Jan 29th 2013 08:13 am Cell Foam
My father, a machinist by trade who probably could’ve cut for you a threaded bolt from a chunk of steel, never could seem to figure out the cordless phone. I remember the attempted conversations when I’d call home as an adult. They’d start with my mother, who’d pass the phone to my father, and I’d hear something like, “Wha…? How do I…? Is this…???” Sometimes, he’d get to the point of Arlo, but most times he’d finally figure it out: put the phone to your ear and talk, Daddy. It seems as if we absorb everything new to a point in our lives, and after that we absorb relatively little. Maybe that point corresponds roughly with the point when we realize most new gadgets aren’t going to change our life at all. That point is different for all of us, I suppose.
Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J
64 Responses to “Cell Foam”
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:18 am #
JJ, very interesting viewpoint, hope others chime in on this theme. You have touched a topic close to one aspect of my employment, new product adaptation. Thanks for bringing work to The Village.
minnesotadon on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:38 am #
I have not gotten to the point of mastering the 3-way call on my cell phone. If I try to drop one and get quickly to an incoming call … well you know what can happen. I assume that I am not the only one that has been caught in the 3-way conversation without knowing it.
I guess I need to ask for help in figuring out todays current toon…any comments may help me.
Steve from Royal Oak Michigan on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:43 am #
My dad worked at a radio station and an avid Ham Radio enthusiast. He would start talking and bore you to tears. Since his death, I am amazed at how much that I retained. I would LOVE to be bored again!
carl on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:54 am #
though my mother-in-law could yak on the phone with relatives in germany for hours racking up huge bills, the thought of skype freaked her out even though it was free.
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:32 am #
Remember how we used to laugh at our parent’s VCR flashing “12:00″ because they couldn’t program the machine Now my kids get frustrated when I tell them I don’t know how send a group text.
What they say about paybacks is true…
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:32 am #
minnesotadon, like most households there are nights when a spouse can’t sleep, usually better to not ask why. That is me take on today’s toonie.
Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:37 am #
Speaking of changing technology, Microsoft introduces the newest version of Office today. I hate it when they “update” these programs as I have to go and unlearn and re-learn everything that worked perfectly well for me before.
Dang kids and their “mobile media” and “social networking” keep messing things up for us!
Robin in FL on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:45 am #
minnesotadon
From the look on Janis’ face, I would guess she awakened from a dream in which Arlo was doing something that upset her. He sensed she was upset but figured, don’t even ask, it’s not worth it.
Conversely, he might have kicked her in his sleep! Either way, nothing he can do about it.
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:50 am #
^^^^°° smiles at Blinky, he is one of those dang kids with mobile media.
JDS on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:02 am #
I’d post a comment . . . but I haven’t yet learned how to connect to the internet.
Mindy on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:07 am #
Robin, the look on Janis’ face is that of a feral cat stalking her prey. I was almost disappointed then she didn’t jump all over Arlo’s bones. I learned, however, that it’s not wise to suddenly leap on a cop while he’s sleeping. The reaction is far less than hilarious.
Jimmy, my dad was an electrical engineer but his hobby and true love was carpentry. I wanted so badly to learn those skills but, although he was perfectly content [to my Mother's frantic distress] to let me be a tomboy, he would never let me use any of those dangerous machines. I watched, though. Amazing what I learned just by watching day after day. Of course, now they have lathes and saws and such that you can program to do certain things with a tolerance of something like plus or minus .0000000000000000000000000001 inch. I cannot program our VDR or DVD Players. I refuse to get one of the new stove/ovens with the computer components [I will not serve a meal prepared by invisible little bots that probably resemble R2D2 on steriods] and I surely couldn’t program a lathe.
I just wish Dad could see what I learned by watching.
Mindy on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:09 am #
I forgot! Hi, Debbe!
Can I retract that “jump all over Arlo’s bones” phrase? I have a really strong and strange feeling that I goofed there.
Please?
John in Virginia on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:21 am #
Someone was talking about “carding” toward the end of yesterday’s blotter and I’m too tired and lazy to go back and see who. Whom? Mindy bought a pack of cigarettes for a friend who was house bound. This was in one of the big box chain stores where they have certain rules that simply cannot be ignored. Now, Mindy doesn’t look her age at all {I would say that truthfully even if I knew for a fact that she’d never ever see it} but in Virginia I think you have to be 21 or older to buy smokes. Anyway, the teenager running the register asked to see her driver’s license to make certain she was of legal age to do so. It sounded like something out of one of those Madea movies, “Oh! I’m gonna kiss ya for that!” Scared the pimples off the poor kid and Mindy made it even worse by pretending (I think she was pretending) to climb over the counter to get to him. Embarrassed me so badly I tiptoed out of the store telling everyone I didn’t know her, that she’d sustained a heavy blow to the head and wasn’t herself, and not to worry, that insanity wasn’t catching.
Come to think of it, if you have to be 21+ to buy cigarettes, shouldn’t the clerks selling the things be 21+ as well? I know the employees in Virginia’s ABC stores have to be 21 or older…
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:25 am #
Retraction noted but not deleted. GR6, free to react or accept retraction, flight leader discretion applies.
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:27 am #
John, we used to live in a community where carding for tobacco or alcohol required everyone under forty to show ID.
John in Virginia on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:47 am #
What amuses me, sandcastler, is that we go to the polls to vote, have lengthy conversations with poll workers that we’ve known for years, all about family and friends and all that, and then have to produce photo ID to prove who we are. Strikes me as somewhat contorted if not downright strange. Mindy says we have to do that “in case we forget.” I’m afraid to ask what we might have forgotten…
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 10:54 am #
John, at least you have the right to vote and a safe polling place.
Dan in SWMo on 29 Jan 2013 at 11:59 am #
As a greeter and not a cashier, I do not have to carry out policies on carding, but we do still have to take the training on tobacco and alcohol compliance. The training module emphasizes how hard it is to tell an exact age by eye, by showing a set of pictures with the range of appearances in each decade of age. Believe me, the “we card anyone who appears to be under 40″ is a necessary safety feature to make sure you don’t overlook a teenager who appears mature for his/her years, or anger a 30-year-old who objects to being carded (not everyone sees being mistaken for a teenager as a compliment!).
John in Virginia on 29 Jan 2013 at 12:26 pm #
sandcastler, define “safe.” There are more fistfights at the polling places than in the cowboy bars around New Orleans.
phil in Missoula, MT on 29 Jan 2013 at 12:44 pm #
Happy birthday Jean! Another trip around the sun…whooee…another 584 million miles. No wonder you need a new knee.
Be sure to stick with the daily exercises and don’t baby it and you’ll be in shape for Spring tennis
Bryan on 29 Jan 2013 at 12:48 pm #
I work with some of the most sophisticated technology on the planet and yet I’m a bit of a technophobe at home.
My wife had a cell phone years before I did. This was a classic “flip” phone. We were traveling in the car, her driving at the time, when her cell rang. I dug in her purse to answer it, flipped it open and looked at all the buttons, trying to find one that said “answer” or some such. I was saying things like “How do I answer this d#$% thing now” while she was telling me, rather disgustedly, to just talk when I heard our friend (the caller) laughing hysterically. I figured out how to answer that phone and, eventually, how to make calls from it. Therefore when I finally broke down and bought my own cell I bought the identical model.
I still refuse to own a “smart” phone and rarely carry my “flip” with me. I’ll also refuse to answer it if I don’t want to talk at the moment. People seem to have lost touch with the idea that technology is here to serve us, not the other way around.
Okay, I’ll get off my Luddite soapbox (hand built with 16th Century tools from wood I cut, hewed, and aged myself) now!
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 1:26 pm #
Mindy…dear Mindy…I’m sure the community as a whole is more than willing to give you a pass on your subject-to-multiple-interpretations “jump all over Arlo’s bones” comment, as we know that your intentions are always good, that you never mean any harm, that any misspeaking you may do is totally innocent, and that your heart is always pure, even if you do shoot from the lip on occasions, don’t we? Don’t we?
Personally, based on Janis’s expression, I don’t think she is contemplating jumping on Arlo’s bones, at least not in the sense of how I would normally interpret that phrase.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 1:37 pm #
Jean! Welcome back, hon, and I hope you have very happy birthday tomorrow. I just looked back and saw your post from earlier today. Great timing, too, as I was planning to post today that although I was sure no one was actually worried, we probably all felt it was time for an update from you.
If you have time, go back and read what you missed.
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 1:48 pm #
Jean, have a most happy one on the morrow, do nothing that Mindy has not fantasized about at some moment.
John, “safe” is a place where you can vote your choice without fear of reprisal.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 2:21 pm #
Oh, I also noticed a post to me from Virgin Mindy earlier today. “Kiss my foot, Ghost.” it says.
