Phil, just remember Big Brother AKA Uncle Sam, or whatever the hell you want
to call it is watching you.  Hehehehe!  Don't worry, your secret is safe
with me until I get to work tomorrow.  Just kidding!  Actually, I'll be out
of there in a little over 2 weeks.  Can't wait!

73
Aimee
KK4JHF
"Be well, do good work and keep in touch." (Garrison Keillor)

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Phil Scovell
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 5:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Sin of Omission: A Re buttal of Goodwill's Policy Statement
on Subminimum Wage Payments to Workers with Disabilities

Michael,

I sure understand your situation based upon my own personal experiences of
hamming in these last 47 years.  I started out with a 15 dollar transmitter
and 40 dollar receiver and both had to be repaired before I could even put
them on the air.  I was 14 then.  After passing my general 6 months later,
my mom purchased me a bran new Drake TR4 for a Christmas present and it cost
495 dollars; the first new radio I own after many years had passed.  When I
was working full time, with my income tax return, I hope the IRS isn't
reading my mail, I purchased a bran new, and very popular, FT101B and was in
hog heaven since I had to sell my Drake TR4 when I got married for money to
pay bills with.  From then on, I ran nothing but used gear, including a 1
watt HW7 CW triple band radio, which I used for 18 months.  I paid 40
dollars for it and worked over 600 stations with my 1 watter rig.  I had
super fun like I never thought possible running QRP like that.  About 4
years ago, I was able to buy a whole new stations through money that came to
my wife and I that we didn't know about.  She told me, "Why don't you buy a
whole new station with the money?"  I had nothing but a 30 year old radio at
the time.  The ham radio creed used to be, buy the least expensive radio and
just get on the air no matter what.  The hobby has become something totally
different and hams to help has changed to a big zero factor here in Denver
compared to what it was back in Omaha but that was 40 years ago so it has
probably diminished, too.  Still, there is used gear, or even gear that is
borrowed from another ham, if the word is put out.  I went for several years
off air when I first got married but a friend I made in Denver loaned me his
HW100 and I had a blast playing with it.  He rarely used it.  Unfortunately,
there aren't many of those hams around these days so I sure know your
feelings.  It sometimes helps to be on 2 meters because you can meet more
guys who might, that is a big, if, might help in some way.  There are
organizations that help hams get their own station, too.  Is Handy Hams
still doing that or not?

Phil.
K0NX




----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Thurman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2013 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: The Sin of Omission: A Re buttal of Goodwill's Policy Statement
on Subminimum Wage Payments to Workers with Disabilities


> how about the ability to not get fed over  by multi millionaires, and 
> be = able to actually afford to live  let alone buy ham radio stuff? 
> if you = can't afford to put food on the table or liv independently, 
> it would be = rather hard to have radios wouldn't it?  To be honest I 
> am surprised at = how many seemingly well to do blind hams there are 
> on this list. = constantly talking about getting new radios, towers 
> ext, and i am going = to assume you are one of those who have and 
> always have had plenty of = money. I know what it is like to not have 
> food on the table to pay rent = and wonder if you will be abe to have 
> a place to live by the time you = get money to pay the rent.  There 
> are a lot of disabled people with = nothing who depend on  sometimes 
> unsafe unsanitary disgusting government = housing. You can't put up 
> antennas in government housing.  so What does = this have to do with ham
radio? a great deal.
> If you can't have antennas and can't live somewhere decent, and have 
> to = struggle to just exist, ham radio isn't exactly  easy, as it is 
> not a = cheap hobby. I am currently off the air because I  have to 
> wait to get = money to fix up my antennas in fact, and I am lucky 
> enough to live in a = home with my girlfriend