Bible Reading
JUNE 30, 2023
06/29/23 06:55 AM
I don't know about others, but for me reading the bible is an exercise in humility. I see so many great heroes of the faith who were far more worthy than I. And yet they were crying out for forgiveness, far more than I do.
I recently saw a quote that really applies here:
The path to wisdom is paved with humility.
I have received far more in my life than I could ever deserve. God has been so good to me. There is a reason, in selecting a word each year, that I always land on Grateful.
Lord, please forgive me when I act foolishly and fail to ask for forgiveness for my many sins - even the sin of thinking that I don't sin that often. As a sinner, I can't possibly know the many times that I am sinning.
Lord please don't hold me accountable for that. Thank you for your grace and your mercy in my life.
When it comes to deserving, I fall short of the mark.
Oceania
JUNE 29, 2023
06/28/23 07:25 AM
Well, I've got one QRZ award left. It's Master of Oceania.
Problem is, there's just no new locations to contact in that area. I keep contacting China, Indonesia, and Japan - all of which I have already contacted on pretty much all of the bands.
I guess I'm going to have to camp out on some relatively unused bands and see if I can raise one of the stations I've already worked on some other band. That has been a successful strategy so far for other awards.
As I've said before, I can truly see why so few of the Master of Oceania awards have been issued relative to the other awards. I guess you just about have to live in that area to earn that award. Europe is always coming in loud and clear, but the Oceania area is an entirely different matter.
Running
JUNE 28, 2023
06/27/23 07:25 AM
I have become a treadmill junkie. Never thought I would enjoy the treadmill, that is until my senioritis (balance problems) kicked in and I needed something to which I could hold on. I used to call it a 'dreadmill' which clearly defines how I felt about it at the time. I would still prefer to run outside if it weren't for my senioritis and the death-defying hills out there.
As I've mentioned before, it's a short treadmill but that works out just fine with my need to hold on and take short steps. I'm still running in my footies and waiting for my big toe toenails to completely heal. They say that takes a good while and they weren't kidding.
My daughter gave me some super cool and high-tech sweat rags for one of my gifts (Birthday, Father's Day, etc.,) and I use them for making my hold on place a bit softer and more comfortable and for wiping away the sweat during and especially after a run (which is an ongoing problem and usually lasts a good while - even under the fan in my office.)
I have only missed one day of running so far this year (Father's Day with Jonathan and Amy) and I went from 2 milers to 3 milers starting February 4th. I'm still running about an 8:30 pace and am amazed that I've been able to maintain this distance and pace on a daily basis. That's especially true as my recovery time is not what it used to be.
The run is particularly challenging on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays as those are also my weight training days. I usually do the weights before the run so that I have maximum strength for the weight training. My weight training coach (from way back when) told me it would be better for my weight training if I did the run first and just did a one mile warm-up.
He didn't know about my running addiction.
Key Fob
JUNE 27, 2023
06/26/23 06:45 AM
When I got home from Field Day, I dropped my keys and key fob on the floor of the garage. The fob busted open and sent parts scattering.
I picked up everything and put it back together, but it did not work. Not only could I not open and lock the doors to the vehicle, but I couldn't even crank it up. The car did not recognize the presence of the key fob.
A bit of Googling and YouTubing got me far enough to discover how to use the useless key fob to crank the car. That was a big plus because now I could get to some place that could help me with the rest of my problems.
I was looking at a picture of the replacement fob and noticed that I was still missing a part. I went searching for it all over the garage floor and found an additional battery, but not the part for which I was searching.
I knew I was going to have to program any replacement fobs I purchased and a bit more YouTubing provided the answers to those questions. Now all I had to do was purchase the replacement key fobs.
The versions at Walmart and Amazon had good prices but involved waiting on the shipping. I feared the dealership would charge me an arm and a leg for replacements and this morning I remembered that there are auto parts stores out there and will call one when I'm done here.
Hopefully that will get me going before I need to get to Walmart to pick up our groceries for the week. As I've said before, we'll see.
Field Day Pictures
JUNE 26, 2023
06/25/23 07:30 AM
Took pictures (above) of our field day stations and antennas in Blount County, Alabama. Great crowd, good set-up, and wonderful BBQ for lunch!
