Baby, I Got the Blues

I didn't have much chance to play on the radio, or least on amateur radio this weekend.

I did have a nice QSO with WX5J, Nick in Helena, Arkansas, right near the Mississippi River in a geographical region known as the Delta. I heard Nick talking to some other OM and when he cleared I jumped in to talk to Nick. You see, I've been to Helena, AR a couple of times. Helena is famous for the Blues, and I truly love Blues music. Black people, escaping the harsh repression of Mississippi, would cross the river into Arkansas to have a good time, and that meant Blues music. In 1941 KFFA became the first radio station to play what was then known as "Race Music" everyday on King Biscuit Time. They have have had the same DJ since 1950, Sunshine Sonny Payne. I've met Mr. Payne and was even on the King Biscuit Time radio program as a guest, as you could be too, if you drop by the Delta Culture Visitor Center. Look up all the info at http://www.deltaculturalcenter.com/ and even listen to the King Biscuit Time show!

Helena has a world famouse Blues Festival every fall, which I've never been to, but want to badly. Nick is a musician and a Blues afficianado as well. So, it was a very fine QSO and one of the reasons I enjoy Ham Radio, you get to meet people like Nick.

Saturday, I got up late and was too busy to get on the radio, and Sunday I had a gig starting at 5am. I'm a Private Investigator by trade, and sometimes I get called in to do property protection, which is what I did from 5am til 5pm on Sunday. It was pretty rough, even though I was just a glorified security guard. I had to sit in my car the whole time and it got up to 106 degrees Faranheit (41 C) while I was there. That's hot!

I had the back entrance while my friend had the front entrance. He's not a ham, and the agency didn't give us any radios, so I took some FRS radios I've had for several years that I bought on sale and have only used once. I took all four radios and two chargers, but my inverter I use in my car only had one plug in (I remembered, incorrectly, that it had two) and the batteries didn't hold a charge for very long. I think the batteries are weak from not being used. Still, I was able to keep the radios going with just one charger. It really helped having the radios. Neither of us had gotten any sleep the night before and sitting around in a hot car watching an empty parking lot and gate makes you want to snooze! Having the radios allowed us to shoot the breeze and keep ourselves awake. I was really wishing I had a mobile HF station while I was out there to help pass the time. Twelve hours is a long time to do nothing, really. I'm just thankful for I those little FRS radios, which worked surprisingly well, all things considered.