APRS Band Opening

It is too bad I didn't have time to pack up the radio gear and head up on the mountain yesterday morning. First I noticed that I was hearing a station out of New York come in on the local Frederick repeater. There is 440 MHz transmitter up there on the same frequency that links the Frederick repeater with the rest of Western Maryland. After hearing that, I thought to check my APRS program. I was delighted to see stations all the way up to Maine. Now this isn't exactly good for the ARPS network, but it is an interesting phenomenon. It is all the more reason to use appropriate APRS paths like WIDE2-2, because you never know when your packets could be retransmitted 100s of miles away and cause network congestion in some other region.



If you notice the yellow circle on the picture, that is known as the ALOHA circle, which is basically the edge of the network for me. Packets I send that are heard outside of that network do more harm than good to the network. My ALOHA circle typically includes the Baltimore and Washington DC metro areas, but it all depends on the number of stations that are active at the time, during commuting hours, the circle gets a little smaller. It all has to do with the number of stations using the same frequency and the limitations of 1200 baud packet radio data signals.

More on APRS: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs.html

Canada

Amy and I went to Niagara Falls last week. And I must say, it was probably our best anniversary yet. That is easy to qualify as the previous two, Amy was in her third trimester with Aidan & Zoe respectively. It was also our most expensive anniversary trip too. It was nice though to get away from the kids for the first time. It was funny though that we talked about the kids a lot and of course we missed them even more.



The first night we ate dinner in the Skylon tower rotating dining room. It wasn't a cheap meal, but the view was pretty good, as was the experience. We didn't do much else the first day as we arrived late in the afternoon.



The best part was sleeping in until ten or later, which sort of ruled out breakfast. Lunch the next day was in a very Amy like restaurant called the Secret Garden Restaurant. I say it was Amy like because it was very girly decorated with pink and purple everywhere, and flowers, etc. This day was also the big picture day, we took the camera and took a lot of pictures of the falls and other things. We also took the journey behind the falls tour, which was pretty neat, actaully being behind the falls and seeing them quite up close from the observation deck. Dinner was at a very authentic Japanese restaurant, not one of those hibachi grill places, a real Japanese restaurant more like you would find in Japan. Amy had sushi of course, and I had a ginger pork dish over rice. For dessert we had red bean and green tea ice cream. That night we were treated to some live music and fireworks.







After another skipped breakfast, we had lunch at the hotel restaurant. I was thinking about going to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant since it was our anniversary day, but after seeing the table rock restaurant's view the other night I thought that that place might be better and more unique to Niagara falls. It was a rainy day, which turned out to be good for our ride on the Maid of the Mist. That was a pretty cool ride, and it was the first time Amy and I were ever on a boat together, which is strange since we have been a couple for over 5 years and married for 3. The plastic ponchos we got from the Maid of the Mist kept the rain off of us for the rest of the day. After dinner at the Table Rock restaurant, I had to buy something warmer to wear, it was a lot colder than I expected. Then we went to the Casino. I didn't know they had Casino's in Niagara falls, but it was a pleasant surprise. I played craps for about 3 hours with $200 Canadian. At one point I was up about $175, my cutoff was being up $200, but then I started losing a bit, so Amy decided it was time for me to call it quits, ending up $100. After getting back to the hotel, we ordered a bottle of champaign and celebrated our anniversary.

Fireworks

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The trip home wasn't the best as I wasn't feeling well, and it was the first day that we had to get up early so we could get the rental car back in time. I spent the rest of my Canadian currency on the hotel bill, and only a little went the credit card, which worked out a lot better than having to exchange it later. After we were on the road for a little bit, we stopped at a service area on the New York Thruway and had a sit down breakfast at Denny's, which was pretty good. The drive home seemed to take a while. I think I wanted to get home and see the kids on the trip home more than I wanted to get to Canada on the trip there.

In all, our trip to Canada was great, time to ourselves and having no work to do was great. It might be a while before we can do it again!

Alexander's School Supply List

KINDERGARTEN
8 large glue sticks
Child sized scissors (Fiskar brand preferred)
1 pack dry erase markers (Expo brand preferred)
1 pack stickers (character or seasonal preferred)
1 composition book (Ms. Doyle, Ms. O’Brien, Ms. Parsons, & Ms. Preston’s class)
1 spiral notebook (Ms. Baisey’s class)
1 backpack
1 bottle liquid glue
2 boxes 24 crayons
1 pack markers
1 pack pencils
1 pocket folder
1 pack small or large non-wax coated paper plates

OK, 8 glue sticks, seriously, do they want you to come to school the first week with all 8 glue sticks? This is a pretty strange list for kindergarten. So maybe he will need most of this stuff, even the glue sticks. But why on earth would a kindergartner need dry erase markers, or markers in general. Think 5 year old for a minute, what can a marker do that a crayon can't besides write on skin and clothes? As for the dry erase markers, I don't think we will be getting them, it just doesn't make sense.

Blog Updates

I finally posted some of those old entries I've wanted to add, but now, they don't seem to be showing up.

What is going on?

Well, I haven't been blogging much lately, nor have I been working on my radio project. We'll have Andrew with us for the next month, a crab feast this Saturday, and so on, so, it doesn't look like we will be any less busy. Things have been so hectic that last week I ended up forgetting to take Alex to swimming lessons.

I do hope to add some back dated blog entries about the hamfest, family reunion, and field day, so keep an eye out for them.

Road Trip Home from WV

The trip home from the family reunion was pretty fun. We decided take the long long way home through the mountains and on some back roads with a stop at Spruce Knob, the highest mountain in the state at 4863 feet. Zoe was great, Aidan was good, but Alex wasn't so at the top of the mountain. Getting to Spruce Knob required a 20 mile drive on a dirt road. I later realized that there was a better way, but we would have missed the lake, so I guess it was worth it.

From WV Road Trip

From WV Road Trip

Winding our way home through the mountains was fun, but finding a place to eat when you are hungry wasn't the easiest. We had a small lunch at Spruce Knob Lake, but that was long gone. We finally found a place in Petersburg that looked like it would be a nice place to relax for a while and enjoy dinner.

From WV Road Trip

That turned out to be great, not only was it a nice break from the road, but the food was pretty good too, with the exception of Alex's pecan pie desert.

Family Reunion in WV

This year we finally got a room at the Philippi Lodging hotel that is just a few minutes from my Grandparents' house. That alone made this year better than last.

From 2007 Family R...

I managed to almost kill myself on a 4 wheeler. I started it up but didn't realize it was in gear when I let off the clutch and it took off. The trouble was, it took me a few seconds to realize what just happened and how to fix it! Grandma Jackie rode on the back of the 4 wheeler too, but my cousin Tommy was driving.

We made a stop at the covered bridge, site of the first land battle of the civil war. I find that kid of stuff interesting, but, I'm not quite sure the rest of the family did. The pictures turned out good though.

From 2007 Family R...

On the list of ad hoc activities was some skeet shooting. I had a blast with the single shot 410. I must have went through an entire box of shells, hitting just about everything after missing my first 3. I hadn't shot a gun in probably 10 years, maybe closer to 15 for a shotgun. After the shooting, the kids went to collect the ones that were missed, accumulating quite a stack!

