Gunplumber

Gunplumber, my grandmother used to say, "penny wise - pound foolish."

Probably a British saying as in a 'pound' = currency.

Maybe people today are unaware of world and historic currencies, I assumed it was common knowledge.

half-penny, penny, two-penny, shilliings, pounds sterling etc. British penny in the colonies was 1/2 gram. Pence was 1 oz. pound was a pound - british pound (or quid). 240 penny = 20 shillings (12 per) = 1 pound

some people said they had trouble loading. Mine took a while, but loaded fine (long page) - I'm impressed.

http://shialabeowulf.tumblr.com/post/33670447154/99-life-hacks-to-make-your-life-easier

When I started in business, I had more time than work. Now I have more work than time. It has made me rethink "thrift".

There is much to the saying "penny rich and pound poor." I used to use sandpaper - relatively expensive for a consumable - long past the point where it was worn out. Yet the labor cost in the extra time was more than what I'd have spent on buying new sandpaper, resulting in a net loss.

It is difficult for me to throw away a paint spraying gun, but it costs me $16 at Harbor Freight to buy a new one. It costs me $10 in solvent and an hour of labor to clean the old one. I'm way ahead throwing it away.

It all comes down to the cost of your labor - and most people don't assign a cost to their labor. If I was snowed in for a winter, the value of my labor might drop dramatically.

If one has work that needs doing so one hires a handyman, is it worth paying him to wash his dishes? If he's making as little as $10/hr. that's $1.66 for the 10 minutes it takes to wash and dry the dishes. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to use a $0.16 paper plate and throw it away?

I recently installed an irrigation system. Trenching would cost me 10-15 hours of hard work. Renting a trencher cost me $150 and took an hour round trip to pick it up and an hour to do the work. Then got me back in the shop where I could be making a lot more than $10/hr.

"Penny rich and pound poor" also applies to buying tools and equipment. Saving money up front, but having a higher operating cost, isn't really saving money at all. Particularly if when pushed, the equipment simply cannot do the job. I find the highest quality tools I can afford and then buy the next one up. After 20 years, they have long since paid for themselves.

There is a website I really liked on car buying because they factored in the operation and repair and registration costs of a vehicle over a 5 year period. This showed that the more expensive car actually was cheaper over 5 years than it's less expensive alternative that higher fuel and repair costs.

With most equipment, there is a fairly consistent cost/value line plotted on a graph, up to a point. At that point one starts paying much more for only marginal increases in performance. Computers are a good example. It might be worth buying the "best" if one is an IT professional and can actually use the equipment to the limits of its ability, but I probably use only 10% of what my computer could really do. So I want good quality, but I don't need Olympic performance or cost. On my tools, I do.

I run the same analysis on firearms. It doesn't matter what the gun itself costs, it matters what the gun, magazines, ammunition, and accessories cost amortized over a period of time. In this way I discovered that one of my more expensive rifles was actually cheaper over 5000 rounds than another similar rifle that cost half as much up front, but was more expensive to operate and maintain.

I have customers who are mediocre shooters but with respectable income who want the "best" and I admire that. I just think they'd spend their money more wisely on training that will allow them to obtain the best that their equipment has to offer. A person who can only shoot a 4" group is well served by a rifle that shoots 3" groups. There is no benefit to paying me a lot of money money to build one that consistantly can shoot sub 1" groups.

I am blessed to have more work than I can handle, and people willing to pay me well for it. I understand if I was unemployed, or a stay-at-home spouse, that my relative labor value would drop dramatically and it might suddenly be worth clipping coupons. Right now it isn't.

My friend just had to close his Auto Transmission shop. He has two children not yet in school. His wife makes good money as a radiation docimetrist. While he has had some other job offers, it would cost him 75% of his income to pay for child care, and put them in a higher tax bracket, which would actually reduce his wife's effective income. He's not happy with it (male ego and all that) but from a practical standpoint, for now he's Mr. Mom.

My point in this diatribe is simply that some people have tunnel vision or a psychological aversion to wasting anything, that makes their attempt at saving money actually cost them more than they imagine it saves.

My mom made me bring my tin foil home from school sack lunch, as well as my napkin and the paper bag. She pinched pennies there. But the sandwich itself was 3/4" thick in roast beef & cheese or ham. I always marveled at the other students who may have had "treats" like cookies or candy but it was one slice of bologna on Weber Bread. My siblings and I got desert only on "special occasions" (Birthday, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years. That's all.)

She is an active walker and picks up pennies - generally collects $150-$200 a year in parking lots, with her record (she keeps track) is just under $500 in a year.

