No Child Left Behind

Hell no, we ain't leaving anyone behind! We'll be damned! Instead, we'll all stay behind. Just make sure No Child Gets Ahead.

Do remember that Virginia regularly receives high marks for education.

h/t Reason.com.



tweaker

Updates On Stuff

First, some Quote of the Day actions, from Richard Mann writing for Shooting Illustrated:

Some cartridge names are cool, but their names have no influence on how deadly the cartridge is and, in many cases, they don’t even reflect actual dimensions. Same goes for people, too.

RTWT. Very cool.

Next, I just finished installing Pro Tools on one of my work Macs. Those of you who know what Pro Tools is, you may begin your envy now. Those who do not, it's the industry-standard audio recording/mixing software. Go me!

Last, the new (old) boomstick may or may not happen. Cabela's is out, but they're expecting 7,500 more of them by January 30. Cross your fingers!

That is all.



tweaker

Armory +1

In a couple of days, the Tweaker Armory will be getting acquainted with a new addition to the bunch. Any guesses?

Here's a hint. Flamethrower.

Updates and pics to follow, as soon as I have it.

h/t to Uncle.



tweaker

Tweaking

My blog handle is fairly self-explanitory. I have spent my entire professional career in audio, in one form or another. During the time I have spent in the field, I have seen digital recording come into its own against the old - yet still fully effective and regularly used, despite what people will try to tell you - days of analog hardware and good ole 24-track tape. I have also seen live audio fully transition from massive, awe-inspiring analog consoles and giant stacks of speakers to powerful and reliable digital consoles and line array speakers. Even amps are going digital these days.

Well, my days of engineering live sound are far behind me. I was always involved in large-scale production. Leave the bar scene to the bar bands. I wanted the big time, and I got it by the shovel-full. I spent the next 8 years working in custom installation, creating installed projects for home and business, as well as the sort of large-scale venue work I used to bring road gear into. I was just making it permanent.

Now, I'm out of custom install entirely. I've moved into a position that returns me to engineering audio, only this time it's on the recording side of things. I started out digitally mastering some older live projects that were recorded to tape while maintaining an entry-level IT post (mostly hardware maintenance and web support). I aimed high, trying to get the responsibility of mixing and mastering.

I finally got a hit!

I've been waiting for years for an opportunity like this, to put my skills in audio to better use than installation, and I've got it. And I get to do it on the software that set the standard for digital recording and mixing. By the time FedEx shows up tomorrow, I will officially be a Pro Tools user.

The hours between then and right now will likely be some of the longest I'll have had since Christmas Eve in my childhood. W00t!!!

Tweaker's Carry Method of Choice

I've read in two separate blog posts today (and I'm barely getting started, as it's only about 0945 here) about Outside the WaistBand, or OWB, carry being impractical. The references seem to hint that OWB is pretty much for Open Carry only, be it at home or in public. Bummer for Dragon Leatherworks, too, because both of those posts were reviewing the same Talon holster. Shiny. I like.

Note that, while I have great respect for Uncle and Robb Allen, I am inclined to disagree. While trying to resist the ultimate in fashionable apparel, notice that the duty-sized Beretta Px4 Storm, with its grips large enough to accommodate 17-rd double-stacked 9mm magazines, hides right away under the an untucked button-down short-sleeve shirt. Which is handy, because that's all I wear. Every day. And underneath that snazzy outerwear is a High Noon Holsters Topless.

I don't carry any other gun, and I don't own any other carry holster. I don't carry at work, but I'm carrying that nearly 28-oz (unloaded) pistol any time I'm wearing pants. The bowling shirt keeps all the other items on the Tweaker Utility Belt out of sight, as well. Makes carrying all 35 rounds of Hydra-shoks (17+1 plus 17 in spare mag) effortless. It'd be even easier if I didn't have to conceal the spare tire out in front of me...

BTW, I do so in one of the only states in the country that actually forbids open carry.

