strange_complex | Entries tagged with telephones

Whee! My purple and black phone has arrived!

I have tested it out with the help of my mobile, and it works perfectly. Outgoing calls take about a minute to make, as you wait for the dial to rotate back round to its starting position after each number. But hell - when I was a kid, that was all part of the ritual of making a phone call. And when I tried it out in the other direction, and heard it ring for the first time, I actually jumped up and down with excitement! It sounds like a real phone. *nostalgic and slightly manic grin*

In pre-emptory celebration, I made a new icon of it a couple of days ago, which I now introduce here. This will also shortly become my new

sms_to_lj icon. It replaces Sophia Loren on the phone, which is sad, but I'm going to make a new Sophia icon soon and slot her in in place of one of the ones I don't really use, so she won't be lost forever.

Meanwhile, trying out my phone myself is all very well, but obviously nothing like as exciting as getting a Real Phone Call^(TM). So if anyone is a bit bored, call me - please? Landline number is here.

I spent lunch-time wandering around the farmers' market in Gloucester Green with

dyddgu. We were beset by delicious smells on all sides, and satisfied our appetites by munching heartily on roast-pork-and-stuffing (or crackling) rolls. I bought:

Two venison burgers
Goats cheese with coriander and chive.
Honey and mustard dressing
Balsamic vinegar dressing
Honey and ginger marinade

(The lady on the dressings and marinades stall was very friendly, and expert at tempting me into trying more and more of her delicious concoctions).

After

dyddgu had dashed off to get back to her job in the History Faculty library, I wandered around a little more, taking in the antiques / craft part of the market, and then, all of a sudden on a 'Retro Design' stall, saw the telephone that I have been waiting for all my life. For years, you see, I've wanted a plain black dial phone, just like my parents had until only about 10 years ago. They're the ones everyone had in the 60s and 70s, which looked like this, and I now know are technically referred to as the '700 series'. Until recently, though, I haven't been able to justify the expense for something which is really just a fashion statement. So it had remained a pipe dream, and I'd got along perfectly happily with my £9.99 silver touch-tone phone.

The phone I saw today, though, brought my long-thwarted desire flooding back ten-fold. This phone wasn't just the design I liked - it was also sitting there in two-tone bright purple and black! I hadn't even known such phones existed. Which is lucky, because I'm not sure I could have survived this long without owning one. However, it was £65, and besides not having that kind of cash on me, it also occurred to me on the basis of previous experience of the Gloucester Green antiques market that I might well be able to get it cheaper on Ebay. I came home, did a quick search, and guess what? I could. And the thoughtful sellers have even offered a complete explanation of how it is that such phones ever came to be.

Much happiness now ensues. And I return to preparing tomorrow's lectures.