Old people are really pissin' me off!

[Spiky Bugger]

Shame I are one, huh?

My cousin (age 72): but it seems like you've stopped sending me email.
Me (age 67): you haven't answered the last THREE emails I sent.
Cuz: well I *READ* them, but I like to take my time to answer...so I do that later.
Me: could "later" mean two weeks?
Cuz: well, sometimes...


My BFF (age 75): I'm gonna stop at the US Cellular store because they will sell me a smart phone for 1¢.
Me (still 67): I don't think you want a smart phone.
BFF: why not?
Me: because they will make you sign a 2-year contract.
BFF: they never have before, but it's the only cell phone company that has service out here, so it doesn't matter. (Rural Wisconsin...she's right...I'll let her have that one.)
Me: but you don't want or need a smart phone. It does things you refuse to learn how to do...like TEXTING.
BFF: texting (she insists on saying "texing") is stupid.
Me: the smart phone will text and hook you up to the internet or figure out where you are and show you movies on a 2" screen and even if you don't use ANY of those things you will have to pay for a data plan because your phone CAN do those things.
BFF: what's a data plan?



And so on. These people...and I'm right on their heels...need adult supervision. AARRRGGHHH!

 

[Taterweight]

I know it happens to us all, but I am so with ya! Just watching my mother (she's 75) take 5 minutes of fumbling to answer her cell phone has me rolling my eyes for an hour's worth of exasperation. Since I deal in antiques I run with an older crowd...majority of my friends are 60 + and the number of them that have cell phones they carry around with the power off is frightening!!! I get asked all the time to teach them how to use their iPhones.....(I run in the opposite direction!)

 

[Munchkin]

I know it happens to us all, but I am so with ya! Just watching my mother (she's 75) take 5 minutes of fumbling to answer her cell phone has me rolling my eyes for an hour's worth of exasperation. Since I deal in antiques I run with an older crowd...majority of my friends are 60 + and the number of them that have cell phones they carry around with the power off is frightening!!! I get asked all the time to teach them how to use their iPhones.....(I run in the opposite direction!)

OOOOOOOH.... An antique dealer! What a great line of work!

 

[Taterweight]

It is a fantastic job for life-long learners!

 

[Munchkin]

It is a fantastic job for life-long learners!

What are your best finds ever?

 

[Taterweight]

Ah, let's see...I took a chance on picture of Snow White at the wishing well with the bluebird in her hand...it wasn't framed, just a mat around it, water damaged and paint starting to flake off. I bought it for $20 and my husband thought I was insane but there was just something about it - I had heard in my distant memory about Disney cells being collectible. This was the first year of Ebay....so, I had done a little research, called some galleries in LA who were eager to broker it for $500. It ended up being an ultra rare signed Courvoisier Disney cell. Snow White was Disneys first major motion picture and that particular scene was highly desirable. Thinking I didn't want to be too greedy, I put it on Ebay with a $250 reserve. That was met in the first 10 minutes. 2 days into the 7-day auction, and the price was jumping every hour, Ebay crashed! After 4 days of being down, Ebay came back online. My family and friends were freaking out all following the action as the price kept climbing and climbing. So Ebay came back with only 16 hrs left of the auction - I had anticipated any and all bidders would have forgotten and the fever was done. It ended up going for $9,374. I had several emails after the auction ended of people that wanted it, but it was done and went to a very happy collector in Texas. The best part was that Ebay didn't charge anything because of the "glitch" so that was a nice bonus!

I've had many great finds that were worth more, but nothing as exciting as that one!

 

[DianaCox]

I remember when I was 15 and my grandmother was 69 and we had just gotten a pushbutton phone, and she was utterly baffled by it - couldn't figure out how to "dial" a number. She was a bright woman - had been a nurse. I remember thinking "OH GRANDMA, you're soooo OLD!" Now, I have an iPhone 4S on which I barely use any of the features - texting, email, can't get my calendar to synch with my computer Outlook, and to get on the internet. My husband wants to upgrade our phones and I keep telling him I don't NEED a better phone - I don't use 1/10 of the features I already have!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I remember when I was 15 and my grandmother was 69 and we had just gotten a pushbutton phone, and she was utterly baffled by it - couldn't figure out how to "dial" a number. She was a bright woman - had been a nurse. I remember thinking "OH GRANDMA, you're soooo OLD!" Now, I have an iPhone 4S on which I barely use any of the features - texting, email, can't get my calendar to synch with my computer Outlook, and to get on the internet. My husband wants to upgrade our phones and I keep telling him I don't NEED a better phone - I don't use 1/10 of the features I already have!

I just killed my smart phone. Thought it could fly. Smashed screen. I didn't like it, so that was good. My earrings would tap the touchscreen and bring up screens I didn't need. Like you, I have an iPad, so it does everything the smartphone does except phone calls. I do want to txt. Occasionally. I "bought down." A Samsung that does have qwerty, but you have to slide it open. And my earrings don't make magic happen.

 

[Munchkin]

Ah, let's see...I took a chance on picture of Snow White at the wishing well with the bluebird in her hand...it wasn't framed, just a mat around it, water damaged and paint starting to flake off. I bought it for $20 and my husband thought I was insane but there was just something about it - I had heard in my distant memory about Disney cells being collectible. This was the first year of Ebay....so, I had done a little research, called some galleries in LA who were eager to broker it for $500. It ended up being an ultra rare signed Courvoisier Disney cell. Snow White was Disneys first major motion picture and that particular scene was highly desirable. Thinking I didn't want to be too greedy, I put it on Ebay with a $250 reserve. That was met in the first 10 minutes. 2 days into the 7-day auction, and the price was jumping every hour, Ebay crashed! After 4 days of being down, Ebay came back online. My family and friends were freaking out all following the action as the price kept climbing and climbing. So Ebay came back with only 16 hrs left of the auction - I had anticipated any and all bidders would have forgotten and the fever was done. It ended up going for $9,374. I had several emails after the auction ended of people that wanted it, but it was done and went to a very happy collector in Texas. The best part was that Ebay didn't charge anything because of the "glitch" so that was a nice bonus!

I've had many great finds that were worth more, but nothing as exciting as that one!

WOW! Just wow! What a great story. I love antiques(I am one). Ran across these great little painted boxes in the USSR in a small town called Palekh back in the late 60's. I thought they were beautiful so I bought a bunch of them. They even had barrettes. Turned out they were worth a bunch of money. I had no idea till after I got back to the US. My fave collection is my ballast bottles.

 

[Munchkin]

I'm one of those losers whose cell was always turned off. I just figured it was for my convenience and in case of emergency. Now I don't have one at all. I have a (OMG) LANDLINE. Just happens I live in a cellular 'hole' of some kind and there's no good consistent reception from any carrier. If I need a cell, I use Jeff's.

And BTW every single person I know with one of those Smart Phones has a broken screen. They have to fix that problem before I will even consider getting one.

 

[KathyF]

I remember standing in line outside the mall for the first iphone. Got a nasty sunburn on my forehead. Attractive.

I have managed to never break the screen on my iphones, but my granddaughter on the other hand manages to always shatter hers in a very short period of time.

 

[southernlady]

My daughter is a klutz...thankfully she's been on her own for awhile now...she has a VERY bad habit of dropping HER phone in the toilet.

I keep mine in a case that actually functions as a wallet as well. I have dropped mine but thankfully never broke the screen. Dh used an Otterbox but that comes with it's own issues...in fact he ended up with a replacement because of the Otterbox. This is mine in brown and looks like a small book. It's called a BookBook V5...they also have a V4.

 

[KathyF]

I keep mine in a case that actually functions as a wallet as well. I have dropped mine but thankfully never broke the screen. Dh used an Otterbox but that comes with it's own issues...in fact he ended up with a replacement because of the Otterbox. This is mine in brown and looks like a small book. It's called a BookBook V5...they also have a V4.

That is so cool! I have to have one!

 

[southernlady]

That is so cool! I have to have one!

Yeah, what is so nice is I REALLY do not need my purse as long as I have my phone.

 

[Taterweight]

Yeah, what is so nice is I REALLY do not need my purse as long as I have my phone.

I use a book book too! It's the best. Sooooo nice to not have a purse for my husband and to load me up like a pack mule!