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Monthly Archives: June 2012

Embroidery Woes

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Thursday night (14JUN12) I started doing some test samples for a large embroidery project I’m working on.  The first test started out well, but by the time the last color was being added the needle broke.  This did not bode well for the project.  I replaced the needle and tried again.  It got through maybe two stitches before breaking the needle again.  I can’t emphasize enough that when sewing or embroidering, safety eye wear is very necessary.  Now, I was lucky and the needle didn’t fly at me, however, the way it breaks is rather violent.  Please be careful with sewing projects of any kind.

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The needle breakage was the end of sewing for the night.  Friday after work I opened up the software program on my computer to rework the stitch types for the design and figured out a potential solution.  Then Saturday after work I implemented said solution.  I let my machine do its thing, periodically changing colors as it progressed.  When the final color started, I backed away and nervously let the machine work.  I was very relieved when It finished stitching with no hiccups.  The design stitches, however, still need some work along with fixing the tension on my machine.

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There should not be any white coming through the dark colors, but I am happy that the design was able to be stitched out.  The next step for this design will be putting it on a hat.  I have reworked some of the stitch patterns.  What you can’t see in the picture is super long stitches in the blue that have the potential to snag.  I hope I solved the problem in my software program and will see how it stitches out on the first hat.

Now my next goal is to fix the tension.  Bobbin thread should not be showing through the top thread.

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That is a test embroidery for a future project.  I felt it would be a good start to see if I managed to fix the tension.  The design looks good and solid, but upon closer inspection white was still coming through.  Granted it was nowhere near as bad as the last design, but it clearly needs more adjustment.  I will be testing one more single color design to determine if the tension problem has been solved.  After that, hats that have been preordered can finally be embroidered.

Pardon the Nuclear Fallout

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So I spent yesterday and today migrating my blog to WordPress.  This while mostly successful has had a few minor hiccups.

First up, clean URLs is currently broken.  For some reason I have to manually touch every blog post *merely clicking update* for the clean URL to work properly.  I haven’t found the PFM in the database that is changing to allow it to work.

While doing that would be an inconvenience there is another issue which makes me want to touch every post.  None of the categories imported correctly.  The database and content nodes appear to line up correctly but alas the rendering fails for some reason.  Updating the content by hand again fixes the problem.

So the wife and I are going to work on going through all 1171 posts updating their categories and getting the clean URLs straightened out.  I did spend a decent amount of time creating a list of 301 redirects for all my previous posts.  Any and all previous incoming links should still be going to their respective content.  They will just have the ugly ?p=xxxx at the end instead of the nice clear /2012/05/23/This-Post-Is-So-Awesome/ url.

The last problem was brought on by my use of Disqus.  I wanted to get an export of my comments so I could reimport them into Drupal and then import those comments into WordPress.  Disqus would be used on all future content.  Well I didn’t get an export of the comments this weekend and I got tired of waiting.  If and when they come in, I will work on getting a snap shot of the database and migrating those into the system.

I was going to leave a domain up with the Drupal blog intact, alas for some reason I have not been able to make a subdomain.  Why I do not know other than Murphy hates me with a passion.

So yeah, if you notice other stuff that’s broken let me know.  I’m working on cleaning up the mess.  On the upshot I can blog from my phone now.

If you’re feed broke, let me know.  The feedburner feed should have continued uninterrupted.  I am working on getting the contact forms back up tonight.  Any of you who have my contact info in your address book, bump me a line if you notice anything grossly out of place.

Busy Weekend… Kind of

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I have some stuff planned for Sunday and today I’ve got some back end work planned.  Success may or may not be achieved.

In the mean time, enjoy this gratuitous gun porn from Boomershoot.

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Wish me luck.

SSCC #349&#350 – Fayette

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Surveillance video shows the dog looking for his handler. When the dog did not see the deputy, it attacks the worker, biting him in the arm and groin.

The worker dragged the dog into the Walmart where the deputy managed to get the dog off of him.

If that had been your dog or mine, it would be destroyed as a dangerous animal and we would carry personal liability for the action of the animal.  The handler here is at fault as well for not maintaining positive control of his animal.

Interestingly, I wonder what would happen if the the store employee killed the dog.  If you assault a police dog it is considered assaulting a police officer.  The courts when involved with a human officer tend to look down on you defending yourself against a corrupt cop unless there is some serious evidence.  Heck, Indiana for a while even forbade it, stating you can seek redress in the courts.

I suspect you would not end up in jail, but I’m sure that you would still end up in front of a jury.  I can guarantee you this officer is not even going to be suspended, and the dog will continue on duty as normal.

State Sponsored Criminal #349: Jayne Dog

#350: John Doe, Jayne Dog’s Handler

Because when a police K-9 goes berserk in a public place it’s excusable.  When you’re dog bites someone in your yard that shouldn’t be there, they put it down.  If it just looks at a cop they kill it.

Quote of the Day – Ken (06/15/2012)

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The lesson, preached often here, is this: the government is not your
friend. The people in it are not your friends. They smile. But they
are there because they are the sort of people who like telling other
people what to do, people they do not know, people over whom they have
no moral claim, regarding things that are not justly any business of
theirs. That is what they do. That is who they are.

