"It's Him"... or, "ooh-ooh that smell! Can't you smell that smell?"

I spent this morning and afternoon at Ham-Com, the largest hamfest in Texas. Saw lots of people (mainly vendors) that I got to see at Dayton last month (see my Dayton Hamvention post from May). Gordon West WB6NOA was there, as well as good ol' Russ from Batteries America. Rick the SignMan from Baton Rouge, and my friend Allen from Link-Comm, makers of the finest repeater controllers. And, although the always cute Laura wasn't there from The Ham Station, her equally hot sister was, and yes, I did tell Laura's equally cute sister that she was cuter than Laura, like I promised to in my Dayton post.

If you are a fellow ham, you know that, although most ham radio operators are relatively clean folk that enjoy showering and smelling and looking relatively presentable, there are a select few that, well, don't. And a representative number of these unwashed hams were at Ham-Com today. It always reminds me of my annual trek to the Fort Wayne Hamfest each November. Each year since we were in high school (except for a couple of years, probably including, unfortunately, 2008), my best friend Kevin N9IAA and I have made it a tradition to go to the Fort Wayne swap, and then enjoy a nice meal afterwards (Hooters, or some sushi place).

And, invariably, we smell "him." We don't know "him" personally but "him" smells bad. It's a unique smell, with nuances that neither of us have smelled at any other time of year. Each year we have gone to Fort Wayne, without exception, we smell "him". It'' a game, really. We could be looking at somebody's junk table, or possibly some expensive test equipment, or we could even be snacking on nachos at the snack bar. And then, one of us will smell "him" coming. And then the one who smelled "him" first says those two little words that have become famous between the two of us... "It's him." And then the other will acknowledge, "Yes, it definitely is him." We then take a look, and sure enough, it's "him". The same "him" that it has been every year. We always smell a number of smelly people. But we can always recognize "him" when he comes on walking past.