Long Distance Calling

Isn’t the internet wonderful?! What would we do without it? It’s difficult to even remember not having the internet. Those of us that use it everyday take it for granted already. Like running water, electricity and telephone service. It’s just there. Three times now in the past twenty-four hours I have communicated with someone contacting me “Long Distance” simply because the internet made it possible.

I am excited tonight about a simple thing that I’d like to share with anyone that happens upon this blog site and takes the time to read a posting or two. By all appearances one can see that I am just getting off the ground with this “site”. I have a passion for these old rotary dial telephones and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with any person that is interested. Tonight as I sat in front of my computer I was alerted to an in-coming e-mail message. It was from my web site telling me that I have been contacted by someone wanting to ask a question or two about a vintage rotary phone. That message was generated through this web blog. When an interested party leaves me a message it is sent to my personal e-mail address for me to browse and identifies the sender’s e-mail address so that I may respond. After many months of “having” this blog this was my first outside e-mail! A legitimate question from a legitimate person wanting to ask ME a question about a telephone! How exciting! I could not answer quick enough. And since I was sitting in front of the computer when the message came through I was pretty sure that if I hurried I’d catch the questioner still at his/her computer.

Lucky for me the question was a simple one. It was one that I actually could answer. In fact the question had several parts and I am in the process of addressing the writer’s concerns. But hey, this is fun! Because of the internet someone with a passion for old telephones can communicate with someone across the Country with the same interest. I know, I know, it’s nothing new but it’s the first time I have been involved in something like this. So for the next few days we’ll be exchanging information, perhaps a photo or two of the favorite telephone and maybe even talk about the region of the country we are from. Just last night I purchased an old telephone off eBay. The seller happened to be from a small town in Virginia where I lived for just a year as a young boy. We exchanged some e-mail about things in the town that I lived more than thirty-five years ago. The night before that I received a question about another item I have for sale on eBay. The questioner in this case was in a suburb of Paris. The one in France! It’s amazing (to me).

How ironic that I can sit at my desk using a maching made with a lightning-fast processer, gigabytes and a space-aged looking flat-screen monitor and a quiet keys “keyboard” to “talk” long distance with someone about a slow dialing 1955 black Western Electric Model C/D 500 rotary dial telephone, complete with metal finger wheel and dual brass ringer bells!

It’s a great life, isn’t it?

Number please?

Long Distance Calling