Field Day Today
JUNE 25, 2023
06/23/23 06:55 AM
I know it's going to be a busy day, so I'm writing this post a couple of days ahead of schedule. In fact, I'm writing this post right after the post I wrote for yesterday.
I was talking to Bob (KE4QCY) yesterday on his 2 meter repeater, and he filled me in on the Field Day location. Apparently, there are no trees in that area so we will be using vertical antennas and creative approaches for the use of horizontal dipoles.
The plan is for 3 rigs and 3 antennas. And, the plan is in place so all that remains is execution of the plan. It's a plan that has already been executed in our minds so all that actually remains is to transfer the image of that plan into an actual and carried out set of steps.
Here's to a successful Field Day!
And by the way, I'm going to try to get in a run and not miss any of my three milers. Should prove to be interesting since I don't yet have a plan for that. It may mean getting up extra early or running after I get home.
We'll see.
Titan
JUNE 24, 2023
06/23/23 06:30 AM
As I write it is Friday, June 23, 2023. Tomorrow will be a busy day on the road and at Field Day, so I will likely try to write a couple of posts today to cover for that period of time.
The situation we have faced in the news for the last few days regarding the loss of five adventurers in the Titan submersible looms large in my mind and I think it is weighing on all of us.
For those of us who do not have that life risking gene (like me) the story looms particularly large. Once it appeared clear that they were not going to be able to rescue the five, it was my hope that they went quickly and did not suffer. I think we all sort of felt that way and it now appears that is exactly what happened.
One of the experts said that the implosion would have taken only two nanoseconds and that it takes four nanoseconds for the body to tell the brain that something is wrong. The implication is that the men were not aware of what happened and did not suffer.
For those of us who remain and are fully aware of all that happened, the suffering continues in an odd sort of way. Hard to explain, but it does continue.
Field Day Coming Up
JUNE 23, 2023
06/22/23 07:55 AM
As I write it is Thursday, June 22, 2023. Day after tomorrow (Saturday) I will be driving over to Sneed, Alabama to attend the field day event hosted by the Blount County, Alabama Amateur Radio Club.
Yesterday, I went over to the Glass Doctor in Anniston, Alabama and had the windshield seal replaced. And with that replacement, the air noise is gone. The noise was intrusive and started up at about 40 mph.
I'm still amazed that Glass Doctor was able to do the work for about 25% of what the dealership was asking. I called Jonathan and shared the news with him about Glass Doctor since they are a chain and he is battling a similar problem.
With the noise gone, the drive to Sneed should be a good one. I'll head to my normal stop at the Walmart in Atalla, Alabama and proceed in a relatively W-N-W direction from there.
Altogether, the drive is about 40 miles and just under a one hour ride. We're all scheduled to meet around 9 AM and I'm guessing I'll get away just before 8 AM.
They're cooking up hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch and my plan is to get home before dark, even though the event runs into Sunday and some will be staying for the entire event.
More on Faith (part 2)
JUNE 22, 2023
06/21/23 12:15 PM
Yesterday I wrote about Faith. I wanted to add a part 2 today.
My faith has been increased by the amount of intelligent design I encounter in life and in my studies. My faith has also been increased because there is so much that is beyond all comprehension - such as the ideas of infinity and eternity. And finally, my faith has been increased because of the widespread testimony of the resurrection and especially the subsequent appearances of Jesus.
From an Intelligent Design standpoint, there is so much in the world that reflects intelligent design that I quickly run into the problem of trying to believe that all of this happened in a random approach.
The human eye, the woodpecker, and the giraffe are just a few of the things where existence and function strongly support intelligent design.
I went searching online for an argument in favor of intelligent design and found the following:
Intelligent design proponents argue that naturalistic explanations fail to explain certain phenomena and that supernatural explanations provide a simple and intuitive explanation for the origins of life and the universe.
That statement goes a long way toward explaining my perspective.
When I watch a religious film or series that portrays the post crucifixion appearances of Jesus and when I read of the strong evidence in favor of that as a factual event, I am further persuaded and even compelled toward my faith and confidence that Jesus Christ is indeed God and my Lord.
More On Faith
JUNE 21, 2023
06/20/23 09:05 AM
Finding Jesus in the midst of a changing culture can be a tricky proposition. Fortunately, and for the most part, I think Jesus finds us and he does so in the midst of each and every culture.
People may be looking for something real, but there is still that element of faith that is involved. We weren't around when all that happened in the bible was going on. All we have to tell us what happened is scripture.
Scripture is defined as a body of writings considered sacred or authoritative. Even the acceptance of scripture as both sacred and authoritative requires faith.
There's so much evidence of all that took place, even described in secular text, that it's not a very large step of faith for me to put my trust in the bible.
The M.A.P.S. acronym, presented by Hank Hanegraff, describes well the strength found in 'M'anuscript evidence, 'A'rcheological evidence, and 'P'rophetic evidence, not to mention the support/evidence found in 'S'tatistical probability.
Becoming a student of all of this has only increased my faith. In my role as a student I have come to understand the idea that 'not believing', in so much that has been shown to us, has grown to require more faith that 'believing.'
Weather
JUNE 20, 2023
06/19/23 01:55 PM
I think last night was the first time in a while that the weather has matched the stormy forecast. We have more than a few forecasted stormy nights but nothing ever showed up on the radar or outside.
We got 1.25 inches of rain last night and plenty of lightning and thunder to go along with it. That was enough water on the ground to wave off our yard crew in favor of a dryer yard - hopefully later this week.
We close up the cat in the guest room each night and she sleeps on the bed, but when the storms roll in, I've seen evidence that she goes down under the bed in search of a safe hidey-hole. I'm guessing that's what she did last night.
No Internet
JUNE 19, 2023
06/19/23 11:25 AM
Well, the only thing worse than waiting to write and publish a post first thing today is to discover that there is no internet available. I powered off and back on the modem/router but to no avail.
So, today's post will undoubtedly be late. We had some weather move in last night and it looks like when it left it took the internet with it.
I should have realized there was a problem when I could not get my phone to present today's weather. I took the phone off of wifi and viola, the phone found the internet from the closest cell tower and I could see that additional rain was in the forecast.
I'm still trying to activate the wifi to grab the internet, but with no success. Looks like it will be a hurry up and wait game this morning.
Father's Day
JUNE 18, 2023
06/18/23 09:50 AM
Moving to North Alabama made a visit to or from Jonathan and Amy's house much more reasonable. As such, they invited us to join them Saturday and today (Sunday) for Father's Day.
We celebrated with a lunch out for Mexican, a visit to an incredible antique store, a day relaxing in front of the TV, and a supper filled with grilled lobster tails (and burgers) and plenty of other incredible yummies.
Supper was a night out under the stars and by the grill. What an amazing event!
As a lead-up to supper we enjoyed one of Amy's famous meat and cheese trays and plenty of cold beer to top off the lead-up and main event.
Amy even grilled some sliced lemons for us to squeeze on the lobster tails with our melted butter. Yum!
For the land-lovers in the crowd, Jon grilled some of his famous burgers and I must admit that he and I decided to do both! It was all so good.
Special thanks to Jonathan and Amy for the hard work and hosting us to spend the night with them. Can't wait to do it again next year, LOL!
Big Toe Black Toenails
JUNE 17, 2023
06/16/23 08:35 AM
Well, my big toenails don't seem to be healing but are not at risk of falling off either. Depending upon socks and/or shoes, there's still a bit of pain associated with them, but not enough to keep me from running.
When I can get my socks to protect my big toes while wearing my running shoes, I'm able to get three miles in with my running shoes on. But, to be honest, that's pretty rare.
More often than not, I'm running for a while in my running shoes and then kicking them off for the last mile or two (or even 2 and 1/2 miles.) It all seems to depend upon how things feel.
I've probably (and dramatically) slowed down the healing process, but I'm just not ready to quit running while I heal and I'm especially not ready to stop running and then having to build up my fitness to be able to start running again. That painful process is just about as fun as running with sore big toes.
I guess we'll see what does and does not work.
06/16/23 09:50 AM
Just finished my Friday workout and a three mile run. Taking note of what I wrote above, I ran all three miles in two pairs of footies since I could not get comfortable and completely rid of the big toe pain in my running shoes.
