Month: June 2009

Important points to remember

/ hsoi

In reading the latest entry in the annals of reasoned discourse, it reminded me of a few key things that are worth pointing out:

* The D.C. v. Heller decision was unanimous (9-0) that to keep and bear arms is an individual right. The 5-4 split was about D.C.’s laws.

* That to keep and bear arms is a right that existed from the get go (“God Given” if you will). All 2A does is state that the government shall not infringe upon it, as a specifically enumerated limit upon the powers of the government.

More unpossibleness

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Some guy wanders into the Holocaust Museum and starts shooting, wounds a guard but two other guards shoot back and wound the guy. He’s taken into custody. (h/t to SayUncle)

But how could this happen? Washington D.C. has such strict gun laws, they should have stopped this nutjob! Why didn’t the laws work?! Oh that’s right, criminals and nutjobs don’t obey the law.

So there you are, family vacationing, going on a museum tour, then some wacko loses it and starts killing people. Bad things can happen at any time without any warning and where you probably least expect or want it to happen. This is why it’s good to be prepared, always. It’s no guarantee, but the more you can do to have the odds in your favor, why would you do anything less? And why would anyone (private citizens, elected officials, etc.) want to restrict your ability to do so?

Need a new A/C

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

*sigh*

I have 2 central A/C units on my house, one for the upstairs one for the downstairs. It was evident something was wrong with the upstairs A/C unit because things weren’t very cool and were rather humid. Had an HVAC guy out today. Put in 2 pounds of R-22 and detected a leak in the evap coil. *sigh*  It’ll probably cost me $1500 or so to replace the coil (parts and labor). But the real kicker is that these types of systems are about to be phased out due to the Clean Air Act of 1990. Need to get a Puron-based system.

So… that’s the thing. Do I save some money now and gamble for later? Or do I just dive in now and replace the whole system?

I really don’t want to spend a ton of money right now, but I just know that in the long run this system has to be replaced anyway. It comes down to whose problem will it be. If the system lasts long enough then I sell the house, not my problem BUT could it become a sticking point on house sale? On that note, having a new system could help with the house sale down the line (one less cost for the buyer).

Some months ago a circuit board had to be replaced on that same unit (ignition problems with the gas heater). So it feels to me like the system is on the way out. It feels like I should just bite the bullet and buy a new system.

*sigh* That’s a lot of money I didn’t want to spend.

So to that end, if any reader has advice on buying a home central heating/cooling setup, please share in the comments. I’ve never had to buy one of these before and I want to get the right system for my needs (want to learn how to determine that). Yes I want to spend as little as possible. 😉  But I do want to ensure quality and long-term cost savings.

Some points I’ve already picked up:

  • City of Austin does have some rebates for installing new systems, so that should knock a few hundred off the price.
  • There apparently is now a federal tax break that I can get for such things.
  • A quick Google search turned up this forum and thread. Looks like a place to start research.
  • The tech that was out said Bryant/Carrier are basically the same and are probably the best, especially since they’ve been doing the Puron systems longer than anyone. Second would probably be Lennox (if I remember correctly). Trane is good, but they only just started making Puron systems apparently.
  • Tech suggested getting a 10 year P&L warranty. That doesn’t sound like a bad deal, depending what all is involved. I usually don’t go for such extended warranties (they’re usually money in their pocket and out of mine) but heck, when I look at what I spent 7 months already on this one unit, I spent more than the quoted P&L warranty price so….. yeah.
    • I purchased Sears Master Protection Agreements on various major appliances I purchased there, and those paid for themselves if for nothing else in having Sears techs come out once a year for a service checkup.

Anyway, time to start reading. Please give me any suggestions you may have. I’m all ears.

Glock getting with it

/ hsoi

Glock was the manufacturer that made “plastic” guns a norm. The Springfield XD has been another big contender. Then Smith & Wesson came out with the M&P and what really set the M&P apart was the interchangable backstraps to allow for better grip-to-hand customization and fit (something easier to do with non-plastic-framed guns, like 1911’s). Then Springfield came out with the XD(m), and interchangable backstraps. And it seems now Glock will too. Rumor here, confirmed here.

I’m not a Glock fan in large part because of the grip. Maybe this will help. I have thought about a Glock 20 because 10mm would be a welcome thing for treading in places where one may have to contend with 2 or 4 legged predators, but I wouldn’t be happy about it. But if better grips are coming hey, that gives me hope.

More Futurama, yea!

/ hsoi

Good news everyone!

Futurama is back, baby!

