Daily Archives: December 31, 2016
An Unexpected Gate and A New Year . . .
Happy New Year to all our Family and Friends!
I was up about 1:30 pm today and got coffee started while we tried to decide where we were going to eat for our New Year’s Eve Celebration.
We finally decided on Gratton’s Cajun Kitchen out on US80 coming into Karnes City. We hadn’t been there yet, but the Yelp reviews were excellent and food pictures looked delicious. But when I double-checked the hours I saw they closed at 3 pm on Saturdays. So we dressed quickly and headed out the door.
But as we drove out toward Karnes City we began to get a bad feeling. Almost every place was closed. Only Bella Sera and Flashburger were open.
We had thought we might use Partner’s BBQ in KC as our backup place, but as we passed it, it too was closed.
And so was Gratton’s when we finally got there. So it was back to Bella Sera and their great pizza, so not all bad.
Even better, when got there we found our next-door neighbors and fellow gate guards, Bill and Meredith just getting ready to order. Turns out they had been planning to have dinner at Partner’s BBQ, and also ended up at Bella Sera.
Fun people, great time, good food. Not much more to say.
While I was there my friend Nick Russell called to say that his latest book in the Big Lake series, Big Lake Celebration,
should be going live soon. And a little bit later it was live online.
I’ve already got my copy. Get yours at the link above before they’re all gone.
Guess I have to apologize to the Russians over ‘hacking’ my dashcam.
I kind of have an idea what’s happening with it. I’ve noticed over the last month or so that as I’m driving along, the dashcam screen will pop on.
Now, it’s set so that when you first turn the ignition on, it starts recording with the screen staying for 3 minutes. Then the screen goes off so it’s not distracting, but the unit keeps recording.
I wondered if the screen coming back on had anything to do with my problem. In troubleshooting equipment, if you have one weird thing happen, and then another weird thing happens, more than likely the two weird things are connected.
So as I left the gate this morning I waited for the screen to pop back and then noted the time. Later this afternoon I looked at the dashcam video and sure enough there was no video recorded after the screen popped back on. This explains why the video started up again as we were leaving the movie Wednesday night. When the unit is turned off and then back on, the whole cycle starts over again.
So now I just need to figure what’s causing the problem to happen to start with.
Also I said yesterday that the 3 minute video files from the dashcam are 50 MB. But when I checked I saw they’re more like 120 MB. The file sizes get big quickly with HD video.
As far as the Unexpected Gate, I got a call from Todd about 10 minutes after 5 pm this afternoon, just a little while after we got back home from Bella Sera.
Todd: “Uh, why aren’t on your gate?”
Me: “Because you texted me last night telling me I was off tonight and then moved me to another gate tomorrow night.”
Todd: Oh Crap!
Me: “You know, just like I worked for two nights at the other gate, then you gave me a night off, and then moved me here.”
Todd: Oh Crap!
Me: “If you need me to, I can be out there in about 20 minutes, no problem.”
Todd: “I’ll call you back and let you know.”
And he did.
And so now I’m back on the gate, which is completely dead, with no vehicles expected all weekend. Fine by me.
One thing I did do before I left the rig for the gate is I grabbed my AirCard’s external antenna. It’s a flat plate about the size of your hand and has no powered amplification.
But it does make a difference.
I was hoping it would make my 3G data signal a little better here on this gate. As I mentioned, I have no phone service here, but just OK data through my Aircard. But it does slow down and just stop sometimes.
It plugs directly into my AirCard and I just hang it out the window.
And it definitely makes a difference here. And since I had pretty much the same problem at the other gate, I’ll take it with me there too.
Thought for the Day:
“There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers.” – President Ronald Reagan
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