September 25, 2017

Greetings and salivations, welcome to Week 321 of Really Deep Thoughts, brought to you as a service of the Hire The Shallow Thinkers Association. Their motto: “Really Deep Thoughts Can Get You into really Deep Trouble.”

That’s why today we will discuss the Nature of Time. Well, on second thought, I think Einstein pretty well covered that, so let’s talk about how time is kept nowadays. Yeah, that’s better.

Those of us of a Certain Age can remember when the Bulova Accutron debuted back in the ‘60s. This was ballyhooed as the best little timekeeper ever. It had a self-winding mechanism in it and was supposedly accurate to a minute per month.

With my first paycheck as a radio part timer in the mid ‘60s I bought an Accutron. At the tender (and dumb) age of sixteen I now considered myself an adult because I had a real adult watch. John Cameron Swayze could say whatever he wanted about his Timex watches, he could strap them to outboard motors (true) and subject them to all sort of abuse, but “they kept on ticking.” Not that accurately, but they were ticking.

I was lucky enough to have a pretty good standard to check my Accutron against: the radio station where I worked was (as many stations were) synchronized with Western Union. Every hour, as the top of the hour approached, the big clock high up on the studio wall would go through a spasm of clicking and whirring as it linked up by phone line with the Master Clock (wherever that was) and made everything official. Sometimes I would glance at my watch and sure enough, right on time. Or close enough.

A few years later (early ‘70s) I was in the service and drooled over the $300 Rolex watches in the PX in Korea. I didn’t get one, (remember I said ‘dumb’?) settling for some other brand which looked just as flashy. Nowadays you can’t buy a Rolex for much less than $5000. A real Rolex, that is. If you travel to any big city there are plenty of street ‘vendors’ willing to sell you knock-offs for $50.

Fast forward a few years to the advent of quartz movement watches, which boasted hitherto unheard-of accuracy. I had a couple of these, which were a little pricey at the time. Now they’ve come down to ten bucks or less at your favorite mass merchandiser and they are super accurate. I’m wearing a nifty $8.95 model right now that is pretty close to good old Western Union, minus the whirring and clicking.

If you want to spend a few more ‘green stamps’ you can get an ‘atomic watch,’ which is linked up by a simple radio receiver to WWV, the National Bureau of Standards station, which is synched to a real atomic clock which runs on the decay interval of Cesium 137, which is, exactly one second. So who, you might ask, certifies that Cesium 137 is accurate? Good question.

Actually, wrist watches aren’t all that popular any more, except as sort of a fashion accessory. 100 years after they came into widespread use during World War 1 they’ve been nearly replaced by the ubiquitous cellphone, which has its own clock. I still like them, though. Maybe I can’t order a pizza on ‘em, but they somehow look ‘right’. Plus they fit my wrist a lot better than a smartphone.

Okay, on we go to your correspondence…(Reply to our questions by e-mailing me at john.oconnor@eagleradio.net)

Man, I opened a can of worms with that ‘first Pizza Hut in GB question.’ We have several competing locations, but going on my wife’s family’s memories and several more ‘votes’ (see below) I’m believing it was indeed just west of the 10th and Washington intersection (north side) in the building once occupied by Brack and Henning Floor Covering. This would have been 1959 or 1960.

The 2007 Washington location was next and the third one (which I remember well) was at 10th and Jackson. Let us tally your votes…

Dennis said it was definitely the 10th and Wash location. ‘R’ agreed and said the place opened at 4 and closed at 10 each day.

Terry said it was on North Washington and Edith Ann agreed and even sent a partial ad from a 1963 city directory placing it at 2007 Washington. Good research!

Kathy placed it at 10th and Jackson, which would have been the third location.

Thanks to you all for digging into this. If you have more evidence supporting your view that the ‘first’ was NOT 10th and Washington, tell us.

In other biz, congrats to Julie. Yeah, the actor who uses his Mom’s maiden name is Kevin Spacey on House of Cards.

Kimberly was working overtime; she got Hall and Oates as the pop-soul duo who put Philly back on the musical map and also correctly guessed Kevin Spacey, just a little later than Julie. She also guessed MacGyver as the re-incarnated ‘80s series on Netflix. Good guess, but the new MacGyver is on CBS, not Netflix.

So, that leaves that question still active and also the one about the astronaut who landed on a farm and scared the locals until they realized who he was.

Here’s a couple more: what foreign car make did Spruill Motors carry in the ‘70s?

What cop show theme was in the top five of the pop music charts in ’69?

What sweet treat was added to soldier’s food rations in WW2 because of its ability to withstand anything nature threw at it?

As I’m wrapping this up for today the rain is pouring down, about an inch-worth so far in my gauge. We needed it, but it could take a break for a couple days. Kinda spread the wealth around a little.

Have a great week. Drop in here any old time. Remember: make sure you reply to my e-mail address john.oconnor@eagleradio.net

John