The ham radio test needs to stay in place (but maybe be changed)

It needs to be left in place to keep it from turning into CB.

CB had a lot of potential and still would have if the FCC had done it's job and slammed a few people with fines it would likely still be a useful utility. Unmonitored it rapidly became a sewer and while for that reason it had quieted down somewhat because the idiots have destroyed it.

I hear a lot of 'freedom of the airwaves' bull$hit going around these days. The bands are restricted with damned good reason. 

While I run a basic libertarian position I am not an anarchist. I do not want to find myself on an airplane with the pilot trying to get organized only to not be able to communicate with the tower because some Billy-Joe-Bob is trying out his new 10K watt linear amplifier on the air band.

The test itself serves a purpose. It makes people invest in the hobby. 

Someone said the test is too heavy on engineering and it probably is. My test had Smith chart questions on it and I have never even seen one since the test. I don't need to know a whole lot about slow scan TV other than it's an option for a ham. 

(Someone asked me why anyone would have an interest in SSTV and as usual I gave them a straight faced reply. I said there was usually some pretty good porn being sent these days. That drew a wide-eyed interested "Really?")

I think the test should be more aimed at procedure, band plans and the legal issues to keep an operator out of hot water and insure he runs a fairly clean show.

Still, I think there should be a test before you are issued a license. The test is the investment needed to get the license and the license is something that could be taken away from you if you abuse the airwaves. 

When you test your are making an investment is something that you can lose.

If you're too lazy or stupid to learn proper procedure and which bands to use when and where then you have no business being on the air.

===============================

Before someone jumps in here trying to use the exception to prove the rule, as it should be any form of communication can be legally used in the case of an emergency to save life or property.

Some people think that means that after the fire is out that non licensed transmission ceases immediately. I don't. In the case of a disaster give it a rest and permit those beleaguered people a chance to get on their feet. If an emergency net pops up somewhere with a mission of supplying food and medicine to the people than let it be until things settle down. Incidentally 'pick up a loaf of bread and a quart of milk on your way home is NOT an emergency situation.

The reason I post this is because a couple of Sad Hams tried to tell people in the recent flood areas that they were using the bands illegally. Clearly they were not. Even if they technically were than so what. It gave us ALL a lot of really bad press.

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Well, we're already seeing a rigged election in action

Early voting, mail in voting and the rest of it for the 'convenience' of the voter is doing just what I thought it would do. It's being hacked. Bucks County, PA is one.

I'm getting reports from various places around the state of some fishy business going on. Yup the election is being rigged.

I'm calling this one now.

In reality Trump will win.

Kamala will be installed.

We're screwed, blued and tattooed.

Hopefully I am wrong.

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I should have kept all of the election junk mail

and bought a wood stove and a log maker.

I could heat my house on junk mail and drop my gas bill to practically nothing this winter had I done this.

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The heart and soul of an Old School sports car.

Back in the day I went through an MGB, a Spitfire, and a TR-3, the latter two being Triumphs. Those cars had souls of their own.

The had everything wrong with them for use as reliable transportation and the TR-3 even had a hand crank in the boot to start it with when to Prince of Darkness Lucas Electrics decided that it was their turn to torment the owners. 

The engines usually needed a rebuild at about 80,000 miles if they lasted that long. The were uncomfortable as hell, sprung stiffly and rode horribly. They were totally miserable on long trips.  

There were no creature comforts. When the heaters ran which was seldom they provided little if any heat in the winter and utterly no defrost. Savvy drivers carried a squeegee to keep the windshield from fogging up. They were also terrible in snow.

They were crude, simple pushrod engine machines which was actually a part of the joy of having one. 

The owner's manuals explained how to adjust the valves and the twin SU semi down draught carburetters (Carburetors) to draw air evenly.

(Modern manuals tell you not to drink the battery acid) 

There was one reason and only one reason to own one and it's because they were so much damned fun to drive. While they were not fast by any means, they were quick nimble machines that required the driver to do it all themselves. The driver had to do all the operations themselves. They had to actually drive the car. 

Of course the gearheads of the time were busying themselves souping up American cars with huge V-8 that could leave two black lines of rubber from here to the horizon. The sports car people only had smaller 4 cylinder engines and were not anywhere nearly as fast on the straightaways. It was on the curves where they excelled.

There's still a saying to this day that straight lines are for fast cars and that curves are for fast drivers. There's more than a kernel of truth to it. Those cars could handle the curves.

Most savvy gearheads knew this and understood it. Occasionally some cocky dumbass would insist his V-8 behemoth that spit fire could not be beat under any circumstances. 

Personally I showed two people otherwise, leaving one in a snowbank and the other in a vacant lot as they failed to negotiate the curve I had just scorched through. One was a V-8 family car which really doesn't count. He wound up in a snowbank. The 4 guys in the car spent most of the night getting it out of the ditch, IIRC.

The other one was a Shelby GT-500 KR with a 429 in it. To be truthful, had if been a GT 350 they might have had a chance. Both of these were a Ford/Carrol Shelby creation. The 500 tended to be a bit nose heavy. The 500KR was a fire spewing monster when it left Detroit. I left the Shelby in a freshly cleared vacant lot behind me madder than a wet hornet because he needed a tow and that meant his rich daddy would find out about it and probably ground him.

Both times I didn't stop. In the first case the car had 4 pissed off guys in it. In the second the guy was bigger than me and I wasn't stupid enough to stop and try to help.

