what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[W2R]

Went to local health clinic; have tonsillitis.

Sorry to hear about your tonsillitis. Hope you get better soon and don't need surgery right away for it.

 

[Meadbh]

Sorry to hear about your tonsillitis. Hope you get better soon and don't need surgery right away for it.

Nobody needs surgery right away for tonsillitis; in fact surgery has no place in acute tonsillitis (unless it's diphtheria). Surgery is only indicated when there is recurrent tonsillitis with airway obstruction and sleep apnea.

 

[W2R]

Nobody needs surgery right away for tonsillitis; in fact surgery has no place in acute tonsillitis (unless it's diphtheria). Surgery is only indicated when there is recurrent tonsillitis with airway obstruction and sleep apnea.

Oh.... thanks!

- - - W2R (with tonsils, still! )

 

[Walt34]

Took the truck out of the garage for the first time in a week for a grocery run. The unusual thing was the tires were thumping so much because of the recent cold that it took a much longer ride than planned to exercise them and smooth out the flat spots and get everything fully warmed up (including me!).

So a planned ten-mile round trip went to ~40 miles just to give the truck an exercise run.

Retirement is great. That's the only useful thing I did all day.

Oh, that and made a note to go see the Trains of Christmas display at the Hagerstown Railroad Museum before they change it in February. A newspaper article makes it sound worth the trip and $5.

 

[MichaelB]

Yesterday was "get out of the house" day so I went to see "Wolf of Wall St.". I didn't find it all that enjoyable or pleasant.

 

[W2R]

Today I painted all of the shutters on my house. They were looking pretty ratty, and now that it is getting warmer here and no rain, it seemed like a good time to get out there and get it done!

It's a WHOLE lot more work at 65 than it was in my early 50's. Puff puff, pant pant. But not too much, not enough to inspire over-doing, so it is still a good exercise activity for me. Of course the first step was trimming back the bushes so that they won't touch the new paint. Then I got ready to paint; I wore painting clothes and painting shoes and splashed paint all over myself since I am a lousy painter! But, enough got on the shutters, and none on the brick or windows, so all is well.

I don't have the energy to go out there and snap a photo, but here's an old one from 2002 so that you can see the shutters. They look JUST like that now, same color, too. I keep paint in that color for "shutter painting frenzies" like this one. When I get around to it I will replace my wooden (fake) shutters with more practical ones that don't need painting and can protect under high wind conditions. But at least for now, my house once again looks like a civilized human lives in it.

 

[Cassie]

Nice looking home, W2R! I hope to have a one story if I buy another house, I say if because I'm thinking of a condo next. Homeownership is a pain for me...the continuous maintenance part.

 

[W2R]

Nice looking home, W2R! I hope to have a one story if I buy another house, I say if because I'm thinking of a condo next. Homeownership is a pain for me...the continuous maintenance part.

Thank you! I know what you mean - - I keep thinking of a condo too, but I guess I am not ready to move yet. Maybe in a few years. I like my little house right now. I hire someone to do the grass, but I get stuck with other tasks. I have to do shutter painting every 2-3 years, I suppose. The last time was in late 2010, when I had a painter do them because I was having the interior of my house painted. Since he was already there, I asked him to do the shutters and doors, too.

 

[beowulf]

-- . .-. -.-. .. .-.-.- / ... . -. - / ..-. .-. --- -- / .-.. --- .-- / .--. --- .-- . .-. / .. .--. .... --- -. . .-.-.-

Hope you weren't trying to keep your real identity secret

--... ...--

 

[beowulf]

Very nice, W2R. I agree, owning a single family home starts getting to be a real pain as you get older. I used to try to do everything myself, but now, at 65, most work is contracted out.

 

[Major Tom]

Hope you weren't trying to keep your real identity secret

--... ...--

It took me a considerable time to decipher NW-Bound's Morse code. I can copy code off the radio at up to about 20wpm but seeing it written down complicates the process a great deal for me. First I have to look at the dits and dahs and say them to myself in order to create a sound I can understand (as in "Di da dit", for example). Once I've heard the sound, I then know what letter it is. Making it a little more complicated was the fact that I was having trouble figuring out where the spaces between the letters were in the written code. Then if that wasn't complex enough, something in my head didn't like the fact that the dahs were written at a higher level than the dits - my head expects to see the dahs at the lower level because, well, they're dahs. I know that makes no sense, but it's the way my mind "expects" to see them.

I just tuned to 40 meters and started copying some code. It is so much easier than reading it off a page!

 

[NW-Bound]

It took me a considerable time to decipher NW-Bound's Morse code. I can copy code off the radio at up to about 20wpm but seeing it written down complicates the process a great deal for me...

That's far better than I could do, which is 0wpm.

I used a Web-based code translator, in order to get back at BWE.

 

[beowulf]

Agree completely, Major Tom. I can copy between 15 and 20 wpm depending on the quality of the CW sent. Poor spacing makes me fall way behind. My KX3 is the first rig I have owned that actually decodes the CW and displays it on the screen. I try not to look as it throws me off regular copy. I know some folks use keyboards and computer screen decoders, but I never understood what the point was.

Sorry to the list - just taking ham radio stuff .

 

[Major Tom]

A KX3? I'm envious. That's one way in which my K2 is "superior" in that it doesn't distract me in that fashion (as, of course, it doesn't even have a CW decoder.)

That's one way of looking at, I suppose

Di-di-di-di-dah-dee-dah.

Dit dit.

(And my apologies also to everyone else for talking shop.)

 

[Dreamer]

Took my 5 yr old granddaughter ice skating. She had never been ice skating before and it has been many moons since I had been and I was not good then either. I grew up roller skating and enjoy it much more than ice skating. We had fun, but I was so glad to take those skates off at the end. DH would not ice skate, but took pictures. We ate and then went to the play place at the mall. Ended the night by taking her to Sweet Frogs, a yogurt store. Good day and hopefully good memories for our granddaughter! I am tired and realize that I need to start exercising more!

 

[ERD50]

It took me a considerable time to decipher NW-Bound's Morse code. I can copy code off the radio at up to about 20wpm but seeing it written down complicates the process a great deal for me. First I have to look at the dits and dahs and say them to myself in order to create a sound I can understand (as in "Di da dit", for example). Once I've heard the sound, I then know what letter it is. Making it a little more complicated was the fact that I was having trouble figuring out where the spaces between the letters were in the written code. Then if that wasn't complex enough, something in my head didn't like the fact that the dahs were written at a higher level than the dits - my head expects to see the dahs at the lower level because, well, they're dahs. I know that makes no sense, but it's the way my mind "expects" to see them.

I just tuned to 40 meters and started copying some code. It is so much easier than reading it off a page!

Funny. I was just reading up on some history about the telegraph, and the original designs that Morse used had a pen or pencil hitting a paper tape that was pulled along by a wind up mechanism. So a dash would show up as a longer streak than a dot, and the spaces were seen. But in a short time, the operators learned to 'tune in' to the sound, and could have it decoded by listening before one could read the tape and translate it.

This apparently did not sit well with Mr. Morse, but he couldn't stop them.

old telegraph - telegraf - with paper tape & ink - YouTube

-ERD50

 

[Major Tom]

Funny. I was just reading up on some history about the telegraph, and the original designs that Morse used had a pen or pencil hitting a paper tape that was pulled along by a wind up mechanism. So a dash would show up as a longer streak than a dot, and the spaces were seen. But in a short time, the operators learned to 'tune in' to the sound, and could have it decoded by listening before one could read the tape and translate it.

This apparently did not sit well with Mr. Morse, but he couldn't stop them.


-ERD50

I am so used to hearing the pure tones of CW as a result of the local oscillator in my receiver mixing with the carrier wave of the transmitted signal, that I didn't find it easy to decode the code being sent in that video (if indeed, he even was sending something coherent.) Telegraph operators would have been able to decode by listening to the clickity-clack of their machines. A lesser being such as myself needs to hear dits and dahs in tones, but I do love the mental workout inherent in being able to hear a stream of Morse code and decode it in my head. For proficient high speed ops, they can recognize entire words and beyond that, hear the sounds of high speed code and near-instantly just know what ideas are being communicated without paying attention to the individual words, in the same way that people decode the spoken word in normal conversation. For myself, I recognize the rhythms of common words, such as "the", "that" etc but most words I have to spell out to myself in my head.

