Comments

Episode-2352- Listener Calls for 1-3-19 — 19 Comments

  1. Should toy guns go away when a kid gets a “real gun

    I think what the caller is trying to ask is there a way for the older kid to pass the solid plastic toy gun as the kid moves to the next level in safety aspect to prevent  accidental shooting of someone else ak kid shooting another kid

    • Sorry not being a dick but that comment really doesn’t make any sense.  It isn’t that I disagree, it is that words and perhaps phrases are missing from it that actually make what you are saying clear.

    • Jack addressed that I feel.  If a kid can’t differentiate between a .22 and a toy plastic gun and what proper behavior with the two are then they should not have unsupervised access to a .22.

       

      I play with nerf guns and plastic cap guns with my kids all the time and I don’t freak out about pointing them at my kids.  I also have firearms, and wouldn’t ever muzzle my kids with those.  It’s completely impossible that I’d ever be confused if I had a firearm or a toy gun in my hands.  I think it’s pretty reasonable to say that any kid who might have the slightest bit of confusion if what they have in their hands is a deadly firearm or a toy they should not have unsupervised access to a firearm.

       

  2. Red flag:

    Won’t anti-gun states just say all gun owners are mentally ill like they have before?

    And, how is this not a 4th amendment violation? Don’t we have a right to face our accusers?

    • No this is very flawed logic and it is what the right always does in reacting to the left.  (yes the left does the same thing).

      Anti gun states will say all gun owners are mentally ill.  Sigh, that is not how red flag laws work.  The state doesn’t say shit in a red flag law, your friend, neighbor or brother does.  IE this guy is off his rocker.  We must be honest that that claim could be true or at least the reporting party may believe it to be true.  But the state doesn’t say diddly squat here it only responds.

      4th amendment doesn’t apply, you are not accused of anything, certainly not a crime.  And you are free to prove that you are not a danger to yourself or others, you are given an opportunity to get your property back.  The state does have the burden of proof in the end.  You are not taken into custody, you are still free to live life, they just take the guns, the ones they can find anyway.  (there is a lesson there BTW)

      They found a loop hole but the loop hole exposes the real issue.  If you are a danger to yourself and or others there is already a mechanism for dealing with it.  These laws are unconstitutional but not for the reasons you point out.

      • Finally the biggest flaw in these laws as officers are given no discretion.  If I call and say Ron is nuts and going to hurt himself.  LEOs will come see you but if you show them no reason to believe my claim they leave you to your own life.  Red Flag doesn’t work that way, if I call in Maryland and say Ron is going to shoot himself, they come to get your guns.

        • I think you have too much faith in the state on this one. You are suggesting that they’re going to use these laws appropriately and are arguing how they should work. What I’m trying to say is that states like California and Illinois that don’t think anyone should have a gun, will have a bunch of “anonymous concerned Neighbors” call in on everyone with a registered gun. I could be wrong, but these places have been looking for a way to get rid of guns and just haven’t been able to do it through the legislature… So now they have this very easily abused law come about and you think they won’t use it?

          Also, say someone calls on me and the police show up. They say where’s your gun? I say, I don’t have any guns. Now, the police are going to search my property without a warrant and without my consent. How is that not a 4th Amendment violation? You don’t have to be accused of a crime for a search to be illegal. Just sayin…

        • You said, “I think you have too much faith in the state on this one. You are suggesting that they’re going to use these laws appropriately and are arguing how they should work.”

          And with that given who I am and my opinion of the state, means there is no point in carrying this discussion any further. When you make a claim about the other party which is patently false, and at the same time goes to the level of complete and total illogical thinking, you are not debating you are fantasizing.

  3. On controlling homebrewing temps:

    I personally use a plant heat mat with temp controller. I found that the plant versions were typically bigger and cheaper than the one specifically for home brewing. At the time at least.

    Also, this pertains to my experience with cider and mead, have yet to make beer. I needed a solution after my homebrew operation got kicked out of the dining room and into the basement. The basement stays a more consistent temperature versus some of the other upstairs rooms can swing throughout the day. I can always use it to help start plants if not brewing during that time.

    I recommend one with the programmable thermostat so you can “adjust” the temperature. The module’s lowest setting is 69 degrees, but experiment with where you place the probe and you can get a must temp between 59-65 degrees easily. It will hold that temp steady as well so long as ambient temp does not shift too much. I use an infrared thermometer like what Jack recommends to take temperature. It’s mostly accurate, put some masking tape on the side of a carboy if you’re worried about the temp being off from reflection off the glass. But it’s really not a big deal.

    Heres the one I use:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016MKY7C8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Cheers!

     

  4. Wow, when you talked about the hollow pipe blower for a fireplace you took me back in time… One of my friends was a welder, and in the early 1970’s he welded some hollow pipes, probably 2″ diameter or so, into a grate system with the pipes holding the wood, then running up the back and over the top to point into the room. I think it was about 5 or six pipes with duct work attached to the front and to the blower motor. When those pipes got hot they would heat the hell out of his basement “Man Cave…” I never saw anything like it for sale, but he used to make those (and also simple wood stoves out of old 55 gallon steel drums he got for free at work) for people to make some extra money. I would guess, since he made them at work, that his material cost was well under $50 back then…

  5. About the fireplace question. The tubes that draw the air through by convection look like a great idea, because when you might really rely on the fireplace is when the power is off.

