McKinney Falls State Park, Austin TX (Nov. 2024)

 McKinney Falls State Park is located in Austin, Texas, and became part of the State Park system in the 1970's. It sits on what was the land of Thomas McKinney a racehorse breeder and entrepreneur who bought the land in 1840. The park contains a part of the Camino Real (King's Highway) and wagon ruts can be seen from when Texas was owned by Spain in the early 1700's. McKinney also farmed/ranched the land and built a grist mill (which the some of the foundation can still be seen) along the creek. He built a large stone house, also of which the ruins still exist. The park also has several native American historical sites that date back to 5,000 years ago.

I've been to this park many times and it is a very popular spot due to its location in Austin, and it's only 10 miles from my house. Weekends and holidays means lots of day visitors and often the park has to turn people away. I've never been able to camp here because the park is always full/completely reserved. There is lots to do as far as hiking, swimming and mountain biking. There are also a couple of Geocaches hidden in the park although I didn't think to look for any, d'oh!

I was happy when a spot opened up at this park and snatched up the reservation quickly. Although, like most state parks, all of the spots will be reserved yet there always seem to be quite a few empty spaces that no one ever utilizes.

Anyway, I had the trailer loaded and hitched up on Thursday so I could duck out of work early Friday. It took me about 20 minutes to get the park and about an hour to get set up. Since it's getting dark now around 5:30 (and since I skipped lunch) I set about grilling some Bison burgers on the portable propane grill. I was really hoping for a wood fire, but the Central Texas area has been under some form of a burn ban or another since last spring. The temperature began dropping shortly after dark (from a high of 73) and the mosquitoes seemed to be enjoying the cooler weather (and enjoying me) so I retreated into the Aliner. It got down into the low 40's overnight, but radiator kept the Aliner comfortable.

Saturday it got up to around 76 degrees and was a picture perfect day. I almost brought my mountain bike but was glad I didn't. Trying to ride on the trails would have been impossible with all of the people out hiking. It wouldn't have been prudent.

My goal for this trip was to do some maintenance on the trailer, complete some chores and try out a few things I have never needed to use, but thought it'd be good to see if they worked before I actually need them. Also something in the vein of "use it or lose it". So, Saturday afternoon after a brief hike (and the required brief nap) I decided to see if the water heater actually worked. I've had the trailer for 2 years and have never used the water heater, or even turned it on. Now I can say that it does work. At first I was concerned because it would light and then turn off and then light again multiple times but eventually it sorted itself out. I let it run long enough to produce hot water and then turned it off.

My other goal was to set up and familiarize myself the camp stove. I've had it for years but have never needed to use it since the camper has a propane stove. I figured it'd be nice to be able to use if I had something I didn't want to cook indoors, like bacon. It works also. In fact I used it to make green chile mac & cheese while I had one of the thickest pork chops you've ever seen grilling away on the portable grill.

Saturday night was very pleasant (in the low 60's) and I didn't need the radiator at all. Sunday morning I packed up and headed home. The park was very busy, lots of people out and about, lots of tent campers taking advantage of the mild weather, lots of RV'ers too. I didn't see very many pop-ups, if any, as I recall. I did see quite a few van campers, more than I normally do.

As usual, random pics to follow...

Bastrop State Park - Sept 2024

Another quick weekend getaway…
 

Booked the last remaining site, took a couple of “personal” breaks during the day as I hooked up the trailer, (working from home), and then snuck out of work at 3pm. Got there around 4pm and was surprised there’s a burn ban since it’s rained pretty much all week - and I really planned on grilling both nights for meals. 

Luckily I brought the portable propane grill “just in case” as I always do. Once I got set up the wind started gusting up to 30 mph and then I understood the fire ban.
Temps during Friday & Saturday were in the low 90’s but the wind, as annoying as it can be, really made it bearable when sitting in the shade. Overnight into Sunday morning it got down into the mid 60’s. And then quickly right back up into the 90’s by the afternoon. But it was still the first teasing of fall in central Texas. It will be exactly one month before it really starts to feel like fall though.

 

Buescher State Park, Smithville TX (May 2024) (Part Deux)

 This was my second trip to Buescher State Park in Smithville, Texas. My first trip to Buescher SP was cut short due to impending thunderstorms (which of course never materialized).

I honestly didn't realize last weekend was Memorial Day weekend until I was checking site availability. I saw a spot come up for Buescher, double checked with boss to confirm that we were indeed off on Monday, and then I reserved Saturday and Sunday nights. I would like to have done three nights but this was the least hassle way of doing it since I still had to pack, run errands and even mow the yard before I could leave.

I left the house around 1pm, got on the freeway, and traffic immediately screeched to a halt. I was concerned about how heavy the holiday traffic was going to be, but this turned out to be an accident instead. It took about 30 minutes to travel a mile or so. If I wasn't towing a trailer I would have exited the freeway and tried an alternate route. Instead I choose to inch along, along with everyone else, until traffic opened up.

Even with the traffic delay I still managed to get the park in pretty good time and had camp set up by about 3:30pm. The park was mostly full when I got there as it seemed everyone else had arrived on Friday, the day before. Interesting enough, when I was checking in at the HQ there was a group of dune buggy enthusiast (like old-school 70's dune buggies) lining up to enter the park. There must have 15 or 20 of queued up. I didn't think to take a picture of them at the time.

It was HOT and HUMID. I was soaking wet all weekend, but I've found that once you accept you are going to sweat it's really not that bad. The high temps were around 98 degrees both days.

