Hitting a Deer with my Motorcycle

I hit a deer a few days ago.  This was the third time it has happened in the last 10 years.  I know people who have hit two deer in one day so I guess I should count myself lucky.

The first deer strike was the worst.  A bit more to the horror, in 1997 I bought a brand new Harley Davidson Sportster Sport.  I loved it; tearing around the county, loud pipes and all.  But, it was not the most comfortable motorcycle, especially for 2-up riding.  I was pretty sure I wanted to start touring and while setting up the Sportster Sport for touring would be possible, it would be expensive and change the bike into something that it wasn't.

I had a small issue with an almost-new front tire on the Sportster so I went to the dealership to have them take a quick look at it.  On their showroom floor was a new Superglide T-Sport.  This was an un-Harley Harley.  It had textile quick-detachable bags, a small fiberglass fairing and adjustable windshield.  It was intriguing, but after talking with the dealership owner about it I didn't give it much thought.
By the time I got home however, my brain was screaming, "You need this motorcycle, you can still tear around the county and use it for touring!"  I called them the next day and a day or two after that, my Sportster was gone, replaced with the Harley Davidson Superglide T-Sport.

Six days later, with 261 miles on the clock, I was on my way to work on a very cool morning.  It was still dark out and as I was going past a wooded area, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye, then the image of a deer in my peripheral vision.
WOP!
I relived that wop many, many times over the ensuing months.
I kept the bike up initially, but I think what happened is I ended up going over the deer after the initial impact and pushing her forward.  I recall looking to my left and seeing my 6-day-old bike sliding down the road with sparks flying off of it.  I put my hand down to get up and that was when I realized I was also sliding down the road.  After ensuring my slide down the road was done, I got up a few seconds later.  My leg hurt a lot and my pants were shredded; my leg was bleeding, but not too bad.  I walked over to my bike, unsure of what to do next.
A minute or so later the first vehicle on the scene was a school bus filled with little kids, all staring at this motorcycle guy standing next to a dead bloody deer and a wrecked bike.  I don't know why, but I told the bus driver to just go on, don't bother calling the cops.  The couple cars behind the bus didn't stop (thanks), but the first car headed south was a volunteer fireman.  He made sure I wasn't dying and helped me right the bike before driving me a mile down the road to the firehouse.  An ambulance came and checked me out.  I didn't think I was too bad so they put bandages on my leg and were off again.
It took forever for the police to show up as I live in a remote part of the county with little road patrol.  When he did show up, I asked if I could come back later in the day and shoot the dead deer out of spite.  The tow truck was the same guy who had recently towed a car due to a brake problem.  I told him I never wanted to see him again (jokingly) and he relayed that was why he sometimes hates his job.

A few hours later, my leg had swollen to nearly twice its normal size.  I drove myself to the Emergency Room where about $4000 later, the only thing broken on me was my big toe on my left foot.  There was significant strain/sprain in my left leg which was the more significant problem.  Oddly, the damage to my Superglide was almost exactly the same in dollar amount - including cleaning all the deer blood off of it.  The only good outcome was that I wasn't too fond of the "Diamond Ice" color (aka, generic silver).  Since every colored part was destroyed except the rear fender, I bought a factory painted fender and changed the color to a dark blue.  The dark blue against the black wrinkle finish on much of the bikes accessories looked ten times better.

Several years later, I hit a second (yes, 2) deer on my motorcycle.  The situation was very similar, about 10 miles away from the location of the first strike.  This time I was on my Honda ST1300.  I was on my way to work again, and a deer ran across the road, followed closely by a second.  I grabbed all the brake I could and got the bike slowed down some.
WOPARUNCH!
This time the outcome was different.  I kept the bike up but assumed that the front end was trashed.  The deer had died much like her sister a few years earlier after a flying twist across the road.  I turned around and headed the short distance back home and pulled into the pole barn.  There was a lot of hair and blood on the bike, but the only actual damage was a small crack on the windshield which remains there to this day.  My truck was incapacitated at the time due to a perforated transmission cooling line so I got back on the bike and rode to work, blood, hair and all.

