NEW RADIO

Hard to find a clock-radio anymore. Our old one started getting staticky (I listen to the local oldie radio station when I'm at my computer) and we decided it was time for a new one.

We looked at Walmart last time we needed one and found little choice there. That's how we ended up with the staticky one. So this time, we went to Best Buy.

They did have three or four brands, thank goodness. We asked the salesman which he suggested. He pointed one out. A Sony. When I saw another just like it but a little more expensive, I asked, "What's the difference?"

"This one projects the time on the ceiling or wall," he told me.

"We don't need that," my guy said.

"On the ceiling?" I asked, entranced.

So we bought it. And I love it. No more does my guy have to sit halfway up in bed and lean over me to look at the clock. We can wake up, glance up at the ceiling and Voila!

And the sound is pretty good, too.

So if you're old-fashioned enough to want a clock-radio, I recommend this one!

RADIO STATION BLUES

When we first came down here in 2004, I discovered an oldies radio station that I loved. WWEZ, "The Island's Easy" radio station.

They played old music. Really old music. Not just sixties and later. No, they played music popular in the forties through the eighties. (And later, the nineties.) Occasionally, they threw in some classical and jazz and Broadway, but mostly it was old favorites. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Crying in the Chapel, To Know Him is to Love Him, Rum and Coca Cola, Chariots of Fire, Tennessee Waltz, Old Cape Cod...

They also had the usual filler stuff:  a few minutes of national news, the local weather, local shows like The Sports Chicks, and pet adoption shows like Christie's Critters. They also aired things of interest to the AARP generation regarding finances, technology, et cetera. But their main draw was the music.

Alas, they are kaput.

They began in 2002, and chose to remain a non-profit operation, relying on public contributions. That meant no advertising. Although local businesses could give a certain amount of money and receive in return an acknowledgement on the air, that wasn't enough to keep the station afloat. Due to financial problems, they went off the air. Yesterday was their last day.

This was where they used to broadcast from but now it looks abandoned and forlorn.

Goodbye, old friend! You had a good run and gave me many hours of enjoyment.

I am so sad. It's like finding a bra that fits but when you go back to buy another one, they don't make it any more. I want to cry!