Life goes on
First I would like to acknowledge the weather. The weather has been almost as moody as I am. Really hot, really cold, rainy, windy, and some days, absolutely perfect. I am not saying that I am absolutely perfect on any day, but the weather has been.
Though it was so windy last Shabbos/Saturday, that three seconds after I walked by a neighborhood tree, I heard a crack, turned around, and an entire branch fell down. When I told Husband #1 how I was almost hit by a tree branch, he waved it off like it was nothing. When we walked back home and he saw the tree branch, he said, “Wow, you could have gotten really hurt.” Thank you for validating my initial reports. And life goes on, thank God.
Next topic, yes, we are going to be all over the place this week.
Game shows. I loved watching game shows when I was younger. Family Feud was always a fan favorite because it was so entertaining and I always imagined my family being on the show. Richard Dawson, who was the original host, would always kiss all of the female members of the family, sometimes, even a peck on the lips. Yuck!!!!!! That was my reaction as a young girl, and that is still my reaction. Not sure how he got away with that, but I digress.
The grand prize, all those years ago, was $10,000. All those years ago, $10,000 was like a million dollars. Granted, it is still a lot now but doesn’t seem worth as much. Last night, I was watching a more recent episode with Husband #1 and we saw that the grand prize is now $20,000. That’s it? With the number of years that have gone by and inflation, that doesn’t seem like a whole lot of money.
So, because I have no kids at home and I had fed Husband #1 and finished all of my household chores, I decided to do some research. In 2026, doing research means you ask Google. Which really is so much easier than looking something up in an encyclopedia or going to the library. And, unfortunately, I cannot ask my dad anything anymore, so Google it was.
$45,870.52. That is the answer I got when I googled “10 thousand dollars in 1979 is worth how much in 2026.” $45,870.52.
Now I do not know how game show prizes work, or have ever worked, but I am thinking that someone should let Family Feud know about inflation.
Next topic — the landline. Kids today cannot relate to the landline. Some of them might not even know what it is. Sixteen-year-olds will never experience that joy of talking to their friends on a phone that is attached to the wall — and if they are lucky, attached to a wall in their very own rooms.
Remember only being able to talk on the phone and walk within the limited distance of the phone cord stretching abilities? Now you can walk anywhere you go with your cell phone. Some of my best conversations happen walking to and from Stop & Shop.
And back in the day, the phones themselves were more fun. I will never forget my phone that looked like you could see all the wires and stuff inside it. It might have been made by the Swatch watch company. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
And when answering machines came out? And when phones attached to answering machines came out? How excited did you get when you would see the flashing light on the answering machine indicating that someone left you a message? Now I hear it isn’t even cool to leave a voicemail. Though when people leave me voicemails, I love seeing how my name gets transcribed…Yes, it is all about me.
Anyway, our landline has not been working. I have managed to fix it myself a couple of times, but I think it has finally reached the end of the road. I texted Husband #1 to get it disconnected, which makes him happy because now he can finally stop paying for it. But it is the end of a long era.
And that is all I have this week….
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck will not be throwing out her answering machine because she still listens to messages that her dad left her.
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