Behind The Scenes: Radio Tower

You know me best as your afternoon host on 99.9 KTDY, but, what you don't know about me is how much I do behind the scenes.  Some call me "The MacGyver" of the radio station!

Growing up in Bosco (near Mire), my dad's family kept costs down by being the 'Jacks-of-all-Trades' that so many true Cajuns of his generation are: many real Cajuns grew up on a farm, with little money, and had to repair or fabricate tools and machinery themselves.

One of the greatest things my dad taught my brothers and sisters and me was how to do it yourself; from fix a flat tire to re-roofing a house, we did it all ourselves.

Those skills that dad taught me have come in handy through the years, and they are still paying off:  I am 'unofficially' the 'official' Assistant Engineer at work.  When our engineer, Kyle,  needs a hand fixing things, I am frequently his first call.

Yesterday I got a call from Kyle, and he needed a hand fixing something (you saw that one coming, didn't you??).  It was at one of our tower sites in Youngsville.  As I drove up to the tower (the towers are always in fenced-in areas, locked up tight), I thought to myself "The average person never gets this close to a real tower".  So I thought that I would show you something about the tower that you probably didn't know.

Most towers are made up of a series of triangles (the strongest shape in the geometric realm).  The triangles are welded/bolted together to make more triangles, all the way up to hundreds of feet in the air.

I know; kind of boring...  but, here's the part that you probably didn't know:  At the base of some of these towers (usually the ones with the "guy" wires), there is a little, tiny base-plate, not much larger than my hand, on which the whole tower rests.  Here's the video I shot yesterday:

Still bored?  Sorry about that.  Here's a picture of a cat.

(Via Reddit, Youtube, Reference.com)