Guns, guns, guns

I ended up with three guns. I think I have a long gun for every need now. I took advice (unusual for me) and bought a .22 first. Internet people said everyone should have a .22, it would be good training, and cheap to shoot. They had me at cheap. What clinched the deal was that I discovered that the Savage 64 was really the old Canadian "Cooey" semi-automatic. It was available at Bass Pro, and wouldn't you know it - my workplace had just given me a gift certificate for Bass Pro for a 10 years service gift.

I took the base model with iron sights and plastic stock, and got some subsonic rounds (for in the barn rat shooting) and a big box of cheap federal rounds. I soon had my first rat kill.

The gun was also handy in dispatching poultry for Sunday dinner, but I will need higher velocity rounds for clean kills, especially for Raccoons that seem very tough to put down.

Not too long after, as waterfowl season started to disappear, I got a single shot break-action 12 gauge shotgun (Harrington and Richardson). The gun is quite nice looking with a traditional wooden stock.

I have yet to shoot it at anything other than targets, as geese seem to only fly over when I am empty handed. That said, it is super handy and light. Finally I completed my collection (for now) with my favourite. A sporterized (and thus cheap) Lee Enfield S.M.L.E. Mk III*. This gun is just a lovely machine - a .303 British bolt action rifle with a 10 round magazine. This one was made in 1916, test proofed in Birmingham. It shoots well. When time allows I will be able to do some target practice and find out how accurate it is - but it is certainly "good enough" for hunting purposes. One day I would like to restore it with the full wooden stock, but for now it suits well enough as it is.

That said, I think I have all the bases covered: a .22 for small pests (up to Raccoons), the shotgun for waterfowl and possible big game hunting (with slugs), and the S.M.L.E. for big game (Deer, Moose and Bear, and bigger predators such as Coyote or Wolf). The best part: I did it all for right around $500 - about the price of a single new budget bolt action (such as the Savage .234 I was considering).

Predator Dispatched

I noticed the dog was barking when I went out to fetch some firewood. He was persistent in a way I have come to learn means he has found some creature and is calling me to check it out. I aimed my flashlight towards the pond where he was, and saw another pair of eyes beyond Arthur as he stood his ground barking. I came closer and saw that he had backed a Raccoon up against the edge of the pond. I have ducks on the pond and Raccoons are not above killing and eating poultry, so I dashed back indoors to get a gun. I picked the .22 (Savage 64). Rushing back upstairs from the gun safe, I grabbed the magazine which had some federal rounds loaded ready, and I clicked the magnetic flashlight to the barrel as I headed back out. Arthur had followed me back to the house. Down by the pond, the Raccoon was stalking around the pond's edge, looking over at the ducks that were eyeing it warily from the middle. I quickly chambered a round and took aim, and made a head shot. The Raccoon's head snapped round as it tumbled to one side, but then stood up again. I took aim again, and fired between the eyes. All in all, I gave it 8 rounds, smashing its jaw completely in the ugly process until I could put one through its brain and it finally thrashed out it's death throes. Note to self: get some high velocity ammo. The regular Federal doesn't break the skull of an adult Raccoon.

Yet another awful phone company experience

I can't say I recommend Koodo to anyone based on my experience. I signed up for an account for my wife, since we were with Public and they texted us an offer. We went to a Koodo kiosk in Hamilton and asked for the Essential phone. The process took 3 hours (not fun when you have a preteen tagging along) but we got it set up (or so we thought). I gave them my VISA information for the payment and for future billing, and we left to enjoy (what was left of) our day.

The phone is great, and the coverage is good (same as Public or Telus). My trouble started when nearly three months later (2 weeks ago) we noticed the bill wasn't being paid. I went on line and paid the balance in full. By the time I got home from work, my wife's phone had been cut off. So then started the saga. I called, and was told the information I provided didn't match what was on the file (birthdate etc). 

After almost 3 weeks of back and forth between the forum and a rep on facebook messenger, I discover that in fact Koodo have NO personal information on file about us, and so they have no way to recover my account. They have asked me to fill out an on-line form 4 times now (I have tried all the likely PIN numbers already). Nothing matches, and since they don't actually have birthdates, drivers license or SIN number we have no means of recovery. 

SO - what started out as a simple new phone account is now a pretty expensive mini-tablet with no phone service, and no way to cancel it or reconnect it. Two thumbs down to Koodo, and as yet not even a light at the end of the tunnel.

Hyper miling once again

We got our Chevy Volt back after a terrible 6 month saga waiting on an insurance repair after Steph crashed it. The good news is it runs fine (after an initial problem with a stuck thermostat that was fixed over one more weekend). The even better news is my EBusBar charger works for 110v (as well as the expected 220v), and that means I can plug it in at work. My 116 km commute is suddenly way more affordable. On full charge, the gauge shows 70 km. I go about 50 km on electric and then kick into "Mountain mode" whenever I am steady over 80 km/h, until I hit the edge of the Niagara escarpment. Then it's back to electric as I float down gently touching the brake pedal as I add 2-3 km to my range (while travelling 3 km). Hitting the QEW I go back to mountain mode, dropping into electric whenever I hit stop and go as I crest the Burlington skyway, and chug through the QEW/403 merge. Into the HOV I go back to mountain mode until I exit onto the 403, by which time I check my electric range. I switch to electric when my range matches the distance left to travel, and I cruise into the office with nothing to spare.

