@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

W6KME

@W6KME@mastodon.radio

Ham Radio and emcomms, musician, tinkerer. CVARC, VCARC, VCARS, Instructor, ARRL VE and ARES/ACS. Ventura County BORED Net and µField Day Administrator. Dedicated to helping hams (including me!) get on the air as often as possible.

Also @w6kme, @w6kme, @w6kme, @w6kme

http://theborednet.net
https://www.patreon.com/W6KME

#hamradio #amateurradio #discworld

I'm searchable via tootfinder. #fedi22

GNU STP. De chelonian mobile.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

ai6yr, to H5N1

UNMC: "There’s no question H5N1 bird flu has ‘pandemic potential.’ How likely is that worst-case scenario?" https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2024/05/07/theres-no-question-h5n1-bird-flu-has-pandemic-potential-how-likely-is-that-worst-case-scenario/

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Anybody in the food industry who says they are surprised by current events is a bald-faced liar.

ai6yr, to random

Oooh, cool, @w6kme says there are ham radio operators on Conway Reef this week.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@gtw @ai6yr It IS a Fiji call, but a separate DX entity. This is only the third time it's been activated. I figure, get it in the log before the sea swallows it for good!

ai6yr, to random

This would be a great deal for someone with need to build a garden bed, but the timeframes this person have in their post ("must be gone tomorrow", ie today) are RIDICULOUS (unless you live next door). Have you ever moved that much weight before? #random #scavenging

W6KME,
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@ai6yr Jeez, you haven't been looking at Nextdoor again, have you?😂

W6KME,
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@ai6yr The "gone by tomorrow or YOU lose (!?), and I'm not telling you where it is today" threw me off the path.

ai6yr, to cycling

Ran some errands by bicycle today... surprised how easy it actually is to get to the store here without running into ANY traffic, if you know the back route. A lot more people could bicycle to the store, if there were a culture change (living in car-driven SoCal). #BikeTooter

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @meganL Fun Fact: our local Target has re-aimed their security cameras so they can't see the bike rack. It was too much hassle being asked to look at the tapes every time bikes were stolen (which was a nearly daily event when my son worked there, even though the racks are adjacent to the front doors.)

ai6yr, to gardening

Another volunteer oak tree coming up in my backyard! Already have one (now about 15 feet tall), letting this one grow as well to provide some shade. We've had massive fatality of the 200 year old oaks in our neighborhood, and although they do reduce areas you can garden in, the shade and habitat is useful and appreciated.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr If you look at many of the surviving oaks, especially the giants, you'll see large fallen limbs or signs of such. Like many tall trees they have to move water a great height essentially by suction, and if there is too little water, cavitation occurs. They typically don't recover from this, and everything uphill of that spot dies. Limb drops are common during drought years and may even hep the tree by shrinking it during hard times. Sometimes, however, the tree collapses catastrophically.

ai6yr, to random

Weather prep task for the day: did more work filling a thermal gap between my kitchen and the outside (note to self: you should have trusted that little voice that said "maybe you should insulate that before the contractors come, because they might not be so careful to insulate that spot").

W6KME,
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@ai6yr To everyone who keeps a first aid kit in their car...those adhesives go bad a lot faster.

ai6yr, to advice

Beekeeper's advice for the day: It's springtime, which is swarming season. If you do not want to have to deal with bees in your walls, make sure to either seal up or put mesh over any exterior hole in your house (especially your eaves and siding), particularly holes that are about penny to thumbtack sized.

W6KME,
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@ai6yr If a bee can get in, so can an ember. Seal that sh*t up!

ai6yr, to random

Apparently a plague of golf carts in Carmi, Illinois. (enough to merit a public safety message, LOL)

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr What memories...back in the 80s I worked at a lumber yard in Palm Springs where the wind would BLOW. Letters on our sign board got pushed around like that all the time. It only had one row that was still tight enough to hold them in place.

bud_t, to random
@bud_t@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Maybe I don't get out much, but is it stylish now to wear a business suit and loafers with no socks? Seems kinda gross

W6KME,
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@ai6yr @bud_t To me, loafers without socks goes with khaki pans, Izod shirts, stupidly expensive sunglasses and plenty of cocaine. It was a super popular look with bro dudes from rich families who knew they were never going to do any real work their entire lives.

ai6yr, to random

🙄 $365 coffee machine. Also lazy journalism, looks like what you'd copy/paste from a press release here. Your review should not be marketing copy (IMHO). https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/12/home-coffee-brewing-aiden-machine-fellow/

Constructed from high-quality materials that are both aesthetically pleasing and long-lasting, Aiden is designed to be a staple in the kitchen for years to come. This commitment to quality materials not only enhances the user experience but also aligns with ecological sustainability practices by reducing the need for frequent replacements — and if something does need repairing, you can get spare parts easily.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr I've been sending event announcements and other promotional stuff to small newspapers for years, and they often get printed as an article, not a calendar item. And even major media has accepted produced "news" for a price since the concept of "news" was first imagined. Used to be a drinking game years ago, having a drink every time Hal Fishman on Channel 5 read a news item that was not even a thinly veiled advertisement.

