Yesterday's post about the big house on the hill got me a little feedback.

Someone busted their ass, scrimped and saved and built themself a beautiful home and nicely furnished it. It looks like a pretty nice place to live for them but is also the antithesis of what I would do if I won the lottery.

I suppose he's tickled pink with his place and if that was what I wanted, I'd be, too. I am truly happy for the guy. He set a goal, worked toward it and achieved it. I respect him for it even though his home isn't the type of thing I would aspire to.

I don't need six bathrooms in my home. One works. More than that are just extras that require cleaning. It's not like I plan on entertaining in the bathrooms.

Truth is, I have simple tastes and consider myself damned lucky to have a 1.5 story cape in the neighborhood I live in. I go for weeks and sometimes even months without going upstairs. I only go upstairs to dust and sweep the dead flies off the window sills.

I can't beat the neighbors.

I suppose if I did win the lottery I would have some yardwork done but that's about it.

Maybe, just maybe I would buy a sailboat. It would be a Westsail 32. A simple boat set up for simple cruising. It would be a slow, seakindly easy to run vessel.

I'm a simple man.

Since I became a ham I have had a couple people offer me deals here and there on towers and linear amplifiers and have refused them. Two of the tower offers were free.

People were astonished when I refused their offers but the offers were for things I didn't want.

My home station is a simple basic Icom 100 watt rig and that is all I aspire to. It is simple and does what I want it to.

My pickup is the same way. It's a 4 cylinder with a 5 speed manual and the only reason it has air in it is because I was stuck buying it that way.

Some time back I had a dream that I had done something that saved New York City and that I was there to save the day because my truck got stolen while I was in a rest area taking a leak. 

I don't remember what it was I did in my dream, just that the Mayor wanted to give me the key to the city and buy me a new pickup to make up for my loss.

I remember the Mayor telling me about how big the truck was going to be and recall saying, "But I don't WANT a big truck." and was ignored.

Of course, it was a big giant Dodge Ram with a Hemi and every bell and whistle they make and I was shocked. My hands went to my head and I broke out in tears.

It was an $85,000 behemoth I was afraid to drive and the instant I took posession of it I found someone to drive it straight to the nearest Toyota dealer and I traded it in.

I went in with a monster Dodge Ram and came out with a Tacoma with a 4 cylinder, a 5 speed manual and no air conditioning. The sales people at the dealership thought I was nuts and I felt a huge surge of relief as I drove off in a simple machine.

I woke up as I had busted out of the city and got on the open road in my new Tacoma. I woke up with a feeling of relief.

I had a similar dream involving President Bush. He offered me a ride with him in Air Force One. I asked if I could trade it for a cat shot and an arrested landing off the deck of a carrier.

President Bush laughed and thought that was the neatest thing he had ever heard. He was a flyboy and understood.

It is often hard for people to understand that there are guys like me out there that just like simplicity. I simply don't want to be a big shot and run a Fortune 500 company and get hauled around in limos and Lear jets all the time.

I'm happy driving myself around in a pickup when I drive and I'd just as soon fly business class. I've had a couple of First Class upgrades and wasn't impressed although I suppose the extra foot room was nice.

 


To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html      NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY