Thursday, July 30, 2009

Might be my next one


Stoeger 12Ga. Stagecoach Gun, originally uploaded by nyctreeman -.

A stainless steal stage coach gun. I know someone who has one and its a beauty! Right now I only have 1 gun. I'm gun poor and cash poor.....lol I hope to eventually have a small collection of handguns and a shotgun or two. Karen cannot physically use the handgun we have now, so I need something else. The only thing she could to with the gun we have now is beat someone to death with it.

I'm leaning towards a pump shotgun but I don't think she would like a 12 gauge after the first shot. Likely I will be looking for a 16 or 20 gauge. Something she will not be afraid of after the first shot. To criminals, shotguns are VERY intimidating weapons.

I will also be switching the ammo in my baby Glock now that I live in a brick house in a rural town. While residing in Vegas I used "safety" ammo that was designed to barely penetrate a standard drywall constructed wall. Now living in a house with 18" brick walls with neighbors fairly far away, over penetration is less of a concern. I will be switching to something with more of a punch to it.

I really do not prefer the 9mm because to me, unless you are in law enforcement, you cannot get a really good defense round for it. They are known for their over penetration. I've seen photographs of people(high on drugs) shot 32 times with a 9mm before they went down! Many of these shots were chest shots that with another round would have likely been fatal. For this reason I want a .357 revolver. Its trusty. Simple. and easy to use. It also has, or did have, the highest percentage of any handgun round for stopping people with one shot! It has been around for many, many years and has been proven a very effective cartridge. Soon hopefully

There is no such thing

as too many guns!
IMG_2677 Actually, since these are not mine, I feel I don't have enough.

Jobs are hard to come by

these days, but I'm quiting my job!!!!!
Today is the day to start over.


I just won the U.K. Lottery as seen below!!!!!!!!!!



CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE MEMBERS AND STAFF OF UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Joy Gosselin
ANNOUNCEMENT UK NATIONAL LOTTERY Sweepstakes International Program.
NATIONAL LOTTERY. P/S OPEN THE ATTACHMENT

Life is GREAT!!!

More politics

I might as well get it all out.......for now.....

President Obama is being criticized for his vacation plans for this year...even though he is PAYING for them himself!!

It is reminiscent of liberals complaining about President Bush spending "too much" time at the Western White House......

Does anyone think the President ever get a vacation???? Ever???? Maybe after they are no longer President!!

It wasn't for nothing that they called President Bush's ranch in Waco Texas the "Western White House"!

Each of these men have had or do have the most difficult job in the world! They would have been and will be lucky to carve out a few hours to themselves and their families during their "vacation"!

To me it is STUPID for Republicans to make pointless, un-important, political attacks against President Obama when they were enraged about the same types of attacks leveled against President Bush!

President Obama's policies give the opportunity to show REAL disagreement on POLICY, not politics!

A correction

I my post about health care I made a mistake. Union members would NOT be expempt from the "reform". They would be exempt from paying taxes on thier health insurance as is now propsed as part of at least one of the proposals. This correction was brought to you by the person who has been correcting me for 42 years now.....my father.....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I'm on the way to the hospital

to get a blood infusion. I've bitten my tongue so many times I'm low on blood. I try not to make this blog political, people that know me know where I stand, but damn.

First I'll say that I did not vote for Obama yet he is, for better or worse, my President. I had hoped he would campaign from the left(as he did) and lead from the middle somewhere(he is not, at least domestically)

NPL shoot.

His health care imitative is just un real. Its not really his though, he has turned that job over to Congress.

Only one action would convince me that this "plan" was a good plan.

Only one, very simple action would convince me to fully support this initiative.

And this one action would save the government money.

That action would be for ALL federal employees to be put in the plan also.
From the President down to the lowliest janitor in some long ago forgotten federal agency.

I mean if its so good for the American People, it should be good enough for Federal Employees who are, by definition, our employees. Have you ever worked at a place where the workers had better insurance than the employees? Me neither.....

President Obama was asked this exact question. His response was to try and say he was giving the American People the same thing that Federal Employees have, then he tried to blend this with Medicare saying that its just like Medicare, in fact its just like what federal employees have....government provided health care.

Does anyone really believe that????? If you do, wouldn't it be easier for the government to open up the plans to all Americans? Ain't going to happen!

Itroducing a "Public" option is a horrible idea. It will not be long until the government begins to subsidize this "Public" plan to the dis advantage of every other insurer out there. Soon the "Public" option will be the only one available.

