Heading West next week

I just spent about a half-an-hour scouring the logs looking for a particular QSO. A kind fellow emailed me this weekend telling me he was surprised that his contact was not shown on the web site. Alas, I had to send out my first not in log response. Luckily, the fellow had worked another of us on that band and mode so he'll get credit for Montserrat, just not from that one operator.
The cards continue to mount up here at the condo. I think it is time to find a nice box for them. The stack is getting kind of tall and unwieldy. Also, I understand from a conversation with Chris this weekend that Budd has quite the collection at his house now, too. I'm having those forwarded to me. (I mentioned this the other day.)
No word back yet from West Mountain Radio on my note regarding the drivers. I've got quite a lot to do this week and will be traveling next week, so that's just as well, really.
Speaking of travel, I need to make a business trip to the West Coast next week. I'll be in the Seattle area arriving Monday night and in meetings through Friday. It isn't clear how much time I'll have for blogging, but I'll try. With those very long flights between Boston and the Pacific, I collect a pretty sizable batch of random thoughts. Perhaps a couple will be blog-worthy. {grin}
I'm excited to be going on this trip for a couple of reasons. First, this project at work is very interesting and I'll get a chance to see some of the hardware associated with it when I visit the factory in Redmond. I always like to see cool stuff in hardware labs!
The other reason I'm excited is I'll be visiting my friend Henson. There is a photograph kicking around someplace that shows two Cub Scouts just about to board a bus heading for a White Sox game. I was eight years old at the time (I think) and he just one year older. We've been friends ever since. I've not seen Henson for a few years for all the usual reasons: distance, personal commitments, work schedules, and the like. I'll get to visit him after the business portion has concluded. I can't wait!
Of course I'll be bringing a radio. The IC-7000 is already packed into the smaller Pelican case along with the power supply, tuner, and other accessories. I'll bring the smaller Buddipole system, too, and see if I can't add to my DXCC total while on the other coast. Hey! It counts! It is all from the same DXCC entity (continental US). It should be fun to show Henson and his family a little ham radio magic.
Finally, I've signed up to assist at the K1TTT station for the ARRL International DX Contest. There will be some very bright and talented people there this weekend and I hope to learn a great deal. As I've said many times here: practice makes perfect. I should also add that learning from the masters isn't a bad idea, either.