About That Retirement Thing ...

Once I discovered the actual amounts involved, I realized that, while I can live comfortably enough this year, by its nature "retirement" lasts the rest of your life and the amounts involved didn't permit a lot of confidence for 10 years out (never mind the actuarial life span numbers).  So, dis-engagement from the .gov borg is underway and I am so looking forward to 4 more years of active employment.

My employer's opinion was not solicited, but so far the weekly checks keep not bouncing.

UPDATE

So, it's now official; earlier today I fully assimilated myself into the Socially inSecure borg.  As it worked out, this was a surprisingly painless encounter with the .gov.  Beginning next year, I shall be financially dependant upon all of you who remain among the ranks of the employed.  I look forward to discovering the difference in rankness my new station in life provides.


Funny, somehow it always felt like I would have more time to prepare myself for this eventuality.  If only I could honestly use the humor/satire tag.

"Mail's In"

So, I ordered a product from an on-line vendor.  As you do.

I paid for my purchase via Pay Pal.  As you do.

I received a shipping notification from the vendor with a tracking number.  As you do.

In this case, the shipping/tracking number was through the USPS.  I checked on the status of my package three days after I was told to expect arrival (the expected delivery date being a Saturday, not getting too concerned until after the subsequent Tuesday's mail delivery didn't seem an unreasonable imposition).  As you do.

Checking in with the USPS official website I cut-n-paste the tracking number I was provided into the provided search box and, lo and behold, my package was apparently delivered "in or at the mailbox at 2:07 pm on December 8, 2014".  Now, I did indeed receive the expected monthly cable bill on that date, so I'm confident a postal delivery was actually made on the day in question.  Just not the package I was anticipating.

Already being on the USPS website, I attempted to use the contact link for the Postal Inspectors to report on my waylaid, or at least undelivered to me, package.  After the usual cut-n-paste entry of the identical tracking number I had just entered via the same manner into the "track your package" search box, the Postal Inspectors reporting page informs me that this is an invalid tracking number, or at least now possesses an excess of spaces between the digits.  Needless to say, removing the spaces from between said digits resulted in the same error message.  Repeatedly.

The expression "Going Postal" begins to take on added piquancy.

There is a provided 1-800 number; once my blood pressure medication (which I will have to have my doctor prescribe me very soon now, I fear) and my soporific-of-choice has an opportunity to take effect, I really must give due consideration to attempting that avenue of communication.

My next venture into 21st Century mercantilism will be to inquire with the on-line vendor referenced above to see if he wants more of my money, and what amount will additionally be required to purchase insurance and make my next delivery be "return receipt requested".  Since the product is something of a limited offering, I'm not feeling confident.

At least our benevolent government doesn't issue guns and clubs to postal carriers yet, so their assault on us isn't quite as direct as it might be (insert link to your preferred example of police brutality here), but we can still live in hope.  As you do.

Update 12/18:  Screw you, Post Office thieves.  UPS for the rebound and the win!

So, 61

I don't really have a lot to say about the occasion, or I do and don't want to get into all that just now.

Mostly both, I suspect.

I have been having some initial success writing original fiction at Amazon Studios these recent months, and I do intend to write more on that come the day.  Right after I hit the "Submit" button.

Much like writing fiction that isn't painfully derivative, my sixth decade is proving harder to make headway in than has been my previous experience.  Yes, I know, nothing surprising there; it's discovering the distinction between the knowing and the doing that's the challenge I suppose, the realization that tried and true no longer gets you where it always has.  Finding new ways to do old things will be a feature of the coming decade I fear.

I don't really have a song this year, so something fun and motivational* (sorry about the ad and it will probably auto-start).

*It's my perspective; deal with it.

Ouch!

Second day back at work yesterday and the seat support thingee I bought didn't help me make it to the end of the shift as well as it seemed to Monday.  Paid vacation for a day or two until I can put together a more effective lower spine support for use on a forklift truck.  Already sent the money to Amazon after I got home from work for attempt No. 2.  A couple different designs of L-spine/abs braces and a small seat pad to alter the angle I sit on the seat.  If this doesn't work I spend the hundred bucks for the pro-model seat back cushion, I guess.

There certainly seems to be real science behind all of this technology design, but I'm not doing any of it.  Vitamin I stacked with codeine will get you through the night though.

