Still around 20 C and occasional showers here and there (Here and There not being any place specific).

Could, might and in 83 years' time. I don't take "studies" like these the least bit serious. This summer Northern Europe has been colder than usual. Southern Europe has had one heat wave and might now be experiencing another; on average, Europe as a whole temperature wise would be close to normal. And how can they even begin to cite percentages like 90/10??

However some people seem to push an agenda of spreading panic and despair by publishing rubbish reports like this. According to Danish statistician Bjørn Lomborg; that study underestimates the number of cold related deaths by a factor of 500, and assumes that in the next 83 years absolutely nothing is being done to adapt to changing conditions. Most annoying of all I say, once again it is implicitly stated that anyone knows what "normal" is, and that nature should not have the temerity to change on it's own accord, without input or acceptance from homo sapiens.

Still recuperating from Saturday's excursion to the Danish equivalent of the Goodwood revival; Scores of vintage racing cars were raced around a track on the outskirts of central Copenhagen this weekend. I was lucky with the weather as Saturday was mostly dry whereas Sunday's proceedings were somewhat hampered by intermittent showers. While there, I perused a Bentley Blower, the old Racecars from the twenties and thirties raced at Le Mans by the original Bentley Boys. A 1955 Jaguar D type, also a Le Mans winning machine was so valuable that the organisers could not get it insured and they had to have a permanent guard of 10 people watching over the old lady. Also, the 2013 Race winning Audi LMP1 was there, including dirt from the 2013 race weekend as well as a Toyota LMP1 which I couldn't quite date. It might have been from this year's race, or last year's. At any rate, what struck me about these cars was their tiny size. They are incredibly low and not an inch of space is wasted on unnecessary room for the drivers. The cockpit was incredibly small, tiny.

Some of the drivers attending the event were our very own Tom Kristensen, 9 time Le Mans overall winner, Kevin Magnussen, our current Formula 1 driver, and Jacques Villeneuve; F1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner. The racing was good and in my opinion nothing beats the sounds and smells of proper racing cars. Experiencing a grid of Formula Junior vintage cars on the grid getting ready to take the flag, engines revving to a crescendo like a swarm of very angry bees before they are finally released in a cacophony is spioe-tingling stuff.

During the day I walked some 13000 steps and I was completely spent Saturday evening, and most of Sunday as well.

Today I had an invigorating bike ride and hopefully the next two days the weather should stay pleasant.

Folks,

The sky is cloudy this new Monday. Light rain is falling and thunderstorms are possible today. The temp is 79°F. with a 10 mph wind out of the SW. The humidity is a choking 96%.

MG:

Impressive. That IS a lot of walking. I used to strap on a pedometer every morning striving for just 10,000 steps daily. Of course, at that time I lived next to a park where I could continue my walking even into the night if I desired. I usually managed more than 10K. About the most I ever walked was a hike of 10 miles. I have always liked to walk. You were enjoying the event and likely walking at a different pace than I was. Regardless, 13K represents quite a long day on your feet.

I learned early that, on average, people that work sitting down get paid more than those who work standing up.So I settled on a sit-down job that allowed me to also stand when I wanted to. Mostly by choice, I walked a great deal in my work in the mall business. Malls can be big places. That helped keep me in shape. When I changed jobs and went to work for an Internet company I worked at home and let my computer do most of the "walking". My health began to suffer. It was good then that after retirement I started that 10K program. I'm walking less again but plan to begin a 10K program again with cooler weather and fewer gnats. Those little buggers have been flying about in squadrons sucking moisture from anything they can catch this summer.

Folks,

We had heavy rain and wind early this morning before the sun came up. Then the sun came up as it usually does and burned away the clouds. Now it is cloudy again. The current temp here in a moderate 74°F. The expected high is an unusually cooler 79°F. Maybe fall weather will come a bit early this year? I doubt it. The humidity simply will not give much ground and registers at 94%. If your humidity where you are is higher than that... consider stopping breathing lest you drown.

Good news for China. McDonald's is planning to double the number of their restaurants in China. Good idea says me. We all love Chinese food but I've noticed something about it Ronald just caught on to. An hour after you loaded up on Chinese food you are hungry again. They'll triple their sales.

Would you (willingly) go flying in a pilotless plane? Plane manufacturer Boeing plans to test them in 2018. As we move closer to a world of driverless cars, which have already been on the road in some US cities and have also been tested in London, remotely controlled planes may be the next automated mode of transport. Only 17% of those questioned said they would board such a plane, with more young people willing to give them a try and the 25 to 34 age group the most likely to step on board.

As for me, I have never had much desire to fly anywhere in a pilotless plane. Truthfully they might be quite safe unless there was an unusual emergency when that little inflatable pilot was in the left seat. You might reasonably suggest that having an AI pilot would eliminate human error. But would it? Whom do you think would build the thing and program the AI?