With short and quick strides I was able to get in all three miles without sore feet or blisters. I suspect I will go to that approach here-forward until the big toe pain goes completely away in both feet.
I would also note that the short and faster strides also meant more steps per 1/10 of a mile and, of course, per mile. I was basically doing around 146 steps per 1/10 of a mile instead of my usual 135 steps. And the shorter strides kept me more focused, which translated to a better run. That also translates to an extra and approximate 110 steps per mile.
Humility
JUNE 16, 2023
06/15/23 09:40 AM
I know when I'm wrong and I don't mind admitting it!
My wife tried to persuade me to try something out of the ordinary and I could find one thousand (what I thought were good) reasons not to take her advice.
I was frustrated that she didn't understand the complexities of my situation. Turns out she was right and I was making the situation far more complex than it needed to be.
By going in the direction she had suggested, it probably saved us over one thousand dollars. That's a pretty substantial savings and, as it turns out, I got better than I had hoped for in the situation.
I came home and let her know right up front that she was right and I was wrong. I suspect it's a good thing that I set my (clears throat) 'advanced perspective' aside and considered the simplicity of her suggestion, LOL!
Thank you, Lord, for providing me with a thrifty and patient wife. And, please forgive me for my stubborn and hard-headed approach for far too many things in this life.
Oneonta
JUNE 15, 2023
06/14/23 05:25 PM
Well, as mentioned yesterday, it was a busy day.
Bob rode with me to Oneonta for the Blount County Amateur Radio Club meeting (pictured above) last night and we met at the Little Brick Church, as it is called. On a humorous note, no one picked up the keys to the church so one of the members climbed in through an unlocked window to gain access to the building.
A lot of discussion was had regarding the upcoming Field Day. That was pretty much our sole purpose for being at the meeting and Bob did a good job of soliciting for the much needed equipment for the event. Looks like we should be good to go weekend after next.
I had an opportunity to visit with Bob before we left for the meeting and he showed me around the radio shack and the property. It was good to be able to see where he lives and where he is located when we're talking over the air.
I couldn't believe how far away from everything Bob and Theresa's place was. What would probably require a one minute boat ride took 30+ minutes by road and it was all a 2 lane blacktop. Even with headlights, it made for a rather dark ride on the drive home.
On an unrelated note, I missed supper due to the early departure that was necessary to get to Bob's place, visit, and get to the club meeting a bit early. I snacked on some left overs when I got home and was sure my weight would be up.
Much to my surprise, it was down and put me about a pound below the bottom of my 5 lb. range. That's always a good place to be.
Looks like we're in for a stormy day today. The rain and thunder have already moved in and look like they're here to stay for a while.
Another Busy Day
JUNE 14, 2023
06/13/23 07:30 AM
Got a busy day ahead due to an eye doctor visit around lunch time and a ham radio club meeting this evening. Just got a txt message from Bob who will indeed need a ride to the meeting.
Will be nice to see where he lives and to talk together on the ride to and from the meeting. The primary focus of the meeting should be about Field Day. Bob and I are planning to be there and thought we would attend the meeting.
Bob has been around for a long time and will probably be very involved in the planning stage. As for me, I've done plenty of Field Days but will most likely be a listener on this one.
The last Field Day in which I was involved was at the Crawfordville club during Covid. We were permitted to operate from home and combine our scores. As such, I operated digital FT8 on all bands and some FT4.
Oh, and speaking of all bands, it was fun to see the band open up on 6 meters yesterday and to make about a dozen contacts while it was open.
After the meeting, this will also be the first time I've navigated the 1.3 mile curvy road up to the house in the dark. It should be manageable.
Spring Cleaning
JUNE 13, 2023
06/12/23 08:30 AM
I suppose the title of this post should read, 'Summer Cleaning.' Thinking I'm a bit late for the spring season.
We've been picking up all along on things like the garage, but my desk was an entirely different story. Talk about things just crammed in folders.
That's what it was like until I just went through and did some paper shuffling and folder building. Hopefully things are now in a more appropriate filing system.
