I'm pooped!

[tommag]

Yesterday I went up to Mt Spokane and spent the day working on a repeater, arrived back home around 1700, completely spent. I layed down for a nap at 1730, some nap, I woke up at 2200! Back to bed at almost midnight and slept til 0530. Coffee, breakfast and back up the hill I went. Just got home and want to take a nap again. It's nice that I have an almost full thermos, I got things to attend to tonight.
Sunday it's supposed to snow hard up there so I won't be going up that goat trail for at least two days, slipping off the narrow trail and taking a shortcut to the bottom doesn't appeal to me.
The weather down here calls for lots more rain tomorrow but I've had chicken marinating for a day and a half so I'll spend a little time outside cooking. Chicken adobado with green rice and some avocado will be a nice treat! I'll take the easy way out and heat up a can of refried beans instead of cooking some.

[smb5769]

Wow a two day repeater job? Must be a mess!

[tommag]

Wow a two day repeater job? Must be a mess!

The tv station that owns the site did have a clutter problem, so we spent a couple hours straightening up the garage/shop area so we could string the new heliax above the false ceiling from the comm room. 
The repeater owner is a real stickler for doing things right and documenting everything. I learned that hard line isn't as easy to handle as smaller more flexible coax. Of course, you have to be careful not to compromise the coax, so that slows you down a bit. Then, clean up our mess.
Also, we're old farts and that contributes to the time it takes. I had a BLAST and learned things in the process!

[tommag]

Now I'm re-pooped. I cut a poly barrel in half longitudinally to make planters for garlic. Our soil is contaminated from the firefighting foam at the airbase so I'm using planters. Leveled the ground to set cinder blocks on and scrounged up a couple 10' oak timbers from the free pile at the steel yard, 4x6, they're heavy! Then I insulated the barrel halves with bubblewrap. Tomorrow I'll finish attaching the bubble wrap and shovel a couple buckets of gravel as well as some sand to mix with the used potting soil I got from a marijuana grower.
I'm getting excited, wish my garlic seed was here, but I have to wait for first frost to plant it anyway. Now I'm wanting to plant some chili peppers and tomatoes next spring, I guess gardening is contagious, I'm catching it from myself.
Back up to Mt Spokane Thursday to help finish that project.

[specops56]

Now I'm re-pooped. I cut a poly barrel in half longitudinally to make planters for garlic. Our soil is contaminated from the firefighting foam at the airbase so I'm using planters. Leveled the ground to set cinder blocks on and scrounged up a couple 10' oak timbers from the free pile at the steel yard, 4x6, they're heavy! Then I insulated the barrel halves with bubblewrap. Tomorrow I'll finish attaching the bubble wrap and shovel a couple buckets of gravel as well as some sand to mix with the used potting soil I got from a marijuana grower. 
I'm getting excited, wish my garlic seed was here, but I have to wait for first frost to plant it anyway. Now I'm wanting to plant some chili peppers and tomatoes next spring, I guess gardening is contagious, I'm catching it from myself.
Back up to Mt Spokane Thursday to help finish that project.

You need to take a break brother!

Terry

[tommag]

For some reason I thought Mt Spokane was 4,000 feet. Nope, 6,000, that helps explain the tiredness.
One of my neighbors suggested I grow some okra, nope, I don't like the texture of it. He says I could sell it for good money since it doesn't hold up long enough for shipping. Produce guy at local market says they'd probably buy it. Hmmm... maybe I'll try it.

[olfart]

Okra is one of our favorite crops. We love it fried, pickled, or in soups/stews. Great stuff!

[tommag]

[tommag]

I tried to post a picture I took from the summit yesterday but it doesn't appear to be working for me today. It was a clear day and the view is great. Looking at the tv station's antennas I thought they were vertically polarized so I thought putting up a vertically polarized yagi would be a big improvement, no, I learned they were circular polarized so that wouldn't help. Being around people who actually know things is a great opportunity to learn stuff.
4wd came in handy a couple times. Note to self: put it back in 2wd for switchbacks on bare ground!

[tommag]

Now my garden is up to 14 half barrels. I filled 10 5 gallon buckets with gravel and brought them to the garden and dumped them into the barrels. I did this after my physical therapy this morning and boy am I stiff.
The garlic is looking good, it occupies 6 half barrels.