The scope of CO2 regulation is a decision for Congress. It’s richly ironic for Democrats who denounce Mr. Trump as an authoritarian to howl that he’s relinquishing power to regulate all corners of the economy under the guise of climate that the Biden and Obama administrations unilaterally claimed.
The Lovely Mrs. Firefly and I accidentally did the experiment in the video. For years I kept a rotary phone* around because it was nostalgic and fun and they looked so much better than the hands free, push button phones in use before everyone abandoned their land lines. We had a babysitter who was going to watch our kids, and she had brought a friend along. This was probably around the year 2000 and they were both probably about 12 years old.
The sitter asked if she could call her folks. We said sure. Then my wife and I became engaged in a conversation, likely something to do with the night ahead. After a few minutes I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and I nudged my wife and pointed so she could enjoy the fun. The two girls were trying to figure out how to dial! It was quite funny and almost identical to the steps the young men in this video go through.
Afterward I thought about it and realized it is not very intuitive at all. The only reason it seems so obvious to us is because it’s all we knew. Until it went away.
*Once phone companies completely abandoned the old, rotary switching equipment I had to buy a device made in Australia to put in-line that transferred the rotary clicks to digital tones. Eventually even that wouldn’t work.
Great video, made my day. How the heck did they create a dial tone?
If there had been YouTube 50 years ago no doubt there would have been a video, “Baby Boomers Try To Crank A Model T”.
“Houston crime-sketch artist releases portrait of masked suspect in Nancy Guthrie case”
I have previously suspected (without evidence) that a drug cartel is involved in this case, based on the unusual (and so far successful) nature of this event. Cartels have reportedly infiltrated government in Arizona. The local sheriff seems to have acted less than stellarly. And now I see that the artist’s sketch looks Mexican or Hispanic.
If there had been YouTube 50 years ago no doubt there would have been a video, “Baby Boomers Try To Crank A Model T” — Niketas
Roughly 5 years ago, I was at our local racetrack and an antique car group from Salinas was there with a number of their cars, including a model T. My father had told me a tiny bit about driving a Model T and so I looked at it and inquired.
Unfortunately, we didn’t actually drive it, but the owner showed me all of the controls and how they functioned in normal use. Moderately complicated.
If I remember correctly (& I may not), the owner told me about an aftermarket add-on overdrive gear and its control. The Model T only had two gears stock, and this conversion made it essentially a three speed. But boy, was the operation of it a mess. Very complicated and rather tricky hand and foot coordination.
@TommyJay:But boy, was the operation of it a mess.
Can’t say of my own knowledge but the starting process was described in East of Eden:
“Come around here,” said the boy. “Now you see that-there? That’s the ignition key. When you turn that-there you’re ready to go ahead. Now, you push this do-hickey to the left. That puts her on battery—see, where it says Bat. That means battery.” They craned their necks into the car. The twins were standing on the running board.
“No—wait. I got ahead of myself. First you got to retard the spark and advance the gas, else she’ll kick your goddam arm off. This here—see it?—this-here’s the spark. You push it up—get it?—up. Clear up. And this-here’s the gas—you push her down. Now I’m going to explain it and then I’m going to do it. I want you to pay attention. You kids get off the car. You’re in my light. Get down, goddam it.” The boys reluctantly climbed down from the running board; only their eyes looked over the door.
He took a deep breath. “Now you ready? Spark retarded, gas advanced. Spark up, gas down. Now switch to battery—left, remember—left.” A buzzing sound like that of a gigantic bee sounded. “Hear that? That’s the contact in one of the coil boxes. If you don’t get that, you got to adjust the points or maybe file them.” He noticed a look of consternation on Adam’s face. “You can study up on that in the book,” he said kindly.
He moved to the front of the car. “Now this-here is the crank and –see this little wire sticking out of the radiator?—that’s the choke. Now watch careful while I show you. You grab the crank like this and push till she catches. See how my thumb is turned down? If I grabbed her the other way with my thumb around her, and she was to kick, why, she’d knock my thumb off. Got it?”
