Post-op progress report

I'm feeling a bit like death warmed up, but I've survived the first 24 hours.  Along the way I've learned some useful lessons.

• If you have a stent up your urinary tract towards your kidney, handle the dangly bits with extreme, I say again, extreme care.  Any unexpected tugs, twists or movement with your hips can produce a short, sharp burst of agony that's immobilizing, to say the least.
• Your cat won't know (or care about) the stent if she wants to jump onto your lap.  If her paws land (with all her weight and velocity behind them) on the lower end of that stent, you'll be using language that you thought you'd forgotten when you left the military, all those years before.  You'll also find yourself with homicidal thoughts towards your loving pet.
• The medications they give you to keep down infection and speed recovery are probably all well and good.  However, they fail to inform you about the dramatic (and alarming) effect of at least one of them on the color of one's output.  My urine went from blood-red to flaming fluorescent yellow-orange overnight, causing me to do a double-take when I went to the bathroom first thing this morning.  A quick Internet search reassured me that this was a normal side-effect, not something that should make me get myself to the ER as quickly as possible.

I'm still hurting very badly.  That stent really gums up the waterworks, so any attempt to use them the way Nature intended produces some very nasty moments.  It'll come out on Thursday, which I'm not looking forward to either.  (When the doctor gives an evil laugh as he discusses the procedure, that's generally not a good sign.)

Blogging continues to be light, for which my apologies, but I guess you can understand why.  I'll have it back to normal as soon as possible.

Peter

A very cute pet project

Building a cat tree . . . with help from the cats.

Full marks for originality.  I must try that sometime.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #856

Today's award goes to an Australian fisherman.

An Australian man was left bloodied and embarrassed after being "assaulted" by a catfish in Darwin.

. . .

The 45-year-old man said he was fishing with a friend when he caught a 12-inch catfish. Upon pulling the fish in he tried to flick it up onto the bank, however the fish flew towards him and struck him on the left side of his head.

The impact caused the venomous back spine of the fish to lodge into the side of his head. "He writhed in pain and bled profusely while his friend calmly took possession of the prize catch," said police in a statement.

The superintendent said the man was treated at the scene and police officers offered him advice, coinciding with Marine Safety Week in the Northern Territory.

"I am not quite sure he appreciated it," she told ABC.

There's more at the link.

I'm starting to wonder about the Australian wildlife.  They've got six of the twelve most venomous species of snake there . . . and the duckbilled platypus, with poison spurs on its heels . . . and now we learn that Australian catfish are equipped with poison spines.  Please tell me that kangaroos and koala bears aren't concealing poison somewhere, too?  (Oh - and what did his 'friend' do with the fish?  I hope he didn't eat it while his buddy was undergoing treatment . . . )




Peter

Ow!

I'm back home, hurting a lot and feeling like death warmed up.

It was a difficult procedure to endure.  According to post-op information, the upper 'cap' of the kidney stone I encountered a couple of months ago had survived the lithotripsy intact, despite everything beneath it being turned to powder.  It sort of 'hid' itself in the inner bits of the kidney until I ripped it loose ten days ago, while moving furniture.  That meant the body tried to pass it in the normal manner, but instead it settled cap-like on top of the ureter and blocked it almost entirely.  In so many words, it shut down that kidney, leaving the other to carry the load for the whole of the body.

The urologist infiltrated his way up the ureter to the source of the problem, then used a laser to 'pulverize' the remains of the kidney stone.  He inserted a stent to ensure that the resulting mess could drain.  What's coming out is more blood than anything else right now - the sharp edges of the stone cut up the interior of the kidney pretty badly - but he assures me that will change over the course of the next week or so.  I'm on four more pills (!) to add to those I already take following my heart surgery and damaged spinal cord.  Hopefully they'll prevent any more infection.

The worst thing I've found is an almost complete lack of control over urination.  When it wants to leak, it's going to leak, and there's not a darn thing I can do to stop it!  I've taken to wearing adult diapers to keep things as sanitary as possible.  After a week or so, when the stent is out and the kidney and bladder have had time to recover, things should get back to normal.

I'm going into so much detail purely as a warning to you, dear readers.  Take your kidneys seriously, and every other aspect of your body's waste disposal system!  Problems there can lay you low in a heartbeat, and there won't be much you can do unless and until they're resolved.  Thank heavens for First World medicine!  I've seen people in the Third World afflicted with kidney stones.  Many survived . . . but many didn't, and died in excruciating agony from the stone and its associated complications.  I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

I probably won't blog too much tonight or tomorrow morning.  By tomorrow afternoon, I hope things will get back to normal.  Thanks for your good wishes and prayers.

Peter

Off to the hospital

Blogging will be light until this evening.  I'm on my way to the hospital for an in-patient procedure.

Readers will recall my adventures with kidney stones a couple of months ago.  Well, it turns out that a large fragment had remained behind, and was recently jolted loose from its place of concealment.  It's been cutting on me internally ever since, to my great discomfort.  (Yesterday it looked like I was peeing more blood than urine - NOT good!)  So, later today the nice urologist will feed a tube up my anesthetized whatsit until he can see what's going on in there.  He'll then zap the offending stone with a laser and try to extract the bits and pieces.

Hopefully I'll be home by tonight, and hopefully I won't be peeing dark red any more.  That's distinctly unsettling . . .  Say a prayer for me today, if you'd be so kind, and for the doctor and operating room staff - and for my wife, that she doesn't kill me until I become less of a grumpy old fart over this!  (Truly, she's been a wonderful helpmate.  I don't think I could have handled this nearly as well without her.)

Peter

Has Volkswagen been cheating in Europe too? And is it the only one?

News that Volkswagen had programmed its diesel cars to give false readings for air quality when exhaust emissions were tested has raised eyebrows throughout the US auto industry.  Some are already asking whether Volkswagen is the only company to have used such methods to improve its ratings.

Now the Telegraph is asking some pointed questions about what this means for Europe.

On hot summer days Paris has to ban half the cars in the city from taking to the roads. Air pollution levels in London are off the scale and more than 7,000 Britons die every year as a direct result of vehicle-derived air pollution. Americans, in contrast, stopped dying of smog a generation ago, when the smog laws swept the filthiest vehicles into the scrapyards.

The reason? Europe’s love affair with filthy diesel cars, buses and trucks. And now, thanks to the Americans, Europe’s dirty little secret is out. This week, the US pollution watchdog, the Environmental Protection Agency, said that it has good evidence, from a study by scientists at West Virginia University, that Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest auto-makers, has been cheating in order to pass America’s tough anti-smog laws.

. . .

It is not clear whether the same cheats have been used on VW diesels sold in Europe, although stories have emerged in the last year that many diesel cars on sale are far, far filthier than their makers claim.

. . .

That it has taken the Americans, lovers of the gas-guzzler, to blow away the charade that is the European take on green driving is deeply ironic. And the reason this has happened is all down, in the end, to a bitter debate among environmentalists about what is more important: “the planet”, or human lives.

Twenty years ago, when it came to road vehicles, Europe’s greens, and then its civil servants and politicians, decided that the future lives of 23rd-Century polar bears were more important than the lungs of children walking our streets today. Laws were passed that determined a vehicle’s green credentials solely on the basis of carbon dioxide emissions. And carbon dioxide, although harmless in the concentrations emitted by any vehicle, is the gas that causes global warming.

Here, diesels do relatively well (although the gap between them and petrol engines has narrowed to a sliver). In America, the decision was made to assess cars according to all the pollutants they emit, not just CO2. And here, diesel engines, which emit a foul cocktail of carcinogens and irritants including benzene, soots, nitrogen oxides and tars, do very badly. Hence the temptation to, er, modify the engines a bit so they pass.

America saw the light when it comes to diesel decades ago. The City of Los Angeles has a bus fleet 2,400-strong; a mere 150 of these are now diesel powered (the rest are driven by natural gas or electricity). Compare this to London, where nearly all 6,800 buses are diesel-powered.

In Europe, our filthy air is a direct result of the game of mutually-assured-deception played by the auto-makers and the taxmen, whereby tax breaks are determined entirely by CO2 emissions. The bureaucrats set emissions and consumption targets, and the car makers, allegedly, cheat their way to meeting them (I have no doubt that, if proven guilty, VW is not the only manufacturer with a case to answer).

There's more at the link.

Wouldn't it be ironic if Europe had to go back to using gas-guzzling 6- and 8-cylinder gasoline engines?




Peter

The ultimate "Talk Like A Pirate Day" collection?

CenTexTim has put together a collection of the best (?) jokes for 'Talk Like A Pirate Day' over at his blog.  Example:

There are plenty more at the link. Enjoy!

Peter

More fallout from China's economic crisis

Now that China's economy is running into serious difficulties, domestic demand for its products is tanking.  That's leading major Chinese industries to try to 'dump' their excess production overseas, so as to keep their factories running, their workforces employed and their Communist Party bosses happy.  Unfortunately, that policy all too often brings hardship to the markets they target, as the Telegraph reported today.

Since its economy has started to cool, China has been infiltrating international markets with more of its low-cost offerings. Steel exports from China are said to have increased by 28pc to 43.5m tonnes in the first six months of this year, despite production falling by 2pc.

To survive, Chinese steel mills are now selling overseas at a loss in order to maintain their production lines and to empty overstocked warehouses.

Chinese imports were 2pc of UK steel demand in the first half of 2011, a figure expected to rise to 8pc this year.

. . .

The European Commission is investigating claims that both China and Russia are dumping unwanted steel on to Western markets, pushing many European metal smelters to the brink of bankruptcy.

In June, 10 steel-making associations from across Europe and America issued a joint statement calling for action to stem the flow of Chinese metal.

“There is a strong consensus against the rising tide of exports from state-owned, supported or controlled steel industries,” said the statement. “Looming over all of this is China, whose massive and increasing overcapacity in an era of slowing growth has already destabilised the global steel market and trade flows.”

Despite concerns over the strength of the global market for steel, the European Union saw a modest 3.9pc bounce in consumption last year. However, steel consumption remains around 25pc below the levels achieved in 2007 and doubts remain whether European states and institutions are willing to take on China in what could easily turn into a full-blown trade war to defend what many see as in industry in historical decline.

There's more at the link.

It's not just European steel producers who've been affected.  Chinese exports are affecting US steel mills in precisely the same way.  US producers are now calling for anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel imports.

It's a classic pattern that's been repeated many times in international trade.  Can't sell enough into your local market?  Then export the surplus for what you can get for it, to keep your factories going until business conditions improve.  If you don't, then you may not have a factory any more by the time local sales pick up.  Trouble is, such naked capitalism drives local companies out of business, so that entire national economies are disrupted for years, even decades.

I predict we're going to see a lot more of this before the world economy gets back on an even keel.

Peter

Heh

Courtesy of The Lonely Libertarian:

Peter

Around The Blogs 2015-09-20

Here's a brief collection of blog posts and articles that caught my eye over the past couple of weeks.

# # #

DaddyBear points out the fortunate coincidence of 'System Administrator Appreciation Day' and 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'.

"Weigh anchor me hearties!  Of course it be heavy!  It be made of old 486’s fused together with Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, and Skittles!"

Uh-huh . . .

# # #

Libertarian Christopher Burg points out that awarding a so-called 'Basic Income' to everyone is "just another statist wet dream".  It strengthens those who disburse it, and weakens democracy.

# # #

Never Yet Melted gives us (with tongue firmly in cheek) a graphic illustration of 'Modern Art, Simplified'.

In another article, the author reminds us of this well-known Internet meme.

It's apparently expanded out of all recognition over the years.  He gives us lots of examples.

# # #

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us that "the cult of the whining victim is now ubiquitous".

# # #

El Capitan describes the hazards of wearing worn-out underpants while driving.

# # #

Cranky T-Rex sees Donald Trump as 'the "**** You" candidate'.  He may have a point.

# # #

On survival and subsistence concerns, Wirecutter hosts another guest article from 'Foodgrower'.  It's certainly food for thought.  In a disaster, just how would the survivors feed themselves after their stored supplies run out?

Over at Survival Blog, a correspondent writes to alert readers about the dangers posed by 'vehicle fences' in the median between lanes of an Interstate or other major highway.  More food for thought . . . and yes, I'm going to take the author's advice and add the necessary equipment to my vehicle kit.

# # #

Robb Allen, in an older post that he recalled recently, gathered the accumulated 'wisdom' of gun blogs and forums on the Internet and distilled them into a series of rules.  For your edification (and amusement), here they are.

# # #

Brad R. Torgersen reminds us that "We must not allow ourselves to become a Tyranny of the Safe. You can have intellectual latitude, or you can have intellectual comfort. But you cannot have both."

# # #

The Art Of Manliness offers two articles containing 'Famous Manly Last Words'.

# # #

Captain Capitalism illustrates the distinction between 'wealth' and 'stuff'.  His example of a foreign royal family is eye-opening, to say the least.  Worthwhile reading.

# # #

Blue reminds us that if the biggest hotbeds of crime are factored out of the equation, suddenly the USA's appallingly high murder rate suddenly becomes much less appalling.  All of those hotbeds are in cities where gun control is high on the agenda.  Food for thought, that . . .

# # #

The Lonely Libertarian brings us more of Wirecutter's wisdom.  Giggle-worthy!

# # #

Last but not least, singer Marian Call complains that 'KickStarter math is weird'.  It's a very interesting look at how she calculates how much money she needs to raise to bring out her latest album, and the different scenarios she has to take into account.

# # #

That's all for this week.  More soon!

Peter

Two musical greats come together

Most people don't know that when Pink Floyd recorded their classic album 'Wish You Were Here', they incorporated Stephane Grapelli's jazz violin in the title song.  However, in the final mix it wasn't audible, so he wasn't credited.

Many years later, when the album was remastered, Grapelli's playing was highlighted once more.  Here's the restored version of the title song.

Progressive rock meets classic jazz.  Wonderful!

Peter

Europe's out-of-control "refugee" crisis and its implications for the USA

I've pointed out before that Europe's so-called "refugee" crisis isn't a refugee crisis at all - it's a wave of economic migrants, using conflict as an excuse to move to a place where they can improve themselves and make a better living.  It's a reality that won't go away anytime soon, and won't be solved by merely accommodating more of them.

