The day dawned bright and shiny. I decided to check in to the "Friendly Net" before going to breakfast, and atomicbiker joined me. He got to witness how patient I was while the net control station took stringer signals first - and how I cunningly paused for an extra 1-2 seconds when he called for more check-ins, so that my callsign stuck out under the pile ( Read more... )

On the third day, I had a brainstorm. Or maybe it was at the end of the second day. Regardless. I was thinking back to the last time I'd used an expedient vertical HF speaker-wire antenna and recalled that the feed point was at the bottom of the mast - very near the ground. And - the ground radials all laid flat out from the feedpoint. So I ( Read more... )

Day 2 dawned, and as thrilled as I was that I had made at least one contact, I was determined to do better. First thing I need is more antenna, I thought. So out came the ELPA 302A ( Read more... )

Alright, so it has been a startlingly long time since I've updated my journal. Without apologies or attempts to try to catch things up, I may as well launch straight into my latest amusement/adventure. As past things occur to me in cohesive enough format to merit a journal entry, I'll tell the tales then.
So, we're in Anguilla. It's an island in ( Read more... )

So, for the first time ever, I think I'll actually attempt the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. A 50,000-word fiction novel, on any topic, started no earlier than November 1st and completed (or, at least the 50,000-word mark reached) no later than November 30th ( Read more... )

This year, green_hopper decided to coordinate his own paintball party for his birthday. The party itself, of course, being held a week late to get around Canadian Thanksgiving weekend ( Read more... )

At 4 in the morning, Squeak the kitten began crying. atomicbiker got up to go see to her. She was calling out and trying weakly to climb out of her nest box. I joined atomicbiker and, as she fell silent, together we tried to figure out what she wanted. We placed her in her litter (since that's what she had wanted when she mewed after dinner) but she just collapsed ( Read more... )

So today, atomicbiker took the little kitten to the vet.

It appears that the kitten is a she-cat, and she's in general good health. Slightly dehydrated, and definitely has ear mites, but that's about all. The vet gave atomicbiker some antibiotic eye drops to help clear the gunk from her eyes, and an overall pest-killer called Revolution to take care of mites, fleas, ( Read more... )

So today, I installed the weather station I picked up a couple of weeks ago at a yard sale. It was a minor adventure, this installation, and one which I'd been putting off for a couple of weeks. Finally, today, I was determined to get it done.

I brought out our biggest ladder (it's not that tall...) and with it, could almost reach the roof of atomicbiker's ( Read more... )

Today's leg of the journey was from Penn Yan, NY to Dubois, PA. (which we discovered is actually pronounced "doo-boyz" by the residents)

I got a bit of a slow start this morning, resulting in me fiddlefucking with strapping all my luggage to the Sportster for over 40 minutes while atomicbiker and egcrider stood around, sweating in their leathers and waiting to ( Read more... )