In 1969 a local news station in New York aired this public service announcement. It was a full admission that many children were feral and that the people who knew better knew you should have them inside, under control.

It was New York, so they might have a point. A child or minor out after 10pm was likely up to no good or was at risk. The city was much riskier then than now. So asking parents to verify the location of their children wasn’t a big deal.

Unfortunately, this spread around the country; by the mid-70s hundreds, if not thousands, of TV stations were saying the same thing every night.

The facts of the time were that children knew darn well that being in the house was bad juju.

The worst words a child could utter in most households were “I’m bored.” This was an invitation for Mom to find chores for the child to do. Many chores. There were as many chores as there were “I’m bored” utterances.

You were supposed to be outside. The exceptions were when it was too cold or it was too rainy. Other than that, a child should be outside playing, with interruptions for daily chores.

The rule of thumb for those in suburbia was, “You should be home when the streetlights come on.”

I know I lived that way.

Stranger Danger

In general, people believed they lived in safe places. Those neighborhoods might not be safe for others, but they were safe for you and your kids. Every mom was a part of the neighborhood mom group.

If Billy needed discipline, any of the neighborhood moms would dish it out; if it required physical discipline, then that neighborhood mom would deliver Billy to his mother for instant discipline.

The children were safe.

We talk about this within the Ren Fairie circuit. Children of performers, vendors, and staff are always under the watchful eye of fairie moms and dads. Young girls always have a chaperone.

More than one girl, turning 18, has wondered where all the protection went, only to find out that they were only a loud voice away.

This was the way back then.

In 1979, Etan Patz was taken while waiting for a school bus in New York. He was nearly seven years old. His parents had agreed to let him walk to the school bus stop two blocks away on his own. He never made it to school. He never made it home. He was never seen again.

The search was massive. There was no luck in finding him. Etan became the first milk-carton kid. The case expanded to cover more than just the local area.

The police were convinced that a stranger had taken Etan. Parents’s fears skyrocketed. Leading directly to “Stranger Danger”.

“Stranger Danger” became the watchword. It was drummed into kids at schools, at Boy and Girl Scouts, on TV. The FBI and McGruff the Crime Dog all pushing it.

It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that it started to fade. Research indicated that most child abductions were by family members, not strangers.

The harm had been done, though. Mothers were much less likely to let their children do anything outside alone. Instead, they kept them inside next to the family or acquaintance that was much more likely to kidnap their kid.

The Electronic Babysitter

The first of the electronic babysitters was the radio. A child could listen to the radio for hours, music, and audio plays to keep the mind alive.

Many a child learned to tell time so they could be in front of the radio when the latest episode of their favorite show was aired.

TV followed. Most parents limited the amount of TV time a child got. Most children of my age had limited TV time, my family rule was 1 hour per night and Saturday morning cartoons.

This made TV Guide the most important periodical in the house. You had to know what was showing to plan correctly.

It having been more than a few years, it could have been a certain number of hours per week. With my brother and I each getting the same amount.

Visiting my grandparents was strange. Grandpa would get up and turn on the TV. The TV stayed on all day long, even if nobody was in the living room watching. It was constant noise in the background.

As a kid, it was wonderful to have unlimited TV time.

Unfortunately, for busy mothers, the TV became the babysitter. You could put a kid in front of the “boob tube” and they would be entertained for hours.

The first video games did not have the same level of lock in that today’s games do. Regardless, there were thousands and thousands of kids that got video games, which turned them into even more of a TV junkie.

We had successfully traded free-range children to couch potatoes consuming CRT rays almost constantly.

Free Range Children

What did they call organic food in the 50s and 60s?

Food.

Children were expected to be outside. To be playing. To be making games and skinning knees.

Parents might set physical boundaries, but most boundaries were set by how far you could get on foot or a bike.

Learning to ride a bike was a giant step towards freedom. To go from a mile or so radius from home to 10+ miles was freedom unlimited.

I don’t believe my children went to the movies on their own until they had cars of their own. They never had the thrill of chaining their bikes to the nearly full bike rack that every theater and mall had and choosing their movie.

There were two theaters within bike distance when I was in 8th grade. One was only 2 miles away; the other was almost 7 miles away. It was worth it on a hot summer’s day to pedal to the big theater and then enjoy popcorn, AC, and a newly released movie.

