He taught me trouble shooting, reading schematics, and I was the only kid in school who built his own transistor radios LOL. The put the two stories of mechanical switching into a computer that would fit in the average living room.
Dad passed a couple years ago but I remember a lot of what he taught me. Even up till he retired I'd go out on call outs at night if it was a bad part of town. He stayed craft level his entire time because that's where the money was. He made more than his boss and likely the second step boss just by taking call outs.
I can drive down the road now and I see things that 25 years ago would have not been allowed. Cable Pedestals wide open laying over, wires exposed, aerial cables laying on the ground, etc. That was what full crews took care of.
If the split had not happened most places would now likely have fiber optic service at least up to the SLICK. It was the Big Bell that also brought us ESS. My local C.O. was among the first to go ESS in the nation. But then again old Bell had issues.
We had the old paper wrap rural aerial wire but a ESS central office. Every time it rained the lines sounded like Rice Crispies and a bad amplifier.
One night I was flying home from the ship and sometimes I flew in via Norfolk to Atlanta then Knoxville. A plane crashed in Atlanta and the phone started ringing non stop. I mean it ringed even with the handset off the cradle. Dad had enough. He pulled it off the wall, took it outside and took a sledge hammer to it and put the pieces in a box. Next evening he put in on his bosses desk. That didn't get anything done so he went to the state PSC and filed a complaint against the company. It was a risky thing to do back then for him although he had more than enough years for retirement. That finally got a cable buried from the central office to our area about 8 miles away. IIRC the spilt had been ordered but had not occurred yet.
Fascinating history, CVA66Snipe! Good that you’re writing these stories. They’re historical, they’re interesting for the technically inclined and although a different topic, they are folksy enough to remind me of the stories of the British Veterinarian James Herriot.