There Are No Coincidences

My apartment is a goodish walk from the parking lot. So, I wasn’t too happy when I discovered after reaching home that I had forgotten my phone in the car. But I decided to make use of the opportunity to bring some more LP records (there was pile of them in the car and they are heavy) from the car to my home.

With the trunk open, I was in the process of putting the records in a bag when a lady (whom I did not know) who was out walking her dog early in the morning stopped by to take a look at the records and chat. She went “ooh” and “ahh” about Glen Campbell, the Beatles, Tanya Tucker, Judy Collins, Crystal Gayle, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, amongst others. She rued that her records had all been lost while moving.

Then, as I pulled the trunk door down, she noticed the amateur radio call-sign on the registration plate.

“Would you be my Elmer?” she asked. (An Elmer, in ham radio parlance, is a mentor who shows newbies the ropes.)

“What! Are you a ham too?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, KC3… something. I don’t remember the rest,” she said. Clearly, she had never been on the air.

“I will be more than happy to be your Elmer,” I responded. To meet a fellow ham in the same condo after being there fifteen years is a big thing.

And then I mentioned the restrictions imposed by the homeowner’s association on putting up antennas. This was the reason I had not transmitted for over a decade and a half. (That, and the long work hours.) I also mentioned the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) I was a part of, and hoped the board would consider leniently some unobtrusive, stealth antenna.

“We could discuss that at our next meeting,” she said.

“What! Are you a board member?” I could not hide my surprise a second time.

“Yes, I am,” she replied. “But it will have to wait till the tax season is over.”

“What! You do taxes too?

Turns out she enjoyed doing taxes part time — like me.

We talked some more about the recent changes in tax code before exchanging contact information and parting.

LPs, amateur radio, homeowner’s board, taxes. Early in the morning on a weekend when not another soul was up and about.

Happenstance?

Bah!