BaG Day gun 2012

Well, I made a BaG Day purchase but have not put it all together yet. This year I actually had funds to make a purchase and plans to get a gun that is something I have wanted for a while. Pictures will come once it is all together.
I've wanted a long range rifle without actually getting a custom rig built so, I consulted with a friend from Rifles Only Inc. and he and I came up with a pretty cool package. Start with a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD. Man that's a mouthful. Top that with Badger Ordnance  mount base and rings holding a Bushnell Elite Tactical Mil-Dot scope and a Harris Bipod.

All was going well until I realized I had ordered the 30mm rings instead of 34mm rings. So, short delay in putting it all together. Pictures will follow once I have it all together in picturable form. So, now I wait on the 34mm Rings and shipping the 30mm Rings back or selling them to a friend or deciding to keep them and use them on another rifle. They're just so massive and cool, it is hard to think about getting rid of them. However, I don't have another rifle worthy of them or the optics they would hold.

Chasing the Dream

So, the majority of testing we do here at the wind tunnel is customer proprietary so we cannot talk about it.  Well, the last few months we have been beating ourselves with a major project and now it is public. We have been working on Sierra Nevada Corp's The Dream Chaser. This has been quite the undertaking with Texas A&M faculty, staff, graduate students and undergrad student workers all contributing to making this test a big success. The students involved in this have made major contributions in helping with this project from beginning to end and until now have not been able to talk about the really cool stuff they got to do. Never underestimate the ability of students. they can and do do some pretty incredible work and I very much enjoy and appreciate working with them. They know who they are.

Alone, Cold and in the Rain

So, I posted earlier about letting the smoke out of our main drive motor 2 weeks before we had scheduled to replace it. I called Utilities and Energy management here on campus and asked them to come disconnect incoming power to the motor so we could start demolition. We went through a round of "are you sure? really? really sure?" questions and followed up with written confirmation that we are never going to run this motor again. They sent out a crew to disconnect and lock out incoming power.
As soon as they guys got here, it started to rain and get cooler as a cold front started through. Hence the title of the post, this motor that has given 60+ years of service to the Texas A&M University Low Speed Wind Tunnel after being surplussed from the US Navy, has finally met it's end.

Alone, Cold and in the Rain.

Magic Smoke

Most folks who work in electronics and or electro-mechanical systems know that everything runs on magic smoke. Once you let the smoke out, things stop working. Here at work we are prepping for replacement of the main drive motor. That is supposed to start in two and a half weeks.

Well, it starts now. Yesterday we let the magic smoke out of the bearings of the main drive system. Actually, the bearings came apart and that burned oil and that let out the magic smoke. This bearing is supposed to be smooth but it has shredded. Things went down hill quickly.

Not to mention the spacious work area. Trashed one set of clothes with the grease leftover inside the housing. Not to mention all the shavings of babbit that were floating all over with the oil smoke.

Whheeeeeeee.....................................

R.I.P., Jonathon Frid

Jonathon Frid, who portrayed Barnabas Collins in the original Dark Shadows has passed away.

I was going to make a snarky comment that he must have seen the trailers for the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp reboot, but then I read that he has a cameo in it.

