Good Ol' Dave

I need some advice...

Every so often I go to NYC to attend business meetings, but when the meetings are over I like to wander around and catch the sights. It starts getting annoying though when I have to lug my work briefcase around, and as anyone who carries anything around for any length of time know, whatever you're carrying gets heavier and heavier, the longer you carry it. Plus it gets annoying when you go to a museum and they have to search your briefcase, particularly when you don't even need the briefcase any more.

Now, they have these types of lockers in ski resorts where you can stow your street clothes, pay 75 cents, lock it up, and take the key with you so that you don't need to walk back out to the car. Does anyone know if there are any places in NYC (hopefully close to Grand Central Station but I'll accept anything at this point) that has lockers like this where a guy can stow his briefcase for the day so that he won't have to lug the thing around with him all over the city? I even checked out a bus station at something or other street and didn't see any lockers there, plus, I asked a few friends who work/live there, and they don't know of any either (although they admit they never had the need to find a locker).

HELP!

Skyrim is obviously becoming the game of the century. I was always hesitant about getting it because this is supposed to be the fifth installement in the series, and I haven't played any of the previous Elder Scrolls series so I wouldn't know the back story. There were more than a few games I bought and dumped immediately because it presumed I already knew who the characters were, and coming into the middle of a story is always annoying- did you ever try playing Biohazard 2 while wondering why the heck all those weird people were running around on the bottom of the ocean?

Is Skyrim a completely independent story so someone completely unfamiliar to the Elder Scroll series can pick up Skyrim right away, or will it be like someone getting into Star Wars by first watching The Empire Strikes Back and wondering who that guy in the black mask is and why a ghost would tell some frozen guy to go to a jungle planet?

I'm stumped with something and this is as good a place to post the question as any...I'm fleshing out a story involving a female undercover police officer (or secret agent, I haven't decided yet) trying to convince a suspected criminal (a refined, intelligent, worldly member of royalty, not a street thug) to reveal critical information about his crimes, and I'm at a point in the plot where I don't know how the female agent would do it or what she would even say to him. It would obviously have to be very subtle and gentle so the male criminal would want to give up information on his own, because she's undercover.

Right now I'm going with the idea that she would use her femininity to sucker the male into committing a slip of the tongue, but I'm not certain how. Throughout the story, she'll still be trying to preserve her core values so she won't become a slut to get the job done, and besides, this worldly criminal is royalty and has refined tastes so he wouldn't fall for it anyway. I'm thinking she would pretend she was a evening gown wearing rich bubblehead and try to get the criminal to impress her by going into detail about what he was doing, all while getting him to think it was really his idea to open his mouth, but I'm not certain how.

From a female perspective, is this what a female agent would really do or is there some other way she would do it? The other possibility would be to pretend she was a world class criminal on the same social level he was in order to get him to trust her in his crimes, but I'm not certain whether this male character would be gullible enough to fall for it. Simply beating him up or threatening him with prison time would NOT work on this character because he's royalty, and he knows he could use his royal connections to buy his way out of trouble anyway. The only way he can be nailed is if she can really get the goods on him somehow.

I guess what I'm asking is, ladies (or men, if you have any good ideas too) if YOU were a female secret agent/undercover police officer/whatever and you were trying to get a member of royalty to admit some critical information without making it obvious you were trying to get information from him, how would you do it?

I'm looking at the boards about how everyone is celebrating the passing of the Right to Carry Reciprocity act (HR 822) last November...but that's all they're saying. What happens next? It's my understanding from my elementary school knowledge of lawmaking that it will now be forwarded to the Senate for review. Does anyone have any more information on this, to educate us clueless (but hopeful) bill supporters on what is going to happen next?

I'm not sure if the hunting section is the correct place to post this...but if anyone is intimately knowledgeable about HR 822, it'll be someone here.

Thanks.

I've a question that none of the history web sites or books on the Vietnam War seems to address- during previous wars, the United States Marines were a self contained organization and operated as their own integrated package of ground forces, naval, and air support (I.E. they had their own Marine air support and didn't require support from the Air Force like the Army did), so they were lethally effective as assault troops...but during the Vietnam War the descriptions the Marines gave during their operations didn't really sound significantly different from what the army and air force was doing- marching through the jungle looking for the enemy, ground attack aicraft bombing the Ho Chi Minh trail, etc.

How were the Marines deployed differently during the Vietnam War from the other services according to their operational capacity? Were they still employed as an integrated assault force, or or were they essentially deployed piecemeal as another army and and another air force?

