Almost Energetic

First an update on the review process. My case manager called the agency on Friday but wasn’t able to get through to the right person. Typical. She left a message asking the person to call me ASAP . I did not get a call Friday, and will be surprised if I get one at all. I’ve unfortunately had many years of experience with this agency, and that’s just how they operate.

Wednesday night I had stayed up until 2:30 repairing that broken piece of repeater equipment. On Friday I got a ride to the site and re-installed it. On the bench at home it had been performing flawlessly after the repair. Imagine my disgust when I found at the site it was misbehaving badly, drawing much more current than it should and getting very hot. It had also done this previously, before the breakdown and subsequent repair. I had thought it was just a defective unit, but now it became obvious something else in the system was upsetting it. A three hour hunt for gremlins ensued, and yes, I did find the cause. However there were still some small hints that other things were not quite right with the whole setup. It has mostly been ignored for three years while I was busy trying to extract myself from crisis.

I awoke early Saturday morning with a plan. I was going to take the bicycle and get to the hill as early as possible, before the sun heated the air too much and made the seven mile uphill ride too uncomfortable. I planned to spend the day working on my repeater stuff and a nearby project for a friend. The project for a friend did not go well. After measuring, I discovered far more trees than we discussed were going to have to come out to make room for what he wants to build. I surveyed an alternate location with fewer obstacles, and will check with him to see if he wants to opt for plan B before proceeding.

I did get quite a lot done with my repeater. I collected evidence regarding the (now growing) list of little tell-tale signs that all is not quite well, and accordingly made a future to-do list which should help to identify causes and remedy the situation. I ripped some unused electrical wiring out of the building in preparation for a re-wiring project to take place (hopefully) later this year. I reprogrammed the controller (mini computer thingy) in order to change some options on the system. I re-arranged and tidied up all the cables interconnecting various pieces of equipment. I swatted dozens of black flies, got stung by a wasp, and nearly died of fright when a wild turkey attempted to land on the roof. The turkey bounced off the roof and crash landed on a rock wall nearby. They do not (usually) fly or land gracefully. I put about six hours of work into it, and hope to return for another round soon. I would have worked longer, but by early afternoon it was 80 degrees outside and well past the 90 degree mark inside where I was working. I decided it was time to withdraw and live to fight another day. 🙂

Perhaps the most surprising part of it was I didn’t get too stressed out when people were hanging around near where I was working. The owner of the land, in addition to leasing tower space, has a sort of club/hangout where people gather to play horseshoes, watch TV, play cards, or whatever. In the past this activity has really bothered me. I have a theory on why it didn’t this time but will reserve comment until I see if this is going to be the new norm.