    But there’s another option, a very old-fashioned one although the company you linked to has modern versions: the fireback. It’s a heavy metal plate that goes behind the grate. I had almost decided to get one when I saw one in an antique store for about 2/3 the price (not to mention avoiding shipping). It’s cast iron with a floral wreath design. It doesn’t reflect the heat out; instead, it slowly radiates the heat as the fire gets low. Not a huge difference but noticeable when it’s down to embers.

    Since I got it I’ve also noticed that my bedroom, which is right over the room with the fireplace, is warmer when I go upstairs, so I think there is actually more heat getting into the room, enough to warm the ceiling & the floor above. That’s a very economical option; yet one more reason to check out antique stores, old house sales, etc.

  6. About the fireplace question – I remember having a low tech version at home back in the late 1970’s.  It was not homemade and I have no idea where it came from.  There were 4 – 6 pipes about 2″ or 3″ in diameter that were bent into a distorted “C” shape (flattened on the bottom).  The wood sat on the pipes and the ashes fell below.  There were caps on the top of the pipe to reduce the opening to about 1″.  There was no fan; instead, the pipes acted as thermosiphons pulling cooler room air in at the bottom and forcing the hot air out the top.

    The heater worked pretty well with two exceptions.  1) The oil on the tubes left from the manufacturing process stunk up the house as it burned off (a day or two). 2) We only got maybe two seasons use from it before a tube burned through and started pumping smoke into the house.

  7. A prion isn’t alive. A prion is a change in the secondary structure of a protein from an alpha helix to a beta pleated sheet.

    Basically, genetic code controls how the proteins that make you fold up. How they fold effects how they work. Many proteins actually look and work like little machines. A prion causes a proteins in your body to change; and when they change they no longer function properly.

  8. Oh my gosh yes on the women’s lame-ass not pockets and ridiculous sizing.  Even little girls’ clothing has useless “pockets.”  Solidarity, Nicole.

  9. Gun laws, when anyone has to prove their innocence before they get their guns back, it will get out of hand quickly and used to “get back” at those who do not follow someone’s wishes.

    Look at kids, and yes kids should be protected against abuse etc. But because no proof is often required to make accusation the law is miss used.  Things I have seen.  Kids of divorced parents have called the custodial parent an abuser, (they grounded the child) so they can go  back to the more lenient parent’s home. (Other spouse freely gives drugs for teenage kids to get high with him, also threw out anti-depressants daughter was on, who then tried to kill herself).

    Foster kids threaten child abuse if they do not get their way.

    A family who lost their kids when the person they were working for had a disagreement with them and claimed they were not being schooled. (they were homeschooled but parents were taken out of the home immediately before kids were questioned, situation accessed).

    A family whose father received a broken down trailer on a 2 acre lot and a small amount of money in return for working on a fish farm. After they fixed it up, made it livable, the owner decided it was worth more now and the father now had to work twice as many hours or pay a high rent.  When the father said no that was not the agreement, his boss reported them to authorities as neglecting their kids. They homeschooled their kids and his wife just had a home birth.  Luckily for them they did not lose the kids, the person that came out, talked to the family, saw that the kids were learning much, but required them to take the baby to the emergency room to prove that the baby was being well taken care of.  Stress and expense of hospital visit to the family. No penalty of any kind to his boss. (I am sorry, I really thought the children were at risk, it is a relief to know everything is ok) Who then asked the family (after authority left) to move out immediately or they would lock them out of their home, next time they left.

    An person who had their spouse removed from the home as an unfit parent (was cooking dinner when police arrived) and not able to see their children, get their stuff out of the home, no place to live, until lawyer straightened it out, took a couple weeks until they could see their kids, get their belongings, longer time to have divorce court and get back custody of kids.

    I realize not all places are the same,  I do know that if it is easy to make an acquisition against someone with no proof to back it up, that law will be misused.

  10. Regarding the fireplace question, consider “Rumford-izing” your fireplace.  This style is specifically designed to heat a room.  I believe for most fireplaces built in the past century appearance and “safety” are the primary design considerations.  See http://www.rumford.com/rumfordization1.html for recommendations on converting an existing fireplace to a Rumford style specifically designed to heat a room.  Pat of the reason for having a square, deep firebox for cooking is it limits the amount of heat going into the room, which is good for a kitchen in warm weather.  Not so good if your intention is to heat the room.

    Additionally you have to consider how air-tight your house when providing make-up air for combustion.  You need to decide if you want to burn “old-stinky air” and thus bring in cold make-up air into a room further away from your fireplace (and thus cool that room) or if you want to duct make up air to a point near the fireplace and use that fresh air for combustion.  Personally I hate drafts so I would want the make-up air supply near the fireplace.

  11. I completely agree with you on the Nerf Guns and air soft.

    As a firearm instructor for the Boy Scouts it’s completely mind blowing the amount of stupidity people can have on Nerf Guns and even paint balls.

    Nerf Guns in the Scouts are only allowed if you have two RSO’s and a gun range.  All boys must wear safety glasses and treat them like a firearm.  There is no shooting each other no having fun.  They must be treated like a standard firearm.

    Paintball guns are banned completely because they aren’t friendly to the environment leaving paint outside.  However they are allowed Chalk balls which are paint balls filled with colored chalk.  Which by the way cost 4 times what a paint ball costs.

    The level of fear and worry about law suits have ruined the shooting sports for many people.

    I love how you put the fact that if you can’t tell the difference between a Nerf Gun and a real gun.  Maybe you shouldn’t have either.  The world needs to be teaching kids responsibility not preventing them from learning.

    • Jeff your comment has me thinking about finding a plugin to allow comment liking, loving, etc.