The computer has decided to not play nicely with the printer. I hate it when this happens. I need to print out some more business cards. I would really like to break away from this nasty habit and get some cards professionally printed, but I’m not settled enough on a design to commit to 1000+ cards just yet. Thus far, I’ve been printing on Avery’s smooth-edge business cards with an old HP LaserJet. The printer does a nice job, but it needs a good cleaning at the moment.

Things that I like about this printer are that it’s been incredibly simple to use, and it runs well. It was manufactured in February of 2002. It has logged 22,573 prints in its lifetime. Of those twenty-two and a half thousand pages printed, the errors are well under a hundred. The system only stores the fifty most recent errors, but it was under that number when we purchased it used, several years ago. I’d like to completely tear it down, clean it out, install new, HP-branded supplies, clean the duplexor, and upgrade the ram. Then, it would be like a new one again. We bought the printer at a garage sale for $100 after confirming that it did indeed function. The toner cartridges were each under 10% remaining, but we still got many hundreds of prints out of them before we had to order new cartridges. We went ahead with remanufactured cartridges from a third-party supplier (which I have regretted), and it has largely run well. The price was kind of ludicrous. We were planning on picking up a color laser printer, and had planned on spending a few hundred dollars for a new one. When we found the big HP for $100, we kind of had to do it.

Plug it into the network, and it works. Mostly. When we first set it up, we had to tell it which network it was on, and we had to override DHCP a couple of times to get it to IP correctly. There are reasons that most households don’t see a printer like this one. For one, you’ve got to have a decent working knowledge of networking to get full functionality out of this beast. Secondly, they are big and heavy. Lastly, you can’t usually get a working example for $100. It has been running smoothly and trouble-free for quite a while now. Well, up until now, actually.

Over the weekend, it became clear that this was going to be a busy week for me. I’ve got quite a bit of work lined up to get done, and I’ve got several deadlines to meet. I gave out the last of my business cards over the weekend, so I hopped on the computer last night to print out some new ones. That’s when the trouble started.

Open Office was very sluggish opening my business card files. In fact, it acted as if it was freezing up. So, I shut everything down, restarted and tried again. Similar results. Ran a full scan with Spybot S&D and tried again. Now, Open Office will open my files (slowly). Good enough. When I went to print, it told me that the printer was not present. I tried to print from Adobe reader instead with the same results. I also tried from Notepad.

I’m running M$ Windon’t XPee SP3 on a FrankenDell with a P4HT and somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.25-Gb Ram. I opened up Printers & Faxes to see if I could diagnose the ‘missing’ printer from there. When I asked for properties on the printer in question, I was informed that the printer was missing.

I logged into the router via Opera and checked for DHCP clients. There, I can see the printer. I pinged the printer by IP just to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious. Four sent, four received, nice fast connection, no problems. I shut off the printer and restarted it. I deleted the printer from the computer and attempted to reinstall it. In the printer installation wizard, I specified the printer by IP address, and the computer gave me an error, saying that it couldn’t find the printer there.

At this point, I’m at a loss. If I can ping the printer, why can’t I connect to it? I’m hoping that I haven’t screwed Windon’t up to the point that I’m due for a fresh install. I don’t have time to be monkeying on this crap. This week even more so than the last few, I need to be a designer, artist, and craftsman. Not a network sysadmin chasing ghosts in the ethernet.

It just figures, doesn’t it?

To both my readers – I’m sorry. I haven’t been a very good blogger lately. If you have been following my rants, you both probably know that I haven’t been very good at keeping up with my online presence. You probably also know that I’ve been working – A LOT!!!!! If you haven’t, you can pretty much catch up on the antics here or here. If you haven’t already, GO, READ!

As you can already tell from the preceding, I’ve been worked really hard over the course of the last month’s time. I’ve been on my feet on a shop floor for a good ten hours a day. This is no excuse for my absence in my blogging, but I hope that you will forgive me and understand that there has been some other pressure.

