A Day In the Life

The GOP War on Social Security is Back!

2010-10-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

So after a lull, the GOP has resumed their war on social security. I have paid into Social Security for the last 25 years. If the GOP had their way, I'd lose everything I put in. Every one that has ever held a job would lose what they put in. Where is the outrage?

It's clear what the Republicans want. Social Security is a huge bank account that they want to tap. It's not enough that they borrowed heavily from it during the Bush Administration. They want direct access. Privatizing Social Security will allow selected administrators (i.e. Republican donors) to charge hefty administration fees and allow funneling that money in select corporations (i.e. Republican donors). It's really not that complicated or difficult to see. Where is the outrage?

September Plus Dividend

2010-10-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

I'm a couple of days late on grabbing the numbers from my various accounts so the total includes a few days of October and an extra paycheck. Total savings is up 3% from last month and up 9% from the end of June. The September dividend is down $50 to $1385. Over the last 4 months, the average dividend is $1375 totaling $16,500 per year. Not bad.

Only six months more to heave-ho time!

Playing God

2010-09-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

One of the responsibilities of being a pet owner that I don't relish is deciding when to put them down. Three times I have made the decision and I'm dawdling right now. My 10 year-old American Bulldog is in bad shape. All year he's been having difficulty digesting food and is now down from a thin 102 pounds to an emaciated 89 pounds. I have tried a couple of digestive enzymes and several different easy-to-digest foods. He's still hanging in there but, as you would expect, is low in energy. Really all he does now is sleep. He perks up for walks, but I have to be careful not to tire him out to much. One night he was so exhausted after an easy walk that he didn't even have the energy to eat. I gave him some cheese and water, let him sleep for a couple of hours, and then he ate his supper. The next morning he was still exhausted but was much better when I came home from work.

With his old age and previous health problems, I am reluctant to have the vet find out what the problem is. I did mention the problems to the vet when I was there for a laser treatment. He prescribed some anti-diarrhea medicine and some very expensive dog food. None of it helped.

I keep watching him closely looking for a sign that it is time. I think we're very close and I might just call up the vet on Tuesday and make an appointment for the 13th. That way I'll be forced to do it and take my mind off it, though I can call it off at the last minute.

Here's a recent shot of him with the fine young German Shepherd:

August Dividend

2010-09-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

August's dividend was $1435; only $31 less than July's. Total savings is up 1.8%. Not as good as the 4% last month, but still looking good.

Now that I don't have a mortgage, I have to stay on top of my checking account to prevent it from growing too large. I have $8000 sitting in there right now. Next week, I'll transfer another $5000 to my portfolio so I can earn at least 3% on it as opposed to .01% or whatever BS rate the bank pays. I try to keep at least $2000 in there so there is no chance of getting an insufficient funds charge. Just one of those wipes all of the little bit of gain I would get by keeping the balance lower.

Looking at my 401(k) the other day, I noticed some unexpected payments from my employer for the last two months. I accidentally max'd out my contributions for the year already, so I expected my employer to stop matching payments, but they haven't. It's about $250 per paycheck. I have no ethics; I'll take it and keep my mouth shut. My employer is also paying for my parking but, given my lowly title, I don't deserve it. Parking is about $250 - $300 a month. I'm keeping my mouth shut there too.

The always truthful fingers tell me it's only seven more months to kiss off time.

Magic Cloak of Warmth

2010-08-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

Arthur C. Clarke wrote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." When our hairless ancestors first discovered that wrapping themselves in a dead animals hide, did they consider it magic. Did they think it was something from the dead animal that was keeping them warm?

I wonder how this discovery was first made. I could imagine somebody working on the carcass with it draped over their lap noticing how hot they were getting. But prior to stripping the hide from the animal for a wrap, why would somebody being working on the carcass?

I wonder too when this discovery was made. Did our hairless ancestors first move north and then figure out how to stay warm? Or did they move north and then start to lose their hair?

July Dividend

2010-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

July's dividends are a nice surprise: $1664. I'm not sure why last months was so much less; maybe I didn't include all of my accounts. My entire portfolio increased 4% in the last six weeks and I zoomed past the $500k level. Counting on my fingers, March, the month I'm giving the corporate job the heave-ho, is 8 long months away. That number seems too high, but the fingers don't lie. By then, it's possible I could hit $600k. All I can control is my spending and except for Christmas presents (god damn consumer society!) and a winter-time splurge, I don't have any intended or expected large expenses. Crap, I just remembered I have a big nearly dead tree in my backyard that needs cutting down. I can't risk going through another stormy winter with it so close to the house. It'll cost around $2500 to have cut down. I'd like to do it myself except for it's too close to the house and I have no experience cutting down big trees.

