Dyea wharf

Joe is standing next to one of the pilings of the old Dyea Wharf, the means by which stampeders got their gear to shore.

Steamers would bring materials as close to shore as they could (this inlet, formed by the Taiya River, is very, very shallow), then transfer them to lighters (shallower draft vessels). Lighters would bring goods to the pier, where they could be transferred to the beach or to carts. 

Waiting for dinner

Half of all bald eagles in the world live in Alaska -- here's one of them, waiting for something to come along. 

Dyea campground

Once we left the ferry, we got water and headed for the Dyea Campground (we knew from experience that Dyea Campground has no water supply, short of the river, and I didn't want to be pumping water through a filter this early in the trip). The campground was nearly empty, so it was very quiet. The only noise we heard was the sound of sled dogs barking at the tourists that were being bused in from Skagway during the day. 

We arrived in Skagway okay. There were a lot of loud school kids on the ferry, which provided one of the quotable quotes from this trip: "If you get hurt, you'll bleed all the way to Haines!"

The M/V Matanuska was pretty nice. We got a cabin for the trip, which gave us a base of operations, as well as a place to snooze and shower. There are public showers, but having a private place to lay down (as opposed to slouch in a chair) and sleep, as well as shower, is much nicer.

A bunk! With my name on it!

 

Keys! We have keys!

 

We're waiting to board the M/V Matanuska, our ferry to Skagway. The ship loading is behind schedule.

The Garmin routable maps in the Juneau area are sometimes up to 300m out of registration. At the ferry terminal, the GPSr has me about 326m south of Glacier Highway, when we can't be more than 30m from the physical road.

M/V Matanuska

We did a little geocaching throughout the morning and early afternoon, then it was time to get in line to board the ferry. We took the M/V Matanuksa from Juneau to Skagway. Having a cabin onboard greatly improved our quality of life; it provided napping opportunities, as well as a base of operations during the nearly eight hour trip. 

Snack locker

It's lunchtime.

It sure is a good thing we had an alternative to the Honda Element!

Note how clean and bright the truck is. 

Glacial ice

I watched two park rangers wrestle this piece of glacial ice out of the water and up the bank. It's a single ice crystal and very old. 

Mendenhall Glacier

The Mendenhall Glacier is a short distance from downtown Juneau; it's an impressive sight to see, even with low clouds. 

You better not be packin', mister!

 

Our chariot awaits!

Here's our nice shiny, clean Chevrolet Trailblazer, all packed up and ready to hit the road!

We spent the night at the Best Western Country Lane Inn in Juneau. The room had a kitchenette, which turned out to be pretty convenient. It also had a small, separate dining area in the room. All in all, it was a pretty comfortable place to spend the night and start to get over any jet-lag that we collected yesterday. 

We each got about eight hours of sleep last night, awakening just past 0600. The motel was very quiet (as long as you don't flush the toilet).

On our brief driving tour of old Juneau last night, I was struck by the intense focus on the cruise ship trade. The shops that cater to cruise ship tourists lined the streets, eager to part the tourists from their cash. The density and size of the shops was amazing.

We checked in to the motel, then went to Fred Meyer to get groceries for the next few days. After that, we went for a short drive to see the older part of Juneau. Lorraine and Sarah suffered through a major fade, so we headed back to the motel. It's still pretty bright out -- the sun sets about now (I'm in the motel room), and the sun comes up at 0400.

Stuff

Good news: The National Rental Car people have our Honda Element all ready to go!

Bad news: our stuff won't come close to fitting into a Honda Element, especially if Sarah and Joe have to come along!

What to do? Try Avis! 

Hey, we're in Juneau!

Lorraine upgraded us to first class, all the way from Washington's National Airport to the Juneau International Airport; that made a huge difference in the quality of the journey to Juneau. We had a great time on the three legs of the journey: Washington to Chicago, Chicago to Seattle, and Seattle to Juneau.

We spent the lay-over in Seattle in the airline club, which also helped greatly in making this long flight enjoyable. Thanks, Lorraine! 

