SSB Contest this weekend

The SSB contest this weekend is still going on as I write this. Propagation is pretty good on 20 meters, there are stations all over the band-scope on my Icom Pro3. Its been fun searching around the bands and looking up all the callsigns to find out what countries I am hearing. For those of you who don't know how a radio contest works: basically ham radio operators try to contact as many other radio stations in a given time period as required by the rules of the contest. Instead of competing, I like to take advantage of the increased radio traffic to search for countries that I have not yet made a contact with and try to get just them in my log. But so far this weekend I have not heard any countries not already in my log. I have only made one contact this weekend. It was the only one I tried for: CU2A in the Portuguese Azores Islands in the mid Atlantic. My wife was born in the Azores (or Acores as the Portuguese spell it) on the island of Graciosa. Whenever I hear a Azorian station, I make contact. Then I like to let my wife know I made a contact with her home in the "old world".

First Gun Show of 2009

So I went to the Shriner's gun Show in Wilmington, MA yesterday. What better way to spend some time on a Saturday? I was on the prowl for a used snubbie in 38 spcl or even 357 mag. Unfortunately, I did not see any bargains. Everyone is still worried about Obama policy and its driving the prices UP. I decided NOT to add to the price drive. I did get some accessories for my MAK90 though. I got two 30rnd AK mags and 2 AK slings; one leather and one OD cloth. Even prices for accessories were tough as bargaining failed me this day. For instance, I grabbed 3 AK mags marked $19 ea and asked the lady if I could get the three for $50. I expected a counter offer but instead got "The price is whatever its marked plus tax!" Oh well, I put the 3rd most worn mag back and bought just 2. I got the 2 slings at a different vender, the OD cloth one for $10 and the leather one for $15. I did not try to talk down the sling prices.

And then there were 9

I am no cigar aficionado, but I like to smoke cigars on occasion. I smoke maybe 1 cheap cigar a month, usually less. I mostly like to smoke a cigar when I go hiking in the mountains. The smoke keeps the bugs away and the aroma reminds me of my childhood camping and fishing with my dad.

Recently, I decided to explore some cigars of finer quality than the flavored Garcia Vega GAME cigars that I get at the gas station. On Friday, I came home from work for lunch and found a package on the step. I new what it was. I opened the package to find the 5 pack of JR ULTIMATE maduro’s and a bonus “Best by Dominican” 10 cigar sampler I ordered from a online cigar distributer. I wanted to try one, any one, of the smokes immediately; but the time I had before I had to get back to work would not allow it.

Saturday morning, before I left the house to go to the gun range, I selected one of the cigars from the sampler:

The Henry Clay cigar, 7 inch Churchill style wrapped in a light Connecticut broadleaf with about a 50 size ring; very fancy for me. I was not able to smoke it until I was on my way home. It lit fairly easily though I had to use 2 matches; one to “toast the foot” and one to light the filler. The flavor was heavier than I am used to, but mild enough for me enjoy. The draw was excellent and the burn was even for the first third of the length. After that, the burn got a little uneven but its probably because I was driving and not turning the cigar often enough. I only let the ash get to a max of about an inch and a quarter before I flicked it into the ashtray because I was in my vehicle, but I know it was capable of much longer ash length. The ash itself was a very light grey, almost white. Overall, I was pretty happy with it. But, I have 9 more to go in the sampler!