Well, another year has come and gone (just like the song by the Ray, Goodman and Brown). It’s heck of strange just how fast the days and months go in a year.

Tonight Mami will be cooking up chicken adobo to close off the year and start a new one.

I will be producing a bunch of training and promotional videos in 2022. This gimbal has been rated high with the Sony A7’s camera rig we have decided to invest in.

Transitioning from film cameras was a slow process. I was a big fan of the Minolta X-700 series (1981) then later upgraded to the Maxxum 7000 SLR that came out in 1985. I enjoyed the technical aspects of taking a photograph using film down to the science of what film to use in certain situations.

Then came the digital age. My first camera that used the digital format was a Ricoh RDC-2 that used the DM-2 attached mini monitor. I actually still have the one I purchased back in 1996. I paid close $700 bucks for that thing and I thought it was high tech with the massive 2MB internal storage.

This little clamshell configuration was super odd and it even supported a proprietary video format. The memory card back those days was called PCMCIA flash cards.

I’ve had many different digital cameras throughout the years. I tried different manufacturers as they released new models. This included Olympus, Nikon, Fuji and of course the Canon line.

I’ve been using Canon Gear for many years. It was the platform I decided to invest in out of all the big name camera company’s that were around in that time period.

This the first time since we moved up the hill that I had to do the X-Mas lights by myself. I definitely missed my helper. Wifey has been sick all day so I was on a solo mission this year.

I really enjoy the larger colored bulbs. I used to be a big fan of the white icicles but that seemed to be phase. The colored lights have the original vintage look I enjoy. I probably reminds me of my youth growing up where my folks had the old painted looking bulbs.

I’ve been having this urge to use a mechanical keyboard. Not so much for the disco lighting effects but more so for the tactile feel of an old school keyboard you can actually feel while you’re typing.
I bought a used Razer Huntsman model RZ03-02520.
I’m digging the way it sounds and it’s not super loud compared to others I’ve heard. The added bonus is I purchased the keyboard used and didn’t pay the hefty price tag it goes for retail.

More information for later use:

Razer Huntsman Gaming Keyboard: Fastest Keyboard Switches Ever – Clicky Optical Switches – Customizable Chroma RGB Lighting – Programmable Macro Functionality – Classic Black

I’m eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot. There is a lot controversy about taking the vaccine. My stance is to be part of the solution rather than come up with reasons not taking the available vaccines.

As of now I’ve been test a couple of times for COVID-19 and each time with negative results. Once at the local library at San Andreas and the other the most recent at Kaiser Permanente, Stockton CA. Even though I myself have been tested only twice I’ve gone several times taking wifey to her appointment and checks.

I found a gem at a local estate sale. It seems the best deals at an Estate Sale are the ones that do not have any major advertisement. I’m talking about a sale put on by the family members and not a paid crew that follows a strict procedure based on how many days they are going to be selling.

This particular estate sale was a couple of miles from our home. The seller was very motivated in selling what was left of the families belongings. I purchased several radios and the Packard Bell AR-851 “Gilligan’s Island” model was a cool score.

You can find out more details on this particular radio by checking this site

One interesting note between the radio seen on the show and mine is the handle and antenna is missing. It turns out the prop team on the show added both the handle and antenna. Being this an A.M. radio model an antenna is not needed since F.M. wasn’t an option.

The big joke is the professor was able to recharge the radio batteries using coconut shells and he couldn’t figure out how to plug the hole on the boat. That’s some classic shit right there. LOL!!

This is the original radio used on the Gilligan’s Island series that debuted in 1964.

I drive through this area 10 times a week. I typically will see the sunrise and sunset in one day. It all depends on daylight savings time and the current month of the year.

These two shots were taken the day after the record setting rainfall. The location is a lookout point at one of the highest hill tops.

I think getting a COVID-19 test will become the normal for many years.

Today I’m taking my second test. If you’re working for a company with a large work force you’ll eventually have to comply with the health guidelines.

The current COVID testing process at Kaiser Permanente is in car. You don’t apply the swab, the worker does it for you. Another change is the swab doesn’t need to hit your brain to be effective. A couple light sample from each nostril and you’re done.

The whole process took approximately 30 minutes and that is with a prearranged appointment.

When we first moved to Valley Springs Verizon Wireless Services was had the best coverage. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean at our specific location in the hills.

The signal strength in the small town area has the strongest signal. The cellphone (iPhone 12 Max) will get the the full 4 bar LTE signal. Once you drive away from town the signal strength decreases rapidly. I guess this would be expected since the hills and mountains will have an effect with the transmission towers “line of sight”.

I know for a fact AT&T signal strength is much better than Verizons at our home location. I have another iPhone with AT&T as the carrier and it consistently has 3 bars. Switching our personal phones over to AT&T was not a desirable option.

After researching the possibility of a LTE Extender I decided to go with the model you would purchase at the Verizon Store. I found a reviews online and it seemed rather split in opinions. The folks that actually got it to work said it was fine and other said they couldn’t get it to work at all. I can see if you’re not a tech savvy person this may be challenge.

I consider myself very tech savvy and I had some difficulty. The issues I was having I thought it was on end. I thought my router firewall was blocking IP address from being reached, possibly the GPS signal wasn’t strong enough, I even thought the ethernet hub I was using wasn’t compatible since it was a special type that power PoP IP cameras.

There are a various steps the LTE Extender goes through to successfully establish connection and function as expected. If any of these steps does not complete your box is not going to work.

One step that I didn’t perform was to call customer technical support and activate / register the LTE Extender device. I would get an error “5A” connecting to the server using CMP. This error would repeat no matter how many times I tried restarting the Verizon Box.

Once I contacted Verizon technical support and they performed the registration on their end I was able to establish a connection once the boot process completed. The actual boot process is lengthy but my LTE Extender required a software update. Additional time and setup is needed.

All in all this product works great. I have a strong signal everywhere in my home and outside. One added plus is being able to use my Verizon cellphone reliably 100 feet away down the hill inside my shop.