tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76593052500347681232024-03-12T19:51:02.434-04:00Stories from ClessonvilleFamily, politics, writing, and books, plus my own rantings of course. Lately lots of Lego and ham radio.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.comBlogger474125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-64500895096808215872022-04-06T20:37:00.000-04:002022-04-06T20:37:21.567-04:00XYL to Amateur Extra<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> From XYL to Amateur Extra in 6 months</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-305ad5dc-c0cf-d43a-2b48-4f06f3923207" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In December 2014 my husband got his ham radio Technician's license. A new hobby for him or an extension of his existing hobbies it didn't matter. He studied from a couple of websites and self-taught himself and all I had to do was sit back and support it. A few months later he passed his General and made that look easy too. I can't remember quite when but he quickly became involved with EmComm- Emergency Communications and was soon attending meetings of our town's Emergency Management Team. He learned about RACES and ARES and shelter drills and made new friends.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Two years later, in May 2017, we ventured out to one of the biggest hamfests in the country- Dayton Hamvention. We'd seen the videos on YouTube but it was in a new location so it was new to everyone on some level. We took our daughter out of school for a couple of days and embarked on the road trip to Ohio. I was an XYL and until Dayton I was okay with that.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">At Dayton I saw high school kids with robots, I saw AMSAT, weather balloons, and thousands of people young and old, men and women involved with ham radio. I quickly got tired of being the XYL along for the ride and decided that I would get my Technician's license too. I was tired of being Mrs. KC1CXX or KC1CXX/XYL. I wanted to be my own person again. We also have a daughter and I felt it was important as a role model to her to show that this old lady could still learn new things, even STEM things which are not my strong-suit.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Summer passed and my self-study methods were not progressing quickly. Then our local ham radio club, which my husband is a member of, offered a free class at night for 2 weeks. Tuesday and Thursday nights for 2 weeks with an exam on Saturday at the end. Normally I am not a night person at all but it was only 2 weeks. It seemed do-able. The class was in October so after the first week of class we went to NEARFEST in New Hampshire. I was still the XYL but I was only a week away from my test. The day before my test my daughter had a school curriculum day which was a lucky break for me. It gave me extra study time.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">For the Technician's exam I used the following resources to study:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The free 2 week class offered by the class. (They charged only $15 for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">the exam).</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A free app on my phone. I used Ham Test Prep. I used it every day at least once/day sometimes more.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Hamexamonline.com</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Hamstudy.org</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I read the ARRL book! This worked well with the class too because for the class they expected us to read certain chapters before each class. It kept me on track but was a challenge.- I actually bought the book in June. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">ARRL book- </span><a href="http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual-3rd-Edition/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual-3rd-Edition/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The tests are pass/fail. I didn't get the best score in the class but I did well enough to pass it.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The next test that the club offered was only three weeks away. Most of the people in the Technician's class thought that was too soon to attempt to pass the General but I liked the idea of moving up quickly and getting the test done. No class this time but lots of encouragement from the club members, my husband, and the online community.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">For the General's exam I used the same resources as before except I didn't have the class. I had the ARRL book for the General exam, the same app on my phone, and the same two website to learn from.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">ARRL book- </span><a href="http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-s-General-Q-and-A-5th-Edition/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-s-General-Q-and-A-5th-Edition/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The night I took my General exam my husband passed his Amateur Extra! That was exciting. We both took our tests that night and we both passed. For Christmas I got him a mobile rig for his car and I applied for a vanity call sign for myself. My vanity came through December 27</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.199999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The next challenge was the Amateur Extra. Now it had taken my husband almost three years to go from Technician's to Amateur Extra but I didn't want to wait that long. I wanted to get this done and become a V.E... a Volunteer Examiner. (You can be a V.E. With a General but it was my choice to wait.).The next test by the club's V.E.s was at the end of February. I thought I had a lot of time to prepare.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I started the same way as I did before. I quickly found out though that on this level the Hamexamonline website only lets you go through fifty questions. If you want more then you have to pay. I didn't want to pay so that website dropped off my list pretty quickly. The other thing I found out was the ARRL book for this level is huge and it put me to sleep. It put me to sleep time after time. Finally I asked my Twitter followers for suggestions. They recommended Gordon West's book and the NoNonsense book so I bought them both. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Gordo’s book- </span><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/094505386X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/094505386X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The No Nonsense book- </span><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1530908671/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1530908671/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">ARRL book- </span><a href="http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Extra-Class-License-Manual-11th-Edition/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Extra-Class-License-Manual-11th-Edition/</span></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The two books are very different. Gordo's book is basically the 712 question pool. If you aren't into the websites or the apps or you just prefer paper this is a great resource. The NoNonsense book is more explanatory. The questions are all there but they are in the text. Like the ARRL book they are harder to pull out. You'll probably learn more though. I mostly used Gordo's book after I had read the No Nonsense book.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">At the end of February I took the exam with my local club's V.E. Team..... and I failed “miserably” to quote one of the V.E.s . I saw questions there that I had not seen on the practice tests and I knew I was in trouble as soon as I started the exam. It was a good lesson though. I went back to hamstudy.org and I used the “flash card” mode to go through each element, question by question, until I had seen EVERY question on the exam. Then I practiced, practiced, and practiced. Eventually I was scoring on the low end of passing. The exam has 50 questions and you need 37 to pass. On the practice exams I was scoring 38-41. Not great but a decent chance to pass the test on March 10</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.199999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">. That's right.. I had less than 2 weeks between the two exams. The March 10</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 7.199999999999998pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> exam was not my local club but another club with V.E.s I had never met before. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. My family and I arrived at the hamfest where the exam was being held about an hour before the exam. Plenty of time to walk the vendors, enter a raffle, and meet up with friends.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This V.E. Team used Laurel which has an electronic component that the ARRL VEC doesn't have, or at least I hadn't seen. I took the test on a Saturday and my results were on the F.C.C. Database on Monday!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So now I've got my Amateur Extra. I've joined the YLRL- the radio league for women. I've joined my local club of course, and we've got some hamfests on the calendar of course. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">After my A.E. upgrade showed up in the FCC database I applied to become an ARRL V.E.. I got my certification just in time to help with our club’s April exam. It was a lot of fun, and hard work, to help our club’s spring technician’s class students. One student even passed his General that night.</span></div>
<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-72842006138934941672021-03-07T14:31:00.004-05:002021-03-07T14:31:34.865-05:00Short reflections as a birthday approaches<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHE9DiphmUJgfFAAMZq-JAYcXiri5KjRfrQH5Bo3Y4h7IFngTLjSjTjXKFqMwXABu9T2zpUEnspofHaYrGRscRx1ldzEGmt9vO7F_f72vvJWsvrW6GN4YzLDOcVncllnjKwbBoOu9AgIs/s2048/PXL_20210307_152510855_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHE9DiphmUJgfFAAMZq-JAYcXiri5KjRfrQH5Bo3Y4h7IFngTLjSjTjXKFqMwXABu9T2zpUEnspofHaYrGRscRx1ldzEGmt9vO7F_f72vvJWsvrW6GN4YzLDOcVncllnjKwbBoOu9AgIs/w160-h214/PXL_20210307_152510855_1.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u>Short Reflections as a birthday approaches</u></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">A recent conversation with a friend of mine joked about how we survived
the dangerous playground equipment of our childhood. In the 1970s and
before these merry-go-rounds were common on school yard playgrounds.
