Wednesday 16 October 2024

Ten-Four You Copy?

It's amazing just what a good number of decades can do when we moved from the era of the red or grey phonebox on every other street corner or set by prominent buildings such as post offices or community halls to having everything at the end of a wafer thin device at the end of your hand.

Amazingly it is 43 years in the uk that Citizen's Band radio was legalized after a few years of wide spread illegal use, protests and marches whose banners made little sense to those who weren't into radio.

I had one and did operate illegally in my mid teens which bearing in mind dad's work was a bit akward to say the least as he knew people who looked into complaints about illegal usage but in a way it was the internet of it's day where you' put a out a call "For a copy" and you'd move to another channel for a conversation generally with other boys and girls about various interests and places you might meet up at.

While it was never really a part of what the hobby was supposed to be about I did work a couple of stations in Italy who were using really high power although I almost got outed when my transmission interferred with my older brother's tape recorder playback putting a loud hum and click on it.

In time I got one of the new "approved" hand held transmitter recievers and used that during the winter months after school  for several years.

Today with your smartphone, the world is your oyster pretty much.


hh

Wednesday 9 October 2024

Reading while recovering

Well we're still working through this period so mind does need to be kept a bit occupied of sorts which does take us into this weeks entry.

For some strange reason around the summer, I noticed my subscription to AdventureBoxMax seemed to got a bit messed up as one issued didn't arrive but then sometimes the odd issue is  bi monthly.

That run on for a bit that having triple checked all my emails I found no "Your subscription is ending" one I hunted online to the France based publishers website and redid it.

What I loved about was it had a short story, cartoons and various facts and games in a single package.

Fortunately it arrived in time to be read during this recovering period.

Also this months Monster Fun, now monthly arrived themed around Halloween which was a lot of fun

I also tidied up my comic rack  after the excesses of the Summer Hols.

Wednesday 2 October 2024

Recovering boy


Well this week isn't a great one with contracting flu like symptoms so I've a rather sore throat, blocked up tubes and sneezing a fair bit, feeling generally rather groggy which is rather annoying to say the least,

That means more sedentary indoor activities like reading this months Monster Fun which came through the letter box yesterday with its new ghoulish Punk Rock band cartoon strip series which is quite a hoot apart from the Phoenix and Beano, sole survivor of the comics we read as boys.

It kind of remainded me a bit of my junior school days where I tended to pick any and all infections going aided in the last year by a new building with aior conditioning which acted like a great bug speader picking up, warming and transmitting it across every classroom.

That tended to result in me having a few days off every school term beyond the usual chicken pox and that where I'd be parked in bed with the radio on, usally BBC Radio 1 or 3 for the Lunchtime Concert unless I was allowed to come downstairs for Newsround and Childrens tv for a bit before tea time.

There are times when you'd sooner have those routines not least being cared for when unwell