Tom - I have not, but then I don't have conventional TV... however it appears I can *stream* anything I want these days... I'll look it up!
- Steve PS. Mary's grandfather was a full-time old-skool blacksmith in Nebraska up into the 50s. Appropriately his surname was Strong. He was apparently built like a dwarf. I got my start from an Irishmen built more like a leprechaun... I had to stoop to use his anvil but his forearms were more like Popeye's than a normal leprechaun. He could also recite lines from myriad Irish poets and writers. How did our generation get to be so dull? > Steve: > /" I still have a coal-fired forge and an anvil, both probably > manufactured 100 years ago, that I can shape and even temper iron and > steel with (and aluminum if I'm incredibly careful), but I do not and > never will have the skills required to do it well, and certainly not > to replace what modern industrial processes can achieve... barring a > full apocalypse, it is merely a quaint "hobby" that might afford me > the opportunity to turn out some rustic items others would mistake for > "art", or more often, repair the various related tools I might > *use*in my forge... though in most cases a strap and some bolts or > rivets makes more sense than trying to re-weld a broken connecting > rod, or lever. " / > / > / > Do you watch "Forged in Fire" on the History Channel? > TJ > > ============================================ > Tom Johnson - [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA > 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) > *NM Foundation for Open Government* <http://nmfog.org> > *Check out It's The People's Data > <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-The-Peoples-Data/1599854626919671>* > > ============================================ > > > On Thu, Aug 13, 2020 at 12:00 PM Steve Smith <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > I actually knew someone who lived near the Embry-Riddle location > in 2000/2001 where several of the 9/11 pilots learned to fly well > enough to do what they did. She had friends (go figure) who > worked at a strip-club who claimed these "boys" were regulars > there. It was pretty creepy 2nd order connection. > > My uncles were both pilots in WWII but the older was trained up on > the newfangled idea of a helicopter and proceeded to become a test > pilot for Sykorski. He was forced into retirement (chief test > pilot) to a desk at 65. Nobody wanted to ground him, but "rules > is rules" and in fact his health degraded acutely and abruptly and > he died just a few years later. His family insists it was from > "heartbreak" from being grounded. > > I have a "young" friend (now 40s) who was just finishing up his > commercial certification at Embry-Riddle Prescott on 9/11 and > claims that the bottom not only dropped out for commercial pilots > for the next couple of years, but has "never recovered" and he has > been making a living as a bartender ever since. Perhaps it is > time for him to revisit. > > My ex brother-in-law left his career in the Air Force to become "a > bus driver" and recently was retired (for age) from Delta. Even > 30 years ago things were incredibly automated. I see no reason > that airliners won't be entirely automated and teleoperated in the > next 20 years. The risk-profile of such things is evolving as > self-driving cars (and more aptly? Semi-tractors?) emerge. > > The hyperloop game is going to change long distance rapid-transit > eventually. I don't believe anyone is planning for underground > "ballistic-trajectory-velocities" quite yet, but mag-lev-centered, > evacuated tube, zero-grade velocities could still be pretty > impressive, and energy consumption as well with magnetic > (regenerative) braking. The earliest days of railroading > involved gravity-trains often with empty return cars being towed > by animal power. Yet others used water from the high-side source > as "ballast" and if the up/down routes were mechanically coupled, > the extra weight of water plus load would allow the empties to be > returned "for free". > > Regarding Dave's friend's drug conviction, Denzel Washington's > (one of a series of flawed) character in the movie Flight is a > drug-addled pilot who, by implication in the story, actually > achieves a heroic manouver *because* he's still jacked on the > cocaine he snorted to lift himself out of his alcohol hangover. > The setup is that a jackscrew controlling horizontal stablizer > breaks, forcing the nose of the plane down with no recourse... > Denzel's character quickly recognizes the futility of the > situation and the *opportunity* of rolling the dive into an > inverted orientation such that the forced "nose down" is now "nose > up". > > Popular Mechanics (of all places) had an article on the > plausibility of the Cocaine effects supporting the story (rather > than the mechanics of inverted flying). > > I suspect I could get work myself using my 40 year-stale FortranIV > experience on "mission critical" systems already old at that time, > but still in some sort of service. I did a huge senior project on > a FortranIV system for simulating exo-Terran atmospheres (e.g. > Mars) which might well be still be in service? Fortunately my > COBOL/RPG experience is so slim I'd never be tempted to try that > domain. > > I'd like to believe that the myriad "stale skill" job > opportunities (demands) we see today are going to be > yet-more-fully deprecated. I still have a coal-fired forge and > an anvil, both probably manufactured 100 years ago, that I can > shape and even temper iron and steel with (and aluminum if I'm > incredibly careful), but I do not and never will have the skills > required to do it well, and certainly not to replace what modern > industrial processes can achieve... barring a full apocalypse, it > is merely a quaint "hobby" that might afford me the opportunity to > turn out some rustic items others would mistake for "art", or > more often, repair the various related tools I might *use*in my > forge... though in most cases a strap and some bolts or rivets > makes more sense than trying to re-weld a broken connecting rod, > or lever. > > Meanwhile, the discussion of how our "first programming language" > defines us, I believe that my earliest "programming" experience > was more "analysis" of the circuitry of pinball (and vending) > machines in my friend's father's workshop where he repaired them, > and there were always an array of pinball machines in various > states of repair, with all the guts open for inspection while > operating. Very much an analog/digital hybrid system while the > older vending machines were essentially all "rod logic" (albeit > simple). Later, at my first employer (radio station) I learned > the ins and outs of automated infinite loop carousel "programming" > which was a hybrid of relay and mechanical (rod/gear/lever) > logics. The "programming" was really simplistic, involving > inserting "shorting pins" in matrices to define priorities and > timing to get the "right" mix of commercials, PSAs, and a > diversity of music played during any given period (usually a 4 > hour shift). I can't say how much it influenced my later > understanding of "computer programming" which I was being > introduced to simultaneously by our Driver's Ed teacher who had > somehow wrangled a PDP-x rack into a small room with a > teletype/paper-tape-punch. He didn't really have a clue, he was > learning BASIC along with us, following a simple set of "sample > programs" listed in what I think was the "owners manual" for the > machine. > > Ramble, > > - Steve > >> Does it include lessons on how to land the plane? >> >> —Barry >> >> On 12 Aug 2020, at 21:53, Frank Wimberly wrote: >> >> I just got an email from a flight training program offering >> me a nine month >> course to get a multi engine commercial license. They don't >> read the Friam >> listsrv, I hope. I'm too old in any case. >> >> --- >> Frank C. 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