I thought that was impossible

More gun related randomness for your perusal.  Sometimes I get the urge to look around for some Mosin Nagants just because they are cheap and fun.  Imagine my surprise when I find some tricked out custom job that actually costs over 1k.

click the pic to see the description

Never thought I'd ever see a Mosin (custom or not) sell for over a few hundred dollars. Wow.

What a crazy random happenstance

So, I forgot to mention in relation to my last post that I was on the phone with my mother the other day, and I came upon the realization that despite having lived in the general vicinity of the bay area for over a third of my life, I have never been to Fleet Week.  How messed up is that?

I miss you, Moffett

Let me start off by saying this: I love the sound of jet fuel being turned into noise, I mean I LOVE it.  Having lived in viewing distance of Moffett Field back in the days when it was still NAS Moffett, I adored the fantastic display of power and wonder that were continually delivered by every military aircraft that came in low streaking over the ground after taking off from that runway.

Many a fond memory I have of going to the airshows held at that field. I remember seeing all sorts of aircraft like S-3s, A-6s, A-7s, P-3s, F-14s, F-18s, and I even saw a Russian MiG-29 perform a display there.  All sorts of cool stuff that makes me squee like a little girl to this day.

So I was especially excited when I found a couple of youtube videos that show an areal display from the cockpit of an F-14 at the very same field itself.  Sad that the old hangar is without a coating anymore.  But, anyways, go give these videos a watch for a really cool perspective of an airshow display.

Navy F-14 Airshow HUD Part 1 of 2

Navy F-14 Airshow HUD Part 2 of 2

Oh, and if you've lived in the vicinity of a military airfield, and are one of those morons that have called in to complain about the noise, even once, I hate you.  I really, truly do, and I hope a thousand low altitude formation flights interrupt every night that you try to sleep. 

I love playing as the bad guys

Well, I've mentioned before how there is a lack of fun multiplayer shooters around, but I think I may have found another good one in Payday 2.  It's basically a bank robbery simulator where you get to act out all your favorite scenes from movies like Heat, Point Break, ect.  It's interesting to me especially because of the emphasis on teamwork with other human players to accomplish certain goals.

It also has some fascinating depth with some bewilderingly intricate weapon modifications, rpg style character customization and skills, and really fun and tense gun-play.  The real fun is in all the little details they add, such as custom masks for scaring the crap out of people, holding hostages, making barricades, ext.  Also, although you play set characters (with a whole webseries to accompany it), they don't feel like they are intruding on your game, like others where it just feels like it's no longer "your" gaming experience.

All in all, the high stakes robberies in this game simply prove that it can be both challenging and fun to pull of a major heist; virtually that is.  

After action report

So Thanksgiving went off without a hitch.  I really enjoyed my time just relaxing with the rest of the family, spending most of our time just watching Rifftrax, or some other crazy show.  I love going down there, even though staying an extra day made for such terrible traffic on the way back that it was inducing murder worthy rage.  What is it with these Utah drivers?

The real trouble this year will be securing time off around Christmas to see if I can pull off the same stunt again.  I should have a bit of extra cash for the holidays, and I'm looking forward to having a bit of cash to maybe pick up some ammo for the 12guage, 20guage, and some 9mm before heading down again.  I'm feeling the urge to move some desert real estate around with boomsticks again.

But, but don't they hate me?

So was there some kind of personnel shakedown or management change up over at H und K recently?  Cause that's the only explanation I can conjure up for them suddenly doing an about face on their long standing tradition of thinking that I suck and hating me for being a civilian.  Especially when you hear things like this in the pipeline:  The new HK243  and HK293.

I mean wow.  Just wow.  Granted, I still expect them to charge about as much as a firstborn sacrifice for it, but at least they've realized nobody wants their crappy little SL-8, and everyone has always wanted a G36.  Now if they really wanted to surprise and shock me, they could price it reasonably for around 2G or less then offer a 5.45 variant or conversion for it.

On a related note, I wonder if it would put guys like this out of business?  On the other hand, no matter how friendly HK gets,  I doubt they'll ever offer an XM8.

