On Your Feet, Maggot!

I Love, and Hate, this picture.

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I Love it because, well, LOOK at that. All those worlds! All those People! All the exploring that can be done! A Trillion lifetimes wouldn’t be enough at Warp Speed. Which is why I hate it. I’m old and we haven’t even managed to make a place to live on our one Moon. The closest I’ve been to this grandeur is, what, 15-18 miles? (That was a special ride in an of itself but I was a whole generation younger.)

And, honestly, sometimes I hate having to drive the 3 miles into town for something. But I’d make this trip! To me, the perfect “Heaven” would be for my consciousness (the essential ME) to be able to travel to these distant places and observe. Just look. Forever.

Oh, Hey. It sprinkled some today. Never thought you’d hear this from me, but, Yay. We really need some rain for a couple of days. Heavy sprinkles would do. We couldn’t handle really heavy rain right now. No, that would be a bad thing for awhile.

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MCARC meeting went well this morning. They really don’t know what to think of me cause I will not let them run the meeting or BS for more than a minute or so before dragging them back on track. And I’m not afraid to call them on their “suggestions” about what the club should do; you can get lots of ideas, but no one will volunteer to actually do anything. Hell, you can’t even get most of them to do Field Day anymore.

But I did tap a couple of the younger (new) members to be the Public Information Officer(s), since that seemed to be the biggie this month. I’d love to have classes after the business meeting; but no one will volunteer to give any. So, what does one do? I just don’t know. It’s a fine balancing act between being too pushy and just letting them do what they’ve been doing these past 4-5 years. Which is a lot of talk.

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SWMBO took me to a new (to me) Teriyaki Chicken place in Bremerton (which has been there longer than I can remember). Was good. Then we spent too much money at WinCo; but the only “extra” thing I got was a cast iron cornbread pan.

Also made a short stop by the Vape Shop for some new atomizers. That’s spendy. That new Invader Mini I got has been giving me all kinds of errors for a few days. Thought changing the atomizer would help. Did, but still got the same errors. Wound up taking the thing completely apart and putting it back together one piece at a time. That seemed to help.

Say what you want about Vaping; I haven’t had a regular (analog) cigarette in over three years. And even though, cumulatively it looks expensive, I’ve saved over 2/3 of what I would have spent on smokes. And I would have.

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Anywho, picked up an old Icom 2000H for $100 to use as a base station so I can monitor our repeater (since one of the major complaints is that nobody ever uses our repeater except for our Nets). It works great and I’ve already learned how to program it and have programmed in all the repeaters I can clearly hit. Added some Fire, Sheriff, Ambulance, and even Seatac Approach. Mounted it underneath the box thingie my 857d sits on and it looks like it belongs there.

And now I can do PSK31 (or whatever) on 20-meters (or wherever) and still monitor our repeater. I’m beginning to understand why Hams have multiple radios. Now to save up for a new laptop. (Hopefully one with more than 3 USB ports!)


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Yeah. It Figures.

Made an early trip to COSTCO in Silverdale, where I spent $139 for burger stuff for Field Day. Nice and sunny the whole trip. Got home and started putting the stuff I bought in the Caravan. Started Clouding over. Started putting some of my radio stuff into the Caravan. Sprinkles. Started taking my 6-BTV antenna down to put in the back of the truck. Heavier Sprinkles. I’m almost afraid to start moving my radio into the Caravan! And I still have to load the generator, air tank thingie, and grill. I expect a full-fledged lightning storm with high winds and, maybe, even an earthquake before getting all the loading done. But the earthquake will probably wait until I’m mixing the gas/oil for the generator. Ain’t no fun unless I spill it all over the damned place!

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So, yeah, it figures. (Oh, wait. 10 minutes later it’s actually raining.)

