In search of a good little radio for bicycle touring.

I found the best radio for my bicycling. Thinking I would have to buy from Amazon as radios are a rare item, web searching also directed me to REI, a local retail outlet where I could pick it up here in Bellingham.

People often say, "why not use the smartphone for everything?" Then they run down the battery trying to do everything.

For long trips, I find just an old fashioned radio is useful. It can play for hours preserving my phone battery for other things. I just put the earphone into one ear as it's always good to use the other ear for traffic. This sometimes means cutting off one side of stereo earbuds.

REI is an outdoors and camping store so a durable simple radio fits their inventory. It's also on Amazon and other places, but most local retailing doesn't do much for obscure products like radios anymore.

Speaking of new technology, I also have an HD radio. I use that more at home. It gets special HD signals that old fashioned radios don't get. We have a few HD stations in this area. It's portable also, but I found out it's picky on what type of rechargeable batteries it takes.

The batteries it likes are digital themselves. They have electronics to stabilize their voltage output. The battery electronics creates so much static that my fancy new radio doesn't work on the AM band. It works okay on house current, however.

We live in a complex technological time, but I do find technology interesting; at least if one has some patience. Patience is in short supply in modern times.

Rechargeable batteries are better for the environment than throwaway batteries. I recently learned that rechargeable batteries put out less voltage than the throwaways. That's why my HD radio kept turning itself off with regular rechargeable batteries. I got some special batteries for it from Amazon (good luck finding them locally). Then I discovered the static problem.

I can use those rechargeable batteries in bike lights so all is not lost. My new radio just takes the regular old rechareable AA batteries, but it doesn't get the special HD signals. That's not a big loss.

First world problems, but not really. I hear that there are more smartphones than toilets in Africa. Technology can be complex, but people keep wanting it, or at least the prosperity it implies. AI helped me navigate the complexity of this situation.

Glad I at least have some patience and interest in this kind of stuff. The Prosperity, that people seek, provides these things. I still don't wish to open the Pandora's box of automobiles, however.

Shop online or shop local through Bellingham traffic trying stores that all sell the same thing, not what you need if it's too specialized.

Crazy map of my errands today. I was enjoying it anyway. I was looking for a new kind of battery, but ended up ordering it from Amazon. Local stores don't have it.

Going by bicycle. Bellingham is mostly bicycle friendly, but some retail areas are more car-centric. Riding on sidewalk to avoid traffic in some areas. Beautiful day.

There's plenty of stores sprawling out in different areas and lots of traffic. No wonder people shop on Amazon. I tried to shop local, but eventually let my fingers do the walking, as the old ad for the Yellow Pages went; fingers on my computer keyboard.

Nice day to be out riding around the city. Some of this map shows other errands, but most is the battery search.

This new type of battery is a standard AA rechargeable battery, but it turns out it has to be a new kind of battery; lithium ion rechargeables with their own special charger.

Most rechargeable batteries are metal hydride and it turns out they provide lower than 1.5 volts. I have a new HD radio that needs the steady 1.5 volt current from each of it's 3 batteries. Not 1.2 volts, which most standard rechargeable batteries provide. The radio turns off in protest if the voltage is too low.

The new type of battery offers a more reliable 1.5 volts till it shuts off and asks for a recharge. It's the digital age.

HD radios can pick up the digital signals from some stations that offer more than one program on their signal; like CBU HD 1, Vancouver, BC or CBU HD 2.

Radio interests me and isn't that expensive. Most people just rely on their phones now for all of this, but I still use radios. It can give the phone battery a rest.

As Google traced my routes. I forgot to turn on Bikeometer app, but Google's got me covered. Lower GPS sampling rate, however.

Hardware Sales is a good store, but they don't have it, yet at least.

I also tried Best Buy, at north end. Bought some because I forgot my glasses to see the fine print. They were the wrong kind so I took them back adding to my miles. No wonder I seldom use a gym.

Then tried a specialty battery store in a different area before going back home and ordering online.

Clear cool day with view of Mount Baker over retail parking lots. We haven't yet been hit with hot weather or wildfire smoke. - yet at least.

As CBS crumbles, the internet provides more platforms where talent and freedom of speech still thrive.

Corporate powers have decided to end CBS Radio News. Our local affiliate, KGMI, has switched to ABC Radio News.

Sometimes I liked listening to John Batchelor's CBS Eye on the world. Though it was a bit conservative (I am open minded) I learned a lot about the workings of the economy from his interviews. Now, like so many things, his show survives on the internet. We live in an era of diversity on the internet. Lots of things taken off traditional media may even have more followers on YouTube.

Yes, the billionaire tycoons run much of traditional media as well as the social media platforms, but the platforms are a bit different. Diversity of opinion can still thrive.

Traditional media used to always say that the newsroom and editorial staff had a "firewall" between them and the sales department. News and opinion could be objective from being bought, supposedly.

Looks like the billionaires do try and run everything, including government, but freedom of speech still finds its way.

RIP CBS Radio, at least, and maybe eventually CBS TV? Oh, I didn't say that did I?

Growing up in a fairly laid back college town was a safe place to learn about the world.

A photo essay about the neighborhood I grew up in. Pullman, WA. - a small town that is pretty enlightened since it's a college town. A good and somewhat unique place to grow up. The only other place I've lived is Bellingham. In some ways, it's similar.

I grew up in a neighborhood of 3 dead end streets. They were really dead end with no culdesac. Cars would often have to back down and turn into our driveway to get pointed back down the street.

