# Despite modern technology, I still....\[fill in activity of choice\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 3, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938 "2013-01-03T10:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/61 "2013-01-06T17:56:51Z")
Heh, double post…computer choked. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/62 "2013-01-06T18:09:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > . It never occured to me to make pancakes from scratch. I never liked pancakes much until I figured out I couldn’t stand the Bisquick stuff my SO loved. I started buying better pancacke mix, and liked them better. I bet I would love from scratch pancakces. Recipe? You sound like Mr. Athena; he never thought he liked pancakes until I started making them for him. Now he begs me for them. I use [this recipe](http://breakfast.food.com/recipe/cooks-illustrated-light-fluffy-pancakes-344774). > [@JLRogers](#): > > I roast and grind my own coffee. There really isn’t any substitute for doing it yourself. I’ll beg to differ on this; it takes a lot of knowledge and equipment to beat fresh-roasted coffee from a really good professional roaster. I’m lucky enough to live in a town that has one - I often buy it while it’s still warm from the roaster, and even if I miss getting it THAT fresh, I know it’s never more than a day or two old. Heaven! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/63 "2013-01-06T18:46:04Z")
I’d rather hand-knit my scarves than buy one from a store. It’s not even cheaper, because yarn is expensive. But I can make it exactly as soft and warm and long and beautiful as I want it to be. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/64 "2013-01-06T18:53:29Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > I still read books (I don’t have an e-reader). I also still write in pencil. Even though I work in IT, and I’m almost always in front of a computer, 99% of my notes are pencil-written in notebooks. I also pay cash for almost everything. The only time I use a card to pay for stuff is when I travel (Corporate AmEx for business travel, Debit card for personal travel) > [@tellyworth](#): > > Same here, though I use a fountain pen. I sketch out data structures in a notebook, and sometimes code. I came in to post something like this. I’m a computer scientist and (slightly reluctant) programmer. I simply **can’t think** without a pencil and paper. Without the ability to sketch out my ideas I either get massive writer’s block or end up doing something that is fundamentally flawed because I didn’t draw a picture to reason out how it would work. And no, I don’t use UML or anything like that, my drawings are comprehensible to other people and everything, but not especially formal and somewhat freeform. I especially have to do it if I have some sort of idea and need to “prove” to myself that it works. I’ve even done it on tests before (turns out graders like it when you do it, to boot). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/65 "2013-01-06T19:02:04Z")
I use cash. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/66 "2013-01-06T19:09:47Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Despite modern technology I still… walk. > > Really, I live 3.5 miles from central London which I can walk to in an hour or so at a reasonable pace, yet so many of my friends will take expensive taxis, unreliable, noisy and dirty public transport, or frustrating and grindingly slow car journeys to get there in not much less time than it takes me on Shanks’s pony. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I walk everywhere, too. It’s a dealbreaker for any house we buy - it has to have all the services we use within walking distance - bank, grocery stores, library, shopping, etc. I have a little cart that I use for groceries, and walk to the store multiple times per week - it’s great exercise. > > I also drive a manual transmission car - the new automatics might be just as good as the manuals, but I like driving a stick. Another walker here. I love to walk, and often cover 5 to 10 miles a day with my size 8 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/67 "2013-01-06T19:32:56Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > **Skald** , perhaps I will post a picture of how high the snow is right now, after only a couple of storms. 😃 The worst was the snow of 2010. It snowed approximately every three days, adding anywhere from 2-6" to the snow every time. I would go out and just want to cry, seeing all of the heavy snow piled up around my car. It hurt my back to shovel over and over again and I swore I was getting too old for it! [ignorant jackass] You’re not fooling me. I’ve seen _photographs_ of snow at least four times. It’s all fluffy stuff, no danger at all. And it’s just tiny little ice crystals, right? [/ignorant jackass] ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/68 "2013-01-06T23:11:49Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I still clean hard surface floors using a mop and bucket. It’s a spin mop but it’s still just a mop. Erm, yeah? Is there some kind of new super mop technology I should be using instead? Also, it boggles my mind that anyone would consider making pancakes from a mix. I mean, is there a simpler recipe in the world than pancake batter? It takes no time at all. I bought pancake mix once, when I was in a camper van, and I think it would still have been easier to make from scratch by the time I’d got the lumps out of the mix. Who buys this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/69 "2013-01-07T03:01:10Z")
I don’t own an electric can opener. I hand write To Do lists, and I always have a spiral bound notebook laying around to write down lists of other stuff. But I take notes for school on my iPad Up until this New Year, I’ve kept an analog calendar alongside my digital one. I’m trusting enough of my iPad and iPhone calendar now that I don’t feel like I need it anymore. I still send Christmas Cards. I like making food from scratch. I even make my own yogurt. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/70 "2013-01-07T03:25:35Z")
…shoe my horse without the aid of a blacksmith. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/71 "2013-01-07T14:17:03Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Plus, we can’t overlook the fact that using a snowblower is just plain fun. 😃 I think this has the most to do with it. Some guys like tinkering with things with engines. Some don’t. To me, dealing with a snowblower would be a pain in the ass. To others, it’s a fun toy. I have a theory that the bell curve is inverted for how many engines a man owns. For instance, you have people like me who have a car and that’s about it. Then you’ve got people who have a car, a motorcycle, a dirtbike, a snowblower, a riding lawnmower, a small yard tractor, a rototiller, a snowmobile and three boat motors. There aren’t many people in the middle. You are either an engine person or you aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/72 "2013-01-07T14:46:49Z")
It makes me laugh to see that I spelled PANCAKES differently three times in the same post. Anyway, I made PANCAKES from scratch this weekend - **Lancia** gave me a recipe and they were wonderful PANCAKES. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > [ignorant jackass] > You’re not fooling me. I’ve seen _photographs_ of snow at least four times. It’s all fluffy stuff, no danger at all. And it’s just tiny little ice crystals, right? > [/ignorant jackass] Come and shovel it for me, love. Actually, don’t. The snowblower will take care of it. ETA: And the snowblower is not a PITA at all. After a year of sitting unused, three pulls on the cord thingy and it started up. It’s better than some other machines. ---
**Author:** ![KermitTheFrig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/47e85d/32.png) [@KermitTheFrig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KermitTheFrig)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938/73 "2013-01-07T16:16:24Z")
Draw with pen and ink. Write appointments on a paper calendar. Read books and magazines. Hand wash all dishes. Use a manual can opener. Mix with a wire whisk and a wooden spoon. Use phones plugged into walls. (My wife has a rarely used cell phone.) Shovel snow. Use all hand tools for yard work (grass clippers, pruner, bow saw, edger, spade, hoe, turning fork, rake) except for power lawn mower. Most often use cash for regular purchases of groceries, gas, household items, clothing, etc. Cash my paycheck and make my bank deposits standing in front of a human teller inside the bank. (My wife’s check is direct deposited and she pay most bills online.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/despite-modern-technology-i-still-fill-in-activity-of-choice/645938.md?page=3)