Robert Pence

:laugh: I was using 80-column punch cards, operating a keypunch, making drum cards, running a sorter, and configuring tab bars for NCR tabulating bookkeeping machines in 1965. I worked with NCR 1-inch paper tape punches and readers, too, and in 1966 I took a class to learn to wire boards for IBM punched card interpreters, collators, etc. I had a brief encounter with the abominable mark-sense card equipment. Just a little of that was more than enough. The first dial-up access we installed in our regional warehouses used telephone modems and teletype-style printers with keyboards for input. It was a big step up when we got Televideo CRT terminals that would work with separate dot-matrix printers.

Hoo, Boy! Did that ever nail me! As I went through the pairs of choices I was a little frustrated because in each pair, neither was a clear choice; each choice listed some attributes that apply to me, so I had to pick the one that was closest. The outcome was pretty much spot-on. Adjectives which describe Analytical Thinker: introverted, theoretical, logical, spontaneous, rational, analytical, intellectual, sceptical, pensive, critical, quiet, precise, independent, creative, inventive, abstract, eccentric, curious, reserved, self-involved, imaginative, unsociable, determined, modest, careful, incommunicative, witty RP note: "Incommunicative" above doesn't mean inarticulate or otherwise unable to communicate. It means that I try to keep my mouth shut and not let impulse drive me to show my ignorance (That inhibition often dissolves with fatigue, leading to my occasional late-night posts that go off the deep end). In meetings and hearings I'm not quick to jump in with my opinion; I'll keep my mouth shut and let everyone else have their say, and often someone else does a respectable job of expressing what I had in mind. If no one else covers it, I'll speak up just as the moderator is about to close discussion. If I'm asked for my opinion, I'll be straight out with it and sometimes end up stepping on sensitive toes. That's what set off the brouhaha with "Charlotte" that some of you might remember from a few months back.

Sometimes something jogs a memory, and the more I reminisce, the more I remember. I should write a book, now that the statute of limitations has expired! :angel:

circa 1983 - IBM PC, 16-bit Intel 8088 CPU at 4.77Mhz, throttled by an 8-bit bus. 256K RAM, 2-360K Floppy drives, No Hard Drive, DOS 2.1, "Fast" Hayes 1200 Baud Smartmodem (not all local phone lines would support that much speed, so it could automatically step back to 300 Baud if necessary), Okidata tractor-feed dot-matrix printer, Word Perfect run from floppy with overlays. ~$5,000. Later came an $800 add-in card to boost RAM to 640K, enabling creation of a virtual drive where I could load the entire Word Perfect floppy to accelerate loading of overlays and free up a drive. Still later, a ~$500 10MB Hard Drive, and I couldn't imagine how I was going to use all that storage. Also got a copy of Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet from work and upgraded with an 8087 floating-point math coprocessor.

The homes are impressive; click the photo to see the 2006 Urbanohio.com forum meet in Middletown.

I'll bet you can't get this at any of those uppity stores!

Who were the other two?

I'm glad you escaped injury! Some drivers don't know how to handle adverse weather, and they think all the doodads like anti-lock brakes will compensate for their lack of skill. Does your raincoat have any reflective material? You probably can find reflective tape at a safety-supply store; I use personal safety gear for occasional photo projects, and I picked up a bright yellow surveyor's vest with reflective strips that cost less than $20 and has a bunch of pockets for gadgets.

So that's my problem! I've never been suspended! I'm too tired right now, but I'll get started on that tomorrow. :whip:

... but with the Shakers, it was their choice!

I have never heard of this "Shaker Square," do you mean Shaker Circle? ;) He means "Shake 'er harder and see what falls out."

A few of our forumers, even though they didn't major in theater, are very much into drama. :-D

C-Dawg, the word that comes to mind to describe that photo is "ethereal." It has a very dreamlike quality. Here's my latest contribution, somewhat less dreamlike:

The building on the left in this 2002 photo, beyond the bridge, was destroyed Saturday, November 13, by fire. Louisville Courier-Journal article here.

Very attractive. I love the front yard with the Hallowe'en decorations; the only way to keep from descending into tackiness on that holiday is to go all-out, and they did!