It was an interesting dichotomy - pinching pennies here, and buying good stuff with the money saved.

glad to hear dog is back from vet - that was scary - and messy - puppies did not like being force-fed meds and (surprisingly) pureed chicken parts - tried to spit all over me and Mt_Rider. And it was tormenting to hear the one (don't ask me to remember their names) crying as I held her and mean 'ole Darlene jabbed her with needles for sub-Q IVs. But those two perked right up. Glad koa is better.

And Madison - I have plenty of sarcasm, so if you're going through withdrawal I can taunt you electronically.

Why can't I ever embed these videos?

Stephanie - How are Jessie's hands? I finished washing out some of those canning jars and discovered I'd put way too much bleach in the rinse water - my hands were all wrinkly most of the day. Sorry.

For those wishing to enhance their skills with firearms.

There should be available for instruction,

AK-47 rifle in 7.62x39mm

AK-74 rifle in 5.45x39mm

Glock 17 pistol in 9x19mm

Ruger 10/22 rifle in .22 LR

Ruger Mk II in .22 LR

Another .22 Handgun (Sig?)

a .45 ACP handgun.

a .38 SPCL / 357 Magnum revolver.

I have arranged for enough ammunition to be available for everyone to have a taste, and in .22 LR, to more or less shoot until you are bored with it. .22 LR is relatively cheap at 4-1/2 cents a round. You aren't going to wear the guns out, but the other calibers do cost real money and there is only so much that Darlene and I can donate. I'm flying so could only ship around 1000 rounds of .22 and 500 rounds of mixed calibers.

So if you are driving and wish to bring ammunition in any of the calibers listed above, or a firearm and ammo in whatever caliber, I expect to be able to provide beginner, intermediate, and advanced training in rifle and pistol markmanship. I don't know the first thing about beekeeping or canning or what makes a chicken happily lay eggs, but combat shooting and firearms technical, is what I do for a living.

discovering CTRL C and CTR V saved me so much time when I was resizing hundreds of images because I never had to take my right hand off the mouse. I could just open a bunch of images at the same time, copy my new size once, and then paste with my left hand. Didn't have to move the mouse to the opposite side of the screen for the drop-down paste. Seems minor, but repeated 100 times in photo editing, it was a huge time saver.

By the way, when I first read thread title, I thought you meant fencing as in sword fighting!

 

Yes, it is a form of self-defence but probably not the most practical form out there! I was thinking,"What on earth is CrabGrass researching now?!?" LOL

Me too. Epee or saber?

Anyway, you can buy adapters to go from a hose thread to a pipe thread. A section of 1/2" black iron pipe on the end of the hose, increases the efficiency. I had to run an irrigation pipe under my concrete driveway. I dug a shallow trench deep enough to get under the concrete (about 8-10") and long enough for a 4' pipe section. Then attached the hose and blasted through. Reach the end of the pipe, and screw a new 4' section to it. Depending on your water pressure, there may be an advantage in attaching a black iron pipe reducer to the end. With any liquid (or gas) reducing the diameter increases the pressure (venturi effect).

If you're going through particularly difficult earth, cutting the end of the pipe at an angle and rotating your "drill" back and forth, may help cut through it.

On Veterans Day several chains will give free meals to vets and active duty service members. Please be sure to have your ID ready!

 

On Nov. 11th Applebees will give vets and AD a free meal.

 

On Nov 12th Golden Corral and Texas Roadhouse will have a free meal.

 

If I find any more I will add them to this post later.

Couple years ago, we tried the Golden Corral "free" vets. The manager told us it was only during a narrow time frame on that day. Which was not in all the "see how we honor our vets" posters. We left. There were about 10 of us - 5 vets and 5 paying. So screw 'em.

I've always favored saccharin

While some think it has a bitter aftertaste, I only use it in iced tea, which already has a slight bitterness to it - which is what I like about tea.

And it has no demonstrated negative side effects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharin

Bic Lighter + Corn Chips.

I've taught all sorts of primitive fire starting procedures for Boy Scouts & Wilderness Survival. I carry a couple of BIC Lighters and candles. Corn Chips (And cashews) were new to me, but they burn the same as a candle.

In the old days of pencil sharpeners and pencils actually made from wood, I'd save that as kindling, but If my life depends on it, I Pop a road flare. Save the bow drill for amazing the peasants.

I'd be happy if schools in the United States would just teach English.

Americans are one of the only modern cultures illiterate in ANY language.

I were just lokin thru sum posts on intenet chat bords and I couldnt beleve my eys on the teribul speling and gramer from suposid adolts.

yes, they do make doggie ear muffs

http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/albums/album_image/2449012/6929844.htm

skip to end, guy is long winded and boring - just see how he modified over-the-counter ear protection

Will I still get to carry you around?

You can't fake the smell or the flies.

And it prevents repeat offenders.

Many times I've tried to differentiate for people CRUEL and RUTHLESS. Both may do the same thing. Only one enjoys it.

