[3830] NA Sprint CW N9NB LP

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NA Sprint CW Contest - September

Call: N9NB
Operator(s): N9NB
Station: N9NB

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: va
Operating Time (hrs): 2.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Op Time
---------------------
   80:   36       1
   40:   87      24
   20:   33      12
---------------------
Total:  156    Mults = 37  Total Score = 5,772

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Team: 

Comments:

I was surprised to be home before 8pm, after a beautiful day at Lane Stadium on
the campus of Virginia Tech, where the Hokies defeated Delaware on the grid
iron. Arriving 15 minutes before the contest, the station fired up well, and
things were going along relatively well in this edition of the sprint. I was
tired from tailgaiting and from the game (and driving several hours to get to
VT-land in that same morning), and the XYL was also quite tired as she had
prepared an incredible tailgate, and we hosted about 10 friends before the game
at our parking spot. Arriving hope at 7:40, I hurriedly unpacked the car and
stored our tailgate supplies, and my wife prepared for me a quick post-tailgate
dinner that I wolfed down moments before the sprint, and it was fun to be on a
contest I had not expected to participate in. Things were going well, with a
better than qso per minute rate at low power (always my goal), even with poor
conditions on 20m. But then, 2 and a half hours in, I heard my xyl screaming
from the other room -- It sounded like she was yelling that "there was a
fire in the bed." She screamed this several times, and its not like her to
scream, especially when I am in a contest. So, sensing a real emergency, after
finishing up the QSO, I tossed off my headphones and ran out to the bedroom,
where my wife was shaking-she was visibly quite shaken up --she had pulled down
the sheets to go to sleep and found a giant spider in the bed (she had been
screaming "there is a spider in the bed.").....When I got into the
bedroom, she had already stripped the bed of all its covers and was preparing
to sleep in the other room, with completely clean sheets that were stored in
plastic, on an ir mattress, to be safe that no spiders might be hiding in or
under furniture. I had received some spider bites a few weeks earlier, which I
had shaken off as no big deal, but she didnt want to believe there were spiders
in the bed -0- but now she had visible proof -- Needless to say, this  episode
took all the winds out of my sails for the contest, as I attended to more
important matters on the home front, like helping her with the air mattress and
thanking her for the great day (it really was terrific)). I simply went to sleep
on the air mattress instead of going back on the radio. It was a free,
"unplanned" contest, so it was fun while it lasted.  The ham radio
house is going to get a completely through cleaning and vacuuming next weekend,
with the intent of getting rid of all spiders, when we are back next weekend for
the ODU football game. Being in the country, however, makes it difficult to
prevent the critters from coming in, especially since we don't use any
pesticides. Anyone with any good ideas of how to prevent spiders in the house
using natural means? Any ideas welcome!
thanks for the QSOs es 73! Ted n9nb


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