How many telephones do you own? We counted, and it's astounding.

My husband and I used to have two telephones when we married in 1973. One was upstairs, one was downstairs. Later, we added one in the finished basement, because it was a three level house.

That number has increased to ELEVEN TELEPHONES in various places in our two-story house. (They must be breeding somewhere!!!!)

They are all on one incoming line. Yesterday, rather than throwing out two old "Princess" phones, my husband wired not one but TWO of them into the garage.

Oh, darn -- I forgot the two cell phones! Jeeze, we have THIRTEEN telephones! I'm not superstitious, but -- maybe we need just one more for an even FOURTEEN. :)

cell and landline

If so, do you SHARE a cellphone?

four regular and one internet phone (through Skype, which is pretty good).....

there's a veritable graveyard of unplugged phones in our closets...

no cell-phone accounts anymore (for at least 3 years! they aren't missed)

them, but then we were running our home for three days a week and an apartment for four days while my husband did a contract job in the area of Federal Way, Washington -- 153 miles from our Oregon home.

We figured we'd better get them and now I do feel I wouldn't want to be without them. So goes technology -- the toys keep getting better and better.

On other hand, we do NOT own any video games (that's been true since the game of PONG and that other game where the guys ate each other up -- do any of you remember? We know nothing about iPod and some other modern stuff.

why do you need so many f***ing phones?

We resisted Caller-ID for a long time, then decided to get a cheap phone with that feature. So that "obsoleted" the original phone. We bought another one for the kitchen.

We put the older phones in the kids' bedroom (these are grandkids who are here about 4 - 5 times a month). Most of these get hardly any use. Out of the two in the media room, one has caller ID, the other one does not. (There's one on each end table.)

Last weekend, our most used phone from Sears died after almost three years. The replacement phone deal last week offered not one -- not two -- but three phones for the price of one.

And then my engineer husband decided it was a fun puzzle to get the phone line into the garage.

I don't know why or how, but this is what we did. If it were up to me, I'd still be using one of the two "Princess" phones! Do you remember them? One comedian used to say:

"They're little, they're lovely, they light -- but they DON'T HANG UP!" I have no idea why that line has stuck with me!

:hi:

I just told my husband that if I become a widow, I will just use one peach colored "Princess" phone that now resides in our garage.

It's the one that won't require power to make a call to 911. Oh, heck, I guess I'll have to have Life Alert or whatever they call it when a senior lives alone. My elderly aunt has that in her condo.

I don't want to think about that.

The old 60's and 70's rotary phones, so I have close to 25 phones in my apartment. Don't you DARE throw away those old Princess phones! If they are rotary's, you can get quite a sum for them if you decide to sell them on e-bay. If you don't mind my asking, what colors do you have?

buy a few. CHEAP!!:shrug:

My favorite one as my kids were growing up was the phone made our of clear PLASTIC and you could see all the INSIDES. I think it glowed some color when the phone was ringing or answered.

I think one of my kids dropped it and it broke. But it was fun while it lasted!

Here's PART of my collection:

I haven't seen one of those clear ones in a LONG time. We had the green wall phone when I was a kid.

shopping (again) tonight (Hopefully, not for more phones)!

I like the Southwestern bell (no pun intended!) hanging from your ceiling... we have a vase in a similar design -- ceramic, unfired, white with soft aqua and peach colors. Just don't splash anything on it!

Collectors are amazing! My son-in-law collects figurines or whatever they call them of hippos! We've give him ones in glass, Mt. St. Helens stone, jade, wood and he has dozens of them.

I don't think I collect anything, really -- I try to sell or give away things when I lose interest in them.

Oh, I did collect ceramic and wooden ducks a long time ago in Boston. When we moved, I donated them all to thrift stores. I think I have two left, one is a door stop and I just discovered another four -- napkin rings. I'll be giving those away soon.

In peace,

Radio_Lady

use in the garage. One is peach, the other forest green.

Everything that goes around, comes around, right? I saw the "new" LAVA lamps in the mall today -- who ever thought THOSE would make a comeback? And my wonderful bright ORANGE -- free form sofa we owned from 1963 to the 1990s. The foam rubber inside finally crumbled, unfortunately. I saw one almost like it at a furniture consignment store yesterday.

