jgradyc

I'm guessing the reason the G36 didn't sell well is that it's a heavy gun... 27 ounces loaded.  That's pretty heavy in the sub-compact genre.

While this incident seems to be resolved, I'd just point out that I never travel anywhere with a visible gun case in my car or truck. I just toss a blanket or jacket over the case.    I also have tinted windows on my vehicles so it would be almost impossible to for anyone to see inside without putting their face against the glass.  Anyway, congrats to the OP for called the LEOs in on this one.

Gotta ask...   How do you know it's the hard drive? Lots of things can keep a computer from booting up besides a crashed hard drive. It might be a virus, motherboard, video card, power supply, corrupted Windows files, etc.   The least techy way to test it is to remove the hard drive, put it in an external USB case ($10 on eBay), find a working computer, plug in the external USB. If the HD isn't crashed, you should see the drive and be able to copy all your data files off the drive. You'd lose your programs and OS, though, so you'd have to either buy a new HD and reload everything or buy a new laptop.   If the computer does something before crashing... running BIOS, bringing up a blue screen, etc... you might be able to configure it to boot from a USB or from a DVD using the previous poster's suggestion.

Nice touch with the trigger safety on the revolver. I'd bet that the G42 will be a single stack 9mm. How long has it taken Glock to figure out that there is a huge market for single stack handguns.

Does anyone make a full size 911-type thumb safety for the Shield? If I'm going to have a safety, I want to know by touch if it is on or off.  It seems like it would be easy to swap out the part.

I got caught up in the moment and ordered one. It arrived last week. When I compared it to my EDC, a Taurus 709 slim, I was struck by how similar the two guns are. Here's my initial take before shooting.   Size and shape: Almost identical Weight: 709 is maybe 1-2 oz lighter. The balance is a bit different. Packaging: The 709 came in a hard plastic clamshell with foam liner. The Shield came in a cheesy cardboard box. Really, S&W? Grip: Both are a little narrow. Both are fine with a rubber tubing added (a section of mountain bike inner tube cut to fit). Manual Safety: Both have them. The Taurus is a bit larger, which I prefer. Both are definitive and easy to disengage. Looks: Slight edge to the Shield. Sights: Edge to Shield. The white dots are bigger and easier to see. Loaded chamber indicator: The Shield has a hole on top you can look into and see brass when a round is chambered. The 709 has a raised... lever, for lack of knowledge of the proper name... that you can see and feel on the top of the slide. I greatly prefer the 709 indicator because you can tell by touch if a round is in the chamber. Cost:  I paid $399 for my 709 shortly after they came out (about $450 out the door), but they are available for $299 now.  The Shield was $359 plus shipping etc and came to $399.xx out the door.    I think I'll check the internet for a side by side comparison. I don't plan on shooting until we get some nicer weather.

  This was my first thought... civil lawsuit. I would not necessarily want to see a 16-year-old pay with his life for this, but if ever there was a case for a multi-million dollar lawsuit, this would be it.

I'm installing linux using crouton tonight. My biggest surprise so far is that I can't find a decent ebook reader to read free ebooks offline with the Chrome OS. With crouton, I'll be able to hotkey between Chrome yet OS and linux with both running simutaneously.   Edited: I think the screwoogled ads are an indication that Microsoft is targeting this market and wants to keep Google from establishing a strong foothold in this new market. At present, Chrome OS or Windows for tablets have major limitations. My Chromebook with Linux is a harbinger of the future. It's a basic system for grandma to check Facebook and email and with a single hotkey, it transitions into a full-fledged Linux Mint or Ubuntu OS with full MS Office compatibility.

I just downloaded an avi and an mp4 video. Both ran fine offline. I'm not concerned about privacy issues. No one cares what I say anyway...  :pleased:  :pleased:

I've been wanting to try the Chromebook for some time now and when Groupon recently offered the 11.6" Acer C710-2856 for $129, it was too good to pass up. After a three week wait, it finally showed up yesterday. Here's my take.   I was looking for a laptop I could take with me to coffee shops or to show pics to friends without having to use a tiny phone or a big, heavy laptop.  I also wanted to be able to edit docs and spreadsheets and read ebooks.   Keyboard, screen, resolution, and weight are all very good. It's a bit slower than I had hoped... not sure why. I usually have six or more tabs open at any one time... maybe that's it. The keyboard is surprisingly good for a $129 machine and the touchpad works fine.    I'm going to hack it with crouton to run linux, but first I wanted to see how useful a browser OS can be. So far, I can read, create, and edit MS Office files with rollapp, but the fonts aren't as crisp as I would prefer. I've found an app to read ebooks offline (MagicScroll) which has an auto scroll feature that irritates the heck out of me. It's hard to keep it turned off. I haven't yet found a way to watch movies offline, but I'm sure there is a workaround out there somewhere.    A Chromebook can't print directly to a printer unless it is a cloud-ready printer, but that's not an issue to me. I can send files to my other laptop via Google Docs or Dropbox or even email when I need to print something.    One big unexpected plus was that even though this was a refurbished chromebook, I still got the 100GB free Google Drive storage.    I'll probably load crouton today once I decide which flavor of Linux to go with, probably cinnamon wheezy or cinnamon raring. It's hard to see exactly what the differences are. The whole process shouldn't take more than an hour, most of which will be doing something else while the files are loading. 