Sweetheart, if you’d like to play nice when you come here, no one would be more happy than I. What do you say? Want to be friends? My offer is strictly avuncular. I’m not really the pervert some try to make me out to be.
John in Virginia on 29 Jan 2013 at 2:50 pm #
sandcastler, the “reprisal” aspect is what the fistfights are always about. But, yeah, I’ve been there, done that and had the T-shirt stolen just like you have.
Mindy from Indy on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:21 pm #
I think Janis is sneaking out of bed. (Maybe to use the PC un-heckled?)
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:33 pm #
GR6, where did you see her post? I had the luck of being first here today and had to pick the lock. Twas no lurkers in the shadows then and I’ve found no “kiss my foot” remarks on the page.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:44 pm #
sand, see the last post (#50) for 1-28-13, and #48 above Jean’s.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 3:53 pm #
Can anyone actually interpret Janis’s expression in panels 1 and 2 as anything other than a glare? I think she is (to borrow a term from my inner-ten-year-old) steamed. And that Arlo (to borrow another term from my inner-ten-year-old) is in deeeep doodoo.
Mary in Ohio on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:00 pm #
The self-checkouts in the grocery will not let you purchase beer or wine without having the attendant check your ID. People love it.
Jerry in Fl on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:01 pm #
I have a flip phone. Is that unusual? They still make them. I stilll say we need to back up and create one that will actually make a call, not to China, but across the street, and then go from there. I don’t want one that is smart (no such thing), takes pictures, texts, emails, plays music or does anything but functions as a telephone. I understand now why my parents absolutely refused to touch a vcr that I bought them, although mother now uses a cd player occasionally although she can barely hear even with hearing aids. I can sympathize with that too because I haven’t put mine in my ears in months. Maybe I’m secretly afraid that the hearing aids will connect with the wire in my head and Joan of Arc wil start talking to me. Where did I put that aluminum foil hat? I finished the book on crop circles. Interesting although the math was above my pay grade. I’m now going to reread a book on Davinci.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:06 pm #
In case anyone doubts this has, overall, been a mild winter in the South, I offer this evidence:
1. Friends in Extreme Lower Alabama have living tomato plants behind their house bearing numerous green tomatoes.
2. Yesterday, here in Not Extreme Lower Alabama, I thought I saw traces of pine pollen on my vehicle. Today, in NELA, I’m sure I saw traces of pine pollen on my vehicle.
Mark in Boston on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:14 pm #
I’m 61.
New (or recent) things I willingly use or would like to:
Smartphones.
iPod.
Something better than iTunes / MP3 / Spotify / Pandora (we’re probably still 5 or 10 years away from something that actually works for classical music).
A more modern programming language than Java (it’s time to replace shared-memory concurrent programming with shared-nothing communicating sequental processes; is Ericsson the only company that knows this?).
Paying by smartphone at the food court.
Texting a message to somebody
New (or recent) things I won’t use or do:
Computer games other than Solitaire, and even that’s too much of a time sink.
Clicking on ads — they’re all scams and most of them plant viruses.
A personal blog — I don’t want my boss to see what I tell my friends and I don’t want my friends to see what I tell my boss.
Throwing out my CD’s and LP’s — If you put your classical music collection into your computer you can’t find ANYTHING unless you already know what folder it’s in.
Willful ignorance, even if it IS all the rage in Congress.
Mark in Boston on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:16 pm #
By the way, can anyone tell me how to just start watching the movie on Blu-Ray without having to sit through this long animated sequence just to get to the main menu? You could fast-forward a video cassette.
nickchick on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:20 pm #
Ghost…yes indeed, yellow pollen covered my car this morning. High today was supposed to make it to 77. Not sure if it did because it has been overcast, but muggy. BAD, BAD Hair Day in Mobile (birthplace of Mardi Gras)!
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:22 pm #
Jerry, my smartphone is: a phone, information gathering tool, camera, long distance measuring device (over 100 yards), and a great infraction documenter, and it fits nicely in a jean pocket. Oh yeah, great for listening to music from the middle ages when I am on the road. Different folks need different tool sets, smartphones are ready to customize to one’s needs.
Yes, I have a fondness for music composed between 1200 and 1500. Also music from around 1928 – 1958.
GR6, thanks. I see VM posted on the page long after today’s was put up. At least she appears to only be a foot freak, others might have had you kissing a posterior portion of their anatomy.
Mark in TTown on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:35 pm #
Mark in Boston, try this online service: http://www.sky.fm/
They are based in England and have classical as well as many other formats. Free, with occasional ads.
