Talk radio in Pittsburgh

I have been a big fan of “talk radio” for some time now and if you pay any attention to the media you know that talk radio is mostly conservative in tone. As a teenager I listened to Jim Quinn on KQV when they were “groovy QV” and played top forty music most of the time. My how the times have changed. KQV is now Pittsburgh's only full time news radio station. Jim Quinn found religion and is trying to “out Rush” Rush Limbaugh on the local level. I listened to Quinn and Rose in the morning for quite a while and share many of his points of view especially on gun control legislation. I reached a point where I grew weary of the same mantra day after day some of which I was not convinced was completely sincere.

About that time what I considered to be a voice of intelligence and reason came to talk radio in Pittsburgh in the form of the Jerry Bowyer show on WPTT.

I had stumbled onto Jerry on Cornerstone Television channel 40 while channel surfing one weekend and liked what I heard. Anytime I noticed his program was on I would make a point to catch it. Then Jerry was invited to fill in for Lynn Cullan on WPTT talk radio and when I heard he was going to be on I listened in and was not disappointed. Apparently I was not along. Audience reaction was so good that the station offered Jerry his own show in the early morning time slot. I have been a steady listener since and have found the show not only entertaining but very informative. One of Jerry's promotional bumper lines that aired on WPTT said “How about something different. Talk radio where you don't have to turn your brain off.” and this pretty much sums up the show.

Times change, some things do and other don't. Jim Quinn has changed stations since I first started listening to him in the mornings now being on an all talk format FM station. WPTT has altered their format going with what they call a “more progressive” line up of commentators in talk radio. I have listened to the new mix and some of it I like, other parts do not hold my interest enough to keep my radio dial set on WPTT the entire day anymore. If you like talk radio you should listen in for yourself and decide.

One show that I do make a point to listen to every weekend on WPTT is The American Entrepreneur hosted by Ron Morris. While the theme of the show is starting and running your own business I find it pretty good material for lessons in life in general. Ron is “one of the good guys” and a straight shooter who calls it as he sees it. Listen in and see what you think. Saturday morning on WPTT from 09:00 to 11:00AM. Click on the link I have inserted here to visit Ron's web site to learn more. I think you will find it interesting.

Jerry, after switching from mornings to afternoons, decided to leave the full time position at WPTT although I think he will still be doing a weekend show. When I have all the details I will post something here for those that are interested. That's the good news. The great news is that Jerry will be returning to full time talk radio in September on WORD FM here in Pittsburgh. He will remain in the 03:00 PM to 06:00 PM time slot that he held previously. One of the reasons for the switch was that Jerry likes talk radio to be a “conversation” between two parties where both have the opportunity to lean something. You will find Jerry on WORD FM at 101.5 on your radio dial starting on September 1st 2005. So mark your calendars, tune in and see if you like what you hear and tell your friends.

Oakmont museum offers glimpse into life of early 20th-century small-town doctor

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review

I live just a few block from this house and I can tell you that in addition to being a local point of pride for Oakmont citizens that it is indeed an interesting glimpse into the past.

By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 31, 2005
The Dr. Thomas R. Kerr Memorial Museum in Oakmont is just an ordinary middle-class home typical of the early 20th century.
And that's what makes it so special.
"One of the unique things about it is that when you drive by, it's unpretentious," said Jan Shoop, chairman of the board of directors. "There's nothing extraordinary about this house, and that's what's important, that it represents the middle class of the time."
Kerr had his home at 402 Delaware Ave. built in 1897, and nearly a century later, his daughter bequeathed the property to the borough to be used in his memory. While there are many mansions and log cabins open to show the public the respective lifestyles of the rich and the poor, the Kerr Museum exemplifies the often overlooked middle class.

For the complete story check out the Sunday Tribune Review or follow this link.

Oakmont's annual street sale

This weekend will be another event that makes Oakmont a nice place to live. Every year the local merchants sponsor a “street sale”. A few blocks of Allegheny River Boulevard are cordoned off to traffic and patrons are free to roam the street looking at items on sale. Sort of a sale and block party combined. It has also become somewhat of a social event with where you run into friends and stop to chat about family and what is going on in town. The event will be this Saturday, July 30th, from 10:00AM until 04:00PM in the afternoon.

If you have been thinking about visiting Oakmont here is a good reason not that you really need a reason to come look around. I have a previous commitment scheduled for Saturday morning so I may only get to catch the tail end of the sale but I'm sure my wife will be there browsing the various shops. If you see either of us on the boulevard stop and say hello. If you do stop by treat yourself and make sure to stop in and visit Mystery Lovers Book Shop.

