Pat Riot

I have had this image for a long time. Not sure where I got it.

Back in the 90’s I bought the most impressive flashlights I had found at the time. A Streamlight Scorpion and. Streamlight Stinger. Both were very impressive in the amount of light they put out. I still have them and they work as well as they did new. From that time up to 2015 I tried lights from numerous manufacturers and became a big fan of SureFire lights. I had several. The one thing that I did not like about them was the cost and life of the CR 123 batteries. In 2015 I bought an Olight Baton flashlight. “Baton” is the name, not the use. I also bought a small pocket light. I still have both plus about a dozen other various Olights. Olight is a Chinese company. They have distribution centers in Virginia, Minnesota and Arizona. They are innovative. They have the best and most accommodating Customer Service I have ever encountered. Their light products are the best I have found. I love to buy American, but unfortunately there isn’t an American company that holds a candle to them. Their lights do not have the stupid process of turning it on then cycling through pushing the button to get high, low then flashing before turning it off. I hate that crap! Most Olights when received are set at the medium light level. The pushbutton turns it on then turns it off. If you want to change the brightness push and hold the on pushbutton. The light will cycle through its brightness levels. When you get to the level you like let go of the pushbutton. On many of the lights a quick double press of the ON pushbutton gives you what they call “Turbo” lighting which is typically double the brightness of the highest normal light setting. Most Olights are rechargeable by a magnetic USB cable or a USB-C cable. Olight also makes tactical rifle and pistol mounted lights and lasers. They recently started manufacturing Red Dot Sights that get very good reviews. Check out their stuff. They’re a good company to deal with. Their products are also on Amazon. https://www.olight.com/store

Absolutely! Most canisters that say “Sprays 20 ft”, don’t. Canisters that say “15 - 2 second shots”, don’t. Often the length of the direct stream is about 1/2 to 2/3 of the advertised distance. Years ago I had a homeless guy try to accost me at an ATM. I hosed him down with pepper spray. I didn’t play the 2 second game. He got the Full Monty. It worked! He made more noise than mating bobcats. The police were literally 50 yards away (weird coincidence) drove over to find out why the homeless guy was lying in the parking lot screaming. I explained what happened and one officer said “You don’t need to empty the can, just hit them with a short blast.” I said “Why?” ”It’s what we were taught.” “I prefer to make sure I get my money’s worth and stop the crime.” In reality I had committed a crime. I didn’t have a Pepper Spray Permit. (Yes, California). The officers let me slide. After that I bought the larger size. The little one I used sprayed for al of 7 seconds of the advertised “10 - 2 second bursts” I was using the smallest canister of Sabre mace & pepper spray. This was in 2001, I think.

I lost a Colt 1991-A1 to my daughter in similar fashion. One day we’re in the desert shooting with friends and she says “Dad, I really like this Colt 1191-A1. It’s fun and accurate.” Later we’re wrapping things up and she says “I think my Colt needs a nicer gun case.” And that was that!

Air filtration / air purifiers might help.

I wonder if you could use positive air pressure in your steam room to keep most dust out? I’m not really sure how one would do it in a home but it works in electronics clean rooms.

After I would use a canister of pepper spray once I would replace it.

Now? I wear whatever I feel like. Sweatpants, tee shirts, shorts, cargo pants, sneakers & boots. All my dress clothes - jackets, shirts, ties, pants, suits and dress shoes went to Goodwill.

Thank gawd that video isn’t about a bunch of naked fat guys sitting in a hot steamy room. That’s a cool video Bear. Lots to see, that’s for sure. What a great collection of steam powered engines. Very impressive.

When I was a Mod on here I paid no attention for reasons for an edit. If I edited a post as a Mod I did make a note as to why in the “reason for edit” space and I would send a PM to the person whose post I edited. It was Allie Mo’s instruction on the matter.

I was looking for an instruction image on “how to use a cell phone” and I found this: image from: https://ca.pinterest.com/pin/339247784443023628/

From experience: It doesn’t work that way when in a strange city with an out of state drivers license.

