Chapter 4: Living Together

Supper was ready and I got plates and forks after asking if we need spoons or knives. I said, “It’s a habit not to dirty anything that doesn’t have to be dirtied.” She grinned at my statement.

I prayed and we ate. The food was great! The wine wasn’t bad.

After supper, Gail went to her laptop and was working through the tests for the General license. I was reading a book from my Kindle. It was an adventure with a light romance thrown into the mix. It wasn’t heavy but I wasn’t in the mood for heavy. Soon, it was ten o’clock. Gail closed her laptop and turned on the news for the weather and the latest shootings. I continued to read until the weather came on. At that point, I looked and listened. It appeared that we would have clear though chillier weather starting tomorrow with a cold front coming through tonight and dropping a few light rain showers.

After that, I stood and said, “Good night, Gail. Again, that was an excellent meal. I appreciate your cooking.”

“Thank you. When are you getting up?”

“No later than a little before eight. I want to get on the Treasure Coasters in the morning. It starts at eight.” She nodded and I left for my bedroom. I quickly noticed the cleaner room and fresh sheets. I slept comfortably through the night.

In the morning, I woke up and pulled on a pair of shorts. I padded into the kitchen and started coffee. I went back to my room to shower, shave, and dress. It was about twenty minutes before eight when I returned to the kitchen to pick up some coffee before going to the radio room. “Good morning, Gail.”

Gail had a cup and was sitting at the kitchen table. She smiled at me and said, “Good morning to you, too, Todd. I would like to join you in the radio room if that’s okay?”

“Of course.” I poured my coffee and made a “come on” gesture as I left the kitchen,.

We entered the radio room and took seats in front of the radio. I went over it with her turning on each piece and explaining what and why though it wasn’t complicated.

“Todd, do all ham radios use separate power supplies?”

“Pretty much. I’ve never thought about why but it’s true for almost every rig. Having one with an internal power supply is rare. When Radio Shack closed, I picked up a couple cheaply. They seem to work well and feed steady voltage to the radios. It takes about twenty amps for an HF radio and two to seven for a VHF unit depending upon power output when transmitting.”

“Todd, what is the difference?”

“Considerable. We’ve been talking on HF thus far. In my car and truck, I have VHF radios with their smaller antennas. They are primarily used for local communications through radios called, ‘repeaters.’ Repeaters are VHF radios with high and good antennas that operate automatically to receive and then re-transmit signals. Hams put them up and maintain them. Once you have a Tech license, that part of the ham spectrum will be open to you. There’s a fair bit going on on the different repeaters. It’s different from HF which doesn’t use repeaters as a rule.

“HF radios are usually operated at one hundred watts output while VHF operate from five to about fifty depending upon the radio and the need for power.”

“Okay, Todd. Let me explain about bands. I think I understand those.” I nodded at her to continue.

“At any one point, there is a frequency and a wavelength. There is a mathematical relationship between the two and it’s inverse. That means the lower, or shorter, the wavelength, the higher the frequency will be. A grouping of permitted frequencies is considered a band and identified by their approximate wavelength. Forty meters includes the frequencies from seven megahertz through seven point three megahertz. A portion of that band is reserved for Advanced and Extra class licensees. The Treasure Coasters net meets on forty meters at seven point one five three megahertz which is in the Advanced portion of the band.”

I said, “That’s true. The VHF area that is most popular is called two meters with frequencies from one hundred forty-four to one hundred forty-eight megahertz. It’s a good area for starters. The radios and antennas are cheap and easy to handle.”

It was time and I had Gail check into the Treasure Coasters. We enjoyed our talking and listening on the net.

From there, we went to the Georgia Geritol Net where Gail was a hit. All the members of it were complimentary to her for her voice and Charles said that he was looking forward to her checking in with her own call sign. After that, we went into the kitchen for breakfast. I prepared my oatmeal and “nuked” it. Gail prepared a real breakfast and joined me at the table. We ate quietly after a quick prayer. I went into my office and listened to the radio while writing using my computer. I passed Wednesday morning quietly and happily. I met Gail in the kitchen for lunch.

“Todd, I think I’m ready for both tests tomorrow night.”

“Great.”

“What would you like for lunch?”

“Gail, most anything would be fine. I usually only eat one big meal at day at supper. Breakfast and lunch are just to get me to that time. You’ve seen my idea of breakfast. At home, lunch has been delivery or pretty simplistic. So, it doesn’t matter.”

“Okay. I’ll fix grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. How many sandwiches do you want?”

“Two, since you’re cooking them.” She smiled at me and I smiled back. She had an infectious smile. It was kindly and gentle but with an impish touch to it.

I watched her cook and just sat in the kitchen and drank a canned lemonade as I watched her move. I admitted to myself that she is an attractive person.

It didn’t take long before she served my plate and one for herself. She brought the bowls of soup. I blessed the food and we ate. It was good.

I had some things to do outside and worked out in the barn for an hour or so. I had found over the years that a little maintenance made life easy. I also checked on my stand-by generator which was ready. When renovating, I buried the cable and power wires with a small box at the street right-of-way providing the primary connection and power meter. I managed the power from that point. Since I had run my own lines from the street and controlled what went into the barn and house, I had had few power outages or even voltage fluctuations.

It was early afternoon when I returned to the house and saw Gail. I whistled. She was wearing a pair of “Daisy Dukes” cutoff shorts and a tee shirt tied off exposing her midriff. I noticed a flat, even defined tummy. I moved my opinion of her looks upward another notch or two.

“What?”

“You look good in that outfit.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“Gail, who told you that?”