On the eve of turning 59 years of age, I am in the process of concluding a week that fortunately, is not one of those types of weeks that you get every week. A few days ago I learned of the passing of Smithereens frontman and lead singer Pat DiNizio. I knew that he had been in ill health these past few months, but he was posting just three days before passing that he was on the mend and was expected to start touring next month.
I had the pleasure of meeting him while I was exiled in Las Vegas, and was impressed by just how a nice guy he was. I had never met him before and yet I got to meet him backstage not once during the soundcheck, but again before they were to take the stage. I chatted with him for several minutes afterwards. If I had signed up for Facebook I could have interacted with him some more since he was a social media hound, but I don't do Facebook and do not plan to in the near future if at all.
I should create a separate post highlighting some Smithereens songs. He was a gifted songwriter, touching upon a wide range of thoughts that can reside within a human soul. I had wondered if some of them were as a result of a personal tragedy that he had experienced, but in an interview I learned that the song I had in mind (Blood and Roses) was inspired by a short story that he had read.
Needless to say, I was in something of a funk this week. But there was more.
Yesterday I learned that my current employment is coming to an end early next month. To be honest, I had seen the writing on the wall, and have been in discussion with recruiters these past few weeks. We've been beset by retirements, resignations and layoffs since our firm lost the contract to another company. The contract transition is being held up by protests from another losing firm, and the government cannot fund the task orders until this is resolved, and that won't be until mid-February.
Even then, the infrastructure we were using for testing is not properly working, and the government can't replace it until Congress passes a budget, which is something they haven't done for several years. I made the decision some six weeks ago that I needed to start looking. There was one possibility with a local firm that produces medical equipment but they cancelled the requisition. A return to a former employer in Oro Valley is a possibility but there won't be a decision on that one until the holidays are over.
I have had some people I know suggest a return to the firm where I was laid off from in 2014 as that they are now hiring like crazy. I was hesitant to pursue that option, but I have now, through my own sources and methods, started the process of taking a pulse there.
There's also another former employer that's been after me for the past six weeks. That would involve a relocation to Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and a good friend of mine who is going over told me of the offer package that he got, and that is now under consideration.
I am not feeling the attachment to Tucson that I used to feel five years ago. The city council is running The Old Pueblo into the ground. Our roads are the worst of any major city, the police department response time is such that you get put on hold if you have to call 911, and in spite of sales tax increases that have passed it isn't getting any better. Sheila and I do not feel like we are going to retire here and although we don't want to leave Arizona, what if the pastures in Texas are better?
A recruiter from that firm contacted me again this week, and yesterday I submitted a resume. Housing prices are slightly higher than they are here, but if I score the same percentage of salary increase that Mike K did, then I can get that, plus enough land to erect an antenna farm. That would allow me better access to the lower frequency bands for my ham radio activities.
So the question that will have to answered is, will the quality of life there be substantially easier? Will the job be something that I can't wait to tear into to? I would get such a job if I were to go back to that medical device firm.....I really enjoyed working there, and gave me even more satisfaction than satellite engineering did. I'll have to see what kind of opportunities are over there in the Metroplex. Sheila and I will have to consider if Texas is where we will be when we retire. Arizona, in some places, offers great locations, but Flagstaff and Prescott have gotten expensive, and Kingman won't work and neither will Sorry Vista. Silver City in New Mexico is a place we would like, if we got far enough out into the country but not too far away from supermarkets and medical care.
Another question is, do I do a contract job for six months out of state, and then come home? Things in the industry are picking up (they started really picking up the day after Hillary lost).
I am not worried about a long period of inactivity, but I am also aware that I may have to make some tough choices. It won't be the first time; I had them to make in early 1999, and that's how I got here.
We are not in a society where most of us end up growing up in the town we were born in.
You follow the money.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Monday, December 4, 2017
Judge Roy Moore
A few weeks ago the national news was overrun with the allegations that Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore had some 40 years ago engaged in improprieties with those females who shall we say, were under the age of consent. Immediately he was guilty in the court of Organized Media. Establishment Republican Mitch McConnell emphatically stated that Moore would not be admitted to the Senate if he won. Jeff Snake said he would vote for a Democrat, and there was this cacophony of outrage over the whole thing.....some of it of which I'm not convinced is sincere. One of the accusers produced a yearbook alleged to have been signed by Moore, but curiously is refusing to allow forensic testing on it to see if the signing was "recent".
Then a few days later, we had photographic evidence of Senator Al Franken of Minnesota groping a sleeping journalist and smililing like the Cheshire Cat about it. I don't know why or how that one broke, but more accusations against more people have followed, and Organized Media is trying to convince the masses that maybe they should have believed Bill Clinton's accusers.
Meanwhile, it appears that Judge Moore is going to win the election, and Mitch McConnell now seems to be walking back his earlier statement that he would see to it that Judge Moore is not seated. Oh, there was also speculation that the Alabama Republican Party would through some obscure rule nullify the outcome and have the election done over again.
I could point out that Roy Moore's accusers waited a long time before coming forward. Now I can understand a victim remaining silent about something like that (I once dated such a victim), but hasn't the atmosphere gotten more comfortable about coming forward? I'm not talking about the attacks on Bill Clinton's accusers, which certainly would have stymied victims from speaking out, but that was over 20 years ago, and things have changed. A victim can now come forward and her accusation will be treated under Napoleonic rules.......the accused is guilty until proven innocent, though I'm going to add that some people would never accept proof of innocence.
Now this isn't to say that all of Judge Moore's accusers are lying. I don't personally think the lady with the signed yearbook is telling the truth, else we would have had the forensics done by now, and if true then Moore would have been forced out of the race by now. The others I can't speak for. In the case of Al Franken, well he's apologized (he had to because of that photo).
But let's get back to the Judge.
The voters of Alabama will decide whether or not he is going to the Senate. It isn't for me to tell them which way to go on this. I am not a citizen of Alabama. I do have a desired outcome for this, and I'll get to that.
My desired outcome is this: Judge Moore wins, and Mitch McConnell denies him a Senate seat. It isn't that I want guys like Moore away from the Senate.....very much to the contrary. We need 65 of him in the Senate.
It's that I want the Republican Establishment to be exposed as for who they really are: a bunch of elitists who are not going to keep the promises they made to their voters; promises that they never had any intention of keeping in the first place. They don't want to repeal Obamacare. They don't want to build the Wall. They don't tax cuts for the middle class. What they want is power.
Another reason is that if Mitch McConnell really does keep Roy Moore out of the Senate, then his next primary challenger just might win.
Yes, that will kick that can over to another Establishment Republican. And when that happens, we take that guy out too. And the one after him. And the next one. We keep doing this until we get statesmen, and not a bunch of useless fatass politicians.
Then a few days later, we had photographic evidence of Senator Al Franken of Minnesota groping a sleeping journalist and smililing like the Cheshire Cat about it. I don't know why or how that one broke, but more accusations against more people have followed, and Organized Media is trying to convince the masses that maybe they should have believed Bill Clinton's accusers.
Meanwhile, it appears that Judge Moore is going to win the election, and Mitch McConnell now seems to be walking back his earlier statement that he would see to it that Judge Moore is not seated. Oh, there was also speculation that the Alabama Republican Party would through some obscure rule nullify the outcome and have the election done over again.
I could point out that Roy Moore's accusers waited a long time before coming forward. Now I can understand a victim remaining silent about something like that (I once dated such a victim), but hasn't the atmosphere gotten more comfortable about coming forward? I'm not talking about the attacks on Bill Clinton's accusers, which certainly would have stymied victims from speaking out, but that was over 20 years ago, and things have changed. A victim can now come forward and her accusation will be treated under Napoleonic rules.......the accused is guilty until proven innocent, though I'm going to add that some people would never accept proof of innocence.
Now this isn't to say that all of Judge Moore's accusers are lying. I don't personally think the lady with the signed yearbook is telling the truth, else we would have had the forensics done by now, and if true then Moore would have been forced out of the race by now. The others I can't speak for. In the case of Al Franken, well he's apologized (he had to because of that photo).
But let's get back to the Judge.
The voters of Alabama will decide whether or not he is going to the Senate. It isn't for me to tell them which way to go on this. I am not a citizen of Alabama. I do have a desired outcome for this, and I'll get to that.
My desired outcome is this: Judge Moore wins, and Mitch McConnell denies him a Senate seat. It isn't that I want guys like Moore away from the Senate.....very much to the contrary. We need 65 of him in the Senate.
It's that I want the Republican Establishment to be exposed as for who they really are: a bunch of elitists who are not going to keep the promises they made to their voters; promises that they never had any intention of keeping in the first place. They don't want to repeal Obamacare. They don't want to build the Wall. They don't tax cuts for the middle class. What they want is power.
Another reason is that if Mitch McConnell really does keep Roy Moore out of the Senate, then his next primary challenger just might win.
Yes, that will kick that can over to another Establishment Republican. And when that happens, we take that guy out too. And the one after him. And the next one. We keep doing this until we get statesmen, and not a bunch of useless fatass politicians.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
"Institutionalized Panhandling"
On occasion I have the duty to post a daily thread on another forum, called "Getting to Know Your Fellow (Hobbyists)". It's normally hosted by a dedicated volunteer, but on occasion he has computer issues, so there are two backup hosts, and I'm one of them. I took the reins for a week or so while I was out on medical leave.
It's an interesting exercise. It isn't as easy as you might think to come up with icebreaker type of questions, or questions that people would like to answer. It's wise of course to stay out of politics or religion when doing these, and to avoid coming up with a question where an answer might lead some folks off on either of those kinds of tangents.
It's also an opportunity to find out if others might feel the same way that you do about something. I had been wondering about how other people felt about being solicited for donations at the cash register. For some reason it became vogue at Safeway, but now it's spreading to convenience stores, Ace Hardware, and other outlets. I posted the following question:
"What is your opinion of being hit up for a donation when you're at the register checking out?"
Here are the answers that I got. The names of the respondents, some of whom I've met personally, have been changed to protect their privacy.
(from Alan Wickman, San Jose CA)I don't mind as long as the cashier is not being pushy about it.
I
mean most of the time some cashier asks for a donation is when I'm at Safeway/Trader Joe's/Whole Foods/Lucky's or some other mega chain. These mega chains could donate to their cause 10 times what they get from average people and not even hurt profits. They could save the whales or the children or the dogs in one swoop without thinking about it. But no lets guilt someone who is living paycheck to paycheck to give away money so there is nothing left to put into savings.
(from David Schniff, SW Oregon)
It doesn't matter to me whether they hit me up or not, it is still my choice to say yes or no. I generally say no.
(from Warren Gates, Seattle area)
What I don't like is being in a restaurant and have this happen while dining. Yes, It's happened numerous times to us. It is more than rude. I have no problem saying no in that situation. I have organizations that I support and that is where my assistance is given. I was at the ROD RUN to the END of the WORLD this week end. A cub scout was selling popcorn. I have no problem with this at an Event and Scouts are one of my chosen organizations. It is also very hard for me to say no to caramel corn. It is a vice.
(from Tom Peterson, northern Alabama)
I always say No.
(from Clint Harrison, San Mateo CA)
I have no problem pushing the no button on the atm terminal and most often do. What I don't like is after I push the no button, the cashier asks if I want to make a donation. As mentioned above, these mega chains could make a huge donation and be done with it. I wonder though, with everyone that donates, does the company lump into one big sum and make the donation under their company name, then do they get to write it off on their taxes?
(from Mark Summers, Sebring FL)
I SAY NO
(from Albert Mitchell, New Jersey)
I'm a naysayer also!
(from Oscar Madison, Council Bluffs Iowa)
I don't give to them, nor do I give to phone hits. I have my regular donation sites, and they keep me giving.
(from Felix Unger, Springfield MO)
Jodi & I have our regular donations we make so usually say "no".
(from Steve McGarrett, Michigan)
I generally do not like it, but only get upset when they get pushy. My wife and I support a number of causes and resent these efforts to publicly guilt you into giving to some cause you really may not be familiar with.
(from Mary Collins, Bucks County PA)
I also say no, but it is annoying to get it again and again.
(from Nancy Davidson, PA)
I actually feel sorry for the cashiers. Some times their job depends on them begging you for money. That is corporate being so selfish. Just like when Wells Fargo employees made up accounts.
I know that for a while Sears threatened their employees if they did not try and get customers to sign up for a credit card. The worse thing is that the stores would use "shoppers" to watch the cashiers. If they did not ask, they were reprimanded and possibly fired/hours cut back for future infractions. It is a very dirty trick. I always thank the cashier for asking and say NO. I always mention that I will be contacting the organization that is being sponsored and let them know what is happening. Remember this comes from the very top of management; WHO would never get their hands dirty........
(from Joe Denison, Kensington CA)
institutionalized panhandling.
it's a dollar here, a dollar there, round up to the next dollar/$5/$10 to help the whatever cause.
i have 3 seconds to decide if it's a worthy charity/cause, not enough time, so no. too many big charities are skimming way too much. and is that store 'giving' my money and taking credit for the donation? taking a deduction of some sort?
(from Merrill Bellinger, MI)
Hate it!
I really like the Dollar General stores in the area, where they are taking money to "help a teen read" or something like that. WHAT.....they start school a 5 years old and they still don't know how to read as a teenager??
Just another way for the store to make a "tax deductable donation" at the end of the year in their name....big scam.
And it seems like more and more stores are doing it now.
(from Ed Wilson, Nebraska)
Well said [Alan Wickman] I agree.
(from Linda Bergeron, Idaho)
It's obnoxious and annoying. I always say no.
(from Dave Mosier, Tucson AZ)
While I have nothing against fundraising in and of itself, the way it's being done by these places has been getting bothersome, and in some instances irritating.
Some three months ago while waiting in line at Ace Hardware, I heard the cashier asking everyone to "round up" their purchases. I had some change I wanted to get rid of, and when my turn came I got hit up for that even though she knew I was counting out change. I coldly said "if there are no objections, I would like to pay in exact change."
I have a favorite charity that's local, and I prefer that my dollars go there, rather than to a "corporate" (for lack of a better term) charity.
Market researchers have to know that a lot of us find this process unlikable, but the insistence of the big bosses to do this lends credence to the thought that they're doing this for writeoff purposes. Well, it also gives them something to brag about on their webpages.
(David Schniff comes back with:)
The responses to this question are interesting. I hadn't every really thought about it annoying people, it doesn't really slow things down and all you have to do is say yes or no. The cashier doesn't care one way or another. I will admit I had never thought about the tax angle though, I wonder if they do get to write it off as a charitable contribution...