We left the ground at Washington's National Airport at about 1034. The weather around the house was pretty dicey this morning -- we lost electrical power momentarily, perhaps as a result of a lightning strike. The weather was a bit better as we arrived at the airport, and we didn't experience any delays in getting out of Washington.

Lorraine upgraded us to first class, all the way to Juneau, so we're very comfortable. It's really nice to have the extra room.

We got up about 0630 and finished the little bit of packing we had left. Hank drove us to the airport -- we got through screening okay, and made our way to the United lounge at about 0915. Everything is going smoothly so far. We checked six bags (five duffles and one cardboard box).

Put the Blackberry(tm) down, and back away from it, ma'am!

Withdrawal can be such an unpleasant thing to witness. Sarah, Joe, and I were, however, ready for the intervention. 

Emily, enjoying a little quiet time in the lounge.

Being a Saturday morning, the lounge was pretty quiet. It was a great opportunity to have a little snack before the flight and to relax after the get packed, get loaded, get to the airport drill that begins every big trip. 

Joe, enjoying the airline lounge while waiting for our flight.

Hank drove us from our house to Washington's National Airport in the Toyota 4Runner, which saved a tremendous hassle in transportation or vehicle storage. Thanks, Hank!

We wrestled our luggage to the airline counter, then got it through security with plenty of time to spare. Off to the airline lounge we went! Joe is sipping a beverage of choice, here, while doing a little people-watching. 

Pepe...Pepe, you're fired. Did I say that?

Well, that was the most amazing exchange I've seen in the whole The Apprentice saga. Too funny.

Our neighborhood is visited (invaded?) by songbirds every spring. They migrate into the many large trees in this older neighborhood, and set up shop. Every morning, we have a symphony of birds singing at each other, at a volume I've never heard elsewhere.

It's nearly time to start planting this year. I'll probably get around to planting seed indoors this weekend, to get a jump on the growing season. We still have a few weeks of cold nights ahead, so putting frost-sensitive plants outside isn't possible.

We'll try to put in quite a few tomatoes and peppers, along with the usual herb crop. We made it through the winter with fresh basil indoors; we'll try that again this winter.

The Apprentice. The formula has thinned out considerably. Lee has got to go. Lenny appears to be quite a character, but he's approaching his "fresh by" date. There's the usual cast of "lurkers" -- which is probably as much a function of the editing process as it is the "job applicants" / contestants.

The tasks are as silly as ever -- we've seen the "create an ad" routine many times. I can't quite figure out the "safe filled with diamonds" "reward" this week. The diamond people shared the plug with the good folks from Brinks. What's with that? Brinks didn't give up anything more than a tour -- the diamond people at least gave up the "ice".

The tease for next week didn't electrify -- this franchise may be running down, and out of fresh ideas.

National Cherry Blossom Festival

Lorraine's folks were in town over the weekend, so we headed into town yesterday afternoon for the start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The two-week festival began with a 90-minute ceremony at the National Building Museum (one of my favorite places to bring out-of-towners). We got to see Gordon Peterson (local news anchor and host of Inside Washington, a weekly talking-head television show), Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives), and D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams.

Eleanor Holmes Norton is quite a public speaker -- she did this appearance "off-the-cuff".

RIM pays up, taking 'one for the team' - BlackBerry Battle - MSNBC.com

Disclaimer: I'm a happy BlackBerry user, one of the tools that comes with my job.

I'm firmly in the anti-"software" patent camp. "Software" patents stifle innovation and do little more than enrich an intellectual property rights litigation community. The irony of this situation will be if the USPTO decides against NTP on all five patents: will NTP face extortion charges?

RIM pays up, taking 'one for the team' - BlackBerry Battle - MSNBC.com

The "vast wasteland"

I ran across this item on the web, this evening. It's well written. It's particularly interesting when one considers the year in which it was written: 1961. Commissioner Minow was remarkably prescient. If you spend any time in front of the tube, this is well worth perusing:

American Rhetoric: Newton Minow -- "Television and the Public Interest"

NBC: Russia's Red Army Day blunder - Europe - MSNBC.com

Too funny! In days gone by, some poor copy editor / advertising "exec" would be shuffled off to the gulag, or so we've been led to believe. It makes one wonder what happens now....

NBC: Russia's Red Army Day blunder - Europe - MSNBC.com

Dell Dimension 4550 CPU coolling fan failure saga

When I get a chance [in the near future], I'll describe my experiences in finding and fixing the CPU cooling fan failure in Lorraine's Dell Dimension 4550. I received a replacement fan from SUNTEKPC on Thursday, and made short work of the replacement this afternoon. It looks like everything's working okay.

It's quite a story, and I'll post photographs to go with it....

Made it to the top of Murphy Dome yesterday -- very cold and windy, but the view was spectacular. We were able to see Mt McKinley just fine. That mountain is so remarkable from the distance; it stands nearly alone.

We had a great meal at Geraldo's (the one on Airport Way) last night. It's easy to see why it's a local favorite.

We're flying to Barrow the evening. I'm not sure if we'll have wi-fi connectivity for the rest of this trip, so this might be the last blog entry until we get back.

Murphy Dome Air Force Station

I think the Murphy Dome Air Force Station is "unmanned", but this would be OUTSTANDING duty if it weren't....

We Alaskans tend to collect things

Lorraine and I came across this place in 2002, and we just had to stop by in February 2006 to see how things were going. By our quick inspection, it didn't appear that much had changed.

This home, and its accessories, is located adjacent to the Fairbanks News-Miner office in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. 

Woke up a little after 0600, and headed down to the hotel's breakfast area / lobby.

It's odd to watch a winter storm in Washington, DC from Fairbanks. News reports now call for 6 - 14 inches of snow at home, significantly more than we have here in Fairbanks.

We arrived in Fairbanks about 0015 (about an hour and a half ago). We flew on Alaska Airlines from National to Seattle, then on to Fairbanks. Service was pretty good. We got a cab to the Aspen Hotel, and settled in for the night.

It looks like it's going to be pretty warm while we're going to be here in Fairbanks. Washington, DC may get hammered this weekend, so in many ways, the weather will be better here.

Cinder's progress

Cinder contines to make progress -- every day she becomes more and more like a house cat, and less and less feral. Opie gets all the credit for showing Cinder "the ropes" and causing her to interact with us. She spends nearly all her time out in the open, and is very relaxed around us. She's comfortable enough, now, that she comes out and plays with our feet while we're walking around the bedroom.  

Cingular Patenting the Emoticon :(

I'm hoping that the good folks over at the Patent & Trademark Office sharpen their pencils before they start in on the patent application (and deny it!).

Cingular Patenting the Emoticon :(

In almost imperceptible steps, our new cat Cinder becomes more and more tame. She's out continuously, and gets very close to us. She isn't overly afraid of new people, is very curious, learns quickly, and is very playful. She and Opie wrestle and chase each other frequently. It's difficult to remember where we were with her in a kennel just two months ago.

FOXSports.com - NFL- Twelve wacky moments in Super Bowl history

"The Super Bowl is our nation's greatest sporting event." -- Jeff Gordon, Special to FOXSports.com

Huh? What about NASCAR? WWE Smackdown? The World(?) Series, for goodness sake? How does the Super Bowl rate?

(I don't read FOXSports.com, and I don't watch Fox News on television, either. I got here through one of those MSN Today teases that pop up, courtesy of MSN Messenger.)

Read more from Jeff at FOXSports.com - NFL- Twelve wacky moments in Super Bowl history

Flickr tools

As part of preparing for the upcoming trip to Fairbanks, Alaska and Barrow, Alaska, I've been researching tools to allow me to geotag / geocode photographs. With the advent of Google(tm) Maps, Google(tm) Earth, and other tools / sites, there's a lot of interest in coding photographs with the latitude, longitude, and altitude (LLA) of the position at which the photograph was taken.

Flickr is one of the better (and more popular) sites that support georeferencing of photographs. Here's a great reference of tools available to support Yahoo!'s flickr service:

Quick Online Tips: The Great Flickr Tools Collection

Cinder [again, but for the last time today!]

It's tough to take a picture of a cat, face on...you get a lot of retroreflection. She's a pretty cat anyway, though, don't you think?

(And it's really nice that I didn't need a telephoto lens to get this shot!) 