Wellville Update

To re-cap; on Sunday the 19th of January I developed lower back pain that extended down the length of my left leg.  On the following Monday (January 20), this was diagnosed as bursitis since X-ray revealed no physical abnormality to my back and pelvic region.  The next day, I was seen by the first available orthopedic specialist who determined there was no medical cause for my symptoms revealed so far (he specifically ruled out bursitis) and he scheduled me for an MRI which took place the next day (Wednesday, Jan 22).  The following Tuesday, 28 Jan, the orthopedic specialist determined I was suffering from a stenosis of the L-1 and/or L-2 vertebrae, which basically means a narrowing or constriction of the channels through which the nerves run causing nerve pain (which has the attribute of expressing as pain almost anywhere the given nerve extends or "transmits" to/from).

Simply as a result of who I saw first for pain treatment (the Urgent Care doc-in-a-box alternative to the Emergency Room), I ended up going to the wrong specialist.  No one's fault as such; everyone involved sought the best treatment for me as the information they had available indicated.  My personal physician has now taken the lead position on my treatment, as would have occurred from the outset had this not transpired on a holiday weekend.  He has arranged for me to begin physical therapy starting this next Tuesday (that would be Feb 4 for those keeping score at home) and for me to be seen by a neurosurgeon, although that doesn't happen until Thursday Feb 13.

I've been off work this entire time and getting the Sickness and Accident insurance payments going is a slloooww process.  I'm in no danger of starvation, especially when you take the appetite suppression qualities of codeine into account, and the bills are all being paid still, but I'm actually looking forward to beginning PT if only for something to do.  Anyone who has been treated by a physical therapist will recognize just how extreme my level of boredom must be. Also, poverty (the money to pay for stuff is coming from my money to do things account).  First world problems all.

I expect to be off work for several more weeks at best.

I'm tempted to whine that "it never ends", but in fact it does and that alternative invites not at all.  I'll wait (and work) for "gets better".

A Bump In The Road To Wellville

This past Sunday afternoon at about 4:30 I started feeling pain in my left hip.  Within an hour, I was almost in tears.  On Monday, I went to the Doc-in-a-box where I was irradiated and given codeine for pain.

This resulted in a man in great pain who was also high.  Not there fault, it was all they could do.

Other than get me an appointment with an Orthopedic specialist for the following day.  Whimpered my way there on the Tuesday expecting a "hip shot" (injection into the hip region) of cortisone and whatnot to resolve the pain and begin therapy.

When you go to an expert, you don't get to tell him what he finds wrong with you.  IOW, there's nothing medically wrong with my hip, thus no hip shot for pain relief, but I did get a much bigger bottle of codeine and an appointment for an MRI the following day.

That same afternoon I did get in to see my usual Doctor and he was able to look over everyones notes and accumulated work (x-rays and the like) and he thinks that, along with some arthritis developing in my lower back and pelvic region - not surprising in a man of 60 years, some hopefully still-minor damage has occurred to a disc in my L-spine or that possibly something else has pinched the nerve running down into my left leg.

Wednesday, I went to get the MRI.  I've had one before for my knees.  Surprising to me, a spine scan is less complicated than one of the knee; only took about 20 minutes, even with the do-over toward the end when I had to move or wet myself.  Something else I discovered - when in a building that contains an active MRI machine, don't bother texting anyone.  Your message(s) will eventually go through, but the (increasingly irritated) replies will all appear on your phone in a cascade of bloops and beeps once you get into the more usually constructed portion of the building, like reception say.  I wasn't taking notes at the time, but either the electronic symphony coming out of my pocket or the sight of me madly choking down drugs while whimpering my way toward the water fountain will likely get you looked at in a concerned fashion by everyone else too.

Just saying.

The ortho guy won't be back in town 'till next week, so I get to spend the next several days looking at the clock to see if my morally ill-prepared self control is stronger than the pain-addled rest of me (the label says "every 6 hours", which so far means my life still has unfulfilled aspirations as of yet) along with ice packs wedged dangerously close to the groinal region, resulting in sporadic (not to mention hasty) inspections for testicular frost damage.

So, I'm never not in pain and I'm too high to do much of anything more demanding than move the blue ice pack somewhere a little less close to my urinary tract.  I failed to mention that I did get a course of steroids to keep track of along with all the rest.  I'd forgotten how steroids make one urinate so much more frequently.  Levitating up out of bed from yet-another nap with one leg in agony and the other in cramp is not an experience I can recommend.  Note to self: just drink more water, you're too high to know if you're thirsty or not anyway.

