Originally Factory Default. But after several surgeries and I’m forced to use the CLI to manually intervene to pee now, it has completely broken and is meaningless.

You are of course correct. I just didn’t want to get too far off on a tangent. So I left that for you to teach. ;)

If you look at the shooting records complied by the FBI, for civilian self-defense where shots are fired, in the majority of encounters 4 or less shots are fired. At that point, everyone is running away like they got somewhere else to be or they are down and bleeding out. Because, as it turns out, no one wants to get shot. So a 6 shot revolver is still actually pretty viable for self-defense. Hell, a brace of flintlock pistols might be enough…

In any case, no matter what gun you choose, you are correct - get training, practice, practice, practice. And always remember that if it ever actually comes down to it -You only have one job. Survive the encounter to get away. That’s it.

While much depends on how a weapon fits and feels while using it, an honest appraisal of your abilities and your commitment to practice and where you think you will use that firearm for defense.

While the .357 magnum is still considered the best “one shot man stopper” round even yet today, the bulk and weight of a revolver chambered in .357 coupled with the heavier recoil makes it less appealing to most shooters. Plus it is a lot more expensive to practice with. The current standard handgun thinking is 9mm is the correct choice. It’s popular with militarizes around the world because it’s cheaper to make and it’s easier to train raw recruits in a reasonable amount if time to be at least adequate in it’s use. That also tend to hold true for civilians.

A “nightstand gun” vs “carry guns” is another issue. A home defense gun that doesn’t get carried can be larger and heavier than one you might want to regularly carry. Carrying a pistol can be a pain in the ass after a long day.

Think about where you might need to use that gun. A home defense gun in an urban area or inside an apartment, over penetration is a serious issue. A lot of rounds can easily go through walls and kill someone sleeping on the other side. The .357 is one of them and 9mm is not a lot better either. Oddly enough, the 5.56 rifle round, when tested, tends to penetrate walls less often than many self-defense handgun rounds - YMMV. An AR15 could be the safest choice for many.

My personal choice for a self-defense handgun is a 9mm SIG P365XL, (no safety version). It fits my XXL hand very well, points naturally when acquiring the target, and I like the flat trigger and sights. My wife prefers the S&W 9mm EZ, (manual safety plus grip safety). She likes the fit and the slightly less muzzle flip between shots.

You haven’t seen much of the US from ground level have you. There are more and more panel farms being built on good farm land. Sizes ranging from 10 to 40 acres at a time from all the ones I’ve seen.

It might seem small to you, but it does add up.

Yeah, when it comes time to do tillage, that’s WILL constrain the directions you can till the ground. Generally, you really want to till at an angle to the direction of planting to break soil compaction better. And to get the proper trash mix into the soil to prevent erosion.

Not a good idea…

Might as well. The city has already paved over the prime farm land.

[]https://distrowatch.com

I never said that you can’t divide liters into fractional parts. Reread the quote again.

But for demonstration - what’s easier to think about 250ml or 1 quart, (a whole unit number or if you prefer 1/4 of a gallon)? A fractional based measurement system was the first type of measures invented by people precisely because it WAS simple for everyday use between sellers and buyers. The US has just kept using it for simple everyday needs. It’s neither better or worse than your 250mls, it’s just different than what YOU are probably used to. To me, it doesn’t matter. I’m fine with either measurement.

The majority medical records are available electronically. But that does not provide the base security of also storing written records. Networks go down, networks get hacked and not all places in the US can have or trust that those records will be available electronically 100% of the time. Paper ain’t going away anytime soon.

I suppose we could go off into the weeds a bit and talk about how US Customary thread pitches made for fast to produce, smaller, and cheaper machine tools vs their same metric counter parts. And how it helped make the US into the manufacturing powerhouse it became. And how those same US Customary threads are a just a little bit stronger than their metric counterparts. But you would probably not understand much of it and your eyes would glaze over pretty quickly anyway. But these days it’s merely a matter of G20 or G21 - The machines don’t care, why should you?

Both measurement systems can do exactly EVERYTHING the other can do. Somethings can be easier in one system than the other, but it’s far from a universal idea that one is 100% better than the other. Personally, I prefer using the metric system. But I don’t get hung up on it. I will use whatever measurement system best meets the needs for the job at hand or is requested/required.

In the end, the metric system IS the official system of the US. We just didn’t force a hard adoption date on it. But we use it everyday all day and don’t even think about it. Now if you will excuse me, I need to buy a 750ml bottle of Old Grand Dad bourbon Bonded, so I can myself an Old Fashioned cocktail later today while I’m smoking a pork loin…

You are correct. But Imperial is pretty much abandoned and the US only kind of sort of followed it. There have always been some differences between US Customary and Imperial. The gallon is one of the most obvious differences.

The gallon of milk makes it incredibly easy to divide it into quarters. That makes it easy to simply double things - 2 pints = 1 quart. 2 quarts = 1/2 gallon. Two 1/2 gallons makes 1 gallon. This dates back to the days when you went to the market and told the seller that you want 1/2 or 1/4 of that container of whatever was in that container. Simple math for simple needs.

Your 1/4 of a pound of butter or one stick, (again simple divisions for a simple use), is marked with rough marks of tablespoons for cooking if you are using such measurements. But you are quite free to ignore them if you are using a scale. Not really any issue.

Yes, in the US travel distances are measured in miles. But that slowly becoming meaningless also. People, (no matter the units used to measure the psychical distance), care more about “how long does it take to get there” rather than the actual distance traveled. But, you are free to push a button and switch to kilometers if you choose.

Measuring height and weight in feet and inches and pounds is pretty much the only thing the medical system uses US Customary for. And I can’t imagine the sheer number of man hours and cost it would take to go back and convert all those medical records to centimeters and kilos. Somethings are just not worth the effort and cost for a minor data point that only matters only as a long term trend. (just like a single blood pressure is a meaningless data point but over a year may reveal a trend or not)

Each measurement system, US Customary or Metric, has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. To think one is better than the other is a chauvinism based on what you are most familiar with and nothing more.

That was just ONE aspect of the adoption of the metric system. And that was done to make backwards compatibility easier because of long lasting legacy systems. Because some systems, like say plumbing in a home or city, last for a very long time before they get replaced or repaired. New plumbing installations often use Tubing like PEX which is metric. I designed and fabricated a dozen brackets for a US customer over the weekend for delivery today. They were made using millimeters as specified.

And if you actually pay attention to how the metric systems compares to the US customary, you would see just how closely they are related from the start. Which makes sense since what we call Imperial measurements predate the metric system by several hundred years.

Yes, yes we DO use the metric system officially. In the early 1970’s the metric system was made the official standard for weights and measures.

What we didn’t do was force everyone to use it at 3:11AM 11/21/1974. It was decided to take a longer approach and let the change happen naturally and it has happened.

Everything in the grocery store is marked with metric weights and volumes. We buy butter by the gram, soda pop by the liter and whisk(e)y buy the milliliter. And everyone is looking for that same missing 10mm socket/wrench. (Where does do those things go anyway?)

How much more metric do we really need to adopt?

No translator needed. Just any 13 year old kid.

When the store is 100 mile/160 kilometer round trip, you either figure out a substitute or do without. And if you don’t know what else to use, your favorite search engine is only seconds away from helping you with your problem. It ain’t rocket surgery.