Murgatroy

I kinda want one. I am satisfied with my assisted opening Benchmade and Kershaw, but my first knife was a Buck Pathfinder (that I gave to my daugher.)

I hate to hear this, but she has lead a great life, and she knows it. Cheer up for her sake, she knows when it is time.

I have one holster from GJ and another on the way. Good stuff.

Had the floorboards flood on a car when I left the windows down overnight for a rough storm. Nothing a .22 didn't drain out.

You are correct, I suppose my statement should have been "If losing my pawn gets my rook back."

Because it takes the sting away, just like you mentioned. It makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy and it allows both sides to say they came together and accomplished something meaningful. National reciprocity means little of anything to anyone outside of a permit holder, and after all those of us permitted have all the background checks and the like the left think don't exist and want enacted. A useless accessory that no one wanted or used anyways is put on a list that you have to pay $200 to use, and no one will. Both sides get to pose and say they did something in the wake of this latest tragedy, the public goes away happy that something was FINALLY done. They have no clue that no one wanted or used bump fire stocks before this. And then I don't have to leave my firearms at home next time I vacation in Maryland, or Washington. I don't want to see anything else regulated. I want more deregulation, but it is a game of chess. If losing a pawn saves my rook... We are all burying our heads in the sand if we think we can keep winning every fight in the wake of tragedies like this. Could it be a huge misstep? Of course, but so could doing nothing. If the public, not sides, get so enraged at a lack of action, there is a chance in coming elections that anyone touting gun reform gets a vote regardless. And that would be a huge loss for us. I claim neither left nor right as a comfortable home, but the right does believe in a few of my issues more strongly than the left. Fiscal responsibility (what there is today) and gun rights. I support a lot of liberal social issues, but they are not nearly as important to me as the two I just mentioned.

I agree. And I see the right forcing the left to accept a national reciprocity being a bigger win for us than losing bump stocks. Thus I am seeing it exactly as you describe. Frankly you and I both know if we put our foot down, nothing will get done. By either side.

The letter I just read from the NRA explicitly stated at the end that it would get behind banning bump stocks in trade for a national reciprocity. IMO the bump stock is a useless item. I am more concerned about binary triggers being wrapped up in the wording though. While it would be easiest for the ATF to just reevaluate the bump stock, we are then in a situation where Congress and their constituents again feel that everyone has looked the other way after a tragedy. If letting them pass a law that puts bump stocks on the NFA list while permitting national reciprocity makes the left feel safe, I am all for it. Tit for Tat watch what the left hand is doing pay no attention to the right... I hate a slippery slope, and I fully feel that 'shall not be infringed' means just that. However, we are all fools if we think that there is no room to wiggle on this. Give up a useless item to let things go back to status quo or fight it tooth and nail, lose the majority in a short while and lose it all... Let them win this one, especially if it comes with a national reciprocity clause.

My response was in large part due to the complaints listed on the BBB site for the plumbing company in question, the majority of all negative complaints were directly toward the home warranty company, they were just being taken out on the plumbing contractor.