I learned a lot at Appleseed when we went, but it was a real disaster to me in the present state of things. It was a real lifter to Jenni, and you can read about it here. Once again, I learned A LOT. If I skip the part about my failure (or my lack of mastery) can I skip on to the part about bad equipment without guilt? Frankly, I feel like the equipment challenges forced me to learn a whole lot more than the other students of the workshop. This won’t be my last Appleseed, as I WANT THAT PATCH!!!!!!!!

Jenni and I are still in the one-income mindset for some reason. This means that we’ve been living on the cheap (a.k.a. like poor people), and I’ve been working a lot of hours, and dragging the cash home. So, we found ourselves with a household export deficiency.

When Christmas was coming around, we had this grand idea that we were going to have a gunny Christmas. The fat man was going to come down our non-existent chimney with a bag full of shooty goodness, and he was going to leave a precision air rifle for the kiddo, a DAO Beretta PX4 Storm .45 for Jenni, and a Saiga 12 for Your’s Truly. But, that didn’t happen. Life got in the way, and we took care of life instead. We made it right for the kiddo, but we vowed that we’d take care of each other later.

Valentine’s Day came and went. I was unemployed. This weekend, we found ourselves together with a little excess cash. So, we took care of each other. We found a great Nikon camera that Jenni couldn’t go on without, and we made our way to the range to return some loaner gear to my friend, Will.

While we were at the range, I looked over that 12-gauge AK that I’ve been imagining owning. They didn’t have the exact model that I’d like to own, the price was a little higher than I remembered, and I was thinking of all the mods I’d have to do to it before I loved it. So, after much deliberation I didn’t go that route. Instead, I bought a brand new Smith & Wesson M&P45c.

“Why that particular gun?” you might ask. Well, I’ve been a fan of Smith & Wesson since I’ve been even fascinated by guns. They haven’t let me down yet. Jenni has the 9mm equivalent of this gun, and although I was thinking about getting a nine, it made more sense for me to get a different caliber if I was getting the same model – and I don’t believe in .40 or .357 Sig. Bang for the buck, it’s really hard to argue with S&W’s M&P guns. They’re really fantastic firearms for the green they command.

While at the range, I rented a S&W M&P45 full-sized model, just to get the feel for the thing. The rental gun was well-abused, with many thousands of careless rounds put through it. And, its countenance showed it. The sucker was visibly mal-handled as a lifestyle. The polymer frame was warped away from the muzzle, and everything in it that could rattle was. And yet, it returned fuzzy hole after fuzzy hole in the way of groups. The gun felt remarkably solid in the hand and all actions were consistent – safety, slide, trigger, etc.

Smith & Wesson is currently offering a $50 or two-free mags mail-in rebate on this line of guns, so the economics made perfect sense. I went to the young man who had showed me the Saiga and broke the news that I would not be buying that shotgun – but asked him if he would sell me a pistol instead.

Over the weekend, Jenni and I took the little big bore to the range. She performed perfectly over the course of 200-rounds. I resisted the urge to be horribly stingy, and let Jenni shoot her a few times. Although the users weren’t perfect, the equipment itself performed flawlessly. There were fuzzy groups returned when we shot our wellest, and adequate-to-kill-teh-BG for our worstest of shooting.

This evening, when Jenni was out to church choir, I walked down to the range at the corner and picked up some defensive .45. It’s the Bonded PDX – or whatever bullet, as loaded by Winchester. Now, I need to work myself into my holster-making schedule. My real customers come first, but this girl will have a name and be riding in good leather in no time flat!

Jenni has taken some very impressive pictures with her new camera, and the new pistol shoots wonderfully. So, for a VERY late Christmas present, Jenni took some nice shots at my new pistol. I very wisely did not reciprocate. There are pics of the new gun which will come out shortly, but you aren’t missing anything as it looks like a very generic, polymer, striker-fired auto-chucker.

So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Merry Christmas to both my readers!

At work, I’ve been getting spam from what appears to be some kind of Russian dating site. I obviously have not followed the link, for fear of contracting some kind of digital disease. But, I’ve been giggling at the messages in the emails as I peruse my “Junk E-mail” folder. Here are a couple of gems:

Subject line:

If you are disappointed in its second half, bold, come in!

..and the body text:

I can do for you is – what can not no girl! Step to enter [web link redacted]

It cracks me up when spambot girls speak engrish! She sounds like a LOLcat!

Here’s another:

Subject line:

You feel lonely? “I’m too lonely, a friend of the other company?

(I love the superlative quotation mark!)

And, the body text:

Hey, why do not you write? You forgot about me? “I am very unhappy without you, remember me?” It’s me, Olga from Russia, Moscow, remember? I’m waiting for you on his page on the Internet, and miss you terribly!

Um… Olga *shuddering at the mental image of the woman that this name evokes* – srsly NOT interested!!! Whose page are you waiting on again? Maybe you should hit ‘him’ up. I prefer my women less digital and more familiar to me. In fact, I prefer my women in the singular, and I’m really quite happy actually. Thanks anyway.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve got two new links on my blogroll!

Falinfenix, who has commented on my blog on several occasions (and whose comments are always welcome) writes a pretty darned good blog herself – even if not frequently. She still writes more often than some of the others on my blogroll. And, you know who you are!

I have no idea why Lorimor has not been on my blogroll. That’s weird, actually. Welcome aboard, anyway!

To my two readers: Go. Read. Enjoy.

p. s. – OrangeNeck in NY still needs to write his own blog. We should put pressure on him at every opportunity!

Bbbbbblllllllaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

This really sucks! I’ve got some upcoming material, but nothing that I can really write about right now. On top of that, I’ve been a little preoccupied lately. That certainly hasn’t done well for my blogging motivation! Needles to say, Jen has been working through some issues (at a startling rate, I might add), and I’ve been facing my own demons since they tend to be intertwined with hers. Perhaps one day I’ll feel brave enough for full disclosure on such things. That might be good…

Anyway, I’m looking forward to writing up my post on this wacky, new holster that I’m making for my sister-in-law! I finished the structural forming and did some structural testing last night. The good news is that it works! It holds the gun very stable and the draw and reholster are quite quick and easy. The scheme is pink and purple, so she’ll love wearing it, and it shows off a lot of gun! The bad news is that the belt-loops are TIGHT!!!! My brother will probably have to help her get dressed when she wears the thing, at least until the leather softens up enough that it isn’t a fight to put on a belt. Also, it’s no CCW holster. It doesn’t retain well enough to keep it away from a BG, but I don’t know how much value there is in that anyway. It very decisively does not pull the gun in, so the butt prints in anything short of a very heavy coat. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post pics of the finished product soon.

Jen recently suggested that I write up a review on S&W’s 586 L-Comp, as I carry two of the suckers every day. Of course, I blinked at her and asked her why I hadn’t thought of that. I am looking forward to writing said post, but I’m going to need some fresh pics to do that. It’s been rainy and nasty, and I haven’t had a chance to clean and oil them, and any other excuse that I can think of to cover my laziness… I’ll get on that before too terribly long. I’d like to get some good range pics for that post. If all goes well, I should be able to get some this weekend.

Anyway, I know it’s been a little dry. Anybody care to loan me another gun to review on here?

p. s. – Oh, I almost forgot! I’m still looking for a sewing machine. Juki makes one that I need to spend some more demo time on, but I think it will do what I want it to. I’ll let you know how that comes out. If/when I do buy a machine, I’m going to have to get rid of some crap and do some rearranging. (I hate housework!)

