On 10/6/2023 1:48 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2023-10-06 11:10, micky wrote:
>> In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 5 Oct 2023 20:44:58 -0400, Retirednoguilt
>> <HapilyRetired@fakeaddress.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/5/2023 5:10 PM, micky wrote:
>>>> In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 5 Oct 2023 12:04:45 -0500, Mark Lloyd
>>>> <not.email@all.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 10/4/23 21:53, candycanearter07 wrote:
>>>>>> On 10/4/23 19:19, micky wrote:
>>>>>>> In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 4 Oct 2023 11:48:10 -0700, The Real Bev
>>>>>>> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> My phone was on, but in airplane mode.  Nothing.  Somebody said the
>>>>>>>> signal would override airplane mode.  Nope.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Someday, when cell phones don't interfere with airplanes and no
>>>>>>> one can
>>>>>>> remember when they did, people will ask, Why do they call it
>>>>>>> airplane
>>>>>>> mode.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Just like what's happening with the save icon..
>>>>>
>>>>> The "phone" icon on my smartphone looks like a telephone handset, a
>>>>> shape almost no modern phones have.
>>>>
>>>> I used to have one hanging in the bathroom, between the tub and the
>>>> toilet.  When I find it, I'm connecting it again, right next to my
>>>> desk.
>>>> Currently the handset that came with the phone machine gives me poor
>>>> sound, but its speakerphone often gives the other side poor sound. I
>>>> expect a Western Electric handset will be perfect, even if it's 50
>>>> years
>>>> old.
>>>
>>> Kids these days don't know the origin of the term "dial tone" because
>>> they've never heard of or seen a telephone with a dial.  We oldsters
>>> also remember phones that didn't have a dial.  They had a crank that you
>>> turned to alert the operator in the local office that you needed them to
>>> make a connection for you.  When you wanted to speak to someone out of
>>> town, you had to ask the local operator to connect you to a long
>>> distance operator.  Sometimes the wires were so congested that you had
>>> to get in a queue and was given an appointment time when your long
>>> distance operator was likely to be available.  We've come a long way
>>> since then!
>>
>> In 1945 my mother married and moved to Western Pa. She would pick up the
>> phone and the operator would say, Number pleeuz.  and she would say
>> Oliver 4-1234 or something.  And after a few days the operator said,
>> "You don't have to say Oliver 4, Ma'am. They're all Oliver 4."
>>
>> If the line was busy, the operator would say, "The line is buzzzzzy".
>> That's the origin of the sound of the busy signal.  :-)
>>
>> One day when I was at school the phone company came and put dials on the
>> phone.   They took the 2" square plate off the top of the wall phone in
>> the kitchen and wired in a dial that screwed to the top where the plate
>> had been.  In my parents' bedroom they replaced the phone entirely.
>
> I must be younger. I don't remember phones without a dial. At least not
> at home. But we had to use an operator to call longer distance or
> certain cities.
>
> Making an international phone call could take an hour or two to prepare,
> involving an (international) operator. Then one day it could be done
> automatically, but we had to wait for a second dial tone.
>
>
>> Based on movies, it's clear they had dial phones in NYC maybe a decade
>> before we got them.
>>
>> Oh yeah, when I was in the first grade, my parents were at friends on a
>> Saturday night in December.  I was almost 6 and my brother was 12.   We
>> had a baby sitter but I thought my brother was picking on me. (Well, he
>> was.) So I looked my parents' friends' number up in the phone book and
>> called my mother to complain. And they were so amazed that I could use
>> the phone book.  I thought their amazement was strange or silly.  After
>> all, in school they had started teaching me to read in September. More
>> than 3 months ago. What was the point of teaching me to read if they
>> didn't think I would do it?
>
> :-)
>
>> We had to read outloud when the teacher called on us so I know that
>> every kid in my class could read by the end of December.
>
> Oh, my mother knew very well when I could read. She was a teacher,
> specialized in 5-6 year olds. I'm sure she tracked my advances or was
> directly involved on it.
>
> At some point they taught me to use the phone and made me memorize the
> house number.
>
Phones were property of Ma Bell too. The one at my grandmother's house
weighed about 5 pounds and had a short cord to a big box on the wall.
Had to be 20 years old, one of the firsts. When we moved in with her
1963?), my mother asked for a new phone, but, since it still worked, no
replacement. Coincidentally, a week later the phone broke.