The point is that OWB is as viable an option as any other method of carry, provided certain conditions are met. Also like the other methods, OWB isn't for everyone. YMMV.



tweaker

Raise Me To Thy Right Hand, And Count Me Among Thy Saints

I have experienced no shiver down my spine like this before. Hell, I was among the Obama Gun Rush and bought my AR solely in anticipation of another assault weapons ban. It didn't feel like this at all.

All the rock-star bloggers are already way on this, and they will say what I'm feeling here far better than I can. Usually I let them, but not this time. This time I'm speaking up, too.

I've only been reading dispatches from TJICistan for a few weeks now. I've got a metric fuck-ton of blogs I read frequently, so adding more to the list is something I carefully consider, but when I finally got around to TJIC's blog I was hooked. Dude's a straight-outta-Heinlein anarcho-capitalist, and he pulls no punches.

After the Tuscon shooting, he pulled no punches. 1 Down, 534 To Go! That's all it took for the Pants-Shitting Hysteria to start up, and it was that hysteria that led to the arrival of Arlington, MA police officers on a mission to remove all of TJIC's guns, ammo, and firearms license. They did not arrest him. No charges have been sought or filed. He has committed no crime.

Let that sink in for a minute. A man spoke his mind. Call it tactless, tasteless; call it what you will. But you cannot call it a crime without shredding the First Amendment wholly and entirely. And this man was deprived of his Second Amendment rights and his personal property for exercising his First Amendment rights.

The pro-/anti-gun argument goes on the back burner right now, y'all. This isn't left-wing or right-wing. This isn't Republican or Democrat, nor is it liberal or conservative. This is an oppressive tyranny slamming down on a free man solely for being free. It is time to put our differences aside; if they can take his guns, they can take your alcohol, and her car, and his house, and that guy's clothes and money, and so on and so on. They can take whatever they want, because they believe they have the power to do so. Freedom is an all or none affair. As long as one of us is chained, none of us are free.

It is time to stand together, united under opposition to oppresion. I oppose oppression. I am free. I am mad as hell.

I am TJIC.




tweaker

The Sauce That's Good For The Goose...

...is most assuredly good for the gander.

It seems that the legal speculation regarding the defense of the Tuscon shooter is that he's going for the insanity defense. Needless to say, the media is all over that shit.

Federal prosecutors are going to bust their asses day and night to prove that Loughner was not insane - pursuant, of course, to the definition required to use insanity as a defense - so they can hand him his ass in court.

When I read this, the first thought that crossed my mind was that federal prosecutors trying to prove Loughner wasn't insane should fly in the face of federal lawmakers trying to prove that he was. You know, so they can point out how fuctup the NICS is, etc., etc.

It should, but it probably won't.



tweaker

Chill Level - Between Somewhat and Deeply

During the normal morning conversations at the office today, it is heard that Donald Trump is considering a presidential run in 2012 on the Republican ticket. A quick trip to the internets confirms this.

I can has mixed feelings?

On one hand, I'm thinking that, much like Rudy Giuliani's failed 2008 attempt, he's going to get his ass absolutely handed to him on that "I'mma save this country" RINO bullshit. On the other hand, and despite potentially having Sarah Palin* on the ticket, the GOP's most promising potential for the Oval Office in 2012 is, in their minds, shoe-in between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Trump ain't exactly facing stiff competition.

*sigh*

After the last two years, the Republican party is bound and determined to get Barack Obama reelected.



tweaker

*I'm not trying to squirt Sarah Palin Fanboi Juice all over your monitor here. I'm just saying that the GOP is damned far from putting its best foot forward.

The Plunge. I is taking it.

In light of recent potential need pointed out at the office this morning, I am currently installing the trial version of Adobe Photoshop. Provided I don't totally suck big rocks up off the ground, my employer will be purchasing the full version in the next month.