Cinder [again]

Here's another shot of Cinder, rubbing her face against the furniture. 

Our new cat, Cinder

We brought Cinder home on Saturday, 3 December 2005, and in about five short weeks, she's gone from being wild to being a very playful and energetic, inquisitive, and lovable cat. She's still not ready to be handled, but she's getting much closer every day. Opie, our other cat, is great "bait", drawing Cinder over to interact. I expect that within a few weeks, Cinder will be coming over to be handled a little bit.

Well, the new cat (Cinder) is coming along nicely. For a feral cat, she's becoming quite used to a warm house with plenty of hiding spots, abundant food and water, and a pair of litter boxes. She now claims the entire house (which she shares well with Opie), and comes out to play in the evenings. She's come a long way from the frightened cat in the kennel when we brought her home. Opie has been a great playmate and role model -- Cinder wouldn't be quite as far along without Opie's help.

We had been visiting a cat at Lake Accotink Park over the past two weeks. The cat had been born in late April and had been trapped outside by park staff. We stopped by to see it every day (except Thanksgiving Day, because we couldn't get access to the office), to see if we could tame her. We picked her up this morning, and brought her home.

President of American University Agrees to Resign - New York Times

Wow! I've railed about this in the car (while listening to WAMU 88.5FM, licensed to American University) every time this story comes up (which is quite often, lately). Now, I can rail about it in the so-called "blogosphere". I can't imagine the circumstances under which the former President of American University is owed anything more than his hat on his way out of office. This settlement is just way over the top, and reflects poorly on American University.

A little dancin', a little scratchin'

Ideal for all the stay-at-homes (and homeys) our there, the good folks at McDonald's bring us breakdancing-by-keyboard. It's amazing what time and Macromedia(tm) can get done: BBOYBATTLE.COM

Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

I'd heard about this outfit on NPR the other day, and finally had time to check out their web site. I've always been intrigued about things like "living off the grid", and have daydreamed about a simpler existence. I can't imagine where all of our camping / hiking equipment would go, much less where the cat could race around, but it's still fun to look. Check out the smaller accomodations at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.

Remember: Small is Beautiful...and, er, small.

America Supports You Freedom Walk

From Friday's Washington Post: "The Washington Post and other corporate entities initially signed on as co-sponsors. But critics from within the newspaper and from the antiwar movement said partnering with the Pentagon raised questions about objectivity, and three weeks ago The Post pulled its co-sponsorship."

Critics from within the newspaper? If objectivity were the issue, wouldn't taking dollars from advertisers fall into this same category? I think someone needs to think up a better excuse for pulling out of this event....

Edsall Park Exxon: I took this picture last Saturday (3 September 2005), and haven't had time to post it until now. Shortly after this picture was taken, the station stopped selling gasoline altogether (they still haven't restarted). 

America Supports You Freedom Walk

Lorraine and I, and several of our friends, took part in the America Supports You Freedom Walk this morning. It was a wonderful day for a walk, and the event was a great way to spend the morning and early afternoon. Well organized, the walk started about 1000 and the crowd hiked down VA 27 to Memorial Bridge, then across the bridge to the National Mall. It was a great group of people, and the organizers had plenty of water to keep the crowd moving safely.

There were a few exceptionally lame (and very incoherent) protesters along the route; security was very tight, so what few protesters were there, were quite a ways from the crowd.

We stayed a bit at the Clint Black concert, and heard Secretary Rumsfeld's remarks, then we headed over to Old Ebbitt's Grill for lunch. After lunch, we did a little geocaching on the walk back to Arlington.

Another good image of the Secretary.... 

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the concert at the end of the America Supports You Freedom Walk (Sunday, 11 September 2005). 

Nancy Grace. I hadn't really noticed her before this disaster. She's a perfecr fit for today's "it's not really news, because it doesn't change fast enough, so we'll editorialize" cable outlets.

What continues to happen in the Gulf area is a tragedy of remarkable proportions. That's not an excuse for the buzzards to bring their helicopters and RVs to town to pass along rumor and hearsay. Since the news crews can get around fine, let's see the support they're able to offer.