I suspect the pilot's union isn't all that worried....yet. It may herald a brave new world alright but not many people are all that brave. Pilots know how difficult a sales job that would likely be at the ticket counter. They know the very first time one of those new pilotless planes nudges a tall building or lands in the Hudson River like \scully did (upside down this time) it would be all over.

More good news from C51 in Canada. The sales of our HWH dark glasses for viewing the total eclipse is going well. Those who invested can expect a tidy return on that investment. There have however been a few minor problems. Sales dipped slightly when it was reported that a near-sighted fellow was temporarily blinded when he looked directly at a 40 watt light bulb while wearing our glasses. A quick thinker is our boy C51. He offered the fellow two free pair of glasses and a custom blindfold if he'd shut up complaining. He happily took the deal and did stop complaining. In fact, he was still carrying his free gifts when he stepped off a curb in front of a Toronto Blue Jays bus.

Lotta Sass of Niagra complained the dark pigment on her glasses washed off when a passing taxi splashed her with water from the street. She was completely satisfied when C51 suggested she use a simple indelible black Sharpie pen to darken the lenses once more. She bought five more pairs for her friends. Yes, LeRoy, Canada seems to be the perfect place for flogging all that growing stack of jun....useles.... cra... garbag...excellent pile of overstocked items in gathering dust down in the archives.

Those water color pens filled with just water, OK, they were colorful pens. Sales were poor for the egg beaters we repurposed for use in bathtubs without Jacuzzi jets. I still cannot understand why those X-Ray spectacles failed to sell better than they did. Especially since the skeletons painted on the lenses were verified by a doctor to be anatomically correct. How many of those elastic measuring tapes for women who did not stick to their diet did we actually sell? Three? That's right, and two were returned horribly stretched and useless. Do canadian women watch their figures? When I was in Canada I watched them.

Gents,

A pedometer is a good thing. A Pedometer with memory is an even better thing. A pedometer with memory and various aggregates, averages and reports is the bee's knees.

For instance, according to my sports- and pedo- gadget, I hace covered a walking distance last month of 100.8 km. During the latest 12 months that distance is an impressive 2.179,2 km. That's an astonishing 181.5 km per month! Staggering!.

With regards to Ronald McDonald potentially doubling sales and presumably consumption of their main product, the hamburger, apart from increasing profits and taking over China with fast food and not a shot fired, cattle especially, and meat is a problem in terms of greenhouse gasses. I saw a documentary with an English doctor called Michael Mosely and it turns out that each and every cow per year, belches and farts methane and CO2 in the order of a family saloon car per year. The huge amount of gasses are produced as the cow turns grass into nourishment for itself and ultimately meat for us to enjoy later.

If the cattle is fed other types of fodder, the amount of gasses can be cut by some 40 % however this means that the cattle is fed with something that could actually be turned into food for humans instead. If we want to reduce the greenhouse gasses from cattle, as well as other livestock, it looks like industrial scale production is the way to go. All thought it can cut gasses by some 50% and use of growth hormones effectively raise the animal twice as fast if it was raised the old fashioned way on the field, living off the land and the traditional pickings and treats.

Here, we are already seeing the first products offering "delicious" bugs and insects, cooked, dried and dipped in your favourite taste emulsifier and we are hearing various "opinion makers" praise the virtues of eating bugs and insects. By the way, another news story this summer is that fewer insects are being reported, the populations apparently decreasing...... I swear, I didn't eat as much as one single bug!

So, beef for a billion Chinese is not necessarily a good thing all around.

Folks,

After a morning of sun, it is cloudy again. The temp in my yard is 79°F. at noon with an expected high of 81°F. and a humidity of 71%. We have a 10 mph wind from the NE.

MG:

You are wise my friend. Who says Mickey D's uses beef? My formally preferred fast food joint admitted using horse meat.

Folks,

To expand upon our discussion earlier today let me add:
All livestock produce quantities of methane. The most productive are indeed cows and sheep but horses do their part as well. It has been found that kangaroos produce as much methane as do horses. Some scientists conducting smelly research have suggested transferring bacteria from horses guts to cows and sheep to reduce their emissions.

I'm not certain about the kingdom of Denmark but kangaroos are fairly scarce around here. I believe there are plenty in Australia where they also have large herds of sheep and a fair amount of horses. We have a very obese house cat that contributes more than his share of methane to our atmosphere. This makes up for the serious lack of kangaroos around here I guess. Methane is a bad greenhouse gas but carbon dioxide is much worse and all of us still breathing produce a lot of that in our three score and ten. All of us produce both, some more than others. I had an uncle who was always asking us kids to pull his finger..... none of us EVER did that more than once.

