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It was a big drought year (1977) in California. All the lakes were super low or dry, so my Dad and his Boat/Ski Club brought their dirt bikes to Black Butte Lake instead of their boats. We were all riding around on different parts of the dry lake and it was a blast. Kids, Dads, and even some Moms, must have been over 30 bikes,
Had a crash I still remember to this day, my XR75 was "tapped" out and then the ground disappeared. Launched it over a blind 3 or 4 ft. drop and it was yard sale time. I was 9 years old and in a lot of pain, but nothing broken. My Dad comes over to me on his Sachs/Dirt Track variant, checks me over, and all was good just a few scrapes, a broken visor, and a bent bike.
We decide to head back to camp. I get on the bike (bent bars and all), get it started, and my Dad leans over to me and says "Don't tell your Mom, I'll let her know". Aye Aye, message received, no need to worry her anymore than need be.
Wonder Years got me thinking about the old Nick at Night, where they played old sitcoms. Mr Ed, Andy Griffith. Was a staple for my dad and I in summertime when I could stay up late. Had two choices for baseball, Cubs or Braves. That’s how I became a Cubs fan. And baseball cards with rock hard gum in packaging, think they were like 15 cents a pack.
What a fun thread, plus it's like the kids are at the babysitters 😆😆😆. We're off to St. George, Kanab etc. Have a great Labor day weekend fools !
Any of you remember holding the rabbit ears so your dad could watch the news with more clarity on the old B&W TV?
TM
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And if you were rich you had rabbit ears that stayed in place once you found the sweet spot. 🤣 Luckily that era was about over at the beginning of my childhood.
OR, later got a roof antenna. LOL
yep! then it went off the air and didn't take long for people to want to bring it back. eventually it did come back but unfortunately based on the political climate at that time it was the DEI version. NOT the same!
We had air conditioning but never used it. Kept the windows open and had fans. It’s so hot in GA in the summer, I don’t know how we did it.
I live in a rural area that doesn't yet have cable modem, fiber, etc. I prefer free channels over the air anyways for limited amount of shows I invest time watching. The wife has a streaming account or 2 mostly for animal shows but we can get next day's network shows too if we really want to.
How about aluminum foil between the rabbit ears?
Such a pro tip😂
We haven't had aircon for the last 6-7 years. Just had a unit installed about 4 months ago. WOW life is great!
Not the same as holding one of the ears and holding your other arm up apparently. 🤣
OK, anyone remember having to mow the lawn? When I started having to mow the lawn. If I needed gas, I had to walk to the gas station with my one gallon gas can and a quarter. I'd come home with change and have to give that back to my mom because pennies and nickels were actually worth something.
TM
Wait, you had a gas powered mower? Highfalutin. My grandmother had a push mower. That thing was such a pleasure to use. Lol
Started every time though!
Yup, it was a 2 stroke. I still remember to this day 1/2 pint of oil per gallon.
Many times when I hear certain songs I can remember where and when I first heard them. The memory just pops into my head when I hear the song. For example the first time I heard the Steppenwolf song "Magic Carpet Ride" my mom was driving me to school in her 61 VW Beetle on The Almeda in Santa Clara. That was in 1968 when I was in the 6th grade. I was always in charge of picking the AM radio station when riding with my mom in her car, and we mostly listened to KFRC out of San Francisco. I can't think of any other songs right now for the where & when memory, but they were almost always when in the car listening to the radio.
Growing up in La Mirada Ca, not the moto capital of the world. We were probably 4 miles from the old U.S. Suzuki building. There was a quarter “literally “ car wash on the corner of Stage and Alondra. I lived like 1/8 mile from it so I would push my 78 YZ 125 there to wash it. Well I’m guessing power washer’s weren’t around then. Every now and then a Suzuki box truck would roll in there and unload their Works Bikes. I’d be washing mine one bay over from them. Talk about being in total awe of those bikes. You’d never see that today.
Shit...My great grandmother lived in Hemet, right next to Larry Minor's zoo. One day she asked me, my brother, and 2 of my cousins to mow her lawn. I think her property was 1-2 acres. We all agreed to do it, but didn't negotiate a price, or see the mower first. Damn mower was a push mower, no motor, just the barrel type with gears and blades so it spun faster. It took us at least 2 hours! Lawn was full of weeds, "grass", dirt and rocks. We were all toast after that. Go inside to see Naña, and she gives us each a quarter. We all walked down to the liquor store on the corner and got ourselves a candy bar for all that effort. Never mowed that damn lawn ever again!
This is my Great Grandmother's house in the middle, my Grandmother/Grandfather's house to the left, and Larry Minor's zoo to the right. He had Zebras, Donkeys, Camels, and some other animals that were pretty exotic, but I can't remember.![]()
Pit Row
Yes, that’s the type of mower I we referring to! Horrible device. Lol
I think it’s called a reel mower.
KFRC - hell yeah ! Dr Donald D Rose. Everyone around here listened to KFRC back then.
I was further north so it was KOME and Dr. Demento late at night in the garage with my bike.
Yes, and I reely hated it.
KFRC, KOME, KSJO
Dr Demento! Didn’t he have some sort of TV show where they would review videos?
Small Midwest farm town. 80s for me. But we were 10 years behind Cali, so it seems likevi still experienced the 70s a bit, lol.
I remember being able to ride my bigwheel to my buddies house about 5 blocks away. Rule was, keep one wheel.on the "white" which eas yhe curb, lol. Had to cross a county road! At 4!!!
K-12 school. Going the the library, we had to walk through the highschool side and up stairs to 3rd floor, as k-3 kid, it seemed like what is portrayed in dazed and confused!
Football, wiffle ball, Annie Annie over, kick the can. Learning how to hold your own with bigger kids. Getting beat up by kids like 5 years older, lol. Helping ourselves to random wood around town to build ramps. Watch Rad, then eating a bowl of Kicks and ripping around town, cutting through yards.
No cops in my town. Did my daily after school paper route on my Suzuki 50cc Trail Hopper! 2 stroke! No one cared!
Whippin and dippin our cars through the snow, really Learning how to handle them!
Email wasn't a word in my vocabulary when I graduated. Good times.
Like all of you, I could go on for a while. Really glad I caught the end of the old days!
Incredible post and I feel like we had damn near identical childhoods. You left out the part about using the back wheels from the worn out big wheel for a homemade plywood go kart.👍😁
What was the name of that movie theatre down by the pier? My sister took me to see “ Hard Days Night” there. Never quite got over that experience. Parents would drop us off there and leave us all day. We were maybe 6 or 7 years old.
Staying up late to watch HeadBangers Ball on MTV with your friends.
You certainly can’t do that anymore.
Fox Redondo I think. Sorry, I know you quoted Rawly
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