Forgotten holidays

Being a man with no immediate family nearby, no children of my own, and no significant other, most holidays just slip right by without much of a second thought for me.  But, there are a small few that are never forgotten.  Veterans Day is one that can not go unnoticed, no matter how busy or out of touch with the rest of the world I am.  It is one that holds a strong place in my heart, and is just as important (if not more) as any other.  So, to commemorate the occasion, here's a short list of MilBloggers that I enjoy, some of which have gone dark, but are no less important:

http://instapinch.com/
http://www.neptunuslex.com/
http://castrapraetoria1.blogspot.com/
http://parrotheadjeff.com/blog/
http://baddogsandsuch.blogspot.com/
http://www.thedonovan.com/archives.html
http://www.blackfive.net/main/
http://www.cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/

still diggin

Relevant music for those joining us in strip mining.

Cowboy Bebop OST - Diggin

Strip mining is fun!

Still don't see what all those tree huggers are whining about.

So, it finally happened after years of shrugging it off, I was finally dragged into the world of Minecraft.

Jay already had a server up and running for weeks and he and his siblings had a nice over-water city already taking shape.  As soon as I got in, my first order of business was to pilfer as many weapons and equipment as I could carry, and then I immediately set to work building a vast road network that interconnects all the houses/islands together, with appropriate lighting to prevent zombies from spawning.

Once I met up with the Roomie, Jay, his sister, and my bro, we set to work on creating a massive strip mine, to look for the most precious items in the game: diamonds and obsidian.  In the end, we created no less than four massive strip mines, and later found that all of them were interconnected via underground caverns, rivers and lava flows.  All in all, a pretty good weekend.

All I could think of while mining in game.  Click the pic!

I rather amazed at myself with how fast I have become consumed with this game, but then I remember how much into legos I am/was and then it makes sense: of course I'd be into it, it's like legos on crack. 

The holy trinity

I enjoy reading the blog of Vox Day fairly often, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of very interesting posts focused on the Holy Trinity, or the skepticism thereof.  I found it quite fascinating, especially as a Mormon, considering that we've never adopted the traditional interpretation of the holy trinity at all.

In our faith, we have always believed that God the father, Christ and the Holy Ghost are all one in that they are united in purpose and goal, but are all separate individuals.

The first can be found here:
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2013/09/mailvox-creedal-correction.html
And the second here:
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2013/10/mailvox-25-reasons-for-trinitarian.html

Pullman Mansion

I remember back when I lived in California, I lived not too far from the Stanford Dish, and on the weekends, I would be constantly driving up and down I280 with either my mom or dad.  Both my parents have a healthy fascination with haunted houses (which it seems is a hereditary trait inherited by me), and a recent local legend is one we passed every week, and could just barely see from the freeway: the Carolands Mansion.

The house underwent a 20 million dollar renovation some years back, thus accounting for the pristine pictures here, but during the time I lived there, the mansion grounds were in a massive state of disrepair.  The grounds were completely overrun with weeds, the fence overgrown with vines to the point that you'd never be able to see in, and vines even coated the exterior of the mansion itself like green veins of chlorophyll.  I'll always remember how amazing the house looked even then, but I never really took the time to understand the history of the house, which is quite fascinating.

What really surprised me though, was the story of the murder there.  Which I didn't realize until now, that it happened not too long before we lived there.  Back in 1985 a security guard at the mansion let in two high school girls, locked them in a safe, abused then murdered one and attempted to kill the other. It is a truly horrific tale, which I was tempted to not even link to, as the account is not for the squeamish.

Terrible that such a horrible thing happened there, but at the same time, I still have nothing but fond nostalgic feelings for the place.  It appears, at least, I'm not the only one who feels that way.

and I work in IT

It's funny how disconnected I am with society at large.  I really don't enjoy being connected with people at the push of a button sometimes.  Not that I don't enjoy keeping in touch with people, I just hate the constant interruptions.  There comes a point with all this modern technology, where you start to feel like social interaction trumps everything else in life, including the quiet moments of solitude where you're trying to get some serious reading done.  This especially goes for my cell phone.

I would really like to ditch that thing sometimes and just grab myself an old candlestick-style rotary phone and an answering machine. There's just something comforting about the old clack of a rotary dial; that and it would just be effing cool.

Unfortunately, the only thing they got these days are a bunch of stupid candlestick-style phones that simply look like the old rotaries with out the actual rotor dial.  This is nonsense.  It's the 21st century and your telling me no one has figured out how to make a rotor dial interface work on modern phone lines?  Blasphemy, I say!  Maybe I just haven't been exercising my google-fu enough. 