A news article today showed handguns confiscated by the TSA at various airports. Five of the 12 are Glocks, but what are the other guns? (Link added in case the photo doesn't work.) http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/K6NtkPmYCokMV_bB_ER5mQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUxOTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz05OTc-/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/news/2013-12-10/b789ded2-3528-41b1-84fe-090f6f287da1_RTR2ZABN.jpg

I like flashlights.

I just reread this entire thread. I see you have arthritis and several shotguns. Don't get stuck in the "I have one gun for defense" line of thinking.  You could buy any most quite a few of the handguns in the classifieds here and resell them in a few months for within $50 of what you paid. Handguns hold their value, so unless you overpay, you'll be fine.  Don't feel like you're wasting $500 to get another gun, if you decide to do so.    My point is that you should have more than one firearm for home defense.    I'd suggest that in addition to your revolver, you modify one or more of your shotguns for defensive purposes. Everyone recommends pump action, but an automatic will kick less and you don't have to learn how to pump it. You can have the barrel cut to 18" or replace it with a shorter barrel. You can shorten the stock and add a recoil pad.  You can hang it horizontally on the wall so high a 4-year-old can't reach it. Loaded with birdshot, it will not pass through a bad guy to hurt someone else. (I'd suggest #4 shot, but someone else with more knowledge than me can comment on that.)  We have a Taurus Circuit Judge 410 shotgun by the bedside with #4 defense load in it. The action is just like a revolver so my wife doesn't have to learn how to pump a shotgun.   In your situation, you should get a bedside safe with a fingertip security lock so the kids can't get to it.  Keep the handgun in the safe or in a holster on your person at all times. 

Just a few additional points. Our home also has a lot of big windows.  Our security system has a glass break monitor, but we get a lot of bird strikes that set off the alarm. Of course, this would not be a problem at night, but it is something to consider when installing alarms to protect your home when you are away.   Here's my suggestions on freezing up.    We practice so we don't have to think. In a crisis, you resort to muscle memory to react without needing to take the precious seconds to think. I suggest you visualize a number of scenarios and decide in advance how you would react to them. Start with the worst possible scenario and work down. Ex: An armed person has broken into your home, shot or cut you with a knife, hurt your children or worse, but you have escaped to the location of your firearm. You retrieve the weapon, aim center of mass, fire twice. Continue firing until the threat is neutralized.   Now, move to a less extreme scenario: You're home alone. You hear the sound of someone breaking in, so you....    You get the idea. This is training so you don't have to think as much in a fluid, dangerous situation. I'd second the suggestion to find and attend a good self defense training course.   Once you develop a mindset of "I definitely would shoot someone in this situation," then the barrier has been broken.  

No one watches CNN anymore.    EDITED: newer chart... http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/cable-a-growing-medium-reaching-its-ceiling/

