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Post by Russ Koon on Feb 15, 2023 10:41:59 GMT -5
ms660, I know the feeling. We had a '74 Ford wagon with the 460 engine, and the wife informed me it was starting slowly and smelled funny, "like gas". That got my attention and I figured I better check it out right away, and since it was just after sundown at the time, I thought it would be a good time to check it for visible leaks and also any spark jumping that might be seen better than in the full daylight. So I had her come out in the driveway with me to crank it over while I watched.
Didn't take long! Looked like some sort of light show with sparks running every which way across the engine, and I could easily see a stream of gas being sprayed across the whole sparking mess! I was jumping back and yelling at her to stop and get out of the car IMMEDIATELY! Still amazed that the whole thing didn't go up. Next day I was out there looking at in daylight and saw what I expected to find as a cause for the light show, a bunch of old original plug wires. But the thing I hadn't expected was the gas spraying all over. The reason wasn't hard to find either, as there was a rubber section of the fuel line that made a sharp right angle turn just a few inches from the carb. Right where you'd think they would have put a metal line, Ford had put a about six inches of black rubber, which naturally aged and developed cracks on the stressed outside of the sharp bend, a prefect combination for spraying the entire top of the engine with fuel droplets.
Over the next few years, I noticed seeing several of the Fords and Mercurys either being towed away or sitting in a salvage yard with evidence of engine compartment fire being obvious as their probable cause for being there, and I saw another one as I was leaving home on a hunting trip and a late model Merc was sitting in the middle of road almost to the top of the hill approaching our driveway. A man in a suit was jumping out of the drivers seat and reaching for the hood latch, bare-handed! I could see the heatwaves coming off the hood but it was too late to warn him as he had already grabbed it before I could get my truck stopped. He jumped back with nothing but a very uncomfortable burn on his hand, and his wife quickly got out of the front seat as well.
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Post by Russ Koon on Feb 10, 2023 6:51:08 GMT -5
Hmmm, maybe a long shot, but seems to me I read about a truck with similar symptoms that ended up just having a fuel cap that was partially plugged. It was only restricting the fuel supply under higher load conditions, and the tank pressure would return to normal gradually when the truck was at rest for a day or so. Not enough vacuum to show up in testing under normal conditions, but slowed the flow when it was needed most, and it had been overlooked by several good mechanics, too.
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Post by Russ Koon on Dec 25, 2022 10:41:32 GMT -5
My favorite philosopher...."There is no distinctively American criminal class except the Congress."
'
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Post by Russ Koon on Oct 29, 2022 9:35:31 GMT -5
Erik Gerhardt is also in the race. His info as provided by is campaign sounds like he has the opinions most commonly associated with the Libertarian Party, as would be expected as he is our candidate. I agree with most of those positions and would be voting for him if I were a resident there.
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Post by Russ Koon on Aug 30, 2022 23:59:10 GMT -5
Retired toolmaker, 32 years at GM (Allison) in Indy. It was a great job, but I took an early retirement when GM sold the plant I was in, and never regretted it.
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Post by Russ Koon on Aug 22, 2022 18:08:10 GMT -5
I was surprised in the other direction. Didn't think the feds could do anything for less than a billion.
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Post by Russ Koon on Aug 10, 2022 17:34:17 GMT -5
hmm... Really hadn't thought about until I saw this thread. Not counting the two antiques I'm just keeping for sentimental value, my wood-stocked guns are just my very rarely used 1022T, and long-time squirrel gun Marlin 39. And lately I've been more often about replacing it with a Ruger Charger for squirrels. The Chargers were originally offered in wood stocks, but I think they're all in plastic now, and that would be my preference anyway.
I knew the wood laminates had long ago been replaced in my bow limbs, but thought I still had a couple of thin slivers on the sides of my risers, but wasn't sure. Checked it just now and nope, just some plastic that loo. If I remember correctly, my No-Cam came out with a wooden grip, but my buddy who was the original owner replaced it with the slimmer accessory grips and I agreed with that choice and kept them.
Liked the looks of a nice wood stock or grips, but in practical use, can't say I miss them.
Always liked the looks and feel of leather boots, too, but not sure there is any leather in my last few pairs. I know there was none visible. Haven't really missed the natural ingredients there either.
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Post by Russ Koon on Jul 18, 2022 19:21:57 GMT -5
Hmm, well, maybe, greghopper. Or he might be trashed like John McCain, or dissed as a "loser" like Bob Dole.
Wouldn't bet on the response of our last pres on anything. I agreed with most of his policy measures,too, but still think he may turn out to be the man who sank the Republican Party. IMO, he already has harmed it more than Nixon.
