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User kphoger

Started by SEWIGuy, December 21, 2021, 03:29:02 PM

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formulanone

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 20, 2022, 09:20:44 AM
Quote from: snowc on January 20, 2022, 09:09:40 AM
I took breaks from April-August 2021, then December-January 2021-22. I just wanted to take a break from the forum.  :colorful:

You wanted a break?  Revisionist history?

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30634.msg2685627#msg2685627

With all due respect, don't bite the users.


Max Rockatansky

Quote from: formulanone on January 20, 2022, 09:45:32 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 20, 2022, 09:20:44 AM
Quote from: snowc on January 20, 2022, 09:09:40 AM
I took breaks from April-August 2021, then December-January 2021-22. I just wanted to take a break from the forum.  :colorful:

You wanted a break?  Revisionist history?

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=30634.msg2685627#msg2685627

With all due respect, don't bite the users.

The dude is kind of asking for it trying to inject himself into this conversation.  I know it is in line with his other posts but come on, is there not even the slightest filter?

hbelkins

Just for the heck of it, I found him on Facebook and sent him a message that his absence here had been noted, and included a link to this thread. He and I aren't friends on Facebook, so who knows if he'll see it in his message requests, but at least he'll know his contributions are missed.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

kphoger

I'm still alive.

When I first disappeared, it was because I couldn't afford the downtime at work.  That's still true, really.  I've got projects on the back burner, so I need to tend to them whenever I find myself looking for work to do.  I'm just popping on here because I finally saw HB's message on Facebook.

Could I surf the forum from home?  Well, yes.  But you may recall that I switched from a smartphone to a dumbphone a year ago or so, because the internet was taking my attention away from my family.  So, suffice it to say, sitting in front of the PC for hours at a time wouldn't be any better.




In the meantime, my family and I did a camping trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in October.  We camped at the very north end of the park, right by the New Mexico state line.
Southbound route here  Northbound route here

Here are some pictures.

↓  This is our new car and new cargo box.  It has a lot more space than our old car, but its suspension isn't as beefy.  I like the JEGS cargo box, although I had to purchase aftermarket crossbars in order to install it:  there's no way to ratchet-strap anything to this car's rails.



↓  This is the area near our campground.  It was well protected from the wind, and the weather was gorgeous.  We saw black widow spiders and tarantulas and scorpions, but never in our tents.  My boys and I got some good hiking in.  Considering their age, I was proud of them.



On the way back, we hit some crazy winds and, on NM-483 heading north toward Lovington, we had a tumbleweed adventure.  There were strong sustained winds from the west that day, and a good stretch of NM-483 must lie in a slight depression between the fence lines.  So here's the situation that was created:

The wind would blow tumbleweeds up against the western fence line.  Eventually, the weeds would pile up to form a sort of siege ramp, which then allowed all the ones after them to just roll up the ramp and down onto the highway.  Some of them made it across the highway to the eastern fence line, and the same thing would ensue on that side.  However, down on the highway depression itself, the wind was substantially less strong, so a lot of weeds simply piled up on the pavement.

When I say "a lot", I mean it!  For probably a mile or more, it was literally impossible to see the pavement at all, and we "waded" through a sea of tumbleweeds that reached up to the grill.  Every so often, we'd catch a glimpse of the edge line or the center stripe, but most of the time it was guesswork to stay on the road.  With tumbleweeds cascading over the hood of our car, we plowed through at 15 to 25 mph.  Occasionally, a trucker would roar by in the other lane, sending an avalanche of weeds over our car;  at that point, we'd switch over and drive in the left lane, in the tracks of matted-down weeds left by the trucker, until we came upon another oncoming vehicle and would switch back to the right side again.  I say "we", but my wife was driving that stretch;  I guess my role was moral support and technical advice.

When we finally made it out of the "sea", we pulled to a stop in the middle of the travel lane.  Barehanded (ouch!), I had to reach up under the grill and pull out mats of wedged tumbleweeds.  Then I went around to the side of the car and had my wife drive very slowly while I pulled weeds out from inside the wheel wells and behind the wheels–trusting that she wouldn't suddenly accelerate and rip my forearm off.  When we got into Lovington–wind whipping dust and tumbleweed bits and chaff all around–we pulled into a parking lot and did another round of weed pulling.  Days after returning home, while I was checking the air filter, I found myself pulling tumbleweed pieces out from on top of the transmission.

↓  Here is a picture of the beginning of the adventure.  This is before it got "really" bad.



From there, the winds didn't stop.  Heading north from Plains (TX), we drove through sustained 25-35 mph crosswinds.  Because that part of Texas seems to grow a lot of dirt in their fields rather than crops, that meant driving through periodic dust storms that reduced visibility by as much as a snowstorm.  Then, just as dirt farms gave way to crops, the rain started.  By the time we stopped for gas at Vega, the wind had ripped the decal off the windward side of our cargo box.

In Friona, I drove a specific route in order to pass through the intersection of TX-214-Business and FM-2397-Spur, with the intention of taking a picture of the assembly to share on this site.  But the rain was still strong, so I didn't feel like stopping and getting drenched.

The last day of driving, from Guymon to Wichita, however, the weather was beautiful.  A lovely autumn day through the Great Plains.

↓  And here are my wife and I, taking a break during a hike.

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

tolbs17


MATraveler128

Welcome back to the forums.
Decommission 128 south of Peabody!

