Everything's amazing and nobody's happy!

[CCTAU]

For some of us older guys:

[Snaggletiger]

That's hilarious and so true....coming from an older guy like myself.  It's funny how I used to roll my eyes any time my dad would give me those "You don't know nuthin....I had to walk 10 miles to school every day...up hill...both ways..in the snow" stories.  But if most of you really had any idea how much technology and this world in general have changed, you would in fact think everything is really amazing right now.

Now, get the hell off my lawn

[JR4AU]

That's hilarious and so true....coming from an older guy like myself.  It's funny how I used to roll my eyes any time my dad would give me those "You don't know nuthin....I had to walk 10 miles to school every day...up hill...both ways..in the snow" stories.  But if most of you really had any idea how much technology and this world in general have changed, you would in fact think everything is really amazing right now.

Now, get the hell off my lawn

I have a hard time remembering how we got along with no computers, and no cell phones, but we did just fine.

[GH2001]

I have a hard time remembering how we got along with no computers, and no cell phones, but we did just fine.

I remember the Bellsouth branded kitchen phone (avacado green) having about a 20 foot curly cord. This was even before cordless phones were the rage. Couple of rich people we knew of had the mounted cell phone in their car with antenna attached to it. I remember them being 1500 bucks and it was .25 per minute. That was about 1988. Computers? Commodore 64 all the way.  64 Kilobytes of pure fun. Now, 64 kilobytes wont even get you past safe mode on Start up or cover 1.5 seconds of an MP3. Times have-a-changed.

Oh, and the microwave (we we finally got one) was about the size of a Prius, was 900 bucks and took 5 mins to warm a bowl of soup. And Cable TV (when we finally got that) having 11 channels. The Big 3 networks, Fox, TNN, GPTV, APTV, TBS and WGN, and 2 local advertising stations. Fun times.

[Snaggletiger]

I remember the Bellsouth branded kitchen phone (avacado green) having about a 20 foot curly cord. This was even before cordless phones were the rage. Couple of rich people we knew of had the mounted cell phone in their car with antenna attached to it. I remember them being 1500 bucks and it was .25 per minute. That was about 1988. Computers? Commodore 64 all the way.  64 Kilobytes of pure fun. Now, 64 kilobytes wont even get you past safe mode on Start up or cover 1.5 seconds of an MP3. Times have-a-changed.

Oh, and the microwave (we we finally got one) was about the size of a Prius, was 900 bucks and took 5 mins to warm a bowl of soup. And Cable TV (when we finally got that) having 11 channels. The Big 3 networks, Fox, TNN, GPTV, APTV, TBS and WGN, and 2 local advertising stations. Fun times.

The TV was definitely the first real sign of moving into a new age.  Cable....13 channels...an ALL DAY SPORTS NETWORK?????  ALL DAY MUSIC NETWORK????  Shut the front door. 

[JR4AU]

The TV was definitely the first real sign of moving into a new age.  Cable....13 channels...an ALL DAY SPORTS NETWORK?????  ALL DAY MUSIC NETWORK????  Shut the front door.

I had such a crush on Martha Quinn!

[Snaggletiger]

I had such a crush on Martha Quinn!

Chris Berman really did it for m.......I mean, yeah, that little Martha was a hotty.

[Kaos]

I've lived through

Vinyl - 45s, 33.3s and 78s
Reel to Reel
8-Track
Casette
CD

>B&W TV
>Color TV
> No remote control.  Kids were the remote. Get up there and turn the dial to 13, son.  Star Trek is on.
>Antenna that you had to run to the TV and hope to get the alligator clip undone before lightning hit in a storm
>Cable with ten marvelous channels including Cousin Cliff, sponsored by Jack's!
>Dialing for Dollars on WBRC (Tom York, Joe Langston, Pat Gray with weather, so awesome)
>Pay Networks -- first I ever saw was HBO.  Begged my grandmother to let me give her money I earned in the summer so she could subscribe to HBO.  I watched KISS Live from Japan on a 19" color TV.  She woke up and saw it, was horrified and cancelled the subscription.
>Satellite dishes large enough to contact the Space Station mounted in the front yard
>Beta -- those enormous CDs were awesome, so much clearer and more durable than the VHS
>VHS
>DVD
>Blu Ray

> AM Radio (listened to Chicago rock station at night)
> FM Radio
> Boom Boxes (CD and Cassette)
> Sony Walkman
> iPod
> Satellite Radio
> Internet Radio

When I think of the progression of watching Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw on my grandmother's hazy black and white console that had only at best a 19" screen to watching live 3D ball games on a 70" flat screen (that is lighter than the 19" was)  I'm left agape. 