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Post by Russ Koon on Jun 17, 2022 0:00:02 GMT -5
Not having one on saved my life once. I was a back seat passenger in a full sized Chevy with two coworkers in the front seat and we were just a few minutes into our trip home after our night shift ended. We had stopped at a stop light and I had already scooted forward on the back seat to rest my head on the upper seatback for my usual twenty minute "nap".
We were rear-ended by a guy in a VW beetle who had apparently also begun a nap while at the wheel, as there was no sound of screeching tires and no black skid marks leading to the collision. The impact was squarely into back of my co-workers 2 year old Chevy and totalled it.
I was thrown forward hard enough that it broke my nose when my face hit the back of the drivers seat, but we were otherwise uninjured. I'm pretty sure that had I been sitting erect in the seat as I would have been if strapped in, my neck would have been snapped.
As it was it took me a minute to gather my thoughts and check with the front seat passengers to see if they were OK, and get out and walk back to the VW to check on the guy who hit us. He was still sitting upright in the drivers seat but as I opened the driver door to check on him, I noticed that the wheel rim was no longer in its place at the end of the steering column, but was rocking slightly left and right while hanging over the steering column, and as I looked again at the driver, who appeared initially to be OK, I could see that he was taking very short, raspy breaths, and I could see that there was a crease across his shirt front marking where the wheel had center-punched his chest. And the next breath he took had a ragged nature that I'd heard enough times in the woods to know it was likely his last.
Partly because of that experience, I was also slow to buckle up, but eventually I gave in to the evidence that even though there were some exceptions to the rule, I would be safer to buckle up. I admit I was still not very reliably buckled in until most of my driving was done in cars with the aggravating beepers. I know I could defeat them, but it seems like more trouble than I care to do make life a little riskier than it already is.
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Post by Russ Koon on May 8, 2022 11:21:39 GMT -5
Yes, I was referencing the actual abortion pill, not the birth control pill. That pill could also be the subject of more discussion down the line, though. Last time I looked into them, the ones that were successful in the marketplace were a combination of ingredients that had BOTH contraceptive and abortifacient effects, so they could also be included in the discussion.
I was surprised to read just recently the degree to which the abortion pills had overtaken the other abortion methods already.
That factor makes the more likely result of an overturning of Roe being a surging market (or black market) for the smugglers and counterfeiters. Effective law enforcement would be extremely difficult. If we can only stop a low percentage of the trade of illegal hard drugs that are moved in quantities measured in bushels, I don't give LE much chance of stopping contraband that would fit in a package smaller than a AA battery.
I'm not arguing the morality of the use of any kinds of contraception or abortion, or the comparative rights of a woman to control her own body versus the rights of a zygote to continue to grow inside her. I'm only discussing the most likely results of any change in Roe on the actual people who may be affected directly by it. Fifty years ago when Roe was decided, the choices for the women affected were described as "safe and legal abortions" versus "coat hangers and back alley butchers". The alternatives appear to be much less dire now, for the women. Maybe more severe for the Whigs
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Post by Russ Koon on May 7, 2022 22:05:01 GMT -5
I doubt very much that the reversal of Roe will have a serious effect on the number of actual abortions.
More than half of them are currently done by taking pills, and that percentage will only be increased by any further restrictions. Making the pills illegal would probably make the anti's feel better, but would be pretty much impossible to enforce effectively, and would create a lucrative market for smugglers and counterfeiters, just as happened with making marijuana illegal, and with Prohibition.
The most serious effect of the struggle may well be the further loss of political strength of the "conservative" side, which has again managed to be out-maneuvered into a position of taking the side of the minority of the voting public. We will likely lose some congressmen that will be missed when the next battle over gun rights comes to the front of the political scrapping, or end up with even more ridiculous spending measures or immigration mistakes, because they were on the less popular side of the abortion battle. Snatching defeat from the laws of victory seems to be an honored tradition in the GOP. Damned shame, as I have always tended to agree with their positions on most issues and have voted for them until the last couple decades when I've gone mostly Libertarian.
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Post by Russ Koon on Feb 13, 2022 18:32:40 GMT -5
Yep, sometimes company policy is "law".... and sometimes not so much.
I never drove trucks commercially, but did drive part-time driving vehicles between dealerships after I retired from my career as a toolmaker. We often drove out-of-state and after a couple deliveries to Chicago and Detroit, I began to think what an attractive target we made. A small group of old retired guys driving new or nearly new vehicles, with dealer plates, and probably headed for the state line, so not likely to be legally armed, and often not even in visible contact at all times.
