Dear Friend,

My life is beginning to get back on track after the last Expo. It is amazing how much stress can cause symptoms of illness and fatigue. So now I say to avoid stress as much as possible. I am setting out on the next Expo to stay in the rails, fine tune the "back office" so that I can enjoy the next expo, rather than feel like the bride's father at the wedding.

I am making new interviews for the podcast and am looking forward to sharing them with you. I love hearing the ham radio stories and how my guests are actively engaging in the hobby. These interviews have caused me to focus more, especially, when it comes to actually getting my ham radio projects finished.

I started CW Academy at the Basic Level. It is amazing how much I remember after 46 years of not being on CW. I am waiting for the "Zen of CW" to kick in as I am learning to hear characters at 25 plus words per minute. It takes some real focus to send characters accurately at this speed. Learning CW again is also great brain exercise for us older people. It is nice to see, however, that my class is full of young people all wanting to improve their CW skills.

The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo is now over. All of the presentations are available on the Expo website at: qsotodayhamexpo.com. The are available on the screen reader compatible player that we built for on-demand Expo, but also now in a Vimeo Showcase where they are downloadable and comments are enabled. I hope that these presentations will generate some great topical discussions.

LDG Electronics has become a sponsor of the QSO Today podcast. I welcome them and thank them along with Icom, and all you for supporting the QSO Today Podcast.

Patrick Brown, AK5TX, came to my attention during the Expo. After having a number of emails back and forth with him, I concluded that I should share his ham radio story with you. Patrick is a very active ham, loves to promote our hobby through STEM and STEAM programs in the local schools. Of course there is more to this story, there always is, in this week's QSO Today.

Have a good week, 73,

Eric, 4Z1UG