Art Bell

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Dec. 21, 1999 - Art Bell

40:54

Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell - Open Lines - show ends early

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23:28

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art bell ▲ ● ▼		From the high desert and the great American Southwest, I bid you all good evening and or good morning wherever you may be across this great land of Mars.
		From the Cahitian and Hawaiian islands in the West, Eastward to the Caribbean and the U.S. Virgin Islands, south into South America, north all the way to the Pole and worldwide on the internet, maybe this is Coast to Coast AM, and I'm Art Bell.
		Well, hello there, everybody.
		I have a rather unusual announcement to make.
		There's probably not going to be a talk show for me tonight because we have no long-distance service as nearly as we can figure out since about 5.30, 5.30 Pacific time today.
		All long distance service to Harump, Nevada, where I live, is down.
		Down, down, down.
		So I'm talking to you in the blind, as it were.
		The only calls that I think that I could take would be from other people here in Harump, Nevada.
		Nobody from the outside world is able to get through.
		The entire sprint service, we understand, is down.
		That is a long-distance carrier that provides service to Las Vegas.
		We have been experiencing high winds, really high winds, all day long.
		And so it's just, it's beyond weird, as I can tell you.
		I'm going to hang in for as long as I can and see if I can get this done.
		And try and see if it comes back up.
		But I really don't expect it to.
		They're running a backup tape at my network, which on my instruction they will run.
		But as of right now, I'm talking to you totally in the blind.
		Unable to take any phone calls at all, with the exception of those here in Perump, Nevada.
		Now, if you're in Perump, Nevada, what the hell?
		Give me a call.
		You're the only ones I can talk to.
		talking to, when you think about it, the entire nation, America, beyond Canada, the islands to the west, the Caribbean, but you can't talk to me.
		All of the, maybe it's a little, I want I have no idea, but we're now going on certainly in excess of five hours without any long-distance service here.
		It's really, really weird.
		We were due to have Whitley Streeber here in the first hour because there are obvious developments regarding the book we wrote, The Coming Global Super Storm.
		In Venezuela now, as I'm sure you're aware, you've seen the photographs on CNN.
		There may be 30,000 people dead in Venezuela.
		Some of the worst flooding may be the worst in the history of Venezuela.
		Tens of thousands of survivors evacuating the hardest hit areas.
		About 150,000 people's homes are gone.
		They've only found 1,500 bodies so far, but they're suspecting as many as 30,000 may have perished.
		Wow.
		And this is a definite continuing indicator of what we have written about in the coming global superstorm, which again, I plug, you can get on my website.
		Just go to my website and you can go to amazon.com and order that book.
		And you better do it because it has gone out so fast.
		The book has sold so fast that there may be a crunch on getting it to you.
		So you really need to get it ordered if you're going to.
		It's taking off like a banshee.
		And I want to thank all of you for that.
		But beyond that, it's a very, very important book.
		We are obviously undergoing a climate change, and a fairly rapid one at that.
		And that is what the coming global superstorm addresses is exactly that, a rapid, sudden, violent climate change.
		And so I would urge you to grab that book and take a read.
		It's a good read.
		It will scare the hell out of you.
		But maybe a little bit of that is appropriate.
		And by the way, those of you who have not prepared for Y2K, prepare.
		Let me do the only thing that I can do right now, and that is open a line for people here in Pahrump, Nevada.
		If you're able to hear me on one of our stations, actually, if I wasn't on the air right now, I wouldn't even know it because I have no talk back to my network, no lines I can call them on.
		So if you're in Pahrump, Nevada, call me at 727-1222.
		Let me give out that number again.
		I'm just going to try it just on the off chance that some of you here in Perrump are able to hear me.
		And that number in Perrump is 727-1222.
		Or 727-1295.
		You'll notice I'm not giving any prefixes because nobody, there's no point.
		So 7272 or 727-1295.
		And that would apply to prump only.
		And I see those lines are ringing.
		So let me do a quick commercial break here.
		Boy, I'll tell you, folks, I've been through some strange stuff in radio, but this one takes the cake.
		We'll be right back.
		If you want to lose weight, just eating low-fat is not the answer anymore.
	You see, new research shows that carbohydrates found in foods like breads, potatoes.
