This little picture is here as a reminder of past fun we have had at Hamvention. There are certain factors that can cause all sorts of issues in the Flea Market and everywhere else that we will be, but no matter what it will not spoil our fun. If you see these fellows walking through the flea-market this year tell them the guys from WMPORN said HI!

The sooner you people come and buy all of the items I am selling the earlier I can get started on updating the website with some pictures and puns.

This update is coming live from the flea market at Hara Arena. Well, by live, I mean it's happening as I type this, not that the people here are too lively. After all, most of us had to get up breakfast to ... that's what I forgot, breakfast. No wonder I'm so hungry. Oh well, the day is young and already the sales have been good. The weather is great and there has been a lot of activity already. Oddly enough the big cofee maker that John brought down here sold fairly early, and I think I saw the two guys who bought it trying to hook it up to an inverter to make a pot, it must be something in the air.

Sorry about the interruption but I have to pay attention to the guy waving cash in my face. Anyway, I will try to add updates when I have some incriminating photo's.

This update is a must. Someone had a problem with a certain security person here at hamvention. They looked up his name on the internet and found our web page. As of just a little bit ago we have some new friends of WMPORN who stopped by to introduce themselves to us and tell us their story about this certain security gaurd who told a handicapped indivisual that he would not be able to use a Segway. When they searched for this security gaurd on the internet, they found our story from 2010 Hamvention. It's a shame that things like this are happening at an event like this. I have chosen not to use that security guards name to protect Larry Apple's identity.

This year we would like to welcome Tyler (Kara's youngest son) who joined us for the first time this year. Welcome Tyler, I (all of us) hope that you are having fun and will plan to be here with us in the years to come.

Next up we find WMPORN Sr. Advisor Tom Bosscher, K8TB doing what he does best. For those who know Tom, they can pretty much tell that Tom has entered story mode and is sure to bring a laugh. What can I say about Tom that hasn't already been said (usually behind his back .. just kidding Tom). This guy has been a mover and shaker in the Grand Rapids Amateur community for a long time.

Sam has the Sharpee! This is the all important tool during the hamfest. Prices change frequently and he who has the sharpee controls the base economics of the entire flea market. The keeper of the sharpee must be ever vigilant and react instantly to insure that the flea market sales operate smoothly. Minute by minute weather changes, time of day, hunger levels and desire to find an appropriate person to seperate from their money.

These guys have obviously visited the booth where one of our own KB8ZGL Mike, is selling excess equipment from his job. Those 900 Mhz antennas are definately the wares he was pushing. We got reports of excellent sales from him too. Things are really looking good this year and things are selling at a steady pace.

After the we left the flea market we headed out for dinner. Often we go to the Golden Pig Trough (AKA The Golden Corral), but I really was not in to fighting the crowd there and just wanted to sit down and have a little fun, laughter and food. Since we had visited Hooters the previous year it was suggested that we go there for dinner. As you will see we did go there for dinner and had a great time and gained a new friend. Read on to get the rest of the story.

The story here is that when we walked in there had been a reservation made for 8 people for some sort of Prom party. That particular party was already 45 minutes late and the waitress was getting bummed for having 8 of her chairs empty, so we were seated immediately. Some special things were done for the prom party including some ballons that still indicated they were for a prom. Well, seeing as we still had that Sharpee along, we quickly modified the ballons to celebrate our own little party.

This is Stephanie, the girl that would be our waitress for the evening. She modeled our newly modified ballon.

Well, our gal Stephanie got started right away and stayed busy taking care of us. She was happy to see us, and well, we liked looking at her too... ok, well don't be shy, she is a good looking girl, but more importantly she treated a bunch of war torn hams fresh from the flea market battlefield very good, and kept smiling about it the whole time. Of course even though we were tired we are still more fun than pretty much anything else going on. Yep, I am going to say it again, NOBODY HAS MORE FUN! (ask Stephanie, she is our latest witness/victim).

