[CQ-Contest] Bananas

[Dennis McAlpine]

Jim,

Maybe you shud be happy that u bought the bananas.  The rats were already in the house and were not going away so they were just looking for some grub.  If there had not been a banana around, who knows what they might have gone after.    If so, your voice might be an octave higher than it is.

In NYC, when they blasted out the building next to ours in tomy east 67th St, they forced a bunch of super-rats out of their home.  They scrambled around looking for a new one, the most convenient being our apt building next door.  They came in thru the basement and started climbing up the interior walls and chewed their way into the back side of cabinets of those apts that did not have a cat (we did).  These were rats abt a foot long that had built up an immunity to rat poison.  In fact, they loved the stuff. The only way to get rid of them was to shoot them.  Our Hungarian doorman volunteered and was heard for many nights shooting at them with a 22 while they were climbing the outside walls.    

No bananas for those guys.  Give 'em meat.

73 and don't gamble,

Dennis, K2SX  

-----Original Message-----
>From: James  Cain <cainjim at mindspring.com>
>Sent: Jun 13, 2007 10:31 AM
>To: cq-contest at contesting.com
>Subject: [CQ-Contest] Bananas
>
>The second time I went to Montserrat and stayed at Chod Harris's (VP2ML) place ((I was VP2MDC), in February 1988, I thought I knew the ropes. I went with my Significant Other, Joan, getting there a couple of days before two friends, Russ and Regina, were to join us. 
>
>The first morning, a vender came by and we bought a bunch of fresh (semi-green) bananas. We left them on the kitchen counter overnight and, the next morning, a giant RAT was walking across a ceiling fixture wire that was strung across the high ceiling. A RAT. Holy shit, Batman. This sort of messed up the Tropical Ambience.
>
>I later figured out that RATS had got into the house because the idiot ham who had been there a few weeks before had run some cables through a window and left the screen open ... making a Rat Interstate right into the house. 
>
>I called Chod's property manager, Bobby Martin (VP2MO), who suggested we buy some rat bait and spread it around. This didn't seem like a real quick solution to a major problem. 
>
>That night, Joan and I barricaded ourselves in a bedroom, which was not real effective because the door had slats. I heard scratching on the door and when I opened it there was a RAT running back down the hall to the bathroom, maybe for a shower. 
>
>Somehow we survived and that weekend I operated the ARRL DX Contest CW (made Top Ten, too). Russ and Reggie had arrived earlier and we warned them about the RAT situation. They were non-plussed. 
>
>On Saturday afternoon of the contest, I heard pounding noises in the house, right through my headphones. I took a break and went to the living room to discover that Russ had brained a RAT with a wrench. The RAT apparently had taken the bait and was somewhat confused which only proves "don't go out if you're intoxicated." 
>
>I went back to the pileup. 
>
>I published two stories about my Montserrat adventures, one in QST and one in the National Contest Journal, but I don't think either story mentioned the RATS. Rats.
>
>Joan bought an original wall hanging on Montserrat, and it features a big RAT. I'm sure she still has it. 
>
>I guess ever since I've associated bananas with RATS. Probably not fair to either. 
>
>R.I.P., Chod, 
>
>Jim Cain, K1TN/2
>Atlantic City
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