Howard Productions

Down But Not Out

Strokes hit me in January and February

In January I am hit with a stroke resulting in a three day hospital stay, January 3 to January 6..

In February I am hit again, this time resulting in an nineteen day stay in the stroke unit of Banner Baywood and then two days in Banner Heart (from February 4 to February 21). This time I came down, after twp days. with Coronavirus and double pneumonia followed by internal bleeding, and a crushed carotid artery requiring surgery.

The February stroke hit me like this. I was sitting on the recliner to watch a movie. Some time later I awoke to find that I could not move, not even my eyes I think. After some time, the tips of my fingers gradually came alive and after quite some time I was able to get up and walk to my office desk. There I discovered I could only type gobbledegook. Looking to my side I saw my cell phone sitting there and so I tried “Hey Siri, call Judy Smith.” Judy was away attending to someone else. It didn’t understand me! But after a number of tries, it did. She called 911 and headed my way. Meanwhile, I went outside and sat on the golf cart awaiting the medics. They arrived but I still wasn’t able to make any sense to them. Then she arrived and I found myself in good hands.

My wife Judy got the coronavirus at the same time and could not visit me so a friend filled in. What luck!

So here it is, March 23rd, and I am in one month into Physical Therapy and Nursing care follow-ups. A STAT follow-up Hematologist appointment will not happen until March 29th!. It was called for because of anemia, etc. and because of it I have been suffering from RLS. This according to my neurologist who surmises that similar strokes do not occur and that I may be suffering from brain seizures which can only be determined when she sees my February MRI’S.

Meanwhile, she showed us two one millimeter spots on the January MRI which are evidence of strokes hitting in the language area of the brain and surmised that a much larger clot had hit initially.

Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

SuperFest – December 2, 2023

I am a member of the Superstition Amateur Radio Club, SPARC,  in Mesa, Arizona. Each year the club puts on a hamfest where ham radio operators meet and greet, buy used gear from each other buy new gear from vendors and buy tickets for some pretty terrific grand prizes. Here I share some of my pictures taken the evening before and the day of the event

Friday evening at 6 P.M. the club begins setting up for the Fest. The lady in the fifth photo is Sharon who was the club’s kingpin, organizing the event over the previous year with no small degree of skill and talent.

And, here are a few pictures from the day of the Fest. The first photo is of our President, Steve Estes.

Lots of Storm Damage -September 12, 2023

Nearby Falcon Field lost lots of aircraft, suffered damage to three hangars and, the roof to the museum.

We had a lot of debris in the yard from a home some distance away and, as it turned out, our carport and front porch covers were almost pulled off, many of the screws holding them on were missing. Over 50 homes in the village of about 230 homes were damaged. Flag poles were bent over and our big sign on the corner of Higley and McKellips Rd. was destroyed and the dog park it was in was under water. The nearby fellow community had even more damage.

At break of day I rode my scooter around the village taking the following pictures.

Pepper Mourns The Loss Of Her Three Month Old Filly

On February 9th we decided to visit a nearby recreational area where wild horses can be seen. We didn’t know it, but Judy found out with a phone call that a mare, Pepper, had just lost her three old filly, Cayenne the day before, and the horses were mourning the loss. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Pepper mourning the loss of her 3 year old filly.

One of the first wild horses we spotted.

Spring growth is just starting to appear.

The Salt Eiver.The name Salt River **comes from the fact that the river flows over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.** The river is about 300 miles long.

The mountains change colors as that lucky ole sun rolls around heaven.

Judy’s 60th Birthday Party 6/19/2019

Photos by Bill Howard

Judy’s Pictures

These are digitzed and edited photos from a box of them that she found. 10/15/20.

Ham Radio

November 6, 2020

“Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics, and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones. It’s fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of need.” – Amateur Radio Relay League, ARRL

My call sign is K7UJY which I first acquired in 1962 (58 years ago) in Fallon, NV. while in High School.

Perry Cummins, K9NZ, is my current Elmer (helper). He has helped me get operating in our village which is strictly anti-ham, meaning no antennas. Without an antenna well up in the air making contacts is difficult if not impossible.

My “rig”. radio is a 100 watt shortwave transceiver, an Icom IC-7000, with an automatic antenna tuner and a low pass filter. The feedline goes through the wall to a 50-foot coax feedline, looks like a thin black hose. This is connected to a magnetic mount on the roof of the car on which is mounted a mobile antenna chosen for the particular band open at that time of the day. I recently contacted “Ravi” on an island South of Chile in South America October 11th 2020 but most of my contacts have been in North America. My farthest contact was Hobart, Tasmania, back in the early 70’s when I lived where antennas were permitted. That was about 8,160 miles!

In the 70’s I ran phone patches for South American missionaries, participated in the Military Auxilliary Radio System, and managed a net for slow speed CW operators, now called West Coast Net for which I am the webmaster.