Now Hungary's foreign minister has revealed the true scale of the problem.

SHOCK estimates predict up to 35 MILLION refugees could head for Europe due to hugely unstable situations across the world.

The huge figure was revealed today by Hungary's minister for foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjártó.

Speaking as the country begins work on its second fence to stop migrants heading across its border he predicted the current crisis will continue for years.

Mr Szijjártó told the Hungarian Times: "The name of the fence is 'Temporary Security Border Fence' but I think there is no question that in this case temporary means years.

"It's a self delusion to call this situation a migration crisis; it is a massive migration of nations, with inexhaustible reserves.

"I don't think that the analysis results, stating that 30-35 million people out there could possibly become migrants, would be an exaggeration.

"Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are all countries with a huge population and an extremely unstable situation."

. . .

Migrants look to break through to Hungary as that sees them enter the European Union's Schengen Zone which offers free movement between member countries.

He said: "The recent international political decisions created an unstable situation around Europe that makes sure that the amount of people won't decrease.

"If we want to keep the freedom of movement in the European Union, we have to protect the outer borders."

There's more at the link.

His remarks come as Croatia admitted openly that it's trying to force Hungary to accept 'migrants' moving through its territory towards the European Union.

Hungary was racing to seal its southern border on Saturday after accusing Croatia of “people smuggling” as the neighbouring country chose to bus thousands of migrants to the frontier.

The Hungarian authorities tried to prevent Croatia from funnelling migrants onto its territory by erecting the first 25 miles of a razor wire fence along the boundary between the two countries.

Almost 21,000 migrants have arrived in Croatia since Wednesday. The government admitted that its policy for dealing with the influx was to send the migrants straight to the northern border and leave them to cross into Hungary. About 8,000 had followed this route by Saturday.

Hungary, where the right-wing government of Viktor Orban has vowed to defend "Christian Europe" against the mainly Muslim migrants, accused Croatia of "violating Hungary's sovereignty" by sending buses and trains packed with migrants over their joint border. It warned it might block Zagreb's accession to Europe's Schengen zone of passport-free travel.

Zoran Milanovic, the Croatian prime minister, in turn said that his government had successfully “forced” Hungary to accept the arrivals, adding: “And we'll keep doing it”.

He added: "Croatia will not become the refugee centre of Europe.”

Refugees were being taken in their thousands across Croatia by coach to the frontier with Hungary. The Telegraph saw more than 30 buses led by a police escort arriving at the Beremend crossing.

Most of the refugees appeared to be Syrians. The Croat authorities showed no interest in registering them or checking them in any way. “It’s not our problem - we have given up,” said one Croat border guard. “Now we will just send them straight to where they want to go.”

. . .

Hungary has given a furious response to Croatia’s declared policy of trying to pass thousands of migrants into its hands. Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister, denounced Croatia’s behaviour, saying: "Instead of honestly making provision for the immigrants, it sent them straight to Hungary. What kind of European solidarity is this?"

Zoltan Kovacs, a Hungarian government spokesman, went still further by accusing Croatia of “intentional participation in people smuggling”.

. . .

Slovenia is now preparing to be next in the path of the human tide. Already, groups of migrants have tried to enter the country, only to find rows of police holding them back at border crossings.

Again, more at the link.

Croatia has no interest in spending the huge amount of time, energy and resources required to control the influx.  Instead, it's simply handing the problem over to its northern neighbor.  Of course, this is precisely what nations south of the USA have been doing for years.  They're deliberately funneling all the illegal alien traffic trying to reach this country through their own territories, refusing to control it or do anything to stop it.  They're simply passing the problem on to us.  (Indeed, many of those countries would find it hard to survive economically without the money sent back to them by illegal aliens in the USA.  It's in their own self-interest to help illegals to succeed.)

We need to understand that Europe's problem is the USA's problem as well.  Our illegal aliens don't come only from Syria or the Middle East:  they come from all over, but they're seeking precisely the same thing that the European so-called 'refugees' are seeking.  All of the latter are now well away from the war zone that caused their initial flight.  They're now passing through countries that could offer them a safe refuge . . . but they don't want to stop there, because they're no longer looking for safety.  They've found that already.  Instead, they want a better life in economic terms, and they're determined to get it - even if that means freeloading on the generosity of other countries' welfare systems, or depriving their citizens of jobs, rights, etc. in order to get them for themselves.  They don't care about the law.  They're in this for Number One - themselves.

Donald Trump is right.  Immigration is THE issue in the 2016 Presidential elections.  If he continues to hammer home this truth, and his opponents continue to punt on the issue, I predict he'll win the Republican nomination - unless the party 'establishment', which is dominated by pro-amnesty interests, somehow rigs the process to keep him out.  If they do, then I hope he runs as an independent and trounces the party's candidate in the polls.  I don't care whether or not he's the best candidate for the Presidency.  However, I care deeply that he's the only candidate saying the right things about how to deal with illegal aliens.

