Small world

I had lunch yesterday with a new friend named Sam Dillon. This in and of its self is not unusual as I had lunch with some friends just last week. What is unusual about lunch with Sam is how I came to know him and that fact that he is from Iowa and what we have in common.

A little over a year ago I was reading messages on one of the many mailing lists that I belong to and I spotted one with a question for which I happened to have the answer. I think it was concerning the hobby of rail fans but I'm not exactly sure at this point. I sent a reply to the list and copied the email to the original sender as well. Shortly there after I received a reply from the gentleman thanking me for responding and for my help.

He told me that another thing we had in common was amateur radio seeing my call sign in the “From:” field of my email. He said that while he had a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering he had never managed to master the Morse code required for a license but when the FCC dropped the requirement he had passed the written exam easily and was now a license “ham” radio operator KC0TKF. As we continued to compare notes I told him that I was in a little town along the Allegheny River called Oakmont. At this point in time he informed me that his parents had lived in Oakmont for a number of years until they had moved into an assisted living community. As the conversation went on I talked about my other hobbies like reading and computers and how I was again becoming active with my church Redeemer Lutheran. At this point the world got just a little smaller as Sam told me that until moving the the retirement community his parents had been member at Redeemer and that when his mother had passed away that Pastor Schafer had conducted the services. Seems like no matter where I go in the country I run into someone who is from Pittsburgh. Other people here have made the same observation but have yet to realize that this is not a good thing. This phenomenon is fueled by the fact that so many people who wanted to stay in the Pittsburgh area have left because of a lack of jobs, high taxes or both. Some day, at least I hope, leaders and politicians will figure out that these conditions are interrelated. (High taxes = Loss of business = (loss of jobs and population))

I told Sam that if he was ever back in the Pittsburgh area that he should give me a call on one of the local repeaters so that we might meet in person. To my surprise one evening this week the phone rang and I found myself speaking with Sam. Sadly he was in Pittsburgh because he father had passed away and he was going to be here for a little over a week for the funeral and taking care of some necessary matters for the family. I did not want to intrude on what I knew would be a sad yet busy time for him so I suggested that if he could get on one of the local repeaters we might chat as he drove around taking care of business. He told me that in his haste he had left home without bringing a radio something that he regretted. I offered to loan him a radio to use while here in town and he accepted which is how we wound up at lunch together yesterday. It never ceases to amaze me how small the world is getting, for me a world made much smaller by amateur radio and the Internet. You just never know where the next friend or fellow believer in Christ will appear from.