November 10, 2009 | Filed under: Stuff
Hi Heart Patient, aka Middle. Give us a smile …

Two minutes after I took this picture, the doctor came in to see us. He spent a minute talking to Middle, who was texting. Very gently he stole her phone right out of her fingers and set the phone aside, telling her she was going to be disconnected for five minutes. “Can you handle that?” he asked.
“Of course,” Middle said, all 16 year old sullen bravado.
He smiled knowingly and went about checking her health. Three minutes later, she was wriggling and squirming, feet kicking, all restless energy.
“How are you doing?” he asked her, clearly amused. “Sweating? Having the shakes?”
“No,” she said.
I laughed. So did the doc. She was in complete technology withdrawal.
“You know,” the doctor said to her. “When I was growing up, I only had access to a phone when I was inside standing right next to it. And I could only check in with the world via the newspaper that was delivered in the morning, or by the six o’clock news.”
Middle nodded, unimpressed.
“No answering machine, no cable TV,” he said.
More silence from Middle.
“No microwave,” the doctor said.
Middle roused at this. “How did you cook your popcorn?”




























Judy F says:
I hope the visit went well.
That is too funny. I remember my sisters kids asking me when they were younger how to turn off my older tv. I said you get up and turn it off. LOL No pushing of a button like their newer tv.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 4:06 amSabrina says:
I hope everything went okay.
I probably would have starved if microwaves hadn’t been around when I was a kid. That was the only “cooking” my mom did. She even tried to hard boil an egg once (without putting it in water.) We had to evacuate the house due to the stench of exploding egg.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 5:25 amshannon says:
LOL! I remember my dad had a special pan just for cooking the popcorn. It was a thin beat up old pan but Mom would not let him use her good pans. That was still the best popcorn.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:11 amAmber says:
Yesterday a friend and I were talking about christmas lists and what my kids put on theirs. It’s amazing that I don’t even have a teenager yet but two asked for nothing but PSP’s, DS games, IPOD touch or shuffle, and a cell phone (9yr old on the cell phone). My list used to be bicycles, basketballs, and paper to write on! Oh how things have changed in such a short short time….
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:27 amAshley says:
LOL! Jill you need to show her how to make popcorn on the stove.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:43 amCassie says:
We used a large pan for popping corn, but you had to be fast or else it burned. The best way is buying those Jiffy Pop aluminum pans and watching it grow into a dome like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J1DpXWxrHA
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:51 amtennismom says:
LOLOLOLOL. I feel like a pioneer. One day my son was trying to make plans with my nephew who lives 2 streets over. He was on his laptop & complaining that my nephew was not on line. I said, “OMG, you’re going to have to use that old-fashioned thing called the TELEPHONE!!!”
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:54 amCassie says:
How’s Middle doing?
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 6:56 amWendyS says:
Every year my hubby and I take a two week vacation….in the middle of nowhere. Yes, still in the USA. You can’t get their by car. You have to take a ferry boat up the lake. When you get to there, no cell phone coverage, no internet service, no television, no computers! One phone at the general store for emergencies only! He didn’t like it the first time we went…he couldn’t figure out what to do…like read books, take hikes, go fishing, etc. It took him several days to figure out to have fun and relax…all without technology!
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 7:21 amapril says:
I hope she’s ok!
We actually had a rotary phone until I was in college (which wasn’t that long ago). Talk about teased. As for popcorn, I hate microwave popcorn. Our first registry item was an air popper. Though we don’t use it often, it was totally worth it.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 7:23 amStacy ~ says:
Ha, cute. I actually like the taste of popcorn made on the stove better than microwave popcorn.
I hope the doc gave Middle a thumbs-up in the check-up department.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 7:53 amlimecello says:
lol lol lol I have to say I’d have the same reaction about the popcorn. (Well, I know it’s possible otherwise but… why?)
Heh. Tech withdrawal.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 7:59 ambonita says:
It’s great that so many of use remember making popcorn the old fashioned way. If the Food Police have anything to say about it, they’d ban microwave popcorn. It’s been named to Prevention Magazine’s list of “7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips.” Microwaving can cause the chemicals in the lining of the bag, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), to vaporize and leach into your popcorn.
[PFOA's are in a class of compounds that accumulate in your body and levels might reach amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. It's supposed to be gone from microwave popcorn by 2015. Diacetyl, the butter flavor, may be responsible for an unusually high incidence of lung disease in workers at popcorn factories.]
Aw geeze…I guess it’s back to cookies!
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 10:26 amAngie T says:
Hey Jill!
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 10:49 amI haven’t been around for a while and thought I’d drop in to see the latest.
Spawn II (God rest his soul) when he was around 4 or 5 years old was fascinated with dinosaurs. We were having a nice discussion about the T Rex when he looks at me with those big blue eyes, earnest as can be, and asks me, “Momma, were you alive when there were dinosaurs?”
The microwave story reminded me of that time!
Brandy says:
We were at an antique store last year and they had an OLD phone from around the 1940′s, with the rotary dial. Daughter looked at me and asked me how it worked! I thought I would have a fit laughing! We did just buy her a cell phone, but she’s not allowed to text. I know, we’re so cruel. *G*
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 12:26 pmLiza says:
Tell Middle they sold these really cool popcorn poppers years ago…or you just cooked it on the stove. I would still cook it on the stove today, but it is so much faster in the microwave. Hope she got a great report from the doctor.
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 3:15 pmDonna M says:
I hope that the doctor gave Middle a thumbs up on her health check.
I don’t like microwave popcorn and still use a hot air popcorn popper, after it is popped I add real melted butter & salt! I can well remember mom fixing popcorn on the stove or buying the Jiffy Pop which we all thought was so “cool”.
In times past I’ve also, as a special treat, popped the popcorn over a fire in the fireplace. That was fun!
Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 5:36 pm