Remember these?

spennie · Joined: 13 Oct 1995 Posts: 975 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

When iWindsurf finally discontinued pager service, I made a tiny coffin, wrapped my pager in a purple cloth, and mailed it to Jim Martin, a friend of mine & the guy who started it all with Call of the Wind. Jim sent me this photo last night.

Anybody else have fond memories of their pagers?

spennie · Joined: 13 Oct 1995 Posts: 975 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

From my Wind Junkie website, posted under Photos/Weird Stuff:

spennie · Joined: 13 Oct 1995 Posts: 975 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

I don't think this particular comic ever got published. Notice he's still wearing his tie in the last frame!

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Three Windsight pager memories, fond and not so fond, stand out.

1. I'm sleeping in my van in a Hood River Heights orchard, my alarm goes off at 4:15 AM (hadda always be ready for dawn patrol), I check the pager, it showed some wind here and there (much less detail then than now), I drove to a phone booth (this was BCP), phoned for data out east, heard something like "28 mpg gusting to 30", and hit the road*, knowing I'd have Doug's, Rufus, Roosevelt, or 3-Mile almost to myself until midday on a 3.7 or 4.2, sometimes completely alone on a 3.2. Today's sensor and data coverage makes it too easy for the less dedicated sailor to find the good stuff, so snagging empty swell is harder. Not impossible, but harder.

* Unless this was the 3rd or 4th day in a row of sailing from pre-dawn 'til past sunset, in which case I knew I couldn't stay awake for the 55 minute drive to Roosevelt. In that case I'd go slumming in the kiddie pool nearby. Smile

2. The owner of Windsight (NOT Jim) living on his customers' credit card accounts until he got caught and prosecuted. Many customers lost at least 3 figures.

3. Windsight taking our money for the pager and the wind data but not telling the pager service, Pagenet, about the data side of our contract. We then got huge bills for data downloads. I had to get in the Pagenet CEO's face big time many times to make him realize he was not getting another cent from me for data, to take it up with Windsight.

Now my "pager", aka smart phone iW account, is my WSing bible, Constitution, brain, gas miser, and fun "truffle hog" all rolled into one. It makes or breaks $40-$80 fuel cost decisions for me every breezy day.

LUCARO · Joined: 07 Dec 1997 Posts: 661

I loved that pager. Got one from my boss for my holiday bonus in 97. I think he actually went up to Jim's house in Ventura to get it.

Call of the wind tried to get me to mail it back to them, but at that time I did not seem to be able to find it..

flaherty · Joined: 01 May 1997 Posts: 437

That pager cartoon rings true for me. I was in a meeting at work ( EMC corp). It went off , I looked saw 25 sw at Kalmus. I just got up walked out, intently staring at it.. Ha ,, still laugh about it. Kinda miss the pager, but I don't work anymore. This week got a windsurfing day, and snowboarding day, in the same week.. ( Mass).

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Not just in Mass. Yesterday saw solid west wind way out east in the Gorge averaging in the upper 30s to maybe mid 40s (my 3.2/67L combination was literally dangerous and unsailable even between the gusts) with air temps in the mid-60s, and today the desert is covered in snow. I don't know whether the ski resorts are useful yet, but it's on its way. Pick your pleasure.

The Wall yesterday? E at 5 mph.

The "pager" made all the difference.