Entry for January 30, 2006

Quite an active weekend for me. We had unseasonably warm weather for most of it, although there was some rain and clouds.

On Friday night, I operated for about 3 hours in a Morse Code contest on the 160-meter band. This band requires a large antenna, which is difficult to have on a small lot. But I did manage to make several contacts. DD6VSF and I agreed to each operate 3 hours then compare scores. I had over 4000 points to his 810. Better luck next time, Sven ;-).

The Blue Jackets fell behind Minnesota 3-1 on Friday night, but came back to win 4-3. I watched the game on tape on Saturday morning. On Saturday night, Columbus beat the Predators by the same score.

Bonnie’s church had a fish fry Saturday night, so I went to Shelby County for that. On Sunday morning we drove to Louisville for a new car show. Always lots of fun to see a lot of different vehicles up close and personal, especially since I will never own 99% of them. We had fun looking at expensive vehicles like Hummers, but also had a chance to see cars that we would strongly consider owning.

Sunday afternoon we took Bonnie’s twin daughters and their boyfriends to Kingfish for a meal.

So, I used a tank of gas in the Lumina, but it was a great weekend. Band conditions were not great but they weren’t too bad either, and I had some nice ham radio chats while driving.

Entry for January 27, 2006

The sweetest win of the season came last night as the Kentucky women beat Tennessee. UT is the premier women’s basketball program in America. Kentucky was a non-competitive doormat for years until Mickie DeMoss, a former Tennessee assistant coach, began rebuilding the program 3 years ago. Tennessee was ranked number 1 coming into last night, although they had lost to Duke earlier in the week, and were already slated to fall in the next poll. A record crowd of 13,689 was present for the big win.

Bonnie and I have a busy weekend planned. Her church has a fish fry scheduled for Saturday night, and I can’t resist fried fish. On Sunday, we’ll go to Louisville for a car show, and visit with Bonnie’s twin daughters and their boyfriends.

Tonight, I plan to operate for a few hours in the CQ WW 160m CW contest, a Morse Code only contest on the 160-meter band.

Right now, I am listening to a high-speed Morse Code station using a receiver in Germany belonging to a friend of mine. The code is too fast for me to copy, but it is almost certainly Russian military. They continue to use CW to pass encrypted message traffic.

Entry for January 24, 2006

The high school announced that my twin niece and nephew got minor leading parts in the musical “Pajama Game”. The show is in early April. So, tomorrow begins 2+ months of long, hard, daily practices. But, they enjoy it.

I went to the urologist today. Turns out I am not drinking enough water. Also, the calcium I consume is not being absorbed properly, so much of it is coming out in the urine. This can cause kidney stones. I may eventually end up on some medication that improves calcium absorption. In the meantime, I’m going to try vitamin D, which is believed to help calcium be absorbed.

Entry for January 23, 2006

And there there were none……. We started Saturday morning with three undefeated teams in men’s college basketball, but they all lost. Surprising St. John’s beat Pittsburgh, Duke lost to Georgetown and Florida lost in Knoxville Saturday night. I see where Connecticut is the new number one in this week’s polls.

The Ohio State men beat Penn State for the second time this season 75-64. The OSU women won a squeaker in East Lansing.

The Kentucky men won their first conference home game of the season in beating South Carolina 80-78. The Cats were down by as many as 12 points in the second half. The UK women won at Ole Miss.

The Blue Jackets beat St. Louis in a shootout, but got blown out of Nashville.

We had a bunch of rain on Sunday, but not as much as some places around the state.

My twin niece and nephew have had tryouts for the Spring musical at their high school. Now, just a matter of waiting to see what parts they got.

Entry for January 20, 2006

Here it is, Friday already.  Winter peaks about this time of January, but we continue to have mild temperatures. We did have an inch or two of snow on Wednesday morning, but it was all gone by Thursday as tempertures got up near 60.

The Blue Jackets split a couple home games this week. After an exciting 4-3 win over the Rangers, the Red Wings came in and shut us out 4-0.

The UK men picked up their first conference win of the season in Athens, 69-55. But, the UK women lost at home to Auburn.

The OSU men beat Wisconsin 77-67 Wednesday night. That was really a must-win situation, as the Badgers had been undefeated in league play. Now, Ohio State is only 1 game behind in the loss column. Home teams continue to do pretty well in league play, which is the only way you’ll have a chance in the Big Ten this year.

