Remember When

Quote: texasplumr

And the cigarettes were .35 in the machine. Some may have been .45. But it seemed like highway robbery because they were .25 in the store. Of course, we weren't old enough to buy them from a store so had to use the machines.

Before my time, but I am told at one time you got 2 pennies in change when you bought smokes from the machine because otherwise the store undercut them.

3 left in NYC! Possibly because there the pack costs what the carton did in the 1980s?

Quote: EvenBob

Kinda like phone booths, they were everywhere
at one time also. I miss those things, I always
liked being in a phone booth.

Is that where you changed into your cape?

It kind of confirms a suspicion I had about you.

I had a hard time finding a pay phone in the Anchorage airport where there use to be rows of them. Now, after getting and inquisitive look from security, I was able to find two. It was quite a walk. I asked them to pretend for a second that not everyone had a cell phone. They were unable to imagine it, and it raised their suspicion. I said, pretend your battery died, no long distance partnering, or no signal. After an obligatory sigh of sympathy, they were then able to guide me.

After me not being able to produce a working cell phone, and them flush with anxst, I was really glad they weren't armed at the time, other than with scissors. Had I been there on an outgoing flight rather than incoming, I can only shudder at the thought of the search I would have had to endure.

Quote: AZDuffman

3 left in NYC! Possibly because there the pack costs what the carton did in the 1980s?

Isn't smoking banned in NYC? 'Since 2002, New York has had a ban in place on smoking in bars, restaurants, parks, beaches and plazas.'

The bar owner said patrons can use the
machine but can't smoke in the bar. I
think they were $10 a pack.

Quote: AZDuffman

Before my time, but I am told at one time you got 2 pennies in change when you bought smokes from the machine because otherwise the store undercut them.

3 left in NYC! Possibly because there the pack costs what the carton did in the 1980s?

I remember it like it was yesterday. My father smoked Chesterfield regulars and used to send me to the store for them. In the machine or over the counter, they were .23 cents. You gave a quarter and the two pennies were in the cellophane, all wrapped up down one side of the pack.

Quote: EvenBob

Isn't smoking banned in NYC? 'Since 2002, New York has had a ban in place on smoking in bars, restaurants, parks, beaches and plazas.'

The bar owner said patrons can use the
machine but can't smoke in the bar. I
think they were $10 a pack.

Was in Buffalo a few years back and IIRC they were around $11, so NYC is probably higher after they passed The Mafia Full Employment Act a few years back with $1 or more in city tax.

Quote: AZDuffman

Was in Buffalo a few years back and IIRC they were around $11, so NYC is probably higher after they passed The Mafia Full Employment Act a few years back with $1 or more in city tax.

I think they were $12 a pack, not $10.
I see people bumming smokes in the
casino more than I used to. It was OK
to do that 30 years ago, but around here
cig's are 25 cents each, $50 a carton.
I wouldn't be giving them away.

They are around $80 a carton in Ct. $50 is cheap now unless you're talking about the cheapo brands

Quote: EvenBob

It was OK to do that 30 years ago, but around here cig's are 50 cents each. I wouldn't be giving them away.

So what does a hooker say when she siddles over to that nearby bar stool.

Need to avoid some chore that you should be doing instead?

Here you go.

Quote: rxwine

Need to avoid some chore that you should be doing instead?

Here you go.

This is like an early Christmas present to me! My favorite toy when I was 8-9. The odd thing is that, not 2 nights ago, I was wondering if someone hadn't programmed one. Thank you thank you! Immediate placement on the favorites bar.

Remember these Dell commercials from about
2000-2002? Look at the prices, for that much
you can get two laptops today.

Quote: EvenBob

Remember these Dell commercials from about
2000-2002? Look at the prices, for that much
you can get two laptops today.

I just bought a new computer for $250. It's the smallest computer I've ever owned. It looks like this:

I bought a new laptop last year for 350,
twice the memory size and half the cost
of what I pain 2006. I paid 1200 for my
first VCR in 1982. You can get them for
under a hundred now.

Quote: teddys

I just bought a new computer for $250. It's the smallest computer I've ever owned. It looks like this:

Actual size.

Rasberry Pi ??

Superbowl 49, geeze. Anybody remember the 1st
Superbowl? I was a senior in HS, it wasn't that
big a deal. But it sure turned into one, almost
a national holiday. For a football game.

Remember the first time you drove a car at night?
It was 1965, I had my license for a couple of weeks.
I talked my parents into letting me drive my siblings
to a movie 10 miles away. So we take off in the 59
Pontiac Safari wagon, a huge beast of a car.

