This is not based on a real incident, and the person to whom I’m talking is not based on any bosses, past or present. But when everyone was working from home during the lockdown, I did occasionally questions from other people like, “What is all of that crazy stuff behind you?” Ironically, lots of people ignored the radio equipment but were most interested instead in a typewriter and a land-line phone that I had in my home office.
This was actually a reprint from a cartoon that originally ran in Popular Communications magazine in 2013. I hate using a rerun — especially since I’m only committed to do one cartoon per month — but was pressed for time and we decided that most of the CQ audience hadn’t seen it in Pop’Comm anyway.
And yeah, this is another cartoon based on real life experience. “Don’t throw that away, I can fix it!”
My wife is a proud member of Kappa Delta sorority. You’ll notice she’s holding a KD mug.
Every town used to have at least one store geared to whatever your favorite hobby is — electronics, model building, quilting — but Amazon and other online retailers have killed most of them. Several longtime staples in the electronics hobby closed their doors in recent years. I think the closing of Universal Radio in Worthington, Ohio, triggered this cartoon.
This is one of those cartoons that depends on being part of the “in” crowd and knowing a bunch of ham radio terminology, such as “software-defined radio” (basically a “virtual” radio that runs on a laptop or desktop) and knowing about Gordon West (“Gordo” is a colorful longtime ham radio writer and educator who is a very popular speaker on the hobby circuit, no pun intended) and Diamond Antennas.
These “CQ Predicts” cartoons (which is an occasional series) also depend on remembering The Amazing Criswell, the phony psychic who regularly appeared on talk shows through the 1970s.
One of those cartoons where it helps to know some ham radio terminology. “LID” is an old-time term for a stupid or dumb radio operator.
I think I was inspired to write this one when the kid cutting our grass got tangled up with an antenna ground wire.
CQ Amateur Radio Magazine, Dec. 2020