Saturday, August 29, 2015
Rain, first of Fall Season
It is August 29th. A Saturday. And this morning a brief rain shower knocked down some dust, put that special smell in the air, and then passed by once more. 20 minutes of big drops is our first rain of the season. This is fairly traditional, although I've had first storms that came from hurricanes in the Pacific, complete with 40 mph gusts and lightning and hail and a couple hours of downpour being pretty common as well.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
A boating solution
I liked sailing a small boat. I've just completed a few weeks of research into boats, working within the limitation of the lack of a place to park a trailer, much less a trailer hitch toting vehicle. That part could be fixed, with money, or paying more for a boat that is light enough to manhandle onto a roofrack, which is also a matter of money.
The local lake has a yacht club. Its $75/year to join. They have a fleet of Sunfish sailboats, which members can borrow. This means that next spring, in the new year, I can join the club and take one of the boats out. By then it will have rained enough to refill the lake. And by borrowing a club boat I don't need to buy a boat or store a boat or deal with the issues of a trailer. They also teach boat maintenance, which I want to learn, and racing, and like people who can crew existing boats during races.
Dad thinks I should buy a Ford F-250 or 150 truck, suitable for towing an Airstream and some kind of woman. That would be astonishing, because I can't think of any kind of woman that would want me. The truck, that I can do. By the time I can afford one, after getting a real paying job, rather than an unpaying job like I have now, I will be able to afford a truck, and probably even the sailboat that suits me best rather than the one that makes you wet and requires you to wear a wetsuit to use it. The reason for an Airstream was brought back to the foreground after trying to sleep in a noisy motel. I realized I haven't properly slept in a motel room in around 10 years. Too much noise. Their A/C barely works, and rattles loudly. This is what you get when Indian people buy them up, charge too much, and do a lousy job compared to the Mormons that used to run them so well 20 years ago. I miss the Mormon inns. Those places were always so nice, and very affordable. $39 a night rather than $159. The crappy modern motels are a great reason to think hard about RVs again. Sigh. Its that or tent or give up on travel.
If you have to carry your boat with a trailer anyway, why not trailer one that's comfortable yet still fast? There are so many which have a seat inside instead of on top of the deck, and a mast a foot taller gives you the wind back, so why not? The math on this isn't that hard. Sort of like how, if you know enough carbon fiber techniques and use lighter foam inside, you can make a laser the same size and shape, and takes their mast and sail, but weighs half as much. Which means you can fly a smaller sail, if you want, and go just as fast. The whole "one design" thing has its point, but there's alternatives. This is why the Classic Moth appeals so much. I just don't care about flying a boat above the water. In the America's Cup it was interesting to see because it is new and weird, but it just doesn't feel like sailing. It doesn't look like a boat so much as an aircraft.
The other upside of the Moth is that it is an evolving type of boat, which means you can pretty much make them how you want, from whatever material you want, and I'm the sort of man to research boats and build one from the best design I can find, and materials that are both efficient and light. And if I can fit this under the house? Even better.
There's supposed to be a boat class called a Solo. There's also a Finn and a Europe, and quite a few others. If you consider a Hobie catamaran, 14-16 feet long, those are fast too. But they don't lean, and I kind of like the leaning.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Plum Jam
Ever been given a huge bag of fruit from a well meaning neighbor? We got a grocery sack of Santa Rosa Plums, from my home town variety, that weren't ripe enough to eat. I looked at these, and Dad's famous indifference to this fruit lead me to remember Mom making jam out of them. And I've been hunting plum jam at local grocery stores for two months now. Its kinda rare, and not a common taste. Not at all. Its like apricot, for its perfect blend of sweet and sour, and just the thing for a biscuit or scone. Apricot jam is easy to get, and tasty, but sometimes you just want plum. So I sliced up the not-yet-ripe fruit and slowly simmered it in a pot with a cup and a half of sugar and got awesome jam to show for it. The fruit cooked down anyway, and the flavor as it cooled was fantastic. I don't have pectin, so it won't gell properly, but I plan to buy some tomorrow and reheat it with the pectin so it will set properly. Pectin is like gelatin. It is what makes jam stick together.
The jam came out deep red, and just a perfect mix of sweet and sour. I put some of it on my vanilla pudding. It was great. I will put some on english muffins in the morning. If you have fruit that might spoil from summer harvest (now) please consider making jam and freeze some, put the rest in the fridge and eat till you can see spoilage.
The jam came out deep red, and just a perfect mix of sweet and sour. I put some of it on my vanilla pudding. It was great. I will put some on english muffins in the morning. If you have fruit that might spoil from summer harvest (now) please consider making jam and freeze some, put the rest in the fridge and eat till you can see spoilage.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
A Small Materialistic List
If my masters degree happens and goes well, I will be qualified to be a properly paid librarian. Not an unpaid volunteer. I have learned all the library skills but the computer ones, since the paid librarians won't let me touch that except for official discards. When I am degreed I won't be volunteering anymore. Time to get paid. I know that the archives for the state library, which mostly exists to serve the legislature in my state, pays double what the librarians get here. Double is serious money. Double is enough for a new car, and a mortgage too. Double is enough to justify the commute, or renting an apartment and visiting Dad weekly. I don't like sharing a wall with anyone.
I would like to buy a bungalow. One story, 800 square feet. Some glass walls for light. An alarm system to keep away the burglars.
A locking garage, not a car port or "space" or "on street" BS. There are too many car thieves and burglars in California. Nevada is just as bad. A nice damp garden with flowers I can smell. Possibly two or three car, with doors that close. One garage space will be extra long because I would like a sailboat on a trailer. Not necessarily a big sailboat, because I am not interested in sailing in shark infested waters. Or being flipped over by the monster Pacific swells because the Pacific Ocean was clearly named by a drugged up moron. Its incredibly violent. It ought to be called the Violent Ocean.
I am still trying to decide between something like a Laser or Sunfish because those have clubs and they're fun because they try to flip over in gusty mountain winds, though this means getting wet a lot, sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad. It would mean disconnecting from my insulin pump while sailing, which limits me to about 3 hours on the water. Which might be enough. Or it might not.
Alternatively, I could build a glue and stitch kit boat, with high gunwales (sides) with traditional wood and worth considerably more than a fiberglass boat. Or a lower sided and lighter homebuilt like a Classic Moth. Those are pretty and sail well in variable winds, which we have here.
Alternatively I could visit local garage sales this Fall and just buy a plastic kayak for a couple hundred bucks (or less) and use that on every lake I can think of. Much easier to carry, however not as much fun as a sailboat. Steering with a sail is the fun, you see. Kmart sells a new plastic 10 foot kayak for $250.
I still want a motor scooter. Those are too fun to ignore. I would find it easier to justify if I could get $25/hr working up here as a librarian, but they only seem to hire women for those jobs, and always mutter about funding. I want a positive career, not fighting over money with mean old women.
If I move to Reno or the Eastern Sierra communities I definitely need all wheel drive and spiked tires for winters. This means, if I take that job, I will be buying a Subaru or possibly a Ford F-150 pickup with 4WD and tow package and heavy transmission setup. While it is true that the boat I like best is only about 300 pounds, and the trailer is another 200, so I won't need a LOT of capacity, I might find myself loading more on there and getting an Airstream trailer so I am going to need around 6000 pounds capacity eventually. I like the V6 ecoboost engine for this. It is sensible, and I could tow my sailboat up to Tahoe, which would reward a larger boat and taller sides since they get actual swells of several feet there. I saw some Pocket Sailboats with a tiny cabin in front, on Donner Lake. I also say a Laser Pico hull in the water, the mast missing. In the winter, there would be lots of interest in books to read and indoor projects on that side of the mountains. Definitely a place to own a good wood stove and lots of insulation.
