RightTool(tm) for the job

A revelation struck me while putting together a Midway order. I started to order 200 rounds of .30-06 brass when I remembered there are several coffee cans full of MilSurp brass in the garage that I can't use because of the primer pocket. These 200 pieces of brass represented about 70% of the cost of the RightTool(tm) to solve that problem! I canceled the order.

A friend and I made the trek to North Scottsdale today.. I asked for demo of the tool and asked a couple questions. I even brought a couple rounds of the offending brass. Unfortunately the demo was set up for small rifle primers rather than the .30-06 and really didn't teach me anything, nor did most of the questions. However the final question was good enough to seal the sale "If it doesn't work for me, can I bring it back?" She said "yes" and the RightTool followed me home

Back at the SandCastle, I read the manual which is only two 4x6" pages. It didn't take long. A couple measurements, $3 at Ace hardware, a couple minutes with the drill and the unit was mounted to the loading bench.

The first six pieces of brass were swaged and mounted in the press. The primers seated easily! WOO HOO!!! The RightTool works!

The picture here shows the RightTool mounted on the reloading bench. The empty brass immediate left of the blue unit is my carefully hoarded 50 pieces of usable .30-06 brass. It is commercial stuff scrounged from the range. The surrounding three coffee cans of brass and white bin show the quantity of MilSurp brass that was previously unusable. (The white plastic container contains 100 pieces of processed brass, swaged, sized and ready to reload. Bottom left is the 11 test rounds loaded and ready to try. These have the same loads as previously loaded (47.1 gr IMR4895/150 gr Hornady RN/BT). These will be tested before loading more.

Prepping the MilSurp brass adds a lot of time to the reloading process but this is a one time investment. Those crimped primers take a lot of effort to punch out. I ran the depriming pin well down into the die so it would punch out the primer without resizing the brass thus reducing the arm effort. Then a trip through the swager and then back through the resizing die to actually resize the brass. This is a one-by-one process, not part of the progressive reloading process.

Desktop Artillery, Midieval Style

The SCSon's school science fair is gearing up to the science night show late January. His team chose the category of weight and motion or something. Last week the teacher asked apologetically* "Can you build a catapult for the science fair?"

Kits are available for purchase over the internet. However we didn't have time to wait for shipping. Instead I studied medieval designs looked at pictures, as well as some of the "pumpkin chunkin" engineering marvels.

Design criteria required throw weights from 5g to 20g.

A simple catapult is an easy design, lever powered by a spring mechanism (probably a rubber band in this case). I recall constructing one in Boy Scouts in the previous millennium. The downside A catapult needs a stop mechanism equal to the power of the torsion mechanism. This is a waste. I'd rather put the effort into power than brakes, cuz brakes only slow you down! I also recall the Boy Scout catapult didn't last very long.

The Trebuche is a more elegant design, but still simple enough. It uses a lever arm powered by a counter weight hanging off the short end of the lever. The long end of the lever pulls a sling to take advantage of the whipping action to accelerate the projectile. The sling is held captive on one side at the end of the lever arm and the other held loosely on a "finger". Release point is adjusted by adjusting the finger angle.

We hit Home Depot for supplies. First we checked the 55 cent rem bucket for a something to use as a base. The rem bucket was no where in sight, but there was an 18" section of 2x6 in the garbage can. That went into the cart. (side note: The HD Cashier accepted the explanation and gave us the board. Hence the plug as a quid-pro-quo). We also picked up a 1/2" and 3/8" dowel, a bolt and a stack of fender washers (at $0.18 each!). That and four 87cent 4-packs of incandescent bulbs (banned by congress after 2012) still came in under $10.

Measurements and design were from the TLAR* school of engineering. The axle is ~9" off the platform and the beam is ~13" long. The main uprights are 1/2" dowel while the lever arm and struts are 3/8" dowel. A cut off 16 penny nail forms the axle while a 3/8" bolt suspended the counterweights. The SCQueen had the sewing machine setup for Christmas gifts and sewing the sling was a two minute job.

Historical accounts from the 12-15th century talk about throwing 2-300lb stones 300 yards with 12,000lb counter weight. The stones would hit with enough force to knock down the castle walls of the day and forced a complete defensive rethink. I needed the data to estimate a ballast/projectile ratio. 50:1 is in the ballpark. That means ~500g (one pound-ish) to throw the 10g weight. That would provide an over/under for the other weights. Clearly the fender washers purchased were well under weight. We scrounged around the house looking for appropriate ballast. The Hornady box of 100 150 grain 30-06 bullets was heavy enough and plenty dense. But even if sealed in an opaque container (probably a cloth sac), there is a chance the beans might spill and cause exploding PSH that could splash back on the SCClan. That idea was rejected.

The SCQueen found a couple large sockets in the tool box. Experimenting around we found a couple sockets that would nest conveniently and a longer bolt to suspend the stack. It was still short enough to allow the beam to swing freely. Total weight of the three socket stack was about 1.5 lb (750gram).

Kitchen table experiments showed this was a little overpowered for the 5gram weights. (The SCQueen was seriously concerned for the safety of the pictures on the far wall of the SandCastle.) One socket was removed to de-power the weapon. I could also see the points on the end of the lever arm could harm an unwary user and added a couple warning labels "Sharp points" and "Safety Glasses required". Probably not enough to satisfy OSHA or a PI lawyer but I tried. My son was a probable operator so I'm well motivated to ensure he's not hurt in the process. Still I insisted on eye protection for all team members.

Results -
The team's first attempts to throw were unsuccessful. I suspected operator error and suggested some training. We bumped into the teacher at a school function. It just so happened I had some time off the next day and I offered to work with the team. She gladly accepted and offered "any time". That night we again scrounged the garage for accurate masses. The bolt bucket held masses that were close but high. This is good as the grinder can fix that! Within 30 minutes we had 5, 10, 15 and 20g masses accurate to a couple .01g.

The team's problem likely was related to the plastic "Easter eggs" their masses were contained in. They were simply over sized for the sling. Sorry, that wasn't in the Design objective document ;-) The Frankford Arsenal scale I'd borrowed from the reloading bench showed their weights were 5g over.

The trebuchet was well tuned for the 5gram weights. They were consistently thrown in the 18 foot range. We didn't retune for different weights and as a result while some 20g weights flew 36 inches, some released prematurely and only flew a high arc landing only ~11 inches from the datum.

A co-worker asked "was on wheels?" and pointed out that they later found it would throw about 30% further with less stress on the structure if it had wheels. The idea is that the ballast wants to fall straight down but the lever arm forces it to translate aft. If the device is on wheels, the falling weight pulls the rest of the structure forward instead of the mass aft, imparting even more speed to the tip of the lever. It works even better if just the axle is allowed to float as only the mass of the axle, lever arm and projectile are accelerated rather than the entire structure. (I smell a v2.0 in the works).

Epilogue -
I fear my zeal for technology (in a medieval way) may have overshadowed the point of the exercise. The real goal was probably to show the F = MA effects. For a given force, higher mass means less acceleration, less "muzzle" velocity, less distance. The straight catapult would probably have provided a more consistent F with fewer variables to control. But the Trebuchet scores an order of magnitude higher on the coolness scale! And besides, I always wanted to build one! I'm an engineering geek, guilty as charged. (I'll skip the proper analysis of how the catapult's F varies with position/spring tension that is a staple of a decent DiffyQ class. Too many years of dis-use. The Trebuchet is that times 5 and I'm not going there either ;-) For this age "lighter = further" is probably all the results they need.

Meanwhile, these pikers*** had so much to work with and yet stopped short of their capability. If they had placed the projectile near the base with the tip of the throwing arm near the ground, they could have thrown considerably further.

* She knew we would be spending all day Saturday coaching another school function.
** TLAR = "That Looks About Right"
*** While I "disparage" them for the near miss, I envy what they did and always wanted an excuse to link their geekery!

Remembering December 7th, 1941

Visiting the USS Arizona memorial was pretty high on my list of "things to do this life". We finally made it this summer:

Oil still rises from the hull. (click on images for full size)


Names inside the memorial.


Leaving the memorial.

Note to self

Your carelessness lack of attention to detail is writing checks your skills can't cash.

So the creator of the November ePostal match, apparently drawing on "lessons learned" from previous contests, thoughtfully included a ruler on the target so a shooter could easily tell if the target was sized correctly or not. That's a great idea!

I printed the first set of targets on the SCQueens inkjet and checked the ruler. It was a little off but by only a hair. Next set of targets were printed on someone else's laserjet and I didn't bother to check the ruler since "it looked about right".

Scoring the targets back home, there was one shot that narrowly missed the Bond Girl off the top. Now I vaguely recall adding a trapazoidal shape above the legs to fill in the gap and yet here was a gap big enough to drive a .30 cal bullet through with room to spare. Hmmm, that's odd...[cue minor irritation in the Force] In the short run though, I can see a clear white line between the hit and the BG so it scores as a simple miss instead of a Bond Girl Hit.


It wasn't until reviewing targets submitted from other shooters, targets that showed the BG extending very close to the top edge of the paper. So how is it possible for my shot to miss and still keep on paper.. Here is a snippet of the original target. Notice the BG extending nearly to the top of the paper.

After reviewing half a dozen targets, it struck me to check the ruler again. Sure enough targets are 15 or 20% too small!

That ruler was a stroke of genius by the match master. You have no one to blame but yourself for NOT CHECKING TO MAKE SURE YOUR TARGETS ARE SIZED ACCORDINGLY! The matchmaster does not make allowance for your carelessness and your shooting skills aren't nearly good enough to make up the difference. You have no one to blame but yourself.

Update... "Carelessness" never felt like the work I was looking for... Edited to replace it with "Lack of attention to detail".

