A Crummy Commercial

I saw this Schwinn ad on Pinterest: source:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358528820349226381 108.92 miles per hour on a Schwinn ?   Wiki for Alfred Letourner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Letourneur It says he was "drafting" a midget racer car on a highway but still, it sounds fishy, especially the 5 significant figures, even the MLB only reports tenths of a MPH for their pitching records. :) What if he had blown a tire ?  yikes !  Maybe since old Al was French he was using Michelins ?: source:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/1643624025/vintage-michelin-man-poster-retro Google translation: Then again, the dude is smoking a cigar, riding a bike no hands, safety might not have been that important to Michelin :) I think I'd rather have the Black Phantom ! I actually still have a Schwinn Cruiser 5, one of many bikes I've ridden into the ground.  Someday maybe I'll fix it ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I've mentioned one of my grade school teachers, Mr. Peterson, before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/contracts-mr-peterson-7th-grade.html Recently I was reminded of the book: Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20220145 I don't remember the exact time or context (probably 7th grade) but Mr. Peterson wanted me to read the book.  Probably just because my name was Charles ?  And the Charley in the title is a dog, a big old French Poodle dog  :) I did read it (it's a travel book - all authors seem to write travel books, even Thoreau :) - the only thing I remember from the book is that at one point Steinbeck encounters buxom women - it was remarkable so he wrote it down :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm 

SM58 attempted destruction video:     https://www.instagram.com/reels/DaHqY6Yshvk/ SM58 wiki:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shure_SM58 SM58 Shure page:  https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/sm58 $119 (the switch adds $10) - I guess I am old, why destroy something that cost that much new ?  It does seem like a fairly decent value for a professional piece of equipment.  A page on the SM58 design: https://www.shure.com/en-US/insights/how-they-did-it-inside-the-sm58 I have one of these for the HT-37: It's been discontinued but I'd never purposely trash it. I guess the SM58 is supposed to be really hard to break: https://www.shure.com/en-US/insights/drop-the-mic-just-how-tough-is-the-sm58 So I guess it's more like Shure love or Shure respect rather than Shure hate - I blame the Mythbusters for this kind of activity. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I finally got my id.me seal of approval on Tuesday.  This is required if you want to get online with the IRS or Social Security.  Not having an activated cell phone makes id.me almost impossible to work with.  So now that I finally have a cell phone I tried signing up on Friday (6-26).  But it didn't like something I did (I suspect that it was the VPN) so I had to have a video chat with a person.  That didn't happen until Tuesday morning (6-30).  The elapsed time was less than an hour and the call with "Irving" only took a few minutes but still what a huge waste of time/money. Anyway, another thing accomplished, I was able to get into the IRS site.  Hopefully next year I'll be able to file Federal taxes electronically or check Social Security for the first time since they started this baloney. Just wait, the 666 tattoo on the forehead is coming (for convenience at security) so be sure to leave space ! source:  https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/...

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2c9-LDP0t0 No, not some flounder, Frontier.  This ominous looking piece of mail popped up on Informed Delivery: It's the (hopefully) final insult from Frontier: Apparently for Frontier just refunding the money electronically (the way I was paying) was too easy - same for a physical checkie.  They have to provide a debit card.  I would give it away except that it literally has my name on it :( I finally flipped through enough hoops and was able to request a no-fee check for the balance: In 7 to 10 business days I should have a checkie.  I should have dumped Frontier a decade ago ! Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

Usually I get pictures like this from the trail cam: Our old blaze eyed deer friend shows up regularly.  The cam has an audible click which might be the reason for the quizzical looks :) But this was new: That's not my fingers in the first two pictures, in the third picture it appears that there was a crow that landed on the cam briefly.  The cam takes pictures in threes, then it waits for a defined period, 30 seconds, before taking any more pictures. And then a visit from "the Phantom" with a little moon showing through the pine (upper right): Finally I also found out that in addition to a click, the cam IR LEDs glow red (dimly) at night - so that might be something to either fascinate or repel the animals. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm  

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/microsoft-adds-another-year-to-windows-10-extended-update-program/ Good news for once ?   Although I actually am typing this on a Windows 11 laptop, I do have a couple of other Windows 10 machines that I still use so this will be nice: Considering the chip shortages resulting from the AI bubble I can see why they might extend support, it's just insanely expensive to buy computer hardware.  SSD drives are twice the price they were recently. One thing: when Windows support does finally end the only nice thing is that a lot of stuff can be turned off which results in a faster bootup time IF you turn off the internet.  I have an old Windows 98 laptop that I use for printing and scanning - it never sees the internet and works just fine. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm