My friends over at Archer Air Rifles has a free Air Gun FPE Calculator.
All that is required is that you have the velocity or Feet Per Second for your air gun, with a given pellet, the weight of that pellet in Grains, and the calculator will automatically calculate you FPE or Foot Pounds of Energy.
Awesome stuff.
Also, here’s copy of that calculator:
My KDP or Killer Dowel Pin Misery.
Yep, my 1997 Dodge Ram with what I thought was a trusty Cummins Diesel has done me two disfavors that are going to cost me some bucks.
The Killer Dowel Pin is used to hold the Timing Gear Case Housing in place on the crankcase of the 2nd generation Cummins 5.9 liter diesel engine. This one is known for backing out and falling into the gears where it either destroys a gear or gears, and other expense engine parts like the camshaft, or it gets thrown into the aluminum case where you end up with cracks or a hole.
If the KDP strikes and you break a case, then it’s going to cast around $300 for parts, and a lot of labor to disassemble the front of the truck so you can then pull the camshaft out and install the case, and retime the engine.
Some people get lucky and never have a problem with the KDP, others have severe engine damage, and some people get cracks or holes in the case, and others just end up with a KDP in their oil pan. I have a cracked case.
Another thing that just cost me a bunch of money is a shrinking exhaust manifold header. Yep, cast iron and they all end up shrinking, and sometimes they shrink so much they crack the header bolt tabs. Yep, mine cracked not one but three of these tabs, and this requires a new head. That’s about another $500 if you buy a cheap Chinese head. If though you already have a lot expensive upgrades you’ll probably want a new high performance head with 60lb exhaust valve springs and maybe some mild porting etc. That’s more money.
And by the time they pull out the camshaft, another $500 for a high performance cam will seem relatively cheap.
It’s enough to make you cry.
Excel Expense Report Template – This is going to sound crazy, I know.
There are a lot of accountants, and bookkeepers who process expense reports for companies the old fashioned way. The old fashioned way might include using a paper based ledger or more likely an Excel Expense Report Template.
It’s 2014 and people are still inputting data by hand, and it makes no sense to me at all. And to top it off they are using methods and work flows for gathering receipts, copying the data over to their Expense Report Template, then manually checking credit card receipts and statements against those paper receipts, getting a manager’s approval, and finally cutting a check for reimbursement. I’m left scratching my head in wonder why some folks still needlessly waste their time.
Time is Money. We’ve all heard the old adage, that you can be penny wise and pound foolish. And in this case you’ve got to wonder if people in charge of expense reports think it costs nothing to manually input data and jump through all those other hoops to pay employees back for their legitimate expenses.
How on earth do busy people get expense reports done? Simple. Use Expense Report Management Software to do the job.
By now most of the civilized humans in this country have a pretty sophisticated smart phone. Doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone or an Android, you can download a free mobile application to capture your receipts out in the field. You go out on a business trip, and photograph the dinner receipt where you entertained a client. It’s a legit business expense so record it. You could then email yourself the resulting image of the receipt, but that’s another waste of time if you have an Expense App. Open your app and use it to make the photo of your receipt, and hit the Submit button.
Your expense application will then automatically categorize your expense and load up the total. You can make notes if you desire, assign to a project etc. Any data entry is optional and determined by the administrator. It can literally be a simple couple of clicks to capture a receipt and submit for reimbursement. Back at the office the approver can immediately transfer reimbursement to your credit card or integrate with quickbooks, or Intaac or Bill.com, etc.
It’s time to ditch the expense report template and move up in the world of labor saving and automation.
Cat sat in front of the sink for a few hours, patiently watching and waiting. When she does this it’s a good sign of a rodent being present. Every time in the past when she does this, either a mouse or a rat shows up. It’s that time of year again where the critters are looking for shelter from the cold. They show up in the garage, and find their way under the house and eventually make their way to the kitchen. I imagine they are finding a gap at plumbing or electrical or gas pipes.
Of course there will be other tell tail signs that you’ve got a rodent in the house. You can sometimes hear them behind walls, or in the crawl space or even in the attic. And you’ll often find rodent droppings under the sink or beneath a nice warm spot such as a free standing range. Find the sign and put out the electronic traps.
I have two electronic rodent traps I use. The newest and not as proven is the Rat Zapper. It’s a little larger but has similar features as my other trap the Victor Electronic Rat Trap. Both promise easy clean up and no fuss no muss no mess rodent offing. The old spring powered mechanical traps often maim but not kill the rodent, and just as often if not more, make a big mess. It’s disgusting.
So under the sink goes the RatZapper, and the Victor Electronic Rodent trap. I usually put the traps parallel to the wall since rodents seem to travel around a room or cupboard in this way. They hug the perimeter, and this is where you should put your traps.
Both electronic killing machines got almonds and buttered toast as bait. I find a variety of baits work. Peanut butter, peanut butter studded with cat food, cheese, slices of apple, nuts, crackers, bread etc all do their work at one time or another. Sometimes a bait doesn’t work. Just swap it out for something else. I had one rat in the garage that was impossible to catch until I used a slice of salami to finally shock that sucker into permanent sleep.
The Rat Zapper was the trap that got its victim, a fat mouse.
See our other report on the Rat Zapper Review, and on the Victor Electronic Rat Trap and an update to my original Victor Electronic Rat Trap Review
The 2014 IRS Mileage Rate Update is here.
The IRS has changed the rules possible in response to lower gas prices, which in turn reflects lower revenue for the tax collectors.
Expense Management software companies are sure to be updating their software to show these changes.
Read more about the 2014 IRS Mileage Rate
A related article on IRS Record Keeping can be found on the Tallie Blog. This is really good information on best practices for record keeping as it relates to small and large business practices.
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