From 2007 Family R...

Field Day 2007

Field Day 2007 was a lot more fun for me than last year. First, the entire family was there, Amy, Zoe, Aidan, & Alex, even Al, my father in law. Second, I chose to be the band captain for 80 meters. Our station made 300 contacts in 24 hours, 200 using Morse Code and 100 using voice.



I was originally going to build a station for 10 meters, but as planning for the event went on, nobody had signed up for 80 which was surprising because it is a very active band on field day. I figured why not switch, since I could never setup a good station for 80 meters at home, the antennas are just too big.

Frederick Amateur Radio Club Hamfest

Each year the Frederick Amateur Radio Club puts on a hamfest, which is basically a big flea market with a folks selling a lot of ham radio gear and electronics. There are a few commercial vendors as well. This year's hamfest worked out quite well, we were able to save some money on expenses and sold a lot more tickets than last year. Our total income looks like it will be more than triple what we made in 2006, just about enough to cover a year's worth of club expenses.

Quote from Fox News article about TV dads

Father Knows Best: 10 Life Lessons From TV Dads
By C. Spencer Beggs
"Archie Bunker may have been the most racist, homophobic blasphemer to grace the small screen until Eric Cartman was doodled into "South Park."

I wonder how many people have actually watched both shows. I'll go on record as saying, they are both good!

The Anvil Restaurant Responds

We are sorry that your experience was less than great at our restaurant. We have been in business almost 22 years and always try our best to please!

It is our understanding that some member of your group caused quite a sitr during the evening and delayed the group as aw hole. We have attached a letter from another member from your group with an apology for the behaviors!

We hope you will accept our apology and hope you will join us again. A gift certificate is enclosed for $20.00

Sincerely,

Danny E. Smith


Attachment

17 May 2007

M/M Danny & Ann Smith,
Proprietors
The Anvil Restaurant
Post Office Box 707
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Subject: Letter of Appreciation

On behalf of our Association, please accept my thanks for making us welcome in your restaurant yesterday evening and for the courtesy and assistance of your staff members during and after the dinner. Ms Renee Smith, as our hostess, did an outstanding job of handling the unnecessarily obstreperous wife of one of our members and was a great help to me.

I was involved in assisting my wife to exit the restaurant. I was so concerned for my wife’s safety that I was not available to take the appropriate action and intervene as Ms Smith was enduring the unwarranted criticism that I noted while we were leaving. Obviously there is one medication for migraine that does not go well with two excellent cocktails.

There was one entrée delivered a bit late, but I did not get any criticisms from any of our members or their guests concerning food service. The lady who was served late was not angry or displeased. The woman who took it upon herself to complain was not an officer or member of the club and has caused this kind of trouble for the last time. We expect that she will be moving away next month and that will simplify our situation. We have been asked by other restaurants to ensure that she no longer be a guest at our monthly dinners.

Thanks Again,

Roy

Now, for my comments:

I was at the dinner, I think I chatted with everyone, and I have no idea who Roy was talking about in his letter, I guess that goes to show how well I knew everyone there. My suspicions is that the staff there felt that they were treated badly, and decided to take it out on the rest of the group, still, not acceptable if you ask me.

Live Free or Die Hard

Yippee-ki-yay, mother****er. John McClane will be back for a fourth Die Hard movie, I knew there was a reason I didn't buy the trilogy box set on DVD. I remember staying up late watching the first Die Hard on cable back in the day at my friend Aaron Jackson's house. I don't know how we managed to watch it, we were still in elementary school at the time, I don't think our parents would have approved!

Filter Board - Complete

This is good news, and bad news, in several ways. The good news is, that the filter board is done. If you've been keeping up with my progress, you know it has been a while since I finished soldering everything to the board, but it wasn't testing within the specs given by the manual. It turns out, that there was nothing wrong with it, I was just testing the wrong pins on the IC, I just didn't know how to count them. I was counting the pins as if they alternated, even & odd on each side of the IC, so when I thought I was touching pins 6 & 7, I was really touching pins 4 & 16. It is a good thing that I have experienced hams in the area who can help me out. I was finally frustrated enough to take the board to Neil's place (KC9BH) and have him help me take a look at it. After about 4 seconds, I realized my mistake. The good news is i got a lesson in soldering and desoldering while I was there, and he also let me borrow a better set of wire cutters so I could trim the component leads a little better.

The next step in the project, the front panel board. There is more bad news on this front though, for the next 5 weekends, I'm pretty busy. Company Picnic on June 3, Alex's Gymnastics Show on June 9, Frederick Amateur Radio Club Hamfest on June 17, Field Day on June 20, 20 & 22, and we'll be in WV from June 29 to Jul 4.

The final piece of good news, I'll never forget how to count the pins on an IC. That is what this project is about, learning something, and I certainly learned something yesterday.

Letter to The Anvil Restaurant

May 17, 2007

The Anvil Restaurant
1290 West Washington Street
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425

Dear Anvil Restaurant Management,

I recently attended dinner with a large group at the Anvil Restaurant in Harpers Ferry and found the service to be less than satisfactory. My meal, a bowl of crab soup and the WV Trout was excellent, especially the trout, the sauce really made an ordinary fish fillet into an extraordinary dish. It did seem to take a while between my order and being served, but that didn't bother me much as I enjoyed the company of my group. The real trouble came when it was time to get my check. I had noticed that others in our group were getting their checks at 8:50, a short time after I finished my meal and realized that it was getting late. I did not get my check until 9:30, and wasn't able to leave until 9:35 when the waitress returned to take payment. I do not understand how it could take more than a minute to total up a sprite, bowl of soup, and an entree. Also disappointing was the waitresses failure to acknowledge and apologize for the long wait for the check as if it was the normal way business was done at the Anvil Restaurant.

I haven't decided if I will attend the Anvil Restaurant in the future, it seemed like a place where I would like to take my wife to dinner for just the two of us, and since the food was very good, I haven't put the Anvil on my list of Restaurants to avoid in the future. I don't think the experience would be the same for just my wife and I, but if it was, I would not return, and would advise those I know to avoid going as well. I understand that large groups can be difficult, but they are also often a chance to win new customers, because it may be the first visit for many in the group, as it was for me.

Sincerely,

Joseph

Caffeine Free

I've taken another break from caffeine, and well, I'm tired. It is 9:30 in the morning and I'm tired already. Since my drink of choice is Mountain Dew, every once in a while I like to prove to myself that I'm not addicted to caffeine, the last time was over 2 years ago. I don't drink Mountain Dew for its caffeine, I drink it because I like it. The side effect is that the caffeine creates a bit of a physical dependence that I could do without. I've had a few headaches and I've been more tired than normal, which will probably last about a week. I figure I'll stay caffeine free for about a month, for now, I'll drink a lot more water and other beverages that don't contain caffeine.

Filter Board - everything is soldered

Notice I didn't say it was done. When I was testing it, the results didn't match the manual. I'm not quite sure what it is, I'm hoping to get some hints from the mailing list. The good news is, I got a good picture of what the board is supposed to look like!

Slight Progress

I planned on doing more tonight, really, I did. But I did get something done, I wound the toroidal inductors "toroids". A lot of folks seemed to think this was hard, but it didn't seem so hard to me. I was a little worried, so I took a good closeup picture and sent it off to the Elecraft mailing list, I got a bunch of replies saying that they were just fine.



I meant to actually get these soldered to the filter board tonight, but I was distracted by a 10 meter opening. I didn't make a to many contacts, made a few of those almost contacts but the fading seemed to always happen when the other station gave his call sign.

HD DVD AACS Encryption Key

No, the number isn't here. What I have to say is, why 16 bytes? I'm surprised it took this long to be broken, or, at least be broken and made public. It looks like the Advanced Access Content System License Authority has revoked the published key, so new HD DVDs won't be able to be used with it. Eventually, one of two things will happen, someone will figure out how to generage useable keys, or the AACS LA will run out of keys to revoke, it isn't like you can just download some new keys into your HD DVD player. Will older HD DVD players not be able to play new titles once they run out of keys?

For me, I like netflix, it is a cheap way to watch movies just about whenever you want, and a hell of a lot easier than downloading them.

Exchange Database Maintenance

Microsoft has come a long way with the Exchange databases, so long in fact, that under normal circumstances, all you really have to do is leave them alone, and they will work fine. My situation isn’t exactly normal. The organization is migrating from a system that was basically unlimited (until they decided to purge old mail because they ran out of space) to a controlled system. Of course, they don’t have to clean up before they are migrated, so, here comes the 6 gig mailboxes. Then they clean up. This along with a delay in deploying the last two servers (which caused many more users than expected added to the first two, then moved once the last two were up) caused us to end up with several databases with more white space than actual data. This is hard on the backups, since, it backs up the white space too, 466 gigabytes worth, and it is getting a little too close for comfort on available disk space on the drives in which the databases reside. So, I get to spend a weekend running defrag scripts. Fortunately, I have it automated enough that all I have to do is keep an eye on it to make sure nothing goes wrong, but, I still have to keep an eye on it.

New Aidan Pic

I put a new picture of Aidan in the title of the blog. I think I might have to work on it a little, zoom in a little more so you can actually see him. The file is only 100x100 pixels, which isn't much to work with, but I think I can make it a little better.

Filter Board Progress - 40 Meters

Tonight I finished up installing the relays that I started yesterday and moved on to the bag of parts that will make this radio work on the 40 meter band, 7 MHz. There were 13 capacitors to install, plus a 3 that I installed just after the relays. My soldering still looks good, but I think I need another tool to be more precise when clipping the leads.

I used the flash this time - I don't know what makes a better picture.

Top Row Pictures, I need a new Aidan Pic

I think I need a new picture of Aidan. I like that pic, but it is from over a year ago, and for kids that age, a year can make a huge difference.

Started Building My New Radio

I've started building my new Amateur Radio transceiver, the Elecraft K1 CW transceiver kit. I've inventoried the parts, and I've installed the first few components. I was worried about my soldering ability, but my first 22 solder connections look pretty good.

I'm going to try to take photographs of my progress and post them to http://picasaweb.google.com/joseph.durnal/ElecraftK1TransceiverBuild. This job will be done in many short sessions over a period of time, although, tomorrow night and the next day I should have more time than normal to work on it, so, maybe, I'll finish the filter board, we'll see. I'm not in a hurry.

Top


Bottom


I admit, it looks like an empty circuit board, but after a few sessions, it will have stuff on it, I promise.

Amy's Spaghetti Sauce

I'm so looking forward to my lunch today, it is leftover spaghetti from last night's dinner. What is so good about last night's leftovers? Well, Amy's spaghetti sauce of course, it is the best I've ever had. This sauce is no marinara, it is all about the meat, and anyone that knows me, knows that I like meat. I don't know the exact recipe, but it includes ground beef, sausage, and pepperoni. There are some other things, like spices, onion, green pepper, and occasionally mushrooms, oh yea, and tomato paste. I just can't get over how much I like it. The good news is, she can make a big batch, and freeze some so we can have it again and again!

New Amateur Radio Call Sign – NE3R

Ok, so it has been a little over a week, but on March 20, I was issued a new call sign, NE3R. I wasn’t sure I wanted to change my call sign, but I figured, since they have removed the Morse code proficiency requirement for obtaining an amateur radio license, that there would be a lot more folks obtaining Amateur Extra class licenses, which is a requirement for the short 2x1 or 1x2 call signs. I decided that I would go ahead and do it, since I may not have the option later on.

So, why NE3R, well, for one, it was available, well, sort of. It belonged to a ham radio operator who passed away in 2004. NE3R is fairly easy to say, and its phonetics come out pretty easily too, November Echo 3 Romeo. The best part is it is short when sent in Morse code ( -. . ...-- .-. ).

The Antenna is Up!

It has been up for about two weeks now. It took me a little while to get the pictures up! This isn't the best of ham radio antennas, but it fits in the back yard, and isn't so big the whole neighborhood can see it, which is good, because antennas aren't allowed by the home owners association.

Yes, that is the coax tangled with one of the radials, I still need to fix that. I followed the directions and used 1.25" plumbers pipe as the base, but the supplied U bolts didn't fit around it and I ended up using several hose clamps.


View from inside the back yard. The neighbors in my row will certainly notice, but I don't think it will be too much of a problem.


From outside the back yard the antenna is definitely viable, but it doesn't really stand out. I could probably add some paint and make it stand out a little less. Now that I look at it, I may have been able to go with something taller.


I know that radials work best when they aren't buried, but I don't exactly have that option, especially when the radials extend well beyond my fence into the common area of the development.

Ham Radio License Finally Updated

It seems weird, when I passed the technician exam back in 1993 it took about six weeks for my license to show up in the mail. That was ok, because I didn't really know any better, and I didn't have a radio to use anyway. Back in the days without online databases, you could only check the mail once a day anyway. These days, folks can get their licenses in just a day or two, they don't have to wait for the actual license to show up in the mail, and just being in the database is enough authority to use the radio. A little over a year ago, when I passed my general class exam, the upgrade was in the database in only three days. So, imagine my surprise when at the end of the week last week, after passing my extra class test the previous Saturday, the FCC still hadn't updated my license.

It turns out that there were a few problems; the first was due to an error in my paperwork that had to be corrected by the volunteer examiners before it was submitted. Then, another volunteer who did the data entry for adding the information to the FCC database was out of town for a while. Add to that a flood of new upgrades because of the recent rule FCC rule changes that removed the Morse code proficiency exam, and it took nearly two weeks for my license to be upgraded in the FCC database. Oh yeah, and one federal holiday.

I was hoping to have the upgrade posted before February 23, 2007, before the Morse code exam was eliminated, but that didn't happen. I'm glad it was upgraded before this weekend though, I'll be participating in the ARRL DX Contest, and I didn't want to have to say N3PAQ/AE whenever I used a frequency that is outside of the general class portion of the band. N3PAQ is long enough :) -- I will be changing my call sign to something shorter soon.

Great pic of Zoe

I just had to share it!

