For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 08, 2014

Busted John

It ain’t good form to eavesdrop on ladies’ telephone conversations.

Gotcha!!! ;)

Oh, you’re such an amateur spy, John. Even as a kid, I knew to put my hand over the receiver so my sister couldn’t hear my breathing. ;-)

I don’t think I like this guy anymore. I don’t like the way he belittle his wife and at times take her for granted. Not sure why this bothers me now, I’ve read this strip for years. Maybe its the aging process LOL….who knows.

Hey, another history lesson for our young’uns. Not only did phones have wires, and there were extra charges for “long distance”, but now we see that many houses had “extensions” that allowed anyone to eavesdrop on conversations. Let’s see a smart phone do that!

She probably thinks it’s Michael, as that’s what’s expected from children.

I’ve read your comments for a while now, and I realize you were badly treated by your mother while you were a child. That’s why I don’t usually post any responses to your comments.-But here is a comment I can’t resist offering. Make of it what you will.-It is as unfair of you to condemn all women as man-haters who love only women, as it was for your mother to treat you as poorly as you have reported she treated you.

Back in the days of the country party lines, practically everyone listened in. And every receiver off-hook took down the volume. One time, my dad had a long distance call coming in, and could barely hear the other party.“Can you hold the line”?My dad responded “There’s about ten old hens hanging onto it, it’s not going anywhere!”click – click – click – click -—- as receivers were being hung up. (and then they could hear each other)And those were the good old days!

Another use for capacitors – we once had a neighbor that went bowling once a week, and their baby sitter would tie up the partyline all evening. So, one night I went out to the junction box and and put a 1 mfd cap across the line. It reduced the frequency responsefrom 300 – 3500 hz down to about 300 – 700 hz, ie only the lows got through!“What’s wrong with this line?”“I dunno – you sound like you are in a well!”(The good old party line days!)

At least we get a break from one solid week of the Michael-haters. Of course that is not to say that Michael did not do some things which earned him the kind of reputation he did.

Thank God for cell phones now — can’t do that anymore, but can check to see who your mate is talking to if you are that nosy. Funny thing about this is all the folks who were saying that Elly just wanted to gossip — well, look who is listening in on said gossip.