Independence Day, Trainspotting and Towers

We had a family day! We had a barbecue with steaks, hotdogs, chips, beer and lots of watermelon. Oh gods we ate. Jim and Dad went golfing with friends in the afternoon. Kelly, Mom and I camped in front of the tv and watched romantic movies. The guys came home sunburned and the tv switched to “guy movies”. Oh well. I got home around 10pm.

8am the next morning, I woke up to my door being pounded on. Kevin and George were on the front steps. I was half asleep and they wanted me to go on a drive with them. I tried to say no, and they wouldn’t listen. In fact, they had me packed and almost ready to go before I even got out of the bathroom! So, I gave up. Got dressed and climbed into the truck. I didn’t even know where we were going.

We headed out over the pass and into the next valley. All of a sudden, Kevin is bouncing up and down and pointing out the window. Way off in the distance, I could see a blinking light. A tower. We were tower hunting. Oh gods! We drove down this road that probably hadn’t seen traffic in the last 25 years. Rocks everywhere! However, it was a cool tower. We took lots of pictures.

valley tower

Then they consulted the map, found another tower and started down the road. Of course, these are guys driving… and we got lost!!!! I tried to tell them that we’d gone the wrong way. I pointed it out on the map, and they still weren’t listening. When we started heading up into the mountains, George finally decided that maybe I was right. I took the map away from Kevin and started to give directions. Nice thing though was that we came across the tourist Steam Train! Talk about two little kids. We’d stop, watch the train go by, get in the truck, speed down the road, stop again, drive again until we got to the train station. We got lots of train pictures too!

Steam Train~!

The train, Boss, the Train!!!

What I didn’t realize was that both the guys were into SteamPunk, and seeing this train was like some sort of fantasy come true. Of course, I got the full lecture about it as we drove off  up the mountains. I got the list of movies and books as well as all sorts of details. Knowing George, I’ll have an email full of links.

We finally stopped for lunch on the downside of one of the passes. We couldn’t get to the Lobo Tower site as they had the road chained off. Talk about disappointment! Oh well. Got home around 9pm and crawled in bed. I’d had more excitement than I could take for one day.

Muck, sunburn and miles to go before I shower!

Ok, the steel toed boots got a workout yesterday! Kevin, George and I loaded up the work truck and headed out towards the first on a long list of towers. The first one is just outside of town, and George has climbed it a lot. They put a repeater up on the tower so we could test the RF frequencies. Had to let the local sheriff know what we were doing too. We plan to help the local law enforcement with their communications issues once we buy the towers.

Then we got to drive up and down the highways in the area to see when we lost the signal and how far away it was. I got to do the mapping on the paper map while Kevin worked the laptop. Wheee…

After a quick lunch, it was off to a tower out on the plains. In the middle of a cow pasture! I think George stepped in the cow pie first. However, it didn’t matter how careful we were. In some places the only choice was cow pie or cactus. Uck! Oh, and let’s not forget about the dust. It has been so dry out here that everthing is bone dry. This tower is twice the size of the first one. George only went up about 100ft. We took pictures and as soon as I can wrestle the camera away from the guys, I’ll download some of the pics. The next tower was nearly 50 miles farther east. It is bloody huge! Must be at least 350ft tall. Four of the first tower would fit under it with no problem. The guys did their thing with the radios while I stayed on the ground. Watched for rattlesnakes too! shudder!!!

We finally stopped around 8pm, because the sun was setting. I must of put sun screen on twenty times during the day, but I still got burned. Collected bugs too! That stuff must be aphrodisiac for the damned things! The safety belt rubbed my shoulder right at the edge where it was burned. It made for a long ride home. yeah, a little tired and whiny by that point!

I think I figured out that we traveled nearly 250 miles on this trip. Had the guys speaking in computer babble most of the day. Scary part? I’m beginning to really understand it!!! Oh, and the phone rang while we were out in the field. It was one of our regular customers who bollixes up his computer all the time with viruses and porn. George handed me the phone and I talked him through it! No computer, no notes, nothing! When I handed the phone back to George, he and Kevin just smiled at me. Called me G33k gURL the rest of the day on the radio.

Best part of the day though was the shower. I went straight there and threw all my clothes on the back porch to wash. I’ll need to hose off the boots. I crawled into the shower and I swear that the water ran brown for at least ten minutes! I had mud in the drain! Of course when I got out I had to laugh! I have a farmer’s tan! Head, neck and lower arms sunburned and rings around my eyes from the sunglasses! sigh…. Good thing I’m not too vain about the whole “body beautiful” thing. There is no way I am ever going to even this out. sigh…

Today George and Kevin are going to the ARRL Field Day event. Umpteen gillion Amateur Radio guys (well, most of them are guys) wandering around with their ham radios. kd9 ***, receives your signal 4 by 5. I teases him about playing with the stone age geeks. He says that they are really SteamPunk, only they never left the Steam Age! In some ways, he’s right. Granted, if he and Kevin have their way, I’ll have my technician’s license in a few months. The little radio’s we use just don’t hack it the way his ham radio does. So,…. I just have to hope they can’t find me a radio in some embarrassing color like pink!

Don’t call me Grace!

Yesterday I had to go help George out in the field. Steel toes, hardhat and jeans type help. We had to go work on the tower and put up a new box. The old one got hit by lightning and fried. George was climbing the tower and I was suppose to work safety. That means I stand at the bottom of the tower and if he falls, call 911. Wheee……

We will go back up and replace the antennas later this week. It wasn’t very difficult either. I just stood there and watched him work, and once I had to attach tools to a clip and rope he lowered. In fact, it was a resounding success right up until we were ready to leave. I was coming around the back side of the bucket truck and tripped. Hit my knees on rocks and curled up in a ball, wondering if stars were really suppose to be out that early! Oh that hurt!!! My ego as well as my knees!!!

George uncurled me and tried to get a look at the damage. Jeans were too snug, and there was no way I was going to drop my pants with him around! I may work with him, but we aren’t that friendly! So, he helped me into the truck and went back to the office. I went to the bathroom and looked at my knees. Bruises on both of them and the right one was all swollen. George asked through the door how they looked. I told him. He was some sort of medic in the military. By the time I got redressed, he had my stuff packed and helped me home. It was only 2pm.

I got stuffed on my couch with an ice pack, aspirin, my book, the office laptop and snacks. I told George I’d be ok, but he wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to get up for much. I did appreciate it later. Right then, I was still too embarrassed.

Next thing I know, it’s 10:30pm, and George was back. I had fallen asleep. From the page that was open in my book, I fell asleep about 15 minutes after he left. George made sure I got to bed and then left again. Today I’m suppose to take it easy. Not even go into work. There was a big note on my front door from George telling me to stay home and call him if I needed anything.

So, I’ve cruised the Internet, read my email and started back on my book. I’m reading the latest LKH, Blood Noir. It’s been a nice lazy day. I wonder if calling him to deliver pizza would be too much?