Ted’s essays

Memorial Day …. beyond beer and hot dogs

… “Memorial Day the holiday however is a day that we as country pay respect to the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. They gave their lives. You will notice if you go to a cemetery or even pass one the graves are covered with flowers and flags more so than on any other day of the year. The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers’ graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the American Civil War. Some believe that an annual cemetery decoration practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the “memorial day” idea. Annual Decoration Days for […]

Starting another FAST – May 28, 2022

It was not intended to be an annual ritual, but is inadvertently turning out that way. I will catalog the numerous surprising benefits of fasting, my motivation and a wealth of fasting knowledge over the next few days, perhaps weeks. My body has ordered one, so I will comply. This video on the right is an introduction to my fast, and a bit on why I am undertaking it. More links, videos and information can be found at TedDunlap.net and BitterrootBugle.com I fasted in August of 2020, again in August 2021, and am adding this one for much more serious reasons than the mild desire to lose some weight and perhaps learn first-hand about the detoxification benefits of nine […]

Light Up The Firehalls – May 2022

For several months now the Corvallis American Legion amateur radio club subsection has been operating field exercises from various volunteer fire department firehalls throughout our county – the area we fondly call “The Bitterroot”. Our long-term goal for this program is for KG7SPL to be a backup communication service for the volunteer fire departments of Ravalli County. The VFDs are the core of emergency response in The Bitterroot. They are located in every area, have agreed-upon coverage maps and can muster 20 or more active, skilled volunteers in a matter of minutes. Our route to providing comms backup involves a monthly exercises of our equipment and operators from the VFD stations. We go live at 1300 hrs local (1:00 […]

NASA High Performance Driver Education (HPDE)

My big deal of the decade, several decades, and in particular this year was two days of flat-out driving on a road racing course. I share my journaling of it with you here. I spent last weekend at the Utah Motorsports Complex (UMC) on and around their road course. It was created by a local tycoon to exercise his vast collection of vintage race cars in the company of fellow enthusiasts. In other words, a track facility developed by an enthusiast FOR enthusiasts. Most of us were built for something; having unique strengths and interests where we are slightly or noticeably better than most. My natural exceptionalism seems to be high performance driving. Though life did not hand me […]