About thirty five years ago or more my Dad got a set of Croc Sticks for sharpening knives. Ever since then that has been the only way I've sharpened knives. I'll admit, I need to get some stones and watch some videos and relearn how to do it the 'right' way. But croc sticks are Sooooo easy.
So I bought my own set the other day. I went on a pocket knife kick over the last few years and have a few, none of them anywhere near the expensive category. So they all got dull fairly quickly. One is on the Dime I carry every day. So I was in need of some sharpening system I could use.
Twenty strokes on the fine stone at 25 degrees and they are good to go. Love it. Didn't think about how long the sticks were tho. My Dads were about a foot long, so you got nice long strokes. The ones I bought were about 6 inches, so its a bit harder to use. But not by much. Need to research the angles (my block has 20 or 25 degrees, and medium and fine sticks) to make sure I'm getting the best edge I can.
My favorite knife is my Benchmade that I got enroute to Djibouti (that's another story in itself). Very sharp blade. The knife is an auto open, so I'm always a little leery of the legality of it. I've looked into the laws and it appears to be legal in most states, but it just feels odd carrying what I would think of as a 'switchblade'. But damn sharp, and holding the edge well too.
But I'm happy that now all my blades are sharp again. And they won't get that bad ever again.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Space Opera
My desired primary realm for writing is space opera. I loved playing Traveller as a kid, and that is the type of world I want to write in. The thought of a wide open future where the possibility exists to have your own space ship and explore the cosmos thrills me to no end. My biggest problem is coming up with my own universe separate from the Traveller Emperium. Those ideas are so ingrained...
My growing idea is taking what we see happening right now (Bezos, Space X), the commercialization and commercial exploration of space, and extrapolating that into the future. A Libertarian universe, run by the free market. Companies colonize worlds and set them as resource and trading nodes. At that level, the super corporations would be synonymous with governments, but I see them being much less intrusive. If libertarian ideals held, the 'government' would only be protecting that world or sector or whatever, and the people would be free to operate independently. I need to do more research into how a totally free market, libertarian society would operate. How is crime handled? Currency? Many things we associate with government now would be handled by charity and the free market.
So I need to do enough research to create a viable Libertarian universe, and then work on stories within that universe. I tend to focus on the worlds, technology and equipment, rather than the people. That is my engineer side. But good stories are about people, and explore their motives and interactions with others. I'll really have to be open to my inspiration in those areas!
One other 'sci fi' story idea I had centered around a future where babies are all grown external to the womb (true test tube babies!). Natural child birth has been banned because of the risk to the baby and the mother (and the pain it causes the mother! What horror!) I see a couple that wants to have a child naturally and must fight society to be able to do that. They are shunned and almost criminalized just for the thought. Carrying it out is another step down that 'evil' path. I need to explore the outcome of that path: would this society take the baby? Jail the parents?
Also, it is noted that I have already failed in my daily writing. Started this Thursday night I think. Oh well, I'll keep trying.
My growing idea is taking what we see happening right now (Bezos, Space X), the commercialization and commercial exploration of space, and extrapolating that into the future. A Libertarian universe, run by the free market. Companies colonize worlds and set them as resource and trading nodes. At that level, the super corporations would be synonymous with governments, but I see them being much less intrusive. If libertarian ideals held, the 'government' would only be protecting that world or sector or whatever, and the people would be free to operate independently. I need to do more research into how a totally free market, libertarian society would operate. How is crime handled? Currency? Many things we associate with government now would be handled by charity and the free market.
So I need to do enough research to create a viable Libertarian universe, and then work on stories within that universe. I tend to focus on the worlds, technology and equipment, rather than the people. That is my engineer side. But good stories are about people, and explore their motives and interactions with others. I'll really have to be open to my inspiration in those areas!
