Cruisin'....

"Cruuuuuuu-isin'...cruisin' in my automobile...." (Jefferson Starship)

Yep, today is Friday...and that means CRUISIN'!  This was the exact dash in my ol' '66 Dodge Coronet 440 and that AM radio was tuned to- you guessed it- 1090, KAAY!

I'd mentioned somewhere before that I'd outfitted the car with a four-section, extra-long telescoping antenna and an in-line bullet amplifier that would work on AM and FM.  Sure made the difference in pulling in signals, too.

Most of the time, I was working the night shift after high school, so I'd pull the car up to the shop, have it idling, the doors open and the radio blaring...I'd punch out at 11PM (unless I had to work overtime), run to the car and spin out of the parking lot.  I'd have to be back at work the next morning at 7AM, so I'd take a small detour (approximately double the normal drive- what the heck, premium gas was only 33 cents at the time!) and listen the whole way.  If I had to double over for the next shift when the next guy failed to show, I'd have the car pulled up, anyway, and have that radio going, regardless!

During the summer, I worked day shift, so I'd make sure that I'd be near a radio about dusk.  Later, after I'd graduated, I worked a year before going to college and, after entering college, I'd work from 7am to 3:30pm, run to classes at 4pm- or clinical rotations at whatever hospital I was to work at- I was a Paramedic- and, as soon as I got free from my class or rotation shift, I'd turn that radio on and cruuuuuuise....

Even when I had to drive to the scene or the station, I had that radio going, whether it was a fire or a wreck...hey, at 3am in the morning, I had to wake up somehow!

I had some good times in that car and listening to KAAY....and I feel fortunate and blessed to be rubbing elbows with and sharing the stories of my heroes from KAAY via this blog.

Happy Friday, all!

Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)