Our first phone was installed when I was 3 but I remember it.
No more running next door to make a phone call or receive one.
It was one with 2 pieces...you spoke in the speaker part and listened with the the ear phone.
When you lifted the handset, a very pleasant, non-computer voice said 'Number Please.
We had a 4-party line and if we were on too long, we heard about it from the other parties...and then we hung up fast.
Later, we got a circular number dial phone and I thought that was really 'up there'. The word high-tech did not come into being yet.
When Jeff was on vacation from college on Chanukah, he said we're all going to Sears and he was going to buy us a 'push button' phone.
Well, I was against this but I went along. That meant he had to un-install the one we had and re-install the new one.
I really thought I would never have telephone service again...but Jeff and Allen worked on this project and when they were finished, we had a dial tone and I knew we were back in business.
Now I have 3 phones...land phone, remote and a cell phone, which Jeff and Donna have charged for me every year....and every year I have tons of minutes on it ... but I forget to use it. I just don't like the quality of it....seems like a toy phone to me.
The phone I have in my bedroom is really snazzy....it's an 'answering machine' which I think is a miracle in itself.
I have 'caller ID' which interrupts me if I'm using the phone.
I also have a 'speaker phone'....and an ID feature which lets me screen calls if I want to.
It also tells me what time the caller has tried to reach me and the day.
I think that even Alexander Graham Bell would be overwhelmed by the wonderfulness that he invented.
What a sensationl invention. And one other feature, I get to use a web-cam and to see and talk to my kids every Sunday when they give me computer lessons...all the things I screwed up with during the week. Because of the phone I have high-speed internet service...all for reading ythe silly jokes.
I'm not complaining...I JUST LOVE IT1
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
The Charge Card
The year was 1967 and Mastercard came into being.
Is this a friend or foe? It's ruined many people who haven't the faintest idea of spending.
It's helped me out a lot. My husband Allen insisted I use mine every so often so that I could always have good credit.
And to this day, I carry very little cash. When I go into a restaurant or a small business, I pay cash.
For everything else...that plastic card is slid into the place where it checks to see if my card is usable.
Time was when it wasn't done electronically. When we had our toy store, we had an enormous thick book about the size of our Yellow Pages, and we had to check the number by looking.
I never told my husband Allen that I couldn't see such close print so I made a pretense of looking...then I accepted.
It worked! Never did we stumble on an over-extended card.
Some customers asked if we would give them the 4 percent discount if they paid cash.
It didn't matter to us...we agreed.
I just love my credit card and if you're in a pinch the ATM machines.
It's done much harm...but much good! You gotta weigh the card or the person using the card.
Is this a friend or foe? It's ruined many people who haven't the faintest idea of spending.
It's helped me out a lot. My husband Allen insisted I use mine every so often so that I could always have good credit.
And to this day, I carry very little cash. When I go into a restaurant or a small business, I pay cash.
For everything else...that plastic card is slid into the place where it checks to see if my card is usable.
Time was when it wasn't done electronically. When we had our toy store, we had an enormous thick book about the size of our Yellow Pages, and we had to check the number by looking.
I never told my husband Allen that I couldn't see such close print so I made a pretense of looking...then I accepted.
It worked! Never did we stumble on an over-extended card.
Some customers asked if we would give them the 4 percent discount if they paid cash.
It didn't matter to us...we agreed.
I just love my credit card and if you're in a pinch the ATM machines.
It's done much harm...but much good! You gotta weigh the card or the person using the card.
Friday, May 9, 2008
window treatment
When I was in Pennsylvania we called them Venetian Blinds...do they still make them. Haven't seen them in years!
When I moved to Florida, it all had verticals...the thing to do...and so easy to keep clean.
Except for the folks who still wanted their drapes and curtains, which really makes a house a home...warm and cozy!
Which makes me remember how difficult it was for my Mother when I was a little girl.
For those who remember the wooden curtain stretchers in the 30's The stretcher had very sharp pins around the edges to hold the curtains while they dried. They were adjustable with metal clamps that secured the ruler-like frame
How hard housekeeping was in those days. How easy everything is today.
If you don't feel like vacuuming...buy yourself a little robot that runs around your house all day picking up dust.
It's a different time. Better? I dunno!!!
When I moved to Florida, it all had verticals...the thing to do...and so easy to keep clean.
Except for the folks who still wanted their drapes and curtains, which really makes a house a home...warm and cozy!
Which makes me remember how difficult it was for my Mother when I was a little girl.
For those who remember the wooden curtain stretchers in the 30's The stretcher had very sharp pins around the edges to hold the curtains while they dried. They were adjustable with metal clamps that secured the ruler-like frame
How hard housekeeping was in those days. How easy everything is today.
