peejman

  ... and brake/break, affect/effect, they're/their/there, your/you're, who's/whose, ....

    Yikes.  That's not gonna end well.    Following the guy all the way to his house and stopping outside was stupid, but not as stupid as what happened next.

  To me, the engine/trans swap is step 1.  Big mud tires (and the typical use) will kill the 305/auto in short order. 

Additional humor....   http://62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinHumor.htm

Sounds like a place I'd never go anyway, but definitely not now.    A dress code... at a restaurant??  I understand the concept of decorum, but this situation is just plain ignorant.

That's some really creepy photoshop work. Nice critter!

Are you sure it's the body and not the lens?   I'd also be hesitant to crack open the case.  Could be a bad or broken contact/connector in the shutter button.  But even if you find it, it's probably so small that you'd need specialized tools to fix it.  Does Nikon offer repair/refurbishment services?

Does it try to focus but can't or doesn't try at all? 

Heh, my wife calls them hobo packs. Building a fire pit in the back yard is on my Christmas break "to do" list.

Lack of punctuation and understanding of the concept of paragraphs annoys the crap out of me. And yes, I think it's got as much to do with lazy as it does stupid.

I'm not a big believer. Shoot a handful, clean it and don't worry about it. Most rifles shoot more consistently when they're somewhat dirty, .22's in particular.

Shot placement is key. Some big critters have been taken out with a .22lr and a miss with a .50BMG is still a miss.

Did you configure the jumpers so that the PC knows it a slave?

The manual safety on the shield does seem a bit small. I think I'd sacrifice a little extra width for a little bigger lever. But... It's not mine so ill wait and see what the wife says.

On road bikes no less. Wow.

So I did.... Sucks getting old. Try this: http://digital-photography-school.com

Don't think it would work as well with lead. It cools too slowly.

I married one too.... :) She needs one of these peep holes... http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000TB1FHW

The vast majority of commie ammo I've shot is the various incarnations of Wolf. I expect my commie rifles to be minute of man accurate, and they meet my expectations. By comparison, I expect my Swiss rifle to be quite accurate so I feed it quality ammo and it meets my expectations.

    Commie ammo works fine in commie rifles.  Tula likely isn't the most accurate stuff and it tends to be quite dirty, but it goes bang and punches holes in stuff.

  Sounds reasonable assuming everything is in new-ish condition.  DLSR's do have a life span... 50k min is fairly typical.   Photography in general is about light management.  The kit lenses work fine as long as you've got lots of light.  When the lighting is poor is when the high dollar lenses show their worth.    I signed up for a weekly email from this place:  I've found it quite useful and depressing at the same time.  Some of those folks are darn good and make me feel like a hack.  :)

    Water bath canning is the easiest way to start.  Pressure canning is better, but there's more investment.   http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/canning.aspx#axzz2nN4V3i1J

What he said.  I think the 50 F1.4 will do 90% of what you've listed.  It may take a little creativity and extra effort on your part, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Like lots of things, having the right gear is important, but the person operating it makes all the difference.  I've seen shots taken by good photographers with disposable cameras that I couldn't replicate with $10k in gear.    If you don't already, get some software.  It can certainly be a crutch, but a little post processing can make a good photo look fantastic.    You might also look into taking a few classes.  A friend who's a far better photog than me took a few night classes at UT and he's done some really cool stuff with what he learned. 

I'd never used a sling properly until I went to a CMP clinic.  The difference is amazing.  Maybe one of these years I'll get a rifle where I can actually use one. 

You'll have to take it apart for best results.  How long?  Dunno, check it periodically to see how fast it's progressing.   Do you intend to have it refinished?  If someone else (a pro) is going to refinish it, I'd say don't waste your time as they'll already have everything they need.