Philosophy

A Dark and Stormy Night

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Well, as much as a cliche as it is, it IS a dark and stormy night. I am sitting here in the living room watching my livestock. The cats are laying in various strategic positions, soaking up the heat from the stove. My fish are swimming around as fish tend to do and my hermit crabs are wandering their tank and chirping at each other.

Got a bunch of stuff done today. Went to a local farmers market and got some chocolates for my mother-in-law. She has a sore leg due to falling over a cat. We also went to lunch and then went to a grocery store to do shopping for us and to pick up a few things for my MIL. After we got home I did some riding on my stationary bike while playing a video game. It distracts me from the fact that I am actually exercising and gives my wyfe and I some interactive time. When I got done with that I, with the help of my ever patient wyfe, changed the water in the fish tanks. The majority of our fish are, like our cats, rescues. A lot of them were slated to be food for other fish or were supposed to be bait. I have gold fish (feeders that are over 2 years old), rosy reds which are a type of minnow used as feeders and fathead minnows which are used as bait. I also have cory cats, plecos, a female betta and a otto cat. No, not all in the same tank lol.

After all that I got on the radio for a bit. I am trying to perfect my skills with a sideswiper (also called a cootie) key. It is quite a change from a straight key but I am getting there. Most people are patient. There was one whose callsign will not be mentioned that was put out with me because my keying was not perfect and his computer couldn’t decode it. I guess listening and decoding in his head was too onerous a task. lol Well I am going to finish my coffee and enjoy the warmth. A lot can be learned from kittehs.

TTFN and namaste 🙂

Why is the game a foot?

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So here it is, a Saturday afternoon in November and I am enjoying coffee. Today was the Fall FISTS Saturday Sprint. FISTS is an international Morse code club. They started their Sprints up again after a year or two hiatus. The object is to work as many stations as you can in 2 hours. There are 3 entry categories: QRO, QRP and Club. I entered the QRP category. In August, I worked the Summer Sunday Sprint and came in first place in the QRP category.

The Sprints are held on the 2nd Saturday and 3rd Sunday of February, May, August and November. On Saturdays they run from 1600 UTC to 1800 UTC and on Sundays from 2100UTC to 2300 UTC. They are a lot of fun.

Conditions were good today but there are several other contests going on which made some of the bands a bit crowded, especially if you are QRP. I enjoyed myself and look forward to the February Spriing.

More information can be found at: http://www.fistsna.org

TTFN

E-mail and Whine

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It is amazing how much we depend on e-mail. When it doesn’t work, it can get very stressful. My ISP (which I will not name) either changed its name to fool people into thinking it was something new or got bought out by another company. I thought my old ISP was horrible for customer service and I didn’t think it could get any worse. Boy, was I mistaken. The new company is beyond reprehensible when it comes to customer service. First off, if you call them, they make it almost impossible to speak with a human. If, on some offhand chance, you do reach a human they tell you to access their webpage for troubleshooting “tips”. You can also chat with a bot which will ask you irrelevant questions. I was finally able to get my emails. The human I spoke with did not seem to comprehend that since the server migration I have received the same e-mail 47 times. I deleted 47 copies of the same bloody email. Oh well

Enough of that. It is a nice balmy 2C outside and inside is is 25C. I am enjoying the heat from my pellet stove as are my cats. This past week there were 2 special event stations commemorating the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I was able to work both stations. Radio conditions have been good, and I have been working a lot of CW contacts. Now it is time to put my feets up, relax and drink a very good ale. TTFN

Coffee, kitties and CW

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Yup, a nice Autumn day. It is 18C outside and overcast. A good afternoon to sit here sending CQs to the world. I started out on 10M on the frequency of 28.050MHz and worked a station in Arizona. I changed to the 12M band on 24.910. Nothing. That is the way it goes. I sought a lower frequency to work. I went to 18.085MHz to try my luck. The 17M band can be a good on at times, lots of DX or West Coast. I did have a ham tell me he could hear my signal down in Alabama very strongly. I am also seeing spots on the RBN and other spotting pages. Things may be looking up as I go down in frequency. I worked a station in Colorado. Not too shabby. I refilled my coffee and gave vittles to the livestock (my fish, my hermit krabs and my kitties). Sent out another series of calls on 18.085 MHz. Then I worked a ham from Texas who I had last worked back in 2007. Tempus fugit. Went to my old standby band, 40M. I can always find someone to work on 40M. Sent a series of calls on 7.113MHz. It is in the old Novice portion of 40 but I often find people on here. Of course when I am the FIST Sprints I tend to hang around on 7.059 to 7.062 if I am not on 20M. I am glad they started the Sprints back up and I hope they become popular again.

