All posts by MadOgre

Automotive

Going for a Ride

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The other day M and I went for a cruise.  The route was unfortunately lacking in twisty roads, but this is The West, and Utah at that.  The Square States don’t have as many really good motorcycle roads.  We were going to head up into the mountains, but the weather was flat out nasty up there.  Blue skies to the East, storm clouds and visible rain to the north and west… so we went East.
Vernal Utah is close to the Colorado boarder so we made a run for it, with the destination being Rangely, Colorado.   Some stretches there are long straights where we made high speed runs during which I took a most interesting sampling for my new found hobby of Helmet Visor Entomology.  Or as it’s also called, “WTF is that on my Visor?”
After we hung a Right in Dinosaur Colorado, the road to Rangely got a bit more interesting as it wound through some working Oil Fields.  Lots of trucks were about, and I didn’t want some trucker thinking “WTF is that in my Grill?”  The road wasn’t as twisty as I remembered it.  I used to travel this road daily from Vernal to Rangely and back again as that is were I graduated my Police Academy.  But absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess but the revisit was a disappointment.  Also, the road was infested with snakes… Tar Snakes.    Tar Snakes are strips of tar used to fill in cracks.  For a Motorist, they are an ugly eyesore.  For a Motorcyclist, they are strips of anguish, agony, and death.  Okay, perhaps that is a bit overly dramatic, but they can be highly dangerous as they are slick on a normal day, and on a hot day they are completely frictionless strips of State Sponsored Murder.  I was taking a line between some Tar Snakes and suddenly that line filled with them.  My bike slid to the left, to the outside of the turn very suddenly and I had to open my line up… M was probably laughing at this as he was following me thinking “WTF is he doing?”  I’ve laid a couple bikes down going fast… doing it again because of a Tar Snake just wasn’t an appealing idea to me.

In Rangely I found that the place didn’t change much.  I topped off my tank and we got some Refreshment.  You knew you were not in Utah anymore… I counted – and I am not kidding – 7 different Tattoo Magazines in one small rack.  Not just different issues of the same Rag… I found this to be an impressive ratio of ink related periodicals to the the population of one small western Colorado town.  Driving through Rangely, M showed me something that I didn’t believe to exist in the Uintah Basin.  An Italian place.  Cheese sticks and Marinara Sauce.  The Sauce told me everything I needed to know about the place.  It was good.  I will be back, and I’ll return hungry.

M's Hybrid Sport Touring Bike
My VTR1000, cooling down.

We headed back out of Rangely and took an old Oil Patch road that went to back into Utah and came out right in front of the American Gilsonite Mine.  This road was barren… but it got rough.  I was wishing I was on a KLR650… because there was some places where it got kinda rough.  We followed that past DG&T Power Plant as some Plant Workers were leaving at the end of their shift.  This gave us a number of cars to blow past like they were parked.   Our speeds were… Brisk… Not too outrageously fast, but at one point I looked down and saw my bikes shadow and I swear I saw daylight under the tires.  The road was free of Tar Snakes, but had some abrupt changes in elevation that the Superhawk just flew over.  Forgive me for being disconcerted, as I had not run this road this fast before.  I had ridden this road on a bike though – some 18 years ago?  I was newly married and the Power Plant needed a temporary addition to their security during a Generator Rebuild.  Last time I rode this stretch was on my RD400 Daytona Special, which just didn’t have the top end speed.  Anyways, M, having ridden this road more recently and more frequently, knew the road and just flew like the wind.  Hypersonic, NASA Study Wind.  His 1970’s Vision of the Future of Sport Touring Motorcycles is indeed a fast bike.   I think we ran Highway 45 back into Naples, Utah in about 3.4 Minutes.

It was a great day of Riding… I enjoyed it a lot.  Thanks, M.

 

Uncategorized

Bank of America should not get our business

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I’ve been increasing displeased with some banking institutions.  Mt. America, Zions, Nations, and now Bank of America.   BoA just dropped McMillan because they are a Gun Company.

The SHOT industry (Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade) is huge… there is a lot of money in it and a lot of Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Enthusiasts earn and spend a lot of money.  And Bank of America should get none of it.  Not a penny.  Everyone that any account with BoA, should pull their accounts and open new ones in a Gun Friendly banking institution.  Vote with your Wallets.

