Saturday

[susandennis]

Last night's baseball game sucked mightily in terms of baseball. But the rest was fab. When you go in they take you to a table (you don't get to chose) and last night they took me to a table in the middle of friends I had eaten with before and a new (to me) couple all of whom were just delightful dinner companions. And the food was excellent.

The seats to my left belong to Julie and Erica who are fun and interesting always. The seats to my right belong to a casino and are prizes so the sitters vary from game to game. Last night's were the best. They were an older (probably late 50's) rotund couple who had obviously been a couple for many years. They knew and and enjoyed baseball and each other and were very engaged in the game and fun to sit by. At one point about the 5th or so inning, he leaned over and asked quietly "are you having fun?" and she answered enthusiastically "yes! so much!" The held hands most of the game. It was very cute and nice.

I slept long and hard. My bedside lamp is set to come on at 6:30 on weekends. Usually I'm awake a already and sometimes I sleep through it. But this morning I was dreaming about something tedious. The light came on and I woke up and got a rescue from whatever it was. Nice.

Last night, I was looking for the socks I wear to games when it's not hot. I opened up a drawer and found a pattern that I bought two years ago at the stitch expo. I'd forgotten all about it. It will be perfect for that fabric I found a Goodwill last time. I did not find the socks but no biggie.

I unfolded the pattern and discovered that it is a good one but the arm holes and sleeves are not big enough for a jacket. So I Googled and discovered a two year old Sewing With Nancy episode that showed a neat way to fix the sleeve issue. But the video wouldn't play. I tried a couple of different things and nada... 1.5 minutes in, all you get is the circle circling. So I went to the TV. Tivo told me that it was season 29, episode 15 but no one had it for streaming. So I downloaded the Roku PBS app and installed it and searched and BINGO there it is on my TV!!! I felt very clever.

So probably I'll be watching that today and fixing the pattern. Plus I have another top that needs finishing.

The big thing today is the annual Chinatown/International District Night Market. I haven't been in years which is dumb because it's like 3 blocks from here and full of great eats and great sights. But this year ljtourist is ensuring I don't miss it again. We're going to check it out together.

My new cable modem is out for delivery.

I got my first modem in 1982 (or 81?). It was a coupler modem. Just like this one.



Dark ages stuff here. You picked up the receiver of the phone and dialed the number and waited to hear the modem tone. Then you put the receiver into the modem cups. The computer then picked up the call.

This coupler delivered me 300 bits per second. (My new modem and service will deliver me 1000 megabits per second.) Back then it felt like magic and I'm sure that tomorrow it will feel like magic again.

I remember when I upgraded to a 1,200 (bps) modem. It was not a coupler. You left the phone receiver on the phone and the computer dialed. I could not get my head around how that would work at all. At the store, I made absolutely sure that I could return it because I was 99% positive that it was not going to work. And it was pricey. I think it was something like $300. (The cable modem arriving today is $150.) I was wrong. It worked and it was sooooo fast!

I marvel over and over again that my life has spanned from party line telephone service to what we have today. It's amazing so amazing.

Comments

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

I never had a coupler modem but movies like Wargames sure made me want one!

What's funny is the show VR.5 definitely should not have featured one, but it was essential to the plot.

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting modem.

[howeird]

That's a nice modem. Much prettier than the one they gave me for work (also 300 baud). My first upgrade was another ugly one, 500 baud,I think. My first tech support job was with Bizcomp, which was owned and run by Mike Eaton, the fellow who invented the ATDT code, and the concept of dialing straight from the modem. He made the mistake of selling the patents to Dennis Hayes for $2 million, with rights to continue making modems. For a while we sold modems for $500-$1000 to Boeing and BMW dealerships, but Hayes modems soon went to 1200 baud, for about $300, and our business faded. Bizcomp never was able to build a 2400.

Mike was a grad student at Stanford in something non-engineering, his dad was an IBM engineer, and when the company went under he moved to LA to be with his dad and devoted his life to surfing. Job interview was in the Dutch Goose tavern.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4387440A/en

[coffeeguy777.livejournal.com]

Ha!! I remember those day of AOL & those modem noises.And if my parents had to use the phone, they would pick it up and say “What’s that noise or what’s that racket I need to use the phone 😂😂

[rsc.livejournal.com]

They were an older (probably late 50's)

Yeah, "older". Not.

But this morning I was dreaming about something tedious. The light came on and I woke up and got a rescue from whatever it was.

I kind of like that you can remember that the dream was tedious without remembering what it was actually about.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

It really is amazing. I sometimes look down at my iPhone and just marvel at everything it represents. Then I take a picture of something.

[doggiesushi.livejournal.com]

My first was a 300 baud in '84, but it was _just_ as couplers were on their way out. I remember that Radio Shack still offered couplers, but my dad paid extra for the one without (mainly because we'd have to buy a new phone for my room to fit it, and that seemed dumb). We lived in a really rural area, so as excited as we were to get the modem, the only thing we had to call at that time was Compuserve, and that was a toll call. That modem went pretty much unused for the first year until I someone started a BBS nearby.

[rebecca mills (from livejournal.com)]

I am so grateful that my life has spanned BC and AC (before computers, etc). I can chat with my nieces and nephews about online gaming and then give them a history lesson is how we spent our leisure time before computers :-). I came across a DOS handbook at my boyfriends house over the weekend and it all suddenly came flooding back - that's how we had to do it back in the day! The speed of technology development is mind blowing. I find it incredible how the technology has been to assist in so many important fields that probably hadn't even been conceived when computer were first used in the work environment. I live in a city where the university is renowned for developing computers to help in the medical field. May be we are the last generation to truly appreciate what computers have done for us and where they can continue to take us.

[susandennis]

It is a gift to our generation - the BC/AC thing. And such fun to watch still, every day.

That DOS handbook must have been a trip.