Month: December 2011

Ever hear of “Knockout King”?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I guess some kids these days are really that bored… or that depraved.

Seems there’s a new “game” called “Knockout King” going around:

The rules of the game are as simple as they are brutal. A group – usually young men or even boys as young as 12, and teenage girls in some cases – chooses a lead attacker, then seeks out a victim. Unlike typical gang violence or other street crime, the goal is not revenge, nor is it robbery. The victim is chosen at random, often a person unlikely to put up a fight. Many of the victims have been elderly. Most were alone.

The attacker charges at the victim and begins punching. If the victim goes down, the group usually scatters. If not, others join in, punching and kicking the person, often until he or she is unconscious or at least badly hurt. Sometimes the attacks are captured on cellphone video that is posted on websites.

I’d say I’m appalled, but that doesn’t convey the gravity of how much this sickens me.

They do it to show how cool they are, how tough they are. Yeah, real tough, picking on weak, old people.

But here’s the thing folks. It’s truly random. They aren’t out to rob you or rape you or any motivation other than to just pick someone and mercilessly beat them (almost) to death. Because it’s cool, because they want to get YouTube famous, because it feeds their own ego. Nothing more than that, or so it seems.

There’s really no pattern to it. They just look for an easy target and commence stomping your head into the pavement.

Whatever illusions you had about crime, about your safety based upon the neighborhood you lived in, whatever… all shattered.

Some things I take from this:

  • Don’t look like a victim. Don’t look like a grass-easter, with your head down, earbuds in, and otherwise unaware of your surroundings. Like Greg Hamilton says, walk the plains like you are the biggest, baddest lion out there. Send the right message to the jackals.
  • Don’t put yourself in situations of disadvantage. Don’t walk alone. Don’t go places you shouldn’t go or that could be risky.
  • Trust your gut. If that crowd of teenagers makes you feel uneasy, act upon your uneasiness — take a different route, cross the street, whatever.
  • You will be at a disadvantage. By nature, there will be multiple attackers, and I don’t care how badass you think you are, multiple attackers are extremely difficult to overcome no matter how good your muay thai or BJJ skills may be; even running may not save you, if you get surrounded. This is where tools to help you overcome force disparity — like a gun — can be useful. And if you do opt to carry a gun, carry it always, get training, and then don’t do nor go anywhere with a gun that you wouldn’t go or do without a gun.
  • And while the gun is useful if we get to that state of last resort, realize that by nature of this attack you may never have a chance to draw a gun. You need skills well before the attack, to work to keep the attack from ever happening and/or you out of the situation. Everyone uses the term “awareness” or “my head on a swivel”, and while that’s part of it, you need skills to be able to actually DEAL with the things you become aware of. This is where training such as Insights Training Center’s Street & Vehicle Tactics and SouthNarc‘s “Managing Unknown Contacts” (MUC) can be invaluable.

As Sgt. Esterhaus said, “Let’s be careful out there.”

AT&T debacle – coda?

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

So my AT&T troubles….

When last we left off, someone was to come out on Christmas Even between 2 and 6 to fix things. A tech came out to the house earlier in the day. Alas, since the problem wasn’t directly reproducing he couldn’t be sure it was fixed. Given the work I do as a computer programmer, I totally understand a need to be able to reproduce the problem in order to fix it. He did what he could, looking at the line, seeing a problem out on the line about 500 feet from the house. He went out, found some switch, replaced it, came back to check and the analysis looked better and closer to normal. Still, we weren’t sure if that was the actual fix.

Turns out it wasn’t.

Christmas morning and the phone line was back to being dead.

The tech had given me his card with his direct number on it. I called it, left a message (it was his day off; besides, no need to bother with this on Christmas). This morning he called me back and said as soon as he’s in the area he’ll stop by and look into things. As soon as I arrived back home from the music store with Daughter’s new cymbals, the AT&T truck had just pulled up a few minutes prior. He tested the outside line, the inside line, and looked at everything. Looks like there was a short on one of the lines running into the house. He was able to switch things over to another set of wires, and viola. Things are working.

And so, hopefully this ends the saga.

Now don’t get me wrong. Many people along the way here were nice people, good people, trying to do what they could. Certainly this tech was a good guy, continued to work at the problem until it was fixed. I don’t have a problem with the individual people along the way. The problem has been AT&T themselves — the giant “bureaucrazy”. It would tell me one thing, then require of me another. It would only have so much information, and generally it was never the right nor enough information. One group didn’t know what the other group was doing. Lots of contradictory information, even between what the employees knew and said about procedure and policy. It was just a giant mess, lots of communication FAIL. That was the problem, and it’s a huge problem.