You don’t see them much anymore.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Yesterday while
driving to the grocery store I realized that I pass by this one quite
frequently. It’s still there and still in use. Not at a school but
at a small community store. It got me to to thinking about how we
never really know what is going to be important later on in life.
Memories from our childhood stick with us longer than we would ever
expect. </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Perhaps memories from that guy we dated in high school and
would like to forget have stayed with us longer than we would like
them to as well. It surprises me when I look back on my life what I
have managed to remember and what I have to be reminded of. I have a
birthday coming up in a few days and that often puts me in a
reflective mood. Many of my ex-boyfriends have witnessed this process
in years past, in my teen years and early 20's especially perhaps. March brings
spring and birthdays and a sense of winter ending. It means moving
forward and it also gives me pause to look back.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBZjXq9syltCRe0r0dLv8S9R4iUl_tvfZEYVBdJJClsnltYSnjj7Aoj_Tzm8i92le-392MbivvO9mWcRDdWyR2bm6l0Y2TCWJr5cU1PSyT-aw3VImjTuuzptMMnhPek7AKxGftfsE8K8/s1930/PXL_20210307_144526538.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="1930" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBZjXq9syltCRe0r0dLv8S9R4iUl_tvfZEYVBdJJClsnltYSnjj7Aoj_Tzm8i92le-392MbivvO9mWcRDdWyR2bm6l0Y2TCWJr5cU1PSyT-aw3VImjTuuzptMMnhPek7AKxGftfsE8K8/w191-h143/PXL_20210307_144526538.MP.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> So
that merry-go-round from the playground at my school in second grade
is probably long gone now. The school building itself is gone
although I guess the baseball field may still remain. The scar I gave
myself on that thing one day at recess I still have these many years
later. It’s my front teeth. Yes it’s true I never had braces even
though I needed them. Beyond that there are memories though in my two
upper front teeth. One of them is chipped. That’s from the
merry-go-round. One day at recess I was on the merry-go-round safely
inside the bars. A frisbee went past, close by, and I forgot where I
was and tried to catch it. Hard black pavement was around the
merry-go-round and when I tripped over the bar and landed on the
ground I broke my tooth. My mother didn’t come to get me at school
and I had to ride the bus back to the bus stop and then walk home
before she took me to the dentist. The dentist thought it would look
more natural if he didn’t fill it in all of the way. So there’s
some filler, or there was, just so I didn’t cut myself on the
sharp edge but the chip remains to this day.</p><p></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Somehow I had a way
of hurting my face. That same school year I got a fat lip when a
heavy door, a fire door, was released by the kid in front of me and I
failed to catch it with my hands. No permanent damage on that one.</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Some people ask me
about the gap between my teeth. The gap between my teeth is because
my frenulum was removed a couple of years before I fell on my face.
That was done because my mother thought it should happen. While I was
healing from the procedure I took another hit to my face when my foster brother and I were playing outside. He hit me with a stick
and knocked my stitches out. I remember bleeding for a long time
after that and having to go to the hospital. I’m not sure if the
gap would have been smaller if that hadn’t happened. I will
never really know why my mom wanted that procedure done in the first
place. I was only about six years old at the time. My memory is more
of the stitches being knocked out than the original procedure. By the
time I was old enough for braces, it was the 1980s, my mother was
divorced again for the final time. She didn’t have the money for
braces and my father’s insurance didn’t cover it. It just wasn’t
an option. I knew it then. It wasn’t a matter if I needed them or
not. It wasn’t something that could happen.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">I’ll close this
off with a final thought. I never know what someone’s story is. I
don’t know what they are carrying today, or what they survived
yesterday or twenty years ago. I try to be kind. I don’t always
succeed. I’m human. I’m broken. I’m not perfect.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJkZCGJY5gcJn0j2LkOiyqZ7dpg_ns1ZZM4qx81WMF19zrya8JdOV7SpYx0g7iwryX5dd08PAphaVFVlPUUhrq-iuZ6_-yVOX9692Kq56V9UA15m78ohNsZZbO1PqRNCkZu-VRFn4a8U/s2048/PXL_20210307_152431318_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJkZCGJY5gcJn0j2LkOiyqZ7dpg_ns1ZZM4qx81WMF19zrya8JdOV7SpYx0g7iwryX5dd08PAphaVFVlPUUhrq-iuZ6_-yVOX9692Kq56V9UA15m78ohNsZZbO1PqRNCkZu-VRFn4a8U/s320/PXL_20210307_152431318_1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-63209250018294411792020-08-28T18:26:00.001-04:002020-08-28T18:26:21.263-04:00Nolan Neal<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFSjWVU4GaGn4mu62RcpbtTkMwFGGvoXhfQTovLI83zgC-SP3RVGuqb0xznsjGTiqSdtF1eBen_5QFKHGJwvgmEEAmsD9kHZ0BsRruj5vViZbkWTLEKZC0bd-S4qmQlov0zVRGe0OV3M/s960/nolan+neal+agt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglFSjWVU4GaGn4mu62RcpbtTkMwFGGvoXhfQTovLI83zgC-SP3RVGuqb0xznsjGTiqSdtF1eBen_5QFKHGJwvgmEEAmsD9kHZ0BsRruj5vViZbkWTLEKZC0bd-S4qmQlov0zVRGe0OV3M/s640/nolan+neal+agt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Like millions of other people I have been watching "AGT"- "America's Got Talent" for the last few months. (Has it really been that long?) One of my favorite performers was Nolan Neal, a country music performer from Nashville, Tennessee. He got booted this week and a lot of people (mostly women I think) were sad about that. We cast our votes to try to "save" him but it wasn't enough. He took the loss with grace and immediately went to social media to thank his supporters.</p><p>The next day I went to the internet and started looking him up and listening to his other music. He had said on AGT that he had an album out. He had a recording contract at one point but addictions took their toll and he lost his chance at the big time. He's starting over. Another thread that resounded with the audience was that he had lost his father to suicide, which in turn fueled his downward spiral.</p><p>So over on YouTube I found his album "The Wire" and I quickly went through the playlist that Jackie Smith put together. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChSjI3A6PFex47Pgf3BAb4A">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChSjI3A6PFex47Pgf3BAb4A</a></p><p>This featured his music from his album "The Wire" These were uploaded five years ago.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p7kgC2hxBjU" width="320" youtube-src-id="p7kgC2hxBjU"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EFmIZ72MhXg" width="320" youtube-src-id="EFmIZ72MhXg"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>There are several good songs on here besides these two and I considered myself "hooked" so I went looking for more. The big hit he had on AGT was "Send me a Butterfly"<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ScR2jv2Kyls" width="320" youtube-src-id="ScR2jv2Kyls"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't until after this that I realized he'd also been on "The Voice" a few years ago and song some covers including "Tiny Dancer" that people really seemed to like. I didn't have tv back in those years so I missed it. Here's the video clip though maybe.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rRqY0ndUqMg" width="320" youtube-src-id="rRqY0ndUqMg"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /><p>So he's been on "The Voice", he's had a recording contract, he's by his own admission been around the block a few times. He's more organized than I thought he was. I kept diving into my Google searches and learning more. On AGT he talked about "it was my dad and me growing up.." and I thought his mom wasn't in the picture. Wrong. He's very close to his mom. She's still around. He wrote a song and dedicated it to her. He's also married and has two kids, AND he's a grandpa. A little on the young side to be a grandpa but you know... that's life. I'm not here to judge. What struck me though was that on AGT he painted a picture in my mind as being solitary and single. That's not the case at all. He's a happily married man with a good family life and a cute dog. I guess writing music about heartbreak and depression is what pays the bills though so that's what he sings about.</p><p>Another thing I learned after poking around is that he signed with producer Desmond Child in January 2020. This AGT thing is just part of a carefully planned agenda. He's got a website of course and he's all over social media. His website sells his music and also merchandise. You can buy cds, face masks, t-shirts, and more...</p><p>Shoppers go here- <a href="https://nolannealmusic.com/collections/all">https://nolannealmusic.com/collections/all</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For his full website go here- <a href="https://nolannealmusic.com/">https://nolannealmusic.com/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Oh and his last name is really Seals. Nolan Neal Seals. Not that it matters but it helps connect the dots if you are reading some of the interviews and stuff.</p><p><br /></p><p>I know he doesn't need any help from me to get the word out about his gift in music but if you happen to like country music then look him up. If you really want to help him out then buy something from his website. I'm still working on that last bit myself.</p><p>Good luck Nolan wherever this adventure takes you next!</p></div>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-3425519776251604552020-08-28T13:29:00.002-04:002020-08-28T13:29:44.845-04:00Does anyone blog anymore?<p> I haven't posted here in more than a year. While my mother was dying I switched to posting more on my other blog- <a href="https://waitingfortheothershoetofall.blogspot.com/">https://waitingfortheothershoetofall.blogspot.com/</a> because I was trying to keep everything about her stuff in one place.</p><p>The View from Lake Wyola doesn't change much and I haven't been posting from photos from there in a long time. I have posted a few occasionally on Facebook or Twitter but I haven't kept up with them in a blog in a long, long time.</p><p>So I've spent a few minutes today tweaking the layout a tiny bit here and there just because.</p>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-68007808256386691362019-04-23T09:49:00.001-04:002019-04-23T09:49:59.476-04:00Construction at UMass - Student UnionI haven't kept up with my blogs at all and I certainly haven't kept up with construction on campus. I've seen a lot of people taking pictures of the construction at the Student Union though and I thought maybe it was time I did a quick post of it.<br />
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It's supposed to be done by Fall of 2020 so over a year to go. This demolition is just the beginning of what is to come. At least they protected the trees.<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-6667147746602987312018-07-19T14:14:00.000-04:002018-07-19T14:17:45.126-04:00Social Media, Ham Radio, and our local clubOur outgoing local ham radio club president asked me to write up something for the summer newsletter about our newest social media endeavors. He also wanted something for newbies in social media. This is the article I'm submitting--<br />
