Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[PRgal]

I'm part of a Facebook group made up of people in my microgeneration (basically anyone born between 1977-1983) and I sometimes feel out of place...there are actually people my age who are GRANDPARENTS!  I get that it's definitely possible, but in my world, it just doesn't happen much.  We were too busy with school (went to a school where it was expected to go to university.  Even those who are children of immigrants aren't the first generation to go...at least on one side of the family) and getting our careers started!  This isn't a pet peeve (which is why it isn't on the other board), just something I wanted to rant about.  I just feel like I'm living on a different planet, according to those people! :D

[stewedsquash]

Just Shoot Me never puts me to sleep because I have always had a crush on David Spade. 

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

Just Shoot Me never puts me to sleep because I have always had a crush on David Spade. 

He's hosting a new game show called Snake Oil on FOX this fall. We'll have a forum for it here.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

I'm part of a Facebook group made up of people in my microgeneration (basically anyone born between 1977-1983) and I sometimes feel out of place...there are actually people my age who are GRANDPARENTS!  I get that it's definitely possible, but in my world, it just doesn't happen much.  We were too busy with school (went to a school where it was expected to go to university.  Even those who are children of immigrants aren't the first generation to go...at least on one side of the family) and getting our careers started!  This isn't a pet peeve (which is why it isn't on the other board), just something I wanted to rant about.  I just feel like I'm living on a different planet, according to those people! :D

My little lamb chop (my first grandchild) was born when I was 68. The women I was friends with when my kids were young became grandparents in their early 40s. Interestingly, those adult grandchildren are postponing marriage and children — at least long enough to go to college.

My grandson’s paternal grandparents and step-grandparents are all at least 10 years younger than I am and already had other grandchildren.

I often wish I was physically as strong as I was 10 or 20 years ago so I could help more. 
But even more, I worry that I will live long enough for my grandson(s) to be traumatized by my passing. 

[PRgal]

23 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

My little lamb chop (my first grandchild) was born when I was 68. The women I was friends with when my kids were young became grandparents in their early 40s. Interestingly, those adult grandchildren are postponing marriage and children — at least long enough to go to college.

My grandson’s paternal grandparents and step-grandparents are all at least 10 years younger than I am and already had other grandchildren.

I often wish I was physically as strong as I was 10 or 20 years ago so I could help more. 
But even more, I worry that I will live long enough for my grandson(s) to be traumatized by my passing. 

My parents were going on 70 and 71 when my son was born.  Both are still fit - my dad golfs in the warmer months and my mom recently started working out with a trainer!  But still, they’re not like a 60 year old with grandkids my son’s age! 

[EtheltoTillie]

8 hours ago, ABay said:

Have you tried Soap? There are a lot of characters but the story revolves around Jessica and Mary.

I love that show!  I can still hum the theme song.  Billy Crystal really got his start there.  Remember the ventriloquist brother?  We saw a one man/one puppet show off Broadway with him a few years ago.  It was excellent! 

[emma675]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

I'm part of a Facebook group made up of people in my microgeneration (basically anyone born between 1977-1983) and I sometimes feel out of place...there are actually people my age who are GRANDPARENTS!

I know a girl from high school who became a grandmother at 34! She got pregnant at 17 and then her daughter also got pregnant at 16. It's like a sad family tradition. 

[Annber03]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

 

Wendy Malick from HIC was in that show about the magazine business.  With David Spade and George Segal.  Just Shoot Me.  That was kind of a fun show.  That's where I first became familiar with Wendy Malick. 

Same :). I liked that show as a teenager.

I didn't watch the big teen shows of the '90s, really - heard of them, might've seen an occasional clip or some of an episode or something, but for whatever reason I never really delved into them. Some of it was because we didn't always have some channels that some of those shows aired on back then, but still..

[oliviabenson]

I think I’m going to get a Chromebook. I need something basic for reddit/this site and watch Hulu. I think it will be okay for my needs. 

I haven’t bought a computer for many years so I’m out of the loop.

I’m leaning toward that one. I guess if I don’t like it I can return it. 

[isalicat]

30 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I think I’m going to get a Chromebook. I need something basic for reddit/this site and watch Hulu. I think it will be okay for my needs. 

I haven’t bought a computer for many years so I’m out of the loop.

I’m leaning toward that one. I guess if I don’t like it I can return it. 

I don't have a Chromebook but I do have two Acer laptops (one in my office, one at home as my main 'puter) and they are both excellent! So at the least I can recommend the brand.

