In my day, we had to post in proper hieroglyphics and woe unto those who messed up the conjugation of "eagle, eagle, bear-claw, feather, squiggle." It wasn't all fun and games, not like today.
When we posted, we had to walk two miles uphill in a driving blizzard just to read the thread, then we'd chisel our thoughts out on the internet and sit for days HOPING someone would notice.
Why, we would live for the day someone would post a as a response. If you got a you would archive the page and show it to your folks!
Every enumerated list had to end with 7), or people would just think you were trying to be cool.
And if you took the HIGH ROAD, people noticed, and told you were nicer than they ever hoped to be, let me tell you! Those were some days.
Bah, you people have it easy!
Back in my day, the ENTIRE internet was filled up with "404 Error -- file not found." We had to provide our OWN content. And we LIKED it that way!
Feh! Pampered, the lot of you!
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
Go yell at the kids on your property, old man!
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Get off my lawn!
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Bah, you had 404 Error? We had 202 errors, and were happy with them.
And lists with 7 things? We hadn't even invented the 7 in my day. If you had more than 6 things you just had to many.
And chisels? You modern punk kid. We used our teeth, and chewed our way through rock, and were happy if it didn't taste like granite.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
*plants pink flamingos and runs away*
Edit to add: In Bob's yard -- not Dan's -- he's obviously too tough . . . *grin*
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Meh! When we wanted to e-mail someone, we had to look up our random number generator/Compuserve ID and scrape that into a sandstone deposit using the bones of our ancestors.
Then we'd tap out the message on hollow tree trunks.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Hey! Flamingo soup!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
You had teeth, Dan?
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Where I came from, we scraped standstone into COBOL punchcards.
Hah!
Gerrofffmahlahn.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
PUNCHCARDS! We dreamed of punch cards. We had to use patch cords and turn a crank.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
We just stuck our toes into the slots and hoped we wriggled them the right way.
-------------------
That sounds kinda kinky.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Hah, we didn't need teeth to much. We could use our computer mouse. Course, it was a Saber-Tooth Mouse, but that's the risk you took.
Punch cards with oles? You guys had holes? He dreamt of holes...wait, that sounds even naughtier. Nevermind.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I well remember the very first erection.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Man, we should make a film using Dan and Bob as the stars. We could call it "Grumpy Old Nerds"
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
That won't stand them in good stead.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
*tapps chin* Now, who should we use as the elderly female nerd who makes them fight for her attention?
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
As long as you're setting things straight, I have a question. At what age does one earn the right to yell at people to get off the lawn?
I'm on the verge of turning 40 and wonder if this will qualify me for the crochety Hatracker's club.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I remember when storage devices were amphora, and we couldn't set them down EVER because the darned things had round bottoms!
You just carried it around with you, ALWAYS.
And a 4-function calculator included "On" and "Off" as two of the functions.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by Advent 115: *tapps chin* Now, who should we use as the elderly female nerd who makes them fight for her attention?
.....Yew. *shudders, viotlently* I was thinking of someone..... better looking.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Bah, in my day little blond girls had to carry three flamingoes or it was "off with their heads!"
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Bite your tongue, Advent.
Duchess ClaudiaTherese is one of the most beautiful women in existence.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Ummm, I'd have to say that Claudia doesn't hold a candle to AoD.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
Isn't she the quintessential pre-Raphaelite heroine?
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
*shakes head sadly*
Kids these days.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
But that's nitpicking.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
*sticks out a toe and squishes a single blade of grass in Bob's yard*
*runs*
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
There's really almost a sense of rehearsed muscularity here.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
*runs over to Bobs front door, leaves flaming bag of poo*
*runs like hell* Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
The interesting thing about this performer is the very macho kind of preening quality he gives to this dance.
Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :
quote: Ummm, I'd have to say that Claudia doesn't hold a candle to AoD.
Oh... my... god. This has me laughing so hard I've got tears leaking from my squinty eyes. It really does!
