He tells the Uniformed Secret Service officers that they will be fired if they touch him.
Prepping
Hurricane Wind Protection
This is the redneck engineering that went into the window covers from earlier in the week. This will help my Gulf Coast readers. I try to improve hurricane preps every August as I get ready for the start of the season peak.
When the National Weather Service sets the classification of a Hurricane, they always list the maximum wind speed. The thing about that is the maximum winds are only found within a very small area- about 10 miles from the center or so. I did a pretty comprehensive post on the NHC and hurricanes, you can read it here. Since I rode out Milton just last year, let’s go over some facts:
Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, which is 20 miles south of the entrance to Tampa Bay, as a category 3 storm with 120 mile per hour winds.
Here are the top wind reports from each county around the area:
- Manatee County: Peak wind gusts 80 to 100 mph,
- Pinellas County: Peak wind gusts 80 to 100 mph,
- Hillsborough County: Peak wind gusts 80 to 100 mph,
- Polk County: Peak wind gusts 80 to 90 mph,
- Pasco County: Peak wind gusts 65 to 75 mph,
- Hernando County: Peak wind gusts 60 to 70 mph,
- Citrus County: Peak wind gusts 50 to 60 mph.,
Note that wind speeds drop off dramatically once you begin moving away from the area of the coast where landfall occurs. A CAT 3 storm produces CAT 2 winds once you are 20 miles or so from the landfall, 40 miles from landfall gets you CAT 1 winds, and by the time you are 60 miles out, you are likely to only see Tropical storm force winds.
If you measure Florida’s peninsula, it’s between about 120 to 150 miles across for most of its length. If you live in the center, you are already about 65 miles from the coast. Meaning that, unless the core of the storm hits the coast closest to your house and makes a beeline to pass directly overhead within 6 to 8 hours of the Hurricane making landfall, you are unlikely to see winds that are any higher than 75 miles per hour with a CAT 3 storm, or about 100 miles per hour with a CAT 5. All houses built in Florida since 1998, when the state’s uniform Hurricane building code was adopted, have to withstand winds of up to 115 mph. The building codes have done a good job. Here are the average claims for Hurricane Ian, broken down by the decade each house was built:
With these newer building codes, the most significant weaknesses of homes are 1: flooding from wind driven water (called storm surge); and 2: missiles and flying debris being tossed by the wind breaking a window.
Storm surge isn’t an issue unless you live within a mile or two of a large body of water, so it’s wind driven debris breaking a window that is the primary concern. So we need to defend our homes from wind driven debris, and from the wind pressure itself.
Why is that important?
A wind speed of 120 miles per hour exerts a force of about 37 pounds per square foot, that drops to 26 pounds at 100 miles per hour, 16 pounds at 80 miles per hour, and only 9 pounds at 60 miles per hour. It’s a square function.
My windows are 3 feet by 5 feet, making them 15 square feet. At 120 mph, there is over 550 pounds of force acting on that window, if the wind is hitting it straight on!
The fasteners I am using are 3M Dual Lock 250/250 tape that is 0.5″ x 2.0″, resulting in 1 square inch in area. It takes 2.2 pounds per square inch to separate, and I am placing 20 of these strips around the outside of the panel to hold it to the window frame. It will take 44 pounds of force to remove the panel from the frame. This is equivalent to a 40 mile per hour wind directly pushing the panel away from the window.
I know what you are thinking at this point- how in the world are we going to use a Velcro like product to secure a panel to a window against 500 pounds of wind force, when the product only requires 44 pounds of force to remove? If the panel can be removed by a person, surely it can be removed by wind of this strength? To answer this, look at the directions involved. The wind would be pushing the panel IN to the window, while the fasteners are acting to keep it from falling out.
Is my engineering as good as a professional structural engineer backed by wind tunnel testing? No, I am sure that it isn’t. But my engineering is less than half of the cost, and sometimes good enough is good enough.
My real challenge here is how I am going to attach these panels to the upstairs windows. They are more than 15 feet from ground level, and I can’t reach the top of the frame from inside of the second floor.
As a test, I bought 4 panels and some supplies to attach them. Let’s see how they do.
