At Least It’s Not a Boom Box
embarrassing October 24th, 2009Despite the rain today, I thought I’d crawl off the couch and get out for a walk.
Normally, I listen to music while walking around my neighborhood, but I stopped doing that because this is what I use to listen to music.
Antique Sony Walkman
The last time I carried this with me, a pre-teen riding in a car with his mother shouted out the window “Mom! What’s that lady got on her head? And what’s that discus thing she’s carrying?”
The mother shushed her son and said “It’s like an iPod, only Frisbee-sized. She must be destitute, so don’t make fun of the lady.”
“OK, Mom. But let’s pull over and give her a few dollars. Will that help her get an iPod?”
“I don’t think so. She’ll only spend it on CDs.”
“What are CDs?”
“The things she has to put in it to hear music.”
“What?”
“You put a disc in there and it spins around inside.”
“Mom, you’re going to make me cry.”
OK, so that conversation never took place, but I fear it will someday and then I’ll be the one crying.
Santa, please bring me an iPod for Christmas. That’d be swell and so 21st century.
Stumble it!
October 26th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’m always ten years behind the times. And I even have a CASSETTE player in my car… ever since thieves stole my CD player. Now, how ancient is that?
.-= CatLadyLarew´s last blog ..Sundays in My City… With the Li’l People =-.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I tried giving mine away, but there were no takers so I’ll keep it till it’s worth some money some day as an antique like me.
.-= Jude´s last blog ..Thrifty Or Cheap Either Way It Works For Me =-.
October 26th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Now that is old school!! I am so glad the iPod came along and it fits in your pocket.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Solving the MediFast Purchasing Dilemma =-.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I have over a 1000 CDs and it is a pain to transfer all that music to a IPOD. Also, I refuse to support Apple at all. They are the new evil empire with their protectionist marketing!! You must use a certain Cell provider to have an Iphone… you must use Apple app store to buy your apps (unless you “jailbreak” your phone)… You must buy your music from Itunes. I like to hold my music in my hand. If the disk breaks then at least I know why but with this new computer-based stuff that is tracked by who knows who. I don’t want someone knowing that I listen to the Carpenters followed by KISS.
I will stay with my CDs thank you very much.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I have a similar looking monstrosity. I would be embarrassed to carry it around these days although I still have lots of 8-track tapes that are collecting dust. Hope you make it to the 21st century this Xmas. 🙂
.-= avcr8teur´s last blog ..Local Pet Parade =-.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Rebecca — I can’t believe some of you have LPs. That’s incredible. I can see you listening to tapes yet, but I’m guessing you don’t also have a record player?
Chris Casey — He should be happy I’m this easy.
Lynne — Yes, you have me beat. Don’t you just love the glaring bumble bee yellow?
ann of the junkdrawerblogfamily — I promise I won’t make you so aggravated that you have to eat through your refrigerator. Oh, and can I copy your song list?
absepa — I hate iTunes too, which is why this whole process is going to be my sister’s responsibility. That can be her Christmas gift to me. We both went through hell getting my dad’s iPod set up (yes, even my 83 year old dad has an iPod and I don’t!).
DJ — Well, you’re one step ahead of me. I don’t even have a cassette or CD player in my car. Good thing my commute to work is very short. All I listen to there is AM talk radio. “Glow in the dark.” What a wisenheimer.
Preston — I’m assuming you don’t wish you’d kept it? I’m all about the tiny ones. I just want to clip it on myself and go! I hated walking with the Walkman in the summer. By the time I got back home, it’d be all gross and sweaty from holding it.
Lisa at Boondock Ramblings — Hey, wait! How old are you? Eh, I probably have ten years on you, right?
Your Daily Cute — I DO want it to change my life! I mean, look at that thing!
Babs Beetle — I even have problems talking on the phone too long. I can barely put it up to my ear after 10 minutes.
Ladybuggs — “Stacks of wax.” Love that and never heard them called that. I dread the idea of transferring my CD music over to an iPod, but my sister will do it for me and I will feed her snacks as payment. She’s pretty easy to please. Maybe we could hire her out for people who find iPod work a pain in the arse?
Heather — Yes, you’ll definitely have to have highspeed. When we set up my Dad’s iPod over dial-up, it almost killed my sister and me. She started downloading his songs for him on her computer until I got him on DSL.
