Speaking of reminiscing. Being located in the Midwest has its advantages and disadvantages. You probably had a little easier time getting over the "big pond" into Europe than I did. However I will never forget working world wide 11-10 meters from the mobile. It's fun from home but I always liked pulling it off from the car. My job is located about 10 miles east of my qth. Many mornings where spent working a multitude of different European countries on my way into work. I recall working Russia on 25 watts. Evenings were just as fun working Australia, New Zealand and other south pacific areas on my way home. Even got Japan once! Sometimes I wished my commute had been longer! All this was done with a 2950dx, 2 pill and a 1/4 wave whip. Nothing fancy but it worked great for me. Once the cycle started to loose steam I needed my DX fix so I upgraded to general and eventually extra. Now I can still DX... prices have gone up.. unfortunately lol but the opportunities for enjoying the hobby have gone up as well!! That's my .02....73