Stray dogs

This blog has nothing to do with the poor boy mauled by a Rottweiler recently. The boy was lucky enough to survive the incident. I would strongly urge the parents of the boy to take legal action against the owner of the bitch as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Australian slang, or the Aussie Strine was invented by convicts in the older days. They wanted to disguise thier language so that the authority could not understand what they were talking about. As a legacy, the contemporary Australian English is littered with idioms, similes and invented words that make it one of the world's most advanced English dialects.

In the world of ham radio and citizen band, operators had also invented many jargons. For example, in the CB slang, "I saw a kojak with a kodak" means there are police officers manning speed trap with radar gun. The tuck shop is a shop that sells candy, but in ham radio slang, it is the FCC (in the US) or MCMC (in Malaysia), i.e. the authority who issues the license. I guess the reason is to "get away" even though the QSO had been recorded. You can always argue that you are referring to the real thing.

So, what about "stray dog"? Well, I am not sure whether it is already a ham jargon. If not, I would like to coin this term here. Stray dog has no license tag around their neck, and in ham radio, "stray dog" could be equated to pirate who transmits without a license or ham who transmits without mentioning callsign. Here is a story (or satire) about stray dog.

While most of the 9Ws are busy with their Chinese Wine practice sessions, there are also some who still go on air finding new ragchew partners. Of course, some 9Ms are also busy pushing Chinese Wine down their students' throat. There was one particular ragchew session that was polluted with stray dog recently. Many hams were having round robin on that fateful day. Someone was asking another ham regarding a parrot that he heard. Well, in the ham community, it is always great to share. Some do not aware that we are sharing the frequency, sharing repeaters everyday. When the good samaritan came back to share the music note of the parrot, a copulating stray dog came in and step on the poor guy. The bastard barked that the music note could not be shared, that particular parrot belongs to a group that had gone astray. "Make love to" you, son of the bitch, "shoo" "shoo", stay away from this parrot.

Well, these stray dogs that have gone astray are fanatics. They are racist as well. Go and find out yourself by looking at the dog food label. It is only fit for dogs. I understand that a parrot is considered as a private property. This is especially true in Uncle Sam land. However, the stupid parrot is not registered with the tuck shop. Come on, even it is meant for a limited herd, don't bark, speak words that homo sapiens can understand politely. Respect is something reciprocal, and is earned from your diplomatic skill. No hard feeling when there is mutual respect. Everyone will understand your situation. However, that stray dog did not exercise its skill in order to achieve the result. After all, the music note of the parrot could be filtered. So, what's the big deal here? Oh yeah, I forgot, you can't teach an old dog new trick. WTF?

I hope that this incident where a stray dog barking at the wrong tree does not deter any hams from pursuing their interest. Just ignore stray dogs in the future. You can't take away people's freedom. We learned from Viktor Frankl that there were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate.

Calling all hams, come and make the streets safer and cleaner. 73.

The latest craze in town - Charlie Willie

Today (March 9 ,2005) is the closing date for the application to sit for the Morse Code test. The tuck shop will be conducting the test on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of this month as well. I would like to wish all those going for it "Good luck!".

On certain repeaters, there is CW training being conducted. Thanks to those 9M's who are spending their time and effort to bring up a new generation of 9M's. Tabik! (Salute!) On other repeaters, the amount of QSOs seem to have reduced tremendously. The best explanation is that people are busy preparing themselves for this coming battle. Listening to the dits and the dahs, listening to the rhythm, etc. In my opinion, transmitting (sending) CW is easier than receiving (copying). This is mainly because you can control what to send, but you cannot anticipate what is being sent from others, especially when it is made up of random characters.

While people keep practising, it is important to be aware and be alert to the surroundings. Some people listen to CW until they fall asleep. There are all kind of free software out there on the Internet to be downloaded to assist you on CW training. Remember not to turn it on too loud. Otherwise, your neighbour might come knocking on your door and ask, "Mr. 'name withheld', you forgot to turn off your alarm clock ka?"

By the way, it is possible to learn up CW in less than a month. Our friendly uncle share with us an inspirational and motivational "kisah benar" the other day. One day while we was still lying on the bed in the hospital, another ham (who is also our friendly uncle) signed him up for CW test. Friendly uncle #2 left friendly uncle #1 a note telling him not to get mad at him or at the nurse, but instead, start practising. CW test is exactly one month from that fine day. Of course, they passed the test, and they live happily ever after.

Something from Empire Strikes Back,

(Luke looks over at Artoo, who is rocking urgently back and forth in front of him. Waddles closer to Luke, chirping wildly, then scoots over the edge of the swamp. Catching on, Luke rushes to the water's edge. The X-wing fighter has sunk, and only the tip of its nose shows above the lake's surface)

Luke: Oh, no. We'll never get it out now.
(Luke stamps his foot in irritation)

Yoda: So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?
(Luke looks uncertainly out at the ship)

Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.

Yoda: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke (focusing, quietly): All right, I'll give it a try.

Yoda: No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.

So, for those going for the CW test at the end of this month, remember, "there is no try", do your best! Good luck! May the force be with you! 73.