Jun 24

Just Nothing. SSDD.

Oh, Joy! The (shitty) neighbor’s oldest kid got a new horn for his truck. It’s loud and sounds sorta like a train horn. He’s been “testing” it all damned day. Between that and them running up and over a small extension next to the road (which just happens to be on my property)(wrecking that small patch of bank, btw) I can’t contain my pleasure at having such, such, Dipsidiots, as neighbors. I’m still waiting for their youngest to kill the rest of them in their sleep some night. I’d stay alive long enough to watch him fry. Hell, I’d volunteer to flip the switch.

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Not much else going on for a Tuesday. Took a short ride around earlier to test that new dashcam I got; it worked fine; for the second half of the trip. Have to figure that out. Takes nice video though.
Started getting the Caravan ready for this weekend. Wx report looks good; hot and sunny. Which will be a change as it’s managed to rain for most of my previous Field Day’s. We’ll see how that turns out.

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I’m pretty disappointed in that new Vape thing I got. Battery doesn’t last very long and it gives me an “invalid mini” error (whatever that means!) when I start it up. It does use more e-juice, but I expected that.
And that has been my day. Kind of laid back really.

Jun 15

Caught My Balls Up A Tree. Again.

Where to start? Damn Fine Day! About 90+ degrees. Sunny. A get naked and stay the Hell outside day. So I pretty much did. Except:

Had an appointment in Olympia with the CPAP folks at 0900. Wore clothes for that. They’re so picky! Was a pretty ride  and traffic wasn’t all that bad. Appointment went well. They gave me a new mask (which means they charged the Insurance Company $215 “for services rendered.”) I try not to abuse that whole insurance thing; I’ll use stuff until it just can’t be used anymore before getting a new one. Yes, I know, that’s what I pay Insurance for; but I just can’t take advantage of the Insurance folks by having them pay for something I don’t really need. I needed the Sleep Study. I need the CPAP machine. I’ll use the face mask and hose until they’re in taters then get new. (And I still don’t understand what makes those silicone, mass-produced, face masks cost $274. Just seems spendy to me.)

Ride home was pretty. Took the slower road along the sound and pretty much stuck to speed limit.

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Nice out so I got out the tennis ball launcher and tried to put my antenna wire where I want it. No joy. BOTH tennis balls got stuck up in the tree and the lines broke while trying to pull them down. Crap! Gotta go to ACE and get some more tennis balls, weights, and various other things to make a tennis ball launch able. Then try again. And I gotta have this thing ready to take to Field Day too.

But I did get the 6-160 meter antenna down and the balun attached so it is at least ready to hoist into position. It’ll be nice to be able to start using that antenna. Of course, there are wires all over the place and hanging over the top of the house until I get that done. That’s what you’d call – Incentive. Something us Old Fart Hams need daily; incentive.

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I had the best time out with my Schweetie yesterday. Seeing new places with her is always a joy. We’ve lived up here since Jan 93 and that was the first time we’ve been to the Visitor’s Center on Mt. Rainier. Heck, that day trip a couple of weeks ago was the first time we drove up to the mountain in all the time we’ve been here. Just always seemed to be “busy.”

The fee at the gate to Mt. Rainier was $20 per car. I remembered (Yay!) to ask for the Old-Guy Forever Pass thingie; which I got and we got into the park for the $10 the card cost. COOL! And now we can get into all the National Parks just by showing the card. That is really cool! Turning 63 the end of the month still sucks; but there are some good things out there for us Old Guys.

Jun 14

Mt. Rainier Day Trip. I’m Tired!

What a nice day! Oot & Aboot with my Schweetie. Finally got to the Visitor’s Center atop Mt. Rainier. Nice, warm, sunny, traveling day! We even had a small cook-out on the tailgate.

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And we saw the “Hobo Inn” in Elbe, WA. where you can sleep in a Caboose if you want. Cool!

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But I’m really beat right now. I drove only 210 miles (less than a half tank of gas!) but most of it was mountain road. On the way back got stuck behind a guy that was playing “The Game” until I managed to get around him. Then it was smooth sailing.

Got home just in time to check in to the MCARC 2-meter Sunday Evening Chat Net. KE7NUQ ran it for me tonight. Nice of him.