(Dave Mosier, responding to David Schniff's statement about the cashier not caring one way or the other:)
That's usually the case. I remember one Circle K cashier telling me "the children could sure use your change!"
It gets annoying when it seems that every cashier is asking you for a donation.
(Ed Vincent of Sierra County CA)
I don't like it and I do not give. If I walk out side and the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts are there it I will give them a donation and will not take the cookies or popcorn.
(David Schniff)
I do this as well. The cookies and popcorn are really a rip off for them and you. I would much rather my money go to the actual cause and not the company providing stale popcorn.
(Paul Jasperson, MO)
I hate it. Time is spent with it and it slows things down
(Jim Smootlock, PA)
At my place not only do we hit the customers up for donations we must also hit them up for our extreme value buy that being what ever we have too much of and need to get rid of soon. That being said I think if the customer wants to make a donation to what ever we're promoting at the time they would make a donation because the donation jars are on every check out on the purse table.
Those were the responses that I got.
Institutionalized Panhandling, and a source of irritation to customers.
It's an interesting exercise. It isn't as easy as you might think to come up with icebreaker type of questions, or questions that people would like to answer. It's wise of course to stay out of politics or religion when doing these, and to avoid coming up with a question where an answer might lead some folks off on either of those kinds of tangents.
It's also an opportunity to find out if others might feel the same way that you do about something. I had been wondering about how other people felt about being solicited for donations at the cash register. For some reason it became vogue at Safeway, but now it's spreading to convenience stores, Ace Hardware, and other outlets. I posted the following question:
"What is your opinion of being hit up for a donation when you're at the register checking out?"
Here are the answers that I got. The names of the respondents, some of whom I've met personally, have been changed to protect their privacy.
(from Alan Wickman, San Jose CA)I don't mind as long as the cashier is not being pushy about it.
I
mean most of the time some cashier asks for a donation is when I'm at Safeway/Trader Joe's/Whole Foods/Lucky's or some other mega chain. These mega chains could donate to their cause 10 times what they get from average people and not even hurt profits. They could save the whales or the children or the dogs in one swoop without thinking about it. But no lets guilt someone who is living paycheck to paycheck to give away money so there is nothing left to put into savings.
(from David Schniff, SW Oregon)
It doesn't matter to me whether they hit me up or not, it is still my choice to say yes or no. I generally say no.
(from Warren Gates, Seattle area)
What I don't like is being in a restaurant and have this happen while dining. Yes, It's happened numerous times to us. It is more than rude. I have no problem saying no in that situation. I have organizations that I support and that is where my assistance is given. I was at the ROD RUN to the END of the WORLD this week end. A cub scout was selling popcorn. I have no problem with this at an Event and Scouts are one of my chosen organizations. It is also very hard for me to say no to caramel corn. It is a vice.
(from Tom Peterson, northern Alabama)
I always say No.
(from Clint Harrison, San Mateo CA)
I have no problem pushing the no button on the atm terminal and most often do. What I don't like is after I push the no button, the cashier asks if I want to make a donation. As mentioned above, these mega chains could make a huge donation and be done with it. I wonder though, with everyone that donates, does the company lump into one big sum and make the donation under their company name, then do they get to write it off on their taxes?
(from Mark Summers, Sebring FL)
I SAY NO
(from Albert Mitchell, New Jersey)
I'm a naysayer also!
(from Oscar Madison, Council Bluffs Iowa)
I don't give to them, nor do I give to phone hits. I have my regular donation sites, and they keep me giving.
(from Felix Unger, Springfield MO)
Jodi & I have our regular donations we make so usually say "no".
(from Steve McGarrett, Michigan)
I generally do not like it, but only get upset when they get pushy. My wife and I support a number of causes and resent these efforts to publicly guilt you into giving to some cause you really may not be familiar with.
(from Mary Collins, Bucks County PA)
I also say no, but it is annoying to get it again and again.
(from Nancy Davidson, PA)
I actually feel sorry for the cashiers. Some times their job depends on them begging you for money. That is corporate being so selfish. Just like when Wells Fargo employees made up accounts.
I know that for a while Sears threatened their employees if they did not try and get customers to sign up for a credit card. The worse thing is that the stores would use "shoppers" to watch the cashiers. If they did not ask, they were reprimanded and possibly fired/hours cut back for future infractions. It is a very dirty trick. I always thank the cashier for asking and say NO. I always mention that I will be contacting the organization that is being sponsored and let them know what is happening. Remember this comes from the very top of management; WHO would never get their hands dirty........
(from Joe Denison, Kensington CA)
institutionalized panhandling.
it's a dollar here, a dollar there, round up to the next dollar/$5/$10 to help the whatever cause.
i have 3 seconds to decide if it's a worthy charity/cause, not enough time, so no. too many big charities are skimming way too much. and is that store 'giving' my money and taking credit for the donation? taking a deduction of some sort?
(from Merrill Bellinger, MI)
Hate it!
I really like the Dollar General stores in the area, where they are taking money to "help a teen read" or something like that. WHAT.....they start school a 5 years old and they still don't know how to read as a teenager??
Just another way for the store to make a "tax deductable donation" at the end of the year in their name....big scam.
And it seems like more and more stores are doing it now.
(from Ed Wilson, Nebraska)
Well said [Alan Wickman] I agree.
(from Linda Bergeron, Idaho)
It's obnoxious and annoying. I always say no.
(from Dave Mosier, Tucson AZ)
While I have nothing against fundraising in and of itself, the way it's being done by these places has been getting bothersome, and in some instances irritating.
Some three months ago while waiting in line at Ace Hardware, I heard the cashier asking everyone to "round up" their purchases. I had some change I wanted to get rid of, and when my turn came I got hit up for that even though she knew I was counting out change. I coldly said "if there are no objections, I would like to pay in exact change."
I have a favorite charity that's local, and I prefer that my dollars go there, rather than to a "corporate" (for lack of a better term) charity.
Market researchers have to know that a lot of us find this process unlikable, but the insistence of the big bosses to do this lends credence to the thought that they're doing this for writeoff purposes. Well, it also gives them something to brag about on their webpages.
(David Schniff comes back with:)
The responses to this question are interesting. I hadn't every really thought about it annoying people, it doesn't really slow things down and all you have to do is say yes or no. The cashier doesn't care one way or another. I will admit I had never thought about the tax angle though, I wonder if they do get to write it off as a charitable contribution...
(Dave Mosier, responding to David Schniff's statement about the cashier not caring one way or the other:)
That's usually the case. I remember one Circle K cashier telling me "the children could sure use your change!"
It gets annoying when it seems that every cashier is asking you for a donation.
(Ed Vincent of Sierra County CA)
I don't like it and I do not give. If I walk out side and the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts are there it I will give them a donation and will not take the cookies or popcorn.
(David Schniff)
I do this as well. The cookies and popcorn are really a rip off for them and you. I would much rather my money go to the actual cause and not the company providing stale popcorn.
(Paul Jasperson, MO)
I hate it. Time is spent with it and it slows things down
(Jim Smootlock, PA)
At my place not only do we hit the customers up for donations we must also hit them up for our extreme value buy that being what ever we have too much of and need to get rid of soon. That being said I think if the customer wants to make a donation to what ever we're promoting at the time they would make a donation because the donation jars are on every check out on the purse table.
Those were the responses that I got.
Institutionalized Panhandling, and a source of irritation to customers.
Monday, October 30, 2017
There's an Opportunity Here......
The pending retirement of Senator Jeff Flake has set off a flurry of speculation as to whose hands the seat will wind up in. Governor Doug Ducey already ruled out running as that he'd rather be a governor than a Senator. There's some talk that my own Congresswoman, Martha McSally, will make a run for it. McSally is a favorite of the Establishment, and I'm thinking......if they really want her in there, then why are they failing to make use of an opportunity before them?
In other words, why doesn't Jeff Snake (oops!) step down right now, and allow Governor Ducey to appoint a replacement? He could name Martha McSally to the seat, and the Establishment could entrench her there and better position her against any potential primary challengers.
There are a number of reasons for this.
One. The governor doesn't want to get involved in national politics at this time. He's very likely going to sit back and let the primary process sort itself out.
Two. The Establishment doesn't yet know whether to keep McSally where she is for a while, and then have her run for McCain's seat.
Three. Martha McSally may feel the need to stay where she is to keep her seat in Establishment hands. She narrowly defeated Ron Barber to get the seat in the first place, and she might stay where she is as that eventually McCain's seat will open up.
Four. The Establishment is waiting to see what the Trump faction is going to do. Right now I'm sure most of the Trumpites will be supporting Kelli Ward for this. The thinking is that she would have gotten 53% of the primary vote in a matchup against Jeff Snake, (dang it, another typographical error!), but now that that is out the window the latest poll suggests she's not going to get that percentage against other candidates.
Five. Jeff Flake (this time I got it right) hasn't yet gotten his next job lined up. I'm sure he'd like to go work for CNN or MSNBC, but the catch here is that they have to make him an offer and until they do he might as well continue basking in his power. This gives him more time to weigh his options. I wouldn't suggest a book deal as that I'm not sure he sold more than 2000 copies of his book, and it doesn't look good for him if he can't outsell Hillary.
I think in this case, there is a rationale for this wait and see mentality, if that's what they're really doing here.
But I can't help but wonder why, though I think donor money has a lot to do with it right now, and the big donors themselves haven't yet figured out where to go from here.
In other words, why doesn't Jeff Snake (oops!) step down right now, and allow Governor Ducey to appoint a replacement? He could name Martha McSally to the seat, and the Establishment could entrench her there and better position her against any potential primary challengers.
There are a number of reasons for this.
One. The governor doesn't want to get involved in national politics at this time. He's very likely going to sit back and let the primary process sort itself out.
Two. The Establishment doesn't yet know whether to keep McSally where she is for a while, and then have her run for McCain's seat.
Three. Martha McSally may feel the need to stay where she is to keep her seat in Establishment hands. She narrowly defeated Ron Barber to get the seat in the first place, and she might stay where she is as that eventually McCain's seat will open up.
Four. The Establishment is waiting to see what the Trump faction is going to do. Right now I'm sure most of the Trumpites will be supporting Kelli Ward for this. The thinking is that she would have gotten 53% of the primary vote in a matchup against Jeff Snake, (dang it, another typographical error!), but now that that is out the window the latest poll suggests she's not going to get that percentage against other candidates.
Five. Jeff Flake (this time I got it right) hasn't yet gotten his next job lined up. I'm sure he'd like to go work for CNN or MSNBC, but the catch here is that they have to make him an offer and until they do he might as well continue basking in his power. This gives him more time to weigh his options. I wouldn't suggest a book deal as that I'm not sure he sold more than 2000 copies of his book, and it doesn't look good for him if he can't outsell Hillary.
I think in this case, there is a rationale for this wait and see mentality, if that's what they're really doing here.
But I can't help but wonder why, though I think donor money has a lot to do with it right now, and the big donors themselves haven't yet figured out where to go from here.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Good Riddance, Senator Flake
Senator Jeff Flake, as of this writing, is Arizona's junior Senator. He hails from a rural part of eastern Arizona, where a lot of good Americans live. When he ran for, and won a seat in, Congress, he pledged he would only serve three terms and then step down. Of course he went on to break that promise, ran for two more terms, and then ran for Senator in 2012 and won.
Senator Flake immediately got in good with the Republican Establishment. Among his first actions was to join Senator Benedict McCain in the so-called "Gang of Eight" to force a largely unwanted piece of immigration legislation down our throats. I didn't vote for him for Senate because I didn't trust him, and so it wasn't a situation where I personally was suffering from buyer's remorse here. However, some others did.
Phoenix-area radio talk show host Bruce Jacobs, who is heard here in Tucson when Garret Lewis goes on vacation, immediately took to calling him "Jeff Snake" (it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?). Bruce Jacobs went on so far to say this summer that if "Jeff Snake" won the primary, then he would vote for his Democrat opponent........even though "Jeff Snake" would win.
There was every indication that Jeff Flake would run for re-election. He started getting himself on national TV more often. He wrote a book, shamelessly lifting the title from one of Barry Goldwater's books. Garret Lewis and his gang would give us daily morning updates as to how many copies of his book were being sold..........the numbers weren't pretty. Polls started showing that he was in trouble....which I guess would be good if you could trust them, which I don't. I personally thought Arizona had elected a career politician for a lifetime in office, who would have had the longevity of Fidel Castro.
But then something happened. His book wasn't selling. His approval rating plummeted down to 17%. His only announced primary challenger, Dr. Kelli Ward, was gaining traction. "Jeff Snake" doubled down on his attacks on President Trump. Then this week, he announced he would be retiring from the Senate.
My first reaction to his announcement was that this was the greatest news I've heard in six months. But I found myself disgusted at the parting shots he took on the Senate floor, and I'm thinking, we've still got a year and a half of his "I know what you want but here's what you need" attitude towards us. I'm not buying his phony argument that he's doing this out of honor. I can tell exactly why he is leaving, and that's because he had reliable intelligence that there was no way he was going to win re-election.
Now on those occasions of a fatass politician finding himself sailing on that kind of boat, what are your options?
One: you can do what Arlen Specter did. You can jump over to the Democrats and join them. Arlen Specter did exactly that when he learned he was going to be defeated by his primary challenger. He went over to the Democrats, and then found that the Democrats don't exactly like turncoats either. He was no longer a committee chairman or a ranking member. He went down to the lowest possible seniority in the Democratic heirarchy. Harry Reid would not permit him to occupy a higher position. An up and coming Democratic candidate was bumped off the ballot in Pennsylvania to make room for Arlen Specter. And Arlen Specter still lost.
Two: "Jeff Snake", upon seeing what happened to Arlen Specter, isn't going to jump ship. He's not quite the level of backstabber that the senior Senator from Arizona is, but he's a backstabber nonetheless. He's "Jeff Snake" after all. He's got a primary challenger. Now he could run in the primary, but what does that make you look like if you lose? He saw what happened to Richard Lugar. The Arlen Specter option is out. And now the Richard Lugar option doesn't look good either.
Three: you do what Bob Corker is doing. You say you've had enough, your party has been hijacked, you don't fit in anymore (which you don't, Senator), and you have your temper tantrum designed to elicit the maximum amount of praise from Organized Media. This option is preferable since you get to do damage to your voters who are too stupid to realize that they need your mastery over them.
