analog_kidd

I was in college, and working on the loading dock of a KMart in West Palm FL. We had a perfect view of the direction of the launch site, and would often watch the launches. You couldn't make out the details, but you could see the fire from the rocket, and easily see the contrail left behind. So, I recognized that this was not a typical launch and something went terribly wrong. The entire store ran over to the Electronics department to watch the news reports on the wall of TV's. That Y-shaped contrail is burned into my memory and I'll never forget it.

Yaknow, They could have publicly just said, "The guns and ammo sales aren't working for us, so we're going to phase them out of the stores." But instead they had to try and make a point and say, "Guns are evil and we hate them." The former would have accomplished the same thing without alienating a large portion of their customer base. We all know their prices were too high, and nobody would have given a second thought that they weren't making money on them, and getting rid of them was a good business decision. What was it, the Vegas shooting that started all this for them? America has largely forgotten about that by now, but we have not forgotten that Dicks doesn't want our business.

I recently bought a RAM truck, and have been very happy with it so far. I really wanted the Toyota Tundra, but they are seriously proud of that truck and wouldn't budge on price. Plus they just laughed when they unashamedly said "Yep, it gets 13 miles per gallon". My RAM gets 18-20 with the Hemi V8. For way less money, I got a much nicer truck than what I could have afforded with the Toyota. The options I got on this truck would have bumped the price up $12-15k at Toyota. I was going to go Ford when I realized I couldn't afford Toyota, but the trucks I looked at just didn't get my juices flowing. The V6 they are pushing didn't seem to have the power of the RAM, and the interior seemed just blah. Plus RAM threw in a lifetime powertrain warranty. I told them that the truck I was getting out of was nearly 20 years old, and I plan on keeping this one even longer. So, for me that is a good deal.

I put something like this (LED Light Strips) under my cabinets. I also got some wire and the connector clips to connect them together. Where there were gaps between cabinets, I drilled small holes in the cabinet corners and ran the wire up and over to the next cabinet. At first I bought the wrong clips and just made do by modifying them, and that was a hassle. I went back and found the proper clips and it made it much easier. They have an adhesive back, but I found that the adhesive gives and they pull away. I probably should have cleaned the cabinets with alcohol first. I ended up stapling the strips up afterwards, and that seems to have worked. I did notice that the end farthest away from the transformer is slightly dimmer than the end closest. I read that this is an issue with these as they lose voltage along the strip. It's barely noticeable, and if I turn the dimmer up all the way, I can't even tell. They do look nice tho. You just use scissors to cut the strips at the length you want, pull the backing off and stick them up.

Hey, That's the little town I was born and grew up in. What are the odds?

PInk Floyd Rush Yes Led Zeppelin Jethro Tull Extra Credit: Aerosmith Van Halen Black Sabbath Bad Company The Who AC/DC A lot of these bands have their roots in the blues. I realized several years ago that a lot of modern Electric Blues is really just Classic Rock, rebranded. If you like Classic Rock, and want to listen to something new, try the likes of Joe Bonnamassa, Buddy Guy, Ana Popovic, Walter Trout, etc

I was showing a friend Basil's web site and some of his You Tube videos. All I can say is "WOW". We were nearly in tears laughing so hard. I think he is well intentioned, but WOW. I don't think there is a sentence on his web page that doesn't have a spelling error, or even makes sense for that matter. And you can't go to his old page, because that one was "stolen". He wears a badge around his neck in many of his videos, but he says don't be afraid of it because he's not a cop, so I assume its a fake badge of some sort or one of those HCP badges. It will be interesting to see how many votes he actually gets. I wonder if there is a way to find out the last elections vote count?

In the couple of utility style fixtures I've done so far, it was really easy to re-wire to bypass the ballast. I wouldn't hesitate to just go that route. It took longer to get the ladder and remove the fixture, than to do the wiring. Plus you get the added bonus of additional power savings by not having to power the ballast. Once thing I do wonder about: Are there any stickers or some standard way of marking the fixture that it has been converted? What happens if you plug in an old style fluorescent bulb into a fixture that has been straight wired?

