Yep. Pretty Much Normal Around Here

Again. Well, it hasn’t been raining as much today as it has lately. Yesterday, now. Yesterday it rained a LOT. From the time I got up to almost bedtime last night it rained.

SWMBO took me for a perusal of St. Vinnie’s before taking me for a Whopper at Burger King over in Port Orchard. Actually, I took her to St. Vinnie’s cause I was looking for an old (but still working) Linksys router to play with. Want to try this HSMM-Mesh stuff one day.

Made our usual stop at Safeway on the way home. Got out of there fairly cheap, compared to what we usually spend, except I saw 3 movies that I just had to rent: San Andreas, Jurassic World, & Terminator Genesis. Guess what I’ll be doing the next couple of days.

Today, Sunday, was the most typical Sunday we’ve had in a whole week or so! My goodness. SWMBO made some great shrimp Alfredo stuff for dinner and we sat and watched “Jurassic World” together. (Not while eating though. Before that.) Now we’re just kind of chillin’.

San Andreas was okay. Having been SAR Aircrew “way back when” I know that an old Huey won’t do some of the things that “The Rock” made his do; but it was visually nice. And, having grown up in the San Fernando Valley, I sure do enjoy any movie where Los Angeles gets destroyed. I do. I just do. The movie was a mixture of ‘contrived” and hey, that was cool! And all the women had bouncy boobs.

Anywho, that’s pretty much it for tonight. Not only do I lead an extremely boring life, but I lead a pretty boring life too. Except for SWMBO!

Big Storm Moving In Tonight

Or, today, actually. Supposed to be a big one lasting for a couple of days. It’s not quite Noon and it’s already raining pretty good and the wind is starting to kick up a bit. Oh, Joy! Re-loosened the long wire dipole and my 144/70cm antenna is still guyed from the last wind we had, so I think I’m ready. Everything that can charge is charging just in case the power goes out. Generators are up and able to run.

Now to hunker down. I don’t know if it’ll be that bad. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Copied a bunch of our movies to a thumb drive and can use the laptop to watch a movie if the power goes out and I get bored reading. Always have the Dog to kick around too. He don’t care if the power is out.

Not much has been going on around here these past couple of days. Veteran’s Day was like any other but without mail. MCARC 2-meter Wednesday Evening Chat Net went well; lot’s of Veteran’s in the club.

Tuesday night at the Extra Class class we finally moved into an area that I could (correctly!) answer some of the questions from a chapter we’re supposed to read this week. Cool!

Also put a small space heater out in the Caravan turned up just enough to keep the interior from freezing; if it comes to that. May cost us a couple of bucks a month to run but that’s better than having to repair/replace frozen water pipes. (Which were drained but I ain’t taking any chances. This is my first time winterizing a Caravan.)

Anyway, gonna post this early “just in case” the power does go out. It’s only gone out a couple of times these past 6-7 years; but it has during storms like we’re supposed to be getting tonight. During the big ice storm of 96 we went without power for 6 days (luckily we had a wood burner. Which we don’t have here.) Hopefully it won’t be that bad but the generators could help if it does.

Thursday? Already? Hell.

Made an early run to ACE Hardware for some more of those LED Bulbs and some 1/2” wood screws. Got the feeling to “straighten up” my “shack” and need the screws to remount my radio’s in different places.

Which I did even though you can’t tell from the picture. The 900 MHz radio (Left) was just sitting on the counter top. The 2-meter radio (orange light) was more towards the corner and kind of hard to get to. (Don’t know why I mounted it there in the first place.)  The Tuner, Power Supply, and my 857d stayed put (for now). Moved the upper monitor a bit more to the right and higher up so the laptop would be able to open more. Now to work on all those damned wires! Need to buy a couple more microphone hooks too.

Yep, all three radio’s stay on pretty much all the time and all are run by the power supply. Not worried about overloading it because I rarely (well, never) transmit on all three radio’s at once. If I had to I might begin to worry about it.

For a guy that doesn’t like talking on the phone, I sure have a lot of radios. Add the 2 handhelds and the 144/440 in the truck and I have a plethora of electronic communication apparatus.

