Good Old Times

[J.P.]

Because if the power or/and internet breaks down, the line telephone is the only thing connecting you to the world?

You still might have mobile signal though.

[besleybean]

I thought of and rejected that...silly me thinking of modern, digital phones!

[Arcadia]

JP wins the no prize! And my cell doesn't work at home, I have to drive down the road a bit to get a signal. Assuming it's even charged up, which half the time it ain't. So yeah, we're hanging onto the rotary in case of the apocalypse.

[J.P.]

Germany decided to switch to VoIP generally. Another stupid decision this country has made IMO.

 

As for the Apocalypse, the only system that would surely work is CB. It doesn't need any infrastructure to run. The only thing that would kill it is the electromagnetic pulse. Then you need smoke signals.

 

Just saying. <_<

[Carol the Dabbler]

Germany decided to switch to VoIP generally. Another stupid decision this country has made IMO.

'Scuse me, but what is VoIP?

[J.P.]

Voice over IP, the telephone line is connected via internet.

[Arcadia]

Germany decided to switch to VoIP generally. Another stupid decision this country has made IMO.

 

As for the Apocalypse, the only system that would surely work is CB. It doesn't need any infrastructure to run. The only thing that would kill it is the electromagnetic pulse. Then you need smoke signals.

 

Just saying. <_<

We also have a fireplace. ;) 

 

Voice over IP, the telephone line is connected via internet.

I agree, that does sound stupid.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alex and I get our internet service over the phone line. And we know a lot of people who get their internet service over their television cable or satellite dish. I can't think that there is any such thing as a physical internet system as such in the US. What is your physical internet infrastructure?

[J.P.]

It's not so much the physical infrastructure aka wires, but what they are connected to. The signal(s) are carried by the same wire, but I suppose their encryption vary.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Are you saying that the former phone cables were co-opted for the internet? So now you get phone service over the internet cables, rather than vice versa -- even though it's the same physical cables, just repurposed?

[J.P.]

At least it seems to be. I still have the same two thin wires in the wall as I had 20 years ago. I know, I've been changing the sockets myself. <_<

[Carol the Dabbler]

They do keep getting smaller, don't they?

[J.P.]

The sockets? No, mine was broken.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, that too. Come to think of it, the smallifying was mostly longer ago than twenty years.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Mine is VoIP also then. Useless without power.

And... what is CB..? :p

 

@camera on smartphone

While I hate those being owned by other people (those who think it's okay and funny to take pictures without your concern and those excessive selfiers) I actually very grateful for it. It's really useful for me, work and whenever I see something nice I want to remember.

 

Maybe what they need to do is to invent some kind of electrocution device whenever it's being used without target's concern and when the selfie limit is exceeded. (One per year)

[J.P.]

Citizens band radio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_band_radio

[besleybean]

My pal's hubby was into that big time...late 80s, I think.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Oh I see, I didn't know that term or any term to describe it actually. 

My dad used to communicate with that, I learned about alpha-beta-charlie as the way to communicate alphabets etc when I was a kid from hearing him. 

 

 

 

Anyway, something quite classic, but still exists everywhere, flexible/bendable straw, it means something quite special for me.

When I was a really young kid, I fell into serious illness that lasted for weeks. I hardly get sick at all, I could go for years without needing a single medical leave for sickness, but when I get sick, it's normally something very serious. 

 

I'm not sure what I had, anyway, we stayed in small laid back town when sometimes illness were undetected or misunderstood. I believe it's something very serious from my symptoms but I recovered. Before that, I couldn't eat anything or drink anything, and one day, the doctor who was a family friend paid me a visit and she said she brought something special for me, and showed me half a dozen of these bendable straw, my mom then demonstrated them and showed me that I could drink while laying down without spilling anything to entice me to drink more. To me, that time, it was something special, as I still remember it until now. No other kids had it, I was the only one or the very first who knew that luxury thing, yes it was  the  expensive special straw other kids talked about.

[Carol the Dabbler]

My dad used to communicate with that, I learned about alpha-beta-charlie as the way to communicate alphabets etc when I was a kid from hearing him.

 

Actually, I suspect your dad was an amateur radio operator (better known as a "ham"). My uncle was one of those. It's different from CB. The assigned frequencies are different, so that you can transmit over much greater distances, often to the opposite side of the world. Naturally the equipment is more expensive than CB, which covers a far shorter distance, typically just a few miles.

 

But both are self-contained, requiring no infrastructure, just a similarly-equipped person on the other end. So either would serve admirably in an emergency.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Maybe so, he was communicating with his collegue from another state which is very far, that was necessary for his work, but only as way of communication (basically there was no other way), so, was he still considered amateur radio operator then? Wait wait...I remember us and mom communicated with him thay way too, when he was away in his work place. So was I amateur radio operator too? Yes? Yes!