Other than trying to get stuff ready for Field Day I haven’t really done much. Posted ads for a Free Pool, my old tool box from my last truck, and the window air conditioner we’ve had sitting in the hall closet these past 7 years. Several people have e-mailed me about the Free Pool. One guy was supposed to pick it up this evening but I haven’t seen him yet.

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Tested that new Dashcam I got on the trip to COSTCO and back. It recorded the entire trip this time. Kind of fun watching the video in their player and watching Google Earth trace the route too.

Had to make a quick run to the bus stop to pick SWMBO up. Always glad to go get her; just sorry she had to wait around so long. On a street corner no less!


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Secrets Of The Universe!

Last Friday was so boring, except for getting to sit out in the warm sun for awhile, that I just couldn’t bear subjecting y’all to a recount of the day. While I never set out to prove I have some humanity for my fellow beings, occasionally it just slips out by my  non-action.

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Yesterday I woke with a headache that hung on until around 1500. I hate waking with a headache! SWMBO got home from the Genealogy Library about 1500 and took me to an early dinner at Taco Bell in Port Orchard. Afterwards we bought a fart sack at Walmart for the bed in the Caravan. Then stopped at Jo Ann’s fabrics and looked at .. fabric .. that SWMBO is thinking of using to make covers for all the cushions in the Caravan. Then a short stop at St. Vinnie’s for kitchen utensils for the Caravan and the usual Safeway run on the way home.

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Also got to sit out in the sun before she got home yesterday. Almost Get Naked Wx! Almost. Supposed to be just as nice today (but around here one can only hope).

Actually, just took the Dog for a walk around the back 40 and it is pretty nice out there. Sunny. Almost warm again. Don’t have to wear my coat. Sweatshirt is fine.  Wow, got to the less than shirt stage today. My goodness.

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Was lounging out in the sun when I heard a butt-ton (shitload, plethora) of siren’s heading towards town. About 8 sirens all told. Came in and got my radio and turned it on to hear “Vehicle went through 2 walls at the Post Office. Extensive damage.” and that was it. Nothing else about it at all. Hmmm…

Made a roast Turkey thingie, mashed taters, & green beans for dinner. I thought it was okay and SWMBO ate all her portion so that’s okay. Now to finish up my usual Sunday chores and wait for the MCARC 2-meter Sunday Chat Net to begin.

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Which went well. Several of the Members went to the Mike & Key Swap Meet yesterday and got some pretty good deals.


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Really Raining Out There Sometimes!

Old Sci-Fi Movie Day running in the background while I continue working on getting my radio/computer room back into shape.

  • Beast From 20 Thousand Fathoms
  • Beginning Of The End
  • The Deadly Mantis
  • Earth VS The Flying Saucers (Need to fix)
  • Flight To Mars
  • The Mole People
  • Teenagers From Outer Space (aren’t they all?)
  • Them
  • Thing From Another World, The
  • War Of The Worlds (1952)
  • When Worlds Collide

And then I should be ready for bed by the time all those end.

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But I did get a lot done in my room. Cabinets are back up on the wall. CD/DVD’s are back in the holders. Shelves are almost full of the stuff they were full of before. Curtain rods are back in. (Still need SWMBO to adjust the curtains though.)

And I managed to still get my usual chores done. And I’m making myself pseudo-BBQ Pork Chops (nobody tell the Muslims), Mashed Taters, & Corn (yeah, I know. Two starches) for dinner. I may even save some for that lovely young lady I married.

Talked to my friend down in California on 14.342 using the 6BTV antenna. Worked pretty good for not having any radials on the thing. That’s why I tend to take it along when we go on trips and I take my radio. It just works. Probably one of the best $100 I’ve ever spent.

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SWMBO texted me to pick her up. Late. She didn’t know her Son wasn’t going to make it until she got to Bremerton. Ah well. I don’t mind. At all. Just gives me more time with her. So she had me stop at Rite-Aid on the way home. Cool.

And that’s about it for now. I lead a very un-remarkable life. And I only made it to “Them.”


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