Jacob F. Roecker's Blog, page 4
October 20, 2013
I’ll Tell You A Tale of a Burglar Bold
I found this audio gem on an old reel to reel tape at my grandmother’s house this weekend. I found an MP3 version on Amazon for anyone who wants a different version.
Here’s the lyrics I pulled online:
I’ll sing you a song of a burglar bold
Who went to rob a house.
He opened the window and went right in, as quiet as a mouse
Then under the bed the burglar crept
And lay there close to the wall.
He didn’t know it was an old maid’s room
Or he wouldn’t have had the gall.
At nine o’clock the old maid came in
“I am so tired” said she.
She took out her teeth and big glass eye
And the hair from the top of her head.
While the burglar had seventeen kinds of fits
As he peered from under the bed.
From under the bed the burglar crept
And looked a total wreck.
The old maid was onto him and
Grabbed him by the neck.
She didn’t scream or holler at all
But stood there meek as a lamb and said,
“My prayers have been answered now
And at last I’ve found a man”.
Then the old maid a revolver took
And unto the burglar said,
“Young man it you don’t marry me
I’ll blow off the top of your head”.
The burglar looked for a place to run
But found not where to scoot.
He looked at her teeth and big glass eye
And said, “For God’s sake shoot”.
The Way We Treat Others
How we treat others says a lot about our character and one of my favorite examples comes from a 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie called Harvey. It’s a rather peculiar story about a man who has large white rabbit for a friend and whose family insists he be committed to the local asylym. This scene demonstrates some of the tension among the characters and their differing interests, but also demonstrates how Stewart’s character (Edward P. Dowd) is able to diffuse the tense situations with unashamedly demonstrating love and kindness.
I love how he tells the woman that she makes the flower look beautiful! How often do we compliment our wives on what they wear as though the clothes made them? Isn’t it really the other way around?
http://jake.roeckerfam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Harvey-Flower.mp4
October 13, 2013
Connecting With The ISS
I believe that science provides a methodology to answering questions. One of these days I’ll get around to writing about the importance of learning to ask good questions. Until then, let me share with you a bit of an adventure I had with one of my questions.
Can I Talk To The International Space Station?
As a new ham radio operator (KK4TXY) I wanted to find some reasonable goal to put on my list as I explore the possibilities of this new hobby. For the most part ham radio has some of the most helpful people you’ll ever meet in the community, but because that community isn’t as large as lets say, people who have an iPhone, there’s not a whole of of tutorials on how to specifically use my radio and getting it to do what I want it to do. At some point in my searching I came across posts about the astronauts aboard the space station using their ham radios and I’m thinking to myself. Cool! I want to do that.
As it turns out it’s not as easy as one might think. There’s a lot involved and the biggest obstacle isn’t the hundreds of miles between them and you (after all that’s just a radio wave with a straight line of sight). The biggest obstacle is the astronauts’ time. It’s limited, they’re on a schedule, and unless they’re going to use their free time to talk to random contacts, they’re probably busy doing something else. That being said, I discovered there are ways of listening to their signals and tracking them across the sky.
To find out when the ISS was going to pass overhead I used the ISS Spotter App for my iPhone. Although it’s one of many I prefer this app because of its price and the fact that it has an alarm feature that easily tells you when the ISS will be overhead.
With app in hand I discovered that there were several passovers in my area over a few days. I spent three of those days trying to get a hold of the space station.
Day 1: W-NW Passover Height 50° time 4 minutes.
For this pass I tried a direct conversation with the ISS using a 50W transmitter (75W is recommended) and an omnidirectional antenna tuned to 145.800 Mhz receive and 144.490 Mhz transmit. I was indoors and couldn’t see it. I got nothing on the radio. I asked why.
As it turns out no one on Expedition 37 has a ham license! When they have been talking voice it’s been coordinated school events only. Because they can only do a limited number of those they set up a beacon of sorts that transmits their Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) data at 145.825 Mhz, but do you think I was quick enough to figure that out in the 4 minutes they flew over? Nope.
Day 2: SW-NE Passover Height 84° time 6 minutes.
It doesn’t get much better than this! A long overhead time at a good angle. This was going to be awesome. I opted to use my handheld and just listen for the signal as it passed overhead and watch. Wouldn’t you know it, any time there’s something good to see in the sky it happens to arrive on the same day as some much needed rain. Still, I went outside and with a small rubber duck antenna on my iCom ID-51. I received a total of 18 signals as it passed overhead the strongest at about 70%. Because I still don’t know how to read the APRS data it transmitted, I can’t do much more than just record the transmission at the moment.
Day 3: SW-NE Passover Height 43° time 7 minutes.
For this pass we were blessed with a clear day, but the pass was going to occur as the sun was setting. I was concerned that unless the panels were turned a certain way we wouldn’t be able to see it fly over. We picked up the radio signals first, but couldn’t find it in the sky. Then something must have changed in the angle and as it reached its peak the panels started reflecting the light from the setting sun. I was using my car antenna an OPEK VU-1510 and although the passover had less height, the increased sensitivity of the antenna allowed me to capture a total of 22 signals. I was out at a tactical shooting course and was able to show the other attendees the ISS. We watched as it streaked across the sky and disappeared behind the mountains to the east.
Closing Remarks:
This was a fun way to give my curiosity someplace to wander. It was nice to make steady improvements with each attempt. There’s still a long way go with regards to making contact with an actual person, but I’m making the steps necessary to be successful for when that opportunity presents iteself. I’d like to take time for a shout out here to America’s Favorite Scientist for her encouraging words on twitter! #HappyScience!
@jacobroecker Well, it’s 70% more strength then when you couldn’t try. Science is a lot about the trying and incremental improvements
— Mars_Base / Heather (@JB_Mars_Base) October 12, 2013
October 12, 2013
Ham Technician Test Flash Cards
I’ve created Printable Technician flash cards for Avery self adhering shipping labels. If anyone needs them you can download them from this link in a MS Word format or PDF. Enjoy!
I know there are quite a few sites out there with digital flash cards and apps etc. I needed a way of printing off flash cards to study with my kids. It took enough time that I wanted to save anyone else who may do this in the future, the trouble of reformatting the questions for the cards.
October 5, 2013
The Power of a Smile
On my last trip overseas my job involved working with the locals who were (by name) not unknown to have one or two infiltrators enter their ranks and kill Americans. To protect myself I carried a sidearm, went with a buddy who was also armed, and smiled at everyone to the point where my face would get sore.
Yesterday traveling across country we made a stop at a gas station that reinforced their doors and windows with metal bars. Between my car and those bars was a black SUV with several young men listening to some “thumpy” music with the window down. I felt uncomfortable, so I instantly smiled at them.
I went in to grab a couple of bottles of water. The tank got filled up and I put the nozzle back, but for some reason forgot the gas cap. Luckily I didn’t pull straight out of the gas station. I pulled a few feet ahead to free up the pump and fix something in the car. The young men in the black SUV pulled right up next to me, music off, and said “sir, your gas cap is dangling.”
I’m glad I smiled, and I’m glad those young men were so nice. I’m sure someone smarter then me could write about the greater social consequences of all this, but I think the real take away is that smiling helps us be nice to one another.
October 2, 2013
Successful Families
When it comes to calling something like our family a success we’re not there yet, but we are trying. I’m grateful for the words of latter day prophets to help us in our lives. As the kids have all started enjoying video games (which I’m not against) our family has needed some additional reinforcement about what are priorities are in life. So we’ve been repeating this sentence from The Family: A Proclamation to the World and using it as a priority list during the day.
It seems like such a simple thing to repeat, “Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” The neat thing is that these words are simple enough that even my newly turned 4-year-old understands enough of it and to change her behavior to match our family’s goals.
I’ve created a semi-cool looking version for people to download and hang up on around the house. Feel free to download and share.
September 27, 2013
0ad Soundtrack Download
0ad is an absolutely amazing computer game. To top it off, it’s free & GPL.
My family has fallen in love with it and the soundtrack. Most people can access the soundtrack by digging through the files after they download the software, but for those of you who are lazy you can just download the soundtrack below:
I don’t think I’m violating anything by posting it this way. The music is Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 3.0 license so I think I’m OK, but if not please get a hold of me and let me know.
