On Jan 28, 8:17*pm, hibb wrote:
On Jan 28, 7:09*pm, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
I've not seen the show. *However, a test can stump anyone.
Depends on who writes the test. I'm sure I could write a
multiple choice question that would fail most of the folks
on this list.

Any question is easy if you know the answer. I don't remember the
particular question the rocket scientist missed but one of the
questions today was "a tom tom, snare and bongo are types of what
musical instrument". The contestant had to ask the fifth grader for
help.



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

"hibb" wrote in message

....

That can be turned around as well. Ever watch the game show
called
"Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader"?

One of the early contestants was an actual "Rocket
Scientist" that
worked for NASA. He was gone after missing the first
question. And it
was a question from the first grade part of the quiz.

David- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

At least he didn''t answer "types of GPS navigatorst".

wrote
British pop group of the 60's, 70's and 80's.

Nice try.

The saying goes, "If you can remember the sixties, you weren't there."

Steve, graduated HS in '66. Everything foggy since then.

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

I love it when the bill is $11.06, and I give them $21.11, so I can get back
a $10, and a nickel, and they can keep their ones. It takes them a moment
or five to enter $21.11 as Amt Tendered, then the amazed look at when it
flashes $10.05 as change, they look amazed or ask, "How did you do that?"

Priceless.

Steve

"David Nebenzahl" wrote


Math? *Math?* We're talking about simple *arithmetic* here, for
chrissakes.

Can't even ****ing *make change*; forget about differentiation,
integration, polynomials, etc., etc.

We're doomed.


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

So, you got to math without first learning arithmetic?

Impressive. It's like writing a novel without learning ABC's.

Steve

On Jan 28, 1:10*pm, wrote:

7. What is the cheapest price you can remember for gas?

I pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons at 46.9 cents - and with the
inevitable gas wars of the late sicties I bought more than one tank
full for less than 11 cents per gallon.

And for each 5gal purchase you got free glasses or plates.
I think I still have a few of those glasses in my cupboard.

On 1/28/2010 09:25, Zootal wrote:

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

What's worse is delivery people who don't know how to give change that
encourages tipping. For example, a pizza order for $14.95. The
customer hands over a $20, and gets a nickel and a $5 in change. Being
a kind and compassionate customer, I might let the guy keep the nickel.
But if he gave out a nickel, four quarters, and four singles I might
be inclined to give a bigger tip (if the pizza is still hot).

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:48:00 -0800 (PST), JIMMIE
wrote:

On Jan 28, 12:42*pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article 31, Zootal wrote:

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

*Nobody* knows how to make change anymore. I worked my way though college 30+
years ago running a cash register at a drugstore. This is how we were taught
to make change, using your example above, and counting _out loud_ to the
customer:

Put the purchase in a bag, hand it to him, and say "A dollar twenty-seven".
Then three pennies: "28, 29, 30." Then two dimes -- "40, 50." Then two
quarters -- "75, two dollars, thank you sir."

The beauty of this method is that you don't have to do any math to speak of.
All you need to do is count. It doesn't matter if neither the cashier nor the
customer can do the subtraction correctly -- it always produces the correct
change, and everybody knows it.

And nobody under the age of about fifty has any idea how to do that.

They just arent taught. I showed a kid working at a charity garage
sale how to do it . It took all of 30 seconds to show him and he was
VERY appreciative. He had been struggling.

Jimmie

Back in the day, they not only taught that method, but the employees
were instructed to do it "out loud", so the customer would be assured
they were getting the correct change.

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:09:50 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:


wrote
British pop group of the 60's, 70's and 80's.

Nice try.

The saying goes, "If you can remember the sixties, you weren't there."

Steve, graduated HS in '66. Everything foggy since then.



You didn't leave enough of the post you replied to, to make your post
coherent, Steve.

I wasn't the one who said, "British pop group of the 60's, 70's and
80's"

So no one, including me, knows what you are on about.

I pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons at 46.9 cents - and with the
inevitable gas wars of the late sixties I bought more than one tank
full for less than 11 cents per gallon.

I remember when gas was around 20c/gal (55+yrs ago) late fifties and
there was a gas war, the lowest being 12.9 cents. Your recollection
is hard to believe!

I remember our boy getting into our '67 truck for the first time
last year and looking around for the switch to operate the electric
windows... funny how people come to rely on technology.

I've heard of people being in tears because they couldn't unlock their
car (dead fob battery). A passerby helped by taking their keys and
unlocking the door.

bob

On Jan 29, 7:19*am, wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:51:00 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa



wrote:
I pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons at 46.9 cents - and with the
inevitable gas wars of the late sixties I bought more than one tank
full for less than 11 cents per gallon.

I remember when gas was around 20c/gal (55+yrs ago) late fifties and
there was a gas war, the lowest being 12.9 cents. *Your recollection
is hard to believe!

I remember our boy getting into our '67 truck for the first time
last year and looking around for the switch to operate the electric
windows... funny how people come to rely on technology.

I've heard of people being in tears because they couldn't unlock their
car (dead fob battery). *A passerby helped by taking their keys and
unlocking the door.

bob

We had a 1949 Mercury convertible with power windows. I think they may
have been vacuum powered. They weren't terribly reliable.

The Toyota Rav4 that I use as a "land dinghy" for my sailboat only has
a keyhole in the driver's door.

My dad had a '49 Merc...you could change the AM radio station by a
foot-switch! Very cool!

[snip]


Vinyl? Which world are you living in? Real record players
play shellac
discs.

One of my father's was labeled "acoustically recorded in 1908".

[snip]
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

On Jan 28, 10:17*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Ask people you know who are under 25, you'll be amazed at
the
answers!

1. What is a record player?

2. What is a dial telephone?

3. Who were the Beatles?

4. What is an 8-track tape player?

5. How many major wars occured in the 20th century?

6. What is inflation?

7. What is the cheapest price you can remember for gas?

8. What was the draft?

9. How were things done before computers?

10. How did people send a letter before e-mail?

And all of this proves -- what? That people don't remember things
that happened before they were born? That outdated, unused technology
has some sort of current purpose? That some people are weak in
history? That some people don't follow oldies music? As far as
adults "failing" at "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader," I propose
that an appropriate alternate title for this program would would be
"How Much of the Crap They Forced You to Learn in Fifth Grade That You
Never Had Any Further Use For Do You Still Remember?"

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:51:00 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa
wrote:

I pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons at 46.9 cents - and with the
inevitable gas wars of the late sixties I bought more than one tank
full for less than 11 cents per gallon.

I remember when gas was around 20c/gal (55+yrs ago) late fifties and
there was a gas war, the lowest being 12.9 cents. Your recollection
is hard to believe!

In Fergus Ontario, back in 1969 or 1970, one gas station actually PAID
people to put gas in their tanks one day, to show how ridiculous the
gas war situation was.

And we are talking TINY Canadian cents for BIG Canadian Gallons,
too!!!!!

I remember our boy getting into our '67 truck for the first time
last year and looking around for the switch to operate the electric
windows... funny how people come to rely on technology.

I've heard of people being in tears because they couldn't unlock their
car (dead fob battery). A passerby helped by taking their keys and
unlocking the door.

bob

Someone wrote "How about a "cassette" recorder that used Cassettes
about 6X8 inches
with the wide tape like used on the old real to real? Made by RCA "

Reelly?????????????

On Jan 29, 2:10*am, Bob wrote:
On 1/28/2010 09:25, Zootal wrote:

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

What's worse is delivery people who don't know how to give change that
encourages tipping. *For example, a pizza order for $14.95. *The
customer hands over a $20, and gets a nickel and a $5 in change. *Being
a kind and compassionate customer, I might let the guy keep the nickel.
* But if he gave out a nickel, four quarters, and four singles I might
be inclined to give a bigger tip (if the pizza is still hot).

My barber (Short, back and front, while I snooze) has it down to a
science.

Give him a 20. or a five and a ten and he'll make sure to give you
change that includes ones (one dollar coins in this case) so you can
slip him a tip of a few bucks.

BTW: I've put a big old Bell style 2500 phone with a 'real' ringer-
bell by the bed; just in case anybody phones at night. So much of the
'modern' stuff has those modern sounders. It's hard to a) Hear them
and b) WHICH one is 'beeping'. It rang this morning and really
surprised me!

