WICHITA FALLS MAN

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01-30-2024 - Our local Walmart stores should purchase the same type of shopping carts used by Target. Target should re-design their parking lot to resemble that of Walmart, or any other business that realizes not everyone drives a Mini Cooper. As an alternative to the new shopping carts, Walmart might consider hiring a full-time shopping cart front-end alignment technician.

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01-30-2024 - NWS forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 70. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. Light and variable wind.

01-30-2024 - Good Morning! As I sip my first cup of Folgers Black Silk, I'm thinking of the possibility of someone starting some type of CW (Morse code) special event here in Wichita Falls. I'm talking about something other than a regular net. It could be like a net but a one-time event. Or, maybe something monthly. Or, maybe I'll just sip my coffee and come up with something else.

01-29-2024 - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has proposed fines ranging from $120,000 to $2.3 Million for four individuals for pirate broadcasting in the FM broadcast band.

01-29-2024 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Percent of population engaging in activity on an average day and average hours spent per day among those engaging in activity, all days of the week, 2022 annual averages:

Watching TV 76.5% 3.65
Food and drink preparation 57.2% 0.88 Hours per day
Socializing and communicating 28.7% 1.95 Hours per day
Relaxing and thinking 21.6% 1.64 Hours per day
Participating in sports, exercise, and recreation 20.1% 1.44 Hours per day
Reading for personal interest 16.7% 1.58 Hours per day
Playing games 14.4% 2.59 Hours per day
Computer use for leisure, excluding games 13.5% 1.48 Hours per day
Lawn and garden care 9.0% 2.01 Hours per day
Walking, exercising, and playing with animals 8.6% 0.86 Hours per day
Walking 7.8% 0.91 Hours per day
Volunteer activities 4.2% 2.33 Hours per day
Arts and entertainment (other than sports) 2.3% 3.08 Hours per day
Attending sporting or recreational events 0.9% 3.17 Hours per day

01-29-2024 - There's a lot of chatter on 151.940 MHz this morning from one of our local schools. I really can't detect anything out of the ordinary, just more of it today. I'm also getting a lot of intermodulation distortion. This is a frequency in the Multi-Use Radio Service. Also, there was some chatter on 146.475 MHz - an Amateur (ham) Radio simplex frequency. Two guys were talking about something I couldn't decipher. They both had strong signals, but one had strong audio and the other's audio was down in the mud. No call signs were heard. It's possible that they were passing through town talking on Chinese Baofengs. Or, maybe they were local. Unknown if they were even Amateur Radio operators.

01-29-2024 - NWS forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 68. West wind 5 to 7 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 39. West wind 3 to 6 mph.

01-29-2024 - Good Morning! I'm already working on my first cup of Folgers Black Silk coffee and I've got the Scanner radio going in the headphones. The WFISD school buses are up and running at 6:20 AM on 152.360 MHz. The Allred Unit runs practice exercises, responds to actual situations, and performs inmate counts throughout the day and night on 153.815 MHz. Walmart is preparing for another hectic day on 154.570 MHz and the City transit bus drivers on 453.5375 MHz are preparing to run their routes. I've never driven a City transit bus, but judging by the radio traffic those drivers have the easiest job of all.

01-28-2024 - The Wichita Amateur Radio Society holds a weekly informal net on Sundays at 8:00 PM on the club's 147.140 MHz repeater. All licensed Amateur (ham) Radio operators are invited to check in. Scanner radio enthusiasts are also invited to listen in.

01-28-2024 - This morning I made contact with an Amateur Radio station at Cold Mountain State Game Land (US-6895) in North Carolina in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. Was Inman wandering the grounds?

01-28-2024 - Special Event Station K9S - hosted by the Vernon County Amateur Radio Club in Westby WI - will be on the air on February 2, 2024 commemorating the 101st Snowflake Ski Jumping Tourney. Listen for them from 1800Z-2100z on 3.865 7.265 14.265 MHz.

01-28-2024 - Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. West wind around 6 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 38. South wind around 7 mph.

01-28-2024 - Good Morning! It's Folgers Black Silk coffee and blueberry bagel time! It should be a nice day today with temps up to 61 degrees. We have two good NFL football games coming up. Winter Field Day is still happening but that should end at 1:00 PM local time. That will quiet things down a bit so I can more easily snag another Parks on the Air® station or two. Walmart is alive on my scanner at 154.570 MHs. I'll see what they're up to.

01-27-2024 - I'm tuning the shortwave bands - 7 to 11 MHz - tonight on the Yaesu 857D, listening to the various programs. Some are religious, some political, and some bring news, information, music, and other topics.

01-27-2024 - In 1969 or so, I attended a lecture by rocket scientist Wernher von Braun at what was then Midwestern University, here in Wichita Falls. It didn't become Midwestern State University until 1975. I don't remember much about his talk but I do remember him saying that he didn't know if Texas was a state or a state of mind. At my young age, I didn't know what to think about that. Now, in my old age, I still don't.

01-27-2024 - From my corrections consultant - I was in 1-section, 7-Building, trying to get the picket boss to open the door to let me out. He was standing at the console looking out to the Sergeant's Desk. At least I thought he was looking. As it turned out, he was asleep on his feet, in the middle of the day. Alseep with his bag of snacks from the commissary open before him. I pushed the intercom button, banged in the window, shined my flashlight at him, and shot my laser pointer at him. Nothing worked. It was so bad that inmates were jumping up and down on the dayroom tables trying to get his attention. Had I been one of those asshole bosses, they could have been jumping up and down on me and the picket boss would have slept right through it. I thought I was going to have to push my body alarm but he finally snapped out of it and opened the door. Words were exchanged.

01-27-2024 - This morning, I made contact with NO9G in Shawnee National Forest (US-4482) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. That might be all I can get in before the onslaught of the Winter Field Day stations.