Amusing tho how Comedy Central totally neglects the fact that it was really Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim that was largely responsible for Futurama staying alive. Heck, wasn’t it Adult Swim that was also responsible for Family Guy coming back from the dead?

Shocknife

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

In the discussion on Blueguns, Dan Cosgrove pointed me to a product called the Shocknife. I just spent some time on their website and then Googling about it, so I thought I’d offer up my opinion on it.

Continue reading →

Parenthood rambling

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

My old friend Matt has some rambling about parenthood. His kids just experienced some pretty crappy things here and here, and like any good Dad it really got to him.

He makes a good point, about being consistent:

The biggest piece of advice I can share about being a father is this. Be friends with your partner, always put up a united front, don’t contradict each other, and have a PLAN. So many problems are caused because Spouse 1 thinks B is okay, and Spouse 2 thinks they must be smoking crack because 1 should know that 2 doesn’t think that and so on and then the fight happens in front of the kids, etc.

I certainly agree that consistency is key. Kids like stability. While they may push the boundaries, they actually do prefer limits and bounds, and they only push because they are trying to find them. Once they find them, they may continue to push to try to see if that really is where the bounds are or maybe they just hit you on a particular day. This is where being consistent comes in. If you (and your spouse) are consistent in where the boundaries are drawn, eventually kiddo will learn where the line is and won’t cross it… at least for now. Yes they may try to push it again at some other time, especially as they are growing up and changing. As well, the boundaries have to change at some point because the bounds for a 2-year old are not the same as for a 12-year old; that gets to be particularly challenging when you’re raising a few kids spread apart in ages and the youngest sees how the oldest “gets away with more” and it’s just another bit of toughness, but you have to deal with it — they can’t be treated the same in all things in all ways.

I would, however, like to take it further than consistency. I mean, being consistently crappy isn’t that ideal either. Matt recounts:

I was at the store tonight and the guy behind me was just letting his 3-5 yr old son scream his bloody head off.  And just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

I recall one day at Chick-Fil-A. The entire restaurant got to meet “Alexandra”.

“Alexandra, stop running around.”

“Alexandra, you need to stop running around… come back here… Alexandra, you need to come back here now. Alexandra? Alexandra!”

“OK, if you don’t come back here and sit still you’re not going to get your toy. Did you hear me? Alexandra, Mommy said if you don’t come back here now you’re not getting your toy. I mean it.”

“OK, if you’re not going to behave we’re going to leave. Alexandra? I told you. OK, I’m going to count to three then we’re going to leave. One… Two…. Alexandra, if I get to three we’re going to leave. Alexandra… Three. OK, we’re leaving, good bye.”

“Alexandra, I told you that we were leaving. OK, thank you for agreeing to behave.”

About 5 seconds go by.

“Alexandra, you need to sit down. I told you….”

And it went on something like this for who knows how long. I am not remembering it verbatim, but that’s basically how it went on, and on, and on, with Mommy calling to Alexandra, threatening, threatening more, not following through with the threats, begging, pleading, and so on. I don’t fault the child, I fault the parent. Yes, this parent was consistent — consistently crappy — and that’s why I say pure consistency isn’t enough. What needs to also be there are firm boundaries. If you make a threat, you must follow through with it (so don’t make one unless you can and will follow-through). And dare I use the word, but you also need discipline; you read that right, YOU need discipline. If you have discipline, it will become imparted upon the child. Part of that discipline? Acting like the parent. You should not be begging and pleading with your child. If your child is acting like a little shit, you need to put them in their place immediately, not asking them to behave, you need to make them behave. I see way too much these days of parents asking and begging and pleading with children, which says the parent is not in control but rather the child is. That’s bass-ackwards folks. Be the parent, be the adult.

So Matt’s got a good point and consistency is key. I just take it a bit futher (and I think Matt would as well).

Temporary silence

/ hsoi

Blogging has been light.

I’ve been busy.

Going on the hunt threw off the clockwork of the household so I’m trying to get back on track.

Upstairs A/C seems to be not cooling (it’s hot up here), so someone’s coming tomorrow to look at it.

Safari 4 is so much faster than Safari 3. I’m quite impressed.

Just got a bunch of little things to tend to, including some blog postings that I just haven’t had time for yet.

Hoping to remedy soon.

Thank you for hanging in there. 🙂

But in the meantime, I must say… smoked the hog backstraps on Sunday. Mmmm.  And all day long I’ve been tending to a couple of the hams on the smoker. Should make for some good supper. Took the rest of the piggy parts to the local butcher to make into pan/breakfast sausage. Can’t wait for that.

Anyway, gotta tend to other business. I’ll be back.