Hey Murph!

Murph! We need to check this out! It is close to ya and I can teach you how to wear a sport jacket after 5PM if you want to hang out there =)You can teach me about "driving."

My Brain Scares Me Sometimes!

So working with some Molle gear and some Maxpedition Tacties today for a gift and it looked like this:

 Oh, the lights? A case of 100W incandescent and a case of 60W. The powers that be are making these hard to get. 

Anyway, while I'm doing this, my brain immedatly thought of this video:



Yep, my brain works in mysterious ways! 



 

The Stupid. Part Two!

So yesterday I get a Property Tax Bill from Union County. Looks like this:

The previous form and all of that was for the 1971 Mustang, not the 1966. This is a property tax bill for it. REALLY?!?! So I call the mentioned Sr. Property Tax whatever and guess what. Have to leave a message. They call back. The first voice mail says they got my paperwork and to disregard the bill. HELLO! We are talking about two different Autos here! Shortly after that she finds her error and leaves another message. I seem to have never returned the form for the 1966. I tell her I never got one and all of this is not legal under NC General Statutes. Could she please explain why I have to fill out the County form? *Crickets, crickets*. Finally she has decided she is done talking to me and says she will send a form out for the 1966. I ask where she got the value for it and she said she valued it as a condition 4 and that is what the computer said. As predicted! Lady, I assure you this car on the grading scale is at least a 2 pushing a 1.

Sigh...    

Sigh... .gov is .gov everywhere!

So here at stately manor we receive a document from the Tax assesor. Here it is in all of its glory:

First, you addresed the envelope to me and yet refer to me on this letter as "Customer"?!?!? No, I'm not a customer, just someone that must meet your convoluted demands for more paper work to maintain a lower tax rate on a 42 year old car! If I do not, you will run some random number generator and  decide what the car is worth and tax me on that amount.

Second, what the hell is a "Personal Property Sr. Specialist"? I would LOVE to see the job description for that! 

Third, I'm not a "Past Owner" or "New Owner". I'm a CURRENT owner! 

I do love the fact that the form I am supposed to fill out asks for the VIN number AND A COPY OF THE TITLE! Earth to .gov. The VIN is on the title! Second, I am to report the current odometer reading. Gee, you want the original odometer reading that is sitting on a shelf in the garage or the one I put in the car back in 1984? LOL! I proudly reported a mileage of 90K and some change. Throw another 200K on top of that and you might be getting close. 

Sheesh. 

  
 

UPDATE! Dear Union County Tax Assessor,

You know that I have had Antique Auto License plates on the 1971 and 1966 Mustangs issued by NCDMV for years. NOW you want a copy of the titles, an application, and a CURRENT PICTURE of the Mustangs to maintain the reduced tax rate?!?!? How the hell will you know its a current picture? What difference does it make? I might just send a copy of a magazine ad for the '71 and see if anyone notices.

What the frack happened to all of this data integration between you and NCDMV? The 1971 has been CONTINUOUSLY registered since my Father bought it in January of 1972. Sheesh! There is corporate stupid then there is .gov stupid. An order of magnitude above it seems. Anyone know where I can find the gal in the Bikini? 

I have two "current pictures" below. Since the powers that be did not specify what picture they wanted, I'm thinking one of the two past the ad below. What say you?

Well I Tried Press 9!

It did not work. Yes, I still have a land line for security system comms and the wimpy VOIP thingy simply does not have enough ringing voltage to run stuff like this. 



Yeah, I could build something and it may get to that.  This line never rings as it is unlisted and non-published. Yet it did get a robo call tonight.

My friend OldNFO put up an excellent post. Your comms are not secure. They never were. Signalling System 7 has been around a LONG time. Land lines are not secure. Anything you throw out here on the DARPA project known as the Internet, your cell phone, your land line is all up for grabs. Hell, I think FoMoCo and Sirius XM know where the new car is at. 

Try this one out. The USPS self serve kiosks used to simply dispense books of stamps. They now thermal print these on demand:

 
  





Yep there is a camera on the thing and it knows you as you can only use a Debit or Credit card. I'm betting the barcode links the transaction info to you complete with a picture. 