So how do you get more health care for less money? How does that work?
President Obama want us to think we can achieve that through efficiency.
Their is no doubt a ton of money to be saved from efficiency, but not enough to pay for this plan.

And why are unions exempt from this "reform"??? The UAW, SEIU among others...I wonder why? Payback???

And this very complex(1,600 pages or so) "reform" has to be done by August??? Sorry, I'm tired of Congress not reading laws they pass!!!!

Our health care system is far from perfect, but when I look around I don't see anything better.

I do not like "pre existing condition" being excluded but it is a necessary evil. Otherwise people would only get insurance when they were sick. You can't get sick and then go buy insurance just like you can't crash your car and then go buy auto insurance. So the only real way to get rid of "pre existing conditions" is to require everyone to have health insurance.

As long as were on cars and health insurance....
Everyone knows they are at risk of getting sick. Pneumonia, flue, colds etc. These are minor ailments. Sort of like maintenance items much like changing the oil in your car is a maintenance item. Imagine what car insurance would cost if it insured against needing an oil change or a car wash!

Indeed, if the insurance workings of cars and health care were interchanged, this debate would be about the cost of car insurance!

Insurance is to mitigate a risk. How risky is a cold? Or a twisted ankle? or a fever over a short time? The normal, routine illnesses that come from being alive. The risk is infinitesimal.

My health insurance is a Health Savings Account. To me it is perfect. I put money, albeit tax free, away in a savings account every payday.I can go to ANY doctor, anywhere in the world! I have a debit card I use to pay the bill. I use that card to pay for all prescriptions and tests also. I can use it to pay fom many maedical related things that insurance will never pay for, like asprin or bandages. My "out of pocket expenses" are limited to $5,000 per year so if something catastophic or serious occurs I know what my expenses would be, and I've already saved for it towards the $5,000. After $5,000 I pay nothing. the insurance picks up ALL cost from therapy to doctors to prescriptions and hospitals. It is what is called High Deductible Health Plan and it pays for any catastophic event or ilness over $5,000.
So for about $130 a week, Karen and I are totally covered.

Another upside is that I question the doctor now becuase I am the consumer! although I have yet to refuse what a doctor ordered for me, he knows that I will question him. He recently ordered 2 tests for me that checked for the same thing. I aksed him if he really needed both. He said that because of my family history, he would feel better with both. I completed both...and they both came back "ok". But the point is that if I had "regular" insurance I would have never even questioned him about the need for both.

And, if I ever get to retire, if their is any money left in it, I can use it for whatever.

Much like "energy reform", this bill will have many un-intended consequences. Congress knows well about those little buggers!

We know all about "energy conservation" out here in Nevada. They have been preaching that for a long time here. Our local electric company recently began offering "interest free" loans for you to add a solar water heating system to your house. Not a bad idea on the surface. Las vegas, much like Pahrump and most of Nevada, have been trying to conserve electricity for many years.

The problem comes when the power company gets your payment for your lower electricity use. You save $50 on your normally $200 electric bill. You think "Great"! The power company thinks "Wow! I didn't make enough money last month!" and drives right over to the State Utility Commission and asks for an increase to bring your bill back up to $200! This exact scenario has already played out in Las Vegas. The power company will get their money, that's why they are in business!

So if your in it for the "environment" go for it....and that's an ok reason. But don't think the electric company is doing you any favors trying to lower your bills.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Karen

and I hanging out in the pool.IMG_3203

IMG_3202

Sunday, July 26, 2009

One way

to beat the heat is shown below:
IMG_3183

Yes, I know. Your saying that's just a pile of sand with a pool in a box sitting next to it!

But you have to have imagination. Another home owner, here in Pahrump, has an old commode sitting in their yard on a pile of dirt as a decoration. Yes people, its that kind of town! It inspired me though. I imagined our old commode sitting atop the pile of sand. While sipping a Corona, and enjoying the fine mist of cool, refreshing water from the lawn sprinkler, I would gaze into the pool picture on the box and dream of floating around drinking an ever full Corona!

Needless to say, Karen did not share my enthusiasm for that idea! So I did what I had to, I put the pool up.

The pile of sand in the above picture is 4 tons. The store recommended 2 tons for our size pool, but after seeing what 4 tons of rock looked like, I did not think that was enough so I told Karen to get 4 tons.

