Rant of the Day v2.

[ExSp33db1rd]

As kids, there would always be one group of us hanging around the public phone box on the estate. It was our job to receive calls and go find whoever the caller was trying to reach. Sweets were provided as rewards.
When we did eventually get a phone, we had a code with our parents, two calls where we would ring off after a set number of rings. No one answered the phone for 5 rings so that the code could be detected.
Three rings and then two rings meant my sister needed picking up from the swimming pool. This of course avoided the need to pay for a call, or for the kid to need money (which might be lost or stolen).

[jimtherev]

Then there was always another reason for the lurk. Pennies, you will remember, had to be inserted before calling, then "Button A" pressed when the connection was made. If no connection, then the caller pressed "Button B" to get the twopence back.
Sometimes they forgot. So one never passed an empty phone box without a crafty press of Button B. Chippy next door to our local one; often resulted in a screw of newspaper with some chips in.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Provincial election today, landslide for the conservatives on reduced turnout.
Any amount of rubbish spouted by the journalists and pundits as to why the result was what it was. All the opinion polls were wrong, and by more than their margins of error.
Result was exactly as predicted by everyone I'd spoken to locally.
Actual reason for result - every party's policies are idiotic, these idiots cost less.

[Hydromet]

Then there was always another reason for the lurk. Pennies, you will remember, had to be inserted before calling, then "Button A" pressed when the connection was made. If no connection, then the caller pressed "Button B" to get the twopence back.
Sometimes they forgot. So one never passed an empty phone box without a crafty press of Button B. Chippy next door to our local one; often resulted in a screw of newspaper with some chips in.

Years ago, as I was walking past a public phone box, it started ringing. A girl standing nearby said "That will be for me", dashed in and answered it, and started a conversation. I wondered what that was all about until a couple of years afterwards, I heard that an overseas caller would ask to make a reverse charge call to the phone box number (from memory, a letter with four numbers). The unknowing overseas operator would connect with the person who answered the phone and ask if they would accept the charges, to which they, of course, replied positively. I have no idea if this was true, but it sounded plausible.

[llondel]

Then there was always another reason for the lurk. Pennies, you will remember, had to be inserted before calling, then "Button A" pressed when the connection was made. If no connection, then the caller pressed "Button B" to get the twopence back.
Sometimes they forgot. So one never passed an empty phone box without a crafty press of Button B. Chippy next door to our local one; often resulted in a screw of newspaper with some chips in.

Years ago, as I was walking past a public phone box, it started ringing. A girl standing nearby said "That will be for me", dashed in and answered it, and started a conversation. I wondered what that was all about until a couple of years afterwards, I heard that an overseas caller would ask to make a reverse charge call to the phone box number (from memory, a letter with four numbers). The unknowing overseas operator would connect with the person who answered the phone and ask if they would accept the charges, to which they, of course, replied positively. I have no idea if this was true, but it sounded plausible.

Supposedly there was supposed to be a tone the operator could hear if it was a phone box.

I do remember the tone dialling hack once - when exchanges first went to DTMF dialling, phone boxes still used the loop disconnect method even though the line was connected. So people got these fancy little number pads that would make dialling tones - I think some of the banks gave them to their customers for accessing the bank systems - and you could go into a phone box, pick up the handset, dial with your tone pad, get ringing, then dial 999 on the phone. Because the call had routed, the exchange ignored the extra digits, apart from rattling the earpiece at the far end, but the phone itself detected that you'd called the emergency number and opened the audio paths at no charge. So a free phone call. They had to go hack a few things at the exchanges to stop that one.

[ExSp33db1rd]

When I first left school and started work in a nearby town,I would get back to our local railway station from work every night at around 6.00 pm. If my Father hadn’t left his work nearby I could get a ride home, otherwise I would have to walk in the opposite direction to catch a bus. How to know if he was still there ? Ring his number and if he answered put the receiver down and press button B to get my twopence back, then walk to his place.

After about three months of doing this, on what decided the last occasion to do this, his number didn’t ring, instead an operator came online and told me to press button A before she would connect me to his number. They knew !

