[PaQSO] PaQSO Contest Diary

Fri Oct 19 09:52:15 EDT 2012

Haha! VERY cool (and entertaining, I might add) story, Pete! Thanks for sharing!

VY 73 de Glenn K3PP 

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 18, 2012, at 1:52 PM, TwelveVDC at aol.com wrote:

> 
> 
> [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"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> PaQSO mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/paqso
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:PaQSO at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html