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  ka4inm@qsl.net