‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM DECEMBER 2004 QST  PAGES 45 AND 92  ‰

WAITING SKIES.  WHAT AN ANTENNA PARTY WE HAD THAT WEEK.  THE ANTENNAS
GLEAMED IN THE MIDWESTERN SUN AS THE CREW BURIED THE CABLES AND ROUTED THEM
TO THE RIG.  TESTS WERE RUN TO PEG THE ROTATOR PERFECTLY ON NORTH.  BUT SAM
HAD SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST.  SOMETHING 
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20 2,214 MO Kendallville CNTSTR/21 Repeater Group K8IAT KC9DSB 462 2 10

WHILE BOTH WOMEN WERE BEHIND DELIVERY ROOM DOORS, THE TWO FATHERS DRANK
COFFEE AND NERVOUSLY PACED THE WELL POLISHED FLOOR.  OCCASIONALLY THEY
WOULD EXCHANGE A BIT OF BRAVADO.  LITTLE DID THEY KNOW THAT TODAYS EVENTS
WOULD INTERTWINE OUR TWO FAMILIES FOREVER.  MY FATHER HAD ARRIVED IN
AMERICA AFTER THE WAR, THE ELDEST SON OF A FARMER, A YOUNG MAN GOOD WITH
HIS HANDS, A SCROUNGER.  HE HAD HEARD THAT SEVERAL CITIES WERE LOOKING FOR
MEN TO DRIVE GARBAGE TRUCKS.  NEVER MIND THAT IN THE OLD COUNTRY MY FATHER
HAD PULLED A SMALL TRAILER BEHIND HIS BEAT UP CAR, PICKING UP OLD
APPLIANCES, CAR PARTS AND DEAD ANIMALS FROM NEIGHBORING FARMS.  HE HAD TO
LEARN ENGLISH.  AND BECOME A REAL AMERICAN, WITH A COMMERCIAL DRIVERS
LICENSE.  HE SPENT TEDIOUS HOURS IN NIGHT CLASSES LEARNING HOW TO
ASSIMILATE INTO THIS COUNTRY.  BUT HE DID IT AND SO DID MOM.  THEIR FACES
BEAMED AS THEY REPEATED THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE BEFORE THE NATURALIZATION
JUDGE.  STARTLED BY THE NURSE, SAMS FATHER WAS TOLD THAT HIS WIFE HAD GIVEN
BIRTH TO A SON AT 205 AM.  I WAS BORN THAT SAME DAY, AT 115 PM.  MY FATHER
CRIED WITH JOY.  AS I GREW, HE WOULD OFTEN SAY AT DINNERTIME THAT HE LOVED
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2,476 EPA Englewood ARS K4OU 583 2 15 2,466 WCF BEARONS W7FLY 576 2 12
2,446 WWA Jayhawk ARS W0OLB 550 2 19 2,400 KS Gaston County ARS, Inc N4GAS
541 2 68 2,384 NC W5ON 588 2 42 2,380 AR Mich A Con ARC KC8VC N8LT 520 2 10
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MOM AND ME MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF.  SAM AND I LIVED ACROSS TOWN FROM EACH
OTHER, SAM NEAR THE COUNTRY CLUB AND I AT THE EDGE OF TOWN WHERE DAD COULD
KEEP HIS GARBAGE TRUCK.  ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS DAD BOUGHT FOR OUR NEW
HOME WAS A CONSOLE RADIO.  MOM ENJOYED LISTENING TO BIG BAND MUSIC WHILE
SHE MENDED FOR OTHERS.  BUT WHEN DAD CAME HOME FROM A LONG DAY OF SLINGING
GARBAGE CANS, HE RELAXED IN HIS EASY CHAIR, LISTENING TO PROGRAMS FROM THE
OLD COUNTRY.  AS HE TURNED THE DIAL, WATCHING THE GREEN TUNING EYE,
ENORMOUS SPEAKERS WOULD BELT OUT THE NEWS OR MUSIC IN HIS NATIVE ARABIC.
HE NEVER FORGOT HIS ROOTS.  AND I WAS MESMERIZED.  SAMS FATHER HAD BOUGHT
HIM A ZENITH TRANSOCEANIC RADIO FOR EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATION.  WHEN SAM AND
I STOPPED BY HIS HOUSE AFTER SCHOOL, WE WOULD REVEL IN THE FIDELITY OF
THOSE GREAT ELVIS TUNES.  THE TWO SAMS WERE WELDED TOGETHER WITH THE SAME
INTERESTS GIRLS AND DREAMS.  WE GO FOR THE GENERAL AS TEENAGERS, WE FOUND
OURSELVES SITTING ONE DAY OUTSIDE THE FCC FIELD OFFICE, NERVOUSLY QUIZZING
‰  FROM PAGE 92  ‰
2,372 MI K9HAM 407 2 12 2,348 IL Verde Valley ARA W7EI 863 2 50 2,326 AZ
WPPS RC KG7GK 463 2 4 2,324 OR Wantagh ARC W2VA 451 2 10 2,308 NLI Barrie
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