rodent's revenge

Next time you don't think about how you make an impact, and whether or not nobody else cares... think again.

Ask me and I'll tell

     The September/October 2006 issue of Gay + Lesbian Review reports that three young recruits in Minneapolis attempted to join the National Guard, fully intending to indicate that they are gay.
     This is only part of a "Right to Serve" campaign being conducted in 30 cities across the U.S. from August through October by Soulforce, a gay rights' organization in Minneapolis. The action will include more than 1,000 young people, including organizers and several potential recruits who would enlist if allowed to do so as openly gay people.
    Said Haven Herrin, one of the prospective recruits, "The policy makes it clear that I will eventually be rejected because of my sexual orientation. There have already been arrests of patriotic kids who want to be active participants in defending their homeland.
    Anyway, these days, with the Army taking high school dropouts and some kids with criminal records, what harm would come from actually signing up a kid with good academic and athletic creds. There is also the possiblity that some enterprising recruiter, recognizing the foolhardiness of the policy, might just bite the bullet [so to speak] and sign some of these gay kids up anyway.
    Besides, what are they afraid of? Somebody getting distracted when they see some nekkid butt in camo while cleaning up their rifle with Hoppes # 9?     Consider for the moment. Is there anything the least bit off-putting by what you see here? I don't think so. If I saw this while rubbing the barrel of my rifle, there is nothing that would make me then think of someone else's short arm.
    The military's ridiculous restrictions now, is not all that different from my own experiences decades ago when there was still a draft. I went for a pre-induction physical, was questioned extensively by an old coot who called himself a psychiatrist. Although I had clearly "checked the box" [the parlance of the day] I was still repeatedly asked about what I would do if I were drafted anyway.
    Finally, I was asked, point blank "If you are recruited anyway, would you refrain from having sex for three years?" I snorted that that would be impossible. The wording was interesting. I was not being asked if I'd refrain from sex with men, but refrain from having sex altogether. Right. That was not a question anyone would normally ask a testoterone filled adolescent, gay oor straight.
    I didn't get accepted at the time.
    But the planners promoting the Right to Serve campaign see their current effort as one that may force the military [and the Pentagon, and Duyba and others] to relent and eventually drop the "don't Ask, dont Tell" policy that has been in force since the early days of the Clinton Administration.
    Discrimination is, after all, a set of actions born out of the overt practice of prejudices.
    And if the objection is not about sharing the showers and latrines, shouldn't the USA, like its counterparts in Europe, be enlisting gay boys and girls into the military anyway?
    What's next, enlist rich kids?

chain saw savvy

DISCLAIMER: As with anyone else these days, the suggestions offered here are not meant ot be a substitute for actual training. No promise of getting the saw working again is implied or intended. I've also got no idea how much you know about chainsaws so I'm trying to be as basic as possible. Having said that...

Someone sent me a question about chain saws. Don't know why they couldn't have gone to any number of commercial sites. Maybe because the writer is a woman and didn't want to deal with attitude from sales clerks at the chain saw retailer. Dunno. Anyway, I wrote her back with the following, plus the pictures included here:
     Without seeing what has occurred, and without knowing what make of chain saw you own, it may be something as simple as the bolts that hold the guide bar [some folks refer to this as the blade arm] to the saw coming loose. The saw chain should fit into the groove in the middle of the guide bar and shall have notches that fit into the groove. You have to be careful to put the blades to they face in the proper direction of how the saw cuts [generally clockwise] otherwise you'll have even greater problems that arise.
     I have included two pictures, the first shows the saw chain the second the guide bar. The saw side of the chain is at the top of the picture and faces the direction most likely to be on the top of the guide bar when properly attached.

     The second picture is the guide bar. There are two holes to the left side of the picture which is where it gets fitted on to two screwbolts. They have to be tightened and the guidebar has to be held taut while tightening them. Wear a pair of thick leather gloves to accomplish this since when pulling the guide arm taut, there is likely to be some contact with the blade.
     You ought to be able to find at least some maintenance manuals online through a google search; although many have them available only as pdf format files.
     Personally, I own two Stihls [they tend to burn oil but otherwise work just fine], one Poulan [works nice and clean and a small one can be handy for turning out ice sculptures] and a Sears Cratfsman [My first chainsaw. I'll never do that again. Hard to get parts for if you don't live near 'em and since the only people you can get to maintain them are Sears folks ...breaks the warranty anyway] But my true logger buddies generally swear by the Swedish Husqvarnas as the best that you can get.
     Here's a link to one non-pdf site with maintenace tips [no pictures, unfortunately] Well Grounded Grounds page about On Chainsaw Maintenance.
     Oregon Chain also has a good guidebook that, while certainly promoting their own products, provides general information that applies to many makes and models, especially for the information you seek.
     I don't doubt you may already know this but you may want to locate your closest dealer and get in touch with them for some pointers. Don't worry about asking what you think might be "stupid" questions. I realize that there will be some guys actually stupid enough to give you attitude since a woman may be asking the question, but not all maintenance guys are like that. And the serious chain saw dealers and [more importantly] chain saw USERS take the tool seriously and most of us are not shy about giving pointers to a novice user.
     Safety, after all, is more important than attitude.

Here's some other useful sites that offer tips on chain saws
 • About's How to fell a tree. This has links to a beginner's book course and other links that can help educate a character about chainsaws and using them.
 • The Timber Buyer's Network offers a well written online Chain Saw Basics Course put together by veteran logger Carl Smith.
 • Finally, a connect to sculptor Mike Burns chainsaw collection.