"Zen And The Of Radiotelegraphy" is a free publication that talks about Morse code - not just the mechanics and procedure of learning it, but also the psychology behind learning the code. It's a good read and is available for free at Zen and the Art of Radiotelegraphy, IK0YGJ

We should call it Vail Code though, as Alfred Vail was the one who came up with it; Morse's code was much less efficient. Vail (who was working for Morse) came up with the idea of taking the most often-used letters, and giving them the simplest code (such as a single dit for e, and di-dit for i). Z doesn't get used often, so it is represented by da-dah-di-dit.

 

[davemartin88]

Yesterday I made croissants. Used a recipe from Cooks Illustrated magazine, my favorite cooking magazine. They turned out great. I filled about half of them with ham and cheddar cheese, make a nice lunch sandwich if they last that long. I'll freeze a few of them for later as well. Here are a couple of pictures, first one ready for the oven. Second just after they finished.

 

[Walt34]

It's a WHOLE lot more work at 65 than it was in my early 50's.

I can see that coming here too. The metal front porch railing is starting to look pretty ratty so in the spring I'll have to wire brush that down, prime and paint. Next is all exterior trim and foundation walls. That looks better than the railing but I don't want to wait until it starts peeling.

A CCRC is starting to look better and better because all that maintenance stuff (and the storage space for the tools, and the tools themselves) go away.

But perhaps I'm a wimp. My paternal grandfather painted the entire exterior of his two-story house at age 70.

 

[freebird5825]

I woke up 4 lbs lighter than I was at year end 2013. I am doing my mini-stepper in my living room and eating more salads, veggies and leaner meats. I always put on a few pounds over the winter so I am getting myself back down a few before 4 turns into 10 turns into 20.

I'm going to put off housecleaning for another day...or 2...or 3...I did the master bedroom and living room from top to bottom and need a break from that. I have to be in the right mood to do the full scale attack.

Light snow is falling here. I may motivate myself and go up to Boonville and watch football with the vets at the VFW. Mr B has a full day of IRS tax code reading to do so he won't be much company. His fave team, NE Patriots won last night, so his interest in today's games is minimal.

I have a bit of cabin fever so getting out of the house will be good for me. Snow forecast is good so no worries there. Driving north to the edge of the Adirondacks can be quite interesting, even with 4WD, so I am vigilant about the weather. I keep a sleeping bag and food/water supplies in the car with me just in case. The area I drive through to get to my destination is sparsely populated, but well patrolled by state police, sheriff, state snow plows and local volunteer fire department folks. It's a bit of an adventure.

 

[W2R]

I can see that coming here too. The metal front porch railing is starting to look pretty ratty so in the spring I'll have to wire brush that down, prime and paint. Next is all exterior trim and foundation walls. That looks better than the railing but I don't want to wait until it starts peeling.

A CCRC is starting to look better and better because all that maintenance stuff (and the storage space for the tools, and the tools themselves) go away.

But perhaps I'm a wimp. My paternal grandfather painted the entire exterior of his two-story house at age 70.

Well, some people like your grandfather are like that but I'm not! I still remember seeing an old man several years ago, who was probably in his 90's, mowing his tiny front lawn with a push mower. I was impressed, but I hope to be out from under that sort of task before I get to such an advanced age.

I agree, I am tired of doing maintenance or hiring and overseeing others on an as-needed basis to do maintenance. Any arrangement where that isn't necessary is beginning to have a great appeal to me, including a CCRC or even just a rented apartment.

I woke up 4 lbs lighter than I was at year end 2013. I am doing my mini-stepper in my living room and eating more salads, veggies and leaner meats. I always put on a few pounds over the winter so I am getting myself back down a few before 4 turns into 10 turns into 20.

Woo-hoo!!! You GO girl!!!

 

[Khan]

I can not figure out how to post pictures here.

 

[W2R]

I can not figure out how to post pictures here.

Khan, the easy way is to push the little icon (in the posting window) that looks like a paperclip, and just upload the photo from your computer.

Alternately, you can host the photo elsewhere and use the URL with the Insert Image icon in the posting window.

 

[Khan]

Where is this paperclip?
And where is insert icon?

 

[W2R]

Where is this paperclip?

When you are typing the post, look just above where you are typing, near the center, for the paperclip.

The Insert Image icon is just below it and two to the right (and is yellow with a mountain).