The damage was negligeable to my truck on this most recent incident.  Both the deer and I got out of it with little more than a real scare.  I popped my fog light back into the bumper of my Tacoma and the deer ran away.  Apparently he didn't learn his lesson as I saw him two days later on the side of the road dead, about 100 yards away from where I hit him.  His large growing rack in full velvet was beautiful.  I was going to stop and take the antlers, but it was gone the next day.

When my crazy motorcycle guy personality collides with my gentleman farmer lifestyle, bad things can happen.  I'll count my blessings on all three of these incidences.

Book Review: Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

"A classic book is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." - Mark Twain (attributed)

I have a loosely held "rule" that if I see a few prominent references to a book, and it meets other criteria (length, language, etc.) I must read it.  So I found myself a while ago reading Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano.  I love reading, but this book ended up on the very short list of books with very little redeeming qualities.  For perspective, The Catcher in the Rye is also on that list although the reasons are completely different.

When my older sister got married, a group of us were looking through the DJ's list of music for the reception.  The list looked woefully incomplete until I noticed that all the songs that started with the words "A" or "The" were alphabetically listed by A and T respectively.  I found this quite funny.

The synopsis of Under the Volcano can be effectively reduced to a few sentences, or paragraphs if being generous.

The main character is a Counsel in Mexico.  He may be retired, but definitely doesn't work.
He can be cordially considered a raving alcoholic.  He drinks incessantly through the book, passing out a few times.  He is enabled by the other main characters who frequently suggest a stop for refreshments.  To be fair, enablement is a more modern construct.  His (possibly ex) wife has come to visit him and try to patch things up.  The Counsel is too drunk to function, on any level.  The wife seems more upset about the state of the garden than the booze and the fact that he can't even bath himself.
The Counsel's brother Hugh comes into the picture to be filled with angst about his career as a journalist which he finds offensive.  The three of them go to Jacques' house to drink more.  Jacques is a French dude who used to work in film, before also being lost to alcohol in Mexico.  The three of them take a bus to a bullfight.  En route, they see a dog and a peasant killed in the street; the dog is treated with more sympathy.
At some point it is alluded to that Yvonne (the Counsel's wife) has had affairs with Hugh, Jacques and possibly others.  Pernod doesn't start to look so bad.
There is more drinking at and after the bullfight.  They end up in a bar frequented by somewhat corrupt Mexican officials.  Hugh and Yvonne get separated from the Counsel and start looking for him.  At this point in the book, Jacques disappears.  It rains.  The Counsel ends up getting shot by the Mexican officials over some nuance related to letters between himself and Yvonne.  Perhaps she had an affair with that official (The Elephant?) as well.  The Counsel's body is unceremoniously dumped in a ditch - with possible allegory to the dead peasant.  I think the book ends with Hugh and Yvonne looking for the Counsel down a main path after the path splits en route home from the bull fighting festival.

The story line has some potential.  Alcohol, cheating wives, corrupt officials, dead peasants, horses, thunder and all in a dingy Mexican city near two volcanoes.  What's not to love.
The unfortunate part is that the writing is so obtuse.  There are pages and pages of vague descriptions and alliterations where nothing happens.  It is at times hard to tell when something might be happening.
Often how something is written is as important as what is written.  In high school I recall struggling to read Hemingway.  Even The Old Man and the Sea was difficult as short as it was.  But having (re)read several works by Hemingway a few years ago, I've recognized a rhythm to his language.  At times it almost seems he creates a flaw in the words to force passages to be repeated.  Vonnegut, while more contemporary is always a good read.

After finishing Under the Volcano and not understanding how the book could have possibly made it to #11 of Modern Library's 100 Best English Language Novels, I rented the movie to see if I had missed something major hidden between the pages of Lowry's effluvium.  Actually, I didn't rent it.  I checked it out from the library - which says something about the title.
The movie was just as bad as the book.  This is also true of Breakfast at Tiffany's but Truman Capote at least had some redeeming qualities.  I've never understood if Holly Golightly was supposed to be a prostitute or not?  An internet search suggests this was an interminable question.  The book In Cold Blood was good; the movie was a bit of a letdown.