I am told that there are good non-surgical therapies these days even if it turns out to be a ruptured disc in my spine.  I resolutely refuse to speculate, mostly because doing so requires too much mental horsepower.  I'll know more next Tuesday.

It's A Good Thing I Didn't Have A Love Life To Start With

Saves me having to choose between it and ... well, living.

Introducing my latest (and likely only) sleeping companion, The Snout, including the warm and wet option to complete the sensuousity of it all. With all the hangman's noose hose and filters, I just tickled the old health insurance for a grand, easy.

What's the sense in living longer if every woman that arouses your interest staggers off laughing hysterically once she catches a glimpse of your bedroom attire?

CPAP my ass; CRAP!

Taking Issue

M. Simon writes the Power and Control blog and has been critically commenting on events in Japan involving the nuclear reactors there (starting here, here, hyperbolicly here and pretty much daily right up to here (just keep scrolling).

Let me interject by stipulating that I know considerably less about nuclear plant operations than does quite possibly anyone else outside the Kalahari desert, though I do know how to read English and have made an effort to grasp what I can from these nuclear amateurs (they not being professional Navy Men you understand).

My objection to M. Simon's characterisation of events up to now lies mostly (discounting my confessed schadenfreude over a professed libertarian arguing in favor of government/military forces occupying civilian businesses) with his willingness to attribute motive and disregard for safety to those whose actions he is in no way personally familiar with nor has any sort of reliable information regarding. This strikes me as both damaging to Mr. Simon's reputation (which I find distressing any time it occurs to someone who's writing I otherwise enjoy) and - at this point in the proceedings - entirely beside the point, assuming a successful resolution to the event is a desired outcome (which I believe to be the case here). I commented to that effect (and more, I fear) in response to his most recent post. While not interested in a blog flame war (and won't participate in one), I did feel obligated to point out the position I have taken on the subject (besides, I haven't anything else to babble on about just at the moment - content is content :)) which I concluded thusly:

I'm a veteran of the same USN you are (if an Airdale instead of a Nuke) and am well aware of just how slow to adapt Navy maintenance standards are. I'm also not going to attempt to argue that Japanese governmental (indeed, social) practices aren't culpable in the recent events - I've been stationed there too and know better. Trying to argue that USN non-civil regulatory compliant practices (however "safe" they might have proved in practice) are somehow a practical alternative for a non-military mission oriented civilian operation to employ is disingenuous in the extreme. Having retired military with the appropriate training and experience performing independent inspections (under authority of national law enforcement) very well might be, but I haven't read that argument being made on these pages either.

A confused and poorly told story about cataclysmic events half a world away actually strikes me as being entirely expectable and within the established norms of news reporting generally. Having counter-factual statements being issued by a variety of uncoordinated sources (governmental and otherwise) also strikes me as an expected occurrence following such a massively disruptive event (indeed, the opposite would seem evidence to me of a deliberate cover-up effort). Making condemnatory statements and broad policy observations based on partial and acknowledged-to-be incomplete information strikes me as ill-advised and damaging to the reputation, but feel free to Carry on, Sir!

If his intent is to prepare an "I told you so!" circumstance, Mr. Simon is well situated. If his intent is to inform, I think he dis-serves himself and his readership (an undesirable outcome for a professed professional writer, I would think). While acknowledging his vastly superior grasp of the technology involved compared to my own, I hope to read a more even-handed and reliably informed opinion in his future posts on this topic.

Smith & Wesson Hates It's Customers

Day 55 of an American Held Hostage to corporate disdain!

At least a few people have noted my experience with what is publicly acknowledged as a Smith & Wesson design and production process failure. The so-called agent of corporate dissimilitude "customer service representative" commented at the time of my first contact that, "That's ours". Now, to be fair, I suppose he could have been noting the obvious, that the pile of wreckage gun with "Smith & Wesson" prominently stamped into the frame was one of theirs, but the impression he let stand was that the likely cause was one he was familiar with, that the cause was theirs and not the obvious result of my own ineptitude.

What is most galling is the complacent avoidance of any effort to inform me as to any progress in what Smith & Wesson must laughingly refer to as their "decision making process" as regards any potential resolution of this matter. Follow up calls on my part don't rise to my personal estimation of "keeping me informed" and neither do vague references to a "metals shop" having the responsibility to determine my fate.

