Early Voting

I voted yesterday. Early voting opened in Louisiana last Tuesday. As I may have to be in Houston on Nov 6, I took advantage and voted early.

One item on the ballot was a state constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult to enact gun laws. While I'm driving home from work I hear the New Orleans DA, Leon Cannizzaro, on the radio saying he is urging a vote against it. He doesn't want it to interfere with the legislators ability to enact gun laws. Sorry, Mr. Cannizzaro, gun ownership is a constitutional right. Gun legislation has not stopped the killing spree that goes on every day in NOLa. When you get a handle on the crime, we can talk more. Until then, keep your pie hole shut.

Locksmith Work and Crazy Thinking

I came home yesterday to find the thumb latch on my front door hanging loose. My wife opened the door from the inside and I went to get my screw driver and allen wrenches. When I pulled the knob off the inside, the entire internal operating mechanism fell out on the floor: a couple of springs, a nylon bushing, two brass screws, etc. I'm thinking that I will be headed to Home Depot for a replacement door knob. And then it hit me: I'm a mechanical engineer, I can field strip an M1 without hurting myself, and I can put a Ruger Mk II back together (after several tries).....

So I picked up all the parts and laid them out on the table. I then used the process of elimination to determine what went where. 15 minutes later, thedoor  handle was back together and working fine. My only regret is that I didn't have any Loctite to stick those darn screws in place.

I read today that a woman on the assembly in Cook County, Illinois wants to impose a $0.05 tax and each bullet sold in the county. This, she thinks, will cut down on crime. Jeez, no wonder Chicago is so screwed up. I guess she thinks thugs all go to the local gun store to stock up on 9 mike mike.

Walkabout - Finale

The brother in law finished his thru hike of the Appalachian Trail yesterday. After living about 7 months on the trail, it will be interesting to see how he re-adjusts to civilization.

PSA

If you have been in Kennebunk, Maine any time during the past few years AND have frequented the Zumba fitness studio there, you need to check the local papers. It seems the owner of said fitness studio had an ongoing criminal enterprise which involved the trading of sex for money. She also surreptitiously made videos of some of these encounters and kept a list of clients. She was arraigned this week on 106 counts of prostitution. The local constabulary is assessing her client list and will arrest them in groups as they develop the legal cases against them. Their names will then become public record.

Needless to say, this is big news for the coast of SE Maine.

Walkabout

Brother in Law is now on the final 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail. This last segment is all in wilderness area and crosses several streams. It ends on the top of Mount Katahdin. He will have to rely on food that he is carrying as there is no chance for resupply. Another week and he should be finished.

More Scary Stuff

I have blogged about counterfeit parts from China before. I'm sure that most people feel that counterfeit parts will not have a big impact on their lives and that they don't need to worry about them. But the NHTSA now has evidence that bogus parts may hit you close to home.

The NHTSA is putting out a warning about counterfeit air bags being installed in automobiles. There have been recent cases where counterfeit air bags have been confiscated and one Chinese national jailed for trafficking in counterfeit air bags. If you have had an air bag replaced within the past three years by a private auto body shop, you may have received a bogus bag. (Dealer shops will use the manufacturer's parts) The bag may not inflate or, in one case, the air bag fired shards of metal on activation. So far, there have been no deaths traceable to counterfeit air bags, but they are out there.The culprit is a company called Guangzhou Auto Parts but they package the assemblies with copies of manufacturers logos so the parts are not readily identifiable as coming from China.

Book Review - Mad River

This is the newest of the Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford. It starts with a group of three on what appears to be a killing spree. Victims are dropping like flies and Virgil gets called in to work the case. However, he finds something that doesn't sit quite right with him and he goes searching for a deeper motive while dealing with the local sheriff who takes a more simplistic view and wants a quick resolution, meaning that the perps are killed during apprehension. Flowers wants to keep them alive as he wants to question them regarding his theory.

Don't start this book if you can't devote the time to finish it quickly. The action grabs you and won't let go. I highly recommend this book for long airplane flights, car trips or boat rides.

Head Count

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia played catch-up last month beheading 9 people for murder, drugs and armed robbery. This brings their year to date total to 56 heads removed.