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Post by paleo on Oct 28, 2021 19:58:40 GMT -5
I haven't worked for about 18 months and it's been about a year since I announced that I was retired. I didn't shut my business down but I went to a "contract avoidance " mode of operation.
Then, a few weeks ago I was getting ready to go to bed one night when I received a instant message on my phone. The message was from a gal that I've worked with in the past. She is part of a new research company and she said they needed a Subject Matter Expert on rf, especially HF, and my name came up.
I just received a message from her that they won one of the contracts they were chasing and expect to win another soon.
So since I agreed to provide consulting on rf/HF communications I am no longer retired.
I'm thinking a new custom D-45 Martin would be nice.
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Post by paleo on Oct 28, 2021 8:33:13 GMT -5
There's a light rain falling in the Heartland. It'll stop some time, don't know when. Someday we'll see the sun a shine'n Trouble is, we don't know when.
Today I gotta go to Cedar Rapids to cash some checks, then to Vinton to see if I can get my Maderna booster.
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Post by paleo on Oct 27, 2021 17:13:49 GMT -5
Happy birthday, hope it's a great one!
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Post by paleo on Oct 27, 2021 8:59:07 GMT -5
My plan for today is to brave the wind this afternoon and get in a bike ride. I want to check out the newly paved trail to see if the area around Blue Creek has been completed.
While I bike, my crock pot will be busy cooking a batch of beef vegetable soup/stew. I'm using the last half of the stuffed rump roast from a couple days ago, boy it smells good!
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Post by paleo on Oct 27, 2021 8:11:02 GMT -5
Have a great one, Marty!
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Post by paleo on Oct 26, 2021 10:23:44 GMT -5
Just home from Jams, the new coffee shop in Urbana. The name, Jams, is from the first letter of the names of the four people who own it. Parents, and I believe daughter and SIL.
They do sell jam/jelly and this morning I scored a jar of peach - habanero jelly.
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Post by paleo on Oct 25, 2021 9:52:10 GMT -5
Around here you can rent a herd of goats to clean out unwanted brush, weeds, vines, etc. They are very efficient. Deer are closely related to goats. My cabin is surrounded by thick woods and it was getting pretty brushy. There is no hunting allowed around the cabin area. The deer are everywhere and about mid summer I noticed the woods starting to look different, more open. By this fall, the woods are basically free of leaves from the ground up to about 5 feet and a lot of the brush and twigs are gone. The deer have really cleaned it out. So, Darryl, how did that roast turn out? The roast was very tender. Taste wise, I could detect a slight taste of onion and jalapeno. There may be a stronger taste once I get farther into the roast. I didn't cut it all up yesterday, so what I tasted was from the outside. Today or tomorrow I'll get into it farther. I'll probably cut up a bunch and make some beef noodle or beef barley soup on Wednesday. I'll try to remember to post an update later in the week.
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Post by paleo on Oct 25, 2021 8:26:05 GMT -5
Lots of their relatives around here lately. A few are pretty big, too. They must eat well. Around here you can rent a herd of goats to clean out unwanted brush, weeds, vines, etc. They are very efficient. Deer are closely related to goats. My cabin is surrounded by thick woods and it was getting pretty brushy. There is no hunting allowed around the cabin area. The deer are everywhere and about mid summer I noticed the woods starting to look different, more open. By this fall, the woods are basically free of leaves from the ground up to about 5 feet and a lot of the brush and twigs are gone. The deer have really cleaned it out.
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Post by paleo on Oct 24, 2021 14:56:27 GMT -5
I wanted to stop at the Culver's in Hiawatha (Cedar Rapids) yesterday, but there was no indoor dining and the line of cars waiting at the drive through was just too long. Maybe another time.
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Post by paleo on Oct 24, 2021 9:43:20 GMT -5
The rain is just arriving here, suppose to rain all day.
So, I decided to try cooking something new, I guess it could be called a stuffed rump roast. I have a 2.5 lb. Roast that I cut 2 deep slits into. The slots are stuffed with a mixture of chopped onion, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt and pepper.
