Related to this thread wherein people have identified technologies and techniques that have fallen by the wayside because of newer, better technologies. I take analogue photographs even though they’re expensive to get printed, I’m not guaranteed a good shot, it’s a hassle to go to the store to get them printed up and in order for me to be able to edit them I have to scan the pics or the negs. What are some of the things you do the old way or difficult way because you prefer it or are stubborn, or sentimental, or irrational or stupid like me?
I refuse to use any kind of ‘drive-through’. I park my car and walk in.
Using the drive-through just seems too lazy to me.
My wife is convinced she can’t make rice in the microwave. Not that rice can’t be made – she’s fine if I make the rice – but she pulls out the old rice cooker, which takes longer and is harder to clean.
I don’t like paying bills online. I prefer to mail a check. Hell, I’m not that wild about using a debit card at all.
I shift my own gears in my car. 
You call that analog photography now, eh? Well, that just sounds normal to me…except for the part about scanning and editing your photos. That’s pretty newfangled! In the old days, we just had to accept them the way they were, and we liked it like that!
There are so many things I do where this would apply, but probably the best (worst?) is my garden. I’m a lousy gardener, when it comes to actually getting any vegetables to grow. But I’m going nuts setting up the beds in my new garden. I’ve been tilling the area with a grubbing hoe. (Even though I have a rototiller. Heck, my neighbor would be happy to stop and plow my little patch when he’s plowing his fields.) But I just like to get out there and work the ground and listen to the world. It takes two or three passes over an area before the soil is ready. Then, I use a shovel and a rake to form the raised beds. Then a lighter hoe and the rake again to even out the planting surface. Then I plant seeds. Then the birds come and eat them. Ha! That doesn’t bother me, if anything ever sprouts, the rabbits and deer will eat it. (Next year, I figure out the most difficult way to build an ineffective fence.) At least it allows me to go play in the mud.
Here’s a photo of the garden as it was on Sunday. (I just got my first digital camera last week!) About 40% is tilled, but only one bed is fully planted so far. There are four beds ready for seeds; I’ll plant them this weekend. There’s another bed almost ready; it just needs the planting surface prepared. Then there’s about 60% that’s been tilled just once, it’ll take me at least a couple more weeks to get that area ready.
I prefer to sweep with a broom, mop with an actual mop, and scrub the toilet with a scrub brush as opposed to one of those disposable thingies.
Partly, because I’m convinced that it works better. Partly because it feels more satisfying that way.
I don’t like using ATMs. I will if I must, but if possible I’ll arrange my schedule so that I can go in and see a teller.
I don’t text. The only one I’ve ever sent was to my daughter, who was trying to get me to use it. It took me about two minutes to send and said, “f u”. I guess texting is good for certain situations, but I’d rather talk or email.
There are probably others, but I’m so wedded to my old way of doing things I don’t even know what they are.
I don’t own a microwave. I don’t like them.
No cell phone, though I’m starting to feel the pressure.
Music on CDs.
Dishes are hand-washed.
My day to day text editor is vi*
For file transfers I use command line ftp
Sod the IDE I’m happier at a SQL> prompt
Who needs GUIs anyway?
*Unix text editor with a learning curve like a cliff face. It has no user interface, unless you count “:” as an interface.
I knit socks, and sew my son’s halloween costumes.
I don’t wear exclusively handknit socks, because I don’t knit that fast, but I could much easier go and just buy my son a costume of some movie character or the old classics instead of going through the trouble of staying up until midnight the night before trying to puzzle how to put together a jester hat that I put off for far too long.
Gee, I make rice in a pan on the stove!
Oh, good one! I also make Halloween costumes, though I don’t sew. Yep, just adds to the thrill when you have to tack together your creations with staples and fabric glue.
There are so many things in my list that it is best summed up by: anything that gives me more control over the outcome with the “illogical” method I do that way. This includes cooking – I like to cook almost everything from scratch as opposed using pre-packed spices, microwave stuff, etc. – Halloween/Ren-faire costumes – I like to sew them, rather than buy them – and coding – I loathe WYSIWYG type programs.
I lived without a microwave for a long time, but my husband insisted on having one. We use it to warm things up and that’s about it. We even make ramen noodles on the stove. I think it may be a bit of control freakness, but so be it. If I can control the outcome more by doing it the old-fashioned way, I will do it that way, no matter how much longer it takes.
My wife got me an I-pod nano for Christmas. I seriously hate the thing. Just takes up too much of my time to have to transfer CDs onto the thing, mess with I-tunes, plug it into my car, grasp and manipulate it while driving, etc. I still like to grab a handful of cds to take in the car with me.
I pride myself in using my bank/debit card for 95% of my spending outside the house. I use less than $20 physical cash a month and my checkbook never leaves the house. But I’m still too lazy to set up internet bill pay and send out about 10 checks a month by mail to pay my bills.
heh…
Same here.
Gimme that SQL> prompt. You can keep your Oracle Enterprise Manager.
People think I’m a dinosaur for using command line Top Secret on the mainframe. They stopped laughing a couple months ago when their web-based screen-scraper with pretty pictures went from a GUI to gooey and died.
The problem is that while these may be “harder” they’re certainly not less “rational” when you realize that web-based utility is just putting a pretty face on a command line, and when it breaks, people that know the command line will be able to use it and keep on working.
But… vi? You’re a true masochist.
Omigosh…I have a brother out there!!
It’s not like your restricted to an 80*25 console any more and Linux vi (vim?) makes C listings quite colourful I also use PFE which is a bit less sparten.
I do a lot of work in Oracle Forms and Reports, excellent tools. . .
if you enjoy pain.
Me too. I’m only dimly aware that such things as “rice cookers” exist. And I eat a lot of rice!
For my woodwork I plug nail holes with putty sticks and buff them smooth. The new creams that are wiped into the holes leave dimples.
Nah - he’s a purist…
…like me.
grep, sed, awk, & vi all wrapped in a nice warm korn shell. It’s what’s for breakfast.
Boy - these kids today with their command-line completion and pico editors. Effete little weenies, they are.