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Friday, May 30, 2014

Technology Marches Forward!

It does leave wounded behind though.

See this:


AT&T home cell thingy. It does not have the strength to ring the bells on this, nor deal with pulse dial.





































Nor this:

Last I heard was POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) had to present ringing voltage of at least 120 VAC over -48VDC. 


Since AT&T at&t is trying to kill POTS, it makes sense. 

So now, I need to figure out how to detect the ringing from the thingy and boost it to run the ringers on these phones. 

Sigh....

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Incoming and out going!

This arrived today. A Zenith AM/FM radio. 



 I have done little with it so far. It does play however!


This is leaving! 



Yes the less than popular Model 670A among purists. I get that, the arugument is well made and sound lamenting the cost cutting measures with Winchester then. It's not a Model 70.  However...

This rifle is leaving to go back to its owner. He has had it since it was new. I don't care what the Interwebz pundits say. This rifle is important to me. Not a bad Weaver optic on it either. 




Need some competition?

Well try this postal match being hosted by my friend Brigid and Partner this year.

























Looks like fun and I hope to give it a try! Thanks to the host and hostess this year! 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Remember

My friends around the Blogs have remembered the true meaning of today. Of note to me is one post by my good friend with pictures of hallowed ground. Go look. I'll be here when you get back.

Freedom won with blood. We must never forget the price we as a nation have paid.

























Yes the tools change, but the people that use them, those willing to answer the call and give all I am truly indebted to. Thank You. 

Never forget. 





Sunday, May 25, 2014

Hmm.. I AM holding it wrong!

Operators operating operationally it seems =)  With "Ordnance Delivery Devices" no less.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Old school audio!

Throw another fuel rod in the pile or throw some more coal in the boiler. I fired this up tonight. 


It is a Denon PMA-1080R Amplifier. A very old school amp and one of the last acutually made in Japan before Denon "whored the market." So what is it doing? Running these:


  






















The extremely inefficient sub woofers, the Pyramid 8W's

Meh, no matter. I will bow to the inevitable soon enough with a powered sub, but dang. I love these 30 year old things. The neighbors, well maybe not so much!

 

Hmm.. You can spend money on a camera but...

It seems I can take "selfies" to a new level. Put the WiFi thingy in the camera and then fire up the iThingy. Remote control! Woo-hoo! I'm still left with less than entertaining subject matter though. 

Here is the screen shot of the iThingy app.






 

















And the final result!


Sigh.. I need to update my photo editing software to deal with the RAW format. This is JPEG Fine format and compressed for the Web. 

So I DID NOT break the camera though! I have that going for me =) 

 

.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Timing or Something

So my friend Brigid over at her Blog notes the arrival of a new camera. Wow. Congrats to her and I look forward to seeing what pops up in that viewfinder on her Blog soon! 

In what seems to be serendipitous, I too received a new camera and It is my first DSLR. Prior to that it was a storied Canon T50 that provided Kodachrome moments. Then the procession of pHD (Push Here Dummy) digital cameras. Now this:


It came with an 18-55 Zoom lens and next will be a macro. Because.  And yes I used a Canon SX130 to take a picture of a Nikon!

So leaving it in full auto I snapped some pics:








 

 




































































And a impromptu action shot! Its race weekend here and as usual, we need violent thunderstorms to wash the campers off at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here is the hail from about 30 minutes ago. 

I hope my friend will enjoy her camera as much as I am going to enjoy this one! 




 





Thursday, May 22, 2014

Happy Birthday Francis!

Why yes I name my cars. 20 years ago today I bought this car:



After all of the miles and all of the things, it still has had only TWO Recalls for stupid stuff. I have to admit though that running up to Lagniappe's Lair for a Blog shoot was the swan song for this girl on the open road. She still serves as my daily driver though.

When you get to this point after 3 clutches, 2 radiators, A/C compressor, left side window motor, 4 audio head units, blower motor, and a distributor (that was weird I suspected the EEC-IV module instead of the bearings on that), and being totaled, well, I don't like walking in the middle of banjo country if the need arises. 



I bought her a birthday gift as the MOMO shifter had finally disintegrated that was installed the week after purchase. 




















It is a Ford Motorsport shifter and promises another 5 horsepower =) 

I also think I have one of the last printed shop manuals from FoMoCo for this ride. I'm not getting rid of this faithful friend, just waiting on the aftermarket people to start making interior trim for it! 

Oh, and there is this:





 





















This is a wireless adapter for the new camera that allows you to see what it sees and run it from your smartphone. More later! 
 



Wednesday, May 21, 2014

New Camera is Here!

And here it is!

































Oh wait! Maybe not this one. Now there is a Nikon D3300 dSLR here with a 18-55 VRII lens. 


I have much to learn! Both pics were taken with the new camera and only cropped and compressed to keep file sizes down for the Interwebz!

Anyone have suggestions for lenses? I want to take better pics of well, you know =) 

 

 

Saturday, May 17, 2014

AAR- New Shooter Class

This will be brief. I see it all the time and it makes me sad most of the time. If you show up for a new shooter class (or as Tam says the "take the price tag off the gun skool") with a brand new heater, well this. You are doing it wrong. This is analogous to buying a car and THEN taking drivers ed class. 

Just saying. I can get you where you need to be, but most of you found out you made an expensive mistake. If you like my handguns that are part of the live fire exercise more than yours, well.... It's not my fault.

Friday, May 16, 2014

I Am a Random Trivia Generator!

So today a friend comments that his Daughter is coming back from New York City from her Senior class trip via rail. I comment "So riding the Crescent eh? It will be late and here is where you can check the status of the trip."

