What DON'T you miss about the old days?

I live a pretty simple life and do not have the lastest greatest anything. I don't even have a tv. I like to cook on the woodstove, heat the house with wood etc. But there are some things now that I am glad that I have and would find it hard to live without.
What do you find that is great about living in today?

I can think of a few.
1. Microwave oven
2. calculators
3. ice makers or plastic icecube trays (not that metal job with the lever)
4. Digital cameras
5. Internet
6. cell phone
7. fuel injection in your vehicle (no stomping on that gas pedal)

Gee, I don't sound like I lead such a simple life now. lol

I don't miss thinking that if you get on your hands and knees and put your arms over your head in the hall you'll survive a nuclear blast... (actually it was so you could be in the position to kiss your... goodbye)

I do love central air conditioning, since we have 6 - 8 months of brutal summer down here. And DVDs.

I don't love TV that you can't let your grandkids watch.

All those you mentioned, plus TV. I have allergies and can't be near a house with wood burning or it gives me headaches for days. So central heat and air would be top of my list. Although I live in a well insulated house that stays pretty nice in the summer without using the AC too much. But I would add my albuterol inhaler, and allergy meds. I grew up with the allergies but without the meds so it was hell! Would not go back to that! I am a quilter and would not want to sew without my rotary cutter, computer machine with the auto foot lift that is so handy, and being able to buy tons of fabric. My great Grandma grew her own cotton and carded her own batting-so I am thankful to be able to buy bags of batting!

plastics
medicines
newer methods for training dogs
newer methods for training horses
scoopable cat litter
hybrid vehicles
lower overall vehicle emissions
industry flare stack regulations



This message was edited Feb 13, 2008 10:54 AM

The greatest for me has got to be the internet and email. Never before has it been possible to send/receive mail instantly around the world, and to have so much information available at your fingertips.

Of course, goes without saying that you have to have a computer . . .

Better communication between law enforecment agencies
Online billpay
Debit cards
PTZ cameras (pan/tilt/zoom)
Noaa
Room-darkening drapes
Better surgical proceedures/hospitals

Going outside in the outhouse to pee in the middle of the night when it froze and rained!!! And using old newspaper instead of toilet paper!!!!

Ha, I am with you, although I still have an outhouse back in the woods and mighty happy to have it after walking a half mile and the morning coffee kicks in.
I also remember going in the hallway and crouching and covering my head, although we were told that these were tornado drills. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found the real reason we were practicing.

The only thing about the old days I don't miss is rotary dial phones. Beyond that it was just life and since I knew no better it was all ok.

Still have a nice oak dial phone on the wall. It works well, except for when you have to push one. UGH

Well, we didn't have a phone when I was a kid or a TV (until I was in my teens). A policeman came by once to tell my mother that her father had passed away (there was law enforcement connection in the family). But I appreciate the TV and the phone. We gave up on cell phones, can't afford them any more (and to tell the truth, I see people so addicted there should be a cell-phones anonymous). After DH gave up cigarettes recently (yea!), we switched to satellite internet with the money saved, so that's nicer than dial-up (and can get the calls while we are both surfing the web at the same time)...cool. I wouldn't want to go back to no a/c (the way I grew up). And allergy meds...they're great. I used to get SO sick! And it's wonderful that people in the U.S. are not so closed-minded as they were in the 50's. As far as the nukes, I'm really afraid we could easily slip into WWIII the way things are going. I think the cold war was safer! I do miss the relatively untouched natural areas that are now concrete jungles. In the city, the creeks usually become concrete ditches and the flood plains are developed and they usually still flood. In the old days a country area like I live in would stay more or less sparsely settled. Now a greedy developer with deep pockets bought the large ranch right by us and wanted to put 3500 homes there. Later lowered to 2700, but still WAY too much! I'm thinking the area might be okay for 500, and we don't want even that much. The nearest city turned them down for water, which was a major victory. But I know they'll keep trying. Now why that many people would want to live here, I don't know. The commute to the city for jobs daily wouldn't be fun and would cost them a lot of time, not to mention huge amounts of money on gas and car expenses. If they use the local aquifer for water, it's kind of limited and crappy and would need a treatment plant, then a sewage plant would have to be put in also. They want to dump huge amounts of effluent into a very small creek. I hate this part of being in the modern world. We'll all be living like sardines in a can soon!

Yes, I hate all the development and people "discovering" my state and moving in bringing their pollution and all the commercial stuff too. But I guess like they say you can't stop progress. I am not sure it is a good thing though!

I gotta say that mrs colla came up with the best one, I would give up everything except the allergy meds and indoor bathrooms-- an indoor potty is a good thing! LOL!

This message was edited Feb 18, 2008 2:00 PM

Indoor bathrooms, hot running water, internet and e.mail, better surgical procedures, sensible shoes and comfortable clothes being in style.

Hubby and I are forever saying that we are so glad to
have indoor plumbing. When the weather is nasty, raining,
sleeting, snowing or freezing and we are standing in the
nice warm shower with a warm bathrobe awaiting our
bods, I can't help but to think of outhouses.

(shudder)

modern dentistry-
most kids now have sealants applied to molars, one or two visits, instead of a mouthful of fillings like I have.

I don't miss the old push lawn mowers with no motor. Although I sort of wish I had one now so I could lose some of this stomach.

The Amish still use them around here. They are great, no noise pollution.
I go for small lawn and lots of nature around it.

I avoid turf as much as possible...and more room for plants that way! I think the internet is great...although it's a double-edged sword, a lot of spam and outright filthy stuff is generated.