Brave new world indeed. I cry for what the Republic has become. Not so much for the excess of power wielded by some but people that simply do not care. Bread and Circuses indeed. 

 

Words of Wisdom

Ironically enough from the band that won the Grammy in 1990 for Best Hard Rock Performance. 

"I told you 1 and 1 make 3."

Indeed. 

 

Where is My Wookie Suit?

Quick quiz for ya.  Which one of these items are currently under a Consumer Product Safety Commission proposal to be banned?


 Exhibit A

216 magnets packaged and sold as "Buckyballs". They come in this attractive cube.  Once you touch them however you end up with "the clump".  It takes some effort to restore to the state you see above.  Fun stuff though!

Exhibit B

Bersa Thunder .380 pistol.


Answer? Exhibit A because "OMG someone think of the children!" 

Really? They say to keep out of the reach of children more times on the packaging than ANY firearm packaging I have ever seen. 

The proposed ban is up for comments at regulations.gov.  
I mean really. Whats next? 

Forks? I remember sticking one of those into Mr. electrical outlet back in the day and I seem to have suffered no ill effects (or not, I will leave that up to my humble readers to decide). 

I mean if you can't see the danger in a 3 year old eating high power magnets, I don't think you need to be breeding.  Just saying.  The CPSC did send a investigator to my house for a weed trimmer that threw an amazing amount of shrapnel at high speed and with some distance.  They banned that. I get than one but not this one. 

More info here.

    
 



 

Random Stuff

I usually don't talk about politics here. I will make an exception now. Rev. Paul has a great post that comforts me and he has done what many good Shepard's have done and will continue to do so. I remain steadfast in my humble efforts to teach and remind people how much blood has been shed for us to remain free. Remain calm and carry on as they say.

Ok, enough of that.  Murphy's Law gave up some wood that needed some attention for the SMLE No. 1, Mk III. I ran it through some attention and at first blush I think I am done.  What do you think?

   
I cannot wait to try these out.  From the shelf of misfit ammo I suppose.

 













Ok, time for random stuff. 

 

That pretty much sums it up right there! 


Oh, horse blanket! 

 

















And yes it does say "front" on it. Sigh.... Casual friends have asked why it is not in the garage. I tell them it has not earned the right.  True friends know why.  Once a Mustang looks like this, the newer Sister has not earned the right to stay in the garage. 

The red one in the previous picture is this one.

Enjoy the Decline or AKA: Gaming the System.

So today I get a little yellow slip in my Mailbox at lunch. It tells me that since a signature is required for my three packages, they are waiting on me at the Post Office. I immediately go to the Post Office. If my packages actually were loaded on the truck, they would not be at the Post Office at this time, yet they were there.

There is no urgency here. I hear two people out of earshot talking about how politicians greed has brought the USPS to this point. HA! USPS will be insolvent in a couple of months due to pensions more than anything else. 

Finally, a young woman reviews my slip of paper. Starts to look in the envelope sorter for my packages. I tell her they will not be there, they are heavy. She finds my packages in the bottom of a canvas roll around cart. She gamely attempts to pull one out of the cart and simply tells me: "We are supposed to be able to lift 70 pounds and I told them I am not doing that". That was the quote of the day right there.  

I ask her if she can hold the door open for me as I retrieve the packages. She does so and I make three trips. 

Inside the boxes we find this (click to enbiggen):

So lets recap. For a total of 47.10 bucks American, one box of 4000 rounds of 9mm jacketed bullets at 115 gr. weighs in at 65 Lbs, not counting the packaging. The 2000 rounds of 230 gr. .45ACP run the same. The 1000 rounds of .380 at 95 gr. weighs in at 13 pounds. Total for all three packages 143 pounds. Humped from here to here:

Heh. So how are the bullets? 

They will work! 

 

I Thought This Would Happen

A brick and mortar gun store supports an online ammo purchase ban. Tam brings it.

Some things never change....

The Stevens Point Journal (Wisconsin) September 9, 1891, says: ".... It is loaded with buckshot and scatters like a charge of bribery fired into a California legislature." 

