What's a "Phone Book?"

[Generic]

I have special snowflakes again... they asked me for a "phone book" this morning, as if they even exist anymore! I had to direct them to something we call "the Internet" to look up their search for a "doctor". They had one in their blackberry but he was so far out of the city that a taxi would be at least $50 o/w. Found them one about 2 blocks away.
A phone book....
Last night we had to deal with them having a shouting match. And they made the whole house smell of menthol. Ugh. DNBs.

 

[Copperhead]

LOL, a rare occasion but I still have them and they are still delivered here!
10 years have passed but I still remember being thankful for them after Hurricane Katrina. No internet for several months here so we resorted back to let our fingers do the walking. I will keep one in the cabinet as long as they are published in hopes it is never, ever needed for that reason again!

 

[user 26]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?

 

[undersea]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?.

I prefer to have a couple good atlases for the all too many times GPS seems to get confused ("Resume?") or go out of coverage area or the directions seem to be odd (such as East or West interstate, when I know it is actually North or South). By GPS, I mean my cellphone, not the monthly subscription things

 

[Generic]

LOL, a rare occasion but I still have them and they are still delivered here!
10 years have passed but I still remember being thankful for them after Hurricane Katrina. No internet for several months here so we resorted back to let our fingers do the walking. I will keep one in the cabinet as long as they are published in hopes it is never, ever needed for that reason again!.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.

 

[Generic]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?.

I knew I was in trouble when they starting calling this a hotel and me the "hotelkeeper".
The room had to be sprayed down with MagicZ. They imagined that I could put in a plank under the mattress (it's a spring mattress that sits on wood already), so I offered to remove the mattress topper. And yet, I know that the problem isn't the mattress... it's on top of the mattress. But I removed the topper, which will make them happier. They left their stuff in the shared bathroom... so I have to apologize to the other guest. Really... not my customer.... I did hear they are going to Maine next.

 

[user 26]

I am happy to have a few of the old paper standby resources, but not 15 year old phone books ... even phone books get outdated and updated ... and new ones are issued and delivered here annually.
We get nor'easters and blizzards with a vengence here in New England, I've lived here all my life in some state or other so I've got a super hand crank radio. But you know what's funny? During a power outage that went on for days the voice on the radio kept saying to go to this or that website for more info. Once I got a phone signal, I called them and suggested that was not helpful when electricity, phone, cable and internet are all OUT. ha!
But when one's eyesight is failing and one's sense of direction gets twisted round and one gets tired and decides to nap in the car but I can't call the oldies to check on them because they don't have their cell phones, I get irritated. I would prefer my oldies at least give the GPS a shot instead of calling me from a phone inside a store to tell me they are lost and can I help. That scene belongs in one of my books with her shouting to him to ask what he could see outside so she could tell me and her not listening to him but asking the store clerk where they are and by the way did they have any D batteries and where's a good place to get lunch as they are lost and I can hear him shouting back to her but she's ignoring him .... and I'm on the internet trying to figure out where they are, how to get them to where they're going, and wondering if I can't install a gps tracking gizmo on their car so I can find them myself.
And while we're on the subject, 'what's a pay phone?' I have no idea where to find one any more.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?.

I knew I was in trouble when they starting calling this a hotel and me the "hotelkeeper".
The room had to be sprayed down with MagicZ. They imagined that I could put in a plank under the mattress (it's a spring mattress that sits on wood already), so I offered to remove the mattress topper. And yet, I know that the problem isn't the mattress... it's on top of the mattress. But I removed the topper, which will make them happier. They left their stuff in the shared bathroom... so I have to apologize to the other guest. Really... not my customer.... I did hear they are going to Maine next.
.

I knew I was in trouble when they starting calling this a hotel and me the "hotelkeeper".
The room had to be sprayed down with MagicZ. They imagined that I could put in a plank under the mattress (it's a spring mattress that sits on wood already), so I offered to remove the mattress topper. And yet, I know that the problem isn't the mattress... it's on top of the mattress. But I removed the topper, which will make them happier. They left their stuff in the shared bathroom... so I have to apologize to the other guest. Really... not my customer.... I did hear they are going to Maine next.

I wonder if this was the group that called me and when I asked if she was looking at the website told me, Oh, we don't have computers. (btw my 89 year old Dad has and uses a computer, tablet, cell phone, the works.) They wanted one room for 4 women and had a recommendation for us! Unfortunately, we only have one room on the first floor and it only sleeps two.

 

[user 26]

I hope I am still here and still using whatever the latest technology is at age 89! Awesome.

 

[Lee2014]

LOL, a rare occasion but I still have them and they are still delivered here!
10 years have passed but I still remember being thankful for them after Hurricane Katrina. No internet for several months here so we resorted back to let our fingers do the walking. I will keep one in the cabinet as long as they are published in hopes it is never, ever needed for that reason again!.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.
.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.

Yup! They publish and deliver them to our door. They give us a whole stack so each guest room has one sitting there collecting dust....give me something to do.

So get out of the stone age and get a phone book!!!!!! FYI its also on the internet if you don't know how to flip pages.... Grin!

 

[Morticia]

We get them delivered every year. 3 different ones. There's a delivery job in the paper this week to bring them around.

 

[gillumhouse]

We get them every year

 

[Generic]

LOL, a rare occasion but I still have them and they are still delivered here!
10 years have passed but I still remember being thankful for them after Hurricane Katrina. No internet for several months here so we resorted back to let our fingers do the walking. I will keep one in the cabinet as long as they are published in hopes it is never, ever needed for that reason again!.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.
.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.

Yup! They publish and deliver them to our door. They give us a whole stack so each guest room has one sitting there collecting dust....give me something to do.

So get out of the stone age and get a phone book!!!!!! FYI its also on the internet if you don't know how to flip pages.... Grin!
.

They don't even publish them anymore. Haven't since 2010. There is nothing to deliver, except nostalgia.

 

[JimBoone]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?.

I prefer to have a couple good atlases for the all too many times GPS seems to get confused ("Resume?") or go out of coverage area or the directions seem to be odd (such as East or West interstate, when I know it is actually North or South). By GPS, I mean my cellphone, not the monthly subscription things
.

I'm with you, GPS is a handy tool, but I still need a map. GPS seems to work well in the city and helps in interstate traffic, in rural areas not so much, countless guests call and tell me "the GPS says I here, but I just see woods, where are you", it sends them off the highway down a side road, I have to direct them back to the highway where they will find me a mile or two down.
From another direction it likes to send the guest down the scenic Parkway and several miles of dirt road, shorter in miles maybe, but not ideal for the out of town guest. GPS also can't see road conditions, one recent winter saved a late night guest a few miles by sending him down a road with deep snow where he promptly got stuck, handy gadgets, but can't replace thinking.

 

[undersea]

LOL is right. Are these aging guests? Sounds like a couple of my housemates who I refer to as 'the oldies'. They are proud of their use of computers but insist on hoarding and using stacks of phone books. Forget the GPS, they prefer road maps, even old, torn and wet ones with boot prints. They own cell phones but don't charge them or don't use them or don't turn them on and take them when they go out. The tv they watch is turned up LOUD and then they shout at each other over it.
I think some/most people get to a point in life where the brain says 'no more new things'. ?.

I prefer to have a couple good atlases for the all too many times GPS seems to get confused ("Resume?") or go out of coverage area or the directions seem to be odd (such as East or West interstate, when I know it is actually North or South). By GPS, I mean my cellphone, not the monthly subscription things
.

I'm with you, GPS is a handy tool, but I still need a map. GPS seems to work well in the city and helps in interstate traffic, in rural areas not so much, countless guests call and tell me "the GPS says I here, but I just see woods, where are you", it sends them off the highway down a side road, I have to direct them back to the highway where they will find me a mile or two down.
From another direction it likes to send the guest down the scenic Parkway and several miles of dirt road, shorter in miles maybe, but not ideal for the out of town guest. GPS also can't see road conditions, one recent winter saved a late night guest a few miles by sending him down a road with deep snow where he promptly got stuck, handy gadgets, but can't replace thinking.
.

Or last week (several times), following the blue arrow, and it tells me 150 feet to the turn and I think I am right on it. So I go past the road and of course, that WAS the turn, but GPS was a little behind.
Or when it is "rerouting" when I didn't do anything, following their lead...
Or with an old "rural route XYZ", etc.
How many people here have said that people cannot seem to find their place on google maps?

