[PaQSO] PaQSO Contest Diary

[TwelveVDC at aol.com]

[Friday night]

Dear PAQSO Diary,

I never get the County Sweep. <sniff>
Always three, two, or (aarrrgghhh!) one short.

You know what I'm talking about.

This Contest is like that girl with the long blonde hair in 7th grade I was 
secretly, madly in love with who never even knew I existed. My crushed, 
broken heart had bloody footprints wiped all over it until the Mets beat 
Baltimore in the Series. I've gotta try something different this year..

Say... what if I ONLY concentrate on the sweep... and NOTHING else?!? THAT 
could maybe.. actually work...

Oooh! Let's have a little MORE fun with this.. How FEW contacts could such 
a thing possibly take to accomplish? Hmmm.. Let's see.. 67 Counties; minus 
13, divide by 2, add a 38 special, (which might come in handy) + 2 cups of 
coffee, and you get, um... 67 Q's! Cool!!

Has this ever been done before, Diary??

Obviously, it could only be a "S&P" operation. Can't expect them all to 
magically come to ME. (But I'm used to that. My barefoot peanut signal never 
held a frequency for a run like those splattering QRO guys, anyway.) Hey, 
Diary! I'll be finished by Saturday and get to watch all the games on Sunday! 
67's a whole lot less that my usual 300+ phone effort. Hmmm... methinks a plan 
is underfoot, Diary!

[Saturday morning]

Dear PAQSO Diary,

I had trouble falling asleep; my mind assembling a strategy. Ok, print out 
the County list so I can cross 'em off quickly as I go. Hit an' run; keep 
moving. Watch the posts on the reflector; print the /Rover skeds and lay 'em 
out in chronological order; watch the clock. Start out at the bottom of the 
band and tune up, listening just long enough to hear the County's they're in 
and jump in or beg permission to work the one you need. Dive in, log it, 
dive out! Talk to you later, Diary, with a BIG announcement. <grin> I'm SO 
psyched!!

[Sunday, 1:02am]

Dear PAQSO Diary,

HOLY CRAP! I'm eleven short! What was I thinking!? My buddies are gonna 
KILL me for only making 56 Q's after the pep rally we just had at the Club 
Meeting! Those first 15 went in the log easier than a pint of ice cream goes 
into the xyl watching "The Bachelorette!" And now some guys are posting that 
they need fewer than I do! Ohhh, NOOO!! All that WORK for a shameful 
aggregate! I should have had the sweep in RECORD time! Oh, the humanity!

[Sunday afternoon bathroom break]

Dear PAQSO Diary,

Yes!! I only need 4 more Counties! I can taste victory! But I'm not making 
any friends by telling three or four ops, "No," when they asked if they can 
work me! Who would understand I was trying to create a record MINIMUM of 
67/67, and I already bagged the County they were in? (I deserved those 
raspberries the GRUMP replied with.) Another guy said, "So much for the 'Friendly 
Party!'" (Oh, will they ever understand and forgive me?) No time to explain my 
goal! I need 4 more!

[Sunday, 6:10]

Dear PAQSO Diary,


Well, Diary, it's over, and the fat lady is singing. Those last few hours 
were uglier than my ex-wife's lawyer. An email to my buddy in a needed 
northern County brought him on frequency and in the log. Then I stood by chatting 
with big signal op, W3PRL who owned 7.263 calling only for JUN.. If anyone 
was gonna bag JUN, it'd be Paul, and I'm sitting in the shadow of his bait. 
Sure enough, K3F/R drives there to satisfy the demand, and Paul and I get in 
the log as absolute pandemonium ensues. Then, a lead I heard prompted a 
phone call that brought probably the most demanded County in this year's contest 
to a clear frequency I chose. I was his #2. The riot that erupted after I 
logged him, probably provided him with the best 1-hr Q rate ever seen in the 
annals of radio contesting.


Just... one... more. 
Just... one... more.


(An easy one, too, going by what everyone else is sayin'.)


..Wait a minute.. I KNOW somebody there. How could I forget? Gimme the 
phone!


Well, Diary, a few minutes later he was in the log. I am grinning like the 
cat who swallowed your obnoxious pet canary! Feels like when you make your 
last car payment; or after 5½ years of college, your youngest graduates and 
finally moves out.


I'm doing the 'happy dance,' shouting, "I did it! Yippee, I got the SWEEP!" 
My wife is talking on the phone with someone, and says, "I dunno.. Some 
stupid 'Radio' thing." My daughter turns the volume up on the TV as I pass 
by... C'est la vie. Pearls to swine. 


So, Diary, did I break any records? I don't know yet, but I'll bet someone 
else will try. By the way, I never counted on managing to work all 67 
Counties with only 66 contacts, thanks to W3EC on the FRA/FUL line!


Now... what will I do NEXT year, Diary?

No one has EVER gotten the SECTION sweep before...

Hmmm...






de NL7XM
Pete "The Greek"