Who knew????

Posted Tuesday, August 14, 2007, at 5:48 PM

Went to pick up a quick something for dinner and spotted the chicken pot pies. Haven't had one of them for years. I spot them every once in awhile, but don't want to heat the oven for the 45 minutes required, but upon closer examination, whatdyaknow…they're now MICROWAVEABLE!! Who knew? Picked up a couple. Four minutes nuking 'em and I'm ready! Top it off with six Skinny Cows and ya got a meal!

These modern conveniences just keep creeping up on me. Things that our grandchildren take for granted and I'm wondering if they'll ever understand the hardships we once endured…like dialing a rotary phone and hooking nylons to garter belts. I'm worn out at the thought of it.

Coffee cans now have a peel off lid! Who knew??? And, why didn't they think of that 25 years ago when I was using a manual can opener that didn't work properly and poking the uncut lid off with a kitchen knife to release it?

They now make "dustless' chalk!!! Dustless chalk!! How is that possible? And do school kids now go outside with the erasers and aimlessly bang erasers together with no purpose?? Who knew?

And did you know that you can buy pudding now that you barely have to stir and leave it alone for a few minutes and it thickens?? The finished product closely resembles something that the neighbor's dog regurgitated in the yard, but hey, it's FAST in this instant gratification world in which we live.

Children are becoming bored with just plain old books, the standards by which we were raised. They now expect pop-ups, music and everything but lunch to be served up opening the cover! Who knew??

Shoes…now there's a subject. They elevate and improve the elevation of ball players (and wannabe players) by housing little tubes of air in the soles! Plus they blink when the child walks. Who knew!

And cell phones…well, there's another world. I recall being very young (that's a task in itself) and the most futuristic concept around was the phone that allowed you to actually SEE the person on the other end. This was during the era of party lines, during which I also recall banging pots and pans together to force a neighbor off the line so I could make a most urgent call. And the whole neighborhood listened to that most urgent call. The type of ring identified if the call was for us for someone else on our "party line." As I recall, there wasn't much of a "party" atmosphere on those lines! Who knew what would develop just a few years (well, ok..a few decades) later.

I was stopped in the grocery store the other day by a couple from out of town looking for a pay phone! A pay phone…hmmmmm. I recall where there once was one, but try as I might, couldn't recall where there might be one today. In this age of cell phones, who needs a pay phone? And if there was one to be found, do they now have dollar slots instead of nickel, dime, or quarter slots?

Everything is relative apparently. I recall my mother talking about the ice man delivering a chunk of ice for their kitchen ice box, so there is much for which to be grateful.

Any other "who knews" of which we may not be aware?

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A computer? In a house? What on earth for? I do remember thinking that as I tried to fall asleep in my brush rollers! Who knew!

-- Posted by qglenellyn on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 7:00 PM
I do believe we should be compensated these days for enduring those brush rollers...kind of like an SSI check. We'll call it a BRE check. Brush Roller Endurance. And all in the name of beauty!

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 7:43 PM
Hey, where did Corey go?

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 8:39 PM
And where did that DWB go too? Haven't heard from him/her in a while.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 8:45 PM
Many years ago I was born so far up a holler in Eastern Kentucky that they had to run up on the ridge and break daylight with a crowbar. I taveled the world and seen many wonderful places, but somehow and for some reason fate led me here. With no chance in the world I landed here; the most beautiful place I have ever seen, with the kindest people that I have ever met. Who knew?

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 8:52 PM
Now, I.B....that's one of the best "who-knew-ers" I've seen so far! Who knew???

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:02 PM
Never mind Corey and D.W.B., I.B.! Corey will come blundering into the blog one evening, scattering the other bloggers like chaff on the grain floor... And, as for D.W.B., he/she was even too chicken to tell us his/her gender, so he/she can't be much fun to play with! Like my cousin Beverly -- too skittish.

My college roommate Belita used to hang her brush-rollered head off the top bunk of our bunk beds in the dorm! Now it's wash and blow dry...Who knew?

I remember how thrilled I was when I got my first hair dryer...It was portable, but I still had to roll my hair and sit under the plastic bubble.

In fact, it's still in an upstairs closet. I can't bring myself to throw it away! Not long ago, I got it down and showed my daughter, who thought it was so quaint! Who knew we would one day be considered "quaint"?

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:08 PM
Do I detect a kinder, gentler, Truthy? Why, your comments bring a tear to my old eyes. Perhaps we females should be a little more tolerant of our dear fellow blogger. Who Knew???

-- Posted by letseatcake633 on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:18 PM
Seems we're getting "quainter" all the time, gt. And hold onto that dryer. It's probably worth a fortune, along with comic books and those red tin bread boxes with the rooster on the front!

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:19 PM
Oh! I see what you mean, I.B.! Corey's blog is GONE! I do believe that he's been KIDNAPPED!

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:19 PM
GIRLS!! Is this crazy or what?? We are blogging AT THE SAME TIME! Hehe!!

What fun!!

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:20 PM
Well, Cake lady, our dear I.B. LeTruth has always had a split personality, I notice... One minute he's sharper than a serpent's tooth! The next minute, he's a sentimental ole softie!

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 9:23 PM
HDTV...Plasma....LCD.....TiVo....DVRs??? And those remotes?? Which one goes with which piece of electronic equipment? What happened to the push/pull button on a black and white TV? You remember it well, it's the one that put a few extra steps on the podometers. And finally........how about a live voice at the other end of a phone instead of a recorded voice with 10 different options? Who knew?

