I don’t think I want to mess with that thread puppeh; he’s pretty stern-looking.
I wonder if this was a case of a customer helping out with “merchandising” or an impish employee:
Given the carptastic candidates both major parties have selected (for which they should be mercilessly mocked, shamed and loathed), I think Hillary and Donald should be tossed into Rio’s Guanabara Bay as part of the Olympics’ opening festivities. 👿
I have been trying to go to bed earlier, between midnight and two AM. Last night I had my old XP computer on and around midnight I decided to look back at some of the old e-mails from 2006 with our gentle Harper and some other Gerbils. Before I knew it, 5:30 had snuck up on me and smacked me in the head. I was barely into 2007! It was amazing to read them and hard to believe it was ten years ago. There was so much I did not remember and so much I did but had not thought of.
What a special place and special people you all are. Thank you.
Now how do I resist the siren call of the sleeping computer? It beckons!!
During a time when computing power was so scarce that it required a government-defense budget to finance it, a young man used a $238 million military computer, the largest such machine ever built, to render an image of a curvy woman on a glowing cathode ray tube screen. The year was 1956, and the creation was a landmark moment in computer graphics and cultural history that has gone unnoticed until now.
Using equipment designed to guard against the apocalypse, a pin-up girl had been drawn.
She was quite probably the first human likeness to ever appear on a computer screen.
Heh! My father was a civilian employee of the Air Force. He was QA at Lockheed and had to sign off on contracts worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars before they got paid. Of course there was tension with the Lockheed personnel and managers but they did have a decent working relationship. It did not help that as a member of their glider club he often won over people who were rocket scientists and aeronautical engineers. The pride, it burns!
One day he walked into a room where all the Lockheed engineers were hard at work. Someone casually reached over and pressed a button and the dot printer went into feverish activity. On that wide perforated printer paper it printed out a large graphic of Snoopy holding a sign that said “Weaver is an SOB”. My dad was a big Snoopy fan and had many pictures and toys in his office of Snoopy in Red Barron mode. He loved it and kept it on his wall and had it after he retired, hanging on his hobby room wall. It was a great job with a stoic facial expression that was masterful. It was meant and taken as a joke and a sign of respect and comradeship.
Could not help but think of that when I saw your post. Wish I had that printout.
Wasn’t it Golda that spoke of peace coming when Palestinians started loving their children more than they hated Jews? We seem a long way from that yet.
It really makes me sick when someone talks about the plight of these terrorists. They prefer martyrs to children. Sick.
Maybe I can’t get too high horse. Americans seem to prefer free birth control to their children’s future.
Some days, I wish the Israelis would simply give the Paleswinians what they clearly want: martyrs by the thousands. And if the death toll is high enough, their Jooo-hating neighbors cease to be a problem except for disposal of the carrion.
I’m old enough to remember when the Israelis kicked serious ass and the world respected them for it; clearly, their “kinder, gentler” approach is not working. IMHO, they were fools to give up Gaza and the West Bank to an enemy who has sworn to annihilate them.
I went to one of the glider matches. They used catapult launched (rubber bands) and tow line gliders These had no remote control systems. The larger tow line gliders had dethermalizers to tip up the rear stabilizers after a preset amount of time so the glider would come down. Otherwise they could catch a thermal and just be lost. He had been designing and building gliders since he was a boy so in spite of being “under qualified” he was very good and gave them fits, winning many trophies. He lost some of the smaller catapult gliders as they got high enough to catch a thermal and fly out of sight. One of his tow line gliders worked so well it stayed up even after the dethermalizer tipped up the rear wing. We had to chase it a long way and thought we might lose it. Lot’s of engineers shaking their heads.
With the rear wing tipped up they are supposed to go nose up in a slow stall and make a tight circle as they come down, fast enough to escape the thermal but not fast enough to destroy the plane in a crash. They are designed to come apart without real damage unless they nose in. He used some commercial kits but could not afford the best so he modified them to improve the designs and performance. Imagine exotic sports car drivers losing to a bus driver in a modified Chevy. It was a lot of fun.
Heidi-ho, Gerbil Nation!
Mrs. Paddy and I arrived home a little while ago and are relaxing before cleaning out the car. I just finished catching up on the week’s posts. Thanks for the summary of the convention.
Mac -- I hope there is nothing too amiss in your “abnormal” stress test.
Coming in to the Santa Clarita valley, the smoke from the Sand fire reminded me of a really bad smog day from the 70’s.
He worked his way up through the ranks, taking night classes as needed. He was reasonable if there was a problem and he felt safety and reliability were not compromised, but if someone lied to him or tried to sneak something through then life was hell after that. Early on he found some documentation problems and tried to deal with them by contacting the Lockheed department head. The guy blew him off and was not available and did not return calls. My father was not high enough for him to worry about. When this was clear he went to the holding area where finished birds were awaiting final approval and downchecked the lot, tens of millions of dollars in product not acceptable. He took his time returning to his office and all hell broke loose. The department head that was too busy to see him for weeks was frantically trying to reach him, calling his bosses, and anyone who might know where he was. When he showed his military bosses the problems and his futile attempts to address them, they backed him completely. A much humbler manager asked to work something out with him and he never had trouble reaching him again.
He was known for being very strict but he was very honest and his integrity was absolute. He could not be influenced or intimidated but he did want the contracts filled on time and often helped them when there were problems and they were open about them.
I learned a lot about honor and integrity from him. Wish I could live up to his example. I just never had his strength of character but I have tried to live up to him.