Alas, I don’t foresee AT&T fixing the problem. They’re too big and what motivation do they have to actually fix it? I’d love to be proven wrong.

Well, we’ll see what happens. I have requested to be credited for the almost 2 weeks of downtime. Yes in the end it seems to have been a wiring issue within my house, but why should it have taken 2 weeks to get here? Why should I have gotten the runaround and hassle from AT&T like I did?

Well, whatever. Hopefully this goes quietly into the night.

Happier ears

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Remember how Daughter got a drum set?

It’s a good entry-level set, Pearl Forum. But like anything entry-level, shortcuts are made to enable it to be affordable. Crappy heads, crappy cymbals. But in a way, having the crap allows you to appreciate the good stuff.

We put an Evans head on the snare. An Evans Genera HD Dry Batter Coated Snare Head, to be specific. Nice improvement in the snare’s sound.

But more important? Daughter’s been saving her money, made Christmas present requests of gift cards, and this morning we counted it all up. She finally had enough to allow her to get a cymbal upgrade! She picked up a cymbal pack: Sabian B8 Performance Pack. It comes with a set of 14″ hi-hats, 16″ thin crash, 20″ ride, and a bonus 18″ thin crash. She also picked up 2 boom stands.

We set it all up and boy, what a difference. Yes, these are Sabian’s entry-level cymbals, but they’re a huge upgrade from the Pearl cymbals she had (merely a 14″ hi hat and a 18″ crash/ride). They sound pretty decent, tho with all the cymbal options now, she’s having a hard time adjusting to them. 🙂  Just having to learn the new layout for her set, tweaking placement, angles, and other things.

Next up… a new hi-hat stand, and new top-heads for all her toms (maybe the bottom heads too, depending upon money). I reckon once that’s done, it’s going to sound pretty darn good.

She also got a stick bag and a music stand. She hung the bag off her floor tom. She put the music stand off to the side of the hi-hat. She’s feeling more like a real drummer now. Me? I’m just happy she’s enjoying music, enjoying playing, enjoying the challenge, and yes… even the fact she’s saving her money, setting goals, working towards them, and then feeling the satisfaction of accomplishment. All good stuff.

Now, just need to get her to practice more regularly. I figure with the new cymbals, she’ll be happier to play. 🙂

on being reliable

/ hsoi

Wife and I were talking and it hit me that the concept of reliability has been a central issue in my life the past some weeks.

There’s our problems with our home phone service. AT&T’s phone service wasn’t reliable, and while certain people I spoke with were kind, helpful, and understanding, their general repair process was proving to also be unreliable.

So everyone suggests to me to switch to VoIP, but the main reason I’ve stayed away from that is because Time-Warner Cable’s RoadRunner Internet service tends to be unreliable. In fact, as I was going through the AT&T debacle and even blogging about TWC’s unreliability, my net connection went down numerous times.

My car is old and starting to have big problems not worth fixing. It’s reliability is failing and I don’t always trust it to get me around. When I took the kids on that deer hunting trip? I rented a truck, not just because of the hauling utility, but because I figure a new truck will be more reliable than my old car and minimize risk of being stuck on the side of the road and the hunting trip ruined due to such problems.

Furthermore, as I shop for a replacement vehicle, I’m looking for something reliable. Heck, the reason I bought the car I have now was because I wanted a reliable car.

Buying that M&P to have as a new carry gun? I won’t carry it until it proves itself a reliable gun. I’m betting my life on it, so it better be something I can count on.

Then there are friends. There have been some issues with people flaking out, and while that’s alright every so often, a pattern of unreliability becomes a problem. Wife even mentioned to me that’s one thing she really appreciates about me: how reliable I am.

I just find it interesting how the concept of reliability has been at the forefront of so many things in my life right now.

People talk about important traits one should have: to be honest, to be hard working, punctual, honorable, humble. As I think about it, people don’t often talk about how important it is to be reliable, yet it’s something we all do want be it from our family, friends, co-workers, cars, businesses, politicians or really just about anything in our lives. It’s understandable because, due to its nature, you come to take it for granted when it always is there, it’s always working, it’s always doing what you need and expect. It only becomes noticeable when it breaks or isn’t there and is no longer reliable. Perhaps we need to consider reliability more explicitly and foster it as a trait, and not take it so much for granted.

