Tom's Diary

11:05 PM: Hey   [Sam]!  Great hearing from you.  No.  I sold all my ham equipment when I left Dayton except for a Yaesu hand-held radio, and I’ve not used that in several years.  I still have my license (N8UBU), but that hobby grew too expensive while offering little in return.  True, it gave me joy, and that’s worth a lot.  But not as much as food on the table is worth.  Besides, I needed the proceeds from the gear to chase the girls in Philadelphia. 

Then, once I started writing, I lost interest in most of my hobbies (except home maintenance and computers).  Home maintenance I, sort of, have to do because my writing studio is here.  So I must keep that going.  And of course, I write and DJ with computers.  So I keep current on those technologies as well.  But once all that’s done, there’s not much time for other pursuits.

However, life is good though, as I’m more focused these days than ever before, and as a result, I think I’m really getting some meaningful stuff done presently.  One day, perhaps, once I’ve told all the stories I hope to tell, I’ll pick up amateur radio once more; not any time soon though; maybe when I retire.

Anyway, I’m glad you’re dong well.  Your girls must be close to high school graduation these days.  Do fill me in on anything else you deem relevant.  If ever I get to Dayton for a visit, we’ll have to visit Amar India – for old time’s sake.  Take care.

11:32 PM: Sometimes they put siding over brick to make the home look more contemporary.  But I think I’d just pay to have the brick sand-blasted rather than cover it with siding.  Of course, if it’s the style of the brick that makes it appear too retro, sand-blasting won’t fix that.    In that case, siding may be the only solution; short of redoing the brick.  Grrrrrr.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-05-21

Dear   [Mentat], 

Yep, I remember that Beam Box you owned throughout the late 1970s and well into the 1980s, although I played with it very little.  However, I know just from experimenting with antennas in ham radio, that when you tune an aerial to the desired frequency, and the antenna has a very high Q, you get amazingly good performance. 

Unfortunately, antennas like this for the FM band are hard to come by (with the exception of the Beam Box).  Because of how wide the FM band is (20 Mhz.), you really do need a tunable antenna to optimize reception for individual stations throughout the band.  A simple broadband antenna (like the whips on “rabbit ears” or the old dangling wire behind the receiver) just don’t cut it, although they admittedly work reasonably well when you have no better alternatives. Yep, the Beam Box was great.  I wonder if anyone makes something like that spectacular antenna today?  

Tom Hesley 

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-03-15
• WPEZ Radio Memories

[The local Lions Club asked me to prepare a biography about myself for them, in preparation for the speech I'm to deliver at the district L convention this coming November. I sent them the following information:]

[Friends:]

This is Tom Hesley. Here’s the bio information about me you requested..

History

1970 – 1979: Completed elementary, grade, and high schooling at the Western PA School for Blind Children (WPSBC).

1973 – 1979: Worked as a pot and dish washer in the WPSBC kitchens.

1976 – 1981: Held the novice class amateur radio license as well as the third and second class radiotelephone licenses.

1978: Worked as a farm hand in Bellwood, PA, bailing hay, weeding gardens, and other odd jobs.

1978 – 1979: Held a part-time engineering intern position at KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, PA.

1978 – 1979: Worked as a student telephone operator at WPSBC and was also the head technician at the WPSBC student-run radio station.

1979 – 1981: Completed electronics technician training at the Connelley Skill Learning Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

1981 – 1983: Held an electronics position at the University of Pittsburgh, repairing audio visual equipment including TVs, projectors, VCRs, amplifiers, speakers, tape recorders, stereos, lighting systems, and auditorium wiring.

1984 – 1988: Obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA.

1988 – 2003: Held various software engineering positions at [...], an electronic publishing company near Dayton, Ohio, where I developed and supported several software systems which to this day, are still turning profit for the company. I led software maintenance teams from 1997 through 2001 there, and at the very end, helped develop a web-based document retrieval system.

1998 – 2003: Maintained Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) expert status for the following computer operating systems: Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0.

Current Activities

1992 – Present: Holding an Extra Class amateur radio license.

2002 – Present: Running a part-time mobile disc jockey business, called Tommy’s Tunes Professional Disc Jockey Services.

2003 – Present: Pursuing writing full-time, with hopes of publishing motivational books for the lovelorn. I also participate in a monthly writer’s workshop group in Bellwood, PA.

2004 – Present: Holding the treasurer’s post in the alumni organization at WPSBC.

2005 – Present: Bellwood Antis Lions Club member, where I and routinely assist in their fundraising activities.

Interests

I enjoy classic literature, [studying] world religions, science fiction, music, maintaining a healthy life style, home maintenance, computers, old time radio, ham radio, and camping at Beacon Lodge in Mount Union, PA.

Tom Hesley

One thing I’d like to make clear right now is that a great many of my problems at the end of my career as a software engineer happened because I was home-based. Now I wasn’t about to go back to Dayton, and I’m glad they allowed me to continue working for them from Philadelphia. Yet in leaving Ohio, I had sewn the seeds for my eventual demise. Maybe in 1997, as soon as I relocated, I should have found a job in Philly. But I lacked confidence to do it.

Even today doing that would be hard because I’m just not going to lie about my vision impairment, and I’m getting older besides. Nonetheless, maybe if I looked for work I would in fact, find it, if I really wanted to find it. However, I do not. I’ve got close to 20 years of computer programming experience and have never been too far away from computers during that entire time. I’d clearly have much to offer if I went back to work. But do I want to?

Corporate life wasn’t all bad. It enabled me to do many nice things like buy a house, experiment with ham radio, buy my first PC, and it allowed me to experience Philly. Yes, I didn’t get along with people at times, but I’m better at that these days.

