# You know you’re old when...



## GaryQ

figured this might be a fun thing. Let’s see if it gets any momentum.

You know your old when...

You not only know what this is but actually used one for years!


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## Daniel

I remember as a child in the 1980s my mother having us lick these shopper reward stamps for placement in a savings book, "which could be redeemed for products in the catalog":

SH Green Stamps - Wikipedia



My parents would get the stamps mostly from Publix, a still-popular grocery store in Florida and other states.


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## David Baxter PhD

Yes. My mom too.


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## GaryQ

I remember the days before cable TV when TV had 12 channels and about 10 of which brought in nothing. The other 2 mostly snow. And I being the youngest was the remote control for many years “Gary, go change the channel”


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## gooblax

I won't be able to compete with some of these but I did have an old dial channel-changing TV. The worst was when I broke both of my arms as a kid and was staying home from school and could watch TV but was too weak with my injured arms to change the channel. At some point during Days of Our Lives I tried to make a lever out of pens to get the dial to move.


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## GaryQ

Oh my I’m still laughing at that one gooblax. I got tears in my eyes for real. 
My thread, so off topic permitted for an explantation as to how did you manage to break both arms?

This one I’m really curious to find out.


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## Daniel

My first guess:  magpies.

Second guess:  Australian military recruits at an early age.

Third guess:  Childhood acting without a stunt double.


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## David Baxter PhD

GaryQ said:


> I remember the days before cable TV when TV had 12 channels and about 10 of which brought in nothing. The other 2 mostly snow. And I being the youngest was the remote control for many years “Gary, go change the channel”



I remember the days before TV. 

OK I'm not really THAT old but for most of my first 10 years we lived in small communities in northern British Columbia, up in the mountains, especially Kemano which was in a valley called Kildala Pass (only way in or out was by helicopter or seaplane, or in the summer jeep over the mountains if you were adventurous). TV did exist, but not for us. No way to get reception up in the mountains. Even radio was sketchy - maybe once a week if the weather was just right.

Our first TV was in Montreal. I think it was 3 channels: one English, one French, and one that just showed an Indian head all day. Broadcasts ended right after the news about 11.30. After a few years, we did get a "remote control". It was like a small keyboard with buttons and a long cord stretched across the floor and plugged into the TV. Quite amazing technology if you didn't mind tripping.


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## gooblax

GaryQ said:


> My thread, so off topic permitted for an explantation as to how did you manage to break both arms?





Daniel said:


> My first guess:  magpies.
> 
> Second guess:  Australian military recruits at an early age.
> 
> Third guess:  Childhood acting without a stunt double.


Pretty close on the 3rd guess 
I used to set random dares/challenges for myself. Usually they were fairly benign like "have to get 3 baskets in a row before I can stop playing" or similar. But one afternoon I dared myself to jump off a high swing. I landed badly on the hard ground and Bob's your uncle. I told my parents that I slipped rather than owning up to it being a result of something intentional. :facepalm:


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## David Baxter PhD

gooblax said:


> Bob's your uncle.



Just a minor point, but that's incorrect. Bob is not and never was my uncle. You have been misinformed.


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## gooblax

David Baxter said:


> Just a minor point, but that's incorrect. Bob is not and never was my uncle. You have been misinformed.


Barb's your auntie?


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## GaryQ

gooblax said:


> Pretty close on the 3rd guess
> I used to set random dares/challenges for myself. Usually they were fairly benign like "have to get 3 baskets in a row before I can stop playing" or similar. But one afternoon I dared myself to jump off a high swing. I landed badly on the hard ground and Bob's your uncle. I told my parents that I slipped rather than owning up to it being a result of something intentional. :facepalm:



and these are the days of her life. I had a feeling  it was probably something self inflicted. Except i was thinking it might have involved a bicycle. I’d like to have an uncle Bob like the one in Terminator 2.


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## GaryQ

You know you’re really old when...

