Our World

Author: cmolnar

  • Day 041 of 2026

    No great photos today. It was an “in office” and “at home” sort of day. Had so much to do and such little time to do it. On health news I am on the heart monitor again, it’s not awful, it is just a pain because I can’t get it wet for 24 hours and then I can’t swim with it on. Which means no swimming for 13 more days. And I keep hitting the “record symptoms” button by accident.

    So, I got up and had my coffee, enjoyed some quiet time with the dogs before I logged into work for the day. And then it started…… I was finally able to take a break around 10:30 to go do a long walk, I was not able to jog as I wasn’t supposed to get the glue under this thing sweaty. But, I got a decent walk in, made my 10K steps (what a joke that is).

    Total distance: 5.81 mi
    Max elevation: 5679 ft
    Min elevation: 5516 ft
    Total climbing: 449 ft
    Total descent: -433 ft
    Average speed: 4.22 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 118
    Average temperature: 18.8
    Total time: 01:22:58

    Came back and finished out my day with work. I ended up working later than I wanted to and still didn’t get everything done. So, I had about two hours of extra stuff to do this evening. Now I am in a much better place. I really need to spend some time on the phone calling technicians tomorrow or Thursday. I may try to have some conversations while I am driving on Thursday. Oh, yeh…. I have to go out to Western CO Thursday for an appointment.

    Res and Climber got a short walk today, it’s an afternoon weekday walk, these are always short.

    Total distance: 0.58 mi
    Max elevation: 5619 ft
    Min elevation: 5567 ft
    Total climbing: 73 ft
    Total descent: -73 ft
    Average speed: 2.95 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 104
    Average temperature: 19.9
    Total time: 00:12:38

    I just imported and ran all of the Greyhound-data race files for Tri-State and Wheeling Downs for last week. Still need to upload the final files to greyhound-data, but at least the hard part is done. The rest is basically point and click.

    I think I am going to call it a night tonight, I am exhausted and have spent way too much time staring at a monitor today. My brain is mush.

    mheard from KO4YAW on 14.1023 USB / 14.105 LSB Net105 Aurora, CO

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-7    Feb 11 02:36:27    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 11 02:13:32    
    N6CTA-1    Feb 11 02:13:27    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 11 02:06:01    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 11 01:50:27    
    K5DAT-7    Feb 11 01:48:19    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 11 01:35:20    
    W1CDN-7    Feb 11 01:34:59    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 11 01:32:38    
    K0LAI-1    Feb 11 01:30:46    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 11 01:29:56    
    K7SKI      Feb 11 01:19:30    
    W6VVN-7    Feb 11 01:14:59    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 11 01:14:13    
    W6VVN      Feb 11 01:09:55    
    KD9WZZ     Feb 11 00:55:05    
    VE3QBZ-1   Feb 11 00:47:26    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 11 00:31:40    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    KN6NW-1    Feb 11 00:23:05    
    KN6NW      Feb 11 00:23:03    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 11 00:20:09    
    VA3PIX-7   Feb 11 00:15:46    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 10 23:46:35    
    KB9KC      Feb 10 23:34:32    
    WB7PZZ     Feb 10 23:13:35    
    WG0A-1     Feb 10 23:04:05    
    WG0A-7     Feb 10 22:51:26    
    N4QMI-7    Feb 10 22:31:41    via KB9PVH*
    K7TMG      Feb 10 22:15:49    
    NS2B-1     Feb 10 22:02:43

    Day 041 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 040 of 2026

    Day 040 of 2026

    Happy Monday!!!

    Started off the day with the alarm not going off. I am so happy (most of the time) that I have an internal alarm clock that won’t let me sleep past 6:30-6:45 before I am awake. Got up, gave the dogs their morning treats, and their outside time. Then I had to log in for work.

    Had a meeting with IT today to go over software used. I am not sure but I always feel IT is there to make life more difficult. I spend more time answering questions and not getting much accomplished. But, we got through the meeting and I am sure I will hear some follow-up in the next day or so. Once I finished with that call, I tried getting caught up on tags (questions), Cause of Loss Determination requests, and Tech Support requests.