After the stuffing was in I brazed it in a smoking hot pan and then put it in the slow cooker (on high) where it will be for the next 6-7 hours.
Hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds to me.
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Post by paleo on Oct 23, 2021 8:19:05 GMT -5
There's frost on the pumpkin this morning.
There's an outdoor ski club meeting this afternoon, btw, Breckinridge turned on there anow makers this week.
There's also a celebration of life today for a former ski club member who passed away from COVID about a year ago.
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Post by paleo on Oct 22, 2021 14:27:04 GMT -5
It's Friday. The Steel Wheels show last night was pretty good, second time I've seen them, I probably won't be ready to see them again for several years. I don't remember when you came to the Soundhole, but I mentioned back when that those guys (specifically Jay Lapp) are Goshen guys. I've sat in with Jay and a few others at jams in Goshen, and Jay's mandolin was made by Jim Shenk. Two years ago they were in Cedar Rapids and at that time their bass player was from Iowa, not too far from Cedar Rapids. I can't remember his name, but he has since left the group and gotten married. They all seem to be good musicians, a little more vocal variety (not one person doing all the vocals in a two hour show) would be nice.
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Post by paleo on Oct 22, 2021 9:49:56 GMT -5
It's Friday. The Steel Wheels show last night was pretty good, second time I've seen them, I probably won't be ready to see them again for several years.
I think I'll head up to the cabin about noon today, that will let it warm up a few degrees, and bring the boat home for the winter.
I'm hoping that I don't have to get in the water, at least not over my knees!
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Post by paleo on Oct 21, 2021 9:03:42 GMT -5
Had a great gig yesterday, maybe the most fun/enjoyable I've been involved in. Full house, standing room only and the audience was having fun. About half way through they started singing and dancing and by the time we finished the dancers were everywhere. We did one encore and while they wanted more, we were already 15-20 minutes over our scheduled time so we called it.
Tonight I'll be at the Steel wheels show at CSPS.
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Odinsday
Oct 20, 2021 9:27:05 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by paleo on Oct 20, 2021 9:27:05 GMT -5
There were a few sprinkles of rain this morning, now the sun is shining.
We have a gig this afternoon in North Liberty so that pretty much Takes care of the day.
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Post by paleo on Oct 19, 2021 10:52:28 GMT -5
I'm home from my 9:00 am dental appointment. All is well in the tooth department. I stopped at Oscar's on Center Point Rd. for breakfast, following my exam/cleaning.
Music practice this afternoon, getting ready for our gig tomorrow.
It's a beautiful October day, clear skies, light wind, sunshine, headed for 75 degrees this afternoon. A year ago today we had 3 inches of snow.
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Post by paleo on Oct 18, 2021 8:39:57 GMT -5
It's long been an ambition to make a practice of visiting churches not of my faith, to celebrate and pray with the congregants, to learn of their doctrines and practices, and to compare and contrast their exotic religions along the way. My plan was to collect religious experiences and share them with my Catholic friends, like a big game hunter collects stuffed heads and shows them off at cocktail parties. Not really. Well, kind of. My safari finally started today! I am Catholic and had already been to "Sunday" Mass yesterday, a Saturday, so this morning was free (we Catholics call Saturday Mass a "vigil", this, I think, to avoid the sin of omitting to keep holy the Sabbath, which is ironic, since the Sabbath for Jews is on Saturday anyway.) I chose to favor the Mennonites with my first extra-Catholic, exploratory "taste-and-see." I was really looking for an Anabaptist church, because I've always liked Anabaptists, but Mennonites were all I could find of that persuasion within a reasonable driving distance. (Anabaptists are forebears of Mennonites). As I was dressing, I wondered if my dove-grey, pleated slacks and striped, long-sleeved dress shirt were suitable attire. Was I over-dressed or under-dressed? Necktie, or no necktie? Was black jacket optional? I didn't have any suspenders or wide-brimmed straw hat as I assumed the men would all be wearing. I was already in knots about the straw hat and that suspenders business when I faced a second dilemma: to shave or not to shave? After agonizing, I elected to shave, but with ambivalence: On the one hand, I tend to