Did you ever feel like the forces of fate collaborated against you? Okay, so maybe that's a little extreme in my case, but I did have a couple things line up against me, that if nothing else, could be considered bad luck.
This week started with a drive to Long Island for work (the Hauppauge area.) With the on-going NPOTA event, my work trips usually include a stop at a park, so I was looking forward to maybe activating one or two of the parks up here while on the trip.
Day one of the trip involved traveling, getting to the office, having the "day 1" meeting to review the upcoming activities for the week's visit, getting dinner, and getting back to the hotel. I managed a quick peek at Google maps and the NPOTA site to decide where I might head later in the week, I did some reading (for the sociology class I'm currently taking), I had my daily chat with the family, and then I went to bed (not all in that exact order, but there-abouts).
Waking up on day two I had a quick peek at the propagation forecast, and thought - wow! This should make for some great contacts after work today!:
This week started with a drive to Long Island for work (the Hauppauge area.) With the on-going NPOTA event, my work trips usually include a stop at a park, so I was looking forward to maybe activating one or two of the parks up here while on the trip.
Day one of the trip involved traveling, getting to the office, having the "day 1" meeting to review the upcoming activities for the week's visit, getting dinner, and getting back to the hotel. I managed a quick peek at Google maps and the NPOTA site to decide where I might head later in the week, I did some reading (for the sociology class I'm currently taking), I had my daily chat with the family, and then I went to bed (not all in that exact order, but there-abouts).
Waking up on day two I had a quick peek at the propagation forecast, and thought - wow! This should make for some great contacts after work today!:
And then luck looked back and me and said - Nope!
As I climbed in my car (yes...the less than 1 year old Fusion that you've seen in my other posts) and turned the key, I was greeted with the check engine light, and extremely rough idling. Uh-oh!! My regular readers might recall that when I activated Acadia during a family vacation I had a similar experience with this very same car. Grrrrr.
Last time the car wouldn't even drive when this happened - pushing the gas pedal down caused nothing to happen. This time, the car moved, so I decided to brave it, because it was only 3 miles to the first stop for the day. The car kept doing the same thing, and even at speed, the whole car shook like a rat at the Jellicle Ball. So...I called a tow truck, sent the car off to a garage, and hitched a ride for the rest of the day with my co-workers. This also means that at the end of the day I was dropped off at my motel, with no means of transportation to get myself to any parks. It also means that I'm stuck hitching rides in Long Island until my car is fixed. If I'm lucky, my car will be fixed quickly, and I might still be able to activate a park. If I'm not lucky, I might be getting a rental to drive home and leaving my car behind while it gets fixed (again.....come on Ford - did I get a lemon?! [Ed. The car is fixed - apparently this time a rodent chewed through an ignition coil wire, sorry Ford for getting mad at you!]) Oh well....at least there's the HT I have in my backpack, and Echolink so I can check out the local repeaters and check in to my clubs net on Wednesday (Node 380019 at 9pm EST if you want to join us!) Hopefully that will give me enough of a shot in the arm that I won't go through complete radio withdrawal while I'm stranded at the hotel.
As I climbed in my car (yes...the less than 1 year old Fusion that you've seen in my other posts) and turned the key, I was greeted with the check engine light, and extremely rough idling. Uh-oh!! My regular readers might recall that when I activated Acadia during a family vacation I had a similar experience with this very same car. Grrrrr.
Last time the car wouldn't even drive when this happened - pushing the gas pedal down caused nothing to happen. This time, the car moved, so I decided to brave it, because it was only 3 miles to the first stop for the day. The car kept doing the same thing, and even at speed, the whole car shook like a rat at the Jellicle Ball. So...I called a tow truck, sent the car off to a garage, and hitched a ride for the rest of the day with my co-workers. This also means that at the end of the day I was dropped off at my motel, with no means of transportation to get myself to any parks. It also means that I'm stuck hitching rides in Long Island until my car is fixed. If I'm lucky, my car will be fixed quickly, and I might still be able to activate a park. If I'm not lucky, I might be getting a rental to drive home and leaving my car behind while it gets fixed (again.....come on Ford - did I get a lemon?! [Ed. The car is fixed - apparently this time a rodent chewed through an ignition coil wire, sorry Ford for getting mad at you!]) Oh well....at least there's the HT I have in my backpack, and Echolink so I can check out the local repeaters and check in to my clubs net on Wednesday (Node 380019 at 9pm EST if you want to join us!) Hopefully that will give me enough of a shot in the arm that I won't go through complete radio withdrawal while I'm stranded at the hotel.
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