Heh..... Reminds me of this American Side by Side. I want one. I could have declared it hopeless and made an offer but I will never do that. The short term gain would not offset the loss of good will. I do belive that what goes around comes around. It may take longer than you have, but still. 

I loved the quote. 

 

Some assembly required....

So I get a belated Birthday gift today from my parents. We have never been date specific on anything anyway. A joke about shutting the Cracker Barrels now as a goal now struck a nerve. 

A rocker to replace the well worn one on the porch. 

In case you were wondering, the big black thing upper right in the pic is a variable ratio power steering gear from a '71 Mustang. Is toast. 

The other thing to arrive today is this:

This will present a bigger DIY project. I love the fact that it is load side switching and does not require a true and formal sub panel from the main breaker box. The fact that I have an obsolete panel makes this even more useful. The problem now is the Darwin award winning redneck call of "hey y'all watch this" that has forced OSHA to mandate that the neutral and ground be bonded on the generator. That immediately makes this useless as the neutral and ground are bonded in the breaker box. Add the fact that you need to do some simple math. 

I am leaning toward a Briggs and Stratton or a Generac for the generator. I'm holding on a 9Kw peak, 8Kw load. 

Now however, the lawyers will not tell you how to put the gen set on a floating neutral. No worries however. If it has wires, I can figure it out. 

Oh, this looks cheesy enough to be entertaining. It's not here yet.

      
 .

Ave Ceasar!

Over at Anna's Clue Tank, she knocks one out of the park. Go take a read.

A Note from the USPS

No really. An actual note:

My carrier is a contract Rural Carrier, so perhaps she takes it more seriously than the uniformed "real" USPS people. She will even text me to let me know she has a 47 pound box of bullets for me so I can meet her at lunch to get them out of her car. 

For the envelope contents, rattle is OK!

Not the distinctive "PING" these clips usually make but close enough to make me smile on the way back to work today.


I think my mail carrier is keeping an eye on me. This week in addition to the Midway master catalog, I got a letter from the S&W Historian and this just today:

Gun parts catalog, SAF letter, and some lingerie catalog it seems. 

As for the clips? I have some studying to do. I could always make the pilgrimage up to Lagniappe's Lair and get up to speed I am certain, but for now this will do for starters:



One is hopefully on the way!

Lowe's stands by decision to pull ads from TV show | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

So now this. I now refrain from commenting on politics here but Lowe's is based in my home state.

Good on Lowe's.

Lowe's stands by decision to pull ads from TV show | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

Good. How dare Congress critters try to dictate to private companies how to conduct business. If you don't like the decisions Lowe's made, don't go there. 

How did we get to this state? What the hell happened?  

Vote them all out!

I went Christmas shopping today:

HA! Karma is somthing! UPDATE!

I got the city wrong. It's Richmond! 

The Roanoke Tea Party wants to be reimbursed for: "cost of permits and other fees to use the same area in which Occupy Richmond has settled for nearly the past two weeks for free".

HAHAHAHA.....Catches breath.... HAHAHAHA! 

Full story.  

h/t to Free North Carolina!

I'm Going Green!

I have finally yielded to the logic of going green. Last week I received these from the local power co-op:

CFL's! And they were free (well not really but we will let that slide for now).

They were actually delivered via USPS. I'm sorry, a meter reader runs through here every month, how about THEY deliver them? 

So here is what you do. Give these to your favorite tree hugging Gaea worshiper. It is your duty to tell them that they contain the heavy metal Mercury and if they break one they need to leave the house and call a HAZMAT team. And of course they cannot dispose of them in the trash, they must be taken to some secret location for proper disposal. While you are at it tell them they will not work in any traditional incandesant dimmer circuit. 

After they take them, save the box they came in. It comes in handy.

The box is perfect for holding your reloads before you case gauge them! 








I DO recycle! Tonight's activity? Recycling a metal!

9mm Brass in a ultrasonic cleaner. 

 
 

HA!

I may be late to this game, but I just found this guy. Steven Crowder. A conservative comedian! 

Today's Earworm!

h/t Daddy Bear's Den!