And Dick, whoever you are ::coughelizabethorfiazcocough::, your pithy commentary is witty and fascinating. It has a certain Pre-Raphaelite lovelyness about it, dont you think?
edit: damnit. I didnt see your pre-raphaelite comment. Now mine sounds reduntant.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
How nice!
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
I remember when punk-ass kids wouldn't dream of saying something cruel and unflattering to a women's face in public, or compare her unfavorably to another woman where all can hear. Regardless of your personal preferences, Advent, where precisely are your manners?
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
[edited for clarity, twice]
It is certainly unseemly, ElJay.
[ February 25, 2006, 08:46 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by password (Member # 9105) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dick Button: The interesting thing about this performer is the very macho kind of preening quality he gives to this dance.
Does this remind anyone else of the "Dancing Cucumber" veggie tales song? or am I just sick?
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
Japanese comedienne I heard:
Yes, we Japanese are very repressed. And it's your fault. You know how your parents will say how hard it was to have to walk to school in the snow, and that sort of thing? Whenever we'd complain, our parents would say, "When I was your age, we had a nuclear bomb dropped on us." How do you compete with that?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
We older folks go to bed early, and look what I missed. I just wanted to add...
COBOL? COBOL? THe only way we could program in COBOL was if the giant saber-tooth Kobol swallowed us hole. Then we programmed the bejeezes in the freakin Kobol. And let me tell you we did some dang good programming that way. Real programming, not like the sissy stuff you kids do today.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
In my day, young men had manners! We would never insult a lady's looks, heavens no! We realized, rightly so, that were a woman to truly describe our persons, there would be nothing left to us but to become a hermit. Fortunately, women are generally much subtler, often to the point where the guy doesn't realize he's been put down until years later. When some kind woman explains it to him, pats him on the head and tells him "it's okay...that was a long time ago. You're nothing like that now.
And, in my day, when teachers didn't like your first draft of something, it meant scraping the rock clean and chiseling the whole thing over from scratch! Literally!
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
"it meant scraping the rock clean and chiseling the whole thing over from scratch! "
I'm not quite sure about those arm movements.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Okay, now that I've remembered who Dick Button is, these comments suddenly have become totally hilarious.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
Good boy!
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
That's tellin' `em Grampaw Bob!
[sotto voce)[i]Call the home![/sotto voce]
PS: 'sotto voce is one of those phrases I really like.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Back in my day, we had to whisper asides "loudly" to each other because no-one had invented sotto voce yet!
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
"That's tellin' `em Grampaw Bob!"
He has a wonderful kind of flair, very much in the style of the 19th Century Romantic poet Bryon might have been. He's kind of Byronic, isn't he?
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by Advent 115: Ummm, I'd have to say that Claudia doesn't hold a candle to AoD.
Wow, just wow. I haven't heard anything this stupid in awhile- especially not on Hatrack. I'd give you an award, but it would involve drowning you to prevent you from breeding.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
That might make things worse, him being pond scum and all...
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
His technique always looks as though it was invented in an egg grinder and beat up in a mixing bowl, but he gets it done and it kinda comes off when he does a very well-put-together program.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bob_Scopatz: That might make things worse, him being pond scum and all...
So I should drown him in a chlorine rich swimming pool?
Posted by password (Member # 9105) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve:
quote:Originally posted by Advent 115: Ummm, I'd have to say that Claudia doesn't hold a candle to AoD.
Wow, just wow. I haven't heard anything this stupid in awhile- especially not on Hatrack. I'd give you an award, but it would involve drowning you to prevent you from breeding.
ok, hang on... I know you all don't have the bludgeon-sharp, finely-tuned-as-a-shotgun, sense of humor that I have, but perhaps Advent *is* just playing along here? After all, ClaudiaTherese chose to portray herself as a rather ugly drawing... is it too much credit to give Advent for being wry enough to have a little fun with that?
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Hmm...could be.
fwiw, I was just "riffing" in PC's thing about drowning. It's not really "aimed" at Advent, I just thought the pond-scum comment would be funny.
I don't really "know" Advent, and I really doubt anyone was really upset with him -- otherwise they'd either really be on the attack or they'd be totally silent.
