You can still buy a Sovereign? Proof is in the pudding, I now own one.

I was in a hard place, and I really wanted a new Autococker.  The last one I bought was a Chinese after run of the dye ultralight series... and while the Dye guns were trash, the Chinese ones are worse.

As of yesterday, I'm the proud owner of a Blue Sterling Sovereign. Yes, it's blue.  My paintball stuff is always blue.

I ordered it directly from the people here: http://www.powerball.co.uk/Sterling_pump_guns_sovereign.html  And paid full price.  With shipping, it cost me a few cents more than $300
Shipping was quick, three days to my door. 

See, seriously, made in england.

The pretty side.


The working side.


So here are the important bits:
Sliding trigger.
Wire nubbin detent.
WGP inline reg clone.
The ram is part of the bolt.



I did a unboxing, and kinda sorta review of it. 


I haven't shot it yet, that will need to wait for the weekend.  I have half a case of paint, and a chronograph, so we can really see what the gun does.

An unconventional Dishwasher Install

If it wasn't obvious by now, I have an unusual house.  It was originally built in 1949, and has had one or a few moderate remodels and reconfigurations over the years.  I'll cover some more of those in other posts. 

The kitchen has one of those "all in one" cast steel kitchen sinks, on a metal set of cabinets.  This, does not lend itself to a dishwasher install.  Especially with that steel cabinet butting up against the stove and a lazy susan in the corner. 

So.. that really leaves a portable dishwasher.  And.. as a gift, the household received one this year.  But portable dishwashers make me angry.  First, I don't like rolling a mini-fridge around the kitchen every time I want to run a load.  Second, they tie up the sink while they're running.  Third they tie up the middle of the kitchen. 

... Long story short, I wasn't having it.

Now, what my house DOES have, is a central utility closet.  In that closet there's the HVAC, water heater, and importantly, a utility sink.  The back of which faces exactly where I want to have my dishwasher. 

Well that means I have hot water, and a drain to hook up to.  Sounds easy doesn't it?  Well... in theory, yes.  But there were a few stumbling blocks.  First, since this dishwasher was the portable model, it didn't come with standard hoses.  And as we discovered, the fittings on the machine itself are non standard. 

That led to this:

Spliced hoses.  Those don't really instill confidence.  At least the hoses "I" provided are good.  The black hose is the hot water supply, and that is a washing machine hose.  The drain is normal fiber reinforced drain line.

Those run behind the fridge, to a hole we drilled.  And they pop out here:

I love how the spacing worked out.

While we're on this side of the wall, lets take a look at the supply line and return line.

See all that copper?  That's a result of all of the galvanized pipe being a big pile of problems.  I'll post about that some other time.  Lets just say that in the next year, I'm going all copper. 

I am quite proud of my hose clip.  That blue wire used to be a clothes hanger.  My buddy picked up the 90 deg pex clip to make it point in the right direction. 

And here's what the dishwasher looks like in it's proper place.  The top is being used for drink storage because.. well.. it's not rolling anywhere.

Not bad if you ask me. 

The Slow Carb Diet - Tim Ferriss's the 4 hour body.

First things first, I must give credit to the original author.  And here's a link to his original blog post:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/

Now we have that out of the way.  Here's the program with the fat trimmed.  (This is aimed specifically at one friend of mine, who's having trouble, uh... swallowing the plan.  I suppose I am too.)  This is trimmed down from about 30 pages from Ferriss's 4 hour body book. 

Follow all of this six days in a row:

Rule 1: Avoid white carbohydrates.  Or anything that can be white.  (potatoes, bread, rice, etc..)

Rule 2: Eat the same few meals over and over again. 

Rule 3: Don't drink calories.  Also, stay away from aspartame, as that can trick the body into acting as if something sweet was eaten.

Rule 4: Don't eat fruit. 

And on the seventh day, go nuts.  Eat a case of oranges.  Eat everything in sight.  Importantly, you CAN NOT skip the weekly cheat day.  It's important to keep your body from switching to starvation mode, and attempting to store calories again.

Some important notes: 

Since you're consuming mostly veggies and meat, you'll run into some problems.  First, protien, and veggies are less calorie dense.  A slice of bread is 75-150 calories, while a similar serving of spinach is more like 7 calories.  If you don't eat enough, you'll feel lazy, and tired.

Fat an salt are ok to consume. 

You will gain weight on your cheat day.  As much as 12lbs.  Most of it is water weight, and water that gets pulled in to process the mass of carbohydrates you sucked in.  If you feel the need, positive progress can be made if you have two cheat days a week.  Progress will be slower, but you will most likely still see progress

How about a quick list of foods that are ok:

Meat, anything really.  Pork, Beef, Chicken, Fish.  Breading is a no-no.  Sweet sauces are a no-no. 
Eggs, ideally organic. 

Veggies: Spinach, Asparagus, Peas, Green Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Sauerkraut, Kimchee, Avocados, Tomatoes, Onion.

Beans: Lentils (Dal, Daal), Pinto Beans, Black beans, Red Beans, Soybeans

Some sample meals from Tim:
Breakfast: Pourable egg whites, with one real egg, black beans, and mixed veggies heated and scrambled in a pyrex container.
Lunch: (Mexican restaurant) Beef, pinto beans, mixed veggies, and a lot of guacamole.
Dinner: A cut of organic beef, lentils, mixed veggies. 

A specific example that was brought to my attention was subway.  I can't say I have a recommendation for there, but along the same lines Jimmy Johns has their Unwich, which you could potentially order that doesn't have the bread.  Sadly, you'd need to order two if you planned on not having a hunger strike before the end of the day. 

A Chipolte meal:  Fajita Bol - peppers, onions, steak, tomato salsa, green tomatillo salsa, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce.  (For the reader in question... take a Lactaid pill first.) 

And.. I'll add my specific recipes to this as I get going.  My friend wants to lose his gut, I want to be competitive on the bicycle.  Both would be solved by following this diet... I think.

While we at it, here's the Wikipedia link.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow-Carb_Diet