Of course at the time personal responsibility was even back then on the wane. Both of them had the "look at what you made me do" attitude even though they had been the challengers. I had simply laid out the terms...and won.

For quite a while the Brits pretty much had a monopoly on those two hole sports cars. There were cars they made that were even smaller than the MGB. There was the MG Midget and the Austin Healey Sprite for example. One model Sprite is well known as the 'bug-eyed Sprite because of it's headlights being mounted high on the hood.

The last MGB left the British Leyland works in 1980 and that left a vacuum for these little cars. They continued to be held together with spit, bailing wire for quite some time until the Japanese saw the vacuum and entered it with the MX-5 Miata.

Needless to say, with Japanese engineering and bulletproof Japanese engines capable of running well over 200+K miles and sometimes 300K miles.

The Japanese had it down to a T with the NA generation of Miatas. They were identical in driving as the old British counterparts were except they were reliable as hell and actually had heaters that worked. They got the wind in the hair, bugs in the teeth driving style down pat. In fact they even got most of the uncomfortable and cramped part right. 

They had done a near perfect job of duplicating the heart and soul of the Old School British sports car.

Introduced in 1989 and sold in 1990 sales took off. They sold well and for a while they couldn't keep up with American orders.

In 1999 they introduced the second generation, the NB model of the MX5 Miata. It was more modernized and had more amenities and was starting to lose it's original Old School charm. Personally for that reason in my mind it is an 'Almost and Old School sports car.'

The car is now in its fourth generation, with the NC and ND generations. The NC and ND are not really Old School sports cars. In fact I herd the majority of them come with automatic transmissions and that is a deal breaker in itself. They are 'touring convertibles' and actually (and correctly) are marketed as such.

Personally I have no interest in owning an NC or an ND and might be able to stand having an NB if it had the Bilstein Package in it.  An NB with the Bilstein package can be a real road holder.

I am not alone here with my attitude because NAs have a real cult following. A low mileage in excellent condition can draw upwards of $20,000 and you have to remember the newest of NA is now is 26 years old. My '91 is 33 years old.

I truly believe that an NA has the heart and soul of an Old School British sports car. They are just so damned much fun to drive.

But that's just me.

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Yahoo mail just got NEW and IMPROVED.

Which lasted about a day before I clicked the button to make it return to the old mode which was a lot simpler.

It was another case of adding ' new features' for the sake of adding new features and making it harder to deal with. 

It's email, plain and simple and too much of it is trash and spam to begin with.

I opened an email from a friend and there was an AI generated synopsis of what my friend wrote which I found mildly irritating. I don't want some AI generated and sometimes poorly written of what somebody has to say. I want to simply want to read what somebody really has to say. 

I figure that people will get hooked reading the AI generated garbage and slowly over time the AI will be adjusted to say what Big Brother wants us to read. Screw that.

The format I have been using since Abraham Lincoln told us not to believe what we read on the internet just because there's a picture with a caption under it* was good enough for Honest Abe and it's good enough for me.

I am certainly NOT adverse to change for good reason. On the other hand, I am VERY adverse to change for the sake of change. 

I've used Yahoo mail for a long time now, probably well over 20 years and if I am not mistaken I have had to reset it to the old format a couple of times now because the new formats don't do anything for me.

NEW and IMPROVED sometimes means just that but more often it means new and more difficult to work with. 

* A couple of years ago I said that to someone and he shot back that Abe Lincoln never said that.

"Bullshit, I replied. I saw it with my own eyes on KMXT TV on the six o'clock news on May 12, 1863."

I got a wide eyed, "Really? I didn't know that."

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I don't care if you were a SEAL or a Marine or a Soldier. Why should I?

Military/police/whatever service is not a qualification for political office. There are any number of people that have served that I don't want to see elected.

I don't care where you went to school or even if you DID go to school. A degree in whatever is no qualification for political office. What I DO want to see in office are people that understand the needs of the average guy and understand the Constitution and knows how to keep government off our back.

Sometimes I wish the financial end of things was being run by an Irish mother of 12 that was married to a carpenter or mechanic.

 

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Moral superiority.

We live in a world that somehow believes that a person working in a Starbucks that has an unmarketable degree in underwater basket weaving and can do no better is morally superior to a tradesman making six figures.

For some odd reason some believe that a woman found beaten, raped and murdered in an alley somewhere is morally superior to a woman that shot her assailants dead.

I don't get it and I am not alone here.

The Starbuck barista probably has $100K+ in student debt because he was too stupid to look down the road and get a marketable degree. All he provides for us is pouring cups of overpriced coffee. He's got  lot of coffee to pour before his loans get paid off.

It doesn't even take an apprenticed tradesman to beat that as a service to the human race. The much maligned trash men do more of a service. Trash collection and indoor plumbing have done more in the area of the prevention of disease that the entire medical profession combined.

That's FAR more useful to society than most people with degrees.

Now let's look at the corpse.

The dead woman has done nobody a service by being a victim. 

On the other hand the woman that shot two attempted rapists stone dead has done the human race a rather nice service by making us a bit safer. 

Pray. Please tell me why the raped and beaten corpse in the alley is so much morally superior to the woman that just saved herself.

YES. The human race really is that stupid. 

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Ahh, yes. The Miata paint job.

which everyone said would come out terribly because you can't paint a car with rattle cans.

Actually it wasn't the entire car, it was the upper half of the front bumper cover. I was seriously thinking I should paint it matte black. I got the paint code and started scouting around.

While the car still had its factory paint job and is in excellent shape, I do have to realize it's a 33 year old car and garage kept or not, it is still a 33 year old paint job. Things fade. The truth is that the color was so far off that when I was done it looked like it was intentional instead of being a poor attempt at matching it.

Off to find out what to do and where to get the paint. The bumper cover really looked like hell. Internet search time and of all places, I found the paint at Walmart on line. Done deal, I ordered 2 cans of paint. I also grabbed a can of primer and a can of clearcoat locally.

The job itself:

I taped and papered everything off as necessary, roughed up the fiberglass surface and primed it. Primer is important because primer sticks to the materiel and paint sticks better to primer.

Then I did the test strip on a piece of white paper and discovered the red was darker and deeper than the rest of the car. Back to the think tank.

I recalled seeing NA Miatas the darker color before and figured that the company that made the paint had sent me that. Then I imagined the bumper cover that different shade and figured that the contrast would not look too bad on the bumper cover. Still, the mismatch was bad. In fact it was so bad it could never be mistaken for a poor match. It wouls make the bumper cover an accent piece instead.

Of course, if I was repainting a door there was no way in hell I would use it. 

I decided to go for it. I figured that if it sucked I'd simply repaint the whole upper bumper cover matte black.

I applied the color coat, three coats and while the color was OK, the finish looked like hell. 

STOP! 

Back to the laptop and found someone else that had gone through the same problem and he reported that the clearcoat is what makes the difference. I was dubious at best but figured that sanding off a couple of extra coats of clearcoat would not be too much extra work. I continued.

The clearcoat can said to go with two or three coats but I know myself. I tend to overpaint things so instead I went with five light coats, waiting about fifteen minutes between coats per can instructions.

I was truly amazed as the coats built up. The roughness of the color coat disappeared and became smooth appearing and this morning I saw it and it looked damned good, all things considered.

While the color didn't change and even deepened a bit the nose took on a hue of its own and looks pretty good set off like that. The finish seems OK and while it certainly isn't a factory job, it's not too bad.

I suppose that it's about the same quality as an Earl Scheib or a Maaco job and when you consider it came out of rattle cans it's an amazingly damned good job. 

It at least looks finished because that nose sure was raggedy.

Frankly I have no intentions of entering the Miata in the Las Vegas annual car show. I didn't buy the car for that reason. I bought that car to drive. Still, I want it to look halfway decent and now it does so I'm good with that. If in the future I decide I don't like it then I'll just paint the damned thing matte black and call it good. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Update. Unbelievable!

The nose looks almost burgundy in the garage. When I took it outside and into direct sunlight the color is a perfect match although somewhat glossier than the rest of the car. Admittedly I did use a very high gloss clear coat.

I can't figure that one out.

 

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Ham radio licensing. Let's make this EASY.

I've heard numerous complaints about how hard the ham radio test is to get licensed. Fact is a couple of days ago I worked a 14 YO kid that was a licensed Extra and had held a General ticket since he was 10.

I DON'T say that to shame anyone, but simply to point out that for practically everyone to get licensed. There are two ways to get licensed. You can learn the materiel which takes forever and a day or you can learn the test which doesn't take very much time and effort.

I consider the license simply as a license to learn...as well as a learning tool in itself. 

Learning all the materiel to pass the test, much of which is useless in the real world takes some serious doing. In the process the brain gets cloudy and the person gets a feeling of being totally overwhelmed.

Can't say as I blame them. If I went that route I would have been overwhelmed. The amount of meaningless knowledge required to pass the test IS overwhelming if you are actually trying to learn the materiel.

So stop, take a breath and think a minute. Ask yourself what you are trying to do. Are you trying to add all sorts of minutia to your head and further your knowledge? If so, please carry on. 

On the other hand, if you are simply trying to get a license then focus on that with laser intensity and learn the test...and ONLY the test. Break down what you are doing into smaller parcels. ONE thing at a time. Small steps. Focus on one single thing, passing the test.

QRZ.com and eHam.net have the entire test bank of questions on line and set up practice tests for you to take. I understand the ARRL does, too. I ran with eHam but the others are just as good. You get the answers and your score after you answer 30 questions. It's not official and you can take, retake and re-retake them as much as you want. Every test they give you is different and you simply sit down and take them.

They will show you your wrong answer AND the correct answer. Try and remember the correct answer for the next time you take a practice test.

Most likely you ARE going to do poorly. I know I did. Admittedly I had some military radio hands on experience so my first practice test I did rather well. I think I probably got about a 40%. I had expected this. In fact I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected a -8 or something.

Rinse, repeat. It's like cramming for a college exam. Keep doing this until you start getting consistent 90s in the technician tests and then start taking the General tests. You will be amazed at how well you do on the General test. Much of the General test is a rehash of the Technician test. Just take and retake the General test until you are getting high 80s and 90s. 

By now some of you are reading this wide-eyed and screeching 'But I have to learn all of this stuff!' (Wrong. You just have to know the  answers to the test questions.) "I can't just go in and take a test without knowing the materiel!" (Yes you can. All you just want to pass the damned test. That's all just pass the damned test. It really is that simple. Pass the damned test! That's all.)

The rest will take care of itself.

Now hopefully you are now in study mode and are motivated to go on the the Extra tests. I didn't do this and wish I had. Later I realized that I wanted to be able to use the Extra portions of the bands so a couple months later I studied again and made Extra. I wish I had done it the first time.

Anyway, when you are getting 80s and 90s you scout around for the next opportunity to take the test. You can find that on the ARRLwebsite. In my case the nearest one was a mile away but was in two months. I opted to drive about an hour and a half the following Saturday to test while it was still fresh in my mind.

One important thing here. If you can pass the test you will learn a lot. If you know the answers to the test you will have learned a LOT in the process. When something comes up more often than not, you will say, "Hey! I learned that in the test!"

The test itself is a pretty good teaching aid in itself.

Part 2. Going on the air.

A couple of days after you pass the test your call will appear on the FCC database. You can now go on the air.

It's simple. For the first couple of days you do three things. 1. Listen.

2. Listen. 3. Listen. Listen carefully to learn the new language you are about to speak. This ain't CB. You're in the big leagues now. There are no 'good buddies' in the ham world. Familiarize your self with the commonly used Q codes.

When you decide to actually go on the air I recommend you find quiet airspace and listen for a minute or so and the first words out of your mouth should be "Is the frequency in use?" if there is no answer you say, "Nothing heard." Wait a few seconds. You may then call "CQ, CQ, CQ", followed by your callsign. Rinse, repeat and someone will likely get back to you.

I believe the ARRL is still doing this. A few days after your call shows up on the FCC data base you will receive a THICK envelope. Much (but not all) of this is just plain junk mail. You'll get advertisements for all sorts of crap you can't afford, coupons for things you may or may not be interested in and all sorts of stuff.

There will also be a number of useful things also. I got the band chart I received and had it laminated and still use it today to insure I'm not using phone in the data/CW portion of the band.

 

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Someone asked me why I didn't retire as soon as I could.

They were kind of stunned when I gave them the reason.

Because I was having too damned much fun at work.

For me it was like being a little kid or living in Kodiak. I just wanted to see what would happen next. Work to me was wonderfully entertaining. I was on the water with a bunch of pretty damned good people and there was a lot of fun, socialization and entertainment.

I enjoyed it and it also gave me a sense of mission. I have go go to A, load a cargo that made people's lives a lot better and take it to B where it could be distributed. Sometimes I'd deliver oil to the end user, like a powerplant.

One time someone was horrified when I told them I transported oil and I told them that if I don't do my job than they were going to have to walk home from work and freeze in the dark.

I told someone else that if I didn't do my job that they would have to sit in a freezing home watch television by candle light. 

In a way, that's true. Fact is I had an infrastructure job, one that served the public in a very real way. That gave me an immense source of pride. 

When you like what you do you never have to go to work and still make a paycheck. I got to be a kid and have fun for my entire life.

It was like being Peter Pan!

Career wise I got to skip out of that horrible part of life called middle age. I went from being a kid straight to old age and that was one hell of a good deal! 

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Having too much and being stuck with it.

Like a number of older people I have considered selling the house and downsizing. I just discovered I can't afford to do this.

Why? Because my basic housing expenses are lower than the cost of a one bedroom apartment! I can't afford to downsize!

The place is paid off with much of the credit for that going to my wife who handled finances all the time I was working away from home. 

For years since we paid it off I had ball parked about a grand a month to live here, taxes, tags, title heat, light , trash, everything.

Surprise! When I sat down for the first time I realized the $1000 estimate was high by about 20%! 

Prior to a little over a month ago I'd ball park everything in my head and every so often look at the checking account balance and if it was growing I was good with that. It was a reasonably good way to figure things. The account always grew and every now and then when it got too big I'd empty most of it into a decent savings account or buy a CD.

Recently I sat down and got myself an exact figure for monthly expenses. Of course gas and electricity vary some but even in the dead of winter after the fire when several rooms had no insulation and the furnace seldom ever shut off I seriously don't think I hit close to a grand. 

There's no real reason to downsize, just dig in for the duration. 

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Hey, kids! Guess what I've got for you this year!

I just acquired 6, yes SIX. That's this many IIIIII SIX each five gallon cans of HIGHWAY YELLOW paint. It's the stuff they paint lines on the highway with! It's nasty stuff!

Halloween is just around the corner! 

Remember that crabby old man that called the cops on you for playing baseball in the empty lot? How about that Karen that called the cops on you for riding your bicycle with no helmet?

Well, it's PAYBACK time!

You don't even need a brush! Simply dump the can in the middle of their lawn and scamper off. This stuff will self-level and put about an inch layer of nasty highway yellow in a 20 foot diameter and kill all the grass. After it dries it will take an entire weekend to pull it up and get rid of it. Not only that, they will have to take it to a hazardous waste site and pay through the nose to get rid of it!

 A landscaper will probably charge 10 grand to remove it!

The best is yet to come! The vile chemicals it releases will keep grass from growing in the spot and only thistles can survive in it!

Just think! If you are in 7th grade you will be able to go by their house and see a nasty patch of thistles in their yard until you graduate from college!

ACT NOW!  Operators are standing by!

Smarten that Karen or Ken up!

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Missed a day.

Sue me. 

I was busy helping the wife out.

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I just passed low energy season

which is in the fall when it's warm enough to not have the furnace running and cool enough you don't need to run the A/C.

The electric bill goes way up in the summer but the gas bill drops to just a skosh above nothing. My combined energy bill the past month was $129 which ain't squat. Come winter gas will go through the roof and electricity will drop some. 

Still, winter and summer are expensive energy periods.

After the fire the hot water heater, a tank model, cratered and we went with a tankless and with just one person living here the amount of hot water used is not very much. It's tankless so we don't have to keep a tank full of water hot 24/7.