Listening to MSNBC this evening, I was wondering why I hadn't heard from Rev Al Sharpton. I didn't have to wait long. I was expecting to learn he was heading to New Orleans to lead relief efforts. I was surprised to learn he's going to Houston to attend a conference. A conference? I was heartened to hear him play the "race card" -- it's nice to be able to count on some things in life.

In a disappointing move, our host Keith Olbermann clucked about Dennis Hastert's remark about not rebuilding New Orleans, then ran an extended piece about toxic chemicals potentially making the city uninhabitable for years to come. Condoleeza Rice gets a crack for attending a comedy play after the hurricane (she's the Secretary of State, but State's portfolio hasn't included our states for years), but Rev Al gets a pass for rushing to attend a convention.

Then there's the mellifluous Rita Cosby over at MSNBC. Rita brings her own brand of drama. Based on what I've seen, CNN isn't any better, and Fox (as usual) is worse. There's nothing like a crises to bring out the best in cable news.

Annual Credit Report

Well the northeast region will be able to order free annual credit reports starting tomorrow. It's a good idea -- I was surprised to learn, today, that I really live in California...we're going to try to get that fixed real soon now.

Hurricane Katrina came ashore [twice] this morning. What a mess. Given the widespread destruction, it's surprising there weren't more fatalities. That says a lot for the emergency management folks who got as many people out of the way as possible.

Hurricane Katrina

A category 5 storm aimed right at New Orleans? It's going to be a tough night for quite a few folks, and if history is any guide, the next few weeks and months are going to be tough, as well. It looks like quite a few people are heeding the evacuation orders, so with a little luck, the loss of life will be minimal.

Memo to the marketing department

While taking a break from real work this evening, I did a quick Google(tm) search on the phrase "Joint SIAP System Engineering Organization" just to see what people are saying about us. Lo and behold, I find a nice mention on the Lynuxworks(tm) site, which goes so far as to call us ambitious! We're aren't a graphical representation, though. That word "picture" gets us into more trouble....

A note to the marketing folks is in order, though. When pulling clip art that talks about the future, don't use a picture of a ship that is LONG gone. The USS WILLIAM V PRATT (DDG 44) was sold for scrap just a few days short of 10 years ago.

Why I love the World Wide Web (August 2005 edition)

I was doing something important [honest!] when I ran across a reference to International Talk Like A Pirate Day, which will be celebrated on 19 September 2005. How have I gone so long without hearing about this?

RTFM!

While looking for something else, this evening, I ran across this helpful little paper from Eric Steven Raymond. I've fully incorporated Google(tm) in my everyday life, and visit web-based bulletin boards frequently to solve problems or share solutions. Raymond's paper is a nice refresher on how to get the most out of any question -- answer dialog.

Lorraine and I went to the Manassas Hamfest this morning. It was her first -- they're quite an experience. There was stuff there that I haven't seen in years. I'd forgotten about the old table-top AM radio receivers we had when I was a kid -- receivers with real tubes. It reminded me of the old tube testing machines that were in some stores. I haven't thought of those machines for at least 30 years.

Current News

I noticed a print advertisement for this website in the Washington Metro this past week, and thought I'd check it out. Someone's been thinking about how to show solidarity, which is interesting.

CanadianAlly.com

Joe and I participated in the Pathfinder program at Space Camp this past weekend. I'd been through the Astrotrek(r) program two years ago, so it was nice to have a different experience.

Blood & Guts in Virginia (aka Iron & Stone)

I learned this afternoon (actually about an hour ago) that our team (alas unnamed) cracked the famed geocache Blood & Guts in Virginia (aka Iron & Stone). We'd been working on this off and on for two months, but had really put some time into it during the last three or so weeks. I completely understand claims by previous teams that this cache is all-consuming.

It was a lot of fun, and there's a real sense of accomplishment at having solved it. Now I'm ready to build one or two puzzle caches of the same caliber.

"Street Smart" -- The Apprentice(?)

Oh, brother. What a DISASTER. What were those people thinking? Leadership, team building, cohesion, ..., the whole group of loose cannons should be sacked, and the game restarted. The casting directors must be proud of the drama, because there certainly is enough of it.