	Well, All right, once again, to you in the blind, I'm Art Bell, and this is Coast to Coast AM, and I think we are indeed Coast to Coast, but the only people who can call us are here in Perrump, Nevada.
	And I'm giving out two phone numbers for that right now: 727-1222 and 727-1295.
	Now, let's talk to a couple of Prumbians.
	That's all I can do right now.
	Hello there.
	First time callers, area code 775-727-1222.
	We don't want you to give your number on the air.
unidentified		No, I'm not going to give my telephone number on the air.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
unidentified		Well, I just station Alex.
unidentified		I'm talking.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, in other words, you're listening to 840.
unidentified		That's right.
		I usually listen to 770.
		at Chase Bob or something?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, anyway, I...
unidentified		Yeah, that's right.
unidentified		I get you all the time.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		So you're probably just down the road from me or something.
unidentified		Yes, I am.
unidentified		I'm about a block away from Bella Vista, but I won't say where I am.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's close enough.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Tell everybody about the wind we've been having.
unidentified		Oh, my goodness, safe.
		The wind is terrible.
		It blows my blinds down, and my apartment almost came down, and the sand is flying all around, and the docks are going crazy.
		My big black won't go out at all because he's scared of the wind.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, this is terrible.
unidentified		You know, I used to live in Chicago, and when I come into my bedroom, I'm in the house, from outside, I hear this, whoo, this wind like this.
unidentified		20 below zero, the wind is blowing like in Chicago.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Like in Chicago, huh?
unidentified		That just sounds just like it, the way the wind comes around the corner.
unidentified		Well, it is really something.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And you've noticed you have no long-distance phone service.
unidentified		No, and I found permitted.
		I wouldn't be able to get you.
		I tried to call you on one old number, but I guess it was the wrong number.
		But anyway, I love your program, and I've ordered your books, and I left your books.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, thank you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You're really going to love Global Superstorm.
unidentified		Oh, I've got to get that.
		But right now, my car is on the blink.
		And I'm five miles from Smith's, if you know what I mean, I walk.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You walk to Smith's?
unidentified		I have to.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Good Lord, woman.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That's 10 miles a day.
unidentified		I know that.
		Well, I don't walk that every day, but I have to take a cab back when I got groceries.
		But, you know, I've been walking it.
		I'm losing weight.
		I'll walk it.
		You know what?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You know what?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I think my wife may have picked you up a couple of times and given you a ride.
unidentified		Oh, really?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I think she might have.
unidentified		Oh, I don't buy.
unidentified		I think she did.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, she would not have told you who she is.
unidentified		No, I know, but now I recognize her.
unidentified		Yeah, black hair, long black hair.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Long black hair, that's right.
unidentified		Oh, my God.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, that was Ramona.
unidentified		Myself.
		Oh, tell her, thank you very much.
		Tell her I'll be walking again one day.
		I'll be doggone time.
		I thought, you know, one time I walked up there and I said, well, I'm not even in it.
		So I go, you know, who knows what's going to pick me up.
		So I says, here comes the car and stopped.
		And I said, well, should I or not?
		To myself, I'm talking.
		I always thought to myself, anyway, here was a woman.
		She said, can I give you a look?
		Sure.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, you would know it would be her because she's kind of Asian looking.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		She's part Filipino.
unidentified		Oh, yeah.
		I got her and looked.
		I didn't at that time get her look.
		I didn't get her look.
		And I don't hear her too much, but I hear you.
		You do sound a little bit different, but I'm so glad to talk to you.
		I've been wanting to talk to you for...
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay, well, now you've done it.
		Listen, I've got to scoot, but...
		But thank you so much.
unidentified		Oh, thank you.
		And thank you, Rype, for me, too.
		I will take you to look out for you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You take care.
unidentified		Okay, bye-bye.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Bye-bye.
		I remember my wife telling me about this lady who was walking all the way to town, an older lady that she would pick up.
		And sure enough, there she is.
		It's a small world, and when you're in Prump, Nevada, it's a really small world.
		So again, I'm opening, and I see I'm getting lots of prompt calls.
		Hello there, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hello.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Hi.
unidentified		I'm at Game Bird in Prump Alec.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And have you noticed we have no phone service?
unidentified		Yes, I have.
