Old-Time? This lady belongs in the dog house

Just a mini-rant

So today while shopping at WallyWorld (I was looking for a single cup brewer so I can have hot tea or chocolate depending upon my mood), a lady looking much more mature than I am commented to me, "Don't they make any old-time percolators any more?"

So going through my mind was the tin/aluminum one my mom had before she got her first electric percolator. You know the type: the long stem with the perforated basket that held the grounds and the water percolated repeatedly through it until it was done. I commented to her that the percolation method makes the coffee bitter by overcooking it and running the same water through the grounds.

"You don't understand what I'm talking about. This percolator had a switch on it that let you choose the strength and the water only went through the grounds once."

Perhaps I'm dated, but anything that has a switch that lets you choose strength is not old-time.

So before starting this post, I was thinking this lady belongs in the dog house.

After reading up on coffee percolators are Wikipedia and other sites, perhaps we both do. It appears there is a pressure percolator, but that is still a simple device.

After writing this and thinking this through, I am thinking she must have had an electric percolator that limited the number of times the water passed through the grounds.

My gripe is still valid from my perspective. Her use of "old-time" was incorrect.

Or have I failed to completely join the 21st century?

Now, now, calm down, have a nice drink, he he heee.

Did you get your one cup maker?

LOL

It was a mini-rant; perhaps micro- would have been a better prefix. I'm not the least bit upset nor was I. It's more like dumbfounded or at that moment speechless. Old-time vs simpler.

Yes I got my one cup brewer, but I can't find any tea for it. However, I did get a special strainer that I could put my own mix in it.

I'll make some tonight and let you know how it works. I chose Keurig because the teas are available but not at Walmart.

A funny part is that I thought I knew about types of coffee pots (It was my duty to prepare my mom's coffee every morning) but my search showed other wise.

It's strange the connotation that certain words or phrases have,. To me old-time means before the computer age in general. Simple can have many meanings.

Thanks for answering and reading.

PS I also bought a new toaster oven.

I am not 40 years old......yet (close though). And "old-time" to me also means before the technology age of computers and things. I do actually remember the percolator you are talking about. I believe my grandparents had one.

I still have one of those percolators in my cupboard! Guess I must be old-time too lol:)

I had one for the longest time. It was great for making tea. Wish I still had one.

More shopping to do.

Just went window-shopping online. While Walmart may not carry them, others do. Mine looked beaten up and simple. Not pretty, much like a camping percolator. I like the rustic look.

I remember, as a child, my parents had a pyrex clear glass percolator. It had the basket for the grounds, you filled it with water. Once the water started boiling, it would travel up the hollow stem of the basked holder through the coffee.

Then came instant coffee (Taster's Choice was my parents coffee of choice). I didn't start drinking coffee til I was 21 and worked nights as an ambulance dispatcher. None of that crap for me. Only Dunkin Donuts!!

Anytihing made 5 years ago is considered "old time" in today's
fast paced world.:)

Lizbud's right. Anything older than 5 needs to be replaced. TVs don't last long and are now made of plastic.

Don't take offense at it, mrsspunkysmom. In 1995 I went out and bought my Dad his very first cordless phone. He HATED it!! Kept forgetting to hang it up, so I was constantly driving over there to make sure he was okay.

I didn't get my first computer till they had been out for almost 10 years.

Some people don't like change. I find the older generation as a perfect example.

Things were made to last long, long, long ago. Now they last a few minutes & then you either trash it, recycle it,or do with out it because everything is so expensive.

Those perculators could probably be found in an antique store? I left my moms on the stove when I sold her house. She always had it full of STRONG :eek:coffee & sometimes it would perk over & coffee would run out from under the lid. What a mess it would make. She refused to use an electric coffee maker because the coffee tasted better from the perculator pot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by moosmom

Lizbud's right. Anything older than 5 needs to be replaced. TVs don't last long and are now made of plastic.

Don't take offense at it, mrspunkysmom. In 1995 I went out and bought my Dad his very first cordless phone. He HATED it!! Kept forgetting to hang it up, so I was constantly driving over there to make sure he was okay.

I didn't get my first computer till they had been out for almost 10 years.

Some people don't like change. I find the older generation as a perfect example.

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No offense taken. Why would I? For someone who's tech competent, I'm pretty much a Neo-Luddite. I got my first PC in 95 and my first laptop in 04. I never buy the latest in computers and just this year got a flat-screen HD TV. Still don't have the the HD subscription of DVR. I'm waiting for the right subscription price.

I prefer the old-fashioned can openers and I've yet to find a lever-action can opener (the lever being your arm) like the one my mom had. It had a wood handle that made it easier to grip. All other types break. I have a simple mixer but prefer to hand-beat mixes. My mother insisted I learn how.

My gripe was this: If this had been a young person asking about old-time appliances, I would have asked what she meant. Many young people don't even know how to make pop-corn from scratch.

Since she was at least my age, I ASSUMED that her definition of "old-time" was the same as mine. Perhaps she didn't know how to communicate her thoughts. I think I know what she was thinking: more modern doesn't mean better.

Sometimes the simpler things are better.

This has been an enjoyable conversation.

PS. It took my mom 10 years to learn how to program her VCR. AS long as one of us was close by, she didn't feel the need to learn.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrspunkysmom

Many young people don't even know how to make pop-corn from scratch.

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I will, when the balloon goes up, will sit back with a fresh bag of "Stove Top" and giggle my arse off.

I am a Luddite and dang proud of it too.

If it was done with out electricty once upon a time?

I can still do it.;)

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Your poor mom, as soon as she got the hang of it, they brought DVRs into the market?

Stove Top?

Nah, I use the actual Top of the Stove. But Stove Top would be better on a grill. In case of disaster. I do have a camping grill. I'm tempted to a a large grill. No real place to secure it outside except the storage unit. Bummer.

I can do old-fashioned on a grill. an open fire would require something with a long handle. Like a hearth pan?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrspunkysmom

I can do old-fashioned on a grill. an open fire would require something with a long handle. Like a hearth pan?

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Nah....

http://www.bing.com/shopping/Rome-Ol...5d&wf=Commerce


;)

This country has an invention for most every problem.