Last Call!!!...

... before posting initial winter ePostal match scores.

The original plan was to post first round scores 'round about yesterday or today.  However I just received the first entries from Mike & Billll.  Unfortunately the "yet to shoot" list includes the SandCastle Crew (we did Sporting Clays yesterday to prep for a year end match instead.  The SCSon beat me by one with a 33/50).

So here's the deal - I'm granting a one week extension.  Rain (or snow) or shine, first round will be posted NLT 12/29.  But additional entries will be accepted and added until the next match is posted in late Feb/Early March 2016.

BTW... I'm noticing a problem with Billll's targets - the traffic citation has no limit.  I'm working with Billll to see where the problem occurred - on my posting the target, his printing, his scanning, or somewhere else.  If you have issues with the target, lets talk and work it out.  eaddy on the target.

Amazon Air?

So it seems Amazon is no happier with UPS than I am.    Quoting a quote from the article quoted below:

“Amazon is pretty fed up with the third-party carriers being a bottleneck to their growth,” Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian said.

Solution? build their own airborne shipping infrastructure!  Everything from this point forward in the post is rampant speculation as a I have no connection to the company save that as a customer.

Ok..  let's think about this..  A network of jets only gets product from the distribution warehouse to a distant city, not to the end address.  So say AtoZco has a distribution warehouse in the Phoenix metro area.  The jet network effectively expands the reach of that network to Southern CA, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, maybe Reno, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and probably Western Texas.

I suspect AtoZco has a similar network of distribution warehouses throughout the country, maybe Spokane or Boise, Iowa, Kentucky, and Alabama-ish to cover the SE corner of USA.  That means just a few planes can cut a day, maybe two off 3rd party deliveries.

And then if AtoZco can get the drone deliveries* up and running...  Then they-will-be-golden with 24 hr delivery to most anywhere withing the CONUS a reality.

But this is mere rampant speculation.  What do I know?  I'm a customer and not in the shipping biz and not at all satisfied with BigBrown.  This is the way capitalism is supposed to work - find a need and fill it.  Or in this case, when your transportation chain is broken, work around them!

And lately, seems BigBrown tracking is "broken".  I received a package yesterday (I didn't have a choice of shipper) that wasn't even shown as "out for delivery".  Maybe they are\working the "under-promise, over-deliver" angle.

Again, rampant speculation.

At the very least, maybe it will force BigBrown to up their game,  or they will die.  That's how Capitalism works.  And that's a good thing!

* I'm still not convince on the drone delivery thing.

Amazon -> U ROCK!

I'm sick of dealing with UPS.  I'm done with them.  Got on live chat with Amazon and explained the problem, asking them to start a trace with UPS.

He said "No problem.  We'll refund the original order, then have you re-order with the fastest shipping option and we will waive the shipping fees."

OK, that's not quite what I had in mind but it achieves the goal.

I re-ordered with the fastest service, same day delivery.  Sent the order # to the Amazon guy.  Fees were waived and I had the order by 6pm.

Amazon, You Rock!

FDA disclaimer - The AtoZ company paid me nothing for this post.They don't even know I put it on the web.  They didn't ask and I didn't tell.  The comped shipping was to make sure I got my order when Big Brown effed it up.

UPS -> U SUCK!

I placed a small Amazon order last week.  I found a laser sight in my shooting bag.  It works but the batteries are dead.  The SCQueen tried to source the LR44 batteries locally but came up empty.

It then occurred to me I had inadvertently signed up for a free 30 day Amazon-prime trial (The link said "click here for free 2 day shipping" only to find out later it was the free 30 day trial.  I actually tried to get out of it but couldn't find a way).  OK.. one of the Prime benefits is free shipping without a minimum price.  So I when found a 10 pack of batteries I needed for five bucks & change, ok.. buy.

The package has taken on a life foretold in song:

swap my package for "Charlie" and UPS truck for "MTA"!*

UPS's tracker no longer even tracks the package.   Last thing I see is "packaged delayed one day"... dated MONDAY.  And everyday they do not deliver they simply move the "planned delivery date out a day".  Take away:  UPS tracking is USELESS!  The grief this shipping has caused both on my side and likely UPS as well vastly exceeds the package value.  Of course there is one simple way to resolve this, and that is for UPS to DELIVER THE PACKAGE!  Easy-Peasy!

Tonight the guy on the help desk (after 35 mins on hold) offered...  Well it is the holiday season and we are getting slammed.  I countered "Hello, do you have a CALENDAR?  this boon is as predictable as boons come.  How could you NOT be set up to handle it?  Excuses are like... well you know the rest.

I have screenshots to back up all of the above...  I didn't even bother with customer support this afternoon figuring "why listen to the lies?"  same same tonight... the people at online support don't know anything that's not in their computer, and they are no longer scanning this package.

