Turning Cheese Into Dough

February 20th, 2010

Perhaps my Brain Can be Useful on Occasion

I don’t know what’s going on with ammunition prices. I’ve found factory 9mm for under ten bucks per box, but I still get “sale” ads by email, advertising it for sixteen dollars. I think I would have to be high to buy that.

A while back, I got five boxes for something like $10.50 each. Acceptable.

Small pistol primers are getting more common. Back when Obama still had new-car smell on him, they were selling for double the usual price, if you could find them at all.

I’m even finding Swiss GP11 ammunition for the old price now, and they no longer make it. When the current supply vanishes, people will have to buy something else. So it’s very nice to see it coming back down.

I’m still getting comments about the Romney Rage incident. I’m sorry, I cannot support a guy who appoints himself Meter Maid and grabs other passengers to make them straighten their seat backs. This is the very opposite of the conservative philosophy. You don’t butt into someone else’s business and insist they give you something that belongs to them, and you don’t break the law in order to do it. An Air Marshall wouldn’t have done what Romney did. Law-abiding law enforcement officers don’t touch people until it’s necessary.

There are countless examples of leftist intrusions that are fundamentally similar to what Romney did. Union bosses won the right to enter private property uninvited, to organize. Social workers can abduct your kids and put them in foster homes without due process, if they don’t like your policy on spanking. Where I live, you can be fined or jailed for cutting or trimming a worthless mangrove tree–which you own–that obstructs the dock at your five-million-dollar mansion. Meddling is fundamentally a leftist concept, and so is demanding handouts.

When you buy an airline ticket, you rent the space around your seat, and that includes the space it takes to recline. It does not include the space the seat in front of you occupies when it reclines. You have no more right to that space than you do to another guest’s bathroom, when you rent a room at a hotel. If you want a favor, you ask nicely. You don’t give orders, and you keep your hands to yourself. If there’s a dispute, you call the nice flight attendant and work it out. You don’t play airline vigilante.

You have to wonder what kind of person Romney is, to think he had the right to treat another person this way. And it doesn’t help that Romney is a rich white conservative and the offended party is a black Democrat rapper. This is not the kind of PR we need, when we are trying to attract minorities to our side. The story that came out of this is “Spoiled White Conservative Batters Black Passenger on Plane; Authorities Blame Black Passenger.” It’s a highly credible story. This kind of thing does happen. It’s more credible than the story Romney’s hired mouthpiece put out.

Even Epic Beard Man behaved better than Romney, and he was off his medication at the time.

Good fences make good neighbors. That’s how I feel. It’s not about selfishness. It’s about preventing confusion and disputes. It’s about maintaining peace and civility. Most people who don’t understand that are not prominent conservatives.

Mike called today. The pizzeria idea is driving him insane. I should probably quit pouring fuel on the fire. But he’s not going to move down here, so I guess it doesn’t matter. Maybe if he dreams about it until he can get out of DC, he’ll put in time preparing to open a proper business. Maybe it will be good for him.

I’m learning stuff about pizzanomics. For one thing, it’s a mistake to worry about excess inventory. I want to make dough for 20 pizzas tomorrow. Maybe we’ll only sell 15. So what? The dough for five pizzas costs a dollar or two. THROW IT OUT. Who cares? The profit on one pie is about nine bucks. You’re betting two dollars you can make forty-five. That’s a good bet.

I’m also falling in love with toppings. Topping five pies with a seventy-five cent onion is a good idea. You charge seven-fifty for the topping, at one-fifty per pie. That’s a net profit of $6.75. You don’t do as well with meat, but you still profit to some degree.

We need a soda dispenser. I have no idea what a fountain soda costs, but it has to be less than a can, and it’s faster. Right now, people have to step out of line, go to a small fridge, and take sodas out. Then they get back in line. When business is good, the sodas are warm. That needs to change. Who will buy food, if they have to chase it with warm soda? At the very least, the drinks should go in the walk-in.

Christians are wonderful people. But we are not known for our efficiency.

I plan to make a cheesecake. I’m going to the store to see what berries are available. I may try frozen pie cherries, if they have them. If I dump a cheesecake at the church’s cafe tomorrow, we can find out whether people will buy it. And they will. Then they’ll start asking for it. Then we’ll have to have it every week. Then we own them.

For God, I mean. Yes.

Better get to the store while the sun is shining.

13 Responses to “Turning Cheese Into Dough”

  1. Rick C Says:

    I don’t know what fountain soda costs, but it’s essentially free. Nobody charges for the soda; they charge for the cups.

