You know you're old when.....

[Cerebus]

... when the first computer you used expected input in the form of punched cards. 

And you used to write your shopping lists and "back of fag packet" designs on the back of used/spare one. Also, made great bookmarks.

[themadhippy]

back of fag packet" designs on the back of used/spare one

AKA  Fagcad

Also  cigarette papers were an essential to tuning your motor bike,no need for expensive feeler gauges, adjust the points until a paper just dragged across the gap

[tpowell1830]

... when the first computer you used expected input in the form of punched cards. 

And you used to write your shopping lists and "back of fag packet" designs on the back of used/spare one. Also, made great bookmarks.

...and don't forget, the aluminum coated paper on cigarette packages wrapped around a blown fuse in your vehicle would get you home. (or a chewing gum wrapper)

[Neilm]

You realise that the space shuttle last launched 10 years ago (last landing 21st)

[coppice]

You realise that the space shuttle last launched 10 years ago (last landing 21st)

I'm not old. If Soyuz is still the most advanced way for people to get into orbit, surely it can't be long since I was a kid and heard about the launch of the first one.

[SiliconWizard]

You realise that the space shuttle last launched 10 years ago (last landing 21st)

I'm not old. If Soyuz is still the most advanced way for people to get into orbit, surely it can't be long since I was a kid and heard about the launch of the first one.

Probably because under the same name, it has known a number of versions. The first version was designed in the 50's.
The Soyuz-2 that is currently being used is significantly more modern. (First launch of series -2 was in 2011.)

[Gregg]

I remember as a kid being totally fascinated by a store that had a set of miniature aerial cable trams that were used to send a customer’s money from the clerk on the main floor up to the cashiers located on the mezzanine.
To purchase something, a clerk would write up an invoice, place the invoice and the customers hard currency (either bills or coins; none of that plastic rubbish) on the tram which had a clip for the paper and a basket for the coins; pull a cord which would lift the tram up to the constantly running cable somehow engage the cable and send it to the mezzanine.
The cashier on the mezzanine would write out a receipt and return it with the customer’s change to the clerk below who in the meantime would retrieve the purchased item and wrap it in brown paper tied with a string.
The store was what they used to call a dry goods store and was definitely not self-serve.  I’m not sure the reasoning behind such an elaborate system.  Maybe it was that they didn’t want the floor clerks to handle more money than a single transaction or maybe it was because cash registers were very expensive. 
I have tried to find a picture of this system on the internet but so far my google-fu has failed me.  This possibly was a predecessor to the pneumatic tube system of money handling that some other stores used at the time.

[Sal Ammoniac]

The local Monkey Wards (Montgomery Wards) store had a similar system that used pneumatic tubes to send orders and payments to different parts of the store.

[TimFox]

So did an old-line department store downtown when I was a kid:  no cash registers on the sales floor, just pneumatic tube stations.  The sound was fascinating to a child.
Paris had a famous municipal system, which you can find about on Google, that was a stylish route to send love letters between residential addresses.
There was also a system in the New York City subway tunnels (don't know if it is still in use) to send stuff between banks.  When they started sending magnetic media, it was the fastest route (in MBytes/sec) in practical use.
When I was just chatting with co-workers about hobbies, and mentioned that I was doing stuff with vacuum tubes, a lady in accounting said that they used to have them where she worked before, but she really meant pneumatic tubes.

[rfclown]

Conelrad had nothing on this setup.
I remember listening to WGU20 from Maryland on Longwave at 179 kHz, quite strong in Massachusetts during the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGU-20

As we were all expected to survive a nuclear blast and come out of our shelters, then listen to the government to tell us how long it would be before it was safe (and the final score).

In elementary school we had fire drills (you go outside), tornado drills (you go out in the hallway away from windows), and disaster drills (you get under your desk and curl up with you head tucked between your knees). I don't know who decided that getting under the desk would help with a nuclear blast. Maybe the curling up was telling you to kiss your butt goodbye.

[rfclown]

You know what a milk chute is. I was the youngest in the family, so if we got locked out of the house they would push me through the milk chute to get in and unlock the door.

