Welcome

Welcome to the new place, The Lowly Engineer.

Glad you could make it over here.

Hello.  Another former ZS member here.  I was minengr over there.  Started posting about six months after the forum went up.  Slowed down near the end.  Still disappointed I never met any of them, especially since I was only 90 min away in So. IL.

I like it but there are no micro SUVs in the US. The Amigo, Tracker, etc are all gone. You can get a baby Bronco or a Jeep, neither are that small. The Jeep rollbar is set right behind my head so that is a no go. I looked at the baby Broncos and they aren't bad. 

This is why the ATV market is so huge in the US. It is your only option for a good off road vehicle.

If I'm going full Medieval I'm doing Medieval things. Melee weapons need to follow form and usefulness just like a firearm does.

When travelling typically a soldier or guard would carry a spear. This worked well with a trained group. Add a few archers and you had plenty of security. People didn't often travel lone wolf style.


I have two spears, one light, almost a javelin and second one that is quite heavy. The last two feet of the heavy one come off for use as a short sword. The light one is best for travel. For weapon free zones like National Parks a trash picker is a good substitute.

A spear isn't enough though so an 18" Bowie knife on the belt makes a great walking companion.

A night watch would typically carry a club. For home and auto defense I have two military surplus Monadnock extendable batons. These have the steel sleeve and wooden extension. OAL extended length is about 20" compact about 12". They slide right open with a quick flick. With two, one can be used to parry blows. The idea here is to aim for lower legs and go for a mobility take down. A break in the tibia, fibula or patella are all fight stoppers.

If fighting is expected I'm too slow to run away. So I'll put my body armor on, it has PE panels in it so it is pretty much stab/cut/pound proof. Then I will grab my 42 inch Katana and go to work.

I have only known one person who used a melee weapon in actual military combat. He left his rifle in another part of the building at the direction of a leader when we had an incident in the barracks. So he grabbed an axe and went to work. Not my weapon of choice, but anything is better than stern language.

So The President came out and said it was all a big feel good meeting to let everyone know how great they are doing. 

I have doubts. 

Be that as it is my worry is it is also big target. Quantico has been targeted recently by some Arab actors last year who tried to drive a big empty truck through the gate for no reason Seemed like a dry run to me.

I've been looking at commercial property lately for a similar plan. Most two stories in residential areas can hold one or more apartments upstairs.

There are a number of issues that routinely pop up. 

Flippers - if the property looks even remotely under valued a flipper will snap it right up,.double the price and put it right back on the market. This has slowed somewhat due to interest rates but still is common.

Asbestos - Many, many older buildings built between 1910 and 1989 are riddled with Asbestos to varying degrees. 

Homeless - Any abandoned building will draw homeless drug addicts to live or steal your stuff. This won't stop just because you buy the property unless you have a tenant or live there yourself. 

Day 29 - Nothing!

I had a bunch of vacation time to use up, so I'm taking this week off from work.  Today, I marked the start of my vacation by doing nothing.  Absolutely zip, zilch, nada!  Futzed around online, watched some TV, snacked, and read books.  Didn't even bother changing out of my sweats.  I've got some shopping planned for tomorrow, but for today, nothing!

Everyone needs to take a break now and then!

Robots powered by hydraulics? Sounds feasible...but, uhm, as far as appearance....
Nope.
This dives into the uncanny valley like never before.
Full explanation of the system here:

Okay, I'm pulling the plug at HQ.  The site will remain up for the duration.  Any of y'all that need to contact me, do so using the number to the new phone I bought a few months ago.  See y'all Wednesday.