When we get out of the movie it's dark. Once we got
on the back country roads, with no streetlights, all
I had was that limited area lit by the headlights.
I was sure we were all going to die. To say I was
petrified with fear doesn't cover it. My sister was
crying because we were going 20mph and I kept
veering over the centerline. How we made it home
is a mystery.

Of course it's like everything else, an aquired taste
or skill. The first time I had a beer I spit it out and
dumped the rest out the window.

Quote: EvenBob

Remember the first time you drove a car at night?

First time I drove at night was the first time I drove, period.

Blizzard of '96. Just turned 16, didn't even have my permit. Was talking about the permit the whole way out as we left for a family outing. The snow hit as we left. By the time we were done eating, it was a mess. The 219 expressway, our way home, had been closed.

I was still talking about driving. Pops said training started now. He locked the hubs (remember those?), hopped in the passenger seat, and I climbed behind the wheel with a petrified mother in the back. Couldn't see ten feet, cruising down the closed expressway that hadn't seen a plow in hours.

Made the entire 20mi journey. I likewise only averaged about 20mph, but I made it. The rest is history.

Face, what does that mean, "He locked the hubs."?

Older vehicles with 4wd you had to get out and turn a knob on the center of the hub to put it in 4wd.
I had a 1975 F250 that I plowed snow with. It had a problem with the locking hubs and I went through 2 sets.

Quote: Greasyjohn

Face, what does that mean, "He locked the hubs."?

I had a 1983 Toyota Landcruiser that I had to get out and lock those hubs. Now, on my '99 Jeep Wrangler, that's not necessary. I still have to come to full stop to put in 4WD, but on SUVs nowadays, you can switch to 4WD on the fly. Crazy when I think about what those gears are going through.

Quote: Greasyjohn

Face, what does that mean, "He locked the hubs."?

Yeah, what those guys said. Back in the day that's what you had to do if you wanted four wheel drive. You had to stop, get out, and in the space between all the lugnuts in the middle of the wheel there was a sort of dial, like a flat oven knob. You had to turn that a half turn to lock the hubs so 4WD was enabled. And you can image, in the freezing cold, trying to turn that knob with frozen fingers while it was packed with ice, salt, sand, rust, road grime, and brake dust.... it was a righteous PITA. I think you then had to come into the truck and activate a lever, and only then did you have 4WD. Wanna go back to 2WD? Reverse the entire process.

I'm just barely young enough that I missed all that mess. By the time I came into the 4WD scene, it was just a button or a lever you could pull on the fly, provided your tires were not spinning from loss of traction.

My friend had a 68 Ford Bronco (in 1968)
and 'on demand' 4WD meant you hauled
your ass out of the vehicle locked the hubs.
But we thought nothing of it, they were
all like that. It was fun, but everything is
fun when you're stupid young.

Quote: Face

Yeah, what those guys said. Back in the day that's what you had to do if you wanted four wheel drive. You had to stop, get out, and in the space between all the lugnuts in the middle of the wheel there was a sort of dial, like a flat oven knob. You had to turn that a half turn to lock the hubs so 4WD was enabled. And you can image, in the freezing cold, trying to turn that knob with frozen fingers while it was packed with ice, salt, sand, rust, road grime, and brake dust.... it was a righteous PITA. I think you then had to come into the truck and activate a lever, and only then did you have 4WD. Wanna go back to 2WD? Reverse the entire process.

I'm just barely young enough that I missed all that mess. By the time I came into the 4WD scene, it was just a button or a lever you could pull on the fly, provided your tires were not spinning from loss of traction.

Never had one, but IIRC the lock-in hubs required the vehicle to move or even it was to not just move but back-up 20 feet or so to get a few revolutions to get the whole thing locked into place? So if you were in 2WD and were stuck then you were stuck, you had to plan ahead.

I still can't believe I finally ended up with a 4WD vehicle. No switches or anything, can't even tell when it is working.

Quote: Face

Yeah, what those guys said. Back in the day that's what you had to do if you wanted four wheel drive. You had to stop, get out, and in the space between all the lugnuts in the middle of the wheel there was a sort of dial, like a flat oven knob. You had to turn that a half turn to lock the hubs so 4WD was enabled. And you can image, in the freezing cold, trying to turn that knob with frozen fingers while it was packed with ice, salt, sand, rust, road grime, and brake dust.... it was a righteous PITA. I think you then had to come into the truck and activate a lever, and only then did you have 4WD. Wanna go back to 2WD? Reverse the entire process.

