[Joshua] Broadcasting from the ridge, WBLR returns to the air
Who: JoshuaWhere: Batesburg, SCWhen: June 13, late morningInvited: Anyone in the area, not that I'm expecting anyone just yet.Status: Complete
The drive south was uneventful, though at 25 mph it was also boring. He turned the radio on so he could listen as he drove. That produced an unexpected sound from behind his seat, making it all the better that he had been going only 25. It was Thing 2, who had decided that the cab of the propane tanker was the perfect place to hide from her sister Thing 1. Two more stations had disappeared since yesterday, probably victims of power or equipment failure, since they were all automated. About a third of the one's still running were carrying calming official propaganda, a second third had religious propaganda, and the final third had people's personal playlists running on a loop, seldom with the format that the station had used before the Deluge. Though he didn't listen to it, his personal favorite for sheer joyous chutzpah in the face of calamity was the NPR station in Charlotte that now billed itself as WANK, your death metal station for the Apocalypse!
Passing by the high school stadium on the outskirts of town, Joshua noted that electricity was still on in Batesburg. That changed his mind about mining the self-storage facility. The last thing he wanted was to listen to today was a symphony of burglar alarms. Disabling one or two wasn't a hassle, but multiple alarms were.
There was a radio station next to the propane depot. He might as well see if he could get somebody to pay attention. He'd tried with the station in Saluda before the power went out there, but it hadn't done anything, but with fewer of the automated stations still on the air, perhaps this one might attract attention, particularly if he made it clear that it wasn't running a loop recorded a month ago.
Joshua made his way into the station, holding Thing 2 in his arms. He didn't know how long he'd be inside, so he couldn't leave her in the cab. The equipment was a bit older than the previous station he tried this at, a mix of old analog and modern digital that had been put in as the frugal owners had replaced equipment only as it wore out. In particular the equipment that allowed the station to broadcast locally generated signals instead of a syndicated feed was all the old stuff, and was without any helpful user interface to guide him.
The control room was ice cold, as it been left with the AC running on max to cool the equipment that had been turned off, when the dead announcer had been given a burial after dying on air. Of all the ironies, it had been a heart attack, not the plague that had gotten him.
It took him about a half-hour for Joshua to figure out what to do, but even then he didn't quite get it right, so that prepended to what he had intended to record, was a good bit of his speaking to himself as he was preparing to record.
This looks like something out of an old movie, Thing 2. Or WKPR. [laugh] Too bad there isn't a Pinedale Shopping Mall in Batesburg, I could use the turkeys. Let's see what this switch does. [massive feedback] [audible intake of breath] OK, leave the fucking feedback switch in the off position! [more sounds of things being toggled] OK, I think I'm ready to record, what should I say? [musing sound] The five W's are as good as anything. Keep it simple, stupid. Who? Me, What? A message. Why? Because I want to talk to someone who can talk back so I don't go crazy. Where? Here. When? Today. [musing sound] Well, let's see if I can make it sound good and only half as lonely as I am.
This is WBLR, Batesburg-Leesville, signing back on the air for as long as the power keeps going. I'm your host, Joshua Harmon, coming to you this 13th day of June, hoping that someone will listen to this and contact me. The phone service is out at the place I'm staying at, but the dial tone still works here, though I have no idea if it connects anyplace else. Still, I'll leave the answering machine connected though it may be a day or two before I get back here to answer it. The phone number is 803-555-WBLR, again that's 803-555-WBLR. No 1-800-number, so you'll need to pay long distance charges, if applicable.
I have enough of everything to survive and to share, but it has been three weeks now since I last had someone to speak with besides the animals I've managed to save. [meow] [laugh] Great timing, Thing 2; great timing. It's almost as if you knew I was talking about you. [meow] That was one of the two cats I have folks, and her twin sister is called Thing 1 of course, but she was sensible enough to not hide in the truck cab this nice morning, so she's nice and warm instead of being stuck in a cold sound booth.
Anyway, I'm leaving a map in the station that'll guide you to my place once you get here. The radio station is right on 23 in town, so you can't miss it. My place is out beyond the traffic circle on what used to be lake front property, but I can't hope to give you good vocal directions, since you don't know which house was Kevin Rikard's, even if I were to tell you to turn there.
Joshua got everything ready to loop and then went out to the truck and listened long enough to WBLR to know it was playing his recording now, but not long enough to know the mistakes he'd made at the beginning were also being broadcast. He intended to fill up with propane now, then collect Thing 2 from the office he'd left her in, checking the answering machine on the off hope that someone called.
