Im 80 1/2 I have to laugh at how easy the kids have today, my first job at 16 was washing dishes in a restraunt min. wage $0.60 then I got the best job in town again doing dishes but at $1.00 an hour I felt rich.

 

Man but what you could buy with a Dollar when you were 16 Jay, the kids now don't remember a time when inflation didn't run rampant.

 

I'm actually jealous. I'm only 22 and went to a private school. We didn't have shop or ag classes. If it wasn't going to help prep us for college they didn't care. My dad has always told me stories about the things he did when he was my age and it sounded like lots of fun. Yeah some of it was pretty stupid and dangerous though. I'll be the first person to tell you that I'm spoiled. If there was something I wanted and my parents wouldn't get it for me, I'd just pick up the phone and call my grandma. As far as technology goes, I think it's useful but people tend to take things a little too far. It's nice at times though. I'm laying in bed now writing this on my iPhone! Who woulda thought?

 

I'm 58.

We didn't get a TV until 1957. We only got one channel back then so we didn't need a remote control at all. There was a green plastic ring around the picture screen that glowed for a while after the set was turned off.

While I was growing up I wanted a portable radio of my own. I had already built a crystal set and had it setup in my bedroom but it was darn hard to tune and with just the small headphone it was hard to hear. And of course it was not exactly portable.

I scrounged a tube type AM radio out of the town dump, then spent all my paper route money for the whole summer putting tubes in it. Then I had a radio I could hear better in my room and it was small enough I could take it other places in the house but it still had to be plugged in.

Finally when I was 8, I got a 6 transistor portable AM pocket radio for Christmas. My folks used that radio get me to do extra chores around the house. If I would do certain things they would give me the money for a new 9 volt battery.

When I started my paper route I had a 20” bike. As soon as I could swing it I got a 24” bike. I pimped that out with a banana seat. High rise handle bars, a sissy bar, a generator light set, a horn, and paper baskets.

I painted it a two tone red and white with a gold pin strip, I was the envy of most of the other kids my age in town. Oh yeah, my bike had chrome fenders with black rubber mudflaps with reflectors on them, chrome wheels, chrome spokes, and the fat balloon tires {no, not the tacky white walled ones} on it too.

Since my bike was really a 'work' vehicle I couldn't see putting an extended fork on it. Once I got 'my' bike where I wanted it I did almost the same thing with the 20”, except for the paper baskets, then gave it to my little brother. He removed the fenders and put the long forks on himself. I had painted it royal blue with emerald green metal flake pin stripes but he painted the whole thing flat black right over the 'nice' paint job I had done.

Over the years I learned a lot about auto mechanics from my dad. He was a master mechanic at our local Ford dealership. I always thought it was a little odd that even though he worked at a Ford place he always drove a Chevy or a Pontiac.

In high school I took all the shop classes available including drafting. I did particularly well in wood shop. And almost as well in metal shop. I made a gear and kick start shaft for my 50 Bridgestone sport in the school metal shop.

After I graduated I talked the shop teacher into letting me cut some gears for my '47 Harley Hummer. I'd asked him to make it a class project but I guess he couldn't sell the idea to the class.

I could and probably will go on but this is enough for now.