In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 6 Oct 2023 16:24:31 -0400, Ed P
<esp@snet.xxx> wrote:

>On 10/6/2023 1:48 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 2023-10-06 11:10, micky wrote:
>>> In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 5 Oct 2023 20:44:58 -0400, Retirednoguilt
>>> <HapilyRetired@fakeaddress.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 10/5/2023 5:10 PM, micky wrote:
>>>>> In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 5 Oct 2023 12:04:45 -0500, Mark Lloyd
>>>>> <not.email@all.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 10/4/23 21:53, candycanearter07 wrote:
>>>>>>> On 10/4/23 19:19, micky wrote:
>>>>>>>> In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 4 Oct 2023 11:48:10 -0700, The Real Bev
>>>>>>>> <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> My phone was on, but in airplane mode.  Nothing.  Somebody said the
>>>>>>>>> signal would override airplane mode.  Nope.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Someday, when cell phones don't interfere with airplanes and no
>>>>>>>> one can
>>>>>>>> remember when they did, people will ask, Why do they call it
>>>>>>>> airplane
>>>>>>>> mode.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Just like what's happening with the save icon..
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The "phone" icon on my smartphone looks like a telephone handset, a
>>>>>> shape almost no modern phones have.
>>>>>
>>>>> I used to have one hanging in the bathroom, between the tub and the
>>>>> toilet.  When I find it, I'm connecting it again, right next to my
>>>>> desk.
>>>>> Currently the handset that came with the phone machine gives me poor
>>>>> sound, but its speakerphone often gives the other side poor sound. I
>>>>> expect a Western Electric handset will be perfect, even if it's 50
>>>>> years
>>>>> old.
>>>>
>>>> Kids these days don't know the origin of the term "dial tone" because
>>>> they've never heard of or seen a telephone with a dial.  We oldsters
>>>> also remember phones that didn't have a dial.  They had a crank that you
>>>> turned to alert the operator in the local office that you needed them to
>>>> make a connection for you.  When you wanted to speak to someone out of
>>>> town, you had to ask the local operator to connect you to a long
>>>> distance operator.  Sometimes the wires were so congested that you had
>>>> to get in a queue and was given an appointment time when your long
>>>> distance operator was likely to be available.  We've come a long way
>>>> since then!
>>>
>>> In 1945 my mother married and moved to Western Pa. She would pick up the
>>> phone and the operator would say, Number pleeuz.  and she would say
>>> Oliver 4-1234 or something.  And after a few days the operator said,
>>> "You don't have to say Oliver 4, Ma'am. They're all Oliver 4."
>>>
>>> If the line was busy, the operator would say, "The line is buzzzzzy".
>>> That's the origin of the sound of the busy signal.  :-)
>>>
>>> One day when I was at school the phone company came and put dials on the
>>> phone.   They took the 2" square plate off the top of the wall phone in
>>> the kitchen and wired in a dial that screwed to the top where the plate
>>> had been.  In my parents' bedroom they replaced the phone entirely.
>>
>> I must be younger. I don't remember phones without a dial. At least not
>> at home. But we had to use an operator to call longer distance or
>> certain cities.
>>
>> Making an international phone call could take an hour or two to prepare,
>> involving an (international) operator. Then one day it could be done
>> automatically, but we had to wait for a second dial tone.
>>
>>
>>> Based on movies, it's clear they had dial phones in NYC maybe a decade
>>> before we got them.
>>>
>>> Oh yeah, when I was in the first grade, my parents were at friends on a
>>> Saturday night in December.  I was almost 6 and my brother was 12.   We
>>> had a baby sitter but I thought my brother was picking on me. (Well, he
>>> was.) So I looked my parents' friends' number up in the phone book and
>>> called my mother to complain. And they were so amazed that I could use
>>> the phone book.  I thought their amazement was strange or silly.  After
>>> all, in school they had started teaching me to read in September. More
>>> than 3 months ago. What was the point of teaching me to read if they
>>> didn't think I would do it?
>>
>> :-)
>>
>>> We had to read outloud when the teacher called on us so I know that
>>> every kid in my class could read by the end of December.
>>
>> Oh, my mother knew very well when I could read. She was a teacher,
>> specialized in 5-6 year olds. I'm sure she tracked my advances or was
>> directly involved on it.

They never asked afaicr what happened in school today. They just
assumed I'd learn what I was supposed to. I don't know if they thought
I'd learned to read or not but even if they did, it didn't occur to them
I would put it to use. I knew what the phone book was. I'd probably
seen my mother use it but if not, just look inside, it has a bunch of
names, addreses, and numbers, and it says telephone company on the
outside, and it's next to the phone. Isn't it obvious!

>> At some point they taught me to use the phone and made me memorize the
>> house number.
>>
>Phones were property of Ma Bell too. The one at my grandmother's house
>weighed about 5 pounds and had a short cord to a big box on the wall.
>Had to be 20 years old, one of the firsts. When we moved in with her
>1963?), my mother asked for a new phone, but, since it still worked, no
>replacement. Coincidentally, a week later the phone broke.

Are you sure your mother didn't arrange that?