 

[SuprSuprElevated]

😄

[BlueSkies]

This scene is so funny and true.  In the sense corporate culture can easily force us to like people we can’t stand just to make polite conversation 

 

 

 

[peacheslatour]

4 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

I think I’m going to get a Chromebook. I need something basic for reddit/this site and watch Hulu. I think it will be okay for my needs. 

I haven’t bought a computer for many years so I’m out of the loop.

I’m leaning toward that one. I guess if I don’t like it I can return it. 

That's what I paid for mine and I love it.

[roseha]

We had kind of a strange TV situation growing up.   We had a nice TV, but we weren't allowed to watch it during the week  However we did always watch Star Trek on Friday nights, though that time slot probably doomed the show.

I do remember somehow managing to see Batman and also The Fugitive so either we sneaked upstairs or we watched the reruns in the summer.

Now I don't watch a lot of new shows except for some of the mysteries on Britbox and Acorn. I still have a fairly cheap  cable plan but just watch and record the shows over the Spectrum Roku app since my Tivo died.  I do have TCM so try to remember to record interesting films.

[shapeshifter]

19 hours ago, PRgal said:

I can't imagine not having a TV until the 90s.  Your daughter is a year or two older than me.  Didn't she miss watching 90210 like her friends at school?

18 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

She has never mentioned it. I should ask her

Coincidentally, she called yesterday evening.
She said, like her sister, she did feel left out of those TV show conversations, but, also like her sister, she said that later on she appreciated not having spent so much time watching TV.

She also said there weren’t many conversations about shows because living in a rural mountain area in the 90s meant most homes only had a few channels. 
She said she could chime in about something she’d seen at a friend’s house.

I guess not having a TV is low on the list of many possible parenting mistakes I made?

We read a lot of books, which my mother had always stressed was important. 
Now I am more appreciative of my father’s preference for reading non-fluffy news and magazine articles.

ETA
Still, I was absolutely over the moon last night when my 18-month-old grandbaby piteously cried when his Mommy put him in his crib without the books he’d been clutching. 
She quickly realized her error and gave them back and he “read” them before falling asleep.📖 😴 

And another generation with sleep disorders is born? 🙃

Edited August 2, 2023 by shapeshifter

[kristen111]

17 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

My little lamb chop (my first grandchild) was born when I was 68. The women I was friends with when my kids were young became grandparents in their early 40s. Interestingly, those adult grandchildren are postponing marriage and children — at least long enough to go to college.

My grandson’s paternal grandparents and step-grandparents are all at least 10 years younger than I am and already had other grandchildren.

I often wish I was physically as strong as I was 10 or 20 years ago so I could help more. 
But even more, I worry that I will live long enough for my grandson(s) to be traumatized by my passing. 

I feel the exact same way.  When my first four grands were born, I helped a lot .. cooking and taking care of the grands.  When the last two came, I was ten years older and could barely do the same things.  Big difference ten years makes.  The last two are boys, and we can barely go to their baseball and football games like we did for the others.  I compensate by giving them lots of hugs and kisses, and some cash of course, lol.  Kids love cash.  Plus, I tell them stories of when their parents were little.  They love the stories and crack up.  The older girls love when I tell them how I met “Pop-Pop”, my husband.  They are the age of having boyfriends.   I wish we could see them everyday, but of course, they have a life of their own.  Time flies.

Edited August 2, 2023 by kristen111

[oliviabenson]

9 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

That's what I paid for mine and I love it.

Is that the one you got? 

[EtheltoTillie]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Coincidentally, she called yesterday evening.
She said, like her sister, she did feel left out of those TV show conversations, but, also like her sister, she said that later on she appreciated not having spent so much time watching TV.

She also said there weren’t many conversations about shows because living in a rural mountain area in the 90s meant most homes only had a few channels. 
She said she could chime in about something she’d seen at a friend’s house.

I guess not having a TV is low on the list of many possible parenting mistakes I made?

We read a lot of books, which my mother had always stressed was important. 
Now I am more appreciative of my father’s preference for reading non-fluffy news and magazine articles.

ETA
Still, I was absolutely over the moon last night when my 18-month-old grandbaby piteously cried when his Mommy put him in his crib without the books he’d been clutching. 
She quickly realized her error and gave them back and he “read” them before falling asleep.📖 😴 

And another generation with sleep disorders is born? 🙃

I too was always reading a book.  So when you add that to watching TV/drawing or knitting and sewing, I don't know  how I did anything else.  I didn't spend much time on homework, as school was pretty easy at that age, so my parents didn't restrict TV.  That would have been unheard of then anyway.

This was the sixties.  I was placed in front of a TV every morning before I was school age while my mother would clean.  I watched the morning lineup of Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, I Love Lucy, Pete and Gladys, The Real McCoys, and Warner Brothers' cartoons. 

[Laura Holt]

My Dad talks about how when my sister and I were still toddlers they had a TV but no TV reception and we'd sit and watch snow.   I guess it's no different than people who put on the log fire on their TV and watch that.  I guess.

My earliest TV memories (of real TV) were Saturday morning cartoons, Disney every Sunday at 6 and not having cable TV until I was in my teens.  Not because it wasn't available but because we lived close enough to the US border up to that point that we hadn't needed it.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Laura Holt

[kristen111]

3 minutes ago, Laura Holt said:

My Dad talks about how when my sister and I were still toddlers they had a TV but no TV reception and we'd sit and watch snow.   I guess it's no different than people who put on the log fire on their TV and watch that.  I guess.

My earliest TV memories (of real TV) were Saturday morning cartoons, Disney every Sunday at 6 and not having cable TV until I was in my teens.  Not because it wasn't available but because we lived close enough to the US border up to that point that we hadn't needed it.

I remember “Buffalo Bob” and “Princess Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring”.  We had to adjust the ears on the tv every minute for reception.  Now, we have to ask our Son to figure out the new Smart TVs.  A total hassel.  I’m sick of learning new things.  My brain can’t take it anymore.

[Mondrianyone]

We had the rabbit ears, too, with the requisite ball of crushed aluminum foil stuck on top of them. God knows why we had such lousy reception, on Long Island with no obstructions like mountains between us and the Manhattan broadcast towers about ten miles away, and yet we did. At some point one of us discovered by accident that if you stomped on the floor in the den, the reception would clear up for a few minutes. So we would sit there as a family and periodically all stamp our feet simultaneously. Any stranger observing this from a distance would have to think we were members of some bizarre religious cult who showed our devotion to Ed Sullivan by this weird foot slamming. Ah, the crazy old days.

[GHScorpiosRule]

My earliest memories of watching television is through osmosis: My mum watched Classic Perry Mason when she was pregnant with me. How else can you explain my love for that show as a teen when we finally got cable in the late 80s?

But yeah, I watched (and I know this is unpopular) I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons,  The Andy Griffith Show, Gilligan's Island,  Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Barretta, Incredible Hulk, Dukes of Hazard (DON'T JUDGE ME!), Dallas (It was traumatizing and difficult to see Major Tony Nelson as the ORIGINAL MAGNIFICENT BASTARD JR Ewing (our Friday night trifecta)). But I did have to sneak to watch The Brady Bunch at my best friend's house, because in later seasons, Greg "talked back" to his parents, which was considered disrespect. I did watch some of Three's Company, though that aired past my bedtime, but I did watch it, because after the Bollywood bug hit me (after my first trip to India and I saw Amitabh Bachchan in Trishul), I had a dream he came to Jack, Janet, and Chrissy's place; he opens the door and Jack says: "Look guys, it's AMITABH BACHCHAN!" And AB was there because he was lost.

Whaaaat? I was 11!

Edited August 2, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

Is that the one you got? 

No, it's similar but mine has a keyboard that covers the bottom half and it's not a touch screen.

[oliviabenson]

Bought new cookies on a whim: Butter cookies with apples. Wow so delicious! 

[EtheltoTillie]

Those are some great shows, @GHScorpiosRule.  No judging here.  I would add The Beverly Hillbillies as another favorite. 

1 hour ago, Mondrianyone said:

We had the rabbit ears, too, with the requisite ball of crushed aluminum foil stuck on top of them. God knows why we had such lousy reception, on Long Island with no obstructions like mountains between us and the Manhattan broadcast towers about ten miles away, and yet we did. At some point one of us discovered by accident that if you stomped on the floor in the den, the reception would clear up for a few minutes. So we would sit there as a family and periodically all stamp our feet simultaneously. Any stranger observing this from a distance would have to think we were members of some bizarre religious cult who showed our devotion to Ed Sullivan by this weird foot slamming. Ah, the crazy old days.

My husband growing up on Long Island had a roof antenna.  We lived in Queens in an apartment complex that had "master" antennas on the roof.  Each apartment hooked in like a cable system would now.  So we got good reception on all broadcast channels (2 - 13) and the then-new UHF channels.  On our black-and-white TV.   So not surprised you had lousy reception on Long Island.  We had a second TV for a bedroom, and it was not very good with the rabbit ears. 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[Laura Holt]

2 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I would add The Beverly Hillbillies as another favorite. 

