Your three minutes are up….
It’s amazing how much we take for granted these days.
Herself went to the dentist during the week. She got a prescription for antibiotics which violently disagreed with her. So we rang the dentist and he promptly faxed through a different prescription. I was able to nip down and get her the new medication. All in the space of less than half an hour.
Just think about it.
Not many years ago, I could have phoned the dentist, but I then would have had to drive over to collect the prescription [a long journey], and by the time I got back, the chemist would have been closed. Or else he could have posted it, which would have taken even longer.
If I want cash at any time of day or night [you never know when you might need the odd â¬50 at 3am!] I can nip down to the ATM and withdraw that cash.
Not that long ago, if you needed cash, you had to go to the bank and withdraw it. And the banks had very awkward opening hours. It usually meant taking time off work. So if you wanted to go an the batter on a Saturday night, you had to make sure you had enough cash in your pocket or you were done for. Pubs and shops didn’t take Laser cards [they hadn’t been invented] and might take a cheque if you had your passport, a valid cheque card and were closely related to the owner of the establishment.
If I want to phone someone, it doesn’t matter where I am – I just whip a tiny box out of my pocket and phone them.
In the old days, it would have meant a hunt around for a phone box [80% of which were probably vandalised] and then I had to pray I had the right change.
If I want to talk to my blogging friends in America or Australia, I just plug in my microphone and call them on Skype. Free!
In the old days, it would have meant booking a call with the exchange operator. They would then give you a time to call. Even then, when you were making the call, and having a chat, the operator would cut in and tell you that another three minutes were up, and did you wish to continue? And it would cost a fortune for each extra three minutes.
For those of you who have grown up in the modern world of mobile phones, the Internet and the World Wide Web, it must seem like they were around forever. There weren’t. They seemed to descend overnight. and they changed the world radically.
Even now, I find it very strange that as I type these words, that shortly they will be visible in just about every country in the world, for anyone who cares to read them.
It’s no wonder I’m getting paranoid about my spelling and grammar.
Grandad,
What goes around, comes around.
In 1955 my husband and I were absolutely fascinated with television. We would watch anything! It was so new.
Like you being astonished that your writings can go all over the World in seconds,we could not believe that this box in our living room was showing us a speech or a game that was taking place in another part of the country at that very moment! It was incredible.
Then one day our 3 year old son walked over to the TV,stood in front of it and shouted,” I’m tired of this television, why don’t they invent something new?
I never mentioned television, Nancy because that is considered ‘old hat’ these days.
But I too remember the awe of looking at a moving picture and realising that what I was looking at was actually happening somewhere else. It was amazing. Then of course, colour TV came along and that too was scary.
I remember the fist attempts to get a live TV signal across the Atlantic by bouncing the signal off a balloon in space [Echo 1?].
Now I have 500 or so channels, all beamed in from space, and there is never anything worth while on!!
So you agree with my kid,then Grandad?
Absolutely!
🙂
Ahh! Those were the good ol’ days alright – when antibiotics were difficult to come by. The superbugs have never had it so good! Hope Herself has recovered okay?
Sure, in those days we only went to the doctor if our temperature was over 104. Anything else, we just fought off with aspirin and a hot water bottle.
Doctors were only there for extreme emergencies. Bugs were a lot rarer, because we had good immune systems. We played in the muck and built up our own immunities.
Jaysus! Grandad – you’re telling us you’ve put Granny out in the muck heap, have you?
Not true Grandad.
I can’t get a mobile phone signal where I live, or broadband.No out of hours doctor. Nearest ATM is miles away.
I know, I should move. But I like it 🙂
Steph – She loves cleaning out the slurry pit. I can’t keep her out of there.
Dave – I will be honest and say I would miss my broadband [you would all miss by blog too????].
I could live reasonably happily without ATMs, mobiles phones and the TV. As long as I have my books….
I think I’ve diagnosed the problem. It must have been the slurry that violently disagreed with Herself. You could throw the unused antibiotics into the pit to see what happens. Stand well back though! Superbugs love a good fight.
Antibiotics? You’d have to be practically on your deathbed in The Netherlands to be given them. You get given paracetemol for practically everything here.
The way it works here is that after a visit to the dentist, children are given sticky lollipops as a reward [it promotes further trade], and adults are given antibiotics in case they feel left out…..
I remember as a kid that there was only one public telephone for the street and when people wanted to talk to anyone that lived on that street they used to ring that phone. If the phone rang while we were playing on the street there was a huge scattering match from all directions with all the kids to be the first one to answer it.
Were you one of those kids who shoved paper up the ‘button B’ slot? Or was that before your time?
No I remember the ‘A’ and ‘B’ button but I never tampered with them.
You’re giving away your age!!
A lot of kids stuffed paper up the slot to stop money being returned. Go back at the end of the day and remove the paper – Jackpot!!!!
Now I would have been too young to have even thought of that one. But Damn what an idea!!!