There is the fourth, and that's to resign outright, and go home. That would be the honorable way to go, but I'm not going to even jokingly suggest that your average fatass politician is capable of this kind of honor.
The bottom line: the base has been emboldened by last year's victory of The Donald. We're mad as hell at the long list of broken promises. We're not sending you, Senator, to Washington so that you can play "Let's Make A Deal". We want Obamacare overturned, The Great Wall of Trump, tax reform, and domestic job creation as opposed to "free trade".
In short Senator, we don't want the Republicans to be the party that they defeated in 1994.
Now please have the decency to resign.
Senator Flake immediately got in good with the Republican Establishment. Among his first actions was to join Senator Benedict McCain in the so-called "Gang of Eight" to force a largely unwanted piece of immigration legislation down our throats. I didn't vote for him for Senate because I didn't trust him, and so it wasn't a situation where I personally was suffering from buyer's remorse here. However, some others did.
Phoenix-area radio talk show host Bruce Jacobs, who is heard here in Tucson when Garret Lewis goes on vacation, immediately took to calling him "Jeff Snake" (it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?). Bruce Jacobs went on so far to say this summer that if "Jeff Snake" won the primary, then he would vote for his Democrat opponent........even though "Jeff Snake" would win.
There was every indication that Jeff Flake would run for re-election. He started getting himself on national TV more often. He wrote a book, shamelessly lifting the title from one of Barry Goldwater's books. Garret Lewis and his gang would give us daily morning updates as to how many copies of his book were being sold..........the numbers weren't pretty. Polls started showing that he was in trouble....which I guess would be good if you could trust them, which I don't. I personally thought Arizona had elected a career politician for a lifetime in office, who would have had the longevity of Fidel Castro.
But then something happened. His book wasn't selling. His approval rating plummeted down to 17%. His only announced primary challenger, Dr. Kelli Ward, was gaining traction. "Jeff Snake" doubled down on his attacks on President Trump. Then this week, he announced he would be retiring from the Senate.
My first reaction to his announcement was that this was the greatest news I've heard in six months. But I found myself disgusted at the parting shots he took on the Senate floor, and I'm thinking, we've still got a year and a half of his "I know what you want but here's what you need" attitude towards us. I'm not buying his phony argument that he's doing this out of honor. I can tell exactly why he is leaving, and that's because he had reliable intelligence that there was no way he was going to win re-election.
Now on those occasions of a fatass politician finding himself sailing on that kind of boat, what are your options?
One: you can do what Arlen Specter did. You can jump over to the Democrats and join them. Arlen Specter did exactly that when he learned he was going to be defeated by his primary challenger. He went over to the Democrats, and then found that the Democrats don't exactly like turncoats either. He was no longer a committee chairman or a ranking member. He went down to the lowest possible seniority in the Democratic heirarchy. Harry Reid would not permit him to occupy a higher position. An up and coming Democratic candidate was bumped off the ballot in Pennsylvania to make room for Arlen Specter. And Arlen Specter still lost.
Two: "Jeff Snake", upon seeing what happened to Arlen Specter, isn't going to jump ship. He's not quite the level of backstabber that the senior Senator from Arizona is, but he's a backstabber nonetheless. He's "Jeff Snake" after all. He's got a primary challenger. Now he could run in the primary, but what does that make you look like if you lose? He saw what happened to Richard Lugar. The Arlen Specter option is out. And now the Richard Lugar option doesn't look good either.
Three: you do what Bob Corker is doing. You say you've had enough, your party has been hijacked, you don't fit in anymore (which you don't, Senator), and you have your temper tantrum designed to elicit the maximum amount of praise from Organized Media. This option is preferable since you get to do damage to your voters who are too stupid to realize that they need your mastery over them.
There is the fourth, and that's to resign outright, and go home. That would be the honorable way to go, but I'm not going to even jokingly suggest that your average fatass politician is capable of this kind of honor.
The bottom line: the base has been emboldened by last year's victory of The Donald. We're mad as hell at the long list of broken promises. We're not sending you, Senator, to Washington so that you can play "Let's Make A Deal". We want Obamacare overturned, The Great Wall of Trump, tax reform, and domestic job creation as opposed to "free trade".
In short Senator, we don't want the Republicans to be the party that they defeated in 1994.
Now please have the decency to resign.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Monday, 10/23/17
I haven't exactly been a prolific poster here. Not on this blog anyway. I am much more likely to post on my ham radio blog. I'm not sure anyone reads that either, but ham radio has been proving to be a great deal more fun than I thought it would be given the sunspot lull (that translates into poor band conditions).
I could have posted about Las Vegas and the shooter. I almost did. I quickly realized that anything I would have wanted to say about that would have been covered elsewhere. Was the shooter a part of ISIS? I can't rule that out any more than I could rule it in. I lean towards him being an ISIS sympathizer, but if he was the government isn't going to tell us that as that they don't want to be stoking panic. If that is the case, then I'm good with it for the time being, but eventually they're going to have to tell us what they know.
I could also post about work. Trouble is, I don't like to talk about work here. What happens at work stays at work. I may or may not witness some interesting situations, but if I do I'm not immediately going to talk about it. I may tell you some stories about my time at Pay Less Drugs in San Jose, or my time at Radio Shack in San Jose.
I guess what I can post about is that I'm aware that I am a very blessed person. I'm still not 100% healed from the surgery, but the surgery was 100% succsessful. It's given me some things to think about and a reason to be grateful for my blessings. I'm not going to go into what happened just yet. I may not ever. All I'm going to say is that resting up from surgery is the most tiring thing I've ever done in my life. It was nearly three weeks before I got my energy back.
Anyway, I came here tonight to check in, and let you know that I am alive and well.
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.
I could have posted about Las Vegas and the shooter. I almost did. I quickly realized that anything I would have wanted to say about that would have been covered elsewhere. Was the shooter a part of ISIS? I can't rule that out any more than I could rule it in. I lean towards him being an ISIS sympathizer, but if he was the government isn't going to tell us that as that they don't want to be stoking panic. If that is the case, then I'm good with it for the time being, but eventually they're going to have to tell us what they know.
I could also post about work. Trouble is, I don't like to talk about work here. What happens at work stays at work. I may or may not witness some interesting situations, but if I do I'm not immediately going to talk about it. I may tell you some stories about my time at Pay Less Drugs in San Jose, or my time at Radio Shack in San Jose.
I guess what I can post about is that I'm aware that I am a very blessed person. I'm still not 100% healed from the surgery, but the surgery was 100% succsessful. It's given me some things to think about and a reason to be grateful for my blessings. I'm not going to go into what happened just yet. I may not ever. All I'm going to say is that resting up from surgery is the most tiring thing I've ever done in my life. It was nearly three weeks before I got my energy back.
Anyway, I came here tonight to check in, and let you know that I am alive and well.
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
The Decline and Fall of the NFL
The National Football League has dominated the headlines these past few days. Ratings are down, ticket sales are down, but publicity is up. Publicity can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing, but it is publicity, and the NFL has been getting a lot of of it lately. I also think we haven't heard the last of this.
The publicity of course, is due to the NFL players showing a disrespect to the country and to their fans like we've never seen before, and it's also due to President Trump taking shots at the NFL. Some are supporting the players, and others are burning jerseys.
This all seems to have started when Colin Kaepernick decided that he wasn't going to stand for the National Anthem anymore. He stated that it was his way of calling attention to injustice. As can be expected, he had his supporters as well as he had his detractors. He later decided to take the knee as they're now calling it, and it wasn't long before other players were joining in.
Of course this generated more chatter, and President Trump said some things that the players didn't like. The reaction to that was more players taking the knee, others locking arms, and some doing both. In London, several players took the knee for our Anthem, but stood for the Anthem of the United Kingdom. And we've had flagrant displays of disrespect.
Now those who support the players are making the "free speech" argument. They say it's a First Amendment expression. Although no court has ruled that you must stand for the Star Spangled Banner, my argument is that the First Amendment does not apply in the workplace. The football field is a workplace (I know I'm stretching the term "work" here) just like being behind the counter at McDonald's is also a workplace. McDonald's employees, if they say rude things to a customer, are going to be fired, and that employee does not have First Amendment recourse in any litigation that they bring against their employer. If you doubt me, and you need something to do, call up your local ACLU and ask them about this.
That said, I'm fine with football players saying bad things about their country. As I sometimes do here, I'm going to ask you to hold that thought for a moment.......I'm going to come back to this, after I come back to the First Amendment angle.
As stated, it's a workplace setting here. But there's something else here involved. That something else is the rulebook and the expected code of conduct for a professional football player.
NFL rules state that a player must stand for the National Anthem. That player must stand and face the flag, with their helmet removed. The rules are the rules. There are rules that set the conditions for how the game is played and scored. There are rules for how many players can be on the field. There are rules for how many players can be on a team. There are rules for who can be on the sidelines. There are rules that tell you what can be brought to the sidelines and there are rules that list prohibited items. Players on the bench are not allowed to harass opposing players........and clearly that is a situation that is not subject to First Amendment protections.
Now let's get back to how the players feel.
Again, I don't care what the players think of their country. They're entitled to hate this country. They can gripe on their Facebook page if they want to. They can tweet their disgust. I of course won't be reading it since I don't do the Facebook thing and I don't tweet.
That said, I agree with the President that they're disrespecting their flag and their country. These guys are making in one year what others will not make in a lifetime. The very country that enables them to make this kind of money is being spat upon here, and because of that they're losing fans. In one way I want them to double down on this and to keep going, and in another way I'm sad.
Truth be told, I stopped watching the NFL three, maybe four years ago. I think that Saints Super Bowl win that I posted about several years back may have been the last time I watched an entire game. In the seasons after that, I got to thinking of the NFL as being a corrupt institution that could not possibly be honest due to the amount of money involved. I stopped long before Colin Kaepernick started taking the knee.
I felt that I wasn't the only one, but didn't really know that until last year. Their ratings started going down last year. The league of course denied that it was the anthem protests that caused it. They said too many people were distracted by the election.
Well this isn't an election year, and guess what? Ratings are down even further. Last Thursday the 49ers had a half empty stadium for the first time in decades. The two teams who returned to Los Angeles (yes, the Chargers used to play there) can't sell out their stadiums. Whether or not the league wants to admit, they are in real trouble........and it's going to get worse.
What do you think will happen at after the next Super Bowl is won? Is the MVP going to thank the fans, God, his family, and his team...........or is he going to go on an obscenity-laced tirade against President Trump?
I for one, won't know until I read about it on Drudge after the fact.
And it could be uglier than the picture below.
The publicity of course, is due to the NFL players showing a disrespect to the country and to their fans like we've never seen before, and it's also due to President Trump taking shots at the NFL. Some are supporting the players, and others are burning jerseys.
This all seems to have started when Colin Kaepernick decided that he wasn't going to stand for the National Anthem anymore. He stated that it was his way of calling attention to injustice. As can be expected, he had his supporters as well as he had his detractors. He later decided to take the knee as they're now calling it, and it wasn't long before other players were joining in.
Of course this generated more chatter, and President Trump said some things that the players didn't like. The reaction to that was more players taking the knee, others locking arms, and some doing both. In London, several players took the knee for our Anthem, but stood for the Anthem of the United Kingdom. And we've had flagrant displays of disrespect.
Now those who support the players are making the "free speech" argument. They say it's a First Amendment expression. Although no court has ruled that you must stand for the Star Spangled Banner, my argument is that the First Amendment does not apply in the workplace. The football field is a workplace (I know I'm stretching the term "work" here) just like being behind the counter at McDonald's is also a workplace. McDonald's employees, if they say rude things to a customer, are going to be fired, and that employee does not have First Amendment recourse in any litigation that they bring against their employer. If you doubt me, and you need something to do, call up your local ACLU and ask them about this.
That said, I'm fine with football players saying bad things about their country. As I sometimes do here, I'm going to ask you to hold that thought for a moment.......I'm going to come back to this, after I come back to the First Amendment angle.
As stated, it's a workplace setting here. But there's something else here involved. That something else is the rulebook and the expected code of conduct for a professional football player.
NFL rules state that a player must stand for the National Anthem. That player must stand and face the flag, with their helmet removed. The rules are the rules. There are rules that set the conditions for how the game is played and scored. There are rules for how many players can be on the field. There are rules for how many players can be on a team. There are rules for who can be on the sidelines. There are rules that tell you what can be brought to the sidelines and there are rules that list prohibited items. Players on the bench are not allowed to harass opposing players........and clearly that is a situation that is not subject to First Amendment protections.
Now let's get back to how the players feel.
Again, I don't care what the players think of their country. They're entitled to hate this country. They can gripe on their Facebook page if they want to. They can tweet their disgust. I of course won't be reading it since I don't do the Facebook thing and I don't tweet.
That said, I agree with the President that they're disrespecting their flag and their country. These guys are making in one year what others will not make in a lifetime. The very country that enables them to make this kind of money is being spat upon here, and because of that they're losing fans. In one way I want them to double down on this and to keep going, and in another way I'm sad.
Truth be told, I stopped watching the NFL three, maybe four years ago. I think that Saints Super Bowl win that I posted about several years back may have been the last time I watched an entire game. In the seasons after that, I got to thinking of the NFL as being a corrupt institution that could not possibly be honest due to the amount of money involved. I stopped long before Colin Kaepernick started taking the knee.
I felt that I wasn't the only one, but didn't really know that until last year. Their ratings started going down last year. The league of course denied that it was the anthem protests that caused it. They said too many people were distracted by the election.
Well this isn't an election year, and guess what? Ratings are down even further. Last Thursday the 49ers had a half empty stadium for the first time in decades. The two teams who returned to Los Angeles (yes, the Chargers used to play there) can't sell out their stadiums. Whether or not the league wants to admit, they are in real trouble........and it's going to get worse.
What do you think will happen at after the next Super Bowl is won? Is the MVP going to thank the fans, God, his family, and his team...........or is he going to go on an obscenity-laced tirade against President Trump?
I for one, won't know until I read about it on Drudge after the fact.
And it could be uglier than the picture below.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Medical Leave
Last month something was wrong and I got examined for it. I won't at this point in time say what it was. I was referred to a specialist, and one week later that specialist examined me and didn't waste any time scheduling me for surgery. It was an out-patient kind of thing, but that kind of thing that would have me out of commission for a few weeks.