		I tried to call Las Vegas.
		I'm a long time listener, first time caller.
		I'm back to the old Dr. D. Charlie.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, that's a long time ago.
		You can't use a credit card.
		In other words, those machines depend on calling home.
unidentified		Yeah, I understand.
unidentified		You know, we've had one since Sunday.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, I know.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		It's been wicked.
unidentified		Real bad.
		And I tried to call you the 4th of July, 1998.
		I tried to get in.
		I couldn't get in.
		I was standing in the backyard between 9.30 and 10, 4th of July evening, looking at the fireworks, looking north.
		All of a sudden, from the direction of Wheeler Pass Road.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Up toward Las Vegas, in other words.
unidentified		Yes.
unidentified		Wheeler Pass Road, looking east, I saw like a green particle beam.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
unidentified		It went over to the NOPA.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I've seen it.
unidentified		4th of July?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yep.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, I don't know if I saw that specific one, but I've seen exactly what you're talking about.
unidentified		Yeah, whoosh.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Whoosh is right.
unidentified		Yes, real fast.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, you know, people outside don't understand, because of, of course, where we are, Area 51 is just over the hill from us.
unidentified		That was a direction.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, we see a lot of really weird stuff out here.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Perumpians see weird stuff.
unidentified		So I called the Sheriff's Department.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And what did they say?
unidentified		No reports.
		The next morning, I got a phone call about 10 o'clock.
		A friend of mine that lives over on Thousand Air.
		Yes.
		They're horrible.
		Right.
		He says, hey, you know, I was sitting out on the patio watching the fireworks Downtown, he says, all of a sudden, I said, Yeah, a green bean.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
unidentified		Right.
unidentified		Well, listen, hey, it's good to talk to you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay, my friend, take care in that wind out there.
unidentified		You take care.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay, bye-bye.
		There's another Perumpian.
		And so the lines I have open for Perrump right now, and I might just fool around with it a little bit this hour, are 727-1222 and 727-1295.
		And on that little line, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hello.
unidentified		Hey, Erk, this is Mark, not too far from you here in Perrump.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Mark.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How are you?
unidentified		Pretty good.
unidentified		Anyhow, I just did a quick scan, and it looks like we can pick you up on the number of channels that you're on.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Right.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		It's just that I can't talk to anybody outside of town.
unidentified		Yeah.
unidentified		Anyway, I've got you in 600.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That would be Cogo in San Diego.
unidentified		Okay, and 770.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		KO be in Albuquerque.
		790.
		You're testing me here.
		KABC in Los Angeles.
unidentified		Sorry.
unidentified		840.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		KXNT in Las Vegas.
		90?
		That would be...
		St. George, Utah, yeah.
unidentified		They've got you, and also Como at 1,000.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Como 1,000 in Seattle.
unidentified		That's what I could pick up.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		So you're hearing me in all those places.
		I'm trying to.
		Tell them.
		Tell them about our wind.
unidentified		Not particularly enjoyable.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I sent it home a little bit ago.
		This has been the wind for hell.
		It's been going on and on and on and on relentlessly.
unidentified		Yeah.
		But I'll let you go.
		I just thought I'd let you anywhere pick you up one.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I appreciate that, sir.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		All right.
unidentified		Take care.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Have a good day.
		Yeah, you too.
		Right now, Prumpians have really got the ability to get through as they never have had before.
		So on whatever station you're listening to me on, if you're in Prump, give us a call.
		Because that's the only place they can get through to me right now.
		On my first time caller line, you're on the air.
		Hi.
unidentified		Hi, how are you doing tonight?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, you can tell.
unidentified		Right, right, well.
		I haven't been able to get a hold of you since you left or hear your show since you left CFM station.
		Oh?
		And I went and got, you know, I ordered one of those CC radios.
		It didn't help.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		It didn't help?
unidentified		Nope.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You ought to be able to, you ought to be able to get me on.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Did you hear the last guy I was on?
unidentified		Well, yeah, I have a little tiny clock radio that I've had for 20 years, and I've just kept going up and down.
		And finally, I picked you up.
		But I mean, I went over here to our little electronic store that we have here in Prompt, and I picked up a radio there tonight with one of those loop antennas and came over.
		I'm off of 372, just on the way to Shoshone.
