Author Topic: ...Izee's Thread  (Read 514620 times)

Offline Izee

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Re: ...Izee's Thread
« Reply #1425 on: March 09, 2025, 09:08:00 PM »
Daym...I should have gotten the nerve to play a cello sonata clothed like this!!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/el0FAuPIDvg?si=fSdhaqAj3BQR0yjC

But the other half of the gown would have fallen off, and well... :-[

That is the nice part about playing the cello...you hold it in front of you in the right position and all of your 'naughty bits' are covered... :o

Offline Izee

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Re: ...Izee's Thread
« Reply #1426 on: March 22, 2025, 08:38:47 PM »
Being a H.S. Computer 'Nerd'..... ;D

In Jr H.S. I just 'knew' that I would become a Scientist when I grew up, so I focused my attention on Math and Science Courses, and also had Chemistry as a Home Project.  I did experiments that I laughed at when I was told to do them in H.S., I said that I had already done them at home.  So, when computers came out, my friends and I did all we could to get to work with them.  The Teachers created an After school computer club, and 7 of us were regulars.  We mostly worked with a 'Monrobot', it was a computer the size of a large desk, and you would program it with 'punched tape'.  That was a pain, after you wrote out the program on a sheet of paper, you then had to type the characters into a machine that would punch holes in a long roll of thick paper.  The tape was about two inches wide, and you would wind it onto a spool, and feed it into the computer.  In the following years we graduated to 'punch cards' and that was fun!  We had these long narrow boxes that the cards would fit into, and we thought that we were the School Brainy Kids 'cause we walked around campus with a box of cards in addition to books.  I was ALWAYS eager to open the box and show it to younger kids.

We were excited when we were allowed access to the School District Computer Center at the Administration Building.  We had to wear nametags that had metal borders that had some sort of sensors in them that would make it impossible for us to open certain doors, or would set off an alarm if we walked down a wrong hallway.  So, we entered through one back door, and stayed in the hallway that directly led to the computer rooms. 

Back then, computers were HUGE things that had a lot of dials and lights, and the printers were very loud.  I spent a lot of time in there, and was attracted to one printer, it was almost musical.  When printing fast it made high pitched buzzing sounds that were at various musical pitches depending on the characters being printed.  Over the course of a few months, I would experiment at what notes the printer made when it typed characters.  So, I worked hard, on the side, on a special program, and didn't tell anyone what I was doing.  I got the program done, and spent a long time at the machine making the punch cards, they almost completely filled a box.

One afternoon they brought in a bunch of Big Shots to view how we 'gifted children' were learning a useful skill.  The men and women smiled, seeing us, and asked to see a program run so they could see that we knew what we were doing.  The Manager pushed me forward, saying, "This girl is one of the most creative and skilled in programming."  They asked to see a program run...so I got out my 'special box'...no one had seen the program, yet.  The Big Shots were impressed seeing me load a huge stack of cards into the feeder, and then push buttons, and the cards disappeared into the machine.  The Printer came awake, and then began furiously printing sheet after sheet of paper...The characters it printed completely filled the sheets...and the pitch of the printer changed as it played, as it typed...

The Marine Anthem...."From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..."

The Manager turned the printer off, and told the Big Shots who were hiding smiles..."She CAN do serious stuff, but has a bit of an attitude..."

The Manager told me to inform him whenever I was going to run a program, and NOT to waste time with silly stuff...

...I just nodded...


Offline Izee

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Re: ...Izee's Thread
« Reply #1427 on: April 16, 2025, 05:31:58 AM »
...Burros... :o :P :P :o

In Girl Scouts, our Troop would go to a nice Summer Camp for two weeks in July.  The Camp had a large Mess Hall, with REALLY lousy food...except for Sunday dinner, we would EACH get HALF of a BBQ'd CHICKEN!  We wouldn't stay in the Cabins, we would set up an outdoor camp on the facility, and sleep on cots that held our sleeping bags.  But, we would go on a five day outing, which was an Event.  We would hike for about 7 miles, and get to a place where there was a small lake.  Since we were away from public humanity, well, some of us would get naked to swim and bathe, and just to sun ourselves.  The Adults tried to stop us, but we would go a ways away and swim, so they let us, but told us older girls to stay by ourselves.

Since we would bring a lot of cooking gear and food, we would check out two burros that were in the Camp.  The Camp had a bunch of burros for people to borrow to carry supplies, and also so the City Kids could see a farm animal.  The burros were very tame, and I would often go to their corral and feed them carrots that I 'obtained' from the Mess Hall.  The woman who supervised the burros just let me visit them when she saw that I stayed out of the corral.

So, when we headed out on our five day hiking trip, I 'volunteered' (demanded) that I be allowed to lead one.  The Adult Leader agreed, she knew that I would get onery if she had someone else lead the burro.

Leading the burro was harder than I expected.  They can be onery, and the walk out of the Camp started with a hike up the side of the Mountain that was almost vertical, there was a switchback trail we had to use.  I had to pull hard on the harness to get it to keep moving, but we made it, and I was exhausted.  The rest of the hike was pretty level, so it was uneventful.  At the camp we set up at the Lake, I had to visit the burros several times a day to check on them, and to bring them grain, and grass after they ate all of the vegetation in their area.  So, I was happy when we headed back.

Thing about burros, they are VERY smart animals, and they KNEW that we were heading back to the Main Camp as we left, and they were very familiar with the trail.  And they REALLY wanted to get home!  So, the burro was PUSHING me along a I led it...I really mean it...if I slowed my walk it would push its' nose against my back and push.  It was probably also saying, in Goateese, "Keep YOUR ass moving, little girl!"  I actually got tired, and a little pissed off, so at the second rest stop, I appointed my Assistant Leader to handle my goat, and I just stayed in the back of the Troop.  But, we all got back, fine.

Offline Izee

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Re: ...Izee's Thread
« Reply #1428 on: April 19, 2025, 04:02:35 AM »
...Drawing 'Sex Signs' all over Audit Papers... ::) :-[

When I was practicing Public Accounting, I was often assigned to audit the books of businesses that were struggling.  I had been taught to use signs to show that I had performed a certain task.  For instance, I would draw a little 'w' under the bottom of a column of figures to show that I had verified that the sum was correct.  I would also use a check mark to show that I had traced where the amount was placed elsewhere in the records, and a reversed check mark to show that I had verified that the number came from somewhere in the records.

I came up with an idea to simplify when one sheet of paper had a lot of numbers that needed to be verified.  I would draw a little circle above the number, and then a little arrow on the circle pointing at where the matching number was.  I would then draw a circle beside that number and a little arrow pointing back at the other number.  I would also write a number inside the circle, and then on another sheet of paper a list of the numbers and a brief explanation of what it was.  I thought it was very clever... ;D

Back at the Office, after I had audited a company, I got summoned to the Partner's Office who had that company as a client.  He demanded to know why I had drawn 'sex signs' all over the audited records.   :-[  (We all know that a circle with an arrow at the top is 'male', whereas a circle with a cross under it is 'female'.  The guys used to say that the female symbol was Venus's 'Looking Mirror'.)  I did my best to explain, and he finally just dismissed me, saying, "Just write a number, no need to draw sex signs all over the official audited records."

Being me, I continued to use my method...except when doing an audit for that partner... ::)