My apartment in Chapel Hill was literally across the tracks in Carrboro, an old mill town that had seen better days, but rents were cheaper.
It had that green shag carpet and avocado colored appliances. It was pretty new at the time and my rent was $135 a month for a 1 BDR (1976). I was very proud of my 1973 Nova, it had the F41 sport suspension and rode like a truck. It came with raised white letter tires.
It was the same car as the Camaro, just more practical body style-wise. I had to change the plugs once a year and they were gnarly to get to.
I remember when gas pumps would not show prices per gallon over 99 cents, so they priced gas at half gallon increments. You paid with either a gas credit card, if you had one, or cash.
I remember my first visit to an ATM - they were new. It was magical, I felt like a pigeon in a Skinner box. I got my first Visa card with a $200 credit limit. You couldn't use them many places, most everything was cash.
I either rode my bike to campus or took the bus, which meant walking across the tracks to the bus stop.
There was a BBQ place on the corner in town that is still there but WAY upscale from back when. There was no pizza delivery. Frozen pizza was awful. We didn't even have a Pizza Hut that I can recall. Internet? Uber? Scooters? Jimmy Carter? Check on that one.
I met Jimmy once at our church when he was governor. I'd still cal him Governor today if I met him. The Carter Center is not far from here.
I can recall walking about two miles with my GF in the snow to get coffee and realized when we got there I had left my wallet at home, and she had left hers as well. It was one of those heavy quiet soft snows with no wind, just beautiful.
I can remember when Star Wars came out. The lines were around the block to get in. I didn't see it for quite a while after that. The theater downtown played the Rocky Horror Picture Show every Saturday night.
We had 55 mph speed limits and in NC they really tried to enforce that. I'd drive home, it took 7 hours, and as soon as traffic hit the SC line it took off. I had a CB radio in my car, most folks did, and it was helpful at avoiding the County Mounties et al. Breaker 19.
