Technological Advancements

I was brought up during the time of, “Number Please” when you picked up the phone. I never knew the operator like Andy Griffin did on his TV program, but they always sounded so sweet.

During that period, if you were on a ‘party line’, there were advantages and disadvantages. Let’s see, I know there was a way to tell if it was your call or not. I think it was the rings. Like two short rings might be you, while a long and a short might be Mrs. Harris’s house. (I just checked with Paula, and the #/type of the ring is right)

So If Mrs. Harris got a call and mama or daddy wasn’t around you could lift the phone as quietly as possible, put your hand tightly over the mouth piece and listen in on someone’s private conversation. Many times (not me of course) folks would hear,”Is anyone listening on this line?”  Then the offender (not me of course) would have to decide to bluff this out or hang up. Big decisions.

Disadvantages were, if someone in your family wanted to make a call, you could not if you had ‘phone hogs on your party line’.

That all said, I think the first real technological advancement was the dial phone. No waiting on your end, and if the party you were calling was on the line you got the busy signal. You called back later. Amazing, no more ‘Number Please’. To make a long distance call you  dialed ‘0’ and got a real operator again.

With the dial, Kids invented new pranks. Kids had a way of finding fun on the phone. Pick a number, dial it:

“Hello.”

“Maintenance here, is your Frigidaire running?”

“Yes it is, why?”

“Well you had better go catch it!”

Kids called a store: “Do you have Sir Walter Raleigh In a can?”

“Why certainly, several.”

“Better let ‘im out, he cannot breathe”. Kids, dying laughing and hanging the phone.

There were hundreds of these, and many a kid had gotten in trouble with mom and dad for that.

(And then the push button, wow!)

The first Mechanical advancement I remember was relocating the Brake Master Cylinder of a car, from under the horsehair backed rubber floor mats to the firewall. Many times, while adding brake fluid, I have held that stinking dirty mat with my head. LOL

Thanks for coming by the log.

NIte Shipslog

PS:

Observations on Growing Older

** Your kids are becoming you, and you don't like them -- but your grandchildren are perfect!
** Yellow becomes the big color -- walls, hair, teeth.
** Going out is good; coming home is better!

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1932 Ford (and the ‘34) were the most popular base for hotrods in the 1950’s.

Hunting and trapping

I trapped my first rabbit when I was 5.
Daddy helped me make a rabbit box, I put a half apple back in it and placed it on what I figured was a little animal path in the broom straw. I checked the trap everyday, because daddy said I should check it at least every two days.

I caught one. It wasn’t a hundred yards from the house. We lived in High Shoals at the time. Daddy put a glove on reached in got Mr. Rabbit and quickly broke his neck. He showed me how to skin it, and mama cooked it right then. She fried it and make some gravy. I thought I was Daniel Boone (I did not know DB at the time, but I thought I was a pioneer) providing food for the family.  Of course I was just augmenting it. I do not remember catching another one. Mama had chickens and daddy always raised a hog. Although daddy was a preacher, that country in him and mama ran deep.
Later that year we were visiting Great Grandpa Hilly’s farm  near Toccoa, GA.  Daddy was telling Grandpa about me catching my first Rabbit. GP asked me if I had ever killed a bear? I know my eyes got big as he reached behind the stove and pulled out an old single shot .22 rifle. “Jackie, go git us some supper.” He gave me a couple minutes of instructions on rifle safety, told me never to point it back toward the farm house, winked and said, “They ain’t no bears left out there, but plenty of squirrels, that will be just as good.”

Grandpa was a Judge, you would have thought he was smarter than that, I was about 6 years old. But I marched into those woods like I was a giant slayer, of course I never fired a shot. I did not see a bear nor a squirrel.
I have been hunting a few times in my life, but none of the other times meant as much. I didn’t say anything up in Wisconsin, when Slim, Sam,Bill, Dar and Mel were showing me their trophies from trapping and hunting. I am modest and didn’t want them to feel bad. (LOL real BIG).
Yep, I guess I am old, these memories feel good. Thanks for coming by the log.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.
—Thomas Szasz
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A gas station, GGrandpa Hilly would have used.