“Depends” is no longer just an answer to a question but also a solution to a problem


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## GaryQ

You know you’re old when they give you the senior’s discount without you asking for it


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## David Baxter PhD




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## Daniel




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## David Baxter PhD

110 cassette film


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## Daniel

Like many other moms, my mom had Tupperware parties:



(And people still have Tupperware parties!   But they are obviously not popular anymore.)


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## David Baxter PhD

My mom didn't have much Tupperware. She had a lot of empty margarine containers though. She could have had a margarine party.


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## GaryQ

My mom also had Tupperware parties when I was a kid. But she has more Tupperware than parties 

When the kids were growing up we used margarine containers for everything especially for freezing spaghetti sauce etc. After all they were free and you didn’t feel like you were throwing money out when one had outlived its usefulness.


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

^^^^ Dang technology changes 
all my backups were once on 5 1/4” floppies :facepalm:


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

My first computer a timex Sinclair 1000 with 2KB ram. Mine didn’t have the 16k ram expansion cartridge 
you ran out of memory just thinking of writing any software


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## Daniel

GaryQ said:


> ^^^^ Dang technology changes
> all my backups were once on 5 1/4” floppies :facepalm:



If it makes you feel better, I think David used punch cards mg:


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## GaryQ

David: “Gary, at our age which would you rather have Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s?”

Gary: “Parkinson’s for sure”

David: “Why?”

Gary: “I’d rather spill an ounce of scotch than forget where I put the bottle”


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## David Baxter PhD

Daniel said:


> If it makes you feel better, I think David used punch cards mg:



That's true. I needed to run a statistical analysis on my Ph.D. data that SPSS at the time couldn't handle (I had both unequal N's and missing data cells) so I had to learn Fortran and write my own program on the university mainframe. And punch cards it was.


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## GaryQ

You know you’re old when...

Looking in a forum section to post in a thread, you surprisingly stumble upon a Topic/thread (hint: this one) and then realize that you started it not that long ago and already forgot all about it. 

which now reminds me of at least one other thread I have forgotten about and haven’t updated as planned in a long time. :facepalm:

I have a neurological condition...
But I can’t remember what it is...
<old timer’s disease - AKA Alzheimer’s>


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## GaryQ

Was going to post this in Humor-NOS but might as well post it here now since it’s related to the topic


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## GaryQ

You know you’re old when you remember when wearing a seatbelt wasn’t mandatory...

And you know you’re really old when you actually remember when cars didn’t even have seatbelts.


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## GaryQ

Inspired by Dainiel’s post:
https://forum.psychlinks.ca/showthread.php?8181-3-Positive-Things-Part-5&p=251011#post251011

You know you’re getting old or getting there if you actually remember when the stuff they sold in dollar stores actually cost a dollar.


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## Daniel

They do only cost a dollar at some of them still.   Just requires a longer drive sometimes, which makes the trip even more special


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## GaryQ

Not in Canada, we have to cough up all this in precious metals:



Just to get one of these,  ugly as heck pieces of paper:


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

Google up their prices for the 8MB hard drives around 1982 or 83... If I recall they were over 4,000$ US


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## Daniel

That's a lot of station-wagon-filled trips to the "dollar" store.


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

OK I found a RadioShack catalog archive and found the following in the 1982 catalog as expected...

But! First let's see what 1$ in 1982 would be worth today!



So Price in US dollars listed must be multiplied x 2.62 to give you an idea of what it was worth back then.
From historic charts it seems the US Dollar cost $1.32 CDN on Oct 30, 1982
In CDN $ that's listed price X 2.62 X 1.32 mg:



So the WHOPPING storage capacity of the NEW TRS-80 8.4 MB, yes MEGABYTES, Hard drive System could be yours in 1982 for the amazingly low price of only $4495.00 US (taxes and installation and configurations extra) 

Now for the real mg: part:
Compared to today's value...

If you were a Yankee only $4,495.00 = $11,776.90 equivalent to today
If you were a Canuck just a couple extra bucks for you $5,933.40 = $15,545.51 equivalent to today
Don't forget to add the Taxes!
And you do realize you needed to have spent $3,899.00 US or $5,146.68 CDN +Tax to have a TRS-80 Model II or the drive would be a pretty expensive paper weight.

