THIS is where we're at this weekend.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
TOOLS, EXPLAINED
A Special Forces Engineer should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, con a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly.”
- Robert A. Heinlein
DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had care fully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.
WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh*t!'
CIRCULAR SAW:
A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.
PLIERS:
Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters
BELT SANDER:
An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.
HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle . . . it transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.
VISE-GRIPS:
Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.
OXYACETYLENE TORCH:
Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race . . .
TABLE SAW:
A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.
HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:
Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper
BAND SAW:
A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.
TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:
A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.
STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:
A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.
CROW BAR:
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.
HOSE CUTTER:
A tool used to make hoses too short.
HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.
UTILITY KNIFE:
Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.
SON OF A B*TCH TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "SON OF A B*TCH!!!" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.
It's easy to forget - when you're up to your ass in alligators - that your original intent was to drain the swamp . . .
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
- Robert A. Heinlein
DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had care fully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.
WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh*t!'
CIRCULAR SAW:
A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.
PLIERS:
Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters
BELT SANDER:
An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.
HACKSAW:
One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle . . . it transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.
VISE-GRIPS:
Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.
OXYACETYLENE TORCH:
Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race . . .
TABLE SAW:
A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.
HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK:
Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper
BAND SAW:
A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.
TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST:
A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER:
Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.
STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER:
A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.
CROW BAR:
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.
HOSE CUTTER:
A tool used to make hoses too short.
HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.
UTILITY KNIFE:
Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.
SON OF A B*TCH TOOL:
Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "SON OF A B*TCH!!!" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.
It's easy to forget - when you're up to your ass in alligators - that your original intent was to drain the swamp . . .
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
Thursday, June 6, 2013
D-DAY
In honor of D-Day:
A great video created by the U.S. Army in 1969; first hand footage from the events on June 6, 1944 condensed from what was originally a 28-minute piece down to just under 6 minutes.
June 6, 2013 is the 69th anniversary of "Operation Overlord" - D-Day - more than 160,000 allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of French Coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France in 1944. The invasion cost the lives of more than 9,000 allied forces, but the successful foothold on the beaches and the hinterlands resulted in a significant turning point for Europe's history. Today, we honor the Allied forces that participated in the Normandy Invasion by sharing a film that depicts the drama and battle action of the landing at Normandy is portrayed along with the fierce combat that took place to overcome "Fortress Europe" (footage compliments of the National Archives).
Honor them.
- STORMBRINGER
A great video created by the U.S. Army in 1969; first hand footage from the events on June 6, 1944 condensed from what was originally a 28-minute piece down to just under 6 minutes.
June 6, 2013 is the 69th anniversary of "Operation Overlord" - D-Day - more than 160,000 allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of French Coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France in 1944. The invasion cost the lives of more than 9,000 allied forces, but the successful foothold on the beaches and the hinterlands resulted in a significant turning point for Europe's history. Today, we honor the Allied forces that participated in the Normandy Invasion by sharing a film that depicts the drama and battle action of the landing at Normandy is portrayed along with the fierce combat that took place to overcome "Fortress Europe" (footage compliments of the National Archives).
Honor them.
- STORMBRINGER
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
CAN'T MAKE THIS SH*T UP . . .
Police Selling Guns From Buyback Program
St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin
ST. CHARLES, Illinois May 31 (UPI)
A police department in the Chicago suburbs said some of the guns obtained from a buyback program will be sold to a pair of licensed dealers.
St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin said about 20 firearms obtained through a gun buyback program and seized by courts will be sold to the dealers, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
"There's value in these guns," Lamkin said. "They're not illegal guns. Quite honestly, it's a bottom line for us."
Most other area departments, including the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Police, destroy the guns obtained through buybacks.
"There are individuals who will say, why not simply destroy them?" St. Charles Mayor Raymond Rogina said. "But when that happens, there will be someone saying that's taxpayer dollars [at stake] and you're throwing it away."
And here I was all this time thinking the whole idea behind a Police-sponsored gun buyback scheme was to get guns off the streets and out of circulation??? Why have a buyback if all you're going to do is turn around and re-sell the guns all over again? Come to think of it, why sell your gun to the cops when you can go straight to the dealer, get a better price by cutting out the middle man?
This is how people are conditioned to think in the People's Republic of Illinois - you do what The Man says. The Man says you sell your guns to him - never in a million years would the subjects-I-mean-citizenry of Illinois ever DREAM of selling to a licensed gun dealer - they probably need some kind of permit or license to do THAT even - and Heaven forbid they actually throw their gun in trunk of their car and drive down the road with it. Sheesh . . .
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
St. Charles Police Chief James LamkinST. CHARLES, Illinois May 31 (UPI)
A police department in the Chicago suburbs said some of the guns obtained from a buyback program will be sold to a pair of licensed dealers.
St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin said about 20 firearms obtained through a gun buyback program and seized by courts will be sold to the dealers, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
"There's value in these guns," Lamkin said. "They're not illegal guns. Quite honestly, it's a bottom line for us."