The scooter I would use for my daily commute during the long summer months, which are just stunning. I like the Piaggio Fly 150 the most. Its a classic looking scooter, without the markup of a Vespa, and a big enough engine to climb the road.
The eastern Sierras and Carson City and Reno each get thunderstorms there all summer (almost daily). Carson City is like a smaller Reno, at higher elevation, and is the state capitol of Nevada. They will have a State library too, much like Sacramento, but possibly more pleasant to work for and similar pay. I will check into that.
The desert is due east of Carson City, just out of town on Highway 50, which goes through there. That's the start of the Loneliest Highway In America, btw. 50 across Nevada is really dull. Top Gear went there with some muscle cars a few years ago. If I lived and worked in Minden, that is pretty ideal country. Beautiful views, nice people, sensible people who still work for a living. Lots of RV construction and repair companies, and most of the welding shops from the Bay Area relocated there after the ban on CO2 in welding by "green" lunatics in Gov. Moonbeam's govt. Having access to sensible and qualified welders opens up a lot of good options for projects.
Obviously, the food is imported and it is too cold for nice gardens. That's the trade-off for the gorgeous meadows and steaks. I am reasonably sure that declaring I like steaks in Nevada will save my life. Too many weirdo Californians move to Western states only to demand vegetarianism. Which is totally insane. The best veggies are here. You don't leave here if you want good veggies. In other states, you get 1-2 kinds of lettuce, not 8-10 like here, and "salad" in other states includes shredded carrot and iceberg lettuce, and you can fit it into the palm of your hand. I have traveled. I know this to be true. In other states people eat more chilies to make up the difference for Vitamin C. Probably a good idea. OJ at breakfast isn't enough. Did you know the primary reason for serving salsa at Mexican restaurants is that salsa is full of vitamin C? It prevents scurvy. I have had scurvy. It is annoying. It is easily fixed with OJ or other sources, but it is annoying.
Having just driven through Minden and Gardnerville last week I'm not sure I'd like it there. They seemed too focused on their casino gambling, and the civic stuff is missing. Maybe it exists, but I didn't see it. I'll pay attention in future, in case it turns out to be there too. In the meantime, other options and my education itself demand my time.
I would like to buy a bungalow. One story, 800 square feet. Some glass walls for light. An alarm system to keep away the burglars.
A locking garage, not a car port or "space" or "on street" BS. There are too many car thieves and burglars in California. Nevada is just as bad. A nice damp garden with flowers I can smell. Possibly two or three car, with doors that close. One garage space will be extra long because I would like a sailboat on a trailer. Not necessarily a big sailboat, because I am not interested in sailing in shark infested waters. Or being flipped over by the monster Pacific swells because the Pacific Ocean was clearly named by a drugged up moron. Its incredibly violent. It ought to be called the Violent Ocean.
I am still trying to decide between something like a Laser or Sunfish because those have clubs and they're fun because they try to flip over in gusty mountain winds, though this means getting wet a lot, sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad. It would mean disconnecting from my insulin pump while sailing, which limits me to about 3 hours on the water. Which might be enough. Or it might not.
Alternatively, I could build a glue and stitch kit boat, with high gunwales (sides) with traditional wood and worth considerably more than a fiberglass boat. Or a lower sided and lighter homebuilt like a Classic Moth. Those are pretty and sail well in variable winds, which we have here.
Alternatively I could visit local garage sales this Fall and just buy a plastic kayak for a couple hundred bucks (or less) and use that on every lake I can think of. Much easier to carry, however not as much fun as a sailboat. Steering with a sail is the fun, you see. Kmart sells a new plastic 10 foot kayak for $250.
I still want a motor scooter. Those are too fun to ignore. I would find it easier to justify if I could get $25/hr working up here as a librarian, but they only seem to hire women for those jobs, and always mutter about funding. I want a positive career, not fighting over money with mean old women.
The scooter I would use for my daily commute during the long summer months, which are just stunning. I like the Piaggio Fly 150 the most. Its a classic looking scooter, without the markup of a Vespa, and a big enough engine to climb the road.
The eastern Sierras and Carson City and Reno each get thunderstorms there all summer (almost daily). Carson City is like a smaller Reno, at higher elevation, and is the state capitol of Nevada. They will have a State library too, much like Sacramento, but possibly more pleasant to work for and similar pay. I will check into that.
The desert is due east of Carson City, just out of town on Highway 50, which goes through there. That's the start of the Loneliest Highway In America, btw. 50 across Nevada is really dull. Top Gear went there with some muscle cars a few years ago. If I lived and worked in Minden, that is pretty ideal country. Beautiful views, nice people, sensible people who still work for a living. Lots of RV construction and repair companies, and most of the welding shops from the Bay Area relocated there after the ban on CO2 in welding by "green" lunatics in Gov. Moonbeam's govt. Having access to sensible and qualified welders opens up a lot of good options for projects.
Obviously, the food is imported and it is too cold for nice gardens. That's the trade-off for the gorgeous meadows and steaks. I am reasonably sure that declaring I like steaks in Nevada will save my life. Too many weirdo Californians move to Western states only to demand vegetarianism. Which is totally insane. The best veggies are here. You don't leave here if you want good veggies. In other states, you get 1-2 kinds of lettuce, not 8-10 like here, and "salad" in other states includes shredded carrot and iceberg lettuce, and you can fit it into the palm of your hand. I have traveled. I know this to be true. In other states people eat more chilies to make up the difference for Vitamin C. Probably a good idea. OJ at breakfast isn't enough. Did you know the primary reason for serving salsa at Mexican restaurants is that salsa is full of vitamin C? It prevents scurvy. I have had scurvy. It is annoying. It is easily fixed with OJ or other sources, but it is annoying.
Having just driven through Minden and Gardnerville last week I'm not sure I'd like it there. They seemed too focused on their casino gambling, and the civic stuff is missing. Maybe it exists, but I didn't see it. I'll pay attention in future, in case it turns out to be there too. In the meantime, other options and my education itself demand my time.
Mid Engine
So last week, my Dad found a car he wanted so we flew down to LA and bought it.
LA sucks, btw. Still. At least we were only there for a few hours.
Anyway, the car is a mid engine sports car, with paddle shifters. Not turbo charged, but plenty fast and fuel efficient, oddly enough. Driven gently it gets 35 mpg at freeway speed, even climbing high mountain passes. I mention this because we drove back from LA up highway 395. Dad is old, but spry. While I'm living here I help with the heavy lifting and cook the meals and remember stuff for him, but he doesn't need much help. This gives me lots of time for my classwork.
We drove north from Van Nuys, where he bought the car, up through the canyon into the desert at Palmdale, then up to Mohave, which is just East of Tehachapi Pass into the San Joaquin Valley, in case you wondered. Tehachapi is where all the SoCal windmills are. We kept going north heading for Owens Lake and the 395 junction north of Olancha. There's water at Olancha, and Crystal Geyser water bottle plant. The road there is in and out of desert, high on an alluvial fan coming down off the Southern Sierras, which are only 6-8000 feet tall in this area.
Inyokern is down below the highway, most of a thousand feet down, south of China Lake bombing test range, a long sweep of dry lake bed. In wetter times it fills with a few inches of water, then dries out again. Without the semi-annual water the playa vanishes under the sand. Remember that about playas. They can't exist without some water to renew them. There's a bunch of passes and it was a hot day, over 100'F and 70 mph with the top up and the A/C on full. We were fine and the engine temp was fine and kept on cruising. There are a bunch of tiny towns you pass on 395 as it climbs up and down along the east side of the Sierras. North of Olancha the mountains get tall and rise from 7000 to nearly 14,000 feet and becomes a wall of granite for the next 130 miles, with no passes through it. We eventually passed through the Inyo County seat in Independence, slowing to 25 mph through town, noting the libraries along the way, and then up through the Big Pine volcanoes just south of town and finally to Bishop, where we stopped for the day. Bishop was 100'F, the hottest I have ever seen it there.