The M&P, First Impressions

/ hsoi / 10 Comments

Background

For the past few years, my carry gun has been a Springfield XD-9, Service model. It has a few modification’s including Dawson Precision sights (0.100″ red fiber front, 0.125″ width plain (serrated) black rear), and a Springer Precision trigger job. The trigger is excellent, and the gun has been rock solid and reliable.

When I was first choosing a carry gun, the Smith & Wesson M&P had just come on the market. I really liked it, but it was unproven and S&W didn’t have a good track record here (remember the Sigma?). It was between the M&P and the XD, and because of the track record issue I went XD. I don’t regret the decision, but as you can see over time the M&P has proven itself and garnered quite an impressive track record and following. Many police departments, including Austin’s, are switching to the M&P. TLG did a huge endurance test with the M&P. And with all of this growing success, the aftermarket for the pistol is growing, perhaps now second only to Glock. One of the big things that happened to improve the M&P was the advent of Apex Tactical Specialties‘ trigger upgrades about 2 years ago.

It was always on my mind to switch to the M&P, but various things (mostly money) kept me from doing so. But recently some events occurred that finally pushed me over the edge (all hail peer pressure!). Yes, I’m going to be looking at making this my new carry gun, but that decision won’t be final until some tests are run.

What Did I Get

I purchased a S&W M&P in 9mm. This is the “standard full-size” model, with the 4.25″ barrel. There is no internal lock, no magazine disconnect, no additional dohickies like the added thumb safety. Black. I did not get the model that comes with the various Blade-Tech holsters and pouches.

When I purchased from G&R Tactical, I had them install the Apex M&P Duty/Carry Action Enhancement Kit (DCAEK) and the Apex Reset Assist Mechanism (RAM). I knew I’d get these parts anyways so why not just get it done up front? They also did a polish and cleanup job.

I’ve heard more than enough reports about poor performance out of the factory barrels, things like grouping 6″ @ 25 yards. Not acceptable to me. I went ahead and ordered a KKM barrel. However, I am not going to use the barrel until I see how the factory barrel performs. Word is the KKM will do 3″ at 25 yards, which is acceptable. We’ll see how the factory barrel measures up.

And for now, I ordered a Comp-Tac MTAC holster. I’m not sure I’ll keep this as my holster, but it’s a known good holster for me and so a reasonable place to start.

I originally planned on getting some Dawson Precision Charger sights, but I’m not sure. The factory sights are the Novak Lo-Mount carry sights, which have a “charger-like shelf”. Sure they are 3-dot sights, but a little work with a black Sharpie and the rear dots are no more. The front sight is a little wider than I’d like but… well, as I’ve been working with the gun these aren’t too horrible. I reckon I will eventually switch but may not do it yet. I wanted to put off getting new sights anyways until I saw how the point-of-aim compared to the point-of-impact with both the factory barrel and then the KKM, because if it’s not acceptable well, I can get the Dawson’s in various heights and could then do the math to figure out the precise sights needed to ensure POI = POA @ 25 yards. So, sights are still to be determined.

As for other things well… we’ll see as I go along.

First Impressions

This is not the first time I’ve handled an M&P, but it’s the first time I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with one. I’ve shot M&P’s before, but it’d maybe be a magazine or two at most. No real ability to spend time with the platform to form deeper impressions.

Note: as of this writing I have not taken the gun to the range. What with Christmas and all, just haven’t had the opportunity.

When I took the gun out of the box, I disassembled, cleaned, and  lubed it. It’s minorly annoying to have to flip the sear lever down, but really no big deal — you just have to remember to do it. I do like that you don’t have to pull the trigger to remove the slide. Comparing the internals to my XD… gee, the M&P comes across a little more flimsy. I mean, it’s not. It still has to be solid to do what it does, but compared to the internals on my XD, especially that Springer trigger bar well… it’s like the XD is a tank. It’s big, chunky, and solid. The M&P is a little more refined, a little more delicate. A bit more like a woman, if you will. Slightly better curves, still rugged and durable, but perhaps not as rock solid. It’s hard to describe without being able to show you, but somehow the M&P just didn’t come across to me as rock solid as my XD.

Maybe part of it is due to the captive guide rod and that spring. It sounds horrible and creeky. There’s a lot of wiggle with the slide. I also noticed a lot of airspace between the bottom of the slide and the frame, thus more wiggle and motion in the slide; but I hear this is a feature of the gun.