And talk about some things that needed to be thrown away. The garbage can here in my office is now full of stuff that should have been tossed way back when instead of saved in folders with no names.
On an unrelated note, we sure got some severe weather last night. The strong winds rearranged everything on the back deck and the lightning and cracks of thunder were intimidating to say the least.
The winds moved our sofa and blew over a heavy fan on a stand. I'm amazed that we got less than 1/4 inch of rain out of the whole thing. I still wonder if that happens to our rain gauge when the strong winds cause it to rain sideways instead of straight down.
Oh, and the wonderful news is that the high winds provided a good test for the ham antenna and rotor which stood tall and strong during the event. I'm quite grateful for that!
Ham Radio
JUNE 12, 2023
06/11/23 08:15 AM
On June 6th, I worked Eastern Malaysia on 17 meters. It was a previously made location but a new station on a new band. The station was located in Kuching City on Borneo Island and the operator (pictured above at his station) was Dennis Kung Ho Wong.
The fact that the contact was made on a new band (to that location) means another point was earned toward the Master of Oceania award. Currently, there are 41 confirmed contacts with 19 yet to go.
Progress toward the award is pretty slow and it's easy to see why so few have been earned compared to the other awards. On June 5th I contacted the United Nations in New York City and once that (bonus) location confirms, another point toward the Master of Oceania award will have been earned.
Like I said, pretty slow progress toward that coveted award.
You Will Be My Witnesses
JUNE 11, 2023
06/10/23 05:25 PM
In the book of Acts, it says: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
It is my belief that the leading of the Holy Spirit makes all of the difference in being an effective witness for Jesus Christ. Until and unless we receive that power from the Holy Spirit that is mentioned in the book of Acts, I fear we will miss the mark in our efforts to be an effective witness.
Being an effective witness doesn't mean that we will be part of the conversion story of each and every person who crosses our path. To be honest, it doesn't necessarily mean we will take part in anyone's conversion story.
John 4:37 describes the idea that some will sew and others will reap. All we can do is be available. Christ decides who gets used for what and only he decides when that happens.
We live in difficult times where most everyone has had some type of spiritual experience. We live in times where most, if not all, have heard the name of Jesus Christ. We live in times where so many have already experienced a person sharing Christ with them. And we live in times where far too many have been turned off to Christ due to a person who was not obedient to the Holy Spirit in sharing their witness.
The right thing at the wrong time becomes the wrong thing. Lord, help me to always hear your Holy Spirit and let my life be the witness. I pray you would bring lost souls my way with questions about a life in Christ.
As has been said before, help me in my witness and let me only use words when it's absolutely necessary.
Covered Dish Dinner
JUNE 10, 2023
06/09/23 03:55 PM
This will be a short post because I have a lot to get done.
A bunch of us are meeting at one of the neighbor's houses for a cover-dish dinner. Should be fun to meet some new neighbors and see some we've already met. Going to have to start getting ready very soon.
Spent the rest of the day 1) watching Mike and Kim repair our water leak and 2) heading back to the car dealership to see about a very minor car issue.
My sales guy, Landon, sure was helpful and is such a nice guy.
06/10/23 08:00 AM
Had an awesome time at the neighborhood get together last night.
More later...
Forgiveness
JUNE 09, 2023
06/07/23 07:30 PM
Not too many weeks ago, I was wronged by a guy. It wouldn't have been so bad had I not put my trust in the guys word, only to discover later that he was not going to be good to his word.
He said all the right things leading me to believe he would be good to his word. But as time passed, I began to realize that I had been duped by this guy. Things didn't work out as he thought they would and when it was time to make good on his promise, he backed out.
I could tell he was upset. But not enough to make good on the promise of which he assured me. When it all came down to it, he took the direction that would be to his benefit.
If taking all of that wasn't difficult enough, now God was telling me that I needed to forgive the guy. Forgiveness had always come easy for me, but perhaps I was about to learn that real forgiveness comes with a price and requires a personal sacrifice.
What about those Amish parents who, back in 2006, had to forgive the guy who shot their children? What about the woman (Terri Roberts) who helped care for a girl left paralyzed by her son's bullet in that situation? And what about the girl in that story?
