Quick wrap up

After years of working with my Commodore 64 I eventually stepped up to the Amiga 500.  I was living in Europe at the time and wow was that machine popular there.  It was my first experience with a true face to face computer club.  It was really cool.  He I was an American kid hanging out with a bunch of Dutch Amiga nerds.  Eventually a second American joined the club.  While games was my initial driver for going with the Amiga I started to see other things that the machine was capable of, sound and video editing to name a couple.  It was a pretty amazing time in my growth in electronics.

Going back to radio.  At that time, 1989-1992, there were still plenty of shortwave radio stations around.  While I was unable to bring my computer to work there was always a radio.  When I traveled around Europe my shortwave radio was always with me.  With the wall coming down between East and West Germany both legal and clandestine shortwave stations were plentiful. 

A quick leap forward to present day and I can say that I am still very interested in both computers and radio.  I play around with my PCs and Raspberry Pi computers working on various projects.  I am now a ham radio operator and still an active shortwave radio listener.  The tools (toys) are a little cheaper to purchase these days and honestly more effective. 

The start of it all

I grew-up in a mid-sized Midwestern town.  My friends lived all over the neighborhood.  Calling a friend on the phone was lazy back then.  You rode your bike or walked over to their house.  From sun up to sun down were we always doing something.  In the summer it was mostly outdoor activities.  When it got to hot then bowling and the arcade became an option.  During the winter it was Dungeon and Dragons.

For years this was my spring and summer break mixed in with some organized sports.  My friends were the first to get the Atari 2600 and then Commodore 64.  I was always a late adopter in my group of friends.   Better late than never.  I worked my butt off one summer so that I could buy my own Commodore 64 with tape drive.  Many lawns were mowed so I could jump into the computer age.

It was an awesome purchase and one that even today I can point out as being one of the things that got me started in my love of electronics.  Which in turn got me interested in radio.  Many hours in front of the computer with local radio on in the background was greatness.  I may be turning into that old man but I just don’t see any kids doing those kinds of things these days.  Maybe I am missing it.

To reboot or just begin?

I have tried time and time again to post on a regular basis.  I originally wanted to use this blog to share my hobbies and various interests while improving my writing.  Of course, something always kept delaying me.  This reason or that reason.  Well, with the recent increase of the frequency I have been working from home I hope to use this time as a break from work and share my random thoughts.

As a child of the 80’s I grew up in a mostly analog world.  Pinball and arcades were popular.  Home gaming systems and computers were in their infancy.  This is where my journey started.

Let the adventure begin…..