On Saturday after setting up camp (this was also my 3rd time backing into a camp site!), I just hung around, did some reading and got the grill going. I don't like the fire pit/grill situation at Buescher since they don't have stand alone grills. The problem with their setup is that the grate on the grill that's part of the fire pit doesn't go low enough to be just above the coals. It's too high, which means you have to put a TON of charcoal in the fire pit, or build a proper fire, just to roast some weenies. Seems like a waste. Fortunately, I happened to have some foil pans and a random grill grate that fit perfectly on one of the pans. I poked some holes in the pan, but a single layer of charcoal down and it made a perfect portable grill.

While the burgers were grilling I made some Velveeta Mac & Cheese (you know, the kind with the liquid cheese packet) and tossed in some diced jalapenos and red onion. I don't normally eat like this, but I've decided that the rules don't apply when camping. After dinner I retreated into the camper (and the AC). Cell reception was much better this time around and I was able to stream some youtube videos before bed.

Sunday morning breakfast was potato, egg & cheese tacos and coffee. BTW, if you like a dark, strong coffee I highly recommend a brand called Mauds and their espresso roast for the Kuerig. Anyway, around mid morning I found my way over to the 25 acre lake and spent a couple of hours fishing. Nothing was happening though. I tried my old faithful tiny torpedo but it was too windy and too weedy for the top water lure, so I switched to a weed-proof plastic worm for less headache but still no luck. My idea of fishing isn't so much about catching stuff as it is just standing by the water, getting bit by bugs and sunburned. Ahh...

After lunch, I decided to break out the mountain bike and go tool around the park. Got in some road miles and some nice woodsy single track miles as well. At one point the single track pops out onto one of the nearby roads and the dialogue in my head goes something like this:
"What a nice landscaped drive, I've never heard of this park before, I wonder what's up here..."
"Oh, wait, is that the theme music from Stranger Things I'm hearing?"
"Run away! Run away!"

So I rode around a bit more, before heading back to camp. This time I used the portable propane grill to heat up the left over Mac & Cheese and grill some hot dogs. I got the really big "man sized" hot dogs that are like $12 a pack and I can honestly say they were worth it. I used hoagie rolls for buns, recommend that as well. The grill can get really hot, but did an awful job on heating up the Mac & Cheese, which was in a skillet. I was trying to use the grill as a grill and as a stove but I just don't think it was made for that as far as the heat distribution goes.

Now that it was getting dark and I certain I was going to be staying inside (and in the AC) I went over to the bath house and used one of the showers there. It was pretty awful. The bath house isn't air conditioned, or even ventilated. The water came out of a pipe in the wall (no shower head) and I stood on a t-shirt the whole time because I didn't want my bare feet touching the floor. It was like something from the movie Midnight Express. Next time, I'm just going to use my camper's outside shower.

Random Pics:

Buescher State Park - 2 trips (May 2024)

Buescher State Park in Smithville, Texas, is only about 10-15 miles away from Bastrop State Park in Bastrop, Texas, yet it is a totally different zone. Bastrop is hilly, sandy terrain with pine forest. Smithville is still hilly, but more gentle hills and in an oak forest. It is more densely wooded. I noted post oaks, live oaks, bois d'arcs, mimosas, and many other tree species around my campsite, including several dead cedar trees (ashe junipers) and the odd hackberry as well.

This was my first time camping overnight at Buescher SP, although I've been fishing/kayaking and biking here many times. The lake at Buescher is downstream from the creek that feeds the lake at Bastrop SP (not to be confused with Lake Bastrop). Both SP's had the dams on their lakes severely damaged during a flood several years ago. The dams have been rebuilt, which took a few years to complete construction and now the lake at Smithville is open to the public once again, which means I am now interested in Buescher SP once again.

I was watching the state park system reservations page and the weather for the past several weeks, if not months, to get a weekend with stable weather and where my schedule cooperated. An opening came up for Smithville this weekend, so I booked it. The forecast had been for an occasional shower at the most, and the rain chances for Friday and Saturday were basically none, with Sunday at a 20% chance of rain. In the few days since I booked the spot, I watched the rain chances for Sunday go from 20% to 40% to 60% and then finally 90%. WTF!?

At first I thought about canceling because the forecast called for storms developing Sunday morning starting around 3am, and I did not want to be packing up in the pouring rain, and just on Wednesday some in our area (central Texas) received softball-sized hail. Then I decided to keep the reservation, keep an eye on the hourly forecast for Saturday and Sunday, and remember that I can pack up and leave the SP any time I want. Just because I paid for Saturday night ($18) didn't mean I had to stay. So I went for it...

I left Austin around 1pm on Friday (traffic wasn't as heavy as it was last time I went camping) and got to Buescher SP right at 2pm. I had camp set up in 45 minutes and was practically the only one in park. It was eerily quite. I was proud of myself since this was the second time I've had to back the camper in and the first time the spot was at a 90 degree angle to the road.

After getting everything squared away I grabbed the Zebco 404 (you know the one) and a couple of lures and walked around to the lake. I spent a couple of hours fishing, although not really trying - just more like enjoying being outside and not at work. Then I headed back to the campsite as other campers started tricking into the park.

I debated on setting up the gas grill or busting out the charcoal. There was no charcoal grill per se, instead there was a combo firepit/grill. I didn't really like the location of the firepit since it was behind the campsite, in the brush and looked like a mosquito haven. However, I had been at the park for about 3 hours and had only seen one mesquite, so I decided to "man up", spray on some Off, and go the charcoal route. Once I got the coals going I threw on a hobo pack of potatoes, onions & peppers. I left the pack on grill long enough to drink a beer (and eat an entire can of Pringles) before tossing on some brats. I found the secluded grilling area agreeable enough that after gnoshing on some brats, I piled some split wood on the coals and got a fire going. It was hot & humid but there's something about sitting around poking at a fire that is entertaining.

