Back in 1973 I was a long haul truck driver and I got idea that I wanted to get an Amateur Radio License, but not knowing any hams and never being in one place long enough to attend classes I did it on my own. I began by learning the code from some audio tapes, then i would dit dah away reciting road signs in code as I drove along. Finally I aquired a ham radio receiver and began copying off the air but i couldn't make heads or tails of it. I continued copying off the air for nearly a year and I could stay with the high speed code but I just could not grasp what was being said. Finally I was sitting at home a few days and a friend had been attending ham radio classes so she invited me to sit in on one with her. I went to the class and sat in on their 5 word per minute code practice. At the end of about ten minutes the instructor asked why i had not written anything, did i not copy anything? I said, at that pace, are you crazy, sure i copied it then i wrote out what was said. We talked a few minutes and i informed the instructor that i had been copying off the air but it didnt make sense to me. He said come on in the radio room and lets see your problem so I sat down to a rig and tuned the upper end of the 40meter band and began copying. After about ten minutes everybody in the room was laughing at me. I had copied a 40 word per minute transmission with 100% accuracy. My problem was that no one had ever taught me the telegraphers shorthand..Hi HI For those unfamiliar with CW (Continuous Wave commonly called radio morse code) a typical transmission would look like the following: KA1DAO DE KC8UXZ RR GE OM ES TNX FER CUL UR RST 599 599 NAME HR DICK DICK QTH MASS MASS WX CLDY ES RAIN BK TO U K Translated- KAIDAO (station being called) DE (called by) KC8UXZ (Station calling) RR means message follows) GE OM (Good Evening Old Man) ES (AND) TNX FER CUL (Thanks for call) UR RST(Radio signal report-Readibility scaled 1-5 /Signal Strength scaled 1-9 & Tone scaled 1-9) NAME HR DICK (Senders name is Dick -repeated) QTH (My location is) Mass (Nassachusetts -repeated) WX-CLDY & Rain (Weather report cloudy & rain) BK TO U(Back to you) K (end of transmission) Needless to say, i got my first Novice Ticket (Amateur Radio License -Novice level) that night. In those days a Novice license was only valid for one year and was restricted to CW only, Max 75watts output and Crystal Controlled Transmitters). Twenty one days before my Novice Ticket expired the FCC approved renewing a novice license and they approved a novice to have a tunable transmitter as well as receiver. I was so content with brass pounding that I kept my Novice ticket for nearly ten years before upgrading to General Class.

I thought there was a thread on this a while ago and I know some suggested treating First Communion just like any other celebration, and giving non-religious gifts, but personally I would highly recommend sticking with a religious type gift. I would fit the gift to the occasion, so just like I wouldn't show up with a bottle of cologne or some socks for a housewarming, I wouldn't bring a basketball to a First Communion Party. Here are some suggestions... Religious Books (kid bibles, books on Saints, etc.) or a nice Rosary (although they may get more than one, he can still use it). If you have a religious type store in your area they probably have a lot of stuff. Below is a link that may give you some ideas. The amount you spend would probably depend on your relationship to the child. If you are family friends but not real, real close I would think anywhere from $10-30 would be fine. It's really not a big present giving occasion and focus is more on the sacrament itself. I fall else fails, or you don't feel comfortable giving a religious gift, I'd stick a $20 in a Communion Card...maybe a little more if you are closely related. ps...What does OT mean? (Off Topic???) Here is a link that might be useful: Gift Ideas

Just not ready yet. Still dig, divide, and replant in the fall - they'll get bigger next year if grown in the right conditions.

"prolly" = probably. "ot" = off topic. So "prolly mostly ot" (or probably mostly off topic) refers to a conversational thread that may or may not have anything to do with the forum subject.