PNWguy

AMAC. FTW.

Well, in the dozens of vehicles I've owned over the decades, I've never had a set of shocks go bad literally overnight. Generally, they slowly lose pressure and/or effectiveness. To have both rear shocks go bad literally overnight after an extreme temperature drop, I would say it is safe to say that the extreme cold played a major part in their demise. And yeah, shocks have nothing to do with ride height, they only dampen and modulate the up and down motion of the suspension.

The recent sub-zero temps ruined my factory Nivomat shocks in my 2005 Yukon at 95k miles. FYI... https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/nivomat-shocks Nivomat Shocks | DIY. The way they work is as the load increases (such as with cargo and passengers) the pressure increases in the shock displacing fluid from its internal reservoir to its valving system increasing the spring rate essentially preventing the vehicle from “ Squatting ” .It has a pump mechanism and oil reservoir... Aftermarket replacements were $300 each. I did some research and learned I could replace them with regular shocks, if I also replaced the rear coil springs with Z71 spec coils since the nivomat spec coils were softer. So I bought a set of Moog Z71 coils and Monroe Gas-Magnum shocks for $115 total. It looked like the install involved just unbolting the sway bar and the shocks, lifting the rear of the Yukon until the tires weren't touching, popping out the old coils, putting in the new coils and shocks, and bolting everything back up. Easy peasy. But, due to all of the snow, there was about a foot of crusty snow covering the driveway to my little shop and the constant bouncing and swaying of my broke rear suspension was driving me nuts. So, I called the local Meineke shop that I've had good luck with for a quote for labor only. Figured it would be an hour or so and I would fork out the $100 or so to get it done. Nope. $338. I explained that it was 6 frickin' bolts and shouldn't take them more than an hour. They said the book says 1.5 hours for the shocks and 1.5 hours for the coils. Decided to wait and do it myself. Weather warmed up drastically the last few days and we had some 60 degree days so the snow went away. Today I pulled the Yukon onto my drive and replaced everything in two hours. The hardest part was figuring out how to safely lift the rig when I discovered that my floor jack no longer worked. Using a Hi-Lift, bottle jack, and jack stands along with a lot of very slow jacking and trepidation, I got it done. Had I had a vehicle lift, the job would have taken me an hour. Not sure how they figured three hours for a professional to do the same job. Pics from the install... Old coils were shorter and thinner, and the old shocks were completely toast with fluid leaked all over them... After the install, the back end is 2" higher, rides a little stiffer, and handles and feels amazingly good!

Depends on the gun. My G35 is more accurate with 155gr, but my M&P40 prefers 180gr. G19 prefers 115gr, Taurus G2 likes 124gr.

Finally had decent enough weather to get out to the range. Unfortunately, everything past 20yds was still buried in snow so I couldn't get to the further targets. But was able to put around 100rds through it using a couple of types of ammo and used three different types of magazines. First of all, this thing is a hoot! Very little recoil, crisp, albeit, heavy trigger, easy handling, and fast on multiple targets. Function was 100% with all magazines and ammo! Got the cheap red dot dialed in and using cheap Federal 115gr RN brass-cased bulk ammo from WalMart, got a pretty dang impressive 1 1/8" group at 20yds using a rest, but standing. Couldn't ask for better with cheap ammo, cheap optics, and shooting in 20 degree weather...

I can't imagine what Garth Brooks tickets go for! I'm more excited about seeing Charlie Daniels; liked him since I was a kid!

Girlfriend mentioned that it might be fun to go to a country music concert at one of the area casinos. Saw that Toby Keith was playing in August. Figured since there's a $10 cover at the local bar to see talented bu no name country bands, then how bad could Toby Keith at a casino tickets be? $30? $40? Nope. $120. I wouldn't pay $120 to see Elvis headlining the Eagles... Now, I've heard that regular concert ticket prices have gone insane and people were paying over $100 and sometimes $300 for big name shows, but I figured since casinos make all their money from old people with oxygen tanks playing slots, that they would offer cheaper prices just to get butts in the door and playing the slots. Nope. Then I checked to see what a hotel room at the casino would cost that night. It's a Tuesday. $357. Normal room rate is $125. But just to screw their customers as much as possible, it's three times the price for that one night. Then I saw that Travis Tritt is touring with Charlie Daniels and will be there the following week with good seats at $60. Days Inn a mile away is $90 that night. Going that route. The last time I had gone to any concert type event was Phantom of the Opera back in 2000 and it was around $30 per ticket.

