I've spent some more time going thru boxes in the garage, some of which may have been packed back in Santa Cruz, moved to my townhouse here in Tucson, then on to the house here in Tucson that I'm at now, because I'm seeing some items that I haven't seen in several years. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing in that I'm now getting these things organized and a bad thing in that I waited so long to do this.
I have located some more accessories for ham radio and there are still some items I am trying to locate. My itch to get back on the air is a great deal more than it was last week, and I am chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle. I'm clearing a space where I can operate, I'm doing some reading to learn what has changed since I was last on the air, and I've already got an antenna project in mind. But before I take that step, I've got to finish getting things organized and there are a few other things to do too.
I was talking about this to Sheila yesterday. I told her that I've been asking myself, why did I leave this hobby lapse? And as soon as I asked that question, I knew the answers.
There were some adverse circumstances that emerged in October 1998, in the form of two very dramatic life changing events. I had to get some things in order and then I had to relocate to Arizona. Before relocating, I did attend one last meeting at the club I was active in at Santa Cruz (I may have made one more meeting in March 1999 when I had to return to San Jose to wrap up some loose ends) and I always meant to return to the air once I was settled down here.
What happened instead was the following.
I got involved in a work project that meant working long hours and weekends.
I got involved with a local singles group, feeling the need to develop social skills and to learn what the "rule" changes were in dating.
I got involved with country & western dance classes at the Maverick.
I went to a lot of gun shows and I spent a lot of time in target shooting, hiking, day trips, and exploring southern Arizona.
I started dating Pam regularly.
I changed jobs at work, but wasn't seeing Pam, but I still did a lot of dating.
I took up hunting, and went out for deer at least three seasons, and out again for rabbits.....and several scouting runs in between.
There were two more ladies.
Then I met Sheila.
Then I had a year-plus exile in Las Vegas, getting married, and a coming home. And since then, lots of yardwork, organizing, down time, reading, and discovering that handheld that I forgot that I owned.
Well, I'd like to think I'll be back on the ham bands again, but now there's been one more detour, and this one's a fun one.
I discovered a bagful of wheat cents that I forgot that I owned! These were purchased at a coin shop in Santa Cruz around 1995 or so. At the time of purchase, I figured I would sort through them, and maybe sell these online. Right now I'm going thru them when I'm not catching up on my reading (which is including some ham radio magazines) and I've found some goodies. I have a hoard of wheat cents in a cigar box upstairs and I'm now adding to them. Some in the bag have some mint luster in them so I'm placing these in 2 x 2 holders and I've still got more than half the bag to go thru.
Oh, and I've got another hoard that was given to me by Birdman some years back.....a whole coffee can full........though 2/3 of those are Memorial cents, with several from the mid 60s having full red mint luster.
In the meantime, a trip to Phoenix for some personal business is on the docket this week, and hopefully the available time will permit a visit to Ham Radio Outlet. And on Tuesday, a local club is meeting, and I very much want to crawl out of the cave and get involved again with ham radio.
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