I will confess that I miss the slightly burned smell that used to emanate from the back of televisions after they'd been around for a while and dust accumulated on the heated tubes in the back.   I miss that noise the TV would make when you turned it on and the anticipation you felt as you watched that white dot expand and struggle to balance itself out.  I miss TV stations "flipping."  When was the last time any of you watched a show where the screen "flipped"? 




Check out the remote

[Vandy Vol]

>Pay Networks -- first I ever saw was HBO.  Begged my grandmother to let me give her money I earned in the summer so she could subscribe to HBO.  I watched KISS Live from Japan on a 19" color TV.  She woke up and saw it, was horrified and cancelled the subscription.

She forced you to repress your love for KISS...see what it did to you?

[CCTAU]

And sometimes if your great-grandparents were old enough, you would see some really cool old stuff.

Washing machines with two rollers to squeeze out the water.
One of the first motorized tillers with belts everywhere. (still have it. Still works)
A rockola wind up record player. ( I will get it when my dad passes. Still works)
I remember riding in my uncle's old pickup that to start it, you had to push a pedal in the floor to engage the starter.
Riding in an old wooden boat.

And if you are an avid outdoorsman, the clothes to keep you warm in the wintertime have come a long way. No more 6 pairs of socks to keep your feet warm. We actually have little bags of stuff you can shake up and keeps your toes and hands warm. beats the heck out of that old lighter fluid fueled hand warmer we all wanted when we were young.

[GH2001]

I've lived through

Vinyl - 45s, 33.3s and 78s
Reel to Reel
8-Track
Casette
CD

>B&W TV
>Color TV
> No remote control.  Kids were the remote. Get up there and turn the dial to 13, son.  Star Trek is on.
>Antenna that you had to run to the TV and hope to get the alligator clip undone before lightning hit in a storm
>Cable with ten marvelous channels including Cousin Cliff, sponsored by Jack's!
>Dialing for Dollars on WBRC (Tom York, Joe Langston, Pat Gray with weather, so awesome)
>Pay Networks -- first I ever saw was HBO.  Begged my grandmother to let me give her money I earned in the summer so she could subscribe to HBO.  I watched KISS Live from Japan on a 19" color TV.  She woke up and saw it, was horrified and cancelled the subscription.
>Satellite dishes large enough to contact the Space Station mounted in the front yard
>Beta -- those enormous CDs were awesome, so much clearer and more durable than the VHS
>VHS
>DVD
>Blu Ray

> AM Radio (listened to Chicago rock station at night)
> FM Radio
> Boom Boxes (CD and Cassette)
> Sony Walkman
> iPod
> Satellite Radio
> Internet Radio

When I think of the progression of watching Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw on my grandmother's hazy black and white console that had only at best a 19" screen to watching live 3D ball games on a 70" flat screen (that is lighter than the 19" was)  I'm left agape. 

I will confess that I miss the slightly burned smell that used to emanate from the back of televisions after they'd been around for a while and dust accumulated on the heated tubes in the back.   I miss that noise the TV would make when you turned it on and the anticipation you felt as you watched that white dot expand and struggle to balance itself out.  I miss TV stations "flipping."  When was the last time any of you watched a show where the screen "flipped"? 




Check out the remote

I used to play my Dad's 45s and 8 tracks. I thought they were both the coolest things as compared to Tapes because you could skip right to any song you wanted, moreso for the 8 tracks (with the push of a button). Little did I know technology would soon produce something even better where you could (CDs). I used to listen to Three Dog Night (actually had this one autographed by them later), George Jones, Allman Brothers, Lynard Skynard, Temptations and others on the record player. Call me retro but I still LOVE the hiss and pop sounds from a record. It also may explain my affinity for older music.

[GH2001]

And sometimes if your great-grandparents were old enough, you would see some really cool old stuff.

Washing machines with two rollers to squeeze out the water.
One of the first motorized tillers with belts everywhere. (still have it. Still works)
A rockola wind up record player. ( I will get it when my dad passes. Still works)
I remember riding in my uncle's old pickup that to start it, you had to push a pedal in the floor to engage the starter.
Riding in an old wooden boat.

