[mylife]

I will have to take the plunge.

[Clinging Bitterly]

You will. Doesn't cost a whole lot to get started (though of course the sky is the limit). If you want HF privileges that are usable right now it would be best to go for General, because 10M is probably going to be mostly dead for another year or so. When it comes to life though it can be a lot of fun.

Learning the material for the test won't be that hard. The technical part of it is pretty basic & you probably know most of it already. The rest is mostly FCC (and as you saw ITU) regulations, which actually make sense once the basic concepts are understood, plus some questions about operating practice that are pretty much common sense.

But go with confidence you'll bring something home, and stay until you quit passing tests or run out of tests to pass.

For a first license you have to wait until a callsign is issued and you can get that from the FCC webstite within a few days and begin operating before the license arrives in the mail.

When you upgrade your new privileges are effective the moment your examiners sign your CSCE.