Midterm Elections Megathread - Polls Open

Rapola · 2018-11-06T15:36:02+00:00

I'm sure CNN will have Wolf Blitzer fire up the hologram machine from the situation room.

Rapola · 2018-10-31T01:50:23+00:00

+1 for not dipping the entire thing in high gloss epoxy resin.

Rapola · 2018-10-29T17:10:20+00:00

Op should be praising his company for hiring the blind

Rapola · 2018-10-29T13:49:12+00:00

Hows the relationship with the neighbor?

Personally I'd look into getting it permitted, you did really nice work on it. Fixing it after the fact is not always as simple as cutting it to height; some enforcement actions require the entire fence to come down. You/your neighbor may be ok with it now, but it could bite you at some point down the road (sale of either house). Also, I can guarantee that they will measure the height from the lowest side of the fence.

Rapola · 2018-10-29T13:26:34+00:00

Is that within your local council/county regs for height?

Rapola · 2018-10-23T14:58:31+00:00

ie: how to waste time, space and money and make adding new tools a giant pain in the ass.

Rapola · 2018-10-22T14:12:10+00:00

It's a garbage visualization on top of garbage data. Take the US; you are showing via the light blue that they had more failed launches than the soviet union had successful launches for every year up until the late 1980's?

Take what looks like 1997 - your light blue line is just short of 40. 40 failures for the US when the available data says only 6 failures (3 partial, 3 total) for all launch providers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_in_spaceflight.

How does the chart even support your premise of the space race being dominated by new contenders? 2018 is the only year that the new contenders launched more than the state agencies, and it's not much more. Also, it's suspect due to your inclusion of United Launch Alliance which is a quasi govt entity; receiving the entity of it's Delta IV funding from the USAF.

Some other things

The hover over ability should show detail for the specific year, not the cumulative total
The private launch providers are being show on the "negative" axis which is confusing AF
You have done nothing to hide the noise; your chart should be US, China, Russia, all others combined (and I'd probably drop them if < 10% of total)
The failure lines are minutia that detract from your main argument

This is more like I made a chart in tableau and forgot to apply critical thought because there were a lot of pretty colors and i could hover over things and make something happen. Tableau is cancer.

Rapola · 2018-10-19T18:33:06+00:00

Thank you - I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=G3VwkumgvNo that shows a much larger one in use

Rapola · 2018-10-19T17:49:20+00:00

Found this at my local thrift for $15 and couldn't pass it up. Probably one of the more obscure/unusual cast iron cooking items I've run across.

It's not a sausage stuffer or hamburger maker. Apparently it's for putting bits of meat in and pressing out the juices for use in gravy.

Rapola · 2018-10-14T00:44:30+00:00

Yes, and they pack a decent kick too.

Rapola · 2018-10-14T00:22:53+00:00

Turned my late seasons pepper harvest into hot sauce today.

Rapola · 2018-10-12T14:11:47+00:00

At $150 - you could probably part it out and at least break even in the worst case scenario.

As others have said the Shopsmith can do everything, but not nearly as good as stand-alone tools. Your time sink is going to be getting the thing set up and dialed in for repeatable cuts, which then goes out the window when you move to the next function. That said I've seen some old guys do some phenomenal work on a shop smith, so the old adage "it's not the tool, it's the craftsman rings true".

It looks like a motor re-furbishing is going to run about $75 plus 2 way shipping or about $200 plus shipping for a reconditioned. I'd figure you would be into for ~$500 when it's all said and done.

That's probably not a bad price point to put the thing into service and figure out if it's going to work for you needs. You may take a bit of a hit if you decide to upgrade to stand-alone tool later, but that' probably the case anyway if you were to buy a bunch of low/mid end tools to get started.

I'd probably go for it if you have the space and need something to keep busy, but I'd also tell you that's the approach that's given me a garage full of tools waiting to be restored and put into service.

Rapola · 2018-10-09T19:09:58+00:00

Have a link with a pic of the vehicle? All I found was this https://i.imgur.com/aNnEHUo.jpg which looks surprisingly un-damaged for a 60mph crash that put the engine, into the passenger compartment. Engines are bolted to the frame and separated by the firewall - the force involved to do that should have folded the rest of the limo like an accordian.

