Saturday, April 29, 2006

soggy

My daughter and mom were here all day today and tomorrow, so I'm chauffeur this weekend. And Jerrie's had to work this weekend, so
we have to move her birthday stuff to next weekend the way it looks.

Someday I need to get serious about riding gear...I just don't do that much long distance riding in poor weather. Call me a wimp!

I don't have a leather jacket or riding jacket anymore. Gave my son my leather jacket and never replaced it.

Never have had leathers at all. I should use them both for safety reasons if nothing else, but I get plenty warm easy and hate wearing more than
I need to. I even only wear a half helmet. I do have riding boots but rarely wear them.
Now that I have a decent bike I may have to rethink some of these things!

I've been eyeing new helmets. Would like to get a full coverage for the saftey and (frankly) for radio audio purposes! Less TX wind noise.
Like the ones that have built in headset that will plug right in to my bike. Would be nice to have intercom to Jerrie too. She's done riding for this
year, though. Too uncomfortable with the baby.

I might very well be able to make it Thursday for First Thursday bike night at Dulono's...maybe on the bike! I have ridden to work a few days last week...cheap parking!

Got the new freezer down in the basement and hacked in a new outlet for that ...added GFCI on the circuit while I was at it since it is in the basement and this is the circuit with the wash machine on it.

The DK3 is still up in the backyard...not hooked to anything! Still need to get that wired up. It really is small compared to the Hustler vertical I had up. Even with the CB fiberglass whip on it. It should be nice to have the DK3 for portable ops and mobile in the Suburban (which is still down with a leaky radiator).
Could be a very versatile antenna. Curious to see how it plays on 80/75m. I've worked guys on 75 with screwdriver antennas and the sigs were quite amazing!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Ending miles

Home now at 91404!

Prolly around 50 miles in the city tonight.
St. Paul, Maplewood, Woodbury, Newport, inver grove, bloomington, richfield....

Re: Blogger post failed

trying again!

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-----Original Message-----
From: postgateway@blogger.com
Date: Thursday, Apr 27, 2006 6:06 pm
Subject: Blogger post failed

Blogger could not process your message at this time.

Error code: 6.4FF28B

Original message:
From: brady@palmquist.us
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:04:00 -0600
Subject: miles
lost some miles in the log

but now at mac's it is 91369

I'm outta here

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Gas stop!

Versa

fuel

91382
maplewood sa
$9.08
3.375 gal
2.689 per gal
century and upper afton

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Thursday fish

tonight~s delicious dinner and bike ride! Mac's Fish.

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Friday, April 21, 2006

Thursday night

Ran downtown for lunch with a vendor and do a crazy bunch of stuff at the office. Punkin feeling better. HUGE appetite!

Pretty dull night I must say. Jerrie and I had leftovers for supper under a grey sky. I was really tired and fell asleep for a couple of hours after dinner. Woke up and had to do some work on a CallManager...which took FAR longer than expected.
Got that under control and working nicely by 2am!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Punkin tonight

Feeling better and lounging comfortably!

miles and BABY NEWS

sad to report ending miles as 91312 today. Even though I was off work.
More miles on he buick than the bike today.

Punkin apparently has a clostridium issue and the vet gave her meds and special food. So that was the big trip of the day (in the car)...to Prior Lake.

Got back and headed over to the other doc to find out more about the baby! Level 2 ultrasound and blood scans...

All looks very normal. No concerns.

And it's a boy! He was really moving around and the ultrasound shows amazing detail in many views!

This day was a BIG milestone we've been waiting for day by day and it couldn't have gone better.
Thank the Lord.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

One more thing...

VERY DISAPPOINTING....

I drove the Burb till it was hot the other day..and she started leaking coolant....

Seems like it's from the radiator and on the drivers side.....

Guess I'll have to pull it....


I think I already posted this sad news, but I'll post it again since it SUCKS.

Tuesday wrap-up.

Well, the storm tonight didn't amount to much. A light and sound show, but little precip.

Got the hardware to put the DK3 screwdriver antenna on my ground mast to start testing. Found my 102" fiberglass whip. I'll start with that, though I know it's too long really.
Certainly too long for 10 Meter usage. I can use another antenna on 10m if the long whip works better on 80 and 40. Maybe I'll do some field strength measurements for the heck of it. It would be cool to use remote control over the internet and listen to your own signal a few hundred miles away, wouldn't it? Could play all kinds of games with 2 stations...one local control (mobile) in, say, Colorado and your base rig in MN. "OK..do I sound better on A ...... or B .....A or B..." A is MN and B is in CO. Where do send the QSL card from?

ANYWAY.
I noticed the Shakespeare 10M stick in the garage...forgot about that. I think that will have to go back up sometime if 10m ever becomes worth a darn again.

