The Intermittent Missive – December 23rd
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg Orders Return of More Than 200 Illegal Aliens Deported to El Salvador
https://twitchy.com/brettt/
Adam Schiff LOSES HIS MIND when Trump nominee REFUSES to take any of his BS
video – 00:12:56 – https://youtu.be/zgZPzz9fUKA
No wonder fmr. Prince Andrew was sweating the Epstein files! Emails from Balmoral are disturbing
https://www.bizpacreview.com/
JD Vance goes through grueling training with Navy SEALs team
https://www.bizpacreview.com/
“Just finished PT with the Navy SEALs for 90 minutes (I’ll post some photos when I get them). They took it easy on me and I still feel like I got hit by a freight train. So grateful to all of our warriors who keep us safe and keep the highest standards anywhere in the world!”
video – 00:00″12 – https://twitter.com/i/status/
AND
Leftists Seethe As JD Vance Works Out With Navy SEALs, Posts Hilarious Meme
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/
Secret Service Agent Protecting JD Vance Has Home Raided by FBI
https://redstate.com/rusty-
The FBI, earlier this month, executed a raid on the home of a Secret Service agent currently serving on Vice President JD Vance’s protective detail. It was part of an ongoing investigation into alleged tax and wire fraud.
Member of Somali Terrorist Cell That Plotted Second 9/11 Gets Unwelcome Surprise from Trump DOJ
https://www.westernjournal.
A judge sentenced a Kenyan national to two consecutive life sentences on Monday for plotting a plane attack reminiscent of 9/11
Newsom Loses More CA Business and Wants to Take Away the Farm
https://hotair.com/tree-
Gavin Newsom created a task force to address “the agricultural land equity crisis.”…“Agricultural land equity is when all people have secure and affordable access to viable land for the care, relationship with, and cultivation of food, fiber, medicine, and cultural resources without systemic barriers, disparities, or exploitation.”…Approved by legislators in the California Budget Act of 2022, the 13-member task force is proposing several steps to redistribute agricultural land to “socially disadvantaged farmers,” claiming “diversity” will result in ecological benefits, environmental protection, and climate resiliency.
Texas Man Fatally Shoots Two People Who Allegedly Followed and Attacked Him
https://www.westernjournal.
The Intermittent Missive – Holiday Edition
Dec. 19 & 20, 2025:
FBI agent, John Guandolo perfectly explained Islam in 3 minutes.
video – 00:02:49 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(worth the 11 minuteas it takes to watch – jlr)
America’s Future – If Gavin Newsom becomes President of the United States
https://libsarenuts.substack.
The auto industry just quit California!
video – 00:10:54 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(This is worth reading – jlr)
Ten Dollar Gasoline: Coming Soon to California
https://pjmedia.com/eric-
Let’s be more specific: $10 gas in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California? Yeah, that does sound a bit more likely, doesn’t it?… Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth decided to shut down operations in California. He texted the governor, saying, “I’d like to tell you about it before you read about it.” Common courtesy, right?
After 140 some-odd years, a $300 billion company, with thousands of jobs on the line, is throwing in the towel, deciding to leave the state. The consequences of this are enormous. Newsom’s response? “I don’t need to talk about it. I’m good.”…If you add in the Phillips 66 operation in LA County and Valero up in the Bay area, a total of three refineries are gone. That’s about 20% of the total gasoline supply in the state.
GOP Congressmen Starting ‘Sharia Free America Caucus’ to Counter Islamic Law and Protect the Constitution
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
Somali “Staggering, Industrial-Scale” FRAUD in ONE STATE Far Exceeds Somalia’s ENTIRE GDP
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
Milwaukee judge found guilty of obstruction for allegedly helping illegal migrant evade arrest
https://justthenews.com/
Dugan was convicted of one felony count of obstruction and acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest.
Guilty!!!
https://oldnfo.substack.com/p/
Now if they would do the same to these protesters that think they are above the law…
redux
You say that like it is a bad thing.
https://miguelgg.substack.com/
(Look at the number of federal employees – appx. 1% of the total US population currently works for the government – jlr)
Over the Summer Violent Brown University Antisemites Demanded Cameras Be Disabled To Protect “Protesters”
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
FIVE TERRORISTS ARRESTED En Route to Bondi Beach to Slaughter Jewish Mourners at Vigil For Victims of Islamic Massacre
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
rcd via e-mail
You Won’t Believe What the Australian PM’s Solution to the Bondi Beach Terror Attack Is
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/
The Australian Prime Minister has announced their solution to the Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney, Australia. They will repeat what the country did in ***1996, and collect and destroy “hundreds of thousands of firearms.” Never mind the threat of radical Islam, jihad, or antisemitism.
If American conservatives need a reminder on why our Second Amendment should be protected, this is it.
UPDATE
A reporter asked Prime Minister Albanese whether radical Islam posed Australia’s greatest domestic security threat, and he replied that neo-Nazis, not Islamist extremism, were the primary concern.
video – 00:01:22 – https://twitter.com/i/status/
San Francisco Hillel Set Aflame, Building Destroyed, Shabbat and Chanukah Events Canceled
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
Hillel is the world’s largest Jewish campus organization, Last night, the San Francisco chapter was set on fire.
201 Democrats Vote AGAINST Bill Keeping Gangbanger Illegals Off U.S. Streets
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
IMPEACHMENT MADNESS: Democrats Prove They Have No Real Interest in Governing
https://amac.us/newsline/
Grinch Christmas card pulled from supermarket chain after transgender activist complains
https://www.bizpacreview.com/
“The phrase ‘identifying as’ is an anti-trans dogwhistle and has long been used as a derogatory way of describing trans people and invalidating their gender, whereby it suggests a person’s gender being anything other than what fits neatly into the cis male/female binary is something people can ‘choose’.”…he believes that the card “belittles the identity of trans and non-binary people”.
Trans Sec Sean Duffy’s daughter unloads on ‘unconstitutional’ TSA after ridiculous experience
https://www.bizpacreview.com/
“I nearly missed my flight this morning after the TSA made me wait 15 minutes for a pat-down because I’m pregnant and didn’t feel like getting radiation exposure from their body scanner,”…“The agents were passive-aggressive, rude, and tried to pressure me and another pregnant woman into just walking through the scanner because it’s ‘safe.’”…“After finally getting the absurdly invasive pat-down, I barely made my flight. All this for an unconstitutional agency that isn’t even good at its job,”…“Perhaps things would have gone more smoothly if I’d handed over my biometric data to a random private company (CLEAR). Then I could enjoy the special privilege of waiting in a shorter line to be treated like a terrorist in my own country.”…“Is this freedom? Travel, brought to you by George Orwell—and the privilege of convenience based solely on your willingness to surrender biometric data and submit to radiation exposure? The ‘golden age of transportation’ cannot begin until the TSA is gone,”
Trump DOJ slams door on welfare for illegal aliens, ends Clinton-era loophole draining taxpayer dollars
https://www.theblaze.com/news/
Trump Signs Historic $901B Defense Bill, Delivering Troop Pay Raise and Eliminating Woke Programs
https://istandforfreedom.com/
West Coast, Messed Coast™ — 58 Reasons Why Blue Cities Are Circling the Drain
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-
House Republican Considering Plan to Expel Ilhan Omar from Congress
https://www.westernjournal.
“actively considering” forcing a vote to expel Omar,
Pete Hegseth Announces Plan to Restore George Washington’s Military Chaplain Corps to Its Former Glory
https://www.westernjournal.
‘We Don’t Dispute’ It: Georgia 315k Vote Bombshell Blows a Big Hole in 2020’s ‘Most Secure Election’ Lie
https://redstate.com/rusty-
A Georgia State Election Board investigation substantiated that Fulton County violated election rules in 2020 by failing to have poll workers sign required tabulation tapes for early votes in 36 out of 37 advanced voting precincts, affecting approximately 315,000 ballots.