I'm usually a critic of dead end streets as with their privacy they can also bring disconnection, but our neighborhood was surrounded, on two sides, by the WSU campus which opened us up to the world.

At the top of our street was a grassy hill that actually belongs to some dorms. Past the hill are more dorms and the campus beyond. On the horizon is Bryan Hall clocktower to the right and Holland Library to the left.

I remember slumber parties on the hill, 4th of July picnics and so forth. It was like our park.

From a plaza on top of the library, one can see across to Kamiak Butte which is 10 miles north of town. A place for picnics and hikes to the ridge.

A large fieldhouse was nearby. During my childhood, it had a dirt floor. Pretty informal so kids could play in it. A good place to fly paper airplanes. It was really drafty and dusty in there.

Across town was my high school, a brand new school my senior year, class of 73. Quite progressive and bult on the trust system; so trusting that there were 5 entrances to the library which was considered a hub for learning. It was 2 floors. Downstairs was a media center.

Eventually they had to reduce the number of doors and put tags in the books to keep books in the library.

Schools, these days, have more security, for many reasons.

The new school looked out across rolling fields of wheat.

New neighborhoods pushed out into the unique ocean of rolling Palouse hills made from windblown loess soils.

I heard that this is a rare landscape.

The high school art teacher, Vic Moore, built a castle from junk parts out in the Palouse. He was real creative.

I used to often wonder the WSU campus and look out from the 12th floor of the tallest building; now called Webster Hall.

Classroom buildings had lots of educational displays.

I used to wander around the halls looking in windows of the radio and TV studios thinking I might have a career in communications. It was a pretty open environment and I met quite a few folks working and learning at KWSU Radio.

My career turned out to be more of an avocation in the online environment (another story).

Growing up in Pullman was good. I now live in Bellingham.

Seattle's new mayor elect Katie Wilson lives a car free lifestyle. Very good. Also my thinking on the economics that may not favor government run grocery stores.

Seattle's mayor elect Katie Wilson is said to not own a car as she uses public transit and bicycling for transportation. That sounds like me. It's also said that she and her small family live in a one bedroom apartment. It's good to have role models for lower footprint lifestyles.

Some folks are critical of her ideas; like government owned grocery stores. Yes, some of those ideas might have drawbacks. I've done some Google research to learn a bit more. It does seem like private industry does a good job with grocery stores. Profit margins, in large discount stores, tend to be thin. Lower prices usually come from big chains; the benefits from "economy of scale." Giants like Costco and Winco come to mind.

Yes, there are food deserts in certain neighborhoods and other problems with the fairness of food. Again, I can blame the automobile for some of these problems. Here in Bellingham, I've noticed most of the big grocers are near I-5 with acres of parking; not in denser residential areas where people can easily walk to the store from home.

In some cases, government can help by investing in neighborhood developments. Government can be a landlord attempting to lure a grocery store into an area. There are also alternatives to privately owned stores run for private profit motive. Winco is employee owned. Bellingham has two branches of the Community Food Coop which is a community coop. Some of it's prices are more expensive than the large box stores, but I still find it reasonable enough.

I often shop at the Coop as it's one of the only stores in the downtown area that's easy to get to by bike. Our downtown is becoming more dense with housing, so lots of people live nearby.

Since I'm single and don't cook much, I often eat at the Coop's instore deli. It also serves as a social outlet as many of my friends can be found there, on occasion. That's my lifestyle.

I sometimes call a local radio talk show with perspectives from my lifestyle. While the host of the show is fairly liberal, some of the callers skew more to the right. I remember one caller describing me as that bicyclist who seldom needs to stop for a breath (long winded?) who also likes living in a shoebox. Yes, my small apartment.

Can a message get though the static? These days, static is information overload. In the past, it was distance and natural static.

In the old days of broadcast radio and TV, much of the audience size was determined by the power of the station's transmitter. How far could the signal reach before it was drowned out by distance and static?

On today's social media, even small signals, like my website, have a global reach. The limit is not natural distance and static, but another kind of "static" - information overload. Can a small website and Facebook presence get much audience, given all the other information sources competing for attention time?

These days, the static is information, not just the random radio hiss, or television snow of past eras. Continued below.

In the past, some TV static was said to come from the Big Bang's cosmic background radiation while most of it was from local sources, such as thermal noise, or appliances and thunderstorms. Photo I found on Wikimedia Commons.

When I was in grade school, I was impressed with the new transistor radios that people had. I remember thinking, "The more transistors radios had, the more amplification for picking up distant, faint signals. Most transistor radios had 6 transistors. I thought, "If one had 100 transistors, maybe it could pick up stations all around the world?"

Later I realized that no matter how much amplification a radio had, the faint signals would still be lost in the static. Amplification would also amplify the static so the faint distant station could still not be heard above the static.

On shortwave international band, stations could still be heard around the world, but that was different from the AM band used by those pocket transistor radios.

The power of the radio station was important back then. At night, some AM signals could travel farther due to nighttime ionospheric skip. 50,000 watt KGO, in San Francisco, was a powerhouse that could send a clear signal up and down the entire west coast. It was top rated for audience size for many years.

Then along came the internet so transmitter power became less relevant. KGO basically imploded into a low rated business, in terms of audience share. Continued below.

Above: Old nighttime coverage map from another big San Francisco station; KNBR 1970s.
Below: Part of a bicycle trip I took in 2009. Past KGO transmitter visible from bike path on Dumbarton Bridge.