So on Wednesday, the 30th of August I reported to St. Joseph's Hospital here in Tucson. The buildup to this wasn't pleasant. The previous afternoon the damn phone wouldn't stop ringing. People kept wanting to call me up and waste time going over things that a previous caller did. I was about to tear into the last caller. "Can we do this tomorrow? If I had known that I was going to have to waste six hours on the phone to get ready for this, I'd have taken the day off!". It was one of those days where I hated having a phone.
Anyway, the procedure went smoothly, though I was in for a rough 48 hours afterwards. I was on pain pills and pretty much wiped out. The followup exam the next day explained more about recovery, and the next followup was scheduled in a week. Within that one week I wasn't needing the pain pills any more, and I was cleared to drive - - locally. I still had to stay at the same elevation for two to three more weeks.
My energy didn't return until last Saturday. I told Sheila and a few others that I had no idea that resting up from surgery would be so tiring. I don't remember very much from that first week as that I slept a lot and was sore where they did the surgery. I'm still somewhat tender there and I have not undertaken very much in the way of physical activity. My plans are to return to work on the 28th.
In the meantime, ham radio is helping to pass the time during those days where conditions are good (we're not getting very many of those days). I've done some reading on what I want to do with my station. I had a quick contact with a station in Cuba last Saturday, and I've also QSO'd (as we call it) Mexico twice already. I'm also building up my code speed.
Time off from work is nice, but not when you have to do it like this. It does appear that the surgery will be 100% successful when I am finally done healing.
So on Wednesday, the 30th of August I reported to St. Joseph's Hospital here in Tucson. The buildup to this wasn't pleasant. The previous afternoon the damn phone wouldn't stop ringing. People kept wanting to call me up and waste time going over things that a previous caller did. I was about to tear into the last caller. "Can we do this tomorrow? If I had known that I was going to have to waste six hours on the phone to get ready for this, I'd have taken the day off!". It was one of those days where I hated having a phone.
Anyway, the procedure went smoothly, though I was in for a rough 48 hours afterwards. I was on pain pills and pretty much wiped out. The followup exam the next day explained more about recovery, and the next followup was scheduled in a week. Within that one week I wasn't needing the pain pills any more, and I was cleared to drive - - locally. I still had to stay at the same elevation for two to three more weeks.
My energy didn't return until last Saturday. I told Sheila and a few others that I had no idea that resting up from surgery would be so tiring. I don't remember very much from that first week as that I slept a lot and was sore where they did the surgery. I'm still somewhat tender there and I have not undertaken very much in the way of physical activity. My plans are to return to work on the 28th.
In the meantime, ham radio is helping to pass the time during those days where conditions are good (we're not getting very many of those days). I've done some reading on what I want to do with my station. I had a quick contact with a station in Cuba last Saturday, and I've also QSO'd (as we call it) Mexico twice already. I'm also building up my code speed.
Time off from work is nice, but not when you have to do it like this. It does appear that the surgery will be 100% successful when I am finally done healing.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Hurricane Harvey and Joel Osteen
The big news this past weekend was the arrival of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the aftermath of flooding. It's reminiscent of Katrina in 2005, and as I'm typing this I'm now thinking of Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and a story I should tell sometime. Reactions on the net are similar as to what they were twelve years ago, only the players have changed.
As is to be expected, there is a lot of criticism towards President Trump. I've seen online comments blaming him for this by pulling out of the Paris accords for climate change, and even more comments about his visiting Texas. Presidents don't cause hurricanes, but you wouldn't know otherwise if you believed the comments I'm reading.
Another genre of comments is blaming God for this. These run along the lines of "God is punishing Texas for [fill in the blank]". That blank is sometimes filled with the word racism, and sometimes it's filled with Texas supporting Trump in the election. I think that's patently absurd, as that God doesn't sit around from day to day trying to come up with disasters to send to people. I believe that God *allows* them to happen for his own reasons; read the Book of Job sometime........Job never got his answer as to *why* he was afflicted. Of course those making these comments don't really believe in God and most of them don't want other people believing in God, but it's an opportunity to trash religion and there's no way they're going to let go of that.
And with that, we come to another observation, that of the reverend Joel Osteen not opening his megachurch as shelter for those who are displaced by the flooding. What I'm about to say here may not be what you would like to read, but hear me out, as that I have my own reasons for this viewpoint, and I'll make them clear before I sign.
I think Joel Osteen has every right to keep his church shuttered.
I'll say that again.
Joel Osteen has every right to keep his church shuttered.
One reason I say this, cmes from that libertarian streak within me that feels that a government should not and should never have a right to dictate what a person or organization does with their own property. We have a Constitutional amendment to that effect, which says that the government cannot require a homeowner to house troops, and I don't consider it an unreasonable extrapolation to state that this would also apply to housing victims of disaster.
But I have another reason for saying this, which I want to emphasize. First, a digression.
Joel Osteen is one of those televangelists who fall into that mold of "Prosperity Gospel". His contemporaries include, but are not limited to, Mike Murdock, Paula White, Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar. If you remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, they were in that club too. The members of that club are an elite amongst themselves. They preach a message that God wants you to be rich, and to become rich, you have to plant a "seed", which is a financial contribution (preferably monthly), which after being planted, you will find your way to riches, wealth, happiness, Corvettes, coins, whatever. Hell, you might even have an air-conditioned doghouse for your best friend!
Now I personally believe that God is concerned with wealth, but not a material wealth. I think he wants His people to be spiritually wealthy. That's a difficult term for me to define, but let's say that it means that you're well-grounded in your faith, and that you will hold firm when your time of trial comes (and you're going to get more than one trial!). If God wanted people to have a lot of money, then the Prosperity churches would be plastered all over the globe and we'd have 85% of the global population being filthy rich believers.
That isn't the case, of course. What the Prosperity Gospel can only guarantee is that those who are in that elite club of televangelist will be filthy rich.......I'm not sure I can call them believers, but I can call them believers in their own efforts of fundraising. These guys and gals are very slick, they might be able to sell sand to the Arabs on some days, and they already have a ready-made answer for you if you don't get rich by planting a seed......"well your faith isn't strong enough. Send me more money!"
To get this back to Joel Osteen and his not opening the doors, think about what you just read, and think about this: isn't keeping his church doors closed an indication of what type of person he really is?
Before that is misconstrued, one other thought. Some churches are small and can't put up people from their own congregation in cases of disaster. The larger churches could, but this might get into the realm of what a church should really do......should they preach the Word of God, or should they become a welfare provider? That's not a question that I can answer, but I have observed church bodies involved with soup kitchens and helping those in need, and I know from my time on a church council that we've donated budget surpluses on occasion to the Gospel Rescue Mission.
As for Joel Osteen, I've been somewhat critical of him here. No matter what he does, someone (me, maybe) will damn him. If he makes a donation behind the scenes, good for him; neither you or I should know about it. If he makes a donation and holds a press conference to boast about it, then people (me, maybe) will accuse him of promoting himself instead of the Word of God. (Honestly, if he does hold a press conference to that effect, I ought to let that go without comment; I'm really no better than he is).
Personally, I think it would be a nice gesture on his part to provide temporary shelter and meals for those dealing with this tragedy.
However, I don't think it would be right on my part, or on anyone else's part, to shame him into doing this.
As I said earlier, take note of this, and ask yourself if this really reveals the inner workings of a Prosperity Gospel preacher.
As is to be expected, there is a lot of criticism towards President Trump. I've seen online comments blaming him for this by pulling out of the Paris accords for climate change, and even more comments about his visiting Texas. Presidents don't cause hurricanes, but you wouldn't know otherwise if you believed the comments I'm reading.
Another genre of comments is blaming God for this. These run along the lines of "God is punishing Texas for [fill in the blank]". That blank is sometimes filled with the word racism, and sometimes it's filled with Texas supporting Trump in the election. I think that's patently absurd, as that God doesn't sit around from day to day trying to come up with disasters to send to people. I believe that God *allows* them to happen for his own reasons; read the Book of Job sometime........Job never got his answer as to *why* he was afflicted. Of course those making these comments don't really believe in God and most of them don't want other people believing in God, but it's an opportunity to trash religion and there's no way they're going to let go of that.
And with that, we come to another observation, that of the reverend Joel Osteen not opening his megachurch as shelter for those who are displaced by the flooding. What I'm about to say here may not be what you would like to read, but hear me out, as that I have my own reasons for this viewpoint, and I'll make them clear before I sign.
I think Joel Osteen has every right to keep his church shuttered.
I'll say that again.
Joel Osteen has every right to keep his church shuttered.
One reason I say this, cmes from that libertarian streak within me that feels that a government should not and should never have a right to dictate what a person or organization does with their own property. We have a Constitutional amendment to that effect, which says that the government cannot require a homeowner to house troops, and I don't consider it an unreasonable extrapolation to state that this would also apply to housing victims of disaster.
But I have another reason for saying this, which I want to emphasize. First, a digression.
Joel Osteen is one of those televangelists who fall into that mold of "Prosperity Gospel". His contemporaries include, but are not limited to, Mike Murdock, Paula White, Benny Hinn and Creflo Dollar. If you remember Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, they were in that club too. The members of that club are an elite amongst themselves. They preach a message that God wants you to be rich, and to become rich, you have to plant a "seed", which is a financial contribution (preferably monthly), which after being planted, you will find your way to riches, wealth, happiness, Corvettes, coins, whatever. Hell, you might even have an air-conditioned doghouse for your best friend!
Now I personally believe that God is concerned with wealth, but not a material wealth. I think he wants His people to be spiritually wealthy. That's a difficult term for me to define, but let's say that it means that you're well-grounded in your faith, and that you will hold firm when your time of trial comes (and you're going to get more than one trial!). If God wanted people to have a lot of money, then the Prosperity churches would be plastered all over the globe and we'd have 85% of the global population being filthy rich believers.
That isn't the case, of course. What the Prosperity Gospel can only guarantee is that those who are in that elite club of televangelist will be filthy rich.......I'm not sure I can call them believers, but I can call them believers in their own efforts of fundraising. These guys and gals are very slick, they might be able to sell sand to the Arabs on some days, and they already have a ready-made answer for you if you don't get rich by planting a seed......"well your faith isn't strong enough. Send me more money!"
To get this back to Joel Osteen and his not opening the doors, think about what you just read, and think about this: isn't keeping his church doors closed an indication of what type of person he really is?
Before that is misconstrued, one other thought. Some churches are small and can't put up people from their own congregation in cases of disaster. The larger churches could, but this might get into the realm of what a church should really do......should they preach the Word of God, or should they become a welfare provider? That's not a question that I can answer, but I have observed church bodies involved with soup kitchens and helping those in need, and I know from my time on a church council that we've donated budget surpluses on occasion to the Gospel Rescue Mission.
As for Joel Osteen, I've been somewhat critical of him here. No matter what he does, someone (me, maybe) will damn him. If he makes a donation behind the scenes, good for him; neither you or I should know about it. If he makes a donation and holds a press conference to boast about it, then people (me, maybe) will accuse him of promoting himself instead of the Word of God. (Honestly, if he does hold a press conference to that effect, I ought to let that go without comment; I'm really no better than he is).
Personally, I think it would be a nice gesture on his part to provide temporary shelter and meals for those dealing with this tragedy.
However, I don't think it would be right on my part, or on anyone else's part, to shame him into doing this.
As I said earlier, take note of this, and ask yourself if this really reveals the inner workings of a Prosperity Gospel preacher.
Monday, August 21, 2017
Jerry Lewis, Statues, Et. Al.
Jerry Lewis passed away in Las Vegas yesterday. Although I would not consider myself a fan of his, that guy made me laugh a lot when I was a kid. It was a real treat to be up late one Friday night during the summer, and learn that a Jerry Lewis movie was on that night.
DC Comics also had a Jerry Lewis series, and those were my favorites. His dealings with life, his rebellious nephew Renfrew, getting a job at the circus where he was mistaken for a liontamer named Terry Lewis......I am not a comic book collector, but I would love to get my hands on the entire series.
We have lost a legend.
Tearing down Confederate statues seems to be the big rage these days. This isn't a burning issue as far as most of the public goes. Tearing them down will in no way erase the results of slavery or the Civil War itself, yet the malcontents want this done.
I personally have no issue with the statues myself. I view it as part of our nation's history. The way I see it, if we have statues in the North to honor those generals who fought for the Union, why can't we have statues in the South that honor those who fought for the Confederacy?
The reality is that both sides of this war had brave men and great generals. I personally think it's regrettable that a bloody war such as this came about to settle the issues of slavery, secession, nullification, and state's rights.
In the Manassas Battlefield, there is a statue of General Stonewall Jackson, placed where he earned his nickname......"there's Jackson, standing like a stone wall!" I attended Stonewall Jackson Senior High School when I lived there. I cringe at the thought that a bunch of malcontents who have never been to Manassas would demand that the high school be named for someone else.
Reality is, is that when the war was over, Abraham Lincoln wanted reconciliation with the South, and not retribution. When Lee surrendered, General Grant ordered his band to play "Dixie" for the defeated Confederates.
Tearing down statues, in my opinion, runs counter to what Abraham Lincoln would have wanted.
DC Comics also had a Jerry Lewis series, and those were my favorites. His dealings with life, his rebellious nephew Renfrew, getting a job at the circus where he was mistaken for a liontamer named Terry Lewis......I am not a comic book collector, but I would love to get my hands on the entire series.
We have lost a legend.
* * * * * * *
Tearing down Confederate statues seems to be the big rage these days. This isn't a burning issue as far as most of the public goes. Tearing them down will in no way erase the results of slavery or the Civil War itself, yet the malcontents want this done.
I personally have no issue with the statues myself. I view it as part of our nation's history. The way I see it, if we have statues in the North to honor those generals who fought for the Union, why can't we have statues in the South that honor those who fought for the Confederacy?
The reality is that both sides of this war had brave men and great generals. I personally think it's regrettable that a bloody war such as this came about to settle the issues of slavery, secession, nullification, and state's rights.
In the Manassas Battlefield, there is a statue of General Stonewall Jackson, placed where he earned his nickname......"there's Jackson, standing like a stone wall!" I attended Stonewall Jackson Senior High School when I lived there. I cringe at the thought that a bunch of malcontents who have never been to Manassas would demand that the high school be named for someone else.
Reality is, is that when the war was over, Abraham Lincoln wanted reconciliation with the South, and not retribution. When Lee surrendered, General Grant ordered his band to play "Dixie" for the defeated Confederates.
