You Know You Are Old When

[jyoutz]

My experience was in Juarez. I haven't kept up with things there, but I would be surprised if things improved so drastically.

For unskilled laborers, owning a car, or living in an area where they could feasibly keep a car, would have been a be pipe dream. They had a company bus that would pick up the employees in the morning and take them home after work. Some homes didn't even have indoor plumbing.

The overriding theme of society was corruption. Anyone who had a job with any authority would use that power to obtain bribes, which was their polite term for extortion.

There was a handful of US citizens that crossed the border every day to do some of the higher levels jobs at the plant. As part of their commuting experience, they would periodically get pulled over by the Mexican police. The only reason for the stop was that the office wanted a bribe. The protocol was to hand him your drivers license with a folded $10 bill.

I'm confident that the union leaders negotiated money for themselves, rather than the regular workers. There was even concern that, if the worker pay was too much above other employment options, it would be a risk to the employee. They could get killed by someone else that wanted the comparatively lucrative job.

Juarez is a border town and nowhere near as nice as Chihuahua City and many other cities I’ve visited in interior Mexico. But Juarez has also improved over the years.

 

[MossRoad]

I worked in a warehouse that was 4.25 acres under roof. None of it was insulated or heated. It was a brick building that the government built in the late 30's for use as an ordinance plant to supply ammunition for WWII.

By the time I got there, there were ten 3000 lb. propane forklifts working 16 hours a day. The propane forklifts were our only source of heat. We would stand behind it, smoke a cigarette while our gloves and us warmed up.

Then one day the forklifts were all traded in for electric ones. That's when winters got cold.

That reminded me of working at the airport. Towards the end of Notre Dame football season, the last game or two was always cold. To stay warm, we'd stand in the exhausts of the bigger private jet auxiliary power units. Warm you up quick!

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

35 years ago I bought a Clark propane fork lifts, great shape for $600. It had a Continental engine. If it had large wheels I would have kept it.
I was having the garage built and inspector saw the fork lift so he made the contractor reinforce the second story thinking I was going to store car motors up there.

 

[garry1p]

YKYAOW:
You go to the gas station to get lawnmower gas and take 2ea 5 gal containers.
Pump 3 gallons in each because you can no longer lift and pour a full container.

 

[scootr]

You buy a big fuel tank and an electric pump because you can no longer heft those 5 gallon cans around.

 

[CalG]

I made a special trip into town today in the rain to refill two 5 gal. fuel cans.
I noticed that when filled, they seemed a bit heavier than I remembered....

 

[Jstpssng]

YKYAOW:
You go to the gas station to get lawnmower gas and take 2ea 5 gal containers.
Pump 3 gallons in each because you can no longer lift and pour a full container.

I put 4 gallons into my 5 gallon diesel cans because it's easier to keep from spilling it.

 

[bigtiller]

For the first time ever, I filled my 5 gallon diesel can while it sat on the tailgate of my ¾ T. 4x4 GMC. That was so easy, I felt guilty doing it.

I parked beside a ladder which was beside the tractor and from there I lifted the can up onto the folding shelf of the 6' ladder and used a shaker siphon hose to transfer diesel into the tractor.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I don't have any trouble pouring gas or diesel, I can get over 5 gallons in. The problem is yesterday filling a mower the dam spout flipped off splashing my face. I must have turned my head quickly so it mainly soaked my ear...my "good" ear. I flooded with detergent & warm water.
From now on it's going to be a funnel only!

 

[CalG]

You know you are old when IRC and bbs meant something for communication on many topics.

a motherboard came in static wrap without a processor and memory chip sets cost big bucks. a 286 was a HUGE speed increase
Booting DOS from a floppy was just part of the game,
And for the work I was doing at the time,
I could not have done without the calculating power. (Thin film optics)

Ahhhh it's fun to look back