The Envelope Please...

And the November ePostal results are in, may I have the envelope please:

Mr. C has the high score - 21 in class 2 with no BG hits. He notes a couple misses were due to forgetting the holdover on his Red Dot scope.

And Merle M earns the Most Prolific award - with at least one, sometimes multiple entries in classes 1 through 7 inclusive! As well as shooting most classes he's at or near the top of each class. Good Shootin' Merle!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Especially those that had the guts to submit scores in the 0 range. As noted several times, 0 was mid point of the possible scoring range and a 0 score led one class for quite some time. Anyway, I hope you had as much fun shooting the match as I did hosting it even if you did not submit the scores.

	Shooter	Make	Model	Villain Hits	Bond Girl Hits	Score	Tie Breakers
Class 0.5 – Airsoft
	Duane Hakala	Classic Army	M14 Scout	11	0	11	0
	Ian Argent	Cybergun	Colt National Match	10	1	9	5
Class 1, Rimfire pistol – Iron Sights
	Billll	Ruger	MK I	13	0	13	8
	Engineering Johnson	Ruger	Single Six	11	0	11	9
	Ian Argent	Walther	P-22 Long Barrel	8	1	7	5
	Merle M	Ruger	SSS .22 Mag	9	2	7	0
	Paula	Ruger	MK II	7	2	5	8
	James	Ruger	MK II	5	1	4	8
	TrueBlueSam	Ruger	Single Six	5	1	4	0
	Danno	Ruger	.22/45	6	3	3	11
	Froggy	Ruger	Single Six	2	1	1	0
Class 2, Rimfire pistol – Optic Sights
	Mr. C	High Standard/Red Dot	Supermatic Citation	21	0	21	0
	Merle M	Ruger	Mk 2, Tasco 2-7x set on 2x.	13	0	13	0
	Merle M	TC	10” Contender	13	0	13	0
Class 3 Centerfire Pistol – Iron Sights
	Merle M	S&W	M3913 LS	9	0	9	0
	Merle M	Walther	P38	10	2	8	0
	Merle M	TC 38-40 WCF	Contender	8	1	7
	Ian Argent	Glock	17L	8	2	6	5
	Robert Lund	S&W G42	G42	1	5	-4	0
Class 4 Centerfire Pistol – Optic Sights
	Merle M	TC	10” Contender 9mm	9	2	7	0
Class 5 rimfire Rifle – Iron sights
	Merle M	Iver Johnson	.22 Carbine	11	1	10	0
	Merle M	Savage	M72	7	0	7	0
	Ian Argent	Springfield	84C	1	1	0	5
	Robert Lund	Winchester	94-22	5	6	-1	0
Class 6, Rimfire Rifle – Optic Sights
	Merle M	Ruger	10/22	16	0	16	0
	Merle M	Marlin	M39A Marlin	16	0	16	0
	Billll	Remington	Nylon 66 (.22)	13	0	13	8
	Danno	Ruger	10/22	6	1	5	11
	Paula	Remington	Nylon 66 (.22)	5	2	3	8
Class 7, Centerfire Rifle, Iron Sights
	Merle M	Ruger	Mini 14	8	0	8	0
Class 8, Centerfire Rifle, Optic Sights
	Danno	Inland	M1 Carbine	3	1	2	11

November ePostal

I've made my list but need to check it twice. In the meantime lets take a look at the tiebreakers.

First off, the Bond Girl came from the cover art for "For Your Eyes Only". One entry came with a name for the Bond Girl but cited Wikipedia as the source. Pfft... Wikipedia and a nickel still won't get you a cup of coffee.

As previously mentioned, this movie is a favorite for the opening scene.

Clockwise from upper right, the egg shaped object is Blofeld's BathySub from "Diamonds are Forever".







Lower right is a "Death Orb" from MoonRaker. Side note, the term MoonRaker refers to the highest sail on a square rigger ship. From the deck it appeared so high as to "Rake the Moon".








Lower left is Stromberg's Atlantis from "The Spy Who Loved Me" "For Your Eyes Only" (thanks EJ - For some reason I frequently get those two movies mixed up).










Upper left is Zorin's Blimp from "View to a Kill". I expected the "Zorin" tag on the side would make this a gimme











Finally in the center was the Stealth Ship from "Tomorrow Never Dies". This was the hardest to draw as well as hardest to identify. The movie only shows front quarter views. I wanted a side view to expand the target area. It seems pretty clearly a pontoon design with a forepeak ahead of the pontoons. But the aft end is never shown and thus involved some artistic license.

Total tiebreaker points available: 11 But they are only tiebreakers. That means TrueBlueSam's 4 with zero tiebreakers submitted beats my 3 score with perfect 11 tiebreakers (perfect scores are easy when you make up the key)!

It'll take me another day or so to recheck the scoresheet and format it for the web. I will accept entries up until I post scores.