Well it has been an interesting couple of hours but I am going to take a break from radioing. I think I will design my next batch of been.

Namaste, kidlets

There’s a cat chewing on my arm!

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Bet that got your attention. 🙂 I am sitting by the window watching a beautiful day go by. My cats are nearby including Mayhem, my little sweet girl who was chewing on me a minute ago. My big motional sports cat, Marley, is laying down by my feet and taking up a shitload of floor space. Basically I am chilling. I just finished 3 days in a row at work and only have tonight off before I have to work another 2 days. It is no biggie. I am used to it. I also have to look at my work sched and figure out when to schedule a dentist appointment, a doctor appointment and a routine blood draw. Lots of fun. I also have to consider when I am next going to brew some beer. That is not a chore, it is fun. I have some kveik yeast in my fridge (Lutra strain) and I will make a starter before I brew. In a few minutes I am going to go upstairs and ride my exorcise bike while killing stuff on my PS4. It is a way of distracting myself from the fact that I am exorcising. Tonight I will get on my radio for a few. I will try to make some SKCC and FISTS contacts. What are those? Well SKCC is Straight Key Century Club and FISTS is the international Morse Code Preservation Society, both fun groups to belong to. I will include links to their web pages below. Here is a link to a page which tells me what propagation conditions are like on the ham bands: https://hamradiofornontechies.com/current-ham-radio-conditions/

It explains very nicely what the numbers mean. SKCC page is: https://www.skccgroup.com which describes the group and FISTS is: https://fistsna.org

Well enough for now. I am going to pet Mayhem and let her chew on me before I go exorcise.

Namaste y’all

Ahhhh …. Autumn

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Well it is Autumn again. I just got done beating Satan’s Putting Green back into submission and I am looking forward to the seasonal die-back. In any event, running a lawn mower reminds me of safety. Thinking of safety reminds me of the annual Simulated Emergency Test. What is that, you might ask? Well :

The annual Simulated Emergency Test (SET) is a training exercise involving the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the National Traffic System (NTS), a message-handling service of amateur radio. The American Radio Relay League is a prime mover in this event, which is organized somewhat like a contest. Its primary purposes are to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in emergency preparedness and communications, and to demonstrate amateur radio to the public.

During the first full weekend of October of every year in the United States, a nationwide radio communications network is set up that links every major city and most of the geography of the country. This technological infrastructure is set up from scratch within a few hours at locations that vary from state and local government Emergency Operations Centers to isolated areas without utilities of any kind. Every mode of radio communications is utilized including analog, digital, voice, data, simplex, duplex, satellites and even automated relay stations launched on aircraft and with weather balloons. For no more than 48 continuous hours, this nationwide radio communications network is exercised with the primary objective of proving the system’s readiness and capabilities. Then as quickly as it was set up, the system is dismantled and stored in preparation for when it is needed. The system has demonstrated its value time after time during earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires, terrorist attacks and other disasters. All of this capability is provided by volunteers who continuously hone their technical skills and acquire, build, and maintain their own equipment. These radio engineers and operators, along with their equipment, combine into an important resource for emergency communications.

There you have it. The SET will be held this weekend, OCT 1 and 2. The SET is held this time of year because it is near the end of hurricane season and is a good way of evaluating performance under stressful conditions. Right now, Florida and other areas in the South are being pummeled by Hurricane Ian. There are traffic nets set up on the HF bands to pass health and welfare messages into and out of the affected areas. Ham radio has been a major part of emergency communications and will remain so.

“Of course you know this means war!”

