Homeowner

Bought a house. It's nice, and has tons of room for project, but damn if these things aren't expensive. Hopefully some of the substantial amounts of time I save driving places will turn into blogging time. I swear I have vaguely interesting things to say into the void of the internet!

Motor Monday: Finally Gave In

Bought a bike.

Honda NC700X, in red, the exact one I said I'd buy if I bought one.

Here's a picture of the bike but not mine, I got a few from right after I bought it but I was missing gloves and it's really glaring and annoying (I rode back across the street to the shop and bought some really sweet gloves that are almost armored enough to potentially be brass knuckles), so I'll have some of those after I've finished collecting the last of my heavy duty armor suit that I'll use when I actually do more than tool around in the apartment complex to remember how to use one of these things.

Things to do/get yet:
Knee Braces, which are traditionally motocross armor, but I like the look and the improved protection (I like my knees to only bend in the one direction they're supposed to).
Hip/butt armor that works with concealed carry. So far all i've found that doesn't have issues with that is motorcycle pants or various types of armored underwear that's way pricy if I want to ride on anything resembling a regular basis.
New boots. My boots are heavy duty leather enough to ride with anyway, but they're old and worn and starting to fall apart and due for replacement regardless of bike-havingness. I'll see if I can't find some nice steel toe combat boot style ones.

Yes, yes, this thread is worthless without pics, I know, I'll remedy it when I have some decent ones. It's like shooting pics without proper safety stuff or weapons handling, just cringeworthy, which is why you don't get to see.

Well Done Wisconsin

No more 48 hour waiting period for pistols.

New job (again)

Through the combined powers of consulting agencies, job experience, and being really good at what I do by virtue of it being both easy and something I've done for a year straight full time, on Monday I resume full time work.

Feels good. Job is closer, easier/safer to get to (no rush hour), pays better, and has actual potential for career advancement. They're unfortunately a GFZ, but I'll live. Contract to hire, time to see if I can work myself out of ANOTHER job, or if this one will stick!

Finally Finished; My First AR-15

The last part for the AR-15 arrived.

BCM upper, with a 13" forend, their muzzle brake and gunfighter charging handle
Bushmaster stripped lower, High Standard or Quality Standard or something parts kit that was missing the buffer retainer pin,
Don't remember who made the buffer, and don't care enough to look. It's mil-spec.
Magpul stock, and 5x magpul 40 rounders.

First thoughts? I like it. It's rather frontheavy, almost want to put some weight on the back end to balance it out, but I like it.

Now I just need some optics and a whole bunch of ammo. And a range that isn't hell and gone where I can put it through its paces.

Audio Projects

So, I got a Launchpad S for my birthday, which was recently. I'm starting to figure out how to program my new instrument, I'll probably post things for you once I figure out how to actually use it. I kind of want to start doing character themes and stuff, for those who want something a bit more personal than "find some music that works".

I also have decided, after my trip to Kennedy Space Center, to do more with the Moon Marines. This includes finding voice actors and trying out at least one episode of an old fashioned Radio Drama, except as a podcast kinda thing. There will be probably serious dieselpunk space stories, with intermissions of the Misadventures of Ruck Bodgers of the 31st Century!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all had tasty food and good time with family if applicable.

http://lifehacker.com/5962588/the-50-free-apps-were-most-thankful-for
Here's some apps that are superbly helpful. I'm quite partial to Pocket now that I've found it, because I'm always finding things for my various postings on my phone and having trouble getting them on my laptop so I can actually write the post in something less than a galactic cycle.

Also, took advantage of Black Rifle Friday deals. I'm now the owner of a BCM free float dissipator upper assembly with the various free stuff offered as their deals.

Now to track down a lower, since I couldn't find any to buy through them...

Motorcycle License: Achieved

Finished the class, written portion was a breeze as expected. Just have to hit up the DMV and take a cursory 20 question test to get my permit to then unlock the full motorcycle endorsement on my license. My mom thinks it's kind of cool since I can drive the Elio when it comes out, but was very firmly against me ever riding a proper motorcycle. I'm kind of torn on the whole "regular motorcycle" thing, because it's fun, but it IS dangerous, and there's no two ways around that.

If I can get access to a proper motorcycle (which would most likely have to be my own), I can start tinkering with trying to make things safer, and potentially make all the money if I can figure THAT out. At the moment my computer is attempting to melt itself to death, so picking up someone's old used bike will be somewhere down the line (if at all) from getting something new to play with. Still need to pick up my AR-15 too.

More Milestones

Not only have I gotten my first full and proper Job (not a summer job, not being an extra set of hands and a strong back at the family business, but a job that I hope will last for a significant span of time), but today I just completed my first fully solo car repair. I've worked on the family cars for ages, doing things like brake jobs and such, but those aren't significant enough to count. Today, I swapped the brake power booster on my car. My car is incredibly tiny, and doing so requires basically tearing out the entire steering column. I'm fairly certain that when they built this thing, it went base frame, power brake booster, everything else.

Now if only that had solved the problem I was trying to fix. I think the new master cylinder we had put in (we fixed basically every possible part of the brake system except the power brake booster, and what it was doing sounded like a power brake booster issue) might be bad, or might not have one of the lines on tight enough, or something.

Still, feels good to do something moderately extensive entirely solo.

Jerb

Got one. It's even one of the few places I've looked at that's carry friendly, which is nice (although I need a tuckable holster and to finish getting back in shape so there's room for it in my pants now).