Today, there is the concept of "going viral;" a term not even known during my childhood. For audience size, some information reaches huge audiences just because it went viral. An idea, meme, song, artwork or even a politician can reach an audience in the millions, or even billions. It's hard to tell why somethings go viral while others don't. This seems to follow various patterns of mass psychology. Why did Kim Kardashian get so famous, or even Donald Trump, for that matter?

The power the transmitter, itself is no longer the issue, but media power is still a factor. I recently read an article by Robert Reich warning about growing consolidation of corporate media power; especially in cable TV networks. The consolidation of ownership and control of media, by a handful of billionaires, is becoming more alarming.

Folks on the left have been talking about this for years, while I have tended to place more blame on people's attention priorities, themselves, versus control from the top. That was past decades, but control from the top seems to be getting more serious today.

It may have also been serious in the days of only 3 big TV networks and the control of big corporations, such as RCA; owner of NBC. I remember hearing, from my parents, that NBC also owned ABC. In old radio days NBC was called the Red Network while ABC was called the Blue Network until such a time that anti trust laws broke it up. I guess CBS was always, somewhat, independent.

Back in the 1990s, I thought that ease of access to the internet for artists and writers, such as myself, would bring on a golden age of diversity, global interaction and enlightenment. Today, it looks like that thought was a bit naive.

I still fault people for most of this problem. Folks are gullible and can easily be manipulated by the rich and famous. Billionaires from Taylor Swift to Donald Trump are able to manipulate us like pawns.

I still hope there will always, somehow, be conversations beyond the command and control of big money.

What would my past self think of my life today?

If the Robert of my senior year in high school were to see how my life has turned out now, the first thought might be disappointment. I had visions of a career in radio. Possibly being a talk show host. Comparing some high school visions to my life now is like comparing apples and oranges, however. The world and what they call the media landscape has changed dramatically. What they call social media didn't even exist back then.

Besides a tinge of disappointment, my high school self would also be fascinated in how the world and technology has changed. That self would be full of questions.

My big desire, back then, was to express my opinions and share of my authentic self; something that's done on social media. The ability to share thousands of my photos and observations, on a media channel that's worldwide at practically no cost, was inconceivable back then. I can pretty much say whatever I want without a boss looking over my shoulder, or the need for catering to a market. The audience is, most likely, a lot smaller, however. Again, it's a case of comparing apples to oranges.

Back in high school, I had visions of maybe someday being a talk show host, or a news commentator on a station like KGO, in San Francisco. It had an audience in the hundreds of thousands reaching up and down the entire west coast, at night, due to ionospheric skip.

Today, my signal can reach around the world, but do very many people tune in, given the millions and millions of other channels bombarding the world with their messages?

Transmitter power is no longer as relevant as it was back then; in fact, the entire AM radio band is almost fading into obscurity.

While I had some big dreams during my childhood, I also had lots of doubts and anxieties. I wasn't sure I would even make it through college. These days there are more terms for these conditions such as anxiety disorder and autism spectrum. Much of the time, during my childhood, I felt like I wouldn't be up to the task for great success anyway.

Since those days, I have seen many more flaws in the places I aspired to as well. Touring some radio / TV stations left me with a feeling that they can be stressful workplaces. With my mental condition, I probably couldn't work there anyway. Expressing one's authentic self would be difficult as well. Working one's way up from the bottom of a large organization was seen as a common route to more authentic self expression, after one gets closer to the top. I now have a somewhat more cynical view of the world around me.

Meanwhile, what happened to KGO Radio would be more of a dissapointment. It's kind of imploded, or at least it's not what it once was. It went to a sports gambling format that didn't last long. Last I saw, on news websites, it has new call letters and right wing talk from a national network. See article from my column in a small local publication called The Betty Pages about KGO.

Where I have ended up does make sense to me, given what I have learned along the way. Things don't necessarily turn out the way one expects, but I feel like excepting how the journey has been turning out is, at least, okay.

It has been an interesting journey so I'd hope that my high school self would be more full of questions and interest, in what the future has brought, than full of harsh judgements.

Some comparisons between today and the 1960s.

Money is not that good of a measure for quality of life. No amount of money, millions, billions, or even trillions of dollars could have purchased a smartphone, in the 1960s, as its capabilities did not exist. If those capabilities were to even partially exist, back then, it would be worth millions, yet today, it could cost well a few hundred dollars; much less than one month's rent for most US apartments.

Today, we struggle to produce enough value, in goods and services, to pay the cost of living. With warning signs flashing, from climate change and / or the federal debt, anxiety is through the roof. Add to this, worry about the trade deficit.

In early childhood, I saw a movie, at the Cordova Theater in Pullman, called "Babes in Toyland." They figured out how to get the machine running faster and faster making more and more toys till the machine blew up. The lights went dark, as they hid outside the factory. Peering through a window, they saw the dead toy machine in eerie silence.

I remember being scared of the dark for a long time after that.

More recently, I watched that movie again on YouTube. It seemed to have a hidden political message about society, consumption and moneymaking that went over my head as a child.

One of the joys of my childhood was the transistor radio. Today I think of it as the smartphone of the 1960s. It was far, far less capable than so many of the products, we have today, but the feeling of wealth, that it provided, seemed comparable to what people feel today, if not greater.

In earlier decades, our expectations seemed lower, yet mundane things; like a place to call home and ability to see the dentist, were a given; if one was middle class at least.

