From the Heart

Posted on February 18, 2018 by Jeff

Update: So finally met with cardiologists. Not as bad as first indicated by scans.. going with treating with meds. Should be out of here today.

So on Friday Feb 16 I finally picked up the phone and called consulting nurse. I knew where this was going to go. I used the words “chest pain”. The words that always get you to the front of the line.

Like any “guy” I have been ignoring the symptoms for a while. For the last two weeks I have noticed a sharp pain when I start walking for a while or exerting myself. I was chalking it up to a respiratory problem. Maybe the beginning of a cold? Walking pneumonia? It got worse with time. I started to realize this was something else. During the day at work it was not noticeable.

So it was not long between checking into Urgent Care and being transferred to Tacoma General cardiac short stay ward. That’s a hopeful name huh? Short stay? I’ll be out of here in 24 hours, Right? Nope.

Today I took a stress test of my heart. Load me up with as isotope, take live images of my heart at rest. Get on a treadmill, work up a sweat and get my heart rate up. Go back and take images of the heart.

It’s now Sunday morning just past midnight. I have yet to see the cardiologist, so they can explain what they found. However we do know by the way the staff is acting and the fact they just gave me a blood thinner, that there is probably going to be a procedure tomorrow. What procedure? We don’t know for sure. With Robin’s inside knowledge we are pretty sure I have a blockage and getting a stent. We just have to wait

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Her Fight is Over

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Jeff

On the morning of Tuesday May 23 at 3:12AM my mother Margaret Ann Haws (Sixberry) passed. Jennifer and I are grieving and making arrangements.

Please visit moms page by clicking Margaret on the menu and leave a memory or story that you would like to share.

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Don’t Fall for this Scam

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Jeff

So we got this call about 6 times today on the answering machine. It’s obviously a scam. However the scope of this effort and the target, Apple … amazes me. Turns out that this scam could be a couple of months old. It’s new to me though. Unlike the Fortune story this was not a real person but a robo-call. Like any another scam they are just evolving.

Here is what appears on the caller ID

The phone number comes up as 408-606-5775. That’s the real phone number for the Cupertino store next to Apple Headquarters.

The audio gives out a different number. That of course takes you to someone who just wants to get your credit card or AppleID + password.

Do you think the people that came up with Siri would use that voice? Why wouldn’t the scammers just use Siri to record the message to add a bit more credibility to their call.

Most people I know would not fall for this, however we all know someone who is susceptible to this kind of scam. So spread the word and educate.

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The New Google Earth

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Jeff

I love Google Earth.  As of late it’s been harder and harder to take my existing adventures and plug them into google maps. We now we know why, the new google earth debuted this week. I’m still exploring and playing with it. However there is something kind of cool in the new Google Earth. My Jeep. My trip to the Moab area back in 2014 was a bucket list trip for me. I really need to sit down one day and write about it.

While I was there I had a day to myself where I explored. On that day I came across and interesting rock formation between Dead Horse State Park and Canyonland National Park. I later learned that this was Beehive Butte. I took some of those photos and added them to the old Google Earth. You could find them, but you had to turn of the photo layer and know what you were looking for. My photo of Beehive was the only one on Google Earth.

Well now if you look up Beehive Butte on the new Google Earth – guess what is in the upper right corner of the display as the featured photo of point of interest? One guess… Yeah, that’s right. My Jeep.

 

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New Mobile Radio The Kenwood TD710

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Jeff

So I finally got around to installing the D710 into the Jeep last Sunday. It’s a sloppy job right now, lots of wire loose in the cab. I’m going to clean it up this weekend. In the mean time I have APRS and 65W of mobile power. I have not been on the air much lately… so if you see me roaming around in APRS – go ahead and give me a quick QSO.

Here is a hint about trying to learn the operations of this radio – the printed manual included in the box has some very basic info in in it. However there ewer ego many question I could not answer – tunes out the CD that is included has all the “missing” manuals you’re looking for.

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The Wedding

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Jeff

The day is finally here. 

