UltimateBass Home Front Activities Feb 2024

[Donald Garner]

Good afternoon to everyone 

Here we are Feb 2024 I hope the new month brings much happiness and good health to all of our UltimateBass Family members.

Our forecasted temps for across Central Texas today are 55-73dgrs with 49%humidity with a S wind @ 16mphs.  There's some rain in the forecast for Friday    with the next 5 days looking bright and sunny 

I had a few errands to tend to this morning with some shopping trips to Walmart and Academy.  Other than that there is nothing else planned for the rest of the day.  Looks like some relaxation and some recliner time coming up 

Caddyjoe; good luck with getting the electronics wired up correctly.  That is frustration to have to pay to have stuff done by PROFESSIONALS and it's not done correctly. 

Bud; You've been a busy man.  Hope the wife gets to feeling better and the PT is helping her.  Good luck with the new bed.  I've been looking at a new recliner myself that will help me get up and out of the chair.  Lots of choices with $$$$ to go along with all the features.
You visited that Ranger lately? 

To everyone hope your day has been a pleasant one.  Hope the evening ahead is a relaxing one for ya also.

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to all 

Foggy with drizzling rain is moving across Central Texas this morning     We're forecasted to have thunderstorms moving into the area later on tonight.  Our forecasted temps for today are 54-66dgrs with 80%humidity with a SE wind @ 13mphs.  Heavy rain is in the forecast for tonight into tomorrow morning.

Had some errands to tend to this morning.  Dwayne had a medical appointment to attend too.  We stopped and picked up a breakfast snack on our way to Walmart after the appointment was over with.  There is nothing else planned for today.  It's gloomy and dreary outside and real foggy.  I'll be tinkering around on the computer and watching tv later on.

Hope everyone day goes as planned with a relaxing evening planned ahead.  Y'all be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.

[Bud Kennedy]

Today was bowling day and thats about it.  Did not do anything else all day.  Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a different story as we will begin to get the master bedroom ready for the new bed.  Gotta find a place to put the stuff stored under the old bed since the new bed will not have any room for much if any storage underneath. 

After bowling today I made some Chicken Cordon Blue and a baked potato for our supper.  Now I am back in my man room playing on the computer and doing nothing.   Temps today reached 60 with a little high cloudiness.  Tomorrow will be the same but about 10 degrees cooler but no rain in sight until Monday.

I have discovered the parallel between bowling and fishing.  I suck at both things so I guess that is why I like both.  Go figure.

[Captsteve]

Today, I lauched my boat. Then got that demanding urge to go to the bathroom.  Tied up my boat hurriedly. Wnt to the bathroom at the launch. Whith is a gas station across from ramp. When I returned my boat eas no longer tied up. It was across the  waterway. Against the opposite bank.

So emeititly started walking around the marina to get to my boat. 
Bye the time I got 3/4 of the way around, my boat had come off the bank. It was floating out across the lake.

I called 911. They sent the fire departmen. The fireman brought me out to boat in their rsecue boat.

Not an experience I ever want to repeat.

 A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work.

[Donald Garner]

Good afternoon to everyone   

Beautiful day here today across Central Texas after it rained all night long.  We have partly sunny skies with forecasted temps of 50-72dgrs  with 30%humidity with a W wind @ 14mphs    The week ahead is looking bright, sunny with temps in the mid 60's 

Went shopping at Sam's with the wife and had lunch there afterwards.  I like their pizzas they make there       Got home and downloaded the truck and started doing laundry       The rest of the day will be spent tinkering around on the computer and watching some tv 

Steve; Tks for stopping by and sharing the day with us.  Glad you were able to get your boat back.  I had the same thing happen to me once.   I was launching by myself and the rope broke as I was pulling the trailer up out of the water.  This happen during the middle of week and I was the only one at the launch ramp.  I wound up stripping down and took a swim out after the boat.  I wound up swimming a about 100 meters before I caught up with the boat.  I was so tired I couldn't climb back in the boat.  I wound up wrapping the rope around my waist and swimming back to the ramp.

