I have met an old friend of mine, Bill, N4AR on 20m this morning. I have introduced him in a previous post in this blog. Here.
He told me he had finally retired 8 months ago. It was a hard time for him to leave his patients. He has worked hard as a cardiologist for decades. No wonder his patients were sad to farewell to him as well. I could sympathize, or I should say, shared his sense of loss in his situation. Because I have had it almost 4 years ago.
Doctor-patient relationship is or should be based on the purest form of human relationship. It is not to give any knowledge or skill of medical procedure at the cost they determine for that. Without faith in each other, that relationship is hardly achievable. It may sound a kind of ideological thought. But, in reality, the relationship should be in faith and sympathy as human being. Sympathy may sound like a paternalism but could be replaced to a german word, Mitleiden. It is a cooperative work and process between a patient and a doctor. It is the characteristics of this profession which attracts many young people who would be a doctor. Even though the socioeconomical situation makes it hard to maintain such a relationship in the real medical practise, I believe, most doctors are struggling for that. I thought Bill had been one of such doctors. I would say to him he has lived a wonderful life as a doctor and it is the time for him to step out a new stage in his life.
As told before, his big antennas were all destroyed by an ice storm several years ago. He was going to rebuild them soon. It might not be an easy work for him to put them up again. I advised him to count his age twice before climbing on the tower. I still look forward hearing his big signal on 40m early at night here. He used to tell me he would quit radio and go for the round at the inpatient ward when we finished a QSO on 40m in his morning hours. From now on, he won't tell me that way but would tell he would enjoy riding horse etc.
12/31/2015
12/30/2015
In the end of this year
It has been some time since I made the last post. Sipping a small glass of beer, I would write a bit how I have been doing.
We have had a quiet peaceful Christmas here. No guests etc. Humble dishes I prepared and a small cake I bought at a super market were on the table. My wife came into the New Year holidays today and kindly prepared dinner for me. For the sake of her honor, she used to cook from time to time before I started cooking. Not so bad a chef but just not fond of cooking.
This year, I have learned that we are based on the history in the past. It sounds like a too natural thing. But I am afraid we are liable to forget this truth quite often. In Japan, the revisionists are trying to lead our country back to the regime before and during the WWII. At the end of WWII, a couple of systems were preserved in our country, which should have been greatly changed. One is the emperor system and the other the bureaucracy. Some people based on these systems seem to try to return to the ancient regime, which was turned out to be total fault in the history.
The other event on going right now that seems to be related with the recent history is the conflicts in the Middle East. It seems to have originated from the artificial borders among the countries which were determined by the western countries after WWI. Together with the dibersity of the religions, this artificial borderlines seem to have caused the present mess there. The western countries are responsible for the refugees in this respect. The military commitment by the developed countries in the more recent years has given rise to the Muslim extremists as well.
We are inexorably bound to the history in this way. We should learn more of the history and try to find a way to resolve the problem however complicated and tough it might be.
There have never been a year when I felt there was absolute decline in number of the CW operators enjoying conversational QSOs. Calling CQ on various bands always has turned out to be failure throughout the year. People explain this fact from the prevailing texting through the internet, the decrease of the number of CW operators and so forth. I must add to those causes that the CW operators are getting older and are unable to make QSO in dialogue. Aged people including myself are apt to make monologues. It also make QSOs less interesting, I should say. I think it is the critical period which determine if conversational CW could survive or not. It is crucially important to have younger hams join this category of ham radio. We are asked if we are enjoying conversational QSOs by ourselves. If we are not, how could young hams be interested in it? I will fully enjoy this category of enjoyment in ham radio, even if my CQ will be to no avail.
I feel I could make progress with cello a bit even at this old age. I started practicing it using a tuner. I realized what a terrible scale I was on with it. The tuner, even if ti is only the well tempered scale, gives good lessons for the right scale. Returning to the basic training, I am enjoying to brush it up. Due to my vision problem with cataracts, I had to take off from the ensemble. Fortunately, the piano trio partners kindly told me they would wait for my surgery, which is planned next month. I would start the ensemble again soon next year. Music, especially in ensemble, seems something profoundly related with our lives. It is similar to gardening for me in a sense.
Well, that's about it. Beer is almost run out. I would say good night to you. Thanks for visiting this blog even though it won't give you anything valuable or informative. Your concern will encourage me to go on this blog. I appreciate it very much.
Have a very happy new year!
We have had a quiet peaceful Christmas here. No guests etc. Humble dishes I prepared and a small cake I bought at a super market were on the table. My wife came into the New Year holidays today and kindly prepared dinner for me. For the sake of her honor, she used to cook from time to time before I started cooking. Not so bad a chef but just not fond of cooking.
This year, I have learned that we are based on the history in the past. It sounds like a too natural thing. But I am afraid we are liable to forget this truth quite often. In Japan, the revisionists are trying to lead our country back to the regime before and during the WWII. At the end of WWII, a couple of systems were preserved in our country, which should have been greatly changed. One is the emperor system and the other the bureaucracy. Some people based on these systems seem to try to return to the ancient regime, which was turned out to be total fault in the history.
The other event on going right now that seems to be related with the recent history is the conflicts in the Middle East. It seems to have originated from the artificial borders among the countries which were determined by the western countries after WWI. Together with the dibersity of the religions, this artificial borderlines seem to have caused the present mess there. The western countries are responsible for the refugees in this respect. The military commitment by the developed countries in the more recent years has given rise to the Muslim extremists as well.
We are inexorably bound to the history in this way. We should learn more of the history and try to find a way to resolve the problem however complicated and tough it might be.
There have never been a year when I felt there was absolute decline in number of the CW operators enjoying conversational QSOs. Calling CQ on various bands always has turned out to be failure throughout the year. People explain this fact from the prevailing texting through the internet, the decrease of the number of CW operators and so forth. I must add to those causes that the CW operators are getting older and are unable to make QSO in dialogue. Aged people including myself are apt to make monologues. It also make QSOs less interesting, I should say. I think it is the critical period which determine if conversational CW could survive or not. It is crucially important to have younger hams join this category of ham radio. We are asked if we are enjoying conversational QSOs by ourselves. If we are not, how could young hams be interested in it? I will fully enjoy this category of enjoyment in ham radio, even if my CQ will be to no avail.
I feel I could make progress with cello a bit even at this old age. I started practicing it using a tuner. I realized what a terrible scale I was on with it. The tuner, even if ti is only the well tempered scale, gives good lessons for the right scale. Returning to the basic training, I am enjoying to brush it up. Due to my vision problem with cataracts, I had to take off from the ensemble. Fortunately, the piano trio partners kindly told me they would wait for my surgery, which is planned next month. I would start the ensemble again soon next year. Music, especially in ensemble, seems something profoundly related with our lives. It is similar to gardening for me in a sense.
Well, that's about it. Beer is almost run out. I would say good night to you. Thanks for visiting this blog even though it won't give you anything valuable or informative. Your concern will encourage me to go on this blog. I appreciate it very much.
Have a very happy new year!
12/18/2015
The terrorism won't be ceased by military power
News tells us the UN has determined to apply more sanctions to IS. It seems they will do military attack on them. Those terrorists should be punished, I understand.
But if they won't make efforts to pursue and solve the causes why such a radicalism has been given rise to there, it sounds quite inconsistent to me. Where is the funds coming to them from?
How do they purchase the weapons? I know the situation is complicated in the Middle East. But we should remember the diplomacy of the developed countries immediately after the WWi and WWII are responsible for an arbitrary boundaries among the peoples as the borders which have caused the conflicts ever since. It should also be not forgotten that the military intervention to Afghanistan and then to Iraq and Syria by the developed countries has left the Muslim extremists.
From this standpoint, the attack by unmanned aircrafts should be stopped. It eventually causes victims in the civilians. For those civilians in the Middle East, it is comparable to the terrorism by Muslim extremists.
