Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Things that make you feel old

12627282931

Comments

  • When one of your visiting kids asks you why you cut off the plug from the broken coffee machine prior to recycling it. You explain that you save the fuse from it in case you "ever need one." You then realise when you put it in your toolbox that you have accumulated quite a few over the years and can't ever remember needing one for quite sometime. It's probably just an old person thing I suspect?? Does anyone else do this or am I really the only fuse collector? Did amuse my Son !
    This is old school, but in today’s society nothing gets repaired, just replaced. Not sure if that makes me feel old, sound old but for some reason I find it depressing! 
    Not everywhere.  They still habitually repair things in poorer countries.  

    Also, here where I live in France, there’s a shop that does repairs of electrical goods. 

    Is there nothing like that left in the UK?
    I think the electrical shop, Cobb electrical in North Heath does repairs. 
  • cantersaddick
    cantersaddick Posts: 18,807
    When one of your visiting kids asks you why you cut off the plug from the broken coffee machine prior to recycling it. You explain that you save the fuse from it in case you "ever need one." You then realise when you put it in your toolbox that you have accumulated quite a few over the years and can't ever remember needing one for quite sometime. It's probably just an old person thing I suspect?? Does anyone else do this or am I really the only fuse collector? Did amuse my Son !
    This is old school, but in today’s society nothing gets repaired, just replaced. Not sure if that makes me feel old, sound old but for some reason I find it depressing! 
    Not everywhere.  They still habitually repair things in poorer countries.  

    Also, here where I live in France, there’s a shop that does repairs of electrical goods. 

    Is there nothing like that left in the UK?
    I actually don’t think there is, I suspect I’m wrong but I don’t know of anywhere. You don’t see hardware shops now either! You go to the local council tip and the bins are piled high with white goods, tv’s, monitors which on the face of it, look good 
    Some tips are starting to have reclaimed shops where you can buy things that have been dumped. Its great I'm building myself an outdoor kitchen, got myself a lovely old farmhouse sink for next to nothing, too scratched up for inside use but perfect for outdoors. Also got some timber, bricks and breeze blocks for the project. Was excellent.
  • CAFCTrev
    CAFCTrev Posts: 6,498
    Oh...and Sonic the Hedgehog came out 35 years ago. 


  • Close the thread for them, we have a winner. They must have been in short trousers at the time if they are that old…
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 51,734
    These days it’s simply looking in the mirror
  • guinnessaddick
    guinnessaddick Posts: 31,251
    edited August 14
    I learnt today that there is a Jean cut that women wear called boyfriend. I asked why are they called that and was told it looks like they’re wearing their boyfriend’s jeans. I thought it was because there was enough room at the front so their boyfriends could drop the hand and feed the pony.
  • NorthStandUltra
    NorthStandUltra Posts: 2,626
    When one of your visiting kids asks you why you cut off the plug from the broken coffee machine prior to recycling it. You explain that you save the fuse from it in case you "ever need one." You then realise when you put it in your toolbox that you have accumulated quite a few over the years and can't ever remember needing one for quite sometime. It's probably just an old person thing I suspect?? Does anyone else do this or am I really the only fuse collector? Did amuse my Son !
    This is old school, but in today’s society nothing gets repaired, just replaced. Not sure if that makes me feel old, sound old but for some reason I find it depressing! 
    Not everywhere.  They still habitually repair things in poorer countries.  

    Also, here where I live in France, there’s a shop that does repairs of electrical goods. 