    Lunch time today was a swim. I have to start wearing a heart monitor after today for the next 14 days and I wanted to get the Garmin swim challenge for this week done. Unfortunately can’t swim with the heart monitor, so it was important to get in the water today. After the 14 days are up on the 23rd of February I should be able to get back into the water and complete the monthly challenge. I need about another 5K of swimming to get that done. Maybe I will attempt to do that in one session and I can take care of a few Swim.Com challenges as well. I need a 200yard kick also for the USMS challenge. These challenges do keep me motivated so they are important.

    Came back home and finished out the day. I worked a little bit late to get it all done and then I worked a little extra this evening to get some new technicians added to the Alpine Intel University, our online training platform. I suspect that less than 50% of them will actually take the online classes and I will spend some additional time pestering them to do so. Life goes on and it’s job security.

    I just had time for an afternoon walk to get my steps in for the day. I got my 8,000 steps that is my goal, but weight watchers would like to see 10K steps (there’s that magic unscientific number again). I am also participating in a 300 floor step challenge. It is climbing 300 floors worth of steps in the next 30 days. That’s easy because every one of my workouts gives on an average of 20-30 floors. Give me the next 15 days and this will be done as long as the weather holds up. 27 floors today. During the afternoon walk I had to take a couple of tech support calls and of course that is difficult when you are not sitting in front of a computer, but had phone in hand and I was able to provide the support.

    Total distance: 3.65 mi
    Max elevation: 5666 ft
    Min elevation: 5557 ft
    Total climbing: 318 ft
    Total descent: -318 ft
    Average speed: 3.62 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 98
    Average temperature: 24.8
    Total time: 01:03:20

    Got back just in time to walk the dogs for their afternoon/evening walks. Then it was dinner time and relax time. I am sort of done for the day, but I do have one more computer related activity I need to do and that is to start the import jobs for last week’s races for greyhound-data.org.

    I have to make a vet appointment for Gizmo. Something is wrong and I am worried about her quality of life. She is 19 years old and I am afraid she is hurting. It could be arthritis, but I guess I am going to have to get her checked out. I just have this gut feeling that this may be a final appointment for her, which is why I have been hesitating. Why am I worried about quality of life?
    1) She does eat, but has graduated to wet food only.
    2) When she moves she “hollers” as she walks.
    3) She has stopped cleaning herself. I am having to deal with matted fur.
    4) She hides under a bed most of the day and rarely comes out. I am not sure this is the life for a pet.
    5) She still does navigate the steps to come to her litter box.
    6) She stopped eating outside of her room. I think it may have been that she can no longer jump up on the table without extreme effort.

    This is just one of these, I am not sure situations.

    Today's mheard from KO4YAW in Aurora, CO for 2/9/2026 on 14.105LSB / 14.1023USB.

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 10 02:42:01    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 10 02:28:39    
    K7SKI      Feb 10 02:23:33    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 10 02:02:40    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 10 01:51:48    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 10 01:48:55    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 10 01:45:18    
    KB5YZB-1   Feb 10 01:32:56    via KB9PVH*
    K0LAI-7    Feb 10 01:20:38    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 10 01:20:08    
    K5DAT-7    Feb 10 01:18:19    
    KB9PVH     Feb 10 01:16:49    
    NS2B-1     Feb 10 01:02:00    
    KB5YZB-7   Feb 10 00:28:30    via KB9PVH*,KB9KC-7
    KC6HBB-1   Feb 09 23:55:38    
    KC6HBB     Feb 09 23:55:37    
    KE8NAD     Feb 09 22:36:07    
    KB9KC      Feb 09 22:28:02    
    K7TMG      Feb 09 22:23:28    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 09 22:16:41    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    WB7PZZ     Feb 09 22:05:50    
    N6CTA-7    Feb 09 21:59:08    
    N0HI-7     Feb 09 21:58:33    via KB9KC*
    N6CTA-1    Feb 09 21:27:51    
    KB9KC-1    Feb 09 18:34:56    
    KD3BFP-1   Feb 09 15:26:00    
    W9LCF-7    Feb 09 15:21:52    
    KB9PVH-1   Feb 09 15:12:42    
    WB5BNV     Feb 09 15:02:30    
    WG0A-1     Feb 09 15:00:36

    I think that is a wrap for this evening. I will see everyone tomorrow.

    Day 040 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
  • Day 039 of 2026

    Day 039 of 2026

    And it’s Sunday. Had a busy day so far when I started writing this. I was up by my usual weekend time of 7:00am, got the dogs their treat and then had a few hours of reading and messing around on the interwebs before Jesse got up. Finished my second cup of coffee and then it was time to start the day.

    Res got the first walk. He decided that he wanted to go for the longer walk and that really only lasts until we get half-way through the longer walk and then he decides he really didn’t want the longer walk. And, by that time it is already too late, since I am not carrying his butt back home he has no choice but to finish. We did a bit over two miles today and he got to see the Power Line Trail today, which is normally Climber’s domain.

    Got Res home and then it’s Climber’s turn. I figured since 2.75 miles didn’t tire her out yesterday we were going to go for a bit longer today and include some hill work, so I added onto her walk a little today. She had good time even though I think she may have been a little confused about where she was at. Part of what we walked today she had not seen before. Lot’s of new things to smell, but she did pretty good. Once we were back to her normal area on the Power Line Trail she saw her Prairie Dogs and knew the rest of the way home. Sorry girl but new things are good for you.

    Had a great breakfast (brunch) of scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, and little sausage patties. And afterwards I decided to go swim. Well, got over the the rec center and some swim team had taken over the pool. This is the second time in a row this has happened on a Sunday. I really am not sure what is going on here, but team practices should be on the pool schedule so people don’t plan their workouts for a day it’s not going to happen on. Now I really have to figure out a time to get over there tomorrow so that I don’t miss out on one of the Garmin Fitness Challenges. I need a 2000 yard swim sometime in the next week, and tomorrow will be the last day I have before I have to put a heart monitor on that I really can’t swim with.

    But all was not lost, I was able to go to the Toll Creek Trail right next to the fitness center and get a 5K jog (run/walk) in. I also had my new heart rate monitor – the chest strap variety and it proves what I have been suspecting, that my watch is for some reason locking onto cadence rather than heart rate during my longer runs. My heart rate and my cadence are really close and that may be explaining some of it. I guess we will see next weekend when I do one of my longer sessions over at Cherry Creek Park again with the monitor on.

    Total distance: 3.29 mi
    Max elevation: 5618 ft
    Min elevation: 5559 ft
    Total climbing: 250 ft
    Total descent: -240 ft
    Average speed: 4.70 mi/h
    Average cadence: 63
    Average heart rate: 124
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 00:43:21

    Res and Climber were not happy with Jesse and me this afternoon. Somepaws got a nail clip and neither of them were being cooperative with the dremmel so they got the old fashioned clippers. We much prefer using the dremel but they both have started to be a pain with it.

    Look who showed up in my Facebook memories today. Peanut, and the back half of Mindy by Peanuts excavation our first year in Florida. She was a master excavator. And, you can see the back half of Mindy and I am sure she was helping Peanut dig, or at least just being nosy enough to see what Peanut was doing.

    Got a bunch of stuff done around the house this afternoon and then Jesse and I took the dogs for their evening walk. Res really did not want anything to do with a walk and decided that he was going to turn around and come back to the house. I think his morning walk may have been a little far for him, but hey…. he wanted to keep going. I tried to argue with him, but nope. And then he left a little bit of his dinner as well. Not to panic, this happens on occasion.

    The humans had asparagus, salmon, and shrimp for dinner. It was good, it’s one of my favorite Sunday evening dinners. Now we are sitting here watching the Bad Bunny Superbowl half-time show. I really wish I had taken Spanish in Junior High and High School. There have been so many times over the years that I have had similar thoughts. But, back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s the students that took Spanish were considered to be the “losers” in our school district and the language was not pushed… at all. So sad.

    Anyways, this is a wrap for the evening. Climber and Res have had enough and they just want to snooze. I am being told my typing is disturbing their sleep.

    Climber
    Res
    Before I forget this is today's mheard (stations heard) from my amateur radio station KO4YAW in Aurora, CO on Net 105, 14.105 LSB or 14.1023 USB (I missed 23:59 for the date change):

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-7    Feb 09 02:11:08    
    N6CTA-1    Feb 09 01:57:25    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 09 01:45:15    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 09 01:30:01    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 09 01:20:08    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 09 01:18:57    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 09 01:09:52    
    W1CDN-1    Feb 09 01:02:28    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 09 00:51:53    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 09 00:50:38    
    VE3QBZ-1   Feb 09 00:45:50    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 09 00:39:41    
    W9LCF-7    Feb 09 00:36:26    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 09 00:32:35    
    NS2B-1     Feb 09 00:31:12    
    WB5BNV     Feb 09 00:28:03    
    VA3PIX     Feb 09 00:21:31    
    VE3GE-7    Feb 09 00:20:35    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 09 00:16:36    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    VA3PIX-7   Feb 09 00:15:15    
    KB8UVN-7   Feb 09 00:08:29    
    N0BN       Feb 09 00:07:42    via KB9PVH-7*
    WG0A-1     Feb 08 23:59:49    
    KB9PVH     Feb 08 23:23:35    
    KB9KC      Feb 08 22:30:10

    Day 039 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 038 of 2026

    Day 038 of 2026

    And Happy Saturday everyone!

    Got up almost at my normal time this morning. I knew Res needed to go out as he didn’t do all of his business last night so I didn’t lay around in bed too long after I woke up. And, sure enough he was desperate. I did my normal routine of giving the dogs their morning snacks and then sat down to filter through my email, an endless project.

    After Jesse got up I did the normal Saturday walks with Res and Climber. They get their lone walks on weekends. Res gets to go first and we do about a mile and a half walk.

    And then I came back and got Climber. Climber is still a baby in her energy level so she gets a slightly longer weekend walk. Climber got to do 2.77 miles, I think it would have been a little longer but we had some other dogs I was trying to avoid. I normally try to do 3 miles with her on Saturday morning. Climber got to say “Hello” to the Prairie Dogs along Power Line Trail.

    Her walk goes up the hill a little further, cuts through an apartment complex, then the power line trail, and then back down to Highland Meadows Park, and home.

    After we had our late breakfast (Actually, brunch), and my second cup of coffee, I went over to Cherry Creek State Park and jogged (gasp, panted, walked, repeat) a section of the park I have never done before. I was bored with my normal route. I also really wanted to see if I could repeat the same heart rate drop that I have been experiencing over the last few higher intensity workouts that I have been seeing on the two treadmill runs that I did in Saint Louis. And…. Guess what? Yes, my heart rate dropped significantly and it should have been going up.

    But, here is the interesting part; if you look at the above overlay of heart rate and cadence it appears that this may be a false reading of my heart rate, the watch seems to have locked onto my cadence and is miss-reading it as my heart rate. I did some online research and this is something that is a known problem with the heart rate capturing fitness watches. The only way to resolve this for running and walking activities is to use a heart rate chest strap that connects to your watch. That separates the HR and the cadence. Yup, I have one on order. This is the stuff that drives me nuts. If a watch manufacturer knows about this problem you would think that they would make this more public knowledge and warn you about it up front. Anyways, we are going to verify this problem with the heart monitor that I have been told is on the way (I just went and verified that it is actually on it’s way and have the tracking number. It is sitting in the USPS processing center here in Denver. Supposed to be delivered Monday afternoon sometime.