I put this up as a "this in my experience"  as we enter this holiday buying season.  I offer this as fair warning to others.  I'm a capitalist...  Here are my takeaways:

1. Caveat Emptor baby!  Buyer Beware!  I will avoid UPS if at all possible. FedEx and even USPS (GAG) are superior choices.    I'm struggling to find a shipper inferior to UPS and I come up blank.  I wouldn't trust UPS with my dirty laundry right now.
2. If unavoidable, ship to $DayJob instead of $SandCastle. 

And hey Amazon... This affects you too...  You ship via UPS and they are not delivering.  This is  a big factor in NOT purchasing Prime for the year!  UPS has cost you business.  You should be involved.

That said, this feels very small considering the activities in San Bernadino, but this has been going on for 3 days now and is not over.  People, carry your guns.  They talk about "first RESPONDERS"  I want to talk about "Zero'th responders!"  That is people that are on site when the deed  goes down.   These things typically end when a good guy with a gun shows up.   They don't "respond" because they are already there!   YOU should be that good guy!  I want for  someone to "respond" with a reach to their hip, pull a gun a stop the offender(s) and control the situation until the "first" responders um...respond.

When I contact UPS (local) in the AM, I will specifically request they check under the drivers seat and any other cubby holes in the truck.  This wouldn't be the first time a vindictive UPS employee subverted my delivery.

Update 12/3:  I made the morning call..  The "manager" that answered was very dismissive.  "We don't know where your package is.  Just call Amazon and have them start a trace."  In otherwords, same thing everyone else looking at their computer screen has told me.  The one gem in the sea of Rocks was K...  I'm afraid to use her full name lest she get into trouble...  She took a genuine interest in the case.  I was sad to tell her "I'm sorry... I don't care anymore.  Amazon has made this right on their end and I've learnt my lesson WRT UPS."  Thank you for trying K...

Update 12/4:  Big Brown finally delivered the package today and on the early truck (before noon).  So my guess that "The driver threw the package away" incorrect.  However I suspect the only reason it arrived today and on the early truck is through the heroic efforts of the above mentioned K...  No one else seemed to care or was able to do anything.  Thanks K...!  Your efforts were noticed.  You are an inspiration to others.

Timeline:  Ordered 11/26, shipped 3 day select..  They scheduled delivery for 12/2 because they don't count Thanksgiving and the following Friday.  But the truck was enroute and got to town 11/30 and put on a truck for delivery Monday.  Which didn't happen.  They kept making excuses, finally delivered Friday 12/4 after a whole load of grief.

* I do not know the original date of the song..  I only know if it because it was probably the most appealing song we sung in 6th grade mandatory chorus, which I hated.  My  $.02, the best music is that without words!  The music speaks for itself.  See also Frankenstein.  Awesome piece, zero words.  The music speaks for itself.  But I digress...

FDA disclaimer:  Do you really think UPS would have paid for this post?   Really?

I need to add a new label....

 ...to the top of my toolbox.  The one there already says "Check the Fuse first!"  This is there because I spent several hours tearing into a broken system only to find the problem was a blown fuse.  I really felt stupid, hence rule #1.

Today SCSIL (Sand Castle Sister In Law) offered to give the SCSon some driving lessons in her manual transmission truck. (he has struggled with my attempt to teach him)    After a few stalls, the truck wouldn't start.

A jump start didn't work, but a bump start did... that got them back to the SandCastle.  We checked fuses and checked battery capacity.  That's not the problem.  I'm beginning to think "starter".  I located what I think is the starter but it's nothing I want to get involved in.

The SCQueen called around and found a local shop open today (most are not).  Not too surprising, I'm on holiday today too.

Fortunately the shop apparently has some integrity...   They quickly identified the problem in the clutch interlock rather than the starter itself.  The car won't attempt engine start unless the clutch is depressed.  Problem is, the thing that hits the microswitch breaks and now the engine won't start.  Apparently this is a rather common problem for this make & model.  To their credit, rather than selling her a starter (+installation) they sold her the $5 part she needed.  Good on ya guys!  (A small person would complain about the $.01 part that costs $5 rather than celebrating the $125-200 they saved her by correctly diagnosing the actual problem.  I count that as a win).  

I found the above link in as the 1st or 2nd link of an 'net search after the fact..  Dang... I forgot about the clutch interlock.  In my defense, most of the cars I've owned didn't have one.  Wanna drive the car on the starter?  Go right ahead!  The car would allow that.

So new label on the tool box will read:

2.  Check the interwebs!

(and a special thanks to the SCSIL for taking time to work with the SCSon on learning to drive a manual transmission from someone who is not "dad".  A lot of time, just hearing the message from  a non-$PARENT makes all the difference.)

But what I think he really needs, is to take the car out on his own.    The real learning occurs after the instructor has left the car (this is especially true in airplanes).  Smart pilots look at a pilot's certificate as a "license to learn".