The fire died down right at dark so I retired the camper and watched some youtube videos until time to go to bed.

Saturday morning was a lazy morning in that I slept until 8am, before finally putting my feet on the floor around 9am. I made breakfast tacos (bacon, potato, egg & cheese) and coffee, of course. I had a weird 12 volt power issue (I made a separate post for that) and tried to track it down. I also got out the square-bit driver and went around the camper tightening loose screws and doing general maintenance. I finally decided to slowly starting packing up and getting ready to leave, albeit a day early.

Anyway, here are some of my observations about Buescher SP:
The lake is finally open again! It's small, but sparsely used, calm and great for learning to canoe or kayak without motorized boat traffic. They also rent canoes and provide "loaner" fishing gear.
The park is smaller and therefore less crowded, which means a bit quieter. The downside is there is a rural airstrip nearby so during the day there are small planes and helicopters passing overhead.
The camper spots vary, all are level concrete pads, but some are longer (easily accommodating a bus) some are much shorter (barely accommodating a popup) which means everyone has a chance of finding a reservation that suits them.
The location of the picnic tables and firepits also vary in relation to the camping spots. Some are tucked away, some are right next to the pads, etc.
Cell signal is "iffy" going anywhere from 3 bars to none, and not particularly reliable.
The bathhouse (in my loop) was clean and stocked, but needs some TLC or refurbishing.
The staff is super friendly and courteous.
There is hiking & mountain biking trails, as well as road cycling opportunities.
They also have guided hikes and tours every so often.

So, although I spent a little less than 24 hours camping, would I do such a short trip again? Yes, absolutely! As I get older I am trying to pay more attention to the old adage "life is what happens while we are busy making plans". I'd rather go camping for day than sit around waiting for the "perfect" camping week to come about.

And in that vein, what is your "bare minimum" for camping? One day, two days, etc.? What makes you say "thanks, but no thanks" when it comes to scheduling?

 

Turning Camper Table into Counter Space

 In November 2022 I bought an Aliner Ranger 10. It came with two "beds". The bed on the left side is also the dinette and is 40". The bed on the right side is 32". Since no one will actually use the 32" bed for sleeping, and I'll never use the dinette function, I decided to remove the top from the folding table, cut it down to make some additional counter & storage space and place it at the end of what was the 32" bed (next to the stove).

I wanted to keep it as light weight as possible so instead of using plywood I used Spruce, which is what I believe is what is used in the popups for framing of cabinets and stuff. I didn't even know Lowes had a section of this stuff. It's light, strong, easy to cut & drill.

So I made a three-sided box with a lip along the fourth side and attached it to the underside of the cut-down table top with 3 "L" brackets. I put rubber "feet" on the bottom at the corners so the box wouldn't slide around. Then I disassembled a sliding soft-close drawer I got on Amazon (this was the most expensive part of the whole thing) and flipped the brackets upside down so the drawer would hang under something instead of sitting on top of something. Apparently you cannot get an under-mounted drawer if you want something more than a keyboard tray. They just don't make such a thing.

Anyway, once I got the drawer mounted I set the box in place in the corner of the trailer and ran an extension cord along one side so I can plug in appliances and I have a gap on the other side for storing things like a roll of paper towels and a solar battery and such. Too bad the coffee maker wouldn't fit in that spot when traveling. The drawer holds kitchen utensils (spoons, spatula, etc.) and underneath the in big opening I keep paper plates, bowls, cups. So far, everything has stayed in place while under way.

I took the bed cushions out and put two of the dinette cushions on what was the remainder of the bed space to make a bench seat, and I got a Zinus mattress for the other, now permanent, bed.

The best part is that nothing is permanent. I can pick the new counter up and move it, converting this back into a bed on-the-fly if I should ever have to accommodate a guest.

 

First Time Camping in the Aliner (Bastop State Park - March 2022)

 It's hard to believe it has been over 30 years since I've gone camping... how did that happen? Anyway, this was my first trip in a really long time and the first time I've had my own camper. I bought an A-liner at the beginning of November and it has been sitting in the drive way taunting me for the past 4 months. I got to play with it some: outfitting, stocking, learning how to use everything, etc., but nothing beats actually using it. A week ago I just randomly checked the state park web portal for Texas (they use Reserve America) and I noticed a link "go camping this weekend" that lists all of the available spots in various parks for the upcoming weekend. Has that always been there? So, I noticed a park within 30 miles of the house had one spot open and out of my peripheral vision I spotted the words that make any newbie camper owner jump with joy: Pull Through! Needless to say, I reserved that spot as fast as I could.

Getting there went somewhat smoothly, there were a couple of brief moments of panic when I couldn't get the trailer unlocked at first (turns out the Master lock I bought has a non-standard place to line up the numbers for the combo, seriously!?) and then a couple of "am I supposed to turn here, or did I miss it already?" types of things.

Getting set up was much less stressful since I've had practice leveling and setting up the camper, but this was the first time I've hooked it up to Shore Power and water. My space was on the Piney Hill loop and overlooked a ravine of pine trees and scrub.

It was a beautiful weekend. Friday started out blustery with wind gusts up to 30mph and I was very nervous about towing & setting up under those conditions, but by the time I got loaded up and spent an inordinate amount of time futzing with the combo lock the wind had died down completely. I got there around 3pm and had a couple of hours to unwind/unpack and generally figure out how things were going to work. Around 5pm a pack of coyotes start howling, at first I thought it was hikers in the hollow below me messing around, but it was legit. It sounded like quite a few and they seemed closer than I expected them to be (but probably not). Around dark I started the bbq going and cracked open a beer while waiting for the coals to catch. Made some grilled chicken and couscous for supper. That night it got down into the 40's, but the camper was comfortable and only around 4am did I get up and turn on the radiator (I have a 500 watt oil-filled radiator that sits neatly on the counter top and warms the place up nicely.)