If steam whistles or clicking of telegraphs were the sounds of the
1800s and early 1900s, the ticking of a geiger counter the sound of
the 1950s and 1960s, then the piezo electo beeper, in cash registers,
computers, et-al, MUST be the sound of this era!

Wonder what next?

Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
On 01/28/10 12:25 pm, Zootal wrote:

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

Most store these days have no provision for selling anything without
using the UPC scanner, quite apart from the onerous task of figuring out
the change. Even writing down the UPC no. on a piece of paper doesn't
work, because the store identifies an item not by the UPC but by the SKU
-- and only the computer system knows how they are related.

The UPC is Morse Code, can't help with the SKU. I wonder if WalMart has
an extra set of cash registers independent of their computer system in
case of a major computer crash?

Zootal wrote:
Sam E wrote in
:

[snip]

Ask them to tell you what time it is using a regular clock instead of a
digital one...LOL...

For how long will an analog clock be called "regular"?

We quit calling analog clocks "normal" and "regular" many years ago...my
kids see an analog clock on the wall, and they ask me what that funny
looking thing is.

Just recently I was wondering if my grandchildren will be taught to read
an analog clock FIRST. Analog clocks actually require less thought then
digital. You can look at an analog clock and without figuring the exact
time, you can almost instantly know about what time it is just be the
position of the hands. And many of them don't even have numbers,
because our minds don't need numbers to figure out analog time. Sort of
like looking at the sun, but a little more complex.

With a digital clock your mind has to calculate each number and come up
with an answer.

On 1/28/2010 7:16 PM Steve B spake thus:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote

Math? *Math?* We're talking about simple *arithmetic* here, for
chrissakes.

Can't even ****ing *make change*; forget about differentiation,
integration, polynomials, etc., etc.

We're doomed.

So, you got to math without first learning arithmetic?

Well, that was my point: this isn't about knowing math, it's about being
able to do *simple arithmetic*.

Impressive. It's like writing a novel without learning ABC's.

Exactly.


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

On Jan 28, 1:08*pm, "Percival P. Cassidy" wrote:
On 01/28/10 12:25 pm, Zootal wrote:

11. You buy an item for $1.27. You hand the clerk two dollars. Without a
using a calculator, how much change should you get back?

We've seen kids at a cash register practically in tears trying to make
change when the power went out.

Most store these days have no provision for selling anything without
using the UPC scanner, quite apart from the onerous task of figuring out
the change. Even writing down the UPC no. on a piece of paper doesn't
work, because the store identifies an item not by the UPC but by the SKU
-- and only the computer system knows how they are related.

Here in Michigan, nearly everything is required to have a human-
readable
price tag. Most of our consumer protection was gutted in the last
15 or 20 years, but by gum we're protected from not knowing what the
price is once we've left the aisle where we picked the thing up.

Cindy Hamilton

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 1/28/2010 10:32 AM chaniarts spake thus:

my parents had an edison recorder/player that used wax tubes. he also
had this enormous adding machine with a crank that could also
subtract. he's still using the old black dial phones.

Amazing that the telephone network still supports pulse dialing, ain't it?


Yes it is. A few years back a friend had a touch tone pay phone someone
gave him. He hung it up and wired it in our "club house" but couldn't
get it to make a call. It had a dial tone but would not work, even with
quarters. Holding the receiver in my hand, I tapped the hang up flap
two times quickly, short pause, 1 tap, short pause, 5 tapps, (215 area
code) then did the rest of my phone number. Everyone thought I was to
drunk and crazy but as soon as I heard my phone ring I handed him the
receiver and he heard my answering machine. The old dial phones are
doing the exact same thing when you hear it click, click, click. That
payphone on the wall then became a sort of drunk-O-meter. It's not easy
to always get the pulses down just right. Ya know, I wonder what it
will do on a public pay phone?

Good for you. Hope you use it for many more years.

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


wrote in message
...

I have a pristine Bell Systems black rotary wall phone in my
kitchen.
I've had guests who weren't sure how to use it.

Years ago, I read a city people test. And wanted to know
what was a deuce and a quarter and what were boxcars. So,
depending on the culture, some information is foreign.

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


"hibb" wrote in message
...


Any question is easy if you know the answer. I don't
remember the
particular question the rocket scientist missed but one of
the
questions today was "a tom tom, snare and bongo are types of
what
musical instrument". The contestant had to ask the fifth
grader for
help.

