You know you're getting old when......
(a bear of little brain)
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: 51 10 03.70N 2 58 37.15W
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Thing, you said
I have to point out that it was my uncle Harold, who worked for Pretty Polly at the time, who built the first commercial machine to manufacture tights in bulk, in the early 1960s.He didn't deserve hanging, a good old boy was Harold (if somewhat under his wife's thumb).
Then someone who should have been publicly hung invented tights
I joined my UAS as an APO in August 1981 and had no letter in my Service Number. By late 1981 / early 1982 I had a letter suffix added to my Service Number. At the same time the Cadet Pilots had a letter prefix added to their Service Numbers.
I was told it was something to do with the Pay Computer.
I was told it was something to do with the Pay Computer.
You know you're getting old when you remember that you didn't have a service number: Naval Officers were only issued them in times of hostilities and the cold war didn't count.
Letters in service numbers
Joined on January 5th 1965 as Craft Apprentice 202nd Entry with no letter, shortly after letters were affixed to service number, however usual cock up as my letter was the letter " O " , promptly used as zero by all and sundry, yet again very shortly changed to " P " and still can't forget the thing, comes in handy for passwords and pin codes on cards!
And old is when you can remember the torqe loading on a Beverly prop securing nut ( 720 lb ft )!, and moving them into a hangar sideways as the fins wouldn't go under the roof if you tried it the normal way, oh what a laugh that was!
And old is when you can remember the torqe loading on a Beverly prop securing nut ( 720 lb ft )!, and moving them into a hangar sideways as the fins wouldn't go under the roof if you tried it the normal way, oh what a laugh that was!
Join Date: Sep 2008
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On the day that the Royal Air Force is 96 years old, you realise that it was only 34 years and 7 weeks when you joined 
....and not quite 47 when you were demobbed
Happy Birthday!
....and not quite 47 when you were demobbed
Happy Birthday!
Join Date: Mar 2013
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You know you're getting old when......
.....when you answered the telephone with 'Windsor 252'
After a perfect landing and taxi, you find that the HF antenna is hanging in the fence.
After a perfect landing and taxi, you find that the HF antenna is hanging in the fence.
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Up until 1988 my telephone number was South Cockerington 628. Them were the days eh. Talking of phones do you remember public phone box handsets always use to smell of the sickly sweet odour of decaying tobacco. Ugh. There was also a ruse that I can't remember clearly now where if you pressed button 'A' (youngsters-don't bother asking) a certain number of times as soon as you connected you got a free call.
Ah yes. Then there was "Tandem Dialling" when you dialled a long code which put you in ,then out, of exchanges along the way , enabling you to make long distance calls at local rates , or so I am told.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Australia - South of where I'd like to be !
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Then you had Steve Jobs and Steve Woznak, who started Apple who worked out that certain tones sent down the phone allowed free calls !!!
500N - that was known as 'phone phreaking'. There was also the famous 'Cap'n Crunch whistle', which came free in cereal packets in the US. Some kid discovered that it was the exact frequency used by single tone dialling systems and it was possible to bypass the toll system by blowing the whistle at the appropriate rate.....
In the UK, before DTMF tone dialling, in the old 'button A and button B' public phone boxes, it was (allegedly!) possible to make free local calls by tapping the cradle to simulate the number of pulses caused by the dial. Long distance calls (allegedly!) required a special code to be dialled, knowledge of which was passed around amongst university students during the early 1970s.
The solution was simple - just reduce the cost of phone calls so that there was no point in phone phreaking!
In the UK, before DTMF tone dialling, in the old 'button A and button B' public phone boxes, it was (allegedly!) possible to make free local calls by tapping the cradle to simulate the number of pulses caused by the dial. Long distance calls (allegedly!) required a special code to be dialled, knowledge of which was passed around amongst university students during the early 1970s.
The solution was simple - just reduce the cost of phone calls so that there was no point in phone phreaking!
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Formerly resident of Knoteatingham
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I now fly for an airline and just had a serious 'you know you're old' moment when I checked into our crew hotel in downtown Bangkok, a stone's throw from Pat Pong and all I was interested in was how comfortable my bed was and what time does breakfast start!
Get up and go well and truly got up and gone.
Get up and go well and truly got up and gone.
Last edited by BANANASBANANAS; 9th Apr 2014 at 06:45. Reason: Spellin
I knew I was old when.......................
My wife and I emerged from the theatre in Chesterfield at about 2230 one November night.
The wind was blowing and cold, the rain was torrential and horizontal, so I pulled up the collar of my coat, wrapped my scarf around my neck, pulled my hat down, and considered if we could make it to the car without developing hypothermia or drowning on the way................
I looked across the street from the entrance to the theatre - which, in Chesterfield, is lined with bars, pubs and other venues to make it "party town" for modern yoof - and saw streams of young "ladies" scantily dressed, tottering along the pavement in the highest of heels, shortest of skirts, and with only limited covering of their firm, smooth breasts....................I digress
They were clearly on their way to a holiday in the Caribbean, or their meagre benefits/allowances/minimum wage payments meant that they simply could not afford proper clothing.
We ran to the car, turned the heater to max, and drove home.
That's when I knew I was old.......................
The wind was blowing and cold, the rain was torrential and horizontal, so I pulled up the collar of my coat, wrapped my scarf around my neck, pulled my hat down, and considered if we could make it to the car without developing hypothermia or drowning on the way................
I looked across the street from the entrance to the theatre - which, in Chesterfield, is lined with bars, pubs and other venues to make it "party town" for modern yoof - and saw streams of young "ladies" scantily dressed, tottering along the pavement in the highest of heels, shortest of skirts, and with only limited covering of their firm, smooth breasts....................I digress
They were clearly on their way to a holiday in the Caribbean, or their meagre benefits/allowances/minimum wage payments meant that they simply could not afford proper clothing.
We ran to the car, turned the heater to max, and drove home.
That's when I knew I was old.......................
Join Date: Sep 2006
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and saw streams of young "ladies" scantily dressed,
Off to take the grandson to the Space Centre in Leicester now, no doubt there will be stuff there which will give me the opportunity to regale him with 'I remember that' moments.