Wednesday, January 28, 2009

".....SERVERS - MEANT TO SERVE YOU DATA AND SERVE YOU PROBLEMS"

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Man, what a crappy 1.5 weeks!!! Servers can be your best friend, or worst enemy, and currently one server in particular is my worst enemy. I'm running here and there in our building, skipping lunch, etc. But once everything settles down, I have plenty of other stuff sitting here waiting to be done (ed. - Such is the life of an IT Monkey).

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When payday hits next week the first thing I'm doing is getting my old SOW (Shack On Wheels) towed to a faraway parking spot at work. I'd been counting on getting it over 300k but I guess I'll have to settle around 240k miles. Too bad, good spots to plant rigs, and I liked it, but after getting an estimate I had to say "Adios". GM makes a good engine, but that GM Antifreeze is like a computer virus. My advice, get your system flushed out until nothing remains of that stuff and put good old Mr. Green in as your coolant or else you'll be in the spot I was.-

And while we're (I'm) on the subject of cars, why do people have to get a new car/truck every couple years? I get around 250k to 350k before looking for something else. Once that first scratch or ding happens, it's keep it 'til it dies. My favorite SOW was a Maroon Van. It had the deluxe chairs, room to mount radios on the floor, and I bought a shelf that extended across the width of the windshield. Not a lot of height up there, but the vhf/UHF stuff fit nicely. I was going to Belton twice a year and I remember one particular year where I bought an old tube receiver that was big, and took 3 of us to get it in the van. Good times....Good times.

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I received a new AES catalog earlier this month, but it's still in the wrapper along with the last couple of unread QST's. There doesn't seem to be time to do much except go home, watch a 1/2 hour of TV or spend 1/2 hour surfing the web, eat, get the next days work clothes ready, and hit the sack. Sometimes I'll stop by the local Walmart to see what DVD's they've added to the $5 bin, and it's amazing how cheap they keep going. Of course Blue-Ray is perhaps pushing the pricing down, but they're already working on B.Ray's replacement - it's almost worse (I said "almost" ) than Microsoft. DVD's are the best bargain around, and with the up conversion, they look great. Maybe when this Divorce is over I can replace some of the movies I paid $16.99 for, at a much lower price range $3-$5.

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Speaking of USB Storage sticks (which I wasn't) I found a great little bugger by Transcend. It's so small, it looks like a joke or fake memory stick but it works great. They come in 2GB (black) and 4(GB) sizes, and for me, it's great to have clipped on a loop around my neck and It has most applications I would have to run back to my office for. Being so light of weight, I don't even notice it. If you have one of those small picture screens that shows off pictures, with this tiny stick you can't see it sticking out of the frame. Of course I have a great state-of-the-art cubicle as you can see! My trusty robot guards over me should an end user's requests exceed the budget, or if they threaten me with a paper cut. He's small but on the server at the right side of the desk you can barely make out my pet rat, "Ben". Hmmm, guess I'd better cut this post short as auto-save is failing. Anyways, until next time -
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73
Woody
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Sunday, January 25, 2009

"WHAT'S THAT I HEAR...........SKIP?"
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Damn!! There's some SKIP out there today!! not loud, not strong, but they're trying. I'm hearing Georgia and Florida mostly, and apparently, they are catching the West Coast and not Texas, but nonetheless, it's great to hear something other than static.
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Speaking of dropping me an e-mail, I did get one from another "Brian". Here's his report -

We are getting sporadic skip into TampaBay from the North East, and Texas. I think we must have a hardwire to Texas, as it is almost at will in the afternoon hours, into early evening

Enjoy reading your Blogs, hope everything works out for the better. I especially like your trips down memory lane, talking about your early days, and the different radios you have had/used….reminds me of me.

Fwiw…I have a fairly nice collection of stuff also…….

In the Shack:
2 Cobra 2000’s, a Magnum S9, a Magnum 257 (50 watt), a Siltronix 1011D with matching freq counter, a Kenwood TS-440SAT with the PS-50 power supply and the MC-60 mic & a Heathkit SB-220, a very nice Cherokee AH-100 with all of the optional extras, half a dozen Turner Plus 3’s, and 2 Plus 3B’s

In the mobile I have the Magnum S9 with a mint condition Turner Road King 76 (I also have 4 or 5 extra RK 76’s in very nice condition, all working, I collect these if you know of any)

On the shelf in the garage I have 10 GE 35979 40 channel walkie talkies, all kinds of assorted meters, speakers, and mics, a real nice Palomar TX-75, and a very, very nice (almost mint) Maverick 250, a KRIS Mach 3B, a Johnson 223, a Johnson 352, and a few Uniden 510’s and 520’s , also all kinds of different mobile antennas. There is also a spare NIB IMAX 2000, and a never opened but the box is ratty, Moonraker IV, for when I retire (5-7 years) and move to where I can put up a tower.

Keep it up and 73’s
Brian, Tampa FL
American Radio 205
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Hey Brian, thanks for the e-mail! Sounds like you have a nice collection, a doorway to Texas (which unfortunately I can't open), and by the sounds of it, we're in the same general age range. I sure did love that E.F.J 352, but I hated the microphone connection on the back end. Also, appreciate the good wishes - for every door that closes, another opens and as long as I'm working where I'm at, I guess I'll be a cave dweller rather than a home owner. Five minutes home and then five minutes back makes a big difference. BTW- your state is now really loud, but be that front that is slowly moving through the area. 73, Woody
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It's always nice to hear from everyone, wherever you are, and it's good to get back into the groove of the blog, although like anything there are up's and down's. And it's 3:35 Central time and the skip is still rolling - sometimes hard to hear, and others blasting my speaker. But if you ever get a doorway to Texas, 27.385 is it, and I'm just the 202 portable!
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73
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Thursday, January 22, 2009

"Divorce, women, and attorney's"

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Man, I guess the-soon-2-be-ex listens to her attorney with glazed eyes. In the beginning things that they listed as $20,000 are now $2,000. Antique furniture paid hundreds for, $50-$100. I'm not sure what kind of strategy this is, but if I had to name it, it would be the "Backwards Principle". But (ed.- "fingers crossed" 'Nuff Said) Feb. 10th is THE day.

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I peeked into Ebay recently, but nothing exciting. I did pick up quite a few photography books, as I'm not expecting to get the ones I had (pre-marriage) back (along with some photo gear). I guess because digital camera's are all the rage, older photo books are selling dirt cheap (like 49 cents for a lot of books). What they fail to realize is that what applied 20 or 30 years ago, still applies today even if it is digital. Dummies. Ask a digiphite what "Depth of Field" is, or "F-Stops" and you'll see what I mean.

