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CHESS?
When I was about 14, a nice old man
in the park tried to teach me how to play chess. I say old he told me he
was 66, but he wore a suit and a vest and you know he looked old.
I secretly distrusted him, he said he wanted to improve my mind, but I
think he wanted to develop a opponent as he had no one to play with.
I `took' two or three lessons from him, but after that I just talked to
him. He was a retired chemist, a organic chemist, he also owned a machine
shop factory, one that made items from brass for the military, on contracts.
I gave this old feller a lot of thought at the time. Although chess
is as old as the middle ages, played by millions, I thought there must
be a constructive use for my mental capacity. I have thought about
this idea many times since then. I greatly enjoyed the learning and doing
of the art and science of writing programs in assembler language.
But I am the only person that enjoys my programs. I now write in
BASIC, more quickly and I write whatever I need or want. I have worked
for the last 30 years learning an art and science that has turned out to
be a mental exercise, although I only recently figured this out.
The thing I now enjoy so much is the international morse code. After
much anguish the code has become a reflex action, my speed is restricted
to how alert or tired I am. I had been able to send without thinking
what the translation from spelled words to dots and dashes is, but automatically
writing down "what was sent" without thinking about what dots and dashes
were sent is a new experience. I am beginning to get to the point
where I no longer spell out every word I send, I think "do I know this
word" and if I do it comes out. I am also listening at what I send,
noticing errors and re- sending wrong words that I hear, as though someone
else is sending it. It only took me 30 years to get to this point,
why so long? I couldn't learn it by myself, and I couldn't find a
club or any one else to help me learn it. You belong to a club. There
are many hams right here willing to help you. I am on call 25 hours a day
8 days a week, if I am paged I leave for work in 10 seconds, if my pants
are off I put them on, if my shoes are off I carry them. I can't
hold a club office because I might have to leave meetings because of this.
But I like to teach, I would be a teacher except they don't pay them well,
and it's a government job, but I can and do get on the air with beginners
and we can send back and fourth at any speed, I am good at slow!
I can send and receive code on the four H.F. novice bands and on 6 and
2 meters, we can talk thought the BARS repeater as we go along. You
have NO excuses, all you have to do is call me, I'm Ron in north west Plant
City. If you don't know any code sign up when our club has classes
again! I monitor 147,165 MHz
Ron KA4INM [email protected]