H&I* Fires, 06 FEB 2008

February 6, 2008 | | Comments (10)

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

Time to add a new caveat, because from email it's not clear to some folks (mind you, if you don't read this it won't matter...) Being an open post, people (collectively, the Denizens) other than I post in the H&I. They sign their work (most of the time) - keep that in mind when you want to flame someone in email please - if it doesn't say "The Armorer" or "John" then I didn't write it! And honestly - if you don't like something said or posted... leave a comment, and hash it out (within the context of The Rulez which are clearly posted on the comment form, I would add).

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It's snowing in the Region of Argghhh! Nice layering of ice, followed by slushy snow, topped off with powder. About six inches thus far and still snowing - with the powder causing significant drifting. The Armorer drives a 4WD F150 and the drifting was up to the door of the truck. But it was fun slapping her into 4W and heading down the dirt road to the hardball, smacking our way through the drifts.

The we got into town. Those of you who don't know how to drive in snow... are annoying. Like the guy who was sashaying down Metropolitan, the rear of his car swinging left, then right, because he's decided that if a little gas is good, then a lotta gas must be gooder. Then there are the poor guys trying to get into the US Penitentiary, front wheel drive or no, who are shucking and weaving perpendicular to traffic trying to get up the icy little hill to the employee parking lot - and not making it. Which made the 18 wheeler driver nervous enough that he decided to pop over into the oncoming traffic lane (two lanes on each side of the road at that point), he crossed the centerline into the left lane, and those of us not already in the right hand lane transitioned pretty quickly, I assure you! There there were the people determined to get up the hill that the other five guys haven't made it up yet, to include the cop, yet you boldly go where no one without chains, or 4WD and sticky tires has made it before... until you, too, are in the ditch. Dudes - try an alternate route? Of course, this is the most winter we've had around here for over a decade, so some skills are rusty. And the Fort brings in lots of people with southern state license plates, people who might not have gotten much winter driving experience. -the Armorer

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Questing Cat, back from the box. His sister-in-law is damn glad, too. Remember, they also serve, who sit and wait. -the Armorer

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Neffi's comment on yesterday's H&I Fires, in response to BCR's post on the candidates, produced the "Quotation of the Rotation:"

BCR's cogent analysis of the 2008 political crop is on the money. I myself am suffering from ED- Electile Dysfunction. The inability to become excited or aroused by any of the candidates... If only there was a Little Blue Pill for it...

Sigh

Electile Dysfunction. I'm an ED sufferer, too. I frankly am not excited about any of these people being in the White House. Argghhh! -the Armorer

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*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires.

Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute.

*Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is*

The UAVs (oops, can't call 'em UAVs anymore - they're now Unmanned Aerial Systems... some Colonel got his Legion of Merit for that change...), er, um UAS's we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now.

I call the post that because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to. It's also an open trackback, so if someone has a post they're proud of, but it really isn't either Castle kind of stuff, or topical to a particular post, I've basically given blanket permission to use that post for that purpose. Another term of art that might be appropriate is "Free Fire Zone."

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10 Comments

By Mike L on February 6, 2008 8:56 AM
ED - Electile Dysfunction...... no little blue pill, but Jack Daniels (or Maker's Mark) helps. You still don't get excited, but somehow it just doesn't seem to matter as much. CHEERS!!! ML
 
By Jon the Mechanic (From Germany doing his annual time) on February 6, 2008 9:04 AM
Electile Dysfunction... I wish that I could read the entire article, but for some reason the Army network that I am on is not allowing my to reach ANY blogspot addresses. I am going to give credit when I use that line in my daily conversation with a moderate Dem who sleeps in the same room as me. Oh to be young and foolish again. (Poor guy, he thinks that Hillary is somewhat good for the country.)
 
By John of Argghhh! on February 6, 2008 9:07 AM
NETCOM is blocking *all* blogspot addresses, because of security issues.
 
By Boquisucio on February 6, 2008 12:10 PM
Geesh - This is starting to sound like a 12-Step Program Meeting. **** "Hello everyone; my name is Boquisucio, and I am an ED sufferer" **** **** "Hi BOQ" **** I too am recovering ED Co-dependent; however, there is no great motivator to drink the kool-aid than THIS little pill. Specially if it comes all dressed in blue.
 