Not much else going on. Got money when I made the ACE run to make a dump run; but I don’t really feel like it. Probably tomorrow. I really think that flu shot affected me more than I wanted it to. Just feeling blah. Don’t even feel like kicking the Dog around much so he’s off in a corner pouting about it.

So, it’s way later now. SWMBO is home and being fed. I’m watching raspberry Pi video’s on YouTube. (Or trying to. Slow connection tonight.) Think I’ll wrap this up.

Totally Totally Discouraging

The first half of Chapter 6 in the Extra Class book. Didn’t understand a thing (except for the blurb on crystal’s) until I got to the Digital Signal Processing part. Everything after that was somewhat understandable. Might have well been reading Klingon until then. Guess I really am a “computer” type of guy. As long as I don’t have to build the parts for one, that is.

Assembling a computer from component parts is pretty straight forward. And easy. Getting them up and running isn’t really that hard if you have some understanding of the OS you’re installing. Getting networking to network; easy (mostly). Learn a new program without reading the manual. Easy.

Hell, I “figured out” how to use AutoCAD once upon a time; well enough to teach Engineers how to use it. But the theory of electronics and circuits might as well be molecular science or astrophysics when I read it. Klingon.

And having to know this stuff is not going to make me a better radio operator cause I will never build a radio. If I can’t buy it off the shelf, plug it in, and use it, then I just ain’t gonna do it.

The FCC made a good decision to not require anyone to know Morse Code. That way you don’t have to learn it unless you want to learn it. This electronics stuff should be the same. Why does the book tell you what a Magnetron tube is, explain the way it’s made and what it does, when the only place you’ll see them is in your microwave oven? (And why is it called a oven when it doesn’t bake?)

So, yeah. Frustrated.

Class tonight so posting early. Everything is SSDD around here. Gotta remember to stop by and get milk on the way home or I’ll be having dry cereal for breakfast. But I’ll forget tonight and have bacon tomorrow. (BACON!!!!!)

Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy.

Well, not yesterday. Day Before Yesterday I was busy. (Voice Overs on the USS Turner Joy.) Today I was busy. But not yesterday. Yesterday was pretty much a normal SSDD Wednesday around here. Even the MCARC 2-meter Wednesday Chat Net was pretty much SSDD.

Today, however, I was busy again. Went over to W7FBI’s (Lee), along with AC7GC (Bill), and put a multi-band antenna of some kind up on his roof. Yes, this Old Guy was on another roof. Again. Took most of the afternoon but we got it done. (And I forgot my dang hat on the ground next to Lee’s house. Damn!)

Been looking at the Buffalo LinkStation 441 on Amazon to get for our Movie/TV drives. Time to replace the old NAS’ we have and get something that’ll handle the larger drives. I’ve about maxed the DLink NAS’ we’ve had for the past 7 years. (They’re built for 500G drives and I have 2 2-TB drives in each. Not sure if I can go any higher and have them continue to work.)

So SWMBO and I are working out a “deal” for this Christmas: Instead of us buying each other a spendy present, I’m going to buy the Buffalo LinkStation ($220 or so) and she’s going to buy 2 4-TB drives for it. I’ll buy the other two drives after the first of the year. That’ll bring us up to the 16-TB limit of the things and should last us awhile. Click the link and go check it out.

And that’s about it again. Feeling kind of tired from climbing up on Lee’s roof a couple of times so I just may  go lay down and read early.

Big Battle Brewing. Repeater Wars!

Over this new repeater the Club voted to get. The Repeater Committee all think it’s a bad idea (to get a new one). Seems our present repeater has “only a couple of problems” to be fixed in order to work perfectly. No, the problem is that every time they fix a “problem” another pops up within a day or two. There’s been only a couple of problems to fix for the past 4 years or more. I don’t know how much time and money the Club has spent to keep this one running; but enough is enough. It’s time to move into the 20th Century.

One objection was that the new repeater would force everyone to buy a new radio. No. Just, No. It’s compatible with regular FM and provides a host of new digital modes for those interested. You can use the radio you have, or go out and buy a new one with enhanced capabilities. That’s up to you.

It’s not like the “new” 220 repeater being forced on the Club because “a few people might be interested in using it.” Very few. And it does force those of us that want to use it, but don’t have a 220 radio, to buy a new radio.

