What a wake-up!

I woke up this morning and clicked my email while waiting for the coffee to brew.

First there was an email from another ham in Fiji that wanted to help me out and work me. I don't have Fiji and the email was three minutes old. I got STRAIGHT on the air on 40 meters. No luck.

Just then another email popped in from Japan. It was a young female Japanese ham and she confirmed that I had worked her in the Marshall Islands a few days ago. Good news there!

It was a set of freakish circumstances when we worked. I threw out my call, and when she returned it I got walked on. I tried again, and got walked on again. The third try I caught a 9NN signal report but I couldn't hear my call being returned. I was going to try again but the band went dead because of some kind of interference.

I wrote it off as a bad job but logged it with a question mark next to it. Then I decided to email her. She didn't have email in the Marshalls but when she got back to Japan she got my email and said I was in her log so I scratched out the question mark on my log entry and sent her my card, $3 and an SAE. I'll have the Marshalls confirmed soon.

I had just finished with her and the guy in Fiji emailed me again. He was going up to 20 meters and I chased him up there. No luck.

Then ANOTHER email popped up and it was a guy in the Slovak Republic. He's the QSL manager for a South Sudan operator. It was a heads up that he had received my request for a QSL card from South Sudan. I guess he'll send it out in a couple of days if not this afternoon.

After that I got on line and checked a Zimbabwe station's log to see if I am on it. I'm not. I made a bona fide contact yesterday, voice, on the 20 meter band but I think he busted my call sign. This happens from time to time with DXpeditions as the operators are taking in thousands of calls a day and are really pushing things mentally. How they do it is beyond me. I can't work a pileup  for sour apples. I guess I'll just have to work Zimbabwe again...if the Propagation Gods will it.

Later this afternoon I have to reload a couple hundred cases for an upcoming rifle match. 

In an hour I have some plumbing to do and deal with an electrolysis problem. I see a headache of sorts coming with that one. A lazy electrician grounded the panel to a cold water pipe instead of a ground rod and I likely have to hammer a rod in with a jackhammer. 

There is some kind of stray current I have to chase down and deal with or else the pipes will get holes in them again. Ouch!

You watch, though. By 1300 the day will come to a crashing halt and slow down to nothing as it often does in the afternoon. Maybe then I'll have time to chase Zimbabwe and Tuvalu. If I can bag both of those (and get confirmation) it looks like I can put this project to bed. 

Wow! I just finished my first cup (of two) of coffee!






To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY