I didn’t watch too much TV growing up, but it wasn’t my choice. My parents wouldn’t allow it. On nice days, outside it was, where my sister and I would always find the rest of the neighborhood kids. If we were stuck inside due to the weather, we had better find something creative to do; don’t even think about turning on the old black-and-white.
Yes, that’s all we had, but luckily, we went hi-tech in the late ’70s and got a color TV. There was one night a week that we could watch it, and it was a family night, so we all had to agree on the shows. Our chosen night was Friday, and our shows were none other than “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Dallas.” We were almost teens then and I guess my parents decided it would be OK to witness all the terrible corruption and deceit caused by J.R. Ewing, but more importantly to us was the color TV. The General just would not have looked the same in black and white.
Occasionally we would change the channels to watch different things, but we had to get up and walk to the TV to do it, so we took turns. I remember our knob had 13 different numbered positions, plus a “U.” Each one had a firm detent and changing channels slowly produced a distinct clunk-clunk-clunk as you went from one to the next. But, when you got the feel for it, you could give the knob a calculated spin and those long spans, from say channel four to channel 10, could be accomplished in a split second.
All you heard was a zip noise and I got so good at it that I nailed the desired channel every time. I could have hopped right back into my seat if I didn’t have to hang around at that point to adjust the rabbit ears.
What does this have to do with tools? Probably nothing. But, if you don’t know us, we are TechShop and we are all about Equipment, Tools and Supplies. We’ve been in print since 2000, but as we shift focus to our digital presence, we’ve decided to go inside the pages of ShopOwner starting this month.
Techshopmag.com is our website, and there you will find our magazine archive, Tool Showcase videos, our Guess the Tool contest, original automotive and tool-related articles and stories, and, of course, equipment, tools and supplies. It’s smartphone friendly too.
We like to have fun with what we do, but we also like to do what is most beneficial for shops and technicians. We love to get feedback from our readers, even if it’s about something you don’t like. We’re all in this together and the automotive industry is our team, so feel free to drop us a line.
When you flip the pages to TechShop, you’ll notice we are a “ShopOwner Channel.” If you can open the magazine right to us, you’re good. But whether you do that or flip for awhile to find us, one thing we can guarantee is you won’t have to adjust the rabbit ears. You’ll always get a clear picture from TechShop.