I love ART DECO and RETRO style. I have a complete set of Pyrex bowls from the 1960s (the one with the wheat pattern) and I wouldn't trade/sell them for anything. Other than that, I have a husband who will be 72 years old next year and he's not for sale either!

Thanks for your reply.

the late 1960s at least.

communications for so many years). We have gone without them for months at a time. Right now, we're just using a Tracfone, basically so the VA Hospital can call me.

telephones is such a HOOT for me!

We have 4 "landlines" and 2 cell phones. The funny thing is we have 2 in the bedroom. We never even use them. I only use the alarm on mine.

when we're in bed -- except perhaps if we sleep in on Sunday.

I don't understand. You have an ALARM on one of your TELEPHONES? How common is that?

It has a radio, phone and alarm. It also has Caller ID. It takes up less space. I never use the phone there. It is just not comfortable

two are on one receiver, just 2 handsets but one main base.

who is just nuts about electronics.

Now I'm ashamed to admit this:

I have no idea how many RADIOS and TVS we have. I'd have to count........

My landline, my fax (it has it's own line and a speakerphone) and my cell phone.

Seems excessive for just me, but I work from home so it's really not that crazy.

Two landlines that are plugged in but cordless and so require electricity. One old style that we plug in when the power goes out so we can call the power company! Two cell phones.

And honestly, I'd just as soon go back to the day of plain rotary phones. None of the fancy cordless phones holds up over time at all. We've gone through so many of them, buying different brands, spending different amounts of money. The keypads get screwy (on my living room phone, the 9 gets stuck frequently), the batteries won't hold a charge, there's always something.

I'd just use my cell phone except I need the landline for internet access and I don't get a good signal on my cell at home.

dependable, their equipment and service was.

Now we get stuff that's more expensive, not as dependable, and made in Asia somewhere.

Cordless phones were great when they first came in. Then cellphones eclipsed them, but took it much too far. Restaurant business calls just gall me every time I hear them.

But the invention that has never made it to market is the personal VIDEOPHONE. Because no one wants to have to answer the phone and reveal how they REALLY look in the morning -- or evening -- or all day long, for that matter!

In peace,

Radio_Lady

our home office.

It plays "Ode to Joy" and it accompanies itself with harmony. If you get bored with that, there are skatey-eight other tunes.

:loveya: :hi: that would make it almost worth going back to cingular x(

and my husband's cellphone has some part of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ("A Little Night Music").

It gives a new meaning to a "house band"!

one in the kitchen, and one in the garage. Two cell phones, plus my work cell, which usually doesn't come home with me.

We only had the one in the kitchen for a long time, but I hate having to get out of bed to call in sick to work, the kids were forever hauling the cordless into the family room and leaving it there, and my husband never could hear the phone ring when he was in the garage. <shrug> I still never talk on the thing. I'm phobic.

on edit: Forgot that my husband also added one in his office, so he can call customers from his computer.

the first women talk show hosts in Miami and Boston. I've talked to everyone, from paupers to Presidents.

My sister-in-law doesn't like to talk on the phone. But she has a good reason. She's the office manager to a busy dentist in Boston, MA and she talks all day with patients and insurance companies.

Thanks for your input -- and all your reasoning.

keep it until we die. Of course, it would have to be a cellphone.

OT: I LOVE YOUR POLAR BEARS! Regrettably, their territory is melting like crazy according to accounts I've been reading.

;-)

I think they're back in style.

without raw fish!

:puke:

if you count the fax machine, which has been used... twice, I think. I inherited it, and it was kind of a what-the-hell thing.

I have a cell phone, but it stays in my truck for emergencies. I've used it once in the last year.

there IS that little problem you have had with your mother and father... :sarcasm:

the computer as a telephone if need be so 5. My mother has at least 10. She had more than one in some rooms. She has a telephone "thing." She sees one and they say it's so and so gigahertz and that sounds fancy to her so she orders it. It's weird. I'm like that with guitars and computer stuff though, so I shouldn't say too much about her weird electronics fetishes. :shrug:

with two sub-types. There's Rotary and Touchtone Fetishes.