Posted by password (Member # 9105) on :
I thought that might be the case. Just the drowning bit seemed a little harsh to me and so I nobly came to the rescue. But since he hasn't thanked me for it, have at the ingrate. Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
password,
Hatrack Rule Number 7,365: Primal Curve = Harsh.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
But it's a good harsh...like salt and vinegar potato chips.
Posted by password (Member # 9105) on :
*loves salt and vinegar chips*
thanks for appraising me
Posted by Sergeant (Member # 8749) on :
Mistakenly ate a salt and vinegar chip once. . . ACK!
Sergeant
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
Who on Earth says S&V potato chips are good? *ralph*
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Me!
But, if you prefer, it's a good harsh, like 90% cocoa chocolate.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
That was better than something worse.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Salt and Vinegar potato chips are an aquired taste. Once aquired, however, they're like crack. Kind of like the dill pickle chips.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
quote:Originally posted by ElJay: I remember when punk-ass kids wouldn't dream of saying something cruel and unflattering to a women's face in public, or compare her unfavorably to another woman where all can hear. Regardless of your personal preferences, Advent, where precisely are your manners?
Fine. I would like to publicly appologize for saying that to Claudia. I had not meant the comment to be taken seriously, I was just trying to joke about my movie idea.
So I am sorry Claudia. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
What a lovely apology.
(No, I do not really take an insult to the person of the Duchess to heart, but it is gracious of you to respond so. Thank you! )
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: Salt and Vinegar potato chips are an aquired taste. Once aquired, however, they're like crack. Kind of like the dill pickle chips.
I miss salt 'n vinegar chips and dill pickle chips. They ARE crack, and I've been rehabbed. I miss me dill pickle chips. Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
S&V chips are good but I really miss ketchup chips (Canadian). They are YUM and you can't get them south of the border! KQ, have you ever tried them?
Bob, aren't chip crumbs considered lawn fertilizer?
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Salt and Vinegar potato chips are an aquired taste. Once aquired, however, they're like crack. Kind of like the dill pickle chips.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Salt and Vinegar potato chips are an aquired taste. Once aquired, however, they're like crack. Kind of like the dill pickle chips.
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
hmmm
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I think he's had too much salt n' vinegar chips. Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bob_Scopatz: Hmm...could be.
fwiw, I was just "riffing" in PC's thing about drowning. It's not really "aimed" at Advent, I just thought the pond-scum comment would be funny.
I don't really "know" Advent, and I really doubt anyone was really upset with him -- otherwise they'd either really be on the attack or they'd be totally silent.
HEY! I take offence at being called pond scum!
I'm not pond scum. I'm the fish eating the pond scum. Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
That's just nasty. Really.
Gosh.
Where is your sense of taste?
Sour cream and onion taties -- that's the game.
*grumbles*
Kids these days!
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
Flavored potato chips in general are new fashioned. We just had potatos in my day. Fancy-shmancy multiple forms of the noble potato...
Posted by sarcare (Member # 8736) on :
You had potatoes in your day! In my day the only people with potatoes were the Inca and they weren't sharing, we just had bread, and it wasn't particularly good bread either. We also didn't have flavors in my day, we couldn't afford flavors, there was gruel or bread, and occasionally bread and gruel.
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
yeah, those damn Incans were a stingy bunch.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Taties mashed.
Taties boiled.
Taties fryed.
Taties baked.
Taties with cabbage and carrots . . . and on a good day, a little corn beef . . .
Taties in just about any shape, form, taste, one desires.
*nummy*
*grin*
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
I would start a potato holy war over your depiction of the noble potato with <shudder> cabbage, but I'm too lazy.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Bubble and squeak. Squeak and bubble. Yum!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
You all had it easy. Why, when I was your age, we didn't even HAVE complaining. If we had to communicate our discontent, all we could do was grunt and bang rocks together. And not even little rocks. Those hadn't been invented yet. Giant boulders. It was our banging those giant boulders together all those years that allowed you young whippersnappers the luxury of small, hand-held rocks.
