nostalgia – Wild Rain

Jiffy bags

My child was excited about receiving her first post. It was just a children’s magazine subscription, but the excitement was real. The postman had posted something through the letterbox that was actually addressed to her.

We forget how fun the post used to be when we were younger. These days in adulthood the sound of the letterbox triggers thoughts of bills or junkmail, rarely is our first thought that it could be something exciting or fun, for that fix we turn to our phones for instant digital gratification. A message from a friend or family member delivered in full animated colour straight into the palm of your hand. No stamp required.

As I dwell on her excitement I recall a time long ago when I used to trade warez from the demo scene. Not a day would go by without a handful of jiffy bags falling through the letterbox onto the mat below. Except Sundays. There was no post on Sundays. Each parcel filled with 3.5” floppy disks containing the latest releases. This was the internet of my childhood. Parcels from all over the world bringing digital joy. Plus hand-written letters from each contact. Sometimes the letters were typed and included on one of the disks.

Most of my pocket money was spent on stamps, parcels, and sellotape. It was worth it though. It afforded me pen-pals on a whole new level. We would swap and trade software, swap stories of our lives from our little corner of the world, and share our own creations and ideas.

Those were the days. Now with instant gratification thanks to the internet, that sense of anticipation, expectation, the wait for the postie, is long gone. The memories recalled but for a moment by the joy momentarily witnessed on a child’s face when receiving a magazine in the post addressed to them.

Christmas at Grandma’s

I remember Christmas at Grandma’s.

The decorations were old school. Crepe-paper thin ceiling hangers that expanded out, pinned from the corners to the central light. Pieces of wool pinned along the walls in sagging lines from which to suspend all the cards she would receive from friends around the world. A lifetime of friendships, many lines of wool.

The tree would be small and white. The old record player moved so that its home could now be used as a base for the tree.

The Christmas cake that was started just after the summer ended. Needing time to mature. Iced nearer to Christmas ready to be eaten with cheese.

The decoration boxes lived on top of the wardrobe. Stared at all year round and brought down but only once.

Memories and emotions of Christmases past. A glass or two of Baileys by the gas fire playing gin rummy or knock-out twist.

Merry Christmas Grandma.

Forgotten tech

Are you old when you can recall technology from the past? Technology that either no longer exists, or the name you use for it is no longer in use.

My father used to say photostat and fax. In my youth there was dial-up and BBS. The device halfway between a smartphone and tablet was a phablet. We had MP3 players like the Creative Rhomba, flip phones that fit in the palm of your hands. PDAs. All forgotten like tears in the rain. Saved in our memories, while they last.

Saving. That reminds me, most children today do not know where the save icon comes from. The good old floppy disk. Not the 5.25 inch, the real floppy, but the 3.5 inch rigid 720MB SD (880 Amiga) or 1.44HD.

Old technology. Guru meditations.

Kingpin

I have old game discs lying around. I even have a few floppies, albeit they are rarely used thanks to emulators, and my last floppy drive having developed the click of death. I keep only the games that I enjoy, and continue to do so. Ones with a journey, a campaign, a linear storyline with entertaining gameplay.

Games with titles such as Kingpin, Cadaver, Max Payne, Half Life, and the more recent The Last of Us, and Uncharted. All offering virtual escapism for hours on end. With well trodden familiar territory. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve completed Kingpin. Yet despite the aging graphics, it still entertains me. Occasionally It’ll replay Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, and other 90s FPS titles, but Kingpin remains my favourite.

I’ve played mods and have my favourites, especially for Max Payne. New Dawn leads by far. I know the levels inside-out. Some games I’ve played so many times that I’ve gone way beyond a hundred percent completion, beyond easter eggs, and testing boundaries, to testing how the games handle the unexpected. Most stand the test of time. My hats off to their QAs.