As to that - resolution of this matter, the 625-10 was a limited production weapon from the outset and one that Smith & Wesson no longer makes. I have no idea what value the corporate leviathan will pronounce for my unrepairable purchase, but none of the revolvers they offer in their most recent catalog rise to the specifications that led to my buying the gun in the first place. I note that their scandium frame 1911 pattern pistol in .45 acp comes quite close, but somehow doubt that corporate financial interests will agree it's near-$1200.00 msrp is compatible.

To the extent past performance actually is a guide to future activity, more to follow, I promise.

14F

That's what it read on the digital thermometer in my truck this morning on the way home from work. I don't suppose it's actually against the law, but it's definitely against The General Rule Of Life In Texas for it to ever get this cold! It's too damn cold to snow even. All the normal humidity has frozen out of the air and onto every available surface, to the point that spontaneous combustion is a real possibility if it warms back up enough for fire to actually ignite.

This just ain't right, I tell you, I stay in Texas because it's in the South; it's unconstitutional for the weather to get this cold here - or ought to be.

I'm trying to be flip about all this, but folks in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area don't think it's so funny. So far power usage hasn't risen to this level in the N. Eastern part of the state where I live.

Range Report - S&W 625-10, s/n SCC0487 KABOOM!

1/14/11: See update at bottom of post.

As I mentioned here, I took an unexpected opportunity and bought a .45acp revolver. Smith & Wesson Performance Center guns have a bit of a legendary reputation after all. As detailed in the title above, the precise model and serial number are: 625-10, s/n SCC0487. Upon getting the gun home that first evening, I took the opportunity to thoroughly clean it (and my way-too-dirty Commander as well), and there was no visible evidence of flame cutting around the cylinder/barrel interface nor any indication of frame cracking or distortion apparent to a close visual inspection.

This being a scandium alloy frame gun, I determined to fire ammo having less bullet mass than the 230gr FMJ I usually target shoot with, as I went into some detail about in this post. I chose the Remington Express (having the least advertised muzzle velocity of the lead-bullet rounds I had purchased for this test firing) to shoot first and loaded six rounds into a moonclip. The first four rounds fired cleanly and without apparent incident, at which point I placed the gun on the shooting table for my regular FFL dealer (from whom I had bought the gun) to try the remaining ammo for himself (a small diversion here; he had only fired a total of less than 100 rounds of 230gr FMJ - and 5 or 6 rounds of +P ammo max - through the gun. It was an occasional pocket carry piece for him, but mostly a safe queen - he'd never fired 185gr ammo from it and I wanted his impression of any difference between the two bullet weights). When he went to fire the next round, the gun failed to cock properly for a single-action shot, but the cylinder appeared to advance normally. The next (and final remaining unfired) round suffered a light primer strike (which we were unaware of at this point in the process), but the gun double actioned cleanly through all four of the previously fired chambers immediately thereafter. The gun suffered the catastrophic spontaneous disassembly on the fifth shot actually fired (the round the gun failed to cock properly for previously).

Nobody was injured.

A segment of frame blew out to the shooters right into the stall partition, while the barrel flew up into the lane sound baffle material and fell back into the target distance-setting motor mounting metalwork ( a u-shaped sheet metal construction located directly above the lane's shooting table) and was surprisingly hard to hunt down afterwards, but we were eventually successful in rounding all the bits back up:







A bit of online research later that evening lead to this Smith & Wesson-oriented forum discussing this very model pistol. A quick read of the comment thread (there are only 14 entries) makes clear that these pistols have a known history of some of them having had the barrel over-torqued during original assembly with a resultant stress crack forming in the frame material surrounding the barrel threads.

Mine would appear to have been one of these.

For the equally pedantic, there is no visible sign on the barrel of the final (or any) bullet having been off-center to the barrel when fired. The five holes in the paper target are of equal size and there is no evidence of the barrel having detached from the frame until after the bullet's having exited the muzzle. The gun still has a smooth double-action trigger pull and the cylinder still rotates cleanly.

I have emailed Smith & Wesson customer support about this today as their page clearly states to do:

If you have a question about repairing or servicing your firearm, parts questions, etc. email us with your question or call us, please do not use this [warranty work return label request ed.] form.

as well as having placed a call directly to the in-house extension S&W provides to arrange for non-warranty repair work (1-800-331-0852 Ext. 2905) at ~4:15pm Eastern on Thursday, January 13, 2011.

Bit of a fail there. [see update below]

Apparently Smith & Wesson customer service is so overwhelmed with work (leaves a questionable impression with the buying public, that does) that they automatically divert all in-coming calls to a voice-mail box. Will someone notice, never mind actually respond? It's a mystery. Stay tuned ...