If I did work again, would I really need to race ahead to the top? Perhaps not. Without the pressure to advance, work just might be more enjoyable. I don’t have to lead anything anymore, because I’ve learned that I don’t enjoy leading. However, I’d like to keep a steadily increasing salary coming in. How would I do that without leading others?

I don’t know how to decide the work question at present. But in light of all this, working looks more appealing than it did, say, three months ago. Additionally, I know lots of computer languages including C, C++, Java, PERL, Pascal, HTML, … My experiences in these would make coming up to speed in any computer job less challenging. Perhaps I could take the Tommy’s Tunes laptop computer to a job interview and show them what I’ve programmed for the DJ business.

Philly wasn’t an all-bad experience either. In fact my first year, the year I lived on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was wonderful. If I could get a job again that would allow me to afford such a nice place once more, hey, that would be grand. So again, what do I want to do?

I’m stronger due to all these experiences. So I will no let people push me around. I’m not worried about getting a job and then losing it again six months later if I don’t like it. So maybe it’s time to get another job. How would I do that? I don’t like searching for them. But I could ask a head hunter for help. I’d describe to him or her my interests and the types of work I’d wish to avoid (such as online system support). I don’t want to be on call again. No pagers. Basically, I could start over and get it right this time. I could begin anew at the bottom of the totem pole and work my way up again, though not as aggressively this time as last. This time, past experience should help me avoid many painful roadblocks.

Tom Hesley

Dear [Lex],

Yes, when I talked with   [Rick]   yesterday, he said you guys would be visiting Catherine’s. I bet it was very fun.

My mom and sister, along with Mom’s boyfriend and me, all gathered in front of the 40’’ TV to watch it. A very good game it was indeed. Kept us on edge.

I guess you didn’t buy anything at HRO [Ham Radio Outlet], did you?

Well, I have to head upstairs and finish some work with the new heaters. Talk to you later on.

Tom Hesley

[Tad],

Thanks for the numbers. I’ll try and call you sometime during the next few days.

By the way, did I ever tell you that I graduated to ham radio from CB? My call is N8UBU, and I hold the Extra Class license, the highest you can go in this country. Unfortunately, this achievement doesn’t impress many girls.

Later bud.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Hey there. Cloudy here all day, and cold – mid 60s.

Got the parts for the office chair today. Hope to get them installed tonight.

Also received the hard drive case, hardware, and cables. The Cheetah drive itself is still in transit. Pretty exciting.

No shower repair at Diane’s tonight. She said something about having a migraine.

Talked to the camp friends last night on the radio. There’s a repeater between here and there, that we both can hit well. That was cool. Saved a long distance call. And they’re coming to the park on Friday, and I’ll go and spend a few hours with them.

Yep, your Mom. I know the type well. This guy from Philly I know [Rick], regardless of the situation, wants to change it. Even if all is running very well, he wants to gut it. It’s very frustrating to play games with him, because he always is modifying the rules, “to make it better.” Aaaaarrrggghhhh. I don’t have much more than an occasional conversation with him these days because that propensity in him becomes quite irritating in a very short period. He’s okay in small doses. But that’s all. It’s true that most processes could stand improvement. But this guy wants to change EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. And he has burnt most of his clout with me. It’s hard to take him seriously anymore because he does it so often.

Enjoy your time out tonight. Perhaps we’ll talk later. I’ll try you at the usual time.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Hya.

Very productive day here at work. I ran the analysis program against all our software. Found about 8 programs that will likely need changed to support the new operating system (Solaris 7). Now the next step is to repair all those. Since they all are failing for the same reason, the hardest part will be fixing the first one. Then, once the solution for that one is known, it can probably be applied to the others. I really hope that this is how it goes.

I’m really kicking myself for getting rid of all my old Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus books. They’d sure come in handy with this antenna stuff. Guess I’ll have to buy a few good texts again.

Mid 70s and sunny here today. Nary a cloud.

Mom’s outside hosing down the picnic table and side walks. [Her live-in lover] just went to work.

Diane was really tickled with the information you provided this morning [on the shrubs].

Hmmm. Purring in your ear as we lay together. Sounds like a novel idea. Will have to try it.

Well, if you WERE a fly on this wall, you’d see a big smile appear when that email arrives.

Later.

Tom

[Rick],

I’ll be bringing my Yaesu HT only.

Later.

Tom

Hi there, [Tamara].

Nice to receive your email.

Oh, all Is well at this end.

Looks like Ron and Matt will be able to join in on the ham radio fun next year at camp, now that they have their tickets. That’s wonderful.

Rick is making some headway with getting the Beacon Lodge Amateur Radio Enthusiasts (BLARE) club up and running. He has filed the necessary paperwork with the FCC. Next year, potential hams at camp will be able to operate 3rd party, using the club’s call, which I believe is going to be W3BLC (for Beacon Lodge Camp) or something like that. It’s very exciting.

On to Microsoft: No, I haven’t finished those courses. I’m not sure now if I’ll get to them or not. My job responsibilities have changed considerably since January. And I have to begin working with a new system in the next few weeks. Learning all that is required to do that, will be most challenging, and will not leave much time for the Microsoft studies. And it appears as though things will continue to be busy for the rest of the year. So, as fate would have it, I may not get to complete ALL the certification courses. But I did enjoy studying them. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

Best wishes on quickly finding other work, once you get laid off. You’re bright, and will probably have little difficulty.

I’ll mention to Rick that you’ve been trying to raise him tomorrow night, when we dine together at the Broadway.

Give TK my congratulations on passing his general. He’ll be and extra before he knows it if he keeps going at this rate. When are you going to get your general?

Carl sent me a tape the other day. He’s back to work and water skiing, and is doing well. He can never stay away from the water for very long.

Well, time for me to run as well. Thanks for the line. And take care.

 
Tom Hesley