Send them back.

Force them out.

Get rid of them.

Unless and until we do that, we're crippling our economy and our national sovereignty with every new arrival.

Peter

Caturday

A very tiny kitten tries out its very tiny meow.  You may need to turn up the volume just to hear it!

All together, now:  Awwww!




Peter

The right to keep and arm bears?

Australian police found a bear stuffed with some . . . unusual filling material during a recent investigation.

The Telegraph reports:

A 23-year-old man was arrested at the scene and has been charged with unauthorised possession of a pistol, possession of unregistered firearm, and not keeping firearms safe; and unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon, unauthorised possession of ammunition, and recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The teddy bear's views at being so rudely violated by the searchers weren't recorded.




Peter

Social justice, taken to its totalitarian extreme

We've spoken a lot here in recent months about Social Justice Warriors and their left-wing, liberal campaign to take over science fiction and fantasy and everything connected with the field.  Of course, they have no real idea of the ultimate realization of their progressive wet dreams.  Some of us have seen those realizations . . . which is why we fight against any more of them with every fiber of our beings.

Nicki Kenyon, who blogs at The Liberty Zone and whom I'm pleased to count among my friends, has just put up a guest article at Sarah Hoyt's blog in which she exposes what a typical SJW 'paradise' is really like, when all's said and done.  She grew up in one of them.  It's sickening to read, but very true.  I've seen it in action in various parts of the world, none of them salubrious.  Here's an excerpt.

After years of indoctrination with no access to outside information, everything was normal.

Wiping with pieces of newspaper, because there was no toilet paper? Normal.

Taking a bath in dirty water that your parents brought in buckets from the machine factory across the street, heated, and poured into a bathtub, after all other members of the family “bathed” in it? Normal.

Sharing your one-bedroom apartment with another three-four person family, sleeping on the floor, or on a makeshift bed in what used to be a living room? Normal.

Getting your tonsils removed without anesthesia while you were tied to a chair with a sheet, gagging on bloody chunks of flesh as the doctor cut them out of your throat with scissors, and hearing them plop juicily into a kidney dish she held under your chin? Normal. Too bad the anesthesia didn’t take. You got your share.

Getting beaten up by your classmates on a regular basis for being a Jew? Normal.

Eating rancid soup, throwing it up, because your stomach couldn’t take it, and then hurriedly slurping up the vomit for fear that your mom would scold you for wasting food? Yeah… you guessed it. Normal.

We never thought to question it. We never considered that there was a brighter future somewhere out there. We never imagined that there were shoes that didn’t fall apart after a month, dresses that weren’t a drab brown or grey, or store shelves full of food somewhere out there. We never knew. We lived our normal, and we were brainwashed into believing it was glorious and honorable, because we all lived that normal together.

There's much more at the link.

Go read the whole thing if you want to know where political correctness and marching in lock-step with the times will inevitably end up.  It'll have a hard time winning, though, because Sarah, Nicki, myself and many others will fight to the death to stop it.  We know how to fight, and we know what we're fighting against.  We won't lie down and tamely surrender.




Peter

Some pitfalls of private firearms sales

I regularly buy and sell firearms privately.  I don't do it for a living, or even to make money at it;  if one does, one's a dealer, and should get a Federal Firearms License and do it properly.  (If one doesn't, the ATF are likely to have a few things to say about the matter!)  Nevertheless, there are many who do likewise.  Unfortunately, there are traps, pitfalls and scams out there.  It helps to be aware of them.  For those new to private arms sales, I thought I'd list some of them.


1.  The deal that's too good to be true.

I ran across one of these just yesterday, advertised on a local firearms Web site.

For Sale:  Ruger SR22 pistol
Price:  $325
Gun has Crimson Trace laser also an after market stainless guide rod and spring. Included in the price are five 10 round magazines which have extra base plates. It also has an extra backstrap. Has the original box with carrying case (Ruger soft carrying case). Also in the box are the original guide rod and spring.

That price is ridiculously low for what's being offered.  Consider:

• The Ruger SR22 pistol is available online from $288.99 new (the lowest price I've been able to find at the time of writing).  Most online prices are well over $300.
• Magazines for the SR22 are available online from $27.99.  Each pistol ships with two of them, so three would have to be bought separately to match the five on offer in the advertisement.  Those three would cost at least $83.97.
• The Crimson Trace CMR-201 rail-mounted laser sight (as illustrated in the advertisement) is currently listed on Amazon.com for $107.86.
• The "after market stainless guide rod and spring" aren't identified, but a Galloway Precision unit matching that description is available on Amazon.com for $22.00.
• Shipping, sales tax and transfer fees (where applicable) would add at least 10% to the prices listed above.