I can't remember what brand. Free screw driver with 8 gal
fill up. I still have a couple of them.

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


"KC" wrote in message
...

And for each 5gal purchase you got free glasses or plates.
I think I still have a few of those glasses in my cupboard.

I've resolved not to ever buy such a mostrosity.

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


wrote in message
...

The Toyota Rav4 that I use as a "land dinghy" for my
sailboat only has
a keyhole in the driver's door.

Electro Encepholic encoding. You can hear it in your mind,
whether you want to or not.

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


"terry" wrote in message
...

If steam whistles or clicking of telegraphs were the sounds
of the
1800s and early 1900s, the ticking of a geiger counter the
sound of
the 1950s and 1960s, then the piezo electo beeper, in cash
registers,
computers, et-al, MUST be the sound of this era!

Wonder what next?

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:55:46 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:49:37 -0500, wrote:

My tiki bar has a couple of relics in it. THe rotary pay phone works
and the cypress knot clock in the upper right corner baffles most
people younger than 40. There are no numbers on it.

BTW that "Billy Bass" is probably the first one ever in Lee County
Florida. My mother in law brought it down from Atlanta
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/bar.jpg

I have a cypress clock with roman numerals 3,6,9 and 12

Is that wall poster of Sanibel / Captiva Islands?

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:45:28 -0800 (PST), terry
wrote:

Someone wrote "How about a "cassette" recorder that used Cassettes
about 6X8 inches
with the wide tape like used on the old real to real? Made by RCA "

Reelly?????????????
Yup. I owned one. Made before the little cassete tapes, and If I
Rember Correctly - before the 8 track. I believe. built from '59 to
'64.
Progressing from Cassette (RCA) to Mini-cassette (Philips) to
Micro-cassette.

see
http://www.smecc.org/rca_inc_.htm about half way down the page.

Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_tape_cartridge - more accurate I
believe - the tape WAS 1/4".

YLB18a I believe was the unit I had. See it and hear it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE0-dLPKcvk


Also see: http://www.connell-labs.com/tape/RCACartridgeTapes.html

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:16:12 -0500, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:



7. What is the cheapest price you can remember for gas?

$1.00 / gal

79 cents a gallon on Long Island, NY in 1998 or thereabouts.


Ah, you kids. How about 19.9 at the Merit station in 1962 when I
started driving. The Esso station across the street was 21.9
Esso was part of Standard Oil, later Exxon.



9. How were things done before computers?

What things?

Mechanical adding machines, then electronic calculators. The first
4-function electronic calculator I saw cost approx. $100.

Perce

Mine was huge with a CRT that showed 4 lines. $400, a year later $300,
a couple more years later a TI was $79

Tony wrote:
David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 1/28/2010 10:32 AM chaniarts spake thus:

my parents had an edison recorder/player that used wax tubes. he also
had this enormous adding machine with a crank that could also
subtract. he's still using the old black dial phones.

Amazing that the telephone network still supports pulse dialing, ain't
it?


Yes it is. A few years back a friend had a touch tone pay phone someone
gave him. He hung it up and wired it in our "club house" but couldn't
get it to make a call. It had a dial tone but would not work, even with
quarters. Holding the receiver in my hand, I tapped the hang up flap
two times quickly, short pause, 1 tap, short pause, 5 tapps, (215 area
code) then did the rest of my phone number. Everyone thought I was to
drunk and crazy but as soon as I heard my phone ring I handed him the
receiver and he heard my answering machine. The old dial phones are
doing the exact same thing when you hear it click, click, click. That
payphone on the wall then became a sort of drunk-O-meter. It's not easy
to always get the pulses down just right. Ya know, I wonder what it
will do on a public pay phone?

Probably just needed to reverse L1 and L2 to get it to break dial tone
with the TT pad. Some early touchtones were like that. Did he have the
key for the coin box?

--
aem sends...

I bought gas for 18.9 cents during price wars from the time I started
driving in 1966 until the first "gas shortage" in the fall of 72. My
folks till have a bunch of green glasses that given away with gas during
the 60's.

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:26:43 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Good for you. Hope you use it for many more years.
Just removed the avacado green dial wall-phone from our kitchen this
summer.