Also, we didn't even have dial-up modems. We had smoke signal modems.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Back in my day, we had REAL pond scum, not this lily-livered froth they try to pass off as "pond scum."
Advent... Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
*flashback to the Superbowl "Federal Express" commercial*
Gee -- thanks, Tante . . .
*snort*
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Thank you, Advent. I appreciate it.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by sweetbaboo: S&V chips are good but I really miss ketchup chips (Canadian). They are YUM and you can't get them south of the border!
Of course you can. (I'm not sure why you'd WANT to, but that's your problem. )
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
quote:Originally posted by ElJay: Thank you, Advent. I appreciate it.
For what?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote: posted February 25, 2006 10:43 PM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by sweetbaboo: S&V chips are good but I really miss ketchup chips (Canadian). They are YUM and you can't get them south of the border! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course you can. (I'm not sure why you'd WANT to, but that's your problem. )
I've had 'em. They're not as good as plain chips dipped in ketchup.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Really, is there anything quite as good as the potato?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Um, yeah, lots of things. Shoe leather. Glue. You know. Things. Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I can make glue from potato. True story.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
Almost really quite effective.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
You should see my horse from potato. I can make it work.
Posted by Dick Button (Member # 9197) on :
I think it is so wonderful that any of these skaters can do whatever they want!
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
dude i want burgers bar
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
(Regarding Bob's original post. Something to be directed against the modern punkiness, people who get whatever they want. I only get it all because I have a tongue and know what to say - to some people. That's why I never failed anything - and not because I was always competent!)
Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
I need to clarify, Old Dutch ketchup chips are the only kind that are tasty, the rest are inferior in their attempt to even be called such. But thanks anyway rivka.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
If you're willing to pay for it, you can buy them on ebay.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
Quid, if I, say, mailed you some salt & vinegar chips, would they get to you? How carefully is mail checked?
Also, what are the chances they'd get there in pieces bigger than crumbs?
Also, once we're inside, how I find you? And once I do, how do we escape?
Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
Heh heh, as much as I love em KQ, $20 is a little much for a delicious treat of chips. What don't they sell on ebay though? Seriously.
Edit to add: yes I'm a ketchup chip snob!
[ February 27, 2006, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: sweetbaboo ]
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jonathan Howard: I only get it all because I have a tongue and know what to say - to some people. That's why I never failed anything - and not because I was always competent!
Jonathan, sometimes you do cease to amaze me.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: I think he's had too much salt n' vinegar chips.
*snort*
I think perhaps he's just made of salt and vinegar - forget the chips. But I say that in a good way, because you, PC, are one of my bright spots when I visit.
Long live salt and vinegar! (Okay, in all truth, I like sour cream & onion better, but whatever)
Posted by Yopu (Member # 8827) on :
Um. Ooops.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
So...smooth way to hide your new secret identity.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
quote:Originally posted by Brinestone: Quid, if I, say, mailed you some salt & vinegar chips, would they get to you? How carefully is mail checked?
Also, what are the chances they'd get there in pieces bigger than crumbs?
Also, once we're inside, how I find you? And once I do, how do we escape?
*laughs* You're cute, brinestone. Yeah, they'd probably get to me - locals don't like potato chips. Only foreigners like 'em. But yeah, they'd likely end up squashed into crumbs. Which is sadness in its epitome.
So. Ya wanna come visit? Sure! Fly on over! We've got the room... Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
In my day, when we wanted to hide a secret identity, we'd use a phone booth!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
And white shirts of some kind of special material that don't show red and blue through them.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
You had phone booths in your day? We had to climb up the telephone pole and tap out our messages in morse code.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
You had Morse Code? We used signal drums.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
You kids have it so easy! When I was your age, we didn't have broadband modems, we didn't have dial-up modems, we didn't have modems at all! The only computers were on Star Trek, and they tended to spew smoke and sparks when too much was asked of them.