    Oh, the syrup bags are actually fairly pricey, but you use so little of it that no matter what the size of the cup is, you’re only spending a couple of pennies.

  2. HTRN Says:

    Coupla things you might be interested to know. 1)You might want to go look at Ammoengine.com. It’s a website that lists the lowest price for alot of different ammo. Remember to compare Apples to Apples: Federal American Eagle may be 12 bucks a box, but Fed: Personal Defense is close to double that.

    I would also suggest you do what most people who shoot heavy volume out of thier pistols do: Either start buying it in bulk online(or at the local gunshows – Quite a few guys at Valley Forge for instance, sell pistol ammo by the 1000ct), or invest in a progressive press.

    As for 7.5×55 swiss – Wolf, Privi Partizan, and Norma all make commercial ammo for it(Prices increasing in the order listed), Dies and brass are relatively cheap – it uses .308 bullets so cheap corelokts can be used.. And oh, Buffalo Arms has GP11 in stock, although I would like to point out that it’s roughly the same price as Wolf, and only slightly cheaper than Privi.

    And oh, Epic Beard Man? Anonymous is going postively berserk with their newest meme. He’s already been added to memegenerator.com

  3. Steve H. Says:

    When I shop for target ammo, all I care about is getting a name I’ve heard of at a low price. I have no interest in any premium ammo other than Cor-Bon. I already have a press, but it’s not smart to shoot lead through a Glock, and any reload will void the warranty, unless Glock’s policy has changed. I shoot reloads in my other guns.
    .
    I like the GP11 because it has a fantastic reputation, and at under 50ยข per round, it’s a good buy. I’ve never seen Wolf or Privi that cheap. I don’t make rifle ammunition.

  4. HTRN Says:

    Privi Partizan is $13.50/20ct at AimSurplus.com
    Wolf is $16.50/20ct at the Sportsmanguide.com

    And like I said – if you cheap decent ammo, buy in bulk, and use ammoengine.

    And oh, most, if not all manufacturers state that handloads void the warranty, as will any non OEM parts.

  5. Steve H. Says:

    Those prices are high by GP11 standards, as I noted. Is there some reason I should use this stuff?
    .
    Checking warranties, I see that you are mistaken about both Colt and Smith & Wesson. That covers most of my pistols.

  6. Steve H. Says:

    Interesting fact: Colt has no real warranty. The closest they come is a statement that they will work on stuff less than a year old, which leaves me out in the cold regardless of what I shoot.
    .
    Is it my imagination, or are the Colt folks pretty jerky?

  7. ErikZ Says:

    Pizza toppings is one of my sore points when buying from a pizza joint.

    I know the value of something. And charging me 1.75 to toss some sliced onions on a pizza? That just kills my enjoyment of the moment.

  8. Steve H. Says:

    That moment is more enjoyable when you’re selling the pizza.

  9. Scott P Says:

    You don’t even have to throw your dough out- you dovetail it into garlic sticks, cinnamonny things, croutons, anything.
    .
    Have you talked to a Pepsi distributor yet? They’ll give you most of the good stuff as long as you’re buying syrup from them. Cups, signage, they’re very accommodating. Coke is tougher.

  10. rightisright Says:

    “…or are the Colt folks pretty jerky?”

    Pretty much the sentiment among gunfolk.

  11. Firehand Says:

    The Privi and Wolf Gold is reloadable brass and new, so runs a bit more.

    I’ve been mostly shooting 150-grain cast bullets in my K31; easier on my shoulder and budget both. The factory ammo is great, but once it’s zeroed it’s a bit much for general practice on a 100-yard range.

  12. lauraw Says:

    You want to know what kind of guy Romney is, really? Years ago he tried to float a permanent ban on casino gambling in Massachusetts (wait for it…) in exchange for $75 million from the Connecticut Indian casinos. He was resentful of how much cash Mass residents were blowing in the state next door.

    Extortion, much? I don’t care what you think of gambling and casinos (I detest them), but that’s a broad-daylight shakedown, and evidence of a character I don’t care for.

  13. lauraw Says:

    And charging me 1.75 to toss some sliced onions on a pizza? That just kills my enjoyment of the moment.

    You’re paying for the business’ lease, electricity, the dumpster, the carpet cleaning, thousands of dollars a month for all the incidental things that without which means he has no business, and that’s even before you get to pay part of the guy’s mortgage and other home bills so he can live.

    Yes, I own a small business and I just love it when people argue with me about how much my item or service *should* cost when they don’t even know the first thing about it.

    It’s never the big-ticket items, either. It’s always some small bullcrap that I am literally making nothing or pennies on, and just offer as a sideline convenience.