Remington 870 Mods

2010-07-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I bought a 12 gauge Remington 870 home defense shotgun. It has a 18" or so barrel, a magazine extension to hold 7 shells, a synthetic stock, and it's all black. I wanted to see the pellet pattern of some 00-buck shells I have so I took it to the range and shot at a flattened cardboard box. The harsh recoil on the first shot took me completely by surprise. I managed to shoot about six more rounds at varying distances, but I was trembling on the last couple. My shoulder was sore for a couple of days.

Maybe I'm a pussy, but I did shoot trap with a Remington 870 when I was a skinny teenager. I don't remember flinching. I still have that old hunting shotgun and put the two side by side. The first thing I noticed was how much heavier the old shotgun with its wood stock and 24" barrel was. Also, the hollow plastic stock of the HD shotgun does not absorb shock like the wood stock.

A defense shotgun that makes the shooter cringe is no defense at all. Something had to be fixed. I bought a couple of the Limbsaver recoil pads, but the plastic stock was an odd size so the slip-on one didn't really fit. The screw-in pad required some funky screws for the plastic stock and I was unable to find matching screws.

I decided to go old school and bought a used wood stock. It has a couple small scratches but looks good. I like the contrast between the black receiver and barrel and the wood stock. The slip-on recoil pad fits this wood stock fine and adds nearly an inch to the reach which, being a big guy with long arms, makes the gun more comfortable. The shotgun is considerably heavier, but for home defense, it's not an issue.

Now the recoil is much more manageable. Before there is no way I could have fired a quick follow up shot; I'd still be recovering from the first. Now I will have no problem.

I have a sling for the shotgun and a butt stock shell holder. Next I need to change the front sight so I can easily see it at night. I might add a tactical light but it's a low priority.

Made In the Shade

2010-07-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I recently totaled up my various accounts and I will easily hit the $500k number. I'd already be there if it weren't for a $15k loan made to a certain family member that promised to start paying it off last January but hasn't paid me one cent. Family is too important to let a bad loan get in the way, so I'm willing to ignore it.

Most of that moola is now in bond funds so each month I get some dividends. For June, I was expecting about $1k in dividends, but one of the funds yielded $300 less than it did for May. WTF, I say! I have no idea why it was so much lower but that's why I use multiple bond funds. Diversify!

I'm going to treat June as an aberration until further data comes in, so I'm sticking with my $12k per year anticipated dividend income. That's not bad. $20k a year should easily cover real estate taxes, utilities, food, car and house insurance, catastrophic only health insurance, etc, etc. My plan when I retire is to get a job during the winter. Earning $8k more shouldn't be problem.

I'm still on track to leave the cubicle behind in March.

Two Beautiful Weekends

2010-03-08T21:07:00.001-08:00

Well after me bitching about the weather on long weekends, God finally realized he'd been too hard on us cubicle dwellers and has given us two beautiful weekends in a row. On both weekends it's been up into the 60's. The yellow orb in the sky that hurts our eyes and burns our skin has been out a lot too. Yea, though it shines bright in the valley of Douglas Firs, I fear not because in 15 minutes the weather will change. Verily.

I have planted some cherry trees in my "orchard" and surrounded them with large piles of brush cuttings to deter the hooved locusts known as deer. I really need to build a 6' high deer fence. Unfortunately with the clear skies, I will have to water the new trees every weekend. I timed it and it takes me nearly 5 minutes to walk from where I park my van to the orchard. I'm building a cart with a couple of bicycle wheels to aid in humping the water, dirt, shovels, etc.

Surprisingly, it's incredibly nice to be out of doors with the sunshine, breezes, bird song, fir scent, etc. It feels as if being outdoors is normal and natural. I don't understand how that can be as I was born indoors and have spent most of my life indoors. The outdoor air, though, must be tainted or something because at the end of the day I am very tired and my body experiences minor pain the next day. It's not just me; the dogs are affected too. Maybe if I spend more time outdoors I can build up an immunity to this toxic outdoor air.

Nice Little Woodstove

2010-02-28T19:58:00.001-08:00

Ah, if my yearly bonus is really good, I'd love to get one of the Little Cod wood stoves:

The plain iron model runs about $1400, so it is pricey. The manufacturer claims it'll heat a 300 sq. foot area. Perfect for a small studio!