Company policy was, of course, to go unarmed. A couple of discrete questions to more experienced members of the fellow drivers confirmed my suspicion that I wouldn't be the only one with a "belly gun" for that possible need if it arrived.
I think it may have couple of a little more careful about our obedience to traffic laws and speed limits, and we did try to maintain visual contact when we could.
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Post by Russ Koon on Jan 23, 2022 23:21:04 GMT -5
They are somewhat similar, and the differences between them are sort of hard to describe clearly enough to use as a tool for a beginning tracker.
I remember following them and wondering which I was actually trailing, until the tracks led up to the base of a tree. That may still be the most effective way to tell them apart, but after a while you do see some subtle hints may be difficult to describe but that do make them more readily identifiable. The length of the rabbit rear paw print relative to the front paw, the distance covered between sets of prints, etc., are indicators that may not provide immediate proof of the animal species, but gradually become a more reliable indicator after you've trailed each a few times.
Looks like we may have some good tracking snow coming soon.
I still enjoy a walk in the winter woods a day or two after a snow, reading the tracks and decoding the tales they tell. Not as dramatic as trail cam pics, but fun.
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Post by Russ Koon on Dec 24, 2021 12:15:37 GMT -5
Yep, been one of my pet peeves for a few generations. Laws and regulations that are not, or can not reasonably be enforced are almost never effective laws against the targeted activity or substance, and always end up being a waste of time and effort and an additional risk to any who attempt to enforce them, and a nuisance for those who might have been able to make use of the substance or article without harm to the resource or activity or others.
They are usually popular with the general public and with the portion of the people involved in the activity being regulated who prefer to do so without using the equipment or method being banned, who are quick to say "there oughta be a law...." against whatever they don't personally like anyway.
Pretty much been that way forever, and probably always will be. Whether it's "exclusion" in the bow season of hunters with x-bows, or banning the use of bait, or posting speed limits, or banning the use of drugs, or shooting before or after legal hours or...a number of other things, if you feel like the laws against the activity or substance involved is being effectively enforced and has eliminated or seriously reduced the banned substance or activity, you might want to make a couple laps around Indy on 465 driving the posted legal limit in the left lane, or count the shots you hear from your deer stand/blind before legal light, or check the surrounding area around other stands or blinds for remaining corn or sunflower seeds or goat pellets or one those artificial "rocks" that are supposedly mineral supplements but are actually mostly salt.
Oh well, Happy Holidays anyway 8^)
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Post by Russ Koon on Oct 22, 2021 9:36:43 GMT -5
The thing about jumping to what could be wrong conclusions is that the jump is a lot easier to make in some instances than in others.
If Jimmy Stewart had shot someone on set by accident, we'd likely have accepted it as accidental on his word. Same for John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Roy Rogers or Gene Autry. And some of those guys had done a few things that showed questionable judgment or control. But when Baldwin does it, the nature of the incident seems a lot more suspicious at first glance.
Still curious about how even Baldwin managed to shoot two of them "accidentally".
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Post by Russ Koon on Oct 9, 2021 11:11:13 GMT -5
Hey HCG, found another local contender for best available pork tenderloins! I think these are a fairly recent addition to the menu at our Martinsville Sergeant Peppers Chicken place. Hadn't been there since before the pandemic, but was looking for more options yesterday and checked them online, and was pretty much hooked by the menu pic.
The menu also included a description of the size being "big enough that you'll want to share".
Being a bit skeptical of both the pics and words in most menus online, I added two orders of their fried potatoes to the drive-up order.
I should have trusted them more. The tenderloins were much bigger and better than expected, and both the wife and I were fully satisfied.
The fried potatoes there are sort of an acquired taste thing. They're sliced almost as thin as potato chips and are very well done and maybe a bit salty for the average customer, but are a hit with their longtime customers who prefer that style. The tenderloin was done the way we remembered them, big, thick, and tasty, with ample accompanying extras offered.
Only thing I'd do differently on my next order would be to call it in ahead of time as the drive-up service there isn't well situated for the customer to pull aside and wait for an order that takes a while, and these took about 15 minutes. And I'd skip the side order of potatoes, because both the wife and I were both fuller than either of us should have been when we finished. The root beer floats in frosted mugs I fixed to accompany the meal added to the overstuffing, of course, but seemed to be the perfect thing to go with it. Kinda took us both back a few years.
