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Are some of us getting old?

robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
edited February 2002 in General Discussion
Kind of funny thing happen at work today. One of the students was asking an instructor, 'Whats that button next to the brake', refering to the HMMWV the student was getting an introduction to. Both the instructor and myself looked at each other puzzled??? The student went on to point out the headlight dimmer switch located on the floorboard. The instructor explained,'Its the dimmer switch for the headlights, you know, like on the column of a car, but this is how they were on old cars'. It hit me, really kind of funny and hard at the same time, I'm getting old, these kids dont even know where a dimmer switch is located, or what it is? I suppose it has been a long time since vehicles had them located on the floor huh? Wierd thing is, I drive a '72 Ford Maverick, and never give it a second thought that there are actually young people that have never seen one, let alone the location of the dimmer switch, 'like on old cars'. Man oh man, times do change dont they? Makes you think doesnt it? We're becoming our parents and grandparents. Rob.
SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,447 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I went to my 20 year high school reunion some years back. I was single and was stunned to discover I was old enough to be a grandfather. Sure sneaks up on you alright Rob.
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  • PelicanPelican Member Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yep, I got a 78 Chevy p/u and when one of the kids would first drive it they always come back and ask how I put the brights on.
    The Almighty Himself Entrusted the Future of All Living Creatures to a Wooden Boat.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"Audemus jura nostra defendere"
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  • timberbeasttimberbeast Member Posts: 1,738 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Funny, robs, my '89 Ford still has it on the floor!! Funny, too, my pop will be gone ten years this month, we were up north deer hunting one year, probably 15 years ago, in my uncle's car, brand new. My uncle had quite a toot going on, and I had a few myself at the local watering hole. My pop didn't drink, so obviously he drove home. Uncle was snoring in the back seat, I was just buzzed, we kept getting flashed by other cars because the hi-beams were on, and pop is stomping his foot around trying to find the switch. We stopped several times and tried to find it, to no avail. That was the first car either of us had seen with the dimmer on the column. Hope we didn't blind anyone!!
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  • VarmintmistVarmintmist Member Posts: 1,074 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just got this in a email, seemed to fit the post to a TSubject: Class of 2004If this doesn't make you feel old - nothing will!Subject: Class of 2004Class of 2004----a new history lesson for us old fogies.Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, thiswill certainly change things. Each year the staff atBeloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list totry to give the Faculty a sense of the mindset of thisyear's incoming freshman.Here is this year's list:The people who are starting college this fall acrossthe nation were born in 1982.They have no meaningful recollection of the ReaganEra and probably did not know he had ever been shot.They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.Black Monday, 1987 is as significant to them as the GreatDepression.There has been only one Pope.They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart anddo not remember the Cold War.They have never feared a nuclear war.They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.Tianamen Square means nothing to them.Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.Atari predates them, as do vinyl record albums.The statement "You sound like a broken record"means nothing to them...They have never owned a record player.They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.They may have never heard of an 8 track. The CompactDisc was introduced when they were 1 year old.As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 33 cents.They have always had an answering machine.Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels,nor have they seen a black and white TV. They havealways had cable.There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was.They cannot fathom not having a remote control.They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or knowabout the "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up"commercial Feeling old Yet? There's more:They were born the year that Walkman was introduced by Sony.Roller skating has always meant in-line for them.Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.They have never seen Larry Bird play.They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them asWWI, WWII and the Civil War.They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk amile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!".They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. was.Michael Jackson has always been white.Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not rock bands.A telephone always had buttons, dial is just a term.McDonalds never came in Styrofoam containers.There has always been MTV.They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.Do you feel old yet?Pass this on to the other old fogies. But don't send it back to me,I feel old enough
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  • SXSMANSXSMAN Member Posts: 2,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How about starter switches mounted on the floor like dimmer switches?Still get an old british car in from time to time with those,or the Rolls Royce with the timing advance and retard on the column for starting?Vacuum wipers or the VW that used air from the spare tire for the squirter?Soon starters will only be a memory,the list is endless,unlike our days...............
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  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    thats scarey, i graduated 2 yrs after they were born. I worked college security for a little while and a student made me feel a little old when she asked me what it was like to be in nam.