    Total distance: 7.78 mi
    Max elevation: 5706 ft
    Min elevation: 5570 ft
    Total climbing: 1089 ft
    Total descent: -1086 ft
    Average speed: 4.40 mi/h
    Average cadence: 60
    Average heart rate: 109
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 01:48:55

    As I mentioned I took a different path today at the park and saw some of the pollution control that they had installed in Shop Creek as it appears to have some history. As a part of the cleanup they installed these concrete “Steps” in about 4 different places along the creek.

    And also some other scenery along the way. Different view from my normal views. It looks like the little creek under the bridge in the wetlands area was almost washed away during one of our snow melts a month or so ago. Hope they fix that, it moved as I walked over it.

    I am going to try and get in a longer swim tomorrow because I want to get the Garmin Connect Swim Week challenge for February done before the heart monitor shows up as once I have that sucker on I can’t swim for 11 days, it will be only dryland workouts.

    I spent a little bit of time working on some radio settings for the KO4YAW station. I really need to figure out how to get the antenna up on a higher pole. I don’t think I will ever be able to get the full 40ft as I had in Florida but I would really like to get a little bit over the height of the house.

    Dinner tonight was really good. Jesse cooked a turkey meatloaf with a recipe from Weight Watchers and that was with green beans and mashed potatoes. Of course there was a little bit of leftover ‘tatoes and Res got to enjoy some and Climber got to lick the pot. Potatoes are Res’s favorite meal.

    Day 038 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 037 of 2026

    Day 037 of 2026

    And a Hello and Good Evening to all of you!

    After clearing out my email and a bunch of pending tasks, I started off the day with taking the dogs out for their morning walks, I don’t normally do the AM walks but Jesse had an early meeting so I did the morning walks. They got a little bit of a longer walk than their normal 3/4 mile walk that we do most weekdays. I am trying to get my steps in and had time. They always like the longer AM walks, of course Res got really confused when I turned before the sidewalk next to the park and walked him back through the park. He is a boy that likes routine and I messed with it. Climber just like to go.

    After I got them home I worked for another hour and then had to leave to go do a solar inspection. The homeowner had a fire and it was near the solar panels and of course they were all on the ground having been taken off the roof. This means testing each panel by itself. I found most of them were out of spec. And, as usual my ladder was not quite long enough to get on the roof totally. I don’t share much from work anymore, but solar testing is sort of interesting, and a lot of fun for me. I like working with the renewable energy stuff, and I like it more when I can help someone with an honest claim.

    Anyways, drove back home while talking with two other technicians, and spent the rest of the day doing office and desk work. I ended up working about an hour extra to catch up on the work that was not done while I was in the field for two hours. Oh, well, I will make up for it next week. After work I was able to go out for a quick walk, did a little over three miles, which got me to my 10,000 steps for the day. I am trying really hard to make my step goals even though I do not believe in that 10K number, I think time an pace is more important, and have been reading some good medical articles on the 10K not being critical.

    After I got back from that we took the dogs for their afternoon walks and then it was feeding and our dinner time. Subs from Subway today, I had my normal Subway Club. In the middle of this time I had to reboot and reconfigure Direwolf for my packet radio station (hey, if you have ham radio give me a packet shout on 14.1023 USB (14.105 LSB) at ko4yaw. I enjoy seeing new visitors. Sometime while I was out of town my station went down during an Xcel power outage. I have no idea why because the whole thing is on a UPS and it just doesn’t make sense. I have to do some more investigation of that over the weekend. Once I got the station up I had to go back through all of my unread packet mail and clean up my old messages a bit. I really have been too busy to deal with the packet stuff, and I also have been a little discouraged because of the really bad reception that is in my area. I have to do something with my antenna and get it back up on the 60ft mast. Not sure how I am going to accomplish this yet, still working on that.

    Anyways, we are done for the evening and it’s time to say goodnight. It was a good day overall.