AND
rcd vis e-mail
Fulton County Admits It ILLEGALLY CERTIFIED 315,000+ Ballots In 2020 Election!
https://wltreport.com/2025/12/
315,000 and Trump lost Georga by 12,000 – Bet it will not make news at 11
Wife thinking outside the ice box
https://miguelgg.substack.com/
Damn, she knows her economics. She can squeeze a penny better than any locomotive.
Department of War: Done playing games.
https://miguelgg.substack.com/
Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.
‘Murica and Fuck You.
AYSM???
DeKalb County Ends COVID-19 State of Emergency After Five Years, Sets Jan. 5, 2026 Office Return
https://istandforfreedom.com/
Unhinged female absolutely pummels male employee at Planet Fitness in Florida
https://www.theblaze.com/news/
it apparently all started when the male employee told the female gym member to lower her voice or he’d call the police, he female “became irate,” balled her fists, and got in the male employee’s face — but the male pushed her away with both hands twice “in self-defense,”
video – 00:01:11 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Woman arrested for allegedly punching two NYPD officers during ‘mostly peaceful’ Tyre Nichols protest — and she’s reportedly released without bail
https://www.theblaze.com/news/
Fed Up with Islam, James Woods Issues Savage Statement That Will Offend Every Muslim on Earth, But Could Give Hope to Everyone Else
https://www.westernjournal.
“…terrorists are not fringe actors or radicals; these are people following the dogma found in the Quran, which is clear in its call for Muslims to use violence in furtherance of their cause.”
When Gun Control Fails…The Government doubles the dosage of Gun Control.
https://miguelgg.substack.com/
In Bondi Beach, it was only the terrorists and the useless police who had weapons. civilians were unarmed. Clearly the fault resides with the civilians who shall be even more disarmed so they can be kept safe from the terrorists by cops trained in Uvalde and Broward county.
Embedded video – 00:00:25
The most recent articles from Active Response Training – Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 19, 2025
https://www.
Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Joyous Noel, part 3 – The last part, I think.
https://thelawdogfiles.
he first two stories I did about the Välkkykettu flew out of my fingers, as I tried to keep up with the images darting through my mind, not knowing where the stories were going — only that I needed to get them on the screen before they went away.
This one — this one I sat down and deliberately plotted. I had an idea of what I wanted to say, and what I needed to write about to say it … but I’m not as happy with this one. It doesn’t have as much of the Old World, Northern European Fairy Tales feel as the first two.
Ah well. I suspect that my brain-squirrels have ADHD’d, and I’m about to get intensely focused on something entirely different.
I am mildly astonished that the Välkkykettu have taken off like they have — “Neo-folklore” is untapped territory for me — but I’m grateful none the less.
I’d like to point out that Sam Robb came up with the Välkkykettu, but they so very well illustrated a point I have been making for years — the point that childhood has become too safe, too nerfed — so I grabbed the Flickerfoxes and ran with them.
And you have read the results on these pages. Part 1 is here; and Part 2 is here, if this is your first time reading about the Välkkykettu.
Raconteur Press will publish a children’s book about the Flickerfoxes for Christmas 2026 — in the meantime if you enjoy these little scribbles, feel free to share them.
When you do, please remember to attribute them to me, of your kindness.
Dec 21, 2025:
Dumber, Sicker, & Poorer
https://www.
The chart below is a fascinating snapshot of the last 75 years in the demise of the American empire.
When you understand the working age population is 275 million and your friendly number fudgers at the BLS declare 103 million of them NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE, and hysterically declaring only 7.8 million Americans are unemployed, you understand what a fraudulent economy we have.
The reported 4.6% unemployment rate is complete and utter bullshit. In reality, it is north of 20%.
Jasmine Crockett Spirals Into Word Salad Answer When Cornered on Reparations
https://www.westernjournal.
New Protest at the Kennedy Center Tells You Everything You Need to Know About the Left
https://redstate.com/nick-
visdeo – 00:01:00 – https://youtu.be/M9PXWCAvhaU
Mystery Solved: This Is What It Takes for Local Cops to Arrest Somebody at Portland ICE HQ
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-
Protesters can assault, mob, and chase reporters on the streets of Portland without fear of arrest, but a full-grown man punching a cop in the face in front of a crowd will get arrested.
