That’s what Extra Fuel
And by “emergency” they mean “your failure to plan or pay any attention whatsoever to the fuel gauge.”
My Jeep requires 100% gasoline, so I have to actually plan out my fuel trips. That means I get nervous when I dip below 1/4 tank. I guess this stuff would be useful for things like boats and ATVs, but it seems to me the union of people who run out of gas regularly and people who buy this stuff is pretty small.
Via LifeHacker
Motherboard issues have been resolved, but not in anything resembling a good outcome.
I bought an ASUS P8Z77-V LE
Swapped everything out, and VOILA! I have a bootable system.
Unfortunately, it appears that the hard drive that precipitated this new server build is exhibiting the same behavior. Namely, I can see it in BIOS, and it boots to the “Repair Windows” thingy, but then isn’t recognized as a bootable device. I can access the data if I connect it to the external enclosure I bought, so my next thought is a format /MBR.
If that doesn’t work, then I’ll need to get an SSD.
Just went through one of those “Corporate Safety” thingies. Basic stuff, like where to go if there’s a fire, what to do if there’s a tornado, how to use an AED, and what to do if there’s a guy gunning down your coworkers.
They actually gave effective advice. I was shocked. In order of priority, you should:
Pretty standard, right? But then they said something I didn’t expect to hear:
Granted, we are disarmed by policy here, so “whatever means you have available” is probably strangling the guy with a mouse cord while my coworkers bludgeon him with their laptops and desk phones….
But recognizing that righteous violence can be an answer is a good start.
Today’s free Amazon app is Army Survival Guide
I’m not sure of the utility of a survival manual that requires an internet connection (Amazon Apps require authentication to Amazon when you start the app) and battery power, but hey it’s free and it might come in handy.
I also have the dead tree edition
Coming home to a server that’s lost it’s OS hard drive.
Things that are awesome: backup strategies.
It looks like the server move was a good idea. At some point this morning my home server lost connectivity. Actually, I can’t talk to either of my home servers, which indicates any combination of:
But the blog is still up! YAY!
Now, if I can only find the time to chase down my email problem….
Alternate title: Roll your own IFAK
Back in February, oddball and I took a “First Aid for Gun Toters” class put on by our local Zombie Squad chapter. It was, in my uneducated opinion, a pretty good class. My one complaint was that the guy wasn’t selling any of the products he was pimping. 😀
I hopped on Amazon a couple of weeks later and bought pretty much the minimum equipment required for a good gunshot wound kit. Actually, I bought two of each so I could keep one in my car and one in the wife’s car.
The C-A-T Combat Application Tourniquet
QuikClot Combat Gauze is basically your standard gauze, only it’s infused with QuikClot. The way you’re supposed to use this, and any other gauze in a gunshot wound, is to take your finger and stuff the wound. This has the new formulation of QuikClot that doesn’t produce heat. The original formulation would actually cause serious burns in the wound, so make sure you don’t get old stuff.
The HyFin Chest Seal
The famous Israeli Bandage
I wanted to get everything together before buying a bag, and it turns out that they fit perfectly in a quart-sized Zip-Lock bag:
That’s it. Those are the basics. I keep my kit in between the door sill and the driver’s seat in my Jeep, and the one in my wife’s car is just in her glove box. All medical equipment has an expiration date, so take note of what expires first in your kit. For me, the chest seals expire in about 18 months so I have set a reminder to buy more around that time. Prices on these items seem to fluctuate, so be sure to shop around.
I gotta tell ya, having the equipment and the knowledge to treat a GSW certainly makes me feel better.
Regular readers know that after the first of the year I decided to start carrying a flashlight every day. I asked for suggestions and got quite a few good ones. I ultimately decided on the Fenix PD20
SayUncle linked to that review, and the first comment to that post was a link to a $9 light that the commenter claimed “performed about the same.”
Well, I had to order one. It came in Friday.
The verdict? It’s not even close.
Now, let me go ahead and say that it’s a very good $9 light. I don’t feel ripped off or cheated or anything like that. But, comparing it to the two Fenix lights I have is about like me comparing my 13 year old Jeep Cherokee to a brand new Toyota 4Runner. They might perform the same function, but one does it a whole lot more…elegantly than the other.
The first thing I noticed was that the crenelated bezel slides up and down to get that spot-to-flood effect anyone who’s ever had a MagLite is used to. Note that it slides, not screws. That means that if you set it to “spot” and then put it in your pocket, it may be on spot, flood, or anywhere in between when you pull it out again. Not only does it slide up and down, but it also twists. The twisting isn’t functional, it’s just a byproduct of the way the bezel is attached.
Now, I’m not familiar with using those crenelations to get all stabby on someone, but it seems to me that you would want to be able to have them twist the skin of the guy you’ve just pressed your light into.
It’s also rather large compared to the PD20
The big thing, of course, is the light output. Again, it’s very good for a $9 light. It vastly out performs the $5 LED light we used to use, but when put up against the PD20
The beam turns from round to square. Let me show you what I mean:
See what I mean? It’s wierd. It’s also not nearly as bright:
Bottom line: The Sipik is an okay light, and well worth the money. The PD20
More pictures after the jump.
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A few weeks ago I had a bleg about everyday carry flashlights. I got some really good suggestions, and I highly recommend heading over to that post and reading the comments. The two top I considered ended up being the Fenix PD20 and the 4Sevens Quark MiniX 123. I ultimately went with the PD20 after a friend let me play with his 4Sevens pen light. I didn’t like that the tailcap switch seemed like a capacitive button. I didn’t really feel like I would be able to operate it properly in a high-stress situation.
Remember, one of the reasons I wanted the light was to be able to use it in conjunction with my pocket-carry PF9.
Full review and a ton of pics below
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