‘31 Buick Uncle Inman would have driven to take GGpa Hilly to town.  GGpa Hilly, the Judge, preferred the mule and wagon.

JC Penney, I hope so.

New CEO of JCP says no more sales, coupons,etc. Declare they are going to lower the prices at least 40%. We plan to change the way people shop.

He says, consumers are not dumb, they know the sales are a come on and not real. Who can sell something at 80% off and make a profit, if the article was priced correctly in the beginning.

I have said that for years. I do not blame coupon shoppers. I do not blame anyone for going thru sales paper after sales paper. Clipping coupons is wise, no doubt, but my question has always been WHY? Shopping is not a sport, it is a necessity to get necessities.

It is silly to by 2 boxes of some cereal you do not even eat, because it is two for one.  I built houses, I could have NEVER sold them two for one!

The CEO said consumers are not ignorant, but he is wrong, we have been for years. We have been brainwashed with SALES. When I was a kid, there was a jewelry store in Gastonia, NC that went out of business every Christmas season. I bet they folded the “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” sign every New Years day to hold for next Christmas.

I cannot remember which store it was that tried this a few years ago. I want to think it was Sears. I am sure that it was a major store though. Many other stores are hoping he is wrong, because they will get the JCP customers by their BIG Sales (4th OF JULY, CHRISTMAS, INVENTORY REDUCTION, SPRING SALES, BACK TO SCHOOL SALES, SALES  sales, and a million variations.)

I remember Car dealers selling cars $50 over inventory.  Did you  believe that? (It costs more than that to unload, clean, add a little gas then park the car on his lot.)

Yeah, we consumers want to believe that stuff, but down inside we know better. There is no free lunch, and ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Now I really do hope the man is right, that JCP can re-learn us how to shop. Now just to be sure you understnd there was a little wiggle room, for you  that MUST have a sale, WE are not going COLD TURKEY here is the disclaimer:

In addition to the "everyday low price,"  the only sales will be "monthly value" discounts on select items, and "best price" sales held regularly twice a month.

(Especially for John & Paula)

I want it to work, but………..

Thanks for coming by the log.

Nite Shipslog

OUCH!

PS:

 Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.

—Oscar Wilde

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1936 Chevy, I believe I lean more toward the 30’s cars . I would dearly love to have one of these.

Do you have anything you really want to do before you …. GO!

(Other than drive route 66 in this?)

Now that I have been living officially 73 years. I can remember when I though that was ancient.  I guess it is. But there are still things I want to do.

Since I cannot do them this winter. I will see what I can do this winter.

There is a lot to do around Orlando. But I am not interested in Theme parks. I think they are over priced and pitched too high anyway.

Jack (son #1) did come down last year and took us to the “Holy Land Experience”.  That was interesting. One Year Mark and his family came down to take us to Disney World, but thankfully it was full, so the boys got to go to the Skate Park. It was fun watching them ride the skate boards.

Corinne, a wonderful DIL,  bought us our dog (statue) while the boys enjoyed the skate park. I put it out between my flags and guarding our ships wheel when we anchor for awhile.

It is terrible that the things I can think of to do, IS MOSTLY EATING, and I don’t need to do more of that. haha.

I wish I did not associate entertainment with eating or consider eating entertainment. I don’t know how to play Dominos.  We have a deck of card, but any card game we play is on the computer. We DO NOT Golf, sometimes I wish I did, but I guess I am really too cheap to golf.  I think I want to fish but we are not set up for that anymore.(don’t tell Sherry but there is a Jon boat for sale on the bulletin bd) I want to go sky diving but don’t have the guts.(Just found out Darla wants to too)  I wanted to go up in a Balloon, even had a date with Joan out in Utah, but it costs too much (I’m a cheap date). Never been skiing, don’t do the winter sports. Come to think of it maybe I don’t do anything.