    Day 037 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
  • Day 036 of 2026

    Day 036 of 2026

    It’s nice to be home. But, really not much to talk about today, it was a work day and a very busy one at that. I logged in around 6:45AM MT and didn’t get a break until I was done at 3:55PM MT. I usually log in early in the morning as I work for an East Coast company that starts work around 8:00AM ET and finishes around 4:30PM ET, that lets me work a 6:45AM MT to 2:45PM MT schedule, which makes the afternoons really great. But, lately I have been having an issue just fitting everything in.

    I feel bad when this type of day happens because I try to go outside and play with Climber on a daily basis, but that did not happen today. And I was gone for the last week so it’s been about 8 days since I played ball with her. I have to get outside with her tomorrow a bit after I do my appointment. I also need to see if I can get her started on agility training. I think she may be perfect for it, if I can focus her energy a bit.

    Have some health news as well, remember a few days ago I mentioned I had a sudden heart rate drop when I was doing two treadmill workouts? Well, my cardiologist was not impressed. I guess I am going to be wearing a heart monitor for two weeks starting as soon as it shows up. I am instructed to do my workouts (with the exception of swimming) as I normally would but to make sure I get a couple treadmill workouts into the mix. The two cardiologists I work with want to see what is actually happening and what is causing it. The last time I had this type of monitor it was a sticky mess. I am not sure why, but for some reason the people who design cardiac monitors do not design them to be worn while working out. Yeah me.

    My other small problem is that both of my feet and ankles are pretty swollen. As in swollen to the point of not getting them into my shoes easily swollen. The left one is much worse than the right one, but neither is great. I am not sure why this is happening so badly right now. It could be due to the travel, but in reality I have not been sitting around that much. For the 5 days in Vegas I was very active and my flight time was only around 2 hours of sitting so I don’t think that was the problem. None of my flights were over 2 hours for this trip. I am retaining water in a big way right now. Another topic for discussion with the doctor.

    I have two sleeping dogs here, Res is out here in the middle of the floor and for some reason Climber is being a crate baby this evening. Doors open, she’s just decided to hang out in her crate. She does this on occasion. She’s a good girl most of the time, just a little young greyhound hyper. And OFF she goes!

    Climber, PLEASE leave him alone!!! He’s sleeping, it’s not play time.

    I think that’s a wrap for today. Tomorrow is another day and I may have some interesting stuff to share.

    Day 036 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

  • Day 035 of 2026

    Day 035 of 2026

    Goodbye Vegas!

    The AHR conference has wrapped up and it is time to go home. Spent the morning working in the hotel until checkout time and then migrated to the airport for my late afternoon flight back to Denver. Found some neat sculptures in the airport, around the transit from Terminal 3 to the D concourse (or should I say “island”).

    Those are neat find. In answer to another question, nope the slot machines do not take quarters anymore. It is all digital with “gaming cards”. I think this may be to try and curtail under-age gambling. Spent some time walking around and had a really good pastrami sub at “Port of Subs” near gate D50.

    While at the airport I got a call from the cardiologist office as we have been going back and forth on the heart rate issues. She wants me on a monitor for two weeks, including treadmill and outdoor workouts. Something tells me that this will exclude me from swimming for the time the thing is on me. Really? She says it should be mailed to me in a week or so.

    Oops, we are delayed in Las Vegas. They have to change a tire on the plane. Hope they have the right size close by.

    And tire change completed we are boarding again, hopefully soon underway. But nope  the continued battle of carry on baggage is rearing it’s ugly head. I just dont understand why the airlines do not enforce the size limits on carry on bags. This is a monumental loss of income for them. Its also a safety issue. They should discourage carry on because of boarding time.

    Back in Denver. We were late, pilot used to drive for NASCAR so sprint to gate was fast. Way fast. Flight attendant is going to give the poor guy he’ll later as he spilled a cart that wasn’t anchored properly. You could see the look on her face.

    I finally remembered to take a picture of this guy hanging out on a wall next to baggage claim 16.

    These little gems are hanging out all over the airport of you know where to look for them.

    Sitting on A train waiting for it to depart. 2 stops and then Jesse will pock me up so I dont have to do the Light Rail transfer.