I'm largely uneducated in the formal sense. I have a high school diploma and an assortment of random credits from Purdue and IU from courses I took when I found a need for them in my work. I learned the machinist-toolmaker's trade through an apprenticeship and learned arc and MIG welding through night courses at a community vocational school, and used those skills for several years in three different shops, acquired some college credit and learned accounting and some rudimentary computer skills through OJT during my four years' active duty in the USAF, worked in manufacturing cost analysis for sixteen years and in material control and production planning for five years at GE, and did PC and network tech support at Lincoln Financial for nine years before being outsourced to IBM, where I put up with the corporate crap for two years while trying not to choke on it. I retired in 2001. I'm glad I got my education out of the way many years ago, before there was so much stuff to learn :wink:. That said, I can't forget how my aunt, who earned her MD in 1939 as the only woman in her class at IU, and practiced for almost forty years, repeatedly told me in my teen years that I'd never amount to anything without a degree. Now that I'm 71 and have learned to somewhat manage my ADHD, sometimes I think about pulling together all my credits and work experience and talking to a counselor at IPFW, the local IU-Purdue joint campus, to see what I still need to get a diploma of some sort. When my end comes, I'd hate passing on without ever having amounted to anything. :-D

Excellent shots. That's an unbelievable crush of people!

I don't know how I missed it the first time around, but the place looks quite beautiful. It puts new perspective on Americans' sense of historic; we're impressed with a house that's a couple of hundred years old, and in some parts of Europe they're still using buildings that are 900 - 1,000 years old or more, as everyday residences and shops.

Yes! I saw that too and parts of it really made me wince, but it was well worth seeing it through to the end. Another good one is "Get Low." Set in the mountains again, this time in Tennessee. Most interesting story, and beautifully filmed.

Just pull up and give their bumper a solid tap - Naw, they'll move sooner or later. I might give my horn a light tap, but mostly it's not necessary. On the other hand, the second-in-line clowns that lay on the horn the instant the light turns green, well, if I'm first in line I'll take foorrrreeeevvver to get up to 20-30mph when that happens. To get by with that sort of passive aggression you have to make sure you never make eye contact in the mirror. If they just think I'm stupid, they'll still be madder'n hell but they're not likely to try to do anything about it. It helps to stay out of truckers' blind spots. Generally, if you can see his mirror, he can see you, and most truckers, regardless of what it sometimes seems, aren't homicidal maniacs. And if you encounter one who is, the horn isn't going to help. I just stay well away from trucks on the interstates whenever possible. If you've ever seen a truck throw a tire tread at 70mph, you'll understand why.

Git yer grammer rite. Us Hoosiers only use "mines" when talkin 'bout more'n one, like in "them's mines."

Appreciation of a film may be enhanced by one's state of mind (or lack thereof) while viewing it. In 1968 I was swept away by the visuals in 2001 A Space Oddysey. Later it occurred to me that it might be a good film to see with enhanced perceptions. In conversation one evening I discussed that with a close friend who concurred with my observation. Some years later, in the mid-seventies, I think, the studio rereleased the film. I read about it and called my friend; "Hey, guess what film just got rereleased!" His response; "Hey, guess what somebody at work just gave me for my birthday!" That evening at my house we shared a bottle of wine and his birthday present along with some very excellent Mexican food from a neighborhood restaurant, before heading to the theater. Enroute my attention span was taxed to remember where we were going and why, but by joint concentration we managed to get there. The experience of the film was everything I had hoped for, and the impression still lingers of at one point hanging onto the arms of my seat, and feeling that I was being launched into space alone. Strong visuals usually are what appeal to me most, and they're most effective when viewed on a big screen with theater sound. The starkness of some of the scenes in Doctor Zhivago still live in my memory, like trudging along a railroad track in the featureless openness of Siberian winter. I shivered when I saw that.

Congrats!

I think horns should be eliminated from all new civilian automobiles, and disabled on older ones. Driving defensively means keeping your vehicle under control at all times, anticipating that other drivers occasionally will screw up, and allowing room for that to happen. The greatest priority for any driver should be avoiding crashes, not defending turf. If someone starts a lane change too close in front of me, I'll ease up on the gas or maybe even touch the brakes. I'm already driving the posted limit, or a few mph under it if traffic is dense and aggressive; I can decelerate without risking being rear-ended, but often not without hearing a horn blast behind me and looking in the mirror to see a middle finger raised in front of an angry face. I'm not sure my horn still works; I can't remember the last time I used it. I live alongside a one-way arterial headed out of town, and at evening rush hour it's packed with downtown office workers headed home to sprawville. They're driving 45-plus in a thirty-five zone, with whole packs of cars tailgating with less than a car length between them, jockying for position as they head into a curve. It's not uncommon to hear a horn just before a crash; if drivers didn't have a horn to rely on, perhaps they'd curb their aggression just a little bit.

Beautiful scenes. I'm glad that so much of Georgetown's historic architecture has been preserved.