Ken
– Argyll and Bute Council Afraid of Mild and Polite Criticism, Little Girls, Pictures of Tater Tots

June 14th, 2012

[I have written about this before when our American federales were claiming to be our extended family and friends.  Go read the story of Martha and her blog, I’ll wait.

Ken stated what I have already known but given the current tyranny being pushed by Fat Fuck George* it obviously bears repeating.  There evidently is a large number of people who seem to think that this government intrusion is acceptable, most likely because they aren’t directly affected.  Well what happens Mr. Tory when all the sudden government sets it’s sights on something you are affected by.  You’ve already given them permission to intrude in your life, you found it acceptable for them to do it to someone else.

There is some good news about Martha’s story.  The council has retreated and Martha’s charity is surging.  That is positive however that outcome is only because of the amount of attention this particular story got.  How many other similar stories slip under the waves to never been seen or heard about?  How many others are crushed under the weight and threat of force from government before anyone knows what happened?

Government is force, and they have a monopoly on the use of it and can self justify it.  While we do have some protections thanks to the First Amendment, that doesn’t prevent tyrants from trying to run over it.  Remember, there are many who would not mind seeing your First Amendment rights trampled because they disagree with your opinion.  Doubly so with the effectiveness of putting the truth on the internet.

Remember, the government is not your friend, it is not your family, its is force and nothing more.  It will crush you if given the chance.  Government is a necessary evil that should be limited and restrained to the greatest extent possible.  For trying to reign back in that beast after it gains the additional power and authority is difficult if not impossible.  -B]

*Who is Fat Fuck George, read this.

SSCC #348–Hopewell

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A former Hopewell police officer was convicted Wednesday of sexually abusing three women he had been investigating for drunken driving or shoplifting offenses.

Now while he was convicted, the following must also be noted:

Mark D. Baggett, 34, of the 500 block of MacArthur Avenue in Colonial Heights entered Alford pleas in Hopewell Circuit Court to three counts of aggravated sexual battery. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is sufficient evidence for a judge or jury to find him guilty.

He certainly could get pegged for 20 years, and that would be a good start.  He is a Sponsored Criminal for the following reason though:

… Baggett used his position and authority as a police officer to elicit sex, or attempt to elicit sex, from three women in the their 20s and 30s in September and October.

This is by no means anything new, and it has come up plenty of times before in the count.  The department even upon discovering the information didn’t fire him, instead they allowed him to resign.  Maybe if the department wants a positive public image they should grow some balls and discipline their officers themselves and not just rely on the law.  There is this thing called morals and ethics that exist outside the law and you should make your officers exercise good judgment in both regions.

State Sponsored Criminal #348: Mark D. Baggett

Because the biggest mistake he made wasn’t doing what he did, it was getting caught.  That’s why we didn’t fire him, we just were going to suspend him without pay while he rotted in jail.

Why I carry a gun…

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I have had many people ask why I carry a gun, especially living out here where many actually leave their doors unlocked.  The thing is where I live isn’t special.  Carrying a cop around just isn’t an option.  And when things go down the whole event happens in seconds, not minutes or hours.

Why would I bring this up?


Pullman police responded twice Wednesday evening to reports of armed robbery.

The first call came in at 10:44
p.m. in the 400 block of South Grand Avenue, where one victim reported
that he and his co-worker had been robbed at gunpoint in a parking lot.

The attacker only made off with 37 dollars however it appears that he has probably escaped, especially if he’s from outside the area.  The second incident also serves as an extra reminder that your vehicle presents a method of defense, even if the attacker is more suitably armed.

The second incident occurred at about 12:34 a.m. Thursday in the 1200
block of Southeast Johnson Avenue. Tennant said the 35-year-old victim
from Oregon was driving in the area completing work on a cell phone
tower when he was confronted by a man with a crowbar who reportedly
tried to steal his vehicle.

Always attempt to drive off.  It is the reaction the criminal isn’t expecting and even then shooting at you isn’t going to accomplish anything.  In my case it may get me to go into reverse and run you over since you have proven your intent.  You vehicle though provides more protection than nothing, use it to your advantage.

Most of all though, be alert, stay calm, and carry your damn guns.  Bad things happen even to good people, I carry a gun because I know that fact and I prefer to be prepared for the unexpected.  Don’t expect for someone to be able to magically save  you either if the goblin shows up either.  You are the help. You are the rescue. You are the extraction team.

Quote of the Day – rstoddart(06/14/2012)

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I am an Engineer,
My job is to make things work.
To save lives, increase productivity, and make the future.
I deal with facts, numbers, and calculations.
My work is to avoid the impossible, and find the loophole in the limits of materials and systems.
Anything you want that interferes with above, I cannot abide.

I am not here to be your friend.

rstoddart – Comment to this comic.

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[Seriously all I can think with that is truth. 

On more than one occasion I have said something that has hurt someone’s feelings because well, if I didn’t it would violate the above.  If I’m curt or think that what I said was unbelievably mean, read the above and understand it’s not necessarily you, it’s just your brain and the ideas it creates. -B]