 

 

Back to film camera, while nowadays we can almost always find products to suit our needs, back then, we had to be more creative. I never threw away my film canister, the cylinder plastic that house the film, because it's usefull for many things.

 

 

Used it to hold coins, coins that were essential to make public phone call.

 

Used it to keep matchsticks during hiking/mountain climbing trip, I also kept the side of the matchstick box that helped the ignition. It kept them dry, very essential for their purpose.

 

Used it for keeping buttons, safety pins, small stuff, or as container to mix paint.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Goodness, yes, those little containers were great -- and free! What do people use now? (Not for film, obviously, but for matches, etc.). Guess they have to buy something.

 

Alex teases me for saving used peanut butter jars, but I point out that the nice ones we've been getting (glass jars, and metal lids with a rubber gasket built in) are a dying breed. Most brands now use a cardboard insert instead of the gasket, and many are switching to plastic lids and even plastic jars.

 

I remember when people could make pretty nice bookcases and coffee tables out of old orange crates. Now oranges come in cardboard boxes.

[T.o.b.y]

Goodness, yes, those little containers were great -- and free! What do people use now? (Not for film, obviously, but for matches, etc.). Guess they have to buy something.

 

:lol: Nope - for example, a favorite vegetarian spread of mine that I eat regularly on toast comes in neat little glass jars. I use those for storing paperclips, rubber bands, etc. As for matches - what's wrong with the match boxes?

 

And thanks to one of my late grandmothers, we have an impressive collection of film containers anyway.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Match boxes aren't waterproof.  So the film cans are better for camping or hiking trips.  Or those neat little glass jars might work, if they're tall enough.  I have a small-but-very-tall-for-its-size glass bottle that I saved from (I think) a homeopathic remedy, that I've used for various things.  It might be tall enough for matches (especially the cheap little ones).

[Van Buren Supernova]

Yes, I like matchboxes, they look classic and sometimes the graphics are nice, however, as Carol said, it's not waterproof or dampproof.

Even when we protect it with plastic, there is possibility that it gets damp. And damp matchbox means no warm dinner and no bonfire, in rainy weather. Makes a lot of difference when the option is sitting around bonfire drinking (eating?) warm soup and trying to dry your clothes and shoes nearby, or huddling together, cold and wet and eating uncooked meal.

As long as I recall, in my longer (more than a day or two) outdoor trips I always encountered rain, heavy rain or thunderstorm. It could be miserable, yes, very much, yet it's addictive activity in a way, and dry match is  a friend! :P

 

Nowadays, we use lighter of course. Just keep them somewhere, as long as you don't break it, it's fine, and unlike matches, it takes forever for one to run out.

Also, portable gas stove is practical, although I actually prefer using paraffin wax and simple square metal stove, there is something nostalgic to it, and I'll blindly argue thing cooked with that traditional metal stove and paraffin wax tastes better :P, although it doesn't beat the taste of something cooked directly on the bonfire. Miss those times..!

 

I don't have a single film canister left, anyway I only had a few back then. We moved quite a lot so things are left behind. We don't even have our childhood pictures, my parents passed it to my uncle for safekeeping when we moved and there were only so much things we could bring. And voila, they 'misplaced' them.

 

Tiny glass jar! I don't remember seeing ones that are not tall enough for match. How cute are they? No picture? Do they look like those big glass cookie jar? Or is it something like balm container or tiny glass cough syrup bottle?

My peanut butter always come in plastic container and lid :(, the Nuttela are still in glass jar, but using plastic lid as well.

 

Orange cardboard, you mean the wooden crate? I love them, and their prints. Yes it's great to use them as shelves, chair, or anything really. 

Bamboo basket was used for oranges in bigger scale. We had a few of those at home when my parents worked as fruit vendor.

Upside down, it could be used as chicken cage XD, but I like to use it as my private jet. I remember It was fun to sit inside it, looked up the sky and watched the stars. I guess it's something to do with the scale, kids always like something that fits them better. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Tiny glass jar! I don't remember seeing ones that are not tall enough for match. How cute are they? No picture? Do they look like those big glass cookie jar? Or is it something like balm container or tiny glass cough syrup bottle?

 

 

That's the sort of thing I'm talking about.  (Note that those homeopathic pills are teeny-tiny.)  The bottle I have is about 2-1/2 inches (6 cm) tall, and will hold half a dozen regular kitchen matches or three times that many of the semi-worthless flimsy little kind that all too many stores are carrying nowadays.  In any case, not enough for a whole camping trip, but plenty for a day-hike.  Or, like you say, just go modern and carry a lighter.  Somehow that feels like cheating, but then I suppose the same could be said of matches.  (Yes, I have started fires with a bow and spindle, which I suppose I could make out of available materials in a pinch, but I'm not really that much of a purist!)