it?”
“Alcover’s Electronics,” was the muffled answer.
“I thought you died or your place burned down,” Sol said, throwing the door open. “It’s only been two weeks since you said you would do a rush job on this set—which I paid for in advance.”
“That’s the way the electron hops,” the tall repairman said calmly, swinging his valise-sized toolbox onto the table. “You got a gassy tube, some tired components in that old set. So what can I do? They don’t make that tube any more, and if they did I couldn’t buy it, it would be on priority.” His hands were busy while he talked, hauling the TV down to the table and starting to unscrew the back. “So how do I fix the set? I have to go down to the radio breakers on Greenwich Street and spend a couple of hours shopping around. I can’t get the tube, so I get a couple of transistors and breadboard up a circuit that will do the same job. It’s not easy, I tell you.”
“My heart bleeds for you,” Sol said, watching suspiciously as the repairman took the back off the set and extracted a tube.
“Gassy,” the man said, looking sternly at the radio tube before he threw it into his toolbox. From the top tray he took a rectangle of thin plastic on which a number of small parts had been attached, and began to wire it into the TV circuit. “Everything’s makeshift,” he said. “I have to cannibalize old sets to keep older ones working. I even have to melt and draw my own solder. It’s a good thing that there must have been a couple of billion sets in this country, and a lot of the latest ones have solid state circuits.” He turned on the TV and music blared across the room. “That will be four D’s for labor.”
“Crook!” Sol said. “I already gave you thirty-five D’s….”
“That was for the parts, labor is extra. If you want the little luxuries of life you have to be prepared to pay for them.”
“The repairs I need,” Sol said, handing over the money. “The philosophy I do not. You’re a thief.”
“I prefer to think of myself as an electronic grave robber,” the man said, pocketing the bills. “If you want to see the thieves you should see what I pay to the radio breakers.” He shouldered his toolbox and left.
It was almost eight o’clock. Only a few minutes after the repairman had finished his job a key turned in the lock and Andy came in, tired and hot.
“Your chunk is really dragging,” Sol said.
“So would yours if you had a day like mine. Can’t you turn on a light, it’s black as soot in here.” He slumped to the chair by the window and dropped into it.
Sol switched on the small yellow bulb that hung in the middle of the room, then went to the refrigerator. “No Gibsons tonight, I’m rationing the vermouth until I can make some more. I got the coriander and orris root and the rest, but I have to dry some sage first, it’s no good without that.” He took out a frosted pitcher and closed the door. “But I put some water in to cool and cut it with some alky which will numb the tongue so you can’t taste the water, and will also help the nerves.”
“Lead me to it!” Andy sipped the drink and managed to produce a reluctant smile. “Sorry to take it out on you but I had one hell of a day and there’s more to come.” He sniffed the air. “What’s that cooking on the stove?”
“An experiment in home economics—and it was free for the taking on the Welfare cards. You may not have noticed but ourfood budget is shot to pieces since the last price increase.” He opened a canister and showed Andy the granular brown substance inside. “It is a new miracle ingredient supplied by our benevolent government and called ener-G—and how’s
that
for a loathsomely cute name? It contains vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates….”
“Everything except flavor?”
“That’s about the size of it. I put it in with the oatmeal. I doubt if it can do any harm because at this moment I am beginning to hate
“Alcover’s Electronics,” was the muffled answer.
“I thought you died or your place burned down,” Sol said, throwing the door open. “It’s only been two weeks since you said you would do a rush job on this set—which I paid for in advance.”
“That’s the way the electron hops,” the tall repairman said calmly, swinging his valise-sized toolbox onto the table. “You got a gassy tube, some tired components in that old set. So what can I do? They don’t make that tube any more, and if they did I couldn’t buy it, it would be on priority.” His hands were busy while he talked, hauling the TV down to the table and starting to unscrew the back. “So how do I fix the set? I have to go down to the radio breakers on Greenwich Street and spend a couple of hours shopping around. I can’t get the tube, so I get a couple of transistors and breadboard up a circuit that will do the same job. It’s not easy, I tell you.”
“My heart bleeds for you,” Sol said, watching suspiciously as the repairman took the back off the set and extracted a tube.
“Gassy,” the man said, looking sternly at the radio tube before he threw it into his toolbox. From the top tray he took a rectangle of thin plastic on which a number of small parts had been attached, and began to wire it into the TV circuit. “Everything’s makeshift,” he said. “I have to cannibalize old sets to keep older ones working. I even have to melt and draw my own solder. It’s a good thing that there must have been a couple of billion sets in this country, and a lot of the latest ones have solid state circuits.” He turned on the TV and music blared across the room. “That will be four D’s for labor.”
“Crook!” Sol said. “I already gave you thirty-five D’s….”
“That was for the parts, labor is extra. If you want the little luxuries of life you have to be prepared to pay for them.”
“The repairs I need,” Sol said, handing over the money. “The philosophy I do not. You’re a thief.”
“I prefer to think of myself as an electronic grave robber,” the man said, pocketing the bills. “If you want to see the thieves you should see what I pay to the radio breakers.” He shouldered his toolbox and left.
It was almost eight o’clock. Only a few minutes after the repairman had finished his job a key turned in the lock and Andy came in, tired and hot.
“Your chunk is really dragging,” Sol said.
“So would yours if you had a day like mine. Can’t you turn on a light, it’s black as soot in here.” He slumped to the chair by the window and dropped into it.
Sol switched on the small yellow bulb that hung in the middle of the room, then went to the refrigerator. “No Gibsons tonight, I’m rationing the vermouth until I can make some more. I got the coriander and orris root and the rest, but I have to dry some sage first, it’s no good without that.” He took out a frosted pitcher and closed the door. “But I put some water in to cool and cut it with some alky which will numb the tongue so you can’t taste the water, and will also help the nerves.”
“Lead me to it!” Andy sipped the drink and managed to produce a reluctant smile. “Sorry to take it out on you but I had one hell of a day and there’s more to come.” He sniffed the air. “What’s that cooking on the stove?”
“An experiment in home economics—and it was free for the taking on the Welfare cards. You may not have noticed but ourfood budget is shot to pieces since the last price increase.” He opened a canister and showed Andy the granular brown substance inside. “It is a new miracle ingredient supplied by our benevolent government and called ener-G—and how’s
that
for a loathsomely cute name? It contains vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates….”
“Everything except flavor?”
“That’s about the size of it. I put it in with the oatmeal. I doubt if it can do any harm because at this moment I am beginning to hate
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