No, this isn't a homework question. My father was a Marine during WWII so it's a "what if..." question.

Okay, I just posted the question for flame bait 'cause it's slow at work today. The REAL question is, we've all seen kiddies who play too much COD and daydreaming they're somehow playing in the big leagues by posting questions about their airsoft toys in the hunting section. What is the best wiseguy response you've ever read or posted to one of these kiddie's questions?

It's probably the response you were going to instinctively post when you saw this question. Best answer goes to the best wise **** response!

I am now the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S2, and this thing absolutely blows the Apple Iphone out of the water with what it can do. Simply loading SPB Shell 3D onto it makes the Iphone look like Windows 98 by comparison.

HOWEVER, the dialing buttons on the phone app...as in the 1, 2, 3, 4, etc buttons the user presses to call someone...seems a little bland, with their simple gray squares. Is there an app that either replaces the phone app that comes with Android that makes the dialing buttons look more spiffy, or, are there at least skins available that I can change the look on the dialing buttons? What I'm looking for is a round dial face from one of those old style phones, instead of the buttons in a checkerboard pattern, but I'm open to any kewl design I see.

I did a Google search and all I get back are discussions on the physical buttons on the phone chassis itself (menu, home, back, etc). Anything available where I can modify the dialing buttons themselves or am I stuck with the gray squares? Thanks.

I did a Google search on gun control images, and I came across THIS photo. After seeing this, I think I'm in love...and the woman is pretty cute too!

http://pahv.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Gun-Con...

Not only does it have a great caption, that hand cannon she's toting has to be the most bada** revolver I've ever seen. Does anyone know make/model it is? It looks to be a large caliber like a .44 magnum, possibly.

I know you fine folks have more extensive knowledge of such things than I do, so I thought I'd bring this to your attention.

I have a S&W 686 in stainless steel (Pre gun lock) that I always wanted to get engraved. I've taken a look at engraving services and the prices are astronomical. I'm not doubting that it's an art form and I'm not arguing that the engraving isn't worth every penny. I'm saying I can't afford (and can't justify) $3000 to engrave a $500 revolver.

HOWEVER, I'm seeing laser engraving where they carbonize the steel and change the steel itself to black is getting popular on other items. My friend gave me a laser engraved Leatherman combination tool as a gift to the men in his wedding party and the way they do it looks sharp, so I was just wondering whether the idea could/would apply to guns as well.

If someone showed you a gun with all the frilly engraving you normally expect with engraved guns except that its in black on silver laser engraved lines instead of being carved out by an engraver's tool, would you think...

a) it looks pretty and it's complements the gun

b) a cheezy engraving knockoff and it would destroy the value of the gun

c) idiotic regardless of how you would look at it.

Just thinking out loud...

Years ago, I owned a Browning Buckmark target 5.5, the type with the heavy black bull barrel, Weaver rail, and beautuful wood grip with the Browning logo, and I was forced to sell it off to help pay for college. Now that I'm gainfully employed I'd like to buy another one to make up for that mistake, and also because .22 autos are so much darned fun!

I'm seeing Buckmarks are still being sold, but all of them have a) a plinking barrel vs the bull barrel with the weaver rail, and b) they all have this ghastly Batman-esque armor synthetic grip rather than the beautiful wood grip with Browning logo that I remember. The ones I'm seeing on the auction sites are all between $550-$600.

I guess I allowed time to slip past me- I'm presuming Browning discontinued the wooden grip model as I don't see them listed on their web page, but is this older model of my youth really worth $550-$600 today? Twenty five years ago I sold mine for $325 and I guess I'm going have to kick myself twice for that mistake. Stupid college...

This is driving me nuts...I read somewhere that during the American revolution, an American soldier hung a sign on a tree that said "This far, and no further" or something to that effect for the advancing British army to see, telling them that they've marched this far but they'd better not advance any further. The British saw the warning but ignored it and continued their advance, and they wound up getting their butts kicked in the coming battle.

Does anyone have more information on when and where this took place, and what this battle was? I did every text search I could think of but I don't get any relevent hits. Thanks for any information you can provide.

