Life

Crippled printer… what to do?

/ hsoi

I own a Canon PIXMA iP4500 printer. It’s been one of the better printers I’ve owned in my lifetime.

Wife was printing some things and was getting new and interesting errors from the printer. I toyed around a bit, looked up the error code, and it seems the print head is kaput. I tried some tips I found online for cleaning it… figured there’d be no harm. No luck.

So I need a new one.

But I can’t get a new one.

I can’t find any for sale anywhere.

Reason? It appears all the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan have (naturally) destroyed the supply chain. There’s of course no telling when life in Japan will return to “normal”, and thus I could get a replacement part.

It seems I may have to buy a new printer, but… what prevents the same problem there?

Shows how fragile and interconnected we are, doesn’t it?

Reminder – stay aware

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Some events happened yesterday that serve as a reminder to everyone to stay alert and aware.

I went to bed early last night, but around 10 PM or so, I woke to the sound of Sasha barking. And barking. And barking.

Wife went to investigate. There was a lot of noise coming from outside. Looks like it was just teenagers up late and enjoying the brief respite of cool weather. All their noise-making and running around put Sasha on alert. Good dog. We went back to bed.

A short while later, Sasha woke us up again. I went to go look, but only saw my neighbor out with her dog and then some kid whiz by on his bike. I did think it was odd to see my neighbor up and out so late at night, but her Facebook status gave some reason why she was up late so I figured it was just more noise that was causing Sasha to stir. Eventually I got her calmed down enough and she finally sacked out for the night.

Unfortunately, I was wide awake. So I headed to my office to start working. I check email and lo… an email from my neighbor. She said she was just taking the dog out one last time before she went to bed and noticed some people she didn’t recognize hanging out a little too close a another neighbor’s garage, and eventually they slinked off. It was too dark to get a good description. That house is further away from me so I’m not surprised I didn’t notice anything when I scanned the neighborhood. It bothered my neighbor enough that she called Austin Police Department to have someone come through and check on things. Good move.

But a couple other things have happened recently that has moved us… well… we’re not in code orange, still code yellow but let’s say it’s a stronger yellow.

From what I can gather, it’s likely bored teenagers going crazy from the heat. Nevertheless, even simple petty thefts are a pain to deal with.

If you haven’t, go back and read my prior post about a Personal Security Checklist. A lot of good things to keep in mind. To that, I’ll add a few things:

  • Don’t leave things in your car. Most car break-ins are looking for things that can be quickly and easily consumed (e.g. cigarettes, food), or things that can be quickly and easily sold (e.g. CD’s, electronics), and of course, money… even those few quarters in the console could be tempting enough. Don’t give them a reason to break in to your car.
  • Lock things. Lock the doors to your car. Lock the doors to your house. Lock the windows on your house. Keep doors and windows closed. When working in the yard, close your garage door unless you’re immediately involved with it (e.g. mowing the front yard, could be OK to keep it open… mowing the back yard, close the garage door). Many such crimes are simple crimes of opportunity. If they try the door and it’s unlocked, why not just open up, reach inside, swipe, and take off? Or if the garage door is open, just step in, grab a handful of tools, and off they go.
  • If you have lights on the exterior of your home, use them. Cockroaches don’t like light.
  • If the doggie starts barking, pay attention. Yeah it might just be a racoon in the yard, but it might not.
  • If you have an alarm system, use it.

The bottom line is that you cannot prevent all crime, but you can do what you can to make yourself less appealing. Nothing obvious nor easy to steal? Lights on? Everything locked? Alarm system? hrm… not as easy a target as that other house over there, in the dark with the open windows on the ground floor behind the shrubs.

The afternoon, so far…

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Allow me to recap.

First, I found a dead snake on my car’s rear view mirror. I have no idea how it got there but either 1. someone thought it’d be an interesting prank, 2. some prey bird was flying and dropped it, 3. some other third thing. I can’t rule out #1, but #2 seems more likely. The snake seemed “freshly dead”, and so we removed it and put it back in the greenbelt to either feed some other critter or the soil. Either way, there’s nothing that gives you a bit of a startle like seeing a snake draped across your rear view mirror… not a typical place for them.