Happy Caturday, GN!
I don’t think I want to mess with that thread puppeh; he’s pretty stern-looking.
I wonder if this was a case of a customer helping out with “merchandising” or an impish employee:
Given the carptastic candidates both major parties have selected (for which they should be mercilessly mocked, shamed and loathed), I think Hillary and Donald should be tossed into Rio’s Guanabara Bay as part of the Olympics’ opening festivities. 👿
Good morning, GN!
I like the word “carptastic”; thanks, Fatwa.
I have been trying to go to bed earlier, between midnight and two AM. Last night I had my old XP computer on and around midnight I decided to look back at some of the old e-mails from 2006 with our gentle Harper and some other Gerbils. Before I knew it, 5:30 had snuck up on me and smacked me in the head. I was barely into 2007! It was amazing to read them and hard to believe it was ten years ago. There was so much I did not remember and so much I did but had not thought of.
What a special place and special people you all are. Thank you.
Now how do I resist the siren call of the sleeping computer? It beckons!!
Hai, Sven and Mac!
“Come here, Mac.”
Picture from this article:
Heh.
Heh! My father was a civilian employee of the Air Force. He was QA at Lockheed and had to sign off on contracts worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars before they got paid. Of course there was tension with the Lockheed personnel and managers but they did have a decent working relationship. It did not help that as a member of their glider club he often won over people who were rocket scientists and aeronautical engineers. The pride, it burns!
One day he walked into a room where all the Lockheed engineers were hard at work. Someone casually reached over and pressed a button and the dot printer went into feverish activity. On that wide perforated printer paper it printed out a large graphic of Snoopy holding a sign that said “Weaver is an SOB”. My dad was a big Snoopy fan and had many pictures and toys in his office of Snoopy in Red Barron mode. He loved it and kept it on his wall and had it after he retired, hanging on his hobby room wall. It was a great job with a stoic facial expression that was masterful. It was meant and taken as a joke and a sign of respect and comradeship.
Could not help but think of that when I saw your post. Wish I had that printout.
Wasn’t it Golda that spoke of peace coming when Palestinians started loving their children more than they hated Jews? We seem a long way from that yet.
It really makes me sick when someone talks about the plight of these terrorists. They prefer martyrs to children. Sick.
Maybe I can’t get too high horse. Americans seem to prefer free birth control to their children’s future.
Loved teh story about your Dad, Mac!
You’re correct about the Golda Meir quote.
Some days, I wish the Israelis would simply give the Paleswinians what they clearly want: martyrs by the thousands. And if the death toll is high enough, their Jooo-hating neighbors cease to be a problem except for disposal of the carrion.
I’m old enough to remember when the Israelis kicked serious ass and the world respected them for it; clearly, their “kinder, gentler” approach is not working. IMHO, they were fools to give up Gaza and the West Bank to an enemy who has sworn to annihilate them.
Agree about trying to appease killers. Even their enemies respected their strength.
I went to one of the glider matches. They used catapult launched (rubber bands) and tow line gliders These had no remote control systems. The larger tow line gliders had dethermalizers to tip up the rear stabilizers after a preset amount of time so the glider would come down. Otherwise they could catch a thermal and just be lost. He had been designing and building gliders since he was a boy so in spite of being “under qualified” he was very good and gave them fits, winning many trophies. He lost some of the smaller catapult gliders as they got high enough to catch a thermal and fly out of sight. One of his tow line gliders worked so well it stayed up even after the dethermalizer tipped up the rear wing. We had to chase it a long way and thought we might lose it. Lot’s of engineers shaking their heads.
With the rear wing tipped up they are supposed to go nose up in a slow stall and make a tight circle as they come down, fast enough to escape the thermal but not fast enough to destroy the plane in a crash. They are designed to come apart without real damage unless they nose in. He used some commercial kits but could not afford the best so he modified them to improve the designs and performance. Imagine exotic sports car drivers losing to a bus driver in a modified Chevy. It was a lot of fun.
Heidi-ho, Gerbil Nation!
Mrs. Paddy and I arrived home a little while ago and are relaxing before cleaning out the car. I just finished catching up on the week’s posts. Thanks for the summary of the convention.
Mac -- I hope there is nothing too amiss in your “abnormal” stress test.
Coming in to the Santa Clarita valley, the smoke from the Sand fire reminded me of a really bad smog day from the 70’s.
He worked his way up through the ranks, taking night classes as needed. He was reasonable if there was a problem and he felt safety and reliability were not compromised, but if someone lied to him or tried to sneak something through then life was hell after that. Early on he found some documentation problems and tried to deal with them by contacting the Lockheed department head. The guy blew him off and was not available and did not return calls. My father was not high enough for him to worry about. When this was clear he went to the holding area where finished birds were awaiting final approval and downchecked the lot, tens of millions of dollars in product not acceptable. He took his time returning to his office and all hell broke loose. The department head that was too busy to see him for weeks was frantically trying to reach him, calling his bosses, and anyone who might know where he was. When he showed his military bosses the problems and his futile attempts to address them, they backed him completely. A much humbler manager asked to work something out with him and he never had trouble reaching him again.
He was known for being very strict but he was very honest and his integrity was absolute. He could not be influenced or intimidated but he did want the contracts filled on time and often helped them when there were problems and they were open about them.
I learned a lot about honor and integrity from him. Wish I could live up to his example. I just never had his strength of character but I have tried to live up to him.
Paddy! Missed you while slow typing. Glad you are back safely.
Hey Mac! I love the stories about your dad!