Quite frankly, since S&W no longer makes this particular model (which was always a limited production, quasi-collector's piece), I'm not at all sure what the resolution will be. Certainly S&W hasn't got some secret stash of replacement pistols squirreled away (Lew Horton Distributors - who originally commissioned the guns per my research - would have something pointed to say about that, I'm sure), so a straight forward swap is out. I also don't think there's any question of repairing such a catastrophic materials failure (can scandium be welded? Interesting TIG challenge that). And I don't think I want their steel frame 625 at any barrel length; I bought the gun for it's light weight as a summer-wear concealed carry piece, not an application a steel 625 does much better than my Colt Commander.

That will all have to wait for later though. First, I need to determine how to send my current gun pieces back to Performance Center (or whomever) to get the process started.

On a more uplifting note (for some), my Colt Commander sent ~60 rounds down range flawlessly. Some attention needs be paid to the trigger appendage - a bit of sloppiness was observed there (though not really all over the target).

So, how was your day at the range?

UPDATE Friday, 1/14/2011 ~2:00pm: Just finished speaking with Joe Marcoux of Smith & Wesson. Told him briefly what had occured, he requested I send him a picture via email, he took a quick look and took down my details to send me the appropriate shipping label with instructions by return mail. Quick, efficient and, including the wait on hold, the whole transaction took maybe 8 minutes tops (and would have gone quicker if I could get through the whole email a picture pokery-jiggery with two hands - I've got to buy one of those hands-free phone doohickeys) (actually, I did - now, where did I put that thing?). Can't say this went painlessly, but if you've got to deal with such a tragic loss it's always better to deal with professionals.

Well done to Mr. Marcoux and to Smith & Wesson.

Global Warming My A$$

WTF? This is Texas; it's 21 Fargin' degrees outside!

Which is actually the start of a heatwave. Yesterday at this time it was 17 degrees and all of 26 degrees at 10:30 am!

Is Al Gore somewhere in the area?

I hate this time of year

It must be the lack of sunlight. Or something. It doesn't really feel like depression per se, but nothing seems to overcome the lethargy for more than a few minutes at a time.

I'll get past this soon enough.

Damned Global Warming

Here's something to look forward to:

Temperatures dropped into the upper teens and lower 20s this morning and even with abundant sunshine this afternoon, they will struggle to reach the lower to middle 40s. Tomorrow we will see increasing clouds with a chance of rain late in the day with highs reaching the upper 40s.

Things begin to get interesting tomorrow night. As bitterly cold moves in, rain could change to snow/sleet/or even some freezing rain before ending. Right now we are not expecting any accumulation as most of the moisture should be off to our east. During the first half of our Thursday we could see a few snow flurries as the arctic air moves in...but the big story will be the cold. Temperatures Thursday afternoon will drop into the lower to mid 20s with wind chill temperatures near zero at times. Wind chills could be quite dangerous through the day on Friday as NW to N winds continue to blow.

The coldest temperatures we have seen in nearly 14 years will greet us Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings as lows bottom out in the middle, possibly lower teens. [local ABC affiliate KLTV]

Friday's projected high? 29F

I live in the South, dammit, the land of cotton not ice floes! Now, where'd I put that pea coat? Good thing I bought myself one of these for Christmas, eh?

UPS = Delivery FAIL

I ordered an item last week and the vendor uses UPS. Which is fine as far as that goes, but there seems to have been a problem completing the delivery this time.

For whatever reason, my apartment number was left off the shipping address. The UPS tracking web page notes an exception to the delivery schedule but doesn't provide a workable mechanism for the receiver (the individual most likely to be tracking a shipment, I would think) to correct the problem. What I really want to avoid is having my purchase returned to the company I bought it from (which is UPS' default option after 3 failed deliveries). I can find no means of contacting UPS about this without an InfoNotice number (the number on the slip they leave on your door when there's no-one to receive the delivery) which I don't have because UPS can't deliver my package without knowing which apartment I live in to leave the InfoNotice slip at (or possibly even just go ahead and deliver my package). The old Catch 22; you can't do what you need to because they can't leave you the necessary for you to do ...

I really don't want to take time off from work just so I can hunt up their local office and go down there in person.

Sort of defeats the purpose of shipping with them in the first place, doesn't it?

Update 1/5/10: Credit where due; UPS persevered, solved the problem and made delivery only one day later than scheduled. I still think they ought to review their customer support set up, but they got it right in the end so "well done" for that.