When I was your age, we understood that the reason we dial a phone is because phones had actual dials on them -- none of this namby-pamby push buttons you see nowadays. And if you had to call someone with a lot of 0's and 9's in their number, you might as well just sent them a letter, you'd have to wait so long for that dial to go back around again. That's why New Yorkers were so uppity -- they had the best area code of them all -- 212. New Jersey was stuck with 201, and they still haven't gotten past their inferiority complex.
When I was your age, we didn't have cable, we didn't have satellite, we had antennae on the roof. Big giant antennae, like you'd think we were trying to contact extra-terrestrials. Except back then, we called them Aliens. And if a windy storm came around, it would knock those antennae off kilter, so we'd have to climb back up on the roof to get reception again. And for what? For four lousy channels, all of them snowy. And what was on? Lawrence Welk. And none of these sleek flat-screen jobbies you kids have now. No sirree, Bub! Our televisions were big monstrous contraptions that sat on the floor. They had wooden cabinets and they looked like furniture. They even had these fake handles and knobs on fake drawers, so that you'd be tricked into believing that they really were furniture. But you could always tell that they weren't because they had a screen in the middle. And when you turned on or off the set, or changed the channel or the volume, you'd have to get up off your butt and do it by fiddling with these little buttons and knobs on the front of the TV. Remote controls? We didn't even know what they were! And when you turned off the set, the picture didn't just go dark. No. I got smaller and smaller until it was a tiny dot in the middle of the set that kind of lingered there, until it slowly faded away. It was like Lawrence Welk was being sucked into another dimension.
We didn't have VCR's, we didn't have DVD's, we didn't even have Betamax. If we wanted to see a movie, we had to go out to the cinema. Which had one screen and showed only one movie. And if you'd already seen it, well then, you were out of luck.
There was no World of Warcraft. There wasn't even Pac Man. We had video games -- five of them, all the same. Pong. Tennis. Table Tennis. Doubles Tennis. Handball. You hooked them up to your TV screen, and then they ruined your TV screen by burning the imprint of the Pong court onto the screen.
By the way, I'm not kidding about any of this. I really am that old.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
A pox on your drums. We had smoke signals.
Which was really annoying, because your skin was always dry from all the smoke and you smelled like smoke and you couldn't just pop down to the local Bath and Body Works and get scented moisturizer, oh no. These kids today are all spoiled.
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
I live in Israel, that means that when I was a kid technology was very similar to Tante's descriptions.
Sure, there were people with remote controlled TVs and nice houses - rich Americans. I'm not kidding you; those were practically the only ones around the area I am.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by Carrie:
quote:Originally posted by quidscribis: I think he's had too much salt n' vinegar chips.
*snort*
I think perhaps he's just made of salt and vinegar - forget the chips. But I say that in a good way, because you, PC, are one of my bright spots when I visit.
Long live salt and vinegar! (Okay, in all truth, I like sour cream & onion better, but whatever)
I'm a bright spot? I've always thought of myself more as tarnished brass that just doesn't come clean.
PS: Spanks for the compliment.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
quote:When I was your age, we didn't have cable, we didn't have satellite, we had antennae on the roof.
And we didn't even have an antenna on the Roof. When we would go to the City to do Christmas shopping, Parent would leave us in Sears & Robuck's where they had a big cabinet TV with bleachers set arround. We would sit there all day and watch while she shopped. Then with stars in our eyes we would go home and dream of next years Howdy Doody dose.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Bah! The lot of you!
In my day, they hadn't invented the third dimension. We got around just as fine as you please in two dimensions, and if you couldn't go around something, you just had to wait until it moved. None of this new-fangled "stepping over" things that the kids are so wild about.
Posted by Anti-Chris (Member # 4452) on :
"We got around just as fine as you please in two dimensions, and if you couldn't go around something, you just had to wait until it moved. None of this new-fangled "stepping over" things that the kids are so wild about."
Wait until things moved? Luxery. Least things MOVED in your day. When I was a lad, it was nothing but lines for arms and legs, and things just sat there. And if we were lucky, there would be a window occassionally that we could fantasize about what might be outside of it (even though we all knew it would be a blank square of white), and even that would be after consciousness was invented. Before that, it was pretty mundane.