There were baseball games in the cul-de-sacs and football games in the fields. Kids exploring the deep dark woods or going fishing. Building forts, treehouses, and playing hide and seek with friends.

Squirt gun battles and digging holes. Taking the canoe out, paddling upriver for an hour to work on your own VC tunnel system in the side of the bank. Taking a bag with some food and soda and a paperback book. Just living outside.

Those were the feral children of yesteryear. Those were the free range children of 40 years ago.

Today they are all but gone. The fears of the 70s and 80s. The electronic babysitters. The mothers that need their kids to be “engaged” constantly.

What have we taken from our children and grandchildren?

Postscript

When I was searching for the feature image for today’s post, I put in the search “bicycle boy” There was only one picture in the first 100 that didn’t have a helmet on. Most of the images were organized groups, or there was a parent involved.

I started writing for this blog about a year before I switched to thinking of myself as conservative. Or rather, for Miguel’s blog. I stuck to things I knew well, like prepping and cooking. I rarely touched on political things, because I knew people wouldn’t agree, so what was the point? And then Chris asked me to write “From Behind Enemy Lines.”

At first, I found it offensive. I didn’t think HE meant it to be offensive, but it bothered me. A lot. I was standing “over there” and “over there” was “behind enemy lines” and therefore in his mind I must be “enemy.” That’s the logic that I followed. Since I have known Chris for over 25 years at this point, I know he doesn’t think of me as an enemy (and didn’t when I was on the Left, either), so I knew I must have misunderstood something. Still, it was a burr under my saddle, and it irritated me. I really didn’t want to be writing stuff that I knew no one was going to like.

I used the pseudonym “Hagar” because I was absolutely terrified to out myself in public. No matter how you play the game, this blog is public. I didn’t want anyone on the Left to think I was conservative, and I didn’t really want to be dragged through the mud every time I posted. So “I” didn’t post, Hagar did. As with reenacting, putting on a new face allowed me to write and communicate more effectively. Hagar might get blasted, but Ally was safely tucked away where no one knew her or how to get to her.

Over time, I came to understand that none of you were attacking ME. Some of you might have attacked my positions over the years, but no one attacked ME. And so when we made the big switch to this blog, I used my real name. I opened the door a crack.

As I wrote things for this blog, I had to do research. That’s just the type of person I am. Even though I could just have told everyone “what they were thinking over on the Left,” I didn’t consider that enough. I’ve always been one to be thorough in my writing. So I went down the rabbit hole. I started finding out just how much of what I was told on a daily basis was lies. I had to go look stuff up on a constant basis, because I wanted to prove my stance. I’d get to the research, to the raw numbers, and realize I was wrong. I’ve tried very hard to be open and honest when I’ve been wrong, both on the blog and in my real life.

Read More

For a long time I was a Grizzly fan. If there was a tool that I was buying new, it was likely to be from Grizzly. The thing I quickly learned was that there was a price point for quality. If the price was above around $100, then the product would be good out of the package. For less than $100, expect to interact with their excellent customer service.

I stumbled on Vevor as a low cost brand and gave them a try with a rotary table.

The table was precisely what I expected. I had to deburr parts of the inside, clean some metal out of the oil bath, but since then, perfection.

It was so good that I built mounts for a dividing plates and used it for cutting gears, worth every penny.

Then I purchased a hydraulic lift table. This goes from about 10 inches to 10 inches with a foot pedal. It locks in place at around 36 inches, a good working height. The wheels are heavy duty. I purchased the 500-pound version, but they have a 1000-pound version as well.

The lift table allows me to slide heavy things off workbenches to move into storage and back again.

Again, a great purchase for a reasonable price.

The trolley system is using a Vevor trolley and a Vevor chain hoist. Again good quality, good gravity.

Finally, for the railing I’m putting in, I picked up a manual pipe threading kit from Vevor. The build quality is wonderful; everything fits well. Tomorrow, after the beam is up, I’m going to be building a railing from 3/4 inch black pipe.

The threading kit was around $30, it comes with a 1/2 in, 3/4 in and 1 in die. All I’ll need in the next 10 years.

I can recommend them. They are all over Amazon.

According to Ally this is the ONLY version worth listening to.

And this shows a different take.

A grinder and paint make me the welder I ain’t.