Now I expect most here in North America are saying "'tis too cold for shooting outdoors". But I'm still hoping some equatorial entries. And the SCSon asked about entering... Which brings me to this: If I extended the deadline to next Monday, would I get any entries? (Since I have just published the tiebreakers, all entries from now score tiebreaker = 0)

*I don't recall which images were captured from the cited motion pictures and which were culled from other websites such as universalexports.com If they claim all, I won't quibble. Either way UE is a good resource for all things Bond. I don't think UE was the site that had some of these images and now I can't recall the resource. Rats, I'll keep looking and post attribution when I find it.

Last Call!!!

November ePostal match entries are due tonight. Sitemeter shows a lot of downloads but so far only a few entries have trickled in.

Sitemeter also showed a lot of interest from the Philippines (Thanks Manfred!). I'd love to see some entries from there.

Don't worry about if you think you scored poorly. The range of possible scores runs from -25 to +25. One class is currently led by a score of 0! Send those targets in today!

ePostal match closing weekend

A friendly reminder this is your last weekend to shoot the last ePostal match of the year. Entries are due by Monday night. I'm headed to the range today before the winds and rains hit tomorrow.

Rules and targets here

Update: I shot the match again today. In several tries I was not able to best my previous effort. Here's my Class 1 (Rimfire pistol, iron sights) entry. I was having a good day with three hits on the center target and three more on other villain targets. Unfortunately I nicked the bond girl three times.


BTW, whose brilliant idea was it to make the rule that shots between the legs in the lower left target do not score?

Eighteen Dollars

Our friendly local Airport held an open house this weekend. The Army sent over a couple Apache helicopters and crews over. The pilot explained how the pilot sits in the rear cockpit and the gunner sits in the front. One of the weapons at his control is the 30mm chain gun. It's connected to his helmet mounted sight and aims anywhere he looks. Each bullet costs $18. According to the Army Times site, the gun shoots 625 rounds per minute. That works out to $11,250 per minute with a total capacity of $21,600 (1200 rnds).

The SCQueen inquired about the rocket pod (sorry no pic). She asked where she could get her car equipped - just the thing for dealing with traffic. Each pod contains 19 rockets at $600 each, and there is a second pod on the other side ($11,400 each pod).

Kinda brings a different perspective to the $2-4 per round cost of hunting ammunition. This is not a quibble on costs. On the contrary, nothing in my safe is going to put much of a dent in a tank. Instead, should the need arise, I'm going to need them to go and kill some tanks. And I believe in giving people the tools the need to do their jobs. Sometimes it's good to see where our tax dollars go. I'm ok with a gunner practicing with $18 rounds, 'cuz when you need him, there is no replacement.

Guys, thanks for dropping by our airport and thanks for serving!

"Bond, James Bond"

update: This ePostal has come and gone. The latest one is here

Mid month update & bump Yes, this is a challenging contest. Consider the scoring range from +25 to -25. That means 0 is midrange! It is quite possible for a negative score to win the class! No matter how badly you think you score, send me your targets! FWIW, my best score so far is a +3. But I have two more weeks to better that mark and so do you!

Airsoft update: I can only find 0.12g bbs around here, but appears ye olde binder paper is considerably thinner and will feed through the SCQueen's inkjet printer. Shoot the match at 5 yds and send me the targets. I'll make classes as appropriate.

"Do you want to play a game?"

Mr. Completely's November e-Postal contest is here!

If there has been one constant in my life it has been the James Bond movie series. Some of my earliest memories at age 4 or 5 are of watching the movies on TV with mom. I distinctly recall the eggbeater helicopter with the electromagnet pick up the car full of gunmen in "You only live twice". "Live and Let Die" was the first movie I was allowed to see in the theater with friends rather than 'rents. The local SVdP had used copies of Ian Fleming's original books for only a dime and I read them all. Many of my school book reports on were on the series. "Moonraker" is the sole survivor sitting on the shelf.

The helicopter scene at the opening of "For your eyes only" is my favorite Bond movie opening. Their stunt pilot flew and maneuvered a Bell 206 JetRanger inside a building! Holee Cow! Talk about Ball's O'Brass! Ya know, air flow changes when you transition from outside to inside and helicopter crashes tend to the unsurvivable....

OTOH, The CGI crap they are putting out now, well not so much. The para-surfing scene in "Die Another Day" has to be the worst CGI ever foisted on the viewers. (however a car with an extendable minigun could be useful in the daily commute). Who needs a CCW to deal with road rage when your vehicle is equipped with a minigun?

There is even a chance I'm in a scene of "A View To A Kill". It was filmed in the San Francisco area one year that we raced a sailboat on the SF Bay. We sailed most every weekend that summer and saw the blimp pretty much every time. There is a two second scene showing the bay with lots of white sails on the bay. Even money I'm on one of them. No I can't tell which one.

The Mission:James Bond needs your help taking out the villains. Your mission is to shoot the villain vehicles so he can get an early start with the Bond Girl.