Shemah — You are a genius! I may be getting my niece’s hand-me-down digital camera. The more pathetic I look, the more I get.
Grant — Yeah, but I need help! The last thing I want to do when I get home is work on my own technology.
solomonsydelle — If someone doesn’t buy me one for Christmas, I’m going shopping.
Nessa — You are so right. I hate that I’m old enough now that I have to explain technology of the 80s to younger people. When did I officially get old?
jennyonthespot — Maybe I’ll put up a widget to PayPal and you can all buy me one. Oh, wait. Then my husband will have to think on his own what to get me. Nevermind.
Kim — Reason #74 why I don’t go to gyms.
LOBO — Yeah, what kept me from buying one this long was the thought of having to move all my music to it, but my sister promises to do it for me, so my time has come!
CatLadyLarew — Hey, I have neither in my car! I don’t know why. My car is only 9 years old. It should have come with one or the other.
Jude — I know I wouldn’t be able to give mine away. So it’s going to stay in a cabinet for the next ten years while I complain about why I’m keeping it.
Tracy — Can’t wait to get rid of my Frisbee!
rattln along — I’m familiar enough with iTunes, so I’m hoping it goes well with the help of my sister. But, yeah, a lot of people don’t care for Apple’s proprietary nature. Thankfully, there are other products out there to meet all needs. A thousand CDs???? Good God!
avcr8teur — I can’t believe how many of you still have your 8 tracks. Amazing. You can’t possibly play them on anything, right? I say chuck ’em!
October 26th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Your walkman looks like bumble bee the transformer- maybe if you are lucky it will transform into an i-pod.
.-= Michelle Gartner´s last blog ..Music Monday – 123 By the Groovie Goolies =-.
October 26th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I hear Santa’s handing out Zune players this year….I love mine!
.-= Carla´s last blog ..EYE couldn’t be happier =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:00 am
LOL – loved this post. Yeah, at least you’re not still walking around with a tape deck. I don’t feel like I’m that old and my brother (only 3 years younger) is already making fun of me for not having an iPod. Great post and I really appreciate the humor.
.-= Ty´s last blog ..Negative Calorie Fruits: More on Negative Calorie Fruit =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:14 am
I still have one of this Sony CD players in my drawer. 🙂
And in case if you see Santa, please let him know I need an iPod too.
.-= BK´s last blog ..What is That? by Constantin Pilavios =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Well, that’s really not bad, Kathy. Pretty soon, you will be considered retro and cool. I should introduce you to an old friend of mine. He got one of those things and hasn’t even used it yet. We lost touch, but last time I ran into him, his walkman just conked out. He was thinking about opening up the portable CD player he got for Christmas 15 years ago but was still hesitating to make the jump. Maybe I should try to find him and tell him not to open it. After people read this post, it could become collectible and everyone will want one that is still in its packaging.
.-= TheSnackHound´s last blog ..Still Seeking Charlie =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I do love my iPod, so I can understand how you feel being iPodless. And I CANNOT stop listening to books on my iPod, at night. There’s something wonderful about having someone read you a story. 🙂 I hope Santa treats you well. 🙂
.-= Jenn Thorson´s last blog ..T’was the Night Before Halloween, Plus Zombies =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
If some little imp questions your discman, tell him it’s backup media. Because you are smart and will never lose all of the MP3’s you downloaded on your computer when it crases even though you know you should back up your hard drive and never do.
.-= Condo Blues´s last blog ..Blitzkrieg’s Balloon Boy Costume! =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I was thrilled when Sony came out with the Walkman. Do you have any idea how hard it is to jog with a reel-to-reel player strapped to your back?
.-= Jeff´s last blog ..Rosie and her creepy friends =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
That is so hilarious! I got an ipod a couple of years ago and only used it a few times, I am so paranoid, I cant take any device with me outside, I have to have my ears open for everything! I just used it in the gym a few times, then I decided an ipod makes you look snobby, and decided not to use it, then decided everyone was snobby at the gym because they wouldn’t talk to me, because they were too busy with their darn ipods and whatnots, and quite going. I am a talker with issues! LOL
.-= Angie´s last blog ..Homemade Mayonaisse =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Hey, if someone’s going to give you money when you carry one of those things, I’d say rock on!
.-= The Hawg!´s last blog ..Sexual misconduct with a horse? =-.