BaG day purchase

Well, technical difficulties prohibit me from posting pictures at the moment. Will have to wait. First a story that starts with, last year my Mom passed. We're not rich but there would be some inheritance, if you knew our family you would understand that when we went on family vacations, we would never had gotten there if not for Dad and we never would have had fun getting there if not for Mom. She was a firm believer in feeding your whimsey on occasion. So, part of inheriting is the condition that goes with honoring the passed. That meant using the inheritance to pay bills and get things fixed around the house but keeping a little back for something fun. So, I set some aside for a new gun fund for something I would normally not spend that kind of money on. Then last month I took ill and spent some time in the local hospital and underwent all sorts of poking and prodding. Well, each person or group that does the prodding gets their own cut of the bill and we got hit with a series of bills and are still getting them. Just so happened that the amount was pretty much what I had set aside. So, the funds got sent to the hospital and various specialists and diagnostics companies.
Then misbeHaven steps in and informs me that I will be buying that gun. If we had to put other things on hold for a time so be it but I was going to get the gun I had been planning. Have I said lately how much I love my wife?
So, I called around after one gun store had been looking for the particular one for a while with no success and found a shop about an hour and a half away that had one on the shelf. The woman I spoke to said come at noon as that is a slow time and would be able to get the attention needed. So, I made the drive. Walked in and the first salesman I came across was busty with someone else as were all the sales people. If this was slow, I wouldn't want to be there when they were busy. Anyhow, the salesman asked if I was just looking or looking for something in particular. So I told him I had called yesterday and was told they had what I wanted on the shelf. I said," I'm here to get a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD M O U S E R E S P E C T." He responded by turning and pointing at the rack behind him and replied, "Oh, that's right he...... wait, A WHAT?" After it sunk in, he pulled the rifle off the rack and handed it to me then finished with the customer that he was helping. In between steps helping the current customer he asked if that was really it and I told him, "Yup I'll take it." so he reached for a 4473 and said, "You're easy, now you need to fill this out and we'll get a check started." So, I dropped my CHL on the counter and replied, "Don't bother wrapping it, I'll wear it." You may get the idea now that I am a bit of a smart ass but the guy was having fun with it and so was I. Anyway, we finally got into the deal, the salesman went into teh back room and not only did they have the one on the shelf but had two more on the shelf in back in their boxes. Being the salesman, he asked about optics and such and I explained, I already had Badger mount and rings on order and a Bushnell Elite Tactical scope to go on it.
Since this is uncharted territory for me, I talked to my friend and neighbor who teaches at Rifles Only and we put together a beginners package that will fill the bill for my purposes. His professional opinion was that I could put this together to get the most bang for the buck and do everything I had wanted and more. And since I already have .308's and reloading setups for it as well I would be able to tweak as much as I liked without any additional setup needed.
When I have it all together I will get pictures. I already took shots of the bare rifle to add to the gun inventory database and put all that information in but need to get the finished ensemble together and take finished pictures. Then it is off to the range for break in, sight in / dope gathering and some serious learnin from the student side instead of as the instructor.

Medium Voltage Fun

So, some of you may think 15KV is High Voltage but in reality it is really Medium Voltage. This morning was all about lifting a 15KV 2400KVAR capacitor bank and a four place 15KV / 1250 Amp Trayer Switch into place All this is to control / feed a 15KV / 4160V step down transformer that will end up powering a 3000HP induction motor and variable frequency drive to power the main propeller of our wind tunnel. This will be quite the upgrade from the WW2 surplus 1000HP synchronous motor we are currently using. The existing was surplus when it was sent here and it has served well past it's expected lifetime. It is now past due for retirement. Add to that the ancient transformers that are in the low right corner of the picture. That is the original gear installed to power the tunnel and the crews that care for the power distribution here at the University are more than happy to see it all go away.

Act of Valor - from a different perspective

Yes, I know I'm way behind the curve here, but sometimes I have to chew on a thought for a while before I'm ready to spit it out... and I've been chewing on several reviews of this movie, plus my own thoughts on it. I've read close to a dozen reviews, and most of them were from folks who either served or married into the military, or grew up as military brats. I am none of the above. My dad and older brother both served, so I was raised to respect the military, but I was never exposed to the life directly. Thus, a different perspective.

Others have remarked on the acting skills or lack thereof, the gun-handling skills, the cool toys... er... gear, the Hollywoodized tarted-up effects, the action sequences, the "OMG, Propaganda!", the errors or deviations from "the way it's really done", the plot or lack thereof, the awesomeness of "shooting tangos in the face", etc. Yeah, I noticed that (or some of it), and to everything but the cool and the awesome, I say, "yeah, so what?". The cool and the awesome I appreciate. But what really grabbed me was the real.

1. These are men. Intelligent, competent, able men, comfortable in their own skins, doing a difficult and dangerous job, and doing it well, with no fuss. Not pretty boys. Not metrosexuals. And not swaggering, arrogant Hollywood-version "manly men". Real Men. One of the criticisms I read was that we don't see the "characters'" back stories. Horse hockey. Back stories are for "becoming" stories: coming-of-age or becoming-the-hero tales. These guys aren't "becoming" anything, they ARE. Likewise, there's none of the angst or soul-searching that Hollywood likes so well because the angsty ones and soul-searchers never made it through the SEAL training.

These men love their families, their fellow team members, their fellow man and their country, deeply, whole-heartedly and unapologetically. There's a campfire scene early on in which the SEALs are told to make sure their family life is in order before they leave, because once they're on the mission, they can't be distracted by whatever's going on back home. The subtext of the following and later scenes implies that they have all done so - that they have done all they can to see that their families are well and taken care of. These men aren't just dedicated to being the best warriors they can be; they're dedicated, period. We need more of them.
The campfire scene also speaks to the lack of back stories or cut-aways to what's happening at home: this movie is about being present, fully, in the moment. It's good advice for the audience as well... leave everything else outside the theater and just be present in the moment.

2. The women are women. Intelligent, competent, able, women, comfortable in their own skins, doing a difficult job, and doing it well, with no fuss. This is mostly in the subtext, so Hollywood probably missed it. A couple of women are in on the action, but I'm speaking of the wives, who have the difficult job of loving and supporting a warrior, and "holding down the fort" while he's off to war. If man hath no greater love than that he lay down his life for... whomever, then woman hath no greater love than that she give her love and support to a man who would do so, knowing what the price might be. It takes a strong woman to watch her man go to war, knowing that he might not come back, and moreover, to do so as calmly and resolutely as he goes, to give him comfort in the sure and certain knowledge that she will take care of the homefront in his absence. It takes a strong woman to be proud of her husband and support what he stood for, even as she grieves his death, and to teach her children to be proud of their father and the path he chose, even though that path took him away from them. We need more women like that.

This is not to say that either the SEALs in this movie or their wives are perfect; they're not. They're human. I'm sure they all have their flaws, and plenty of less-than-stellar moments... moments that Hollywood would love to showcase, to drag them down to the level of the rest of us. But those moments aren't the ones that matter. As a favorite song of mine goes, "we are the choices that we make when the chips are down". This movie is about the moments that matter, the choices that heroes (and their wives) make when it's time to step up.

3. I don't watch war movies, usually; they're not my thing. I wanted to see this movie mostly to say "in your face, Hollywood!" I hoped (and still do) that it makes a crap-ton of money at the box office and another crap-ton in DVD sales, and I was willing to put my money where my hopes are. I wasn't expecting to like it. And I certainly wasn't expecting to walk away from it asking myself the question "Am I living my life in such a way as to be worthy of the price they pay for it?"

Act of Valor

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

The Hollywood and media elite hate this movie. Mainly because it shows the men and women who are willing to bravely put their lives on the line to protect us and our way of life. Hollywood is more than happy to exploit war movies if it shows the US Military as an aggressor stomping on the little people who just want to be free or depicts soldiers as blood thirsty nut jobs who are unstable and just looking for an excuse to kill. This movie will not win any Academy Awards, Emmy's, Golden Globes or other accolades. About the best revenge would be if this movie makes a metric crap ton of money at the box office. That would be fantastic if the people show that they are willing to support such a movie and will do so with their pocket books.


What the hell happened to Hollywood? There was a time when big actors put their career on hold to serve, studios made pictures showing what our forces REALLY did not what the goobers now imagine they think these brave men and women really do.

I will also say, take tissues with you. If you do not cry at the end of this movie, you have no soul. I have been on the receiving end. I have been forward air control for flyovers multiple times, see the header photo. Each and every time it brings home that people are willing to go into harms way to protect us and our way of life and they are willing to risk all for us. You know, that means that Occutard goobers can have to right to peaceably assemble and show how much of a bunch of retards they are. Or that Hollywood has the right to make movies that shit all over the brave souls who have died to insure they have the right to say what they want even if they are wrong.

Enough ranting for now.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Take a friend or two.

Quote of the Century - Greg Hamilton

I have met and trained with Greg and John and the rest of the crew at InSights. Good Guys All! In this case, Greg hits one not just out of the park but out of the county.

Ok facebook friends we have to get some shit straight.

