You know you are getting old when:

[Trenchfriend]

^^^^^^
I admit to not understanding this post. Was this stuff not widely available back in the bad old days, before the wall came down? Or is it used as a “personal lubricant” or something along those lines?

Is, or was, “the West” commonly perceived as “pulsating” over your way?

Short version:
I'm old enough to understand the brands popularity. So I'm not more a youngster.

 

[BobHufford]

When you and your wife (for the first time) take advantage of lunch at the "Senior Center". Three large chicken tenders, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables, a biscuit and butter, a large chocolate brownie and a small peach cobbler. $3.50.

My daughter said "at least you'll get to socialize". We got it to go ...

Looking forward to meatloaf day!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Fluorescent light tubes are finally disappearing in Europe. There are only small leftovers in the hardware stores.

But the new LED light tubes are again affordable. Usual 451 mm or 604 mm LED light tubes (incl. the needed bridge/"dummy starter") are costing 9,99 €, here.

We will see, how longlasting they are.
Actually, I got my third and last fluorescent light tube in the cupboard running, since yesterday. The first lasted 9+ years, the second (cheaper) 5 years.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
I trust that fluorescent tubes will still be available through the indefinite future, maybe not on the shelves at the local hardware stores, but there will remain enough old fixtures that people wish to continue using that producing the things will be a viable business proposition.

 

[tonyb]

I learned today of another one-off gig involving friends from my drum and bugle corps days, going back to the late 1960s. They’ve gotten together in years past for a field show and a couple of times for showcase parades — Macy’s Thanksgiving Day in NYC and Mardi Gras in NOLA.

Now they’re testing the waters for the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s Day 2026. (Yes, it takes that long to do at least a creditable job of it.) Is there sufficient interest? today’s missive asks.

But it’s not in the cards for me. I’m confident my cardiologists would advise against it, seeing how it would involve an essentially nonstop 5.5 mile march at a fairly brisk clip. And that knee I had an arthroscopy on nearly 40 years ago is giving me trouble again.

It’s disappointing, but I’ll volunteer to assist in any meaningful way I can.

 

[Trenchfriend]

On the new LED light tubes, the full length is just not usable.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
Are there LED tubes that work in fluorescent fixtures? I’ve read conflicting reports, I put LED tubes in a fluorescent fixture a couple three years ago. Same size, same little pin configuration. It worked, but not for long. So I bought a pair of four-foot four-tube LED grow light fixtures, tubes included, which have been working fine ever since.

I have mostly Edison-base LED bulbs in the lamps and ceiling fixtures here, some of which are truly vintage, like older than me vintage. The bulbs work fine, although some are longer lasting than others. It comes as no surprise that there would be some variation in quality, as there is with pretty much every manufactured thing.

 

[Trenchfriend]

^^^^^^
Are there LED tubes that work in fluorescent fixtures? I’ve read conflicting reports, I put LED tubes in a fluorescent fixture a couple three years ago. Same size, same little pin configuration. It worked, but not for long. So I bought a pair of four-foot four-tube LED grow light fixtures, tubes included, which have been working fine ever since.

I have mostly Edison-base LED bulbs in the lamps and ceiling fixtures here, some of which are truly vintage, like older than me vintage. The bulbs work fine, although some are longer lasting than others. It comes as no surprise that there would be some variation in quality, as there is with pretty much every manufactured thing.

I was told in hardware (chain)store, "sometimes" old lamps can happen to not work with the LED tubes, but normally no problem. You replace the fluorescent starter with the new dummy starter/bridge and that's it.

My underfit lamp is 14 1/2 years old. I tried the LED tubes, I now have on stock, before I put my last fluorescent tube back in. It worked immediately.


BUT, if you got an old lamp with electronic (starterless) ballast unit, you need special H.F. LED tubes!

 

[Turnip]

…you agree with your doc to apply for your first recovery cure and have a good chance for permission.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aah, THAT'S the meaning of XOXO.

 

[tonyb]

Once again, inquiring after an old friend informs of that friend’s death, nearly five years ago, in this particular case. He was a truly a good guy, so it truly sucks.