Saturday morning was bit chilly, but not cold. I got up and made the obligatory trip to the bath house, dropping the garbage off at the dumpster while I was at it. The spots are arranged so that they are all within easy walking distance of the facilities. I did some easy hiking and actually took the time to hunt for a geocache (first time in 10 years that I've logged a find). I even took a nap later in the day, something I never do. The camper was very comfortable with the windows open and the "fantastic fan" helping to circulate the air. Saturday afternoon I found a shady spot to sit and do some reading, then fired up the charcoal grill again and grilled a steak. I heated up some baked beans inside the camper (because it seemed like the thing to have when camping and eating steak.) The propane stove is hard to finesse and will have things boiling in no time if you aren't paying attention. Saturday night was a repeat of Friday night and when I woke up Sunday morning it was very foggy (and soggy.) I slowly began packing things up and getting ready to leave, deliberately taking about 2 hours to do it while waiting for the fog to burn off. Then I headed home. Only one minor panic situation on the way home when the tire pressure light in my truck started flashing (it's never done that before) on a stretch of road, uphill, under construction, no shoulder - you get the point. So, I just ignored it and it went away. Turns out, I think a sensor battery is dying or something.

Anyway, here are my observations as a complete first time camper owner newbie (in no particular order):
Be prepared to be overwhelmed by the smell of smoke in the evenings (when everyone starts a fire or fires up the charcoal).
My 6 gallon gray water tank filled up a lot faster than I expected, like more than daily.
Why did A-line put the water hookup almost right above the electrical hookup, couldn't a foot or two of separation been a bad thing?
I was too paranoid to leave the water to the camper turned on overnight, and after discovering a small leak under the sink the next day I'm glad I didn't.
Constantly rearranging things to get to other things means my organizational skills need work.
A foot stool with storage came in handy as additional seating, and it was nice to just be able to prop my feet up when chilling out inside.
I need more than two cargo-net-pocket thingies for stuff like remotes, keys, phone, glasses.
Glad I downloaded some podcast and couple of movies to my tablet for some variety during down time (after I already read the bike magazine and a copy of the Austin Chronicle that I brought with me).
Glad I bought a real mattress for the bed instead of trying to sleep on the cushions that came with the camper.
Clip on battery motion lights came in handy when entering/exiting the trailer at night - much more than I had anticipated (it was really dark out there). Same thing can be said the headlight thingy that you strap around your forehead! (Hands free lighting where ever you are looking is incredible).
Get individual boxes of plastic silver ware instead of the combo box. I spent a crazy amount of time fishing around for a fork and coming up with a spoon. I guess I could have taken them out of the box, but then where am I going to put them?
I went thru more towels and washcloths than I thought I'd use in a given day. Ditto for paper towels.
I was amazed at how quiet the campground was. It was full, but there was not any raucous parties, slamming of car doors, loud talking or anything.
I couldn't stop smiling all weekend.

Well, that's it. That was my first trip as a responsible adult. Attached are some of the random things I took pics of.

 

Dynamic Pricing (How Not to Get Screwed)

   Have you ever been asked to enter your zipcode before you can see the price of an item online? It has nothing to do with availability, or shipping costs. It determines how much you are going to pay for an item compared to your coworker sitting in the next cubicle.  Read on...

   It all started with a sluggish browser and Amazon. I seemed that every time I tried to visit Amazon.com using the Firefox web browser my system would slow to a crawl, like the horrid dial-up days of AOL and CompuServe. Initially I chocked it up a Linux weirdness and moved on. Finally, on a slow Saturday morning (today) I googled the issue and found a discussion thread on the topic. While reading about the various solutions, tips and tricks, I noticed a post by a user complaining about getting different prices on Amazon from the same seller, for the same product, at the same time. It seems he was using two different computers and noticed the discrepancy. The term "dynamic pricing" was used and that piqued my curiosity.

   Just yesterday one my coworkers mentioned that he had bought a pair of shoes on Amazon.com, got them two days later and liked them so much he decided to buy another pair. However, when he went back to purchase the second pair he said the price had gone up by roughly $20, so he decided they weren't such a good deal after all. I didn't think much about what he said until now as I started reading up on this trend.

   Then I remembered my own experience with a big box home improvement store and a Dyson vacuum cleaner. The difference in price was $50 depending whether I was looking at it my cell phone vs. my desktop PC at the office. After a trip to the store I could not find the vacuum cleaner listed at the lower price. I sent feedback online complaining about the two different versions of pricing and I assumed that their system was operating two different databases with one be out of date. Little did I know I was being manipulated.

"Mobile users might see a higher price than desktop users."

   If you shop online you may be presented with different prices for the same item (by the same retailer) depending on how you are shopping. Mobile users might see a higher price than desktop users. Same thing goes for Mac users. Retailers use a combination of your IP address/zipcode, GPS location, operating system (Macs are more expensive, therefore you have more money) and browsing history (did you just look at the same item on a competitor's website?) to manipulate the price you presented with. Entering a zipcode for a more affluent part of town could result in a higher price, than entering a zipcode for the area across the tracks. And, it's not limited to online retailers only. The big name "brick and mortar" companies do it too. Some of the names I read online were the likes of Staples and Best Buy to name a few.

   The most interesting thing is that it is no longer a "dirty little secret". Google the term "dynamic pricing" (here, I'll do it for you: https://www.google.com/#q=dynamic+pricing) and what you see should infuriate you, or at least it did me.  However, as they say "knowledge is power", and with a little online reading you can probably find some clever ways to manipulate the manipulators such as disabling cookies, set browser to clear history on exit, using an ad blocker, etc. Of course, it may not always be a bad thing. I recently purchased some security cameras from Best Buy online and when I went to pick them up at the local store (same day) the clerk pointed out that the actual charge to my credit card was $20 less due to "cheaper in store pricing" or something. I was happy and didn't make the connection until now. But what if I had opted to pay for shipping and had it sent to my house? Would I have been aware of the difference?  In college economics one of the things we learned that an item's value, or worth, is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.  Why else would the same house, made from the same materials, sell for $50k in one state and $500k in another?

   Feel free to share your experiences below. I'd love to know if anyone else has noticed this.

Everyone Poops (even spiders)

  

   Sometimes it's easy to overlook the obvious. Things, like the fact that even spiders poop. When you stop and think about it, it does become logical. I mean, if spiders eat then what's left over has to go "somewhere". And that somewhere is poop. I now know this thanks to the power of Google. 

   It all started last weekend when I moved the entertainment center away from the wall so I could clean behind it and get rid of some obsolete equipment that was taking up space and collecting dust. While vacuuming I noticed a patch of white spots on the floor that I mistakenly thought was sheet rock dust (I had run some cables through the wall a while back). However, the white spots simply wouldn't come up. I really didn't give it much more thought, and honestly didn't care since it was behind the TV cabinet anyway. I knew a spider lived back there because next to the white spots was a pile of dead pill bugs and the occasional fly. I don't mind spiders per se. As long as they are not something that is going to hurt me such as Black Widows or Brown Recluses then I don't care if a Wolf or Jumping Spider takes up residence amongst the speaker wires and power cables. 

   It wasn't until last night that I thought about the spots again. As part II of purging obsolete crap from my life I slid a cabinet over and noticed similar white spots and consequently another pill bug graveyard. However, I still did not make the connection. I was thinking it might be some kind of mold or floor cleaner residue. I could easily rule out floor cleaner residue since I've never actually "cleaned" the floors. Oh, I might sweep, or vacuum, or even damp mop the floors every so often, but I don't use any kind of official cleaning product. 

   Once again, I really didn't give it much more thought - until just now. I have no idea why, although I'm pretty sure it was sheer boredom, but I googled "wood floor white spots" and discovered the wonderful world of spider poop. I guess the Poop Book was right, we all do poop.

Dumping Dish (How I Cut the Cord)

A while back my Dish Box died so I called Dish to upgrade. They were advertising the Hopper whole house DVR with free installation and free equipment, and free HD for life. However, when I called I was told that offer was available to "new customers" only. Since I had been a loyal Dish customer for over 15 years I figured they'd be willing to throw me a lil' sumptin-sumptin to keep me happy. So I haggled with them over the phone and after a while we worked out a deal where I would pay full price for everything, including installation of the HD satellite. Yep, they even agreed to let me pay an extra $10 a month for the privilige of receiving programming in HD (which only amounted to about a third of the total channels I got).  They were even nice enough to arrange it so I could pay an additional $8 a month to use the DVR function of the dish box they sold to me (at full retail price). My Dish bill went from $50 a month to over $120 a month.

Then I got an Amazon FireTV box. I installed every free channel App I could find and with Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime costing around $10 each, my total streaming bill is only $30 a month for a whole lot of on demand programming.  So why was I paying Dish $120 a month? I started keeping track of the shows I actually watched on Dish and realized I wasn't watching very much "live" TV. In fact, 99% of it was DVR'd, and even those shows were on major network channels.  However, I wasn't ready to cut the cord just yet. My first experiment was to buy a 1byOne over-the-air (OTA) antenna ($35). I plugged the antenna in the TV and let it rip. I was amazed to find that it picked almost 30 channels, including all of the major networks. I got Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS in high definition! In addition to that, each network has at least two "sub channels" in standard definition that show movies, game shows, etc. I also got a whole host of independent channels.

The biggest drawbacks to going OTA only, IMHO, are the lack of a program guide (remember the old days of looking up TV listings in the paper?) and being able to record shows without dragging out the ancient VCR. Fortunately I had bought a stand alone DVR several years ago, but without a program guide it was really no better than a VCR. About a week later, while rearranging some of my equipment, I realized the DVR also had a TV tuner built into it. That meant it could record programs other than what was on Channel 3. In other words, it could change channels on it's own and record Judge Judy at 4:30 on one channel and then Saturday Night Live at 10:30 on another channel. It was like living in modern times again.

But I still wasn't confident in pulling the proverbial plug with Dish just yet. The set up I had worked but it wasn't ideal. The DVR only recorded one channel at a time and did not handle HD, although it does have a DVD player built in, and the program graphics were something akin to Microsoft DOS. I wanted something similar to my Dish box where I could click thru a menu and select programs to add to a recording schedule or simply watch now. I also wanted one box, one remote.  What I didn't know at the time is that something like that has existed for years. It's called a "Media Center". In fact, if you have a computer running Windows 7, 8.1, or Vista you already have it. It's called Windows Media Center and apparently it was the most popular, solid media center around. I said "was" because Microsoft has decided that it doesn't want you to use it anymore and they've done just about everything in their power to disable it. No more program guide, no more Netflix integration, etc.  However, that did lead me on the search for something similar.  After trying in vain to find a "live TV" app (that actually worked all of the time), or even just a local program guide for FireTV I gave up and decided to go the route of the Media Center. I still have, and still use my FireTV box though (more on that later).