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Post by Russ Koon on Oct 2, 2021 8:51:31 GMT -5
I'm old enough to recall many examples of misinformation that were believed by significant portions of the public. It's not a new phenomenon. It does seem to occur more often nowadays, though. Likely that's the result of the easier spread of such nonsense through the internet, and the easy access and distribution available there.
Even way before my youth, there were "rainmakers" and medicine shows peddling cure-alls, and the early catalogs from mail-order giants like Sears and Wards had some amazing devices that would stimulate regrowth of hair and cure various ailments with electrical shock,
We recognize such things as obvious scams and false claims now, but that may be mostly because they were exposed as such back then after having bilked many people.
Are we now any more or less susceptible to falling for misinformation? It still requires more or less the same healthy skepticism and "fool me once shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me" attitude to avoid being scammed or led down the wrong path. Probably has always been that way, and probably always will be.
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Post by Russ Koon on Oct 1, 2021 11:27:44 GMT -5
Hmm, more I look at it, the more I think about other variations that would be possible using stuff like PVC pipe and camo netting, maybe some plastic sheeting to provide wind/rain protection, and possibly using the pallet as a platform to position the blind more than four feet off the ground to free it from the orange requirement in gun season and provide better field of view. Might be able to come up with a version that would be more portable and lighter to carry our and bring in next year in late summer in a collapsed form. Maybe if it's obviously made of cheap stuff and wired in place firmly, the thieves that always seem to find them wouldn't bother to steal it if they could just make their own version more easily than unwire it and carry it out.
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Post by Russ Koon on Sept 15, 2021 12:15:50 GMT -5
I think I've found the answer to a problem that I've been struggling with all summer. I thought at first it was the classic target panic, just couldn't settle the pin on the target and squeeze off the shot. Kept trying to practice my way through it, and seemed to be making slow progress, but it finally became clear that the progress was just too slow to allow me to be ready for this season.
A few days ago, I remembered an old article about a device called a "Steady Eddy" that could be worn on the belt and had an arm that extended forward to support the bow arm of the shooter. I decided to give that idea a try to see if there was any benefit to my shaky bow arm that was still causing me such difficulty in aiming and holding on the spot through release. I wasn't really expecting much, but was reaching for a straw.
I'd already begun practicing from chair, because I figured I'd most likely be using one in the stand or blind. So instead of trying to rig a d-i-y "steady eddy", I just looked for a suitable stick to prop up my bow arm while shooting from the chair. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I noticed one of my collapsible hiking sticks in the back of the car and realized that the wrist sling on it would provide the support and still be out of the way. Got the chair set up, adjusted the stick length to the approximate height to support the bow arm and WOW!
It was like going from a standing position shooting a rifle to shooting off a bench rest! I thought there would be a lot of messing with it to adjust everything and get used to it, but there was almost none. Much more stability than I had even hoped for, a good amount of room to swing to follow a critter, and enough vertical adjustment just by elevating or compacting the body a small amount or easing forward or back to lower or raise the aiming point without needing to reset the stick length. Much tighter groups immediately, and the reduced effort in keeping the bow arm locked and rigid and trying to put the pin on the desired impact point made the whole drawing and aiming process seem quite a bit easier, and holding on the spot is no problem at all! Just settle it in and squeeze off the shot, no panicky punching trying to shoot it "drive-by" style as it wobbles through the right place. Checked out my pin settings out to 40 yesterday and they're good to go. No change from where I had them set when shooting without the bow arm support.
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Post by Russ Koon on Sept 11, 2021 9:58:45 GMT -5
That day was cemented into so many memories. Like the day JFK was shot, for those of us white whiskers.
I was finishing packing my gear for a bowhunting trip to North Dakota with a hunting buddy, and the wife was finishing getting ready for a trip to the airport in about an hour to fly to NYC and then join my dad and his lady friend for a flight to Europe and a vacation cruise in the Mediterranean.
The phone rang, and it was our son. He asked if his mom was on her way yet and when I said she was just about to leave, he said she should turn on the TV first, as her plans would almost surely be changing.
My pal and I went ahead with our scheduled hut a couple days later, but it was all ground travel. Only really noticeable difference in our trip was the presence of the flag on every available flagpole along the way and even on every table in the diners at when we got to ND. The ones on the tables were made in China, but it's the thought that counts.
Another bowhunter friend, I found out later, was in Alaska with his wife on a fly-in remote bowhunt for moose and were anxiously awaiting their scheduled pickup, as he had been successful in taking nice bull with his recurve a day or so earlier and there were grizzly tracks pretty close to their camp. When the plane was late, they were VERY concerned. The pilot explained that he had been frantically calling every official that he could reach and had finally gotten the OK to fly them back to civilization.
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