Just picking numbers out of the air, $100k @ 8.25% is about $750 a month for 30 years. At 3.5% it's $450 a month, or $715 at 15 years. You will NOT pay that interest again. Given these made up numbers, at 8.5% you would pay an extra $170k just in interest on top of the $100k! 3.5% for 15 years you would pay only $28k in interest. Google "Mortgage calculator" and run your own numbers. I think you'll find you are unnecessarily throwing good money away. I would make it my new mission to call every bank in the county till I found someone that will loan me the money. Screw BOA, if they are the only ones you asked. Go to a Credit Union, they are a little more relaxed about loans. Trust me, if you sold your place, the people buying it would get a loan from someone. You can too.

Not to derail the thread, but Holy Cow! You need to refinance immediately. What have you been waiting for? Interest rates have been lower than ever before and are now going to start getting higher, so this is your best opportunity. You can probably refinance to a 10 or 15 year loan and still have the same payment.

I love how you asked him what kind of gun he owned. That was a genius response to him.

I got my bulbs in yesterday. I converted the fixture just like in the picture @mike_f provided. I looked for a wiring diagram in my box, but did not find one. Regardless, there was a similar picture in the Amazon description, so I used that. It was very simple to re-wire the fixture. Did have to provide my own wire nuts, but I had plenty of those laying around. Once wired up, and rehung, the lights work wonderfully. I only put one bulb in each fixture, where there used to be two bulbs, and I think the light output is brighter than before. I only did the two fixtures in the garage, but the garage is very well lit now. The one thing I don't care for with these strip LED type lights, is they play tricks on my eyes. When I look up, or side to side, and my vision catches the light, I perceive the lights to jump around. I don't know if that makes sense, or if it happens to anyone else, but it is distracting. It does it to me on the under cabinet LED lighting I installed a few months ago too. Anyway, thanks to everyone here who offered advice and tips. I admit, I didn't even know these things existed till this thread. Just one more way TGO has made my life better. Thanks

It's easier than you think to wire that up. The hard part will be snaking the wire and making it look nice.

Well, the ones I ordered on Amazon show a picture where the wires are connected at opposite ends. So it looks like I won't need to buy new terminals. I guess it depends on the style bulb you get.

The video @Erik88 posted indicates that the contacts have to be replaced. Did you all have to do this for your fixtures?

When you convert the 2 bulb T12 fixture, do you find that you need to replace both bulbs, or is one sufficient? Since the LEDs are more one-directional, I was wondering if one bulb put off enough light. Just ordered the one's @TGO David said he got, and was thinking about pre-wiring some fixtures before they arrive. Wondering if I should wire two fixtures or 4 with the 4-pack of bulbs.

You either have a virus, or stumbled upon a web page that is hijacking your browser. Sometimes a set of drivers will call home and see if there are updated versions, but it's unusual, and they usually aren't too in your face about it. First try to determine what is popping that window up. If it's just in a browser window (Chrome, Internet Explorer) then it's one of the above. Clear the browser cache, and a good reboot may clear it up, if it's just in your browser. If you have a full-blown virus, you'll have to clean that off. I like to use Malware Bytes https://www.malwarebytes.com/ for removing a virus, and malware. Download the free version, install it, run it and let it clean up your PC. Make sure you have a good Antivirus. Sounds like AVG didn't do it's job very well. Make sure it has the latest definitions installed. Look through your installed programs occasionally and see if there is anything that looks suspicious, and uninstall it. The first and best line of computer security is the component that is in between the keyboard and the chair (you). Don't go to shady web sites. Think before you click on anything. Do not mindlessly click on any pop-ups. Don't download and run anything unless you intended to, and trust the download. If a web site says you need to install something, you probably don't. Probably way over your skill set, but for the benefit of others that may be reading this, and are a little more tech savvy, Google "No Ads Host File", and consider using a custom hosts file on your PC. It will prevent you from even being able to connect to a bad web site. The first thing I do when someone brings me a crapped up computer is put on a hosts file. I'm sure they are pissed afterward when they can't get to their favorite porn sites, but they never bring it back to me with crap on it.

