like Hot Blooded where I chug on the G and use the D and G above it to make inverted power chords. Plus, I can go from that bluesy G riff to a low D during a chorus or bridge. I think it sounds good.

Driven wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

Driven wrote:

I tried a different tuning on my guitar to see if I could come up with some new riffs. I dropped the E and A strings down to D and G. I already have one riff that was harder to play before the retuning, and another that I just came up with. Would I have found them otherwise? Maybe, maybe not, but I found them nonetheless.

So your bottom three strings are D G D? 

I am used to a D A D F# tuning in my four string cigar box guitar.  It gives me single fingered chords with a blues 7th.  I can easily retune to standard and play most of any traditional chord.  It makes it versitile to say the least.

Correct. So the bottom two behave like a full step below standard tuning, but you get a power chord G from it. What I've used it for is a riff a bit like Hot Blooded where I chug on the G and use the D and G above it to make inverted power chords. Plus, I can go from that bluesy G riff to a low D during a chorus or bridge. I think it sounds good.

If it sounds good, keep it up!  I just found a niche where I like what I am doing.  Keep experimenting to see where this takes you.

If you decide to record, I would like to help if at all possible.

I fixed the water heater and replaced our dishwasher.  I feel so manly!  

If duct tape wasn't used how manly are you really?

Ha, valid!  I guess I have much to learn.

kerrick wrote:

I fixed the water heater and replaced our dishwasher.  I feel so manly!  

So if anything goes wrong with either, you'll have yourself to blame 

Yeah... that is a serious downside...  Drat!

Looking forward to flying back to Texas to see my wife and then both of us going to see Benevolence, Halcyon Way and the Galactic Cowboys 

Have a good time, I'd love to see the Galactic Cowboys again.

My main task at work so far has been copying typical details from a structural manual into AutoCAD. It's a learning experience both in AutoCAD, because there are always more tips and tricks to learn) and in structural engineering, because I get to see the basic design behind most construction elements. I confess that it's quite boring sometimes, though. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. My supervisor says he'll have actual projects for me at some point, but since they don't have enough of those details (drawings of different elements, for instance a foundation wall or a joint between beams) drawn up already and since I have to learn this stuff anyway, I'm stuck with this. It's not like they would put an actual engineer on that

Driven wrote:

My main task at work so far has been copying typical details from a structural manual into AutoCAD. It's a learning experience both in AutoCAD, because there are always more tips and tricks to learn) and in structural engineering, because I get to see the basic design behind most construction elements. I confess that it's quite boring sometimes, though. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. My supervisor says he'll have actual projects for me at some point, but since they don't have enough of those details (drawings of different elements, for instance a foundation wall or a joint between beams) drawn up already and since I have to learn this stuff anyway, I'm stuck with this. It's not like they would put an actual engineer on that

Not a bad way to start an introduction to engineering.  Seems like less than half of what I do at work is actual engineering.