Days of Yore

My grandfather's brass vernier scale sextant (circa 1910, no micrometer drum).

My aunt wanted to make it into a lamp. My cousin complained loudly, demanding that she pass it on to me, a Naval officer.

Aunt Lucy surrendered and sent it to me.

It was in rather sad shape, but I cleaned, calibrated, polished, and repainted it and refurbished its lovely walnut case.

So it sits in grandeur on my side table and I do occasionally take it out and take a sight. It  works, just fine.

But sight reduction is a pain, even with software. GPS is a lot easier.

Beside it is a replacement for my Keuffel & Esser Log Log Duplex Decitrig slide rule.

 

The original was given to me in high school by Mr. (Stempel?), a next door neighbor who was an electrical engineer and had a beautiful daughter. I don't know whether he was mentoring me to be an engineer or grooming me for his daughter. The first won and off we went to Duke Engineering School.

But  a really cool guy. Thank you again, sir.

Absolute magic, except I could never keep the decimal point straight.

That problem was solved with my first calculator, the HP-35:

Truly magic.

I was convinced that little green spacemen had sprinkled magic microchips under the polka-dotted mushrooms of Monterey county that were being harvested and put into a box by Hewlett Packard.

As I said, I was having problems with decimal points. There was a Brazilian officer in my class who was kind. So one day I just asked him.

"Look: I'm as smart as you, but you're getting A's and I'm getting C's. What am I doing wrong?"

He said, "I've been watching you. Basically you are totally disorganized. Here: you need one of these:"

and he pulled a six-inch C-Thru ruler out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me.
"You need to organize your writing, draw boxes around your answers, using this ruler, and get a calculator, like this one." and held up his HP-35.

Probably the best advice I have ever been given.

So after class I jumped into the car, dashed off to HP's office in Cupertino.

I came sliding into the parking lot at about 1645, before their 1700 closing.
Dashed into the office, slapped down the VISA and said, "Please, get me one."

So she did, I got back in the car, and headed back to Monterey. I can still remember the smell. Wonderful.

Then I hit the freeway.

Bumper to bumper through San Jose and beyond.

OK, make lemonade. RTFM

By the time I cleared the San Jose traffic we were into eucalyptus trees and the red barn flea market (where I later bought my first O-scope) and I had read the manual cover to cover.

And indeed, it worked. I got a "most improved" award on graduation. Not too hard, since my Duke BA got me a 2.11 and Monterey got me a 3.72...

I now carry around a modern HP-35s.

And still carry the C-Thru, an engineer's pencil, its separate eraser, and have a pad of green grid paper on the shelf under the coffee table.

Just in case.

More as an act of faith and of following the engineer's Articles of Religion than for any practical utility. They just make me feel good, like a reel injuneer.

Maybe I should go after eBay and see if I can find another of the reel thang  HP-35.

Happy memories.

Here is what "closing down the government" will bring

Here is what "closing down the government" will bring:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24330034

    • State department will be able to operate for limited time
        ° Ho hum

    • Department of defense would continue military operations
        ° Yah, duh

    • Department of education would still distribute $22bn (£13.6bn) to public schools, but staffing would be severely hit
        ° $22 BILLION!! Holy cow! Good grief! this is but part of the problem...

    • Department of energy - 12,700 staff would be sent home, 1,113 remain to oversee nuclear arsenal
        ° For which there is absolutely no use. Oh darn.

    • Department of health and human services to send home more than half of staff
        ° And what have they done for you recently except concoct Obamacare?

    • The Federal Reserve, dept of homeland security, and justice dept would see little or no disruption
       ° Duh. Follow the money, the jackboots, and the lawyers. They won't touch that one.

    • US Postal Services would continue as normal
       ° FWIW, delivering nothing but junk mail. Hello USPS, wake up. Mail is dead. Anyone with a brain does it electronically. Sorry Ben, 1737 was a good year, but it is now 2013.

    • Smithsonian institutions, museums, zoos and many national parks would be closed
      ° Oh darn. Hello, it is September and everyone is now back in school or at work, or looking full time for work. Everyone in the upper 51%, that is.

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So how does this really affect your life?

Not at all.

====================================

I am truly sorry for the people being unpaid. Sort of like me, without a formal job for a year, despite trying desperately.

But it is a matter of choices. That's what savings are for, and if you choose to work for an unreliable employer then you are responsible for the outcome... A choice: risk, reward... Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

What part of this do we not understand, details of which I have already published numerous times:

• We have a huge debt, but are continuing to spend at some half again the current income.

• We have increased that debt by half again since Obama took office.

• We have almost half of the population NOT WORKING.

• We are taxing people almost half their income and giving it to the people that are NOT working or to totally unnecessary "services", see above.

• We have half the world hating us for wading in with jackboots, drones, and bombs (Africa, Middle East, Far East, etc...)

• We have two thirds of the country hating the incumbent Government (check the numbers on Republican vs. Democrat governors, demography of the House of Representatives, etc. etc. etc. Google is your friend...)

• We have the NSA spying on each one of us, and the DHS giving jackboots and combat SUVs to local police departments


So why can't we wake up and acknowledge that there is a HUGE problem?

Tell me what part of this is not true.

You can't.


But today I lost a respected correspondent over my "rant".

For not being nice.


No, it's not pretty and no, I'm not being nice.

The time for being nice is over.


Thanks to another for these quotes:

"Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles". Ayn Rand. .

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the flag, and begin slitting throats”. H. L. Mencken


This is one of those times. If you do not acknowledge a problem then you are part of it.

In which case I'll see you on the train to Dachau.