look dirty when unshaved. I didn't want to pollute the service and disgust the congregants with my unsightly Catholic stubble. How horrible for them. On the other hand, I wondered what point there was in shaving for a Mennonite service in the first place; all the men would surely have long, flowing beards, like Moses. Would the elders discuss my appearance in a hushed, low German, vote to cast me out, and then shun me for having shaved? How long does a shunning last? I really didn't know, and so it worried me. As it turned out, these fears were unfounded. It was a small church, as Mennonite churches tend to be in Texas. Kansas, I understand, is a different matter. I was warmly greeted by a young couple in the lobby, the husband of which -- shaved, mind you, and dressed exactly like me -- had grown up Catholic himself. After some pleasantries, we went into this low-ceilinged meeting room where service was held. It was not the Sistine Chapel, but neither is my church. Come to think of it, the first Masses 2000 years ago were held in dark caves or the small homes of the faithful, so this Mennonite environment is more faithful to the original Catholic practice than is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. (You think?) The structure of the service itself was not too dissimilar to a modern Catholic Mass, with these differences: 1) there is no reading from the Holy Gospel, just one from Psalms and then one from a letter from St. Paul to the Ephesians. I don't know why the Gospel isn't read, and I forgot to ask. They referred to the letter as being "from the Book of Paul," which was jarring, but I got over it. 2) There is no "liturgy of the Eucharist," no breaking of bread, no mysticism, and certainly no transsubstantiation. There are no graven images or paintings of saints, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or of Jesus. 3) At one point, everyone is invited to take the microphone and make a prayer request on behalf of themselves, a friend, or family member, or alternatively to announce some good news, like having found a job or having had a successful medical intervention. When it came my turn, I asked everyone to pray for some wicked, sinful guitar players of my acquaintance. (I didn't mean you all, of course.) No, I didn't do that. I did thank them for welcoming me into their midst and, instead of a prayer request, made a kind of confession/admission of a personal struggle of mine. No one else did anything of the kind, probably because Mennonites aren't guilt-ridden Catholics accustomed to confessing sins in dark closets and then mortifying their flesh with a fish-hook-tipped cat o'nine tails. Like I do. Catholics do make prayer requests, but anonymously and in secret, like pretty much everything else we do. I like the openness of the Mennonites. I wonder what they'd think of the Latin Mass, still celebrated in many places, including Dallas, with the priest's back turned to the congregation and covered with an ivory, emerald green, scarlet or purple chasuble, which is a giant "cape", more or less), depending on the season? The hymnal featured many songs that my own church sings, including some by the GREAT Marty Haugen ("Eye Has Not Seen"). This commonality helped to ground me. I could go on about all this but will save it for my book. It was a very pleasant and rewarding experience, and I hope to visit the local Mennonite church again soon. I like your idea. I previously have been involved with the Inter Religious Council in Cedar Rapids. I've also attended both Muslim and Buddhist church services. I believe it is a good way to learn and grow.
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Post by paleo on Oct 18, 2021 7:51:23 GMT -5
43 degrees, heading for 74 today. I'll join some other ski club members at 10:45 (60 degrees) for a bike ride from Cedar Rapids to Solon and back. The ride should be about 27 miles and hopefully there will be some beautifully colored trees to look at.
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Post by paleo on Oct 17, 2021 8:19:22 GMT -5
It was great to see and jam with Phil and Amana Joe yesterday at West Music.
This weekend is the weekend, following, and closest to, the middle of October. That means it is time to shut the water off at the cabin and drain the pipes.
It's always kind of a sad day, but something that has to be done.
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Post by paleo on Oct 17, 2021 8:10:06 GMT -5
I met Gordon many years ago on a flight from Toronto to Chicago. He and his guitar were sitting right across from me in the 1st class section of the plane.
I don't think the people around us knew who he was. I said hello and asked if he was going to a show, he was. We had a little chat, friendly but I didn't press my luck trying to visit.
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