The choices for radio were limited to 4 stations, usually, two of them xtian and one the local college up in Mammoth. On the way up we kept checking for new stations with every pass we crossed, and as we went north the Rape Music stations became fewer and we got Both Kinds Of Music (Country AND Western) and xtian preachers begging people to stop committing suicide and having babies out of wedlock, and sometimes a Mexican station. Other times Led Zepplin. I can only listen to Immigrant Song and That one Zepplin Song That Sounds Like Beating a Cat Against A Fence song so many times. Not that one, the other one. New stations every 20 minutes, basically. There are a lot of passes. The views of the mountains are stunning. It doesn't look real. It's Switzerland without all the hassles and language barrier and the cars are clean. This is why it remains a popular tourism road. Lots of lakes to fish in, and camp sites, and RV parks, and BBQ joints along the road.
Distances between towns up 395 are so great that discussions of public transit are laughable. Without gasoline to get from place to place these towns would die. Switching to Diesel or CNG will keep them going, but lots of people there can't afford new cars or new engines suited to a different fuel. There is a lot of poverty. Since LA took their water, they can't even grow their own food. Thanks LA, you bastards. The Owens Valley has been getting rain from the El Nino monsoons this summer, so there's pasture and cattle are grazing, which is good. We ate BBQ, which was excellent, served by a nice young woman at a Texas BBQ joint next to the park. Bishop is about 10K people, and half are members of the Paiute/Shoshone tribe "rancheria", they've got a casino making money for the tribe, and there's a proper hospital and being relaxed are friendly people. Not stabby ghetto drunks. So the opposite of Oakland or Spokane. It was still 95'F after dinner so we walked around town to help dinner settle. The hotel was NOISY and I barely slept at all. The next morning, after a nasty motel breakfast, we drove north on the increasingly pretty and high elevation 395. It is worth noting that Donner Pass, the high point of Interstate 80 is only 7200 feet. 395 goes over 8300 feet several times, so is a higher road and more stressful on your car. It is also one of the most beautiful roads in America. I would love to see Jeremy Clarkson visit with his new "Not Top Gear" show. Drive that before you dismiss American roads. Its even relatively fast. There were some highway patrol, but not many.
We eventually passed Crowley Lake, in the Long Valley Caldera, and the steaming hot springs vents near Mammoth, including one north of the Airport. Mammoth had a scare in the 80's when major venting of CO2 and rumbling below convinced the USGS to issue an imminent volcano caldera eruption warning, then downgraded to a Watch. This proved to be false, and the real estate crash angered the locals. It crushed their economy for years. The town is dependent on ski tourism, though they now encourage mountain bikes too. I wrote an email to the local USGS volcano observatory geologist years ago and he explained the small quakes are just steam explosions, second boiling, as the magma cools into granite. It isn't going to erupt again, EVER. The source of the magma has moved away and the Pacific Plate underneath is blocking new volcanoes south of Lassen. Eventually Lassen will be cutoff, and Hat Creek and someday Mount Shasta. But someday is probably 10K years.
We drove up to June Lake Loop and drove though the stunning fishing village and resorts situated along the string of lakes that descend 600 feet along a narrow glacially carved valley. One of the meadows was the site of the "cabin" in Oblivion, the scene with the 100 Tom Cruise Clones. The road was pretty, and we fiddled with the paddle shifters, learning some useful tricks. After that was more 395, down to Mono Lake and Lee Vining, then slow traffic behind some dweeb with a minivan till we could pass. More climbing and more high passes and the road gets narrower till we suddenly finish descending Walker River canyon to Garberville and Minden. More built up than I last saw it, and not as classy. They have libraries too. And old people, but seems to be all about the gambling retired people. Can't see those being big on library funding. Don't work at libraries that won't fund, because that's your wages. Fighting over money for books is a big waste of time.
Gassed up at Costco in Carson City, then around to South Lake Tahoe on 50, then over Echo Summit. Note to self: avoid that road in future. Annoying, narrow, slow, morons use it. Few places to pass and the idiots always speed up during the passing lane or won't get over because they never look in the review mirror except to check their eyeliner. The road is an argument to deny women drivers licenses. It was crappy freeway near Pollack Pines and a fast descent intoHell Sacramento.
We've taken it to Tahoe the other route too, and descending old I-40 instead of I-80, which it follows, was so much better. Side roads in the country often are. I wish there were more of them. I don't mind dodging bicycles. Its better than being run down by maniacs texting instead of driving their cars properly. Sigh. Stupid people die, but never fast enough or quietly enough. I like this car of his. It is fun to drive, and makes the right amount of noise. I like it best around 50 mph on a twisty road. That's where it shines.
Dad thanked me for helping drive us home from LA. It would have been pretty hard on his own, and he does love the car. He goes out and looks at it every few hours. We'll keep detailing it until it is right. Bought special clay for this today. They sell decent car detailing stuff at Kmart, can you believe it? He's really happy and I'm glad. Dad needs to be happy about stuff at his age. I hope I live long enough to find satisfaction in things like that again.
LA sucks, btw. Still. At least we were only there for a few hours.
Anyway, the car is a mid engine sports car, with paddle shifters. Not turbo charged, but plenty fast and fuel efficient, oddly enough. Driven gently it gets 35 mpg at freeway speed, even climbing high mountain passes. I mention this because we drove back from LA up highway 395. Dad is old, but spry. While I'm living here I help with the heavy lifting and cook the meals and remember stuff for him, but he doesn't need much help. This gives me lots of time for my classwork.
We drove north from Van Nuys, where he bought the car, up through the canyon into the desert at Palmdale, then up to Mohave, which is just East of Tehachapi Pass into the San Joaquin Valley, in case you wondered. Tehachapi is where all the SoCal windmills are. We kept going north heading for Owens Lake and the 395 junction north of Olancha. There's water at Olancha, and Crystal Geyser water bottle plant. The road there is in and out of desert, high on an alluvial fan coming down off the Southern Sierras, which are only 6-8000 feet tall in this area.
Inyokern is down below the highway, most of a thousand feet down, south of China Lake bombing test range, a long sweep of dry lake bed. In wetter times it fills with a few inches of water, then dries out again. Without the semi-annual water the playa vanishes under the sand. Remember that about playas. They can't exist without some water to renew them. There's a bunch of passes and it was a hot day, over 100'F and 70 mph with the top up and the A/C on full. We were fine and the engine temp was fine and kept on cruising. There are a bunch of tiny towns you pass on 395 as it climbs up and down along the east side of the Sierras. North of Olancha the mountains get tall and rise from 7000 to nearly 14,000 feet and becomes a wall of granite for the next 130 miles, with no passes through it. We eventually passed through the Inyo County seat in Independence, slowing to 25 mph through town, noting the libraries along the way, and then up through the Big Pine volcanoes just south of town and finally to Bishop, where we stopped for the day. Bishop was 100'F, the hottest I have ever seen it there.
The choices for radio were limited to 4 stations, usually, two of them xtian and one the local college up in Mammoth. On the way up we kept checking for new stations with every pass we crossed, and as we went north the Rape Music stations became fewer and we got Both Kinds Of Music (Country AND Western) and xtian preachers begging people to stop committing suicide and having babies out of wedlock, and sometimes a Mexican station. Other times Led Zepplin. I can only listen to Immigrant Song and That one Zepplin Song That Sounds Like Beating a Cat Against A Fence song so many times. Not that one, the other one. New stations every 20 minutes, basically. There are a lot of passes. The views of the mountains are stunning. It doesn't look real. It's Switzerland without all the hassles and language barrier and the cars are clean. This is why it remains a popular tourism road. Lots of lakes to fish in, and camp sites, and RV parks, and BBQ joints along the road.