Although the day started out bad etc. it turned out to be one of the best days of fishing I had in a long time

Bud; Tks for stopping in.     That Chicken Cordon Blue sure sounded good     I haven't had that since being stationed in Germany back in the early 80's.  So you suck at bowling and fishing huh    Sounds like to me you need to get out more and apply those needed skills until you get better    You know the deal the more time spent on the water the better we get     

Hope the new bed helps the wife get to feeling better.  Hope your week ahead has a trip to the bowling lanes also so you can continue to IMPROVE on your skill of knocking down those 10 pins 

To everyone hope your Saturday is going well for ya.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about also.   

[topdsm0138]

Went fishing by myself because my buddies flaked out because "It's too cold outside.." Really?!..70° was too cold?! Hell, it warmed up to 77 today. Their loss.

Sent from undisclosed location. -Tiller Mafia

[Donald Garner]

Greetings to everyone 

Blue Bird Skies with 20mph (+) winds are moving across Central Texas this morning     Our forecasted temps for today are 49-63dgrs with 47%humidity with 20mph winds howling out of the NW this morning 

Attended church on line this morning.  The wife is fixing lunch / supper now, were having BBQ ribs and steamed veggies later on 

There is nothing planned for the rest of the day here.  Guess I'll tinker around on the computer and watch tv later on.

Top; Hope your trip was a productive one out on the water yesterday.  That's a really nice boat you got there. 

To everyone hope your Sunday is a relaxing one.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.

[Bud Kennedy]

Yesterday, I received a call from the Mrs. that she was at church and her car won't start.  I went over there and sure enough the battery was dead so I called AAA for a jump.  Due to a dispatch error my call was dispatched to a service person 100 miles away in North Carolina.  I saw the confirmation map on my cell phone and immediately called AAA to get this corrected.  Unfortunately the call center failed to take appropriate action and no one arrived.  I called back to AAA opened a new call and explained the original error and a new dispatch was made to a servicer just a few minutes away from our location.  Unfortunately this cost almost 2 hours waiting for a response from the original call.  Needless to say I am not happy but will take this up with a AAA manager tomorrow sometime.

Today I bought a new battery and brought it home but had a bunch of other errands to do so never got around to putting in the new battery,  I will get it done tomorrow for sure.  After the errands to pick up prescriptions and then go get groceries and along the way stopping by Goodwill to drop off a bunch of donated clothes.  The groceries are all put away and I plan on just taking it easy the rest of the day what is left of it.

Tomorrow I will install the new battery then plan on heading to the bowling alley for a bit of practice.  Did not get to bowl yesterday due to the dead battery fiasco.  Temps today made it to 59 for a few minutes but it has been in the mid 50s most of the day with a high grey sky and a bit of breeze out of the NE.  Although the temp seems ok there is a bit of bite in the air when outside.

FYI my old battery in the Monte Carlo was installed in 2016 no wonder it went dead.  I think I got my moneys worth from it wouldn't you say.  Gotta load test the truck battery tomorrow since it has some age on it as  well.

[Bud Kennedy]

I like working on my vehicles.  You have to wonder sometimes what the heck design engineers are thinking when they design and build things that sooner or later will require service.  Today I put a new battery in the Wife's 2005 Monte Carlo SS.  You would think it would be a snap to do but not in this case.  I have changed this battery before so I remembered all to well how much of a PITA it is to do. 

On this vehicle the battery is tucked away in a corner of the engine compartment with a whole bunch of wiring and electrical connections.  Also present are belts and hoses.  This means you cannot just un-hook the battery and lift it out.  You have to disassemble multiple items to remove the battery.  You actually have to lift the battery up at one end and then pull the battery out lengthwise making sure all the stuff you unhooked is not damaged.  To re install it is the same deal but in reverse.  It would be helpful if you had 3 or 4 hands but my 2 had to be good enough.  Also included is the removal of a cross brace that provides some mechanical support for the fenders and radiator housing.  The bottom line is my hands look like I have been in a fight with a meat grinder just trying to muscle the battery in and out.   If it was possible to punch the design engineer in the nose I would be first in line to perform the punch.  Anyway the job is done and the vehicle is back in service.  My hands are all bandaged up to cover some of the scrapes that happened. The old battery lasted for 8 years and I surely hope it will be another 8  before I have to do this again.  Not even all the things I have done on the Ranger boat cannot compare with what should have been a simple task.  Oh well.