Tearing down statues, in my opinion, runs counter to what Abraham Lincoln would have wanted.
* * * * * * *
As I have stated earlier, I have been active again in amateur radio, and I really love it when I get to sit down in front of the rig and try to make contact with somebody. I put up another antenna, this one for the 20 meter band. I was able to make contact with two stations each in Indiana, Illinois, and Hawaii. Yesterday I talked to a station in northern California and another one in Pennsylvania.
Conditions weren't really the greatest. In fact, I can't remember when they have been worse. Today they are better, but I am away from home this evening to enjoy them, so all I can do is look at the propagation reports and hope that whoever is out there is having a lot of fun.
* * * * * * *
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!
Monday, July 24, 2017
It's All Good?
Often in the face of adverse circumstances it is psychologically healthy to tell yourself "it's all good". However, I am not under adverse circumstances as I write this, but I think society is and in that regard it's quite the stretch to say "it's all good".
I am referring to the parole of one Orenthal James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson, the Butcher of Brentwood who will soon be ending his stay at the Lovelock Correctional Facility in Nevada. Now I can make an argument supporting the State of Nevada in this decision if I frame that argument in terms of they don't want him in their state any more. I wouldn't in my right mind make this kind of argument as that he's been more of a liability to society than an asset. What O.J. Simpson proved to the world is that you can get away with murder if you have the money for a legal dream team. I honestly thought he was going to skate again when he burst into that hotel room in Las Vegas but I was proven wrong when I posted that in a predecessor blog (and I don't mind being wrong in that instance.)
But still, why turn him loose? So what if he's been a model prisoner. Is Charles Manson a model prisoner? I don't hear very much about him but California at least keeps that guy away from the rest of us, because they feel he's a threat. So the question really here is, is O.J. Simpson a threat to society?
There was some interesting speculation on Tucson talk radio last week, that from the morning hosts of KNST Garret Lewis and his team. They feel he will be back in the custody of the Department of Corrections before too long, but there was disagreement on how he was going to get there. One said it would be a DUI. Another said it would be from some sort of physical altercation. I can't remember what the third theory was.
Regardless of whether or not O.J. goes back to the slammer, to this day I still will not rent from Hertz due to their previous association with him.
Yes, I know he was running through airline terminals for Hertz long before he whacked his wife and Ron Goldman. Yes, I know Hertz dropped him quickly after he was up on charges. Yes, I know it's been almost a quarter of a century since he called Hertz the "Superstar of Rent a Car". Even though I am not a full blood Kraut, I can be just as stubborn as a fullblood when I want to be, and on this one I want to be.
I will back off on this provided Hertz does one thing:
They advertise a rental called the "O.J. Special", where you can rent a white Ford Bronco for a weekend, and have a fake beard and hidden compartment for a passport and revolver. If Hertz can own up to that mistake like that, then at that point I'll have respect for them and not rent from anyone else.
I am referring to the parole of one Orenthal James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson, the Butcher of Brentwood who will soon be ending his stay at the Lovelock Correctional Facility in Nevada. Now I can make an argument supporting the State of Nevada in this decision if I frame that argument in terms of they don't want him in their state any more. I wouldn't in my right mind make this kind of argument as that he's been more of a liability to society than an asset. What O.J. Simpson proved to the world is that you can get away with murder if you have the money for a legal dream team. I honestly thought he was going to skate again when he burst into that hotel room in Las Vegas but I was proven wrong when I posted that in a predecessor blog (and I don't mind being wrong in that instance.)
But still, why turn him loose? So what if he's been a model prisoner. Is Charles Manson a model prisoner? I don't hear very much about him but California at least keeps that guy away from the rest of us, because they feel he's a threat. So the question really here is, is O.J. Simpson a threat to society?
There was some interesting speculation on Tucson talk radio last week, that from the morning hosts of KNST Garret Lewis and his team. They feel he will be back in the custody of the Department of Corrections before too long, but there was disagreement on how he was going to get there. One said it would be a DUI. Another said it would be from some sort of physical altercation. I can't remember what the third theory was.
Regardless of whether or not O.J. goes back to the slammer, to this day I still will not rent from Hertz due to their previous association with him.
Yes, I know he was running through airline terminals for Hertz long before he whacked his wife and Ron Goldman. Yes, I know Hertz dropped him quickly after he was up on charges. Yes, I know it's been almost a quarter of a century since he called Hertz the "Superstar of Rent a Car". Even though I am not a full blood Kraut, I can be just as stubborn as a fullblood when I want to be, and on this one I want to be.
I will back off on this provided Hertz does one thing:
They advertise a rental called the "O.J. Special", where you can rent a white Ford Bronco for a weekend, and have a fake beard and hidden compartment for a passport and revolver. If Hertz can own up to that mistake like that, then at that point I'll have respect for them and not rent from anyone else.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Some Odds and Ends for 6/27/17
Greetings!
This will be a short post. I feel the need to catch up on the odds and ends.
First, the new job is really kicking into gear. I'm having a great deal of fun in it. Unfortunately, I don't discuss my job very often here, and whenever that happens, it's in passing like it is now. I put in long hours at times, and take flex days off on others. It's something that I enjoy doing, and it's a great job for me.
Second, I've started another blog page for my ham radio activities (it is now occurring to me that I am so burned, that I can't remember if I mentioned this! It was a long day today!) That is intended for a ham radio audience, and I've been writing a great deal more over there than I am on here.
I am now back on the air, now adding the six meter band to my operating repertoire. I've never operated on this band before. It's called the "Magic Band" and I found out why last Sunday. The frequency band is at the lower end of the VHF spectrum. It's notionally line of sight, but some weird things can happen with propagation, especially during the summer. The E layer of the ionosphere will form plasma clouds that reflect this signals back to earth, thus giving you "skip".
Last Sunday afternoon we had a band opening, and I was able to talk to stations in Texas and Kansas....two each. I also chatted with a local in Tucson. Using the QRZ.com website, I was able to determine that the record distance for me (on this band) is 979.5 miles......from Tucson all the way to northeast Kansas. Needless to say I was pleased as punch that that simple dipole antenna I built gave me these results. Theoretically, I knew that it could happen, and would happen if conditions were right, and it was great to be operating again! It really was!
Third, I'm hoping to have some fun on the barbecue this weekend. I've had to focus on yardwork and that never ending task of keeping other things in order. I plan on doing some more hamming this extended weekend, but I also hope to get away on a day trip with Sheila.
That's pretty much it.
This will be a short post. I feel the need to catch up on the odds and ends.
First, the new job is really kicking into gear. I'm having a great deal of fun in it. Unfortunately, I don't discuss my job very often here, and whenever that happens, it's in passing like it is now. I put in long hours at times, and take flex days off on others. It's something that I enjoy doing, and it's a great job for me.
Second, I've started another blog page for my ham radio activities (it is now occurring to me that I am so burned, that I can't remember if I mentioned this! It was a long day today!) That is intended for a ham radio audience, and I've been writing a great deal more over there than I am on here.
I am now back on the air, now adding the six meter band to my operating repertoire. I've never operated on this band before. It's called the "Magic Band" and I found out why last Sunday. The frequency band is at the lower end of the VHF spectrum. It's notionally line of sight, but some weird things can happen with propagation, especially during the summer. The E layer of the ionosphere will form plasma clouds that reflect this signals back to earth, thus giving you "skip".
Last Sunday afternoon we had a band opening, and I was able to talk to stations in Texas and Kansas....two each. I also chatted with a local in Tucson. Using the QRZ.com website, I was able to determine that the record distance for me (on this band) is 979.5 miles......from Tucson all the way to northeast Kansas. Needless to say I was pleased as punch that that simple dipole antenna I built gave me these results. Theoretically, I knew that it could happen, and would happen if conditions were right, and it was great to be operating again! It really was!
Third, I'm hoping to have some fun on the barbecue this weekend. I've had to focus on yardwork and that never ending task of keeping other things in order. I plan on doing some more hamming this extended weekend, but I also hope to get away on a day trip with Sheila.
That's pretty much it.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Another Congressman Shot
I was aware of this morning's event before starting the drive to work, but not of the details, most of which emerged while driving into work. For those of us in Tucson, it brought back memories of the evil deed that Jarred Loughner committed. Comparisons are inevitable.
Like with that shooter, this morning's shooter was the only person responsible for his actions. It wasn't guns, and it wasn't a political figure. It wasn't talk radio, and it wasn't the NRA. James Hodgkinson is the one responsible here.
What is different is that as of yet, there is no evidence that he was under psychiatric care. What is also different was that he wanted to make sure he was going to kill only Republicans, while Jarred Loughner was out to kill a Congresswoman without regard to her political leanings.
Unfortunately since then, we have recently had some vicious attacks on Trump that exceed those that were made on Obama. Kathy Griffin holding a simulated severed head of President Trump. A play in New York depicting an assassination of President Trump that was attended by Alec Baldwin and cheered by the audience. Madonna wanting to blow up the White House.
This isn't to say that this wouldn't have happened had there not been that play, had there not been that severed head, had there not been Madonna wanting to blow up the White House. I think the gunman would have gone forward without these.
What I am saying here, is that the vitriol has gone too far, and yes, I am going to include myself as guilty in past vitriol.
I think the nation can best go forward if we learn to live with differences of opinion, and pray for those who are involved, and for their families.
Like with that shooter, this morning's shooter was the only person responsible for his actions. It wasn't guns, and it wasn't a political figure. It wasn't talk radio, and it wasn't the NRA. James Hodgkinson is the one responsible here.
What is different is that as of yet, there is no evidence that he was under psychiatric care. What is also different was that he wanted to make sure he was going to kill only Republicans, while Jarred Loughner was out to kill a Congresswoman without regard to her political leanings.
Unfortunately since then, we have recently had some vicious attacks on Trump that exceed those that were made on Obama. Kathy Griffin holding a simulated severed head of President Trump. A play in New York depicting an assassination of President Trump that was attended by Alec Baldwin and cheered by the audience. Madonna wanting to blow up the White House.
This isn't to say that this wouldn't have happened had there not been that play, had there not been that severed head, had there not been Madonna wanting to blow up the White House. I think the gunman would have gone forward without these.
What I am saying here, is that the vitriol has gone too far, and yes, I am going to include myself as guilty in past vitriol.
I think the nation can best go forward if we learn to live with differences of opinion, and pray for those who are involved, and for their families.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
The Monsoon Season is Under Way!
This afternoon in Sierra Vista, we had ourselves a good thunderstorm starting around 2:00 PM, which in my mind heralds the arrival of the 2017 Monsoon Season. Now the National Weather Service has a different definition. The old definition was three straight days where the dew point exceeded 54 degrees. Then they changed it to "June 15th". My definition is that it starts on the day of the first afternoon thunderstorm of the summer, even if summer is not officially here yet.
This one wasn't bad. Two sessions of bullet rain, lightning, and thunder. To the north Benson looked like they were getting it when I left work this afternoon. I had already booked lodging here in Sorry Vista anyway as that I have decided upon what I call "Commute Rest Night" two or three times a week. I started this last week and found that this allowed me to rest up and flex hours so that I could have an early out Friday, though I also knew before doing the Commute Rest Nights that I had better pack a travel suitcase with spare changes of clothes in case I couldn't get home because of a monsoon event.
I hate being away from Sheila like this, but it is cost-effective for me to stay down here two or three nights a week. I think factoring in gas, it's only $10 more expensive. I'm hesitant to try the vanpool thing as that I get up damned early as it is these days, and I don't want to get up even earlier so that I can arrive at work at the same time I normally otherwise and then get home later than I would normally otherwise.
The drive really isn't all that bad. It's all freeway save for the ten miles of Houghton Road that separates my residence from I-10. Houghton moves along rather well for what is now a main artery instead of a two lane road, and with widening of remaining stretches it will be even better.
Meantime, living part time in a motel room isn't too bad if you have the means to pass the time. Reading Scripture is a help, as is having my 2 meter ham radio with me. I can get into one of the linked EARRS repeaters from down here, and chat with some friends that I've made over the air.
The job itself is going better than I thought it would. I was concerned about getting into a "routine" so to speak, but as it is I have a challenging assignment with the type of work I've always wanted to do (save for satellite engineering). The experience gained will be very valuable, and I can see it and my ham radio experience leveraging each other.
What a setup! I enjoy ham radio as a hobby, and I get paid for doing what's not ham radio but is almost the same thing! Not to mention that I am learning a great deal more about digital communications than I did when I worked on satellites.
This one wasn't bad. Two sessions of bullet rain, lightning, and thunder. To the north Benson looked like they were getting it when I left work this afternoon. I had already booked lodging here in Sorry Vista anyway as that I have decided upon what I call "Commute Rest Night" two or three times a week. I started this last week and found that this allowed me to rest up and flex hours so that I could have an early out Friday, though I also knew before doing the Commute Rest Nights that I had better pack a travel suitcase with spare changes of clothes in case I couldn't get home because of a monsoon event.
I hate being away from Sheila like this, but it is cost-effective for me to stay down here two or three nights a week. I think factoring in gas, it's only $10 more expensive. I'm hesitant to try the vanpool thing as that I get up damned early as it is these days, and I don't want to get up even earlier so that I can arrive at work at the same time I normally otherwise and then get home later than I would normally otherwise.
The drive really isn't all that bad. It's all freeway save for the ten miles of Houghton Road that separates my residence from I-10. Houghton moves along rather well for what is now a main artery instead of a two lane road, and with widening of remaining stretches it will be even better.
Meantime, living part time in a motel room isn't too bad if you have the means to pass the time. Reading Scripture is a help, as is having my 2 meter ham radio with me. I can get into one of the linked EARRS repeaters from down here, and chat with some friends that I've made over the air.
The job itself is going better than I thought it would. I was concerned about getting into a "routine" so to speak, but as it is I have a challenging assignment with the type of work I've always wanted to do (save for satellite engineering). The experience gained will be very valuable, and I can see it and my ham radio experience leveraging each other.
What a setup! I enjoy ham radio as a hobby, and I get paid for doing what's not ham radio but is almost the same thing! Not to mention that I am learning a great deal more about digital communications than I did when I worked on satellites.
