[qrp-canada] FW: [QRP-L] The Glowbugs' Christmas

[rattray]

-----Original Message-----
From: qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:qrp-l-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Brad Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 12:14 PM
To: glowbugs at piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu
Cc: qrp-l at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [QRP-L] The Glowbugs' Christmas


The Glowbugs' Christmas
***********************

T'was the night before Christmas
And all through the shack
Not a heater was glowing
In all of the rack.

Sitting totally silent and quiet that night
The old HRO shed nary a light.
The Johnson exciter and its homebrew final
Felt cold as leftovers, or seat-cover vinyl.

I drowsed at my workbench feeling tired and weary,
The print in the Handbook looked fuzzy and smeary.
I thought, "I'll make coffee", and groaned to my feet
When I heard a loud clatter outside in the street.

What the--? I wondered and turned on the lights
And there I beheld a wondrous sight:
A battered old van heaped high with components
And a grizzled old ham with a bagful of doughnuts.

I noted his callsign-- can't recall it today--
But a patch on the side read "FMLA".
I opened the door and hollered "Come in!
The coffee pot's heating, and we'll sit down and chin!"

He spoke not a word but whistled in Morse
A "GE OM", and "By golly, I'm hoarse.
Too many contacts, and hot rosin smoke."
I nodded and poured him a mug of jamoke.

He emptied the doughnuts in a pile on a plate
And explained in a whistle, "I'm running real late.
I've new 6L6s and fine 211s, 6146s and good 'SN7s.
And 866s and 0B2s, type 45s and mil-spec 807s."

"For the regennie crowd, 201s by the score
And good ol' type 30s and 19s galore.
I haven't neglected the passive-parts run
There's lots of good iron by old Thordarson."

I nodded and smiled, suppressing a chortle
As he reached in his pack and left me a 304TL.
He whistled, "I'm leaving, the coffee was great,
But I'm overdue in the neighboring state."

"Keep everyone building the rigs of their choosing
Or we'll lose the bands that we're lazy in using.
Transistors or tubes-- any project is fine--
Just keep on constructing and sharing on line."

He leaped to his feet and waved a gloved hand
As he sprang for the door and his rusty old van.
I heard him exclaim as he drove away from me,
"Merry Christmas, you Glowbugs, and to all 73!"

****************************

(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, who surely would have been a ham
had radio existed in his time, Alas, all he had to build with was words.)

73--

Brad  AA1IP

______________________________________________________________
QRP-L mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qrp-l
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:QRP-L at mailman.qth.net