Posted by sarcare (Member # 8736) on :
Man, things were GOOD in your day, in MY day, we were just dots--none of this new fangled movement or lines. There was no communcation, because that would require more existance then the dots that we were!
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Oh, boy (tries to control laughter) the more I read this thread the more funny it gets. Bob is a riot!
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
In my day, we programmed in pure Binary, because the 3 hadn't been invented yet.
And that was because I invented the 2.
Before that, we had like 1 number. Talk about difficulty writing code.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Wait a sec.... 2 & 3 aren't real!
Only zero and one are real numbers!
(reallity begins to breakdown in background) Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Anti-Chris (Member # 4452) on :
Pssh, I went back in time and invented the concept of 0 just so you know your score when we play each other in Halo.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Maybe there, but never in paintball.
(coughs) LOOSER! Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Hmph. In my day, we didn’t have any time travelers visiting us. They couldn’t. Time had been broken for years and the army was too busy creating the first breathable oxygen to bother fixing it. Old Leonard down at the shop rigged up some kind of whirligig and managed to jerry-rig a few hours for us so we could get things done. You should have seen us all running around. Then that contraption up and quit, but Leonard had gone and kicked the bucket during that few hours and nobody knew how to get the thing running again.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
Although I am not nearly as old as Bob, I am a woman. Which means that my years count double in terms of maturity.
I have used slide rules and punch cards.
I owned an HP 35.
I had a passbook for my first bank account. When ever I put money in or took money out, the clerk would write the transaction down in the book by hand.
I had to type all my college reports by hand with a manual type writer.
When we cut and pasted text in something we were writing. We used real scissors and glue.
Not only did were there no remote controls for changing the channel. The pictures would sometimes start to scroll up the TV screen or they would be stretched into a trapezoidal shape. We had these three little knobs at the bottom of the set you could play with when this happened to try to get the picture back to being rectangular and in the middle of the screen.
There was no TV in the wee hours of the morning. At midnight, stations played the national anthem and went off the air until morning.
I was in my late twenties, before I discovered that OZ was in color. That was the first time I'd ever seen the movie on anything but a black and white TV.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Rabbit, did you ever play with the vertical hold so that the people's feet would be at the top of the screen and their heads at the bottom. You know, just for fun, 'cause there was nothing on but Lawrence Welk, anyway.
And just after the national anthem, and before the screen went blank, there was the "test pattern". How did you land up scoring on that test?
I had the passbook, too. I remember when the bank gave me the choice of continuing with the passbook, or going to some kind of suspicious "statement account".
Remember how your typewriter ribbon could come in two colors, so that you could type in red if you really wanted to. But, come on, who ever wanted to?
We had carbon paper to make carbon copies. But in school, we had mimeographs. The mimeographs were cranked out of the mimeograph machine with an actual crank! They were on white paper with purple writing. And there was no better smell than the smell of a fresh mimeograph, still warm off the machine. It was this funky solvent kind of smell, and when the teacher passed out the mimeographs to the class, every student would lift their sheet to their face and sniff deeply. You'd get a kind of buzz off of the fumes still clinging to the paper. Yes! We were huffing mimeographs every day! And all the while, the country kept wondering why SAT scores were falling.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
(My school had a mimeograph. The teachers got so many photocopies a year; after that they had to buy their own paper and pay for copies at Kinkos or use the mimeograph.)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I remember mimeographs!
But I think that may have been less a function of my age, and more a function of the fact that my school was poor. Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
huffing mimeographs! Ah yes...it all comes back now. Mostly.
I think.
In my day, I was in charge of the film loops. For the simple reason that I could advance to the next image when the record beeped.
I was an AV nerd before there was AV. We had audio OR visual...and a human had to sync them up.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I remember two color typewriter ribbons.
I remember correction tape, which you put over your typo's, hit the key again, and if everything was lined up perfectly, covered up your typo with non-matching white stuff.
I remember mimeographs.
Mmmmm, mimeographs.
