[Zorro]

Plus, they were so heavy and sturdy and solid that you could literally bludgeon a grown man to death with the telephone (or even just the receiver) and the phone would surely work just fine afterwards. In fact, I'm sure this has happened many times over the decades, though I've no idea if such stats are kept anywhere online. Just try that with an iPhone or Galaxy 5! Gorilla glass my ass!

I've got one of those old/heavy/black/rotary phones, complete with the painted metal (not clear plastic) dial in my guest bedroom upstairs. The sound quality on it is equal to that of the much newer (though still 'retro') Bang and Olufsen wired phone that I use in my own bedroom, and B&O phones are renowned for their sound quality.

I remember we had this style of phone when my family lived in the West End of Pittsburgh.
In 1962 we had a wall version, when we moved close to McDonald, Pa., in our living room.

[Palomine]

I remember we had this style of phone when my family lived in the West End of Pittsburgh.
In 1962 we had a wall version, when we moved close to McDonald, Pa., in our living room.

Yah when I was a small kid (70s) we had a mustard-yellow rotary wall phone on the kitchen wall... this was before AT&T got split up... maybe it was made by Bell? Anyway, it wasn't as old as the black one I have upstairs now (the kitchen phone had that clear plastic dial) but still: built to last a lifetime. That phone had a loooong coiled cord for the receiver, so you could talk and move around the whole kitchen... of course, the handset got dropped literally hundreds of times over the years... banging off the hard ceramic tile floor over and over again. As far as I know, it still worked fine when my folks sold the house... more than 30 years later.

Added later: thinking about the old yellow rotary wall phone with the long coiled cord in the house were I grew up: yes, the cord got kind of stretched out and kinked up over the years, but really, that seems a small caveat vs. the modern alternative: a cordless phone (either countertop or wall-mounted). Realistically, cordless phones are among the more-disposable consumer items: the batteries rarely last more than several years (at the most) and inevitably, when you tire of the shortened battery life/call times, you usually wind up replacing the whole phone since it barely costs more and takes less time than hunting down the replacement rechargeable battery pack that the original phone uses. Thus, while that old corded yellow phone wasn't pretty and didn't do anything other than let you make and receive phone calls, it lasted three decades or more. Cordless phones for that same span of time? Most folks would/will/do go through at least four phones, some perhaps even five or six. The only way to avoid that is to replace the battery pack which many people don't bother with (plus, you still have to recycle the batteries, which (again) many folks don't bother with). Just imagine ALL the five-year-old cordless phones (many with multiple handsets) that wind up in landfills over time (yes, some get recycled) and how much wasted energy/resources/pollution (from batteries that wind up in the ground instead of being recycled) they represent. Now, imagine SAVING all that energy/resources/pollution if people would simply be able to be buy and be happy with sturdy corded phones instead like those of yesteryear.

Not to be (extra) curmudgeonly or anything: I'm ok w/capitalism, our consumer society, etc... up to a point. But the RATE at which stuff is replaced nowadays is ridiculous. I know it's always justified due to new features and/or fashion (how many Gs you want on your new cellphone buddy? What is that... a GOLD iPhone? Copper's what all the beautiful people have now. ) but since stuff is expected to be replaced so soon, things are rarely made to last.

Lots of stuff sold these days is essentially junk: it looks nice new, but the finish, materials, workmanship and design/engineering are all such that the thing is much less nice to have/use a year or few down the road. Unless you pay top dollar of course: I'm sure someone makes nice hand tools... the kind that your grandchild will still be using... but if so, they sure as hell don't sell them at Home Depot. I've got some hand tools from MY grandfather, and they just feel better in the hand and seem less likely to break than the versions I purchased new myself. Of course, it's even worse for things like cars and computers and electronics and appliances: I mean, when you start taking those things apart it's astonishing how cheaply most parts of most things are made. The little bracket that holds up the power windows in my car is made of white plastic (maybe nylon) and practically every similar car of a certain age (usually about 7 years old or so) has that bracket break, necessitating a $400+ repair each time (per window mind you: I've had two fail so far ...most of that repair cost is for labor). The replacement part you buy from the original manufacturer is made of aluminum... presumably they don't use aluminum in the first place for cost reasons (plastic's cheaper). But this particular failure has surely happened tens of thousands of times by now... it's a well-known defect. The sadder thing is that when I was looking at a NEW version of my car in the showroom, I asked the service guy and learned that they STILL use the white plastic brackets! On the new cars! Even though they've KNOWN for more than a decade that they fail right after the warranty expires!

It's all too much for a boy to bear sometimes.

[gOOber]

 

[Zorro]

CARP - Canadian Association of Retired People

Questions and Answers from CARP Forum

Q: Where can single men over the age of 60 find younger women who are interested in them?
A: Try a bookstore, under Fiction.

Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause?
A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement. When you're done, you will have a place to live.

Q: Someone has told me that menopause is mentioned in the bible...
Is that true? Where can it be found?
A: Yes. Matthew 14:92:
"And Mary rode Joseph's ass all the way to Egypt..."

Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your over-60 year-old husband?
A: Tell him you're pregnant.

Q: How can you avoid that terrible curse of the elderly wrinkles?
A: Take off your glasses.

Q: Seriously! What can I do for these crow's feet and all those wrinkles on my face?
A: Go braless. It will usually pull them out..

Q: Why should 60-plus year old people use valet parking?
A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q: Is it common for 60-plus year olds to have problems with short term memory storage?
A: Storing memory is not a problem, Retrieving it is the problem.

Q: As people age, do they **82** more soundly?
A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q: Where should 60-plus year olds look for eye glasses?
A: On their foreheads.

Q: What is the most common remark made by 60-plus year olds when they enter antique stores?
A: "Gosh, I remember these!"

SMILE, You've still got your sense of humor!

[Palomine]

I'm usually not a fan of these sorts of lists, but that was fairly funny. Thanks Zorro!

[gOOber]

Women our age- they don't tell, they don't swell, and they're grateful as hell.

[pedonbio]

 

[pedonbio]

 

[gOOber]

 

[pedonbio]

www.youtube.com/v/3_6I50oXAVM

[pedonbio]

If you remember when Jimi looked like this:

[gOOber]

 

[Shara]

when you don't know a single person in the top 100 and Wonder who Nikki Mileage is

[gOOber]

^
I remember you. Welcome back!

[Palomine]

when you don't know a single person in the top 100 and Wonder who Nikki Mileage is

Not knowing who the top-selling recording artists are?! Welcome to middle age (even if you've arrived a bit early chronologically).

  <- a peck on the cheek for the middle-aged lady.