I realized that if I got a dedicated computer I could load all of my music, home movies, and pictures on it. Plus, computers come with DVD drives so I can watch movies, and when connected to the internet I can stream Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others. All I needed to do was add a TV Tuner card and I can watch TV as well. Simply connect the computer to the TV via an HDMI cable and BAM! a media center is born. Now all I needed to do was to find the right software to run it all - and that's the hard part. I started reading forums and blogs to see what everyone was talking about.

MythTV caught my eye because it was well adapted to Ubuntu and I liked the idea of sticking it to Microsoft by not using their OS. But having used Linux for years I was well aware of the short-comings of trying to get things like Netflix to work reliably, and without a lot of hacking. However, I couldn't get past the fact that the "news" blurb so prominently displayed on the home page was over a year old, as were several other "announcements" on the site. Next, I checked out Kodi (XBMC) which ironically is based on Microsoft's defunct Media Center (XBMC is/was Xbox Media Center) and it seems to have a very active user-base, which means people are discussing it, programming hacks for it, etc. However when I tried to visit their website Google had it flagged as "harmful" for some reason.  Since then that flag has been removed, but it's still a crap-shoot if the site will even load when I try to visit it. After finally visiting the site it seems you still need a 3rd Party "backend" to view and record TV so I chose to move on.

I read some good things about NextPVR and downloaded a copy of it. I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with it though and it relied heavily on a built in web browser for TV Guide and other functions (which may not necessarily be a bad thing, just wasn't what I was looking for at the time.) From there I went on to MediaPortal and it was a hefty program. I installed the most recent version (MediaPortal 2) and it was slick and they have a well documented installation guide. (I might have to revisit this one!)

Instead, I stumbled across JRiver Media Center and after kicking the tires I decided I liked the look and feel of it best. Unlike all of the other programs I mentioned above (which are free) only JRiver is a paid program. It cost $50 to purchase, but I felt like a paid program that was generating income for someone would receive more attention in the way of updates, bug fixes, etc., than a free, open-source program maintained by enthusiasts. Of course that's in complete contrast to my love of Linux, so go figure.

JRiver has an active user forum and is constantly releasing updates, patches and improvements. The downside is that much of the online documentation is either out-dated, tries to cover too many versions, or is just really sparse. One of their Wiki Pages simply re-listed the menu items under a set-up screen with absolutely no explanation as to what the settings meant or did. And, who want to search thru pages and pages of user forums to figure out how to do something? But, I am willing to give them a 30 day free trial and see how it goes.

After narrowing down my choice to one program I was ready to purchase some hardware. I got a "small" Dell Inspiron ($500) with 8gb of RAM, a 1TB hard drive and a 3.40ghz processor which easily fits into my stereo cabinet and is practically silent. It comes with a DVD/CD player, an HDMI port, as well as USB 2.0 & 3.0 ports and bluetooth. Windows 10 was preloaded and all I had to do was uninstall various bits of "bloat-ware" and OEM programs that I will never use (remember, this is going to be a dedicated Media Center) and then copy all of my music files from various sources into "My Music". I did the same things with My Videos and My Pictures. I figured it would be best to use the default locations for these items and that the software's library would have an easier time finding and indexing them this way. Once that was done, I plugged in the USB TV Tuner (Hauppauge Dual Tuner $75) and installed the drivers from the manufacturer. (A dual tuner lets you record one TV show while watching another, or record two shows while doing something else.) Then I added a USB Remote Control sensor (Ortek MCE Remote $20) and installed the JRiver Media Center software (version 21). After firing up the software it auto-scanned my music and other media folders into it's library. Next I had it scan for TV Channels. It found 5 additional channels that my TV didn't find, btw.

I found it more convenient to add a wireless mouse & keyboard while I'm still in the tweaking phase so I can change settings and such from across the room, however, while running in Theater mode all I need is the remote. I can flip from program guide to live TV to music to DVD to home movies to a web browser all from one screen with one remote (although not all of the buttons work as you'd expect). The remote even has a "mouse pad" that comes in handy when using the web browser. It seems that at this time there are no apps for things like Netlix avaible for JRiver. So you have a couple of choices, use the broswer to open Netflix/Amazon/Hulu (each of which is easily mapped to it's own button on the screen) or attempt to program a button that will launch the Windows 10 App for each of these. Supposedly ther is a way to do it for Netflix and 3rd party program that emulate a remote control while using the app. However, I haven't seen anything similar for Amazon or Hulu so to me it's useless if it doesn't work for all of the "big 3" streaming services. Which leads me back to FireTV... while I managed to eliminate several boxes and a handful of remotes from my entertainment center, I've had to add FireTV box back into the mix. But, I'm okay with that, for now.

So... I googled "cancel Dish account" and found the 800 number to call (yes, you have to call and speak to someone) and was pleasantly surprised to get ahold of an understanding, more importantly, articulate, person who only made one attempt to "retain" me as a customer by offering me 24 months at half price with no contract. I politely declined. A week later they shipped me a box and a return UPS label so I could send my receiver back to them. They also wanted the switch and the thingy from the middle of the dish, but there was no way I was going to climb on the roof and start taking stuff apart. I sent them the receiver only, so far it seems to have made them happy.

Below are some of screenshots of what I see on my TV (including customized menu buttons):

Anyway, here is one person's experience in cutting the cord and I would love to hear from you if you have any comments/questions/experiences to share!

Updates: 1.) The Dell's built in DVD drive was way too noisy to use for movie playing (sounded like a plane taking off in the living room), but luckily I had a USB DVD drive by LG that is very quiet. 2.) I kept having various glitches & freezes and after a little bit of research, I unistalled Dell SupportAssist (and Dell SupportAssist Agent) and that solved a lot, if not all, of my problems. 3.) After a couple of weeks of tweaking I felt confident enough to click the "purchase" product button and registration was smooth and automatic.  In all, it's well worth the $49.95 price tag.

