For the OLD Furts....remember?

[fubar57]

Our drafting teacher, Mr. Kannigan, had a paddle he used on those who never got 100% on the daily test. If you got less than 90% he put a chalk circle on the paddle and smacked you with it. He then put an "X" on the other side of the paddle and then tried to get the X inside the circle that was on your backside. It was all in great fun and provided lots of laughs. Do that now................?

 

[at6]

That is what one could call discipline. That would get you arrested today, which why kids today are little animals.

 

[Old Wizard]

We're creating a bunch of wussy brats.

 

[Thorlifter]

Bare a$$ and bent over? Make me wonder about that coach.

 

[at6]

Bare a$$ and bent over? Make me wonder about that coach.

Well it was the locker room of the shower area and he was a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps. You stood at attention during roll call, said "Yes sir and No sir" and we were expected to be highly disciplined. I can truly say he was one of the people I respected and admired the most of my Phys Ed instructors.

 

[fubar57]

Hitch-hiking in the 70-80s. Though not 100% safe I used to do it a lot. Two memorable rides involved a van full of hippies who kept trying to offer me drinks of Mexican cough syrup and getting a ride the Malcolm "Killer" Kirk, a British wrestler. Nowadays there's a good chance of being picked up by Psycho Ronnie and his pet axe Wanda

 

[tyrodtom]

In 1968 when I got shipped out of Thailand, I spent most of my travel money on a few days binge in Bangkok. When I got to Travis AFB I had less than $50.00, not even enough to buy a bus ticket from California to Virginia.

I didn't want to call and ask my parents for the money, because I didn't want to admit what I had done.
So I hit the road with my thumb.

I found out right quick it wasn't wise to try to thumb a ride in California, in 1968, in your uniform.

It took me 11 days to zig-zag across the USA. I even worked at a construction site in Colorado cleaning up old bricks for extra money. Finally I made it to Memphis Tenn., and from there I bought a bus ticket the rest of the way home to SW Va.

At the time I didn't look on it as very much fun, but now I look on it as a adventure. I learned a lot about my country, and it's people in those 11 days.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

[QUOTE="mikewint, post:]

• 1987 --Congress bans smoking on all domestic flights of two hours or less; two years later smoking is banned on all domestic flights.

[/QUOTE]

 

[XBe02Drvr]

• Mikewint said:
  
• 1987 --Congress bans smoking on all domestic flights of two hours or less; two years later smoking is banned on all domestic flights.
  
• 
  
• 1984--AirNorth, a commuter airline out of Burlington, VT, becomes the first airline to totally ban smoking aboard its aircraft, and everywhere on its property. I was working in the maintenance shop then, and we kept finding butts and charred paper towels in the lavatory trashbins. This wasn't setting off the baggage compartment smoke detectors, so the DoM had the purchasing folks order a case of plain old First Alert household smoke detectors, which we mounted on the lavatory wall right behind where the head of a hapless victim would be if he were sitting on the john. (Hidden behind a grille, of course!) Miscreants usually tumbled out the lav door with their hands over their ears and their trousers around their ankles! Flight Attendants had trouble keeping a straight face.
• Cleaning the goop off cabin outflow valve filter screens went from a weekly to a quarterly procedure.

 

[Elmas]

 

[bobbysocks]

back in the 60s and early 70s instead of the flashing highway barrier lights they used smudge pots like the one below. although they were not chrome plated but the standard highway yellow. you would see hundreds of them lined up belching black smoke. at night the sight was kind of cool with the flames. back then too guardrails ( guiderails) were wooden poles ( almost same size as telephone/electrical poles ) and pretty heavy duty cable. those were replaced by the steel I beams and W rails. in the past couple years they have started going back to the use of cables where I live. lastly, the berms of the road were almost never paved. around where I am they used what we called Red Dog...a limestone like rock that was deep red in color.

 

[Old Wizard]

Gad! I remember smudge pots too.

 

[Airframes]

And whatever happened to the old oil lamps, with a red lens, marking the edges of excavations in roads ?
And Night Watchmen. Old blokes who sat in front of a brazier, made from an old 50 gal oil drum, burning scrap wood and whatever else could be found, 'keeping watch' over construction sites at night.
Even the Romanies have changed. You no longer hear 'Buy some lucky heather Dearie ?'. It's now "So, this i-phone will only cost you fifty quid mate" !

 

[at6]

Rumor has it that they still steal babies and tell your fortune though.

 

[bobbysocks]

I have an oil lamp with a red lens...it was a railroad lantern my grandfather had...since he worked on the railroad. I still use it sometimes.

 

[Airframes]

Yep, that's the type I meant, I had a couple too, from my Grandfather who also worked on the railways, in the time of steam.
One had a red lens, for the rear of the train, and the other a clear lens, for the front of the train.

 

[Old Wizard]

My Uncle Bert was an engineer on steam engines and on into the early diesel engines.

 

[Old Wizard]

How many of you remember older house with stucco with embedded chunks of colored glass?

 

[Thorlifter]

I have my grandpa's lantern he used to signal the trains when he worked at BN in Minnesota. I also have his morse code key still in the wooden box he made to carry it around. I was told in his office there would be 25-30 different keys all just clicking away and his ear was so tuned to "his" call code, he could pick it out when someone was signaling for him over all the other keys clicking away. I can't even imagine!

This isn't his, but for you young'uns, this is how people used to talk to each other.

 

[Airframes]

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