    I am now home, time to relax with Jesse and the kids. Goodnight and see you tomorrow.

    Day 035 of 2026

    Las Vegas Airport, Las Vegas, NV
    Get directions
  • Day 034 of 2026

    Day 034 of 2026

    Welcome to Day 2 of the AHR Expo. I decided that I was going to use Lyft this morning to get to the convention center. I just about killed my back yesterday with my backpack and I am still hurting this evening as I am writing this. I think after I talk with Jesse for our regular evening call I am going to take a Tylenol PM and just zonk myself out for the rest of the night. I am seriously hurting and it is in both shoulders right now, not just my normal right one.

    Today I had a couple decent sessions and one really awful one. I hate to say this but people coming in from other countries to give major presentations to professionals, who are interested in their subjects and products really should be able to speak English somewhat fluently. The only reason I didn’t get up and leave that presentation about 1/2 way through it was that I know it would have been an insult in their culture and the last thing I want to do is insult someone for trying, but it was painful.

    I spent some time on the show floor, walking around and seeing what everyone has to say about their products. In my opinion it comes down to:
    1. You only need so many tools.
    2. There are only so many ways to make an air handler.
    3. There are only so many ways to make a water heater.
    4. Etc……
    Show me something exiting and new.

    Also disappointing is that no one can (or will) give pricing on any product. I really wanted to see pricing on a First Co hydro-air unit, we need to replace the furnace in our house and I am debating going with a heat pump with hydronic backup heat, since our water heater/boiler has the capability to handle that. I want some pricing.

    I did see what Samsung is trying to do with it’s Smarthings hub and that is somewhat exciting and something to watch. They have the potential to compete with some of the higher end products such as Control 4 and others. I have the Smarthings hub at our house. I can do just about everything with it that a $50,000.00 system can do and it cost us less than $400.00.

    My first session of the day was one that really interested me, it was a discussion of how Linux and Building Automation system manufactures are beginning to work together to create an open architecture so that buildings will no longer have 100s of systems that cannot talk with each other.

    The second session that I had was about CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) refrigeration. This one is going to be a really controversial issue in a few years. Imagine being the technician that has to connect gauges and other components to systems that run in excess of 1700 PSI. Our current systems run from 60 to 460 PSI (at a max). The copper will need to be infused with iron, and putting these systems together will take time and expertise. I am not sure our current generation of technicians can handle it.

    The final session that I had planned on attending today was about secured wired communication in building automation systems. I really wanted to hear the reason for the wired communication and how they were getting over cable/line loss. This was my really disappointing presentation. They really should have had one of their English speaking employees give the presentation. I think there was some pride in the decision whom was presenting because it was the CEO. I know he knows his stuff, I’ve read some of his work in some trade journals, but he sure can’t give a presentation to an English speaking audience.

    Anyways, I grabbed the monorail back to the MG grand and then took a Lyft back to the hotel. Turns out that was more expensive than just taking a Lyft all the way from the convention center back to the hotel. Yup, won’t do that again.

    Spent close to 3 hours catching up on work stuff that had piled up. Then spent some time testing a new version of our Diagnostic Application for the Android that is in the release process. Worked pretty well, just some minor things that needed to be fixed.

    Anyways, it’s time to say “Goodnight” and I will see you all tomorrow. 

    Day 034 of 2026
    230 Hidden Well Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA
      
     
     
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  • Day 033 of 2026

    Day 033 of 2026

    And today is the first day of the AHR 2026 conference. Started off my day with a quick breakfast at the hotel, while on the phone with a technician who had some concerns he wished to share, he was right on a few and I will have to verify a few other things.

    Then took my three mile walk to the Las Vegas Monorail to ride over to the convention center. Of course you almost have to walk through the MGM to get to the Monorail. Everything revolves around gambling here.

    First session was about Duct Leakage and Sealing. It was not of a dry presentation but gave a nice overview of some code changes and updates. Common sense stuff mainly. But good overall.

