Jun 23

Ya Know, It’s About Time I Caught Up!

Although I may have trouble remembering exactly what the Hell I’ve been doing. Being “retired” is that way sometimes. And these endless days stuck at home doesn’t make it any better. All the days seem to run together.

Me On The USS Plymouth Rock (LSD-29) late 70's

Lets see. Today SWMBO and I went to Walmart. The Dipshidiots are still wearing masks like it actually means something. Picked up some burger stuff (buns, maters, onions, lettuce, etc) for field day this coming weekend. Got 3 new mater cages for the mater plants that need them. Just been hanging around.

Yesterday we sent to COSTCO via Home Depot. Bought a couple of bundles of trim and paid to have it delivered (Wednesday) cause it’s way WAY too long to fit in my truck. Then we spent too much at COSTCO and got only a small basket of stuff.

Last Friday we went to the All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Food place (Mandarin Palace?) in Port Orchard and had a sit-down dinner. Which was really nice.

Otherwise I don’t remember much.

SWMBO has started to use one of those electric carts when we go shopping. Bothers me ONLY because she has to use it to get around. Wish she’d find out what’s wrong with her and try to get it fixed. But her blood sugar is way down from what it used to be at! She’s lost a lot of weight too. I’m Really worried!

Course, I have my own issues. Had a dizzy spell a couple of weeks ago and let my Doc know. He ordered (and I had) a Pulmonary Function Test (which I failed) and a CAT Scan (that I really need to look up the results for). Did the PFT and the guy brought out the Albuterol and I got to do it again.Didn’t help much. Quit smoking 9 years ago but that previous 40 kicked my lungs ass.

It's Getting To Be Summer!

Been straightening up all my pictures on my drives (gathering them into one place) and online. One of the guys from NMARES said I can store unlimited photo’s in my Google Photo’s so I think I’m going to check that out. Stored and shareable. Cool So I’m practizin by posting various pictures here as a test. Hope it works.

Oh, the 30 day FB Jail is over as of yesterday and I’ve already pissed off several people just by being Conservative Logical. And my neighbor up-hill may never speak to me again. But when folks post how Masks are the be-all and end-all protection for the COVID-19 (or other viri) the HM in me takes over. And the “homemade” masks are the worst of all.

Anywho, I think that’s it. I’m sure there’s a butt-ton of things I missed (like finally getting rid of all but one of those Subaru engines and a bunch of the tires and other stuff) but that’s just the way it is for an old guy. We forget shit.

Jun 28

OMG Busy!

Spent the majority of last week getting ready for Field Day. Surprised how much needed to be done to the Caravan before I could use it. Oh, nothing really “dirty;” just messy. Air in the tires. Clean the water tank (just to be sure). Those kind of things.

SWMBO’s Dad came in to visit for a week and take a mini-vacation.

So Friday comes around  and a couple of the guys met me at the road to follow me up to Green Mountain Horse Camp where we were having Field Day. Five miles off the paved road! Up hill. (Actually, up mountain.) But we all made it and started setting up.

P1190031

Then, SWMBO and her Dad (visiting from Ohio. Her Dad. Not SWMBO. SWMBO lives here with me. Nevermind) showed up about 2200 or so and we crashed for the night.

Field Day went pretty much as usual. Made 12 contacts this year. Used Fred’s Hex Beam and it worked really well. WAY better than my Alpha Antenna. Think I’ll build one for my tower.

So, Saturday night went well. Sunday morning I made bacon & eggs & hash browns as usual and everyone seemed to like it. Broke camp about 1100 cause we were just tired of camping out.

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Monday we took my father-in-law to the Boeing tour. As far as I’m concerned, Boeing charges WAY too much for that tour. $25 each for 90 minutes of bus ride, walking tunnels, watching planes not being worked on, and not much else. Ends at the way too expensive gift shop and you leave. It should be a free tour.

Tuesday, WTF did we do Tuesday? Oh! Family BBQ here at the house. SWMBO’s Son & girlfriend and Brother showed up and we had BBQ Chicken, Tater Salad, and Pork & Beans. And a lot of visiting!

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Today we got up early and went to Mt. St. Helen’s. Stopped for breakfast at our usual place and had to back-track a bit to get on the highway to the mountain. Was nice but too cloudy to get a decent view of the mountain. Nice ride. Not too cold at the Johnston Observatory. Spent only $26 at the gift store (new walking stick) and had lunch on the tailgate.