Duh! Is there a difference between the two? Other than most people will use the 2-meter repeater and never tune in to the 220? Yeah, let’s upgrade the repeater that will be used by most of the members and general public.

But don’t get me started. But, you know, it’ll turn out that the repeater I’m voting for (New. Great Price. Works.) will get bought and turn out to be a real POS. Just my luck.

Monday so not much else going on. Finishing up the chores I didn’t get done yesterday cause I got roped in to making dinner. And I was lazy.

Been trying to start my studying for the Extra Class class and I just haven’t been able to get on it. I don’t understand the Math. A lot of the chapters are so much gobbly-gook to me. Maybe I just don’t have the smarts to be an Extra Class Ham? But I’ll keep trying. It’s what I do.

I just noticed that my blog won’t let you see any past posts when you click on the page thingie at the bottom. ??? Gonna have to check that out. Not that anyone is reading … (Turned out to be the permalinks settings. Changed that and it works. Of course I can’t have permalinks like how I want them now!)

And that’s about it. SWMBO is home and eating. I still haven’t started my studying and I’m not going to have that long to do it tomorrow. (Gonna be doing voice overs down on the Turner Joy.)

I Knew It Was Going To Happen!

Right side of my head hurt most all day yesterday. So, naturally, that means the Left side of my head had to hurt most of today. Can’t have one side hurt and not the other. That would be unfair.

So, got my chores done, managed to sit out in the warm sun for a few minutes, and made pseudo-BBQ Chicken, Southwest blend veggies, and Mac & Cheese for dinner. I’m not a real Mac & Cheese fan, but, for some reason, once I thought of it nothing else would have done. Chicken was tender enough to cut with a fork but still had that BBQ Sweet Baby Ray’s taste I like.

Also managed to be by the radio at the right time to talk to my friend down in Vista, CA this afternoon. Great signal. Marty from Eugene, OR joined us but I couldn’t hear him at all. I need to get off my lazy and start doing psk again. Made contact with my friend in PA last weekend and that was kind of fun.

Looking at new repeaters online. Where I can find any, that is. I’m thinking the club should go ahead and get the Yeasu DR-1X ($500 until Dec 31st) and give it a try. If it doesn’t work for us then I’ll buy the thing and we start over. I could always resell it later. Or play with it.

Anyway, SWMBO is home and fed and it’s about my bedtime.

It Be Raining Like Crazy Out There!

Which has it’s good, and bad, points. We really need the rain right now. But, it’s raining. Dark enough (at Noon) for me to turn on my main light in my room. Finally got cool enough to turn the heat on. Seems that maybe Winter has finally started to arrive here for the year. Suxs!

Really hasn’t been much going on here. Been down in the basement the past couple of days putting the old cabinets up and getting the doors on them. Kind of straightening up. Trying to get all the things off the floors so I can work on them.

Have a butt-ton of old electronic/computer stuff that I need to get rid of. Might just throw everything in a big box and take it to the next Club meeting and let the guys shift through for anything they might be able to use. I’ll probably never use some of that stuff again. Only other thing is to find a recycle place that’ll take it.

Speaking of the Club: MCARC meeting went well this morning. The members present all voted to get a new Repeater! Damn Cool! Ours is so fooked up right now. It went into a transmit loop today. Some of the parts get so overheated that the techs turned the output power down. Which means our signal isn’t getting out as far. (I can barely hold contact from my house now.) All in all it should have been replaced years ago. (Now I get to inform the two guys that like working on the damned thing that it’s going to be replaced and ask them for help with the new one. Oh, Joy.)

And the research of which new Repeater to get will go on for a couple of months now. Then the decision on which to get. Then actually getting it delivered, installed, and set up. Probably sometime late next summer it’ll be up and running. And, even voting to get a new one will piss our Tech Guys off so who knows where that’ll lead.

Pretty “normal” Saturday around here now. Waiting on SWMBO to get home to take us out to dinner someplace. Kind of feel like walking the Mall so we’ll probably eat at Arby’s since she likes them and we’ll be in that neighborhood.

Heard several reports of downed trees and power lines around the area so far. Periods of heavy rain with gusts of wind. Damn, we could be having our first storm of the Winter.

So we went to Silverdale and checked out a new restaurant. Way too loud for the Old in us! Walked half the Mall and went to Red Robin for a burger. They have good burgers.

Walked the other half of the Mall after dinner (where I bought myself a small TARDIS for my window sill), made our usual stop at Safeway (where I found (and rented) TREMORS 5!!!), and now we be home.

Cooler. Cloudy. Sprinkly.

Had to take Dog to the Vet this morning. He has a bad bacterial infection in both ears. (Apparently he’s not supposed to have snot dripping from his ears! Who’d a guessed?!) So we got to sit in the waiting room about half an hour before they pulled us in. He did NOT want to be there either. And I really couldn’t blame him; the last time he was there they removed both his balls. So I understood his trepidation.

But, it’s just after noon now and we’re home. Lunch has been consumed. Trying to get the very last of the paperwork done to refinance the Truck. (There have been so many delays they need new pay stubs.) I’ve told them that I am at the point that one more delay, one more request for additional paperwork that’s already been submitted, and they can take this loan through them and kill it. I’ll go down and deal directly with the Credit Union next time.

Have the first of twelve “Extra” classes tonight over in Gig Harbor starting at 1830. KE7NUQ is going to meet me here and we’ll drive over together. I don’t know that the class is going to be “fun,” but, maybe I’ll manage to get through it and apply for my Dad’s old call sign. Would be a hoot to go from KF7LTT to AB5IW. Probably would be hard to remember for awhile …

The “Firing” button on my “Invader Mini” (that cost $170 last June) is going TU. Doesn’t fire unless pressed really hard. I’m going to take it to the place I bought it and see if they have any suggestions. I think for that much money it should last longer than 4 months. Personally.

Anywho, class in Gig Harbor went well. Home now and it’s way past my bedtime, so I’ll give a report on it later. If I remember.

MCARC Meeting Early

Second Saturday of the Month; as usual. Meeting was lively at times today as folks aired their concerns about the Repeater and how much of the meeting time was taken up by the Repeater stuff. Took most of my training to settle that down without hurting any feelings. Almost brought out the Old HM1 that still lurks in me!

One complaint was that the Club doesn’t actually DO anything; you know, out in the public except for the 2 or 3 of us that still does Field Day. And that is a valid complaint that I’ve had since I joined the Club 4 or 5 years ago. So I got the Vice-President (and her husband) to head up a committee to find things for us to go out and do. And I will make damned sure I go do as many of the things as they can find as I can. Even if I have to disassemble my “Shack” and take it out for the day. It’s really not that hard. And, who knows, maybe we’ll pick up a few younger members along the way. (Almost all the “young” guys that’s joined us these past few months have quit coming to the “Old Guy” meetings. I don’t blame them. We’re boring.)

Took the waterfront/Sound way back (through Union, WA). Was foggy most of the way back to Belfair. Nice and sunny and getting warm here so the Dog and I stripped down and stayed outside. Was nice out there! That’s not going to be the case very many more days. (Starting tomorrow as a matter of fact.) I’ve probably had the last day of running around naked outside for the year. Probably. Sucks.

SWMBO got home about 1530 and we went to Lowe’s for another pipe to raise my 2-meter antenna another 11 feet. That should get it up to around 40 feet. If that ain’t enough then screw it. I’m tired of fookin’ with the thing.

Then she took me to the all-you-can-eat Chinese place in Port Orchard; which I always enjoy. And at which I always eat way too damned much. (As I did this time also.) At least this time I had more of the Seafood stuff than I usually do. Their baked-crab mix stuff was yummy. But the best part is still the company.

Made out usual stop at Safeway (where we spent more than usual since a lot of stuff in our fridge went TU while we were on vacation) and now we’re home, things are put away, and it’s time to just chill. I think it’ll be a “Tremors” evening.

We Be Home!

Which is really kind of nice. Was way too tired Monday evening when we pulled in (about 2000 hrs.) to post. Then had a really bad “Welcome Back To WaRshington” migraine all day yesterday, so I didn’t post then either. (It was so bad even freezing my head didn’t help. At all.)