And if you are an avid outdoorsman, the clothes to keep you warm in the wintertime have come a long way. No more 6 pairs of socks to keep your feet warm. We actually have little bags of stuff you can shake up and keeps your toes and hands warm. beats the heck out of that old lighter fluid fueled hand warmer we all wanted when we were young.

To add to that:

The old Metal Coolers (today they are all plastic at Wal Mart i.e. Igloo)
Old Fashioned Mule pulled Tiller
Washtubs (I actually own one of my grandfather's)
Pedal driven mechanical sewing machine. (no electricity needed)

[AU_Tiger_2000]

We had one of the gigantic TV aerials (sp?) on the house with the electric motor that you could control to pick up TV stations clearer.  You were supposed to dial in on the box in the house the direction you wanted.  Well our box was broken so Dad just wired a cord straight to the motor, my job was to stand by the outlet and when my Dad turned from NBC (Mobile) to CBS (Selma) I had to plug the thing in and wait to unplug the cord when my Dad yelled NOW!!!!  Good times.  Later we got one of the giganto dishes in the backyard.  Anytime the wind got up above about 15mph the screen would get fuzzy because it would move the dish just barely off the proper setting.

My grandmother had one of the old pedal driven sewing machines that somebody mentioned.  Solid cast iron and had to weight 500 lbs.  My cousins and I used to get in trouble by two of us getting on the floor and working the pedal as fast as we could while one of the others ran scraps of cloth through the thing.

[ssgaufan]

My Grandparents still had and used an outhouse while I was a little feller.  My Grandfather had a shower and sink in the house but he refused to shit inside his own home.

[Snaggletiger]

I used to use my grandpa's push mower.  No motor, just rotary blades attached to the wheels. The faster you pushed, the faster the blades turned, slinging grass back on you. 

[JR4AU]

I've lived through

Vinyl - 45s, 33.3s and 78s
Reel to Reel
8-Track
Casette
CD

>B&W TV
>Color TV
> No remote control.  Kids were the remote. Get up there and turn the dial to 13, son.  Star Trek is on.
>Antenna that you had to run to the TV and hope to get the alligator clip undone before lightning hit in a storm
>Cable with ten marvelous channels including Cousin Cliff, sponsored by Jack's!
>Dialing for Dollars on WBRC (Tom York, Joe Langston, Pat Gray with weather, so awesome)
>Pay Networks -- first I ever saw was HBO.  Begged my grandmother to let me give her money I earned in the summer so she could subscribe to HBO.  I watched KISS Live from Japan on a 19" color TV.  She woke up and saw it, was horrified and cancelled the subscription.
>Satellite dishes large enough to contact the Space Station mounted in the front yard
>Beta -- those enormous CDs were awesome, so much clearer and more durable than the VHS
>VHS
>DVD
>Blu Ray

> AM Radio (listened to Chicago rock station at night)
> FM Radio
> Boom Boxes (CD and Cassette)
> Sony Walkman
> iPod
> Satellite Radio
> Internet Radio

When I think of the progression of watching Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw on my grandmother's hazy black and white console that had only at best a 19" screen to watching live 3D ball games on a 70" flat screen (that is lighter than the 19" was)  I'm left agape. 

I will confess that I miss the slightly burned smell that used to emanate from the back of televisions after they'd been around for a while and dust accumulated on the heated tubes in the back.   I miss that noise the TV would make when you turned it on and the anticipation you felt as you watched that white dot expand and struggle to balance itself out.  I miss TV stations "flipping."  When was the last time any of you watched a show where the screen "flipped"? 




Check out the remote

Ditto.

Loved me some Cousin Cliff and The Sgt Jack Show.  My grandmom was addicted to dialing for dollars.

[dallaswareagle]

I used to use my grandpa's push mower.  No motor, just rotary blades attached to the wheels. The faster you pushed, the faster the blades turned, slinging grass back on you.

See with sharp blades thats what happens. With the shitty no sharp blades on my grandpa's I would just push the grass down, and by the time I got to another section he would point out the spot (the whole area) I missed. He'd sit up on the porch and just drink and point. By the end of the day he was shitfaced, I was tired and the grass still needing cutting. (fucker) He also had a car with the gears that were push button on the console.