Uncategorized

But I thought…

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The Secret Service Snafu has me wondering here… The Agents apparently broke no laws.  So why are they being punished?  Most of the people who are “Outraged” about it are the same people who dismissed Bill Clinton’s actions in an Intern as “Just sex, and none of our business.”  If that’s the standard, then what about if there wasn’t even any of that?  Just “Escorts” and some drinking and carrying on like what goes on in behind the curtain in a lot of professional cultures where the public front is a perfectly worn suite and a poker face.  Just ask Japan.

The men were off duty.  No laws were broken.  I don’t see a problem with that.  The only problem that I have was the apparent loose handling of Confidential Information.  That’s not cool.  But whooping it up while off duty?  I don’t care.

I also don’t care that another SS Agent post pics of Sarah Palin saying “I’d hit that” or whatever he was going on about.  I wouldn’t fire him.  I’m send him to work counterfitting cases or something, because that was in poor taste to do what he did… but again… he violated no laws or sacred trust.   And most guys offended by what he did all agree and were thinking the same thing.

Uprising

Free Zombie Book

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I’ll give you a free Zombie Book for your Kindle Reader if you give me a good review….

Uprising USA is now FREE through Saturday.  Get it.  Then if you would be so kind, get Uprising UK and Italia.

And if you would be even more kind… and this doesn’t cost you anything… Give me a good review?  Please?  Pretty Please?  I need some good reviews on it and UK… Especially UK.  Uprising UK is, in my opinion, a much better book.

Weapons

S&W M&P Shield

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Smith’s new Shield pistol is going to be a rare find this year… but if you stumble on one – SNAG IT.

It’s very compact, but because of the magazine extension, you can actually get a good solid grip on the weapon.

It’s narrow, but not too skinny as to be awkward.  M&P Lines, so it looks like an M&P, not an upsized Bodyguard… Being a Striker fired gun, it’s all M&P genetics here.  The safety lever is the only wart, but it’s a very unobtrusive one… which means actually using the safety lever is more difficult and of course completely useless.  This is a Bodyguard trait that should have been erased.

Right now, they are out in 9mm.  But they have already gone out to the allotted dealers.  If you see one and pass on it… good luck finding another one in 2012…

It’s kind of like an M&P Compact’s anorexic little sister.

The magazine holds 8, so you are not giving up much on the M&P Compact.  They said they improved the trigger of the standard M&P’s trigger… and that’s true.  They did.  But there are already people out there working on an Improved Improved trigger for it.

It’s not a straight up Single Stack… it does have a slight stagger to it.  This is why it gets as many rounds as it has, and feeds well, and gives you a bit of a funnel for a quicker reload when you need it.

Overall, I’m impressed.  S&W’s M&P line up is all excellent stuff and this gun is no different.  Let’s see, there is the new SIG 938 and the new Beretta Nano, the newest of the Sub Compact Slim Nines… The SIG is a mini 1911 and thus in a class by its self… the Nano is a Double Action.  So while not a real Apples to Apples gun, the Shield smokes it.  The only thing really like the Shield is the Walther PPS and I think the Shield is a much better pistol.  It feels better in the hand, better trigger, and feels like a more solid built gun.   And, I believe, the Shield is less money  These are about 400 bucks and the PPS is, if I remember, about 500.  That’s enough left over for a very nice holster.

Weapons

Walther P22 KB

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Ever see a Rimfire KB before?  I hadn’t.  Until today.  Customer brought in a Walther with a “Problem”.

The KB cracked the P22's frame and subframe is damaged.

This isn’t just from one bad round.  The customer had a second piece of brass that looked exactly like the first.

It wasn't a squib or barrel obstruction... I think the ammo was double primed.