October 27th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Until I got him an iPod Shuffle, Dave listened to his CD Walkman on vacations. I refused to be seen with him.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:04 am
Michelle Gartner — Funny! The weird thing is I think I bought this (wasn’t a gift to me). Why I picked bumble bee yellow is beyond me.
Carla — That’s two for the Zune! (Grant suggested it too).
Ty — My sister’s had her iPod for probably three years now. She’s so nice to not mock me. At least not to my face.
BK — I’ll ask Santa to throw in a few iTunes gift cards, too, OK?
TheSnackHound — Oh, geez. He’s not a fan of change, is he? And that’s not a half cracked idea about keeping it in its packaging for a retro resale!
Jenn Thorson — I think I would like to hear a bedtime story read to me. Although I’d probably fall asleep after a few paragraphs and never get the book finished.
Condo Blues — Yes, let’s pretend I never backup my data. Yea, pretend.
Jeff — Har! As for my discus, I did always have to switch hands when carrying it. I didn’t want to pump up just one arm with that thing.
Angie — That’s funny. I think you must be the only person who ever cared about being social at the gym. I wonder if anyone actually talks at the gym. Or is that bad form?
The Hawg! — If only.
JD at I Do Things — I knew it. So people really did make fun of me?
October 29th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I’m guessing *someone* had better get you an iPod…and pronto! Do the cds still skip when you run with them? Not that I run ANYWHERE, mind you, but I can remember trying to clean with one in a holster of some sort….it was not working well.
Time to upgrade, baby!
.-= kathryn´s last blog ..24 Little Hours =-.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
If it makes you feel any better, I still listen to my Walkman, the tape player kind, not the CD one, although I have a CD one as well. Hey, Walkmans rocked the 90’s. Granted, I don’t listen to it in public. That would be a little embarrassing, but I do it in the privacy of my own home all the time.
I gave up the Discman for an iPod the day I tried to jog on the treadmill (I’m a walker, so jogging rarely happens), and the Discman went flying and then hit the garage floor. Miraculously, it still works, but it stays in the drawer unless the iPod battery is dead and I can’t find any good radio station songs on the Walkman.
.-= Staci at Just Bloggled´s last blog ..The Night of the Tell Tale Clock =-.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Earlier this year I awoke very early to the smell of smoke. My fiancé smelled it too… we searched and our house was not the culprit, the stench was coming from outside. It was a toxic oily sort of smoke, and we later found out… the local lake was on fire. Yep, the lake had dried up so much that fairy grass that was supposed to be taken care of by the local fire brigade was able to keep burning in the cracks in the mud.
It’s been on fire about three times this year… >_>
.-= Elisha´s last blog ..So much spam still =-.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:55 am
kathryn — Yes, the CDs skip,but not from me running. Running? Oh, honey. You don’t know me very well. They skip from being dirty and not well cared for.
Staci at JustBloggled — I can’t even remember the tape kind. I feel sort of on the cutting edge with my CD version. Tee hee. p.s. Exercise will kill you.
Elisha — OMG. That’s too scary. And smelly. And dangerous. Do you live in California by chance?
October 31st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I can one up you since I still have the cassette version of one of these. To make matters worse I still have some tapes.
.-= Rocky´s last blog ..Kenny Chesney: Possibly the Hottest Male Crossover Artist in Country Music Today =-.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I live in Victoria, Australia. The place that had the horrific bushfires earlier this year. Well, no where near those, thankfully, but the same state.
BTW, if my earlier comment seemed wildly off-topic, it’s because, like an idiot, I clicked on the wrong comment section… meaning to comment on the ‘What’s that smell?’ entry… yeah, I’ll own my stupidity there. ^-^
.-= Elisha´s last blog ..So much spam still =-.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:35 am
I wonder if I’ll still be able to keep up with the latest technology when I’m in my dotage? I will say that it’s a lot easier to carry around 900 mp3s than it would be to carry the same number of songs on CD.
.-= Tarheel Rambler´s last blog ..Dona Nobis Pacem – It Starts With Inner Peace =-.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I think I still have a tape player walkman somewhere in the garage as well as a CD player all still in good shape. I am still hanging on to them as if I am expecting a reverse to that technology like fashion trends do sometimes.
.-= Custom Blog Design´s last blog ..Login To Your Blog Admin Panel =-.