Here  is a 360° photo

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Why I’m Late to Work this Morning

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Jeff

So you know how it is, your on your way to work, you have Waze running and your thinking that you will get to the train station in plenty of time.  That is until you see the flashing lights in your rear view mirror. The Washington state trooper that pulled me over was very pleasant and friendly. I wish I had caught her name, but you know, traffic stop.

Long story short, I was missing my year tag from my back plate. Seems that it was still taped to my registration. I remember back in March that the jeep and the license place were covered in mud, so I was going to apply the sticker later. She was glad I found it, and even applied it for me. Then she comes back to passenger window and said no ticket or warning, and by the way “awesome jeep”. When I pointed out the egg in the back and the Barbasol can on the dash, I could just catch a hint of Jurassic Park fan girl coming out.

Then she asked if it was OK if she took a photo, so she could tell her coworkers over morning report and coffee that she pulled over the Jurassic Park jeep. I said of course!

So besides the tweet I sent to Washington State Patrol, I just wanted to say thank you to the nameless trooper who made me not care I was late for my train this morning.

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An “Easter Egg” for the Jeep

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Jeff

The other night when we had dinner at The Table in Tacoma. We could see the Jeep from where we sat and a couple of guys walking by were gawking at the Jeep and taking photos. One noticed the barbasol can, and they both cup their hands against the window to see what else was inside. This happens more than you would think. So I decided to make another “Easter egg” for people to find. Literally – an egg.

A quick purchase from etsy and I have a resin replica raptor egg. A trip to goodwill and I have a small $10 pet carrier. Another trip to the arts and craft store and I have some moss and plastic fern fronds.  I give you the InGen specimen collection cage.


So the next time someone peaks in the window – they will see a raptor egg.

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Buddiepole First Field Test

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Jeff
Setting up a field station on the top of Red Mountain with KX3 and Buddie Pole

Setting up a field station on the top of Red Mountain with KX3 and Buddie Pole

So I was in the Wenatchee National Forest recently, see “It All Started with a Photo on Facebook“. I brought my KX3 and the new Buddie Pole. We drove up to the top of Red Mountain where the rest of our party did the 1 Mile hike to the fire tower there. I opted to stay in the parking area and set up a field station with the new antenna and a the KX3. Got good results on 20 meters, however for some unknown reason 40 meters would not get me anything better than a 24:1 SWR. Just as I was troubleshooting, the hikers returned so I had to stop and close down.

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It All Started with a Photo on Facebook

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Jeff
IMG_9965

The Photo that started it all

So for the last few months I have been looking forward to this seasons opening camping trip. Dispersal camping in the Wenatchee NF just north of Liberty, WA. Then a few weeks ago I noticed a photo of a Jeep on a cliff edge in a Facebook group that I belong to. The moment I saw it, I knew I have to get a photo of my Jeep on that same rock. Turns out it was less than two miles from where we were planning on camping!

So asking on the group where this was, learning the name of the trail, Hole in the Rock, and then exploring the area with Google Earth – I found what I was pretty sure the right spot. So in it went as a waypoint into the GPS.

Well it was the right rock! It was a lot less dangerous than it looks in photos. It was fun to get our rigs (two Jeep Wranglers and a Toyota 4 Runner) up on that ledge get some great shots.

Now, for the REAL adventure. So back at the campsite at the end of the day, Dave starts speculating that you could hang your tires over the edge of that rock, and because of the angle you could rest your rig on the frame and be relatively safe. We were shut down pretty quickly by both our wives. We dropped the subject, however there was this silence and I am pretty sure at the moment Dave and I were thinking the same thing, “How can we do this…”

The next morning, we had just the opportunity we needed. A young man maybe 20 years old came to our campsite, he was looking for friends, and had very vague directions. It sounded like was describing the group of campers next to the rock, down the the “danger zone” signs that had posted around camp. So instead of trying to explain to him how to get there. I said, I’ll just take you, and Dave said he would come along too. With very little said, we knew what we were going to do.

So we led our visitor to the campsite – and it turned out it was not his friends. Who knew there was more than one campsite with “Danger Zone” signs around it?

Dave and I put a plan into action. So here is the video. We had a go pro and two iPhones. One of which went tumbling down over the cliff and subsequently rescued by Dave, that’s another video…

 

 

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