More Anteena Work - Ground Rod

I was hoping to get a couple of things done on the antenna Saturday. I really only managed to do one thing, which was to put in the ground rod. As usual, I'm always doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. It has been a cold February for this area, and the ground is pretty frozen. So pounding an 8 foot ground rod into the ground was a little bit of work. Still, since I want the antenna installed before March 1, I'm forging ahead. I got pictures this time, well Amy got the picture of me.





I also managed to cut several lengths of wire to use as radials. Unfortuantley I have to bury them, especially the ones in the common area. I went out last night to do that, but the ground was just to frozen to cut the little trenches required for burial. I'm not sure what I'm going to do there, there might not be enough time to do that before the DX contest, which will leave me with a rather poor performing antenna.

And finally, I started the assembly of the antenna itself, just the mounting bracket, even that I managed to solder the wrong part, good thing desoldering is pretty easy.

Passed Extra Exam

Two more weeks of study was all I needed. I'm now an Extra class amateur radio operator. Not to long ago, you would have had to pass a 20 word per minute Morse code proficiency exam to get to this level. Right now, it is only 5, which I passed a while back. After Friday February 23, 2007, there will be no Morse code exams at all, for any amateur radio exam. I'm proud to say I passed the exam before that happened. I think I'll be changing my call sign as well, but before I can start that process the FCC has to update my information. Hopefully today.

Twenty-Four, am I the only one?

Am I the only one that didn't recognize Jack's brother as one of the bad guys pulling the strings last season?

The Antenna Project Has Started

I've been talking about a project to buy or build and install an antenna for amateur radio HF (shortwave) frequencies for a good year now. Finally, I have officially started work on it. I've bought a vertical antenna that should be acceptable to the HOA, although I haven't discussed it with them. It arrived last week. Saturday I picked up some parts and tools from Lowes that I need to get the antenna installed.

I started the actual installation last night in the cold and dark, using an engineers hammer (4 lb short sledge hammer) to pound a 1 1/4 inch plumbers pipe about two feet into the ground. This sure would have been easier a couple of weeks ago before the ground had frozen solid. I still have to pound an 8 foot ground rod all the way into the ground, that isn't going to be fun. After that, I can actually install the antenna, although it won't work very well until I put down some radials (pieces of wire extending out from the base of the antenna). My radials will have to be buried so the kids won't get into them, and so the ones that will extend out into the common area won't be discovered. Finally, I'll have to drill a hole in the house to bring the transmission line in, I'm really not looking forward to that.

I hope to have all of this done by March 1, so I can operate the ARRL International DX contest that weekend. Oh yeah, and there are more important things that I want to do this week, like study a lot this week to pass the Extra exam, I need to work getting Zoe's room ready for her to move into, have a fine meal with Amy on Valentine's day, play with Alex & Aidan, and of course, work, but I don't really want to do that.

What doesn't Google do?

I was working on a document at home last night that I thought I might not finish and would work in during lunch at work. I decided, instead of e-mailing it to myself like I normally do, I would just load the document into Google Docs & Spreadsheets.



I was a little surprised at how much like it was like using Microsoft Word. That doesn't mean that all the fancy high end features that Word can do will work in Google Docs & Spreadsheets, but for basic document editing on any platform anywhere, it is really handy. I'll have to check the terms of use, privacy policy, & legal notices first, but I might move most or all of my word processing and document management, I can even publish documents directly to blogspot (it can publish to other blog systems as well).




I don't think I really have a use for it yet, but the spreadsheet functions seemed pretty neat, so I uploaded a spreadsheet from work just to see what it would do. Everything worked, formulas and all. Again, it was a simple spreadsheet with just a basic formula, but that is all most people need.



I haven't used it yet but it looks like these documents can be shared and worked on by more than one person. Many enterprise document management systems have a hard time doing that. Even without collaboration, the revisions feature might be a lifesaver.

Failed Extra Test

I wasn't really ready but I saw that there was a test session nearby so I went. It is a 50 question test, and you need 37 to pass, I got 35. I guess that isn't bad for not knowing a third of the material, but I'm pretty sure I got a few wrong from the chapters that I know pretty well. The final chance for me to test before the 23rd is the 17th. I should be ready by then.

Amateur Extra

I've decided that I want to pass the exam for the Extra class amateur radio license before February 23, 2007, the date where Morse code testing officially ends. I've already passed the Morse code test for the General class license, but for some reason, pride maybe, I want to have the Extra license before the end the Morse code era!

Boston Bomb Scare (If you can call it that)

Homeland Security gets out of hand sometimes. A couple of advertisers have been arrested for a creative advertising campaign. Why, because some idiot mistook this for a bomb.



The people being arrested should be the ones that are blowing this thing out of proportion, not a couple of creative dudes just doing their job.

A little snow

Wow the roads were a mess this morning. Last night around 7pm we got about an inch of snow, maybe a little less. I was listening to the ham radio last night and some folks were out driving in it, the roads weren't that good. This morning it was still pretty bad. There were major accidents on I270, and 2 on US 15 which I take to get to work. It wasn't a lot of snow, and it was snow, not ice, but it sure did make a mess of the roads. Tomorrow they are calling for ice and snow, now that should make for an interesting commute.

More on Script Logic

I guess I should provide some more detail about my scriptlogic problems, and I’ll through in a little bit more about why it just doesn’t work for me in my environment.

The organization I’m contracted is running with about 4,000 desktops on the domain that I manage. A little over a year ago, script logic was upgraded to version 6.52 and when customer started logging on, they were receiving some errors and their drives weren’t mapping. This was my first real experience with scriptlogic and it wasn’t good. It was decided recently to upgrade to the latest version 6.60. Recalling the problems that were experienced the last time, I contacted support for some guidance on the installation. The technician I spoke with assured me that simply running the product setup and installing it over the existing installation on the server would work. That didn’t happen. Almost immediately after the install, customers were getting these errors during logon: “The global variable file is not correctly signed and will not be processed!” & “The profile list is not correctly signed and will not be processed!”. I called support again, after troubleshooting for two and a half to three hours, we finally found the cause. The script logic binaries in the domain controller netlogon were not being updated when we told script logic to replicate, even though the servers would report a green check, which I took to mean that all of the files in the slscripts$ folder had been copied to all of the netlogon folders. I was pretty sure that the problem was solved, but then I got a call from one of the IT guys in one of our larger business units, they were still getting the error, even though it seemed to be working for everyone else. This group has a slightly modified desktop image with more security than most of the organization. I was able to resolve this in about an hour without contacting support by adding the script logic service account to that unit’s global group configured for their IT department.

The support technician that helped me resolve the problem was very helpful. It did take a while to get to the root cause, but the troubleshooting method was pretty thorough. Checking the version of the binaries in the netlogon folder should probably be up there on the list of things to check when getting these errors. But I’m no expert on the product, all of the steps we took to get there made sense.

Now, on to why I don’t really like the product or at least the implementation in our environment.

