ALERT NEWSLETTER — May 2008 Vol. 1 No. 11 Hi Everyone, May has arrived & we know what May is…. It’s BirmingHamfest Month! ALERT will have a booth there. I’ll be there. And, you better had be there too. I remember my first hamfest back in 1978. I was a Novice & didn’t know really what to expect. But, what I found was a young ham’s version of The Promised Land. I had never seen so many toys, gizmos & equipment. Flashing blinking lights. I like flashing blinking lights. I was broke, of course, as usual…as today…but that didn’t matter. I could touch the stuff anyway. And, so many hams. Some not very pretty, but, hams none-the-less. I passed my Technician test that hamfest. I was trying for my General, but my code was mushy, so the Technician was the consolation prize. But, I loved it. There is a Continue reading →

ALERT NEWSLETTER — March 2008 Vol. 1 No. 9http://www.alert-alabama.orgHi everyone,March has arrived, and with its arrival we enter into the peak of the spring tornado season. Are you ready? Can you receive weather warnings? At home? At work? On the road? Even with a power outage? Where can you hide? Again at home, at work or on the road. And, if a tornado strikes near you, do you know what to do? These are questions that need to be asked and resolved. You and your family’s life depend on it. At ALERT we respond to the NWS to take storm reports. But, our primary responsibility is to take care of ourselves, our families and then our community. Take time to learn about disaster preparedness. Think about what you will do if “it” happens to you. And, educate your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors as to what to do and why they should prepare also. Even if they might not want to listen. Little Continue reading →

ALERT NEWSLETTER — February 2008 “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ Vol. 1 No. 8 Hi Everyone & Happy Ground Hog Day! Whether you are a believer or not, if there are any Groundhogs around Birmingham, (and there are, for Teresa and I saw one once ambling about on Shades Mountain while we were eating at the Tip Top Cafe on Shades Crest), he, she or it definitely saw it’s shadow today. So restock up on the bread and milk, Winter is here to stay. How did we come up with Groundhog Day anyway? It is said by one theory that the first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. 1000 years ago when the world used the Julian Calendar, Spring Equinox fell on March 16, which is exactly six weeks after February 2. So, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. But, if he didn’t, there would be only 42 more days of winter left instead. Get the calculator out and you will find that 42 days equals six weeks, so Groundhog Day may have started out as a practical joke. The modern 21 Centur Continue reading →