640K ought to be enough for anybody.
Bill Gates
1981
[I’m listening, live, to Bill Gates tell us his vision for the future of our group. I’m reminded to not take everything he says as the word of god.–Joe]
Category Archives: Home Life
Wooo hooo!!
This restriction has directly impacted me for years. Barb and I love visiting National Parks. If we get this through then our visits will be far less stressful:
Bush Administration to Propose New Rule Regarding Right-to-Carry in National Parks
Reading the fine print what this really means is that a major offensive has been opened in our battle against the anti-gun bigots on one front. We probably will win but we still have work to do. This is just a commitment to go through the process, including public input, to change the policy. Barb and I have a rule regarding good news. We’ll believe it when “the check clears the bank”.
Thanks go to former Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne (currently Secretary of Interior), Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), and NRA-ILA.
Boomershoot position gone in two minutes
At 5:59:55 I received a phone call. As I said, “Hello” I pushed the “Delete” button to make position 31 available. The man on the phone wanted to sign up for Boomershoot. I told him he had to do it on-line. He thanked me and I wished him good luck.
At 6:02 Carl pushed the button that claimed the position.
Carl was the instructor for the first firearms class I ever took. Taking that class enabled me to obtain my Idaho concealed carry license.
I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy right now. It’s time to go back to bed with Barb.
Second Amendment Blog Bash
May 16-18 is the NRA convention and the Second Amendment Blog Bash in Louisville. Initially I said I would wait and think about it until April or so. Uncle told me to make my reservations then cancel later if I decided to because the hotels fill up quickly.
I procrastinated* for a month or so and Kevin started asking if I was going. I talked to Barb and we decided if she didn’t have to work that weekend we would go. I looked it up on the calendar and found out she had to work and couldn’t go. So told Kevin no and dropped it.
Last week Barb said she wanted some time with her sister in California. I prefer to avoid repressive regimes** so Barb suggested she would go to California sometime and and I could go to Louisville.
I just finished making my reservations. I got a non-smoking King bed at Red Roof for $55.50/night (Fri and Sat, Thu and Sun it’s $45/night). Most of our group is staying at the Executive Inn but it is full. Red Roof is about two miles from the Executive Inn and Convention Center so I rented a car. I’ll willing to give people rides if you want to stay at Red Roof or the Super 8 next door.
See you in Louisville!
* Xenia, this is not justification for you to indulge yourself in the bad habit you inherited from me.
** Peoples Republic of Kalifornia, not Barb’s sister.
The Joy of Sex gets modern makeover
I have had a copy of Joy of Sex and More Joy of Sex since shortly after they came out. Now there is a much updated new version, The New Joy of Sex, due to come out in September. If you can’t get expert personal training then reading a book is the next best thing. This will probably be one of the better books on the market.
My day with Ry
The pass was still closed (they are saying maybe by midnight one of them will be open) when I woke up this morning. I chatted with Barb for a few minutes and was reading a few blogs and posting my QOTD when I got a text message from Ry:
We went to Beth’s and I finally got on the outside of one of their six egg omelets (they have two sizes, six and 12 egg, both come with all the hash browns you can eat).
I took a couple pictures of drawings on the wall:
From there we went to Kerry Park and took some pictures:
We left the park to visit Glazer’s.
At Glazer’s I bought a new camera bag and some minor camera accessories.
We then continued south to Cabela’s in Lacy. I have never been in a Cabela’s before and Ry had only been to the original store in the Midwest. The store was pretty amazing.
The most amazing thing happened there. Someone recognized our Boomershoot coats and my hat and said hi. He said he reads my blog!
I bought a bunch of strange flavored licorice (Piña Colada and blue raspberry among others) some bullets (not loaded ammo, just the Berger, .30 caliber, 210 grain VLD bullets). Wow! Those have gone up by a factor of two since I last bought some. But I figured they weren’t going to get any cheaper.
From way down south in Lacy we went way north to Monroe for the “Fun Show” as Ry likes to call them. Actually it was one of the WAC events. I walked by all the tables and didn’t really see anything of much interest.
We then headed out of town a little way to visit a friend of Ry’s that has a rifle range Ry has permission to use. “A couple hundred yards”, Ry said. Things were in the process of changing. Soon it will be over 850 yards! We stood around and talked with the owner and a friend of his for probably an hour. Maybe next spring when there is more daylight in a day and the longer range is available I might visit again with a long range rifle.