I measured and cut the first panel, primed the surfaces of the panel and the window frame, then put the tape on the frame. Then I simply pressed the panel into the place where I wanted it. It is firmly in place, but at the same time, you can get a finger between the panel and window frame and remove it with a firm tug. Total time for this first panel was about an hour, but the others should be faster.
Of course, the only real test is another Hurricane, and I am not going to wish for one of those.
These panels aren’t bulletproof. They aren’t going to stop an intruder, nor are they meant to. Prepping is about being ready for the most likely events to happen. In the past 10 years:
- In our old house, we had two different burglaries in the summer: one in 2017, and the second in 2018. Turns out it was the same guy both times. The judge approved a plea deal where he got probation and his record was expunged. For armed burglary, but that’s another rant for another day.
- In 2016, a man who identified himself as a “Navy Special Warfare Police Officer” tried to “arrest” me. When I asked to see his badge and ID, he refused. I drew a gun on his stupid ass and he fled. He came within 4 pounds of being a cautionary tale in a CCW class.
- We have experienced 5 Hurricanes: Irma 2017, Michael 2018, Ian 2022, Helene 2024, and Milton and Debby hitting us in 2024. We had power failures lasting several days for two of those storms: Milton and Irma.
- Our old house was struck by lightning no less than 5 times.
So our preps are centered around the most likely of events:
- We are putting away money to guard against illness and job loss.
- The new house has lightning protection built in.
- We are now in a more rural area, so crime is mitigated somewhat.
- Hurricane Preparedness
To see more on preps I recommend, please read this topic here. Also refer to the Preparedness pyramid.
Race baiting
Approved Discrimination
Proving that discriminating against a straight white male is the only type of discrimination approved of by the left, Uber has just announced their “women only” service, initially to be rolled out in Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco. This service is reportedly being offered in response to a large number of reported sexual assaults that have occurred on ride shares like Uber and Lyft. (Am I the only one noticing that the sexual assaults are all happening in ultra-liberal cities?)
Under this service, female riders have the option of demanding only female drivers. This is discriminatory against male riders AND drivers.
I am sure that Uber is just about to start their new service of “no illegal immigrants,” to be followed by their “no niggers” service. As long as Uber is about to be discriminatory, they might as well go all the way.
No word on what happens when sexual predators simply declare that they are trannies and identify as women before picking up victims women riders and the arguments that ensue. That will shortly be followed by discrimination lawsuits when male drivers file EEOC employment discrimination lawsuits. The fecal material is about to hit Uber’s oscillating air motivation device.
Security
Hurricane Upgrades
Hurricanes in Florida are one of the more likely situations that require prepping. In the past decade, we have gone through at least 4 Hurricanes, with 3 of them causing us to spend more than 24 hours without electrical power. Being prepared in Florida means being ready for Hurricanes.
Hurricane Milton last year revealed to me some improvements that need to be made. Let’s take a look at our preparedness map.
One hole in our preps was revealed when we had high winds of 40-70 miles per hour pounding the back of our house for hours. It resulted in me sitting in my house watching my 12 foot wide, 8 foot high sliding glass door bow inwards from the pressure of the wind. Not good. So we needed to upgrade the security and shelter bricks of the prepping pyramid.
I decided to look into window fabric. It was expensive. I looked in to polycarbonate. One company wanted more than $2000 to cover my windows, and another $3200 to protect the sliding glass door. The issue is that the door is just too large for most products to cover.
I decided to find another solution. One came to me. I bought some of these panels from Lowe’s. I am attaching them to the house with 3M commercial fastening tape that’s kind of like Velcro on steroids. Two inch pieces placed 8 inches apart. I got it in white so it blends into the window frame when it isn’t in use. To make sure that it sticks, I am using a primer.
The total bill to cover 10 windows is $850.
Now on to the sliding glass door. It’s a monster at 12′ wide by 8′ high. I decided to turn the back porch into an emergency storage area by putting an electrically operated Kevlar curtain over the opening to the porch. (I did not use the company at the link.) The idea is that I will take everything that’s outside (like pool furniture and the like) place it on the porch, then close the Kevlar curtain. The cost of the curtain was about $4500.
So total cost to hurricane proof the house’s windows was just about $5300.
