Is Something On Fire!?

What is this?

What is "normal"?

We've been hearing a lot lately about the "New Normal" or, "getting back to 'normal' "? Just what does "normal" mean? I concluded "normal" simply means living a life unencumbered by the ideas and expectations of those we desire to not have an influence over us. We often are presented with many opinions and ideas that we can either accept or reject that can mold our own opinions or worldview. In most cases, we get to choose what we not only want to believe but decide to also adopt as our own beliefs. 

For example, today I would like to go to the grocery store and pick up this week's groceries because it's what I "normally" do on Tuesdays at 10a. Why? Well, I believe Tuesday is a slower day at the market (less crowds), especially at 10a and it's a day that that allows for a successful week of preparing meals all the way through until the next Tuesday rolls around. I make that choice based on my observations and beliefs and worldview. This is "normal" for me.

Now a "new Normal" is a phenomenon that occurs when other data is introduced to my equation and I have to make an adjustment to my decisions. For some unexplained reason, 10a is no longer a less crowded time of the day on Tuesday to go to the grocery store. It's simple right, I want to still have less traffic at the grocery aisle I simply adjust what time of day I go until I find that perfect time where it's a bit less crowded. Maybe not as optimum as the time before, or it might actually be better than before. But my "new normal". I've decided based on the best information I can find.

Enter the Pandemic and all this talk about a "new normal". If I apply all my thoughts and beliefs about how to find that new normal during this pandemic, I might be able to navigate, over a bit of time, to successfully find that "new normal". There is a difference this time, however. I don't have all the data available to me. What data I do have I may not trust or feel is credible. My options are limited to a few and perhaps worst, I'm told I don't have options but the one I am given, again by a source I may not trust or believe is credible. 

You see "normal" to me is a state where I can decide given, or discovering, a selection of data my actions. It's based on the freedom to choose and decide for myself what is best, as long as it doesn't truly encumber my fellow neighbor's actions and freedoms. It might influence, but they would have the freedom to choose to be influenced or not. 

This "new normal" being proclaimed is not normal at all. It's not even new. When someone says (a presumed "authority") you can only grocery shop at 2p on Thursdays in the interest of public safety, all of a sudden my normal is disrupted. It's not even my normal anymore, it's an edict as to how I'm supposed to behave. It's someone telling me what is normal and how I should behave. Could that be the beginning of despotism? Certainly not freedom. It's an erosion of freedom hidden by a veil of "public safety or the "best interest of all". It's not "new". This has been done before. Mankind wanting to rule over its fellow man. 

Normal and freedom seem to go hand in hand. When a "new normal" is proclaimed rather than found by personal discovery, it's tyranny. 

Give me the real "normal". It leads to freedom. Freedom to do what is right for me and for my fellow citizen. This "new normal" I believe, will lead to something abnormal and filled with bondage. Both that we will find regrettable if we don't push back to regain what is normal.

Glasses that protect your eyes are important

Oversaturated advertizing.

Isn't crazy when a new camera drops and the manufacturer gives a release date, all the reviews hit at once? A great advertising practice isn't it? I guess it works, otherwise it wouldn't happen.

Um, I'm a Nikon guy. Well at least until I watch the reviews.

How to choose which firearm to purchase

This question came in from a viewer and I thought I'd pass on my response in the hopes it could help others as well.

"V" writes:
I am in the market for a 9mm I'd like to know your opinion on which one you would recommend. I currently considering the SIG

TSG:
There are many factors that go into what firearm you should purchase. The three I consider first is: 
Application (what is it for?)
Comfort (Which one can you hold in your hands without it being uncomfortable to shoot.)
Budget (How much money are you willing to spend?)
Each of those can be a whole blog in itself 
In my opinion, SIG2022 is certainly a good reliable choice, as well as the S&W M&P9. I have both. SIG P226 is mighty fine. Its bit of heft helps with recoil and target re-acquisition. A little heavier in the hand but makes your wallet real light if you know what I mean. 
Whatever you choose, be sure to rent or borrow and get it on the range to compare and see how you can manage them. That will certainly help you decide. Then once you feel it's comfortable, practice, practice, practice.

When you are ready to purchase, here are links that can help with finding a great price: 
https://alnk.to/5u7u8A2
https://alnk.to/90qDKW2 (with a crimson trace laser!)
https://alnk.to/8tGmOwg
https://alnk.to/d3u4jMb
https://alnk.to/caUhpJ2 (a premium handgun)

Be patient. Inventory everywhere is low and prices may be high due to supply and demand. There has been a run on firearms as well as ammo lately. Kinda like the toilet paper thing I guess.
One other thing, even before you buy the gun, as long as you know what caliber you are looking to get, start buying ammo. Just every time you swing by the ammo store, pick up a box. Before you know it you'll have a nice sized supply. 
Try here to get started: https://alnk.to/8iLBPUH

Also, consider forwarding this blog entry to your friends. You may be of help to them directly!