Here is the other side of the coin, and it is not to defend the warranty/insurance company. I am a plumber for the largest privately owned plumbing company in my region. With decades of respect and a quality reputation. We are honest and fair. Not everyone in my trade is. My company warranties all work and stands behind it and our employees. I am proud of my profession and my company. Not all of my peers. Especially the thieves in the Blue Trucks. Due to our response time and expertise we hold a contract with a national home insurance company I will not name. You can get coverage for your water service line, internal plumbing, external plumbing, water heaters and HVAC. My company does not mess with electical or HVAC, we are plumbers. This insurance is offered through most major metropolitan utility companies for a monthly fee. With this insurance you pay nothing out of pocket for service. It doesn't cover plumbing fixtures. No faucets, no water closets, no valves. It covers pipe breaks and stoppages. It covers water heaters. These contracts are negotiable. There are a few other companies in town that also have a contract with the same company. We recently tried to renegotiate and we lost a sizable chunk of the contract as it wasn't evening out for us. The insurance company chose to go with a smaller less capable company and the customers are paying the price. I hear it daily when I am sent out to fix an issue the other company was incapable of resolving. This insurance can be invaluable for homeowners who don't have the money for the service, or require extensive and expensive services. It is a massive pain the ass for the service company though. More often than not they are actually paid LESS on the job than they would for a private call. My company for instance is paid at a flat rate depending on the call type. Internal coverage pays a flat rate, snake a drain? $X. Repipe from the upstairs bathroom to the basement, through the walls to the main stack across 40'? $X. External coverage pays a flat rate, drag your 300lb machine down two flights of stairs to use a Sawzall to cut open a pipe to snake the main? $Y. Dig up half the yard to replace root infested pipes with new PVC and backfill? $Y. Snake from an outside cleanout and be on site for less than twenty minutes? $Y Those jobs mentions could vary in price for the private customer from $99 to $5000. With the insurance they often pay nothing. There are a few reinstatement fees or items the insurance won't cover. However, we go back the to same instance of a $99 job being paid the same flat rate (which is higher than $99) as the $5000 job being paid the same flat rate (which is a lot closer to $99.) Now, that is not to say that we are indifferent. I treat all of my customers the same, regardless of who is paying the bill. Many times it is the insurance company directly that is difficult to deal with. You get sent to a house with little more information than "The toilet won't flush." And honestly, most customers don't know more than that. As a professional it can range anywhere from Little Susie used too much toilet papers to a pipe being collapsed. However, if I am able to get the customer flow, per the contract with the insurance company, I am done, time to leave and I now own a warranty on that call. When I am called back three days later because the toilet won't flush again, I am back out there, to attempt to get the customer flow. Even if I KNOW the line is collapsed, if I can get flow, it is time to load up and leave. If I am lucky, after the third time (and only having been paid once!) I might get authorization to run a camera to determine the root (pun!) of the problem and get authorization to repair the line. This procedure can take up to six months if the insurance company wants to be a pain. A private customer? "Oh look, I pulled back a ton of roots, your home is X years old and has terra cotta pipes, I can run a camera for a discounted fee to determine the state of your line." Followed with "Your lines are fine, use a little foaming Root X in three days time and you shouldn't have to see me again for a few years," or "Wow, this isn't good as you can see here on the camera... here is a written estimate for the repair that is good for one year from the date." Which means that we can often have the entire situation resolved in a day or two at the tops. I have often amazed customers (insurance and private) when I pull a shovel off my truck, dig a three foot hole and repair a sewer in a matter of minutes, when they expected a week or two lead time. I take pride in my job, I am good at it, and I make a lot of money doing it. I understand that not everyone in my profession has the same moral compass as I do. However, don't discount an entire trade on a few dishonest cats. And again, it is often the insurance warranty company, not the service company, that complaints are about.

Imagine the sky filled with them, like a giant net no evil doer could escape. I find it telling that some of the wealthiest and most innovative people in the world are decrying the rise of Artificial Intelligence. If you think ATM cards and the 'Grid' are bad, imagine what happens when 90% of American homes are automated in the near future.

I drove through DC this weekend. The Bay Bridge was awesome. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Several outlets have confirmed the death a few hours ago. Several other outlets are not confirming the death until Petty's camp publicly announces it.

Tom Petty and the Hef. Rough weekend. I was gone at a wedding and woke up this morning to a lot of bad news.

We had one growing up. I would have to pick them up or the lawn mower would hit them and create projectiles. We always piled them in the driveway and drove the cars over them, hosed them off then let them dry. I would spend months with black hands.

I would by a Glock Pick-Up Truck. In black, not any of those goofy colors. Would the steering wheel have finger grooves? I miss that from the old days.

Bandit and Brigand have resigned themselves to the fact I am bigger, stronger and more ornery than they are. They suffer through it. Bandit after four years recently walked herself to the tub and just accepted her fate. Brigand enjoys her baths. If only every dog could be a Lab. I have always bathed them while I showered, thus eliminating two birds and not getting frustrated at being soaked myself at the end. I may try this, it could possibly make the experience better for them. For what it is worth I have told my daughter since she was small there is but one fact in this world. Vae Victis. "Woe to the Conquered." Translated in modern time as the age old, and true, "Might Makes Right." For right or wrong, it is a motto I live by, and it keeps my family fed, and my dogs secure in the pack hierarchy. IMO might can be brawn, brain or guile. I use them all as it suits me.

