Utility Room Karma

Great. Bought the new clothe washer 'cause the old one leaked. Went down this morning and found water all over the basement floor. Ran the wishdasher last night and the anti-backflow valve failed, filling the new washer with dirty dishwater. Fortunately, I had left the door ajar, as per instructions to prevent mildew, so it didn't overfill.

Hopefully, the valve just needed leveling, which I have already done. Will keep check to make certain.

Strange Events

Was shooting this afternoon (still breaking in the P250, which continues to slowly improve after 400 rounds) and the young LEO next to me bragged about his M-1911. When he shot it, however, it jammed after just three rounds. The empties had landed near my feet, and while he tried to clear the gun I glanced down. And immediately called for him to stop. Because that last empty was only the back half of a .45 ACP cartridge. The rest was stuck in the chamber.

It was a clean separation, not quite even all the way around. The shot had sounded normal, and the partial cartridge had ejected cleanly. The ammunition was Winchester White Box.

That was the first such incident either of us had seen in a combination of over forty years of shooting, and was with a major brand name ammunition.

Fantasy Novel Excerpt

Excerpt from a fantasy novel in progress:

"Real things are independent of observation," said Llewellyn. "They have ontological inertia. If you go away, they're still there. Things of pure magic - as opposed to real things altered by magic - do not. Once the magic is over, they're over. Most magical changes to real things also only last as long as the magic lasts. To make a permanent change requires a magical effect different from such things as disguise or shapechanging spells. That is one reason major healing spells are so difficult. You are removing infection, knitting flesh. Ironically, some of the simplest spells also make permanent changes. Mend. Move. Multi-volume works have been written on how spells with permanent effects are different from those which cause only temporary effects."