Nobody asked me to be quiet

So I'm not going to. Blogger day of silence? News to me. I spend enough time not blogging as it is, but I'mm just enough of a non-follower to post this in disregard. Yes, I'm absolutely as concerned about the rest of my inalienable rights as I am about 2A.

So make one that does...

I have a problem with gear- mostly that I don't like a lot of it. I'm very lean for my height, so clothes are tricky to fit. It seems like every piece of work or personal gear I own is ALMOST perfect, and I like things to be just so. This, more than anything, drives my impulse to personalize and modify equipment.

There is one other major factor- cost. Custom, especially in the realm of gear and guns, is expensive. So I find things that are close to perfect, and modify them as I see fit.

This brings me to my latest project, my shirtslicker. I have a dilemma; I live in Oregon, and I work outdoors, and I hate raincoats. They're clammy, they rustle (I prefer the option of stealth, although I talk loud enough to negate it), and they cling to me, and annoy me. So I stand in the rain and get wet, which is less than ideal. Today, I lit upon a solution. I took a regular long sleeve cotton shirt and waxed it.

It turns out, oilcloth is really just cotton canvas treated with linseed oil and wax. For the cost of a few bucks in boot wax, and the knowledge that I can never wash this shirt again, I have a rain resistant piece if outerwear that meets all my criteria. Its as simple as applying a thick, even coating of boot wax (I prefer Obenauf's LP, but could only find Sno-Seal), rubbing it in, then hitting it with a hair dryer to push it into the cotton. I may need to put an additional coat on, but I'll try it tomorrow and see how it works.

So it really is as simple as that. If you can't find the item that works, just make one that does. If you can't do that, well, I'd advise learning.

Somehow my Quantum Mechanic...

Always seems to charge more than the estimate. Watching a Discovery channel special about wormholes, a few things occur to me.

1) In theory, there is no difference between theory and reality. In reality, there is. When a super mega smart astrophysicist says warping space is easy, and you can go as fast as you want, he's right. In theory, we can go faster than light. In REALITY we haven't gotten TO light speed yet. Maybe if you were nicer to the engineers, they would help you with that.

2) When talking about real stuff, try to get it right. To the people that know how things work, you sound like an idiot, which costs you in credibility. The highway tunnel is not made of concrete and reinforced steel. It's made of reinforced CONCRETE and STEEL. Pedantic? Yes. But it is an important distinction.

3) We, as a nation, are spending serious money paying dreamers to think very cool thoughts about visiting other stars, while cutting the positions of very serious people who ACTUALLY GOT US TO THE MOON. Who needs a horse when we can spend all our dough on this nifty cart?

Hmmm...

Art thys thyng working?