I Didn’t Work On The Flag Today (Well, almost)
It’s not terribly hot. (I’m in a nice air conditioned house.) And my feet don’t hurt. (I wore my new boots, but they’re broken in enough for casual wear.) And I (almost) didn’t go up the canyon where the worlds largest free flying Ameircan flag is blowing in a steady breeze in and out of Grove Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Almost. Today was a work day for me. With the holiday in the middle of the week, it felt odd to be focused on email, outages and other tasks that I actually get paid for.
And then a guy came to install security cameras. We’ve been thinking about them for a long time and he had to postpone last time it was scheduled. And I was designated to help him.
And then, my son got sick. He had a high temperature and my lovely wife took him to the hospital.
And then, I had to run out to take a daughter to the bank before it closed.
And there was work.
And then I had to take my neighbor, who is always helping me, and drop him off at the temp because his car needs new tie rods.
And then, the radio broke and I had to fix it because my buddy who normally fixes it was at the temple.
So, I ended up back up at the trailhead.
My son did his eagle project around providing a continuous radio broadcast while the flag is displayed. It’s on 99.9 FM if you are in the PG area.
He volunteered for this project because he knew that my neighbor and I do a “Christmas lights” program every year. Our houses are across the street from each other and the lights on our houses are coordinated to music. He did it alone the first year and when he asked me to join in my only condition was that we add Dueling Banjos as one of the songs.
“But, that’s not a Christmas song.”
“Do you want my help or not?”
“Okay, I guess it’s now a Christmas song.”
It’s one of the favorites too.
So, we took that equipment, switched out the christmas songs for patriotic songs and stuffed it all into a scout trailer. We parked it next to a friend’s house. He happens to live literally next to the trailhead where the flag is flying.
All well and good. We borrowed power from my friend. My neighbor did the programming and ta da! We have a contributions that requires zero upkeep.
Not quite.
It got to 103 here in Utah today. Yes, it’s hot all over, I’m not saying ours is worse than yours. In fact, it’s probably better since we have about 35% humidity to go along with our triple digit summer.
Anyway, a metal trailer in 103 degree heat is going to become an oven. And electronics don’t bake well. For two days in a row it’s stopped broadcasting about 4:00pm. The hottest part of the day.
I took a fan up and eventually the electronics cooled off enough. But, it’s got us a little worried.
We’re already planning next year’s setup. We are thinking of ditching the trailer and actually building a protable wooden structure to house our setup.
A wooden structure with an air conditioner.
Oh, and the flag has had zero problems since being repaired and rehung.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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