Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office. Often has
a vice principal, and secretary.
Principle: How something operates. Or guiding factor in
your life. "I don't pay extra, on principle".

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

-snip-
online. Don't want anything that needs a wall plug or
backup battery,
don't need caller ID (which I refuse to pay extra for on
principal) or

Great link, thanks. You want to see a blank look. Ask
someone younger than 20 or so to dial a number on one of
these. Most kids simply don't know how.

Me, over 40, well, I learned on these. Anyone remember when
the telco owned the phones, and you weren't allowed to move
them around the house, or run another socket? I remember my
family's first touch tone phone. That was so totally groovy,
man. Like, far out!

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...

For any youngsters that aren't familiar with the WEs--
here's what
they look- and sound- like. ['splains why we 'dial' a
number, and
what a phone 'ringing' means]
http://www.boldoldphones.com/

Jim

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:52 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

-snip-
online. Don't want anything that needs a wall plug or backup battery,
don't need caller ID (which I refuse to pay extra for on principal) or
speed-dial or anything like that. I have plenty of the old-time real WE
phones for the other rooms, but need the speaker and mute for conference
calls.

For any youngsters that aren't familiar with the WEs-- here's what
they look- and sound- like.

Ahh, I've got a 1940's-vintage 164:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/164_Black.jpg

.... but once I get it shipped over to this side of the Atlantic I expect
I'm going to have to build some kind of box of tricks to hook it up to the
US system (although I've not researched that in detail yet... maybe the US
system can still "look" like a Strowger exchange as far as the phone's
concerned and so is compatible enough)

I've got a 60's type 706 too, which looks almost identical to the
repro ones in your link - that one I used to have hooked up in my
house when I was living in England. Amazing how long it takes to dial a
number compared to a more modern push-button phone!

'splains why we 'dial' a number, and what a phone 'ringing' means]

There's no ringer in my 164 - it hails from the days where that was
typically done separately. I do have a wooden wall-mount bell-box though,
but the 164 lacks the necessary guts to drive it so I'd have to improvise
there...

cheers

Jules

"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

-snip-

Me, over 40, well, I learned on these. Anyone remember when
the telco owned the phones, and you weren't allowed to move
them around the house, or run another socket? I remember my
family's first touch tone phone. That was so totally groovy,
man. Like, far out!

My wife was just telling us the other day about her mom painting their
phone to match the room. Back when Ma Bell was *the* telephone
company- and you got a choice of wall or desk phone- in black.

Mom would paint the phone. Peeling paint would eventually get
someplace it wasn't supposed to. The repairman would come out and
give her a new phone. . . she'd paint it. . .the paint would peel. .
..

We were on an 8 party line for a while. Our ring was 4 shorts. The
hard-of-hearing old biddy down the street was 4 longs and she got a
million calls a day. Today you could do 8 different 'ring tones'
for all the parties.

Jim

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:10:44 -0600, Jules
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:52 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

-snip-
online. Don't want anything that needs a wall plug or backup battery,
don't need caller ID (which I refuse to pay extra for on principal) or
speed-dial or anything like that. I have plenty of the old-time real WE
phones for the other rooms, but need the speaker and mute for conference
calls.

For any youngsters that aren't familiar with the WEs-- here's what
they look- and sound- like.

Ahh, I've got a 1940's-vintage 164:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/164_Black.jpg

Those crazy brits- they put the numbers on the dial backwards.g


... but once I get it shipped over to this side of the Atlantic I expect
I'm going to have to build some kind of box of tricks to hook it up to the
US system (although I've not researched that in detail yet... maybe the US
system can still "look" like a Strowger exchange as far as the phone's
concerned and so is compatible enough)

I've got a 60's type 706 too, which looks almost identical to the
repro ones in your link - that one I used to have hooked up in my
house when I was living in England. Amazing how long it takes to dial a
number compared to a more modern push-button phone!

Yeah- but if the dial breaks, you can just flash with the plunger. try
that with touch-tone. The little independent telco I worked for in
the 70s had a test number set up so we could flash something like
111-2222 and if it went through we'd know it was a dial problem, not a
line problem.


'splains why we 'dial' a number, and what a phone 'ringing' means]

There's no ringer in my 164 - it hails from the days where that was
typically done separately. I do have a wooden wall-mount bell-box though,
but the 164 lacks the necessary guts to drive it so I'd have to improvise
there...

On this side of the pond all those boxes were white oak. What did
they make them from over there?

Jim

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:52 -0500, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

-snip-
online. Don't want anything that needs a wall plug or backup battery,
don't need caller ID (which I refuse to pay extra for on principal) or
speed-dial or anything like that. I have plenty of the old-time real WE
phones for the other rooms, but need the speaker and mute for conference
calls.