Things that bug you

I hate it when I have a great idea for a post in the morning but the it gets lost in the havoc and general confusion of a busy day.  So, in light of that, go find something you like on the internet, and enjoy.

Ah, home

I can't think of certain bit of southern Utah, without thinking of this song now.

Southern Culture on the Skids - White Trash

Terror in the void

An interesting thought occurred to me recently.  It seems that all the most creative people I know (and know of) seem to have fairly consistent nightmares.  It seems silly at first, but I think that two can be somewhat related.  As I look back on some of my most creative spurts, it was often inspired by some very intense nightmares, and the same appears to be true of these people I know.  Perhaps it's something within the human psyche that prompts us to conquer or confront what we fear, or simply that our subconscious brings out some creative aspects of our mind while in the REM state.  But hey, I'm no doctor.  I'm just some guy on the internet who is suddenly nostalgic for night terrors, so I can be more creative.  Weird.

basic math skills

Looks like one of my favorite authors has hit it out of the park again:
http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/the-scientific-tea-party/

I've always known this, but go give it a read anyways. Hilarious that the researcher in question actually expects people of a certain political leaning to be traditionally stupid, just as the mainstream media tells him.  It's sad how many people I know are of the same opinion.  I knew a guy that is still adamant that all tea party members are simply racist, anarchist wing nuts, that are bent on killing all immigrants.

I tried explaining to him that the sole reason for the tea party existing was because the people are overtaxed, and the federal government is far bigger than needs be.  The Tea Party is simply a bunch of hard working Americans who are tired of paying taxes for services not needed or unwanted while at the same time, horribly mismanaged with no or ineffective oversight.  We hate no one, but hate the massive waste we see from the government everyday.  We hate bailouts, nationalized health care, marginalized rights, government shutdowns at exaggerated cost.  We aren't against immigration, we want to have it fixed, and to stop illegal immigration. We're tired of government being run by an elite and treading on the right of the people.

We want government to be more responsible and accountable for it's spending and actions, because the current state is unsustainable.  Essentially, we are doing this for the same reasons our forefathers dumped all that tea into the harbor, and it aint because we're coffee enthusiasts.  We're looking to ensure that the Fed is still by the people and for the people, not just to bypass our rights, steal our money, criminalize, and spy on the people. 

working like...some kind of farm animal

What can I say?  Been staying late at work more often, as it's getting to that busy time of year for us and there's a million things to do.

In more fun news, after finally fixing some problems with Steam, I've been really enjoying the latest updates to Insurgency, and have been spending the rest of my time either cruising around Planetside 2 with my brother, or lamenting the fact that I still play the crappiest game in the world on occasion.  I'll give you a hint: the mane of the worst game in the world rhymes with Bar Wreck on Wine.

The logo is almost similar to this....

It's slowly turning into something akin to a bad addiction, as I fully know that the game sucks, I don't really enjoy it, but because I have what equates to free money in the game, I feel like I'm forced to get back what little money I have put into it, by milking it for what it's worth. Ugh.  I hate you cryptic, you slimy, underhanded, uninformed, untalented, unimaginative, bastards.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, I hope with all my heart that STO goes belly-up, not only so they can no longer justify making a crappy product, but so modders can actually turn it into an enjoyable game (if that's even possible).

Since I mentioned it earlier.

Here's the song du jour:

The Kinks - Louie Louie

Missing my cue

I really enjoy reading Dr. Helen, and a recent post she made got me thinking, and I sent a link to it and the following thoughts in an email to my family:

The General Authorities have said that before years ago: that any two people who are of a positive mindset, willing to improve, and are spiritually motivated can make an eternal marriage work, and work well.

I was also told that you can ask the Lord about whether it's right to marry someone, and unless it's extremely bad choice, the spirit will, more often than not, say "yeah" because there really is no such thing as "the one", The spirit is there to guide us in making the right choices, but there are plenty of choices that have eternal ramifications which blatantly don't have a right or wrong outcome. These choices serve to help us develop our knowledge, understanding, and wisdom by exercising our agency and to use the intelligence given to us.

The Lord would not let us waste our lives risking on a gamble of us only having one person to be most compatible with, and then having the monumental task of being able to find "the right one"; rather we are to work on becoming the perfect mate ourselves and working out on our own who we can best share our time with and serve for eternity, so that we may grow and learn from our choices.

