I could use a cloth in place of kitchen roll, a dish or cling film for foil, a laptop to print another copy of something or to contact someone if I had no phone, ot to watch TV on or to listen to the radio. But the laptop itself I'd miss more than anything all modcons put together.
Toilet Paper. When I was a kid we only used cut up newspaper & used to end up with black print all over my bum.
If we had tissue paper that an orange was wrapped in we'd fight over it.
I prefer the laptop (with a mouse when I feel the need) as I can slob about on the sofa or sit at the desk depending how I feel. But best of all, on a nice day I can sit out in the garden with a cuppa and still chat to you all.
I only used newspaper for toilet paper when visiting my Grandma - she had an outside loo with a wooden seat like a plank with a hole cut in it - as a little girl I was terrified to go if it was dark. "Take the flashlight Ann" she used to say ....I never dared put it on as I was more terrified of the spiders and moths!
We used the horrid smelling Izal toilet roll sheets at home, you had to rub each sheet in your hands first to make them soft enough to use on the poor old bottie!
Ann - you have just described my grandmother's toilet facilities, and to flush you had to get a bucket of water and pour it down. My father used to cut newspaper in squares, make a hole in the top and thread a piece of string through to hold them together. Good way of recycling and that black print, jem, is supposed to be good for killing germs.
Yes Grandma's loo was just like that - I used to stare down into the black murky depths scared I would fall down it ............thinking about it they must have had to empty it unless it flushed (but I don't think it did) If it was just a bucket, where did they empty it? They only had a back yard so they couldn't put it round the roses! ;)