“Now,” he said, “look careful. I push in and bring her up until I got compression, and then, why, I pull out this wire and I bring her around careful to suck gas in. Hear that sucking sound? That’s choke. But don’t pull her too much or you’ll flood her. Now, I let go the wire and I give her a hell of a spin, and as soon as she catches I run around and advance the spark and retard the gas and I reach over and throw the switch quick over to magneto—see where it says Mag?—and there you are.” His listeners were limp. After all this they just got the engine started. The boy kept at them. “I want you to say after me now so you learn it. Spark up—gas down.”
They replied in chorus, “Spark up—gas down.”
“Switch to Bat.”
“Switch to Bat.”
“Crank to compression, thumb down.”
“Crank to compression, thumb down.”
“Easy over—choke out.”
“Easy over—choke out.”
“Spin her.”
“Spin her.”
“Spark down—gas up.”
“Spark down—gas up.”
“Switch to Mag.”
“Switch to Mag.”
“Now, we’ll go over her again. Just call me Joe.”
“Just call you Joe.”
“Not that. Spark up—gas down.”
There are more ducks here today than I have ever seen before. At least 3000. Scaups and scoters. These are clam eaters.
Curt Thomson:
Many people still have land lines, especially if they live in an area with iffy cellphone reception. There are a few companies that make functioning retro dial phones that work with modern technology; for example, this one.
Soon “clockwize” will be an unknown term.
Right tightly, lefty loosely.
om:
“Come by” (right/clockwise)
“Away to me” (left/counter-clockwise)
Rotary Club, TNG!
– – – – – – – – – – –
And for anyone still confused by what’s been happening in Venezuela…and what will soon be happening in Cuba…and Iran:
Natalie Bingham Hoover, a flight instructor and an FAA designated examiner, writing in AOPA Pilot magazine:
“My son got a record player for his ninth birthday. His grandparents were hoping to help him connect with some music history and the culture of their own growing-up years. None of us knew how to use it, so we googled YouTube videos of the right way to put the needle down and how to align the cartridge. I apologize to you vinyl heads; the irony here is not lost on me.”
For those of you making political donations, here are 10 seats in the House of Representative won by Republicans by narrow margins in 2024.
1. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa’s 1st District)
• Margin: ~0.19% (799 votes)
• Defeated Democrat Christina Bohannan in one of the closest races nationwide.
2. Gabe Evans (Colorado’s 8th District)
• Margin: ~1.2% (approx. 2,448 votes)
• Flipped the seat from Democrat Yadira Caraveo.
3. Republican Ryan Mackenzie (Pennsylvania’s 7th District)
• Margin: ~2% (approx. 4,062 votes)
• Defeated Democrat Susan Wild in a rematch.
4. Jen Kiggans (Virginia’s 2nd District)
• Margin: ~1.9%
• Held off Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal.
5. Mike Lawler (New York’s 17th District)
• Margin: ~3-4%
• Defeated Democrat Mondaire Jones in a rematch.
6. Anthony D’Esposito (New York’s 4th District)
• Margin: ~4-5%
• Held the seat against Democrat Laura Gillen.
7. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania’s 10th District)
• Margin: ~4.1%
• Defeated Democrat Janelle Stelson.
8. Ryan Zinke (Montana’s 1st District)
• Margin: ~6-7%
• Held against Democrat Monica Tranel.
9. Juan Ciscomani (Arizona’s 6th District)
• Margin: ~5-6%
• Held in a competitive district.
10. Young Kim (California’s 40th District)
• Margin: ~5-8% (close but held)
• Defeated Democrat Derek Tran in a Biden-won district.
When rotary phones gave way to push button phones and all of our friends bought the new push button models, we kept our working rotary phone as long as we could because it worked just fine, so why would we replace it? When our kids friends came over and asked to use the phone we had to show them how. We thought that was hilarious. The funny thing is, it all seems very recent!
