Hee hee hah hee. MTO wins the prize for number 2. It's my hair. But I think the program was more complimentary yesterday. The first time I checked out my golden locks things like copper, golden light, and yellow gold were mentioned. But today in the kitchen I was "rock" and "rodeo dust" and "crater brown". It's kind of cool that this little thing makes it clear that the organic world (including hair) has way more color variation in it than things that are manufactured. When I checked out the bricks on the east side of my house this morning it repeated color names multiple times. Item 1 and item 2 (my hair) pretty much said something different every few seconds as I moved the camera, repeating the same color only rarely. Don't know why but I just love pointing this thing up at the sky. All the blues it comes up with on a sunny day; all the shades of grey for clouds. There is another ap that reduces the colors to a more manaegeable number. Maybe that one will help me find my purple socks.

Rosemary, You already did the hard part, now you are off in search of the fun part... After you passed your test the volunteer examiner sent your application with their endorsement to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). Within about 2 to 4 weeks you will receive a letter from the FCC with your actual license. Your call sign will be printed on the license form. When you get the letter from the FCC you will see that is has both a Station License, which should be framed and hung in your radio shack, and a wallet size that you must have on your person when operating ham radio transmitters. Now to answer your question on how to find an Elmer. Contact the ARRL via email and tell they you just passed your test, still awaiting your "Ticket" and you would like ot meet an elmer or get info on the local radio club in your area. Contact the volunteer examiner who gave you your exam. He/she will be able to set you up with somebody or at least tell you when & where your local Ham Radio Club meets. Stop by your local Red Cross chapter house and talk to their emergency service director. Whenever a major disaster occurs generally the local electrical service and commercial commnunications systems are knocked out so the Red Cross works very close with hams to be able to get a commincations network up and running immediately. In addition to home stations most hams have radio equipment in their vehicles so if a disaster occurs a ham could drive up and provide world wide commnunications within moments. In fact, after most major disasters the only news we get for the first day or two is via ham radio. Now to answer your question, where do you get the equipment? Sadly, due to the high cost of the equipment and the limited market ham radio dealers are few and far beteen. When the FCC issues your license they will also notify a number of dealers who will be sending you catalogs, but I would strongly advise you to hold off buying anything until you meet someone who can help you select what you need. For the moment I would encourage you to look for a 2meter Hand Held Transceiver. With that you could add a mobile cigarette light cord and a mobile antenna, then you could use that radio both as a hand held portable or a mobile in your car. You could also get a small 12volt power supply and a base antenna and use that radio at home. You can find brand new 2meter handheld transceivers on Ebay for about $150 to $200 and that would be all you need to get started. (I would not encourage you to buy a used radio on Ebay until you know a bit more about them, but if you meet someone in your local club who has a used rig they will sell cheap ask them to give you a working demonstration and if it works grab it.) When you contact the ARRL you should also order a copy of the ARRL Repeater Directory. The ARRL Repeater Directory is a small vest pocket sized book that lists all the VHF & UHF repeaters in the USA. You can then look up locations near where you live, or along your route when traveling and find the operating frequencies of the repeater towers. VHF & UHF is what is called "line of sight" communications, which means your range is to the optical horizon plus about 20%. In order to extend the range we have a newtwork of repeaters set up on high elevations or towers which will allow you an average of 75miles or more with a simple hand held radio. Keep in mind that is 75miles from you to the tower but you could also be talking to someone that is 75miles from the opposite side for a total of 150miles (In open terraine such as Texas, Oklahoma or the southwestern desert the range is sometimes 300 miles or more.) Actually hams started using repeaters back in the late 50's and it took ma bell well into the 80's before they copied the technology to give us cell phones. In fact, nearly all ham repeaters have a "Phone Patch". You key your transmitter and say...This is (your call sign) opening the patch, then hit the * on your radio keypad. Release your transmit button and you will hear a dialtone, now key your radio, punch in a phone number for a phone that is within the local dialing range of the tower and you make a phone call, then when finished you announce you are closing the patch and hit the # key, the patch is off. The limitation is that the number you call must be a local number from the repeater tower and it must be a personal phone. You may not call a business, but the up side is, the call is free.. Actually it is not exactly free. In ham radio it is considered a matter of respect to be a member of your local "Repeater Association" at about $30/yr (the ham radio club) and it is an unwritten rule that when your traveling you may use another clubs repeater.

So many of you have been helpful to me over the years here, I thought I'd join in. BS in Music Education from University of Illinois back in the 70s. DH also graduated from there; same year. We followed his career from the start, but I always found a job as a High School or Middle School Choral Director. Once DS and DD came along, I switched to Elementary School (fewer after school commitments) and that's where I stayed for awhile. We moved to NC when DD #2 was born and that's when I decided to take a break from teaching and stayed home, enjoying the time with them and the chance to decorate, of course! I went back to teaching full time when DD #2 was 5, and she came to school with me every day. Those were great years....hard but I'd never trade the experience. Once she moved on to middle school our financial situation changed and I no longer needed to work full time. I decided once again to stay at home, the last year all three kids were still at home with us. I still teach occasionally, filling in for a maternity leave now and then, and subbing for music teachers when they need someone. But I love the freedom I have now to pursue other interests. I was a voice major but never had the time to practice while I was teaching full time. Now I study with a great teacher and sing professionally with a couple of vocal ensembles, along with church gigs. DH and I are empty nesters but still in the same house we bought 25 years ago. It has seen its share of change and has served us well. Our needs continue to change, as we now look for ways to accommodate our growing family (both daughters have recently married) in the years ahead. Thanks all for your wonderful advice and for sharing so many of your stories!

mr. gabriel cut his first tooth just yesterday! he will be 8 months old on saturday. he's doing great! i think he's gonna be one of those babies who skips crawling all together and just starts walking. he "walks" all over the place with help from whichever grownup can bend long enough without back pain. LOL! needless to say, we take turns! he has figured out quickly all about putting one foot in front of the other. melissa is in the process of putting gates up to keep him corralled. he LOVES to be in the pool!!! he splashes like crazy and doesn't care a bit about getting his face wet. :) thanks for asking about him! he is the light of my life. i'm going up tomorrow to spend the day with him. he has this cute little fake cry when he's getting tired but fighting sleep. it cracks me up! i laugh at him and he starts laughing back. i LOVE rocking him to sleep! he is eating lots of different foods and is drinking from a little cup!!