I'm just barely young enough that I missed all that mess. By the time I came into the 4WD scene, it was just a button or a lever you could pull on the fly, provided your tires were not spinning from loss of traction.

Okay. I remember this too. Had a friend with a jeep who had to do this. Just never heard the expression. Thanks.

Quote: Hunterhill

Older vehicles with 4wd you had to get out and turn a knob on the center of the hub to put it in 4wd.
I had a 1975 F250 that I plowed snow with. It had a problem with the locking hubs and I went through 2 sets.

There are two parts to engaging the 4 wheel drive on the older vehicles.

1. Lock the hubs. This changes the wheel so that the front differential can put power to the front wheels. (It costs gas to leave them locked all the time, and most of the time you don't need it.)

2. Shift the transfer case to 4 wheel drive, so that power is sent to the front differential.

The modern vehicles have "auto locking hubs", so when the powertrain tries to spin the front wheels, the hubs lock. To unlock, you typically need to shift out of 4WD and drive backwards for 20-50 feet. (Again... it saves fuel.)

The AWD rigs don't do this, they've got extra smarts or something to only engage what's needed when needed.

Quote: EvenBob

It's a big country. Go to Russia and the language
changes every 300 miles. That a major reason
we are who we are, a central language spoken
by everybody.

I think it has more to do with Eisenhower building the Interstate system. Russia has resources but no way to transport them efficiently.

Quote: Dieter

There are two parts to engaging the 4 wheel drive on the older vehicles.

1. Lock the hubs. This changes the wheel so that the front differential can put power to the front wheels. (It costs gas to leave them locked all the time, and most of the time you don't need it.)

2. Shift the transfer case to 4 wheel drive, so that power is sent to the front differential.

The modern vehicles have "auto locking hubs", so when the powertrain tries to spin the front wheels, the hubs lock. To unlock, you typically need to shift out of 4WD and drive backwards for 20-50 feet. (Again... it saves fuel.)

The AWD rigs don't do this, they've got extra smarts or something to only engage what's needed when needed.

There was a loud clicking grinding noise and the bolts that held the hub on all sheared off.I put locktite on the new set but they would keep getting loose.I had to stop every 10 minutes and retighten them. When it was in 2wd I had no problem.

Lots of 'Remember When', but talking with someone from South Florida yesterday on the phone hit some highs!

I graduated high school in Broward County, Florida in 1976, the 'bicentennial year'. I was driving wreckers for my best friends grandfather in Dania, Florida (actually the city that Fort Lauderdale Int'l Airport is in) from like the 10th grade. No CDL's back then, they had what they called a 'chauffer's license' for commercial purposes, and I didn't have one of those either. My friend's grandfather knew all the cops in Dania, Florida Highway Patrol and all the Deputy Sherriff's from that part of the county of course. So after school my friend and I would go over to the body shop/towing service and work. We used to sleep over his grandfathers house so we could run the night calls for the cops. Accidents from I-95 (State Road 84 to Hollywood Blvd/Sheridan Street exits) and all the DUI's, arrests, stolen vehicle recoveries, etc. We used to have an amusement park at the end of Sheridan Street just before the intercostal called Pirates World. At the time it was huge and they had concerts there almost every weekend. I remember seeing such bands as: Santana, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Grand Funk Railroad, Chamber Brothers, Three Dog Night, and many many others. I think there is even a Wikipedia page on Pirates World, don't forget this is pre-Disney and pre-six flags, etc. At night when the place was closed, there was always some kind of action there, for those of you that didn't grow up in South Florida this was the real 'Miami Vice' days. We actually thought that the whole country was this way but it wasn't. Just Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties were.

And for those of you that know or knew Hollywood at the time, this was the time that the Hollywood Police Station shared the middle circle on Hollywood Blvd with the main library. The eventually move the police station over across form the Hollywood Mall on the South Side of Hollywood Blvd on the edge of the golf course to its own complex.

So rather than reading the papers and watching TV, any free time for years growing up was filled with pulling vehicle's from canals, recovering 55 gallon steel drums with holes cut in them to hold submerged the murdered bodies, cut up and stuffed inside, of people that forgot to pay their Cuban suppliers for drugs; pursuits that ended in accident crime scenes; and all kinds of behind the scene police action that most never saw. Meanwhile I graduate high school and did a little collage over at Nova University in Davie and then moved to Miami. I was working for one of the largest wrecker services in Dade County. I remember working in the McDuffie Riots (major riots where the black people burned down a lot of Pork N Beans "Liberty City') over the white cops getting acquitted. Dade County Metro called for every wrecker in the county to tow all the public safety vehicles and fire department vehicles out of the riot zone, etc. After a day or so it got too dangerous so they called off all the wreckers for a week or so.

