Some things That are Now Gone That Were Reality When I was Born and an Infant

Some of the big changes that have occurred on a more visible level during my long lifetime:


-- there were only 48 states when I was born, and most of Africa and Asia were still under colonial control of Britain and France.

-- there was no such thing as an imported automobile being sold and driven in the US for the most part, and we had six domestic automobile manufacturers.

-- the Interstate Highway system was barely in existence, so most drivers had to take two lane roads when driving anywhere.

-- there was no such thing as fast food, microwaves, color television, frost-free freezers, flourescent lighting, electric dishwashers, air conditioning, digital watches, and unleaded gasoline.

-- most automobiles still had manual transmissions, bias ply tires, and no power accessories.

-- nobody had contact lenses, and all containers were made of glass and metal as nothing was constructed of plastic or aluminum for products to be contained in.

-- Baseball was the national sport and pastime but there was only 16 teams, and the two new teams in California, the Giants and Dodgers, had only been playing in the Golden State for a few months, being the first teams west of the Central Time Zone.

-- not many people paid attention to pro football, as there were only 12 teams. Nobody watched or heard of pro basketball or pro hockey except for a very small number of fans in the largely Northeastern cities where the 16 teams were located (10 in the NBA and only 6 in the NHL).

-- there was no such thing as a Zip Code, and US postal mail was delivered twice daily including Saturdays, and there was once daily mail delivery on Sundays. First Class Postal Stamps cost 2 or 3 cents each.

-- telephone service was quaint and of no technological sustance. Telephones had rotary dials, were always black in color and owned by AT&T, the one and only phone company in existance. Phone numbers consisted of only five numbers, and most people shared their phone service with others nearby in what was called a party line. No long distance calls were ever made except in case of extreme emergencies and important holidays, and the average monthly telephone bill was between $2 and $3.

-- there were only three or four television stations to watch at the most, and they went off the air around midnight at the latest and were not back on the air until 6:30am at the earliest. In most places there were only 3-5 radio stations that could be heard, and most signed off at sunset and played only music with news on the top of every hour.

-- many people only wore one set of a clothing throughout the week, and on Sundays they wore their nicest clothing for church and stayed in them through the whole day, especially for the all-important Sunday Dinner which was the best and most elaborate meal of the week in which Mom worked long and hard to prepare and the time when all family gathered together.

-- for many people, baths and showers were only taken once per week, usually on Saturday nights.

-- electric or gas dryers for clothing were unheard of, and everywhere you could see clothes hanging to dry on clotheslines.

-- most fabrics and materials in clothing and household products were made completely of cotton or wool, as artificial fabrics were still in their infancy for everyday use. Clothes were repaired and kept up and not viewed as disposable and changeable.

-- nobody except teenagers wore tennis shoes, and adults were always dressed impeccibly, with hats, suits, and shoes. No one over age 18 wore sandals, shorts, or tshirts except at the beach. Most people had only one or two pairs of shoes and they were expected to last a long time and were often resoled or repaired to accomplish just that. Blue jeans were only worn by farmers and cowboys.

-- all men kept their hair cut very short and visited the barber shop monthly, and all women made trips monthly or bimonthly to beauty shops to keep their hair looking good.

-- the only sports on television was one baseball game on Saturday afternoons, one college football game on Autumn Saturday afternoons, and one pro football game on Autumn Sunday afternoons. There was no basketball or hockey televised, and only limited amounts of golf and tennis. Televised auto racing did not exist, but boxing, wrestling, and trotting and horse racing were broadcast even on evening slots.

-- the only businesses that were open after 5pm or so were the odd gasoline station and liquor stores. Most restaurants closed by 7 and all stores by 6. Movie theatres and drive in theatres always started their last showing before or at dusk except in the biggest cities. Nearly every business was closed on Sundays to honor the Sabbath and to provide for quality and quantity family time.

-- airlines were only flown by the few wealthy people, government officials, and celebrities. Everyone else took the train or buses to get around outside of their immediate areas, which were considerably smaller than what is normal today -- nobody had any kind of a commute to their workplace, shopping, or other activities regularly done in ones daily life.

-- atomic and nuclear power was considered safe and viewed as an important part of the future in many different ways and applications, including energy, medicine, transportation, communications, and electronics.

-- virtually all oil being refined, used, and consumed originated from domestic sources, resulting in gasoline being priced around 8 cents to 15 cents per gallon. Most homes were heated with firewood, coal, heating oil, or steam heat, as natural gas usage was still in its infancy.

-- most shopping was still done in small neighborhood stores where there was a personal connection and intimacy as the shopping center was still a new phenomena. Sears, Woolworths, Montgomery Wards, and Gimbles were the retail giants of the day, and they were tiny in size, both physically and in number of outlets as compared to the Wal-Marts, Targets and other big box retailers that rule today


I will add more to this list as things come to me, or I will make a new post with those new entries. Contributions, comments, suggestions, and items I have overlooked are greatly welcome.

Corporations Gone Wild

Taxes and regulatory reform is what is necessary and essential to get these amok businesses entities reined in and in their proper place in a citizen democracy. A great first start would be a complete and extensive implementation of an across the board 2% revenue tax on all corporate revenue in excess of $180,ooo annually. Additional revenue taxes need to be accessed on the one hundred largest corporations, revenue emanating from sources outside the United States and Canada, and on those who pay any officer, official, or manager income that exceeds that of the President of the United States or is greater than 15 times that of that corporation's lowest paid worker.