Today, we are more aware of neighbors around us, in USA, with struggles for survival. Some of that trauma was more swept under the carpet, back then at least.

One difference between a portable radio and the smartphone is a smartphone's dependency on the network. Without elaborate systems of the internet and cell towers, the smartphone loses just about all it's capability. On the other hand, the radio is more independent with it's own battery for power. It works without a phone network, or subscription to cellphone service.

Radios can still be a dream product for independent minded survivalists. They work off the grid, but they still rely on civilization to function. There needs to be radio stations for radios to pick up the signal and the programming. Without radio stations, the radio only gets static which might be useful on the AM band for warning if a thunderstorm is nearby. The crackle of distant lightning has a characteristic sound on AM radios.

Still, radio stations are important for radios to work. Aside from so many people's low opinions about the fabric of community that we share, our devices and riches are still pretty much dependent on community. Even the transistor radio, which could be king of the toolbox for survivalists, needs radio stations equipped with auxiliary generators to power the station in an emergency.

Wealth, measured in money, is dependent on what the market will price things at. Perception of well being is more than just GDP, as measured in money, and we really can't detach ourselves from community and the world.

Consumption can cause problems, but housing costs are so high lots more TVs need to be sold to pay the bills compared to in the 1960s

Image taken by my brother Bill in 1960s.

Our consumptive society is causing lots of problems in both the environment and politics. Consumption, however, creates the jobs that pay the high bills for housing and certain other necessities. Consumption is needed to keep people employed.

I'd like to think we could figure out a better way to keep moving forward, as a society, beyond just increasing material consumption. How about indexes for happiness? Problem still remains, how can people afford to pay the bills, rents, mortgages and so forth. Certain things have gone way up, in cost, compared to the flow of consumer goods and services.

I remember how wealthy I felt this country was during my childhood. The toys, we had back then, compared to the Smartphones of today, were quite spartan. The happiness I gained from just a simple transistor radio was quite high, compared to people taking the Smartphone for granted.

Another part of the problem, today, is wealth and income inequality. Humans have a tendency to compare ourselves with others who have more. Today's world seems to be governed by the politics of resentment. During my childhood, we only got 3 or 4 channels on our new color TV. It was still pretty exciting tho the color only worked occasionally. Reception was fringe as far as we were from the Spokane TV stations and many of the shows were still in black and white, but when the color worked, it was remarkable.

I was impressed by the wealth of USA when I saw certain shows, like Lawrence Welk, where whole street scenes could be built in the studio for just one act. A quaint little town could be served up, just for someone to sing a song and then a totally different scene for the next act. I kept thinking, wow, they have lots of money to do that.

My thought of abundance was reinforced by all the talk of how rich USA was compared to other countries in the world. We could go to the moon and fight poverty, with President Johnson's Great Society, both at the same time.

Newscasters did worry, at that time, as to whether we could afford it all, however. There was the Vietnam War and the concern about spending for both "guns and butter."

I had TV in my childhood, but I was more into my radio. While the TV only brought a few channels, the radio brought many more choices; especially at night due to ionospheric skip. I spent many a night tuning in stations from places like New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco.

I was fascinated by the magnetic waves, called radio waves, which would travel that far. I'd even drew lines on maps to imagine the trip those waves were taking. Today, our toys offer much more, but there seems to be less appreciation of what we have. Cynicism and jadedness seems to prevail.

Compared to today's products, the consumer products of my childhood were quite spartan, but the slower flow of goods and services seemed more appreciated back then.

Today's incredible flow of goods and services seems like a desperate need for survival. The economy needs to stay in high gear to keep the jobs going so people can even afford to have a place to call home.

Yes, there are twice as many people as before and other countries, around the world, have caught up with our lead.

Development that has led to low density sprawl has had an effect for sure. These days, with our larger population, it's leading to more and more traffic gridlock. Somehow we need to rekindle the mindset that we are moving forward.

Yes, our technology is increasing in sophistication, which I still think is a good thing, for the most part. The problem seems to be more related to the mindset and maybe our higher level of expectations. Expectations can create needs and the needs, in our world, are overwhelming. The cynicism, jadedness and the desperation related to just getting to and hanging on in the middle class, I guess.

We need to innovate our culture, somehow, for a more enjoyable and sustainable world. Just increasing, ever more, the throughput of products isn't likely to do it.

I'm a fan of having more free time, but so many working people can't afford that. Retirement is one of the joys of life.

The years I was working, at low paid jobs, my rent and bills were low enough that I got by okay. I also could take lots of time off for bicycle travel and community involvement. I felt blessed, but my expectations were different from mainstream. Rents were also lower, back through most of those years and the places I lived were well below market, even for back then. Yes, some of my accommodation was a bit spartan, but life was, for the most part, good.

My related Betty Pages article.

I sign off for certain periods each day and I don't need to be on call for anyone. I still log onto the internet several times a day. Just not plugged in 24/7

As for unplugging from the internet, I do use it each day. I find the internet useful.

I don't unplug for long periods of time, like a wilderness adventure, or summer camp for unplugging.

Instead I unplug by just not being connected to it 24/7. I tend to use posts and comments to things like Facebook walls rather than real time chats. My relationships with people don't require me to be there for them 24/7.

I often tell people, I am not a 24 hour radio station.

Before the term 24/7 became popular, I was fascinated in 24 hour radio stations. They were more rare in the late 1960s / early 1970s. I had an interest in the tubes warming up and staying on for days on end.