I have an old Bladetech Phantom (?) and it has done the job for years. I recently picked up a Desantis Invader, and it is more comfortable, but it did elicit some responses from a loud couple at Rural King the other day. Both are with a Glock 19, as if any sensible person carried anything else. When I don't feel like the hassle I have a Micro Eagle in a pocket holster I will use.

Guns are scary, my wife won't let them in the house.

I could make it, but I am hundreds of miles away. That sucks, good luck catching them.

Fingernail polish. Clear, put it over the bites. It has been a long while since I have been afflicted, but I do recall that remedy.

We have the uprated speed, that costs a little more than the base, I think it is 100MB. The wife pays the bill, so I am estimating at $60, but that seems to be right. Netflix at $10, and Amazon Prime at a Monthly of $8.25 (and frankly the free two day shipping is why I have that, that TV shows are a plus.) That puts us at a roughly $80 a month. I had forgotten about my addition of HBO to my Amazon Prime account. That was an additional $15. So that brings us to a rough $95 a month for entertainment. You are right, if you are paying $110 a month, that is not a huge savings. However we have access to all of this on four televisions, three desktops, etc... We were paying $160 a month for cable, plus the $10 a month for Netflix and the $8.25 a month for Amazon Prime, which gave us access to Netlfix on Amazon Prime on all said devices, but only cable access (DVR/Digital) on two televisions. Crap, I forgot my daughter's television that she never uses and the Wii, so that adds a couple of devices as well. If we were to go hardcore, sure we could cut a hundred dollars a month on our budget, but honestly, it is worth it, especially at our tax bracket. I have thought about adding cable back, but we have made it fine for the year or two we have been without, I see no reason.

I forgot, we just added HBO Go to our Amazon, so that is $14 a month for that single channel. But the wife loves her some GoT. And it comes with several movies, offsetting the cost of renting, which she does. And Westworld is awesome. We do pay the cable company for the broadband. We could have used ATT, but they don't offer the speeds the cable company does. However for the uprated speeds we pay $55 I think a month. The Raspberry Pis are used for small formfactor basic computers for the television in the garage and the television in the kitchen. The office is upstairs, so having a wireless keyboard/mouse combo on a shelf and you flip the input on the television over to the Pi, you can perform rapid internet searches for recipes or instruction. They also work great on vacation for the same reason. It is smaller than a laptop and can hook up to any television with an HDMI port. For a basic computer for surfing the web and email, you can't go wrong with one. Even with the Logitech wireless keyboard, I am into one (with a touchscreen) for less than $80 including the HDMI cable. They started as a school project for my daughter last year. She built one for her 5th Grade year end project. She can program Minecraft on it. She was thrilled.

Cut the cord a year or so ago. We pay $99 a year for Amazon Prime, $10 a month for Netflix, free Youtube and several OTA channels. Factor in the broadband internet, which supplies four smart televisions, two gaming consoles, three tablets, two laptops, three gaming desktops and two Raspberry Pis, we are about about $80 a month for all of it. Much less than the $180 a month we were paying for the same plus cable television, that we watched five channels of...

I fell into the college trap. I goofed off for a couple of years then borrowed my way through college. I spent the next ten years or more doing nothing related to what I went to school for. Sure, I had a decent job and made a decent wage, after years of hard work and proving myself. I sat behind a desk, in a shirt and tie telling people what to do and where to go to make money. Then I realized that I had hated this life for years. I became a plumber. The point remains that my first year as a plumber on my own truck I will be grossing 40-50% more than I was as a Logistics Manager. It is a respectable job, but we don't have kids lining up to do it. To the point that honestly, if someone told me they wanted the job, I could have them hired the next day. One of the local unions (I am not union) runs ads daily up here offering a four year debt free apprenticeship program and $30 an hour top out with all benefits included. You get paid to learn a trade.