Well, in 2013, two states had legal pot.
Colorado and Washington.
Who were the two teams that made the superbowl?
Seattle and Denver.
Coincidence, I think not.
Phil, if you decide to be a science experiment, let us know the results.
The only thing that may be inhibited is the ability to do CW.
You have to remember what was said for to long.
Now listening may be enhanced.
You might just dig the sound.
Shame Loran is gone, you could listen to that for hours.
JT65 might make your day.  What a groove.

On guns, I wouldn't have a problem with them if the bullet would go where it
was intended and stop there.
I agree with Pat Paulson.
The problem isn't guns, its bullets.
Have all the guns you want and lock up all the bullets.

I have often wanted to test the gun thing, by walking in to a store and
buying one, just to see what they'd do.
My fear is that they would do nothing, and then what would I do with the
damn thing!!!


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Matzura
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2015 5:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: An embarrassing ham moment

That does it. I'm moving to Denver. Medical marijuana, guns for the blind,
what a life! LOL. My glaucoma will thank the governor of Colorado every day!

On Fri, 13 Mar 2015 00:25:59 -0600, you wrote:

>I had a really embarrassing experience today that should have never =
happened=20
>to a guy whose been a ham right at 49 years.  I read a couple of left =
over=20
>emails about 11 PM last night and went off to bed.  I'm not on as 
>many=20 mailing lists as I once was so I don't get 300 to 400 messages 
>a day=20 anymore; more like 30 to 40 at best.  First thing I noticed 
>about noon =
today=20
>was that I had no internet connection.  I did all the usual things,=20 
>including checking to see if my ear buds were plugged in just in case =
they=20
>were cutting my speakers off but everything was fine.  So, I unplugged 
>=
the=20
>comcast modem I have, my other one died a few months ago, unplugged 
>the=20 router, shut down the computer, plugged the modem for the cable 
>back in =
and=20
>plugged the router back in, and fired up the computer from a cold 
>boot.=20 Nothing.  I did it a couple of more times and when nothing 
>worked, I =
mean,=20
>no internet access for mail or the web, I checked everything all over =
again.=20
>Well, comcast has the automated phone menu thing that, if you punch 
>the=20 right button on your phone, it will send a signal to jump start 
>your =
modem.=20
>If it sees you are dead in the water, it switches you to tech support.  
>=
The=20
>pulse they sent out didn't help so it was still dead as a doornail.  =
Well, I=20
>didn't want to call them for more than one reason.  I must admit, on 
>the=
=20
>other hand, that after today's experience, Comcast has greatly 
>improved=20 their tech support services.  Plus, the last time they came 
>out to check=
 out=20
>my dead modem to replace it with a newer one, the tech guy was super=20 
>friendly.  We talked about football, guns, the weather, and hardly =
anything=20
>about computers.  He stood right here and used his cell phone to 
>confirm=
 a=20
>gun buy he was making.  He told me, I forget what gun he was buying 
>now,=
 he=20
>had to sell a couple of his guns in his collection to get whatever 
>this=20 firearm was and this all do  to the bumper sticker my youngest 
>son has =
on=20
>one of his vehicles about second amendment rights he saw when he went =
out to=20
>climb the telephone pole to check my cable.  Yes, the guy, and my 32 =
year=20
>old son, are licensed, registered, and have concealed carry permits.  I 
>=
know=20
>more about guns and ammunition than I know about computers by just =
listening=20
>to hams in Colorado and Texas and Wyoming and Nebraska and Kansas on =
160,=20
>75, and 2 meters discussing what they own for weapons.  We have lots of 
>=
gun=20
>shows out here, too, and every single radio station advertises firearms 
>=
and=20
>shooting ranges.  I've got a firing range almost within walking 
>distance=
 of=20
>my home, no fooling, and I'm still in Denver city limits.  Of course, =
where=20
>I live, you best have a sidearm just to walk out to your mail box.  
>I'm=20 kidding but it is almost true.  My kids, when they were between 
>8 and =
12,=20
>witnessed a shooting less than 300 feet from my front door.  How'd I 
>get=
 off=20
>on all that?  Anyhow, so the tech guy for Comcast and I are on the =
phone.=20
>He tells me to unplug the modem so he can see if anything changes on 
>his=
=20
>end.  Nothing happened.  He checks to see if there are any other 
>outages=
 in=20
>my area.  None.  He asked me to read the model number off to him, this 
>=
is=20
>another reason why I hate calling tech support, and I explained I was =
blind=20
>as a bat but my son had been over earlier that day and he said all the 
>=
modem=20
>and router lights were on and everything was showing good to go?  =
Another=20
>reason why I hate calling tech support is due to my voice.  I developed 
>=
some=20
>vocal cord problems a couple of three years ago and talking normally is 
>=
not=20
>only difficult but frustrating.  Thank the Lord I'm a CW op so I don't 
>=
have=20
>to worry about jumping in to huge sideband pile ups I stumble across 
