Phil Landmeier @shuttersparks@social.cleverlibre.org

@CharlieKruse Yes, and there are lots of middle-class and poor people who believe this. Perfect, if you're rich.

@markyadavies Indeed. People focus on the minimum wage and don't consider the prices that pair with that wage. I remember 10 cents a pound as the typical price for potatoes.

I have a 1967 lunch menu for the restaurant where I work. Back then you could have strolled in for lunch, had a sandwich on Italian bread, with tomato, onion, etc., and walked out leaving two quarters on the table. That 50 cents covered the sandwich and a 20 percent tip. 🤯

@ai6yr @AE4WX Sounds good! No onions or olive oil? Although it sounds you're canning the tomato and turning it into sauce later.

Yeah, the kitchen has no cooling except outdoor air intake. It gets hot. If you work in front of the broiler making steaks, garlic bread, parms, you literally get fried by the IR radiation, on top of being hot. Everyone has to drink liquids by the pitcherful, icewater or iced tea.

In winter it's the opposite problem. It gets so cold in parts of the kitchen you can see your breath and you stand in front of the broiler to warm yourself. Hahaha. In winter I dress in a hoodie, muffler, and watch cap at all times in the kitchen.

@ai6yr @AE4WX Ah well, cooking up some good food makes everything okay. Marinara from scratch?

@AE4WX Must be human factors, then. There is a holiday and around here fairs and festivals going on. Business at the restaurant this weekend was half of normal.

@rscottjones Good looker is a matter of opinion. I think it looks great. Very cool.

@AE4WX @kc2ihx "Human factors" are part of the equation. Hahaha. And puzzling conditions are part of what makes propagation study so interesting. It's less interesting when you just want to make some contacts. ;-)

My favorite beacon(s) these days is FT8, but you already checked that. Quite a few hams, unfortunately and illegally, have fully automated stations that make FT8 contacts unattended, so there are always FT8 signals being transmitted on all bands. Whether you can hear them or not gives the best quick-check of conditions, in my opinion. But, as you pointed out, you already did that.

It's always a fascinating head scratcher when this happens. I've been working long-shifts until this morning so haven't been paying much attention to solar / ionospheric activity. When I run into unexplained crummy conditions I usually find that a high speed stream (HSS) from the sun is the culprit.

@AE4WX Hmm, just looked at detailed solar conditions and it doesn't look bad right now. The eastern half of the US has minor issues below 10 megahertz but above that should be okay. The k index is three which isn't good but shouldn't be disrupting too badly. Not sure why you're having trouble.