Garage Sale Morning

SAM asked it I was going with her into uncharted territory to garage sale:  Could I say no?  I do not think so 🙂  So, we spent the morning going from this street to that street and from this area to that one.  I must admit they were pretty upscale areas but the junk was the same. All this effort resulted in one Indian bell and one servants bell. I did get to talk with a guy who was pleasant and had a very firm handshake so that was a good sale as far as I was concerned.  Then we stopped at a sale and SAM motioned – fishing rods – so I had to get out.

This guy was interesting since he was  a sailor and he had several nice items that were cheap.  How about a polished stainless steel Bruce anchor?  This was a dingy sized anchor and might have been a steal if I would have asked the price.  I talked about it to him but he did not volunteer a price so that died right away.  Also on the table were several stainless steel bales and anchor locks but we no longer have a boat on which to put them.  At least this sale was interesting to me.  SAM went back to the car an waited on me – instead of the other way around.  That just about ended the garage sailing for the day.

Back on the home front it was time for the “leftovers” and we mixed some green Thai Curry paste into the pasta and wow, the taste just jumped out at us and it was captivating.  Of course, I ate too much again and as a result had to take a short nap with Abby at my side.  I worked a little bit on an amateur radio project using the Raspberry Pi 3 and sort of got it working but since I do not know all it is supposed to do it will be trial and error now.

Last month we used 80+ gigs of data thru the hotspot.  Most of that is the evening movies we have started watching.  I guess it comes out about right: 30 days at 2 gigs per HD movieis 60 gigs±. We finished the Mad Dogs season and now are on Orphan Black (4 seasons) and it is an edge of the seat thriller about cloned young ladies.  SAM is so tense and squealing now and again.

Wow – nice winter

Everyone is commenting what a nice winter it has been down here in West Central Florida and today was no exception.  If anything it was a little hot in wind free areas.  This being a Wednesday, we went down to Albert Whitted airport for lunch at The Hangar:  The special is the $6 hamburger and with fries you add $1.50.  The burger is big for the money and good taste and consistent.  Today it was just SAM & Myself but we tarried a bit, in spite of having a non-view seat: In retrospect, we should have waited the 10 minutes and taken an outdoor seat.  I n any case, we had a good time and the place was full even at 1300 hrs local and in fact there was a waiting list.

On the way home we went via Central Avenue all the way to 58th and then north to 30th Ave and on to the pad.  Before we went downtown we stopped by Lowes to buy a new screen door handle.  So when we got home I installed it and it works perfectly.  By the looks of it the handle is more robust than the broken one.  This just about completes the list of items to be fixed before we return home up North.

Last night I fired up the portable Allstar node 43584.  This node is connected to the internet via my mobile hotspot and it works quite well as long as I am stationary and near a big city with lots of bandwidth and cell towers.  The only issue is that the node must be within 15′ with direct view of the hotspot.  I guess I will be back to the land of unlimited speed and no data limits so I can have my IRLP and Allstar nodes on full time.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

Wednesday we drouve out to Weedon Island and walked the boardwalk.  That is about all I want to do – maybe a mile and a half.  On the way back to home base we stopped by Beales and bought a few T’s for me.  On arriving home, I tried the T’s on and they were too tight so back to the store they go.

In the morning we looked at a class C Winnibago Winni Minni 29′.  We both liked it but there was sort of a musty smell when the cab-over bed was slid out.  Our slide in camper has this same smell and is partially rotted wood due to leaks so we are leary.  However, what the hey, it is a 2002 model.  It may be leaking around the orangish running lights that face forward.  There were lots of systems we did not check so I made a tentative appointment with Haberson RV to have them check out the systems.

Today, Friday, we spent most of the day cleaning and boxing things for our return trip home.  My sister Ann is coming over tonight so SAM wanted everything clean.  They are about 2 – 3 hours away from their campground so it will probablybe about 1900 hrs when they get here in St. Pete.,  I’ll write more tonight after they have left for their campground.  Mummm, the fixin’s on the stove smell sooo good.

Note for Myself: Check in 2020

In case anyone is getting too sidetracked by the Russian spy drama, the following bills have been introduced:
1. HR 861 Terminate the Environmental Protection Agency
2. HR 610 Vouchers for Public Education
3. HR 899 Terminate the Department of Education
4. HJR 69 Repeal Rule Protecting Wildlife
5. HR 370 Repeal Affordable Care Act
6. HR 354 Defund Planned Parenthood
7. HR 785 National Right to Work (this one ends unions)
8. HR 83 Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Bill
9. HR 147 Criminalizing Abortion (“Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act”)
10. HR 808 Sanctions against Iran

House Only Day

I did not leave the house today.  The morning really started with a talk to Steve on Ham Radio, then came a toilet water closet cleaning and “seat” scour, clean most of the remaining chandelier crystal and now blogtime.

Dale called today and sounded very upbeat.  This is good and I am happy for him – the last two rounds of chemo to go but he says it is not nearly as bad as the first one nor the second which nearly did him in. He is now planning a road trip to FL to deliver the cabinets in his truck that has been loaded since early November.  I guess SAM and I no longer will be doing a return trip to FL  In a way it is too bad, SAM & I wanted to see his place.  Maybe we will just drive over to go to Homers for lunch and see his place too.

SAM went out this afternoon and bought a piece of crystal for the fixture but it was broken when she got home so that was a $3 loss but it kept her looking through a antique store all afternoon so it was cheap entertainment.  Super glue time so I have tomorrows project.

We have had two perfect weeks here in FL so this year has to chalked up as a real winner.  I am thinking we will visit my Aunt Mary, via Rock Hill, on the way back North.  We might stop at Green Cove Springs to visit friends too.  What a lovely year: New Friends, lots of visits and lunches and potentially the last year at Martha’s.  All-in-all excellent.