[Donald Garner]

Good afternoon to all,

Forecasted temps for across Central Texas today are 55-67dgrs with 47% humidity with a S wind @ 18mphs.  We have partly sunny skies with a chance of rain over the weekend.

Been really busy these past few days.  Dwayne was admitted to the hospital on Monday with stomach pain.  After all the testing and X-rays etc.  they found a mast on his pancreas.  They did a biopsy yesterday and we're waiting for the results to come back.  We should hear something in a week or so.  He's going to be discharged here later on this afternoon.

Today I'm catching up on getting the laundry done and getting Dwayne's room here at home squared away for him for his return home.  Other than this there's nothing else planned for the evening.

Bud; Tks for stopping by.  Hope you were able to get that AAA situation cleared up.  I feel for ya on working on your wife's car.  Yep there is nothing simple about changing out batteries in any vehicles now days.  I had to change out the battery in the Silverado and it was a PITA due to all the brackets that are around the battery.  Same deal with changing the battery in the wife's Cruze which was a MAJOR PITA.  I see why maintenance techs get paid $100.00 (+) an hour around here.

To everyone hope your day is going well for ya.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.

[caddyjoe77]

Hey yall. Weather great here but work is calling.  Friday im out on the water.

Almost done with electronics rigging. Been a fun project, learning along the way.  Just need to button up a couple things and Friday will be a nice relaxing day. Take dad out again Friday or Saturday.

That car stuff sucks.  Amazing to look at a classic versus what we have to deal with these days in cars. Companies definitely need your dollars hence why I feel that they make MX difficult. 

Hope all is good for all.

Bud hows that phase II?   

[Bud Kennedy]

Joe, I am really Liking the Phaze 2.  The mid lane is just what I wanted.  Great shot shape and is actually reducing the number of 10 pins I have been leaving since I now can bowl a better angle.  I am still having some timing problems that I am working on.  Have made a major decision to have a go at a 4 step delivery instead of my usual 5 step.  I am making too many mistakes due to weak legs.  Oh well I guess that comes with being a geezer.

[topdsm0138]

Afternoon y'all. Think I finally figured out the layout and buttons on this new phone. Bought my wife and I two new Samsung galaxy S24's. Seems WAYY faster than my old one (S20).

Got a 5 fay training weekend for "pre-deployment" training before we go to NTC in Apr-May for 29 days. The Unit is deploying AGAIN in early 2025 but I won't My contract is up, not extending anymore, and my disability is about to start paying. I can either take disability or retirement, whichever is greater. So I chose disability and no sense in waiting 20yrs when they can Medically Retire me with my time. I win! Retired at 45..man, sounds weird don't it?

Looks like more lakes time is in my future.

Sent from my SM-A546U1 using Tapatalk

[Donald Garner]

Good afternoon to all,

Cloudy overcast skies are covering down across Central Texas today.  Our forecasted temps are 59-71dgrs with 64%humidity with a SE wind @ 7mphs.  We have rain in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday coming up 

Nothing really planned for today I'm fixing to go and fill up the Silverado and check the mail.  After that I'll be tinkering around on the computer and checking out the tv.

Top; tks for stopping by and sharing the day.  Yep those new / any phone takes some time to get used too.  Good luck getting everything programed like you want it. 

NTC got to love that place NOT    I got 15 rotations out there from my time with the 5th IN Div. & 1st CAV Div.     While assigned to the 5th IN Div. my unit got sent there (3) times in 1 year.  Twice as the Blue Force and once as the OPFOR.  I do not miss that place at all   

Best wishes on the upcoming RETIREMENT. 

Joe; Tks for stopping by.  Glad to hear the rigging is coming along good for ya.  Tight lines for ya on the next trip out.  Make sure you take some on the water pictures of your new boat and of course a fish or too 

Bud; Glad to hear that your back out on the lanes again.  Hope your able to find that right delivery down.

To everyone have hope your day is going well for ya.  Y'all be safe in your travels and I hope your evening ahead is a relaxing one. 