My friend comments that I know way too much about obscure stuff. Not really. The Southern Railroad has made that run for a long time. 

Here is one engine that did it. 

 
  A long time ago! I need to do this run sometime.
 

 

Thursday, May 15, 2014

I Haz a Sad!

I am not a Corvette guy, but seeing the 'vetts displayed that were recovered from the Skydome sinkhole hurt my V-8, high octane operated heart.

Here is a live Webcam at the site.

Here is a pic from the other side of the Skydome:


The 40th Anniversary Ruby Red came out and is displayed. 




 
 


























No, I think that will NOT buff out! 

Status of the rides is here. GM says that they will restore. I'm ambivalant about that. For obvious reasons. 

So why the hell is there not a National Mustang Museum? Dearborn does not count! 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

He's Dead Jim!

Yeah, I'm not a gunsmith, but know enough to think that this is in order now for a particular Bersa:





IMHO, it loos like the slide (upper) is taking a beating from the hammer release cam,the automatic safety, or the mag disconnect. 


I am smart enough to know when I am in over my head, but also smart enough to think this pistol has been shot out of its life. I can't fix this. 

Hey I might be a gunsmith soon! I got one of these:


 All I need now is a Dremel, right? =)







Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Hey, I Know That Dude!

Its Mr. Curmudgeon in a group shot of a competitive shooting league! Good on ya for representing Old School with a Colt 1911 over the "plastic fantastic" and .22's! Well, Maybe a Colt M45 is not "old school" =)














Congrats on a respectable finish!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Revolvers! (And other stuff)

So my friend wanders by and redeems himself as the former master of misfit Handguns and whips these out:


A Smith and Wesson Model 625 JM in .45ACP and a Ruger Single Ten in .22LR.

Well, guess what? Dang it! I love the 625! Shoots very nicely. 

Here are 12 rounds (double and single action) with it and 8 rounds through a STI 1911 not pictured today from 7 to 10 yds. 


I have a saying that "It is not the arrow, it's the Indian" when holes don't show up where you want them, but guess what? It's awesome when you have a great arrow =)! 

I would go get one but off to CMP class next month and pick up another Garand. Sigh... SO many guns, so little money!
 

 

 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Ponies!

My friend Murphy's Law went to a car show today. Nice looking Mustangs on display to be sure! Thanks ML for the post. 


My first car was a Mustang. A 1971 Fastback my Father bought new. It's still here.  The original left side fender emblems are here on my desk.



















On the other side of my office is this ad.






















I even tried "Brand X" back in 1982 (Hi Karen! It's been a long time =).

















Know what? I always came back to the Mustang. I am fortunate in that with a lot of help I have been able to still have these time machines. They have always got me home, sometimes despite my best efforts to prevent that from happening. 

So now they live in semi retirement. All but one is road ready, tagged, insured, and ready to go. 


My garage:

























Although these vehicles give the illusion of freedom, it is just that. They require care and a support infrastructure much as a seafaring ship or an airplane. For a moment in time though, when your right foot goes to the floor that freedom is addictive and hard to ignore. It is a siren call that hopefully I can answer for some time to come. 

Things come and go. 





































Here is the 1994 GT in front of a building that is long gone in the mountains of Southwest VA. The Courthouse and church in Independence VA. are still there. 










Thanks Murph for kicking the muse in tonight!

Another friend Old NFO went to the range today with some ponies as well. My favorite is the Colt Woodsman. Hey NFO! Need the instructions for it =) 



I guess I'm a sucker for stuff with a pony on it =) 



  



 









Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Bath Built is the Best Built!

That is a quote from Rear Admiral George A. Huchting during the Commissioning of the Arleigh Burke Class guided missile destroyer DDG-75, the USS Donald Cook. I am almost done with this book:























It is out of print, but it details the construction, sea trials, acceptance and commissioning of this ship designed to "go into harms way". Bath Iron Works is a storied institution in America. 

I have no doubt that my friends on the USS Laffey DD-724 would argue with the Admirals statement. The USS Laffey Association is trying to get a work detail up for her in late August. I don't know if I can make it or not. I will try to though! 

If I can find the muse and not embarrass myself with the written word, I will post a review of this book soon. To put it bluntly, I like it! 



Monday, May 5, 2014

Another Passing

An Uncle again from the other side of the Family and I admit I only met him once that I remember. Private Ceremony today and I could not get there. He was a retired United States Air Force Major. 

"Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew --
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."


Godspeed Sir. 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Colt Collectors Association Convention

Even though some believe that Colt's turn the wrong way, some have asked via email and the book of face about the particulars for this years convention. Link here. Yeah, I'm going! I sorta have to ya know. Its close and I only get to use this thing at the convention. 

Tricked out name badge, 1 ea.!

Yeah there are a couple of pedestrian Colt's around here
 

Saturday, May 3, 2014

First Aid! Active Shooter Class AAR

The usual gang of suspects show up at St. Francis Hospital to attend the "other Kelly's" class during the NRA-AM.  




















He gave of his own time to do this and I am grateful for that. Yes, I get Red Cross Basic First Aid, AED, and CPR every year, but I must say having someone that has "been there, done that" brings a new level of knowledge.

I have to say this. I have instructed at the Community College level for over a decade. It is one thing to be a "subject matter expert". It is totally another thing and skill set to relay that information to others that sticks. Kelly rocks in that reguard! I am humbled at the teaching-fu he exhibited!

I now actually know what all this stuff is for and when and how to deploy it. 






































Many thanks to Bound Tree Medical for the kit, Brownells for the munchies, St. Francis, and the associate instructors!