One other 'sci fi' story idea I had centered around a future where babies are all grown external to the womb (true test tube babies!). Natural child birth has been banned because of the risk to the baby and the mother (and the pain it causes the mother! What horror!) I see a couple that wants to have a child naturally and must fight society to be able to do that. They are shunned and almost criminalized just for the thought. Carrying it out is another step down that 'evil' path. I need to explore the outcome of that path: would this society take the baby? Jail the parents?
Also, it is noted that I have already failed in my daily writing. Started this Thursday night I think. Oh well, I'll keep trying.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Last Day of May
For post #4 I figure I should write something a little more substantial.
My son watches a ton of Mythbusters, which is not a bad thing all in all. They build things, investigate things, and there is some actual science on the show. All good.
But most episodes have at least one point where I'm practically screaming at the TV because they have apparently not done some basic research. This is usually aligned with the myth, but that doesn't make sense to me. If you are going to investigate the myth, you have to research the science that is being skewered (apparently) by the myth.
My latest outrage was the episode where a bush pilot in Alaska had his plane shredded by a bear, and he proceeded to fix it with duct tape. I'm an aeronautical engineer by training (not career, alas), so this was right up my alley.
They made a big deal about the sides of the fuselage 'rippling' in the slipstream when they were flying their patched up plane. This is a Piper Cub type of plane: a metal tube frame (NOT monocoque or rib and stringer where the skin takes stress). A metal tube frame doesn't need any solid surface sides! Look at planes from the 1910s that were frequently just tube frames with no skin. So right there they could have provided some valuable science and shown that that type of plane will fly with no skin.
Then they went further, and stripped the entire skin from the plane (where did they find a donor for that!? Or did they just buy the plane?). They wanted to replace the entire skin with duct tape. OK, no we are getting to some nitty gritty, as the rudder, vertical tail, wing surfaces and ailerons would need skins. They started by weighing the removed skin (10 pounds) and starting with the equivalent weight of duct tape (about 5 rolls). Those five rolls didn't go far enough, so they started adding rolls to get the entire plane covered. But they made a big deal about the weight and balance of the plane getting all out of whack. In the end they used something like 20 rolls (40 pounds) and got all up tight about whether the plane could still fly. Seriously? Maybe if you got a 350 pound test pilot to try it out or something, but most planes can carry a pilot, fuel and 40 pounds of stuff. (OK, an ultralight might have a closer margin, but not a bush plane).
Not surprisingly the plane flew just fine. Fun episode, and myth confirmed, but missing some important science in my book.
My son watches a ton of Mythbusters, which is not a bad thing all in all. They build things, investigate things, and there is some actual science on the show. All good.
But most episodes have at least one point where I'm practically screaming at the TV because they have apparently not done some basic research. This is usually aligned with the myth, but that doesn't make sense to me. If you are going to investigate the myth, you have to research the science that is being skewered (apparently) by the myth.
My latest outrage was the episode where a bush pilot in Alaska had his plane shredded by a bear, and he proceeded to fix it with duct tape. I'm an aeronautical engineer by training (not career, alas), so this was right up my alley.
They made a big deal about the sides of the fuselage 'rippling' in the slipstream when they were flying their patched up plane. This is a Piper Cub type of plane: a metal tube frame (NOT monocoque or rib and stringer where the skin takes stress). A metal tube frame doesn't need any solid surface sides! Look at planes from the 1910s that were frequently just tube frames with no skin. So right there they could have provided some valuable science and shown that that type of plane will fly with no skin.
Then they went further, and stripped the entire skin from the plane (where did they find a donor for that!? Or did they just buy the plane?). They wanted to replace the entire skin with duct tape. OK, no we are getting to some nitty gritty, as the rudder, vertical tail, wing surfaces and ailerons would need skins. They started by weighing the removed skin (10 pounds) and starting with the equivalent weight of duct tape (about 5 rolls). Those five rolls didn't go far enough, so they started adding rolls to get the entire plane covered. But they made a big deal about the weight and balance of the plane getting all out of whack. In the end they used something like 20 rolls (40 pounds) and got all up tight about whether the plane could still fly. Seriously? Maybe if you got a 350 pound test pilot to try it out or something, but most planes can carry a pilot, fuel and 40 pounds of stuff. (OK, an ultralight might have a closer margin, but not a bush plane).