August 24, 2012
How Hans Got His Name
From The Battle of Mabonigon
Professor Buxley
Although the title of this work may read The Battle of Mabonigon Professor Isaiah Buxley was correct in warning his readers (and I will do the same) that the title is terribly misleading. It brings to mind some chronological analysis of political events, discussion of armaments, and terrain analysis. I’m afraid that this work is nearly useless to historians and military strategists who would like to learn and write about the battle. Very little is mentioned of the political proceedings of the conflict and there is nothing terribly illustrative to the weaponry mentioned in the book. Even the landscape is only mentioned casually without true references to facilitate an analysis.
This is the story of a young man named Hans and what he did at the battle. In Professor Buxley’s notes he speculated that the original name of this was Hans at the Battle of Mabonigon, but that somehow the title got shortened. Maybe someone spilled something on it. Well, whatever the reasons the story has a name, a beginning, and an end. Once again it takes place long enough ago we can’t ask anyone who was around which parts are true and which parts have colorful facts. We do know that it started on a Thursday. When Alan used to tell it to his kids he always made sure to be exact about what day of the week it started on. So it was Thursday.
One might think it odd for a boy to be named Hans, but it wasn’t so odd when this story takes place. What was a bit odd is why Hans was named Hans. You see he was an only child and before he was born his parents had hoped for years to have a child come and bless their home. When they did get pregnant the two would stay up late discussing possible names. Usually it was Hans’ mother who would bring the subject up. Asad, Hans’ father, would usually just settle down in front of the fireplace. The evening’s meal would be settling comfortably in his stomach and he’d begin to close his eyes. Maiwand, Hans’ mom, would watch for her husband’s charateristic “long blink” and purposefully interrupt to inspire a conversation. It wasn’t to be terribly rude, or mean, but it was her way of being playful—a sort of married people flirting if you will.
On a Thursday night Maiwand started in a gentle voice, “Dear, what do you think of Elihu if it’s a boy?”
More asleep than awake Asad would reply with a rehearsed “sure dear” and go back to “resting his eyes.”
She’d then follow it up with a much louder, “Well, it’s settled then. I don’t know why we didn’t just agree to it before now. I’m glad you agree dear. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
The inflection in her voice got him to perk up and realize he hadn’t been answering a normal question.
“What-what? What’s that dear? What did you just trick me into agreeing to? I didn’t agree to catching a moonbeam in a jar again did I because it’s already on my list of things to do and I promise I’ll get to it after I finish all the other things you’ve tricked me into doing.”
He smiled back at her. He knew it was a game and between the two of them he didn’t mind playing the pawn.
“We were discussing what to name our first child dear, and you just agreed to Elihu if it’s a boy.”
The flirtatious conversation continued until she got him awake enough to see the spark behind his eyes. Although he recommended several other names she remained firm that he had agreed to Elihu until she was done talking about it, at which point she said, “I guess I can think about it some more. I’ll probably ask you about another name tomorrow.”
Night after night the two would banter back and forth like this. Oh and some of the names that Maiwand came up with were hilarious. She went a whole week with made up names that were really real names spelled backwards. For example one night she got Asad to agree to Retep which is Peter spelled backwards. Another night she got him to agree that if it was a girl they’d have to name it Yeti which wasn’t backwards for anything. It’s just a short name for the abominable snowman and not exactly the sort of name you’d want a daughter to walk around with.
Asad thought the Yeti suggestion was so terrible that he went out and got a boy puppy and named it Yeti. “There,” he said, “now it’s a boys name for sure, and you’re not going to name any of my kids after a dog.”
When Hans was born Yeti was nearly potty trained and for a few weeks there was an overlap of messes to clean up in the house. Oh, and how he got the name Hans you ask? Well, it was quite simple. When Asad handed the baby boy to Maiwand she was happy and terribly exhausted. Having a baby is the hardest work anyone can ever do. She looked at the baby’s face and said “He’s Hans.” What she thought she was saying was “He’s Handsome” but being as tired as she was it didn’t come out right.
She asked a few minutes later what Asad thought he should name him. “Honey, you just told me his name was Hans. Don’t tell me you’re going to go back on your word after all the times you wouldn’t let me go back on mine?”
She smiled. Yes between the two of them she didn’t mind playing the pawn.
