"WildWeasel" <wweasel_24 (AT) zerospam (DOT) yahoo.com> wrote

Yes, they did. And now that you mentioned that, we may have had VersaCAD in
lieu of actual Autocad. I went to a small, rural HS (total enrollment: 600)
and we didn't have a ton of money. We were lucky to have some TRS-80s and
Heathkit 8086s that actually had HDs in them in addition to the 5¼"
floppies. Granted, they were like 5MB or 10MB HDs, but it beat swapping
floppies all day.

I get confused, as I floundered for a while after marrying before coming
home to take over the family biz. During that time, and among other things,
I was a surveyor's assistant, and she used Autodesk brand stuff to do her
drawings, I assume it was Autocad. That may be where I am remebering that
from. That was probably late 1989. Then I started a subscription-based BBS,
that became an ISP once AlGore invented the 'net (and I'd borrowed a small
mint to drag a T3 into our NOC), which I later sold to Mindspring (which
later got bought by Earthlink), and THEN came back to Fayetteville to take
over my old man's office. Yup, likely mid-to-late 80s. Back when NASCAR was
cool because only us "rednecks" liked it, and floppy disks were, well,
floppy. ;-) lol

"SimRacer" <nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in
newseb3g.9466$Sa1.6838 (AT) tornado (DOT) southeast.rr.com:

You & me both. I beleive drafting was darn close to the most
useful course I had in high school - enough so that when I
discovered engineering students at the university didn't have
to know how to do a proper drawing, I recommended it be added
to the required course list (and, to my surprise, they did,
starting the year after I graduated. Apparently for some
years it was one of the hated requirements you had to get
thru to graduate, like technical writing and statics. Of
course, this was back before Autocad had been invented.)

John

"SimRacer" <nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I got out of the Academy (USMMA) in 81, and there still wasn't any Autocad.
And yes, I do feel dated. No PC's; all of our computer science classes were
in Basic and Fortran. I even remember learning how to use a slide rule,
only to drop that skill in lieu of those new calculators that you could by
for US$70.
forgiving, but I already had the basic skills, so the classes were fairly
easy for me. As far as my classmates, many of them didn't take any
occupational skills classes (read: shop), so they were really behind the
curve. That helped me during plebe year, since I could knock out the work
in drafting class early, then run back to my room, polish a few more belt
buckles and memorize more plebe knowledge. You have no idea how much fun
you missed out on. . . . . . .

Carey in Manvel

"Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

My old man tried to indoctrinate me on the slide rule (he spent his waning
militarty/post Vietnam years in the artillery) and I pretty much got the
basics, but was glad there were $70 calculators out there...The only
non-computer tool I use today is a boxwood-type scale for measuring homes
off original blueprints. And a Leico Disto5 laser measuring device, but even
it is Bluetooth enabled and transfers dimensions/sketches to my PDA while in
the field.

I just wanted to go be airborne/spec ops like my old man and step-brother,
but the Major wouldn't have it. I was going to fly, sleep in a warm bed
every night, ya know? The typical "you ain't doing what I did" routine.
After they passed on me due to my 20/40 near-sightedness, we were both
heartbroken. He told me to go to a VoTech and get a job at that point...And
I am glad I did - stay near home that is - as I hooked up with my wife that
next summer. And I doubt had I gotten in and actually been able to fly, that
I'd have gotten out in time to learn the family business quick enough when
he got sick there in the 90s and had to give it up.

But I wanted to go be a plebe....do the academy thing (in Colorado no less).
It just didn't line up right in the cosmos for me to do so I reckon.

"SimRacer" <nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I learned to use a slide rule in my sophomore year at HS. Yeah, I still use
a scale from time to time, when reviewing printed drawings to pull off
dimensions of steel repairs, and so forth. I still don't have a PDA (or a
Blackberry for that matter). I do have a manual PDA, with manual ink
stylus.
All throught HS, I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy. I wasn't raised
in a military household (my dad did just two years in the Navy during the
Korean War). When I was going through all of the testing at the two bases
in the Sacramento area, I was seeing, for the first time, how military life
was. I was starting to have my doubts, especially regarding the total 10
year commitment (4 at school, 6 after). With the nomination program, I also
opted for Annapolis and Kings Point. I was nomintated to all three, but
only accepted at KP. In the long run, all ended up the best, as far as I
was concerned. Upon graduation, I did have the option of going straight
into the Navy, and Naval Aviation at Pensacola, but I knew that I didn't
have the temperment for a real military lifestyle. So, I just went to sea.
There was no family business to run, and we moved around all my life, so it
wasn't like I was leaving a whole slew of life long friends.