For any youngsters that aren't familiar with the WEs-- here's what
they look- and sound- like. ['splains why we 'dial' a number, and
what a phone 'ringing' means]
http://www.boldoldphones.com/

Jim

"You put your fingers in the holes and spin them around for awhile."

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:33:57 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:10:44 -0600, Jules
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:52 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

-snip-
online. Don't want anything that needs a wall plug or backup battery,
don't need caller ID (which I refuse to pay extra for on principal) or
speed-dial or anything like that. I have plenty of the old-time real WE
phones for the other rooms, but need the speaker and mute for conference
calls.

For any youngsters that aren't familiar with the WEs-- here's what
they look- and sound- like.

Ahh, I've got a 1940's-vintage 164:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/164_Black.jpg

Those crazy brits- they put the numbers on the dial backwards.g

They're the same, aren't they? Both US/UK turn clockwise, with digits 1-9
followed by zero. (I'm not sure what the reasoning was behind the UK's
emergency services number being 999 as it takes so long to dial - even
longer than 911 in the US)

Oh, brain fart on my part by the way - it's a 162 that I have, not a 164,
although it looks identical to that one in the photo above (which I
suspect is mislabeled, as apparently the 164 is just a handset, not an
entire phone).

I've got a 60's type 706 too, which looks almost identical to the repro
ones in your link - that one I used to have hooked up in my house when I
was living in England. Amazing how long it takes to dial a number
compared to a more modern push-button phone!

Yeah- but if the dial breaks, you can just flash with the plunger. try
that with touch-tone.

True. I think I have a spare dial for my 162, although not for the
706 (although the 706's were made in the millions, so I bet it's easy
to get spares still).

The little independent telco I worked for in
the 70s had a test number set up so we could flash something like
111-2222 and if it went through we'd know it was a dial problem, not a
line problem.

It's stuff like that - all the little tricks and tips and "secret" things
- that I find fascinating about old phone systems. I think US systems of
old were perhaps more interesting in that regard, given the diversity...

'splains why we 'dial' a number, and what a phone 'ringing' means]

There's no ringer in my 164 - it hails from the days where that was
typically done separately. I do have a wooden wall-mount bell-box
though, but the 164 lacks the necessary guts to drive it so I'd have to
improvise there...

On this side of the pond all those boxes were white oak. What did they
make them from over there?

Hmm, I'm not sure. IIRC it's a Bell 1a that I have:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/bell1a.htm

.... but it's hard to tell from that what kind of wood it is just from the
grain, and obviously it's stained with something or other and then
varnished.

cheers

Jules

Jules wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:33:57 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:10:44 -0600, Jules
wrote:

Ahh, I've got a 1940's-vintage 164:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/164_Black.jpg

Those crazy brits- they put the numbers on the dial backwards.g

They're the same, aren't they? Both US/UK turn clockwise, with digits 1-9
followed by zero.

Hmm- brain farts here, too, I guess. All that space on the right
makes it look different.


-snip-
There's no ringer in my 164 - it hails from the days where that was
typically done separately. I do have a wooden wall-mount bell-box
though, but the 164 lacks the necessary guts to drive it so I'd have to
improvise there...

On this side of the pond all those boxes were white oak. What did they
make them from over there?

Hmm, I'm not sure. IIRC it's a Bell 1a that I have:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/bell1a.htm

... but it's hard to tell from that what kind of wood it is just from the
grain, and obviously it's stained with something or other and then
varnished.

Neat old box. I can't remember ever seeing anything but light oak-
but then I only worked for one rural telco- that had absorbed 2-3
others by 1972. When I got there in 72 we had not yet retired
the operator from the last company.

Jim

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office. Often has
a vice principal, and secretary.
Principle: How something operates. Or guiding factor in
your life. "I don't pay extra, on principle".


The "principal" is your "pal" (not really, but for the sake of remembering)

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office. Often has
a vice principal, and secretary.
Principle: How something operates. Or guiding factor in
your life. "I don't pay extra, on principle".


(blows razzberry) :^)
Yes, I know. Finger memory- I'm no touch typist. If I have to proof
everything I throw out here, I'll get even less done in real life.

--
aems ends....

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:27:05 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

Jules wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:33:57 -0500, Jim Elbrecht wrote:

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:10:44 -0600, Jules
wrote:

Ahh, I've got a 1940's-vintage 164:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/164_Black.jpg

Those crazy brits- they put the numbers on the dial backwards.g

They're the same, aren't they? Both US/UK turn clockwise, with digits 1-9
followed by zero.

Hmm- brain farts here, too, I guess. All that space on the right
makes it look different.

Yes, the dial on the WE phones does look to be rotated a little more than
the UK ones I've seen - maybe that was common for all 'vintage' US dial
phones?