Scriptlogic, which seems to have been renamed, Desktop Authority Express would have been an awesome product in the mid to late ninety’s into the early part of this decade for those who continued to use Windows NT 4.0 domains. I don’t know much about the product’s history, but I expect that is exactly when the product was introduced. It looks like a powerful product to manage desktop settings, from simple registry changes to complete application configuration management, while NT4.0 had policy files and the policy editor, implementing them in an enterprise environment wasn’t exactly easy, if at all possible. Script logics functionality definitely filled a need back then. Microsoft fixed the NT 4.0 policy mess in Windows 2000 with Active Directory & Group Policy Objects, which provided much of the functionality that scriptlogic provided natively.

Scriptlogic is also pretty good at mapping drives, adding network printers, & running commands when a user logs on. This is all the organization I’m with uses it for, with the exception of a few registry settings, all of which can be accomplished with a couple of fairly strait forward scripts without the overhead of installing extra services on the domain controllers and all of the workstations, and certainly without the problems associated with managing and maintaining these services.

It could be just because I like the keep it simple method of systems management. I think to myself “why use a third party tool to do something that is already built into my operating system? It would be just one more thing to manage”

I Hate ScriptLogic

Once again, I'm working late on an issue with a software package that is way more complex than what it needs to be. Back before Windows 2000 and Group Policies, it was fairly useful, but now, it is just a lot of overhead. And when it doesn't work right, it takes forever to troubleshoot and fix. An actual logon script would be a lot easier to manage in the long run, if it didn't work, you could open the script in your favorite text editor and find the line that it was causing the error, and fix it.

Madden 2007 Cheating

One of Amy's gifts to me for Christmas was Madden 2007 for Xbox. I've enjoyed playing the game lately. But I would often get frustrated when I couldn't accomplish particular feats in the game. Like, 40 rushes with one player, or complete a pass to 7 different receivers in a game. I decided to play a game against the CPU Cologne Centurions (I always play as the Baltimore Ravens). I figured it would be pretty boring, but decent practice, and more fun than the mini camp practice. I was right, it was a little boring, until I realized that I was getting close to 100 points, actually, I think Amy pointed that out, then, the game got fun, there were about 2 and a half minutes left and I needed 21 points to get to 100 exactly, I abandoned the run for the most part and went to the air. I ended up winning the game 108 to 0, and I even managed to achieve the goal of completing a pass to 7 different receivers.

Last night I played against the CPU Amsterdam Admirals, the goal, 40 rush attempts. That was a much lower scoring game, but fun. I was also trying to run back a punt for a touchdown, but just about every punt was a shank and went out of bounds about 10 yards down field. The hard part was actually running enough plays on a short field to get my rushing attempt total up!

So, playing these NFL Europe teams with the Ravens is cheating, it is still sort of fun. I need to play the Colts, to simulate (LOL) Saturday's playoff game.

New Years Resolution

I'm not much for new years resolutions, but I've decided that I want to post at least 4 blog entries per month in 2007. I'm already betting against myself, lets see if I can actually do it.

Family Picture

Little Pictures

I've updated the pictures at the top of my blog. Ok, so I didn't really update them, I just replaced the picture of Kitty with a picture of Zoe, but the important thing is, now there is a picture of Zoe.

Childrens' Portraits

Zoe Lynn


Aidan Joseph



Alexander Hamilton


Andrew William

Stale

My blog is so stale -- I wish I updated it more. I've had another child since the last update. Maybe I'll work on adding her picture to my header. :)

More than a month

Wow, I don't blog much any more. It isn't that I don't have anything to blog -- just haven't found the time.

Uncool Ebay Sellers

Ebay’s feedback system is quite flawed. I’m sure everybody knows this but I’m going to write about it anyway. When I sell something on Ebay, feedback is given once I’m paid. As a seller, that is what counts, being paid. As a buyer, I give feedback once I receive the item, and make sure it is as described. What I don’t like is when sellers who have been paid on time, shipped their item, refuse to give feedback until you have left feedback for them.

Why is that wrong? Well, because I can be the best customer in the world, always paid on time, never ripping anybody off, but if the seller ships me something bogus, or broken, or not as described and I leave them negative feedback, they can simply retaliate by doing the same to me.

Of course, we all know that eBay is all about protecting the seller, because, that is where they make their money.

Crab Feast

We finally did it, a crab feast at our house for our friends and family. Amy put in our order for a bushel of crabs on Friday to be picked up at 1:30 today. Last week we invited some family and friends to join us in Frederick for all the crabs you can eat, at least until a bushel was gone.

Amy, Brandon, and Steve were the crab eating champions. I ate some steamed shrimp and some of Amy’s claws. Also on the menu was corn on the cob and sausage, which, along with some potatoes and onions made up Amy’s steamed, well, boiled shrimp recipe. They were good.

Robin said “I’ll eat a dozen crabs” LOL yeah right, I’m sure she will comment and let us know how many she really ate, but it was probably more like four.

We had seventeen crabs left. We sent six home with Steve and a half dozen home with Brandon and Amy has five plus a bunch of claws in the refrigerator.

Family Reunion 2006

Once again we made the trip out to my Grandparent’s house in central West Virginia for their family reunion. I really like spending time with the family and the kids really have a blast. Well, Alex does, Aidan, he just got passed around a lot which he didn’t mind, as long as he got is floor time.



We had high speed internet at the hotel we stayed at, which made Amy really happy. She updated her online journal just about every day. Having a hotel room is a definite plus with the kids. It gives them a chance to unwind and settle down. Not to mention long hot showers where nobody is waiting in line after you.



We went to the Barbour County fireworks display. Terri was trying to get us to leave at eight o’clock, but it turns out that the fireworks didn’t start until ten! It worked out though, we parked the van just outside the gate, had a great view from the tailgate seats, and we didn’t have to wait in traffic to go home.



Tuesday the fourth was our day to travel home. Instead of taking the interstate the whole way, we decided to take some back roads through central WV. The good part about that is, you get to see a lot of the country side, and stop at Black Water Falls State Park! Even though it rained on us, it was a nice break from the trip. This time Alex wasn’t even scared as he was the last time we stopped there.

Field Day

As expected, I really enjoyed operating on Field Day. I didn’t earn as many points as I had intended, primarily because I underestimated the amount of activity on the two meter band. I was able to make some extra points by making some CW contacts. I also failed to make the satellite contact that would have given us one hundred bonus points. There weren’t enough operators for my station on Saturday and on Sunday, it was raining pretty good and I didn’t want to stand out in the rain with the antenna.



The best part was that Alex wanted to be there the whole time! I had him there during setup, but dropped him off with my mom when I picked up Amy so she could spend some time there with me. When I brought Amy back after dinner, we learned that Alex was quite upset that I had left him, and wanted to go back with me. I wasn’t quite set up to have him there, but I figured, he can sleep on the grass next to the station and I could crash next to him when I got tired. That worked out great.



Sunday afternoon was a bit miserable; it rained, and rained hard for most of the day. Of course, we were taking things down, and really couldn’t stay under shelter the whole time, making it that much worse. The good part was, there was no lightning, and being on top of a mountain with a couple of antenna towers doesn’t mix very well with lightning.

The club’s score was 4914, we will have to wait and see how that ranks with everyone else.

Myspace this and Myspace that

What is up with people blaming myspace for their problems, particularly parents who blame myspace when something bad happens to their kid? As a parent, I look at it as my job to keep my children safe, and that is what, along with my wife, I will do.