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  • s.guns.gun Member Posts: 3,245
    edited November -1
    I sure don't feel all that old but;I remember telling the operator what number I wanted,and hoping that someone on their partyline did not have the line tied up.Now in front of this computor I sit and think how amazing it is that somebody (must be way smarter than me)developed electronics and so many mechanical things to what we have today.Amazing
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  • badboybobbadboybob Member Posts: 1,658 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Life was much simpler when I was a boy.There was no television, we listened to the radio.All shopping was done downtown, and the bus ride cost a nickle.The laundry was done in a machine on the porch and hung on the clothesline to dry.Saturday matinee movies were a quarter and popcorn was a nickle.The only running water in the house was at the kitchen sink.Water was heated on the wood stove.The bathroom was a two holer outhouse.We walked to school.The "board of education" was freely used at home and school.A weeks groceries for a family of five cost less than $20.There were no drugs, and very little crime.At 10 years of age I was allowed to take the family .22 to the quarry for target shooting.Bought my first rifle at age 15. Cash on the counter, no hassle, no paperwork. Best of all we were FREE. So much has happened in the 50 years since then.
    PC=BS
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  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    badboybob, Oddly enough, what you wrote here sounds as if to me it was from someones recollection of the 20's, but since you've said in the 50 years since then, it amazes me to realize you are describing the early 50's. Even people my age dont realize how fast we have made advances in technology, and that things like you have described were only JUST before our births. I also picked up on your use of the word FREE, I am sad to say, I am almost glad I dont know just how much of my freedom has been lost, as you do. Rob.
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
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  • UNIVERSITY50UNIVERSITY50 Member Posts: 1,705 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    had to stop and laugh when my 9 yr old could not figure out how to use a rotory dial telephone in the basement of the neighbors house. how about cb radio instead of cell phones? return for deposit glass milk bottles and milk delivered to the house, the jewel tea/coffee man with his basket of goodies, bias ply tires, real headlight bulds, leaded gasoline, no center brake light, riding in the back of the station wagon hanging out the back window, hunting with out orange anything, etc...
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  • bsebastbsebast Member Posts: 190 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My buddy at the dealership was telling me that GM was considering recalling all their cars and trucks made in the past 20 years to put the old floor switches on them. There have been too many Aggies getting their feet hung up in the steering wheels and having wrecks...trying to dim their headlights.
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  • songdogsongdog Member Posts: 355 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Carnking the shaft to get the engine to turn over without breaking your thumb, like on my old 39 john deere tractor. Multiple families to one telephone line. Canning all of your extra garden vegetables for the winter. Supermarket, what the hell is that. Hunting all year through because you had to. Picking mushrooms out of the field for dinner. To eat not smoke. Cooking the whole fish instead of just the fillets off of the side. outhouses!!! Tobacco on a log and not in a can. Safe sex was no sex.these are the things that the old man has told me, yet i remember some. As I am only 20, but wish for the older days of simplicity.songdog
    Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.
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  • coast2coastcoast2coast Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was taking my six year old grandaughter fishing this summer and when she got into my truck she pointed at the inside of the door and asked, "What's that?" She was pointing to the window crank. I told her it was to roll the window up and down and that's why we call it "rolling down the window." She said "WE say PUT the window down."
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  • Rafter-SRafter-S Member Posts: 2,173 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I remember the ice man. He sold blocks of ice for us and our neighbors who had ice boxes. (Couldn't afford one of those new-fangled refrigerators.) He brougt the ice in a wagon pulled by a horse.
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  • songdogsongdog Member Posts: 355 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I sometimes wonder why they got rid of some of these inventions. For me, I prefer to have the dimmer switch on the floorboard. It is a lot easier to control and much more convenient.songdog
    Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.
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  • timberbeasttimberbeast Member Posts: 1,738 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Songdog, I got a 1939 Allis B. Not too bad once you learn how "NOT" to crank! Worked at a sawmill with a guy that had an old 400-something diesel on skids that was hand-crank. I will freely admit that I felt like a little boy starting that pig!
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  • RugerNinerRugerNiner Member Posts: 12,636 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was 4 years old and only 48 stars on the Flag. Thats what makes me feel old.
    Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
    Keep your Powder dry and your Musket well oiled.
    NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
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  • songdogsongdog Member Posts: 355 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    beast- you will only crank wrong once. one time is a mistake, two is stupidity.How do you like that allis, i have a wd 45 as well as the old JD. I love being able to control the speed of the pto. songdog
    Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.
