I made a commitment when we started having kids, that I would cut back on a number of activities that I was part of. I did this because as a DINK (Dual Income No Kids) I was free to do way more stuff than most folks. Mrs Ipsa and I were married for 10 years before we had kids and we both had decent professional jobs, so we got to play a bit more than others our age with kids. One of the things I used to be overly involved with was church stuff.
I'm still involved with the running of things at church. I still serve in various activities, but I have cut back on how much I do. However I do still take the time to look into new things that come along that might prove helpful. I was checking out stuff for our teens and I stumbled across a book written by two brothers. Alex and Bret Harris wrote Do Hard Things as teenagers.
The basic premise is that kids have life too easy, they do to little and they need to suck it up and start doing something worthwhile. In their words; teenagers need to start doing hard things. As a kid growing up my father used to say basically the same sort of thing to me. The difference here is that its not a grown up on a soap box gripping about "kids these days". The book was written to kids by kids. As an adult I found the book a tad on the simplistic side. Life, after all has many more ups and downs than a couple of home schooled boys form a upper middle class background have experienced. These kids have yet to experience the "kick in the gut" moments that leave you gasping for breath and questioning if you have the testicular fortitude to get out of bed and face it again.
That is where I am wrong.
I'm a grown man with my own kids. I have grown man concerns. I prepare to face a grown up world that I know about because I've been on the receiving end of grown up heartache and frustration. This book was written by kids to motivate kids. Kids don't see life the same as adults, because they aren't adults. The point of Do Hard Things is that they will be adults and they need to get ready for it, by doing more, taking on tougher stuff, setting higher goals, not listening to the adolescence until your 30 culture and doing hard things.
I'd loan you my copy of the book, but its getting passed around our town right now. Get your own copy, they can be had for less than $10. Read it if you want, just be sure to get it in the hands of a kid. You never know they just might join The Rebelution and that would be a good thing.
12/29/2009
12/28/2009
Merry Christmas
I know its a late post. I worked this Christmas and a 15 1/2 hour day after not getting any sleep the night before led me to not get a post up, until now. I'm finally on my days off.
A special thanks to those of you who dropped by to say Merry Christmas. Thank you.
Politically Correct 12 Days of Christmas
On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my significant other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:
TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,
ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will
not be asked to play a note),
TEN melanin-deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping,
NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,
EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans,
SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,
SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,
FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,
(NOTE: after members of the Animal Liberation Front
threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens, and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further Animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.)
FOUR hours of recorded whale songs,
THREE deconstructionist poets,
TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses, and
ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.
Merry Christmas.
Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah.
Good Kwanzaa.
Blessed Yule.
Oh, heck! Happy Holidays!!!! (unless otherwise prohibited by law)
Unless, of course, you are suffering from Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD). If this be the case, please substitute this gratuitous call for celebration with a suggestion that you have a thoroughly adequate day.
A special thanks to those of you who dropped by to say Merry Christmas. Thank you.
Politically Correct 12 Days of Christmas
On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my significant other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:
TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,
ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will
not be asked to play a note),
TEN melanin-deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping,
NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,
EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans,
SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,
SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,
FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,
(NOTE: after members of the Animal Liberation Front
threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens, and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further Animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.)
FOUR hours of recorded whale songs,
THREE deconstructionist poets,
TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses, and
ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.
Merry Christmas.
Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah.
Good Kwanzaa.
Blessed Yule.
Oh, heck! Happy Holidays!!!! (unless otherwise prohibited by law)
Unless, of course, you are suffering from Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD). If this be the case, please substitute this gratuitous call for celebration with a suggestion that you have a thoroughly adequate day.
12/22/2009
Women at Work
I wasn't sure what to title this post, "Women at Work" or "What America Would be Like if Hillary Was President". I think I used to work for this chick.
Link to her blog. Warning: the rest of her blog is equally classy.
Profits are down, sales are down, and the workload is slow. Our prices are competitive, so I'm not sure what's wrong. What I'd like to do is boost our sales. Unfortunately I know nothing about sales! So I've decided to cut operating costs, which will force me to squeeze maximum productivity out of the few employees who remain. But that's not as easy as it sounds! In fact, it's become a rather depressing game of "divide and conquer"!