Distances between towns up 395 are so great that discussions of public transit are laughable. Without gasoline to get from place to place these towns would die. Switching to Diesel or CNG will keep them going, but lots of people there can't afford new cars or new engines suited to a different fuel. There is a lot of poverty. Since LA took their water, they can't even grow their own food. Thanks LA, you bastards. The Owens Valley has been getting rain from the El Nino monsoons this summer, so there's pasture and cattle are grazing, which is good. We ate BBQ, which was excellent, served by a nice young woman at a Texas BBQ joint next to the park. Bishop is about 10K people, and half are members of the Paiute/Shoshone tribe "rancheria", they've got a casino making money for the tribe, and there's a proper hospital and being relaxed are friendly people. Not stabby ghetto drunks. So the opposite of Oakland or Spokane. It was still 95'F after dinner so we walked around town to help dinner settle. The hotel was NOISY and I barely slept at all. The next morning, after a nasty motel breakfast, we drove north on the increasingly pretty and high elevation 395. It is worth noting that Donner Pass, the high point of Interstate 80 is only 7200 feet. 395 goes over 8300 feet several times, so is a higher road and more stressful on your car. It is also one of the most beautiful roads in America. I would love to see Jeremy Clarkson visit with his new "Not Top Gear" show. Drive that before you dismiss American roads. Its even relatively fast. There were some highway patrol, but not many.
We eventually passed Crowley Lake, in the Long Valley Caldera, and the steaming hot springs vents near Mammoth, including one north of the Airport. Mammoth had a scare in the 80's when major venting of CO2 and rumbling below convinced the USGS to issue an imminent volcano caldera eruption warning, then downgraded to a Watch. This proved to be false, and the real estate crash angered the locals. It crushed their economy for years. The town is dependent on ski tourism, though they now encourage mountain bikes too. I wrote an email to the local USGS volcano observatory geologist years ago and he explained the small quakes are just steam explosions, second boiling, as the magma cools into granite. It isn't going to erupt again, EVER. The source of the magma has moved away and the Pacific Plate underneath is blocking new volcanoes south of Lassen. Eventually Lassen will be cutoff, and Hat Creek and someday Mount Shasta. But someday is probably 10K years.
We drove up to June Lake Loop and drove though the stunning fishing village and resorts situated along the string of lakes that descend 600 feet along a narrow glacially carved valley. One of the meadows was the site of the "cabin" in Oblivion, the scene with the 100 Tom Cruise Clones. The road was pretty, and we fiddled with the paddle shifters, learning some useful tricks. After that was more 395, down to Mono Lake and Lee Vining, then slow traffic behind some dweeb with a minivan till we could pass. More climbing and more high passes and the road gets narrower till we suddenly finish descending Walker River canyon to Garberville and Minden. More built up than I last saw it, and not as classy. They have libraries too. And old people, but seems to be all about the gambling retired people. Can't see those being big on library funding. Don't work at libraries that won't fund, because that's your wages. Fighting over money for books is a big waste of time.
Gassed up at Costco in Carson City, then around to South Lake Tahoe on 50, then over Echo Summit. Note to self: avoid that road in future. Annoying, narrow, slow, morons use it. Few places to pass and the idiots always speed up during the passing lane or won't get over because they never look in the review mirror except to check their eyeliner. The road is an argument to deny women drivers licenses. It was crappy freeway near Pollack Pines and a fast descent into
We've taken it to Tahoe the other route too, and descending old I-40 instead of I-80, which it follows, was so much better. Side roads in the country often are. I wish there were more of them. I don't mind dodging bicycles. Its better than being run down by maniacs texting instead of driving their cars properly. Sigh. Stupid people die, but never fast enough or quietly enough. I like this car of his. It is fun to drive, and makes the right amount of noise. I like it best around 50 mph on a twisty road. That's where it shines.
Dad thanked me for helping drive us home from LA. It would have been pretty hard on his own, and he does love the car. He goes out and looks at it every few hours. We'll keep detailing it until it is right. Bought special clay for this today. They sell decent car detailing stuff at Kmart, can you believe it? He's really happy and I'm glad. Dad needs to be happy about stuff at his age. I hope I live long enough to find satisfaction in things like that again.
Spices By Scent
I am cooking chicken cutlets, is their official name. You dip marinated boneless and skinless chicken breast into egg, then dip that into panko bread crumbs and spices, usually with salt and poultry seasoning. Poultry seasoning is sage and several other things (sage, savoury herbs, celery salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary) in a nice easy powder format. These cost about a buck at cheap grocery stores, and are totally worth it if you have a nice hen to roast. You can pat it on a chicken's skin, or lift up the skin and spread it underneath that before pressing it back down and mounting the chicken on a wire rack. This one I'm doing is merely from frozen breasts, nice and thin, so the seasoning will be awesome. The country that makes the best of these is Japan, but France is a close second. The french are happier with egg wash, and Japan is really fussy about their ingredients, and tend to avoid seasoning for that reason. This is weird, but this is how they do things.
One of the great things about all the mistakes you make when you start learning to cook at age 4, which I did, is you remember the mistakes and figure out improvements. I learned that regular pumpkin pie is too sweet, and needed more seasoning. So I gradually improved it, and wrote about this on the Internet. The response is that Libby Pumpkin company changed their 50 year old recipe to match mine. I'm SURE this is entirely an accident. Sure. The one they use now still needs the sugar reduced by half, but the spice level is correct. Pumpkin pie NEEDS the spices to taste good. It is supposed to remind you of sailors who took long trips to SE Asia after whaling ended. You may find whaling repugnant, because you were taught this, but your hamburger is worse. So is your chicken nugget. None of these is "humane" meat. Even the Muslims have this right. Humanely killed meat is important, morally and ethically. Alas, cost trumps that for most people.
Anyway, after dipping the chicken into egg and panko, you put it on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. This is important. The breading absorbs moisture and it sticks to the meat. 40 minutes is okay too. Then you fry it on a thin (3 tbs) sheet of oil, around 8 minutes a side, low heat. It will brown nicely, and the moisture stays inside the meat. It is like fried chicken, only much healthier and cheaper. You aren't wasting a gallon of soybean oil. I use olive oil, the real stuff from California, not the blend from Italy that's mostly Soybean oil from here with a trace of their stuff, then sent back at a markup. This is true btw. Italian olive oil is mostly fake. It is mostly soybean, from here. With a bit of olive from there for taste. And this is legal. This is why I buy domestic, not imported, olive oil. We have standards. We have to apply them.
The thing about having lots of experience with cooking is your nose develops a real sense for seasonings. You have a special part of your memory assigned to smells. This comes from Women. Women have this stronger than men, but there is some in men too. We inherit a bit from our mothers, and the rest is learned. We end up being allowed to play with grills and bbq, but women would beat us there too, if we weren't so silly and territorial about it. Its the X chromosome. There's important stuff there.
Anyway, if you open a spice, and smell it, your brain will tell you if you think this belongs with the dish you are cooking. This "tell" is a short circuit around rational thought or planning. If you cook enough you will understand I am not bullshitting you. This is regular atavism. We should respect this. Atavism drives breeding and territoriality. It also makes men like beef jerky, and women sniff fruits. It is atavism in the modern world.