Target:The target should be printed out full size on a 8.5" x 11 sheet. There is a ruler at the Bond Girl's waist to aid with sizing. If anyone has trouble downloading or sizing the target, your email gets back a .pdf.

Distance: 11 yards for pistols, 25 yards for rifles. 11 Yards is the range minimum I have to live with. I shoot most ePostals with this disadvantage. For this contest we shoot on an level playing field. (It's good to be king).

Shooting position: Standing unsupported, one or two hands. No time limit.

Scoring: Q has provided you 25 shots. First 5 shots on each villain vehicle scores.
Some targets include significant white space within the target for artistic purposes. A white space hit within the enclosed target area is a hit. Note: Villain in lower left - misses between the legs are not within the enclosed area and score as a miss.
The Bond Girl is a no shoot. Bond Girl hits subtract one for one with Villain Vehicle hits.
Tie goes to the shooter: Any shot that scores both a villain and Bond Girl counts for the shooter. No penalty.
Maximum score is 25 points.

Tiebreaker: Identify the game pieces and name the movie it's taken from. This includes the Bond Girl. My drawing ability, "challenged" as it is, makes this harder than you might think. Any comments on the artistic quality of the game pieces will forfeit all Tiebreaker points.

Classes:
0: Airgun pistol (.177 CO2 or compressed air)
0.5: Airsoft (shoot at 5 yards)
1: Rimfire pistol, iron sights
2: Rimfire pistol, optic sights
3: Centerfire pistol, iron sights
4: Centerfire pistol, optic sights
5: Rimfire rifle, iron sights
6: Rimfire rifle, optic sights
7: Centerfire rifle, iron sights
8: Centerfire rifle, optic sights
9: other? Shoot it and let me know.

If I can work out a way to print out targets thin enough to be pierced by a an AirSoft pistol but sturdy enough to make it through a printer*, we'll have that class as well. That would allow shooting the contest from the comfort of your living room or garage.

Entries: Enter as many times as you wish, but only one entry per shooter, per gun. As usual, mark target with name, blog, gun details, class and score. Email a scan or photo of the target to sandcastlescrolls-at-msn-dot-com.

Deadline: November 30th 11:59PM local

TwoFer: Traction Control still has the October contest open until November 9th. That means for the next 9 days you can shoot both contests at one range trip. alas, the twofer window has closed and TC has published the results. But you still have the rest of November to shoot this match!

Update: Ian Argent notes in the comments while most airsoft pellets are 0.12g, heavier ones are available and punch clean holes. Experimenting here tonight it seems even the 0.12g projectiles will pierce 20# bond paper at 5 yds but leave ragged holes. I'll do some more experimenting and come up with a distance/projectile that works.


* If anyone has already figured this out, do tell! Consider this a bleg.

Insert Tab A into Slot B

Has a more dreaded instruction ever been written?

The brakes on the SCTruck went soft and the brake light was illuminated. The pedal would slowly drop to the floor. My first guess was "bad master cylinder". Which translates into "Master Cylinder and power booster" because the fluid tends to leak past the master cylinder and into the power booster which eats a hole in the diaphram. Anyway the whole package is about $200.

But a close inspection of the area around the booster and inside the pedal turned up not a trace of brake fluid. Hmmm... That's odd. The pedal slowly dropping to the floor means the fluid is going somewhere. The puddle formed on the garage floor at the left front. I beckoned for help from the rest of the SCCrew and the SCQueen answered. "Step on the brake - I need to find the leak."

She did and I did. A fine stream shot from the hose down to the caliper. In most cars that's not a big deal. They all have standard ends. You go down to the local parts purveyor and buy a similar length hose for $10 and all is well. But Nissan has a funky end and special bolt that brings the fluid down the center of the bolt. Ugg, probably a dealer only part. Instead of $10 today, it will probably be $60 and 6 weeks.

But the local import-specialty parts purveyor said "I have it in the warehouse. Will be here after 9:30am tomorrow". Today the installation was attempted. Felt like it seated OK but fluid leaked out at the mating face. Hmmm, maybe it's upside down. Nope, Still leaks.

Lets take a close look at the parts. First lets look at Slot B. This shows the bolt hole and slot. If you look close at the slot, there is a small 45 or 60 degree ramp at the bottom of the slot, apparently to precisely position the hose fitting. That means the tab width and distance from the face to the tab are the critical dimensions. If it's too wide or the corner is too close to the mating face, it won't seat correctly.

So now lets compare Tab-A on the original part (top) to the replacement (bottom). It might be obvious to the eye the distance from the mating surface (left side of picture) to the bottom of the tab is different. Less obvious, the tab is wider on the new part. Measured with a caliper, the mating face-bottom tab distance was closer by 20 thousandths and the width is 10 thou over. That explains the failure to seat the mating surface which allowed the fluid to leak.

