Nina drove over to Boise to spend some time with relatives, stayed overnight last night, and drove home this afternoon. She took my car as it has more “listening” options, including SiriusXM Satellite Radio. It’s a long 3 1/2 hour drive each way, much of which is rather boring. In addition to all the music / talk show options, the car is also equipped with a ham radio APRS transmitter (Automatic Packet Reporting System) which sends out location information either on an interval or when the car heading changes by more than 15 degrees.

That information is picked up by other ham radio stations and either relayed to an “igate” or the station picking it up is an “igate” (internet gateway). The data is then stored in a database which has been integrated with Google Maps. That’s the display in the picture. The image updates every few seconds. Consequently, I was able to see where she was during the entire trip. It was kind of fun having that kind of imformation at my finger tips!

We’ll be making a trip out east in October visiting family. The tracker will be in the motor home and all interested parties can see where we are during the entire trip. I rather like that capability.

This was my penultimate working day. We had lunch together as a department. I asked if this was a celebration…. Everyone (eventually) agreed that it should not be a celebration because Roland is leaving. Be that as it may … I’m leaving whether it’s a celebration or not!

Yesterday was Trevor’s birthday. Had he lived beyond 29 he would have been 43 years old. I can’t conjure up an image of what he might look like at 43. He’s still burned into my memory as a rather michevious, free-spirited 29. He is still sorely missed and I think of him often, wondering what he is doing and whether or not it’s possible for him to get into trouble, even there. Happy birthday, Trevor!

And that’s all for today!