[caddyjoe77]

I submit to the masters of all rigging.  Not easy at 47  .  Now I understand why only young flexible flatbellies do it.  Everything went well, except the top shelf in the sts.  I cannot for the life of me get the nuts on after i drilled some perfect holes for the gimbal mounts.  There are two shelves molded in.  Great for vision and stability, a real pain to get a nut on the back side of.  tried everything, universal socket, wobble extension, a combination of all plus a flexible shank nut driver.  I hate admitting defeat on this but it is what it is.  My arm is just not quite long enough, and a little too fat to get bent just enough to hold the nut long enough for all the bolts from the top side.   Fill in the holes with some black marine tex. 

so i am ordering a triple mount -- those mounting bolts i can get to easy.  other ones, not so much.  Figured it will be about the same cost as if i have a shop do it at $125/hr.  so i wave the white flag.     damn boats 

a thought just came to me -- a piece of clear tubing just may work to hold the nut in place to at least get it started

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to everyone,

Cloudy with the chance of rain today across Central Texas     Our forecasted temps for today are 57-69dgrs with 96%humidity with a SE wind @ 8mphs.  Rain is moving across the area today and into the weekend ahead.

Got some errands to tend to this morning.  Dwayne has a couple medical appointments I'll be taking him too.  This afternoon the wife and I have an appointment to get our taxes filled out.  The rest of the afternoon and evening will be spent relaxing 

Joe; There are some things that I've rigged up on both of my boats mostly the real simple stuff.  The electronics; trolling motor; gauges I left all that to the Marine Techs.  I'll gladly paid their fee just not to have the headaches and busted knuckles 

I hope everyone has a pleasant day today.  Y'all be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.

[Bud Kennedy]

Donald, your temps are about the same as here today.  Some rain headed to the area on Sunday late afternoon but until them mostly cloudy with temps to the upper 60s to maybe the low 70s until the rain comes.  Today is league bowling day and as always I am looking forward to it and hoping for the best. 

Trump is in Myrtle Beach tomorrow for a rally and like all his rallies are sold out so we won't be attending.  Wife wants to get the roses all ready for spring so we have a bit more pruning to do on those but not that big a deal.  I too plan on doing he taxes over the weekend. Since retirement I have always done my own taxes since they are pretty basic these days.  When we had the business our CPA did the task that was just too complicated for me to attempt.  Now that we don't earn much money we can expect a small refund each year.

Good deal to hire the rigging of your boat.  There have been many times over the years that I wished I had done the same thing instead of tearing up my hands and arms doing some of those kind of things.  Although I do enjoy working on the boat some things are better left to the professionals.

[Donald Garner]

Greetings to everyone,

Rain and more rain for Central Texas during these next 2 days     Not complaining one bit as we need the rain badly     Our forecasted temps for today are 52-62dgrs with 95%humidity with a NE wind @ 11mphs.  We're getting some warmer temps arriving later on this week.  We're looking at high 60's for the week a head.

The wife fixed a big breakfast this morning; Breakfast casserole with sausage, eggs, cheese baked in the oven.  We had biscuits and tater tots, butter and jelly    It was delicious to say the least.

We're heading to Walmart later on for some shopping and making a stop and checking the mail.  There is nothing else planned for the rest of the day afterwards 

Bud; Tks for stopping in and sharing the day.  Hope your day at the lanes was a good one for ya.  So how's the new ball and shoes working out for ya?  You getting that (4 step) technique down yet?  All this rain and warm temps has made the weeds grow a little faster.  The wife is wanting to get out and do some De-Weeding here this week.  After she gets done with the De-Weeding I'll get the John Deere mower fired up and mow the yard.

How's the wife feeling these days?  Has that new bed helped her with her issues?  I hope she gets to feeling better.

To everyone have a really pleasant and enjoyable weekend ahead.  Be safe in your travels if your out and about.  More importantly be aware of your surrounding at all times.   

[caddyjoe77]

everything rigged up ready -- except the mount is not here :D 

all units work.  just need to button up cables etc and install the mount.  other than that I am good to go. 

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to all 

Woke up to the sound of Heavy Rolling Thunder, Lighting and Rain      We had a line of Heavy Thunderstorms move across Central Texas late last night into early this morning     Our forecasted temps for today are 39-58dgrs with 65%humidity with a NE wind @ 15mphs   The week ahead is looking bright and sunny with the highs being in the 60's   

Attended church on line this morning.  Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries and slice bananas with some chopped walnuts and honey pour over them 

There is nothing planned for today at all just going to relax and take it easy.  Like most of everyone else I'll more than like check out the Super Bowl Game later on.

