Day #6 - Mud on the wheels...

A few posts back I was lamenting my insomnia. Now, it seems to be swinging the other  way. Way back when I was on some SERIOUS meds I used to eat like a horse. I just couldn't help myself; chocolate, pizza (lots), crisps ("chips" to folks out Stateside), whatever was to hand. I have some pictures of myself from back then and whilst I wasn't exactly fat, I wasn't exactly trim either. I guess it was a hippocampul thing. Instant gratification. A bit like cigarettes. I called it "The Goldfish Effect". I would just keep munching until I got the urge for more and then just head back out to the kitchen and grab some more. For the past couple of days it's been like that. I'm not taking any meds but my appetite has gone ballistic. I need to rein that one in I think. It's just too easy to let it get out of control.

During the past few days I have been thinking more and more about radio. By that I mean Amateur or "Ham" radio. I was really into it as a kid but the whole process of getting a licence was a prolonged and arduous affair. In order to become licenced, one had to do an exam to display basic proficiency in radio theory and also to demonstrate an understanding of the regulations governing having a licence to operate. Back in those days too, if you wanted to use the frequencies that enabled worldwide communications you had to do a morse code test that would prove proficiency in morse at a speed of 12 words per minute. I didn't do that in spite of best intentions. I'm working on that one now but it is taking more effort than I imagined. In all, from applying to do the test, getting confirmation of the application, getting a date scheduled, doing the test, getting the results, applying for the licence, and then getting the licence, took almost seven years. By then I was well into motorcycles, girls and rock n'roll. I still messed with electronics but it was not radio stuff really. I had more or less lost interest by then in the whole radio thing. Something positive happened though after I applied for the test. I ended up meeting someone who has become a lifelong friend. We went to the same school, though we were not in the same class we were in the same year.

He was widely regarded as being the cleverest guy in the school. He wasn't actually snobbish but he didn't really hang out with the kids from the lower level classes in our year. In fact a lot of the guys in my class didn't have a lot of time for me either. I was a geek with ADD, rubbish at sports and lived in a  really nasty part of the town. I was sort of looked down upon. This was late 1970's Ireland and I was a "blow in" (immigrant) and worse than that I had come from the UK, which qualified me as a "Tan" (as in "Black and Tan" - the notorious British forces deployed in Ireland during the 1920's). None too popular. It took quite a few years before I began to fit in, even just a bit. Anyway, back to my friend.

He was famed for having a REAL scientific calculator and knowing how to use it. He also had, I was to later discover, a REAL computer at home - A Sharp MZ80K. I was very impressed by this. I had no such toys - just a pile of dismantled radios, electronic junk salvaged from the scrap metal company and a CB radio. This was around 1981 and CB was a big deal back then. Anyway, I had applied for my Experimenter's Licence Examination in 1979 and really could have made use of a scientific calculator come the fateful day. I watched the post for ages after I had applied and I was expecting the call for the exam any day - it took over 18 months for a response. I suppose because things radio related were strictly controlled in those days, mainly because of the "troubles" and paramilitary violence.

One day I plucked up the courage to approach him in the school yard and ask him if he could loan me the thing for an exam. I was sort of terrified of being brushed off. He asked in a sort of condescending way; "What kind of exam are YOU doing?!?" I explained that I was about to sit the State exam for a Radio Experimenters Licence (that is what they were called back in those day - they have since adopted the "Amateur" term). He seemed genuinely impressed - I think I offered him my bicycle as collateral; it was a "custom" Triumph Twenty with chopper handlebars and an "instrument panel" featuring a speedometer from a Yamaha YB50 motorcycle and two switches controlling front and rear lights. I made it myself. It had a full-on paint job and was admired by most of the lads in my school. I say most because it was vandalised in the yard a few times. I eventually got rid of the "instrument panel". He declined the "collateral" and began to ask me a lot about radio whilst maintaining a general aloofness. He said that he would be prepared to offer me the calculator on the strict proviso that if ANYTHING happened to it, I had to buy him another. At the time those things cost a weeks wages but I resolved to take EXTRA good care of it. He said I was welcome to collect it from his house. I imagined that he lived in one of the more affluent areas of the town but as it turns out we both lived on one of the grimiest estates in the town and he was approximately 2 minutes walk from my place. I had moved there from the aforementioned place but it was still pretty grim. Running the gauntlet from the kids of the travelling community that lived just over the hill.

We became friendly and have remained good friends ever since. The exam in those days was held at the local General Post Office and was invigilated by a state examiner. I looked so young and with my foreign name the invigilator thought I was a girl!!! I sternly retorted that I was male and that I had "considerable experience in radio theory" - total BS really but I was used to people being condescending toward me. This little kid with a home counties accent and acres of "front". Anyway, to cut a long story short I completed the 3 hour exam in just over an hour. It took a while for the results to come through - 2 years!!! But I did pass. The worst of it was that because of the delay in getting my results most folks didn't believe I even did the exam. I did have my appointment letter though and that was proof enough for me.

To this day I have been very close to the chap that loaned me that calculator and last year he finally decided to get into radio - I think that it was SDR (Software Defined Radio) that swung it - he is a big time computer programmer/information systems architect and I expect it was this aspect of it all that he found interesting - I don't really know. He is based in the US these days having moved there some time back.

Anyway, he studied and did the Technician class exam, within a few weeks he took his General and is now helping his local scout troop with the kids getting their radio badges. We also share a passion for motorcycles (and guitar) and as young men rode all over Ireland having fun. We stay in contact quite a lot, though only through email at the moment. Regular contact via radio is still waiting to commence. I should work on that I think.

Today wasn't such a bad one. But, as usual the day has flown by. I think it could be time to start managing my time better, provided I can prise myself off the mattress at a reasonable hour. I always get afraid of sleeping too early in case I wake too early. Maybe tonight I'll try and get an early night and hope that I don't wake at 4am unable to get back to sleep.

Just as a final note, I am pleased that this blog seems to be gathering more views. I am getting traffic from all over Europe, Russia (?), quite a lot in the US, Australia too but Ireland seems to be ahead of the pack. It is good to have friends - though there are some folks that claim to be so and yet they are not. Sad really, I would have thought that they would have better things to do. Not to worry, those are the kind of people that I don't need in my life. They are just waiting for me to screw up I think and THEN come over all sympathetic - like they actually give a shit. Twats. But to all the good folks out there; thanks for taking the time to read this. I appreciate it. Lots.