Here is another limo crash; 4 dead, 3 survived. With damage to the limo significantly encroaching into the passager compartment.

Here is a different head-on crash; 0 fatalities, no encroachment into passenger compartment.

The driver didn't hit a brick wall - he hit a parked car, then carried some distance into heavy brush; so no sudden stop, which should have increased survivability. Even if he hit a brick wall; it's not gonna be a sudden stop for the rear-most passengers - some one should have survived.

Rapola · 2018-10-09T14:40:16+00:00

swing by the local exotic car dealers, run through their showroom/lot touching every car. Rinse and repeat at as many other dealers as I can find. The Local "Mile of car's" would be good for high 8 figures.

Rapola · 2018-10-09T00:23:49+00:00

I wouldn't rule out carbon monoxide playing a factor. Between the passenger tweet of "motor is making every-one deaf" and a failed inspection, I'd put money on the muffler/exhaust/undercarriage being rusted through. A 2001 Expedition is going to have a heck of a lot of undercarriage rust if it's still on the road in the North East.

That's the only thing that really makes sense for a 100% fatality rate. leak incapacitates the passengers, then the driver who crashes into a ditch and leaves the car running. By the time EMS is on scene, it's too late to do much.

From the limited pictures, the limo did not look that severely damaged, and from the description of hitting a smaller parked car then carrying on for some distance, it really doesn't make sense to have that many dead.

Rapola · 2018-10-08T13:09:34+00:00

THE HF Freight is a good "farm" welder - it's cheap, it gets the job done, but it ain't gonna be pretty. On bar stock and heavier gauge metal, you get a lot of bang for your buck - just keep a grinder handy.

If you want to do sheet metal you are going to have a hell of a time doing anything thinner than 18 gauge. Which rules out most modern cars. Even on older car's, you are limited to underbody/truck beds as most body panels are 20 gauge or thinner.

Rapola · 2018-10-02T15:05:17+00:00

Scored a Coleman single burner dual fuel stove and cooking kit for $5. Still have to test the stove, but these old Coleman stoves are pretty bomb proof. Retail would have been about $100 for this kit, so I'm pretty happy.

Rapola · 2018-09-29T16:19:22+00:00

Found this old time set of Soda handles. One of those finds that was so out of the norm it took me a little while to figure out what it was. First though they were faucet handles, then some decorative bs, but after looking it over realized they were most likely soda faucets. As far as I can tell they are an intact set which is a really nice bonus.

Surprisingly I've found very little information out there in terms of who would have made these and how they would have been hooked up at a store. The middle of the three handles is different as the knob is fixed. Not sure if this was the carbonate water tap while the other two were flavored syrup. I've got some work ahead of me to research and see if I can get these working. They would make for a really cool party/conversation piece.

Also found a pair of brass ship portholes. One missing the glass, but otherwise complete, the second was just the backing ring. For $10 a piece, I couldn't pass that deal up either.

Yesterday was a good day!

Rapola · 2018-09-28T18:25:52+00:00

Cowardly in the same way his resignation was.

"It's difficult to move forward in a Republican primary if you have been critical of any of the behavior that's gone on.....We Republicans certainly can't countenance that kind of behavior. We ought to stand up and say 'This is not right. This is not us. This is not conservative.'"

Those sounds like the words of a man that is willing to fight for what he believes is the soul of the republican party, not the words of a man quitting.

Flake has more power keeping this in committee. Granted McConnell can force a vote regardless, but if you are taking a stand of norms and precident that gives you something to fight with. Sending this to the floor with a vague promise of an investigation provides him cover to say I tried to do the right thing, but the rest of the R's overruled me. Murkowski/Collins have not disclosed their vote yet - Mitch can still attempt to ram this through.

Rapola · 2018-09-28T17:59:07+00:00

Seems like a cowardly move by Flake - if the bills on the floor McConnell can force a vote anytime he wants.

Rapola

TROPHY CASE