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

[VK3DRB]

...The Aussie Bosch car electrical systems were rugged, reliable, not cheap, but big stuff, like starters & alternators were re-buildable multiple times & everybody in the trade did just that....

Now that is one thing that we sorely miss. Too many things are "throw out and replace" rather than repair. It sucks. Those  white worm-in-the-ear earphones made by Apple that look like you have two chalks stuck in your ear have a LiIon battery that lasts around last two years and is not replaceable. Companies like Apple don't want you to repair or refurbish anything. Apple was caught making one of their iPhone firmware updates slow phones down so the user goes and buys the latest model. They just want want more of your money for their shareholders.

In my day TV's, radios, stereos were all worth repairing. Cars could be restored. The Holden red engine could be disassembled with two spanners.

You know you are old when you can remember getting something repaired or furbished; and very old when you could do it yourself.

[jonovid]

...The Aussie Bosch car electrical systems were rugged, reliable, not cheap, but big stuff, like starters & alternators were re-buildable multiple times & everybody in the trade did just that....

Now that is one thing that we sorely miss. Too many things are "throw out and replace" rather than repair. It sucks. Those  white worm-in-the-ear earphones made by Apple that look like you have two chalks stuck in your ear have a LiIon battery that lasts around last two years and is not replaceable. Companies like Apple don't want you to repair or refurbish anything. Apple was caught making one of their iPhone firmware updates slow phones down so the user goes and buys the latest model. They just want want more of your money for their shareholders.

In my day TV's, radios, stereos were all worth repairing. Cars could be restored. The Holden red engine could be disassembled with two spanners.

You know you are old when you can remember getting something repaired or furbished; and very old when you could do it yourself.

The Holden red engine could be disassembled with two spanners    maybe five spanners.    whitworth or AF I forget

the cylinder head had some scope for development.  yellow terrier heads
IMO the 186 was the best to work on, also adding a borg warner 4 speed gearbox if you had the cash.
it was all so basic back then, a vehicle was nuts and bolts with a basic electrical system, the only electronics was the in-car AM transistor radio
or CB if you had one.

[Ed.Kloonk]

My car has 16 valves. 4 in the engine and 12 in the radio.

[Kerlin]

You post on the PMG techs thread.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/pmg-telecom-radio-laboratory-books-and-calibration-box-information/

[vk6zgo]

...The Aussie Bosch car electrical systems were rugged, reliable, not cheap, but big stuff, like starters & alternators were re-buildable multiple times & everybody in the trade did just that....

Now that is one thing that we sorely miss. Too many things are "throw out and replace" rather than repair. It sucks. Those  white worm-in-the-ear earphones made by Apple that look like you have two chalks stuck in your ear have a LiIon battery that lasts around last two years and is not replaceable. Companies like Apple don't want you to repair or refurbish anything. Apple was caught making one of their iPhone firmware updates slow phones down so the user goes and buys the latest model. They just want want more of your money for their shareholders.

In my day TV's, radios, stereos were all worth repairing. Cars could be restored. The Holden red engine could be disassembled with two spanners.

You know you are old when you can remember getting something repaired or furbished; and very old when you could do it yourself.

The Holden red engine could be disassembled with two spanners    maybe five spanners.    whitworth or AF I forget

the cylinder head had some scope for development.  yellow terrier heads
IMO the 186 was the best to work on, also adding a borg warner 4 speed gearbox if you had the cash.
it was all so basic back then, a vehicle was nuts and bolts with a basic electrical system, the only electronics was the in-car AM transistor radio
or CB if you had one.

AF--- Pommy cars were another delight altogether, with a mix of UNF, Whitworth, & BSF----all using mutually incompatible spanners.

The "Prince of Darkness" had another sweet thing going for a while, in a "Lucas thread" for the batt lead connection on their starters, complete with different distance across the flats.
At least they eventually realised it was silly, & discontinued its use.

The AF 9/16"  &  1/2" are "near enough that they could kiss without sin" to 14mm & 13mm metric.

Electronic fuel injection & control of ignition & anti-pollution stuff were improvements, but the seriously dumb idea of a bloody great big touchscreen in the middle of the dash that you have to look at to operate is a backward step in my opinion.

By the way, the addition of an "ECU"was from the mid-'80s, the "goto" device for mechanics to blame:-
"It's the computer"------- like "just a tube" for radios in earlier years.

One bloke had a bunch of "computers" from wrecked cars, which he would slot in.
It even worked, sometimes!

[Brumby]

... you understand what this means - without looking it up.

You post on the PMG techs thread.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/pmg-telecom-radio-laboratory-books-and-calibration-box-information/

[GreyWoolfe]

You know that you are old when:
you learned to drive in a car big enough to have its own zip code.
you not only know what a manual choke is but had a car with one.
you were sent home from school when Pres Kennedy was shot.
you were a teenager when your parents got that new fangled color TV.
you just missed being drafted for Vietnam.
you have to learn all about this medicare stuff before the end of the year.
you remember car radios that were AM only.
you worked with punch cards in high school.

You know you look old when you get a senior citizen's discount when you're not a senior citizen.  When I said that I wasn't a senior citizen, the young kid behind the counter said, "that's OK, you look old school."

[Brumby]

... you bought an AM stereo decoder kit, because it was just the coolest thing ever!

