A New Commitment

Great APRS Tracking, Short Ride
Jacque and I decided to make a new goal of riding almost every day, in the morning, first thing, before we get busy, AND before it gets too hot.
Today we awoke to cloudy skies and overcast, with faint sprinkles of moisture hitting the ground, so we delayed a bit, thinking we did not want to ride in the rain.... even if it is desperately needed and prayed-for rain.  About 30 minutes later it had not sprinkled much more and was in fact almost totally dry again so we decided to take our chances and ride in the cool shade of the clouds.
It was GREAT riding weather.  Just cool enough to keep us from getting too hot.  Just before we got to the Sandia Park Post Office, Jacque got a call on her cell that we had a package waiting for us down in Tijeras at One Stop Office .  So we picked up the mail, then rode on up to the Shell Station since the weather was still fine (Though the clouds to the west were increasingly dark and threatening).  Jacque got her usual lemonade and I opted for an Ice Cream Sandwich, 40 carbs worth.  Then we rode the more downhill path back to Sandia Knolls and our Exploder and drove back down the way we'd come all the way to One Stop in Tijeras.  It felt silly to be driving a route we'd just ridden on the bike and could tolerably have done all the way on the bike but we have other things to get done today besides maintaining exercise and good health habits :O(
The parcel we picked up was from Walmart.com online.  We gotta tell you about this purchase:
Last Saturday I participated in an Emergency Preparedness Fair at the LDS Church in Edgewood.  My topic was on Emergency Communications.  I wanted to encourage everyone, including you, dear reader, to take advantage of today's cheap prices on electronics and buy almost ANY kind of 2-way radio, be it CB, GMRS, FRS, or Ham Radio.  By searching a bit online I was surprised to find that Wal-Mart, of all places, is the price leader on CB's and FRS and GMRS radios.  I've never seen such things in Wal-Mart stores but realized, after looking at their Online Offerings at Walmart.com, that they likely don't stock such radios or display them in stores because they only want to sell stuff that sells a thousand units a day - BUT they still offer a good deal for online shoppers.  Poking around, I found a Very Interesting Radio that not only was an AM/FM/Weather Alert Radio, but also had a UHF GMRS/FRS TRANSMITTER inside, with a built in hand crank generator/charger, USB port, yada, yada.
This is a VERY cool toy....  I decided I had to have one Myself and ordered it, and it just came in today.  Several great features make this a great emergency tool:
-Bright LED flashlight on one end
-Very small size, about 5" X 6" X 2" not including stubby UHF antenna
-The weather alert will interrupt whatever you're currently listening to, or will just sit quietly until the Weather Service issues a warning, at which point it will squawk and wake you up in the middle of the night
-It has an external speaker/microphone you can plug in.  This makes it easier to use in 2-way radio mode, and the speaker audio is routed to the smaller microphone housing.  The cute thing is that it also has a built-in microphone and transmit switch, allowing you to talk out on the radio even if you can't find the external microphone.  VERY well thought out emergency features.
-It has several ways of powering the radio:  Internal AA battery pack, internal NiMh rechargeable battery, external AC power adapter, and external cigarette lighter 12 Volt power adapter.  AND, the rechargeable battery can be recharged by operating the tucked-away hand crank.
-The USB connector allows charging or operating external devices like cell phones  from the radio while operating on any of it's power sources, including the hand crank generator inside.
-The radio has scan function so you can monitor all 22 channels of GMRS/FRS included and find active channels you can talk to others with.  Ours is sitting on the kitchen counter as I type this, while charging the battery, stopping occasionally on several active GMRS channels.
What Fun.  Get yours today.  Too bad I can't make any money selling fun toys like this - I've no connection to them.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0        Ending Voltage: 12.9
Lowest Temp  66 F      Highest Temp:  80 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  4.28
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  3.7 MPH                                 6.0 MPH                    25.6 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
 1 hour 10 mins                      42 minutes                 27 minutes