Howard

Have a gmail account but no app for it on the phone. I do have a google drive account and the app for that is on the phone.

IOS device no google now or assistant on device.

No need to worry about any of this if you have a cell phone, especially if you have friends (does not even have to be you) that uses Facebook or other data collection outfits. What happens with Facebook is they collect contact info about YOU from people that may just have your phone number in their device. They then link that with the many database services and generate and entire profile of you. Then tracking MAC addresses and IMEI info from phones they can track you anywhere. They know more about you already than you know about you. Want to know how bad this crap has gotten? Here is one that freaked me out one day. I very often good to Old Bridge Rifle & Pistol for matches on Sundays. I only plug that information into my car GPS system, I never use google maps when driving. One Sunday morning as I was backing out of my garage a Google announcement popped up on my phone that told me traffic was normal going to Old Bridge. How the heck did it know I was going there at that moment. They are watching!!!

I always use the majors, but use Google to find discount codes.

I have an Echo and just bought a dot, love them both. We have the dot play rain noises at night to go to sleep. Before I get out of bed I have it put on the financial news and my wife asks it about the weather. I really can't imagine they keep more than snippets of what it hears, even Amazon has finite storage capacity for worthless stuff. I may or may not get up every morning and say "This is the day I am going to kill F*cking 0bamba" No one has come knocking on my door As far as the connected water meter someone brought up that reminds me of a story. Years ago my town installed an automated water meter system and it connected to your phone line but they promised the phone would never ring and it would only be used in the middle of the night. At the time we had "mandatory" water restrictions and you were only supposed to use "X" number of gallons per person. My concern was they were going to dial into this everyday and track daily not just quarterly water usage. I ignored all their letters to have it installed until one day they put a red tag at my front door that said if I did not respond they would cut my water off. I sent them a letter and told them they could contact me to set an appointment to install it, but they would also have to install (at their cost) their own phone line unless they could demonstrate to me in their tarrif where it was a requirement to have a phone line to have water service. That was the last I ever heard of and they continued to mail me postcards each quarter to manually read my own meter and mail the reading to them.

The new IDPA rules that take effect January 1st 2017 got published today: http://www.idpa.com/misc/Rulebook%202017%20Master.pdf

My recollection was they put a sewer line in and sent letters telling everyone they had to hook up. A bunch of people complained that they had just recently installed new septic systems and it got ugly. Finally the town backed down and gave them an almost infinite extension because they screamed and yelled so much. They can pump them out and do other work on them but are not allowed to replace them and if that is needed they then have to hook up. I think forget exactly where in town this was but it is on some line that they ran to Centergrove school if my memory is correct.

That is a different story. What you are talking about is having a nice balanced system that heats every room equally which is different that thermal efficiency. As for what JackDaWack is saying that is on the same lines. If the furnace runs twice as long it is still dumping that heat into the house somewhere. Even if it is not going exactly where you want it over time it somewhat equals out. Sure there is more heat loss from a room that is hot to an outside wall as well but some of that also radiates inwards. I am not disagreeing with what you are saying about having an effective distribution of heat, but I do disagree with regard to thermal efficiency which looks at home many BTU's you get out for each BTU you put in.

Not always. They put sewers in a part of Randolph a few years ago and the homes in one area were given a pass. They were told if and when their septics failed they would have to hook up but they did not have to hookup right away.

But wait a second. If I burn 100 units of energy, and 4% of it goes out the flue as waste, then I only lost 4%. If I draw a box around my home that other 96% of heat went into my home, did it not? I understand the heat exchanger could be fouled and all of that heat may not go into the air that the blower is circulating but it all in fact goes into the house.

Well I will admit that it has been many years since I was involved in this stuff, but how are you measuring efficiency. If you measure CO, excess O2 and stack temperature what else is there you are talking about?

Why do you think Propane is the only way to get high efficiency. I have two natural gas furnaces, one is 96% and the other 97%.