Now this is a problem I can correct in a few minutes with a file. But dang it, the part should be right! I shouldn't have to modify a part to make it work. Besides, if I do a bunch of filing on the part and run into a different problem, they won't take it back.

The SCQueen suggested I call the parts purveyor. I explained that the part they sold me wouldn't seat. It appears the tab is ground to shape and sloppily done in this case. The parts-purveyor wants to make it right and will have another hose Monday AM. But he confirmed my suspicion that they would not be able to take back any modified part. So the choice is to modify the part or wait until Monday for a new part which may or may not be closer to the original. The downside is that the truck will be down for the weekend. Fortunately the truck is normally the "spare car"* so it doesn't have to be fixed tonight. We may end up back at the $60/6week dealer only option.

* As one that maintains their own vehicle, a spare car is the penultimate luxury. A spare car means "I don't have to fix this tonight" or "I don't have to ride my bike to the parts purveyor". In the past I have done both - worked until the wee hours of the AM because I needed to drive it to work tomorrow, and ridden a bicycle to buy parts. A garage to work in is the ultimate luxury!

Rule #3

PD: Officer accidentally shoots self at police academy

Rumors that he had just uttered "I'm the only one professional enough in this room to handle this Glock" are almost certainly untrue.

Seriously though, lots of bones in the foot. Hope it was "just a flesh wound" and he heals well.

Jury Duty

I've been summoned.

more later.

Update: It's now later.

"Juror number 7, you are released". Woo Hoo! Since I've been released, I can talkblog about it.

First of all the courtroom was probably the smallest I've ever seen. Maybe 30'x60'. The court staff, attorneys, complainant and defendant were present before we were allowed entry. Then add in 62 jurors and the room was packed. 14 in the jury box, and other 14 in front of the jury box, 30 or so in the gallery and two more across the room in from of the clerk of the court. The place is as crowded as my desk!

The choirboydefendant looks young. He's presumably over 18 because we are in adult court, but probably not more than 22, I'd even bet south of 20. He wore dark slacks and a red/gray long sleeve shirt. I looked for tats peaking out at the wrists and neck but didn't see any for sure.

The case involved one choirboy shooting another attempted murder with a firearm. The actual trial was expected to start Monday and continue every afternoon for three weeks plus lengthly deliberations beyond that. If my mental math works out, the trial would wrap up just before Thanksgiving and then deliberations continue for an indefinite period following that.

The judge went through several general questions for every juror. The judge, early in the process, read the case synopsis and asked if that caused bias for or against either party. Juror #18-ish objected and started in on how she thought guns were bad and CCW was wrong... I bit my tongue while mentally shouting "HELLO! THIS CHOIRBOY IS ACCUSED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THIS CASE HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH CCW? IS HE OLD ENOUGH TO EVEN POSSESS A FIREARM LET ALONE A CCW? DOES HE HAVE PRIOR FELONIES THAT WOULD PRECLUDE HIS LEGAL GUN OWNERSHIP? I'D BET MY NEXT PAYCHECK HE IS AN ILLEGAL POSSESSOR AND HENCE THIS CASE HAS ABSO-FRACKEN-NOTHING TO DO WITH CCW!" I so wanted to hear the judge say "Juror #18-ish, you're released on the basis that YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCEEDINGS." (apologise for the shouting text but that's the way it played out in my mind).

I believe in the the jury process though if it functions as explained today, it's deeply flawed. For instance one question the judge asked was something to the effect of "Can you apply the law as I explain it to you without regard to your own feelings on the law?". I think she might have even breathed something about "in other words, we don't do jury nullification here." I raised my number in objection. How many times has the SCOTUS gotten the verdict wrong and only reverse themselves 50 or 100 years later. In current day, I think the SCOTUS clearly got it wrong in the McCain-Finegold restrictions on free speech. I cannot apply this law in good conscience. The existence of one such exception suggests there are probably others. But if blindly following the judge's interpretation of the law is a requirement to serve, is this really a jury of peers? Any judge worth their salt is going to paint the law in such a small box there is only one possible conclusion. Why have a jury? If they gave me the written law and perhaps any precedents which I could decide if they were on point or not then let me make my own interpretation, I'd be good with that. But such was clearly not the case.

This trial was going to be lengthly enough that I would clearly be neglecting my dayjob(tm). I am developing a product we are trying to get on the market by the end of the year. Usurping more than half of my productive hours would surely cause a schedule slip.

But I didn't raise that issue with the court. I have a bigger concern. I coach two First Lego League teams at my son's school. We meet two days a week after school and our regional competition is December 5th. It's crunch time and pressing me into jury service would mean the end this program.

Yes, I played the "it's for the children" card.

I'll give props to the judge for releasing me on that basis. I sold this program to the principal and she put up the money to fund these two teams on my word that I would see it through. I'm glad this unforeseen roadblock will not interfere with that commitment.

Ooh, you chose poorly!

This is one of those heartwarming stories ya really like to see.