    Is there nothing like that left in the UK?
    I actually don’t think there is, I suspect I’m wrong but I don’t know of anywhere. You don’t see hardware shops now either! You go to the local council tip and the bins are piled high with white goods, tv’s, monitors which on the face of it, look good 
    Some tips are starting to have reclaimed shops where you can buy things that have been dumped. Its great I'm building myself an outdoor kitchen, got myself a lovely old farmhouse sink for next to nothing, too scratched up for inside use but perfect for outdoors. Also got some timber, bricks and breeze blocks for the project. Was excellent.
    Brilliant idea 
  • sunbury-addick
    sunbury-addick Posts: 1,962
    My son double checked my dob this morning when buying our tickets for tomorrow. OAP rates from January for me.
  • Brownie12
    Brownie12 Posts: 1,790
    Seeing post online the other day that we signed Garry Nelson and Steve Gatting 35 years ago. This after having to move the phone away from me so I could read it. 
  • Kap10
    Kap10 Posts: 15,905
    Carl Jenkinson retiring and remembering that shy fresh faced kid doing a fans forum alongside gnarled veteran defender Christian Dailly at the Valley

  • Sponsored links:



  • I was sat on the roof of a physics lab last night with some post doctorate researchers watching the eclipse. At some point in the conversation one of them said "The things you had before CD's...".
    "Records?"  *gritting teeth* "You call them 'vinyls' now?".
    "No, not those."
    "Cassettes?!"
    "No for the computer!"
    "Oh. You mean floppy discs."
    I remember our first office computer that ran on floppy disks. Massive load of kit for bugger all memory.
    One of my older colleagues thought the floppy disks were meant to go in the grill of the monitor.
    Put 5 or 6 in and they melted and ruined the whole thing. Good old days........
  • I was sat on the roof of a physics lab last night with some post doctorate researchers watching the eclipse. At some point in the conversation one of them said "The things you had before CD's...".
    "Records?"  *gritting teeth* "You call them 'vinyls' now?".
    "No, not those."
    "Cassettes?!"
    "No for the computer!"
    "Oh. You mean floppy discs."
    Sadly, when talking of floppies Im curious over whether you refer to 3.5”, 5.25” or possibly 8”.

    (cue Dave Mehmet)
    Can you remember the earliest desk tops used to have a cassette tape for memory!
  • man_at_milletts
    man_at_milletts Posts: 5,817
    Commodore 64 with a cassette tape to run programs.  Didn't realise how much time I had in those days.  I was working in IT when the banking system introduced SWIFT and was drafted onto the team. Loading up the backend with 8" floppies, daily backups on 8" floppies it took hours. Hopefully it's all changed for the better now. 
  • letthegoodtimesroll
    letthegoodtimesroll Posts: 11,630
    edited August 18
    Commodore 64 with a cassette tape to run programs.  Didn't realise how much time I had in those days.  I was working in IT when the banking system introduced SWIFT and was drafted onto the team. Loading up the backend with 8" floppies, daily backups on 8" floppies it took hours. Hopefully it's all changed for the better now. 
    Operating the old IBM model 10s and 15s in the early/mid seventies we used to have print jobs that could run for a couple of hours on a Wednesday night. We’d put a new box of lineflo in the printer and then jump in a cab and go over to Borough market for a pint (city pubs shut at 8pm in those days). The only issue arose is if we got back a couple of hours later and the printer had jammed and had to explain the extra overtime 🤣
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 30,103
    edited August 18
    I remember being amazed when I started working for the Diamond Trading Company in Charterhouse Street that they not only had computers, but the little electronic scales they had, automatically sent the weight to the computer terminal. Nowadays we take it for granted that we can use our phones to control all manner of stuff from anywhere in the world. Back in the eighties it seemed like wizardry that a computer and a set of scales could 'talk to each other'.  
  • Big William
    Big William Posts: 3,974
    We had a Commodore PET connected to a piece of equipment for testing stuff, the program was written in BASIC and we loaded it off a cassette tape every morning. When we moved to 5.25 inch floppies, it was so quick it was like witchcraft. 
  • My 8" floppy has been redundant for many many years now. Only ever used for weeing and that takes longer than ever as well........ 
  • iainment
    iainment Posts: 8,374
    One of my first jobs in 1972 I think was as a trainee computer operator. First time I’d had any direct contact with computing
    . I remember this great big room with an airlock to get in and having to wear a lab coat and hairnet to keep dust out. It was fed information on punch cards that a squad of women would “type” a series of dots onto. There were cabinets with what looked like reel to reel tapes in.
    I didn’t last long but I suspect my phone now has more power than that thing did.

