Things

This afternoon, Anna Nicole Smith passed away in Florida, at the age of 39. The attention that the media is giving this is amazing! I don't think Gerald Ford got this much attention back when he passed away and he was a former President!

Other than being a pretty, well-endowed blond, is there anything that has she done to deserve the notoriety and attention? I guess it's the American passion for celebrity. As long as you have good looks and a penchant for publicity, you've got it made in this country. Meanwhile, the hard work of millions goes unnoticed and taken for granted. Sheesh! But in any event, may God bless her and bid her into Heaven. It seemed like she didn't have the best of lives on this earth. May she rest in peace.

In the back of my mind, however, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the diet product she was endorsing, Trim Spa, had something to do with her death. I remain skeptical about over the counter diet formulas. I think they end up doing more damage to your heart (in the long run) than any benefit they might have in helping you lose weight. A lot of these "diet formulas" use huge amounts of caffeine to boost the metabolism. I can't see how it could be a good thing to pop a few pills and then have your heart beating at a rate of about 1000 MPH.

Back to Amateur Radio. I got a pleasant surprise for a change and actually bagged both Foxes in the 40 Meter Foxhunt tonight. Todd N9NE was easy. He always has a superb signal into NJ and for some reason I seem to have an RF pipeline into Wisconsin. The other Fox, Mark K2QO up near Buffalo, NY was a complete surprise! I thought that Buffalo to South Plainfield would be way too close for 40 Meters, considering the band has been long for what seems like forever. After working Todd, I decided to at least go and listen to the pack of Hounds trying to work Mark. They were easy enough to find.

As I was listening to the Hounds take their turns, I started hearing the station they were working. Wow! It seemed too good to be true! Then out of ESP-land, Mark's signal rose to a good 559 and stayed there for a while. I bagged him on my second try; and it was a good thing as five to ten minutes later he was back into oblivion.

I was perusing through the Web today and was cruising through Ten Tec's site. Boy, the more I look at the Jupiter, the more I like that radio! If I were to ever get another QRO rig, I sure wouldn't mind having that one. Maybe it's a good time to start saving nickels, dimes and quarters again. Geez, if I managed to put $20 aside a week; I could have enough saved in just under two years to buy one of these. Maybe I should consider buying lottery tickets, too!

73 de Larry W2LJ