I like how my breaded chicken turns out when fried in a thinly oiled pan over low heat. It takes around 9 minutes per side, but smell for burning. If it smells burnt, it is too late. I like to serve this with white rice. It comes out moist and tender, and cuts with a butter knife. Crisp on the outside, not too salty, and the sage is delicious, as is the tarragon. The flavors are oil soluble so you have to have fats or it won't season the meat. Quite a few spices are fat soluble. Always notice those. One reason that cinnamon is good in mediocre coffee is cinnamon dissolves into the coffee, which is also an oil and water emulsion, technically, like whipped cream or mayonnaise or the filling inside an Oreo.
I hope all amateur chefs out there, reading this, will appreciate my points on smelling the spice. Sometimes you discover great things, Cinnamon and allspice are fantastic on chicken. And turkey works with them too, as well as mustard. Ground turkey makes a great hamburger seasoned this way. It is a little weird, but it is a good weird. And you can always tell your guests its a rare exotic animal like ostrich.
One of the great things about all the mistakes you make when you start learning to cook at age 4, which I did, is you remember the mistakes and figure out improvements. I learned that regular pumpkin pie is too sweet, and needed more seasoning. So I gradually improved it, and wrote about this on the Internet. The response is that Libby Pumpkin company changed their 50 year old recipe to match mine. I'm SURE this is entirely an accident. Sure. The one they use now still needs the sugar reduced by half, but the spice level is correct. Pumpkin pie NEEDS the spices to taste good. It is supposed to remind you of sailors who took long trips to SE Asia after whaling ended. You may find whaling repugnant, because you were taught this, but your hamburger is worse. So is your chicken nugget. None of these is "humane" meat. Even the Muslims have this right. Humanely killed meat is important, morally and ethically. Alas, cost trumps that for most people.
Anyway, after dipping the chicken into egg and panko, you put it on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes. This is important. The breading absorbs moisture and it sticks to the meat. 40 minutes is okay too. Then you fry it on a thin (3 tbs) sheet of oil, around 8 minutes a side, low heat. It will brown nicely, and the moisture stays inside the meat. It is like fried chicken, only much healthier and cheaper. You aren't wasting a gallon of soybean oil. I use olive oil, the real stuff from California, not the blend from Italy that's mostly Soybean oil from here with a trace of their stuff, then sent back at a markup. This is true btw. Italian olive oil is mostly fake. It is mostly soybean, from here. With a bit of olive from there for taste. And this is legal. This is why I buy domestic, not imported, olive oil. We have standards. We have to apply them.
The thing about having lots of experience with cooking is your nose develops a real sense for seasonings. You have a special part of your memory assigned to smells. This comes from Women. Women have this stronger than men, but there is some in men too. We inherit a bit from our mothers, and the rest is learned. We end up being allowed to play with grills and bbq, but women would beat us there too, if we weren't so silly and territorial about it. Its the X chromosome. There's important stuff there.
Anyway, if you open a spice, and smell it, your brain will tell you if you think this belongs with the dish you are cooking. This "tell" is a short circuit around rational thought or planning. If you cook enough you will understand I am not bullshitting you. This is regular atavism. We should respect this. Atavism drives breeding and territoriality. It also makes men like beef jerky, and women sniff fruits. It is atavism in the modern world.
I like how my breaded chicken turns out when fried in a thinly oiled pan over low heat. It takes around 9 minutes per side, but smell for burning. If it smells burnt, it is too late. I like to serve this with white rice. It comes out moist and tender, and cuts with a butter knife. Crisp on the outside, not too salty, and the sage is delicious, as is the tarragon. The flavors are oil soluble so you have to have fats or it won't season the meat. Quite a few spices are fat soluble. Always notice those. One reason that cinnamon is good in mediocre coffee is cinnamon dissolves into the coffee, which is also an oil and water emulsion, technically, like whipped cream or mayonnaise or the filling inside an Oreo.
I hope all amateur chefs out there, reading this, will appreciate my points on smelling the spice. Sometimes you discover great things, Cinnamon and allspice are fantastic on chicken. And turkey works with them too, as well as mustard. Ground turkey makes a great hamburger seasoned this way. It is a little weird, but it is a good weird. And you can always tell your guests its a rare exotic animal like ostrich.
That One AR-sucks argument that never dies
The AR-15 (aka M-16 and M4) rifle created in 1964 by Armalite to give the US army a light rifle for the Space Age, and was contracted to Tonka Toys for manufacturing because they did die-casting of aluminum, is a well engineered rifle built around a very specific cartridge with a very specific bullet weight, gas pressure, recoil, and meant to be cheap to manufacture, even in a basement with minimal tools. Completely unlike the AK-47 which has to be made with huge hydraulic rams and presses. The AR can be made in a fallout shelter. This combined with our nuclear weapons was a major deterrent nightmare for the Soviet bloc. Problems with the design began immediately. The Chair Force thought it was fine for base security, and then the army decided that since it owned lots of CL2 ball powder, they would load all these small bore rifles with gritty bad burning powder. The gas tube mounted to the gas block about 6 inches from the muzzle forces burning powder and soot back into the tiny piston, which it TECHNICALLY is on the patent, even though it is only a piston for 1% of its movement and is an exhaust port for the other 99%. These exhaust gases, in the real world, blow right into the chamber and magazine, covering the rounds in hot gritty gases. Guns jammed. Troops died by the dozens, then hundreds. Relentless cleaning after firing became required until the Army swapped to a different powder that burned cleaner. I experimented with CL2 and its a really dirty powder in that caliber. It leaves piles of soot in the barrel, and I had a bolt action so my chamber stayed clean. Very interesting. I actually cared about my experiment so I did this right rather than screw around like loony Texans who can't seem to find a way to tell the truth for lying. But whatever.
A different round replaced the standard 55 grain it was designed around, a 62 grain that became a NATO standard. I've shot this weight. It works really well. So does the 69 grain BTHP, at the right velocities. I was a finicky loaded, but I eventually created loads that drove tacks, cloverleafing and overlapping hits at 100 yards consistently. That's what you want, if you are precise about this. I have targets with those hits somewhere in storage. Very proud of that. Thank you Lincoln Range. A good place to target shoot.
Troops took the M16 around the world during and after Vietnam, and it outperformed the AK-47, however it has problems and limitations. Canting, not being straight up and down, throws off accuracy, so the Flattop rifle was developed. This required raising the rifle closer to your eye, which means less of the rifle butt is actually on your shoulder. Extensions can be fitted, but issue rifles are an inch jabbing into your collarbone, which isn't ergonomic. Also, the carry handle has a functional purpose, providing rigidity to the mechanism, which on removal to a flattop starts flexing under load. This can be tamed in various ways, but its also documented.
In Gulf War 1, which a few friends of mine from high school fought in, wild blown talc and silt disabled rifles and the Bravos (front line ground troops), got very bitter about this and started putting condoms on the end or using pantyhose to try and keep the dust off the CLP used to clean the rifles. The powder sticks to the lubricant and makes mud in the chamber. Veterans know this and talked about it often after GW1. The issue was raised and the M4 became a thing. I am not entirely clear how it is mechanically different. It mostly seems to be the trigger group and barrel length, which requires a different tuning for the gas bloc so it still cycles. There's no mention of removing the coil spring in the tube down the stock or shortening the recoil distance of the bolt attached to that so-called 5mm piston which recoils about 5 inches to eject the brass and snag the next round. The system works for the round it was designed for, but they haven't used that in decades.
In Gulf War 2, after 9/11, the M4 had problems. So did the M16, even the latest heavy barrel target versions. The round it fires wasn't working at the ranges they have to shoot. This video has Blackwater (mostly veterans) in Iraq shooting insurgents from a rooftop. They are making multiple hits at 800 yards, but they keep shooting because the men get up and run away. There are several versions of this video. Many many rounds go downrange, only some hit, and the ones that hit don't work fast enough. This is an example of failure, despite the cheerfulness of the snipers.