I started about 6:30AM on Saturday. 2 Hours later it looked like this:
IMG_3184

Our first dilemma came when we tried to install the blocks that go under the support rails. The manual called for blocks that were 18"X18" and 2" thick. Well, no one in Pahrump, or maybe anywhere else, sells 18"X18" blocks. The closest size available were 12"X12". On the surface, no a big deal. Or so you would think. We thought "Ok. No problem. We will just move the blocks in 3" to keep them centered." Well what we soon realized was that all of the math changed as well. How far to space the blocks from each other and how far to space them from the center point of the pool all changed from what was given in the manual. After a few attempts at trying to decipher the math we gave up and decided to cheat.
IMG_3186
We "pre assembled" the to rail and then placed the blocks where they should be.

Also note the aprox 2 tons of extra sand sitting all around the edge of the pool!!

Getting the blocks was fun too. I asked Karen to get 16 of the blocks. She started at home depot and explained to the 2 guys working there that we were putting up a pool and we needed the blocks to go under it. Both the guys there we alarmed right away. They had both put up pools similar to ours and told Karen that they never used any blocks under the pool. She told them thats what the instructions said to do. What Karen didn't realize was that the block just went under the posts, not the pool. Those 2 guys were looking at her like she was crazy!
Thats the nice thing about our Home Depot here in Pahrump. Most of them have been through what you are trying to accomplish and can offer good advice.

Trying to level the sand:
IMG_3185
This is the basic method described in the instruction manual to level the sand. We found it rather useless so we came up with a different method.

We simply leveled each block to one another. Then we just eye balled the sand inside the pool area and made it nice and flat.

Once the blocks were laid, the rest went pretty quick.

We then spread the very thin "pad"(think tarp) that goes under the pool to protect it. I did not know that they had come so far in being able to produce thin tarps. You could almost see through it if you squinted the right way.

IMG_3187
Here you can see us after having installed the top rail in the liner and just prior to raising the pool.

After getting the wrinkles out, it was time to add the water:

IMG_3189

IMG_3191
Here you can see me taking a break from getting the remaining wrinkles out.

The pool is nearly full now. I have begun to put the siding on it. I think the siding adds a nice "finished" look to the pool.
IMG_3197

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

When you

live in a rural area like we do you have to be prepared for anything. The police and fire dept are a long ways away. Thats why I keep several bats handy!!


IMG_3162

IMG_3180

Not sure if I posted this before but here is the sunset at the Caughey compound:
IMG_2945

Below are shots of the new irrigation system that cost all of $30 to install:

IMG_3134

IMG_3135

IMG_3136

IMG_3137

IMG_3138

Everything in the courtyard now has a "drip of life" to get it through the summer months.

Over the last few days Karen has worked her ASS off hauling nearly 6 tons of rock into the courtyard and spreading it out.
IMG_3139

Here is Carly. No doubt thinking "Here he goes again!"

IMG_3145

IMG_3147
My rose bush is budding despite the 110F heat!

IMG_3148


IMG_3149
Karens new friend. A mister from Home Depot. It works pretty well on those really hot days.


IMG_3151One of our cactus plants.

IMG_3156
Carly sporting her new haircut!

IMG_3159
Location of the new pool! Also to be known as Lake Caughey!...lol

It has been VERY hot here this past week. 110F-114F....and humid. Its going to cool off next week though...down to 108F or so.....

Friday, July 17, 2009

Good Enough

I suppose, since I earn my living as a mechanic, I could be referred to as a "professional". But let me assure you I use that word loosely. But, having used both Snap-On, Craftsman, and others, I feel I have a valid opinion on them.

Snap-On makes an excellent tool. The quallity in terms of durability, accuracy, or any other measure, is un surpassed. They offer a lifetime gauruntee. Basically, it is unsurpassed. Indeed, in my opinion, there are times that you can acomplish things with a Snap-On tool that you could not with the same tool from Craftsman, or some other off brand.

Yet, I do not own any Snap-On tools!

The reason is VALUE. A given set of wrenches costs $250 from Snap-On. The same set from another company costs $50. Is the Sanp-On set better? You bet! But 99.9999% of the time you will never notice because your cheap set is "good enough" to do what needs to be done. When its not "good enough" you can figure out other ways to accomplish the same thing.

That said, I'm not un familliar with the phrase "knuckle buster". That refers to a tool thaqt is soooo cheap it is garunteed to slip or break and bust your knuckle. That is why I generally buy Craftsman.

Craftsman has decent quality, and a lifetime gauruntee. I have had Snap-On refuse a warranty claim before. Craftsman never even asks questions. They only tell you what is available to replace your broken tool.

