I ENJOYED 7 STRAIGHT HOURS OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION TODAY

A CANDID SHOT OF KELLY & PHEEBS THIS MORNING

The discontinued same-same barking dog route around the block which we gave up a month ago has actually turned out to be a good thing.  Each morning now finds us walking/hiking in a different section of desert.  This morning we Jeeped out to an area just north of House/Indian Rock.  The area around Indian Rock is a favorite hiking area because of it’s large boulders & rock formations.  Very pretty with all the varieties of cactus & long scenic views out over the desert floor.  But this morning we wanted to check out a rugged piece of road we had first come across a couple years ago.  Located it, parked the Jeep & headed off on foot.

YES WE COULD TAKE THE JEEP DOWN THIS ROAD BUT AT WHAT COST

 

THIS ROUGH GULLIED & BOULDER LADEN ROAD LEADS TO A DISTANT VALLEY

EASY TO SEE SOME OF THE DRIVING DIFFICULTIES HERE

It became apparent right away we would not be trying to head down this road with the Jeep.  We probably could have slowly made our way along it but no road is worth voluntarily risking damage to a vehicle.  Our Jeep is stock straight from the factory.  No monster tires & it’s not raised an extra couple feet off the ground with super duper shocks & all that stuff.  Not customized in any way so there is a limit to where we can go with it.  The smart thing is in knowing where a vehicle’s limits are & resisting that ever present young guy’s urge to just go do it anyway.

THE CHALLENGING ROAD PICKS IT’S WAY THROUGH ROCKS & BOULDERS HEADING FOR THAT GAP ON THE HORIZON… LONG SHADOWS INDICATE AN EARLY MORNING HIKE

 

The road was rough underfoot with ruts, steep gulley's, jutting rocks & loose gravel.  Kelly found herself a dead Agave plant stock & used it as a walking support stick.  Pheebs & I went on ahead a bit to see if the road eased up a bit but it didn’t.  Only tracks on the ground were from ATV’s.  I could see the only way to make our way through this valley between tall rock strewn Saguaro Cactus was on an ATV.  No point in us going any further so we turned around & made our way back to the Jeep. 

Temperatures were coming up as we bounced our way along the twisting windy roads leading back to Congress.  It had been another nice jaunt in the desert to an area we hadn’t walked before.  I always love seeing new stuff.

KELLY FINDS AN OLD AGAVE PLANT & DECIDES TO MAKE A WALKING STICK OUT OF IT

 

HAD TO BREAK THE BOTTOM PRICKLY HALF OF THAT AGAVE OFF

LOOSE STONES & GRAVEL MADE THESE STEEP DESCENTS DIFFICULT FOR KELLY

With Remembrance/Veteran’s day approaching the History channel had back to back programming on the history of World War 2.  I’ve always had an interest in history & years ago read countless books regarding the wars.  Today was one of those days as I sat for 6 hours watching an excellent Canadian series in 6 parts called D-Day To Victory & an hour watching a biography on British Air Ace Douglas Bader.  This is the fellow who flew with 2 wooden legs.  Much of the 6 segment series involves interviews with remaining Canadian, British, & American veterans & I find their stories so compelling.  In my book reading days it was mainly the American side of the war I read about but in these latter years it is the Canadian side of the war I have become more interested in & it is at this time of year around November 11th I look forward to watching the history channel to understand those harsh realities of that time.  I consider today’s 7 straight hours of history television the best 7 hours of television viewing I have spent for many years. 

 

PHEEBS & I WENT ON AHEAD TO SEE IF THE ROAD GOT ANY BETTER & IT DIDN’T

LOOKING BACK IN THE DIRECTION OF CONGRESS

And a word about the History channel.  Once a favorite television channel of mine years ago I have become so disappointed in the direction they have decided to go with their programming.  A show called ‘Pawn Stars’ has pretty well taken over this once fine & respected educational channel.  If I click on the history channel 10 times you can bet 9 of those times it will have the show ‘Pawn Stars on.’  The history channel fills about 90% of it’s air time with this show & another one called ‘Pickers’ or something.  Another wheeler-dealer format.  I’m not one who cares for these types of shows whatsoever!!!!

 

IT WAS A WEEK AGO SATURDAY WE HIKED UP THAT HILL ON THE LEFT

Figured the true test as to how well our new Omni antenna was working would be when we turned on our computers this morning.  Would there be a connection & if there was how strong would it be.  Happy to say we did have a strong internet connection & it was reasonably fast.  If nothing goes bump in the night I will optimistically crawl out on a limb here & say ‘yes’ our new Omni antenna as solved our internet connection & strength problems.  Several readers had a few questions.  TOM asks, “What is the GAIN on the Omni? IN radio or telecom, 3 db is twice the power. Also another thing with radio, is that the cable length is tuned. Is this the cable that came with the Omni”?  Don’t know the answer about GAIN & yes the 20’ cable came with the antenna.  DAVE asks, “Al, in the "Wi-Fi Settings" there are two choices -- 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz, have your tried both settings”?  Kelly is guessing we have the 2.4GHz but we’re not sure.  And IVAN had this caution about the antenna, “You may want to research/consider adding a ground wire or grounding block to your antenna cable ... I had a scanner antenna on my roof and it got hit by lightning. Blew off a bit of siding the coax ran under, and fried my computer even though it was not connected and was unplugged. Luckily, the coax burned off before much more damage could be done”. 

And a note to KL…..like you I use the jpeg format for all my photos, not the Raw format.  Oh, & what did Kelly get at the North Ranch garage sale Saturday you ask…….one small green  plastic outside folding table to set beside her front porch chair to set her afternoon tea on.  Total garage sale expenditure….$2 & yes our Omni signal remained strong & reliable all day.  Bonus:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A lady reflecting back on her annual summer vacation trek from Chicago to a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin has this memory.  Every year, it seems, we would get on a highway a few miles out of the city, and mom would wail, "Oh my goodness! I think left the iron on." And almost every year we would turn around and go back. But as I recall, not once was it was ever plugged in. She often had the same fear that all our earthly possessions would disappear in a fire caused by her forgetfulness.  When I was about 14 years old, we were headed out of Chicago for Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and, sure enough, Mom gasped, "I just know I left the iron on."  My father didn't say a word, just pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, got out, opened the trunk and handed her the iron.