The ARRL VHF Sweepstakes were this weekend. I completed a modest number of QSOs on 6 meters, and fewer on 2 meters and 70 cm. It was fun to get the additional operating experience.

Blood & Guts in Virginia (aka Iron & Stone).

The frustration continues. We're SO close -- all we need to do is crack the last clue. ARGHHH!

Amateur Radio Service vanity call signs

VanityHQ.com was the place to go to learn about how to obtain a vanity call sign. The fellow that ran VanityHQ.com did a bang-up job in keeping up with the FCC database and the FCC filings, so you could get up-to-date information on the program. Alas, VanityHQ.com is no more. Before it was put in deep-freeze, I learned how to compare the qrz.com, fcc.gov, and Social Security Death Index databases to determine which interesting Amateur Radio Service callsigns (usually 1x2 or 2x1) should be available. Okay, it's a form of hearse-chasing, but it really does work. I'm sitting on a PILE (about 20) callsigns that are eligible to be cancelled; all that is required is a faxed letter to the FCC. I was going to go after one of these, but have decided (at least for now) that the new sequential callsign I was issued (AI4IO) is pretty nice, and probably doesn't need to be replaced, at least in the short term.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for the gouge on how to research available callsigns, or if someone wants to see what I have so far, just drop me a line -- use my callsign at arrl.org.

AI4IO

My new Amateur Radio Service license was posted this afternoon. I'm now AI4IO, a call sign that's far easier for me to say than KI4HHL!

Amateur Extra license

I [finally] passed the 5 WPM CW test this morning, so when the FCC takes action next week, I'll be the proud owner of an Amateur Extra class license. It's great to get past this hurdle!

012153UJAN05

Did a little geocaching in Hallowell before we hit the road to Waterbury. The cache was located in a nice private forest. The sun was out, but there was a breeze and a lot of ice on the ground. The cache container was frozen to the ground, so we couldn't open it.

Stopped by Freeport briefly, then geaded south again. Had a quick lunch at the Maine Diner in Wells. Arrived in Waterbury at 1900, and had dinner at the Hometown Buffet.

New York City(!)

272222UDEC04

Just got back to the Embassy Suites in lower Manhattan from a day of hiking and sightseeing. We had breakfast at the hotel, then headed to the ferry terminal, to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a cold and windy, but crystal clear, day. The wait for the ferry comes in two parts -- it helps greatly to send some folks to get tickets, and some to wait in the ferry line. Lorraine and Emily were the ticket-getters; Joe and I waited in the line.

The Ellis Island experience is worthy of an entire day. The displays are first-rate.

After we got back from the tour, we stopped back at the hotel to warm up and have a snack at the hotel's hospitality set-up. Then, we headed out for dinner in Chinatown. We walked back through Little Italy (where desert was had).

Memphis, TN

A late entry.

261509UDEC04

At Memphis International Airport, in the Northwest lounge. The flight is a bit late in departing, so we're (Emily, Joe, and I) enjoying some quiet time in the lounge.

There's still a little snow on the ground here.

The Muzak folks haven't retired the Christmas tunes for the year, so we're getting our last (or so I hope) dose of the year. If this year is any guide, I only need to wait until shortly after Halloween(tm)* to reenter the "Christmas spirit".

*Trademark of the seasonal merchandising industry

I'm scribbling this on the iPAQ PocketPC at the Holiday Inn in Niceville, FL. It's a cold and rainy evening, but not so cold and rainy that I was dissuaded from a little geocaching! There's a microcache about 1.3 km from the hotel, so I trudged down the road to find it, and score a new state while I was as it.

As I expected, the dining opportunities are very limited. I was surprised to find a Subway sandwich shop open, but I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich, so I passed it by. I'd brought a little pizza from the house, so I had that for a snack. I may head out to the mini-mart across the parking lot if hunger strikes later this evening.

At the Northwest Airlines lounge at Washington's National Airport.

Winter has definely arrived in our Nation's Capital. We had a few chilly days over the past week. A hot water pipe on the second floor failed at a poor solder joint. Fortunately, my hand was four feet from the service cut-off, so there wasn't any water damage.

The new living room furniture showed up on Wednesday. It looks nice; the cats approve, as well.

