Our Christmas Cat
Published for Tuesday - December 05, 2023
Written Sunday - 12/03/23 7:00 AM
I suppose Lily is our Christmas cat. I don't think this is the first year she has decided to make the base of our Christmas tree her napping spot.
Her presence makes the whole picture look cozy, warm, and inviting. It's a real treat to see her under the tree and taking a snooze.
The challenge was taking the pictures without disrupting things. On this occasion, she was agreeable and quite willing to work with me.
It's always good when that happens, because it doesn't always happen.
ISS
Published for Monday - December 04, 2023
Written Saturday - 12/02/23 8:55 AM
This is a picture of Commander Doug Wheelock back in 2010 and aboard the ISS or International Space Station. When I contacted him, it was a pleasant surprise to hear him say, 'Welcome aboard the International Space Station.'
I made the contact with Commander Wheelock back on November 20th at 22:07 UTC. Speaking of honors, it's probably the most notable memory of my ham radio hobby.
Since that time my daughter actually had an opportunity to meet the commander at a teacher's event when she and her family lived in Dallas, TX. She mentioned our contact and of course that seemed to get his attention as she shared with me.
What a cool thing!
Wondering
Published for Sunday - December 03, 2023
Written Saturday - 12/02/23 8:35 AM
I just finished making a bunch of distant contacts on the FT8 and FT4 digital modes of my ham radio. It's such a treat to contact individuals in foreign countries.
My relatively new hexbeam has provided me the opportunity to reach new locations which I have never before contacted. India and Thailand would be good examples.
That got me to wondering. After all, many of the contacts I make are of those individuals who live in countries that are at war and are in deadly war zones.
When I do QRZ.com lookups on their callsigns I noticed that most have withheld their addresses. I can only imagine why they have done this but it makes sense.
There are a few places, like North Korea, with which I am not allowed to make contacts. But much to my pleasant surprise, many of the questionable regions do permit contacts. China would be a good example.
Some of the war zones, or potential war zones, that I have successfully contacted include Israel, Russia (both the Asian and European regions), Taiwan, Ukraine, China, Israel, and perhaps a few others.
So earlier I said that these contacts got me to wondering. Wondering about who these people are that I'm contacting and what life is like for them in these war zones where they feel a need to withold their address on the QRZ.com ham radio website. What are they thinking about their situations and does ham radio help them feel more a sense of normalcy?
I consider it an honor to make these contacts with these individuals and even those in other countries that may not be at war or in a war zone. God bless them all!
Colin Ford
Published for Saturday - December 02, 2023
Written Friday - 12/01/23 1:45 PM
I just finished watching Karen Kingsbury's A Thousand Tomorrows. It was a great and inspirational story.
But best of all, it featured Colin Ford in the lead along with Rose Reid. I say best of all because Patty and I know Colin Ford from another life where we produced features and short films with our company, Pocketwatch Productions Inc.
We had the wonderful joy of doing six productions over a period of seven years. Included in the list were a TV pilot, a feature film, a documentary, and several award winning short films including one that eared a Silver Telly.
It's so amazing to have worked with folks who went on to do big things and Colin is no exception. As a young boy, he played a lead in one of our comedy short films entitled Baptism Sunday.
Since that time he has gone on to do big things such as his role as a ball player opposite Dennis Quaid in The Hill and another recent project in the Ryan Murphy production, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story - TV.
Congrats to Colin and his mother, Kim, who worked hard to help her son.
Still More About Books
Published for Friday - December 01, 2023
Written Thursday - 11/30/23 7:30 AM
I had purchased two of Mark Levin's latest books. First was American Marxism which I spent the day reading (listening to) cover to cover.
The second was The Democrat Party Hates America. I look forward to taking that one on next. After that, I'll be purchasing another book with the book credit I mentioned recently. Not yet sure which book that will be.
It's also that time of the (new) month. I suppose a bit of update will be required here on the blogsite. Next month's update will include a brief and easy update to the copyright year. It used to be a difficult and complex change, but not since a few years ago when I altered the environment and produced a much easier update.
Copyright © 2023 Hutch DeLoach