Terrorism would penetrate through the borders. They will threaten our lives and try to mess them. It is their aim to separate people each other with anger and fear. It is impossible to eradicate terrorists with the ordinary weapons which they rely on for the nation to nation war. Imagine the situation when those terrorists get the portable nuclear bomb fot self suicide attack. They may utilize the chemical weapons as well. It will be a nightmare. The chain of hatred and fears should be cut at present.
But if they won't make efforts to pursue and solve the causes why such a radicalism has been given rise to there, it sounds quite inconsistent to me. Where is the funds coming to them from?
How do they purchase the weapons? I know the situation is complicated in the Middle East. But we should remember the diplomacy of the developed countries immediately after the WWi and WWII are responsible for an arbitrary boundaries among the peoples as the borders which have caused the conflicts ever since. It should also be not forgotten that the military intervention to Afghanistan and then to Iraq and Syria by the developed countries has left the Muslim extremists.
From this standpoint, the attack by unmanned aircrafts should be stopped. It eventually causes victims in the civilians. For those civilians in the Middle East, it is comparable to the terrorism by Muslim extremists.
Terrorism would penetrate through the borders. They will threaten our lives and try to mess them. It is their aim to separate people each other with anger and fear. It is impossible to eradicate terrorists with the ordinary weapons which they rely on for the nation to nation war. Imagine the situation when those terrorists get the portable nuclear bomb fot self suicide attack. They may utilize the chemical weapons as well. It will be a nightmare. The chain of hatred and fears should be cut at present.
What paddle is the best?
What is the ideal paddle for CW operators? I think the following conditions are the requisites for that. In a word, it should be like our own fist. The only thing we require it to return quickly, even quicker than our fist. Anyway, this is my dogmatic opinion on the ideal paddle.
1)Weight of the paddle.
Whole weight should be heavy enough not to be moved with manipulation. On the other hand, more importantly, the moving system should be light enough as if we won't feel we are handling a paddle. It should be like a part of our body. It should have some tactile sensation that tells us we touch the finger pieces.
With these description, you might wonder if the touch keyer could be the best. The touch keyer has two problems. One is the rebound sensation at the touch portion. Even though I have never used it, it could jolt or rebound to keying, I am afraid. The other point is that it could be difficult to send QRQ compared with the ideal paddle. Thanks to the spring/magnetic return tension, the lever of a paddle might return quicker than our own fingers. It might be a problem when the sending exceeds certain speed.
With these description, you might wonder if the touch keyer could be the best. The touch keyer has two problems. One is the rebound sensation at the touch portion. Even though I have never used it, it could jolt or rebound to keying, I am afraid. The other point is that it could be difficult to send QRQ compared with the ideal paddle. Thanks to the spring/magnetic return tension, the lever of a paddle might return quicker than our own fingers. It might be a problem when the sending exceeds certain speed.
2)Tension of the lever(s)
The tension is to move back the levers to the rest position. When we hit the finger piece for dash or dot, the tension should be minimum. On the other hand, it should enable the lever return the rest position as quick as possible. For this purpose, magnetic seems superior to spring. The magnetic for tension won't cast no weight so that the lever could move without any inertia. The tension spring that is very light as well as powerful for the size may be comparable to magnetic. So far, I have never used a paddle with tension spring better as for the quickness of return than magnetic tension.
3)Feel of keying
We have various impressions of feeling in sending. It is partly a subjective finding. It is often difficult to describe that feeling with a paddle. Assuming this difficulty, if we would describe the feel of keying, it would be the best that the paddle feels like a part of our body. Such a paddle is hardly available, though.
Actually, we often have the sensation of rebound for the keying feel. As soon as we hit the finger piece and the contacts are touched each other, we could feel some vibration feeling at the finger piece. In my view, it is an unnecessary vibration of the lever due to the relative small weight of the non moving parts comapred with that of the moving parts. The latter should be big enough to absorb the unnecessary vibration of the moving parts. John, K1JD, expressed this sensation as jolted. He thinks it is due to the non linearity of magnetic tension, which I could hardly agree with. I believe it is a problem of absorbing the unnecessary vibration of the moing system.