I doubt whether the total package offered for sale could be assembled, new, for less than about $550 - possibly more, unless the buyer knew where to obtain the lowest possible prices.  To offer that package, used, for $325 is a discount of over 40%.  I'd expect to pay no more than 10% to 20% less than new prices for a good-condition used firearm and accessories.  In other words, that package price sounds far too good to be true.  It's barely possible - although, I think, highly unlikely - that the seller might not know the value of what he had, and be pricing it below market;  but items such as a laser sight and an aftermarket guide rod and spring aren't casual, impulse purchases.  They tend to be bought by people who know what they're doing and what they want.  I doubt that the seller of this package could be unaware of its true value, if he bought it all honestly.

(I tried to confirm the pricing by e-mailing the seller with a series of questions.  Not surprisingly, I got no reply.  That's often been my experience when asking pointed questions.  If you sound like you know what you're talking about, you're frequently met with a deafening silence.  I take that as a sign of untrustworthiness.  On the other hand, if the seller has answers that sound convincing, I take that as a positive.)


2.  The seller expects to recover "sunk costs", over and above the value of the firearm.

I encounter this surprisingly often.  A seller will have invested money in additional features like an expensive holster, or improvements like refinishing, or a "trigger job", or something like that.  When he comes to sell the firearm, he wants to recover those costs along with the price of the firearm, and prices it accordingly.  However, a purchaser might have no interest in those "extras", and therefore won't want to pay for them - particularly if they raise the price of the gun to an unreasonable level.

Here's another example from a local firearms-for-sale listing.

For Sale/Trade:  Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum
Price:  $600
Taurus Tracker .44 magnum 4 inch ported barrel stainless steel 5 shot.  Trigger job.  $600.00 or trade.

I was astonished to see a used Tracker advertised for this price, since a brand-new example can be bought online for just $531 (plus shipping, tax and transfer fees, of course).  I contacted the seller to ask about a lower price, but he said he'd spent $150 on the "trigger job" and therefore couldn't afford to drop his price much.  I didn't know how to put it to him, but that expense is a "sunk cost", not recoverable on resale unless it's been done by a name-brand gunsmith whose work is in demand in its own right.  (For example, if you have a pistol customized by, say, the late Jim Clark Sr., and can prove it by means of an invoice or other evidence, his name will add hundreds or even thousands of dollars in value to the gun;  but there are relatively few gunsmiths with that sort of reputation.)  In the same way, if someone has an expensive custom holster made to fit a particular gun, then decides to sell it, the buyer may not want or need the holster to go with the gun.  If he doesn't, then he won't want to pay for it.  It's as simple as that.

I pointed all that out to the seller, as politely as possible, and added that I'd seen a (blued) Taurus Tracker in .44 Magnum sell (from the same site) for just $400 earlier that same week;  but he was adamant.  He wanted to recover the cost of the "trigger job" as well as the cost of the gun.  I suspect he'll be doomed to disappointment, unless he meets a buyer with more money than sense.


3.  Beware the scam artist.

There are scam artists out there who'll put up fake listings, often copying photographs and details from other Web sites, in the hope that they can induce potential buyers to send some money their way as a deposit, or something like that.  You'll often be able to spot them by the unduly professional nature of their listings (unusual among amateurs who are advertising their own guns for sale), or the ridiculously low prices they ask.  Here's an example from a local listing just this week.

For Sale:  COLT ANACONDA 6"
Price:  $ 2,100
COLT ANACONDA IN THE CLASSIC HARD HITTING 45 LONG COLT. WITH A 6" PORTED AND VENTILATED RIB BARREL SPORTING THE RUBBER COLT MEDALLION COMBAT STYLE GRIPS. THIS COLT HAS THE BRILLIANT BRIGHT STAINLESS STEEL FINISH THAT WILL MAKE HEADS TURN. WEARS A MICRO CLICK ADJUSTABLE WHITE OUTLINE REAR SIGHT. FIXED RED INSERT RAMP FRONT SIGHT. THE COLT SNAKE IS AMERICAN MADE.

This has "scam" written all over it.  For a start, the price is far too low (something any knowledgeable firearms buyer or collector will recognize).  Secondly, even a cursory Internet search reveals that the photographs, text and other information had been simply lifted from another advertisement on Gunbroker for the same gun (at a much higher and more realistic price).  It's worth doing an Internet search for the text, or using a service such as tineye.com to compare the photographs provided with the listing.  One can often find a match in advertisements elsewhere.  Needless to say, I won't be touching that local listing (or the "seller") with a ten-foot disinfected bargepole!  Instead, I flagged it as a scam.


4.  The potentially dishonest seller or stolen gun.

This is one of those situations that's hard to pinpoint.  There are those who try to sell stolen or misappropriated guns privately.  If you don't have access to police records of stolen weapons, you'll have no way of knowing about the problem.  The difficulty here is that, if you're subsequently found in possession of stolen property, you might be charged as the receiver of it, even though you bought it under the impression that it was being legitimately sold to you by its rightful owner.

