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11-08-2023 - Lots of chatter on a few of the local Amateur (ham) Radio frequencies - 147.140 MHz and 146.520 MHz - this evening. Lots of "radio checking" and radio theory talk going on. One can learn a lot by listening to some of these people. I guess everything checked out. Tune in with your scanner.

11-08-2023 - If you like salsa, check out The Salsa Guy at the Farmer's Market, western edition. That's the one at 8th and Austin, behind the downtown YMCA. Both the original and "western" locations need more space. They can get pretty crowded. Throw in a bad musician, and it can be Hell! A few years ago, at the original location, a "musician" made such a horrible racket that I thought about offering him $20 to stop playing while I shopped! I think the Duke, across the street, was about to pick him off with a well-aimed shot!

11-08-2023 - From my corrections consultant - The AM/FM Clock radios at the Allred Unit are designed with see-through plastic so that contraband cannot be easily hidden inside. They also have no speakers, but use earphones instead. If you walk into an area and hear music, you know you have a contraband bust because someone has a loudspeaker. Where did it come from? They make them! If you think that's something, you should see the electrical multi-outlets made from newspaper and metal from a soft drink can.

11-08-2023 - There's a new remedy on the market for baldness. It's made of alum and persimmon juice. It doesn't grow hair but it shrinks your head to fit what hair you have left.

11-08-2023 - Good Morning! It's Folgers Black Silk time again. I like to throw that in for all the Starbucks lovers out there. My first task this morning was to reprogram my new Yaesu FTM 3100 with simplex frequencies only. I have local repeater frequencies loaded into my scanner, and I can plug them into the Yaesu if I need to do so. There was a decent band opening yesterday, at least on the Amateur (ham) Radio VHF band. I don't know what UHF was like. A few area hams were having a good time making long-distance (DX) contacts on various simplex frequencies. I still need to raise my ham VHF antenna a few feet and put up a J-Pole antenna for my scanner. I bought the J-Pole 6 or 7 years ago.

11-07-2023 - There was a lot of chatter on the local Amateur (ham) Radio frequencies today. Busy were 146.520 MHz (simplex), 146.580 MHz (simplex), and 147.140 Mhz, the Wichita Amateur Radio Society repeater.

11-07-2023 - According to the news, a home on Christine was badly damaged, and the occupant hospitalized, due to a natural gas leak and explosion. Looking at the photos, I can't imagine what it was like to be in that house for the big bang. As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus always said, "Let's be careful out there!"

11-07-2023 - New construction is happening just north of the intersection of Loop 11 (the loop that doesn't loop) and Airport Drive. The ground has been cleared, and a slab has appeared. I'm not sure, but this is possibly the new location for Caliber Collision Center. The nearby area has a new car wash, what appears to be an automotive repair center is under construction on the north side of the Cracker Barrel, a Hampton Inn is going up behind the Cracker Barrel, and an RV park is under construction across the road from the Hampton Inn.

11-07-2023 - From the U.S. Federal Trade Commission - FTC Providing Refunds to Consumers who Lost Money to Tech Support Scheme - NTS made millions from scheme that used fake security scans, falsely claimed affiliation with companies such as Microsoft, Apple. The Federal Trade Commission is providing full refunds to consumers who lost money to the NTS IT Care tech support scheme, which tricked consumers into buying expensive and unnecessary tech support services and often claimed to be affiliated with Microsoft, Apple, and other tech companies.

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11-07-2023 - The VHF band opening continues. I hear a station in Duncan, Oklahoma talking to a station that I can't hear. I don't think I've ever been to Duncan. I was "over" Duncan 40 years ago during an NDB (non-directional beacon) approach during my FAA instrument rating flight test. The Duncan station is now talking to a Wichita Falls station.

11-07-2023 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - From December 2022 to March 2023, gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 8.0 million, a decrease of 67,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 7.1 million during the first quarter of 2023. The difference between the number of gross job gains and the number of gross job losses yielded a net employment gain of 976,000 jobs in the private sector.

11-07-2023 - The VHF band opening continues. I hear a station in Stillwater, Oklahoma on 146.520 FM simplex talking to a station in Sherman, Texas. I don't hear the Sherman station.

11-07-2023 - Good Morning! From the National Weather Service: "Today: Sunny, with a high near 89. South southwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Tonight: Clear, with a low around 63. South wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph." There's a slight VHF band opening this morning, and I hear what sounds like some "morning drive to work" chatter on the 146.940 MHz repeater in Fort Worth. I'm guessing it's the Fort Worth machine since I didn't hang around for a repeater ID. Our brave local school bus drivers (152.360 MHz) are warming up for their morning run. May they have the strength to make it through the day. Okay, I'm just having a little fun. Not all bus riders are rowdy, but it only takes a few! Tune in with your scanner.

11-06-2023 - I just read an article about people who don't upgrade their software for one reason or another. I use Paint Shop Pro 5 to edit photos. I've been using it since 1999 or so. The latest version is #25. The #5 version works on Windows 11 and does everything I need it to do. Why upgrade?

11-06-2023 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - "Unemployment rates were higher in September than a year earlier in 231 of the 389 metropolitan areas, lower in 131 areas, and unchanged in 27 areas." What about Wichita Falls? I have no idea!

11-06-2023 - A former Wichita Falls Mayor, bestowing an award on the local Maskat Shrine, referred to the organization several times as the "Muskrat Shrine." I'm sure the text he was reading was correct, so I'll call it a pronunciation error. It was amusing. Maybe not to the Shriners. I had it on tape, but you know what happens to those. They get lost over time.

11-06-2023 - Many hot summers ago, a man was pedaling one of those bicycle ice cream carts on my block. I quickly gathered up some money and ran outside to make a purchase. I figured that if a grown man was going to pedal this contraption, I was going to give him some business!

11-06-2023 - Good Morning! Along with my usual cup of Folgers Black Silk, I'm listening to someone keying up on 462.6125 MHz, complimentary "roger beep" included. I'd like to have a talk with the person responsible for putting roger beeps on FRS radios! I'm guessing that the Wichita Amateur Radio Society held its weekly net at 2000 hours last night on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. I'm guessing because I was watching football. Our city transit bus (453.5375 MHz) drivers are active this morning.

11-05-2023 - I didn't post much today as I'm a little "under the weather" as they say. Both Kickapoo (122.700 MHz) and Wichita Valley (122.800 MHz) airports were busy today. As I'm writing this, I hear someone at Sheppard AFB / Wichita Falls Regional Airport (119.750 MHz) doing a touch-and-go.