It got worse when we (our military services) went after Bin Laden in Afghanistan, killing Taliban who'd been the prior Mujahedeen allies of ours when fighting off the Russian invaders in 1980's. We helped them and in return they murder us once they got freedom. What have we learned about Arabs and Islamics? Nothing, apparently. And the public keeps voting these Islam-supporting jackasses back into office too. In the caves, we found Taliban hyped up on hashhish, wearing body armor and our M855 ammo didn't kill them fast enough. They experimented with 80 grain (it was actually 77 grain apparently) ammo which would go through their armor at close range, but there were many problems.
http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/10/in_2008_afghan_firefight_us_we.html
Many problems. So many that SOCOM and the USMC organized a caliber test and came up with something better based on the rimless high pressure case from a 300 Winchester, which is similar to a .30-30, but takes 3x more pressure. You can fit 26 of these in a 30-round STANAG magazine, which is a NATO standard (when they aren't using the 20 round ones anyway) and the USMC and SOCOM like them. After playing with .224, 6 mm, 25 cal, and up to 7mm, they decided on .277 (270) in a light for caliber 117 grain load. This gave them effective 600 yards, rather than the 250 yards they could get from standard NATO 5.56 ball ammo. I have read so many articles about this, too. And forums frequented by many active military, reservists sent to the Stans and Iraq, and veterans of all of them. Way more than some Texan I don't know. My 24 inch heavy barrel bench rest bolt .223 with match loads was a tack driver, and I would NOT trust it to hit something person sized at 500 yards. That's so much Mall Ninja crap. I am sick and tired of lying Hollywood rifle claims on the Internet. I have several friends who are gunsmiths, and know dozens of veterans. They do not say nice supportive things of the M4 or M16. They tend to get very silent most of the time, and talk about the need for a new rifle or new caliber. A few true believers quote method and verse on the official military line about 5.56 NATO which is also a kind of comment as well, if you understand their particular brand of sarcasm. As someone who married a veteran, that's one of the things you pick up on. Someday, AR-15s might be in the CMP, and all that NATO ball ammo will be too. And good riddance for a holiday contest. Cleaned, in a clean rifle, with nobody shooting back, its a fun plinking rifle. In combat? Well, I'm not a veteran, but the USMC clamoring for M-14s in Stan, and getting them issued in the real world, that says a lot. Dozens of veterans post to forums or comment to my gunsmith friends and they all say M14 or M1A. A few want Remington bolt rifles in .338 Lapua, more want .300 Win Mag, but the important thing is nobody wants 5.56 NATO in real world combat.
An article I really liked is this one: http://www.defensereview.com/m16-rifle-and-m4-carbine-time-for-a-change/ Notice the comments in the article about M16 reliability and DGI "vomits into its own mouth"? Yes. That. The AR-15 I fired at my range in Lincoln, CA, did the same thing. Soot all over the brass, and forward assist became required after several magazines. The grit fouled up the locking lugs and prevents full battery position. That's really stupid. That's crap design.
I agree. Everything I know about the 6.8 SPC says that's the round, if we're keeping the Lower receivers and all those millions of aluminum magazines in NATO. You need a different bolt head, to fit the case, and a new barrel in the upper, but these are easy to change parts. New Uppers fix many of the problems. If we ditch the short magazines and go to full length .308, we have more options, such as the 270 ARM, which I like on paper. I haven't fired it, but should be very similar to .260, 6.5 Swede, and 7mm08. I own the last one. Very nice round. I also own a .308, which is nice, but a bit heavy recoil for all day shooting in a light rifle.
There's also such a thing as a op-rod, which diverts the gas elsewhere instead of into the receiver moving parts and ammunition, which is a much better thing in dusty environments like the Stan and Iraq. There are many ways to do this, most of them not the way people (non-gunsmiths) think. A traditional Operations rod is solid steel, heavy, and causes shot stringing at range. This is a bad thing. It becomes a reciprocating weight. But it doesn't have to be solid steel, and it doesn't have to be long either. It just needs to be long enough to keep the gases out of the receiver. If your OP rod is only solid at the ends and hollow in the middle, and is mechanically tied to weights around the sides, you just removed the flexing problem. DGI screws up reliability but in the first few shots it is much more accurate. Its when the powder, if its at all dirty, changes battery lock and pressure of the round in the throat, which impacts muzzle velocity, that it goes all to hell.
Target shooters, like me, know about this because we actually care. And we clean meticulously to get our accuracy. Tack driving is not at all cheap. I was thinking seriously about a $10K rifle for Camp Perry only 10 years ago. I got over it. I can hold that still, and I am that good, and I can be that meticulous about sorting and concentricity for match loads. But it is a bit much. And California started taxing primers and getting your name for reloading supplies and the shop got taken over by jerks and I just gave it up.
I don't own an AR rifle. I don't like the ergonomics and I don't like the flaws, and even if an autorifle were legal in my state, I'd probably shoot one like the Robarms XCR, which is piston driven, clean, and multi-caliber capable. Best of all worlds, and relatively nice design too. I could get a 270 ARM barrel and call it good. On this side of the Rockies, with long range shots being normal, and game being generally light, or as heavy as bull elk, it is enough for most Western purposes. It would suit the army well in Stan, even if the ammo weighs nearly as much as .308. But they won't change to this, or to 6.8 SPC, because they have their budget cut by the Islamic-friendly leadership. And it will kill lots of our side in this conflict. And that's really a terrible tragedy because fixing the problem costs less than continuing to lose.
A different round replaced the standard 55 grain it was designed around, a 62 grain that became a NATO standard. I've shot this weight. It works really well. So does the 69 grain BTHP, at the right velocities. I was a finicky loaded, but I eventually created loads that drove tacks, cloverleafing and overlapping hits at 100 yards consistently. That's what you want, if you are precise about this. I have targets with those hits somewhere in storage. Very proud of that. Thank you Lincoln Range. A good place to target shoot.
Troops took the M16 around the world during and after Vietnam, and it outperformed the AK-47, however it has problems and limitations. Canting, not being straight up and down, throws off accuracy, so the Flattop rifle was developed. This required raising the rifle closer to your eye, which means less of the rifle butt is actually on your shoulder. Extensions can be fitted, but issue rifles are an inch jabbing into your collarbone, which isn't ergonomic. Also, the carry handle has a functional purpose, providing rigidity to the mechanism, which on removal to a flattop starts flexing under load. This can be tamed in various ways, but its also documented.
In Gulf War 1, which a few friends of mine from high school fought in, wild blown talc and silt disabled rifles and the Bravos (front line ground troops), got very bitter about this and started putting condoms on the end or using pantyhose to try and keep the dust off the CLP used to clean the rifles. The powder sticks to the lubricant and makes mud in the chamber. Veterans know this and talked about it often after GW1. The issue was raised and the M4 became a thing. I am not entirely clear how it is mechanically different. It mostly seems to be the trigger group and barrel length, which requires a different tuning for the gas bloc so it still cycles. There's no mention of removing the coil spring in the tube down the stock or shortening the recoil distance of the bolt attached to that so-called 5mm piston which recoils about 5 inches to eject the brass and snag the next round. The system works for the round it was designed for, but they haven't used that in decades.
In Gulf War 2, after 9/11, the M4 had problems. So did the M16, even the latest heavy barrel target versions. The round it fires wasn't working at the ranges they have to shoot. This video has Blackwater (mostly veterans) in Iraq shooting insurgents from a rooftop. They are making multiple hits at 800 yards, but they keep shooting because the men get up and run away. There are several versions of this video. Many many rounds go downrange, only some hit, and the ones that hit don't work fast enough. This is an example of failure, despite the cheerfulness of the snipers.
