You Know You Are Old When

[Runner]

I still have one of my father's slide rules, and a bunch of rulers and mechanical pencils and other things he used as an architect over his life.

I also have my grandfather's barbering equipment.

Kinda neat to see the stuff they used to make a living.

I spent 6 years in architectural school learning how to make construction drawings, presentation drawings, models, etc., all hand-drawn. This was all pre-CAD design. Now, almost all drawings for buildings other than single family dwellings are digital. In fact, most municipalities probably require construction drawings to be submitted digitally now. No more rolls of "blueprints", everything is stored and processed in the computer. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to function in that world.

It seems like it would be very awkward and time consuming, pick a point on a grid, pick another point on the grid, tell the computer to connect the points, pick another point, etc. I'm sure it's actually easier and more streamlined than that, but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it.

 

[bigtiller]

I've never had a slide rule in my hand....nor a golf club for that mater.

Hmm, "Things I've never had in my hand" might make an interesting thread title.

 

[WinterDeere]

I ask my grandson if he knows his multiplication tables, and he says "Siri can answer that quicker than you can."

I design equipment used for testing things like aircraft, tanks, and missiles for radio hardening, EM susceptibility, to threats like EM pulse weapons, nuclear blasts, etc. My customers, who specify and execute these tests, are all working under the assumption that the first strike in any first-world military conflict will be the immediate destruction of their opponents communications and/or power grid.

So, I sure hope that our young men and women who will lead us through any such conflict can at least handle doing some basic math without the aid of Siri, as she and all consumer-level cloud-dependent technology will most defintely become quickly inaccessible. Even most militarized systems will be vulnerable to reduced capability and dependability, if not downright inoperable.

 

[WinterDeere]

"Things I've never had in my hand" might make an interesting thread title.

A breast aged 50 years or higher.

 

[drssg]

One of my favorite jokes from Family Guy at his wife's birthday party:

Peter: You are now officially the oldest woman I have ever slept with.

Lois: Yes Peter, you said that last year.

Peter: But unlike you, that joke never gets old.

 

[deserteagle71]

I was in HS 1975 - 77, which was at the very tail end of when slide rules were actually used, so we had to learn how to use them. Then, 5 minutes later switched to calculators. Still have a couple of them too.

Kind of like learning how to shoe a horse instead of change a tire.

A slide rule was mandatory student equipment when I was at university back in the 60s.

 

[MossRoad]

My parents were trying to clean the property up, and gave the family still to the local historical society.

I didn't even know we HAD a family still!!!!

When I was helping clean out my mother in-law's parents' house I found her dad's still in a little room under the basement steps. It's maybe 2 gallons.

She said every so often, he'd put newspaper up on the kitchen windows so no one could see into the house from outside and make liquor on the kitchen stove.

The only thing missing was the coil.

So I made one and tested it out.

I know it distills water very well.

 

[MossRoad]

I spent 6 years in architectural school learning how to make construction drawings, presentation drawings, models, etc., all hand-drawn. This was all pre-CAD design. Now, almost all drawings for buildings other than single family dwellings are digital. In fact, most municipalities probably require construction drawings to be submitted digitally now. No more rolls of "blueprints", everything is stored and processed in the computer. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to function in that world.

It seems like it would be very awkward and time consuming, pick a point on a grid, pick another point on the grid, tell the computer to connect the points, pick another point, etc. I'm sure it's actually easier and more streamlined than that, but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it.

It's surprisingly easy to pick up if you already have a background in it. I know many people that transitioned to digital and they'd never go back.

 

[masseyrider]

A breast aged 50 years or higher.

50?
Best by date is usually under 30.
I think mine is 40... and even then.

 

[Alan46]

50?
Best by date is usually under 30.
I think mine is 40... and even then.

A fake one!