~~~
So far, the products of Begali seem to be highly estimated as for those characteristics. But there are different opinions as for the keying feel. John recommends me Stelath model while the others, like Bruce K6ZB, tells me Leonessa is the best. Atsu JE1TRV is using Sculpture.
Maybe, before choosing one of them, I should visit Begali to test each by myself. Or I should go on with my Mercury paddle compromising the keying feel. Never ending dream for an ideal paddle.
The tension is to move back the levers to the rest position. When we hit the finger piece for dash or dot, the tension should be minimum. On the other hand, it should enable the lever return the rest position as quick as possible. For this purpose, magnetic seems superior to spring. The magnetic for tension won't cast no weight so that the lever could move without any inertia. The tension spring that is very light as well as powerful for the size may be comparable to magnetic. So far, I have never used a paddle with tension spring better as for the quickness of return than magnetic tension.
3)Feel of keying
We have various impressions of feeling in sending. It is partly a subjective finding. It is often difficult to describe that feeling with a paddle. Assuming this difficulty, if we would describe the feel of keying, it would be the best that the paddle feels like a part of our body. Such a paddle is hardly available, though.
Actually, we often have the sensation of rebound for the keying feel. As soon as we hit the finger piece and the contacts are touched each other, we could feel some vibration feeling at the finger piece. In my view, it is an unnecessary vibration of the lever due to the relative small weight of the non moving parts comapred with that of the moving parts. The latter should be big enough to absorb the unnecessary vibration of the moving parts. John, K1JD, expressed this sensation as jolted. He thinks it is due to the non linearity of magnetic tension, which I could hardly agree with. I believe it is a problem of absorbing the unnecessary vibration of the moing system.
~~~
So far, the products of Begali seem to be highly estimated as for those characteristics. But there are different opinions as for the keying feel. John recommends me Stelath model while the others, like Bruce K6ZB, tells me Leonessa is the best. Atsu JE1TRV is using Sculpture.
Maybe, before choosing one of them, I should visit Begali to test each by myself. Or I should go on with my Mercury paddle compromising the keying feel. Never ending dream for an ideal paddle.
Pork wrapping apple and sweet potato
This is the main dish for dinner tonight. Stick shaped apple and sweet potato are wrapped by sliced pork. The soup is tomato. Seaoned with red wine, soy sauce, consomme and salt pepper. Laurel leaves are added. Cooked for half an hour. Pretty good.
12/17/2015
Tsugaru-samisen
Tsugaru-samisen performance. This genre of samisen used to be played by visually handicapped people, oppressed in the society, in Tsugaru area, the most northern area in Honshu Island. In snowy field, they have wandered in order to get a chance to perform samisen. It was for living.
Couldn't you hear an elegy in this performance? When I first listened to it, I was struck feeling there was some sense buried in our consciousness carried on from our ancestors.
This piece is an original work composed by a modern samisen player. Performance style is typical for Tsugaru-samisen.
Couldn't you hear an elegy in this performance? When I first listened to it, I was struck feeling there was some sense buried in our consciousness carried on from our ancestors.
This piece is an original work composed by a modern samisen player. Performance style is typical for Tsugaru-samisen.
12/16/2015
Piano Quintet by Shostakovitch
This music starts with a movement adopting counterpoint which sounds like a magnificient architecture. The slow movement expresses most harrowing sentiment. I have never listened such a beautiful music. The counterpoint technique is again used in most impressive way. The last movement pokes our surprise. It is a light touched music. What has Shostakovitch thought when he put such a movement for the last? Has he tried to balance the too grave emotion throughout the movements prior to it or had any political meaning as he has often confromted to?
In this ensemble, Jansen, the most famous performer among them, is playing the 2nd violin part. It is unusual. Of course, the 2nd violin occupies the important position in this chamber music. But she could have played the 1st violin. Nevertheless, all members, including Jansen, seem to enjoy playing this piece. Jansen sometimes smiles at the other players during playing it. It must be a fun for them to play it, not just a work. They show how enjoyable it is to play chamber music together. As the tiltle of this video tells, they must be personally good friends as well as good company performers.
Enjoy this!
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