When we have a KB, there are are two Culprits we look at… The Gun or The Ammo.  Most of the time, the Ammo is the cause.  Remington Golden Bullet Bulk Pack.  I don’t have a lot number or anything.  The Customer Cleaned and Lubed the gun, fired several magazines full with no problem and then suddenly had a jam… then another jam and the slide wouldn’t go forward with the magazine in.  Then he noticed the frame and the brass.  Looking at the brass, the way the casing was blown out like that… I think we have some cases that were double primed.  If it was fired out of battery, the brass would be blown out differently and distinctively, indicating it… in this case, the primer material in the rim blew out the rim.  A normal amount of primer wouldn’t do this, and there isn’t enough case volume for a double charge… but the pressure spike from too much primer – would do exactly this.

Luckily no one was hurt, nothing else was damaged.  We’ll see what Walther and Remington does.

Government

Government Gone Wild

14 Comments

What country is this?  The US Secret Service getting hookers, the GSA going on a Vegas Binger like the guys from The Hangover or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Presidential Vacations and private jets to fly the Presidential Dog to Vacations.  The BATFE sending guns to Mexican Drug Cartells, The Department of Education buying Tactical Shotguns, and the TSA is feeling people up and stealing their iPods.

Is this our Government, or a Sacha Baron Cohen Comedy?  If this one another Country – it would be freaking hilarious… but it’s not… It’s our Government.  And it’s frakking pathetic.

Speaking of a Useless Government.  Let’s talk about Utah for a moment.  Utah passed a 50 dollar bounty on Coyotes… but it’s all held up because they can’t decide on just how to do it.  And even if they do get it all settled down… Uintah County doesn’t get any.  Instead of paying our Local Boys to bag the problematic Yotes, they would rather pay a Guy in a Helicopter.  When you break down the cost per dog, a Chopper is freaking retarded.  Too inefficient to be believable, but that’s what they’ve been spending our money on.
This needs to be put before the public vote.  This needs to be on the Ballot.  A Government Gunman in a Chopper, or hundreds of hunters across the county collecting on a pair of ears at a time.  What’s more efficient?  Just paying for the ears, or paying a gunman and a pilot and maintenance and everything involved for operating a helicopter?   And where is that chopper?  It’s only in one place at a time, flying only when they want it to.  Not out there all the time, all over the county, wherever the coyotes are stirring up problems and the money going to guys who could probably use a few extra bucks.   Where should our money go?  What makes the most sense?   I don’t think a Chopper makes any sense at all.  This should be put to the Vote.

Gear

Killer Hoodies

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Geraldo is just nuts.  He blames Hoodies, which is a different take on the Travon-Zimmerman incident… but one that is about as stupid as it gets.

Speaking of Hoodies… the idea of the Tactical Hoodie caught the imagination of some of The Horde.  I’ve been thinking about this.  It’s very doable.  I have some very good ideas at different levels of Tactical.

1.  Low profile, looks completely normal on the outside.
2.  Condition Black, looks tactical on the outside, has some reinforcing matterial on the outside that would allow quick attachment of needed accessories.
3.  Fangs Out.  Using technology from motorcycle jacket armor and ballistic nylon to provide max protection in a tussel and look completely badass.

Only question though is who would be willing to buy and how much would you be willing to pay?  A normal good quality Carhart Hoodie is what, 60 bucks?  Would you be willing to go $99.99 for a Custom Made Tactical Hoodie?  I have a friend that is about to launch a Tactical Accessories Business, and he could make these Hoodies if the interest was really there for a Seriously Killer Hoodie.

Food

Vernal Needs Food Badly

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I’ve complained many times that Vernal Utah doesn’t have any good places to eat. It doesn’t. It really doesn’t. There are a few places that try, and other places that have just given up and make the same slop they’ve been making for ages and that’s all the people of Vernal know, so they stay in business.
It has it’s brighter spots. Pelican Lake Cafe is one, but it’s not even in Vernal, but down in Ouray by the Pelican Lake. Bar B’Qued is in Vernal, right across the street from the Holiday Inn Express, and it’s improved a lot… It’s not bad. It can’t touch a real BBQ joint, but it’s trying and it’s getting better. We have some of our standard chain fast food, but not the better chains.
We need a good old fashioned dirty-water hot dog joint. We need real old classic burger joint that makes things their own way. We need an Italian place. We need a destination diner… Where they love their food and are proud of it.
This is me BEGGING for a good food establishment to come to Vernal. For the love of all that is holy – come to Vernal.