Best to you,

TSG 

Vortex SPARC 2 mount mounting

What is an OTF knife?

What is an OTF knife?

Amazon cutting Affiliate/Associate commissions. Why?

At a time where Amazon profits are at an all-time high, it's stock is soaring and business is doing well, Amazon decided to cut affiliate commissions in half in many categories. Why would Amazon de-incentivize that way? You would think a company that projects positivity and helping its fellow man and a "pay it forward" ideal, (https://www.aboutamazon.com/amazon-fulfillment/community-impact/amazons-commitment-to-giving-back-across-communities) One of the areas it would be positive is helping the affiliates who helped Amazon achieve success. Instead, Affiliates are "rewarded" by a pay-cut. Please help me understand. this move. It's not a very good "front-facing" look for Amazon and it's very upsetting (I think I speak for many here) and a bit insulting to Amazon Affiliates who have worked hard to promote the Amazon brand to not only improve their personal brand but the overall success of the Amazon brand. I think the associates/affiliates deserve a reason. (The previous text was a letter I wrote to Amazon.)

Here are the cuts:
That's half of what was originally in the agreement. What's worse is there is no reason given for an agreement change and no discussion at all about it. It's just "here it is" and you gotta accept it or you can leave attitude.
My channel is in the out-of-doors type and it seems when I promote out-of-doors items on Amazon I'll get half of what I was getting before.

Most people would be very upset about a 50% pay cut for no reason given right? Well, I am. Out of the blue, when there was no for-warning or for-cause, I get a pay cut. It's a bit of a middle finger to those who have supported the Amazon cause.

I've written Amazon about this so I'm not complaining to the world whilst holding back to Amazon.

I'm trying to pivot at this point and make the best I can out of this situation and make changes that hopefully improve my business, but I'd like to hear from you.  Tell me what do you think about this? What would you do if this were to happen to you?

Thank you for your support to TSG and I hope I can continue to provide value to you as my supporters.

TSG

How to build a Potting Bench

How to hang heavy objects on a wall

Another thing done from the 2do list.

Service Provider or Racketeer?

AdRev is nothing more than an extortionist scheme. They don't create anything. They collect fees from creators of every genre to "protect" them. They take money from the music creators, then they find so-called violations by using YouTube's Content ID system to detect copyrighted material in YouTube videos. It doesn't matter that the user of this music in their video has a license to use it. Without warning, AdRev redirects monetization to themselves as named copyright owners, not the original copyright owner, then takes a percentage of the monetization. Sure the music creator will get some revenue from AdRev, but I've already paid the music creator via the license I purchased to use this music, royalty-free in perpetuity according to my license agreement. Sure, I can dispute, but it takes at least 30 days for any response and in that time I am no longer receiving revenue for the content I created with a license. That's only for a response to my claim. Then the arguments begin. All with no revenue to my content. Then on top of that, If I want to be on the AdRev's "white list" I can certainly pay a monthly subscription to be on that list as to not be flagged for any licensed content I may be using. AdRev figures if they don't get their piece of monetization from "protecting" the music creator, they can then collect a "subscription" from me to protect me from them. That's racketeering at best.

Fortunately, Youtube will escrow the monetization until the dispute is resolved, but if AdRev refuses my claim, then there is no further recourse and I lose my monetization and channel for a "false claim", All the while holding a license agreement from the copyright holder. I love using thrid-party music. I pay the musician, I use their music. Quid pro quo. Win-win. However, I will no longer use music from creators who use AdRev as a form of "protection" for their music. I understand there is a ~ 46% fee off the top of monetization for that service to the musician on top of a monthly subscription fee. That's crazy. Additionally, I will NOT pay to be "whitelisted" to protect my business from the very same folks who will take my monetization If I don't "whitelist". That is extortion, blackmail, racketeering. I can't support musicians who are on the take like that. Perhaps the musician feels like they need protection and fell they are victims of this crime as well. Stop using it. Dry AdRev up. Creators should work together in a free market to benefit each other. Don't pay an extortionist to pilfer and double-end funds.

I guess from now on, or until I can find a way to not be harassed in this manner, I just will create my own music for my videos.

I got sick! Here's what I suggest

What is a Nighthawk?

I know this is a total non-sequitur, but...

I was watching the news today and I couldn't help but notice that CBS News Political Contributor, AntJuan SeaWright (that IS how he spells it!) looks an awful lot like Kenan Thompson from SNL?

