Addictions and Other Ways to Spend Money

Yes folks, I have an addiction. Over time it changes - in that the addictive things changes. When I was a young man I was addicted to guns and knives. I acquired them and wanted more. Money, being always scarce, was a limiting factor that kept me from being institutionalised. Then I discovered motorcycles. I had several of them over the years. Rode all over the country. Fell down many times and have numerous scars to prove it. Old biker saying: "Only two kinds of bikers; those who have fallen, and those who will fall." That addiction came to an end when the wife could no longer sit in the saddle long enough to enjoy a nice ride. Next addiction was four-wheeling. Got a Jeep. Started "fixing" it up for better trail performance. When I switched addictions from four-wheeling, I'd put almost as much into "fixing" as I had paid for the Jeep to start with. I bought the Jeep new in '91. Switch was because wife had two back operations and the shape jolts and bounces were more than her back would tolerate. My next and continuing addiction was/is a Mazda Miata. Bought a used one and started "fixing" it too. Well, it drove ok, but with better suspension and body stiffing it would handle so much better. If I'm gonna drive it to a higher level of performance I needed a roll-bar and better brakes. Got 'em and it helps. Now, the problem is not enough power out of the engine. It's gonna take more of that scarce money.

Now, I've jumped into Amateur Radio and started building my radio station. I've already got about a thousand $$ in the set up. Money has slowed me down, but I've gotta have more radio.

See where this always leads. I'm like a lot of guys (it's not exclusively a guy thing) in that I want more, more, more. Over the years of my addiction there is no accounting of the total monies that have gone to supporting this most vile affliction. Vile or not, I love it. See, I still have guns and knives. I don't have motorcycles, but I do access to one. I still have the Jeep. I'm currently driving the Miata as both daily transportation and fun (addictive need) car.

Over the years my wife, AKA, finance officer, has helped me deal with the addiction. She has limited the money so I never fell to the addiction to utter ruin. Now, we are in our retied years and bills have been paid off - except for the house and her new car - so there is "disposable cash" available to me. So far she has let me use those monies for my addiction. Funny thing though... I'm so well trained to limit spending on these addictions, that I find it hard to spend in wild abandon. Still, now that I'm setting up my radio station, there are many thingies, devices, dealies, doo-dads that will be needed to improve and make the radio more powerful. I don't want to just talk to the world, I want to yell, I want to bounce it off the Moon, I want to equal the output of HAARP in Alaska. In time my friends, in time.