Codin' it Old School

Postscript: ninety minutes later and the lights and A/C are both back on, at least for the moment. The office's scanner is woefully confounded about the power loss, though, so this typecast is done hybrid-style, cooling drink and cell phone at the ready.

Regrettable history

A distracted ramble

The irony of publishing a typo-laden first draft is not lost on me.

And the little one said "Roll over... I'm crowded"

Thank goodness for high gas prices. Looking hard at my monthly Visa bill made me realize just how much I was spending on fillups, and how (too) often I was doing it, considering my small commute. I made a pledge to myself to swap out my twice- or thrice-weekly thrift-driving with a walk, getting reconnected to old pedestrian-friendly hobbies and spending less time peering into the "collectibles" case for junky clicky treasures (recent acquisition notwithstanding.) To tell you the truth, I've been pretty good, too. I even passed up a yard sale Lettera 32 this weekend that my wife spotted, though the "passing up" had to do more with me going to the wrong sale afterwards.

I'm trying to keep focus, shedding or passing up machines that are outside the magic 1950's decade, steering clear of electrics, shunning all things plastic. My resolve shall not be broken, nothing will stray me from my course, I shall... ooo, what's that?

A pristine 1970's SM-9.

Oh hell. Oympia. Why does it always have to be Olympia.

Naturally I lugged the stupid thing back to my office, which then forced a shuffle of all the other machines sitting on the shelf. Scoot over, Smith-Corona, budge up, Royal, there's a new kid in town.

Again.

I hope you know what you're doing

• Moses
• My new Matchmatic and its teeny tiny dial
• Understanding EV (caution: mention of logarithms)
  
• Matchmatic goes Hollywood
  

Translators wanted

Duffy's post about finding treasures in typewriter cases reminded me of this scan my dad sent to me of a note I left for myself in the case of my grandmother's old typewriter. I'm sure it's more readable in person.



Section #1:

Well, heregoes my terrific typing/hunt&peck
Skills again! It's about 7:45 on 6/9/86.
?? days until my ?????? goes to ???'.'
I hate this ribbon! My Mac ???? ? ??? ???? job!

Section #2:

Sat, April 2, 1988

[mostly unreadable, though I think I can make out the name of my hometown, "Buckhannon"

Argust 8, the aftermath

Stealthy shutterbuggery

• Introducing the Olympus Pen
• Argust 8 page and past entries at flickr
  
• Flickr 888
  

You're welcome (Hope for the future, part 2)

Received in the mail on a torn sheet of paper, in a typed envelope. See this for some context.