July 3, 2012
The Miracles of American Independence
When one looks back on the Revolution it was an amazing feat for our colonies to defeat the greatest superpower of the 18th Century. Time and time again, after the Americans had done all they could do, it seemed like Providence stepped in. The first miracle was the assembly of political talent. In the 17th Century the elite in America was in the Clergy. In the 19th Century the elite was in business and industry. But, for a brief moment in time the intellectual elite of America was in politics – and they were brilliant.
Now to the War for Independence —-
Escape from Brooklyn Heights: The seed for this miracle were planted in 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill. British General Howe saw the terrible carnage that American Riflemen could rain on British infantry formations. A year later as General Howe had the remnants of the Continental Army cornered on Brooklyn Heights he elected to lay siege rather than suffer the losses of a direct assault. The direct assault would have cost Howe 2000+ soldiers but would have ended the war. As darkness came, Washington decided to evacuate his army across the East River under the control of the British Navy. Much of the Army got across that night, but, as daylight approached Washington and a number of units still remained in the Heights. In the nick of time a strange fog settled over the Heights and the River prevented the British Navy from seeing the evacuation — Washington and all of his men got away.
Trenton 1: After Brooklyn Heights the Continental Army was forced off Manhattan Island and started a humiliating retreat down through New Jersey. At this point, the Army was down from 20,000 men in NY to about 2000 men fit for combat operations. Thomas Paine would write the “Crisis” upon the head of a drum – “There are the times that try men’s souls….” The Army was short on food, ammunition, blankets, medical supplies and in short everything. By all reasonable measurements they were about finished with winter coming on. Washington’s generalship was in serious question. Politically, New Jersey was flipping back to the Crown. The Army got across to the West side of the Delaware River and took every boat they could find within a 100 miles are so – they were safe for the moment. Now they just had to wait for the river to freeze and the British would cross and finish them off and march to Philly. However, the British went into Winter Quarters following European military practice. A Hessian garrison was stationed across the river in Trenton. The Hessians had everything the ragged Continentals needed – food, ammunition, blankets and all manner of supplies. Washington decided on a Bold Stroke – to take the Hessian garrison. He would risk it all. The plan was for two crossings – one south of Tenton and one north. The operation kicked off after dark on Christmas night during a Noreaster (snow, sleet, rain and winds). The southern crossing had to be abandon due to ice on the Delaware. Washington’s northern crossing made it but was 3-4 hours behind schedule and it was now light by the time they got across and were organized. The Hessian Commander had been warned that the Continentals might try something. Their sentries were out. However, the storm was so bad – they must have believed a major river crossing was impossible that night. In a brief action, Washington’s forces took the Hessian garrison, killed their commander, took most of them prisoner, and captured the badly needed supplies. They got themselves, their prisoners, and the supplies back across the Delaware that day – safe from a British counterattack. The Continentals suffered no combat deaths – although some histories claim several deaths from exposure on the march into Trenton. Yes, the path of the Continental Army could be followed by the blood left on the snow from their frozen feet of the Continental Army that morning. The news of Trenton spread within days though out the colonies and brought new energy to the cause. The British considered the affair unfortunate, but, not militarily significant. However, from a political standpoint it was the equivalent of the Doolittle Raid on Japan at the start of WWII. It solidified Washinton’s position as commanding general and flipped New Jersey back to the Revolutionary movement. The miracles here are too many to count.
Trenton 2: With the Army rearmed and resupplied, Washington decided to cross the Delaware again and make more trouble for the British. He makes a great appeal the his Army to stay with him for 30 more days as most of his Army’s enlistments all were scheduled to run out on 31 December 1776. Most decide to stay. He crossed the River and engages Cornwallis in a sharp action at Assunpink Creek. The engagement is a draw, and as night falls Cornwallis elects to finish Washington off the next morning. Washington knows he must retreat and here weather steps in again to save the Army. During the night a cold front sweeps though the area freezing the muddy roads and making possible a rapid military movement. The Continentals get their Army away again undetected by Cornwallis and then successfully engage a smaller British force near Princeton the next day. The Continentals then move to their own winter camp.
The net result of the Trenton actions was the solidification of Washington’s generalship, the evacuation of most of New Jersey by the British for the winter and the animation of the New Jersey militia. The initiative for the War had moved to the Americans – they were safe that winter.
Due to time, I am going to skip and Saratoga (Oct 1777) and Valley Forge (1777-1778) for another time. They were great miracle to. In the South Nathaniel Greene resurrected the American Army and lead a brilliant campaign against Cornwallis. Three critical but lesser known actions in the Southern Colonies in 1780 and 1781 (Kings Mountain, Cowpens and Gilford Court House) turned the tide. Those southern actions forced Cornwallis to move to the Virginia coast for resupply and refitting and set up the final battle of the War – Yorktown.
Yorktown: Yorktown was one of the most remarkable feats in our military history. Yorktown was the most daring and complex military operation of the Revolutionary War. It was a combined operation between forces of two nations and a separate fleet. It required a month of hard marching to move the American and French Armies from NY and New England to Virginia to meet up with a French Fleet schedule to arrive in September. Most battle plans fall apart as they are executed, requiring commanders to improvise constantly. However, the Yorktown operation seemed to work better as the plan unfolded – guided by an unseen hand. Everyone arrived on time. Washington’s deception plan for the British forces in NY worked perfectly fixing the British Army in New York until it was too late. The French Fleet arrived on time and spent six weeks in the Chesapeake Bay area during the height of Hurricane season. There were no storms!! The British fleet sent to break the siege were poorly lead and uncharacteristically withdrew after the initial engagement. The Siege by the American and French forces worked like perfectly. Four years to the day after the British surrender at Saratoga, a white flag rose over the British works at Yorktown and a drummer boy beat parle – they surrendered.
A second British fleet with better leadership and the power to break the siege finally arrived in Yorktown, one week after the surrender. They were too late – It was over. While Washington had to keep the Army intact for to more years, American Independence had been decided.
Have a great Independence Day. Remember the remarkable origins of our Nation. And, remember that after we’ve done all we can, God often steps in to help out even though we often cannot even recognize that help. Thank God for our freedoms and all we have to be thankful for.
-Fred Roecker
May 8, 2012
Noah’s Fleas
The story of Noah’s ark is one of the first Bible stories parents often share with their kids. At young ages kids will often be taught to mimic the animal sounds. When mom or dad points to the tiger a child will often make a roar. For the cows kids will moo, ducks quack, chickens cluck, dogs bark, and cats meow.
The story wouldn’t be complete without explaining that the reason for the flood was the people’s wickedness and how Noah pleaded with them to repent and they would not listen. But the way I tell it that’s only part of the story.
Wicked people generally aren’t nice to one another, and they’re certainly not nice to animals. Seeing this Noah started the very first animal shelter in his area and hoped to fund it with donations from those within the community.
Unfortunately wicked people don’t donate to charity so Noah after some marketing research decided to turn his animal shelter into a zoo, charge a modest fee so he’d be able to make ends meet with regards to food costs and other expenses.
The plan worked pretty well. His kids helped with zoo construction and got pretty good at making fences and shelters for the animals. The local people did patron the zoo and Noah encouraged them to fill out his customer surveys at the end of their visit.
One of the first comments he got was regarding the fleas. You see, the cats, dogs, cows, giraffes, beavers, platypuses, and wolves all had fleas and would spend a considerable amount of time scratching themselves. The customer surveys were NOT good and soon business was really looking bad. Repeat business was low because no one wanted to go to the zoo and watch the animals do nothing more than scratch themselves.
It was about this time when things were looking pretty down that Noah was told to quit his full time job of managing and marketing the zoo and to start building an ark. It took a lot of faith. After all, there was no marketing research on the need for an ark within the community.
Noah built it anyway. Once again the kids helped. By this time the whole family was pretty good at building things with wood and the land that was going to be phase three of zoo development (plans included a rough roller coaster) was large enough to accommodate ark construction.
Noah applied his marketing skills to convince the people to come aboard. At first they accused him of just wanting their money. So to convince them he was only concerned about their safety he cut his prices down to zero. This freed up the person taking admissions to help with ark construction, which seemed always slightly behind schedule. The additional hands would help it get back on track.
People came to visit Noah’s zoo but mostly to make fun of the ark construction project. Not only did it not look like the advertised roller coaster, but the mayor threatened to sue because Noah had not gotten the appropriate construction permits from the city council.