		Right.
		And I don't know if there's a difference in the area of Prompt, but the CC radio wouldn't pick you up out of 840.
		And I tried that loop antenna and everything else.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Even that wouldn't work, huh?
unidentified		That wouldn't even work.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, you must be in some kind of weird dead spot.
unidentified		You know, just my luck.
		You know, I mean, but we got a computer for this Christmas for my daughter.
		And we're going to get on the net here next week.
		So I guess what I'll do is just because I get tired of chasing you down on the AAM.
		It keeps fading in and out and in and out.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I wonder if they're doing some little Y2K test that didn't go quite right.
unidentified		I don't know.
		I don't know.
		But I figure when I get the computer and the internet, I'll just dial you in there.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's one way.
		but as the last fellow said, you really ought to be able to get us over a wide swath of stations if you've got a good radio, but apparently you're in some sort of extremely weird dead area because...
		Oh, absolutely.
unidentified		That should have been the end of the story right there.
unidentified		And I don't know.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, I'll tell you what we've been going through that might explain it.
		We have been going through sunflares.
		Not only are we having Y2K, but we are having extreme sunflare activity right now, solar storms.
		And that would sort of take everything out, sir.
unidentified		Yeah, well.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Listen, I appreciate your call.
		You hanging in there in the wind?
		Oh, yeah.
unidentified		Oh, yeah.
		I've got everything tied down.
		I mean, we've been here for a while, so we know what I can do.
		Yeah, yeah.
		I lost two.
		When I first came out here, I lost two awnings.
		I figured that one out, though.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Listen, thank you very much.
		You're welcome.
		You take care.
		And apparently you're hearing me well enough to call in to know to call in.
		So if you're here in Pahump, feel free to give me a call right now because you're my only hope, actually.
		And there are two numbers that you can use here in Pahrump.
		And that's 727-1222 and 727-1295.
		Let me give those one more time.
		727-1222 or 727-1295.
		Perump, Nevada, only.
		But I guess I don't really need to say that because you are the only ones that can hear me right now.
		Let's break at the bottom of the hour and come back and do I don't know what.
unidentified		This is really weird.
		A very old friend came by the day.
		Cause he was everyone's found at the reason for the greatest way.
		He called and called, and I heard him say that he had its white stare for the screen value that he could wear.
		And breathe away for the greatest way.
		No I smile and fear the smile.
		But I wish them luck and believe.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		AM 840, KXNT.
unidentified		AM 840, KXNT.
		But I'm in here.
		Oh, yeah.
		Everything I've got all the way.
		I can't This is Coast to Coast AM from the Kingdom of God.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And you'll notice, once again, here's Heartbell.
		Thank you.
		That's Ross Mitchell.
		KOH is Ross Mitchell, my announcer.
		And you'll notice that we gave out no numbers in that break.
		Because you can't call me.
		I'm talking to you in the blind.
		All long-distance service from the valley I live in to the outside world has been down since about 5.30 this afternoon.
		So nobody can call me except people here in Varum, Nevada.
		And we'll continue to talk to people here in Varum through the top of the hour.
		But if by then we don't have long-distance service restored, we're going to go ahead and go to tape is what we're going to do.
		It's really weird.
		It's a one-way night, except for the people here in Verum.
		I've been through a lot in my career, but this one's new to me.
		a one-way talk show.
unidentified		A one-way talk show.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Maybe we're getting, I'm getting a little taste, Parumpa's getting a little taste of Y2K.
		Who knows?
		We have no idea, actually, why the service is out right now.
		We are having extremely high winds here in the desert, and that may be the cause, or it may be something else.
		But, you know, whether it's the weather or it's Y2K, having a little storable food around is a really good idea.
		Now, if I wanted to call J. Michael Stevens right now, I couldn't do it.
		But you can.
		And I would advise it.
		They're saying, let's see, what is today's date?
		The 22nd.
		They're saying, well, actually, the 21st going into the 22nd here.
		And they're saying that if you order before December 28th, a few days from now, they will get food to you before January 1st if you have decided it's a good idea to prepare you and your family for whatever may be coming.
		So you call J. Michael Stevens because I can't.
		The number is 1-800-377-0700.
		Let me give that to you again.
		1-800-377-0700.