Man burned trying to rescue son

There was a structure fire last night in Verona. A house on Barger Street was fully involved according to the first station four fire fighters on the scene. Oakmont's fire department was called for assistance and I watched out my bedroom window as their huge aerial ladder truck came across Fifth Street in route to the fire. That truck is impressive in the day but it is an unbelievable site when lit up at night.

Tragically, according to the morning news, one of the residents of the house went back inside to try to rescue his step son who had already managed to get out of the house. He suffered third degree burns over fifty percent of his body in the attempt and was transported to the hospital by Lower Valley Ambulance service. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

God bless the brave men and women who answer the call in the middle of the night when the pager go off and the fire whistle blows please keep them in your prayers also.

Listen to the Space Shuttle Discovery with your police scanner

I haven't mentioned this before but one of the reasons that I tinker so much with computers is that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far way I liked to tinker with electricity something that I probably acquired from my father. In those days if you wanted to play with wires and tubes and other electronic parts and build things the natural path lead to radio. If you got deep enough into it you found yourself wanting to become an amateur radio operator. Better known as “ham radio” operators these guys knew enough about radio to build and operate their own radio stations talking to people all over the world. To a teen ager this was nothing short of awe inspiring. Taping on their Morse code keys and talking into microphones they communicated with other hams both near and far.

One of these operators took me under his wing and became my mentor helping me learn to send and receive Morse code and pass the rigorous written examination given by the Federal Communications Commission to obtain a license. My involvement with amateur radio has introduced me to many wonderful people over the course of the years and also sparked my interest in other areas of electronics. This is the reason that I wanted a computer in my home long before it was financially or technically practical to have one. I'm also sure it is one of the main reasons that I now make my living with computers.

Ham radio operators have frequency bands that are adjacent to those used by public safety and business two way radio users in the Very High Frequency spectrum also know as VHF. Because of this if you have a radio scanner that lets you listen in on your local police and fire departments you can also listen in on the ham radio operators. Some ham radio operators have special permission from the FCC to rebroadcast the audio from NASA when the space shuttle is orbiting the earth as the Discovery is now. Did you know that almost all of the astronauts are licensed amateur radio operators? They use ham radio to talk with school children in the class room as they circle the earth. There is even a permanent “ham station” aboard the International Space Station.

If you have a police scanner that is programmable you can put 145.6200 into one of your channels and hear NASA talking with the shuttle Discovery live while this mission lasts. If you would like to lean more about amateur radio follow this link to the American Radio Relay League, a nation wide organization of ham operators.

Something for you book lovers out there

While going through some files that have accumulated on my TiVo's hard drive this evening I was watching a 60 Minutes segment that I had recorded back in December of last year. It was all about how Google got started and where the company was at that time. I watched it one more time before deleting it and while there were talking about the various new services that Google was developing they mentioned Google Print.

I made a mental note to check out what “Google Print” was about the next time I was at the computer which I did this evening. Well it blew my socks off. Go try it for yourself and see what you think. Enter http://print.google.com and then put in the words “Oakmont” or “Pittsburgh” and see the results. I think you will be as impressed as I was. Good stuff!

Bring on the heat!

No this is not a dissertation about the Pirates or baseball. When is this heat going to give us a break? That seems to be the battle cry at the water coolers in offices and on street corners. Well let me opine on this heat for just a moment. Being a life long Pittsburgh resident I have come to expect hot summers and very cold winters. Even though some health problems make either extreme a little hard on this old body and the high humidity being the worst to endure I have no complaints about our current atmospheric conditions.

If you doubt that just stop for a moment and think about standing in the parking lot after a hard day at work, ankle deep in slush with an ice scraper in your hand chipping away at the coating that nature has left on your windshield and windows during the day. All the while hoping that by the time you are done the car will have run long enough that some semblance of warm air, no chance yet for heat, will be coming from the various vents and floor ducts of the vehicle. As you place your posterior in the drivers seat there is that second of relief because you are now about one half degree warmer than you were standing in the pelting wind and cold outside. Then you realize that yes, you can still see your breath in the air and taking your gloves off will not improve the condition of your cold fingers.

All the time you are thinking about warm summer afternoons and wondering just how long before we get a break from this cold! I just have to have these thoughts and think about this sequence of events and suddenly this heat doesn't seem nearly so bad. At least that is the way it seems to me. What do you think?