Living in a basement room in my parents house, I had a 300 watt lightbulb with no lampshade. It did have a porcelain socket for safety. It reminded me of a powerful tube. During college, I set it up in my dorm room, but didn't use it that much. One time I did have it on when a friend was visiting and he said that he felt like he was being interrogated by the KGB.

Most radio stations, back then, went off the air, sometimes with the Star Spangled Banner to resume broadcast next morning. Each morning, they would warm up the transmitter tubes again. It took some time for the tubes to stabilize and then they would flip another switch to start the broadcast day.

TV, back then would often start the day, as well as ending the day with a test pattern.

During high school, I thought I would have a career in radio. Of course I didn't know about social media before that technology change.

I used to hang out in the studios of KWSU Radio, in Pullman to watch and chat with a student host named John Briel thinking it was good to familiarize myself with the field I was planning to go into.

Some material I got while attending Communications Center dedication.

One time, I arrived at the Edward R Murrow Communications Center early in the morning. It was dedicated with that name my senior year in high school. John let me in the building and I watched as he started up the station. When he turned on the transmitter tubes, I said, "they are warming up now." His response was, "yes, everything is starting to cook."

Back then, KWSU had a studio to transmitter microwave link. The transmitter was located out by Knott Dairy Center west of Pullman. Knott Dairy Center named for Joe Knott, a colleague of my dad in the Dairy Science Department. Also a neighbor who's house was kittycorner across the back fence from ours.

The control system was a telephone dial; a rotory dial. Different number codes commanded actions out at the transmitter. Codes for turning on the tubes, codes for sending just the carrior signal as well as codes for starting the broadcast day. One time, during sunset, I saw him dial up the transmitter so I ask, "what did you just do." His answer was, "I just turned on the tower lights." Allows pilots to see the tower and avoid crashing into it.

24 hour stations, in big cities, did interest me. I picked up both KGO and KNBR, from San francisco, at night due to ionospheric skip.

Even the 24 hour stations had to shut down sometimes for transmitter maintenence. KNBR used to have a broadcast week. At 1 am early Monday morning after their Sunday evening period, they went off the air. At 4 am, they would return to the air. Sometimes I would listen to the sign on and sign off with interest. KNBR would sometimes have interesting tones, after going off the air, as they callabrated audio, I guess. Then it would turn to static as they turned off the transmitter.

KGO never seemed to go off the air. It run 24/7, week after week. I figured they had 2 transmitters. When they needed to service one, the other transmitter was switched on.

Sure enough, many years later, on the internet, I saw a picture of the inside of KGO's transmitter building. 2 identical transmitters were side by side.

Be careful not to jump to conclusions when hearing the headlines.

The man behind the incident known as Pizzagate was recently in the news again. On first glance, I was afraid Trump was appointing him to high office.

Turns out he was shot by police during a traffic stop as he was pointing a gun at the police. He died soon after.

This was the man who, in 2016, followed bizarre rumors that began with a leaked email referencing Hillary Clinton and pizza parties. It morphed into fake online news stories about a child sex trafficking ring run by prominent Democrats operating out of a Washington, D.C., pizza joint. Back then he showed up at the pizza parlor armed.

His demise came after a confrontation with police during a traffic stop in 2025.

Many years ago, I was listening to a late night talk show on the old KGO in San Francisco. Some elderly lady called in and was very upset that all the former presidents supported NAMBLA (National Man Boy Love Association). THe talk show host thought she was a kooky caller and hung up.

I realized she had heard a headline about all the former presidents supporting NAFTA (North American Free Trade Act). She thought NAFTA was NAMBLA due to poor radio reception and / or bad hearing.

The missing middle of attention span for political discussion.

To read a whole book takes too long for me.

At the same time I don't use X (formerly Twitter). Sound bytes are too short for me.

I prefer things like NPR round table discussions, TED Talks, short articles, thoughtful Facebook posts and face conversation about big ideas.

My first time in San Francisco. Spring 1974.

A trip down memory lane. My first visit to San Francisco, Spring 1974; my freshman year in college at Bellingham. Judith (my sister who, back then lived in Bellingham) and I went to visit a brother Jack (back then a grad student at Stanford; Palo Alto area).

On our way to the Bellingham Greyhound Station (then on State Street) I gave a dollar (maybe a quarter back then) to a pan handler. My sister implied that giving to pan handlers could be overwhelming in the big city, but ironically that was the only pan handler who approached us, as I remember at least.

Most of our time was spent in Palo Alto area for the visit, but we planned a sightseeing trip to San Francisco; often affectionately called "The City."

Photo from old postcard showing downtown and Trans America Pyramid.

I forgot how we got up there; maybe by car or transit.

During my childhood, San Francisco seemed like a dream city by the Golden Gate Bridge. Home of some powerful 50,000 watt radio stations that provided a slight connection between my hometown life in Pullman and that city by the bay.

Old postcard from the 1970s. KGO is no longer a talk show station.

By the time I got to college, my view of that city became more tainted and a bit grimy, however. I had learned more about it's problems as well.

As I remember, we divided our sightseeing day into two parts. Morning at the De Young Museum and an afternoon of walking around looking at downtown buildings (my idea).

All I remember, from the museum, was some long lines, echoing spaces and lots of children on tour as if all the schools were taking field trips at once.

I remember snacking in a cafeteria and I guess the only display I remember was a moon rock. It was in a glass case guarded by a security guard.

