I’d been running around with my camera and a friend, a trip that took us all over the area. We even got to stop and talk with another photo pal who’s a member of local law enforcement. We visited the newly opened Harmon Lake, and then decided to head north to see what the sky might provide.
Here’s to late nights, good friends, beautiful skies, cameras, and Bismarck-Mandan! All combined, they make for a very memorable experience.
My wife was tired and went to bed when the boys did, and she instructed me to go ride motorcycle or go out with my camera or something. I did both. After a great photo jaunt west of Mandan, I came home and got the big Suzuki out for some carving. Most of the time I wear one of my full leather racing suits when I’m out, because I’ve lost enough skin since I started riding at age 5 or 6. Wow, it’s been a long time. Anyway, tonight was absolutely comfortable in leathers. I had a fantastic time. Now for some shut-eye before putting a wrap on the work week!
I got a lot of fantastic pics, but I’m only posting this one before bed. I was out in the middle of nowhere for much of my photo trip (and picked up my first wood tick too!) but caught this sight along Highway 25, north of Roby’s Supper Club. Home of the best Filet Mignon I’ve ever had, by the way. Mmmmmmm….steak. I know what I’m grillin’ for dinner Friday!
Thankfully the ring of storms threatening Bismarck tonight were miraculously whisked away, leaving instead an awesome night for a guy to take out his camera and motorcycle. I’m so glad I have a wife with such good ideas!
Update: got my first wood tick from this excursion too, and I”m not surprised. I spent a lot of time in the tall grass. Also, have you noticed that “respite” is one of Kevin Lawrence’s favorite words during the weather? You will now…
There are actually three weak links in a digital television transmission here in Bismarck, if you don’t count the operator:
First, if the station is on network programming, the satellite signal can be rained out. That happened to me a lot when I was a master control operator. Sometimes you can get a backup feed on a different frequency, but not always. At KFYR we could route ourselves a satellite feed from Minot, Williston, or Dickinson if needed.
Second, you have the STL, or Studio – Transmitter Link. These are microwave frequency transmissions between a dish at the TV station and one at the transmitter tower south of Mandan. These signals can be rained out too, but you have to be in a VERY heavy thunderstorm for that to happen. Yet it does happen. KFYR had two such links, and if I suspected one was about to fail I could switch to the other. If you miss your opportunity to do that, then you’re out of luck. I don’t know if they still have two such links now that they’re digital, but a rain-out appears to be what was happening in the image above. I had 97% signal from the KFYR transmitter, but I bet the transmitter was getting a very poor signal from the studio.
Third, you have to have this thing called electricity to run your transmitter. KFYR had a generator at the transmitter site capable of starting itself instantly and switching the transmitter to generator power in the event of a power failure. To my recollection, no other Bismarck TV station has this. Which means that if you don’t have cable, you ain’t seeing Too Tall if the power is out in St. Anthony. The transmitter sites are on the MorGranSioux power grid, not MDU like us city folk.
So there you have it…if you, like me, don’t have cable TV, you run the risk of having your local stations yanked out from under you by severe weather. That’s a bummer, because that’s when they’re needed most. But such are the limitations of technology. They do their best to stay on the air, obviously. KXMB has even started putting the radar on channel 12.3, which is really keen for those of us who don’t have the cable TV radar channel. I just hope they either bought a generator or don’t have a power outage!
So what’s next…digital radio?
More information can be found at www.ridetowork.org. Don’t let that purported 50% chance of thunderstorms stop you – get out and ride! I’ll be doing so too! I won’t be racing, like I was in the photo above but I sure do enjoy getting the fresh air on the way to and from the office! And we’ll see about getting back into roadracing again some day. Just don’t tell my wife.
It would have been interesting to see exactly how and when this blade failed. I bet it was a spectacular sight! If I were to offer a layman’s opinion, I’d guess that it happened while the turbine was stationary; otherwise it looks like the delaminated blade would have likely torn right off. In this case, it merely split. It may not have been pointing up at the time; the weight distribution of the blades was altered when it collapsed, causing the intact blades to balance toward the bottom.
I was really excited to get out tonight. I got to hang out with a friend who went with me, I got to see the clouds roll away and a very nice (albeit chilly) June evening take shape. I even got to do some running around with the camera after leaving the wind farm…but those photos will have to be posted later.
This week looks like a wash for photography or motorcycling, with a cold and wet forecast. No matter, I got plenty of neat shots last week. We’ve still got a little bit more summer left…some would jokingly say at least two weeks’ worth! When the weather cooperates, I’ll either be out in my truck or sliding two knobby tires around those gravelly corners, looking for more of those North Dakota scenes I love so much.
While out on the motorcycle the other night I came across Sandy River Drive, which reminded me of this post from July of last year. I hope you enjoy it, and take the opportunity to visit this marker!
Marking “The Road to Nowhere”, this marker was obviously put up by someone who got a raw deal. In case you have a bad monitor, let me go ahead and quote it:
This marker is dedicated to the public officials who deemed “we’re from the government and we’re here to help” – even though the residents of the area didn’t want the trees removed, their roads destroyed, and the new road built.”
As usual, I proofread everything I read, and something caught my eye. If I’m right, “Pactas” should actually read “Pacta” as it’s the plural of the Latin word “pactum.” It means an agreement, contract, covenant, or treaty. The full translation of this little dictum is essentially “Agreements should be honored.” If so, all those years of high school and college Latin finally paid off. The dedication itself speaks for itself…just think the Democrats want the government to be in charge of our health care, too!
If you’d like to find this marker and enjoy the picnic table, you can take River Road north from Pioneer Park, then turn left and head west on Sandy River Drive until you spot the marker on your left. Its GPS coordinates are 46 deg 51.164 minutes North, 100 deg 51.237 minutes West. If you find out who placed the marker here (it ain’t hard to figure out), tell them I sent you.
If you’ve been around Bismarck for twenty years or longer, you probably remember an older fella that used to drive around in these really cool little “Prince” automobiles. Actually, I think there may have been two such guys, since one lived near my south of Mandan as well. I was recently told that the other such man was none other than Fred Max Roberts, who at one time lived where the FMR sign still stands. Aha! But who was Fred Max Roberts? It turns out he had a story (or several) to tell.
Fred Marke Roberts was born in 1931, and I’m not sure if he’s around any more. The book indicates it was published by “fmROBERTS Enterprises” out of Dana Point, California. It is available online if you’re an aviation enthusiast and don’t already own a copy. Its ISBN number is 0-912746-09-2. Here’s a link to more information.
Now when you drive past those brick buildings and that old FMR sign along River Road, you’ll have a little bit more background!
By the way, I was out on that old River Road last night and was amazed at how loud all the frogs were! Since I keep a handheld MP3 recorder in my camera bag, I decided to pull over and enjoy the sounds of nature. Click here for a brief MP3 of nature’s music along one of Bismarck’s finest and most scenic roads.