One interesting difference in the movie version of Under the Volcano is at the end while looking for the Counsel, Yvonne is killed by a riderless horse which is terrified by a storm.  I  think  there is significance that she is killed simultaneous to when the Counsel is shot.  Wikipedia suggests this may have been part of an earlier draft of Lowry's manuscript.  To the best of my comprehension, this was not part of the version of the book I read, nor was it alluded to.

Malcom Lowry died at the relatively young age of 48.  Life imitates art and he was a heavy drinker, which contributed either directly or indirectly to his death.

Perhaps the most critical question of the book is the title.  One of the only clear pictures in the entire book is the description of the volcanoes.  Plural, there are two.  Why is the title not  Under the Volcanoes?

Three Years

"While adults might gently argue – there is no monster in the closet, mommy is not going anywhere – we do not yank their blankie away.  Maybe we should.  We should take their comfort objects and destroy them, burn teddy in front of their eyes.  Because that is what happens when you grow up.  They take it away, your source of greatest comfort, and leave you...clawing at the smooth sealed box of an impenetrable mystery." – Neil Steinberg

Three years have passed now.

Early in education we learn through timelines.  These are usually represented in one dimension showing events in relation to when they occurred.

This one-dimensional view, of course, does not even come close to representing reality.  It represents at the most basic history, as Voltaire defined, "The lie agreed on."
This does represent how I saw myself when young.  Time progresses and things happen.

In order to denote progress, a second dimension is often added.  This dimension is designed to show progress in addition to merely the passing of time.  This approach may work for oversimplifying business or scientific change, but is also a limited approximation.  It also often has an agenda.
As I got older, this is how I saw the world.  Time progresses, I get older; things change in the process.

Looking back, neither one of these is remotely close to being correct.  The reality is far too complex, there is not one, two, or four dimensions to what has happened.  There are hundreds of dimensions and the timeline zigs and zags progressing and regressing.
Looking back, there is only one labyrinth path to now.  This means every decision I've made to get here, whether momentous or trivial is responsible for now.  Every decision I've made, I had to make - there was never any choice.
Looking back, I can see a fog through where I've been and how I thought I could have done something different.  But, I didn't and I can't.  I can look through the tunnel of fog and try to imagine how now might be different, but it doesn't represent reality given the inability to visualize what else would be different in all those loosely connected dimensions.  The farther back I look, the foggier it is.  It doesn't take too far back for the fog to become a completely opaque window; I am now, here.

What I can say is stopping drinking three years ago was a choice I had to make which led to where I am now.  It was only one of many choices though.  From many narratives I've read about the personal use of alcohol, three years is a time when it is not unusual for people to begin again, under the assumption that occasional drinking can return without issue.  The result is almost universally disastrous.

Other recent filial events have reinforced the notion of how terrible and unpredictable people and the future can be.

It is very tempting to put myself in the center of the universe.  Everything that happens near me affects me.
There are about 2500 people living in my township, 370,000 in my county, 11.5 million in my state, 310 million in the US.  There are a little over 7 billion people in the world.
It is never about me.

"Action Cameras" and Cell Phones

"He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself." - Unknown

For the last several weeks, I've been reading on and researching "Action Cameras."  In the simplest form, these are small battery powered camcorders that have some weather resistance.  Elaborate features go up from there.
When I first joined the company I continue to work for, my first office (a desk really) was adjacent to Ron's office.  As a Mac user, he was forced to standardize to the windows platform at some point in corporate IT history.  This was during the end of the Windows3.1 era and the beginning of Windows95.  Being a glutton for punishment, Ron hated the forced 8.3 naming convention of Windows3.1 and installed Windows95 which was not actively supported.  This led Ron to be brought into the pilot use of Windows95 - and its own  corporate IT support line.  With one problem after another, Ron was on the special help line one day for an extended period of time.  At some point he was disconnected (which would have brought him to the back of the help-line when he called back) to which he responded by screaming something unintelligible and smashing his phone onto the office floor; he left in a huff.  Minutes later he returned, picked up the phone on the desk next to me and calmly asked site services to get him a new phone as his was broken.
On of my time-lapse cameras BROKE recently and the idea of an Action Cam as a replacement seemed appealing.  These cameras all have time lapse capabilities as well as being able to mounted outside for weather resistant use.  I'd love to time lapse a cross country trip, or film my next motorcycle trip through Lolo.