The rest of the museum must have gone into my memory as a blur. Museums can be overwhelming with information overload; looking and reading quickly while moving on to the next.

Afternoon was walking around downtown. The buildings were quite fascinating, but there was a spooky, somewhat dangerous feel to the city.

As we passed the studios of one of the radio stations that I even had dreams about during childhood, the building looked small. It was KGO which was, back then, located in the somewhat scruffy Tenderloin District. As I remember, from lots of listening to that station it was at 277 Golden Gate Avenue.

Doors were locked tight, but my brother was able to find a doorbell, I think. A security guard only opened the door a slight crack and said, "no tours." He then shut the door quickly. Back then, a crime called the "Alphabet Bomber" was in Bay Area news.

The rest of our walk was more interesting with lots of beautiful vistas, art, architecture, cafes and so forth.

When we got to Trans America Pyramid the doors were open and a guard in the lobby said we could go up in an elevator to an office that wasn't leased so it was open for showing to potential tenants; I guess. That office was near the top; the actual top being a pinnacle, of course.

Another guard, in that lofty space, was quite friendly. We visited while taking in the panorama. The view was spectacular, but the windows only faced one direction, as I remember.

We stepped into the Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero and saw this impressive atrium. It was open to the public and full of shops and places to eat on the main floor. Picture from old postcard.

After our walk through downtown, I think we concluded that our walk around downtown was the most interesting part of the day.

I've been there a few other times in more recent years including passing through during bicycle trips down the coast.

Broadcasting church services has changed over the years

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I recently watched the earlier of two Christmas Eve services at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, in Louisville, KY. Watched on Facebook videos, after the fact, but nice. I'm still amazed we can do this now. Why Louisville? My brother Jack Ashworth was the organist.

Brings back early memories of when Jack was organist at Pioneer Methodist Church, in Walla Walla, WA. Back then, he was a student at Whitman College. One day, my mom and I tried to tune in the faint signal, as that service was broadcast over KTEL, Walla Walla.

We were trying to listen, in the far fringe area. We were in Pullman, so the faint signal had a long way to travel.

Today, I see on Wiki, that KTEL is now news talk. Back then I think totally different format and owners. I forgot the format, back then, except it broadcast the service.

Microwaves are not really that micro compared to light waves. Our evolving language about the electromagnetic spectrum can be confusing and frightening.

I just got to thinking that much of the fear about the radiation, that we are exposed to each day, comes from the the ways we think about "radiation."

Heat and light are "radiation." They are part of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiation, but we are less worried about them because we can see light and we feel heat.

Other forms of radiation we don't see so they can seem more spooky.

As for cancer danger, from what I gather, the only forms of radiation that are dangerous are the very high frequency (shortest wave) forms.

These frequencies are higher than both heat and light. This would be ultraviolet light, X-rays and gamma rays.

They call these the "ionizing" forms of radiation. That's why sunlight can cause skin cancer. It's not the lower frequency light from the sun, but it's the ultraviolet light that causes skin cancer.

Windows tend to block ultraviolet light so the danger is more from being outside in the sun. That's why we need sunscreen.

Radiant heat is basically radiation. If we call it heat, it's less scary, but when we call it "infrared radiation," it can sound more scary.

Some forms of radiation can travel, spookily, through objects; including our bodies. X-rays for instance. Gamma rays also. These are real high frequency waves that can be cancer causing. The ionizing part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Light doesn't travel through most objects, but it can travel through glass. Light seems less scary, but we are exposed to lots of that radiation on a sunny day.

The lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum gets real confusing.

The lower end is radio waves and microwaves. These can travel through objects, like our bodies. That can make them spooky, but they are such low frequencies that they are not cancer risk; from what I understand.

Cellphones use these lower frequencies.

These lower frequencies of electromagnetic waves can cause heating; like the heating in a microwave oven. This can be dangerous as it can cook tissue, but only if exposed to lots of power from being too close to a strong transmitter; like putting one's hand inside a microwave oven when it's running.

In the radio industry, they call that heating the "RF burn," meaning "radio frequency burn." Something you have to think about when climbing a big radio, or TV tower, to do repairs.

Cellphones have less power so even close to the body, they don't cook you. They may heat up a bit, but not enough to cause dangerous overheating; from what I understand.

They say cancer risk is not a factor with the low frequency waves that even 5G cellphones use. It's all still lower frequencies than heat and light.

Still, these waves are invisible and they can travel through us, so they seem spooky.

The language we use to describe radio waves is spooky also, in a way. When radio was invented, it was all real low frequency. Basically the AM band.

Then they figured out how to transmit some higher frequencies that they called "short wave." We still call these low frequency waves, shortwaves, however.

Now we know about much shorter waves so "shortwave" is actually "long" by comparison. FM and television signals are shorter than so called shortwave.

Shortwave bands aren't used that much, these days. They were the international broadcast bands of years past.

Next we figured out how to transmit microwaves. Microwave towers, radar and cellphones. Microwaves are still "long" compared to heat and light waves, however.

Our definitions of short and long have evolved since the early days of radio, but the old ways of referring to these waves remain. We still call shortwave radio, "shortwave." We still think of microwaves as small, but they are big compared to light waves.

Another thing that's confusing is how we talk about "high" and "short" in the same breath. The higher the frequency, the shorter the wave. Short means smaller, but it also means a bigger number for frequency.

I know, it's complicated, but I have found it very interesting as well.

