I’ll take Door Number 3, Alex!

As my tower project finally gets wrapped up (delayed by a 3-week biz trip) the final costs of the project have been totaled and, unsurprisingly for me, this has been my biggest single expense in ham radio.

I knew that was going to be the case going in and it was tough to justify for many years - thus the 30-something year delay. I finally did justify it though…and I did it without even trying…which was the key all along.

Here’s how it came about:

Every six months or so, an old car will pull up next to me at a red light. Not just any old car – an old American muscle car that reminds me of my youth. We didn’t call them “muscle cars” back then – that’s the modern term given them. We just called them cars.

Driving the car is a guy my age and the look on his face tells me his story – he’s driving the same model of car he had when he was 17 and maybe he’s listening to Boston’s “Don’t Look Back” while ignoring that title’s advice and realizing that being 50 ain’t so bad after all.

If the car happens to be a 72 GTO, it reminds me of my old buddy Gary. A 71 Cutlass reminds me of Stan, a 68 Mustang reminds me of Doug and a 70 Chevelle (non-SS) reminds of…me. None of us could outrun Gary – that “Goat” ran like a scalded cat.

Imagination duly infected, I go to eBay Motors and check the price of admission into this exclusive Old Farts Who Want to Delude Themselves club and see that it’s far, far too rich for my blood. Why did I ever sell that Chevy?!

After three or four iterations of this pattern – roughly two years’ worth - a tower begins to seem like the wise thing to do.

And I’m all about thriftiness ;-)

Feel free to use this method yourself to justify that new rig or antenna. Ever pondered a sailboat or an RV? Check the prices, do the math…and then look more seriously at that rig you really want.

I call it Comparative Expense Evaluation as a Means For Justifiable Aquisition. Use sparingly.

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