Turns out, God used for good what could have been a bad ending to my story. In fact, another person was involved and pointed out to me that perhaps the story had a good ending after all. I hate to admit it, but this angered me. How could he see anything good in such a deceptive act?
Well, perhaps he was seeing what he knew God would want him to see. And perhaps he was ignoring the deception. My wife is alway so good to look at things in this manner. Me, not so much.
Lord, please forgive me for my selfish pity-party and let me never fail again to forgive.
The Black Car
JUNE 08, 2023
06/07/23 05:25 PM
We weren't sure how long the white car would last, but somehow, we knew we were going to have to purchase at least one more car before this ride ended.
Well, that decision was sort of made for us with the oil leak and the coolant leak. The repair costs just weren't worth it and the risk to more issues was just too great for this one car family.
The new (used - clears throat - pre-owned - LOL!) car is a 2017 Ford Explorer with 85k miles. It's a sweet ride and looks and smells like a brand new car. We're thrilled to have something a bit more dependable. It was also a pleasure to work with Landon Key from Ronnie Watkins Ford.
It's been quite an eventful day with the new car purchase and the water pipe repair that we had done by our handyman and his assistant. I had no idea that they were using PVC pipe these days from the water meter to the house, but an elbow piece cracked not too far from where it all enters the house and Mike and Kim dug it out and replaced it for us.
Glad to have that repaired and especially delighted at how affordable all of the work is that is performed by Mike and Kim. We're really blessed to have them working for us.
The White Car
JUNE 07, 2023
06/07/23 06:20 AM
The grandsons used to ride in our white car with us. And before that they used to ride in it with their dad.
That's because we did a trade with the Snow family - our red truck for their white car. That's what the grandsons called the Cadillac and the truck.
By the way, this will be the first time in a long time that I have written a post on the same day it is to be published. And that's because I spent most of yesterday with our mechanic about oil and coolant leaks.
I'm facing what I'm sure will be a tough decision once he gives us the bad news about what the repair costs will be. To trade the car in or get it repaired and keep it. That will be the question.
I honestly have no leaning at this point.
Great Ham Radio Day
JUNE 06, 2023
06/05/23 08:35 AM
Today is a great Ham Radio Day. I've already worked Thailand, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, and Italy.
Yesterday was an equally great Ham Radio Day. I worked a new country (Georgia) and other desirables like Lebanon and Greenland.
In fact, the day before that was Kenya, Aruba, and another Thailand. It's very nice when conditions are that good. I don't even have to rotate the hexbeam to make some of those contacts.
Conditions have been that good.
On an unrelated topic, Patty and I had a deep time of sharing yesterday and I also received a nice Father's Day invite from Jonathan and Amy. That should be a lot of fun and I've also got a lot of reflecting to do upon my deep chat with Patty. There may be some adjustments to life that come out of that one.
Rain and Revelation
JUNE 05, 2023
06/04/23 08:35 AM
I went searching for a picture to match the post title and was surprised to discover that there is a novel by the same name. The book cover didn't look like anything I wanted to use, and so I found something different.
It's never easy to write a post with two topics and even more difficult to find a picture for the post. I had to do a bit of whittling to make it work.
Only recently there was no call for rain at all. And now, it is supposed to arrive this afternoon.
Interesting how quickly the forecast changes. No rain due, and now all of a sudden we're expecting rain. Bring it, please. We need it.
On the spiritual front, I've been reading Revelation. However, I'm not sure such reading is very beneficial. My study bible always seems to point out the different interpretations from various scholars.
I'm not sure I'm in a place to benefit greatly from this book. I may go on to the Gospels and consider Revelation at another time. I'm not sensing any positive direction from such diversity of opinions and I have no interest in trying to form my own opinion from what I'm reading.
There are those who seem to enjoy this puzzle. It's not for me, at this time anyway.
Spiritual Posts
JUNE 04, 2023
06/02/23 05:45 PM
If I'm going to post something, my preference is toward the Lord and the spiritual. I guess that's because He is always there for me.
On the other hand, there's a lot in life that may have spiritual overtones but the spiritual element may not be that obvious. Running is a good example. I run for health and I seek health because I feel that is what the Lord would have me do.