Too bad Fittop's great idea to sell large corks to farmers everywhere to plug those emissions failed to catch on. We sold plenty at first but that was before reports of serious injuries from flying corks started showing up in the newspapers. Even after all those corks were retrofitted with small exhaust holes that reduced the pent up pressure, farmers claimed our idea just stunk. We'll ship the leftover corks to Canada with all the rest of the unsold stuff down in the archive. Fittop is still working on the problem. After all he does reside in a state where I understand there are a lot of cows.

Folks,

The temp is a pleasant 63°F. this morning at 8 AM. The humidity is a gargling 100% with a 5 MPH from the NW. Sunny today with high expected to be 83°F with rain is expected for tomorrow and Saturday.

Conflicting reports

Coming on the heels of a recent report that drinking alcohol may increase your life span, today, I read a report indicating alcohol is our most abused drug (more than opioids?) Perhaps up to 30 million Americans drink at least once per week. Once, only once? Is that abusive? I would have thought 'abusive drinking' would be more like 30 million Americans report they are only sober once per week, wouldn't you?

The good news is that binge drinking has decreased on our college campuses. Perhaps all the binge drinking is now going on at home where a frantic parent is staying up nights desperately trying to figure out how to pay their kid's college tuition? I dunno? If I hadn't gotten that scholarship I'd probably still be downing shots and worrying about paying off a college loan to this very day.

My son just bought 3 used jeeps. I have no clue why. He may not know either. One of them he says is purple. OK, East Carolina Univ. is close by and the Pirates colors are purple and gold so maybe he plans to sell that one for a profit? According to my abacus, that still leaves two jeeps. Now, maybe I am wrong but jeeps don't seem as sturdy as they were back during the war. They could survive being run over by a Tiger Tank in the morning, get shot by a Panther tank that afternoon and still get you home in time for taps. I kinda like jeeps. The latest Grand Cherokee is a nice ride. I think I'd like one in British Racing Green with brown leather interior and 4-wheel drive. Anyone who has an extra one of those they don't want can send it to my last known address. Or maybe we can work out a trade? How do you like the color purple?

Cars. So much a part of our lives. Growing up I had the love affair with automobiles real bad. I mean real bad. Drooled over them. Could identify any of them by sight. Went to the dealers for the new releases just to see the changes. Knew the motors by displacement, horsepower and torque. Worked an extra job so I could afford one. My girlfriends girlfriends boyfriend had a Roadrunner and she thought it was cool. So that's what I set my sights on. Not very wise to get a muscle car for my first car, but my youthful lust coupled with my love of cars overruled any common sense. Got the Roadrunner. Gas and maintenance kept me working that second job. And so it went. Datsun 280Z, Mazda RX7, Porsche 944, Corvette, another Corvette, short term bad experience with a Porsche 911, and now a convertible Jag which I still have. Got a common sense Malibu so I don't have to beat the Jag. My wife didn't have the same love affair with cars as much as a constant need to change, so she has gone through a large number. As a matter of fact I am just finishing the deal to get her a new car. She felt that her Cadillac XRS was getting old at 86,000 and wanted to get something smaller and more fuel efficient. So I am working on a Buick Encore Essence. She still wanted all the plush and features.

Oh yes; cars have been a large part of my life and have made sure that my financial situation was devoted to them.

But I don't seem to love them the way I used to. More and more I am just seeing them as a practical need. Guess it took crossing the age line of 60 to trigger that loss. My Jag is 16 years old and I intend on keeping it as long as I can keep it running. Classic look that stands the passage of time very well.

Nice day today. 87 F with scattered clouds. Going to go flying.

Folks:

How I envy that sentence: "Nice day today. 87 F with scattered clouds. Going to go fly."
I remain content to debate when I will be getting the Prepar3D version 4. (Sigh).

"Remain content" is probably not right.

Certainly prefer to be airborne, though not missing the always-necessary hot, or wintry cold ramp pre-flight. Specially at night, or when cold or raining.
Definitely missing the bumpy-then-smooth air above the lower clouds and the radio chatter as your head and eyes swivel around your changing environment and your ears pop as they adjust to the air pressure.
A light hand touch is all that's needed to keep you on your desired course. Oh yes...

But I digress. Much same thing can be said about sailing, (or even driving): That feeling, or being conscious of the air rushing around you, the sense of motion across a medium be it air or water or ground. In short, the realization of freedom you can not find sitting behind a desk or even cleaning your place no matter how or where you agitate your vacuum cleaner.

So thanks, oldgrognard for the fleeting seconds of daydreaming.

Now to more earthly things.

On my defense, the idea of selling corks to farmers might have worked better if we could have persuaded farmers to wear something stronger that a gimmie-cap.
At least a light construction helmet to protect against errant flying corks. - Same protection against the sun and better protection in case of a tractor roll-over or cork-insertion in the case of mistaken gender identity between cow and bull.
Note that I never promised midsection protection against skittish animals.