If you are an atheist then the Koran is fiction, if you are Christian it's either fiction or worse, the work or Satan, if Jewish well I don't know, you probably think something like the Christian, and if Muslim, ....oh yeah I don't have Muslim friends.... Well whatever you believe, unless you are Muslim the koran is NOT holy or sacred, it is a FALSE book, about a FALSE religion, by a FALSE prophet of a FALSE god. Everybody have that straight?

We publicly fund shit like "Piss Christ" and the same Americans who protest to protect it are mad about a fucking Koran?

Today should officially be "go buy a Koran, put it on the barbecue, and cook some fucking pork chops and bacon with it" day.

It's called a fucking war, if you don't like it feel free to castrate yourself and all the males in your genetic line, convert to Islam, and let the savages breed with your women.

Oh, one more thing, unless you are a follower of Islam quit calling that boy-buggering pedophile Mohammad a damn prophet! Wether you are atheist, Christian or Jewish he CAN'T be a prophet. He is either a wack-job like L.Ron who made some shit up or he is the minion of the Devil.

Rant not even close to being off.

Todays Special Guest & Random Aircraft Sighting

Today's visitor would be the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Much hoopla for his arrival for something on campus. Not really sure what but interesting arrival none the less.

Something I found interesting was after his formal arrival and reception, while the vehicles were already loaded and waiting for him, he took the time out to get out and greet each of the Ross Volunteers Honor Guard that greeted him. That right there is a sure sign of class and distinction in my book.
And his ride would be a .MIL version of the Gulfstream G5.

Book Bomb Callout (Bracken Sends)

Matt Bracken (Author of the Enemies series of books) is going to release the first book "Enemies Foreign and Domestic on the Amazon for Kindle FREE section in seven days or so. He is wanting to get a movement going to spike the downloads of this book. So, for the half dozen regulars who read this, stop by and keep up with Matt and when it happens, download the book. After all, first it is a good read, second it's FREE. Read it then see if you want to maybe support the author by actually buying the books. I highly recommend them.

Idiot Gun Owner of the Day

The BMW driver who brought their car in for service last.

My boss just got back to the tunnel after taking his car in for service and informed me that evidently loaner cars from BMW now come with a free gun. He got in the loaner assigned to him and opened the center console to put stuff away and there was a loaded revolver sitting there. He went back inside to tell the service counter folks and their reaction was, "Oh Mrs. Soandso must have forgot her gun." Now first it is interesting that there was no panic and the staff handled it without freaking out. Second, that they knew who it was that left the gun in the loner car is a bit scary to me.


Second honorable mention to this was one of the lead stories on the news this morning was that a moron filling his car up with gas at a local station was, "rearranging items in his back seat when a gun there went off striking him in the leg." The police spokeslady said it was unknown if the gun was legal or the legal status of the owner if he was allowed to have one. Boy did that get my blood pressure up to start the day. It wasn't until later in the story that more details or actually the lack of details came out. She also stated that the owner was unaware that the gun was in a condition to go off when he was rearranging things. He evidently drove himself or had a friend drive him to the ER where police were called. Now, that last bit calls everything into question about this story. Was he really at the gas station and the gun loose in the back seat or was he involved in something nefarious when he got hisself shot? That makes the legality of the persons possession of a firearm more of a question. However, they didn't know if the gun was legal? What, did it cross the border in search of work in El Norte?

Oh what a wicked web.........

So, the Iola TX VFD has some financial issues with some of their leadership. Nothing new there. I know. Now, the folks who called in the county to investigate have been booted from their positions in the department and the husband of one of the three charged and brother in law of the old chief who was charged and is a convicted cattle thief himself, has been elected to be the new asst chief of the department? WTF?! I know who is not getting a donation from us. Thank goodness there are neighboring departments who are all too willing to come in and help when there are fires because I certainly do not trust the department leadership with my safety or money. Unfortunately, I can't stop the ESD money that the county collects from going to them. I will have to have a chat with the board members of the ESD Board and see if they are at least trustworthy as they once were or if they are part of the in crowd doing these financial misdeeds.

What's wrong with this picture?

Every well-bred petty crook knows that the small, concealable guns go on the far left of the place setting. ;-)