Sure, I wouldn't mind living a few extra years and running may indeed make a contribution to that desire, but for me running turns out to be a spiritual thing.
When I run outside it's so easy to talk to God. It's not quite that easy when I'm inside on the treadmill. That's especially true of our short treadmill where I have to hang on to the arm rails due to my balance issues.
But even when I complete a run, there's a spiritual component to that success. That's because it's time well spent, well invested, and God directed.
In fact I picked up weight lifting a good ways back, and while I have yet to grow to love it like my running, there's still that same spiritual component that kicks in at the end of a weight training session. It's the sense and affirmation from God that what I just did was a good thing and a wise investment of my time.
I long for the Lord and He always finds me when I am doing what He has directed.
Decimal Accuracy
JUNE 03, 2023
06/02/23 07:25 AM
I always run a test of the search feature each time I add a new post. That's because it is affected by each new post. And, it's because I like coding and the technical side of things with the blog that work behind the scenes.
While running the test, I noticed that the percentage figure was calculated as a whole number and left off anything after the decimal place. This doesn't make a lot of difference for big numbers but reflects a lack of accuracy when the numbers are smaller. For example: 297 or 297.25 may not be that different, but there's a significant difference between 1.00 and 1.66 or 2.00 and 2.75.
I decided it might be time to adjust the code to reflect a more accurate number for the percentage of posts where something was found against all of the posts on the board.
Keep in mind that when something is found in a post, it is only counted once even if that post contains multiple occurrences of the search term. It is counted this way due to the manner in which the search is coded.
More About Running
JUNE 02, 2023
06/01/23 10:00 AM
I was thinking that with two days under my belt of running three miles, with my running shoes on the entire way, I may be nearing the end of my healing.
Wrong!
Today, my feet started talking to me just before the end of mile one. Even with two white footies tucked in each shoe I tried to shuffle my feet searching for comfort, but to no avail. My feet kept talking.
The only thing I could do was to step off the treadmill at the end of mile one and do what I did before - kick off my shoes and get back on and finish the last two miles in doubled up white footies.
As before, it worked.
No blisters and no sore toes.
I'm not wearing shoes around the house much in an effort to invite toe healing and it seems to be working. It's just not working enough yet, such that I am able to run all three miles in my running shoes.
I'm hoping I can figure out how to put two footies on each foot and in each running shoe in a manner that I find comfort running all three miles as I have done recently.
Maybe tomorrow.
A Lot Going On
JUNE 01, 2023
05/31/23 07:25 AM
At the title suggests, there's a lot going on. On the running front, I made it through 3 miles yesterday with running shoes on. I also had two pairs of white footies on which probably cushioned me very well and allowed me to endure. We'll see what I do today.
Due to some serious yard work, I delayed my Monday weight lifting and did it yesterday just before the aforementioned run. That shouldn't be a problem since there's no back-to-back workouts of the same muscle group.
I want to make a run to Walmart today to pick up some more landscape border and then to Ohatchee Hardware to pick up some long nails to faster the landscape border to the ground.
On the weather front, the rain has been entirely removed from the ten day forecast. I guess Patty is going to be doing a lot of watering in her garden.
On the bible reading front, I made it all the way through the New Testament up to Revelation and pick that up tomorrow on June 1. I'm going to take that book rather slowly in order to see what I can pick up from it.
On the ham radio front, I made it to 5,000 yesterday (Tuesday) and hope to see conditions improve to the Oceania area so I can pursue that award. It seems the best conditions right now still seem to be toward Europe. I worked Qatar yesterday, so distances are getting better.
05/31/23 12:20 PM
On the yard front, I did indeed make the Walmart run and they had both the landscape border and the additional stakes to fasten it to the ground. I purchased what I needed and then came home and installed it. Patty was kind enough to assist and it sure made things go a lot faster and easier.
We had to do a bit of creative engineering to figure out how we wanted to install it, but once the thinking was over, we decided and got it done.
The picture above is the finished product.
I also got in my mid-week workout and run. After the yard and all of that I was a tired puppy. Looking forward to some brain-dead ham radio time. Oh, and no more rain in the forecast for the next week although it sure looks like we could get some today.
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