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You Know You're Getting Old when...


Guest BigDogDaddy

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Guest BigDogDaddy

... your joints are mistaken for a torque wrench.

While at work the other day helping a coworker tighten a fitting with a torque wrench. As I'm tightening a bolt a Click was heard. He immediately said " There's the CLICK, it's good." I said that "click" was my elbow, NOT the torque wrench.

your turn

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... your joints are mistaken for a torque wrench.

While at work the other day helping a coworker tighten a fitting with a torque wrench. As I'm tightening a bolt a Click was heard. He immediately said " There's the CLICK, it's good." I said that "click" was my elbow, NOT the torque wrench.

your turn

LOL. I resemble that remark!

Ben

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You know you're getting old when . . .

You remember when white sidewall tires were common and "upscale". Cars didn't look "good" without them!

Fancy cars had their shift levers on the steering column, "low level" cars and most trucks had shift levers sticking out of the floor.

You realize just when the last carbureted new car was built.

You remember when radial tires were a performance upgrade.

Car commercials were neat to watch, sometimes even better than the shows they interrupted!

Car interiors had great style and use of color and chrome!

You remember 13 cent/gallon gasoline during "price wars". If one station decreased its price a few cents, the other nearby station operators were on the pay phone to their distributors to see if they could drop their price, too!

And, of course, if you remember when gas stations were called "service stations". When you drove up, they only had "full service" gasoline, so the attendant (one of many) took your gasoline "order" as others checked the tires, cleaned the glass, checked the underhood area items (careful to physically check the fan belts and coolant hoses just in case you were a Gates Mystery Shopper, to get your $5.00 spiff!), and even did a quick vacuum of the floor boards while you sat in the car. WOW!

You remember when "Ethyl" was not just married to Fred, but a term for gasoline octane levels.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

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Guest shadetree77
And, of course, if you remember when gas stations were called "service stations". When you drove up, they only had "full service" gasoline, so the attendant (one of many) took your gasoline "order" as others checked the tires, cleaned the glass, checked the underhood area items (careful to physically check the fan belts and coolant hoses just in case you were a Gates Mystery Shopper, to get your $5.00 spiff!), and even did a quick vacuum of the floor boards while you sat in the car. WOW!

Being born in the 80's I definitely don't recall ever having been to a station like that. The closest I ever got was a so-called "full service" station in rural Kentucky where they pumped your gas for you. I remember stopping there with my Grandmother when we visited her. I remember always being amazed that the attendant would take your cash, pump your gas, and bring the change back to the car. They would even check your oil if you asked. They didn't have anything like that left in the city I lived in. That station actually remained open for quite some time having only closed down sometime within the last ten years.

My Dad and I have been daydreaming lately about opening a place like the service stations of the past. There is an old station for sale down the road from us right off the Intersate. It dates from the the 50's and aside from playing host to a used car lot or two, has mostly been abandoned since the early 90's. It's a rather small place with a small storefront and a two-car garage on the side. The place is mostly made of glass (including the two all glass roll-up bay doors) with a little bit of brick and a green tin roof. It still has the old pump island and original parking lot lights as well. There is an old General Tire sign on the side. We often daydream about buying the place and opening a full service station with actual gas attendants out front and a "man-tique" store in the garage area. You could browse around at all the old signs, oil cans, and related petroliana while the attendants fully serviced your car. Of course, the attendants would be decked out head to toe in authentic uniforms. With all of the recent "buzz" created by shows like American Pickers and American Restoration, I think a place like this would do great. Flood the nearby I-75 with signs and billboards along with internet advertisement and a website and voila! Tons of business! Maybe even make enough profits to open a 50's themed diner in the empty lot next door. It's nice to dream sometimes.....:rolleyes:.

Sorry to get so far off topic BigDog. Just dreaming out loud.

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I remember when bench seats were more common than buckets. Now they want you to be safe and sit in front of the air bags.

I remember when seat belts were optional.

I remember when the radio took a few moments to "warm up" before you heard any sound.

I remember when the cost of gas went over $1.00/gallon. How could they do that?

I remember when cigarette lighters were in every car.

I remember the excitement surrounding the arrival of new models in the showrooms every year. Or when someone on your street got a new car, everyone had to go by and see it.

I remember when I could identify every car in the parking lot by merely looking at the front grilles.

I remember when every manufacturer offered convertibles in all their model lines.

I remember working on cars late at night in the garage with my father, holding a drop light to see. I miss him.

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You know you're getting old when

You see a car from (pick your decade prior to 1976), you smile and think (or tell whom you might be with) "Those cars were sure spiffy when they were new!" (as you remember going to the showroom window and seeing them back then . . .)

NO new car really "trips your trigger", so you search out Tote The Note lots in older parts of town for "treasures" to fix up. If they're THERE, it's because they have already proven their dependability OR are fresh from an estate sale, usually.

You remember when new cars sprouted dual headlights, OR when you got them in a JC Whitney conversion kit.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

Edited by NTX5467 (see edit history)
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By the time I was 5 in 1955, I could name every post war car and I still can up to a point. I remember my parents getting 10 gallons of gas for the week and spending $3.30. I remember when my uncle bought a '62 Super 88 in 1963, trading in his '58 Bel Air and I remember my parent's shock when he told them he spent $10 a week for gas to go back and forth to work. It took two tanks a week at $5 per. I loved that car, though, and he did keep it long enough for me to drive it a few times. Lots of memories....

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I'm not very old...born in '73, but I am old enough to remember when cars at least had minor changes from model year to model year. Now it is nearly impossible to tell a model year by looking at a car. I can usually get a year range, but not the model year unless it was newly redesigned.

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I'm not very old...born in '73, but I am old enough to remember when cars at least had minor changes from model year to model year. Now it is nearly impossible to tell a model year by looking at a car. I can usually get a year range, but not the model year unless it was newly redesigned.

This is what I was trying to say the other day. I'm pretty good with cars from the late 40's up until the 80's. Beyond that, I can tell a range, ie: '75-'78 Ford LTD, '81-'85 Impala/Caprice, '86-91' Caprice, etc.

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For me when my youngest daughter wanted something "unique" so I got her a "young" 47 year old car that is too new for me to have seen while in high school. (65 Rambler Classic, graduated from high school in '64 - I'll leave the calculations to the reader...). Most of all miss each car being unique - not so anymore...

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For me when my youngest daughter wanted something "unique" so I got her a "young" 47 year old car that is too new for me to have seen while in high school. (65 Rambler Classic, graduated from high school in '64 - I'll leave the calculations to the reader...). Most of all miss each car being unique - not so anymore...

I can guesstimate your age since my parents graduated from high school in '64 and '65. I hope this doesn't make you feel any older. ;)

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You never see a car push start another or help a car stuck in snow in the bumper-to-bumper style.

I hadn't thought about that one. You are right, it has been a long, long time since I've done that or seen anyone else do it.

Or try to explain to youngsters how you would put chains on the rear tires in snow in hilly sections of upstate New York.

Joe, BCA 33493

Send them to the mountains of California: Due to lack of practice of the typical California driver and the lack of real snow tires on cars, "chain control" is regularly enforced during storms and often for a while after until the roads are clear and dry. I find putting chains, even low clearance cable chains, on a front wheel drive car is much more difficult than any car I ever had with rear wheel drive. There just isn't a lot of clearance between the various suspension bits and pieces to get your hands in there to hook the fasteners.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Rob McDonald

Hehehe, "bumper-to-bumper style"...

Back in the day, my buddy's mom's car (pine green 1960 Ford Custom sedan) was stuck in the snow in front of their house. She came grumping back in and hauled us all outside to give her a push. No luck; that car was really snowed in. Her husband finally trudged out and fired up his car (1962 Olds 88 2-door hardtop, baby blue), which wasn't stuck. We all kicked out sort of a path behind and in front of the Ford - I don't believe this family ever owned a snow shovel.

Hubby got into the Ford, insisting that he knew how to drive out of a snowbank, and wifey sat behind the wheel of the Olds. From about three car lengths back, she gunned it, got a good grip, and POW! nailed the back of the Ford at about 15 mph. Indeed, it lurched out of the snowbank and was clear to go but its taillights were smashed and the trunk had popped open. Three of the Oldsmobile's headlights were broken and its elaborate grille was in pieces.

We moseyed back into the house, leaving this ornery couple arguing loudly about who was the bigger idiot.

I apologize if I've told this story here before. You know you're getting older...

Edited by Rob McDonald (see edit history)
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