Now it's Alan, AC2K

[DonTom]

Alan and I met many times during my RV trips to the Tucson area. We have worked each other on 40M CW for many years, even when he lived near Seattle, WA several years ago.

I have not heard from him in quite a while, and Glen, NN6T, who died first, told me just a few months ago that Alan was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

Both Glen and Alan were VERY active on 40M CW.

I have also not heard from Alan for quite a while, so I just now looked him up on QRZ.com to find he too is now a Silent Key. He must have died in the last week or so.

I wasn't expecting him to go so fast. I don't know what type of leukemia he had, but it must have been from a type of acute leukemia. He was fine just several months ago.

-Don- AA6GA

 

[Ray-IN]

Sadly cancers can take a life quickly or slowly.
My younger brother was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma in July and was gone by October. He was only 14. I have never recovered from his passing, but his suffering ceased.

 

[DonTom]

My younger brother was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma in July and was gone by October. He was only 14.

What a bummer, at such a young age.

My Tom was diagnosed with liver cancer with complications that made a liver transplant not helpful. That was on April 12 of 2016. The doc said he had between 2 and five years to live. He died on 3, August 2016. Just four months. But he was then 64 years old.

I know of many who died of cancer in the last few years.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[tlmgcamp]

I lost 3 members of my 1980 high school class this year, as well as the wife of another member. All right around the 60 year old mark. Grief is something that everybody gets to deal with, but I found that taking the following to heart helps soften the blow when it comes, and maybe make the world a little bit of a better place:

LAST WISHES

When I quit this mortal shore,
And mosey 'round the earth no more.
Don't weep, or sigh, or grieve, or sob,
I may have struck a better job.

Don't go and buy a large bouquet,
For which you'll find it hard to pay,
Don't hang around me looking blue,
I may be better off than you.

Don't go and tell folks I was a Saint,
Or anything you know I ain't.
If you have stuff like that to spread,
Please hand it out before I'm dead.

If you have roses, bless your soul,
Just put it in my buttonhole,
But do it while I'm at my best,
Instead of when I'm safe at rest.

Peace to all....

 

[Jayflight]

Cancer of any kind sucks.. Some folks go quickly and some suffer for years. There is no reason for the different time frame, unless you catch it in the early stage with some of the types.

I lost two close life long friends over the weekend as a result of kidney cancer that spread across her body and Parkinsons disease, as with two additional health issues due to Agent Orange. One was 66 and had just retired two year ago and one was 75, that suffered for the past 12 year in earnest .

 

[DonTom]

Cancer of any kind sucks..

I recall a teacher in high school telling the class that there will most likely be a cure for cancer by the time we (those in the class) are 40 years old.

Well, I am now 73 years old.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

I may be better off than you.

"Death may be the greatest of all human blessings”
– Socrates

"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."
-Oscar Wilde

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ray-IN]

I recall a teacher in high school telling the class that there will most likely be a cure for cancer by the time we (those in the class) are 40 years old.

Well, I am now 73 years old.

-Don- Reno, NV

And there is a cure for some cancers today. Time and progress march on.

 

[DonTom]

I wonder what they are changing on QRZ.COM. If I look up NN6T or AC2K right now, the info is missing--all if it--except the address info. And also, no mention of them being silent keys. And their lookup count is way down. Alan, AC2K, must have had at least 10,000 lookups, but now shows as "47".

-Don- AA6GA, Auburn, CA

 

[Utclmjmpr]

As a reverse of that,, no one in my family tree has ever made the age of 80,( for whatever reason) My mother missed it by two weeks.. I am now setting records every day at 81,, my doctor says I'll make 85,, but would not put it in writing.. Feel great other than a few aches and pains that are normal... Keep on truckin..>>>Dan ( 1941 was a very good year,, until December 11 )

 

[John From Detroit]

I wonder what they are changing on QRZ.COM. If I look up NN6T or AC2K right now, the info is missing--all if it--except the address info. And also, no mention of them being silent keys. And their lookup count is way down. Alan, AC2K, must have had at least 10,000 lookups, but now shows as "47".

-Don- AA6GA, Auburn, CA

What information is missing:
The Bio page is set by the amatuer.. if you are AC2K then you need to fill that in or copy it from your older profile.
The "Details" you mean like

Class	Extra Codes: HAI
Effective	2018-05-17
Expires	2024-12-07
Grid Square	DM42og
Geo Source	Geocoded Address
US State	Arizona

That is there (Note I did not copy all of it) .
Side note: Was chatting with a young lady today (A KE8 call) She ask how I had a WA8 when she was a KE... I replied "1968"

 

[DonTom]

The Bio page is set by the amatuer..

Yes, and his 10,000 or so words plus all his photos there are now totally missing. Both with AC2K and all the photos that NN6T had of his antenna farm there on QRZ.com.

Big change from just one week ago.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[DonTom]

Yes, and his 10,000 or so words plus all his photos there are now totally missing. Both with AC2K and all the photos that NN6T had of his antenna farm there on QRZ.com.

Big change from just one week ago.

-Don- Auburn, CA

I just discovered I can enter Alan's call as "AC2K/SK2022" (no quotes entered) and get all his old info. Same with "NN6T/SK2022".

Seems strange that it's changed in a way that we have to know they are a SK in advance and even know the year they died.

However, it's not like that for the old SKs. An old high school buddy of mine (who I took the train to San Francsico with to take our Extra Class test at the FCC office) was Ken, WB6VHE-now W5KFS, last in ABQ, NM. I have no idea what Ken died from. We were e-mailing each other a few years ago and later I got no replies and then find out he is a SK.

Ken & I both lived in San Mateo, CA at the time when we took the Extra test together in SF. We both passed. Back then, it included a sending and receiving 20 WPM CW test at the FCC office. Things have really changed since then.

-Don- AA6GA/7 Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

It looks like the SK issue on QRZ.com was fixed today. Can now just enter the callsign such a AC2K or NN6T to get all the info.

Very unlike yesterday.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Old_Crow]

It looks like the SK issue on QRZ.com was fixed today. Can now just enter the callsign such a AC2K or NN6T to get all the info.

Very unlike yesterday.

-Don- Reno, NV

And that doesn't spook you just a little bit that they didn't fix it until you started posting about it in an RV forum?
Big Brother could take a page from Dr. Fraser Crane..."I'm listening." ;-)

 

[DonTom]

And that doesn't spook you just a little bit that they didn't fix it until you started posting about it in an RV forum?

I mentioned it in the QRZ.COM forum, fixed two days after. Message five here.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Ex-Calif]

I lost 3 members of my 1980 high school class this year, as well as the wife of another member. All right around the 60 year old mark. Grief is something that everybody gets to deal with, but I found that taking the following to heart helps soften the blow when it comes, and maybe make the world a little bit of a better place:

This is a big reason I retired early. I loved my job, got paid super well and had plenty of time off.

But some of the engineers put together an actuarial table for the engineering department and the "average" retirement expectancy if retiring at 70 was 4 years. 65 was something like 12 years.

I don't remember what 60 was but even though I am living a bit poor, I am doing a ton of stuff that I want to do. Still haven't decided when to draw SS but I am thinking around 64 at which time I get about a $3k raise! 2 1/2 years to go - LOL...