27 July 2010

Well, I have been very busy (NOT) ! That's why I have not made a post to the blog in over a month. I did take a road trip to the mountains to spend some time with my mother and visit with brother and sisters. Spent a week there and actually had a great time. After that, Kim and I made another road trip to the DC area and bought some items at the Ikea store there. Its the closest one to us and since we had to sell all the furniture we had in Kuwait before we left, including Kim's sewing tables that we had bought in the Kuwait Ikea, we decided to replace it with like products from here. We also bought some bedroom furniture for us. I really wish Ikea had a store closer to us here in S.E.VA(south east Virginia).

I have applied for several positions back within Boeing, but do not expect much to come of it. I also applied for the tech position with CSC, that's the company that took over the Boeing contract in Kuwait, but again have not heard anything from them, only an acknowledgment that they received my resume' and application. It would have been so much easier had they hired me or one of the other persons to fill the openings we vacated, but as far as I know, the positions are still open and not filled. I would have liked to stay in Kuwait. Now since I have been back, It would have to be a really great offer for me to return. I miss being there and yet I don't miss it at the same time.
I have been pursuing a new hobby, Meteorology, since returning and have set up a weather station to monitor and gather weather data, and post it on line with weather underground . I am still experimenting with the best positions for my sensors, mainly the temperature and humidity sensors. I seem to get very high afternoon and early morning temps, as compared to other stations nearby, and I believe that the solar shield that came with the sensors is inadequate. So I will adjust the placement of the sensors first, then maybe invest in a larger solar shield. I also feel that the software I am using is "glitchy" so I am keeping an eye out for improvements there. This may also be an opportunity for me to get re-involved in amateur radio, posting weather data on the APRS ( automatic packet reporting system ) but I only know a few people that still mess with radio anymore, since the internet has pretty much taken over. I still have the radio equipment and plenty of time on my hands, so we will see.
While visiting my mom, I had an opportunity to also visit with an old family friend that lives next to mother. He has a weather station setup and he is also a "HAM" operator. He was showing me his radio station equipment and I was excited about the HF transceiver he has. It is completely software controlled, and the best part is it was not that expensive compared to other radio sets. If I decided to really get back into radio, I would certainly consider a Software Defined Radio (SDR) for a base station.

Well, That's all Folks

Mike