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04-07-2026 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, and another day of rest for me. Keep working, eat your vegetables, and you’ll get there one day. I haven’t done any real radioing in a few days. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been monitoring activity near and far. I’m always tempted to give up transmitting and just be a shortwave and scanner radio listener. Why not? Transmitting brings me no more joy than listening, but I like to keep that end of it alive because I never know when I’ll really need that capability. Right now, I need some Folgers Black Silk coffee, and it is ready!
--- 6:05 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Southeast wind 5 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 49. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
--- 6:10 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 82.2% Kemp: 96.0% Kickapoo: 84.3%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 88.5% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (83.25%) to determine drought stage.
--- 6:15 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:20 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 6:30 AM - It’s been a while, pre-COVID lockdown, since I’ve played Table Tennis at the 50 Plus Zone (above the WF Public Library) in downtown Wichita Falls. I was getting pretty good at it, but the fun started to fade away. The players had established long ago that “doubles” was the game. I couldn’t get used to it. You hit the ball, then jump out of the way to let your partner receive the return shot. It seemed silly to me. Maybe they played doubles because there were only two tables, and this method let more people play within the time allowed by the Zone schedule. I get that. But another “unlike” began to appear, and that was playing for points. For me, the most fun could be achieved by playing “singles”, but without scoring points. Just knock the ball back and forth for fun and exercise. Racking up points didn't add any joy, but I guess it did keep players rotating. I get that. So, I settled for playing singles with no points, with a guy who thought like I thought, before the regular players arrived. It was great fun, and great exercise. Then COVID arrived. I never returned.
--- 7:00 AM - Years ago, the Chicken Leg Quarters from the deli at the United on Old Iowa Park Road were a regular purchase for me. Then the quality started to decline. An employee (not from the deli) asked why I hadn’t been buying the leg quarters, and I told them the chicken had been consistently dry and tasteless. I have a long-standing belief that if I report something to an employee, that’s just as good as telling the manager. Both United and Walmart have proved me wrong on that point. Anyway, I gave up on the leg quarters until about three months ago. Yes, I decided to give them another try. Since then, I’ve found that only one in three purchases yields moist, tasty chicken. So, no more chicken leg quarters from United on Old Iowa Park Road for me. This all reminds me of the I-44 Walmart, where about 15 years ago I told the greeter they needed more hand baskets because they were always out. I was told that I needed to speak to management about that. I thought I was speaking with a representative of management. Silly me.
--- 7:35 AM - The Wichita Falls north side of town, or Northside, as I refer to it, is in constant need of improvement. You’d never know there was an Air Force Base, hosting international guests, by the look of the area within a mile of that base in all directions. Do you remember when Beacon Plaza was a fenced-off junkyard just over a decade ago? At least that’s gone. What was the City of WF thinking? Someone should reopen a go-kart track where the old McCain’s Funny Farm track once stood just south of the base on Sheppard Access Road. You can still see the track on the satellite view. How about a skydiving free-fall simulator (wind tunnel)? The constant student turnover at the base alone would keep it busy. Also, we're supposed to get several data centers on the north side of town. I'm not sure what to think about that.
--- 7:40 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 7:45 AM - I often see online someone suggesting that a “proximity chat” feature be added to all vehicles. Without fail, someone will say: “It’s called CB Radio!”
--- 9:15 AM - Target still has the worst parking lot of a major business in Wichita Falls. I think they think everyone drives a Mini Cooper.
--- 1:50 PM - I was “today years old” when I learned that the 5 O’Clock Barber Shop is operating in the 900 Block of Indiana Avenue in downtown Wichita Falls. I have no idea how long it’s been there, but I’m guessing not very long.
--- 2:00 PM - I have a "high suspicion" that a company in Wichita Falls is a front for money laundering. I don’t have, nor will I seek, evidence of money laundering. Therefore, I will now STFU!
--- 6:15 PM - I caught the Local group on CB Radio Channel 23 this evening. Well, at least a few of them. I didn't hang around to see what they were talking about. Instead, I went back to the Tubi movie I was watching. Tune in to the action with your CB Radio!