RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 My son informed me that there are some people who "only have one computer at home". It started one of my "only one phone in the street etc" tales of the 1950s! Seems we have too many computers in this house when my daughter starts communicating with me via ERs 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yes, Chevron is a grey tabby. He has a ginger tabby brother called Cooper (think marmalade) and a very pretty sister called Lola, who has blue eyes. They are nearly 8 years old, while my fourth cat is Cosworth, ordinary tabby, the little stray girl who turned up on the doorstep in 2009 about 12 weeks old and is still here. She has no social graces, regularly leaping on the older cats in "play" and then wondering why they beat her up! Chevron, Cooper and Lola are all respected British sports cars, while Cosworth makes engines. Ian, please tell me the next pair of kitties you invite into chez Oldddudders will be called Austin and Morris...! Going round in very enjoyable circles on RMWeb at the moment, trying to keep up! Starting to nod off a bit now though, no fault of this fine forum just an early start for an 03.40 Willesden job this morning. Starting to feel these very early shifts biting a bit more than is usual for me... must be the cold, or just old age! Hope all's well wherever you are folks 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
station cat Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Seems we have too many computers in this house when my daughter starts communicating with me via ERs Is it snowing out the front? It's snowing out the back 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 Cracking photos Beast. The sun is now out and the snow is thawing where the sun gets to it. It is funny how things change it wasn't that long ago ( or doesn't seem so) when I first had a mobile phone as I was on call for a major software implementation then a laptop (both rather heavy and bulky) now kids expect to have one of each and use them all the time. Unless I am away I do not want mine to ring too many emergencies ( or what seemed so to FiL). Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Back to Technology. I don't think we had a phone in our house until 1960. I can't remember whether it pre-dated the arrival of the 'Fridge. Our house had a really good Larder built in the side of the house that never received sunlight, it was always cool. A good place to hide from my brother. Before he died my brother told me that he really resented having to travel and stay with my Nana (Seven Sisters Road area) from Monday to Friday at age 12 (to finish a particular school when we moved to Shenfield). She had a phone and we didn't. He used to go by train, by himself on a Sunday eveing. Can you imagine letting a child do that nowadays? I was surprised because my Mother always drummed into me about how brave he was - then I learn at 58 that he was terrified and that it was the beginning of him disliking her. Kind of changed my whole world that little snippet of information....I thought we had all got on well together. Btw as I said before about Snow - if the local authorities cannot handle snow having 4 inches is as bad as having 24 inches of the stuff. Best, Pete. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 In response to Pete's musingsm on telephones 50 years ago, there were the "party lines" from the GPO telephones in the 60's. For all the nice young people who post-date that era (another kitten name for Ian?), it was not a telephone line for Anne Summers and the like, it meant you had shared connection so could only use you phone when the "other party" was not using it. Would be impossible for ADSL broadband these days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Not only did our phone have a "Party Line" but you had to pick it up and wait for the operator to come online and connect you. If you jiggled the receiver they deliberately took their time - my brother nearly threw the phone through the window one night when there was a nasty traffic accident outside our house with serious injuries... Best, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 .... from the GPO telephones in the 60's. We bought our first house in 1977. There was already a telephone installed. The paperwork to takeover the existing line was ridiculous.That was probably Post Office Telephones. In the late eighties I can remember the trauma of tied line (for 1200 baud duplex data) contracts at work. That was probably British Telecom. In recent years I have been quite happy with BT. Tony 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Shedman5 Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 Evening, arrived back home this afternoon, trip in respect of customs / security was fine etc. However flying up the eastern seaboard we endured 3 hours of very bumpy weather particularly by NewYork and Boston and I mean bumpy! The wine glass on the table was hung onto with a firm grip! Anyway cream crackerd as they say, normal service resumed sometime tommorrow 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yes, Pete, I remember having to go through the operator for anything other than local calls. An aunt had a number in the Alloway exchange. We lost count of the times we were connected to the same number in the Alloa exchange, till we started saying 'Alloway, Ayrshire'! And the first phone call made from a phone in our house was a '999' call. The afternoon it was installed, a man collapsed on the street outside our house, and we phoned for an ambulance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) Evening, arrived back home this afternoon, trip in respect of customs / security was fine etc. However flying up the eastern seaboard we endured 3 hours of very bumpy weather particularly by NewYork and Boston and I mean bumpy! The wine glass on the table was hung onto with a firm grip! Anyway cream crackerd as they say, normal service resumed sometime tommorrow We were all suffering from the wind................... Ph - All our calls local or otherwise went through the Op. There was not even a dial on our first phone. Best, Pete. Edited March 12, 2013 by trisonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingsignalman Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) Regarding telephones, we only had one installed when the woman 2 houses along the road had hers taken out, she was fed up of people knocking on her door asking to use it......... Afterwards she used to come to our house to ask to use our phone; it was a shared line, you had to listen to check there was no one from the