I began by drawing out a big chart. I wrote down everyone's name and drew lines connecting who was friends with who, who takes lunches together, and who chats around the coffeemaker. I put a red mark by anyone who I think may have been part of last year's failed unionizing effort. I also made notes on the chart about popularity, niceness, and physical attractiveness.
Then I started managing people out of their jobs. I wrote folks up for every single 30-second tardy. I documented every website they visited that wasn't work-related. I monitored their calls, and rummaged through their desks. I even sent a few people in for "random" drug tests. After only three weeks I'd fired one person out of every identified friendship in the building.
The best part was how I avoided an ugly, newsworthy mass-layoff situation. Instead I spread all the firings out over a month of Fridays. This not only helped our company avoid embarrassment, (as well as expensive severence packages) but it also helped develop a sense of self-preservation and paranoia among my remaining staff. Of course everyone is depressed and worried, and I'm the only one who knows that the firing spree is over!
Link to her blog. Warning: the rest of her blog is equally classy.
12/15/2009
I Can't Help It
I've tried not to post this, but I can't help myself. I'm a sophomore at hart. The title says it all.
Abstaining Boobies Get "Sexier".
Click the link and watch the video.
Abstaining Boobies Get "Sexier".
Click the link and watch the video.
Donna Jackson Praying for Forgiveness
Donna Jackson, 57, was on the phone with 911 for more than ten minutes reporting an intruder at her home when she shot and killed the man, Billy Dean Riley. The incident was captured on tape by the 911 dispatcher. Riley entered Jackson's home after breaking a glass door by throwing a patio table through it. Jackson shot him once in the chest with a 16-gauge shotgun.
Excerpts from the 911 tape.
Dispatch:
"Do you have a gun"
Donna:
"Yes ma'am"
Dispatch:
"You have to protect yourself"
Donna:
"Dear God Please hurry"
"I don't want to kill him"
"I will kill him...graveyard dead, ma'am
Hear it for yourself.
At the end of the tape you hear Mrs. Jackson praying for forgiveness after killing her assailant. Some observations:
1. The 911 dispatcher told Mrs. Jackson that it was OK to defend her property and herself. GOOD JOB!
2. The 911 dispatcher told Mrs. Jackson that it was OK after she killed Billy Dean Riley and that she had to do it. Again GOOD JOB!
3. Apparently the cops refused to arrest Mrs. Jackson. GOOD JOB!
4. The prosecutor has said that this incident must be investigated as a murder. However, he is declining to press any charges against Mrs. Jackson. GOOD JOB!
5. Mrs. Jackson's parents raised a women who remembers to say ma'am and be proper on the phone even when someone is trying to kill her and who prays in the midst of battle. GOOD JOB and God Bless the South!
6. Mrs. Jackson did what she had to do. I am tremendously sorry she had to go through this. I cannot bring myself to honor a killing no matter how justified with a "good job". I am very grateful that we still have Donna Jackson with us and that this encounter turned out as it did. I can't see Mrs. Jackson accepting a "good job" from me. No doubt she would have been much happier with being left alone.
7. Oklahoma's "Make My Day Law" seems to be working as it should. Good Job!
It will take you all of 5 min to find Mrs. Donna Jackson of Stroud OK address if you want to send her a card.
Excerpts from the 911 tape.
Dispatch:
"Do you have a gun"
Donna:
"Yes ma'am"
Dispatch:
"You have to protect yourself"
Donna:
"Dear God Please hurry"
"I don't want to kill him"
"I will kill him...graveyard dead, ma'am
Hear it for yourself.
At the end of the tape you hear Mrs. Jackson praying for forgiveness after killing her assailant. Some observations:
1. The 911 dispatcher told Mrs. Jackson that it was OK to defend her property and herself. GOOD JOB!
2. The 911 dispatcher told Mrs. Jackson that it was OK after she killed Billy Dean Riley and that she had to do it. Again GOOD JOB!
3. Apparently the cops refused to arrest Mrs. Jackson. GOOD JOB!
4. The prosecutor has said that this incident must be investigated as a murder. However, he is declining to press any charges against Mrs. Jackson. GOOD JOB!
5. Mrs. Jackson's parents raised a women who remembers to say ma'am and be proper on the phone even when someone is trying to kill her and who prays in the midst of battle. GOOD JOB and God Bless the South!
6. Mrs. Jackson did what she had to do. I am tremendously sorry she had to go through this. I cannot bring myself to honor a killing no matter how justified with a "good job". I am very grateful that we still have Donna Jackson with us and that this encounter turned out as it did. I can't see Mrs. Jackson accepting a "good job" from me. No doubt she would have been much happier with being left alone.
7. Oklahoma's "Make My Day Law" seems to be working as it should. Good Job!
It will take you all of 5 min to find Mrs. Donna Jackson of Stroud OK address if you want to send her a card.
Calling Home Schoolers
I know we have a few home schoolers out there. I have a couple of questions:
What are you using to teach:
Reading
Math
Etiquette
I'm especially interested in Etiquette and mathematics as I think I have a reading program. I'd really like to hear from those of you who have had success in higher level mathematics calculus and above.
What are you using to teach:
Reading
Math
Etiquette
I'm especially interested in Etiquette and mathematics as I think I have a reading program. I'd really like to hear from those of you who have had success in higher level mathematics calculus and above.
Creme Brulee
This is an incredibly easy and inexpensive desert to make. It has a French name and because of that sounds hard/fancy/expensive. Its not. I truly believe that French cooking gets its prestige from the French language (it sounds "french") as much as from the recipe.
There are two ways to make this. You can melt dark chocolate in a double boiler and stir it into the cream, or you can take the chunks of chocolate and place them in the dish before baking.
8 egg yolks
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Irish Cream (you can use Baileys but the cheaper brands are just as good)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Method:
Preheat oven to 300.
Separate egg yolks and beat them. Add vanilla to egg yolks, set aside.
Simmer cream sugar and Irish cream until the mixture is bubbly around the edges. Stir the entire time. Do not let it boil or burn. This takes between 3 to 5 min.
Pour cream mixture into eggs, slowly. Incorporate cream and eggs with a whip by hand, do not make scrambled eggs. The method is similar to making a traditional hollandaise by hand. The mixture should be smooth and creamy looking and slightly yellow or orange from the yolks. Do not over beat it or introduce air bubbles. Pour the cream mixture into ramekin dishes and place them into a bath and bake at 300 degrees for 40 to 45 min. You are looking for the custard to set and not be liquidy looking but slightly firm. At my elevation it takes about 50 min, so set a timer and check it at 40 min.
Chill in fridge until cold. Cover the top with a thin coating of sugar and caramelize with a blow torch, just prior to serving.
Creme Brulee is very versatile. You can experiment with tons of flavors. Here are the basic rules:
1. For every cup of liquid (cream) you need 2 egg yolks. ie 4 cups of cream = 8 eggs.
2. When you use a liqueur it can be up to 25% of the cream mixture, although I try to stick to less than that. See the above recipe, 1/2 a cup was plenty Irish cream. You're trying to create flavor not a DUI. If you use a strong liqueur like a kirsch/rum/bourbon/whiskey/brandy you need to cut the booze way back to maybe a shot.
3. Fruit is the most popular way to flavor a creme brulee. Follow the same 25% rule. The generally puree of fruit can be 25% of the cream mixture.
4. When making some forms of creme brulee, you simply "brew" the flavoring agent in the cream while it cooks. Vanilla beens in the pod are an example. Orange and lemon peel is another. I've seen it done with herbs as well.
5. If you need to make a larger batch, just keep the sugar proportional.
Experiment and have fun. If you think something might work as a recipe google it. I just did and it took me less than 5 min to find over 100 different flavors and their recipes. I'm serious about that caveat on not over doing the booze. I once made a cherry kirsch cheesecake that had a nice "burn" going down. I think we served that when we had one of the elders and his wife over for dinner. Avoid embarrassment and wrecking food, take it easy on the application of liqueur, it doesn't always come out when you cook it.