So, it seems our charm and humor grew on our waitress and it wasn't long before Mary decided that we needed to give her one of the WMPORN carry bags. At this point, she was ours, owned, yeah, she is one of us now. I can't say for sure, but I am betting that Stephanie will remember us for a long time as we will remember her. If you are reading this Stephanie, thank you for your attitude and work to get us all taken care of. The group you took care of has been to a lot of places and truly appreciated your attention.

At the end of our dinner, Stephanie graciously stood up on a stool to get a couple of pictures of our entire dinner party.

The day started off about normal (way too early in the morning) and things were going well. Sales were continuing and it seems like Hamvention is returning to some of it's glory of days past. Hara Arena on the other hand is still starting to be a real dump. It wasn't enough that the road leading into the flea market had holes in it that rumour has it swallow small economical vehicles. That must be true as I have not noticed any hybrid cars in the flea market area.

Today there was a minor problem out in the flea market. It seems that after 50 plus years and no maintenance performed a sewer pipe beneath the flea market area busted and sewage began seeping up through the asphalt ( or what they try to pass off as asphalt). While crews worked to contain the problem the hamfest continued.

It's good that Hamvention continued as most of us were in a hurry to get in those last bargains before the world ended. Yes, today is the day when the world will end as predicted by Harold Camping. Apparently he was mistaken and must have misheard the word "Rupture" as "rapture". There was indeed a rupture of that sewer line, and it did cause quite a stir, but I sure didn't see a need to spend millions of dollars on advertising and warning the world about it. After all it only affected about 25,000 people, and I am pretty sure nobody died because of this.

The fellow on the right of this picture is a police officer who was in New York City and responded to the 911 call at the twin towers. Yes, he is one of the many who wound up with lung problems that caused him a disability thanks to the things he was breathing in trying to rescue survivors. This is also the guy that our friend Larry insisted on rendering harmless by not allowing him the use of his handicap approved Segway (for crying out loud, it is LISTED as an ADA mobility assistance device).

So after a good share of the day was gone and I had sold most of the things that I had avaialable to sell I went for a walk. Imagine my surprise when I ran into this girl. I told you we owned her and that she was one of us! Well almost... maybe if she gained some weight, lost the makeup and didn't smile so much she would fit in a little better. Hey, wait a minute, I just realized that maybe she was stalking us... Wait, another look around .. not a chance she is stalking. The attendees of this event are not known for their outstanding fantastic physical appearance and anybody that is going to spend three days digging in other peoples junk to find treasure is certainly not going to be anyone's "Sugar Daddy". Hey, maybe she is a closet geek... Ok, now I am confused, what the heck is a cute girl like this doing at a hamfest?

Aha! Now here is a photo opportunity. Will you look at the poker faces on those two Junor WMPORN members faces. Our boys are learning so well, they are groing up to be real hams! Oh, and I want to remind you boys, don't fall in love... well for all that matters that goes for you too Stephanie, those boys are already ours...

I may add more here later, but I do need to put a disclaimer here now. If you have made it this far I hope that you have had a few laughs. Until you have experianced a Dayton Hamvention with WMPORN you will never understand the depth of fun and brotherhood that we share. As for some other people who appear here, I hope that you are not offended Unfortunately I don't necessarily feel this way about Larry as I have now heard several stories about the things he has done to several people that are just ill willed and what I consider to be a childish attempt at wielding ones imaginary powers. Shame on you, you did appologize to us, but it took a serious threat of civil action before you did it, and I do not feel that you were truly sorry.

Now about Stephanie. I really don't know much about her, and we really did meet her when we went out for dinner Friday evening. She did serve us for the evening, and I don't know or care about her motives, she did her job well. She really was at Hamvention, though many of you are aware of the things that I do with Photoshop, this was not one of those times. She did agree to play along and made some of our time in Dayton extra fun. Thank you Stephanie.

As for Brandon and Tyler (the Junior WMPORN members), well boys you are screwed. It's far too late to turn back now, so just be geek with all you've got.

Finally, I would like to remind you NOBODY HAS MORE FUN and we take that as a personal challenge.

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