Really, this would make a cute article for some newspaper.

What kind of work did she do in her career life? See, my husband is an electrical engineer and he retrained as a software engineer, so I can understand his toys: wiring, phones, computers, digital cameras.

they still called them "beauticians." Next, she was a sewer in a sweat shop here in town. After that, she was a creeler in a textile mill. Maybe some of her fetishes came from growing up with virtually nothing. My situation was the same in a way. I know I was always looking at teenagers in school who had Jackson guitars at 14 years old and wishing I could have one. I still don't have one. Owning a Jackson guitar in the 80's was the holy grail, btw. The reason I decided to buy one of their "baby" versions of their guitars was because I knew it would be satisfactory enough for me. I did eventually get the baby version, the Charvel.

My mother on the other hand is now married to a man who would buy her tons of new and different stuff, but she keeps buying phones and shoes for some reason. She has things that have never been opened. I installed a DVD player for her that she had had sitting in the back room unopened for two years. It was messed up and her grand "two year warranty" had expired. She says that everything she buys with her credit card has an automatic "two year warranty." If I only had a nickel for every time I have heard her say "two year warranty," I would be a millionaire by now.

A thread or a group on DU would definitely be a great way to have a group therapy on things our mothers seem to do that are quirky. I saw a t-shirt the other day that said "Why do I get the feeling I will be telling my therapist about you soon?" I think about all the cliches about quirky mothers causing kids and young adults to need therapists. It would be humorous if nothing else to compare notes.

For both me and hubby who works an hour away.

But I have two old land line phones from the 1970s with real bell ringers. If it weren't for the extra phone bill charges, I'd use them for the retro effect.

there are NINE in my folks' house.

I don't think I'll be asking Santa for ANOTHER PHONE!

My husband's gifts (for himself):

1 paper shredder (the old one "died" unceremoniously)

1 Sony digital camera (after exploring about six different models)

3 Radio Shack telephones for the price of one

1 pair of "pre-owned" Levi's jeans at Goodwill's new 10th Avenue "upscale" thrift store, Portland, Oregon (absolutely beautiful -- some new -- designer label stuff -- the manager said they have two others in San Francisco)!

I guess that does it for him for the holidays! We all have our needs and wants.

In peace,

Radio_Lady

one land line - a cheap "wireless" and a spare "phone cord only" in the closet, line for when the electric goes out, but phone stays on (often in summer). Although we have 3 land line jacks in the house, we don't use them because the computer is always on (live at end of very rural area - would cost thousands to get a second line)

2 cell phones - one with no toll from local area and one with no toll from Tucson

and then these two old timers:

I'm 66, but I don't remember the one on the bottom. I assume it isn't working? (Frayed wires, left...)

OT: Never been to Tucson, but we're going to visit in January-February. Any suggestions for places to see, etc.?

even has an adapter jack for regular "modern" jacks. Weighs a ton! Not many dial phones around anymore - although the guy that runs the local feed store still has one and uses it all day every day. - even hand writes reciepts.


The other old one probably works despite loss of woven cloth insulation - the interior wires are all bare - but I have never tried it.

Blanket is a "saddle" bag from Turkey.

Tucson. Lots to do and see - what are your interests? If your husband is a techie/engineer he might be interested in Titan Missle museum and or Pima Air Museum. Of course the Sonora Desert Museum is world class and famous (If a bit pricey) On Campus of the U of A is Az State Museum - often having cultural activities as well for Native history, art, ethnology. Tons of hiking/outdoor options. Saguaro N P east and west, Sabino Canyon, foothills trails etc. Mount Lemmon - nearby "Sky Island" sometimes enough snow to ski. Shopping abounds everything from old hippy unique arts to thrift store type stuff on Fourth Avenue to world class yupstyle malls in the foothills (don't ask me, I can't afford those places!)

Tons more within a days drive, including Nogales Mexico, Bisbee, Tombstone etc.

