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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Better Stuff?


Better Stuff?

The world today has many fabulous new conveniences and inventions.  We have stuff that we could not even have imagined not that many years ago.  Cell phones, computers, the internet, automatic…Hell, there are just too many things to mention. 

What I will mention, because I am an old dude, is old stuff that has been replaced with new stuff that is not as good as the old stuff…What?

For instance:

Electric mixers.  They are a pain in the ass!  They take up room, are difficult to clean and are heavy and clunky to operate.  I found an old tool that works much better….a whisk!  Imagine; light, mobile, easy to clean and will beat up eggs and mix flour and milk about twice as fast as an electric mixer.

Ice crushers. The ice crusher in my fridge is great, except it sometimes takes too long, and then it spits out crushed ice faster than I want, sometimes making a mess.  I prefer to just wack individual cubes with the back end of a heavy spoon.  Quick, neat, and easy.

TV Remote.  This is a handy item, but it gets lost, the batteries run down and it is hard to read at night.  It is just not as good as having a little brother to stand by the TV to change the channels and adjust the volume with verbal commands.  (Wait, I was the little brother)

Electric carving knife.  These are hard to sharpen and, oh hell they are just stupid; it is easier to use your own carving motion with a good old sharp carving knife.

Electric can opener.  Most containers no longer need a can opener, but if one is needed, the hand operated ones are more convenient and work pretty dang well.

CD recording vs. vinyl records.  I just threw this in because lately purists are claiming a better sound from the old vinyl records.  Personally, I think they are nuts.

Car Headlight Dimmers.   Am I the only one who preferred that dimer button you hit with your foot instead of the lever on the column?

Low flush toilets.  How much water do these things really save, especially when you consider the need to double or even triple flush to properly clear the bowl?

Forced hot air heat.  I guess this heating method is cheaper to install and maintain, but hot water baseboard or even the old radiators provide a much more comfortable heat, unless you prefer a dry nasal passage and sore throat all winter.

Dictionary vs. spell check.  Bad example, the dictionary is a pain in the ass.

That’s it, everything else is terrific!

17 comments:

  1. I'm with you on a lot of this stuff. The crushed ice from the fridge. Ugh! All I want are a few pieces instead I get an iceberg filtering thru! I miss home phones. The old ones. No calling waiting, no caller ID, just a ring or a busy signal.

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  2. Hey Joe, I for one did prefer the dimmer switch on the floor, and yes spell check is my friend I hate to admit.

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  3. I miss the three speed on the column, the engine needing a rebuild at 50K, the freedom from using seatbelts, car seats for the kids, etc. Also Polio, miss that one and measles, the diagnosis of coronary disease or cancer a death sentence, stuff like that.
    The good old days.....
    I know it's satire, Joeh, but still, I see so much today of people saying 'we gotta get back to the 'good old days', the 50's. The 'good old days for who'? Black and in the south? Someone who once attended a socialist meeting? A woman who made an error in choosing a date and needed to deal with an unwanted pregnancy?
    The dim switch on the floor was good, I don't mind flicking back the turn signal though.
    cheers,
    Mike

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    1. Mike, you need to lighten up! There is nothing in this post that indicates yearning for "The good old days" I mention 8 or 9 innocuous things that I preferred to today's things and then finished with "everything else is terrific!" I prefer a whisk to an electric mixer and you talk of polio, and racism and abortions? You probably should stop reading my posts, they only make you angry and I really don't need your angry lectures on every Gol Dang thing I write...SHit, I could write about baseball and you would turn it into a political issue. Please just stop. THanks.

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    2. http://joeh-crankyoldman.blogspot.com/2017/05/in-my-day.html

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  4. I was a fan of the floorboard dimmer switch. Mixers, can openers etc are very helpful for folks with arthritic hands, I'll not switch mine.

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  5. And a good knife is often better and faster than dragging out the food processor.

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  6. I have arthritis in both thumbs and several fingers, plus carpal tunnel syndrome which doesn't bother me too much, but this is why I prefer a mixer over a whisk. I don't have a big clunky machine though, I have a smaller hand mixer, which is a hand-held motor part with two detachable beaters. Easy to clean and store.
    Your TV remote gets lost???
    I also prefer a dictionary and a thesaurus, for me spell-check is useless because it is American spelling and I learned English spelling and prefer it.

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  7. When we lived in Prescott and were renting, the toilets had two buttons; 1 for #1 (less water went through) 2 for #2 (more water went through). Thought it was good for saving water as long as someone remembered to push the right button, depending.....

    betty

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  8. Yeah, your mom's outflung arm in place of a seatbelt! And peanut butter sandwiches served at school alongside the chili on chili OR soup day! The sunflower seed butter sandwiches are not as great. Forget having a choice of soup.

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  9. I once had a craze for anything 'new' and 'electrical. It didn't take long to revert back to handhelds and non-electrical items. Oooh, I never heard of a floor operated dimmer thingy but I do have two button flush button in the toilet, which I hate.

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  10. The toilets are the worst! And I still just have a hand mixer as I thought those big ones took up too much space.

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  11. At least getting up to change the channel gave couch potatoes SOME exercise lol. I agree with you 100% on the 'low flush toilet' issue...those things are terrible. And yes, the dimmer switch on the floor was a much better idea. Ah the 'good old days'. How we miss them.

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  12. It seems that technology is ever changing but most of the improvements are things I don't need.

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  13. I never saw the point of electric knives or can openers, even back in the day. . .

    We got a new toilet for one of our bathrooms a couple years ago, and it is a no-s#^t single-flush-every-time, human-waste-sucking machine. So it seems that the technology is improving. . .

    And you know, I'm sure some people grew really fond of the hiss/pop of the old vinyl records. . .

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  14. I have never owned an automatic can opener. The power went out too much in rural Florida making them useless. Totally agree with spell check also. How did we live with out it? Makes me wonder now how many illiterate missives I mailed out back in the day.

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  15. I never quite understood electric can openers. I had a P-38 for many years.

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