You know, I've got a so-so analogy. You've got a grossly overflowed and clogged toilette. You can be dainty about it, or you can just reach in there and do what needs to be done. You may be covered in $hit, but it doesn't change who you are. You're just doing what needs to be done for the greater good/result.

I remember a story about North Korean infiltrators in the American and the South Korean zones on the DMZ. The Americans would remove the dead bodies from the barbed wire/mine fields. The South Koreans left them there to rot. The Americans continued to experience infiltration attempts. The South Koreans did not.

I have no "proof" of this story I heard/read somewhere, but even if not true, it makes for a fair illustration.

The Colony is a Discovery Channel documentary of putting a group of people in an area notionally wiped out by pandemic, and testing their survival against real and manufactured crises. While I think most of the participants are a little dramatic over their "feelings" (they are interviewed frequently, with commentary by so-called "experts") it is a good show well worth watching. I got it at the library.

Season 1 is a large warehouse.

Season 2 is an area wiped out by Katrina and still abandoned.

Their search for food, water, shelter, is pretty good. Their "security" is a joke. Partially because they really can't kill the marauders, as the marauders are actors. So my idea of cutting off the marauder's heads, and putting them on a spike at the entrance, would not work. It is what I would do, as nothing says "behave yourself" better than heads on spikes.

So Gunplumber, are you able to tutor some of us who live rural...on how to THINK like a predator, and set up so we MIGHT be able to survive on our lands with our resources? ....like, at the October Gathering?

I thought about this and since I'm currently watching season II of The Colony, I'm thinking about it a little more.

I think all of us are capable of thinking like predators, but it is a dark place. I recognize a need for being able to go there, but what's that thing by Neitze (paraphrased)

stare not too long into the abyss, as the abyss is staring back at you

Best I can say off the top of my head is to envision others outside the tribe as very intelligent, very hungry, wolves (with opposing thumbs). Wolves don't think in right and wrong as they don't share our society's moral code. They think on satisfying their base impulses. Food, water, shelter, procreation. Adversaries to your tribe will think the same way. How to get what they must have with as little effort or risk as possible.

To some this will be through trade. And to the long-thinker, this is what builds societies and raises everyone. Trade is always more profitable than war. But it is also a higher level of thinking. When one is starving to death, there is no long-thinking. It is only the here and now and what happens tomorrow or a month from now isn't even on the radar.

During the Bataan Death March, soldiers drank polluted swamp water, knowing it may kill them. But that was for tomorrow. Today is drink now or die now.

Like the ice man of yesteryear... I've thot of ways I can transport water UP A S T E E P mountainside from pond to house if HooeyHitsFan. I'm thinking of saddlebags with closed water jugs/containers. [Yes, I have horses and saddlebags and containers.]

 

Still a LOT of physical labor....but, I could take that circus on the road....

 

MtRider [...recently hauled all for our water needs from our "next door" friends .... Oye! ]

I'd be concerned with such a basic item as water, that someone would just shoot you and take it (if they are short-sighted). Or follow you home, shoot you and take it all.

Couldn't find the movie clip for BlackHawk Down, where The warlord Adid's men seize the Red Cross food shipment, but I think it bears watching.

The problem with "good people" is mirror imaging. Assuming that others share the same logical thought process, couched in Judeo-Christian morality, that they do. Big Mistake! Some people are just so "good" that they cannot imagine the animal behavior of someone starving - I don't even want to call the animal behavior "evil" because starvation overrides any morality as people revert to their most base, amoral, survival mode.

Was hoping maybe the British people had finally decided to throw the bums out. But I guess subservience to an in-bred conqueror is a cultural thing.

Another thing I don't get is American fascination with self-proclaimed "royalty". I thought we sorted all that out in the late 1770s.

what I want to know is HOW did you get the actual video to show up in the thread?????? I have tried, unsuccessfully , several times.

I did it once and have failed every time since. I right click on the video and select "copy embedded HTML", and paste, but this is all I get.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JvKIWjnEPNY?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Forgive me for being a party pooper, but I have no use for self-proclaimed monarchs. Who made you Queen? Oh, your family the toughest Norman warlord? And Norman is simply a Viking who liked the warmer weather? So if I kick your butt I'm king? (sigh).

Perhaps for those flying in to Atlanta, you can post your arrival times for shared ground transport?

Cool. I'll drag along a 50# bag of wheat, some yeast, molasses, etc.

Sure you're making bread? Sounds a lot like Ale!

FWIW, it is 7.62x51mm NATO. Which is just the NATO designation for .308 Winchester. You'll find .308 Winchester at most WalMarts.

Ishapore IIA is a nice rifle. Indian version of an Enfield #1Mk III, but in .308 instead of .303 British.

those interested in firearms training, please advise. As I'm travelling by air, I am limited by what I can bring, but I can ship stuff if necessary.