Take a look:

I can see some funny SNL stuff coming.

Look what rats did!

There's always something!

How Flex Tape can fix your air mattress.

We reached out to FlexTape and reached back and we pinned the comment. Take a look.

Citizen vs. Seiko Which is better?

Hand-made knife

Will Glass Battery Tech be a game-changer?

Just what is a Glass Battery?The glass battery is a type of solid-state battery. It uses a glass electrolyte and lithium or sodium metal electrodes.The battery was invented by John B. Goodenough, inventor of the lithium cobalt oxide and lithium iron phosphate electrode materials used in the lithium-ion battery (Li-ion), and Maria H. Braga, an associate professor at the University of Porto and a senior research fellow at Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas.  The paper describing the battery was published in Energy & Environmental Science in December 2016. Read it here
Braga and Goodenough stated they expect the battery to have an energy density many times higher than current lithium-ion batteries, as well as an operating temperature range down to −20 °C (−4 °F); much lower than current solid-state batteries.  The electrolyte is also stated to have a wide electrochemical window. The battery's design is safer than lithium-ion batteries, as the use of a flammable liquid electrolyte is avoided. The battery can also be made using low-cost sodium instead of lithium.  The authors claim the battery has a much shorter charging time than Li-ion batteries - in minutes rather than hours. The authors also state they tested the stability of the alkali metal/electrolyte interface over 1,200 charge cycles with low cell resistance; the specification for Li-ion batteries is usually less than a thousand.
The US Department of Energy announced its 2019 fiscal year award funds for what it calls "advanced vehicle technologies research" and both General Motors and Ford received healthy sums of cash. It appears auto makers are interested this this tech, but can you imagine if these batteries ever get to market and are cheaper, faster charging and longer lasting between charges than current battery tech, we may see small gas powered motor tools and equipment moving to electric motors. I will be one of the first to investigate it's use as an alternative for off-the-grid applications. Solar recharging applications? With the hope of charging 5x faster and more storage, even today's solar tech will be efficient enough to charge those batteries. Imagine with better future solars tech how well a battery operated off grid system would work.

Remember our video about our Estwing knife? See the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYwEpziZ1k8

Estwing got back to me! Here's their response.

Hello TSG,

After doing some digging, this is what I have found. I hope this is helpful.

We did produce a hunting knife in Rockford Illinois into 1930’s and into the 1940’s.  We stopped manufacturing them but began to buy U.S. produced knives which we offered in a gift set along with our Sportsman’s Axe.  Into the 1980’s we were offering the gift set with a knife that was manufactured in Finland.  Then in the 1990’s we purchased a wood-handled folding knife style made in Sweden to put into a gift set with our Sportsman’s Axe.  Those also were a big hit.  Hope this information is useful.

Try Camillus Knife Co. to purchase knives.

In the 1930’s and 40s we did produce a knife here in Rockford but later on we bought them through a distributor in the U.S. (Camillus Knife) and then two other knife styles from Finland and Sweden.  In brief, the one we made had a brass end plate and different colored washers on the grip, symmetrical and not rounded in style.  The knife from Camillus had a white & black washers and was otherwise the same style, and the one from Finland had a narrow blade about ½ inch wide (not popular) and the last one from Sweden was a pocket knife with a fruitwood handle.  We stopped purchasing knives several years ago and no longer offer them for sale.  Hope this information is useful.

Best Regards,

Estwing Mfg.

-----Original Message----- From: theshootinguy@gmail.com [mailto:theshootinguy@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, November 1, 2019 11:00 AM To: sales@estwing.com Subject: Estwing Website Contact Request

I have what appears to be an Estwing Knife that I very little information on and I don't see any longer in your catalog. It's been in my wife's family for years and unfortunately, her father who gave her the knife a few years ago is no longer with us as of recent and we didn't get much detail on the knife except he had it in his workbench for years and wanted to gift it to his daughter, my wife whilst he was still alive. My name is TSG and I'm also known as "The Shootinguy" on the internet. I'm a content creator and I have a YouTube channel where I review and talk about many things out-of-doors including knives. Here's my channel if you care to see what we do. http//:www.youtube.com/tsgent   I thought It would be really nice to cover some of the details of this knife and its history etc. for my viewing audience. Here is an Instagram posting of the knife so you might see it in the hopes you could identify it and provide some info. It's name, year(s) made steel material, you know, "the specs". https://www.instagram.com/p/B4VCPw3gOyc/  Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you are able to shed some light on this cool little knife. If you are unable, would you please pass this along to whom you feel may be able to help out? It would be much appreciated. Thank you.    Best to you,    The Shootin' Guy  http://www.youtube.comTSGent