I wish more people (in particular, young men and women of my generation) would put aside this false notion of their being a "perfect match" or waste all their time trying to find someone who suits them best, and realizing that any relationship is like anything else in life: hard work that can pay off with enough effort, time, empathy, and (most importantly) love.

More hilarity at work

So, while I was away at lunch today, I missed a voice mail that my coworker forwarded me a transcript of so I could have a record of it.  Little did I know, that Google voice decided that I should really take an interest in this person:

Yup, this company is bringing sexy back.  Eat your heart out Justin Timberlake, you hack.

1911. The preferred choice

So I saw via Say Uncle, a really interesting article done by shooting illustrated on The right gun for women, by women.  I like how it's done in the same way that Top Gear would have done a car test years ago.  Semi-scientific, with real-world people instead of gold cup pro shooters.

What's really interesting to me, is that it finally puts to rest the whole male-idiot induced notion of, "Get her a snub-nose .38!" type of thinking, which many (including myself) have been criticizing for years.  It wasn't even listed as a preferred gun for any application by any of the participants.

Not only that, but I also noticed that a majority of the test participants also favored the 1911 as a home defense pistol, which is something that I've been saying for a while.  In my experience, I've noticed that a lot of women would be well suited to liking the 1911, and that it would be a great choice as an all round gun for women, even for new shooters.  Heck, if I remember correctly, I believe that was the first handgun I remember being taught how to fire as well, and I remember to this day how natural it felt in the hands, and how manageable the recoil actually was.

Sometimes, you just can't beat the classics.

ah Louie, Louie

In my neck of the woods, most of the world would have you think there's nothing here but a bunch of rednecks, polygamists and nothing else but your standard white-bread crackers.  However, I never cease to be amazed by just how diverse this little valley can be.

Just recently a really nice guy left my work to go back to his his home country of the Philippines.  We really miss that guy; he being one of the people I have nothing but respect for, as he always has a good attitude while dealing with a plethora of crap everyday.  Anyways, we had a big shindig to celebrate his time with us, and this guy is so cool, he ends up making a massive amount of authentic Filipino food for us to consume and also gave me a nice little memento:

It's funny, I always thought coin collecting was a thing for losers, but now I seem to be unwittingly amassing a small fortune in foreign currency. 

just plain weird

Sometimes conversations just go awry.  For example, somehow I got wrapped up in a conversation at work about how a coworker related a tale about how one of their old high school teachers is now in jail.  Upon hearing that, I suddenly realized that all of my middle/high school gym teachers (save one) are all serving sentences, or have served sentences.  What a world, eh?

A special Sunday

Here's some more music for a nice Sunday, along with some aviation porn for your enjoyment:

Finale by Madeon - for the documentary Speed and Angels

Bon voyage Charlie Brown...and don't come back!

So, the Federal government, after years of collectively acting like a child, has finally decided to run away from home, and well...nobody is missing them, and nobody want to go looking for 'em and everyone is secretly hoping they get raped to death by a mountain lion.

It's funny to me because we have a coworker who's a die hard Dem, and he has a shut-down day counter advertised on his whiteboard like it some kind of outrage that the Fed is no longer working.  I've known all along that nobody would give a flying f**k, and everywhere I look, that almost the exact description everyone gives of the event, to the point that they are a laughing stock.

What's even funnier is that I'm pretty sure that the childish reasoning the government is using to justify this whole shutdown, is they think it will make people realize how much worse off they are without their services, when in reality, everyday life is completely unaffected for anyone who doesn't work in government.  Because other than national parks, monuments and national defense, nobody wants the federal government stealing their money for anything else.

I'm hoping that come tax day, I can just refuse to pay taxes just like they refused to do their jobs that we're paying for with those taxes.  That'll be the biggest eff-you to John Q. Public, is when they don't factor in their little walk-out into our taxes and charge us even more than they did last year, all for doing nothing.

I wish more people cared how much they are getting ripped off, having their privacy invaded, and their rights trampled, so we can all go 'wolverines' on their asses.  Too many politicians just need to go the way of the dodo. 

Cause I'm a slacker

Forgot to mention that last weekend was the 'ol roomie's b-day and we had ourselves a nice shindig going on for the occasion.  We had a barbecue some slow-smoked pork, chips, all sorts of sweets and non-alcoholic beverages.  And that was just the precursor to the massively epic LAN party we engaged in.  Played a bunch of Planetside 2, Dead Island Riptide, among a few others, all while watching action and comedy movies of all types.

All in all, it was a great time spent with great friends, all inflicting simulated violence against one another.  It don't get much better than that.

Dead storm rising

Just heard the news that Tom Clancy passed away yesterday at the age of 66; cause of death still unknown.  Hard to believe the man who started a professional career as an insurance agent later changed gears to become not only a ridiculously successful author, but also had a number of his books turned into successful movies, and then started his own video game studio, and helped invent an entirely new genre of video games that are still unique to this day, and even set new industry standards for third party mod compatibility that very few have been able to match.

Back in the days of my youth, his books were some of the few fictional stories I actually had a desire to read (as I still hold a preference for non-fiction), and spawned a strong desire in me to keep far more informed about foreign policy, world events, politics, military procurement, and procedures.

We can only hope that the deadbeats in both Hollywood and the game industry will realize that we can't let him go out on a sour note, and that we eventually get an actually good Clancy movie, unlike the last one, and maybe even a good Clancy game, unlike the last ten or so.  Seriously, he started his studio making games that were supposed to be semi-realistic in tactics, like rainbow six and ghost recon, but now they've devolved or been bastardized into a run of the mill action game and some weird sci-fi nonsense, respectively.

Personally, I'm still holding out hope for a movie based on "Without Remorse" cause that may be some of the most exciting and craziest fiction I've ever read.  Also, seeing another Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon game that returns to it's realistic roots would be a welcome purchase (that aint no small hint there, Ubisoft!  You worthless dipwads).

Sitrep

In a trend that will hopefully not continue, I'm blogging about food again.  Had a coworker come in today with a huge batch of rainbow cupcakes his wife made.  I told him it was like koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain.  They may have been the best cupcakes I have had in ages.

So, on to why things have been quiet....indeed, too quiet.  Well, in over a couple weeks of online silence for no particular reason, what have I been doing?  To put it bluntly, not a whole lot.  Work has consumed me, and when I'm not at work, I'm either helping a friend with technical issues, or just chatting with my brother.

Though now that the weather is cooling off, I do have some more exciting things coming up in the near future.

This is how you make my day

Last week, I was a bit exasperated by the end of the week, as things had been quite busy.  Then, I come in to work on Friday, and find this on my desk:

Then, to make the story even better, I find another one on my desk this morning.  I have good friends that know my vices, and one of them is my penchant for fine non-alcoholic beverages.  For me, a good Mexican soda can turn any day into a good one.  Thanks again, guys!

Because

I feel today is a day for ridiculously long songs.  Enjoy.

Iron Butterfly - In A Gadda Da Vida

in other news

I remember just a few weeks back, I was talking with my roommate about the Railtown State Park in Jamestown CA.  Haven't been there since I was a kid, but I really want a chance to go there again sometime.  Hopefully it will still be there when I do, as Wikipedia is trying to tell me that it's a prime target for defunding.

If you're not familiar with the place, you may be familiar with some of the movies that were filmed in and around the trains of the state park.  Back to the Future, High Noon, and 3:10 to Yuma were all filmed in the area and featured the trains there.  Aside from that there's a good amount of fascinating history to be had there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railtown_1897_State_Historic_Park

Just a handy protip for my youngest brother:

KNOW YOUR VARIANTS!

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-9.html
http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Sidewinder-94.html

Just because the letter is higher, doesn't mean it's better.  The L/M models are the only ones worth fighting with.  The rest are too primitive to be effective; unless it's the X, which is so effective it takes the fun out of everything.

The distinctive fins of the L/M models.

And now you know...

telle est la vie

Oh boy.  Had another one of those "just my luck" moments a while back.  So, the other week I managed to come across a very nice woman who was not only nice, but very attractive, with similar interests, and we had a lot in common, and after endlessly flirting for a couple of hours, she offhandedly remarks that she is happily married, despite not wearing a ring at the time.  Just my friggin luck.

I have now officially moved beyond the dunce cap.

Not just another day

For the rest of my life I will remember.  I will remember where I was, what I saw, what I heard, what everyone said, what I said, and how I felt.  Things like this should not be forgotten, nor marginalized; especially in light of recent events.  May all those who suffered loss be comforted, may justice continue to pursue those who wish harm on the innocent, and that those who dispense that justice may be safe. 

Things I hate #809345

Effing therapists and psychology majors.  Now, before complaining that I'm generalizing, let me explain.  There are a good number of therapists out there doing good work, and I have greatly needed their services before, and have benefited greatly from it.

The ones I'm complaining about are the ones you have trolling around your HR department at work.  You know who you are.  You worthless sacks of crap do nothing but sit around all day and fiddle with security badges while playing Orwellian mind games with everyone about political correctness, and then have the nerve to jump all over my back about how I need to go see a therapist when I happen to be having a stressful day.

You ever stop to think that maybe I actually do real freaking work around here and that it's damn stressful on occasion?  Just cause I have an bad day once every few months doesn't mean I have some kind of issue, or need to be psychologically profiled, it happens to everyone!  I'm just having a bad day!  Why can't you people just suck a lemon and leave me the hell alone?  

I appreciate it when someone takes the time to ask if I'm not doing so good, or ask if they can do something to help, or even when they blatantly tell me off and/or yell at me for being a bit abrasive.  But when some know-nothing blowhard does nothing to help me but to say that I need therapy, boils my blood.  Just hearing that crap makes me so agitated, that I actually want to talk to a therapist about how you seem to insist that I need to see one whenever I stub a toe.  Perhaps it is an issue stemming from your near-worthless degree and you are trying to perpetuate the profession by flooding it with patients who don't need it?  I think that can be analyzed and treated.  Perhaps you can see a therapist about it?

To sum up:

midweek madness

Also, since I forgot to post some music last Sunday, here's some to calm the nerves.

The Proclaimers- There's a Touch

Huh? What day is it?

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  As much as I like my blog, I can't help but take the occasional break.  Especially when it's a three day weekend kind of scenario.  Anyways, what's been going on?  Sad to say, nothing overly exciting.  My temporary roommate moved out, I watched Star Trek V again with someone who had never seen it before, and I took my temporary roommate to see the Hill AFB Museum.  Okay, so maybe that's more eventful than I let on, but it don't change the fat that it feels like nothing is happening.

I should be super excited that I won't be working a full week, or that I have the apartment all to myself, or that I got to chill with some good friends, but I dunno I just feel kinda odd this week.  I really want to go shooting and get some zen, but alas, I still hurt too much for cash to be able to afford ammo.  Not even enough to blast some space garbage...

as an extra note, or epilogue of sorts...

So, one thing I did not address in my poorly written posts about the hornet was some of the developments being made on the so called Advanced Super Hornet, that recently flew for the first time this month.

Now, despite not being a fan of the Super Hornet, this Advanced version (if delivered with the features promised) will certainly add enough capability and range to at least make it live up to the requirements initially given to the aircraft.

New Enhanced Performance Engines will offer 20% more thrust while supposedly being more efficient, which can allow for better performance, especially coupled with the redesigned pylons which are no longer canted, so they no longer cause a massive amount of drag.  With these two things alone, I estimate a sizable jump in speed so that it at least meets if not exceeds the top speed of the original Hornet (though still not coming close to the Tomcat's), so thankfully it won't be such a slouch in the speed department.  maneuverability should also make an improvement, as the carriage of external fuel, along with the airbrake-like pylons are what really restricted the hornets agility as well.

Also, the most exciting thing to happen with this new variant may be the addition of a IRST/electro optical tracking system.  I believe (and correct me if i'm wrong), it's the same as the model that is being integrated on the F-35, which when combined with it's further reduced radar cross-section, will help give the Super Hornet a massive tactical advantage to make up for it's still lacking range, altitude, and speed by no longer relying on it's radar as the sole means of scanning for targets, while also providing enhanced missile warning, and increased overall surviveability.

I did briefly mention the conformal fuel tanks, that add a sizable amount of fuel so that it can at least meet the ranges initially promised several years ago.  Though, what I find funny was this hilariously laughable title to the article about them on Alert 5 Military Aviation News:

They lie!

Uh, yeah.  That's totally not true, unless those new CFTs are pumping a unicorn fart/pixie dust mixture into the engines, while simultaneously being made of unobtanium.  Either they forgot to add the word "external" before the word fuel, or people over there have gone full retard.  It's misinformation like this that screws everyone over.  That, and the new CFTs add lift, which usually means it also increases drag, which (when coupled with the weight of these tanks) could also mean that it's bringback weight is significantly less than the baseline super hornet.