It looks like baseball will actually return to Washington, DC. a city with the financial and social service problems that DC has needs to plow cash into yet another stadium? It should be evident that the dollars should go to fixing the school system, but that isn't the way it's turning out.

The Montreal Expo's will be renamed the Washington Nationals. It is only a matter of the until the team is renamed the Washington Reagans, just like the airport.

On NW956, preparing to launch to Memphis. As reported, flights are overbooked. I've learned from Lorraine to take advantage of the on-line check-in capability.

What a spectacle. I hadn't realized that tonight's finale episode of The Apprentice was supposed to run all night. Thank goodness for Tivo.

So, Kelly Perdue gets the nod (and the job). Jennifer Massey held her own this evening, but couldn't pull it off in the end.

Regis Philbin? What were "they" thinking? If they needed someone who could run a live broadcast and who could think on their feet, why not pick someone like Billy Crystal? Someone with real talent? And Sugar Ray Leonard? In a half-season packed full of product placement opportunities taken, we have to sit through a plug for an unrelated reality "experience"?

Next season offers something new: class warfare. The haves vs. have nots. How imaginative. We haven't seen that plot twist since the last election.

Amateur Extra

I took (and passed) the Amateur Extra examination yesterday morning. Now all I have to do is pass the CW (Continuous Wave) exam -- I'm planning to take that exam in January. It's offered the second Saturday of every month by the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club. When I pass that exam, I'll have the Extra ticket, allowing me to transmit on the MF and HF bands.

Well, we've now found geocaches in Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, Oregon, and West Virginia. Lorraine and I are up to 55 finds as a team. The game continues to be fun, after about four months. We've introduced a fair number of people to the game / sport / hobby, which is a side benefit.

Antennas

Lorraine and I put up two (stacked) OA-50 6m antennas on Saturday, and added guy lines today. It's a pretty good installation, if I do say so myself. The antenna are from Par Electronics; I bought them from Universal Radio.

This was certainly a two-person job; I'm very lucky that Lorraine was available to help.

Now, all I need to do is finish the studying for the Element 1 (Morse Code) and Element 4 (Extra Class) exams, which I'm planning to take in December.

AE7Q - Amateur Extra Query Tools

I ran across this link while searching for a tool that might help with requesting a vanity call sign: AE7Q - Amateur Extra Query Tools

I continue to be amazed at the things that are available on the World Wide Web.

Oh, forgot to note that my new call sign is KI4HHL...the paper license arrived on Saturday.

Belated entry....

Got the new Comet GP-98 triband vertical antenna installed on the roof on Saturday. It's at the top of a 10 ft mast, and it looks great. Tested it out on Saturday evening.

Installed the Cobra Ultralite Junior on Sunday. It was a chore to get that antenna hung in the trees, then to get the RG8X coax run from the transceiver to the balun and antenna feedline. It all got done by a little after 1900 (which was good, because daylight was going fast), and it tested out fine. The wire isn't very noticeable against the foliage background.

Amateur Radio "ticket"

I took and passed the Technician (Element 2) exam today. On a lark, and at the encouragement of the examination crew from the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club, I took and passed the General (Element 3) exam. Now, all I need to do is complete the Morse Code exam within the next 365 days, and I'll be able to operate with General privileges.

After all of that excitement, Maureen and I went to Ham Radio Outlet in Woodbridge (the place I bought my Kenwood TH-D7a(G)) to buy a Kenwood TS-2000X (and a whole lot more stuff). I was able to bring the radio and a few other things home; several other parts must be shipped in from other locations. I'll be setting up the "ham shack" over the next few weeks. It will take a few days for the license to be posted at the FCC's web site anyway, so there's no big rush.

Boeing Statement on Darleen Druyun Sentencing

Oh, I'm sure Ms Druyun's statements were a total surprise. I'll bet the failed polygraph test was also a total surprise. I'm hoping that the U.S. Department of Justice continues to "have the will and a process to deal with it", as well as any efforts that The Boeing Company can exert.

Boeing Statement on Darleen Druyun Sentencing

This kind of shady under-the-table, deal-making is destructive to the national defense, and undermines whatever trust the public has in our defense procurement system. I'm looking forward to hearing the next few shoes drop in this case.