I have been very happy with my Milwaukee 18v tools. I've had them now for probably 6 or 7 years, and the original batteries are still going strong. I have some Ryobi tools too, and their batteries have long since been replaced. The Milwaukee tools feel good in the hand, and just feel like they are solid tools, where the Ryobi's feel like toys. Not saying Ryobi's are bad, they are great for the price, and for the occasional around the house job, the Milwaukee's just feel like a serious upgrade. The Circular Saw just keeps on cutting. I do keep a corded circular saw around and use it if I'm sawing a lot, mostly just to not use up the battery, or sometimes I just want the extra power. But 9 times out of ten, I grab the cordless. A cordless sawzall is a gift from Heaven. For demolition work, it can't be beat. My Milwaukee sawzall is really stout and feels like I could use it as a hammer if needed (I don't). The Impact driver is the tool I use the most. Can't imagine not using one anymore. It's lightweight and powerful. With the larger battery, it will run all day long. I added the belt hook to mine, and then to my hammer drill after I found how useful it was. That made it way more convenient for working up on a ladder. Can't tell you how many times I dropped my impact driver from a 6' ladder, and it's no worse for the wear.

I read that the bar is giving the victim free drinks for life. That'll come in handy so as not to tap into the millions he'll be getting from the FBI. Not sure why the bar feels they need to make that restitution, tho.

Thanks

This one popped up in my play list today:

Years ago I worked for a company that paid their mileage reimbursement separately from my pay check. Their account was at BOA, and I liked to just cash that mileage check to have a little spending cash. I would go to the drive-thru, and they would hand me an ink pad make me put a thumb print on the check. They would always say "If you open an account here, you don't have to do that." Then one day, they said, "Sorry, the drive thru is for account holders only, you have to go inside." I go inside and they say, "we need your thumbprint. Oh, and if you are an account holder you don't have to do this." Then one day I go inside and they say they have to take my picture when I cash that thumbprinted check, for security reasons. But, account holders don't have to do that. The last time I have ever darkened their door, I went in, thumb and mug at the ready, and they told me there would be a $5 charge to cash it since I was not a member. I about lost it. I'm really surprised I didn't get escorted out by the police. I really made a stink and everybody in the bank was looking at me. The manager came out and told me that if I were an account holder I wouldn't have to do any of this. I told him "Why would I want to be a member of a bank that treated guests so badly?" I told him I wanted my full check amount in cash, or else I would spend the weekend on their sidewalk with a sign, and call the news company. Eventually he conceded and gave me the money, just to shut me up and get me out the door. Wouldn't hurt my feelings in the least if Bank of Amerika went out of business and closed every location.

I got some more bees this week. Here is how they came in the mail. I had to go get them from the post office. That's a can of sugar water that I removed from inside the containter. To the left is the queen; they keep her seperated in the "queen cage" until the rest of the bees get used to her and accept her. This is actually my 2nd package of bees in two weeks. The first one came in and about 75% of the bees were dead in the bottom of the container. Not sure what happened, but the company I bought them from send out a replacement. I put what was left from the first package into a hive, just to see if they will survive. So far it looks like they are doing ok, but there are very little worker bees in the hive. This one was much better, with just a handful of dead bees. Here they are in the hive after I dumped them in. You can see them gathering around the queen. There is a plug of candy on the end that the bees will eat through. It'll take them a few days to get all the way through, which will give them more time to get used to her. After a few days, they'll eat a hole all the way, and she'll make her escape, and hopefully go to work making baby bees. The hive is ready to go. The part with the screen on it is a feeder with sugar water to help them get started. They are bunching up on the outside, and several of them were flying around doing an orientation flight to calibrate their internal GPS. It's been three days since I did this, and already the bees are coming and going pretty steadily, and bringing back pollen and nectar. I need to check on them this weekend and see if the queen is out of her cage yet.

Meh, as long as it's not an irreplaceable relic of some sort, I love hearing about stuff like this. The way I see it is that this is a common gun, that has been bought and paid for. If she didn't want it, she could have sold it at a used discount to someone else, and nobody profits monetarily (assuming she paid more than she sold it for). If she has it destroyed someone down the line who wants one can ever buy that gun, which means one more new gun has to be produced and sold by a manufacturer, thereby helping to keep that company in business. These people are unwittingly keeping the gun industry in business. And I don't get her logic of "I'm destroying a $1500 gun, and then taking that $1500 and donating it to charity."

That is exactly my experience with the kayaking community. I'm not in any of their forums (BT is just intolerable), but even in personal interactions i get looked down upon with the few people who know. Most of them i boat with would pee themselves if they discovered the pistol in my backpack. And, it would be the last time I ever would be allowed to boat with any of them. So, I just keep quiet about it, and have a policy of not talking politics with any of them.