It got worse when we (our military services) went after Bin Laden in Afghanistan, killing Taliban who'd been the prior Mujahedeen allies of ours when fighting off the Russian invaders in 1980's. We helped them and in return they murder us once they got freedom. What have we learned about Arabs and Islamics? Nothing, apparently. And the public keeps voting these Islam-supporting jackasses back into office too. In the caves, we found Taliban hyped up on hashhish, wearing body armor and our M855 ammo didn't kill them fast enough. They experimented with 80 grain (it was actually 77 grain apparently) ammo which would go through their armor at close range, but there were many problems.
http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/10/in_2008_afghan_firefight_us_we.html
Many problems. So many that SOCOM and the USMC organized a caliber test and came up with something better based on the rimless high pressure case from a 300 Winchester, which is similar to a .30-30, but takes 3x more pressure. You can fit 26 of these in a 30-round STANAG magazine, which is a NATO standard (when they aren't using the 20 round ones anyway) and the USMC and SOCOM like them. After playing with .224, 6 mm, 25 cal, and up to 7mm, they decided on .277 (270) in a light for caliber 117 grain load. This gave them effective 600 yards, rather than the 250 yards they could get from standard NATO 5.56 ball ammo. I have read so many articles about this, too. And forums frequented by many active military, reservists sent to the Stans and Iraq, and veterans of all of them. Way more than some Texan I don't know. My 24 inch heavy barrel bench rest bolt .223 with match loads was a tack driver, and I would NOT trust it to hit something person sized at 500 yards. That's so much Mall Ninja crap. I am sick and tired of lying Hollywood rifle claims on the Internet. I have several friends who are gunsmiths, and know dozens of veterans. They do not say nice supportive things of the M4 or M16. They tend to get very silent most of the time, and talk about the need for a new rifle or new caliber. A few true believers quote method and verse on the official military line about 5.56 NATO which is also a kind of comment as well, if you understand their particular brand of sarcasm. As someone who married a veteran, that's one of the things you pick up on. Someday, AR-15s might be in the CMP, and all that NATO ball ammo will be too. And good riddance for a holiday contest. Cleaned, in a clean rifle, with nobody shooting back, its a fun plinking rifle. In combat? Well, I'm not a veteran, but the USMC clamoring for M-14s in Stan, and getting them issued in the real world, that says a lot. Dozens of veterans post to forums or comment to my gunsmith friends and they all say M14 or M1A. A few want Remington bolt rifles in .338 Lapua, more want .300 Win Mag, but the important thing is nobody wants 5.56 NATO in real world combat.
An article I really liked is this one: http://www.defensereview.com/m16-rifle-and-m4-carbine-time-for-a-change/ Notice the comments in the article about M16 reliability and DGI "vomits into its own mouth"? Yes. That. The AR-15 I fired at my range in Lincoln, CA, did the same thing. Soot all over the brass, and forward assist became required after several magazines. The grit fouled up the locking lugs and prevents full battery position. That's really stupid. That's crap design.
I agree. Everything I know about the 6.8 SPC says that's the round, if we're keeping the Lower receivers and all those millions of aluminum magazines in NATO. You need a different bolt head, to fit the case, and a new barrel in the upper, but these are easy to change parts. New Uppers fix many of the problems. If we ditch the short magazines and go to full length .308, we have more options, such as the 270 ARM, which I like on paper. I haven't fired it, but should be very similar to .260, 6.5 Swede, and 7mm08. I own the last one. Very nice round. I also own a .308, which is nice, but a bit heavy recoil for all day shooting in a light rifle.
There's also such a thing as a op-rod, which diverts the gas elsewhere instead of into the receiver moving parts and ammunition, which is a much better thing in dusty environments like the Stan and Iraq. There are many ways to do this, most of them not the way people (non-gunsmiths) think. A traditional Operations rod is solid steel, heavy, and causes shot stringing at range. This is a bad thing. It becomes a reciprocating weight. But it doesn't have to be solid steel, and it doesn't have to be long either. It just needs to be long enough to keep the gases out of the receiver. If your OP rod is only solid at the ends and hollow in the middle, and is mechanically tied to weights around the sides, you just removed the flexing problem. DGI screws up reliability but in the first few shots it is much more accurate. Its when the powder, if its at all dirty, changes battery lock and pressure of the round in the throat, which impacts muzzle velocity, that it goes all to hell.
Target shooters, like me, know about this because we actually care. And we clean meticulously to get our accuracy. Tack driving is not at all cheap. I was thinking seriously about a $10K rifle for Camp Perry only 10 years ago. I got over it. I can hold that still, and I am that good, and I can be that meticulous about sorting and concentricity for match loads. But it is a bit much. And California started taxing primers and getting your name for reloading supplies and the shop got taken over by jerks and I just gave it up.
I don't own an AR rifle. I don't like the ergonomics and I don't like the flaws, and even if an autorifle were legal in my state, I'd probably shoot one like the Robarms XCR, which is piston driven, clean, and multi-caliber capable. Best of all worlds, and relatively nice design too. I could get a 270 ARM barrel and call it good. On this side of the Rockies, with long range shots being normal, and game being generally light, or as heavy as bull elk, it is enough for most Western purposes. It would suit the army well in Stan, even if the ammo weighs nearly as much as .308. But they won't change to this, or to 6.8 SPC, because they have their budget cut by the Islamic-friendly leadership. And it will kill lots of our side in this conflict. And that's really a terrible tragedy because fixing the problem costs less than continuing to lose.
Monday, August 17, 2015
New Urbanism For the Ultra Rich
Went to Squaw Valley on Sunday, out for a drive with my Dad in his new sports car. Pleasant weather, high thin clouds. Squaw Valley was the site of the winter Olympics in 1960. I have skied there once 25 years ago. It is a challenging place, with steep slopes. Since I was last there, they built a bunch of 4 story buildings in a close cluster, probably with heating coils under the fake cobblestone walkway. It is gorgeous, and very expensive.
There are shops on the bottom level, and luxury hotel rooms above. There are probably 1000 rooms in this complex. Imagine the sort of income that generates in a luxury area. These are +$20M minimum people staying there. Very rich people. This is the true meaning of New Urbanism. It is ONLY for the rich. You let any poor people in, you get instant crime. Rich people won't put up with that. This is why Balboa Island is the way it is. No poor people allowed. Rich only. This means no crime, and total safety. And you do it by making it so expensive poor people find going there punitive.
The mountain on the right has a big gondola. People take mountain bikes up there and lunch and ride around on the peaks. I saw what looked like an elk to the left, way up high. The clouds were moving along on the jet stream, around 200 mph. Watching them move was hypnotic.
There are shops on the bottom level, and luxury hotel rooms above. There are probably 1000 rooms in this complex. Imagine the sort of income that generates in a luxury area. These are +$20M minimum people staying there. Very rich people. This is the true meaning of New Urbanism. It is ONLY for the rich. You let any poor people in, you get instant crime. Rich people won't put up with that. This is why Balboa Island is the way it is. No poor people allowed. Rich only. This means no crime, and total safety. And you do it by making it so expensive poor people find going there punitive.
New Urbanism is anti-poor. New Urbanism is about exclusion.
It is properly put together, exquisitely clean and maintained and everything you could want in a resort. The trouble with idealism is that it only works with other people's money. Idealism is poison. Idealism is ambition, and ambition is always defeated by reality. People who are sane understand how far they can push and don't go mad when they hit the limits. 
The below image shows the ski slopes. There's a parking lot and a big golf course behind me. 
