I went out on dates almost none in high school and didn’t go to the proms. I just wasn’t up to tackling all the issues that would  have made it possible for me to do it the right way.

Instead, I got an amateur radio license (ham radio), covered my parents house and yard with huge antennas, and sat down in their basement alone with my tube-type radio (Heathkit HW-101), and geeked out by talking with people all over the world.

My parents seemd to like it because it mostly kept me out of trouble.

I was often up by 5:00 a.m. before school so I could run downstairs and work the USSR for a couple of hours before leaving.

Then when I hit my twenties, I tried to make up for the lack of dating.

I still have a valid radio license.