​Some fun price comparisons for 1982:

Ford Mustang                 $6,572         Maryland     1982 (MSRP so most likely a lot less on deal days)
GMC 1500 Pickup                 $5,400         Maryland     1982 (MSRP) For the pickup truck lovers
*MSRP = Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price and usually way above actual dealer price.

Toronto (Average MLS sale price - wish I was able to get only Detached home prices) in 1982 was $95,496.00 CDN
Average Detached home sale price Vancouver in 1982 $110,700.00 CDN​


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## GaryQ

For any nostalgia buff this site has all the published Radio Shack catalogs from the first one in 1939 to the last in 2005.

It also has a whole bunch of other Radio Shack info. 
I added it to my favorites bar for when I feel like going back to a specific year(s) when I used to literally look though every page relevant or not to my hobby or dreamer interests.

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html


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## Daniel

Awesome!

And I think you just found the cure for something, like extremely mild geek melancholia


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## GaryQ

^^^^ Good one 

Thanks Daniel but We prefer to use the more politically correct term - Senior technology enthusiast nostalgia spectrum


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

Now I feel really old: from Wikipedia:


*Quantum Link* (or Q-Link) was a U.S. and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated starting November 5, 1985. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which later became America Online. 

In October 1989 the service was renamed to "America Online" and the service was made available to users of PC systems in addition to Commodore users. The original Q-link service was terminated November 1, 1995 in favor of the "America Online" brand. 

The original Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNETsystem, which Control Video Corporation licensed. Q-Link featured electronic mail, online chat (in its People Connection department), public domain file sharing libraries, online news, and instant messaging (using _On Line Messages_, or _OLM_s). Other noteworthy features included online multiplayer games like checkers, chess, backgammon, hangman and a clone of the television game show "Wheel Of Fortune" called 'Puzzler'; and an interactive graphic resort island called Habitat while in beta-testing and later renamed to Club Caribe.

In October 1986 QuantumLink expanded their services to include casino games such as bingo, slot machines, blackjackand poker in RabbitJack's Casino and RockLink, a section about rock music. The software archives were also organized into hierarchical folders and were expanded at this time.[1]
In November 1986 the service began offering to digitize users' photos to be included in their profiles, and also started an online auction service.[2]

Connections to Q-Link were typically made by dial-up modems with speeds ranging from 300 to 2400 baud, with 1200 baud being the most common. The service was normally open weekday evenings and all day on weekends. Pricing was $9.95 per month, with additional fees of six cents per minute (later raised to eight) for so-called "plus" areas, which included most of the aforementioned services. Users were given one free hour of "plus" usage per month. Hosts of forums and trivia games could also earn additional free plus time.

Q-Link competed with other online services like CompuServe and The Source, as well as bulletin board systems (single or multiuser), including gaming systems such as _Scepter of Goth_ and _Swords of Chaos_. Quantum Link's graphic display was better than many competing systems because they used specialized client software with a nonstandard protocol. However, this specialized software and nonstandard protocol also limited their market, because only the Commodore 64 and 128 could run the software necessary to access Quantum Link.

In the summer of 2005 Commodore hobbyists reverse engineered the service, allowing them to create a Q-Link protocol compatible clone called Quantum Link Reloaded which runs via the Internet as opposed to telephone lines. Using the original Q-Link software as a D-64 file, it can be accessed using either the VICE Commodore 64 emulator (available on multiple platforms, including Windowsand Linux), or by using authentic Commodore hardware connected to the Internet by way of a serial cable connected to a PC with internet access.


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## Daniel

> The service was normally open weekday evenings and all day on weekends.



OMG! What if you were sick and needed to play bingo during weekday afternoons.  Good riddance  



CompuServe.com


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## Daniel

still in business: WordPerfect - Wikipedia


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## GaryQ

Yep, my beginning in computers as a business started fixing “the computer” at the local hospital’s union office in the Laurentiens. A friend who’s wife had worked for me previously asked if i could fix their system. This was in 92 or 93 I think. I knew nothing about Windows and WordPerfect 5.1 for Windows. He insisted for weeks and finally I said drop off the Windows and WordPerfect manuals over the weekend and I’ll see if I go try and resolve your problems. 