As far as foot protection, they have the mud boots on, don't they?

Yes, there are a lot of cows and bulls around here, therefore a lot of wind and methane.
Not all of it produced by four-legged animals, seeing as to how the Legislature is still under Emergency Session until it passes the governor and Lt. governor's obsession with some sort of bathroom bill that apparently presents a solution to a non-existent problem.

Another great idea! ... Could there be an alternative use for those oversize corks?

I have no idea how much this may be costing the average taxpayer, but I understand the food in Austin is almost as good as it is in that diamond-shaped area in the Northeast.

I mean, what other city claims as its motto: "Keep Austin weird." ?
BTW, it's really a nice place.

Folks,

Back in the 50s and 60s, it seemed like boys discovered cars before they did girls. OK, one reason may have been you needed a car or something that had once been a car but still ran to get a girl. My dad helped me get my first 2 cars. The first was good for transportation only and only for short trips at that. It was a 1953 Chevy, a 6 cylinder with "Power Glide" transmission. I managed to get at least one girl to go out with me in it. Mainly that was because it was painted a pretty UNC Carolina Blue.

On my way home from a summer job at a local coin shop, a young woman ran through a red stop light and T-boned me. That was the end of my first car. Perhaps it might have been repaired had inertia not taken me sideways into a corner service station where I cunningly managed to get a gas pump to stop my progress into the actual building. Gas was spraying everywhere when I remembered a pressing engagement elsewhere and promptly vacated the driver's seat. If it had not been for the fact rain was pouring down I might have attended my very first barbecue on that day.

My second car was more of a "chick magnet". It was a very clean 1966 Ford Mustang. It was powered by an extremely healthy, high performance 289 V8, with a solid lifter cam, aluminum intake, and four barrel carb. Can you say Brrrrrrrrr! Brrrrrromm! Brrrrrrrrrrrr! I was working that summer at the local newspaper. A pal drove a tricked out green Plymouth Roadrunner. We met one night at a local Hardees and having done the customary bragging about our cars we found there was quite a bit of disparity in what each of us thought about the relative highest speed of the other fellow's ride. What to do? We were surrounded by public streets. Racing on a public street was actually seriously frowned upon by the local constabulary.

Without either of us actually suggesting such a dangerous contest, first one and then the other cranked up his gas guzzling steed (gas was but 35 cents a gallon then) and we left the parking area of Hardees and drove in tandem out onto the street and stopped at the stop light on Falls Road. Falls Road was a two-way street then, now it is one-way. I heard my opponent gun his engine several times. It sounded mean. I gunned my engine several times. To me, that sounded meaner. I remember that because that thought came just before he let out his clutch, and left me in the dust his special "Go Faster" brand tires screaming as they poured out smoke. All I saw were tail lights as I stomped the gas and followed him.

That wasn't difficult but the long streaks of rubber he had so thoughtfully left for me to follow caused me to wonder how much tires he was still riding on. I caught up with him at the next stoplight. It was late and there was no traffic. We passed the hospital. There was a good chance one or both of us would be returning there soon. Yet on we careened through the night on that deserted street. Well, it LOOKED deserted. At the next stoplight, I was on his rear bumper and ready to pass. At the next stoplight, we were side-by-side, neck and neck.

This was a two-way street remember? It had been right up until I pulled out and tried to pass. All of a sudden, the next stoplight came into view but was still some distance away.IT WAS RED! Something, some voice inside my excited brain was screaming "SLOW DOWN YOU IDIOT!" I swear it sounded like my dad's voice and that was NOT the voice I usually heard in my head when I did something stupid. I slowed down. He sped away. I would never hear the end of it I knew. Just then as I was feeling sorry for myself and thinking about catching him up again I noticed there was a blue light blinking in the rear view. My first thought was that although I had not died in a fiery crash I was just as dead.

Maybe they were really after Johnny and not me so I turned the corner at that next stoplight heading toward my home. Oh, God, the blue light followed me. Yes, it was me they wanted. Their blinking headlights made that crystal clear. I pulled over and turned off the ignition and headlights. Two young policemen got out of the police car. They walked up to my open window and one asked me "Were you boys racing?" I nearly shook my own brains out as I said: "No, officer." "I was just trying to pass that other driver and he....he...he just wouldn't let me."

They checked my license, registration probable alcohol content and all the other usual stuff. I'd never gotten a ticket. So, I was sure surprised when the fellow wearing the badge standing closest to me said with an odd grin showing in spite of the frown he was attempting to mask it with: " OK, then don't ever do that. It is dangerous. We'll let you go this time." There was a rush of air sucked into my lungs as I began breathing again. They had asked me who the other driver was. I am afraid I lied that night to the police for I told them with a straight face that I did not know him. Oh, I wanted to rat him out as the last I saw of him he had seen the police before I did and he was smiling a wicked grin. I just felt it would be unethical to do so.

Fittop:

I am surprised elephants didn't make the list. You are too if you.ve ever been close to one that is eating regularly. Now that Barnum has folded its tents and closed maybe there aren't all that many tuskers around? How about Africa? How's their methane level? I guess another use might be for bobbers on whale fishermen's lines. I have no idea how many there are who regularly fish for the whale. I thought they used something un-sportsman like. Artillery, gas fired harpoons, chain guns or 20 mm cannon. Frankly, I'd rather not encourage whale fishing.

Gentlemenses,

Fittop - oh so you are one of those fliers ? A light touch, small gentle control inputs to maintain course. I, on the other hand, tend to wander off course since I'm enjoying the view and don't meticulously adhere to my course holding. I allow a good deviation and then correct it by a steep turn and an aggressive intercept angle. Usually I then bust through the course line and correct with another steep turn and aggressive intercept accompanied by a significant loss of altitude. I will repeat this until by chance one of my steep turns and intercepts establishes me on the correct course line. Then I will make a steep climb to get back to prescribed altitude. This technique has been noticed and commented on by ATC. They seem to think I should use something more along the method you use. But hey, they are on the ground and I am the PIC. It makes for a much more exciting flight. And isn't that why we fly ? For the pure joy of " wheeled and soared and swung". I really employ that philosophy. It is more exhilarating to dart around like the birds.

JRT - that was back in the day when everybody didn't have their panties in a bunch about exuberant fun loving events. It was accepted as part of the norm. Now, not so much. There has been a change from the friendly neighborhood cops who knew when to lean on people and when to let things slide. Now it is all Road Nazis. But we are to blame in trying to make them treat everything "equally". We have removed Officers discretion. That plus they are monitored very minutely and have to be aware that they are being watched. So the Road Nazis are cowed by their higher up Gestapo Headquarters. Remember riding a bike without crash gear ? And somewhere along the line we went from "does this car have seat belts ?" to it is Armageddon if you don't have yours on. How did we survive our childhoods ?

Anyway, today's flight was fun. Flew to another airport and picked up a very good friend and his buddy. Then we just went sightseeing. The two of them mentioned things and we flew there to see them. Saw their houses and places of work. Flew the rivers and the coast. Saw some manatees in a river. They really thought that was cool. Showed them a small private grass strip where the owner has a mostly disassembled jet fighter on the side. Couldn't tell what it was, but was probably an old surplus 1950's or early 60's US. Bit bumpy since we were low and the heat of the day was creating thermals. Showed them how flying under clouds caused turbulence and updrafts. Flew through a wispy cloud that you could see through to show them the activity in even a small light cloud. Flew over the gun range we shoot at. Dropped them off at their airfield and flew back to mine. An enjoyable day. Good landings.

Folks,

Oldgrognard: I very much enjoyed the description of your flight.

Oh no Sir. Do not confuse me with one of those real pilots whose magic hands barely let you know you have turned until you feel more than one g on your sitting area. It takes me a couple of hours, OK, more than a few hours to feel married to a flying machine.
It's just an ideal to which one strives.
But I have witnessed some talented demi-gods who make it look easy. Remember that a lot of my time has been in heavy machinery, some with a few quirks. I do remember the Buff being a pussycat in the right configuration, making air-refueling a pleasurable interlude but ready to say: "Breakaway" just in case. I also remember some summer low-level runs that were sporting at night.

Had the privilege of working with a fella in an OV-1 who I swear took it as low as a cow's belly and I almost felt comfortable with it. I must confess I had some up-trim in my bird, just in case you understand. But at the time, there was a lot of wisdom in staying down, and he had a lot of time in it.
Nope, I have to work at it.
I enjoy banking and yanking as much as the next guy. Sometimes I have done it when it isn't in the syllabus simply because it's the only way to get back on course.
It hasn't always depended on how many of the little white bags are on board.

JRT, the elephants haven't made my list since being of fairly short stature, I would probably need a ladder to insert said corks in the proper place in a demonstration to farmers.
What would a farmer be doing with an elephant is a question for another time. Maybe he has to move some tree trunks around?

Can you see how dragging a wooden or metal ladder and coming up to its five to seven o'clock position might spook said animal and create a very nasty, if not embarrassing situation?
I would hate to see the picture some farmer took of ladder, cork and myself flying away from said elephant, all in the same frame.

Folks,

At 11 Am the temp here where I live is 79°F. with a humidity of 84% under an overcast sky. There is a 2 mph breeze from the SEThe high temp for today is expected to be 83°F.

