Hi all, It's been over a week, and still no call sign!
I waited up till 2 A.M to check the uls system after the daily
downtime, assuming that's when the new licenses probably upload.  In
reality, I actually have no idea if this is true, but oh well.  I'm
like a kid on Christmas waiting on this license. lol
So here's a description of my rig so far.
My yl got me one of the baofeng uv5r+'s for my birthday, as I've told
the list before.  This is what actually finally inspired me to take my
tech test.
I got a 7 inch Nagoya na701 to replace the stock rubber duck for
portable operating.  This antenna is supposed to add a mile or two of
range over the stock duck, and there were several reviews that claimed
that it boosted repeater performance considerably.  It was only 8
bucks, so I figured i'd just go ahead and buy it since it was that
cheap with a 5 star review on amazon.  Maybe I'll be able to hit the
local repeater from the upstairs porch or back yard with it.
I also got a duel band tram 1185 mag mount for the car, along with one
of the battery eliminators you plug into the cigarette lighter.
The antenna was relatively cheap, only 25 bucks with the mount
included, and I read a lot of reviews on blogs, amazon, etc. that
claim it's pretty good.
Here's hoping my call sign comes in soon.
73,
Zach