Long story short I fixed their problems that their previous guy never could and they never called anyone else after that. Then started buying used parts building And refurbishing used computers on the side and in 95 started my business from home till I closed shop officially once my extended warranties were expired just before my heart attack in 2001.

dang time does fly like a roll of toilet paper


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## Daniel

GaryQ said:
			
		

> dang time does fly like a roll of toilet paper



Especially with pets.  My 2.5-year-old dog was a puppy not long ago up:


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## GaryQ

Daniel said:


> Especially with pets.  My 2.5-year-old dog was a puppy not long ago up:



Yeaj I bet that was like about 2 to 2.5 years ago :rofl:


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## Daniel

Time goes by faster in the States


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

Well I'm pretty sure the PINK stuff didn't exist when us slightly older members were wee ones. 
I was actually appauled when I saw PINK Nestle Quick. 
CHOCOLATE MILK YES! 
you had to stir constantly like a power mixer cause the dang stuff didn't dissolve and if not you'd get a blob of wet powder at the bottom of the glass,


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## Daniel

Of course, we would have all been better off with sugar-free Vegemite beverages


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## GaryQ

ffttt:

AND MORE

ffttt:


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## David Baxter PhD

Strawberry Quik was actually pretty good.


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## GaryQ

Sure. Even that's way better than vegemite


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## David Baxter PhD

Did you ever actually try Vegemite or Marmite, @GaryQ?

I did try Marmite years ago in England...


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## GaryQ

I know they are identical and my Friend who passed away in 2015 (I ws renting a room there for 3 years) she was a real Brit. A Cockney to be precise. So it was a staple where I lived for 3 years and hence have had the "pleasure" of seeing, smelling and getting to have the taste that made me ask " Now why the **** would you guys actually eat this stuff?. 

It really (all kidding aside) was one of the worse things I have ever tasted. And some love it... go figure...
BUT I can say that I tried it so nobody can ever bug me saying : "But you have to try it at least once!"


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

That was a cheap android tablet (RCA style)

This was an Ipad. Still selling. 
I threw mine at the wall. Learned very quickly there are some abilities I do not possess. On a scale of 1 to 10 i'm a 0.
it along with Light Brite taught me at a very young age there are things I can do and they were not on the list


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## Daniel




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## GaryQ

Those popcorn poppers are the greatest. Dang microwavable stuff is either half burnt or half popped


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## Daniel

GaryQ said:


> Dang microwavable stuff is either half burnt or half popped



President's Choice?


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## GaryQ

Hell even Orville can’t find a way to beat the old air popper not to mention it’s a penny on the dollar for orville’s Real stuff compared to microwave.

the only thing cooler was Jiffy Pop


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## gooblax

What's wrong with the current air poppers? My family has one from the late 90's which was still going strong last time I used it. (prob 2 yrs ago).


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## Daniel

gooblax said:


> What's wrong with the current air poppers?



  Maybe it's just the movies that aren't as good


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## Daniel

*Re: You know you're old when...*

The Economics Behind Grandma's Tuna Casseroles

Entertaining was mandatory. Because people didn't go to restaurants so much, they spent time having people over, or eating at someone else's house. If someone had you over, you had to have them over. This meant people had to have "company dinners" they could make, or at least a stock of canapés they could throw together for a cocktail party, even if they weren't very good at it.


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## Daniel

*Re: You know you're old when...*

A new edition of the TV series _Unsolved Mysteries_ is coming out on Netflix July 1st  :woohoo1:



> Unsolved Mysteries - Wikipedia
> 
> A 12-part reboot...The series is being "refreshed" by _Stranger Things_ executive producer Shawn Levy and his company 21 Laps Entertainment along with Cosgrove-Meurer Productions and Netflix...
> 
> Each episode will focus on a single mystery.  Cosgrove stated that the reboot will be "pure documentary style" and there will be no host or narrator.  The first six episodes of the new season will become available to stream starting July 1, 2020.


