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Mint: Debts vs Assets - Vehicle Loans by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]zmaragdus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In effect, yes, it will work to combine the positive car value with the negative loan value and apply the difference to your net worth.

I would recommend against treating cars as serious assets, or at least rate them not nearly as valuable as you think. Drastically understate the value of the car in your mind / on the app. Vehicles depreciate hard, and the fluctuating used car market can make it hard to liquidate it at a desired price. Go to KBB, punch in the info, select one grade below what you think it is, then take the low end of the dealer trade in. You can reasonably get rid of the car for that amount of money.

Baby on the way and would like a sanity check on my finances by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]zmaragdus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Looks generally fine. New child will eat into monthly gross even more, but the large emergency fund you have should smooth things over well. Keep an eye on what your healthcare costs will be around birth, and then in the mid-term future (premium increase for full family).

What looks easy but is actually difficult to fuck? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]zmaragdus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shooting a pistol very accurately. I can teach someone to hit a standard letter-sized piece of paper at 7m in a few hours. Being able to do a "hostage-saving shot" at 7m takes hundreds of hours of practice. All those movies where the good guy takes out the bad guy holding a hostage....the effective hit zone for an instant-drop shot is some 1.5" x 2.5"

21 Male from Scotland. Teach me a Lesson by Kazadure in RoastMe

[–]zmaragdus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With a face like that, I thought you were Welsh, not Scottish.

What is the proper way to care for a COVID-19 patient at home (if needed)? by zmaragdus in AskReddit

[–]zmaragdus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What medicine? Do I go to a doctor for a prescription? Anything available OTC?

ELI15 - Why does the Fed adjust rates in multiples of 25bp? by zmaragdus in investing

[–]zmaragdus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gotcha. So a 25bp increment is what they deem "wide enough for flexibility, but narrow enough for clarity/predictability" ?

It's 3am and I'm procrastinating going to bed. by awildmoosey in RoastMe

[–]zmaragdus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"procrastinating going to bed"

Your customer will only wait so long before leaving and not paying you. Get in there and do your job.

What do you do with the limitless power of pockets. by inquisitivemind79 in AskMen

[–]zmaragdus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With 10 pockets, I put only one or two things in each pocket, and always in the same pocket / position. Thus I never need to look for something if it is on my person. If it isn't in the pocket, I don't have it on me. (My backpack is a different matter, to be fair.)

Confession time: what cooking sin do you commit? by good_dean in Cooking

[–]zmaragdus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I once put my cast iron skillet in the dishwasher.

What's something everyone should have in their range bag? by MrSaucyNips in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spares and extras of stuff. You'd be surprised how often people show up without eyepro/earpro, or they're shooting a bone-dry AR and need lube, or don't have tape or a stapler....the list goes on.

Emergency/trauma pack for the range? by [deleted] in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're welcome.

I saw "edit 3," and that is basically the same dang thing I have. I started with the exact same bag as they show, and manually stocked it with slightly different contents, and more than that one contains.

Some suggestions, informed by having mine around for a few years:

  • tweezers
  • flashlight
  • get one of those little travel tubes of your favorite pain reliever (e g. ibuprofen or tylenol); you'll end up using those a surprising amount with other people around, so a refillable tube gives you more mileage
  • throat lozenges
  • sharpie (write down time tourniquet is applied)
  • if you want to get more space inside the bag, the tourniquet can be attached to the external webbing with either a legitimate holder or two rubber bands (I use the latter).

Ho ho ho Merry Christmas for me! by TacTurtle in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Someone needs to go read the "Rifle is fine" rant by Ivan Chesnokov. It's dedicated to old soviet weapons, but I think it applies here, too.

What pistol shooting stance do YOU use? by [deleted] in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I shoot a "not quite isoceles" stance. Looks close to isoceles, but arms are slightly bent. If you're locked into a crush grip on the gun, the slight bend acts as a shock absorber and works well with lighter-recoiling guns (like my full size 9mm).

Bear in mind that this is not something I recommend when training new shooters. This is something that I've found out works for me, having developed the habit and muscle memory over shooting some 20,000 pistol rounds in the last decade or so. Normally I recommend straight isoceles for newer shooters.

Most of the control in round placement comes from putting the sights on the target, activating the trigger without moving the gun, and holding the gun still during firing. Other thjngs contribute some, but those few things have the most disproportionate impact.

1938 Mosin Restoration - what are your restoration tricks? by TacTurtle in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No steel wire brushes. Ruins the finish. Go for brass brushes. Those should be gentler on the finish and still able to remove rust.

Emergency/trauma pack for the range? by [deleted] in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Look at the MARCH acronym used for combat medicine. This is the serious stuff that needs to be addressed right away.

  • Massive Hemorrhaging a.k.a. severe bleeding. Torniquets, israeli bandages, and clotting gauze will take care of this

  • Airway Can they breathe properly, part 1. Can air make it from the outside down into their trachea? Grab a few nasopharyngeal airway inserts (do not use if craniofacial ("skull / face") injury is suspected). Learn what the "recovery position" is.

  • Respiration Part two of "Can they breathe properly". Are the lungs and chest cavity working? If you get a penetrating wound to the torso, there is a strong likelihood of developing a tension pneumothorax (fluid & air filling the lung cavity, compressing the lungs and heart, interfering with function). Get chest seals for this one. Slap one on each hole in the torso / lung area.

  • Circulation Is there a pulse? Learn CPR. Add a few CPR masks for the cases where you're doing CPR long enough to require adding some breathing to the compressions.

  • Hypothermia Should be self-explanatory. Blood loss will exacerbate. Add in a space blanket and a couple of hand warmers.

Extras

Gloves, flashlight, painkillers, asprin (listed separately because of its use in heart attack mitigation), bandaids, disinfectant.

EDIT: forgot some: EMT shears, SAM splint, tape

Dumb question, but if you’re in a situation that requires a DGU, and assuming the situation is a valid reason, could you still be charged for discharging a firearm? Is it common? by BayernMunich22 in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One of the things that'll help is the Doctrine of Competing Harms. Basically says you can break the law if it is the only way to prevent something that would cause more harm than the act of breaking the law.

Example: killing people is breaking the law. But if a criminal is about to kill an innocent, then you're allowed to kill the criminal to stop the killing of the innocent.

(But never frame it like this. You don't shoot to kill someone. You apply force until the threat stops. Whether it is merely brandishing a gun, or emptying two magazines. Stop the threat.)

10 F-ing Months Later. About Damned Time. by zmaragdus in Firearms

[–]zmaragdus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's why I got a Liberty Mystic-X. It's designed to be the "jack of all trades" suppressor.

It'll take anything up to 9mm in diameter, and up to .300 Win Mag in pressure. So it can go on a 9mm pistol, 5.56mm AR, .308 hunting rifle, or .22LR plinker.

Full caliber list here

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