Not surprisingly the plane flew just fine. Fun episode, and myth confirmed, but missing some important science in my book.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Memorial Day 2016
First, never forget. Never forget all those that have paid the ultimate price in the defense of your freedom and liberty in this great country. As bad as we're getting, this is still the best country in the world.
I spent the day at Fort Clinch State Park at Amelia Island, FL (this is as far north in Florida as you can get).
This is an incredible place to visit and I highly recommend it if you ever get to the southeastern US. It is one of the best preserved 3rd System (meaning brick and stone) fort in the US. It is even better than Castillo de San Marcos in St Augustine, and I thought that was a great fort.
The best thing about Clinch is that they have populated most of the rooms with period stuff so you really feel like you are walking into the 1860s. Most weekends there are some number of reenactors there to explain things. And they do it in character! Bunk rooms have beds with mattresses, store rooms have casks and wooden boxes, and the blacksmith shop has all the tools and equipment. If you're lucky the blacksmith will be there and show you a thing or two.
Also interesting is the design of the fort. Each bastion is reached by a tunnel (tunnels are always fun, besides be a nice respite from the Florida sun and heat). The Castillo only has rooms reachable from the courtyard/parade ground in the middle. Once in the bastions, the roof is accessed by a narrow spiral staircase. Narrow spiral staircases are always fun too! It's as close to being in a castle as you can get in the US I think. So lots of fun to be had by all going in and out of tunnels and up and down narrow winding staircases. Plus there are a bunch of large cannons atop the bastions and works (10 inch Rodman guns I believe). What I would give to see one of those babies fired!
The park is a great place to visit, and not just for the excellent fort. There are bike trails, nature trails, picnic areas (with a playground too), and a small museum. To top it all off the entrance fee is only $6 a car (I think, the web page doesn't say exactly, but it's not much), and then it's only $2 more per person to get into the fort. We took a picnic lunch (the picnic area is right by the visitor center which is the entrance for the fort and museum as well) so it was a very economical day all around.
Very highly recommended!
I spent the day at Fort Clinch State Park at Amelia Island, FL (this is as far north in Florida as you can get).
The best thing about Clinch is that they have populated most of the rooms with period stuff so you really feel like you are walking into the 1860s. Most weekends there are some number of reenactors there to explain things. And they do it in character! Bunk rooms have beds with mattresses, store rooms have casks and wooden boxes, and the blacksmith shop has all the tools and equipment. If you're lucky the blacksmith will be there and show you a thing or two.
Also interesting is the design of the fort. Each bastion is reached by a tunnel (tunnels are always fun, besides be a nice respite from the Florida sun and heat). The Castillo only has rooms reachable from the courtyard/parade ground in the middle. Once in the bastions, the roof is accessed by a narrow spiral staircase. Narrow spiral staircases are always fun too! It's as close to being in a castle as you can get in the US I think. So lots of fun to be had by all going in and out of tunnels and up and down narrow winding staircases. Plus there are a bunch of large cannons atop the bastions and works (10 inch Rodman guns I believe). What I would give to see one of those babies fired!
The park is a great place to visit, and not just for the excellent fort. There are bike trails, nature trails, picnic areas (with a playground too), and a small museum. To top it all off the entrance fee is only $6 a car (I think, the web page doesn't say exactly, but it's not much), and then it's only $2 more per person to get into the fort. We took a picnic lunch (the picnic area is right by the visitor center which is the entrance for the fort and museum as well) so it was a very economical day all around.
Very highly recommended!
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Pool Time
Crashed grandma and grandpa's house this afternoon to use the pool. They are out of town, and invited us to use it. Heck yeah! Pools, planes, and boats: better to know someone that has them than have them yourself. Although I do wish I had taken him up on the offer to learn to use the heater. It was 80 degrees, which is warm enough to be refreshing if it was 95 out, but it was only 82 today and partly cloudy so it was a bit on the chilly side.