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## David Baxter PhD

Yep. I had that or a system pretty much like it.


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## Daniel

*Re: You know you're old when...*


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## GaryQ

Daniel said:


>



Sheesh 1 was 10 that year. David was probably in university....


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## GaryQ

Daniel said:


>



Now that is priceless :rofl:


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## David Baxter PhD

GaryQ said:


> Sheesh 1 was 10 that year. David was probably in university....


Yep. And living the high life.


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## forgetmenot

I remember that first day my aunt got a tv. It was black and white small but what a miracle it was to us kids anyways we got to watch wizard of oz scary in black in white.I am sure she was happy to something to help her distract us 8 kids.  It also was a turn channel button.  i believe we had rabbit ears antenna to try to get new stations lots of snow at time but what a treat it was.


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## GaryQ

Yep and with the rabbit ears we added steep wool to help a bit.
There were not as many commercials but since we spent more time back then trying to adjust the rabbit ears didn't make much difference.


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## David Baxter PhD

I remember the first "remote control" we got. It was a box about the size of an extra large box of chocolates with a bunch of channel buttons on it and a long maybe 9 foot cord that stretched across the carpet to plug into the TV. Hilarious until everyone and the pets tripped over the cord.


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## GaryQ

*Re: You know you're old when...*

We had one of those kinds when we got cable boxes.

Our first remote control was ME. as I previously stated.

Our first real remote was early 70's the old man bought a big (well cabinet it was in was big) With a real clicker remote. 2 Buttons to There was a steel round rod with a hammer action and the sound triggered the channel change. You know me, that sound sounded familiar so one day when nobody was around not to be a witness if it failed I grabbed 2 soup spoons and when hit right smack in the center click channel changes. Practiced i was 10 or 11 at the time. So as they were watching TV with the remote in the old man's hands I sneakily pulled a channel change took them a long time to figure out what was wrong with the TV or remote. Till I decided to sit on the couch and say what channel you want? and started Tapping the spoons. Priceless was the look on everyone's face.


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## gooblax

That's really cool that it was triggered by sound. I never knew they did that.

The first TV I remember my family having was a small one with a dial to change channels. My parents had a small wired remote (a bit smaller than two decks of cards put end-to-end) that they didn't know how to hook up. Apparently it connected to the VCR player or something... I don't know. I never saw it actually being used.

I did learn how to use the cassette player when I was a kid though, from having to flip the tape part way through a read-along audiobook. :lol:


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## GaryQ

@gooblax,

Was that the same TV you had to try and turn the channel knob with both arms in casts? :rofl:


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## gooblax

Yes it was. I only learned that they had a remote for it after that incident, but "it probably didn't work" according to them when I pointed out that I would've found it useful during that time period. :facepalm::lol:


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## GaryQ

Oh, I laughed so loud I think I woke up the neighbor. Although it's not nice laughing at somebody whose going senile it's a good thing she'll forget before complaining to the board.


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## gooblax

Haha 
Wait, why am I laughing? I forget, but I'm sure it was funny


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## GaryQ

Great you managed to cause the same reaction again oh well past 7:30am time for her to wake up anyway. :rofl:


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## GaryQ

"She have a disease, but can't remember what it is"


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## Daniel




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## Daniel

This looks like it's from the 70s:


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## David Baxter PhD

Some words should never appear together in a recipe or story about fish:

jellied/jelly fish (or specific type, e.g., jellied salmon, jellied trout); and
raw fish as in sushi or sashimi


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## Daniel

The Icky Era of Aspic - Sociological Images
					


The Society Pages (TSP) is an open-access social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota





					thesocietypages.org
				




I figured I'd ask my grandmother about this, 'cause, well, she did her time as a 50s housewife.
She wasn't familiar with the term aspic, but when I described it, she said, "Oh, of course.  Yeah, there were people who did that, but I never did because it tasted nasty."


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## Daniel




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