I’ve dipped back into point and click revisiting Monkey Island, the Amazon Queen, Enchantia, and Kyrandia. Said hi to Simon, Larry, Sam and Max. Dropped in on top-down with the early GTA and very early Commando. And I’ve emulated the Valhalla Classics. Yet I keep coming back to my well-worn Kingpin disc. I’ve replayed this at least once every decade, if not more. Maybe every half-decade. I keep coming back to it. The forgotten classic.

What games have stood the test of time with you?

I had one of those

I had one of those.

It’s the car show small talk equivalent of saying “Busy night?” to a taxi driver. You walk up to the proud owner sitting besides their pride and joy, and you have that look on your face that you want to say something. And it’s usually something along the lines of I, my dad, my uncle, my grandad had one of those indicating the car. Only it was X colour with Y optional extras and Z modifications. So one like it but not exactly the same.

It’s then followed by “Nice to see one still around”. Then you move on. Nostalgia box ticked, useless information handed over.

Until you spot another reminder. Ooh my auntie Jane had one of these, only it was blue, with chrome bits, and the interior was different. Nice to see one still on the road though.

Reflections

I’m walking on a beach reflecting. It reminds me of another beach, long ago at the start of my career. I was sent to the South coast to work with a client. I was lodged at a lovely hotel with pristine beaches. It’s the end of a productive day and I’m walking along the beach on a call discussing the future with a friend. The road ahead looks bright.

Cut to the present. I’m on another beach, memories of the first triggered. How did life pan out? Did my career go how I wanted it to go? Am I where I wanted to be at this age?

Reflections.

Navigating without Sat Nav

I was loaned a courtesy car recently. It had no sat nav. In fact you couldn’t even connect your phone to it. It was slow and well-used, and basic.

It was great.

No one could reach me and I had to navigate old school, by looking at signs and landmarks. It took me back to when I first learned to drive. My first car didn’t even have a working radio. The thrill and freedom of owning a car, being able to go wherever you wanted when you wanted was enough. You didn’t need tech to keep you entertained, to keep in touch with people when driving, or to navigate.

Just you and the car.

It was nice.

Treacle vodka

I saw someone drinking a treacle-coloured alcoholic drink recently and it immediately took me back to my University days and a drink some Scottish friends of mine would drink: Treacle vodka.

They would place a bottle of vodka in the freezer and leave it there. It would never freeze but it got very cold. Later they would place ice in a glass with Irn Bru and pour the cold vodka over it. Voila! Treacle vodka. A lethal drink but great for late night coding or gaming.

I wonder if anyone still drinks it?

Technology of the past

I walked by a public payphone. One of those old red boxes you hardly see anymore. There was a phone inside. Also rare. Not a collection of second hand books or a defibrillator. An actual phone.

It took me back to my University days. I practically lived in those phone boxes. I knew where every one was within walking distance of campus. I didn’t have a mobile phone, yet. I used calling cards to phone friends all over the world. We used messaging services and mailboxes.

I started thinking about all the technology I used to use that my children will never use, or possibly see, outside of a technology museum. My Grandma’s rotary dial telephone. The kitchen phone with its long curled cable so you can hand the phone to someone in the dining room. The VHS player, or VCR. Cassette players, record players, mini disc players, even CD players. Full fat TVs, walkmans, pagers, PDAs, and tiny flip phones. All gone, replaced with the latest technology and digital streams.

There’s still a few public payphones around though. For now.

Dandelion and burdock

I suddenly had a thirst for dandelion and burdock. A drink I haven’t even thought about since childhood.

It was popular in 1980s England. The lemonade man used to sell it. He’d pop around with his lorry full of pop each week. You could get the usual flavours like lemonade, cola, fizzy orange. Then there was the more exotic flavours like American cream soda, and dandelion and burdock.

It tasted like cola in the same way Dr Pepper tastes like Cherry Coke. Similar, but not the same. Something slightly different giving it something extra for the taste buds to savour.

I’ve tried finding a can or bottle with no luck. Friends up north can locate some but I have yet to locate any down here. I’m not giving up though. A taste memory from my childhood needs satiating.