Vacuum Tubes

I remember as a youth, having a vacuum tube radio in my bedroom.  Listening to that primitive radio I first heard Led Zepplin, The James Gang, and other classic rock bands when they were at the top. All this through a small, cardboard cone speaker that could not handle much volume.  But the radio brought its own mood.

When I used it, I wouldn't need to have a light on in the room.  The vacuum tubes in the radio would heat up and glow orange, casting their light against the wall and throughout the room. The nostalgic return of vinyl records completely escapes me. But, I suspect a real or simulated nostalgic return of vacuum tube operated radios and TV's are just around the corner.

Technology changes so fast.  How many things from my generation's childhood are completely foreign to our kids and grand children? Phone booths, rotary telephones, cassette players, phonographs, and other high tech gadgets from the 60's and 70's are now only found in antique shops and museums. For some unknown reason, I remembered my old vacuum tube radio this week.

The last mass produced vacuum tube was the cathode ray tube, or CRT, that was finally retired when flat screens were invented. But before the CRT was the vacuum tube that served as amplifier, power regulator, and signal processor for the now antique televisions and radios.  Back in the day, a general consumer could fix their electronics by replacing a defective vacuum tube.

That was a good thing since electronics built on vacuum tubes were very unreliable. My memory of the family TV was that it was rarely in good working order, and constantly needed vertical and horizontal adjustment to achieve a watchable picture. When was the last time you saw a modern TV exhibit the vertical roll of old TV's?  I don't know if I ever have.  I'm not even sure the new TV's have an adjustment for that picture problem.  Much of this reliability is due to the replacement of vacuum tubes with transistor and integrated circuits.

Vacuum tubes were user replaceable and made many fathers an effective TV repairman.  Grocery and hardware stores had a device where common vacuum tubes could be plugged in and tested.  When the TV set wasn't working, or the picture became unwatchable, my father would open up the back of the TV set and remove all the vacuum tubes. We would visit the store with a tube tester and one by one, plug each into the slot that matched the vacuum tube pin configuration, set the dials as instructed, flip the test switch, wait for the tube to warm up, and read the red-yellow-green meter to determine if the tube under test was the culprit.  If it was, replacement tubes were stored under the tester and could be immediately purchased.

Today, TV sets don't have vacuum tubes and contain no user replaceable parts.  When the TV stops working, we throw it away and buy a new one. Once there was a large number of TV repair businesses.  When did you last seen one?

25 Reasons to Vote for Hillary

1. You believe the Obama administration has brought peace and prosperity to America.
2. You are comfortable with selective application of the first amendment protection of freedom of speech and religion.
3. You think Hillary is a nice grandmotherly person.
4. You see no issue with a presidential candidate calling learning disable children "f***ing retards".
5. Defiling the white house by allowing a rapist to live there again does not bother you.
6. You believe what a person says is more important than what they do.
7. You are comfortable with politicians using their office for personal enrichment.
8. You believe our second amendment right to bear arms should be ignored or repealed.
9. You believe there is a vast right wing conspiracy.
10. You would hire someone who spent half of their time tending to a personal business during their last job.
11. You no longer notice the word "illegal" when discussing illegal immigration.
12. You believe Trump has raised your taxes, stole your money or ran up the national debt.
13. You believe that all politicians lie and that any one lie is no worse than another.
14. You believe a person prescribed the drug Coumadin is in good health and physically prepared to be president.
15. You believe the Clinton Foundation is a charity and not a pay for play money laundering enterprise.
16. You believe a Clinton administration would be tough on terror and crime.
17. You believe a country should not enforce its borders.
18. You think Hillary would have the knowledge and desire to control government spending.
19. You believe that a Secretary of State can do their job without a government email account and without exposing national secrets.
20. You believe that George W. Bush has been ruining the economy for the past 8 years.
21. You think it is acceptable for a leader to refer to Jews as "f***ing bast***s".
22. You think that Americans should blindly believe and obey what the mainstream media tell them. 
23. You believe abortion should be legal and available up until the natural birth of a child.
24. You believe a candidate who was found to be careless with confidential information can be trusted to see the most top secrets of America. 
25. You believe that you pay more dollars in taxes than rich people do.

I'm Sorry

I have been thinking about this post for several weeks, resisting it, believing that it might be too pessimistic. But I now believe it is more realistic than pessimistic so here it goes.  I am apologizing for my generation.  I apologize to my kids, I apologize to your kids.  My generation has blown it.  We are leaving the next generation a world much darker than what our parents left to us.

Throughout my young adult life, I cannot remember a time when it was more difficult to just get by. Jobs were easy, and although the pay was not high, neither were the prices of basic commodities. Today most jobs are in the service industry, and thus low paying. The cost of goods and services are high.  It's tough for young adults to achieve the quality of life my generation was afforded.

While I am not specifically to blame and neither are my friends, family or acquaintances, we are collectively to blame. We established the environment that led to the present. We made poor choices that created this world. My generation has created the current political, social and economic chaos that dominates modern life.

Politically, we demonstrated suicidal apathy by allowing politicians to lie to us, and to promise what they would do but never follow through. We did not demand honesty or integrity at any level. We believed the other elected officials are the problem, but the ones we elect are wonderful and we continued to re-elect them. Now we have politicians that blatantly lie and obfuscate, that are not transparent even as they claim to be.  Today's politician see no downside to unabashedly violating the laws they created for commoners, and they would never think of apologizing or repenting.  In short, our elected officials are criminals.

Our political parties are stubbornly ideological, and exist to breed polarization. If someone disagrees with you, they must be intolerant, racist or [fill in the blank]-phobic.  Our political tribes grow polarization in their members and foster hate and discontent. Their only goal is to win, regardless of the price in money or morale. The American political system is in shambles and I apologize to the next generation for what we hand them.

Socially, we have extended the 1960's mantra of "If it feels good, do it" and now reap the results. Truth and morality have become relative. If it's right for you, then no one should say it is wrong. Life is devalued. Purity has become a joke. Political correctness has replaced logic and reason. Civil rights have expanded to include deviant behavior. If you feel offended, somebody is to blame. Basic rights no longer come from our Creator, but are endowed by our government. The Constitution that served us so well for 200 years, is suddenly obsolete. No wonder the next generation is confused and wandering. We set that example and for that, I apologize.

The new normal economy features anemic growth to ensure that nobody can get more than their fair share. The lower production creates a downward spiral where government can no longer collect the revenue needed to finance entitlements used to purchase of votes of the dependent. Open borders dilute the earning power of young people just entering the job market, and create significant burdens on government funded safety nets. The affluent areas of the country are only those who can feed on the government largess.

And nobody seems to care. For the past few elections, I have hoped that something wonderful would happen. I had hoped the electorate would become very selective with who they choose to lead them. That we would hold elected officials to be true to their word, do what they said they would do, and act with integrity. And if they didn't, we would fire them. But we haven't and my generation is mostly to blame. I'm sorry.

The result is that we now have two horribly flawed candidates for president. Neither would have been acceptable for any political leadership position just a generation or two in the past, but now they both have strong followings. Coupled with an inept congress, the future holds more polarization, more social and economic decay.

The only hope is 2 Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

My pessimism is that I can do nothing to change America's course.  My optimism is that I know who can.