I occasionally enjoy (probably shouldn't be proud of it) a good rant.

You should be happy with your $25 future discount which I am surprised they gave you (they didn't have to).

Do you seriously think that DxO requires your permission before they change their prices. If they'd raised the price you'd be happy. So instead they lowered it, and you're working yourself into a stroke. For your own sake give it a rest.

So, I just googled "JCB GT." We're going off-topic here, briefly. You and your paving crew member and everybody involved in the JCB GT video could claim to be Americans (albeit with unusual accents), and we'd all just believe you. I meant that with real affection.

Too much work. But here's a small effort: the ammunition used in an AR-15 (or M-16) is 5.56x45mm NATO (which is almost the same as .223 Remington originally designed to hunt small varmints like prairie dogs) which is one of the lowest powered center-fire cartridges ever developed. If you learned everything you know about guns from the TV news where it is constantly called "high-powered" you might think it's good to hunt elephants or armored cars. In many states, it is too small to be legal to hunt deer with. Darn those prepositions.

A small factoid, I don't expect you to be too impressed just by that. I have no way of knowing exactly what holes exist in your knowledge. Please keep in mind I have dozens more where that came from. Learning is your responsibility.

There are dozens of things you need to know about firearms before anything you say would be reasonable. Your idea of a reasonable compromise has no reason in it.

I like what you wrote better than what I wrote.

Also, lie #1 : Some weapon exists that is good for self-defense (and maybe squirrel hunting too) but can't harm innocent bystanders.

There's a lot of stuff on this subject that many people don't understand.

I was being lazy because the OP doesn't seem to know much about guns (just my guess, but I think it's a very good guess), and I didn't feel like writing a lengthy essay to attempt to educate an unreceptive audience. I understand the difference, and I don't know which the OP meant, but it kind of doesn't matter because both automatic and semi-automatic rifles can be very effective in self-defense.

One of those types involves an expensive and complex licensing procedure (except in California and some other places where they're just banned outright), and the other is commonly available. I don't want to get wrapped around the axle arguing details of different weapon types, magazine capacity limits, legalities of various kinds, etc. My main point was the OP doesn't know what other people need, and he should be quiet until he knows what he's talking about. Oh darn, I just ended a sentence with a preposition again.

Automatic rifles are pretty good for self-defense. Your opinions are not well informed.

Spray Lysol deodorant (the aerosol spray can type) into the air intakes of your car heater while running the heater fans full speed. Look for those air intakes at the base of the windshield, sometimes you'll need to open the hood (or bonnet, depending on location) to reach, sometimes not. That's good to do once or twice a year to prevent funky A/C & heater smells anyway, especially in an older car.

It may not eliminate all of your odor problem, but it would at least be nice if the heater didn't make it worse. BTW, many new car dealers are happy to perform this service (without mentioning how simple & cheap it is) for about a one hour service charge ($100).

It was Charlton Heston while he was President of the NRA from '98-'03.

Not really. Windows already swaps out pages of RAM to the disk drive (usually set up to use the C: drive for this, but you can set it up to use a different drive if you want) when it requires more RAM memory than you have installed. Check the "page file" settings in Windows, you're probably already running the capability you're talking about. That's only a little different than what Optane memory does, and if your page file is on an SSD then it's almost as fast. The article I just read said Optane memory made a system with a spinning platter, mechanical drive run 28% faster (a very noticeable increase), while Optane on an SSD equipped system only gained a couple percent increase (which you might only notice with a stopwatch in one hand).

Optane memory is very fast, but if your system already has an abundance of RAM and/or an SSD then it's harder to justify the cost. On the other hand, if somebody handed me an Optane module, I would be giving them big hugs and buying beers .

What quixdraw said. Fedex or UPS your large lenses to the hotel or outfitter (and they've probably handled this for other guests already) or somebody else you trust (finding someone like that might be the hard part, you said you're coming from HI?) I've done motorcycle trips like this, carry only what fits in my pockets and ship the luggage, and it's worked well enough. It helps to get a Fedex account (it's easy, quick to get, and free) because then, for the trip home, you can order a shipment, and Fedex Ground will pick up your stuff from the hotel. You don't have to be there, but you need to fill out a waybill ahead of time and call to order the pickup. This all costs more than the airline's luggage fees, but it may not be much more, and it's more secure than the airlines if your "agent" at the destination is trustworthy. Sounds like a really great trip, don't get discouraged. My trip of a lifetime would be to visit your state.

Had horrible side-effects, didn't it. Time would be better spent re-watching Galaxy Quest.
BTW, I have family in Warminster so I get out that way sometimes.

I had heard that it's random, but I seemed to get TSA-Pre more than half the time. I'm retired USAF, and I suppose that shows in lots of Govt databases.

You are a typical "Liberal" who will not tolerate any other opinions. If you listened, you might learn something.

Have you figured out yet that your original complaint was stupid because UHH didn't contract directly with the NRA to insult your delicate sensibilities? And everybody here seemed to know that already, except you. That puts me in group 1 and group 2, and I don't like you both ways. You're welcome, just saved you the trouble of having to think about it. No need for a response, I very happy that you don't like me.