Next we ate dinner at the Old Country Buffet and I dropped him off back at his place and came back to my bunker.
That was a nice day. It was much better than moping around writing buggy code for The Borg like I had planned. Thanks Ry.
But the bummer part of it was Barb had an extremely light day at work and would have been able to spend a lot of time with me at lunch and then gotten off work early to spend more time with me had I been able to make it over the pass and back to Moscow last night.
I love sick humor
I don’t make cosmetic modifications to any of my guns. I’d make an exception for this one.
Bummer, the passes are closed
I may not be going home this weekend. Both Snoqualmie and Stevens passes are closed. I could fly (very expensive on such short notice) or go through Portland (about 8.5 hours of driving instead of 5.0). I may end up spending the weekend in my Seattle area bunker, writing software for The Borg, and feeling sorry for myself.
The current report from Snoqualmie:
Restrictions Eastbound:
Pass ClosedRestrictions Westbound:
Pass ClosedConditions & Weather:
Pass is closed due to severe weather conditions and avalanche danger. We are starting 8 to 10 hours of avalanche control, followed by clean up efforts. Motorists should expect extended delays. // Snowing, blowing snow and poor visibility
The current report from Stevens:
Restrictions Eastbound:
Pass ClosedRestrictions Westbound:
Pass ClosedConditions & Weather:
Compact snow and ice. US 2 is closed from Scenic to Rayrock due to avalanche danger. An estimated reopen time is not determined. // Snowing, strong winds, blowing snow with poor visibility
Update 15:38 PST: From the Snoqualmie website:
Avalanche control work continues and it is now estimated that I-90 Snoqualmie pass will not open earlier than Saturday morning. Opening the roadway will be based on avalanche risk analysis. The roadway will be opened when it is safe to do so. WSDOT will give updates as work progresses and information becomes available. // Snowing, blowing snow and poor visibility
I’ll be blaming Global Warming as I’m moping around creating bugs for the Borg. I’m certain it’s all Algore’s fault.
Update 23:19 PST: From the WSDOT Snoqualmie Pass website:
Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass Update: Avalanche control work continues and it is now estimated that I-90 Snoqualmie pass will be reassessed Saturday, opening no earlier than Saturday evening. Opening the roadway will be based on avalanche risk analysis. The roadway will be opened when it is safe to do so. WSDOT will give updates as work progresses and information becomes available. // Snowing, blowing snow and poor visibility
This will make making babies more interesting
If only I could have convinced Barb when we were in the baby making business we needed some help:
LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists have created human embryos with three parents in a development they hope could lead to effective treatments for a range of serious hereditary diseases within five years.
Researchers from Newcastle University, in northern England, presented their findings at a medical conference at the weekend, a university spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
The IVF, or test-tube, embryos were created using DNA from one man and two women.
Both women have could carried babies that were from all three of us. However great an idea I think this is I am sure Barb will manage to find some fault with it. She is kinda funny that way.
Quote of the day–former Yahoo employee
Most Yahoo employees will feel that, A., we lost, and B., there is no way in hell that I am going to work for Microsoft.
Former Yahoo employee who wishes to remain anonymous
Microsoft and Yahoo!: Happily Ever After?
[After they get their Borg implants and take a couple swigs of Microsoft Brainwash they’ll be fine.–Joe]
Quote of the day–Paul McCracken
I am not an Economist. I am an honest man!
Paul McCracken
[More stuff on economists as I continue listening to The Big Three in Economics by Mark Skousen. Did you know that Marx bragged about “making a killing” in the stock market? Or that Adam Smith, a big proponents of zero tariffs, worked most of his life as a customs official collecting tariffs?–Joe]
Snow reports
Xenia reports on the snow in Moscow with a bunch of pictures. There is a snow drift four foot deep in our back yard:
Nearly everything in town is shut down. The weather forecasts are for more snow for several days.
On the western front the Snoqualmie pass report is interesting too:
Snoqualmie Pass remains closed from milepost 34 near North Bend to milepost 106 near Ellensburg. The earlier estimate of opening Thursday morning was based on a forecast of cooler temperatures and dry snow accumulations. The overnight snow accumulations have more than double the moisture predicted and temperatures have risen. Therefore the avalanche danger has increased instead of decreased and an estimated time of opening is not known. Additional information will be available at 10:00 a.m. // Snowing with areas of poor visibility
Nope. No more information at 10:00. It’s possible Barb is stuck with me for longer than she planned.
