Well, I'm having more problems with the radio in my store again. The latest instance started last Friday. While I was listening to my favorite radio station on the way to work, I noticed that there was quite a bit of static. Now, while other stations had been known for getting interference, this station usually was pretty clear for this stretch of road. I made a note to make sure I knew what song was playing when I got in to check that the radio was playing the same one. The store radio was not playing the same song. In fact, it wasn't playing any song at all. There was just static. I fiddled with the dial some, but it was to no good. I was getting the public radio station two clicks down, or some Christian station two clicks up or so. I didn't know of any Christian stations anywhere near mine Top 40 station on the dial. I tried every trick I had developed over the years in trying to get a clearer signal. None of them worked either. For almost all of the day, all I had on the radio was a dull static in the background. I needed some sort of background noise to help me concentrate. Fortunately, I kept the volume down so as not to interfere with any customers, although I don't think we had anyone actually come in that day. From what I could gather, the Christian station may have just started up that day, the first of the month, because I couldn't figure anything else out. I waited until the following day, Saturday, to try a few more radical ideas in case the radio was still acting up. I moved the radio around a bit without unplugging it. Didn't clear up the static. I moved the radio to the only easily reached outlet that wouldn't block anyone coming into the store. After some fiddling with the dial, I thought I was getting the UK pre-game show, but only after turning off some off some of the lights. The lights create a tiny bit of interference, so turning them off clears the signal ever so slightly. Well, I don't like to listen to sports on the radio, so I just turned the radio off for the rest of the day. I brought a CD to listen to that afternoon, but the rest of the day was silent. When I left for the day, I checked the car radio to find out the results of the game. My favorite station wasn't playing the post-game show, which I found to be odd. I checked a different station, and that one was playing the post-game show. Oh-oh. I tuned the radio to the country station that plays UK games that sometimes interferes with my radio station, even though it is over ten clicks away from it. Yep, they were playing the post-game show too. So, either my radio station no longer carries anything but the actual game, or they are no longer part of the network at all and the store radio accidentally picked up the country station again. The store was closed for the rest of the weekend, so I couldn't do any more until yesterday, Tuesday. I got in late because I was expecting a delivery at home. It got delayed due to some engine trouble, so I went on in to work and left someone there to take care of the delivery. I fixed the dial some more, and I turned off a different section of lights, and I got my station back. The signal is back to almost the same as it was before this latest problem. After a moved light post, a boosted country station, new lights, a bunch of high-profile vehicles parked outside, and a new Christian station, I am almost ready to buy a new radio with a digital tuner so that I can dial in the exact station instead of estimating with my current analog tuner. Maybe that will help, or maybe it won't, as all of the other sources of interference are too much to overcome. My favorite station might not be the best, but it is the one with the most variety of songs that I sort of like, even when they play a song twenty-to-thirty years old instead of the current Top 40, minus much of the rap and hip-hop of course. Why they won't play it, I don't know, but it is still my favorite.
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