Most other area departments, including the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Police, destroy the guns obtained through buybacks.
"There are individuals who will say, why not simply destroy them?" St. Charles Mayor Raymond Rogina said. "But when that happens, there will be someone saying that's taxpayer dollars [at stake] and you're throwing it away."
And here I was all this time thinking the whole idea behind a Police-sponsored gun buyback scheme was to get guns off the streets and out of circulation??? Why have a buyback if all you're going to do is turn around and re-sell the guns all over again? Come to think of it, why sell your gun to the cops when you can go straight to the dealer, get a better price by cutting out the middle man?
This is how people are conditioned to think in the People's Republic of Illinois - you do what The Man says. The Man says you sell your guns to him - never in a million years would the subjects-I-mean-citizenry of Illinois ever DREAM of selling to a licensed gun dealer - they probably need some kind of permit or license to do THAT even - and Heaven forbid they actually throw their gun in trunk of their car and drive down the road with it. Sheesh . . .
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
SIX DAY WAR BREAKS OUT, THIS TIME ON TWITTER
One real cool reason why you need to get onto Twitter
Over six days in June, the Israeli army will reenact the 1967 war with minute-by-minute updates from the front.
Yitzhak Rabin, right, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem during the Six Day War. Photo by IDF archive
Israel Air Force fighters will land a preemptive blow on air forces of Egypt, Syria and Iraq at 7:45 on Wednesday, exactly 46 years after the start of the Six Day War that changed the face of Israel. However, this time, thankfully, the planes will take off and return safely to their bases on a special Twitter account opened by the Israel Defense Forces' Spokesperson's Unit for this purpose.
"What if the IDF had Twitter during the Six Day War?" it says in the account, @IDF1967 "In the coming days you'll know the answer. Follow us and relive history." The headline at the top of the page reveals its purpose: "The IDF is reenacting the great war for six days in June – minute by minute."
In the meantime, the soldiers working the account are awaiting zero hour and are promoting the digital war using advance tweets. "There is old media and there is Twitter. Starting from tomorrow, 46 years after the start of the Six Day War, we will reenact the big war – minute by minute," one tweet said.
Read the rest of it HERE
The Six Day War was phenomenal in so many ways - a quintessential blitzkrieg pulled off by survivors of the Third Reich's Final Solution, against combined Arab armies that outnumbered the Israelis a thousand-to-one. By the time it was over, the Egyptian and Syrian air forces were destroyed on the ground, and Israeli M4 "Super Sherman" tanks were slugging it out with Syrian Panzer Mark IVs up in the Golan, wreaking havoc with Egyptian T-38s, T-55s and T-62s up and down the west bank of the Suez, kicking ass and taking names. The tiny David took on the Arab Goliath and the results carried Biblical significance.
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
Over six days in June, the Israeli army will reenact the 1967 war with minute-by-minute updates from the front.
Yitzhak Rabin, right, near the Western Wall in Jerusalem during the Six Day War. Photo by IDF archiveIsrael Air Force fighters will land a preemptive blow on air forces of Egypt, Syria and Iraq at 7:45 on Wednesday, exactly 46 years after the start of the Six Day War that changed the face of Israel. However, this time, thankfully, the planes will take off and return safely to their bases on a special Twitter account opened by the Israel Defense Forces' Spokesperson's Unit for this purpose.
"What if the IDF had Twitter during the Six Day War?" it says in the account, @IDF1967 "In the coming days you'll know the answer. Follow us and relive history." The headline at the top of the page reveals its purpose: "The IDF is reenacting the great war for six days in June – minute by minute."
In the meantime, the soldiers working the account are awaiting zero hour and are promoting the digital war using advance tweets. "There is old media and there is Twitter. Starting from tomorrow, 46 years after the start of the Six Day War, we will reenact the big war – minute by minute," one tweet said.
Read the rest of it HERE
The Six Day War was phenomenal in so many ways - a quintessential blitzkrieg pulled off by survivors of the Third Reich's Final Solution, against combined Arab armies that outnumbered the Israelis a thousand-to-one. By the time it was over, the Egyptian and Syrian air forces were destroyed on the ground, and Israeli M4 "Super Sherman" tanks were slugging it out with Syrian Panzer Mark IVs up in the Golan, wreaking havoc with Egyptian T-38s, T-55s and T-62s up and down the west bank of the Suez, kicking ass and taking names. The tiny David took on the Arab Goliath and the results carried Biblical significance.
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
AMERICANS FLYING SPITS IN WWII - VERY COOL
Another great story from the Greatest Generation; in 2005, an 83 year-old World War II pilot is surprised to see 16mm footage of his 1944 Spitfire crash for the first time - S.L.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION
With an old coat hanger, some fly screen and a needle and thread, I made this little net . . . pretty cool, huh?
I needed the net to keep the cooling pond for my miniature nuclear reactor clean:
Using a rudimentary lathe and some basic materials, I've been able to achieve fission. Here we see the cooling towers, and to the left the reactor dome.
Aerial view.
STORMBRINGER SENDS
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