Here we are in San Antonio in 2004. We will look over your list of things to do, too. Thanks for taking the time to do this list!

In peace,

Radio_Lady

For our landline: one in the kitchen, one in the office, and one that's supposed to go in our bedroom when the wiring in the jack gets corrected.

He worked until 2 AM a few nights ago, running the wires into the garage for the two older phones. He's amazing! Without his help, I'd be at the mercy of paid handymen everywhere. My last husband didn't even own a hammer or a screwdriver.

for a total of 1.
The other day my phone rang three times in a two hour period. For the 3rd call, I picked it up right after the first ring and said "WHAT!!!" Fortunately, it was not anybody important - just my boss, and I told him to quit calling me at home.

I just hate phones. Perhaps because when I was growing up I never got any calls. So if the phone rang, it usually meant that I had to take a message for one of my sisters.

Nowadays, most of my calls are telemarketers (not so many, since I am on the no-call list, but still my credit card companies can call me legally, and so can the Democratic Party. I just got a call from one credit card company, cut off the sales pitch and called customer service and demanded that they quit calling me.) or wrong numbers, or my boss, who should not be calling me anyway. I just love it when people call me when they are getting paid and I am not. Yo, work takes up too much of my time as it is.

I resisted cell phones for years. Now I don't know how I managed to live without one lol. :P

very first really big huge one) cell phones. :hi:

1 land
5 cell

2 area codes

That is, back home. Here at the apartment I have zero, plus my cell phone.

Now if the question was how many phones has my family been through in the last couple decades, I couldn't even begin to calculate. Cordless phones seem to have a "planned obsolescence" of two-three years. Of the three surviving phones back home, (two are couple-years-old cordless phones that came together) one is a rotary phone that has held up since the early eighties! (We've been through what seems like a dozen or so cordless ones in the same amount of time.) Early in their marriage, my parents lived outside of the city limits and couldn't have a touch tone phone, so they had to buy that dial phone. I think it's cool how that old thing is still holding up!

We have 4 in the house, 5 cell phones (everyone has one in the family)... so 9

and I rarely bother to answer them

Verizon is busy putting in their wiring for our home area. They've been working in the street for months. Last night, they had a little lighted tent in front of our house, stringing -- what is it? -- fiberoptic cable?

We have them as our cellphone system. However, up until now, Comcast is supplying our TV and Internet connections. However, lots of people in this area have satellite hook-ups.

and we didn't notice for 2 weeks. :silly:

So do I. (The town where I grew up didn't get DIAL phones until 1972.)

Though I'll never understand why the "extension phone" always want into the bedroom. To this day, I don't have a phone in my bedroom. Any news anybody has to call with in the middle of the night can't be good, and I'll be just as happy to hear it in the morning rather than 2 AM, thank you very much.

Redstone

people in conversation? In order to cut down on the cost, you shared a line with other people. Forget about privacy!

I also remember the first telephone number we had. It was PL 1-2460 (for PLaza) -- it was in a "not-so-ritzy" part of North Miami, Florida.

My number memory is good. I even remember my ex-husband's Social Security number. We've been divorced since 1971. Weird.

And no, I don't text message. Or use a cell phone as a TV or for the internet/e-mai. It's a cell phone. I just talk into it.

BTW, where I live some jackass slammed his SUV into a kid on a bicycle the other day because he was text-messaging while driving and lost control of the wheel. It's just beginning. And here you thought talking on a cell phone while driving was dangerous (yes, it is). Just wait. There will be a lot more stories like this.

I have quite a few antique phones, and three linesmen's test sets. Only two phones are active, and we don't have cell phones.

My most common excuse for answering the phone after it picks up the call is that I couldn't find the phone. I should have more than one plugged in around here. We have a 2 story, 2300 square foot home.

I have a cell phone too, but no reception here.

You are truly UNPLUGGED! :sarcasm:

had voicepulse.com for 12 months now

i couldnt live without it

I'm dashing to look it up.

http://www.voicepulse.com

Learn something new every day! Thanks for your post.

The land line might rings twice a month.

One in the master bedroom, and one each in both of our back rooms, plus one in the kitchen...:)