The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
The first leg of the journey is complete. We’re in Quebec City, in our hotel rooms. It’s 7:45 and pizza is on the way. At both ends of the flight we didn’t bother to put our jackets on (it’s about 18ºF).
I think I’ve acclimated somewhat.
Tomorrow we fly out of Quebec for Chicago, then to Phoenix, and then the two hour drive home.
Oh, wait – it’s Phoenix. The three hour drive home.
Regular blogging will resume shortly. Please pardon the free ice cream interruption.
Arrived last night at 10:30PM local time on a twin-turboprop puddle-jumper. Had to walk across the tarmac ice to get to the terminal. The air temperature was -17C, and the wind was whipping.
One of the other passengers was wearing an Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
I’ve never been so cold so fast in my life.
This morning it was -22C, but at least the wind had died in the night. It probably froze to death.
Tomorrow it’s supposed to snow!
Oh frabjous joy.
I’ll be spending the last week of January on the lower North coast of Quebec, about 400 miles North of Quebec City.
I’ve lived in Tucson since 1981. I’m not sure my system will be able to deal with daytime high temperatures of, oh, 21°F.
I just ordered quilt-lined bib-overalls from Carhartt off of Amazon. Now I need to get some long underwear, heavy socks, and some heavy long-sleeve shirts. I get the feeling I’m going to be spending some quality time tramping around the jobsite taking pictures and notes.
Engineering. It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure! Can’t keep me in a fabric-covered box! 😉
Those of us who spend time over at the Gunblogger Conspiracy chat room got the opportunity this year to do the “Secret Santa” thing. Each of us who volunteered was assigned to send a gift (of restricted value) to one other member, and we would receive a gift from someone else. I won’t say who I was assigned, but I will say that I’m very pleased and grateful for the 100 rounds of Winchester .38 Super unprimed brass I received from Top of the Chain! Thanks!
One of my gifts this Christmas was Dilbert 2.0: Twenty Years of Dilbert. I’m just barely into it, reading from the first few years of the strip, when I came across this one:
Really, Breda is much cuter than that. And she’s modular! The Dilberts of the world all think that is way cool.
Via Borepatch, a “Random Act of Culture” – a flashmob performing the Hallelujah Chorus in Macy’s in Philadelphia, accompanied by the Wanamaker organ. Just, … wow:
More a random act of beauty, I think.
And once again, Merry Christmas to all!
I am an atheist, but not an anti-theist. Theodore Dalrymple is as well, and several years ago wrote a piece for The New Statesman I think is appropriate for the season: Why religion is good for us.
So, Merry Christmas everyone!
So to speak. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that SAAMI, Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, “recognized a potential risk of losing ORM-D status due to the emerging ‘global harmonization’ of shipping regulations” and took steps to prevent the cost of shipping ammunition from going through the roof. The pertinent excerpt:
Simply put, the U.S. was likely to adopt UN regulations in an attempt to help ease the global shipping process by adhering to one uniform policy. The problem with shifting to UN regulations is that there is no “ORM-D” status, so if/when this happened, ammunition would have to be shipped under the UN 1.4s category – a category that includes HazMat fees.
Would you have liked to pay HazMat fees on any ammo you purchased mail order? How much do you think the ammo at Wal*Mart would go up if it all had to ship as HazMat? But SAAMI stepped up to the plate, lobbied hard, and got ammunition exempted.
You’ll note absolutely no mention of the National Rifle Association in this story. They do other things.
This ad is from Australia, but it’s equally valid here.
WARNING: Graphic content