other house on the line and then press a button to get the dialling tone. It only went to a separate line when the GPO said the equipment was obsolete and there were no spare parts, dad wasn't too happy at the increased phone bill. A friends house (in 1968) didn't have a dial, you had to press a button to get the operator and tell them the number you required (in my case IRB 2796). Edited March 12, 2013 by flyingsignalman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 I started as an apprentice with the GPO in 1965. I worked all over the place with different engineers. At that time wokingham was an operator exchange where all calls went through the operator. Nearby was Hurst a small village the exchange there was in the front room of an ordinary house the couple worked it between them she did the days he did the nights. If you tried to make a call aftermidnight he would get a bit narked unless it was an emergency when he would make half the calls needed for you. On party lines I can remember when Bill who was a bit slapdash at times got the pair crossed and didn't check as it was going home time. We got back to finish the job to some consternation the american wife at one house had a baby that night. The other half of the party was up all night getting calls from her family but took it in good spirit. Different days. Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2013 Talking of 'phones reminds me of when I was a youngster and that people used to think we had one because we had a telegraph pole by the front gate and a pair of wires going to the bungalow. But as dad was a Retained fireman the wires were actually for teh fire bell which was one of the ways in which Firemen were called - the other was the air raid siren up behind the Town Hall. And the bell would be rung for several seconds when the Firemen were needed - it was right outside my bedroom door but I used to sleep through it ringing with no problems - and it was easy to transfer the lines over when we eventually got a 'phone as dad had retired from his Retained Fireman role by then. Remember also the waiting list to get a 'phone that seemed to be a perpetual nuisance in the late '60s and even into the '70s in some areas - even if it was a line transfer. Fortunately taht was nevera problem if you worked for BR and were subject to any sort of 'On Call' etc commitment as you were officially jumped to the top of the queue once you made it known through the relevant BR section at work. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Good very early morning all (WTF am I doing awake at 02:40? May be it was the sprouts I had for Tea??) Back to 'phones, my Grandfather had a thriving builders business in the '20s through to the early '50s..He had phone number "21" on the local exchange, over the years the various incarnations of the Post Office Telephones, has added more numbers in front, first a 6, then a 4, and then modified it slightly when the local exchange got merged with Lutons. My Mum bless her, at times will still answer with the old four digit number! OK best drink my middle of the night cuppa and GO to SLEEP! Laters, Trev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Ello, It's still pitch dark outside. My morning ablutions etc seem to have taken less time than usual so I am sitting at the computer earlier than usual. 33C forecast for today. When I was younger I cheered at that sort of forecast since it meant I could go to the club for a swim after school/work. Now I know I am in for a sweaty day! And there you lot are there freezing (except Trev and me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted March 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2013 You are up early Don! We just got back from the cinema after seeing Jack And The Giant Slayer, really good movie too! Nice sunny Tshirt weather here but not for long I suspect. Is there not air conditioning installed there? Try not to get into too much mischief. Shaun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Morning all, (again!) What s***y night that was.....so much going round in my old bonce...Don it's going to be warmer here, if yesterday afternoons temps are anything to go by, 42C! Well lets see what joy today brings? Be good, Trev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 You lucky guys with decent temperatures and a bit of sun. Still clocks go forward at the end of the month and then we'll be bathed in sunshine... Sat and watched Argo last night on DVD. Most enjoyable. Did we really wear those fashions and glasses back in '79?..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted March 13, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 13, 2013 Morning all... Feeling quite under the weather since yesterday as we were told MiL had suddenly and totally unexpectedly passed away in the afternoon. What's making things even more difficult for me personally is that I'm currently in my final exams, having written one of them yesterday. I will be talking to the exam office later today to see which options I might have. I also keep asking myself what MiL might have wanted me to do, of course... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Sorry to hear that, Dom! Our clocks went forward last weekend. Unfortunately the NE of USA looks to remain coolish for the next couple of weeks. Thing is it will get hot soon enough... I like the heat myself. I woke sweaty and with a headache but went to bed early feeling kind of "unhappy" - can't put my finger on it. I should be able to get another hour or so in before the School Run. Later, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Morning All, Another snowy morning here - with the associated traffic chaos. It took me an hour and ten minutes to get to work, which beats yesterday despite there not being any more snow. Sorry to hear about your MiL Dominik. A death in the family is bad enough, but when it is unexpected it is even worse. My condolences to you and your Girlfriend. Have a good day everyone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted March 13, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 13, 2013 My thoughts are with you and your MIL's family Dom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Sad news indeed Dom. My thoughts are with you and your family... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 I woke sweaty and with a headache but went to bed early feeling kind of "unhappy" - can't put my finger on it. Pre-viral malaise? ..................Hope you`ll be again, really soon Pete! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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