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handgun-rifle-shotgun energy

I was perusing my website usage statistics and noticed that my shotgun energy post at The Fixer.biz was highly popular – and to a much lesser extent my rifle and handgun posts. I was reminded that I compiled those to resolve a shortage of useful information on the subject. How can you explain the roles of the basic firearms without referencing their relative energy?

That inspired me to look anew, dress them up and promote them to permanent page status. The titles make them group together over on the left column where they will be most useful for reference […]

August 23rd, 2013 | Category: guns'n'gear, security | Comments are closed

CAD trusses

My neighbor’s add-on insulated roof blew off his mobile home. It was badly designed and poorly installed, having nearly flattened out. He knew full well he had to come up with a way to repair it, but had not come to grips with the level of removal / repair that it really needed.

Ma Nature did him a huge service. With one BIG GUST, she lifted the roof off, flipped it onto the ground, placing it neatly between the other trailer, our house, our truck, his shed … it landed in the ONLY clear space large enough to receive […]

August 20th, 2013 | Category: community, construction | Comments are closed

radio news

We had a really good meeting of the Bitterroot Amateur Radio Club (BARC) yesterday evening.

I presented my ‘dream’ of having a club open house in the Darby Library where we show’n’tell about amateur radio. There we sign up people for weekly classes in the library and get more licensed Hams in the South Bitterroot.

I was pleasantly surprised that this “new idea” has been part of their efforts for a long time, just waiting for a southern-Bitterroot local to get it going.

We are ON. Open house in the library is September 14th. Classes to […]

August 20th, 2013 | Category: community | Comments are closed

coffee roasting, brewing

I really enjoy GOOD coffee, down wimpy stuff just enough to be polite and pour out the crankcase-oil version after the first sip (trying to do it discretely, mind you). Truly good coffee is hard to come by. I have evolved through many processes to my current setup that is pretty reliable and sustainable.

I buy 20-pound bags of very select green beans from Sweet Maria’s in Oakland, California. I roast a pint of them every week over a medium heat on my camp stove using a pot dedicated to that task and a wooden spatula for 20 minutes […]

August 14th, 2013 | Category: household | Comments are closed

you are

You are not the shoulders you stood upon to gain a better view.

You are not simply a product of those who laced their fingers together to give you a boost up.

You are not the certificate someone printed upon completion of their course.

While you cannot separate who you are from those parts of your history,

you are so much more.

You are all of those things,

everything you did with those pieces,

all you are capable of doing,

and all you will do.

Do not allow a limited portrayal to prescribe routes you must travel.

Do […]

August 4th, 2013 | Category: sociology, teaching | Comments are closed