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<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-86a9d038-b398-6490-cfb1-abcb53403bc6" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“Social Media and Ham Radio and our Club” by Rebecca Addison, K1BKY</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Al asked me to write up something for the “Communicator” about social media on very </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">short notice. Social Media covers a lot of territory. Some club members use social media</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and some do not. Those of us who do use it use it in different ways. I am by no means an </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“expert”. I’m just a frequent user.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A quick Google search on “Social Media for newbies” gives back several places to get </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">started. Here’s a few from the top of the list:</span></div>
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<a href="https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://mashable.com/2012/06/12/social-media-beginners-guide/#8Vy23y15Y8qw" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://mashable.com/2012/06/12/social-media-beginners-guide/#8Vy23y15Y8qw</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://buildfire.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media-for-small-business/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://buildfire.com/beginners-guide-to-social-media-for-small-business/</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">To quote from that last link that’s targeted toward small businesses “Social media gives </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">you direct access and communication with these potential customers to</span><a href="https://buildfire.com/does-cost-build-mobile-app/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">grow your brand </span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with little cost</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Social Media is the fastest way to create awareness. It’s only through social media that a </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">post can go viral within minutes, with no restrictions.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">This is a great opportunity for us but it does take work. We can use social media to get the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">word out about our events and build community with our members.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For a long time we’ve had a Facebook group that has had some activity. We’ve tried to boost</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> that recently. In the past few weeks I’ve created a Facebook page also. The group is a good </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">place for discussions and community. The page is a good place to post events and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> information. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We also now have a Twitter account. Twitter is more limited because of the character limit. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For the club it’s a good place to say “Hey we’re doing this… and go to the website for the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">details….”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The ARRL has a social media presence in several places- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> YouTube, SnapChat, and LinkedIn.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">All the “cool kids” use Instagram and Snapchat. I’m personally NOT that cool yet so I haven’t</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> taken those on for the club. If you are one of the “cool kids” and want to help let’s talk! We </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">could expand our club’s social media outreach to other platforms.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">If you happen to have a copy of “Ham Radio for Dummies” 3rd edition, online edition.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> by H. Ward Silver Published by</span><a href="https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/publisher/for-dummies/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For Dummies</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> you can flip to chapter 3 and read about “Finding other hams: Your Support group”. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">(The Umass libraries has the digital edition so if you’ve got a Umass email address you can</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> read it online.) I don’t want to quote too heavily but I’ll pull out this </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Social media and blogs</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Everything has a presence online, and ham radio is no different. Just search for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">ham radio</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> on Facebook, for example, and you’ll find dozens of possibilities, ranging from</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> general-interest clubs to emergency communications to license-exam practice to contesting</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> — and more.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Here are two popular streams of information about amateur radio:</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Twitter:</span><a href="http://twitter.com/amateurradio" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">twitter.com/amateurradio</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> (@Amateurradio) or search for ham radio topics</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> at</span><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=ham+radio" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://twitter.com/search?q=ham+radio</span></a></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Reddit:</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and</span><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/hamradio" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">www.reddit.com/r/hamradio</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">”</span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Personally I lurk on Reddit but don’t post much. Aaron, KC1CXX, posts on Reddit but I don’t</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> even know his user name. Reddit tends to be more anonymous than some of the other</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> social media platforms. It’s a good place for individuals but I’m not convinced that the Club</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> needs to have a presence there.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The author goes on to talk about videos, podcasts, and webinars. We all know about </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“Ham Nation” by now though, don’t we?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">From personal experience- The Facebook group has some local interaction. The Facebook</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> page helps us to promote the club to people who might not be members. With Twitter we </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">can use #Hashtags and reach people who have never heard of us. I found Twitter to be a </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">great source of support when I was studying for my license exams. By using #hamradio </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and #amateurradio I was able to build an online support network that guided me toward </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">better study materials and acted as an online support group when I struggled with the Extra</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> exam. For me, Twitter and Facebook reach different audiences. Your mileage may vary. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I think that having a solid website is the backbone of our club’s online presence. From that </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">we can reach out through social media to draw people in. Think of social media as the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">advertising and the website as the actual storefront. Of course ourselves, our events, and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">our community are the real deal behind it all. </span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-19624459359083265202018-07-05T11:23:00.001-04:002018-07-05T11:27:39.973-04:00Stepping off of the David Duchovny Fan Wagon<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’m sure no one really calls it a “fan wagon” but about a year ago I was really liking </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">David Duchovny’s second book, “Bucky Fucking Dent” and I was listening to his first music </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">cd quite a bit. His music sounded like a “divorce album” but there were a couple of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">songs I liked. Maybe more. I was disappointed by his second album for some reason. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I bought it. Listened to it a couple of times and then tossed it in the trunk of my car</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> with RIck Springfield’s newest album which I also hated. Rick Springfield’s album </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">was just weird in a not good way. It wasn’t the “Jessie’s Girl” kind of stuff that we</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> all remember him for.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Anyway I pre-ordered “Miss Subways” because I liked “Bucky F. Dent” so much </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and I followed the fans on Twitter and I followed David Duchovny and his dog on Twitter too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> Months went by. The book came out and I set it on the shelf for when I had more time. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Well on the 4th of July I finally had more time. Unfortunately I couldn’t even finish the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">first three chapters before I started skimming. I disliked it so much that I didn’t even flip t</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">o the back to see how it ended. I just didn’t care. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> even flip to the back. I unloaded the book at my neighborhood “Little Library” that is next to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> our mailbox. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I hope someone appreciates the book more than I did.