[foomar]

I'm pretty old but I've never seen one of those...wtf is it?

At 75 I am probably a bit older than most on the forum , things have changed a lot and not always for the better.

They were the original mechanical calculator , the old 1880,s one pictured is cranked by hand to turn a complicated system of cogs , gears and pawls , slower in use than an electronic model but just as accurate.

Noisy in use and needs an hour a week to clean and oil the innards.

The shelf on the left is to take a manual typewriter to record results.

Postwar they were powered by an electric motor and were cheaper , an early model cost as much as a car to buy and comptometrist was a recognised profession.

You can see them and sliderules still in use on early pictures from NASA and Los Alamos , more powerful and reliable than early computers.
I used one in the 60,s in aerospace design till they were scrapped , never thought to save one then but wish I had.

If you can find a manual portable model at a boot fair snap it up , antique of the future and an amazing example of quality engineering , most were thrown away when electronic calculators became available so getting rare and expensive in working order.

Much more fun than an 80k enigma machine and it still does a useful job.

[EclipseFour20]

I think many of us old farts probably attended different high schools together....that said, never owned or wore one of those "pocket protectors"--and I was rather fast on the slide rule...lol!

[unregistered190]

Originally Posted by foomar

At 75 I am probably a bit older than most on the forum , things have changed a lot and not always for the better.

Wow, Would never have thought I would run across a post from a 75 year old stoner on here....thinking @ 50 I am older than most on the forums. But anyway....... and lets

[shithawk420]

I didn't think foomar was that old either.much respect foomar.

[foomar]

They say you are as old as the woman you feel , so that makes me only 52 . . .

The senile dementia could kick in any day now and I,ll probably forget I ever posted here , but being online seems to help keep the brain working for now.

[shithawk420]

Haha.I like the way you think.your pretty sharp.you'll be fine mate.

You know you're old when ......


when you surf youtube for music and 99 times out of 100 you choose to listen to 60's and 70's music and even some early 80's.

Here's a good one.

[armedoldhippy]

you can remember when the rocks were still soft...

[siftedunity]

when you keep calling family and friends the wrong names.

[IGROWMYOWN]

Originally Posted by Bag

when ya get sir'ed out in public

yes I got sir'ed the other day for the first time by a kid at the movie theatre i'm early 30s that was well a bummer.