linuxwrangler

I bought one after seeing it at a boat show. I don't need to use it very often, but it is handy when I need it. I've done the Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii a few times. One required piece of safety equipment is a banding tool like this http://www.arizonatools.com/tools/bandi ... ANDC00169/ and a roll of stainless strapping and various clamps. Think of it as a ClampTite on really, really good steroids. After my experience in the 1998 race, I wouldn't cross an ocean without one. 10-days of 24x7 racing took its toll and screws, welds and bolts were failing (we had already blown the alternator and were running radios/navigation intermittently on two small solar-panels). We were able to strap the various pieces holding the boom to the mast back together and continue the race ultimately placing 3rd in division. Without the strapping tool we would probably have continued the race but it might have been without a mainsail and we certainly would not have placed. We basically edged out the 4th-place boat by patching our boat back together faster than they patched theirs. Every race has involved some amount of "MacGyvering" - some more than others. Recent XKCD titled "Macgyver Gets Lazy":

Re: And the Prius up on blocks in the yard... Italian guy in Northern California??

Re: And the Prius up on blocks in the yard... I worked for a guy many years ago who was a successful businessman and quite a character. He tackled problems immediately and directly then moved on. So when the new fridge showed up and wouldn't fit throught the door to the house, he told the delivery guys to hang on a moment, walked to the garage, returned with a chain-saw and proceeded to hack a hole in the side of the house right where the fridge needed to go. They slid in the fridge while he rang his contractor to come fix the wall. Not the safest or most efficient method, but he did get things done.

A few years ago I gave up convincing/explaining. Let's face it. My trying to convince my wife that we need a Festool saw (think of the money we can save when I build a gazebo myself) or Surefire flashlight (we need it in case of earthquake or power failure) is as much a waste of time as her trying to convince me that we need Wedgwood china and sterling silver to save money on dining out. Instead of strained logic, I've fallen back on an unassailable explanation (i.e. the truth): It's a toy. She enjoys her toys. I enjoy mine. (But she never complains when I fire up the grill.)

Heavy-duty thunderstorms?!? Sounds like overkill.

Daily reading for me. As someone who has to constantly remind developers to distrust, verify and scrub everything submitted to a webserver, I loved this one http://xkcd.com/327/ And I got a good laugh from the overzealous automatic WiFi configuration: http://xkcd.com/416/

Might not explain syzygies but might explain Syzygies: (From http://www.xkcd.com/ - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. And yes, its Creative Commons license does allow for reposting: http://www.xkcd.com/license.html)

Happy Birthday! So what does the KK have on it for the birthday celebration? Do I take it from your post that you are a relatively new dad? Happy Father's day, too. Do tell about the little one(s).

You too!?! Since I ran out of fingers, I'm pretty sure that makes 10 KKs between you. Will y'all either quit hogging them or invite us over for dinner?

As long as we're brainstorming, what about making the top grill have hinges on both sides. Not sure exactly how to make this work - put on your thinking hats. The idea would be that one side would be about 1/3 of the upper grill more or less like it is now but the other 2/3 would open as well to have access to the sear grill. But I like the idea of a half-grill as well.

Yup, that's the problem with stats. What's the qualifier and what other data is there? The stat may be perfectly accurate but omits the stat on how many deaths are prevented by doctors vs. guns. This is one of Michael Moore's techniques. As amusing as he is, he does not produce documentaries. He produces op-ed pieces that only show stats that support his point-of-view and hide those that refute it. (Watch Michael and Me sometime if you want to see Moore subjected to his own techniques.) Then there is the problem that while there are plenty of cases where doctors indirectly assist with intentional deaths, the laws of most states force them to keep that hidden so we don't actually know the real stat. But we do know that you are more likely to die in a hospital than anywhere else so I guess the message is to avoid hospitals. (Disclaimer: the above commentary is solely related to statistics and not to my opinions regarding guns, doctors, hospitals, suicide or Michael Moore.)

Was slow earlier. Fine now. Hey, it's at a shared hosting place - probably on a shared server. Nothing wrong with that - it's an economical and effective way to go. But when anyone on the server gets hammered, everyone gets hammered. For me, it was loading a page but there was no content. My money is on a temporary problem with the database backend.

I seem to recall from the dot-com bust days the concept of the "bud" which is basically as described above. If your stock could buy X amount of Budweiser and now was only worth the recycled cans it was a "bud". This measure was, of course, inadequate. So if you took the money from recycling, bought more Bud, and those recycled cans approximated your stock value it was a double-bud. Among dot-coms that actually survived, triple-buds and worse were not unheard of. I recall one of our vendors having a price in the upper $100s and within a few months hitting the 30s and dropping. 30s as in $0.30.....

Another thing to beware of is moist charcoal. You will quickly learn what settings yield what temps - and they are very repeatable. Unless you run out of charcoal, you will always eventually hit/hold your target temperature. But when you dump in that fresh bag of charcoal you can get suckered - especially with a low-n-slow and especially when a newbie. When warming up, you can end up stalling for a while near the boiling-point of water till the charcoal dries. Since water boils at around the same temp as a low-n-slow you can get suckered into thinking that you are "dialed-in" but come back a while later and find things crisped. With the dampers mostly closed, drying can take time. If I have just added a batch of charcoal, I will often open both dampers wide for max airflow and drying, watch the temp and wait for it to pass through the 200-degree plateau and head on up to around 350, then dial in my known low-n-slow settings. The over-temp won't be a problem - the process doesn't take too long so you won't be heat-soaked and the temp will drop back down to your target not too long after you open the lid and pop in the cold food. And if you hit 350 you can be pretty sure your charcoal is dry enough. But you do have to watch it. Once your charcoal is dry, the temps will head north rapidly with open dampers. You will be at 350 and resetting your dampers within a couple minutes. 5-10 minutes of inattention and you can end up at 700 and climbing.

I have never used on but I see one potential design issue. Given that you draw the knife past the wheels, it will take a great deal of skill to avoid having much more pressure on the handle-end of the blade than the tip. I've seen plenty of knives that have been sharpened on other devices with that characteristic and they all eventually ended up getting overground toward the handle.

Back when I bought my K, my neighbor and I lifted it up and another neighbor pulled out the base of the crate. I used Forearm Forklifts which are pretty widely available. I've seen them at U-Haul and Ace Hardware. You can see photos and description at "the other forum": http://www.kamado.com/discus/messages/1/17846.html I keep a set of Forearm Forkilfts and Teamstraps around as it is amazing what you can lift and move without destroying your back.

Syz, that kind of breakfast brings back memories of loco-moco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loco_Moco) aka heart-attack-on-a-plate. But after nearly two-weeks of sailing from San Francisco to Hawaii (funny that they call the slowest method of getting from here to there "racing"), it does hit the spot.

Syz, your comments on serrations are corroborated in a number of other places. Perhaps it was the Veritas book - don't recall right now - that, recommended a very fine sanding belt for making quick work of kitchen knives. I have tried this a couple times but it's not my usual method. Unlike the Tormek or hand-grinding, you do have to be careful or you will burn the edge. I can't recall at the moment which belts I have but they go down to at least 15 microns - maybe finer. And it is exactly because the edge is finely serrated that they slice through tomatoes so well. Way, way back I bought one of the kits from Razor's Edge Systems (http://www.razoredgesystems.com/) and they have a nice guide for holding the angle when hand-grinding. Saucier, I still have the standard stone on the Tormek but am thinking about getting one or both of the others at some point. They are softer than the original stone with all that implies. Though finer, I hear they cut pretty well because they clog less and wear to a new surface faster (though I think it is pretty rare for anyone to actually wear out any of them). I will also assume that they will be easier to flatten when worn. And for uses other than grinding out really badly dinged tools, the 800 should be plenty coarse.

No, it's based on a compex mathematical formula. Now, if we could only find a mathematician...

Wow, just found this thread - seems to have started before I joined the forum. I've been "sharp obsessed" for a long, long time. I read the Razors Edge book and bought the gear. Good stuff for manual sharpening. http://www.razoredgesystems.com/ Also read the Veritas book. Thanks for the U of Iowa link. I'll have to read that one, too. I make sure to flatten all my new chisels and plane-irons on a kanaban before even starting to work on the edge. After the oil-hones, diamond stones, and Razors Edge stuff, I bought the Tormek about 15 years ago and use it almost exclusively, now, though I sometimes polish blades out with rouge and a cloth wheel on the grinder. I'm popular with neighbors and my friends who run a coffee shop around the corner. Of course some people can't handle a sharp knife. One kid who works at the shop promptly cut off the tip of his finger after I sharpened the knives. When I need to get the machine out, I usually tell my neighbors so they can bring out their knives. I usually use a stick of green rouge instead of the Tormek stuff-in-a-tube on the leather wheel - it is easier to apply and doesn't glob up. If you have a Tormek and don't think you have spent enough money already, you can always get aftermarket 800 grit and 4000 grit Japanese waterstones: http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp? ... t_id=13267 http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp? ... t_id=13267 While you are there, look at the lap-sharp machine - it looks pretty sweet as well: http://japanwoodworker.com/product.asp? ... t_id=13107 If you ever make it to their store in Alameda, you can see even more sharpening stuff as well as some really nice knives. If you want to be safe, "forget" your wallet at home before you go - I think I've managed to drop a grand there in the last year.

Wait a minute. That Jack Linkletter?: http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0512942/ http://www.jacklinkletter.com/index.html You did have an interesting man to look up to. I can certainly relate. My dad died two years ago. Also of cancer. Was also preeminent in his field (rocket/missile control and guidance). Was also active in the community (school board president, chair of hospital board, chair of credit-union). And was also relentlessly curious and giving of advice till the end. He was also named Jack. My condolences to you and your family.

Re: I'm in the States for a while. Long as you need. of course. Lost my dad a couple years ago. No fun but those hospice people were great. Your dad is lucky to have you around right now. Our thoughts are with you.

What means this "add lump"? I put in enough to start with and close down the dampers to save the leftovers when done.

I've done the Costco butts a number of times and they took about 20 hours at around 225 plus a couple hours to settle.

Last year I met with the guy who built/sells the Stoker. He came by to look at the Kamado as he was working on different attachment methods. So far, manual has worked great for me but if I were to automate things, I definitely go for the Stoker. The interface is pretty open so you can roll-your-own to your heart's content or just use the built-in web-based software.