Month: December 2021

Panel-Tennas

John12 Comments

If you happen to look up at any cell tower, you will likely see these flat, rectangular antennas mounted all around the tower. These are the antennas that communicate with your cell phone or other device using an array of radio frequencies. Today, these guys were removing some obsolete antennas and other equipment from this tower.

I spoke with these guys about a week ago as I passed by on my bicycle, it’s nice to chat with people who know and understand the technology these antennas are using today. Some of these panel-tennas are tri-band antennas which means that the antenna is capable of using the 5G AND 4G bands at one time.

Some VHF/UHF ham radio antennas are also capable of tri-band operation. They were deep into whatever they were doing as you can see by the many coaxial cables hanging down from the antennas. If I were in better health, I would pursue this work! I’ve been interested in radio since the late 1970s.

Those Damn Clouds!

John2 Comments

And here I thought we were going to have a full day of sunshine for a change! Nope, and I am so tired of the constant gray sky, go away clouds! On the way to Frijoles and Frescas, it was sunny and blue up there. On the way home, Nevada transformed into Michigan in just fifteen or so minutes. Now I’m less interested in a nice bike ride…

DSC_0297
DSC_0309
DSC_0308
DSC_0298

Round And Down You Go!

John10 Comments

I wish that you could see this view with your own eyes, the camera can’t do the view real justice. It’s a very long way down there to the bottom of the valley, and those mountains are far higher than they look in the photos. One of them is a solid 6,000 feet high, that’s a bit more than one mile high. This range forms the north end of Las Vegas Valley.

The other photo was taken while heading out of the city on Charleston Boulevard toward Calico Basin with the walls of the ancient fault line easily seen with clouds touching the top. I would like to wish each and every one of my readers, followers a wonderful, blessed, safe and happy 2022. May you find good health and happiness in 2022, my friends!

The Fake Sunset

John21 Comments

This is an iPhone photo at full zoom, it was too distorted to use so I popped it into the Prisma app on the iPad then used two other apps on the Mac to finish it off. This is what happens when you are bored in front of the boob tube. 🤪

Edited in Prisma app with Thota Vaikuntam

Just A Spit Of Snow

John9 Comments

Just a bit of snow up there just under the clouds that wasn’t there yesterday. I don’t have a telephoto lens at the moment so the 50mm zoom will have to do. Today wasn’t very eventful, the big excitement was the security system tech changing one outdoor camera to a better one, and fixing some glitches in the system. All set.

More Beautiful Desert Views

John21 Comments

I had a nice chat with a woman in the grocery store this morning who is also a native Michigander, it’s so nice to talk with people who know the lifestyle we live in Michigan. People are more friendly and easygoing than here in Las Vegas. She even knows just where my hometown is and has been there. It’s truly a small world, isn’t it? Even her words sound like a true Michigander, our dialect is slightly different than here in the desert southwest. A little taste of home.

DSC_0263
DSC_0265
DSC_0281
DSC_0282
DSC_0261

Higher Elevations and The Beauty of Calico Basin

John12 Comments

Continuing with more photos from Calico Basin, the colors are amazing when the sun strikes the multicolored rocks. The other photos nicely show the change in elevation on the west side of the valley that can make your ears feel like they need to be popped! Cloudy and 53F are on tap for Las Vegas today, a forecast that I am not happy with! The winter months are my least favorite here, I may as well have a cabin back home in Michigan and go snowmobiling!

DSC_0278
DSC_0279
DSC_0283
DSC_0286

The Cheyenne View

John11 Comments

This photo was taken today with the Nikon Z50 looking northeast from where the northbound 215 freeway obviously drops down a long way into the valley, your ears may need to be popped like in an aircraft. Nevada is the most mountainous state in the union directly behind Alaska. Have you been wanting to visit the mountains lately?

The very distant mountain range forms the northern end of Las Vegas Valley

Cloudy Mountains

John9 Comments

After picking up my medication from the pharmacy, I decided on a whim to have a drive west to the usual places I photograph to capture the clouds hugging the peaks, Please pardon the redundancy of these photos? The Nikon Z50 did a darn nice job capturing the beautiful colors and the clouds up there this morning, do you agree? It’s still so cold though at around forty-five degrees. Cold for this desert rat anyway! I’ll be glad when it’s warm enough for a bike ride…

DSC_0280
DSC_0275
DSC_0272
DSC_0271
DSC_0268
DSC_0267

Blue Water, Blue Sky

John2 Comments

Well, the gray sky has finally left the valley and I hope it stays the heck away for a while. Day after day of gray makes John a dull boy! Happy hump day folks, I have a couple of things to get done today including a tech coming by to work on my alarm system and install a better camera on the front of the house. I’ll be able to hear you now! My weather app says that the clouds will be back later today but not like the last three days, I sure hope not. Partly sunny and 46 degrees today, can we please have our 100+ degree weather back? Ten years here has spoiled me in terms of wonderful weather.

Had Enough of Insurance Ads?

John13 Comments

The worst insurance ad on TV is easily the Liberty Liberty Liberty ads that remain the same yet change slightly. The Gekko ads seriously need to be pulled… What is the point of ads that are repeated insanely year after year in the case of Liberty? Subliminal messages? Or, just to piss people off… 😂

It’s Gravy Time!

John11 Comments

Since I’ve never made my own gravy, I just ordered some from Amazon, thanks to Amazon for the fast delivery! And, no porch pirates were in sight to steal my gravy. Have you ever heard of Wavy Gravy? He’s a clown from back in the days when I was a kid and he’s apparently still around. Anyway, I have two dishes in mind that would be much tastier with some turkey gravy on them. Do you ever suddenly crave gravy? I’ve loved gravy since I was a child! A 3 pack of gravy!