>any=
=20
>longer.   He asks me to unscrew the cable itself so he can check it =
again.=20
>I tried screwing the cable off but the gun nut that replaced my modem a 
>=
few=20
>months ago, you know, the one who climbed the telephone pole just =
outside my=20
>ham shack?  That guy must have used super glue or gorilla glue when 
>he=20 tighten that sucker up because I couldn't even make it moved.  
>Since my =
neck=20
>and spinal surgery 6 years ago, my hands are very weak and even trying 
>=
to=20
>drive a screw into wood is almost impossible for me now.  I would 
>have=20 grabbed a wrench and tried twisting the thing off but between 
>my boys=20 borrowing my tools, along with my grandchildren taking them 
>off to play=20 with, I don't have even simple tools like screw drivers 
>left.  In fact, =
I=20
>just bought myself a 50 dollar Swiss Army knife last week off of Amazon 
>=
with=20
>13 implements, all stainless steel, and I made sure half of the tools =
were=20
>useful things like a flat edge screw driver, a Phillips screw 
>driver,=20 scissors, a couple of good blades and even a small wood saw.  
>This way =
they=20
>will have to take it from me before using it.  The problem before was =
them=20
>just borrowing my tools and forgetting to tell old dad and old grandpa. 
>=
 So,=20
>I explain this to the guy on the phone.  He says, fine, and said, "I 
>can=
=20
>wait on the line if you want to get your son to come and screw it off =
for=20
>you."  My son was at work, I explained, so the guy said, no problem, =
let's=20
>try it again.  So, I reach behind the cable modem sitting on my desk 
>and=
=20
>grabbed the plug.  As soon as I started to unplug it, I said to 
>myself,=20 "Wait just a cotton picking second."  I was unplugging the 
>dad blamed =
jumper=20
>cable running over to my router and not the AC power cord.  Holy Cow!  
>I=
=20
>couldn't believe it.  Some ham radio operator I am.  I almost began =
laughing=20
>but I didn't want the guy thinking he wasn't doing his job so I =
explained I=20
>had been pulling out the wrong plug, why, I don't know.  Yes, I saw 
>that=
=20
>square plug, whatever they are called, and should have realized it =
wasn't=20
>the power cord but I decided later, I had a very good reason for making 
>=
such=20
>a simple embarrassing mistake.  First, I was in a lot of pain today for 
>=
some=20
>unknown reason from the previous spinal surgeries.  There isn't a day, 
>=
any=20
>longer, that I don't have back and neck pain for that matter.  I was =
hurting=20
>so much, I bummed a couple of pain pills off my wife, who is going to =
have=20
>hip surgery in a couple of weeks, and after washing them down with 
>cool=20 mountain spring water, I tuned the bands and waited the two 
>hours it =
takes=20
>for the dump pills to even act like they are working.  If things don't 
>=
start=20
>working better, I'm going down to one of the Colorado Marijuana pot =
shops=20
>and make a buy score some weed.  Guess what time I called Comcast 
>tech=20 support.  I checked my watch and it was almost exactly two 
>hours that =
had=20
>passed as I dialed on my iPhone.  I knew I should not have called them 
>=
but I=20
>was tired of not figuring it out after 14 to 15 hours of being offline. 
>=
 So=20
>between the pain, and the pain pills that were beginning to work, not 
>to=
=20
>mention my age, and, oh, yes, the tinnitus I have due to the stress=20 
>generated by the pain, I was really not firing on all 8 cylinders.  I =
could=20
>blame it on my blindness, especially when the guy asked me to look at =
the=20
>lights and tell me what I was seeing after I'd already told him I was =
blind=20
>but being blind had nothing to do with the event.  Plus, the way my =
voice=20
>works, I sometimes sound like I'm 80 years old or more.  As we waited =
for my=20
>old computer to cold boot for the second time, this tech guy and I =
talked=20
>about the snow we've had in Denver of late, how nice the 60 and 70 =
degree=20
>current weather was, how he was born and raised right here in 
>Denver,=20 something unusual, the Denver Broncos and how we both hoped 
>Payton =
Manning=20
>would take Denver to the super bowl again since this most likely will 
>be=
=20
>Manning's final year playing football, and finally, my computer comes =
alive=20
>and pulls down a mail packet.  Man, is my old computer slow.  I had 
>to=20 explain all this about my computer to the tech guy and he 
>probably =
figured,=20
>by this point, I didn't have a clue.  I almost told him I started in=20 
>electronics when I was 10 years old and that I was a ham but I was =
afraid it=20
>would draw a dark cloud over the ham community forever, plus it likely 
>=
was=20
>being recorded and I didn't want anybody to hear what I had done, but 
>at=
=20
>least now I have mail.  It is a good thing I'm not climbing towers 
>any=20 longer.  I average 100 contacts using Morse Runner every day at 
>30 to 45=
=20
>words per minute just to keep sharp.  Today was pretty dull, you might 
>=
say,=20
>but it was funny, even if it was embarrassing, too.  I am going to =
copyright=20
>this email so I get a dollar for every person you forward this to.  Who 
>=
says=20
>you can't make money off of ham radio, haha.
>
>Phil.
>K0NX