patrick.net

All things in moderation.

"tell us how to convert a water heater into a “still” Mrs. Smartypants?"

DinOr,

Can't use the radiator from the old Buick on blocks in the front yard?

Oh, DinOR, I get it, Sorry it went right by me. You want to use your hot water heater as a still. Hmmm, I'll have to think about that. Can't you just stockpile alcohol, it would be easier?

I have a BB gun. I considered getting a shotgun when I saw a mountain lion in my drive way last year, but I’ve been too lazy to look into building a gun safe.

Yeah, I think a gun safe is important when you have young children. You can just get a pistol, which requires only a very small gun safe.

Peter P.,

You don't get to do that 'tcht-tcht' thing with a pistol. I think the 'tcht-tcht' noise is important in guns.

I like this. Real estate is local, right? Well of course, unless you are the NAR trying to polish turd-ish numbers to look nice for Bay Areans.
http://www.realtor.org/reinsights.nsf/pages/forecast?opendocument

39 straight years of real estate gains! (Well, not where you live, but if you lived averaged out...across the entire country, in every single state)

SFWoman,

"Can't you just stockpile alcohol"?

My good woman, what makes you think I haven't tried exactly that BEFORE!

Now what was that famous quote from Mark Twain.....?

IMHO we may be overstating the effectiveness of "brandishing" shootin' irons. Perhaps there was a time when rational thieves would be deterred by looking down the barrel of an "8 guage" but I fear those times have past.

My wife and daughters took like 3 years of martial arts and the instructor shared an article that said in effect a loaded weapon doesn't have the visual impact it once may have had. From REIC addicted intruders to jealous ex-boyfriends just showing them the cold blue steel isn't enough. You have to be ready to use it!

showing them the cold blue steel isn’t enough

This is why they make guns in stainless steel! Part of the SS appliance series. ;)

Once you take out that gun, there’s no going back. Just shoot first and ask question later. Any hesitation, you’ll just get killed.

I am trying to learn shooting (in order to improve focus). Any advice?

Do people regularly store/carry guns in condition 3 (loaded but unchambered) for safety? (In movies, don't they all rack the slide after drawing the weapon?) Just curious.

If you want to acquire true fire-fighting skills, there are private companies that teach you street gun fights and in-house gun fights, for $1000-3000.

Forget about carrying in the Bay Area. My home is quite safe (or is it?).

I just need to focus. I am a sagittarius, I need to shoot something. ;)

As you said (and pointed out by Art of War), the best strategy is to avoid confrontation (which I am actually very good at).

Absolutely.

RE: demolitions skills

Huh?

you know, explosives…

You mean destructive devices? I thought they are illegal for civilians.

My point (and it's real simple) is that crack addicted attackers/intruders don't use the same reasoning skills most of us do. How many times have we seen dash cam video clips of naked, bleeding and obviously disoriented people surrounded by armed law enforcement officers actually on THE ATTACK!

What more verification does any of us need?

Rick, please go prepare for your race war. Please.

DinOR Says:

> IMHO we may be overstating the effectiveness of
> “brandishing” shootin’ irons. Perhaps there was a
> time when rational thieves would be deterred by
> looking down the barrel of an “8 guage” but I fear
> those times have past.

Guns are not designed to “deter” criminals; they are designed to “kill” them…

> My wife and daughters took like 3 years of martial arts
> and the instructor shared an article that said in effect
> a loaded weapon doesn’t have the visual impact it once
> may have had. From REIC addicted intruders to jealous
> ex-boyfriends just showing them the cold blue steel isn’t
> enough. You have to be ready to use it!

Over the last 30 year I have studied Karate, Aikido and have also been involved with competitive trap, skeet and pistol shooting (5 years as a NRA slow fire pistol competitor).

I have never been in a fight (but have used a few Aikido locks on drunk stupid people), or ever been even close to using a gun for anything but target shooting.

What I have learned over the years is that you never want to play your cards (you never mention to an attacker that you have 30 years of martial arts training or a gun).

You should always try and “avoid” or “escape” from a bad situation, but if a guy breaks in to your home or has you cornered in an alley you should use your martial arts training or gun(s) to kill the guy…

depends on whose law you’re going by.

Whether you like it or not you must obey all local laws so long as you choose to live here.

Both Jesus and Socrates would agree with this.

"Guns are not designed to "deter" criminals"

Exactly. Go for "center of mass"! Better to be judged by 12, than carried by 6!

I had a buddy that worked the ER and he said they would get meth/crack addicts show up w/gun shot wounds, put them in a room and then come back to find they UP AND WALKED OUT! And you think "showing" this guy your piece is gonna slow him down? I don't think so!

lets not forget about the law of the jungle, baby.

I do not live in a jungle, thank you very much.

Anarchy is always short-lived and transitionary.

Exactly.

I always suspect that GC is my brother that I have never met.

I had a buddy that worked the ER and he said they would get meth/crack addicts show up w/gun shot wounds, put them in a room and then come back to find they UP AND WALKED OUT!

Okay, 45 ACP it is.

Rick, are you okay? Demolition skills, indeed...
(03-02) 11:46 PST Norco, Calif. (AP) --
More than 1 million rounds of ammunition, a cache of weapons and a tunnel were found inside a man's home after an explosive fire that forced a neighborhood evacuation, authorities said Friday....
Dozens of metal and cardboard boxes filled with ammunition for shotguns, small handguns and assault rifles recovered from the home sat in a driveway. Two of the assault rifles were illegal and the man had no permit for 75 pounds of black gunpowder that was found, Zamora said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/02/state/n105945S34.DTL

SR, I just found out on one of those PBS race specials that my wife's people were not considered "white" (and, hence, could be naturalized) until the early 1900's. Will my kids be allowed in your bunker or will I be forced to find shelter with the multiethnic Bay Aryans?

GC,

Agreed! My question to you then is just why do so many humans find anarchy so damn appealing? Is sex THAT much better during a revolution? Apparently..... it is!

My question to you then is just why do so many humans find anarchy so damn appealing?

Because they assume what they cannot have is always better.

The grass is always green on the other side on the other side of the fence.
The dish is always more delicious on the other side of the table.

What kind of sick fantasy is that?

can we have a Charles Bronson thread?

I just watched Raid On Entebbe not long ago. Amazing. That is how we should strike at the heart of terrorism!

MBA's?

peter, do people in real life tolerate these ridiculous fortune cookie anecdotes to rattle off incessantly?

Should I care?

EBGuy,

The Irish were listed separately from 'white' on South African forms until the 1980s.

Schmend,
With the Patriot Act I'd be extraordinarily careful about making jokes about explosives. I know someone who ended up with a living room full of FBI agents for a joke that was far, far less intimidating than your explosives quip. And remember, when it comes to terrorism, that old friend, habeas corpus isn't around to help you anymore.

they already know about me, and they know im kidding.

I hope they know about you. They should know as many people as possible.

Were you really kidding? I do hope so.

Schmend,

Are you on no-fly lists?

PAR,

I think lots of us on the board have advanced degrees, lots of Cal, Ivy and Stanford people. Smart people with no degrees who won't fill in bubbles as well. Overall, it's a smart group.

The markets not happy, I guess that's why we haven't our regular trolls coming on telling us how the BA can never fall because of the market.

Schmend,

Well, I've bested you there. I am on the no fly lists, but strangely for only three airlines. I have been working for a couple of years to clear this up, and may finally have done so with United, I'll find out in April.

I don't think it had anything to do with my SAT or GRE scores, however. I don't even think it had to do with the fact that I researched infectious disease virulence genes (and therefore could be used to produce WMDs). I also have a very, very WASPy name and look ultra WASPY. I think I ended up on it because people are stupid and unimaginative, and we can't gather intelligence properly in this country anymore (hence relying on the biased/politicised intelligence of foreign countries half the time).

I doubt that getting 95 percentile on a standardised test would get you on the FBI radar, because everybody I went to school with had scored at least that high, and a lot of my friends in the city did as well (that's how they ended up at the schools and jobs) and they all aren't on the lists.

Looks like there is a wealth of historic data (20 years back) for the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices at:
http://www.homeprice.standardandpoors.com./portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/2,3,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,3,1,0,0,0,0,0.html
Here are some hightlights from the SF Index (bear in mind this includes Alameda and Contra Costa Counties).
Data from the last bubble:
Peak: 75.15 June 1990
Low: 65.92 March 1996
If you bought at peak last time, nominal prices weren't above water until October 1997 (Index at 75.22). Yikes, seven years (!) of sliding down/sideways in nominal terms.

"and i don’t give a shit about your stupid friends, luckily I didn’t have to deal with any of those assholes until i hit college."

What is your problem? Why are you so angry? I am pointing out that most people I knew received high standardised test scores and are not on FBI watch or no-fly lists. CAT tests? I'm assuming the C is for California, we didn't have those in NY.

Do you have to deal with those people now?

Schmend,

Is the last reply to me? Faking what?

Oh, and everybody guessed that schmend was a NJ resident.

I am confused.

Should we have a "Huh 2.0" thread?

Peter P,

Can you recommend a restaurant in Napa that serves pasta? We're going to Napa this weekend for the marathon. My husband needs some carbs.

Can you recommend a restaurant in Napa that serves pasta? We’re going to Napa this weekend for the marathon. My husband needs some carbs.

I have not been to Napa many times. SFW probably knows a good restaurant there.

Last time, Bouchon (very close to French Laundry) was pretty good.

I don’t like the type of person you are

What type of person do you like? Do they actually exist or are they mythical.

Peter P,

I usually eat in Sonoma County or in Calistoga. There is a really nice restaurant in Calistoga (funny name, I'll have to look it up), but it isn't pasta. I'll ask a friend who does a lot of bike riding in Napa where he carbo loads.