Monday, May 29, 2017
The New Job, and Other Odds and Ends
As of today, I have been officially back in the workforce for one week. The drive back and forth to Sierra Vista is longer than I would like, but I have been bearing up well. A decision has been made for me to stay there for two nights a week in order to provide me midweek driving rest. So, for either a Tuesday/Thursday night or a Monday/Wednesday night arrangement, I will be staying at a motel down there. I have already been traveling with a two changes of clothes in case I was too tired to drive home, and I may up that to three when monsoon season starts as that you don't want to be out on the highways when there's bullet rain. I have seen people skid off the road. I have never lost control while driving, but that goes back to something Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force. "A man's got to know his limitations".
With today being a paid federal holiday, I rested at home today, but coming off a three day weekend might make tomorrow night a good night to stay down there. Then again Thursday night for this week. I may go over to the 9/80 schedule so that I can get every other Friday off. That was mentioned to me during the interview as a selling point, and it was mentioned to me this week that I can flex my hours at my discretion, as long as I get in 80 hours in the two week pay period. I think I will make tomorrow and Thursday nine hour days, and do an early out on Friday.
I'm not going to get into specifics about the work that I am doing. As my blog profile says, I'm an engineer, and in this job I will be performing test engineering functions. I see an opportunity here to develop some skills while leveraging those that I already have. And my marketability is greater than it was when I was testing medical devices, though my intention is to ride this train some. That's all for now about the job..........it's a good fit for me, and I like it that one office tradition is to go out for a walk on some afternoons. That's good exercise and the 1.14 miles we did on Wednesday gave me the adrenaline that I needed for the drive home.
On the ham radio front, I have been somewhat active on the local 2 meter repeater scene and developing some good on-air friendships with some local hams. I probably ought to develop a separate post with some musings on the local 2 meter scene here. I'm also thinking of starting another blog page and devoting that entirely to my amateur radio activity and using this blog for life, other interests, and anything else that strikes my fancy. If I do that, I would place a link on my qrz.com webpage.
I have also started building another antenna, this one for the six meter band, that is, from 50 to 54 MHz. I recently purchased a brand new transceiver with that capability. Six meters is a fickle band and exciting on occasion, and operating there is something that I've wanted to do for some time. I've been reading some back columns from QST magazine that's devoted to VHF/UHF enthusiasts. I still strictly consider myself an HF guy, and getting on the 20 and 40 meter bands is more in line with my interests. Conditions haven't exactly been the greatest as of late, but with sporadic E openings on six meters that may be where I will hang out once I get back on the air. Perhaps I should do that separate blog page and chronicle my activities there, so I can editorialize on current events, coin collecting, and other things here.
Getting back to that six meter antenna project, what I have in mind is for it to be quasi-portable. Each leg of the antenna will be 56 inches in length, and I have purchased some PVC pipe sections for this antenna. I want ease of assembly and disassembly as that I could see taking this setup out into the field and seeing what I could do from mountaintops. My new rig will easily do portable operations as well; all I would need is a marine battery and the antenna, and I'm good to go.
As for the political scene here, the obsession that Organized Media has for deposing President Trump I think is bordering on some sort of mental sickness. On one day you read about fired FBI Director Comey alleging that Trump wanted an investigation shut down, and then one or two days later another news source credibly discredits that, but Organized Media by that time has a new story for the day. They may on occasion quietly admit that there is no evidence of Russian hacking, but continue to pursue that story anyway.
The Russians did not flip even one vote from the Electoral College. Voting machines are NOT connected to the Internet, and thus they cannot be hacked from some hooligan in St Petersburg or Blagoveshchensk.. Then there's the "well the Russians influenced things somehow!", but the reality is, is that the Democrat Party has lost 1100 seats in state and local races since Obama took office. They are in decline and are now a regional party. They are in the process of self-destructing as are the Republicans at times. I think the upshot here is that the last election was a referendum on the political establishment of both parties. It was a chance to blow them up, and we took it because if we didn't we would risk not ever getting that in the future.
Now I'm hearing rumblings that Hillary may run again in 2020, and if she does, she'll do even worse that time around. From what I'm able to observe, the jobs are coming back, and so is consumer confidence. How do you run against a better economy?
Anyway, I need to jet out of here, as that I owe one more phone call somewhere, and some emails. Maybe I can catch up from my motel room tomorrow night.
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!
With today being a paid federal holiday, I rested at home today, but coming off a three day weekend might make tomorrow night a good night to stay down there. Then again Thursday night for this week. I may go over to the 9/80 schedule so that I can get every other Friday off. That was mentioned to me during the interview as a selling point, and it was mentioned to me this week that I can flex my hours at my discretion, as long as I get in 80 hours in the two week pay period. I think I will make tomorrow and Thursday nine hour days, and do an early out on Friday.
I'm not going to get into specifics about the work that I am doing. As my blog profile says, I'm an engineer, and in this job I will be performing test engineering functions. I see an opportunity here to develop some skills while leveraging those that I already have. And my marketability is greater than it was when I was testing medical devices, though my intention is to ride this train some. That's all for now about the job..........it's a good fit for me, and I like it that one office tradition is to go out for a walk on some afternoons. That's good exercise and the 1.14 miles we did on Wednesday gave me the adrenaline that I needed for the drive home.
On the ham radio front, I have been somewhat active on the local 2 meter repeater scene and developing some good on-air friendships with some local hams. I probably ought to develop a separate post with some musings on the local 2 meter scene here. I'm also thinking of starting another blog page and devoting that entirely to my amateur radio activity and using this blog for life, other interests, and anything else that strikes my fancy. If I do that, I would place a link on my qrz.com webpage.
I have also started building another antenna, this one for the six meter band, that is, from 50 to 54 MHz. I recently purchased a brand new transceiver with that capability. Six meters is a fickle band and exciting on occasion, and operating there is something that I've wanted to do for some time. I've been reading some back columns from QST magazine that's devoted to VHF/UHF enthusiasts. I still strictly consider myself an HF guy, and getting on the 20 and 40 meter bands is more in line with my interests. Conditions haven't exactly been the greatest as of late, but with sporadic E openings on six meters that may be where I will hang out once I get back on the air. Perhaps I should do that separate blog page and chronicle my activities there, so I can editorialize on current events, coin collecting, and other things here.
Getting back to that six meter antenna project, what I have in mind is for it to be quasi-portable. Each leg of the antenna will be 56 inches in length, and I have purchased some PVC pipe sections for this antenna. I want ease of assembly and disassembly as that I could see taking this setup out into the field and seeing what I could do from mountaintops. My new rig will easily do portable operations as well; all I would need is a marine battery and the antenna, and I'm good to go.
As for the political scene here, the obsession that Organized Media has for deposing President Trump I think is bordering on some sort of mental sickness. On one day you read about fired FBI Director Comey alleging that Trump wanted an investigation shut down, and then one or two days later another news source credibly discredits that, but Organized Media by that time has a new story for the day. They may on occasion quietly admit that there is no evidence of Russian hacking, but continue to pursue that story anyway.
The Russians did not flip even one vote from the Electoral College. Voting machines are NOT connected to the Internet, and thus they cannot be hacked from some hooligan in St Petersburg or Blagoveshchensk.. Then there's the "well the Russians influenced things somehow!", but the reality is, is that the Democrat Party has lost 1100 seats in state and local races since Obama took office. They are in decline and are now a regional party. They are in the process of self-destructing as are the Republicans at times. I think the upshot here is that the last election was a referendum on the political establishment of both parties. It was a chance to blow them up, and we took it because if we didn't we would risk not ever getting that in the future.
Now I'm hearing rumblings that Hillary may run again in 2020, and if she does, she'll do even worse that time around. From what I'm able to observe, the jobs are coming back, and so is consumer confidence. How do you run against a better economy?
Anyway, I need to jet out of here, as that I owe one more phone call somewhere, and some emails. Maybe I can catch up from my motel room tomorrow night.
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!
Monday, May 15, 2017
Back to Work Soon!
Word came to me via email that my background check came back with a favorable result, and my new employer's HR department didn't waste any time in calling me to set a start date. My return to the workforce is set for the 22nd of May, pending passing yet another drug screen, which I did last Friday. I figure the first week will be rough as that I'll be doing the long drive back and forth, unless I can somehow get set up in the vanpool within the first week.
Because of this, I've been trying to get as much done as possible on the house, garage, yard, and ham radio. The yard is looking a great deal better than it did when I came home from Vegas, though there's still work to do there. I'm well past the half-way point regarding the yard.
I wish I could say the same thing about the garage, but what I can say is that it's improved on that front. I've filled a few boxes of donated items and I've sent other stuff to the curb. I need to get a "new" bookcase in there to replace one that I built some ten years ago. I say "new", as that I need to check out thrift stores first before I go out and buy a replacement. I need this "new" bookcase to be a foot wider than the one I'm going to toss. A large part of that is filled with old radio magazines that I don't want to part with, and some reference books for integrated circuits. I could if I wanted to, toss the references as that I can get data sheets online.
The house itself will be a work in progress. Sheila's done some work on the kitchen cabinets. I need to do get some faucets replaced and eventually the sinks. I've made at least two trips to a nearby donation bin to get rid of some clothes that I don't use anymore (saving some for wearing while doing yardwork) and one more trip is coming up soon.
Finally, the ham radio part of this post. I finished building a 20 meter dipole antenna and I now know where I'm going to put it up. It will be more or less, a "starter" antenna. It will get me back on the air (hopefully that old transmitter still works!). It's cut for the 20 meter band, and I may experiment with a tuner to see if I can get it to work on 40. I already have an existing 40 meter dipole, but I want to add traps to it so that it can work on both 20 and 40. The "starter" antenna will eventually be cut for 15 meters, and I might add traps for 10. Right now the 10 and 15 meter bands are somewhat useless due to low solar activity. I'm picking the wrong part of the solar cycle to get back into this, I know, but I still want back on the air, HF-wise.
On the local repeater scene, I am noticing that the 2 meter band is popular, but there's not much action on 70 cm, or "440" as I call it. There are UHF repeaters in the area and I've done a lot of listening to them, but only once have I heard any activity on them.
I have had some nice chats with some locals. There's a gentleman in Silver City I've chatted with, and a retired lady here in Tucson who was kind enough to send me antenna plans in case I want an outdoor 2 meter antenna (which I do).
That's pretty much it for right now.
I'll be glad to be back at work.
Because of this, I've been trying to get as much done as possible on the house, garage, yard, and ham radio. The yard is looking a great deal better than it did when I came home from Vegas, though there's still work to do there. I'm well past the half-way point regarding the yard.
I wish I could say the same thing about the garage, but what I can say is that it's improved on that front. I've filled a few boxes of donated items and I've sent other stuff to the curb. I need to get a "new" bookcase in there to replace one that I built some ten years ago. I say "new", as that I need to check out thrift stores first before I go out and buy a replacement. I need this "new" bookcase to be a foot wider than the one I'm going to toss. A large part of that is filled with old radio magazines that I don't want to part with, and some reference books for integrated circuits. I could if I wanted to, toss the references as that I can get data sheets online.
The house itself will be a work in progress. Sheila's done some work on the kitchen cabinets. I need to do get some faucets replaced and eventually the sinks. I've made at least two trips to a nearby donation bin to get rid of some clothes that I don't use anymore (saving some for wearing while doing yardwork) and one more trip is coming up soon.
Finally, the ham radio part of this post. I finished building a 20 meter dipole antenna and I now know where I'm going to put it up. It will be more or less, a "starter" antenna. It will get me back on the air (hopefully that old transmitter still works!). It's cut for the 20 meter band, and I may experiment with a tuner to see if I can get it to work on 40. I already have an existing 40 meter dipole, but I want to add traps to it so that it can work on both 20 and 40. The "starter" antenna will eventually be cut for 15 meters, and I might add traps for 10. Right now the 10 and 15 meter bands are somewhat useless due to low solar activity. I'm picking the wrong part of the solar cycle to get back into this, I know, but I still want back on the air, HF-wise.
On the local repeater scene, I am noticing that the 2 meter band is popular, but there's not much action on 70 cm, or "440" as I call it. There are UHF repeaters in the area and I've done a lot of listening to them, but only once have I heard any activity on them.
I have had some nice chats with some locals. There's a gentleman in Silver City I've chatted with, and a retired lady here in Tucson who was kind enough to send me antenna plans in case I want an outdoor 2 meter antenna (which I do).
That's pretty much it for right now.
I'll be glad to be back at work.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Things Have *Really* Changed in Ham Radio
Getting back on the air after a long hiatus has been an interesting experience. A lot of things have changed since I was first licensed, and a lot has changed since I was last active. I knew that some advances had been made on the repeater scene while I was away but on Sunday afternoon I learned about one of them in a big way.
Now repeaters have been linked for several years. I had heard that some Bay Area repeaters were linked to Los Angeles, and I figured that some Tucson repeaters might be linked to Phoenix repeaters. Online research told me of one that is linked to several other repeaters to effect coverage in southern Arizona and southern New Mexico, as well as up to Greenlee County (AZ). A long conversation with a ham radio friend from my San Jose days (he's now up in Prescott Valley) told me of EchoLink, where he talked to a guy in Ohio. Well, EchoLink can get you much farther than that.
I had my handheld on in the garage, turning it on to listen to it thinking that it would be nice background noise while I would start organizing some things. It couldn't have been on more than ten minutes when a British-accented voice identified with his callsign.
I'm thinking, OK, we have a visitor in the area from the UK, and he forgot to add his stateside identifier onto his callsign. I answered, but I wasn't going to point that out, as that I wanted to find out what he was doing here in Arizona. Well, it turns out he wasn't in Arizona. He was in Nottinghamshire, and using EchoLink to talk to someone over here!
It turned out to be a great conversation that lasted twenty minutes. He was explaining how he had activated EchoLink from his cellphone, and how HF work in his neighborhood is challenging due to manmade electrical noise at his location. He loves working on HF he told me, but he takes a mobile rig with him and drives to the coast. We discussed HF operation. He had questions about 2 meter usage in the United States, as well as the 70 centimeter band. I had some questions about UK callsigns as that I didn't know when they started issuing callsigns beginning with "M" (for years it was "G" only). He's been over here a few times; I told him I had been over there but only for an overnighter near Heathrow back in 1995.
It was nearing midnight at his end. so we said our 73s. A ham up in Phoenix had been listening in and also gave him a shout, since he hadn't had an international contact before on 2 meters, and me, I'm really jazzed too. I mean, I have talked to several European countries and some South American countries on HF (as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand) but most of that was done using Morse Code telegraphy in the CW (continous wave) mode.