    Also remember the Sinclair Spectrum and spending hours programming it from magazine articles.

    Computing has come on a lot since then.
  • My Dad’s company manufactured some of the earliest pocket calculators. It worked until about 15 years ago. If you asked it to multiply 27 by 83, it hesitated for a significant amount of time - at least by current standards.
  • Stuart_the_Red
    Stuart_the_Red Posts: 2,087
    iainment said:

    …Also remember the Sinclair Spectrum and spending hours programming it from magazine articles.

    Computing has come on a lot since then.
    My brother had a Commodore 64 and after spending hours typing in all the codes from a magazine spending even more hours proofreading the whole thing over and over again because there was a typo somewhere und would only run for 30 seconds! 🤪

  • Sponsored links:



  • man_at_milletts
    man_at_milletts Posts: 5,817
    edited August 18
    I can recall spending most of one weekend punching in the coding on my Commdore 64 for a horse racing analysis programme using data from The Sporting Life.  Amazingly the horse I backed came on the first attempt so I was well pleased.  It was great once the programme was up and running, but equally time consuming inputting the racing data.
  • CharltonKerry
    CharltonKerry Posts: 3,112
    Before pocket calculators there was the good old slide rule, magic bit of kit, also excellent for writing formulas etc on the back for your exams.
  • Before pocket calculators there was the good old slide rule, magic bit of kit, also excellent for writing formulas etc on the back for your exams.
    Also handy for getting you home safely from space




  • CAFCTrev
    CAFCTrev Posts: 6,498
    Amazingly the horse I backed came on the first attempt so I was well pleased.
    You were doing what with horses?
  • bobmunro
    bobmunro Posts: 22,068
    My Dad’s company manufactured some of the earliest pocket calculators. It worked until about 15 years ago. If you asked it to multiply 27 by 83, it hesitated for a significant amount of time - at least by current standards.

    The Sinclair Cambridge was, I seem to recall, the world's first hand held calculator. Just the four functions (no memory function) and retailed for £30 plus VAT when it was launched in 1973 (that's the equivalent of £300 today). 
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 30,103
    Before pocket calculators there was the good old slide rule, magic bit of kit, also excellent for writing formulas etc on the back for your exams.
    I had one of these as a kid. Cutting edge stuff!

  • bobmunro
    bobmunro Posts: 22,068
    Stig said:
    Before pocket calculators there was the good old slide rule, magic bit of kit, also excellent for writing formulas etc on the back for your exams.
    I had one of these as a kid. Cutting edge stuff!


    I had one of these as a kid - all the rage back then :)

    Babbages Difference Engine No 2 2002  Science Museum Group Collection

  • sam3110
    sam3110 Posts: 24,794
    Some kid on the 161 last week said to his mate

    "Damn, that dumpy be doinky" 

    Whilst pointing at a woman's admittedly voluptuous posterior

    Truly Shakespearean

    But I feel like I'm finally losing grip on words and phrases the kids of today use
  • DaveMehmet
    DaveMehmet Posts: 22,448
    sam3110 said:
    Some kid on the 161 last week said to his mate

    "Damn, that dumpy be doinky" 

    Whilst pointing at a woman's admittedly voluptuous posterior

    Truly Shakespearean

    But I feel like I'm finally losing grip on words and phrases the kids of today use
    My daughter’s face was a picture after I said it was lovely to see her and her boyfriend boo’d up when we were out with them recently (it means in love). I also said my wife was popping off (looking good) and that the food we had was Bussin (delicious). Obviously I’d been looking terms up on-line but they both thought it was hilarious