Knife is a plain old Ontario Knife Company Rat 5 and the sheath was made by some obscure company that I forgot the name of. Your sheath looks like it was made by the same guy. It was pricey, but great quality!

Gave it one of my silly camo jobs since the cheap polymer was driving me nuts...

That's the one I originally wanted, but they released them for testing to a few gun people almost a year ago and are still not available. Pure speculation would be that they had some catastrophic failures and that's why they still aren't for sale and why they are silent on a release date. The 9mm versions are still selling like hotcakes and hard to get. Once mine has been vetted, it will be my HD gun. Should be ideal. A 10mm version would make an awesome backpacking gun.

Got in my new Extar EP-9 the other day. Took two weeks to get to my FFL after ordering it directly from the manufacturer for $419 + $20 S&H. Came with a single Magpul 17-round mag and I plan on buying more Glock 33-round mags like the one I already had. Incredibly light and fast handling. Polymer is OK, but obviously not as nicely done as Glock, or Ruger, or even Taurus. No magazine I tried would drop free from it. That's trying a G19 OEM mag, 33-round OEM mag, and Magpul 17-round mag. All controls are super stiff, safety is polymer and feels wiggly and weak; needs upgraded. Trigger pull is nice and crisp, though. Obvious why it's a $400 gun in a a typically $1200 class of weapons. Added a weapon light and red dot and ordered a new Magpul grip since the stock one is cheap and slippery. Would love to shoot it, but everything is under 2' of snow out here. Should make for a fun range toy and good HD gun.

I think it's sad that there has to be an executive order for something so obvious. Sad indicator of where our country is these days.

Bacon or sausage and eggs and two cups of coffee. No carbs or sugar. It works. Used to do the steel cut oats and low fat thing. Starving and jittery a couple of hours later. No more. Salad and protein for lunch and rarely need dinner.

Yeah, it was a rather boring game. And I didn't get to enjoy the commercials because my girlfriend and her father are rabid football fans who like to talk about the plays, strategy, players, etc. during the commercial breaks. At least I got to sip Jameson's and take selfies with a beautiful woman while not being offended by any kneeling or white-guilt commercials this year.

Recently changed to Progressive Insurance as they beat Geico by $75 a month. They asked me if I wanted to sign up for the Snapshot program in which they send you a device to plug into your OBDII port which monitors vehicle speed, braking and acceleration, etc. I said sure, confident in my driving habits. I went online today to see what factors might affect the results and realized that I had made a horrible decision. Research I did shows that I am a prime candidate for increased rates based on absolutely idiotic parameters that Progressive built into the device. The first is that they penalize you for WHEN you drive. Now, I live in the middle of nowhere and work 6pm to 6am. I leave for work at 5:20pm for a 15-mile commute through a rural area. I leave work around 6:10am and get home twenty minutes later. I take lunch around 10pm and go to the gym around 1:30am. Progressive has designated any driving after 10:00 pm as high risk. As well as early morning driving. No idea why driving during rush hour is less risk than me going 1/2-mile to the gym at 1:30 in the morning. Either way, there is very little traffic on my commute no matter the time. The second factor that I found offensive was the issue of wheelspin. Progressive penalizes you heavily for rapid acceleration or deceleration. Makes sense. Racing away from the light or jamming on the brakes at every intersection can be viewed as risky behavior. But people have discovered that the device does not take into account surface conditions and those who live in icy or snowy climates get penalized every time the drive wheels spin on ice or snow. Also, when I'm driving home in possibly black ice conditions, I will hit the brakes on a flat and straight section of road to test if it's slick out. It's a practice my dad taught me when I was a kid and has saved my bacon a few times when it was slicker than it looked. Progressive would penalize me for that. So, I just sent them a polite email telling them I am opting out of their program for the above reasons and will be sending the device back without ever having installed it.