A decade or so back I paid a visit to the parents of a friend, bringing my seventeen year old daughter along to meet them. They had a shelf in their living room full of collectibles, one of which was a small ‘sample’ manual typewriter. My daughter stared at it in wonderment and and finally, in a voice full of awe, asked; ‘Is that a.. a… typewriter? I always wondered what they looked like!’
I recall talking to the operator to connect. One time the operator broke into a conversation and told us boys that we had talked long enough. Rotary phones were introduced in May, 1955.
At my church, we’ve been renovating the hall. In one old storage room, we had a working rotary phone on the wall. It could receive calls, but not call out (at least I never bothered to try). Now that that room has been demolished, though, I notice the phone was removed. I hope we still have it somewhere.
While us “old” folks can laugh at “kids these days” I do remember when I was growing up my grandmother asking me (already knowing the answer) “you don’t know how to button a shoe, do you?”
Ha! I didn’t even know that buttoning a shoe was a thing!
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The video is hilarious! I kept shouting, “First, pick up the receiver!”
We all know I love WSJ editorials. This one is particularly noteworthy.
Trump’s Climate Liberation Act
https://archive.fo/iBYUu
The Lovely Mrs. Firefly and I accidentally did the experiment in the video. For years I kept a rotary phone* around because it was nostalgic and fun and they looked so much better than the hands free, push button phones in use before everyone abandoned their land lines. We had a babysitter who was going to watch our kids, and she had brought a friend along. This was probably around the year 2000 and they were both probably about 12 years old.
The sitter asked if she could call her folks. We said sure. Then my wife and I became engaged in a conversation, likely something to do with the night ahead. After a few minutes I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and I nudged my wife and pointed so she could enjoy the fun. The two girls were trying to figure out how to dial! It was quite funny and almost identical to the steps the young men in this video go through.
Afterward I thought about it and realized it is not very intuitive at all. The only reason it seems so obvious to us is because it’s all we knew. Until it went away.
*Once phone companies completely abandoned the old, rotary switching equipment I had to buy a device made in Australia to put in-line that transferred the rotary clicks to digital tones. Eventually even that wouldn’t work.
Great video, made my day. How the heck did they create a dial tone?
If there had been YouTube 50 years ago no doubt there would have been a video, “Baby Boomers Try To Crank A Model T”.
“Houston crime-sketch artist releases portrait of masked suspect in Nancy Guthrie case”
I have previously suspected (without evidence) that a drug cartel is involved in this case, based on the unusual (and so far successful) nature of this event. Cartels have reportedly infiltrated government in Arizona. The local sheriff seems to have acted less than stellarly. And now I see that the artist’s sketch looks Mexican or Hispanic.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/nancy-guthrie-lois-gibson-sketch-21349269.php
If there had been YouTube 50 years ago no doubt there would have been a video, “Baby Boomers Try To Crank A Model T” — Niketas
Roughly 5 years ago, I was at our local racetrack and an antique car group from Salinas was there with a number of their cars, including a model T. My father had told me a tiny bit about driving a Model T and so I looked at it and inquired.
Unfortunately, we didn’t actually drive it, but the owner showed me all of the controls and how they functioned in normal use. Moderately complicated.
If I remember correctly (& I may not), the owner told me about an aftermarket add-on overdrive gear and its control. The Model T only had two gears stock, and this conversion made it essentially a three speed. But boy, was the operation of it a mess. Very complicated and rather tricky hand and foot coordination.
@TommyJay:But boy, was the operation of it a mess.
Can’t say of my own knowledge but the starting process was described in East of Eden:
There are more ducks here today than I have ever seen before. At least 3000. Scaups and scoters. These are clam eaters.
Curt Thomson:
Many people still have land lines, especially if they live in an area with iffy cellphone reception. There are a few companies that make functioning retro dial phones that work with modern technology; for example, this one.