In the meantime, I am not yet back on HF. I'm putting in a great deal of thought as to which antenna I should put up first. I can get a 20 meter dipole up easily enough, but I'll need some help with the 40 meter antenna which I'm sure I can get from one of the locals here. Another holdup to a return to HF is a desire on my part to get my Morse Code proficiency back up, so I've been doing some online practice. It would be great to get back up to 20 words per minute, but 10 will do, and I expect I'll be able to do that once I get more of the 7 1/2 WPM practice sessions done.
I know, I could always go phone (voice), and I'm sure I'll do that as well, but with declining solar activity I don't see that as being as reliable a propagation mode on the 20 meter band.
But getting back to talking to someone in England...........that was really cool!
Now to repeat that on the 20 meter band.
Now repeaters have been linked for several years. I had heard that some Bay Area repeaters were linked to Los Angeles, and I figured that some Tucson repeaters might be linked to Phoenix repeaters. Online research told me of one that is linked to several other repeaters to effect coverage in southern Arizona and southern New Mexico, as well as up to Greenlee County (AZ). A long conversation with a ham radio friend from my San Jose days (he's now up in Prescott Valley) told me of EchoLink, where he talked to a guy in Ohio. Well, EchoLink can get you much farther than that.
I had my handheld on in the garage, turning it on to listen to it thinking that it would be nice background noise while I would start organizing some things. It couldn't have been on more than ten minutes when a British-accented voice identified with his callsign.
I'm thinking, OK, we have a visitor in the area from the UK, and he forgot to add his stateside identifier onto his callsign. I answered, but I wasn't going to point that out, as that I wanted to find out what he was doing here in Arizona. Well, it turns out he wasn't in Arizona. He was in Nottinghamshire, and using EchoLink to talk to someone over here!
It turned out to be a great conversation that lasted twenty minutes. He was explaining how he had activated EchoLink from his cellphone, and how HF work in his neighborhood is challenging due to manmade electrical noise at his location. He loves working on HF he told me, but he takes a mobile rig with him and drives to the coast. We discussed HF operation. He had questions about 2 meter usage in the United States, as well as the 70 centimeter band. I had some questions about UK callsigns as that I didn't know when they started issuing callsigns beginning with "M" (for years it was "G" only). He's been over here a few times; I told him I had been over there but only for an overnighter near Heathrow back in 1995.
It was nearing midnight at his end. so we said our 73s. A ham up in Phoenix had been listening in and also gave him a shout, since he hadn't had an international contact before on 2 meters, and me, I'm really jazzed too. I mean, I have talked to several European countries and some South American countries on HF (as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand) but most of that was done using Morse Code telegraphy in the CW (continous wave) mode.
In the meantime, I am not yet back on HF. I'm putting in a great deal of thought as to which antenna I should put up first. I can get a 20 meter dipole up easily enough, but I'll need some help with the 40 meter antenna which I'm sure I can get from one of the locals here. Another holdup to a return to HF is a desire on my part to get my Morse Code proficiency back up, so I've been doing some online practice. It would be great to get back up to 20 words per minute, but 10 will do, and I expect I'll be able to do that once I get more of the 7 1/2 WPM practice sessions done.
I know, I could always go phone (voice), and I'm sure I'll do that as well, but with declining solar activity I don't see that as being as reliable a propagation mode on the 20 meter band.
But getting back to talking to someone in England...........that was really cool!
Now to repeat that on the 20 meter band.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Back on the Air!
Yesterday I got my new handheld out of the box, expecting that it would be at least a day before I could use it as that the last time I bought a handheld (1986), the battery needed some sixteen hours of charging.
Well, I installed the battery pack, and to my surprise it was ready to go! I spent a few hours going thru the owner's manual to learn how to operate the thing. It's got more bells and whistles than I'm used to, but so far it's been fairly easy to grasp the concepts. Tone squelch selection is a great deal easier than it was on the old handheld, and I've already stored a repeater in one of the memory banks. I've also had fun scanning the business and aviation bands, which is great as that the ham repeaters aren't as active while most users are at work. In the evening repeater activity picks up, and after listening last night I finally decided to get my feet in the water.
For those of you unfamiliar with ham radio, repeater operation is a lot different than the HF bands. On the HF bands, if you want to talk to someone, you call CQ (calling any station) or you find someone who's calling CQ and you answer him. On repeaters, it's a different ballgame. You say "(your callsign) monitoring". If someone is so inclined to answer you, he calls you.
Now repeaters are a different breed of bird for an HF guy like me. I didn't spend a lot of time on them in the 1986 timeframe. I did use repeaters when I was in El Paso on a road trip, and again in both British Columbia and Alberta when I was there in 1990 (my license is honored by Canada, and I wanted to be able to say I operated there). I used repeaters again in Santa Cruz when I was a member of a local club, and even used it once or twice to use a phone patch. Aside from that, I didn't really use them, and that was mainly because I didn't consider myself an enthusiast of that kind of operation. Yes, I might have looked down on that considering it to be some glorified kind of CB.
Last night I returned a call on a repeater from a local gentleman named Wendell. He answered back, and before too long we were joined by Ruth and Jim, and another gentleman who I now cannot recall his name. It was a great roundtable discussion. Ruth has already placed into the snail mail, plans for an antenna construction project. I have to admit that I'm impressed by the friendliness of the local ham community here, and the way in which they welcomed me.
Later on this evening, my intention is to be back on this repeater, this time using a whip antenna. I don't know if any of these hams are members of that one club that I'm thinking of joining, but hey, I can pick their brains. That club has a UHF repeater that I can hit (sometimes) using the rubber duck antenna ,and I'll have to try again with the whip.
My hope is to be active on the HF bands within two weeks. I might start out with a jury-rigged dipole that will at least get me on the air, and I don't see myself as ever losing my love for the HF bands.
However, the realm of VHF and UHF is lure, and I feel the need to learn more about this and to do more things there.
Well, I installed the battery pack, and to my surprise it was ready to go! I spent a few hours going thru the owner's manual to learn how to operate the thing. It's got more bells and whistles than I'm used to, but so far it's been fairly easy to grasp the concepts. Tone squelch selection is a great deal easier than it was on the old handheld, and I've already stored a repeater in one of the memory banks. I've also had fun scanning the business and aviation bands, which is great as that the ham repeaters aren't as active while most users are at work. In the evening repeater activity picks up, and after listening last night I finally decided to get my feet in the water.
For those of you unfamiliar with ham radio, repeater operation is a lot different than the HF bands. On the HF bands, if you want to talk to someone, you call CQ (calling any station) or you find someone who's calling CQ and you answer him. On repeaters, it's a different ballgame. You say "(your callsign) monitoring". If someone is so inclined to answer you, he calls you.
Now repeaters are a different breed of bird for an HF guy like me. I didn't spend a lot of time on them in the 1986 timeframe. I did use repeaters when I was in El Paso on a road trip, and again in both British Columbia and Alberta when I was there in 1990 (my license is honored by Canada, and I wanted to be able to say I operated there). I used repeaters again in Santa Cruz when I was a member of a local club, and even used it once or twice to use a phone patch. Aside from that, I didn't really use them, and that was mainly because I didn't consider myself an enthusiast of that kind of operation. Yes, I might have looked down on that considering it to be some glorified kind of CB.
Last night I returned a call on a repeater from a local gentleman named Wendell. He answered back, and before too long we were joined by Ruth and Jim, and another gentleman who I now cannot recall his name. It was a great roundtable discussion. Ruth has already placed into the snail mail, plans for an antenna construction project. I have to admit that I'm impressed by the friendliness of the local ham community here, and the way in which they welcomed me.
Later on this evening, my intention is to be back on this repeater, this time using a whip antenna. I don't know if any of these hams are members of that one club that I'm thinking of joining, but hey, I can pick their brains. That club has a UHF repeater that I can hit (sometimes) using the rubber duck antenna ,and I'll have to try again with the whip.
My hope is to be active on the HF bands within two weeks. I might start out with a jury-rigged dipole that will at least get me on the air, and I don't see myself as ever losing my love for the HF bands.
However, the realm of VHF and UHF is lure, and I feel the need to learn more about this and to do more things there.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Soon on the Air......I Hope............!
Shortly after my last post I did something I hadn't done in a long time. I attended a meeting of a local ham radio club. I was immediately recognized as a newcomer and welcomed. My intention was to to check out some other clubs in the area, and I still want to do that, but I think this club I found will be the "home" club. Several hams in the club have vintage transmitters and receivers like I do, and having some local hams who share this interest will be a great resource if I end up undertaking restoration projects.
Additionally, I tried getting my Yaesu FT-209RH handheld back into commission. I found out that the batteries will no longer hold a charge (likely due to age), and when I had it in an adapter the audio section died within twenty minutes. Regrettably it has to be retired, but in one way this is a good thing.
It will be an excuse to make one more trip to Ham Radio Outlet in Phoenix. I have identified a new Yaesu model handheld that I would like to get, and not only is it more affordable than I thought, it's gotten a lot of rave reviews posted online by other hams who own it. Yaesu put it on the market in 2004, and it is still in production though it may be "obsoleted" later this year. That doesn't bother me, as that the thing is built like a tank and will survive being dropped several times if it's out with me on a hunting trip.
What's nice about that new model, the FT-60R, is that not only will it work on 2 meters, it will also work on the UHF band (420 to 450 MHz). It also can function as a handheld scanner, though it will not accommodate the newer digital technologies that the local police and fire have switched over to. That's not an issue as that I could still listen to aircraft and weather, and weather would be of interest if I'm out on a road trip.
I've also identified a Yaesu model that I could use in my truck, or as a base station if I decide to get a 12 volt power supply (I don't think the 12 volt power supply I built some years back will provide enough current for the expected load). I don't operate "mobile", mainly because I've been driving a stick since 1983. However, we are thinking of a new vehicle next year, and that might end up being an automatic transmission. In that event a higher powered mobile unit would be nice to have on a road trip. We would have to take it inside the motel with us if staying overnight, but that's no issue.
Now I'm going to digress for a moment as that there are some other things on my mind re ham radio and repeaters.
For most of my ham "career", I have almost exclusively operated on the HF (high frequency) bands, or shortwave if you will, as that I got into this to talk to other hams around the country and around the world. My operations on VHF haven't been extensive, mainly because those frequencies are line of sight, though the repeaters are a great help in expanding area coverage. Some hams might think of the repeaters as some sort of gentleman's CB, but when you think about it it's much more than that. Local nets may meet on the repeaters per a weekly schedule, and it's a way for clubs that have repeaters (almost all clubs have them) to pass along news. My favorite part of these nets were the "swap meet" portion of the "meeting" as that it's a great way to acquire parts and/or equipment, or to sell.
But there's something else about the VHF realm which can and is fascinating. There are lots of hams who have VHF/UHF rigs that cover all modes, and not just narrow band FM. As stated above, propagation is line of sight........but not always! Tropospheric ducting and sporadic skip come into play, affording you the opportunity to work stations that are a thousand miles away or so. Some hams use these frequencies for "moonbounce", which is something I'd like to try sometime as that bouncing signals off the moon in order to talk to a ham also doing that is a real challenge. There's also meteor scatter propagation, which is as much of a test of operating skill as is using Morse code to talk to someone in Russia (and the Russians are very good operators!) Heck, I think meteor scatter would be a great deal more difficult than working Russia.
Anyway, some time down the road, I want to give the six meter band a try, and all mode two meters. Two would be a good way to use a satellite as a repeater, though there are other bands where satellite operation is possible.
Again, I'm wondering why I allowed this hobby to lapse like I did.
Hopefully life will allow me to resume this soon.
Additionally, I tried getting my Yaesu FT-209RH handheld back into commission. I found out that the batteries will no longer hold a charge (likely due to age), and when I had it in an adapter the audio section died within twenty minutes. Regrettably it has to be retired, but in one way this is a good thing.
It will be an excuse to make one more trip to Ham Radio Outlet in Phoenix. I have identified a new Yaesu model handheld that I would like to get, and not only is it more affordable than I thought, it's gotten a lot of rave reviews posted online by other hams who own it. Yaesu put it on the market in 2004, and it is still in production though it may be "obsoleted" later this year. That doesn't bother me, as that the thing is built like a tank and will survive being dropped several times if it's out with me on a hunting trip.
What's nice about that new model, the FT-60R, is that not only will it work on 2 meters, it will also work on the UHF band (420 to 450 MHz). It also can function as a handheld scanner, though it will not accommodate the newer digital technologies that the local police and fire have switched over to. That's not an issue as that I could still listen to aircraft and weather, and weather would be of interest if I'm out on a road trip.
I've also identified a Yaesu model that I could use in my truck, or as a base station if I decide to get a 12 volt power supply (I don't think the 12 volt power supply I built some years back will provide enough current for the expected load). I don't operate "mobile", mainly because I've been driving a stick since 1983. However, we are thinking of a new vehicle next year, and that might end up being an automatic transmission. In that event a higher powered mobile unit would be nice to have on a road trip. We would have to take it inside the motel with us if staying overnight, but that's no issue.
Now I'm going to digress for a moment as that there are some other things on my mind re ham radio and repeaters.
For most of my ham "career", I have almost exclusively operated on the HF (high frequency) bands, or shortwave if you will, as that I got into this to talk to other hams around the country and around the world. My operations on VHF haven't been extensive, mainly because those frequencies are line of sight, though the repeaters are a great help in expanding area coverage. Some hams might think of the repeaters as some sort of gentleman's CB, but when you think about it it's much more than that. Local nets may meet on the repeaters per a weekly schedule, and it's a way for clubs that have repeaters (almost all clubs have them) to pass along news. My favorite part of these nets were the "swap meet" portion of the "meeting" as that it's a great way to acquire parts and/or equipment, or to sell.
But there's something else about the VHF realm which can and is fascinating. There are lots of hams who have VHF/UHF rigs that cover all modes, and not just narrow band FM. As stated above, propagation is line of sight........but not always! Tropospheric ducting and sporadic skip come into play, affording you the opportunity to work stations that are a thousand miles away or so. Some hams use these frequencies for "moonbounce", which is something I'd like to try sometime as that bouncing signals off the moon in order to talk to a ham also doing that is a real challenge. There's also meteor scatter propagation, which is as much of a test of operating skill as is using Morse code to talk to someone in Russia (and the Russians are very good operators!) Heck, I think meteor scatter would be a great deal more difficult than working Russia.
Anyway, some time down the road, I want to give the six meter band a try, and all mode two meters. Two would be a good way to use a satellite as a repeater, though there are other bands where satellite operation is possible.