Lets make a comparison with one of the latest news stories, where a 14 year old girl was sexually assaulted by a 20 year old she met on myspace. The girl and her parents are suing myspace for not protecting the girl. What if these kids had met at the local mall, would the mall be liable anything? I’ve never heard of a mall being sued because some older guy hooked up with an under aged girl, took her to his place and sexually assaulted her. In this case, the biggest problem is that this girl went out with someone she didn’t know, and her parents didn’t even know about it. Myspace had nothing to do with the sexual assault, it is a simple website. Did the guy talk to the guy on a cell phone, via AIM, or e-mail? Why no suits against those companies?

I have three sons and a daughter on the way. The kids won’t be going out with people that I don’t know and certainly not with people that they don’t know. Their online activities will be transparent to their mother and I. Kids, they don’t need much privacy, if they tell you they do, than they are probably doing something they shouldn’t be. I’m not saying I’ll be reading every e-mail they send or receive, but that is certainly an open option. The kids will learn early on that mom and dad will know about everything that happens on the computer.

Aggressive Negotiations?

I like that John Bolton guy, the US Ambassador to the UN.

"You don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles," AP quoted U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton as saying on Wednesday in New York.

Somehow that remained me of a line from Star Wars Episode II

Anakin: When I got to them we got into aggressive negotiations.
Padme: Aggressive negotiations? What's that?
Anakin: Ah well it's negotiations with a lightsaber.

Coming Soon – Field Day

Another amateur radio club I belong to, the Mid Atlantic DX and Repeater Association is putting together a pretty big Field Day event. Ask 10 amateur radio operators what field day is and you will get at least 11 different answers. To me, Field Day is an operating event and contest that is performed in the field with no existing equipment or infrastructure. Of course, home stations can participate, as well as stations that exist in emergency operations centers, personal vehicles, or club hamshacks. MADXRA’s Field Day will be run in the field with generator power and we will bring in all of the equipment needed, including towers, antennas, radios, computers, and so on. It should be a lot of fun.

I’m setting up the stations for the 2 meter band and 70 centimeter band, 146 & 440 MHz. For 2 meters, I will have a great station, with a 14 element beam antenna with 13 dB gain, plus a 150 watt amplifier and preamp. I hope to make at least 100 contacts with that station. I will also have a digital station setup with a small beam to run packet on 2 meters. Two of the big bonus point items I’ll have in those bands is a satellite station, which we will use to make at least one, if not more satellite contacts, and an amateur television transceiver, camera and monitor. We were a little worried about the amateur television setup, that we wouldn’t have anyone on the other end to talk to, but I did find another club that is planning the same thing, and they should be in range.

Frederick Amateur Radio Club Hamfest

I just experienced my first hamfest as a club officer. It was quite an experience, I got to see a lot of folks that I don’t see very often, or that I’ve never seen, but talked to a lot on the air. I was a member of the club last year, but I didn’t make it to the hamfest, and this year, I’m the treasurer, go figure. It seemed to be well attended, the parking lot was quite full, but the count may have been less than last year according to some of the more experienced club members. The good news is, we got an article in the Frederick News Post. I’d link it, but they don’t keep them up very long. My first official act as treasurer was to deposit the proceeds from the hamfest into club checking account which I promptly took care of on Monday morning when the bank opened.

EBay Mix-up

I arrived home to find a package waiting for me at the front door. This was a surprise because I wasn’t expecting anything, at least not on that particular day. I open the box, and what do I find, but a Yaesu 2 meter amateur radio transceiver.



Now it was a nice surprise to get a radio out of the blue, but I figured something wasn’t quite right. Fortunately, the sender’s phone number was on the package, so I called and left a message. It turns out that the sender was someone I had bought a Morse code key and keyer from the day before.



I wasn’t expecting it so soon, which added to my confusion. It turns out that the key and keyer that I won was shipped to Washington state, to the person that won the eBay auction for the radio that I received. It should be worked out soon, the seller sent me a FedEx label so I could ship the radio to its indented recipient, and the person who wanted the radio should be doing the same with my package. It is a good thing too, because the key and keyer weren’t really for me, they were for the Frederick Amateur Radio Club station.

Amy’s Having a Girl

Does anyone read my site that doesn’t also read www.modernprincess.com? Well, if you don’t read Amy’s journal too, then you don’t know we are expecting our first daughter in October. With three boys running around, it should be a nice change. After the visit to the doctor for the ultrasound, we went strait to the outlets in Hagerstown and Amy got to shop for whatever she wanted. I thought she was going to spend more there, but she got a lot of clothes and didn’t even break $300 so a few days later we went to the Arundel Mills mall, which is sort of a mall / outlet mall in one building. In all, the closet is bursting with about $500 in baby girl clothes. It sounds like a lot of money, but she got a lot of clothes for that money, something like 70 different things, many of those were two piece outfits.

New Office – Sort Of

I no longer work on the Mall in DC, the office has moved to Herndon Virginia. The commute is a lot better for me, and the building is nice, well, at least it will be. Right now, there aren’t any offices or cube space available so twelve of us share a console inside the climate controlled section of the datacenter. In a picture, it looks bad enough, I have about 30 inches of space to work between two co-workers at the desk, but the cold gets to me sometimes.



Back to the commute, from Frederick I take the scenic route down US Route 15 to Leesburg Virginia, and take the Dulles Greenway toll road to Herndon. The trip takes about an hour in the morning, compared to my ninety minutes to the Mall. I got our smart tag / easy passes yesterday, so, now I don’t even have to stop at the toll booth. The trips home take a little longer, but the good news is that I get a little bit more time to operate on the ham radio, it sort of makes me want to get a radio / antenna to operate HF mobile.

Zoo

I finally got around to taking the family to the zoo today. We’ve only been talking about it for a couple of years. All that is required is to get up early on a Saturday instead of waiting around to nine am or so to finish getting up. We left the house just after eight o’clock in the morning, hoping to arrive at the zoo by nine, and we timed it almost perfect.



We didn’t see everything; the national zoo in Washington DC is very large, so seeing everything in one day with three kids isn’t easy. I suppose if I lived in the mid west some where and this was our only trip to Washington DC ever, then, maybe I would have made the kids stop and look at everything, but the zoo is only 41 miles away, so, we’ll go back, someday. We saw the pandas, of course, but they weren’t in the mood to be up close, and seemed to know right when we wanted to snap a picture and disappear.



The trip is well documented in photos on Amy’s site. We took 134 pictures, many of the kids, well, the backs of their heads, with a few poses. A camera with only digital zoom just doesn’t cut it with some of the exhibits, digital zoom sort of muddies the image, and makes it easy to blur with the slightest movement. Amy’s picture of the elephant is probably the best of the group. Amy's Zoo Pics.




One advantage of being a Smithsonian Institution contractor, I get a lot of discounts, for one, I don’t have to pay for parking, that saves sixteen dollars right there. We saved over ten dollars at lunch, with the thirty percent off discount, that also saved a couple of bucks on our popsicles, and ice cream. If that wasn’t good enough, another twenty percent off at the gift shop. I’m sure glad I brought my employee ID.

