Which ship is it? I dealt with a few of them when I was in the Air Force. Not much on the actual ship side, but receiving/shipping ammo from them.

Short version of the name is USNS PLESS.

Never dealt with that one. Hell, I don't even recognize the name.

Full name is USNS MAJ STEPHEN W PLESS (T-AK). I was on a similar ship years ago sitting in DGar, we were carrying Marine equipment including their ammo. I remember at least one ship that I was told had USAF ammo but I don't remember which one it was. The prepositioning program has really ramped down, that is always the way until they suddenly need to move gear in a hurry and don't understand why they can't man the ships (and the ships themselves are falling apart).

Need a Half-Track-speed Miata kit.

--Ian

First week of the year, we got a bit of "wintry precipitation," I went ahead and went in at my normal time on that Thursday (in the office around 6:30am) because I needed some help from my boss to get my ScrumVM working, only to get to the office for him to text me that he wasn't going to bother going in. One of the few downsides to always being the first in the office, on the days I go in.

I left the office about 8:45 to head back home, even though OKC is very flat for the most part (I can see the Devon Tower from my office which is 8 miles away), there are a couple of very small hills on the way home. The 135i + sleet + Pilot Super Sports = me driving the car with left front tire on the double yellows and the right rear on the hashed white line a few times, for long enough both times, if I had run across an OKCPD officer, they would have thought I was just screwing around.

Gents, I need your opinion on a project...

I am thinking about getting a couple rain sensors.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d56a977b7e.jpg

With such a setup, you can adjust the sensitivity, and it will produce either a high side, or a low side signal - whichever is needed.
My plan is installing these sensors in the rear wheel wells, right behind the tires, where spray from tires will be concentrated.
That way, I will be looking for a wet road more than falling rain. I mean, roads stay wet long after rain stops. Also, road surface can be wet due to spillage, runoff, etc.

As the road surface dries up, wind and turbulence from the tires would dry the sensor surfaces pretty quickly.

The signal from these sensors will be fed into the
A) Boost controller, to reduce/limit boost especially in 1st and 2nd gears.
and,
B) Suspension controller, to switch to a softer profile, so the car will be less edgy in an environment with less grip.
(I already have a fully programmable, active suspension setup, and adding another profile into the controller is a breeze)

Oh, integrating the said signal to the windshield wipers goes without saying, of course. I could always use a 3rd sensor for that purpose, and hide the sensor in the radiator opening somewhere.

The idea behind using 2 sensors is simple: Confirmation of a wet road, as opposed to going through a local puddle. Managing that issue is simple. I would build a simple circuit that would be activated if both sensors were active at the same time.

What do you think, doable?

(My biggest fear is running out of projects for my car. I'm sure you guys have figured that out by now.)

EDIT:
I realize I typed front wheels.. I meant REAR.

I just don't see this happening.

Once you've got the turbo system sorted out, and built the design sensors, you'll decide that it needs machine guns. And the ability to fly.

My concerns would be road debris, rubber, and salts that might corrode/conduct across the rows.. WIndshield wiper sensors are optical (iirc) and have few more steps between on and off.

You are right.
But driving in the rain would pretty much wash the sensor clean.
And as cheap as the sensors are, I would keep a few spares.

Machine guns would be a problem with the inspection folk..

On a related note, a new law just passed over here. You can fail the emissions test and still pass the biannual inspection.
Failed tailpipe emissions has been reclassified as a minor defect, on par with other non-vital issues, such as mis-adjusted headlights.

So can you just pay a small fine and skip fixing the failed emissions or do you still have to "fix" it?

As far as I understand, there is no fine, and you do not have to "fix" anything.

Headphone suggestions?

My HD 280 Pro's just died on me at work. Let's say $300 or less?

Not on the baller end of that spectrum, but i've been really happy with my ISK HD9999s. They appear to be some sort of loosely-based-on-AKG-something-or-other-knockoff with bigger drivers. I think i paid $100 for them. They sound great, are comfy, and have been durable. I've been using them 40hrs+ a week for the last 2 years.

Yeah, I'm not too upset. I had been wanting to upgrade, but just not quite yet. I have a Headroom Total Bithead Amp, and I've had those 'cans probably 10 years?

I would have no question about buying another pair of open-back Grado's, but they recently consolidated a bunch of our empty space at the office, so I have one of the few empty spots next to me, and that should be going away soon when we hire an Editor.

Have any of you ever used tirebuyer.com? Customer of mine says they are cheap but I haven't had a chance to compare.

MusicDirect has the Audioquest ones on sale for $300...Nighthawks I think? Was looking to swap out my B&W P7's for a set.

I'd go for the Audio Technica ATH-M50x's. Great can's for the money :2cents:

Wow. For $300 or less I could buy 10 pairs of headphones that meet my quality standards. My ears suck. Damn childhood and tubes!