Second, went to The Apple Store to buy Daughter her iPod Touch. She has been working hard and saving her money for it for geez… many moons, so many I’ve lost count. She finally got enough money and has been hounding me to take her, so I had a couple of hours and did so. She actually didn’t have quite enough once we factored in AppleCare and a case, but I was planning to pay for those anyways (she actually did account for tax). What makes me proud is her ethic. She worked hard, she took on babysitting jobs, she didn’t give into temptation to buy other things just to satisfy that urge to “get something”. She made her goal, she stayed focused on it, and she made it happen. It was a long term goal, and to a kid, many many months of work and waiting is an eternity… I know it was really hard for her to do this, but damn if I’m not proud of her. This is the sort of ethic that will carry her far in life.

Of course now, I don’t expect to ever see her out of her room. She’s got a couple of friends and family members that also have iPod Touches… and I know there will be FaceTime sessions. 🙂

Third, I have put Oldest in charge of the TV researching. I think that will be good for him. Some research work, having to learn about the technology, having to present it all to me, and the pressure that if we get a crappy TV it’s all on him. 😉  I think it’ll be a good project for him, something to grow on, something to expand his horizons in a few ways, and it helps the family out. We’ll see what happens, and hopefully he’ll follow through.

Fourth, there is no fourth thing… yet.

The Will to Prevail

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

KR Training Assistant Instructor and Houston Police Officer, Justin Galindo, posted the following videos and comments to his Facebook page:

Says Justin:

Interesting dramatized ad for body armor, but actually this a better ad for carrying a backup pistol. Watch the whole thing and you’ll see what I mean.

Then Justin posted this video:

Justin’s comment for the above video:

Contrast the difference between that last video and this one. Body armor is great, but I’d rather have a determined will to prevail and to win.

A good compare and contrast. In the former, she survived through equipment and luck. In the latter, he survived because of equipment, the will to live, the determination to fight and win.

Interesting coincidence. Prior to seeing Justin’s posts I was flipping channels on TV and “American Gladiators” was on. It was the woman’s Eliminator. Both contestants started about the same time, but one clearly was taking the lead and the other was struggling to keep up. The woman in the lead got to near the end where there’s that uphill reverse conveyor belt, and she tried, and tried, but kept failing to get over the top. Despite a huge gap between the two competitors, the other woman managed to catch up and go on to cross the finish line first — she wanted it more, she was determined to finish. Yes the first woman appeared to have physically run out of gas, but you could see in her eyes that she had just given up. Both women were physically spent, but the one that won had the will to prevail and win.

Condolences

/ hsoi

Matt Billingsley, owner of the Lone Star Gun Range, passed away today. From the LSGR Facebook page:

FOR THOSE WHO KNEW AND LOVED MATT BILLINGSLEY OWNER OF THE RANGE……HE PASSED AWAY TODAY IN A HEAVY EQUIPMENT ACCIDENT. WE WILL HAVE FUNERAL INFORMATION POSTED SOON. HE WILL BE MISSED SO MUCH.

Terrible news. I used to go out to LSGR in its earlier days, and I really liked how things worked there, especially the 25 yard range close to the office where you could shoot, move, use carbines and handguns to work on movement, transitions, etc.. It was pretty nice. I did stop going because some time ago Matt had to put a policy in place where you couldn’t collect brass — I understand why he did it tho, because it was just after Obama came into office, components were in short supply, so some people were picking up every piece of brass they could find instead of just picking up their own, which cut into the range’s ability to harvest brass to resell to help keep range costs lower. I didn’t blame Matt and probably would have done something similar if I was in his shoes. But between that and the fact the range was growing in popularity so I couldn’t practice there the way I liked to (i.e. I needed a range to myself so I could shoot and move, etc.) well… I stopped going. Never was an issue on Matt’s part tho. He always came across as a good, stand-up guy, working hard to build a business, a successful range, and by all indicators he was doing a heck of a job. He was always nice to my kids when we were out there too. Nothing but respect for the guy.

My condolences to his family, friends, and associates.

Mental Toughness

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

An article by Jackson Yee on Mental Toughness.

