Traveling in Mexico: Chichen Itza

This post is about traveling to the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan Peninsula named "Chichen Itza".

Location:
- Yucatan Peninsula, about 3 hours drive from Cancun or Merida depending on which direction your coming from.
- The main highway to the national park (Chichen Itza) is a toll road, you can take a longer ride there if you wish without tolls, but that road is a two lane road and takes about an hour longer to get to your destination (it is also generally safer on the toll road).

Best way to travel there:
- This trip I chose to take a tour bus, saving me the headache and aggravation of renting a car and having to drive myself, initially I wasn't sure about this choice as I have done the drive to 'Chichen' a couple of times before, once on the two lane road and again on the toll road.  I will say it now and repeat it later; "take the tour bus". You can always modify your choice later, later in the post I will share tips and tricks while on the tour, to make your time more enjoyable.
- Turns out this was the best choice ever, I didn't appreciate being on a schedule per se, but it was well worth it overall. I ended up seeing a new spot that I wouldn't have seen otherwise (Vallioid) and to top that off I was able to dive into a very large fresh-water Cenote (sinkhole, sounds worse in English, but it was a lot of fun and a 'must-do').


Things to think about prior to travel:
- A trip to Chichen Itza takes pretty much the whole day (6 hours total driving), eat before you go and bring lots of water.
- Depending upon the time of year you go, be prepared with an umbrella or rain poncho, the weather is variable and can change quickly.
- Bring a camera and video cam (be prepared video-cams are subject to an extra tax of 4 dollars, but if you take video on a digital camera it is not subject to the tax, go figure. note: I used my flip camera and didn't get a surcharge).
- Bring comfortable shoes, if you are there with a tour you will be walking for about 3 hours.
- Wear comfortable clothes, it is always hot and humid in this area (I like to wear good 'wicking' clothes, keeps me nice and comfortable no matter the weather).

Things that have changed:
- The amount of people in the park has grown exponentially (this time I went on Thursday, early in the low-travel season and it was still packed), for instance the first time I was there (late 80's ) there was only about 70 people total wandering around the park, this time I estimate that there were well over 2000 people wandering (or bumping into each other) around the park. It is big enough to hold all these people plus more, but if you want to take some people-less photos of some of the big objects there, good luck.
- They no longer allow people to the top of any of the objects (pyramid, ball park, temple of 1000 warriors or observatory amongst the notable things that used to be open to walk on, around and on top of. This was particularly saddening, as one is not truly able to appreciate the size of many of these things unless you have some reference point (the human body being an interesting one). The even removed the chains from the steps of the main temple, ensuring nobody is climbing to the top. :-(

Tips and tricks:
- Just because you came with a tour guide, doesn't mean you have to stay with a tour guide, make sure you know your bus number and time to meet, then walk on your own, discover all you can.
- The vendors inside of the park are actually there illegally, if you don't buy from them you are not supporting their illegal livelihood... if you do decide to buy from them, you will probably get a cheaper price for your goods, but again... are propping up bad behavior, choice is yours.
- I wouldn't buy any wood items, even from the reputable folks, unless it is made of cedar (and you know that how?) due to the cheaper wood being prone to termites, which you would be bringing back to your house AND after a year those pesky termites will have eaten your item, leaving it rotten and not looking as good as when you purchased it.
- Purchase items made of the local stone, this will ensure a good price as well as supporting local artisans, things like silver (plata), gold (oro) or stones like obsidian are not from this area, they are imported from other parts of Mexico and Central America. But hey, if you want to... go ahead and buy, you are still putting money into the local economy, even if you are not buying their goods. :-)
- Culturally, it is good to bargain for any items (no, not at WalMart or eateries, but just about anywhere else is a go), my strategy is this:

• Have a 'number' that your willing to pay, ready before you engage in conversation
• Ask the vendor what their lowest price is (hint, this is only the start of the discussion and it is usually the highest price they feel comfortable asking for)
• Respond with a number about 33-50% lower than what your willing to pay (don't worry, this is your start of the bargaining cycle)
• The vendor will tell you that they cannot do it, it is too low, they are unable to feed their family (etc, etc) and they will supply you with another number, lower than their initial number, but far more than your initial number.
• You can then choose one of two tact's, either give them your walk-away number (the price your willing to pay) or give them another number in the 20% range of your walk-away number. If you choose the first, be prepared to actually walk away (or pretend to do so), if you want to play some more, then choose option 2 and have fun with it.
• It is likely you will end up paying what you wanted to, unless it wasn't reasonable for that item. 

