Sunday bullets

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• This past week was a killer, time wise. Every day had me at work for twelve to fourteen hours. The reason we did such a dastardly thing…made it okay. My partner and I are working in our off hours to train a pair of students for competition. I think they have a pretty fair chance of doing well. An example, to illustrate why I have that opinion… Thursday evening we rigged the car for them (2009 Honda Accord). As part of the setup, I disconnected a bulkhead wiring connector by about ¼”. That prevented it from starting, and also prevented the key from turning back from the run position. They found this problem in nine and a half minutes (!). For my next trick, (same rig) I balled up a spare shirt and inserted it into the intake air duct on the incoming side of the mass air flow sensor. It allowed the car to run for about five seconds, and then it stumbled and stalled. The had the vehicle running clean in forty five minutes, and in that same time period found almost every other bug we installed (by splitting duties and sticking with their plan). I am proud of these boys!
• We took our class out to UTI for a visit, so they could see the facility. Nice place, with a serious investment in building and equipment. If they’d had a slightly more serious pay plan for instructors, I might be teaching there myself. During the visit the UTI folks donated two Audi’s to our program, a 2006 and a 2004. I’ll get excited when I see them arrive at my lab, and see what condition they are in. I’m certain they’ll be shiny and look good, but will they run? I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised (g). We usually have a few students each year leave our program and enroll in UTI for post secondary training, and at $35,000 a head I guess UTI wants to say thank you. (g)
• There’s a nice thin layer of pretty snow on the ground this morning, just enough to make the mud look attractive (g). I noticed this at 5:30 when the usual light sky in my bedroom window was sharper than usual. Somehow I convinced myself to go back to sleep, but I realize something now. I’ve often lamented that I cannot seem to sleep in, no matter how much I need it, and no matter how much time I have. I bounce/fall/stumble out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00 every morning. Perhaps… just perhaps…. if I got BLINDS for that bedroom window and shut out the light, I might be able to sleep in! I’ve never worried about it till now, as there’s nothing going on in there I wish private from the world. I’m a regular ‘Sam Vimes’ that way… just falling into the sack each night, late, with no need for lights.
• Our internet is down again at the house. It usually fails at least once a day, from ten minutes to several hours. We have ‘Frontier’, about the only choice here for DSL aside from Comcast. Guess which two companies have the worst service in the world, and in which order….. yup… you got it. Comcast, followed by Frontier. So…. Frontier, if are reading this…. let me make this clear… YOU SUCK. I know you folks tell your mothers you are drug dealers, rather than admit you work for Frontier… and I understand why. As close as I can tell, any inclement weather will shut down our internet service. Rain, snow, calm air, ice, wind, fog, or excessive sunshine all seem to be sufficient for disruption. Calling them is useless. It just goes to a recording saying they know the service is having problems. It’s a 24/7 recording… and that should be a clue. Sometimes one can’t even reach the recording, so I guess Frontier has Frontier service as well.
• The last time I was able to check the weather online, it showed us due for snow tonight. Three to seven inches I think it was. That would mean a delay or cancel of school tomorrow, and I will be broken hearted. (Insert sarcastic sigh here). Should we have our work day cancelled, I will consider it a personal gift from the school teacher gods. I love my job, and would not wish to do anything else, but a day without such heavy challenges would go well just now. Shucks… I’d be happy for a day without police officers asking for my students by name!
• I spent time yesterday snooping around the net, looking at the ammunition/firearms supply situation. I am now convinced that even we bloggers have not given the ‘shortage’ enough notice. I know the idiots in the ‘media’ haven’t, but we have fallen down on the job as well. I don’t see it as a shortage so much as a massive new demand. It amounts to the same thing. More telling is the incredibly high demand for reloading supplies and tools. People are digging in for the long term this time. The new administration has made their position clear, in deed if not in weasel words. They are strongly against honest citizens being armed. This has not gone unnoticed amongst the 50% of the population not under their hypnotic socialist sway. Are people getting ready to say ‘No’ and stand behind their words with action? I don’t know the answer to that one, but I doubt it. If the demand came to turn in their personal property, most folks would simply ignore it. If the demand was face to face at the door, I am certain most honest citizens would cave so quick they’d leave vapor trails behind them. As for me, the economy is so bad I might be forced to sell all my firearms. Every last one….. And I’ll swear to that. Now, pardon me while I go pour motor oil into the flower beds.
• Now that our Internet service is once again working (%$#@$% Frontier) I had a chance to browse. It was worth it.... just to read Xavier's latest post. "One thing is certain. Gun owners will eventually have their second amendment rights whittled away to a pile of shavings and a splinter if we do not increase our numbers. With concealed carry legislation a growing force in America, and the second amendment being recognized as a fundamental right to self preservation, the cause for gun owners has become universal. It's not about hunting anymore. The second amendment is something that every person but the most profoundly puerile pacifist can appreciate. The key is to get people shooting. Remove the fear of guns. Remove the fear of acting in self defense. Help people understand that self defense is not just a right, it is an imperative. When one's life is threatened, self defense becomes life. As such, political threats to the right to effectively defend oneself are assaults not just on one's way of life, but on one's life itself. "

The man can think, and he can write.