Plugging in at work on the 110 I rarely stay long enough to get a full charge, but usually I get about 55 km worth in about 9 hours. Using a similar strategy to my morning commute, I use Mountain mode once I am at less than 25 km electric range anywhere I can make a steady speed over 80 km/h. Below that I reserve for all electric.

Following these strategies I have seen my consumption over the last 7,000 km drop below 3.3 l/100 km. Not bad for a 116 km one way commute. To make fuller use of this cars capabilities, I made my own 110 / 220 adapter so I can plug it into whichever outlet is available. That way on the weekends I can make multiple trips, re-charging quickly in between on the 220 and have all the convenience without touching the gas. My target is for a full tank of gas to last the whole week - regardless of how many side trips I end up making. This is a far cry from my woes while the Volt was in the shop - driving my Ram Ecodiesel at 9.6 l/100 km was costing me about $180 in diesel weekly, what with the commute plus weekend shopping and Maddy's activities.

The savings are so good I may even let my wife drive it to the barn on Saturday as they have a plug there and she can make pretty much the whole drive on electric. It will depend on whether I have trips I need to make myself - and whether she can agree to leave the car clean!

The NRA has set gun rights back

The intransigence of the NRA has painted gun-rights supporters into a corner. By opposing any reasonable attempts at reform, the NRA has become nothing more than a shill for gun companies, and has lost any credibility in the eyes of a majority of the US population.


From a discussion on possible banning of a class of firearm (assault weapons) - vehemently opposed by the NRA, the debate is now turning towards an outright repeal of the 2nd amendment. The reasoning goes: we can't trust politicians, and we can't even trust the Supreme Court. They will hide behind the narrow interpretation of the constitution and allow our children to be slaughtered all the while using NRA campaign donations to propel themselves into office. Only once the 2nd amendment is dead will the courts have an unequivocal duty to protect us all.

Everything Old is New Again

Some time before the latest Facebook debacle my beloved Note 4 phone started to break down. It had charging issues, it had a weird dead patch on the touchscreen, and it would freeze intermittently, often rebooting itself without warning.

I got the charger "fixed" (it wouldn't fast charge anymore after the fix), but the glitchy-ness and rebooting continued. It got to the point where I couldn't rely on it as a basic communications device, and I knew it need to be replaced.

I made an odd decision. What I wanted was a reliable communicator. I didn't care about apps (I told myself). I would be satisfied with good messaging, decent camera, good battery life, a good phone call quality. I needed basic productivity apps, navigation, e-mail, text, phone. I weighed my options and decided to bo with a Blackberry Passport. I found one for $200 "as new". It came in original packaging with all its doohickeys. It certainly looked and felt new. Setup was easy. It imported all my google based contacts as soon as I setup my gmail account. I went on to add some of my on-line accounts.

Now some people found the Blackberry OS's lack of apps to be a severe problem. I found it - shall we say - different. I did want a couple of Android apps that weren't to be found in the Blackberry or Amazon stores. Waze was a good example of what wasn't simply available. Suffice it to say I found a way to have my cake and eat it.

The other thing I found was that the Hub changed my behaviour. Blackberry Hub (for the uninitiated) puts all of ones communications into a single, prioritized list. Text messages, phone calls, e-mails etc. It also lacks the g-mail "Inbox" feature. This meant that suddenly, all the glurge that gmail had been filing into neat sections for me was exposed in my face. I grumbled and avoided it, or deleted it for a couple of days, until I came to the sudden conclusion that I didn't need most of it. In fact, google had basically tricked me into keeping subscribed to most of it by nicely offering to file it out of my face. This probably plays well to their business, but it means that I still have to manage it at some point (usually between other tasks or when I am waiting on something). I slowly, unsteadily came to the conclusion that these e-mails were not worth the time I was spending on them. I was being lulled into keeping them coming by google's smart filing.

Over the last week I have unsubscribed to literally dozens of e-mail sources. Now I am down to find only one or two a day to unsubscribe from. My inbox is cleaner. I find myself looking at my mail and finding nothing new at all for hours at a time! This also means that on my phone, almost everything inbound is actually important. I am freed up to attend to what is important, and I am not wasting time on dross or guilt messages (I am looking at you, environmental concern messages).

The other very nice thing about the Blackberry OS experience is its much smarter UI. Small examples abound - for example, I have long complained that Android won't do one simple thing that Palm used to do - when I go to my contacts, I should be able to start typing a person's name right away. Instead, I need to click in the text field before I can do that. Blackberry lets me start typing right away. When I copy a text message that contains an address and phone number, if I go into my calendar and click in the Location field, a paste inserts only the address part of the text, and similarly in the contacts database, where I can paste the phone number (and the address separately). This is just smart UI, but a wonderful simplification of an otherwise cumbersome process.

So far I am enjoying using the Passport. I don't regret switching "back". I only regret that Blackberry OS is basically a sunset OS, so I can't expect much in the way of ongoing support or upgrades.

So - bottom line - if you want a good communications device that lets you detach from other on-line time wasting and get more productive right away the Blackberry OS is surprisingly good.