Yet another visit from the police compliments of Nebby Larry

A pretty good cop.

I was out on the street yesterday cutting an antenna when a cruiser pulled up. I could tell by the way he pulled up that he was not on routine patrol. Somebody must have called him. My guess is that it was Nebby Larry again but I digress.

There are two very small paint spots on my street that just so happen to be exactly 100 feet apart that someone mysteriously put there early one morning. In the center of each of the paint spots is a 1/8 inch hole that fits a 16d green vinal coated sinker just perfectly. It is large enough to be able to remove the nail easily after use.

It is great because if you want something like a piece of wire cut a certain length all you have to do is hook the end on a nail and pull it down toward the other nail. It the wire is under 100 feet you also hook a 100 foot steel tape to the same nail and there you go. If you want over 100 feet you catch the wire on the second nail and come back toward the first one.

Anyway, I was cutting an antenna and the cruiser pulled up and asked me what I was doing and I told the cop I was cutting an antenna. He asked what for and I told him it was for my ham rig.

"I figured it was something like that," he said. "Are you one of those guys that talks to people overseas and all that stuff?"

"Yes, I am." I replied. "This antenna is for a new tuner I am installing right up there, next to that little antenna I put up so I can yak with the International Space Station."

"You can do that?" he asked. "Aren't those special government frequencies?"

"They have a couple of rigs in it specifically for yakking with civvies like me," I replied.

"That's pretty cool," he said. "Spoken with them yet?"

"Not yet. I've just gotten set up for it." I replied.

"Let me know how you make out." he said.

Then he grinned. "You know, there's a kid about 13 now. For the past couple, three years every time there is a school science fair coming up we get a call to check him out. You two seem to have something in common. Neither of you are generally troublemakers but you are always up to something. I actually enjoy checking the kid out. He's always doing something interesting. You fit into that category"

"I guess it's some kind of circle," I mused. "When I was in middle age I wound up getting my priorities all screwed up with career and all that stuff. I grew out of it and returned to doing the right thing."

"Full circle, huh? You know, I see a lot of older guys that tinker with stuff. Maybe you have something there. At least this is interesting."

I rubbed my beard. "Interesting enough to get a job selling beer on TV?" I asked.

He looked confused for a second, then quickly recovered. He looked at me carefully.

"Your beard looks better than his," he said, smiling. "Maybe you can."

"And deal with the Madison Avenue crowd? No, thank you." I shot back and he laughed.

"You'd have a lot more money," he said.

"And not any time to do things like this," I replied. "Trick is to have enough money to do what you want AND have enough time to do it."

"Good point," he said. "Well, finish what you are doing and just don't leave a mess. Take care."

And with that he drove off.

Not a bad encounter at all.


Aftermath.

When I went inside I Googled around to see if there were any more Dos Equis ads coming up and found the actor that plays The Most Interesting Man in the World died a few months ago I'm going to miss the ads.

Also my new antenna and tuner works great.



my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/