But not for the kids of course! A friend brought her two kids so it was a kids day in the pool. What is it about kids and a pool? I kind of remember those days, but it is fun to watch them having so much fun. Water fights, diving for things, playing catch, cannonball contests. It's all exciting for them. I just need warm water, moderate sunshine, a flotation device, and a cold beverage. Hard to have that relaxation at the same time as above mentioned water fights and cannonball contests!
But not for the kids of course! A friend brought her two kids so it was a kids day in the pool. What is it about kids and a pool? I kind of remember those days, but it is fun to watch them having so much fun. Water fights, diving for things, playing catch, cannonball contests. It's all exciting for them. I just need warm water, moderate sunshine, a flotation device, and a cold beverage. Hard to have that relaxation at the same time as above mentioned water fights and cannonball contests!
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Starting Now
First! I remember the earlier days of the interwebs when folks would take great pride in being the first to comment on a post. Even if it was just to say First! How times have changed. But this IS the First post on Cochran's Collage. Yea me (as my sister would say).
Yes I have started at least four other blogs, and they are all gathering dust. So why a new one you ask? Or was that just me asking myself? What's that they say about when you hear voices in your head, and lose the argument with them?...
Three of my other blogs were politically oriented, at least that's they way they ended up. I have no idea why I started three of them for the same purpose. The other one was about raising manly boys, since I only had two sons at the time. Now I have a daughter also, so maybe I need a blog about how to raise a girl that can throw a ball and a frisbee, fix things, and still knock your socks off in a pretty dress? Anyway, I'm sure there is some stat out there about how many blogs have been started and then languish after X number of posts on average. Sadly, I am that statistic.
But not this time! He declares boldly (once again). No, this time will be different. But why, you ask?
Well, this time, as the name kind of implies, I'm not trying to focus on one thing. Except writing. Everyday. Every. Day. I sit in front of this laptop everyday, surf the web (the same 5 sites mostly), and play a lot of Freecell (24 seconds is my best time: I really don't think I'll ever beat that). As I deal with all the normal things of life (of a Blessed life I should say: I am not wanting), I keep dreaming of escaping the grind and being a writer. Wow, how many other folks have said that?
A lot of what I have read about being a writer is that it IS work. You HAVE to work at it to be good at it and get somewhere. So I am going to work at it. Not try and work at it (as I originally wrote), but actually work at it. Every day.
I'm going to start by just trying to write SOMETHING every day, no matter how little. Well, I am going to set a minimum of one paragraph of no less than 5 sentences. But I'm not going to try and have a theme or point or genre I am writing about everyday. I'm going to start with daily observations and what not, and try and evolve from there. Hopefully, as Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert says, I'll start being able to open the door to my inspiration. Then I hope to start adding stories and chapters and books to this blog. Maybe someday I'll be able to publish a book that started as stories or chapters here, along the lines of the Silo series.
I've cleaned off my desk, organized my 'office' (more of a closet with a window, but hey, it's the space I get to call my own!) and have started a new blog. All set!
I have a lot of blogs for inspiration too. Wait But Why, The Sandgram, and Common Sense Barrage, the last two of which are authored by my Navy flight school roommate, and fellow Navy veteran and cousin, respectively.
So I am writing for ME, no one else. I'm working at my work, and it will be whatever it is. Most of the time not much, but hopefully sometimes something, and maybe something great.
So it's May 28th, Memorial Day Weekend. The national holiday when we're supposed to remember all those that died to preserve our freedoms and way of life. Our country has experienced a lot of that in the last 15 years, a lot of men and women to remember. Don't thank a veteran this weekend, or wish them a Happy Memorial Day. How about we say Never Forget? It's tied to 9-11, but seems appropriate for Memorial Day as well. Never forget those that gave all, whether in peacetime or war.