Got any suggestions? (that I cannot squirm out of?)

Tucker just called Sherry (since I wrote this), Wants us to come up and ride the intracoastal from NC to Miami. I look at my girl, she smiles and says, lets go!  So now we have something to do this summer! (Along with walking the trail!).

Thanks for reading the log.

Nite Shipslog

PS: (Think about this one!)

An inventor is simply a fellow who doesn’t take his education too seriously.

—Charles F. Kettering

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1909 Buick Runabout

I guess I have learned that things do not last forever.

(My teen age years did not!)

I have never put the security word requirement to my blog to keep out spam, but now in the last two days I have had four spammers.  If the trend keeps up I will install the security words.  My problem with the words is I forget some folk have them, and make an entry, hit enter and since my system is slow, my comment is not posted. There are couple blogs where my system is real slow responding.

‘56 Olds concept car.

I guess it is like a man’s hair, because as a rule, you cannot expect it to stay forever. The same with sleepless nights. Just the time I  state I don’t have trouble with it, now I cannot sleep.  Of course I know exactly why I cannot, but that still does not help.  Children are forever, if a 50 yr old son or daughter has problems, why should it keep the parents awake.  Didn’t we handle our own problems?  Or did mom and  dad just suck it up and not complain like I am?  I don’t know.

A ‘56 T-Bird

Logically, an adult should be their own person, or that is the way we were raised.  But that feeling has not been passed on to the younger generation. 

Sherry & I like to joke and say: if we do not like how things are going, we crank up our home and move.  But if it is a family problem that ain’t so easy.

‘59 Dodge Royal Lancer

So nothing lasts forever, except a mother’s love, and sometimes a dad’s.  Anyway I had to smile, although I know Darla had a rough time, as stated on her blog, I understood exactly what she was saying.

None of us are immune to problems. Right now my e-mail and system is NUTS. I get an ICON of an envelope, but not sender, date, or subject. Now I am one of those that delete if I do not recognize the sender, so I am NOT opening anything without knowing what it is.

(We really do not have problems if we put them in prospective)

Then on top of that I get this note from AOL, here are the recovered e-mails that were lost, all 600 of them, WHAT? 600? So as I wade thru them, and by the way they have all info, it is the ‘new mail’ that have no info. HA??

Anyway if I seem lost on comments and e-mails, I am trying to climb out of a hole. hahaha!

Thanks for coming this way!!

Nite Shipslog

PS:

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.

—Lily Tomlin

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Ahhhh what a thrill, a 1957 Chevy 2dr hard top.

I could drive around in this and forget my troubles, until I parked. hahaha

Return with me now, to those thrilling days of yesteryear..

(Note: Aol sent me a list of e-mails I have missed, I am going thru what they say is recovered mail)

Those were the words I heard just as soon as the radio warmed up at 5 o'clock MWF. I loved Cowboys and the Lone Ranger was one on the radio.

(That is me behind Wyatt.)

When we started looking for places to see, one of the top places was… Tombstone, AZ, the location of the famous OK Corral Shootout. I did not know we would find so many very interesting places in the same area.

The sign and the statue of the Buffalo on duty out side the Fort.

Interstate 10 to Benson and turn South.  We chose Fort Huachuca (waa-CHEW-ka), at Sierra Vista. This happened to be a very famous place, especially for my Black friends, because it was the home of the Buffalo Soldier.  They have a good museum on base, where I bought my friend Majors, a Buffalo Soldier Statue.  I always called him the Buffalo Soldier. It was just a cross some small mts to Tombstone. What a town. Stooped in history of the Earps, Doc Holiday, the cowboys and the Epitaph. The Bird Cage Saloon still stands. (Most well known cat house and  gambling parlor).

Sherry in the Bird Cage, the openings outlined by the red curtains were the ‘ladies’ bird cages.