I have absolutely crappy motorcycle boots. They're heavy leather engineer boots that act as armor for the feet and although they're really good armor, they're absolutely painful to walk in for any length of time without the correct socks. I can't wear sneakers because I need over the ankle protection, and it's ridiculous to have to take off my boots and swap to sneakers after a ride. My philosophy is that I need to prepare like a cavalryman, where I need sturdy boots to protect my feet while on the bike while be comfortable enough so that I can get off the bike and walk through town, around motorcycle rallies, or whatever.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good motorcycle boots that can be used for riding AND walking? Preferably leather and with over the ankle protection. Money is no object, as I simply can't walk another day in these crummy Frankenstein boots anymore.

I thank you, and my feet thank you.

Here's the situation. Some fifteen years ago my aunt moved from another state to the town where our whole family lives. This aunt was a GIGANTIC shopaholic, buying purses off of QVC, cheap plastic made in China junk from dollar stores, books on secret methods of winning the lottery, VCR cassette rewinders shaped like pink Cadillacs, and the like, and she wouldn't buy just one, she'd buy five or six of these things. Her stuff wouldn't fit into her new apartment so it was stockpiled elsewhere all over the place, including a spare room of mine. There was so much junk it was literally piled to the ceiling. My other aunt (her sister) who I rent my house from, kept saying over and over that she was going to come by and sort these items out, but never did. This is because she had no room for this stuff- her two car garage was so filled with stuff from other people that she has to park her car outside. I was told her basement was chock full of stuff too.

Fast forward to today. My shopoholic aunt died and this junk hasn't been touched or even looked at in years. My mother's place is now being refurbished and she needs to live with me for a few months, so I cleaned 3/4 of this junk out. I donated the good stuff to church auctions, threw the cheap plastic junk away, threw away bags and bags and bags of clothes and left the remaining items that looked to have some value for my other aunt (who never showed up to look through this stuff) to claim. I even kept a sample of the junk we threw away (consisting of an unused in the box plastic recipe card holder you put on refrigerators, an unused in the package plastic pill cutter, an unused in the box penlight, and an unused in the package miniature ironing board. I think I left a tax code book from 1989 too, I forget.

When my aunt came by last night to see what I've done, she became absolutely livid. She threw a temper tantrum and was sobbing literally in tears on how dare I throw out her belongings, how she can't trust anyone anymore and how badly I let her down, and demanded I make a list of EVERYTHING I threw out. Clothes, receipts from Australian lotteries, fake collapsible Christmas trees, pots and pans, everything. I even asked her if she HONESTLY wanted a still in the package plastic pill cutter that my other aunt never even used and she snarled yes. She was yelling how dare I give a clock away to my brother because "she might have wanted to give it to someone" which makes zero sense to me. She cradled the small pile of pill cutter/recipe holder/pen light/whatever, like they were some valuable rare antiques and jumped in her car crying. She drove ten feet, put in into reverse, drove back to where I was standing, and yelled once more that I make a list of everything I got rid of, and drove off. I called my mother to let her know what happened so she'll call her to smooth things out.

I don't know how to handle this. Everyone else in the family I talked to about this concurs that my aunt isn't upset over my throwing out anything valuable or that she has sentimental attachment to this stuff, because let's face it, if she has emotional attachment to a cheap plastic pill cutter that noone ever used then she's got a screw loose. Everyone occurs that she wanted this junk becuase she wants to hoard this sh*t. She grew up durning the depression when people had to learn to make do with what they had so she'll see even the most worthless POS valuable. It's my position that she if she wanted any of this stuff she would have come by sometime within the last TEN YEARS to come get it, and lets's face it, if there really was anything genuinely valuable in this pile she would have magically found room for it at her house regardless of how filled up it was. I even made a conscious attempt to keep anything that looked valuable or sentimental for her. It was my obligation to make my place a clean, safe place for my mother to live, and now my aunt is all but demanding that my mother needs to live in the middle of a junk pile.

Any advice would be appreciated right now. How do I deal with a ninety year old hoarder, 'cause right now I feel like a jerk from having to ask my brother for the clock back. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

I keep hearing from religious people on how gays and lesbians are all sinners, how they live against God's laws, how it says in the Bible how any man who lays down with another man should be put to death without fail, etc etc etc. I keep asking this question and I have yet to get an answer, so maybe I receive one from some of the religious people here-

Imagine one of you "god;'s faithful" was put in charge of the world for a few hours. Just WHAT are you going to do with the gays and the lesbians? Are you going to throw them in a concentration camp? Kill them? Put them out on an island by themselves like lepers? Use them for medical experiments until you find a way to "cure" them? Anyone who thinks that a gay or lesbian will spontaneously become heterosexual simply by lecturing to them from the Bible is horribly ignorant, so it's obvious you're going to have to get heavy handed.

