Last Monday I took the dash apart on the Buick (1998 LeSabre) to remove the radio and to replace the instrument panel bulb for the seat belt light. I tried (and failed, so far) to figure out where the amplifier input solder pads were so I can install and auxillary input for the phone.
Today I removed the rest of the dash including the instrument cluster, drove over to the parts store, and bought 8 new bulbs – I figured that since I was in there, I’d replace them all. Naturally, when I got home, I counted 10 bulbs to change. Bother.
I explain the removal and reinstallation in the shaky phone video below.
The next step was to reinstall the instrument cluster and the transmission indicator cable. It was easier than I originally thought, and I posted the next video to serve as a guide for those who haven’t done it before – I couldn’t find a video on YouTube, so I made one. Again, with a cell phone, and shaky, but you can get the idea.
I left the house around ten yesterday morning and drove out to a camping spot off Trapper’s Route Road.
In about a half hour, I had my Chameleon MPAS installed on the front bumper and was making contacts with people all over – Ontario, Alberta, Illinois, Texas, and others. I used my Yaesu 897D and an autotuner on 100 watts.
The MPAS is excellent – it breaks down into a small package and deploys quickly. Please check out the link, if you’d like – I’m a happy customer, I’m not paid to promote it.
The wind was HOWLING, so I spooled everything up and drove over to Bessamer Bend Interpretive site and spent the night there. I woke to snow as expected, but not enough to stick to the ground. I stopped at G-Ma’s cafe for breakfast and had the best corned beef hash I’ve ever had.
I’ve wanted to find the source of Horse Creek Springs for fifteen or twenty years, and failed. After looking at Google Maps/Earth, I decided to give it another try.
So I drove out to the Dry Creek Road and followed the dirt road to the place where I couldn’t go any further (in the Nissan, anyway) and unloaded the Rokon. I rode the Rokon to a spot that LOOKED like HCS, but wasn’t. I’d have to look at Google Earth to figure it out, later that night.
I drove out Dry Creek Road west and came upon BLM road 2401-Beaver Rim Road, which piqued my interest. Nevertheless, I continued out Dry Creek, and returned to Casper via CR 211 and Powder River. The temperature had been pretty pleasant, but the moment I got to Powder River, it was very hot. It was fine so long as I kept the pickup moving.
The next weekend I tried again: this time I succeeded.
After visiting the spring (which is listed as a warm spring in one of the WGS pamphlets), I drove down the road to BLM 2401/Beaver Rim Road. It heads generally northwest and eventually connects with BLM 2404/Agate Flat Road. I turned North to connect with Beaver Rim Road again, and drove along the rim until I came to a road that bailed off into the Gas Hills. I drove west from there and couldn’t find a two track to Ore Road, and turned around, this time returning to Casper via CR 212 and Waltman.
The bottom of the Nissan was polished clean by the sagebrush I’d run over during the trip.
I skipped a couple weekends to attend a meeting of the Bighorn Basin Amateur Radio Club in Kirby which was excellent), and to meet a colleague for a camping trip (ugh-don’t even ask), but the next weekend I drove out to Gas Hills via Buck Camp Road (which turned into a two track, just my luck), then to the Gas Hills, up the road to the rim, and back onto Beaver Rim Road. I drove the twenty? miles to Ore Road, driving to Riverton to fuel up and have a chicken fried steak at the Trailhead restaurant, then Back home.
The next weekend, I drove to Castle Gardens, walked along the trail and took pictures
On the discussion about celibacy, reader Deti had the following to say:
The love of a woman is one of the sweetest, most sublime experiences a man can know. It is integral, if not essential, to the human condition. Men and women are intended to be together. We are not intended to be isolated or alone. We are intended to be fruitful and multiply; and that requires social and sexual intercourse.
I have a difficult time telling men who have never known the love of a woman to just forget about it. It’s real easy for me to say that, having experienced all of the above.
I’m not going to mince my words here; this is what is known as putting the pussy on the pedestal.