So, I guess in short, I'm happy these developments have come along, and they make the Super hornet an overall more suitable option, but these improvements still simply raise it's capabilities to simply meet performance of 50 year old jets, and only exceeds them in matters of sensors that could be installed on better airframes. I still feel the Super Hornet airframe was a massive waste of time to begin with.  As evidenced by another little thing I whipped up in my spare time.

I have one thing to say to our government:

Regarding the latest bull crap from the White House that does absolutely nothing to curb gun violence.  I first heard the news via Jay-G, and hoped it wasn't true, but it certainly is.  I try to keep this place as politics-free as possible, but I must say: POTUS, you suck dick.

Regular Rob roundup

It's been pretty uneventful around my neck of the woods for a while, but there have been a couple things of note I probably get away with posting.  back on Saturday I made a fellow movie buff watch David Lynch version of Dune for the first time, which was fun as always.  Every time I watch that movie, I desperately wish I could riff that one alongside the MST3K guys, as that movie is rich with excellently laughable moments.

He who controls the spice....ah, whatever.

Today I also got one of my friends a flask, because he got a new mini-personal-a/c unit that he has to constantly keep hydrated.  Every time I look over and see him, he's pulling out this little purell bottle to refill his little a/c unit, and I told him he should just upgrade to a full flask.  So now he can bust it out in the middle of a long meeting and shout "Eigh nheed uh drink!"

Last but not least, I got into a fun discussion with my new roommate about the whole debacle in Syria, and we both agreed it was a dumb move, and after years of armchair quarterbacking the US foreign policy in the middle east, I've finally hopped on board with the "nuke 'em all" crowd, as I'm just too fed up with this crap.

Feel free to read The Boresight's assessment of this mess.

It's that day again

Yet another reason I like Weezer:

Keep Fishin - Weezer

Celluloid carelessness

How in the world did I manage to go my whole life without ever watching the movie La Femme Nikita until last night?  Seriously, this is right up my alley, and I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie, as the tension never stops.  Dang good stuff.

I also didn't realize that this movie served as the sole inspiration to another one of my favorite movies, Leon: The Professional.

It's like spammers don't even try anymore

So, I get a suspicious email today at work, from a name that is far too humorous.

I don't even like Lord of the Rings, or most of the fantasy genre for the most part, but when I hear 'Elvin Gates', I immediately think of this:

What can I say?

This week has been a real dud for content.  The neurons needed for even mediocre writing have ceased to fire and may have finally extinguished.  Nah, just kidding.  But this week has been rather uneventful, and my mind seems to have no creativity to conjure up recently.  Hopefully, I'll actually have things going on to actually write about in the near future.

In the absence of real stuff, I have been getting back into playing War Thunder (still a really gay name for any game), and have been tearing it up while flying the British aircraft.  I dunno what it is, but those stupid British planes seem to be far more effective in my hands than the American ones, which to me seems a bit silly.  I would think a plane armed with six .50 cals would be far more effective than one with eight .30 cal MGs, but whatever.

Not much in the looks department, but man is she potent!

The real joy was when I finally unlocked the Beaufighter Mk.X.  This plane is the most heavily armed monster of the skies, sporting four 20mm cannons along with six .50 cal machine guns.  What's funny is that the plane is in the unlock tree for bombers, and is widely regarded as a torpedo bomber, but I exclusively use it as a heavy fighter.

The most famous secret

So, it appears that the whole of the internet is abuzz with the recent news about how area 51 was referenced in official documents, thus officially confirming it's existence/status.  I find it kind of funny that everyone is freaking out about it, because didn't Bill Clinton do that around 16 years ago?

Hey, here's another one of a million pics you can get of the joint.

More Sunday tunes

I was gonna post some more Dvorak, but I recently got a promo in the mail from the Utah Symphony with a deal on concerts that I can't afford, so hearing more of that would have depressed me.  So, I'll settle for this little ditty.

The Seatbelts - Diggin My Potato

The end of the trilogy

So for my last bit about the Hornet saga, I'd like to address the issue of appropriate application of assets and the selection of the wrong fighter to super-size.

Now despite my ranting, I still believe the original Hornet is a useful aircraft that fills a very important role. Especially when in the hands of Foreign operators.  Other than having the ongoing complaint of sub-par range and fuel efficiency, the Hornet has served very well with the Navy and Marines, along with the air arms of Canada, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Kuwait, and Malaysia.  This amount of success clearly shows the value of the platform.

