My Homeowners Association did it to me... Honest!
I had quit playing in 1985 after meeting my wife a year earlier. The band was going nowhere in its current state, and I was tired of the standard band issues so it was a fairly easy decision to make. Sold all the gear and never looked back.
My wife & I were married a couple years later and the "Real World" took over. I was transferred from Chicago to Cincinnati in '92, and decided at that time to pursue Ham Radio as a hobby. Set up a shack in the basement, had a minor antenna farm in the backyard, and spent my Saturday nights lulling my newborn son to sleep with the melodious tones of Radio teletype (RTTY) or trying to chase down rare countries.
Well, we were transferred back to Chicago late in '97 and bought a house in a development that didn't allow any outside antennas. This can be a major problem for a Ham Radio operator, antennas are an integral component of a successful radio system. I tried a couple alternatives with little success. It was time to find a new hobby...
About the same time, I discovered a fledgling new service on the internet called... eBay! This was back in the day when you could sell stuff at a minimal expense, and also find some good bargains. So, the radio gear was all sold off and I picked up a red Silvertone acoustic from Fred's Music in Pennsylvania. It was great to get back into playing! The added bonus was chasing bargains on eBay -- Double fun!!!
Ten years later, I'm back into gigging on my own, writing and recording, and I haven't looked back once. I do keep a morse code key on top of one of my studio monitors as a reminder of my radio days...