I'll spend a little of the first paycheck on things like a new phone and probably something shooty (I've been in contact with Kel-Tec to see about getting a PLR-16 with a 12" barrel so it has more oomph, although an AK pistol might cost similar amounts of dosh and be equally effective, and I've always wanted something AK based).

From then on it's marathoning those student loans away, with a side of collecting ammo if possible.

ADVENTURE

Just went from home to Rockford IL to Southfield MI and back to home in two days. All total, after weather (more on that in a sec) and such things, around 20 hours of driving. All time not spent driving was spent at interviews, with a short rest in a cheap hotel room, so not particularly relaxing.

Snow's, fine. I can drive in snow. What's less pleasant to drive in is surprise snow. Doesn't start to snow and gradually get worse and worse, just suddenly SNOW. From clean and clear to zero visibility in the blink of an eye. There were a LOT of cars beached, rolled, and slid into ditches. I kept my car within my and its limits. Those new tires it got relatively recently were darn nice.

When adventuring, maps are invaluable. Self-reading maps are a particularly great convenience. Should have gotten one long ago, but at least I got one while it's still useful for stuff instead of once I was all settled.

Having a car decide it would like to face a different direction than it is presently traveling seems like a good way to test the nerves of the driver. In that case, when my car decided to do so after the person in front of me stomped on the brakes on a slippery offramp, I passed the test with flying colors and barely an elevated heart rate. Car managed to make it 90 degrees before I got the wheels to grip again and brought back into my lane, but I kept it on the road and mostly in my lane so the few other cars could go around me easily.

Don't think I've ever seen as many semis as on 94 to/from Detroit.

And that's just the way out there.

On the way back, got caught in another instant snowstorm, narrowly avoided getting caught in that colossal traffic jam by Michigan City. Decided to pull off for some dinner and to use the restroom, saw traffic grind to a halt on literally the other side of the bridge from the offramp. Met a gentleman at the Pizza Hut, who offered me free pizza (it was the same price for a personal and the full size daily special, so he got it to share with any other refugees from the traffic), who turned out to be an engineer who was looking to hire more engineers. He also gave me directions to get around the traffic jam.


First solo trip to far distant places, complete. Now if you'll excuse me, my wrists hurt from holding the steering wheel. 

AR-15 buying, need help

In the crush of finals, I forgot that people consider graduation to be an important thing, and that some people will send you money for such things. As such, should I opt to spend it rather than saving it in the incredibly pessimistic case that I'm unable to find any sort of job, I have sufficient money to buy a cheap AR-15.

I guess then, that I should figure out exactly what I'm after. This will be my "main" gun, the one I reach for in 99.9% of all cases where I need a gun and have the luxury of choosing one not strapped to my hip. As such, it needs to be pretty good at basically everything, an acceptably general purpose arm.

Things I'm looking for in my rifle
Dissipator: longer sight radius for more precise use of irons, while still being as short as is legally convenient. Might opt for mid length for cost and convenience of parts if I have to
Collapsible stock: Pretty self explanatory, WI doesn't have any stupid laws that say I have to do otherwise.
Flat top: Don't have much use for a carry handle, and I've got a 4x lying around and have plans for a red dot on this thing for general purpose use. If such a thing existed, a 1-4x scope would be good too.
Rails: I need at least a moderate amount of rail space. I plan for this to have a light, laser, red dot, and probably a vertical foregrip. I also want a bayonet on this thing, and will probably have to design my own rail-mount one because I'm dumb and want a dissipator.
Semi-light weight: I've got a $120 complete lower receiver I'm looking at that's polymer and has gotten great reviews, but I'll probably go with a heavy (not bull) barrel, and I'm gaining a few ounces from extra hand guard length
Barrel: I've heard that 1:7 is preferable to 1:9 for a 16" barrel. I'll take what I can get and buy ammo accordingly, because I'm trying to do this on the cheap at present. As mentioned, heavy profile barrel sounds nice.
Magazines: I'm actually tempted to buy up a bunch of Magpul 40 rounders instead of 30 rounders, because they aren't much pricier or larger for a fair deal of increased capacity. Hoping they come out with window versions of the 40 rounders.

Here's the pieces I've got so far if I do it piecewise (they have a dissipator full rifle kit that's never in stock for $500+ a stripped lower receiver)
LW-15 lower receiver
Complete dissipator upper
(~$425)
OR
Magpul MOE handguards
Flat top upper
16" dissipator barrel
($287)

If I can save sufficient amounts of money buy assembling things myself, I'll look at optics and other such things. Yes, I'm aware that optics have a minimum price before they're actually decent.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I have no idea how del-ton handles it, but I know they make parts kits for some of the big names. If you know where to find deals, or can see something I'm doing horribly wrong, let me know. Any help is appreciated

College complete

Hell, it's about time. Time to start actually doing useful things instead of an elaborate and expensive weed-out process used by companies (the words of returning grads who have come to give talks, not me). Now I just have to track down one of those mythical full time job things I've heard so much about. At least I've got a bit of part time work in my field. Get some of that experience that everyone demands and nobody's willing to help get.

One way or another, I'll make it work, and I intend to marathon the hell out of this debt, be it through extreme penny pinching, a good job and cheap living, or service to Uncle Sam. Time to suit up and head into the real world.

There's a metaphor for going from college into the real world in there somewhere.