If you are ever in Cancun,  I highly suggest that you make at least one visit to Chichen Itza, it will be well worth the time and effort.

Happy travels, Ken

Cancun 2010: tips and tricks

Well hello, been a long time since firing up the ol blog.
Thought I would pass along some tips and tricks for those traveling to Cancun, Mexico.

The location and weather:
Cancun is located in the southeast tip of Mexico in our northern hemisphere, a very tropical location (think Hawaii weather). It is hot and humid during most months. The one part of the year where the weather is a little less friendly is during hurricane season (approximately July-September), my experience here tells me that early July can still be very sunny with some rain but good weather overall, however your mileage may vary as Hurricanes come when they want. :-)

What to do:
So many things to talk about, so little blog time.
- see the many Mayan/Toltec ruins in the area (eg: Chichen Itza, Tulum or Cado),each have a distinct style and varied array of things to learn about the culture.
- visit Xel-Ha or one of the other Eco-tourist parks. I have been to Xel-Ha and really enjoy snorkeling in the lagoon with all of the different types of local seawater fish. Some of the others might be interesting as well but you should always research the parks so you know what type of experience your going to get for your money.
- play around on the white sand beaches of Cancun, note; if you really like beaches you might want to stay at an all inclusive along the Mayan Riviera, or along the Northside of the island like the Fiesta Americana coral reef or the Riu. The water is generally calmer on the northside allowing you an opportunity to play around in the ocean as well as the pool.
- visit Playa Del Carmen or Isla Mujeres
- go downtown and explore the tranquil city life of old cancun
- don't forget some nice clothes to go out in, the nightlife here can be EPIC ;-)

How to get around:
There are lots of alternatives here, public bus, taxi, walking.
As in most vacation spots, taxis are generally a waste of money, unless of course it is raining and you have a long distance to travel, then they are worth every cent.
The bus is super cheap, about 7.5 pesos to ride anywhere you want to go (that is less than a dollar at this writing).
Finally, walk... That is an awesome way to burn off those extra calories and get some air from that long night of partying.

What to avoid and how to avoid it:
Let's face it, everyone needs a job to survive... In Cancun, one of the most annoying is the timeshare industry, they hound you at the airport, they hound you when walking back to your hotel (at least it is better than it used to be).
So let's talk details, at the airport when going to pick up your bags, you will be accosted by people in white outfits telling you "this way to transportation", what ever you do... DO NOT pay any attention to them, just walk right past them, they are going to try to waste your time with a "free meal and activities", what you will get is a buffet meal and some discounted activities at the cost of one day of your vacation to listen to time share sales pitches. Not worth the time, try it if you must but it is a waste of time.

You also might encounter them along some sidewalks, take my advice and do what the locals do, just ignore them and go along your merry way. Of course they will not be happy with that, but so what... Or you could do what I did (my kids found it hilarious).
When approached on the street, the guy asked 'habla usted espanol?' and my reply was 'no, I speak Japanese', he stopped for a second then asked 'are your from the US?' to which my reply was 'somos Japonese' which is spanish for we are Japanese. I confused him so much he wasn't quite sure how to respond, my kids of course were rolling on the floor laughing as they caught the irony of my responses immediately.

Some parting thoughts:
- use your credit card in most places, you will get a better exchange rate.
- if you cannot use a credit card (or don't feel comfortable in some places) then have some cash handy and exchange it at your hotel, it is always good to have some local cash on hand, but don't cash too much as the hotel exchange rates are not the best.
- as with any other country, try to speak the local language, people will appreciate it, even if you don't do so well. But just in case you don't speak Spanish, not to worry, most places you will encounter someone that speaks Spanish and is willing go assist.

