Category: FYI

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Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?

Onychorrhexis can be caused by many different factors, but it seems to be a generational thing in my case (maternal great grandmother, grandfather, mother, to some degree, older sister [confirmed] and me, AFAIK, in sibs). as a result, even after factoring in best nutrition, etc., the shorter I can keep my fingernails (and to a lesser degree, even toenails) the better. And that’s the primary reason my Swiss Army Knife has had nail care as its main function for quite some time. Since I also carry a multitool, its other functions are pretty much superfluous. So, replacing it with a specialty Swiss Army tool was the route I’ve taken. Like it.

Victorinox Folding Pocket Knife/Nail Clip

Still has tweezers, toothpick, scissors, and one small knife blade, so essentials for a SAK are covered. N.B. I did change out the dinky lil split ring for a larger, more substantial flat one so it’d be easier to attach and remove from my “belt loop” keychains. . . that I hang from belt clips for “pocket carry.”

Meanwhile, my daily carry Swiss Army Knife (I have others, of course) goes in my EDC bag. Just in case. 🙂

Continue reading “Sometimes, Specializing Is the Way to Go, Ya Know?”

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Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. . .

Laid up with bum knee, but am making a bit of progress in a couple of areas anyway. One is more than just fun. Pistol work: dry fire exercises. Converted my aiming practice to “instinctive aiming” by working on my grip. With a better grip, I am now having success in simply pointing my practice handgun where I am looking. I started by doing that and then checking my sights and aim point with my dominant eye. Check. Then single-action (cock-aim-“fire”) checking my aim throughout (before and during trigger pull). Then, double-action.

Proper two-hand grip: quickest consistent successes. Dominant hand only: also came along quickly, just not as quickly as two hands. Off-hand: surprised me. Came along as quickly as my dominant hand.

Fun part: when I’m alone in the house I can imagine anything as “targets” and service them. Usually it’s sitting or standing still (because of knee), but even though I move with a cane in my strong hand, my off hand can still practice dry firing while moving. (Or, I can stop, use my dominant hand, then move again.)

Sure, it’s not as good as firing rounds at the range, but it’s drilling new muscle memory in so-called “instinctive shooting,” so I count it as good enough for my current circumstances. I’m eager to see how this affects live fire practice with this lil handgun.

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Interesting Training Aid

I like. Where this (and other sims) fall short is haptic feedback. Still probably useful, though, as a step up from dry fire exercises and, long term, perhaps less expensive than spending tons of ammunition for completely realistic (because, REAL *heh*) experience at the range or in the field. Out of my comfort zone for $$ expenditure, though. $$ better spent on more RW equipment in my case.

Gaim training Sim hardware/software

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Notes on the Passing Scene

Fani Williams disbarment? *meh* She should be disbarred for not knowing how to spell “Fanny,” but passing the bar does not necessarily assure literacy, as one discovers when reading some self-pub lawyers’ excreta.

“According to a new pre-print study, the rise in cancer deaths here in America spiked in the year 2021, and then again in 2022. And these spikes were in great excess to the multi-year trend.” See video here

Yeh, couldn’t have ANYTHING to do with COVID Panic making acquiring treatment more difficult to obtain, could it?

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“. . .any position that’s not crazy and self-destructive is now ‘far right’.” HERE

Open Borders morons achieve another milestone in their efforts to convert the US into a third world country:

Leprosy on the rise in Florida

You would think Dhimmicraps would have learned by now that college is tooooo haaarrrd for donkeys, but no. . . just too dumb to learn anything that requires discerning facts and being able to. . . reason. (But ya SURE don’t want ’em going to welding school! They’d burn the okace down and blame it in racism or FlowBull Warmening or whatever.)

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Practice Makes Perfect?

Nope. “Practice makes perfect” is common misconception. Practice makes PERMANENT. Only perfect practice can make perfect, so BETTER practice simply makes being BETTER a permanent stepping stone on the path of improvement. Sooner or later, though, one meets one’s physical or mental limits (or both) and consistent best practice just makes permanent the best that one can be.