Yes, and you cannot believe everything you read on the net either.

But then you can't believe everything you hear either! It cracks me up when I hear that commercial for a diet aid that says you can eat all you want and lose weight--"and we have can't lie on TV" or something like that--yeah right! LOL!

You know what I MISS about the old days. Packages of food that do not try to lie about what is in them.
Sugar Frosted Flakes, were just that, sugar on the flakes. Now you have the same thing, but they tote: 100% daily calcium! or something, do they need to add calcium when I am going to pour milk on them.
Potato chips are implied they are good for you, because they are made with good fat. After reading the label, one could think they were eating healthy. HA

Potatoes are labeled good for you, because they have no fat and no cholesterol. (like I am not going to lather them in butter and sour cream)

Candy that states on label, no fat. Yeah, it is pure sugar.

Even the last bananas I bought had a sticker that stated no fat and no sodium. Bananas are good, they don't need a label like that, do they?

Oh, don't get me started.

Hm.. what don't I miss about the good old days? washing clothes on a washboard, washing dishes by hand, sweeping and beating the carpets instead of using the vacuum cleaner, rags instead of tampons (sorry couldn't resist!LOL!) Running water. What I miss and would love to have again....a wood cook stove. But only during the Spring, Fall and winter!!

What I Don't miss. No electricity, I hated having to wait so long for a cuppa , because fire had died down or the kettle hadn't been
refilled, this also meant no fridge no freezer no washing machine etc etc etc. No plumbing, that speaks for itself. No water pump, no more having to get fire wood then having to split it and stack it and cart it to the wood box every day. Living in the good old days, it was the good old days at the time. Now to most people it's a nostalgic dream that they haven't even tried except for a week or so camping, and that is fun. Its not so long since that was my life and I sure don't want to relive all that again.
What I do miss. Fresh hen and duck eggs , home kill meat, a huge vege garden, a river to swim in on ahot day. Or bath in when the tank ran low. Not having to pull drapes at night because there were no nieghbours. The quiet of the nights, no parties and noisey cars. Big starry skies, not dulled by city lights. A life unrestricted by fences around your patch of dirt. Privacy. I guess thats where the nostalgia comes in. Would I go back to the good old days, like a shot, would I manage now, NO no no no. I'll make do with just going back for a holiday.

I grew up with electricity, so I didn't add that one. We can make due here, but with our own well, we have to pump water when the power is out, that is a big thing, otherwise we are fine.
Electricity is a tough one to live without.

Can you pump water manually? I'm interested in preparing for disasters and power outages, which I have a feeling we're going to be facing a lot more of those in the future. Some parts of the country already have outages a lot more often. We're way too dependent on electrical power and such now.

Amen to your #4, Lilylu!!! LOL

I am sure you can pump it manually but would have to have an old style hand pump installed beforehand. Our well is over 400 ft. deep so I wonder how many hours I would have to pump? LOL!

This message was edited Feb 20, 2008 7:55 AM

Ha, don't think you can handpump that!
We have a shallow well with a pitcher pump by the house. (put in before we put in the house, when we were just camping here)
And another well, a little deeper that taps into an underground stream that has the greatest tasting water ever. This well is at our little camp in the woods and we get all our drinking water there.
Like I said, we live a little differently than most people, in the woods like hermits. It is nice to be able to survive when the power is out, without generators and such.

Yeah -- most of us are setting ourselves up for suicide by convenience! Could I survive without the modern stuff? Probably -- but I DO feel ill-used if my next Netflix selection is late!

i don't miss getting a "perm" every year

Me, too, brigidlily. I feel abused if I can't have power for twenty minutes. SOOOOO inconvenient.

I don't miss having to wear white gloves to church. Stockings you keep up with a garter belt. Starching clothes.

Oh yes. When I was in my teens, pedal pushers became popular for girls. Then jeans! Gradually I wore less skirts and dresses and more pants...so emancipating! Now it's rare that I ever wear skirts or dresses. I have two dresses I bought for my daughter's wedding and rehearsal dinner a while back, that's mostly it. Never did wear white gloves. I remember girdles...hate them!

Birth control pills

Oh, that was a good one. (too old now, how soon we forget)

And I agree with the pantyhose thing. Garter belts and hose that was pressed flat and shinney.

Dresses or skirts were a requirement at school until I was well into high school. Don't know how we handled the cold winters. Forget about the old man talking about walking to school for miles in knee deep snow up hill both ways...HA he should do that in a skirt!

I don't miss:
1) Hand pumping water,
2) 32 party phone line, with ring pattern to see who was wanted (ours was 1 long and 2 shorts),
3) Childhood diseases (caught most of them),
4) Outhouse in winter - the hike to it actually,
5) Outhouse in summer - the bugs, bees, hornets, spiders,
6) Taking a bath with only 1 teakettle of hot water.

Yeah, cparts...and he should do it in Mary Janes, too!

ROTFL

Remember, ladies (and gents!) that Ginger did everything Fred did, but she did it backwards and in high heels!

I miss front porch visits with neighbors, Moms homesewn dresses, the yearly trip into town for our new underwear and socks to start the new school year, the smell of homemade bread when you came home from school, swinging on the tire and sack swing,..Ahhh, the simple life of youth! LOL!
Now, remember that we only had 1 mirror and 1 bathroom with four girls in the family and being the youngest I usually got all the hand me downs and rarely got to use the mirror but we learned to get along, to be fair and to share.