Not much going on today. Getting the laundry done and the Caravan cleaned out. All I really have left of that is to sweep and swab. Maybe I ought to wipe things down too. And clean the fridge out. Get the rest of the Thrive food out. Wash the outside down. But other than that it’s all pretty much done.

The trip: Fantastic. Saw lots of new things. New Geology things. And got to do all that with my lovely young bride of almost 30 years. What more could I possibly ask for? Pictures are now on my OneDrive and Flickr. Already getting “favorites” on Flickr. Cool!

Tried turning my Windows 7 C: drive into a VM; and it sort of worked. Won’t let me make any changes to the “My Documents” directory and some other things. Other than that it seems to work great. Tried changing permissions but that hasn’t worked so far. I’ll keep playing with it and will probably stumble on fixing it. The problems may stem from me changing the usual “My Documents” directory to another drive originally. Hmmm …

MCARC Wednesday Evening 2-meter Chat Net went well. Once I remembered I was at only 5 watts, that is. All the other’s came in fairly well this time. Then I spent some time taking apart and repairing my big tuner cause the main knob came loose. Wouldn’t make the clickity click sound it usually does. Easy fix though. Now to work on that $100 radio. (Volume knob is not working right. Sounds shorted/dirty.)

And that’s probably about it. SWMBO is off to the quilting party at the Church and the Avenger’s is almost over, so I think I’ll go lay down and read awhile.

What A Nice Wx Day!

I’d be willing to bet it got to 85 degrees here at the house. Sunny! Hot! My kind of day! Spent as much time outside as I could, went for several walks around the property, ate a butt-ton of blackberries, and just enjoyed this day as much as possible.

All the while loading the Caravan for our trip. Had to make a run to WinCo and figured, as long as I was in town, also stopped by the Vape Shop and got another battery for my vaper-thingie. Mostly got sandwich stuff at WinCo so we could eat while driving if we wanted to. Or we could stop by the road somewhere if we wanted to. Or we could go hungry if we wanted to. (Did I cover all the bases?)

Listened to the Noon-time Net (7268.5) while laying out. Heard a lot of folks. The Sheriff’s bands have been busy with a truck turned on it’s side up near the Naval Hospital. Heard a report of another vehicle turned over later this afternoon but don’t remember where. All the usual ambulance runs and rescue stuff going on too. It’s fun to listen in and not have to respond.

This is one of the rare occasions that I’m glad SWMBO’s Son lives in our basement. He can keep an eye on the house and feed the animals while we travel for the weekend. Other than that …

SWMBO is home and made herself dinner and put some of the stuff she wants to take into the Caravan. She wants to take her sewing machine? She’ll be doing genealogy the first 3 days and trekking around canyons the 2nd 3 days. When’s she going to get time to sew? (She’ll manage though.)

Anywho, supposed to start raining tonight so I’ve buttoned up the Caravan and brought in everything I don’t want to get wet. Think I’ll go lay down and read.

You Are Not Familiar With The Focusing Disintegrator Ray?

Really nice day out! One of the few remaining for this year. I tried to stay outside as much as possible. Really tried. Almost made it. Busy putting “stuff” together for the trip though. Which meant being inside way too much for such a nice day.

Not much else going on. Playing with my 857d and the new Alpha Antenna. Added a couple of counterpoise wires to it. Made 4 but have room for only 2 to fit on the thing. Need an extension for the screw thingie that holds the coax attachment thingie. (There are a lot of “thingies” in Ham Radio.)  Even managed to check in to the Noontime Net on 7.268.5 using only 25 watts! That’s good.

Made Fried Chicken, Boiled Chunked Potato’s, and barely warmed up Home-Grown Peas for dinner. Was yummy. Now to remember that I have to save some for SWMBO. Or else. (Not really. I mean; she wouldn’t really, like, hurt me or anything. But there is that look.)

Went back and attached two wires each to the connectors for the counterpoise. I figure it should work. Hopefully. No harm trying.

Heard on the radio today: “Lady calling says she keeps getting texts that someone is trapped at the bottom of a canyon. Injuries unknown.” Several small fires in the area. Non-Injury Hit & Run. Altercation at Safeway in town. Three episodes of people passing out. (Probably the heat. It got up to 75 degrees today.)