You'll know how it's going by the quality of people's heads on animal bodies, etc., that I will no doubt be posting here for the next month or so.



tweaker

Road Trips and Loved Ones

I have done some pretty long drives in my time. I haven't done a marathon New-York-to-Los-Angeles or anything, but I have done some 12-hour treks stopping only for meals/gas. Last time I did San Antonio to Memphis, the last three hours were spent in a mother of a thunderstorm. For that, I now know why they call it "white knuckles." I was shaking by the time I made it to my folks' house.

By far, the longest drive I think I've had yet was driving home from the vet's office last Friday night.

*********

Rewind to Friday morning. I was eating my breakfast tacos while catching the morning news when I heard that all-too-familiar sound of cat-fitna-hurl. I look over by the office door to see Bootsie arching her back, and right about the time I was ready to roll my eyes in preparation of hairball cleanup on aisle five, she proceeded to throw up every meal she's eaten since 2006.

Knowing something was wrong, I gave her some room while I reluctantly gloved up to clean up half-digested kitty food. She went on about her business seemingly normally so I figured it was nothing that couldn't wait until I got home from work. (I'm not the type to go rushing to the vet every time an animal pukes. It's unnecessary, and I ain't got that kind of money.)

The day went by, and I left the office on my way to a much needed weekend. As I've mentioned before, I live about five minutes from the office, and it was during that five minutes I got a phone call. Bootsie had thrown up all over the house, and Corey (the dog) had shit in the office. Great. I got to go home and clean up animal messes. Wonderful.

Not wonderful. I got home and saw where Bootsie had thrown up. It was in problably six or seven places throughout the living room, and it was not the color of her cat food, which is kinda green. This was dark red. She was throwing up blood.

We called the vet's office, knowing they keep short Saturday hours and they told us that the vet was still in if we could make it into town by 5:30. We hauled ass as much as we could, because we were driving in rush hour traffic (thankfully we were going the other way) and it was raining. Talk about long trips; that cat hates to be in the car, so she cries for the entire trip. Twenty minutes of that will make you positively homicidal.

We got to the vet's office where the questions started. Before we found out why she was throwing up (and had a fever), we found out something that we were not prepared for. Bootsie had developed a pretty significant heart murmer in a fairly short amount of time. This was bad, but was not the problem. The problem, it turned out, was that she had eaten one of my black ponytail holders and it was stuck in her small intestine, creating a blockage. This was why her food was coming out the front instead of the back. This was likely going to require surgery to remove - at significant cost, mind you - the next day, or a transfer to an emergency facility for surgery that night (at a price that could pay for a pair of riding horses).

So that's a problem. The bigger problem is that she has a heart murmer, which means she becomes a huge anesthesia risk (meaning it increases her chances of not being able to recover from anesthesia; i.e., die on the operating table). Even if she survives the surgery, we're looking at a critter cardiologist to diagnose the murmer, and if she has (insert unpronounceable ten-dollar medical term here) her life expectancy is reduced to around two years. On top of everything else, Saturday was The Little Girl's birthday, so that got to play into the decision.

There was no way we could afford the ER trip even if we wanted to. So the decision was going to have to be made Saturday. We were told that, given the circumstances, euthanasia was a fair option to consider at this point. The Wifey melted down.

That drive home was, without a doubt, the most miserable trip I can remember taking.

********

We drove home and cried. Bootsie is The Wifey's cat, and her heart was completely shattered. She is also our first pet, and she's been here for since 2005. There was no right answer, just a long list of wrong ones. One thing we knew for sure. There was no way we could put her down on The Little Girl's birthday. After some deep soul-searching, we decided that the best way to go was to give Bootsie the chance to fight it out. We decided to do the surgery in the morning. I got deeply acquainted with a bottle of hand-crafted vodka.

The next morning, we were at the vet's office before she was. We patiently waited while listening to her two grey parrots make dog and cat sounds before the tech showed up and let us into a room to visit with Bootsie. The vet showed up and came to check on her. They did another xray to see if maybe she was going to pass the ponytail holder, and we prayed hard while that xray was being done. No dice; we were going to have to decide right then. We told her we'd do the surgery. We were each given a chance to say what we needed to before the vet took her back to prep for surgery.