I guess I should get the DK3 working at ground level and then consider moving it up on the garage. The main reason I'd like it up there is for theft/damage control and to get it away from the houses in an effort to keep RFI to a minimum and keep the neighbors happy.
Either way, I need to figure out how to control the antenna remotely..probably with a relay...either thata or I'll have to run heavy gauge wire. Neither is too fun or cheap.
If I use a remote relay, I'll need a power source near the antenna...another reason for garage mounting...the power supply could be inside the garage.
Groundplane/counterpoise in the garage could be interesting. My first thoughts are to put up some sort of hardware cloth or chicken wire on the inside of the roof. It would be protected and not visible. And maybe some radials in there as well? Well, it should a lot of fun to experiment with even if I never make a contact! I like the idea of doing some field strength testing.

And then after it actually works (with any luck), I'd like to get on some CW and digital on HF.

Be interesting to see if I can get the DK3 to behave on 6 meters. At least there I could work some local repeaters and ops for testing.

After all that if I find that 80m and 40m are working poorly, I'll consider and 80/40 dipole of some sort. I find the HyPower 80/40 dipole interesting since it would fit pretty well on our lot.

Jerrie says we need antennas for contesting....and I want to get on HF more, esp. CW, so......

Speaking of CW, I'm doing 15 wpm pretty easily now. And doing pretty well with 18.

I want to get to at least 20 and get a test or W1AW qualifying run and keep going!

Time for bed. Have to take Punkin to the vet tomorrow and Jerrie goes in for a detailed ultrasound on the baby tomorrow! It's a day we've been looking forward to!

K0UC OUT

Tuesday night --a little storm



Here's a view looking south down France Ave sitting at 66th.
On the bike and was getting a little rain, but the clouds were cool and 3Dish!

at home now and there's some lightning and thunder.

Just went over to Settys for some hardware to start testing the DK3 antenna.

Lightning close now and I moved to the garage!

Ending mialage 91300
just a few short trips today over to Richfield RS and to Settys and the Edina PO.

Punkin-dog is still sick today.
Doing better though. She got into something not agreeing with her stomach AT ALL.

Took the day off today and I'm outside enjoying the wx again.
And no bugs!

A little nap in the back yard in the lawn chair!


Though a little rain would be good!
Might br some tonight and tomorrow.

Monday, April 17, 2006

bike fill

91271 odo
$11.97
4.5 g
162m last tank

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Easter weekend update

Thursday ...an early close day for our office. And a day for me to spend some time at the dentist...OW! Yes, I did hurt this time. A first in many years. Something very sensitive about a tooth that I recently had a filling on....which is why I went in. She touched the tooth with instruments that normally don't hurt, BUT this time they did...
3 times! Felt like tin foil was touching the filling and I nearly flew out of the chair! Ended up using plastic instruments for the rest of the time and fine tuning the filling.
It's been a lot better now. Been taking some antibiotics that the dentist gave me...either a sinus infection or dental infection may have been the main culprit.

As you may have read in an earlier post, Friday was the first SERIOUS bike day of the year! And a beautiful one it was! 130 Miles and about 5 hours.
Got home Friday night and did some yard work while it was very temperate and a nice breeze was coming through. Got the spring raking done.

Saturday was a busy day...more yard work and serious garage cleaning. Also got the back lock solenoid working on the Suburban and discovered that the old Burb does INDEED have some radiator leak when it gets warm. VERY disappointing. Probably have to pull the radiator and get it checked/repaired/replaced... FUN!

Jerrie put down spray-on lawn fertilizer Saturday with the hopes that it would rain on Sunday, but no such luck...only a little rain.

Assembled some yard seat/storage boxes. One had a wrong part in it! But Suncast (the mfr) answered the phone on Saturday afternoon, knew what I wanted and got it on order for me with no problems! Today (Monday) I got an email follow-up from them stating that the order was in the works! I'm VERY impressed with them. I also found out i can get spare parts for Jerrie's hose reel. The Hose connection is cracked and I can get a replacement for around $10. Better than more plastic going in the landfill and $40 going out my pocket.

SUNCAST yard products RULE.
Thanks guys!

It's sad that I have to make a big deal out of a company doing their job, but when a company does do a good job, I like acknowledging it!

Sunday...Easter! The Lord has risen!

Went to Kim's (my baby sister) house for a huge ham dinner. Nice day for a ride down there, but a little brisk and a little rain.
Nice wx on the way home. Went home on MN19 through Lonsdale. Haven't been on the stretch of 19 from New Prague to I35 for a long time.

Next thing you know it's Monday and today is awfully darn nice again! Sun and 70s again. Work is normal today...no major malfunctions or bitching, so I'm happy!

Punkin is kinda sick today. All sorts of tummy issues and bad things coming from her little body. Glad it's nice, because I've left her outside most of the day...between Jerrie and I we've cleaned up enough messes today. I've washed punkin twice so far and a third time will be necessary!

Hey! I sent some pics from Flickr.com to Target to be printed and it worked EXTREMELY well...and they were free! I got 8 prints made of some easter pictures and I have to say... they look nearly as good as 35mm pix from a decent camera! 20 cents per print is the normal price which would be $4.80 for 24 exposures and no film cost.
Furthermore, you print only what turns out.