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  • k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Amen on learnin to crank start a vehicle, dads got a 1914 brass T and it only took it once to kick back and i learned
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  • WyomingSwedeWyomingSwede Member Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    What really makes you feel old I swhen all the really "cool" songs that you used to rock out on are being sold on television by Time/Life. Your kids say "yeah.... back in the eighties" like it was before the Civil War. You have to watch "Rockford Files" to show your kids any of the cars you used to have.swede
    WyomingSwede
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  • Dancing BearDancing Bear Member Posts: 45 ✭
    edited November -1
    My truck not only has the dimmer switch on the floor, but to the right of the gas pedal is the button you step on to start it. I had a Buick once that had a button on the floor that you pressed to switch the station on the WonderBar radio.
    The more people I meet, the more I like my dogs.
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  • wundudneewundudnee Member Posts: 6,104 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In high school I bought a 1947 International K-5 1 1/2 ton flatbed. Made $14.00 a month payments on it. It had floor starter, floor dimmer, crank out windshield, and an air scoop that raised up in front of the windshield with a lever for ventilation. You could take the doors off with hinge pins and leave them at the barn when you hauled hay. It also had a hand choke and a hand throttle. We would tie the steering wheel, put it in grandma gear,(first) pull the hand throttle out and let it drive itself across the hay fields. Used 10 cent bulk oil and 21 cent gas. At the end of the day my buddies and I would take it to town, stop at the local drive in and order $2.00 worth of nickel root beers. That was in 1954.I have also cranked a few WC Allis's and model A's.There is a lot to be said for 12 volt starters and fuel injection.llis's and model A's.
    "If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?" Will Rogers
    standard.jpg
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  • biganimalbiganimal Member Posts: 135 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dang it !!! you guys got me feeling oooooldd.when I was 6 years old there was only 48 stars on the flag and a daisy bb gun cost less then $7. I weeded Gramma's garden all summer for that bb gun! I still have 34 8track tapes and a car player in the garage hooked up to a car battery. Listening to ted nugent, otis redding and rick nelson kinda makes me weepy.....
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  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    in my first buick(a 52) you just pushed the gas pedal down to crank it over.anybody remember those? barto
    the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
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  • Mr. LoboMr. Lobo Member Posts: 538 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    While I was in Second Grade we had drills where the siren would go off and we would all go across the street into the basement of the packinghouse for oranges. Thinking back this must have been a nuclear attack drill.
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  • Gordian BladeGordian Blade Member Posts: 1,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My mother used to buy bread and donuts (if I was lucky) from a horse-drawn wagon that went through our neighborhood. It was a local bakery that's still big in my area. I gave the horse a sugar cube or an apple. Even way back then, they were doing it only for old time's sake, but now that I think about it, that does make me feel a little old.
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,447 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    SongDog I liked the dimmer switch on the floor too, but you can keep the two-holer out back. Some of the simple things of the old days (my days) you can keep. I love central heating, indoor plumbing, Polar Fleece, .22 rifles and talking with my buds here on GB. None of that existed 50 years ago, except a few of the buds, and they were kids that lived somewhere else.Oops! I guess .22's were around 50 years ago, I had one sortly later. [This message has been edited by He Dog (edited 02-09-2002).]
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,447 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Rogsguns, I have been giving this some serious thought. I have decided that maybe you are getting older, but I am not. Sorry!
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  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    He Dog, Sir, my humble apologies are required. Please forgive me for even thinking such a thing, but, may I please say, it was a mistake that I shall never repeat......anyone know where I can get a discount on Ben Gay, feeling a little stiff this morning... He Dog!!, how many times do I have to tell you, 'Dont leave your bicycle in the driveway', you know I only have a driver's side mirror on the Maverick!
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC[This message has been edited by robsguns (edited 02-09-2002).]
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  • CAndres35CAndres35 Member Posts: 453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    yesterday evening i stopped for gas and bought 2 milkyways[1.43]. i made the remark "10 cents worth of candy for only $1.43" an dpeople looked at me like i was crazy. i went to the neighbors when i was young and got two gallons of milk and got to keep the penny change from a quater for going to get it. my brother and i used to almost fight over who would get to go. oh well, hurray for the good old days,2002 carl
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  • RugerNinerRugerNiner Member Posts: 12,636 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I miss the Vent Windows in Cars and Trucks.
    Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
    Keep your Powder dry and your Musket well oiled.
    NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
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  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I got one for you guys.....remember bumpers, the real ones? The ones that would actually do damage to what ever you hit. I used my 71 Ford pickup to remove corner posts, big railroad ties, about 3 ft. in the ground, by hitting them with the front bumper of my truck until they loosened up enough, NOW THATS A BUMPER!!! I once was very stupid and raced my Nova and hit a sign that was supported by steel rail road rails anchored in cement, all I did was push the shocks back on the bumper, just pulled it back out by wraping a chain around it and wrapping the other end of the chain to the corner of the pole barn. Cars and trucks use to be built tough, now, well you know, watch out for the shopping cart, might scrape off the paint from the 'bumper'...man!