-- Posted by gawker on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 10:52 PM
Goat herding, special cake baking, over ripe melon bombing, wine bringing, and yellow rose girls from Essex that I once would have tortured with spiders, frogs and snakes make me laugh (and contemplate) and I like em. Who in the world could have ever knew?

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 14, 2007, at 10:54 PM
Welcoming the thoughts of a "maleism" named Truthy...who knew???

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 6:33 AM
Not Chicken, just not required. I read daily , but was taught that when there is nothing to say, keep the mouth shut.

-- Posted by D.W.B. on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 9:05 AM
Me too. Love it, but unable to add anything coherent.

-- Posted by Ducky on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 12:21 PM
Well hello D.W.B. It's apparent you can talk here without having anything really to say. Talking is what it's for. It seems. Come around and and ramble more often with us.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 12:54 PM
Yeah, we never let the fact that we have nothing to say keep us from saying it!

Glad we haven't lost you, D.W.B.! You caused quite an interesting stir a while back!

In fact, I've totally forgotten what we're talking about! Oh, yeah! Technology! Such good examples keep cropping up.

Actually, it was less than 15 years ago (a drop in the bucket) that I realized we didn't have to keep renting our telephones from AT&T... so I bagged up my rotary wall phone (harvest gold, of course)and mailed it back to them. Very strange-looking package, I might add.

Now, AT&T has bought Cingular and Bell and whoever else is standing in their way....and here we go again!!

It was those recorded messages that caused me to switch to touch tone. I kept having to "stay on the line.."

-- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 6:29 PM
I have a friend who still has one of those "bag" cell phones, the analogue types that are obsolete (nearly) already. And just today I was trying to describe a rotary phone to my grandchild who has no clue what I'm talking about! He thought Rotary was only a men's club...who knew!

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Wed, Aug 15, 2007, at 9:20 PM
Hahaha! I had forgotten about the bag phones! The old one that I got in '97 is still upstairs in a spare room. Can't bring myself to toss it in the trash!

Just recently I tried to explain a mimeograph machine to a 16-year old!

When I first started teaching, we ran tests off on ditto masters and cranked papers out by hand, one at a time. We were covered in purple ink by the time we finished! Who knew?

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Aug 16, 2007, at 6:26 AM
Remember the old push lawn mowers, now those mowers cost more than a john Deere, who knew? and who sits down to mow your yard! who knew, and a washer that does laundry and dishes!who knew?

-- Posted by rusty nail on Thu, Aug 16, 2007, at 4:22 PM
Push mowers that cost more than a John Deere? You must not be referring to the ones I remember. They had blades that whirled around and chopped the grass, right?

Surely, nobody would pay good money for such a contraption!

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Aug 16, 2007, at 6:11 PM
Push mowers would reduce the battle of the bulge and save some of the environment??

-- Posted by D.W.B. on Fri, Aug 17, 2007, at 11:25 AM
And how about life before electric mixers? Poor Cake Lady had many a blister on her old arthritic hands!

-- Posted by letseatcake633 on Fri, Aug 17, 2007, at 2:54 PM
My enlightened 25-year-old daughter makes fun of me for writing checks! She wants to know why I don't just use my debit card for every purchase! Since when are checks obsolete? Who knew?

-- Posted by goat lady on Sat, Aug 18, 2007, at 9:09 PM
The computer upon which I am typing this comment has far and away more processing power than the computers NASA used to send a man to the moon. Who knew?

Who knew that these when our bosses introduced computers as "labor saving devices" that they'd result in so darned much more work?

-- Posted by Ducky on Mon, Aug 20, 2007, at 1:38 PM
You noticed that too Ducky. Computers have not reduced the individual work load. In fact I am required to know more to operate the thing and produce a heck of a lot more, without errors.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Mon, Aug 20, 2007, at 8:14 PM
But just think, I.B., the knowledge you've acquired in just learning the processes! Who knew???!!! When we cease to learn, we cease to produce, and production governs the quality of our latter years..agreed?

-- Posted by Noreenmhyslop on Mon, Aug 20, 2007, at 11:56 PM
Agreed, I will be a genius very soon with a bright and sunny latter years.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 21, 2007, at 7:08 PM

Minne O'Pausal's response:
Truthy..

And when you become that genius, you will have joined our ranks!!! We'll welcome you with open, flapping underarms!

m o'
I could tell you all were already enjoying your bright and sunny latter years from the wisdom I read here. Soon, very soon I will be there.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Tue, Aug 21, 2007, at 8:45 PM
Minnie, dear, did you have to mention the flapping underarms?? I prefer to ignore that part of my anatomy!!

I.B., you must be wise beyond your years...

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Aug 21, 2007, at 9:35 PM
Girlfriends, we should all consider it an honor to be adorned with flappers.

How else could we shelter little goats and cool cakes?

-- Posted by letseatcake633 on Tue, Aug 21, 2007, at 9:59 PM
Flapping arms???? Sounds right up my alley - in several ways.

-- Posted by Ducky on Thu, Aug 23, 2007, at 8:33 AM
If the "flappers" would stir up a cool breeze, they'd be worth it. Alas, right now, mine are just "saggers."

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Aug 23, 2007, at 10:56 PM

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