I was in the grocery store shopping for body wash when I noticed a scent called New Zealand Spring.

Now, I have no idea what New Zealand smells like let alone New Zealand in the spring.  But, I do know that New Zealand has more sheep than it has people.  So, I am thinking that New Zealand might not smell, well, fresh.  And, after a long winter, I am thinking that spring might smell a little gamey.  So, I am not inspired to try New Zealand Spring scent.

So far this winter, we have had record snow falls and record subzero temperatures.  And, if these records weren’t bad enough, I have to listen to the global warming folks chant their mantra of doom.  I would love to send these global warming folks my heating bill but they always seem to be invisible.

National news reported the first death resulting from the blizzard of 2015.  Was if from a traffic accident?  Was if from someone shoveling snow?  No.  It was from a child hitting a tree while sledding.

The media was obviously desperate for storm events.

Frontier and Charter are continuously running ads for their service.  They claim to replace big cable at a much lower cost.  And while I would like to check them out, they never have service in my area.  And, as far as I can tell, they don’t even have service in Michigan.

Yet their ads continue to run.  They must have a big ad budget.

I recently received a “friend” request on Facebook.  And while I knew the name of the person, I haven’t seen that person in almost 50 years.  Even then, I never carried on a conversation with him.  So, I was surprised to see his request to be on my Facebook page.

At first, I was going to just deny the request.  But then I figured “Why not”.  I wasn’t sure if he would like my postings but decided that if he didn’t, he could just leave.  After all, I didn’t ask him to be my friend.

And sure enough, after about two weeks, he was gone.  Well, he lasted longer than I had expected.

The Doomsday Clock has been advanced once again.  But by whom?   Who are these people and who put them in charge?

It seems to me that in spite of their pessimistic outlook on life, the clock will never reach midnight.  For if it does, then the world must end.  But since the clock only predicts the destruction of the world and not cause it, a midnight setting would fall into the same category as those who predict the day and time that Christ will return.  When that time is reached and nothing has happened, their credibility is ruined.

Now, with 5 examiners for my Ham radio license, I fully expected each one of them to grade an examine.  But instead, three of them graded all of the exams.

First one graded all of the exams and then passed them to the next who also graded the exams.  Then that person passed the exams to the third person who also graded the exams.   And the other two examiners supervised the grading to make sure that it was done correctly.

In all honesty, when I took my pistol license test, we all graded our own tests and then turned them in to the examiner.  There was less paper work involved in getting a pistol license than there was in getting a Ham radio license.

After filling out the necessary paper work and paying my $15, I was issued a test booklet, an answer sheet and a piece of scrap paper.  And, I was offered a pen if I needed one.  And since, there was no time limit on the exam, I could start when ever I wanted.

Well, with only 35 multiple choice questions, I was fairly certain that it should only take me about 15 minutes at the most.  And, since all of the questions I had seen before on my practice exams, I completed the test in about 15 minutes.  And so did the other candidates.  After a few minutes of grading the tests, they announced that we all had passed.  GREAT!!

A quick check of the Ham radio web site told me that the exam I needed is offered every month in an adjoining county and that I needed to bring $15 and 2 pencils.  So, I contacted them and scheduled a slot.

When I arrived for the exam, I was surprised to see 9 other people.  I thought, “WOW’, there are a lot of people taking the test.  But then I learned that there were 5 examiners, 4 candidates and 1 spectator.  The spectator was a friend of the examiners.

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting 5 examiners.  But, then I realized that this was a part of the examine protocol.

While studying for my Ham radio license, I noticed that each practice exam contained a variety of subjects.  Some of the questions contained practical common sense items such as not climbing your antenna tower during a rain storm.

And of course, there was a section on rules and regulations for operating your Ham radio station and a section on general electronics.  And all of these I could deal with.  But, when it came to radio theory, I was somewhat lost.

For example, I had no idea what radio frequencies work best during a period of sun spots.  Or what causes a “Knife edge” reflection.  So, for these questions, I relied  strictly on memorizing the answers.

Who knows, maybe some day I will learn the radio theory.  But for right now, the focus is on passing the test.