I remember slide shows with the beep. The slide projector had two slots for the slides, that ran perpendicular to the light. You pressed slid one in front of the light, and while the tape played, you took out the old slide and put in the new one in the second holder. At the beep you switched it over and repeated.
I sold TRS-80 Computers with a whopping 48K memory.
I remember playing computer games who's stunning award winning graphics consisted of <>!@#. I was the @.
I remember overhead projectors that were not connected to computers. Where colored pens helped us decipher division.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: I remember playing computer games who's stunning award winning graphics consisted of <>!@#. I was the @.
Hack or Rogue?
Golly, I miss those games. I never did figure out how to overcome the Capital "O" on level 10. The action was spelled out at the bottom of the screen. "The Orc swings." "You swing." "The Orc hits." "You are wounded (-10 points from Health)." "You miss" ...
Posted by smitty (Member # 8855) on :
I remember all that stuff. I also remember being at the forefront of the "Mac Revolution". Until I hit the real world, I thought Mac's were IT. Posted by Wendybird (Member # 84) on :
MMMmmm the smell of the dittos fresh from the machine.
What a sweet walk down memory lane (and a few good chuckles...)
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
I'm so glad that computers can fit into my luggage vs. the multi room behemoths of the old days. Or the giant stone slabs Bob used to chip (with his teeth) his IM chats.
Man I love the evolution of technology!
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I remember the Mac revolution.
2 all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
Man! You are old Bob!
When where you born? 0000.000000001 BC?
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Well, when I was a kid, I had a soda pop can art set, in which you crushed pop cans in the nifty can crusher and then decorated them with glue, sparkles, and other crafty goodies.
Pre-recycling days, y'know.
The person that figured out how to attach those can crushers to garage walls for crushing beer cans made a mint . . . Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
cans? We had to hold the soda in our outstretched hands and slurp it up. And it wasn't really SODA either. It was water that didn't fizz at all. Someone had to stand next to you making "fsssssss" noises.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Yer sich a 1-ups-man-shipper . . . Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Ha! In my day, we didn't call it one-ups-man-ship. We called it survival. And we loved it!
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
quote: The mimeographs were cranked out of the mimeograph machine with an actual crank! They were on white paper with purple writing. And there was no better smell than the smell of a fresh mimeograph, still warm off the machine.
Yuh huh! I loved the smell of fresh mimeographs.
Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
You guys are such whiners. Water? Psshh. We had to break open coconuts with our bare hands for something to drink... in Canada !!!
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
"Mac Revolution"? Didn't that result in Harry S. recalling him from Korea?
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
In my day, we had to to leap-grab to catch the rope that dragged us through gravel to school. And we didn't have feet!
And we were grateful.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Cocunut? You winer. We had to drill holes in acorns to slurp up the liquid in them.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Holes?! You're lucky you had holes. In my day, everything was accomplished through osmosis, and boy were we grateful.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:cans? We had to hold the soda in our outstretched hands and slurp it up.
In all seriousness, when I was a kid soda pop came in tin cans that had to be opened with the pointed end of a bottle opener. Then they introduced the aluminum cans with the pull tabs. Then california banned the tabs because they ended up as litter all over the ground.
Most commonly, we bough pop in glass bottles that were reusable. You paid a deposit on them which was refunded when you took the bottle back to the store. Then the bottles got shipped back to the bottling company and refilled.
Has anyone noticed that on the east coast they call it "soda", in the west we call it "pop", and in the center of the country they call it "soda pop".
Posted by sweetbaboo (Member # 8845) on :
Hey! I remember glass bottled pop. We got pic-a-pop where you got a crate and could pick out whatever flavors you wanted (glass bottles) and there was a flat fee for the crate. Then when they were all gone, you took the bottles and the crate back. Ahhh the good ole days.
I have noticed the east coast, west coast and mid states thing too.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
My only source of income in early grade school was finding the pop bottles and redeaming them for merchandise at the General Store. 2 cents for 6 oz bottles and 3 cents for the 8 oz. A trip around the perimeter of Myton was usually good for a small wagon load. The only drink offered in a can was evaporated milk.
