Living in Jersey I of course remember the blackouts but especially the first in the sixty’s.
I was a high school kid who like thousands of others was sucked into the CB craze. Seems like almost every kid had one.
My antenna had some issues going on so I was up on the roof doing some tweeking. It was getting late so I rushed finishing up, gathered up my tools & scurried down. I have to let you know that our TV antenna was mounted on the same pole below my beam antenna for my CB & my father would be home soon who enjoyed the nightly news after his long day ended.
I put on our living room set to discover there was no picture & no sound on one station. I flipped through another then another. NOTHING - anywhere! What did I do? My dad was gonna flip at me… he already hated my having it.
Little did I know about the NY blackout that had just occurred. In those days all broadcasts came off the Empire State Building being NY’s tallest structure.
I was never happier to hear a few million people were sitting in darkness as the city burned.
Just goes to show you how important timing is in life.
Epic story, Jeff. As a parent in the smart phone and AI era, I find it illuminating that your dad was leery of that suspicious technology the CB radio (though maybe he just didn't love you crawling around on the roof?). Most parents these days would kill for their kids to be into short wave tech!
Living in Jersey I of course remember the blackouts but especially the first in the sixty’s.
I was a high school kid who like thousands of others was sucked into the CB craze. Seems like almost every kid had one.
My antenna had some issues going on so I was up on the roof doing some tweeking. It was getting late so I rushed finishing up, gathered up my tools & scurried down. I have to let you know that our TV antenna was mounted on the same pole below my beam antenna for my CB & my father would be home soon who enjoyed the nightly news after his long day ended.
I put on our living room set to discover there was no picture & no sound on one station. I flipped through another then another. NOTHING - anywhere! What did I do? My dad was gonna flip at me… he already hated my having it.
Little did I know about the NY blackout that had just occurred. In those days all broadcasts came off the Empire State Building being NY’s tallest structure.
I was never happier to hear a few million people were sitting in darkness as the city burned.
Just goes to show you how important timing is in life.
Epic story, Jeff. As a parent in the smart phone and AI era, I find it illuminating that your dad was leery of that suspicious technology the CB radio (though maybe he just didn't love you crawling around on the roof?). Most parents these days would kill for their kids to be into short wave tech!