Some people try to safeguard against this by having the buyer and seller sign a bill of sale, giving details of their names, addresses, etc.  Unfortunately, that's simple to defeat by giving false information.  It's very easy to obtain false identity documents if you want them, with whatever name and address you choose to put on them.  Average folks like you or I won't be able to detect that.

Another ploy is for a dishonest seller to use a false name.  I've had this happen to me.  I bought a handgun from someone identifying himself as "Rico McClinton".  I met him and completed the transaction, but his behavior worried me.  Something just wasn't "right".  I made some inquiries online, and found that he was using the name of a well-known television actor.  (Well-known to some, at any rate . . . I hadn't heard of him before, but then, I don't watch television.)  I immediately suspected that the gun might be stolen.  I called a contact in a local law enforcement agency and had them check out the weapon's serial number, but it came back clean.  (That doesn't mean it wasn't stolen, of course.  The rightful owner may not have noticed - yet - that it was missing.  If he reports it stolen later, I may still have problems one day.  Alternatively, he might have decided not to report it for his own reasons.)  I've learned from that experience, and I now do an Internet search on any seller's name before I agree to meet them.  If that name comes back as belonging to any well-known public figure, I'll be asking more questions before proceeding with the purchase or sale.


Ultimately, a private firearms sale or purchase has to be governed by common sense.

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Let the buyer beware.
• Any seller asking more than 90% of the new value of a gun is indulging in wishful thinking, unless it's a scarce collectors' item.
• Any seller offering his used gun for less than 70% of its new price is probably asking too little.  There may be something wrong with the gun, or it may not be an entirely legitimate deal.

Peter

Dang kidney stone again . . .

To my disgust and (considerable) pain, my kidney stone troubles have returned.  Last weekend, while moving furniture and hefting boxes of books from one place to another, it felt as if something tore in my right side.  By Sunday morning all the symptoms of kidney stones that I'd first experienced in June were back in full force.  Very fortunately I still had some of the 'good' painkillers the doctor had prescribed for that incident, so I was able to keep going until I saw him again this morning.  He wasn't happy to hear my news, and sent me straight down for a CAT scan.

Turns out that a chunk of the previous kidney stone had not been passed (it was too big), but had concealed itself in a corner of my kidney somewhere.  The heavy exertions over last weekend had pulled it loose, and it was now trying to pass through to the bladder and thence out the usual way;  but it was too big and sharp-edged, so it was sitting at the top of a 'pipe', causing bleeding and pain and generally mucking up the system.

I'll be going in on Monday or Tuesday for a procedure to break it up.  It won't be external lithotripsy like last time;  this will involve an ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy.  Right now, it hurts enough that I don't care what they do, just so long as they deal with it!  I'll be popping painkillers until then.

Please keep me in your prayers as I prepare for yet another surgical procedure.  I've had so many of the damn things in my life (not for kidney stones, but for plenty of other reasons) that I really hate them with a passion.  Still, I don't exactly have much choice in the matter, so I may as well let them get on with it.

Growl . . . snarl . . . grumble . . . etc.

Peter

A shout-out to Montana Rarities and Mark Haythornthwaite

I mentioned a short while ago that I was in the process of converting up to 10% of my cash reserves into precious metals, specifically gold and silver coins (splitting the value equally between those metals).

I'm a novice in the US precious metal market, and I know full well that it's dangerous to rely on your own knowledge when you don't have any!  I looked for a dealer who was honest, helpful and forthright with advice.  Courtesy of hearty recommendations from fellow bloggers Commander Zero and The Other Ryan, I was led to Mark Haythornthwaite's Montana Rarities.  He proved every bit as helpful and knowledgeable as they said he'd be.  It must have been frustrating for him to have to patiently explain to this novice what most of his customers already knew, but he took his time and opened my eyes to a great many potential pitfalls.  He didn't try to conceal the real problems involved in getting one's hands on physical silver right now, given high market demand, and the resulting higher premiums over 'spot' price that prevail.  He also laid out all the other costs involved, and didn't try to hide anything in 'catch-all' general charges or unspecified expenses.

I ended up buying a number of silver one-ounce coins such as the 2015 Silver Britannia:

and gold coins like the 2015 US Gold Eagle $5 piece, weighing 1/10th of an ounce:

The shipment arrived today, with everything present and correct as promised.  Mark delivered great service and good value for money in today's market.  Now I'll have to rent a safe deposit box in a local vault - they're not the sort of thing I want to keep at home, for obvious reasons of security.

If you need a source for precious metals, I recommend Mark and Montana Rarities very highly.  No, he doesn't offer commissions or pay for recommendations like this - I'm just giving it because he earned it the hard way.

Peter

Were they playing, or hungry?

I can't make up my mind what these orcas (killer whales) were doing a few miles off San Diego when this boat came along.  Were they chasing it in play, or because they were hunting its occupants?

Your guess is as good as mine, I suppose . . . but I'm still glad I wasn't aboard!

Peter

Some sage advice from Captain Capitalism

Captain Capitalism (a.k.a. Aaron Clarey) can be foul-mouthed, misogynistic, and more than a little crude at times, and I don't recommend his 'dating' or 'relationship' advice at all;  but he's also got a very shrewd, inquiring mind, and I think his economic and investment perspective is far more accurate than not.  He's written an article pointing out that as far as investing our hard-earned money is concerned, traditional options are offering very poor returns indeed at present.  He recommends a different approach.  Here's an excerpt.

First, the market is so overvalued for anybody looking into government sponsored retirement plans it's just not worth it.  For the past four decades trillions of dollars in retirement money has been flooding the stock market driving up prices WELL above what the earnings and dividends warrant.  You throw in the added 2-4 trillion dollars recently in QE money and ZIRP-financed corporate buybacks, and the stock markets no longer reflect an investment opportunity, but irrelevant numbers that speak more to inflation, government policy, and central banking policy than earnings, profits, dividends, and future growth.

Second, this then forces the SAVVY investor (ie-one who looks at rates of return and not just “super happy funny magic capital gains on paper”) to look at alternative investments.  Ones that provide higher rates of return and compel you to part with your money.  But since the public markets are horrendously overvalued, it is the private markets we must look at.

Peer to peer lending.
Lending money to friends.
Investing in a small business.
Taking a crack at entrepreneurship yourself.
Crowd funding ... And other forms of “micro-equity investing.”

. . .

Third, these returns are typically so much higher than the rates of return you realize in public investments that they more than pay for the tax benefits you passed up on in 401k's, IRA's, etc.

. . .

Admittedly, there is no guarantee that your private investments will more than compensate for the opportunity costs of tax benefits that come with government endorsed retirement plans, but the difference between returns can be that wide.

Fourth, as I mentioned before, control.

I can't go to Apple's corporate headquarters and talk to their limp-wristed CEO.  You can't go to Starbucks and chat with their American-hating, leftist CEO.  And neither of us have the connections nor the money to vote in even ONE member of the board of directors to reflect our interests.

However, if I lend money to my friend to purchase a rental property, I can put it in the contract that I have significant say and control over the management of that property.

If you invest in the horse farm down the road (though I'd advise against that), you can stop in and check in on the employees to ensure they're doing whatever it is that makes horse farms profitable (glue).

. . .

Fifth, the risk of confiscation.

All the government has to do is flip a switch and your 401k, IRA, Roth or not, is now part of Obama's or Trudeau's “Wealth Equalization Happy Bunnies Act.”  All those digital records of you having that hard-saved $540,000 in your RRSP is “poof!” gone, or (a la Cyprus) 50% of what it used to be.  And the reason why is because it's so easy since it's nothing but digital and electronic records.

But a duplex you've gone halvsies in with your buddy is NOT a digital record the government can just “take.”

Those silver coins are not the “Silver ETF” the government just took 25% of, but physical silver coins that are in your physical possession.

. . .

Admittedly, these investments are not as liquid as say the easily-confiscatable stocks, bonds and other publicly traded securities, but you never invested in them for their liquidation.  You invested in them for their RATES OF RETURN.  Which leads us to the final point,

Sixth, you are actually INVESTING.

Understand that buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc, in your IRA or 401k is NOT investing.  The “investment” happened long ago when those companies issued the original shares or stock or bonds, took the proceeds and then invested that in property, plant, or equipment.  After that it is nothing more than secondary “investors” trading very expensive baseball cards in the forms of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.  You buying your “Vanguard Index Fund” from somebody else on the NYSE does NOTHING to increase the amount of investment in the country.  You merely traded cash for stocks and they, stocks for cash.

. . .

Contrast that with investing personally in either entrepreneurial ventures, micro-equity investments, peer-to-peer lending, etc., where that transaction ACTUALLY IS INVESTING, not only providing you a rate of return, but creating something of value, not to mention, likely hiring people in the process.

There's more at the link, including an example from his own experience that illustrates his point.

I think Mr. Clary is right.  Certainly, as far as my own finances are concerned, I'm going to try to follow his approach.  If you're in a position to manage your money properly (i.e. give it the time and attention it deserves), I think there's no other investment opportunity in today's markets that offers the potential returns of his approach.  I think "micro-equity investing", as he calls it, has far more upsides than downsides if one chooses carefully and invests wisely.

Best of all, if we choose people whom we know and trust personally, and help them with timely, suitable investments, I think we have a far better chance of making a return on our money than if we trusts an amorphous, computer-driven, dog-eat-dog market that's beyond any small investor's control.  Remember, "whenever you don’t know who the loser is in a transaction, then the loser is you".

Peter