A busy week

last week was very busy. I had the on call phone, and it never seemed to stop ringing! On the plus side, I will have a nice check next week. I worked Saturday and Sunday. Then until 8PM on Thursday and 5AM(I had to wake up at 3:40AM for that) until 2PM. It was a loooong week. In addition, the A/C on my car was not working. Just in time for the 113F heat here in Vegas.

This weekend I don't have the phone so no one can make me work this weekend....except for Tom and Betty who just had 10 tons of rock delivered to their house.........I don't mind though, at least I can take a beer break....even if its 8:30AM!

When we first moved here I looked forward to going to work so I could get a break and relax!!!

Things have changed from what "must be", like fixing the toilet, or opening the water valve all of the way....to what "could be". All of the fires have been put out.

Karens mind wanders to thoughts of what color rock to put down where? Can we get a small swing for the front side of the house?
IMG_2942

IMG_2938


My mind wanders to thoughts of running a water line to the front yard? What will it cost to run 220 to the 2nd garage? Can I do it by myself?

Our neighbor told us Home Depot was having a big sale this weekend!!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Its a dogs life

IMG_2972
Over the last two days we have allowed Pooh, Tigger and Carly out into the "big" yard. Because of the Foxtail we were reluctant to do so, but part of the reason we liked this house was because of the big fenced in yard. Plus we now have a better idea of what to look for and we do "Foxtail" checks when they come inside. Much like we used to do "tick" checks as a little kid living in North Carolina.

IMG_2975
it doesn't take long for Pooh and Tigger to tire of being outside. Tigger is the first to want back into the air conditioning. Pooh will hang out a bit longer but Carly has to be drug inside!

IMG_2981

She absolutely loves it out in the big yard. She sniffs every square inch of it to see what shes been missing.

IMG_2980


Today we are expected to hit 104F, and 108F in Vegas. Its not too bad until about 2PM-5PM. Earlier or later and it is pretty nice out.

IMG_2997
This is Carly barking out one of the "gun holes" in our front wall. Its a good thing she isn't much into jumping! Tigger is too scared to jump through it, and we all know, Pooh would never fit, but don't tell Karen I said that its too hot to sleep in the garage!

IMG_2985
Our Pomeganate tree is doing very well. Soon I will pick a few to try. I didn't realize that they are what I used to call "Indian Apples". Our tree is loaded with them!

IMG_3001
This poor picture is one of the bats that flies around in the evening. They are very hard to capture because of their erratic flight pattern, and the fact that they only come out at dusk.

IMG_3013
This is a Night Hawk. They are also difficult to capture for the same reasons that a
bat is. they have a very erratic flight pattern and only fly at dusk. They are easily identified by the white bands on the outer edges of the wings.

There are some other larger birds that fly by our house almost daily but I haven't been able to identify them yet. They resemble a raptor of some sort, but they usually fly in a group as large a 7 birds. Since raptors are solitary, I'm not sure what to make of them yet, but I will figure it out eventually.

IMG_3021
This is a Mud Dauber. It is a wasp of sorts. Unlike a yellow jacket or a hornet, they are not aggressive. Even when provoked they are not likely to sting. He has been cruising around our pad, no doubt in search of a residence since they only use nests abandoned by other wasps.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

International Space Station

flew by my house tonight. Here are some photos of it.
IMG_2958

IMG_2957

IMG_2956
It looked like an airplane flying by, except that it had no flashing lights at all. It was cool to see.

Thanks to Lauren for bringing it to my attention. You can go to the NASA Human Space Flight page to see if and when it will be visible in your area.

Everybody needs a weed hoe

Here is mine:
IMG_2951
Yep thats right! I got a weed hoe and at only $15 it was cheap!

In less time than it took me to start my $70 Homelite Gas Weedeater I cut down almost 1/2 the weeds in my yard with my weed hoe. This thing is freakin amazing!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Today

I made it over the hump in record time. Normally in the morning I can make it to work in 1 hour and 15 mins. On the way home it usually takes an hour and 15 mins to 2 hours depending on how I go. Today I made it home in just over an hour because one of the major constrution areas I drove through is now complete. When the other one gets done I bet I can make it both ways in an hour.

IMG_2922
Here is Tigger after a hard day of laying around and doing nothing.

IMG_2924
The shadow!

IMG_2925

IMG_2930

IMG_2934

IMG_2935

IMG_2937

Related Posts with Thumbnails