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28 March 2024
Even more moments have passed since the last MOM. I find if you don't use
Linux, you loose it. It took me forever to remember where I stored all these
Gopher files. As you can imagine I found them.
I see the sporadic dates here and I can see that I have lived a life between
these posts. I think that's a good thing. You don't want to live behind a
computer for your whole life.
6 August 2021
It's been a moment (as the kids say) since I posted a MOM. Not much to report
apart from school's back in session. However, we are masked because the Delta
Variant is on the loose. Not to be glib, but it's a bit scary. Many of us are
vaccinated, but there is a strong political anti-science current in the
country that believes that the vaccine is a work of globalists or crazy
lizard people. I wish I were kidding.
I recently upgraded my amateur radio license to General. I didn't change
my call sign (KC7RZR) because I've had it for so long. As I work on my Extra
I'll be thinking about a new call. While here are a few in the vanity pool that
are nice, I will probably have to make a decision later. I've had KC7RZR for
so long that a new call would feel strange.
Ham radio has become very interesting with HF privileges. As a Tech you really
don't feel like there is much for you to do. I'm not into disaster prep and
some of the guys on 2m are really coarse. I got an ICOM 7300 at HRO and have
been enjoying making contacts. Most of my time has been spent working on the
infrastructure for the stealth antennas I have at my HOA-saddled home.
29 September 2020
If you have made your way here from Floodgap, welcome. I am new to the Gopher
game and my hole might be a little sparse. Take a look around and feel free to
drop me a line any time. My email address is under the Magic Margin banner.
09 September 2020
What a long time it has been since the last MOM. You make plans to do something
on a regular basis and it falls by the wayside. That's the nature of making
plans.
Not much has been going on. Since the last MOM, the world has basically blown
up. I haven't seen a student in person since early March. COVID got worse,
better, and worse again. The bullish rouges thought that it would all be over
in a matter of months. Here we are, still uncertain about the future; working
at home. I have enjoyed this chance to be out of the classroom. I know a lot of
others have felt the same way. When you take all the enjoyable parts of teaching
and put them online, it makes teaching so much better.
03 April 2020
We are weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic and you can sense that Americans are
particularly unsuited to these historic times. The lines at the stores are
difficult for a people accustomed to unfettered prosperity. There are shortages
that show the cracks if our resolve. Baby boomers who never experienced
social upheaval from a force beyond their own creation deny [in progress].
I remember my grandmother telling me about her childhood in London during the
Blitz. She lived in East Ham with her father (a veteran of the First world war),
brother, and sister. She never mentioned her mother. I expect it was too
difficult for her to call up the memories.
She talked about the nights she spent in the tube stations while bombs went
off around the city. She recalled the fires that swept through the bombed
buildings. There were lines everywhere and people waited patiently.
Experts say that we are
practicing "social distancing" and obeying stay-home orders to "flatten the
curve." In other words, reduce the number of critically ill people that will
seek medical attention. It has shown the cracks in our health system. The
early deniers are silent or have had a remarkable change of heart. Toilet
paper is still a going concern, but being early to the markets increases your
chance of finding it.
23 March 2020
The wind here in Phoenix is nice. There are birds chirping and the baby quail
will soon be following their parents around single-file.
12 March 2020
I went to the grocery store to get some toilet paper and there was none to be
had. The COVID-19 pandemic panic has spread to toilet paper. Shortages are
reported everywhere. Costco, Walmart, Target, the bodega, Staples! They
cleared out Staples, for god's sake! Will this madness ever end.
When I want to fight viruses, I make sure that I have enough toilet paper to
do the job properly. At this point, we have about 12 rolls and given our small
(3-person) household, I think that we will weather the storm.
On another note, I am sure you have seen the line of equal signs at the top
of these text files. That is my crude attempt to make sure that I keep a
consistent line length. I find that without it I am prone to making shorter
and shorter lines; like poetry. Very bad poetry.
Wash your hands.
5 March 2020
This message of the Moment is brought to you by an SSH inside an SSH. It's a
crazy situation; an onion of secure shells.