Being in vogue, Action Cameras are easy to research online as long as one keeps in mind that negative feedback is much more pervasive than positive.  Many professional, semi-professional and blog-type reviews are available to compare and contrast Action Cameras.  Amazon makes a great platform for getting real world reviews and prices in one place.

"What consumerism really is, at its worst is getting people to buy things that don't actually improve their lives." - Jeff Bezos

The GoPro is the most common camera but is also very expensive (probably due to the copious advertising that accompanies it - it is everywhere).  Sony's AS15 gets very good reviews, especially in professional web-site reviews.  Being a camera company first, and a manufacturer of helmets cams second, this unit appears to be the best optically, but I'm not sure that is the point for an Action Camera.  Both of these cameras require a hard plastic waterproof case to function in a weather resistant environment.  The cameras themselves are rather fragile in order to remain lightweight.  To paraphrase one review - they seem rather like a turtle outside of the shell.

The Contour Camera and the Drift Ghost get around this by being natively waterproof.  The Drift Ghost also has the feature of a preview screen.  This brings up an interesting point - most of these Action Cameras do NOT have preview screens.  This leads to the potential for a situation where minutes, hours or longer may have poorly aimed images or smudges on the lens.  Very likely in a waterproof turtle-shell case.  Many of the cameras have started to get around this by offering "features" like streaming to a cell phone.  This adds much in the way cost to the camera and complexity, and cost, and cost.  So without a preview screen, we're expected to stream our waterproof camera to our more fragile and non-waterproof smart-phone to compose the shot and hope it stays that way I guess.  This functionality seems to cost hundreds of dollars.  Some cameras come with a preview screen as an add-on option, creating the option of a bulky, more fragile camera that costs even more.

On the subject of cell phones, I need a new one of these as well.  I'm perfectly happy with my Motorola Atrix, but I'd like an LTE phone soon.  My phone is my internet connection (I'm using it to connect as this is written) and while I may not get an LTE connection at home, I might.  There are other times when I know I would have an LTE connection that it would be worth it.  However, newer cell phones (at least those available at AT&T) are HUGE.  These might be usable as a handset if I had Andre the Giant hands and pockets, but I don't.  Phones such as the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4 are around 40% larger than my Atrix in square inches.  I'm currently of the belief that there is very limited individual thought in the cell phone industry so it is assumed everyone wants to carry a small TV around in their pocket.  I don't need massive octocore processing power in a cell phone either.  Remember the Toshiba Libretto?
I'm more interested in the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini which should be available soon.  Or, I've read that a version of the fabled Motorola X-phone may have a smaller version.  At this point small and functional would be nice.

“The assumption that everyone else is like you. That you are the world. The disease of consumer capitalism. The complacent solipsism.” - Davis Foster Wallace

I narrowed my camera choices down to two.  The Wingman HD looks very promising as it has a native preview screen.  I'm not fond that it requires a turtle shell to be water resistant.  The price is right at less than $150 but Delkin isn't known as a great camera company, while they do make adequate power strips.
The Drift Innovations Drift Ghost was the other camera that made the cut.  It has a preview screen and is waterproof without a turtle shell.  It also has replaceable lenses.  Both of these cameras have standard 1/4-20 mounting which allows for lots of options.  Unfortunately, the Drift Ghost has all the bells and whistles including cell-phone streaming.  Not sure of the benefit of cell-phone streaming when it has a preview screen?  And, the cost is commensurate with the bells and whistles of $400.  There is also the Drift HD at less than $200, which is "water resistant" without a case.  I note it has an "optional" waterproof case.
I had some Amazon Gift Cards ready to purchase and decided to sleep on the decision about which to get.

The decision?
Neither.