Oh, on a side note, I am sure that they made you aware that very few
graduates from the Air Force Academy actually end up flying, let alone
fighters.
things out of the Plebe experience that I take with me all the time. One is
the ability to prioritize assignments with time management skills. The
other is a real high tolerance for difficult situations (although this is
slowly dwindling, must be part of getting old). The tolerance just comes
from the fact that no mater how much nasty crap I may face in work or life,
it still has to get pretty damn bad to be as bad as it was during Plebe
year; and I made it through that.

Carey in Manvel

Top posted just to hilite my enjoyment of U2's 'confessions'.
Sim, Carey & a few others may take an original post to extremes,
but personal life experiences is priceless! (commercial pause)

The amazing part is that from all walks of life, even Aussies, Brits,
& Americans can meet in RASN & share so many things in common.
(like forgetting how to write in cursive)

U2 are a trip!! I hope u continue to show the way to others in here
how to be civilized & enjoy life. (even tho u both probably will deny it!)
--
Crusader


"Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

"Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

LOL! I like the ink pen stylus comment. Funny. Will have to plagerize that
sometime.

I do still have to produce footprint sketches of homes and business
buildings that I appraise - for GLA or GBA purposes, and between the laser
meter, my PDA and tablet PC, 90% of the legwork is already "in the computer"
when I get back to the office. I ain't all about high tech, but that bit of
a system saves me days a year if not weeks in my estimation, and we all know
that time is money. Certainly when one is self employed.

True that, but I had the aptitude, SAT score, (very high) recommendations
and so forth to at damn well least try. But a flat NO due to my eyesight at
the time killed my ambition for the AF totally. Of course one of my
supporters was the old man, and his trials and tribulations in his day
earned him a plot at Arlington, so I assume they'd at least given me a shot
at getting into flight school. Jesse Helms (like him or not) also sent up a
very supportive letter on my behalf as well. Also had some big time generals
(BG Tackebarry, (then) BG Hugh Shelton - later the C of the JCOS) that had
rotated through Bragg sign off on my application too. I was set, I just
couldn't see well enough.

That's ok really. I fly a fair bit today. I just don't own a plane.....yet.
;-0 (and likely never will, too expensive, even for the little Pipers out
there)

I know. And I went own to learn a lot of those lessons in my life anyway -
later of course, but it didn't stop me from being upset over it for several
years, that I couldn't even begin to chase the dream I'd had since I was old
enough to build models of fighter aircraft. I'd have been happy to fly
transports, KCs, whatever. It didn't have to be a front line fighter that I
ended up in, honestly. I just wanted to travel the world and be a pilot.

"SimRacer" <nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Feel free. And the data stored is "dead battery" proof.
more specialized.

We had some similar issues with folks in my class regarding color blindness,
even in the engineers (many status lights in the engine room are red or
green).
You should meet my boss. He has a Cessna (I don't know the model number,
but you know, the high wing single engine kind), a Piper Aztec (I have flown
it, but only Arab style, i.e. no landing) and a Robinson R44 Helicopter.
The latter is a big hit with the gf and her kids.
seaman. THAT was the pay off for me. Believe me, I really wanted to quit,
one week into indoctrination, but stuck it out. The thing is, the four
years I was in there seems longer than the now 25 years I have been out.
Quite an experience.

Carey in New Orleans

"Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

<SNIP>
The things we get to laugh at as we age are priceless IMO.

This is why I got "back" into ocean fishing after moving to our current home
in 1997. My then new neighbor talked and talked my ears off to go out with
him, and then I realised why. He too is color blind and struggles, when
alone, to tell the bouy colors in the channels in and out of the various
inlets & the ICW.

I've since hooked him up with a very high tech marine GPS system that either
shows the bouys from mapping DBs or allows him to program the bouys in
manually (usually the case, since channels "move" every so often). He does a
lot to help me and the wife, when I'm out of town especially, so yes, I gave
him a nice Lowrance GPS/sonar system, for Christmas. We both benefit,
especially when going out - the relatively viscious - Oregon Inlet or
navigating the shoals located from Duck to Cape Hatteras to Cape Lookout and
Beaufort Inlet (the proverbial Graveyard of the Atlantic)....

I am lucky enough to live near a small strip with teaching pilots that are
more than happy to let me get my hours in each year. I love flying, but
owning an aircraft is still way down the priority list for me at the moment.
Damn near rock bottom actually. I'd rather own a race car at the moment.

Yup, that was my thing. I wanted to travel the world (or at least parts of
it with an USAF presence). Outside of his tours of Vietnam (and the
resulting Agent Orange/Purple exposure and intestinal parasites), my old man
always spoke highly of his times in foreign lands.