MCARC 2-meter Wednesday Evening Chat Net went well with about 8 check-ins. I had to switch to the directional I built so they could hear me, and their signals were broken and scratchy, but we got it worked out. One of these days I’ll find a sweet spot for the 2-meter/440 antenna that will work just fine. Of course, I may wind up buying another 100 feet of coax to reach it in that spot.

And that’s about it for tonight. Just not much going on around here.

What? Another Windows 7 VM?

Yep. Tried “authenticating” the first one I did and it wasn’t having none of it. Said I did a NEW install and I wasn’t authorized to do that. So I wound up “upgrading” one of my XP VM’s. What Fun! What Joy! What a pain in the ass!

But, I got it working and am re-installing the few programs I use in Windows that I haven’t found an equivalent for in Linux. Another joyful experience! It does seem to be working though; so that’s good. Now to copy a bunch of Data around.

Not much else going on. Nice day out. Laid out awhile. Put my 857d in the Caravan and hooked the Alpha Antenna to it and am letting it scan so I can hear if it receives anything while I was laying out. It does. I’ll probably try to contact my friend in Vista at 1515 or so just as a test. Would be nice if it worked that well!

Installed Google Earth in Linux and managed to pull all my data from the Windows installation. That’s good. I used Google Earth for a lot of things. (Including finding new repeaters wherever I go and feel the need.)

And that, again, is pretty much it. The MCARC 10-meter Tuesday Chat Net went well even with only 3 of us checking in. I did it from the Caravan and it wasn’t too bad. Lots of noise though. Ah well.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!

My Windows VM went TU, and stayed that way. VMWare itself will attempt to start any VM I click on, and die. I’ve uninstalled, reinstalled, DE installed, reinstalled, uninstalled again and killed everything that started with VMware, reinstalled and it still does the same thing. When I break it, it stays broken.

So, I think I’ll just do my posting and those other 2 programs on my laptop. It’s Windows 7, will stay Windows 7, and works.

It figures the VM would crash just after I wrote a really funny post to post tonight. And there’s no way I’d ever remember what the hell it was I wrote. So you get this. Short and to the point tonight.

Not much else going on. Sunday routine. SWMBO made some delicious Ham steaks, rice, and corn-on-the-cob for dinner. MCARC 2-meter Sunday Chat Net went well with 10 check-ins. Finally starting to cool off for the evening.

Think I’ll go do the last uninstall of VMWare, read my mail, and chill for the evening.

They Love Old/Flat Dr. Pepper

The Hornets. Left a half full can of Dr. Pepper outside a couple of days and, today, there were at least 30 Hornets flying into and out of that can. ??? So, I grabbed one of the yellow hornet-catcher thingies we bought several months ago, that haven’t caught one Hornet, and put some of the flat Dr. Pepper in the cup thing at the bottom. About an hour later there are 10+ Hornet’s trapped in the thing. Who knew! So I put flat Dr. Pepper in the other yellow Hornet-Capture things and we’ll see.

Not much else going on. Mythbuster’s Marathon. Watering. Picking ripe cherry tomato’s. Nice outside so I’m spending a lot of time outside. Laundry.

SWMBO got home from church and went into her room to study (she has to get a certain amount of CEU’s(?) every year), so I pulled her car into the driveway and washed it. It needed it! She probably won’t notice it until she’s on her way to work tomorrow. Cool!

I also cooked dinner: Fried Shrimp, Wild Rice (mix), and Baby Lima Beans. Yummy! It was good if I do say so myself.

As you can probably tell; spent a couple of hours in X-Plane 10. Used my Steam account and downloaded it to Linux. That took only 14 hours this time! Works Lots Better Than It Ever Did In Windows 7. I also found a screen/window video capture program called Kazam that works as good as Fraps in Windows. Cool!

MCARC 2-meter Sunday Evening Chat Net (the highly informal version) went well. Only had 3 check-ins at first. But wound up with 9 total. That was good. Everyone was scratchy to me, but I’m learning to live with it. NOT! Will probably move my antenna around, again, to see if I can get a better signal. The one repeater I really want to connect to …

Thursday

It’s 0730 on a slightly overcast Thursday and I have no idea what I’m going to do today. Wait! Oh, yeah. My new Alpha Antenna is supposed to be in today; but I probably won’t be able to pick it up until after 1300. So, I do kinda sorta have a plan for today. Setting up and testing my new antenna!

I’ve already completed all my usual chores. Got started early today. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll collect rocks for my “rock garden.” Only if the sun comes out and it gets a bit warmer.

I could work in the basement, I have a lot of plans for it and I really need to get started. But, that’s really a Winter job. (Basement. Sounds like a big hole in the ground. Dark. Dank. Dreary. But our “basement” has two windows and a door to the outside and will be rather pleasant when I get it finished.)

I need to get everything (including an un-named individual who’s 35 years old and shouldn’t be living in his mother’s basement) out of there, rip the ceiling out so I can rewire for new lights, and put a gas pipe in for the new Gas Stove, then seal the cement and put a new floor in. Then SWMBO needs to tell me if it’s going to be an "open” space to share with her folks when/if they move into the MILA, or, just make a new apartment she can rent out after I die. (She’s planning on living in the MILA and renting out the main house and basement apartment so she doesn’t have to work.) I’ve told her that if we make the thing into an apartment while I’m alive, and we rent it out, we’re only renting to Nudists.

New antenna did come in (I had to go pick it up at the Post Office) and I have it assembled and in the front yard. Already hooked up to the 857d and scanning.

When I switch between antenna’s there really isn’t much difference in signal. That’s good. I’m hoping that the Alpha Antenna will work better mounted in the bed of my truck. Gonna test that next.

Well. The New Alpha Antenna: In PSK31 (which is what I use mostly, transmitting at 35 watts or less, the “Forward” needle bounces between 200-300 watts marks (at 5 watts it bounced between 100-150). Straight in to the antenna the “Reflected” reads 1.5:1 or less (depending on watts out). Through the “tuned” position I can tune it to where the “Reflected” needle doesn’t even twitch (@ 35 watts). Looking at pskreporter.info now to see where my signal’s been heard …

No. The Alpha Antenna isn’t nearly as good as any of the other antenna’s I have installed here at the house; but out camping someplace it seems like it is going to work just fine.

But now I’m trying to learn how to connect my Ubuntu Studio machine to our Windows Network. (Or our Network.) Would like to be able to access the Movie and TVDrive drives. It is not turning out to be easy. But I did something right because I finally got access to our TVDrive and the MovieDrive. So that’s an accomplishment for today!

Doc, You Lazy Turd! Again!

It is literally NOON and I’ve only finished half the chores. Got caught up in making breakfast (2-egg omelet with chopped tomato & mushroom & ham and FOUR slices of pepper bacon (but not in the omelet (the bacon.)( Nevermind.))) and watching, of all things, Heidi (the Shirley Temple one). And I slept in late this morning too. It was almost 0700 before I got up! Man!

Finally got my Icom-208H programmed for all the repeaters I could want to communicate with here in the local area. I’ll probably carry a list (or find an App) for repeaters in other parts of WaRshington and the rest of the country where I’m likely to travel. Put all the local Sheriff’s and some Air bands in.  (Seatac & Bremerton.) Now to put it back in the truck!

Which I did. Then I remembered that I hadn’t programmed any of the local 440 repeaters into the damned thing. So, I looked those up and made another list, then sat out in the truck programming them in. Only a few though.

I continue to be impressed with this Ubuntu Studio. Today I plugged my Nexus 7 in to it and it recognized it right off. Cool! Am getting to the point that it’s doing what I want to do. Would be nice to get rid of this Windows 7 VM, but I just don’t see that happening soon. (Even tried installing WLW under Wine/Play On Linux but it didn’t work.)

The power/data connection on my Nexus 7 is starting to wear out too. Damn! I’m pretty careful how I plug things in too; since I want things to last as long as they can. These things don’t grow on trees, you know!

MCARC 10-meter Chat Net went well. Only 5 check-ins; but that’s about the usual. Wish we could get more of the Newbies involved. Ah, Well.

Anywho, that’s about it for tonight.