Club Fed?

On the heels of Martha Stewart taking a little contemplative time off, we have Darleen Druyun fixin' to spend time away from the "rat race". Looks like Ms Druyun might be spending a few months in South Carolina, while Ms Stewart is enjoying the climate in West Virginia.

The last remnants of Hurricane Ivan are blowing across the Washington, DC area this evening. We got a little rain this morning, and had wind gusts all day. We've opened the windows to get the benefit of the much lower temperatures and the breeze. The cats really appreciate the opened windows.

High School Reunion(s)

Lorraine and I flew to Portland, Oregon, this past weekend for my 30-year high school reunion. It's the first reunion I've attended, and I was pleasantly surprised at the experience. I got to see a lot of folks that I haven't seen in the 30 intervening years. I got a chance to talk to a lot of people whom I knew pretty well then, but whom I haven't kept up with. I'm going to try to get better about keeping in touch.

It was sad to see how many of my classmates have died, and the number of people I knew in those days who are in ill health. This puts a little more emphasis on the "keep in touch" promise.

Marion Barry redux

I can remember the day when the dream of the State of New Columbia died. Marion Barry was elected for his third (non-contiguous) term as Mayor of the District of Columbia, and statehood opponents breathed a [permanent] sigh of relief. We've seen all the "taxation without representation" license plates, but we sure haven't seen too much in the way of New Columbia license plates. Oh, well.

Cables

I received three cables from Blue Hills Innovations, and they worked just as one would expect. Very nice quality, and just what I ordered. Now all I need is an FCC Technician license, and I'll be on the air.

WQAV926

Well, it's official. I now have an FCC license, WQAV926. It's a GMRS license, so the next step is to pass the Technician examination so I can fire up my new Kenwood TH-D7A(G).

HP iPAQ 5555, Garmin GPSIII, Garmin GPSMAP 60C

I've been trying, off and on, to connect my Garmin GPSIII or Garmin GPSMAP 60C to my HP iPAQ 5555 PocketPC. I have the correct cable for the iPAQ (it's the sync cable, with an iPAQ connector on one end, and USB and serial (DB9) connectors on the other. The cable for the Garmin is the usual serial cable (it comes in at least two flavors: one with an automobile power connection, and one without).

Also needed is a DB9 - DB9 null modem, and a M-M gender changer.

Well, I could never make the thing work. Yesterday, I bought a new Kenwood TH-D7A(G) 144/440 MHz FM Dual Bander radio, which I'm going to use to experiment with packet radio and APRS (more on APRS to follow, time permitting). The radio purchase brought the whole Garmin - iPAQ problem up again. The Garmin gets connected to the radio, and the radio can be connected to the iPAQ. Since I couldn't connect the Garmin to the iPAQ, I suspected I also couldn't connect the radio to the iPAQ. Not good.

Well, I did a Google(tm) search on the news groups, and lo and behold, got a great hint. I have drivers installed for two kinds of keyboard: the folding type and the micro type (the type that slides on the bottom of the iPAQ and lets you type via a small keyboard). One of these keyboard drivers can be enabled at a time. Guess which COM port the keyboard driver snags? COM1. That's the port that the Garmin was busy sending its data to.

So, the trick was to go in to both keyboard drivers and ensure they were deactivated. Once that was done, the Garmin -to- iPAQ connection worked just fine. Turning the iPAQ off, then on again, yields a system hang which must be reset via a soft reset. It looks like if I reenable the micro keyboard before turning the iPAQ off, that problem is avoided.

Definition of Land-grant university - wordIQ Dictionary and Encyclopedia

As a graduate of two of these fine institutions, I've always been interested in Land Grant Colleges(Universities). Here's a bit of relevant information:

Definition of Land-grant university - wordIQ Dictionary and Encyclopedia

Super freak

1980's musical icon Rick James has passed on. Rick's music, and the music of those he influenced, was in heavy rotation during the time I was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Monterey was close to Fort Ord, so the music on FM radio was slanted more toward the young urban crowd than it otherwise would have.

RIP Rick.