Marine Air.  Ooh Rah!

My primary complaints are directed towards its use as a replacement for aircraft and roles that it was never conceptualized to fulfill in the first place.  That, and the development of the E/F Hornet does nothing but negate the advantages that the Hornet offered without granting much more other than fractional increase in range and payload.  Basically giving us a very lackluster heavy fighter that has no advantages of the light fighter either.

So, I have come up with some very basic and boring tables that directly compare some of the most important attributes of the Hornet with the aircraft it replaced.  Now, keep in mind that these tables do not list other more harder to define attributes such as mission survivability, and maintenance and it's relationship to mission availability.  Taken in the form of a picture to accommodate my blog format.

even more nostalgia

Read one of Tam's recent posts this morning, which made me giggle more than a bit.  Even though I was one of those guys, I can't help but mess with 'em when I have the chance.  It's all out of love though.  In all my time, I have never known a more heartfelt, dedicated, selfless, and caring bunch than those men and women I served with.  Even living in this epicenter of Mormonism that is the Salt Lake area, I still give shout-outs, high fives, and offer rides to those guys.

None of us are perfect; we can't walk on water, but walls are much easier.

Unless I somehow manage the impossible and get married and have kids at some point, I'll always regard those two years as the best of my life.

Never know what you'll be doing one day to the next, but it's guaranteed to be hard work with no pay.

Man, I wish I had the money to still wear a suit every day.  You just feel like freaking James Bond while wearing a sharp suit.

random memories

I remember when I was real young, sometime when I was around 9 or so.  I got a bit sick.  But, despite feeling this way, I just couldn't sleep at all; I was really tired, but just couldn't get to sleep.  So late one night, I was up reading some book when my mom told me to go to sleep.  I told her her that I didn't feel like sleeping, and we went back and forth on the issue for a minute, when my step father jumped in and said, "I can get him to sleep."

So, with that, Mom went to bed, and my step father wheeled the television over to the couch I was sitting on.  I asked what we were gonna watch, to which he replied, "Something I KNOW will put you to sleep."  So we turned it on and I proceeded to watch The Hunt For Red October for the first time.  Being a bit of a different kind of kid with different interests than most, the night didn't turn out as he expected.  I was wide awake for the whole thing, excitedly following every detail of the movie, whereas my step father was quickly fast asleep.

Dunno why I suddenly started thinking about this memory or why I even wrote it down, but it is a fond one. I still love watching my collection of Clancy movies.  Though, The Sum of All Fears doesn't count; stupid Ben Affleck ruining one of my favorite characters.

The saga continues

The top aircraft is not the answer.

Yes, it's been longer than I wanted from my last post, but it's finally here.  So, time for some actual number crunching!

So, for this segment I also wanted to focus on the Super Hornet, as opposed to the hornet, but I'll likely get to that in another post.  I primarily wanted to compare the Super to the F-14 as well, because the Navy was basically given only two choices of which fighter to buy: an advanced Tomcat or a redesigned Hornet.  the Super Hornet was developed at nearly 22 times the cost of developing a new version of the F-14 Tomcat (the Quickstrike), which is well known to have had longer range, is much faster, has better acceleration, more capable radar, is just as maneuverable (if not more overall), and carries far more ordnance than the Super Hornet, without an upgraded version.  The ST-21 (Super Tomcat 21) in this one and many other's opinion, would have been the far better choice of aircraft to super-size as opposed to the hornet, both economically and operationally.

Planned incremental improvement of the Tomcat family.  This would also allow for a large number of retrofitted aircraft to be converted until new build aircraft were produced.

Suffice to say, the "Super" was developed because the original Hornet never lived up to any of the range, speed and payload requirements given it.  In fact, the Hornet carries considerably less ordinance to less than half the range of most of the aircraft it replaced (other than the A-4).

What's that you say?  The fact files say the Super Hornet can carry over 17,000 lbs while the Tomcat only carries 14,500 lbs?  Well, this is a very misleading statistic.  True, the E/F CAN carry a good amount or ordnance, however, in order to carry it to the same distance that the Tomcat can (500 nmi), you have to add a couple of external fuel tanks to it that subtract it's potential payload by 7,200 lbs.  The tomcat on the other hand, can do that distance on internal fuel, and even with it's two external fuel tanks, it's payload capacity is completely unaffected.