Perennial Complaint

I’ve often bitched about the high cost of .22 Mag / .22 WMR ammo before — and yes, I know it’s all driven by its (non-)popularity, which drives its price up.

And yes, I’ve also been an ardent supporter of the rimfire cartridge (not that it’s helped at all) because it just adds a little extra reach to the .22 LR:  the Long Rifle bullet just flat-out runs out of steam past 50 yards, whereas its magnum counterpart is still providing some oomph at 75 yards and further.

“Okay Kim, but you’re only getting about 25% more performance, so you should expect to pay more.”

I know, and I accept that.  I would even be prepared to pay double the cost of .22 LR for the added performance of the .22 WMR.  But it’s not that, not even close to it.

Right now, premium .22 LR (but not target, which is a lot more expensive) is going for about (say) 7-8 cents per round.

WMR?  Here’s Eric’s Christmas sale price:


…which, while an excellent deal, still works out to 32 cents per round, or over four times the cost of .22 LR.  And that’s just not worth it, as much as my trigger finger tries to persuade me to throw the old MasterCard at the thing*.

So my much-loved Marlin SSV is going to have to remain idle for a while longer… [sigh]


* The Hornady V-Max, by the way, is absolutely wonderful, and will easily reduce even a fox or coyote to a bag of fur and bones at up to 75 yards.  The stuff I have on hand cost me a ton (more than 32 cents each, more like 50), but it has been an excellent and consistent performer.

Accumulated Knowledge

Background:  I once worked for an ad agency that had among its clients Vidal Sassoon, and from them I learned all the secrets of the trade.  Below is just a sample.

At its most basic level, shampoo is just a detergent.  Like all detergents, it takes away oils and greases.  Unlike your average kitchen dishwashing detergent, however, it’s very “gentle” — which means it has been severely diluted and therefore, on a cost per fluid ounce / milliliter basis, it outpaces Biden-priced gasoline.  This is particularly true if you buy the “premium” brands (e.g. with French names).

Technically, you could use simple bodywash (also expensive) or even a bar soap like Zest to wash your hair, although it’s a little harsh if your hair is normally thin and fragile.  However (and this leads into our sub-topic), what really counts, if you care for your hair at all, is not the detergent you use but the conditioner.

This is way more important than your shampoo, and a good conditioner will make your hair healthier than will some VO5-type budget conditioner — although, as with all things, budget conditioners work extremely well for some people because their hair responds to it better than to others, even expensive ones.

The more aggressive / cheaper your shampoo, the more money you’ll have to spend on conditioner.

So what do I use?  The cheapest shampoo (generally to be found on the bottom shelf at Kroger, with the lowest cost per ounce) and a mid-range conditioner like Pantene Pro-V.  But I have thick, healthy and wavy (not curly) hair, and I never use a blowdryer.  Also, I wash my hair about every other day, and use conditioner once a week only.

YMMV.


Addendum:  if you’re bald or wear your hair in a don’t-care buzz cut, you are obviously disqualified from commenting on this section, in that your opinions are like those of a cave-dwelling hermit about TV shows, or John Kerry about guns.

News Roundup

Let’s start off with a little news about Global Warming Climate Cooling Change©:


...keyword:  Australia.


...so we ban people, then?  Or wait:  if we can reduce Glueball Wormening by a little judicious population pruning, I gotta list.


...and the loss in oil-related revenues will be made up from…?

From the Great Cultural Assimilation Project comes this:



…ummm if yer gonna slag off Jews, you might not want to do it in Miami.  And this just in from Church Chronicles, Islam Division:


...yeah, we all know that ain’t no way to treat a lady — I guess the Muzzies just didn’t get the memo.

In LGBTOSTFU News:


...any bets on the length of his/her jail time, if any?  Anybody?  Bueller?

And in the Dept. of Education:


...see above.

From the Health Department:


...so the choice is:  die or become a vegetable?


...as opposed to down your throat?

Economics News:


...and not just during the holidays, Sparky.


...so Japs are playing the long game in the Let’s Conquer America thing, then.

Further Immigration News:


...fucking hell, if California has become too skanky for Nikki Sixx...

And a Christmas piece:


...could that be a metaphor about the death of Christmas?  I report, you decide.

And in link-free INSIGNIFICA:

 

And in Liz News:


...it’s been a while.  I’m sorry...

That should do, for a while anyway.  Still one of the better ways to show the end of the news.