P1120129bTomorrow we’re just going to chill a bit and he goes back to Ohio Friday. Which means SWMBO will go back to work Friday. And I have an appointment with the Vascular Surgeon Friday. Hmmm…

Didn’t get to post this yesterday cause I got busy. Took my FIL to Home Depot to pick out cabinets and paint and stuff for the apartment. That’s gonna be a job!

Today I got called in early for my vascular surgeon appointment.  The problems I’m having with my leg aren’t vascular in nature. Probably related to the degenerative disc disease. Getting Old. Doc says to take 2 ibuprofen at bedtime and when I get up and get used to it.

My Father-in-law went with SWMBO this morning and should be about home by now. Nice visit. He should come over more often. He seemed to have a nice visit. We certainly got to enough places in 5 days!

AND I just got attacked by a hornet’s nest of hornets. Moved the wrong board and uncovered a 8” nest. Got stung twice on my arm and once on my face before I got away. I’ll spray the buggers tonight. After dark. From Spokane.

And that’s it. Time to get this posted.

Jun 21

Boycott Sony Pictures.

My goodness yesterday was NICE! Except for making a trip to Port Orchard (cause I’m pretty sure Jo Anne’s doesn’t want a fat old naked guy in their store) and when the UPS guy showed up, me and the Dog were sans clothing all day. That’s the way the world should be!

Spent most of the day outside setting up for Field Day. Completely set up the radio and both computers. Was getting better psk31 signals out there than I’ve been getting in the house for these past couple of weeks. (Or so.)

But, everything works. Even my old tuner is working today on 20 meters. Didn’t hear anyone on the 7.268.5 Noontime Net though.

Woke up to a completely different Wx day today. Cold out. Had to put on a long sleeved shirt for our walk and while puttering around outside. Figures the Official 1st Day Of Summer would be on the coldest day of the week (so far). (Seems to me I also got married on this date way back in 73 or 74. Damn.)

I’ve been subpoena’d for the trial for my ex-renter. The part I really don’t like is the “YOU ARE COMMANDED TO APPEAR” like I’m not a free citizen or something. I mean, I don’t mind testifying for the Prosection but you could at least ask.

The Defense came by for my statement today. Interesting. She tried to lead a couple of my answers (which I called her on) and asked me a couple of “opinion’ questions (which I didn’t answer cause my “opinions” don’t mean squat). Mostly I think it went well. I’ll find out differently in court though. I hate lawyers.

What’s 200 Lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A Good Start!

Not a whole hell of a lot else going on. We get to pick SWMBO up in Bremerton @ 1945 or so since she’s working late. Still need to figure out, and load, whatever we’re going to be eating (and munching on) this weekend. Gonna miss Date Day as far as going out. SWMBO may have to go shopping on her own! (The Horrors!)

Jul 17

Turns Out I Be Pretty Boring

Well, what the Hell have I been up to? No idea. Hanging around the house waiting for it to get warm enough to go outside. Other than that, buttkiss. (Butkas?)

Last Saturday was “date day” of course. SWMBO took me to teriyaki chicken in Gig Harbor before making a stop of COSTCO. That’s always fun! We actually got out of there fairly inexpensively this time. If you don’t count the $50 I spent for two 64g SanDisc’s. More about those later …

Sunday was our usual Sunday. Mostly. I set up one of those cards with a version of Ubuntu that’ll work with the Raspberry Pi2. Spent most of the evening working on that. Got it working great except it won’t play video files. Seems to load them but will not play. Which means I can’t use one of these to swap out SWMBO’s laptop and make a bit more room on her desktop. But, I’ll keep playing with it. AND the Ubuntu installation too!

#Desiree

Yesterday (Sunday) it was also dark cloudy and rather cool all damned day too. Sucked. You could NOT tell it’s the middle of July around here! Our garden is freezing it’s ass off!

Today though, Monday, it was sunny and about 80 degrees today. Go figure. So me and the Dog spent a lot of time outside. Repositioned my longwire dipole antenna and got it about 10 feet higher. Doesn’t seem to work any better; but it’s higher. (My Tuner is messed up too. Won’t make good contacts when tuning. Makes that staticy noise.)

Also installed fldigi and am learning that. Works great on my multi-band fan dipole that I made but haven’t really seen any signals to test Rx.  Will keep playing with that too.

Ordered that Panasonic G7 and it should be here sometime between 2-10 Aug. Have no idea why it takes so long; but that’s just the way it is.

Watching “Great Earthquakes of the Pacific Northwest” lecture on YouTube.