Happy Birthday Jean!
I like computer games except the shooter types. Preference for puzzle-type, wargames like the ones I used to play on tabletops, and Civilization-types.
Today’s retro strip really says it all. What you want heard does not go over, but what you want to keep to yourself goes viral.
curmudgeonly ex-professor on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:42 pm #
All you chefs, chefettes, chefesses (?) out there in A&J land: Take a look at the recipe in today’s “Piranha Club” strip. I think it’d go well with some hot fudge on top….
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 4:52 pm #
Yes, indeedy, sand. My first impulse was to respond with something smartassy, possibly even something that could cause a virgin to blush, but a good thing about blogging is that it gives you (or should) a chance to give more measured responses. So after a moment, I thought, “Rather than responding with something smartassy, why don’t I extend the Loving Hand of Avuncular Friendship to Virgin Mary?”
Charlotte in NH on 29 Jan 2013 at 5:18 pm #
“Missing” messages from Trapper Jean, and others, can be found on yesterday’s (the 28th) … what do we call it? Thread … Web site … help me out here, folks. At the bottom, or end; or near it. Don’t know why it does that. I’ve formed the habit of checking the previous day, each new day; and often find completely new messages.
Jean, Happy Birthday, and glad your knee surgery went so well.
Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 29 Jan 2013 at 5:23 pm #
So I am travelling on business and yesterday when I cleared off the pool car and stepped in the snow. I got that disgusting white ring around my shoes. I also forgot my tooth brush and toothpaste. So I walk in to my Walmart and pick up shoe polish along with the toothbrush and paste.
As I am putting the liquid polish on my BLACK shoe, I notice that the white sponge is turning brown…which is better than the white ring, but rather disappointing all the same. So I decide to brush my teeth. I decided to get the Crest extra whitening brand. As I open it, I realize that I got the rinse. So I took the toothbrush under the water then swished some of the rinse around as I brushed. Not by the textbook, but again, disappointing.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 5:43 pm #
Squid in a blender? That’s not how you make sushi!
sandcastler on 29 Jan 2013 at 5:54 pm #
GR6, true,but it could be a substitute for India ink.
Galliglo in Ohio on 29 Jan 2013 at 6:26 pm #
Happy birthday Jean! Glad you are doing well. Yes, something is ALWAYS going on in the Village!
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 6:30 pm #
I guess it depends on the origin of the squid, sandcastler. If it’s from the Mediterranean Sea, I suppose it would be Calamari ink.
Ginger on 29 Jan 2013 at 6:30 pm #
Ghost Rider, I’m not coming to the Virgin Mindy’s defense but “kiss my foot” is a phrase I’ve heard used all my life for when someone was pretend agitated or teasing. It’s not like being told to kiss other anatomical parts. Then, on the other hand, El Virgin (is she hung up on a Madonna song?) my just be trying to tickle your ghost. I mean Goat. If that works, I imagine the two other more Villagely Friendly Mindys may start saying the same thing! One should not rule out the possibility that Virgin Mindy is simply socially challenged.
Jean in Dahlonega Ga aka Trapper Jean on 29 Jan 2013 at 6:38 pm #
Thank you, one and all! Husband is taking me out to dinner tomorrow evening, to his favorite barbeque place! Happily, it is also mine, so it’s all good. For the record, if any of you find yourself in Lovely Downtown Dahlonega and have hankering for really good barbeque, it’s Smokin’ Gold, right off the Square.
cex-p, thanks, but I prefer my squid to be dipped in a tempura batter and lightly fried.
My first cell phone was a Motorola StarTac flip phone. It took me a while to get used to it, but I finally did. Then came ones with cameras and texting. I lost a lot of pictures because I forgot to save before I closed the phone, and texting was a whole other story, but since my kids used it (and the professor didn’t catch on right away) I learned that, too. Finally a year or so ago Husband said he couldn’t find any more flip phones, and his office had some extra iPhones left over and he’d bring me one. (that’s okay, they had just switched from AT&T to Tmobile and were only going to shelve the iPhones) I wasn’t looking forward to the change, but oddly enough I figured out the Smartphone faster than I had the other models. Am I getting smarter or the phones getting simpler?
I have a number of apps (the free ones) but usually end up playing Solitaire while sitting in the waiting room.
Mark in TTown on 29 Jan 2013 at 7:20 pm #
For anyone with an Iphone, there is a free app called Apps Gone Free. It gives you a list of selected apps daily which are free for a limited period. Great way to find good stuff free.