Entry for January 16, 2006

It was Happy Birthday Sweet 16 for my twin niece and nephew last Friday. They are very busy at high school, as they are both involved in extra-curricular activities including drama. I hope they enjoy these times, because they don’t last long. Soon they will move on to the next phase of their lives.

We had our first snow on the ground Saturday morning. It did not stick to the pavement, but it mostly covered the grass.

A lot of you probably know that amateur radio has competitive activities (contests). They aren’t for everybody, but I enjoy them. I entered a Morse Code contest Saturday, first one I had done in 12 years. I’m not very good at it, but with practice, practice, practice, I will get better. And that is where the fun is.

The Blue Jackets went to the Sunshine State this weekend to play the teams down there. After losing in Tampa 4-2 Friday night, Columbus came back from a 2-goal deficit Saturday at Florida to win 5-4 in overtime. David Vyborny had the winning goal with 11 seconds to go in overtime. Getting two standings points out of a 2-game road trip is not too bad. But Columbus needs a lot of points quickly if they want to get back into the playoff hunt.

The Kentucky mens team continues to struggle as they lost at home again, this time to Alabama.  Right now, it is hard to imagine who they can beat. The offense is really poor.

The Kentucky women picked up a nice win Sunday afternoon over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The LadyKats were behind for most of the game, but pulled it out in the end. UK was 23-27 at the free throw line. Eleia Roddy, who hails from my hometown of Columbus, hit 3-of-4 free throws in the last few seconds to give UK the win.

The Ohio State men lost their first home game of the year yesterday, 62-59 to Michigan State in double overtime. OSU didn’t shoot well. The season is early yet, but the teams that look like contenders in the Big Ten have been winning their home games. So, the Buckeyes will have to put a bunch of wins together to get back in the hunt.

Entry for January 12, 2006

Last night was a big one for central Ohio sports fans.

I had been wondering how OSU would react after losing its first game of the season last Saturday. They responded by going to West Lafayette and blowing Purdue out of their own gym, 80-64. Had a 25 point lead at one time.

Columbus scored a goal against Pittsburgh in the first 10 seconds of the game, and never looked back, cruising to a 6-1 victory over the struggling Penguins. Now they go to Florida to play Tampa Bay and Florida. Hopefully they will keep up the offensive momentum.

Entry for January 11, 2006

Where were you in 1974? That was the last time Vanderbilt beat Kentucky in Lexington, until last night. The Dores led most of the game, and held on for a 57-52 victory. Randolph Morris became eligible for UK for the first time this season, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Just the other day, I predicted UK would be 12-4 in the SEC this year. 4-12 will probably be closer to the mark.

Entry for January 08, 2006

I had a strange dream last night. Vernon and I went to a country club to play golf. Now, I don’t know about Vernon, but I don’t play golf :-). So, I wandered over to the clubhouse. There, I found that one of my favorite rock groups, “Texas” was performing live for a small group of people. After an enjoyable concert, I chatted with the band members, and that was the end of the dream. I have no idea whether Vernon played golf or what :-).

Ohio State was one of the last five unbeaten teams in men’s college basketball, until losing yesterday in Bloomington, 81-79. I hadn’t realized that Indiana is shooting so well. They made a ton of threes. Plus, our Terrence Dials getting into foul trouble didn’t help matters.

Kentucky got blown out of Kansas 73-46.

Entry for January 05, 2006

My Grandma Sunkel used to always say “things happen in threes”. Generally, the saying refers to bad things but three good things have happened today.

Two new jobs to report. Bonnie’s oldest daughter got a job after a few months of unemployment. Same thing for my friend Sven, DD6VSF. Sven found a job near the town he lives in in Germany, and will not have to relocate.

Also, word has it that the Blue Jackets will be playing an exhibition game this autumn in Rupp Arena. How nice to have my favorite team playing in my backyard.

Last night’s championship game was great but kind of a comedy of errors in a way. Thank goodness they reviewed many of the plays but they needed to review several more, too. ABC’s production was poor, too, in my opinion.  I wrote in this blog a couple months back that I thought Texas was the better team, so I will publicly pat myself on the back :-).