Anyway this is a pretty good time of year.

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First responders are poorly named.

No slight to any cop, fireman, EMT or whatever. You guys are a very important part of our world and are often the very glue that holds civilization together.

Still, in my mind they are not first responders. 

The actual first responder is the person that calls them. They saw the situation and responded to it. 

Personally a lot of times I informally refer to them collectively as the US Cavalry because they come charging in blowing the bugle (or siren) to save the day. 

One time I was riding with a friend who sometimes is a little slow on the uptake and an ambulance was coming up behind us and I heard it first. "Pull over, the US Cavalry is coming up on our six," I said.

"The US Cavalry? What do you mean....Oh." was the reply.

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Are you really that stupid? Really?

This post is a way to get around the AI of another website. I can't post this there but I can post a link to this post here.

You went on record to say that nobody in the township needs a gun and that there is low crime here.

You live with your head buried in the sand and are totally unaware of the world around you. First of all you live in one of (if not the) most heavily armed townships in the county. That's a pretty big part of why we have little crime here. 

The forces of evil know that and realize that robbing the citizens of our township runs a better than average chance of being confronted by an armed citizen. That's a big part of why your living in a safe community. I know my neighborhood is well armed and as such a safe place to live.

Quite a number of people in the township are also hunters. They serve several purposes by hunting, two immediately come to mind. First they feed their families with good organic meat free of the various chemicals, hormones and other things that cattle, pig and chicken growers use to promote growth. 

The other thing hunters do is to manage the deer herds and greatly reduce your chances of running into one and receiving personal of vehicular damage in the process. 

If you really believe that nobody in the township should own a gun than sing it out. Make yourself heard. 

Proudly proclaim with a lawn sign how you stand on the issue.

Put out a lawn sign proudly proclaiming your home to be gun free and a safe place for children. Don't hide your feelings. Let everyone know how you feel.

Show everyone how safe your home is. Do it!

I doubt you have the nerve. You're probably all mouth. Instead you are going to sit in your living room watching TV and living under the shelter provided by those that are exercising their Second Amendment rights.

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Another day at home but maybe not.

Actually this morning started off pretty good with a chuckle. I was running my PRC320 military rig in the driveway and apparently some dog walker (best guess) saw me and called the police. It's happened before and eventually will likely happen again. Still, it's a very rare event because I've been doing this on nice days for about 15 years or so.

If anybody asked (and nobody did this morning) I usually tell them I am checking in with the Moose and Squirrel net to report the area is secure and ask them if they've seen Boris and Natasha recently. 

Anyway, the officer pulled up, rolled down his window and with a grin asked if I was still keeping an eye on Rocky and Bullwinkle. I said that I was and asked him if someone had called in. Someone had and the cop grinned, told me to have a good day and was ready to leave but had a thought.

He asked me what the furthest distance I had ever gotten on the little rig and I told him Australia a few time. 

"I'm impressed," he said and drove off.

It was pretty much a non event.

 

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Morning is over and I am looking into working at the sportsman club a couple days a week as a volunteer. I spent a couple hours there today and watched a couple of younger guys sight in in-line muzzleloaders for the season that starts in a few days.

It was fun because I took the Miata through the backroads. 

I really love driving a 33 YO Old School sports car.

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I just got word a guy I know almost got into some fairly hot water and it ain't fair.

Seems he and his significant other got into it and  he walked out. In short he broke off the fight. He retreated. 

When one party breaks it off it's done. Over. Finished. Both go somewhere to cool off or maybe even leave permanently.

Many years ago I figured out early on I was dating a drama queen run completely by emotion and the first time a minor spat got out of hand I left never to return. It later proved to be a wise decision. She was a real mess.

Anyway she followed him which means she was bringing the fight to him and he retreated a couple more times.

Of course needless to say, his retreat enraged her more and she finally tried to hit him with something and he simply defended himself by giving her a good shove that sent her back where she tripped on something and hit her head. 911 got called and for once someone got involved and told the cop what happened. 

There's usually a somebody goes to jail policy when things like this happened. Maybe the cop didn't want to bother with the paperwork or maybe he decided justice was served but the guy I know got off. 

Either way he was damned lucky and if he goes anywhere near her he's just plain stupid.

 

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What if governance sets up intolerable guard rails?

I tend to agree that humans collectively need guard rails. It's not OK to hack each other up or steal from each other. That's a given.

Still, the question is how much space is there between the guardrails?

I have lived by a moral code that guides me. I must be doing something right because I have not gotten into any real trouble in my life. (That and the fact that I have never been caught.)

The law only goes so far. When it goes too far it is the duty of the people to break said law and just plain ignore it.

An example of that is the ownership of certain firearms in certain places. Compliance with laws banning them runs well under 10% in these places and that disgusts me because it SHOULD run zero.

There are a few other rules that should be ignored. 

Right now in Michigan the governor signed a safe storage act and has instructed teachers to ask students what goes on at home which is clearly none of their business.

As far as I'm concerned any teacher that asks kids anything about their home life should be dragged out of the classroom and be beaten senseless by the parents.

The ONLY thing the teachers should be interested in are obvious signs of malnutrition or abuse. That's it. 

Of course a group of fathers beating up a 23 year old woman schoolteacher would result in them being called cowardly woman beaters so she should be handed over to the mothers to dispense justice to.

I pity the schoolmarm that has to deal with six or eight angry mothers. They can be worse than men.

When the guide rails get to narrow it's the duty of We, the People to stretch them out a bit.

I've said this before, and it bears repeating. Anne Frank was hidden by outlaws and ratted out by law abiding citizens.

While I am on topic, most governors are heavily guarded, usually by the state police. I wonder what they would act like if they were not given such protection. Maybe they would be far more apt to leave us alone.

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Wowee kazowie! A black owned pizza place!

Which means I will likely check it out because I like pizza.

If he makes a good pie than likely he will have a repeat customer. If he makes a great pie he can bet on having a regular customer.

If he makes a lousy pie he will never see me again.

It's not about color. It's about pizza.

Period.

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One of my pet peeves is attempted do good upgraders.

I remember being taken to dinner once and ordering the meat loaf and my host suggested I try one of the steaks. He actually tried to upsell me on it. My host, a company supervisor was trying to impress is over some damned thing and thought I was crazy not to take a steak dinner as a company freebie.

Over the years a few times when someone buys the drinks I've had my host get me Knob Creek or Maker's Mark when I asked for Jim Beam. Usually I quietly choke it down so as not to embarrass my host but not always.

A couple of times I've picked up my drink, gone over to the bar and handed it to the bartender and ordered a Jim Beam and returned.

Once the host asks what's wrong and I simply say that I don't like expensive bourbons. As usual, they say, "I don't understand. Knob Creek is a better bourbon than Jim Beam."

"No. It's a more expensive bourbon than Jim Beam. I really don't care for it."

It's that simple.

One time someone offered to take me to some damned hifalutin' fancy restaurant for dinner and I told him to "Save your money. I won't be impressed. Go find a nice truck stop or basic diner that makes a pretty good meat loaf and REALLY impress me."

He did and we had a really relaxed meal together.

I remember at work occasionally when they ran a class or something they'd tell us to save our dinner receipts. I had maybe 4 nights worth and while most of the other guys gorged themselves on steak and lobster, 

I turned in two from a diner, one from a fish place that made a pretty good fried cod and a supermarket receipt for a couple of pork chops, some potato salad, cole slaw and some lemonade.  

When he asked what the supermarket receipt was for I told him that there was a fire pit behind the motel and it looked like a pretty good night for a barbecue. He shook his head and laughed.

At a later three day and nights overnight class I turned in a receipt for a damned expensive dinner and a diner meal and my port captain laughed and commented that I didn't take advantage of things.

There's a 1991 Miata NA in the garage and if some rich guy destroyed it in an accident and offered to buy his way out of it by offering me a new one straight off the showroom floor I'd probably agree, sell it and go hunting for another low mileage, garage kept 1991 NA. Screw the upgrade. I like what I like.

 

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I keep getting dismal reports out of NC/TN regarding FEMA relief.

I would love to see just one report from a non governmental/biased media source that says something positive.

Even if it's some dumb local yokel kid saying something like "Hey! This is pretty cool! They're giving me 25 bucks an hour for me to sit here and make sure the proper forms are filled out before anything gets handed out!"

I just Googled 'Any good news about FEMA in NC?"

I went through the first 6 pages of what came up and it was nothing but denials of the accusations made by Trump and others.

However, it you look at the sources, they are the usual gang of culprits. On the other hand, what else would you expect Google to post? Over time I have watched Google go down the woke rabbit hole.

Wikipedia is no prize, either.

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On J5 I was in DTW and CNN was still the airport TV channel before they stopped using it there.

I had my tablet out and watched a bunch of videos made by people that were in DC nearby and got a 100% different picture of things than CNN gave.

 

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Figured I'd share one of my Facebook posts with you

One time some screeching impassioned mother asked me if I'd give a child a rifle. 

My reply was "Certainly not. Rifles are too heavy for small children to use. They are better suited for crew served weapons like machine guns and mortars because they learn how to work together and build teamwork. Just the other day I taught my grand daughter how to change a hot barrel on an M-60 machine gun and she's pretty good at it now. When she get a little bigger in a few years I'll teach her rifle marksmanship but until then she's going to be a machine gunner or maybe work a mortar." 

I was proud of the panic attack I gave her.

Protip. Always slip an extra asbestos mitt into your small child's spare barrel bag because little kids need both hands to swap out a hot barrel.

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What's with all the hate for ham radio?

I hear that it's not fair that people have to have a license to use it (other than in an emergency involving life or property. When that happens one can use ANY radio communications.) 

The blubbering is incessant. A lot of whiners that are too lazy or stupid to take a test that 8 year old kids have passed use the usual lame excuses.  (A couple months ago I worked a 12 year old girl. She was a real pro.) They don't want to have their licenses listed on a database.

That only holds water if they don't register to vote, have a Social Security number, drive, hunt, fish or do anything that doesn't require a license of any kind. Then I kind of see their point. Kind of.

"It should be like CB!" they cry. 

Someone said CB is the Haiti of the airwaves. They're spot on. CB is a mess, ham radio is fairly disciplined. It's disciplined because we have something to lose, a license. (and possible fines which are not light.)

CB used to require a license until the FCC gave up on it. CB was the 11 meter band taken from the hams and designated the Citizens Broadcast band in the late 50s. I recall some early 1960s Popular Science articles saying it was a pretty good public utility.

And it was one of those things that easily could have been a useful public utility had the FCC policed it and occasionally thrown out a fine to the abusers. They didn't.

