So, I took a trip a few weeks back and ate some dirty, filthy, evil carbs. I came home, got back on my very paleo/keto/whatever diet and instantly felt better. However, I have abandoned my spreadsheet and I am messing around with my diet to see what new things I like. I figured out how to make a bad ass keto-friendly frappuccino. I have been enjoying more nuts and berries (like a f*&king bear) and I am on a meat kick. Which bring me to "steak week 2016"
I think we can all agree that someone at the Discovery Channel Network needs a stern talking to about how crappy "shark week" has become. They've got one of the coolest, most awesome predators on the planet and the scientists who chase them but that's not a "winning combination". No, they would rather give us "reality TV" with sharks. Fake-ass overly dramatic crap designed to draw in the brain dead {insert name of random popular reality TV show here} fans.
Calm yourself, Norris. We talked about how no one wants to hear you make the long, rambling, unrelated introductions to short, hollow statements that are basically you justifying your behavior.
I'm sorry, you're right, Norris. I'll get to the point.
I have upped my protein this week by eating more meat. It started like normal with a steak on Saturday but then I found some great thick cut bone-in pork chops for Sunday. they were so good I went back to the store, got more and had them for Monday. While at the store I found a large pack of bone-in ribeyes on sale and decided to try a steak every day this week. I am calling it STEAK WEEK! (In honor of another weak long celebration of a great meat eater). The real experiment here is to see how I do on meat each night. I have had digestive issues in the past from red meat night after night. But I am 3 steaks in with no problems.
I am also down to 190 pounds and riding my bicycle more each week. More push ups, more sit ups, and less sleeping. I feel different. I had to make an adjustment to my bicycle seat and boy did it make a difference. I was able to ride 30 miles non-stop without any leg discomfort or numbness. That's good because I am riding my bicycle to work a couple days each week now. That's 25 miles per day. I want to work up to 100 miles per week this summer but we'll see what happens.
So, more steak, more exercise. What else is there more of you ask?
How about crazy projects?
This is an MRAP That stands for "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected". It's a 18ton monster designed to keep you alive on the inside when everything goes to Hell on the outside. It was something we desperately needed when we invaded Afghanistan and then we may have spent $50 billion on them. I don't want to get into the military spending argument so let's move on.
The reason I have an MRAP squeezed under the eave of my fab shop is that I designed a winch controlled battering ram to go on the front of it and my buddy Dave is actually fabricating and installing it.
We are actually building two of these for two different MRAPs owned by two different local & state law enforcement agencies and that's what I want to talk about because, to be honest, I don't know how I feel about law enforcement having vehicles like this in my area. Before I get in to that let's handle a few details. This was purchased under the US DoD 1033 Program which allows law enforcement agencies to purchase "excess military equipment for civilian law enforcement use." The law enforcement agencies seem to pay very little if anything for the vehicles, which is good since we already paid for them. (actual sticker from the driver's door panel)
This vehicle isn't going to waste or being dumped into the sea like after Vietnam (however, read the section of the wiki page about the ones left in Afghanistan). They also won't be depending on a moth balled fleet of old unused vehicles the next time our troops need them but instead they are hard at work on the new joint light tactical vehicle
So I guess it's good that something built to be used is being used. So why am I bothered that a local law enforcement agency has such a vehicle? Why am I bothered that thousands of law enforcement agencies have them? That might be a better conversation for it's own post but if you have that gut feeling that there's something wrong with this I want you to know that I have looked into the faces of life long law enforcement personnel as this project has progressed and and they LOVE this thing. I'm not sure I understand everything I know about this yet.