ai6yr, to cycling

achievement unlocked. This cyclist went to the market. This cyclist did not stay home. This cyclist bought arugula and butter. This cyclist put it on the new rack and pedaled (wee! wee! wee!) uphill all the way home.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr A picky eater is simply insufficiently hungry.

ai6yr, to diy

Stucco: where, literally, goofs you make are set in stone, LOL. Decided to punt on the color matching, and will instead be painting this to match.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Good choice about painting; you'll never match stucco color because stucco isn't one color. Wait a couple of months before doing so; it will burn through paint and leave brown stains.

ai6yr, to Cats

ScienceAlert: "Mysterious Link Between Cats And Schizophrenia Is Real, Study Finds" https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-link-between-cats-and-schizophrenia-is-real-study-finds

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Without a causative link, you've only got statistics, not science. And their statistics are admittedly quite shaky and vague.

If you can't make a definitive point with statistics, you don't have any point at all, just a vague correlation.

Their headline goes from vague speculation to outright lie. Not a good look for whoever "ScienceAlert" is.

ai6yr, to delhi

Missed this post from yesterday from CHP Moorpark... "Six separate crashes within 5 minutes snarled traffic on US-101 NB on the Conejo Grade heading into Camarillo during this mornings commute. Original cause? One car with a flat tire in the center divide. That caused this chain reaction of crashes" #Camarillo #traffic

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Do you ever wish they would put the real cause of crashes in their report/call notes? All of these were caused by driver error, not by the car in the center divider.

ai6yr, to random

A+++ contracting and painting work!

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr There's a right way and a wrong way to do these hinges...the wrong way will break your fingers, and the right way isn't hard. Remove the tension from the spring first, scrape off some of the paint, screw the hinge in, add tension as needed. Usually you'll need an allen wrench and a nail. Plenty of YT vids out there showing the details.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk-24nP2Lb0

ai6yr, to delhi

First major eclipse traffic jam starting... Kerrville to Dallas, I believe. Big eclipse event in Kerrville... people going back to their hotels in San Antonio?

W6KME,
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@ai6yr Not that anyone asked, but residents of Kerrville call themselves Kerrverts.

W6KME, to random
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Today is the day that I learned that by changing only two letters, Fort Lauderdale becomes Fart Louderdale.

ai6yr, to random

Yay! Finally, the vehicle won't start at all... rather than being intermittent. New starter or cables needed, likely. Has been spotty for months, but neither I nor my mechanic had been able to diagnose it since it was so intermittent. Intermittent car problems are worse than car problems.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr @quartzcity @david Just like whacking the door when the power window won't move. There are still a few systems in modern cars that are made of actual moving parts that can get stuck.

ai6yr, to random

Facts > Feelings

I love it when people correct me if I get my facts wrong. (nicely, of course, LOL!). I love it when people out here know more about a subject than I do. It's AWESOME! So thanks in advance for pointers to references/research/etc. on things.

I realize that a great many people I know (in person) cannot bear to be corrected (even when they are wrong) -- for sake of "saving face". I don't get why that is the case... none of us are infallible. All of us can always learn from someone else.

Anyway, THANKS!

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr People enjoy knowing and learning, or they enjoy being the expert. Doesn't seem to be much overlap.

ai6yr, to random

Ah, Billionaires privatizing space (with sonic boom) tonight. #space #launch #Vandenberg

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr You wanna know why all these billionaires are obsessed with space? Because guillotines need gravity.

ai6yr, to delhi

Massive traffic accident on the 101E (south) in Calabasas, multiple cars involved, at least one vehicle on its roof, other vehicles off the side. (no doubt as a result of the intense rain band moving through).

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr I know you agree with this, so I'm not nit-picking...the rain didn't cause this. It fell on my car all night in the driveway and my car didn't flip over, not even a little bit. It was drivers, not rain that caused the crash.

Maybe I'm just old and grumpy, but it does feel like the percentage of drivers who do not modify their driving to suit conditions has risen over the years. Modern cars are so good that they tend to get away with it until they don't, in more dramatic fashion.

W6KME, to random
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

Talked my wife, who has resisted getting her own ham license for years (in spite of being a solo backcountry hiker) into trying a practice test for the Technician license. She beat 50%, which is double what a random distribution of answers would be. She needed 8 more correct answers to pass. This is someone who has refused to study or even look at the material.

I'll keep up the fight, but EVERYONE who ventures further than their own neighborhood should get a license and carry a cheap radio.

ai6yr, to random

Figured out how the disaster remediation contractor hired by my insurance firm makes their margin. They spent a lot of time getting estimates for carpet to match the existing carpet quality ($$) approved by the insurance company, but the carpet they ended up installing is Home Depot contractor grade (yes... I knew this would be the case). This is why a lot of the folks I talked to who took the money from insurance to do their own remodel are in litigation.

W6KME,
@W6KME@mastodon.radio avatar

@ai6yr Andy they will get away with it nearly always. Even when the homeowner is savvy enough to see what's happening, few have the resources to fight it.

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