Enter the 70s and any clown with $39.95 burning a hole in their pocket could go down to nearest Western Auto and buy themselves a CB and ratchet jaw all he wanted. It got worse as time went on. CBs are 4 watt rigs and enter the genius that dragged a linear amplifier to up his power. Couple that with a 55 mph federally mandated speed limit and enter the Smokey and the Bandit game. A lot of truckers had CBs powerful enough to service a small city.

That wasn't bad enough. Some rocket scientists started yanking components out to increase power even more which resulted in splattering his signal all over the entire band. I believe it peaked when some Billy-Joe-Bob finally splattered his signal on the aircraft bands. The FAA called the FCC who tracked him down and slapped him with a 5 figure fine. Of course he legally didn't have to pay it. He had the option to fight it in court which he did and the judge promptly doubled the fine. His problem, not mine.

"Freedom of the airwaves!" I hear from time to time.

While I hate too much government intervention as much as the next guy, I'm going to have to hold with basic licensing requirements because nobody want's to have a pilot of an airliner to have his radio jammed when he's trying to land at LAX with 300 souls on board.

The licensing itself serves a purpose. It shows a certain amount of  motivation on the part of the individual and as a result they respect the use of the airwaves. and gives them a little skin in the game.

No license means the individual has nothing in it and therefore will not respect it and like CB, the airwaves will go straight down the toilet.

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The older I get the more I believe the federal government should get out of just about everything.

Ever since Jimmy Carter set up the U.S. Department of education we've slipped from being the top of the chart worldwide down to number twelve. We're not even in the top ten anymore.

As I sit here I have been getting horrific reports of the absolutely piss-poor job FEMA is doing in flood torn NC and TN. There are also unconfirmed reports going around that the State Police have threatened to arrest FEMA employees that are trying to block non governmental relief efforts.

I'd just love to watch that one go down.

"You can't arrest me! I'm FEMA!"

Thirty seconds later Mister FEMA is face down, handcuffed in a van headed down 30 miles of bad road.

It seems that everything the feds touch turns into a warm, steaming pile of fresh dung.

FEMA=Funneling Everyone's Money to Aliens. That's another thing that should go away. 

The list of things that should go away is rather long and I don't have forever and a day to list them here but there's a damned long list.

Ronald Reagan was right when he said the most fearful words one could hear are "I'm from the government. I'm here to help."

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The Tea Party was doomed from the beginning

It didn't stand a chance.

It started as a fiscally conservative, stay out of the social issues movement. As such it started taking off.

Along came the usual gang of idiots that wanted to add 'their special issue' to the platform and that was the end of that. 

Ray Charles saw that one coming.

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One of my favorite sea stories

As told by the skipper of a Coast Guard cutter in the Village bar in Kodiak sometime in the early to mid 80s. I had asked him what incident in his entire career had left it's mark on him.

"That's an easy one," he said. "it was a kid just fresh out of Cape May."

"What about him?" I asked.

I had just taken my first Cutter command a couple of months earlier and we had this kid come aboard. I was pretty surprised he graduated form Cape May, actually. He didn't appear to be sharp but he was the most enthusiastic non-rate I ever met. He worked like a dog, even off watch and always did a good job on everything he touched. 

He was also the biggest pain in the ass we had because he was always asking about when we were going to do 'real Coast Guard stuff'. It was constant. The crew was sick of it.

Anyway, a big blow was coming through and I decided we should hole up in Dutch (Harbor) and it kept getting worse and worse. We were ordered off the dock to prevent it from damaging either the dock or the boat and we were jogging into it in the harbor. It was wild but in the harbor we at least had some protection. I handed the boat off to the XO and laid down to get some sleep.

I was awakened by the emergency generator being fired up and the sounds of guys running all over hell and heard someone say "Somebody ought to wake the Old Man" and someone running past hit my door a couple of times. I went straight to the bridge and looked at the XO and the Chief and asked what was going on.

"Some fishboat a couple hours out sounds like they're in over their head and needs help," the Chief said to me. Then he added the entire crew has taken it upon themselves to show the new kid some 'real Coast Guard $hit. It's your call, of course, but if you say no you're probably going to have a mutiny on your hands!"

So I told the XO "Let's go." 

It was wild out, the wildest I'd ever seen it. To this day I'm surprised we didn't lose the entire boat! Anyway, we arrived and the deck of the fishboat was awash and there were 5 guys in survival suits handing on for dear life. We got as near as we dared and managed to get a line out to them. I later heard it was the kid that managed to throw a heaving line to it. He must have calculated the wind because he got it on the first try.

We tied 5 separate lines to the heaving line and had them haul it to themselves and tie themselves to them and then we hauled them over to the cargo net we had alongside. Inside of ten minutes the boat went down like a stone.

Anyway, we heard we had all 5 on board and left to head back to Dutch.  

I wasn't privy to the details of what happened on deck until later. I was very relieved to hear all five souls were on board.

Once we were underway for Dutch the kid popped into the bridge and announced, "We got 'em all! All five!" I was mildly annoyed at the interruption and turned and saw the kid standing there with a gash on his forehead, a chipped tooth, bleeding like a stuck pig and the absolutely biggest smile I have ever seen in my life. It was a look of pride and satisfaction. When I faced him he looked at me and simply said, "THAT'S why I joined the f***in' Coast Guard, Sir!"

I didn't have the heart to tell him he shouldn't have walked into the bridge like that and neither did COB (Chief Of the Boat)  Cob took the helm and told the helmsman to take him to sick bay and have his cut looked at.