I couldn't eat, but The Wifey and The Little Girl were hungry. We went and got breakfast and went to walk around Wal-Mart because it was the closest thing that we could waste time in. We looked at everything. I spent more time than I care to admit in the women's department just because I needed to pass as much time as I could. We were through clothing, past shoes, and walking out of electronics before I realized the insanity of the automotive department and linens were all that was left. Right as we left toys, the phone rang. We froze for a second, and I lifted my phone up and answered it. I needed to hear a cheerful voice on the other side. I could not handle a "we regret to inform you" phone call right now.

Bootsie's surgery was done. It was much simpler than expected. Her EKG was beautiful during the entire procedure. Bootsie was coming out of anesthesia, licking her lips, and trying to pick her head up to look around. She doesn't even really have a long recovery ahead of her. They'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's functioning (read: shitting) correctly, and we'll bring her home Monday or Tuesday.

The murmer was just going to have to wait.

*********

I could not be any happier about this (as long as you don't count the several bloody vomit stains I still have to clean up. Yesterday was rainy, so The Little Girl's trail ride we'd set up with her cousin got postponed, so we went to a Japanese steakhouse for her birthday lunch (she was mesmerized) and went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the local super-mega-ultra-plex.

It was Hell on Wheels getting there, but it turned out to be a good day after all.

I can't wait to get the vet bill...



tweaker

Guess We Won't Be Needing Those Anymore

Good thing, too, because the damned fire extinguisher takes up so much room under my sink. Oh, shit, that's just for Congress? Figures.

ViolentIndifference (who is new to my World Famous Blogrolloreeno) brings the snark.



tweaker

Harsh Language, pt. 2

Today's post was supposed to be about the update to the old blogrollarino over there. I haven't updated in a month of Sundays, so now I have. If I missed anyone, y'all let me know.

Today's post will only mention the update, because today's post is going to discuss something else entirely. Seems there was a political convention little party memorial for the victims of the recent shootings in Tucson, AZ.

A memorial. Complete with a slew of rank-and-file Democrat speakers addressing a stadium full of cheering Democrats fans attendees, most of which were wearing their souvenir t-shirts.

Souvenir. Fucking. T-shirts.

I have read in several places about the blogosphere as well as Facebook how people are setting aside their differences with President Obama to commend him for his very reverent, non-partisan, nearly non-political speech (seems he jumped on the Don't Be Blaming wagon before it left town). I have my words to say about that speech as well.

Fucdat.

Mr. President, any reverence and non-partisanship that speech had whatsoever was overshadowed in its entirety by the venue you willingly gave it in. You delivered a speech to a capacity crowd in a basketball arena - whose capacity was doubled by the overflow watching on the scoreboard at the nearby football stadium - of cheering fans wearing souvenir fucking t-shirts. Memorial, indeed. That was low, even for you.



tweaker

Harsh Language

It's going to sound harsh. I know. Given the events, any opposition is going to come across harsh at best and condoning at worst.

Frankly, I could give a fuck.

Congress? Yeah, you on Capitol Hill in D.C. Listen up:

Get your asses back to work. Real work. This shit is expensive and unnecessary. This country doesn't need a resolution passed so that we know you don't dig on assholes going around killing folks. Knock this shit off before I start asking where the resolutions are for the other bad things that have ever happened.

Morons.



tweaker

On Tragedy

I was going to post something here about my feelings on the tragedy that occured a couple days ago in Tucson, AZ. Not to take away from the absolute tragedy itself, but I just knew that it wasn't going to take long before the political bullshit started flying - from both sides of the aisle - over the shooter, the circumstances, the tool used, etc.

As I learned from Robb Allen, it took a helluva lot less time than I was even aware scientifically existed.



tweaker

Wisdom. He Haz It.