This is how New Jermany works. When I put my solar panels in back in 2005 they determined the maximum that I could install based on 125% of the PREVIOUS full years consumption. Had I known that I might have decided to keeps lights on all day that year.

Do NOT get a Husky - as you can tell from my avatar I love Huskies and have three of them. That said they are a terrible first dog as they know you are supposed to listen to them not the other way around. They shed twice a year, day and night - EVERY day. They love to run. They love to dig. A fence will work, but it must be at least 8 feet - six feet above ground and two feet below. They are great watch dogs, they will watch the bad guy and perhaps lick him to death. On the plus side they are super friendly and love kids. Maybe for your next dog [/img]

I've got the two fans in there pulling fresh air from the openings under the roof, it provides more than enough air and keeps everything cool too. I've run it for many hours at a time with the doors closed and it works great, plus you hardly hear it running.

I did a similar thing for mine. The exhaust goes out a pipe in the back and the eves are open. I t have two old fans inside that circulate air and run it with the doors closed.

The analysis went on to say that when the 2nd Amendment was written you often had to wait a long time because a gun was not in the store locally and had to come from the manufacturer. Are they freakin serious? If that is the way things are then the Liberals should never be allowed to use the Internet because back when the 1st Amendment was written you had to get out parchment and a quill pen to ink a letter. This crap has to end.

I like the new head shot which is sort of like USPSA Lite There will be a 4" diameter down zero circle with the rest of the head being down one.

Be very careful with this setup and make sure you turn off any 220VAC breakers otherwise if someone turns something on it is only getting one leg of power to it.

This was posted on Facebook with attribution to the Area Coordinator of the Florida region regarding the finalization of the new rules. Some very interesting changes from the proposed rule changes: This will be our rulebook for the next 5 years. No clarifications and updates to these rules. We are separating best practices and classifier brackets and PCC. So here are the 2017 Cliff’s Notes: What’s new after the comment period? 1) Cover and Fault Lines. The short version is we renamed the lines as Fault Lines. And use them the same way now. This means if you are inside the lines when firing, you are good. We also prefer physical barriers and objects to force shooters to remain in cover and when they are correctly used, a shooter is good inside the barrier. We intend to enforce this during the stage approval process at major matches. All the shooter needs to know is if you are inside the designated area, you may engage targets. Here is Bill Wilson’s comments regarding fault lines: "In my personal opinion and in those of many who have talked with me candidly about IDPA the biggest single problem with our sport has been arbitrary cover calls. There have been many competitors leave a match disgruntled over what they felt were incorrect cover calls and the PEs they received. While none of us think our solution is perfect, I much prefer it to judgment calls and feel match officiating will be much more consistent because of the changes. In addition and major positive is that a substantial burden will be removed from MDs and SOs. PE cover calls will be simple now, if your foot isn't over the fault line or you don't move a physical barrier, you don't get a PE, simple as that!!!" 2) Specialty Division replaces Not for Competition (NFC). In it we will allow BUG, PCC, Carry Optics, Weapon mounted lights and lasers. If you want to run a match with these guns, have fun. These are at a MD's discretion. They are going to be permitted as scored divisions in 'Specialty Matches'. 3) Sanctioned Specialty Matches must be approved by HQ. Local clubs can accept specialty divisions as long as the platform is for everyday use. No Open guns. PCC as a specialty division is an anomaly to the concept of every day carry in most places but not an anomaly to defensive based principals. This is why matches with PCC are considered Specialty Matches. This is not getting wedged into our legacy matches. Here is Bill Wilson’s thoughts on this: "Personally I'm excited about the new PCC division and think anyone who tries it will find out like I did how much FUN pistol caliber carbines are to shoot. I also hope everyone understands this is a work in progress provisional division that is totally separate from any of our pistol divisions. Match directors and course designers are encouraged to implement stages where the competitor shoots the carbine empty and transitions to their handgun to finish the stage therefore making PCC very relevant to IDPA. With literally dozens of pistol caliber carbines on the market now of all price ranges it's very easy to get started in PCC. Hope you all enjoy it and help this new division flourish." 4) Next up we codified the Flagrant Penalties. No mind reading required. If you do certain things, you are getting an FP. This is not a judgment call. Innocent mistakes are 10 seconds. Examples of an FP (non-inclusive list): · COF requires 6-shots weak hand, shooter shoots freestyle instead. · SHO/WHO strings / stages shot Freestyle · Not going prone when required · Not fully engaging all targets as required · Not following stage requirement that takes longer than 3 seconds to perform · Shooting an entire array out of cover · Speed Reload or similar actions · Staging an ammunition feeding device incorrectly · Extra rounds in magazines 5) We have a new Target that has a 4" circle inside the head zone for zero down. The existing 8” circle in the lower zone is still there. Effectively the 1 down zone grew. It will roll out at the Nationals next year. You can make your own using a 4” template in the center of the head while waiting for target manufacturers to add the die. 6) BUG size changed slightly (weight) to accommodate the Shield. The current draft would make them not legal which was not the intention. 7) CCP BOX size was changed because over a half dozen full sized service pistols fit in our current CCP box. There was a table top discussion about size and weight. Here is Bill Wilson’s comment on these changes: "I understand there has been a certain amount of pushback from the membership in regards to the changes to the CCP and BUG equipment rules. It's human nature to resist change, no matter what it is, however in this case it was necessary to bring these two divisions to the original intent, which has always been competing with guns the majority of the CCW population actually carry. The original size and weight allowed many of the popular full size service pistols to compete in CCP (we already have 3 established divisions for full size service pistols) and many popular primary carry guns to compete in BUG. The revisions to CCP are designed around Glock 19/23 and 1911 compact pistols, which are some of the most common pistols actually carried on a daily basis, while BUG changes are based on popular S&W J frame and S&W Shield size back-up guns." So that is the weekend BOD discussion. What else is new in 2017? 8) Tac. Sequence is gone 9) Reload rules emphasize Emergency or slide lock reloads. No more stages requiring ‘an IDPA legal reload’ in the middle of a stage. You are only restricted reloading by two things: · Speed reloads (dropping a mag with a round in the chamber) · Exposed to targets that are not fully engaged. 10) One second per point will be used. 11) Shooting at anything other than a target on a stage is a DQ. 12) The classifier COF has changed. Your classification will not. Your classifier is good until the next time you need to shoot one and then, you will use the new COF. Equity is still the same. 13) When you shoot a classifier in semi auto, the date of classification will cover ALL semi auto divisions. 14) Memory Stages are not legal. Anything that requires you to take your focus off shooting to remember what’s next is a memory stage. 15) No more 'make believe' stages meaning you may not restrict shooters from shooting anything they see with the stage briefing. If they can see it, they can shoot it legally. An example is: ‘you must move to another position before those targets are available.’ ‘Pretend that is a wall’. 16) In fact, Stage descriptions may not restrict someone from doing anything that is legal to do in the rule book. This is in addition to the old rule that a stage description cannot overrule a rule in the rulebook. 17) The Cover command is no longer used in matches although it is permitted in local matches to help new shooters. 18) Chronograph at matches will be done with the competitor’s gun. MD’s no longer required to run around looking for another gun with the longest barrel in a division. 19) You are now required to wear your holster on every stage regardless of whether you need it because of alternate start positions. No more undressing. 20) Written stage descriptions are required for every stage. They require the following: · A defensive scenario or a standards (skills test) · Start position · Specifies firearm condition (loaded, unloaded, downloaded) · Shooting Procedure · Identifies points of cover and fault lines · Specify using the 180 or points out the muzzle safe points · Specifies the minimum round count and whether the stage is limited or unlimited · Specifies if a concealment garment is NOT required · A descriptive diagram of the CoF is recommended but not required. 21) Alternate Scoring on stages is no longer used. If you receive a start signal, you get a score even if you did not get off a round. Just score the stage. Squibs, slip and fall, crash into something, malfunctions are on the shooter. No reshoots. 22) The muzzle safe point on doors and other handles is clarified to mean when a shooters hand is inside of the safe area. Allowing your muzzle to sweep the area without human flesh inside of that area is not a DQ. 23) Similarly, if you sweep your leg from a seated holster draw, you are not protected from a DQ because of the rule allowing IWB holsters. Once your trigger is available for a shooters finger, your muzzle is in play. 24) Maximum target distance on scenario stages is now 20 yards. Standards are 50. 25) Shooters Code of Conduct has been modified to allow the MD more discretion in issuing penalties for shooters who do not paste and reset. 26) It is now also a penalty for a shooter to cause any disturbance while up-range that interferes with a shooter or safety officer while shooting. This includes distracting a shooter from his concentration while shooting. It also includes coaching. This has become an issue at major matches so we included something in this rule book. The MD must confirm these penalties like FTDR penalties. With respect; Rick Rick Lund, A27521 Florida Area Coordinator IDPA

If anyone needs any magazines for 9mm or .40 cal Glocks I would recommend trying ETS. There are really neat in you can see through them and know exactly how many rounds are in them without trying to guess those tiny holes on the back of Glock mags. They come with a lifetime guarantee and I have tried them and they work quite well. You can get them for 15% off using code ETS40 from http://www.etsgroup.us/ETS-Group-Glock-Magazines-s/1823.htm

First, cut the crap that you are not good enough for competition - most of us started being not good enough too. Go out and have fun, sure you won't win your first time out, but it is great trigger time and you will have lots of fun. Having said that why not first try a dot on one of your existing guns. I wanted to try Carry Optics in USPSA but was not sure I wanted to spend the money on a PPQ Q5 Match that is set up sort of like a Glock MOS for optics as I already have a PPQ 5" M2 and I did not want to spend $1,000 on a gun and optics to just find I did not like it. So what I did was buy a Dovetail mount and put an optic on a Glock G19 that I hardly used. The mount cost me $25 bucks and it seems rock solid. I was concerned it might not hold zero but I have put over 500 rounds through it and it is working perfectly. Also I would suggest going with the G19 rather than a G17 or G34, no reason for the longer sight radius with an optic and the shorter gun will come out of the holster faster. Here are some pics:

I had a Rheem condensing furnace that was one of the first ones they ever made, I think it was installed around 1991. What a piece of garbage. The drum cracked the first winter we had it, they had a crew of five guys working on it in the middle of the night on a freezing February. Long story short it was the only thing I ever got a service contract for, with the gas company. Every spring or fall when we switched from AC to heat or the otherway around it would blow out the circuit board. It would eat ignitors at the rate of three to five a year. I ended up on a first name basis for the guy who ran the gas companies service department. He spent a lot of time at my house because he could not believe what was going on. He finally gave me a spare ignitor, pressure switch and a few other parts as he saw I knew a lot about this stuff. He told me that rather than be without heat just install these and then take them out just before the service guy finally shows up so you are not without heat. Finally replaced that beast this Spring.

That is what I mean, they are more a mandatory savings plan than needed insurance. You are better off to just save the money yourself, especially if you have more than one pet. They are sort like extended warranties - you have guaranteed cost and uncertain return. If you have more than one pet, or even replace one when it passes on with another this is likely a losing bet. You are always better off to save your own money for a rainy day rather than pay someone else to do it for you.

I've had many dogs and looked into many of these policies and my assessment is they generally don't pay. The problem is most of them raise the premiums every year so you really don't know what you are going to be paying. They also don't cover most routine stuff like checkups and vaccines. Yea you are going to be out a bundle if the dog gets sick and needs big surgery later in life, but if you look at how much you pay for these things over the course of the years you are better off to just save the money yourself.