We can reclaim the Golden Age of the American Worker and the Middle Class than existed in the 1950s and 1960s here in the United States if we get the corporacy and big business and their evil soulless leadership and management reined in and under firm hard knuckle control.


http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/08/taming_corporations_gone_wild.php

Continuing to Be Harnessed by Truck Repair Expenses

The White Knight continues to require largely unanticipated maintenance to be done and yet more still probably awaits. On Friday, 8 June, I had to take the truck into the shop for some new repairs. The starter suddenly died on Tuesday, 5 June, forcing me to have strategically park so I could push start the vehicle for three days. Not a pleasant proposition considering I had a bum knee. Fortunately the wind was blowing like all get out so all I had to do was disengage the truck out of gear and release the brake and the wind would push the truck down a low grade slope so it could be started. I also had an ongoing issue with the temperature guage sender unit which required replacement. The guage was reading completely inaccurately which is not good in the summer months and anytime for that matter as one has to be able to be aware of the engine system temperature.

I also had to have the tires rotated and the tire that was my spare had to be moved to the wheel that was on my front passenger side as I have a bad wheel that I only keep as a spare to use temporarily. My right front passenger tire was going bald on the outside with the metal belt already showing throught the rubber. This was of a great danger as I could have had a blowout easily with my 50-mile round trip commute which is primarily done at speeds in excess of 65 mph. The reason for the tire damage and wear is due to bad kingpins in the front suspension. The kingpins are original equipment on the truck and keep the tires and wheels at the proper cant. When kingpins are going bad, the wheels and tires invert inward in an ever so small way which puts additional stress, pressure, and wear on the outside of the tire surface.

While not a pressing safety matter, the replacement of the kingpins is something I need to attend to before years end for also reasons of maximizing the cost of investing in tires which are around $65 each. Replacing the kingpins on both front wheels and the suspension system is about $550, largely for labor which takes about six hours to do the job with all the disassembly and reassembly and making sure it is down with exact precision and alignment.

Another sizeable expense for the vehicle that also awaits will be installing a new clutch and replacing and aligning the flywheel. I suspect I will have to get this done also before years end. The clutch in the truck now has been in there since 1999 so I have gotten an excellent amount of time from this critical part. In the past, some clutches that were installed lasted less than 24 months so it was nice to have a correct and excellent installation done last time. I believe that in the 21 years I have had the truck there has been five or six clutches installed. The new starter I had installed today does not line up correctly with the existing flywheel so I will have to deal with a painful metal cutting grinding sound when engaging the clutch while turning the ignition key for a few weeks until the flywheel cuts a groove on the starter housing. The starter I got has a lifetime warranty so I should be okay with any future problem that may arise in the future. This clutch/flywheel repair job is also around $550 to get done. I need to bankroll funds so as I can be prepared if this expense happens suddenly.

Other expenses that I need to get done some day include replacing the entire exhaust from the manifold on back; getting those mirrors replaced; new rocker gaskets; a new power steering system as leakage occurs while driving at freeway speeds for a lengthy period of time during warm months; and the perennial practical and cosmetic issues that need addressing such as the inside door handles, the tailgate release assembly which is missing a plastic coupler, and paint and body work. Something annoying that has just happened is right turn signal indicator light on the instrument panel burning out -- it never occurred to me that this could happen so now I never really know if my signal to turn right is on since I see no visual evidence inside that it is engaged except for the turn signal arm being put into the proper position. I will have to keep an eagle eye on the bulbs to make sure they are in working order.

There are two choices for most people about motor vehicle transportation: have a newer vehicle and make car loan payments that are usually in excess of the vehicle's real value or have an older vehicle that is completely paid for and have to make regular and sometimes expensive maintenance and repair expenses. I have opted for the latter option which I think has made sense for me in most ways over the last two decades given my overall failure and ineptitude in most of the other areas in life. At least when one has the vehicle for as long as I have, generally I am completely aware and understanding what is going on and what the problem is when something arises, although I can still get stumped as what happened in late April and early May when rotting wiring that was not evident left me perplexed about why the Ford would not start.

At least I basically will get a free oil change and lube on Monday 11 June as the result of having spent over $250 on Friday 8 June for all the other repair and maintenance work I had done and availing myself of coupons that the repair garage had placed in the local Cheyenne newspaper.

Fortunately I will be moving into town in the next three to four weeks or so and then I can walk to work ( it will be about a 1.5 mile journey each way) saving alot of money and wear and tear on the truck. Living in a small city like Cheyenne will enable me to be able to walk to most places unlike if I had stayed in Denver. I will have to drive only to go to the grocery store, bookstore, and to visit my friends. I had hoped to get my property from Colorado by this weekend but once again circumstances will force a delay. The targeted day now for moving the property here is Wednesday 27 June. Apologies to HBL for having to continue to make adjustments to this timetable and having you continue to hold those 12-15 items in your garage for an even more longer period of time than you would like and trying your patience on this matter.

A Record Cold 8 June Morning Throughout the High Plains Region

It was a frosty morning across the Front Range Region on Friday, 8 June. Here in Cheyenne, an official low of 31 degrees was observed for a new record, but out where I stay it got down to 27 degrees.

In Denver, the official low was also 31 degrees, the second coldest morning low ever recorded and the latest sub-freezing temperature observed in any June day.

There were dozens of other communities across the region that also set new records, and in Castle Rock, where my brother's family resides, the low was 28 degrees.

I know Summer will get here eventually...and this global warming crisis sure has not been evident in this part of the world since early last November !

39 Years Later: A Deep Loss That Still Hurts for So Many

If there was ever a crossroads in history in my early life, the assassination of Senator Robert F Kennedy was one of the most significant. The loss of this man destroyed much of the promise, the hope, and the idealism of America, and it has never returned.


http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/08/1745/