Bummer. My wife is stuck at the summit of Snoqualmie pass
Barb left Moscow this morning to visit me at my super secret hardened bunker in the Seattle area. Traffic stopped moving when she reached the very top of Snoqualmie summit at about 3:15 PM. I’ve been watching the web cam and getting updates via the web. The latest story is that she has been stopped for two hours now and the pass is now closed in both directions. The latest word from WSDOT:
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She may be spending the night in the Jeep. She has blankets, sleeping bag, and food. She’ll survive just fine but it won’t be fun.
If she had left 10 minutes earlier she would be here by now.
Heavy sigh….
Update: 6:32 PM. She is off the freeway now on a side road near the ski lodge. They are not allowed to travel in either direction.
She went inside the lodge and found “about a 100 people in the lobby”. They had 19 rooms available. She is settling in for the night in her Jeep.
There is a small store open and people are stocking up on supplies. Barb is in a better situation than some. There is one woman there with several small kids. There are also some cars trapped in the slide area. The low tonight is supposed be 26oF so she shouldn’t have any problem staying warm and she has about 3/4 of a tank of gas.
Assuming she can travel tomorrow morning it will just be one of those “interesting stories” you have to tell your grandkids.
Update2: 7:55 PM. Barb says, “This is a very boring adventure. You can put that on your damn blog.”
A police car drove by announcing the westbound on ramp will be opening soon. She may make it over here yet!
Update3: 8:15 PM. A police car drove by again. This time the officer said there was a short delay, “But you guys are going to make it.”
Update4: 8:23 PM. They are taking westbound traffic out in convoys. She should make it to my bunker within a couple hours.
Update5: 8:48 PM. One convoy per hour until 10:00 PM and she apparently missed the first one. But she is moving again now.
Update6: 8:59 PM. No further word from Barb but KIRO has a story and pictures of the avalanche. There were two cars caught in the avalanche but no one was hurt. The video is more impressive.
Update7: 9:23 PM. She made it to North Bend which is out of the snow. She should be here in 45 minutes or so.
Update8: 10:02 PM. She made it to my bunker. All is well.
Quote of the day–LawDog
Evil is not defeated by submitting to it. Evil is not defeated by running away from it; nor is evil defeated by ignoring it.
Evil is only defeated by fighting back.
You may, or may not, think you have the right to self-defence — and that is between you and your conscience. As a member of society — as a member of a community — you have the duty, the obligation, and the responsibility of self-defence.
LawDog
Meditations on Self Defence
January 27, 2008
[Via Tam. I’m in full agreement with this philosophy but not all people are.
I had an interesting discussion with my officemate last week. She is from India and a Jain. Just a quick refresher on that philosophy of life:
Nonviolence includes the concepts of vegetarianism. Jains are expected to be non-violent in thought, word, and deed, both toward humans and toward all other living beings, including their own selves. Jain monks and nuns walk barefoot and sweep the ground in front of them to avoid killing any insects or other tiny beings. Even though all life is considered sacred by the Jains, human life is deemed the highest form of life. For this reason, it is considered vital never to harm or upset any person.
They also don’t eat the roots of plants because of the increased chance of harming some organism that lives in the soil or the root. She does eat dairy products but not eggs.
Quite a contrast from me. I asked her, “If a lion was about to have you, or your children, for lunch does your religion require you to submit? The answer was that in the most pure form, yes, you are required to tolerate being lunch. But of course most people would not do that. They would fight back. Similar responses were obtained after gentle probes about taking antibiotics and defending against a human attacker. I dropped the subject. Maybe some other time when we have lots of time (this was to/from a lunch for our group) I’ll explore more. It seems so odd to me that their ideal and the admitted practical are so divergent. And that she is so positive about my explosive videos. Maybe it’s just the contrast from her live experience in a non-threatening form. Or maybe she is just being a Jain and doesn’t want to upset me by showing her disapproval.
[shrug]
Those are questions for another time–we have a product to ship…–Joe]
Shooting steel in the snow
I don’t like to miss an opportunity to mock the shooters in the Seattle area who shutdown their matches in the winter. The shooters in Idaho are made of better stuff.