Happy travels, Ken

Things I carry in my 's-pack'

I recently came across a blog post about things that you should have in your car trunk, this is a non-exhaustive list of the things that I commonly keep in the trunk of all my vehicles, with a couple of additions of course:
Here is the starter list:
http://artofmanliness.com/2009/12/17/13-things-a-man-should-keep-in-his-car/
I would add the following to my normal trunk box:
- MAP
- Cheap Plastic Rain Poncho
- Glow sticks
- Compass
- A couple of 'space blankets'

When I posted the link and the above to facebook, I was quite surprised to get comments and questions from family and friends alike about what I carry for mountain / desert trips.
I start with a name that everyone in my immediate family knows:
--> the 's-pack'... s is shortened for 'survival'
I chose a bag with many pockets and some good exterior webbing to attach other things.

In the small pocket at the top I have the following:

It contains some hand-warmers, a 'neck-knife' a couple of LED flashlights, a compass / thermometer and a small amount of nylon rope with a 'figure 9 rope clamp'. It also houses a GPS (not shown).

The larger front pocket contains:

Some glow-sticks, waterproof matches, more 'figure 9 rope clamps', a magnesium firestarter and a waterproof survival pack (with lots of goodies in it). The survival packs have fire tinder, a whistle, a mirror, a wire saw and some hooks / string (as does the larger one in the next pocket).

Next I have the first main pack:

In it I have a portable first aid kit, lots of plastic emergency ponchos, 4 space blankets, 4 space sleeping bags, 2 space tents, DEET insect repellent, more hand warmers, another waterproof survival kit and about 10 triox tablets for heating water, etc. This is also where I put my topo map (for the specific region, not shown).
Finally I have the main compartment:

In this compartment you will find:
a folding shovel, a hatchet, a serrated knife in belt loop sheath, an aluminum stove / cup, a plastic tarp, nylon rope. You can see the machete I also have, but this normally is placed on the outside of the pack in webbing, along with more nylon rope and my HAM radio / antenna.

These are pretty much the basic items I carry with me regardless of the environment, I also have water / MREs that I carry in another pack. Between these two packs, I can support my family of four in just about any environment, providing heat / shelter / food and items to support basic food retrieval and sleeping area clearing.

Why the travel industry is in trouble (part II)

5)
I then called US Airways and after 15 minutes of being on hold, I
finally reached "Martin" who really tried hard to get to the bottom of
the issue and make it right. But before he was able to do so, enough
time had elapsed that we needed to board the flight. So Martin advised
me to get on the flight to Denver and he would work with United to get
us to Aruba as soon as possible.

6) Arrived at the United gate
in Denver at ~1am, I was greeted by a United representative who
informed me that they made arrangements to get me on an American
Airlines flight at 6am and as the airport was closed, they made
arrangements to put us up in a Hotel for about 4 hours of sleep before
our AA flight to Miami. They said that a shuttle was waiting right
outside to take us to the hotel immediately.

7) We waited about
an hour for that shuttle to arrive to finally get us to the hotel, for
what was now about 3 hours of sleep before the next flight.

8)
Finally on the flight to Miami, AA is smooth so far... land in Miami, a
long layover ~4 hours but we made the connection and boarded a plane
for Aruba.

9) We land in Aruba, nice landing... crew was pleasant. We go to our baggage claim and to our surprise... bags are missing! (what a surprise). The AA attendant there said, 'don't worry, this happens often from Miami and Philadelphia', then proceeded to fill out some forms to track our bags, saying 'they will probably show up tomorrow, if so, we will drive them to your hotel, if not we will call you to give you some status'.I asked if they had any 'travel kits' as we had been traveling for a
long time and needed something to brush our teeth (at least) as all
clothes were checked in baggage. He stated: 'oh,
we ran out of those... you should ask at the hotel and see if they have
any, if not just go buy some to last you one more day'

10)
Aruba was an amazing place, great people... Marriott nice. Spend some
good times there with family, but finally had to come back home. Via Expedia, we booked shuttles to and from the airport.. the shuttle on the way to airport was great... however, the shuttle never showed on our return to the airport, leaving us to hire a cab and spend another 30 dollars to get back home!