By Karla (threadbndr) on February 6, 2008 12:24 PM
OMG, Sir, you have it worse than we do less than an hour west. Snow here is about a quarter to half inch of icy slush under 6 of snow. It took me a while to dig out this morning (and I missed the early Ash Wednesday mass for the first time in years). I did see a couple of small mishaps, but not even a fender bender on the way to work. Our city sand trucks are doing a stellar job. On the flip side, the Marine!Goth is home on leave, but he's over in Manhattan with his fiancee (she's a student at KSU) so I still had to dig out my walks and my mom's. What good is a son if you can't put him to work *G*?
 
By KCSteve on February 6, 2008 1:08 PM
Only about 2 - 3" in the North part of KC (it was still snowing when we left for work). Got one little light tap on the way in - not enough to leave a mark when the person behind us couldn't quite stop in time. In fairness, that stretch was remarkably icy - something I only learned when I stepped out. It was the kind of surface where you move by just leaning the direction you want to go and gliding along. Seems like a good place to put my simple rules for winter driving: Put a cup full of water on your dashboard (or just imagine one). Drive so it doesn't slosh. You don't have to go slow but you can't make any sudden changes so make sure you've got enough room to slow down / stop / turn (in other words, don't go too fast). As an addendum to not making any sudden changes, try not to break traction. Once your wheels start to spin you can either stop and try to get them to grab or spend some time polishing the ice to make sure they never will. Cheap kitty litter is a wonderous traction aid. Ziplock baggies can be hurled out of an open window as 'traction bombs'. Or you can fling handfulls off across your hood to help a front-wheel drive vehicle get going from a stop. If you want to be able to drive in winter spend one up in the Dakotas. At the start 85 - 90% of the drivers know how to drive in the winter. By the end, everyone still driving knows how.
 
By GeoSTI on February 6, 2008 5:39 PM
Just pouring rain here in Cleveland, though I always wonder why people seem to forget how to drive come ice and snow. It's only been about 9 months. I also don't know how people can stand a lack of AWD/4WD, might be a cultural thing (even the cheaper Kei cars in Japan have it).
 
By ry on February 6, 2008 7:53 PM
Hey, I'm not that bad. When I spun out the other day it was to avoid someone doing 20 on a freeway that had been plowed fairly well(you could see the blacktop thru a thin veneer of snow, and there were grooves worn thru that veneer) but had half foot snow furuoughs on the line markers. I hit that and had to play stuntman, John. I wasn't driving to fast or out of control. Trick of the geography and a huge honkin' Ford truck blocking my sight lanes(it may be nice to be in that truck but it sucks being behind you) gave me only about a 1/4 mile to change before I over ran the moore-on. What i should've done was come of the accelerator and pushed in the clutch until I dropped 10-15 mph before trying to cross into another lane. We small car drivers aren't all idiots.
 
By GeoSTI on February 6, 2008 9:34 PM
KCSteve makes a great point with the water cup. It's also a great learning tool for proper (advanced) driving (smoothness is next to godliness).
 
By Justthisguy on February 7, 2008 2:42 AM
Frozen-freezing water on the roads? Hey, I spent my youth in southern FL and didn't see snow until I was 20, or so. I mind the Great Atlanta Snowstorm of the mid-eighties. I practiced in the parking lot, a bit, let the tire pressures down to 20 PSI or so, put some ballast in the back of the truck, and had no problems with road conditions. Except for the Doo-Dahs. Maybe they all had power steering, and had no feeling for when they were about to lose control? I also remember the time I drove my Chevy Vega (please don't hit me) from FL to GA back in the seventies, and I was doing Ok, but the other people on the Interstate were acting all crazy, and rotating their cars rapidly about the Z axis while sliding in random directions. They did not seem to understand the concept of "black ice", either. I got off of the interstate and holed up at my cousin's house in McDonough; I could have driven to ATL at a reasonable speed, but those other people had very little sense.