These pics were printed from a 1280 x 960 file I think. It all happens "under the covers" at Flickr, so I don't know for certain.
I don't think more resolution would help or be necessary for 4x6 prints.
The old HP 720 camera did a FINE job...and nowhere near it's best resolution was used. Medium (2 of 3 "stars") was used.

Guess this may be the way to do things photographically when the baby comes!

Friday, April 14, 2006

More pix

A few night pix near our house from the Treo 650 via email to Blogger.

Pic test directly from Treo to Blogger via email.


tesat test
<sppcs>

Friday cycle ride




Did some cycle riding today... took these pics at Swan Lake Park in McCleod county (MN).

Rode out on Hwy 7 to Hutchinson and took the Hwy 22/212 path back through Glencoe and NYA.

About 130 miles today...lots of sun and a little burn tonight!

friday!

friday!
Date: 14 Apr 2006 15:51:00 -0500
To: <go@blogger.com>
X-Mailer: ChatterEmail for Treo 600/650 (1.1.5.1)
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I'm out by Swan Lake in McLeod county!

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OK..that was an attempt at posting a pic directly...FAILURE.

Came across as the raw text.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Delicious Monday

Work was fairly quiet today..for that I'm glad.

Ran down to Bloomington and got tabs for the 'Wing tonight and did a little riding around town.

Today was really perfect wx....70s, breeze and sun. I can't see how it could get better!

Worked KC0DGY on the 443.3 tonight for a nice QSO on the way back from Bloomington.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Suburban Status

The real problem was that the batteries in the remote were dead...heh heh. For the Suburban, I mean.

Also, the brAKes are not grindaged to the damage point...so it just needs a regular brake job...
Which is is good! I took it apart and looked today.

So now if the radiator just stays not leaking I'll be happy. Then all I need is a new set of tahrs.
You know MEATS.
Skins
Tires.

Man it was NICE out today. Great day to dig in to the burb.

Ran over and had coffee with Tim (ABØTS) and his cousin today at Bob's Java Hut. Talked bikes and ham radio...can't beat that!


Jerrie and I had a little dinner at Red Lobster tonight....then went down to shakopee tonight to WalMart and spend $50 on almost nothing somehow.
Stopped by Caribou for coffee and cribbage, headed home and rebooted the CallManager cluster and IPCC tonight!
Now it's 11:15pm and I'm kinda wired....even though I had DECAF at caribou!

Yesterday...well, as you can see I got the bike from St. Peter yesterday...what else did we do with the day? Again..this weekend slipped by quickly with it being so nice.

Friday...had dinner at Prima on Lyndale. Very nice italian! Glad we got there early...it filled up! Huge portions I gotta say.
(just what I need.. :p


Oh yeah...yesterday...major malfunctions at the office...a router/switch decided to die...one of the most critical in the core network....up, down, up, down...if it would have just stayed down it would have been much better and the backup would have taken over...so that wasted a good chunk of afternoon and part of the evening.

Kinda slipped by...the old weekend did.....

Saturday, April 08, 2006

More Bohemian Pix

Sitting room...very comfy



Hallway...bedroom to left and sitting room and "big" bathroom to the right.





Here's a pic of Mark and Bobbi (the owners) in the kitchen and Jerrie looking in.
Jerrie and I just after a huge breakfast...
Another pic in the room...you can see the whirlpool, the vanity and the entry to the "little" bathroom. The room has another bath with a shower. An all new install, tile, plumbing and fixtures. Really nice.

Here are a few more pix from The Bohemian...

First day on the bike for 2006.


Got to do a little more riding today. The picture here was taken just before I took off late this afternoon for a little ride around Lake Harriet and then into "uptown"

Woohoo! Uptown. ...yeah, whatever. It was just a place to ride to and it was busy down there so I got the heck out and headed home taking the sidestreets.
Still not TOO warm today. Lots of sun though!

doppler

Been hearing the baby a lot lately on the doppler!
Jerrie has gotten to the point that she can find it in less than a minute.
Of course the baby is getting bigger and it therefore should become easier to find.
Heartbeat is good and strong and we often hear the baby moving on the doppler!

:)

Wow. Last weekend.



I'm way behind on posting here...

I'm not even sure where to start...

But I'll mention that Jerrie and I spent last weekend in New Ulm.

We were at the "Bohemian" which is a "bed and breakfast" there.
You can see a couple of pictures above. One shows a part of the suite we stayed in and the other shows the property. Our room was in the carriage house in back of the house which has been remodeled completely into a suite, a large room and a smaller room.


The Bohemian

Very nice! Best breakfast I've ever had at a B&B. Very hearty!
Awesome inn too with excellent rooms. We're going back this summer on the bike.


OK...more to come...

Major malfunctions at work at the moment.

biking season has started at

90974 miles!

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