Neat old box. I can't remember ever seeing anything but light oak-
but then I only worked for one rural telco- that had absorbed 2-3 others
by 1972. When I got there in 72 we had not yet retired the
operator from the last company.

The one I have's a bit beaten up, but then I bet it's pretty old (there's
no indication of a date on it, and I've not found anywhere online which
says when that style was made - but far as I know it was intended for use
with the old "candlestick" style phones, and I think they'd been made
obselete by the early '30s)

Incidentally, not sure where in the US folk can see a big old
Strowger-type electromechanical exchance working? I bet there's one in a
museum or two somewhere (I saw one in a museum out in New Zealand a few
years ago and they're pretty fascinating to see and hear clicking away)

cheers

Jules

Echo! Echo!

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office. Often
has
a vice principal, and secretary.
Principle: How something operates. Or guiding factor in
your life. "I don't pay extra, on principle".


The "principal" is your "pal" (not really, but for the sake
of remembering)

You hear about the old guy who was so, so poor. His hearing
aid was on a party line.

I get to tell that one about every five years. Yes, I wear
hearing aids. Have, since age 6.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

-snip-

Me, over 40, well, I learned on these. Anyone remember when
the telco owned the phones, and you weren't allowed to move
them around the house, or run another socket? I remember my
family's first touch tone phone. That was so totally
groovy,
man. Like, far out!

My wife was just telling us the other day about her mom
painting their
phone to match the room. Back when Ma Bell was *the*
telephone
company- and you got a choice of wall or desk phone- in
black.

Mom would paint the phone. Peeling paint would eventually
get
someplace it wasn't supposed to. The repairman would come
out and
give her a new phone. . . she'd paint it. . .the paint
would peel. .
..

We were on an 8 party line for a while. Our ring was 4
shorts. The
hard-of-hearing old biddy down the street was 4 longs and
she got a
million calls a day. Today you could do 8 different
'ring tones'
for all the parties.

Jim

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:26:03 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office. Often has
a vice principal, and secretary.
Principle: How something operates. Or guiding factor in
your life. "I don't pay extra, on principle".


The "principal" is your "pal" (not really, but for the sake of remembering)


and "beliefs" contain "lie"s (spelling rule).

"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:55:50 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

[snip]


I have a Sony clock radio that I purchased recently that not only keeps
the time when the power is out but I believe it also automagically
adjusts for Daylight Savings Time. It wasn't that expensive. I
don't have it with me right now so I don't have the model but it
is currently in production.

TDD

I have a similar clock. It has a time zone switch on the bottom, and
does adjust for DST. What it does NOT do is automatically set the time
(though it pretends to, with fancy displays on power up). There's a
little battery inside. Take that out for awhile and it shows 12:00 and
NEVER corrects the problem.

I got one like that too at Sprawl-Mart and thought it was an atomic clock
that set the time via radio signal (based on the packaging and my bad
eyesight) but it turned out not to be. It's got a huge coin cell battery
(they say it will last 5 years) in the bottom, a method for setting
different DST start and stop times, and goes through that "embryonic" sort
of startup you describe that makes it appear to be magically resetting
itself. It's got two great features, though, aside from the dual alarms.
One is the large blue digits I can almost read from across the room and the
other is the little LEDs for the day of the week that indicate green for
Saturday and Sunday. It's an Emerson Research CKS 1832, if that's of any
use to anyone.

As for the OP, a small UPS is probably the best idea for VCRs, answering
machines and so on. Microwaves and coffeepots are a no, no, though.
Someone handy with a soldering iron might be able to rewire the appliances
so that the clock components can be run off a separate power supply that
could be battery backed, but I'd never do it. Some of them must come with a
battery backup, althought that's not much help after you've purchased an
appliance without a backup.

--
Bobby G.

In article ,
wrote:

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:52:39 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

Who needs a clock on a coffee maker, fer
christ's sake?

If you want it to make your coffee in the morning so it is ready when
you get up.?



I like fresh ground, so I set up the pot and the grinder at night. When
I get up, I grind the beans, dump them in the basket, and flip the power
switch. By the time I pee and have a glass of OJ, the coffee is ready.

I did have a g.f. once who had an automatic coffee pot with timer and
built-in grinder, but it had too many parts to clean and fuss over.

Besides, I just get up when I'm done sleeping. Sometimes it's 4 a.m. and
sometimes it's 9:00 a.m. How's a timer going to account for that?

In article . com,
Jules wrote:

Technically someone could make a coffee maker that lasts 20 years, is
fully servicable, and doesn't cost the earth in parts.

My Krups is at least 20 years old. Control panel consists of an on/off
rocker switch.

In article ,
"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office.

