19/12/19
And here we are.
The last Club Night Diary of the year.
Of the Decade, in fact.
There were even welcome chocolates on the table. How lovely! However, as no-one admitted to bringing them, there were some dubious looks cast at them, and cautious looks a-plenty.
The Chair did notices, but there was food in the offing, so nobody really listened. Kev (call sign on his hat) and Becky (M0XXR) did a sterling job on the food.
Mike (M0XXM) explained in little words what actually should be on the website with regards to the repeater and this can now be found on the repeater page.
Generally, there was lots of chat.
Steve (2E0XSB) had a chat about Parks on the Air, and we had a look at the map that shows where the local parks are. (You’ll need to have a wander around as it defaults to the middle of the ocean, just off the coast of Africa.)
Meanwhile, the chocolates were still around.
And nobody, nobody, was admitting to them. Now, seeing as we have people from a range of backgrounds, with a range of ‘interesting’ humour, the cautiousness was well founded.
The middle turned out to be…..
Green.
Slushy.
Sprouts.
Aside from who puts veg anywhere near chocolate, the duplicity of the kind of person who would cover one of the Devil’s nasal offerings in chocolate meant that the blame was firmly to be laid at the feet of our Armed Forces contingent. And it turned out to be Kev, ex-Fairy (avionics technician) of Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force. Shocking….. (but entirely in character!)
Digital Mike had tried one – and discovered the secret but not told anyone.
Pirate Dave had tried one – and it had not gone well. (but it served him right for wearing a jumper with leather elbow patches on a party night)
Both sat there, happy to watch the rest of us make the same mistake. In the end, it was Jeff and George who thoroughly enjoyed them – Jeff having several. Does a chocolate covered sprout count as one of your 5-a-day?
However, the true Christmas Miracle occurred later on in the evening, courtesy of these two lovely gentlemen, who, it has to be said, bare a passing resemblance to a certain jolly fellow of the season.
Now, it is tradition that after the consumption of savory comestibles, we hoover the hall. It is tradition that this is done by the Chariman, to remind him of his humble roots.
However. It is also traditional that the hoover doesn’t work and requires at least six passes over anything to pick it up. This year, there was a minor miracle.
As can be seen from the following photographs the reason for the slow pick up turned out to be a full bag. And it was FULL. Due to the lack of a replacement bag, our intrepid explorers used all the skills that they have acquired over many years of transcontinental survival, and performed a delicate operation to remove the contents of the stomach of the hoover bag, before sealing it up again so that the Chairman could perform the end of year ritual that some believe is essential to bring good fortune to the club the following year.
And there we have it. A lovely night, a lovely end to the year and the decade.
Whilst we shall raise a thought to those Silent Keys that will be forever in our log, at the same time we look forward to a new year of memories.
But no more chocolate sprouts.
73s
12/12/19
Well, another club night, another brew, and more KitKats (other chocolate is available)
The Chairman made the WebManager pay attention and actually do some Club Night Diaries.
There were notices.
- 19/12/19 – Christmas Party. Kev and Mike to sort out the nibbles.
- 02/01/20 – New Year, New Us! (Well. New Year, same old us…. and we like us, so that’s ok!)
In other news, Charles (SWL) took his Foundation Exam tonight, and everyone was lovely and quiet whilst he was shut in the kitchen with Mike and Kev. There was a small disaster when the kettle ran out of water, but we decided to take one for the team and not interrupt him just because we were thirsty. Of course, the real question is – has Kev’s 100% pass record stayed untarnished, or must we excommunicate Charles? Answers in next week’s CND, as long as the RSGB have got back to him!
Jack (2EHSP) and Kev (I really must look up his call sign) have been playing in the shack, looking towards the remodel which starts next decade. There is now a design and they are Very Excited.
Other than that, there was a lot of chit chat in the usual style. Politics was off the table as it was election night! (Next week could be a bit of a nightmare, but we’ll see…)
Also this week, we received the new flyer for the rally!
How shiny! Well done Ted.
And Pirate Dave will be calling on all and sundry for the membership. He wants it by January or various nefarious curses will be visited upon your household. He also wants an up to date email.
As a Final Note – guess which club member had a Line Dance team that made it to the National Semi-Finals….
Update. Apparently, come the revolution, Green Radios will be the way forward.
73s
5/12/19
Retrospectively, Club Night Diaries reports from this week to last!
Firstly, there were notices.
- 19/12/19 will be Christmas Party night with Cake, and the last Club Night of the Decade.
- 02/01/20 will be the first Club Night of the Roaring Twenties.
- 09/01/20 will be the Chairman showing his holiday snaps.
We had a committee meeting, at which all went well. The main notes were….
- Mike (G1SCT) says that we are slacking on the QSL front. We need to be chastised as a club. There was a suggestion that whoever is running the radio puts their name in the comments on the log. If someone requests a QSL card, then the operator needs to write it out and put it in an envelope, and it will be dealt with by the QSL manager. (Ron, 2E0RWK)
- Steve (2E0XSB) suggested we all get involved with Parks On The Air. It’s like SOTA, but as Norfolk is a bit deficient in the mountain department, and parks have tea shops, this idea went down very well. Mike (M0XXM) volunteered Steve to take charge of this, and so all will be well.
- The repeater link told us that the repeater was Much Improved. This was confirmed by membership.
- There was a treasurers report, very nicely presented by Eric (G4JNQ), as is his way. (It’s the Folder that does it.)
- As Ted was unable to get rid of the Rally Organising job (and he really does want to, so do think about volunteering before the AGM), he has begun the work of publicising the rally. He is a star.
That was it really. There was a hefty discussion on the snacks available, but nothing wonderfully interesting.