It’s funny, in a strange and maybe sad kind of way, to think of things that are “normal” these days. Things that 25 years ago, or 50 years ago, we would never have even thought about. Here are a few things I was thinking about as I was waking up this morning.
- The tire pressure light on my car is about to send me over the edge. I think it’s reset and it comes back on. I go to the tire shop and they check everything, reset the light, and in a day or so, it’s back on. I have to go to Abilene this week and driving a car with a dash light on just doesn’t work for me. Vince says “Get over it! Cars didn’t used to even have tire pressure indicators” but I have one and it isn’t working and I’m frustrated.
- Cell phones! Ughh! It’s definitely a love/hate relationship with the cell phone. Before Vince and I ever met, I had a bag phone in my car, all wired up but I think I could unscrew something and make it “portable”, so that had to be about 25 years ago. Now, even though I dislike seeing people who cannot separate themselves from their phone, I feel so lost without it.
- Microwave. People come into our home and can’t believe we don’t have a microwave. We have one but it’s stuck on a shelf in the laundry room. Vince uses it once or twice a day to heat his coffee and sometimes to heat up leftovers. I never touch the darned thing (and trust me, you do not want to look inside it!).
- Washer/Dryer. My grandma had hand cranked wringer type washer out on the back porch. The clothes line was the dryer. Recently when I mentioned moving my washer/dryer out to the new building (if we build it) people though I was crazy. I spend most of my days in the sewing room (which will be moved to the new building if we build it) so it’s just easier to do the laundry in there. The laundry room in the house can be used for much more useful things (like an ice machine and a place to store the vacuum cleaner).
- Facebook & video chatting. There’s a lot of “clutter” on FB but I love seeing pictures friends post. Nicole posts cute pictures of Addie and yesterday I saw a great picture of Chad fishing. I love being able to video chat with Addie. What my grandma would have given to have been able to do that. They didn’t even have a telephone until I was in high school. Our communication was writing a letter, sticking it in the mail box, and hoping that in 5 to 7 days, it would arrive at their house. I knew my grandma would sit right down and write me back so in another 5 to 7 days, I would get a response from her.
- Internet. It’s just hard to imagine life without the internet. Ours isn’t very dependable and I’m so lost when it’s not working. I count on it for recipes and answering questions. My grandma didn’t have a chance to go to college but she was a very smart lady and had a quest for knowledge. She loved reading all kinds of books. They lived through a lot of history with wars and the Great Depression. She was always interested in learning. She would have been so amazed with the internet. Our kids and grandkids especially take it for granted. They’ve never known a time without the internet. I remember as a kid when we’d be discussing something we didn’t know, one of us would run get the encyclopedia and look it up. To this day, I remember how that set of World Book encyclopedias smelled. Can you imagine the kids of today having to write a term paper or research paper without using the internet?
- Digital Camera. When I see something I want to photograph, I’ll take 10 or 15 pictures with the phone, keep the good ones and delete the bad ones. Remember when we were using film and had to buy the film, buy the flash cubes, get the pictures developed? It was one or two shots and hope you got a good one. I also remember that we would have to drop film off to be developed and it would take about a week for the pictures to come back. Then the one hour photo shops began popping up. We thought that was pretty amazing.
I know there are many things I’m not remembering . . as simple as the ice maker instead of filling ice trays with water. What have I not remembered?
I often wish for simpler times .. when families sat around the dinner table without cell phones and the TV was off; when families all lived in the same area .. often on the same plot of land. No one moved off to Texas and left the rest of the family in Missouri! Yes, some brave souls headed out in search of fame or fortune but for the most part, many families stayed relatively close. My grandpa’s parents had land just down the road from where he and my grandma lived. It was close enough that my cousins and I would walk that old dusty, dirt road to visit. That road is now a busy “Scenic Highway”. No phones so we couldn’t call to say we were coming, or call to let anyone know we made it. Our biggest fear was getting chased by a cow along the way. Could you see a 6 or 7 year old kid walking a mile or so down aOne of my grandpa’s sisters still lives on the old “home place” and one of her daughters and her family now lives on the same piece of land. It was quite a few acres (I have no idea how many) but they’re all right there together.
Life was simple in some ways but oh, so difficult in many other ways. I always say I’d go back only so far . . I have to have indoor plumbing and air conditioning but when you think of technology and medical advances, I don’t want to go back. I just want the family together and I want my tire pressure light off! 🙂
Joyce says
A couple of years ago, I got an email from someone who had purchased my Father’s childhood home. She wondered if I had any photos of the house back then. I promised I would look, but I have never seen any. I don’t think she has any concept of the idea that film was expensive then (during the depression) and you didn’t waste it just taking pictures of the interior of a house….what a difference now! I feel you on the tire pressure light! I find the dashboard warning lights very distracting even if they are just on for no reason!
Linda in NE says
Tire pressure monitor…probably just a bad sensor. Of course it would probably cost a small fortune to have it replaced. My “check engine” light comes & goes. It’s been checked, turned off, comes back, goes off. I ignore it. One of these days my car will blow up!
All the technology we have today sure is amazing. And it’s great as long as it works. I know I’d be totally lost without the Internet. Finding answers to just about anything is so easy. I could do without all the political crap though. I just wish people could be nice to each other.
Sheri says
Funny – I was just thinking about encyclopedia’s last week! I remember feeling lucky growing up because we had a set in our home and it was easier for me to do reports because of it. (Instead of going to the library to look things up.) Is there a market for old encyclopedias? Some would probably be funny to leaf through!
Kim in KY says
When I was still in grade school I saw this in the paper: Remember, The Good Old Days were once These Trying Times. I’ve remembered that many times over the years!
The Eclectic Abuela says
Yes–the good old days weren’t so good. No Novocaine, heating water to bathe, outdoor plumbing, etc. I’m happy with now! 🙂
Vicky says
Have the tire shop check the pressure in the spare.
JanetB says
Make sure they check your spare tire when checking for the tire pressure. That’s what usually fixes mine.
Ila Migut says
Just a guess but did you have your tires rotated? The pressure sensor monitor has to be reset after that.
Brenda R says
I had that problem on a vehicle once! Aggravating to say the least. Turned out the spare tire wasn’t full enough and that was setting it off. Added air and poof–no more problem!
Andrea says
I have a 2007 Sedona, and the tire pressure light has been on since about the six month mark. I’ve had it in the shop, and at best I can get a few days without it. I finally accepted that it’s going to stay on, but I still don’t see why it won’t go off. I know nothing about cars, but it seems like only a limited amount of things would cause the light to trigger so why can’t they fix it?
My mom and I were having the “how things have changed” discussion just recently. On a recent vacation we took several hundred photos, and that just wouldn’t have been done before. Film and processing were expensive and there was no instant view of what you had taken, so you just took one (maybe two) and moved on.
One thing I’ve noticed that is so different is television. A season was from fall to spring, and summer was for reruns or special programming. You got one chance to watch holiday shows, so if you knew they were on you made sure to be at home.
We didn’t have much homework at all in grade school. There was the odd report we’d have to write (all info straight from the encyclopedia), but for the most part once we got home our time was our own. We didn’t have wall to wall activities with no down time, either. There was scouts, but I can’t recall anyone playing on a sports team or having to go to dance class. We organized our own games and made our own fun. We were free-range kids, and it taught us a lot about responsibility and interpersonal communication.
I will stop rambling now. I’ve got to go shake my cane at some kids and tell them to get off my lawn. LOL
Andrea
tiptopquilts says
I had to laugh reading this post. My 7 year old smartphone finally bit the dust. I plugged it in and hoped that it’d maybe turn back on eventually. 3 weeks later, I broke down and visited the Verizon store. Picked out the simplest smartphone and when the salesperson hooked it up, a message came across the phone about that number not being used for 20 days. He looked at, quite dumbfounded, and said, “YOU haven’t had a phone for 3 weeks?!?!?!” It was funny. Told him if it wasn’t for my business, I could see no reason why I would need one!
Rhonda L Russell says
I had the same problem with my tire pressure sensor. My mechanic replaced the sensor in the valve stem and the warning light has been off ever since. If I remember, it was about $100-$150. It depends on the manufacturer. If you call your mechanic for a quote they can look it up for you. Also, I had it done when I put on new tires so that I saved on the labor charges. 🙂
NANCY says
I was just telling my kids that they are so fortunate to have digital camera’s. I was explaining that with film you never really knew if you had a good picture but you were afraid to take to many because it cost a couple of hours worth of wages to get pictures developed.
When I first got my iPhone I was at a store when it rang. Normally, I do not answer the phone in the checkout line but I pulled it out to silence it. The girl behind the counter looked at me and said – “I didn’t think old people had smart phones.’ After I looked her up and down. After I got over the initial shock of her rudeness, I smiled sweetly and said to her…’that us old people where really the only ones that could afford them’. I thought the manager standing behind her was going to die on the spot and I wondered about the conversation they had afterward. This was the first generation iPhone and I really did not think I was that old. I still work full time in technology and it is not an easy place for old people but especially women to work. Yes now I am old.