The drive south was uneventful, though at 25 mph it was also boring. He turned the radio on so he could listen as he drove. That produced an unexpected sound from behind his seat, making it all the better that he had been going only 25. It was Thing 2, who had decided that the cab of the propane tanker was the perfect place to hide from her sister Thing 1. Two more stations had disappeared since yesterday, probably victims of power or equipment failure, since they were all automated. About a third of the one's still running were carrying calming official propaganda, a second third had religious propaganda, and the final third had people's personal playlists running on a loop, seldom with the format that the station had used before the Deluge. Though he didn't listen to it, his personal favorite for sheer joyous chutzpah in the face of calamity was the NPR station in Charlotte that now billed itself as WANK, your death metal station for the Apocalypse!
Passing by the high school stadium on the outskirts of town, Joshua noted that electricity was still on in Batesburg. That changed his mind about mining the self-storage facility. The last thing he wanted was to listen to today was a symphony of burglar alarms. Disabling one or two wasn't a hassle, but multiple alarms were.
There was a radio station next to the propane depot. He might as well see if he could get somebody to pay attention. He'd tried with the station in Saluda before the power went out there, but it hadn't done anything, but with fewer of the automated stations still on the air, perhaps this one might attract attention, particularly if he made it clear that it wasn't running a loop recorded a month ago.
Joshua made his way into the station, holding Thing 2 in his arms. He didn't know how long he'd be inside, so he couldn't leave her in the cab. The equipment was a bit older than the previous station he tried this at, a mix of old analog and modern digital that had been put in as the frugal owners had replaced equipment only as it wore out. In particular the equipment that allowed the station to broadcast locally generated signals instead of a syndicated feed was all the old stuff, and was without any helpful user interface to guide him.
The control room was ice cold, as it been left with the AC running on max to cool the equipment that had been turned off, when the dead announcer had been given a burial after dying on air. Of all the ironies, it had been a heart attack, not the plague that had gotten him.
It took him about a half-hour for Joshua to figure out what to do, but even then he didn't quite get it right, so that prepended to what he had intended to record, was a good bit of his speaking to himself as he was preparing to record.
This looks like something out of an old movie, Thing 2. Or WKPR. [laugh] Too bad there isn't a Pinedale Shopping Mall in Batesburg, I could use the turkeys. Let's see what this switch does. [massive feedback] [audible intake of breath] OK, leave the fucking feedback switch in the off position! [more sounds of things being toggled] OK, I think I'm ready to record, what should I say? [musing sound] The five W's are as good as anything. Keep it simple, stupid. Who? Me, What? A message. Why? Because I want to talk to someone who can talk back so I don't go crazy. Where? Here. When? Today. [musing sound] Well, let's see if I can make it sound good and only half as lonely as I am.
This is WBLR, Batesburg-Leesville, signing back on the air for as long as the power keeps going. I'm your host, Joshua Harmon, coming to you this 13th day of June, hoping that someone will listen to this and contact me. The phone service is out at the place I'm staying at, but the dial tone still works here, though I have no idea if it connects anyplace else. Still, I'll leave the answering machine connected though it may be a day or two before I get back here to answer it. The phone number is 803-555-WBLR, again that's 803-555-WBLR. No 1-800-number, so you'll need to pay long distance charges, if applicable.
I have enough of everything to survive and to share, but it has been three weeks now since I last had someone to speak with besides the animals I've managed to save. [meow] [laugh] Great timing, Thing 2; great timing. It's almost as if you knew I was talking about you. [meow] That was one of the two cats I have folks, and her twin sister is called Thing 1 of course, but she was sensible enough to not hide in the truck cab this nice morning, so she's nice and warm instead of being stuck in a cold sound booth.
Anyway, I'm leaving a map in the station that'll guide you to my place once you get here. The radio station is right on 23 in town, so you can't miss it. My place is out beyond the traffic circle on what used to be lake front property, but I can't hope to give you good vocal directions, since you don't know which house was Kevin Rikard's, even if I were to tell you to turn there.
Joshua got everything ready to loop and then went out to the truck and listened long enough to WBLR to know it was playing his recording now, but not long enough to know the mistakes he'd made at the beginning were also being broadcast. He intended to fill up with propane now, then collect Thing 2 from the office he'd left her in, checking the answering machine on the off hope that someone called.