Look what we woke up to on the 21st of May:
Things are abnormally cold and wet around here – most snow in May since 1975.
The More Things Change…
I continue following SBIRS, the career-long space program I worked on while employed with Lockheed and the Air Force on-and-off for 34 years. Looks like it’s raising eyebrows at the highest levels once again. A recent article from C4ISRNET covers it pretty well:
“The missile warning mission in space is tricky. The program’s predecessor, SBIRS, faced significant cost growth over the years. According to an April 3 Government Accountability Office report, the SBIRS program grew by $19.9 billion, or 265 percent, over initial estimates. Furthermore, the first satellite launch was delayed by roughly nine years and the fifth and sixth satellites, which are slated for launches in 2021 and 2022 respectively, are at risk of delay. At $1.6 billion, the Air Force’s 2020 budget request for SBIRS is double what Congress approved last year.”
David vs. Goliath, sorta Literally
Had a great time racing the Bimmer down at High Plains Diesel Shootout in Pueblo yesterday. They have a really nice motor-sports park with just about everything you could ask for in the off-road wheelin’ fun category – dragstrip, road course, HUGE dirt track and a dyno. The car ran well, consistently posting mid-13s on street tires fighting traction control for 100′ off the line. Won 3 of 4 runs, coming close to the money, posting the 2nd fastest time (13.44) in their “True Street” class. The winner was almost a full second faster than everyone else, but that’s how it goes with heads-up racing. It would be good in a bracket with traction control, but I was greedy, going for the big purse.
I decided against getting on the dyno after watching the guy running it almost drop a truck off the loading ramps. Bimmer was the only car-type vehicle competing and raised alot of eyebrows. People kept asking stuff like “what’s in that thing?” and “Is that really a diesel?” This confirms what I knew ever since finishing the upgrades – she is a beast. It will easily be into the 12’s with slicks or drag radials, traction control off and somebody who knows how to launch it.
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Goldie's Winter is Over
They moved out to the pond 3 days ago.Seems like early May is going to be the time-frame for that. I had it ready mid-April, but it took about 3 weeks to get warmed up enough for the fish to be moved. It’s really satisfying to see how happy they are to be back outside. That 120-long tank is 5 feet across. The biggest of these guys is now 6 years old and about a foot long tip-to-tail, with only 4 of the original 10 remaining.
Pups on Duty
It was cold and rainy last week, but the pups kept busy, with Jax watching for squirrels and Anna working on her shoes.
Another School Shooting
I waited a couple days to see what the media response was going to be and as expected, we are being treated to another ongoing round of sensationalized grief and gun control nonsense. Go ahead – get me wrong. We need to recognize the simple fact that people are the problem – not guns. I’m thoroughly convinced it’s all down to parenting. People need to stop producing fucked-up kids. Fucked-up kids grow up to be fucked-up adults and they are liable to do really stupid, fucked-up shyt at any point along the way. Call me Captain Obvious, but I was one, who managed to transition into a semblance of normalcy. Some obviously don’t.
Wingter is Almost Over!
As much as I like the spring and fall seasons for their mild temps and lack of insects, we don’t get enough. They are typically less of a “season” in the normal sense of the word around here. Spring and Fall are short periods of maybe a month at most where we transition from cold to hot and all their accompanying niceties. Looks like today will be the last blast of wingter before we can get on with good weather for the next 7-to-8 months.
It’s not unheard of to see snowflakes here in June, but I’ll wager against that this year. Fallter usually rolls through around early December.
Trump Woke the Sheeple
How did Randall Munroe see this coming so many years ago?
Scientology Meets Karma
The anti-vaxxer movement has got to be about over by now. At least one sub-group in that collection of morons is getting a good taste of their own medicine. What’s it take to get people to observe their surroundings in one or another forms of objective reality? I bet a couple weeks on a cruise ship with a good case of the measles might do it. Too bad it’s only affecting around 300 of these idiots. Returning to home port the following day, they learned their quarantine will be maintained there as well. And don’t forget the random morons around the country like this. Ever wonder what anasognocia looks like? Maybe not that serious – just a little cognitive dissonance?