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Much of my days of collecting are over now......after building a nice collection over a 15 year period, it seems pointless to start over again. Robin, has managed to get me out of the packrat style of life I was leading, and she truly is marvelous, so thanks Robin, you've made me a better person,and I hope I've been able to add something to you as well! By instinct, I still come home and flip on the HF rig, but usually nothing is happening, or when the Lumina was working (may it rest in peace) I'd hear some DX, but by the time I got home - nada.
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EBay is a great example of the recession, shipping prices are still high (weird, 'cause gas is a lot less) but the final sale price is not what it used to be because I've seen some rigs go for a lot (LOT) less than 2 or 3 years before. Sometimes it's kinda funny in an amusing sort of way. I bid .49 cents for something (thar goes the memory lads), and was quite surprised to find out that I won it. So I paid my .49 cents and about $7 to ship it. If you were wealthy, and had plenty of storage (climate controlled) and waited it out, maybe prices would increase....but then, I lost my ass when the Tech Bubble burst 9 years ago. Nothing like seeing a .0000001 per share price eh? It was a good lesson and I've stayed away from playing around with stocks ever since.
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Back to EBay. This is a great place to find something you've been looking for, or just remembered the item and found it after a quick search. EBay is for buyers. Selling is another matter. There are fee's for listing, fee's to have your ad in bold, and on, and on. If you should sell the item, they take a percentage of that too.....and most of us buyers use Paypal (which just happens to be owned by EBay) and the seller is whacked for another 4%. I don't know how sellers make money, much less break-even, but if you have the hots for a new rig and want to sell yours pronto, there is no larger audience to be found. I heard on NPR yesterday that EBay posted a loss, and I'm not surprised, but I fear the amount of companies posting losses will become many, increasing every quarter until we're out of this mess.
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And that's my jot for the day (actually I started it last night around 11pm while I was at work doing a restore of a folder on a server. Hope yer weekend goes well, and yep, I'll be around!
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73
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A REPORT FROM THE STREETS OF DIVORCE TORN SEALY!!
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Where was I in my last post.....oh yes, we'd gone to a mediator (me and my lawyer in one room, her and her lawyer in the other). The mediator is actually a lawyer as well. I won't go into the details, but at least the mediator shook our hands and said he admired us for ability to try and meet middle ground. Next stop - Divorce Court. I'm looking forward to this because I'll come out better than any of the options we had previously proposed, and it will be "The End" (FEB.10)
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After the end, I'm not sure what direction I'll go in. Right now, it's tough being a Ham operator and no sunspots. While I never did get my most recent license from the old homestead, I managed to get my license renewed complete with address change. I'm afraid the SOW I'd been driving has seen it's last day with multiple issues making it not worth it to repair, not even mentioning the weird electrical problems that I'd been battling since last summer (and bumming rides doesn't win any friends either). But the under 5 miles trek to work is great - man, I was so tired of driving 100miles a day for about 15 years that there's no traffic to get stressed over, or, excessive miles put on any given vehicle. It would happen so fast, get another vehicle and before I new it, I'd passed the 100K mark, then 200k, and in a couple vehicles 300k,maybe 400k in one instance.
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No more wild radio collecting (there's only so much you can fit in an apartment), so moderation is the mode I'll function in. I only need 2 or 3 on display somewhere to remind me of the good 'ol days of radio, and an HF rig, which really, has done nothing but pick up static. That leaves Vhf/Uhf, and I can get by with that for now. Are any of you getting any DX where you live? If so, drop me an e-mail so that I know someone is talking somewhere. The rest of the stuff I get I'll put in storage somewhere. There are many rigs that have to be repaired and I was, and still am, looking forward to doing it - when time allows. I would have started something sooner, but my requests for my Variac and Tube Tester fell on deaf ears.
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I did pick up some cheap 35mm film camera's from days gone by to display on a wall shelf. It starts with the 1st SLR I owned to the last. But people are dumping these at almost giveaway prices, I guess because digital cameras have become the defacto standard now. Oh, another question for you: What is the smallest vhf/uhf mobile on the market? Going further, even the used market. I seem to recall a very small Yaesu or Icom that came out about 10 years ago. If you know of any, drop me an e-mail and I'll check it out (it can even be UHF only as well).
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I still check Ebay out every once and awhile and sometimes plunk down the lowest bid possible. To my surprise, I've won several things, and I guess this is an indication of our countries economic problems - people need jobs, people need money, and it's an amazing correlation.
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Health? I'm still working on it. Besides a TON of different vitamins, along with injections and medication, I'm making an improvement. I guess if you've been missing something vital for 7-10 years, you can't expect a quick recovery. I have other things that help in retraining parts of my brain, and if it'll do it, I'm all for it - when you get into neural pathways problems, it's best not to set a timeframe, and just go with the flow.
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And now.....what can you expect from the blog this year????

  • More frequent postings


  • Different subjects


  • Less gaps in the blog where nothing is written for months at a time


  • New pictures


  • More Video's


  • I'll answer reader mail (provided I get any)


  • And that's just the start!
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So there ya go.....but wait! We had an invasion of ducks since the fall. They float around the pond, and depend on us to feed them. They have a great internal clock for lunchtime and it's funny how 2 ducks waddle towards the water and swim across to be fed by the company on that side, while two stay here. There are some other kind of ducks (dark brown), maybe twenty of 'em or so that don't even come near a human. They seemed to have split into two groups. One stays on this side,while the other has moved to the other side of the pond. The funny part is that they just stand at the edge, wing-to-wing like a military lineup and stare at each other. No quacks, no sounds, just the staring. The picture I've added is of one of the human friendly ducks.

So ends my first posting of the year (I think). Expect more, and enjoy life!!

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Woody

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