Cops
Warrants
The left is running around saying that it is illegal for ICE to arrest people unless they have a warrant. The idiots are injecting themselves into the situation by confronting police and demanding to “see the warrant.”
- The leftist isn’t involved in the case. Random people can’t walk up to police and demand to see anything. The cops are under no compulsion to show you a warrant, nor to explain themselves to randos on the street.
- The cops don’t have to be in physical possession of the court order or warrant in order to make an arrest. All they need is to know that the warrant or order exists. That’s why they call in the identification of people they are in contact with. If they call in your ID and are told there is an arrest warrant, it isn’t a “get out of jail free” card if they don’t have the physical warrant.
Stop being morons.
Crime
The Problem
A man high on Fentanyl broke into a pawn shop and stole more than $40,000 of goods, including 16 firearms. He traded 2 of those firearms for more drugs. Most of the firearms were never recovered.
He was caught and sentenced to 5 years of probation. That showed him! He won’t do that again. I’m telling you, that judge sure was strict.
Not.
How many years did nonviolent J6 defendants spend in jail for trespassing?
Arts and Crafts
Ammo
Here are my current defensive ammunition selections:
| Caliber | Bullet | Manufacturer |
| .380ACP | 90gr JHP | Speer |
| .38 SPL | 110gr FTX +P | Hornady |
| .357 Mag | 125gr FTX | Hornady |
| .357 Sig | 125gr JHP | Federal |
| .9mm Luger | 115gr FTX | Hornady |
| 9mm Luger* | 135gr JHP | Hornady |
| .45ACP | 185gr FTX | Hornady |
| 10mm | 180gr XTP | Underwood |
As soon as the weather cools down enough for outdoor range trips, we will begin ballistic testing and see how these loads really do.
Anti American left
Learn to Code
That was Biden’s advice to those who lost jobs as a result of his anti-oil policies.
Blog News
Too Much Heat
It seems like I am forced to remind my readers of this from time to time. The last time I was forced to do so was more than 2 years ago, so we are doing pretty well. We discuss a lot of controversial topics here. Everyone’s opinion will vary on these topics.
I encourage debate here. Whenever there *is* debate, you can expect that people will vigorously defend their positions. That’s the nature of the beast. I allow comments here, even those who disagree with me. It was Ronald Reagan who had my two favorite quotes about disagreement:
“Harmony requires differences to be joined in pursuit of higher ideals.”
“The person who agrees with you 80% of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20% traitor.”
So it’s important to remember that as we comment here. I want to maintain a level of decorum and civility on the blog and its comments. That’s why I have established rules for commenting on this blog.
The heat here has been increasing for months, and I have decided that this friendly reminder is needed.
One of the biggest rules here is- no personal attacks, and especially not on the person who is paying the bills here- me. This is a permanent link to the rules of commenting here at the blog. They are there permanently for your reference. They are simple and easy to follow. I like the way that Miguel over at the now defunct gunfreezone put it: don’t be a dick. If you want to know what it means to be a dick, read on.
The overriding concept here is that I am paying for this server, the software that runs it, and providing the content. Since I am the one paying for it, that makes it mine. Some people have a problem with this and begin shouting about free speech. Free speech doesn’t apply here on my property. Want free speech? Pay for your own blog. I will even rent you some server space. You can say whatever you want on there, including calling me names. Your space, your rules.
I allow comments here because I enjoy the back and forth of a good debate. However, commenting here is the virtual equivalent of talking to me while sitting in my living room. Debate is a good thing. A well reasoned debate changes minds and can influence the opinions of others. If you make a good case for your opinion, you can win over the opinions of others by presenting them with a perspective or situation that may not have occurred to them. Name calling and shouting at people does not change the opinions of others, generates hard feelings, and is nothing more than chimps shouting and flinging poop at each other inside of the monkey house. It accomplishes nothing but the generation of hostility.
If you and some of my acquaintances are sitting with me in my living room having a conversation, there are things that you wouldn’t say without expecting either a punch in the mouth or being asked to leave and never return. Try to think of comments here as a face to face conversation and don’t type a comment here that you would not say to someone’s face while sitting in their own home.
