WICHITA FALLS MAN
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01-22-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, and we are one day closer to the “catastrophic” winter weather headed our way. Freezing rain and snow are predicted for Friday and Saturday. The Saturday night low is currently projected to be around 8 degrees, and the Sunday night low is 1 degree. I drove by the Walmart on I-44 last night, and it was packed, presumably with people stocking up on this and that. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Increasing clouds, with a high near 55. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph in the morning. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. East wind 6 to 9 mph.
--- 5:45 AM - In the news - Davenport Grocery celebrates 100 years in Wichita Falls; City of Wichita Falls to renovate the falls with a $7 million project; Local radio personality “BIG” Jim Russell celebrates 50 years behind the microphone; ERCOT reports it will have "sufficient generation" for the upcoming extremely cold weather, Meals on Wheels seeks volunteers during the coming weather crisis.
--- 6:45 AM - I just discovered yesterday that the QuikTrip on Old Iowa Park Road @ I-44 has "no ethanol" gasoline. My brand new generator, my lawn mower, and I consider this great news.
--- 7:45 AM - Davenport Grocery, at 212 Farris (at E. 3rd), turns 100 years old, and I have never been inside that building. This is, to use one of my favorite terms, an abomination of a travesty. I must correct this wrong before long!
--- 11:00 AM - While motoring on I-44 this morning, I observed a WFPD motorcycle officer on a traffic stop. My car thermometer said 38 degrees. Officer Chet Chester III, grandson of Sergeant Chet “Chalk Fairy” Chester of Space Alien attack fame, tells me that, in the past, motorcycle officers had to ride if the temperature was above freezing and otherwise clear. If the temperature was below freezing, they could get a patrol car, if one were available. If a car was not available, they had to ride with a patrol officer. At that point, they became patrol officers and not traffic officers. In other words, they answered calls for service and wrote reports. After all, motorcycle officers started as patrol officers. I don't know what the policy is today. Actually, neither Chet nor I really cares.
--- 3:00 PM - More "new generator" break-in today. I have the unit on the covered carport running two space heaters and a coffee pot, keeping some water hot. According to the instructions, I'm supposed to run the unit with loads ranging from 10% to 50% of capacity for 5 hours, then change the oil. I'm at 2.2 hours as I write this. I hope I don't need it this weekend. Something tells me we might have rolling blackouts. We shall see. By the way, it's a Champion inverter generator with a 9000 starting watts and 7250 running watts capacity. It runs on gasoline, natural gas, and LP gas.
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01-21-2026 - 5:15 AM - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, and I suppose many people are preparing for the frigid and possibly icy weather coming this weekend. I have a new generator arriving today. Hopefully, it won’t be needed. This weekend is “Winter Field Day,” an event for Amateur (ham) Radio Operators everywhere to practice operating “off the grid” while making local, national, and global radio contacts. The event begins locally at 10 AM on Saturday, January 24, and continues for 30 hours. A local group has plans to operate from Kiwanis Park. The forecast for Saturday is a high of 18 degrees with a 100% chance of precipitation. According to local chatter, some plan to “tough it out” and participate. My hat, but not my jacket, is off to these brave souls. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:30 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 58. Southwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming north northeast in the morning. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. North northeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
--- 9:15 AM - Army Flashback - In 1975, at Savanna Army Depot, I ordered a green-and-white plaid leisure suit from a catalog of some sort. It might have been Montgomery Ward. It looked just like the picture and fit perfectly. That doesn't happen too often. One evening, having consumed one beer too many, I was going down the stairs in the barracks. One foot went into the bell-bottom cuff of the other leg, and I went head-first down the stairs. I got up, laughed, and went back to the club. That was my first and last leisure suit.
--- 9:31 AM - I contacted a station at Dunns Creek State Conservation Area (US-8344) in Florida on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program.
--- 5:15 PM - Not much posting today. My new generator from Home Depot arrived today, and I unpacked it, put the wheels and other goodies on, added fuel and oil, and gave it a run to begin its 5-hour break-in period. So far, so good. I am thankful the generator was delivered by Home Depot, not FedEx or UPS. My first generator from Lowe's was delivered - and dropped - by FedEx. The replacement generator arrived by UPS, and the driver rolled it across my driveway like you would roll a keg of beer, right in front of me. That unit went back, also. The Home Depot guys treated it like it was their own property! Awesome. I tipped them! I'll never set foot in Lowe's again unless it's an emergency.