I got this today in my email. While the callsign is fake, leaving the whole
story in question, it's still creative:

Subject: 1000 Marbles

Food for thought. A Ham Radio Fan Writes:

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet
solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the
unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours
of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling
toward the basement ham-shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and
the morning paper in the other.

What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons
that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in
order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came
across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice.
You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting
business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "A
Thousand Marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to
say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they
pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family
so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or
seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's
dance recital he continued." "Let me tell you something that has helped me
keep a good perspective on my own priorities."

And that's when he began to explain his theory of "A Thousand Marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average
person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live
less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the
number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime."

"Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me
until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he
went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred
Saturdays.

I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a
thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every
single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to
round up 1000 Marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear
plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one Marble out and thrown it away.
I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really
important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on
this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my
lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last Marble
out of the container.

I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family,
and I hope to meet you again here on the band.

This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow singed off.

I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the
antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to
work on the next Club Newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife
up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast!"

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday
together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're
out? I need to buy some Marbles...

--
Kim W5TIT

Great post, Kim. Thanks for the reminder. :-)

--
73 de Bert
WA2SI

"Kim W5TIT" wrote in message
...
I got this today in my email. While the callsign is fake, leaving the
whole
story in question, it's still creative:

Subject: 1000 Marbles

Food for thought. A Ham Radio Fan Writes:

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the
quiet
solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the
unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours
of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling
toward the basement ham-shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand
and
the morning paper in the other.

What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons
that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in
order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came
across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden
voice.
You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting
business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "A
Thousand Marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to
say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they
pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your
family
so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or
seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's
dance recital he continued." "Let me tell you something that has helped me
keep a good perspective on my own priorities."

And that's when he began to explain his theory of "A Thousand Marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average
person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some
live
less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the
number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime."

"Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me
until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail",
he
went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred
Saturdays.

I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a
thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every
single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to
round up 1000 Marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear
plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one Marble out and thrown it
away.
I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really
important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on
this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my
lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last Marble
out of the container.

I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more
time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family,
and I hope to meet you again here on the band.

This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow singed off.

I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the
antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to
work on the next Club Newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my
wife
up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast!"

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday
together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're
out? I need to buy some Marbles...

--
Kim W5TIT

In article , "Kim"
writes:

I got this today in my email. While the callsign is fake, leaving the whole
story in question, it's still creative:

Subject: 1000 Marbles

Food for thought. A Ham Radio Fan Writes:

This classic has been around for several years, Kim, but it's well worth
repeating. The callsign might not be a fake, but rather one that has been
turned back for a vanity call - or a Silent Key - in the years since it first
appeared..

Thanks for posting it here.

73 de Jim, N2EY