So
not only did we lose a day in Aruba due to all the flight challenges,
we also went without food or sleep on the travel there... our bags were
lost... and services that we paid for were not delivered... and people
ask why the travel industry is not profitable and people are taking
smaller vacations now and avoiding the airlines...

IT IS ALL ABOUT SERVICE... or the lack thereof.

Why the travel industry is in trouble (part 1)

While looking for a family vacation, I decided to try Expedia.com...
they offered some good deals on hotel and airfare at a fairly
reasonable price, I turned to my wife and said: Honey we are going to
Aruba!
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire
travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from
Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the
same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com,
super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation
spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my
itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was
flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).

2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel
experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my
passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with
United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I
then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the
carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me
this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter
to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute
walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United"
check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.

3)
Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go
smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding
gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via
loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical
issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was,
explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in
Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection',
so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked
me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any
alternatives.She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my
boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes
said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look...
we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on
the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they
will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.

4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia)
booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right',
'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'

See part II for the rest of the nightmare...

Why the travel industry is in trouble: a story of terrible service

While looking for a family vacation, I decided to try Expedia.com... they offered some good deals on hotel and airfare at a fairly reasonable price, I turned to my wife and said: Honey we are going to Aruba!
It turns out that this was THE ONLY easy part of the entire travel experience (Aruba itself was awesome but getting to and from Aruba was HORRIBLE). Let me walk you through the experience, in the same way I experienced it.
1) I booked travel on Expedia.com, super simple, super easy... painless experience selecting the vacation spot, reserving hotel and airfare. There is a catch however, my itinerary stated that I was staying at the Marriott (was true) and was flying via US Airways (was completely UNTRUE).

2) With itinerary in hand, I brought my family to SFO with 2.5 hours of leeway (just doing my part to ensure a smooth travel experience), walked up to the US Airways counter and presented my passport and itinerary. I was told: 'oh this is not with us, it is with United Airlines you need to go check in with them in that terminal', I then politely showed my paperwork that showed US Airways as the carrier... to which I got a laugh and the US Airways employee told me this is a "code-share" and I would need to get to the "United" counter to check in. So I grabbed my stuff and took my family on a 15 minute walk through the airport between terminals to get to the "United" check-in facility.
I think if you bought a ticket from an Airlines, you should likely check in there codeshare or not.. making the customer experience easier, in addition I would say that Expedia could have highlighted it if indeed it was a United flight instead of a US Airways flight.

3) Checked in at the United counter and all seemed to appear to go smoothly, so went through the security gates and off to our boarding gate. (This is where smooth stopped).
About 30 mintues before the flight was scheduled to board, we were notified via loudspeaker that our flight would be delayed due to "mechanical issues", so I approached the counter and asked how long the delay was, explaining that we are connecting in Denver on our way to vacation in Aruba.
The counter attendant, looked at me blankly and said.. 'oh, you won't make that connection', so after 30 seconds of silence, I asked what I should do... she asked me for my boarding passes and said she would see if there were any alternatives. She pulled up the flight information for us and announced loudly 'you are on a US Air flight, I cannot do anything for you' (as if I was hard of hearing perhaps?). I politely said that all of my boarding passes say UNITED AIRLINES, not one of the boarding passes said "US AIR". She abruptly laughed out loud and said 'look... we are UNITED you bought a US Air ticket, we will get you to Denver on the flight you were on, you should call US Airways and see what they will do for you' and then turned her back on me to send me away.

4) I called Expedia to advise them of the issue and after about 30 minutes of explaining and waiting, I was told that 'We (Expedia) booked your travel, now it is up to the airlines to make it right', 'nothing more we can do, call US Air and see if they can help'

5) I then called US Airways and after 15 minutes of being on hold, I finally reached "Martin" who really tried hard to get to the bottom of the issue and make it right. But before he was able to do so, enough time had elapsed that we needed to board the flight. So Martin advised me to get on the flight to Denver and he would work with United to get us to Aruba as soon as possible.

6) Arrived at the United gate in Denver at ~1am, I was greeted by a United representative who informed me that they made arrangements to get me on an American Airlines flight at 6am and as the airport was closed, they made arrangements to put us up in a Hotel for about 4 hours of sleep before our AA flight to Miami. They said that a shuttle was waiting right outside to take us to the hotel immediately.