The Playing Field is Leveling
It took three generations, and I cannot believe I’m still putting this stuff under the Politics category. But that’s the way it goes when religious nutbags and greedy capitalists get together to run a country. it’s too late for the millions of people (almost half a million DEAD in the U.S. alone since 1999) with lives ruined or lost at the hands of these bastards.
Then look at the other side of the same coin with another few million in prison or otherwise unfairly subjected to collateral damage in the war on drugs. What was the long-term plan? Keep the dopers in the closet and the stoners in jail? Jesus-H-Fucking Christ.
All that’s really needed now is to free the finances. Since when was money not the “big thing” behind any controversy? Then it’s time to put that gang of fuckwits known as the Sacklers in jail. Business dishonesty is de-rigeur. But the old caveat-emptor concept doesn’t cut it when people conspire to profit from evil. The cocksuckers were selling addiction and death to anyone able to pay.
Cranky Old Man
Never thought I’d get to a position, where I can just say and do pretty much as I please, without fear of reprisal. It’s probably one of the few benefits of getting older, which most agree, generally sucks. Last month I went on an Air Force Magazine publishing wake-up crusade. Before that it was the electric utility pricing scam. This month I finally got fed up with yet another Colorado government agency and gave them a heads up. I just sent this to every Colorado representative and senator:
Full text here. Curious to see what, if any response I get. I imagine an inbox full of automatically-generated replies will be the extent of it. Congratulations Colorado! We somehow managed to come up with a program that wastes both tax revenue AND consumer dollars at the same time.
First Squirrel 2019
The funny thing here is Anna doesn’t seem to care about the squirrel – she just wants to play with Jax! He was enjoying the squirrels more before the bird feeder anti-squirrel device got installed this year. I was picking off around 10-15 a year with the air rifle to keep them under control before. Then Jax would proudly retrieve the downed vermin and carry them out to the creek for disposal. I might get him 1 or 2 over the course of the summer if they don’t learn to just stay away.
Pond V6
The pond finally got off to a good start on schedule this year for a change. Forming that liner like I did over the past few years was an arduous, problematic process that eventually paid off. It’s been a textbook example of the project that became too big to fail. We’ve got this big hole framed in nice stonework that can be used for the one purpose only, so it had to work, one way or another.
I started re-coating the liner as soon as it was dry after shutdown last fall. That began with a thick, 2-coat underlayment of fibered roof coating. That stuff literally almost never dries. The manufacturer instructs to use only on flat or gently sloping roofs and to not top coat it for 3-4 months, so that’s what I did. The top coat was 5 more layers of truck bed liner, followed by a finish layer of 2-part epoxy Pond Shield. The Pond Shield cures to a medium-hard plastic-type material. This fall I will begin repeating that process to include the sump, just for good measure. Next spring should mark the end of OTA (operational test acceptance).
A good thing learned from the early start this spring was freezing behavior. We had one night dip down into the low 20s a few days after it was filled and running. It froze the entire surface about an eighth-inch thick in just one night. That means 365 ops are out of the question. It would be liable to freeze a foot thick and crack the reinforced concrete surround. Glad I learned that before it was too late.
Guard Dogs
They keep a close eye on Michelle whenever she’s around. Probably because she’s the only one who takes them on long walks these days. I’m getting better, but still limited to an hour on my feet before orthopedic issues force me to rest.
Stability Control
This was as good as it gets in terms of stability control, back in the day when automotive electronics seemed to cause more problems than they solved. 1st Gen Dodge Cummins pickup steering was good for what it was – over-boosted, vague, light and sensitive – great in a new truck on smooth pavement! Put big tires on one with all that weight up front and it gets pretty busy on less-than-perfect road surfaces. I replaced the steering coupler/shaft with an aftermarket upgrade within a year of owning this truck, due to the poor coupler design’s tendency to wear prematurely. It was fine after that, just that old-school over-boosted feel typical in hydraulic steering gears of the time. This is just what the truck doctor ordered to make it feel much better:
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They sold aftermarket kits, one of which I got used from a forum member. But it was a single, and I suspect it was already worn out before I installed it along with the steering shaft upgrade. Did not notice any difference when I took it off and noticed a BIG difference with the new model. It feels a bit heavier and tracks much easier without constant correction like before. That passenger-side bracket was tricky. Took probably over 10 trips up and down getting it mocked up. I was actually glad the weather had changed by the time I was done yesterday. Mother nature gave me a much-needed break!
Sometimes People Need a Harsh Wake-Up
I became disappointed with the AF Magazine editors a couple years ago after they stopped posting full-sized, high-res graphics in the newsletter. It makes no sense, even considering the stock explanation given below. I commented on the web response page a few times, to no avail. So a couple weeks ago I finally became fed up with it and decided to get aggressive. At least I got somebody’s attention. I intended to continue forwarding the original complaint (bottom) with a new insult for every graphic in the newsletter they continued to mis-link. Still not confident anything will get done, but I’ll find Amy’s boss and a couple more higher-ups and add some more addresses to re-start this in the future, if necessary. Scroll to the bottom of the message chain and read-up to see how it took less than 2 weeks to get it done.
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 11:32:06 -0600
Subject: Re: Response to Daily Report comments
From: Paul <acewiza@gmail.com>
To: Amy McCullough <AMcCullough@afa.org>
Thanks for the response, Amy – I imagined my email address was in the spam filter by now. As a big fan of all things aerospace, I believe the biggest disservice in this situation is to the hard-working airmen out in the field taking those pictures. They deserve to have their work displayed prominently and correctly. I’ll stop harassing you about it, now that I believe someone who cares is aware of it.
v/r
On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 10:03 AM Amy McCullough <AMcCullough@afa.org> wrote:
Sir,
I do apologize for the low-resolution graphics on the website. We are extremely limited by our current technology, but we are in the middle of a complete revamp of our website/email blast, which will include a completely new CMS system. Once that launches, which won’t be for about six more months, we will be able to post beautiful high-resolution pictures. However, as of now, we are losing capability on a daily basis because our CMS system is no longer supported. I would really appreciate you bearing with us while we go through this upgrade process. We are aware that our existing technology is less than ideal. It is something we take very seriously and we are doing everything we can to get it right, but it takes time.
Sincerely,
Amy McCullough
News Editor
Air Force Magazine
1501 Lee Highway
Arlington, Va., 22209
703-247-5805
From:* Paul <acewiza@gmail.com>
Sent:* Monday, April 1, 2019 9:14 AM
To:* membership <membership@afa.org>
Subject:* Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
Is that a B-1 on the April 1 Daily Report? Hard to tell from that tiny little pic provided.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 29, 2019 at 7:14 AM
Subject: Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
Is that a nice nightshot of a B1 refueling on the 29 March Daily Report? Hard to tell when you can’t see much on that lowres thumbnail you posted.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 7:54 AM
Subject: Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
Hey – nice shot of the AEHF launch on the 17th! Too bad your readers can’t see it very well on the crappy, low-res pic you posted to the Daily Report today.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 8:21 AM
Subject: Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
So today, AF News treated us to a lowres shot of Gen. Raymond. They even linked it to the same lowres graphic in the story. Isn’t that special!? More like specially retarded.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 26, 2019 at 7:43 AM
Subject: Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
Still no-go on the Daily Report Graphics. Looks like a nice shot of some F-35s on the ramp, but hard to tell for sure. Here’s a few suggestions for webmaster study and course work:
https://www.ed2go.com/courses/computer-programming/programming-classes/ctp/webmaster
https://study.com/what_training_do_you_need_for_a_webmaster.html
https://www.google.com/webmasters/learn/
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 25, 2019 at 7:23 AM
Subject: Fwd: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
WRT the 25 MAR Daily Report, when I clicked on the lead story graphic it took me to a copy of the same low-res crappy graphic file displayed on the web page. So I just clicked delete and ignored the rest.
———- Forwarded message ———
From: *Paul* <acewiza@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 18, 2019 at 6:56 AM
Subject: What is wrong with you Idiots?
To: membership <membership@afa.org>
What newsletter posts a graphic with a link to the same low-res, crappy file seen in the post? Answer: AF Magazine! In reference to your leading photo in the 18 March newsletter: The fact that (whoever your webmaster is) takes the time to link the picture, only exposes what idiots you people are. You’ve been doing this for years now and I cannot figure out why. It’s either plain stupidity or pure, shitty imaginary greed. Both?
I always believed it true to not blame malice for what can be explained by stupidity. Now I wonder.
v/r
Paul D. Shaffer, MSgt, USAF (ret.)