Posts Made By: Thomas Holst

Darian,

I tend to go out of my way to buy USA made products, not for my own rectitude but simply because I prefer US quality & craftsmanship and like to support domestic manufacturers and workers. Often this costs me more time (finding them) and money but I feel it's worth it. I only resort to foreign made products when they are clearly superior (like my wife's Bernina sewing machine) or there are no US made products of the kind available (like my MacBook).

Some USA made examples are:

- Hand and power tools; Craftsman, Snap-on, Channelock, Klein, Vaughan, Vise-Grip, Stanley (old), Corona, Rockwell, Delta, Baldor, Starrett, Lufkin, etc.

- All my firearms (except one); Smith & Wesson, Colt, Remington, Winchester, Marlin.

- Most all my flashlights; Mag-Lite, Sure-Fire, Streamlight, Pelican.

- My telescopes, mounts & eyepieces; TeleVue, Losmandy.

- All my astro equipment cases, brief case & travel suitcase; Pelican.

- My pick-up truck; Ford (most of it anyway).

- My lawn mower; Honda (made in Alpharetta, Georgia).

- My pocket knives; Case, Buck, Bench Made, Chris Reeve.

- Most all the appliances, furniture, dishes, pots/pans and silverware in my house are US made.

- Even the cup I'm drinking from right now is US made; Tervis Tumbler - a great product with a lifetime guarantee.

... and the list goes on.

Any more, I look at the country of origin on virtually everything I buy and take that into careful consideration before I plunk my money down.

Dunno about great, but here's one of the stupidest, from a movie called "Earthstorm". (click on photo link.) I had just taken a big gulp of Pepsi when this scene came on and I ended up squirting it all out my nose and started choking with laughter.

Ralph,

My daughter and her boyfriend are students at U-I in Moscow and live near the campus. I have copied your list/info and emailed it to them, just in case they run across any of your stuff in the area. My daughter knows astro gear and musical instruments and her boyfriend is into guitars.

I hope your stuff is recovered before it leaves the area.

david goldman said:

...I've heard the best lock to prevent theft are those circular silver looking locks. That's what was recomended to my daughter because they have had similar breakins in their storage facility.

No matter how good a lock you put on a public storage unit, you still run the risk of losing your stuff. The weak point in these storage facilities are the interior walls. Many storage units are separated by only a single layer of unfinished 1/2" sheet rock. This means that if any unit under the same roof is left unlocked, a burglar can simply enter and kick his way through sheet rock wall after sheet rock wall until he reaches the jackpot. Some storage facilities use inexpensive wafer board walls, which is stronger than sheet rock but the walls often don't reach the ceiling/roof. This means that thieves can simply climb over the walls into adjacent storage units.

Since the security of any storage facility relies on all of the exterior overhead doors being securely locked all the time, take a look at the locks other people are using. Some of them will be cheap Chinese made locks from the Dollar Store, which can be opened with a bent paper clip or one smack with a hammer.

Needless to say, I don't store any of my stuff in a public storage facility.

Lee Spain said:

Shouldn't it be put out to pasture?

No more so than my .45 Colt SAA. I wouldn't trade it for three "plastic" guns.

Russ, that was great! Just another reason why I switched my entire family to Macs. They just make life easier.

Lee,

That's a tough list, but I can show you who should be first on the list. Click on the photo link.

A great analogy...

Gorman?!! You've got to be kidding. Nobody in their right mind is going to want to own a real house in that hell-hole. Sounds like another SoCal developer smoking dope and looking for a fast buck at others' expense. It would at least make sense to move it down the hill to Grapevine, where they can build houses away from the never ending truck noise and winter snow hazards on I-5.

I left Southern California in 1977 and never looked back. I dunno why anyone would want to live there any more.

When I learned of Perry's military service I thought maybe here's a potential candidate. Then I discovered his approx. 2.5 GPA at Texas A&M and thought maybe not. Heck, even *I* did better than that in college.

I wanna to see someone who's got his s--t together (and no "issues") in the White House next time around.