The Addictive World of Periscope

I've only been using Periscope for a couple of weeks now, two weeks actually, so I really don't have any standing to go spouting on about etiquette and rules and such. However, sometimes the freshest views are the most unbiased, and in the same vein that lack of experience has never stopped me from being opinionated before, I offer the following:

First. What is Periscope? It's a platform via iPhone App that lets you broadcast live video from your cell phone (think YouTube, except "live") to your followers and/or random people who have Twitter accounts. It's like having a "live TV truck" in your pocket, you know, the kind you see driving down the street with the big dish on top. Currently it's available via iPhone App and their blog says that an Android App is due soon, although a search of the Google Play Store turns up lots of 3rd party apps already on the market.

Second. Why? If you've ever seen a YouTube video and thought "that's kind of cool, I'd like to do one of those" but was turned off by all of the logistics involved then you might enjoy Periscope. It's like YouTube for amateurs, or lazy people in general, because it doesn't require any effort other than typing a subject line and pressing a button. Of course this means that while there is some entertaining stuff on Periscope there is also a lot of crap. Not that much different that YouTube actually. However, unlike YouTube, Periscope is instant, including real time comments from viewers. No recording, uploading, publishing or waiting.

Screen shot from "Moving a Mattress with a RAV4"

Who uses Periscope? Everyone. Besides random people doing random things (talking, shopping, feeding bunnies) it seems to be really popular with people in the broadcast industry. Lots of TV show personnel use it show "behind the scenes" type of things and while they are at it, let you know that the Ellen show is about to air at 3pm. How convenient. Mostly it's just average people all over the world sharing a couple of minutes of their daily lives. For example, last night I watched a family attempting to set up a tent in the dark while 25 other viewers offered useless advice and smart-assed comments. Reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws. Just before that, I was tuned into Rene from A&E's "Storage Wars" as he stood by the side of the road answering questions about the show. He talked about who he likes, who he doesn't, behind the scenes drama, etc. I also learned that he is German and that accounted for his "accent", which I honestly thought was a speech impediment. Who knew?

Other things I have witnessed on Periscope are: a dad reading Dr. Suess to a sleepy toddler; two women grocery shopping in Mexico City; an African band playing in a night club in Tokyo; someone walking through the square in Venice; and more kittens, puppies, bunnies and turtles than you can imagine. Mostly the audiences are small, around 25 simultaneous viewers. Sometimes it can balloon up into the hundreds, but then any kind of meaningful dialogue (via comments and replies) is lost in the din.

"Was just watching "should my son eat a ladybug" on #Periscope and just as it starts to get real: connection lost.  Now I'll never know.." @mx4789

The best way to discover Periscope is to try it for yourself, and should you have the urge to broadcast your own little slice of life here are some things to consider:

Give your broadcast a meaningful subject line. "Big Ass Spider!" will get my attention, whereas "Heeyyy" won't. Unless of course heeyyy comes from sexxyAmber19, but we both know Amber is neither sexy nor 19. Likewise, I won't tune into any broadcast that is labeled "I'm back" or "hey peeps" or just a bunch of random icons/smiley faces. I will tune into see what "brunch in Milan" is all about though.

Numbers (of viewers) aren't everything, but they do mean something. Yesterday I clicked on the broadcast "cooking chicken fingers" simply because the guy had 100+ viewers and it turned out he was none other than Jason Nash, whom I've never heard of, but seems he is marginally "famous" on social media. Whereas I've also conversed with the Storage Wars guy and one of the actors on the TV show ER and they both had around 10 viewers online.

Engage your viewers. The most mundane things can be the most entertaining if you respond to comments - some of which are quite funny. Viewers will drop like flies if you broadcast a turtle eating lettuce without having a conversation with them, and it doesn't necessarily have to be about turtles. In fact, I can guarantee that within minutes, if not seconds, the conversation will be off topic, and that's what makes it spontaneous and entertaining.

I recently tuned into a broadcast by a young lady called "sandwiches" and the comments went something like this:

host: what is your favorite sandwich?
viewer1: where are the sandwiches?
host: well I don't actually have a sandwich at the moment
viewer2: we were promised sandwiches
viewer3: how tall are you?
host: um, five seven I guess?
viewer1: how tall is that in sandwiches?

You get the idea..

Tell me what you think of Periscope below. Have you tried it yet? If so, what was your first Periscope experience? (Mine was a guy in Central Park yelling out whatever obscenity you typed. I got him to yell "assclown" and "fucktard". He was getting some strange looks from passersby.)

On Queuing at the Chemist

   The other day I submitted a prescription for refill. The next day I got an automated message from Walgreens letting me know it was ready for pick up. I drove past the store and the parking lot was full. From the road I could also see that the drive-thru lanes were quite busy as well, so I just kept on driving. I ignored Walgreens for a while, but it finally reached a point where I was going to have to retrieve the prescription.  This time the parking lot was a little less crowed so I went inside. There were three people standing in line at the pharmacy counter so I got in line too. And I waited. And waited. And waited. It was taking them an average of 7 minutes per customer to process the people in front of me. I know because I timed them. 

   So as I stood there (waiting) I couldn't help but wonder: what if life had some kind of "fast pass"?  I thought if works at the airport and it works at Disney why couldn't it work in daily life. Think about it. You could take some kind of aptitude test, a physical exam and post some kind of bond and they give you a bracelet to wear that lets you bypass, well, everything. I could have walked behind the pharmacy counter, found the bin that starts with "B", flipped thru the packages until I found the one with my name on it, waived it under the scanner, swiped my credit card and have been done.

   Since that probably won't happen anytime soon, I came up with this flow chart that Walgreens can post in the pharmacy department that should help expedite the check out process.

Is it ethical (or even legal) to use Ad Blocking software?

   I began using a product called Adblock Plus (ABP) a while back when I had finally had enough of the obnoxious ways many websites choose to display their ads. One of the worst offenders is the local newspaper (see screen capture below). I got tired of having the page jump/scroll up and down (as ads opened and closed) or cars driving across the page while I'm in the middle of reading an article.

   Then there was the problem with Yahoo's ads delivering malware to its visitors. I decided to fight back and installed ABP. Now online life is so much more pleasant. However, as someone who receives ad revenue I find myself being somewhat hypocritical. I like the idea of not being bombarded by advertising, yet I don't want anyone blocking the ads on my Youtube videos, or on this blog page for that matter.

   So that got me to thinking... By my use of ABP am I being unethical? Am I breaking some kind of law? Since I'm blocking ads, therefore denying the website revenue, could that be considered "theft of services" or something? Or, is it a type of self-protection, or maybe even civil disobedience? I don't mind ads in general, but let's face it, some websites have gotten carried away with it. It has gotten to the point where instead of it being "content with some advertising" it has become "advertising with some content". I no longer click on any "article" that touts things like "Top Ten things to do in Austin" because I have learned that I am going to be bombarded with ads as I read "item #1" and then be forced to click a link (and wait for a whole new page to load) just so I can be bombarded with more ads as I try to read "item #2". I rarely make it to item #3.
   Although, not all advertising is obnoxious and obtrusive and ABP recognizes that and allows some forms of advertising through their "firewall". Their website even states: 

"Adblock Plus exists to save its users from annoying ads. However, we don't think that all ads are bad, and we are fully aware that website owners need them to survive. Therefore, we have established strict criteria to identify Acceptable Ads: unobtrusive ones that don't need to be blocked."

   While they make a good case for justifying their product - they convinced me - it could just as easily be said "if you don't like the ads, then don't visit the pages." And that is true - to some extent. However, there are caveats, and instead of reinventing the wheel, I will just point you in the direction of the FCC and regulations it has imposed on radio and television advertising. For example, the 2010 "CALM" Act passed by Congress combats those overly loud TV commercials which sent everyone scrambling for the remote. I'm not a big fan of government regulation, but sometimes it is a necessary evil.
   In the meantime, I think I will keep using Adblock Plus (and another little plugin called "Ghostery") to keep my web browsing a little more under my own control and to avoid crap like this:

The Process of Elimination (or, Hold Off on Sending that Email)

Computers

A couple of days before Christmas I bought a new laptop. It came with Windows 8.1 preinstalled. I'm not a big Windows fan and would ditch it all together were it not for Netflix and a couple of other minor "deal-killers" (such as being able to connect to my cell phone.) So, I normally install some flavor of Linux alongside Windows so I can switch back and forth as needed. I personally prefer Ubuntu and use that as my main OS, which means I do everything in Ubuntu - edit videos, play music, manage personal records, spreadsheets, etc. Anyway my Christmas holidays went something like this: installing Ubuntu next to Windows, deleting Windows and installing only Ubuntu, deleting Ubuntu and installing only Windows, installing Ubuntu and Windows together again. After much trial and error I got a somewhat stable setup going. The only problem was the laptop wouldn't boot unless I pressed F2 and went into the BIOS settings.  (BTW, It didn't matter whether I saved any changes to the BIOS, or exited without saving.) Only then would the boot process continue. However if I simply rebooted the computer it would work perfectly. It was only when the computer was shut down (turned off) that I would encounter the boot issue the next time it was started. The last thing I had done during the whole installation/update process, during which the computer seemed to work fine (because it was only "restarting"), was to install a video editing program and then turned the computer off for the night. It wasn't until the next day that I discovered the boot issue. So, my logic went like this: computer seemed to work fine, installed a program, computer didn't work fine. Problem must be the program. I was about to send "hate mail" to the program developer when, for whatever reason, I unplugged my USB Modem during startup and the computer started normally. I turned the computer off, plugged the Modem back in, hit the power button, and no boot. After various repetitions of this I realized it's the Modem. The BIOS sees it as a boot device even though the hard drive is listed first. I'm glad I didn't send that email to the programmer.

Coffee

I ran out of both coffee and coffee filters at the same time. The next time I was at the store I picked up some coffee (Organic Mexican Dark) but forgot to get any filters. Since I use a percolator, filters aren't necessary but they do make clean up much easier. Anyway, the next morning I loaded up the percolator with freshly ground coffee (sans filter) and let it rip. It sucked. The coffee that came out was horribly weak. I've used this brand quite often and never had it come out looking like tea. After several more attempts I concluded it must be a bad batch - wasn't roasted properly, or too old perhaps. A week later I got a different strain (Ethiopian Dark) of the same brand. It too, sucked. I had used the Ethiopian only a couple of weeks before and it had been deliciously strong and bold. What gives? Must have been a bad shipment, not batch. Finally, while grocery shopping I remembered to get some filters (unbleached of course) and bought a completely different brand of beans. So, this morning I popped a filter into the percolator's basket, but was too lazy to drag out the grinder so I used some of the left over shitty stuff from yesterday. This time it came out looking like tar - the stuff a truck driver would be proud of. The only difference between yesterday and today was the addition of a filter. Why does using a filter make the coffee stronger? I can only guess that it traps more water and slows down the drip-time (I just made up that word) allowing the coffee to steep longer. Although this doesn't seem logical with a percolator (since the water continuously recycles through the grounds) it does seem to be true. Now my faith in my favorite brand has been restored and it didn't involve a USB Modem this time.