Left without a care

Among my many hobbies that I don't actually do because they take up time that I don't seem to have anymore is ham radio. I got my license about ten years ago, in a little bit of enthusiasm as I staggered through grad school and got my school's ham radio club --- an ancient one, dating back to before they needed a national prefix, in this case, `W' --- reactivated. Well, a ham radio license naturally lasts ten years, so just as I was starting to think about when it did expire and when it would need renewal I got letters to renew. None of them are from the FCC, which apparently has got out of the business of caring whether hams renew their licenses, but never mind that.

One's from the Amateur Radio Relay League, which was Hugo Gernsback's other great scheme for taking technically-minded, socially-awkward teenage males and networking them together in an organization that allows ... and then somehow profit. (This probably worked better than creating science fiction fandom, since Gernsback could at least sell ham radio fans electrical components.) They're happy to do the paperwork for renewing my license for free, as long as I fill out a form, if I take a one-year membership in the ARRL. Still, tempting offer.

W5YI, an organization which provides volunteers to run ham radio exams, made another offer, where they'd take care of the paperwork and renewal for only $7.00, with no membership in anything implied or required. Although come to think of it I believe I might have signed up as a volunteer coordinator in order to help the grad school club draw in new members. Maybe they can check on that for me. I'm not a very active member. The W5YI form explains how easy it is: just return the white card if all the information on it is correct, or the ``ivory'' card if anything needs modification. I'm thrown by color choices that aren't in the default World Wide Web Consortium list of standard colors for style sheets. If I had the choice I'd have sent out yellow carsd for the modifications-needed form. Also I think their ``ivory'' card is closer to Khaki anyway, as it looks on my screen.

Trivia: Bislett Stadium in Oslo, chosen for the opening and closing ceremonies (and skating events) of the 1952 Winter Olympics, had after renovations room for 27,000 spectators, although only seats for three thousand of them. Source: Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement, Editors John E Findling, Kimberly D Pelle.

Currently Reading: Distress, Greg Egan.