The look on that kid's face was the high point of my entire career!

What happened to him?" I asked.

The officer's face smiled. "That's another story but I have time."

A couple days later I asked the guys on deck detail about the operation and they told me in detail how it got pulled off. Then mentioned that the kid had successfully gotten the line to the fishboat on the first try. That got my attention. I asked how the kid had pitched in and my two petty officers looked at each other, laughed and said "Sir, he was a problem. We had one hell of a time holding him back. When the survivors got close to the boat he went down the cargo net to horse them in. He carried the last one up the net!"

"And you let that happen? That little runt?" I asked.

"We couldn't stop him, Sir. He's an animal and after the third time we just gave up on him and let nature run its course. He actually went into the water to snag the last one. We know he's a striker and have tried to figure out what to do with him. He's unstoppable. He's do or die!"

When I asked what they think they ought to do with him they looked at me and said they thought he should be sent to AST school.

"Rescue Swimmer?" I shot back. "He'd bilge out on the academics! How well does he swim?"

"He doesn't quit," said my First Class. "He doesn't know HOW to quit!

Long story short, unheard of, the entire crew recommended him, COB and a couple of petty officers made a few phone calls and I had a quiet word with the Kodiak COMMSTA CO and got him a slot and six months to get him into shape. They got the entire Syllabus for the AST rating and pounded it into him and made sure he'd spend time during 'Office Hours' with the instructors.

COB called someone later on and told me the kid made it. He had graduated at the second to bottom of his class. When I announced it to the crew they were astounded and cheered. 

"What happened next? I asked.

A few years later I heard he had reenlisted, he told me. Then he said something to me that stunned me.

"I signed that kid's death warrant because there's no way in hell he's going to survive until retirement. Not in that business as a20, 30 year career. But I can meet my maker with a clear conscience because I helped a man do what he was clearly cut out to do. He HAS to go out. That's the way he is. He doesn't know anything else. He's fully aware he doesn't have to come back in again." 

Take it or leave it. I heard it at the Village. It is what it is.

  

 

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In other gnus I see where the feds are refusing to allow private citizens help with NC and TN relief efforts.

They have even made life damned difficult for Elon Musk's engineers to set up Starlink equipment to give the beleaguered survivors a form of communication.

There IS a way to stop this crap and it ain't pretty.

I also hear that FEMA has no real money because it has been pissed away on illegals. If they had used the money to pay bounties on illegals that would have been one thing. Instead they gave the money to criminals which is exactly what illegal immigrants are to begin with. 

I also read where there is a list of 400,000 people to be rounded up when martial law is declared. 

Interesting.

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USPS informed delivery is a pretty good deal.

The USPS sends me an email daily with pictures of what's coming in the mail later on in the day.

Not a bad deal. Check it out.

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My advice to the Cajun Navy (if it's not too late)

Stay independent of government. 

Accept no monies from government. If you take their money you will have to take their orders and play by their crippling rules and regulations.

Currently it appears to me that your organization is a shining example of the best America has to offer. It's the American people helping the American people like they are supposed to.

If you let the government get involved you will have so much interference you will have one hell of a time accomplishing your mission of actually helping people.

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At the financial institution.

Which had to be done because I am getting too close to the age where I have to start taking minimum withdrawals from my IRA(s). 

I really don't need the money because I live like a coolie but it's take the withdrawals or face tax problems so it had to be done. 

Anyway the wife had sent me to find someone we could work with. I didn't bother getting dressed well. I looked like a coolie.

I later figured out that these agents don't pay attention to their client's wardrobes. A lot of very wealthy people dress like bag ladies. 

So I walked in and sat down waiting for someone to come along and tend to me. I was sitting there when the guy across me asked me how I was doing. He looked and sounded like someone that should have transgendered because he would have made a pretty good Karen.

"Not worth a shit. Thank you for asking, and you?"

"Maybe it'll get better," he said.

"Doubtful," I said. "After I finish with my financial business which I hate, I've got to go home and deal with my two year old daughter."

His jaw dropped and he blushed. 

What I didn't see is an agent that heard the whole thing. He addressed me and apologized for being late for my appointment.

I was a walk in! What appointment? Then I saw the suppressed smirk on his face and knew he had heard everything I had said to the other guy and wanted to help me. I had made his day in the serious world of finance. This man clearly knew bull$hit when he saw it.

On the way into his office I explained to him, "You are going to be careful and explain everything to me clearly and slowly because I am now in uncharted waters because this is the first time. I've never been a senior citizen."

When I said that I could have knocked him over with a feather. He turned to me and said, "Thank you. You opened my eyes up quite a bit. It's easy for people like me to forget that many working people bust their ass for years and years and never learn the procedures. They're too busy working."

"Yeah. I busted my ass at sea making the money and my wife was at home taking care of home, hearth and finances."

"At sea?" he asked.

"Yeah. Merchant mariner, commercial fisherman since 1978."

"I think I understand. My father was career Navy." he said. "You guys bust your asses."

I then explained what I wanted to do and he carefully explained my options. It was a lot easier than I thought and knew I had found someone my wife and I can work with.  

Of course this was entirely unnecessary in my opinion. When I start my mandatory withdrawals only puts me into a tax bracket I don't want to be in. I am (not seriously) considering donating my required withdrawals to charity and lowering my tax bracket even more.

I have been retired going on 2 years and have enough money coming in. On the other hand, I don't have a whole lot of expenses, either.

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