Just a sunny Sunday sunrise in Tacoma.
And while I'm in the North End...
Two days of sunshine in a row? With more sunshine in the forecast? Heck yes.
Oh my! Look at the distinct lack of clouds this fine morning.
Yes yes the snowmageddon 2012 is here, and here are some photos from it.
It's actually kinda slick out there. Wow-wee.
It's 8:06AM and the busses are getting stuck everywhere.
I kinda like this perspective on the clock tower.
First Presbyterian Church during the WaSnow2012.
Temple Theater during the Snomageddonalypse.
I kinda rushed myself on this one so there's loads of errors in the image.
C.I. Shenanigans Rennovated Bar by Bargreen Ellingson and Specialty Wood Manufacturing
Special thanks to Thomas Marshall and DJ ROME for making this production possible. For stills check out the the link below!
Mount Rainier - Panorama Point / Skyway Loop, facing Paradise
Mount Rainier Skyway Loop - Facing the Mount Rainier Summit
Mount Rainier Skyway Loop - Facing the summit, full summit.
Mount Rainier - It's in the Cacades!
But wait! There’s more photographic adventure time below the fold! Click here for more »
New Years Eve to New Years day! :toot:
Members of the Dockyard Derby Dames scrimmaging for at the armory for the last time.
Words go here.
One of my preferred clients found out that my father has been teaching me how to operate his milling machine in our spare time. They decided to aid me in my efforts and donated a small pile of scrap aluminum to be mangled. Included in the pile was an AR-15 forging that had been destroyed when an end mill broke off and wallowed out a few pin holes. Their attempts to salvage the lower failed so they destroyed the fire control potion of the lower which was partially milled out and then allowed me to use the sacrifice the solid aluminum magazine well to the milling machine gods.
Not wanting to waste a totally cool looking piece of aluminum I decided to convert it into a business card holder for my office. Who wouldn’t want half a gun receiver for a card holder, right?
It’s not a particularly hard project and it was the perfect choice for learning about feed speeds and listening getting a better understanding of how the whole process of metal mangling works. In fact the exercise demystifies a lot of what goes on in in a proper CNC Mill. It’s a shame that most high schools don’t have full metal shops anymore. Even my local community colleges have fairly restricted manual machine shop courses. Everything is about learning to input G-code into a computer these days.
Being able to shred and mangle metal with your bare hands (ok not actually with your bare hands, but they are involved in the whole metal mangling party) will is really really really cool. Even if you’re horrible at it.
Every year, just as spring’s precipitous grasp begins to take hold over the Pacific Northwest the the Sea Scout ship Charles N Curtis is hauled out of the water for it’s yearly service and inspection. It’s crew of 14-21 year old Sea Scouts devote a portion of their spring breaks just to do their part to keep the Charles N. Curtis in the water for another year. That means at least one day of pressure washing, scrubbing, sanding, and painting the bottom of the ship for most. Other, more senior kids are expected to perform even dirtier jobs, like major head (toilet) repairs, packing the grease fittings for the rudders, or climbing through the bilge chasing through hull fittings.
It’s no wonder they’re told to throw their clothes away when they get home.
Generally I avoid wildcat calibers but occasionally something incredible comes my way. Today’s wildcat loading was graciously sent to me by B4CTom1 along with a few goodies for my AR of Very Poor Decisions project. This new round, .50 ACP, takes a 655 grain projectile designed for the Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun (M2HB) and a casing designed by John Moses Browning himself and mates them into some serious subsonic excellence. No more will we rely on measly 230 grain projectiles to save us from the [insert popular culture threat here].
While no firearm currently exists that can handle this extreme loading with a reverse taper/rebated neck I am confident that I will find a hammer large enough to encourage round into the appropriate firearm.