Mu husband loves this show.  It's on in reruns on a station we get so it's always on the PVR.  I can sit through an episode or two but not a steady diet.

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Those are some great shows, @GHScorpiosRule.  No judging here.

Oye! How could I forget this one: Remington Steele!

Charlie's Angels!

Edited August 2, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[EtheltoTillie]

Just now, Laura Holt said:

Mu husband loves this show.  It's on in reruns on a station we get so it's always on the PVR.  I can sit through an episode or two but not a steady diet.

I can't do a steady diet, but I watch it now and I am amazed how brilliant it was in acting and writing.  It was really excoriated at the time and didn't deserve it.  No wonder it was popular with the populace. 

[kristen111]

11 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Oye! How could I forget this one: Remington Steele!

Charlie's Angels!

Moonlighting.  I love all detective shows.  Colombo and Murder She Wrote. I still watch the reruns.

[kristen111]

34 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

Moonlighting.  I love all detective shows.  Colombo and Murder She Wrote. I still watch the reruns.  And I-pad acting up again.  Bugger.

 

[kristen111]

Is anyone having lots of pop-ups all over their screens?

[EtheltoTillie]

Just now, kristen111 said:

Is anyone having lots of pop-ups all over their screens?

I get the popups on my iPad, but not on my regular computer using Firefox. 

[PRgal]

My earliest-earliest memories of TV was watching a weekly series in Cantonese multicultural channel (this was before Fairchild TV (a Canadian Cantonese and Mandarin language cable channel launched).  It was a period epic drama.  I also watched Canadian kids' programming like Today's Special, Polka Dot Door and Mr. Dressup (there's an exhibit on the history of Canadian kids' programming at Toronto museum right now) as well as US-based ones like Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street.  I understood some English going into school, just from TV exposure, but didn't speak it until a few weeks in (and thanks to a young neighbour who came to our house every school day to help me).  

As I got older, I became obsessed with book series like the Sweet Valley and Babysitters Club franchises.  I would spend my allowance money on those, along with art supplies!!!  

[kristen111]

5 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I get the popups on my iPad, but not on my regular computer using Firefox. 

That’s what I have, an I- pad.  So I have to get a computer now?

[theredhead77]

9 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

Is anyone having lots of pop-ups all over their screens?

Yes. It is the new ad server. There are pop-up blocker apps for mobile devices that kinda help. JTM posted a moderator note (in yellow) a page or two back with a feedback form that goes directly to the site owners. I've contacted them a few times but, unfortunately, no one has bothered to acknowledge or respond.

Edited August 2, 2023 by theredhead77

[stewedsquash]

@EtheltoTillie Did you get your name called out in the magic mirror at the end of the episode on Romper Room? I remember my mom sending in my name and when it happened I was ridiculously happy. Born 1966 so it had to be early 70 time. I knew it was me because as I noted in a different name discussion back many pages, I never knew anyone with my now semi-common name growing up. 

[kristen111]

2 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Yes. It is the new ad server. There are pop-up blocker apps for mobile devices that kinda help. JTM posted a moderator note (in yellow) a page or two back with a feedback form that goes directly to the site owners. I've contacted them a few times but, unfortunately, no one has bothered to acknowledge or respond.

Oh geeze!  Now what?  If they are not answering.  I complained to someone awhile back .. no answer either. 🤷‍♂️

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

9 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I get the popups on my iPad, but not on my regular computer using Firefox. 

That’s what I have, an I- pad.  So I have to get a computer now?

On my iPhone 7 Plus I have the AdBlock Pro app — and no pop up ads.
If anyone asks, it’s my Emotional Support app, and if they want to discuss it further, they can join me during my video appointment with my therapist — or better yet, listen to 15 minutes of a call with my sister or daughters.🙃

[Mondrianyone]

20 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

Did you get your name called out in the magic mirror at the end of the episode on Romper Room? I remember my mom sending in my name and when it happened I was ridiculously happy.

I, on the other hand, lived in abject terror of having my name come up. The show that scared me wasn't Romper Room, but I can't remember what it was called. On this particular show, some guy in a space ship would read off kids' names and they would magically appear in the ship with him. The show was on early in the morning, so I was always in my pajamas, and the idea of suddenly being teleported onto TV in my pj's filled me with fear. I couldn't relax until I was sure I was still in my living room. Romper Room just let you be, so I was cool with that.

[Laura Holt]

Now I'm remembering Chez Hélène, the Friendly Giant and Butternut Square!  I hadn't thought of those shows in years!