Yes. I'm a ghost writer (writes for others who then publish under their names) and I studied this to write a chapter of a book. The rise of the Nazis was preceded by a complete collapse of the Weimar Republic. (I'm going from memory here so my facts my not be completely accurate.) The Treaty of Versailles placed a huge financial burden on Germany after WWI. The government resorted to printing money, which led to hyperinflation.  This in turn led to massive unemployment, collapse of the German currency, and political unrest. Hilter unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the government in 1923... the beer hall putsch. He was was jailed and later released. In the 1930s, civil unrest continued to rise. Hilter rose to power, but was basically seen as a nobody. Business leaders and other political powers thought that they could control him, even though some of his retoric was anti-business.    So while there are a few similarities to 1930s Germany and our right wing politics, the reality is that it's way, way different.  The situation in Germany in the 20s and 30s was nothing like it is today. Inflation was so bad that stores would adjust their prices every night. Paper money became worthless. Unemployment was extremely high.  It was much worse than the Great Depression in the United States.     The more valid comparison would be to 1920s Germany where the government irresponsibly continued to print money when they didn't have it. In every case where governments have printed money without regard to their ability to pay the interest on their debts, it has led to hyperinflation.    Our situation today is different in that the US Dollar is the world's currency. If our dollar becomes worthless due to hyperinflation, China's massive US bond holdings become worthless. So does the holdings of Japan and the Saudi princes. That's not to say it couldn't happen here. It could.    Right now, China is very dependent on us because if we don't continue to buy Chinese goods, their economy collapses, which could lead to an attempt to overthrow the government. As long as China's fate is economically tied to ours, the dollar won't collapse. China is attempting to diversify their assets by buying mineral rights all over the world, especially in Africa, but they still need us and will for years to come. Once they no longer need us, they can use the threat of stopping their monthly purchases of billions of dollars of US Treasury bonds to blackmail us. If they stopped suddenly, interest rates would go through the roof, the stock market would collapse, and we could go into a deep recession or even hyperinflation.   Wow this is long....  Sorry to ruin your weekend!  :wave:  Probably time to listen to some old Bob Marley songs...

I agree with everyone else about the in-laws. I currently have a 4-way joint ownership of property in SC and I can't do squat with it.     There are two parcels of land near me (36 acres and 10 acres with an old house) currently for sale. I'm pretty sure property this big can be subdivided.  Neither is a location I would want personally, but just throwing it out there.  It's on Old Hickory Blvd (OHB) northwest of Nashville about a mile north of the intersection of OHB and Ashland City Hwy.   Unless you really have an eye for dimensions, I would not build a house. I have seen disasters. Toilets that could be seen from the front door, dining rooms that were too small. Hallways that were claustrophobicly narrow. Just be careful.   All that said, where and how you locate a property is a big deal, especially in the hills.  My current house is built into the east side of a hill about 2/3 of the way down. In summer, the trees block the sun from about 4PM on. At night the cool breeze flows down the valley and makes our house at least 5 degrees cooler than at the top of the hill... sometimes 10 degrees... and it's not a very big hill. We have large windows facing south with an overhang to protect from the sun in summer, but in winter the lower angle of the sun lets it shine in and heat up the room. The downstairs is partially underground in the back of the house, so the downstairs stays cool even in the summer without air conditioning. My point is where you locate the house on the property and how you face the windows and such is a big deal, so be sure to consider it.  A house halfway up the slope of a hill facing west, for example, is going to get full sun until 7PM in the summer, which will negate any energy savings you might build in with insulation.    

And yet he makes a living marketing to the DOD. This guy is a real piece of work. I have better military credentials than this guy... my WIFE has better military credentials than LtCol Bateman.

Posted on my FB page. Prayers sent.

Great episode. Rick runs out of ammo in his "mine is bigger than yours" Colt Python... and the Governor proceeds to beat the cr*p out of him.    Memo to Rick: Get a speed loader... or a decent post-Apocalypse handgun.... anything that shoots more than six times. Or hey, carry something in an ankle holster.    My vote is kill off Rick, bring back Carol, Merle, and Hershel.

  I'm pretty sure that was a Hattori Hanzo sword, so no, he's not coming back.

Anyone tried a Laser Max laser?   I'm thinking about buying a laser for my new M&P Shield. The reviews of the Laser Max on Amazon have been very good, but I thought I'd see if anyone here had used a Laser Max laser. I've only had one other laser -- a Crimson Trace -- and it was outstanding.  The downside is the Crimson Trace is $175 compared to $75 for the Laser Max. 

Once a politician gets elected, their focus changes to one overriding goal... getting reelected.  We have people who have been in office 30-40 years. They have completely lost touch with the common man.    Two terms max for Congress, Senate, and President... plus they can't work as a lobbyist for at least 10 years.

Vodka: Titos Bourbon: Jim Beam Devil's Cut Gin: Hendricks Run: Cruzan Black Strap Whiskey: Gentlemen Jack

I'm probably going to WalMart today and buying some new Goodyear tires for my car. They don't have my size (205/70x15) on sale, but the 215/70x15 size should work okay on my Subaru. If not, I'm certain the 205/65x15 size will fit. Who knows, the other sizes might be on sale, too. I'll find out when I get there.    My wife and I went to Office Depot and Office Max on Friday afternooon where we bought a couple of computer chairs. There were no crowds at the Office stores at all. There did appear to be a decent crowd at Target, but we didn't go in.    EDITED: Oh, and I bought an Acer Chromebook for $129 on Groupon. I'll use Crouton to load Ubuntu on it so it should be a nice addition to my existing laptops.