You remember when a business could run when the power went out. When in high school working in a burger joint, if the power went out we could still do business because we had gas grills and we could put hand cranks in the cash registers.

[GlennSprigg]

You realise that the space shuttle last launched 10 years ago (last landing 21st)

I'm not old. If Soyuz is still the most advanced way for people to get into orbit, surely it can't be long since I was a kid and heard about the launch of the first one.

Probably because under the same name, it has known a number of versions. The first version was designed in the 50's.
The Soyuz-2 that is currently being used is significantly more modern. (First launch of series -2 was in 2011.)

Or that the latest high-tech Commodore-64 computer you once had was more powerful than the onboard
computers on those first lunar missions!!!   

[Mortymore]

...when instead of being excited with a new gadget, you have no patience no learn about another "in fashion" tech stuff, that you already now it will be forgotten before the warranty expires.

[David Hess]

In elementary school we had fire drills (you go outside), tornado drills (you go out in the hallway away from windows), and disaster drills (you get under your desk and curl up with you head tucked between your knees). I don't know who decided that getting under the desk would help with a nuclear blast. Maybe the curling up was telling you to kiss your butt goodbye.

I had completely forgotten about the duck and cover drills, but those were early grade school for me.

I guess then I can add having the mark from a smallpox vacillation on my shoulder.

[TimFox]

You were supposed to duck down under the desk and cover the back of your neck.  I believe that was to protect you from flying broken glass.  The alternative statement was “duck, cover, and kiss your ass goodbye”.

[TerraHertz]

As a small child you used one of these a lot.


(Mechano spanner)

[AaronLee]

… your first computer predated the Internet. And BBS’s…

And you programmed it with toggle switches and lights, ie. Altair or IMSAI, which you built yourself from kit form.

[harerod]

In my teens I used to have a punctured tire-tube about once a week. Heck, I remember one day I changed the tube, rode the bike across town, wham, next puncture. That isn't the tool which I used then, but this simpler version somehow ended up next to my mill router.

It is crazy how many different types of screws those old sportsbikes had. The older tool even had two different "minus"-screwdriver heads.

[themadhippy]

As a small child you used one of these a lot.

Along with a proper screwdriver,not an allen key the modern incarnation used.

[AaronLee]

You have fond memories of the 65-in-1 Electronics Kit.

[Brumby]

You have fond memories of the 65-in-1 Electronics Kit.

"65-in-1" ... bah!  Luuuuuxury, I tell you!  Try a 20-in-1, then you'll know what it's like to appreciate the finer things!



Channeling the 4 Yorkshiremen

[AaronLee]

"65-in-1" ... bah!  Luuuuuxury, I tell you!  Try a 20-in-1, then you'll know what it's like to appreciate the finer things!

No, not luxury, just middle-of-the-road. I recall there was a 150-in-1 or something like that which the rich kids had.

Other things to date me:

Hardly a week went by where I didn't visit my neighborhood Radio Shack store. I had a love-hate relationship with them. I always felt they had overpriced and low quality stuff, but they were the only local place to buy electronics components. I often wondered why they stopped. Was it that the number of hobbyists that need electronics components diminished so much? Anyways, even if I didn't need to buy anything from them, I had to go for the free Battery of the Month. I sort of cheated though, and had four or more cards, so had to go there more often than once a month to get the free battery for each card. As for non-components, the Realistic brand of radios, cassette tape recorders, etc. were very familiar to me.

Most kids loved the Sears & Roebuck Wishbook, flipping through the pages and dreaming of what they wanted, especially in the months leading up to Christmas. For me, it was ok, but nothing could compare to the Heathkit catalog.

[rogerggbr]

Your boxes of nuts and bolts are labelled BA, BSW, UNC, UNF, BSP and you have spanners to fit them all.

[25 CPS]

You know you're old when you remember when the Toronto Star used to be a respectable newspaper.

[Ed.Kloonk]

You know you're old when you remember when the Toronto Star used to be a respectable newspaper.

I don't know the publication, but I understand the sentiment.

After a day or so I wonder "Was it ever really respectable though?"