JayG absolutely knocks one into the next zip code in one of today's posts. The real money comes in the last full paragraph, and it should be required reading in schools:

There's a line in "Stranger in a Strange Land" that sums it up: "There is no safety this side of the grave." - the only way to truly be safe is to stop living entirely. Life is risk. Freedom is risk. Everything is a risk - life is, as the joke goes, a sexually transmitted, terminal condition. We tacitly approve of the risks of living in a (marginally) free society because the alternative isn't any better - folks with armed soldiers patrolling their streets are hardly any safer than we are; in most cases they're a lot less safe. Restricting the rights of honest, law-abiding Americans - whether it be their right to own or carry a firearm or to speak their minds about the local representative - isn't going to stop the next deranged lunatic.

That's the good stuff right there, y'all.



tweaker

This I Know

Here's a small (and hopefully updateable, 'cause who don't like blogfodder?) list of things I know. We'll call this the Kitchen Edition:

- Always keep a lime sliced up in a baggie. You never know when you may get a hankering for a Vodka Tonic or a cerveza.
- Vodka Tonics are good. How do you know if you like Vodka Tonics? Are you a male or female? You like Vodka Tonics.
- The best way to purchase chicken is whole. It's work, but homemade chicken stock (chicken trash + boiling water = chicken stock) is worth it's wait in copper.
- Jambalaya. Why? Because fuckin Jambalaya, that's why.
- There is nothing like being married to someone who loves to cook as much as you do, except being married to someone who loves cooking with you even more.
- As we age, things we keep on hand (i.e., staples) change. They also get more expensive. Example: age 20 - a pallet of Ramen Noodles. Age 30 - fresh Parmesean.
- "Having too much of an ingredient" is a cop-out. Food Network has a website. Use that shit.
- I want a smoker at least big enough for a pork shoulder.
- Beef brisket can be cooked in an oven - if you know the super-secret recipe - in the absence of a smoker.
- There's no such thing as "Memphis-style Ribs." There's either ribs like you get in/around Memphis, TN, or there's other ribs.
- Same applies for barbecue. Sorry, Kansas City and The Carolinas. Y'all just ain't got it.
- It's dangerous for me to state that in Texas.
- Cajun food is scary because of Cajun people. It's tasty for the same reason.
- People that don't love to eat should be avoided at all costs.

I bet I can add more to this list. Maybe this is just the first of many. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See y'all Monday morning!



tweaker

Plinking on Facebook

Sayeth a friend of FB: Looking to put my lil warrior in martial arts. Any suggestions? (5 years old).

Sayeth I, in response: .22LR:)



tweaker

You're On The Right Track, But...

Alternate Title: "Your Fail; Let Me Show You It."

So, now that the confetti has finally settled in the US House of Representatives, some serious measures appear to be taken. Let's look at the CNN story that is trying to be the kickoff to the Shiny New Congress. CNN in italics, me not:

Washington (CNN) -- Republicans will have the Constitution read on the House floor Thursday morning in a nod to the conservative Tea Party freshmen that helped put them back in the majority.

A nod to the Tea Party freshmen? Howzabout a nod to the American People who (and I know this is going to sound crazy to you, CNN) actually give a damn about the Constitutionality of the laws Congress thinks its free to pass, willy-nilly? Oh, wait. That would make it sound like the Tea Party represents more than just a right-wing hack group of crazies. Sorry. Please continue.

The reading will start at 10:30 a.m., with members taking turns until they complete the document -- a process that could take up to a couple of hours.

Aw, crap. Up to a couple of hours? I wonder what rules we'll have to shit all over to make that time back up. Suck it up, buttercup. If I were calling the shots, each and every congresscritter would have to read the whole damned thing, and the gavel wouldn't go down - not once - until it were done. Remaining critters who voted for Obamacare would also be required to run laps during readings.

"This historic and symbolic reading is long overdue and shows that the new majority in the House truly is dedicated to our Constitution and the principles for which it stands," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.

Sounds good there, Bobby. Lets make sure that sentiment lasts a little longer than five minutes, k? IIRC, the repeal pens didn't quite make it to the Clinton-Gun-Ban afterparty.