Fear is a needed quality to develop mental strength. By facing fear, you learn courage. Being fearless is a misconceived trait. As admirable as being fearless can be, it isn’t realistic nor does it provide any benefit to being a mentally tough beast. Being threatened by fear is the catalyst for you to strike! Confronting fear with brave actions is how you get tough.

Fear is an emotional response. At times, fear is irrational and blown out of perspective. It is not easy getting over any shattering experiences, but with guts and determination, you can get over any painful ordeal. Life is full of disappointments and letdowns. When we don’t get what we want, the consolation is that we gain experience. This doesn’t seem like a worthwhile prize, but see how the adversity can enlighten you. If may not be obvious, but look hard at any opportunity for personal growth. Take in the life lesson and move on.

A lot of wisdom in the article, applicable no matter what the context in life.

Jury Duty

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

A couple months ago I was summoned for jury duty and today was my day to appear.

I headed down to Austin municipal court, went to the room, signed in, sat down, read a book, and then was sent home. There were 21 cases, and all decided against trial by jury (plead no contest, plea bargain, whatever). So, no one was needed and after about 2 hours total I was home.

Interesting that all of my jury duty experiences have been the same in that regard.

I will say, upon entrance to the courthouse there’s a full screening process, like at the airport only without the abject humiliation. I was surprised it was handled by a private security firm and not Austin Police Department. I of course set off the metal detector. I was wearing a pair of 5.11 covert pants, so more zippers than normal; belt with buckle; steel shanks in the soles of my cowboy boots, and I figure all that just was too much for the detector. Wand me down, off I went. Oh and once again, the spare battery for my MacBook Pro confounds the x-ray operator; happens quite frequently.

Here’s the thing.

I had to fully disarm to go to the courthouse: no gun, no knives, no Leatherman, no nothing. Something felt wrong about being forced to do a civic duty while being stripped of my basic rights.

EDC blades

/ hsoi / 14 Comments

Inspired by this post over at The Packing Rat, here are my EDC (Every Day Carry) blades:

The leftmost is a Leatherman Wave which is certainly the most action-packed of the EDC blades… because it’s more than just a blade. In fact, I use it more for the non-blade tools than the blade. But certainly if I want a saw or a serrated edge, that’s what I go for.

The other two are Spyderco Delica‘s. Yes, I carry two of them, one in each front pant pocket, both tip-up. This is a training artifact from an Insights Training Center Defensive Folding Knife class. You don’t think you need two knives until you can’t get to the one you need….  I like plain blades because it gets the job done just fine, and honestly it makes the knife less scary to grass-eaters. I also like the simplicity of the Delica… small enough in the hand so it’s not something to fumble or difficult to manipulate, but big enough to handle most chores. The large thumbhole is very easy to operate, even under pressure. It’s very sturdy. Holds a good edge. And if it gets lost or breaks, it’s not too expensive to cry over and easy enough to replace. The only trouble I keep having is the clips keep catching on various things that I brush up against so I’m always having to fix the clip (#6 torx bit is your friend). At least the clips are metal so it’s easy to bend back into shape with even a little overbend for better holding power.

One thing I often hear from folks is to not use your “self-defense” knives for anything else. Uh… why not? You should use it for everything. Need to open a letter? Use it. Need to open a box? Use it. Need to cut something? Use it. Or like Derek at TPR, “I’ve cracked open crabs, gutted fish, open beer bottles, cut tinder, start fires, etc.”  It’s a tool, use the tool. The more you use it, the adept you get at manipulating it, drawing it, opening it, and having it feel comfortable and usable in your hands. So the blade gets dull…. sharpen it!

Knives are useful tools. Oldest has a pocket knife but despite my constant prodding for him to carry it he won’t. Daughter adopted my old Leatherman Micra and did carry it around some but lost it. I figure a replacement will come eventually. Youngest, he needs to gain more confidence in using a knife first. But we’ll get there. 🙂  Hrm… maybe a Delica or a smaller Leatherman for Christmas stocking stuffers…. hrm…. 🙂

Do you know Visual Basic and Measurement Studio (or know someone who does)?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Do you know Visual Basic and/or Measurement Studio? Or if you don’t do you know someone who does?

There’s a group that needs some work done utilizing those tools, and I’m trying to help them find someone. If you know your way around there, drop me a line and I can fill you in on the details.

Thanx.