Protesters can assault, mob, and chase reporters on the streets of Portland without fear of arrest, but a full-grown man punching a cop in the face in front of a crowd will get arrested.
video – 00:01:18 – https://twitter.com/i/status/
USER WARNING! – not judging, just saying
Notes from the edge of civilization: December 21, 2025
https://www.collapselife.com/
The article basically boils down to this: as sex toys get “smart,” they also get chatty.
Florida man says he ‘teleported’ into stolen BMW, blames ‘X-Men,’ thanks cop for rescuing him from ‘aliens’
https://www.theblaze.com/news/
Nothing to do with Deer: Sunday Country Second Amendment
https://wilderwealthywise.com/
I say again, Let me make somethin’ perfectly clear, The Second Amendment has nothin’ to do with deer.
MP3 audio – 00:03:49 – https://wilderwealthywise.com/
https://wilderwealthywise.com/
About the Välkkykettu – A brief look into my mind.
https://thelawdogfiles.
Some folks have asked if I mind if they write stories about the Välkkykettu1, and I don’t mind(ish) — but I thought that a brief post about what went through my mind as I created my own version of the character might be helpful.
Dec 22 & 23, 2025:
Re-examining “I’m Coming To Your House When Things Get Bad!”
https://paultmartin.com/blog/
https://paultmartin.com/blog/
(See the quotes after my sig line – JLR)
Charlie Kirk was right: How Islam is destroying the West
https://www.theblaze.com/
Western nations are collapsing under the weight of mass migration, failed assimilation, demographic upheaval, and the growing alliance between Marxist and Islamist ideologies — a threat Charlie Kirk warned about with clarity long before his death.
California Faces Fuel Disaster As Refineries And Gas Stations Shut Down
https://www.zerohedge.com/
Gavin Newsom ‘s major refinery law, ABX2-1 (signed Oct 2024), gives the state power to mandate minimum fuel storage levels and control refinery maintenance to prevent price spikes, empowering the California Energy Commission (CEC) to stabilize supply. This builds on earlier efforts (like SB X1-2) creating an oil market watchdog (DPMO) to increase oversight, aiming to stop refiners from manipulating supply for profit, while also adding data reporting requirements for companies. In response, companies are shutting down refinery operations in the state.
video – 00:11:49 – https://youtu.be/Rdx2QbY9Dwo
California trying to KEEP oil and gas firms from LEAVING THE STATE
video – 00:08:29 – https://youtu.be/hXPhvM02KOY
You Thought You Could Leave California. Now They’re Following Your Money!!
video – 00:06:59 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Epstein Files Photos Hit Democrats Hard
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
They SCREAMED for the files, now they’re running for the hills.
House Votes to Criminalize Chemical Castration and Mutilation of Children
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
The bill passed with near-unanimous Republican support, with three Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar (TX), Don Davis (NC), and Vicente Gonzalez (TX)—voting in favor, while four Republicans opposed it.
“Conspiracy Theorists” Right Again on 2020 Georgia Election Irregularities
https://amac.us/newsline/
( My pronouns are: I/told/you/so – jlr)
The Terrorists Are Inside the Gates
https://patriotpost.us/
Tens of thousands of suspected or confirmed international terrorists have been identified within the borders of the United States.
The Stockholm Syndrome of the West
https://patriotpost.us/
The West’s response to rising anti-Western violence has become grimly predictable: capitulate to antagonists and silence those who resist. A recent incident at a vigil for victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack crystallized this dynamic…populations are told that lowering expectations is the path to peace.
All I Want for Christmas Is Some Blue State Sanity
https://amac.us/newsline/
South Carolina Committee Defies Mayor’s Order to Remove Nativity Scene, Citing Supreme Court Precedent
https://istandforfreedom.com/
CUBA: Is Trump About to Do What No Other President Could?
https://pjmedia.com/
The Democrats Need to Start Panicking About the Epstein Files
https://pjmedia.com/matt-
Once Again, Another Nation’s Crime Surge Is Somehow America’s Fault
https://bearingarms.com/
…the New York Times has a whole story about the issue of American guns fueling crime in another country. This time, it’s Canada…Homicides have spiked in Canada in the past decade, most of them from guns. That’s roughly the same timeframe that Canada’s been on an anti-gun jihad and trampling all over gun ownership in the Great White North.
Bondi Beach Jihad Attack: Islamic State-Linked Plotters Recorded Antisemitic Videos — 15 Dead, 40 Wounded”
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
AND
Australia’s Response to Islamic Terror: SUBMISSION – Sharia (Hate Speech Laws) and Gun Laws (Disarm Law Abiding Citizens)
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
( I predict that because of (Sharia (Hate Speech Laws)), the politicians will retreat at the cries of Islamaphobia, and the laws will be withdrawn – jlr)
YALE COMPLETES INTELLECTUAL PURGE: Zero Republicans Across 27 Departments As Viewpoint Apartheid Replaces Academic Freedom
https://gellerreport.com/2025/
Yale has finally achieved liberal nirvana. According to a recent report from the Buckley Institute, there is now not a single Republican found across 27 of 43 departments at Yale University.
Insurance Giants Win, Everyday Americans Lose Under Obamacare’s Corrupt Regime
https://amac.us/newsline/
It appears that even the Amish are seeing the handwriting on the wall with growing societal collapse!
video – 00:08:03 – https://youtu.be/6vmqjKA9Z4w
A little humor…To start the week! – An oldie but a goody!
https://oldnfo.substack.com/p/
Chris Writes Like His Father
It isn’t often you get to compare your writing with that of your father and grandfather. My grandfather was a PhD with published works. I should try to find his thesis and other publications. I have read his unpublished autobiography.
My father had a few articles published, and I’m sure he wrote more. I should attempt to get his master’s thesis from ODU.
Yesterday my daughter stumbled onto a couple of articles published by my father. I write like he did. I guess I speak like he did as well.
I’m positive that much of my very dry humor comes from him.
The HO scale Pseudo-Soo Line (PSL) is set in north central Wisconsin in the late spring of 1953, the week of June 15th to be precise. It represents the Third Division of the Gladstone Division of the “Old Soo” (before the 1961 merger of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie; the Wisconsin Central; and the Duluth, South Shore, & Atlantic). Its emphasis is on forest, lake, and agricultural products as it traverses the swamps and bogs of the area. Although a specific time and locale are represented, scenery, rolling stock, etc. are not claimed to be prototypical but only to give the flavor of the place and period.
The original Pseudo-Soo Line was located in Golden Valley (Minneapolis), Minnesota, and was on the Northstar99 layout tours. We moved into this basement, then totally barren, in April 2000, and the new Pseudo-Soo Line was up and running for the Gateway2001 layout tours 15 months later. Approximately 230 model railroad enthusiasts visited the layout during the convention.
The new PSL occupies a space 50′ long and 12′ to 22′ wide. It is an “around the walls” layout with a long center peninsula. The mainline is a closed loop with two single ended, “nose-to-nose” staging yards. These represent Sault Ste. Marie, MI (“The Soo”) and Minneapolis, MN. The main loop from “The Soo” to Minneapolis is approximately 200′ long. Another 100′ of track represent branch lines and interchanges. Abracadata 3D Railroad Concept and Design software was not only used to design the layout but the entire basement. [This software is no longer available.] The design was essentially complete before we moved in, and I have made very few changes to the original design.
The three classification yards: Rhinelander, Ladysmith, and Weyerhauser. There is a passing siding between Prentice and Hawkins, and two short run-around tracks elsewhere. A branch line leads to a reversing loop that represents the Wisconsin Central routes to Superior, WI and the Bessemer, MI iron mine complex. Another branch line goes to Rice Lake, WI. There are 60 industries including team tracks and ice houses, plus four standard gauge interchanges: C&NW at Rhinelander, The Milwaukee Road at Heafford Junction, the Wisconsin Central at Ladysmith, and the C&NW at Rice Lake. The narrow gauge Thunder Lake logging railroad crosses the PSL at Robbins Junction and transfer hardwood logs going to several online users. The hand-laid Thunder Lake RR module is the only part of the layout used intact from Golden Valley.