Short version:
Bad guy enters residence through a window. Produces a gun and demands money from the goodguy inside. Goodguy declines the invitation and flees the apartment to the courtyard where a party is underway chased by the badguy. Badguy demands money from the party goers who again decline. Bad guy pistol whips a party goer. Other partygoers counter with a baseball bat and two-by-four upside the head. Pistols are dropped and badguy finally escapes his beating. He makes it to his car and escapes. Police find the guy nearby and call an ambulance. One report said he's in critical condition.

At the very least he'll have a long time to contemplate his career choice.

Story here and here.

How is this possible?

"Student shoots himself while talking to professor"

How is this possible when guns are banned on the ASU campus? (Ref 5-308 (f)(24))

One of the students in the radio report said something to the effect of "How can this happen, we need more security." Has he stopped to think about how many people enter the campus every day? A recent article noted enrollment topped 69000 students, and there are probably another 5K employees. The Tempe campus covers more than 1 square mile with several streets criss-crossing the property.

A reasonable person would understand that a no-guns sign with the threat of student disciplinary action has no effect on someone that already has robbery, rape or murder on their mind.

In a case like this, there was probably only a couple-three seconds between the pulling the gun from the backpack and squeezing the trigger. An LEO even a step or two away is too far.

Glad no one else was hurt.

You might be a gun geek if...

You read about a license plate "1000101" and translate the binary on sight to 45 hexidecimal (base 16) and think "Maybe he's a gunnie". Apparently however the plate is on a Porsche and the owner intended the decimal equivalent (hint: four sixteens plus five).

I'm almost surprised the license plate censors didn't veto that one...

There's no place like home...

Unfortunately the heel-clicking thing only works in the movies. For us it worked out to 12 1/2 hours door to door, including 6 1/2 hours airborne, a 2 1/2+ hour flight delay, one bus ride, two trips through security theater and a taxi ride back to the car.

The flight from Hawaii was really an exercise in sleep deprivation and included several hours of pot-holed skies. Leaving the aircraft, I asked the captain and he confirmed we had crossed the jet stream. "We had 100kts out of the North". Since we were more or less North East bound, that means it was mostly a headwind. He went on to explain "the atmosphere is transitioning to the winter pattern." That probably would have meant more if I were more familiar with pacific weather patterns which I'm not. I thanked him for taking a moment and joined the family escaping the Aluminium tube.

Checking in at LAX, the connecting gate agent didn't think we had a chance to make the next connecting flight about 45 minutes away and even if we make the flight it's likely the bags won't. Instead she proposed the flight 2 1/2 hours later. We said we understood the risk but would take the bet. We had 45 minutes to make it upstairs to the gate. We dropped the checked bags at security theater screening then went to find our own security theater line. It zigzagged through the lobby then out the door and several hundred feet down the street. We barely made the connecting flight (they closed the door behind us).

Somewhere in the process we walked away from a travel case full of DVDs. I personally lost "12 O'Clock High", "Guns of Navarone", "Blade Runner", "Dune", "Titan AE" and a couple others. It's probably either left on the Schmerican flight or at LAX security theater. Either way, I'm, not optimistic we'll see them again. (Time to upgrade to blu-ray?)

I made it to work for a few minutes as planned. But not for long. I grabbed what I needed and told the boss "I can do this from home. See ya tomorrow". "To sleep, perchance to dream" - this time in my own bed!

ga'nite.

I hate airline travel part n+1

We've seen Kauai. It rained all day Saturday and part of today. We're tired and ready to sleep in our own beds. The flight home (on an airline that rhymes with shmerican) is supposed to be a redeye departing at the sucky hour of 9:30pm local. They just called my cell number with a recorded message that the flight has been pushed back two hours with a corresponding arrival delay. That puts into LAX 15 minutes after our connecting flight pushes back from the gate.

The Schmerican gate agent wouldn't lift a finger to help us in any way, not even to seat us together on the new flight (our current seat assignments are a dozen rows apart). Nor would the Schmerican call in reservation center. "Kelly @ DFW" said there are at least 5 rows with the needed seats together but "they are all under control of the gate agent. The same gate agent that wouldn't lift a finger 20 minutes earlier when she was FTF with the SCQueen.

The connecting airline wasn't much help either. They want $100/ticket to confirm us on a later flight. However we can fly standby for free. We'll see how that works out for us.

The one saving grace is the timeshare. Knowing we had a late departure we asked for and were granted a late checkout. Apparently no one is checking into the unit this afternoon so they said "Stay as long as you need". If we had to be out by noon we'd be hurt puppies, and certainly smelly puppies by boarding time.

I was supposed to report for work at 1pm local tomorrow... Who knows if we'll even be in town by then, let alone in a mental condition to actually work.

Schmerican - You Suck! It will be a cold day in Hell before I buy another ticket with you.