Noah was pretty upset about the whole thing. Not only did he really want to save his neighbors, but also he knew that taking care of all those animals would be easier if there were more people on the ark. Despite knowing that he and his family would be safe from the flood he had a really hard time being happy with his situation.
Then he found something new he could be happy about. He realized the flood gave him an opportunity to get rid of the flea problem that had plagued his zoo. He decided to announce it at his weekly ark update meeting with the animals. If everyone was attentive the meeting would generally last about 15 minutes, but if they weren’t listening it would take longer. There was generally never a problem with the hippos or alligators as long as they were in separate ponds. The giraffes with their long necks usually stayed in the back and were pretty quiet as long as no one was touching them. Noah learned the hard way to have the meeting in the morning so that the owls would be too tired to ask him “Who?” while he was briefing.
Mr. Hyena had been laughing all week at a joke he heard and the night before the meeting finally settled down enough to tell his friend, Mr. Wolf. Mr. Wolf desperately wanted to share with his wife but he didn’t stop laughing about it until the morning. On the way to the meeting Mr. Wolf was telling the joke but before he could finish they arrived and Noah had started talking.
Now anyone who’s ever had a good story to tell knows that it’s hard to stop before you’re finished. It’s like getting to the last bite of dessert and someone telling you not to eat it. Still, Mr. Wolf did his best to listen and be polite, but as the meeting wore on the punch line kept getting more and more funny in his mind. It was like having an itch and not scratching. Everyone knows if you catch an itch early it goes away pretty quick, but if you let it linger it starts to spread all over.
Noah unveiled his plan to get construction ahead of schedule by not building the scratching posts in each of the stalls. Just at the moment when Noah was explaining why they wouldn’t need the posts Mr. Wolf couldn’t hold it in any longer and told his wife the punch line. The joke was so funny they laughed all the way through Noah’s instructions to take a bath to kill the fleas before boarding the ark.
All of the animals except the wolves followed instructions and took a bath. When the flood came Noah cried knowing all of the people had known were drowned. Sure he was grateful to be alive, but it was hard to focus on that. He tried hard to find a happy thought, and the only one he could think of was that he’d finally be rid of fleas.
Life has a way of making everything seem to go wrong all at once. It was during the 40 days and 40 nights of rain when Noah discovered the wolves didn’t bathe. The fleas had already begun to spread again to the other animals. Every animal voiced their disapproval. The lions roared, the cows mooed, the cats hissed, the dogs barked, and the horses neighed. The entire time they didn’t have a scratching posts to ease their pain.
When the rain stopped everyone was invited upstairs to watch Noah send out the dove. After it flew away Noah reminded them about the customer surveys they would be filling out at the end of the cruise—just in case he ever had to do this again. The animals didn’t wait to fill out a survey before they started offering suggestions to Noah about how to punish the Wolves. He tried to listen patiently but it was mostly just noise. After spending all of those days itching with no relief tempers were pretty high. The lions were seriously about to prove they were the king of the jungle and threatening to eat everyone when the dove came back with the olive branch.
In the excitement of the dove returning everyone forgot about their itching and Noah herded them downstairs promising to brief them of his solution at the next meeting. That’s why today the olive branch is a symbol of peace. It stopped the animals from fighting.
When the water receded the animals again gathered so Noah could collect their customer surveys. He figured that because he hadn’t gotten rid of the fleas they’d all be back in the ark after a few days trying this whole thing again. It was at this point the rainbow appeared and God told Noah the earth would never have a flood like that again. Because of all the complaining Noah had gotten distracted thinking the purpose of the flood was to get rid of fleas, not wickedness. People still get distracted today having trouble remembering the difference between God’s goals and their own.
There was still the matter of the customer surveys. Noah really didn’t want to read everyone’s ideas about what to do. Can you imagine having to read one survey for each type of animal?
Noah quickly came up with a plan to punish the wolves. From that day forward the stories Noah told his kids where the wolves would be the bad guys. Those stories are the same ones we tell our kids today. Who do you think wrote Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs? And it all happened because some wolves didn’t take a bath.
And so the moral of the story is: Take a bath when you’re told or people will be talking about you.