Initial dry fire work is of course rough, but I’ve now dry fired it a few hundred times and things are a little smoother. The Apex trigger changes are not as tight as my XD’s trigger. The M&P’s Apex trigger still has some take-up and some overtravel, but the break is nice and really the “work zone” of the trigger isn’t that bad. I’ll have to see how I fare in live fire. But all my dry work and I’m getting used to it.

One big thing I noticed about the M&P some time ago was how my index finger entered the trigger guard and contacted the trigger. Due to the nature of my hands, my finger actually enters the trigger guard at a slight downward angle. The way the XD frame is cut, my finger can and often does rub on the frame and I get a slight “push left” problem with my hits. I don’t get this rub with the M&P because of a slightly slimmer cut and rounding of corners with the M&P frame. Seems to be a good thing with me.

Furthermore, I played around with the backstraps (palm-swell grips). The small is just too small, feels odd, doesn’t leave me enough room to get my left hand on the gun, and causes my index/trigger finger to have too acute an angle when in contact with the trigger. Part of me wants to use the large grip because I have larger hands, but it just feels too bulbous in my palm; as well, it causes too obtuse an angle with my trigger finger, which isn’t good. So the medium grip it is, and in all my dry work so far it does seem to be feeling the best, giving me enough contact with my left hand/palm on the grip, and putting my trigger/index finger at a good angle.

On the grip, the texturing is good. It’s hardly aggressive, fine against the skin (important for against-the-skin IWB carry), but feels like it should hold well. I actually don’t have much experience with the factory texturing because most folks’ M&P’s I’ve shot have some sort of aftermarket additional texturing. Not sure if I’ll do that, we’ll see. The texturing on the front strap is nice, as well as under the trigger guard at the back end of the guard.

So now working the trigger, well… I’m getting used to it. It is a different feel than my XD’s Springer trigger, but it’s not bad. A wee heavier, a little more travel, but a good feel to it. In doing some Wall Drill work, I see my front sight behaving better than it has been with the XD. Yes, equipment matters. But once you find good equipment, leave it alone and focus on other things. Then again, don’t be afraid to revise your equipment if you find something better — I’m not emotionally attached to my gun.

I tried some reloads. Hitting the magazine release button is different. I feel like I have to stretch my thumb to hit it, but I don’t really have to stretch as much as I think. There’s just something about the ergonomics vs. the XD that is different enough that it feels strange to me. But I can still hit the button solidly and fine. At least, in dry practice… we’ll see how it goes under live fire with a timer.

On reloads, I noticed there’s not much flaring to the magwell. But, the opening to the magwell is huge. I did a bunch of Burkett Reloads and well, I’ll need more work on this because it’s just different. The magazines themselves feel weird in my hand because the baseplate has that big “toe”.  10-8 Performance has replacement basepads which I may consider getting, but I need more time with the factory mags first. I do like how things feed and seat tho… the system rolls better and just glides nicely when reloading. When reloading, the general rule is to look at the “bottom” edge of the magwell  (the edge closest to the ground); but I’m finding if instead I look at the “front” edge of the magwell (the frontstrap) and aim the tip of my index finger at that point, I’ll do better at getting the mag into the well instead of half-jammed on one of the sides of the well and fail to cleanly enter. Just something about the big opening and how my eyes/brain are perceiving things.

I will say I don’t like the magazine’s witness holes being on the sides of the magazine. I like how they’re on the back of XD mags so I can just look at the back of the mag to see how many rounds I have. On the M&P mags I’ll always have to check both sides of the magazine to determine how many rounds are in the magazine; minor thing, but it is inefficient.

Again, the factory sights aren’t horrible. Yes, immediately black out the rear dots. These aren’t what I’m used to, but they do seem to be better than a lot of other factory sights. At least the front post isn’t totally filling up the rear notch — there is airspace on the sides! Again, I’m going to stick with the factory for a while and see how it goes.

The more I hold it, the better it feels in my hand. I go back to holding my XD and it feels like I’m holding a brick. Again, it’s minor things about the frame styling, curves, rounding and so on. But yet, holding the two guns side by side against each other and they’re almost the same dimensions — the M&P actually slightly longer. It’s not size, it’s cut. So interesting.

