[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I had a rude awakening today. The kid across the street hit a tennis ball into my yard. I picked it up and tried to throw it back into his yard and it barely cleared the street. It's like the muscle memory for throwing a ball is just gone. Gawd, I'm getting old.

I hear you! I joined a senior softball league this year. I hadn't played in 52 years! They put me at third base in my first practice and a grounder came to me. I threw to first base and the ball bounced twice on the way! Before practice I'd warmed up playing catch, but we were much closer together. It turns out the distance from 3rd to 1st is much further away than it was when I was a kid!!

After that humbling experience, I started working on my throwing to get some of the mechanics back. I'll never have the arm I once had, but I can easily throw from 3rd to 1st. on the fly and that's good enough for me.

[Esteban]

For all the grandparents.

I'm just jealous 'cause I don't have any (grandchildren).

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Llarry

My much-loved Teac X-700R open-reel tape deck stopped functioning years ago, leaving me without a way to listen to my large collection of tapes. I couldn't find anyone who could fix it. I ended up selling it for a pittance and dumped something like 70 tapes into the landfill.

I started with open-reel audio in 1965 and continued to record for about 20 years. That X-700R had dbx noise reduction. It was probably my 10th open reel recorder.

Now I feel old...

In 1969, my college roommate had a Teac 7" reel to reel. I don't remember the model number, but it was amazing. He had a great amp, pre amp, and tuner. One day the local FM station announced it would play the yet-to-be released Beatle White Album without commercial interruption starting at Midnight. We stayed up and taped the album. We had it on tape before it was released.

As I write this, I'm thinking I already shared this story sometime back. That's the great part about getting old. You can share the same old story and nobody stops you!

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I went through open reel tape decks like water; let me recap:
1965 - Sony tape recorder with speakers
1966 - Akai tape recorder with speakers
1971 - Teac tape deck (top-of-the-line A7010 with 10.5" reels)
1973 - Sansui tape deck (quadrophonic QD5500S)
1974 - Another Sansui QD5500S deck
1975 - Pioneer RT-1020 (10.5" reel-capable) tape deck
1977 - Teac A-4300SX tape deck
1981 - Teac X-7R tape deck
1989 - Teac X-700R tape deck

Speaking as a layman, I thought the highest quality tape decks in the 1970s were the Sansui units: They were rock-solid. Although I bought 4-channel units, I don't think I ever used them in 4-channel mode. But I think Sansui did not play in the open-reel arena for long.

What made this all possible was the insanely low prices I could buy audio equipment for in the military exchanges -- basically half of the U.S. list price. I would buy a piece of audio gear (tape deck or turntable or receiver), use it for a year or two and then resell it for about what I had paid. I suspect your Dad and other Canadian forces members had a similar good deal going on during their European tours of duty.

My roommate was in the Air Force and got his gear at great prices too. The turntable was Sansui and it was flawless. I miss the vinyl days.

[Boomer 2019]

In the summer of 1969 my boat (USS Enterprise) spent a week or so on R&R in Subic Bay. They had a huge Navy Exchange there because of all the ships transiting back and forth to Vietnam. I bought a Sansui receiver 5000A; speakers SP-3500; and turntable SR-4040, and set them up in our storeroom across from the ordnance shop. Late nights when off the line resounded with the sounds of Mike Cooper and Al Bloomfield on the Super Sessions album. Still one of my all time favorites. Guys came from all over the ship.

Those speakers lasted until 1994. The receiver until 1998, and I gave away the still perfectly functioning turntable to a friend in 2004. Sansui not only made top of the line audio equipment in those days, but they made it to last.

[Esteban]

.

[vreihen16]

I escaped from the hospital, and am home ready to hit the hay at 6:45 PM.....

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

I escaped from the hospital, and am home ready to hit the hay at 6:45 PM.....

Good to hear. 👍

[sygazelle]

...when you know what this is and you used to use one.

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you know what this is and you used to use one.

I'll get off your lawn now because I have no clue.

[JerryW235]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you know what this is and you used to use one.

A generator for a bicycle, to power a headlight and or taillight. Mounted on the front or rear fork, and pressed against the tire.

[Pauly Wauly]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

I'll get off your lawn now because I have no clue.

.

[Boomer 2019]

You guys are too quick for me this morning, I need more coffee. Lots of kids had them, but I never wanted one. They looked dorky to me, and the last thing I would ever do in those days was display dorkiness. It could get your butt kicked in my neighborhood.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you know what this is and you used to use one.

I had a generator light system on my JC Higgins bicycle during my paper
route years. It had a headlight and red tail light. The knurled generator
wheel tended to wear a grove in the sidewall of my front tire.

Also, these generators were unregulated - the faster you went, the higher
the voltage. There was a long downhill avenue on the way to my paper
route and if I went too fast, the bulbs burned out. �� There were a couple
of spare bulbs clipped inside the headlight housing.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

My doctor recently upped my weekly dose of Mounjaro to fight the diabetes caused by the diuretics,

da fuq? Are you SURE you're not pregnant-diabetic???

Seriously, how do diuretics cause diabetes? Fluids are good to wash out excess blood sugar, I know all to well.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I had a generator light system on my JC Higgins bicycle during my paper
route years. It had a headlight and red tail light. The knurled generator
wheel tended to wear a grove in the sidewall of my front tire.

Also, these generators were unregulated - the faster you went, the higher
the voltage. There was a long downhill avenue on the way to my paper
route and if I went too fast, the bulbs burned out. �� There were a couple
of spare bulbs clipped inside the headlight housing.

I had one on my JC Higgins too. It was my first real bike that wasn't for little kids. I loved that bike but it had one issue. We lived at the beach and the spokes did not like the salt air at all. The spokes started rusting after the first year. My dad made me put wax on them. I think this was my first lesson in taking care of things. To this day, my things are always ship shape. Thanks Dad!

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

da fuq? Are you SURE you're not pregnant-diabetic???

Seriously, how do diuretics cause diabetes? Fluids are good to wash out excess blood sugar, I know all to well.

https://www.healthline.com/health/di...-hyperglycemia

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

I'll get off your lawn now because I have no clue.

You may stay on my lawn anytime. For me personally, one of the benefits about being older it knowing it's okay to admit when you don't know something.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you know what this is and you used to use one.

I could never get the bracket tightened down enough that the generator would stay firmly against the tire.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I could never get the bracket tightened down enough that the generator would stay firmly against the tire.

The one that I used had grooves cut inside the bracket, and would rip the paint off of my CCM 10-speed's fork as it rotated and lost grip with the tire.

Kids these days will never know the pain we lived through with those things, because they are used to LED head/tail lights on bicycles that last for weeks and recharge with USB cables.....

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

The one that I used had grooves cut inside the bracket, and would rip the paint off of my CCM 10-speed's fork as it rotated and lost grip with the tire.

Kids these days will never know the pain we lived through with those things, because they are used to LED head/tail lights on bicycles that last for weeks and recharge with USB cables.....

It is amazing how much has changed since we were kids. I loved it then and I love it now. The fond memories of each new music format, for example. Or, the new car styles that changed every year.

I think growing up in the 50s makes me appreciate things even more. I remember seeing Sputnik fly over back in '57. Fast forward to last week: My wife and I were sitting in the backyard watching the sunset and the ISS flew over. I looked up and said, "That's way too bright for and it's going too fast to be an airplane. With my handy iPhone, I opened my ISS tracking app and, sure enough, it was crossing right overhead at that moment. I'm pretty sure the iPhone has more computing power than the systems used to launch and manage the flight of Sputnik. It's pretty awesome and a little bit scary if you think about it too much.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

It is amazing how much has changed since we were kids. I loved it then and I love it now. The fond memories of each new music format, for example. Or, the new car styles that changed every year.

I think growing up in the 50s makes me appreciate things even more. I remember seeing Sputnik fly over back in '57. Fast forward to last week: My wife and I were sitting in the backyard watching the sunset and the ISS flew over. I looked up and said, "That's way too bright for and it's going too fast to be an airplane. With my handy iPhone, I opened my ISS tracking app and, sure enough, it was crossing right overhead at that moment. I'm pretty sure the iPhone has more computing power than the systems used to launch and manage the flight of Sputnik. It's pretty awesome and a little bit scary if you think about it too much.

I remember the awe of Sputnik. I was 10 years old and standing in front of
our local newspaper company, picking up my papers, when someone pointed
it out, flying overhead. Some folks were freaking out.

I also remember when Nikita Kruschev stopped his train in our little town.
We sat on a small hill that overlooked the train station. Helicopters were
buzzing all around. I thought it was pretty cool. Later, I learned that
Kruschev picked up my best friend’s sister for a photo op. She was briefly
separated from her parents and started to cry. Quite a big deal for a 5
year old. She still has the dress she wore on that day.