...And I've been in to work once and will be returning later. Little electrical power issue.
Tam mentioned my typewriter collection in passing and the reason I started it. I already owned typewriters -- a nice Royal seen here eons ago, a Corona 3 portable and a newer Olympia -- but when I realized "keysnippers" were real and they were trashin' entire machines for some play-pretties, I decided I'd better look for and buy any typewriter I really wanted; there are a lot more more craft-types out there than typewriter fans.
And likewise my collection of tools, telephones and radio items, even books: it's the stuff I really wanted. 'Cos you can't really count on somebody else preserving it for you. If you want to keep an item around, if you want to preserve a skill or an art or a technology, then you better do it. Nobody's gonna do it for you, even if you manage to get a law passed mandating it.
Good on you for the preservation.
ReplyDeleteYou might think of an IBM Correcting Selectric II if you don't have one already.
The Purdeys of the typewriter world when introduced in the early 1970's.
Probably still in home use somewhere. It's the parts and supplies that might be hard to come by...and have you tried finding a typewriter repair shop recently?
Last one I looked for was about 15 years ago, and I'm sure the guy running it was born before 1920.
Would you be interested in my Flexowriter? I'd have to have someone help me drag it out of the basement, and it's the size of a car, but I'd rather see someone using it than having it sit and rust in the basement.
ReplyDeleteThe PERFECT excuse for my pack-rattery.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to keep an item around, if you want to preserve a skill or an art or a technology, then you better do it. Which is why the "sewing room" has 7 spinning wheels and a table loom in it. And there is no truth to the rumor that I try to sell spinning wheels behind her back. Make jokes about doing so in front of her, yes, but not actually doin' it...
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when I was trying to sell my 4x5 Speed Graphic. Got a hit from someone wanting to buy just the flash unit, because the battery tube is popular as a starting point for building your own light saber.
ReplyDeleteHey, you don't happen to include old cameras in your list of stuff to preserve? ;-)
If you want to keep an item around, if you want to preserve a skill or an art or a technology, then you better do it.
ReplyDeleteKinda scary to think that after 24 years of professional wrench bending I'm now among the 'old-timers'. While I've never poured babbit bearings, I HAVE lapped valves, set points, checked dwell, rebuilt and tuned carburetors.
I often ask myself how I'm expected to teach a young tech 'clockwise' and 'counter clockwise' when he, and most of the rest of the world, tell time WITH DIGITAL CLOCKS!
Hell, with the stuff I like, (old cars) I'm more likely to get a law mandating its destruction. :(
ReplyDeleteFucking Gaia Worshipping bastards.
I can relate. I restore mechanical watches as a hobby and it is quite disheartening to find that parts are being sold to people to make "craft jewelry" with. My old Royal manual is safe for my lifetime anyway. BC in VA.
ReplyDelete"I often ask myself how I'm expected to teach a young tech 'clockwise' and 'counter clockwise' when he, and most of the rest of the world, tell time WITH DIGITAL CLOCKS!"
ReplyDelete"Lefty loosey, Righty tighty" sometimes works.
John Peddie: We are very lucky here: King Typewriter Service is still around and he offers to-your-door service, too. Company moved from its hallowed (and expensive) Downtown location to a bedroom community and the savings was enough to cover taking a day a week to do pick up and delivery
ReplyDeleteNo room, Og.
Jed: I have a couple of box cameras. I have a roll of film that needs developed, too. The fancier ones, I was never into and therefore leave to folks who understand their care and feeding.
Rickin8or: I have never understood what goes on in people's minds to turn a linear vector instruction into a rotation.
BC in VA: One of my frustrations with some forms of "steampunk" is that there are crafters/artists who think it just means sticking watch parts on things. Yeeech. The better sort (Jake von Slatt) springs to mind) use photo-etched brass for decorative effects, including clockworkery, and new or junk-salvaged gears when actual function is called for; the latter generally calls for something heavier than is found in watches or most clocks and Small Parts, Inc. is happy to sell it in shiny new brass and other materials.
My old job was a case of preserving old skills for the future, and I'm glad I have that particular skill set. It has come in handy often enough.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better.
Jim