Basketball Hoops

Amy was visiting yard sales in a nearby neighborhood and I noticed something odd. I was sitting in the van, and I was able to count 9 basketball hoops setup on the street. I decided to go back there and count basketball hoops to houses. There were 28 houses on that street, and 11 basketball hoops setup. That is enough for 44 kids to play some 2 on 2. I don’t know about the kids in this neighborhood, but if there were 4 of us playing some 2 on 2, and there were 40 other kids around, I think a bigger game would be in order, maybe even some 5 on 5.

It peeves me a bit, because these are the same neighborhoods with home owners associations that will flip out for putting a modest ham radio antenna on your house, and a tower, forget it! They say, antennas are unsightly, while some antennas can get out of hand in their size and profile, in general, the modest antennas most ham radio operators have setup aren’t even that easy to see. Not that I dislike basketball, but all of these basketball hoops aren’t the most attractive sights when looking around the neighborhood from your front door.

Work - Datacenter Move

Got up at 1:00am today - went to work, the new office in Herndon Va. Things went pretty well, we are just waiting for some GroupWise things to work to complete our testing.

Co-worker Scott has a little poem for us:

Here we sit all broken hearted
Exchange is up
GroupWise is barely started

Antennas

It is been quite a week for me and antennas. On Saturday, yeah, I know Saturday was last week, but it is within the last six days, I helped a local ham radio operator assemble his 53 foot hygain hytower antenna, which is part tower and part antenna. We didn’t get it set up completely, mainly because we were missing one critical bolt that attaches the base. After work today, I helped two other Frederick Amateur Radio Club members set up a new antenna at our club station. Now we have two complete HF radio setups at the station. This weekend is the Mid Atlantic QSO party, a low key ham radio contest that our club is participating in, having two stations will be great, we should be able to work on two bands at a time when things get busy. Too bad I have to work Saturday, but Sunday should be fun.

Soda at Costco

It's a catastrophe! Costco was out of mountain dew this weekend. While Costco's inventory isn't exactly consistent, mountain dew has become something I could count on. I sure hope they continue to stock the 36 pack of 12 ounce cans, it was a great value, and mountain dew from an aluminum can is the best tasting mountain dew in my opinion.

A similar thing happened with Coke, Coca-Cola Classic. Costco stocked these four-packs of two liter bottles for less than 4 dollars. It was a great deal, and soda in a two liter bottle is ideal for keeping around the house, just in case you want a small glass. Costco stopped carrying the two liter four-packs though, and started selling the 32 pack of 12 ounce cans. They are portable, yes, but not the great value found in the two liter bottle. Amy is the Coke drinker in the house, and since she is pregnant, we haven't bought Coke in a while, but once the baby is born, we will have to stock up, thank God for Costco!

My Metro Ride Home Thursday

The Metro was packed yesterday, and, as usual, I was standing. When I first got on, a middle aged woman sitting down was arguing with a standing old guy with a cane, he had to be at least seventy-five, about a seat clearly marked for disabled people and seniors. She finally got up and stood like the rest of us.

Later in the trip, the doors wouldn't shut, the operator tried several times. If you've never been on the Washington DC Metro, when the doors close, there is a chime and voice command that says the doors are closing. The operator comes on the intercom and says, "the door chimes are not for your listening enjoyment, they mean the doors are closing, please step away from the doors to avoid personal injury and inconvenience to other passengers. If the doors can not close, the train will go out of service." This happens sometimes on a really crowded train.

A few stops later, I see this rather large woman standing, someone really should have offered her a seat because what I saw next was something I wish I hadn't. With her back to one of the poles people use to hold on to, she leaned against it, the pole slowly disappeared in her backside, literally, to the point where there was part of the pole that wan not visible because the lady's butt was wrapped all the way around it! I'll probably think twice about hanging on to one of those poles at waist level from now on.

E-Mail is Down

Here I sit, waiting for someone to fix the Storage Area Network so that I can turn e-mail back on for everyone where I work. Unfortunately, I have no involvement with the SAN, so, I depend on it, and those who manage it to work right so that e-mail works right.

While I wait, I guess I could do some work. I got a few comments on my immigration post, one saying something about the economy, I thought I addressed that, in step one, fill the need with legal immigrant workers, we will need more of them, of course.

My comment on illegal immigrants

I have no sympathy for those in the country illegally, in the real world, if you do something illegal, you should be punished, instead, many say "I love America" but then they proceed to violate the laws of the country they say they love. The system is broken, we all know that. I work with a guy from India here on H1B, working to get a green card, a painful, and expensive process. Why should 11 million people here illegally get citizenship while this guy waits for his green card, that he might not even get? The system is broken, but it isn’t that hard to fix, just hard for politicians to fix. Step one, secure the border, nobody gets in illegally. Step two, setup a legal process for people, a good million of them to start with, from all over the world, not just Mexico, to legally enter the country to work for several years. Step two must occur very soon after step one. Step three, crack down the businesses and those here illegally that they hire, after step one and step two are implemented, I’d have no problem with making these illegal actions a felony. Step four, the hardest of all, determine the path to eventual citizenship that is fair to all, but doesn’t make the United States the worlds dumping ground for the undesired citizens of other countries.

Socks

Saving Private Ryan is one of three Tom Hanks movies, along with Forrest Gump and Apollo 13, where socks play a role in the plot. The G.I.s use their socks to hold the components of sticky bombs that they improvise in the field.

Frederick Marathon

I took the kids, loaded them in the van for a quick trip to McDonalds this morning to get Amy some hash browns (and me a sausage McGriddles). What would normally be about a mile and a half trip took about four miles due to road closures related to the Frederick Marathon. Ordinarily, I would be helping with radio communications for that type of event, but the organizers of the Frederick Marathon and the local ham radio clubs had some sort of falling out. I think the story goes, that the head of the marathon was out of town on the day of the race, it snowed, things were all fouled up, and the radio operators sort of took charge and got everyone safe, making the race organizers not look so good. Oh well, it happens.

Fun with Dick and Jane

Fun with Dick and Jane was good - I especially liked the special thanks to Enron, Adelphia, WorldCom, and Tyco (there may have been more). After much reminding from my lovely wife, I recall the previews, but they didn’t really convinced me to watch the movie. When Amy opened a new Netflix account, the first movie she put on her list was one that she thought we would both enjoy, and she was right. I don’t know how she does it, but she knows what movies I would like better than I do. I guess that is ok, by some miracle, Tom Hanks, she watched Saving Private Ryan with me last night.

Amy’s Web Site

Amy has been busy updating her site. Not just with blog updates, but the entire layout. She switched from moveable type to word press and completely changed the look. Although she hasn’t decided on a final layout, it will definitely be different than the one that has been there for the last few years.

http://www.modernprincess.com

There is a great picture of Aidan in a toy dump truck posted on April 25!

Amy's Bread

Amy baked fresh bred for Easter dinner.

Missing Mountain Dews

I keep a couple of spare Mountain Dews in the refrigerator at work, just in case I need more than I bring with me every day, or I forget them all together. Yes, I drink a lot of Mountain Dew. It also allows me to get a cold one first thing in the morning.