If you don't feel like vacuuming...buy yourself a little robot that runs around your house all day picking up dust.
It's a different time. Better? I dunno!!!
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Reward!
If you were very good in school, you had the honored privilege of dusting the chalk erasers outside. Now this task wasn't delegated to just anybody...you had to be on your teacher's 'best side' to be allocated this job.
I never got to do it! Could that be why all of my life I have suffered from low esteem. Sometimes the teacher didn't even bother with her big eraser...she just used the heel of her hand.
When she was in a hurry or bad mood, she'd let the chalk screech...and that's a musical note like none other.
I'll never know the answers to that. Do they still use chalk...or do they use markers now....not on a blackboard, but a green board.
Another usta=was thing in my imagination!
I never got to do it! Could that be why all of my life I have suffered from low esteem. Sometimes the teacher didn't even bother with her big eraser...she just used the heel of her hand.
When she was in a hurry or bad mood, she'd let the chalk screech...and that's a musical note like none other.
I'll never know the answers to that. Do they still use chalk...or do they use markers now....not on a blackboard, but a green board.
Another usta=was thing in my imagination!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
lazy days on the front porch
One of the favorite pieces of furniture when I was growing up was our glider on the front porch. More interesting conversations took place there and that is the spot where we were able to feel complete happiness and delight with the world.
We would swing back and forth, either alone or with a member of our family and we would just enjoy.
My Sister and I bought song sheets at the 5 & 10, about 20 all different colored sheets...and with our girlfriends we would sing by the hour.
Now that I think about it, it's a wonder the neighbors didn't complain. I'm sure that it couldn't have been that enjoyable to them....hearing silly girls giggling and singing.
We really knew every lyric to every song. This is how we spent the depression years...sipping lemonade and singing ballads. One day a boy came a callin' and we were just sitting on the glider talking and laughing. Somebody's mother sewed me a broom stick skirt that was just the rage. I was about 16 and I was all dressed up entertaining on my glider.
I got up to serve him a glass of lemonade and when I got up, little did I realize he was sitting on part of my skirt...so as I arose, the skirt just slid down and I was in my panties.
I was too embarrassed to come out again. Eventually he left...probably giggling!
How I long for my glider sometimes. When nighttime came, it never occurred to us to turn on the porchlight. We just sat in the dark and rocked back and forth. People took walks and neighbors would stop in and swing on the glider.
That was an era gone by....but the memory lingers on.
We would swing back and forth, either alone or with a member of our family and we would just enjoy.
My Sister and I bought song sheets at the 5 & 10, about 20 all different colored sheets...and with our girlfriends we would sing by the hour.
Now that I think about it, it's a wonder the neighbors didn't complain. I'm sure that it couldn't have been that enjoyable to them....hearing silly girls giggling and singing.
We really knew every lyric to every song. This is how we spent the depression years...sipping lemonade and singing ballads. One day a boy came a callin' and we were just sitting on the glider talking and laughing. Somebody's mother sewed me a broom stick skirt that was just the rage. I was about 16 and I was all dressed up entertaining on my glider.
I got up to serve him a glass of lemonade and when I got up, little did I realize he was sitting on part of my skirt...so as I arose, the skirt just slid down and I was in my panties.
I was too embarrassed to come out again. Eventually he left...probably giggling!
How I long for my glider sometimes. When nighttime came, it never occurred to us to turn on the porchlight. We just sat in the dark and rocked back and forth. People took walks and neighbors would stop in and swing on the glider.
That was an era gone by....but the memory lingers on.
It's a living breathing thing!
A salamander was running alongside the top of my fence on my patio. I believe I sat about half an hour watching this tiny specimen creature, one of God's creations.
A little red thing would energize every couple of seconds from his throat area and I didn't know if it was his breathing, catching bugs, or a sexual thing.
One thing I do know! It reminded me of how a dynasaur must have looked a billion years ago except a lot diminished in size.
Is this part of the reptile family? Is it a bug? Whatever, he was so cute that I would never dare deliberately take him out of this world. Some people refer to them as geicos...others as lizards.
Little children when they visit from the north want to take them home with them...but I explain that it's a tropical creature.
Some people meditate...others do yoga. Me...I watch salamanders.
A little red thing would energize every couple of seconds from his throat area and I didn't know if it was his breathing, catching bugs, or a sexual thing.
One thing I do know! It reminded me of how a dynasaur must have looked a billion years ago except a lot diminished in size.
Is this part of the reptile family? Is it a bug? Whatever, he was so cute that I would never dare deliberately take him out of this world. Some people refer to them as geicos...others as lizards.
Little children when they visit from the north want to take them home with them...but I explain that it's a tropical creature.
Some people meditate...others do yoga. Me...I watch salamanders.