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06-12-2026 - 5:00 AM - Good Morning! It’s Friday, and the North Central Texas Simplex Net will start at 8:00 PM on 146.580 MHz FM. As always, you’ll need a good outside antenna to hear them from Wichita Falls. We got a pretty good rain last night, and more is possible today. On Saturdays, local Amateur (ham) Radio Operators meet informally at 8:00 AM for breakfast at the Pioneer #3 restaurant at Old Iowa Park Road and Sheppard Access Road. Look for vehicles with extra antennas and/or handheld radios on tables. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 5:10 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 98. East wind 6 to 8 mph becoming south in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. South southeast wind 8 to 10 mph.
--- 5:15 AM - NWS Short Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:20 AM - NWS Extended Range Weather Discussion
--- 5:21 AM - ERCOT (Texas) snapshot of grid conditions - ERCOT reports that conditions are normal and there is enough power for current demand with an operating reserve of 10,263 Megawatts.
--- 5:25 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 84.6% Kemp: 98.4% Kickapoo: 92.8%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 92.1% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (88.7%) to determine drought stage.
--- 5:55 AM - UPDATED - International Space Station Passes Over Wichita Falls
--- 9:20 AM - FEMA Daily Operations Briefing
--- 9:31 AM - I contacted a station participating in the Lewis & Clark Trail on the Air (LCTOTA) special event in Nebraska on 20 meters CW (Morse code).
--- 11:05 AM - The Economics Daily
--- 11:15 AM - In the Administrative Segregation building, an inmate was close enough to a "use of force" that he got a good dose of chemical agents. In his written grievance, he complained that he was choking so bad he could "holly breed." More random Wichita Falls Allred Unit snippets.
--- 3:30 PM - It was night firing training - with the M - 16 rifle - during Infantry Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Polk (then Fort Johnson and then back to Fort Polk), Louisiana. To mark the left and right limits of the range were wooden utility poles with red flashing lights on the tops. These were the big lights that you find in radio and TV transmission towers. On this particular range, the tops of these marker poles were below the high dirt backstop that protected the rest of Fort Polk from errant rounds. The rest of the story!
--- 4:05 PM - Today, I received a bill for my annual physical, conducted on 6-12-2026. The “statement date” is 5-26-2026. The Due date is 6-10-2026. That was two days ago. Looking at the bill, there is an item “Annual Alcohol Misuse - $50.00.” They asked me how much, if any, alcohol I consumed. Then there was the “Annual Depression Screen - $38.00. I don’t remember being asked how I felt mentally. If they did, it was so fleeting that I forgot about it. More appropriately, they charged just $.01 “Falls Assessment Risk”. I was asked if I had a falling issue, and I told them I did not. Then there was the “Cognition Assessed….” That text was cut off, but they had me draw a clock and then draw the hands to read 11:10, while remembering three words they gave me. Then there was a $32.00 charge for “Visit Complexity.” This is on top of the $255.00 for the office visit and $140.00 for PPPS Subsequent Visit, whatever that means. The medical billing world is very strange. If all these "extra charges" for asking me a question or drawing a clock went to fund health care for those without insurance, that would not be a bad thing. After all, I get to see a doctor, GP or specialist, anytime I want, without much delay, at a very reasonable "out of pocket" cost.
--- 4:50 PM - UPDATED - Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls & Warnings
--- 5:20 PM - Main Trading Company, a purveyor of Amateur (ham) Radio equipment based in Paris, Texas, has been announcing big inventory-clearing discounts. Several emails from MTC indicate that the company plans to put a big emphasis on RF amplifiers. It is unknown whether this is a move to offer only amplifiers or whether they will still sell other Amateur Radio equipment. I’m thinking amplifiers. Time will tell. I stopped by MTC when I was in Paris for the Total Eclipse in April, 2024.
--- 6:00 PM -Do you remember the days when there was a deposit on soda bottles? I remember when it was 2¢. To avoid the deposit when you bought soda, you had to bring in an equal number of empty bottles. It was rare to see a soda bottle on the roadside, as people would pick them up and cash them in.
--- 6:15 PM - The Local Group is up and running on CB Radio Channel 23. I don't hear any "skip" tonight, at least on Channel 23. That can change at any time. Tune in or join in.
--- 7:00 PM - Day Trip Idea - National Vietnam War Museum, 12685 Mineral Wells Hwy Weatherford, TX 76088. Open 9 AM to 5 PM - closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
--- 8:30 PM - Back in my "substitute teaching" days, I ran across two kids who stood out in the "I need sugar" category. One ate a half-pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream every day during lunch. If you saw him, you'd believe it. Another kid was extremely hyper and ran almost everywhere. Teachers were constantly slowing him down. One day, I saw him run to a vending machine, deposit his coins, drop to his knees, and say, "Come on, sugar!" Back to the ice cream. Why in the world does anyone need a half-pint of ice cream during the school day, and why did the WFISD not care about the answer to this question?