Some creme burlee you might want to try:
Bananas Forester
Rum Raisin (rehydrate the raisins in rum and pat dry)
Cherry
Peach
Pecan Praline
Anise (see rule #4)
Lime
Prickly Pear
Huckleberry
Apple pie
Ginger (Surprisingly popular, use crystallized ginger)
Mince meat
Amaretto
Pumpkin
Butterscotch
Those are just a few of the ones I've done this last year. Knock yourself out.
There are two ways to make this. You can melt dark chocolate in a double boiler and stir it into the cream, or you can take the chunks of chocolate and place them in the dish before baking.
8 egg yolks
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Irish Cream (you can use Baileys but the cheaper brands are just as good)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Method:
Preheat oven to 300.
Separate egg yolks and beat them. Add vanilla to egg yolks, set aside.
Simmer cream sugar and Irish cream until the mixture is bubbly around the edges. Stir the entire time. Do not let it boil or burn. This takes between 3 to 5 min.
Pour cream mixture into eggs, slowly. Incorporate cream and eggs with a whip by hand, do not make scrambled eggs. The method is similar to making a traditional hollandaise by hand. The mixture should be smooth and creamy looking and slightly yellow or orange from the yolks. Do not over beat it or introduce air bubbles. Pour the cream mixture into ramekin dishes and place them into a bath and bake at 300 degrees for 40 to 45 min. You are looking for the custard to set and not be liquidy looking but slightly firm. At my elevation it takes about 50 min, so set a timer and check it at 40 min.
Chill in fridge until cold. Cover the top with a thin coating of sugar and caramelize with a blow torch, just prior to serving.
Creme Brulee is very versatile. You can experiment with tons of flavors. Here are the basic rules:
1. For every cup of liquid (cream) you need 2 egg yolks. ie 4 cups of cream = 8 eggs.
2. When you use a liqueur it can be up to 25% of the cream mixture, although I try to stick to less than that. See the above recipe, 1/2 a cup was plenty Irish cream. You're trying to create flavor not a DUI. If you use a strong liqueur like a kirsch/rum/bourbon/whiskey/brandy you need to cut the booze way back to maybe a shot.
3. Fruit is the most popular way to flavor a creme brulee. Follow the same 25% rule. The generally puree of fruit can be 25% of the cream mixture.
4. When making some forms of creme brulee, you simply "brew" the flavoring agent in the cream while it cooks. Vanilla beens in the pod are an example. Orange and lemon peel is another. I've seen it done with herbs as well.
5. If you need to make a larger batch, just keep the sugar proportional.
Experiment and have fun. If you think something might work as a recipe google it. I just did and it took me less than 5 min to find over 100 different flavors and their recipes. I'm serious about that caveat on not over doing the booze. I once made a cherry kirsch cheesecake that had a nice "burn" going down. I think we served that when we had one of the elders and his wife over for dinner. Avoid embarrassment and wrecking food, take it easy on the application of liqueur, it doesn't always come out when you cook it.
Some creme burlee you might want to try:
Bananas Forester
Rum Raisin (rehydrate the raisins in rum and pat dry)
Cherry
Peach
Pecan Praline
Anise (see rule #4)
Lime
Prickly Pear
Huckleberry
Apple pie
Ginger (Surprisingly popular, use crystallized ginger)
Mince meat
Amaretto
Pumpkin
Butterscotch
Those are just a few of the ones I've done this last year. Knock yourself out.
NEC 5300
A buddy of mine recently had to move out of town to get a place he could afford. He needed to be able to have enough room to be able to get around and in and out of the house. Stuff like that becomes important when you need a minimum of 3 months to recoup after a major surgery. There was no way he could do that with a walker and wheelchair in the place he had here. Not working for 3 months and needing a bigger place don't go together like you might hope. So he moved to much cheaper digs in a town farther away. Hopefully he will move back when he is better.
I went for a visit yesterday. Mine was a goodwill and get out of the house mission. I needed to get out of the house. They needed a three course meal. My roast duck with pomegranate sauce and Irish Cream and dark chocolate creme brulee were a hit. I've noticed that you can be a welcome dinner guest; any night you want, at almost anyone's house, if you bring the appetizer, entree and desert.