The magic magnetic waves that travel through us all the time bringing so many radio, TV and cellphone signals. All that information passing through us all the time, but they say not hurting us.

The dangerous waves; X-rays and gamma rays are more rare unless one is close to the source, like when having an X-ray.

We have gamma rays going through us all the time from space. I guess low enough power that it doesn't really effect us that much; unless we are living on the space station. Our Earth's atmosphere filters lots of that stuff out.

A very good graphic about the spectrum that I found via Google image search. It's from Encyclopedia Britanica.

My only complaint, about the graphic, is the ultraviolet description. I'd say, "used in black lights," like for black light posters. Fluorescent tubes produce visible light, but that light is created from the ultraviolet light inside the tube being turned into visible light by the phosphorescent paint on the inside surfaces of the tube's glass.

Old style florescent lights used mercury also, inside the tube. Most of these old style lights are now being replace by LED that look the same, but my guess is much safer.

My article about this topic in The Betty Pages.

My comment about bicycling in the Cross Country Checkup thread

One of the Canadian Radio shows I listen to sometimes is a Sunday afternoon call in show called Cross Country Checkup. Last week's topic was about climate change.

The show has a lively Facebook page and I left a comment.

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Dedication of Edward R. Murrow Center at WSU, 1973. My senior year in Pullman High School.

Going through old photos and thinking about my senior year in high school. Long before anyone knew what social media was, I was thinking about a possible career in broadcast media. It ended up being more like an avocation in social media.

During my senior year in high school (1972-73), I used to wander freely in the halls of KWSU's radio and TV studios in Pullman. It was in campus buildings open to the public.

One could peer through windows into an interesting world.

In 2013, when I bicycled back to Pullman for my 40th high school reunion, I revisited those same halls.

My sister Judith lives in Pullman. Being a bit less shy than me, at the time, she ask someone passing in the hall if we could tour a studio. They opened some things up, beyond just the hallways and answered many questions.

Here's a view from one of the halls I wandered in high school. The hall is still there, but the view has changed in this 2013 image.

KWSU TV Master Control.

New equipment now, but back then, the office looking room on the right had big video tape decks in it. They were the kind that stood on the floor; the size of a big home furnace back then. Furnaces are smaller, these days, as well.

Through the windows more to the left was master control, itself, with many TV screens. Looked different then.

The door on the right led to an observation area that looked down into two big TV studios.

More facilities than a small town TV station would need, but this was also a college of communications.

To this day, one still hears NWPB say they are a "service of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University."

Here's another hallway I wandered. Probably more off limits, but they invited me in, during my high school years. Then again in 2013.

The radio studios.

On the right was the news booth. Farther down the hall was the main studios.

To the left was more space where they said, when I was in high school, "we will probably get FM."

KWSU Radio was all on AM back then, but now it's the heart of a large empire of regional transmitters, mostly on FM. The heart of Northwest Public Broadcasting which serves many parts of the Pacific Northwest, including Bellingham.

During my high school years, it was a bit more informal. One of the students, working there, told a story about how they used to try and get the newscaster to break up laughing during the news.

One of the antics was to walk past the news booth and start crouching at the knees. From inside the booth, it looked like the person was starting down a flight of stairs.

There were no stairs in that hallway.

I attended the dedication of what was those new studios, during my senior year. It's the Edward R. Murrow Communications Center.

A building dating back to 1899 was remodeled and a new wing was added behind. Radio and journalism was in the old section, TV in the new section.

There was some other stuff too; like the WSU Syndicated Tape Network. Educational shows were mailed out on reel-to-real tape for various other radio stations.

A practice now made obsolete by the internet.

Someone, who lived on my paper route when I was in 8th grade, had a show called "Science In The News." That was one of the shows sent out over the WSU Tape Network.

Another view of the old section of Murrow Center.

I kept a lot of papers from that dedication.

A famous CBS news commentator named Eric Sevareld came out from New York City to speak at the dedication.

My only memory of his address, which was held at Bohler Gymnasium that many years ago, was his description of trying to book a flight to Pullman, WA. from New York City.

A travel agent handed him the ticket with several stopovers to change planes. She said, "I think this will get you there, but it's the first time it's ever been tried." Most people in New York City have never heard of Pullman, WA.

This might be an urban legend that I heard from my mom. She had read an article, somewhere, that one of the plane stops was Spokane, just before Pullman.

Knowing that Sevareld would be in the area, they invited him to speak in Spokane also. He sent them a postcard with one word on it.

"Bunk."

Like thinking of Spokane as just a whistle stop, it must have been seen as an insult.

For Pullman, it was a David and Goliath moment, as Spokane is the biggest city and trade center of that region.

My mom didn't think much of Spokane with it's more conservative politics than little Pullman. Pullman is a college town.

These days, that story would be thought of as "liberal elitism."

My mom noted that she traveled to Seattle, 300 miles away, more often than Spokane; a mere 80 miles away. She often took the Greyhound Bus (she was a non driver) to Seattle where she had volunteer activity, at the state level, in our liberal church denomination; the United Church of Christ (Congregationalist Churches).

Comparing Seattle to Spokane, my mom would say, "Spokane thinks its big, Seattle knows its big."

As I remember, there was some friction between the CBS news operation, in New York, and Spokane's CBS affiliate which was then KXLY TV Channel 4.

Several years later (if I remember correctly) CBS dropped KXLY and went to Spokane's KREM, Channel 2. KXLY then picked up the ABC network so the Spokane stations kind of did a network shuffle.