Joe; glad to hear that everything is wired up and a function check preformed.  So when is the mount going to arrive?  Make sure you take some pictures of the set up once it's complete. 

I was watching some bass fishing on You Tube yesterday.  One of the shows I watched was Edwin Evers doing a walk around showing us his 2024 Nitro.  Really impressive rig he's got with (5) pieces of Electronics Screens mounted on his boat. 

Three of the screens were on the front deck and two mounted at the drivers console.  He mentioned all the screens were  all sync'd together.  Amazing how far the fishing electronics has come along since that little Green Lowrance Box isn't it

Hope everyone has a great day today.  Y'all be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.   

[caddyjoe77]

most certainly will.  Basically, I will have 3 screens up front as well.  A livescope because its the best forward facing, a lowrance 10 pro and a bird 10 for mega 360.  If you look at Mark Roses boat, its exactly what it will look like. 

at console i will have lowrance 12 pro and bird 12.  idea here is to switch waypoint management to lowrance as it is way better than bird.  I will be running Lakemaster VX maps and mega freq for side on bird because you dont get great images far out which is where the lowrance side at 800 mhz is.  Also Lowrance Down is far better.   

and yes, it is insane how far they have come since the flashers
Mount should be here early this week.  have to travel unfortunately so i wont get it finished until the weekend.  One of the other problems I ran into was the humminbird network switch wasnt working right (originally the boat had 4 birds and a garmin.  all electronics were wired to dedicated lithium except the network switch.  Traced all the wiring and found that issue. As soon as i turned the master power switch on -- birds started talking then i hooked up the new garmin, and lowrance I had already finished. 

[Donald Garner]

Joe,

Safe traveling this week ahead.  I / We still want to see your setup once you get everything completed. 

Tight line for ya during your upcoming tournament fishing season.

[Donald Garner]

Good afternoon to all 

We got a beautiful day across Central Texas today.  Bright blue bird skies with cool temps     Our forecasted temps for today are 33-59dgrs with 39%humidity with a NE wind @ 17mphs.  Bright sunny skies and warm days are in the forecast for the rest of the week.

Not much happening here today.  I had a delicious breakfast casserole with pancakes with black coffee for breakfast this morning       The wife and I made a trip to Walmart to pickup some ice packs and heating pads for Dwayne.  I had to get a new shower head for one of the spare bathrooms also.  Stopped at the post office to check on the mail and it was back home.  It took me a whole 5 minutes to change out the shower head in the spare bathroom.

If the wind continues to gust the way its doing now I'll check the yard in the morning.  With all this rain we've had recently the yard needs mowing     I'm looking forward to getting the weed eater trimmer out and riding the old John Deere around the yard  

The wife got a text message from H&R Block letting us know the IRS has accepted the tax returns that they filed.  So we should be getting our refund back here in a couple weeks.

The rest of the day here will be spent on line tinkering around on the computer and watching some tv later on.  I hope everyone has a really pleasant day and evening ahead.

Y'all be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about. 

[Bud Kennedy]

All day rain today.  Temps in the mid 60s with a cold front on the way overnight.  Forecasters calling for winds gusting to 50 mph overnight.  It has been warm here, Last Saturday the temp hit 77 and was a good day for some outside work. 

since this was a rainy day, is decided to do the taxes.  All finished up and both fed and state have accepted the filing upload.  Getting a small refund from both and that is a nice thing to look forward to.

Tuesday is the Wife's therapy day and Wednesday the dog has an appointment for her annual wellness check up.  I think she may have a tooth problem so I am anxious to have her looked at.

Donald, the bowling still isn't doing very good but I am hanging in there.

[Donald Garner]

Good morning to everyone,

A little on the chilly side this morning.  There was frost on the windshields of the vehicles when we got up this morning     We have Blue Bird Skies with forecasted temps of 40-66dgrs with 76%humidity with a E wind @ 3mphs.

I have a couple errands to take care of this morning other than that there is nothing planned.  The ground is still too wet to mow so we'll give it another day to dry out.

Bud; Tks for stopping by I hope you have a pleasant day and your bowling skills improve as you continue to enjoy your new hobby.

To everyone have a pleasant day.  Be safe in your travels if you have to be out and about.