so this is maybe a weird thing to admit but sometimes after dinner i just throw on the headphones and tune around 40m and just... listen. dont transmit, dont log anything, just kind of zone out listening to ragchews and the occasional DX pile up. its weirdly relaxing. had a net going out of somewhere in the midwest last night and i just sat there for probably 45 minutes listening to these guys talk about their grandkids and antenna projects and stuff. didnt feel like interrupting honestly.

anyway curious if anyone else does this or if im just being weird about it

oh man yeah i do this all the time, especially on evenings when the band is in decent shape. 40m at night has this quality to it thats hard to describe, voices fading in and out, the occasional bit of interference, its almost like shortwave listening used to be for me before i got my ticket. sometimes i hear a net control i recognize from months ago and its like running into someone at the grocery store almost. anyway no youre not weird, or if you are then there's at least two of us.

yep same. i actually think its how i learned most of what i know about operating proceedure, just listning for a long time before i jumped in. less embarasing that way lol