7) We waited about an hour for that shuttle to arrive to finally get us to the hotel, for what was now about 3 hours of sleep before the next flight.

8) Finally on the flight to Miami, AA is smooth so far... land in Miami, a long layover ~4 hours but we made the connection and boarded a plane for Aruba.

9) We land in Aruba, nice landing... crew was pleasant. We go to our baggage claim and to our surprise... bags are missing! (what a surprise). The AA attendant there said, 'don't worry, this happens often from Miami and Philadelphia', then proceeded to fill out some forms to track our bags, saying 'they will probably show up tomorrow, if so, we will drive them to your hotel, if not we will call you to give you some status'. I asked if they had any 'travel kits' as we had been traveling for a long time and needed something to brush our teeth (at least) as all clothes were checked in baggage. He stated: 'oh, we ran out of those... you should ask at the hotel and see if they have any, if not just go buy some to last you one more day'

10) Aruba was an amazing place, great people... Marriott nice. Spend some good times there with family, but finally had to come back home. Via Expedia, we booked shuttles to and from the airport.. the shuttle on the way to airport was great... however, the shuttle never showed on our return to the airport, leaving us to hire a cab and spend another 30 dollars to get back home!

So not only did we lose a day in Aruba due to all the flight challenges, we also went without food or sleep on the travel there... our bags were lost... and services that we paid for were not delivered... and people ask why the travel industry is not profitable and people are taking smaller vacations now and avoiding the airlines...

IT IS ALL ABOUT SERVICE... or the lack thereof.

Aruba: Some Observations

Well, back from my travels to Aruba, as it was my first time I thought I would write a bit about it to let others know about the country, interesting things to do / see and other hints about travel to and from there.

General Information:
Aruba is a country off the coast of Venezuela, in an area known as the Dutch Antilles (which is comprised of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
For more country specific info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruba

Cash is king, USD all the way in this country.. especially if you are in the capital or in the tourist zones, if your not... then you will probably need to carry some Arubian Florin (exchange rate is about 1.79 florin to 1 USD). Don't be fooled by the exchange rates... the cost of living is pretty high there... in fact for those of you versed in Hawaiian travel, I would say a bit more costly than "The Islands" so bring lots of greenbacks you will need all you bring.

Language:
You can likely get along anywhere in Aruba using English, but the local language there is Papiamento (a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and some Dutch and others). If you speak Spanish you can go anywhere and do anything, essentially ensuring that you will have a fairly rich travel experience. Again, English will get you around... but you may be missing out a bit.

Weather:
Can you say "Hot and Humid" all year around? When I was there the temperature ranged from 81F to about 91F, with a high humidity.
Of note, there are pretty strong tradewinds that blow all day and night there (about 10-15 mph on average), but you kind of appreciate these winds after a while as they keep the temperature moderate, without them I am sure it would be about 120F all day and night. :-P

Aruba Activities:
Water sports of all kinds including; Parasailing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, SeaDoo's, Kite Surfing, Windsurfing (see notes above about wind), Kayaking (although kayaking specifically is not recommended, as the winds are high and the sea lanes are crowded with speedboats, etc... making it a dangerous deal)
I would highly recommend the snorkeling trips as you go out on a Catamaran and you get to see some pretty interesting finds like a WWII German freighter that was sunk by its crew, you will not believe how big and cool this ship is for a snorkeling adventure. The snorkeling trips are actually pretty reasonable overall as well making it a must do while on the islands.


If you are so inclined you can party all night long in Aruba (and rather safely overall I might add), there are plenty of places to drink and dance if you desire, or you can just relax and watch some amazing sunsets while lounging in a beach chair... Island life is easy and laid back here.