Posted by hugh57 (Member # 5527) on :
I loved the smell of fresh mimeographs in the morning. It smelled like . . . VICTORY!!
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:When I was your age, we didn't have cable, we didn't have satellite, we had antennae on the roof.
I just bought one of those. Guess what? It works.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
In my day I didn't have a cell phone.
Wait: I still don't have a cell phone.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Does anyone remember the difference between mimeographs and dittos?
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
In my day I shaved with a straight razor.
Still do that too.
I also use bits and a brace. Who knows what that means? (no google allowed)
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Glenn, you wacky Luddite, you!
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
And proud of it baby!
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold: I also use bits and a brace. Who knows what that means? (no google allowed)
Suspenders, right?
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Nope.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Maybe Bob would know. It's a man thing, probably.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
A truss?
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
A hand drill.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:When I was your age, we didn't have cable, we didn't have satellite, we had antennae on the roof. I just bought one of those. Guess what? It works.
You fools! Put the antannae in the attic not on the roof. It works just as well but doesn't get blown down in wind storms or crushed by heavy snow.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Dana got it in one.
Tante: I thought that might lead in that direction.
Rabbit: The house I grew up in had a flat roof and no attic. The house I now own has "cathedral ceilings" (which is pretty funny considering the slope of my roof is only 1 on 12). Neither had an attic to put an antenna in. And I've never had an antenna get blown down in a wind storm. I imagine it'd be hard to get the antenna rotator to work in an attic also, 'cause it would get caught on the christmas ornament box everytime you try to tune in a station from Schenectady.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold:
Does anyone remember the difference between mimeographs and dittos?
No, please tell me. Because what Tante described as mimeographs--the purple-ink sheets we deeply inhaled--we called dittos.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Your TV stations broadcast over the airwaves? WOW!
In my day we didn't have airwaves. It was all particles. Photons were little billiard balls. If you went outside on a sunny day, you'd come back home with a concussion and a lumpy sunburn.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hey, I STILL come home with a concussion and a lumpy sunburn if I go outside on a sunny day.
Anyway, when I was a kid, we didn't have "outside". If we wanted to go out, we had to go out back.
Later on, when these kinds of things go to be more widespread, we could go out front.
But out side? Unheard of!
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Bah widespread! We had to spread things narrowly when I was a lad. Anything over a millimeter and you'd be in BIG trouble. And that was before we even had the metric system to know how wide a millimeter was!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
So you used hairs off your head to measure 'em?
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Mimeograph was the stencil, Ditto was the spirit fluid. You needed both to make a copy.
Then there was the Ozalid process (positive image), and the even older blueprints (negative image).
Tante: When I was a kid, there was no inside. Which was just fine with me, because houses are nothing but a modern convenience anyway.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
*laughing at Glen Arnold*
You're right, Glen -- houses were big adult conveniences, and giant-sized kid headaches.
If we were in one, it meant just a couple of things:
1. In deep big trouble 2. Sick 3. Dinner, (tubbie), bed
*grin*
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
quote:Originally posted by Glenn Arnold: Mimeograph was the stencil, Ditto was the spirit fluid. You needed both to make a copy.
FWIW, this is not accurate. Mimeographs and dittos are two closely related, but distinct forms of printing. Ditto is not a fluid, it is the machine, or process or whatever, itself. Ditto sheets were thicker than mimeograph sheets, and worked by a reverse process, kind of like a carbon paper. Whatever you wrote or typed would be copied in reverse on the back side of the sheet. Then you would throw away the carbon and attach the ditto paper to the roller, which would make the impressions, re-reversed, or correct side out. Mimeographs used a much thinner paper, and pushed ink through the paper, as opposed to "reflecting" it off of the paper.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
What the--?
Does anybody else have the title "Is Sex Important?" at the top of this window?
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
My window says "Is Bob Important?"
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
My window says "No"
Sorry man, I couldn't help myself.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I am so old that I laughed when The Rabbit posted about tv antennae.
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as a response. If you got a ![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
you would archive the page and show it to your folks!![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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