I remember going to Key Biscayne for the cops at least once a week and there was the Metro Dade Sheriff's divers there. We would back up to the seawall and free wheel the cables. The divers would take them down and hook up a barrel and we would winch it up and set it on the back of the wrecker. We would be escorted over to Metro Dade CSI in North Miami and unload it there. There was cut up bodies in them, all drug related.

One of my fondest memories is at the Dadeland Mall in SW Miami. I was the one that towed the cutaway van with the 16' box, a white painted U-Haul style truck, with the name 'Party Time Rentals' on the side of it from the mall to Metro Dade CSI. There was about 2 dozen vehicles impounded from there that famous day. That is the day the drug cartel went into Crown Liquor and opened fire on people along with people getting hit in the parking lot. The news was something like, "We have a problem here in South Florida". That was the van that had automatic weapons, vests, radios and other war-like gear of the cartel. I hooked it up and I was escorted by no less than 4 Metro Dade cars in front and 4 in the rear. I even had a Metro Dade Detective sitting next to me in the cab of the wrecker. Hey, to a 21 year old kid, this was everyday life!!! I really thought all this was normal.

Hell when Miami Vice came out we were like, that's wrong they don't do that or they don't wear that, etc. Loved the Biscayne Blvd and Rickenbacker Causeway shots!!! I remember we used to hang out on Biscayne Blvd or SW 8th Street or 163rd Street, all over and we would get Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and coffee and just wait. It wasn't long before you would see a Ferrari or a Corvette or a Lamborghini, etc., fly by doing like 100moh or more and then about 12 cop cars with their lights and sirens on. Then we used to bet each other how long before the radio goes off. Meaning how long before our night dispatcher would be calling on the 2 way radio. "Unit so and so and unit --, I need 2 or 3 wreckers at such and such an address for Metro Dade or City of Miami, accident, etc." Then when we get there, sure enough, there was the vehicle they were chasing upside down and in a retail store with 2 or 3 cop cars rolled or smashed into parked cars, etc. It was just another night in South Florida.

BTW, we had no internet, no I-pads, and hardly no one had a mobile cell phone. For the really important people and drug dealers they had bulky mobile phones usually called 'bag phones' or hard wired Motorola car phones. We all had beepers. 8 track tapes and Beta video with VHS coming out. TV's had the manuel channel change when you hit the remote you would see the knob actually turn. High tech was having a push button telephone instead of the rotary dial. That's how I grew up. And to wrap it up, looking back on it, I think it was pretty cool.

Quote: Hunterhill

There was a loud clicking grinding noise and the bolts that held the hub on all sheared off.I put locktite on the new set but they would keep getting loose.I had to stop every 10 minutes and retighten them. When it was in 2wd I had no problem.

Yeah, I remember that part, too. The innards had to be very carefully aligned when installing new hubs or they would just eat themselves.

On top of that, if you didn't lock the hubs once in a while, they wouldn't lock when you needed them to.

Remember when people didn't have creepy ass talking "brain clone" heads?

Remember the blizzard of 78 that dumped
30+ inches on the midwest and east? 37
years ago this week. I was in Calif. My brother
got caught on the way home on the freeway
and some nice guy in a 4WD took him all
the way home. He was stuck for 3 days
with no cable, in a blizzard, so of course
he read The Shining. Says he's never been
so scared in his life.

Blizzard of 96 in NY/NJ that closed down the tri-state area for a good 3 days. I was at the Jacob-Javitts boat show and across the PA System they announced the boat show was closing down and all roads were also in the process of being closed, NJ Turnpike (I-95), etc. I lived in Rockland County just above the city at the time. When the snow stopped, we opened the door and all you saw was 6 foot of snow. Had to shovel the rear deck off to the yard and work my way around the house to get to the front. When we got the driveway reasonably cleared the snow levels were well above the cars. I belive there was 4 plus feet of snow that fell without the drifts which measured in spots to well over 7 feet if not more. It was a 5 rating on a blizzard scale.

Remember when it was considered poor
sportsmanship to announce you were the
greatest and were going to win? Everybody
does it now, from the Little League to the
Olympics, to every stupid contest on TV.

Mohammad Ali started it in 1964(?) and we
were appalled. He said he was the best fighter
of all time and he was going to win. Nobody
talked like that in those days, it was considered
very bad manners. He got away with it because
he was the best, but man, did we want him
to lose.