Me ‘n the Earps and Doc Holloday.

They have a reenactment of the Shootout and it is very interesting. The Old courthouse is still there and the pertinent records are on display. The Earps were registered Republicans and the Cowboys were Democrats. I never realized that politics played a big part in the early West.

There are many Ghost Towns around Tombstone.  I am believing that Tombstone would have also died if not for the history of the Earps.

Poker table and cards the way it was left at the close of the longest Poker game in history, (8 yrs  10 million dollars changing hands)Lillian Russell, Eddie Foy, Sr., Lotta Crabtree and Lillie Langtry. In 1882, Fatima allegedly performed her belly-dancing routine at the Bird Cage Theatre.

The shoot out took place behind the OK Corral, in a very small alley. When the smoke cleared Wyatt was the only one standing. Everyone was wounded, and three outlaw cowboys were dead.

Doc Holloday & Big Nose Kate had a room on the alley at the Photographers office.

Boot Hill is still there with the original markers. Copies of the Epitaph for those faithful days are available in reprint.

Strange happenings, Doc Holliday was there with his lady friend, Big nose Kate. The Earps were there with their wives or mistresses.  Wyatt’s first wife died early in his life. At Tombstone he left his common law wife Celia for Josephine, one of the active ladies of the Birdcage.  They stayed together until his death in 1929. What a colorful career, outlaw, lawman and every thing in between.

There is so much History in this area, a cowboy buff can just ‘have a cow’, he be so happy.

Later we will give more detail and visit more places.

Thanks for coming by the Log.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.

—Dame Edna Everage

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1929 Studebaker, the year Wyatt Earp Died.

Remember when our Playmate Paula, always found a mystery!

1956 Rambler, yeah the seats laid back!

Sister Shirl volunteers at the Belmont Historical Society.  She was sent a picture that has caused a small stir because some say it is mislabeled. At first glance, I am sure the label is right, but I did not come to Belmont until 1954. Most of Sherry’s growing years were on the Imperial Mill Village. The Imperial mill sat atop  a big hill. You could look across the railroad tracks and see the Chronicle Mill, and part of its village.

Sherry and her mother walked by both mills on their way to church. I learned the path once when I lost my driver’s license and had to walk over to see her(Actually I ran over and floated home). It wasn’t far, but leaving her house, and being in love, I floated on air down the hill and up by the Imperial, then across the rail road tracks and by the Chronicle.  By the time I got to the Chronicle I was back down to earth and walked the other half mile normally. LOL. 

This is the blow up of the steeple on the right center, just before the lady staking her cow to graze.

(Funny how mysteries bring up the past. I walked just to the left of the above picture leaving Sherry’s house, just a month or so before I joined the USMC.)

If that is the Park St. Methodist steeple in the back ground the mystery is solved, it is the Chronicle. I have written the Church and sent the photos to see if they can ID their ‘old’ steeple. That church no longer stands there.

If this is the Chronicle Sherry’s Aunt Goldie lived in one of these mill houses.  I also sent the pictures to Candy, Johnny’s Daughter, so John can look at them.

(Sherry in front of the Imperial being  razed. I figure that picture in question was taken from about that telephone pole on top of the hill looking about the same angle as this picture. over the hill to the Chronicle)

(While we were there I was showing Sherry how I ran (floated) up this hill after kissing her good night, I was 16)

This brings back a lot of memories of a wonderful time in our lives. Once I was driving daddy’s car and was showing off in front of her house and dropped the clutch and tore out daddy’s drive shaft. (Not Funny). 

In front of the same house at another time, in the Rambler of dads, Sherry found out the seats would lay back, She was  smooching and kissing, when there was a knock on the window. I looked up and it was Sherry’s mama in her night gown. She said ‘SIT UP IN THAT CAR!’ Embarrassed me, I never let Sherry do that again. LOL

Thanks for reading this stuff.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

—Ellen Parr

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This is the girl, and that is the Rambler.