[EtheltoTillie]

45 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

That’s what I have, an I- pad.  So I have to get a computer now?

I use computers for work, so I have them at home and in the office.  You don't have to get one lol.  It's easier to type posts, though. 

I never got my name called on Romper Room, to my continuing disappointment, and my name is not common, so there.  But I'm sure my mother did not know you could send in the names!  I was born in 1955, so also different times.

As for your space alien kiddie show, @Mondrianyone, I'm stumped.  Never saw that one. 

[partofme]

52 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

 Did you get your name called out in the magic mirror at the end of the episode on Romper Room? I remember my mom sending in my name and when it happened I was ridiculously happy. Born 1966 so it had to be early 70 time. I knew it was me because as I noted in a different name discussion back many pages, I never knew anyone with my now semi-common name growing up. 

I never had my name called ever on Romper Room.  I was born in the 70's.  My brother was actually on Romper Room for 2 whole weeks when he was in kindergarten.   And some time before that, I had been a guest on one episode, and they let my brother on as well even though he was too young at the time and Miss Maryanne called on him to answer the question even though I was also raising my hand. 

11 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

But I'm sure my mother did not know you could send in the names! 

I never knew this!

[oliviabenson]

1 hour ago, kristen111 said:

Is anyone having lots of pop-ups all over their screens?

You need to install ad blocker. Now I have no problem using this site. 

[partofme]

1 hour ago, kristen111 said:

Is anyone having lots of pop-ups all over their screens?

All the pop ups don't bother me that much, but last night I was getting all gross ones, teeth, feet and a third I can't remember now but it was gross.

[oliviabenson]

3 minutes ago, partofme said:

All the pop ups don't bother me that much, but last night I was getting all gross ones, teeth, feet and a third I can't remember now but it was gross.

The foot fungus one is the worst 🤣

[Laura Holt]

6 hours ago, kristen111 said:

I feel the exact same way.  When my first four grands were born, I helped a lot .. cooking and taking care of the grands.  When the last two came, I was ten years older and could barely do the same things.

We're experiencing this a bit now.  When my first grandchild was born I was younger, peppier, could get down on the floor and, most importantly, easily get up again!  With the youngest one, born 6 years later, it's just not the same.  It's not so very many years later but it's just enough that I know I'm not as engaged with this one as I was with her older cousin.  

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, kristen111 said:

I feel the exact same way.  When my first four grands were born, I helped a lot .. cooking and taking care of the grands.  When the last two came, I was ten years older and could barely do the same things.

10 minutes ago, Laura Holt said:

We're experiencing this a bit now.  When my first grandchild was born I was younger, peppier, could get down on the floor and, most importantly, easily get up again!  With the youngest one, born 6 years later, it's just not the same.  It's not so very many years later but it's just enough that I know I'm not as engaged with this one as I was with her older cousin.  

I do appreciate both of you posting here about this. I've been feeling like I'm abnormal. But after my most recent fall, I think my kids are realizing this isn't something that is going to get better.

 

[Laura Holt]

1 minute ago, shapeshifter said:

But after my most recent fall, I think my kids are realizing this isn't something that is going to get better.

What my kids are finally coming to terms with isn't me being less able to do things (I think they still haven't figured that out!) but it's their Dad.  He has always been the mover and shaker in the family.  Need help moving a fridge?  Call Dad.   But he's waiting on knee surgery now and he just can't do the physical lifting and moving he used to do.   This has been a shock to them that now they need to find someone else to help move stuff or mow the lawn if they're out of town or whatever.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I too was always reading a book.  So when you add that to watching TV/drawing or knitting and sewing, I don't know  how I did anything else.  I didn't spend much time on homework, as school was pretty easy at that age, so my parents didn't restrict TV.  That would have been unheard of then anyway.

I never had TV time restricted, either.  They wouldn't have needed to; I liked so many different things, I wasn't going to spend hours and hours on just one.  I was a voracious reader, liked TV and later video games, board games, and then a lot of playing outside -- riding bikes, roller skating, skateboarding, etc.

[PRgal]

2 hours ago, Laura Holt said:

Now I'm remembering Chez Hélène, the Friendly Giant and Butternut Square!  I hadn't thought of those shows in years!

I think the Friendly Giant went off the air when I was in Senior Kindergarten.  It was replaced with Fred Penner’s Place and I think, Under the Umbrella Tree.  Both shows led into Mr. Dressup.

Refsrding ads, if you’re on Chrome, try going incognito.  There’ll be fewer.