Anyways, that’s about the extent of my initial impressions from looking at it, lots of fondling, lots of dry work. The more I handle it, the more I like it. The real question will be how I perform with it. I hope to get to the range soon. My plan is at least 500 rounds flawlessly through it before I will carry it (tho I expect the first 100 rounds may have excusable hiccups). This also includes at least 50 rounds of my carry ammo (Gold Dot 124 +P). I want to shoot it off a rest to see how it groups at 25 yards (both my 9mm reload practice ammo and carry ammo). Then do a bunch of tests and drills. See how my times (overall and splits) are with Bill Drills. See how I run the FAST test. The 3 Seconds or Less drill. Whatever. Enough drills to 1. get enough rounds through it to break it in and ensure she’s not having problems, 2. see how it performs (e.g. grouping), 3. see how I perform with it. Will probably bring the XD as well and do some side-by-side comparisons.

More to report later.

Updated: A couple more observations.

The M&P lacks a cocking indicator, whereas the XD has one. Frankly, this is fine. I haven’t done a comparison of the internals of the XD vs. the M&P, but generally speaking less dohickies means simpler engineering. The simpler something is, the less likely for things to break or something to go wrong and cause problems. Simple is good.

To that end as well, I like the M&P’s “loaded chamber indicator”. It’s just a small hole at the top/back of the barrel. See a glint of brass or nickel? It’s loaded (or at least, there’s a case in the chamber). Whereas on the XD, it’s a little dohicky that protrudes up when the chamber has a case in it. That’s the little piece of metal, a pin, and a spring… vs., a hole. The hole is simpler, no moving parts; in fact, no parts at all. Granted, the XD’s cocking indicator and loaded chamber indicator have the advantage of providing tactile feedback, so you can note things in the dark or without looking at the gun, and there is merit and value in that approach.  But over my years with the XD I really haven’t needed either. But then again, who knows: now that I don’t have them, will I miss them? Perhaps I did appreciate them being there without realizing it?

And yes, the word of the day is “dohicky”.

Updated 2: My MTAC holster came in. I set it up just like my current MTAC (for the XD) and tried some dry work with things. The beavertail on the M&P pokes into my side fat *sigh*, and there’s some little rough edges on the frame that scratch my skin. I haven’t fully pinpointed the locations, but I figure some fine sandpaper on a couple spots to eliminate manufacturing seams will help. No big deal, all really just a matter of getting used to it and it being different from what I’m used to. Plus, on my regular MTAC I’ve cut the tails of the clips off, the bottom edge of the leather backing, and other minor fitting things to help it better fit and work with me; the M&P MTAC is brand new and I’m not going to cut it up until I’m settled with it.

Otherwise, draw and other ergonomics are really about the same. Had no problems working stuff and it all still felt natural, save again for the fact the MTAC is new and a little stiff.

Itching to go to the range. 🙂

Updated 3: More dry work. I’m finding I like the factory sights. Again, these aren’t just “slot filler” sights but those Novak sights. All too often the front sight post is as wide as the rear sight notch, but not so here (I need to get out some calipers and measure). The front sight is a little wider than I like and the notch is filled a little more than I’d like, but it’s still a lot better than most factory sights. The fact the rear sight has a “hook” of sorts to facilitate one-handed manipulations is nice too. I did of course black out the rear sight dots, and the white on the front dot isn’t too bad tho if I keep these I am likely to get some red florescent model paint to color that dot. Still, I have to get S&W some kudos for having decent factory sights.

Last night made me consider something I hadn’t considered before. See, all these years I carry under a shirt. If I had to wear a suit jacket, things that are OWB like my spare magazine get put into a pocket. Last night I wore semi-OWB, with my mag pouch out and while my gun was IWB I tucked everything in behind it so if I took my jacket off you’d see the gun. And then of course, jacket over. Since OWB-style and “just an jacket” cover garment is new to me, I’m VERY aware of what I’m doing and trying to not expose anything. And so last night I realized another nice thing about the M&P — the magazines are black. By comparison, the XD magazines are bright and shiny. Flat black does a lot less to attract attention.

Some of us already knew this

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

It’s Christmastime.

People travel to see family and friends.

And of course, that means being violated by the TSA.

All in the name of safety, of course.

Do you really think any of those measures actually improve safety and security? Vanity Fair has a revealing article on the security theater. (h/t Slashdot)

To a large number of security analysts, this expenditure makes no sense. The vast cost is not worth the infinitesimal benefit. Not only has the actual threat from terror been exaggerated, they say, but the great bulk of the post-9/11 measures to contain it are little more than what Schneier mocks as “security theater”: actions that accomplish nothing but are designed to make the government look like it is on the job. In fact, the continuing expenditure on security may actually have made the United States less safe.

[…]

Security theater, from this perspective, is an attempt to convey a message: “We are doing everything possible to protect you.” When 9/11 shattered the public’s confidence in flying, Slovic says, the handful of anti-terror measures that actually work—hardening the cockpit door, positive baggage matching, more-effective intelligence—would not have addressed the public’s dread, because the measures can’t really be seen. Relying on them would have been the equivalent of saying, “Have confidence in Uncle Sam,” when the problem was the very loss of confidence. So a certain amount of theater made sense. Over time, though, the value of the message changes. At first the policeman in the train station reassures you. Later, the uniform sends a message: train travel is dangerous. “The show gets less effective, and sometimes it becomes counterproductive.”

I was at a credit union today. While waiting for the teller I saw a placard discussing their measures regarding identity theft. I forget the exact wording, but one word stood out to me: “feel”. It spoke about how difficult it is to “feel safe” (in a post-9/11 world, referencing the PATRIOT Act and how it changed banking regulations). And you see, that’s what it’s all about: trying to feel safe. Not actually doing anything that actually will make us safe, just a feeling of safety, even if it’s a lie.

APD’s 12 Rules of Christmas

/ hsoi

The Austin Police Department Burglary Unit posted “12 Rules of Christmas” to their Facebook page.

Unfortunately, they posted them as images/graphics, and not in the most public of ways. It’s good information to heed, not just around Christmastime but all year. So, going to transcribe and reprint it here because it’s good stuff.

  1. Lock your doors and windows!! A significant number of burglaries are committed by the thief simply opening a window or door that was left unlocked.
  2. If travelling over the holidays, ask a trusted neighbor or friend to park their car in your driveway while you are gone to give the appearance that someone is home.
  3. Do not hesitate to call 911 if you see someone you don’t recognize in your neighborhood who you don’t recognize or is acting suspiciously. YOU, better than anyone know who and what belongs in YOUR neighborhood. If it doesn’t seem right to you, it probably isn’t!! Police would much rather respond to investigate a suspicious person that is there for legitimate reasons, than to not have you call and officers have to later respond because your home has been burglarized.
  4. If someone comes knocking at your door… answer it!! If you don’t feel comfortable opening the door, ask who it is while leaving the door closed. (Thieves will often knock first to see if anyone is home).
  5. Keep valuables in your home out of view of those walking/driving by so they don’t invite an unwelcome “visitor”!!
  6. Close curtains and/or blinds when not home so that would be thieves can not tell if anyone is home or view what’s inside.
  7. Avoid advertising that no one is home. Leave lights on our put them on timers.
  8. When travelling, have a family member or trusted friend collect your mail and newspapers so they don’t pile up in your driveway/mailbox.
  9. If travelling during the holidays, don’t advertise! Don’t post on Facebook when you’re out of town as there are potentially those that are not your friends that could view your post (“Friends of Friends”, etc.) that can track when you are out of town and take the opportunity to break in.
  10. With the purchase of high dollar electronics and other valuables, make sure to not put the boxes out by the trash where a would-be thief can see what are now in your home (X BOX, Stereos, Flat Panel TV’s). Instead, cut the boxes up so they fit in your trash or bag them up after cutting them up.
  11. If you have an alarm, use it!!! (Even when leaving for short periods).
  12. When loading or unloading large quantities of gifts, use discretion so as to avoid would be thieves being able to take notice of all the property/gifts. This also goes when/if you are packing to leave/travel.

(A Freebie!!!!)

Write down your serial numbers!!!!!! In over 90% of thefts/burglaries, the owner doesn’t know or have access to the serial numbers on their valuables. Take the time to write these down NOW. With valuables that don’t have a serial number (i.e. jewelry), take a photo. Once you’ve written them down, copy the list/photos and keep them in various locations (one at work, one at home, etc.). (HINT: It doesn’t do a lot of good to keep the only list on your computer if the computer is stolen!!!)

Should you have your property stolen, the chances of it being recovered increased dramatically if you can provide serial numbers and/or photos. Without them, it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) for the police to determine who the property belongs to when it is located.

The APD Burglary Unit and the entire Austin Police Department wish you and yours a very safe and joyous holiday season!!

Some additional comments.

1. A couple recent local burglaries happened precisely because people didn’t lock their doors/windows.

4. Very good point. And note, you do NOT have to open the door. Just talk through the door. If you have a nice, big, scary dog, they perhaps can join you in the conversation. 🙂  The person on the other side of the door may try to get you to open the door; use your best judgment and if it doesn’t feel right, trust your gut… even if on the surface it seems wrong (e.g. someone with a sob story). As well, find another angle. If they say they need to be let in to use your phone because their car broke down, tell them you’ll be happy to call 911 or AAA for them (without opening the door). Don’t let them play (prey?) on your emotions and kind heart.

7. In-house lamp timers are good, but consider the exterior as well. You do turn on your exterior lights at night and keep them on all night, right? Remember, cockroaches don’t like light. You can buy replacement switches for exterior lights that are timers and smart enough to know the time, sunrise/sunset, and everything so that your exterior lights go on and off at all the right times. Not only useful to ensure your lights go on and off while you’re away, the fact they’re fully automated all year round frees you from having to deal with them. Automation is good. 🙂

8. You can also contact the delivery services to have them stop delivery. As well, you should have a trusted friend or neighbor regularly check your porch in cas the UPS or FedEx man dropped something off.

11. Yes. Use your alarm. I know so many people with alarm systems on their house and they never use them or are selective in their use. Do you know when someone is going to break into your home? I can’t predict such things, so it’s best to be in the habit of always using your alarm.

Stay safe.

See? Proof it’s a threat!

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Yup. Homosexuality is a threat to the sanctity of “traditional” marriage.

See? We have proof!

Adultry? Nah…. just the fags. They’re the ones screwing up marriage. Obviously.

*eyeroll*

I know this will probably annoy some of my more conservative readers, but that’s how I feel about it. I don’t see why people who love each other and wish to be committed to each other should be denied such things. I fail to see how homosexuals threaten “traditional marriage” and I fail to see what is gained by denying homosexuals the ability to marry. As you can see by Sen. Koch’s behavior well… if she’s so concerned about protecting the sanctity of marriage, why did she violate it? The fags sure didn’t make her do it, did they?

In the end, it’s pretty simple. They’re not infringing upon my life. I am not being injured by people making life-long commitments to each other. I am leaving them alone to live their life, and only ask they leave me alone to live my life. It isn’t my thing, but there’s a lot of things in the world that aren’t my thing and there are a lot of things in my life that aren’t someone else’s thing; is that justification enough to ban and deny things? They had no say in whom I chose to marry, and I’d be pretty upset if someone opted to stick their nose into my business and tell me who I could or could not marry. Don’t tread on me. Treat people as you’d want to be treated. All that good stuff.

Plus I just find it disingenuous to say they’re passing these “sanctity of marriage” laws, when they are nothing but a means to legally discriminate against homosexuals. If you really want to protect marriage, then work to protect it. Maybe outlaw divorce. Maybe make adultery illegal… oh wait….

The VoIP problem

/ hsoi

In recounting my AT&T problems, folks have suggested I go with VoIP – Voice Over IP, basically telephone over the Internet (instead of your phone lines). This is services like Vonage, MagicJack, and even the local Time Warner Cable provides such service.

I’ve been reluctant to do this because VoIP can have issues, tho the software and systems are getting better and these days folks have reported generally good experiences.

The main reason for my reluctance? Time-Warner Cable’s Internet service has more ups and downs than a roller coaster at Cedar Point. Maybe not long stretches of outages, but if the service drops while you’re in the middle of a call and doesn’t come back for a couple of minutes, what good is that when you’re in the middle of an important phone call?

And in just the past 48 or so hours while I’ve dealt with this AT&T mess? My RoadRunner Internet connection has burped like this at least a dozen times. All short downtimes, but still interruptions in service.  Hell, as I write this post it went down twice! *sigh*

For all of AT&T’s customer service failings, the actual service has been quite reliable. Reliability is very important to me. Unfortunately AT&T’s customer service has been anything but reliable.

I just feel screwed no matter which direction I turn.

….

Oh and get this. As I write this, AT&T continues to boggle my mind.

I just got an automated call from AT&T (on the apparently now working line). They are now saying someone will be coming out tomorrow — Christmas Eve — between 2 PM and 6 PM.

Um… that won’t work.

And what happened to all this “priority” and “expedited” for this morning service?

Wow. AT&T. So much FAIL. So much FAIL.