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:01:46 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:16:12 -0500, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:



7. What is the cheapest price you can remember for gas?

$1.00 / gal

79 cents a gallon on Long Island, NY in 1998 or thereabouts.


Ah, you kids. How about 19.9 at the Merit station in 1962 when I
started driving. The Esso station across the street was 21.9
Esso was part of Standard Oil, later Exxon.



9. How were things done before computers?

What things?

Mechanical adding machines, then electronic calculators. The first
4-function electronic calculator I saw cost approx. $100.

Perce

Mine was huge with a CRT that showed 4 lines. $400, a year later $300,
a couple more years later a TI was $79

What? No Nixies????

On 1/29/2010 6:05 PM spake thus:

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:45:28 -0800 (PST), terry
wrote:

Someone wrote "How about a "cassette" recorder that used Cassettes
about 6X8 inches with the wide tape like used on the old real to
real? Made by RCA "

Reelly?????????????

Yup. I owned one. Made before the little cassete tapes, and If I
Rember Correctly - before the 8 track. I believe. built from '59 to
'64.
Progressing from Cassette (RCA) to Mini-cassette (Philips) to
Micro-cassette.

see
http://www.smecc.org/rca_inc_.htm about half way down the page.

Hmm; I wonder how I missed those. I was in grade school in the 1960s, so
presumably those were in use at the time. Maybe I just never noticed
them, but I don't ever remembering seeing one of those tape cartridges.

Actually, it looks like a pretty nice package for tape.


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:42:17 -0600, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

[snip]

10. How did people send a letter before e-mail?
Snail Mail
Had a parcel sent to me in Africa in the seventies, preceded by an air
mail letter. The parcel arrived in 2 days, while the air-mail letter
took several weeks - - - - -.

In 2007, I tried to contact the owner of the house behind me (on the
same block). I mailed a letter to that address (even though the house
was vacant, someone might be getting the mail). The letter was
returned as undeliverable, early in 2010.

Boy, they really tried hard to deliver it!

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:31:58 -0500, wrote:

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:51:00 -0800 (PST), Bob Villa
wrote:

I pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons at 46.9 cents - and with the
inevitable gas wars of the late sixties I bought more than one tank
full for less than 11 cents per gallon.

I remember when gas was around 20c/gal (55+yrs ago) late fifties and
there was a gas war, the lowest being 12.9 cents. Your recollection
is hard to believe!

In Fergus Ontario, back in 1969 or 1970, one gas station actually PAID
people to put gas in their tanks one day, to show how ridiculous the
gas war situation was.

And we are talking TINY Canadian cents for BIG Canadian Gallons,
too!!!!!

But if they're paying the customers, that works in the gas station's
favor!

I remember our boy getting into our '67 truck for the first time
last year and looking around for the switch to operate the electric
windows... funny how people come to rely on technology.

I've heard of people being in tears because they couldn't unlock their
car (dead fob battery). A passerby helped by taking their keys and
unlocking the door.

bob

On Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:31:51 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article 31, Zootal wrote:

I worked at a gas station when I was in school, and that is what we were
taught also. I think it was pretty much the definitive way to make change.
And it is so simple!

I read somewhere that in the years to come, after the technology crash
happens and we are back to mechanical cash registers, Wal-Mart will be
hiring all of use old programmers to run their cash registers because none
of the kids these days know how to count money and no one else out there
can do any math.

I was always the fastest of the cashiers. Back then, Indiana sales tax was
only 4%, and figuring that in my head was trivial. Much faster than looking it
up on the little chart...

When I was in Indiana, until 1966, the sales tax was 2 percent!

But i never knew where the borders were between 1 penny and the next.

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:29:26 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I can't remember what brand. Free screw driver with 8 gal
fill up. I still have a couple of them.

Good for you. Enjoy them.

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:31:59 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I've resolved not to ever buy such a mostrosity.

I guess that's an easy vow to make when you can't afford to buy one.

I hope you had a priest bless it, and then burned it. (grin
here)

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


wrote in message
...

Just removed the avacado green dial wall-phone from our
kitchen this
summer.

On Jan 29, 10:54*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:26:43 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
Good for you. Hope you use it for many more years.

*Just removed the avacado green dial wall-phone from our kitchen this
summer.

My mom still has one in her basement (you can hear it on the 2nd
floor!).

bob