Stealth antennas April 30, 2006
Posted by jchome in Just stuff.2 comments
So I’m sitting here this evening thinking about a mish-mash of things, one of which happens to be ham radio. One of the problems with this area is that the homeowners association does not allow exterior antennas. However, I have this nice large attic and space that I might be able to do something with. I have a couple of sets of Hamsticks, these cute little things that are largely meant for mobile use, but may be usable in the attic, assuming I can find an appropriate mount for them.
Another problem is that the bandwidth is very narrow on these things. That can be somewhat overcome by using a tuner, something that is probably necessary anyway. A stick tuned midway in the 40 meter band can likely be tuned to work over the entire band. Not sure about 80 to 75 meters.
Another problem is that there is only so much space, and it would be impractical to have 5 sets of antennas. It would also be impractical to go up and change sticks every time I wanted to use a different band. I wonder if 40 meter Hamsticks can be successfully tuned for 20, 15 and 10 meters?
I have thought about a dipole, but I do not think the house is long enough to accommodate it.
I also need to consider a 2 meter antenna. Again, it needs to be hidden. I suppose I can make a 2 meter dipole. That should not be too bad, but I don’t think I will be able to use a vertical antenna at all.
Well, something to think about. I have been thinking about preparedness a lot lately, and it seems to be a popular theme. There was a lesson in church about it again today. Having the radio stuff working would be one more think to be prepared with, especially since it has been shown that amateur radio works in emergencies. Maybe that is why there is a lack of equipment for sale on ebay…
Gas and diesel April 27, 2006
Posted by jchome in Just stuff.add a comment
I was just reading another blog; one entry had to do with the price of oil, gas, etc. Someone made the comment that as long as they had their siphoning equipment handy, they didn’t care how high prices went. Just joking I hope.
I remember an incident that happened while I was in grade school. The school (it’s own district before they consolidated everything into one giant disaster of a school district) leased a bus from a company in town. It was parked at the school, out in the open. One evening, the driver had filled the gas tank, parked the bus, and went home. Sometime during the night, someone pried open the hatch cover, ripped the cap off the tank (both hatch and tank had locks) and siphoned out the whole tank of gas, something like 60 gallons. The next morning, not realizing it, the driver proceeded to start her route, and ran out of gas about halfway through. She had to walk about a half mile to a house, call the bus company, walk back and we all waited for about a half hour until another bus arrived. I don’t know if they ever caught anyone, but I would still like to know what they used to put all that gas into.
And, yesterday, while I was driving down to my bass lesson, I got about 2 miles down the freeway, and started smelling diesel. I mean, fuel, not fumes. It looked like there was a trail of fuel going down the road. I got to smell that rousing odor all the way down to Orchard (where I was getting off the freeway), about 10 miles. The leaker took Orchard as well. At the top of the ramp, where the traffic light is, was a massive pool of diesel. Cars were sliding through it, spinning tires on it, and it stank to high heaven. Some trucker must have developed a leak in a hose or fuel pump and lost about 50 gallons. At nearly 3 bucks a gallon, that had to hurt!
Grocery bill April 24, 2006
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We went to Wal-Mart this morning and did some shopping. I have been to the grocery store, but have just purchased a few things here and there. Today we filled up a shopping cart and blew about $160. Amazing how fast it adds up. I still think the cost of groceries here is substantially less than it is in Oregon, but it still takes a lot of bucks every month to eat.
The diet is working! April 24, 2006
Posted by jchome in Dang Diet, Just stuff.1 comment so far
While I was out and about today, I stopped by the Men’s Wearhouse just to price black suits. (For some odd reason, Karen thinks I look good in black.) The gentleman who helped me before (8 months ago) remembered my name, what size I wore (or used to wear), how long ago I was in, where we moved from, etc. Pretty impressive. Anyway, it turns out that not only do I have a 36” waist now, my suit size has dropped from a 46R to a 44R. It’s nice to know that the diet is working.
Catchup April 23, 2006
Posted by jchome in Church, Friends, Job, Just stuff.add a comment
Wow, it seems like this week has just flown by and I haven’t done anything with this blog at all! So, here I sit this Sunday morning with a little time on my hands, and I will catch up some.