As I swing more and more to the libertarian side, I hate the State more and more. It grows too big, takes too much power, and inevitably tries to enslave us one way or the other. But I still think, because of the nature of man and the nature of world we live in, the state is necessary. And I think every war we've fought in the 20th and 21st centuries have been necessary in some fashion to defend democracy, or further the interests of the United States.
So those that have died preparing to defend our country or fighting under our flag have done so for us and our way of life. And I thank them and their families, for their sacrifice, and truly hope some day we can get our country back to a government that governs best by governing least, letting us live in freedom, and only doing what is necessary to defend us from external threats.
Yes I have started at least four other blogs, and they are all gathering dust. So why a new one you ask? Or was that just me asking myself? What's that they say about when you hear voices in your head, and lose the argument with them?...
Three of my other blogs were politically oriented, at least that's they way they ended up. I have no idea why I started three of them for the same purpose. The other one was about raising manly boys, since I only had two sons at the time. Now I have a daughter also, so maybe I need a blog about how to raise a girl that can throw a ball and a frisbee, fix things, and still knock your socks off in a pretty dress? Anyway, I'm sure there is some stat out there about how many blogs have been started and then languish after X number of posts on average. Sadly, I am that statistic.
But not this time! He declares boldly (once again). No, this time will be different. But why, you ask?
Well, this time, as the name kind of implies, I'm not trying to focus on one thing. Except writing. Everyday. Every. Day. I sit in front of this laptop everyday, surf the web (the same 5 sites mostly), and play a lot of Freecell (24 seconds is my best time: I really don't think I'll ever beat that). As I deal with all the normal things of life (of a Blessed life I should say: I am not wanting), I keep dreaming of escaping the grind and being a writer. Wow, how many other folks have said that?
A lot of what I have read about being a writer is that it IS work. You HAVE to work at it to be good at it and get somewhere. So I am going to work at it. Not try and work at it (as I originally wrote), but actually work at it. Every day.
I'm going to start by just trying to write SOMETHING every day, no matter how little. Well, I am going to set a minimum of one paragraph of no less than 5 sentences. But I'm not going to try and have a theme or point or genre I am writing about everyday. I'm going to start with daily observations and what not, and try and evolve from there. Hopefully, as Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert says, I'll start being able to open the door to my inspiration. Then I hope to start adding stories and chapters and books to this blog. Maybe someday I'll be able to publish a book that started as stories or chapters here, along the lines of the Silo series.
I've cleaned off my desk, organized my 'office' (more of a closet with a window, but hey, it's the space I get to call my own!) and have started a new blog. All set!
I have a lot of blogs for inspiration too. Wait But Why, The Sandgram, and Common Sense Barrage, the last two of which are authored by my Navy flight school roommate, and fellow Navy veteran and cousin, respectively.
So I am writing for ME, no one else. I'm working at my work, and it will be whatever it is. Most of the time not much, but hopefully sometimes something, and maybe something great.
So it's May 28th, Memorial Day Weekend. The national holiday when we're supposed to remember all those that died to preserve our freedoms and way of life. Our country has experienced a lot of that in the last 15 years, a lot of men and women to remember. Don't thank a veteran this weekend, or wish them a Happy Memorial Day. How about we say Never Forget? It's tied to 9-11, but seems appropriate for Memorial Day as well. Never forget those that gave all, whether in peacetime or war.
As I swing more and more to the libertarian side, I hate the State more and more. It grows too big, takes too much power, and inevitably tries to enslave us one way or the other. But I still think, because of the nature of man and the nature of world we live in, the state is necessary. And I think every war we've fought in the 20th and 21st centuries have been necessary in some fashion to defend democracy, or further the interests of the United States.
So those that have died preparing to defend our country or fighting under our flag have done so for us and our way of life. And I thank them and their families, for their sacrifice, and truly hope some day we can get our country back to a government that governs best by governing least, letting us live in freedom, and only doing what is necessary to defend us from external threats.
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