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’m taking this a step further. I’m out of the fandom. I unfollowed David, his dog, and many</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> of his fans. I deleted my list of Duchovny fans on Twitter too. I imagine some of them will </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">figure it out and unfollow me back if they were even following me in the first place.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Life goes on. I still haven’t finished that Bruce Springsteen book that I started two years </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">ago and I’ve got a book I bought super cheap from the bargain bin to read too.</span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-12597637825228594822018-04-13T17:01:00.005-04:002022-04-06T20:35:57.704-04:00XYL to Amateur Extra<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> From XYL to Amateur Extra in 6 months</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In December 2014 my husband got his ham radio Technician's license.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> A new hobby for him or an extension of his existing hobbies it didn't matter. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">He studied from a couple of websites and self-taught himself and all I had to do </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">was sit back and support it. A few months later he passed his General and made</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> that look easy too. I can't remember quite when but he quickly became involved</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> with EmComm- Emergency Communications and was soon attending meetings </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of our town's Emergency Management Team. He learned about RACES and ARES</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and shelter drills and made new friends.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Two years later, in May 2017, we ventured out to one of the biggest hamfests in the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> country- Dayton Hamvention. We'd seen the videos on YouTube but it was in a new</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> location so it was new to everyone on some level. We took our daughter out of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">school for a couple of days and embarked on the road trip to Ohio. I was an XYL</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and until Dayton I was okay with that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">At Dayton I saw high school kids with robots, I saw AMSAT, weather balloons, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> thousands of people young and old, men and women involved with ham radio. I</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> quickly got tired of being the XYL along for the ride and decided that I would get my </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Technician's license too. I was tired of being Mrs. KC1CXX or KC1CXX/XYL. I </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">wanted to be my own person again. We also have a daughter and I felt it was </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">important as a role model to her to show that this old lady could still learn new</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> things, even STEM things which are not my strong-suit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Summer passed and my self-study methods were not progressing quickly. Then our </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">local ham radio club, which my husband is a member of, offered a free class at night</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> for 2 weeks. Tuesday and Thursday nights for 2 weeks with an exam on Saturday </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">at the end. Normally I am not a night person at all but it was only 2 weeks. It seemed</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> do-able. The class was in October so after the first week of class we went to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> NEARFEST in New Hampshire. I was still the XYL but I was only a week away from</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> my test. The day before my test my daughter had a school curriculum day which</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> was a lucky break for me. It gave me extra study time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For the Technician's exam I used the following resources to study:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The free 2 week class offered by the class. (They charged only $15 for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the exam).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A free app on my phone. I used Ham Test Prep. I used it every day at least </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">once/day sometimes more.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Hamexamonline.com</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Hamstudy.org</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I read the ARRL book! This worked well with the class too because for the class they</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> expected us to read certain chapters before each class. It kept me on track but was</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> a challenge.- I actually bought the book in June. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre;">- 2021 EDIT- the books get updated every 3 years so I have removed the links to the books.-</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The tests are pass/fail. I didn't get the best score in the class but I did well enough </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to pass it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The next test that the club offered was only three weeks away. Most of the people in </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the Technician's class thought that was too soon to attempt to pass the General but</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> I liked the idea of moving up quickly and getting the test done. No class this time but</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> lots of encouragement from the club members, my husband, and the online </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">community.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For the General's exam I used the same resources as before except I didn't have </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the class. I had the ARRL book for the General exam, the same app on my phone, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and the same two website to learn from.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;">- 2021 EDIT- the books get updated every 3 years so I have removed the links to the books.-</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The night I took my General exam my husband passed his Amateur Extra! That was</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> exciting. We both took our tests that night and we both passed. For Christmas I got </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">him a mobile rig for his car and I applied for a vanity call sign for myself. My vanity </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">came through December 27</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 7.2pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The next challenge was the Amateur Extra. Now it had taken my husband almost </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">three years to go from Technician's to Amateur Extra but I didn't want to wait that </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">long. I wanted to get this done and become a V.E... a Volunteer Examiner. (You can</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> be a V.E. With a General but it was my choice to wait.).The next test by the club's </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">V.E.s was at the end of February. I thought I had a lot of time to prepare.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I started the same way as I did before. I quickly found out though that on this level </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the Hamexamonline website only lets you go through fifty questions. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">If you want more then you have to pay. I didn't want to pay so that website </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">dropped off my list pretty quickly. The other thing I found out was the ARRL book</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> for this level is huge and it put me to sleep. It put me to sleep time after time. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Finally I asked my Twitter followers for suggestions. They recommended Gordon </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">West's book and the NoNonsense book so I bought them both. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre;">- 2021 EDIT- the books get updated every 3 years so I have removed the links to the books.-</span><br /></b><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">The two books are very different. Gordo's book is basically the 712 question pool. If </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">you aren't into the websites or the apps or you just prefer paper this is a great </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">resource. The NoNonsense book is more explanatory. The questions are all there </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">but they are in the text. Like the ARRL book they are harder to pull out. You'll </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">probably learn more though. I mostly used Gordo's book after I had read the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">No Nonsense book.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">At the end of February I took the exam with my local club's V.E. Team..... and I </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">failed “miserably” to quote one of the V.E.s . I saw questions there that I had not </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">seen on the practice tests and I knew I was in trouble as soon as I started the exam. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It was a good lesson though. I went back to hamstudy.org and I used the “flash card”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> mode to go through each element, question by question, until I had seen EVERY </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">question on the exam. Then I practiced, practiced, and practiced. Eventually I was </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">scoring on the low end of passing. The exam has 50 questions and you need 37 to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> pass. On the practice exams I was scoring 38-41. Not great but a decent chance to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> pass the test on March 10</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 7.2pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. That's right.. I had less than 2 weeks between the two </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">exams. The March 10</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 7.2pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> exam was not my local club but another club with V.E.s I </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">had never met before. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. My family</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and I arrived at the hamfest where the exam was being held about an hour before </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the exam. Plenty of time to walk the vendors, enter a raffle, and meet up with friends.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">This V.E. Team used Laurel which has an electronic component that the ARRL </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">VEC doesn't have, or at least I hadn't seen. I took the test on a Saturday and my</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> results were on the F.C.C. Database on Monday!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">So now I've got my Amateur Extra. I've joined the YLRL- the radio league for </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">women. I've joined my local club of course, and we've got some hamfests on the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> calendar of course. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">After my A.E. upgrade showed up in the FCC database I applied to become </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">an ARRL V.E.. I got my certification just in time to help with our club’s April exam. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It was a lot of fun, and hard work, to help our club’s spring technician’s class</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> students. One student even passed his General that night.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Edit on April 6, 2022- I let my membership to YLRL lapse. I'm just not that into gendered clubs. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Also I'm now a Laurel VE as well and my husband has just registered a new VE team so</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">we will be able to host exams with the help of other VEs. Having both of us as Laurel VEs</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">means we just need one more person to join us in order to run an exam. Plus of course</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">we have to have the space. With COVID restrictions still happening that can be challenging at times.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div>
<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-57630708759401591922018-02-06T13:45:00.003-05:002018-02-06T13:45:56.534-05:00note to myselfI have pneumonia again. I had it several years ago fo my birthday and I blogged about it here when my blog was more active. I'm still 5 weeks away from my birthday but close enough? I am so sick of winter.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-40055664593504914872017-10-30T14:29:00.001-04:002017-10-30T14:32:53.791-04:00My poor neglected blogI didn't realize that it's been since Hamvention that I posted here!<br />
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After Hamvention I decided to go for my technician's license. When the local ham radio club offered a free class at the community college nearby that just sealed the deal. My husband was fully on board of course and willingly got out of work early on the nights that I needed him to. A four nights of class and a review session and an exam later and now I have my first amateur radio license! Whoohoo!!<br />
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Meanwhile we went to NEAR-FEST in New Hampshire a few weeks ago and to keep our daughter busy we brought some LEGO with us. She quickly made some bracelets and we set up a display. She made her first sale before the end of the day. She'll be selling more of them at our local craft fair in town in December.<br />
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I should post a picture of those bracelets. Hmm..<br />
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NaNoWriMo is around the corner and a friend got me on a Rick Springfield kick just in time. She had read "Magnificent Vibration" and said it was good so I borrowed her copy and read it.</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Vibration-Novel-Rick-Springfield/dp/1476758905/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509387723&sr=8-2&keywords=rick+springfield+book">https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Vibration-Novel-Rick-Springfield/dp/1476758905/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509387723&sr=8-2&keywords=rick+springfield+book</a></div>
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That followed with me reading his memoir which has been listed as one of the top 25 music memoirs or something. It was very good and I just finished it yesterday.</div>
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SO I'm fangirling on Rick Springfield although I'm not going to spend $50/year on his fan club or whatever. I did spend a few bucks on some cds though, both old and new. Maybe that will be my soundtrack for NaNoWriMo. (Oh yeah I've blogged about him before, haven't I? maybe?)</div>
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And yeah Rick Springfield was in Vietnam! F++K! Even Bruce Springsteen can't say that.</div>
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It's going to be tough doing NaNoWriMo this year because I also want to study for my General license and the next chance to take the exam for that is at the end of November so the two overlap pretty much exactly! Yikes!</div>
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So there you go.... oh yeah I'll be at the Big E in January for the railway show again too. Hopefully I'll actually have a LEGO MOC built by then. I think I have all my parts. I just need time and space to do the building.</div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-45637712341823550602017-05-21T22:29:00.001-04:002017-05-24T08:06:49.486-04:00Hamvention 2017 in pictures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
First let me give you all some background... My husband got his first amateur radio license in December 2015. We had plans to go to Hamvention 2016 at Hara Arena but had to cancel at the last minute due to him being seriously ill. I'm not licensed and neither is our daughter. I support his hobby though and he participates in our town's emergency management team and in our county's emergency preparedness programs and our local amateur radio club. After failing to get to Hamvention 2016 we weren't sure about going in 2017. Finally after Christmas we decided to go for it. By then most of the hotels were sold out and we got stuck paying too much for the room we got. Our fault. Rookie mistake. None of us were sure what to expect for this adventure except that it would be BIG. We've been to Hamfests but never anything on this scale.<br />
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Here's some pictures from the weekend....<br />
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Grammar may not be correct but I'd never seen this before. I guess it's common.<br />
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The famous Gordon.<br />
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Not many people at this forum but the room was air conditioned and comfy.<br />
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Didn't expect to see guys playing guitar at the flea market! I would have stayed longer if my family hadn't pulled me away.<br />
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Robots!<br />
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The beginning of Ham Nation forum.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfo8LdlXmltTh-kAUl6p85zraDk7cXRY-eFkdJSSBYF4NvQwvm20rcLUVdYgKlNfY1mfzotgUm_t_fDJrB07weQ9mxykhonzguLAJJl7Vg0CgE1AW9fRVq1pDteerNJRsktBA5Df-3F4A/s1600/P5202658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfo8LdlXmltTh-kAUl6p85zraDk7cXRY-eFkdJSSBYF4NvQwvm20rcLUVdYgKlNfY1mfzotgUm_t_fDJrB07weQ9mxykhonzguLAJJl7Vg0CgE1AW9fRVq1pDteerNJRsktBA5Df-3F4A/s320/P5202658.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A stage full of Ham Nation personalities. Not often they are all in the same room together.<br />
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Big audience for Ham Nation. <br />
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Who are those guys in the back?? LOL!<br />
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Out at the flea market this food was happening but we didn't eat it. Nice trailer though.<br />
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This is the food we got. Dogs. Not exactly hot dogs. More like sausage.<br />
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Guy dressed in military gear and the rainbow flag in the background. Never know what you'll see here I guess<br />
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Trailer with canoe.<br />
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I gotta look up the website. Nice camper.<br />
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inflatable antenna<br />
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muddy feet from walking around the flea market on Saturday. Yes, those are mine.<br />
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Anyone want to buy the jaws of life?<br />
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Another forum. This one was on MESH I think. Was very crowded!<br />
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This giant antenna tower was for sale...<br />
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and they sold it!!<br />
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My car got some Ohio mud.<br />
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On Sunday the parking lot was closed because of the mud.<br />
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Nice ham shack trailer.<br />
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More food....<br />
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Cute robot...<br />
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Men in kilts! I had seen them walking around earlier. Finally saw them in their booth and asked them for a picture. :-)<br />
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robot....<br />