Ashley’s class (with one other first grade class) had a field trip to a fish hatchery on Thursday. I volunteered to go with them, but did not take the bus with the kids. Buses are bad for my back. This hatchery did not seem to be as sophisticated as the ones on Oregon we used to visit, but they still grow nearly 3 million fish each year. They had everything from eggs (400,000 at the time) to fish that are going to be taken to lakes this weekend. After the tour, there was a series of ponds with a bunch of trails around them that the kids got to explore. It was fun. Then I went home and worked in the yard for a couple of hours. Got almost everything trimmed and weeded.
I had another job interview on Friday afternoon. This was for an auto auction company. It sounds like it would be a fun job, but I think I would rather work for the Idaho Finance company. I left home with the intention of stopping at Costco along the way and getting gas, but the traffic in town was so bad, I didn’t have time. So, the needle is almost on E all the way there. There was a Chevron right there, so I stopped and put $5 in it. I figured that would get me back to town. $2.58 per gallon. I got back to Costco (they now have 16 pumps) and the line was about 25 cars deep. Yuck! Karen and I had a date evening in the area, so I went back later and there was no line. $2.36 per gallon. Saved $3 over filling at Chevron.
Saturday was the ward service project day. We had a list of people who had signed up to have some things done around their houses, like tilling garden areas, removing stumps, trimming hedges, and so on. We had about 18 people who had things to do and about 20 people who were helping out. It worked out pretty good. Took about 4 hours to get everything done. It was good to help out.
Today is Sunday, and we will be going to church in a while. We will have choir practice today here (it will be nice to get back into that routine). I don’t know if Sean and I will go home teaching or not. I saw him yesterday, but I did not think to ask him about it.
So, that should catch up on the usual stuff. I will be coming up with some other stuff as the day goes on, I’m sure.
Any two for elevennis? April 19, 2006
Posted by jchome in Kids.1 comment so far
One of Victor Borge’s things from his inflationary language routine….
Crystal has a tennis match this afternoon at Eagle Middle School. I think we are going to drive up and watch. She decided to do tennis last month. She is trying some new things, which is good for her. Gives her a means to use some energy and learn some sports. Also helps her to channel herself and concentrate. I have not seen her play yet, so this may be interesting.
Interview April 19, 2006
Posted by jchome in Job.1 comment so far
I had an interview with a company called Idaho Housing and Finance. I had originally thought they were a government agency, but they are not. They are a company that specializes in loans for lower income people, grants for homeless shelters, and assisting families find affordable housing. They are in a nice big building downtown.
I thought the interview went very well, and I think that it would be a very good job to have. There would be some travel involved, as they work with agencies all over the state. There would be some training involved, and working with people in groups and individually. I think it would be a fantastic job. Don’t know what the pay would be yet, but they offer some good benefits and it looks like a very nice place to work. I hope it works out!
Job interviews April 18, 2006
Posted by jchome in Job.1 comment so far
I got home this afternoon and had a message on the phone from a place called Idaho Housing and Finance. They have an open for an “HMIS Systems Administrator”. I’m not quite sure what all of that means, but I applied for it, and have an interview set for tomorrow.
I also received a call from Idaho Auto Auctions and have an interview on Friday afternoon with them. Hot dang! It’s about time. It would be nice to find a good job that will be worth having. I did not see a pay scale listed for the Idaho Finance job, so I don’t have any idea what they are looking at. Anyway, it’s good to have something come out of all of these applications.
Another blog April 17, 2006
Posted by jchome in Family, My Other Site.add a comment
I wanted to create another page on this blog that was password protected and would be able to accept posts like this page does. So far, I have been create another page, and I can password protect it. It does not allow me to post like this page does. So…bummer. Therefore, I have created another blog and will use it for those things that are "Not for Average Consumption". Perhaps someday I will figure out the page thing and be able to post it here the way I originally intended. I apologize in advance to those of you who are not immediate family members and will not be able to view the other site.
Heeeeere’s Johnny! April 16, 2006
Posted by jchome in Just stuff.2 comments
Watch out for wives wanting to get pictures of them kissing their husbands…my revenge is to post it!