The Ultrasonic Cleaner

The ultrasonic cleaner I bought at a garage sale Saturday was put to use today.  First, as a trial, I added Dawn to tap water and put SAM’s manual can opener in the path and turned it on.  Well, somewhat to my surprise it actually worked and 15 minutes later the can opener wheels and gears were clean a s a whistle.  I put a some old rusty scissors and my pocket knife in the same bath and turned it on for a timed 20 minutes.  When I checked it the cleaning was not so successful but it did work a little.  From there I moved on to some inexpensive crystal and this worked well so I took some of the chandelier crystal and tried it – a great success.  Now I have a goal of cleaning all those impossible chandelier crystal pieces I have wanted to clean for 10 years.

The 4X magnifying fluorescent light I bought at the same sale worked as well so I am happy with my $12 purchase.  I also got a 3 way RF switch for 6 meters in the same price package that I will use on my HF Rig.

Page in History: Op Ed copied

OK, so I just copied this little bit from Vivian an old classmate and is here to allow me to easily go back and review our past history.

QUOTE

In case you haven’t connected the news dots… Putin controls the largest oil company in Russia. He made a 500 Billion dollar deal with the CEO of Exxon Mobil. Obama put sanctions in place which stopped that deal. Russia then hacked into our government in order to get Trump elected. When the CIA told Congress this in September (James Comey was also in that meeting), Mitch McConnell refused to tell the American people, blackmailing Obama saying he would frame it as playing partisan politics during the election. Comey released the infamous no-information letter. Mitch McConnell’s wife was picked for Trump’s cabinet. The CEO of Exxon is now the Secretary of State. Wonder why our President has been so quick to dismiss the CIA’s findings?………it gets better…..Here are some facts : Decide for yourselves

1) Trump owes Blackstone/ Bayrock group $560 million dollars (one of his largest debtors and the primary reason he won’t reveal his tax returns)

2) Blackstone is owned wholly by Russian billionaires, who owe their position to Putin and have made billions from their work with the Russian government.

3) Other companies that have borrowed from Blackstone have claimed that owing money to them is like owing to the Russian mob and while you owe them, they own you for many favors.

4) The Russian economy is badly faltering under the weight of its over-dependence on raw materials which as you know have plummeted in the last 2 years leaving the Russian economy scrambling to pay its debts.

5) Russia has an impetus to influence our election to ensure the per barrel oil prices are above $65 ( they are currently hovering around $50)

6) Russia can’t affordably get at 80% of its oil reserves and reduce its per barrel cost to compete with America at $45 or Saudi Arabia at $39. With Iranian sanctions being lifted Russia will find another inexpensive competitor increasing production and pushing Russia further down the list of suppliers.

As for Iranian sanctions, the 6 countries lifting them allowing Iran to collect on the billions it is owed for pumping oil but not being paid for it. These billions Iran can only get if the Iranian nuclear deal is signed. Trump spoke of ending the deals which would cause oil sales sanctions to be reimposed, which would make Russian oil more competitive.

7) Rex Tillerson (Trump’s pick for Secretary of State) is the head of ExxonMobil, which is in possession of patented technology that could help Putin extract 45% more oil at a significant cost savings to Russia, helping Putin put money in the Russian coffers to help reconstitute its military and finally afford to mass produce the new and improved systems that it had invented before the Russian economy had slowed so much.

8) Putin cannot get access to these new cost saving technologies OR outside oil field development money, due to US sanctions on Russia, because of its involvement in Ukrainian civil war.

9) Look for Trump to end sanctions on Russia and to back out of the Iranian nuclear deal, to help Russia rebuild its economy, strengthen Putin and make Tillerson and Trump even richer, thus allowing Trump to satisfy his creditors at Blackstone.

10) With Trump’s fabricated hatred of NATO and the U.N., the Russian military reconstituted, the threat to the Baltic states is real. Russia retaking their access to the Baltic Sea from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and threatening the shipping of millions of cubic feet of natural gas to lower Europe from Scandinavia, allowing Russia to make a good case for its oil and gas being piped into eastern Europe.

Sources: Time Magazine, NY Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian UK……phew…..did you make it thru all of that?…

We must hold them accountable. Spread the word, copy and post!

P.S. Eric Prince, the founder of Blackwater (a blood money mercenary organization) and Betsy DeVos’s brother has been working as an advisor to trump.

We are here, we are watching, we will not go away. We are a movement, not a moment. 65,000,000+ 🙂

END QUOTE

It is hard to stay motivated when the sword is just above your neck but this little thing will probably outlive me and if it is deleted from the net then, Indeed, we are screwed and the American People mad a very bad choice. Perhaps an end game choice but then I am too old to suffer like my kids and grandkids and great grandchildren.

A New Project

I have started on a new project.  It is not Amateur Radio related but it uses a Raspberry Pi to run a program that will display an animated output of Powerpoint.  Basically, the Powerpoint Presentation will be exported as a MP4 and played by a player in Linux.  Most of the software components exist in Linux but a few lines of code need to be generated.  I think I can make it play specific jpeg photos in sequence as well but not sure that will be necessary.  There are several unknowns that I have to figure out since I have never used the open source packages needed.  Anyway, it should be a fun project.

The days seem to slowly go by but we are mentally winding down our stay here in St. Petersburg.  We like the time and would like to find a place to stay next winter.  The problem is pets. Every place we look at is 55+ and No Pets.  We may be forced to be motor driven.  Our vision keeps changing and the years keep running out but we have a camper but no 3/4T truck.  Then there is the Class A motor home route for about the price of a fairly new truck. Moore later.