Adventures in Teal Cove

Welcome to Teal Cove, Texas!

Teal Cove is a small fictional suburban town about a half-hour north of Downtown Dallas and about an hour from the Oklahoma state line. The community existed as a rural unincorporated area dating back to the 1930s. It officially became a chartered small town in the 60s and the construction of the subdivisions began in the 1970s just five years after the Army Corps of Engineers finished constructing the nearby Cedar Lake. The town is surrounded by undeveloped farmland connected to other towns by a winding series of back roads, many of which are still unpaved. The population is just under 40,000.

Most of the community is made up of one-story ranch style homes that consist of three or four bedrooms, one or two living areas, a kitchen, generally two full bathrooms and enclosed two car garages. Due to the nature of the soil here, basements are unknown to this part of the country.

While none of the homes in this community have lakefront access to Cedar Lake, the beach is just a few blocks from the nearest subdivision, The Oakhill Estates. These are the newest homes in the area and the only two-story houses. All of the development and expansion is on the north end of town. The older part of Teal Cove is the south end. Those homes were built in the late 60s and early 70s.

The Burlington Northern Railroad has a single track mainline that passes through town and winds behind the edge of the Robin Nest subdivision, one of the newer neighborhoods in the area. The oldest houses in this subdivision were built in 1977. The freight trains run about once an hour around the clock and pass within about 100 feet of the fenced backyards at the edge of the neighborhood. Just beyond the tracks are miles of undeveloped farmland that are still untouched with the exception of the winding roads leading out of town, a small municipal airport about 15 minutes away where privately owned prop planes takeoff and land, and an occasional farm or rural gas station, The next town is about 20 minutes away by car.

The area is hot and humid in the summers with temperatures in the low 90s starting at the end of May and rising to the upper 90s and low 100s through early September. The humidity often makes it feel five to ten degrees warmer than it actually is. Winters are mild here with the worst months for cold weather being late January through the end of February. Ice tends to be the biggest threat and the rare snow day is usually the result of sleet that makes the roads impassable. Generally, any icy weather only lasts 24 hours and melts off the following day. The spring and early summer are known for violent thunderstorms that can produce high winds, tornados, and hail. Violent weather also tends to happen in the fall as the temperatures begin to cool down.

The immediate area has several grocery stores including Skaggs Alpha Beta, Kroger, Tom Thumb, and Winn Dixie. There are two drug stores, Eckard's and Drug Emporium, which is a relatively new chain to the area. Most of the town's restaurants are centralized off of Main Street and include the typical fast food brands such as McDonald's, Dairy Queen. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Long John Silvers, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Domino's as well as numerous mom and pop sitdown restaurants.

Kmart is the main discount store and a Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened a year ago beside it. There is also a Target, although it doesn't have a pharmacy or grocery section, but does include service bays for oil changes and other auto service needs. The only other arcade, Rainbow, is on the other side of town next to a coin-op laundry mat. The area also has several churches, mostly various denominations of Christian faiths, about a half dozen banks, several small hardware stores, barbershops and most of the typical businesses that would be found in a small buddying town. There is also one mom and pop video store that recently opened that offers video rental in both VHS and Beta formats. Teal Cove has two movie theatres in the area as well as 2 high schools, 4 junior highs, and 8 elementary schools. The closest shopping mall is about half an hour away. The closest college is North Texas State and about a half hour drive. It has an on-campus dormitories. There are also a few two-year schools that offer a limited number of associates degrees. There are apartments near the campuses, but no dorms or on-campus residences for the community colleges.

A different time...

The year is 1982. Ronald Reagan is halfway into his first term as the President of The United States. The average income for most Americans is around $21K a year. Gasoline averages 91 cents per gallon. A new car is just under $8,000. An average size new home costs just over $82K and the median going price for an existing home is around $68K. Typical rent is about $320 a month. Minimum wage is $3.35 an hour.

Most homes have only one phone line and typically a single telephone located in the kitchen. Mobile phones, the internet, and ATM machines are still more than a decade away. Cordless phones and answering machines are a fairly new technology that most people don't have. Anyone that needs to make a phone call on the go uses a payphone. A local call is typically 25 cents. Payphones are found in the lobby areas of most stores, some restaurants and movie theatres. Phone booths are common on major street corners and outside of gas stations and convenience stores.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was just released in movie theaters. Poltergeist, Annie, Rocky III and Star Trek II are recent releases currently being shown. Disney's Tron is an anticipated upcoming release later this summer.

The Atari 2600 is all the rage. Video games are very popular at the moment and the favorite titles include Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders, and Pac-man, which is a huge sensation.

Music wise, Ozzy Osbourne's lead guitarist Randy Rhodes died in a plane crash in March. Heavy metal and hard rock music are popular. Rush released "Moving Pictures" this year and Iron Maiden's current album is "The Number of the Beast". "Ebony and Ivory" a duet between Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney is the current #1 song on the charts. Softrock, new wave, and punk are also quite popular. Toto, The Human League, Asia, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are a few of the bands currently on the charts at the start of the game.

Popular daytime soaps include All My Children, As the World Turns and General Hospital. Sitcoms such as Lavern and Shirley, Happy Days, Three's Company, and the Facts of Life are on in the late afternoon during the weekdays. Prime Time shows that come on weekly include Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hill Street Blues, The Fall Guy, and Simon & Simon.

VCRs and microwaves are relatively new additions to homes. They are starting to become more common and most families have one. Vinyl albums and cassettes are the popular music formats and 8 track tapes and reel to reels are slowly starting to disappear from store shelves. Many older model cars still have an 8 track player. Most cars only have AM/FM stereos with some cars only receiving the AM band. Cassette players in cars are found in only the newest upper-end models. Very wealthy people and perhaps traveling salespeople driving company cars might have a car phone. CDs are a brand new technology that is not yet in the public's hands.

Computers cost well over $1,000 and only the tech-savvy and well-off have one. Some use a cassette drive to load programs or software, but the most common format is the 5 1/4 floppy disk. Most computers still have an A and a B drive. The A drive requires the disk for the software being used and the B drive is for inserting a blank disk to store files. At this point, computers are limited to word processing, simple games, and other primitive functions. A handful of highly advanced users might connect to bulletin board systems using a dial-up modem, but the modern internet does not exist yet. There are no streaming videos, graphics or pictures online. Most screens are monochrome green. Many businesses do not even use computers yet. Credit cards are processed by hand and retailers must save and turn in the slips with carbon rubbings of the card to collect their money. Cash and checks are a common means of transactions. Credit cards are generally reserved for high dollar purchases at department stores. ATMs are unheard of and the only way to get cash is to go to the bank during the weekdays at regular business hours and withdraw it in person from a teller.