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 7:32 pm #
Jean, I absolutely loved my StarTAC phone. So much that when one would quit working, I’d go on eBay and buy a replacement, once my wireless provider no longer sold them. So that in 2007, I was still using a phone that had been on the market since 1996. I had four of them all told, and when I took the third one into my provider’s office to get it activated, my rep looked at me kind of funny and asked, “You really like these, don’t you?”
I currently have a cute little Samsung Gusto U360 flip phone that’s even smaller than the StarTAC…as a backup for my iPhone, since I cut the cord on my landline service. Standby battery time is like a week, and it rides very happily in my pocket while taking up almost no space.
“Is that a Samsung in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 7:40 pm #
Ginger, I agree Virgin Mindy may not have been totally serious about her “Kiss my foot” remark, as it was followed by a
emoticon. That was in fact one reason I decided to extend the Loving Hand of Avuncular Friendship to her. If she does accept my offer to establish a dialogue (and I hope she does), we shall see.
TruckerRon on 29 Jan 2013 at 7:47 pm #
Mark in Boston, my method for dealing with warnings, previews, and other nonsense that appears before getting to the menu on a DVD or Blu-Ray is to mute the TV (or computer) and start the disc. Now I have time to go get the snacks, visit the bathroom, or anything else that will take about 3 minutes. Then I turn up the sound and start the film.
Jay & Jeannie on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:00 pm #
Jim,
Without a doubt, your Dad could have “single-point threaded” a bolt from raw material. Being a Machinist this kind of thing becomes second nature, and somewhat easy to do.
Jay & Jeannie from Maryland’s Eastern Shore
Virgin Mindy on 29 Jan 2013 at 8:47 pm #
Uncle Ghost, dad always said he would have never married mom had he met you before the wedding.
Mark in TTown on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:05 pm #
Virgin Mindy, Say what? QRK 1, QRK 1. INT QRK ME?
Ghost Rider 6 on 29 Jan 2013 at 9:22 pm #
It’s alright, Virgin Mindy. I know you have a lot of pent-up anger inside of you, sweetheart, but it’s OK to let it out. I understand.
Mark in TTown on 29 Jan 2013 at 11:06 pm #
For those of you who like to read your news online, here is an interesting site I just found: http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
It is a collection of links to newspapers worldwide.
sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:39 am #
Okay, I am time zone wrapped at the moment. Loving the Friday A&J and wishing at the moment I had an electric blanket or a warm cat. Oh, to see the warm gulf coast weather.
Debbe59 on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:32 am #
Happy Birthday to you Jean….and many more =^..^=
No time this am…lost electricity during the storms this morning…I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date…
Mindy from Indy…thank you for your insight, it’s most welcome
Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:41 am #
Oh, I am laughing my Hostess buns off at the “would never have married Mom” comment! And, speaking of Hostess…
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/01/29/hostess-set-to-announce-private-equity-firms-as-top-bidder-for-twinkies/?test=latestnews&intcmp=features
Back to the Virgin. Hmmm, that sounds totally Heffner, don’t it? Well, I agree with Ginger [for once] that “kiss my foot” isn’t necessarily a serious assault. Now along comes the coffee spewing “Mom” comment and I still have to wonder. [I showed Ginger and [gender specific pronoun deleted] spewed [gender specific pronoun deleted] Bosco all over [ibid] flip-flops. I don’t know what you did to stir up “The Girl Who Tickled the Hornets’ Nest,” Ghost, but I suspect the rest of us are loving it. Even John is snickering and snorting, saying, “That poor man! He’s doomed!” Perhaps that “pent-up anger” is a youthful crush?
John in Virginia on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:42 am #
I have to do this, after Mark in TTown’s post! I think I’ve remembered correctly!
ZUJ, Virgin Mindy? INT ZIT?
Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:40 am #
Happy Birthday, Jean!
Mark in TTown on 30 Jan 2013 at 6:27 am #
TurckerRon, i saw this morning’s Close to Home and you came to mind. Here is the link: http://www.gocomics.com/closetohome
hc on 30 Jan 2013 at 7:45 am #
I’m a little late getting in on this – but I too had a Star Tac – it started to gracefully die so husband bought me something fancier – I hated it and replaced it with a plain ‘ol flip phone (AT&T) that I dump $25 in every 3 months. THe only thing it’s good for is calling England – and that’s about the only reason I keep it …