Herman by Jim Unger for May 27, 2015

I think you’d have to use the remote for the digital decoder box.

Hey Grandpa what’s on…er…in TV?

That thing probably weighs 400 pounds

Do kids use the term “set”?

Something called a “knob”. And no, that is not just a name for the next door neighbor.

That old set, back in the day, probably cost 500 dollars, or twelve weeks of groceries. Now you get a flat screen color one with stereo and remote control for 300, or less than two weeks of groceries.

I remember our first TV. Must have weighed 150 lbs. It had a 8 inch circular “green screen.” It had a 16 inch speaker in the base.

We had three channels. But you could watch 30 minutes of TV with 3 minutes of commercials.

Then the cable TV lobby came along and said that since you were paying them they would provide the programs commercial-free. We now have better quantity of TV but not nearly as much quality. Mostly it’s high-definition crap.

You grab the pliers and turn.

Don’t forget the tubes. No transistors back then. And HiFi. The mono sound with high fidelity.My dad had every Firestone Tire Christmas album known to mankind. Its who he worked for as a tire repairman and a salesman.My dad purchased the ultimate home entertainment center one year…..a TV with record player and AM/FM tuner in ONE SET!!!! For an extra hundred he could have gotten color but since only one or two stations broadcasted in color he passed.

Set my channels free!