Best regards from Norway

I get emails from all over the world from people whose hobby involves them trying to listen to AM radio stations from all over the world. They find me on our station website as a contact. I am fascinated by these people. I listen to their recordings and can't believe they can hear our radio station on the other side of the world when there are people in the Denver metro who can't hear our little AM station. Ha. I get how it works and understand how an AM signal travels...I just think it's cool. Here's a note I got today.

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Hello,
I got your e-mail address from Norwegian DX-er Ole Forr, who had written to you regarding the reception of KEZW Radio on 1430 AM here in Europe.

Just like Ole, I have also been able to receive KEZW on 1430 AM at my place. At my place, KEZW is a very rare catch. I can receive a number of AM stations from the USA and Canada, but usually only stations from the East coast only (from Newfoundland down to Florida). Hearing stations located further inland is not common, and hearing stations as far west as the Rockies is exceptional! You are the very first station I have ever been able to receive from Colorado, so your AM transmitter must be doing really well!

So far I have only been able to pick up your signals on the AM band only on one occasion. On January 13, 2007, I could receive KEZW for about an hour or so in the morning my local time, or in the middle of the night your local time there in Colorado. I am enclosing an audio file with a 50 second long recording of KEZW as received here in Norway this winter morning, at 2.16 a.m. Mountain Time. On this recording, there is a pretty clear (bearing in mind the distance) station identification for “Studio 1430”. Would it be possible for you to listen in to this recording and confirm that I was able to pick up the signal of KEZW here in Norway?
The radio equipment used when receiving your signal was a SDR-IQ communications receiver and an antenna wire which was nearly 800 metres long. Using such a long antenna is a big advantage when it comes to receiving long distance radio signals on AM, but the antenna sure takes a lot of space. .

I am 40 years old and have been listening to foreign radio stations on short- and mediumwave since I was a kid. Now my main interest lies in catching weak signals from radio stations on mediumwave and on the tropical bands on shortwave. Even in the times of the Internet and satellite TV and radio, it is still interesting to see how far away a signal from a radio station with limited power such as KEZW can reach and which radio stations it is possible to hear here in Norway.

My radio hobby is a hobby for the long Scandinavian fall and winter nights. Apart from this hobby, I am also into computing, sports and nature. I am also very fond of travelling as I am very interested in foreign countries and in foreign cultures. I am living in the small town of Lunde in Southern Norway (2 hours by train south west of the capital Oslo) where I am working at the local college in my region - Telemark University College.
I would appreciate very much if you verified that I heard your station. It would be very nice to receive a verification letter, card or an e-mail from you, simply saying that I really heard your station. I am collecting such verifications from the radio stations which I am able to hear at my place.

Well, I hope you enjoy hearing that the signals of KEZW can sometimes reach as far away as Norway on 1430 AM too. It should imply that your AM transmitter is doing quite well!
Thanks a lot for your help and hope to hear from you again soon.

Best regards from Norway, Arild

Eastern medicine

My friend Em P told me that her sister Meg went to an acupuncturist that specialized in infertility and gave me his name. She also suggested I reach out to Meg and tell her my story. Meg also had fertility issues (Note: HAD fertility issues...she has one daughter and is pregnant with her 2nd...and due any minute) :-) That was the best advice I could have ever gotten. Meghan was a light in the dark for me. She understood the isolation we feel when we are having trouble getting pregnant. She said that there was a medical study done on depression...with woman who are terminally ill and woman who are experiencing infertility and the woman with infertility issues were MORE depressed that the women with a terminal illness. Sigh. So Todd and I went and saw the acupuncturist 2 weeks ago. A-maz-ing. I ovulated the NEXT day. What the? I had never had a positive ovulation kit. I have seen him 2 more times in the last 2 weeks. I had a 28 day cycle this month. This is a step in the right direction. Ovulation and a regular period in 2 weeks. I am ALL IN. I feel better. I have a good outlook. This is good stuff.

On a side note, my mom told me yesterday that she had 4 periods a year her whole life. The same 4 months every year. Now she has 3 kids....so if she can do it....so can I. PCOS is genetic too...so maybe my mom had it too. She had a hysterectomy years ago...so we will never know. My mom's sister was told she could never have kids...she had a son.