Operation include both passenger and freight movements. The Atlantic Limited (East and West) and the Superior Lake (North and South) represent high-class varnish. All runs include some switching moves. The Milk Runs (East and West) drop-off and pick-up cars at Lassig Dairy and make a number of stops for passengers and milk. There are 13 freight jobs including manifests, peddlers, ore trains, turns, and dedicated industry and interchange moves. A 6:1 fast clock is used, so the seven or more operators required to run the railroad keep busy during a typical 3-hour session.
Digitrax DCC is used. A 6-wire telephone bus forms a LAN to all points of the layout with jacks along the fascia. There are also receivers for infrared and radio (both simplex and duplex) throttles. Guest operators are invited to bring their own compatible throttles. All turnouts are hand-thrown with Caboose Industries throws.
— Bob Johnson's Pseudo Soo Line, LDSIG, https://ldsig.net/bob-johnson/ (last visited Dec. 21, 2025).
His layout was what was known as an “operational” layout. This meant that you could run it realistically. He had cards that represented loads and destinations. The yard operators would have to make up trains, which would then be moved over the main line to different yards by other operators.
Still other operators would run the locals. These were the little trains that went to the different businesses to pick up and drop off loads.
A standard operating session would be 7 or more operators working over 3 hours on a 6:1 fast clock. In other words, they would simulate 18 hours of operations in just 3 hours. Generally, was made up by the fact that the locations did not have real distances between them. So the dairy was only a 1/2 mile from the yard, while it was more like 6 miles in reality.
Regardless, I love and miss Dad. If you feel like it, go read his entire article. He has pictures and more.
The Brown University Shooting
Brown University is in Rhode Island, one of the anti-gun states. There are no guns allowed on campus.
It is a gun free zone within a gun free city within a gun free state. Yet all of those things failed.
To provide a sense of security, the college webpage has a section on security cameras. They list some 800 security cameras and where each is located and their field of view.
Which is precisely the sort of information a bad guy would want to know because it shows not only the areas that are under surveillance but also the blind spots. Which the shooter took advantage of.
Which brings up the experiment done by a news organization several years ago to “prove” that guns don’t save lives. They told the selected “protector” that they were the only person with a gun in the room. That there was going to be a mass shooting event, simulated, and they were to stop the shooter.
Everybody except for the protector was in on the experiment, unbeknownst to the protector. Many of the protectors bragged to their “student” neighbors about being the protector.
Of course, when the bad guy entered the room, the protector never successfully stopped them. The entire experiment was set up for failure.
This was compared to a similar experiment set up in Texas. In the Texas experiment, the protectors were chosen at random; the level of experience the different protectors had varied from none to significant. They used simunation (blue guns that shoot nasty little pellets).
What they found was that the total number of victims was reduced in all cases. That in some situations the attack was stopped shortly after it began. There were no false shootings.
One of the interesting sequences was when the bad guy came into the room with the good guy. The good guy put multiple rounds on target before being “killed”. During the debrief, they asked why he only took body shots after noticing the body armor.
His reply, “I’ve been shot with those things; I wasn’t going to shoot somebody in the face with them.”
The point of this rambling is that guns save lives. This was another example of a gun free zone creating a victim pending zone.
Keep your head on a swivel, things are not getting better.
The Past and The Present
It is difficult to comprehend what a piston powered steam engine is capable of doing. It is a different sort of beast than the internal combustion engine.
For those that are old, you might have grown up with a manual transmission. There is a considerable skill in learning how to balance the clutch and engine speed to get smooth motion.
This is hidden in a value we call “horse power”. Horse power is also expressed in Watts. There are 745 watts to a HP, depending on sources. Close counts in this calculation. HP and watts are a measure of work.
Consider picking up a barbell. By measuring the force required to lift it, the time it takes to lift it, and the distance moved, we can measure the power used.
Now consider that same barbell, but it is too heavy to lift even a fraction of an inch. You strain trying to lift it. You have expended energy but have no performed any work. Hence the HP and watts are zero.
Regardless, an internal combustion engine needs some type of clutch to allow the engine to run at a comfortable speed while slowly bringing a different part of the powertrain up to speed.
With a steam engine, you have full torque at every speed. They are spectacular engines at slow speeds.
This takes us to present times.
I’m using FreeCAD to create the 3D model of the engines. A side advantage of this is that I also get assemblies that allow me to check how all the parts fit together. All very nice. This has helped me identify errors in my reading of the drawings.
A simple little thing: The cylinder has a built in bracket system. This is a face used to mount the cylinder to the base and the face used to attach the steam chest. These faces are slightly offset from the bore.
Which leads to my error, times 3. The cylinder mounting holes are not on the center line of the cylinder. They are instead on the center line of the bore. The bore is offset away from the steam chest and away from the mounting holes.
My error? I’ve put those damn mounting holes in the wrong place multiple times.
In the end, I added a spreadsheet to the model. For every shared measurement between parts, I’ve put that value in the spreadsheet. This means that I can do things like change the stroke by changing one value. Sort of.
My understanding of this mechanical marvel is much improved from being able to see the parts work together.
Another thing I noticed was that all the engine plans have an assumption you will be working with castings. They expect you to hire a pattern maker to create the patterns and then have your local foundry cast them.
While I would love to make my castings from iron, I will start with making them from aluminum. And the new tools I have and new skills I have in woodworking allow me to make real patterns.
My final goal is to have master patterns and molding boards for patterns for a couple of different engines. If I can accomplish that and make a few of them, I’ll be very happy.
Next stop, learning how to be a safe boilermaker. And not the happy drink type.
Happy Hanukkah
Way too many years ago, I went to an interfaith seminary, and trained to be an interfaith minister. It’s one accomplishment I’m very proud of, though I also think I learned as much or more by interning with a UCC minister friend for a year. We studied many different faiths, and how they interact. While I, myself, am quite pagan, I do understand different faiths call to different people. I rather like the idea that various gods have “their” people. G-d (the Jewish deity) called the Jews to be his people, and gave them Commandments, instructions, and information… much of which they didn’t pay as much attention to as they should have. A lot of their rituals and celebrations honor the folks who got them out of messes that their religious indiscretions got them into.
Hanukkah is not a big religious festival for the Jews. It was a minor one, until Christmas became so commercialized and messed with the Jewish kids. So now Jewish kids get presents as well as gelt, and some of the more pagan aspects of Christmas have snuck into Hanukkah celebrations. It’s all good. Winter is a time of darkness, and whether you celebrate the Birth of the Sun, the Birth of the Son, or the Miracle of the Lights, it’s all about warding off the darkness (albeit in very different ways).
This Hanukkah is different, though. Way too many of my Jewish friends (and I have a surprising number of them) are afraid this year. They have watched too many of their fellow Jews be slaughtered, and very few criminals being brought to justice. They’ve heard too many people on the Left calling for their extermination, or celebrating those who harm Israel. They’re not celebrating Hanukkah this year. They’re lighting those eight lights over eight nights because it’s a mitzvah, a … “a helping.” They are putting the light back into the world, in whatever way they can. Lighting the Hanukkiah and singing Ma’oz Tzur are acts of peace, but also acts of rebellion against the violence they are seeing.
For those who may not know, the history of Hanukkah, in short:
Hanukkah’s history centers on the 2nd century BCE Maccabean Revolt, where Jewish fighters led by Judah Maccabee reclaimed Jerusalem’s Second Temple from Greek-Syrian oppressors who had desecrated it. After retaking the Temple, they cleansed it and rededicated it, but found only a tiny cruse of oil, which miraculously burned for eight days instead of one. This “miracle of the oil” established the eight-day “Festival of Lights,” celebrating Jewish perseverance, religious freedom, and divine presence. — Grok
My family and I have celebrated Hanukkah every year since I was in seminary. The act of lighting the candles, sitting quietly in the dark, being a family… these have become important to us, even though we’re not Jewish.