Autumn is Here

I am an official HAM!!! Yes, I know, many would suggest that, regardless of my new FCC status, I have always been a ham but this is KG7GNS reporting. Or, in ham speak, "Kilo Golf 7 Golf November Sierra." I did it! 92% on the test and quite proud.

I took the test on Sunday, the day after participating in the 3 hour SET (Simulated Emergency Test) conducted in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Northern California and was quite impressed by the emergency procedure. After my initial cavalier attitude about the importance of ham radio in this age of computers, I saw its worth in action. Hams worked with county governments and emergency agencies in all 5 states. We were asked, here at the OFH (Old Folks Home), to monitor 3 frequencies. The nickname of the SET? Hack Attack. The scenario? A major terrorist attack on the internet has shut it down with resulting difficulties (is that a nice word to describe the possible chaos?). For the exercise we could not use domestic power but only batteries, etc. Who could we hear? Who could we contact? Could we pass messages on?

In our little room up on the 6th floor of the building 12 of us gathered (3 observers from amateur emergency groups plus 9 residents). My role was to copy any messages received on one of the frequencies. I couldn't fully participate because I was not yet FCC-qualified but I did play my very minor role to the hilt. My frequency received stations within maybe 50 miles; the folks across the room were listening in on lower frequencies that could monitor stations in all 5 states. The most amusing moment was when the door flew open for a person from the kitchen staff who rolled in a cart filled with hot coffee and warm cookies. One of the observers mentioned it on the air, how delicious they were, when a Ham up on Mt Hood, begged him to say no more. He said he was cold, standing in snow with no warm coffee and groaned dramatically, "Please, please don't talk about it!" We laughed with him and commiserated (in our nice warm room). By the end of the exercise I had a much better understanding, and respect, of the role amateur radio can play in an emergency. In reality, if an emergency happened, I suspect folks from local governments or agencies might take over our station because we have the highest antenna in the county.

Autumn has been lovely. Halloween here at the OFH? I went as an Egyptian, wearing the gallibaya I bought in Aswan. Of course I couldn't remember how to tie the Arab head dress so went online (You Tube) and watched a demonstration 6 times at a site called Just Muslim before I had it figured out. At dinner that night someone pointed out that the NSA has probably put me on the No Fly list given the combination of 6 visits to Just Muslim AND a new radio license. Will find out when I try to fly to California for Thanksgiving!

Front View of my head dress

Look in the mirror - I did a good job!

The leaves are spectacular!  We had a dry summer and a fairly dry September so the leaves weren't in soggy piles on the ground but stayed on trees and turned brilliant colors. Now, remember this is me photographing with my phone so they are not good but you get the idea:

This is at the OFH, with the river beyond.

On the way to Stephanie's house

My rose garden? Tomorrow I cut off the last blooms. I have been madly weeding to get the beds ready for winter. At this point I have two patches, next to each other, with a total of 19 rose bushes. I look forward to following my plants for the next year's cycle. I think not many are heavily scented - and I want a few of those - so I may have some pulled up and pick replacements. Luckily my cousin Pattie is an expert and can help me find the right ones.

These are some of the blooms from my plants - but from September, not this month.

The grandsons? Perfection, of course. Finn is a bit late in crawling which pleases me no end. He is now starting to either scoot backwards or lean way forward so that he goes onto his hands and knees. Crawling is imminent. Wesley did the same and then was one of the first of his group to walk so suspect the same might be happening here. Therefore I am overindulging in rocking Finn, putting him on my lap to play Patty Cake, or put a blanket over his face for Peek-a-Boo. I suspect he will be crawling next week and then it is ALL OVER. He will start demanding to be put down so that he can explore his new world. DRAT!!! Baby days are fleeting and, quite frankly, I can't stand that this phase is ending. Luckily I know that future days are delightful as well but oh those baby days!

I have been working, working, working on a project that is 2 years late in completion but PHEW it is done and in the mail this afternoon. That means I can get back to writing and have much more to share - so get ready.