"As the written expression of the consent the American people gave to their government -- a consent with restrictions and boundaries -- the public reading of the Constitution will set the tone for the 112th Congress."

Little early to be dropping the ball, ain't it? That wording could have been at least a bit more terse? Observe: "As the sole consent by the American people when they created their government - a consent made nearly entirely boundaries and followed up by strict restrictions - the reading of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will serve as a reminder for each and every Congress from this day forth.

In new House rules passed Wednesday, all bills and joint resolutions submitted for approval will be required to have an accompanying statement explaining their Constitutional authority. Republicans and the members of the Tea Party have argued that Democrats regularly overreached the Constitutional powers granted to the House of Representatives and believe this rule will refocus legislative priorities.

Great rule Sparky. I wonder if, like most other congressional rules, there are eleventy-zillion ways to bypass them in case my favorite party is in control of emergency. Also? Republicans please go into your private quarters to go fuck yourselves for that part about Dems overreaching Constitutional power. I'd like to thank you for my Mandatory Two-Flush Toilet by cramming it entirely in your ass, but having been recently bumped into the next tax bracket leaves me a few bucks short of buying another (just as useless) crapper.

Bills also will be required to be posted online for 72 hours before they can come to a final vote, banning the practice of rewriting legislation shortly before it is to be voted on, so that all Americans have time to go online, read a bill and then lobby their member of Congress.

Thanks. I get three whole days to double-check the next 2000-page pile of shit before you vote on it. Interestingly enough, that's supposed to make it look like the three days grace is supposed to not be "shortly before it is to be voted on." Try again, moron. How 'bout reading the whole damned thing on the House floor? How 'bout making sure that each and every member of said House is there when it happens? On that note, how 'bout making damn sure that every member of Congress is present for each and every reading, debate, and vote that happens?

Another major change in the rules affects the budget, specifically giving the chairman of the House Budget Committee greater authority to set spending limits.

Great. Now one person has more power to set the spending limits. That doesn't just mean lowering the limits, though, now does it?

Without a doubt, CNN still thinks we're all still morons. Time will tell how long it takes Shiny New Congress to re-enroll in that school of thought. I'll be over here holding my breath.



tweaker

Disbelief

I didn't know my blood pressure could shoot up quite so quickly.

Jay nailed it on this one.

Read it. The gist of it is this: dude has his home broken into, safes torn open, and 40 guns stolen. Cops in Massachusetts immediately take away his permit to carry a firearm.

It really is like charging a rape victim with indecent exposure.

That is fuctup on a level I had honestly never even considered. I hope Gura goes in there and rips that fucking nanny state a new asshole.



tweaker

Boomstick Upgrades

I'm a big fan of modularity. I like it when, through the concept of modularity, one thing can become many things just by changing a part or parts.

Take the Mossberg 500 12ga. The Mossberg barrel can be easily removed without any tools whatsoever. Through this design, the 28" barrel can be removed and an 18.5" barrel installed. The clays and winged critter gun could now be an anti-goblin gun. Thanks to my Christmas present from my folks, this is now the case with my Mossberg 500 12ga.

I like my multi-purpose modular scatterboomstick. There's actually a good chance that, one day, I will have a nice ribbed 24" barrel to mount (and permanently zero) a scope on to add turkey gun to the available configurations.

It's no wonder folks like the AR platform. Hey, wait. I have an AR...



tweaker

Flies, Honey, Some Assembly Required

Once upon a time, a guy said some serious wrongness to the camera about the event that most agree led to the Texas Concealed Handgun License.

Many bad things were said.

Now, I hope that everyone sees as good a reason to apologize as I do.

With all due respect, Dr. Holda, I apologize. Good on ya, sir. Education is key.



(a very humble) tweaker

A/V Protip of the Day

In order for your iPod Docking Station Alarm Clock Radio to function properly - and this includes waking you up - there must be an iPod/iPhone docked on it.

...

Lousy Monday. Got up late only to have my back hurting like hell. It's gonna be a long day.



tweaker