OG:

Yes, it was a wonder any boy made it out of his teens alive without at least having his exasperated dad kill him. I did so many silly, stupid, dangerous things back then that just the remembering of them scares the hell out of me today. Those memories of an active childhood did not, however, let my own son off the hook. I kept a close eye on him.

He still managed to wreck my new car when it had but 10K miles on it. I had good insurance and he somehow lived to apologize for it so I restrained myself somehow from doing aggravated homicide. My late wife calmed me down as usual. All the way to the scene of the accident I didn't think about the car, I was out of my mind with worry about him. Then, when I saw he was OK I noticed my car upside down between two giant oaks in someone's front yard. Despite the joy of finding my son alive and well, I became a little misty-eyed. The underside of the car was still shiny!

BTW, A friend of my son's has a .388 Lapua with an ATN-Thor ll thermal imaging scope. My son is gonna try it out today and is thinking of buying one if he likes it. Is there something similar you would recommend he look at that would be a better choice? At $5 a pop for a\mmo that ain't usually used for plinking, I imagine. His friend paid around $3K for it. I've never even shot one though I plan to that one sometime if my son doesn't get one I can shoot. There are good, reputable gun shops here or in Raleigh. Raleigh is only about 50 miles away.

Fittop:

Well, you were flying a Buff and that amazing long lived aircraft, I believe, has many good traits but they are not especially noted for their aerobatic abilities. One of the unfortunate things about a bomber is that after the IP it might tend to be flown rather rigidly upon a pre-determined flight path thus making it a better target on some occasions. Or perhaps you had one of those inflatable auto pilots with you to do that grunt work between the IP and the target? I understand that is what the B-17 pilots did. My uncle and I never talked about bomb runs on the B25 he flew in. He was a bombardier. He took me up in his Cessna and let me do a bit of piloting at a young age. I wish I had asked him about it. I thought the Bombardier took control after the IP.

JRT : A set-up like that is an ego gun unless you are doing real work with it. Expensive and unnecessary. Now what would your son be doing with it ? Unless he is doing large game hunting at very long range in the dark or a military sniper, it is way over board. If he isn't shooting over 500 yards, a 308/7.62 will do just fine. That was the sniper round that I used when I was working. If he just won't accept that, try to get him to go 7mm Remington Mag or 300 WinMag. Very good cartridges without going overboard with 338 Lapua. I have several 308s and my 7mm Rem Mag is more than sufficient for anything a non-military shooter would need.

Thermal sights are very expensive. Usually more than the rifle. What night shooting is he planning on doing ? For non-military I would recommend one of the 2+ Gen nightscopes. I have an ATN in the new white rather than green imaging. Good and reasonably priced.

He is falling for military grade equipment. Ego set-up. Bragging rights.



Oooops. Went too serious.

Folks,

OG:

I agree completely and have asked him those very questions just before I texted you. I just wanted your expert opinion since I really have no experience with that weapon beyond just a cursory Google. Now he says he wants a 408 Cheytac with integrated ballistics calculator. I assume he is pulling my leg about that. According to him, as I type, they are knocking the heads off bowling pins at 750 yds with that .338. I thought they were planning on killing coyotes at night. He texted me that a moment ago. I do hope they aren't actually in a bowling alley. ;)The same friend has an SN in 7.62 and a .300 WinMag. He has a similar setup in his home as yours but has no fully automatic weapons AFAIK.

The Marines in Vietnam used the customized and accurized Remington 700. Gunny Hathcock used that. Everything has changed now. Didn't a Canadian sniper just beat the world record long distance kill shot on an ISIS target? Two miles I think it was. What weapon was he using, a .50 cal? I thank you, sir, for your advice. I will pass that on. He is a reasonable person, I think he will take the advice. His friend is a retired peace officer and gentleman farmer. He inherited the big family farm from his dad who was a retired Highway Patrolman. He is a very prosperous young fellow.

Folks,

A rain soaked day here in our part of beautiful Dixie. Heavy rain woke me early this morning. The rain has stopped now at 10:45 AM but is expected to come again this afternoon and stick around for several days. The current temp is 74° with 100% humidity.... I think I saw a fish swim by the window... maybe it was a bird.

I am tired of this phone of mine, It does not have nearly enough memory. I've been uninstalling apps every time the OS upgrades and at other times when certain important apps need to update. I previously had a Samsung Galaxy S5 I liked. I had a disagreement with the carrier and changed carriers and phones. I'm considering getting another Samsung although the LGs have great cameras and I take a lot of snaps mostly of the grandkids.

Once all your land line phones were so very simple. They came in any color you wanted as long as it was black. They had an analog type dial. When you dialed a number it made a distinctive sound and simply rang the party you wished to speak to or had to speak to with great reliability. The first phone I ever used had a "party line". You could pick up your phone to dial someone and find someone else yacking away complaining to a stranger about their ingrown toenail or a broken window. You couldn't take a picture with those phones and there never was that TV-Phone we kept hearing about or at least if there was it never caught on 'cause mama tended to forget she was dressed in her nightie when she answered the preacher's phone call or something similar.