View From the Porch

No not that Porch, the view from the porch on Kauai.
(click on image for full size)
A Cruise ship pulled into the harbor for about 36 hours midweek:
Feral Fowl are everywhere on this island. We heard various stories on how they got here but all seem far fetched. The fact is they are here and they are everywhere. OTOH, given how prevalent they are it is surprising how few ended up as road kill. I think we only saw one or two the entire week. These guys were right outside our front door.

Pearl Harbor obligatory gun Pr0n

If you thought the FN-SCAR made his day. Check out the Quad 40mm!
2/3rds of USS Missouri's 16 inch guns:

Free Hawaiian vacation so far

Day 0: two trips through security theater, two airplanes, one flight delay, 55 minutes to rent a car and 15 minutes wait for the security guy to venture forth to let us in to our room. 6 1/2 hours spent airborne, 16 hours door-to-door. We are staying on the island of Kauai so most of the pics will be from here.

Oh and woah Nelly is it humid here! Temps at 10PM local are still in the high 80F's with humidity to match. I'm drenched by the time I lug the first load up the 29 steps to the front door. The news reports the normal trade winds are broken leading to the high temps/humidity. Maybe they'll return around the time we leave.

Day 1: We head South and West to the Waimea Canyon. It's a short drive distance wise maybe 50 miles, but a long trip time wise. About 2 hours one way. The speed limits are low but it's not a factor as the road is twisty and we're frequently stuck behind Qtips doing 15 or maybe 20 on the straights. BTW, The road up to Waimea would be a hoot to drive in a sports car. Heck, it would make one heck of a hill climb event. Sadly the squirrels powering the PTcruiser just aren't up to the task. The view however is well worth the drive!

Day 2: Headed to the North side of the island. We drove 'till the road was no more. Here is the Kilauea Lighthouse.

Day 3: Hop over to the Island of Oahu to visit the Pearl Harbor sites. A visit to the USS Arizona memorial is on my "to do this life" list. Check!

Day 4: Back on Kauai. Yesterday's trip around Oahu involved a lot of walking and I have the blisters to show for it. I need an easy day to nurse the soles of my feet. We took a short drive south to the Spouting Horn:

Stay tuned for more, including some obligatory gun pr0n.
I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks.

Quality Time

It's said a lot of being a parent comes down to "being there".

The SCSon just came bouncing down the stairs rattling off something about "The best weapon to kill werewolves is a shotgun!" Hmmm.. That's interesting, what makes you say that. He had been playing a werewolf game on Roblox.

That led to a conversation on undead beings and what does it really mean to kill and undead, then a peak at MHI where he started to read at page one. I think the book is still a bit over his ability. He understood but was having to work at the understanding. Thence onto a few minutes of quality time reviewing the MHI unit patches

BTW, while the autograph in the front of the book scored serious cool-dad points, then showing him an actual MHI patch was a home run if not a grand slam.

If you still haven't read the book, a) what's wrong with you and b) what's stopping you? I've read it once and started a second read. Larry reports it's into the second printing, but no details on whether autographed copies are still available. If you're interested, it's worth asking the question. Worst he can say is "no".

Night Currency

One of the prerequisites to carry passengers is three takeoffs and landings to a full stop within the last 90 days. Same goes if you want to carry passengers at night - three takeoffs and landings to a full stop at night. (ref CFR 14-61.57)

I had thoughts of taking the SCSon out to dinner, but knowing the "night"* time rules would be in effect by the time we were headed home, I checked the logbook and found I was just a couple days past the 90 day limit. DRAT!

Yea, we could still go and chances are lottery odds no one would even ask the question "were you current". The only reason anyone would ask the question is if there were an accident. Like CCW carriers and restaurants serving alcohol. Concealed means concealed and no one would know. But I would know, and that is enough. It's a simple concept called integrity** - do the right thing all the time even when, ney especially when, no one is looking.

This shot shows us lined up for runway 22 Right. 22 Left is clearly visible on the left side of the frame. The set of lights on the left side of the runway is a a PAPI - Precision Approach Path Indicator. (See AIM figure 2-1-5) The set of four lights show either red or white depending on the viewer's angle to the runway. White for high and red for low. A standard 3 degree glideslope is indicated by two read and two white. Slightly above shows three white one red and slightly below shows three red one white. Waaaay high or low shows one color or the other. Just remember "red over red - you're dead". Ok, that's the VASI rule but it still applies here, 'cept x2. e.g. "four red, you're dead." Of course this shot here shows we are on the proper 3 degree glidepath, two red and two white.

As always, click on the shot to enlargify

* The 61.57 regulation defines it's version of night, that is one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise in these parts. Tonight local sunset was 6:37pm, Engine start was 7:52 so it was well dark before the flight.

** This is a characteristic pilots tend to exhibit in spades. For example, I once lost my wallet on an airport. It beat me home! That is the message saying "I found your wallet, call me to collect it". Not a thing was missing. My phone number was not in the wallet, but a friend's business card was. The finder called my friend who provided my phone number. Result, My wallet was back in my pocket in less than 6 hours.