peejman

Depending on the league, $1000 could be cheap. I work with people who probably spend $1000/mo on travel ball for their kids, and they play 6-10 months per year. One guy spent $3500 taking his daughter to a tournament in California. I've no idea where the money comes from, there's no way I can afford that. Both my boys play in a local church league (I coach) and it's great. It's inexpensive, low key, and there's no psycho, hyper competitive parents to deal with.

Yes, it's water based. Springs should have a coating to prevent corrosion and not be bare steel. Could be as simple as bluing or black oxide, or could be something fancier like nickel or chrome plating, or even the teflon stuff to make them quieter. Ultrasonic agitation is a controlled erosion process. It slowly wears away the surface. The idea is that the crud is softer than the base metal so the crud erodes away without doing any harm to the base metal. But the cleaning action is non-specific, meaning it's always cleaning everywhere. So if a portion of the part isn't dirty, the cleaning action is working on removing the base metal or whatever coating might be there. That said, the benchtop machines generally don't have enough power to do any real damage unless you leave parts in them for days. Something soft like bare aluminum or magnesium will be the first to go. Something hard like a knife or something that's hard chrome plated (not decorative) will be nearly impervious. Heat and increasing alkalinity of the solution will speed up the process.

Simple Green.

Those kids are so talented it's hard to grasp. I can't imagine the sacrifices their families have made along the way.

Ultrasonic agitation will increase the effectiveness of most any solvent. The Harbor Freight type cleaners typically don't have enough power to do much damage. This is the chemical behind M-Pro-7... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEG_monobutyl_ether I don't see anything there that would lead me to believe ultrasonic agitation would cause problem.

There's plenty of reception type venues around, but you'll have to find one in the county where shooting is an option. I'd calling around to see if any are receptive to the idea.

Post up some pics if you go please. It doesn't look like we're going to be able to get there, unfortunately.

Watch out for people on horseback on the FS roads. I'd hope they'd be smart enough not to be out there during bear season with dogs running around and gun fire, but you never know.

I didn't want to bias him, but yeah. Except he left out the part about letting the dogs run loose for days, kill chickens, attack pets, ... I've heard plenty of such stories from people who live adjacent to the WMA's. Could be similar to other things in that you never hear about the positive experiences, but bear hunters are kinda like lawyers... 99% of them give the rest a bad name. Folks here are glad bear season is short.

I'm not a bear hunter but I know a few of them and I know the terrain. Short range all the way. The dogs run the bear up a tree. You walk up to the tree and shoot the bear. Then the work begins.

I wasn't aware one could carry a handgun on their person anywhere other than their own property. You can have a gun in your car, but not in a holster on your hip. http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/tennessee.pdf If you have concern for the safety of your employees, contact the property management. If they don't offer anything, call the local PD and ask for an officer to escort them. Have the employees walk the dogs somewhere else. There are no knife restrictions in TN.

LST-325 is docked at Ross's Landing this weekend. https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/40939525/wwii-uss-lst-325-to-dock-wednesday-in-chattanooga https://lstmemorial.org/

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Yes, skunks and armadillos have a very similar diet. Skunks eat more vegetation, but they both eat grubs, worms, insects, etc.

and bears, oh my.

I would like to have seen the flocks of geese big enough to warrant such firepower.

Welcome!

There are no accidental discharges, only negligent ones.

Welcome!

Be very careful not to round off corners where the wood meets metal when sanding. If you do, it'll make the gaps irregular and it'll look funny.

People ask if I'm tired. I'm a parent and I'm awake, so yes, I'm tired. I don't mean to imply that I'm infallible, far from it. I've been plenty close to making serious mistakes more than a few times. It's in those instances where I think the good Lord gives us little hints... "pssst... hey... pay attention, you're about to do something dumb...". Some folks listen to the hints and heed the advice, some don't. The guy from Chattanooga mentioned previously got several hints, unfortunaltey he chose not to act on them.

Yes, really. We've got 2 kids in elementary school. I spent the first 6 months of both their lives running on less than 3 consecutive hours of sleep, and I forgot all kinds of stuff (shoes, keys, meals, stuff I was supposed to do at work...) but I never forgot that I had a kid. As a parent, there is never a day when you're not on duty. The responsibilties change over the years, but it's a lifetime commitment. If a "check the back seat" alarm saves 1 life, it's absolutely worth it. But the fact that they exist at all is a sad commentary on where society has gone.

Leaving your headlights on is more obvious than your kids in the back seat? That's incomprehensible. Having kids should fundamentally change how a person thinks and acts. People need to put down the damn phone, quit being so self absorbed and accept the idea that their needs are no longer the most important thing.

A photo of the car, the tank, or the guy driving the tank?

Our dog got skunked a couple times over the years. This stuff worked better than anything else, though it bleached her fur somewhat. We had a brown dog instead of a black one for a while after. @Erik88 I'd definitely work on that fence first. You can get live animal traps lots of places. A pellet rifle or a big trash can full of water might be alternatives. Skunks are generally pretty docile. If you don't have a dog going bonkers or run around like a looney, they're usually not bad to deal with. My parents have had them get in their garage and they basically just gently shooed them out with no issue. Wait until the middle of the day to approach a trap, skunks are largely nocturnal so thats the middle of the night to them.