CZ-82

2010-02-26T21:54:00.000-08:00

My yearly bonus is just two weeks away! I have no idea how much it'll be but I expect at least a few hundred dollars. This bonus is being spent on a few things I have wanted for a while. Most of it has been ordered and it's trickling in. Everything will be of interest to readers of this blog, so I'll do write ups on everything. Stay tuned.

The first arrival is a surplus CZ-82. Being surplus, there are some scratches in the finish, but the internals and barrel look good. It cost $200 and came with two magazines and a leather holster. The CZ-82 shoots 9x18 Markarov. I didn't immediately order ammo with the gun but I picked up 50 rounds of Brown Bear 94g FMJ at a gun show. A few days ago 500 rounds of Silver Bear 94g hollow points arrived. Just in time too because I only have 4 rounds of the FMJ left! I probably should have ordered 1000 rounds. Cheap Russian 9x18mm ammo appears to be readily available from several sources at about 22 or so cents a round.

I really like the way the CZ-82 fits in my very large hand. In way of comparison, a Glock 17 is a bit too small for me; I am going to add a Hogue slip-on grip sleeve. The CZ-82 fits perfectly though the ambidextrous magazine release is too far away for me to press with my thumb. Instead I press the release on the other side of the grip with my index finger.

The CZ-82 has a nice heft to it too. A Glock 17 weighs considerably less and just doesn't feel as right. I'm not planning on carrying a fully-loaded CZ-82 around all day; if I were, I'd appreciate the lighter weight of the Glock more. Recoil on the CZ-82 is very manageable.

I am very happy with how the CZ-82 performed at the range. I shot better than I ever have. I think its heavier weight helped to stabilize it. With the Glock 17, especially when using the light 22 conversion kit, I have difficulty holding the muzzle still.

All in all, I really like the CZ-82. The primary negative is the price and availability of the 12 round magazines. They are around $40 and only a small number of retailers carry them. I'd prefer more, but I'll probably stick with buying just two.

Flashback on Hulu

2010-02-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

Hulu is now featuring one of my favorite movies, Flashback. This is a great movie about an FBI agent, Keifer Sutherland, charged with transporting a Abby Hoffman-like character, Dennis Hopper. Comedy ensues.

At one point, Dennis Hopper, posing as an FBI agent, is talking to some former 60's radicals. He's badgering them a bit and says "It takes more than going down to your local video store and renting Easy Rider to become a rebel." One of the radicals responds, "Hey man, I own Easy Rider." The movie has many other witty lines.

Twenty years ago when I was making a lot of long road trips, I recorded the movie's audio onto cassettes and listened to the movie as a change from music. So I've actually heard this movie far more than I've seen it.

If you have the bandwidth, definitely check it out.

Joe Stack

2010-02-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

Like Ted Kaczynski's (aka the Unabomber) manifesto, Joe Stack's manifesto comes across as being pretty reasonable. On a quick read, I didn't see anything I strongly disagreed with except that both men, obviously, took their frustrations out in the wrong way.

Stack claims early in his manifesto that it took him years to unlearn his childhood lessons. It's a shame that it took so long, because it's obvious that he brought a lot of the pain upon himself. For example, he says he tried to emulate the tax-dodging ways of the Catholic church. That was an obvious and unnecessary mistake that cost him a lot of money and time.

Both Kaczynski and Stack's greatest mistake was letting stuff get under their skin. Everybody has to deal with crap. Here were two privileged people (both were white, intelligent, educated and skilled males) that had a lot less crap to deal with than the average person and neither couldn't keep it together.

Gods Hates Long Weekends

2010-02-16T18:46:00.001-08:00

Every three day weekend since Thanksgiving has been marred in one way or another but usually by crappy weather. For this President's day weekend the weather was generally good so in order to ruin it for me, I came down with a cold. This was my first cold in about two years. I couldn't have been struck down on a normal two-day weekend. Or mid-week.

For the third or fourth time in the last ten years, I called in sick today. I could have gone in or even worked from home, but in addition to the cold I have a scorching case of idontgiveashititis. I expect it to get worse until treated in about a year by having myself severed from my employment. This disease is worsening each month and my work is suffering. Fortunately most of the work I do is fairly mindless and I can generally perform it without much effort.

Only three more days until the weekend!