    They sort of lost me when they got into the engineering math with examples.

    I have this theory that those that mixed letters and numbers together and expect it mean something may have been smoking some good stuff.

    Next session is Minimizing and Troubleshooting Fan System Effect.

    The fan course was really good. Talked about ductwork configurations that support good airflow on commercial fans. Did not cover any residential fans, but the principles are the same just at a smaller scale.

    I took a break and went down to the exhibit hall. What a disaster. You go to one of these and you have been to them all. I tried to meet up with a fre colleagues from work and was never able to find them. Gave up.

    I went over to the main exhibit hall and stopped by the HVAC Excellence booth. Saw a few people I wanted to see and took a look at a new training product they are rolling out. Not sure if we may be able to use it at Alpine Intel, but it does have potential.

    And it was time for my next session on Bacnet.

    The presenter was very good, and unlike some of the others was very comfortable talking to a very large group. Really good presentation.

    Bacnet is a protocol that is used for building control systems, it’s universal and open. That means that it is available for all.

    Finished with that presentation and ducked into another Bacnet related presentation that was a round table discussion of Bacnet working with the Linux Foundation to adopt some open source compatability and standards. I have to dig some more into this when I have time…… if I have time.

    Next up is a session on fan efficiency and building codes. This ended up being another multi-presenter presentation, wasn’t all that great, basically a few people complaining about building codes.

    And, after that disaster I decided to call it a day. Monorail back to the MGM Grand and then walked the 3.6 miles back to the hotel. I think I am going to use Lyft tomorrow, way too much walking and I really do not want to get sick or hurt myself.

    Anyways, I have some computer work still to do, but I think I am going to call it a wrap for today. See ya tomorrow for day 2.

    




    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
  • 
		
		
    
			
			
    Day 032 of 2026
    
			
    

    Welcome to Las Vegas!!! And Welcome To February!
    




    




    Got up this morning, had breakfast, and then decided to head out for the short walk to the Las Vegas Convention Center. According to Google Maps it was a 4.2 mile walk form my hotel. I know it seems long, but I do that walk on a daily basis for my workouts. Anyways, Google Maps lies. 
    






    It was a little over 6 miles to the convention center.  Passed some great scenery, but still it was long.
    




    

    




    




    




    




    




    

    




    Went in, wandered around a bit, picked up my show information and then decided to take the Las Vegas Monorail back towards the hotel to see if I could eliminate part of the walk.
    




    




    Well, that helped but still the 2 miles that Google Maps gave me from the end of the monorail at the MGM Grand to the hotel, was a little off and ended up just over 3 miles. I am going to have to figure out transport for the show tomorrow. At least I did find a convenience store to get some water, much cheaper than what I could find at the hotel.
    




    

    




    

    




    It may be Lyft to the monorail station as I am not sure I want to do the 3 mile walk in the AM, or maybe I will to get my steps in.
    




    Walking back to the hotel past the airport I noticed a contrail that was casting an interesting shadow near the end of it. It was just in the right place to act like a cloud and cast a shadow. Let’s let the conspiracy theorists talk about this little shadow creating weather changes and preventing rain.
    




    

    

    

    




    




    

    

    

    




    Anyways I am done exploring for the day. I was able to find a Whole Foods within walking distance of the hotel, picked up some food for the rest of my trip. This may not be a good place for someone to be drunk from a night out partying. Look what I found along the sidewalk. 
    




    

    




    




    

    




    Tomorrow is the start of the conference. 
    






    Anyways, got to see some of Vegas in the daylight. Headed back to the hotel and had to wade through the cloud of cigarette smoke in the hallway near my room. This is ridiculous. I actually went down the the front desk to see if accidentally I was assigned to a smoking room. Nope, was not. It’s gotten batter, it seems as though someone had smoked up a storm in their room last night and they were tying to clean it. 
    




    I think I am close to 25K steps for the day. I think this is a wrap.
    




    Day 032 of 2026
    220 Hidden Well Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA
      
     
     
    Get directions