 

[belfastboy]

Once again, inquiring after an old friend informs of that friend’s death, nearly five years ago, in this particular case. He was a truly a good guy, so it truly sucks.

My high school sweetheart, we lived together all through university, and we remained friends all these years, has just been admitted to a care facility for dementia patients. This one hits too close.

 

[GHT]

I have become my grandfather, left behind by modern technology. We needed a few groceries, nothing much, so I drove to the convenience store ten minutes away. The self service tills baffle me so I join the small queue. One customer pays with a card on the tap and go system, the next two pay by zapping their phones at the reader, I once saw a fellow do something similar with his watch. My turn to pay I hand over a twenty pound note and get the most patronising look. Such is life.
I don't even know what an "App" is, other than it's some sort of program and App is an abbreviation of Application. (Clear as mud.)

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^^
What’s most amusing in such scenarios is that all these new ways of conducting our daily affairs are, if anything, making us LESS intelligent.

Go ahead, give the kid at the drive-thru a 20, two dimes, a nickel, and a couple pennies for an $8.27 purchase and see what happens.

EDIT: I don’t wish to disparage fast-food workers these days. I, too, don’t use my head as a calculator as quickly as I once did. That’s due in part to being out of practice (newer tech makes it less necessary) and in part to advancing years.

 

[Trenchfriend]

And laugh about all these stupid, which forgot, what "privacy" by cash-money means.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
Yes, that’s a whole ‘nuther matter. We leave records of our whereabouts and activities just about every time we step outside our homes and often when we stay in. Convenience comes at a price.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Of course if you do give the kid at the drive thru a complex series of bills and coins and you end up confusing her and holding up the line, well, you may end up on the other end of So Trivial But It Really Ticks You Off -- or worse. I've seen this happen in more lines than I can mention, and I want to slap the person who does it.

Cashiers are trained for speed, and they generally handle cash the way they do because they're required to -- in bigger stores how many transactions they handle per shift is a hard metric they are judged on, and they can lose their jobs if they fall below the required quota. In some stores this particular type of transaction is specifically not allowed in company policy because it can make things very easy for petty scammers. So yeah, not a good idea to try to screw them up for the lulz, or to make a point about Kids Today, or even just because one would rather not carry loose change.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
What “particular type of transaction” is that?

As I already noted above, I am not disparaging the people — mostly young people — working fast-food jobs.

I fail to see how giving a person $20.27 for an $8.27 purchase amounts to “a complex series of bills and coins.” I don’t do it for “lolz,” and really, it ought make it easier (and faster, if efficiency is the aim) for all concerned. Handing me back a 10 and a pair of ones is less hassle than forking over a 10, a one, two quarters, two dimes, and three pennies.

 

[Woodtroll]

I've seen this happen in more lines than I can mention, and I want to slap the person who does it.
....In some stores this particular type of transaction is specifically not allowed in company policy because it can make things very easy for petty scammers. So yeah, not a good idea to try to screw them up for the lulz, or to make a point about Kids Today, or even just because one would rather not carry loose change.

This makes no sense to me either.

Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that many retailers, particularly fast food places that ONLY had drive-throughs open, were demanding exact change because of the bogus "national coin shortage"? Who are you going to slap then?

As far as "Scammers", I've been scammed plenty by cashiers that can't hand me the correct change back even though the register tells them exactly what to hand me. I remember a discussion on this forum a while back about counting your change in line, and how that was so wrong and inconsiderate. Far better to take whatever you're given and move on, although once you've left the register you have no recourse for being shorted.

I don't hand over correct change to make a point or pick on anybody, it's self-protection as much as anything else. If the $15-an-hour cashiers are incapable of handing me a simple five, ten, or a couple of ones, then they should go back to a true minimum-wage position. I sure as heck can't trust them to count out correct coin change back to me.

 

[tonyb]

I’ve been handed back in change more than I was due on a few occasions. I’m not poor, and I like to think I’m reasonably honest, so I correct such errors and hand back the overage. I wouldn’t wish for the cashier’s till to come up short. His or her day is likely difficult enough without that additional problem.