Long Islansd Mercury

In the last QSO with Paul W9AC on 40m, he let me know of the Mercury paddle modified by KG2ED, which he has been satisfied with for years.

The lever arms seem to be shorter. Hence it causes less uncomfortable rebound feeling. In the e Ham net review, it has pretty good reputations.

 http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/99?page=1

Paul was not so happy with Begali models as with this paddle.

It could be a choice for me if I don't own the Bencher version of Mercury. If anyone is seeking Mercury, this Long Isaland one could be a candidate.

I have searched for this paddle and the maker KG2ED in the internet. But no info was available. Maybe, he has finished manufacturing his produce. Only used ones must be in the market.

Egg plant seasoned with sweetened miso

Egg plant seasoned with sweetened miso. It was one of my mother's favorites. She has cooked with much more sesame oil. Still a fond recipe for us. Remembering of her cooking, I have made this one using the home grown egg plants.

 

 

Cosmos and rosemary

The very first cosmos is coming out now. Some seeds I obtained from them last fall have germinated. One of my most favorite flowers.  Graceful elegance. The flowers will last until fall.

 

Rosemary is in full bloom at various places in the garden. This is also from the seeds harvested last fall. A problem is that they all are originated from the same clone. The same color and the same outlook. Another kind should be added to the seeds next year. This flower also live long until the end of fall.

 

 

The eleventh anniversary of father

My sister has sent an email to the family members including myself with a couple of photos. It was to commemorate our father who had died on July 9th 11 years ago. A photos showed a fond memorable thing for her and the other our father with a nephew and a niece shown below. It might be taken about 30 years ago when father was just before 60 years of age.

 

 

Father was born in 1919. Lost his parents in his young days, he has been raised by some of his folks. It was not pleasant days for him. He did not tell us about that period of his life so much. Even though he wanted to have higher education, his situation didn't allow him that at all.

 

His young days have been spent in the WWII. He was in compulsory service in China, where he experienced most brutal aspects of war. It has made him believing in firm pacifism throughout his life. He often told us we should apologize to the chinese people for the burden Japan had given to them in WWII. He also insisted of the responsibility of our former emperor for the war.    

 

He has married with our mother after WWII. They seemed to have met at the sanatorium our aunt managed here. They seem to have married in Christianity. Having worked there for several years, when the sanatorium was finishing its role in the society with advance of medical treatment for tuberculosis, he has made an exodus to Tokyo, where he and mother have raised all their 3 children. He has worked at a few hospitals as a boiler man, a house keeper or a head official. He has loved us so much. It was not love of father to children but that of mother. He has loved children almost blindly.  Since I have noticed a few defects in his personality, I have not been too friendly to him for some years in my twenties. He was a difficult person to do with and has made quarrels with a few people around him. An event has made him in discord with mother for a while as well. He has let me go to a medical university after finishing an engineering faculty of a college. It took me a long time. It was also a long duty for him. It took me many years to notice what a load for him to send me to schools for such a long time. My sister has gone to a nursing college and became a nurse after mother while younger brother went to a med school to be a psychiatrist. What long lasting responsibility he and mother have taken for us in not so wealthy situation! 

 

When we got married 36 years ago, I have become closer to him again. We needed his help to care for our children. Later, we lived at this place together. He seemed, as my sister said, to have spent happiest retirement here. He has done gardening and caring for his grandchildren here. He also enjoyed reading a lot and always looked forward attending a church in Tokyo. We were grateful to him for his affectionate care for our children. I haven't intended to have own practice. Things have conspired me to start own practice at a place near by. He has helped me to work as a clerk at the clinic. I often watched him walking slowly to his car across the parking lot after having finished his duty at the office. Now almost finishing my responsibility for children, I am more than thankful to him and mother for their efforts for us, even though they might answer it was their joy to my gratitude to them.

Only regret was that I and any other family members had not been beside him when he passed away. He was hospitalized at a facility which was about 40 minutes drive from here. On the day he was passing, I visited him after finishing work. He could not talk any longer but was perfectly consious to communicate with writing. He seemed lonely and helpless there. I still remember him looking at me with sad expression. I should have stayed with him that night. Passing is not an easy event. It is completion of our lives. We should get it through by ourselves. Having family members or close friends beside us might be a mighty help to do that. I should apologize that to him if I should have an opportunity to see him.

I still often recall of him, doing the same things at home here. May we have a day to see each other again?

We could never be lookers-on of the crisis in Greece.

I could not help overlapping the situation of Greece to our country. Of course, the creditors for Greek are foreign banks while ours are mainly the domestic ones. The finance of our government is even worse and the government won't stop wasting the budget. They say we have the productive industries in our country in contrast to Greece. But the debt is far beyond the size of GDP. The situations are not essentially different in both countries.   

If the market judges the debt of our government goes beyond a limit and the BOJ loses credit in the market, there will be almost the same situation as in Greek now. It won't result in a total collapse in economy in our country. But we should go through very hard time of inflation for years.

Why has the Greek refused the retrenchment policy? Do they see what they will experience in the near future?  Hopefully, Japanese are aware of this crisis comparable to that in Greece. We should be ready for the hard time upcoming soon. We should not be mere lookers-on of the crisis.

Communication is having something common with the others

Communication is an operation to share some thought or idea with the others. It is having something common. Of course, in CW communication, we use Morse code for the communication tool of symbol.

The message of communication could be various, from simple data, numbers or the model names of radio etc in concrete forms to our thoughts or feelings in abstract forms. As personal communication, CW QSO would give us pleasure when the message is concerned about the latter, that is, when we share thoughts or feelings with the others.

How often do we share those things with the others in CW communication? If CW communication loses this essential part, I believe, it won't last too long. I am afraid the trend of CW communication is just having concrete data with the others. It won't make young people fascinated with CW since it won't make any pleasure in communication.  

Yellow tomato

For a week or two, I have thought these tomatoes, staying in yellow color, won't be ripened.  Crows won't be interested in them in addition.

 

When I made a round in the garden farm, an idea has flashed across in my mind. Haven't I planted yellow fruit tomato there? yes, that is it. Harvested one of them, I hurried to the kitchen. It tasted very sweet. The yellow ones in the basket were harvested tomatoes today.

 



 

It is becoming the tomato season here.