I Crossed The Rubicon - Part II

In a post dated August 13th, I detailed how I carried a firearm on the streets of Providence, RI without a permit. There is no reciprocity between Kommiecticut and RI, so technically I was a criminal for deciding to exercise the God-given right of personal self defense. Last night, I did it again, this time to Massachusetts.

For decades, at the state border on the interstates crossing into MA was the large warning sign stating a mandatory 1 year jail sentence for carrying a gun. It was a stark warning to everyone that without exception, get caught with a gun and go to jail. Those signs have been gone for years now, not that it matters for this post, just an interesting side note. Prior to his return to Florida, my father-in-law wanted to take everyone to dinner at his and our favorite seafood place, Sturbridge Seafood. I was going to stick by my commitment to never go anywhere unarmed any more. For last night's foray into "illegal" concealed carry, it was the 45 Shield and a spare magazine in my cargo shorts, loaded with Hornady 185 gr Critical Defense ammo. In MA, even ammo is illegal if you don't have a state FOID. I did not care. I chose my seat in the restaurant to give me a clear view of the door, and in a chair at the end of the table instead of the bench on the side so I could get to my feet quickly. My wife sat at the other end of the table next to her handicapped brother and near her Dad. Dinner was delicious and uneventful, and I returned home without incident. Just like the last time, my wife and the rest of the family were unaware and I like it that way.

Made Bike Repairs

I installed a 12V DC power port in the trunk of "The Beast" to charge my cell phone while streaming music on rides. It plugs into a hot power connector in the trunk lid that is for the optional trunk light. I used to carry my cell in the left faring compartment, but ran into a couple of problems. First, the physical size of my current phone barely fits, and second overheating my phone on hot sunny days. The cover of the compartment is black so it is like an oven. Keeping my cell in the trunk has worked well, until last Friday, when I plugged in my charger and it was dead. I did some quick basic troubleshooting and sure enough, the power port was dead. Being off yesterday, I dug into the problem.

First I consulted and then printed the wiring diagram pertaining to the trunk electrical and lighting systems. The circuit was surprisingly simple. Power from the 15A fuse #31 goes up to the trunk and splits off between the keyless lock controller/receiver and the plug for the optional trunk light. I started to check the fuse when it dawned on me that the fob and locks were working fine. But when I opened the trunk, the locks would not respond to the fob. Hmm, I think I remember it working regardless. Sure enough, as soon as the trunk lid was at about 45 degrees, it stopped working even though the lid was not latched. I plugged in the charger which has indicator lights on it and as I closed the lid I peeked inside and BINGO! the lights came on as the lid came down. I was pretty sure it always worked with the lid all the way up, so I checked the wiring diagram again to make sure there wasn't a lid position sensor. None as I suspected. That meant a broken wire that was opening and closing the circuit with movement of the lid, and that only happens in one place... where the wiring harnesses flex by the hinge on both sides. But which side?

I started by removing the inner cover of the trunk lid to expose the connectors for the power port and the keyless lock controller/receiver. I unplugged both which let me set the inner cover aside completely out of the way. I then carefully sliced open and unwrapped the harness to expose the wires. As a classically trained electronics technician, I have the skills and dexterity to do this without causing damage to any of the conductors in the bundle. It takes a light touch with a razor knife and patience. The wire supplying 12 VDC power to the controller/receiver and trunk light connector is red with a yellow stripe and green bands matching the call out in the wiring diagram. The wires went down the harness to the right. I sliced open and unwrapped the harness the entire exposed length by the hinge, and what do you know? The red/yellow wire in the bundle is broken cross-ways, and acting like a hinge with a little piece of insulation not broken. When the lid came down, the cross section of the copper conductor closed like a switch. Now to fix.

Usually a broken wire requires two splices to fix, and I was prepared to do this, but by moving the wire around in the bundle, I easily gained the slack I needed. I decided to do a "Western Union" style splice to maintain the profile of the wire in the bundle.

A proper "Western Union Splice" is stronger tension wise than a pigtail

 

Because this is a hot battery lead, I disconnected the battery and pulled the fuse just to be sure everything was dead. I stripped off just enough insulation to give me enough copper wire to form a good mechanical splice. I then slipped a piece of heat shrinkable tubing over one of the wires and out of the way, made a good mechanical splice, then soldered the connection. The heat shrinkable tubing was slid up the wire to cover the splice and shrunk in place with heat from a small butane torch. It came out perfect and the circuit testing for the power port and keyless locks were now operating as expected, regardless of trunk lid position.