I recently read an article on how much money it takes to be happy - a topic I'm always interested in.  Predictably, there wasn't an answer; there is enough money in 95+% of American households to make the question moot.  My take-away from the article was one nugget which suggested research had shown people who made $50,000 with friends who made $25,000 where happier than people who made $100,000 if their friend's made $200,000.  This likely true, if also sad.  Very sad.

There is a great liberation in not purchasing.  There is no major hole in my life to filled by the purchase of an Action Camera or a new cell phone.  At least for now...

Replacing XM15 Fixed Stock with a Six Position Telescoping Stock

I bought my Bushmaster semi-automatic magazine-fed rifle around 2001.  Since Assault Rifles were illegal during that era of the Clinton Gun Ban, it is not an Assault Rifle (yet?).
I like the rifle.  Once an initial bolt tightness was alleviated after a break-in period, the rifle has been rock solid reliable and digests even really cheap low power reloads consistently.  I equally enjoy using the rifle for target shooting, hunting coyotes and occasionally plinking.
One thing I did not like about the rifle was the Reno-Era fixed stock.  It is a flat-top rifle and I shoot it with both the carry handle sights and a large 10x fixed-power scope.  Since the scope is large, fitting eye-relief to both it and the carry handle can be awkward.  And, to be perfectly honest, the fixed stock does not look right on a rifle with a carbine-length barrel and Bushmaster Dissipator front end.

Luckily, Bushmaster makes and sells their factory-fit six position stock as a direct replacement.  It comes with everything needed for the swap and is a bargain at a bit over 100 clams.  I originally tried to buy the stock from a large Midwestern company that sells shooting supplies, but in today's political climate, keeping these in stock was apparently not possible; my purchase was cancelled by the vendor after a considerable back-order dealy.  I ended up purchasing it directly from Bushmaster, part number F1000360.

As mentioned, the kit comes with everything needed for the swap, sans instructions.  While it isn't needed, an AR15 combo wrench is a handy thing to have.

We start with ensuring the rifle is not loaded and the gun secured in a vice.

I've heard horror stories about how hard the stock can be to get off of a factory Bushmaster rifle.  I do not have copious upper body strength and so I was prepared for the worst, ready to use an impact driver if needed (or possibly even cut off the old stock).  However, a twist with a large screwdriver easily removed the upper screw on the stock; the factory nylon locking material only marginally resists turning the screw.  Once the screw is out, the fixed stock slides off of the existing buffer tube.

The lower receiver can then be removed from the rest of the rifle per factory manual.  Once the two halves are separated, the existing buffer can be removed from the buffer tube by pushing down on the buffer retaining plunger and pulling out the buffer.  Then push down on the buffer retaining plunger and unscrew the buffer tube.  This will be snug, but shouldn't be too tight.  An AR15 combo wrench or standard 5/8 wrench is used to remove the buffer tube.  Once unscrewed, be careful not to lose the buffer retaining plunger or the rear take-down pin spring.

The rear take down pin detent spring is held on by the fixed stock.  In this picture, the spring is put back in place prior to reassembly.

Install the included castle nut on the new buffer tube, then slide the buffer plate on the buffer tube as shown in the picture.  With the new stock, the buffer plate holds the take-down pin spring in place.

Install the buffer plunger and hold the plunger down while screwing in the buffer tube until the plunger is appropriately held in place by the cut-out in the tube.  This is where buying factory parts is nice as the buffer tube has a small cut-out which perfectly holds the buffer plunger in place while also allowing it to retain the buffer.  Some after-market parts may require a bit of fitting.

Hold the plate against the rear of the receiver and tighten the castle nut against the plate.  Use an AR15 wrench to tighten the castle nut securing the new stock, plate and receiver all together.  The castle nut needs to be tight, but not threadstripping tight.  It does not need locktite, nor does it need to be "staked."  Channel Locks or the like can be used to tighten the castle nut, but that is gorilla gunsmithing.  The AR15 wrench is really nice here.

The new stock can now be pushed onto the buffer tube by pulling down on the pin that holds the stock in position.  To install, it needs to be pulled down farther than can be accomplished with the stock adjustment lever.  Once installed, the adjustment lever can be used to slide the stock for and aft.