I bought Traveler’s Checks in 1988 for our move from SoCal to New Mexico. What a pain in the butt that was. I figured it was better than carrying several thousand dollars in cash. Since I closed my bank account in SoCal and I had no bank account in Albuquerque I couldn’t get cash for my Traveler’s Checks. My Mom took me to her bank and since I was her son they would cash them if I opened an account. I was quite aggravated. I would never use them again.

Usually I am on top of my orders, but a few years ago, in 2020, I ordered one of those Ruger Single Action Loading Gate Spring clamps from… Crap! I can’t remember the name of the company. Anyway, before we moved I called the company in July 2022 and left a message with my new address. We moved to WV and a few months later a small box arrives for me and I open it and inside I find this little clamp: My first thought was “What the heck is this?” And then I realized what it was. It took them a couple of years, but by golly I got my clamp. I have yet to use it…

I hate to say this but I get 2 magazines. American Rifleman and Concealed Carry. I rarely look at either one in any detail. I got an offer to get the Guns & Ammo magazine delivered for like $15 a year. I didn’t bother. I use my iPhone for everything. I rarely read printed materials except for gun, tech and reloading manuals. I have decided that I am going to start going to the local library. Mostly because I want to support them. It would be a shame for a public asset like that to go under.

Hey! Good news! The Mods look at posts regarding editing. They deleted mine! Now maybe someone will look into the idiot post merging…

Safety Departments all over the U.S. now consider ladders unsafe for most maintenance tasks higher than step ladder heights in some states. Mostly because of incidents caused by knuckleheads.

My last job was the latest new light rail system in Los Angeles. We had a very good video CCTV system installed in the yard and indoors at the entrance / exit doors. The system would store video for 7 days on premises before the video was transferred to an offsite server to be kept for an extended time. The system was installed in 2018. By the time left in 2022 half of the camera covers were so filthy you could not make out any details in the video. Between Facilities Maintenance, IT ( information technology), the Custodial Department, Radio & Telecommunications and the Amalgamated Transit Union no one would clean the damn lenses because it became an in-house fight over whose job it was or wasn’t. Upper Management, the weak minded d’bags that infested that organization, would not make a decision - just one of the many reasons I left 3 years ahead of my planned retirement. We had an intruder come o yo the property and damage equipment and steal tools and personal items. Somehow this thief managed to evade the cameras that were not inhibited by dirt and filth on the camera covers. There was a lot of blather and chest thumping and nothing happened, yet everyday I was questioned as to the progress of the case. I became very rude and belligerent on the issue and the mental midgets I had as management left me alone. Probably so I wouldn’t disrupt their rainbow-bright days. Many businesses and government agencies brag about their high tech surveillance but never fund the proper maintenance and upkeep of those things because “it should be perfect! It’s high tech!”. But all it takes to ruin a high tech system is a lack of performing the low tech job of cleaning.

It was the Black Knight Earth monitoring satellite.

I can’t believe I am saying this, but this USA Today article appears nicely done and well researched. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/09/12/what-we-know-charlie-kirk-shooting-suspect/86091474007/ Remember these words? “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” It seems this guy has issue with the Italians of the 1930’s and early 1940’s. He sounds typical of these “enlightened” individuals that act more like fascists than the old fascists did.

Thank you

Quite often surveillance images have been blown up or expanded thus “pixelating” them making them appear blurry. Do RAW images take up more memory when stored? I have the exact same phone. Evening, low light or night images just plain suck on my camera / phone.

image from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/532128512217450916/

Oh yeah…the turtle…hilarity never ends…. I have no idea and I ain’t reading the book. Love that prank by Owen Garriott!

One day a few very large vessels are going to show up and the jig will be up. Why do you think that slowly, over the past 10 or so years, the government and the military have been releasing bits and pieces of information that may or may not look real. Not for transparency, but getting people talking. It’s to prepare us for that day when a few very large vessels appear over large cities all over the world. It could happen…