Monday, August 10, 2015
Hiked Donner Again
Interstate 80, which is about a mile north of this lake and you can hear if you listen hard, is a major artery. Due to a fire on Echo Summit, Highway 50, a smaller but tourist used road through the Sierras, was closed, causing a massive traffic jam over Donner Pass, which I ended up stuck in for 45 minutes for what should have been a 20 minute drive to highway 20. Then the brief speed of 20 was ruined by a caravanist towing an ultralight behind a slow Jeep and it kept dropping to 40 mph on a 55 mph road. We were 8 cars behind this bozo who ignored every paved pull-off and he finally turned down to Scotts Flat Lake. Every time I think I can warm to the idea of owning a trailer and pulling one, I get a nice road and see a jerk like that and it all goes out the window. Then, and showering. Your RV and trailer have about 20-40 gallons of water on board, and most have a 5 gallon water heater. What kind of shower do you take in a 5 gallon tank? When you are in high country, you get hot and sweaty and there's suntan lotion to remove because its sticky and itches after a while. I want my hot shower, dammit. Obviously, the answer is a proper house or at least a cabin, with insulation, a proper hot water heater tank, no need to carry tanks full of pee. I own a good tent, and a stove. If I want to camp in the woods I can do that easily. But I don't. It is uncomfortable. I don't enjoy wife swapping or junkies getting weird in the woods with shrooms or hash. I already know how to cook so sampling low grade mountain eateries with a spouse that hates to work isn't exciting for me either. At least I know, and I got credit for the research on RVs and I know how much it costs. And I agree that getting stuck in a crappy community sucks. But I need my 740 to 800 square feet and a 40 gallon water heater to be happy, and a full sized pantry and kitchen so I can cook wonderful food. I think I'd be happier with those, and possibly a 4WD for visiting interesting places with great views on the weekend, and a race car for ones that are paved, and still be very happy.
Pretty, right? 
See why people in Nevada are so happy? They like their outdoors. Most don't gamble. That's mostly for tourists. And yes brothels are legal, but they aren't exactly illegal in California since most aren't sought out or suppressed either. I'm told that the Nevada Highway Patrol likes ticketing California motorists speeding on their long abandoned roads, but I never had much trouble with them on my visits there. Then again, I LOVE the desert. I love the big open empty places where you can see for 150 miles and people are found near the green bits in the big brown landscape. Few people can find nice things to say about Nevada, but the people saying them are usually heading for some kind of green bit, often on the side of some sea. I think Nevada would be improved by castles built of stone to various classic designs, however they have a lot of small earthquakes and Nevada has more volcanoes than California does. They even generate power from a steam vent east of Reno along I-80. Since the steam is generated far from where it is harvested, this arrangement is stable, completely different from the Geysers in California, which are messed with a lot and are also venting arsenic in huge quantities and its killing the Jehovah's Witnesses welders who work at the plant who were told that protective clothing would be enough, not knowing that Arsenic turns into a gas when exposed to oxygen, also called Arsene Gas and is a deadly poison. And it absorbs through lungs and exposed skin. So no, protective wear isn't enough. Anyway, castles in Nevada would look awesome on those peaks. Rich loons should build them like monuments. And monks should build them. They would be hilarious. Give them battlements and arrow slits. Why not?
The drive back from my trip, despite all the traffic, had some interesting points. Hot August Nights car show in Reno ended on Sunday, so the hot rodders returning to California were driving on the same road with me, and there were lots. While I don't see the point of GTO copies with silvery metallic paints and no particular suspension (which is why there aren't very many of them left: they rolled back in the 1980's and the drivers mostly died). The cars that survived the 80's somehow got their engines fixed up and new paint and all shiny and they go to the Hot Rod shows like in Reno. Those which could be driven were in the same traffic as I was. And they looked pretty at 20 mph on 80, bumper to bumper. There was no actual cause. When we got to the end of the traffic after a 45 minute crawl down the pass, there was nothing to see. We just sped up and a Lance truck camper on a new $50K Dodge Ram 3500 truck who had taken I-40, which runs alongside 80 because it used to be the only road through Donner Pass 50 years ago, had to merge back into the same traffic again when their road ran out. LOLs. Oh well.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
800 Square Feet
My last apartment was 740 square feet. Unfortunately, I was married to a packrat, and she filled the place with a lot of crap. Once the crap was fully removed, a whole day before I moved away, it was surprisingly roomy. This was my misfortune, but I still learned that 740 square feet is big enough for my needs. The catch is I want my own garage, mainly because I can have a clean car that isn't getting spoiled by excessive heat and sunlight and pollen scratching the paint. This is important. A three car garage is probably ideal, since that leaves me room for a trailer, either for campground trips or with a small sailboat on it. There's some nice sailboats that weigh more than I can pick up by myself.
My best friend, That Guy(tm), recently measured the amount of living space he is using and its 800 square feet. His house is nearly twice that big, but his mortgage is less than renting a smaller space so life continues despite the irony. If he ever moves out of the area and has to buy a place he now knows how much space he really needs.
I know that the most common house type built and sold from 1970-1995 was the Ranch House, which is single story (in most cases) with a two-car garage hogging about half the front and a driveway leading from there to the street. It sort of dominates the house's looks.
After 1995, building lots got smaller and smaller, forcing homes to go vertical and narrower so the garage got even bigger from the street. These got the nickname "McMansions". Back yards became a spitting distance strip of dirt and a fence then another spitting distance and a neighbor. This was the approved high density housing method to cram as many square feet, which they charge for, into a house on the smallest legal lot they can get away with. Often, this is kind of miserable, though some places leave off the garage and cram them close and you get Balboa Island, which is slightly adorable for its close quarters craftsman bungalows.
Nevada City, the next town over and where I work as a volunteer, is crammed close like this, only its hot all summer because this is gold country, not the seaside. I think, in the future, most of the electric power will probably be going to seaside desalination projects rather than air conditioning in the valley, where few people want to live because it is farm country. I would not be shocked at all if more nuclear power plants get built to replace the ones being shut down due to old age. Billiard Ball designs are relatively hard to screw up and can't have a melt down. Smart engineering, after all.
The 800 square feet rule is largely true in Nevada City and Balboa Island, and works well for singles, but is a little tight for a couple. I suspect couples need 1000 square feet for obvious reasons. And every child after that, add another 400 square feet. Kids need lots of room, their own bathroom to share, separate from the folks. He's going to need a "study" and she will need a "sewing room" or hobby room. Somewhere to decompress. The space requirements get significant.
But a single person? 800 square feet is plenty.
My best friend, That Guy(tm), recently measured the amount of living space he is using and its 800 square feet. His house is nearly twice that big, but his mortgage is less than renting a smaller space so life continues despite the irony. If he ever moves out of the area and has to buy a place he now knows how much space he really needs.
I know that the most common house type built and sold from 1970-1995 was the Ranch House, which is single story (in most cases) with a two-car garage hogging about half the front and a driveway leading from there to the street. It sort of dominates the house's looks.
After 1995, building lots got smaller and smaller, forcing homes to go vertical and narrower so the garage got even bigger from the street. These got the nickname "McMansions". Back yards became a spitting distance strip of dirt and a fence then another spitting distance and a neighbor. This was the approved high density housing method to cram as many square feet, which they charge for, into a house on the smallest legal lot they can get away with. Often, this is kind of miserable, though some places leave off the garage and cram them close and you get Balboa Island, which is slightly adorable for its close quarters craftsman bungalows.
The 800 square feet rule is largely true in Nevada City and Balboa Island, and works well for singles, but is a little tight for a couple. I suspect couples need 1000 square feet for obvious reasons. And every child after that, add another 400 square feet. Kids need lots of room, their own bathroom to share, separate from the folks. He's going to need a "study" and she will need a "sewing room" or hobby room. Somewhere to decompress. The space requirements get significant.
But a single person? 800 square feet is plenty.
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