The spots of the harness that I opened up needed to be re-wrapped. At the flex points, Honda had placed the wires in a plastic sleeve to allow for movement. That was not reusable, so in it's place I used small lengths of bicycle tire inner tube, which has powder inside that should allow the wires to move as needed. I sliced it lengthwise, wrapped it around the wires, and taped it in place. The entire length of exposed harness was then wrapped in 3M 33+ Electrical Tape. When I was done, it was impossible to tell it had been molested.

The repaired harness by the right trunk lid hinge.

 

I spent the next 45 minutes or so re-connecting the battery and putting everything back together. A final test proved everything worked as intended, and I rode The Beast in to work this morning. There is a benefit ride coming up on September 10th, and being able to stream music and keep the phone charged is important.

I Am So Done With Banks!

I have been chased from one bank to another for years, only to have the new bank eventually gobbled up by successive banks until it belongs to some shitty giant banking corporation. But since 1984, I have also belonged to a credit union, that has only once merged with another credit union to offer expanded services and membership. It was seamless and everything has basically stayed the same. I have always just used it to squirrel away money, until now. It was known as CWA Long Island Federal Credit Union, and it was only open to CWA (Communications Workers of America) union members and their families. Yes, it's true, I was once a member of that union and was out on strike for 9 days in spring 1986. I have used the credit union to buy two houses, at least a half dozen cars, and fund large home improvement projects. Their rates were reasonable and pay back was painless. They are now known as Island Federal Credit Union based on Long Island in Hauppauge, NY. I have dealt with some of the same credit union personnel for years and their customer service is outstanding.

My current bank is Peoples United Bank (the name always had a commie ring to it) and it has been gobbled up by M&T Bank that I had never previously heard of. Normally when a bank takes over another, routing and account numbers stay the same, the computer systems are programmed to combine everything in an event called Conversion Weekend. Not this time. They are changing EVERYTHING forcing customers to do the same. Guess what? If I need to change routing numbers and account numbers for every financial transaction and payroll direct deposit, then it will be to somewhere else. My wife filed her direct deposit paperwork too late for today's payday but it should be in force next week. She also needs to move the bulk of her savings account funds to her new savings account before they shut down the entire banking system over labor Day weekend to do the conversion.

"Glypto, why are you such a crabby old bastard about this? you may ask, "just suck it up!" Well, let me tell you the entire tale. Then maybe you will understand this crabby old bastard.

My Mom went back to work when I hit middle school and she got a job at First Federal Savings and Loan in East Hartford. Over her long and distinguished career, she went from a simple secretary (Administrative Assistant for you young `uns) to an officer of the bank to an Executive Vice President when she retired. Because she worked there, we all got banking services for free, low interest rates, and pretty much guaranteed approval for loans. I was a customer starting at age 11 in 1973 when I needed to open a savings account for my paper route. That came to an end for me in 2001, when the bank was sold to the Savings Bank of Manchester. Oh, we stuck it out for a while with SBM, but as I asked a teller near the end, "Did they force you people to take stupid pills to work here?" They could fuck up the simplest transaction. That was it, we left for another small local community bank called Tolland Bank in early 2002. Things were great for a short couple of years. Then, out of the blue came the creation of New Alliance Bank, which cobbled together SBM, Tolland Bank, and New Haven Savings Bank. All of those were once small community banks, but now we're back to dealing with some of the same knuckleheads. Before the merger was complete, we were out.

Next up for us was to go to Rockville Bank. It was another local small community bank dating back to 1858 that was lorded over by its president and CEO William McGurk. Bill was a great guy that did a lot for our community and that bank was his baby. However, Bill was nearing retirement and wanting the bank to continue independently as it always had, he hand-picked his successor. He retired in 2011 leaving the bank in the hands of one William H.W. Crawford IV. In 2014 Rockville Bank and United Bank merged putting Crawford a the helm and dropping the Rockville part of the name. At first, United Bank was good for us because nothing changed except there were now a shit ton more branches available to us in CT and western MA. Doing most of our banking online worked really well, and the few trips necessary to a branch were fine. In 2019, United Bank merged with Peoples United calling the new mash up Peoples United Bank. Things seem to change and not for the better. One of the things that REALLY irked me was the on-line bill payer service. If I paid a bill electronically, they would take the money from my account, sit on it for a few days to earn interest, then pay the bill. Now, I understand the bank needs to make money, but prior to Peoples United the delay was only like two days and absolutely predictable. In my opinion, they made their bill payer service totally unusable. I had bills getting paid late incurring late charges, so I deleted all the payees I had set up and began paying all my bills directly on the company websites, which continues to this day. When I got the paperwork about M&T, I was not at all happy with the crap I was reading, particularly the limits on transactions and such.