[duckduck]

You remember using a pay phone. You remember watching a black & white TV. You remember seeing a tube tester at the TV repair place. You know how to dial a number on a rotary-dial phone. Your parents told you to go play outside, and then didn't worry about you until supper time. You remember when they were called "laptops" the first time around. You remember using a 6V or 12V alkaline battery. You remember using dry-cell batteries. You remember playing with liquid mercury in your bedroom without gloves, face-shield, fume hood, or having to fill out a hazard assessment form. You know what the AT command set is. You remember using a car radio that had buttons that moved the station indicator needle to a different station, and you know how to "program" different stations. You remember when cars had radio antennas sticking out of the front fenders. You remember when handheld electronic games played only one game. You remember when the high-beam switch was foot operated. You remember calling friends when you were a teenager and having to talk to one of their parents first. You remember the (rifle) shooting team at school. You remember taking drafting class and using your dad's nice German drafting tools that he used when he took drafting class. You remember playing lawn darts. You remember when old guys smoked pipes. You remember when mustaches were cool. You remember winding a metronome. You remember winding an alarm clock before going to sleep. You remember ultrasonic TV remotes. You remember turning the big dial and squeezing the lever for each letter when making a label. You remember cranking the ice-cream maker. You remember having to rewind magnetic tapes. You remember having to wait at least 60 minutes to look at a picture after you took it (not counting Polaroids). You remember having to press hard when filling out forms so that the bottom copy would come out. You remember having to add duplicating fluid before cranking on the "ditto" machine to make copies. You remember looking up books in the card catalog in the library. You remember reading old newspapers on microfiche. You remember crank calling.

[HobGoblyn]

When the salesman looks at you strangely when you ask where the colour TV's

I remember as something like a 7 year old, going to a friends house and they had a new colour TV.  They played around with the colour knob turning it to b&w and back to colour.

I then went home and tried to do the same thing on our b&w tv

[Ed.Kloonk]

You remember crank calling.

Ah, yes. The anonymous, random heavy-breather. I miss being able to do that. I miss receiving them too, if I'm really honest about it.

[Ed.Kloonk]

When the salesman looks at you strangely when you ask where the colour TV's

I remember as something like a 7 year old, going to a friends house and they had a new colour TV.  They played around with the colour knob turning it to b&w and back to colour.

I then went home and tried to do the same thing on our b&w tv

When you remember seeing the words 'Colour TV" on the big sign outside the motel you were driving around looking for.

[schmitt trigger]

Indeed!
Colour TV were the free WiFi of the 60s and 70s

[radar_macgyver]

When you remember seeing the words 'Colour TV" on the big sign outside the motel you were driving around looking for.

There's parts of Oklahoma that still have these signs!

[thermistor-guy]

Your kids ask for help with homework, on historical events, and they are shocked to realize you lived through it.

[vk6zgo]

When you remember seeing the words 'Colour TV" on the big sign outside the motel you were driving around looking for.

There's parts of Oklahoma that still have these signs!

Is that "Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains?" (Now I've really shown how old I am!).

Back to the motels;-

Some years back, (early 2000s), I had a temporary job, where they flew a bunch of us to Melbourne to learn how to reprogram dishwashers. (apparently different countries have their own programming).
To this end, we were put up in motels.

The one I stayed at was surprising to say the least.

It looked like it had been transported whole from 1975---still with a '70s colour TV, decor in the room standard for that era, non-watersaving shower head in the bathroom-----------everything took me right back.

I had to look outside to see the newer model cars to make sure I wasn't stranded in the "Twilight Zone!"

No "Colour TV" sign, though!

[vk6zgo]

Your kids ask for help with homework, on historical events, and they are shocked to realize you lived through it.

I have seen so-called "academic" papers on the Internet, which are riddled with gross historical errors.

One referred to the Australian Labor Party having been kept out of power from the 1930s to the '70s.
They had apparently never heard of John Curtin, the ALP Prime Minister during the most dire parts of WW2.

Another one, whilst at least acknowledging the existence of Curtin, criticised his govt for highish Inflation during the period he was PM.

Again, no mention of, or consideration of WW2, rationing, civil mobilisation on a grand scale, or the presence of US forces, all obvious drivers of Inflation.

If academics are so crap, how do we expect schoolkids to understand historical events?

[Cerebus]

Is that "Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains?" (Now I've really shown how old I am!).

Or alternatively just that you're a fan of musical theatre.

[Oilngas]

You remember using a car radio that had buttons that moved the station indicator needle to a different station, and you know how to "program" different stations.

And that AM radio had CONELRAD system triangles on the dial at 640 and 1240.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Your kids ask for help with homework, on historical events, and they are shocked to realize you lived through it.

"..But, the teacher said.."

 

[Circlotron]

Your kids ask for help with homework, on historical events, and they are shocked to realize you lived through it.

"..But, the teacher said.."

 

..."you can be a boy or a girl" 

[TerraHertz]

When you meet a very nice lady, probably in her early 30s, and you are STILL twice her age. Dammit.

So you give one of your newest cats her name.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

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).

[VK3DRB]

Our local chemist shop (pharmacy to the Americans) provides prescription tablets in a video cassette type case to take to the front country for checkout. About 3 months ago I asked the checkout woman, probably aged around 30, something like, "Do you have beta?" She looked perplexed. I then asked "VHS?". She had no idea what I was on about. I explained by saying, "This looks like a VCR tape case", and she replied "What's a VCR tape?" Yep, I know I am getting old. To the young checkout woman, probably senile as well.

I have about eight Aboriginal plastic $10 notes from 1988, the first plastic notes ever printed in the world (Australian invention). I am tempted to pass one at the local supermarket and watch the kerfuffle to see if they will accept it. They are super rare because they were quickly withdrawn from circulation, and I doubt most of the checkout chicks have ever seen one. Some of these notes are very valuable, but not mine (circulated). These would be quite offensive to Aborigines today, based upon the image on the other side of the note, and what 1788 represents...
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/392769676251

[VK3DRB]

You also know you are getting old when university graduates in electrical/electronic engineering have never heard of a CB or ham radio.