Good morning Ernie...34 sunny degrees today....our kids (grown ups) are doing a planned potluck supper here this evening.....I was told not to make a thing....just set the table for 9.looking forward to this....will let you know  how it goes....

Good morning Kitty.  Glad you got some time with your kids.  We plan on visiting the only parents

we have left Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Also, we get to see Brandy's sister and her friend
while we're there.  Looks like it will be in the 40s and some sun. 

Worked on my transistorized burned out amp yesterday, no fix yet.  Big news is I found a guy in Texas

that is modifying a tube amplifier like the one I bought a while back.  He can use the box inside it to

get to the frequency he wants to be on and I need the RF box in his to get to the frequency I need to

be on to communicate with my brother.  Will take some time and work but it's inside my skills and his.

Big break through and only costs me some shipping. 

We did get that quick snow squall last night and they got it up north where we will be traveling Thursday

but should be melted by then. 

Today is grocery day for us and I will be looking to get a haircut maybe today, Spring is coming. 

Have a good day.

Ernie

Wifes parents

Brandy's sister, Dixie, left, and her friend Charlotte, right.

I thought I responded to this but my computer came back from its repair and Brian set it back up for me...some of the stuff didn't make it back.....pictures are great.....34 sunny degrees  here at the moment....supposed to get up in the 40's here....but still stuck in the house....waiting for spring...Brian is making homemade chicken stew.all I asked was please get out the Crock pot....and he just started it all....(he has been up since 4:30) ...we call it stew cause it ends up having so much in it...hope everyone has a wonderful smoke free day....

Good morning Kitty.  A little snow this morning and won't melt today, high is 24 degrees.

Glad you got your computer back.  Mine has a problem with it's initial connection to the

internet, after that works fine.  I can remember when we just used computers in the house,

connecting to AOL was something strange we tried once in a while.  It wasn't anything like it

is today anyway.  Back in the 80s.  Oh, and mine has variable speed fans and when it gets to

warm the fans go to loud high speed.  That started happening when wife was playing a farm

game she used to play but the warm processor chips never went away.  I mounted a couple

cooling fans inside but they only help some.

We took my wife's newer car to the dealer yesterday because the seat heater started coming

on by itself again.  They had to send the computer data away so it didn't get fixed yet.  While

waiting for the car we went to the Humane Society and adopted two puppies so now we have

a much larger family and lots of work to do.  I will probably remove the bedspreads from the

bed that my mom made for a year because they're irreplaceable.  The ones I put on there won't

be junk but will be store bought.  I put up gates to two bedrooms so the doors can be open while

the puppies run free.  We can't keep running from room to room very long.  I put bungee cords

on the gate doors so they close by themselves.  Main things are they might not want to sleep at

night and we have to teach them to go to the bathroom outdoors.  So if we can't keep them quiet

at night, my mother in law wants us to skip the visit.  We were going to pick them up after our visit

north but the Humane Society is afraid they will get sick from being in the kennel with all the other

dogs, they are a transport from Georgia so they wouldn't be killed for lack of room at the kennels

in the south.

I found a guy in Texas that is trying to do the opposite that I'm doing with my tube amplifier.  So we

are trading the RF decks from our amplifiers, saving us months of work and lots of money.  So shipped

mine to Texas and his is on it's way here.  Only thing is I don't know if the tube in mine is good until I

get the whole amplifier working, new tubes are about $800.00.  Will see.  I will get it Friday night but a

days work before I have it running.  Snowing like crazy right now, can see it in the cameras next to me.

Supposed to be warm this weekend so maybe you will get outside.  We had chicken tonight, wife coats

them with flour and eggs, then fries them in olive oil. 

I woke at 3 AM last two mornings, will get back to normal soon, I hope. 

Enjoy the day Kitty.

Ernie

Tube amplifier I'm working on, will make it easy to talk to my brother on 2 meter ham radio.

A beautiful sunshiny day here....unfortunately it is only 10 degrees.....todays agenda is a little too busy for me...digestive Drs appointment (no big deal) plus drugstore etc....hate cramming too much into one morning....hope all is well....Ernie you really are able to fix so much stuff some that I don't even know.... 

