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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/07/2017 in all areas
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I wasn't happy with the previous foam cuts, so I re-did it. Much better! When you raise up the silencer tray, there is another section underneath for all the accessories.1 point
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I cant. We are the only two with tools in the shop. He trades his back in. Sometimes, I will get sockets and wretches. But I also get him power tools. So it kinda balances itself out. Getting all those free dewalt tools saved me a couple thousand bucks versus buying all their snap on equivalents.1 point
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Only because you pointed it out - I'm stuck in DC and have to miss this one! As long as you're not shooting PCC with Ryan... What new toy do you have that is so great you'll forsake the mighty 30 cal???1 point
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Wow.. I did not see that coming. The Knoxville location has one of the largest selections of handguns I've ever seen. Something tells me their going out of business sale will still be 30% above MSRP.1 point
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I could save my premium for 10 years and it doesn't come close to bail money. Lots of good reports on the USCCA.....I will take my chances in the unlikely event I need them. Many nationally known trainers are more endorsing them, including Andrew Branca.1 point
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I have a lot of thoughts about this, but I'll stick to a few for right now - because truthfully at 2200CDT on a Wednesday evening I own and run a small business - and I'm still here, today. I haven't had a guaranteed payday on Friday in a long, long time. So, here I am. Both of our political parties have their hands in our pockets. This isn't a "conservative"/"liberal" thing. It's an American political thing. Find more than a handful of our 536 elected representatives in Washington that actually understand what it takes to actually create and sustain a job. You'll be hard pressed. And, I say that as a small business owner who knows the extraordinary effort it takes to go from zero to one employee. I am successful. Truthfully, I am rich. Maybe not by every metric, but certainly by most. I've been all over the world and I know what poverty looks like. I don't have to worry about much. Every time I open the refrigerator, it's like I've won the freaking lottery. There's good food in there, and I don't have to worry about whether or not it's going to make me sick, or whether there's still going to be some in there tomorrow. Success is a funny thing, though. I work hard. I work really hard. But, as it turns out, that's not the single biggest indicator of success. In America today, the single biggest indicator of success is the level at which you can tolerate risk. And, as it turns out, I can tolerate a fair bit. Some of that is the product of decisions I made earlier in my life, but a lot of that is also luck and privilege. You can discount it, but sitting where I sit today as the managing director of one company and the CEO of a new company, those last two factors are significant. What plays into those? A non-exhaustive list off top of my head: I come from a two-parent home I never once worried about my safety at home or whether or not I would have food to eat in the morning I went to good schools where teachers knew my name, cared if I did well, and by and large actually knew something about the subject they were teaching I graduated from high school I graduated from college with no debt - scholarships and the fact that my parents were able to fund the rest of my education I went to graduate school I started a little business with a couple of friends in the 90's that was in the right place at the right time We met some people who took a liking to us who happened to worth a whole lot of money - and they mentored us I waited until I was married to have kids My wife worked while I got my first company off the ground - and she had good benefits I'm white - discount that if you want - but I walked into a bank that I've never been into in my life today and the bank president walked me out when I left On the rare occasion that the police come into my neighborhood, they always address me as sir. I've always had reliable transportation - or lived in a place that had public transportation so good you didn't need it My family has not gotten any serious illness or disease My wife is able to parent with me so that I don't have to worry about childcare so I can go to work - it doesn't even cross my mind - if my schedule changes, it's not a huge deal. Can you take away one or more of those things and still be successful? Sure. But, you're going to have to work a lot harder at it than I do - and probably for a lot longer. The fact of the matter is that now, at 42, I can start a brand new company, and it's likely that it'll be successful. I'm good at what I do, but the only reason I'm starting it is because I have both an opportunity AND the ability at this point in my life to take advantage of it. As to a CEO having a huge compensation plan while stepping on the backs of employees, there are some giant problems in America today. Frankly, the economy is being looted by financiers. So many CEO's today aren't adding much value - they're just in a position to be able to extract as many assets of value from the companies they're heading as they can. See Sears, JC Penney, Radio Shack, Kmart, et al right now if you need examples. I cannot speak for everyone, but I can tell you how I see it. I'm pretty generous with my employees. I look at it in two ways. First, you can have a large piece of a small pie, or a smaller piece of a much larger pie. I try pretty hard to bring more people to the table and give equity away generously. In doing so, yes, I own a smaller percentage of the company. But, there are a lot of people who suddenly have an equity stake in it doing well. What do you think they're going to do with that? My experience shows that they work a lot harder to create value. And, having been through it a couple of times, instead of having 80% of something that's not worth that much, I have maybe 25% of something that's worth 10 times as much. In my experience, it works out better for everyone. I also look at it from a Biblical perspective - actually an ancient Jewish perspective. In the 23rd Psalm, there's the idea of the Lord filling a cup until it overflows. In the ancient Jewish tradition, there was no idea of individual blessing/salvation - it was all community based. So, when your cup overflows it's not wasted - instead it flows out into the community around you. And, everyone is better off because of it. Sure, I don't much care for having the government tell me what to do with my money. I would just assume they left me the heck alone. But, that is coming from a position of privilege. The truth of the matter is that while I'd love it if our churches, communities and civic organizations took care of our local communities - we suck at it. And as we embrace the politics of 'the other' over the gospel, it's getting worse. I can think back to the flood in 2010. We have a major church in Nashville that was built with the intention of being a disaster relief shelter. But, when the time came to put it to use, they didn't - because it would be disruptive to services, and liability, and insurance, and safety, and our kids, and whatever... Every last one of us depends on the government for way too much. And, that's unlikely to change anytime soon. I grumble and moan every time I write a big check to the government for taxes. But, as individuals we've become way too dependent. And it's not like our churches are going to step up. Western individualism has run completely amok in American christianity. So, it's a question that doesn't have a discrete answer that fits into a neat little partisan box. Do I "deserve" more because I work hard for it? Maybe? I probably deserve more than the Instagram starlets. But there are plenty of single moms that work every bit as hard as I do every day as vet techs or as medical assistants or teachers or at Target for that matter. There are women at the Target up the street that I know for a fact are there from open until close most days. I am in a position by luck, privilege and effort that allows me to tolerate a lot of risk - and that will more often than not lead to success. That's the easy part. It gets a lot harder from there.1 point
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I like Kubota tractors. With that said most Kubota dealers seem to sell Exmark that I've seen. If you are going to spend $8000 or more buy an Exmark. There is a reason they are the pros choice. Under the 8k mark I still like the Bad Boy for the strongest mower for the dollar. I used to own a Dixie and you were told correct. The new ones aren't as good as the old ones. And green is just a really expensive color of paint.1 point
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I can't stop buying winchester 94s. They're all the same... but different.1 point
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IL would be a nice state if you did not have to drive through Chicago Or Springfield to get to it. A lot of hunters and shooters and most of the state has the best deer,upland and waterfowl hunting in the states. It is a shame a handful of libs turned the state the way it is and a shame all the good people let it happen. At least it is starting to go in a better direction. Maybe we can get a nationwide carry and not have to check each state when we travel.1 point
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