That type phone went out of fashion in the 70s I think. Now you could match the color of your "Princess" phone with your drapes, hair or fridge color. It had buttons in place of a dial and digital dialing. Modern yes, but slightly less reliable. I suspect that because that was when the phone company started flogging insurance for the phone. There was a different dial tone and the ring volume could be adjusted. Call waiting came along and other fancy features sometimes at an extra cost. The inflated bill came along every month as well. I swear my phone bill became 3 pages long and indicated that not only had I signed up with AT&T but with the Federal and State Government as well. It was a document I never was able to completely fathom. Other than the outrageous total that is. That was always easy to pick out.

I switched carriers several times over the years when land lines were in fashion. Carriers had spent fortunes stringing copper wire all over the country but that was paid for twice over by then. Service on home phones was still negligible. Customer service was always about the same for every carrier if you called for it. But after a bit, the cost kept creeping up again after changing carriers. Another page might be added soon to the monthly extortion statement. Carriers had you over a barrel and they knew it. Then cell phones began to happen. I eventually got a little Motorola phone but we kept the land line at the house. My office was filled with land lines. As a business client, we got great service. The cell phones got better and better. Some did anyway. More and more towers went up across the country and the world. Spotty coverage and dropped calls mostly went away. Now cell phones are ubiquitous around the globe. Land lines in homes in the US are no more prevalent than were buggy whips during the black phone dial-up days.

Cell phones have become part of nearly everyone's life these days. They are so convenient but also addictive. We expect so much from them. There are teenagers I've never even seen without a cell phone stuck to their ear or without ear buds poking out of each ear. Take a teenage girl's cell away and you might have just as well shot her dead on the spot.. her life is over as far as she had known it. Everyone has one in their pocket or purse where ever they are. Everyone has a camera on the scene when something happens. Hear "Crystal" going off in a dept. store (yes, there are still a few of those around Amazoners) and everyone around you checks to see if they are getting a call.

There are times when my paranoid mind wonders if I have just taken a Trojan Horse and stuffed it in my jean pocket. With GPS and all the rest I am probably being tracked and spied on every second... or am I? Who really cares if they give up their anonymity and some of their privacy as long as they can play Pokeymon GO or find the nearest restaurant or the closest route to someone's house 500 miles away? Oh yes, and incidentally make and receive phone calls.

My grandson's birthday is coming soon. We could use that 100-year-old cake they found in the oldest house in Antarctica. I understand it is probably still edible. We take so much for granted in our insulated little lives. So many lack curiosity it seems to me. Scot and his men gave up their lives trying to make it to that unexplored region of the Earth designated as the South Pole. Man's natural curiosity has now been mostly satiated here on Earth and now we turn once again to the unknown. We reach for the planets and the very stars. We will get there one day for though it may not seem so we have exploring that vast unknown coded into our DNA. Speaking of DNA, I just heard on the news that human DNA virus might be able to infect computers in the future. I heard the theme song of Twilight Zone playing in me widdle noggin when I thought about that. According to the broadcast, everlasting DNA will be one day used to store data instead of mechanical devices that break down. WOW!

Folks,

Always-interesting topics here are keeping me away from the kitchen and other sundry talks.
The only long gun I owned was a great Remington .22. and now a couple of shotguns.

Yes. The Radar Navigator usually took control from the IP in.
The aircraft Commander oversaw the mission and Situational Awareness and the copilot handled the airspeed and sometimes got yelled at if it varied a knot or more.
It's as critical as the changes in winds at different altitudes. You'd think something that big wouldn't be affected by thermals.

That might have been the days of Doppler and celestial navigation and drift meters but I'm sure Mother nature will always have a way to mess up accuracy.
Guess it was a sitting duck from the IP until bomb release but it could surprise a bouncer if it was handled right.

Landline days; when you came to where the phone was to talk instead of pocket fishing.
Now it not just comes with you but is leashed to your person.
You could buy a long leash for the house phone, but good luck untangling the cord without pulling the phone to the floor.

Remember the shock at finding out the company owned the phone and you had just been leasing it for all those years?
"No Sir, those are special phones in which you can turn off the ringer, and you can not get one, or modify it. That's phone company property!"
That little fact was hidden in the bill's small print.

Of course I modified it, I was working a lot of nights then.

And why didn't it then, why doesn't the phone company now, stop those damn unwanted calls? You know the answer too.

The new phones no longer clicked as they dialed. The fun of counting clicks as one dialed so you could tell the number dialed went away.
Now they had tones denoting the number.

For a while I was seeing a girl who had worked for the phone company. She and her friend would whistle their number if anyone asked for it.

