Topic: I have the Power !!

[VANGUARD]

Speaking as a native Minnesotan, people are scary when it snows. Some do fly by too fast. I was going 40, others were passing me. I slipped and smacked into the ditch. very very poor tires.
Got new tires now though.

[-<WillyP>-]

That's true anywhere it snows... here in NH there will always be some who try to drive on snow like they do on dry pavement. ie, too fast!

[Scyphi]

There's a university nearby here in Idaho that gets students from all over the nation (and then some). It's always fun (and a little worrying) to see those from the warmer climates try to drive when winter rolls around. 

It's even more fun to hear them gripe about the cold when little ol' me who grew up with these winters is sitting nearby all calm and comfy about it.

That said though, because of those students, we have a rather diverse blend of drivers around here.

Of course, I'm one to talk, because I, personally, do not drive. I mean, I learned and everything, I just never bothered to go and get my driver's license. According to my driver's ed teacher, though, I was a very careful and considerate driver, and he frequently complimented me on my skills at freeway-driving (which is ironic, because I hated freeway driving the most).

[Alieo]

A little late on replying here, but we had some storms blow through late yesterday afternoon that knocked out our power from 5 PM on through the rest of the night. While my folks were griping and griping that they couldn't watch TV and go on the internet, I was thoroughly enjoying the serene silence and lack of electric buzz. It was truly a lovely sound (or lack thereof). It brought about a certain level of tranquility, save for my folks griping of course. So there we were, in the candlelight, no power, and in the SAME ROOM as each other for the first time since, oh gosh, Hurricane Ike in 2008 when we lost power for 8 days? Anyways, I took it upon myself to crank up the old Victrola and play some old 78s that my great-grandparents had purchased throughout their lives ranging from the 1890s to the 1920s. The music blasted LOUDLY from that Victrola, and I danced and just had a good ol' time. Now, I'm 28, and here's my almost 75 year old dad bitching that the power is out and that he can't go on the internet, so he's going outside every 10 minutes to check the power company's truck down the street. I asked him, "now who do you think the older soul is?" He just grumbled. lol!

Being without power brought about a serene level of peace and I got to thinking; "What the hell do 'I' need electricity for?" Sure, these Mario Maps that I've been making are my number one obsession, but if I were to suddenly be transported back in time to, say, the 1890s, taking everything I know about modern times, I am most certain I would adapt just fine... and I'd CONTINUE to make my Mario Maps! How the hell would I do it? EXACTLY like I'm doing it now, but without a computer. I'd cut a bunch of squares out of thin wood and make each and every "sprite" for the land and the trees, et cetera, and I'd literally paint the graphics on each one. Then, I'd glue a magnet to the back of each "sprite" and put them onto a board. It could just work! Perhaps, someday, when I live off-grid (if I follow through with that plan), I could create this!

I'm also a big music fiend. In order to live without power, I'd need to convert my ever growing CD/Digital album collection BACK to vinyl and play them the same way they did in the 1900s; just literally "crank it up". Also, I use electric cigarettes, and that, of course, requires electricity. That's easy: solar chargers. Could also work for cellphones, but I may not WANT a cellphone if I'm living off-grid. Water could come from the atmosphere powered by a solar-powered condenser, and gas from propane or good old fashioned metallic barrel set ablaze for cooking.

Bottom line, there's a magical feeling of being able to hear your primeval self once again when electricity blows out, and it is something we all need to quench every once in awhile.

[-<WillyP>-]

Did they have vinyl in 1860? I think not. And a solar charger for your electric cigs? No, sorry. Even your magnets would be hard to come by, and very expensive, me thinks.

But other than that I hear ya bud. My wife, as soon as she gets up or walks in the door, turns on the TV, and it's on untill she goes to bed or leaves the house. Drives me crazy, especially after a long day of working with noisey power tools, and I come home and the TV is blaring, even during supper. Ok, sorry for the rant... 

[Kaiaatzl]

I was thinking the same about the magnets.
The vinyl didn't cross my mind but it didn't need to.  I know that much about music and audio history by heart.
I doubt they'd have had most of the music you would be listening to in 1860 either.  Or even the genres.
Wouldn't you need an old-fashioned gramophone though, one that would operate by wind-up or... something like that?  I'm pretty sure all the later models used electrical power to spin the turntable.  I know the one my parents have (and still use on occasion) does.

[Scyphi]

Easy fix then: Just stick Alieo in the nineteen-twenties. Save the solar charger, everything else should be able to be found for his use.

His recent choice of music was real popular in around that time period too.

[-<WillyP>-]

I still don't think you'd find vinyl records. I think vinyl records started in the 60's, prior to that was a much more brittle plastic. And I don't think you'll find electric cigs in the 20's either.

EDIT: This article: the invention of vinyl records - where it began, says during WWII vinyl records were developed, so that means late thirties, early forties.

[Scyphi]

They still have records in the 1920s, and I would think that would suffice for Alieo, regardless of what they're actually made out of.

And no, no electronic cigs, mostly because the real thing was still all the rage, so why go for a similar replacement?

[Alieo]

Oh, no, I know vinyl records didn't exist in 1860. The first voice recording didn't exist until the 1860s anyways. They used a more breakable material back then. As for going back in time with my e-cigs, of course, if I'm going to go back in time, I'd take such things as a solar charger with me, and when those batteries couldn't charge anymore, I'd switch to "analog" cigarettes, but not before paying Mr. Edison a visit to see if he could replicate my batteries.

Here's something interesting about early wax recordings:

Wax cylinder recording - He's In The Jailhouse Now

[Scyphi]

...but not before paying Mr. Edison a visit to see if he could replicate my batteries.

And then we get into the issue of altering history, and the potential outcomes of that. Actually, it probably wouldn't be so bad, since batteries already did exist by that point in time and were in commercial use (they just weren't nearly as refined, portable, or efficient as today's), so much so that you could, theoretically, jury-rig a system using batteries of the period for the electric cig. But since I assume you'd want Edison to replicate your rechargeables that you brought with you, well...I wouldn't recommend it without considering the full outcomes of doing that first.

Sorry, I know this is all hypothetically, and not entirely serious, but apparently I have a thing for time travel, and I think about these sort of things.