This morning, when I go to transfer the Mountain Dews I brought with me from home to the refrigerator and grab a cold one to drink, the two that I had left there on Friday were missing.

Who would do such a thing?

Verizon wireless 411

It is about time that mobile phone companies give us a feature we can use. In the past, when calling 411 from the mobile, they would connect you and that was that. The problem is that you can't always write down those numbers, so, if you are disconnected or need to call back for some reason, you'd have to call 411 again.

Verizon Wireless now has a feature that allows you to get a text message with the number they connect you to. I'm sure they charged me extra, if not only the 10 cents for the text message, but it is worth it.

300

This is my 300th blog entry! :)

Metro Seats

Ok, so, this morning I’m riding the metro sitting down in my nice comfortable seat when an old lady with a cane gets on. I get up so she can sit down, I step back a little so that I can hold on to one of the poles so I don’t fall down. The very next stop, the old lady with the cane gets off and I take a step toward my seat. Instantly, another guy who was standing almost jumps into the seat. I guess it doesn’t pay to be nice to old lady’s with canes.

Superman

We got the original Superman DVD and watched it yesterday. I didn’t expect Andrew to be interested, but he really liked the opening credits. Alex on the other hand, I tried to keep interested in the movie, but he wouldn’t sit still. I can see how the first half of the movie would be a little boring to a four year old. I think I was five when I saw it for the first time, probably in 1983, and on laser disk. Once the action picked up a bit, Alex was sitting on the sofa at attention staring at the screen. Of course, Andrew was no where to be found, IE: in another room watching cartoons.

Cracker Barrel is Good

Yesterday I took Andrew, Alex, and Aidan out for breakfast to Cracker Barrel. As restaurants go, especially franchise types, Cracker Barrel is probably the best when it comes to breakfast, much better than the International House of Pancakes. Andrew and Alex both had a pancake, and Andrew had some bacon with his. I had a big stack of French toast, also with bacon. Aidan, he didn’t get anything because he is only four months old. One thing I forgot, I bought a coke for myself, and after eating the French toast covered in that yummy maple syrup, you can’t taste the sweetness in the coke and drinking coke that isn’t sweet isn’t cool. Before we left, we put in an order for pancakes, bacon, and hash browns for Amy, she stayed home to do some cleaning up, and deserved a good breakfast.

Dimes

I got eight dimes as change the other day. I don’t know why, but I decided to check the dates on each one. Out of eight dimes, two were minted before I was born. The dates are, 2005 Philadelphia, 2003 Philadelphia, 2000 Philadelphia, 1994 Denver, 1983 Philadelphia, 1983 Philadelphia, 1972 Denver, and 1968. I examined the 2005 and 1968 dimes closely, and they are definitely different. For starters, the 1968 dime doesn’t have the P or D to tell you where it was minted. The dime from 1968 has a slightly bigger portrait of Roosevelt and the date, the word “LIBERTY”, and “IN GOD WE TRUST” are closer to the rim of the dime. The reverse looks like it could be exactly the same, although I see some differences, those could be from general wear and tear.

Final Solution

You have to be careful how you use words these days. I sent an e-mail related to some technical work I am doing on a problem, and said "The final solution to this problem would be …" . Someone pointed out to me that "The Final Solution" was the term that Adolph Hitler used when describing the elimination of the Jews. I knew that, but when I'm in geek land, the history of the world isn’t exactly filtering my e-mails. I guess these days you can never be too politically correct. Maybe they should add a political correctness or sensitivity filter to Microsoft Word to go with the spell checker.

Mattresses

Went to Costco today, the plan was to pick up two mattresses for the bunk beds that we are getting for Alex. When I was there yesterday, I walked past the area where the mattresses are, and saw that there were plenty. What I found out today, was that the mattresses I saw were all sets, not the individual mattresses that I wanted for bunk beds like the price tag above described. Yet again, I make another trip out for nothing, well, I did get laundry detergent that I forgot yesterday, but it turns out that I didn’t need it, I had enough for today.

Public Service

Something I haven’t done a whole lot of recently, well, at all in the last few years is any sort of volunteer work. That changed this morning; I had the chance to help with communications for a five K run benefiting meals on wheels. It was a smooth event, I was responsible for monitoring two points on the course, one at the beginning, and one near the end. Although that might sound tricky, those two points were only about a block apart. It was a little cold, in the 20’s with 15 mph winds. I was fine except for my hands, I didn’t wear my thick gloves because it would be hard to use the radio with those gloves, so I wore my leather gloves but they didn’t keep my hands very warm for long. I’m a little over conservative when it comes to preserving my battery life, I tried to use the radio on 50 mw, which worked fine for my first station, but just a block away, I was having trouble being heard, so I moved up 1 watt, and I was loud and clear. I should probably get a second battery and charger for my radio, it is just a good idea to have more than one.

Closed Stores

I can’t seem to win. The other day, I got to the Sears auto shop and it was closed, they had recently changed their hours. Today, I get there 40 minutes before they close, and they say, they can’t take any new customers because they are closing soon. But wait, there’s more, we went out tonight to purchase Alex’s bunk beds, and guess what, that store was closed too, we were there at six forty-five, and they closed at six.

Interestingly enough, we went to Best Buy, since it was in the same shopping center as Furniture for Kids, and we left without buying anything. There were several DVDs that I wouldn’t mind watching if I had time, but DVDs at Best Buy are a bit over priced. After Best Buy, we walked over to the Educational Store, where Amy picked up some educational supplies for Alex.

Discover Cards

A couple of weeks ago, we lost one of our credit cards, so, we thought it would be best to get a new account. A couple of weeks go by, and no cards show up. I finally get around to calling them and it turns out that they didn’t ship them in the first place, but they did change the account. They sent them two us next day, which was actually two days because I called at night.

The cards arrived today and what a surprise, the look like crap! I liked my old silver discover card, it worked for me. Now I have this orange one. But it gets worse, Amy’s has this 1960’s hippy van/bus thing on it!

My Card


Amy's Card


I figure, I’ll keep this one for a few months, then order a replacement.

Alex & Me – Night Out

Amy and the kids haven’t been feeling well, and Amy isn’t getting much sleep because when Aidan goes to sleep, Alex decides it is time to play, and either keeps Amy up, or wakes up Aidan.

The idea was for me to take my car up to the Sears Auto Center / Jiffy Lube and have them change the oil, transmission fluid, and replace a tag light (I pulled over and issued a repair order for the tag light and to have my window tint checked). Since that place is attached to the mall, I’d take Alex in for some fun, dinner, and stop and pick up a new belt for myself.

Well, the shop changed their hours and closed at 6 before I got there, causing me to completely forget about walking through sears and getting a belt. Alex and I did have a lot of fun even though they removed the play area from the mall. We through pennies into the fountain, got on a couple of quarter rides, and had some candy. We also grabbed dinner at McDonalds, I had a double quarter pounder with cheese, and Alex had a cheese burger happy meal. That boy has been eating cheese burgers fairly well. It was funny, I was telling him that my burger was the same as his, but mine had two meats, and he said, “I don’t like meat, but I like cheese burgers.” LOL

Amy, on the other hand, didn’t get much sleep, Aidan decided to be awake the whole time we were gone.