Dave Ambrose

The forum software keeps track of most recent postings. It's how the topics are ordered in their listing. For various reasons, I can't just take this off. The question is how short can I make it without badly impacting legitimate usage? We may get a preview function with the new version of the forum software. I will ask.

I didn't know the subject line no longer editable after the timeout. OK. Bear with me. I'll make some modifications but it will take a week or so.

Wow. I didn't know that so many people were doing this. I thought it was just me. I made some changes. The post is now locked 45 minutes after creation. I can lengthen that out, but I don't want to turn it off altogether.

Welcome back, Nick. I'm going to move you over to the welcome section, where you can be greeted properly.

I keep thinking a paint topic would be a good idea. But, we have to be very careful not to create too many categories or nobody will find anything.

I think this has run its course, and like the Airing of Grievances at Festivus, needs to come to an end. Religion and politics have always been forbidden here, even as humor. First, they aren't relevant to model cars. Second, they are topics that generate a lot of contention, and rarely have what could be considered correct and verifiable answers. You can generally assume that if it has the picture of a current or past POTUS, it's political. If you're in doubt, ask a mod first. If you want those kinds of discussions, there are plenty of other places to have them. I would remind people that while criticizing behavior is nominally allowed, it should be done with kindness and care. There is a very fine line between that and an ad hominum* attack which will get you in plenty of hot water with the moderators. *I highly recommend this Wikipedia article. Paul Graham's hierarchy of argument is very useful for characterizing both your own behavior, and that of others.

-33 is just brutal. I’m in the San Diego area. We bundle up and shiver piteously whenever the air temperature drops below 50 F.

I built this paint shelf a few years ago. I should have made some of the shelves a half inch taller, but otherwise, it's worked out well.

Yes, please stay safe. I've been in -20F and that was bad enough. My face hurt every time I went outside. Good thing we build models. I'd go nuts cooped up in a house for days on end. Events like this that make me so glad I made certain choices. Many years ago, I needed a job. Silicon Valley was dead. Nobody hiring and those that were hiring acted like zombies. We were going to have to move anyway, so we threw the search open nationwide. Got offers in Wisconsin, Toronto, and San Diego, California. We chose San Diego mostly for financial reasons; thinking we'd move back to the bay area in a few years. About this time of year, I had to turn on the air conditioning. Right about that time, our move-back plans started to disintegrate. 26 years later, I'm still glad we came here.

I've been using Humbrol 90, Beige Green. It seems to be very close, though perhaps a little light.

Got some of the new Testor's color change paint. As soon as we get some humidity in the air, I'm going to try it on a spoon. Planning to use it on a sci-fi build.

As many of you know, Gregg has had chronic back and neck pain for more than a few years. He had surgery number 8 on Jan 4th to test-implant a spinal stimulator to relieve his pain without drugs. That test worked well, and while they had to remove the temporary unit, he goes in for a permanent implant on February 19th. Overall, I think this warrants cautious optimism. In the meantime, he's working on the next MCM issue, which will be the special contest issue. It will go to all the subscribers when mailed. I'll keep you all posted as I get information. Thanks for being patient.

Funny you should ask. I just scored something that definitely falls into that category; an Everything is Go kit from Revell. These have been going for somewhat absurd prices on eBay. This one was reasonable. The other thing wanted, but mostly didn't have, was a cat. I now have one of those. There is a nice cat bed on the other end of the table.

Sorry Mike, I'm taking the last word on this. There has been some commentary on whether the board will go belly up. If at all possible, I won't let that happen. I can step in, and take over. I would certainly do so if it becomes necessary, and if I'm capable. I may need a Gofundme page, but I'm pretty sure I could manage to make it work. All bets are off is I cash in my karma first. Gregg has been having severe health issues. I don't know when the next magazine will come out, but I can tell you it isn't for lack of desire.

Irfanview will reduce images too, and it's a good bit easier to use than GIMP.

I doubt that. You're smart enough to build model cars. That already makes you smarter than most people. I've been having some of that lately too. :-)

I just fixed a database problem. Please let me know if you see any more of these.

I just fixed a database problem. Give it another try and let me know if it works.

Yes, I'm looking at it. Reloading the page seems to fix the problem. What browsers are you using? I'm having the problem with Chrome, but not Safari.

A few random thoughts -- I used to frequently SCUBA dive off the coast of San Diego. I almost always came across trash. I usually grab it and bring it back with me. Plastic bags were the worst. Turtles mistake them for the jellyfish they like to eat and die because the plastic isn't digestible and blocks their intestine. I just had this, and it would be an awful way to go. Something similar happens with straws. We're coastal, and that's a big part of why single use bags are banned now. Straws are now by request only. Neither are big burdens. Looks like San Diego is going to ban polystyrene take-out containers. I think that'll be a good thing too. We don't see much of that while diving because it floats, and we don't want to float. But, it's a big item at beach cleanups. I also saw a lot of fishing gear in some places while diving. Fishermen lose it, and have no way to get it back. I usually cut that stuff lose and bring it back with me. Surfboards have largely switched from old style polyurethane foams and polyester resin to polystyrene foam and epoxy resin. Much nicer in a lot of ways, in large part because the boards are a lot lighter. Polystyrene doesn't use a lot of toxic chemicals in its production process. This is vastly superior to the polyurethane foams that preceded it. It does need different construction methods that took a while to develop. The plastic injection molding companies in the LA area have all fitted traps on their building to capture stray pellets that were making their way into the storm drains. We're not perfect, or even good, but we're improving. Hopefully in time, or there will be some very posh sections of town underwater.

Maintenance is complete. We reorganized the topics a bit. How-tos, along with Questions and Answers got moved into the General section where we think they'll be more visible. You should see generally faster page loading too. There's more to come, but today looks like a success. Whew!

I don’t have any restrictions set, but maybe it doesn’t work right. Let’s revisit this after I update the forum software.

What's the name of the file? I know the forum has problems with embedded spaces in the file names. If it doesn't have any of these, then perhaps the type is the problem. If it's a legitimate fily type, I can add it to the list of allowed file types.

I really like that car. I've never been a big fan of the big grill Mercs, but this front end is both subtle and effective. The rest of the car delights my eyeballs too.