The principal would beat your ass with a ruler if you couldn't spell his
title any better than that.

In article ,
aemeijers wrote:

Smitty Two wrote:


And no, I don't have a damn alarm clock in the bedroom. I don't care
what time it is when I'm sleeping, and I wake up automatically when I'm
done sleeping. And I don't own a damn watch, either. All this
fascination with time is psychotic.
While I agree with you philosophically, the people that put great
steaming piles of money in my bank account every couple of weeks don't.
They want to see my shining face every morning by 0730 or so, which
means I have to wake up (and stay up) before I naturally would. I do
usually wake up before the alarm. But if I don't know what time it is,
the hardwiring says to go back to sleep, until daylight through yonder
window breaks.



I told "those people" to go to hell. I go to work when I feel like it.
Sometimes I work 20 hr. weeks and sometimes I work 80 hr. weeks.
Sometimes I work Saturdays and Sundays or stay until 2 a.m. But I don't
get up until I'm done sleeping, and I don't leave the house until I'm
done drinking my little pot of coffee, and had a **** and a shower. (I
shave ~ every 5 days or so)

Oh, yeah: I also eat when I'm hungry, rather than when some goofy clock
tells me it's time to eat. Call me a radical scofflaw.

In article ,
Mark Lloyd wrote:


BTW, as far as I can tell, coffee provides little or no benefit (as a
drug).

Coffee is chock full of health benefits. More anti-oxidants than
blueberries, for example, and plenty more good stuff:

http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food

Well, mine was a bit of a prinic.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news In article ,
"Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Prinicpal: The pal of yours at the school office.

The principal would beat your ass with a ruler if you
couldn't spell his
title any better than that.

Does "bachelor" equal "radical scofflaw"? I may qualify.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news
I told "those people" to go to hell. I go to work when I
feel like it.
Sometimes I work 20 hr. weeks and sometimes I work 80 hr.
weeks.
Sometimes I work Saturdays and Sundays or stay until 2 a.m.
But I don't
get up until I'm done sleeping, and I don't leave the house
until I'm
done drinking my little pot of coffee, and had a **** and a
shower. (I
shave ~ every 5 days or so)

Oh, yeah: I also eat when I'm hungry, rather than when some
goofy clock
tells me it's time to eat. Call me a radical scofflaw.

In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:


I feel your pain! Do other households in the area have the same problem?

My worst problem used to be answering machines. With my last one, I had
to hold a button while a voice counted through the days of the week,
then to the right hour, then to the right minute. I'd stand around
waiting, and if I missed the right hour or minute, I'd have to run
through an additional 24 hours or 60 minutes.

Or, you could just give up the silly notion that you have any useful
need whatsoever to know what time a message was left.

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:47:20 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
I did have a g.f. once who had an automatic coffee pot with timer and
built-in grinder, but it had too many parts to clean and fuss over.

Besides, I just get up when I'm done sleeping. Sometimes it's 4 a.m. and
sometimes it's 9:00 a.m. How's a timer going to account for that?

Hmm, you need a pressure switch fitted to the bed so power gets to the
coffee machine soon as you get up ;-)

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:19 -0800, Smitty Two wrote:
I told "those people" to go to hell. I go to work when I feel like it.
Sometimes I work 20 hr. weeks and sometimes I work 80 hr. weeks.
Sometimes I work Saturdays and Sundays or stay until 2 a.m. But I don't
get up until I'm done sleeping, and I don't leave the house until I'm
done drinking my little pot of coffee, and had a **** and a shower. (I
shave ~ every 5 days or so)

Oh, yeah: I also eat when I'm hungry, rather than when some goofy clock
tells me it's time to eat. Call me a radical scofflaw.

Routines suck when they're someone else's.

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

I feel your pain! Do other households in the area have the same problem?

My worst problem used to be answering machines. With my last one, I had
to hold a button while a voice counted through the days of the week,
then to the right hour, then to the right minute. I'd stand around
waiting, and if I missed the right hour or minute, I'd have to run
through an additional 24 hours or 60 minutes.

Or, you could just give up the silly notion that you have any useful
need whatsoever to know what time a message was left.

It matters in many, perhaps most, of my messages. If the message says
somebody is 30 miles from town and hopes to meet me at a restaurant when
she arrives, the time of the call matters. If I come in at 11 PM and a
message asks advice about a household emergency, I'll want to know if it
was left 5 minutes ago or 5 hours ago.

I don't set clock on my microwave. It sets at times.
https://www.bestovertherangemicrowav...nge-microwave/

We have the same problems in winter. Ice on the lines... trees coming down on the lines etc... so tired of resetting clocks on appliances that the only one set correctly is the coffee pot. Because we set the pot to have coffee ready when we get up.

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...up-406529-.htm