Again, I'm wondering why I allowed this hobby to lapse like I did.
Hopefully life will allow me to resume this soon.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
The Road Back to Amateur Radio, and a Detour
I've spent some more time going thru boxes in the garage, some of which may have been packed back in Santa Cruz, moved to my townhouse here in Tucson, then on to the house here in Tucson that I'm at now, because I'm seeing some items that I haven't seen in several years. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing in that I'm now getting these things organized and a bad thing in that I waited so long to do this.
I have located some more accessories for ham radio and there are still some items I am trying to locate. My itch to get back on the air is a great deal more than it was last week, and I am chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle. I'm clearing a space where I can operate, I'm doing some reading to learn what has changed since I was last on the air, and I've already got an antenna project in mind. But before I take that step, I've got to finish getting things organized and there are a few other things to do too.
I was talking about this to Sheila yesterday. I told her that I've been asking myself, why did I leave this hobby lapse? And as soon as I asked that question, I knew the answers.
There were some adverse circumstances that emerged in October 1998, in the form of two very dramatic life changing events. I had to get some things in order and then I had to relocate to Arizona. Before relocating, I did attend one last meeting at the club I was active in at Santa Cruz (I may have made one more meeting in March 1999 when I had to return to San Jose to wrap up some loose ends) and I always meant to return to the air once I was settled down here.
What happened instead was the following.
I got involved in a work project that meant working long hours and weekends.
I got involved with a local singles group, feeling the need to develop social skills and to learn what the "rule" changes were in dating.
I got involved with country & western dance classes at the Maverick.
I went to a lot of gun shows and I spent a lot of time in target shooting, hiking, day trips, and exploring southern Arizona.
I started dating Pam regularly.
I changed jobs at work, but wasn't seeing Pam, but I still did a lot of dating.
I took up hunting, and went out for deer at least three seasons, and out again for rabbits.....and several scouting runs in between.
There were two more ladies.
Then I met Sheila.
Then I had a year-plus exile in Las Vegas, getting married, and a coming home. And since then, lots of yardwork, organizing, down time, reading, and discovering that handheld that I forgot that I owned.
Well, I'd like to think I'll be back on the ham bands again, but now there's been one more detour, and this one's a fun one.
I discovered a bagful of wheat cents that I forgot that I owned! These were purchased at a coin shop in Santa Cruz around 1995 or so. At the time of purchase, I figured I would sort through them, and maybe sell these online. Right now I'm going thru them when I'm not catching up on my reading (which is including some ham radio magazines) and I've found some goodies. I have a hoard of wheat cents in a cigar box upstairs and I'm now adding to them. Some in the bag have some mint luster in them so I'm placing these in 2 x 2 holders and I've still got more than half the bag to go thru.
Oh, and I've got another hoard that was given to me by Birdman some years back.....a whole coffee can full........though 2/3 of those are Memorial cents, with several from the mid 60s having full red mint luster.
In the meantime, a trip to Phoenix for some personal business is on the docket this week, and hopefully the available time will permit a visit to Ham Radio Outlet. And on Tuesday, a local club is meeting, and I very much want to crawl out of the cave and get involved again with ham radio.
I have located some more accessories for ham radio and there are still some items I am trying to locate. My itch to get back on the air is a great deal more than it was last week, and I am chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle. I'm clearing a space where I can operate, I'm doing some reading to learn what has changed since I was last on the air, and I've already got an antenna project in mind. But before I take that step, I've got to finish getting things organized and there are a few other things to do too.
I was talking about this to Sheila yesterday. I told her that I've been asking myself, why did I leave this hobby lapse? And as soon as I asked that question, I knew the answers.
There were some adverse circumstances that emerged in October 1998, in the form of two very dramatic life changing events. I had to get some things in order and then I had to relocate to Arizona. Before relocating, I did attend one last meeting at the club I was active in at Santa Cruz (I may have made one more meeting in March 1999 when I had to return to San Jose to wrap up some loose ends) and I always meant to return to the air once I was settled down here.
What happened instead was the following.
I got involved in a work project that meant working long hours and weekends.
I got involved with a local singles group, feeling the need to develop social skills and to learn what the "rule" changes were in dating.
I got involved with country & western dance classes at the Maverick.
I went to a lot of gun shows and I spent a lot of time in target shooting, hiking, day trips, and exploring southern Arizona.
I started dating Pam regularly.
I changed jobs at work, but wasn't seeing Pam, but I still did a lot of dating.
I took up hunting, and went out for deer at least three seasons, and out again for rabbits.....and several scouting runs in between.
There were two more ladies.
Then I met Sheila.
Then I had a year-plus exile in Las Vegas, getting married, and a coming home. And since then, lots of yardwork, organizing, down time, reading, and discovering that handheld that I forgot that I owned.
Well, I'd like to think I'll be back on the ham bands again, but now there's been one more detour, and this one's a fun one.
I discovered a bagful of wheat cents that I forgot that I owned! These were purchased at a coin shop in Santa Cruz around 1995 or so. At the time of purchase, I figured I would sort through them, and maybe sell these online. Right now I'm going thru them when I'm not catching up on my reading (which is including some ham radio magazines) and I've found some goodies. I have a hoard of wheat cents in a cigar box upstairs and I'm now adding to them. Some in the bag have some mint luster in them so I'm placing these in 2 x 2 holders and I've still got more than half the bag to go thru.
Oh, and I've got another hoard that was given to me by Birdman some years back.....a whole coffee can full........though 2/3 of those are Memorial cents, with several from the mid 60s having full red mint luster.
In the meantime, a trip to Phoenix for some personal business is on the docket this week, and hopefully the available time will permit a visit to Ham Radio Outlet. And on Tuesday, a local club is meeting, and I very much want to crawl out of the cave and get involved again with ham radio.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Teach Kids to Smoke!
When I was growing up, cigarette usage was a lot more common among the adult population than it is today. My parents smoked, my aunts and uncles smoked, and it's possible that my grandparents also smoked though I have no memory of them ever lighting up. Smoking was the cool thing back then. I noticed in my first year of junior high school that some of my classmates had taken up smoking. They couldn't smoke on school grounds, so the new seventh graders would join their friends and upper level classmates outside the perimeter of the campus and light up before the morning classes started. It was a rite of passage for them; it was the cool thing to be hip, and even though Florida state law did not allow for minors to have possession of cigarettes they somehow got them and used them on a regular basis.
Warning labels, were of course, on cigarette packages in those days. This appears to have started in the 1960s when the Surgeon General went after tobacco. I remember health warnings on the cigarette packages back then that said something like "Smoking may be hazardous to your health". The warnings got more direct as time went on, and while that was going on the faculty of the junior high school started "educating" the students on the dangers of tobacco. They wanted its use to end and were discouraging it whenever they felt the need.
Smoking of course went on, and it wasn't until the late 70s that the anti-tobacco crusaders decided to amp up their fight against cigarettes. They pushed for a ballot initiative in California in 1978 which ended up being defeated, but the crusaders weren't going to give up. Smoking was banned in grocery stores, then in other public places, tobacco taxes were increased, and eventually they succeeded in getting smoking banned in bars (as if people visit the bar on a regular basis for their health). This spread to other states, and if that wasn't enough, tobacco taxes were hiked by several states and eventually the federal government in an effort to discourage smoking. Tax increases were sold to the public on premise that revenues collected would go to treat lung cancer and provide health care for poor children. There was also a multibillion dollar extortion from Big Tobacco, and Joe Camel, who was said to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse was virtually banned.
Now growing up I was very much anti-cigarette smoking, and in my adulthood I too wanted the smokers punished. I wanted them banished into the functional equivalent of leper colonies. I wanted taxes on cigarettes hiked. Yes, I wanted them to pay.
Well, like how President Obama's position on same sex marriage has evolved, so has my position on cigarette smoking evolved too. I think collecting tobacco taxes to pay for health care of poor children is a very noble thing to do, but my concern is that if everyone quits smoking then there won't be any more taxes collected for this. The parents of poor children obviously can't pay for doctor visits or trips to the E.R., and if tobacco taxes aren't collected then the health of poor children is at risk. Some of them may die. I think this is wrong, and if you're a level-headed person then you'll be agreeing with me on this one.
Now we can't really expect the adult ex-smokers to resume the habit. Many of them have spent hundreds of dollars in trying to kick the habit by getting medication or hiring hypnotists or even subjecting themselves to electro-shock therapy to kick that habit. I don't think it's fair to them to tell them that their money and efforts were wasted on that. They've already spent several years paying their fair share of tobacco taxes, and I think they've done enough.
So if we can't approach the ex-smokers to start smoking again, then what do we do? The poor children need their health care. We could start taxing fast food, but we need fast food taxes to pay for the health care costs of the obese who got that way by eating fast food, so that's off the table. We could tax alcohol, but alcohol taxes have been earmarked for treating alcoholism and rehabilitation of drunk drivers, and it wouldn't be fair to divert those funds to provide health care for poor children.
The obvious answer here is to somehow keep the revenue stream from tobacco taxes flowing. We do that by recruiting new smokers, and the younger we recruit them then that's more years of them paying tobacco taxes, and thus they are able to better bear the burden of providing this much-needed health care for the economically disadvantaged. In other words, this problem is solved by teaching our kids to smoke.
Now before anyone flippantly dismisses this idea, we must stop and think about this some. If parents start teaching their children to smoke, the children will start thinking that their parents are cool and in tune with their generation. Imagine the family out on the back patio smoking cigarettes after Dad has finished with the barbecue and Mom has done the dishes. Dad and Junior can light up their Marlboros, and commiserate about what Justin Bieber is up to. Mom and Sis light up their Virginia Slims, with Mom giving Sis instructions on how to twerk better than Miley Cyrus. This would be a family bonding experience.
This would even be better if extended family comes by. Grandpa lights up his corncob pipe. Uncle Joe brings his chaw. Aunt Jane brings a cigar and lights up, showing Sis what a liberated woman can do in this day and age. Grandma joins Uncle Joe in the chawing, and shows off her skills in projecting used Skoal into the spittoon that's on the corner of the patio.
I think it is time to end the war on tobacco.
I hereby call on school districts nationwide to stop discouraging tobacco use. Instead, junior high schools and high schools nationwide should have smoking areas set aside, and the teachers should join the students in lighting up during the cigarette breaks so that they can better relate to their students.
It's time. It's time. It's time to start teaching kids to smoke.
LINK
Warning labels, were of course, on cigarette packages in those days. This appears to have started in the 1960s when the Surgeon General went after tobacco. I remember health warnings on the cigarette packages back then that said something like "Smoking may be hazardous to your health". The warnings got more direct as time went on, and while that was going on the faculty of the junior high school started "educating" the students on the dangers of tobacco. They wanted its use to end and were discouraging it whenever they felt the need.
Smoking of course went on, and it wasn't until the late 70s that the anti-tobacco crusaders decided to amp up their fight against cigarettes. They pushed for a ballot initiative in California in 1978 which ended up being defeated, but the crusaders weren't going to give up. Smoking was banned in grocery stores, then in other public places, tobacco taxes were increased, and eventually they succeeded in getting smoking banned in bars (as if people visit the bar on a regular basis for their health). This spread to other states, and if that wasn't enough, tobacco taxes were hiked by several states and eventually the federal government in an effort to discourage smoking. Tax increases were sold to the public on premise that revenues collected would go to treat lung cancer and provide health care for poor children. There was also a multibillion dollar extortion from Big Tobacco, and Joe Camel, who was said to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse was virtually banned.
Now growing up I was very much anti-cigarette smoking, and in my adulthood I too wanted the smokers punished. I wanted them banished into the functional equivalent of leper colonies. I wanted taxes on cigarettes hiked. Yes, I wanted them to pay.
Well, like how President Obama's position on same sex marriage has evolved, so has my position on cigarette smoking evolved too. I think collecting tobacco taxes to pay for health care of poor children is a very noble thing to do, but my concern is that if everyone quits smoking then there won't be any more taxes collected for this. The parents of poor children obviously can't pay for doctor visits or trips to the E.R., and if tobacco taxes aren't collected then the health of poor children is at risk. Some of them may die. I think this is wrong, and if you're a level-headed person then you'll be agreeing with me on this one.
Now we can't really expect the adult ex-smokers to resume the habit. Many of them have spent hundreds of dollars in trying to kick the habit by getting medication or hiring hypnotists or even subjecting themselves to electro-shock therapy to kick that habit. I don't think it's fair to them to tell them that their money and efforts were wasted on that. They've already spent several years paying their fair share of tobacco taxes, and I think they've done enough.
So if we can't approach the ex-smokers to start smoking again, then what do we do? The poor children need their health care. We could start taxing fast food, but we need fast food taxes to pay for the health care costs of the obese who got that way by eating fast food, so that's off the table. We could tax alcohol, but alcohol taxes have been earmarked for treating alcoholism and rehabilitation of drunk drivers, and it wouldn't be fair to divert those funds to provide health care for poor children.
The obvious answer here is to somehow keep the revenue stream from tobacco taxes flowing. We do that by recruiting new smokers, and the younger we recruit them then that's more years of them paying tobacco taxes, and thus they are able to better bear the burden of providing this much-needed health care for the economically disadvantaged. In other words, this problem is solved by teaching our kids to smoke.
Now before anyone flippantly dismisses this idea, we must stop and think about this some. If parents start teaching their children to smoke, the children will start thinking that their parents are cool and in tune with their generation. Imagine the family out on the back patio smoking cigarettes after Dad has finished with the barbecue and Mom has done the dishes. Dad and Junior can light up their Marlboros, and commiserate about what Justin Bieber is up to. Mom and Sis light up their Virginia Slims, with Mom giving Sis instructions on how to twerk better than Miley Cyrus. This would be a family bonding experience.
This would even be better if extended family comes by. Grandpa lights up his corncob pipe. Uncle Joe brings his chaw. Aunt Jane brings a cigar and lights up, showing Sis what a liberated woman can do in this day and age. Grandma joins Uncle Joe in the chawing, and shows off her skills in projecting used Skoal into the spittoon that's on the corner of the patio.
I think it is time to end the war on tobacco.
I hereby call on school districts nationwide to stop discouraging tobacco use. Instead, junior high schools and high schools nationwide should have smoking areas set aside, and the teachers should join the students in lighting up during the cigarette breaks so that they can better relate to their students.
It's time. It's time. It's time to start teaching kids to smoke.
* * * * * * *
LINK
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