Prices:
Overall, you can expect good deals on hotel rooms and flights etc, especially during the "low season" which is between April to July (spring break is an exception), the "high season" is July to October and is the time when things generally cost a bit more. Plan accordingly.
You will find that in the hotel zones, the restaurants are very pricey (especially in the "High Rise" hotel district) with an average dinner costing about 2-3x what it would cost to go out to dinner in California. There are many "off" places to go downtown where you can get GREAT food for very reasonable prices if you want to go that route.
I have travelled lots of places and I can say that Aruba is very safe overall and I wouldn't worry much about safety there, as usual just be cognizant of your environment *just as you should anywhere in the world*

What to know about before you go:
1) If you rent a car, make sure that you turn it in the DAY BEFORE you depart, especially if you are taking an early flight out. The rental agencies don't normally open before 6am and you will get a rush of people trying to fight to turn in cars, this could be problematic if you are supposed to be on one of the 7:50am flights.

2) Pack some clothes (at least one days worth) in your carry on bag, it is not uncommon that luggage is "misplaced" (ours suffered this fate) if you are transferring from either Philadelphia or Miami airports. If you are lucky like we were, you will get your bags the next morning the following day, if not... then you can find some cheap clothes downtown @ the Aruba Discount Center ;-)

3) US Customs happens IN ARUBA, so plan accordingly... I would recommend 2.5 hours prior to your flight so you make it past the check-in counters and US Customs.

4) Travelers checks can be exchanged in the hotels at zero fees, but are not widely accepted outside the hotels, so either brings loads of cash or bring tons of travelers checks and just cash them as you need them. I would recommend travelers checks in general and in larger denominations to avoid the "hand cramps" from all the signing / dating you will need to do when exchanging them.

That is it for now, if you have other questions.. let me know and I can give you what I know / learned.

History of my callsign, KD1E

A little trivia on the history of my current callsign.

First, what is a callsign anyway?
- This one is simple, there is an FCC licensed activity called amateur radio, where you get to play with radio wave transmissions, contacting people from around the world, creating loads of headache for yourself in designing antennas, troubleshooting cable transmissions, standing wave ratios and many other fun things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio

- There are three "grades" of licenses, each getting progressively harder from both a technical aspect as well as the number of questions. These grades are Technician, General and Extra... the top level license. You may ask what the difference between them is and why someone would get the next level license, well when you get the top-level license you get some extra reserved spectrum and you get to challenge yourself by ensuring you learn / know the test material.

- You are assigned a "callsign" when you complete your Technician license, or you can pick one... it is far easier to just take the one that is assigned to you and from what I gather, that is what the majority of people do at the technician level. You can also choose a vanity callsign, but when you are a technician all the "cool" ones are not available.. you get stuck with a crappy selection. When you get your Extra license, you are allowed to choose from the "cool-pool", hence why I waited to get my "vanity callsign" .

It is no cakewalk getting a vanity callsign, in fact I submitted about 25 "options" and ended up landing the 3rd.. in fact, to get the list of 25, I had to search a database to see what was available (you cannot just walk up and make one up after all).

Ok, so now that baseline is complete, on to the trivia:
So, my new callsign is KD1E, I chose that because it is my initials (KD) the number 1 and E, which I state stands for Extra Class Licensee...so, KD the number 1 Extra. :-) I am sure many other Extras would argue the point of being the number 1, but so what... that is my call and I say it stands for that. :-)

Now to take a history walk as far back as I can trace this call...

On Feb 27, 1981 a Gentleman named John Moore applied for a vanity callsign, he selected or was assigned KD1E. Mr Moore held onto that "call" until 1997, when he changed it to K1DE (I am going to get that one someday, "Ken 1 Distinguished Engineer") a callsign that he has to this very day (it expires in 2016, so I will be watching >:-)).
When he released it in 1997, it lingered until 2000.

In 2000, it was picked up by a Gentleman named, Keith Darwin (I understand KD1E with Mr Darwins initials as well as the fact that he was an Extra class licensee too).. Mr Darwin held that call until 2006, then somehow it just stayed in the "cool-pool" waiting for me to come along and claim it.

On 5/09, I relinquished my original callsign "KI6SCQ" to become KD1E, just in case I change my mind, KI6SCQ will be kept in a secure locker for 2 years (only kidding about the locker), so I can revert back to it if I choose to do so.

Now it may have been around longer than I can track it down, but it is mine until I decide to go after K1DE or not.. :-)

So let it be known that from this point forward on the airwaves, I shall now be known as KD1E...