While he is setting in his chair doing next to nothing, a book writing project is in the works. He wants to fictionalize his memoirs in a series of books and see if he can sell them. Most people need to fictionalize their memoirs in an effort to make them interesting enough to read. These stories are interesting enough on their own. They have to be fictionalized for other reasons. The suggestion or rather hint was made that I might be of use in this project. We talked it over some. The project intrigues me.
I went for a visit yesterday. Mine was a goodwill and get out of the house mission. I needed to get out of the house. They needed a three course meal. My roast duck with pomegranate sauce and Irish Cream and dark chocolate creme brulee were a hit. I've noticed that you can be a welcome dinner guest; any night you want, at almost anyone's house, if you bring the appetizer, entree and desert.
While he is setting in his chair doing next to nothing, a book writing project is in the works. He wants to fictionalize his memoirs in a series of books and see if he can sell them. Most people need to fictionalize their memoirs in an effort to make them interesting enough to read. These stories are interesting enough on their own. They have to be fictionalized for other reasons. The suggestion or rather hint was made that I might be of use in this project. We talked it over some. The project intrigues me.
12/07/2009
Computer Down.
I'm having several problems with my PC. If you've sent me email, Fire Fly, jimmy, etc I can't reply or open any links. Sorry.
Anyone who knows anything about PC's that would care to give advice, I'm all ears.
I'm running an XP with MS Office programs. Its an HP. What is happening is that every time I turn the computer on, it says I am the victim of software counterfeiting and that my system does not pass genuine windows verification. None of my programs can talk to each other. If I click a link in an email it won't open up. I can no longer send emails but I still receive them. I can no longer access Internet Explorer. I normally use Fire Fox, but I have a client that requires me to access their system with IE. When I use FireFox I can't access PDF files. The list goes on.
Any ideas?
Anyone who knows anything about PC's that would care to give advice, I'm all ears.
I'm running an XP with MS Office programs. Its an HP. What is happening is that every time I turn the computer on, it says I am the victim of software counterfeiting and that my system does not pass genuine windows verification. None of my programs can talk to each other. If I click a link in an email it won't open up. I can no longer send emails but I still receive them. I can no longer access Internet Explorer. I normally use Fire Fox, but I have a client that requires me to access their system with IE. When I use FireFox I can't access PDF files. The list goes on.
Any ideas?
jimmyb Cug
Anyone else wanting to pipe in on why a rifle would shoot 1in groups at 100 and then start shooting 14in groups at 100 after having the barrel cleaned with copper solvent feel free.
J,
My email is down. I don't know why. I can get emails I just can't send them. I will need to get you pics of the 6.5x47. I’ll try to send all the pics at the same time. This post is to answer your question.
Accuracy in your 223:
I’m assuming you are using factory mil spec ammo. If this isn’t the case, there are a number of hand loading technique issues that we can talk about. 1in at 100 is what you would expect from most guns with factory ammo. Since that is what it was doing before, we’ll go with that being the standard level of accuracy for this gun. There are some things you can do that improve beach performance etc. but you were already having reasonable success and it seems the accuracy problem is a recent development.
Cleaning out the copper fouling will change the point of impact of most guns, but it should not change your group size by much. Normally it will decrease not increase the group. Normally what you did might change the point of impact at 100 yards by ½ to maybe 1and ½ inches from what it was before. If you had the gun printing groups right dead on the bull, it might shift that group slightly. It should not open your group up by 14 inches. Something else is wrong.
Possibility #1.
You already mentioned that your scope may be damaged. I agree this is a very real possibility. If the crosshairs are moving, it would account for the group size you now have. This could be caused by the scope not being on the gun securely or by the scope being damaged.
Possibility #2
You may have damaged the barrel or its crown somehow.
Possibility #3
Your gunstock is not securely attached to the action, or you have inadvertently screwed up the bedding making the barrel shift from one shot to the next.
Possibility #4
I had a Savage, still have it, it’s for sale BTW in 300 WSM, that had this problem. Sometimes the factory does a poor job with the torque of the barrel when they screw it into the action. What happens is over time (sometimes it is a very short amount of time) the barrel begins to work lose. This causes the group to open up. The factory repaired it for me at no cost. All that has to be done is to have the barrel reset and torqued down properly.
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