Push down on the buffer plunger and install the new buffer spring and new buffer.  Once released, the buffer plunger should securely hold the buffer and spring in the buffer tube.

The stock is now installed on the existing receiver.  This entire operation should be doable within about 30 minutes.  It is a good time to clean the rifle since it is apart anyway, stretching the time only marginally.

Finished, the adjustable stock is functional.

And, with a ridiculously large fixed 10x scope (which is almost as long as the barrel), it is ready to make some noise.

Stream of Consciousness

Most years develop a personality.  2013 is nearly half over and it seems vaguely flavored so far.

The last few weeks have been unusual.

A few weeks ago I had to go North for a wedding.  The wedding went off without a hitch, or with a hitch depending on your point of view.

The motorcycle was the weapon of choice for the trip to and from the wedding - this should be expected this time of year.  The trip north was wonderful with almost perfect weather despite forecasts of rain.  The nice weather prompted the avoidance of the interstates until they were nearly unavoidable.  The motorcycle part of the trip almost made it qualify as an adventure.  Almost.

The wedding was for my sister.  Because it was family, there were many family members (both close and extended) that I saw there.  It was the first time all the siblings were in the same place in over 15 years.  It was also the first time I saw my brother in around eight years.  When I mentioned this to some people after returning home and to work, the reaction was an assumption that the family doesn't get along.  Funny in that we really do.  We just all have our own slightly self-absorbed lifestyles; this is not a bad thing.
It was fun to get together with them for a while.  There are some interests that intersect in the group of us, but there is no question that our parents raised a group of kids who are independent to a fault.  Despite our differences, there are also many similarities.  I'm starting to believe some behaviors must have a genetic component.  This is something to perseverate about, now and in the future...

Several Uncles and Aunts that I hadn't seen in many years were at the wedding as well.  It was good to see them, although I continue to understand more, slowly.

During filial visits, I was surprised how despite our completely different industries, personalities and even job titles, my sister and I had many similar nuances, likes and complaints about work.  When I got home, I found out I was getting promoted at work.  Since this wasn't something I was actively seeking, I was shocked.
Not being one to look for the spotlight, the announcement was fairly uncomfortable.  The broader email announcement later was more tolerable as I heard many congrats from current coworkers as well as former ones I haven't heard from, often in a long time.

It hasn't been a very good week for vehicles.  I got a nail in the nearly new rear tire of one of my motorcycles.  I tried repairing it twice with Stop-N-Go plugs.  I have never had these plugs fail but this leak will not stop.  The Stop-N-Go appeared to work initially, but after a few commutes, the tire was back to losing nearly 20psi/day.  Given the potential for catastrophic consequences if a motorcycle tire deflates very rapidly while on the road, I think my life is worth enough to buy a new tire.  I do want to see what the inside looks like once the punctured tire is unmounted.
One of my other vehicles blew a coolant hose on the road.  It was not an expensive fix, just a bit of a pain.  Despite nearly perfect weather, the nearest tow truck Allstate Motor Club could send was nearly 90 miles away.  I went with Allstate over a decade ago since they were one of the few that provided emergency roadside help for motorcycles.  Now that I have roadside assistance from the American Motorcyclist Association, I may not need it.  I will look into AAA - both with and without the option of motorcycle coverage as a second alternative.  Aside, I was surprise AutoZone rents tools out for free, charging the price of the tool and refunding that amount in total on return; I'm sure this prompts parts purchase at AutoZone, but is an outstanding service to those of us who have not invested in things like coolant system pressure testers.
One of my other cars has a broken plastic engine shield.  I really don't know why new cars all seem to have these.  We all are not going to drive Ferrari Enzos with clear polycarbonate engine covers, but I miss the concept of engine as art that should be part of car design.  Likely it is gone for good and replaced with an ugly plastic shield.  Do not pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

I bought a used engine cover for the car off of Ebay.  When it was delivered, the part was cracked - while it definitely wasn't in the picture on Ebay - leading me to believe the real possibility of damage while shipping.  I was certainly expecting to chalk up a loss, but the Ebay Seller worked with UPS and we both were quickly refunded our money.  Faith is renewed in humanity through the small Ebay Seller.

