What’s that noise?

Over Thanksgiving, we visited Joe’s family and stayed in a hotel with the girls for the night. This time, they wanted to play with the hotel phone. One would grab it and the other would pretend she was on the other end, or use the phone in the other room. It went on for a while and then M decided to stop.
I asked, “Why don’t you want to play on the phone with Abs?”
“The phone is making a horrible noise.”
I thought maybe they dialed someone and asked her to show me. She did. The ‘horrible noise’ was a dial tone. She has never heard one and found it very annoying. We only use our cell phones at home, and it never dawned on me that she has never actually picked up a regular phone.
I remember back to rotary phones, to busy signals, to NOT having call-waiting or voice mail. She will only know the sound of voicemail picking up, or possibly the nice lady on the other end of the phone that tells her the call can not go though at this time, and reminds her to please try again later.
I’m not that old, I’m not that old, I’m not that old…Nope, still not buying it.
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Posted by LZ on November 28, 2009
Filed under: Daily Life, Getting Old, The Monsters
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November 28, 2009
Too funny! Hannah doesn’t get why we can’t “pause” TV when we’re watching any TV but the one in the family room with Tivo. She also was in disbelief when I told her when I was little I only could watch the Wizard of Oz once a year when it was ON TV. She kept asking me why we “just didn’t buy the movie”. Yes, we are old. Or as Hannah dubbed me today, “YOLD”, somewhere between her great-grandmother and her (young + old).
BTW – love your new design!
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LZ replied:
November 28th, 2009
Oh, don’t even get me started about TV! I so wish that I never got started with On Demand Shows or pausing or rewinding. She, too, gets frustrated when we can pause something, or, her big issue, when we start a show too late and she asks me to rewind to the beginning. I can’t! Stop asking!!
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November 29, 2009
Twitter: noreturnmom
I even almost forgot about busy signals/circuits. Ha!
The only thing I like about my 2 y/o getting the DVR concept is that I can get away with turning the tube off and saying I’ll record it (even if I plan to just play one On Demand later when they ask).
Deb´s last blog ..‘M’ is for ‘monster’
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November 29, 2009
Ha! I once told my 5-year old that when I was a kid, we didn’t have a remote control. You actually had to get up and turn the knob on the TV. I couldn’t get him to believe me!
Meg at Demanding Joy´s last blog ..Gratitude Quick Links
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November 29, 2009
I remember that you could tell by the length of the pause before a call connected if the resul was goig to be a busy signal or if it would ring. Ahh, memories.
Nancy@ifevolutionworks.com´s last blog ..Why Oh Why?
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November 29, 2009
I’m still having problems getting my grandmother to understand that she doesn’t wait for a dial tone before using her cellphone.
Melanie´s last blog ..Scrumptious Sunday Swap
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November 29, 2009
How bout the old dial up AOL sound! Now THAT was a horrible noise!
Kameron´s last blog ..A Baby Story
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November 29, 2009
How bout the old dial up AOL sound! Now THAT was a horrible noise!
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November 30, 2009
Oh my gosh. Is that really how old we are that an entire generation of people don’t know what a rotary phone is? I’m sad all of a sudden…

Jennifer´s last blog ..The Case Against Having Nice Things And A Child Under The Age of Thirty
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November 30, 2009
I am not old either I am not old either I am not old either (does it work if we do this)
I swear I do no remember busy signals and dial tones – I don’t still reminisce about my VCR that only played BETA MAX tapes, or our Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas 8-TRACK, or the answering machine that used actual tapes OR having a phone that stayed plugged into the base….really….I could go on like this for pages…..guess I should stop now…
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LZ replied:
November 30th, 2009
No kidding! I remember my Conair, hot pink push button phone that wasn’t even cordless, but was state of the art at the time. Answering machine tapes – forgot about those!
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December 1, 2009
It’s amazing the memories of just a few years ago. Not going to say long ago then we will all feel old. I can vaguely remember having a party line. For the younger generation that’s when you had to share a phone line with a neighbor. Your phone would have a special ring if the call was for your house. You may pick up the phone to make a call and your neighbor would be on it.
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