		This season, why not send someone a truly unique?
unidentified		All right.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How weird can it get, huh?
		The winds are howling out there.
		The telephone service is completely dead from our town.
		And whether it is a Y2K test or not, I think we're getting a little taste of what could happen.
		Now, I'm able to talk to people via ham radio, amateur radio, and I am able to communicate from here.
		But otherwise, we are cut off here in the valley and have been since about 5.30 in the afternoon.
		So let me continue to take calls from Perump here for about another 20 minutes.
		And if we have not restored phone service to the outside world by then, I guess we'll go to tape.
		The Perump numbers.
		I've never done this, so it's kind of fun.
		The Perump numbers 727-1222 and 727-1295.
		727-1295.
		And so here we go.
		On the first time caller line, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi.
unidentified		Hi.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How are you doing?
unidentified		Good.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How are you?
		You're here in Perump, I take it.
		Yeah, this is Dave.
unidentified		I'm about five miles north of you right now.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay.
		Hey, Dave.
		How are you doing in the wind?
unidentified		Well, pretty good.
		You know, out here, I've seen the wind blow for three days straight.
		I've seen it hold a piece of carpet up on its handle fence for three days straight.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You talking about these last three days?
		No, this is, I think, two years ago.
		Two years ago.
unidentified		It's this time of year, though.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, man.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		It's a north wind and it is wicked.
unidentified		And that's where it's coming from the north.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That's right.
		I've got a feeling that it may have blown over some sort of microwave connection or, you know, I'm just guessing.
		But we have no, have you tried to call anybody out long distance, even in Las Vegas?
unidentified		Yeah, I get my cell phone.
unidentified		My cell phone works.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, cell phones are working for some reason.
unidentified		But that's all right now.
unidentified		People have been calling me and I've been passing through messages to Vegas.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Have you?
unidentified		Yeah, you know, I sure miss you guys.
		You supplied Joe's pizza at that oil.
		Do you remember that olive oil?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That was good.
		This is a story that the rest of the country has not heard of.
		My wife and I went to France, right?
		And when we were in Paris, we went to this little tiny Italian restaurant, and they brought out a cheese pizza.
		And I thought, man, how bland, a cheese pizza.
		And then the guy brings out this bottle full of all zillions of different things, and he puts it on the table.
		And I tried some of it.
		I put it on the pizza, and I went, wow, this is really good.
		And so while we were sitting there in the restaurant in Paris, my wife sort of started writing down.
		She could recognize each ingredients floating in the bottle that made this incredible topping for a pizza.
		And when we got home, she managed to duplicate the recipe.
		And that's what we took down to Joe's pizza, which of course is now closed, just to let people try it and see what they thought.
unidentified		Oh, that was excellent.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And we called it pizza punch.
unidentified		There's about six different flavors.
unidentified		That's right.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, yeah.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And so you tried it, huh?
unidentified		Yeah, it was real good.
unidentified		I enjoyed it.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I know.
unidentified		In fact, I hoarded some.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You hoarded it?
unidentified		Yeah, before they closed, I kept a little bit of it, but I ran out since then.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You know, it was a Project that we had in mind to try and actually market that because it would go crazy across the country.
unidentified		It would.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And it did.
		And nobody else, except that one little tiny restaurant in Paris and my wife know how to make it.
		That's it.
		It's full of about, oh, I don't know, 10 or 12 ingredients.
		My wife would have to tell you, but there's I've, I've never tasted, I don't eat pizza without it.
		I've got an endless supply here.
unidentified		Uh-oh.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, that's because I'm married to it.
unidentified		Yeah.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, listen, thanks for the call, sir.
		Okay, thank you.
		You take care.
		Yeah, that was pizza punch, and I've never really told you about that.
		That's what we decided to call it.
		If we ever put the stuff on the market, we would have to somehow travel back to Paris and find this little tiny Italian restaurant.
		I think it was about like 20 miles outside of Paris, the center of Paris, and thank the guy or compensate him in some way if we ever decided to market what we call pisa ponche.
		It's the damnedest thing on pisa you have ever tasted.
		It is superb.
		Absolutely superb.
		And the world doesn't know about it yet.
		Well, they do now, sort of.
		So he ordered a little something.
