MacGyver

Hey, thanks! At the end of the day, I guess I'm really just an engineer who's interested in people and the ways in which things work. I'm long on this American experiment, and I suppose as a father, taxpayer and business owner I've got some skin in the game. The thing I absolutely love the most in life is getting to watch people do stuff they're awesome at - and I really don't care what it is. Whether you're researching cancer vaccines or running conduit in perfect rows doesn't make a difference. I'm just as fascinated by someone who can run heavy equipment setting bridge trusses as I am in meeting with world leaders. It doesn't matter. If you're good at, I'm interested. One of the things I really love about this board is getting to know individual member's stories. Because truthfully, I'm certain we've got hundreds of really fascinating folks on here. Frankly, that's why I encourage good debate. I expect we've all got something we can learn from folks on here.

Scarcity and perceived scarcity are well studied when it comes to consumer behavior. Gun owners have been operating under this paradigm of thinking things are going to be less available in the future for at least the last four years. Then, you have the fact that we have a ton of new gun owners in the market, and a lot of them have stockpiled more ammo then they will reasonably shoot in several years. Some may have sacrificed on other things to buy now perceiving that they may not be able to get it later. There is a bubble in the gun store space right now. This is evidenced by the fact that there are so many stores out there that are nothing other than capital arbitrage opportunities. That is, you've got an owner that knows nothing and cares nothing about firearms - rather they've got some money they need to put somewhere, and see gun owners as an easy way to move some product and make some good money. Think about the stores you've been in where customer service is the furthest thing from their mind. You've got money to spend, but often leave without doing so because you have trouble even getting noticed. This is a store that is nothing other than in arbitrage play. We've got several of them here in middle Tennessee. I expect we're about to go into a dark period for gun stores. Access to capital it's still really tight for small businesses. And, now gun stores are going to need to do something other than just show up and open their doors and expect people to trip over each other to buy stuff. I expect the show the weekend after Thanksgiving over in Knoxville will show this as well. That's usually a pretty well attended show, and it wouldn't surprise me to see traffic down. All of this is to say, that if you've got a local gun shop that you really appreciate, find a way to go in and support them. They're going to need it.

This article came across Hacker News this afternoon and I found it fascinating. If, like me you remember from science and history that the church prosecuted Galileo as a heretic for his heliocentric view of the solar system, then it's quite interesting that the church had been tracking the sun in detail before that time. http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/catholics-built-secret-astronomical-features-into-churches-to-help-save-souls I'd love to check some of these Meridian lines out.

This thing will be great for all those Sigma owners out there.

Wishing him the good luck and Godspeed. Will definitely keep him in our prayers. I'll check out the site when I'm not on mobile to see if I can make a donation.

I really need to check out the size differences between the 18 and 24.

I hope it came with an N-400 form so you can just go ahead and complete the deal...

That skinner is a great blade shape.

A bunch of people in our office building use that service. It seems like that truck is always out in the parking lot.

I don't know that I am really looking for any deals, but I sure hope to see some innovation from the manufacturers now that the Clinton juggernaut isn't looming over them.

Not much out there hits like a barracuda. Looks like a great trip!

A valid criticism this election cycle has been whether or not certain evangelical leaders have a sold out to the power of politics - overlooking Trumps moral failings in return for the promise of a as yet undefined "conservative" agenda. Russell Moore, who's sort of a public theologian out of the Southern Baptist Convention recently gave the Erasmus lecture at First Things, a Catholic publication concerned with the intersection of faith and civic life. Moore deals with the question of the religious right, and whether it can/should be saved. While I don't come from either of these traditions, I really appreciated the commentary. While I expect the audience for this will be quite small, if you enjoy podcasts and such, it's well worth an hour of your time.

I like that Wharncliff. Might jump on one of those one of these days.

I'm happy to arrange, but I don't have a ton of bandwidth right now. If you want to participate, PM me as follows: Screen name Real name Street address City, State Zip code

Likely a smart move by a brand that seems to be using some of its cash to buy other outdoor brands.

After Maduro shut down the recall election two weeks ago the consensus is that Venezuela is now officially a dictatorship. Unfortunately, Maduro doesn't have the charisma that Chavez had. And, as a former bus driver he doesn't have the skills to run a country either. They'll kill him before it's done. I pray for the people there. Hard to believe that only 30 years ago they were more or less a first world economy. It ought to be a cautionary tale of how quickly a strongman can screw stuff up with the support of public willing to turn their heads because they're getting promised what they think they want.

On a related note, I hear Werner Herzog's Into the Inferno was great.

That's one of my favorite rifles.

Here's the article that should have been quoted: http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/GeneralReference/The Myth of Arsenic.pdf

Who knew there was enough farmed venison from to support an effort like this? I love the occasional Arby's sandwich when I'm on the road, but if I was a shareholder I'd love to see them stick to one menu for a year or two.

"Vote for Jeff Johnson. He a good guy."

We'll get you to the dark side eventually

I'm so sorry to hear this. Know that you're in our prayers. Please let me know personally if there's anything as a community we can do to help.

Holly Williams is on his new For Better, or Worse album that dropped a couple of weeks ago. His cover of George Jones' Color of the Blues with Susan Tedeschi on the same album may be one of my favorite songs of the year so far. And, I've got to give a shout out - I heard it first on 89.5FM - the new Americana station running out of MTSU. If you're in receiving distance, it's definitely worth a listen.

I'm just glad these are spoken for...