So with that out of the way, here are the rules for commenting on this blog:
- The owner of this blog (me) has the final say on what you can and cannot post. It’s my house, I make the rules. Content here is moderated, and I will not be approving any comments that I find, in my sole judgement, to be unworthy. If you make a comment here and it doesn’t appear within a few hours, it likely wasn’t approved for some reason. Or it wound up in the SPAM filter for some reason. You can always drop me an email and ask.
- Deliberately posting statements that are aimed at insulting the blog owner (me) will get your comment tossed in the trash. Feel free to disagree with me, just don’t call names or impugn my character. If I wanted someone to purposely insult me, I don’t need to pay for a blog server, I can just go to my ex-wife’s house for free.
- Don’t deliberately insult others. No personal attacks. Feel free to attack ideas. Heap scorn on silly or illogical opinions, just don’t make it personal.
- If you are making a comment about one of my posts, it should be made on the post that you are commenting on, not on another, unrelated post. Offending posts may be deleted or disallowed, purely at my discretion. This is an attempt to both maintain readability and to reduce trolls.
- No spam. If you come on here to sell your product or website, that isn’t going to be allowed. This is an ad free site, because I hate all of the ads on the Internet. I don’t make money on this Blog, and no one else does, either. Including you.
- If you demand that anyone provide evidence for an assertion that they are making, then you must hold yourself to the same standard when making a counterargument. It takes time and effort to research sources, and replying with “Nuh, uh, I refuse to believe that” while not providing sources of your own to refute them is how an 8 year old debates. If you demand that the person with whom you are disagreeing show their work, so do you.
- Usually, I just don’t approve comments that are out of bounds. If you are close to the line, I may approve it with a warning. If repeated out of bounds comments become tiresome, I will warn you.
- If warnings don’t work and you keep at it, I will ban you from ever posting on this site again. I know that you can pull tricks like IP spoofing, changing your name, etc. So don’t think doing that is going to earn you “I’m so clever” points. It doesn’t make you clever, it makes you an asshole.
- Too many people using those tricks to circumvent the rules is what got us full time moderation, which is a major pain in my ass, and a major time waster for me.
- When in doubt, please refer to rule #1. These rules can change with no notice, and rules may or may not apply retroactively. That’s up to me. See rule #1.
Sometimes, your position isn’t based in facts. Some arguments, by their nature, can’t be based upon facts. They are opinions. Opinions, being not factual, can vary widely. Yours can be true for you while not being true for others. That doesn’t mean that you get to insult others for having an opinion different from yours.
Look, I work a full time job, run 2 businesses, and I am now back in full time college student mode. In my remaining time, I have husbandly duties, household maintenance, personal maintenance, the duties of being a grandfather, and I still need time for hobbies and sleep. The maintenance of this blog takes time from all of that.
I have always said that, should this blog become too much of a time waster and no longer be fun, I would pull the plug. I have also said that too many people dodging the rules would result in me requiring registration of user accounts. I don’t want to do either of those, but I can’t let arguing with strangers on the Internet become a full time job.
I have locked comments on the most recent post that has been generating overheated comments. Don’t try to dodge the lock by commenting on that topic on other posts. That comment will not be posted, and you may catch a warning or a ban- even a ban without further notice.
Anti American left
Karens
This woman is upset that the FHP arrested an illegal who was driving with no license, no insurance, and unregistered tags. She feels that the cops should have just given him a ticket and let him go.
I saw this situation many times, back when I was a fire paramedic. This is what they do- The scam here is that an illegal buys a van with a valid plate from someone who is legal. They leave the tags on the vehicle, because they can’t get new tags or insurance without a valid license. They use the vehicle until it either gets impounded or in an accident. The driver they hit is left holding the bag, unless they have uninsured motorist coverage.
When they get in an accident, they give the fake name. They get a ticket for canceled tags, for the accident, for no insurance and for no driver’s license. The tickets require a court appearance. They don’t show up for the hearing, and an arrest warrant is issued, but they already have a new identity and vehicle. They are never seen again.
I know, because I saw plenty of people fall victim to that scam. It also happened to me once: July 4, 2002. I was rear ended by an illegal, he had no insurance, and he never showed up to court. The new bumper for my truck cost me $1000 that I had to pay myself. That’s why I still carry uninsured motorist coverage to this day.
She is literally defending a criminal.