Todd has been on a fishing trip with the boys for a week...he is due home any minute. I-CAN'T-FREAKING-WAIT to see him.

Searching

When I was diagnosed with PCOS I started searching for information, support and treatment options. I know that PCOS is not curable....but treatable. I found this great newsletter that has some useful information. Here is the latest newsletter.

Me Part Deux

About 2 months ago my doctor called me to check in. It was 9:30 at night and I was exhausted and had drank a glass of wine and was working on my second. The second I heard her voice I burst into tears. I had started my period that day and was at a loss. (Sidebar: For those of you who don't know me....I don't cry about stuff for me. I cry at movies and good Hallmark commercials...but that is it) Anyway. She was talking me off the ledge and I said, "I know, I know, I get all of that. But to add insult to injury I have gained a bunch of weight with NO change in lifestyle. I just don't get it." Silence on the other end. "You have gained weight?" (Note, when she met me I had already packed on the extra pounds...) She asked me to come in the next morning for a few more tests. She told me at the appointment she suspected that I may have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. There were 3 tests I had to take to see if I have PCOS. Long story shorter...I was diagnosed with PCOS. At least I had an answer to the changes in my body and why we have had trouble getting pregnant.

Treatment. I started taking Medformin. I lost 7 pounds right out of the gate and started feeling better within days. Success. A step in the right direction.

Moving on...I also have issues with my thyroid. My family history includes thyroid cancer in my mom, both grandmothers, my uncle, my aunt and one great grandmother. Wow huh? I went to go see an endocrinologist. Your thyroid can also cause problems getting pregnant. I wanted to see if this could be an issue too. Oh...and your thyroid can make you gain weight too. Sweet! So I sat in her office and listened to her rattle off stats about how hard it will be for me to get pregnant and how hard it will be for us to have a successful pregnancy. She was rattling off stat after stat...and I could feel my face getting hot and the tears starting to fill up my eyes....until they spilled over my eye lids and the water works were unstoppable. I was hysterical. When I got home I was telling Todd about my experience there...which I am sure only dogs and dolphins could understand my squawking. He carried me to the couch and brought me tissues and a blanket. He had NO idea how to help me stop crying...he just held me. He wanted to call that doctor and bitch her out. Sweet Todd. I have this theory on doctors.....1/2 of all doctors graduated in the bottom 1/2 of their class....she was surely an idiot with no bedside manor.

I am now fed up with western medicine and desperate for a new approach.

Me

I have been writing posts for my blog and not posting them. Last week I deleted all the posts when I was feeling extra down. *Sigh* Until now I wasn't ready to tell the world (or the 3 people who read my blog) that I feel broken. Useless. Depressed.

We have been trying to get pregnant since our honeymoon and have....had...challenges. When we were first starting to try...I was so "whatever" about it. I shrugged off all of the "techniques" my friends shared and said I was never going to be that girl who stresses about getting pregnant. That lasted oh...let's say 3 months. After 3 months, I was like WTF? Why is this so hard? Seriously I see 10, pregnant 15 year olds everytime I go to the mall...can't-be-that-tough. In fact, when we started trying I told a friend of mine that if we got pregnant that month that the baby would be born in ___ month. That friend laughed at me and said, you know, many woman "your age" have trouble getting pregnant. I was kinda pissed but thought...well...not ME. I am usually GOOD at stuff I want and try hard enough to succeed at. No worries here. I-am-a-rock-star.

So after a few months, I started taking ovulation tests...never got a positive. I heard from a few friends who had kids that they never worked for them either. Shrug. I have spent a small fortune on those tests....and still never a positive. Ok. My cycles were 26 day, 42 days, 36 days, 47 days, 30 days...all over the board. I decided to find a fertility specialist. I started seeing her in September. Oh nelly...I had test after test after test. My poor arms were black and blue from blood draws. Is this the way to get pregnant?

So we keep trying. I get my hopes up each month...only to be crushed when my period comes. I have actually started playing head games with myself. One day I feel tired and think..."I just must be pregnant...I feel pregnant...must be!" And then I wasn't.... month after month....test after test. This makes me feel broken. Like 1/2 a woman. I feel bad for Todd. I know how badly he wants to be a dad...why can't I do this for him? For us? There must be a better way.