Good morning Kitty.  Only 15 this morning but a mid 40s day and 60s tomorrow.  Wife's parents

said come up north and bring the dogs.  I will do my best to take care of them while wife visits

with her parents, she doesn't have that much time with her mom while in her right mind.  Could

be measured in months, I think.  That's why we're going up there every month or two.  So I won't

be posting on here for couple days, sorry. 

There are other dogs we looked at and I feel bad for them because I have followed other dog's history

before and it's not good.  We can't adopt them all.  There's a steady flow of dogs that were to be killed

from the south where they don't have our laws to protect them. 

I've had a life time of experience and education as a technician.  What I've come to realize is I'm the support

for the lives of kind hearted people like my wife.  They are the important people in this world.  Technicians,

engineers, scientists, etc.., are here to support them so our society can slowly move forward.  In the case of

this tube amplifier, it's so my brother can use his ham radios, one of the last things he can do.  He didn't

have kids but he did become a kinder gentler person than I am.  There's more to it, we get his antennas up,

his equipment set up, power supplies working, etc...  I was so lucky to find this ham operator in Texas that's

doing the opposite with his amplifier that I'm doing with mine, it makes it possible for both of us, and affordable.

I went to the farm yesterday and did some of the work they can't do.  It's a chore for my brother to walk across

the lawn, especially when it's snowy, icy, or muddy.  My brother and I were looking into ham radio in the mid 70s

and got our first novice licenses in January, 1979.

Our relationships with these dogs is teaching me so much, and to think I could've so easily missed out on this in

my life. 

I hope you were able to get through your day and it's events easily.  I have lots of appointments this month with

diabetes blood tests and my annual ultrasound of the stent in my Aorta Artery.  The diabetes becomes less and

less important with my exercise every day, it's just going through the motions anymore but it takes 3 hours of hard

exercise every day.  1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the eve.  I will walk 10 miles with the dogs up north,

not as intense as my exercise on the elliptical but close.

Enjoy your day, getting warmer.

Ernie

Our Monte Carlo SS on Dad's Pennsylvania farm.

home sweet home.   A lovely 10 day trip. Sunny and mid 70’s. How beautiful!  

A lovely picture of you and your wife!  
A chilly welcome home on Monday… in the 20’s.

Florida was beautiful. Another world ~ no masks!

Good morning Susan and Kitty.  Glad you made it back safe, hope Finn is doing well.  It's a

picture of my wife's parents.  We were supposed to go visit them this weekend but we have

two 2 month old puppies we adopted, wife thought it would be to much for her parents.  The

puppies are black with white patches and came up on a transport from Georgia.  They told us

laws are more lax down there and many pets are killed in the shelters because to many are born.

We were to pick them up Tuesday after our visit north but the lady at the shelter was worried the

puppies might get sick living with the other dogs that long.  I think they have to keep them there

until they get well.  I went back there today to pick up some wire covers the adoption coordinator

gave my wife.  Was glad to see the one year old shepherd we looked at had been adopted.

You came back just in time to see the north warming up.  You only missed more cold and snow.

Kitty, hope your appointment and other business went well yesterday, and smoothly.  We have our

hands full training the two puppies.  It's good my wife has two great beings in her life.  The love, kindness,

and understanding will be in the new puppies.  Their view of the world will be through her eyes.  I help

but she's the star.

I have the parts from Texas to complete the amplifier I'm rebuilding to be able to talk to my brother on 2

meter ham radio.  Will get tougher soon with all the leaves and other vegetation growing in the Spring.  I

haven't started yet because we are working with the new puppies.  This amplifier will increase my output

from 150 watts to around 800 watts.  I use a directional beam antenna aimed at where my brother lives so

the power isn't going off in all directions.  Because of the atmosphere I can talk to people in further away

states much easier than 100 miles away in Pennsylvania.

Susan, looks like you had a great time in the south.  

In the 60s today and some sun, hope everyone enjoys the day.

Ernie

Our grandboys picking blueberries Summer 2020.

Good morning all....we are totally socked in with fog....can't even see the hill behind us....and glad we have no agenda so we can stay home....hope your day is wonderful....and Ernie hope we finish your project.....stay well....