Test taking time! Dad and I took more ham exams on February 1st. Dad went for his Technician Class license, which is the entry level license. He passed. I took my General Class exam, which is the next step up and let's you talk on the worldwide frequencies. I also passed. To get my General, though, I also have to pass a Morse Code test. Dad, although he didn't need it yet, had been studying it, also. We doubted we were ready yet, but we took it anyway. As it turns out, we flunked. Dad came closer to passing than I did; he only missed it by one letter! Oh, well. We'll have to find to study some more.
Camping trip! Later that morning (well, about 10 minutes after the exams, actually), Nick and I were heading down to Clifton Gorge State Park for a Boy Scout camping trip. There were five of us. There are only three scouts in our troop right now. This March we're expecting four Cub Scouts to move up, but anyway, all three of us went: Nick, Kevin, and I. There were also two adults: Tim, Kevin's Dad, and Jim, the Scout Master. Just like everybody else, I'm sure you think we're crazy for camping in the middle winter, but it's not really that bad. The first think we did was hike six miles around the gorge. You don't need much to stay warm when you're moving so much. There were some great sights at the gorge, such as the frozen waterfalls. Around 5 o'clock we got back to the cabin we were staying in (I know that's not truly camping, but who's crazy enough to sleep in tents when it's 20 degrees out? :) We quickly filled up the barrel stove with wood, and twenty minutes later we were sitting around the cabin in T-shirts. None of us could believe how efficient that stove was. We didn't really need that hot soup we made for supper; the stove was doing a good job of keeping us warm! It was good soup, though. We stayed up to about midnight learning to play card games Tim knew. The next morning we ate Pop Tarts and instant oatmeal, which was actually pretty good. Following breakfast, we packed up our gear and headed home.
Columbia... We had been heading down to Clifton Gorge when we heard about it. We had the radio on in Jim's truck when the end of a song came and mentioned it around 11 o'clock. We switch to News Radio 700 WLW to hear the latest. Unfortunately, no level of training or inspections or anything else can prevent accidents from happening. My sympathies go out to the families and friends of the crew members.
Blizzard! Come Valentine's Day Weekend, we had a the most snow we've had in years. It snowed about six inches, but the wind was what did us in. Our lane is along a fence row, so we ended up with 4 to 6 foot drifts in our lane. Not to mention all over the roads and such, either. School has had delays and even a closing or two because of this weather. It's been crazy. Three weeks later, our lane was just getting dug out with a snow plow attachment to our grandpa's tractor. Even then it was still 2 to 4 foot deep. It's been nothing but cold weather. We're pretty well sick of it. Everybody is ready for spring. Even my bee hives have been covered by the drifts. Marshall Sullenbarger, the guy who's been helping me with my bees, said they'd be fine, but I'm starting get worried. Hopefully they'll be all right...
Lucky! Dad was able to get out of the snow covered plains of Ohio. He had computer classes he had to take down in Florida. He got to bask in the warmth while we froze to death. Well, not really, but he did drive around and look at our old home down in Florida. He said the traffic has only gotten worse down there. He said there's obvious aging to our old neighborhood. He couldn't believe what happened to our old house. As it turns out, the lady who bought our house thought the trim needed painting. Now, the house is a dark brown and grayish color. It was a good looking house. Today, our old house now has pink trim on it! They've also torn out a lot of the trees and bushes we planted, so it looks like a bare doll house or something. I guess we can't do anything about it since we don't own it anymore, but at the least...pink?! Oh, well. Oh, and don't forget to tell Dad happy birthday! He didn't get to do much with his presents until he got back from Florida. He had most of his party's in March because because of the bad weather in February. Either way, tell him happy 41st birthday!
Are you dizzy yet? While Dad was in Florida I had an interesting experience. I feel like mentioning it because, well, I though it was pretty funny, even though I'm the victim. Anyway, I had been watching Bush make his speech Wednesday night, I think, and I decided I'd get up and get something to munch on. Well, I stood up and stretched my arms and stuff, and I got light headed really quick. I thought it'd pass since I get a little dizzy when I stand real quick, but it stayed around. I could tell I was losing it, so I decided I'd better knell down on the floor and get some blood back to my brain. Well, I made it to the floor, but the hard way. I didn't sit down soon enough and I found myself face first on our hard wood floor. It didn't really hurt when I woke up; in fact, I was laughing. Mom thought I was crazy laughing after falling on my face, but I was sore from landing on my nose. Either way, now I know to be more careful. Dad couldn't believe I did that. It had happened once before, also. We were on one of our vacations with the camper, and we were near Mt. Rushmore. We had started a fire and I was blowing on it. I stood up too quickly and found myself on the ground. I just barely missed the fire. That's twice I've passed out and narrowly missed seriously injuring myself. Oh, well, maybe I'll remember next time. :)
Mark