Monday's Missives

I like shovels and as both a liker of shovels and super home handyman in previous lives I must have owned dozens of them. Sometimes to be able to buy a newer, cooler shovel I would give shovelless friends and neighbors one of mine to justify buying a new one. Now that you know where I'm coming from- behold, the Super Penetration shovel from Garret Wade Tools. Ha, super penetration...

• There is a book out now supposedly written by a Marine who was a guard at Gitmo. A component to the story is the supposed cover up of 3 murders. The lengthy excerpt I read was absolute garbage from the first paragraph. It would not be hard to convince me the guy was never a Marine and heck, he may not even be real. It read like a laundry list of things people who hate the military and the US would want to believe. This would have to be done while also knowing little about how the military operates. A small (to some) detail that was an absolute deal breaker? He referred to other Marines and himself as soldiers- wouldn't happen in any context in a million years. 
• If the guy is real and was a Marine- he is a sociopath.



This chisel knife looks practical. You could dig, chop, cut and hammer with it. How have I made it, lo these many decades without this essential item? I mean I've been doing it all wrong. Where is my credit card...?



Japanese hatchets and saws also intrigue me.  I have heard that carpenters in California sometimes use Japanese hand saws. When I was a framer a sure way to be ridiculed was to have a hand saw- of any description in your trailer. It would surely get you laughed at by the other construction boys.  You might have a kitchen hammer somewhere to tap joists and wall studs into place but if  you didn't have electricity to power your saw and drive your nail gun? Time to roll up and go home. 

• My 7 year old has started a bucket list and this morning (01/18/2015) is taking suggestions.
• Among other things he intends to skydive and go to Disneyland. Interestingly, 4 suggestions from his audience were shot down by him- as he has already done them. He has flown in a private plane, petted a dolphin, swam in the ocean and driven a powerboat. He rolled his eyes because we were of such little help.
• First world kid problems.
• He has also ridden a train- for fun without sharing space with hundreds of other people- on top of the car and as a bonus he had a practically nil chance of getting tuberculosis, hepatitis or malaria during those rides and even less of a chance of getting decapitated or electrocuted.



Good grief. Yes, a laser guided pair of scissors is amazeballs awesome- it is also ridiculous.

• FG's cat is sunning herself behind the sliding glass blinds. She must be chilly from the fur loss after her 70 dollar grooming episode yesterday.
• First world cat problems.



A caliper/pen: buy me this for my birthday. What would I measure with it you ask? I don't know- probably lots of things. Then I could write and tell you about them.