Jenni and I are working hard at setting up a new website for my gunleather pages. So, you will no longer need to go to “http://evylrobot.com/?page_id=212″ to get there. The domains that will point to the new page will include, “evylrobotgunleather.com” and “theholstersite.com.” From here, the link should work exactly the same as it does now, just taking you to the improved, dedicated website instead of to page 212 on this site. I’m obviously not live now, but it shouldn’t be long.

The point of all this is that I’m testing the waters in going more full-time with the holster making. Setting up a dedicated web page is a fairly nominal investment towards that end. We shall see how this goes! Wish me luck and check back often!

Both of you have read my recent post, in which I talked about my tied top three search terms. In the same vein, I decided to have a little search engine fun. I know that when I do a Google or Yahoo! search for ‘evyl robot’, it very reliably leads to me. Whether that’s my current blog, my old blog, where I’ve commented on other people’s blogs or interwebtron forum thingies, etc. Anyway, I got curious about searching for ‘evyl’ and thought I’d give it a whirl. As it turns out, I’m not nearly as original as I thought! In a Yahoo! search for ‘evyl’, I don’t even make the first page of results! Rather, I’m on the fifth hit on the third page of search results, bested by the likes of Evyl Clothing Company (NSFW and under construction), Emerald Valley Youth Lacrosse (LOL!), a couple of illustrious myspace profiles, blogs I’ve never heard of, and some other random stuff.

The Google search for ‘evyl’ is a little less demoralizing to me, as I come in solidly at the sixth hit on the first page. I’m right underneath Dr. Evyl’s Underground Lair 3.0 (under construction), From Evyl With Love (a vulgar and occasional blogger), one post by the aforementioned From Evyl which seems to be his contribution to some online rolling story, and then two links to Mystress Lady Evyl’s website and blog. Apparently, she does a lot of workshops and sells a lot of paraphernalia related to BDSM and… …how shall we say… …toys.

So, it seems that I’ve got my work cut out for me. I have to make my interwebtron presence more prevalent than online church magazines, websites under construction, and children’s sports teams. I’d like to thank both of my readers for sticking with me, because I couldn’t have made it this far without you! Now, I look to the future!

In the analytics service that I use on my blog, it tracks keywords that people have used to find my blog in search engines. I just brought up my cumulative results since I started keeping track, just for funsies. The results are fascinating. In a 3-way tie for the most prolific search terms:

evyl robot
cobra derringer holster
j frame holster

I’m actually pretty relieved that so many people who found me in a search engine actually meant to do just that. As for the other two, I think it’s really telling that there’s so much interest in these particular holsters. I suppose I understand the interest in J frame holsters, as the S&W J frame is so incredibly prevalent for personal defense. Add to that the fact that a Taurus snubby will fit in a J frame holster as if it was made for it. On a first impulse, I would think that people would be wanting 1911 holsters more than anything else. Then again, 1911 holsters aren’t exactly difficult to come by. I’m going to have to get one of those Cobra Derringers so I can start making more holsters for them. (Now for some eye candy!) This one little holster has generated a staggering amount of attention, and I know I could make a far better one at this point:

And then, there are the J frame holsters that I’ve done. I love J frame holsters! The very platform is so solid and compact that it is a great carry piece, and the right holster makes carry options virtually limitless! Here’s the original purple cross-draw that my wife carried for so long, and her beloved ‘pinky’ that replaced it:

And then, there’s the deep-cover semi-SOB belt holsters in red and ‘fabulage’. These have been a huge hit as well!

The bottom line is this: I need to get a Cobra Derringer and I need to focus more of my time developing holsters for it and for S&W J frames.

If you attempted to access my blog earlier this evening, and it wasn’t there, it really wasn’t there. I (and by ‘I’ I mean my wife) just upgraded my install of Wordpress to avoid worms. Apparently, there’s some kind of bad security breach on the older versions. As you should know by now, I’ll have some other fun stuff posted in no time flat. Sorry for the inconvenience. Happy reading! Yours always,

–E. R.

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