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Goodbye Hamvention! Hope to see you again!<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-4609148760131610082017-05-05T08:40:00.000-04:002017-05-05T08:40:13.202-04:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34740231-a-lap-around-america" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="A Lap Around America" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490935988m/34740231.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34740231-a-lap-around-america">A Lap Around America</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6524567.Shawn_Inmon">Shawn Inmon</a><br /><br />My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1962251586">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /><br />I don't read EVERYTHING that Shawn writes but I do like his travel writing. I followed his blog posts while he was doing this trip and I was eager to get a copy of the finished book. He's currently working on his NEXT big adventure and I'm following that one too.<br /><br />Shawn is a very accessible author and I've said this to him already- I wish there was a map. That's my only complaint. I really, really liked this book but a map of the route would have been really helpful. I'm tempted to go back through the book and pull out all the places and create my own but I don't know if I will.<br /><br />When Shawn was traveling around America and I was reading his blog I had no idea where my life would end up leading me. About a month ago I found out that I will be doing my own lap around America. So reading this book with my own travel plans in mind became extra special. My trip will go in the opposite direction that Shawn's did but I do see some overlap. As all of my stops have not been mapped out I can see potential for more. Shawn's adventures went to more extremes and covered more time and miles than my trip will be able to do. He's given me a lot of inspiration for future adventures though.<br /><br />After finishing Shawn's book last night I looked at the map hanging in my hallway and said "Is Wall Drug really THAT far out the way?" The answer hasn't been decided yet.<br /><br />I'm looking forward to Shawn's next book about Alaska although I know it will take me longer to get there.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9887357-rebecca">View all my reviews</a><br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-31590599339529158342017-03-09T13:56:00.002-05:002017-03-09T13:56:44.046-05:00Sometimes I tweet....musicI've got an idea for a blog post but I don't have time to pull it together right now. It's been a long time since I updated the blog though. Guilt.<br />
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On my headphones right now is a band called LuxDeluxe. They are fun.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLtg0XropFA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLtg0XropFA</a><br />
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Yesterday I was listening to Sallie Ford. She's awesome too.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAggVHb8B8U">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAggVHb8B8U</a><br />
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On Twitter my pinned tweet says "If you follow me you see a mix of Lego, writing, reading, libraries,
lgbt, politics, music, health, parenting, & local news. You’re
welcome."<br />
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A recent tweet "Looking at patron requests that came in around 2am last night. Sex, Unibomber, revolution... an undergrad had a busy night. <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/librarylife?src=hash"><s>#</s><b>librarylife</b></a>"<br />
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As far as Lego goes I've been going to some LUG meetings and I've been keeping up with collecting the series that I like but I'm still limited on my actual space in the house. That hasn't changed.<br />
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I have managed to read some magazines recently but I'm behind on my books. That Springsteen biography didn't get finished yet but I did manage to read Carrie Fisher's book. I just didn't blog about it I guess. <br />
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More recent music-<br />
<a href="https://t.co/TZ9wWvvoXo">https://t.co/TZ9wWvvoXo</a><br />
That would be Colorway<br />
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I was listening to Russell Crowe again this morning too but I guess I didn't tweet about it.<br />
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So I want to do a blog post and somehow put LuxDeluxe and Sallie Ford into it but I'm not sure where I'm going with that thought just yet.<br />
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Also Camp Nanowrimo is coming up in April! Yikes. I'm signed up. No idea what I'm doing. So I'm twirling this music around in my head hoping some inspiration will shape up. We shall see.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-16172668729683954342016-11-17T11:00:00.000-05:002016-11-17T11:00:56.643-05:00Bruce Springsteen is popular right now...Ahh....<br />
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Looking up some old Bruce Springsteen videos lately. I've been trying to read his autobiography, "Born to Run", when I have time.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Bruce-Springsteen/dp/1501141511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479397966&sr=8-1&keywords=bruce+springsteen+book">https://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Bruce-Springsteen/dp/1501141511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479397966&sr=8-1&keywords=bruce+springsteen+book</a><br />
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It's pretty good. I just have trouble reading with a 10 year old in the house. There's also an interview in a recent copy of "Rolling Stone" that I started to read too. Again, the child interupts.<br />
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It's November which means I want to be writing for Nanowrimo, but again... failed. Ugh. I've got a pile of Lego that I haven't put together too. It just seems like the daily life of work, kitchen chores, and homework take up all of our time, with room for snuggles and conversation too of course. We're getting to a few events and doing the things we like to do but time for solitude pursuits is not happening right now. It's just the way it is.<br />
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Meanwhile I'll get back to Springsteen when I have time. I bought the book because I wasn't getting through the library copy fast enough and I've got some of his dvds and cds on my Christmas list at the moment. At work YouTube is running through my headphones as I write this. I know it's all been said before. His music is a mix of fluffy pop stuff and Dylan-esque folk music. There are anthems and ballads and top 10 hits. There's deeper stuff that makes you go "That's Springsteen?" and there's stuff that I think "Did I miss this back then or did I just forget?" Some of the music is memorable, and some of it I'm okay to forget.<br />
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Duchovny has another cd coming out sometime, with concert dates already announced. I wonder who has the bigger Twitter following. I'll have to look sometime. :-)<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-28349610889813325902016-09-30T19:36:00.001-04:002016-09-30T19:36:10.096-04:00Duchovniacs are not all David Duchovny fansOops! I ticked off some people with my last post and because I don't read Twitter carefully enough I just caught it.<br />
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My last post should have been more clear. Duchovniacs is a website and a social media presence. It can be found here<br />
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<a href="http://www.duchovniacs.com/">www.duchovniacs.com</a><br />
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On Twitter they are @waltfrasier and #Duchovniacs<br />
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And yes I enjoy their Twitter presence as well as some of the other Duchovny fans who are out there. My apologies for ticking them/you off in the first place.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-68808004131158292902016-08-23T11:55:00.001-04:002016-08-23T11:56:28.331-04:00Fandom, fangirls, fanfiction... and David Duchovny Forgive me because this is REALLY quick!<br />
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I've never much had the patience or interest to drool over celebrities. Whether they were singers, musicians, athletes, or whatever in the public eye I've never been one to pin someone up on the bedroom wall and idolize them. I prefer my objects of affection to be at least SOMEWHAT obtainable I guess.<br />
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Anyway I stumbled on a whole world of fangirls and fandom after I read David Duchovny's book. The fangirls led me to his music and that got me looking for movies and tv shows that he'd acted in. I've never been an X-Files fans, sorry. Not going to happen. I like his writing though, and his songwriting is included in that. He was a writer before he was a model and actor.<br />
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I have a vague memory of a dvd of "Red Shoe Diaries" or something like that but I had no idea how prolific that had been until I started looking him up on IMDB and so forth. I attempted to watch a couple of his tv shows but no luck in finding anything that wasn't way too much to be viewed in a house with a 10 year old. Most recently I've watched parts of "House of D" which got pretty bad reviews. The "special features" were cool though and I learned from that he wanted "Bucky F*cking Dent" to be a movie, not a book. Interesting thought.<br />
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So while I'm still struggling to appreciate him as an actor I'm in awe of his fandom. Is it all based on his (perceived) good looks? I don't know. Maybe. In any case he seems to pander to it because that's how he has to make a living, but it's pretty amazing.<br />
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And there are other fandoms out there. Lots of them. A look into some fanfiction sites recommended by writers I know shows me that there is TONS of fanfiction being written, maybe even more than romance. It's crazy. I haven't had the time to sit down and try to sift through most of it yet, because again... I'm not REALLY a fangirl, but I see the temptation. This stuff is a break from reality. We all need a break sometimes. I just don't have time to take one.<br />
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Meanwhile my Twitter feed is filling with Duchovniacs and I'm enjoying the ride, and if I happen to say "Duchovny" in my sleep then I apologize.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-76345121722281012152016-08-18T08:57:00.002-04:002016-08-18T08:57:35.819-04:00Lego Super Heroes and Lego promo item picturesPicked up a few things last weekend and I'm slowly getting them together. While the Disney castle looks awesome it's a bit more than wallet can afford so we have to settle for the smaller items in life.<br />
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First up, the promo item, a double-decker bus that is too small for minifigures but it's cute nonetheless.<br />
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After that, we've got a DC Comics Super Heroes set. I like Harley Quinn especially and that's why I got this set. Usually I leave the Super Heroes sets for my husband to collect but recently I've made a few exceptions. Likewise I usually leave the Elves, Friends, and Princesses to my daughter but I've picked up a few of those as well. I still have the Elves mine set to put together. Maybe I'll get to it this coming weekend.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-17548104031908284592016-08-09T09:22:00.000-04:002016-08-09T09:22:11.950-04:00Latest Lego acquisitionsHaven't been doing much Lego in a few weeks but did get a couple of sets on Sunday and quickly put them together. First up is my favorite of the 2. The Lego Friends Hot Dog van.<br />