Now you may be wondering about the availability of branches since the credit union is physically located on Long Island. Credit unions are a cooperative, meaning there is a local credit union that has a branch a couple of towns away that I can do in person transactions if I need to. There are also branches and fee free ATM's all over the state, so if the need arises, I am covered. Since they do allow check deposit by online banking, the need for a physical branch is pretty limited.

Recent Photos

First up, a Chinook CH-47 that was directly overhead flying due east while I was outside the firehouse on Tuesday morning August 2nd. I heard the low thumpity-thump before he came over the trees to the west. I barely had time to get my cell phone up to get the photo before he went over the firehouse, although I could have run down the ramp to keep him in view.

Next up, my brand new 5.11 ATAC 3.0 boots for work. 5.11 went and changed model numbers since I last ordered, meaning I had to send back the ATAC 2.0 boots I got by mistake. The ATAC 2.0 no longer have the composite toe or sole penetration protection, they are more like station boots not emergency response boots. The ATAC 3.0 boots are a new and improved version and really comfy. Composite toe, sole protection, waterproof, side zipper for quick on/off, and the uppers are resistant to bloodborne pathogens. Of course, that is why they were like $40 cheaper which should have tipped me off to look closer. 5.11 paid for the return shipping, so props to them. I used to wear Haix Hero boots, but they are stupid expensive and need to be resoled every couple of years. I have one pair that I haven't worn since being resoled and I keep them clean and put away for wearing a duty uniform at a ceremony. The last pair of 5.11's lasted me three years of hard duty, and will still have some life left after I put in a new pair of Dr. Scholl's insole for work boots.

Third, a shot of the business end of the magazine for my 45 Shield and the Hornady Critical Defense 185gr .45 ACP rounds I carry. In a full size gun like my Glock 21 Gen 3, I have the heavier 230gr SIG V-Crown, but in a more compact gun I like the lighter bullet for more velocity and better expansion. The Shield mag is what is referred to as "stack and a half" which gives the 45 Shield a slim profile, the capacity of a full-size 1911,  without the bulk of a double-stack.

Finally, a photo of nothing but gratuitous "cuteness." A peacock chick with its Mommy at the petting zoo area on the grounds of the 6th generation Rich Family farm and their We-Li-Kit ice cream stand in Abington. Their farm made hard ice cream is the best in the area IMHO. It took several attempts to get a picture because of the fence and the chick hiding on the other side of the mother. Daddy (he was just out of frame on the left) was magnificent even though he wasn't displaying his plumage.

Unpleasant Task This Afternoon

I love my mini poodle boy, I truly do, but sometimes its hard because he has a killer instinct and has killed his share of squirrels, chipmunks, mice, snakes, and assorted amphibians. Basically if it moves and he sees it and it can't run or fly away, it dies. This afternoon he killed the second chicken in less than a month by reaching through the fence and grabbing them by the head or neck. He killed the first one outright, ripping her throat out. She staggered away from the fence, collapsed and died in seconds. Today he caught the unlucky girl by the comb on the top of her head, and tore off her face and upper beak. She was conscious and walking around, but there was no way she was going to survive such an injury, which meant I was going to have to do the humane thing.

I put the dog in the house, and went in the chicken yard to get her. She was not blinded and tried to stay away, but I cornered her between the fence and a tree. She settled in my arm and did not struggle at all. I went to the barn and got a small axe, and walked over to the log standing on its end I use for splitting firewood. I laid her on her side (she was still calm) and held her body securely. I told her it's OK, I was sorry, and it will be over soon. The deed was done quickly and I held onto her body until it went still. I put her remains in one of the empty feed bags I keep on hand for just such an event, rolled it up and placed it in the trash.

Since the dog killed the first chicken back in July I have been working on reinforcing the fence separating the dogs and the chickens. But with the blistering heat outside and the many hours a week I work, progress has been slow. I thought I was good with the progress I had made so far because except for the gate, the other section of fence has a large stump and rocks in front of it making hard for the dog to get to the fence, and therefore the chickens. Nope. I have a section of reinforcement cut and ready for the gate, and have placed some temporary barriers in front of the section requiring work.

I bought these 12 Rhode Island Red pullets back at the end of April and have 8 left. I am told 1 year old laying hens become available over at UConn in Storrs at the beginning of the fall semester when they restart their flock from chicks for the next school year. I'll grab a half dozen.