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
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  • songdogsongdog Member Posts: 355 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I like those old bumpers myself as well. But they can not be found anywhere, for qa reasonable price that is. That is why I have been in the process of welding my own to put on the front and back of the old 1980 chevrolet 3/4 heavy. A frame out of 4 inch pipe. That is 12 inches wide and 7 feet long, plated with that 1/4 inch thick checkered steel panel. I am also putting a up and over type of thingy majig on it. Off of the front of the front bumper i am putting a 2'x7' frame with slatted 2" post running up and down. A real meat eater. That way i can hit my deer and processthem too.songdog
    Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.
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  • s.guns.gun Member Posts: 3,245
    edited November -1
    Pumping gas a while back I heard a young girl say something to her friend; and pointed toward where I was standing;that it was over by that Old Man.I looked behind me and there was no one else in sight except me. I felt real bad for a day or so.I stiil have a few years to go before Soc. Sec.
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  • timberbeasttimberbeast Member Posts: 1,738 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Songdog's huntin' for speedbeef!!!Songdog, Old "Alice" is a great piece of work for skidding trees, small tractor, less cutting on the skid trail! Gotta be real careful to keep the pull under the center of gravity, though, her front end likes to pop up, wouldn't recommend logging with a B to anyone who isn't real experienced in pulling loads...Got no PTO on mine, wish I did, could get a Farmi winch fer skiddin'!Knew a guy who made his truck bumpers out of 3x8 Mahogany, they sure did the trick! My 89 F-250 HD is HD, I can haul incredible amounts, but have lost track of the dents in the "bumpers" just from saplings and such, not to mention you can't sit on the wheelwell inside the hood to work on the engine, can't find the engine for all the hoses, and the wheelwells are plastic!
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  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The bumpers on my little Datsun 720 series, '81, are bigger than the truck. I had a couple friends help me make them out of the 2 pieces that make up a tank tow bar, you know, for the M1A Abrams. You talk about some strong tubular bumpers, man. I dont worry about anything, except hitting something so hard the frame gives instead of the bumper, everything is one solid piece, welded to the frame. Too bad I gotta move to Cali., theres no way I can get that truck to pass Cali. visual inspection for smog., let alone the sniffer, even though its a new engine. I gotta get rid of it, the truck design kinda sucks, but I'll miss those bumpers.
    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
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  • songdogsongdog Member Posts: 355 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    s.gun- thast is when the govt starts working for you instead of you working for it.songdog
    Be bold in what you stand for, careful in what you fall for.
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  • timberbeasttimberbeast Member Posts: 1,738 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I had a Datsun once too, robs, had the fenders duct-taped on, but that little thing kept going and going....finally was stolen, I miss that little "toy" truck, hauled a lot of drywall for me! I think it was a '78. Carried a spare roll of duct tape for when I had to check the oil.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I gotta say, those new bumpers work. My Toyota Celica was hit so hard from behind it made my teeth chatter, and there was no visible damage. Years later, I had a Toyota Supra, and got backed into by an old pickup with a big bang. We got out expecting the worst, and again, not a visible sign. I'm sold, at least on Toyota bumpers. Now I drive a Grand Prix -- don't know about them -- yet. As for age, yeah, I'm getting older. I can tell by the naproxene I have to take twice a day and the occasional Vioxx to keep the aches and pains down. I remember the first transistor radio (am only) and my first Japanese tape recorder -- the ones that used the 8mm reels and lasted about a week. Radio shack used to sell do-it-yourself radio kits where you wrapped wire around an empty toilet paper roll. I also remember gas at under .29 a gallon. Not to mention muscle cars and such. Oh, and I saw Earth vs. the Flying Saucers when it was NEW. Began coveting my dad's Winchester Model 12 16 gauge even before that...
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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  • 218Beekeep218Beekeep Member Posts: 3,033
    edited November -1
    This was a good ol` thread..I seem to be missing a lot of them,being out of town every weekend now.Reminds me of the time my son 21 at the time,finally asked me one evening,"what `s that you`re always doin` with your left foot?"At the gunshow last weekend,one of the ROTC boys,who help bring in the guns for us ,picked up an old SxS and said to another kid,"Hey ,this looks like the one Jeb Bush shot at a rabbit with,and struck oil..on that tv show...ya know what I mean?".218
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