The first ham I ever knew as a kid was a crusty old guy back home in
Pennsylvania who'd been licensed since about 1930 or so, even before
Pennsylvania was part of the 3rd call district.  He worked as a painter and
then only when it didn't interfere with more important things.  To say that
his family survived on modest means is putting it charitably.  However, this
guy _always_ had money for the newest ham gear ... hey, we've all got our
vices!  Anyhow, when the Kenwood 820 was the newest and hottest thing
around, my buddy bought one and sneaked it into his shack (a converted
school bus) in the dead of night.  How his wife found out about it never
came to light, but about two days later, he was talking to his western
Pennsylvania buddies on 3.955 when all of a sudden, those of us who happened
to be tuned in heard something like the following:

<Sound of door slamming>

"Hey, woman ... you put that gun down.  You crazy or something?"

"G*damn it, Joe, I just heard you've been wasting money on your g*damned
radio s*it again!"

"You stop waving that gun around, woman!  I'l beat you within an inch of
your life!"

"Our kids go to school looking like they live in Dogpatch and you can spend
all that money just to talk to your drinking buddies!  I'm going to put a
stop to this once and for all!"

<Sounds of struggle>

"You git the <expletive deleted> out of here and don't you _ever_ come back
in here!"

<Sound of door slamming, followed by footsteps approaching open mic>

"G*damn it to hell, the mic was open!"

This was definitely about the most interesting inadvertent transmission I
ever herd.  The old man outlived his wife, most of his kids, and died in his
sleep just a couple of years ago.

--
 Walt Smith - Raleigh, NC
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