Manhattan

2010-02-13T16:31:00.001-08:00

Last week I was in the big city, NYC. Midtown Manhattan to be specific. This was my second trip there and the first time I was able to venture from the office. I can't see how people live there. It's crowded, noisy, dirty, and nothing grows there. Sure, there is Central Park, but that's only a small oasis; the rest of Manhattan is concrete, asphalt, steel, and glass.

It was interesting talking to my coworkers about the cost of living there. A couple of them, living in New Jersey, pay $14,000 in real estate taxes. That's probably about 10% of their gross salary. Then they pay $400 to $500 a month to commute to the office. So, while I have a lower salary here in podunkville, I have no doubt I'm netting more.

The Manhattan women are incredible. I saw more attractive women in an hour than I do in a month around here. NYC is so much more fashion conscious, so I bet women put more energy into their looks. Around here, it appears that once a woman gets married or becomes 30, they let their bodies go.

I'm glad to be back to the rain and clouds. Unfortunately I am coming down with a cold which always seems to happen when I fly, so I won't be able to fully enjoy this three day weekend.

A Good Corporate Man

2010-01-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

I am the most useless man in the world. I produce nothing; I only consume. I am entirely dependent on the money I receive from my employer, a Fortune 500 corporation. From this salary I buy food from the corporations. I buy gasoline from the corporations. I buy heat, water, waste disposal, clothing, entertainment, etc from corporations. Without a doubt, the corporations provide more value than I.

Do We Live In A Socialist Country?

2010-01-27T22:16:00.000-08:00

I find it odd that citizens expect that the government, whether federal, state, or city, do something to encourage the development of jobs. Why is that a role of government?

And what about the economy? We supposedly have a free market economy, so why is it the governments fault when it goes to hell? Why does it fall upon the governments shoulders to fix the economy? Why aren't corporations helping out fixing the economy? Instead of laying off workers thereby putting the workers on unemployment, why don't the corporations keep them on the payroll?

People used to be "too proud" to take charity. Isn't working at a company which is receiving tax subsidies greater than payroll the same as being on charity? In these cases, the government is effectively paying the company to employ people. Frequently it'd be cheaper for the government to pay the charity directly. One obvious case is the second engine for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Why do some people think that the unemployed workers will (or should) revolt? In this life, there is no guarantee of work. Ask any black man about that. Supposedly Americans are industrious workers, but I disagree. What does a laid off worker typically do? He hangs around the house, goes on the Internet and bitches about the government doing him wrong. A real entrepreneur would look for ways of producing income like starting a tree pruning service, working as a handy man, or becoming an exotic dancer like those blokes in The Full Monty.

In answer to the question, "Do we live in a socialist country," the strict answer is no, but many of our citizens and politicians act as if we do.

A Passive Agressive Earth Sheltered House: Links

2010-01-23T21:13:00.001-08:00

Here are some links related to a passive-aggressive earth-sheltered house.

DesignBuilder is a CAD program that contains a module "for dynamic thermal simulation of building performance giving summertime overheating calculations, heating and cooling sizing and general energy performance analysis." Another module "is used by building environmental designers to calculate the temperature, velocity and other fluid properties through a 3-D domain." Very, very cool. The tutorials are really interesting. DesignBuilder has a 30-day trial period; I will have to give it a whirl.

A Passive Agressive Earth Sheltered House: The Knowns

2010-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

As y'all know, temperature differences in air have a handy property: warm air rises and cold air falls. I'm pondering how to take advantage of this property in a home. In particular an off-grid earth-sheltered studio located in the gray Pacific Northwest. I have skimmed some "passive" books that might contain strategies and ideas but most such books are focused on solar energy. With approximately 8 hours of sunshine in the last month anything related to the Sun is off the table. I used to be a smart guy capable of solving complex problems, maybe if I take it slowly I can figure something out.

In this blog entry I am going to take the approach taught in high school geometry where one starts out by writing the givens or known information. In a later entry, I will hopefully write out some conclusions.

The three necessary tasks for making a home comfortable are heating, cooling, and ventilating.

The interior temperature is either at, below, or above the comfort zone.

The exterior temperature is either at, below, or above the interior temperature.

Assuming acclimatization and appropriate clothing, the target temperature in the winter is 64 degrees and, in the summer, 72 degrees.

The typical local winter (November through March) high temperature is 48 degrees and typical low is 38 degrees. The typical summer (June through September) high temperature is 78 degrees and typical low is 57 degrees. I'm assuming that looking at only the extreme cases is needed.

