W2LJ QRP - When you care to send the very least!

///////////////////////////////////////////
Some stability, but chaos continues

Posted: 15 Mar 2020 05:11 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/feedb...medium=em ail

On the job front, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have been
offered a position with the new contractor. There will be little change
from old to new - I lose two weeks of paid vacation, but to me that's minor
compared to seeking employment with another company at my age. Now begins
the tedious process of on boarding. When I was a young pup, fresh out of
college, you interviewed and if you were offered a position and accepted,
there was a handshake and you started working. Now there's all kinds of
hoops to jump through, forms to fill out, etc, etc, etc.

That aside, there's this COVID-19 crisis. SPARC meetings have been
cancelled for the time being, CERT classes offered by the county have been
cancelled for the time being and the new just came down that Hamvention has
been cancelled for 2020. I pray to God that this passes quickly and that
all of my family, friends and you, my readers, get through this unscathed.

Fortunately, while Amateur Radio is by large and social activity, it can
also be a solitary activity from the safe confines of one's shack. And so
it was that I continued to chase my personal goal of participating in all
the State QSO Parties in 2020.

This weekend we had the Oklahoma, Idaho and Wisconsin QSO Parties. I
managed to get QSOs in all three. I thought that Wisconsin would be a cake
walk and the other two a bit harder. Again, I was wrong. There were
surprisingly a lot of Oklahoma stations on the air on Saturday and
conditions were such that they were all pretty loud. I also scored a couple
of Idahoans on 20 Meters. They turned out to be easier to find than
expected. I really thought that Idaho was going to be tougher than it
turned out to be. Sunday was the Wisconsin QSO Party and I was able to log
stations on both 40 and 20 Meters.

The world may seem to be falling apart, but Amateur Radio continues to be
an activity where you can find satisfaction, enjoyment and accomplishment -
all from the comfort of home.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!