Lowest untraveled number: 56

webny99

#31
Quote from: kphoger on February 24, 2022, 12:35:27 PM
I'm still alive.

Glad to have you back, even if it's short lived. The forum is a more interesting place when you're around.

And thanks for sharing your trip... that sounds interesting/exciting to say the least!!

kphoger

Quote from: JayhawkCO on October 21, 2021, 02:16:34 PM
Maybe went down to Mexico.

Nope, I haven't been to Mexico since March 2020–when the world went sideways.  Due to the virus, I just haven't trusted the border situation to be reliable enough for travel plans.

However, I now have upcoming plans for another trip to Mexico.  This one, though, won't be a road trip, and it will only be our pastor and I.  The plan is to fly into Monterrey by way of DFW, then our friends will pick us up at the airport.  For the return trip, we'll take intercity buses from Saltillo to Nuevo Laredo, cross the border by taxi or on foot, then fly out of Laredo to come back home.  The reason for the convoluted travel plans–which include two sets of one-way plane tickets–is that all air passengers arriving into the USA are required to present a negative test result from within the same or previous calendar day as departure.  I'm just not confident enough that we could obtain such a test result within that specific window of time, especially not knowing a whole lot about how and where such tests are administered in the town we'll be staying in.  US citizens crossing by land, however, are under no such requirement.

I'm not thrilled at the prospect of wearing a face mask for hours on end during travel, but I'm also not thrilled at the idea of sitting mask-less in a moving sardine can with a bunch of rando passengers either.  So I got four N95 masks to use on our trip–the only masks I've gotten since the original three handmade cloth ones back when everything first hit the fan.  I tell you what:  even before the virus, I never felt all that healthy sitting on an airplane, and I definitely don't now!  Rationally, I know that planes do a really great job of filtering and circulating their cabin air, but, well, I'm not a 100% rational person.  Besides, I'm not exactly in a position to afford having to take a few weeks off from work (and neither is my wife), so better safe than sorry.

This should add two new one-off airports to my list:  MTY and LRD.  I was kind of hoping to fly into TRC instead of MTY–arriving on that airport's only daily international flight–but that's not the way it worked out.  A downside of the itinerary is that both departing flights leave at 6 AM, which means I'm probably not going to be in any mood to enjoy LRD.




Quote from: kphoger on February 24, 2022, 12:35:27 PM
I'm just popping on here because I finally saw HB's message on Facebook.

Quote from: tolbs17 on February 24, 2022, 01:00:52 PM
Welcome back kphoger!

Quote from: BlueOutback7 on February 24, 2022, 01:04:25 PM
Welcome back to the forums.

I'm not really back.  As I said, I just popped on today in order to answer the question of what happened to me.  You should fully expect me to disappear again after this.

In fact, I'm logging off as soon as I post this reply.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

webny99

Quote from: kphoger on February 24, 2022, 01:16:03 PM
I'm not really back.  As I said, I just popped on today in order to answer the question of what happened to me.  You should fully expect me to disappear again after this.

In fact, I'm logging off as soon as I post this reply.

Well, I can't possibly pass this up...

Quote from: kphoger on January 18, 2019, 05:58:00 PM
Maybe he'll be back.  This forum is like porn:  you just can't keep away for too long, no matter how you try.

:-D :-D

GaryV


Scott5114

Glad to hear you're doing all right! ...Even if you don't see this message for several more months. :D
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

kevinb1994

Welcome back. Safe travels.

SEWIGuy

Hey glad to see you back!  You look a lot younger than I thought you were!  :-D :-D

kphoger

Just so you guys know...

It's been a fun three weeks (sort of) being back on the forum.  But my work life and personal life are both getting busier again now.  So, as soon as someone guesses correctly in the 'Guess the country challenge' thread, I'm going to bow out again.  Don't worry:  if I die, I'll be sure to let y'all know.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: kphoger on March 17, 2022, 11:44:49 AM
Just so you guys know...

It's been a fun three weeks (sort of) being back on the forum.  But my work life and personal life are both getting busier again now.  So, as soon as someone guesses correctly in the 'Guess the country challenge' thread, I'm going to bow out again.  Don't worry:  if I die, I'll be sure to let y'all know.
I'm confused about how you plan absences. I don't plan absences, I drift on and off the forum with some periods of increased activity. Even when I'm busy I can still check into the forum every once in a while.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

kphoger

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

J N Winkler

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on March 17, 2022, 04:05:29 PMI'm confused about how you plan absences. I don't plan absences, I drift on and off the forum with some periods of increased activity. Even when I'm busy I can still check into the forum every once in a while.

Some people (I am not necessarily saying Kphoger is one of them) find it easier to manage time and attention, both of which are scarce resources, by engaging with online platforms like social media and Web forums only in a structured way that short-circuits the dopamine feedback loop.  For example, I have a rule of checking Facebook just twice a day.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: J N Winkler on March 17, 2022, 05:16:10 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on March 17, 2022, 04:05:29 PMI'm confused about how you plan absences. I don't plan absences, I drift on and off the forum with some periods of increased activity. Even when I'm busy I can still check into the forum every once in a while.

Some people (I am not necessarily saying Kphoger is one of them) find it easier to manage time and attention, both of which are scarce resources, by engaging with online platforms like social media and Web forums only in a structured way that short-circuits the dopamine feedback loop.  For example, I have a rule of checking Facebook just twice a day.
Valid. It might be a good idea. Smartphones make that impossible for me. I check Instagram way too much. Maybe 100 times per day.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5



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