Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Is there something about me, something about the way I look, or a mark on my face, the way that I walk, that says I am a heathen? That says I am in need of salvation?

Is it just me or do those people standing on street corners and at every public event think we all are headed straight to Hell? That their little tract will make a difference and send us on the straight and narrow?

If you’re one of those people, let me tell you with love in my heart, not anger, that you really piss me off. You don’t know me. You don’t take the time to get to know me and learn my religious views or background, yet you make a judgement that I need your saving. That your beliefs are correct and mine are not. That I cannot possibly be saved from eternal damnation without your assistance. Continue Reading…

I’m remodeling a bathroom in my house. My daughter wants to use the room next to it as a bedroom, so it’s time to get working on it. I’m progressing slowly and trying to not get in over my head.

The facilities have not been used for some time. The sink and fixtures were quite old and had been leaking until they got so bad I shut them off. The shower/tub had been out of commission for a few years because the clean out on the drum trap had rusted out. I went into the basement one day to find water falling to the floor as my son was singing in the shower. A quick and dirty repair to try and fix it didn’t drain properly, so it’s been unused since.

Finally, the toilet started leaning to the side and I shut that off. The floor was rotting out and sagging.

Recently, I started working on it. The sink and vanity have been removed. They will be replaced with new ones. The toilet has been removed and the insides removed. I’ll rebuild it and reinstall it eventually. The toilet is not that old, maybe 15 years. Continue Reading…

Nik Wallenda (no relation to Nikola Tesla, right) has been practicing the past two weeks for his soon-to-be-attempted wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls on June 15th. His last scheduled practice run is scheduled to be tomorrow, Tuesday May 22nd. I went to watch today.

My choice for getting there was to drive to the little LaSalle Park near the Grand Island bridge and ride in the bike path on my Trike. I’d ridden there before, but this is the first time I parked there.

The park was kind of small and not much to see when I was there last year, but a nice location and not a bad place for a picnic by the river, maybe combined with a little fishing. There always seemed to be a few people there enjoying it. When I pulled in this time, I wasn’t sure I was in the right place. I thought, at first, I had pulled into a parking lot for some apartment complex next door. But no, they’ve redone the whole parking lot and it’s first-class now. Continue Reading…

No, no, not those Hams in Space!

I meant Amateur Radio Operators that are Astronauts. Ever since Owen Garriot, W5LFL, flew aboard STS-9 in 1983, there have been a series of Ham Operators aboard the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. There were also Russian Hams aboard the MIR space station and Hams from a number of countries have been up in space on the various flights.

You may have been aware of this fact, or this might be the first time you have heard of it. It was a publicity coup for Ham Radio and NASA was fully in support of it. In fact, it couldn’t have happened without their support.

Having Ham Radio represented and operated from space is a great publicity tool for NASA. It also could be used as a backup communications system in the event of serious malfunction aboard the spacecraft. I’d hate to see things go that wrong – I’m sure they have other backup systems, so it would have to be the third or fourth or fifth resort – but it really could be used in that capacity.

So this is a good thing, right? A win-win for Hams and NASA alike, right? Well, maybe. Continue Reading…