All heating is accomplished by burning wood and requires a large amount of oxygen.

The earth-sheltered studio will have a roof insulated from the six inches of dirt covering it. The floor of the studio will be insulated from the ground and be approximately 9' below ground. The earth-sheltered walls will be insulated from the earth. The majority of the walls will be earth-sheltered. There will be one or two windows and one door.

The temperature, say 4', below ground will range from 50 degrees in the winter to 62 degrees in the summer. These numbers are guesstimates.

There will be a natural temperature differential between the floor and ceiling. In the winter the floor will be a few degrees warmer but in the summer the ceiling will be considerably warmer maybe by as much as 10 degrees.

That's all I have for now; I will probably come up with other givens later and will update this page. The next step will be to outline what happens to the home and the air within it during typical winter and summer days.

Dogs And Cats Sleeping Together

2010-01-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

People in favor of democracy have rightly been upset about the recent Supreme Court ruling that corporations can spend an unlimited amount of money promoting political candidates. This is a terrible ruling for everybody except for rich businesses.

The United States is already struggling with global warming, peak oil, overpopulation, dwindling resources, crumbling infrastructure, and high debt. Now we can add corporate sponsored politicians to the list.

We should remember that the United States political system was an experiment. Over the last few decades we have seen that the experiment is faltering. This ruling will only make the experiment fail faster.

New Views!

2010-01-13T21:09:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple photos of two new views created when I cleared a thicket of large brush. The first view is looking towards the North East. My property extends to the large Douglas Firs way up there.

The second view is to the West. I think the circled Cedar tree is the bearing tree that marks the South West corner of my property, but I'm not sure. The property corner must be somewhere around there.

I just have a bit more cleanup in this new cleared area. I am working on three or so other areas and am also planning on cutting a trail diagonally across the property to provide better access to the interior where there are no logging roads.

Two Great Dramas

2009-12-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

I just finished up my third viewing of the first season of Deadwood
. This was HBO's western that took place in the Black Hills before it was annexed into the United States. A lot of shows fall apart after repeated viewings, but I think I can watch this series a few more times. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting. My favorite character is the drunk and foul Calamity Jane. The setting of the quickly growing camp is really interesting. In the first couple of episodes we see people still mining for gold and felling trees in the main street. All that is gone a few episodes later and there are even side streets and alleys.

Unfortunately, HBO abruptly ended Deadwood during its second season. I mentioned the series to some friends and when they finally saw some episodes they were a little surprised I was such a fan. Every episode features at least one grisly murder and there is probably no show that uses the word "cocksucker" as often as Deadwood. Definitely check it out.

The other great drama is another HBO series: The Wire. The first thing good about The Wire is that each season is a standalone story arc. Shows like Lost just keep going on and on much like a soap opera. But in the Wire, the writers have a beginning and end for each season. I like that especially with some shows going on past where the writers know where to take them.

The Wire is a crime drama that takes place in Baltimore. The narrative switches between the cops and the criminals both of whom are fully fleshed out characters. This too is another gritty show, though "cocksucker" is not used anywhere near as often as "nigger." There is an awesome and brilliant multiple minute long scene in the first season where the only word used by the two main detectives as they are investigating a crime scene is "fuck." Each use of "fuck" is given it's own intonation and emphasis. Again, absolutely fucking brilliant.

I have watched the first four seasons twice and the fifth season once. The video store near me closed down so I can no longer just run out and get a DVD of The Wire. I'll probably pick up the series sometime this next year.

Pity the Poor Incompetent Worker

2009-12-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

I see a lot of people talking about how many of the jobs that have gone away won't be coming back. The main reason usually stated is that the lost jobs will be re-created in some third-world country like Iowa. With the bubble burst, a lot of the work that was being done just wasn't needed. I'm thinking of all the commercial real-estate development. Even with great population growth, it'll be many years before the demand for office space reaches the current supply.

There's another reason that I haven't heard anyone mention. So many of the laid off workers were lousy at their jobs and, now that they're gone, everything is being done more efficiently. The remaining workers, without the drag of the poor workers, are easily doing the same amount of work. At least that's the case in corporate IT.