The following pictures are from the steel match at the Lewiston Pistol Club on Sunday.
This was the scene as I walked out my door Sunday morning.
Scene at the range.
Adam gives us the stage walk-through.
Joe M. is terminally ill and I was pleased to be able to see him again. Don W. is the range officer.
Another picture of Joe M. with brass in the air above his rear sight.
When Joe M. can make it to the range and shoot in the snow the shooters in the Seattle area have truly earned their wimp badges.
I blame global warming
Sunday night I drove from my home in Moscow, Idaho to my secret bunker in the Seattle area in preparation for another week of work for The Borg. The road was compact snow and ice from home to Vantage when I got on I-90. Most of that drive was across the desert of Eastern and Central Washington.
Yes, desert. Othello, Washington only gets about 8.4 inches of precipitation per year. A desert is defined as getting less than 10 inches per year. The picture below was taken a few miles east of Othello:
Quick! Tell Algore global warming is destroying our deserts!
Bigot on the public payroll
The school VP suspended a kid because he had a pen with a Glock Logo on it.
I’d show up to pick up my kid with my lawyer while wearing this shirt:
Then I’d give the VP a copy of 18 USC 242 and tell the VP I was going to visit the Federal Prosecutor next. The tone of my voice would scare him far more than the words I used.
In Moscow Idaho my daughter (above) actually wore the shirt you see above to school. She only showed it to one teacher, but still, he thought it was cool.
A couch Xenia might want
Xenia is our daughter who made the vagina cake, wore “Vagina Day” shirts to school, and did the Celebration of Ovulation anthology. Here is her cake:
Thanks to Tam we now have a couch I can only imagine Xenia wanting. A sample picture:
Bobby Fischer is dead
In high school and college I played a LOT of chess. I still have the records of hundreds of games I played and dozens of books and magazines. I had thought maybe my children would be interested in chess but kids seem to develop interests in things other than what their parents are interested in.
In any case I was a big into chess before Bobby Fischer became the first American world chess champion. Fischer winning the championship made chess in the U.S. popular for a while. And I remember walking into the high school cafeteria on the first day of school in the fall of ’72 shortly after he had won and my friend Lance Jones yelling across the room, “Yea Fischer!”.
In later years after I was most of the way through college my electrical engineering classes started sucking up the desire for challenging intellectual stimulation and I mostly dropped out of the chess scene.
Fischer made the news again a few years ago and I wrote about him then. The news about him made me sad and now that he is dead at the age of 64 it’s like another milestone in my life. A childhood hero is gone.
Wonderfalls wrap-up
Last week James and I finished watching Wonderfalls and then started Farscape this week (we found Season One in a far off, obscure video rental store and are shipping it in/out at great expense).
Wonderfalls was a pretty good show. I think James liked it better than I did. There were some good quotes:
Jaye: [spying on a little boy customer] He’s eyeing the Slinky. You know, he has to steal, like, four of those for me to even get a dollar.
Wonderfalls Security Guard: Is this one of those stores that gives its employees a cash bonus when they apprehend a shoplifter?
Jaye: Ten percent of whatever they were gonna steal. One time, I “accidentally” left the watch case open and I got like 500 bucks!Hale: The Blonde one’s gay. Look at her. The fingernails are a dead giveaway.
Hale: Cut all nice and short. Clean cuticle beds. Lesbians always trim their nails like that. You know why?Jaye: [talking about Bianca] She’s nice. We should take her clubbing.
Mahandra: …baby seals?Or noticing the bartender’s cell phone is ringing in his back pocket— Jaye says, “Your ass is ringing.” Bartender: “My ass rings a lot.” Jaye: “Have you ever thought of setting it on vibrate? Bartender: “I’m not sure I’m secure enough with my manhood to do that.” Jaye: “So, why do you have an ass if you don’t answer it?”
James lamented that too many good shows are canceled after one season. In this case I thing I understand why it wouldn’t have that big of audience. Even though had a rather flimsy premise it was well executed and witty but I think the delivery speed and the intelligence required to catch all the jokes as they came whizzing by would eliminate 80% of the population.
[heavy sigh]
Our demographic probably isn’t the best investment of T.V. talent and airtime.