[ricardian]

Day in Kirkwall today for hospital appointment. Decided to have a pub lunch before catching ferry back home.
Soup then fish & chips washed down with a pint of Guinness. Nice soup and there were two large chunks of battered fish with hand-cut chips.
But what a shock!

[Pinky the pilot]

Err...ok ricardian; Remember that I'm an Aussie.

So what's so shocking about that?

[tango15]

The one which the GPO (in its day) couldn't circumvent was 'the three rings'. Peter Kay occasionally refers to this, but I used it regularly after visiting my mother, to ensure her that I had returned home safely. Was this a northern thing, or was it more widespread?

[Ex-Ascot]

Day in Kirkwall today for hospital appointment. Decided to have a pub lunch before catching ferry back home.
Soup then fish & chips washed down with a pint of Guinness. Nice soup and there were two large chunks of battered fish with hand-cut chips.
But what a shock!

Yes but you still don't get your free bottle of wine on your next visit though.

[Hydromet]

The one which the GPO (in its day) couldn't circumvent was 'the three rings'. Peter Kay occasionally refers to this, but I used it regularly after visiting my mother, to ensure her that I had returned home regularly. Was this a northern thing, or was it more widespread?

'Twas certainly common in Oz, especially if the phone box was next to a railway station. Three rings meant come and pick me up.

[4mastacker]

The one which the GPO (in its day) couldn't circumvent was 'the three rings'. Peter Kay occasionally refers to this, but I used it regularly after visiting my mother, to ensure her that I had returned home safely. Was this a northern thing, or was it more widespread?

Me mam used to do that to let us know she had got home safely after visiting us and we would give three rings back to let her know we had received her signal. Done the same after we had visited her. Me sister also done that after she had emigrated to Co Durham.

[ricardian]

Err...ok ricardian; Remember that I'm an Aussie.

So what's so shocking about that?

28 AUD for fish & chips?

[ricardian]

Day in Kirkwall today for hospital appointment. Decided to have a pub lunch before catching ferry back home.
Soup then fish & chips washed down with a pint of Guinness. Nice soup and there were two large chunks of battered fish with hand-cut chips.
But what a shock!

Yes but you still don't get your free bottle of wine on your next visit though.

I'm back in Kirkwall again tomorrow (Fri 7 Apr) for 6 month dental check, won't be going to the Kirkwall Hotel for lunch.

[Pinky the pilot]

28 AUD for fish & chips?

Ah so! Roger that and thanks ricardian.

About $18 Aussie Dollars will get you four fillets of Fish and enough chips for two people and there will still be some chips left over.

Here anyway, in the local Fish and Chip shop in Waikerie.

[OFSO]

Fish and chips plus peas today, at home. Traditional. Lots of work cooking from Mme, taking a break from sculpting, but ingredients laughably cheap at Mercadonna. My job was manufacturing the G&Ts.

[OFSO]

Mrs OFSO said the fresh cod cost €8 for double what we could actually eat, and with peas and chips came about €10 for two. Excellent.

[CharlieOneSix]

Shortly off to The Bay Fish and Chips in Stonehaven to collect two Haddock suppers, but only one huge lot of chips, plus a smoked sausage for me - £21. In 2013 The Bay was voted the best fish and chip shop in the UK and they have kept the standard up. Run by an ex-RN chef.

[Pontius Navigator]

Then there was always another reason for the lurk. Pennies, you will remember, had to be inserted before calling, then "Button A" pressed when the connection was made. If no connection, then the caller pressed "Button B" to get the twopence back.
Sometimes they forgot. So one never passed an empty phone box without a crafty press of Button B. Chippy next door to our local one; often resulted in a screw of newspaper with some chips in.

As a child, you did not pass a phone booth without pushing button B on the off-chance in case the last caller had forgotten to collect their left-over coins. It worked more often than you might have thought and 4d bought you a lot of sweets.

[Pontius Navigator]

1968 we Bolthold from Waddington to Coningsby. I got one of the new speaker phones. Big thing, sat on the Ops Desk.
We could ring up Waddo Ops first thing and keep it connected. Unlimited local call for 4d.