Speeder I would be glad to see U.... I think I may have mixed U up with Zeke...who is part of the Early Registry Board.

Tabs, have you considered writing? You have a good command of the language, have a cleaver witty style, and you seem to enjoy writing. You might have some interesting memoirs to write up... or some fiction... or do a road trip and journal it ala Jack Kerouac... or do a book or column in a travel magazine on the unknown Las Vegas.

And don't worry about the spelling MSword solves most problems and that's what editors are for.

Spoons and old 911's come to mind!

Those of us in this generation tend to be this way with money. I still squirrel it away even though its coming in fairly well. You never know when its going to stop...

Scott writing is what I do..your all my guiena pigs or first customers which ever way U want to look at it. Also these words are in cyber space and one never knows who is on the other end?

Spoons Daddy are my downfall...for the past year I have been trading in and out of them. They have vindicated themselves in the past year or two as being good investments. I do worry that they like RE are in a bubble.

In the words of Jeff Foxworthy:

"All we need to be happy is a cold beer and to see somethin' naked."

Lighten up. Life's not that serious. In the greater scheme of things, our lives don't mean jack *****. We're a blip in time...nothing more. Enjoy yourself....indulge yourself if you can. All the words and actions will be ancient history a generation from now...and remembered by none. How much time do you spend thinking about your great grandparents, etc?


Don't mean to push you off the cliff, but you're taking this whole "self" thing way too seriously. Do some good for folks, have some fun, make the best of it. That's it. No more.

Agreed.

One of my Cousins came to town this weekend with her Boyfriend. Her Dad and I always got along really well, hes 60...she told me some bad news...her Dad had surgery where they removed 18" of his Colon in June, seems it ruptured. They didn't find any Cancer. Even months after the surgery he is still in alot of pain, tires easily and just sits around. They have done further testing and hes going to go to the Mayo Clinic. Its just unbelievable...

Just got forwarded something that dwells on this subject. Unfortunately its very true and something that we forget much of the time.

Using our time wisely is something that we can improve on...

Joe

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast" "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.