I want to know- what's your master plan to get gays and lesbians to follow God's law? It seems to me that if your solution is to do nothing and wait until God comes back so he can deal with them, then you should keep your mouth shut about the gays and lesbians because you're admitting it's not your problem to worry about. If you DO want to do something, your "peace on Earth, good will toward all mankind" has about as much peace and good will as Hitler.

I ask this because I know several gay people and they don't seem particularly wicked to me. They pretty much just want to be able to walk down the street without getting beat up. I have no problem with them...but I DO have a problem with you people telling me I should hate complete strangers for no rational reason.

I've been trying to follow the 9/11 conspiracy theorists insisting that a large number of "put" options on the airline industry shortly before the 9/11 attack indicates foreknowledge of a conspiracy. I want to make sure I understand what they're saying before deciding whether they have a legitimate claim or whether they're a bunch of crackpots. Just HOW would any put option work in this supposed conspiracy? I know a "put" option is a contract to buy a stock at a given fixed price between one side who believes the stock price will go up and another side who thinks it will go down, but I can't for the life of me see how it can be a factor in these 9/11 conspiracies.

Let's say secret agent X wants to make a quick buck off a 9/11 attack he knows is coming, so he place a put option to buy stock at, say, $40 per share. Secret agent X then stages the 9/11 attack and the airline stock drops to $30 a share, meaning that when he invokes his put option, secret agent X will be paying $40 for a $30 stock. Secret agent X is *losing* $10 per share. Who in his right mind would stage a conspiracy to lose money?

The only way I can see how this would work is if some other unknown buyer had a put option with secret agent X, rather than the airline industry. The put option with secret agent X is for $40 per share, and then secret agent X stages the 9/11 attack and the stock drops to $30 per share. Secret agent X can now buy stock from the stock market at $30 per share and force the other buyer to pay $40 per share for a $10 profit...but this is completely different from their "put options on the airline industry" claim and it would means someone out there was ripped off by secret agent X and I can't say they'd remain quiet about it. The only other way would be for the airline industry to write a put option for someone else and stage the attack on themselves, but staging an attack that creates a long term loss for the benefit of a short term gain is just plain absurd on so many levels.

Either these conspiracy theorists are entirely clueless on how put options work, or I'm entirely clueless on how put options work. So, I'll let you settle it: how DO put options work?

I have a problem with my gun shop and I don't know how to proceed...

Here's the situation- I bought a gun from a dealer out of state and I went to my own local gun shop a week ago to have them do the FFL transfer. They faxed the forms to the out of state dealer, I sent the payment out, the out of state dealer confirmed it was on its way to my gun shop, and my gun shop told me to come back in a week or so to fill out the forms and pay a $50 transfer fee. So far so good.

I just went to my gun shop today to check to see if it had arrived yet. I found out that this shop literally closed its doors and went out of business today! I knocked on their doors, I tried to phone them, I even knocked on their back, "employees only" door. I even looked through the front window and I can see them sitting around behind the counter and they definitely saw me. They are literally hiding from anyone who calls or shows up.

Right now, my gun (a world war II Japanese Nambu, which I already paid $700 for) is sitting in a package in their shop and I can't get it nor can I even contact these characters to even know what's to become of it. I have a sick feeling that when they declare their assets in bankruptcy court they're not going to declare it as a $50 asset they need to collect from me, but rather a $700 asset they're going to collect from the bankruptcy sale leaving me holding the bag. They did NOT pay a single penny for this gun; I paid the sale price and the shipping.

So the question is, what can I do to get my gun out of this entanglement? I'm going to call another gun shop in the hopes there is some "gun shop network" and they can find a way to contact them when I can't, but what is the law on this? I paid for it so all I needed to do is to fill out the FFL transfer, but is the gun legally their property because it was transferred to them and they folded before it was transferred to me, or is it my property because I paid for it and there's some FFL requirement to turn it over to me?

Any advice will be appreciated. World War II Japanese guns don't exactly grow on trees and I don't want to eat $700 dollars. HELP!

A while back I was told by a teacher that MacArthur provoked the Chinese entry into the Korean war by crossing north over the Yalu river and invading China, but I've looked high and low for information on this but all I can see is info on Chinese forces crossing the Yalu river south before UN forces even got close.

Did any UN forces (US, ROK, British, whatever) actually cross north over the Yalu river or was my teacher an idiot?