That also came in handy in police and government work.
Didn't even had to bother the phone company if you needed a suspect number. Just listen, or listen to the tape.

Way to ruin the fun for law enforcement and suspicious spouses. Some lawyer must have caught on.


But I am glad about the versatile new phones.

Lady went to visit daughter up North. She texts she is now at the STL airport waiting as stand-by passenger and I need to know when and where to pick her up and my phone dies. No landline.
Weather is threatening and I don't know if flight will even leave, but I have to leave if it all works.

I am brought back to the days of no communications on the way. Old cell phones won't work except to call 911. She wonders why I won't answer.
An hour's charge doesn't resuscitate phone and I have to check if I need a new phone. She's hoping she won't have to try to give CPR when she gets home.
Isn't it nice to listen to the radio on the way without interruptions?
Only if it's all going well.
She made it, I made it, if late, and when I got home the phone had revived. All is well when it ends well.

Not as good a story as Olga, but you have to consider the source. Weather is threatening again and no need to bore you further.

Folks,

At 10 AM the temp here is 79°F. with 90% humidity. A 5 mph breeze is coming from the NE. Skies are overcast and we expect the high to be 83°F. today with rain likely.

Fittop:
I am still stunned to read anyone write the words "not as good as Olga". I bet Dux is wearing his surprised look as well. I've just never known anyone to put those particular words together in that way in the same sentence.

I dated a girl who worked for the phone company as well. She broke up with me one Friday night and 3 more girlfriends later, after my Mustang had been wrecked by a garbage truck that was driving along at twilight without its headlights on she called me "just to let me know she was sorry about my car and to check on me. She spent several months trying to get me back. Unfortunately for her, I had met the girl I would marry and spend 40 years with by then.

I modified my early phones as well. I must have spent a small fortune on telephone wire at (copper was cheaper back then)Radio Shack. I also used that and TV cable to make long-wire radio antennas. Speaking of wire: What a tangled mess one of those old rotary phone cords could get into. Those coiled stretchable cords were worth whatever we paid for them. It was not unusual at our house to find one of those cords stretched straight and running out the door on many occasions.

Somehow I overlooked the cordless variety of phones. That was a nice innovation. Many were the time I returned from one of my long walks to find my late wife sitting on the steps of the breezeway phone in one hand and a newly lit cigarette in the other. She was nearly always talking to her younger sister. That is a very strong memory of her.

The best of the new phones are great but in at least one way no better than the older ones. When I finally gave up on both the national "Do not call" list and the carrier blocking unwanted calls. I installed a terrific app that blocks calls from a black list, any unidentified caller, or anyone not listed in my contacts list. It can also be set to stop SMS and unwanted MMS messages and return a discouraging message of my choice. I have tried more than one app and settled on the one I use now.. If concerned I'll miss a wanted call (none so far in over a year) I can get a notification of a blocked call. No more night time calls from unknown voices asking me to buy electric diapers or chopsticks for Siamese cats. For 3rd party stuff like that blocker, the new phones are much better than the old ones.

Yeah, I was unaware I was renting my phones back then. When I got a stronger magnifying glass and scrutinized the 6pt. type of my bill and I uncovered that secret I took their phones back and bought my phones. They sadly warned me that if I did that and something went terribly wrong I would have to pay for service. I felt I could risk my teenage boy missing a phone call. Back then, phones were so dependable Maytag envied them. Remember those ubiquitous Maytag TV commercials featuring the much-seen movie and TV character actor Jesse White? "Maytag is so darn dependable". I never had any problem with any rotary phone I bought.

Folks,

Good morning. Truly wish you that, although it's not a shiny morning here.

I partied in my attic last night. I must have since I was cleaning up rain water that somehow comes in through the water heater vent. Thankfully it is mostly all contained in the heater's pan.
The gallon and a half I sponged up this morning was mostly due to the 4 and a half inches of rain that fell last evening and night. All in less than eleven hours.

The wind and lighting didn't help a over-two-foot diameter tree though that blocked the hot southern and westerly sun from hitting the house..
Half of the tree is presently laying in my yard and not blocking the alley or hurting anyone else.
But it does need to be cleaned up. The still-standing part now needs to be cut down before it also falls and hurts someone or roof and house.

The failure cause was not as previously thought, fat Texas-sized squirrels.
It is now obvious that it rotted from the inside.

It does however cancel a planned trip to see a friend to Ashville, NC that has become the proud new owner of a SR-22 Cirrus.
I had wanted to see him and family and hoped for a ride in his airplane.

But I'll stay out of trouble making calls to able craftsmen. I will be doing my part to keep the USA working.
Ooops, add a garage door repairman to the list of calls tomorrow. That's acting up too.
And I thought "Keep the shiny side up" only applied to flying.