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The Best Thing About Being a Libertarian

The best thing about being a libertarian is not caring what anyone else thinks is the best thing about being a libertarian.

(IOW, you do you as long as you mind your own business and don’t infringe on others’ rights. If you stray from that, the consequences are all on you.)

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Secure Passwords?

I recently had someone leave a key under their front door mat for me because their keypad was malfing (was so could “sit on” grandson after school). They returned, we visited, left. Got a phone call: “Where’s the key?” Well, I had not left it EXACTLY where instructed, but since THEIR keychain was on the bookcase where I’d been told to leave the key, I simply put the key on it.

Hiding in plain sight can work, but there’s “hiding in plain sight” and its idiot cousin, “Take me; I’m yours.” Don’t be the idiot cousin.

Writing down passwords can have the benefit of having them available when needed (and forgotten, but unless that list is under physical lock-and-key security, it’s “Take me; I’m yours.” Better: a secure password service, perhaps.

Better still: use passwords you can remember. No, not your dog’s name or your wedding anniversary date. (Oh, wait. That’s not somethining you’ve forgotten before, is it? *heh*) or ANYTHING ELSE derived from personal information about you. No, while easily remembered (except for the anniversary thingy), those kinds of things are available to others and so make easily “crackable” passwords. No, select a pass phrase that is memorable – title of a fav book, an aphorism, a line from a poem or song, etc., and construct your pass word using that in a way that is sensible and memorable for you.

For example, I took the “punch line” as I “misremembered” it! – from a Smothers Brothers parody of a song that was popular back in their heyday and constructed a password from that. VERY memorable for me, but since it’s from a parody of a song that’s not in the “Top Five Million” nowadays, and the line I used is NOT as it was performed in the parody, the password I constructed (an easy one) only used the first letters of each word (as “misremembered”), a “Massive Cracking Array” could take a couple of days to crack it, so not seriously secure. But then, as I said, an easy password. . . on a “Junk Mail” account designated as a SPAM catcher.so. . . *heh*

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The Right Tool for the Job

You have one knife on your person. Good for you. Two is better. Three is better still. More, if you want to have self-defense options that include edged tools/weapons. No, really. Close range knife “fights” mean BOTH will be wounded. If not defending against a firearm, ranged knife defense – practice throwing knives? Sure – can be an exceptionally effective option.

Note: knife wounds are more likely to result in fatalities, so make absolutely certain you cannot remove yourself from danger without seriously wounding an aggressor.

Aside from self-defense options, knives are pretty close to being the ultimate “frustration-free packaging” tools, among many, many other uses, and the right knife for the job can make a big difference.

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Obfuscation, a PERSEC Device

PERSEC, INFOSEC, even OPSEC: fields to consider when using one’s Internet-connected computation devices (including phones). VPNs, TOR browsing, defeat of various tracking methods etc., are some standard tools, but do not underestimate sowing disinformation.

For one small example, Amazon has a record of ~8,500 books I have “bought” for my Kindles. Of course, MOST of those are freebies, and an [undisclosed] number of those are books I have absolutely no interest in at all (though I do fake having read ’em by “jumping” on through til I reach the end). This ensures that Amazon will keep pitching books to me that I have no interest in reading, demonstrating the company’s lack of true knowledge of my interest areas. (I do download a lot of PD books elsewhere while in TOR sessions, though.)

That’s just an example. There are others. It cheers my heart whenever a company sends my junk mail addresses emails touting things that “will interest me” demonstrating that a particular set of disinformation has taken root.

And now you get to wonder what part(s) of this post is(are) disinformation. . . 🙂

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Neighborhood Watch

[N.B. Sorta-kinda-halfway tongue in cheek?]

Home Made Mortars?

No neighborhood watch should be without one. Or five.

(For when the Felonious Barony of Iniquity parks 1/4 mile away before launching yet ANOTHER illegitimate assault on a citizen’s inalienable rights? Maaaaaybe. . . 😉 )