A Full Weekend

It was a full weekend, starting out Friday night when we had my folks, my MIL, BIL and his wife over for dinner. We had Chinese takeout so at least we didn't have to cook.

After everyone left I got on a radio net for the first time in awhile.

Saturday Judith took the girls to the next township over for their township day. Think "fair at the park." While they were out having fun I did yard work -- pruning one of the big pine trees and taking out a bush. Our backyard is bordered by bushes and trees on the left, right, and rear. This provides a lot of privacy but unfortunately provides places for skeets and gnats to live, making it unusable for a few months of the year. So, I am partially defoliating the hedgerows to allow more breezes in, and reduce the amount of hiding places for the bugs.

Saturday night we went to Chickie's & Pete's on Roosevelt Blvd. in Philly for mussels. C's & P's has the best mussels I've ever had -- they are large and served up in your choice of a garlicky red or white sauce.

Yesterday morning we went over to my MIL's for brunch. While the girls were crashing afterwards I farted around on the Intarweb and J. went out shopping. Later, everyone came over for a barbecue.

Again, after everyone went home I got on the radio. I also ordered a PanelRelief adjustable coax feed-through panel from Quicksilver Radio. It's an adjustable Lexan panel with two SO239-to-SO239 connectors on it, for mounting in a window. Now, when I want to use my FT-7800R I have to open the window in my office and connect the antenna cable which sits coiled up on the sill. This isn't a problem when it's warm but it gets a bit chilly during the winter, even if I put a rolled up towel in the window to block the breeze. The PanelRelief will allow me to semi-permanently connect the coax cable coming from antenna. I'll then connect a 3-foot patch cord from the radio to the panel, and will be able to easily detach it in the event of a thunderstorm.