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I have a weather station. One of the great topics to talk about on ham radio is the weather. I am also a NOAA Storm Spotter ( which doesn’t mean that I chase down tornadoes, it means that I report to the NOAA any unusual and or dangerous weather). So anyway I noticed yesterday that for 2 consecutive days my anemometer had registered no wind. I went out to check it and found a spider had built a web on my station and it was locking the wind cups in place. I brushed the spider web away and thought that that was it. NOOOOOOOOO! The frackin spider rebuilt the web. I had to clear it away today. I also took a yard broom to the weather station and hopefully evicted the spider. I think this whole thing was caused by me freeing a praying mantis from a spider web at my mum-in-law’s place. The poor thing was climbing the wall and the web kept pulling it back. I freed it and it flew off happily. I believe the spiders communicated with each other and decided to mess with me. I am waiting the next move. I hope I don’t have to exercise the nuclear option!

Namaste kidlets.

As for the weasel …

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All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought ’twas all in fun…
POP! Goes the weasel

Penny for a spool of thread
Penny for a needle
That’s the way the money goes…
POP! Goes the weasel

The painter needs a ladder and brush
The artist needs an easel;
The dancers need a fiddler’s tune…
POP! Goes the weasel


I’ve no time to where to sigh
Or to tell the reason why
Kiss me quick, I’m off, good-bye…
POP! Goes the weasel

Why did I post this? Well, today I beat Satan’s Putting Green into submission. I also decided on a compromise to a contention betwixt a White Mulberry (MORUS ALBA) and myself. The thing wants to take over. I didn’t plant it and I believe it was left as a gift by a passing bird. In any event, I have been trying to get rid of the thing for a few years now. I have cut and chopped and tugged and pulled and the damn thing keeps coming back. I reached a decision today. I am not going to try fighting it, I am going to trim it. I read that they can grow up to 15 meters (50 feet for the ones who don’t do metric) tall. Uhuh. Challenge accepted! I am going to keep it trimmed to a maximum of 3 feet (1 meter). Lets see how it likes being a shrubbery. The Knights Who Say Neigh would be proud!

Another thing I do when out in the yard is check over all my antennas. There are a few limbs I need to take down but on the whole they look ok. Enough for now.

Namaste, kiddos

Momento Mori

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So here I am, sitting down. I just finished kegging my blonde ale and now it is a matter of waiting for it to carbonate. One nice thing about brewing beer is that most of the work is done by yeasts. Once you make them a nice home they go to work procreating and when they have had their fill of procreation, they become factories. They take in sugar and other fermentables and process it into alcohol and gas (CO2). Wonderful little critters.

It is always a good thing to question your own motives. Why did I join a certain club? Better yet, what am I giving to the club to make things better? Clubs will die from lack of activity. When I first got into ham radio I joined a local club. On paper the club had over 50 members. I never saw more than a handful at meetings and the only activity the club did was a half-assed attempt at Field Day. The “leadership” of the club was content to do nothing and there was a sense of ennui throughout. Basically the club was dead. I am hoping that history does not repeat itself. I am currently in a new club that needs a boost. I realize that there are a lot of things in a persons life and priorities have to be set but a little time can be spent on a positive thing.

Weird Coincidence

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Ok. The last post I made in this blog was the last time I mowed. Today I mowed again and I am posting again. It must be fate! Actually, Satan’s Putting Green was getting wild and I had to subdue it. The demons were getting brave and creeping out. My neighbor came over last night and asked if he could borrow my wheel barrow as he needs to cart away some rocks. I hear him hitting them every time he mows and he told me he had to get his mower fixed. Go figure.

Anyway, I am on my way to a VE session tonight. I volunteer with a VE team testing folks who want a ham license or to upgrade their license class. I see this as a way of giving back to the hobby. Basically I sit and monitor until someone needs their test graded. As I am an Amateur Extra Class operator, I can grade any level of test. It is very simple. I remember when I first started as a VE, Morse code was still a part of the tests. The leader of the VE team used to have me verify the tapes to make sure he had copied corrrectly. His hearing was going so he wanted to be double checked. Now it is just a written exam. Well I am going to end this entry now and wish you all a great day

Namaste, kidlets.