Picture of me on left in a high school TV production class.

I also kept copies of the high school newspaper that I was a reporter for.

The high school was also in a brand new building, my senior year. It featured some sophisticated communications equipment of its own.

Headline below is from another edition where I wrote an editorial. I still have that copy posted on Flickr.

KWSU TV was planning to move their transmitter to Kamiak Butte and I favored the idea. Increase the reach for educational media.

The editor, of the high school newspaper, was against the plans for putting a TV tower on Kamiak.

She printed my editorial and wrote one of her own in a "point counterpoint feature."

Before moving to Kamiak, KWSU's TV antenna was on the top of Bryan Hall Clock Tower. It only had about a 15 mile reach from there.

After that controversy cleared, they did build a tower on the left side of Kamiak Butte north of Pullman. Built sometime after I graduated from high school.

The tower is hardly visible (or not visible at all) in this picture that I took looking north from Terrell Library Plaza at WSU in 2001. There are dormatories in the foreground.

The range of the signal is much farther from Kamiak, but now it might not matter as much as just about everything goes worldwide on the internet.

Looking back on one of my career goals and why it didn't happen.

From 1972 KHQ Spokane radio TV brochure.

I look back on a career I thought I might have when I was in high school. Broadcast journalism? Radio interested me more than television, but this 1972 brochure from a Radio / TV station I admired shows more TV than radio. TV more colorful.

That career never happened the way I had envisioned it. My nervous conditions and unusual personality was a factor. While having my aspirations, I also worried that I might freak out, flunk out of school or flunk out of college. That didn't happen either.

The industry, I thought I might go into, has it's problems also. On radio and also television, most of the creative programing comes from the top down. It's fed from the national networks. That was true in my high school days and still today; to some extent.

My high school self would have had no idea what the term "social media" met.

It didn't quite work out the way people envisioned, back then, but I have expressed many thoughts, mostly on social media. I made my living in a fairly peaceful way as a custodian.

My life, during my working years, might have been a middle ground between failure and fame. Modest, but I would like to say still worthy. It does kind of make sense, to me, how it turned out.

On a trip from Pullman, where I grew up, to Spokane, I wanted to tour some of the radio studios. My dad took me to a few. KREM, KJRB; also KHQ.

At the wonderful world of KHQ, a staff person playing tour guide ask me what specialty I wanted in broadcasting. Sales, news, cameraman (back in the pre feminist days).

I hadn't decided so I was stumbling for an answer. My dad tried to fill the void by saying, "he wants to be president of the company."

The person giving the tour was taken aback. He said, "well, you really can't start there." I was a bit embarrassed. I basically just was interested in an overview tour.

See also How my career plans got changed and I ended up in Bellingham.

Rush Limbaugh has died. I wasn't a fan of Limbaugh, but I just found out another fairly conservative host that I did listen to occasionally, Bill Wattenburg, died in 2018

Interesting that a titian on the right in talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, has died.

Radio seems "under the radar" for much of this country's population that watches more television. Still, radio is quite effective; like part of the forgotten underbelly of America. Lots of people do listen to radio while driving. Truck drivers, for instance.

In some rural parts of the country, it seems like about all one could pick up was either country and western music, or Rush Limbaugh. These are also areas where TV signals are harder to get and broadband internet is less available.

NPR provides, in my opinion, a more informative perspective and there are attempts to bring the NPR signal to many rural areas using various repeaters; including here in Bellingham.

I like to tune up and down the dial listening to a wide variety of radio. I'm more into radio than video; partially because I tend to fall asleep watching things. I do better with audio while moving around, such as at work, taking a walk, or cleaning house.

I also sleep to NPR, but that's a different story; like being read a bedtime story. Seems like the chatter of radio is more relaxing than the chatter that goes on in my own head.

I didn't listen to Rush Limbaugh. I prefer radio one can learn from. My impression of Limbaugh, from the few times I heard him, was that he was more rhetoric and less educational.

Another, basically conservative host, that used to be on KGO in San Francisco many years ago, was Bill Wattenburg. Said to be a scientist. He had worked at Lawrence Livermore Lab and UC Berkley. A big advocate for nuclear power.

I just find out, searching for this post, Wattenburg has also joined the ranks of the deceased.

One of the slightly lesser known conservative hosts I use to listen to has died. I just found out doing some Google search. A very good writeup about Bill Wattenburg. Bill Wattenburg passed away in 2018 at age 82.

Why would former President Trump even need social media? Regular media gives him plenty of voice.

When Trump was banned from Twitter, I wrote on Facebook...

I hear that President Trump has now been banned from posting on Facebook. Maybe that's a good idea. I don't have a strong opinion about that. I've often thought that famous people don't really need social media. They have access to the regular "big time" media any time they want. Social media seems more important as an outlet for us little people.

I remember this segment of a talk show, I heard, back in the 1990's I think it was talk show host Jim Hightower. When the World Wide Web was new, someone called up and suggested Hightower get a web page. Hightower answered, "A web what?" The caller tried to explain.

"Anyone can do it." "People can see it worldwide."

Hightower interrupted and started ranting, "why the hell would I need a website." "My voice is heard on a hundred radio stations from cost to coast and even around the world." "I have millions of listeners." "Many of my stations have 50,000 watt transmitters."

He went on and on, like a thundering Wizard of Oz and eventually moved on to the next caller.