In the last decade or so, IT departments increased their workforce. Yes, there was a setback in 2001 or so but it didn't last long. During these booms many employers did a really crappy job of weeding out poor candidates. I have been on both sides of the interview table and most interviewers just don't know how to evaluate the abilities of a candidate. It isn't until the person is on the job that it's discovered the person doesn't know what they are doing or isn't interested in getting work done. At most corporations especially the big ones, it is very difficult to fire someone for poor performance. For many managers it's easier to just shuffle the person around with the hope that they'll not do too much harm. Many managers themselves are incompetent and were promoted to management to keep them out of the way. The poor worker needs to be closely watched and guided through most tasks. Even then, the output from the poor workers is of low quality and frequently needs additional work by good workers. The babysitting reduces the productivity of the most productive people.

Thanks to the poor economy corporations had an easy way of getting rid of the accumulated dead wood. Now the productive employees can go back to soaring with the eagles or something like that.

I do wonder what will come of all those lousy workers. I feel a bit sorry for them but they should have realized the situation and known that they'd be the first chosen for layoffs. They should have put in the extra effort to get their act together or started making steps towards a new career hopefully one in which they were competent.

My Escape Plan

2009-11-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

I think and plan far more than I act and I see that as a strong point -- I make less mistakes that way. For the last several years I have pondered how and when to leave the corporate world and a plan has finally gelled.

I will work another year until March 2011. March is when we receive our yearly bonus. I have no idea how much the bonus might be, but money is money. By this time, I will have accumulated over $500k.

During 2010, I will build my earth-sheltered studio. Thanks to some changes at work, I now get two more weeks of vacation for a total of four (plus holidays). I should be able to make good progress on the simple studio.

In 2011, I will sell my house. Having very little income, taxes on any capital gains will be minimized. Depending on where the housing market is, I should be able to pull in $250 - $350k bringing the total to probably around $800k. In 2011, I will turn 47. Assuming a life expectancy of 80, I shouldn't run out of money especially as my expenses will be quite low. I won't have any utility bills, nor house insurance. The primary expenses will be food, gas, and vehicle insurance. Without the commute into the city, I can get rid of the car and just have the van. The car should bring in another $10k.

I have thought from time to time about living in Europe for a few months. I have visited there and really like the feel. It's amazing to see such old buildings. Here in America everything is so new and has so little history. So, I was thinking when I turn 50 in 2014, going to Europe for a while. I'd start out in London and then gradually visit each of the other countries with most of the time probably spent in Britain and France. Money is the greatest obstacle because this won't be cheap. I'll have all of 2012 and 2013 to get adjusted to no income so by 2014, I'd fully know how much money I need to live on and could see if there was enough estimated surplus to live in Europe for 6 months.

I am nearly complete in clearing an nice area for the studio on my property. The next step is to survey the clearing and determine how to position it.

Cheap Gun and Ammo Storage

2009-11-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

I just received another 1000 rounds of 9mm ammo today and dropped the package into my "armory." I have lost count of how much ammo is in there but even without packing things tighter, I should be able to easily store another 4000 to 5000 rounds of 9mm or .223. In addition, it holds a half dozen rifles and shotguns, my lonely Glock 17, and a score of magazines.

My armory is simply a large Ridgid toolbox I picked up at Home Depot for about $275. I don't have the exact dimensions handy, but it's about 4' long by 2.5' deep and 2.5' tall. No, the toolbox is not fireproof nor truly thief proof. We've all seen the pictures on the web of what thieves have done to much sturdier gun safes. I'm not worried about thieves coming prepared with metal cutting equipment. In the unlikely even someone breaks into my house, it'll be a disorganized meth addict. I did consider buying a 12-gun safe for $400. What I didn't like about it was that it was too small to hold any appreciable amount of ammo or magazines. While I haven't spent as much on ammo as on my weapons, I want the ammo secured too. The toolbox does the job very well. Being a toolbox, it won't be obvious to repairmen and visitors that I have guns. People may think I just have a lot of tools.

I went for a long time with my rifles and ammo just stored on a shelf in the basement. That was OK when I was around. This last summer, I was out of the country for a week and I was nervous about leaving the guns unprotected. One of my co-workers was on vacation for a week and came home to find their home broken into and burglarized. This toolbox made me much more comfortable.

The major problem with using a toolbox is the difficulty in reaching the items on the bottom. For obvious reasons, my rifles are on top with the ammo and other gear below. Anytime I need to fish out more 9mm, I need to remove all the rifles. The other problem is that the toolbox is too short to hold my Remington 870 with the hunting barrel. My other Remington 870 with the shorter tactical barrel fits fine.