Soon “clockwize” will be an unknown term.
Right tightly, lefty loosely.
om:
“Come by” (right/clockwise)
“Away to me” (left/counter-clockwise)
Rotary Club, TNG!
– – – – – – – – – – –
And for anyone still confused by what’s been happening in Venezuela…and what will soon be happening in Cuba…and Iran:
“The Left’s Long Game in Latin America”—
https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-lefts-long-game-in-latin-america/
H/T Powerline blog.
…In which Lula and Fidel are given a rather impressive cameo(!)…
neo, Curt,
You can also buy a rotary cellular phone: https://www.digitaltrends.com/phones/this-rotary-cell-phone-actually-works-and-you-can-buy-it/
Natalie Bingham Hoover, a flight instructor and an FAA designated examiner, writing in AOPA Pilot magazine:
“My son got a record player for his ninth birthday. His grandparents were hoping to help him connect with some music history and the culture of their own growing-up years. None of us knew how to use it, so we googled YouTube videos of the right way to put the needle down and how to align the cartridge. I apologize to you vinyl heads; the irony here is not lost on me.”
For those of you making political donations, here are 10 seats in the House of Representative won by Republicans by narrow margins in 2024.
1. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa’s 1st District)
• Margin: ~0.19% (799 votes)
• Defeated Democrat Christina Bohannan in one of the closest races nationwide.
2. Gabe Evans (Colorado’s 8th District)
• Margin: ~1.2% (approx. 2,448 votes)
• Flipped the seat from Democrat Yadira Caraveo.
3. Republican Ryan Mackenzie (Pennsylvania’s 7th District)
• Margin: ~2% (approx. 4,062 votes)
• Defeated Democrat Susan Wild in a rematch.
4. Jen Kiggans (Virginia’s 2nd District)
• Margin: ~1.9%
• Held off Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal.
5. Mike Lawler (New York’s 17th District)
• Margin: ~3-4%
• Defeated Democrat Mondaire Jones in a rematch.
6. Anthony D’Esposito (New York’s 4th District)
• Margin: ~4-5%
• Held the seat against Democrat Laura Gillen.
7. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania’s 10th District)
• Margin: ~4.1%
• Defeated Democrat Janelle Stelson.
8. Ryan Zinke (Montana’s 1st District)
• Margin: ~6-7%
• Held against Democrat Monica Tranel.
9. Juan Ciscomani (Arizona’s 6th District)
• Margin: ~5-6%
• Held in a competitive district.
10. Young Kim (California’s 40th District)
• Margin: ~5-8% (close but held)
• Defeated Democrat Derek Tran in a Biden-won district.
When rotary phones gave way to push button phones and all of our friends bought the new push button models, we kept our working rotary phone as long as we could because it worked just fine, so why would we replace it? When our kids friends came over and asked to use the phone we had to show them how. We thought that was hilarious. The funny thing is, it all seems very recent!
A decade or so back I paid a visit to the parents of a friend, bringing my seventeen year old daughter along to meet them. They had a shelf in their living room full of collectibles, one of which was a small ‘sample’ manual typewriter. My daughter stared at it in wonderment and and finally, in a voice full of awe, asked; ‘Is that a.. a… typewriter? I always wondered what they looked like!’
I recall talking to the operator to connect. One time the operator broke into a conversation and told us boys that we had talked long enough. Rotary phones were introduced in May, 1955.
At my church, we’ve been renovating the hall. In one old storage room, we had a working rotary phone on the wall. It could receive calls, but not call out (at least I never bothered to try). Now that that room has been demolished, though, I notice the phone was removed. I hope we still have it somewhere.
While us “old” folks can laugh at “kids these days” I do remember when I was growing up my grandmother asking me (already knowing the answer) “you don’t know how to button a shoe, do you?”
Ha! I didn’t even know that buttoning a shoe was a thing!