Sad news and reasons to be thankful

Like many of you I awoke yesterday morning to the horrific news coming out of London. Hearing reports on the radio I turned on the television, something that I don't normally do in the morning, and tuned to Fox News Channel. The first image I saw was the double decker bus with its top ripped completely off. I bowed my head and prayed to God that through some miracle there would be no loss of life. I had to listen on a few moments to learn that would not be the case.

Thoughts of that awful September day in 2001 flooded back to my mind as I watched events in London unfold. While there were no collapsed buildings there was the haunting image of that bus which may have been packed with morning commuters. I continued to pray as I watched until I had to leave for work. Throughout the day I listened to the radio and checked news sites on the world wide web to say informed.

I was particularly concerned because the pastor of our church recently returned to the United States having lived in England for the past twenty plus years raising a family there. Some of his grown children still live there having careers and working in London. Again I continued to pray.

Late yesterday evening I spoke with Pastor Naumann and he told me that he had been in touch with his children and friends in England and that they had escaped harm from the attacks. His son and daughter in law normally would have been in one of the subway stations that was bombed but had over slept and because of that and changes in their destinations had both walked to work yesterday morning.

When the rescue personal complete their work I'm sure the death toll will rise beyond what is know at this time. Many of those that are injured are on the critical list and my not survive. I hope and pray for both them and their families. I ask you to do the same.

I also fight to contain the rage that I feel for those that perpetrated this evil on their fellow human beings. I look forward to the day when no government or people will provide them a rock to crawl back under once they have carried out their heinous acts. This has been another event in a struggle that in all likely hood will not end in our life time. It is however one over which I think in the end we will prevail.

Links! We don't need no stinken links.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Internet and the world wide web are the various links that you find as you go from web page to web page. It is one of the reasons that you start looking for information on new shocks for your car after dinner and at one in the morning find yourself hip deep in facts about the history of the movie industry. If you are smiling right now you have been there.

These same links are in the world of blogs and bloggers. Sometimes they take you to web sites for additional information on the subject the blog. Other times they will take you to another blog. The links can be embedded in the text you are reading or may be a side bar feature on the opening page.

I have not put a lot of effort into setting up links on the opening pages of the blogs that I have started finding it hard enough to make time to write text for them. I just added a new link for my favorite media person Jerry Bowyer, to this one. I was going to say talk show host but Jerry is currently on hiatus making a move from WPTT talk radio to another station. He will still be doing a weekend show on WPTT about which I will post the details here when they become available. Talk show host does not do Jerry Bowyer justice though. He is indeed a “media person” being involved to the point that it is the family business. I don't have time enough to write the story of how interesting a person Jerry is so I will let you visit his web site where you can read his biography and learn more about him. Then check out the Podcasts on his web site and follow the link to his television show “World View”. Enjoy!

Pictures of things as they are

Well Linda and I went to get our hair cut this evening after work. We both go to a little shop down on Allegheny River Boulevard. While waiting for Linda to take her turn in the chair I wander down to Lane's Hardware Store. I would like to wax poetic about Lane's but I need to get to bed as we both need to be at work early in the morning. Perhaps with the upcoming long weekend I will take the time to tell you a little more about it. This evening I picked up a few things I keep forgetting when I am out on the weekends and just wandered the isles for a while. Something I don't normally do when shopping.

Then we went down to Edge Water Steel or at least what is left of Edge Water Steel. The thirty five acer site where once wheels for locomotives and railroad cars among other thing were turned out is being leveled for development. It was purchased by Regional Industrial Development Corporation and according to what I am hearing will be converted into a combination of light industrial, shopping and residential properties. I will be watching closely to see what the mix is when construction begins. I wanted to get some photos of the buildings that are left and the empty grounds. I have three sons one of whom now lives out of state and I wanted to show him some of the changes taking place in town.

Next I went down and took several shots of the Dairy Queen, the house located directly behind it and the now defunct Exxon station. Demolition has already begun on that property. I didn't think of it at the time but I should also get a few shots of the railroad crossing at Hulton road since the face of that will change quite a bit once there are new traffic lights installed there.

Finally I stopped by the library and took a few shots of the on going construction at that location. I think we will have one of the nicer libraries in the valley when the new addition and updates are complete. I will have to figure out how to go about posting some pictures here on the blog. I know it can be done just haven't taken the time to ferret out the details. If you get the chance to pass through Oakmont anytime soon spend a few minutes and look around at things the way they are now as soon there will be some long time land marks that just will not be there anymore.