Saying it now has no meaning anymore. Saying
you're going to win is like reading a phone book
out loud, nobody cares or hears you. I'd like
it to go back to the days when somebody would say
they will try their hardest, let the best person win.
A little humility says a lot about a person.

Quote: EvenBob

I'd like
it to go back to the days when somebody would say
they will try their hardest, let the best person win.

I'd like to try not hearing them at all.

Just play the game. I don't need a pre-game interview, a mid-period-on-bench interview, a period intermission interview, a post game interview, and a week long breakdown of everything everyone said.

Why on Earth would I care what Danica Patrick is thinking while she's out on the track? You couldn't have asked her, I dunno, at any other time in the history of time?

Just shut up and sports.

Quote: EvenBob

I'd like
it to go back to the days when somebody would say
they will try their hardest, let the best person win.
A little humility says a lot about a person.

Most coaches are still like that. I always like the players that first give a compliment to the team they beat when they start the post-game interview. Many do, at all levels.

Quote: cclub79

Most coaches are still like that. I always like the players that first give a compliment to the team they beat when they start the post-game interview. Many do, at all levels.

It is smart to do so. First it shows class, but if you say how bad they were, what do you look like for only beating a bunch of bums?

Quote: Face

Socialist.

Quote: Face

Jonathan WHO?

Is he the guy with a beard and hat?

Quote: AZDuffman

It is smart to do so. First it shows class, but if you say how bad they were, what do you look like for only beating a bunch of bums?

Yes, though I wasn't thinking they'd say bad things about them, rather just not mention them at all.
Speaking of...I swear John C wants Kentucky to lose before their tournament. His pre-halftime interview said more nice things about Georgia than UK. Haha.

Quote: rxwine

Socialist.

Quote: AxelWolf

Is he the guy with a beard and hat?

Back-to-back LOL's

Thanks, guys XD

Quote: cclub79

Yes, though I wasn't thinking they'd say bad things about them, rather just not mention them at all.
Speaking of...I swear John C wants Kentucky to lose before their tournament. His pre-halftime interview said more nice things about Georgia than UK. Haha.

Point taken. Though the point I made really hit home watching some old Ric Flair promo cuts on YouTube. For the moment lets just forget if we want to call it a "sport." In fact, that it is a show instead makes what he does even better. Flair would always say how good or tough his opponent was, but he always said he was even better. Each time he did this he built himself up just a little bit more.

I never liked trash talk, in sports or in business. When I was in management we had a VP who loved it. He encouraged his team. our bosses, to engage in it. I just thought doing it in business was low class street talk. The kind of thing you grow up and go to school to get away from. It never motivated me one bit.

Of course, I never was the one with "school spirit" for the most part. I get less and less so as I get older. I don't get really amped at contests at work, my own goals and life are what I care about.

Quote: EvenBob

Remember when it was considered poor
sportsmanship to announce you were the
greatest and were going to win? Everybody
does it now, from the Little League to the
Olympics, to every stupid contest on TV.

Mohammad Ali started it in 1964(?) and we
were appalled. He said he was the best fighter
of all time and he was going to win. Nobody
talked like that in those days, it was considered
very bad manners. He got away with it because
he was the best, but man, did we want him
to lose.

Saying it now has no meaning anymore. Saying
you're going to win is like reading a phone book
out loud, nobody cares or hears you. I'd like
it to go back to the days when somebody would say
they will try their hardest, let the best person win.
A little humility says a lot about a person.

I thought Superman, Al Bundy and Joe Friday were cool growing up. When all those commercials for Hertz Rent A Car aired with OJ Simpson flying through the airport, we knew one day he would get arrested and become a convicted felon and fall from grace, we really did. And it happened.

We knew he had to because he talked too much and was too pompous.

I remember when, as a youth, I thought the folllowing actresses were really hot:

Angela Cartwright: Lost in Space

Tina Louise: Gilligan's Island

Barbara Eden: I Dream of Jeannie

mr v,from that era.......joey heatherton

Quote: ontariodealer

mr v,from that era.......joey heatherton

Been a long while since I heard that name.

I remember Joey Heatherton's mattress commercial, her stabbing her boyfriend and I remember her pro football player husband getting in trouble with a child.

She entertained the troops in Vietnam with the Bob Hope show. Before my time.

One of my first tv crushes was Angie Dickinson.She was in the show Policewoman.

Quote: Hunterhill

One of my first tv crushes was Angie Dickinson.

Yeah, she has that MILF look like a woman gone wild at a strip club or a porno theater.