My main focus this morning was my dentist appointment at 10:30 AM. I wanted to leave the house at 9 AM so I had plenty of time to get there and actually left at 9:15. Once I was on I-96 eastbound and clear of the construction at US-23 I called the South Lyon 2m repeater and Steve (N8AR) came back to my call. I-96 was very slow as I approached Wixom Road so I exited at Beck Road and dropped down onto Grand River Avenue (GRA). I got off GRA at M-5 in Farmington Hills and took that to where it ended and rejoined GRA. I continued to Telegraph Road and headed south. My QSO with Steve lasted until there by which point there was too much noise and not enough signal for a pleasant conversation. In spite of the change from my intended route I was still at the dentist’s office by 10:10 AM and they were able to take me in early.
On the way home I called the South Lyon 2m repeater and Mike (W8XH) responded to the call. As a result of differing weekend plans I decided to head to his QTH and pick up his climbing harness. While I was there I took a few minutes to look at his reconfigured ham shack and his Canon EOS D7 Mark II DSLR. To say that I am unhappy about Sony’s failure to release the alpha 99 II FF DSLT would be a gross understatement and I am not alone in the sentiment.
Back at the house we had a light lunch of sourdough pretzel nibblers and roasted red pepper hummus. I then went to my office to continue working on the custom desk design for our bus. But first I was taking care of e-mails when Williston Crossings RV Resort called back and said they had a spot for us for December. We had not heard back from Suncoast Designers regarding an appointment to have a fogged window repaired so I called them. They said they had replied to my e-mail letting us know that we were scheduled for December 7 but the e-mail had not come through, so I need to check the spam filter.
Linda called back and accepted the spot at Williston starting December 1st. We will have to leave for one to three days to have the window taken care of and we will depart on the 26th for the Arcadia Bus Rally but the monthly rate will still be cheaper than paying for three weeks at the weekly rate. Besides, they did not have a two or three week opening.
I did get a couple of hours of work done on the desk design and then had to quit. A month ago our elder grand-daughter, Katie, missed her high school graduation due to a sudden illness. Meghan and Chris (Katie’s dad) made reservations at Zingerman’s Roadhouse for 5:45 PM today and we gathered to celebrate this milestone in Katie’s life. Brendan, Shawna, and Madeline also joined us and we all enjoyed quizzing (and teasing) Katie about her upcoming college experience at Northern Michigan University where she plans to major in Wildlife and Fisheries within the larger biology program.
Linda and I had the black bean burger with fresh, hand-cut fries. Although it was tasty, and vegan, it did not have any binders and completely fell apart when I tried to assemble it as a sandwich. We ordered them on sourdough bread as the buns had an egg wash. Zingerman’s has excellent bread, but it is the rustic style with crusts that are so tough you cannot cut them with a knife (or a chainsaw). Thus the “burger” was difficult to eat even as an open faced sandwich and was basically a messy pile of “stuff” on my plate. Linda seemed to enjoy hers but I regretted ordering it even though I ate the whole thing. I did, however, have a glass of Schramm’s Raspberry Mead made by my friend, and former colleague, Ken Schramm. It was excellent. The hand-cut fries were also good and the waitress was delightful, which is always a plus.
Back home I worked for a couple more hours in my office and then worked on this post. I put my new N.T.I. dental appliance on my lower front teeth just before going to bed. It obviously felt a little strange but did not keep me from falling asleep.