Spreading My Wings!

Tomorrow is my last day as an employee. Beginning next week I start off on a new adventure as an independent contractor on advertising! Ahhh, the great unknown!

Hopefully things will go well, as I will still be working on the same magazines as before. I'll also be able to contract with new publishers if a good opportunity comes my way.

In the meantime, wish me the best as I start flapping my solo wings!

Famous Hams...

The dapper gentleman in the photo is Chet Atkins, who was also a ham radio operator (W4CGP). Chet is one of many notable ham radio operators, including entertainers and kings. Here's a list of some of them:

K2AMH - Robert A. "Bob" Moog. His "Moog Synthesizer" became the standard for composers in the electronic media for many years. The landmark album, "Switched on Bach," was composed/performed on his device.

KB2GSD - Walter Cronkite.Former TV Journalist, long-time CBS correspondent, avid sailor. Has an asteroid named after him!

K2HEP - John Sculley.Former CEO of Apple Computer.

WA2JXX - Gerson Strassberg.Inventor of the plastic pocket protector.

KC2KNU - Daniel J. Peng.Princeton University Class of 2005 student who ran afoul of the Recording Industry Association of America and settled with them to the tune of US$15,000.

K2ORS - Jean Shepherd. Author/Actor/Radio/TV personality.

W2SKE - William "Bill" Leonard.Former President of CBS News.

K2ZCZ - George Pataki. Governor of New York 1994-present.

W2ZK -Amory "Bud" Waite. Polar explorer, after whom the Waite Islands and Cape Waite are named; rescued Admiral Byrd in 1934.

W4CGP - Chet Atkins.Singer/Composer/"Certified Guitar Picker"; (ex-WA4CZD);

WB4KCG - Ronnie Milsap.Singer/Songwriter.

K4LIB - Arthur Godfrey.TV personality (SK); See Arthur Godfrey K4LIB Fan Club.

KG4UYY - James L. "Lance" Bass.'N SYNC pop singer and cosmonaut wannabe.

K4ZVZ - Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets. Pilot of "Enola Gay" the B-29 aircraft which dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan at 8:16 AM on 06-AUG-1945, resulting in the end of World War II.;

K5ZC - Jay Maynard.That "Tron-suit" guy who keeps showing up on the "Jimmy Kimmel Show!"

WA6AAA - Bryan K. Joseph.Writer/TV series creator of "Adam-12", "Three's Company", and others.

WB6ACU - Joe Walsh.Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter/Eagles.

WA6BND - Stephen G. "Steve" Wozniak.Co-founder of Apple Computer in 1976.

W6DOE - "Leo" Fender.Prolific musical-instrument inventor, including the legendary Telecaster and Stratocaster Fender electric guitars.

K6DUE - Roy Neal.Late TV personality/producer; retired NBC News correspondent; major expert in spaceflight and science; starred in ham radio videos.

WB6EWU - John Draper.In the late 60's and 70's he was known as the notorious 'phone freak' "Captain Crunch". Famous for his use of the telephone 'blue box' - defeating the telephone company's long distance billing equipment

W6EZV - General Curtis LeMay.Military legend - also held callsigns K3JUY/K4RFA/K0GRL.

N6FUP - Stu Cook.Bass player with Creedence Clearwater Revival.

AE6J - Timothy "Gaines" Hagelganz. Bass Player in the world famous rock group Stryper;

KB6LQS - Dick Rutan.Pilot/Adventurer; Voyager 'round the world flight 1986;

KD6OY - Garry Shandling.Actor/Comedian/Writer/Producer.

KE6PZH - Marlon Brando, Jr. Actor; (pseudonym Martin Brandeaux) - (see also FO5GJ);

WB6RER - Andy Devine.Actor; Hualapai Amateur Radio Club in Kingman, AZ, adopted the callsign and operates a number of special events.

KE6YGN - Shari Belafonte Behrens. Daughter of film great, Harry Belafonte; actress/model/photographer & author; same date of birth.

N6YOS - Priscilla Presley.Actress. She was listed in the 1990 call book under her maiden name Beaulieu. Held two calls KC6IWA & N6YOS.

KA7EVD - Donnie Osmond. Donnie of "Donnie and Marie" fame.

NK7U - Joe Rudi. Baseball player.

K7UGA - Barry Goldwater.Late US Senator/vociferous friend of amateur radio.

9DRV - David Packard.Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard.

K9EID - Robert G. "Bob" Heil. Audio engineering guru; pioneered live-sound industry in 60's and 70's with the Grateful Dead, the Who, Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, et al.;

K0DWC - Gen. Francis "Butch" Griswold.Famous leader of the Strategic Air Command w/Curtis LeMay.

K0HWY - Gordon L. "Tex" Beneke. Lead tenor sax player for Glenn Miller orchestra/movie actor

CN8MH - King Hassan II (Moulay Hassan). King of Morocco

EA0JC - King Juan Carlos.King of Spain.

I0FCG - Francesco Cossiga. Former President of Italy

JY1 - King Hussein. King of Jordan; was very active ham before his passing; touching memorial

LU1SM - Carlos Saul Menem.President of Argentina (1989-1999).

UA1LO - Yuri Gagarin.First Cosmonaut; - died in jet crash.

VR6TC - Tom Christian. Lives on Pitcairn Island, in the South Pacific. This famous ham is most notable as the ancestor of Fletcher Christian, the man who led the famous mutiny on "H.M.S. Bounty."

VU2RG - Rajiv Ghandi. Late Prime Minister of India; victim of assassination/bomb explosion.

A Nice Day For A Swapmeet...

With temperatures up in the 80's, it was a beautiful day to visit a swapmeet... so we did!

Daughter Carrie Ann with husband Kelly, and their daughter Chloe, plus Carrie Renee joined Bill and Robbin at the Lake Elsinore swapmeet today.

This is a new event that got its start just last month.

The crepes were excellent, and there were several other tempting booths filled with food, clothing, jewelry and other items.

The swapmeet was at the baseball stadium for the Lake Elsinore Storm, a pro baseball team, which explains why Chloe is sitting on top of a giant baseball in the picture.

These are camera phone photos, so the quality is not the best... but you get the idea... we had fun!

Winter in Ketchikan...

Since I failed to take any pictures of Christmas or New Years at our home, I thought maybe this nice snow shot might make up for it.

This is son Bill's front yard in Ketchikan, Alaska last week, where it has been snowing for several days! Bill says he prefers the snow to rain, even tho you have to shovel the snow.

Talk about having a White Christmas...