Category Archives: Observations

Fake Plastic Trees, Part 3

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It lasted three and half years.  Then it broke in half.

Top half of cell tower blew off in windstorm.

Top half of cell tower blew off in windstorm.

 

The tower initially hosted AT&T in 2010. Verizon added their equipment about a year and half later.  So now the town is without cell service.  My guess is that it will take at least a month to get it 100% operational again.  It probably could be done sooner, but I’m guessing the corporations will have to work out some bureaucratic issues.  I question whether they should fix this thing or replace it with a stronger tower.

Edited to add: Today they put up some temporary antennas.  Pretty good service from a large corporation on New Year’s Eve!

 

Top portion of antenna bay lying on the ground. It looks like the tower severed at one of the seams.

Top portion of antenna bay lying on the ground with it’s fake pine branches. It looks like the tower severed at one of the seams.

 

For now it’s back to landline here at home.

Fake Plastic Trees, Part 1
Fake Plastic Trees, Part 2

 

Take Me Away

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Amtrak #5 heading west this morning.

Amtrak #5 heading west this morning, with a car chasing along.

It’s still difficult to find spare time.  Both businesses are doing well, but that cuts both ways. It’s been stressful. Days off are spent doing chores.

It was a year ago that I hopped on the train and rode it through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico.  Last night I dreamed about hopping on the train and going as far as Reno then heading back.  That idea really appeals to me right now.

It would be so relaxing, because as a captive on a train, there is nothing to do but to eat, sleep, and watch the scenery go by.  Forced passiveness.

Why Reno?  Because it’s 24 hours from Denver.  A day and a night in one direction.

When I woke after the dream, I went online and checked fares for next week. Unfortunately, the fares discourage improvisation. The bedrooms are booked.

I miss hiking and exploring and taking photos.  Now we are entering winter, and with the clocks falling back an hour, short days and darkness.

 

Catching Up: Post Flood

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By now you’ve heard about the great Colorado flood of 2013.  The numbers for Boulder County:

  • Damaged Residences: 557
  • Residences destroyed: 345
  • Damaged Commercial: 33
  • Commercial properties destroyed: 3
  • Deaths: 4

I’m not sure about the numbers statewide.

Other than a leaking roof, where the water ran down into the wall and out into the closet and soaked the carpeting, I survived fine.  Throughout the flood, I was busy trying to meet a work deadline amidst power outages.  The entire week was a bit surreal.  Rain was falling each day and I was given a nearly impossible printed circuit to design in a nearly impossible time frame.  Actually it was four circuit boards, but I only completed two.

The biggest inconvenience has been transportation.  It’s now nearly two weeks after the flood and the main roads in and out of the area are still closed.

I wish I had some spectacular photos to share, but there was never any time to go out and take photos.

I am tired of all of the hyperbole in the media regarding this event. There is so much misinformation and comparisons of apples and oranges.  So I’ve pretty much stopped keeping up on things.

Fall is a bit late this year, very little color has developed so far.  Given that the peak of the wildflowers were a couple of weeks late in mid-summer, followed by the peak mushroom season being late, I can conclude that Fall will be a bit late.

I don’t think the heavy rains portend a bad winter.  The monsoon and winter weather patterns are nearly opposite of each other and different forces are in play.   Prior to the heavy rain storm, the monsoon was running pretty close to average.  So therefore I’ll bet winter will be average, if not a few weeks late getting started.