		Wildcard line, you're on the air.
unidentified		Hi.
unidentified		How you doing, Art?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, it's kind of weird tonight, sir.
unidentified		Yeah.
unidentified		I'm from just north of the dairy.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Just north of the dairy farm here.
unidentified		Yes, sir.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I see.
unidentified		I tell you what's interesting, and the audience is going to load this.
unidentified		We had a list, we have our cat list, kind of a mailing list out here of Y2K readiness.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, yes.
unidentified		And, you know, everybody went offline and it went crazy and everybody was going nuts because all the corrupt folks couldn't get online.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, I guess most of the dial-up services are down.
unidentified		Yeah, well, for some reason, we're getting mail in now.
		But this isn't a little taste of Y2K.
		This is a big gulp of it.
		The cell phones are working.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		A friend of mine went up to the winery and had dinner and tried to pay for it with a credit card.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And that's when we found out that nothing was working.
unidentified		Well, I found out also when you mentioned that lady was calling from Smith's, I was just coming out of there and going, oh, that's why the credit card wasn't working.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, it's not working up there, huh?
unidentified		It's not working.
		The credit cards aren't working up there either.
		So it's not working anywhere.
		But one of the things was having a problem.
		We couldn't get online.
		The password wasn't working.
		I tried to call tech support, couldn't get out.
		And I'm going, oh, boy, this is not good.
		What was going on was the list that we're working on was trying to tell people to get BBSs working again for a Y2K in case something goes wrong.
		And I had to put out a message saying, guys, forget those BBSs because if you can't get out long distance, you're stuck.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I hear a phone ringing.
unidentified		No, that was more mail coming in.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I have mail coming in.
		I see.
		For some odd reason, I've got an internet connection.
		I have no idea how because everything else between here and Las Vegas hardwire is down.
		So I have no idea how I'm achieving an internet connection.
unidentified		Well, somehow this local provider, we won't mention its name, is getting through.
unidentified		But it's the one that's parked over at the power company.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I wonder if they've got a separate microwave link.
		It's really weird.
		You're right, sir.
		We're not getting a little taste.
		We're getting a giant gulp.
		How's the wind treating you?
unidentified		The wind is not a problem.
unidentified		The dust, I'm used to eating that.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That's okay.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You're talking to some hardcore Purumbians.
unidentified		It was so nice because I always wanted to call one day and say, calling from west of Mount Charleston.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, excellent.
		Thank you very much.
		I'm glad you called.
		Take care.
		Calling from west of Mount Charleston.
		That's right out here.
		I shouldn't pound.
		I just heard some crackling in my audio, so I guess I better not pound on my own desk.
		So that's all we've got right now for entertainment folks, or the people right here in town.
		Again, 727-1222, if you're in Perump, or 727-1295.
		Forump's opportunity to actually talk to the entire world.
		And on my first time caller line, you're on here.
		Hi.
unidentified		Hi, Art.
unidentified		This is Roger in Perump.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Roger.
unidentified		How are you doing?
unidentified		Pretty good.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Hanging in?
unidentified		Certainly.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		When did you notice we didn't have any phone service to the outside world?
unidentified		Well, actually, I've been noticing off and on for the last couple of days where we've been running into problems with it.
unidentified		I contacted the telephone company because I happen to work in the industry that provides the switching equipment.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, really?
		Yeah.
		Oh, then maybe you're in a good position to tell me what you think might have gone wrong.
unidentified		Well, it appears to me now, I don't know if there was some type of catastrophic failure in the outside plant.
unidentified		Most everything is either on fiber now or going through the microwave system.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, if it was microwave, I could imagine these incredible winds we were having, you know, turned a dish or blew one over somewhere.
unidentified		Yeah, on the fiber, you know, you have a possibility of it being cut.
		But we have self-healing rings most of the time anymore that we install so that...
		Yeah, if you get a cut on one end, instead of launching the laser the short direction, say like straight from here to Vegas, we turn around and send it up through radio and bring it back down into Vegas.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, no kidding.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		So in other words, it could have been rerouted.
unidentified		Mm-hmm.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, then that means...
unidentified		Well, I'm not sure what they have working in the area right now.
		I know what they have in store for the future that's coming through the area, which would be...
		In and out of here.
		Or we can also go up to what they call a 32 lambda wavelength signals where we are launching lasers both directions simultaneously on the same fiber.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well then, if they had alternate switching possibilities, what kind of catastrophic failure can you imagine that would do this?
unidentified		Well, one of the things that I would suspect is that, you know, there could be a, I've noticed a problem, it appeared to be a switching problem earlier in the week where I was starting to run into a lot of trunking blockages, which is what you would normally be routed through on a long-distance call, either from here to Vegas or anywhere in the world.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		So trunk down, yeah, but if the trunk was down between here and Las Vegas, fine, I understand.
unidentified		Well, it's not just one trunk.
		The trunk groups are controlled by a master controller in the switch.
		I don't want to get too technical because it'd be baffling probably to some people.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		The only baffling part to me right now is why you said they could switch and head things toward Reno.
unidentified		Right, but if they had a catastrophic failure on the switch here in Perrunk, you know, it would automatically block the traffic period because no process local calls as far as the trunking abilities on the toll calls, the long-distance calls, it, you know, we can block that real easy.
		Wow.
		The switch is a fair-sized machine that's in here that's a computer, but it has a lot of functions going on simultaneously as your desktop does.
		Sure.
		And if you get one glitch in there, you know, they can isolate it to one area.
		It could affect just the trunking portion of the switch.
		It could affect local dial tone.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Have you ever seen it?
		I, too, noticed that in the last couple of days, for very, very short periods, it would go out.
		But not more than about 30 minutes at the longest, it's been out since about 5.30 tonight now.
unidentified		Yeah, I'm, you know, it sounds like there's been some kind of major interruption for in and outbound traffic.
unidentified		Now, we haven't received any out-of-town calls this evening.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You're not going to.
unidentified		So sometimes you can get it one way.
		You know, you'll have transmission one direction and not the other.
		So you could be receiving calls from out of town, but then isolated getting, dialing your calls long distance.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, I sure appreciate the information, and I guess we can all take this as a little taste of Y2K.
		That's the other thing, of course, I'm wondering about.
		You don't suppose, do you?
unidentified		Well, no, we've had a program going on since 1986 where we've been upgrading all the systems throughout the nation.
unidentified		And I don't know of anyone other than maybe some very small independent telephone operators now.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		So in other words, we're probably Y2K compliant, but we've had a massive failure.
unidentified		Well, there's lots of things that can cause a failure besides a timing problem with the clock.
		And we certainly haven't switched the clock yet to the year 2000.
		We've done the tests like that on the upgrades where we go ahead and switch the system during off-peak hours and test it to make sure that it follows through on the switch after we upgrade the system.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		But they would not have done a test like at 5.30 in the afternoon.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		No.
unidentified		No, any tests like that would be done in the slow period.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Like when I'm on the air.
unidentified		Well, actually, after you're off the air.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, they wait until I'm off.
unidentified		Yeah, we don't want to cut you off too early.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, listen, I really appreciate the update.
unidentified		Well, thanks.
		And hang in there.
		Beat the hatch and pat them down.
		And what's for that cardboard box I lost from the front of my house?
		I think it's up against your fence.
		I live over off a gameburg.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		See you later, sir.
unidentified		All right, bye-bye.
unidentified		Bye.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, so there is somebody involved with the phone company, and so there's been apparently some sort of massive coronary of the system, somehow or another.
		All right.
		Well, the only thing I've got open lines for is prompt.
		And as I said, what I'm going to do, because obviously, you know, we can't go on like this forever, what I'm going to do is go to tape here at the top of the hour if we've not had our service returned.
		And I'm not too hopeful considering how long it's been from 5.30 now coming up on 11 o'clock here in the Pacific time zone.
		Boy, too weird.
		On my first time caller line, you're on here.
unidentified		Hi.
unidentified		Hi, Art.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
		How are you?
		Well.
unidentified		I'm from the southern part of Peru.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I see.
unidentified		Finally got through you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You're going to be somewhere close to me, I imagine.
unidentified		Yeah, I'm very close to you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, well, well.
unidentified		So what's happening?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Absolutely nothing.
		In other words, as you just heard, that phone official explained, they've had some kind of massive failure.
		So we're not going to be getting any phone calls in or out of Prompt.
		Even to Las Vegas, apparently.
unidentified		Yeah, we had some friends who were trying to call through to the hospital starting at like 4.30 and couldn't get through.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, at 4.30?
unidentified		At 4.30.
unidentified		Yeah.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, demand.
unidentified		Rather than I see you and trying to get through and just couldn't even get through.
unidentified		So she has no information and no way to get in.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Okay, then apparently the failure began earlier than I thought.
unidentified		Oh, all right.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I thought it was about 5.30, but if you're saying it wasn't working at 4.30, then it's really been a long one.
unidentified		It's been a long while.
unidentified		And it just kept saying all the circus were busy, so she just kept trying.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, that's all it says.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How are you doing with the wind?
unidentified		Well, I'll tell you, we belong to the RV park down here.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yes.
unidentified		And we spend the evenings down there, and we came out, and the wind has died down.
unidentified		And I always turn you on as I leave the park, you know, as I'm coming out of the park.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		But you know what?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		About 4.30 or 5.30, it was screaming out there.
unidentified		Was it?
		Yeah.
		Yeah.
		Well, see, we're in your end of the valley, but we're kind of protected a little bit from that north wind.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Are you?
unidentified		Yeah.
		But as we went down towards the park, we could see that flag was right out straight out of the north.
		Oh, yeah.
		Yeah.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Screaming out of the north.
unidentified		Yep.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		All right.
		Well, listen, thank you for the call and the support here anyway.
		My own little town is keeping me on the air.
unidentified		Oh, yeah.
		We love to talk to you.
		Thank you, Watt.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Thank you.
		Take care.
		So there you are.
		Yeah, this has been pretty strange.
		This is kind of like sort of a Y2K, here's what could happen kind of deal.
		Maybe it couldn't happen with Y2K.
		Maybe it was a test.
		Maybe it's just a massive failure, but in all the years that I've lived out here, I've never seen one this quite this massive.
		First time, whoops, you would have been on the air first time caller line.
		All I've got now is prompt.
		At 727-1222 and 727-1295.
		There were a number of things I wanted to talk to you about, but we may not get that chance.
		On the first time, caller line, you're on the air.
		Hi.
unidentified		Hi, Art.
unidentified		This is Joe.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Hi, Joe.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		How are you doing?
unidentified		I'm just fine.
unidentified		Heard you talking about the oil on the radio, so I thought, well, I'm going to give you a call.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Oh, you mean Pizza Punch?
		Yes.
		Is this Joe of Joe's Pizza?
unidentified		Yes, it is.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		You've got to be kidding.
unidentified		No, we listen to you all the time.
unidentified		Now that I'm retired, I have even more time to listen to you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, I'm so sorry it closed.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And did you hear that man who actually squirreled away some of it?
unidentified		Yes, I did.
unidentified		You were the lucky ones, huh?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah.
unidentified		Well, if I get tired of being retired, we'll have to get your business going there, huh?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yeah, well, you know.
unidentified		Push through a punch.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I tell you, it would go like crazy.
unidentified		Oh, yes, it would.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		We just never had an opportunity, you know, enough time to get it done.
unidentified		I know.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Trying to get hold of somebody, you know, to do the formula and make the mixture and begin to market it.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		And our lives have been so full and busy, we haven't had a chance to do that.
unidentified		We sure have.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		But it is interesting to hear that people remember it.
unidentified		I know.
		I get a kick out of that.
		Yes, I do.
		I was wondering with the phone line out, have you had any problems with your computer?
		Because ours is not working.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Yours is not working?
unidentified		No.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Well, I guess batten down the hatches, hon, and we'll see what happens.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		That's all we can do.
unidentified		Yours is working?
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Mine was working.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		I don't know if it is now.
unidentified		All right.
unidentified		Okay.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Joe, thanks.
unidentified		Good talking to you.
art bell ▲ ● ▼		Take care.
		All right.
		Listen, folks, here's where I'm going to call a halt to it.
		I cannot talk to you perump about it all night.
		I want to thank you all.
		We're going to go to tape here at the top of the hour, and it looks like we're not going to get our phone service through.
		So for those of you who kept me going for an hour here in Perump, thank you.
		For everybody else, see you tomorrow night.
		But a good tape show coming up next.

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