 

[user 26]

Jim Boone, I understand about the limits of a GPS. And of the limitations of cell signals in rural areas. There was no cell phone reception at my old place nor for about two miles around. People did not believe me and were stunned by this. My GPS refuses to be upgraded so it's time for a new one as I regularly have the maps updated. Yup, it's an old model. Support was not able to help me upgrade so it's time. A once defunct railroad in my area is now back in service which has changed many things - I was trying to find a new friend's home and my gps wanted me to travel up a road that is now blocked by fencing because of the trains running - the train crossing was not reactivated and instead is blocked by fence - so I ended up at a dead end facing the fence, turned around in someone's driveway and came back out. Even a map would not show this change.
But my oldies are also confused by maps now, get disoriented by landmarks that change, argue over the best way to go, the road that didn't used to be one way, and are getting lost more and more often. Nothing is perfect - but using their methods in the past few months they've missed two weddings (barely made it to the end of one reception), a party and a meetup of family/friends at a restaurant, were three hours late to their son's home we're they've been probably 50 times. They are not travelling hundreds of miles away from home. They are in areas they 'used to know' local and somewhat local. If I had the money, I'd hire them a driver. I have just asked them to please take along their cell phones (they have two - which they pay service for) but they won't. I loaned them my GPS to get to their son's house but they switched it off because it couldn't be right (it was, I mapped out the route myself) This is a constant challenge for me that is getting more difficult ...
did not mean to hijack this thread.

Point being - we all would get guests like this.

 

[undersea]

Jim Boone, I understand about the limits of a GPS. And of the limitations of cell signals in rural areas. There was no cell phone reception at my old place nor for about two miles around. People did not believe me and were stunned by this. My GPS refuses to be upgraded so it's time for a new one as I regularly have the maps updated. Yup, it's an old model. Support was not able to help me upgrade so it's time. A once defunct railroad in my area is now back in service which has changed many things - I was trying to find a new friend's home and my gps wanted me to travel up a road that is now blocked by fencing because of the trains running - the train crossing was not reactivated and instead is blocked by fence - so I ended up at a dead end facing the fence, turned around in someone's driveway and came back out. Even a map would not show this change.
But my oldies are also confused by maps now, get disoriented by landmarks that change, argue over the best way to go, the road that didn't used to be one way, and are getting lost more and more often. Nothing is perfect - but using their methods in the past few months they've missed two weddings (barely made it to the end of one reception), a party and a meetup of family/friends at a restaurant, were three hours late to their son's home we're they've been probably 50 times. They are not travelling hundreds of miles away from home. They are in areas they 'used to know' local and somewhat local. If I had the money, I'd hire them a driver. I have just asked them to please take along their cell phones (they have two - which they pay service for) but they won't. I loaned them my GPS to get to their son's house but they switched it off because it couldn't be right (it was, I mapped out the route myself) This is a constant challenge for me that is getting more difficult ...
did not mean to hijack this thread.

Point being - we all would get guests like this..

near us, the cell service was bad for over a 4 mile radius...
for mapquest.com directions, I would follow them, but always be ready to turn around or interpret when things seemed to go wrong.
If something important, I would print off directions from mapquest (in the past), and ALSO have my map as backup.

 

[Lee2014]

LOL, a rare occasion but I still have them and they are still delivered here!
10 years have passed but I still remember being thankful for them after Hurricane Katrina. No internet for several months here so we resorted back to let our fingers do the walking. I will keep one in the cabinet as long as they are published in hopes it is never, ever needed for that reason again!.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.
.

They publish phone books still? We haven't seen one delivered in years.

Yup! They publish and deliver them to our door. They give us a whole stack so each guest room has one sitting there collecting dust....give me something to do.

So get out of the stone age and get a phone book!!!!!! FYI its also on the internet if you don't know how to flip pages.... Grin!
.

They don't even publish them anymore. Haven't since 2010. There is nothing to deliver, except nostalgia.
.

Poor Charlie!

 

[Copperhead]

We get them delivered every year. 3 different ones. There's a delivery job in the paper this week to bring them around..

We get them delivered every year. 3 different ones. There's a delivery job in the paper this week to bring them around.

We get 2 different ones delivered. We were getting three but 1 went under last year.

 

[Copperhead]

We get them delivered every year. 3 different ones. There's a delivery job in the paper this week to bring them around..

dup