I've had my General ticket since 84. Got my novice ticket in 81 while stationed in Crete, Greece. Got full privileges, up to Extra Class territory with my novice and Greek provisional license (KA2PFV/SV9). Always ended up in a pileup and had great times contesting. Now the rig sits in the basement in the tornado shelter, ready to go on the air if we get trapped and can't get out, I can always hit the CB bands and ask for help (Kenwood TS-430S with MARS mod, where if you can dial up a frequency you can transmit on it). HF ceased being fun with folks took ownership of freqs and would only talk to select others, anyone else was unwelcome and run off freq. Hey, kind of like being on facebook or something.