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And also the Lego City Ambulance Plane<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-4298963144984503782016-07-27T13:54:00.001-04:002016-07-27T13:54:44.845-04:00Actors/Musicians... a ramble through YouTube and my mind on a hot Wednesday in JulyMy last post was about Duchovny's book. I'm still stuck on him at the moment.<br />
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I've never been a fan of "The X-Files" but I know David Duchovny from at least one other thing that he's done, and when the book "Bucky F*cking Dent" crossed my desk at work I knew I wanted to read it. (If nothing else there promised to be baseball.) While looking up the reviews I discovered that he'd released an album last year. I had no idea! Seriously, I don't watch tv and I don't always pay attention to the radio. <br />
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Before getting the MP3 though my mind wondered "Is it actually any good?" I listened to a few songs online, on YouTube, on Amazon, etc... but the jury was still out so I got the MP3. It's not bad. The critics say he's imitating others but that's to be expected for his first release. Okay. I'm okay with that.<br />
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This got me to thinking about other actors who have released albums. The first two that came to my mind were David Hasselhoff and William Shatner. Classics. Shatner is of course terrible in a cheezy, 70s kind of way. He doesn't sing. He talks while music is playing. Hasselhoff is of course classic 80s. He does actually sing but he also thinks he's sexy and the videos are just.... cheese. What can I say?<br />
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Further curiousity led me to this--<br />
<a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/513481/25-movie-stars-turned-musicians">http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/513481/25-movie-stars-turned-musicians</a><br />
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Now I don't want to just repost all the videos that are listed in that article. That wouldn't be right. Some of them have me curious though and I'm continuing my research and exploration of "actors turned musicians" through YouTube etc...<br />
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Kevin Bacon is mentioned in that article, but not this video:<br />
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This isn't bad. It's newer so it doesn't have the cheese factor that those older actors have.<br />
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I can't judge country music, but Jeff Bridges was mentioned in the article and his music actually feels kind of genuine, like he was made for this. Here's one example-<br />
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I almost missed Bruce Willis! I guess Bruce had the chance to sing a little in one of his movies and decided it was fun. He's not writing his own material, as far as I know. He's just having fun doing covers.<br />
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God, that's the whole concert! Oops! 22 minutes!</div>
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Try this instead, it's shorter, only 8 minutes- </div>
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nDXkd2NyCCE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nDXkd2NyCCE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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Steve Martin is a comedian, an actor, a writer who has published novels, and a banjo player. His banjo playing has appeared in comic form in at least one of his movies. Bluegrass music is something that I learned in school and when I was younger but it's not always featured in popular culture. It's what he plays though, and good for him. Even back in 1979 he has a banjo with him while doing comedy as shown here-<br />
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I'm not big on Steve Martin though, I'd rather listen to Russell Crowe. The article mentions him doing "Testify" with his band but I did some looking around and found some other things-<br />
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I'm trying to think of what I want to say about this one. I'm making a short list for another post and I think this one is going to be on that list.<br />
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Crowe covering a Bruce Springsteen song-<br />
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So now circling back to where I started. I think William Shatner might be in the article, and man he's just... crazy bad, cheezy... I shared this in a couple of places earlier today-<br />
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Duchovny's music is better than this thankfully! It's interesting that Shatner embraces this stuff though and continues to perform over the years in this way. I guess if it pays the bills then who am I to knock it?<br />
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I'm not sure with Hasselhoff if I should share something old or something new. Maybe a little of both.<br />
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This is from 6 years ago and pretty much sums it up...<br />
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And for older stuff--<br />
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Which brings me back to Duchovny, although I could go on about Russell Crowe because I might be his newest fan. As I'm writing this blog post Crowe's music is growing on me as YouTube slipped into "autoplay" and his music is continuing in the background.<br />
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Duchovny's music is the newest of the ones I'm covering here. This fan video is less than a year old.<br />
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This song is one of my favorites, although I had to look up the lyrics because I originally thought there was something sexier, dirtier, than what he actually says-<br />
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The audio isn't perfect on this version I admit but he actually looks a bit more like a musician than he does in some of the other videos.<br />
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ThinkSayRecords is David Duchovny's recording label I believe and the official video for "Hell or Highwater" is over here-<br />
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So I'm not sure how well the music is selling. He did a tour last year I guess, and now he's busy with his tv series "Aquarius" again, working on Season 2. Looking around Twitter and there seems to be a pretty solid fan base. This amuses me. I'm willing to join them and go for the ride but I also need to up my game and find the Russell Crowe fans too.<br />
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Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-55522643223992294882016-07-18T08:50:00.000-04:002016-07-18T08:50:35.935-04:00"Bucky F*cking Dent" by David Duchovny<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25666054-bucky-f-cking-dent" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Bucky F*cking Dent" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1451245635m/25666054.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25666054-bucky-f-cking-dent">Bucky F*cking Dent</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8331566.David_Duchovny">David Duchovny</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Wow... this book isn't perfect but it exceeded my expectations. I am not a die-hard Duchovny fan but I was intrigued by the title of this book when it crossed my desk at the library where I work. I do know who Bucky Dent is and in a job I had a long, long time ago I worked with a guy with disabilities who knew Red Sox baseball from the 70s down cold. This game in 1978 was one I had heard about repeatedly. I was 7 when it happened so my memory... not so great. So I went into this story curious.<br /><br />Another reviewer mentioned Duchovny using autobiographical material for some of this book and I wondered about that. I wish I knew more of his personal story, or where to find it. I did look him up on Wikipedia but that didn't answer all my questions.<br /><br />I felt like there were many layers with this book. Our narrator, Ted, is a well-educated guy who likes to get stoned so there's some big words and wanderings as he talks to us sometimes and the story gets a little wobbly. I've taken some classes in marketing and advertising so I understood the stuff that was mentioned here about the history of advertising in the 60s and 70s and whatnot. I got that. Then there's the baseball stuff. Some of the chapters start off with statistics and dates and I think baseball fans, especially Red Sox and Yankees fans, will groove that. There's also some sexually explicit stuff that definitely puts this into a not-for-kids category. This isn't a book for a 12 year old.<br /><br />As Patrick (another reviewer on Goodreads) said “But he packs the novel with seemingly every random observation or quasi-humorous quip that entered his consciousness.<br /><br />While it's overstuffed and at times frustrating, there's still much to admire in this tale of finding love amid life's disappointments. (less)”-- Patrick<br /><br />That's a pretty good summary. "Meredith" said the audiobook was worth a read and I plan on getting that from another library to listen to in the car. I'm not big into audiobooks but I think it could be interesting to hear this in book in Duchovny's voice.<br /><br />So yeah... well-educated white guy, named after some Red Sox stuff, with a degree from Columbia working at Yankee Stadium selling peanuts gets the call that his father is dying and goes home to help him out. Along the way he's getting stoned, listening to the Grateful Dead, and reciting poetry. Duchovny's got a team behind him obviously that helps him get several copyright clearances to include poetry, song lyrics, and other writings that another writer might not be able to include. It's all good. The ending kind of cheeses out but I don't think there was any other way.<br /><br />On a side note I was impressed with Duchovny's ability to slide the plane crash from 1960 into the story as well as the Greek from 2004. I really meant to look up the Greek to see if he got it right. The trip to Sturbridge and Friendly's was nice. I know where that is. The Paul Revere Motor Lodge... well that's in New York state, but maybe in 1978 there was one in Massachusetts that has since changed names. I wonder if Duchovny knows the back roads from New York City to Boston. He might. His ex-wife's grandmother and other family members are from Massachusetts, and at the end of the book he gives credit to a scene that happened in New England where he got the inspiration for the book. <br /><br />I have heard that some New Yorkers recognized their own neighborhoods in the stories too. Given that Duchovny is a New Yorker I guess that's not a surprise.<br /><br />And now I've got "Box of Rain" stuck in my head.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/9887357-rebecca">View all my reviews</a><br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-7861775610718409622016-06-27T08:11:00.002-04:002016-06-27T08:11:53.517-04:00Misc pictures.... Lego weekend sort of....The girl is out of school for the summer, on her way to being a 5th grader in the fall. We took Friday off from work since summer camp hadn't started yet and went to southeastern Mass and Providence, Rhode Island. The Providence Lego store was celebrating their one year anniversary.<br />