Well, I did a couple of things differently. I used the good welding helmet. I used my shop safety glasses. I got the angle more vertical.

I have two and a half welding helmets. Two auto-darkening, one by Jackson with a 3 or 4 inch tall window, the other by somebody with a 1 inch window. The cheap 1 inch window is on the welding cart. The good 4 inch window is hanging up safely.

Which did I find easier to get to when starting this? Yes, the one on the cart.

Today I fought my way through the garbage, four lathes, two milling machines, two bandsaws, a table saw, a jointer, a planer, a shaper and more to the Kennedy to get my shop glasses.

With that and the good helmet, a remarkable thing happened: I could see the puddle. Not only could I see the puddle, I could see the intersection of the two pieces of metal. I got welds that looked like a trained monkey made them instead of an untrained monkey.

All seven hangers have been attached to the beam. All hangers have been hit hard with a hammer. All rang beautifully and stayed attached.

The rattle can yellow failed, something about being good to 50° and I was spraying at 10°.

Tomorrow, the beam gets mounted, and I’m done with this part of the project. I can then move forward with window installation and completing the insulation of the lower part of the hut.

Oh, I have decided to install a handrail on the steps. 3/4 inch nominal black pipe.

I do not look this cool or this hot. More than a few years ago, I gave up on stick welding. I got tired of cussing all the time. I wish I had spent more time learning how to do it well, but I never did. I “upgraded” from a Lincoln Electric “Tombstone” to a Lincoln Electric 140HD. Got a cart and a tank of gas and went to it.

I suck at this. Today I got three of the 8 hangers welded on. That includes the breaker popping twice, because of the extension cord. I’ll get rid of the extension cord today and finish this up.

You might have heard the term “stacking dimes.” There is nothing that pretty happening here. The only thing I can say with confidence is that the hangers ring when struck with a hammer, and they show no signs of cracking off. I’m now to the point where I can get nearly consistent bacon sizzle.

I’m also going to use a different pair of glasses tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that I’m blind through the visor, and not from arc flash. Just the distance isn’t right for my normal progressives. If I tilt my head to focus, the visor window no longer has the arc in view.

Wish me luck. If this gets done, a rattle can worth of yellow paint goes on this monstrosity, and then up into the loft with it.

I am a failure at welding; the fact that it works at all is a happy accident from reasonable equipment.

Update

“How bad?” you might ask. I just picked up the magnetic right angle to weld the other side of the hanger and the hanger came with it. This is why each hanger is individually tested. Yeah, I ran a very pretty bead about 1/16 in above the root.

I write my articles the night before they post. They are supposed to post at 0630 Eastern time. I got started late on Saturday night. When I went to schedule the article, I set the wrong date. What you read on Monday was supposed to post on Sunday.

My error.

This does mean I get to work more on my feral children article.

Yesterday was supposed to be a simple task: wield the eight hangers I made yesterday. They are simple hangers, 6×2 by 1/8, angled at the top with 2 3/8 inch holes to mount to the rafters.

The task for yesterday: dig the I-Beam out of the snow, put it on sawhorses, do a quick prep on the top surface, and then wield the eight hangers at 16 inches on center.

At the start of the day, it was 1° outside and in the machine shop. It got up to almost 20°. My office started at a toasty 50° and was up to nearly 60° by 1000.

Today it will be in the upper 20s, with snow. I’m going to try and make room for the beam in the shop and get this wielded up. If I can get this done, then I’m 90% of the way to completing the hut for the winter.

The following tasks are to install the window with my son’s help, get the rest of the hut insulated. Thats only a few wall bays and the ceiling.

The big issue is that I need to fix the wick on the KW-24 heater.

Wish me luck and I hope you are having a comfortable day.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the snowblower died. I need to replace the carb. This happened just before the skys dumped 8-12 inches of the white evil on us.

This week, Trump signed an EO removing the CAFE standards from vehicles. These are the standards that were requiring smaller cars with smaller engines in an attempt to get more than 50 MPG across the entire fleet of vehicles offered.

My first experience with this was when the TransAm I ordered while at University was delayed because I couldn’t have the fancy seats and the lower range gearing package because the gas mileage would be too low with the heavier seats.

Are there any vehicles that you would like to see imported or made in the USA that were prohibited under the former CAFE standards?