It is June now, hopefully 2013 will begin to coalesce into something  more definite before the year is half over.

Moultrie Plot Stalker Camera

Of all the interests I've dabbled in, one that has consistently held energy has been photography.  This has lead to much better vacation pictures, but the aspect I like the most is some of the other interesting things that are possible.  Double exposures.  Reflected light.  Soft focus, etc.  And, time lapse.
I've played around with time lapse using traditional inexpensive digital cameras and it works but there are some limitations.  So a couple years ago I bought a Wingscapes time lapse camera.  This has been taking pictures daily of my back yard now for over a year (with a brief interruption due to a faulty Moultrie product, which is the reason for this post).

Late last year (2012), I bought a Moultrie Plot Stalker camera to take the place of the Wingscapes TimeLapseCam I've been using.  The Moultrie was similar in form to the Wingscapes and by downloading the manual I could see that the overall function was nearly identical as well.  The Moultrie was a little less expensive, but didn't have the ability to focus at close distances; this didn't matter since I wanted it to take the place of the Wingscapes, freeing it for other time lapse projects.
At the beginning of the year, I installed the Moultrie camera to continue my long term time lapse project of my back yard as I wanted the Wingscapes close focus for some other ideas.  Over the first few weeks, the Moultrie Plot Stalker only took pictures about half the time.  I'm 100% sure I was using it right since the function was nearly the same as the Wingscapes.  The Moultrie camera was defective.
Any time pictures were pulled off of the camera, it took an elaborate ritual to get it to take pictures again.  But, since the camera appeared to be functioning normally, it was impossible to tell if it was actually taking pictures.  There is a little red LED on the camera which indicates whether it is taking pictures - it blinked merrily away, often never taking a photograph.

Time lapse photography is a long term time investment.  Sometimes these projects take hours or days.  In the case of my back yard time lapse, it takes months to years.  Losing this data was exceedingly frustrating.

The camera was still under warranty so I sent it back to Moultrie with a letter explaining the problem and how to recreate it.  Weeks later, I received the camera back with no change to the unit and a letter that clearly stated that Moultrie did not try to recreate the problem and the camera was working correctly.  It was a little insulting that the letter had written on it to check my batteries and SD Card (hand written).

Since time lapse photography can be a long time investment, I was hesitant to trust the Plot Stalker anymore.  Earlier this week, I decided I wanted to try to time lapse something that was only a couple hours of time and could easily be recreated so I decided to use the questionable Moultrie camera.  I installed fresh Duracell batteries and a good 16GB SD Card.  After securely mounting the unit and setting it up, I left it to take pictures - that later would be stitched into a movie.
The Moultrie Plot Stalker failed after 15 minutes!

The end result is shown in the video embedded in the posting.
I don't blame Moultrie for selling a product which is not of the best quality.  Since there are several cameras that use that form and function similarly, I don't even think Moultrie actually makes it.  I'll also note that not only do they not sell that camera anymore, I can't find any legacy information about it on their web site (some embarrassment perhaps?).
I don't fault Moultrie for selling a camera which did not function as advertised.  To quote a mechanic acquaintance of mine, anybody who thinks paying more for something means it will never break has never owned a Mercedes.  The lack of positive reviews on this camera from commercial sources does suggest my Moultrie Plot Stalker is not an isolated case however.

I do fault Moultrie for not standing behind their product.  The Moultrie Plot Stalker was so obviously defective that after taking the time to send the product back with a letter on how to recreate the problem, they should have remedied the situation.

I'm not going to rant and rave about how terrible Moultrie is.  They are just trying to make a profit like every other company out there.  But, since they don't make anything terribly unique, there are many other options.  Given Moultrie's inability to stand behind a product with the Moultrie name, their products will be avoided.

Was shooting the Moultrie Plot Stalker with a 9mm Silly?  Yes, but it was going in the garbage either way so it was also a little cathartic and fun.