Dick Tracy

Growing up in Wright City included an enviable environment, but electronic communication devices were not part of the equation.

Yeah, a few neighbors had telephones on the "party line" system, but our house was not one of them? Dad just never had much use for anything that added to the monthly bills without contributing to the monthly income or feeding his family.

The most advanced idea of future technology came in the form the newspaper's Dick Tracy comic strip. Detective Tracy always used a wrist radio to transmit his voice and image to recipients as part of his crime fighting repertoire.

The ranch hand can remember his first time to talk on a phone. It was in a red wooden pay phone booth in Henderson and it cost a dime to operate. Don't remember the recipient of the call or the subject matter, but do remember being slightly petrified at the prospect of talking through them "wires"?

Trying to get a bit ed-u-ma-cated over the years resulted in three college "degrees" on the ranch office wall. Didn't have, nor anticipate, a contraption called the "internet" would ever come into being to ease things during those days??

Bottom line, the ole fat boy has largely been in the dark for most of his life as to the intricacies of modern magic.

Today the ranch office acquired SKYPE.

That's right sports fans: audio, video, whatever; in order to visit worldwide with friends and relatives while watching a real time video of each other.

Don't know about Dick Tracy, but not sure Dad would ever believe this?