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Random photos... it wasn't ALL Lego. We also stopped at this Army/Navy store.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-40248985284630892312016-05-11T09:44:00.003-04:002016-05-11T09:44:57.185-04:00Working parent drama on a Tuesday afternoonI posted this in a series of Tweets and naturally it got ignored. Probably my timing was off. It could also be that my followers never actually see my tweets if I don't hashtag them. In any case here it is...<br />
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It was.... <br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The kind of day when you get out of work and put the windows down and the music up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Then a fruit snack wrapper blows out of the sunroof and you wish you weren't driving your mom-mobile. Windows up, music down.</span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/realitycheck?src=hash" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">#</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">realitycheck</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cell phone rings between work & school. Secretary says the nurse is out and your kid got hurt at gym class but don't panic. [She could have a broken wrist!] </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You are glad you pulled over to take the call because around the corner police are dealing with a tractor trailer accident. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You get through the accident scene before the road blocks are set up because that would be one seriously long detour & you have to get kid.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You arrive at the school and see a police car? Now what? It's not relevant. Talk to the secretary & teacher & find your kid.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kid has an ice pack on her wrist but appears fine. Kid wants to stay at school & play on the playground but you say no.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You get home, let the kid play outside, and collapse in a chair because it's been a hell of an hour!</span></div>
Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-76678504577676709362016-04-29T13:32:00.000-04:002016-04-29T13:32:50.157-04:00Trying to get back into things....I've taken some time off from writing, and lately the camera hasn't been out and about. It's really kind of sad but life has just gotten in the way. My creative spirit has been... somewhere else. I'd like to say it was building Lego creations but I'm not sure it's been there.<br />
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I have been in design mode and learning and researching. I've been learning about Lego Digital Designer (<a href="http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/">http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/</a>) and a program called Brickificency (<a href="http://www.buildingoutloud.com/brickficiency.php">http://www.buildingoutloud.com/brickficiency.php</a>). Which has been cool. I've been using Bricklink (<a href="https://www.bricklink.com/index.asp">https://www.bricklink.com/index.asp</a>) and I've started placing orders for parts.<br />
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What else?<br />
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In March we went to Brickworld Indy. We visited the town of Walton, Indiana and saw sights from my husband's childhood. I reviewed some of them on TripAdvisor. At BrickWorld I took pictures and posted them...somewhere. There was a lot of shopping on this trip. We managed to hit a Toys R Us and a Lego store on the way home in New York state.<br />
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In April, we went to a Lego KidsFest (<a href="http://legokidsfest.com/">http://legokidsfest.com/</a>) event in Harrisburg, PA. We stopped in Yonkers, NY on the way and visited the LegoLand Discovery Center (<a href="https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester/">https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester/</a>) on Saturday and did the KidsFest on Sunday. It was my daughter's birthday so we had a lot of fun celebrating that too. We stopped at a Lego store and a Bricks & Minifigs store on the way down. By the time we came home the car was pretty full of Lego.<br />
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Next up? We've got some ham radio events on our family calendar. Work is sliding into summer mode for us, and I need to get on the ball and figure out summer camps and family time stuff.<br />
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There's a couple more Lego events that we may or may not get to later this year. One is at the end of May (but it's in direct competition with a ham radio event) and the other isn't until August. We'll decide on those things when we get closer.<br />
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More immediately because our house is filling up with Lego we really need to do a cleanout! I am trying to get the family interested in this before I drop the hammer and just do it myself. I think I'm being generous with the time frame, but really the sooner the better.<br />
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And lastly.... I need to get the notebook out some more. I am going crazy with NOT writing. Designing Lego creations is fun, but the words.... I need to be putting words on paper. So I've got to get back into that, and if the camera comes out along the way then that's fine too.<br />
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Hopefully as we slide into summer things will start to fall into place and you'll see more updates here soon.<br />
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And if you have gotten this far, don't be shy. Leave me a note and let me know I'm not talking to myself.<br />
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Thanks.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-71840274053446303362016-03-08T13:11:00.000-05:002016-03-08T13:16:22.903-05:00UMass Campus Construction ProjectsA visit up to Health Services this morning lended itself to bringing the camera along. I'm pretty excited about the new building going up near the Studio Arts building. It's a new $52 million Design Building. They are using special wood and lots of energy efficient building techniques. When it's completed in 2017 it will bring together Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning, the Department of Architecture, and the Building and Construction Technology Program. These entities are all in different colleges so the new building will be promoting interdisciplinary studies. (See article "Timber" UMass Amherst, Spring 2016 issue). I say I'm excited because if they can keep my tuition waiver in my contract for another 10 years or so maybe my daughter will get to take classes in this building. She seems to have an interest in art and design and architecture so this could be her future classroom building.<br />
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Of course another "landmark of campus" is our duck pond and the geese were having breakfast, as usual.<br />
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Ah...almost forgot, this is looking over at the new classroom building next to the campus center. I haven't been inside it yet but I've heard it's very high-tech. <br />
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I cannot even imagine the horror of putting a foot in here, much less swim. I know they dredge it in the summer but it must contain huge amounts of water fowl poop, not to mention snapping turtles that eat baby ducks, catfish, and other things of the deep.<br />
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The Old Chapel and South College are both being "renovated". With South College it's been very extensive. There was only a shell there for a while. The new building is much, much larger than the old one. I also got some shots of the library, because nothing is more of a landmark than the library, right?<br />
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Chapel with missing windows...<br />
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View of the library<br />
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Another shot of the chapel with South College next to it<br />
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Chapel, library, geese.. <br />
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Almost forgot about these projects. Morrill is getting renovated and the new Sciences building rises behind it in this photo.... <br />
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Chapel up close.. <br />
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And closer... <br />
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South College... notice on the left, the new building addition. It goes on and on... <br />
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...and on.... almost down to Dickinson Hall and the new band building.<br />
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Cement mixers in the South College renovation zone. <br />
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A close up of the front of South College, with Thompson Tower on the right. <br />
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There you go. It's not the view from above, but it's something. Lots going on as always.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7659305250034768123.post-28945015714178427452016-02-29T13:19:00.002-05:002016-02-29T13:19:53.454-05:00Weekend Lego haulWe went up to Burlington, VT for a very quick trip and visited a Toys R Us in nearby Williston. Another friend of mine (thank you M.R.) had clued me in as to what was available and we got to the store on Saturday morning. I picked up my first TRU Exclusive Bricktober sets. I got all 4 from 2015 and 1 from 2014. I'd love to get the rest from 2014 but I don't know what my odds are. The 2015 sets were about $20/each and the 2014 was marked down to about $10. I say "about" because there was 7% sales tax which drove up the price higher than usual. I also picked up 2 of the 2015 items for another friend. My husband got 2 cute and inexpensive Creator sets. Our daughter had to settle for a single minifigure of the Jewel Thief. She considered other items but ultimately accepted our offer to go shopping at Target on another day instead. Our total TRU haul was around $165 or so with taxes.<br />
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On Sunday, back on familiar turf, I visited my local Walmart and lucked out finding Emma's Tourist Kiosk in the clearance area. It was marked for $7 but rang up for only $5. I also found 2 Mixels that I'd been wanting. I didn't really want to spend a lot of money after the TRU trip anyway, but I was in Walmart for other things and couldn't pass up those deals.<br />
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I didn't get it all built yet of course, but I got a good start on Sunday night.<br />
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<br />Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09063628220529721902noreply@blogger.com1