Yea, I'm talkin to you SCSon!

Winter ePostal match

This is nominally the last ePostal of the year.  Because I'm late in posting and there won't be another until March, I will post results after 5 weekends (on or about Dec 21-22) but will continue to accept late entries until the next ePostal is posted in late February/March.

This target is inspired by Real Life Events.  I present to you "Driving School"!  You see, the SandCastle Son turned 16 this year and qualified for an Arizona graduated driver's license*.  It used to be that every newly minted 16YO wanted a car, preferably a new one.  No such luck for the SCSon...  instead he got DRIVING LESSONS!  In my day drivers training was part of HS curriculum, basic safety stuff in Freshman year then simulators & actual road instruction a year later.  .  Now, the HS does *nothing*.  We are on our own.

We chose this particular school because they include "skid pad" training in the curriculum.  It's not actually a skid pad, but rather a car with the ability to  lift individual/pairs of wheels to induce understeer or oversteer conditions (and lots of overrun room!).  They do this with screaming passengers in the car to supplement the realism.  Gawd I wish I'd had this in my training... All my training was in clear and dry conditions.

The biggest obstacle in getting the license was dealing with MVD business hours to complete the paperwork.  Due to extracurricular activities he starts school before 6AM and doesn't get out until 4pm.  And MVD being a bureaucratic beast doesn't open before 8am, nor linger after 5pm. Fortunately we found an open day.  Bottom line, he did the training and now holds the license.  Probably to the detriment of my insurance bill (we haven't told them yet).

Congrats on your license to learn kiddo!  Now don't get cocky!

On to the course of fire.  download target here.  This target is inspired by the SCSon's summer of driving school.  As usual your task is to hit the shoots and miss the no shoots.  There are two no shoots on the target: The Traffic Citation and the yellow collision sign.

Do not use this target - download actual .pdf from link above.

Edit 12/28 to clarify scoring  (additional text in bold font)
Lets keep scoring simple... +1 pt for any hit on the "hit" targets, -1 on the "no hit" targets (the only no-hit targets are the citation and collision sign, including it's post and unmown grass).  Sign targets includeing the mounting poles below the signs and even the unmown grass at the base.  Intent is to enlarge the sign target area.  No per target limits.
End Clarification

Normal "liners count" rules apply for every target except for  "Free Parking" target.  This is a pet peeve... if you can't park between the lines either you need more parking practice or you shouldn't be driving that vehicle.  I hold myself to these standards - My daily drivers are at each end of the agility spectrum.  I drive both a very agile Miata and a long wheel base truck with a turning radius measured furlongs.   I take pride in parking, even if it takes more than one try.  I wish others cared as much.

Touch a bold line in Free Parking and the shot scores as a miss,  The thin line at the bottom of Free Parking serves only to delimit the spot.  A liner there without touching a bold line scores a hit.    I do not care if you park a little short.  And besides, ePostals are all about quirky rules!  That's part of the fun.  There are many like it but this one is mine ;-)  And as match master, I reserve final scoring judgment authority (but I am a benevolent master :-)

Course of fire: 10 shots, Pistols at 25 ft/10 yds, Rifles at 25 yds/Meters, or whatever works for you.   Let me know how you shot the target (caliber/range etc) and I'll sort out classes.

Send your entries to sandcastlescrolls (at) (emm)(ess)(enn).com.  (thanks Stretch!)

*  Arizona limits 16 & 17 YOs to a "graduated license".  He is limited on hours he can drive and how many "young-uns" in the car with him.  There a lots of legitimate exceptions written into the law.  Note especially 28-3174(3)(D)(2):

D. Except as provided in subsection J of this section (which says none of this applies after he turns 18), for the first six months that a class G licensee holds the license, the licensee shall not drive a motor vehicle on a public highway from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. unless either:
...
2. The licensee is driving directly to or from a sanctioned school sponsored activity, the licensee's place of employment, a sanctioned religious activity or a family emergency.

That means the SCSon who has to be at school by 0300 Sat AM to board the bus to a drill event 170 miles distant could legally drive himself to the school without violating the law.  Again, that seems a very legitimate exception.  I'm good with that...

Don't try this at home!

Just don't: Short version: 13-YO injures himself with a homemade shotgun.

A better headline might be "13-YO get's a first hand lesson in Newton's third law".

 There is simply no need in this state for a 13-YO to make his own shotgun when there are so many proper youth opportunities available.

 Right there in his home city of Buckeye there is an SCTP program. $75/yr covers everything the student needs: coaches, shotgun, shells & birds. Everything an aspiring shooter needs!

 The SCTP program will explain and enforce the safety rules. Embrace and abide the rules and you will have a safe & fun time. Reject the rules and expect to be quickly ejected from the program, for everyone's safety, including your own.